Monkey King

Monkey King 18 + 2.8 22 + 3.7 20 + 1.8
Magic resistance	25%
Link▶️ Movement speed	305
Link▶️ Attack speed	100
Turn rate	0.6
Vision range	1800/800
Attack range	300
Projectile speed	Instant
Attack animation	0.45+0.2
Base attack time	1.7
Damage block	8
Collision size	8
Legs	2
Gib type	Default

Hero

Strategy

Counters

For the in-game item, see Monkey King Bar.

Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is a melee agility hero, best known for his slippery nature and his ability to do Mischief, deceiving his enemies by turning into trees and other objects. Armed with his magic extending staff, the Monkey King slams the ground with Boundless Strikes, and leaps to the treetops to have advantage over his foes with Tree Dance. Perched on a tree, he gains a clear view of his surroundings, allowing him to jump down on unsuspecting targets, dealing heavy damage and slowing their escape with Primal Spring. As a carry, the Monkey King is granted extra damage and lifesteal from Jingu Mastery after landing consecutive attacks on his opponents. In a teamfight, at Wukong's Command an army of clones is sent out across the battlefield to fight for him, while he himself has his armor increased. Together with the help of his clones and his team, the Monkey King is a force to be reckoned with.

Bio[edit]

Sun Wukong, the Monkey King

▶️ "There's a lot of stories about the Monkey King. Some of 'em are even true."

Lore:

For 500 years the mountain pressed down upon him, only his head free from the crushing weight of the stonewrought prison the elder gods had summoned to halt his childish rebellion. Moss grew along the lines of his exposed face, tufts of grass sprouted from his ears; his vision was framed in wildflowers reaching from the soil around his cheeks. Most thought him long dead, tormented by the gods for waging war against the heavens until naught but his legend survived. But, as the stories go, the Monkey King cannot die.

So he waited. Until the gods came to offer a chance at absolution, he endured. And when they did come to name the price, Sun Wukong accepted their charge: he would accompany a young acolyte on a secret pilgrimage, protect him from demons and dangers of the road, and guide the man home in possession of a coveted relic. Do that, and humbly obey the human's commands in service to their holy mission, and Wukong would prove himself reformed.

For a change, Sun Wukong fulfilled his oath to the gods with honor, and atoned for the sins of past insurrections. The acolyte, much learned in hardships, was returned to his home temple, relic in hand; and Wukong-finding himself for the first time in proper standing with any gods of consequence-was content for a short while to give up his old thirst for adventure and glory. But the Monkey King was born for mischief...and offending the gods never gets old.

Voice:

Bill Millsap (Responses)

Abilities[edit]

Boundless Strike

▶️

Ability
Target Point

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Instant Attack

Monkey King enlarges his staff and slams it against the ground, stunning enemies in a line and damaging them with a critical hit based on his attack. Has True Strike.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 1200

Effect Length: 1200

Effect Width: 150

Critical Damage: 150%/175%/200%/225% (

190%/215%/240%/265%)

Stun Duration: 0.7/1/1.3/1.6

22

100

Modifiers

modifier_monkey_king_boundless_strike_crit: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_monkey_king_boundless_strike_stun: Dispellable with strong dispels.

The legendary Jingu Bang grows to match its master's will, ensuring no enemy can escape the Monkey King's reach.

Notes:

Boundless Strike's effects are instantly applied within its whole area. There is no travel time.

The effect starts 75 range in front of Monkey King and has an actual length of 1125, adding up to 1200 effective length.
- It can hit units up to 1350 range away (starting distance + length + width).
- It can also hit units 75 range behind Monkey King, due to its radius and starting position.

Causes Monkey King to perform an instant attack on all hit enemies. The stun is independent from these attacks.
- These attacks have True Strike, and can therefore never miss. They also ignore disarms.
- Can proc any attack modifier on all of the hit targets normally, with cleave being the only exception.
- Also procs Jingu Mastery, placing the debuff on all hit enemy heroes, or adding to the counter if already debuffed.
- Despite the audio, Daedalus has still only a chance to proc. Boundless Strike does not guarantee chance-based effects to proc.
- Since Boundless Strike has an ensured critical hit, crits with a lower value have no effect if they proc (higher crit value takes priority).

