Tropes I to Z / Kung Fu Panda 2

Kung Fu Panda 2 Trope Examples
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I Am Not Your Father: Mr. Ping makes an astounding revelation: he's not Po's biological father.
Po: I just found out that my dad isn't really my dad.
Tigress: ...your dad?
[Po nods]
Tigress: The goose.
[Po nods again]
Tigress: [no change of tone or expression whatsoever] ...That must have been quite a shock.
I Can't Hear You: Po shouts a challenge from a rooftop to Shen. He should have picked a closer rooftop.
If I Wanted You Dead...: The soothsayer says this to Po after fixing him up.
I Have You Now, My Pretty: The wicked Shen does this briefly toward Tigress near the end of the movie while she's chained up with the rest of the Five and Po is presumed dead.
Shen: [leans in close to her face] You are going to be part of something beautiful.
Tigress: [bares her teeth and growls at him]
Improvised Lockpick: When Po and the Five are brought before Shen's cannon, Viper uses the end of her tail to unlock Tigress's cuffs. This works, and everyone is able to free each other before they all start Storming the Castle.
Indy Ploy: Po becomes a master of on-the-fly gambits in the sequel. Lampshaded at least once.
- After Po and the Furious Five's ill-fated first encounter with Lord Shen:
  Master Storming Ox: What did you do? It's chaos up there. What happened to stopping Shen?
  Monkey: Yeah?
  Po: Guys, come on, give me a little credit. I meant for him to get away, 'cause... it was a trick, it was a plot; I was thinking... I'll figure out his plot more.
  Mantis: That makes no sense.
  Po: What do you mean? Sure it does.
- After Po returns from the valley to rescue the Five:
  Tigress: What's your plan?
  Po: Step 1, free the Five.
  Viper: What's Step 2?
  Po: Honestly, I didn't think I'd make it this far.
Internal Reveal: Thanks to the opening sequence, the audience knows from the beginning what happened to Po's family, but Po himself doesn't find out until just before the climax.
I Surrender, Suckers: Po tries this to get into Shen's palace and destroy the weapon. Ultimately works; unfortunately, Shen has more than one cannon.
It's All My Fault: After tending to Po's wounds, the Soothsayer shows him what remains of his childhood home. She admits that she blames herself for what happened to the pandas, and by extension Po's family, as she was the one who told Shen of the prophecy.
Soothsayer: This was a thriving village. Young Shen was in line to rule Gongmen City, but he wanted more. I foretold that someone would stand in his way; a panda. But I never could have foretold what came next.
I've Come Too Far: The main reason Shen doesn't stop his mad quest for power, despite knowing deep down that it won't ever be enough to satisfy his crippling inferiority complex. In his mind, there's too much blood on his hands to turn around and admit it was All for Nothing; all he can do is push forward until he achieves victory or death.

Jaw Drop: Crane lets his lower beak hangs twice, when Tigress first gives a Cooldown Hug to Po and when Po hugs Tigress near the end (and doesn't get rebuffed).

Killed Off for Real:
- Master Thundering Rhino dies early in the film.
- Lord Shen and his Dragon, the Wolf Boss, are likely dead, even though we don't see them die onscreen.
- Po's mother is hinted at having been killed as well, but it's not entirely confirmed.
Killer Gorilla: Shen's Elite Mooks are gorillas.

Last of His Kind: Subverted. Both Shen and Po think that there are no more surviving giant pandas. However, the Sequel Hook at the end of the movie shows a whole panda village, including Po's biological father.
Last-Second Chance: Rejected once again. Po tries sharing the secret to inner peace with Lord Shen, but even if Shen understands it, he attacks Po anyway. Although by that point Shen almost certainly wants to die (you can see Shen accepting his fate as the giant cannon falls on him soon after), choosing self-destruction instead of redemption still counts.
Last Villain Stand: After Po destroys his entire armada and he's killed his own Dragon, Shen is left with nothing. Po finds him on the ruins of his flagship in the middle of a Villainous BSoD. Po offers him a Last-Second Chance, but Shen ultimately rejects it (either by not understanding or just wanting to die) and does the one thing he'd spent the entire movie running from, fighting Po one on one with everything he's got.
Laugh of Love: Invoked and exploited by Po, when he giggles while pretending to be a female panda in order to get close enough to a nearby wolf to knock him out, which is successful.
Laugh with Me!: Shen and Po.
Po: Why are we laughing?
Lending a Backhand: After Shen lies to Po and tells him that his parents abandoned him because they never loved him, Po crosses the Despair Event Horizon and can't bring himself to keep fighting. Shen then lights a cannon and aims it at him, telling Po to "let him heal him" by killing him.
Left Hanging: While conversing on a boat, Po tells Tigress she's "so hardcore you don't feel anything". In response, Tigress gets a saddened expression and begins to say "I was...", but is interrupted by the rest of the Five showing up, and it's not revealed for the rest of the film what she was going to say.
Left the Background Music On: A self-explanatory case in the fight at the Musicians' Village. Po invokes this.
Po: Tell those musicians to start playing some action music, cuz it is on!
Light Is Not Good: Shen, both in regards to Chinese and Western iconography, being white and red (the latter being the color of luck and joy in Chinese culture) as he is, besides being a peacock (which is basically the animal that most resembles the Chinese phoenix) and given what the possible readings of his name mean (神, "divinity", and 焴, "flame"). Although him being white-feathered goes to Obviously Evil territory if you consider that white is the color of death in most Asian cultures.
The Load: Po is a literal example. He is a capable kung fu master and can direct the members of the Furious Five in battle fairly well. However his mobility is so poor that he is often literally thrown and carried around by his much quicker comrades.
Look What I Can Do Now!: Po. In regards to the first movie.

