Journey to the West/YMMV

These things about  are subjective - not everyone will agree with all of them.


 * Acceptable Targets: Apparently, Taoists later in the story seems to be this. Is also noticeable that nine times out of ten they're actually disguised beasts.
 * Badass: The book's ninety-nine chapters long, and every major character gets a chance to be one at least once. Except Xuanzang
 * Crazy Awesome: Many of the characters in the Tsai Chih Chung comic adaptation.
 * Crowning Moment of Awesome: Some of the greatest in literature. Most of them pulled off by Sun Wukong.
 * Crowning Moment of Funny: Pretty much anytime Pig has any involvement in, but his "second marriage" has even the gods throwing out the Schmuck Bait and reeling him in.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Oh, come on. A magical rod that expands at will? Clearly, the Dragon Kings (and Sun Wukong, by extension) must be compensating for something.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Sun Wukong is, at least technically, not the main character.
 * And this is despite the fact that the epic's first several chapters are dedicated to Wukong's exploits before joining up with Xuanzang.
 * The White Bone Demon appears to be this; despite being a demon with a rather ordinary skill set (shapeshifting) and pretty much zero fighting ability, the arc featuring her is one of the most well-known in all of China, and the subject of numerous operas and television specials.
 * Fridge Logic: It is shown and stated several times that Sun Wukong is able to cover hundreds of miles in just a few seconds with his somersault cloud, which makes you wonder why he doesn't simply carry Xuanzang to the Wesern Temple by cloud and save them the long journey by land. This is lampshaded by Zhu Bajie in chapter 22, after which Sun Wukong explains that it is impossible for mortals like Xuanzang to travel by cloud because their mortal flesh and bones are too heavy for that. Also, Xuanzangh is the only one that the Buddha will give the scriptures to, so there is no point in Sun Wukong traveling to the temple by himself and ask for the scriptures on Xuanzangs behalf. But in any case, the whole point of the journey is for Xuanzang to go through lots of dangers before getting the scriptures, so that people back home will be properly impressed, and so that it will be symbolic of a pious person's journey through life's temptations etc.
 * God Mode Sue: The first part of Sun Wukong's history basically has him running roughshod over both humans and deities before Buddha puts a stop to the madness and even after he is released he gets many a Curb Stomp Battle before they reach their destination.
 * Munchkin: Sun Wukong's abilities are utterly over the top.
 * Small list of examples: Flying on either a magical cloud or by turning somersaults that propel him several tens of thousands of miles with each turn, changing into 72 different different shapes, being able to change his hairs into different shapes (such as dozens of miniature versions of himself to help fight), see through illusions of all sorts, Super Strength, can't die due to a mixture of having crossed himself out of the Book of the Dead and eating immortality substances before being baked in a divine furnace, and is able to see for miles.
 * And then there are his abilities to see through illusions, disguises and transformations, manipulate the wind, part the waters, create barriers, summon gods, walk through fire unharmed, survive underwater, pass through metal and rock, walk on clouds, freeze any kind of creature, including demons and gods, or make them fall asleep, have horses listen to his every whim, learn new spells with just a few glances and the bare minimum of instruction and open any lock. Wukong also has great knowledge of medicine and his 72 transformations actually allow him to take the form of anyone and anything, including growing extra body parts and transforming other objects by spitting his blood on it. Wukong can go as far as turning objects into living beings and then use them as puppets (though they lack souls. Movement and speech needs to be programmed into them). Add in Wukong's indestructibility plus his ability to fly across the Earth with a single somersault and you've got the most bizarre/awesome set of powers in classic literature.
 * Values Dissonance: A lot of motivations and justifications for the heroes' behavior look definitely odd to a modern reader.
 * The Woobie: The Queen of Western Liang. A lonely, Reasonable Authority Figure that seems to be genuinely in love with Xuanzang as opposed to her man-hungry subjects and nice to the point of registering the disciples' names. What does she get for it? Scared off by Baije and literally left in the dust.