Why Are the Dragon Clan So Miserable in Nezha 2?
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I. Dragons Trapped by Demon Origins
As we all know, whether in Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child or its sequel Nezha: Chaos in the Sea, the Dragon Clan has always appeared in the films as both Nezha’s powerful opponents and capable teammates.
Clearly, they are extremely powerful—so powerful that they disdain Nezha and even dare to confront the Yuxu Palace head-on.
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Yet, why is such a powerful Dragon Clan trapped by the Heavenly Court in the magma at the bottom of the sea, suppressing the demon clan under the sea on behalf of the immortals? Even so, they have never been trusted by the Yuxu Palace. To the extent that the Immortal Wuliang would frame them just to eliminate them.
Then the question arises: What did the Dragon Clan do to end up in such a miserable situation?
To explain this, we need to look for answers in the first film. At that time, the Dragon King of the East China Sea said something to Ao Bing, explaining why the Dragon Clan could not leave the seabed.
In ancient times, the Dragon Clan was once the supreme ruler of all scaled creatures, dominating the world. Later, during the war between the immortal clan and the demon clan, they chose to submit to the Heavenly Court and helped it suppress the demons. Their purpose in doing so was actually very simple: to shed their identity as demons and become official immortals of the Heavenly Court.
Unfortunately, although the Dragon Clan finally achieved their goal and was conferred the title of "Dragon Kings" by the Heavenly Court, they lost their freedom in the process. Even though they had the Dragon Palace, countless demons were suppressed under the magma beneath the palace, making it impossible for them to leave:
"They call it the Dragon Palace, but it’s actually a prison! If we leave here, the demons suppressed by our divine power will all escape. We can’t take even half a step away!"
Indeed, the position of Dragon King not only suppressed the undersea demons but also imprisoned the Dragon Clan in this prison forever. The Dragon King of the East China Sea gave the reason for this outcome:
"After all, dragons are of demon origin—how could they gain the Heavenly Court’s trust?"
However, the solution they came up with was not to resist the Heavenly Court, but to further integrate into it. So, after waiting for a thousand years, they finally got the chance of the Spirit Bead’s reincarnation. They wanted to use this reincarnation opportunity to let Ao Bing refine his dragon horns, defeat the Demon Bead, and become the true Spirit Bead.
This is also why Shen Gongbao took the initiative to become Ao Bing’s master. As long as Ao Bing made merits through the Fengshen War, ascended to heaven as an immortal, he might have the chance to lead the Dragon Clan out of this prison.
II. Ao Bing’s Immortal Plan
Although the Dragon King of the East China Sea knew that his origin made it difficult to gain the Heavenly Court’s trust, he still pinned his hopes on Ao Bing (rather than his other siblings) in accordance with the Heavenly Court’s rules.
For example, the Dragon Kings of the West, South, and North China Seas were undoubtedly unwilling to obey their elder brother and work for the Heavenly Court in the past. Therefore, even though they were also conferred the title of Dragon Kings, they were chained and could not take a single step out of their Dragon Palaces. This is why, in the second film, these three Dragon Kings betrayed their elder brother, compromised in another way, and left their Dragon Palaces.
It was precisely because the Dragon King of the East China Sea placed all the hopes of the Dragon Clan’s revival on Ao Bing that after Ao Bing’s death in the first film, he vowed to take revenge on Chentang Pass—even if the Yuxu Palace found out, he would not hesitate.
Regrettably, just as the Dragon King of the East China Sea had feared, the Heavenly Court still did not trust them. The Immortal Wuliang of the Yuxu Palace even resorted to framing them to wipe out the entire Dragon Clan and eliminate future troubles.
Thus, Shen Gongbao, who was the first to see through this, once said:
"Prejudice in people’s hearts is like a huge mountain—no matter how hard you try, you can never move it."
This sentence was a summary of Shen Gongbao’s own experience. No matter how hard he worked, he could not change his identity as a leopard spirit. Even his status in the eyes of the Heavenly Lord was not as high as that of Taiyi Zhenren (who was lazy and gluttonous), and he could never gain favor. He could only act as the Immortal Wuliang’s "black glove," doing dirty work, and would be pushed out as a sacrifice when the time was right.
This sentence also applies to the Dragon Clan: they did the dirty work of suppressing demons for the Heavenly Court, yet they were still suspected.
