The Monkey King

This article is about the character. For the quest, see  [15-35] The Monkey King.

The Monkey King
Gender	Male
Race	Hozen (Humanoid)
Class	Monk
Resource	Mana
Affiliation(s)	Order of the Broken Temple
Occupation	King of the hozen, Champion of the Broken Temple
Location	Various
Status	Alive
Companion(s)	The Entourage, Emperor Shaohao (formerly)

“Ooo? Grace? I am not an emperor, little thing. You stand before the Monkey King!”

— The Monkey King introducing himself to Anduin Wrynn (after Anduin addressed him as "your grace")

The Monkey King is an ancient hozen ruler. A peace-loving prankster who enjoys riddles and strong brew and mainly speaks in rhyme, he is also a skilled combatant when needed. Prior to the War of the Ancients, he became the beloved ruler of all the hozen tribes in Pandaria through cleverness and non-violence, an unprecedented feat which caught the attention of Yu'lon, the Jade Serpent, and led her to give him the powerful staff Fu Zan. The Monkey King became a close friend of Shaohao, the last pandaren emperor, and accompanied him on his quest to purify himself of the sha and save Pandaria from the Sundering. The Monkey King later became frozen in jade while battling a mogu warlord in the Valley of Emperors, and remained so for the next ten thousand years.

During the Alliance-Horde war, Anduin Wrynn freed the Monkey King in search of the Harmonic Mallet to counter Garrosh Hellscream's use of the Divine Bell. After putting the champions of the Alliance through several trials, the Monkey King helped them reassemble the pieces of the mallet he'd once hidden across Pandaria. During the third invasion of the Burning Legion, the Monkey King tested monks seeking his onetime staff Fu Zan, and later joined the monks of the Order of the Broken Temple in the fight against the invasion.

Biography

Rise to power and Fu Zan

The Monkey King in The Burdens of Shaohao.

“Artifacts not make people great. Artifacts allow people to be more of themselves. Good becomes gooder. Bad becomes badder.”

— The Monkey King

The hozen calling himself the Monkey King became the ruler of his people a few years before the War of the Ancients. He rose to power without spilling a single drop of blood and was beloved by every hozen tribe, despite the fact that the monkey people fought endlessly and resorted to violence over the smallest disagreement. The Monkey King knew this, so he told the hozen tribes, "I am the Monkey King. Your tribe supports me with all its heart." When a single hozen would question him, he would tell them that their chieftain had already agreed to it. No hozen wanted to challenge their leader on a whim, so they declared, "You are the Monkey King." When the tribe leaders learned his name, all of their subjects were already calling him the Monkey King. They were confused, but they did not want to fight their people and so did not challenge him either. In this way, the Monkey King's wild lie became true because nobody dared to disagree with it. Soon tribal fighting ceased. The Monkey King passed judgment on all disputes and the hozen obeyed.

The Monkey King's feat caught the eye of the Jade Serpent, Yu'lon, who was looking for a mortal upon which to bestow the staff Fu Zan. Keeper Freya had given the staff to Yu'lon millennia prior with the instruction to give it to someone who loathed battle and loved peace, and Yu'lon had become convinced that it needed to go to a hozen. She recognized that the Monkey King had a simple motivation for his actions: he disliked the sight of blood. At the most fundamental level, he was a creature who loathed battle and loved peace, and from this he had achieved what no hozen before him ever had and become the leader of an ungovernable people.

To test the Monkey King's cleverness, Yu'lon visited him disguised as a hozen and asked him a riddle, telling him that a true king would have no trouble answering it. He gave the correct answer in seconds, but she immediately asked him another. They went on this way for three days and three nights. The Monkey King grew enraged but kept answering her questions. This convinced Yu'lon that violence and tyranny were not in the king's nature, or he would have tried to shut her up with force long ago. She revealed her true form (causing considerable chaos in the hozen village), gave him Fu Zan and told him the story of its origin. She then warned him: she sensed that his cleverness would one day not be enough to stop evil, and on that day he would have to act decisively. The Monkey King did not believe her, but he did think the staff was very pretty.

