Ruyi Jingu Bang

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Ruyi Jingu Bang (Chinese: 如意金箍棒; Pinyin: Rúyì Jīngū Bàng, literally meaning "As-you-will Golden-bound Cudgel"), or simply as Ruyi Bang or Jingu Bang, is the poetic name of a magical weapon wielded by the Monkey King in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.

[edit] General Description

It is an iron rod whose size changes ruyi 如意 "as-one-wishes", once used by Da Yu to measure the depth of the flood waters destroying ancient China, which Sun Wukong obtains from the undersea palace of Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea. It is immensely heavy (weighing "13,500 jīn"); in modern measurements, it is slightly weightier than 7.5 metric tons. When it is not in use, Sun Wukong shrinks it to the size of a sewing needle and keeps it behind his ear. The novel describes it as being made of "black iron" (烏鐵 wūtiě) with two gold bands (Chinese: 金箍 jīngū) round it near the ends. In adaptations, it is often depicted as being either red, black, or silver in color, or as a solid gold or copper staff. In some forms of the legend Journey to the West, Ao Guang is shown to have believed that the cudgel was worth nothing until Sun Wukong commanded it to shrink and grow.

[edit] In popular culture

• Various characters in other manga and anime often wield an indestructible nyoi-bō (mind stick) staff based and modeled after the character Sun Wukong of Journey to the West. Of the most popular of these depictions include Son Goku of the Dragon Ball metaseries, the title character in the Monkey television series, the Monkey King Enma which can transform into a giant nyoi-bō in Naruto, as well as Gensomaden Saiyuki. It is also one of the Precious (treasures) of the Super Sentai series Boukenger, although it is featured only briefly at the end of the final episode.
• In the video game Phantasy Star Online, one of the weapons is the 'Monkey King Bar', which changes its size when used.
• In the Soul Calibur series, the character Kilik can wield the Jingu staff. In particular, Soul Calibur 3 has custom moveset called the "Soul of the Staff" which uses attacks where the titular staff changes length and width, with its standard size being estimated at a foot in length.
• In Defense of the Ancients, the Monkey King Bar is a powerful damage item that temporarily stuns opponents.
• In the movie The Forbidden Kingdom, the quest of Jason Tripitakas is to return Ruyi Jingu Bang (which is not mentioned by name) to the Monkey King (Jet Li) and thereby free him.
• In the game Warriors Orochi 2, the monkey king is a playable character using his weapon Ruyi Jingo Bang.