III. Prejudice Against Non-Immortals
Similarly, Shen Gongbao’s words also refer to Nezha. As the reincarnation of the Demon Bead, Nezha was not favored by the villagers from the moment he was born. They even forced Heavenly King Li to kill his own son to eliminate this "disaster."
Think about it: "You, the Dragon Clan, are demons after all! We’ve already given you a title—how dare you still want freedom? Dream on!"
Therefore, if the Dragon Clan kept their promise and continued to suppress demons for the Heavenly Court, they would never gain freedom. But if they left the Dragon Palace to pursue freedom, they would give the Heavenly Court an excuse to wipe them out completely.
They finally waited for a once-in-a-millennium opportunity, but Nezha ruined it—this is how the "Chaos in the Sea" in the second film began.
Fortunately, both the Dragon Clan and Nezha had intelligence and the ability to speak. More importantly, Shen Gongbao knew the Yuxu Palace and the immortal clan well, understanding their true nature. So, at the critical moment, he told everyone the truth, triggering a great battle in which the Dragon Clan, the demon clan, and Nezha joined forces to fight against the Immortal Wuliang.
Beating up the Immortal Wuliang was indeed satisfying, but after calming down, the Dragon Clan realized they had fallen into a great crisis. To avoid being retaliated against by the Heavenly Court’s immortals, they decided to take the demon clan to the deep sea and continue to hide. At the same time, the Dragon King of the East China Sea knew that he could not hide forever, so he still agreed to let Ao Bing join Nezha in opposing this unjust Heavenly Dao.
Meanwhile, the Immortal Wuliang took away the other three Dragon Kings—who had already been worn down and only wanted to escape the "purgatory." He also used Shen Gongbao’s father to threaten Shen Gongbao, turning him into a mere pawn of the Yuxu Palace.
With this, the second film came to an end. Undoubtedly, in the third film, Nezha and Ao Bing will march to the Heavenly Court and redefine the rules of cultivating immortality.
IV. Sea Chaos Uprising
This brings us back to the original question: The Dragon Clan’s strength is obvious to all, yet their status in the Nezha series is indeed low—otherwise, they would not have pinned all their hopes on Ao Bing becoming an immortal.
Then, what about the Dragon Clan’s status in Journey to the West? Are they as miserable as in Nezha 2?
In fact, in people’s minds, dragons have always been supreme. Among humans, the most powerful ruler (the Emperor) often claims to be a "true dragon descending to earth" or the "Son of the True Dragon." Don’t think that the Emperor’s status is lower than that of a Demon King or Ghost King—in fact, it is not. When Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong of Tang) went to the Underworld, the Ten Yama Kings (rulers of the Underworld) hurried out of the Hall of the Netherworld, bowed respectfully, and greeted him.
Li Shimin was a little confused and asked: "Why are you saluting me?"
The Ten Yama Kings replied:
"Your Majesty is the Human Emperor in the Yang World, and we are the Ghost Kings in the Yin World. This is our due respect—there is no need for you to decline."
This actually confirms what the Tathagata Buddha once said: There are five types of immortals in the universe—Heavenly Immortals, Earth Immortals, Human Immortals, Ghost Immortals, and Demon Immortals. Obviously, the Human Emperor ranks higher than the Ghost Kings.
Moreover, Li Shimin was not just an ordinary Human Emperor—he was the "Son of the True Dragon." This was confirmed when the Dragon King of the Jing River appeared to him in a dream and said:
"Your Majesty is a true dragon, while I am a karmic dragon. I have violated the Heavenly Law and am supposed to be executed by Wei Zheng (the Human Official under Your Majesty). So I come to beg you—please save my life!"
In other words, even the dignified Dragon King of the Jing River had to call Li Shimin a "true dragon" (referring to himself as a "false dragon") and beg him for help when facing the Human Emperor.
Therefore, from the perspective of humans, true dragons are definitely supreme and hold an absolutely high status. However, from the perspective of the Dragon Clan itself, the situation is much more complicated.
V. Hiding in the Deep Sea
In Journey to the West, there are so many Dragon Kings that they are divided into different ranks, with varying statuses.
In fact, during the process of cultivating to become immortals, if a creature accidentally offends a powerful immortal, a great demon, or even an ordinary human and gets killed, that’s just the end of it. For example, lion demons, leopard demons, scorpion demons, elephants, crocodiles, rabbits, foxes—you can kill them without worry, and the Heavenly Court will never trouble you.
But dragons are different—especially the children of the Four Sea Dragon Kings (Dragon Kings of the East, West, South, and North China Seas). Each of them is extremely precious!