Wielding Fu Zan, the Monkey King's authority over the hozen became absolute. He could bend like a willow in the wind and avoid any blow from challengers to the throne. The staff was as light as a feather, but would-be thieves could not lift it an inch—the staff was his, and no one else was allowed to wield it. The Monkey King had two metal bands added to the end of Fu Zan so he could simultaneously use it to carry around his favorite possession, a small flask of brew.

The Burdens of Shaohao

The Monkey King and Emperor Shaohao reach the end of their journey and enter the Vale of Eternal Blossoms on the eve of the Sundering, as depicted in The Burdens of Shaohao.

The Monkey King became fast friends with Shaohao, prince of the Pandaren Empire. The two shared many a drink and had many battles and many good friends. When Shaohao was crowned emperor, he embarked on a quest to save Pandaria from the impending Great Sundering and was instructed by Yu'lon to divest himself of his burdens, purify his spirit, and become one with the land. He consulted the Monkey King for help. The hozen believed that this was the day that Yu'lon had foretold that he needed to face evil directly, and he declared that he would stay by Shaohao's side until the end. There are differing versions of the legend:

• According to the Book of Burdens and hozen legends, the Monkey King grew weary of waiting when Shaohao meditated on Yu'lon's counsel, and whittled a mask of doubt out of bamboo that he urged Shaohao to put on. While the Monkey King's motivation was mischief, the mask worked and caused Shaohao's uncertainty to take on a physical form as the Sha of Doubt, which the friends fought and buried beneath the Temple of the Jade Serpent. The Monkey King then accompanied Shaohao to each temple of the August Celestials, at each one carving masks to purge the emperor of his burdens and subsequently helping him and the Celestials defeat and imprison them: Despair at the Temple of the Red Crane, Fear at Niuzao Temple, and Anger, Hatred, and Violence at the Temple of the White Tiger. Shaohao then traveled to the Terrace of Endless Spring, where he became one with the land, separated Pandaria from the rest of Kalimdor, and hid it in mists to protect it from the Sundering.
• According to other versions, while Shaohao and the Monkey King were walking home through the Jade Forest after the meeting with Yu'lon, a great wind picked up the Monkey King and blew the laughing hozen away to the west, across the Serpent's Spine. Shaohao chased after his friend, overcoming the Sha of Doubt and Despair along the way. The Monkey King landed in the Dread Wastes, where he became entangled in vines and was about to be killed by mantid soldiers until Shaohao caught up, overcame his Fear, and rescued him. The Monkey King was enraged and told Shaohao to create an army to destroy the mantid, but Shaohao reminded him that the Burning Legion was the true threat. The Monkey King accompanied the emperor as he traveled to the Temple of the White Tiger and purged his Anger, Hatred, and Violence, and then through the Gate of the August Celestials to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, where the emperor became one with the land.

Afterward, the Monkey King went home and threw Fu Zan into a river in a fit of rage. His friend had vanished, and the Monkey King believed that he had failed Yu'lon's prophecy. He eventually went back to the river and retrieved the staff, but only because the water was sacred to a jinyu tribe and the staff was too heavy for them to remove themselves—it still belonged to the Monkey King.

After the Sundering

After the Sundering, Pandaria experienced a brief surge of would-be conquerors—such as mogu warlords, fringe hozen tribes, and yaungol raiders—who wanted to claim the newly-isolated continent for themselves. Before any of them could launch a true campaign, the Monkey King approached them and told them about hidden caches of artifacts that granted untold power. To convince them, he showed the feats he could do using Fu Zan, demonstrating how no weapons could touch him no matter the number of attackers. He then ensured the upstart tyrants' stories came to quick ends, such as tricking them to walk off cliffs or into Shado-Pan ambushes. Making fools out of evil beings in this way became the Monkey King's favorite pastime for years. He saw it as his way of honoring his friend Shaohao, who now watched over the land but could not protect it directly.

