#''We're just like Wukong- a fraud!''

[imminent-danger-came]

Mei: “It’s okay MK—we got this! We can beat her-”

MK: “-She beat the Monkey King Mei! We don’t got this!”

“I’m sorry- I just- I don’t know what to do.”

Pigsy: “Kid, no one ever does! Not really.”

Mei: “But we’re going to figure this out.”

Tang: “Together.”

(2x00 Revenge of the Spider Queen)

-

Macaque: “So this was the Monkey King’s great plan? How do you still not see that he has no idea what he’s doing? How about this for a plan: stay down MK, or I will put you down.”

(3x09 The King, the Prince, and the Shadow)

-

MK: “Mei! You have to stop. I know you’re upset, and that’s okay! I know what it’s like to have a power you don’t know how to control—to feel like the fate of the world is in your hands and you have no idea what to do! But you always have my back, and help me through it. We, will figure this out! Together!”

(3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

-

Tang: “I’m sorry I just! I’m having a melt down and I have no idea what’s going on and-”

Sandy: “Tangy! We’re right there with you old friend! But right now we need to find MK and Monkey King! We’ve got to hold it together until then.”

(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

Not knowing what to do.

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

LMK season 4 episode 7:

The way everyone has been acting about this episode, I might cease to exist by the time I'm done

I would love to figure out how this goo works

And why his goo version is a freaking MONKEY

What is with the dropping of that rock? Why is that important? What is going on? Is it cracking a metaphor for MK? What is happening

"What do you think we are? Because I have been dying to hear you say it. Out loud!"

Oh this poor lady, they've crushed her crops! All her hard work!

Oh tang, honey

Oh my god, someone give this man a BREAK

Uhhhh

What is anyone's purpose? Who cares? You have found meaning, you are *here* and you are loved. Why does it matter why you are here or what you were "supposed" to do or be?

"I just want to be me. To be MK." Hell yeah kiddo! And the best part? You already are! You're you!

"We help people! I mean, I help people. It's what I do!" "Are you sure about that? Last I checked, all of this happened because of us. We said it ourselves, WE released the demon bull King from the underworld. We gave the spider queen the means to dominate the city, and we gave the lady bone demon the opportunity to wreak havoc on the world" is it the manifestation of his guilt? A dark side to him?

"We're just like Wukong. A fraud. A trickster. Destructive. Why would our legacy be any different? Actually, no. No. The chaos and destruction well bring upon the world will make Wukong's past look like NOTHING." Bitch shut up, you're wrong

UHHH WHY IS HE FLICKERING

*oh*

Oh no. He's breaking the curse on this place, isn't he. Which would be bad

What is happening to my son

DOES THAT REALLY LOOK *FINE* TO YOU WUKONG? DOES IT REALLY

Hm, the way Wukong said "Azure Lion" totally makes me believe that he is exactly who and what he says he is and can definitely be trusted

"Your friends will turn on you. Seeing you for the monster you will become. They will destroy you, harbinger of chaos." baby boy no they won't. They love you! You are their son, their best friend, their buddy, their mentee. They won't turn on you MK. Not them. Not for something you can't control. Never for that

Oh my god he's a monkey

"That's my boy" SEE! Your Pigsy's boy MK!

HMMM ITS ALMOST LIKE THAT GUY IS THE SEASON ANTAGONIST AND SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN TRUSTED

You guys made me think this episode would kill me! I wish it were possible to hug fictional characters and am deeply worried for MK, but am otherwise fine

[starburstdragon]

Guys Who Are Multiple Guys Tournament, Round 1

Ben

“1. Turns into multiple aliens. Some aliens can multiple (Ditto, Echo Echo) and he has used this to create clones of himself. 2. At least one alien rival is stuck in a color swapped version of his body (Albedo). 3. The multiverse is real and he's met several alternate Bens. (Ben 23, Mad Ben, No Watch Ben, Ben 10k, etc.).” - User submission

MK

“So, this guy can make duplicates if himself. I don't know if you know Journey to the West, but MK has the Monkey King's powers (which is...a loaded statement) and a Monkey King power is creating clones of yourself. Obviously that's not very compelling, so let me talk about s4 where there's a curse ink version of this character! It's absolutely terrible, like this ink version of MK shows up (the nature of this ink curse is unknown) and just completely fucks with MK's sense of identity. Like imma quote him, "We're just like Wukong, a fraud! A trickster! Why would our legacy be any different? Actually, no, no—we'll make Wukong's past look like nothing." "You can't escape it, this thing, whatever you are, embrace it. Embrace your destiny!" And this is like, in regards to MK ACTUALLY being a Monkey Demon who was maybe hatched from Sun Wukong's (the Monkey King's) stone. So MK is maybe kinda a version of Sun Wukong? IDK dude it's so fucked here. Like, this curse MK guy is trying to convince MK that no matter what he does he's going to cause pain and suffering. No matter the decision no matter that intent, he's just an agent if chaos. Do you know what watching legos go through it like this does to a person? I'm losing my fucking mind. Where does fighting for your beliefs lead you? TOO PAIN. TOO PAIN OP. FUCK ME” - User submission

[imminent-danger-came]

Gripping your shoulder. Mk and Wukong witj all of those poems and crap about fucked up daughter and mother dynamics. mothers and daughters existing as wretched mirrors of each other: i am all you could have been and you are all i might be. God

"I am all you could have been and you are all I might be". GOd.

