Sun Wukong

If you’ve ever read the Dragon Ball manga or watched any of the animes, you may see why I’m submitting this.

Little did I know that there was a historical religious background behind the character.

And even though the wiki article only mentions it briefly:

> The character of Son Goku in Dragon Ball is based on Sun Wukong, as attested by his monkey tail, staff, and name (which is simply the Japanese reading of the same name in Chinese: 孫悟空).

The similarities are clear as day. Son Goku transformed into a giant monkey/ape (like a Monkey King of sorts) early on in the story when he had his tail, and his weapon of choice as they note is a fighting stick.