At some point, the Monkey King stole the Harmonic Mallet, an instrument created by the pandaren to counter the power of the mogu's Divine Bell, and hid it as a "prank". Fearful of what would happen if the mogu stole the mallet after already having stolen back the bell, the Monkey King split the mallet into pieces and scattered them across Pandaria to keep them from falling into mogu hands. He purposely lost the mallet handle in a drinking contest against Chief Ingoo Ingoo of Unga Ingoo, and gave the mallet head to a Kunzen chief of Skyrange.

As Yu'lon had foretold, the Monkey King's cleverness was one day not enough to defeat evil. A mogu called the Jade Warlord followed the Monkey King's directions into the Tomb of Conquerors in the Valley of Emperors. Instead of finding nothing, as the hozen had expected, the Jade Warlord found a store of knowledge written by the Thunder King that could grant him terrible power. As the ground started shaking, the Monkey King realized his mistake and that there was no time for anyone else to stop the mogu. Although he hated violence, he took Fu Zan and went into the tomb to confront the warlord. The two dueled for hours, with the Monkey King using his years of training with Fu Zan to avoid the Jade Warlord's magic, until the mogu accidentally cast a spell that froze them both in jade. For almost ten thousand years, the two would remain locked in battle, unable to move but still able to communicate. Monks of the Broken Temple who later wrote about the event believed that this was a fate worse than death for the Jade Warlord.

Mists of Pandaria

This section concerns content related to Mists of Pandaria.

The Monkey King in World of Warcraft.

“The head, the handle, these two must be made as one. Combined with evil's ointment, the bell's evil can be undone.”

— The Monkey King

After hearing about Garrosh Hellscream and the Horde's acquisition of the Divine Bell, Prince Anduin Wrynn began searching for a means to counter its power. His research led him to the Harmonic Mallet and the resting place of the Monkey King and the Jade Warlord in the Tomb of Conquerors, as well as an incantation to release them both from their imprisonment. After an Alliance champion defeated the Jade Warlord, the Monkey King—who was overjoyed at being freed—asked that the champion solve his three riddles in exchange for the whereabouts of the Harmonic Mallet. He first asked them to bring him amber from a tortured scorpion in the Dread Wastes as a show of mercy. He then insisted that he and the champion needed to become friends by sharing a drink before he could tell them about the mallet, and sent them to challenge Sam the Wise for the Metal Brew. He finally challenged the champion to a duel at the Temple of the White Tiger, to ensure they were brave and strong enough to face the mogu. Anduin brought the king to Lion's Landing, where he explained how he'd hidden the pieces of the mallet. He agreed that the mallet had to be reassembled to stop Garrosh from using the Divine Bell and sent for his "hozen friends" to find the pieces.

The Monkey King and his retainers traveled to Unga Ingoo to throw a beach party and demand the mallet handle back from Chief Ingoo Ingoo XVII. Ingoo Ingoo did not believe that he was the real Monkey King and refused to give up the handle, forcing the adventurer to kill him. The king sent a royal finder and the adventurer to Skyrange to fetch the mallet head from the virmen Skiggit who'd stolen it. Finally, he sent the adventurer to obtain the harmonic ointment—which was necessary for the mallet to work—from the Blade, a mogu warrior in the Townlong Steppes. He then reassembled the mallet and gave it to Anduin, but warned that there was only enough ointment for a single swing.

The Monkey King later visited the Celestial Court on the Timeless Isle, where he reunited with the spirit of Emperor Shaohao and watched adventurers undergo the trials of the August Celestials. After some time, the Monkey King sensed that his travels with Fu Zan were nearing their end. He knew that he was not the staff's master, and that he had completed the task for which Yu'lon had given it to him. He went to the Temple of the Jade Serpent and gave the staff back to her so that she could one day give it to another worthy wielder.

Legion

This section concerns content related to Legion.

The Monkey King (bottom center), Yu'lon, and Priestess Summerpetal after repelling the Legion attack on the Temple of the Jade Serpent.

