The Golden Winged Great Peng (in Chinese: 金翅大鵬雕), originally known as The Eagle, is an antagonist of the 16th-century Chinese classic novel Journey to the West by the late Wu Cheng'en, and its multiple adaptations. He is a demonic peng who was born from the primordial Phoenix, and one of the three leaders of the demons in the Lion Camel Ridge, alongside the Azure Lion Demon and the Yellow Toothed Elephant Demon, as well as the usurper and tyrannical ruler of the Lion Camel Kingdom.
In the classic 1986 TV adaptation series, he was portrayed by Guo Jun.
Personality[]
Peng laughing as he defeated the deities.
Like your typical demon, Peng is extremely arrogant. His powers and position of being technically the uncle of the Buddha fuels his big ego as he considers himself above everyone else. The 1986 version expanded his character even more, added that he is a lustful and perverted person who forced the Peacock Princess to marry him. He is also potentially one of the most dangerous Journey to the West villains, as unlike many others who abandoned their life as demons upon seeing their deities, Peng refused to redeem himself and even attempted to kill the Buddha and take over his position. Peng is the brain of the three demon kings in the Lion Camel Ridge, far more intelligent than the other two as both the Azure Lion and the Yellow Toothed Elephant mainly had to depend on his plans.
After his defeat at the hand of the Buddha, Peng admits that he enjoys his life as a demon and eating humans, though after listening to the Buddha, Peng has no choice but abandoned his evil goals and redeemed himself in the process.
Biography[]
Past[]
The Golden Winged Great Peng, along with the Azure Lion and the Yellow Toothed Elephant, and their army in the novel.
During the primordial times, the original Phoenix, the leader of flying beings, gave birth to the Peacock Mahamayuri and the Peng. The Peacock once consumed the Buddha, who however managed to escape via cut her stomach. The Buddha intended to kill the Peacock, however the Deities told him to stop, thus the Buddha promoted her to be his godmother, therefore the Peng would be his uncle. This gave the Peng a high position on Heaven and unfortunately only served to fuel his big ego.
For unknown reasons, the Peng transformed himself into a humanoid form, the Golden Winged Great Peng, ate all the residents of the Lion Camel Kingdom, ruled it for 500 years, and befriended the Azure Lion Demon and the Yellow Toothed Elephant Demon to eat Tang Sanzang.
Original novel[]
The Peng, like most of other demons in the story, attempts to eat Sanzang. He sets up several plans to capture Sanzang and his companions and even successfully captured Sun Wukong himself.
After numberous humiliating failures under the hand of the three demon kings, Wukong meets the Buddha for help and learned the backstory of Peng. After a battle between Wukong and the three demons, both the Lion and the Elephant are forced to revert back to their original forms, and the Buddha shows up to subdue Peng and take him back to Vulture Peak.
1986 series[]
The Golden Winged Great Peng along with his fellow demon kings in the classic 1986 adaptation series.
In the 1986 series, while it follows a similar format as the original novel, there are some changes in the role of Peng. While in the novel he appears from the start along with the other two demon kings, in the series he does not appear until when Wukong arrives at his kingdom to find Sanzang, though is mentioned frequently prior to that. Additionally, the series also added his lust towards the Peacock Princess (an original character for the 1986 version who does not appear in the novel), whose Peng himself is a distant relative of. Also, given the appearances of the Peacock Princess and her female servants, it appears that not all the residents of the Lion Camel Kingdom were eaten like in the novel, though they're most likely actually magical animals, just like the princess herself, who is actually a magical peacock.
Following the defeat of the other two fellow demon kings, Peng attacks the deities on Heaven. He triumphs, but the Buddha uses his magic and forces Peng to revert back to his true form as the Peng and fly back to him, abandoning his evil goals in the process.
Much later, when Sanzang's group receive the scriptures, the Buddha, knowing that those are the scriptures with no text, orders the Peng to chase them and took the fake scriptures. The Eagle does this promptly.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Golden Winged Great Peng is armed with a ji and capable of flying over great distances. He possesses a Flask of Yin and Yang Essence (陰陽二氣瓶) which can suck in unsuspecting victims. After a while, the victim trapped inside the flask will be reduced to a bloody mash. He uses the flask to trap Wukong but the latter breaks out and the flask is rendered useless because its essence has been spilt.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He was based on the mythical bird Garuda.
- The Golden Winged Great Peng is possibly one of the oldest villains of the Journey to the West novel, as his age dates back to the primordial times.
- It is unknown why the Golden Winged Great Peng desired to eat Xuanzang, as he is already immortal. The Peacock Princess even pointed this out in the 1986 version.
- The classic 1986 TV adaption of the series is the only TV adaption which contradicts the original plot where the Golden Winged Great Peng simultaneously appeared along with the other two demon lords.
- Although not recognised as such, the Golden Winged Great Peng is the most powerful opponent Wukong has faced on the journey, being able to defeat Wukong in battle using his own skills rather than a mystical object to help him get the advantage, as well as being able to fly faster than wukong when he is reverted back to his true form.