Po (Kung Fu Panda)

Po
Kung Fu Panda character
First appearance	Kung Fu Panda
Created by	Mark Osborne, John Stevenson (directors of first film)
Voiced by	Jack Black (films) Mick Wingert (video games and TV series)
In-universe information
Nickname	Dragon Warrior, Kung Fu Panda
Species	Giant Panda
Gender	Male
Occupation	Kung Fu artist
Family	Mr. Ping (adoptive father)
Nationality	"Chinese"
Combat style	Improvised

Po is a fictional character and the titular protagonist of the Kung Fu Panda franchise. He is a 30-year-old giant panda who is improbably chosen as the Dragon Warrior, champion of the Valley of Peace in the first film. He is the adoptive son of Mr. Ping, and is one of Master Shifu's students. Po is also the prophesied Dragon Warrior, as well as the warrior of black and white. In Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Po is revealed to have the ability to be able to learn kung fu at a glance.

Backstory

Po lived in a village of Giant Pandas, until Lord Shen had it destroyed as part of his campaign to exterminate the species, trying to avert the prophecy that a "warrior of black and white" would one day defeat him. On the command of Po's father, who stayed to defend the village, Po's mother fled with her infant son in attempt to save him. Eventually, Po's mother managed to temporarily elude the wolves and found a crate of radishes in which she hid her son. She then sacrificed herself to lure Shen's forces away from her son. The crate was eventually shipped across China to a village in the Valley of Peace, where the owner of a noodle shop, Mr. Ping, found the panda cub. Mr. Ping decided to raise him as his son, giving him the name Po. With no conscious memories of his past life, Po grew up under the care of Mr. Ping and became a studious apprentice in his foster father's restaurant trade.

Personality

Though Po's real passion was for kung fu, he was reluctant to disappoint his father by revealing it. Despite having a mild and friendly personality, Po also developed a severe self-loathing, believing himself a failure for being both obese (when in reality he is of a healthy weight for his species) and of a species not known for a warrior tradition. When upset, he usually gorged on food to dull the pain.

His main interest lies in Kung Fu, of which he has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of the lore of warriors, famous combat moves, dates and historic artifacts (he even has action figures in the likenesses of the Furious Five which, as revealed in the credits of the second film, he made himself). Furthermore, his deep appreciation of the martial arts extends into its philosophical aspects, enabling to him to sometimes achieve insights of which even deeply respected masters like Shifu cannot conceive.

Appreances

Kung Fu Panda

Apparently by accident, he was dubbed the Dragon Warrior by Master Oogway (who proclaims that "there are no accidents"), over Po's and his fellow masters' protests. During the subsequent training, Master Shifu and the Furious Five made no secret of their disdain for him, making their rough physical activities with him tantamount to torture in order to discourage him. However, with Master Oogway's encouragement, Po endured their abuse without complaint in the personal hope that they could eventually change him into someone he himself can respect. This display of indomitable tenacity, although frustrating to Shifu, soon impressed most of the Furious Five, who warm to the affable panda whom they also found, to their delight at mealtime, is an excellent cook. Eventually, Shifu discovered that Po can perform considerable physical feats when motivated by food and used this to train him with a custom training regimen. At the end of the training, during a chopstick-sparring match over dumplings, Po demonstrated not only considerable skill in combat, which includes innovative moves using his bulk to his advantage, but also some emotional maturity that allowed him to somewhat reduce his emotional dependence on food. Now convinced of Po's worthiness, Shifu presented the legendary Dragon Scroll to Po, only to find it is a blank reflective surface. In despair, Shifu ordered Po and the Furious Five to help the villagers escape while Shifu bought some time for them to escape by engaging Tai Lung in a fight to the death. As Po helped his father escape, Mr. Ping revealed that the secret ingredient of his Secret Ingredient Soup is nothing; people only had to believe it was special. With this advice, Po realized the scroll's true empowering symbolic value. Po was then able to challenge Tai Lung in a climactic battle and defeat him with an improvised combat style, using his body fat not only to shield his nerves from chi strikes but also for deflecting attacks. Since the events of the first film, Po divided his time between practice, working at his father's noodle shop and teaching children martial arts. The latter duty has shown Po to be exceptionally skilled in teaching not only the subject's physical elements, but its intellectual side as well.

Secrets of the Furious Five

Po has also improved his physical health, when he runs alongside Shifu at an amazing pace and upon stopping, needs much less time than before to catch his breath.

Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special

Po is appointed host of the kung fu masters' Winter Feast at the Jade Palace. Although Po successfully makes the arrangements with considerable difficulty, he decides being with his father for the holiday is more important and joins him at the restaurant. However, all the masters, deeply moved by Po's loyalty, come as well. After this episode, Po moved out to focus on his duties as the Dragon Warrior with the reassurance that his father is at peace with his calling.

Kung Fu Panda 2

Lord Shen's wolf forces performed a raid for refined metal for the peacock's cannons. Po's attempt to stop them with the Furious Five was thwarted by seeing the fealty symbol on the head Wolf of the raid. It brought Po's traumatic childhood memories of the attack on his village to the surface and froze him to the spot. Po realized he was adopted by Mr. Ping, and asked to tell him about his past, but Mr. Ping cannot tell Po anything from before the time he was found behind the noodle shop. When Po was sent with the Five on a mission to stop Lord Shen's attempt to conquer China, he was plagued with disturbing dreams about his parents. He was reluctant to talk about them, even to Tigress, who grew to be Po's confidant in the Five. More seriously, Po was still hampered with his paralyzing flashbacks, especially at the sight of the same symbol on Lord Shen's plumage. It created a subsequent obsession in Po to question Shen, resulting in Po almost getting killed. With the help of the Soothsayer, Po was able to recall all his memories of being orphaned and find inner peace. He did this in light of recalling the happy and fulfilling life with his loved ones in the Valley of Peace. By achieving tranquility, Po defeated Lord Shen's fleet - to everyone's astonishment - by using an empty-handed martial arts technique that countered Shen's cannon fire. In doing so, Po saved China while cementing his reputation as a mighty warrior. Afterwards, Po returned to Mr. Ping and tells him that he is his father for having adopted him. However, Po is unaware that his biological father is still alive, who finally senses that his son is alive too.

Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness

In Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Po and Monkey are best friends in "Scorpion Sting." Monkey is being mind-controlled to kill Po but Po reminds him that they are friends and when that doesn’t work Po then hits him. Po would like to be Tigress’ friend in Chain Reaction. Po tells Tigress that he “dreamed” of being friends with her since he was “five” and later when she goes off on him he says that she “stinks at friendship and fun―ship.”

References

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