Sun Wukong

"嘿嘿，俺老孙不愿打你这无名鼠辈. 正好与我上天报信，你来看，我要做个齐天大圣. 你回去告诉玉帝老儿，准我为齐天大圣，从此不动刀兵. 如若不然，我就打上灵霄宝殿，叫他龙床坐不安稳！ (Hey, I don't want to fight you nobody. You just go back to the Heaven Palace to pass my word. Look, I want to be Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Go back to tell Jade Emperor, if he grant me as Great Sage Equal to Heaven, I'll stop fighting. If not, I'll make a mess in the Lingxiao Palace and let him know my power!)"

- Sun Wukong

Sun Wukong, also known as The Great Sage Equal to Heaven or the Monkey King, is an iconic hero and the main protagonist of the Chinese epic novel Journey to the West. He is a magical monkey who wields a pole known as Ruyi Jingu Bang which can extend to any length, and weighs about 17,857 pounds, and had achieved immortality and omnipotence.

Past
Sun Wukong was born from a magical stone formed from chaos. He joined a clan of monkeys, and discovered a secret cave that the monkeys could use as their new home, named it the "Mountain of Flowers and Fruit". The monkeys were grateful and accepted Wukong as their king. However, Sun Wukong was not happy only ruling over monkeys, as he wanted Immortality. To find it, he travelled and found the Buddhist Patriarch Bodhi, who, with some uncertainty, took him on as his disciple. Wukong became a favorite disciple of Bodhi, and learned to read and write, as well as learning how to transform into anything in the universe. Here he also learned how to jump 33 miles in a single jump. However, Wukong started bragging to the others, and Bodhi banished him from the temple.

Wukong travelled through the seas, where he found a staff that could extend to any length, and weighed about 17,857 pounds, called the Ruyi Jingu Bang. He defeated the four water dragons, and took from them Golden Armor, A Phoenix Helmet, and Boots that allowed him to walk on clouds. To make sure he would never die, he erased his own name from the Book of Life and Death. The Emperor of Heaven heard about this, and to stop Wukong from becoming too dangerous he offered him a place among the gods. However, he was given the lowest ranking job possible, and was offended to the point where he allied with the demons of Earth in a Battle against Heaven. The gods were forced to recognize him as "Great Sage Equal to Heaven", however, Wukong once again rebelled when he found out that he was not invited to a royal banquet. He stole peaches, pills, and wine that would keep his immortality, and fought 100,000 Celestial Warriors. He was locked into a cauldron, and eventually escaped, with the ability to recognize any evil. With no options left they called to Buddha, who bet that Wukong couldn't escape from his palm. Wukong jumped, wrote on five pillars, and returned, only to discover that the pillars were Buddha's fingers. Buddha quickly sealed him away with a talisman, and Sun Wukong was forced to wait for his path of redemption.

Redemption
500 years later Xuanzang, a young monk, sought to journey to India to receive some sacred scriptures. Wukong was told that if he joined him he would he freed. He was tricked into putting on a headband that would tighten if Xuanzang said a special chant. He helped Xuanzang with his pilgramige, and was given Buddahood for his service.

Trivia

 * The famous hero and protagonist of the Dragon Ball series, Son Goku is heavily inspired by Sun Wukong, and also technically shared the same name, as "Son Goku" means "Sun Wukong" in Japanese. Coincidentally, the classic adaptation of the series is released in 1986, the same year that the adaptation of the original Dragon Ball series started to air.