Explore The Space Between The Brain

Before we begin, there's some things to discuss about how we're going to be approaching classpect in the following essay. In numbered list form for our short attention spans:

1. There is a concept Hussie talks about multiple times in his book commentary, "personality alchemy" - the idea that there are these "platonic ideals" of certain characters, which can be mixed and matched with others, in order to create new characters. The examples he gives are of how Eridan was a proto-Caliborn, how Kanaya has shades of Jade, how Nepeta was a proto-Calliope, and how Sollux and Eridan have shades of Dave in them. Classpecting is fundamentally a form of this personality alchemy:

2. Class describes the character's arc and emotional hurdles, while Aspect describes the character's base personality traits by which this arc is experienced.

3. For example, all three Seers struggle with hubris: Rose's need to be the smartest person in the room led to her being manipulated by Doc Scratch, Terezi's obsession with meting justice led to her engineering a situation where the only option was to kill Vriska, and Kankri's desire to be seen as a spiritual leader amongst his friends led to him furthering their divisions and harming them.

Then, when their pride is shattered, they cope by inflicting willful self-blindness: Rose turns to drinking herself stupid (the opposite of Light's sway over knowledge), Terezi gets down with the clown (the opposite of meting out Mind's justice, as it's a Gamzee W), Kankri goes celibate (Blood L) despite his clear romantic feelings for certain teammates.

4. As for Aspect: note how all three Life players share the personality traits of optimism, stubbornness, and obstinacy. All three Breath players share an immaturity and naïvety, and are quite frankly irresistible to people for some reason. All three Light players share a need for the spotlight and a tendency toward long-windedness and persnicketiness. So on and so forth.

What's interesting is, if you start analyzing characters that share Classes and Aspects, these specific types of similarity crop up over and over - all our Knights struggle with insecurities and facades, both our Bards have a crisis of faith. All three Breath players have an aspect of immaturity and childishness to their characters, and all three Light players are deeply concerned with appearing intelligent and feeling important.

5. As a result, this guide is NOT intended for classpecting real life people, because we are complicated, we contain multitudes, and we don't have arcs. This is primarily an analysis of what Class and Aspect mean in Homestuck based on textual evidence, because I genuinely believe that you can basically figure it out if you read carefully.

6. Duality, and the idea of "equal and opposite," are major themes within Homestuck - Prospit and Derse, Skaia (described as a crucible of birth and creativity) and the Furthest Ring (the literal afterlife). Which classes are involved in an Active/Passive split, and opposing Aspects, are the same way. This is the primary method I used to determine the Active/Passive pairings and opposing Aspects. After all, as Callie describes, both Thieves and Rogues are classes "who steal" - so, too, do I try to unify Classes by a common theme, even if they diverge wildly in how that theme is expressed (as Thieves and Rogues do). In the same way as the opposite of "up" is not "apple," but "down", because "up" and "down" are both fundamentally concerned with relative vertical position, so too can be defined concepts like Breath and Blood, Hope and Rage, Light and Void - as well as the reasoning behind Class pairings like Heir and Page, Maid and Knight, and Seer and Mage.

7. Descriptions for both Class and Aspect are left deliberately vague and up to interpretation within the comic itself, and this is by design: the actual manifestations of an Aspect can vary wildly given the Class, and even individual person, that it's tied to. Calliope even makes note of the fact that, under the right circumstances, someone can manifest effects that appear to be the opposite of their aspect. She's also careful to couch her language in "may" and "can" - because these concepts are intentionally somewhat nebulous and malleable. As such, while this guide certainly lays down what can be gleaned and inferred from the text, do note that Homestuck runs on a soft magic system, and as such, nothing stated is firm, 100%, must-always-be-this-way - just an overview of what we've seen.

8. There is often great overlap between Aspects, Classes, and Classpects - which Calliope herself notes. Heart and Blood are one of the most salient, as they both have a fixation on relationships, and Calliope mentions that under the right circumstances, a Classpect may even be able to manifest what appears to be the opposite of their Aspect. Again, Homestuck operates on a soft magic system, so this is a feature, not a bug.

ASPECT

There's a little less to say about Aspect, not because it's less complicated, but because "base personality traits" are much more nebulous compared to Class's sway over character arc. Still, Aspect represents the fundamental way a character is, and thus, color every interaction that character has. There's a reason Ultimate Selfhood is sought through Aspect, not Class - Aspect is the core of the character's being, what makes that person that person.

That all being said, Class has major sway over how an Aspect manifests, and certain classes can even invert the Aspect and even the character's role in the party. As such, these descriptions must be parsed carefully in relation to Class. Moreover, due to the soft magic system, there is at times overlap between unrelated Aspects, which can also be exacerbated by Class - Heart and Blood being the most obvious in this regard. Still, overall, you'll find the Aspects to be fairly distinct from one another.

Please also note that every Aspect can deal with its literal counterpart by default - Light players can wield lasers, Breath players can wield the breeze, et cetera. Because this kind of goes without saying, and because the non-literal stuff is more interesting to discuss, I'm not really going to go into too much detail about the literal qualities.

Finally, something interesting to note is that nearly every Aspect follows its own Hero's Journey cycle - full actualization for each one usually means reaching around to its opposite Aspect, and taking lessons from them - for example, Breath players need to learn maturity and responsibility, while Blood players need to learn relaxation and whimsy. Thus, an Aspect at its worst manifests in two ways - either a toxic overabundance of the Aspect's worst traits, or such a dearth of the aspect that it begins to resemble its opposite. Only by reaching into the opposite, however, can the player be tempered and reach full maturity - can they become more of who they are.

SPACE / TIME

Space and Time are both concerned with physical reality, goals, and the way one approaches them.

Space is associated with "the big picture" - with recycling, reproduction, and the interconnectivity of all things. The aspect also presides over the enjoyment of the journey over the destination - Space players serve as reminders that the present moment is as important as the end goal. Space is often a more passive Aspect, being the stage upon which the story is set. They're the hosts of the party, and the one who marks the ending.

Its players reflect these tendencies, often being feminine, with penchants for life-giving acts such as gardening. Their personalities tend towards frivolity and silliness, finding it difficult to stay on-topic or bring full gravitas to serious situations. Perhaps a better word would be "distractable;" when the aspect is so concerned with all things in connection with each other, it's easy to lose track of details, and it's easy to enjoy things simply as they come. Space players tend to be kind, patient, and forgiving, which is a strength as much as it is a flaw; it's easy for malicious actors to take advantage of this compassion, or for the Space player to find themselves in a poor situation by being overly permissive. They can easily be painted over by stronger personalities, and tend to struggle with romantic relationships, as they attract many with their kind and giving natures, and few are naturally so considerate of the Space player in turn.

"Passive" is a good word to use; at a toxic overabundance of their Aspect, Space players are trampled underfoot. They become enablers, servants to dark forces, or so lost in their own worlds that they neglect the one they live in. With their Aspect "inverted," a Space player becomes a demon of poor prioritization. Distracting not just themselves from their true purpose, but others, too, the Space player will wreak havoc by overemphasizing unimportant topics and ignoring important tasks. This superficially resembles Time, in that the Space player will become fanatically dedicated to their task, but note that the poor prioritization is still Space-esque at its core.

Still, within this nadir is a valuable lesson: the strength of self-assertion, and the determination to see a goal through. These will allow the Space player to weed their garden, separating good from bad, allowing it to flourish like never before.

Time, in contrast, is associated with "the little things" - with details, minutiae, and processes. Time presides over the struggle toward something greater, the endurance of hardship with an eye on the prize - the destination over the journey. Time players are the ones keeping track of the tasklist, marking off each item as it reaches completion; they are the tireless workers keeping the whole engine running.

Time players, thus, are ones whose lives are marked by struggle. They are highly goal-oriented; in contrast to how Space players can easily move from goal to goal, task to task, Time players feel bound to see things through to the end, finding satisfaction only when they've achieved their desired result - and only until they come across the next goal in their journey. A Time player isn't happy without a goal to work towards, a craft to polish, a prize to win - but this driven nature can easily be its own downfall, as it leaves little room for the player to admit to their own shortcomings, or ask for help from others. Moreover, their focus on minutiae can leave them blinded to the bigger picture, and it's easy for a time player to fall to despair, able to do nothing more but spin their wheels. They're prone to directionless anguish, frustration, and resentment towards the seeming futility of their actions, becoming destructive and defiant even when it doesn't serve them to do so.

At a toxic overabundance of their Aspect, Time players become explosively destructive. The ultimate "goal" of all things is death, with which Time is associated, and accordingly, Time players have a penchant for aligning themselves with futility and entropy, struggling so hard that their thrashing leaves a trail of annihilation in their wake. With their Aspect "inverted," Time players detach entirely - they can become so fed up with struggle that they simply opt to lay their weapons down and let the end take them. It's very easy for them to come to the conclusions that either everything matters, or nothing matters. This superficially resembles Space and its big picture thinking, but note that its framework of struggle, and whether or not a goal needs to be pursued, makes it a Time concern.

But the inherent meaninglessness of existence is, in itself, an important realization to make - that whether or not anything "matters" in the grand scheme, things can still be worth doing, worth caring about, and worth investing in. This realization allows the Time player to attack their goals with renewed vigor and greater clarity, which in turn means that the party becomes an efficient, well-oiled machine.

BREATH / BLOOD

Breath and Blood are both concerned with directionality, interpersonal relationships, and autonomy.

Breath is the Aspect governing freedom, liberty, and independence; it is a force that breaks shackles, clears out social norms, and refutes "the rules," whatever those rules may be. Breath players can't be tied down, whether by physical bonds, societal rules, or even the ineffable forces of the narrative itself. They are leaders of example, pioneers, and trailblazers, opening new paths for their teammates to follow.

Breath players are goofy and gullible, often with hearts full of childlike whimsy, naivety, and even immaturity. They are friendly and well-meaning, fond of simpler things, and easily swayed by others. They approach the world with a sincere and innocent good-naturedness, like a baby animal before it learns to be fearful of danger. Something about this sincerity seems to make Breath players irresistible to others, and they often find themselves the subject of romantic attraction. However, in this childishness is also the great pitfall of many Breath players - their natures are naturally conflict-averse, and egotistical the way a child can be, failing to see beyond themselves. They can be incredibly callous when not considering the consequences of their actions, or the viewpoints of others.

At their worst, Breath players are irresponsible and callous. They'll shirk the consequences of their actions, blaming anybody but themselves, or simply choose not to care who they hurt in order to get what they want. They may even choose to stop making choices for themselves, leading to the "inversion" of their Aspect - a voluntary loss of freedom and independence, derived from an Breath-like aversion to responsibility, which superficially resembles the bondage of Blood.

But if they are able to overcome these tendencies, a Breath player will learn what true responsibility looks like - responsibility for themselves, their choices, and the effect they have on others. Armed with this, a Breath player's ability to break bonds can be focused into a clear force for good, clearing away all obstacles and harmful societal standards, leading the charge into something new and beautiful.

Blood, in sharp contrast, is the aspect that governs bondage, contracts, and interdependence. It is a force that binds. Under Blood's sway are not only romantic entanglements, but familial, friendly, and societal ones as well. This aspect sees overlap with Heart, but the division is this: Heart concerns itself with feelings, and Blood concerns itself with compatibility. Blood players are diplomats, forces that remind us all that we are more similar than we are different, and that that similarity should bring us together when we are on the verge of pulling apart.

Blood players, reflective of their Aspect's association with bonds, tend to be neurotic and obsessive. They have a tendency to over-examine and overthink, constantly fretting over the infinite and infinitesimal variables that influence the shape of society and interpersonal relationships. However, this judgmental nature stems from a deep well of idealism and empathy; Blood players can't help but care about others and wish for the best for them. In a way, this makes them one of the most mature members of the team, being concerned with its overall well-being. Unfortunately, their prowess does not extend inwards, and their assessment of themselves is usually direly incorrect - all the worse because Blood players always feel responsible for those around them. Blood, being the Aspect concerned with interdependence, is the weakest one when all alone.

Thus, it's easy for the Blood player to wind up controlling - desperate to make sure everyone is moving according to their vision, they'll become iron-fisted dictators, with a "my way or the highway" approach to social interactions. It's easy for them to wind up pariahs of their own making, becoming so critical of others, or so adamant about enforcing their own will, that they inadvertantly sever their ties - something that superficially resembles Breath's independence, but is truly a result of Blood's neuroticism.

But with that space and separation can come great clarity. Blood players must learn to relax their grip, and allow people room to breathe - including themselves. Once able to grasp that sometimes bonds must be forged with a soft touch, Blood players' natural empathy shines through, allowing them to build something so much kinder and greater than the sum of its parts.

LIGHT / VOID

Light and Void are both concerned with knowledge, ontology, and "narrative relevance".

Light (as well as its counterpart) are perhaps best understood through the lens of "narrative" - this idea that, of all things that do and don't exist, and all events that do and don't happen, only the ones put to page are "relevant". Thus, Light is associated with knowledge and luck - that is to say, it's associated with the knowable, the objective, and the concrete, and the ability to determine "important" events. Light players have read the book they're participating in, and able to serve as luminary guides from one plot point to another, lighting the lampposts for others to follow.

Light players, naturally, are erudite and educated, possessing keen intellects and cunning minds. They are fond of knowledge itself, of markers of status and prestige - whether that's wealth, the adulation of the masses, or a massive library. They harbor a desire to be important, to be seen, to be acknowledged, and are happiest when they are looked up to. Conversely, they deal poorly with being looked down upon. Their confidence transmutes easily into hubris, and they struggle with having that pride challenged. As such, they tend to be volatile and unpredictable, quick to retaliate against those who threaten their egos, or obsequious to those whose acknowledgement they desire.

Their desire for the limelight can quickly spell disaster - they can become incredibly cruel, harsh, and egotistical in their pursuit of narrative significance. They forget, in their obsession, that they, too, are fallible and flawed, and the inevitable reminder can come very harshly. Light players struggle with moderation, and as such, when they feel shame, they'll often take drastic measures to cope with it - deliberately darkening their own influence or intellects, removing themselves from the "story" entirely - something which superficially resembles Void's penchant for the background, but which is firmly rooted in Light's obsessive need for drama.

But in experimenting with narrative insignificance, Light players can reach an epiphany - in their absence, others may shine, and that can be a wonderful thing. Light players, then, can learn to shine not just for their own sakes, but for the sake of others, allowing them to weave a story even more brilliant than any that can be weaved alone.

Void, in contrast, is the blank spaces between the words. That which is secret, subjective, unknowable - these are Void's domain. It's associated with taboos and hidden things, sexuality and pleasure. It's also associated with the empty canvas - the blank space before creation, and the oblivion to which creation is eventually destined for. Thus, it stands for infinite possibility, though the collapse of those possibilities into a reality removes that reality from Void's domain.

Thus are Void players ever cosigned to the background, though this generally suits them fine. Void players are very self-possessed. Where Light players tend to exaggerate and complicate, Void players are honest and simple, preferring straightforward solutions. They don't tend to think very hard, instead letting intuition and emotion guide them to where they want to be - which makes them one of the more stable personalities on a team. However, this simplistic, feelings-driven approach often leads to pleasure-seeking behavior, poor impulse control, and overindulgence in vice, and from there, to irrelevance, with which Void is so closely interlinked.

Void players are especially prone to vice, and at their worst, will become so drunk on pleasurable activities that they pursue them to the active detriment of the party's goals or the Void player's self-improvement - making them the ultimate irrelevant character. They can also very easily drag others into their mélange, with a forcefulness that resembles Light's illuminating guidance, but which is ultimately rooted in Void's pursuit of personal pleasure.

But there's a lesson to be learned in Light's domain: how to bring themselves into relevance and greatness. A Void player, once they learn to pursue not just personal pleasure, but a greater satisfaction for the collective whole, can drag the Void behind them, kicking and screaming, to where it'll be of use.

MIND / HEART

Mind and Heart are concerned with what it means to be a sentient being, with identity, and with why we do what we do.

Mind is the Aspect associated with logic, rationality, karma, ethics, and justice. To a Mind player, they "are" because they "think". They are keenly aware of the consequences of every action, and well-versed in cognition and behavior, such to the point of manipulating others with ease. Deeply concerned with the "effect" of cause-and-effect, Mind players are always cognizant of debts and credits, where justice is owed and where it has been over-meted, and their subtle machinations culminate, like well-placed dominoes, in grand and explosive finales.

Mind players are schemers - it's in their nature. They have a tendency to view the world as a puzzle or game, with themselves and the people around them as pieces on a board, and set as their standard rules the laws of ethics and karma - owed debts and overhanging credit - guilty and innocent. Mind players are wickedly cunning, and have an high success rate with every scheme they commit themselves to, but the grand downfall of all these tendencies is that they tend to lack in a sense of identity, and have a poor grasp on their own emotions or desires. While they may know how to provoke a desired reaction, they don't know how to change someone's mind. They often find themselves grappling very painfully with their own selfhood, with feelings of emptiness, inadequacy, or uncertainty.

Thus, a Mind player at the worst zenith of their Aspect is heartless and cruel. Leaving no space for empathy or even personal feelings in their plans, the Mind player will plot for an ending as heartless as they are. But a Mind player is never truly without emotion, and ignoring their own feelings causes them to manifest in terrible ways - Mind players have a tendency to seek toxic, codependent relationships, hoping to find external validation, subjecting themselves to the wishes of others, which can appear like Heart's fixation on feelings and desire.

But in recognizing their own need for emotional validation, and the importance of their own feelings, a Mind player can realize that there's an entire dimension to the game they've been playing that they've been ignorant of. When a Mind player learns to temper their schemes with empathy, compassion, and kindness, how much more success they'll see - and how much happier that grand finale will be!

Heart, then, is associated with feelings, motivations, intuition, the soul, and the self. To a Heart player, they "are" because they "feel" like they are - and they're keenly aware of the multitudes that are contained within themselves. Deeply concerned with the "cause" of cause-and-effect, they're drawn to desires, those of themselves and of others, especially where strong feelings are concerned. Heart players are gifted with an intuitive understanding of those around them, both their good and bad qualities, and are tasked with the grand task of bringing out the best.

It stands to reason, then, that Heart players have a firm grasp on who they are and what they want. For the same reasons, it's difficult for a Heart player to truly hate or condemn another person, because they are so adept at understanding them. However, this understanding comes with a price - because the Heart player is so aware of themselves, they can't escape their own worst traits - nobody self-loathes as accurately as a Heart player can. Nor can they ever truly be untruthful with another, making them poor manipulators. Capable of presenting a different facet of themselves as the situation calls for it, certainly, but just as it's impossible to lie to a Heart player, who always knows how someone really feels, it's impossible for a Heart player to lie to themselves.

With this sincerity comes vulnerability. Heart players wear theirs on their sleeves, and at their worst, this can make them demanding, needy, and sensitive - so eager to connect with others emotionally that they'll cramp themselves to fit others' desires. But they can't ever keep this up for long; Heart players have a tendency to withdraw from others after being hurt too often, finding it easier to be alone and silent about their feelings than to deal with the pain of rejection. They may even work to manipulate others, preying on their emotions and desires to force them to act in their worst interests. This superficially resembles Mind's cold logic, but unlike Mind's cool rationality, Heart's aloofness is a mask, an attempt to avoid pain by pulling away.

But this isn't purely a negative, because a Heart player can learn a healthier form of detachment, and separate out healthy and helpful desires from harmful and detrimental ones. Given this clarity, the Heart player becomes the team's emotional core, able to raise up each teammate's best qualities, while helping them deal with their worst, enabling everyone to be the best possible version of themselves - which the Heart player knew them to be all along.

LIFE / DOOM

Life and Doom are concerned with outlook, with journeys, and with trials and tribulations.

Life is an aspect concerned with healing, growing, and improving. It is associated with beginnings, optimism, and positive emotions. The very essence of Life lies in its healing abilities, in this idea of overcoming the odds and triumphing over hardship and difficulty. Life is action, movement, and motion, and its players can scarcely hold still. Life will find a way - and Life players harbor the same immutable belief; they are the most stubborn weeds in the garden, the cockroach that survives the apocalypse, and the beating heart that refuses to stop.

