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This article is about the villain from Kung Fu Panda 3. For other uses, see Kai (disambiguation).

“

I fought by his side. I loved him like a brother. And he... betrayed me. Well, now I will destroy everything he has created!

—Kai referencing Oogway to Shifu and the Furious Five, Kung Fu Panda 3

General Kai (also known as The Collector^[4][5]) is the main antagonist of Kung Fu Panda 3. He was a warrior and the general of an army, which he led alongside his brother-in-arms, Oogway.

Kai fought alongside Oogway as best friends, but after he learned how to steal the chi of others, Oogway banished him to the Spirit Realm. Across five hundred years, Kai stole the chi off of every kung fu master that entered the Spirit Realm, turning them into Jombies. Once stealing Oogway's chi, Kai returned to the mortal realm as a Spirit Warrior and sought to steal the chi from all living kung fu masters and destroy Oogway's legacy. With the help of his jombies, he nearly accomplished his goal, but he was eventually defeated by Po.^[2]

Biography[]

In life[]

Approximately five hundred years prior to the events of Kung Fu Panda 3, Kai was a warrior alongside Oogway, with whom he grew a brotherly bond with. They were best friends and together they fought side by side, leading a great army into battle.

One day, during an ambush, Oogway was unfortunately wounded and Kai carried him for days, searching for help. They then happened upon a secret village of pandas, who used their knowledge of chi to heal Oogway. Fascinated by the power, Oogway was taught by the pandas on how to utilize it. Kai, however, became interested solely in using it to take over the world by increasing his own power, so he began taking chi from others rather than giving it. Seeing the damage Kai's obsession would cause, Oogway broke off his relationship with Kai, and the two former friends fought fiercely until Oogway finally triumphed, banishing Kai's body and soul to the Spirit Realm.^[2] Knowing that Kai was merely defeated, not destroyed, and fearing his inevitable return, Oogway left behind a hand scroll telling the story, specifying that Kai can only be vanquished by a true master of chi

In Kung Fu Panda 3[]

Rise to power[]

Five hundred years after his banishment to the Spirit Realm, Kai, having become vengeful and power-hungry over time, underwent a physical transformation: his mane grew longer and more unruly, and Kai's general regalia, consisting of an armored uniform, was gone. In this time, Kai challenged Oogway to a rematch, in which he explained that he had taken the chi of every master within the Spirit Realm, much to Oogway's chagrin. Although nearly equally matched, Oogway was ensnared and his chi was stolen, but not before warning Kai that he had set another on the path to defeat him. Kai swore to take the Dragon Warrior's chi and subsequently used Oogway's chi to return to the mortal world.

Upon his return, Kai ordered several of his jade soldiers to find Oogway's students. They eventually found Po and the Furious Five, whom Kai witnessed through the "eyes" of his soldiers as they fought them. He then summoned his warriors back to his side, and Crane and Mantis were ordered to investigate his current location, joining up with Masters Bear, Croc and Chicken, whose villages had also been attacked. Although the masters confronted and tried to fight Kai, they were, one by one, all easily defeated and had their chi stolen, along with all other masters in China, from the sea inward.

Destruction of the Jade Palace[]

Kai eventually arrived at the Jade Palace where he attacked the rest of the Five and Shifu, destroying the palace in the process. He managed to absorb the chi of Shifu, Viper and Monkey. He couldn't get Tigress because she escaped in order to warn Po of Kai's advancement.

Battle against Panda Village[]

Kai journeyed to the Panda Village, and upon arriving, he and his soldiers were attacked by the pandas whom Po had organized into a defensive force, using their everyday activities as their assets. While Kai was distracted, Po attempted to use the Wuxi Finger Hold to transport Kai back to the Spirit Realm, but Kai revealed that it could only transport mortals to the Spirit Realm, not immortal spirit warriors. Kai gained the upper hand in their battle and advanced on Po and the others. But before he could attack, Po grabbed onto Kai and used the Wuxi Finger Hold on himself, sending them both to the Spirit Realm.

Battle and defeat against Po[]

Angered to have been returned to the Spirit Realm, Kai fought Po and gained the upper hand over him again. He was able to grab Po in his chains and began to steal his chi, but before the process could be completed, Li, Tigress, Mr. Ping, and all the pandas were able to use their own chi to save Po. Po then formed his own chi in the shape of a dragon and fought against Kai, gaining the upper hand and destroying one of his swords. Undaunted, Kai swore to take Po's chi even if it took him another five hundred years. Po then willingly surrendered his chi to Kai who was ecstatic to receive the power, but quickly discovered that it was overloading him with chi. Unable to stop it, the abundance of energy became so great that Kai exploded into a bright light, being defeated by the same power he sought to obtain.

