Sun Wukong (Civ6)/Civilopedia

One of the best-known and best-loved characters from Chinese legend, Sun Wukong – the Monkey King, has a tremendous quantity of stories surrounding him. His inspiration comes from a wide variety of sources. When China imported Buddhism from India during the Han Dynasty in around 150 AD, a number of Indian legends came along, including the Ramayana whose best supporting star was Hanuman, the lord of the monkeys and faithful sidekick to the hero Rama. As monkeys had already been seen as auspicious animals in previous Chinese dynasties, the notion of a magical monkey king was immensely popular and acquired a life of its own.
Sun Wukong is not the noblest of heroes. He is at times selfish, at times unpredictable, and at all times mischievous. But unlike more devilish trickster deities like Loki, Sun Wukong ultimately is a force for good… once he can be controlled.
Sun is stronger than all the armies of Heaven. He wields weapons that he stole from the dragon-king of the sea, including a golden staff so heavy that no other being can wield it, but capable of shrinking down so small that the Monkey King can store it in his ear; flying boots; and magical armor. When he is sentenced to death for these thefts, he simply steals the Book of Life and Death and erases his name from it (as well as the names of all the monkeys that he knows). Thus, when all the gods and all the armies of Heaven cannot stop him, the gods appeal to the Buddha, whose power is the greatest of all, and who imprisons the monkey in his palm.
This is not it for Sun Wukong’s story, however. Centuries later, the goddess Guan Yin recruits the hero to protect the monk Tang Sanzang, who travels to India to receive the sacred Buddhist sutras. To control him, Guan Yin tricks him into wearing a magical circlet that tightens painfully when she recites the Tightening Sutra – sometimes, even the Goddess of Mercy needs to be harsh. The travelers face monsters and fantastical terrain as they travel to India, where the living Buddha hands the sacred texts to the monk.
Sun Wukong remains a popular figure in Chinese media, and has been the star of many films. He is popular across East Asia as well, and in the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia.