Template:KFP3 Spoilers
- This article is about the villain from Kung Fu Panda 3. For the villain from Tales of Po, see Kai (Tales of Po).
| “ |
| Kai has RETURNED! |
| —Kai, Kung Fu Panda 3 |
Kai (also known as The Collector[3][4]) is the main antagonist of Kung Fu Panda 3. He was a warrior and the general of an army which he led alongside his brother-in-arms Oogway.
Kai fought alongside Oogway as close friends, but after he learned how to steal the chi of others, Oogway banished him to the Spirit Realm. Five hundred years later, he returned to the mortal realm as a Spirit Warrior and sought to steal the chi from every kung fu master and destroy Oogway's legacy. With the help of his jombies, he nearly accomplished his goal, but he was eventually defeated by Po.[5]
Biography
In life
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Approximately five hundred years prior to Kung Fu Panda 3, Kai was a lone warrior until he met Oogway, with whom he grew a brotherly bond with. They were good friends and together they fought side by side, leading a great army into battle. However their friendship would eventually come to a terrible end. One day, During an ambush, Oogway was wounded pretty bad and Kai carried him for days, searching for help. They then happened upon a secret village of pandas, who used their knowledge of chi to heal Oogway. Fascinated by the power, Oogway was taught by the pandas on how to utilize it. Kai, however, became interested solely in using it to increase his own power, taking chi from others rather than giving it. Oogway broke off his relationship with Kai and the two former allies fought fiercely until Oogway triumphed, banishing Kai to the Spirit Realm forever and he was imprisoned there for five hundred years.[5]
In Kung Fu Panda 3
Kai fighting Oogway in the Spirit Realm
Centuries after his banishment to the Spirit Realm, the now vengeful and power-hungry Kai challenged Oogway to a rematch. Although nearly equally matched, Oogway was caught and his chi was stolen, but not before warning Kai that he had set another on the path to defeat him. Kai swore to take the Dragon Warrior's chi after defeating and used Oogway's chi to return to the mortal realm.
Kai after his return to the mortal realm
Upon his return, Kai ordered several of his jade soldiers to find Oogway's students. They eventually found Po and the Furious Five, who Kai witnessed through the "eyes" of his soldiers as they fought them. He then summoned his warriors back to his side, and Crane and Mantis were ordered to investigate his current location, joining up with Masters Bear, Croc and Chicken whose villages had also been attacked. Although the masters confronted and tried to fight Kai, they are one by one all easily defeated and had their chi stolen.
Kai destroying Oogway's statue in the Master Garden
Kai eventually arrived at the Jade Palace where he attacked the rest of the Five and Shifu, destroying the palace in the process. He managed to absorb the chi of Shifu, Viper and Monkey. He couldn't get Tigress because she escaped in order to warn Po of Kai's advancement.
Po trying to use the Wuxi Finger Hold on Kai
Kai journeyed to the Panda Village, and upon arriving, he and his soldiers were attacked by the pandas whom Po had organized into a defensive force, using their everyday activities as their assets. While Kai was distracted, Po attempted to use the Wuxi Finger Hold to transport Kai back to the Spirit Realm, but Kai revealed that it could only transport mortals to the Spirit Realm, not immortal spirit warriors. Kai gained the upper hand in their battle and advanced on Po and the others. But before he could attack, Po grabbed onto Kai and used the Wuxi Finger Hold on himself, sending them both to the Spirit Realm.
Kai facing Po in the Spirit Realm
Outraged to have been returned to the Spirit Realm, Kai fought Po and gained the upper hand on him again. He was able to grab Po in his chains and began to steal his chi, but before the process was complete, Li, Tigress, Mr. Ping, and all the pandas were able to use their own chi to save Po. Po then formed his own chi in the shape of a dragon and fought against Kai, gaining the upper hand and destroying one of his swords. Undaunted, Kai swore to take Po's chi even if it took him another five hundred years. Po then willingly surrendered his chi to Kai who was ecstatic to receive the power, but quickly discovered that it was overloading him with chi. Unable to stop it, the abundance of energy became so great that it destroyed Kai.