Life players tend to be optimistic and confident. They are self-assured individuals, with a stubborn belief that good things are on their way, and any hardship they face is not only temporary, but something that can be overcome. They can find the silver lining in any cloud, and enjoy themselves under any circumstance. They love to nurture, to care for others, though this love has a tendency to be one-sided. Indeed, Life's stubborn nature is its players' greatest pitfall; their persistence easily becomes obstinacy, and their confidence can become condescension. Their self-assured nature easily becomes egotism, and they can have great difficulty grappling with those who don't share their views - even coming to oppose those who bring emotional pain and suffering that can't be easily fixed.

It's very easy for a Life player to decide another person isn't worth their attention, and opt to leave them behind - after all, Life has to move forward, no matter what it tramples in the process. At their worst, they're stubborn to the point of not listening to anyone but themselves, confidence becoming blockheadedness. This focus on forward progress without looking back can even cause Life players to become harmful to others, so focused they are on their own growth that they don't notice that they're choking everyone else out. This may resemble Doom's death in its worst case - arresting everything else, eventually blocking even their own path with unruly, out-of-control fecundity.

Thus, a Life player needs to learn to more gracefully accept Doom's influence - to pause, slow down, and consider viewpoints that are negative, unpleasant, or difficult. A Life player, endowed with moderation, will be able to cultivate a bountiful garden, rather than an unruly jungle - a place for all to flourish and live in plenty, never wanting for anything.

Doom, then, is the aspect concerned with death, with rest, and with endings. Doom is associated with suffering and with negative emotions, with peace, with sleep, and with dreams. Doom players have a natural penchant for prophecy, and are often dual dreamers, able to take advantage of both Skaia's oracular clouds and the Horrorterrors' voices over Derse. All things must eventually come to an end, and not all times will be good; in these troubling times, Doom players shine, as they are the guides who call the murk home, and know best how to navigate rough waters, course-correcting until the storm passes.

Doom players tend to be deeply pessimistic. They experience, to a much more magnified degree than others, negative feelings and impulses, and it's difficult for them to see the world without seeing its flaws, first and foremost. They are not healers, but commiserators, those who understand greatest that sometimes there's no way to deal with tragedy but to simply sit with it and wait for it to pass. The counterpoint to Life's insistence on breathless positivity, Doom is a reminder that pain, grief, sadness, shame, and guilt are not unnecessary things - in fact, excising them can lead to terrible consequences. Doom players are the universe's martyrs, often taking it upon themselves to course-correct, to sacrifice themselves in order to give others a chance to continue on, to avert a terrible fate.

Unfortunately, this tendency also brings with it a tendency for Doom players to wallow in misfortune, or worse, to take themselves out of the picture, giving up entirely on seeing a better ending. As if energized by their own sense of futility, a Doom player at the "inverse" of their aspect may seem to echo a Life player's focus on forward progress and motion, actively spurring their team on towards an untimely demise.

A Doom player must learn to harness this sense of progress for good, rather than harm. A Doom player, once able to grasp the joy of life even in the greatest depths of despair, will be able to fill even the darkest hours with peace, meaning, and hope.

HOPE / RAGE

Hope and Rage are concerned with permission, and are the lens by which we define reality.

Hope is described by Hussie in the book commentary as being "framed as the most powerful aspect" because it is, literally, an aspect that defines reality. Its specific ability is lies in reducing the "fakeness attribute" of something, thus making it "real". Hope is associated with convictions, with idealism, with faith, order, holiness, and, of course, with magic - which Hope turns real. Hope is permission itself - a reality-breaking ability to look at the world and decree that it must be another way, a way in which the Hope player believes it ought to be.

Thus, Hope players tend to be hard-headed zealots, with no self-awareness whatsoever. Their inclination towards powerful beliefs makes them very difficult to dissuade from a path they've set their minds to, and their specific suite of abilities makes them terrifyingly likely to make their vision come true. Hope players are usually not particularly cunning, nor particularly intelligent, nor even particularly empathetic. Given the Aspect's focus on conviction and faith, it's usually very difficult for Hope players to notice anything occurring beyond their own minds and feelings. Thus are Hope players hopeless optimists, hopeless romantics, and hopeless in general - often great sources of embarrassment to their teams, as their naked sincerity is painful to witness. However, their ability to define reality does not leave them when their beliefs are faulty (which they often are, given Hope players are not particularly introspective, either), which is what makes a Hope player so dangerous.

A Hope player can easily be set on the wrong path - as convicted as they are, and as difficult to shake from that conviction as they can be, Hope players can easily march down a path of destruction, if not persuaded with a deft touch and gentle guidance. In the event that their faith is broken, Hope players easily become despondent and lost, floundering and wishy-washy, which superficially resembles Rage's self-consciousness, but is truly just a lack of direction.

But Rage has a powerful lesson to teach Hope players - that of questioning themselves, interrogating their own beliefs. Once their convictions have gone through rigorous scrutiny, revised into the best, brightest versions of themselves they can be, a Hope player is a worker of miracles - speaking into existence a beautiful future on faith alone, proclaiming that how they see the world is how the world shall be.

Rage, then, is the power of denial. If Hope reduces the "fakness" of a thing, then Rage reduces its "realness". Rage, too, is a means of defining reality, in this case taking a torch to the aspects of reality that it rejects. In more passive Classes, this works in subtler ways, stoking others towards destructive fury. Rage is associated with anarchy, chaos, revolution, destruction, anger, and nihilism. A Rage player will not suffer a world that does not satisfy them, breaking it to pieces, such that something new can take its place.

Therefore, Rage players are prone to harboring anger and resentment, discontentment with the status quo, and faith only in that what currently exists must somehow be dismantled. However, unlike Hope players, who can't help but be pathetically sincere, Rage players are incredibly self-conscious, and often try to mask and hide their embitterment and anger. This, ironically, leads to further ostracization, as others can tell they're being inauthentic. This only further compounds their sense of alienation, and drives them further into smoldering resentment. This makes Rage players sound volatile and dangerous, and they are - but the same fury that moves them is the fury that ignites revolts and tears down oppressive regimes, a necessary and vital well of energy and momentum. It takes careful handling to ensure that the team's Rage player can channel this energy towards righteous causes, rather than marking all as a target for their destructive ire.

In the worst-case scenario, the Rage player turns that rage out indiscriminately, deciding that there is nothing worth fighting for - only unpleasant things to be brought to ruin. This is Rage at its toxic overabundance. Conversely, a Rage player can retreat so harshly into their mask that they allow others to dictate their beliefs, taking them to heart - an action motivated by Rage's destruction (this time, turned inwards) that superficially resembles Hope's convictions and faith.

The true path for a Rage player is a healthy balance - to allow themselves some of Hope's sincerity, and by doing so, to become more sincere and true. This will let them release the pressure of their mounting ire, such that it can be converted into productive, rather than destructive, energy - the heralds of a revolution, razing away the faulty, corrupt old systems such that something better and new can take their place.

CLASS

As previously stated, Class governs a character's character arc - the character's starting circumstances, whether their conflict is primarily internal or external, and what major aspect of their Aspect becomes a hurdle for them to overcome.

In the same way an Aspect's sways tie into the character's base personality, the character's Class abilities tie into the kinds of struggles they face, and have great influence on how their Aspects manifest.

That being said, a character - and their Class - are always subject to their Aspect, as their Aspect is tied fundamentally into who they are. Thus, it can be said that a Light player will always have an affinity for knowledge and provide Seer-esque guidance even when not in a Seer role, a Doom player will always have prophetic abilities even with a non-prophetic class (note that Mituna, an Heir, still had prophetic visions, despite those generally being the realm of Mages and Seers), and a Life player will always have a penchant for healing, even paired with a destructive Class like Prince or Thief (the Condesce, after all, could still extend life; a Prince of Life would likely manifest not as one who causes plants to wither and die (this would actually suit a Prince of Doom), but one who destroys in the way of nature overtaking an abandoned shack, or a forest breaking down a body).

This means that when a character's Classpect inverts their Aspect, it doesn't mean that they suddenly become a hero of the opposing Aspect - rather, it means that, at their very worst - at the nadirs of their character arcs - they will lean so much into their Aspect's worst traits that it will superficially appear as the opposite, when all it really is is an absence of themselves. Dave, a Time player, usually so attentive to detail (despite his disaffected facade, he's always paying rapt attention to Karkat's rants, and noticing all the clues pointing to his destiny of defeating LE), at his lowest emotional point (arguing with Grimbark Jade after sobbing about his lost childhood whimsy), states that he doesn't think Lord English is that big a deal, and never even did anything directly bad to him or his friends - when he was literally directly haunted by LE via Cal his entire childhood. Similarly, Rose drinks herself stupid in order to cope with her mother's death.

Note how, superficially, this almost appears to be an invocation of Space's "big picture thinking," its passivity and permissibility, or how Rose's case appears to be Void's tendency to indulge in vices and pleasure - but they're not. Time's worst traits superficially resemble Space, Light's resemble Void, and vice versa - Grimbark Jade is the Condesce's taskmaster, and Porrim at her worst was as much of a nag as Kankri, trying to do a Time player's managerial job. Horuss and Equius at their worst won't shut up and won't stop talking over their partners. So on and so forth.

Finally, Calliope tells us a couple things about Active/Passive pairings. The first is that Calliope introduces the idea of paired classes with the idea that both Rogues and Thieves "steal" (and later, that both Princes and Bards "destroy"). This presents the idea that both classes can be roughly summed up with the idea that every pairing can be summed up with a common theme.

The second is her description of what makes a Class Active versus Passive - that Active Classes move their Aspect to benefit themselves, whereas Passive Classes allow their Aspect to be moved in order for others to benefit. In a way, they're like active and passive voice in grammar (to tie in with the way Classes and Aspects are so tied to ideas of narrative and character arc) - an Active Class performs their Aspect, and a Passive Class allows the Aspect to be performed "by others" (the famous piece of advice regarding telling the two apart being that a sentence written in passive voice can have "by zombies" tacked to the end of it - eg, John is attacked "by zombies", as compared to active voice - John attacks).

Thus, the Class pairings, along with their basic themes, are as follows:

KNIGHT - / MAID +

"One who controls."

Knights and Maids are paired together through two key factors: the first is that they both hold leadership or managerial roles; the second is that both classes carry the connotation of serving a Lord. Fittingly, they are both struggle with the control of malicious forces - Knights with prophecies indicating their role as heroes, Maids with direct usurpation by malicious forces.

PAGE - / HEIR +

"One who inherits."

Pages and Heirs are paired together because they both fundamentally deal with the great inheritances placed before them. Pages can come into incredible, limitless power - but they must struggle and work hard for it; Heirs begin the game in societal comfort and wealth, and must learn to defect from their decadence.

THIEF - / ROGUE +

"One who steals."

Thieves and Rogues are highly adaptable, as Thieves are capable of fantastic on-the-fly adaptation, whereas Rogues have an infinite toolbox at their disposal. They are both provocateurs, shakers of the status quo, though the Thief does so for personal gain, while the Rogue does so to right injustice.

MAGE - / SEER +

"One who guides."

Mages and Seers are tied together by the gift of prophecy and future sight. Seers are privy to the endless branching paths that the future may take, while Mages are gifted with the ability to outright determine a future that will certainly happen, appearing to be prophecy.

WITCH - / SYLPH +

"One who changes."

Witches and Sylphs are individuals blessed with great magic, but poor judgement. Sylphs heal and nurture, but are drawn to those with strong desires, and enable them to cause great harm; Witches, meanwhile, possess strong emotions, which they often use as moral guidance, for better or worse.

PRINCE - / BARD +

"One who destroys."

Princes and Bards are representatives of society - the one who determines its course, and the one who recounts its passing. Princes suffer from a toxic overabundance of Aspect, and are prone to spectacular meltdowns, whereas Bards are always poised for a crisis of faith. Both are responsible for catastrophic failures - but also breathless victories.

INDIVIDUAL CLASSES

KNIGHT

"One who controls [Aspect] or controls using [Aspect]."

Knights are frontline warriors, rallying points behind which the party falls into line. Although they are often leaders, just as often, they are logistical planners, strategists, or simply the team's beating heart. They are almost always thrust into positions of narrative significance, often carrying grand destinies or even outright heroic prophecies on their shoulders. The are the party's rallying force, its center, and a guiding light - the one to lead the charge, behind which the party will follow.

The primary character struggle a Knight will have is with crippling insecurity. Knights are prone to self-loathing and imposter syndrome, and will often adopt a façade in direct opposition to their aspect (ie, their fundamental personality) in order to cope with their feelings of inadequacy. Thus, their relationship with their aspect becomes love/hate - though they're naturally drawn to their aspect, and even naturally skilled at utilizing it, they have a tendency to become their own worst enemy, as their insecurities make them push their façades, and their façades distance them from their aspect.

"Controlling their Aspect" means that the Knight has easy access to their Aspect, wielding it like a tool or weapon - for good or for ill; "controlling using their Aspect" is what grants Knights their leadership abilities, able to dictate how others ought to act in accordance with the Knight's Aspect - whether their understanding of their Aspect is high or low, whether their advice is good or bad.

Therefore, at their worst, a Knight will fall prey to their insecurities, retreating into their facades, rejecting their Aspect, which will allow disharmony or misuse of it to proliferate throughout the team. They may even wind up deliberately twisting their Aspect's presence within the team so that they never have to be confronted by it; these distortions ripple outwards and eventually culminate in major catastrophes, all on account of the Knight's negligence.

But at their best, a Knight is a shining beacon and guiding light; when they come to terms with themselves, and allow themselves to be comfortable in their own skin - when they no longer allow themselves to be ruled by their insecurities and anxieties - they ensure that their aspect is harmonious wherever it appears throughout their party, and can wield it expertly as a weapon, as if it were their own flesh and blood.

MAID

"One who allows control through [Aspect] or allows [Aspect] to be controlled."

Unlike Knights, which take positions of frontline prominence, a Maid is a managerial presence in the backlines, though no less crucial for the smooth functioning of a party. Just as the invisible hands of the hired help keep a household running, the Maid will be called upon to provide vital services to keep the game stable, even if those services are more noticeable by their absence than their presence. Maids are often the party's unsung heroes or even shadow leaders, tugging at invisible strings, fingers on the pulse.

A Maid's primary character struggle will be that of escaping oppression. Maids tend to start the game in positions of subjugation or subservience, especially to malicious forces, and their abilities often end up being exploited to serve their masters' ends. Therefore, one may even have the impression that a Maid is ruled by their aspect, held prisoner and slave - at least until they're able turn the tables.

"Allowing their Aspect to be controlled" means that Maids are capable of directly dispensing their aspect unto others - a Maid of Time can dispense time unto foes, pausing them in their tracks; a Maid of Life can grant so much life that they can revive the dead. Their boons are great and direct, straightforward in a similar manner to Knights. "Allowing control through their Aspect" grants them their uncanny managerial abilities, as their aspect dictates the realm in which nothing occurs without the Maid's knowledge or permission, a realm made available to whomever the Maid's allegiance lies with.

Thus, at their worst, the Maid becomes a saboteur. Exploited by malign forces, their abilities to allow control over others through their aspect, or control of their aspect, makes them perfect vehicles by which their aspect can be hijacked or usurped, and made to turn against the party, and they often find themselves placed into these positions through no fault of their own. It takes the party banding together to shake off the forces that would keep a Maid in bondage.

However, at their best, Maids ensure that the party can never go too far off the rails. There is a place for everything, and everything will be in its place; a Maid is a supply line, a safe haven, and a promise that everything will be neat and tidy when the party returns from war. When the Maid belongs to themselves, their homestead becomes a fortress, and nothing occurs under the Maid's watchful eye without their express permission.

PAGE

"One who works to inherit [Aspect] or inherits [Aspect] for themselves."

Pages are a class defined by promise. As the name suggests, a Page begins weak, but has the great potential to develop into one of the most powerful players in the game. The exact nature of a Page's powers are vague, not because they are insignificant, but because they are so great that it's difficult to encompass them all. At the apex of their arcs, Pages are capable of miraculous feats, overpowering even Lords and Muses - if only they could reach that point and stay there.

A Page begins the game weakest of all, reflective of their long journey of growth. Where most classes only fall into deficit of their Aspect at their lowest emotional points, Pages begin their arcs in deficit - exhibiting character traits opposite to those their Aspect normally encompasses. Moreso than any other class, a Page must learn to grow into their Aspect. Weak-willed, naive, and easily hurt, Pages require careful nurturing if they're to come into their own.

"Working to inherit their Aspect" describes the endless journey of growth the Page must undertake - one with many missteps, backslides, and setbacks along the way. Still, they "inherit their aspect," meaning that their full potential, when realized, is overwhelmingly great - practically becoming their Aspect in humanoid form, capable of utilizing it to its glorious full potential.

However, their nature defeats them, and even if they can attain this state, the Page usually can't stay there for long. At their very worst, the Page's deficit of their Aspect's better qualities can turn the Page into a gravitic well of misfortune - an albatross about the party's neck, the centerpoint, if not inciting incident, of a massive disaster, as their team is sucked in by the Page's natural weakness.

But this is only true as it contrasts to a Page at their best - having grappled and won with the greatest of all weakness, a Page is poised to come into the greatest of all strength. Shown kindness, compassion, and support, a Page at full power reflects a party at their best. A Page at full strength is breathtaking to behold, an unstoppable force of nature, their Aspect made manifest.

HEIR

"One whom [Aspect] grants inheritance or inherits [Aspect] for others."

Heirs, in contrast to Pages, start the game strong. They usually belong to the upper echelons of their respective societies, a position of great wealth, leisure, and comfort, and are set to be inheritors of even greater wealth. Similarly, their Aspect comes to them as if of its own will - it is powerful, but difficult for the Heir to control, reflecting the wealth and status they've enjoyed as birthright.

An Heir's main challenge is that of examining their privilege, and learning where they wish to spread the gift they've been given. Because of their positions of sheltered comfort, Heirs are not particularly world-wise, and often harbor massive blind spots to the suffering of others and the ills of society. As such, they tend to be fairly aimless, given great power but no strong motivations, and have a tendency to simply indulge in their Aspect without contributing great help or hindrance to their team at all.

The Heir's Aspect is practically an independent entity. Being one whom "their Aspect grants them inheritance" refers to how the Heir starts powerful, able to summon their Aspect to perform great, miraculous acts. However, it is highly intuitive and difficult to control. The Heir's challenge lies not in attaining great power, but in attaining control over, and the ability to direct, their existing abilities. Once they do, they can "inherit their Aspect for others" - Heirs become a conduit through which their party can experience their Aspect, making it a usable pool of wealth for them all to draw from. However, because of their comfortable positions, many Heirs end up dallying, finding no pressing need to do so.

But this dallying hides a ticking clock. An Heir's inheritance will come to them, one way or another, and if they aren't ready to receive the great responsibilities that come with such great power, then the power will eventually consume them. An Heir with no clear direction will eventually become lost to their Aspect, entirely removing both from play. Like how wealthy inheritors simply become part of the status quo, so, too, does an Heir disappear into their Aspect, fixing it in place.

Thus, Heirs must learn where they have been blind, where they have been foolish, and what it means to be underprivileged. Then, once they turn their energies towards addressing those injustices - to taking responsibility for building a better future - when their wealth comes to them, they'll be able to distribute it where it's needed most. An Heir, fully-realized, brings their Aspect to heel, and makes it a resource available to their entire team, as if welcoming them all into the family.

THIEF

"One who steals [Aspect] or steals using [Aspect]."

Thieves are, as the name suggests, greedy - much of their arc revolves around a desire to amass wealth, though what's considered "wealth" varies based on the Thief and especially their Aspect. They tend to be callous people by nature, capable of ignoring or trampling over the feelings of others in order to take what they want, in the hopes of filling an emotional void the Thief may not even be fully aware of.