[imminent-danger-came]

SWK being so flawed is like one of LMK's strongest bits. I feel like a different show would just have him be infallible or have him be like a twist villain or irredeemable or something. But he's neither of those, he's just incredibly flawed. It's also interesting that even though Mei and Pigsy are critical of him, they're still shown to care about him.

All in all, hes a more complicated character than people give him credit for :/

I 100% agree!

Honestly, if Sun Wukong wasn't flawed I'd find him a bit boring. You remove his flaws and you remove the meat of his character. Even all the way back in season 1 you get the feeling he's withholding information and concealing his past ("Show me the real Sun Wukong! The old you would have leveled this whole mountain range to stop me!"), and that only becomes more and more prevalent as the show goes on.

Wukong is first introduced as a hero, as the King who defended the world from DBK. Next he's introduced as a mentor, planning to make MK his successor (which I think is pretty debatable at this point, as I've said I personally think he just needed an excuse to train MK).

Slowly we learn SWK is pretty terrible at both of those things. He's not the hero or mentor anyone thought he would be—he's not even the mentor he thought he would be:

Macaque: “Haha, you saw a story about a hero who got handed everything, who didn’t have to work for anything, and you thought you were the other guy? The second the hero got real power, he couldn’t care less about his friends.” [ - ] "You know, I meant what I said—you really are a good kid. A good kid, with a really terrible teacher." (2x07 Shadow Play)

-

Pigsy: "Back from what? Your vacation? No- what could have been SO important you'd leave MK alone to face that- that thing! You're supposed to be his mentor!" (2x10 This is the End!)

-

Sun Wukong: "I know I can never make it up to you. Honestly I- I never thought I'd live as long as I have let alone be someone's mentor—turns out I'm not very good at it. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry MK, for all of it." (3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

-

(he's staring sadly at a bowl of soup, never a good sign.)

s1 of Monkie Kid, as well as the Revenge of the Spider Queen special, establish a baseline. We meet Wukong as we're meant to know him—the legendary yet cheeky hero. Now that he's retired, Monkey King is training the next generation to protect the world and be the heroes in his place.

Right?

Well, just like our perception of Wukong, our perception of the role of the hero slowly degrades as well:

Lady Bone Demon: “Heroes? Please, you’re mere agents of chaos, the very thing I aspire to eradicate in this new world. No more destruction, no more disorder, I WILL HAVE PERFECTION.” (3x12 The Corrupted King)

-

Curse MK: "We’re just like Wukong. A fraud! A trickster! Destructive! Why would our legacy be any different? Actually, no no- the chaos and destruction we’ll bring upon the world will make Wukong’s past look like nothing." (4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

MK: "That can't be true! Monkey King's a hero he wouldn't just—" Azure Lion: "You saw it with your own eyes! His betrayal, his brutality—he took the only friends I had from me." (4x08 The Brotherhood)

-

Heroes aren't people fighting for the side of good, or even for what they think is right—they're agents of chaos. Destructive. "All doomed to play a role in tearing this world apart." Heroes are introduced as one thing, and then slowly revealed to be another.

Heroes, just like Wukong and anyone else, are flawed. They still make wrong choices. They still hurt people. Of course Wukong isn't a twist villain or irredeemable, because ultimately he IS a hero with plenty of the positive traits that come with that. But heroes are also flawed, and this is something I think is at the core of Lego Monkie Kid.

You can love someone, and that someone can do plenty of good, but that doesn't mean they're not broken, or that they aren't capable of causing suffering. This isn't something that only applies to Wukong either—pick any character and I'm sure you could apply this to them.

Now, all this to say that Wukong's two fatal flaws are his lack of communication and his self-sacrificial tendencies. Like Azure Lion says—he has a habit of keeping people at arms length, and more often than not doing that to protect them. These tendencies lead to his downfall.

So! Let's make some lists of where we see these flaws in the show.

Wukong's lack of Communication:

"Look, I'm going to come clean—um, I've been kind of watching you."

Leaving MK and lying to him during s2 (this includes lying about both going on vacation AND that LBD had returned)

Keeping his plan to stop LBD a secret during s3

"Where I got my staff!" "Got or took, right? You took it?"

Not telling the gang about the 4th ring

Other lies I'm sure have yet to be revealed (such as the truth about MK's origins, if that's the direction the plot's going)

Him and Macaque's past

Wukong's Self-sacrificial tendencies:

Leaving during s2 to find a way to stop LBD on his own

"What!? You're not going I'm going!" "Yeah so, here's the problem, you guys have this thing called mortality, so-"

Gravely injuring himself to get the samadhi fire Map

Blocking the brunt of the samadhi fire to protect MK in 3x10

Originally planning to put the Samadhi Fire in himself

Going off to fight the Lady Bone Demon alone

Protecting MK from the curse in 4x01

(and this post here that travels into theory territory)

Now, most, if not all, of these decisions lead to something bad happening. It's very in line with MK's words in 4x08:

MK: It doesn’t matter if I want to help people or not! Everything I do just- it just makes things worse!”

