History Characters / KungFuPandaTheJadePalace

[[header:[[center:''Franchise/KungFuPanda'' [[Characters/KungFuPanda franchise character index]]\\
[-'''The Jade Palace''' ([[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing Po]], [[Characters/KungFuPandaTheFuriousFive The Furious Five]] ([[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterTigress Tigress]]))\\
[[Characters/KungFuPandaAntagonists Antagonists]] | [[Characters/KungFuPandaOtherCharacters Other Characters]]\\
''[[Characters/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness Legends of Awesomeness]]'' | ''[[Characters/KungFuPandaThePawsOfDestiny The Paws of Destiny]]'' | ''[[Characters/KungFuPandaTheDragonKnight The Dragon Knight]]''-]]]]]
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[[foldercontrol]]

!Masters

[[folder:Po Ping]]
* See his entry [[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing here]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Master Shifu]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DustinHoffman (Films), Creator/FredTatasciore (TV Series, Video Games)[[labelnote:Foreign [=VA=]s]]Zhou Zhihui (Cantonese); Guy Nadon (Canadian French); Creator/PierreArditi [Films, TV Series sans ''Secrets of the Scroll''], Creator/JeanBarney [''Secrets of the Scroll''] (EU French); Creator/GottfriedJohn [''[=KFP=]'' and ''[=KFP=] 2''], Reinhard Kuhnert [''[=KFP=] 3''] (German); Eros Pagni [Films], Carlo Valli [TV Series] (Italian); Takashi Sasano [''[=KFP=]'' and ''[=KFP=] 2''], Ben Hiura [''[=KFP=] 3''] (Japanese); Kim Ki-hyeon (Korean); Wang Xiaobing (PRC Mandarin); Chin Shih-Chieh (TW Mandarin); Leonardo Camillo (Brazilian Portuguese); José Raposo (EU Portuguese); Alexander Khotchenkov (Russian); Joaquín Díaz [''[=KFP=]'' and ''[=KFP=] 2''], Ricardo Solans [''[=KFP=] 3''] (EU Spanish); Pedro Amendariz Jr. [''[=KFP=]'' and ''[=KFP=] 2''], Creator/OctavioRojas [''[=KFP=] 3'', ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness''] (LA Spanish); Jan Peszek [Films, TV Series sans ''Legends Of Awesomeness'' and ''Secrets of the Scroll''], Miłogost Reczek [''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness'', Video Game and ''Secrets of the Scroll''] (Polish)[[/labelnote]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/290px-shifugreen_6078.jpg]]
-->“Well done, students—''if'' you were trying to disappoint me."
\\
An old Red Panda, he is the kung fu teacher and master of Po and the Furious Five. He originally refuses to accept Po as the Dragon Warrior until the young panda proves himself. He is the protege of Master Oogway, and has succeeded him as spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace in the wake of his death.
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* AbusiveParent: After what happened to Tai Lung, he became bitter and resentful... leading him to become an emotionally abusive adoptive father to Tigress, who he would often criticize (along with the others), if she didn't meet his incredibly high standards. He grows out of this in later material, but the scars remain for a while.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: A running joke. Po beats his personal nemesis Tai Lung in the first movie. In the second Shifu finally masters inner peace, only for Po to duplicate that feat by the end. In the third Shifu retires as the Furious Five's master in order to learn chi manipulation, only for Po to beat him to it. Po also gains Oogway's spirit staff, which is much cooler than the one Shifu has. Each time Shifu has briefly expressed irritation before just rolling with it, though his annoyance has increased a little with each movie.
* AntiHero: At first, given his borderline abusive treatment of Po and frankly asshole-ish attitude.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: In the ''Legends of Awesomeness'' episode "Five Is Enough", Shifu is shown to be this by analyzing not only the opposing team's fighting style and flaws in the contest, but also the villain's to the point of replicating his signature move.
* BadassTeacher: He was the Kung Fu teacher of [[TheDreaded Tai Lung]], [[BadassCrew the Furious Five]], and [[TookALevelInBadass Po]]. Needless to say, ''all'' of them are amazing kung fu masters.
* BigDamnHeroes: In the second film, [[spoiler: he convinces a pessimistic Master Ox and Master Croc to fight against Lord Shen in the climax, though the convincing happens off screen.]]
* BigEater: He is seen eating a large amount of dumplings in a few mere seconds during Po's training montage.
* BigGood: After Oogway dies. He even gets a new outfit to show it.
* BigOlEyebrows: They're quite bushy and becoming of an elderly kung fu master.
* BloodKnight: In the ''Legends of Awesomeness'' episode "Kung Fu Club", it is shown he enjoys fighting for the sake of it, not just because it's his job. In Secrets of the Scroll, he spends a day excitedly destroying giant stone blocks in "preparation" for battle even though it is more likely to exhaust him than help him. Oogway implies this overzealous behavior is completely normal for him.
* BreakTheHaughty: Over and over during the first film, at the hands of his two pupils, fallen paragon Tai Lung and unlikely champion Po.
** The first is when he talks to Po after Oogway's death and realizes he wasn't just a fool but a person who sincerely wished to improve himself, changing his previously contemptuous view of him.
** The second and greater impact happens in his fight with Tai Lung, when he is forced to acknowledge that his bad judgement steered Tai Lung to darkness.
** According to his humorous speech in the second film, this started with Po being chosen as the Dragon Warrior. He admits that Po's introduction into his life was possibly ''the worst day of his life'', going into extreme detail of how much it affected him. However, he also concedes on how this helped him let go of his enforced perfectionism to train him, thus becoming a much more relaxed individual.
* BrutalHonesty: Shifu is not exactly known for softening his opinions, and when annoyed with someone can get downright vicious.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: He shows signs of this in the Tv series. Most notably in the episode "Little Ling Called Love", where [[spoiler:he announces his retirement to be with Mei Ling, his former flame whom he has rekindled with]] and how he tiredly speaks of the responsibilities that he had on him.
* CharacterDevelopment: Since he trained Po to be the Dragon Warrior, and the giant panda helped undo his mistakes with Tai Lung, he's been feeling much better in the second film. A lot of his early arrogance in the first film is reigned in, and he's far less harsh or controlling.
* ComedicSociopath: A teacher chucking his student down a flight of stairs the size of a small mountain wouldn't have much in the way of employment prospects in real life.
* ControlFreak: It's subtle, but a big part of Shifu's CharacterDevelopment in the first film is acknowledging the "illusion of control". In short, recognizing that some of what happened with Tai Lung was his fault, but some of it ''wasn't.''
* TheComicallySerious: Is routinely the subject of humour despite his no-nonsense approach to teaching. Taken to its highest levels in ''Legends of Aweomeness'', where he's a regularly TheChewToy to Po.
* CoolOldGuy: When he's not being grumpy, he's a clever sage. After he begins training Po in earnest, he actually starts ''enjoying'' himself.
* CostumeEvolution: As of the sequel, Shifu now sports a green sash -- representing his CharacterDevelopment into a wise sage like his deceased master.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: [[spoiler:Fully convinced that Tai Lung would become the Dragon Warrior, Shifu set him to train hard, neglecting to teach him humility and the spiritual side of Kung Fu. When Oogway denied Tai Lung the Dragon Scroll, Shifu didn't step in to defend or comfort his adoptive son. [[WellDoneSonGuy Tai Lung]] had come to feel that he was worthy of Shifu's love only by becoming the Dragon Warrior and took this withdrawal of unconditional support as betrayal, trying to take the Dragon Scroll by force. Upon being beaten by his adoptive son years later, Shifu confesses that he unwittingly turned Tai Lung into a villain due to his prideful love blinding him.]]
* CriticalHesitationBlunder: Combined with his GlassCannon attribute, this is why he loses against 2 out of 3 of the movie villains. He can't bring himself to defeat Tai Lung because he loves him, and the shock of seeing Oogway turned into a jade figure distracts him long enough for Kai to get a solid hit in.
* CynicalMentor: After Tai Lung's turn to evil, and to Po before he proves himself capable of intense physical activity.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: His father had traveled to other villages to sell fake amulets ever since he was a young boy. One day, his father dropped him off at the Jade Palace, promising to return in five minutes. Shifu waited for him until nightfall, when eventually Master Oogway found him and took him in, making him a student at the Jade Palace. Then, there's his backstory with Tai Lung...
