Familiar Tales

**Familiar Tales** is the first episode of Season 4 and the thirty-fifth episode overall of *Monkie Kid*.

## Synopsis

MK is living that hero lifestyle, busting bad guys and saving the day, until he opens a cursed scroll and his world is flipped upside down once again!

## Plot

In a temple in the Underworld, a hooded individual enters an ancient temple to retrieve a bamboo slip used for the Scroll of Memory.

Meanwhile, at Megapolis, MK is saving the citizens from two giant serpents controlled by the Gold and Silver Demons, who stole Ne Zha's possessions to attack the city. As the serpents merge into Golden Serpent Shears, MK drives the tuk-tuk to go after the demons while Mei uses the Dragon Jet. Mei suggests MK on using a different vehicle, but the latter tries to prove her wrong, except the tuk-tuk ends up breaking down as usual. Seeing Mei approach, the Golden and Silver Demons start throwing all of Ne Zha's possessions at the Dragon Jet, eventually destroying it. MK uses the Golden Staff to create the Combi Mech and rescue Mei, with the parts of the destroyed Dragon Jet used as a jet-pack for the mech. MK then grabs onto the blades of the Golden Serpent Shears, splitting them in half before using them to destroy the building Jin and Yin are on. The Golden and Silver Demons beg for mercy, but MK cuts them off, bluffing that he will execute them with the Golden Serpent Shears. The Demon Accountant stops the heroes, saying that Jin and Yin have learned their lesson. The Golden and Silver Demons promise to not cause any more trouble before leaving with the Demon Accountant.

Mei livestreams as she compares the Golden Serpent Shears' danger level to be like Lady Bone Demon's. As MK agrees, he suddenly remembers all the things that happened throughout the year, before saying that he doesn't want to go through another crisis like last time. He soon packs all the artifacts into the tuk-tuk to take them to Flower Fruit Mountain. Mei asks MK if she could join, but the latter denies her offer and drives off. After MK left, Pigsy mentions to Mei that MK can't even pretend to deliver noodles anymore.

In the Shuilian Cave, MK and Monkey King look through the things he brought over while they talk about their past actions. Despite Monkey King praising MK for doing better for the world than he ever could have, the latter still blames himself for all the events he was involved in. Monkey King suggests he let go since all those events led to making the world a better place but MK replies that he already likes it the way it is and wishes it would stay like that forever. Monkey King remarks that forever is a long time and then they sort out the junk.

When MK thinks they are done, a group of monkeys alert him of another item so he picks it up and asks Monkey King about it. Unfortunately, the scroll is accidentally unrolled, where ink immediately drips out and forms into Ink Demons. They shapeshift into demons Monkey King had encountered, reminding him of the things he holds shame for. An Ink Ne Zha takes the monkeys into the scroll before MK can save them. As MK stares at the ink, an Ink Peng forms and attacks him but is suddenly blocked by Monkey King. Before he is taken, he tells MK that the ghosts of his past returned to haunt him and that he has to seal the scroll. However, MK didn't know how so he runs out of cave and escapes through the barrier of the waterfall. He sits in the water, panting heavily, as he looks back at the new issues he would have to deal with.

## Features

### Characters

**Main:**

* Mei
* MK
* Monkey King

**Supporting:**

* Demon Accountant
* King of the Underworld
* Lady Bone Demon (**flashback**)
* Ne Zha (**illustration**)
* Pigsy
* Red Son
* Sandy (**flashback**)
* Spider Queen (**illustration**)
* Spider-Bots (**illustration**)
* Tang (**flashback**)

**Antagonists:**

* Ink Demons
	+ Ink Demon Bull King
	+ Ink Jade Emperor
	+ Ink Macaque
	+ Ink Ne Zha
	+ Ink Peng
	+ Ink Princess Iron Fan
	+ Ink Spider Queen
	+ Ink Tang Sanzang (**voice**)
	+ Ink Yellowtusk
* Jin
* Yin

### Locations

* Celestial Realm (**illustration**)
* China
	+ Megapolis
		- Anti-Gravity Arcade
* Flower Fruit Mountain
	+ Shuilian Cave
		- Treasure Room
* Netherworld

### Objects

* The Furnace (**illustration**)
* Golden Serpent Shears
* Golden Brick
* Golden Staff
* Mei's phone
* Scroll of Memory
* *Monkey Cop* action figures
* Monkey King cardboard cutout
* *Monkey Mech*
* Leopard Skin Bag
* Peaches
* Universal Ring

### Vehicles

* Bone mech (**flashback**)
* Combi Mech
* Dragon Jet
* Spider mech (**illustration**)
* Tuk-tuk

### Abilities

* Bone Demon powers (**illustration**)
* Samadhi Fire (**flashback**)

### Species

* Celestial beings
* Demons
	+ Ink Demons
	+ Spider Demons (**illustration**)
* Humans
* Monkeys
* Mystic Monkeys
* Pigs

## Names in other languages

 **Mandarin** | **再斗金银角** | Translates to **Fighting Gold and Silver Horn Again**.

## Trivia

* During production, the title of this episode was "*New Adventures Part 1*". This episode and "New Adventures" were originally intended to be a two-part episode.
* This episode's title is taken from the show's opening sequence.
* During Mei's livestream, several crew members' icons can be seen in the chat.
* In the storyboards, some of the characters in the chat have usernames, they are:
	+ DEFINITELYNOTJIN&YIN for the Gold and Silver Demons
	+ SON\_WUKONG for Monkey King
	+ GoldenCicada\_YumYum, as established in Minor Scale, for Tang
	+ Redson@hotmail.com for Red Son
	+ Other usernames seen are: LMKFan97, NAHM8, and NO1\_MKStan.
* The artifacts that the Gold and Silver Demons used against MK and Mei appear to be the weapons and artifacts that Ne Zha used in *Investiture of the Gods*. These artifacts include the Golden Serpent Shears, the Golden Brick, the Leopard Skin Bag, and the Universal Ring.
* This episode marks the Netherworld's debut in *Monkie Kid*, and the first time it has been referenced to since the pilot.
* One of the messages on Mei's livestream reads "Monktavius Kidsworth", this is a reference to one of the Post-Season 2 crew streams, where Ashe Jacobson called MK that.
* Ink Macaque's line, "You're nothing!", is re-used from "The Winning Side".
	+ This dialogue is changed to "You abandoned me!" in Mandarin and "You're nothing to me!" in Korean.

## Characters' roles

### Protagonists

* MK and Mei are the main protagonists of this episode.
	+ They save the city from the Gold and Silver Demons.
* The Demon Accountant is a supporting protagonist.
	+ She saved the Gold and Silver Demons from MK and Mei, who tried to punish them for causing trouble.

### Antagonists

* Jin and Yin are the main antagonists of this episode.
	+ They tried to use the Golden Serpent Shears to destroy the city.
* The Ink Demons serve as the villainous faction in this episode.
	+ They captured Monkey King while he protected them from MK.

## References

1. ↑ Roku - Familiar Tales
2. ↑ Foo, Donavan (October 20, 2023). Colour/Design - DONAVAN FOO.
3. ↑ Jacobson, Ashe (July 25, 2023). This is a test of the Monkie Kid broadcast system..
4. ↑ Jacobson, Ashe (May 14, 2021). I want to formally apologize to everyone in the Monkie Kid stream for calling MK “Monktavius Kidsworth.”.