Bull Demon King (), also translated as the Ox King and known as his self-proclaimed title the Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven (), is a fictional character from the 16th century novel ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...

''. He is the husband of the

Princess Iron Fan Princess Iron Fan () is a character from the 16th century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. She is the wife of the Bull Demon King and mother of Red Boy. She is one of the most popular ''Journey to the West'' villains, alongside her husband ...

and father of

Red Boy Red Boy (; vi, Hồng Hài Nhi, ja, Kōgaiji) was a character featured in the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West''. Red Boy was also known as the Boy Sage Great King (聖嬰大王), and was the son of Princess Iron Fan and the Bull De ...

. He is a demon king based in Sky Scraping Cave (摩雲洞 ''Móyún-dòng'') on Accumulated Thunder Mountain (積雷山 ''Jīléi-shān''). Bull King is a major

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

of the novel ''Journey to the West'' by

Wu Cheng'en Wu Cheng'en (, c. 1500–1582Shi Changyu (1999). "Introduction." in trans. W.J.F. Jenner, ''Journey to the West'', volume 1. Seventh Edition. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 1–22. or 1505–1580), courtesy name Ruzhong (), was a Chines ...

, and its multiple adaptations. He can actually be considered to be the main antagonist of the story, despite his limited appearances. He also appears as the main villain in the 2014 film ''

The Monkey King Monkey King, or Sun Wukong, is a main character in the classical Chinese epic novel ''Journey to the West''. (The novel was also translated as ''The Monkey King'' by George Theiner in 1964.) Monkey King may also refer to: * Monkey King (horse) (b ...

'' 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 Baigujing () is a demon from the 16th century novel ''Journey to the West''. The name is translated into English as ''White Bone Spirit'' in the William John Francis Jenner translation. Baigujing is a shapeshifting demoness, and in her true form s ...

. He was possibly influenced by

Ox-Head Ox-Head () and Horse-Face () are two guardians or types of guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology. As indicated by their names, both have the bodies of men, but Ox-Head has the head of an ox while Horse-Face has the face of a horse. Th ...

, one of the guardians of hell in Chinese mythology.

Part in ''Journey to the West''

In the early chapters of the novel, he becomes sworn brothers with

Sun Wukong The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong ( zh, t=孫悟空, s=孙悟空, first=t) in Mandarin Chinese, is a legendary mythical figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West'' ( zh, ...

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 The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and (in one instance) Gibraltar. Macaques are principally ...

Spirit King (獼猴王 ''Míhóu Wáng'') and the

Snub-nosed monkey __NOTOC__ Snub-nosed monkeys are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus ''Rhinopithecus''. The genus is rare and not fully researched. Some taxonomists group snub-nosed monkeys together with the genus ''Pygathrix''. Sn ...

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

and has a son,

, with her. He appears again in a later chapter when the protagonists arrive at the

Flaming Mountains The Flaming Mountains () or Huoyan Mountains, are barren, eroded, red sandstone hills in the Tian Shan of Xinjiang. They lie near the northern rim of the Taklamakan Desert and east of the city of Turpan. Their striking gullies and trenches caused b ...

along their journey. 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.

Nezha Nezha ( 哪吒) is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion. His official Taoist name is "Marshal of the Central Altar" (). He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" () after he became a deity. Origins According to Meir Shahar, Nezh ...

shows up, captures Bull Demon King, and brings him to Heaven to let the

Jade Emperor The Jade Emperor or Yudi ( or , ') in Chinese culture, traditional religions and myth is one of the representations of the first god ( '). In Daoist theology he is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun, who is one of the Three Pure Ones, the three ...

decide his fate.

Adaptations

Bowser , or King Koopa, is a fictional character, the primary antagonist in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise, and the arch-nemesis of Mario. In Japan, the character bears the title of . Bowser is the leader of the turtle-like Koopa ...

, the main antagonist of the ''

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...

'' video game franchise, was inspired by the Ox-King.

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

designer

Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he is ...

has stated that he first envisioned Bowser as an ox, basing him on the Ox-King from the 1960 anime film ''

Alakazam the Great ''Alakazam the Great'', known in Japan as , is a 1960 Japanese anime musical film, based on the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West''. It was one of the earliest anime films to be released in the United States. Osamu Tezuka was named ...

''. * In the adaptation in the 1996 ''Journey to the West'' series, the Bull King and the

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 Bull Demon King (

Aaron Kwok Aaron Kwok Fu-shing (born 26 October 1965) is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor. Active since the 1980s, Kwok is known as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong pop music. Dubbed the "God of Dance", Kwok's onstage dancing is influenc ...

) 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 Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in the five Hong Kong action heroic bloodshed films: ''A Better Tomorrow'', ''A Be ...

), 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 Steven Jay Blum (; born April 29, 1960) is an American voice actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, his most well-known roles include Spike Spiegel from the anime series '' Cowboy Bebop'', Garazeb Orrelios from the animated series ''St ...

References

{{journey to the West Journey to the West characters Fictional demons and devils

Part in ''Journey to the West''

Adaptations

See also

References