The Thief's playstyle is one of careful resource management. Reflecting a natural tendency to take "wealth" from others, Thieves are unable to use their Aspect without first "stealing" it - a subtractive act which leaves the victim bereft of the Aspect, weakening them in the process. Because of the finicky nature of these abilities, it takes great cunning to be a Thief, and the Class both demands and requires the player to be adaptable, flexible, and quick on their feet, able to effect complicated schemes and engineer the perfect situations for their powers to have the greatest effect. Thieves aren't necessarily strong, but they have a very high victory ratio, because they're experts at turning a situation to their own advantage.

"Stealing their Aspect" refers to the fundamental way in which the Thief class is played, this resource management game; "stealing using their Aspect" reflects how the Thief often becomes a malignant force within the party, viewing their own teammates as caches of wealth to plunder. Thieves are naturally prone to hurting others for their own purposes, craving drama and attention, and being of such callous dispositions that they're able to perform extreme acts of cruelty given the right motivations.

Thieves often become a target of ire within the party, disruptive forces whose quest for personal wealth and fulfillment comes at the cost of those around them. At their worst, they can bring so much heat down upon their own shoulders that the party feels the need to treat them like an enemy, which is disastrous for party harmony. Moreover, it's disastrous for the Thieves themselves, as Thieves seek wealth to compensate for some emotional emptiness, and making enemies of their friends only serves to deepen their ennui.

Thus, a Thief must be taught that true happiness and fulfillment doesn't come from the struggle for wealth, but from the building of something better with those they care about. A Thief, thus turned to heroic purposes, becomes the party's pinch hitter - an adaptable spy, an unpredictable maverick, an element of surprise - and above all, a reliable ally, capable of turning any tide in the party's favor.

ROGUE

"One who steals from [Aspect] or steals [Aspect] for others."

Rogues, on the other hand, call to mind such figures as Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to distribute to the poor. Rogues are at their best when they're agents of a well-planned heist, as they possess an unlimited toolbox - their own Aspect - to play with. Their Aspect is a treasure trove, just waiting for the Rogue to plunder it and share its riches - if only the Rogue can figure out how.

Rogues are forces of revolution. They naturally carry a rebellious spirit, one which bristles at injustice, takes a stand against authority, and questions the status quo. Their ideas are unfocused, however; they know they must rebel, but usually don't start with a clear idea of against who or what. They know that their society is injust, but they don't know how to address that injustice. They know there are villains, and may even know these villains' identity, but they don't know how best to defy them. In a similar way, they're often lost as to how to utilize their Aspect beyond its most basic applications, and usually require external assistance in order to bring out its full potential.

Rogues' true potential lies in "stealing from their Aspect" - an additive act, rather than a subtractive one, as a Thief's stealing is. Rogues are capable of removing their own Aspect's sway over another entity, allowing it to exhibit the characteristics of the opposite Aspect; a Rogue of Void can create things out of nothing, a Rogue of Heart can tease out behaviors and actions. They can also "steal their Aspect for others," allowing them access to their own Aspect's suite of abilities as well. This allows the Rogue incomparable flexibility, their abilities - like their dispositions - rebellious and subversive.

But their rebellious spirit, coupled with their lack of understanding as to who their real enemies are, is dangerous when left unchecked. Rogues often suffer from a failure to start, giving up on trying to understand the deeper implications of their abilities, and of the society they can't seem to find contentment in - but they can also suffer from a worse fate: rebellion without a cause. Rogues' free spirits can lead to them bucking the status quo in ways that actively harm others, performing acts of taboo or poor taste just because that rebellious energy needs to be put to use somewhere. These can have disastrous knock-on consequences, as some things are taboo for good reason.

Thus, Rogues need to be guided - to make connections with others, and come to a greater understanding of the world at large. Once they know their target, and what needs to be done, the Rogue makes sure there are no obstacles along the way - no safe is uncrackable, no prison inescapable, and no problem unsolvable, so long as the Rogue is there to work their magic.

MAGE

"One who guides [Aspect] or guides [Aspect] for themselves."

Mages are prophets, of the "always correct" variety - or so it seems. In actuality, Mages don't "predict" the future, they "choose" it - in a setting where the future is mutable, the Mage's ability is to speak into existence a future they desire, to tip the scales of causality and collapse possibilities into a single definite course. Their Aspect is the lens through which their "prophecy" occurs, a realm in which they command the fabric of reality itself.

As if to karmically balance this incredible power, Mages are afflicted by deep and terrible sadness. They start the game miserable, having been subjected to the greatest injustices their Aspect can offer, tormented by guilt, shame, and self-loathing. Their worldview has been shadowed with a lens of suffering and anguish, and so, too, is their view of the future. Mages usually begin the game having already set several prophecies into motion, and these early prophecies are usually obstacles that the party must overcome.

Mages "guide their Aspect" - this refers to the way their prophecies, that is, their chosen futures, always come true. Their visions may be limited to the sway of their Aspect, but it remains a powerful ability nonetheless. "Guiding their Aspect for themselves," then, outlines the Class's Active nature - the futures the Mage picks must be ones the Mage believes will come to pass.

Unfortunately, Mages have a tendency to pick ugly futures. This isn't out of malice or anger; this is because Mages start the game sad, and without intervention, grow sadder. They're prone to spirals of negativity, self-loathing, and depression, and as their outlook dims, so, too, do their forecasts. Mages suffer, but even suffering can grow familiar - can even appear comfortable or desirable, if the Mage suffers long enough. It's easy for them to grow so accustomed to misery that misery is the only outcome they can see - spelling doom for the rest of the party, one prediction at a time.

But a Mage whose party shows them kindness and forgiveness, compassion and empathy, can pull them out of their misery. How beautiful, then, the future appears! A Mage who believes in a brighter future is a force to be reckoned with. When a Mage can bring themselves to say, "and everyone lived happily ever after," you had better believe they did.

SEER

"One who who is guided by [Aspect] or guides [Aspect] for others."

Seers, meanwhile, are the true future-sighted, able to see the myriad paths the future could take. Like Mages, their Aspect serves as the lens by which their vision is colored; the Seer can sense, with fine accuracy, which paths are closest to the sway of their aspect, and which paths will take them further away. As if gifted with a guide to the game, their intuition is tied directly to the mechanics of SBURB, and they serve as the party's guides, a role indispensable in a game with so many moving parts.

Seers will struggle with blindness, first by hubris and ego, and then by self-harm. Seers begin the game quite full of themselves, proud of their prowess in their Aspect - usually arrogantly so. When this pride is inevitably shattered, Seers have a tendency to deal with their feelings of shame and guilt with willful, self-induced blindness - as if flipping a switch, they become ashamed of the pride they once placed in their Aspect, and seek to place as much distance between it and themselves as possible. There's comfort in ignorance, even if it renders the Seer useless.

Seers are "guided by their Aspect" - able to sense its presence, they gravitate toward it, and towards futures with it in abundance. And, in the same way, they "guide their Aspect for others," lighting the way for others down the path of greatest reward. Seers truly love their Aspect, no matter how much they may misplace their faith in it, and seeking it out is a great joy for them.

This is why a Seer at their worst is so tragic. By inducing intentional blindness within themselves, they are functionally deadening the strongest part of their soul. No matter the temporary relief this brings to the sharp, jagged pain of shame, it invariably deepens the Seer's suffering, as they deny themselves not only their own joy, but their ability to help others - another act which inherently delights them.

Thus, a Seer needs to be made to deal with their shattered ego head-on, to accept their own shortcomings, to become at ease with the idea that they don't have all the answers. Once their vision becomes clear, and their view becomes honest, the party nevermore has to fear becoming lost or straying from the path - the Seer will see to that.

WITCH

"One who changes [Aspect] or changes [Aspect] in others."

Witches are the winds of change, tweaking reality all around them until it suits their desires. A Witch is presence that commands both fear and respect, and their Aspect bows down before them, reduced to a mere minion in the Witch's presence, ready to attend to all their needs. In a way, the Witch's powers are straightforward - they can manipulate their Aspect as they desire, changing its qualities as they see fit. "How they see fit," then, is where the issue lies.

Witches are usually of "outsider" status, never truly being part of the society from which the rest of the party descends. Free from the same rules and common sense that govern the others on their team, Witches instead operate on a value system heavily reliant on their own emotions. What a Witch deems to be correct, to be true, or to be righteous, are often based not in any objective measure, but in subjective, emotional bias - and they're emotional creatures, indeed. Prone to fits of great anger, Witches can be benevolent one second and malicious the next, and their abilities let them imprint, to a greater degree than any other Class, their desires onto the world that comes after them.

Witches "change their Aspect," as in, the crux of their abilities lies in manipulating the qualities of their Aspect in their surroundings - extending, shortening, magnifying, shrinking, growing, removing… so on and so forth. It's a fearsome power. They also "change their Aspect for themselves" - their Aspect is hapless but to obey their desires; Witches change the world to suit themselves, and their feelings of how things "should" be often become how things "are" in short order.

Thus, a Witch who has been swayed toward evil entities and nefarious ends is a truly dangerous opponent - and it is unfortunately easy for this to happen. Witches' social isolation means they tend to trust their emotions, and a force that flatters these emotions can easily win a Witch's trust. By the same token, those that fail to flatter the Witch are often considered enemies, even if they're benevolent forces. A Witch's morality can thus become warped and topsy-turvy, which has grave consequences for the world that the Witch then shapes.

Therefore, a Witch's struggle lies in learning to see beyond their own emotions, to take in the opinions and assistance of others even when it seems superficially unpleasant, to move beyond the childlike rejection of that which is uncomfortable. Once able to see a more nuanced form of right and wrong, once able to tell evil from good, Witches can build even utopia.

SYLPH

"One who allows [Aspect] to change others or changes [Aspect] for others."

Sylphs are nurturers and healers; they bring to mind fey folk whose very footsteps cause plants to grow. Wherever they go, whatever they touch, all becomes suffused with the Sylph's Aspect, which flourishes under their careful cultivation. Sylphs adore their Aspect, and their Aspect adores them; Sylphs generally feel at peace with themselves, surrounding themselves with what they like.

A Sylph's main challenge - or rather, the main challenge that Sylphs wind up posing the rest of the party - is that Sylphs are enablers. They're attracted to those with strong wills and extreme dispositions, amused by the havoc they wreak and pleased by their attention. Sylphs love to pick out favorites and lavish them with care and attention, excusing any wrongdoing on their behalf and shielding them from consequences. At the same time, those who don't strike the Sylph's capricious fancy find themselves discarded in the Sylph's mind, shut out from the boons the Sylph can provide.

A Sylph is "one who allows their Aspect to change others" - this almost always manifests as healing, as it's an additive ability (that is to say, the Sylph can grant more of their Aspect to someone). "Changing their Aspect for others," on the other hand, explains this enabling nature of theirs - the Sylph will intervene to make the world into a playground for their favored individuals, even to the point of turning other, less "interesting" teammates into playthings for the Sylph's beloved.

Thus, while the Sylph themself isn't particularly prone to wild mood swings and acts of malice, their influence can still cause disaster by allowing unscrupulous individuals to flourish - even encouraging their worst tendencies. A Sylph's touch is subtle, but that subtlety only lends it an insidious quality, as the Sylph quietly works against the good of the many for the cruel, selfish pleasures of the few. At their very worst, the Sylph can deem themselves their only favorite, and render everyone else a minor character in their one-man show.

Thus, Sylphs must be challenged. They must be made to reckon with the fact that favorable treatment is not necessarily kindness, and that bias can easily become harm. When a Sylph is able to grasp the difference between bias and doing good, and tune their approach toward that greater good, uncolored by bias and personal preference, then there is no place safer, kinder, and more conducive to growth than the Sylph's embrace.

PRINCE

"One who destroys [Aspect] or destroys using [Aspect]."

Princes are the most anxious, psychologically anguished members of a party. They suffer from a toxic overabundance of their Aspect - its traits are taken to an extreme, and not only the Prince, but those around them, are made to suffer for it. Princes are naturally set on a path of self-destruction, the culmination of their uncontrolled accumulation of their Aspect, and their meltdowns are spectacular, taking their Aspect - and whoever is unlucky enough to be in the same room - with them.

A Prince's challenge, therefore, is as simple to understand as it is difficult to overcome. The Prince needs to learn how to calm down, relax, and find inner peace. Princes are terribly prone to circular thinking and downward spirals. Their natural inclination is to feel anxious and responsible, like they carry the weight of the world, and this causes them to act out in extreme and aggressive ways. Eventually, others pull away, put off by the Prince's intensity. This only deepens the Prince's malaise, and Princes are - pushed by this hovering sense of urgency and catastrophe - willing to employ drastic, desperate measures to enforce compliance with their wills. They wake on their moons early, reflective of their driven natures. They're determined to a frightful degree, and no sacrifice is too great, no work too dirty, if it means achieving what they see as the greater good.

Princes "destroy their Aspect" in this way - by presenting their Aspect at its worst, they make others take distance, ruining it for everyone else. Their hard wills, intense emotions, and unshakeable drive to do what (they feel) needs to be done - at any cost - is their source of power. Thus, Princes "destroy using their Aspect" - their toxic overabundance of Aspect lets them channel it into a pure, annihilatory force; what they lack in the delicate utility of the other classes, they make up for in raw, ruinous power. Princes can easily deal the greatest damage in a combat scenario, their ability to destroy overriding nearly everything that would stand against it.

Thus is the problem with Princes. They're ticking time-bombs of anxiety and frustration; when they finally go off, they carve a path of destruction, before ultimately self-destructing, leaving no trace of their Aspect behind. Not only that, but it's very difficult to defuse the bomb early; Princes have finicky, aggressive, and complicated personalities, and tend to react poorly to straightforward attempts to calm them down and reason with them. They often appear to be their own worst enemies, marching inexorably toward their own destruction.

But Princes not only can be saved, but must be saved. They must be saved because kindness and compassion must exist for their own sake, and a Prince rescued from their own worst tendencies is living proof of the truth of that sentiment. A Prince, given the peace they need to reorient their priorities, will not rest until they see a brighter future realized. They will be the first to rise, and the last man standing, banishing - as if by royal decree - all obstacles, all enemies, all misfortune, and all ills.

BARD

"One who invites destruction through [Aspect] or allows [Aspect] to be destroyed."

Bards are the wild cards of a party, responsible for both improbable victories and catastrophic defeats - sometimes both in a single session. The methods by which a Bard works are a mystery to even the Bard themselves, which make it easy for the party to dismiss their powers - and, by extension, the Bard themselves. After all, who would expect there to be consequences for something so ridiculous as a Bard?

Bards are usually targets of abject ridicule by their teams. They can't help it - they're religious types, or at least types that hold great, lofty, ridiculous beliefs near and dear to their hearts. A Bard's primary struggle invariably winds up being a crisis of faith. Bards begin the game with a positive, "correct" faith in their Aspect; however, something will inevitably occur that shakes the Bard's faith in this viewpoint to its core. In this state, Bards are incredibly fragile, and it's very easy for them to succumb to whispers of cruelty and destruction, for their beliefs to warp, and for the Bard to come to serve the worst aspects of the society they represent.

A Bard "invites destruction through their Aspect" - their powers are subtle, but have catastrophic effects. Bards are instinctively drawn towards causing the first flap of a butterfly's wing, which cascades into a grand, impossible karmic backlash. They "allow their Aspect to be destroyed" by being the conduits for the forces of their faith - whatever faith they hold - to wreak unimaginable consequences across the game.

The Demon Bull King was, presumably, the sworn brother to Sun Wukong and the two shared a history. To say Sun Wukong would fight him without pause is.. incorrect, to say the least. The pilot story goes on to show us the amount of confidence Sun Wukong has during this fight but it never stops to show how they talked or interacted during the fight. Sun Wukong has a habit of talking during his fights (light laughter to small comments) but they removed that and replaced it for a more “fitting” image of a hero: Silence and serious, only letting out small chuckles when it’s clear that he’s won the fight.

After their fight, he traps DBK under a mountain for presumably 500 years until the show’s timeline is caught up. The very same punishment he was given from Buddha after his own wrecking havoc amongst Heaven. In summary: the narrative wants us to see that Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, willingly trapped what had been his sworn brother under a mountain the very same punishment Heaven gave to him and traumatized him for over 500 years.

“The king sealed the mountain with the staff that no other being could wield, trapping the Demon Bull King forever.” 

“Forever” implies that Sun Wukong would never lift the staff himself to release his friend and the implications that Wukong willingly wanted to give up the one sole weapon that helped him shape himself into an idealistic hero for the sake of containing one demon is intense. The staff is more than a weapon to Wukong when you take into consideration how big of a part it was in his journey, into becoming the Monkey King that is idolized and loved in the narratives historians write when wanting to tell the tale of a hero. Sun Wukong doesn’t even appear to look satisfied in this story, he hesitates for a moment before letting go of the staff and even then he’s frowning at the result of the battle. 

“With the battle won, the Monkey King vanished, never to be seen again.”

Sun Wukong going into “hiding” after losing his only weapon is realistic: he’s had an intense journey and this was, presumably, his final fight before “retiring” and he had to give up his prized possession for the sake of keeping the Demon Bull King at bay. He’s isolating himself; easily, Wukong could have carried on with his duties as a “hero” and kept fighting demons but instead he chose to live off on Flower Fruit Mountain for hundreds of years and doesn’t make a public appearance throughout the course of the show’s history regardless of what movies or show or television announcements are made throughout canon — he isolated himself. 

“He has a movie based off of him!” as does every other superhero, fictional or otherwise, to say that he participated in creating this show or series is a stretch considering he’s been secluded on Flower Fruit Mountain with no company other than his monkeys.

“What about his lawyer?” that was a gag and a comedic moment but, again, the fact that he’s not actively responding to these messages has the same appeal as “I don’t want people to know where I am or if I’m still active”.  This could be brushed off as laziness or simply uncaring but he’s not a lazy character, even in certain moments he’s been simply unmotivated.

Wukong’s first appearance after sealing away DBK was in the form of a bird, first seen when Xiaotian’s delivering the order to the Demon Bull Family, actively paying attention to Red Son removing the staff. He doesn’t transform or react much to DBK’s release and actively nudges Xiaotian to enter the scene and acquire the staff. Although the scenario could be easily questioned with “why didn’t he step in to save Xiaotian? Why did he stand there to watch?” and the answer is simple: because the narrative didn’t want him to get involved. The show wants to highlight Xiaotian as the protagonist and having Sun Wukong step in would disrupt that. A deeper view into it would be that he didn’t want to step out of his hiding and be thrusted back into “hero work” after 500 years of being MIA. 

When Xiaotian enters the waterfall curtain cave, the first mural we see is of Monkey King wearing his circlet with the rest of the crew smudged out or blurry. What makes this important is the history of Wukong’s trauma involving the circlet. Although it was given to him by accident on Tripitaka’s extent (the monk did not know what the circlet was other than an additional accessory to Wukong’s outfit) it still played an important role into forcing Wukong to change into a perfect “disciple” for the monk throughout his journey. 

The rest of the scene is rather simple: snippets of Wukong’s life before becoming the Monkey King and what inevitably led to the war against Heaven. 

“When he got his staff from the Dragon of the East!”

(In the original text there’s several versions as to how Wukong acquired his staff: one is that he entered the Dragon of the East’s palace and asked if he could gain a weapon from him after killing the demon king of confusion and Ao Guang, out of fear that the monkey would try to kill him, offered to let Wukong try out several weapons until the dragon king’s wife suggested the pillar used to measure the ocean’s depths, claiming that it started to glow on Wukong’s arrival. Satisfied with how heavy the staff was and how easily it was to change its shape, Wukong thanked the dragon for the weapon and the clothes gifted to him and promptly left. Another version involves Wukong simply taking the pillar without asking and leaving the dragons confused on why he didn’t choose any of the weapons they laid out for him. Later on Xiaotian and Pigsy both proceed to ask Wukong if he stole the staff, which is assuming that the story of how he obtained his staff is not reliable in a sense of “there’s so many retellings of this moment that it’s best to leave it vague”).