Take Nezha, for example: The Nezha in Nezha: Chaos in the Sea is actually quite "kind"—at least he doesn’t kill dragons for fun. But in Journey to the West, the young prince of Heavenly King Li is incredibly fierce. He went to the sea to "cleanse himself" and cause trouble just three days after he was born. He trampled down the Crystal Palace, captured a flood dragon, and wanted to pull out its tendons to make a sash. When Heavenly King Li found out, he was so afraid of future troubles that he wanted to kill Nezha:
"Three days after this prince was born, he went to the sea to cleanse himself and caused chaos. He trampled the Crystal Palace, captured a flood dragon, and intended to pull out its tendons to make a sash. When the Heavenly King learned of this, he feared future disasters and wanted to kill Nezha."
The key point here is not that Nezha killed a dragon, but that when Heavenly King Li heard the news, he was so frightened that he wanted to kill Nezha first to eliminate future troubles.
Even the Dragon King of the Jing River (who called himself a "karmic dragon") had nine sons with nine different species. Except for the little alligator dragon (born to a crocodile), the other eight all held important positions with stable status:
"The first son, the Little Yellow Dragon, resides in the Huai River; the second, the Little Black Dragon, lives in the Ji River; the third, the Green-Backed Dragon, occupies the Yangtze River; the fourth, the Red-Bearded Dragon, guards the Yellow River; the fifth, the Diligent Dragon, rings the bell for the Buddha; the sixth, the Stable Beast Dragon, guards the ridges of divine palaces; the seventh, the Respectful Dragon, guards the celestial Huabiao pillars for the Jade Emperor; the eighth, the Mirage Dragon, supports the Taiyue Mountain under his eldest brother’s command."
VI. Dragon Clan’s Status Illusion
In other words, as long as members of the Dragon Clan do not act recklessly—unlike the Dragon King of the Jing River (who disobeyed the Heavenly Order) or the Old Dragon King of Wansheng (who was foolish enough to confront the Scripture-Taking Team)—most of them can get a stable position and live a peaceful life.
Thus, we can see that in the entire Journey to the West world, the only creatures that can compare in number to the countless Mountain Gods and Earth Gods are the Dragon Clan. Where there is land, there is an Earth God; where there is a mountain, there is a Mountain God. Similarly, where there is water—whether it is sea water, river water, lake water, stream water, well water, or pond water—there lives a Dragon King.
Moreover, these Dragon Kings also hold a supreme status in the eyes of humans. For example, in the Chechi Kingdom, the king said that he had lived for decades and had never seen a Dragon King. He hoped that his national masters (three Taoist demons) and Sun Wukong would compete to see if they could summon a Dragon King, so that he could pay his respects.
When the Four Sea Dragon Kings really appeared, this is how the king and everyone else reacted:
"The king burned incense in the hall, and all the ministers bowed and worshipped on the steps."
More importantly, these positions all come with "official status"—they are recognized by the Heavenly Court. Other species do not enjoy this treatment. Even if a creature is gifted and works hard from an early age to cultivate into a green ox demon, a lion demon, or an elephant demon, none of these great demons are less capable than the Dragon Kings. However, it is extremely difficult for them to obtain an official position.
Those who are lucky enough to be appreciated by powerful immortals may become their mounts, pets, or gatekeepers. Those with an average fate may occupy a piece of land and become a demon king who does not cause trouble. But most of them are either killed by humans or eliminated by powerful immortals. After all, as the Scripture-Taking Team traveled westward, they never showed mercy when killing little demons.
VII. Dragons as Immortal Feasts
However, just as Nezha: Chaos in the Sea reveals, the Dragon Clan is after all descendants of demons. Even though they work hard doing the most menial tasks, in the eyes of immortals, they are nothing more than a dish to eat.
For example, after the Tathagata Buddha subdued Sun Wukong, the Jade Emperor specially held the "Heaven-Annihilating Feast" to entertain him. At the feast, a special dish was mentioned—"dragon liver and phoenix marrow":
"Please let the Tathagata sit on the Seven-Treasure Platform. Arrange seats for all, and serve dragon liver, phoenix marrow, jade nectar, and flat peaches."
Of course, in front of the Jade Emperor, not to mention the Dragon Clan—even immortals can be killed or demoted at will, let alone humans. In the Fengxian County, just because the Jade Emperor was displeased, he issued an imperial decree, and most of the people in the county died of drought.
