Grand Master Shifu

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Said to contain the every action that Grand Master Shifu made while on Tu Vishan, these scrolls are some of the most sacred that Kung Fu has to offer. Unparalleled in knowledge, power, and Kung Fu, they document all.

Or will. Once gameplay starts, which is August 1, 2012!

Player Information:
Name: Alex
Age: Over 18, trust me.
Contact: reignsdown
Game Cast: N/A

Character Information:
Name: Grand Master Shifu
Canon: Kung Fu Panda (movies 1 & 2)
Canon Point: At the end of the second movie.
Age: ~70-80

Age happens to be a most fluid concept in Kung Fu Panda, given that Grand Master Oogway is said to have unlocked the secrets of Kung Fu some thousand years before the first movie. Shifu has far fewer years compared to this, but there appears some transcendence of age for Kung Fu masters -- some are said to have meditated for fifty years without so much as a single meal.

Shifu began his training at age twelve; assuming he took twenty years to master Kung Fu, he would be thirty-two when he took in Tai Lung, who he then trained for twenty years before Tai Lung rebelled and was defeated. Tai Lung was then imprisoned for twenty years, during which Shifu trained the Furious Five, before breaking out and facing final defeat against the Dragon Warrior. Three additional years passed between that moment and the events of Kung Fu Panda 2, making Shifu at least 75 years old at the most conservative estimates.

Reference:
Wiki: Kung Fu Panda | Kung Fu Panda 2 | Shifu (wikia: Shifu)

Setting:

Take ancient China, reduce complexity by 1,000 points, reduce the dynastic rule of emperors to the geographical confines of the larger cities (as seen in Gongmen City), and simplify the concept of martial arts to Kung Fu and you have an idea of how the world of Kung Fu Panda works. Oh, and replace all the humans with anthropomorphic adaptation of regional fauna. Well, what did you expect with 'panda' in the title?

People:
There are no humans here, nor is there the concept of humans. The citizens of this China, good and evil, are all anthropomorphisized versions of various animals. Most commonly seen are the rabbits (of course), then pigs, sheep, and geese; these account for 80% of the citizens, give or take, and the humble stereotype of the species is reflected in their peaceful, compliant roles. Further playing to stereotypes, rhinos and wolves take on the roles of aggressors, peacocks the ones of lords, and a single dedicated turtle is said to be the one that unlocked the secrets of Kung Fu.

More rare are the animal roles filled by the Furious Five, whose names reflect their species with pinpoint accuracy (Tigress, Viper, Monkey, Mantis, and Crane). Rarer still is the red panda, of which Shifu is one. Rarest is the giant panda, for Po is held to be the last warrior of black and white left. (The funny thing about word-of-mouth like that? It misses the part where there's a whole colony of pandas in hiding.)

Each and every citizen of this China is aware that they are all animals and a species name becomes race and class, often identifying the role or expectations placed on each person by virtue of their feathers, fur, or scales.

Places:
Civilisation has been scattered across many villages, with the exception of one central city (Gongmen City) that is built up around the Tower of the Sacred Flame. Once ruled by the Peacock family, the city is now held in stewardship by the Kung Fu Council (a trio of renowned Kung Fu masters). Well, assumedly; see, Lord Shen of the Peacock family tried to reclaim it, but there was that whole part where it fell into his evil plan and the Dragon Warrior defeated him, leaving it without an emperor. But, hey, the stewardship worked before and it'll work again!

The events of the Kung Fu Panda movies focus more on the Valley of Peace, a large valley discovered by a young Oogway that is protected from the outside world by a barrier of tall mountains and accessible only via the Thread of Hope -- a thousand mile rope bridge constructed to keep invaders out. Highly successful too! Well, look at the fact that there's never been a major conflict in the Valley of Peace, with the exception of Tai Lung, in one thousand years.

Within the Valley of Peace there are scattered villages and villagers that go about their lives peacefully. The entire area is self-sustaining, with rich agriculture and plentiful resources. Very little industrial development exists here, with the overall values being that those who give to the land will also receive. Here there exists an economy based on a coin currency and commercial businesses do exist, such as a most persistent father-son noodle shop run by a goose-and-panda (don't ask).