Two moments that aren’t narrated are the ones where Wukong is facing the main antagonists of the show: DBK, Princess Iron Fan, Yin and Jin, Spider Queen and Macaque; and the second is when he’s bowing down to Tripitaka, his old master.

What separates these two moments is the vagueness of it all: Why Wukong chose to fight against the antagonists show and whether or not his relationship with Tripitaka was one-sided in terms of care and affection. To show Wukong bowing down to someone with a stressed expression and then refuse to show his face when going on against the demons in the show is meant to leave the situation up for interpretation but it hurts more to think about how the narrative portrays Wukong as heroic without wanting to reveal the “ugly” side of how he got to become a hero. It parallels well into how much of his past Wukong keeps hidden whether it be by avoiding questions about it or saying “not to worry about it”.

Upon meeting Xiaotian, Sun Wukong admits that he’s been watching Xiaotian and we get glimpses of scenarios where he does: during the delivery scene as a bird, during the boat as a butterfly and a semi-second frame of himself as a ladybug while Xiaotian was sleeping. This implies he’s been watching over Xiaotian since before he acquired the staff. Although this could very well be not related to canon at all, it was briefly mentioned in the lego monkie kid profile for Wukong that “he’s been searching for the right successor time and time again for the past 500 years” implying Wukong has tried to look for someone to train but none of them were able to keep up or Wukong was unable to train them properly. It’s also stated that Wukong did not choose his successor in Xiaotian, the staff did which parallels well into how the pillar glowed for Wukong to wield it when no other weapon could match his strength.

Wukong then goes on to tell Xiaotian that he’s going to become his successor and proceeds to stress eat while telling him he has to go fight DBK on his own while stress eating (something he does repeatedly throughout the show).

“Consider it a test trial.”

Wukong choosing to allow Xiaotian to handle DBK on his own is a perfect start to see if he's capable of using his own self confidence to fight without needing someone to hold his hand but while also knowing that he has support if he ever needs it.

“If you can lift the staff, you can use it. […] Believe in yourself. Even a smidge makes all the difference.”

The quote has become one that Wukong repeats throughout the lowest points of Xiaotian’s moments throughout the show. Sun Wukong could very easily go to take care of DBK and seal him away and never interact with Xiaotian again because “the danger is gone” which would have made for a poor narrative decision, not to mention forcing Wukong to relive the same moment of which he lost his main weapon and was forced to go into hiding. He encourages Xiaotian to fight DBK and openly believes in him (a non-lie, seeing as how he’s openly honest about his desire to not fight DBK for Xiaotian) and even follows him as a precaution in his bird form to watch over the human during the fight.

He doesn't tell Xiaotian to leave and then proceeds to stay in Flower Fruit Mountain stuffing his face with food uncaring — Sun Wukong chooses to follow Xiaotian presumably from the moment he left the waterfall cave and kept an eye on him through his fight with DBK. Xiaotian then tries to fight like Wukong did in the opening sequence and failed, instead having to do his own personal set of attacks to counter DBK and wins. Wukong acknowledges this and sees first hand how Xiaotian fighting style works: he needs self confidence and needs to know that he's capable of doing great things on his own.

But after the fight is done and he’s no longer needed: he leaves.

The first episode that highlights Wukong (the pilot) is him not wanting to be involved when he knows that, the moment that he is, he won't be allowed to go back. (See: Season 3’s involvement with him having to actively pursue the rings and make sure that Xiaotian and the rest don’t get involved with his actions more than they should for fear of losing them or hurting them on purpose). Sun Wukong is seen as an icon and a legend and that’s dangerous, his involvement with DBK meant that he was the first one to be sought out to solve the problem, no one turning to think that perhaps Xiaotian could give a helping hand to the situation, not even Xiaotian himself, and it isn’t until Wukong encourages him that he gains that moment of self-confidence and is able to control his powers and the staff. 

[SEASON 1 EP 1, 7 AND 9]

“And the only way to gain self confidence is [...] No! Practice! You think I took any shortcuts? [...] I had to fight so… many demons.”

The canon tie to Wukong in the books and to the show is the fact that he had to fight several tons of demons throughout his journey.. after acquiring his Monkey King title and becoming a pilgrim in Tripitaka’s journey to deliver the scriptures to the west. Meaning Wukong had trained approximately several hundred years before becoming the pilgrim to Tripitaka.

He canonically trained several years to get to his standing point and it's important to remember this as most people write his character off as lazy or uncaring when he's one of the most hard working ones in the show thus far, his dedication to becoming someone worth looking up to unmatched thus far by the cast of the show. He's no longer striving to be "the best" he just wants to be the one person who someone can trust to talk to when in need of assistance (which backfires as he is instead idolized to an unhealthy extent and put on a pedestal too high for him to climb down from).

(It's unsure if the show will tackle these years but if they do it's important to remember that Sun Wukong first master taught him the Daoist ways of learning immortality and proceeded to exile him when he started showing off his powers to the other students at the academy, forcing Wukong to go back to his kingdom and find it in disarray after the Demon King of Confusion threatened and hurt his monkey friends. It must also be remembered that Sun Wukong was, once again, exiled from Tripitaka's group and thrown into an emotionally stressful situation after Erlang burned down his mountain and poachers killed his beloved kingdom in his absence.

He was in an emotional unstable place when Pigsy, from the book, managed to talk Wukong into returning during his weakest point and he was back in the group of a family that easily blamed him when he was in the right for not trusting certain demons or encounters they had along the journey.

It was a rather toxic environment for Wukong and he endured all of it.)

Sun Wukong is not a perfect mentor by far but he is a good one. Throughout the course of the show he’s seen to truly care for Xiaotian and proceeds to do what it takes so the human is comfortable in terms of being able to control his skills and powers without hurting himself.  The one moment that some fans bring up is the one during the first episode when Wukong removes some of Xiaotian’s powers and his invincibility.

But they forget that the act was consented to by Xiaotian. 

“I know a way to limit your powers so you learn to control them [...] but you won’t be invincible anymore.” "Ok. Let's do it." "Alright! No turning back!"

Wukong warns him and even asks Xiaotian if he’s alright after removing both his invincibility (which is something that comes from Wukong’s own immortality times five) and Xiaotian doesn’t regret nor bring up this decision for the rest of the show. 

Sun Wukong is also blatantly aware of his decision of having become immortal and is, canonically, stressed out by this but never brings it up in a serious conversation.

"[...] And the residence of my soul that contemplates the fact that I am an immortal being, who will never be able to die."

The moment is used as a gag and where the main HC that Wukong has a lawyer prompted from but it's also a subtle tell that Wukong regrets his decision from over 3000 years ago that he chose to become immortal in many ways that make him unable to die. The extent of his decision means: watching his friends die, being unable to form bonds with mortals for they, too, will eventually die and leave him some day, he's been isolated for over 3000 years and unable to keep up with times due to the fact that when he turns around to take a closer look to the city everything's changed and he's unable to full keep up with it.

Aside from that: Impossible Delivery shows us how Wukong trains Xiaotian. To summarize it: he does a good job. Sun Wukong allows for Xiaotian to keep up without overexerting himself, he lets the human set the pace and puts obstacles for him to overcome without pushing Xiaotian beyond his breaking point. He doesn’t use his fists during their training exercise and instead settles for blocking and pushing Xiaotian back, only grabbing him to slam him down against the mountain when Xiaotian loses focus on the fight and allows himself to be grabbed.

He even verbally encourages Xiaotian (something his other mentor lacks to do throughout his short time in training him).

“Better. Way, way better. You're totally getting the hang of this, bud!”

Wukong allows for Xiaotian to be comfortable in his training and vocally encourages him when most others put him down or simply show their distaste for his lack of attention or when he goofs around, Wukong chooses positive reinforcement and pretends to be cocky about it (“You are getting trained by me!”) when he’s genuinely proud of how far Xiaotian has come since the beginning of his journey.

(My sibling Knox does a good job in showing the different aspects of how Wukong handles touching Xiaotian and making sure he’s not harmed.)

During Impossible Delivery, Xiaotian’s main goal is to learn how to focus. The episode is seen as ironic for even Xiaotian points out that Wukong is unable to focus according to his legends when, in truth, that’s not all that happens in the book but it’s what the narrative chooses for us to believe when addressing Sun Wukong. Wukong even dismisses these claims with non-serious remarks and is, again, shown to be eating peach chips when discussing his past actions and livelihood before becoming the idolized hero he is now.

He tells Xiaotian to take everything and choose what he wants to do and then do it as advice for focusing and although the verbal explanation of how to use it does little to effect Xiaotian’s view on him, the hands-on experience makes it easier for Xiaotian to overcome the challenge of being unfocused for the last few minutes of the episode. The fact that Wukong has trouble verbally communicating with others, be it his own successor or the brief instances where he talks to others, it’s due to the fact that.. He’s been isolated for over 500 years up until this point. As the Intelligent Stone Monkey, yes, he’s capable of quickly adapting to new environments and taking in new knowledge but he’s trying to do this slowly. He changes into a more “mentor-like” personality as opposed to the pilot and first episode, seeing as it was a rather slow introduction to his character, one would think he’s arrogant and confident and then here he lets Xiaotian point out his faults and flaws and refuses to address them in full. Masking is a process by which an individual changes or "masks" their natural personality to conform to social pressures. Thus far, we haven’t seen Wukong be genuine and takes on multiple masks throughout the show. 

Wukong doesn’t show disappointment nor does he care much that Xiaotian was late with his order, instead opts to go for a happier “you finally made it!” meaning he didn’t expect Xiaotian to deliver his meal in the expected time but wasn’t at all disproving of him and instead opted to hide it as a lesso (although it could be debatable whether he was intentionally using this to teach him a lesson or not, seeing as Wukong does canonically pretend to be stupid or dumb to lighten up the mood and Xiaotian was rather energetic when he approached him in this scenario). He continues to voice how proud he is of Xiaotian and only says “This isn’t my order” without hints of malice or disappointment in him — he doesn’t mind that Xiaotian got his order wrong and is rather patient with him throughout the course of the show. 

(Episode 9)

Sun Wukong’s trauma begins at a partial way through this episode. 

To summarize: Xiaotian is getting frustrated by Wukong’s teachings because he’s not going all out as he expected he was going to when training under Wukong’s guidance. After attempting to fight a Shadow Monster, Xiaotian meets Macaque and trains under him without Wukong knowing. Wukong confronts Xiaotian about using too much power that his body can’t handle which leads to Xiaotian going with Macaque to defeat the Shadow Monster only to get backstabbed by Macaque who then steals his powers and fights against Wukong. After Macaque is defeated by Xiaotian, Wukong and Xiaotian reconcile and the episode ends with Xiaotian “training” again under Wukong.

Wukong openly trusts Xiaotian by this point; Xiaotian is the one person Sun Wukong sees on a semi-daily basis due to training and allows for Xiaotian to get closer to him by establishing a bond of trust. He trusts Xiaotian to voice his concerns to him (such as being frustrated with how slow their training has been going and wanting to learn how to fight like Wukong) and is genuinely surprised when Xiaotian uses more force than Wukong has taught him to use after Macaque has trained him.

“[...] Using that much power, your body can’t handle it.”

Wukong’s concern for Xiaotian is also genuine, one of the few moments where he’s serious and he doesn’t think about chasing after Xiaotian until he sees Macaque’s symbol form on the back of his jacket. The realization that Xiaotian is in a toxic learning environment is what pushes Wukong to follow him from a far enough distance that he’s able to step in when Macaque ultimately betrays and hurts Xiaotian, badly enough that he cries when attempting to lift the staff again near the end of the episode. His anger towards Macaque resides in the fact that he’s hurt Xiaotian alongside the realization that it’s Macaque who hurt him — someone who he’s clearly had history with and thus the trust is further broken into pieces.

After this, Xiaotian and Wukong’s relationship seemingly goes back to normal — but the trauma that latches onto Wukong is the fact that Macaque was willing to kill or brutally harm Xiaotian during their fight. Shortly after pining Wukong down with his shadow clones, Macaque turns to attack Xiaotian (probably to further anger Wukong enough for him to go all out as he states he wants him to) and it’s clear in that instant that he’s not holding back.

When Macaque calls him out on being pathetic for not wanting to hurt Xiaotian, it indicates how much Wukong has grown to care for the human. Apart from the fact that Wukong’s been canonically isolated until the show’s present time, Wukong has also outlived most if not all of his friends and family. He’s lost dozens of people he’s cared for and those who hate him he’s shown to be familiar if only kept at a distance — when it comes to Xiaotian, Wukong treats him with extra care, he makes sure Xiaotian isn’t ever hurt in their training and actively makes sure not to push him past his breaking point. What brings forth Wukong to get angry at Xiaotian is not frustration over the fact he’s been mentored by someone else, it’s the fact that Xiaotian was hurt in the process and pushed past what his body could handle all at once.

Macaque continues to dangle Xiaotian’s safety over Wukong’s head like a treat to a dog throughout the show and doesn’t care for Xiaotian’s reaction for the possible the mentally of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and only backs away when a third party intervenes. 

Xiaotian’s safety is, among other things, one of Wukong’s top priorities and he puts him above his own safety at times, shielding and protecting him and attempting to do whatever he can to keep him safe at all costs. Regardless of whether he’ll get caught in the crossfire Wukong always reaches out to try and catch Xiaotian when he falls and protects him to the best he can from whatever danger is out to get him. 

The episode shows us that Wukong A) trusts Xiaotian to tell him everything only for the trust to be broken the moment Xiaotian begins training without telling Sun Wukong what he’s doing in his training and who he’s training with (along with Sun Wukong attempting to rekindle that trust in their bond), B) keeps Macaque at arm’s length even during their fight and doesn’t try to go all out on him even when preventing him from attacking Xiaotian, C) was not angry nor dismissive with Xiaotian after finding out he was training with someone else but was rather concerned and disappointed with the boy. 

“You remember what I’ve taught you.”

Wukong’s words of advice and concern go undermined throughout the show and even in the context of JTTW, the fact that Xiaotian remembered his words of “step into the strike” mean deeply to him because he listened to Wukong something that even his own supposed family never did.

“Your heart’s in the right place, kid. We can work on the rest.”

(NEW YEARS SPECIAL)

To summarize Wukong's appearance in the Special: He is first seen training Xiaotian before the New Years celebration (this implies that he's been training Xiaotian for approximately a year now) and teaches him how to use "misdirection" an actual tactic he commonly uses in the book and series later on. Wukong sets up a small picnic for him and Xiaotian to enjoy while watching the fireworks and doesn't seem surprised when Xiaotian comments he was meant to go join his friends and indirectly declines Wukong's invitation.

(A point that often comes up in the show is the fact that he's used to being isolated and alone, the fact that he doesn't react much to Xiaotian's decline to his invitation means he expected him not to stay in the first place)

However after Xiaotian agrees to stay Wukong is visibly more energetic than he's been in previous episodes: His voice is clearer and reaches a higher pitch when he yells out "fireworks!" (Sean does a good job in acting excited during this scene) and it's the only scene throughout the show where he's openly excited to be watching something (not counting S3 with the bunnies on Chang'e's moon for a specific reason). It’s heavily implied that Wukong has watched the celebrations by himself up until Xiaotian joins him and it’s the first time in (possible) centuries that he’s had company to engage with him during said celebration. The small animation of him jumping in visible excitement before perching himself next to Xiaotian is a small burst of unmasked happiness, which is quickly put away when he creates more food out of strands of his hair to eat (note: Wukong is one of the only characters throughout the show that doesn’t eat and only does so when Xiaotian and others are in the same scene with him or when he’s stressed  implying he doesn’t typically eat as a normal task).

After the fireworks are stopped and Xiaotian and Wukong realize it's due to Spider Queen (or Zhizhu in the mandarin dub) taking over the city. He jokingly points out the fireworks have stopped while Xiaotian worries over the city,

actively trying to lighten up the mood and shrugs it off before helping Xiaotian get to the other side of the mountain.

“[...] If you can’t handle a little spider, how are you meant to help me with that?”

Sun Wukong actively makes sure Xiaotian is comfortable; easily he could have forced or pushed Xiaotian to face Spider Queen and her spider-like mechs and possessed army to “get rid of that fear” but arachnophobia isn’t something that can be easily shaken off and can possibly lead to panic attacks and incredible amounts of stress for the person. Wukong instead tells Xiaotian to stay back and that he’ll handle it — this is the first time in the series where he does not want Xiaotian to get involved in fear of him getting hurt.

It’s interesting to see how this development happens post Episode 9 and how he seems to pay more attention to Xiaotian’s nervousness and stress than he did prior to Macaque's debut (Wukong’s character is known to respond to trauma by doing acts of service for the chance of making the victim (aside from himself) happy and comfortable). 

“I’ll handle this one.”

Wukong doesn’t interfere with Xiaotian’s battles unless he’s certain the boy has lost confidence in himself or cannot pick himself back up (see: the difference between DBK and Macaque’s battles is the fact Xiaotian had a support system for him at the ready for DBK, he had Xiaojiao, Zhu, Tang and Sandy ready to catch him and support him all throughout the fight and he was capable of fighting in his own style after gaining self confidence — as opposed to Macaque’s fight where he was angry and stressed and manipulated to a point where he felt useless due to Macaque’s words, losing confidence in himself and believing he wasn’t worthy of picking up the staff anymore); and for the entirety of this scene Wukong makes sure to play along with Spider Queen and draws it out a bit, attempting to have fun with the battle (“you’re too easy to read”) and then there’s a split second of animation where we see this:

Wukong’s initial reaction in recognizing LBD is to back away in disgust and anger, he wants to get away from her as quickly as possible (a small hint that he’s aware of her being able to possess others if one lets their guard down) and then after getting captured we get another visual gag of Wukong mocking Zhizhu for trapping him in webs, stating that they wouldn’t be enough to hold him down only for him to scream in agony moments later. Seconds after this we get the visual of Wukong’s power spreading rapidly:

(his power easily seems to spread like gold, the same type of practice used to fix broken stone by melting down gold and using it as “glue” to hold the pieces together, which is rather fitting considering Wukong is a stone monkey celestial-demon)

Although the focus is shifted to Xiaotian and his friends, we get glimpses of Wukong actively being serious in his captive situation if only for a split moment before purposefully angering DBK in order to free them and the other captured demons from the webs.

Sun Wukong’s response to seeing how the webs react to DBK isn’t to inform him of the situation and saying “hey you need to overpower the webs so we can get freed” and instead resorts to angering him by being annoying—or trying to lighten up the mood again as he usually does in situations similar to this. Wukong knows better than to try to explain his plans as per prior reason: no one takes him seriously. His go-to reaction to being held at gunpoint is to make a scene and try to be the court jester of the group. In doing so he angers DBK and the two are freed, with the bull demon understanding what Wukong was trying to do with a huff.

After this he encounters LBD again and we get the infamous quote of the Season:

“You should have stayed buried.”

What makes it interesting is that Wukong has shown no distaste towards any of the characters of the series thus far: he doesn’t see DBK as a threat (possibly due to their past relationship), wasn’t bothered by Spider Queen’s appearance (in fact, he gave off a “took her long enough” quip before Xiaotian interrupted) and with Macaque he was only angry due to the fact that he hurt Xiaotian emotionally and physically enough for him to be unable to lift his staff. However it’s never stated what Lady Bone Demon had done to Sun Wukong to have him angered enough to wish for her downfall almost immediately after meeting her.

Lady Bone Demon toys with him and causes Wukong’s trauma to resurface, the flashes of Xiaotian burning alongside the world with LBD towering over them in her mech — this is what spurs Wukong’s PTSD to act up: he wants to take care of it immediately on his own.

After reuniting with Xiaotian, the human asks Wukong if he’s alright to which Wukong says “it’s deal with” and doesn’t push any further, instead directing the topic to Xiaotian’s friends. Shortly after he departs and the credits roll.

