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This Near Pure Evil was headlined on May 2021. | ||
| “ | Happiness… must be taken. And I will take mine. | „ |
| ~ Lord Shen to the Soothsayer and his most famous quote. |
| “ | Get them all! | „ |
| ~ Lord Shen ordering his wolves to kill every panda there is. |
| “ | Lord Shen: How did you… how did you do it? Po: You know, you just keep your elbows up and keep the shoulders loose… Lord Shen: Not that. How did you find peace? I took away your parents, everything. I scarred you for life. Po: See, that’s the thing Shen. Scars heal. Lord Shen: No they don’t. Wounds heal. Po: Oh yeah. What do scars do? They fade I guess? Lord Shen: I don’t care what scars do. Po: You should, Shen. You gotta let go of that stuff from the past, cause it just doesn't matter. The only thing that matters, is what you choose to be now. Lord Shen: You're right. Then I choose… THIS! |
„ |
| ~ Lord Shen rejecting Po's offer of redemption and peace and then attacks him in a blind fury, before being ultimately killed by his own cannon. |
Lord Shen is the main antagonist of DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda franchise.
He is a deadly and relentless foe of Po, bent on destroying him and the panda species for their part of the prophecy that he will soon be defeated by one and using his firework weaponry to conquer China. By targeting the panda village where Po was born and killing his mother, he is Po's arch-nemesis.
He was voiced by Gary Oldman, who also played Egor Korshunov in Air Force One and Ruber in Quest for Camelot.
His Evil Ranking
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?
- When his parents created fireworks that brought joy and prosperity to the citizens of Gongmen City, he saw darker power in them and decided to use them for warfare by making weapons from the gunpowder.
- Upon hearing about a prophecy of him being defeated by "a warrior of black and white" if he continued his dark path, instead of changing his ways, he led his army of wolves and gorillas to attack a farming village of pandas, killing the majority of the panda race, including Po’s mother, and horrifying his parents who promptly banished him for his actions. Worse, it's later revealed by the Soothsayer that banishing their own son emotionally hurt Shen's parents so much that they lost the will to live.
- Although he is slightly insecure about his parents banishing him and it is played for some sympathy, it doesn't make him a tragic villain as he completely deserved it for his genocide out of simple paranoia. It's also unknown if he genuinely cared about his parents, possibly only wanting their love in return, preventing this from being a redeeming quality.
- After falsely believing his parents never loved him, he developed a negative philosophy about parents never loving their children and sought for a destructive quest for happiness, a quest he knew would never succeed but continued anyway.
- He created powerful cannons that would cause mass destruction all across China and threaten countless lives so he could destroy Kung Fu and conquer the country.
- He ordered his lieutenant Boss Wolf to pillage and threaten villages for all their metal for the production of his cannons.
- Upon returning to Gongmen City, he used his first cannon to kill Master Thundering Rhino to take over Gongmen City, eventually throwing out his late father's throne out of spite in place of the cannon to symbolize his new rule.
- He had Master Ox and Master Croc imprisoned, threatening to turn his cannon against the city if they tried to stop him.
- After taking over Gongmen City, he oppressed and extorted civilians for their metal, money, food and other basic favors, sometimes even through death threats.
- He ordered Boss Wolf to kill Po and the Furious Five with the same cannon used to kill Rhino.
- When Po and the Furious Five escaped, he destroyed the tower that was once his ancestral home in one last attempt to kill them, taunting them as he did so.
- When the Soothsayer confronted Shen for his actions and the truth on how his parents died as a result of no longer being able to bear with having to banish their son, proving they did love him, he dismissed their deaths as being in the past and how he must look forward to his ambitions of power in the future despite knowing by now it would not give him real happiness.
- When Po came to confront Shen on the truth of what happened on that night, he sadistically broke Po psychologically by lying about his parents not loving him before shooting him point blank with his cannon, while mockingly promising to "heal" him.
- He had the Furious Five bonded to his ship and forced them to witness the destruction he will cause to take over China, beginning with a bridge filled with civilians crossing just for the sake of it being in the way of his fleet.
- When Po, the Furious Five and their allies closed in on him, he ordered the cannon to be fired at his own men, and when Boss Wolf rejected these orders out of disgust, he murdered him before firing the cannon himself, destroying multiple ships, killing dozens of his own men and wounding the kung-fu masters severely, besides Po.
- He tried to kill Po in the climax even after he showed him mercy and offered him a chance to try and redeem himself and move on from the past.
- His death, while he did close his eyes to brace for the imminent explosion, isn’t sympathetic in any way, shape, or form after his atrocities and is more of karma striking down on him.
- Despite painfully having his kung fu stolen by The Chameleon, it doesn't come close to making him a scapegoat as he completely deserved it for all the atrocities he committed.
- Although he willingly went back to Spirit Realm after The Chameleon’s defeat, it doesn’t redeem him as nothing indicates that he is remorseful for his genocide of the pandas or his attempt to take over China.
- While he does have comedic moments, like angrily yelling at the Soothsayer for mischievously chomping on his robes and trying to figure out what to say to Po, whom he believed would be vengeful towards him, only to be mildly astonished Po doesn't treat him as such, they don't detract from his villainy and he is still seen as a serious threat in-universe, with his worst actions all being played for horror and most of his comedic moments only happening in the first half.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?
- He lets the Soothsayer go after her usefulness expired, even though executing her would be extremely beneficial for him as she is clearly against his plots and he views everyone as expendable and murders them if they have no use to him, confirming he indeed cares for her despite calling her an “old goat” in a couple of scenes. Furthermore, he confides in her his personal feelings about how his parents banishing him has hurt him which shows he trusts her on some level, and he doesn't punish her in any way when she mocks him, painfully plucks out one of his feathers or starts eating his robes.
- He is slightly insecure as he was hurt about his parents banishing him, being so hurt by it that he thought his parents hated him, and when the Soothsayer told him they loved him so much that having to send him away killed them, he is visibly shaken by this and hesitates to move on, before letting the Soothsayer free to march on forward. While it doesn’t make him tragic, it's still played for minor sympathy.
- Despite he never bowed to Po, he willingly went back to the Spirit Realm without attacking Po even though he could have and understanding that the spirit realm is where he has peace, showing a sense of honor.
Trivia
- Lord Shen is the very first Near Pure Evil to be headlined.
- Concept art by Bill Kaufmann and Sean Eckols show that early versions of Kung Fu Panda 2 considered to have Po saving Lord Shen from drowning so he would repent and regret his actions at the end, but the filmmakers ultimately dropped the concept to show that some villains are irredeemable and full of evil. Had this idea been used in the finished film, it could have affected Lord Shen's Near Pure Evil status depending on how much remorse he would have shown.
- In an earlier script, it would been revealed his parents abandoned him due to him being an albino. Had this been kept in, that could have made him a more sympathetic and tragic character which would explain in a deleted scene why he wanted to make his parents happy and why he says his parents never loved him.
- He is the icon of the Deletion template.
External Links
- Lord Shen on the Villains Wiki
- Lord Shen on the Ultimate Evil Wiki
- Lord Shen on the DreamWorks Wiki
- Lord Shen on the Kung Fu Panda Wiki
 Near Pure Evils
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 Near Pure Evils
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