Mezuki (Horse-Face), and his comrade, Gozuki (Ox-Head), are a pair of powerful Underworld guardians in Chinese mythology. When you die, Mezuki and Gozuki are typically the first supernatural entities that you'll meet--they often personally escort the souls of the recently deceased into the afterlife. It's also their job to hunt down wayward spirits that somehow manage to escape divine notice and remain in the realm of the living where they don't belong. Once these lost souls are found, and subdued, the brutish duo drag them back to the Underworld, to face whatever judgement, and punishment, awaits them for their deeds in life.

Mezuki and Gozuki have appeared in many myths and legends, but perhaps most famously in Wu Cheng'en's 16th century tale "Journey To The West", which is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature (it's also the same story that Akira Toriyama's original Dragonball manga/anime is loosely based upon.) In the book, Mezuki and Gozuki are sent to capture Sun Wukong/Son Goku (The Monkey King) and bring him to Hell, but, in typical hero fashion, he beats the living snot out of them, and they flee in terror. Adding injury to insult, Sun Wukong then proceeds to break into the Underworld and strikes out his name, as well as those of every monkey he knows, from the Book of Life and Death, essentially granting himself, and his simian people, immortality. That's what happens when you mess with The Monkey King, Horse-Face!

This figure was modeled from scratch over a period of four days and finished with acrylic paint. I considered making Mezuki's life partner, Gozuki, as well, but, I didn't have the time (that, plus I don't find minotaurs terribly exciting.)