“Oh and then he abandoned Xiaotian!” No, he did not. To abandon someone is to leave with the intention of hurting someone else. It’s a way of saying “I’m going to leave you to hurt you and so you understand how much you hurt me” in a negative light. It’s a manipulation tactic to make the other party feel insecure and small. Sun Wukong states that he will try to keep contact with Xiaotian (something that he does within the next couple of episodes both via astral projection and a letter). He does not abandon Xiaotian despite the narrative wanting to think he did; he left with the intention of handling Lady Bone Demon on his own and proceeds to be fully stressed throughout the brief moments we get of him appearing throughout the season.

“Why didn’t he tell Xiaotian?” Because Sun Wukong is used to handling big threats on his own. He’s the tank and heavy hitter, he’s the strategist and commander, he’s the king and army all at once. He has to handle it on his own because that’s what everyone expects from him.

For the entirety of Season 2 Sun Wukong has been racing against the clock to try and prevent Lady Bone Demon from getting her hands on Xiaotian and that is why he did not want him nor any of his friends to join him in searching for the map or a possible weapon to defeat her.

Sun Wukong has:

Threatened Heavenly Guards (the very same from Heaven who tortured and mistreated him) into giving him information on Lady Bone Demon and her return

Nearly gotten crushed under stone while attempting to keep a happy profile for Xiaotian when he astral projects

Gotten physically and mentally drained from running place to place in search of a solution

Drained to the point of feeling physical pain by the time he reunites with Xiaotian and the others

Suffered from PTSD and flashes of LBD showing him “the future” which has heavily influenced his better judgment

One of the key moments in Season 2 that’s often overlooked is this sequence:

It’s a rather big moment that’s not brought up again. 

Given how Wukong went to search for the Samadhi Fire map it could tie to the idea that Wukong witnessed what Lady Bone Demon was fully capable of in that moment; he entered a sacred ground and desecrated it in order to find information in how to defeat her — this was smart on his part, searching for her place of origin and taking everything in from the beginning and it’s only possible that whatever he saw was heavy enough for him to want to use the one weapon that’s capable of burning him alive. 

When Pigsy (Chef Zhu) snaps at Sun Wukong for not being there for Xiaotian, Wukong’s reaction is to be genuinely hurt. He’s stressed at that moment, having just barely managed to get the map after months of searching and realizing he was too late to save ruyi juyi bang from falling into the hands of Lady Bone Demon — he was focused on making sure Xiaotian would never have to encounter her on his own and neither him nor the human voiced their encounters with her to anyone, instead rushing to get stronger and find a solution that’s not within reach yet.

Although Pigsy’s anger and frustration makes sense and is justified with the crisis they all just went through, the sole fact Wukong doesn’t bother trying to defend himself implies that he’s been in this situation before, staying silent and accepting harsh commentary is a heavy sign of self-doubt, lack of self-confidence, anxiety, etc. During the flashbacks and glimpses of Wukong’s past life we see that no one takes him seriously and if he tries to defend himself or voice a plan, he’s ignored and downright belittled for not having “a serious plan”.

He openly states he does not want Xiaotian or any of the others to join him when he voices how big of a deal fighting Lady Bone Demon will be.

Had Xiaojiao not voiced that Wukong was not in the best fighting condition, it’s subtly implied Wukong would have left on his own. 

“So why didn’t he leave them?” The narrative wanted to continue with Xiaotian as he is the protagonist so why wouldn’t he go along with Sun Wukong? That’s his mentor and he, supposedly, has the solution to the problem and the audience wants to witness it in full, not just glimpses of it throughout the season like season 2 offered.

“He didn’t give Xiaotian his invincibility back!” Sun Wukong was under a lot of panic and stress, the option to give Qi Xiaotian his invincibility never comes up because he believes he can take care of it on his own. Neither him nor Xiaotian offer to put forth his invincibility and, once again, too much power could be too much for his mortal body to handle. This was already addressed in Season 1 Episode 1 and Episode 9. 

“And he didn’t tell them about how he was struggling to find the map because..?” Because why would they believe him? Why would he want to make them worry? Why would the “Court Jester'' and “verbal punching bag” of the show and cast want to further stress out the others who are already in such a distraught and stressful state due to the fact Xiaotian lost his weapon and powers in one fall swoop? Sun Wukong is selfless in the sense that he does not want others to hurt because of him, he’d rather they all blame him for every little mistake without learning the truth about his actions. 

He does not wish to be idolized nor put on such a high pedestal in the first place.

It’s why he can never be genuine with anyone.

(SEASON 3)

Sun Wukong’s trauma spiked throughout this season.

From the very first episode Sun Wukong has shown that he was more than willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of finding a solution to defeating Lady Bone Demon.

“Wukong, that barrier is designed to protect that map at all costs. If you force your way through it, you'll destroy us both!” “Yeah, I know. [...]”

(Again, Wukong uses a mask to show he’s, supposedly, that worried over the barrier destroying him and Nezha) 

We all know that post-reuniting with Xiaotian, Sun Wukong voices his concern over the fact that he does not want to include him or his friends on his search for the Samadhi Fire. He’s heavily weakened after destroying the barrier and can barely fend off Macaque when he ambushes them on the ship. Wukong is still seen as the one who's "meant to fix everything" and is the one constantly targeted throughout the season:

Pigsy and Xiaotian both sigh over the fact he "took" the staff when Wukong claims "this is where I obtained my staff"

Called out as weak by Ao Guang when he tries to state he's still "the Monkey King"

"All he does is meditate" by Pigsy when Wukong is focused on restoring his powers during Amnesia Rules

"He'll throw you aside when he doesn't find a use for you" by Macaque when he confronts Tang despite the latter not being as close to Wukong as the other expects

One of the biggest conflicts throughout the Season is the fact that Sun Wukong did not express what his plan or strategy for fighting Lady Bone Demon was — that is until the ritual started earlier than he wanted and Xiaojiao was nearly consumed by the fire. He didn’t say he knew about Xiaojiao having the fourth ring inside her; Wukong always believes he has enough time to take these things apart carefully. He believed he had enough time to train Xiaotian before a major threat came along but then Lady Bone Demon was freed and he wanted to rush to handle things quickly before they escalated (and unfortunately they did). He believed he had enough time to get back to the cast before the ritual starts but Macaque intervened and forced Tang to start the ritual which is what caused Xiaojiao to almost die alongside Xiaotian with the intensity of the fire. 

Everything Wukong has done thus far was overshadowed by the other cast having their major episodes (as expected as Wukong is not meant to be a part of the current cast, he’s the outcast as much as Macaque is, and the line that separates them is very clear) and we don’t know what Wukong had been doing with Xiaotian during the moments they were off screen together.

Throughout Amnesia Rules, it’s rather subtle that Sun Wukong pays attention to what Pigsy and Tang are discussing about “getting stuck with this one (Wukong)” and actively proceeds to try and “keep the peace” by engaging in light hearted arguments with Pigsy and attempting to protect Tang because this is the exact dynamic Sun Wukong had with the pilgrims and his master in the book. Wukong listens in to them when he’s picking up his “staff” and there’s a split second of his expression souring at the mention of his “state”. He then witnesses Tang get kidnapped because Wukong was busy arguing with Pigsy (something that might have resurfaced some old trauma); something that’s pointed out is the fact that Wukong worries he can’t be there when people are in trouble, when he isn’t paying attention, he’s the guardian and protector and the one who has everything on his shoulders. 

When he loses his staff Wukong proceeds to act solemnly and gets visibly angry, something he doesn’t do in the current timeline of the show aside from when he faces Lady Bone Demon. He charges in to fight the Scorpion Demoness and is only stopped by Tang due to the fact he believes this is his master and the blast of energy given to him.

“Can you imagine what I’d be like without friends? I’d probably turn into a manipulative jerk or something!”

Wukong is, once again, using a joke to try and liven up the mood (although this is a jab at Macaque and his actions, it could also be a jab at himself from past actions or something he himself has done that he believed his master and brother would have found funny). It’s also rather amusing how much he puts on a positive front in this episode when in front of the others. 

“Wukong seems genuinely happy in this episode!” He isn’t. To reiterate, the Journey was a rather traumatic experience for Wukong and although he did see the others as family and friends, they did not take Sun Wukong seriously. Sun Wukong is a court jester to say the least: he plays the character who’s silly and happy in an attempt to pacify and destress the others without addressing the severity of the situation. His vocal tone is somewhat forced when he says:

“Don’t worry master! Sun Wukong will handle this demon!”

a similar tone Sean uses when recording the lines for the video game version of Sun Wukong. It was false cheer and an active front. 

Wukong is visibly more relaxed, yes. He somewhat eats and touches Pigsy and Tang more easily and the demeanor drops the moment he’s back to normal (“Why are you touching me?”) but he is not happy. For Sun Wukong to show happiness his smiles and vocal tone would be similar to his vocal tone during the fireworks scene with Xiaotian during the New Years special and even then it’s only for a couple of seconds before the mask is thrown back on top of him. Xiaotian must be safe and content for Wukong to even attempt to relax and let go of his stress, considering he is the only one Sun Wukong actively worries for so far in the series. 

Even then it’s highly doubtful that Wukong will ever be able to climb down from the pedestal he’s been placed upon centuries ago. And considering the problems will keep piling on no matter how much Wukong tries to take care of them, it’s possible he’s not going to get a chance to breathe anytime soon. 

During the Chang’e episode, Sun Wukong explains to Xiaotian he can change the van into a rocket ship (similar to how Wukong is capable of changing his staff to anything in the books and how Xiaotian can create mechs and hoverbikes easily thanks to SWK’s powers) and to do so he has to “believe in himself”, the same quote Wukong uses in the earlier episodes of the show.

“Believe in yourself, the way I believe in you.”

Wukong repeats this line not because it’s the only line he knows but because it works; repeatedly when Xiaotian hears this line in the show he always finds that spark of self-confidence that pushes him to try harder. Sun Wukong does not have anyone up until that point that believes in him in a genuine sense. Every single episode points out someone doubting Wukong (Pigsy, Xiaojiao), badmouthing his actions (Macaque, LBD), and constantly puts him down for thinking he’s not taking all of this seriously (Nezha, Xiaojiao) — but Xiaotian believes in Wukong because Wukong believes in him. Even when Xiaotian fails to correctly use his powers and transform the van into a rocket or when he fails to acquired a certain power, Wukong is genuinely supportive of him and acts again as the safety net for when Xiaotian trips and falls:

“Bah! Don’t worry about it, bud. I still believe in you. […] Here, let me handle this one.”

The only other time Wukong has told Xiaotian to let him handle an enemy or opponent was when his arachnophobia acted up during the New Years special.  This time, Xiaotian is frustrated that he was unable to activate his other powers and Wukong again, instead of pushing or forcing Xiaotian to overexert himself, decides he can handle this and he does so easily. However he doesn’t mock Xiaotian or say “see? It’s easy!” instead, he continues to accompany Xiaotian and Pigsy to the moon. 

“Oh, he must have been happy then! He said the bunnies were cute!” It’s another front. Again, Wukong’s pitch and vocal tone along with the fact that both Xiaotian and Pigsy were visibly stressed in that moment tie in with the fact he’s once again attempting to lighten up the mood. This makes it the twentieth or so time he’s done this:

“You want me to leave it, I want me to take it! Eh, it's a toughie.”

“But you gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelet.”

Laughing about the story he told the story involving him and Nezha when he’s visibly hurt and in pain

“Mega sucked!”

“And here I thought it was something important!” 

It’s rather interesting to note that when Macaque says “Always the comedian”, he’s not wrong. Wukong is the one who actively jokes, teases and attempts to brighten up the rest of the cast’s mood throughout the entirety of the show. This implies he’s always done this considering how often Macaque brings up their past as a means when addressing Sun Wukong and his actions. He’s genuinely always been a comedian.

“You always had a side-kick kind of vibe.” 

“Oh, right. Mortality.”

“Wake me up in the next.. Hundred years or so. Okay? Bye!”

“[...] Keep up dragon-pony girl!”

And more.

It’s very important to notice that Sun Wukong was not at his best performance mentally or physically throughout the season. Before Nezha attacks them, Wukong is seen leaning against the wall, seemingly “uncaring” when in fact he’s internally stressing and struggling to keep his composure and Pigsy asking about the fourth ring further causes him discomfort — despite this he continues to save and protect them, gathering up everyone from the side of the train and taking them to safety on the other side when Nezha cuts the train into pieces. He’s always keeping an eye out because he falls apart when something happens without him knowing (see: Xiaotian losing his staff, the ritual starting, Xiaojiao getting overwhelmed by the fire) and it’s also due to the fact that whenever he shows weakness (visibly tired, stressed or unsure of himself) everyone believes he’s slacking off or is uncaring. So he has to put up a front all the time.

Then we receive the infamous quote by Macaque:

“[...] What? Make things worse for MK?”

Sun Wukong was never actively aware that he was indirectly stressing or hurting Xiaotian in any shape or form but Macaque is also very biased in this situation for not fully understanding that Wukong has been actively attempting to ease the stress off of Xiaotian for the entirety of the season.

Wukong has encouraged and cheered Xiaotian on since the beginning of the Season. He’s given him positive reinforcement and even told him to “not worry about it, bud” and lets himself take on whatever task Xiaotian can’t handle by himself. Even when the alarm went off in Chang’e’s moon base, he just tells Xiaotian to use his golden vision and doesn’t push him any further than that. He praises him for being able to change the bunny mech into a smaller version and doesn’t ridicule or mock Xiaotian when he realizes he was trying to do something different. Sun Wukong has been a good mentor to Xiaotian — yes, he’s failed to communicate with him and indirectly caused him stress, but it’s important to note how much their dynamic has grown. 

Xiaotian can easily sit on Wukong’s shoulders, he can act like himself around him, he drags Wukong on stage despite his stagefright (something I will cover in a moment), calls him by his name in the Mandarin dub, and even pokes fun at him during the talent show. He’s able to get along with him and doesn’t hold any fear for him. He reaches out to Sun Wukong and trusts and believes in him the same way Wukong does to him. When Xiaotian interacts with Macaque, he’s stressed and borderline anxious when the demon is close to him, even when he attempts to reach out and help him he always, always gets hurt physically and emotionally (Macaque threatening to kill his friends in the Winning Side, choking Xiaojiao and threatening Tang, slamming Xiaotian repeatedly against the floor with his mech hard enough for Xiaotian to stay down, etc.). 

He hasn’t made things worse for Xiaotian. Not until Macaque activated the rings and forced the fire to activate early which is what drove Xiaojiao and Wukong away. When Sun Wukong left a second time with the known idea that he was going to sacrifice himself — that is what drove Xiaotian to a breaking point of crying after having lost his best friend as well. 

And then Sun Wukong faces Lady Bone Demon on his own and he’s still holding back.

“He was going all out!” To restate something a certain monkey has said before: the old Sun Wukong would have leveled an entire mountain during a fight. Sun Wukong is more powerful than the audience realizes. He’s not going all out with Lady Bone Demon but he is attacking with the intent of hurting her enough that she’ll back down. It’s important to note this is one of the only fights where Wukong uses his hands and not his legs. When training Xiaotian he simply dodges and blocks with his legs and does not attempt to raise a fist against him; here he punches through LBD’s barriers, punches the Mayor hard enough to create a crater and holds LBD by the neck.

“Oh, right he was going to kill the child.” He was not. Wukong was well aware that Lady Bone Demon’s host would perish but he was also hesitating. Sun Wukong went through an entire journey that lasted years and suffered heavy punishments whenever he killed or slayed any demons or monsters that attempted to attack Tang Sanzang. Even if the monk was not there, the trauma is clearly present. Sun Wukong was not about to murder an innocent child just to safe the world. He was stalling for time.

“All this time and you haven’t changed a bit! [...] You should have stayed buried.”

Lady Bone Demon had enough time to then possess him.. If he was so adamant on murdering her there and then, why didn’t he just punch her? Wukong is not a violent person anymore, he tries not to be. He can’t be because it would ruin everyone’s expectations of him, it would cause him to get targeted again, it would destroy his relationship with Xiaotian and it would isolate him more than before. 

Something the fandom often forgets is that Lady Bone Demon was actively inside Wukong’s mind and body along with the host while Macaque was corrupted and that the latter was not a fault of Wukong’s.

Everything that happened to Macaque happened due to his own actions and his blame shifting towards Wukong every single time is not justified. His obsession with him is what causes Lady Bone Demon to put a seal on him, it’s what pushes him to traumatize and manipulate Xiaotian, it’s what drives him to choke out Xiaojiao and threaten Tang — he even tries to flee up until Wukong grabs him back out and makes him stay to witness the fall of his actions.

Sun Wukong, on the other hand, has done nothing to prompt Macaque’s pain throughout the season. He has been solely focused on defeating Lady Bone Demon, nothing more.

“What about the stagefright bit?” I’ll summarize it in one quote: 

“You crave the applause yet hate the attention Then miss it, your act is a ruse.”

Sun Wukong wants and needs positive feedback the same way he gives it to Xiaotian but he will never receive it; he hates being on stage because it makes him the sole focus of the show when he doesn’t want to be. Sun Wukong is the legend and the hero and the one who’s always supposed to win and the one who cannot fall no matter how much he’s in pain. He’s on a pedestal, time after time after time. Pigsy calls him out, Xiaojiao calls him out but it does nothing to remove him from that pedestal. He can’t even be himself around them because he has so many masks and fronts when dealing with each and everyone of them:

He’s playful with Xiaojiao

He’s distant with Tang

He’s casual with Sandy

He’s distrusting of Macaque

He’s closed off with Pigsy

He’s gentle with Xiaotian

He’s cocky with Nezha

All of these are masks and fronts.

He wants them to notice him but he does not want them to know that he’s broken and tired and stressed out and that he was one verbal fight away from snapping and possibly hurting himself and others in his distress (see: The Prince, the King and the Shadow)

Wukong’s possession was an additional traumatic event.

He was aware during every moment and fight he had. 

“You wouldn’t be using every bit of power you have to keep him controlled!”

Xiaotian knows that Sun Wukong is a powerful being — he does not know how powerful, however. Sun Wukong was actively attempting to break free from LBD’s control. He was constantly holding back even when he attacked Nezha (both, their fight in the previous episodes and when he got possessed), when he fought Macaque (his eyes dim then flicker back during their fight and he allows for Macaque to punch back instead of punching him in one blow, etc.) and when he approached Xiaotian when he was confronting LBD.

“But, wait, if he was holding back then how did Macaque fail?” Because even when Wukong is holding back he’s capable of destroying mountains. Sun Wukong is canonically omnipotent and death cannot claim him by any means due to being immortal from the peaches, wine, pills, removing his name from the book of life, consuming several other immortal fruit and the fact he gained immortality from practice of the old Patriarch (his former father figure). Macaque failed because he is not on Sun Wukong’s level. He is not meant to be and never will be. The only one with a mere chance of getting to Sun Wukong’s level is Xiaotian, as he is inheriting all of his abilities at a slow pace. (Another notable moment is, when he and Macaque are transferring Xiaotian’s mech power, Macaque struggles to force some of his magic out of his body (implying that he is running on empty at this point) while Wukong doesn’t bat an eye and releases a strong beam of magic towards Xiaotian). 

After  he is almost fully freed from possession he says this:

“Thanks for not giving up on me bud.”

His vocal cues give off that he’s stressed and shaken by the experience, it waves and falters and his smile is forced much like the others one.

Sun Wukong also continues to allow Xiaotian to take care of problems on his own devotion; when Xiaotian faces off Lady Bone Demon on his own (once Xiaojiao regains control of the fire), Wukong stops Pigsy, Tang and Sandy from interfering while also being ready to step in if necessary, but he does not have to since Xiaotian blocks her attack. He’s confident in Xiaotian’s ability to the very end. He actively believes in him and has stated so before.

After the fight, we get this quote:

“[...] Still the same Wukong, doing whatever he wants with no regard for others.”

Some of the fandom jumped at this and agreed with Macaque.

