Nataku only appears in Saiyuki Gaiden and in the anime Saiyuki, episode called "War Prince Nataku". Nataku is based on the Taoist deity Nezha. He is a half-mortal war god who won the then-divine Goku's friendship. Unfortunately, Nataku falls into a catactonic state (the reasons for this are not disclosed in the anime) and sits in the divine garden of heaven with only the Goddess of Mercy to keep him company staring blankly ahead for all time. In the series, Nataku is decidedly more somber than Goku and is resigned to being a puppet (he was 'given the honor' of being the War prince, a role which is later passed onto Homura) to the Gods. Furthermore, Nataku goes by a different title, but his background is still very much the same - right down to a Commander father and spear weapon. (However, it is glaringly obvious as the series goes on that the Commander is exploiting his son for fame and recognition from the Gods, reversing the roles that Nataku is to blame for misfortune) Nataku's father however, is then lectured by Field Marshal Tenpou (the past reincarnation of Cho Hakkai) and further mistreatment of his son is then yet to be seen in the series.

Many years ago, humans and demons lived in harmony. But that unity ended when demons started attacking humans and plotted a mission to unleash Gyumao - an evil demon imprisoned for thousands of years. Now, Genjo Sanzo, a rogue priest, must team up with three demons - Sha Gojyo, Son Goku, and Cho Hakkai - and embark on a perilous journey to the west to stop these demons from resurrecting Gyumao and restore the balance between humans and demons on Earth.
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(Source: Anime News Network)

500 years before the story of Saiyuki, a heretic child with golden eyes is brought into Heaven. He is given into the reluctant care of a minor deity named Konzen, the nephew of the Merciful Goddess Kanzeon Bosatsu. Konzen eventually gives the child the name "Goku". Goku becomes friends with two other minor gods, Marshal Tenpou and General Kenren of the Western Army of Heaven. He also meets a strange little boy who seems to be his own age, the War Prince Nataku. Although Goku is happy in his new home, Heaven is not kind to heretics. There are those who would use Nataku and Goku as tools in an attempt to seize the throne of Heaven, and Konzen, Tenpou, and Kenren may not be able to save them.
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(Source: Anime News Network)

An OVA adaptation of the climactic part of Saiyuki Gaiden.

Clint Bickham is an American voice actor and ADR script writer working with Funimation Entertainment/OkraTron 5000 and ADV Films/Seraphim Digital.

Nataku Taishi