Wukong, even if he has a very questionable way of going about it, is truly motivated by protecting the people he cares about. However, these choices also hurt those same people. Not to reference samadhi fire Mei another time, but this is EXACTLY what she points out:

Mei: "We trusted you! All of us! How could you lead us into the fight without a real plan? Time and time again I've watched you put MK in danger leaving him to figure out EVERYTHING on his own. Don't you realize you're hurting the people who care about you the most?" (3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

But that's the point, isn't it? Even with all these flaws and after all these mistakes, Wukong still tries (he's very much like Mei in that regard):

Sun Wukong: “Point is, mistakes happen, but so long as you leave the world in better shape than you found it, then it’s all good. Right?” (4x01 Familiar Tales)

-

Sun Wukong: “We can’t change who we were yesterday or in a past life, or a hundred life times ago! We live with the choices we’ve made, for what matter is the choices we make RIGHT NOW! Only we decide who we are and what we do with the power we have.” (4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

-

This is who Wukong is. He's not a hero or a mentor, but he's someone who cares (and maybe that's what a hero is). That's the tragedy of his character, really. That's the tragedy of both him and MK. They're people doing the best with what they have, but still failing anyways.

"Nice hero speech bud, but I know better—deep in your hearts, you don't believe a word of that."

-

But people still love you anyways.

[imminent-danger-came]

I’m like hoping and praying we get some scene where Wukong realizes how similar Mk is to him how close he is to repeating his story and is just begging do not do what I did do not be like me you do not want to be like me and I cannot wait for MK to ignore every warning

It's the "I just wanted to be good enough...like you" to "We're just like Wukong! A fraud! A trickster! Destructive!" pipeline for me, followed by "Ah! The path of the good guy!" and "I need you to be the Monkey King".

Like we'll either get that or some sort of variant, subtext at the very least. The idealization of Wukong in MK's head and MK in Wukong's head has to come to the forefront at some point. They really dug deeper into their own perceptions of each other in the s4 special, and after ending on

Mei: "At least we fixed something for a change, instead of destroying it." MK: "Yeah! As long as we leave the world a little better than we found it, it's all good, right?"

then having the world literally fall apart at the beginning of next season, it's just like: MK, to Wukong, is his way to leave the world better than he found it. MK refused to abandon Mei, and in 4x01 Wukong explicitly states, "I'm embarrassed to admit it, but you actually might have already done more for this world than I ever have!"

So, Wukong being horrified that MK is so similar to him is just so delicious. We're gonna acknowledge the good guy bad guy mentality, we're gonna acknowledge the pedestals MK and Wukong place each other on, we're gonna acknowledge the ways people hurt each other.

'Cause it's just kinda like...while the "Leave the world a little better than you found it" ideology is good, it doesn't really reach the crux of the issue. The "path of destiny", no matter what you do, leading to pain is less about "not fixing everything" and more about accepting that you will cause pain, you know? So the fact that the world is still falling apart, they didn't really "fix" anything, and MK directly caused all that...I'm just so ready. They're gonna actually accept each other's flaws, and it's going to be so god damn beautiful

"Such pitiful creatures, cowardly, reckless, monstrosities—all doomed to play a role in tearing this world apart, to cause nothing but chaos and destruction." Like I'm so ready. I'm so ready!

[mavratt]

warning! Big ass 3000 word essay on why the scene of ink MK fighting real MK is so important and how it was foreshadowed very well!!!

This was for film homework (that's why I explain things in detail as the teacher hasn't watched lmk) and was written very sleep deprived and get's repetitive at times, sorry for anything written wrongly too. don't be scared to tell me if I missed anything or wrote something wrong!

This his frame is when the main character, MK, is confronted by the secondary villain of season 4, The Scroll Curse (I will just call it Ink MK). In lead up to this shot they had been fighting while Ink MK talked to MK about who he is and why he isn't worthy, while also taking the form of MK but instead of being human, Ink MK took the form of a monkey (They look nearly identical in this series, the monkey just has ears and a tail (see bottom of post for images). In this shot Ink MK had shapeshifted into a large form that combined elements of all of the former villains that MK has faced over the last 3 seasons, but he has made his head the form of MK's mentor, Sun Wukong (yes, the one from Journey to the West, the show is a spin off series to the novel made by lego). The quote Ink MK says here is "We're just like Wukong. A fraud! A trickster! Destructive! Why would our legacy be any different? Actually! No, no. The chaos and destruction that we'll bring upon the world will make Wukong's past look like nothing." While he says this, his face morphs back into MK's (You can tell from the lack of the circlet and his signature hair) to berate him. As MK is holding back Ink MK's force he starts to glow a golden light and flashes of fur start appearing on his skin. This is the beginning of MK realising that he isn't human, and instead a monkey demon, or as Ink MK puts it "The Harbinger of Chaos".

But all of this doesn't just happen randomly in season 4, all three prior seasons, especially season 3, gave us foreshadowing for this scene. I'll start from season 1.

