|
| “ | Well, I say bring it! | „ |
| ~ Zhen. |
Zhen is the deuteragonist of DreamWorks' 46th full-length animated film, Kung Fu Panda 4, the fourth installment of the Kung Fu Panda franchise.
She is an orphaned anthropomorphic Corsac fox who is a former wanted thief originating from Juniper City. During her life of crime, she has been trained under the tutelage of the Chameleon, who tasked her to retrieve the Staff of Wisdom as part of her plan of learning kung fu.
However, her path would lead her on a different journey when she met Po Ping, whose teachings inspired her to be lead into the route of heroism and would take her in as his successor as the next Dragon Warrior.
She is voiced by Awkwafina, who also voices Courtney in the Angry Birds Movie series, Sisu in Raya and the Last Dragon, Ming Fleetfoot (Spencer Gilpin and Eddie Gilpin's avatar) in Jumanji: The Next Level, Otto in The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Katy Chen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Ms. Tarantula in The Bad Guys, Rebecca in Renfield, Scuttle in The Little Mermaid, and Chump in Migration.
Appearance
Zhen is a light-gray corsac fox with light brown eyes. Zhen wears a navy-blue, baggy hooded tunic with several tears on the sleeves and the bottom, black baggy capri trousers curving the shape of her behind, and a black utility belt with brown pouches and a pale jadeite buckle around her waist. She accessorizes with light gray bandages wrapped around her arms and legs, and a small jadeite piercing on her right ear, which doubles as a lock-pick, though later discards it after becoming the new Dragon Warrior.
Personality
Zhen is initially shown to be careless and reckless when trying to steal Kung Fu Master's Artifacts, breaking the Urn of Whispering Warriors in the Jade Palace and battling Po, making him knock down artifacts to break. (Though this attempted theft was most likely done for survival.) She is a very sneaky and clever fox type, as shown when she steals a light and Po's Staff from him twice without him noticing. While she manages to cheat Granny boar of her game to get free food, she is reckless and cocky, which causes trouble in the tavern. When Po sees her wanted poster, she openly acts like a sly dog thief. When Po has a peach tree seed shown to her explain to a lesson (that lesson being that every pit holds the promise of a mighty tree), she started to become a good-hearted, kind, brave, caring and loyal to Po. She is shown to feel guilty and responsible for the Chameleon pushing Po off a cliff to his “death”. She later disowns and betrays the Chameleon after learning how evil she really is. To fully redeem herself, she decides to get help from Han and the Den of Thieves and hire armies to hold off the Chameleon's Komodo Dragon armies, and encourage her friends. And then, Zhen, her friends, Han, and the Den of Thieves help Po defeat the Chameleon. She is also the only one who was never afraid of her, as she had a brave soul and still considers Han and the Den of Thieves to be her family.
Biography
Past
Not much is known about her past other than she didn't have her parents, due to them either leaving her or passing away, but she was orphaned and later found by Han, her old mentor, and she was taught by him how to steal money and food for herself in order to survive. One day, The Chameleon took over Juniper City, and everyone bowed down to her except for Zhen, as she was very curious about The Chameleon and was the only one who didn't bow to her, due to having no fear towards her. Zhen's brave soul and her heart encouraged her to attempt to steal one of the gems on golden tree throne, only for her to get caught by The Chameleon, who was impressed of Zhen's skill. She returned the gem to Zhen, and decided to take her in and raise her as her adoptive daughter.
Kung Fu Panda 4
Zhen first appears at the Jade Palace trying to steal some relics for survival until Po faces and defeats her but not before leaving him a clue about Tai Lung, who had apparently invaded a mine earlier.