Overlooking the valley of peace is the Jade Palace; here happens to be the very heart of Kung Fu, where countless artefacts from major battles and the most revered of masters have been gathered, including the legendary Dragon Scroll said to contain the secret to limitless power (in reality, it's a reflective surface meant to show that power comes the belief in one's self). The Jade Palace is also the training grounds for many Kung Fu masters, Shifu included, and serves as residence for he and the Furious Five (the greatest Kung Fu warriors in all of China short of Oogway, Po, Tai Lung, and Shifu). Oogway resided here as well, prior to his ascension to the heavens.

More so than any other location, the Jade Palace is the focal location to understanding the world as it relates to Shifu. Here is where his father abandoned him and here is where he mastered the ways of Kung Fu under Oogway's tutelage, going on to train his own series of students and serve as a master of Kung Fu. There are many other locations named, including Chorch-Gom Prison, an elaborate stronghold built to imprison Tai Lung, a dangerous and powerful former student of his, but it is in the Valley of Peace and the Jade Palace that Shifu is defined most.

Technology:
The words 'ancient China' ought to give you an idea of how technologically advanced these people are not. Flint and steel are the themes here, with weapons generally limited to swords, spears, and the variety of classically stereotypical weaponry associated with martial arts movies (throwing stars? they've got 'em). Records are maintained in the form of scrolls, with the Jade Palace being home to the One Thousand Scrolls of Kung Fu -- the single largest archive of Kung Fu techniques ever recorded. Foods are unprocessed and there exist only a few instances of factories or mass manufacturing. Industrial progress is, in fact, cast in a negative light in the second movie, when an advance in weapons making that threatens the very existence of Kung Fu is defeated by the Dragon Warrior to restore peace to all.

The single greatest technological advancement happens to be that advancement, wherein gunpowder and fireworks were discovered by the Peacock family and further developed into early canons (called nothing more than The Weapon) with the appropriate degree of foreboding. These were, thankfully, defeated by the very Kung Fu they were designed to destroy. PHEW.

Beyond that, lighting past the sun's setting occurs via lanterns and candles, while heating comes only from wood-and-coal fires. Rustic comes to mind and, frankly, it would be a real nightmare to anyone familiar with things like, oh, electricity.

Kung Fu:
The very core of the Kung Fu Panda world comes down to the art of Kung Fu itself. Simplified from myriad martial arts styles, Kung Fu is the most honourable and skilled form of combat that can be attained by the studious, the hard-working, and the occasional fat panda.

The broad martial art as it appears in Kung Fu Panda does contain some variance in styles, often themed to the species of animal that a particular character is. The best example of this is seen in the Furious Five -- five of the most skilled Kung Fu masters to currently exist. Comprised of Tigress, Viper, Mantis, Monkey, and Crane, they employ the styles of Tiger, Viper, Mantis, Monkey, and Crane respectively (as based on the Five Animals style in Hung Ga). Each variation plays up to the strengths of the species that has mastered it, but the core theme of all Kung Fu in this world is to take the strength of one's opponent and use it against them.

Not all residents in the Valley of Peace are Kung Fu masters, but those that have been given the opportunity to master it are highly revered and respected. There are even those that worship them as celebrities, including Po -- a large, out-of-shape panda that turned out to be the Dragon Warrior and fated to be the best of them all. Yeah, Shifu couldn't believe it the first time either.

Grand Master Oogway plays the most central role in this art, as both the one to have unlocked the secrets of Kung Fu and also as the sifu that Shifu trained under. An elderly turtle that served equally well as a father figure, he was widely renowned as the greatest master of martial arts. When he ascended to the heavens, he left Shifu as grand master of the Jade Temple and, in a sense, Kung Fu itself.