Sun Wukong does what he thinks is the right choice and tries his best not to get others involved no matter what the cost.

He attempts to discourage the others from joining him on his journey

He attempts to keep them destressed and calm despite the growing threat

He did not want Xiaojiao to get caught in the crossfire when activating the ritual and was going to try and remove the ring from inside her without killing her so he could possess the fire and sacrifice himself to save everyone

He does not let Xiaotian handle the bigger threats and attempts to keep him safe

He only ever gets angry with Macaque for hurting Xiaotian, disrupting his plans, siding with LBD, and for said quote about him (implied)

Sun Wukong again does not defend himself and instead chooses to create another front: a rival to Macaque. This was not a recurring thing: Wukong has always dismissed or ignored Macaque’s quotes when addressed to him and him alone, he only quipped back at him during the airship fight because it’s a trauma response and he was heavily injured already, he did not want to engage with Macaque nor was in the right state to do so. He only proceeds to say he “hates” him since it’s what fits the scene at the moment (see: court jester, heavy actor).

He then apologizes to Xiaotian.

“I know I can never make it up to you. I never thought I’d live as long as I have let alone be someone’s mentor. Turns out I’m not very good at it. Guess what I’m trying to say is: I’m sorry MK. For all of it.”

Sun Wukong is self aware of the fact he was not there for Xiaotian in his absence, he knows he was not the best mentor, he now knows that Xiotian strongly cares for him too. He was acutely aware of this and tried to rush to fix all of these problems until Macaque and Xiaojiao slapped the repeating statement in his face again and caused him to panic and become more and more self aware than he needed to be. It’s the same example as telling someone who’s failing a class that they’re still going to fail and will get kicked out of the class if they don’t improve and that everyone has been supporting them despite them not knowing. It causes more disarray and panic than it helps. 

And then we get this exchange:

“[...] Sometimes I just play dumb to lighten the mood.” “Ha! Me too, bud. Me too.”

Every single moment where Sun Wukong has made a poorly timed joke, comment, quip or statement it was with the intention to lighten up the mood.

To reiterate:

Sun Wukong is aware that he’s not the best mentor but he is trying to be

Sun Wukong’s father figures have both traumatized and hurt him by not giving him the positive reinforcement he needs and instead of repeating that to Xiaotian, he gives him positive feedback

He belies and trusts in Xiaotian’s abilities

He is placed on a high pedestal, idolized and turned to when forcing the blame onto someone for not finding the immediate solution to every problem

He is only happy once throughout the entire series and it was for a split second

He actively puts others above himself and does not care if he gets hurt along the way

He repeats to himself that he is the best and greatest and knows that that’s how the public will always see him and it stresses him out

He is unknowingly self-destructive 

He has PTSD and heavy amounts of trauma

He does not try to defend him and that is a trauma response

He is still not healing by the end of the show

He has multiple masks and fronts for every character

Sun Wukong is a highly complicated character who loves wholeheartedly, he is the pillar and one who keeps holding everything together despite him not wanting to, despite the fact he's yelled at for not having every solution. He's the one who comes up with a plan and then is criticized without anyone taking in the severity of his words. He's the one who'd sacrifice everything possible for the sake of protecting Xiaotian. He's the one who screamed out Xiaojiao's name and didn't want her to get hurt with the idea of protecting and helping her at all means possible.

It's heavily implied that Sun Wukong did not know the fourth ring was inside of Xiaojiao (he never touched her nor did he get a "vision" like Ao Guang and Red Son) meaning Ao Lie must have told him himself. He entrusted Wukong with this information and Wukong remembered this and it's quite possible he never wanted the others to join him in searching for the fire for this additional reason.

Sun Wukong cares.

He's a heavily layered and complicated character who's very morally grey and who has a lot of trauma. This is inevitable — even if you do not know the context of JTTW, you must see that Wukong suffers from heavy trauma of:

being ignored

being possessed

being forced through the Samadhi Fire

watching Xiaojiao get corrupted by the fire

watching Xiaotian run into said fire

being ridiculed

not being "worthy"

not being "perfect"

of accidentally hurting Xiaotian

of not being there when he was needed

In Conclusion: this monkey can fit so much trauma and has so many hidden layers and does a fantastic job of not allowing others to see it and does not know who he is without any of his masks or fronts.

some songs that fit Sun Wukong for your consideration:

The Sun and the Moon– one brilliant, outstanding, garnering much attention and praise, the other a mere reflection only regarded by a careful few in the night.

Macaque liked that metaphor. He and Wukong had something unique– something special. They were different from the other monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain and while Macaque wasn’t exactly as old as his king, they still bonded over their differences. Plus, unlike a few of the other monkeys Sun Wukong seemed to like his ears, and especially liked picking out the fleas and bugs in his fur where others wouldn’t.

They fought demons together, trained together, saved monkeys together– though the Monkey King had never said it, Macaque often liked to think of himself as the secondary Monkey King, a figure just as great and powerful and equal.

He thought Wukong believed this too– especially with how often Macaque stayed in his pagoda and how Wukong always greeted him with cheerfulness and a cool rock he found sometimes too. It also helped that Macaque always knew how Wukong talked about him because of his many ears.

Praise, adoration, lust, and admiration of power.

Macaque was the king’s strongest warrior, his equal and opposite.

The Moon to his Sun.

“You know, you really would think they’d keep the underworld locked up a lot tighter,” Wukong boasted, picking something out of his teeth as he and Macaque walked back to Flower Fruit Mountain.

“As if there’s anything that could ever hold the two of us back, my liege,” Macaque teased with his tail. “Though I will say, you were subdued pretty easily– kind of shameful, isn’t it?”

Wukong rolled his eyes and flicked away Macaque’s tail. “It's your fault, I was resting waiting for you to return with the peaches, and yet you were gone and I was swept away. Shameful really, for a warrior so great to abandon his duty like that.”

“Oh I see– it’s my fault the ever venerable and great Sun Wukong decided he needed a little nap? I mean, I know you tend to laze about, but really– to allow you to be dragged to the underworld, tsk tsk,” Macaque shook his head. “You’d be so hopeless without me, bi bi.”

Wukong laughed. “Does that mean I can finally call attention to when I caught you snoring away when the Python Demon was wreaking havoc?”

“That was entirely your fault for keeping me awake for five whole nights, Sun Wukong, and you know this,” Macaque gave him a smirk.

“I am your king too, Macaque, and therefore never at fault,” Wukong caught sight of a flea on Macaque’s fur and plucked it out.

“Right, I almost forgot,” Macaque tsk-ed. “Careful peaches, if your head gets any bigger it won’t fit through the door.”

“Because you’re one to talk about pride,” Wukong sounded a little more annoyed than Macaque expected at that.

“Let’s just get home,” He resisted grumbling about it only a little. Wukong sighed, summoned his cloud, and the two of them flew off back to Flower Fruit Mountain at a much faster pace than just walking.

Macaque listened as they soared over mountains and volcanoes, heard some birds call and once they got close enough some chirps from monkeys.

It was something Macaque never really did and wasn’t fond of initiating, though sometimes Wukong would do it and he’d respond, but it wasn’t something he clung to. In general he didn’t cling to a lot of things except grooming and laying together and a lot of teasing.

Macaque nearly fell off the cloud when it came to a sudden jerk.

“Hey Peaches, watch the cargo,” He snapped, but Wukong silenced him by pulling out his staff.

“Someone’s here…” He said, not looking back, investigating the mountain, before separating the falls with his staff.

Wukong was correct, someone was there– a tall, old looking man with a beard that practically reached the floor and dressed in gold and white robes detailed with stars from the heavens. Macaque growled as he pulled out his own staff.

“Ah, Sun Wukong, you’re finally back. My name is Taibai Jinxing, I come from heaven to make you a proposition,” said the man. Wukong lowered his staff and hopped off the cloud while Macaque stayed in his defensive position.

“Gold Star of Venus, huh? Yeah I think I’ve heard of you– what’s the position?” Wukong put his staff all the way back in his ear.

Macaque scoffed to himself, “He isn’t actually thinking about taking this guy’s offer, right?”

Still, he watched carefully.

“That is for the Jade Emperor to decide, as he invited you to come and live there himself,” Taibai Jinxing gestured to the heavens.

The almighty monkey king laughed. “Took him long enough! Would’ve thought shooting laser beams through his house was enough, but if it takes breaking out of the underworld, then so be it.”

“Oh it was hardly just that, Sun Wukong. Come along, we can discuss all things with His Imperial Highness,” The deity began to levitate.

“Oh please, as if Wukong would leave this mountain paradise just to join a bunch of stuffy bureaucrats,” Macaque laughed to himself and shook his head before he noticed Wukong had already summoned his cloud once more.

“Wait, Wukong, you can’t just leave m– us-! What about the kingdom? The monkeys?” He tugged on his king’s sleeve.

Wukong looked at Macaque with an expression Macaque couldn’t read.

“Ah, surely you’re a bold enough warrior to care for them all. Also, I didn’t cross out just my name so maybe you can enlist the immortal monkeys to help you fight or something,” He swatted away his hand. “And besides, I know you already like to call yourself ‘king’. Perhaps this will be a chance to prove yourself to me, no?”

Macaque took a shaky step back.

“Fine,” He said, looking sharply into Wukong’s soft golden eyes.

“Knew you could do it,” Wukong patted his shoulder before turning to the heavenly figure. “Alright let’s go Taibai Jinxing.”

And then they were off.

And Macaque was alone in the pagoda.

Wukong didn’t even appear to look back.

And as Macaque listened, he didn’t so much as mutter his name…

Well then.

Macaque took an annoyed breath, running his fingers through his fur as he thought to himself.

Wukong was impulsive and distractible– surely he’d return within a week no doubt. This was just a vacation, a distraction from what really mattered and Wukong would be back soon enough. Besides, if Macaque did this right perhaps he too would be the official Monkey King and could finally force the inhabitants of the mountain to give him the respect he deserved.

Yes, yes– this wasn’t a betrayal, it was a short time away, a break, no different from when he’d go and hunt humans or prey on smaller demons.

This was a test, and Macaque was going to pass.

The Sun and Moon were equals in the celestial sphere.

.o0o.

Macaque ruled over Flower Fruit Mountain with an iron fist. Everyone was supposed to train from dawn till dusk all week days and on weekends they were to gather food for the upcoming week.

Unfortunately, the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain didn’t like that much, and basically started protesting en masse, and so Macaque said “fine we’ll see how much you like being kingless” and went and stayed in Wukong’s pagoda.

Nobody came to him.

Nobody groomed him.

Nobody shared their food with him.

Nope.

Instead, they all stayed downhill swinging on their peach trees and chirping the whole day long without a care in the world for how loud it could ring in all six of Macaque’s ears.

Not that he cared.

Not that it made him sometimes want to listen to the heavens, to see if Wukong was thinking of him as much as he thought of him–

Which wasn’t at all.

Macaque was supposed to prove himself– what was he doing moping like this.

When he called the Monkeys back up the mountain, a lot of them hesitated but he ordered with a reminder that it was Wukong himself who placed him here so a defiance of him was a defiance of Wukong, and so they eventually climbed on up.

He told them all he was going to be taking a leave to go and study the tao and other arts for himself, to work to better protect the rest of them.

And he did, using Wukong’s name and former alliances with demon kings to learn the art of shapeshifting, of invulnerability, and something he somewhat created on his own but started to perfect was the art of shadowplay.

It was an evolution of a light technique he learned while kind of sort of studying the tao, where he focused more on draining light than creating it, slowly able to melt whole bodies and objects through what he called shadow doors.

It did have one side effect though, turning his fur slowly dark and darker. Macaque didn’t care much about it, glamouring whenever he bothered returning to Flower Fruit Mountain, but even if he forgot no one brought it up when they brought him his peaches.

Sometimes he thought about hiding in the shadows in heaven– just to see what Wukong was up to. Macaque had apparently missed a day where he had gone back down and somehow managed to snag the title Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

As if that asshole needed more of an ego.

He wished he could’ve fought the Mighty Spirit God or Prince Nezha– these days he really felt like bashing in some heavenly skulls.

But no, apparently he had gone back and according to the other monkeys he hadn’t even said a word about Macaque or their arrangement where he was now their king.

Not that he cared. Wukong had better things, clearly.

And Macaque did too.

Like eating people, bashing in skulls and listening to the sounds of an empty pagoda as he was reminded over and over his body didn’t need sleep and didn’t like it without the soft touch of his Sun.

The Sun and The Moon– when one sets, another rises. Clearly the Sun has set into the Heavens and now it is the Moon’s turn to shine and earn the worship of others, and now that Macaque had much more power surely it would end much better than the previous time.

.o0o.

The monkeys certainly listened to him more this time, to the point where it felt like maybe if you squinted they could sort of count as an army. The immortal ones were useful as Wukong had mentioned before he disappeared, so that was good.

But again, Macaque couldn’t be bothered to just stay on the mountain, and so after about 15 years or so, he continued to venture out and test out his new powers of mirroring and disappearing, especially on nearby villages. He left the immortals in charge telling them to train the others and that the Great Sage’s pagoda was off limits under penalty of his and Wukong’s wrath (a lie, but he didn’t want them sniffing around there).

He ventured far and wide for many years then, picking fights with mountain gods and no-name demons until suddenly it seemed like earth was just… out of gods.

It was the strangest thing– every deity for miles and miles and miles and miles was just– gone. Hell– even a good amount of demons were in hiding now too. Macaque was thankfully able to bang on the door of none other than the Bull Demon King and he begrudgingly took him in for answers out of respect for their mutual friend.

“So– why exactly is everyone getting the hell out of dodge right now? Doesn’t make sense– I’ve been getting really good at my mirroring– I wanted to test it out on the whole eastern mountain range,” Macaque bemoaned as he removed his scarf and gave it to one of the king’s servants.

“I believe our mutual friend, the Great Sage, has been causing quite a stir in heaven, from what I’ve heard from my– sources… I hear he’s fighting a whole heavenly army right about now” He said, snapping and ordering a servant to bring them tea.

That only made Macaque more angry. When the tea came he stirred his spoon, staring at his ever changing reflection with disgust. “You know, Wukong makes it sound so easy to just break in and out of heavenly places.”

The Bull Demon King laughed. “He has truly become a formidable foe. I’ve heard now that he has become immortal at least five times now.”

“What?! That’s– that’s insanity,” Macaque slammed his arms on the table, garnering a huff of warning from his host.

“You do know we are talking about Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, no?” He said, picking up his tea cup and taking a sip despite it still bubbling in his cup.

Macaque huffed and crossed his arms.

“Wukong, do you think you’ll ever teach me what Sobodhi taught you?”

“What, the transformations? You have a method all your own for that, no Subhodi needed.”

“No, I mean immortality, so zyu. I want to live forever like you will.”

Wukong sat up and started to groom Macaque. “I don’t know. It’s nice to know I’ll always be able to protect myself and that no demon or celestial being can really cause me harm, but I don’t know why you’d need it, you are already practically indestructible.”

“But I want to live as long as you do, bi bi. I want to be able to fight by your side until the universe itself burns out and it will be just the two of us in the darkness.”

Wukong laughed a little. “There would be more than just the two of us, Macaque. Plenty of celestial beings and demons are immortal, but I suppose I see your point. I don’t think I’ll ever be as good a teacher as Subhodi but perhaps the next time I find a way to immortality I will share it with you.”

Macaque smiled. “Thank you, peaches.”

“I suppose we are,” He muttered.

The Bull Demon King sighed. “I would offer to spar with you, Friend Macaque, but I have business of my own to attend to– as I’m pretty sure you do too on account of Wukong supposedly leaving you in charge of his domain. In fact, you should probably be there helping him fight the heavenly armies before it’s too late and he’s destroyed them all and made himself the new Emperor of Heaven,” The enormous bull laughed at that last joke.

Macaque thought about it before nodding. “I suppose you are right, Bull Demon King. The tea was–” he glanced at his full, bubbling and steaming cup– “lovely, but I must be off to go defend Flower Fruit Mountain. Until we meet again,” He winked before standing and allowing himself to fall backward into a shadow that brought him a few miles from Flower Fruit Mountain.

He decided to let himself fly the rest of the way, imagining how bloody and intense the scene would be– Wukong against hundreds of thousands– perhaps millions of heavenly soldiers with the help of the monkeys he himself helped train (about 46 years ago). It made his cloud rush further and further until he was there and–

Nothing.

Sure there was plenty of celestial blood on the ground, and a few wounded monkeys gathering themselves, but there were no gods, no warriors, no emperors beheaded, and no Sun Wukong.

He landed on the blood stained grass, feeling it under his bare feet, and sat and listened to voices nearby.

“--That battle against the 36 thunder deities was nothing like it was with Erlang and his dog.”

“I heard his majesty fought Budha and won!”

“I bet he’s up in heaven right now making a throne next to– if not on top of the Jade Emperor’s throne.”

“Did you see his eyes? They’re redder than a ruby!”

“Who could focus on his eyes when Budha himself was here?!”

“I hope he’ll come back soon, I want to hear more tales of heaven.”

Hmph.

So Wukong fought with heaven not just once but twice in his absence and not once sent for him.

How wonderful and gracious his precious Sun Wukong was.

No matter, he would just go to the pagoda and ask him about it himself.

He quickly fell into a shadow once more and appeared right outside his and Wukong’s home– which surprisingly actually seemed untouched.

“Peaches, you home?” He called out.

No response.

“Man, and here I thought The Great Sage Equal to Heaven didn’t need to rest after battles, no he’s too strong, even when he was just Shi Hou,” He grinned, examining each room as he passed, slowly becoming more and more confused the more they continuously proved themself to be empty.

“Wukong?” Macaque was getting nervous. He gripped iron rails with a death grip and summoned his staff too for extra measure (though he didn’t know what exactly he planned to do with it).

Each room felt more empty than the next, as it was just as he had left it decades ago, minus shards of glass and bits of evidence of the great heavenly battle. When he got to their bedroom it too was empty, and that was when Macaque fully realized he had gone without telling him once again.

Great.

Just great.

Peachy, even.

Forgotten again, but what did Macaque care? He never needed that asshole, and neither did anyone else on this goddamn mountain.

He gathered his things from their shared room in a hurry, packing it all into a brown sac he tied sloppily before heading out, surprised to be greeted by a crowd of monkeys outside.

“Macaque! Where have you been?!”

“What happened to your fur?”

“Wait, that’s Liu Er Mihou?”

“He has six ears doesn’t he?”

“You missed two battles with heaven-!”

“Monkey King was really mad you took his place but left–”

“We can’t find him! Do you know where he is?”

Too many words were being thrown at his face to care about, so Macaque just shrugged up his sack again and walked through the crowd, ignoring the fact they started to follow with their persistent questions, glamoring his ears away.

“Where are you going?”

“Are you going to find him?”

“Yeah! Are you gonna find him?”

“I’m not going to find Wukong!” Macaque snapped, turning to face the startled crowd. “I’m leaving and don’t expect me to come back.”

A few of the elder and immortal monkeys rolled their eyes while the younger looked at him in confusion.

“W-well who will look for our King?” one brave monkey spoke up.

“I don’t care, and honestly neither should any of you,” He spat, causing some of them to gasp. “Wukong clearly doesn’t give a shit– he didn’t need to fight here and yet he used many of you as collateral damage in his foolish attempts to claim glory for himself. He likely has just run off again to abandon the real workers, the true warriors of this mountain. If you have any self respect left, leave this mountain or at least abandon hope in Sun Wukong because he won’t be back for a very, very long time and even if he does, he sure won’t be thankful.”

Silence spread over the crowd as everyone exchanged glances, questioning his honesty. Macaque stood his ground with a smirk.

“Well, I know I won’t leave. Wukong has always protected us, and he’s a far better leader than you’ve ever been! All you’ve done is run off and when you return you demand all of us to be at your beck and call! Frankly, I’m glad to be rid of you,” A particularly tall monkey– ah yes, one of the immortals– said. Macaque rolled his eyes.

