Though Black Myth: Wukong has only been released a few days ago, it has already dominated a number of gaming rankings, making it the buzz of the video game world lately. The action-adventure role-playing game is inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West and follows the intriguing storyline of Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King.
But what many Dragon Ball fans won’t know is that the anthropomorphic monkey from Black Myth: Wukong shares a lot of similarities with Dragon Ball’s character Son Goku. In fact, Goku and a lot of Dragon Ball’s narrative is influenced by Journey to the West, thus creating a parallel between the two.
These similarities were recently revealed by a popular creator, and fans were stunned to find out about the similar inspiration for Dragon Ball’s Goku and Black Myth: Wukong’s main character. However, it’s a shame that the game couldn’t be released sooner, as it would have thrilled Akira Toriyama.
The Similarities Between Goku From Dragon Ball and Sun Wukong From Black Myth: Wukong
Dragon Ball’s creator, Akira Toriyama, has already confirmed on multiple occasions that a lot of the series, and especially the character of Goku, was influenced by the 16th-century Chinese novel, Journey to the West. This novel has now served as an inspiration for the best single-player game of all time on Steam.
The first and foremost similarity that Black Myth: Wukong’s Sun Wukong shares with the Dragon Ball protagonist is the name. The Japanese reading of Sun Wukong’s name literally translates to Son Goku. Also, the personality traits of both Goku and Wukong are quite similar, as both characters are energetic and love to engage themselves in battles.
Another parallel between Goku and Wukong from the game is that they both can travel on clouds. While Wukong has the Jindouyun ability, Goku has the flying nimbus. Plus, both of them use a staff during their fights. Wukong’s staff is called Ruyi Jingu Bang, and Goku’s staff is called The Power Pole.
Dragon Ball Fans’ Reactions After Finding Out The Similarities Between The Two
Popular Youtuber, @jacobweeby recently shared a post on Instagram where he compared Sun Wukong from Black Myth: Wukong and Goku from Dragon Ball. The creator pointed out that without the character of Wukong from Chinese mythology, Goku’s character would never have existed in the first place.
The uncanny resemblance between Sun Wukong and Son Goku attracted a lot of Dragon Ball fans who have been following the character for so many years.
While some applauded the parallel between the two characters, others appreciated the original inspiration for both, Journey to the West.
cha3at1as commented:
Wukong walked so Goku can run
jogi_7482 commented:
Luffy/Naruto are inspired by Goku and Goku is inspired by sun wukong and wukong is inspired by lord Hanuman
jonnidraws commented:
Play the game, read a translation, watch any of the movies, Journey to the West is AMAZING
goji_fan04 commented:
Sun WuKong inspired the 2 goats Goku and Luffy
tvirusmonster commented:
Ok but watch the Chinese movie Journey To The West its absolutley bonkers
If the game had been released when Akira Toriyama was alive, he would have surely appreciated it and talked about the parallels between Dragon Ball and Black Myth: Wukong. Nonetheless, the game has been making waves and hopefully, it will be as popular as Toriyama’s Dragon Ball franchise.
Dragon Ball is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