Events:
There are some major events that impact the setting of this world that bear mentioning, especially to anyone seeking to understand Shifu. While knowing that Oogway unlocked the secrets of Kung Fu one thousand years ago and being aware that Shifu himself has taken on and defeated many things which menaced China, it is equally important to be aware that fear of defeat lead Lord Shen of the Peacock Family to eradicate nearly every panda that existed in China, then proceeded to build The Weapon in an attempt to take dominate China and then the world. He was, of course, defeated by the Dragon Warrior.

Ah, yes. The Dragon Warrior, fated to be the greatest of all Kung Fu masters and the only one permitted to read the Dragon Scroll. The selection of the Dragon Warrior gave the denizens of the Valley of Peace a hero beyond even the might of the Furious Five. The fact that it was an untrained panda really baffled them for a time, but Po proved himself to be a great warrior once Shifu saw his potential and trained him.

Before all that came Tai Lung, a snow leopard trained by Shifu and raised like a son, but one that grew hungry for power and posed a risk to the safety and peace of the Valley of Peace. Defeated first by Oogway, he was locked away for twenty years and existed as distant reminder to Shifu that he had failed in raising Tai Lung as a proper master of Kung Fu. Upon his eventual escape, he was defeated by the Dragon Warrior in a battle that allowed Shifu to finally attain inner peace.

Personality:
When first introduced to Shifu, his character appears to be harsh and unforgiving. In his role as sifu of the Furious Five, he criticises even the least flawed of performances as being unacceptable. There seems barely a whit of positive commentary, save for silence and the rare nod of approval when one performs perfectly to his expectations. He comes across as a relentless taskmaster who will suffer no failure in his pupils.

While he speaks to the higher values of Kung Fu, such as attaining inner peace with one's self and the world, he wields judgement against others for their appearance and actions. When Po, an overweight panda, is selected to be the Dragon Warrior, he reacts with shock and limited outrage, refusing to accept Oogway's decision as anything but a mistake. He stubbornly resists this, causing himself further frustration and evading the very concept of inner peace that he lauds and repeats as a mantra when he meditates.

This is because Shifu struggles with patience when he does not understand things as they should be, losing all elegance and psychological footing until either the world resumes behaving in a way that he comprehends, or until he attains a new level of enlightenment that explains it to him. When frustrated in this regard, he gets snappish and increasingly cynical, lowering himself to derision and some cruel tactics, such as working Po relentlessly, in order to force life back into the way that he feels it should be.

Don't feel that this is all there is to Shifu, for this is merely the clouded and turbulent surface in the much deeper pool that represents his being. What caused him to act like this? Terrible loss and disappointment, he once possessed compassion and caring that he piled onto a small snow leopard cub by the name Tai Lung. This cub grew under his tutelage, but did not appreciate the peaceful values of Kung Fu and instead embraced the violence and the promise of limitless power. When Tai Lung attacked him, he broke both Shifu's leg and his heart. It twisted him deeply, depriving him of peace and causing him to harden and behave as covered.

And while this impacted him for twenty years and more once Tai Lung had been captured, Shifu proves during the movies, television show, and specials that the lighter parts of him are not dead.

This is immediately apparent in the way he speaks with Oogway, grand master and founder of Kung Fu. Shifu is his pupil and even to the end, sought to learn and understand the secrets and tranquility that his master demonstrated throughout his life. He shows that he may struggle to believe and, at times, he is not without belief. In their conversations, he queries and seeks understanding, showing that he is open to self-improvement and capable of change.

All this is a reflection of his loyalty and dedication, first to Oogway and then expanded to Kung Fu and all of China. Shifu is not a master that seeks to further himself with the martial arts, but to protect those in need, by direct intervention or by leading and commanding the Furious Five to counter whatever threats may arise. One could even say that this dedication is linked to a deep source of compassion.

Yes, compassion. When Tai Lung had been a cub, Shifu guided him with a gentle hand and loved him like a son, demonstrating that he possessed a heart capable of great emotion. And though this heart shrunk three sizes the day that Tai Lung betrayed him, it still functioned beneath the cooled exterior. Where he had gently corrected before, he then corrected with a harsher hand, but all this was to provide his pupil with the very best of tutelage and help them attain the highest skill level they were capable of. But he did so in a way that did not raise their dreams too far beyond reality, for it was by misleading Tai Lung with the promise of being the Dragon Warrior that he'd fanned a hungry fire for power into the raging inferno that consumed his pupil.

