SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a new column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
*NOTE* Sun Wukong was removed in June 2013 and replaced with Hun Batz of Mayan lore.
Lore: A monkey born of stone with supernatural powers, Sun Wukong is a mortal of many talents. An incredibly versatile fighter due to his supernatural strength and quickness, Sun Wukong’s very confident in his abilities. As if physical talents weren’t enough to set the Monkey King apart, Wukong sought immortality. Under the teachings of Subodhi, Wukong learned magic, including the ability to transform his hairs to inanimate or organic objects, including clones.
After boasting about his new talents, Subodhi banished Wukong from the Toaist temple. Short of immortality, Wukong began searching for heavenly items to further empower him. Ruyi Jingu Bang, the gold-banded staff with transformative powers, was acquired from a cocky Ao Kuang, sending the seas into turmoil. New weapon in hand, Wukong confronted the four dragons of the sea, relinquishing them of other heavenly items before aligning himself with a fraternity of Spirit and Demon kings.
Raw talents, insatiable ambition, heavenly weaponry and armor, supernatural powers and a fraternity of powerful deities lead Wukong to constant political struggles and outright battles with the Jade Emperor and the heavenly forces. It wasn’t until The Buddha stepped in that the crafty, powerful monkey-of-stone was subdued. Until he altruistically offered his services to retrieve the Buddhist sutras from India.
In-Game: Sun Wukong takes advantage of only a handful of his trove of talents in game. A physical melee fighter with solid sustained damage and fully capable of chasing down targets, Wukong is great at cleaning up or initiating skirmishes thanks to a pounce and AoE disable. Increasing his movement speed (or slowing opponents) with added damage will make the Monkey King a deadly foe in singles or group combat. Watch out for his relatively low HP.
Further reading:
- Sun Wukong on Wikipedia
- Chinese Mythology on Wikipedia
- Journey to the West (PDF)
Head over to SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained for access to details for all of the playable characters.