Boo

## Shakuni

**Boo** is one of the main characters the Pandava Quintet, written by Roshani Chokshi. He is the reformed Shakuni and a new member of the Council of Guardians. He is also the mentor to the five Pandava sisters.

## History

### Mahabharata

In *Mahabharata*, Shakuni was the son of King Subala, who ruled the kingdom of Gandhara, and the brother of Gandhari. Shakuni deeply loved his sister and felt she had been insulted when she was forced to marry the blind king, Dhritrashtra of Hastinapur. The one who suggested this proposal was Bhishma, who also killed Shakuni's father and brothers. For that, he swore destruction of the Kuru lineage.

Upon the suggestion of his nephew, Duryodhana, he orchestrated the infamous game of dice between the Pandavas and the Kauravas and he succeeded due to Yudhistira's fondness of gambling. The eldest Pandava brother was led astray and the Pandavas were forced to exile from the entire kingdom twelve years and then, ultimately, the Kurukshetra war.

Near the end of the war, Shakuni fought Sahadeva with swords on chariots. Sahadeva swore to kill him when Draupadi was humiliated at the dice game. He succeeded by cutting Shakuni's forehead with an ax.

## The Pandava Quintet

Due to his actions in his previous life, Shakuni was cursed to be reborn as a pigeon and he changed his name to Subala, the name of his father. He turned over a new leaf over the years and even became member of the Council of Guardians who helped other incarnations of the Pandavas. Although, he was eventually kicked off.

### Aru Shah and the End of Time

Boo is first seen by Aru Shah on her elephant statue's trunk after she ran away from her frozen mom and friends. He is the one who leads the Pandava who lit the lamp and released the Sleeper to stop the monster before he wakes Shiva to do the cosmic dance and end all time. He comments that Aru is young and a girl, and thinks of her as beneath him. He says that she is a bundle of hormones and incompetence and that they might as well let the world end.

When Aru asks the bird's name, he says that an illustrious name should not be uttered by a child, so she could call him Subala. Aru commented that his name was too many syllables and thinking he was a she, Aru called him Sue. Boo said it was a girl's name and Aru said that there was a country song called a 'Boy Named Sue'. Aru thought if he wouldn't he be called Sue, it was to be Boo.

Boo leads Aru to her Pandava sibling, Mini, but becomes rather upset upon realising that Mini and Aru are not great heroes, but instead children. Despite this, he leads Mini and Aru to the Court of the Sky to meet the Council of Guardians. While at the Court of the Sky, Aru realises that Boo had been a member of the council once, but had since been ousted. After Aru and Mini are confirmed to be Pandavas and given gifts from their godly parents, Mini and Aru are given a quest: To find the three keys that will allow them into the Kingdom of Death, where they must retrieve their celestial weapons, the trio is sent to a shopping mall. After Mini and Aru recover the first key, the Sprig of Youth, the three are ambushed by the Sleeper. Aru distracts the Sleeper using her gift of a magic ping-pong ball, and the three escape. Boo informs the girls that in order to travel to their next location, the Night Bazaar, they will need protection. Boo takes them to the sage Valmiki, who gives them a mantra that will allow them passage.

Boo then leads the girls to a Costco filled with Otherworldly patrons, and instructs Mini to read the contents of the frozen food aisle aloud. As Mini's focus drifts, the Costco turns into the Night Bazaar. The three are scanned through security, which has increased due to the Sleeper's release. Boo tells the Rakshasa guard something Aru cannot hear before proceeding through the scanner. The three then decide to go to the Court of the Ritus, the six seasons. After the Seasons present Mini and Aru with magic gifts, the trio makes their way to a massive library to find the second key, a Bite of Adulthood. Before they can get it, the Sleeper ambushes them. Mini uses Winter's gift to freeze him long enough for Aru to get the key, but the Sleeper escapes. Boo then attacks the Sleeper, who grabs him. However, after getting a good look at Boo, the Sleeper laughs, pleasantly surprised. He reveals that Subala is not Boo's name, but his former kingdom, and that Boo's true identity is Shakuni, one to the Pandava's greatest enemies. However, Boo maintained that guarding the Pandava sisters is his honor, and refuses to betray them. Angry, the Sleeper throws Boo across the room, knocking him unconscious. He then grabs the unconscious Boo, and tells Mini and Aru that he will hurt their loved ones if they do not summon him before the full moon and give him the celestial weapons. The Sleeper then disappears, taking Boo with him, and leaving Mini and Aru on their own.