Jingu Mastery loses a charge whenever Boundless Strike is cast, regardless of whether it hits a unit or not.
- The bonus attack damage is applied to all hit targets, and it does lifesteal for each hit target, despite using up only one charge.

The strike first applies the debuff, then the damage.

The sound during the cast animation is audible to everyone.

Tree Dance

▶️

Ability
Target Unit

Affects
Self / Trees

Monkey King jumps to a tree and perches atop it. While perched, he gains the Primal Spring ability-a channeled leap attack. If Monkey King's tree is destroyed, he falls and is stunned for 4 seconds. Taking damage from player controlled units or Roshan while on the ground puts Tree Dance on cooldown.

Cast Animation: + (

+)

Cast Range: 1000 (

1475)

Damage Cooldown: 3

Day Tree Vision: 800 (

1200)

Night Tree Vision: 400 (

800)

Unperch Stun Duration: 4

1 (

0.4)

0

Reduces cooldown to 0.4 and cast point to 0.1.

The stun upon falling off of a tree pierces spell immunity.

Getting rooted while already leaping does not cancel the leap.

Modifiers

modifier_monkey_king_bounce: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_monkey_king_bounce_leap: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_monkey_king_tree_dance_activity: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_monkey_king_tree_dance_hidden: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_monkey_king_bounce_perch: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_monkey_king_right_click_jump_activity: Dispellable with any dispel.

modifier_monkey_king_arc_to_ground: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_monkey_king_unperched_stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.

Sun Wukong dances nimbly along the treetop canopy, always just out of arm's reach.

Notes:

Leveling up Tree Dance also levels up Primal Spring.

Monkey king leaps to the target tree at a speed of 700, reaching the tree within up to 1.43 ( 2.11) seconds.

Leaps in an arc, with a top height of 192. During the leap, other units may pass below Monkey King.

Although it visually looks like Monkey King is above the ground while perched, he still is considered to be on the ground. The height is part of the animations.

Tree Dance has several different cooldowns which activate at different times.
- Upon cast, the leap duration is added to the cooldown, resulting in a cooldown of 1.1 ( 0.5) to up to 2.43 ( 3.11) ( 1.83, 2.51) seconds, based on the distance.
- Upon reaching the tree, it goes on cooldown for 1 ( 0.4) second, which matters only if the cast cooldown was skipped (with e.g. Chakra Magic).
- Upon unperching with a move or attack command, it goes on cooldown for 1 ( 0.4) seconds. Does not go on cooldown when unperched in other ways.
- Upon taking player-based or Roshan-based damage greater than 0 while on the ground (excluding damage flagged as HP Removal), it goes on a 3-second cooldown.
- All of these cooldowns are unaffected by percentage-based cooldown reductions. Flat reductions and cooldown resets work.

During the leap, Monkey King is disabled, unable to perform any actions. The last given order gets queued up and executed as soon as he lands.

During the leap and while on a tree, Monkey King gains flying vision, but has his vision reduced to 800/400 ( 1200/800).
- Moon Shard's bonus night vision still works, while Nightmare and Smoke Screen do not affect Monkey King's vision while on a tree.

While perched on a tree, Monkey King is hidden from sight. He can only be seen with flying vision.
- He can also be seen when standing 2 levels of ground higher than the tree Monkey King sits on, allowing wards to spot him when the ward is on an elevated ward spot.
- However, he cannot be seen when getting hurled in the air by spells (e.g. Toss). Only standing on high ground may grant vision over him.

While on a tree, Monkey King can perform any action normally, with some of them unperching him, while others do not.
- Casting Boundless Strike, Mischief or any item ability does not unperch him.
- Casting Wukong's Command, moving or attacking does unperch him.
- Directional Move and Patrol have no effect when ordered while on a tree, so that Monkey King stays perched.
- While on cooldown on a tree, Monkey King is disarmed and he cannot move, which prevents him from getting off the tree with move and attack commands.
- Forced movement unperches Monkey King as well. This includes the effects of Blink Dagger, Eul's Scepter of Divinity, Force Staff and Hurricane Pike.

