Bull Demon King

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"Ox King" redirects here. For the Dragon Ball character based on him, see List of Dragon Ball characters § Ox-King.
"Bull King" redirects here. For the character in Okage: Shadow King, see Big Bull Evil King.
The battle of the Bull King and Sun Wukong. Painting in the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace in Beijing.

Bull Demon King (Chinese: 牛魔王; pinyin: Niú Mówáng), also translated as the Ox King and known as his self-proclaimed title the Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven (Chinese: 平天大聖; pinyin: Píngtiān Dàshèng), is a fictional character from the 16th century novel Journey to the West. He is the estranged-husband of the Princess Iron Fan and father of Red Boy. He is a demon king originally-based in the "Palm leaf Cave/Grotto" (棕櫚葉洞; Zōnglǘyèdòng), up on "Jade Cloud Mountain" (玉雲山' Yùyúnshān), with his wife, before betraying his wife for a younger demoness, Princess Jade-Countenance, a female Huli jing, of the "Sky-Scraping Cave" (摩雲洞; Móyún-dòng) on "Accumulated-Thunder Mountain" (積雷山; Jīléi-shān).[1]

Bull King is a major antagonist of the novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, and its multiple adaptations. He can be considered the main antagonist in the remake of Journey to the West, despite his limited appearances. He also appears as the main villain in the 2014 film The Monkey King and as the main antagonist in Doraemon: The Record of Nobita's Parallel Visit to the West. He is one of the most popular Journey to the West villains, alongside his wife Princess Iron Fan, his son the Red Boy, the Six Eared Macaque, and the Baigujing.

He was possibly influenced by Ox-Head, one of the guardians of hell in Chinese mythology.[citation needed]

In Journey to the West[edit]

In the early chapters of the novel, he becomes sworn brothers with Sun Wukong and six other demon kings, the Saurian Demon King (蛟魔王; Jiāo Mówáng), the Single-Horned Demon King (單角魔王; Dānjiǎo Mówáng), the Roc Demon King (鵬魔王; Péng Mówáng), the Lion Spirit King (獅狔王; Shīnǐ Wáng), the Macaque Spirit King (獼猴王; Míhóu Wáng) and the Snub-nosed monkey Spirit King (禺狨王; Yúróng Wáng). He is ranked the most senior of the seven, and styles himself "Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven" (平天大聖). He marries Princess Iron Fan and has a son, Red Boy, with her. He appears again in a later chapter when the protagonists arrive at the Flaming Mountains along their journey.[2] Sun Wukong disguises himself as Bull Demon King to deceive Princess Iron Fan and takes away her Banana Leaf Fan. The real Bull Demon King visits Princess Iron Fan, who then realises she has been tricked. Bull Demon King disguises himself as Zhu Bajie to trick Sun Wukong and retrieves the fan.

In the ensuing fight against Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, Bull Demon King reveals his true form, a giant white bull, and attempts to charge towards his opponents. Heavenly forces, including Devaraja Li and his third son, Prince Nezha show up, with orders from the Buddha and the Jade Emperor to capture the Bull Demon King. When Prince Nezha fails to vanquish Bull Demon King after repeatedly beheading him (as the Bull Demon King also knew the arts of the 72 Transformations; 七十二變化 / 地煞 / 地煞數; Qīshí'Èr Bianhua, lit. "72 Terrestrial Killers"), he attaches one of his flaming wheels to the Bull Demon King's horns--horrifically burning him and causing him great pain--whilst Devaraja Li uses an "imp-reflecting mirror" (照妖镜; Zhàoyāojìng) to prevent the Bull Demon King from shapeshifting and escaping. After the Bull Demon King is captured, they brings him to Heaven to let the Jade Emperor decide his fate.[3][4]

Adaptations[edit]

  • Bowser, the main antagonist of the Mario video game franchise, was inspired by the Ox-King. Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that he first envisioned Bowser as an ox, basing him on the Ox-King from the 1960 anime film Alakazam the Great.[5]
  • In the adaptation in the 1996 Journey to the West series, the Bull King and the Princess Iron Fan have already known Monkey since childhood (they went to the same school that taught Monkey his fighting abilities) and were willing to give him the fan. But their obnoxious son, Red Boy, refuses to let his mother give the fan, thus forcing Monkey to enter her belly to force her to give him the fan.
  • In the 1988 film Doraemon: The Record of Nobita's Parallel Visit to the West as the main antagonist. In the film, he becomes ruler of Japan after Doraemon and Nobita accidentally release monsters from a 22nd-century game based on Journey to the West. As a result, the protagonist's loved ones are also converted into demons. In order to save Japan, they travel in time to prevent this from happening.
  • In the 2014 film The Monkey King, the Bull Demon King (Aaron Kwok) is waging war on Heaven. Much of Heaven is destroyed during the battle, and the Bull Demon King faces off against the Jade Emperor (Chow Yun-fat), the ruler of Heaven. The Bull Demon King is defeated but before the Jade Emperor can kill the Bull Demon King.
  • In the LEGO theme Monkie Kid, which is based on Journey to the West, the Demon Bull King is the main antagonist, seeking to take over a modernized world alongside his wife and son. In the animated series based on the theme, he is voiced by Steven Blum.
  • In the Dragon Ball franchise, the Bull Demon King is referred to as the Ox King, is a human with incredible physical attributes, and is the father of the Iron Fan Princess instead of her husband, who is known as Chi-Chi.
  • In the 2017 film Journey to the West: Bull Demon King (西游之牛魔王), Bull Demon King was portrayed as the main protagonist.[6]
  • Portrayed by Louis Fan in the 2023 film Nui Mo Wang (牛魔王之魔王再临), as the main protagonist.[7]
  • Portrayed by Leonard Wu in the 2023 American television series American Born Chinese.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "西游趣谈：牛魔王与铁扇公主真的是夫妻关系吗？_手机搜狐网". Sohu (in Chinese). 27 June 2017.
  2. ^ Børdahl, Vibeke (2004). 揚州評話四家藝人: 全書表演錄像目錄. NIAS Press. p. 77. ISBN 9788791114649.
  3. ^ "牛魔王的书房为何有道家经典？他与太上老君究竟是什么关系？". Sohu (in Chinese). 12 July 2018.
  4. ^ Yu, Anthony C. (2013). The Journey to the West, Revised Edition. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226971421.
  5. ^ David Oxford. "Iwata Asks:The Birth of Bowser". Ds.Kombo. Archived from the original on September 17, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  6. ^ "《西游之牛魔王》定档3月23日 粉碎性改编再度来袭-中国新闻网". 中国网 (in Chinese). 17 March 2017.
  7. ^ "《牛魔王之魔王再临》定档3月26日 樊少皇携西游IP回归 再掀高燃神魔大战 - 中娱网". 中国娱乐网 (in Chinese). 22 March 2023.
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