Chapter 057: The Martial Arts in Comics

Lin Yan glanced at Li Gang’s expression and noticed the confusion on his face, but paid it no mind.

She took a sip of soup, as if moistening her throat, before continuing, “Now let’s talk about the second stage of Sun Wukong’s life—a brief youth, which can be understood as ‘surviving in desperate straits.’

The biggest difference between Wukong and most hot-blooded manga protagonists is that his youth is extremely short. During this period, he endured a series of setbacks: he participated in the World Martial Arts Tournament and was defeated head-on by Tien Shinhan in the finals, then faced the emergence of King Piccolo, with Krillin dying on the spot. After numerous hardships, he finally defeated King Piccolo.

Later, in the subsequent World Martial Arts Tournament, he defeated Piccolo Jr. head-on and claimed the championship, after which he got married.”

Li Gang saw Lin Yan pause and asked, “That’s all?”

Lin Yan nodded, “Yes, which is why I said, this was only a brief period of youth for him. This is also the brilliance of the manga’s author. In most novels and manga, the protagonist’s youth is long and heavily detailed, but Wukong’s is fleeting.”

Li Gang asked, “What about the third stage?”

He knew that the third and fourth stages were, in Lin Yan’s eyes, the most important periods.

Lin Yan thought for a moment and said, “Wukong got married, and the first part of the manga ended there. His third stage begins with the second part of the manga. When the second part starts, Wukong appears already as a father.

This period is the most important stage of his life—his ‘return to his roots,’ or ‘emergence from the cocoon.’ This stage starts when his older brother comes to Earth and Wukong learns that he is actually an alien, and continues through his transformation into a Super Saiyan on Planet Namek, culminating in the life-and-death battle with Frieza.

During this process, Wukong experiences a complete cycle of self-doubt and self-redemption, ultimately recognizing his true self. Especially the episode where Krillin dies, triggering Wukong’s transformation into a Super Saiyan—that is, in my opinion, the most brilliant stroke in the entire manga.

From a bloodline perspective, Sun Wukong is the Saiyan Kakarot, and Frieza is the enemy who killed his biological father and destroyed his home planet. But emotionally, Wukong grew up on Earth, and Krillin is his brother and comrade who faced life and death together.

Truth be told, Sun Wukong has no real feelings for Planet Vegeta or the Saiyans. The so-called national or family hatred does not move him. But when Krillin, who grew up with him, trained with him, and endured more than three hundred chapters’ worth of trials, died tragically before his eyes, Sun Wukong was finally enraged.

At that time, Krillin couldn’t be revived by Earth’s dragon, and it was this fury that pushed Wukong to become a Super Saiyan. From that moment, he finally emerged from the confusion of his identity and knew clearly who he was.

As for Wukong not killing Frieza in the end, I think that is another sign of his growth, and also the author’s most upright worldview.

First of all, the final duel between Wukong and Frieza is purely personal. Frieza never invaded Earth, and by then Planet Namek was deserted; Wukong had no responsibility or obligation to protect anyone. He simply wanted to seek justice for the slain Krillin.

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Even so, when he faced someone whose martial arts were ruined and who had no ability to resist, to strike ruthlessly would no longer be a duel—it would be abuse or even deliberate murder.

That’s not something Wukong would do. In the end, Wukong turned and left, and Frieza attacked from behind. Only then did Wukong defend himself and finish Frieza.

The author could easily have depicted Wukong killing Frieza in the duel—after all, in a fight to the death, killing the opponent is hardly unusual. But the author didn’t do that; Wukong not only spared Frieza, he gave him a chance to live. That’s the author’s brilliance.

Of course, this is also another step in Wukong’s character development, truly completing his ‘emergence from the cocoon.’

Although Lin Yan skipped many plot details, Li Gang, who had read Dragon Ball Z in its entirety, fully understood everything Lin Yan had said.

Eager to hear about the final stage, Li Gang hurriedly asked, “What about stage four?”

Lin Yan continued, “Starting from the Android Saga in part two, Wukong’s life entered his fourth stage.

I believe this stage can be called ‘a grandmaster of his generation.’ First, why did he give Cell a Senzu bean during the Cell Games?

