- “General Kai. Supreme Warlord of all China! The Jade Slayer. Master of Pain. You may know me as the Beast of Vengeance. Uh... Maker of Widows? Okay, I used to work with Oogway?”
- ―Kai in the mortal realm[src]
Kai the Collector is the main antagonist of DreamWorks Animation's 2016 animated feature film Kung Fu Panda 3. He is a supernatural bull who was the former brother-in-arms of Master Oogway and later, (upon his return to the mortal realm), he becomes a powerful evil Spirit Warrior. Thus, he can steal chi from Kung Fu warriors and turn them into Jade Zombies (or Jombies, as Monkey and Po call them). His scheme is to defeat every Kung Fu master and become all powerful.
Background[]
Many years ago, Kai and Oogway fought together as brothers-in-arms, and they were close friends. One day, during an ambush, Oogway was gravely wounded, and Kai carried him for days, searching for help, until they came upon a secret panda village, where the pandas used the power of their chi to heal Oogway instantly. Oogway was fascinated by the power and the pandas taught him how to utilize it. However, Kai became extremely jealous, selfish and possessive, as he wanted the power all for himself. He decided to take chi from others rather than give it. Seeing the damage Kai's obsession would cause, Oogway confronted him in a fierce battle that shook the earth, until finally, Oogway triumphed, banishing Kai's body and soul to the Spirit realm, hopefully forever. However, Oogway feared Kai would somehow return to the mortal world and finish his evil plan and the only one who could stop him would have to be a true master of chi.
Personality[]
Long ago, Kai was young and ambitious, but still vigorous, honorable, and intrepid, fighting side-by-side with with his best friend and comrade, Oogway in defending China from the enemies. He also displayed great loyalty to those close to him, having carried Oogway for days on in until finally finding what was needed to save his life.
However, after learning about the power of chi, Kai's ambition began to consume him, transforming him into a fearsome, destructive, obsessed, tenacious, power-hungry and envious warmonger who desired to take chi from others for himself. Despite this, he seemed shocked that Oogway chose to stand in his way, indicating that he probably expected Oogway to join him in his conquest, but had no qualms with having to fight him when he did. After being in the Spirit Realm for 500 years, Kai and his appetite for power and revenge had only grown stronger.
There is currently little known about Kai's personality, though he is described as being an "evil spirit". He hates to be interrupted when he is talking, as seen when he got very annoyed when Po wasn't willing to listen and continuously butted in with "chit-chat". While he is a vindictive and destructive warrior, he does occasionally spare a fair bit of humor, albeit being rather grim and menacing as well.
Kai also holds great hatred for his former friend Oogway, stating that he "loved him like a brother", and believes that Oogway betrayed him, which he is apparently still hurt about, despite that Kai himself is actually the one who betrayed Oogway's trust, becoming a monster harming innocent pandas, which is why Oogway fought him as Kai's ego is too heavy to see it was his own fault Oogway turned against him. This is demonstrated when he destroyed Oogway's statue and brutalized his students. It is also implied that he holds the Pandas responsible for turning Oogway against him.
Physical appearances[]
Kai is a large, muscular light gray supernatural bull with glowing green eyes, long black hair, a helmet, two enormous horns that are shaped like flames and they're very thick, a green pendant of collected chi, a brown loincloth made of layered leather, and muscular arms with brown bracers.
Powers and abilities[]
- Master Combatant: Kai is ancient, thus he is one of the oldest veterans of Kung Fu and also has fighting skills that are far greater than the likes of almost every Kung Fu master in history. The use of one of his chain blade swords takes an average warrior decades to fully master, whereas he has mastered the use of two blades without any flaws, thus providing proof of his superior combat abilities.
- Spirit Warrior Physiology: Kai is described as a "supernatural villain", which indicates that he possesses supernatural powers. It was later revealed that Kai possesses the ability to "steal the powers from every kung fu master he defeats", particularly their chi. After absorbing the chi of someone, the victim in question is transformed into a small jade ornament that Kai wears on his belt, and when needed, he can summon these figures, turning them into jade, statue-like creatures, and see through their eyes. Since he is a "Spirit Warrior", he can't die by natural means nor by most Kung Fu Techniques. However, this does not mean he can't be destroyed. He also has an advanced amount of supernatural strength, speed, stamina, and durability, as well as enhanced healing powers.
