The Story of Wukong
Wukong is a vastayan — one of the magical being-types who exist between human and animal — and specifically a monkey of extraordinary capability who grew up in Ionia's wilds with skills that exceeded any teacher available to him locally. He sought out Master Yi, the last master of Wuju, because the Wuju fighting philosophy was the only tradition that seemed to demand enough of him. Yi took him on as a student, and Wukong became something the Wuju tradition had never produced before.
He is brilliantly talented and entirely committed to his own interpretation of every technique Yi teaches. Wukong learns a move, understands it completely, and then immediately starts figuring out how to do it in a way his size and speed make more interesting. This drives more traditional students to distraction and Yi to a mixture of pride and exasperation. Wukong is not being disrespectful — he has profound respect for Yi and for Wuju. He's just also convinced that the tradition has more dimensions than have been explored yet.
His weapon — the staff — extends and contracts at his command, giving him reach, leverage, and a toolkit of combat options that complement the Wuju techniques he's absorbed. He uses it with the creativity of someone who has always improvised his way through challenges, and the precision of someone who has been drilling fundamentals under a master's eye. He is young, powerful, and curious about everything. The world has not shown him enough yet to slow him down.