Wu Kong’s most prominent personality trait is bravery and fearlessness. There are conflicting views on that, though. Some say he is defiant and bold just because he is powerful, and he knows that no one can defeat him. Power abuse, anyone? Well, there is a little truth in this. Proof? Once when he lost his magic rod, he became much more polite to the Jade Emperor when asking for assistance. He even made a small bow, which is extremely respectful by Wu Kong’s standards! But then it's not entirely true either. When he was still practically a child, he jumped through a huge, thundering waterfall without a second thought - and he was powerless to defend himself at the time. Does this not show pure courage? And he went across oceans and continents alone to find an immortal who could teach him. That takes a lot of courage, as well as determination and willpower. But after five hundred years and he was on the pilgrimage, there was one occasion when he complained to the Goddess of Mercy that it was too dangerous, there were demons by the millions and what if he died before attainingzheng guo (Buddha status)? He couldn't do it. The Goddess had to give him three life-saving hairs that would change into objects which could help him out of a life and death situation. Only then was he satisfied. Does that mean that after the years he had become cowardly? Perhaps not. As a matter of fact, he really did nearly die during the course of the journey, so his fears were not completely unfounded. Wu Kong is afraid of nothing except death, as can be proved by his search for immortality. Thus, we can justify and forgive this ‘act of cowardice’, which was possibly just an ‘act of prudence’.