How LEGO Monkie Kid Created the Perfect Antagonist 

The contrast of macaques ideals with Tang was honestly one of the smartest way to challenge and develop their characters 😭

"Sorry, bud. But I'm not a hero." "Then be a warrior."

You can tell macaque is a good character because half of the fandom simps for him

“Sorry Mr Macquack” - Sandy Sorry, couldn’t resist saying that again.

i adore the amount of depth and complexity macaque has, his redemption arc was what really pushed him to become my favorite character in the show :D

What fascinates me in Monkie Kid, is that every character is well written. AHEM AND YES I'M LOOKING AT YOU HARUMI.

For only being in one chapter of the original JTTW story, Macaque is so fascinating a character because he is the original evil doppelgänger. It’s a shame that this is probably the only time he’s been included in a JTTW retelling.

Something I really love about Monkie Kid is in the season 3 scene where MK proclaims to Mei that their heroes and friends, saying that they don't leave each other when they need it, and we get a shot of Wukong and Macaque to look at each other and at MK, considering the power of his words in such a moment. It's an obvious nod to how Wukong had left Macaque, pushing him away as seen in Shadow Play, how he burnt him. What I don't think anyone else realizes is that it was also for shadow a duality moment in season 4. Before the rease of season 4, it shows thar obviously this was how Monkey King and Macaque went through, how they both got hurt. How MK not leaving his bestie Mei was him avoiding the mistakes that Monkey King made. But in the season 4 special, we also get an important scene. The one where MK and Macaque show Wukong and Mac fighting. Wukong left Macaque earlier, becoming more powerful, strong, and according to Macaque, pushed him away and eventually he killed him. But in that scene in season 4, we see Macaque confront Wukong. He shouts at him and tells him that he's the one who hurt people by not stopping, how everyone, including himself, has hurt. And then he leaves. It's in character that Macaque runs away, but that scene made me realize that they both abandoned each other when they needed each other. That while Macaque ran for protection, Wukong was just like him and ran to Protect themselves from mortality. Theyre both running from something, Macaque ran from death when Wukong never had to worry about it again, and Wukong ran from mortality when Macaque told him to stop. Theeyy really are two sides of the same coin.

It's so interesting how despite everything, Macaque's intentions are (mostly) good. Almost everything he does is to keep MK from repeating Wukong's mistakes. "Shadow Play" is just a messed up lesson on not losing sight of the people around you on your pursuit for power, which is exactly what broke his friendship with Wukong.

I think Macaque actually tries to help MK to improve in season 3. In that episode where he kidnapped MK and others in a copy of their van, Macaque could take MK and leave, but instead kept pressuring MK until he re-learned his transformation powers and rescued his friends

Billy Kametz was born in my home town and passed away nearby as well. He is a huge part of how impactful macque is. Rest in Peace

Imagine, just for a second, that you are Mackaque. Imagine having a wonderful friend group that doesn’t listen to your advice very often. Imagine losing all of your friends at once due to the reckless actions of your own closest brother. Imagine watching Wukong become so guilt-stricken and obsessed that he pushes you and everyone else away and becomes heartless. Imagine being abandoned by him for years and years, only for him to suddenly change his mind and pursue relationships again with someone who isn’t you. Someone he literally just met. An obnoxious child who idolizes the “legendary hero” who shattered your dreams. Someone Wukong only bonds with on his own terms, molding him into his likeness. A new “bud” to replace you. And also throw the Lady Bone Demon in there somewhere. How would you react? Wukong really got off lightly huh

Lego Monkie Kid is a phenomenal example of how the animated art form still has yet to reach its full potential. Imagine all that could happen if more projects got the proper budget

I really love how Macaque is just like Monkey King and how he really wants the best for MK but he doesn’t want him to be come like this mentor also Rest in peace Billy😢.

Wow you pointed out a detail I never noticed. You're right when Macque was yelling at Wukong in the past when he was trapped about how he became a selfish,power hungry demon who only cares about himself only for in the future for Macque to end doing the same thing. How ironic. Macque such a enjoyable characters and the latest season telling us more about his backstory as Wukong former friend only made me like him more.

