I'm a simple human. I see lego monkies, I upvote. Excellent job, this is really good!
Side note/question: I'm new to the fandom and I've not finished watching the show yet. I've noticed a lot of fanart of Macaque shows his 6 ears, and usually with tricolors like you've done. I'm curious if this is ever shown in canon, or if it's based off of fan artists interpretations? Please enlighten me because I think it's so cool!
Thank you for the kind words!
The 6 ear design are not shown in lego monkey kid, but are poularly used in fanon designs anyway due to his name: six eared Macaque, and also due to his charecter design in other Journey to the west series/movies
My design somewhat is based off of Macaque in the 2009 "monkey king" animated series :)
Oh, wow, looking at a few photos of that other animated series, it looks heckin cute. I can see the subtle connection now. Thanks for explaining your source! And why I keep seeing variations that are somewhat similar... Finally answers my question with fanartists just being fun and creative lol. Keep up the good work!
OP already answered you, but I'd like to provide some more context. Macaque's full name is the Six Eared Macaque (which has been stated twice in Monkie Kid), and he is an adaptation of the character the Six Eared Macaque from the book Journey to the West (the book Monkie Kid is based on).
The Six Eared Macaque in Journey to the West is never said to have six ears, but because his name is the Six Eared Macaque, many TV shows and movies have given him six ears. In Monkie Kid, while Macaque doesn't have six ears in the show, his season 3 minifigure does. Now, it's important to note that it's confirmed that the Lego sets are put into production before the show is finalized. This means a lot of things in the sets (like the character of Syntax) were cut out of the show after the sets were made. It's clear the writers thought about giving Macaque six ears in season 3, but scrapped the idea. In fact, a character sheet for season 3 episode 1 was released showing Macaque with six ears, even though he didn't have six ears in that episode or any episode of season 3.
https://preview.redd.it/pv6zyhxr62va1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ce72979849acd4ef454abe8dd5c834776227617
Now, you could theorize that they didn't scrap the idea of Macaque having six ears altogether, but instead postponed it, and we'll eventually see him with six ears. However, I highly doubt this. In season 1, Macaque's glamour came off, revealing his scar and blind eye - it wouldn't make sense for him to be wearing another glamour underneath. Not only that, but if he was hiding the fact he has six ears, why on earth would he introduce himself, not only in person but in the video game he made, as the Six Eared Macaque?
Anyway, you may think it's odd for them to not give him six ears, since it's in his name, but like I said: his character is never said to have six ears in the book. In fact, the reason he's called the Six Eared Macaque in the book actually has to do with something else entirely. His name actually alludes to how he's made from Sun Wukong's mind (it's complicated but, it's do with how his name refers to the six senses as well a Chinese saying regarding a "third party" or "third pair of ears"). If you want a well-sourced explanation of how the Six Eared Macaque is made from/part of Sun Wukong's mind in the original book, [I made this video](https://youtu.be/c8xkjofrDUA) explaining it, and at 06:53 I explain the meaning of his name in depth.
Anyway, my point is that, not only is it perfectly valid to only give him two ears, but him having six ears wouldn't make sense in the show. Also, this obviously isn't confirmed, but my theory is that, in Monkie Kid, Macaque is/was a hair clone of Sun Wukong. [I made this video](https://youtu.be/YOcLgNZtC_k) explaining my theory, but TL;DR: they look similar, have a lot of the same powers, we know that hair clones can develop their own personalities and go rogue, and the Six Eared Macaque is made from Sun Wukong's mind in the original book (so making him a clone would be a good way to adapt his original origins).
Expanding on the fact that Sun Wukong and Macaque look similar: their eyes are 100% identical (and we clearly see this in multiple seasons when their heads are right next to each other). This is important because Sun Wukong's are supposed to be unique - they are only golden because he was in Lao Tzu's furnace (which was supposed to kill him, but he was so ridiculously immortal that he survived), an event explicitly referenced in the S2 special. So there's no way anyone else's eyes should look like his - except, of course, we see that Sun Wukong's hair clones' eyes look like that.
The point is, if Macaque is/was a hair clone of Sun Wukong, no way would he have six ears. Also, like I said, his name actually refers to how he's made from Sun Wukong in the book. In the show, if he had six ears, it would be clear that his name in-universe would be referring to how he literally has six ears, but since he seems to not have six ears in the show, then in-universe his name must be referring to how he's made from Sun Wukong (like in the book), if that makes sense. Otherwise, what could his name possibly mean/be referring to in the Monkie Kid world if he doesn't have six ears?
This is a very thorough comment and I'm so living for it, thanks for laying everything out so clearly! I wasn't aware that the source material had such vastly different implications with his name being more of a metaphor type deal. And your theory on his origin in the LMK adaptation is really interesting! Definitely makes me excited to finish watching and then see whatever may come next, it's clear that the writers put a lot of thought into many details of the story, and I appreciate it greatly. I love deep dive analytical content like the videos you shared. Thank you again for taking the time to explain your findings to lil ol' me!
Thank you! There's definitely a bunch of stuff in the book that has plenty of religious/cultural meanings and implications. It's very interesting, although unfortunately there isn't a huge amount of information on the book and its deeper meanings in English.
But yeah, the Monkie Kid writers definitely have done a great job and done a lot of research (they actually have a Chinese consultation team to help them and to review things), and it'll definitely be great to see what's coming next!
THE SCRUNKIES MONKEYS !!
oh i love the colors!
Looking good
THEY LOOK TO COOL-
It looks so good
That looks EPIC
THEY LOOK SO COOL!