Besides the Jade Emperor who ate dragon liver, the Lingshan (the Buddha’s holy land) also did not take the Dragon Clan seriously. For example, the Golden-Winged Roc (a powerful demon bird under the Buddha) ate 500 dragons every day. To prevent the Roc from eating the "wrong" dragons, the Tathagata Buddha specially made a kasaya (monk’s robe) and gave it to Tang Seng:
"This kasaya—if a dragon wears even a wisp of it, it can avoid being eaten by the Roc; if a crane hangs even a thread of it, it can achieve transcendence and become a saint."
In fact, this was equivalent to indirectly "selling" to the Dragon Clan: As long as you wear my kasaya, you don’t have to fear being eaten by the Roc. Therefore, the Four Sea Dragon Kings could only swallow their grievances—on the one hand, they kept sending dragons to be eaten by the Roc; on the other hand, they had to maintain a smile towards him.
The old man transformed by the Venus Taibai once described the Golden-Winged Roc to Sun Wukong:
"The Four Sea Dragon Kings have been his friends; the Eight-Cave Immortals often hold gatherings with him; the Ten Yama Kings call him their brother; and the City Gods and Earth Gods treat him as a guest and friend."
Clearly, the Roc eats dragons, yet the Dragon Kings still have to be friends with him—just because the Roc has a high status. Even if they go to the Heavenly Court to file a complaint, they will never win.
VIII. Dragon Clan’s Survival Tactics
Not to mention that the Roc eats dragons—even when it devoured all the people of Shituo Kingdom, the Heavenly Court never came to punish it.
That’s why Venus Taibai said:
“When that demon sends a letter to Lingshan, five hundred Arhats come to greet him; when he sends a note to the Heavenly Palace, the Eleven Great Stars all show him respect.”
In such a situation, the Dragon Clan can only accept their fate and obediently send dragons for the Roc to eat.
Even an ordinary human can capture a Dragon King and kill him. For example, the Dragon King of Hongjiang was once caught by a fisherman. Fortunately, he was saved by Chen Guangrui—otherwise, he would have lost his life:
“Sir, the golden carp you released earlier is me. You are my savior.”
Not to mention the dignified Dragon King of the Jing River, who was actually tricked by the human Yuan Shoucheng and beheaded in his dream by the human official Wei Zheng. Alas, what a tragedy!
In the final analysis, the Dragon Clan in Journey to the West is still no match for humans. In the eyes of immortals, their status is only slightly higher than that of demons.
This also leads to the fact that even the Four Sea Dragon Kings—who hold the highest status among their clan—show extreme awe when they see immortals. Even when facing slightly powerful demons, they bow and grovel, currying favor with them. What’s more, they can’t even interact normally with immortals or humans; instead, they often mix with demons.
For instance, when Sun Wukong—still a stone monkey demon—came to visit, the Dragon King of the East China Sea hurried out to greet him, offered him a seat, and served him tea, saying:
“Esteemed Immortal, please come in, please come in!”
He not only gave the “Fixed Sea Divine Needle Iron” to Sun Wukong as a “friendly gift” but also presented him with a full set of equipment. If Sun Wukong hadn’t later broken into the Underworld wielding the Golden Cudgel, making the Dragon King of the East China Sea fear being implicated, he would probably not have dared to go to the Heavenly Court to file a complaint at all.
IX. Dragon Clan’s Power Plays
Although the Dragon Clan in Journey to the West has always lived with extreme caution, they still seek opportunities to expand their power whenever possible.
Take the Dragon King of the West China Sea, for example—he connived at the Little Alligator Dragon (his nephew) to seize the Black Water River God’s mansion and even forbade the River God from filing a complaint:
“It turns out the Dragon King of the West China Sea is his maternal uncle. He refused to accept my complaint and told me to give up the mansion to his nephew.”
When they heard that the Lion Demon of Wuji Kingdom was powerful, the Four Sea Dragon Kings immediately went to curry favor with him. As it was said:
“He (the Lion Demon) has immense magical powers and is well-connected with officials. The City God of the capital often drinks with him, and all the Sea Dragon Kings are on good terms with him.”
When they learned that the Carp Demon of the Tongtian River had connections with Guanyin Bodhisattva, they sent the Mandarin Fish Lady to ingratiate themselves with the demon. As the Mandarin Fish Lady said:
“Back in the East Ocean, I once heard the Old Dragon King speak of his (the Carp Demon’s) reputation—he is the one who caused chaos in the Heavenly Palace five hundred years ago…”
Then there’s the Golden-Winged Roc mentioned earlier. Even though it eats members of the Dragon Clan, the Dragons still shamelessly try to curry favor with it. Isn’t this just because the Roc has the Tathagata Buddha backing him?