I personally really love how they show us why Macaque is going after the team in S3 before he escalates, Him fighting Wukong and MK in the first episode is familiar so we don't think it's crazy, and we don't really get to see how his fight with the Dragon ends exactly in episode 2. But early in the season, episode 4, they show us that Macaque isn't doing this because he wants LBD to win; he's doing this because he's scared and doesn't want to die. Then, he ups the ante through the van kidnapping stunt. They could have waited until the final episodes, like' Benched,' to reveal why he's after them, but they don't because they want the audience to still sympathize with Macaque. It's a great way to almost show, not tell, how the audience should feel about a character. A similar move is done with Zuko by introducing Zhao in the third episode. The audience would probably feel a lot more dislike for Macaque in s3 if they didn't show us the conversation with LBD before the van scene and everything after it.

Mackaque really is like a more emotionally resonant Pro Max version of Morro

Mackaque yelling at Wukong in the s4 finale flashback scene might very well be the best acting I’ve ever witnessed. All the feels are there

Of course the most the most interesting and dramatic characther is a godamn theather nerd- (i love him)

You mentioned not reading jttw, it's a WILD read. Surprisingly cartoonish and the lore is halarious with any lego monkie kid context. Like even small things like how much of a clown Azure is in the book. Or Peng being the half sibling of Buddha. Or Tripitaka got hit in the head with a destiny embroidery dodge ball and ended up in a arranged marriage with a moon demon. Or how Wukong tries to sue Nezah's dad for being a bad father, cuz his adopted daughter is a demon who kidnapped Tripitaka and Wukong couldn't beat her so Wukong went to the jade court to file a complaint about her dad. Or how Tripitaka wins a fight by beating a famly of demon trees in a rap battle. OR how Spider Queen is in a fanserve episode that was the original of anime hotspring episodes. Wukong turned into a bird and stole her and her sisters clothes while they are bathing. 😭 Lady bone demon is alive for 3 pages! Dbk and Azure don't die in the book. Macaque gets no physical description and dies in one hit and has zero lines outside of copying Wukong. The family the pilgrums were staying with were just hoping the two monkies would reck their house with this biblically God fight before them. The book is super funny and has very similar comedy to the show. I read the big 4 volume translation. So I could keep going. Honestly HIGHLY recommend. Also the demons have poetry boss fight intros by the narrator. Ehem: ----- A face as if it had been powdered white, And lips so ruddy, they seemed brushed with paint. No dye could create such dark, lovely hair; His eyebrows curved like new moons carved with knives. Phoenix and dragon coiled on his battle kilt; More husky than Nezah’s a frame he had. With air imposing he lifted up his lance And walked out the door, swathed in hallowed light. He roared like thunder in the time of spring; His striking eyes flashed like lightning bright. If one would know his true identity, Remember Red Boy, a name of lasting fame. ---- Also Wukong calls him "Worthy nephew" in the book because DBK IS his sworn brother. I have nothing to add. Your video was amazing, I just wanted to boost the algorithm by commenting and ramble off some book knowledge that even the OSP viewers wouldn't know.

Macaque going from a false teacher for MK trying to use MKs desire to to learn faster against him to test him to an actual teacher aiming to help MK in his own way and showing him that there's more than just 2 options and he doesn't have to follow the obvious paths laid out for him

Billy Kametz was so good

Me when Lego makes a Monkie Kid Journey To The West just to conclude the entire series: 😮

I think macaque is a good example of an anti-villain, a character that does the right thing, but for selfish or malicious gains

I’ve read quite a bit of jttw and Monkie Kid’s rendition of Macaque definitely takes some creative liberties since he wasn’t a huge character to begin with. Technically it wasn’t this Macaque that was a member of the brotherhood. This Macaque and the JTTW Macaque are almost two completely different characters but that’s something this show does great. For most big characters from the book, like Wukong and Nezha, their personalities are so accurate and it gives attention to characters who did almost nothing in the original.

