Zhu Ganglie, also known as Zhu Bajie and 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 Xuanzang 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.
History
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 Xuanzang'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 Xuangzang 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 was 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 Xuanzang, 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 Xuanzang, who accepted him as his student, and gave him the name Zhu Bajie.
Trivia
- He'll 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.