“Don’t come looking for me when another fifty years pass and your precious king is nowhere to be found,” He waved, summoning a shadow door.

“Don’t worry, we won’t.”

Macaque huffed and fell through.

The King was the Sun and the Warrior the Moon; one rose, another fell, neither needed. The sun could shine on its own after all, he didn’t need anyone else or any other goddamned stars– he was selfish and an egomaniac. The Moon was fine on it’s own, it didn’t need the sun, so what if it didn’t shine without it– the moon would be there anyways.

.o0o.

He didn’t know where exactly he was when he left the shadow realm– he didn’t really have a place in mind. He had no idea where Wukong was and therefore was unsure of where he could avoid him. He pondered crashing at a demon king’s place, but something told Macaque he needed to find his own place.

He decided to just kind of fuck around for awhile, transforming in to various animals, fighting and killing and eatting a villager here and there or a weary traveller, all sorts of things.

Time passed in a great illusion. He stopped keeping track of the passing days and weeks, eventual months and days and years– something he knew happened to immortals and the “cannot die unless killed” group eventually but when he noticed it it struck him as odd– especially because it meant he now had no idea how mad he should precisely be at Wukong for not looking for him.

He caught glimpses of signs of change when he would wander in the once small village now a bustling civilization that wasn’t too far from Flower Fruit Mountain Macaque often returned to for no real reason. He’d return every once in a while and it turned from a few small homes to places with plazas and bathhouses and elaborate gardens and festivals he’d never heard of before.

That meant centuries were passing.

Well good. It meant he was keeping up without Wukong– he was coping greatly. He had mastered his art of shapeshifting, puppetry and all other shadow tricks. It had turned all his fur to a pitch black now, but he didn’t miss the old pale colors– he blended in much better now and was able to kill much more efficiently.

Yes, Macaque had truly become a thing of terror.

HIs shapeshifting, puppetry and manipulation skills had proved most advantageous when it came to his hunt. He was able to strike and kill and draw blood with such swiftness he knew even Wukong didn’t have.

He now had a name– a reputation– a bedtime story you told children and legends of his mimicry and his sharp fangs and his powerful hearing. He even saw some of the art made of him– bloody eyes and teeth half clouded in shadow, the other half in the appearance of another villager.

This suited him just fine.

To be feared was better than to be loved anyways.

People feared the night and the moon and shadows with it. They worshiped and gossiped about the Sun and his whereabouts, about how he personally fought with almost every single deity in the celestial sphere and must either be the new emperor or demolished entirely, or perhaps is somewhere else being punished for his many crimes.

The Moon didn’t care for what the Sun did anyway– it was better if they were gone anyway, regardless of the light it still pulled the tide and released wolves and could do plenty in its own right.

.o0o.

Over five hundred years passed.

Macaque did make a place of his own, a place far out west– a pagoda of darkness, of shadows and whispers and of insanity for those unprepared to go within. A hall of mirrors, a theater for shadow puppets, and plenty of space for those foolish enough to go inside to wander before they realize they’re trapped with the legendary six eared Macaque, and nobody survived that.

However, while out and about getting some nice fresh air, Macaque heard a voice like nails on a chalkboard.

Sun Wukong.

Burning hatred consumed his soul as he pondered just leaping down upon him and tearing him to shreds, when he noticed he was with a group, and a rather odd one at that.

A tall, burly ocean demon towered over most of the group, his skin a greenish-blue like of the ponds and rivers by flower fruit mountain. There was a very angry pig demon, wielding a rake and looking pretty pissed at– yes, there was Wukong. He was wearing strange clothes with a curious circlet on his head. There was also a rather mighty looking white horse with some old monk– wait a minute…

Macaque squinted and used shadows to get a little closer to the bickering group to see what was up and– holy fucking shit– it was the reincarnation of Golden Cicada with–

Why the fuck was he with Wukong??? Then again, it seemed like it wasn’t lasting, as everyone was pretty pissed at him. The monk recited a sutra, which caused Wukong to wither and cry out in agony.

Now that brought a smile to Macaque’s face.

“Gah–! After all this time?! Master, I-i have been nothing but loyal a-and we have been through so much now– Why are you still doing this?!” Wukong cried out.

Wukong a slave? Now that was something Macaque needed to see.

“Loyal?! You’ve abandoned our master and mission about fifty times so far! Master, let’s banish Wukong again. We are so close, we don’t need his flimsy morals to bring an end to the pilgrimage now,” The pig man spoke.

“Flimsy?! Master, surely you know I only do what I can to protect you and this mission, please don’t do this again– we are so close, after all.”

“Wukong…” The monk took a deep breath. “You killed a mortal– a human. You knew from the very beginning such things wouldn’t be allowed, it goes against everything this pilgrimage stands for.”

“Master, spare Brother Wukong, it was the heat of the moment– a relapse, even. They were bandits and they were attempting to kill us, after all.” The big one spoke next.

Brother? Psh, Sun Wukong was brothers to no one.

“You cannot destroy an entire village like that though, Sun Wukong, you know this. There is to be trial, a fair judgment– you cannot dictate whatever you desire just because you’re powerful enough to never face the consequences,” The monk clutched his staff tightly.

The sutra’s effects must’ve worn off as Wukong stood.

“Then I suppose you’re going to give me the consequences again, despite the tightening spell being plenty painful already?”

The monk glanced at his other disciples. The tall one stood his ground to defend Wukong, but the pig man still seemed huffy.

“I am just saying Friar Sand, if it were either of us we would certainly be banished already,” The pig man muttered under his breath but of course Macaque heard it perfectly.

“I… I’m sorry, Sun Wukong, but… but we are almost at the scripture and I… I will not sacrifice any of my morals now.”

“Master, I am begging for you to consider otherwise, please!”

Wukong was now on his knees willingly.

“Oh Sun Wukong, what a husk you’ve become,” Macaque smiled to himself.

“I am sorry, Pilgrim Sun, but as the Great Tang Monk and the leader of this journey I am banishing you from this group once again.”

Wukong stood slowly.

“So be it then.”

It was then Macaque got a glimpse of those red eyes he had only heard about in rumor– and they were certainly mighty and fierce. Perhaps that’s why the monk doesn’t seem to trust him.

Wukong summoned his familiar golden cloud, tears in his eyes.

“For your own sake, I hope you come to your senses soon, or that you will remain safe for the rest of the journey.” He said bitterly before looking at the tall one.

“Thank you for always fighting for me, Friar Sand, I will never forget your kindness.” He said, before immediately flying away.

The remaining group members stood around for a while, before heading more westward and that was when Macaque started to form a plan.

It was time for the Moon to rise again.

.o0o.

Macaque stalked the pilgrims from the shadows, waiting for an opportune moment to strike. Thankfully, the Great Tang Monk was hungry, and asked his pilgrims to go for food while he stayed by the campfire. Of course they obeyed (the idiots) and that was when Macaque got behind him, summoned his staff, and gave him a proper whack on the head, knocking him clean out.

He pondered eating the monk for a moment, but he cared more about his revenge against Wukong than he did about immortality now. He then summoned a great sack and stole all of their supplies, save for the ones that Sand and Pig guy had.

He made sure in particular to snatch the travel receipt so their journey would certainly fail– whatever it was. He made sure to make it clear that it was all the work of Sun Wukong, going so far as to transform into him to leave the perfect tracks behind, before he leapt into the shadows and disappeared to Flower Fruit Mountain.

… The place had a much weirder vibe than he recalled, but it had been over five hundred years, so who really knows. He went to a very public spot to wait for one or both of the Pilgrim’s arrivals. He ordered all monkeys away with a harsh snap that made all of them instantly abandon him, though he noticed looks of judgement and curiosity from the same goddamned immortal ones that were still fucking here for some goddamn reason.

He waited alone for many days, before the tall pilgrim– Sandy or something– arrived.

“Brother Monkey! There you are, I’ve been searching far and wide with many, many questions– why would you take our things? I know you are upset, as am I, but you said you wished us safety on our journey and it’s– well, it’s all rather confusing.”

“Confusing?” Macaque chuckled. “What’s confusing? I don’t care about you three– er, four if I’m counting the horse.”

“If you are counting the horse–? Brother Monkey, what has gotten into you, I beg for you to answer truthfully,” The demon seemed genuinely heartbroken.

“I don’t care, Friar Sand. All you people have done is toss me aside and you know what? I have decided that I am powerful enough to finish this all on my own anyways– you all can just crawl back into whatever hellhole you crawled out from. I will claim the glory for myself.”

The taller demon shook his head. “Brother, you know as well as I Buddha will not just hand you the scripture, they must be given to the chosen seeker– our master.”

“Oh please, I’m well aware, and in fact, already have a plan,” Macaque grinned, creating perfect clones of all other members of the group, except much quieter.

“Brother, I cannot allow you to do this,” Friar Sand summoned a trident.

Macaque laughed.

“I’d like to see you try,” he grinned, falling backward into a shadow while the clones attacked the blue demon.

Macaque watched from high above in a tree as the pilgrim fought and struggled, but by some miracle he managed to destroy the clone of himself.

“Wukong! Come out here and face me!” He shouted, pushing back an attack from the clone of the monk.

“See, I would buddy, but… I really don’t give a shit,” Macaque shadow traveled behind him, disappearing as fast as he had come though so the pilgrim couldn’t land a hit.

“Gah– I see you’ve truly fallen back onto your path of darkness then. Well– I-i–” The pilgrim’s face lit up at a thought, which made Macaque angry, but he quickly forgot that when he retreated entirely.

After that, he decided a take a stroll through the peach gardens still in the form of the Monkey King, eating the heavenly* fruits with a certain fondness.

*a metaphorical heavenly taste, of course

However, in no less than a couple hours he heard someone arriving at the mountain– someone familiar–

Wukong.

Macaque instantly shadow traveled closeby. “Friar Sand, I see you’ve returned and– who is this imposter you are with?!”

“An imposter? HA! Anyone could see that disguise of yours any day– whoever you are,” Wukong glared at him, summoning his staff.

“I hope you’ve prayed to even a sliver as skilled as I am,” Macaque grinned, summoning his own.

“Bah!” Wukong instantly went in for the attack.

The battle was great and climatic– mountains were destroyed, towns torn apart as Macaque purposefully tried to direct him into them, but Wukong forced him higher and higher into the clouds. They exchanged very little conversation, as Macaque just tried to enjoy seeing the Great Sun Wukong, Stone Monkey King with a heart of similar rock bleed.

Wukong punched and whacked him with his staff, and Macaque did similarly, slightly impressed but then overwhelmingly proud and cocky of his perfected mimicry– not a single person could tell who was who.

“Wukong! Guanyin– remember!”

Macaque and Wukong nodded, much to Wukong’s annoyance, as now both of them focused on dragging the other even more upward until eventually they were at the bodhisattva’s island.

“Ah, Sha Wujing, Sun Wukong and Sun Wu–…kong…” Guanyin stared at the identical monkeys in disbelief.

Macaque gasped. “I cannot believe– there is no creature on earth who could mimic so excellently as to blind a bodhisattva before! My lady, please, I beg of you to strike down the false Wukong, he seeks to cause you and the pilgrimage harm,” he got onto his knees.

“No-! Guanyin, it is he who is the fake! I have been at your side for many hours– many earth days, I beg of you to understand I would never steal the pilgrim’s things, it is unlike me!”

“Guanyin, do not listen to him. We do not know how well his mimicry skills work– for all we know he summoned a hair clone to do all that work for him while he was distracting you!” Macaque swore.

“My dear Sun Wukong, I do hope you’ll forgive me for what I’m about to test,” Guanyin took a deep breath before reciting the tightening spell, causing Wukong and Macaque (in fake, of course) to fall over and cry in agony. Guanyin immediately stopped at both of their responses.

“That’s– That’s impossible! There’s only one fillet, right my lady?” Friar Sand asked.

“That is correct, and only one sutra…” Quanyin looked genuinely disturbed as Macaque and Wukong gained their composure.

“You dastardly fiend, if we were not in such sacred grounds I would tear you limb from limb,” Wukong growled.

“I feel very much the same,” Macaque growled back.

“Wukong, Friar Sand– take the imposter to the celestial realm, perhaps those who know Wukong from the many battles in heaven will know him by his technique,” She ordered the three of them.

“Gladly, my lady,” Macaque grinned, excited to show off his skill once more, grabbing Wukong’s arm who pushed away to try and grab his before Sandy grabbed both of them and separated them onto different arms before bowing to Guanyin and heading to the celestial realm.

Once at the gates, the blue demon tried to seek a way in, but both Wukong and Macaque didn’t have the patience, figuring the best way to get an audience was to simply break in, and there they would perhaps be able to tell the imposter.

The pair fought all the way to the Jade emperor’s throne, where Wukong and the sand guy explained the situation, with Macaque budding in to interrupt his sentences. The Jade emperor grew nervous at the mention of Guanyin not being able to tell them apart, and asked the armies of heaven if her theory proved true, but none of them knew if one or the other was the imposter.

The emperor ordered for a mirror of truth to be brought to the room, but alas, Macaque was so powerful it fooled even that.

Now that made Wukong furious (totally as well as Macaque because he was totally the true Wukong).

Wukong leapt at Macaque, instantly punching him through the jade palace, all the way through the celestial sphere and back down to earth. Macaque laughed and fought back just as vigorously.

“Heaven, don’t you see how consumed with rage this one is? Surely I’ve become more than this– I’ve learned many a great thing on the pilgrimage and this imposter surely has learned nothing,” He glared, a light flashing in his eyes to Wukong.

The flash made Wukong hesitate a moment, and that was when Macaque took his chance and used his staff to send Wukong crashing down to the earth, crashing in a gigantic crater.

“Pilgrim Sun– what is going on– where is Friar Sand– what the– why are there two? Why are you fighting?! Stay back!” The great Tang monk pointed his staff at the two of them as Macaque floated down gently.

“Master,” Macaque went on his knees. “I have returned to you to apologize, for this false Wukong here has taken your supplies and halted the journey, something I never once desired to happen,” he then summoned the sack of their things and placed it humbly before the monk.

“Don’t– don’t listen, Master,” Monkey struggled to get up, coughing from the dust and debris. “He is the liar– he knows nothing of what he speaks about,” he held his side and walked over.

“Woah– there’s two of them now?!” The pig pilgrim joined the conversation. “That can’t be good.”

“Yes, apparently,” The monk sighed, before getting an idea, reciting the tightening sutra just as Guanyin had, causing very similar results, causing an embarrassingly fast halt.

“I apologize, Pilgrim Sun, I-i thought that would work…”

“You always do,” Wukong muttered, standing up. Macaque just scoffed.

After that, none other than Guanyin showed up again.

“Apologies for my lateness, but I have a suggestion– how about we go to the underworld and check the ledgers of the dead– perhaps they will be able to find the imposter’s name in their books,” She suggested.

Upon agreeing, Wukong and Macaque fought their way down to the underworld, where Quanyin and the other pilgrims explained the situation.

They searched far and wide across all ledgers, but Macaque’s name wasn’t in any of them.

Hm… Well that was interesting, he supposed.

“Well then– if neither the Tang Monk nor the armies of heaven nor Guanyin nor the Jade Emperor are able to tell the false Wukong from the truth then I suppose our only remaining choice is Buddha himself.

Uh oh.

“An excellent idea,” he grinned at Wukong for assurances.

Quickly, the pilgrims and Guanyin headed westward with great pace, arriving in what felt like mere seconds.

“Man– why’d we have do all that walking if we could’ve just done this the whole time,” The pigman grumbled upon their arrival, receiving a look from the Tang Monk.

Upon their entrance, Macaque could practically feel the Buddha’s eyes scorching into his soul, but he kept his composure.

After all, he had already fooled countless gods, what was one enlightened bozo to the rulers of the heavens and underworld?!

“Guanyin, my dear friend, it is good to see you, as well as you Sun Wukong.” The Buddha smiled kindly at Wukong.

Fuck.

“Oh Enlightened One, it is an honor to be in your presence,” The monk and his disciples, as well as Guanyin bowed, though Macaque didn’t until Wukong started to as well.

“Ah, Tang Sanzang, I’ve been expecting you. However, we must deal with this fake Sun Wukong first.”

“O-of course, your enlightened-ness,” The monk bowed even more.

“Bodhisattva, do you know of the Four Spiritual Primates?” Buddha asked Guanyin.

“I do. There is the stone monkey Sun Wukong, the Red Red-Buttocked Baboon, The Bare-Armed Gibbon, and lastly the Six Eared Macaque,” She recalled.

Fuck.

“You remember quite correctly, Guanyin. These four are often referred to as the Four Monkeys of Havoc, and it is not hard to see why based on our very own Wukong, is it not?” Buddha teased Wukong, who blushed a little.

“The Stone Monkey has powers over form and shape, he recognizes the seasons, discerns the advantages of earth, and is able to alter the course of planets and stars. The Red-Buttocked Horse Monkey has knowledge of yin and yang, understands the affairs of humans, is adept in its daily life and is able to avoid death and lengthen its life as they so please. Tongbi Gibbon can seize the Sun and Moon, shorten a thousand mountains, distinguish the auspicious from the inauspicious, and manipulate planets and stars. And the Six Eared Macaque?”

Buddha looked right at him.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck–

“The Six Eared Macaque can hear for thousands of miles, discernment of fundamental principles, knowledge of past and future, and a comprehension of all things. On top of that though, he has gone and gained further abilities, able to melt into shadows and create perfect copies of those he witnesses and knows all about.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to the pair.

“Our imposter is none other than the macaque, and he will attempt to flee very, very soon,” He gestured towards Macaque.

And his disguise was instantly gone.

Fuck.

“Macaque,” Wukong growled, slowly going into a fighting stance.

Macaque started to panic– he could feel everyone closing in around him, and so slipped through a shadow, far, far away, but Wukong managed to somehow follow him through it, and when they appeared on the other side in a forest, Wukong immediately began attacking with even more power and fury that before.

“Haha-! Look who’s finally not holding back after all,” Macaque tried to keep his composure as he ran for dear life.

“I’m not playing any more games, Macaque. You abandoned your post, you abandoned your family, and then you attacked the pilgrims– for that you will pay with your life,” Wukong picked up a tree and threw it at Macaque, who narrowly avoided it by transforming into a snake and back into his regular form again.

“Oh you’re one to talk of abandonment Wukong-! You didn’t even hesitate to go to heaven when you were offered– you thought nothing of the monkeys until I said something,” Macaque growled, shadow traveling right behind him attempting a quick attack, but Wukong sensed it and blocked.

“I returned three times, Macaque, and you were gone every time. I gave you a task– to prove yourself worthy of something I knew you always wanted and yet you failed me repeatedly!” Wukong shouted, kicking him down, but Macaque just went through a shadow door again and went high in a tree.

“You are not innocent in this, Wukong. You abandoned me for my own pursuits so I sought companionship and power elsewhere, can you really blame me?” He snarled.

Wukong zipped up the tree with inhumane speed. “I returned and you left the mountain in a state of collapse and ruin. Thousands died when they were supposed to be under your care, Macaque. You said you would care so I did not worry, but you failed me,” he spat quietly.

Macaque attempted to strike him with his staff but was blocked. “Wukong, I loved you more than anything else in the world and yet you left for a place you hated and immediately began to destroy! How low you must have thought of me–!” Macaque kicked him, but Wukong turned into a bird and flew to a higher branch before jumping down with his staff for a head strike Macaque barely blocked in time.

“Macaque, we were not meant to be– especially not as we were. I have grown over the past five hundred years– I have found a new family. I had thought perhaps you too would change as you cared for Flower Fruit Mountain but the years have only made you bitter, immature and cruel,” The stone Monkey said calmly as Macaque stepped back to breathe.

“You cannot say that you don’t love me Wukong. You swore you’d always– this is no different from a sparring match of our past-!”

“Macaque, we fought constantly. Everything was a competition– you always wanted to prove you were better than me and attempted to take my place,” Wukong sighed. “We were not meant to be– all we do is hurt one another.”