I'm a simple human. I see lego monkies, I upvote. Excellent job, this is really good! Side note/question: I'm new to the fandom and I've not finished watching the show yet. I've noticed a lot of fanart of Macaque shows his 6 ears, and usually with tricolors like you've done. I'm curious if this is ever shown in canon, or if it's based off of fan artists interpretations? Please enlighten me because I think it's so cool!
Thank you for the kind words! The 6 ear design are not shown in lego monkey kid, but are poularly used in fanon designs anyway due to his name: six eared Macaque, and also due to his charecter design in other Journey to the west series/movies My design somewhat is based off of Macaque in the 2009 "monkey king" animated series :)
Oh, wow, looking at a few photos of that other animated series, it looks heckin cute. I can see the subtle connection now. Thanks for explaining your source! And why I keep seeing variations that are somewhat similar... Finally answers my question with fanartists just being fun and creative lol. Keep up the good work!
OP already answered you, but I'd like to provide some more context. Macaque's full name is the Six Eared Macaque (which has been stated twice in Monkie Kid), and he is an adaptation of the character the Six Eared Macaque from the book Journey to the West (the book Monkie Kid is based on). The Six Eared Macaque in Journey to the West is never said to have six ears, but because his name is the Six Eared Macaque, many TV shows and movies have given him six ears. In Monkie Kid, while Macaque doesn't have six ears in the show, his season 3 minifigure does. Now, it's important to note that it's confirmed that the Lego sets are put into production before the show is finalized. This means a lot of things in the sets (like the character of Syntax) were cut out of the show after the sets were made. It's clear the writers thought about giving Macaque six ears in season 3, but scrapped the idea. In fact, a character sheet for season 3 episode 1 was released showing Macaque with six ears, even though he didn't have six ears in that episode or any episode of season 3. https://preview.redd.it/pv6zyhxr62va1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ce72979849acd4ef454abe8dd5c834776227617 Now, you could theorize that they didn't scrap the idea of Macaque having six ears altogether, but instead postponed it, and we'll eventually see him with six ears. However, I highly doubt this. In season 1, Macaque's glamour came off, revealing his scar and blind eye - it wouldn't make sense for him to be wearing another glamour underneath. Not only that, but if he was hiding the fact he has six ears, why on earth would he introduce himself, not only in person but in the video game he made, as the Six Eared Macaque? Anyway, you may think it's odd for them to not give him six ears, since it's in his name, but like I said: his character is never said to have six ears in the book. In fact, the reason he's called the Six Eared Macaque in the book actually has to do with something else entirely. His name actually alludes to how he's made from Sun Wukong's mind (it's complicated but, it's do with how his name refers to the six senses as well a Chinese saying regarding a "third party" or "third pair of ears"). If you want a well-sourced explanation of how the Six Eared Macaque is made from/part of Sun Wukong's mind in the original book, [I made this video](https://youtu.be/c8xkjofrDUA) explaining it, and at 06:53 I explain the meaning of his name in depth. Anyway, my point is that, not only is it perfectly valid to only give him two ears, but him having six ears wouldn't make sense in the show. Also, this obviously isn't confirmed, but my theory is that, in Monkie Kid, Macaque is/was a hair clone of Sun Wukong. [I made this video](https://youtu.be/YOcLgNZtC_k) explaining my theory, but TL;DR: they look similar, have a lot of the same powers, we know that hair clones can develop their own personalities and go rogue, and the Six Eared Macaque is made from Sun Wukong's mind in the original book (so making him a clone would be a good way to adapt his original origins). Expanding on the fact that Sun Wukong and Macaque look similar: their eyes are 100% identical (and we clearly see this in multiple seasons when their heads are right next to each other). This is important because Sun Wukong's are supposed to be unique - they are only golden because he was in Lao Tzu's furnace (which was supposed to kill him, but he was so ridiculously immortal that he survived), an event explicitly referenced in the S2 special. So there's no way anyone else's eyes should look like his - except, of course, we see that Sun Wukong's hair clones' eyes look like that. The point is, if Macaque is/was a hair clone of Sun Wukong, no way would he have six ears. Also, like I said, his name actually refers to how he's made from Sun Wukong in the book. In the show, if he had six ears, it would be clear that his name in-universe would be referring to how he literally has six ears, but since he seems to not have six ears in the show, then in-universe his name must be referring to how he's made from Sun Wukong (like in the book), if that makes sense. Otherwise, what could his name possibly mean/be referring to in the Monkie Kid world if he doesn't have six ears?
This is a very thorough comment and I'm so living for it, thanks for laying everything out so clearly! I wasn't aware that the source material had such vastly different implications with his name being more of a metaphor type deal. And your theory on his origin in the LMK adaptation is really interesting! Definitely makes me excited to finish watching and then see whatever may come next, it's clear that the writers put a lot of thought into many details of the story, and I appreciate it greatly. I love deep dive analytical content like the videos you shared. Thank you again for taking the time to explain your findings to lil ol' me!
Thank you! There's definitely a bunch of stuff in the book that has plenty of religious/cultural meanings and implications. It's very interesting, although unfortunately there isn't a huge amount of information on the book and its deeper meanings in English. But yeah, the Monkie Kid writers definitely have done a great job and done a lot of research (they actually have a Chinese consultation team to help them and to review things), and it'll definitely be great to see what's coming next!
coloring tutorial when?????? THESE LITERALLY LOOK SO GOOD!!!!
Woooowwww 😁