The six eared Macaque is an immortal being who can fall in battle and knows what comes ahead into the future. He is a demon monkey who is basically a mimic of Sun Wukong, the stone monkey. Macaque has sensitive hearing which is why we see him irritated by Pigsy’s singing. If anyone has any other info add on to it :)

I too love Macaque. I always was drawn more to the villain characters because they were USUALLY written well. Macaque had a whole backstory that was intriguing and you wanted more. And he had the right amount of sass in the right situations. It was obvious he had reasons for his actions before we even knew what the reasons were. And his lessons for MK brought more to his character, because some of them he doesn't do himself. He knows that someone should act without waiting too long, but he doesn't act himself and stays in the shadows. He helps from the sidelines though, never the front lines. I instantly latched onto him because he never felt truly evil, just hurt. And I love how he's gotten actual development through the show

Also the fact that macaque fought WuKong again in the season three special when the last time they fought without holding back Macaque died. That had to take a lot of courage to fight him again, we can see the fear in his eyes, his body language, hear it in his voice. Now here he is again, no holding back, and he doesn’t know if he will make it out this time but his still did it for MK and the rest of the world

One thing I love about this show is they put enough of the original story in that anyone who is familiar with it will be able to pick up on things like why Macaque is out for Wukong, but it's not so heavily done that it's inaccessible to people who know only a little to nothing about Journey to the West. That's such a hard balance to strike and it's part of why, personally, everyone's character arcs work so well. You don't need to know all the past details, but if you do it just makes the experience all the richer.

Ok but did anybody notice the Goku and Vegeta reference at the end of season 4 on the beach. Wukong and Macaque were literally wearing their casual clothes and I was literally squealing 😂😭

Okey,you did it,im starting to watch monkie kid

I actually just finished rewatching Macaque’s debut episode. He is so much fun and menacing. That might be why I love Cinder so much. But as for Macaque, he’s so much fun and interesting.

2:19 I gotchu bro so in the Journey to the West, Macaque was one of the four celestial monkeys, along with Sun Wukong (Stone Nosed Monkey of Numerous Wisdom), the Red Butt Horse Monkey, and the Bei Gibbon. In the original, the Gibbon and the Horse Monkey were essentially throwaway characters that don't really show up again, however, the Six-Eared Macaque is important because he had a lengthy shapeshifting battle with Wukong after he stole the Pilgrim's supplies disguised as Wukong while the real Wukong mourned the fact that he was kicked out for being too murdery. S-EM was essentially his opposite and equal to the point where not even Kuanyin, the ever-present and powerful Boddhisatva of mercy could tell them apart. They had to get the Buddha to help them settle which was real.

(SPOILERS AHEAD) Macaque and wukong’s story is SOO interesting and complex, they have handled it really well, but I’d do fear in Season 5 they might make it a “he didn’t actually kill you” sorta thing, because we all know (or you don’t) that there is a memory problem going around, so I REALLY hope they don’t make it so someone ELSE killed macaque but changed their MEMORIES so that they both THINK wukong killed macaque. You know what I mean?

Macaque is the best mentor for MK because he knows failure and insecurity at someone stronger than him. He's the Perfect teacher for MK who Identifies with his struggle to stand in the shadow of the Monkey king seeing themselves as just an echo of the Greatness he once was.

Macaque is one of the few times I like the "redeemed villain" trope. He's also my second favorite character. Also, his theme song really enhances him.

"yes macaque" we all say in unison

I often think about the fight in the desert with mei, sandy, and mk during s3. even after he sits in the wreck of his own mech clutching his eye, all he can say is how mk recovered one of his powers and everything just got more interesting. he completely ignores the fact that he was just beat, and pretends like he was testing him or had planned for this. it feels like a scrape for any kind of control over his life at the moment, given how his own life is very much NOT in his own control. He is really such an interesting character

i love this guy so much. nothing is more entertaining than watching a theatrical antagonist be unnecessarily dramatic.

My biggest surprise on the video is how you got parts of the monkie kid soundtrack given the limited tracks that got official releases

The voice acting for Macaque was steller, like seriously Ninjago wishes it had with level of quallity.