Following his defeat, all the chi that he had stolen was returned, restoring the masters.

In The Paws of Destiny[]

Kai is mentioned in "Unholy Dragon Returns to the Mountains" when Li reminds his fellow pandas of how they were able to call upon their chi to defeat him.

In The Dragon Knight[]

As Po narrated his triumphant victories, Kai was briefly seen in a flashback.

In Kung Fu Panda 4[]

**SPOILER ALERT!** Plot and/or ending details follow below.  Skip section ↓   More info...

Kai appears in Kung Fu Panda 4, albeit in a non-speaking role. After Tai Lung was summoned from the Spirit Realm by the Chameleon and stripped of his kung fu abilities, the Chameleon re-opened the portal to the realm and called for Kai to be summoned. Off-screen, and like the rest of Po's adversaries and kung fu masters, he was stripped of his abilities and locked in a cage.

Kai could only watch the battle between Po and the Chameleon, and is briefly seen reacting in rage and offense when the latter used his horns as part of her final form. After Chameleon was defeated, this allowed Kai, alongside the other imprisoned masters, to be freed as well as regain his kung fu. He then returned to the Spirit Realm, but not before bowing to show respect towards Po, finally making peace with the Dragon Warrior.

End of spoilers.  Back to original tag ↑

Personality[]

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During his time as a mortal, Kai was fiercely devoted to fighting alongside and protecting Oogway, whom he loved like a brother. Kai was willing to risk his own life in order to keep Oogway safe; after the tortoise was injured in an ambush, Kai carried him for days across hostile terrain in a desperate attempt to find help. However, their relationship was broken beyond repair after stumbling upon the panda village and discovering the power of chi. Unlike Oogway, Kai became interested in stealing the chi of others in order to increase his own power, learning how it could be taken as easily as it was given. Because Oogway prevented him from fulfilling his ambition and imprisoned him for centuries in the Spirit Realm, he felt Oogway betrayed him and had never, or would ever, recover from the pain of losing the only person he ever truly loved.

After his banishment, Kai's anger and hatred grew ever stronger against Oogway, demanding a rematch, which ended with Kai stealing Oogway's chi and returning to the mortal realm, but as a Spirit Warrior, to exact total vengeance against Oogway by destroying his legacy. Kai's disposition was worsened, if anything, during his time in the Spirit Realm as his sense of humor was darkened, and where there was once loyalty and honor, cruelty and aggression had replaced; however, he could still be amused by certain things, as when attacking Po at the panda village, and two pandas used a technique called the "belly gong" against one of his warriors, Kai simply did a double-take and muttered to himself "seriously?" with an amused smile on his face. To further his lack of morals, Kai was blinded by his own repute and was devoted heavily to his legacy, displeased that none recalled or even had heard of Kai, the "Beast of Vengeance" or "Maker of Widows" and so had no qualms whatsoever about destroying Oogway's legacy, believing that he had destroyed his. However, Kai was quite pleased when Po addressed him with said titles, even thanking him quite politely and claiming that it made him almost want to spare his life. Of course, that did not stop Kai from trying to steal Po's chi along with the rest of the pandas. Kai was also often annoyed by Po's sense of humor and underestimated him, just like nearly all of Po's previous adversaries, but he was ultimately defeated by Po who overloaded him with chi, leading to his demise. He can also be very chatty as Po annoys him with the chit chat.

After being defeated by Po, Kai seems to have learned what Oogway warned him. After being overloaded by the Dragon Warrior's chi, Kai seems to have completely abandoned the idea of stealing the chi of other masters (and presumably lost the ability to do so) and accepted to live in peace in the world of the spirits. When he was summoned by the Chameleon, he showed no interest in attacking Po when he was freed, made peace with him and returned happily to the Spirit World.

Fighting style and abilities[]

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Kai was an extremely powerful warrior and easily one of the strongest to have ever walked China. Even in his youth, Kai's skills as a warrior had earned him the title of warlord and he was able to fight against Oogway, who was considered the most powerful kung fu master in history until Po became the Dragon Warrior, in a battle so intense that it "shook the earth." Five hundred years later, Kai had become even more powerful, as he was able to make short work of all the kung fu masters in China and could fight evenly with and eventually defeat Oogway, though that was in part due to Oogway surrendering to him willingly.

During his days with Oogway, he showed remarkable knowledge and wisdom about military protocols and logistics, being able to lead a large army without any form of difficulty.^[source?] This also foreshadows his tactical leadership capabilities. He also possesses extremely strong willpower, being able to carry Oogway for days through extremely harsh environments, until they arrived at a medicinal village, where the Pandas managed to revive Oogway from the brink of death.

In unarmed combat, Kai's veteran Kung Fu skills, honed from centuries of practice, allowed him to effortlessly outmatch every member of the Furious Five, Shifu and even Po before his mastering of chi. His unique fighting style was ferocious and direct, utilizing wide sweeping kicks and devastating horn-charges combined with powerful punches augmented in both strength, speed and accuracy by his stolen chi power. Kai possessed incredible supernatural strength, enough to tear down and swing a statue and cleave small mountains in half. He also displayed extreme supernatural durability, beyond the likes of pandas. He was able to take the worst hits from Oogway, Tigress, and Po's Dragon Form with only slight injuries and slight tardiness. Yet for all his power and skill, Kai's fighting style had its own fatal flaws for it was weak against and highly unsuited to prolonged combat due to it lacking any sufficient defensive capabilities or maneuvers geared specifically towards fighting multiple opponents simultaneously for more than a few seconds at a time, forcing him to rely heavily on his jade swords, chain whips and jade zombies for defense.

Fierce and dangerous in close combat, Kai wielded a pair of jade swords attached to long chains, which extend and abbreviate mystically from around his wrists.^[3] He wielded them as his primary weapons in combat, but also used them to scale cliffs and other terrain that he couldn't traverse normally.

Kai was a supernatural being with magical powers. Due to his ethereal "spirit" physiology, Kai was a Spirit Warrior, rendering him immune to fatigue, age and disease as well as most forms of physical harm in the mortal realm. He could also, when needed, summon jade soldiers to do his bidding and could see, hear, and feel everything that they could; in other words, he had a psychic link to them. However, this could be used against him to distract him, as when Po tried to keep his attention occupied with help from the other pandas and use the Wuxi Finger Hold on him. Unfortunately, it failed because the Finger Hold could only affect mortals, not spirits. This implies that he is immortal since he is not even alive in the first place, in essence at least. However, this does not mean that he is invincible. On a lesser extent, he had to the ability to signal his arrival. Specifically, while it's unclear as to whether this is or is not an ability he consciously does, he emanated an "aura of fear" that manipulated all the surrounding elements in his general location. In other words: anybody who hears the rhythmic grinding of two blades and sees the sky clouding over accompanied by ominous celestial luminescence of an uncanny shade of jade green knows that a certain formidable foe approaches.

He also possessed other supernatural abilities; most notably the power to steal other warriors' chi. After he had absorbed the chi from a warrior, Kai's already extraordinary physical powers would increase exponentially. However, he takes a long time to absorb a Panda's chi due to their immense levels of it, whereas it took him mere seconds to absorb Oogway's and every other kung fu master's chi. An example would be when it took him several minutes to nearly absorb all of Po's chi. But if a being's chi and mastery over chi is far greater than his own, then he cannot absorb their chi. In addition, Kai could use his natural chi as well as all of the stolen chi to enhance the power of his physicality for even greater supernatural strength, speed, and agility; with one chi-infused flick of his finger, he almost knocked out Crane. He even used a chi-infused strike to send Po flying through a gigantic rock and wounding him despite his immense durability. He can even use the chi to increase his natural healing potency or heal other beings from injuries and illness.

Weaknesses[]

Kai, though extremely powerful, was not without his weaknesses. Should an opponent utilize chi to fight him, the result would cause damage, as seen when Tigress was able to briefly stun him with a chi-enhanced kick at the Jade Palace, which broke through his invulnerability and Oogway similarly could knock him down and cause him some pain with a blast of chi. Another example is when Po used a chi-based Dragon construct to hurt him, and he succeeded. This is likely due to the fact that since Kai is a supernatural being, a supernatural force, such as chi energy, must be utilized to cause him harm. This was seen when Po overloaded him with powerful chi energies, which caused him to explode in a bright light and losing all the chi he's stolen.

The actual methodology of sealing Kai into Spirit Realm used by Oogway in the past is unknown, and it is also unclear whether or not this 'sealing' was physically defeating.

As noted in the previous section, Kai's jombies are a weakness as well as a strength. As Po theorized and later proved, assaulting the jombies all at the same time left Kai open to retaliation due to him being paralyzed due to sensory overload.

Also noted in the previous section, while the Wuxi Finger Hold normally does not affect him as a spirit warrior, he can still be forcibly sent to the Spirit Realm by the Hold if anyone vulnerable to the Hold uses it on themselves while grabbing onto Kai.