At the start of the third invasion of the Burning Legion, the Monkey King's best warriors were killed by the Legion, so he was forced to have his students train with the non-hozen at Tian Monastery. A brewmaster monk from the Order of the Broken Temple who sought to obtain Fu Zan sought out the king for help, but he challenged them to first solve three riddles to prove their worth. The answers to the riddles were to collect brew ingredients from the Pools of Purity and the Imperial Granary in the Valley of the Four Winds. The Monkey King sent a spectral image of himself to observe the monk's progress. He then summoned the brewmaster to the Temple of the Jade Serpent and had them make the ingredients into a brew as a final trial. Pleased by the result, the king accompanied the monk into the temple proper to request Fu Zan from Yu'lon, only to find that the temple was under attack by the Burning Legion. The Monkey King climbed over the walls to find the Jade Serpent while the monk rescued scribes in the Scrollkeeper's Sanctum. The monk and Priestess Summerpetal then met back up with the Monkey King, who led them into Yu'lon's sanctum, the Heart of Jade. The three of them defended the injured Jade Serpent from demon attackers until she'd recovered and then worked together to kill the leader of the attack, Lord Korithis, after which Yu'lon bestowed Fu Zan on the monk.

When Tian Monastery came under its own attack from the Legion, the Monkey King helped defend it alongside Taran Zhu and the Grandmaster of the Broken Temple. The three worked together to kill the leader of the attack, Skola Greatsword. Impressed by the Grandmaster, the Monkey King accompanied them back to the Wandering Isle and pledged to fight with them as a member of the Order of the Broken Temple.

The Monkey King later visited the Opera Hall in Karazhan, where he stole the show from the stage manager Barnes by knocking him out as he was announcing a play and instead announced his own hozen-themed play, Wikket.

Battle for Azeroth

This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

The Monkey King in the Hozen Throne, with Ginger-Ginger and Flap-Flap.

During the Fourth War, the Monkey King was located in the Hozen Throne, a hozen bar in Dazar'alor. He claimed to have made an agreement with the Zandalari trolls, in which they allowed him to stay in the city in exchange for getting invited to his party. He was accompanied by two winged hozen, Ginger-Ginger and Flap-Flap, but refused to reveal their origin when asked. The Zandalari told the Monkey King about the threat posed by the Da'kani, a tribe of intelligent gorillas. He sent Alliance adventurers to Gorilla Gorge to deal with the threat alongside Flap-Flap. The Monkey King asked Flap-Flap to try talking to the Da'kani's leader, King Da'ka, but the gorilla reacted with hostility. Horde adventurers were sent to Gorilla Gorge by Bently Greaseflare instead.

Locations

Location	Level range	Reaction	Notes
Krasarang Wilds; Kun-Lai Summit	?? Boss	Alliance	During the Landfall storyline.
Celestial Court, Timeless Isle[42.8, 53.6]	30-35 Elite	Alliance Horde
Various in the Jade Forest; Temple of the Jade Serpent; Valley of the Four Winds	10-45	Alliance Horde	As part of the Monk Campaign.
Temple of Five Dawns, Wandering Isle	10-45 Elite	Alliance Horde
Return to Karazhan	45	Alliance Horde
Hozen Throne, Dazar'alor[47.0, 88.4]	10-60 Elite	Alliance Horde

Personality

Mischievous, playful, and "uniquely clever" for a hozen, the Monkey King is, at the most fundamental level, a being who detests violence and loves peace. He occasionally displays a fierce temper, but it is not in his nature to take out his rage as tyranny or violence. However, he does not refrain from fighting when he must to protect the weak. He also claims that he does not "delegate duelery", preferring to handle such matters himself. He is known for being "less than forthcoming with his answers"; he almost always speaks in rhyming verse and enjoys challenging others with riddles. He believes in the importance of good leadership and looks down on bad leaders, like his fellow primates Chief Ingoo Ingoo XVII and King Da'ka.