In the pilot episode "A Hero is Born" We see how MK was incredibly interested in The Monkey King, as he was listening to a story that Tang (“The smart one”) was telling, and it was implied that MK already knew that story anyways. But directly after the “opening monologue” was said MK talks about how cool Monkey King was, saying “Monkey King is so cool, he’s so strong, and handsome.”  And as he says that he’s handsome he gets the notorious “Monkey Mask” which is a marking on the face that wraps around the eyes and along the nose. The thing is, this is clearly not Wukong’s markings as they are too dark in colour, and for the medium for animation where there are set reference sheets for every character with the exact colours to use, it is a weird detail to not just colour pick the colour of Wukong’s mask. But later on in season 4, when MK’s monkey form is revealed, he is shown to have a much darker mask than Wukong’s, almost an exact match to the one in the pilot.

In the same pilot episode, we got to see how MK got possession of The Monkey King's staff. It is shown that Sun Wukong had been following and watching MK as he lived his life, though it was not explained why he had done so. It is implied to the audience that Wukong was scoping out someone he wanted to be his successor and was making sure that he was the right choice. However, if Wukong could sense that MK had some hidden power that he had not unlocked yet it would explain why he had just been watching a random young adult for the last however long. And while it is possible Wukong was following just because he thought he would be a good successor, that wouldn’t explain why MK was able to hold the staff at all. It is stated in Journey to the West that the staff is incredibly heavy and that only someone with immense power would be able to hold it, but MK just waltzed up and plucked it off the ground with ease. It is possible that when Wukong pushed/pecked MK into danger that he transferred him the power, but that is highly unlikely as it appears that later in the episode that MK unlocks most of his “Monkey King” powers while fighting the Demon Bull King, not when he picked up the staff. This leads to the question as to why MK was able to pick up the staff without the powers of the Monkey King. The obvious answer to the question is that he’s the “chosen one” and picking up the staff is sort of a “rite of passage” for him. But in later seasons many characters, including MK himself, ask the question as to “why Sun Wukong chose him to be his successor” which proves that he couldn’t have just been the “chosen one”.

This leads me onto my next point about how Wukong himself doesn’t even seem to know why MK can lift the staff. In the pilot Wukong seems surprised that MK was able to lift his staff to protect himself when he pushed him into danger. While watching the episode again, it looked more like Wukong just wanted to see what would happen if he dropped MK in front of the newly released Demon Bull King, like he was seeing how much strength he had left after his imprisonment. At points throughout season 1 Wukong gives MK advice and training on how to use his monkey powers, but he approaches it as though he is seeing if it would work on him rather than teaching MK how to use the Monkey King powers. I personally believe that Wukong actually did give MK some of his powers as in episode two Wukong takes away Mk’s invulnerability and later in episode 9 of season 1 Macaque steals MK’s Monkey King powers.

Speaking of Macaque stealing MK’s Monkey King powers, that scene also proves that MK had his own powers from the beginning. While in a fight with Macaque, the other monkey steals the Monkey King powers from MK and presses him against a wall with the staff. Without the powers MK can’t move the staff to get away from Macaque and Wukong has to come and rescue MK. While Wukong defends MK from Macaque’s oncoming blows he gives him a bit of a motivational speech and MK sparks a couple of times with golden light before suddenly being able to hold the staff again and fighting Macaque with it. Activating these powers seemed to be very painful for MK as we see him cry as he desperately tries to remove the staff from himself. The reason we know that these are his own powers kicking in again is because we know that Macaque stole MK’s Monkey King powers as we see him absorb the physical form of them and he was using the shapeshifting powers of the Monkey King, a power that he did not originally have, against Wukong during their fight. This leads on to the fact that Macaque was even able to keep up with Wukong during the fight, which he was obviously not able to do up to this point as Wukong seems genuinely surprised by how hard Macaque was hitting him. All of this proves that Macaque stole the Monkey King powers from MK during episode 9 of season 1 and didn’t give them back as we also see him use shapeshifting in the season 3 special “Embrace your Destiny” when he has to fight Wukong again. With us knowing that Macaque kept at least some of the Monkey King’s powers we know that MK had to be drawing on a different sauce of power for the rest of the series.

In season 3, the main villain, The Lady Bone Demon, seems very interested in getting MK rather than Wukong or Mei. The Lady Bone Demon (LBD) takes control of Macaque and sends him to fetch MK as he travels around the world to find a weapon strong enough to fight her. In episode 4 of season 3 Macaque kidnaps MK, Mei and Sandy by making a duplicate of their van and driving them the wrong way back to LBD. After they figure out that they were taken they have a fight in the desert where Macaque announces that LBD only wants MK and not the other two, Macaque is even willing to kill Mei and Sandy to force MK to come with him. This raises the question as to why LBD only wants MK and not the others, others who have been proven to be incredibly powerful, Mei even has the Samadhi Fire inside of her without her knowledge. So if LBD can sense the hidden powers of Mei and MK but still chooses MK over Mei it proves that MK must have a power level greater than even the Samadhi Fire. This could also be because she could sense “Destiny” and knew that somehow MK was a part of it hers. MK and her destinies were intertwined as MK would ultimately defeat her. After he defeats her she sends him a vision of how trying to pursue what you want only leads to pain. (Very important quote)

LBD also talked to MK in season 2 when she confronted him in the Spider Queen’s lair. She forced him to listen to her speak while she held him back with her magic. In this scene she berated him, talking about how weak he was and saying that both of them knew that Monkey King had chosen the wrong successor for his power. MK had been believing that Wukong might have chosen the wrong successor since season 2 episode 3, “Dumpling Destruction” when Wukong seemed to be avoiding speaking to him while off on his own adventure. We as an audience know that Wukong was actually just struggling to beat some traps set by the Celestial Realm to get the scroll that would tell him how to beat LBD, but MK thought that Monkey King was reconsidering his choice of successor. This would lead to a constant voice in the back of his head that would whisper that he wasn’t worthy for the Monkey King’s power, or ask why him, and not someone better?

