If you are diving into Game Science's hit action RPG, you might be asking: what is a yaoguai Black Myth categorizes its enemies as? A "yaoguai" is a Chinese mythological term for a demon, spirit, or monster that has gained sentience and magical powers through Daoist cultivation. In Black Myth: Wukong, it serves as the primary enemy classification system, dividing foes into Lesser Yaoguai (minions), Yaoguai Chiefs (mini-bosses), and Yaoguai Kings (major chapter bosses).
When western players first step into the Black Wind Mountain, they are immediately battered by a giant, baby-headed monk known as the Wandering Wight. The screen flashes with a title. It doesn't say "Demon." It doesn't say "Monster." It says "Yaoguai Chief." Game Science planted a flag with this linguistic choice, refusing to sanitize or westernize the terminology of a 16th-century Chinese literary masterpiece. By forcing millions of global players to learn the word, the developers preserved the specific cultural weight of Journey to the West.
But understanding what these creatures actually are—and how the game meticulously ranks them—is the key to unlocking the game's deepest lore. Here is the definitive breakdown of the yaoguai hierarchy.
The Origin: What is a Yaoguai Black Myth Lore is Based On?
To understand the enemies you are bludgeoning with a staff, you have to look at the etymology of the word itself. The term is a compound of two distinct Chinese concepts that merged over centuries of folklore and religious storytelling.
Yao (妖) refers to earthly things—flora, fauna, or even inanimate objects—that have achieved sentience and physical transformation through Daoist cultivation. In Chinese mythology, a fox that lives for centuries and absorbs the energy of the sun and moon doesn't just get old; it becomes a yao, gaining the ability to shapeshift, speak, and wield magic.
Guai (怪), on the other hand, translates closer to anomalous, bizarre, or strange spirits. When combined into yaoguai (妖怪), it becomes a catch-all term for supernatural entities outside the human and celestial realms.
In Wu Cheng'en's 1592 novel Journey to the West, the yaoguai are the primary antagonists blocking Tang Sanzang's pilgrimage to India. Most of them have a singular, gruesome goal: to eat the monk's flesh, which is said to grant immortality.
Black Myth: Wukong takes place after the events of the novel. Tang Sanzang's journey is over, and Sun Wukong has ascended to Buddhahood—only to be struck down and fragmented into six Relics. The yaoguai you fight in the game are no longer hunting a monk; they are warlords fighting for scraps of the Great Sage's power to elevate their own status. They are desperate, territorial, and heavily militarized.
Journal Categories: What is a Yaoguai Black Myth Boss Tier?
The Destined One carries a Journal that acts as the game's bestiary, specifically under the "Portraits" tab. This is not just a list of enemies; it is a meticulously crafted lore book. Every time you defeat a new enemy type, their portrait is sketched into the journal alongside a poem or short story detailing their tragic, brutal, or darkly comic background.
For completionists hunting the "Portraits Perfected" achievement, the game requires you to document 203 distinct entities. The Journal rigidly categorizes these encounters into four distinct tiers, three of which are explicitly yaoguai.
By splitting the enemies this way, Game Science perfectly mirrors the military structure of a yaoguai mountain stronghold from the original novel. Every Yaoguai King has a cadre of Chiefs, and every Chief commands a battalion of Lesser Yaoguai.
The Foot Soldiers: Lesser Yaoguai
The bottom rung of the hierarchy is the Lesser Yaoguai. These are the common mobs that populate the game's six chapters. From the Forest of Wolves to the Flaming Mountains, these creatures act as the rank-and-file soldiers of the local warlord.
Notable Examples:
- Wolf Scout & Wolf Swornsword: The standard infantry found in Chapter 1. They are essentially anthropomorphic wolves who have just begun their cultivation journey.
- Skeletal Snake: Found in the Bamboo Grove, representing the guai aspect—undead or anomalous creatures animated by residual spiritual energy.
- Fungiling & Ginsengling: Sentient plant life that ambush the Destined One, proving that yao can arise from flora just as easily as fauna.
Mechanically, Lesser Yaoguai are the game's fodder. They respawn every time you rest at a Keeper's Shrine. Defeating them yields Will (the game's currency), basic crafting materials like Yarn or Silk, and occasionally minor curios. While they pose little threat individually, their lore entries reveal the grim reality of life at the bottom of the mythological food chain, where they are routinely sacrificed by their superiors.
The Mini-Bosses: Yaoguai Chiefs
If the Lesser Yaoguai are the infantry, the Yaoguai Chiefs are the lieutenants and captains. These are the game's mini-bosses, and they represent the first major skill checks for the player.
Notable Examples:
- Guangzhi: A wolf yaoguai wielding a flaming twin-blade. Defeating him is critical, as he grants the Destined One the Red Tides transformation, allowing you to shapeshift into him during combat.
- Wandering Wight: The massive, big-headed monk that terrorizes new players. He serves as a brutal lesson in stamina management and dodge timing.
- Baw-Li-Guhh-Lang: The giant frog boss of Chapter 1, whose lineage appears in subsequent chapters as elemental variants.
