News culture Son Goku’s first design resembled the hero Wukong even more. Black Myth and Dragon Ball were inspired by the same novel
If there is no doubt about the connection between Journey to the West and Dragon Ball, these first sketches of Goku remind us once again of the extent to which the Monkey King inspired Akira Toriyama for his work.
The King Scorches Goku
Dragon Ball is the most famous manga of all time, a timeless work that we owe to the late Akira Toriyama. Dragon Ball tells the story of the life of Son Goku and draws its inspiration mainly from an equally iconic novel: Journey to the West or The Pilgrim Monkey, a text by Wu Cheng’en published at the end of the 16th century and a myth deeply rooted in Chinese culture that has influenced all of Asian culture.
If the Saiyans have a monkey tail and can transform into a giant gorilla, that’s actually a good thing, because Akira Toriyama’s main inspiration for his story and the creation of Goku lies in the figure of Sun Wukong, the hero of Journey to the West. And if Dragon Ball ends up deviating from the source material, the first concepts of Goku fully display this considerable influence.
A founding myth
In the picture we see Son Goku – Sun Wukong’s Japanese name – with a total monkey look. Armed with his famous Jingu Bang or the Staff of Good Pleasure encircled in gold, in the two sketches our hero carries the magic circle that Tang Sanzang used to subdue his student.
Although the design of the little boy has ultimately changed, in Dragon Ball we find many other elements from the novel. Goku has kept his staff, like Wukong he also receives the magic cloud, but is also surrounded by several characters inspired by those of Journey to the West. Among others, Oolong is a pig, like Zhu Bajie, the entire story arc in which Goku goes to the Mountain of Fire with Bulma and Awesome Turtle is reminiscent of the epic of the Monkey King on the Burning Mountains … in short, the beginnings of Dragon Ball are very similar to the adventure of the monk Tang Sanzang and his students. We can therefore only advise you to read this extremely influential book and even embark on the journey of discovery Black Myth: Wukong
