While Hermes/Mercury serves as the messenger of the gods in Graeco-Roman mythology, in Chinese folklore, Venus gets the job. While few people today still worship the Greek pantheon, many throughout the Asian world still practice Taoism, and so the Gold Star of Venus, or Tai Bai Jingshing (太白金星) still gets love.
And since we missed it last time, here are some images of the Jade Emperor:
This is also the first time we really see the Monkey King in pitched battle, a favorite subject for many talented artists:
Interestingly enough, few want to depict the more monstrous depictions of the various combatants. In any case, here is Prince Nata and his flaming wheels (right), which are hard to describe with words alone:
