Moku-gyou

Moku-gyou
Land	Ming-ken
Location	Mingke-shu Par-fang (statue)
Role	King

Moku-gyou ( ) is the king of the Land of Life Ming-ken. He frequently stutters and repeats entire words, as well as hating ants due to an allergy and wooden objects for no apparent reason. On his head is a bird-like creature that is supposed to eat ants, but they take no action when the player presents one. Moku-gyou is embedded in the Tree of Life Mingke-shu, and the player must scare him with the Koma or Ant to enter the Tree of Life through his mouth.

Tong-Nou Book Entry

King of Ming-ken (Land of Life) who officiates over life and death in the Tong-Nou World. His particular personality and vermin-allergic predisposition, leads him to confine himself within the Mingke-shu (Tree of Life).

Likes

Both confident of and dependent on his symbiotic partner (bird-like creature located above his head) to exterminate vermin. The truth is...NOT.

Dislikes

Under the delusion that vermin and ants will devour his body. Moku-gyou dislikes them. Wooden products are also scary.

Etymology

His name appears to be a fusion of moku (木, or ki, meaning tree / wood) and gyou (行), a kanji that can mean "to circulate" or "to travel"; which originates from the Wu Xing philosophical concept, also known as the Chinese "Five Elements" (五行, go-gyou in Japanese).

In which case, as his name and domains theme suggest, Moku-gyou is a representation of the element of Wood. The element is also linked to the spring season, the color green, the virtue of benevolence, a scaly body, and the East cardinal direction.

Another kanji for moku (目, eye, order) could also be fitting due to the big eye under Moku-gyou's mouth being a noticeable feature of his design.

Gallery

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  An early design of Moku-gyou from a MacJapan Bros interview.

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  Moku-gyou's appearance in the Karacters gallery.

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  Moku-gyou's appearance in the Tong-Nou Illustrated Book.

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  Moku-gyou's silhouette in Xia-Che.

Trivia

• Moku-gyou has an extremely obscure line: as Tou, the player must use the ant on Moku-gyou while he is explaining Tou's mission, which causes him to say: "Wha, wha, What are you doing? It's, It's no time for games.".
• An early render of Moku-gyou shows him with a smaller mouth, an extra pair of eyes, and a nose.
• Moku-gyou's 2D design can be seen several times in the video for Xia-Che.
  • The “torso” of Moku-gyou’s illustration in the Tong-Nou Illustrated Book can also be seen in Xia-Che, as a 3D render.