Following his demise, all the chi that he had stolen was returned, reviving its fallen warriors.
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Personality
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During his time as a mortal, Kai was fiercely devoted to fighting alongside and protecting Oogway, whom he loved like a brother. Kai was willing to sacrifice his own life in order to keep Oogway safe, having carried him for days in a desperate attempt to find help. However, their relationship was broken after stumbling upon the panda village and discovering the power of chi. Unlike Oogway, Kai became interested in stealing the chi of others in order to increase his own power, learning how it could be taken as easily as it was given. He believed that Oogway betrayed him and had never, or would ever, recover from the pain of losing the only person he ever truly loved.
After his banishment, Kai's anger and hatred grew ever stronger against Oogway, demanding a rematch, which resulted in Kai stealing Oogway's chi and returning to the mortal realm, but as a Spirit Warrior, to exact vengeance against Oogway and destroy his legacy. Kai's disposition was worsened, if anything, during his time in the Spirit Realm as his sense of humor was darkened, and where there was once loyalty and honor, cruelty and aggression had replaced. To further his lack of morals, Kai was blinded by his own repute and was devoted heavily to his legacy, displeased that none recalled or even had heard of Kai, the "Beast of Vengeance" or "Maker of Widows" and so had no qualms whatsoever about destroying Oogway's legacy, believing that he had destroyed his. However, Kai was quite pleased when Po addressed him with said titles, even thanking him and that it made him almost want to spare his life. Of course, that did not stop Kai from trying to steal Po's chi along with the rest of the pandas. Kai was also often annoyed by Po's sense of humor and underestimated him, just like the other antagonists before him, but he was ultimately defeated by Po who overloaded him with chi, leading to his demise.
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Fighting style and abilities
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Kai wielding his jade swords in Kung Fu Panda 3
Kai is a powerful warrior and easily one of the strongest warriors known to have walked China. Even in his youth, Kai's skills as a warrior had earned him the title of warlord and his battle with Oogway alone "shook the earth." 500 years later, Kai had become even more powerful. Not only was he able to defeat every kung fu master in China, but also Oogway who was the most powerful kung fu master in history (although Oogway willingly surrendered to Kai in the end). That is until Po became the ultimate Kung Fu Master a.k.a the Dragon Warrior.
During his days with Oogway, he alongside Oogway showed remarkable knowledge & wisdom about military protocols and logistics, being able to lead a large army without any form of difficulty. This also foreshadows his tactical leadership capabilities. He also possesses an indomitable willpower, being able to carry Oogway for days through extremely harsh environments, until they arrived to a medicinal village, where the Pandas managed to revive Oogway from the brink of death.
In unarmed combat, Kai's veteran Kung Fu skills, honed from centuries of practice, allowed him to effortlessly outmatch every member of the Furious Five, Master Shifu and even Po before his mastering of Chi. His fighting style was ferocious and direct, utilizing wide sweeping kicks and devastating horn-charges combined with powerful punches augmented in both strength, speed and accuracy by his stolen chi power. Kai possessed supernatural strength, enough to tear down and swing a statue and cleave small mountains in half. He also displayed extreme supernatural durability, beyond the likes of Pandas. He was able to take the worst hits from Tigress, Oogway & Po's Dragon Form with only slight injuries & slight tardiness. Yet for all his power, Kai's fighting style was weak in prolonged combat due to it lacking any sufficient defensive capabilities, forcing him to rely heavily on his jade swords, chain whips and jade zombies for defense.
Fierce and dangerous in close combat, Kai wielded a pair of jade swords attached to long chains, which extend and abbreviate mystically from around his wrists.[2] He wielded them as his primary weapons in combat, but also used them to scale cliffs and other terrain that he couldn't traverse normally.