Afraid of the mistakes he made with Tai Lung, Shifu adopted the harsher side seen by the Furious Five -- perhaps most by Tigress, taken in and fostered by him. She bore the brunt of it, as he taught her to be hard and controlling, which were the values that he had adopted to prevent another Tai Lung. This shows his capability for fear and how it can control his actions, though he has come far.

The events of the Kung Fu Panda movies took these two sides to Shifu and, through Dragon Warrior Po, linked them. An untrained panda being chosen as the legendary warrior forced Shifu through many trials, until he could see the potential that lay within Po and then help him master it. Shifu demonstrated capacity for innovation by adapting a training regime to include Po's love of food as positive reinforcement for growth -- for the first time since Tai Lung's betrayal.

And, once he managed to accept Po as the Dragon Warrior, Shifu became capable of attaining inner peace -- well, once Tai Lung had finally been defeated, thereby removing the stains of his gravest mistakes from China. This allowed him to join the cynical with the compassion, affording him tranquility and the ability to apply his dry humour in situations that were not filled with frustration and lament (because, really, he does have a great, dry sense of humour).

Shifu now carries himself with an unshakeable belief in Kung Fu, the Dragon Warrior, and the Furious Five -- as well as himself, which has allowed him to finally attain the level of enlightenment that Oogway had prior to ascending to the heavens. Oh, he's not infallible -- he'll laugh and have the occasional wry comment, even make entirely too blunt of statements in the name of speaking truth -- but he does appear much more the master than he has for many years.

Speaking of ascending, this is how Shifu is likely to handle the news of the In Between. While many years had passed before Oogway's time expired, he is not one to question the timing of universal energy. What will perplex him, and perhaps even set him back a little, is the vast population and variety of other souls present in Keeliai. After all, the last time he meditated in tune with the energies of the universe, the idea of street crime did not seem to jive with eternal inner tranquility.

Appearance:
Picture a red panda wearing oriental-style robes. Ta-dah! Shifu!

Shifu wears robes of white, orange, and brown; these are reflective of honour, energy, and dedications -- three important facets of his personality. One thing to note is that his brown sash is not indicative of his martial arts level, as a recognised master would wear a sash of dark red. The green sash seen in the picture is a mark of his position of grand master, inherited when Oogway ascended to the heavens.

Abilities:

Shifu is a grand master of Kung Fu that has studied extensively, honoured his martial arts in combat, and trained numerous students (at least seven masters, counting Tai Lung, the Furious Five, and Po, the Dragon Warrior). While small, he is extremely fast and exemplary at taking the power of his opponent and turning it against them.

The style he excels in is Red Panda style, which appears to be a derivative of Shaolin style and involves a great deal of motion. Leaps and kicks, in particular, are favoured by this blended interpretation of Kung Fu and he is often seen disappearing and appearing at extreme speeds when combating others. The other key concept to his combat is redirecting force, be that the sheer strength of a charging rhino or the pull of gravity as he manipulates a single drop of water en route to the ground. Being a small red panda, he lacks the hardiness of some species and therefore counts on avoiding strikes rather than enduring them.

Some techniques involve manipulating the chi of his opponent and Shifu has mastered many of them, including the Wuxi Finger Hold -- wherein the opponent's finger is grabbed between his thumb and index finger. All that Shifu needs to do once his opponent is in this hold is to flex his pinky finger and this affects the opponent's chi so greatly that it creates a ripple of energy to flow outwards for miles. This is a most terrifying and rarely used technique, but even this is outclassed by some motions that Oogway performed in blocking chi with a few quick motions -- Shifu has yet to master these.

Given that he can defeat the Furious Five, all masters of their arts, without breaking a sweat, it is reasonable to extrapolate that his skill level is near the peak in the Kung Fu Panda world, exceeded only by Oogway, the Dragon Warrior, and (perhaps due to the emotional attachment and vicious nature of his style) Tai Lung.

