Po (Kung Fu Panda)

Po Ping, born Lotus Shan, is the titular main protagonist of the Kung Fu Panda franchise.
He is a Chinese giant panda who is one of Master Shifu's students, Mr. Ping's adoptive son, and Li Shan's biological son. He is also the Dragon Warrior, the one destined to bring a new era of kung fu. While prone to clumsiness, Po is also a prodigy who becomes one of the greatest kung fu masters of all time and succeeds in bringing about a new era.
In the films, as well as The Dragon Knight, he is voiced by , who also played Dewey Finn in , R.L. Stine in the movies, Ignacio/Nacho in , Lenny in , Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon (Bethany Walker and Fridge Johnson's avatar) in the Jumanji films, and Claptrap in Borderlands. In the video games, Legends of Awesomeness and The Paws of Destiny, he is instead voiced by .
==Personality==
Po is usually easygoing, playful, and cocky like a big kid, as well as rather "fanboy-ish" when expressing his love for kung fu. In the first film, he is seen as a huge kung fu fan, owning posters and action figures of his favorite warriors, but is himself clumsy, portly, and has low self-confidence, only dreaming he could be a great warrior while feeling stuck in his unfulfilling life at his father's noodle shop. But when given the chance, he is all too eager to learn kung fu the hard way, enduring physical beatings and insults in hopes of changing who he is. After learning that "there is no secret ingredient", Po shows the inner strength to save the Valley of Peace by using his own skills and ingenuity, and in the end, becomes his own hero, thus proving Oogway correct that he is the Dragon Warrior.
Po possesses a kind and selfless nature, and is generally friendly and laid back. He also has a strong sense of justice, and is willing to risk his life to protect others. His days of learning Kung Fu have allowed Po to mature and grow, though retaining some of his old immature and oblivious side in some situations, Po is able to take things seriously when it is called for, and is not hesitant to accept heavy responsibility, at times taking on more than he can handle. His unlikely triumph as the Dragon Warrior has changed those around him (best shown with the Furious Five who went from unimpressed or outright disliking him to becoming his closest friends), his simple and good-natured side and vast determination and selflessness going as far as to even being able to show compassion for his enemies, and having never held any grudges. His light-heartedness and humility, great respect for Kung Fu and justice and his loving heart are what mark him as truly worthy of being the Dragon Warrior and allows him to overcome the likes of Tai Lung, Shen and Kai. He is also capable of learning things very quickly with the right motivation, as shown in the first film, and has memorized a vast amount of knowledge about kung fu, even being reliable enough to teach a class on his own.
Po also displays an action-craving attitude along with a natural affinity for humor, and isn't above acting clownish and dishing out quips, even making fun of himself, in order to entertain others. Imaginative and adventurous, he continues to act excitable and marvel over his heroes even after he has become the Dragon Warrior, at times leaving them embarrassed by his behavior. As Po tends to be less serious and disciplined than other masters, he also tends to think more outside the box, and will find different, creative ways to solve a problem if need be. Po has also broken some rules and traditions (as well as still having a habit of breaking physical things), though this is often unintentional. Po's lack of discipline and flippant personality often give him an unintentional advantage over his enemies, since, combined with his appearance, it causes them to disregard him or struggle to take him seriously, so they are often shocked when he proves to be a tenacious and incredibly skilled warrior.
One of the recurring plot lines in the television series is Po's struggle to not let his title affect his ego. Throughout the series, he is shown to have many adoring fans and he welcomes the attention, occasionally to the point that it begins to negatively impact his duties or those around him. Despite this, he also possesses the self-awareness to realize when he has made a mistake, and is willing to accept responsibility for his actions.
Though having grown more confident since becoming the Dragon Warrior, Po nevertheless has moments of intimidation and self-doubt. Even as he tries to talk tough, this boisterous behavior tends to become more comical than threatening, and is perhaps a front for the panda's insecurities. Despite this, Po does have a sense of dignity and defiance, as shown in the first film when he argued with Master Shifu as he tried to leave the palace, and in the second film when he argued with Tigress in order to seek out Shen.
Additionally, in the second film, Po was revealed to be rather stubborn when it comes to admitting his problems, even to his friends, as he developed confusion about his own identity after learning he was adopted by Mr. Ping, and seeing visions of his biological parents. This inner struggle showed that Po tries to stay true to his idea of a strong "hardcore" warrior who is unaffected by emotions. He was also persistent enough to not heed the warning of his friends and endanger himself in order to find answers about his past. However, after finding the truth about what happened to his parents, the panda was able to let go of this dilemma by retaining an appreciation for the life he had led, and achieved inner peace by not letting tragedy define who he was.
