Final answer:
Tze-Yo-Tzuh can be considered an antagonist because he prevents the Monkey King from achieving his goal, leading to deeper character development rather than merely being a conventional villain.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the graphic novel American Born Chinese, the character Tze-Yo-Tzuh serves as an antagonist to the Monkey King. However, the term antagonist in this context may be misleading. Traditionally, an antagonist is a character who opposes the protagonist, thereby creating conflict within the story. The role of Tze-Yo-Tzuh is a bit more complex, as he is not the antagonist in the conventional sense of being villainous. Instead, Tze-Yo-Tzuh is the creator god who challenges the Monkey King's perception of himself and helps him to transform.
It would be more accurate to state that Tze-Yo-Tzuh is an antagonist because he keeps the Monkey King from achieving his goal of being revered as a deity in his own right. This conflict between the Monkey King's desire for power and recognition and Tze-Yo-Tzuh's insistence on humility and acceptance of one’s role in the universe forms a crucial part of the Monkey King's character development.