While on a tree, Tree Dance can be cast again, targeting another nearby tree. All trees within cast range are highlighted with a white glow.
- In Ability Draft, this is not possible. While on a tree, Tree Dance gets replaced by Primal Spring.

Monkey King only gets stunned if the tree he leaps towards, or he sits on, gets destroyed. Getting unperched in other ways (e.g. forced movement) does not result in a stun.

The Tree Dance activity modifier only appears during the leap and is responsible for the jump animation.

Primal Spring

▶️

Ability
Target Area / Channeled

Affects
Enemies

Damage
Magical

Monkey King springs out from his tree perch, damaging and slowing enemies in the area where he lands. Damage and slow amounts are in proportion to channel duration.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: Global

Max Leap Distance: 1000

Radius: 375

Max Channel Time: 1.6

Max Damage: 140/210/280/350 (

490/560/630/700)

Max Movement Speed Slow: 20%/40%/60%/80%

Slow Duration: 4

19/17/15/13

100

Getting rooted while already channeling or leaping does not cancel the spell.

Modifiers

modifier_monkey_king_spring_thinker: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_monkey_king_bounce_leap: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_monkey_king_tree_dance_activity: Dispellable with death only.

modifier_monkey_king_spring_slow: Dispellable with any dispel.

Leaping from the safety of cover into the midst of his enemies, Sun Wukong attacks without mercy.

Notes:

This ability is automatically leveled whenever Tree Dance is leveled.

This ability is only active during the cast time of Tree Dance, during the leap from the ground onto a tree and while on a tree.
- It is inactive while leaping from a tree to another tree, and while on the ground.
- In Ability Draft, Primal Spring takes Tree Dance's ability slot while on a tree, instead of being in a separate slot.

Since Tree Dance disables Monkey King during the leap, casting Primal Spring while leaping to a tree queues up the order, so that it is cast immediately once on the tree.

Leaps towards the target area at a speed of 1300, reaching it in up to 0.77 seconds, based on distance.

The damage and slow are based on the time spent channeling, meaning their potency increases per each server tick (0.03 seconds) spent channeling, up to 54 times.
- The damage increases by 2.642/3.962/5.283/6.604 ( 9.245/10.566/11.887/13.208) per server tick, starting immediately, reaching 142.6/214/285.3/356.6 ( 499.2/570.6/641.9/713.2) damage in 1.6 seconds.
- The slow increases by 0.4%/0.8%/1.1%/1.5% per server tick, also starting immediately, reaching 20%/40%/60%/80% slow in 1.6 seconds.

Hitting the same enemy multiple times with Primal Spring refreshes the slow duration, but does not update the slow value based on channel time.

Primal Spring first applies the damage, then the debuff.

During the leap, Monkey King still remember last given order and complete it once landing happens.

If forced movement affect MK while jump happening, all Primal Spring's effect will be cancelled completely.

The visual effects at the target area during the channeling are visible to allies only.

The channeling sound is audible to enemies, even through the fog of war.

The Tree Dance activity modifier only appears during the leap and is responsible for the jump animation.

Spring Early

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self

There is no description for this ability.

Cast Animation: +

0

Notes:

Replaces Primal Spring until the channeling ends.

Immediately ends the channeling of Primal Spring, causing Monkey King to jump earlier.

Cannot be shift-queued.

Jingu Mastery

▶️

Ability
Passive

Affects
Enemies / Self

Monkey King's attacks awaken the Jingu Bang's power. Upon the fourth hit on the same enemy hero, Monkey King earns four charged attacks that have bonus damage and lifesteal.

Required Hits: 4

Charges: 4

Attack Damage Bonus: 40/70/110/130 (

140/170/210/230)

Lifesteal: 15%/30%/45%/60%

Counter Duration: 7/8/9/10

Buff Duration: 35

Disables both the adding of the counter and the buff on Monkey King.

Modifiers

modifier_monkey_king_quadruple_tap: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_monkey_king_quadruple_tap_bonuses: Dispellable with any dispel.

modifier_monkey_king_quadruple_tap_counter: Dispellable with death only.

Always sensitive to the moods of its master, the Jingu Bang radiates power when Sun Wukong's combat fervor is on full display.

Notes:

Each successful attack done on an enemy hero while Monkey King does not have the damage and lifesteal buff places the debuff, or adds one to its counter if it already has the debuff.

