Dragon Ball, Naruto and One Piece were all inspired by the same epic story

Despite the obvious differences and never-ending comparisons, manga are heavyweights dragon ball, NarutoAnd One piece share in Sun Wukong a common source of inspiration and ideas – the irrepressible monkey king Who is the protagonist of the Chinese epic? Journey to the West. It’s a connection that not only illustrates the Monkey King’s indelible influence on the world Shonen jump manga series, but also makes titles much more similar than their fandoms might suggest.

Journey to the West is a 16th-century Chinese novel attributed to Wu Cheng’en. It is one of the greatest parables of human civilization and a classic tale of heroes, demons and gods, as well known in China – its country of origin – and Japan as it is King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table lies in the west. Additionally, King Arthur serves as a constant source of inspiration for the western comics industry. Journey to the West is one of the most comprehensive content sources for Japanese manga. This is most evident in the story’s influence on three of the most iconic and influential manga in the history of the industry. During Sun Wukong’s influence on dragon ballSince Son Goku is pretty straight forward and well known, fans might be surprised to learn that the Monkey King has his paws in Luffy and Naruto too.

Sun Wukong’s adventure is the ultimate hero’s journey

Journey to the West tells the story of Sun Wukong, an incredibly powerful being with a serious cheek who thinks he is invincible and decides to invite himself to heaven. Though powerful, the gods have never really been challenged in their own home. This proves her downfall as Wukong uses every trick to overcome her abilities. Ultimately, the gods ask for help from Guanyin, who quickly incapacitates Sun Wukong and places a mountain on top of him to prevent him from escaping. Hoping the Monkey King will use the captive time to reflect on his criminal behavior, Guanyin orders him to remain captive on the mountain until a “pure” soul finds him and essentially teaches him humility.

After 500 years, the Buddhist monk Tang Shen happened to meet Sun Wukong. Tang Shen was sent by the Emperor to bring sacred Buddhist texts from India. Tang Shen’s purity increases Guanyin’s command. However, Wukong’s freedom is not granted unconditionally, but only guaranteed if he can help Tang Shen successfully complete his journey. Thus begins the Monkey King’s hero quest. Along the way, he hones and hones his formidable skills by protecting Tang Shen. Most importantly, he learns the humility, patience, kindness, and diligence that Guanyin believed he always possessed. On this journey, Sun Wukong is tasked with overcoming countless dangers, temptations and sorrows. Of course, he also gets into a lot of fights. As such, the story offers a wealth of rich content that manga creators can and do draw ideas from to use in their works.

Dragon Ball’s Goku is the Monkey King

The influence of the monkey king on dragon ball is already clear on the first page of the saga. “Son Goku” is the literal Japanese translation of the name of the Monkey King Sun Wukong. In addition, although both can fly, they originally moved on a magic cloud. The influences don’t stop there, however. Like Wukong, Goku is a primate with nearly invincible powers to wreak havoc. In fact, the savage, undeniable, and frenzied attacks that Goku unleashes in his ape form are akin to Wukong’s crazy and unstoppable rampage through the skies that landed him in trouble. The wand that Goku uses at the beginning of his adventure is also inspired by the Monkey King’s Jingu Bang.

There is also Goku’s slow but steady progression towards “enlightenment”. No fan can deny that Goku has grown a lot during his adventures and has become a completely different character Dragon Ball Super when he was in dragon ball. Every fight, defeat and success has allowed him to unlock a new level of mental toughness, which is expressed in his various “power-up” forms. These developments reflect the Monkey King’s similar progression over the course of his journey from a cocky but kind-hearted tyrant to a earnest, thoughtful warrior.

Naruto’s shinobi share their powers with the Monkey King

While the Monkey King’s influence on Naruto is not as obvious as with dragon ball, it is an equally crucial element of the story. However, instead of focusing on one character, the most obvious focus is on the skills and abilities. One of the Monkey King’s most powerful abilities is loosely translated as “smoky fire, golden eye.” It is a special eye power that allows the Monkey King to see miles into the distance, as well as through the various transformations, illusions, and disguises of the monsters, ghosts, and spirits he encounters on the journey. In NarutoThe Monkey King’s eye powers are represented in the coveted dojutsu skills of certain shinobi. Like the Monkey King, dojutsu skills are in Naruto are immensely powerful abilities that make a wielder almost invincible.

Another basic ability that the Monkey King often uses to defeat enemies or get out of sticky situations is the ability to create over 80,000 duplicates of himself, with each duplicate being a complete copy – including his trusted weapons – of the original. In Naruto, this ability is represented in the Shadow Clone technique. Like the Monkey King’s replication power, the shadow cloning technique allows a user to create actual physical clones that are exact copies of the user, and it became one of the Monkey King’s most iconic features Naruto Franchise.

One Piece’s Broad Adventures reimagines Sun Wukong’s journey west

The easiest way to spot the Monkey King’s influence One piece is through its main character who likes dragon ballGoku is literally named after him. But there is more to it than just his name. Monkey D. Luffy’s fun-loving, jocular attitude, even when it comes to life and death, is typical of the Monkey King. While wreaking havoc in heaven, the Monkey King also ate a bunch of Immortality Peaches, which may have been one of the inspirations for this One piecedevil fruit The Peaches of Immortality not only prolong the life of whoever eats them, but also grant them a number of extraordinary abilities such as the power of flight and eternal youth, and consuming them makes the Monkey King even more powerful.

Perhaps the deepest influence the Monkey King has One piece is best found in Luffy’s years-long search for the Pirate King’s treasure. It is a journey to the promised land that reflects the monkey’s years-long expedition with Tang Shen to recover the sacred Buddhist texts. In either case, the exact location of the target is unknown, so Luffy and the Monkey King will have to find out along the way. In addition, the journeys only begin with the Monkey King and Tang Shen Journey to the West and Luffy in One piecemeet and befriend various people – often after fighting them – who ultimately become trusted friends and important members of the expedition.

Sun Wukong’s influence on manga is far-reaching

It should be noted that the Monkey King’s influence is not limited to Shueisha’s manga, but rather is a common trait found throughout the manga and anime industries. There are quite a few manga from Kodansha – the other major manga publisher in Japan – that are heavily influenced by it monkey king. Indeed when his influence is so strong in manga so well known and loved dragon ball, NarutoAnd One piecewhich then inspired countless other works, there really is no telling how far Sun Wukong and JOur journey westThe influence on the industry is actually lost.