The Bull Demon King (牛魔王, Niú Mówáng?) is the old sworn brother of Sun Wukong, the father of Red Boy, and the ex-husband of Princess Iron Fan.
History[]
The Bull Demon King met Sun Wukong during his travels around the world after becoming immortal and became sworn brothers with him and five other demon kings. Sun Wukong frequently hosted extravagant banquets for them.[1] After Sun Wukong took the title Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the Bull Demon King began calling himself the Great Sage that Pacifies Heaven.[2]
Sometime later, the Bull Demon King married Princess Iron Fan and fathered Red Boy.[3] When Princess Jade-Face inherited a vast amount of money from her father, she used it to convince the Bull Demon King to divorce Princess Iron Fan and marry her instead.
Sun Wukong came to Thunder-Accumulating Mountain to ask him to convince Princess Iron Fan to lend him her Banana-Leaf Fan. He was enraged due to Sun Wukong getting his son Red Boy in trouble and fought him. He abruptly called off the fight after being given an invitation by the All-Saints Dragon King.
After the dragon king's banquet, the Bull Demon King realised his Water-Repelling Golden Crystal Beast had been stolen, and realised Sun Wukong had impersonated him to get the Banana-Leaf Fan.[4] He caught up with Sun Wukong and disguised himself as his companion Zhu Bajie, taking the fan back.
A long battle commenced against Sun Wukong, the real Zhu Bajie, and an army of ghostly warriors. The Bull Demon King transformed into his true form, a giant ten-thousand foot tall white bull, but was still unable to defeat Sun Wukong.
The Bull Demon King tried to flee, but was cornered by the Four Heavenly Kings, King Li Jing, and Prince Nezha, who were sent to arrest him on orders from the Tathagata Buddha. Prince Nezha transformed into his own giant form and subdued him, carting him off to face justice from the Buddha.[5]
Abilities[]
The Bull Demon King was on par with his sworn brother Sun Wukong, and like him possessed the ability to shapeshift. His most powerful form is his true form, which is a giant ten-thousand foot tall white bull. He could even perfectly impersonate Zhu Bajie without ever seeing him.[5]
Trivia[]
- Bowser, the main antagonist of the Mario video game franchise, was inspired by the Bull Demon King. Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that he first envisioned Bowser as an ox, basing him on the Bull Demon King from the 1960 anime film Alakazam the Great, an adaptation of Journey to the West.