Only actual enemy heroes (including clones) can receive the debuff. Illusions and creep-heroes do not count. Allied heroes do not count either.

The debuff's duration gets refreshed on each hit. The 4 hits do not all require to happen within 7/8/9/10 seconds.

Boundless Strike's instant-attack also counts and is able to place the debuff/add to the debuff's counter.

Upon hitting the same target 4 times, the debuff on the target disappears and Monkey King receives the attack damage and lifesteal buff.

A charge gets used upon successfully attacking any unit, including buildings, wards and allied units, always applying the bonus damage.

When leveling up Jingu Mastery while wielding the buff, the attack damage bonus and lifesteal updates after using one charge.

The lifesteal does not work against buildings and allies, but works against any other unit, including wards.

Stacks additively with other sources of lifesteal.

Boundless Strike also uses Jingu Mastery's effects, hitting all enemies with the bonus damage and the lifesteal, but only using up one charge per cast.
- Even when not hitting any enemy, Boundless Strike still takes one charge of Jingu Mastery.

Mischief

▶️

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self

Changes Monkey King's shape to deceive opponents, using the environment nearby as inspiration for the disguise. Taking damage, attacking, or using any item or ability breaks Monkey King's disguise. Grants damage immunity for 0.2 upon transforming.

Cast Animation: +

Set Movement Speed (Default): 200

Set Movement Speed (as Courier): 380

Search Radius: 350

Damage Immunity Duration: 0.2

15

0

Modifiers

modifier_monkey_king_transform: Dispellable with any dispel.

Watch out for that tree.

Notes:

This is an innate ability and does not need to be learned. It is not bound to any ability, but to Monkey King himself.

Interrupts Monkey King's channeling spells, move orders and attack orders upon cast.

When cast, Mischief transforms Monkey King into one of the following items or units:
- Animal Courier (using the model of a courier on his team), Iron Branch, Clarity, Healing Salve, Town Portal Scroll, Banana (new or peeled), Tango.

When within 350 range of a courier, it transforms Monkey King into that courier.

When a tree is within 350 range upon cast, it transforms Monkey King into that tree instead. If multiple trees are within range, a random one of them is chosen.
- This includes spawned trees from Sprout and Iron Branch.

When within 350 range of a rune spot, it transforms Monkey King into a random rune suitable for that rune spot.

After Roshan's first death, Mischief transforms Monkey King into the Aegis of the Immortal when cast inside his pit.
- After his second death, it may also transform him into Cheese. After his third death, it may also transform him into Refresher Shard.
- While Roshan is dead, Mischief always transforms Monkey King into Roshan himself, when cast within his pit.

Monkey King's movement speed is set to 200 while transformed (380 when transformed as a courier). Besides with hastes, his movement speed cannot be altered by anything.

Monkey King's selection box adapts to the disguise models. However, his collision size does not change.

Monkey King's minimap icon is hidden to the enemy while disguised. In addition, his over-head health and mana bar is hidden to everyone, including the player.

Auto-attack ignores the Monkey King, so that lane creeps, neutral creeps, towers and fountains do not automatically attack him.
- Units of players which have auto-attack enabled do not attack him automatically either, but can be forced to attack him. The ground-attack move also ignores him.
- Monkey King is still fully affected by every spell. He can be targeted normally. Attachable particle effects of spells still attach to him.

During the initial 0.2, Mischief fully negates damage, causing several on-damage effects to not trigger.

Damage greater than 0 dispels the effect. Does not get dispelled by damage flagged as HP Removal.

Revert Form

▶️

Ability
No Target

Affects
Self

Reverts Monkey King's shape to his original form.

Cast Animation: +

1

0

Notes:

Replaces Mischief until the disguise ends.

Interrupts Monkey King's channeling spells, move order and attack order upon cast.

The soldiers' formations.

Wukong's Command

▶️

Ability
Target Area

Affects
Enemy Heroes

Damage
Physical

Monkey King creates a circular formation of soldiers that spread out from his position. If Monkey King leaves the area his soldiers disperse. The soldiers have Monkey King's attack and only target heroes. Monkey King is granted bonus armor for the spell's duration.