LMK does so well with its antagonist characters. Great overview of Macaque! I always love the edits you have between the intro and the bulk of the video. You did a great job at showing the character's growth over the series this far

R.I.P Billy Kametz Macque's VA

I absolutely love Macaque and he is hands down my favourite character. I love him. I agree with everything you said. I love how nuanced this show is because usually, good and evil are so black and white in fiction when in reality, it's really complicated. I adore Macaque. I can relate to him a bit. This is embarrassing to admit but I used to be bullied a lot as a kid. The bully in question was charismatic, larger than life and had a lot of friends. I was socially awkward and quiet by comparison. I had only love for this person in the start and just wanted to be friends or at least be peaceful. But I was bullied in a way that scarred me for life. I just decided to keep my distance, heal from my trauma and not let it affect me (easier said than done). I didn't have a lot of support on my side so I had to be a loner for a really long time. And also like Macaque, I couldn't really get away from my bully. He never apologised or acknowledged what happened but decided to be civil. I was always civil. I am so happy I lived my life the way I did, I am really proud that I had my achievements and made true friends on my side and I didn't let my past ruin my future. Because it is possible to heal from trauma and to live life in a way that makes you happy and successful. I find Macaque relatable on so many levels. I love this show so much.

The Hero and the Warrior were like the sun and the moon, a protective glow shining upon the world..

I went through several betrayals myself from close friends so I think the same: if you wanna count on someone count on yourself

Macaque is my favourite character. Although I have only read highlights of "Journey to the West", his full name "The Six Eared Macaque" may have also played a role in his behavior in the early seasons. In the books, The Macaque is described as a near omniscient being as it had such highly attuned hearing to hear events past, present and future and that hearing is complimented by his ability to comprehend what he hears. He may have been messing with MK because he saw similarities between Mk and Wukong personality wise, but it's also possible he also acted because he "heard a future" where MK does become a second Wukong and proved to be a hazard for the world.

Alternative title: me obsessing over maqucoue for 21 minutes

I think the reason macaque is different is because while he decided to attack MK because of wukong he later sees that MK while similar to wukong is different.

I hope we get much more macaque in the next season 🥺🥺 we need the lore to be filled

Macaque, my favorite LMK villain... rip Billy we all loved you

As much as RU-vid video essay people love to throw the word “perfect” around, this instance is truly amazing. But it’s your vids that are actually perfect bc of the legendary lack of profanity, truly incredibly unique online

This video has reinforced that Macaque is the best character in LMK. My mind will not be changed:)

another important note wukong didnt just leave mac be killed him that image of wukong rising as mac crawls away was mac's death

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but the three rules of making iconic villains are casting, casting, and casting.

Great video! Macaque is one of my favorite Monkie Kid characters. Every time his theme plays, I get excited. I just recently finished showing my dad and brother the show. They loved it.

Really awsome video bendo i really liked the reasons and things you talked about here and you actually made me realize stuff that i hadn't seen after watching the series 3 times. I also wanted to put some of my own reasons for why Macaque is my favorite character in the show just to put my opinion out there. One of the biggest reasons i love Macaque so much is because of how i'm able to relate to him in many ways, the most important being his fear of being himself around other people. But aside from that the writing of this character is really intriguing in it's own way: to the point where i had to watch the seasons more than once or twice to really fully understand him. One of the biggest examples of this is in the episode shadow play where we see how Macaque is portraid just as a villain on a surfice level while if you pay more attention you can see that he is not only testing MK to see if he is ready in terms of strenght but also in spirit and morals. His way of comparing him to Wukong and how he "doesen't care" about his friends shows how he wants to see if MK has potential to be better, at least in the way Macaque sees it. This also ties to the episode in s4 where MK, just like Wukong and Macaque did, runs away from his problems to flowerfruit mountain, where Macaque teaches him the value of making your own choises and forging your own destiny through his videogame. This is a direct consequence of the scene in the memory scroll with Wukongs captivity, where macaque finally understands why he and Wukong always ran away from problems, and doesen't want to see the same thing happen to MK. There are also two scenes in the first episode of the season 4 special that are really important and underrated in my opinion: those being the one where Macaque sees the flashback with him as a kid and the part where Wukong looks at Macaque for reassurance. The first scene shows how Macaque reacts to his past; before everything that later happend with Wukong, he shows how sad he really is about what happened between him and Sun Wukong and later, in the second scene, we see that Wukong is still attached to Macaque as he searches for reassurance that he can still be a master after all he's done. In that scene we see Wukong break his typical personality that he puts up every time those two interact. We also see this again in the last scene of s4 where when Macaque shows up at that beach and Wukong acts annoyed at first, but imediatly drops the act and gives his old friend something to eat(even thought it is portrayed as a joke), just like he did so long ago under the same tree. A final thing about Macaques character that i want to point out is his powers and the meaning behind them: we all know that he has shadow powers because he is considered to be Wukongs bad copy, his... well shadow, but in my opinion there is a bigger meaning under why he has those powers specifically. Shadows are often put in the same meaning as someone secretive or that keeps mostly to himself, and thats the basic definition of macaque, he used to be someone friendly who got beaten down over and over so badly that he just stopped trying to connect with anybody. I also just want to say how GOOD the design, representation of his powers and especially his theme are: like you said in cartoons or animation in general the animators have complete freedom to create and visualize everything they like, rhis is shown really well in how macaques powers are animated and implemented into the show. An example of wasting a power like this is Shadow from ninjago tournament of elements, who, due to the animation style doesn't really have a lot of ways to use his power. This, however isn't a problem in monkie kid and i really apreaciate that the animators took full advantage of that. Thanks to whomever took the ungodly amount of time that it must have took to read the whole thing, i could basically make a whole video if i turned this thing into a script. (btw sorry for the bad english but i'm italian so i don't exactly know everything about this language).