And as stated earlier, Wukong actually doesn’t know why he “chose” MK to be his successor. He kind of just watched MK for a while and then decided to mentor him, this also backs up my earlier statement about Wukong just throwing him into danger and seeing what would happen. In the pilot when MK asks if Wukong’s brain is ok and if he is thinking straight about choosing him as his successor, Wukong says “Listen, kid. you fought demons, and you didn’t die. And you made it here (to Monkey King’s hideout).” Which shows that he didn’t plan for that to happen and must have decided to make MK his successor after picking up the staff. He also mentions that “Not just anyone can lift my staff” Which proves my theory from earlier that Wukong hadn’t given MK and special Monkey King powers before dropping him into danger which also proves my idea of MK drawing on some other source of power when he picked up the staff.

With the reveal that MK is a monkey in this scene is brought out by Ink MK making him question everything he knew. Ink MK asked MK why he thought Monkey King had chosen him and while we haven’t got an official answer to this question yet, we can use other information to determine why Wukong even took an interest in MK before he picked up his staff. We are not shown in any episode how long Wukong had been watching MK before dropping him into the danger, but we know that it was more than just after he had gotten the staff as there is a shot in the pilot that shows Wukong shapeshifted into a bug and watched MK sleep (I know, I know, weird). This shows that Wukong had at the very least been watching MK for one day before the staff incident. Many theorise that Wukong had been drawn to the pre-existing Monkey Powers that MK had, though he probably was not able to properly tell what they were or maybe he wasn’t able to tell MK had powers at all and was just drawn in by the vibes/unknown forces.

Ink MK also shoots down the idea that MK is using Monkey King's powers in season 4 episode 7. When MK states that "I'm just a noodle delivery guy, with the powers of the Monkey King. No biggie." Ink MK takes this as a time to strike and says "Oh! You mean these powers?" Before hitting MK in the stomach and sending him flying. This heavily implies that Ink MK isn't using the Monkey King powers and since Ink MK seems to be a perfect reflection of MK, these must be the powers that MK is using for most of the series after his Monkey King ones were taken by Macaque in season 1.

Ink MK also asks who MK thought he was, and why he was so powerful, saying “Seriously!? You still think we’re just some noodle delivery guy? You can’t remember where you came from. And we got all this power, and you never once thought, WHY US?!” It is implied that Ink MK is a reflection of the actual MK that was made by the Scroll Curse to question MK about everything and make him address things that he had been pushing down/avoiding thinking about (It might be that it does this with everyone, but from what we’ve seen of the scroll and it’s existence, this might be specifically in there just for MK). We know that MK tends to avoid thinking about harsh topics as much as possible as in the season 3 special, “Embrace your Destiny” While LBD had MK in the vision he asks her “You still think that the universe really wants anything from any of us?” she replies “Don’t you?” and MK brushes it off while rubbing the back of his head nervously “I try not to think too hard” And this is only one of the examples of MK pushing down his own thoughts that he doesn’t want to deal with to try and forget them. This makes Ink MK such a good narrative foil for MK as it makes him think about everything he doesn’t, it tries to push MK to his limits and unleash what he thinks is “The Harbinger of Chaos” upon the world. This is supported by Ink MK saying “What are we!? What is our purpose!?” (Said directly after the last quote with him). Ink MK knows what MK is, he’s the MK that has accepted this part of himself and is trying to force MK to admit to himself that he isn’t just some random guy that fell into luck. But MK says afterwards “Of course I thought about it! I mean… maybe. I was gonna thought about it. I just… I just wanna be me. To be MK.” Ink MK follows this up with “Yeah, well, we all know where that leads. Don’t we?” at this LBD’s words from the vision come back to MK (“To pain”) and he thinks about it for a second before deciding to shove it down again and continue fighting Ink MK.