- Genius Level Intelligence: Kai was able to reverse the pattern of giving chi to steal it for himself after observing the pandas healing Oogway, creating a new technique. He is also a master strategist, shown with how he outsmarted Shifu by making him do research on his name, luring Crane to him and analysing his chi to see weaknesses such as the Jade Palace (which he couldn't know about since he was banished before its creation) to use later against Shifu. He is also incredibly proficient at tracking as shown with him tracking the pandas with little difficulty, as well as controlling his minions strategically.
Weapons[]
- Chain Swords: Kai fights primarily with the swords attached to long chains. He has also been seen wielding axe-like blades, indicating that he is extremely competent and skillful with multiple weapons.
Weakness[]
- Chi: Despite Kai being a seemingly unstoppable force, he is not completely invincible or immortal. Kai is completely invulnerable to age, sickness, and even Lord Shen's super-cannons. However, as a supernatural being, a supernatural force can and must be utilized to hurt him. An example would be how Tigress's chi-infused kick broke through his invulnerability and momentarily stunned him. Another example is how Oogway used Chi to weaken Kai, even though Oogway willingly lost the fight. Po utilized a chi-constructed dragon to cause major damage to Kai; when Po gave Kai all of the Chi Kai ever wanted, he became seemingly authoritative and all-powerful for a few seconds, before "dying" due to an excessive amount of Chi injected into his body.
Appearances[]
Kung Fu Panda 3[]
500 years after his banishment to the Spirit Realm, Kai has grown much stronger in his power. In the Spirit Realm, he finds Oogway and challenges him to a rematch. The two of them fight and Oogway tells Kai he's grown stronger. He comments that it's because he has taken and absorbed the chi of all the kung fu masters there and now he has them on his belt as amulets and he says he will soon have Oogway's chi, too. Though, the two are nearly equal in skill and power, soon, Oogway realizes he can't defeat Kai and he willingly allows him to take his chi. Kai throws out two jade blades, wraps their chains around Oogway, and pulls Oogway over to him so he can steal his chi. Kai says that with Oogway's chi, he can finally return to the mortal world and carry out his plans and this time, Oogway will not able to stop him. As Kai turns Oogway into an amulet, Oogway tells Kai it was never his mission to stop him and that he has somebody else on that path. After Kai has stolen Oogway's chi and turned him into an amulet, he vows to defeat this other warrior and take his chi too, then he uses Oogway's chi to return to the mortal world.
After re-emerging back into the mortal world, Kai encounters a rabbit and a goose, who are scared by him. He asks them where he is, and the goose answers his question that it's his brother's farm. Kai then treats them if they would die if he stepped on them. They answer yes. Kai understand he has returned to the mortal realm and shouts his return. The two are confused by who he is. Kai tells them a lot of himself, and they are still confused. Then Kai mentions he used to work with Oogway, which delights the two. Kai then tells them to stop talking and takes his amulets off his back and throws them on the ground where they grow big and become the Kung Fu masters Kai defeated in the Spirit Realm. Kai then orders his minions to find Oogway's students and bring them to him.
The jade statues attack the Valley of Peace and fight against Po, Shifu, and the Furious Five. Po notices that some of the jade statues resemble past Kung Fu masters. After Po and his friends defeat the Jade minions, Kai sends a message through them, telling Po and his friends how their chi will soon be his. Mantis and Po think it's the jombies talking, till Kai tells them "It's not them talking! You idiots! It's me talking through them, Kai!" The team is confused and Kai summons his minions back to him. After Po and the others learn about Kai and his plan through Oogway's scroll, and that the only way they can defeat Kai, is if Po learns how to channel chi himself, Po's birth father Li (who has arrived looking for his son), offers to take Po to the secret panda village and teach him.
After Po and Li leave, Shifu sends Crane and Mantis to find Kai, but he warns them not to engage him. Crane and Mantis join with Master Bear, Master Croc, and Master Chicken to confront Kai, but one by one Bear, Croc, and Chicken are all easily defeated and have their chi stolen. When Mantis goes to help them, his chi is taken too. When Crane enters, he discovers Kai behind him, and he sees that he has captured Mantis. When Crane tries to fly away, Kai wraps the jade chains around him, pulls him back in, and takes his chi.