Unlike the lesser mobs, Yaoguai Chiefs do not respawn. They are bespoke, one-time encounters with unique movesets, health bars, and arenas. Killing a Yaoguai Chief is highly lucrative. They frequently drop their "Spirit," a glowing orb that the Destined One can absorb (once the Blessed Gourd is upgraded) to summon them for a single, powerful attack in battle. They also drop rarer upgrade materials necessary for crafting mid-tier armor and weapons.
The Chapter Rulers: Yaoguai Kings
At the apex of the earthly hierarchy sit the Yaoguai Kings (Yao Wang). These are the major chapter bosses—entities of immense power, ancient cultivation, and deep ties to the original Journey to the West lore. A Yaoguai King doesn't just command a squad; they rule an entire region.
Notable Examples:
- Lingxuzi: The giant, white-furred wolf king of the Guanyin Temple. His fight is a cinematic spectacle of sweeping claws and collapsing architecture.
- Black Bear Guai: The final boss of Chapter 1. In the novel, he was a demon who stole Tang Sanzang's cassock. In the game, he has been appointed as a guardian of one of Wukong's Relics, showcasing how former enemies have been co-opted by higher powers.
- Yellow Wind Sage: The ruler of Chapter 2's Yellow Wind Ridge, a massive rat yaoguai whose mastery of the Samadhi Wind makes him a devastating area-of-effect fighter.
Fights against Yaoguai Kings are multi-phased endurance tests. Defeating them is mandatory to progress the game's narrative. They yield the most valuable rewards, including Mind Cores (used to permanently upgrade the Destined One's base stats), unique weapon crafting trees, and the coveted Relics of the Great Sage.
Are All Enemies Yaoguai? The Celestial Blur
One of the most fascinating narrative threads in Black Myth: Wukong is its subversive take on morality and divinity. While the game's journal categorizes the vast majority of enemies as yaoguai, the actual lore blurs the line between a "monster" and a "god."
Not every boss you fight is canonically a yaoguai. The game features several entities from the Celestial Court and the Buddhist pantheon who are just as ruthless, if not more so, than the earthly demons.
The Non-Yaoguai Foes:
- Erlang Shen (The Sacred Divinity): A major Daoist god and the commander of the celestial army. He is a deity, not a yaoguai, yet he serves as one of the game's primary antagonists.
- Kang-Jin Star: A literal constellation brought to life as a massive, lightning-wielding dragon in Chapter 3. She is a celestial official, yet her hostility mirrors any feral beast.
- Yellowbrow: The mastermind of Chapter 3's New Thunderclap Temple. He is a rogue Buddha who believes his brand of brutal, desire-driven enlightenment is superior to traditional Buddhist asceticism.
The game uses these encounters to ask a pointed philosophical question: what really separates a Yaoguai King from a Celestial God? Often, the only difference is political sanction. The gods in Heaven demand tribute and exact cruel punishments, while the yaoguai on Earth simply fight to survive outside that oppressive system. Sun Wukong himself is the ultimate embodiment of this blur—a stone monkey who became a Yaoguai King, rebelled against Heaven, was forced into servitude, and eventually achieved Buddhahood, only to find the system fundamentally broken.
FAQ: What is a Yaoguai Black Myth Edition
What does Yaoguai mean in English? In English, yaoguai is most commonly translated as demon, monster, or spirit. However, these translations lack the nuance of the original Chinese, which specifically implies an animal, plant, or object that has gained magical sentience through centuries of Daoist cultivation.
Is Sun Wukong a Yaoguai? Yes. Sun Wukong was born from a magical stone and cultivated his powers to become a Yaoguai King (The Handsome Monkey King of Mount Huaguo). Although he later achieved the title of Victorious Fighting Buddha, his roots are entirely that of a yaoguai.
How many Yaoguai are in Black Myth: Wukong? To unlock the "Portraits Perfected" achievement, you must document 171 specific yaoguai enemies across the three main tiers (90 Lesser, 55 Chiefs, 26 Kings), plus an additional 32 Characters who are a mix of gods, humans, and allied yaoguai.
Do Yaoguai Chiefs respawn after you kill them? No. Both Yaoguai Chiefs and Yaoguai Kings are one-time boss encounters. Once defeated, they disappear from the world permanently in that playthrough, though you can fight them again in New Game Plus. Only Lesser Yaoguai respawn when you rest at a Keeper's Shrine.
The Final Word on Black Myth's Bestiary
Game Science's decision to lean heavily into the exact terminology of Journey to the West is what elevates Black Myth: Wukong from a standard action RPG to a playable mythological archive. By strictly categorizing its enemies into Lesser Yaoguai, Chiefs, and Kings, the game teaches players the intricate political and spiritual hierarchy of 16th-century Chinese literature without ever feeling like a textbook. The next time a Yaoguai Chief crushes you into the dirt, you'll at least know exactly where they stand on the corporate ladder of the demon realm.
Sources
- Black Myth: Wukong In-Game Journal (Portraits Tab)
- Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West (1592)
- Game Science Developer Interviews & Lore Localizations