Cast Animation: +

Cast Range: 550

First Ring Radius: 300

Second Ring Radius: 750

Third Ring Radius: 0 (

1100)

Leadership Radius: 780 (

1130)

Passive Spawn Radius: 0 (

300)

Passive Spawn Interval: 0 (

4)

Number of First Ring Soldiers: 5

Number of Second Ring Soldiers: 9

Number of Third Ring Soldiers: 0 (

7)

Soldiers Attack Interval: 1.1

Armor Bonus: 12/18/24 (

212/218/224)

Max Duration: 13

130/110/90

100

Spawns a monkey soldier near you at regular intervals. Soldiers do not spawn while invisible or on trees. Soldiers only attack buildings when Monkey King himself is nearby.

Modifiers

modifier_monkey_king_fur_army_soldier_hidden: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_monkey_king_fur_army_soldier: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_monkey_king_fur_army_soldier_inactive: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_monkey_king_fur_army_soldier_in_position: Undispellable. Persists death.

modifier_monkey_king_fur_army_bonus_damage: Dispellable with death only.

Monkey King rips out a tuft of fur to blow at his enemies, charging each strand to transform into a copy of himself.

Notes:

Upon cast, 14 ( 21) clones of Monkey King spawn which immediately walk to their determined spot in the formation.

The clones walk at a speed of 700 and have unobstructed movement, walking through cliffs and trees.

The formation they take is always the same except when space is limited by the edges of the map.
- The first ring soldiers form a pentagon within a 300 radius circle, with the tip always facing north.
- The second ring soldiers form a nonagon within a 750 radius circle, with the tip always facing north as well.
- ( The third ring soldiers form a heptagon within a 1100 radius circle, with the tip always facing north as well.)

The soldiers are invulnerable and considered hidden (although visible), making them immune to almost every spell.

The soldiers are hero clones of Monkey King, copying all attributes of Monkey King, with some special exceptions. They are not illusions.
- Their base stats adapt on every resummon (e.g. permanent stat loss due to Intelligence Steal or Essence Shift).
- Their attack speed is locked so that they always attack once every 1.1 seconds. Attack speed buffs and slows do not affect them.
- Evaded attacks do not count. They keep attacking until they successfully hit, before going back to their inactive state.
- Their day and night vision is reduced to 600. They provide the vision while walking to their spot and while standing there.
- The clones only attack enemies they see. Invisible enemies and enemies inside the Fog of War within the circles are not attacked.
- The clones also copy most of Monkey King's items, and are therefore able to use attack modifiers and bestow auras he had upon cast.
- The clones copy Echo Sabre, but the slow component does not work for them. While they receive the attack speed bonus, their fixed attack time prevents them from utilizing the increased attack speed unless the first hit is evaded.
- The clones copy Abyssal Blade and Skull Basher, but are unable to bash with them.
- The clones copy Prince's Knife, Mind Breaker and Enchanted Quiver, but are unable to utilize their passive cooldowns (they do activate Mind Breaker's magical damage procs though).
- The clones do not copy Aegis of the Immortal, Gem of True Sight and Animal Courier.
- The permanent Aghanim's Blessing buff is copied as well.
- However, other permanent buffs (e.g. Moon Shard, Duel) are not copied.
- Jingu Mastery does not work for the clones. They neither add stacks on enemies, nor gain the buff if Monkey King had it upon cast.
- Since the soldiers use regular attacks, their damage is reduced by damage block.

The soldiers only attack enemy heroes, clones, creep-heroes and illusions which are inside the circle.
- Other units and any unit outside the circle are fully ignored, even when within attack range of a soldier.

If Monkey King moves more than 780 ( 1130) range away from the center of the circle, or when he dies, the soldiers disappear and the spell ends.

Recasting Wukong's Command while a previous cast is still active immediately ends the previous cast.

The passive spawns from Aghanim's Scepter are on a recharge time, not an interval.
- This means when it finishes recharging, but Monkey King is in a state that doesn't allow passive spawns, it spawns the soldier as soon as circumstances allow it.
- Soldiers do not spawn while affected by the Tree Dance bounce leap and bounce perch modifiers, during Mischief, while fully invisible, during certain banishment spells, or while dead.
- Unlike soldiers from a regular cast, passively spawned soldiers can attack any unit, but require Monkey King to be within 500 range of them to attack buildings.
- When acquiring the upgrade, it starts with a charge, so that a soldier spawns instantly.