Ink MK tells MK all the things that he doesn’t want to hear, he tells him that everything was his fault (guilt he had been grappling with since season 2 when he found out he unknowingly released LBD into the world. It had only gotten worse as the seasons continued and he kept realising that “Everything was his fault”) and how he could never fix the damage he had done. He told MK all the things that he knew he had done but was trying to ignore, that he had released the Demon Bull King, that he helped the Spider Queen take over the city and that he had given the Lady Bone Demon the opportunity to wreak havoc on the world. And what does MK do with all of this shoved in his face? He deflects with humour, stating “*comedic release of air* This is gonna haunt my nightmares forever.” AND THAT IS WHEN THE SCREENSHOT I CHOSE HAPPENS, directly after MK tried to deflect and shove down all of the bad thoughts. THAT is when Ink MK chooses to take the form of Wukong, a person in MK’s life that he has looked up to since childhood (MK is absolutely obsessed with Monkey King from the moment we see him in the pilot). THAT is when he told MK that he was just like Wukong, usually, this would be a compliment but MK had been slowly starting to doubt that Wukong is a good person for nearly the entirety of seasons 3 and 4, he had seen the problems he had caused and the damage he had done to others. And while at the beginning of the series, MK knew of all of Wukong’s past misdeeds he had decided to look past them because they were all practically bedtime stories he had been told, and his hero worship of Wukong only let him ignore them for longer. But as time went on and as MK met/saw more and more people that Wukong had hurt his (for lack of a better phrase) “Rose tinted glasses” seemed to shatter more and more until in the season 4 finale when he would confront Wukong about them. But back to the scene, with MK knowing that Wukong was probably not the best person but still super attached to him because of his past hero worship, being told by Ink MK that “We are just like Wukong” but then it being followed up with Ink MK telling him that he would be more destructive and more chaotic than Wukong was would force MK to re-evaluate everything he had been thinking for the last 3 seasons. THIS is what makes MK start glitching out, THIS is what makes MK realise fully that he is not just some noodle delivery guy who was just very lucky, THIS proves that MK was made for this role and that LBD was right when she said “You can’t escape destiny”. Ink MK proves that MK was “Some monkey demon thing, destined to bring chaos upon the world.” By using MK’s worst fears against him, his self-doubt, his guilt and his knowledge that even those you admire can be wrong, Ink MK brings out the “Worst side” of MK and proves that MK’s fears were true, that he caused everything and that if he had never existed, the world would never have gone through so much pain and turmoil. He proves to MK that he, himself is the problem.

This also affects what happens later on in season 4 with the last thing Ink MK says to him being “Then prove us wrong.” (about being a destructive force destined to bring chaos to the world) and MK’s first words after fully accepting and using his Monkey Powers being “well alright then.” Many believe that this is MK’s response to Ink MK’s proposition, and I do too.

(Images mentioned)

I woke up and wrote a 1048 word essay on why Mk probably won’t go monkey mode on his family in season 5 to prove a point to myself.

If that isn’t a neurodivergent diagnosis, idk what is.

[imminent-danger-came]

Curse MK is so delightful because like, as I've mentioned before he functions as a mirror to MK, and that gives us the opportunity to have some out loud introspection. He forces MK to emphatically admit insecurities and even reveals to the audience some insecurities that wouldn't have been voiced otherwise:

"We're just like Wukong, a fraud! A trickster! Destructive! Why would our legacy be any different?"

You wouldn't EVER catch MK admitting his doubts about Wukong out loud like that, but that's fine because we have our buddy the curse to do it for him. I love it so much.

[imminent-danger-came]

do you think mks cosmic backstory conflicts with the previous conflict of his insecurities of being the wrong successor?

Not at all!

When it comes down to it, MK's main flaw is his lack of belief in himself ("Just believe in yourself! Even a smidge makes all the difference")—that's him at his core. He's also identity issues the character ("I'm not the Monkey King okay!" "You're right—you're the Monkie Kid! You have to find your own way to win."), and I think s4 laid into this quite nicely.

Throughout seasons 1 and 2 MK was trying to live up to the legacy of "Monkey King". That's what 1x06 and 1x09 are motivated by—MK is trying to make himself stronger and more like Wukong ("I just wanted to be good enough—like you."). Really 2x05 just worsened a problem MK already had. He was already having doubts about being the Monkie Kid, and SWK leaving in 2x01 was a crack in an already unstable foundation. So then in 2x06 and 2x09 you have MK desperately trying to get stronger, to be a sort of Monkey King stand in ("Pretty soon, Monkey King won't even need to come back!"), and that all comes crashing down in 2x10. And, not only does MK fail, he loses the staff and his powers.

This takes us to 3x01, where MK IMMEDIATELY tries to be Wukong once again:

Sun Wukong: "Kid, why did ya-" MK: "Uh, well yeah, I was trying to do you in the omelet story! Do the weird impulsive Monkey King thing and escape the bad guy."

Sun Wukong: "Well, I mean- Ne Zha ain't really a bad guy but- did you forget about the part where I got really hurt?"

(3x01 On The Run) (Hi MK good guy v bad guy mentality)

-

MK doesn't refer to himself as the Monkie Kid again until after he's able to use gold vision in 3x03, listing off a few of his labels:

"But I, Monkie Kid, delivery boy, somewhat equal to heaven—saw right through your trick." (3x03 Smartie Kid; another label)

Which, MK and his labels are a big deal ("Hero"/"Warrior" in 2x07, Noodle Boy, Successor, the "Plan Man" in 4x12). It's specifically what the curse antagonizes MK with in s4:

Subodhi: “Who or what you are, even I do not know the answer—but of one thing, I am certain: fate has plans for you! Great plans, or foul? Time will tell.” MK: "I- I can't be! I'm just MK!" Subodhi: "The Monkie Kid?" MK: *Gasps*

-

Curse MK: "Tell me, what do you think we are, honestly, cause I have been DYING to hear us say it, out loud." MK: "What kind of a question is that? I'm just- I'm just MK, a noodle delivery guy with the powers of the Monkey King, no biggie."

