The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wakong, is a legendary trickster figure from Chinese mythology. He figures prominently in Big Bird in China, as a traditional Chinese theater figure, popping up to bewilder Big Bird and tease Barkley. He offers clues to the location of The Phoenix in Chinese. The Monkey King is also a shape-shifter, splitting into multiples at one point, taking the guise of a human storyteller, or randomly turning into the Two-Headed Monster.