Heavenly Court

Biodata

Background / History

Five hundred years before Goten’s arrival, Sun Wukong rebelled against the Heavenly Court. He fought its soldiers, rejected his position as a court official, and shattered the plaque of the Lingxiao Palace 2 10. The Jade Emperor later feared that someone would inherit Wukong’s power and return 14.

When Goten’s otherworldly energy drew the court’s attention, Fairy Zixia warned that it would not permit an outsider to disrupt the order of the Three Realms 5. The court’s attempt to capture him developed into a campaign against him and those sheltering him 7 16 23.

Leadership and Forces

• Jade Emperor — rules the court and issues its orders against Goten 7 23.
• Li Jing — Grand Marshal of the court’s armies; proposed blockading Fangcun Mountain rather than assaulting Patriarch Bodhi’s dojo 23.
• Four Heavenly Kings — include Dhritarashtra, Virudhaka, and Vaishravana, who took part in the first confrontation with Goten 7 8.
• Yang Jian — sent to bring Goten back to the court, then appointed to lead 1,200 Grass-Head Gods against Fangcun Mountain 16 23 25.
• Nezha — a court vanguard who tested Goten’s strength 34 35.
• Taibai Jinxing — a court official whose divinations warned of losses from Yang Jian’s expedition and the Jade Emperor’s decision 23.

Military Tactics

Heavenly Net

• Three thousand Heavenly Soldiers formed a golden net over the Axe Gang stronghold to suppress Goten’s power 7.
• The net weakened him but did not prevent him from breaking through it; his Kamehameha then disrupted the soldiers’ formation 7 8.

Immortal-Trapping Array

• At Fangcun Mountain, 1,200 Grass-Head Gods formed an array empowered by the Jade Emperor. It confined Goten and drained his power 25.
• Zhi Zun Bao broke the array with a bamboo pole after Sun Wukong’s lingering power awakened within him 26.

Campaign Against Goten

• First capture attempt: Dhritarashtra led three thousand Heavenly Soldiers to demand that Goten submit for trial. The Jade Emperor subsequently changed the order to capture him alive 7 8.
• Zixia’s intervention: Zixia fought the soldiers to protect Goten. Yang Jian later called her a traitor for drawing her sword against the court 8 16.
• Fangcun Mountain: The Jade Emperor rejected Li Jing’s proposed siege and sent Yang Jian to demand that Patriarch Bodhi surrender Goten. Bodhi refused; Goten ultimately defeated Yang Jian, and the Grass-Head Gods withdrew 23 25 26.
• Further assessment: Nezha tested Goten and judged him worthy of the court exerting its full power. A larger force was gathering at the South Heaven Gate afterward 35 36.
• Five Finger Mountain: After the Golden Cudgel’s fragments scattered and Sun Wukong’s aura reappeared, the Jade Emperor ordered Li Jing to summon the Four Heavenly Kings, Twenty-Eight Mansions, and Nine Luminaries to surround and suppress the mountain 47.

Relationships

• Sun Wukong — former court official who rebelled against it; the Jade Emperor fears his return 10 14 47.
• Sun Goten — otherworldly target of repeated capture and suppression orders 5 7 23.
• Fairy Zixia — fought court troops for Goten and was branded a traitor by Yang Jian 8 16.
• Patriarch Bodhi — sheltered Goten and refused the court’s demand to surrender him 23 25.