-

Curse MK: "Seriously? You still think we're just some noodle delivery guy? You can't remember where you came from, and we got ALL this power, and you never once thought, why us? What are we, what is our purpose?" MK: "Of course I thought about it! I mean- maybe, I was gonna thought about it I just- I just want to be me. To be MK!" Curse MK: "Yeah well, we all know exactly where that leads, don't we." Lady Bone Demon Echo: "To pain."

-

Curse MK: "We're just like Wukong, a fraud! A trickster! Why would our legacy be any different?"

-

MK: "No, no you're wrong I'm- I'm not!" Curse MK: "Not what, some Monkey Demon thing destined to bring chaos upon the world? Come on, use your words big brained boy, say it, what are we?"

-

Curse MK: "You can see it, can't you? This is your fate. Your friends will turn on you, seeing you for the monster you will become! They will destroy you, harbinger of chaos."

-

There's all of these different things MK is either trying to be or trying to not be, which all plays back into his identity. It also all plays back to one thing: his lack of belief in himself.

He's either not enough like Wukong or too much like his mentor. He's either not strong enough or too strong, destined to cause nothing but chaos and destruction. He's either not going to be able to protect the people he cares about, or he's going to be the very thing that hurts them. It's the same problem, just on different sides of the spectrum.

The 3x14 "Do you still really think the universe wants anything, from any of us?" to 4x08 "Until I know what I am, what my destiny is? I can't risk hurting the people I care about—the one's I have left" pipeline is both wild and important to note. It's the switch from MK believing he's nothing special, to believing he's the very "harbinger of chaos". It's all about his self-perception.

And honestly, when it comes down to it, he probably still believes he's the wrong successor, just for very different reasons now. You and I both know that there was no other choice for a protégé—who else would have been able to wield the Monkey King's staff and have his powers—but I doubt MK is in a place to come to terms with that. I think that realization is going to be part of his downward spiral next season, along with being one of the things that instigates the SWK V MK fight.

It's very on point that the way MK comforts Wukong at the end of 4x11 is through reaffirming his role as the "Monkey King":

MK: "Monkey King- I'm not ready to not have a mentor. Azure needs to be stopped but- we need you. I need you- to be the Monkey King."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

While the way he antagonizes Azure is to threaten his role as a Hero (also referencing his role as an Uncle, and before that his role as a friend):

MK: "Come on! Come on! Come on Unkie Lion, you're the big hero right? Then prove it. Show me!"

(4x13 Rip and Tear)

-

*Gestures financially* IDENTITY

Bonus "What I am" parallels post because it's pretty relevant I feellmk

[imminent-danger-came]

If you're right about eamk then, for Wukong, seeing the ink curse use MK's voice and form to beat them all down physicaly and verbaly must have been 😬

You get it.

Look at his face here:

And while not the same, SWK's "oh shit oh no" expression from 4x07 in response to the curse reminds me of this expression from 1x09:

Like. "Hey! Nice of you to join us bud—you know none of this would have happened without you, right?" (+ "We're just like Wukong. A fraud! A trickster! Destructive!") from the curse VS "I just wanted to be good enough, like you." from MK (MK being just like Wukong in all the wrong ways).

[imminent-danger-came]

When like, Azure insulting MK's loyalty to Wukong is the reason he becomes unhinged and goes into Monkey form:

Azure Lion: "After all Sun Wukong has put you through, after how much he's let you down, you would still meet your fate trying to protect him?" Sun Wukong: "Azure! Stop this!"

Azure Lion: "He doesn't deserve such loyalty, yet you insist on learning the hard way just as I did! I should have NEVER trusted the Monkey King! The false sage, equal to nothing!"

(4x13 Rip and Tear)

-

It's actually wild

So I'm like, utterly obsessed with MK and Wukong's relationship, because it's like, Wukong has borderline unreasonable faith in MK and MK is willing to put pretty much anything on the line for Wukong (risking the curse being released in 4x02, ready to "meet his fate" FOR him in 4x13), yet MK is also purposefully ignoring SWK's mistakes/flaws and thinking in binaries of "good guy" and "bad guy". And at this point I'm not sure what they wouldn't do for each other, or where is too far to go for each other, and let me tell you girl it's edging on unhealthy.

[imminent-danger-came]

Hi

I've seen your theories and I love them

I was wondering one thing if MK had powers from the beginning and not only after he picked up the sw staff then why didn't they appear earlier only at such a late age (mk is almost an adult now)

I don't think it has anything to do with the staff, but maybe it does. But maybe the staff activated his powers. Could the mk have used its powers before? Or maybe it's something completely different

Anyway, I wanted to know what you think about it

I 100% think the implication is that MK has had his power's since the beginning! He hasn't necessarily known that the power was there, or how to use it until post-DBK release, but that doesn't mean he didn't have it, you know?

I also think MK's powers manifest based off of how he views himself. For most of the show MK considers himself a "regular noodle delivery boy with the powers of the Monkey King", who could never live up to the legacy of his mentor ("I just wanted to be good enough...like you." "I'll never be as good as you." "Sun Wukong couldn't best me. What can you hope to accomplish when he has failed?").

In s4 this is flipped on it's head, with MK now worried about being too much like Wukong ("We're just like Wukong, a fraud! A trickster! Destructive!"), and being forced to realize that he's not "regular" ("Do you even believe that? The students I train spend lifetimes to gain a fraction of your power."). This completely shifts MK's view of himself, going from a normal guy to a harbinger of chaos, which I think contributed to the reveal of his Monkey Form.

