Son Goku
There are several versions of this story by Osamu Tezuka. They are, in order: the My Son Goku manga (also called Adventures of Son Goku and occasionally Son Goku the Monkey King), which can be found here at its Tezuka World Manga Series Page; the theatrically-released feature film adaptation of the manga, which was retitled Alakazan the Great, and can be found at its Tezuka World Animation Works Page, where it is listed as Alakazan the Great; and the pilot film for television, Son Goku is Coming: Chapter of Ko-Fu Dai-O, which can be found at its Tezuka World Animated Works Page. The later TV series can be found at its Tezuka World Animated Works Page. All four are slightly different adaptations of the same story.
Goku, or Son Goku, is one of the central characters of Tezuka's adaptations of the Chinese legend of "Hsi Yu Chi," or "Journey to the West," a title usually seen rendered in Japanese as "Saiyuki." Tezuka's portrayal of the character, in the My Son Goku manga which began in 1952 and in both films of the 1960's, long predate such famous animated adaptations of this legend as Dragonball Z and the more recent Saiyuki: Journey to Extremes manga and anime. In the manga, as in the original legend, Goku is the Monkey King, born 2000 years ago on the top of Mount Kaka. He is wise enough to learn magic from a hermit, and then he eventually becomes arrogant in his wisdom and power. He begins to rage against the rules of heaven, and flouts enough of those rules that he is sent to a stone prison from which he cannot escape. While he waits there, a high-ranking priest, Sanzo Hoshi (character profile coming soon), is sent to Tenjiku (the western country, India) to receive a special piece of Buddhist scripture. On the way, the priest frees the Monkey King, gives him the name Son Goku, and brings him along to India, making great use of Goku's powers over the course of their epic journey. While Goku becomes someone who can help others and understand human suffering while under the tutelage of Sanzo, he remains dangerously powerful and intelligent.
NOTE: In the theatrical film released as Alakazan the Great, this name comes from the spellcasting word used by Goku in the American release of the film, which the character uses as a pseudonym when forced to go incognito at various points in the story.