However, the holy scriptures never said anything about dressing the monkey up to better suit my liking, so here we are. Let’s rank & review Wukong’s skin line, and determine which ones are the most worthy of embracing, taking into account their designs, features, and the price tags they proudly sport.
7. General Wukong
Released: July 26th, 2011 Price: 750 RP Not going to lie, this skin was kind of disappointing. It features one of the best splash arts with Wukong looking like a blood-thirsty warrior preparing to stare down an entire army – but it just flops in-game. In the splash art we can see fire coming out of his shoulder piece and from the tip of his staff. Plus his hair is yellow and his gear is threatening. But none of that carries over to the in-game character model. It just looks like the base Wukong that happened to stumble upon a Skyrim gear set or something. I can’t say this is terrible overall, as the armor itself is rather detailed. And it doesn’t stray too much from what we liked in the original model. But it is underwhelming. It also features no new animations or voice lines, so no bonus points there either.
6. Jade Dragon Wukong
Released: January 10th, 2012 Price: 975 RP Now this skin is pretty great. It costs only slightly more than General Wukong, but it delivers so much more when it comes to presentation. The in-game model matches the splash art pretty well, with that glowing green aura being present in his ability animations – most notably his ult – and that sick armor set looking just as sweet on the Rift. Jade Dragon Wukong really hones in on Wukong’s status as a warrior training in the overpowered arts of the Wuju, making him look and feel like a true monkey monk manslaughter-er. However, the reason why I personally rank the skin a bit lower is that there’s a different skin in Wukong’s arsenal that takes all of those same elements, but exemplifies them even more. (Keep reading to see what it is!) So if you’re looking for a budget skin, this one is definitely worth it. But if you’re looking for the best skin, we should keep going.
5. Battle Academia Wukong
Released: March 18th, 2021 Price: 1350 RP This was truly a Hail Mary of a skin design, and it just did not stick the landing with me. It makes Wukong barely recognizable, going against the “embrace monkey” doctrine and making him appear more like a high school boy than anything else. The skin is also very anime in style, with some kawaii stickers popping up at the end of the W animation, which I didn’t like as much as I thought I would. The skin does offer some pretty neat animations, with the backing animation and the hoverboard homeguard animation stealing the show. But overall, Battle Academia Wukong feels slightly off. I’m sure that there are Wukong mains who absolutely love this skin, especially given how unique it is. But I’ll have to leave it right here in my ranking for now. Maybe if they add an “omae wa mou shinderu” voice line after you use your W, I’ll reconsider.
4. Volcanic Wukong
Released: July 26th, 2011 Price: 975 RP This is another great budget skin, as it takes full advantage of the fact that Wukong isn’t very animation heavy. As the name would suggest, fire is the name of the game when it comes to this skin – with flames bursting out of your head and both of your arms. The rest of the body is also heavily scarred and very much charred, which is some nice visual story-telling. Since Wukong’s kit isn’t very flashy to begin with, the base animations for the Q, W, and E are all fine. But I will say that the ult felt just slightly underwhelming. If they had just added some flame particles to his ult, this skin would be bumped up by one or two placements. But as it stands now, it’s just short of the final three.
3. Underworld Wukong
Released: October 28th, 2014 Price: 1350 RP Underworld Wukong is edgy in all of the right ways. The skin is very dark, with Wukong looking like something the Mist spit out. It’s a notable design, what with his greenish skin, blue facial hair, badass armor, and axe tail. Yes, you read that correctly: the dude has an axe tail now. His animations were also rendered quite spooky, with his W now doing a little menacing laugh and showcasing a skull once it disappears. The only real downers here are his backing animation, which wasn’t necessarily “bad” but paled in comparison to the other high-end skins, and the fact that he sounds too cheerful for someone this demonic – even with the ominous voice filter they added. Overall, it’s a really polished and cool skin that just lacked a bit of that oomph to take the number one spot.
2. Lancer Stratus Wukong
Released: April 4th, 2018 Price: 1350 RP This skin is honestly worth getting for the splash art alone. I mean, just look at that thing! You look like an ancient machine only woken up once a millennium to save the planet or something. Eat your heart out Galio. In-game, this skin is just as epic (surprisingly), with lightsaber sound effects going off whenever you hit something – as well as some blue particle effects for your Q, E, and R. The character model also looks quite dashing, with some slick white-yellow armor on top, and some more mechanical blue machinery underneath. Plus, your homeguard animation has you using a little jetpack – which lands the skin a lot of bonus points. On the technical side of things, I do believe this is the best Wukong skin you can get. However, there’s one skin that wins out based strictly on the theme it used…
1. Radiant Wukong
Released: January 27th, 2016 Price: 1350 RP Radiant Wukong just feels like the base skin, but better in every way. It takes that Sun Wukong theme and cranks it up to eleven, making you look and feel like a god. First off, the skin features a very strong yellow and orange color scheme, which will awaken the Dragon Ball Z nostalgia you didn’t even know you had. And if that wasn’t enough, a nimbus cloud is also proudly featured in almost all of the animations: the end of the W, your ult, you backing animation, and even your homeguard. That last one is especially cool, as you finally get to ride a nimbus cloud into battle like Goku did all those years ago. Maybe it’s just my love for the Dragon Ball franchise, maybe it’s because the skin is the most god-like out there, or maybe it’s just objectively the most appealing skin if you consider Wukong’s lore. But whatever reason we go with, this is my pick for Wukong’s top League skin. Note: this content was created under Riot Games’ “Legal Jibber Jabber” policy using assets owned by Riot Games. Riot Games does not endorse or sponsor this project.
