HORIZON ASTROLOGY

Chinese Zodiac Compatibility
Tiger and Monkey

Compatibility overview

Chinese astrology is well known for severe judgements about potentially unstable energy. The match between firsteast and secondeast is considered one of the most seriously challenging, with a significant likelihood of tension, miscommunication, and outright conflict. There are counterbalancing positives—indeed, these two are capable of prodigious achievements and attracting extraordinary attention. Actually enjoying their time together, however, could require plenty of delicacy and effort.

Tiger and Monkey - Relationship Horoscope

Read more about the TIGER and MONKEY zodiac signs...

Diametrically opposed across the Chinese zodiac wheel are six Opposite combinations. One of these is the Monkey and Tiger. This energy is said to be eternally difficult to reconcile.

Not only do these signs have little in common, but they often take great pride in those aspects of their character that are most repellent to their opposing sign. Brilliantly skilled and energetic, the Monkey is a born agitator, a spirited mischief-maker whose brand of extreme creativity emphasizes irreverence, wicked humor, and versatility. The Tiger, on the other hand, is serious-minded and self-reliant, deeply committed to their personal ethics of service and humanitarianism, and resolved to achieve greatness for themselves and their communities. Clashes are almost inevitable.

The Monkey tends to find the Tiger hilariously pompous and overbearing, and will find it difficult to resist any opportunity to poke fun or cut them down to size. Meanwhile, the Tiger may see the Monkey as interminably exhausting, wasting their talents on pointless game-playing or selfish acts of rebellion. This essential incompatibility tends to bring out the weaknesses of both signs. The Monkey can be manipulative or rude, and when confronted may experience profound rejection, disappointment, or isolation. The Tiger, on the other hand, is likely to become increasingly infuriated and rash, often exposing themselves to risks and dangers they would never countenance in a less disturbed state of mind.

Remarkably, all this troubled energy can yield some quite astounding benefits. Just as the separate yin and yang elements combine to form the symbol of a perfect circle, the contrasting personalities of the Monkey and Tiger together form a complete spectrum of energy. The result can be mesmerizing for others, and may compel the two signs to stunning achievements, separately or together. Collaborations, competitions, even feuds between these signs may prove spellbinding for their community, indeed the world at large.

It may be difficult for the two signs themselves to feel unqualified enjoyment about the outcomes of their relationship, such is the threatening nature of their connection. Yet with more harmonious energy on the Western side, or concerted sympathy and understanding, it may be possible to harness the potency of this match at least for a time, and to reap the extraordinary, if demanding, gifts it offers.

Celebrity Tiger/Monkey Pairings^*

^*Click on the names to see both Western and Chinese zodiac matches for that pairing.

Bill Murray and Harold Ramis (click for attribution/s)

Bill Murray (9/21/1950, Virgo Tiger), Harold Ramis (11/21/1944, Scorpio Monkey) : The actor and actor/director collaborated on six classic films that have been called "extreme comedy", including Stripes, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day. After an altercation on the set of Groundhog Day, Landis and Murray did not speak for 21 years, until shortly before Landis' death Murray visited him in 2014. Landis described in 2004: "It’s a huge hole in my life, but there are so many pride issues about reaching out. [Murray] would give you his kidney if you needed it, but he wouldn’t necessarily return your phone calls."

Alec Guinness (4/2/1914, Aries Tiger), George Lucas (5/14/1944, Taurus Monkey) : The actor and director collaborated on the original Star Wars trilogy, with Guinness' Obi-Wan Kenobi becoming one of the most iconic characters in movie history. Guinness, however, was repeatedly critical of the project. While working on the first film, he described, "[N]ew rubbish dialogue reaches me every other day on wadges of pink paper—and none of it makes my character clear or even bearable." In his memoir, A Positively Final Appearance, Guinness wrote: "A refurbished Star Wars is on somewhere or everywhere. I have no intention of revisiting any galaxy. I shrivel inside each time it is mentioned...[A] sweet-faced boy of twelve told me proudly that he had seen Star Wars over a hundred times...Looking into the boy’s eyes I thought I detected little star-shells of madness beginning to form and I guessed that one day they would explode."

Bo and John Derek (click for attribution/s)

John Derek (8/12/1926, Leo Tiger), Bo Derek (11/20/1956, Scorpio Monkey) : The actor and actor/writer/director were married from 1976 to 1998. Their relationship began when John Derek was married to actor Linda Evans, and Bo Derek was 17 years old—they lived in Germany to avoid prosecution in the US. They collaborated on films including Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), Bolero (1984) and Ghosts Can't Do It (1989), which received negative reviews—Bo Derek received a Golden Raspberry award for Worst Actress for each of these films. Bo Derek has described: "That still breaks my heart, being part of breaking up a marriage is a horrible thing and I still can’t believe I was a part of it. I’ve said it before, but I’ll never forgive myself...I look back at that time in my life as a terrible mistake...Now, when I look back at the photos of me, I was young — 17 is young...There was no Me Too-ing with John. But yeah, I’m very conflicted about it when I look back on being 17 with a 46-year-old man. As I said, I thought I knew everything. It felt right at the time. I was so in love with him and we ended up together for 25 years. I’m just so grateful he was a good person."

Oliver Lynn (8/27/1926, Virgo Tiger), Loretta Lynn (4/14/1932, Aries Monkey) : The talent agent and country singer were married for 48 years and had six children together—three before she was 17. Their marriage was famously turbulent, inspiring songs by Lynn including "Fist City" and "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)". Lynn's 2002 memoir, Still Woman Enough—referring to her husband by the nickname "Doolittle"—described: "Lots of women have asked me how in the world I stayed with a womanizin’ alcoholic who could get violent like he sometimes did...I got taught that there wasn't no such thing as divorce among decent folks...[but] there’s something else made me stick to Doo. He thought I was something special, more special than anybody else in the world, and never let me forget it."

Julius Erving and Larry Bird (click for attribution/s)

Julius Erving (2/22/1950, Pisces Tiger), Larry Bird (12/7/1956, Sagittarius Monkey) : The two basketball legends shared a famous rivalry, including an on-court fight in 1984 that resulted in both players being ejected. They also appeared together in the iconic 1980s video game, One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird. Erving was quoted in 2021: "We have some great wars over the years. We'll match up in the playoffs four times between 1980 and 1986, with the winner going on to the finals every season...[W]hen Larry says, as he has, that Michael Jordan was the best player he ever faced, I find it a little disrespectful. We beat them up pretty bad in some playoffs, and they got the better of us in others, but those are the toughest matchups for both of us. I don't think it's fair for Larry to say Michael is the best based on one great playoff game, the 63-point performance in Boston Garden. But then, Larry is always playing mind games, so he's probably still trying to psych out Magic [Johnson] and me."