Jin Lee

**Jin Lee** is a supporting character from *Turning Red*. He is Mei's father, and Ming's husband.

## Background

### Official Description

*Jin is the quiet, steady presence in the Lee family works hard and aspires to a life of simple pleasures: cooking a good meal for his family, sneaking the occasional donut, and gardening. He’s a necessary balance to his strong-willed wife Ming, and a doting and loving father to his daughter Mei. But when an ancient phenomenon throws his family into chaos, Jin’s quiet life is upended.*
### Personality

Jin is a quiet man, a steady presence in his family. He is a hard worker who wishes only for a simple life of small pleasures: cooking for his family, gardening, and sneaking the occasional Timbit. He is a necessary balance to Ming, his strong-willed wife, as he is there to keep her grounded. Though he is not as close to their daughter Meilin as Ming is, he nonetheless loves Mei very much. He can switch between offering words of wisdom and funny dad jokes. When Mei's powers activate, Jin's quiet life is thrown into chaos. While Ming is very averse to Mei's ancestral gift, Jin is a bit more patient with the strange phenomenon and tries his best to help his daughter through it.

Having witnessed his wife go through the Panda transformation before, Jin somewhat agreed with his wife and relatives that Mei should go through the sealing ritual. But after seeing footage of Mei with her friends, where Mei was able to be herself thanks to the panda transformation giving her the confidence to do so, Jin understood and remembered that Mei was growing up and becoming her own person, something his wife had forgotten, and encouraged Mei to choose for herself what she wanted while giving her some needed advice and wisdom regarding how people change as they grow, gaining new sides of themselves, and that some sides can be messy. But the point of growing up wasn't to get rid of those messy sides by pushing it away, but to make room for them and learn to live with them, so that one can find peace within themselves. He tells her that she can erase the footage if she wants, but seeing that side of her (her panda form) makes him laugh.

### Physical Appearance

Jin is an average height, adult, Asian man with light skin, and brown eyes. He also wears glasses, just like his daughter, Mei. He is typically seen in a light collared shirt and jeans. When cooking, he adopts a blue and red apron.

## Role in the Film

Jin is a person Mei can confide in. He explains to her that people have all kinds of side to them, and some sides are messy. The point isn't to push the bad side away but make room for it. This is one of the factors that make Mei choose to keep the panda. Jin knows about Ming's family's history of panda powers, as he was shocked to see Mei's ability had already happened.

## Relationships

### Ming

Ming is the wife of Jin Lee, and is often quiet around her and afraid to speak his mind. It seems they have known each other since childhood because he mentions he saw Ming's panda form before her ritual.

### Mei

Jin has always been supportive of his daughter Mei, encouraging her to keep the panda, as well as pursue her interests.

## Trivia

* Jin is an excellent cook.
* He seems to have symptoms of obesity as he is not allowed to eat sugary foods such as Timbits.
* He is secretly a 4★Town fan, as shown when he dances to their songs in the basement during the post-credits scene.
* Jin is represented by bland beige colors. At first glance, this would represent his lack of action or control, as his wife is more dominant, as well as his somewhat conservative demeanor. However, this also references his safe and comforting side, as he finally manages to tell Mei exactly what she needs to hear when she finally decides to keep the panda power.
* Jin shares the same surname as his voice actor, Orion Lee.