Talents[edit]

Hero Talents
+1 Wukong's Command Ring	25	+200 Armor Wukong's Command
+350 Primal Spring Damage	20	+40% Boundless Strike Crit
+100 Jingu Mastery Damage	15	+475 Tree Dance Cast Range
+20 Attack Speed	10	+400 Tree Dance Vision AoE

Notes:

Talents are fully copied by the Wukong's Command clones, but none of the current talents have an effect, as they cannot use active abilities and their attack speed is fixed.

Recent Changes[edit]

Main Article: Monkey King/Changelogs

Version

Description

7.28b

Reduced base strength from 19 to 18.
Reduced base attack damage from 29‒35 to 29-33.
Aghanim's Scepter upgrade:
- Increased Wukong's Command passive spawn interval from 3.5 to 4.

7.28a

Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Increased Tree Dance cooldown from 0.3 to 0.4.

7.28

Increased base armor from 1 to 2.
Reduced Mischief cooldown from 20 to 15.
Added Aghanim's Shard upgrade for Monkey King:
- Reduces Tree Dance cooldown from 1 to 0.3 and cast point from 0.3 to 0.1.
Talents:

Level 20 left talent: +320

Primal Spring max damage increased to +350.

Level 25 right talent: +100

Wukong's Command armor increased to +200.

Recommended items[edit]

Starting items:

Tango helps Monkey King stay in lane with health sustain.
Healing Salve can save Monkey King in a pinch by restoring his health.
Orb of Venom helps Monkey King slow heroes when building up Jingu Mastery stacks. The soldiers from Wukong's Command can apply the slow as well.
Quelling Blade helps Monkey King land last hits.

Early game:

Boots of Speed grants movement speed to chase enemies.
Magic Stick offers burst health and mana, saving Monkey King in a tight spot.
Blight Stone helps Monkey King hit harder, and can upgrade into Desolator later.

Mid game:

Power Treads provide bonus attack speed and agility for Monkey King to build Jingu Mastery. He can switch to intelligence to manage early game mana issues.
Phase Boots grants bonus movement and attack damage, allowing Monkey King to catch up to opponents.
Magic Wand increases attributes, as well as more burst health and mana compared to Magic Stick.
Battle Fury lets Monkey King clear creeps quickly with Tree Dance, and its cleave works with Wukong's Command.
Echo Sabre makes it much easier for Monkey King to get Jingu Mastery stacks as it provides attack speed, slow, and double attack. However, as of 7.27, the soldiers from Wukong's Command no longer apply the slow.

Late game:

Black King Bar helps Monkey King build up his Jingu Mastery charges without being interrupted, as well as increasing his survivability to keep up Wukong's Command.
Butterfly boosts damage output and evasion for a deadlier and longer Wukong's Command.
Desolator gives bonus damage and reduces armor of targets, which greatly boosts Monkey King's damage output against enemy units and buildings, and synergizes well with critical hit of Boundless Strike.

Situational items:

Bottle helps Monkey King store runes, which he can reach easily by jumping through trees.
Mjollnir grants extra attack speed, and its Chain Lightning can be procced by Boundless Strike and by the soldiers from Wukong's Command.
Diffusal Blade's active slow helps Monkey King build Jingu Mastery or keep targets in Wukong's Command. His soldiers from Wukong's Command can also proc Manabreak.
Eye of Skadi gives Monkey King more survivability and strong slowing effect to help land the multiple hits needed to charge Jingu Mastery. The soldiers from Wukong's Command can apply the slow as well.
Silver Edge helps Monkey King stay inside Wukong's Command without risking death. It also apllies break to counter certain enemy heroes, opening up opportunities for kills.
Monkey King Bar increases attack damage and counters enemy evasion.
Abyssal Blade allows Monkey King to stun an enemy long enough to get Jingu Mastery stacks or keep them in Wukong's Command.