When she gets a visit from Po and a question about Tai Lung, she reveals to Po that it was actually the Chameleon in disguise. She tells Po about the Chameleon, who is a powerful sorceress with the ability to shapeshift into anyone, making everyone think it was Tai Lung. Po asks for the Chameleon's whereabouts, and offers to see what he can do about reducing her jail-time in exchange. She accepts the deal, but they are interrupted by Shifu who asks Po for an update in finding his successor. Zhen informs Shifu that she and Po have already struck a deal and calls him a squirrel, but Shifu corrects her, stating he is a red panda. Po decides to temporarily release her from prison, so that she can take him to the Chameleon's location. She cleverly sneaks one handcuff on one goose guard and Shifu before he realizes, stopping Shifu from stopping Po. En route to Juniper City, Zhen asks Po for food, and he gives her half of a cookie. They stop on the way for food and a boat ride in Happy Bunny Tavern. Po and Zhen then eat after Zhen plays Mahjong with Granny Boar while Po pays Captain Fish to give them a ride to Juniper City, Zhen pays for the food afterwards, but she accidentally reveals that she cheated while she was playing with Granny Boar, forcing Po to unsuccessfully try to reason with the latter.
Afterwards, she and Po fall from Happy Bunny Tavern, but are saved by Captain Fish's boat. They sail ahead to Juniper City as agreed. Zhen reveals to Po she was an orphan and had to steal to survive, and Po informs her that he, too, was orphaned at a young age. When they arrive at Juniper City, Po realizes Zhen is a wanted criminal. They try to escape but are caught by the city's Bull guards. Po tries to reason with them but is arrested as well. Zhen manages to pick the lock and escape and later unlock a door disguised as a drum which they use to escape from the bull guards to the underground Den of Thieves. They then meet Han, who was her old mentor. He and Zhen reunite for the first time in a while, but Zhen and Po end up getting trapped with Han's minions via weapons. To prepare, Zhen tells Han and the Den of Thieves that Po is the Dragon Warrior, confusing Han and the others as they have never heard of Po's Dragon Warrior status. Po tries to make peace with the Den of Thieves and reason with them, but Han's minions just leave, causing Zhen to facepalm at Po's stupidity. Zhen tells him to workshop his proverbs, and they talk with Han. They first ask him whether or not he has heard of Po's status as the Dragon Warrior, the son of Mr. Ping and Li Shan, and the fact that he was trained by Master Oogway and Master Shifu. Han says that it doesn't ring a bell as he has never heard of Po to begin with (until the mention of Shifu). Zhen asks Han for help in their plans. When Han asks why he should help Zhen, she states that it's because deep down, Han still thinks of her as one of the family. He reluctantly agrees but threatens to turn her in to the bull guards himself if she and Po are still around by nightfall. (Despite being a thief in his own right).
The next day, the coast is clear for her and Po to get out of the underground den and into the palace. After getting past the iguana guards, Zhen unwillingly hands over the Staff of Wisdom to the Chameleon, who reveals to Po that she adopted Zhen, and that she was the one who sent her to steal the Staff of Wisdom, so that she could unleash all the Kung Fu masters residing in the Spirit Realm and steal their kung fu.
Zhen is guilt-racked over it and attempts to reconcile with Po. However, the Chameleon seemingly kills Po by knocking him over the edge, sending him falling to his supposed death, much to Zhen’s horror. She reminds The Chameleon that she promised that she wouldn’t hurt or kill Po, only for her to sadistically remind her of her second rule: Someone always gets hurt. And when Zhen wishes that she had a better way, the Chameleon tells her the third rule: No one's interested in her feelings.