Oh my god i love the sound design of the intro

I mean, I wouldn’t call Macaque “redeemed”. He hasn’t apologized to anyone he’s hurt, made attempts to become better than he was, made up for the damage and destruction he’s caused… he’s just thrown his lot in with the heroes when it personally benefits him. I wish Mei had called him out for what he did to the Dragon Palace of the East Sea. Really, I do. Or what he did to Tang. Or MK.

I love macaques story and how what happened between him and wukong affected his character

Yeah he's pretty cool i have to agree with you on that

I absolutely love Macaque the moment they introduced him in the LMK show. Not only for his personal reasons of putting up a facade, but the fact that there were layers to him that didn't get to be revealed until later in season 3. Now that he got redeemed, he's still that charismatic monkey, but he's showing more of who he truly is. If Macaque was looking for a successor, I'd instantly agree to train under him. I'll admit it, I'm a huge Macaque fan 💜

Been waiting for this! Macaque is genuinely my favourite character. You did him justice with this video

bro gets more cinematic every video

LMK is just DBZ redone, and DBZ was just a continuation of DB, which was just JttW re-imagined. Macaque is good cause he's based on Vegeta, the best rival in anime history and one of the most well-written villain-to-anti-hero characters out there. I enjoy LMK but like...don't pretend it's some brand new thing when it isn't...They even have Sean Schemmel, Goku, voicing Sun Wukong, because it's BASICALLY the same role.

I feel that in the first two seasons, he's really more of an antithesis. But then in season 3, he was kinda forced to be an antagonist against his will. So he decided to play the part as the dramatic actor that he is.

I still say Macaque deserves some call outs for what he’s done to MK and his friends despite his predicament with LBD. Seriously just because he holds a grudge against Wukong, doesn’t mean he should take out his anger on people who have nothing to do with their past. Also in case anyone else is a huge Macaque fan, read this fan comic called the Eclipse Apprentice. It focuses more on him and a female OC that’s part huli-jing (9 Tailed Fox spirit)

wow what a cool show animated by a really good studio I sure do hope it doesn't get absolutely butchered by wildbrain!! ^^

One of my favourite things I didn't notice until rewatching the show a few times, is that during the whole thing where Nezha and Mk go after Wukong, there's quite a few shots where you can see Macaque in his bird form flying around in the background, watching. My first few watches I was confused as to how Macaque knew when and where MK was to open his shadow portal. Lol

just bingewatched all of your lego monkie kid video essays and holy shit they’re amazing. i can’t wait to see more! i also absolutely adore your intro edits. your videos are so well made and pleasant to watch

Love this video, if they do end up showing macaques past i wonder how they will treat it

ok but Wukong could beat the peaches out of Bill Cipher

"Entertaining to watch him" yes VERY entertaining :3

also can we mention that sun wukong is voiced by SEAN SCHEMMEL?