Kai was a supernatural being of magical powers. Due to his Ethereal "Spirit" Physiology, Kai was a Spirit Warrior, rendering him immune to age & disease as well as most forms of physical harm in the mortal realm. He could also, when needed, summon Jade Soldiers to do his bidding and could see, hear and feel everything that they could, in other words have a telepathic link to all of them. These Jade Soldiers are all the Kung Fu master's who's Chi Kai had absorbed. However, this could be used against him to distract him, as when Po tried to keep him occupied with help from the other pandas and use the Wuxi Finger Hold on him. Unfortunately, it failed because the Finger Hold could only affect mortals, not spirits. This implies that he is immortal since he is not even alive in the first place, in essence at least. However, this does not mean that he is beyond destruction.
He also possessed other supernatural abilities, most notably was the power to steal other warriors' Chi. After he had absorbed the chi from a warrior, Kai's already extraordinary physical powers would increase exponentially. However, he takes a long time to absorb a Panda's chi due to their immense levels of it, whereas it took him mere seconds to absorb Oogway's & every other Kung Fu Master's Chi. An example would be when he it took him several minutes to nearly absorb all of Po's Chi. But if a being's Chi & mastery over Chi is far greater than his own, then he cannot absorb their Chi. In addition, Kai could use his natural Chi as well as all of the stolen chi to enhance the power of his physicality for even greater supernatural strength, speed & agility; with one chi-infused flick of his finger, he almost knocked out Crane. He even used a Chi-infused strike to send Po flying through a gigantic rock & wounding him though his immense durability. He can even use the Chi to increase his natural healing potency or heal other beings from injuries & illness.
Weaknesses
However, Kai does have a vulnerability. Since Kai is a supernatural being, even utilizing Shen's super-canons would be useless against him. However, when an opponent utilizes chi to hurt him, they succeed. An example is when Tigress was able to temporarily stun him with a chi-enhanced kick, which broke through his invulnerability. Another example is when Po used a Chi-based Dragon construct to hurt him, he succeeded. This is likely due to the fact that since Kai is a supernatural being, a supernatural force, such as Chi Energy, must be utilized to cause him harm or even destroy him. This was see when Po overloaded him with powerful Chi Energies, which caused his "final death".
The actual methodology of sealing Kai into Spirit Realm used by Oogway in the past is unknown, and it is also unclear that whether or not this 'sealing' was physically defeating.
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Relationships
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Oogway
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| “ |
| I fought by his side. I loved him like a brother and he betrayed me! |
| —Kai, Kung Fu Panda 3 |
Kai shared a close and brother-like relationship with Oogway, loving him a great deal. After an ambush led to Oogway being badly wounded, Kai carried him for days through the harshest of elements until reaching a Panda Village where the pandas used their chi to save his life. Fascinated by the power, Oogway learned from the pandas how to use chi to give life, but Kai saw a darker use for it, wishing to steal the chi from other warriors to increase his own power. Kai and Oogway's relationship became broken beyond repair and battled fiercely until Oogway banished Kai to the Spirit Realm for over five hundred years; Kai mentions in how he felt betrayed by Oogway to Shifu.
Kai and Oogway reunited in the Spirit Realm where Oogway learned that Kai had become malicious and resentful as well as becoming more powerful by stealing the chi of every warrior in the Spirit Realm. Kai battled Oogway one final time and defeated him, stealing his chi. With Oogway's chi, Kai had enough power to return to the Mortal Realm and, with one singular goal, destroy everything Oogway had ever created.
Po
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| [To his amulet of Oogway] So, Oogway. This was the one destined to stop me. I will have his chi and then all of theirs. [To Po] And you, you really thought that you could send me back to the Spirit Realm. You are just a stupid mortal. |
| —Kai, Kung Fu Panda 3 |
Kai confronting Po
Po was the warrior destined to defeat Kai, but Kai had only saw him as a joke. Kai was also easily annoyed by Po's sense of humor, proven when they had first met. However, Kai gained some respect for Po when the panda mentioned Kai and called him by his various titles, further saying that it almost made him want to spare Po's life. Kai also continually underestimated Po's cunning, strategy, and power, allowing the panda to gain the upper hand in their battle, first in the Panda Village and then in the Spirit Realm. kai's desire to absorb Po's chi proved to be his downfall, as the power of the Dragon Warrior's chi dragon avatar was too great to handle, causing Kai to be destroyed in a blast of light.
Shifu
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| Shifu: Oogway, forgive me. [He turns around and sees Kai.] Kai: [To his amulet of Oogway] What do you say, Oogway? Do you forgive him? |
| —Shifu and Kai, Kung Fu Panda 3 |
Kai considered Shifu to be nothing more than an obstacle in the way of destroying Oogway's legacy, and openly mocked the master of the Jade Palace for being unable to stop him.
The Furious Five
Kai approaching the Furious Five
Kai saw potential minions in the Furious Five, enslaving four of them, with the exception of Tigress who managed to escape. Kai did not think much of Tigress in particular, mocking her by calling her "little kitty" during their fight.
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Clothing
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Kai's attire
Kai wears a green cloak, leather armor, and a studded helmet. He also wears bracers on his arms, as well as the jade pendant of Oogway's captured chi around his neck.
Other than dressing, Kai, before becoming a Spirit Warrior, likely didn't possess as much 'supernatural' physical trends as later. Kai being portrayed in Oogway's memories lacked the pair of smaller horns unlike later, and the larger horns were not pronged as well.
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Trivia
Concept art from the first film that resembles Kai's original four-armed design
- In Chinese, the name Kai most often translates to "victory" (traditional Chinese: 凱?; simplified Chinese: 凯; pinyin: kǎi) or "open" (traditional Chinese: 開; simplified Chinese: 开; pinyin: kāi).
- Kai's former character name was Tian Sha,[7] which is his name in the Chinese version of Kung Fu Panda 3 (traditional and simplified Chinese: 天煞; pinyin: tiānshā).[8] The name means "ferocious (spirit) from heaven," and the characters separately mean "heaven" and "evil spirit" respectively.[9]
- Kai was previously reported to be voiced by Mads Mikkelsen.[10] However, he dropped from the film[11] due to his character being rewritten.[12]
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- One of the jade amulets collected on Kai's belt was previous film villain, Tai Lung.
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- Kai was originally designed to have four arms,[7] resembling a conceptual character drawn in the development for the first film called the "Four-Armed Yak Demon God on Fire",[13] who was to serve as part of Tai Lung's gang.[14]
Gallery
Images
Videos
Quotes
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See also
Kai on the April 12, 2016* version of the official Kung Fu Panda website via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine
References
- ↑ ComingSoon.net - "CS Interview: Kung Fu Panda 3 Directors Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 USAToday.com - 'Kung Fu Panda 3' unveils trailer, villain
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Toy World Magazine (January 2015) - "Living the Dream" (p. 65) by Nick Cooke (DreamWorks Animation UK Hardlines Director)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Revealed in Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Revealed in DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016). Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger & directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Alessandro Carloni. Distributed by 20th Century Fox.
- ↑ J.K. Simmons at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Miller-Zarneke, Tracey. The Art of Kung Fu Panda 3, p. 66. ISBN: 9781608874941.
- ↑ Oriental DreamWorks' Weibo - "《功夫熊猫3》大boss——天煞终于露面！ ..." ("'Kung Fu Panda 3' finally appeared large boss--Tian Sha!")
- ↑ MDBG Chinese to English Dictionary - "天煞"
- ↑ DreamWorks Animation Investor Relations - "DreamWorks Animation Packs A Powerful Punch With New Cast Additions For Kung Fu Panda 3"
- ↑ Phoenix Entertainment - "专访《功夫熊猫3》导演：新一集阿宝用中文口型说话" ("Interview with 'Kung Fu Panda 3' Director: Bao speak with a new set of Chinese mouth"). Retrieved April 21, 2015.
- ↑ Rotoscopers.com - "Mads Mikkelsen Leaves ‘Kung fu Panda 3’ Voice Cast + More New Details!" by Max den Hartog. Published April 27, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ↑ Miller-Zarneke, Tracey. The Art of Kung Fu Panda, p. 100. ISBN: 1933784571.
- ↑ Miller-Zarneke, Tracey. The Art of Kung Fu Panda, p. 108. ISBN: 1933784571.
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