Bay 12 Games Forum

Name: Zhou Mei (Zhou being her family name, Mei being her given name)
Maturity: 16 years of age both in body and mind.
Abnormality: Mei is part of a clan of monkeys called the Kong, monkeys who have achieved humanity through intense meditation, exposure to the five elements, and intense idolization of their idol and namesake, Sun Wukong. Though not fully Kong, she nonetheless possesses their traits, in addition to those granted as the reincarnation of the Monkey King.

Appearance: Mei stands about 5'2", with a lithe, athletic frame befitting of a martial arts fanatic. Her hair is auburn, kept out of her brown eyes by a light headband. Her monkey tail is covered in the same color of fur as her hair is, a slit cut in most of her lower body wear to let her tail out and covered up with illusion spells. Her general attire consists of short skirts over shorts and shirts with vests, letting her keep her body as free as possible for training and running about.

Personality: Mei is, by all standards, a hyperactive yet laidback girl, with either side being emphasised depending on the time of day and if the activity being presented to her is interesting or not. She is rather sociable and excitable, always eager to look at interesting things that catch her eye, sometimes far too much. Mei is also rather into training and keeping fit, being a massive fan of martial arts movies from her youth, and the enhanced physique that Mei has as a Kong and a reincarnation of the Monkey King aids her on that front. When she's not training, she's either lounging about or practicing drumming, drumming for a band being one of her dreams. Despite her being generally laidback and open, Mei will not tolerate bullies in front of her and will often discourage such misdeeds with either a kick or a smack from Ruyi Bang.

Backstory: The story of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, the Sage Equal to Heaven and the famous aide of the monk Xuanzang on their journey to the West to collect the sutras of compassion, is well-known throughout the world. Equally as well-known is that before assuming the name of Sun Wukong, he was the Monkey King for bringing his group of monkeys to the source of the stream they so loved to bathe in, gaining the alliance of other beastly powers and defeating the dragons of the four seas to acquire his magical armory. To this day, Sun Wukong reigns in the heavens as a Buddha, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, renown for his service to Xuanzang and his unparalleled strength. What is less-known, however, is what became of the monkeys Wukong ran with once, the ones he left in the cave to adventure away and get into various sorts of trouble.

These monkeys had heard of the exploits of their king, hearing of how he had erased their names from the Book of Life and Death, how he had fought the heavens themselves and won, and eventually his ascension to the heavens. Through years of meditation and a pilgrimmage to Mount Huaguo, the birthplace of the Monkey King, these monkeys achieved enlightenment, becoming all but indistinguishable from humans except for their distinctive monkey tails, a reminder that they had once been lowly monkeys before reaching enlightenment. Dubbing themselves the Kong, the monkeys went off back into the forests to civilize themselves and forever be indebted to the Monkey King, who they revered as a god. The monkeys who had led the expedition to Mount Huaguo were forever known as Elders, who rule to this day, unable to die as their names are unmarked in the Book of Life and Death. They still lead the diaspora of Kong today, despite many of them having dispersed to the four winds, hiding in various supernatural communities.

The consequences of their journey to Mount Huaguo, however, was that much of the same energies that had infused Wukong upon his birth had infused them as well. Every now and then, a Kong is born with similar traits to revered Wukong; stone-like skin, immense strength, the ability to discern evil and lies with a glance, natural aptitude for battle and magic alike, and the ability to create illusory clones of themselves, just like the Monkey King himself. The Elders dub these Kongs reincarnations of the Monkey King and revere them as leaders of the Kong even beyond themselves. Aside from the original Monkey King himself, eight Monkey Kings have aided the Elders in ruling over the Kong people from times immemorial, their long lives ensuring peaceful reigns. The last Monkey King, Mao Jianghong, died in the nineteenth century after a tenure of four hundred years, even having aided in the now-famous adaptation of the Journey to the West. Since then, there have been no reincarnations of the Monkey King, and so the Elders dutifully guided their people even as they began to spread out throughout the world at a rate faster than before.

Mei Zhou, the ninth reincarnation of the Monkey King, was born about sixteen years ago, to a Kong mother and a human father, who raised her as normally as they could, using spells to hide her tail and trying to maintain a balance of normality and the supernatural. When Mei began to show the traits that were signs of the Monkey King, a Kong neighbour contacted the Kong Elders, who immediately sent out agents to confirm Mei's status. When it was confirmed that she, indeed, was the reincarnation of the Monkey King, they sent over her regalia and began arranging for her to return to China to be raised in the role of the Monkey King as her predecessors had been. Her parents, of course, disagreed, desiring a normal life for their daughter, including a normal high school for her. After a long fight between the agents of the Elders and the Zhou family over where Mei belonged, a compromise was struck; Mei would not be returned to China but neither would she be sent to a mortal school. Instead, she would be sent to Daybreak Academy, so she might be educated in the ways of the supernatural as she ought to be. The Elders would then let her decide whether or not she would be the Monkey King.

And so Mei was sent off to Daybreak Academy to immerse herself fully in a world that she had only experienced so much of.

Other Notes: Mei, as part of her inheritance of the mantle of the Monkey King, possesses the Kong replica of Ruyi Jingu Bang, Wukong's famous extending and size-changing staff, which she wears as a hairpin, as well as working replicas of his cloud-walking boots, phoenix-feather cap and golden chainmail; she only carries around Ruyi Bang and the boots for everyday wear.