After watching the Chameleon bring back all of the late Kung Fu masters and the previous antagonists, including General Kai, Lord Shen, and Tai Lung, Zhen decides to leave her. When she goes outside, she finds out that Po is still alive. However, an upset Po scolds her and states that he made a mistake in trusting her. After a sparring session where she refuses to let him fight the Chameleon out of fear of him getting killed, it gets to the point where Po ignores her and asks why would she care, she runs to him, seemingly planning to hurt him out of rage. But instead of hurting Po, she actually hugs him and proves that she does care about him. She also warns him that The Chameleon is more powerful now. Po refuses to endanger her and goes to face The Chameleon anyway. Later on, Mr. Ping and Li Shan team up with Zhen, so that they can help her gather an army of thieves to hold off the Chameleon's army, while Zhen goes back into the palace to assist Po. Later, after they battle the Chameleon, Po gets trapped in a cage again. This time, he entrusts Zhen with the Staff of Wisdom to battle the Chameleon by herself in order for her to prove herself worthy. After that, Zhen manages to overpower the Chameleon, and Po escapes his cage.
However, just as the Chameleon is about to strike, Po manages to counter her attack with the Staff of Wisdom, ultimately defeating her. Po then releases all the Kung Fu villains from their captivity while restoring their Kung Fu to them.
After the Kung Fu villains were set free, Tai Lung emerged as their representative and openly praised Po, acknowledging that he had surpassed his initial expectations and had proven himself to be worthy of being the Dragon Warrior. The other Kung Fu villains (including Shen and Kai) all followed suit as well by bowing down to Po in respect. Tai Lung then made a request to Po, urging him to create a portal to the Spirit Realm, so that he and the other villains can return to their rightful place. Po happily obliged by opening a portal to the Spirit Realm, As all the Kung Fu villains (including Shen and Kai) happily return to the Spirit Realm, Tai Lung seized the opportunity to take The Chameleon with him, intending to punish her for what she did. The Chameleon fearfully turned to Zhen, foolishly pleading the latter to help her, despite all of the cruel things that she has done to her and Po. Despite this, Zhen rightfully refuses and taunts the Chameleon, reminding her of her own third rule: No one's interested in her feelings. Bidding farewell to Po, Tai Lung happily returns to the Spirit Realm, taking the Chameleon with him as she screams in horror. With the Chameleon gone, China is safe from her threat.
During the end credits, Po (with a little help from the Furious Five) begins training with Zhen, so that she can become the next Dragon Warrior. During the training, Viper shows Zhen speed and reflex in the Field of Fiery Death (except Zhen almost gets caught on fire). Tigress teaches her martial arts in the Jade Tortoise of Wisdom, but she ends up falling down into it and rebounding all over it. Crane shows Zhen how to deflect several projectile spears. Mantis trains her in the Gauntlet of Wooden Warriors. Monkey swings effortlessly from one to the other and passes through one Seven-Talon Rings. Zhen tries to pass through Seven-Talon Rings, but she ends up getting stuck. Finally, Po shows Zhen how to hit the Training Dummy. And when Zhen hits the dummy, Po ends up getting hit by it, which is something that was shown in the first film. After doing some more training in Juniper City, Po and Zhen bow to each other.
Dueling Dumplings
In this short film, Zhen and Po fight over whether chive or regular dumplings are better.
Kung Fu Panda 5
The plot of the fifth film hasn't been revealed yet, but it's possible that it will focus on Zhen's adventure as the new Dragon Warrior.
Quotes
| “ | Oh, no! He's got a walking stick. What are you gonna do, stroll me to death? | „ |
| ~ Zhen mocking Po, who actually has the Staff of Wisdom. |
| “ | Then, I guess we'll just have to get an army of our own. | „ |
| ~ Zhen to Mr. Ping and Li Shan. |
| “ | Better to rot in the gutter than under your thumb. | „ |
| ~ Zhen turning against the Chameleon. |
| “ | 3rd Rule: No one's interested in your feelings. | „ |
| ~ Zhen taunting to the Chameleon after the latter's defeat. |
| “ | Ska-Blam! | „ |
| ~ Zhen’s form of Po’s “Ska-Doosh!” |
Trivia
- This is the second time that the voice actress, Awkwafina, was in a DreamWorks Animation film. She previously played Ms. Tarantula in The Bad Guys.
- Zhen's skills, hood, and fox nature make her resemble The Crimson Paw.
