Zhu Ganglie, later known as Zhu Bajie or Zhu Wuneng, is one of the main protagonists of the 16th-century Chinese classic novel Journey to the West by the late Wu Cheng'en, and its multiple adaptations. However, during his earlier appearances in the story, he is a villain until when Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang come along and redeem him. From that point onwards, Zhu Bajie is now a hero.
In the classic 1986 adaptation series, he was portrayed by Ma Dehua in season 1 and Cui Jingfu in season 2. In the 2021 animated film Monkey King Reborn, he was voiced by Roly Gutiérrez, who voiced Gintoki Sakata in Gintama and Sunblast in Villainous.
Personality[]
Bajie will often run away from powerful enemies. Sometimes, the only reason he can't beat his current opponent is that he gets too scared to keep on fighting. He is the worldliest and least enlightened of the Pilgrims. He is defined by his gluttony and lust. He is always wanting to eat and often eats the most out of the others taking advantage of the hospitality of their many hosts to do so. And his lust is prone to getting him in trouble. He was demoted from Marshal Tianpeng to the Pig Yaoguai he is for making passes at Chang'e the Moon Immortal. Because of his lust, he is always easily deceived by the Yaoguais who take the form of beautiful women. He is also the most materialistic being the one to suggest a worldly option when presented, and when things seem hopeless, he is prone to suggest they quit and go their separate ways. He is also very arrogant not unlike his elder brother in Buddhism Wukong. He regularly boasts of his time as Marshal in the Celestial Bureaucracy, and of his mighty Nine-Toothed Rake and 36 Transformations. His boasting leads to humiliation as much as it is backed up. He is also very lazy, wanting to take the easy way out and one time taking a nap, while pretending to scout.
Despite this, Zhu Bajie is not without positive qualities. He seemed to be truly fond of his wife in Gao Village, as he often speaks of returning to her when it seems the journey can't be completed and even worked hard when married to her, despite spending much of the novel lazy and the family rejected him because he was ugly. As a Buddhist, while still with his vices, he honors a vegetarian diet. He also truly cares for Tang Sanzang and his fellow pilgrims. Always being willing to try and save Tang Monk. While he and Sun Wukong often bicker, with Wukong calling out his vices, Zhu Baije also looks up to Wukong as his older brother in Buddha. While not as spiritual as the rest of the pilgrims, he did cultivate enough to become an Arhat and was given the position of Cleanser of the Altars.
Biography[]
Origins[]
Zhu Bajie is once the Tianpeng Yuanshuai (天蓬元帅; lit. "Marshal Canopy"), commander-in-chief of 80,000 Heavenly Navy Soldiers. However, at a royal banquet on Heaven, the commander saw the Goddess of the Moon for the first time and was captivated by her beauty, thus when being drunk he tried to seduce her to no avail, led to her reporting this to the Jade Emperor and the commander is banished from Heaven. By mishap, he was reborn as a man-eating pig-monster known as Zhu Ganglie. While Ganglie was kidnapped a daughter of the Gao village's elder and left a note demanding marriage. At some point, he met the Bodhisattva Guanyin and that was told by her to wait for being the monk Sanzang's student, in order to make up for his past crimes. She is also gave him the name Zhu Wuneng.
Journey to the West[]
When Sanzang and Wukong arrive to the Gao village, the elder asked Wukong to capture his demonic son-in-law. Wukong released the daughter and disguised as her, and found out the identity of the demon being Zhu Ganglie. Upon seeing Wukong revealing himself, Ganglie is quickly recognized Wukong being the monkey who terrorized Heaven 500 years ago (being a commander on Heaven at the time).
However, he can be fought with Wukong twice, only to end the fight when he learned that Wukong was a student of Sanzang, and that he had also been recruited by Bodhisattva Guanyin to join their pilgrimage and make atonements for his past sins. With that in mind, Ganglie decided to surrender, and met Sanzang, who accepted him as his student, and gave him the name Zhu Bajie.
Equipments[]
- Nine-Toothed Rake:
Trivia[]
- "Zhu Bajie" (猪八戒) means "Pig of Eight Prohibitions" in Chinese, comprised of his first name/hanzi "猪" means "pig" in Chinese, his last name comprised of the hanzi eight "八" and the prohibitions/commandments hanzi "戒".
External Links[]
- Zhu Bajie on the Villains Wiki
- Zhu Bajie on the Journey to the West Wiki
- Zhu Bajie on Wikipedia
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| Journey to the West Heroes | ||
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Sun Wukong (A Korean Odyssey, American Born Chinese the TV series, Black Myth, Dragon Ball, Lego Monkie Kid, The Monkey King, Nobody, 2023, Pigsy, 2024, Saiyuki the anime and manga, Shimmy: The First Monkey King, Yuyuki) | Red Boy (Doraemon) | Sha Wujing (A Korean Odyssey, Pigsy, 2024) | Zhu Bajie (A Korean Odyssey, Pigsy Express/Pigsy, 2024, Saiyuki the anime and manga) | Tang Sanzang (A Korean Odyssey, Pigsy, 2024, Saiyuki the anime and manga) | Erlang Shen | Bull Demon King (A Korean Odyssey) | Jin Wang | Sun Wei-Chen | Destined One | Little Pig Demon (Nobody, 2023/2025) | Toad Demon | Weasel Demon | Gorilla Demon | ||