In the third film, as Po is continuously pushed to his limits, first by Shifu making him the Master of the Furious Five and then the arrival of Kai and subsequent defeat of most of his friends, as well as having found his biological father and having to please both him and Ping, Po finally starts to reveal how for all his light-heartedness and optimism, he is not without limits. While confident in his fighting ability, Po is forced to reflect inwardly and rely on his mind and spirit in order to fully understand himself and, therefore, master Chi. He approached the challenge enthusiastically and diligently, but learning Li had lied to him in an attempt to protect him, the guilt of failing his friends and master and remorse of having chosen to fall to his father's deceit finally battered Po to his limits: He displayed an uncharacteristically dark side to himself which first manifested in the form of furious bitterness at both his father figures for having clouded his sense of justice, disowning Li as his father and ignoring Ping when he asked him to run away, before soon displaying his self-loathing and immense regret of having failed as the Dragon Warrior by outright lashing out to Tigress and stating he doesn't really know whether he can stop Kai, but he was just so lost in grief and guilt that he believed he just had to do it. It seemed to have had a lasting effect on him in that even after his father redeemed himself in his eyes and Po forgave him, as after learning that the Wuxi Finger Hold doesn't work on Kai normally, he didn't hesitate to use it on himself to forcibly banish Kai along with him to the Spirit World. This along with the fact that Po never tried to give Kai a chance of redemption nor did he show any fear unlike when he normally approached non-serious and even serious situations showed just how deep-rooted the blow of having failed his friends and responsibility as the Dragon Warrior had broke him and how it paved the path to a previously unseen level of darkness inside Po. He seemed to have accepted his fate even after he defeated Kai and showed no interest at first in leaving the Spirit World until Oogway reminded him of his responsibilities. Having accepted fully that he was the Dragon Warrior and Oogway's successor, Po's sense of duty swiftly snapped him out of whatever remained of his dark stupor and he didn't hesitate to return to the real world, afterwards displaying full acceptance of the responsibilities of being both the Dragon Warrior and a master of Chi.
==Powers, Abilities & Skills==
*Martial Artist: Thanks to his tough training under Shifu's teachings, Po displays mastery over kung fu & is very adaptive with his combat skills, creating new techniques to defeat new foes. He is also proficient with various weaponry & even tools. Po in particular, is so talented in kung that it's shown to be able to learn legendary and complicated kung fu techniques in a short period of time, whereas most masters and practitioners of kung fu had to train years to learn them.
*Kung Fu Techniques: Po has easily mastered various techniques from legendary masters.
**Feet of Fury: Po kicks multiple enemies in mid-air in rapid succession.
**Wuxi Finger Hold: A chi-based move that can send mortals to the Spirit Realm that involves the user holding an opponent's finger between his or her own index finger and thumb, pinky held upright. By flexing one's pinky downwards, the target's chi is presumably affected so greatly that it causes a brilliant, rippling shockwave of energy that extends for miles around. Po refers to this as his "best" move. He even figures out how to utilize the move to take immortal foes to the Spirit Realm by using the move on himself and trapping the enemy between his arms.
**Thundering Wing Hammer: A special and difficult kung fu technique dubbed as one of the Twelve Impossible Moves. The Thundering Wind Hammer is done by rapidly spinning around, suddenly stopping, and then placing one's palm out towards the target. A ball of energy shoots out from the palm and flies toward the target, blowing it back on impact.
**Mongolian Fireball: A special and difficult kung fu technique dubbed as one of the Twelve Impossible Moves. The Mongolian Fireball is done where the user goes into multiple stances, and then brings their hand close together vertically. After this, a large fireball forms between their hands and slowly moves forward, sucking nearby objects in. The fireball then gets shorter until it disappears, leaving only a cloud of dust behind.
**Golden Lotus Clap: A technique that involves the user announcing the words "Golden Lotus Clap", and then clapping their hands together. A golden mist erupts from the hands and then causes blindness to the target, which the move can also reverse.
**Fluttering Finger Mindslip: Po swirls his hand to the left, then to the right, then flutters his fingers in a twisting motion. This technique causes temporary paralysis short-term memory erasure. When used repeatedly on one target, their memories will begin to deteriorate on their own until they can't even remember how to breathe.
**Chao Wa Punch Kick: Po punches the mid area of the opponents body and then kicks, the strike of the Chao Wa Punch Kick causes immobilization of the body, meaning that it is possibly a nerve attack technique.
**Wings of Light: An advanced kung fu technique that allows Po to fly with wings made of light. This is one of the Five Mystic Kung Fu Secrets master Yao possesses.
**Silken Moon Touch: Through self-invoked silence and an immense amount of focus, Po concentrates all of his power into a single finger and touches the opponent, releasing a large pulse with a temporary after-effect of turning day into night.
*Intelligence: in Kung Fu Panda, since he is a big fan and love Kung Fu Masters, he had knowledge of various Kung Fu Master's Artifacts and techniques, implying he had been studying kung fu master's history for a long time. During the Dragon Warrior tournament, he was smart enough to build a chair (and later, a cart) with fireworks. He was even smart enough to craft wooden custom-made figurines of the Furious Five and another Kung Fu Masters. He is also seen using any surrounding of area type of tools and weapons to his advantages. Thanks to Shifu, he came up with a strategy during battle with Tai Lung he manages grab his legs to slam him to wagon and launch himself to Dragon scroll to build a cart with fireworks, allowing him to reach the scroll before his opponent. in Kung fu Panda 2 Po trick Shen by using Mantis figure to be decoy in a cage allowing Mantis to entered the tower undetected and stop Shen's cannon from firing at his friends by snuffing out the fuse each time Boss Wolf light it, just long enough for Viper to use the end of her tail to pick the lock on Tigress' handcuffs so the latter can free Po, Monkey, and Crane, By the end of Kung Fu Panda 3, he is able to recognize Kung Fu Masters while they are enslaved as Jade Warriors as well as their techniques, he builds with wood and bamboos of Kai Similar to Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors He even became wise enough to understand Oogway's sayings & words of wisdom, effectively becoming a Kung Fu teacher and chi master. Po is also very smart when it comes to combat and kung fu, always coming with a new strategy or way to defeat his foes. In Kung Fu Panda 4 he manages to come up with a quick strategy before Zhen escape with his Staff and manage remove Master Pangolin's Indestructible Chain Hammer use it alongside various blocks to trap Zhen which he succeeds in doing. While battling The Chameleon, he was able to recognize all Legendary Kung Fu Masters and their techniques when the Chameleon stole all Kung Fu Master's skills. 
*Panda Physiology: His natural physiology is so durable that he is immune to nerve attacks & most forms of physical harm. He took a hit from Shen's explosive cannon, with only moderate injuries & fell into a short coma. He can even use his weight to intimidate his foes, via sitting on them
*Chi-Based Powers: He also has mastery over chi, using it to enhance his physical attributes, levitate or instantly heal others & himself as well. His chi mastery was so strong that he was capable of overpowering Kai, a demonic chi-powered spirit warrior. 
**Hero's Chi: It revealed in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness episode Enter the Dragon that after Oogway died Po was given a special kind of chi which was called the Hero's Chi. With the Hero's Chi Po has increased Kung fu skills, could fly, and fire blast of energy out of his stomach which allowed him to face against the demon dragon Ke-Pa. The Hero's Chi was also connected to the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom and a small peach tree sapling, which re-energized and enhanced his Hero's Chi, allowing him to destroy Ke-Pa and his demons once and for all. Po can releases chi using the Hero's Chi imparted upon him by the universe upon Oogway's passing, in the form of a radiant blast from a part of his body.
*Superhuman Strength: Due to his weight and size along with his kung fu training, Po possess an immense strength that makes him a dangerous opponent in hand-to-hand combat, he is able to send flying and lift enemies far more weight and taller than him must as Rhino solders, Gorilla thugs, Master Elephant, Temutai, Kwan, Kim the Invincible, Water Buffalo soldiers, Master ox, Yak, Master Bull, Tsin, Giant Stingray and Lidiong. However, Po's strength seems to not match with other kung fu masters (like Tai Lung) but he able throw a maul hammer to sky far, beat Tigress in arm wrestling, even he actually lift both her and extra double mace maul weight, stronger strength than Tigress, in Kung Fu Panda 4 Po is stronger than in films and TV series he easily unarmed wolf bandit arm to pinned down without letting go which Zhen trying to steal money to return it he able to punch through a solid rock must as floor that he in cage to escape under,
*Superhuman Speed: Despite his size and weight, Po is amazingly fast (though not the fastest character in Kung Fu Panda), in combat, Po is able to perform kung fu moves and techniques with amazing speed and coordination and can dodge or counter attacks even from an entire army of enemies attacking him at the same time.
