Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang

**Overview**
Image Gallery

**Ruyi Bang** and **Jingu Bang** are Sun Wukong's signature weapons.

## Description

Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang are dark red weapons with gold detailing that have two different forms: a bō staff and two pairs of gold-chain-linked lever-action shotguns (a form in which they also double as nunchaku).

The staff form appears to be quite strong and durable and is used primarily for defense, withstanding a direct shot from Melodic Cudgel and later dispersing the Sea Feilong's lightning attack with no sign of damage, as well as blocking a combined wind and fire attack; when Velvet Scarlatina took on a Paladin, she utilized her copy of Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang to block its attack head-on. The staff gives off small bursts of energy from the ends when it hits an enemy, and can send out a wave of energy when slammed to the ground.

In its 'Nunchaku/Shotgun' form, the barrels retract partially into the grip. It can be fired whilst being swung at an enemy, re-chambering with momentum while also being able to deflect Roman Torchwick's attacks.

## Trivia

* In *Journey to the West*, the original novel upon which Sun Wukong's character is based, the name of Sun Wukong's staff is Ruyi Jingu Bang/Nyoi Kinko Bō (如意金箍棒, lit. Compliant Gold Rim Pole). The red color of the weapons resembles the more popular variation of how the staff is drawn in adaptations of the original novel, which is a red base with occasional gold-colored ends (nodding to its translated name).
* The fact that one of its forms is a staff may be a hidden joke: in Chinese the word "gun" refers to a staff. So Sun's weapon may be called a "Gun-gun".
	+ It is worth noting however, that this weapon is not the "Gun-Gun" from RTX that Miles Luna and Kerry Shawcross thought up after a fan question, as confirmed by the crew themselves.
	+ Judging by its design, it is likely that it can also be used as a sansetsukon (三節棍, lit. three-section staff). An incarnation of Sun Wukong/Son Gokū from *Gensōmaden Saiyūki* could also form his version of the Ruyi Bang/Nyoi Bō into a sansetsukon as well.
* Monty Oum said that the idea of "shotgun nunchuks" was partly inspired by the famous scene in *Terminator 2* where Arnold Schwarzenegger flip-cocks a lever-action shotgun with one hand.
* According to an interview by GVTV with Monty, this set of weapons is one of his earliest ideas conceived for the series, along with the name of Sun's Team, the latter being formed ahead of Team JNPR.
	+ A character using shotgun nunchuks appears in an early short animation that Monty animated long before *RWBY* began, indicating just how long the concept had been in the pipeline.
	+ The rig for this old shotgun nunchuks model was used for Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang's nunchuks in Volumes 1 and 2, and the animation used in "Black and White" is from that short animation. After Volume 2 production was finished, Monty made a simpler, easier-to-use rig, so new animations could be made for it in the future. This rig, however, ultimately went unused due to Monty's death and the show's switch to Autodesk Maya, and the weapon would not return in its nunchuk form until Volume 5's "True Colors", where they were animated in a new rig by Kim Newman.

## References

1. ↑ **Monty Oum's Facebook**
2. ↑ **Animating the Rooster Teeth Way Panel**
3. ↑ **Volume 1 Directors Commentary "Black and White"**
4. ↑ **GVTV Presents: Monty Oum @ RTX '14**
5. ↑ **Monty Oum's Facebook**