Monkey

Mischievous King Monkey is summoned to Heaven, where he steals the heavenly peaches, and eats them to gain immortality. He fights two of the Emperors officials, and all three of them are expelled to Earth. Monkey gets imprisoned under a mountain of rocks, while the other two are transformed into a pig monster (Pigsy) and a water monster (Sandy). Buddha says that a holy man must be sent to fetch holy scriptures from India, to save the world.

Tripitaka and the ever-impatient Monkey begin their perilous journey. Arriving at a village terrorised by a greedy and lustful monster, Monkey thus faces the wrath of Pigsy and his deadly muckrake. To cross the Mighty River of Flowing Sands, they must first pass the cannibalistic water monster Sandy. A sandstorm, an army of tiger ghosts - will Tripitaka end up as cat food, or will Monkey save the day?

In his mountain kingdom, the immature King of Youth dictates that everything old is useless. When the pilgrims approach, he decides to kidnap Tripitaka to gain the attention of Heaven and Earth, in an attempt to stop living in the shadow of his father, the King of Ox. When Monkeys powers prove no match for the Kings fiery temper, and Pigsy and Sandy are otherwise engaged, who will save Tripitaka?

Desperate for water due to the intense heat, the pilgrims find that the nearest village is completely dried up. The local water monster, who has a taste for the souls of boys, had cursed the village with a drought, because the villagers had no boys left to sacrifice to him. With Monkeys cloud out of action, brave Pigsy volunteers to make the ultimate sacrifice.

When the magistrate Lord Lis stepdaughter is kidnapped by bandits, Monkey reluctantly takes on the job of catching them. He soon learns that the bandits are not what they seem, but their bark is far worse than their bite. Meanwhile, Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy spend the night at an inn thats owned by a wicked dog-woman. She has a big surprise in store for Tripitaka.

An invisible wall separates the land of night from the land of day. The blood-sucking Queen of Night terrorises the inhabitants of her land, while everyone in the land of day is forced into slavery by their merciless king. Tripitaka finds the task of reuniting night and day very difficult, especially when Monkey becomes hopelessly besotted with a pretty girl and Pigsy falls for a lady of the night.

A village headman and his wife grieve for their beautiful daughter Hai-Min who disappeared a year ago. Lecherous Pigsy offers to go and look for her. He finds a slug monster who says he is Hai-Mins reluctant husband, and tells Pigsy he can have her. Pigsy disguises himself as the slug monster and goes to live with selfish Hai-Min. How long will it be before she discovers hes not her slimy husband?

While climbing a mountain, the pilgrims discover a man whos been digging a tunnel through the mountain for the past twenty-two years, to provide an easier route for travellers. Ever-helpful Tripitaka tells his reluctant disciples that they must all stay and help dig the tunnel until its finished. When Monkey uses his magic to help speed things up, Tripitaka is furious and dismisses him. Without Monkey around, the pilgrims fall into grave danger.

Following a terrible sandstorm, the pilgrims find a village where everyone has been killed by the evil Grey Gloves Devil, a magician with the power to hypnotise and control anyone who looks into his eyes. While Pigsy lags behind, the others break their journey at another village. A bitter old woman insists Tripitaka is her long-lost son, Su Fung. Meanwhile, Pigsy gets captured and the Grey Gloves Devil looks for a new village to target.

The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Buddhas Law invites Tripitaka and his disciples to stay as his honoured guests. He tells them of the difficulty in controlling the black magicians, shape-changers and bandits who live in the nearby mountains. Tragedy strikes when Tripitaka becomes critically ill with Tibetan Fever. Meanwhile, Pigsy leads the guards in a search for the vampire responsible for a girls murder. He makes a shocking discovery.

The pilgrims arrive at the Kingdom of Red Hog, where pigs are sacred. The people hail Pigsy as their new King and God. Tripitaka discovers that the current king is a disguised demon, the Spirit of the Red Hog, and that he murdered the old king. Helped by rebels, Monkey and Sandy set out to save Princess Green Lotus and stop the evil swine before the whole country is converted to hog worship.

Forty years before the pilgrims journey to India, two lovers Chun-Ying and Yu-Lee disobey the God of Fertility Ju-Lee by eloping together - love is forbidden in his country. As punishment, he separates them and turns the young Yu-Lee into an old woman, the Keeper of the Well of Small Blessings. To regain her youth and her man, she must make Tripitaka drink the magic water. Things get very strange indeed when Pigsy and Sandy drink the water and become pregnant.

On their way to India, the pilgrims must pass through the Land of Nightmares, inhabited by all the legions of Hell, bad demons and wicked spirits. All humans who go there are eaten, and all others must take a magic test upon entry to the land. To allow Tripitaka to travel through safely, Monkey disguises him as a beautiful longhaired female demon, and teaches him some basic magic. Will the King of Bad Dreams see through Tripitakas disguise?

Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy become disillusioned with the pilgrimage and go their separate ways. Monkey flies home to his Kingdom of Fruit and Flowers. Pigsy goes back to China seeking rewards from the Emperor. Sandy returns to the Western Heaven, hoping the Jade Emperor will forgive him. Tripitaka continues his journey. Hes flabbergasted when lightning strikes the horse and it turns into a human called Yu-Lung. Deserted by his disciples, Tripitaka soon finds himself in grave danger.

A powerful man called Shotenki and his demon master, Kokufki, lure all the men from surrounding villages to their casino in Ittakudo, where they spend all their time gambling. Tripitaka offers to help the desperate wives and children of one village, and sends Pigsy and Sandy to bring the men back to their senses. When their attempt fails, Sandy asks Monkey for assistance in finishing off Shotenki for good.

The pilgrims enter a land where night never falls. For five hundred years, ever since the vulture demon Konsei-Maoh stole Dainichi Buddhas sun-mirror, as soon as one sun sets another one rises. Tripitaka offers the villagers their help and Monkey, who has an old score to settle with the demon, is more than happy to oblige. Things take a turn for the worse after Monkey bumps into a familiar face, and the demon sets his sights on Tripitaka.

Every night, Tripitakas sleep is disturbed by a recurring dream. In it, hes being attacked by Lord Yuki, ruler of The Devils Hell. One night, after Tripitaka nearly sleepwalks off a cliff, the disciples decide they must take immediate action. They think up ways of expelling the demon from Tripitakas body. Things dont quite go to plan though - before long, Tripitaka ends up in very hot water, and Monkey gets pulled into the dream too...

The pilgrims arrive at a sacred shrine called Chokken Shokoku. Every day, its many visitors pay to go through a hole in the wall that guarantees them entry to paradise in the after-life. Tripitaka is sceptical, but his disciples insist on trying it. When Sandy gets stuck in the hole, the shrines priest demands 100,000 Gen from the others to let them enlarge the hole, otherwise Sandy must die. Can Monkey, Pigsy and Tripitaka raise the money in time?

The pilgrims eat some freshly picked mushrooms, and lose their memories. Monkey wanders off and joins a band of outlaws. They think hes the Fungus Prince who was banished by his father, King Seven Souls. The king wants to kill Tripitaka, so they plan to capture him and claim a reward. Tripitaka leaves Pigsy and Sandy and gets captured by Monkey and the outlaws. Yu-Lung sets out to help Monkey get his memory back so he can save Tripitaka.

Tripitaka is shocked when his three followers bathe in a pool and are transformed into babies. Its a Fountain of Youth, and it belongs to two Spirits of Time Passed. Tripitaka must make one of these spirits cry, and use the tears to change his disciples back. Leaving Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy with a babysitter, Tripitaka goes in search of these cannibalistic spirits. Believing Tripitaka wont return, the babysitter decides to sell the three babies at the local market.

Chen-Gold, the worlds richest man, is advertising for a husband for his only daughter, beautiful Mai-Sun. Possessed of the Spirit of Greed, he eats gold in order to turn himself golden. To feed his habit, he enslaves men to work in his gold mines. When Sandy tries to help an escaped slave, he becomes enslaved himself. Meanwhile, Pigsy puts himself forward as a possible husband for Mai-Sun. Tripitaka wonders where Pigsy and Sandy have gone, and sends Monkey to investigate.

While Tripitaka and his disciples sleep, The Illiterate Vampire appears and plans to bite Tripitaka. The others wake, and chase him away. The next day, the pilgrims see a display of wanted posters - the king is rewarding people for killing monsters, 10 gold pieces per monster. Pigsy meets a blind girl selling flowers in the street, and becomes fond of her. To raise 100 gold pieces for an operation to cure her blindness, Pigsy goes into business as a monster-killer.

While taking a rest from their journey, the pilgrims are confronted by four sorcerors who are impersonating them. They plan to assassinate Tripitaka and his followers, to improve their ranking in the sorcery community. By wreaking havoc on villages, the imposters ensure that the real pilgrims are blamed and made unwelcome everywhere they go. Monkey decides that Tripitaka should continue alone for a while. The disciples split up, and become targeted by their clones. Will Tripitaka ever see them again?

The pilgrims enter a country where an evil wasp witch with a magic whip flies on her chariot and steals children from their parents. The witch lives in a poison mountain called Kijo, and has a hundred or more children of her own. No one knows what she does with the stolen children. While Sandy and Pigsy help the villagers set traps and prepare themselves to fight the witch, Monkey decides to pay her a visit.

Disowned by his parents for being unable to do sorcery, the young demon Shosanpu practises on the unsuspecting pilgrims, but is soon found out. After listening to his story, Monkey decides to give him special training, against Tripitakas wishes. Using Monkeys staff, Shosanpu turns the four pilgrims into stone statues, and goes to fetch his father, Yuzankun. While hes away, the four statues are stolen and taken to an auction. Will Shosanpu find them in time, to change them back?

While having lunch, the pilgrims catch a mischievous young boy called Chou trying to steal food from them. Monkey takes him home, and falls instantly in love with his mother, Shugyoku. Chous father was killed by the fire-breathing Tiger Demon two years earlier, but Shugyoku detests violence, and insists that Monkey should not get involved. Monkey takes a break from the journey to India, and stays with Shugyoku and Chou. Will Tripitaka and the others ever see Monkey again?