*Superhuman Agility: Po is incredibly agile and fast as an kung fu master, he is shown to perform incredible maneuvers and jump at high heights with no issue. Po is able to keep with Shifu, the five furious and others kung fu masters in terms of agility and athleticism.
*High Durability/Pain Tolerance: Through the films and TV series, Po is able to survive a lot of punishment, both physical and mental, even before receiving formal training in kung fu he was able to restore himself from many injuries and wounds. While incredible durable, Po's still able to feel pain, but is able to ignore it and keep fighting for long periods of time with no issue.
*Adaptive Combatant: Po is an amazingly clever genius in combat, whenever he faces an new opponent he is always able to adapt to his environment and learn/find new ways to defeat his enemies, even learning new and difficult kung fu techniques in a short amount of time. Po is also not above using the environment, his size, weapons or improvising in order to win a fight if he needs it.
*Cooking: Raised as a son from a long line of noodle makers by Mr. Ping, Po is a talented noodle maker and an excellent chef, having worked in his father's restaurant for years. He knows how to chop up items rapidly and with precision.
*Weapons Proficiency: Thanks to Shifu's hard work, Po fights opponents with tools and weapons surrounding him. This is best shown during his fight with Tai Lung. He first uses a tree he lands into against Tai Lung by moving off of it, causing it to bounce back. He then uses noodles to grab the Dragon Scroll, only for it to bounce off his head. He lands into big bamboos and uses two of them to throw large wok pans at Tai Lung's face, (mimicking a game Shifu had played with him earlier for training purposes) to get Tai Lung confused. Tai Lung knocks off all large wok pans, only for Po to use both big bamboos as chopsticks to keep Tai Lung away from the Dragon Scroll. He manages to grab Tai Lung's tail and uses it to his advantage and defense to trick Tai Lung into biting his own tail while throwing punches and kicks. He was also able to wield two liuqins to fight off the wolves. Po can later be seen using his recently acquired acrobatic skills and two Liuqins to his advantage, as shown when he spins with two liguins or a pair of wok pans to attack multiple opponents, and during the battle in Lord Shen's factory, he did manage to save himself from molten metal lava by using a fork and a large wok pan as a shield. He even managed to protect himself from Shen’s knives by using a large wok pan (and later, a plank of wood) and stopped Shen from escaping by pinning his neck to a large wooden box with said fork. Miraculously, he was able to survive the blast from Shen's cannon despite using a wok pan as a shield but failing. Later, Po manages to grab one the Wolves' axe to throw at Furious Five so Monkey could cut through the chains. In Kung Fu Panda 3, he tries to use Mr. Ping's frying pans without permission, but is requested to use a spoon instead. Later he swallows a few dumplings, which Viper and Tigress shoot out his mouth at the Jombies similar to Submachine Gun. During the battle with the Jombies in the Panda Village, he uses wok pans from panda villagers to lure the Jombies into a trap used in his defense to avoid harming or hurting them himself. He even used various weapons that belonged to various deceased Kung-fu masters such as Master Pangolin's Indestructible Chain Hammer to trap Zhen, during battle in Granny Boar and the bandits he able save his opponents without hurting or pick up fight with his capes and prevent Zhen from stealing other bandits by using ropes to spin Zhen to return their money bag and was able to defeat the Chameleon's army with relative ease, even using their tails to his advantage. He arguably has the greatest speed and defense out of every character in the franchise as he is able to wield different types of weapons or tools while at full speed and defense before he strikes opponents. He can even fight multiple opponents faster compared to both the speeds of Boss Wolf's henchmen, and legendary Master's speeds, even that of Tai Lung,
==Quotes==
 
==Trivia==
*Po was originally called Marv, according to Carlos Grangel and Nico Marlet (character design).
*Po made an appearance on the game show Jeopardy!.
*In the video game adaption of the first film, Po knows some fighting skills even before becoming The Dragon Warrior and carries some of them over even after being trained by Shifu, possibly being used as foreshadowing him becoming The Dragon Warrior.
*A running gag in the franchise is Po getting painfully knocked back by a punching bag/dummy (called Adversary) in the Jade Palace.
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