I think it’s because Wukong always held the initiative throughout the Cell Games. His perspective and insight had surpassed everyone present in the manga.

It all started when Wukong and Gohan emerged from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. At that point, Wukong already knew he wasn’t a match for Cell, but he wasn’t worried at all.

Because he was confident of victory, and that confidence lay in his son, Gohan.

Gohan is a true martial arts prodigy, and that’s been clear since the start of part two. So, at that moment, Wukong knew Gohan could transform into Super Saiyan 2. What he lacked wasn’t strength, but a catalyst—just as Krillin’s death was for Wukong on Planet Namek.

At the Cell Games, Wukong was the second to step up, after Mr. Satan, volunteering to challenge Cell. First, as a martial artist, his urge to fight a strong opponent made him impatient. Second, as a father, he needed to personally test Cell’s power, to be sure before sending his own son into the ring.

Of everyone present, only Wukong was strong enough to reveal Cell’s full power. Anyone else was no different from Mr. Satan.

It’s like playing football: if you let me play against the national team, I’d lose; but the national team playing in the World Cup can’t qualify either. If I played in the World Cup, I couldn’t qualify either—the result would be the same, it’s not about skill.

So, bluntly, on the Cell Games stage, Vegeta and the others were no different from Mr. Satan; Wukong had to step up himself. That was also Wukong’s first time conceding defeat voluntarily.

If he couldn’t win, he couldn’t win. By then, Wukong was past the age of recklessness and pride.

That’s the demeanor of a true master, unlike Vegeta, who refuses to admit defeat, insisting his opponent lacks martial virtue.

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Then came the famous moment when Wukong named Gohan to take the stage and gave Cell a Senzu bean.

Many people find Wukong’s action hard to understand, but from another angle, it makes perfect sense.

Suppose you are Gohan, and your father has beaten Cell to the brink of death, then surrendered and let you take over.

Think about it. All the elders are watching from the sidelines, there’s live TV coverage, and billions of eyes around the world are on you—would you really feel comfortable taking the stage?

If not for that Senzu bean, even if Gohan won, it wouldn’t be a fair victory. The whole world would call him a coward who only hid behind his father to pick up the scraps.

So, as a father, Wukong wanted everyone to know that his son defeated Cell honorably, and that he had already surpassed him.

Wukong also knew that this was a duel, so he would abide by the rules and fight one-on-one. But if, after it was over, Cell still tried to destroy the world, it would no longer be a match, but a war.

At that point, Wukong would have no qualms about teaming up with everyone to take Cell down, just as they did with Vegeta.

And that’s what happened in the manga: when Cell flipped the table and tried to blow up Earth, Wukong stepped forward, using Instant Transmission to take Cell away. When Cell revived and tried again, Wukong and Gohan together unleashed the Father-Son Kamehameha to finish him.

Having finished with the Android and Cell sagas, let’s talk about the Buu saga, where Wukong played out the same routine again.

He first transformed into Super Saiyan 3 to probe Buu’s strength, then quickly returned to the temple and taught the Fusion technique to Goten and Trunks.

This approach was almost identical to the Cell Games, and it was later proven that his assessment of everyone’s abilities was spot-on. The fused Gotenks could indeed defeat Buu. The mistake was in the lack of information—Wukong didn’t know Buu could absorb others.

As for why Wukong didn’t use the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive himself and deal with Buu personally, but instead supported his son Gohan?

That’s the measure of a man—he knew he would eventually die, and nurturing the next generation to surpass himself was the duty of an elder.

It was for this reason that, at the end of Dragon Ball, Wukong formally took his first disciple, Uub, the reincarnation of Buu. Someone like him truly deserves the title ‘grandmaster of his generation.’

“Do you know the specific differences in power between the Super Saiyan stages?” Lin Yan asked.

Li Gang listened quietly and, seeing Lin Yan pose this question, shook his head.

He recalled that in the Dragon Ball Z anime, after Super Saiyan appeared, the depiction of battle power no longer gave specific numbers.

Lin Yan said, “The manga actually describes the power levels in detail.

In the world of Dragon Ball, Super Saiyan has three stages.

Stage one multiplies the normal combat power by fifty, stage two by one hundred, and stage three by four hundred.

No matter what the normal power level is, the transformation always multiplies it accordingly.”