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Once you make it to Chapter 3 inBlack Myth: Wukong, you’ll encounter a companion that will be with you until you finish the game. This is Zhu Bajie, a small pig man with a rake that packs a punch, and an old friend of the original Monkey King, Sun Wukong.
Now, when the character is introduced, the game makes a big deal about it, as if a celebrity has just entered the picture. And that’s pretty much the idea, since readers of the original novel, Journey to the West, will know how important Zhu Bajie was to Wukong and for the journey overall.
Who Is Zhu Bajie?
Black Myth: Wukong works as a sequelto the 16th century Chinese novel,Journey to the West, where a Monk needs to find a series of scriptures while guarded by three warriors. All these three warriorsneed to repent from their past actions, and Zhu Bajie is one of them.
Unlike Wukong,Bajie was originally a manof renown in the Celestial Court, at least when compared to a regular human.Yet he was prone to excessive drinking, and one drink too many led him to try and seduce a goddess of the moon.
It didn’t end well, sincehe got himself banished to the earthand turned into a small pig-like creature.
Powers
As a former commander of the Court,Bajie can be a fierce warrior, even when his main weapon is a rake. He isn’t as mighty as Wukong, but he can certainly hold his own, and is even able to useseveral transformations; not as many as Wukong, but enough to be an asset in battle.
The main transformation he uses in the game isa giant boar, which seems to be his ultimate battle mode. He likely doesn’t transform into anything else for gameplay clarity, at least when it comes to combat, but he shows to have many other tricks up his sleeve, likewhen he transforms into Rakshasiduring Chapter 5.
Zhu Bajie In Journey To The West
Bajie starts off as a troublemaker in the novel,terrorizing a villagewhile demanding their food and women.
He doesn’t do this in an overtly evil way, at least depending on the version of the novel you end up reading, buthe is still a nuisancethat Wukong needs to deal with during his travels with the Tang Monk.
Once Bajie joins Wukong’s ranks,they both become close friends, and work as the duo of protagonists for the vast majority of encounters.
Their strengths and weaknesses complement each other well, hence whythey are far more popular than the other members of the party, namely the Tang Monk and Shu Wujing.
Once their journey is over,Bajie is the only one who doesn’t attain any kind of enlightenmentor Buddhahood, although he is still rewarded for his efforts.
His pig-like features remain, and it seems that he didn’t enjoy life in the Celestial Court, at least according to the game.
Zhu Bajie In Black Myth: Wukong
The quest of the Destined One in Black Myth: Wukong is torecover all six Senses of the Great Sage, and many monkeys have embarked on that journey before you.
Zhu Bajie also embarked on the same journey, since he even mentions having spoken to the Old Monkey, who told him all about the Senses.
Chapter 3 is where we get the most mention of these other monkeys trying to collect the Senses, and it is alsowhere most of them met their demise.Zhu Bajie was also captured here by Yellowbrow, andyou need to free himif you want to continue on with your quest.
It isn’t clear if the monkeys that came before were able to collect any Senses before getting killed in the snowy lands of Chapter 3.
Bajie even acknowledges the fact thatthe Destined One is a silent protagonist,saying they are “another mute,”confirming thatall other monkeys were just as stoic.
We don’t know what this might say about the monkeys as a species, but it does show thatBajie has been trying to complete this questfor quite a while now.
While Bajie is dismissive of the Destined One at first,he grows attached to them by the end, even worrying about their safety before the final fight of the game.
Although he very much wants to see hisold friend Wukongalive, he reminds the Destined One that he still has a choice, thathe can walk awayand leave the mantle of Wukong behind.
Zhu Bajie And The Violet Spider
One chapter that is all about Bajie is Chapter 4, whereBajie gets kidnaped by the Spider clan.This is all in reference to Journey to the West, where the centipede monstrosity that is the Hundred-Eyed Daoist Masterplotted to eat the Tang Monk during his journey.
This Daoist Master hada clan of giant Spidersat his disposal, all of whomcould transform into women at will.
As Wukong and company were trying to traverse this difficult landscape, they saw the Spider sisterstaking a bath in their human form, and Bajie transformed into a fish to“keep an eye on them.”
The game expands on this part of the Journey, claiming thatthe protagonists had fought and killed most of the Spider sisters, but Bajie was able to convince his team to leave one alive; the one he, apparently,had spent a night with.This makes that Spider, the Violet Spider,inherit the clanand makes it grow once more.
One of the Spider sisters seems to be Bajie’s daughter, although it isn’t clear why she looks like a child; the encounter between Bajie and the Violet Spider happened hundreds of years ago.
The animated cutscene at the end of the Chapter isn’t only about the Spiders,but about Zhu Bajie in general.It shows him before his fall from grace, and suggests thatmaybe he and the Violet Spider met way beforethe Journey to the West.
There is even a suggestion about their emotional connection, specifically when they can transform into violent beasts while also having a more human side.
Still,Bajie’s heart was always with his team and their mission, something the Violet Spider always resented him for… Although it seemsthese spiders eat their mates, so she doesn’t seem to have too much moral ground to stand on.