Weapons[]

Kai had a pair of jade swords attached to long chains, which extend and abbreviate mystically from around his wrists. He wielded them as his primary weapons in combat, but also used them to scale cliffs and other terrain that he couldn't traverse normally. In his youth, he wield a double-sided staff blade which was destroyed during his first fight with Oogway.

Relationships[]

Oogway[]

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“

I fought by his side. I loved him like a brother. And he... betrayed me. Well, now I will destroy everything he has created!

—Kai, Kung Fu Panda 3

Kai shared a close and brother-like relationship with Oogway, loving him a great deal. After an ambush led to Oogway being badly wounded, Kai carried him for days through the harshest of elements until reaching a Panda Village where the pandas used their chi to save his life. Fascinated by the power, Oogway learned from the pandas how to use chi to give life, but Kai saw a darker use for it, wishing to steal the chi from other warriors to increase his own power. Kai and Oogway's relationship became broken beyond repair and battled fiercely until Oogway banished Kai to the Spirit Realm. Five hundred years later, Kai mentioned to Shifu how he felt betrayed by Oogway.

Oogway and Kai reunited in the Spirit Realm, where Oogway learned that Kai had become malicious and resentful, as well as becoming more powerful by stealing the chi of every kung fu warrior in the Spirit Realm. Kai battled Oogway one final time and defeated him, stealing his chi. With Oogway's chi, Kai had enough power to return to the Mortal Realm and, with one singular goal; destroy everything Oogway had ever created.

Po[]

“

[To his amulet of Oogway] So, Oogway, this was the one destined to stop me? I will have his chi. And then all of theirs! [To Po] And you, you really thought that you could send me back to the Spirit Realm? You are just a stupid mortal.

—Kai, Kung Fu Panda 3

Po was the warrior destined to defeat Kai, but Kai had only seen him as a joke. Kai was also easily annoyed by Po's sense of humor, proven when they had first met. However, Kai gained a morsel of respect for Po when the panda was impressed by his entrance in their meeting and mentioned Kai by name and called him by his various titles; he thanked him quite politely and even claimed that it almost made him want to spare Po's life. Nevertheless, this did not stop Kai from trying to take the chi of Po and all the other pandas. Kai also continually underestimated Po's cunning, strategy, and power, allowing Po to gain the upper hand in their battle, first in the Panda Village and then in the Spirit Realm.

Kai's desire to absorb Po's chi proved to be his downfall, as the power of the Dragon Warrior's chi Dragon avatar was too great to handle, causing Kai to be defeated in a blast of light.

After being defeated by Po, Kai seems to have learned what Oogway warned him, after being overloaded by the Dragon Warrior's chi, Kai seems to have completely abandoned the idea of stealing the chi of other masters and accepted to live in peace in the world of the spirits and when he was summoned by the Chameleon he showed no interest in attacking Po when he was freed and made peace with him and returned happily to the spirit world.

Shifu[]

“

Shifu: Oogway, forgive me. [He turns around and sees Kai.] Kai:  [To his amulet of Oogway] What do you say, Oogway? Do you forgive him?

—Shifu and Kai, Kung Fu Panda 3

Kai considered Shifu to be nothing more than an obstacle in the way of destroying Oogway's legacy, and openly mocked the master of the Jade Palace for being unable to stop him before taking his chi as well.

The Furious Five[]

“

Kai: Look at you pathetic fools, groveling at the feet of Oogway the Magnificent. Tigress: You are not fit to speak his name. Kai: I am not fit, little kitten?

—Kai and Tigress, Kung Fu Panda 3

Kai saw potential henchmen in the Furious Five, enslaving four of them, with the exception of Tigress who managed to escape. Kai did not think much of Tigress in particular, mocking her by calling her "little kitten" during their fight.

Tai Lung[]

Although they have not interacted much, it is known that Tai Lung was one of the kung fu masters who was defeated by Kai and had his chi stolen, as evident by the jade amulet on Kai's waist. However, after the Chameleon's defeat, Kai and Tai Lung showed no animosity towards each other, with Tai Lung telling Po to send all the deceased kung fu masters back to the Spirit Realm, including Kai.

The Chameleon[]

Kai was among the Kung fu masters the Chameleon summoned from the Spirit World to steal their abilities and enslave. Although they didn’t interact much, Kai was shown to hate the witch, especially when she used his abilities and looks during her battle with Po. Its implied he took part into deciding her punishment.

