Analyzing Evil: Lord Shen From Kung Fu Panda 2

Hello everyone and welcome to the one hundred sixty-ninth episode of Analyzing Evil! Our feature character for this video is Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to let me know below!

The song in this video was provided by CO.AG

#kungfupanda #movie #evil

[superenderguy]

Fun Fact: Lord Shen was one of the hardest characters to animate in the entire Kung Fu Panda franchise, being likened to animating 6 characters at once!

[ScoobertDoobert]

It's ironic. The prophecy Shen overheard said a creature of black and white would defeat him, yet if you look at how he died, the thing that ultimately defeated him was himself. A creature also of black and white

He was, as Oogway said, a victim to the illusion of control

[benwasserman]

Leave it to Dreamworks to say "Yeah our villain just pulled a Fire Nation on the panda community" in the opening minutes of its film. That's how crazy villainous Shen was (being voiced by Gary Oldman certainly helped).

[MrfrogAXN]

I will love Lord Shen. He’s such an underrated villain, in my opinion. And Gary Oldman voiced him so well.

[turkeybeard]

One thing I noticed was his lack of loyalty to his henchmen, when the head wolf refused to fire on his own men Shen killed him on the spot and did it himself.

[filipvadas]

1. Gary Oldman's performance absolutely elevated the material

2. I love how, even though Shen is an *evil* basterd, they don't shy away from showing that he has a softer/more vulnerable side. You can tell that he is afraid of his prophesized death, that deep down he grieves his parents and wishes that he could fill the gaping hole in his soul that the absence of their love left in him. Heck, in some of the deleted scenes its implied that the Fortuneteller was basically his nanny, making their interactions *very bittersweet*

But instead of dealing with these emotions, which would have also changed his fate ironically, he buries them with ambition and hatred.

Shen is an amazing villain that really stands out in an alredy amazing movie.

[Dookieman]

Think one of the biggest reasons why Shen thinks his parents never loved him was because they learned he was going to die but punished him for eliminating a perceived threat, he doesn’t get why they side with the pandas and not him who was supposed to be killed by one. He was punished for “self defense”

[SirMarshalHaig]

What I like about this villain is, that even though he shows no redeeming qualities, no remorse or hesitation in his dark path, he finally not only fails because he was unwilling to stray from that path, but also because he had a shred of something else in him.
He let the soothsayer leave unharmed, where the clichee check all boxes villain would have killed her for no reason and then she fishes Po out of the river, heals him and gives him the clarity he needs to defeat Shen.
And the moment he does release her is my favorite moment of that villain, just like Tai Lung´s moment of hesitation when hearing the apology from his father figure.

[damian_cross]

"I scarred you for life!"
"See that's the thing Shen: Scars heal."
"No, they don't! WOUNDS heal."
"...oh yeah."

[destructor]

I have a head canon that the first 3 villains represent the 3 battles
Tai lung represents the body
Shen represents the mind
Kai represents the spirit

[bigcgaming]

Fun fact about Lord Shen: When Po sees Shen’s "eyespots" (his feathers) he gets traumatic experience and dazes off. That’s because in real life, peacocks uses the "eyespots" in their tail feathers to protect them from predators as a psychological defense

[deathbychocolate]

Gary Oldman really helped make a peacock a threatening villain

[shenloken]

Lord Shen made the mistake of letting his soothsayer go. She not only constantly warned him of his demise but also saw it through by aiding Po when he was beaten by Lord Shen the first time around.
But the most interesting thing is that the soothsayer also helped raise Shen as his nanny. Rather than execute or imprison her he let her go much like how his parents banished him.
It’s possible if Shen has ANY redeemable qualities it’s that he can show mercy to those he loved or respected. But only in a limited capacity.

[Nin-Saber]

"It's your parting gift, in that, it will part you. Part of you here, part of you there and part of you way over there staining the wall!"

Remains one of my favorite villain quotes to this day.

[simohayha]

another interesting way to view Shen’s fate is that he was never destined to be defeated by an actual warrior of black and white like the prophecy was told

The “Warrior of Black and White” was Shen himself; the white is him and the black was the darkness in his heart. He was being told his own evil will be his own downfall; he could’ve chosen a more open-minded approach but he ultimately decided the most violent solution.

[michaelbatts]

It is interesting that Shen's weapons are curvy swords, fans and spears. This would lead one to think that his martial art is Xingyiquan. Another interesting fact is that Xingyiquan has a style called Chicken Style. One of the most unusual weapons in Xingyiquan vast arsenal is called the Chicken Sickle Sword.

[PatrickWDunne]

The Vile Eye covering the REAL villains of cinema

[connorhilchie]

Honestly the thing i find scary about Shen is how close he was to winning. Had Po never become the Dragon Warrior then he wouldn't have had the training or drive to defeat him, and Po's last stand before Shen's fleet was THE last obstacle before the war on China could begin

Had Po not been there Shen would have won and conquered China, possibly even taking out The Five to ensure that there was absolutely no one capable of getting in the way

[danielmoloney]

Shen is probably my favourite DreamWorks villain. He’s cool, threatening but also really funny in a way that doesn’t ruin his intimidation.

[davideostudio]

Lord Shen's always been an S-Tier Dreamworks villain! His design, wickedness, cultural references, and personality just clicked as a fan favorite