- As a bonus, Zhen and Ms. Tarantula start out as wanted criminals before they abandon such a life.
- Zhen is the fourth Kung Fu Panda character who was raised and adopted by someone who isn't related to her species. Po was adopted by a goose named Mr. Ping, while Tigress and Tai Lung were adopted by a red panda named Master Shifu. Similar to Tai Lung, who disowns his own father over the Dragon Scroll after Shifu refused to protest Oogway's choice, Zhen disowns the Chameleon after realizing that her dark purpose is to drain all essence from every kung fu master living in the Spirit Realm, and use them to take over China.
- Zhen's characteristics allude to how foxes are regarded as tricky in Chinese folklore.
- According to Lauren Kisich, who worked on the film, Zhen's age is around 20-21.
- It's unknown what happened to Zhen's biological parents.
- There are a few subtle hints in the film that foreshadow Zhen's adoptive connection to the Chameleon:
- She was instantly first seen raiding the newly built Jade Palace, where she's looking for a particular item inside. Because the Chameleon needed the Staff of Wisdom for her power-hungry plans, this gives a hint that she ordered Zhen to enter the palace itself to obtain the weapon.
- While inside the Jade Palace, she obtained the Staff of Wisdom from Po with much confidence, indicating that she'll make the Chameleon proud of her with it.
- When it was reported by a couple of rams that "Tai Lung", who's really the Chameleon in disguise, was "revived" from the Spirit Realm, Zhen sarcastically remarks in a proud tone that she's not the only one with a mystery to solve, signifying that the Chameleon has indirectly created a distraction that caused Zhen and Po to separate from each other, thus further hiding her secret agenda from him.
- As she was being interrogated by Po, she has an impressive level of knowledge about the Chameleon. Additionally, when Po asks about interacting with the Chameleon, Zhen answers that she's the one who can lead to the Chameleon herself, further proving the duo's adoptive connection.
- During her and Po's trip in a bamboo forest, she get all excited and curious about the Staff of Wisdom, highlighting her need for it, so that it could be given to the Chameleon.
- While she and Po were sailing towards Juniper City with the help of Fish and Chip, she thinks about having a family with a sorrowful tone. Since she's the Chameleon's adoptive daughter, this signifies that being raised by the Chameleon herself wasn't the happiest thing Zhen has ever experienced, considering the Chameleon's own sociopathy.
- During her first few moments of being trained by Po, she admits that he's not like the other mentors she had met before while also viewing him as a "good guy". Because the Chameleon is one of them, it indicates that her experience as a trainee was a tough path for her.
- Just before she finally reveals herself to Po, she warns to him about the cage that was about to land on him, implying that she knows about the Chameleon's traps beforehand.
- In the Chinese version of the film, Zhen is voiced by the famous actress, Yang Mi, who played Mei Mei in Kung Fu Panda 3.
- Zhen's name almost sounds like part of Po's birth name, Lotus Shan, which somehow foreshadowed her later apprenticeship towards him after she was carelessly mentored by the Chameleon.
- Remarkably speaking, she's almost similar to Tigress. Both ladies were orphaned since youth, in which they were raised by different kung fu-passionate mentors as a result. As a result of each raisings, they developed a shared rough exterior that made others either fear or go against each of them. However, their respective lives changed once they met Po for the first time. This causes both of them to eventually soften themselves up, to the point where would become close to him.
- Interestingly, another thing in common with both of them is that they're each destined to hold the title as the "Dragon Warrior", which is something that each of their respective kung fu mentors gave to them. In Zhen's case, it came from Po himself.
External Links
- Zhen on the Kung Fu Panda Wiki
- Zhen on the Universal Studios Wiki
- Zhen on the DreamWorks Animation Wiki
- Zhen on the Near Pure Good Wiki
 Heroes
| ||
|
Jade Palace Gongmen City Panda Village Juniper City Others Television | ||