Gameplay[edit]


Roles:	Carry Escape Disabler Initiator
Complexity:	★★☆
Playstyle:	Having survived every encounter with the wrathful gods, the immortal Sun Wukong returns to do what he does best: cause endless Mischief. Tricky and deceptive, the Monkey King takes the shape of a tree, and lies in wait to Boundless Strike the unsuspecting with his extendable staff. He leaps nimbly from treetop to treetop, scouting the ideal location to crash down on enemies with Primal Spring. A tuft of hair—plucked from his head—scatters into the wind, transforming into legions of soldiers. Under Wukong's Command, the clone army makes certain that no foe ever leaves the field without battling the Monkey King himself.

Strategy & Tips

Counters &
Matchups

Audio[edit]

Responses

Sounds

History[edit]

Lore

Old Abilities

Changelogs

Equipment[edit]

Trivia[edit]

Monkey King's name, lore and abilities are based on Sun Wukong, the legendary hero from the Chinese classic Journey to the West.
- In the novel, the Monkey King wields the Ruyi Jingu Bang, a flexible magical staff that can change size and length.
- The name for Mischief in Dota 2's Chinese client is "Seventy-two Transformations" (七十二变, Qī shí èr biàn), a reference from the novel to Sun Wukong's ability to change into numerous forms. This is referenced by his voice line, “Lycan’s got one transformation, I’ve got seventy-two.”
- Wukong's Command is based on one of the Monkey King's magical powers from the novel. He creates clones of himself from his hair, which he pulls from the back of his head, and blows into the wind.
- In the novel he can fly on a cloud, called the Cloud Somersault technique. This is referenced by the names of his 6.80 beta abilities(Nimble Nimbus, Cloud Dance), the cloud riding effect added by Great Sage’s Reckoning, and his voice line: “Where’s my cloud?”
Monkey King is the first original hero made for Dota 2. All previous heroes were ported from DotA.
Monkey King is based on early concepts developed during the DotA era.
- An easter egg boss fight versus Monkey King was added to the 6.79 DotA map to hint at his upcoming release.^[1]
- Monkey King's stats were revealed in the version 6.80 beta, but he was never added to the release version.^[2]
Phantom Lancer was based off of Monkey King’s 6.80 beta version, his original model was approximately the same as the present Phantom Lancer, as well as his abilities. However, this version was not released and instead was released with some changes as Phantom Lancer.
- Monkey King's rivalry line against Phantom Lancer, ▶️ "Honestly, I don't see the resemblance.", acknowledges this.
- His beta abilities included much the same mechanics as Phantom Lancer’s current ones: a ranged spell to create an illusion to attack an enemy hero(“Echo Sweep”), temporary invulnerability with illusions created on return(“Cloud Dance”), a dash towards a point(“Flicker”), and a passive to create illusions upon attacking an enemy hero(“Nimble Nimbus”).
- See Monkey King/Old Abilities.
Several early ability concepts were considered for Monkey King's Dota 2 release, including a "pickpocket" ability.
The Banana item, which only appeared in private lobbies, may have been an early hint to Monkey King's release. The item was removed on the same patch as Monkey King was released.
Monkey King's default weapon is based on the in-game item, Monkey King Bar.
Mischief's lore line Watch out for that tree is a reference to George of the Jungle, a classic comedy film.
The Monkey King concept has been widely used throughout the ARTS/MOBA genre, with other Monkey King heroes appearing in League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, Vainglory, Strife, SMITE, and Paragon.
The emblem on a ground made by Primal Spring is called a bagua, which is a Daoist symbol that represents the fundamental principles of reality.
Monkey King's was voiced in his teaser trailer by Matthew Mercer, who also voiced the Monkey King hero from Heroes of Newerth. However, his voice actor was later changed to Bill Millsap.
Monkey King's Chinese voice actor is Shihong Li, who also voiced Monkey King in the famous 1986 TV show, Journey to the West.
The sound effect played during Wukong's Command (▶️) comes from a Balinese music and dance called kecak. Accompanied by male chorus, this ritual song depicts a battle where a group of monkeys (Vanara) helped Prince Rama to fight the evil King Ravana.
One of Monkey King's lines directed at Storm Spirit, "I've seen Xin and Kaolin. Where's your other brother?" implies the existence of a fourth spirit, presumably Void Spirit, who was revealed two years later at The International 2019.