The Monkey King enjoys parties and strong, smelly brew. He claims that no one can beat him in a drinking contest. He tied his favorite possession, a flask he always kept filled with brew, to his onetime staff Fu Zan; the brews within were some of the best he'd "ever scored". The Monkey King is said to have once enjoyed the Metal Brew, a drink meant to be shared with friends after a battle, and to have personally taught its recipe to the ancestors of Sam the Wise. He is also said to have concocted the potent brew known as the Legend of the Monkey King.

Entourage

In many of his appearances, the Monkey King is accompanied by a royal entourage of his fellow hozen.

•  Personal Assistant Ki Ki <The Entourage>
•  Personal Assistants <The Entourage>
•  Royal Finder <The Entourage>
•  Royal Grookers
•  Royal Jibstabbers
•  Royal Keg-Havers
•  Monkey King Figurine

Abilities

The Monkey King using Flying Monkey Kick, as depicted in Hearthstone.

This section concerns content related to Mists of Pandaria.

•  Boot to the Head — Inflicts normal damage to an enemy and its nearest allies, affecting up to 5 targets and increasing the time between their attacks by 33% for 10 sec.
•  Flying Monkey Kick
•  Hozen-Fu

This section concerns content related to Legion.

•  Blackout Kick — Kick with a blast of Chi energy, dealing Physical damage.
•  Brittle Statue — Turns the target to stone, stunning them and increasing their damage taken by 20% for 10 sec.
•  The Golden Gaze — Channels his gaze forward for 10 sec, turning any enemies who cross it into it into brittle stone statues, and increasing their damage taken by 20 for 10 sec.
•  Fists of Fury — Inflicts Physical damage every second to all enemies in front of caster.
•  Rising Sun Kick — The caster kicks upwards, dealing Physical Damage.
•  Spinning Crane Kick — Spins while kicking in the air, dealing damage over 3 sec to enemies within 8 yds.
•  Tiger Palm — Deals 125% weapon damage.

As a follower

The Monkey King is a Windwalker Monk Class Hall champion with the following abilities:

•  Breath of Fire (Ability) — Breathe fire in front of you to counter a Minion. Counters: Minions
•  Go Bananas (Ability) — Chance from successful missions to return with a Golden Banana. Golden Bananas are given to Champions to improve success chance.
•  Windwalker (Specialization) — A martial artist without peer who counters some Bosses with hands and fists. Counters: Boss

He can also be assigned as a bodyguard:

•  Bodyguard — Can accompany you as a guardian in the Broken Isles when assigned as a Combat Ally.

Quests

This section concerns content related to Mists of Pandaria.

•  [15-35] The Monkey King
•  [15-35] The First Riddle: Mercy
•  [15-35] The Second Riddle: Fellowship
•  [15-35] The Third Riddle: Strength
•  [15-35] The Greatest Prank
•  [15-35] The Handle
•  [15-35] The Head
•  [15-35] The Harmonic Ointment

This section concerns content related to Legion.

The Monkey King's spectral image that accompanies monks in the Valley of the Four Winds during The Wanderer's Companion questline.

•   [10-45] Desperate Strike
•   [10-45] Slowing the Spread
•   [10-45] Storm, Earth, and Fire
•   [10-45] The Hand of Keletress
•   [10-45] The Riddle of Purity
•   [10-45] The Riddle of the Barrel
•   [10-45] The Riddle of the Land
•   [10-45] The Wanderer's Companion
•   [10-45] Journey to the East
•   [10-45] The Monkey King's Challenge
•   [10-45] The Trial at the Temple
•   [10-45] Champion: The Monkey King

This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

•  [35-60] Apes of Wrath

Quotes

Mists of Pandaria

This section concerns content related to Mists of Pandaria.

Dialogue

Main article: The Monkey King (quest)#Notes

Main article: The First Riddle: Mercy#Notes

Main article: The Greatest Prank#Notes

Main article: The Handle#Notes

Gossip

The Monkey King watching the trials in the Timeless Isle's Celestial Court.

