The Bull Demon King is one of the most famous demon kings in Journey to the West and one of the few enemies capable of fighting Sun Wukong directly for a prolonged time without being easily defeated.
His connection with Sun Wukong goes back many years. During the Monkey King’s earlier life at Flower-Fruit Mountain, he forms brotherhood ties with several demon rulers, including the Bull Demon King, who bears the grand title Great Sage Who Pacifies Heaven.
By the time Sun Wukong joins the pilgrimage, however, their old brotherhood belongs to another age.
The Bull Demon King is the husband of Princess Iron Fan and the father of Red Boy. Red Boy captures Tang Seng and battles Sun Wukong with the terrifying Samadhi Fire before eventually being subdued by Guanyin. The episode deepens the hostility between Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon King’s family.
Later, when the pilgrims reach the Flaming Mountains, they cannot continue unless the flames are extinguished with Princess Iron Fan’s Plantain Fan. Because she resents Sun Wukong over what happened to Red Boy, she refuses to lend it to him.
This begins the celebrated story of the Three Borrowings of the Plantain Fan.
Sun Wukong uses transformations, tricks, and force in his attempts to obtain the true fan, eventually bringing him into direct conflict with the Bull Demon King. The demon king proves immensely powerful. He battles Sun Wukong across land and sky and repeatedly changes form in an effort to escape his pursuers.
The struggle grows so great that celestial warriors and Buddhist forces become involved. Only after several powers join the pursuit is the Bull Demon King finally subdued.
The Bull Demon King stands at the center of the family story linking Princess Iron Fan and Red Boy, but he is also something more: an old sworn brother of Sun Wukong who has become a formidable enemy. That mixture of former brotherhood, family grievance, supernatural transformation, and spectacular combat makes him one of the great legendary antagonists of Journey to the West.
