Nataku Taishi

Overview

Nataku only appears in Saiyuki Gaiden and in the anime Saiyuki, episode called "War Prince Nataku". Nataku is based on the Taoist deity Nezha. He is a half-mortal war god who won the then-divine Goku's friendship. Unfortunately, Nataku falls into a catactonic state (the reasons for this are not disclosed in the anime) and sits in the divine garden of heaven with only the Goddess of Mercy to keep him company staring blankly ahead for all time. In the series, Nataku is decidedly more somber than Goku and is resigned to being a puppet (he was 'given the honor' of being the War prince, a role which is later passed onto Homura) to the Gods. Furthermore, Nataku goes by a different title, but his background is still very much the same - right down to a Commander father and spear weapon. (However, it is glaringly obvious as the series goes on that the Commander is exploiting his son for fame and recognition from the Gods, reversing the roles that Nataku is to blame for misfortune) Nataku's father however, is then lectured by Field Marshal Tenpou (the past reincarnation of Cho Hakkai) and further mistreatment of his son is then yet to be seen in the series.