Summary

• The journey of the Destined One in Black Myth: Wukong involves overcoming obstacles to recover pieces of Wukong's spirit.
• The game features familiar characters from Journey to the West in a story that takes place hundreds of years later.
• The Destined One ultimately comes face to face with the physical body of Wukong himself in a final challenge.

Black Myth: Wukong tells the story of the Destined One, and although he might not be the most talkative protagonist, he certainly goes on a substantial adventure throughout the course of the game. Inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, Black Myth: Wukong features plenty of familiar faces for those accustomed to the source material. The Destined One, however, is a new figure that bears a resemblance to Sun Wukong, the Monkey King that featured in the original novel.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Black Myth: Wukong.]The story of Black Myth: Wukong starts out on a climactic note, showcasing a confrontation between Sun Wukong and the gods. Refusing to submit to their well, Wukong fights Erlang Shen, a warrior god and the nephew of the Jade Emperor. He ends up falling to earth atop of a mountain, where a stone is said to hold his remains. Wukong's spirit escapes into six relics, which have been lost for centuries by the start of the Destined One's journey. Recovering those relics could allow Wukong to return, precipitating the game's quest.

How The Destined One Starts Out In Black Myth: Wukong

An Epic Adventure Starts Small

The opening of the Destined One's journey is relatively humble in Chapter One of Black Myth: Wukong, as he begins his progress through the forests of Black Wind Mountain. A small old man called the Keeper of Black Wind Mountain aids him in this chapter, instructing the inexperienced warrior and explaining the region to him. Here, the Black Wind King tried to reclaim his place on the mountain with somewhat failed attempts at reviving past comrades, all of whom prove to be obstacles that the Destined One has to surmount to claim the spirit of Wukong's eyes.

Beyond Black Wind Mountain, the Destined One comes to the Yellow Wind Ridge, a desert area where he's greeted by a mysterious headless monk character who plays the sanxian, a traditional Chinese lute. The ultimate villain of Yellow Wind Ridge is the Yellow Wind Sage, an overgrown rodent who came across the spirit of Wukong's ears and stole a Bodhisattva's head to contain the powerful spirit. When the Destined One defeats the Yellow Wind Sage, the headless monk reveals himself as the Bodhisattva, reclaims his head, and deems the Destined One worthy of receiving the spirit of Wukong's ears.

Bajie s The Destined One's Journey

An Acerbic Companion Provides Help

Chapter Three sees the Destined One travel to snow-capped mountains, where he meets the pig companion Zhu Bajie. Although Bajie tends to be abrasive toward the Destined One, he ends up accompanying him for much of the journey, proving to be a help in certain sequences and boss fights. Near the end of Chapter 3, the two end up trapped in a bag by the monk Yellowbrow, who is posing as his master. The Destined One defeats a macaque enemy inside the bag before taking down Yellowbrow himself, earning the spirit of Wukong's nose.

Chapter Four of Black Myth: Wukong turns into a descent into arachnid lairs, where a number of demon spider sisters who can present themselves in human form live. Here a tragic romantic backstory for Bajie is revealed, which also receives the focus of the cutscene played at the end of the chapter. A centipede demon called the Hundred-Eyes Daoist Master ends up slaying spider demons before turning his eye upon the Destined One, who receives the spirit of Wukong's tongue after defeating the demon.

The Destined One has to fight Bajie as well in Chapter Four, but it's a circumstance of outside controlling influence rather than a permanent rift between the characters.

The story of Chapter Five in Black Myth: Wukong is also a familial one, dealing with the Bull King and his family. Aging and sick, the giant demon Bull King reclines against a mountain, still demanding respect from his children. The Destined One travels the area with a character who appears to be the Bull King's daughter Pingping, but they're ultimately revealed to be his son, Red Boy. Red Boy claims the spirit of Wukong's body from his father and transforms, forcing the Destined One into a fight to claim the relic for himself.

The Fate Of The Destined One In Black Myth: Wukong

Taking The Place Of Sun Wukong

The Destined One approaches the end of his journey in Chapter Six of Black Myth: Wukong, claiming pieces of Wukong's icono equipment one-by-one. He first acquires the Somersault Cloud, which allows him to fly around to find various bosses and take them down. After picking up each piece of Wukong's armor from the bosses, the Destined One and Bajie travel into the Water Curtain Cave, where the Destined One takes Wukong's staff to complete the ensemble.

The Destined One and Bajie then ascend a mountain to find and enter the stone that's said to hold Wukong's body. Within, the two are ferried on a boat ride by an aging monkey, who tells them that the Destined One possesses the spirit of Wukong's mind. The Destined One has to fight the physical form of Wukong to take his rightful place, a challenging final confrontation that he ultimately triumphs over. In turn, he takes Wukong's place in the stone.

Although this is the ending to the Destined One's tale that most players are likely to encounter, at least on a blind playthrough without much hunting for secrets, there's another fate for the Destined One if more hidden content is completed. If the Destined One completes enough trials to go up against Erlang Shen, he can fight this formidable foe before taking on Wukong to achieve a different ending. Here, he receives Wukong's memories, which play as an animated cutscene to close the story.

Black Myth: Wukong ultimately hides many of the finer details of its lore in journal entries (or in reading Journey to the West, which could help explain a lot of context), but there's still a significant story of the Destined One's adventure happening at the forefront. Whether or not a player goes for the secret true ending, the Destined One achieves a monumental task in Black Myth: Wukong by uniting the pieces of Wukong's spirit and ultimately defeating the body of the Monkey King to claim his place.

The studio behind Black Myth: Wukong, GameScience, has previously been accused of fostering a toxic environment for its workers. The 2023 allegations include sexualized comments against women, misogyny, fatphobia, and more. More details can be found here.