Then Kai arrives at the Jade Palace where he and his two minions - The Now Jombified Crane and Mantis - fight Shifu, Monkey, Viper, and Tigress. When Tigress kicks Kai, a yellow light echoes out of him. Shifu is about to deliver a punch to Kai when he sees Oogway under his neck. Shifu, shocked seeing an amulet of Oogway, gives up his defense and Kai knocks him to the ground. Then Kai orders Crane and Mantis to bring Monkey and Viper to him. They obey, bring their friends to their new master and Kai steals Monkey and Viper's chi. Afterwards, he wraps his chains around Oogway's statue, rips off its stand and hurls it at the Jade Palace, destroying it. Then he approaches Shifu who says that Po will stop him in his plans. However, Kai says he doubts that, and takes Shifu's chi, while Tigress escapes to find Po.
After a while, Kai arrives at the panda village and sees Po, who had been waiting for him. Kai orders his minions to capture Po and the others and then he throws them into the air and whacks them towards Po with the Jade Blade, but the pandas manage to fight back as Po has taught them Kung Fu. This is so they can distract Kai, while Po gets close enough to him, so, that he can use the Wuxi finger hold on him and send him back to the Spirit Realm. At first, he plan works and Po reaches Kai, but when he tries to use the Wuxi finger hold on Kai, nothing happens (even though it worked when Po used it on Tai Lung). Kai tells Po that the Wuxi finger hold only works on mortals, and that he is not a mortal, but a spirit warrior. Kai gains the upper hand in their fight and fights Po, kicking him back up to the village. Then he arrives there and prepares to take Po, Tigress and the other pandas's chi. However, when he taunts Po for trying to send him back to the Spirit Realm, Po realizes that if he can't send Kai there, he can take him there himself. Po jumps on Kai, grabs him around the neck and uses the Wuxi finger hold again, this time, on himself, sending them both to the Spirit Realm.
Po and Kai arrive in the Spirit Realm. Kai is angered that Po has sent him back to the Spirit Realm. Then Kai fights Po and gains the upper hand over him again. Kai wraps his chains around Po and begins to steal his chi, but before the process could be completed, Li, Tigress, Mr. Ping, and all the pandas use their own chi to save Po. Then Po breaks free of the chains and forms his own chi in the shape of a dragon and fights back against Kai. Po gains the upper hand and destroys one of Kai's blades. After Po drags Kai with the other blade and smashes him against rocks, Kai tells Po that he will have his chi, even if it will take him another 500 years. Po just mocks him of his talkativeness, which angers Kai and makes him lunge at him. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity for him to attack, Po willingly infuses all his chi right into Kai, who is delighted of having finally obtained the power for himself. However, yellow lights start glowing out of Kai and overloading his body against his will, making Kai realize in horror that Po's chi is too powerful for him to control. Unable to stop it, the abundance of energy became so great that Kai screams as he explodes into a bright golden light.
After Kai's defeat, all the masters he had absorbed over the years were finally released from his control and all the still living ones returned back to the mortal world.
Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny[]
Even after Kai's evil spirit was vanquished, he still left an impression in the mortal world, which he would've been glad, where he was mentioned by Li Shan to motivate the villagers to become the Panda Warriors they originally were. And by defeating Kai, Po officially became the Dragon Master, to which he tries to mentor 4 panda children, Nui Hai, Bao, Jing and Fan Tong, who absorbed the chi of the original Four Constellations.
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight[]
Kai didn't make other physical appearances of the new series due to his demise in the Spirit Realm of Kung Fu Panda 3. He instead acted as one of Po's opponents in the master dragon story.
Kung Fu Panda 4[]
Kai was summoned from the Spirit Realm by the Chameleon like the rest of Po's adversaries. He was stripped of his kung fu until Po defeated the Chameleon. He then returned to the Spirit Realm along with all of the other summoned kung fu masters. In the Movel's novel adaption, Kai, Tai Lung, Lord Shen and the other kung fu villains tortures the Chameleon by using her tongue as a skip rope to give the latter a proper punishment, and returned to the Spirit Realm.
Trivia[]
- In Chinese, the name Kai most often translates to "victory" (凯), or "open" (开).
- The Collector was previously reported to be voiced by actor Mads Mikkelsen, however, he dropped from the film due to unknown scheduling issues.
- J.K. Simmons is also known for portraying the role of Jonah Jameson from the Spider-Man movie series. Like Shen, Kai hates pandas.
- He was seen using jade weapons to attack.