Tomb of Conquerors and Lion's Landing during and after  [15-35] The Monkey King

Free! Free at last after ten thousand years! This is a happy day! Very happy happy day! Gonna need biggest party ever! With nibs! And dibs! And brews! And jungle hozen! And mountain hozen! And sky hozen!

Lion's Landing after  [15-35] The Greatest Prank

In pieces three the mallet be. Handle, head and ointment. You ring the bell without the mallet? You going to get an ear and face full of evil.

Unga Ingoo during  [15-35] The Handle

Poor Chief Ingoo Ingoo. His family forget what rod was for. He so mad.

If he keeps, he will corrupt his people. Very sad.

Timeless Isle

• Never forget your greatest friend, they stick with you until the end.
• The emperor is very near; fought doubt, hate, rage, despair, and fear.
• When the river turns left or right, flow along it instead of fight.

Legion

This section concerns content related to Legion.

Taran Zhu and the Monkey King in the Temple of Five Dawns.

Dialogue

Main article: The Wanderer's Companion#Notes

Main article: The Riddle of Purity#Notes

Main article: The Riddle of the Barrel#Notes

Main article: The Riddle of the Land#Notes

Main article: Journey to the East#Notes

Main article: The Monkey King's Challenge#Notes

Main article: The Trial at the Temple#Notes

Main article: The Hand of Keletress#Notes

Main article: Champion: The Monkey King#Notes

Main article: Opera Hall: Wikket#Quotes

Gossip

Tian Monastery during   [10-45] The Wanderer's Companion questline

Greenies from sky done grooked my best grookers.

So we train with the wikkets. Sometimes kings can't be choosers!

As an image in the Valley of the Four Winds

Monkey King has questions, Wikket should have answers.

Tian Monastery during   [10-45] The Defense of Tian Monastery questline

Grandmaster! Greetings to you, and good tidings! I hope you're ready with some Crackling Jade Lightning!

Combat ally

Aggro

• This nasty wikket gonna get it!
• Silly wikket pick a fight? This grookin's gonna last all night!
• Is this wikket bammin'? Cause heads I be slamin'

Killed a mob

• This here ooker is beat! Victory sure be sweet!
• Woo-hoo-hoo! We won! Grookin' dookers be fun!
• An ookin' good fight! Serve them dookers right!

Defeated

• That ookin' hurt, kings face in the dirt...
• Wikket rules the king, what a terrible thing...
• Dat's it, the kings done... Getting grooked is no fun...

Battle for Azeroth

This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

• A long way from home, you and I are. Why not stay and have a drink in the Grand Bazaar.
• An agreement I have made with the Zandalari. They let me stay and get invited to my party.
• An Alliance in Zandalar, be sure to watch your back.

If seen, the guards and gods are likely to attack.

 Flying hozen? How?

There are many secrets both mysterious and divine, you have yours and I have mine.

Trivia

• The Monkey King is loosely based on Sun Wukong the Monkey King, from the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.
• The Monkey King does not have unique voice acting in Mists of Pandaria. His quest dialogue is unvoiced, and he uses the same click quotes as regular hozen but filtered to give him a deeper voice. In Legion, he is voiced by Jess Harnell.
• His generic name as a Class Hall bodyguard is Tiger Initiate.
• He has an invisible Follower recruiting spell with the following description:  Follower: The Monkey King — "The Monkey King was the trusted companion of Shaohao, emperor of all Pandaria. He is mischievous, cunning, and knows untold secrets about Pandaria's past." The spell is associated to a buff that says "The Monkey King can be unpredictable in battle. His crazy antics usually result in victory."
• An item named  [Staff of the Monkey King] was originally planned to be involved in the Monkey King storyline in the Operation: Shieldwall campaign. Its description—a simple-looking staff that will not let anyone other than the Monkey King wield it—is similar to  [Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion], which was introduced in Legion.

Patch changes

• Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): Added in the Legion version of Temple of Five Dawns.
  
• Patch 5.1.0 (2012-11-27): Added.
  

See also

• Loo'ay, another "King of the Monkeys"

External links

The Monkey King	Generic name	Champion
Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB