Lord Shen is the main antagonist of DreamWorks Animation's 2011 feature film Kung Fu Panda 2. He was a peacock who wanted to conquer China and to destroy Kung Fu, being one of Po's dangerous enemies, and was the one who wiped out so many pandas, killed his mother and he has the main reason why Mr. Ping is Po's adoptive father and Po became a Kung Fu student in the first place.
Background[]
Shen exiled by his own parents for his actions.
Years before the events of the films, Lord Shen was born into the noble Peacock family, the rulers of Gongmen City and were deeply admired by its inhabitants due to inventing the fireworks. When Shen was little, he was allowed by his father to play near his throne, having been promised that he would one day inherit it. Growing up, Shen studied fireworks, developing an interest on making weapons for warfare to take control of China. When Shen was ready to become the next peacock ruler of Gongmen City, a Soothsayer goat gave a prophecy to his parents that if Shen continued pursuing his path, he would eventually be defeated by a warrior of black and white.
After hearing about this while eavesdropping on them, Shen decided to avert the prophecy by any means, but rather than reflecting on his goals and choosing another path in life like the Soothsayer hoped him to do, Shen instead resorted to target all pandas and hunt them down into extinction so he could prevent the rise or birth of the prophesied warrior by leading his wolf gang to massacre a nearby village of pandas. Leading his wolves, Shen ravaged the village and burned it to a crisp, killing most if not all of the pandas there and destroying their homes.
After the massacre was complete, Shen returned back to his palace only to see that his family was horrified and disgusted by what he had done. Lord Shen's father angrily considered him to be a disgrace to their family name and sentenced him and his wolf gang to exile as punishment for slaughtering the pandas. Believing that his parents hated him and feeling he did so as self-defense to further his goals, Shen angrily swore that he would return and reclaim what's rightfully his. Following Shen's exile, his family became very depressed during their rule and later died out of grief, giving their power to the Gongmen Kung Fu Council.
Personality[]
Lord Shen is a wicked, callous, ruthless, megalomaniacal and sadistic peacock who wants to eliminate every panda in China. He has no problem in slaughtering anyone who opposes him, going as far as to slaughter Boss Wolf for disobeying his orders and committing genocide on the panda species. However, he doesn’t murder the Soothsayer despite her clearly opposing him, which shows that he’s capable of caring for others.
One of Lord Shen's defining and motivating traits is his cowardice and paranoia. For example, when he overhears and learns of his true fate, he acts by engaging in genocide against the pandas in order to avert the prophecy. Furthermore, he has no qualms dishonorably murdering Master Thundering Rhino with his cannon upon his quick defeat in fighting the esteemed master. Despite this, Shen is extremely intelligent. Lord Shen is also incredibly brilliant with forging, able to use fireworks, something meant for color and joy as a weapon in form of a cannon and when he decided to wipe all pandas out completely, which out of sheer luck only some survived, and using his foes weaknesses completely to his advantage.
Lord Shen is also passive and neurotic, as shown when he fears getting defeated by a panda and believing that his parents hated him when they really loved him actually. What’s more, he knows what he is doing is wrong, but he continues with his plans of conquest because he knows if he stops, all the demises he has caused will amount to nothing. At the end of the film, Lord Shen's own battle-cannon collapses on top of him. Instead of running, he closes his eyes and accepts his death, knowing he has failed and preventing any persecution for his crimes.
Years after his defeat, he became more calm due to possibly the Spirit Realm which has come to view as home. He, like the other villains, initially regarded Po as a disappointment, but once Po and Zhen successfully defeat The Chameleon and restore their Kung Fu, Shen finally saw the panda as worthy of Oogway's choice as a Dragon Warrior and respectfully salutes him, showing that he has become respectful for the panda despite what he did to him in the past. He even willingly returns to the Spirit Realm with all the other kung fu masters, showing that he is at peace with himself in death.
Physical appearances[]
Lord Shen wears a long white robe held with a black-colored belt. According to him, the robe is made from "the finest silk in the province". Sewn along the edges of the robe is silver silk patterned with flame-like designs, and it has a flying bird, possibly a peacock, placed on the back. He also wears metal talons that served to protect his feet, light his cannons, and act as formidable weapons. Unlike his parents, Shen has leucism, meaning that his plumage is atypically white.
Powers and Abilities[]
Shen was a master of blades with lethal skill in swordsmanship and knife-throwing. Among his arsenal were:
- Guan dao — A curved blade with extending shaft resembling a European flamberge, allowing Shen to use it as either a sword or lance.
- Throwing knives — Uniquely-shaped knives which Shen hid among the sleeves in his robes; these were most likely custom-built, as they appear to be forged into the shape of feathers, likely so Shen could hide them among his feathers in the folds of his robe.
- Iron claws — A metal attachment to his talons; used for armor, combat, and as means to create sparks and light the fuses on cannons.
- Rope dart — Seen being used only once, when Shen throws the rope dart with enough accuracy to ensnare Storming Ox's horn so that he could pull him to the ground.
- Jian — Shen used a jian sword with wavy edges against Storming Ox and Croc, later throwing it at Thundering Rhino.
In addition to his mastery of the sword, the deadliest weapon in Shen's arsenal were his cannons. Built from re-forged metal and powered by his lifelong knowledge of gunpowder, Shen's cannons were used to terrible effect throughout the film, but would ironically prove to be his undoing.
Shen's kung fu skills were so advanced that he could hold his own against both Storming Ox and Croc, who were both revered and full-fledged kung fu masters. Shen was also able to counter every one of their moves flawlessly and with lethal precision, hinting that he could've killed them whenever he chose. However, he was quickly defeated by Thundering Rhino who deflected all of his blades with his hammer and in one case his horn and then jabbed him with his hammer with enough force to cause Shen to drop his weapons.
Shen also excelled in sword and lance combat and hid a plethora of blades in his robes, which he could unleash with lightning speed and deadly precision. Among the rest of his arsenal was his lance (which he was seen practicing with the most), and a pair of lethal-looking metal talons. All in all, Shen's fighting style was both graceful and lethal. When enraged, however, Shen was more reckless, as shown by his ferocious assault on Po which caused him to not realize that he was severing the ropes that held up his cannon, ultimately crushing him.
When Shen engaged someone in close combat, not one move he made was wasted. He made full and efficient use of every technique, weapon, and tactic he had at his disposal, utilizing not only his bladed weapons but also his tail and talons. As shown in his fight with Masters Storming Ox and Croc, he used his sword to pin Ox's weapons while using a sidekick on Croc, and then immediately turning that side-kick into a roundhouse-kick to knock Ox down.
Due to Shen's physiology, he was far more capable of spinning or sweeping maneuvers, as well as pinning someone's weapons or limbs, and was also capable of using his tail to sweep foes off their feet, as he had done so in his first fight with Powhere he grabbed Po's foot, stopping a kick before he pinned it down, maneuvered around Po, and he swept the panda off balance with his long tail feathers. His tail was used to defend and distract his foes and even mask his movements. One example shows in how he had come very close to killing Croc when he used his tail in a series of moves: first, he defended with his tail; then he attempted to stab Croc with his sword (which he barely managed to dodge); and then he finally finished it with a butterfly kick on Croc's head. In battle, his tail became another limb, which he could shape and use to attack, defend, or as a deception tool. His "Funnel Cloud Attack" and "Feather Attack" were noted to be daunting and deadly.
Shen's fighting style shares similar qualities with "Cai Li Fo", a Chinese martial art that uses a metal fan for defensive and distraction purposes. These qualities are represented by the use of Shen's tail feathers, as well as his agile and circular movements.
Ultimately, Shen's fighting style stemmed from a combination of his peacock physiology and royal background. He preferred the use of his agility, speed, bladed weaponry, knowledge of gunpowder and army of followers to outmaneuver and overpower his adversaries.
Appearances[]
Kung Fu Panda 2[]
Over the next twenty years, Shen and his wolf army set up a factory deep in the mountains and worked tirelessly to complete an arsenal of firework-powered weapons for their preparation of their upcoming conquest. When Boss Wolf informed him that they had run out of metal to use as material, the peacock ordered him to attack the farthest villages and steal all the metal they could find. While he and a group of wolves attended to that, Shen decided it was time to move forward. He traveled to Gongmen City and marched up to his former home. Once there, he confronted the Kung Fu Master's Council, telling them he was there to take back what was rightfully promised to him since birth. In the skirmish that followed, Shen easily defeated Masters Storming Ox and Croc but was pushed back by Master Thundering Rhino, who shattered several of Shen's blades. However, Shen was prepared for this and revealed his new weapon, a cannon. Thundering Rhino prepared for battle, but was no match for Shen's device and was killed by a single shot.
With Thundering Rhino dead, Lord Shen threatened to turn his cannon on the city unless Storming Ox and Croc surrendered. He had the two masters imprisoned in Gongmen Jail and planted Master Rhino's Cloud Hammer in his courtyard as a trophy. With the Council out of the way, Shen ransacked the Peacock Palace, even throwing his father's throne out the window and replacing it with his cannon. He then questioned the Soothsayer about his future, but she informed him that nothing had changed: he would be defeated by a warrior of black and white. He declared this to be impossible but was quickly proven wrong when Boss Wolf returned and informed him that while he and his troops ransacked the Valley of Peace, the were nearly stopped by the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior, who turned out to be a panda named Po. Shen, greatly angered by this, ordered him to bring Po to him so he could prove the Soothsayer wrong.
Later, when Po and the Five were brought before him in handcuffs, Shen taunted Po not only about his appearance but his ignorance about his past and his own role in it. He ordered Boss Wolf to fire the cannon at them, but Mantis quickly extinguished the fuse and knocked Boss Wolf out. This bought Viper enough time to pick the lock on Tigress' cuffs, and once they were free, Tigress and Mantis destroyed the cannon and while Po tried to attack Shen. However, when the peacock took this opportunity to show Po his feathers, the marks on them triggered the same flashback the panda had upon seeing the similar mark on Wolf Boss's armor, this time with Shen in the vision, and realized Shen was there the night he lost his biological parents. Shen confirmed this and used the distraction to escape back to his fireworks factory nearby, where he had several more cannons waiting. He ordered his men to open fire and bring the tower down with Po and the Furious Five still inside, but they managed to escape. Frustrated, Shen ordered his troops to move out and to begin his conquest, then dismissed the Soothsayer by proclaiming that she was no longer a use to him.
Some time later, Po infiltrated the factory to confront him, ruining the Five's plan to destroy the building. As the two fought, Shen easily maneuvered Po and teased him again, bluffing that he saw his parents abandon him and that they never loved him. This lie distracted Po enough for Shen to reach his most powerful cannon and blast Po out the factory and into the river. Confident that the panda was dead, the wicked peacock had the recaptured Furious Five chained up and suspended above his ships as they sailed out of the city. But much to his shock, Po came back and tried to rescue his friends and stop Shen before he got to the harbor. In response, Shen ordered his gunners to blast him, but Po nimbly moved along the rooftops, preventing them from getting a clear shot, then jumped onto the ships to engage Shen's army, now that they couldn't fire without hitting their own men. Shen could do nothing but watch as Po freed the Five and joined forces with Masters Storming Ox, Croc and Shifu to use some of the fleet's ships to block the way to Gongmen Harbor.
Finally losing his patience, Shen ordered Boss Wolf to fire the main cannon, but he refused to kill his own men, thus standing up to Lord Shen for the very first time. In response to this, the enraged Shen coldly strikes him with one of his throwing knives and fires the cannon himself, knocking all the kung fu warriors away and blasting through the boats they had set up to block his fleet. Shen watched as Po swam out to one of the destroyed ships and began making Tai Chi motions. Unphased, Shen ordered his gunners to open fire and finish the panda. However, Po used a technique that Shifu had showed him earlier to catch and deflect the cannonballs, sending them back and destroying most of Shen's cannons, eventually killing his army. The Dragon Warrior struggled with the force of the last ball as he whirled it around into a ying-and-yang symbol before completed the move with his catchphrase "Skadoosh," sending it back towards the peacock's main cannon and destroying along with his flagship. As the dizzy lord viewed the destruction around him, he asked the panda how found peace after what he did to him, to which Po stated that he had to let go of his past because who he chose to be in the present was what mattered, and asked Shen to do the same. Shen agreed but declared his choice by attacking Po with his lance and talons. Despite having Po on the defensive, Shen accidentally cut through the ropes holding the wreckage of his cannon and realized this too late and the heavy weapon fell on him while he closed his eyes, accepting his fate. Thus, the cannon crushed the hateful peacock to death and the gunpowder in it exploded, blowing up the ship and sinking it into the water.
Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness[]
Shen does not appear in TV series. Only in the flashback and mentioned.
Kung Fu Panda 3[]
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight[]
Kung Fu Panda 4[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to the director, Shen proved to be a great challenge to animate, so much that the complexity of the character was like that of doing six characters all at once.[1]
- Lord Shen's voice actor, Gary Oldman, also voiced Ruber who was the main antagonist of Quest For Camelot and is famous for the role of Sirius Black in Harry Potter.
- Shen is the only Kung Fu Panda character to have artificial body parts.
- His tail consists of 92 feathers.
- Lord Shen was originally cast as a devious mayor for the first Kung Fu Panda movie.
- In the Mad episodes "Kung Fu Blander" (in which his new army were the Angry Birds) and "DestroyBob the Builder Destroyer," he was defeated by Master Po, and then by Black and White Spies.
- Lord Shen has more fans than Tai Lung, whom he shares many personality traits with.
- Lord Shen has a bit of comparison to Darth Traya from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords as they share a common goal: to destroy the thing that they rely on (even though she uses the force, Traya intends to destroy since in the hopes of understanding it, she will learn the way to kill it and failed) and even though Shen is a Kung Fu warrior, he intends to destroy Kung Fu.
- Shen didn't appear physically in Kung Fu Panda 3, but he appears in the flashback of Po. However, he isn't named by his name in any moment.
- Shen is often regarded as one of the most popular DreamWorks villains.
- Shen is the first DreamWorks villain to have been killed by his own creation/invention/weapon. Pitch is the second.
- Shen shares other similarities with Pitch:
- Both didn't hate the protagonist themselves at first (Shen, Po; Pitch, Jack Frost), but a group the protagonist was part of (Pandas in Shen's case, Guardians in Pitch's case)
- Tried to kill the protagonist at repetitive attempts
- Shen's name means "God" in Chinese, further explaining his personality.
- Shen is the most evil villain of the Kung Fu Panda movie franchise because he’s actions are even worse than Kai’s, even though he’s not pure evil.
- Shen along with Lord Farquaad are considered the most popular DreamWorks villains.
- Lord Shen serves as a darker reflection of the following characters:
- Po: They both have parental abandonment issues and are real animals likened to mythical beasts (Po the Panda is the Dragon Warrior, while Lord Shen the Peacock is clearly meant to be a phoenix with his passion for fire). Both are nervous and unsure of themselves, having many a failed attempt at drama moment. They are both black and white animals who are (apparently) the last of their kind, and both fight using unconventional methods. They achieved their places of power by using fireworks and by defeating high skilled masters (Tai Lung and the Masters' Council) who stood in their way. Both their destinies were set in motion when the Soothsayer predicted their eventual conflict, and both sought inner peace to deal with their tragic pasts. However, while Po was able to move on from the tragedies of his past, Shen was unable to do so and found only defeat. Lord Shen represents what Po would've become if he continued to hold onto his old grudges and refused to move on from the past.
- Shifu: They both had a clairvoyant elder who watched their development (the Soothsayer and Master Oogway) and who foretold a disaster (Shen's demise and Tai Lung's return). Both protégés then tried to avert said disaster, only to inadvertently cause it to happen. Like with Shifu in the first movie, Shen's present is influenced by the pains of the past, making him demanding and biased, with his high expectations in regards to his subordinates mirroring those of Shifu's in regards to his students. In particular, neither of them believed initially that someone like Po could be a mighty warrior, only for the determined panda to defy their expectations. The main difference is in regards to the advice offered to them by their mentors (Shifu didn't want Oogway to leave and afterwards respected his master's wish to train Po despite his doubts, but Shen eventually sends the Soothsayer away when he decides that he can't find happiness from her advice). However, Shifu ultimately found inner peace by listening to Oogway, while Shen could find peace only in death through his own self-destructive decisions. If Shifu had rejected Oogway's wisdom and clung to control and fear instead of embracing growth and change, he would've ended up like Shen.
- It's also worth noting that Po and Shifu found inner peace by coming to terms with great suffering, while Shen actively refuses to do so.