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Film / Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior

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Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior is a Disney Channel Original Movie released in 2006 about an Asian-American teenager named Wendy Wu (Brenda Song) who wants to be homecoming queen. She is visited by a young monk named Shen, and learns that she is the descendant of a warrior named Mei Song and that she must become the Yin-warrior in order to fight an evil spirit named Yan-Lo.


The movie provides examples of:

  • Action Girl: Wendy, though begrudgingly.
  • Actor Allusion: Sally Martin's character, Tory, drives a blue van and has a predisposition for the same color. Martin previously played Tori Hanson, the Blue Wind Ranger, in Power Rangers Ninja Storm.
  • Alliterative Name: Wendy Wu.
  • Alpha Bitch: Jessica, and Wendy herself towards the start of the film. Both of them get better at the end, though.
  • Animal-Themed Fighting Style: Wendy's martial arts training involves learning from four Kung Fu masters trained in animal martial arts. The snake master teaches her flexibility, the leopard master teaches her speed, the the crane master teaches her balance, and the tiger master teaches her aggression.
  • Anti-Hero: Though Wendy has refused the call several times, as her training progresses, she's more concerned about becoming crowned Homecoming Queen than the world's well-being. Eventually, she gives this up so that Jessica can be Homecoming Queen.
  • Because Destiny Says So: Wendy does not take this well.
  • Beautiful All Along: Shen gets a makeover within in the middle of the movie, and become Mr. Fanservice as a result, though Wendy regrets this later on.
  • Big Bad: Yan-Lo.
  • Combat Parkour: This is used mainly to have cool fight scenes and has very little realistic value, but it is used a bit to dodge.
  • Dark Action Girl: Jessica, possessed by Yan-Lo.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Inverted; Wendy lets her rival Jessica win the Homecoming Queen title, which the touches Jessica enough to put her on good terms with Wendy as a result.
  • Demonic Possession: Yan-Lo possesses several characters throughout the movie. The following order: the school principal and some of the staff members, Wendy's brother, then Tory, and finally Jessica.
  • Don't Think, Feel: Many of Wendy's teachings hinge on this.
  • Dramatic Irony: A poignant scene between Wendy's parents has Wendy's father reflect on the effect Shen has had on their family, specifically on how he's helped them reconnect with their Chinese heritage. Said father then laments on how Wendy will probably get nothing meaningful from Shen. As the audience knows, if anything, Wendy is the one who has the most to gain from Shen.
  • Extremity Extremist: Wendy is a downplayed example. In the fight scenes, while she uses both punches and kicks, the punches are always blocked or parried. The kicks are the only ones that land.
  • Far East: Out of universe example. In Romania, the film goes by two different titles. One is a rough Romanian translation of its original English title, used for the film's runs on Disney Channel. The other title, used for runs on other channels, is Romanian for "A samurai in the living room".
  • Mr. Fanservice: Shen after his makeover.
  • In a Single Bound: The scene in which Shen jumps across a pool. In slow motion, no less.
  • Narcissist: Wendy's boyfriend, who she dumps later on, thankfully.
  • One-Winged Angel: For the true final battle against him, Yan-Lo assumes a physical form, which is a gigantic, nastier looking version of the terracotta warriors he planned to unleash upon the world.
  • Refusal of the Call: Wendy initially does not want to become the Yin-warrior.
  • Reincarnation: Shen is confirmed to be one to one of Mei's original companions — specifically her first teacher, the Dragon of Invincibility. It's never explicitly stated that Wendy is Mei's reincarnation (only her descendant), but considering their identical looks that have been the features of every Yin-warrior before her, and the fact that Wendy inherits her abilities — both physical and supernatural — there really isn't any other logical explanation. If this is true, that means Wendy is also the reincarnation of her great-grandmother, the previous Yin-warrior and her grandmother's mother.
  • Reincarnation Romance: It's greatly implied that this was the real relationship between Mei Song and Shen's original incarnation, judging by Wendy and Shen's own budding romance — either that, or their incarnations gradually grew closer over time. Unfortunately, if that's the case, nothing came from those feelings since Shen was always fated to die in battle against Yan-lo.
  • Relatively Flimsy Excuse: Wendy tells the others at school that Shen is her cousin. Her grandmother also tells the family that Shen is a relative from China.
  • Screw Destiny: Shen was supposed to die during the battle Because Destiny Says So, but Wendy refuses to let that happen and uses her powers to save him. Turns out that by changing destiny, the evil spirit Yan-Lo is destroyed forever.
  • Sealed Evil in a Can: Yan-Lo.
  • Talking Is a Free Action: During the final battle, Wendy's grandmother appears and talks to her for a while, culminating in her giving Wendy the tradition warrior outfit to change into, which she does. Meanwhile, Yan-Lo just stays still and politely does not interrupt them.
  • Sickly Green Glow: Yan-Lo
  • With Friends Like These...: A variation of this; Tory becomes possessed off-screen and nearly takes Wendy's soul, so as Shen knocks the orb out of Tory's hands. Wendy snaps out of it and sweeps Tory into the pool.

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