“All I wanted was to be your equal, peaches– to sit by your side as we burned the whole world down together–!” Macaque growled as he went back into the fight.

“The world is too good to be destroyed– I see that now Macaque–! And perhaps if you were not so stuck in the past you could see that too,” Wukong huffed, pulling some hairs and summoning an army of clones, which Macaque matched with his own.

“If I am stuck in the past it is because you left me there–! I am the monster of your own creation! I am your darkness, your wickedness you wished so hard to forget, but I’m still here! And I will always be here, waiting and itching you on until you finally learn to stop fucking hiding!!!” Macaque shouted, unsure of which was the right Wukong now.

“I apologize for leaving, Macaque, but this bitterness is something you are choosing. It has been over five hundred years– there are many others who could have filled my void, Macaque, and yet you chose hatred and wickedness instead,” The true Wukong evaporated a Macaque clone before glaring at him.

“I didn’t want anyone else–! I wanted you!” Macaque’s voice cracked at that.

Wukong sighed.

“I was foolish when I was young, Macaque. I did abandon everyone, and you should not want a person who did something like that to you,” Wukong said, stopping the clone army and stepping towards Macaque.

Macaque stopped him too, though he didn’t realize it.

“B-but you swore–”

“And I lied about a thousand things. Macaque, you must recognize this is not healthy for either of us. You must move on or pay for your crimes,” The King summoned his staff. “I have a new purpose now– a new family, as I said.”

“Some family– a monk who doesn’t hesitate to torture you with migraines because that Pig guy eggs him on,” Macaque scoffed.

“I’ve broken many rules, Macaque. I’ve a reputation of chaos and it doesn't help when shapeshifters like you make me look worse than I’ve already been,” Wukong glared.

“I don’t have time for further argument, Macaque. Will you choose moving on, or punishment?” He pointed his staff.

Macaque glared. “You can’t.”

“You’re right, I can’t,” Wukong sighed, before smirking and pointing behind. “But he can.”

Macaque barely had any time before he realized he had been talking to a clone and the real Wukong hurled his staff and—

Right through the chest, Macaque was impaled.

And he was in the underworld, locked tightly in chains.

The Sun had risen again, after banishing the Moon.

.o0o.

Time in the afterlife wasn’t something anybody bothered to keep track of, so Macaque couldn’t tell if he’d been dead for an hour or centuries, but when he started hearing whispers in a far off corner of his prison, he wondered if it was possible for the dead to go insane.

The whisper didn’t stop though, it kept nagging his name and attempting to grow louder and louder.

“Look lady– could you can it?? We’re dead, no chit chatting will change that,” He said, crossing his arms, his chains clinging.

The whisper laughed.

“Liu Er Mihou… I am no mere ‘lady’-- I am someone very, very powerful,” She chuckled. “I am the Lady Bone Demon, and I’ve come to make you a proposition.”

Suddenly the woman appeared in his cell– with long and flowing black hair and a dress of pure white. She would’ve looked like any other spirit, if it weren’t for a skeletal structure’s faint glow under her skin.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” He rolled his eyes– he was fed up with demons and spirits or whatever the fuck.

“I want to bring you back to the mortal realm and free you of your chains,” She smiled almost too sweetly. All six of Macaque’s ears perked up.

“I’m… listening…” he said.

She laughed.

“You and I both know how wretched the world is– we could start over with you and Sun Wukong reunited and ruling planets and stars together as you always wanted as we reshape earth to become what we deem it should be,” She said, getting closer.

The name of his ex caused a chill down his spine.

“I guess you’re right, but how exactly are you supposed to free me if you’re also down here?” Macaque asked.

The lady patted his head. “I am not entirely dead as you are. I am merely trapped, unable to fully wake until somebody– you will set me free and help me achieve equilibrium.”

“So… to be clear… you only have powers over life and death down here?” Macaque asked.

“Yes, I am unable to reach my full potential without a host and without being freed, though my manipulation can grow if you follow my instruction,” She explained.

“Then you won’t be able to catch me if I run,” Macaque grinned.

“That sounds like a deal, Lady Bone Demon– you have my word, I will help you escape your curse if you bring me back to life,” he offered his chained hand.

“Then it is agreed,” The Lady Bone Demon smiled, her hand lighting with a blue flame that was disturbingly cold to the touch– to the point it felt like frostbite more than of flames, but as soon as that was done, Macaque blinked and he was…

Back.

He was…

Alive.

He reached into his pocket and found a little communication thingy, no doubt courtesy of the demoness.

It lit up with instruction, and he noticed a key in the ground with a pattern unlike anything he’d ever seen.

He tossed the communicator to the ground and headed east.

He didn’t care for her– he wanted revenge on that bastard who left and killed him.

No matter what it would take, he was going to get back on him, to make him feel an inkling of pain and sorrow he caused him.

He didn’t know if any of his stupid family was alive, but if they were then those would be his target.

He was going to destroy Wukong’s family one by one by one until it was him all alone and then Macaque would make him pay more than he ever had before.

Macaque’s tone is mocking all the way during this small exchange, even mocking Wukong’s “bud” that he uses to address Xiaotian, attempting to edge him on and get him to engage with him. Right from the start he’s trying to instigate him, he wants Wukong to react in a way that’ll lead to a fight, that will cause some wreckage, he wants Sun Wukong to see him and think “I want to engage with this person for the rest of my life, I can’t stop thinking about him” when in truth Macaque is the one chasing Wukong’s attention constantly.

Sun Wukong’s tone is something I’ve analyzed once, twice, several times before. Wukong’s tone here is stressed and non-intimidating—he’s more disappointed than you realize. Sun Wukong witnessed Xiaotian’s personality change to someone who snaps back at him, tells him he’s been training with someone who’s actually teaching him when Sun Wukong knows Xiaotian’s mortal and has his limits. Had Xiaotian gotten incredibly hurt, his reaction to Macaque’s mocking would have been worse. Because Wukong does not instigate fights. He doesn’t try to play into the bait that Macaque leaves him, he asks him if he’s tired of repeating this cycle. It’s true, it is a cycle and we see it throughout most of their relationship: Sun Wukong takes a step back and Macaque takes two steps forward. He’s the one keeping Macaque at a distance.

And something that’s very interesting when it comes to Wukong’s word choice: he says, ‘living in my shadow’. Which is interesting! It implies that Sun Wukong does not want Macaque to be in his shadow. He does not want Macaque around let alone being his shadow—he wants him to step out of it. It’s interesting to see that Sun Wukong does not seem to think he was the one who put Macaque in his shadow — it’s interesting to see.

“It’s time to give back what you stole.”

Again, Wukong gets straight to the point: “You hurt my successor, a mortal, and I can tell you’re not going to talk through this so I’ll resort to your level.”

But he also does not engage Macaque immediately. Only does so when Macaque continues and says this:

“You are such a gem. It's going to be so satisfying, killing you with your own powers.”

Did you know that in JTTW Macaque was mirroring all of Sun Wukong’s powers? He was basically an exact replica in that moment and thus it resulted in a stalemate for a long time?

Macaque is A) admitting here that he’s using Sun Wukong’s own strength against him thus making him his equal in that instant, more so with the fact Sun Wukong is canonically holding back at this point, meaning Macaque’s frustration with him later makes sense because he knows Sun Wukong is holding back—he just doesn’t know by how much and B) he’s once again instigating Wukong by calling him a gem, something he only does once throughout the show before he switches to other forms of taunting. 

Sun Wukong is a stone monkey, he was born from a rock. He was treated as more of a piece of coal throughout the entirety of the Journey by both Heaven and his pilgrim brothers and even his master at times (not to say that’s the exact way the Pilgrims and Tripitaka act in the show but I digress) and to call him a gem.. Is purely amusing considering how he then proceeds to say Sun Wukong was gifted with all of his abilities and powers in the following season. He’s not complimenting him—and even if he was, it probably lost its value in the moment, considering the situation they were in.

“Seriously? You fell for that?”

Macaque instigating Sun Wukong and further trying to get him to get angry and stoop down to his level? More likely than you think.

“Come on. Show me the real Sun Wukong. The old you would have leveled this whole mountain range to stop me, but you're scared of hurting some kid? Pathetic.”

Macaque proceeds to try and urge Wukong to go back to being his old self, he wants Wukong to be that reckless, capricious, overpowered guy whom he (for lack of better platonic based term) fell in love with in terms of admiration and, amusingly, it’s also something he clings on to because that’s a recurring theme with Macaque: being stuck in the past.

Sun Wukong is not reacting how he wants him to and that’s what irritates him the most. He wants them to go back to their past and that’s the unhealthy aspect of him: he doesn’t realize people can change for better or worse—or, at the very least, he doesn’t want to acknowledge it with the way he witnesses Sun Wukong protect Xiaotian and worry over him more than he pays attention to Macaque himself. He doesn’t want to believe Sun Wukong’s changed as a person and that he  needs to change before they can make anything work.

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Season Two

Sun Wukong is absent throughout most of this Season due to his quest to find a weapon to fight against LBD and then the subtle timeskip of Heaven’s days and Earth’s years working a little funky. 

Of course then we dip our feet into the very shallow pool that is Macaque’s view of how Sun Wukong’s character works despite not having had a proper conversation with him over the past five hundred years or so. 

“The hero and the warrior were like the Sun and the Moon. Their light, a protective glow, shining upon the world. Together, there was nothing that could stop the two of them. Either in the Celestial Realms or on Earth. As time went on, the hero attained power beyond comprehension. As the hero's light grew, so too did his shadow. And soon, the warrior was cast in that shadow. In the darkness, the warrior was forgotten by the hero.”

Shoutout to Lego Monkie Kid for being able to write biased narratives throughout the show. 

Macaque’s word choices are interesting: he’s glorifying the past (again) and putting the Hero (Wukong) on a high pedestal and repeating he was abandoned and forgotten and cast in the shadows. The interesting point is noting that Macaque is a strongly biased narrator, he views Sun Wukong as lesser than him and wants him to come down to his level of petty words and constant fighting when Sun Wukong does not react nor chase him around. And something to note about Sun Wukong is that he values and cares genuinely and strongly for his friends; to say that Sun Wukong purposefully put Macaque in his shadow is a stretch.

The theory that Sun Wukong told Macaque to stay behind while he went to the war against Heaven (thus fighting with Nezha, Muzha and Erlang) led to Macaque taking it as ‘you are weak and can’t follow me’, twisting Wukong’s words and his perception of him is the most likely theory taking into consideration how LBD was confirmed to have messed with Macaque’s memories and that Macaque later states that Sun Wukong didn’t work hard for his powers.

Unless Lego Monkie Kid rewrote the starting chapters of Journey To The West where Sun Wukong spends years training for his immortality, several more reigning over his kingdom and then the inevitable trauma and imprisonment? Sun Wukong worked very hard for his position, regardless of whether or not he was cocky or gained a high ego over it, and Macaque just turns away from the truth and only sees what he wants to see.

We don’t talk about the fact that he proceeded to project onto Xiaotian and said he did not have abandonment issues and that he forgot about the friends that Macaque himself kidnapped. 

And of course we get the moment where Macaque gets a flashback of Sun Wukong punching him, correlating to the somewhat confirmed theory that Sun Wukong murdered Macaque during a certain point in the JTTW arc of the show.

And then it’s not addressed again until Season Three.

Season Three

(I’ve typed Macaque 37 times and Wukong 48 times and idk how to feel about that)

Sun Wukong is emotionally and mentally and physically drained the moment we see him back at the start of the Season. He’s focused on securing the map and gaining the Samadhi Fire for the chance of defeating Lady Bone Demon and Macaque on the other hand, as we can see in the flashback that occurs later in the season, was leashed and held with a dagger to his neck when moving closer to Wukong.

Macaque and Sun Wukong’s banter is.. a singular moment where he allows himself to fall into Macaque’s cycle. “Always the comedian,” implies Macaque is well aware that Wukong is masking his tone and overall stability to show he’s holding himself together when in truth he very much isn’t. Wukong continues to taunt Macaque because this is what he wanted, he wanted a true reaction out of him — to which I mean, he wants Wukong to react in a negative sense, he wants them to fight, he wants to instigate fights with him because that in itself is a distraction from talking about their past. 

Wukong avoids Macaque and even warns everyone about him, tries to keep Macaque away from Xiaotian and the others as much as possible to the point of making himself bait for the sake of them getting away during the train station scene. 

Genuinely, Sun Wukong saw Macaque as someone dangerous to Xiaotian due to the trauma that Macaque gave him during his introduction episode where he threatened to kill Xiaotian for the sake of getting to Wukong.

And that’s not without discussing the fact that Wukong was able to make Macaque freeze at the change of tone. During the ice scene with Nezha, Wukong tries to instigate a sort of scuffle with Macaque this time, repeating the same tone and mask he used back during the airship fight. Because he wants him to fall back into that little cycle of theirs that Macaque was constantly chasing.

What he didn’t account for was Macaque not following the same path he usually does. The reason behind Wukong’s anger when he reaches to choke Macaque isn’t just because he started the ritual: he didn’t listen to Wukong (again), he tried to shift his blame onto Wukong, he hurt Xiaotian, he threatened Xiaojiao, and pushed Tang into starting the ritual. And, yes, Wukong was watching all of it despite not knowing what it is they were saying, but he is very much aware of Macaque’s actions when he went after them clawing for survival.

It’s also important to remember that it’s heavily implied both Sun Wukong and Macaque must have done something to cause their relationship to become so estranged. Because Macaque is the one who leaves this time, Macaque is the one who tried to get away from this situation, Macaque is the one who tries to escape and that’s what ticks Wukong off further. 

Because Macaque is a coward and that’s something he needs to work on excessively. 

Yes, there is the looking back scene, there is the moment where Macaque and Wukong look at each other in the Samadhi Fire episode but just because they took one step does not mean they’ve finished climbing up the ladder to mending their relationship. 

However.

Sun Wukong was still holding back during his fight with Macaque.

Because despite this intense power imbalance, despite the fact Sun Wukong was possessed, he was still conscious, he was still aware of his actions. Knowing how roughed up he managed to get Macaque it's only safe to assume he was choosing to hold back in an attempt to delay the end result of the fight.

And afterwards we get a cleaner conclusion: they put their differences aside to help Xiaotian and end their last interaction with Macaque falling back into edging Wukong on and ignoring his actions throughout the Season and calling him selfish—as harsh as it may sound, he’s not yet accepting the fact Sun Wukong has changed and thus Sun Wukong will not consider him as someone he can be comfortable around or someone worth having an actual conversation with. 

See: When talking to Xiaotian he drops the masks (slightly) and admits he has never had a proper successor before nor has he ever been a mentor. Even when Xiaotian reveals he plays dumb to lighten the mood, Sun Wukong just laughs and brings him closer rather than pushing him away. He does not do that with Macaque because he doesn’t even consider him someone worth trying for.

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“Break Up” Stage

“But how would they work?”

They need to separate first.

Sun Wukong and Macaque require a lengthy break from each other, both without mentioning or seeing the other let alone engaging them because the chances of them actually communicating is slim to none. They need to work on themselves and separate to work on their individual trauma before they can even begin to discuss their own issues.

Sun Wukong is closed off and Macaque is self-centered in the way that, Wukong does not address his trauma and even then plays it off as a joke while Macaque makes his own personal issues seem more important or drastic than others (whether intentionally or not).

Macaque is also heavily focused on Wukong while Wukong can easily look away from Macaque lest the latter mocks or taunts him.  They need to be away from each other for a while before even beginning to take those steps towards friendship.

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Things they need to work on first

Sun Wukong needs to work on his communication skills, emotional and mental stability, learn how to make healthy coping habits for his trauma and actually talk to someone about his trauma. He bottles everything up and then often uses himself as bait/a shield for everyone (especially Xiaotian) and that’s taking a toll on him. He even openly declares he’s going to sacrifice himself when asked what his plan was about the fire and then immediately joked about it to numb it down. 

He constantly lets others snap at him without defending himself not because he can’t but because of trauma when speaking out towards others if they stick by JTTW lore (when contradicting Tripitaka’s actions, he would be punished with the tightening spell, etc.). He needs to get better at this before even beginning the idea of rekindling a friendship that must have heavily hurt him enough for him to not want to engage with the other party again. 

Macaque needs to work on his emotional and mental stability, learn not to trauma dump onto others, learn to let go and learn that his actions heavily affect others. He berates Wukong for seemingly “making things worse for Xiaotian” and then proceeds to hurt, manipulate and traumatize him and his friends. 

He gets away with it and that’s something that.. should not have happened? His actions throughout the series have consisted of kidnapping and borderline traumatizing a stranger to him who looked up to him and then proceeded to ask if he missed him. He’s mocking him, he’s mocking everyone and Wukong is not exempt from this.

Macaque needs to work on learning how to engage without seeing things through his own bias-tinted lenses and realize there are other people around him who are suffering from his actions and that being traumatized is not an excuse to be a shitty person to others.

Otherwise, the entire relationship could be toxic.

-----------------

Things that could work with them

Sun Wukong opening up to Macaque about why he doesn’t engage with him 

Macaque calling out Wukong on his past actions in a way that isn’t meant to be seen as an attack

Sun Wukong and Macaque (after being separated) finding each other when they’re in healthier environments and talking/discussing their past and how they can move forward together

Macaque apologizing to Wukong first

Macaque realizing Sun Wukong is traumatized from the Journey

Wukong realizing why Macaque chases after him so much and setting aside boundaries so they can engage without it becoming overwhelming

Sun Wukong and Macaque addressing the fact they’ve both hurt each other and realizing it can’t work unless they both put an effort into it

Macaque being Wukong’s shoulder to lean on; Wukong being the one to call Macaque out when he pushes things too far

A normal non-romantic involved QPR or friendship

-------------------

Things to consider

The reason why a QPR works so well with Sun Wukong and Macaque is a bit simple but also complicated: 

Sun Wukong throughout the course of Journey to the West and all its past and future iterations have always had him be uninterested in both men and women. There are multiple instances where he’s capable of courting women and he instead backs away or does not pay it any mind; aside from this he’s heavily implied to only care about familial love and friendships. He does not see his pilgrim brothers as anything more than family and he views Tripitaka as a mentor rather than someone whom he was chained to (coughs). 

Sun Wukong is always been heavily coded to be on the aro or ace spectrum in media and Lego Monkie Kid focuses more on the platonic aspect of relationships and Sun Wukong being in a Queer-Platonic Relationship would be more impacting than a regular romantic one. He does not understand normal human customs being a monkey and all and creating a type of relationship that’s unique to him and Macaque alone would be far more comfortable to him than to have a relationship that follows rules.

Macaque also has shown no signs of romantic attraction towards any of the cast and, considering the idea that they continue this fact, him being on the aro or ace spectrum would also be an incredible move on their part. Not only because he’s meant to represent the other side of Wukong’s metaphorical coin but because it’d be the first canon aro or ace villain character thus far in a kids’ show.

This and the fact that— both Sun Wukong and Macaque are over a thousand years old. Why on earth would they have a normal type of relationship? Giving them a checklist of what passes on as romantic and platonic when to them the line is so blurred it’s barely existent to them is amusing. 

Sun Wukong and Macaque having their own weird relationship where it changes from frustrated best friends to partners to angry middle aged demons to the tired traumatized immortals who sometimes cuddle while marathoning weird stupid comedies or tragedies on netflix is much more appealing than the average type of relationship media often portrays. Having Sun Wukong and Macaque see each other as equals on all known terms is interesting and good.

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Differences in giving and receiving affection (HC on Macaque’s part)

This one is a tad short considering how little we have on the matter but both monkeys resort to verbal praise — however there is a big difference in this.

Sun Wukong’s love language is acts of service (Journey), verbal reassurance, touch and familiarity with one’s actions and quirks. 

Macaque’s… are genuinely unknown seeing as his verbal praise is just a manipulation tactic but it’s somewhat twistable into something more.. Genuine if you take into account how he could just as easily turn Wukong’s words against himself when he spares Macaque a compliment.

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Final Message

This took me way longer than it should have.