Crane spent half of his childhood in the humiliating care of his overprotective mother Yan Fan, who took extra precautions for his safety by keeping him inside their hazard-free home and putting him in a suit of armor, for she thought her son to be too frail to take care of himself. When he started sneaking out of the house, however, the younger crane joined a Kung Fu class that he was amazed by, but it was too advanced for him that he kept getting injured during each session. By the time his mother found out, the sight of what he got himself into gave her heart pains and a hatred of Kung Fu, thus making Crane promise not to practice the martial art again.
Crane eventually grew up still admiring Kung Fu but kept his distance from it by getting himself the job as janitor at the Lee Da Kung Fu Academy. There, everyone including the strict teacher looked down upon him due to his particularly skinny build and described it as something which made him lack confidence. The class's top student Mei Ling observed the skills which Crane used to tidy up the place every night, and was impressed by his speed and accuracy. She convinced him to try out for the school, and Crane, surprised but encouraged, trained himself every night after work until the day of the tryouts arrived. However, watching the other candidates fail painfully in the obstacle coarse made him loose his nerve, and was even mocked by the teacher and students for his skinny legs when Mei Ling announced that he should try out. He was instead sadly assigned to sweep up the teeth littering the floor, but wandered right into the coarse and spotted the flag meant to earn the grabber a place in the school at the far end. Using Mei Ling's encouragement, Crane ignored the teacher's order to come out of the coarse and found a way to surpass it, capturing the flag and passing with flying colors. Now seeing that his skinny build actually helped him avoid the traps in the obstacle coarse, the instructor and his students
It was during his attempted duties that he was found by Tigress, who mistook him for a Kung Fu master sought by Master Shifu due to the list of five masters her master gave her getting mixed up with a list of five possible career choices, one of them being "Cleaner". Impressing her with unique skills, Crane, along with Monkey "the Comedian", Viper "the Dancer" and Mantis "the Doctor", were presented to the ill Shifu at the Jade Palace, but he rejected them, angrily telling his pupil that they weren't the warriors he intended her to summon. However, Grand Master Oogway persuaded the four ammeters to become warriors by training in Kung Fu, thus having them assist Tigress in defending the Valley of Peace from the menacing warrior Boar and defeating him in battle. Cured of his illness by Oogway, Shifu set to work on repaying Crane and the other three new arrivals by welcoming them as pupils as well, announcing them as the new Furious Five.
Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness • Kung Fu Panda: Journey of the Dragon Warrior • Carousel of Kung Fu Heroes • Lanterns of Legendary Legends • Po's Kung Fu Training Camp • Kung Fu Games • Kung Fu Panda: The Emporer’s Quest • Po Live!
China • Jade Palace • Jade Mountain • Valley of Peace • Chorh-Gom Prison • Thread of Hope • Gongmen City • Gongmen Jail • Panda Village • Spirit Realm • Training Hall
Objects
Adversary • Oogway's Staff • Shift Stones
See Also
Kung Fu Panda • Furious Five • Ladies of the Shade