While strong and extremely skilled, Shifu is still merely a red panda and can take damage. He walks with a slight limp as proof of this, an old injury from Tai Lung that doesn't appear to impact his combat.

Inventory:
Shifu arrives with the robes on his back and his staff, which is not chiselled or carved. It appears almost as though he'd been given it straight from the tree. It is twice his height and has a branching at the top, upon which he often balances as he meditates. This staff is actually the one inherited from Oogway that was broken in the first movie, but repaired and used by Shifu afterwards.

Suite:
Shifu would be most suited to a simple, single-floor suite in the Wood Sector due to its connection to the more natural state. Interestingly, wood is the element associated with the Tiger style of the Five Animals. Given that he is Tigress's foster father, there's a certain appropriateness to being housed in the Wood Sector.

In-Character Samples:
Third Person:

Inner peace.

Once an impossible thing to attain and now a concept he could handle with near ease, as though the missing mah-jong tile had been returned and his wall made whole again. Shifu lived it, breathed it, and meditated upon it as he balanced himself in the crook of the staff that Oogway left to him in his moment of ascension. He marvelled at what he could see now that doubt, fear, and dismay no longer clouded his vision and kept him from unifying with the energies of the universe.

Everything seemed possible, from the motion of guiding a drop of water peacefully to the ground to relaxing himself see to the infinite possibilities of the future as they struggled against the bounds of fate. 'Euphoric' barely described it, but perhaps stood the best chance to--

A footfall at the edge of the Pool of Sacred Tears did not break his concentration, but it reined in his focus to the material world until he could hear Po's beleaguered breathing and the grind of his teeth upon the cookies crumbling in his mouth. Once a frustration, but today something he could identify with only slight tic of his cheek.

"Dragon Warrior," he said, a commanding statement as he opened his eyes and spied the crumbs that further evidenced his transgression. "Perhaps it is time that we move onto your next level of training."

Po immediately straightened, scrubbing a paw over his muzzle as he nodded. "I'm ready, Master Shifu," he said in earnest, ever ready to learn the next 'amazingtacular' feat of Kung Fu. "Is it the Cross-Eyed Armlock of Quon Won Dau? The Jilted Lantern Technique? Ooooh, that would be so cool!"

Shifu held up a hand and shook his head once. "It is something that will require every ounce of skill you have yet mastered," he said. He paused, his expression taking on a wry cant as an eyebrow arched up. "Today, we will show you how to sneak one of Monkey's cookies without leaving a trail." This he ended with a gesture to the spattering of crumbs left in Po's wake. Far fewer, in some regards, to when he first started training, but still too many for a Kung Fu master -- who should move and leave no sign of their presence from one space to the next.

Network:

[The backdrop? One of the console cafés private rooms, with the door open to show a hall crowded with locals, but this particular room seems empty save a pair of large, rounded ears that are twitching minutely to catch the many sounds going around him. Seconds later, half a head peers into the video and a furry brow furrows.]

This is not anything like what I expected once my time came. There is much and everything is complex and-- No one can see me, can they. [A mutter as one elderly red panda holds onto the edge of the console and tries to look at the camera.

This? Is not working. He abandons that technique and kicks back the chair, performing a perfect flip to land balanced on the crux of his staff, the base of which is resting on the floor. Now centered in the video, he smoothes out his robes and clears his throat.]

I understand this is a realm for those who have completed their journeys. [A pause, a steady breath, and a nod.] I am at peace with this.

[The murmur of crowd in the background surges briefly and an ear flicks in irritation. Shifu decides it is better to finish his message before more people arrive.]

If you can just direct me to Master Oogway, I... [A pause as he glances around, borderline frazzled by all the people here.] -ah, I will confer with him and resume my meditations.

[A marginally graceful nod to the camera, then he descends the staff onto the console, searching for the command to kill the feed.]

There are many, many more people than I expected to have achieved the inner peace necessary to attain this state.

[It's one more perplexed mutter before he finds the command and ends it.]