This even led Sun Wukong to mock the Buddha after meeting him, saying:
“Don’t mention it! Don’t mention it! That demon (the Roc) is friends with that young lad of mine (Macaque King). He’s not that great after all.”
Then there are the three Rhinoceros Demons of Jinping Prefecture. When they were chased by Sun Wukong and the Heavenly Court’s divine generals, why did they flee to the West China Sea instead of going elsewhere?
It was precisely because the Dragon King of the West China Sea was on good terms with them and they had frequent interest exchanges. Unfortunately, the three Rhinoceros Demons were eventually betrayed. No matter how foolish the Dragon King of the West China Sea was, he dared not oppose Sun Wukong, the forces behind him, or the Heavenly Court. So when he saw the three Rhinoceros Demons coming to seek help, he immediately took action without hesitation, shouting:
“Hurry up, naval soldiers! The three Rhinoceros Demons—Pihan, Pishu, and Pichen—must have provoked Sun Wukong. Now that they’ve fled to the sea, draw your swords and help capture them at once!”
X. Prisoners of Heavenly Rules
If the Dragon King of the West China Sea didn’t know the three Rhinoceros Demons, how could he have named them directly without even seeing them?
What’s more, the Four Sea Dragon Kings once even sheltered the three demon national masters of Chechi Kingdom. After all, when it comes to praying for rain, it is the Dragon Kings who actually send the rain. Since they knew it was demons who were praying for rain, why did they delay reporting this to the Jade Emperor and explaining the situation?
Not to mention that Immortal Yangli (one of the three demon masters) even had a “Cold Dragon” hidden on him. As Sun Wukong noticed:
“When I bathed in the oil cauldron, the oil was boiling hot, but when he bathed in it, the oil turned cold. I see now—some Dragon King must be secretly protecting him here!”
Sun Wukong was so angry that he cursed: “Which lowly little loach dares to help the demon?” Frightened, the Dragon King of the North China Sea immediately appeared and took the Cold Dragon away:
“The Dragon King transformed into a whirlwind, flew to the oil cauldron, and captured the Cold Dragon, taking it back to the sea…”
Even the Nine-Headed Insect, who colluded with the Old Dragon King of Wansheng, fled to the North China Sea after being wounded. How could this have nothing to do with the Dragon King of the North China Sea?
Through the connection that the Nine-Headed Insect was on good terms with the Bull Demon King, it’s easy to infer that the Four Sea Dragon Kings also had ties to the Bull Demon King. Otherwise, the Dragon Kings always claim that they dare not send rain privately without the Jade Emperor’s order. Moreover, they couldn’t have been unaware that the rain they sent would be useless against the “Samadhi True Fire” spat by Red Boy (the Bull Demon King’s son)—yet they still sent it anyway.
This was no less than “pouring oil on the fire,” and it wasn’t just a light drizzle, but a downpour:
“Water rushed through gullies like thousands of pieces of jade; streams and springs swelled into silver waves. Crossroads were soon submerged, and winding streams gradually filled to the brim.”
It should be noted that this downpour almost cost Sun Wukong his life!
So don’t be fooled into thinking that the Four Sea Dragon Kings are truly friends with Sun Wukong—those are just superficial pleasantries. If they were really friends, why didn’t the Dragon King of the East China Sea (Sun Wukong’s neighbor) ever think to save Huaguoshan after it was burned down by Erlang Shen, even after more than five hundred years?
It wasn’t until Sun Wukong returned that he went to threaten the Dragon Kings specifically, which finally saved Huaguoshan. As the story goes:
“He (Sun Wukong) went to the Four Sea Dragon Kings and borrowed some ‘divine sweet rain’ to wash the mountain green again.”
This is just like what Ao Run, the Dragon King of the West China Sea, said in Nezha: Chaos in the Sea when he surrendered to Immortal Wuliang:
“I was ignorant when I was young. It was only after a thousand years in prison that I finally understood—who it is that makes the rules of this world!”
It is precisely because of this that the prejudice in people’s hearts dooms the Dragon Clan to never be on equal footing with immortals. They can only vent their resentment in other ways, but ultimately, they are helpless to change their fate.