I'm sure there were moments where MK's powers arose pre-DBK release, where MK was either in denial or honestly just didn't recognize his own abilities for what they were. I doubt the staff itself was the thing that triggered his powers manifesting ("The staff's just a big ol' stick bud!'', ''I doubt a stick is going to help.''), but rather MK being put in a life or death situation like he was in AHIB.

MK always needs outside help/motivation in order to succeed (hi trigram furnace scene and also pretty much the whole show), which I think in itself explains a lot about why his powers manifested the way they did. Even in 3x14, the gang plans to have MK steal his staff back because ''even if it's just a big ol' stick, maybe it'll give him the power he needs to finish her!''. At that point they know MK is just as capable without his staff as he is with it, yet he still needs it for that "ounce of motivation."

[imminent-danger-came]

Okay, with the potential idea that MK is a sacrificial lamb and with the whole chaos cult and with the fact that the world matters than one life...

MK being tricked into believing that he's the problem, only him giving up causes the world to end.

Sun Wukong: “Just believe in yourself! Even a smidge makes all the difference.” (1x00 A Hero is Born)

MK: "Yeah well..I'm kinda always the one getting the world in trouble to begin with sooo..." (4x01 Familiar Tales)

Curse MK: "We’re just like Wukong. A fraud! A trickster! Destructive! Why would our legacy be any different? Actually, no no- the chaos and destruction we’ll bring upon the world will make Wukong’s past look like nothing." (4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

MK: “No matter what I do, it’s going to lead to pain. It’s like the Lady Bone Demon said—it doesn’t matter if I want to help people or not! Everything I do just- it just makes things worse!” (4x08 The Brotherhood)

Hooded Figure: "There will of course be an inquiry into how the scroll of memory was stolen in the first place, and what is to be done now that the Jade Emperor has been dethroned. The universe is perilously close to tipping into chaos. If it comes to light that any of this party were involved, you can believe the consequences will be dire—but only a fraction of the price compared to what shall come to pass should you succeed." (4x14 Better Than We Found It)

-

We're like, already almost there

[angstandhappiness]

INTERESTING

So I'm like, utterly obsessed with MK and Wukong's relationship, because it's like, Wukong has borderline unreasonable faith in MK and MK is willing to put pretty much anything on the line for Wukong (risking the curse being released in 4x02, ready to "meet his fate" FOR him in 4x13), yet MK is also purposefully ignoring SWK's mistakes/flaws and thinking in binaries of "good guy" and "bad guy". And at this point I'm not sure what they wouldn't do for each other, or where is too far to go for each other, and let me tell you girl it's edging on unhealthy.

[imminent-danger-came]

So, I personally believe that Wukong knew about MK's monkey identity the whole time (here's my decent sized theory post on it; tldr: SWK had to have known he didn't give MK powers), but yeah. It really makes you question, why did Wukong sincerely believe that MK could handle the Demon Bull King by himself? SWK does something similar in 3x14, letting MK go on his own to stop LBD's reality ending flame attack.

So like, Wukong KNOWS how powerful MK is, but MK doesn't know how powerful MK is. MK believes in his friends first and himself last, contributing to the "they tell us a story and we find that smidge of motivation we need" phenomenon.

And, tbh, I'm not sure MK ever fully believed that being a hero was all "fun and games". Like, even from AHIB:

MK: "But what about DBK?"

Sun Wukong: "Pffftt, what about DBK? You can handle it! Consider it a trail!" MK: "But I- *sighs*"

-

That is not the face of someone who's excited to be the Monkey King's new successor lol. He knows the weight of the task that's just been handed to him—which continues into 1x01 Bad Weather:

Wukong: "A-anyway, nothing worth anything comes for free *coughs*." MK: "But what about my friends? The city? They're all counting on me!"

-

This is about the point in the ep where it's clear MK's earlier "let's take down the bad guys!" excitement was just part of his false bravado ("fake it till I make it?"). He really does understand the responsibility he has as the Monkie Kid. MK is constantly worried that he's not strong enough, that he's doing things wrong, and that the next challenge that comes along is something he's won't be ready for (i.e. all of s2 past Minor Scale, 1x10 when MK expresses doubts of beating DBK, etc.).

And God, don't even get me started on MK's perception of Wukong. The contrast between Ink Mk going "We're just like Wukong! A fraud! A trickster! Destructive!" and MK then later going "But Monkey King's a Hero he wouldn't just-". The drama, the cognitive dissonance, the fact that one of MK's main gripes with Azure is the way he tried to turn MK against Wukong ("When really you were just using me to get what you wanted! To turn me against my own mentor!"). Like uh-oh we are in trouble.

So I'm like, utterly obsessed with MK and Wukong's relationship, because it's like, Wukong has borderline unreasonable faith in MK and MK is willing to put pretty much anything on the line for Wukong (risking the curse being released in 4x02, ready to "meet his fate" FOR him in 4x13), yet MK is also purposefully ignoring SWK's mistakes/flaws and thinking in binaries of "good guy" and "bad guy". And at this point I'm not sure what they wouldn't do for each other, or where is too far to go for each other, and let me tell you girl it's edging on unhealthy.