108 Stars of Destiny

The 108 Stars of Destiny (天導一百零八星) are at the core of the plot of the Chinese classic Shui Hu Zhuan (水滸傳), commonly translated as Water Margin, Outlaws of the Marsh, or All Men Are Brothers, written by Shi Nai'an during the 14th century. Suikoden (水滸伝) is a Japanese translation for Shui Hu Zhuan which has been made into a series of role-playing video games. Based on the Taoist concept that each person's destiny is tied to a Star of Destiny (宿星), the 108 Stars of Destiny are stars that represent 108 demonic overlords who have been banished by the Taoist sage, Shang Ti. Having repented since their banishment, the stars are released from their place of banishment by accident, and are reborn in the world as 108 heroes who band together for the cause of justice.

The 108 Stars of Destiny are translated into the 36 Heavenly Spirits and the 72 Earthly Fiends. Other titles for the Stars of Destiny include The 108 Stars of Heavenly Earth and The 108 Stars of Heaven and Earth. One Heavenly Spirit, Lu Zhishen, is represented in a folktale as a sworn brother of Zhou Tong. According to The Oral Traditions of Yangzhou Storytelling, several popular folktales about the Heavenly Spirit Wu Song, from the "Wang School" of Yangzhou storytelling, state that he killed the tiger "in the middle of the tenth month" of the "Xuanhe year " (the emphasis belongs to the original author). In Iron Arm, Golden Saber, Earthly Fiend Sun Li is portrayed as a fellow student of Zhou Tong and Luan Tingyu. In Louis Cha's wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Earthly Fiend Guo Sheng is said to be the ancestor of the protagonist Guo Jing.