Made of Iron:
- Subverted with Master Rhino's death.
- Played straight in that everyone else also got hit with a cannon.
- Played literally with Tigress, as due to her punching ironwood trees near the Jade Palace for 20 years has allowed her to take Po's hardest punch and not feel a thing, even hurting Po himself in the process.
Mantis Mating Meal: When Po finds out that he is adopted, he has a nightmare that his real parents replaced him with a radish. The Furious Five finds out, and when Viper tells Mantis that Po has daddy issues, Mantis says that he's lucky not to have had any problems with his father, since his mother ate his head before he was born. Later in the film, when the heroes are surrounded by Lord Shen's soldiers, Mantis tells the others that he never thought he'd die this way, as he always thought he'd meet a nice girl, they'd settle down, and then she'd eat his head.
Meaningful Echo:
- When Po finds the truth, the Soothsayer repeats a line said by Mr. Ping in the beginning of the film. "Your story may not have such a happy beginning..."
- Tigress tells Po that hard-style isn't really his style. After he takes care of Shen, she chuckles warmly, "That was pretty hard core."
- When Mr. Ping is about to tell Po the truth about the latter's adoption, he begins with the exact same words he used in the previous film when Po had questioned this topic. Interestingly, the way Po says "OK" here, almost sounds like he's expecting his dad to say something different, since in the previous film, Mr. Ping told him about the "secret ingredient" of his special soup instead.
Mr. Ping: I think it's time I told you something I should have told you a long time ago...
Metaphorgotten: Seems to be heading this way, but is subverted with Po and Shen during the final confrontation, after Po's destroyed Shen's armada, in a way that actually adds to the message.
Shen: I took away your parents! Everything! I scarred you for life!
Po: That's the thing, Shen. Scars heal.
Shen: No, they don't. Wounds heal.
Po: Oh, yeah. What do scars do? They fade, I guess?
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.
Meteor Move: Performed by Po on the Wolf Boss at the end of the Rickshaw Chase.
Po: Alaka-squasho!
Metronomic Man Mashing: Po gets this treatment from a turnip who knows kung fu. A turnip that his parents adopted to replace him. That's Po having a nightmare, if you wonder.
Mickey Mousing: The first fight with the wolf pack certainly has a lot of action in sync to the music. Justified as the wolves are stealing musical instruments, and they keep getting struck during the fight, so naturally they sound in time with the action, as the action is happening to them. One musician also keeps playing while the battle goes on around him. The few times where the punches and thus music are not going well with the rhythm, it is even lampshaded by the regarding characters cringing in discomfort.
Miles Gloriosus: Wolf Boss appears to be this; at first, he initially wants to challenge Po with his wolf soldiers. Then when Monkey and Crane pop up and defeat his wolf soldiers, he then proceeds to run away with his tail between his legs. Though as with Shen, it's Pragmatic Villainy — he's just leading them to where he has backup.
Misplaced Wildlife: Shen's gorillas, which are native to Africa. Possibly Fridge Brilliance since Shen had recently returned from exile. (There is precedent of gorillas appearing in China in the Kung Fu Panda universe: in "Secrets of the Furious Five", the enemy that Viper defeats is a massive, armor-wearing gorilla.)
Missing Mom: Well, at least we know what happened now. Sort of.
Mood Whiplash: At times it's hilarious. At times it's action-packed and rousing. At times it's even dark as hell and emotionally powerful. Of course, that's what makes it so good.
Mook Chivalry: Averted. Wolves are pack animals. They always fight as a unit. Also the instances we see multiple shots fired at Po, he simply dodges most of them before catching one and throwing it back.
Moses in the Bulrushes: Or more precisely, Baby Po in the radish produce crate.
Must Not Die a Virgin: A very subtle example occurs when Mantis laments the fact that he's not going to die by having his head torn off, like his mom did to his dad. Since female mantises usually eat their mates after mating, Mantis is complaining that he's going to die a virgin.
My God, You Are Serious!: When Po realized that Tigress wasn't kidding about no snack stops on the way to stop the wolf bandits.
My Significance Sense Is Tingling:
- Master Shifu collapses after sensing Po being shot by Lord Shen's cannon.
- At the end of the film, Po's biological father senses that he is alive and well. The latter is explained in the sequel.

Near-Villain Victory: Lord Shen leaves the harbor of Gongmen City to conquer China with his armada armed with cannons. Everyone else has been defeated while Po is about to be shot; his only hope is a technique he has yet to master.
Never Found the Body:
- Po's biological father.
- Shen as well, which could be a Sequel Hook.
Never Say "Die": Averted. That and "kill" may be Shen's favorite words. Played straight in one case: he tells Po that he "took away" his parents. Justified in that Po's father at least isn't dead. Even if Shen doesn't know this, he's also flabbergasted that Po doesn't want revenge for the loss of his parents' affection, which Shen himself was embittered by, even though his own folks weren't murdered.
Never Trust a Trailer: Much like with its predecessor, the trailers mostly showed the comedic aspects of the film. Perhaps it was DreamWorks's way of not giving away any of the surprises.
- A TV Spot has Po declare "I'm not the last panda!" while showing the panda village seen at the end of the movie, making it look like this will be a big part of the plot. It... isn't. Po doesn't say that and while the village appears, it is just a teaser at the very end of the movie.
- Similar to the above TV Spot, the DVD Release Trailer basically tells you something completely different from what actually happens in the movie. Someone must be playing a joke on the marketing department or editor.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Had Po listened to Tigress and remained in the prison, the Five's idea of blowing Shen up alongside with his foundry would have worked without a hitch.
Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: Lord Shen strove to be very thorough trying to avert the prophecy, with the usual amount of success. Since his plan hinged on destroying every last panda in existence, not allowing so much as a single one to survive, and took extreme liberties in assuming pandas would even be the cause of his downfall, this was rather inevitable.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Lord Shen attempting genocide on the pandas not only enabled Po to complete the prophecy, but also ended up providing the Valley of Peace with a way to stop Tai Lung in the original film.
No Infantile Amnesia: Po never suffered from this, but since his brain isn't that big, he doesn't need to.
No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Averted. We don't see any prototypes for Shen's firework cannon, but there are a lot of backups. Played with as well, as the heroes thought there was only one cannon in existence and formed their entire plan on destroying the one. Double on Po, who thought a tiny figurine was the actual weapon. Shen then subverted both with the large cannon in his throne room (while formidable as it can hit anything in the city) was just a useful trophy to protect his foundry and he was halfway done arming his whole armada with smaller cannons.
No Sympathy: Subverted. At first, Tigress is mad at Po for freezing up during the Five's first confrontation with Shen. Then Po explains that he remembers Shen from the night where he last saw his parents. Tigress's response is to give him a Cooldown Hug as he demands the chance to press Shen for answers, saying she understands how he feels (she's an orphan) but Shen will kill him if he comes along.
"Not So Different" Remark: Tigress reminds Po that she knows how he feels — being an orphan desperate for answers about his past— and just because she's a kung fu master doesn't mean she ignores the questions an orphan has.

Oblivious Adoption: Confronted and answered. The ironic part is that Po already knew but his dad thought he didn't. Po is actually more upset that he doesn't know where he's from or who he is.
Offhand Backhand: Po backpaws the last wolf guard protecting Master Ox and Master Croc. It is the only move he does the entire fight and even Tigress compliments him on it.
Offscreen Teleportation: In an early scene in the movie, Shifu steps out from behind Po when in the previous shot he has been standing in front of Po. Po has been watching Shifu the whole time, and he is visibly freaked out. Then Shifu does it again.
Oh, Crap!:
- When Po and the Five destroy Shen's cannon in the palace, only to find that the peacock has a whole arsenal of copies and they are about to fire a whole salvo at them. Mantis helpfully restores the comedic mood.
  Mantis: [upbeat] Oh no, he's got way more.
- At first Shen is clearly aware he has the upper hand... then he sees his ships being blown apart by his own cannonfire thrown back at him, and he can only watch in horror as his entire plan is blasted apart, with the biggest cannon shot from his own flagship being thrown to stop his armada dead in its tracks.
Older Than They Look: Shen spent thirty years in exile, so he (and the Wolf Boss) must be around fifty, with Po being close to or slightly over thirty. Also, when asked, Tigress explains that she has trained for at least 20 years, landing her somewhere between 25 and 30.
Once More, with Clarity: During Po's convalescence under the Soothsayer's care, he properly recalls what happened to put him in the radish crate.
One Dialogue, Two Conversations: While ostensibly answering Po's question, Shen is actually rejecting what the Soothsayer told him about his parents.
Shen: You think knowing will heal you, eh? Fill some... crater in your soul? Well, here's your answer: Your parents didn't love you. But here... let me heal you! [he jumps back to reveal a cannon aimed at Po]
Only Six Faces: This movie adds goats and sheep to the mix of rabbits, pigs, and geese to the cast of civilians from the first movie.
Orphan's Ordeal: When Po finally remembers that he lost his parents in a genocide where he was seemingly the sole survivor, it hits him like an emotional sledgehammer.

Papa Wolf:
- Po's biological dad, as it's shown that he directly confronted the wolves that were massacring his village with only a rake. Maybe Po's badassery is In the Blood...
- Shifu as well. His first instinct when Po gets shot is to travel to Gongmen City at breakneck speed in order to pull a Big Damn Heroes and kick the collective asses of those responsible. Granted that he's only the victim's father figure, but it's still badass.
- The Wolf Boss, possibly a literal example since he is a wolf who refuses to fire on his wolf underlings despite Shen's orders. The wolf might even be A Father to His Men in a literal sense too, given that leaders of wolf packs tend to be the daddy to the lot of them.
Paper-Thin Disguise: For a brief moment, Po disguise himself as a woman, using a kite as a wig and holding a fan in front of his face. Irony to the trope's name, both the kite and fan are made out of paper!
Parental Abandonment:
- Lord Shen sees his parents banishing him as this, ignoring the fact he'd just committed genocide and thus deserved to be punished.
- Lord Shen claims this about Po's parents; however, Po eventually remembers that his mother did that as part of a Heroic Sacrifice to lure the wolves and Shen away from her son.
Pet the Dog: Shen lets the Soothsayer go before he plans to march out of the city. He acknowledges that she may have a point, but cannot stop now.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse:
- Mantis, once again, such as when he throws Tigress to give her an extra boost. This movie goes out of its way to establish that Mantis is the strongest of the cast, regularly doing feats of strength that would be impressive at full size. Truth in Television, as insects really do have the most impressive liftable-weight-to-body-mass ratio.
- And Shifu, who is even tougher since he gained "Inner Peace" in the previous film.
Play-Along Prisoner: Po's plan to get close enough to Lord Shen's cannon to destroy it.
Post-Kiss Catatonia: Well, a Post-Hug Catatonia. At the end of the film, Po returns the hug Tigress had given him earlier, leaving her in this state. When Po continues hugging the rest of the group, she just awkwardly takes a sidestep before returning to her shocked catatonia.
Power Copying: Po learns the moves necessary to do the Catch and Return technique to manipulate rainwater after watching his master do it once, and then circumstances teaches him how to achieve the inner peace necessary to execute the technique. At this point Shifu is a tad jealous since the aged kung fu master only recently mastered that himself. Taking into account the first movie (where he figured out the Wuxi finger hold all on his own), and several incidents the interquel TV show Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, this seems to be one of Po's consistent abilities.
Prophecy Twist: The Soothsayer prophesized that Shen would be defeated by "a warrior of black and white". He interprets it as meaning a panda and goes on a genocidal rampage. Sure enough, Po played an instrumental role in Shen's demise, but there is another warrior featuring both black and white prominently in his color scheme that played an even more important part: Shen himself. Everything that befell him was nothing more than the result of his own paranoia and the wretched actions that stemmed from it. Lending further credence to this idea is the fact that in the final showdown between Shen and Po, the peacock's downfall does not come at the panda's paws. Rather, it is Shen's own wild slashing spree that severs the rigging of one of his own cannons, causing it to collapse on him. All the way to the end, Shen was the main architect of his own demise.
Psycho Knife Nut: Shen. Even though he's got cannons as his main thing, his fallback weapons are loads and loads of sharp, pointy objects.
Punch Catch: When Tigress catches Po venting his feelings on the ship's mast, she notes that it's not a worthy opponent and tells him to try her instead. He proceeds to nearly break his fist on her paw; twenty years of punching ironwood trees will do that.
Punch-Clock Villain: It's lightly implied that the wolves are only still working for Shen out of fear for that he'll kill them if they don't. Considering that he offs the Wolf Boss just for not wanting to murder his own men, they're probably right.

Redemption Rejection: For the second time, Po offers a chance for Shen to turn over a new leaf, but he doesn't take it.
Po: 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.
Shen: You're right... then I choose THIS! [attacks Po]
Red Eyes, Take Warning: Played straight by Lord Shen's red eyes and his sigil, a red eye with sun rays at each side. Justified due to his assumed albinism.
Red Sky, Take Warning: Shen's introduction. Ironic, since red is the color of luck in China.
Regained Memories Sequence: Throughout the film, Po has flashes of traumatic memories from his infancy, which he cannot identify. Finally, when he is told what happened, he stops to meditate and regains his memories of Lord Shen's genocide of his people and how his mother gave her life to ensure he escaped. The sequence ends with him achieving inner peace by coming to terms with his past.
Rewatch Bonus: Watch closely when Po stuffs Mantis in the case. Sharp eyes will immediately see that "Mantis" is blockier and behaving like an inanimate object.
Ridiculously Cute Critter:
- Baby Po. So cute and fluffy.
- The bunny musician.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Lord Shen thinks Po will do this once he realizes Shen performed a genocide on the pandas and is left absolutely stunned when this trope is subverted.
Rule of Symbolism: The Yin Yang symbol is frequently used in this film, starting with the prophecy that Shen is destined to be defeated by "a warrior of black and white". Additionally, if one looks closely at the Gongmen jail floor where Po and Tigress end up sparring at one point, it also has the Ying Yang symbol placing them on opposing sides. When Po throws back the final canon ball, he whirls it so fast that his body and the glow of the ball form a Yin Yang symbol. Heck, the end credits show a baby Po being rolled — and he looks like a Yin Yang symbol.
Running Gag:
- Po and his mortal enemy: stairs. Kept going in that it takes a Gorilla Mook to carry Po up the rest of the stairs part of the way.
- The Soothsayer eating Shen's robes.
- Po repeatedly leaps into battle from a fatal height — only to be caught and gently lowered by Crane at the last second.
- Master Shifu still can't meditate without someone interrupting.

Savage Wolves: Lord Shen's minions are ruthless wolf brigands.
Scenery Porn: And this time with the addition of cities!
Scissors Cuts Rock: As the skirmish between Shen and Master Thundering Rhino shows, Shen's cannons are more than a match for a kung fu master, naturally prompting Po to ask how kung fu can stop something that stops kung fu. The answer is finding inner peace and throwing the cannonballs back.
Self-Disposing Villain: Lord Shen is crushed by his own wrecked cannon because he tries killing Po and ends up cutting the ropes holding it up.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Soothsayer says in the intro that a warrior of black and white will defeat Shen. Because of his actions, Shen ends up fulfilling the destiny. If he hadn't attempted genocide, Po never would've ended up where he could learn kung fu and come back to defeat him in the first place. Alternately, it's outright said in the prophecy that if he doesn't change his ways, this is what will happen. After all, if he hadn't attacked the city with his cannons, Shifu would never have gotten a letter that made him send Po.
Sequel Escalation:
- While the first movie centered on a small mountain valley, and the villain had mostly personal motivation and acted alone, the sequel involves a big city and a villain who wants to Take Over the World and has an army of wolves, gunpowder cannons, and a freakin' river fleet at his disposal.
- A subtle one: where the first film had two Art Shifts, the sequel has three: cel animation, CGI animation, and shadow puppetry.
Sequel Hook: When Po makes it clear that he has accepted Mr. Ping as his father as well as being the last Giant Panda, we see that Po's biological father is alive in a far away hidden village of Giant Pandas and senses that his son is alive as well.
Shabby Heroes, Well-Dressed Villains: Po wears nothing more than a pair of sandals and shorts with obvious patches. Lord Shen wears a pure white robe made from "the finest silk in the province," as he puts it.
Shining City: Gongmen.
Shout-Out:
- This is not the first time Jack Black has fought using Combination Attacks. Though it is decidedly less metal.
- The sequence where the Furious Five hide in a dragon costume and "devour" wolf minions (It Makes Sense in Context), filmed from a top-down perspective, is an obvious Pac-Man allusion.
- The scene where Po is riding the rickshaw to catch a wolf (also in a rickshaw) and ends up going up and falling off some scaffolding of a building is reminiscent of the chariot racing scene in The Prince of Egypt, another DreamWorks film. They even used some of the same camera angles!
- Also, other than the obvious factor of Moses in the Bulrushes, Po's mother sending Po away is very reminiscent of the scene in Prince of Egypt when Jochebed sends Moses away in the basket, right down to when they kiss their children on the forehead.
- One scene showed the Furious Five using a string of lanterns as a zipline, similar to the one at the end of Mulan.
- In the Smoke and Fire Factory showdown, when Po suddenly appears behind Shen mounted on a huge turning cogwheel. Hi there, Terminator 2!
- One part of the scene with Po redirecting fire from all cannons at once is a visual shout-out to a scene in Shaolin Soccer, with the entire Team Evil lined up and kicking the same ball at the Shaolin goalie over and over.
Shown Their Work:
- Lord Shen is a white peacock with red markings on his feathers. White is the color of death in Asian cultures, "shen" can be read as "flame" in Chinese, and in the Wu Xing red and white are the colors of fire and metal. The filmmakers clearly knew their Chinese philosophy too.
- In addition to the architecture, the movie opens with a brief history of Shen's childhood, which is presented as a stylized shadow puppet play.
- The musician troupe that Po and company try to save from bandits carries large prayer bells.
- Tigress talking about punching ironwood trees to deaden her hands is a direct reference to the same type of conditioning done by Muay Thai fighters on their hands and legs. Also used by Karate practitioners with Kyu Kushin Karate being the most famous example. Thirdly, Chinese Martial Artists.
Sidetracked by the Analogy: Po's Rousing Speech to Ox and Croc which starts off talking about their prison made of fear but ends up (inevitably) turning into something about food. It still manages to be pretty awesome and accurate.
Sinister Silhouettes:
- Lord Shen's armada is first shown as the silhouettes of their dragon-shaped cannon sliding across the screen of a shadow puppet play before the audience turn to the window to stare in horror.
- Played for Laughs earlier in the film when Shen is startled by the huge shadow of the Dragon Warrior coming up the stair accompanied by savage grunts, only to see one of his gorillas carrying an exhausted Po.
Sliding Scale of Silliness vs. Seriousness: More on the serious side than the first film, but there's still plenty of silliness going on here.
Smarter Than You Look: Po seems to have led the Five into a trap when Wolf brings his whole army. Then he reveals he put a decoy of Mantis in a cage when surrendering, allowing the insect to follow along and free them at a critical time. The one flaw with his plan is he assumed there was only a single cannon and is dismayed to learn that Shen has made dozens.
Smoke and Fire Factory: Shen's cannon foundry. Needless to say, there is no OSHA in ancient China.
Snow Means Death: It's snowing when Po's mother gives her life for her infant son.
So Last Season: The threat of this is the driving force behind the film; Shen's weaponry seems to leave martial arts at a hopeless disadvantage. Ultimately averted when Po manages to channel his inner peace into a Catch and Return technique.
Shifu: This could mean the end of kung fu!
Po: But I just got kung fu!
So Much for Stealth: Po's attempt to sneak through the city causes Tigress to Facepalm.
Squee: Po's thrilled to be in the same pressure-point shackles as Tai Lung. Also when meeting Masters Croc and Ox.
Po: Master Ox? Master [spots Master Croc] Gasp! The ferocious Master Croc! And Master... Storming Ox! I can't believe we're rescuing actual legends of kung fu!
Storming the Castle: Well, storming the tower in this case, but it's still awesome once the heroes begin their battle at the top of the Tower of the Sacred Flame.
Suicide by Cop:
- Subverted toward the end. Lord Shen assumes Po wants this when he stands up in front of Shen's cannons, essentially a firing squad taken up to eleven. Po is only finding a firm place to stand so that he can deflect the cannonballs, but he might have anticipated that Shen would come to this conclusion. If he can't pull this off, he really is dead... Dark.
- Seeing that Shen doesn't accept Po's revelation about Inner Peace by accepting the past and instead fights the superior panda, only to get peacefully crushed by his own cannon, he himself might be a straight example.
"Super Sentai" Stance: Parodied with the help of Po's clumsiness.
Super-Strength: Master Rhino is described as this by Tigress. She and Mantis are way up there, too.
Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: This film shows time and time again why having the number advantage can be a deciding factor. The Wolf Army may not be kung fu masters, but they are strong and out number Po and the Furious Five, so they can just gang up on them easily, especially given that each master can only take out so many wolves before either getting overwhelmed or get exhausted. This leads to the group getting captured not once, but twice, both because there was no real choice left. Had Po not freed the Five in time during the final battle, the wolves were simply going to overwhelm him.

Take Over the World: Shen's Evil Plan (China being regarded as the entire world at the time, or at least the only part that counted).
Taking the Bullet: Thankfully, a non-fatal example. In the climax of the film, Tigress pushes Po out of the way of a cannonball and takes the hit herself. She survives, but is too weak to stop Po from taking on the rest of Shen's fleet by himself.
The Talk: Mentioned. When Po asks Mr. Ping on where he came from, Mr. Ping says this:
Mr. Ping: Well, son. Baby geese come from little eggs. Now don't ask me where the egg comes from!
Tempting Fate:
- Po is good at this.
  Po: Next time you mess with a panda, you'd better bring a whole arrrrghhhhhh! [realizes a whole army is surrounding them]
- Lord Shen escapes to a distant tower.
  Mantis: At least we destroyed the weapon.
  [Shen lands next to an entire battery of cannons]
  Shen: FIRE!
  Mantis: [cheerfully] Oh, no, he's got way more.
Tennis Boss: In a rare non-video game example, Po sinks Shen's armada with their own cannon fire by throwing the cannonballs back at them.
Toilet Humour: While Po and the Five are wearing the dragon costume disguise, it appears to "eat" a wolf (Po pulling the wolf inside through the dragon's mouth), digest him (the Furious Five beating him up), then excrete the remains (tossing him out the back), much to the disgust of a watching child.
Took a Level in Badass: Although Po still cannot hold his own in a fight with Tigress (admittedly, very few warriors can), and his fighting style is somewhat clumsy, he kicks much more evildoer butt than in the original movie.
Totem Pole Trench: The aforementioned dragon costume.
Trailers Always Spoil: More like T.V. spots always spoil, but one commercial showed Po's father and the secret panda village at the end of the film.
Tranquil Fury: Lord Shen during the final battle at the end of his Villainous Breakdown. It makes the fight much more even and if he hadn't ended up crushed by his own cannon, he might have won. Then again, Shen himself acknowledged quite early that he isn't exactly the best at fighting directly which is one reason why he has build cannons, so he might have just tried to provoke a Suicide by Cop.
Travel Montage: Po and the Five travelling across China from the Valley of Peace to Gongmen City.
Triumphant Reprise: The soundtrack has a subtle, non-lyrical version with the melody at the beginning of "Save Kung Fu" that repeats in a dramatic, joyful fashion at the climax of "Po Finds the Truth".
Trojan Horse:
- Po and the Furious Five use a Dragon costume to sneak around Gongmen City.
- Also Shen's "gift" for Master Rhino and co.
True Companions: Since the last movie, Po and the Furious Five have become much closer, with Tigress becoming his best friend out of the bunch.
Twist Ending: Po's biological father lives in a distant panda village, and suddenly senses Po is also alive.

Unexplained Recovery: Crane's injured wing is inexplicably healed and fully functional in the final battle.
Unsettling Gender-Reveal: The Soothsayer to Po, who claims he was "misled" by the Soothsayer's beard. Though with those horns, who can blame him?

[Verb] This!: At the end, when Po offers Shen a chance to let go of his painful past:
Shen: I don't care what scars do!
Po: You should, Shen. You gotta let go of that stuff from past, because it just doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is what you choose to be now.
Shen: You're right. Then I choose this! [Shen fights Po with his knives, ultimately dislodging his wrecked cannon, which falls on and crushes him]
Vertigo Effect:
Villain Ball: For most of the movie, Shen is a well-tempered villain and only toward the end does he pick up the ball. First he loses his patience at Po's constant dodging of his cannon balls. Then, after Po boards his ruined ship and Shen learns that he was able to let go the scars of his past, Shen realizes Po has found a peace that he will never achieve and furiously attempts to kill him. Fueled by despair, Shen relentlessly attacks, further weakening the ship's structure until the cannon topples over and he stands firm, letting it crush him.
Villain Has a Point: A brief one towards the end.
Shen: Not that. How did you find peace? I took away your parents. Everything! I I— I scarred you for life!
Po: See that's the thing, Shen. Scars heal.
Shen: No, they don't. Wounds heal.
Villain Opening Scene: The movie begins with a prologue describing Shen's Start of Darkness before cutting to the Valley of Peace and showing the title.
Villainous Breakdown: Po appearing as Shen is about to sail to triumph seems to result in the peacock finally losing it; while he remains sane, he kicks the Attack! Attack! Attack! strategy he'd employed with his cannons up to 11, even willing to fire on his own fleet to clear out all obstacles and casually knifing The Dragon when he refuses. This results in Shen refusing to cease using his cannons even when Po has perfected the catch and return technique, resulting in an epic Oh, Crap! when Po's final returned shot makes a yin-yang symbol before striking his flagship. When Po confronts him on his ship after crippling it, he finds Shen completely stunned by both the fact everything he created has been destroyed and the fact that Po managed to overcome his traumatic past and find inner peace. When Po explains it to him, he snaps and tries to kill Po. Unlike Tai Lung, however, Shen doesn't lose his head, managing Tranquil Fury despite his breakdown, resulting in a much more even fight. This is most likely due to the Soothsayer's prediction starting to come to pass, and by this point Shen is getting desperate to change it. His Mind Screw didn't work and force is his only option. You can pretty much sense it in Shen's voice when he asks how Po overcame his trauma. Even if it's calm, his ambition has been left in ruins and he's got nothing to lose, leading to the final assault and ultimately death at his own hands.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Po and Tigress are a mild case of Type 1 by the time of this film.

Was It Really Worth It?: The Soothsayer asks Shen if everything he's done so far, and everything he's planning to do, will be worth it in the end after he destroys his ancestral home in a failed attempt to kill the Five. Shen's response implies he's not certain if it will be or not.
Weak, but Skilled: Shen doesn't have brute strength or the sort of Super-Toughness that kung-fu masters of the setting have. But he's far from harmless in a fight: he's extremely fast and a Psycho Knife Nut.
Weaponized Headgear: Played for Laughs and subverted when Po proclaims that his straw hat is actually the "Disc of Destruction" and throws it at Shen's ship. It works as well as you'd expect with an ordinary hat made of light straw.
We Have Reserves: Lord Shen is not averse to firing at his own ships and killing his own minions if it helps to destroy Po. The Wolf Boss objects, and Shen offhandedly murders him.
Wham Line: The very last line: "My son is alive."
What Do You Mean, It's Not Symbolic?:
- Like in the first movie, this trope is invoked during the final battle. Shen professes his hatred of kung fu and desire to eradicate it more than once, but in the end, when told by Po that he should do what he really desires to do with his life, instead of being controlled by his past, Shen chooses to have one last kung fu battle with Po, and actually manages to fight Po on even terms, proving that he isn't just attacking in a blind rage (look how well that ended for the far more powerful Tai Lung). Then the wreck of his cannon interrupts the fight and crushes the wicked peacock, in the far less subtle application of the same trope.
- The floor of Gongmen Jail has a curved line running through its circular center. When Tigress confronts Po there, she is standing at one point and repeatedly tossing him to another, causing them to form a yin-yang symbol when viewed from above.
What the Hell, Hero?:
- Not only does Po keep freezing up during crucial moments whenever he sees Lord Shen's symbol, but he refuses to explain why. This doesn't rub well with the other Five (Tigress especially) when this problem makes him miss the perfect opportunity to catch Shen. It passes when they find out why he was distracted, though.
- Po calls out Master Storming Ox and Master Croc for staying inside Gongmen Jail and refusing to help them in the fight against Shen. They justify it as Shen is holding the city hostage.
  Po: Fine! You stay in your prison of fear, with bars made of hopelessness, and all you get are three square meals a day of shame!
  Master Croc: With despair for dessert.
  Po: We'll take on Shen, and prove to those who are hungry for justice, and honor, that kung fu still lives!
Where Did We Go Wrong?: For Shen's parents, they discover that their son launched a genocidal campaign against an innocent village of pandas. Due to The Chains of Commanding, they have to exile him, and as the Soothsayer puts it, the very act killed them. And that all started because Shen reacted badly to their disapproval of his dreams of inventing the cannon, and that they weren't careful enough that Shen overheard the prophecy foretelling his doom, which spurred his actions in the first place.
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Generally defied by Shen as his primary means of dealing with opponents is to shoot them with his cannons. Seemingly played straight in the third act when he captures the Furious Five but instead of shooting them, lashes them to his ship where they'll be Forced to Watch his conquest, and seeing them as prisoners will break the spirits of any who would rise against him. Ultimately subverted because when they break free and start to gain the upper hand Shen immediately turns the cannons on them, ending their rebellion and leading to Po's You Shall Not Pass! moment.
Why Won't You Die?: "How many times do I have to kill the same stinking panda??!"
Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: Used several times, usually displaying dismay or sudden surprise.
With Catlike Tread: Po's attempt at "stealth mode" is... less than stellar. Then again, what would you expect from a 300-pound Giant Panda voiced by Jack Black?
With My Hands Tied: Done as a Funny Background Event when Tigress kicks the spear from the paws of a wolf guard who keeps jabbing her with it.
Worst. Whatever. Ever!: Apparently to Shifu, not even Tai Lung's fall from grace compared to the day Po was chosen as Dragon Warrior. It did, however, help him achieve inner peace.
Master Shifu: The day you were chosen as Dragon Warrior, was the worst day of my life. By far. Nothing else came so close. It was the worst, most painful, mind-destroying, horrible moment I have ever experienced.

You Are Too Late: Po and the Five come to destroy Lord Shen's cannon thinking he only built one, only to realize that they are far, far too late considering he's already built a whole arsenal of them.
You Can't Fight Fate: Lord Shen appears to be well aware of this trope even though he strives to avert it. He finally accepts this in the end.
You Can't Thwart Stage One: Po and the Furious Five are unable to destroy the cannons at the foundry or stop Lord Shen from bringing the cannon ships out of Gongmen City. Still, they succeed in thwarting Lord Shen's plans and defeat him.
You Shall Not Pass!: It is our heroes darkest hour. After a brief Hope Spot where they had jammed up all of Shen's boats and seemed seconds away from taking him down, Shen opens fire directly on the group with his cannon, blasting through the heroes and opening a passageway for his ships. With all the other heroes barely conscious and clinging to driftwood, Po swims to a large piece of wood and with great effort stands to face Shen as the last hero between him and the sea.

Kung Fu Panda 2 / Tropes I to Z

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Kung Fu Panda 2 / Tropes I to Z

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