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Erlang Shen, or simply Erlang, is a god in Chinese folk religion and Daoism, associated with water (mainly flood control), warriorhood, hunting, and demon subdual. He is commonly depicted as a young man with a third, truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead, wielding a three-pronged spear, and being accompanied by his loyal hunting dog, Xiaotian Quan.
The origin of Erlang is complex. He is most commonly believed to be the deification of Li Erlang, the second son of Li Bing, a hydraulic engineer of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). Later stories identify him as the deification of Yang Jian, the nephew of the legendary Jade Emperor. He is also identified with several other folk heroes associated with controlling floods.
In the Ming-era semi-mythical novels Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the West, Erlang Shen is the nephew of the Jade Emperor. In the former novel, he assists the Zhou army in defeating the Shang. In the latter, he is the second son of a mortal and the Jade Emperor’s sister Yunhua, as well as an enemy-turned-ally of the Monkey King. In his legends he is known as the greatest warrior god of heaven, and was a disciple of Yuding Zhenren, who taught him fighting and magical skills such as the 72 Earthly Transformations.
Erlang is usually portrayed as a young, handsome man with a three-pointed spear, though in older paintings he is sometimes portrayed as an older man with a beard and sword. He has a third eye in the middle of the forehead, sometimes called “Eye of Heaven” , which lets him see through deceptions, disguises, and transformations. In some stories, his third eye can also fire destructive blasts of light or divine fire.
As a god, Erlang is a noble and powerful warrior who vanquishes demons and monsters, and embodies justice and righteousness. He possesses vast, superhuman strength, being able to cleave through an entire mountain in one stroke.
His main weapon is a spear called Sanjian Liangren Qiang , usually depicted as a flat, broad spear with three tips like a trident, and the two cutting edges of a saber. This bladed polearm is powerful enough to penetrate and cleave through steel and stone like wool.
Erlang is almost always accompanied by his faithful hunting dog, the Xiaotian Quan, which has the ability to viciously attack, maul, and subdue demons and evil spirits.
In some legends, Erlang possesses a unique ability known as the Jiuzhuan Xuangong which turns him nearly invincible against conventional weapons and most forms of magic. In the novel Investiture of the Gods, this ability turns him completely impervious to attacks from mystical weapons that have proven capable of injuring or even killing other immortals. Some stories state he is capable of 72 transformations (sometimes 73), meaning he can transform into virtually anything he wants.
In some folk beliefs, he was a filial son that entered Diyu, or hell, to save his deceased mother from torment. After being deified, he punishes unfilial children by striking them with thunder as a punishment, hence the traditional saying, “being smitten by lightning for being unfilial and ungrateful” towards unruly children.
Erlang in Black Myth: Wukong
Erlang, the Sacred Divinity (二郎显圣真君) is a Yaoguai King and an overarching antagonist of Black Myth: Wukong. He is a mandatory boss fought as an opening battle during the game’s prologue, as well as an optional boss that the player must defeat if they want to achieve the secret ending (True Ending), where he turns into Erlang Shen.
A powerful three-eyed, spear-wielding warrior god from Heaven and the Monkey King’s former archrival, Erlang is also the possessor of the seventh and final relic of Wukong as revealed towards the end of the game.
Erlang at first glance has a haughty personality with an arrogant streak, as seen when he claims how few celestials are an equal to himself in terms of power, and claims that he does not make a habit of fighting opponents he bested before like with Sun Wukong. In his secret boss battle he taunts the Destined One about his journey to become the new Sun Wukong, including mocking his various transformation powers of deceased opponents.
Despite these prideful traits however, Erlang actually has a very honorable and noble personality, wiling to help a formal rival such as Sun Wukong to stage his death and help him be rid of the headband after reincarnation, he also hates the corruption within the Heavenly Court and seeks to fight against it someday to rdi it of said corruption. Erlang himself is similar to Wukong of having an independent and rebellious personality, only obeying orders from the Heavenly Court in regards to fighting threats that only he is strong enough to face.
Erlang as a War God loves a good fight against strong opponents and rivals, and was eager to challenge the Destined one to test his skills in combat alongside the Four Heavenly Kings. In his giant leonine form Erlang commended the Destined One’s strength and power, noting how similar to Wukong his weapons become blunted when facing him in combat. Erlang also shows respect and encouragement towards opponents who can rival him in battle such as with Sun Wukong and the Destined one, who Erlang thinks of everyday to test his might against, Erlang is shown to be humble in defeat and encourages the Destined One to not let Sun Wukong’s legacy down.
Behaviour
In battle Erlang primarily uses his signature Three pointed double-edged spear as his main weapon, attacking with spear strikes, slashes, smashes, sweeps and spear thrusts. He can also throw his spear to impale opponents with from a distance, or throw it in a spinning motion that causes his spear to return to him. Erlang can summon his Howling celestial dog from his spear to simutaeneously attack the player with, with his second phase summoning two dogs at once. He can additionally imbue his spear with lightning to further enhance his weapon’s attack power, yellow lighting being the standard elemental enhanced attack to red lightning being his strongest.
Erlang has a high level of durability, allowing him to shrug off most attacks and receive less damage while blocking with his spear, Players can use the Rakshasi’s fan to create a tornado that clears his stamina bar and temporarily lowers his defense, making Erlang more vulnerable to attack.
Erlang can use his third eye to shoot lasers at the player from a long range, in his second phase he summons a few clones of himself to shoot multiple sweeping lasers from different angles. He can also use it to sidestep and dodge some attacks, so Players might need to be more unpredictable in their attacks, or simply stun him in place with the Immoblizing spell.
Erlang can summon flying swords to shoot at opponents by kicking them or sniping them from a distance, in his second phase he will summon a storm of flying swords to overwhelm the player with, most of which are deflectable except for the last unblockable set imbued with red lightning which the player has to dodge.
In his second phase Erlang summons his axe in its giant size and uses it to smash down onto the player from the sky, Erlang can then use his axe for a variety of slashing and sweeping attacks that can cause shockwaves on the battlefield.
Erlang can use his sword and axe in tandem with his spear for a wide variety of combo attacks, including some powerful grab attacks as well that the player must dodge.
In his second phase Erlang can use his transformation powers to turn into a falcon for attacking the player with aerial attacks, or a white tiger that lunges at the player with bites and claw swipes. Erlang can also apparently knock the player out of their transformed states if he lands certain attacks on them.
Background
In skies high, his talents shine, like plum blooms pure and bright,
His form defies the winter’s snow, a sacred being of light.
With lofty heart, he claims no kin to the emperor above,
His noble spirit dims the stars, unlocking the Great Pagoda.