After retrieving the celestial weapons, Mini and Aru summon the Sleeper, who is holding Boo in a birdcage. Boo tells the girls to run, and is promptly ignored. The Sleeper restrains Mini and Aru with shadows, but Mini, using her celestial weapon, summons an illusion of Aru's mother, Krithika Shah, the Sleeper's former lover. Shocked, the Sleeper drops Boo's cage, allowing Boo to escape. Boo pecks at the shadows pinning Aru and Mini, allowing Aru to pry herself free. The Sleeper tries to attack the illusion, but lands right in the center of Aru and Mini's trap: a circle of celestial mounts who do not particularly like the Sleeper. As the Sleeper's demons and the gods' mounts fight, Boo compliments Aru on her trap, but informs her that it lacks sophistication, as ambushes are 'so bourgeois.' Aru informs him that the middle of a battle is not the best time for constructive criticism. The mounts defeat the Sleeper's demons, but inform Aru that the demons they battled today are only a fraction of the Sleeper's army. The mounts and demons disappear, but before Aru can finish the Sleeper, he takes Mini and Boo hostage. Aru drops Vajra, her celestial weapon, and the Sleeper releases Boo and Mini, unconscious but alive. Aru is unable to kill the Sleeper, and he gets away. Aru is ashamed, but Boo assures her that she did well, especially considering she and Mini were alone.

Aru and Mini are told that the Council will naturally wish to train them, as they are Pandavas. Boo tells them that he will train the two girls, if they will let him, knowing who he is. Aru decides that Boo is not the same as he once was, and is trustworthy. Honored, Boo swears his troth, pledging loyalty to the Pandavas. Along with the rest of the Council, Boo tutors the sisters. Some time later, lessons are cut short due to an emergency. Boo, Mini, and Aru go back to the Shah home, where they spy a shape-shifting girl holding a golden bow. Boo, amused, informs the girls that the shapeshifter is also a Pandava sister, and informs the two that they are to catch her and recover the bow.

### Aru Shah and the Song of Death

In the Night Bazaar, chasing the thief/new Pandava, Aru and Mini face an unexpected hurdle: zombies. While the sisters are able to face them one-on-two, the girls quickly become outnumbered ten-to-one. Boo deploys a vial of smoke, distracting the zombies and allowing the girls to follow the thief to a training arena, where she is fighting an Aru doppelganger who appears to be controlling the zombies. The doppelganger escapes and sets the arena on fire. Hanuman and Urvashi arrive with two other council members. Boo orders the girls to shield each other, and Hanuman douses the fires. The third girl is claimed by Vayu, the god of wind, as the reincarnated Bhima. She is gifted a wind mace as her celestial weapon, and immediately uses it to try and fight Mini and Aru. However, before any permanent damage can be done, all parties involved are summoned to the Court of the Sky.

In the Court of the Sky, Boo argues against Queen Uloopi of Naga-Loka in Mini and Aru's defense. Uloopi believes the three Pandavas are the thieves who stole the bow and arrow of Kamadeva, the god of love, from the naga treasury. Uloopi declares that the Pandava sisters will, in ten days, return Kamadeva's bow and arrow to Uloopi, or be banished from the Otherworld forever. Brynne, the third Pandava, wishes to go on the quest alone, but Mini and Aru insist otherwise. Boo then tells them he cannot assist them, as he is a suspect as well. He is imprisoned,  to be let out if and when the sisters return the bow. In his place, Boo sends one of the students of the Otherworld, Aiden Acharya, who was also, the witness.

### Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

While Aru, Mini, Brynne, Aiden and Rudy go on an unofficial mission to find the real Kalpavriksha, Boo stays in Amaravati with the twin Pandavas, Nikita and Sheela It is said that Nikita treated him as a mannequin for her clothes when they were there. But after sometime, Boo strikes a deal with the Sleeper, allowing him to kidnap Sheela after making a bargain with him. He does this so that he can retrieve his former glory and help protect the Pandavas. He also appears, when all of them are fighting Garuda, and saves 'em. He is shown to be disapproving of Rudy at first, when he introduces himself as 'Pandava-adjacent-adjacent'. He also decided on their group name, the Potatoes.

## Physical Appearence

Boo looks like an average pigeon, except his shadow is that of a human.

## Personality

Boo is crotchety, as old people who've seen way too much can sometimes be. He is also very grumpy and dramatic, often complaining about how things were better back in his day.

While he is dismissive of twelve-year-old Aru at first, he soon becomes fiercely loyal to her, and that makes him extra crotchety. He is shown to be caring for his Pandava girls (and boys and Nagas alike), going as far as betraying the Pandavas to protect them. He is also ashamed of how he was in his past life and is determined to help the new generation of Pandavas as much as possible, to make up for his behaviour.

## Abilities and Tools

Boo doesn't really have powers, abilities, or tools in his pigeon form.

## Relationships

### Friends

#### Hanuman

Boo worked with Hanuman on the Council of Guardians long ago. When they met up in Aru Shah and the End of Time, Hanuman is vaguely amused at Boo’s predicament. Later, he and Boo work together as mentors to the Pandavas, and Hanuman cares about Boo when he’s shuffled off to prison.

#### Urvashi

Urvashi makes fun of Boo at the beginning of Aru Shah and the End of Time, but later in Aru Shah and the Song of Death, she looks teary when imprisoning him, implying that she cares for him.

### Students

#### Mini Kapoor

Mini cares a lot for Boo and forgave him quickly after the reveal that he was Shakuni. She also occasionally feeds him Oreos.

#### Aru Shah

Aru likes Boo a lot -- when he was revealed to be Shakuni, she forgave him quickly, and is quick to jump to his defense. However, she’s not very respectful to him, especially when he forces her to do Pandava training. And after learning about his betrayal, she’s furious and distraught.

#### The Sleeper

Boo used to be Duryodhana's maternal uncle in the Mahabharata. Both of them used to be great friends, and Shakuni helped him bring about the Kurukshetra War. Now the Sleeper has no qualms with taunting and caging Boo. Boo also is eager to defeat the Sleeper, but decides to strike a deal with him in Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes.

## Etymology

* Shakuni means 'The Great Deceiver', 'Bird' and 'The Uncle of the Kauravas'. 'The Great Deceiver' could refer to the fact of how he cheated on everybody. 'Bird', coincidentally refers to Boo current state. And 'Uncle of the Kauravas' simply means that he was the uncle of all 102 Kauravas.

## Trivia

* In some versions of the Mahabharata, Shakuni used a magic dice, created from his late father's thigh bones, to win all his games
* However, in some other versions, it is said, that his dice was hollow and on the inside, there were several trained ants who always rolled the dice to the Number 6.
* Boo was cursed to take the form of a pigeon until he made a wish that could change him back into a human.
* Boo has a huge fondness for Oreos.

## ReadRiordan's Article On Him

*“Boo is old—we’re talking thousands of years old—and crotchety, as people who’ve seen way too much can sometimes be. While he is dismissive of twelve-year-old Aru at first, he soon becomes fiercely loyal to her—and that makes him extra crotchety!”*