It’s really easy to relate to macaque

I absolutely love watching these analysis videos, so fun and well put together, definitely gonna rewatch later. So anyway the hero and the warrior were like the sun and the moon- (Also fairly sure one if the chapters spells redemption wrong) Second edit- he fixed the time stamp lol. Thanks.really appreciate you making such nice vids about such an amazing show. Still cant believe it blew past me that the same animator of this are animating a new ATLA movie releasing next year.

I have this love hate relationship with how more and more popular lmk is getting On one hand "yay more people appreciate and share content of this media i like" On the other "ive been here since the community is a baby, its growing foo fast!"

spoilers from journey to the west, Sun wukong most likely Killed Macaque at some point, thus showing his 'taste of dying' but also showing why he hates wukong so much

Great video! I waited for this one for ages…and now it’s finally here!

I've been waiting for a video like this for so long-

YESSSSS A VÍDEO ON MY FAVORITE CHARACTER? HELP MEEEEEEEEEE

I’ll keep eating these up until we get season 5….we ARE getting season 5…right?….right?

LEGO MONKIE KID MENTIONED RAHHHHH‼️

I’m curious to know: what are your feelings for the animation studio change for season 5? Fortunately from what I’m hearing the writers and voice actors aren’t being changed, it’s just that Flyingbark had a lot on their plate so Wildbrain will be in charge of animating season 5.

I Absolutely Respect Macaque from *Monkie Kid,* as the Perfect Evil Longtime Archenemy and Worthy Adversary of Monkey King/Sun Wukong!

"sheep in wolves clothing"

Macaque is such amazing character. I always like him antagonist of LMK story (I hate the fandom won't stop "uwu babygirl" him) . But I wouldn't say he have redemption arc YET. Arc is when we actually follow the character in their changes, their guilty of acation that they take, what they do to change. When Macaque help MK and his gang defected LBD that was start to redemption arc but everything else kinda.... happened off screen I guess? Like seriusly Macaque just pop out of nowhere in season 4. How is he in FFM? Because we all know Wukong still doesn't like Macaque even after they defected LBD. Wukong kinda still thing Macaque did all that just for himself which it fair. And Wukong always take care of FFM , you really think Wukong just let someone like Macaque near him let alone in HIS mountain? (Cuz I know I wouldn't). Yes he help MK but at first MK still think Macaque messing with him. That's great! Just because he help with LBD doesn't mean MK can fully trust him. How can he? When someone like Macaque show him that he nothing but everything he did is for himself. The way how Macaque talk about himself like he better than Wukong and other villain. He did give good advice to MK over bad video game....(Who make video that you can't win? That dump....). But then season 4 special piss me off. Like I get the whole "Macaque doesn't actually need to help Wukong he just want to" what piss me off is Macaque helping MK because MK doesn't really know JTTW. I'm SORRY? Doesn't MK supposed to be Wukong biggest fan how can he not know about JTTW well?! They really trow away MK important trait 😔. And when MK and Macaque in scroll memory they didn't let Wukong tell the story, they let that six-eared clown did it. Macaque knowledge of JTTW is pretty limited. Dispite keep promoting JTTW to us. And how everyone just OKAY work with Macaque?! Especially Mei and Pigsy? I really wish they kinda hold what Macaque did little longger. Again yes he did help they with whole LBD thing but just because he helped one time doesn't mean they could juat trust him fully. I like Macaque and I wish we actually get his redemption arc next season and all.

BANGER VIDEO

you are so real for this OH MY GODS

This is crazy

Kaggy MY MAN !!!

PEAKKKK

Where did you get the monkie kid soundtrack bits in the intro???

You got the music. FORK. IT. OVER

so true fr

Where can I find the song at the beginning?

Bendominator is that you 😢

Didn’t Macaque’s original voice actor pass away recently? 😢

GOD I OWHUAHSHSHSN I LOVE THIS SHOW

Someone tell me how I watch all seasons and movies. I’m up to season two I think