* DatingCatwoman: The show reveals that when he was a young kung fu master, he fell for Mei Ling, a crafty fox thief who uses her kung fu skills for the wrong purpose. Despite being the power couple, the relationship ended when he couldn't deal with her thieving ways and she came to resent that he supposedly placed his honor over her. Despite this, he finds himself immensely attracted to her, and she with him, as we see in her debut episode.
** She returns in "Crazy Little Ling Called Love" where both have resolved to quit what tore them apart: She quit being a thief and [[spoiler:Shifu retiring as Master of the Jade Palace]]. Unfortunately, Ling is threatened by [[spoiler:Junjie to steal a crown and Shifu must steal it back. The end of the episode has her claim responsibility and spare Shifu, but they are still able to have a picnic together in jail]].
* DeadpanSnarker: When putting up with Po's antics.
* DefrostingIceKing: Like Tigress, he mellows out quite a bit in the first film, to the point that he now resembles his deceased master by the sequel and onwards.
* DemotedToExtra: In the second film, he gets a couple of brief scenes at the start, then sends Po on his way while he remains in the Valley of Peace [[spoiler:until the very end when he does the BigDamnHeroes bit]]. Justified in that his character arc was mostly done with by the end of the first movie and ''someone'' had to watch the Jade Palace.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: His name means "master" in Chinese, so calling him "Master Shifu" is like calling him "Master Master".
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Shifu is the other character in the first movie to undergo major changes.
* DisneyDeath: At the end of the first movie, after Tai Lung is defeated, Po (and the audience) believes Shifu is dying when actually he's only resting.
--> "I'm not dying, you idiot!"
* DotingParent: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. Shifu raised Tai Lung with a lot of affection, and told him he was destined for greatness, but didn't teach him any humility or empathy. Shifu even admits his fatherly pride in Tai Lung's talent blinded him to what his pupil was becoming.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Shifu's first scene is effortlessly evading the Furious Five's attacks during a training session and then harshly berates all of them with the above quote. Moreso, he berates them for things they're good at: Tigress needs more ferocity, Viper has to show more subtlety, Crane "Height!" and so on.
* EveryoneHasStandards: In "Invitation Only", he believes that he can stand to watch Po's bad table manners since he fought the skinless demons of Taoyan Province. A GilliganCut shows he was wrong.
* FauxHorrific: Obviously, Tai Lung's betrayal gave him immense guilt and pain. But the very worst memory of all...
--> '''Shifu''' ''(right to Po's face):'' The day you were chosen... was the worst day of my life. By far. Nothing else comes close. ''Brrrr.''
* FlashStep: He was quick in the first movie. In the sequel, he's able to essentially teleport.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Melancholic - in the first film, he is extremely caught up in the mistakes he made in the past and cannot seem to let it go, and also shows some aspects of Choleric by being needlessly strict and harsh towards his students. He does, of course, become more relaxed and open eventually, but is still stern and task-oriented for the most part.
* FullyDressedCartoonAnimal: He wears full kung fu master garb, now with the addition of a green robe.
* GlassCannon: He is a very fast and powerful fighter, but suffers a lack of reach and stamina against tougher and larger opponents like Tai Lung. First evidenced in his match with Po at the end of his training, when the main advantage Po has over him is that Shifu is comparatively tiny.
** He's the only one to challenge Kai in the third movie, but just one hit severely injured him.
* GoodIsNotNice: Always ready to defend the valley, but before CharacterDevelopment kicks in he is serious, strict to the point of cruelty, and comes off as uncaring.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Becomes much nicer to his allies after CharacterDevelopment, but is still very harsh to anyone who crosses him. He's also a Kung Fu master and won't hesitate to beat up anyone who threatens people under his care.
* HandicappedBadass: He walks with a limp since he was struck in the leg/hip by Tai Lung, but that does nothing to stop him from being a good fighter.
* HeroicBSOD: Falls into one after experiencing several earth-shattering events in rapid succession. First, he finds out Tai Lung has escaped from prison and is on his way to the Jade Palace, Oogway passes away and he must find a way to turn Po, whom he'd spent more time trying to chase away than actually train, into the Dragon Warrior in a mere handful of days while not having the slightest idea where to start. It's enough that he spends the rest of the night under the sacred peach tree, simply staring forlornly out at the mountains. It isn't until he finds Po performing remarkable acts of athleticism while raiding the pantry that he has a EurekaMoment and comes out of it.
* HumblePie: Being beaten to an inch of his life by Tai Lung, coupled with the events of the Dragon Warrior selection, forces Shifu to confront a lot of his arrogant ControlFreak tendencies. [[spoiler:He admits as much to Tai Lung, citing how his pride was blinding him to Tai Lung's poor development.]]
* IGaveMyWord: Shifu promises Oogway he will try to train Po [[spoiler:minutes before Oogway unexpectedly passes away]].
* IHaveNoSon: Towards Tai Lung, briefly. Shortly after he tells him he was always proud of him though and apologizes for being a poor parent.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Subtly, but he can aim and hurl a chopstick with enough precision to spear a flying dumpling in mid-air.
* InterspeciesRomance: He is a red panda and [[Characters/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomenessTVSeries Mei Ling]] is a fox.
* JerkassHasAPoint: While he can be brutally direct, some of his criticism towards Po or his other students is genuine. In particular, in the first movie he's absolutely right about Po not being ready for the Dragon Scroll yet, or that the Furious Five stand no chance against Tai Lung.
* JerkassRealization: When Po goes off on him just after Oogway's death, revealing he knew Shifu wanted him gone but remained in hopes he could genuinely train him to become the dragon warrior, the look on Shifu's face makes it obvious that this was the first time he had seen Po as an actual ''person'' with ''feelings.'' [[spoiler:He also gets this during his fight with Tai Lung after Tai Lung reveals that what truly made him angry about being denied the scroll was the fact that Shifu refused to defend him after spending years telling him repeatedly that Tai Lung was destined to become the Dragon Warrior. Shifu admits to Tai Lung that his pride blinded him to what kind of monster his upbringing was turning Tai Lung into.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The end result of his arc in the first movie. He started out as egotistical and hostile, mostly due to his past, but all that changed when he found ''inner peace''. The show and later films show him as far more relaxed and lenient but still a strict taskmaster.
* KiManipulation: His skills are rudimentary compared to Oogway's (in the third film, he laments, "I can barely make a flower bloom! I need at least 30 more years! And a cave!"), but he blows open a rock with chi during his fight with Tai Lung and apparently knows the Wuxi Finger Hold.
* LogicalWeakness: Because of his small size, any decisive blow from a strong enough opponent will incapacitate or at least badly injure him, so he has to move fast and dish out the pain before they do.
* MeaningfulName: "Shifu" (師父) means "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment master]]". WordOfGod has said his name was chosen for it translating to "Father Teacher", which Shifu was originally developed to be: Po's adoptive father as well as teacher (which was also the reasoning behind casting him as a red panda), "so the sentiment is still there even though the story point is not".
* MiniatureSeniorCitizen: Justified, since Red Pandas as a species are small animals.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: His face when Po goes off on him about his treatment of him suggests this. Then when he says "I don't know" he realizes he's only made the situation worse.
** [[spoiler:He also gets this during his fight with Tai Lung, when he realizes his high expectations, arrogance and brutal training turned Tai Lung into a brutal warrior who cannot overcome his own flaws.]]
* MyGreatestFailure: How he regards his training of Tai Lung.
* NeverMyFault: He tells Tai Lung that it wasn't his fault the Dragon Warrior title couldn't go to him, something Tai Lung calls him out on immediately. Even beforehand he's denying his own role in Tai Lung's villainy, using all his students after him to make a new Dragon Warrior and never having visited him during his incarceration.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** One could see it as Shifu allowing Tai Lung to be released since if not for his paranoia, he wouldn't have sent Zeng to double-check his holdings and allowed Tai Lung the feather he needed to escape. However, he only did that because Oogway said Tai Lung would escape, therefore it could be considered Oogway's fault. Also counts as SelfFulfillingProphecy.
** Doubly so for Shifu: If he had made efforts to ensure Tai Lung was taught humility or empathy, Tai Lung wouldn't have gone down the dark path when he was denied the Dragon Scroll by Oogway.
* NotSoAboveItAll:
** In ''Legends of Awesomeness'', he initially shows disdain for the idea of Kung Fu FightClubbing[[note]]Peng has been traveling around and starting up meetings to teach the people and allow them to defend themselves, rather than let Kung Fu remain a weapon used only by masters and criminals; Po [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure immediately jumps on board]] at the idea[[/note]], but when he sees it for himself first hand, ''he has a blast''.
** In some episodes he actually demonstrates Po-level enthusiasm for simple pastimes. In "Camp Ping" he actually annoys Po and Mr. Ping by tagging along on their camping trip, even partaking in a childlike sing-song, while in "The Secret Museum of Kung-Fu", Shifu, despite his hesitance to such behavior, actually shares Po's giddy eagerness about taking a road trip to titular landmark, much to the Furious Five's chagrin.
** In the films, after finding inner peace he starts embracing his silly side more and more, to the point where he fully condones and even shares some of Po's bombastic ideas and Oogway's free-living mentality, albeit still doing so in a mature, reserved fashion. By the third movie, he can swap between silly and sagelike with amusing ease.
--> '''Po:''' ''(referring to using chi)'' So you're saying that by learning to teach, I'll be able to do cool stuff like that?
--> '''Shifu:''' ''(referring to all the free time he'll have now that Po is teaching)'' No. I'm saying that by you learning to teach, ''I'll'' be able to do cool stuff like that.
* NotSoDifferentRemark: In an episode of ''Legends of Awesomeness'' titled "My Favorite Yao", he's compared to ''Po''. He's a giant fanboy of this kung fu master named Yao and has action figures of Yao (in his meditation box) and himself [[spoiler:even going as far as to accidentally letting Yao unleashed and going into SensoryOverload!]] Also heavily implied by the simple choice of his species -- a different kind of ''Kung Fu Panda''.[[note]]Acknowledging, of course, that the red panda's classification has always been somewhat controversial. Molecular DNA research indicates that it's basically a ''far''-removed cousin of skunks, raccoons, otters, weasels, and badgers that split off long ago, but still fits into the Musteloidea superfamily connecting all of them. Red and Giant pandas have a common ancestor... that lived tens of millions of years ago in the Tertiary period.[[/note]]
* OffscreenTeleportation: Courtesy of [[spoiler:achieving inner peace:]] [[MundaneUtility generally used to avoid]] TheGlomp.
* OldMaster: Fills the typical role. Much more apparent in the sequel, where he replaces Oogway as the Valley of Peace's resident wise master, having achieved the inner peace necessary to be this. In the first film, it wasn't so much unapparent as averted, as he was too bitter and cold to be a wise mentor, save towards the end.
* OnlySaneMan: Compared to [[CloudCuckooLander Po]], Shifu is a little more serious about kung fu.
* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler:His con-artist father left him at the Jade Palace when he was a kid.]]
* ParentalSubstitute: To Tai Lung and later Tigress.
* ParentsAsPeople: Was far too busy training his adopted children in kung fu to actually, you know, ''parent'' them. He indulged on with praise with the first and he treated the second a fair bit more coldly and aloofly (likely as an attempt to not repeat with Tai Lung.)
* PerpetualFrowner: At least for the first half of the first movie. Both the Furious Five and Po even straight-out lampshade this when they talk about a time that Shifu "actually used to smile" and when Po is imitating him. However, he starts to get better when Po (unintentionally) starts showing promise of really being the Dragon Warrior.
* PintsizedPowerhouse: He's, what, a tenth Po's size? Smaller? Yet he can fling Po around like it's nothing. This shines in the second movie when [[spoiler:the first sign of Shifu's presence in the final battle is no less than a dozen armed wolves being sent flying in the distance]].
* {{Pride}}: He was blinded by this while training Tai Lung, preventing him from seeing the monster Tai Lung was becoming. [[WordOfStPaul Interviews with Dustin Hoffman]] indicated that Shifu's characterization was meant to suggest that he ''himself'' once aspired to become the Dragon Warrior, but when this failed to come to pass, he resolved to be the master who ''trained'' the Dragon Warrior instead. Afterwards, this same arrogance blinds him to Po's own potential until after Oogway's final lesson.
* RuleOfSymbolism:
** During his climactic battle against Tai Lung, Shifu angrily states that Tai Lung's not being chosen to become the Dragon Warrior was not his (Shifu's) fault. His former prize pupil shouts at him, "''Not your fault?'' Who filled my head with dreams? Who drove me to train until my bones cracked?! ''WHO DENIED ME MY DESTINY?!''" and hurls a sword at Shifu. The scene slows down for a moment [[ItsAllMyFault as Shifu stares at his own reflection in the polished blade]].
** As they break through the roof of the Jade Palace, fight in midair, and go hurtling downward, the lighting of the scene for a very brief moment makes it appear as if Shifu is drowning--in guilt and grief at seeing his beloved son and pupil turned into a revenge-crazed monster, and knowing he was partly responsible for it.
* SadistTeacher: In the first film, towards Po. His "training" was little more than abuse with the intention of getting Po to quit, and Shifu was getting increasingly frustrated that Po continued to endure it. Oogway and later Po eventually [[RageAgainstTheMentor call him out on this]], and Shifu drops this attitude.
* ScratchyVoicedSenior: He's old and speaks with a rather gravelly voice.
* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Very old, and very cantankerous, as Po finds out. Of course, he warms to Po eventually.
* SoProudOfYou: Averted. It's implied that he was very proud of Tai Lung but never ''said'' so. He seems to have drawn the wrong lesson from this - rather than learning to give praise where it's deserved, he hasn't allowed himself to ''feel'' proud of training six more of the greatest kung-fu masters of the day. Even after his CharacterDevelopment in the first movie, getting sincere praise from Shifu is quite unusual.
---> '''Po:''' No, Master. I did it. I defeated Tai Lung!\\
'''Shifu:''' You did? ''(ponders this for a moment)'' Wow.
* StaffOfAuthority: He inherits Master Oogway's, repairs it, and it becomes his weapon.
* SternTeacher: For the Furious Five, although for Po he's initially more of a SadistTeacher. By the end of the first film, he does learn to lighten up a bit. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that he's a traditional Chinese Wushu Sifu. Historically, in Imperial China, near-abusive treatment of students by people in his position was not only tolerated, but expected. That said, even in-universe it's obvious he's not really ''training'' Po so much as trying to drive him away. The film draws a distinction between Shifu setting Po up for failure versus giving legitimately difficult yet rewarding training.
* SuperSenses: While trying to meditate, he complains about the sound of Zheng flying toward him before the audience knows he's arrived (though that may be a gag on his proportionally large ears).
* TookALevelInCheerfulness: He loses his cynical, bitter streak by the sequel. Although he's still pretty sardonic.
* TookALevelInKindness: Becomes far less cold and bitter in the second movie, taking on a more Oogway-like demeanor.
* TwitchyEye: Tends to happen when he gets annoyed at Po (which is often).
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: When Shifu at the Pool of Sacred Tears asks Po if he wants to learn kung fu, his response to the panda's impassioned "Yes!" says that he knows Po can be trained after all. He also invoked this with Tigress when she was a cub and taught her to control her strength.
-->'''Shifu:''' Tigress? ''(opens the door of Tigress' room)'' I am Shifu. I am...
-->'''Tigress:''' Afraid?
-->'''Shifu:''' No.
-->'''Tigress:''' ''(furiously)'' Well, you should be! I am Tigress! Tigress the '''monster!''' ''(sadly)'' A monster no one wants.
-->'''Shifu:''' You are not a monster. You're just a little girl. ''(takes out a set of wooden dominoes)'' Let us play?
[[/folder]]

!The Furious Five

* For the Furious Five, see [[Characters/KungFuPandaTheFuriousFive here]].

!Household

[[folder:Zeng]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DanFogler (Films), Creator/MickWingert (TV Series), Andrew Kishino (first video game, Legendary Warriors) [[labelnote:Foreign [=VA=]s]]Kinson Lai (Cantonese), Creator/MartinWatier (Canadian French), Pascal Sellem (EU French), Gerald Schaale (German), Creator/MassimilianoAlto (Italian), Creator/WataruTakagi (Japanese), Jeon Tae-yeol (Korean), Zhai Wen (PRC Mandarin), Ryan Huang (TW Mandarin), Reginaldo Primo (Brazilian Portuguese), Manuel Marques (EU Portuguese), Ilya Bledny (Russian), Aleix Estadella (EU Spanish), Creator/OscarFlores (LA Spanish); Zbigniew Suszyński (Polish)[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:150:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Zeng_5402.png]]
-->"We're dead. So very, very dead."\\\

Shifu's timid messenger goose. Bears witness to Tai Lung's escape when he attempts to warn the patrols to step up their security.
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* AcrophobicBird: Averted. He's the only goose in the cast who's ever been shown flying so far.
* AscendedExtra: He was a minor character in the first movie but gets a bit more focus and development in ''Kung Fu Panda Holiday'', ''Legends of Awesomeness'', and ''Paws of Destiny''.
* BearerOfBadNews: And Vachir is ''not'' happy about it. Shifu on the other hand is simply stunned.
-->'''Shifu''': Thank goodness, Zeng. I could use some good news.\\
'''Zeng''': [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Um]]...
* ButtMonkey: All through the film, Zeng is, in order of misfortune, pressured by Master Shifu into going to a terrifying prison to check on ''one of the most dangerous enemies of the Valley of Peace'', mistreated and berated by Vachir, who clearly enjoys seeing him squirm; watches as several guards are (presumably) killed and comes face to face with the scary snow leopard himself and barely spared. To add salt to the wound, he's the one who has to return with the bad news. Although, he got off lightly on that last one, since he could have been easily killed as well.
* CowardlyLion: The first to hide from dangerous villains.
* DisasterDominoes: It all started with one little feather...
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When he takes off from the Jade Palace to deliver the message to Chorh-Gom, several feathers are seen falling off of him.
* FurryReminder: He honks nervously when faced by an enraged Tai Lung.
* HiddenDisdainReveal: In the ''Legends of Awesomeness'' episode "Shifu's Ex", Zeng confides in Mei Ling than he actually hates his boss, Shifu (unaware she and Shifu have switched bodies and "Mei Ling" is getting increasingly ticked off). Somewhat justified as the show really amped up [[MeanBoss Shifu's shabby treatment of Zeng]] in several episodes.
* NeckLift: On the receiving end, first from Vachir while preventing him from fleeing the prison to tell Shifu Tai Lung broke free of his restraints, and then again by Tai Lung himself once he blasts his way out of the prison.
* NervousWreck: When he's in Chorh-Gom Prison. Being surrounded by belligerent rhinoceros and being in Tai Lung's presence doesn't help.
* OhCrap: Constantly whenever Tai Lung is involved, though the worst would be when Tai Lung performs a NeckLift on him after blasting his way out of the prison with the re-purposed dynamite.
* SequelNonEntity: Despite appearing in some other media after ''Kung Fu Panda'' like the tv series and holiday special, he is conspicuously absent in both the second and third film.
* ShootTheMessenger: Played with. Vachir doesn't kill him for bringing Shifu's message that states his restraints and guards may not be adequate (he's technically a good guy, and Zeng did warn him he was "just the messenger" and it was Shifu questioning his authority, not him), but he does everything else he can get away with--a NeckLift, MinionMaracas, threats, sadistically enjoying Zeng's fear when he forces him to view Tai Lung and the safeguards holding him, and refusing to let him leave during the prison break (thus putting his life in danger) because he didn't want anyone to know of his failure to hold Tai Lung.
* SpareAMessenger: Finds himself on the receiving end of this by Tai Lung, who [[FauxAffablyEvil politely yet sinisterly]] tells him to fly back to Shifu and tell him "the real Dragon Warrior is coming home."
* ShrinkingViolet: He is quite neurotic all through his visit to Chorh-Gom Prison, not helped by Commander Vachir's taunting. [[spoiler:He probably had the right attitude, after all.]]
* SmallRoleBigImpact: In the first film, he's only a minor character but helped set the story in motion since it was because he went to Chorh-Gom Prison to begin with and accidentally had one of his feathers fall down near Tai Lung that the snow leopard managed to escape in the first place.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After bringing Shifu the news of Tai Lung's escape, he completely disappears from the rest of the movie, save for a picture in the end credits. Not that he was important for anything else. Downplayed because he has made appearances elsewhere in the series: A voiced appearance in the Holiday special, assisting Po in picking the chef and talking about the forbidden hand wave, and several times in ''Legends of Awesomeness'' and ''Paws of Destiny''. He is completely absent from the second and third film, however, and is also absent from ''The Dragon Knight'' despite being a notable AscendedExtra in animated spinoffs.
[[/folder]]

!Former

[[folder:Tai Lung]]
!!Tai Lung

For Tai Lung, see [[Characters/KungFuPandaAntagonists here]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Master Oogway]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RandallDukKim (most of the franchise), Greg Baldwin (first video game), Creator/PiotrMichael (''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaThePawsOfDestiny'')[[labelnote:Foreign [=VA=]s]]Tam Ping-man (Cantonese); Vincent Davy (Canadian French); Pierre Bonzans (EU French); Jochen Schröder (German); Dante Biagioni (Italian); Kōsei Tomita (Japanese); Jeong Gi Hang (Korean); Wu Wenlun (PRC Mandarin); Sun Zhongtai (TW Mandarin); Jomeri Pozzoli (Brazilian Portuguese); João Lagarto (EU Portuguese); Alexander Ryzhkov (Russian); Eduard Muntada (EU Spanish); Creator/EstebanSiller [''[=KFP=]''], Creator/PedroDAguillonJr [rest of the franchise] (LA Spanish); Andrzej Gawroński [Films], Paweł Galia [''The Paws Of Destiny''] (Polish)[[/labelnote]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300px-oogway-white_1741.png]]
-->"You are too concerned with what was and what will be. There's a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."\\\

An ancient tortoise from the Galapagos Islands and creator of kung fu. He is Shifu's mentor, and was the one who chose Po to become the Dragon Warrior. He has [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascended to the heavens]], leaving Shifu in his place as leader of the Jade Palace.
----
* AntiHero: [[spoiler:As revealed in the third film, he wasn't always the paragon of virtue and tranquility that he grew up to be.]]
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: After he leaves Shifu in his place as the leader of Jade Palace. [[spoiler:This however, does not stop him helping Po in the third film.]]
* BigGood: As the Grand Master of the Jade Palace, he is the wisest and most benevolent of the heroes. [[spoiler:He is succeeded by Shifu.]]
* BookEnds: [[spoiler:Pandas saving his life and teaching him the ways of chi are what inspired him to create Kung Fu and become the paragon of virtue and tranquility he is known as, and it is choosing a young Panda (Po) as the Dragon Warrior that was a signal for the end of his time in the mortal realm.]]
* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:Death itself doesn't stop Oogway from making a return in the third film.]]
* CassandraTruth: Everyone refused to believe that his selection of Po as the Dragon Warrior was anything but an accident. Even Po himself believed that he was not the right guy for the job. Until Po proved himself by defeating Tai Lung.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: The one who selects Po as the Dragon Warrior. [[spoiler: It was revealed that he chose Po because of being a panda, whose species had strong instinctive affinity for chi.]]
* CoolOldGuy: Contrasting Shifu's strict disciplinarianism, he's got his share of eccentricities; for instance, upon discovering Po ''gorging'' himself on the peaches from the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, Oogway discerns immediately that he eats when he's upset, asks him ''why'' he's upset, listens patiently to his woes, and then gives him some parting words of advice (plus one peach on the house). Then there was this:
-->'''Shifu:''' Master, I have... ah... it's ''terrible'' news...\\
'''Oogway:''' Ah Shifu, there is just news. There is no "good" or "bad".\\
'''Shifu:''' Master, your vision! Your vision was right! Tai Lung has escaped from prison! He's on his way!\\
{{Beat}}\\
'''Oogway''': That ''IS'' bad news... if you do not believe that the Dragon Warrior can stop him.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's a bit eccentric, but he is regarded as being one of the wisest and most powerful (if not the most powerful) characters in the series.
** The only lesson he taught ''directly'' to Po was about not letting the past or the future affect your present. As it turns out, this was the lesson Po needed to learn ''in the sequel'' while still having meaning in the present situation. OldMaster indeed.
* CurbstompBattle: He delivers a single, swift beatdown on a rogue Tai Lung in a flashback... and he was already past his prime by then.
* DeusExitMachina: He AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence right after the news of Tai Lung's escape arrived, making sure that he can't repeat the CurbStompBattle again. It is likely intentional, given his OldMaster and TricksterMentor credentials.
* DisappearsIntoLight: A variation with [[PetalPower peach blossoms petals]].
** [[spoiler:This is shown to be a function of doing the wuxi finger hold on ''yourself'' in the third movie, a feat Po replicates.]]
* DisneyDeath: Has one in the ''Secrets of the Masters'' short. Of course, since we've already seen his actual death, this wasn't fooling anyone.
* {{Expy}}: He's a green, somewhat [[EccentricMentor eccentric]], but wise OldMaster of an AncientTradition. He is also surprisingly agile for his age, but despite this, he uses a walking cane, and his body disappears when he "ascends". That sounds very much like [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]].
* FeatherFingers: A non-bird variant. He has massive claws on his front feet whereas a normal giant tortoise would have simple toenails. Very useful for pointing, doing nerve attacks on Tai Lung, [[spoiler:or giving Kai a Wuxi Finger Hold]].
* HandsOffParenting: In the cartoon, it is implied that he adopted Shifu after his father abandoned him. While he is definitely a step up from Shirong, his philosophy of letting fate take over and passively saying confusing mystical phrases is possibly the reason Shifu made so many fatal mistakes. He saw problems and allowed them to continue. While this is fine for a Kung Fu teacher, it isn't a good parenting method. Shifu always listened to him, even if it took a while, so if he had stepped in when Shifu started to fail as a parent, Tigress and Tai Lung would have had better childhoods.
* HeelFaceTurn: The third film reveals that before he became the paragon of tranquility and wisdom [[spoiler:he was a powerful and feared warlord alongside his brother-in-arms Kai. However, after being injured in an ambush and healed by a group of pandas, who went on to teach him how to manipulate his chi, he began changing his ways. This eventually lead to him choosing to fight Kai to protect the pandas, from whom Kai wanted to steal chi to make himself more powerful.]]
* HermitGuru: Downplayed. Although he lives at the Jade Palace, he seems to be isolated from day-to-day concerns, contrasted to Shifu, who runs the place. Oogway instead focuses on meditation.
* IChooseToStay: Oogway sent himself to the Spirit Realm. When asked by Po if he had the power to go back, he chuckles, "Who knows? I never tried!", the implication being he's fine and dandy in the Spirit Realm and has no real motivation to return to the physical realm.
* InterspeciesFriendship: With Shifu, a red panda. [[spoiler:And formerly with Kai, a yak]].
* KiManipulation: He can use it offensively and defensively against opponents.
* KungFuWizard: More kung fu than wizard, but [[spoiler:in the Spirit Realm]] he's shown creating concussive blasts of Chinese calligraphy with his staff as well as massive taijitu barriers.
* ILetYouWin: [[spoiler:Kai defeating him in the third film is either this or TheWorfEffect. It is difficult to say which trope this is. On one hand, it serves to establish how dangerous Kai is as a villain. On the other, Oogway does little to fight back and states it is not his destiny to defeat Kai.]]
* LevitatingLotusPosition: He has an interesting version of advanced meditation: he uses the crook at the top of his walking stick as a place to rest his head, ''while he balances the rest of his body on top of it''.
* LogoJoke: He replaces the fishing boy in the Dreamworks Animation logo for ''Kung Fu Panda 2''.
* MartialPacifist: Known for his peaceful and pacifistic nature. He developed kung fu primarily as a method of self-defense.
* MeaningfulName: His name is a [[ADogNamedDog phonetic spelling of the Chinese word for "turtle"]] (烏龜, wūguī).
* MisplacedWildlife: Justified by WordOfGod. Giant tortoises normally live on the Galapagos Islands, and Oogway also was born on the Galapagos. He emigrated to China as a young tortoise, and the rest is history.
* MoralityPet: [[spoiler:Used to be Kai's. Unfortunately, Kai doesn't have that level of respect for him anymore.]]
* NotSoAboveItAll:
** Oogway isn't above joking or teasing, even when teaching a lesson; see CoolOldGuy.
** While meditating [[spoiler:in the Spirit Realm]], he tries to achieve inner peace until a flower petal covers his nose and makes him sneeze. Just as he's about to find inner peace again, he catches an oncoming blade without even opening his eyes before muttering an irritated "Now what?"
* OldMaster: In this case, he's the Old Master of another Old Master. He is literally over a ''thousand'' years old, and all that experience means he can curb-stomp people like Tai Lung.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** The placid lake of serenity that makes up Oogway's countenance is disturbed by concern only three times; first when Tai Lung came for the Dragon Scroll, when he reacted with nothing but cold anger and disgust as he eventually brought him to heel, second upon learning that Tai Lung has indeed escaped as he predicted, and third when begging Shifu to believe in Po as the Dragon Warrior. The latter two happen in rapid succession shortly before he declares that his [[ButNowIMustGo time has come]].
** In the third movie, Oogway is his usual playful self against Kai at first, until the latter reveals he stole the chi of every warrior in the spirit realm, leading Oogway to break into understated horror and disbelief, complete with a LittleNo. This quickly calms as he knows it is someone else's destiny to stop Kai, though he still expresses more sad pity for Kai than Tai Lung, as the two were once friends until the latter's greed got the best of him.
-->'''Oogway:''' ''(mournfully)'' When will you realise that the more you take, the less you have?
* ParentalSubstitute: Implied in "Father Crime" that [[spoiler:he was a second father to Shifu.]]
* PressurePoint: A master of this, using it to defeat Tai Lung in a matter of moments with five strikes.
* PosthumousCharacter: In ''Legends of Awesomeness''. Which wouldn't be so bad if most of his enemies hadn't outlived him.
* PrecursorHero: To Po, having been the Valley of Peace's guardian before him and the one who defeated Scorpion and Ke-Pa among others.
* Really700YearsOld: He defeated Kai 500 years before the events of the third movie.
* RetiredBadass: [[spoiler:He is perfectly content with staying in the Spirit Realm. He may or may not be able to come back to life like Po does because he never felt like trying.]]
* ReformedCriminal: [[spoiler:It is implied in the third film that he and Kai were brothers-in-arms. Given Kai's plethora of intimidating titles, it does not sound like he was a particularly nice guy even back then. Even if Oogway was the nicer one of the two, he was still friends with a bad guy.]]
* ScrewDestiny: His advice to Po, particularly his line about tomorrow being a mystery, implies he believes in this trope.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: It is somewhat implied that his refusal to give Tai Lung the Dragon Scroll may have been this. Although Tai Lung was a dedicated student who had mastered the thousand scrolls of kung fu, he had no understanding of the spiritual and self-improving side of it. Had Tai Lung accepted the decision with humility, or decided to improve himself and find inner peace, it's possible he might have become worthy of the Dragon Scroll. Instead, he decided to go on a destructive rampage through the village and even injured his adoptive father Shifu (a '''very''' grave sin by the standards of traditional Chinese society) when he tried to stop him from reaching the scroll, doing nothing but proving himself further unworthy of it.
* {{Seers}}: This is confirmed in the third film. Oogway can at times see the future or sense the flow of the universe. By taking a small, seemingly random action he can set in course events that bring about the desired outcome. He does this in nearly all of his appearances.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: For all the influence Oogway exerts on the series as a whole, he doesn't actually ''do'' much onscreen; his direct interaction with the plot in the first movie consists of inadvertently putting Tai Lung's escape in motion, choosing Po to be the Dragon Warrior, encouraging the panda to never give up, and ''dying'', thus requiring Po to defeat Tai Lung by necessity of there being no other who ''can''. Much of what makes the old shellback so impressive took place earlier in his life, both offscreen and before the events of the story as outlined elsewhere on this page, and exploring various facets of Oogway's storied history in the sequels reveals just how big a player Oogway actually was.
* StaffOfAuthority: He's impressive with his bare claws, but Oogway's staff is his favored tool. The staff reflects authority, insight, and defense.
* StorybreakerPower: He's reached a high level of power and skill where he could easily defeat the vast majority of Po's villains and it's revealed later that he already defeated some of Po's strongest villains such as Tai Lung, Fenghuang, Ke-Pa, and Kai in the past, which is probably why [[TooPowerfulToLive Oogway left the mortal realm, since he would solve Po's problems instantly if he were still alive]]. The only remaining uncertainty is whether or not he could defeat the ArcVillain characters in Po's animated spinoff adventures like Jindiao, Baigujing, or the Tianshang-empowered characters like Zuma or Sir Alfred since he lacks any sort of personal history with them but even then, it wouldn't ''that'' inconceivable if he had something up his sleeve prepared for them, considering he chose the very Dragon Warrior who would go on to either defeat them personally or play a big part in their defeat with a team of heroes.
* ThereAreNoCoincidences: He firmly believes in fate, and instructs Shifu to train Po over Shifu's objections. Turns out he was right. He even tells Shifu that "there are no accidents." [[BrickJoke Thrice.]]
** It's implied Shifu can get tired of Oogway's mysticisms such as in ''Secrets of the Scroll'' when Tigress is sent off to recruit students and returns with the not-yet-Furious Five, who Shifu wasn't expecting. The mix-up is labeled an accident and just when Oogway is about to chime in about there being no accidents, Shifu cuts him off with a gesture of his staff. Oogway shuts up anyway, most likely to humor him.
* TooPowerfulToLive: A heroic example -- Oogway likely would have trivialized dealing with many of the bad guys in the series had he stuck around, so he instead AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence to allow the other heroes to do it instead. [[spoiler:He ''will'' still lend a hand from beyond the grave if need be.]]
* TricksterMentor:
** [[spoiler:To Shifu himself in ''Secrets of the Scroll''. The short ends with him casually healing Shifu's food poisoning in a matter of seconds, implying that he could have done this the whole time, but chose not to so that Shifu would learn his lesson. It's also more than implied Oogway knew Shifu would end up sick.]]
** [[spoiler:In the same special Tigress too got some of his patented teaching, as he saw she was stifling herself to emulate Shifu, so he took steps that would allow Tigress not only to become her own master but to gain companionship.]]
** He also prefers giving those he teaches not straightforward lessons, but riddles that contain the answers he feels you should learn so you can discover the answer for yourself (see the [[MagicFeather Dragon Scroll]] from KFP 1, and his cryptic message to Kai [[spoiler:about the nature of taking the chi of others by force]]).
%%%% To Masters Ox, Rhino, and Croc in ''Secrets of the Masters''.
* WiseOldTurtle: He's incredibly wise and old, and [[MasterApprenticeChain the mentor to Po's own mentor]]. He's also one the inventor of Kung Fu and one of its greatest masters in history, and [[spoiler:still badass enough to drop the nigh-unstoppable Tai Lung with a lightning-fast nerve strike pattern]].
* WorldsStrongestMan: Most of the villains that Po struggles to defeat in the show were at some point in the past curbstomped by Master Oogway. The only two enemies that have ever actually been shown to match him or come close to defeating him is the Demon King Ke-Pa (who almost did it at Oogway's prime too), someone who [[spoiler:''killed'' Po for a short time]] and his former friend Kai who were evenly matched in the past before Oogway banished him to the Spirit Realm. While Kai beat Oogway in the present quite easily, it should be noted that Kai had already stolen the chi of every other kung fu master in the spirit world. In fact, Po only got the upper hand against Kai with [[spoiler:[[CombinedEnergyAttack the combined Chi of every panda in the village along with Tigress and Mr. Ping]]]] to even the odds. It wouldn't be until ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaTheDragonKnight'' that Oogway's status as this would be more seriously contested once a fully Tianshang-empowered [[spoiler: Sir Alfred]] would make his debut, having the power to rearrange continents and project power on a world-wide scale and even then, we don't know if [[spoiler: Alfred]] would've actually de-throned Oogway in a one-on-one battle since they never fight and don't have any personal history together like Oogway had with other powerful villains like Ke-Pa or Kai.
[[/folder]]
----

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DanFogler (Films), Creator/MickWingert (TV Series)[[labelnote:Foreign [=VA=]s]]Kinson Lai (Cantonese), Creator/MartinWatier (Canadian French), Pascal Sellem (EU French), Gerald Schaale (German), Creator/MassimilianoAlto (Italian), Creator/WataruTakagi (Japanese), Jeon Tae-yeol (Korean), Zhai Wen (PRC Mandarin), Ryan Huang (TW Mandarin), Reginaldo Primo (Brazilian Portuguese), Manuel Marques (EU Portuguese), Ilya Bledny (Russian), Aleix Estadella (EU Spanish), Creator/OscarFlores (LA Spanish); Zbigniew Suszyński (Polish)[[/labelnote]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RandallDukKim (most of the franchise), Creator/PiotrMichael (''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaThePawsOfDestiny'')[[labelnote:Foreign [=VA=]s]]Tam Ping-man (Cantonese); Vincent Davy (Canadian French); Pierre Bonzans (EU French); Jochen Schröder (German); Dante Biagioni (Italian); Kōsei Tomita (Japanese); Jeong Gi Hang (Korean); Wu Wenlun (PRC Mandarin); Sun Zhongtai (TW Mandarin); Jomeri Pozzoli (Brazilian Portuguese); João Lagarto (EU Portuguese); Alexander Ryzhkov (Russian); Eduard Muntada (EU Spanish); Creator/EstebanSiller [''[=KFP=]''], Creator/PedroDAguillonJr [rest of the franchise] (LA Spanish); Andrzej Gawroński [Films], Paweł Galia [''The Paws Of Destiny''] (Polish)[[/labelnote]]

* CassandraTruth: Everyone refused to believe that his selection of Po as the Dragon Warrior was anything but an accident. Even Po himself believed that he was not the right guy for the job.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: The one who selects Po as the Dragon Warrior.

[-'''The Jade Palace''' ([[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing Po]], [[Characters/KungFuPandaTheFuriousFive The Furious Five]] [[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterTigress Tigress]])\\

[-'''The Jade Palace''' ([[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing Po]], [[Characters/KungFuPandaTheFuriousFive The Furious Five]] [[[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterTigress Tigress]]])\\

* WorldsStrongestMan: Most of the villains that Po struggles to defeat in the show were at some point in the past curbstomped by Master Oogway. The only two enemies that have ever actually been shown to match him or come close to defeating him is the Demon King Ke-Pa (who almost did it at Oogway's prime too), someone who [[spoiler:''killed'' Po for a short time]] and his former friend Kai who were evenly matched in the past before Oogway banished him to the Spirit Realm. While Kai beat Oogway in the present quite easily, it should be noted that Kai had already stolen the chi of every other kung fu master in the spirit world. In fact, Po only got the upper hand against Kai with [[spoiler:[[CombinedEnergyAttack the combined Chi of every panda in the village along with Tigress and Mr. Ping]]]] to even the odds.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: The placid lake of serenity that makes up Oogway's countenance is disturbed by concern only three times; first when Tai Lung came for the Dragon Scroll, when he reacted with nothing but cold anger and disgust as he eventually brought him to heel, second upon learning that Tai Lung has indeed escaped as he predicted, and third when begging Shifu to believe in Po as the Dragon Warrior. The latter two happen in rapid succession shortly before he declares that his [[ButNowIMustGo time has come]].

* SmallRoleBigImpact: For all the influence Oogway exerts on the series as a whole, he doesn't actually ''do'' much onscreen; his direct interaction with the plot in the first movie consists of inadvertently putting Tai Lung's escape in motion, choosing Po to be the Dragon Warrior, and ''dying'', thus requiring Po to defeat Tai Lung by necessity of there being no other who ''can''. Much of what makes the old shellback so impressive took place earlier in his life, both offscreen and before the events of the story as outlined elsewhere on this page, and exploring various facets of Oogway's storied history in the sequels reveals just how big a player Oogway actually was.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DustinHoffman (Films), Creator/FredTatasciore (TV Series, Video Games)[[labelnote:Foreign [=VA=]s]]Zhou Zhihui (Cantonese); Guy Nadon (Canadian French); Creator/PierreArditi [Films, TV Series sans ''Secrets of the Scroll''], Creator/JeanBarney [''Secrets of the Scroll''] (EU French); Creator/GottfriedJohn [''[=KFP=]'' and ''[=KFP=] 2''], Reinhard Kuhnert [''[=KFP=] 3''] (German); Eros Pagni [Films], Carlo Valli [TV Series] (Italian); Takashi Sasano [''[=KFP=]'' and ''[=KFP=] 2''], Ben Hiura [''[=KFP=] 3''] (Japanese); Kim Ki-hyeon (Korean); Wang Xiaobing (PRC Mandarin); Chin Shih-Chieh (TW Mandarin); Leonardo Camillo (Brazilian Portuguese); José Raposo (EU Portuguese); Alexander Khotchenkov (Russian); Joaquín Díaz [''[=KFP=]'' and ''[=KFP=] 2''], Ricardo Solans [''[=KFP=] 3''] (EU Spanish); Pedro Amendariz Jr. [''[=KFP=]'' and ''[=KFP=] 2''], Creator/OctavioRojas [''[=KFP=] 3'', ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaLegendsOfAwesomeness''] (LA Spanish)[[/labelnote]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DanFogler (Films), Creator/MickWingert (TV Series)[[labelnote:Foreign [=VA=]s]]Kinson Lai (Cantonese), Creator/MartinWatier (Canadian French), Pascal Sellem (EU French), Gerald Schaale (German), Creator/MassimilianoAlto (Italian), Creator/WataruTakagi (Japanese), Jeon Tae-yeol (Korean), Zhai Wen (PRC Mandarin), Ryan Huang (TW Mandarin), Reginaldo Primo (Brazilian Portuguese), Manuel Marques (EU Portuguese), Ilya Bledny (Russian), Aleix Estadella (EU Spanish), Creator/OscarFlores (LA Spanish)[[/labelnote]]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RandallDukKim (most of the franchise), Creator/PiotrMichael (''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaThePawsOfDestiny'')[[labelnote:Foreign [=VA=]s]]Tam Ping-man (Cantonese); Vincent Davy (Canadian French); Pierre Bonzans (EU French); Jochen Schröder (German); Dante Biagioni (Italian); Kōsei Tomita (Japanese); Jeong Gi Hang (Korean); Wu Wenlun (PRC Mandarin); Sun Zhongtai (TW Mandarin); Jomeri Pozzoli (Brazilian Portuguese); João Lagarto (EU Portuguese); Alexander Ryzhkov (Russian); Eduard Muntada (EU Spanish); Creator/EstebanSiller [''[=KFP=]''], Creator/PedroDAguillonJr [rest of the franchise] (LA Spanish)[[/labelnote]]

* CreateYourOwnVillain: Fully convinced that Tai Lung would become the Dragon Warrior, Shifu set him to train hard, neglecting to teach him humility and the spiritual side of Kung Fu. When Oogway denied Tai Lung the Dragon Scroll, Shifu didn't step in to defend or comfort his adoptive son. [[WellDoneSonGuy Tai Lung]] had come to feel that he was worthy of Shifu's love only by becoming the Dragon Warrior and took this withdrawal of unconditional support as betrayal, trying to take the Dragon Scroll by force. Upon being beaten by his adoptive son years later, Shifu confesses that he unwittingly turned Tai Lung into a villain due to his prideful love blinding him.

* HumblePie: Being beaten to an inch of his life by Tai Lung, coupled with the events of the Dragon Warrior selection, forces Shifu to confront a lot of his arrogant ControlFreak tendencies. He admits as much to Tai Lung, citing how his pride was blinding him to Tai Lung's poor development.

* JerkassRealization: When Po goes off on him just after Oogway's death, revealing he knew Shifu wanted him gone but remained in hopes he could genuinely train him to become the dragon warrior, the look on Shifu's face makes it obvious that this was the first time he had seen Po as an actual ''person'' with ''feelings.''
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The end result of his arc in the first movie. He started out as egotistical and hostile, mostly due to his past, but all that changed when he found ''inner peace''. The show and later films show him as far more relaxed and lenient but still a strict taskmaster.

* KiManipulation: His skills are rudimentary compared to Oogway's (in the third film, he laments, "I can barely make a flower bloom! I need at least 30 more years! And a cave!"), but he blows open a rock with chi during his fight with Tai Lung and apparently knows the Wuxi Finger Hold.

** He also gets this during his fight with Tai Lung, when he realizes his high expectations, arrogance and brutal training turned Tai Lung into a brutal warrior who cannot overcome his own flaws.

** The second and greater impact happens in his fight with Tai Lung, when he is forced to acknowledge that his his bad judgement steered Tai Lung to darkness.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RandallDukKim (most of the franchise), Creator/PiotrMichael (''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaThePawsOfDestiny'')[[labelnote:Foreign [=VA=]s]]Tam Ping-man (Cantonese); Vincent Davy (Canadian French); Pierre Bonzans (EU French); Jochen Schröder (German); Dante Biagioni (Italian); Kōsei Tomita (Japanese); Jeong Gi Hang (Korean); Wu Wenlun (PRC Mandarin); Sun Zhongtai (TW Mandarin); Jomeri Pozzoli (Brazilian Portuguese); João Lagarto (EU Portuguese); Alexander Ryzhkov (Russian); Eduard Muntada (EU Spanish); Esteban Siller [''[=KFP=]''], Creator/PedroDAguillonJr [rest of the franchise] (LA Spanish)[[/labelnote]]

[-'''The Jade Palace''' ([[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing Po]], [[Characters/KungFuPandaTheFuriousFive The Furious Five]] [-[[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterTigress Tigress]]-])\\

[-'''The Jade Palace''' ([[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing Po]], [[Characters/KungFuPandaTheFuriousFive The Furious Five [-[[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterTigress Tigress]]-])\\

[-'''The Jade Palace''' ([[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing Po]], [[Characters/KungFuPandaTheFuriousFive The Furious Five [[[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterTigress Tigress]]])\\

[-'''The Jade Palace''' ([[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterPoPing Po]], [[Characters/KungFuPandaMasterTigress Tigress]])\\