Clothing[]

In life, Kai wore a green cloak, thick brown armor studded with dull metal spikes, puttees, and a belt. While in the Spirit Realm, Kai's armor, whether taken off through his own choice or lost over time, was gone, and in its place, the former general wore a green belt, bracers, a shredded leather loincloth, puttees, a studded helmet, and while in the Mortal Realm, he wore a jade pendant of Oogway's captured chi around his neck.

Other than dressing, Kai, before becoming a Spirit Warrior, likely didn't possess as much "supernatural" physical trends as later. Kai being portrayed in Oogway's memories lacked the pair of smaller horns unlike later, and the larger horns were not pronged as well.

Trivia[]

• In Chinese, the name Kai most often translates to "victory" (traditional Chinese: 凱^?; simplified Chinese: 凯; pinyin: kǎi) or "open" (traditional Chinese: 開; simplified Chinese: 开; pinyin: kāi), or perhaps "initiation" when translated from Cantonese (traditional Chinese: 啟/啓^?; simplified Chinese: 启; pinyin: Qǐ; Cantonese: kai2). In real life, the former and latter are more likely to be used as a name than the middle.
• Kai's former character name was Tian Sha,^[7] which is his name in the Chinese version of Kung Fu Panda 3 (traditional and simplified Chinese: 天煞^?; pinyin: tiānshā).^[8] The name means "ferocious (spirit) from heaven," and the characters separately mean "heaven" and "evil spirit" respectively.^[9]
• Kai notably keeps Oogway's amulet around his neck, while the rest of his victims are on his hip. He also never uses Oogway's Jombie in battle, most likely as a matter of "keeping your friends close, and your enemies closer".
• Kai was previously reported to be voiced by Mads Mikkelsen.^[10] However, he was dropped from the film^[11] due to his character being rewritten.^[12]
• One of the jade amulets collected on Kai's belt was a previous film villain, Tai Lung.
• In The Art of Kung Fu Panda 3 and the film novelization, Kai is mistakenly described as a yak.^[7]
  • In the audio description on the Kung Fu Panda 3 home media, the voice narrator also refers to Kai as a yak.
• Kai was originally designed to have four arms,^[7] resembling a conceptual character drawn in the development for the first film called the "Four-Armed Yak Demon God on Fire",^[13] who was to serve as part of Tai Lung's gang.^[14]
• Kai's chained blades resemble the Blades of Chaos from the God of War franchise.
• Kai's theme in the Kung Fu Panda 3 soundtrack is an orchestral remix of "I'm So Sorry" by Imagine Dragons.^[15]
• Kai's precise fate is still unknown. While his body was destroyed, it is unclear whether his spiritual essence was destroyed along with it, or if it was otherwise scattered or still intact in some form. Kung Fu Panda 4, however, provides a vague answer. He still exists as a lifeform, but it's likely all his power and strength was stripped away.
• In an interview with co-director Stephanie Ma Stine, Kai and Shen were added very late during the production of Kung Fu Panda 4, which is why neither J.K. Simmons nor Gary Oldman returned to voice their respective characters.^[16]
• Kai, Shen and Tai Lung bowing to Po after the Chameleon's defeat mirrors how the Furious Five and the Valley of Peace villagers bowed to Po after Tai Lungs defeat in the first film.

Gallery[]

Images[]

Videos[]

Quotes[]

“ [Kai appears in a blast of green light.] Kai: Kai has RETURNED! [Two bystanders, a rabbit and a goose, look confused.] Rabbit, Goose: Who? Kai: The Master of Pain. Beast of Vengeance. Maker of Widows. Goose: Eh? Kai: Okay, I used to work with Oogway? Rabbit, Goose: Oh, Master Oogway! [They both nod happily.]  Kai: SILENCE! [The two grab hold of each other in fear while the goose suddenly lays a pile of eggs.] —In the second international Kung Fu Panda 3 trailer

“ Kai: You must be the Dragon Warrior! Po: And YOU must be Kai! Beast of Vengeance, Maker of Widows. Kai: YES! Finally! Thank you! Almost makes me want to spare your life. Po: Oh, you want to spare me? How about you spare me the chit-chat, alright? Let's do this. Kai: I'm going to take your chi, then the chi of every panda in the-- Po: Ugh, chit-chat! Kai: In the... Po: Chitty-chitty chat-chat—! Kai: In... Po: —Chat-chat-chat! Kai: In the-- Po: Chit-chat! —In the Kung Fu Panda 3 clip "Kai Arrives"

See also[]

• Kai on the April 12, 2016* version of the official Kung Fu Panda website via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine

References[]