The story of Po in the Kung Fu Panda franchise.
Beginnings[]
Po's father protecting his baby son from the wolves.
Po was born in a remote farming village populated entirely by pandas. There he grew up happily with his biological mother and father Li, until one day the village was invaded by an evil, power-hungry peacock named Shen, who sought to avert a prophecy by eliminating any threat to his rule.
As his wolf followers slaughtered the pandas and destroyed the village, Po's mother fled with her son, while his father stayed behind to try and fight them off. As the wolves quickly started to close in on her, Po's mother managed to temporarily elude the wolves and found a crate of radishes, which she hid her child in. Mother and son shared one final moment of farewell before his mother caught the attention of the wolves and lead them away from him, sacrificing her life for her son.
Kung Fu Panda 2 Baby Po
Po as a baby
The crate Po was in was eventually shipped far away to a village in the Valley of Peace, where the owner of a noodle shop, a goose named Mr. Ping, found the baby panda. Though hesitant to get involved at first, the goose felt pity for the infant and brought him inside where he fed him and bathed him, and as he continued to care for him, he grew to love the cub. Eventually realizing that no one was looking for the child, Mr. Ping decided to adopt him, giving him the name "Po" and raising him as his son.
A portrait of young Po and a younger Mr. Ping
Since then, Po had been happily raised in the noodle shop, learning all he knew as a noodle maker from his adoptive father. Until the events in the second film, Po never questioned Mr. Ping about whether he was adopted, as both father and son shared a deep mutual love and respect. He did, however, carry doubts that they were related.
Kung Fu Panda[]
Po had grown up into an adventurous dreamer who hoped to become a kung fu legend someday, on par with the legendary heroes known as the Furious Five, whom he idolized. However, he didn't think he could pursue his dream, as he was an out-of-shape panda who worked at a noodle shop, which Mr. Ping enthusiastically expected him to someday run in his place. Though Po showed little interest in continuing this family tradition, he complied, not wanting to let his father down.
Po's dream with the Furious Five
At heart, Po was a huge fan of kung fu, as his room was decorated with posters and action figures of the Furious Five, and he would imagine himself as a legendary, unbeatable warrior who would fight alongside them. Po knew, in detail because of this, many things about kung fu, from techniques to various weapons and legends. Although this encyclopedic knowledge showed Po as somewhat of an expert on kung fu, it was only in the form of a fan who fantasized he could be part of it, not as someone who had any real experience.
It was seemingly by mistake, then, that he was chosen to become the Dragon Warrior. Po was ecstatic when he heard of a tournament being held to determine which of the Furious Five would be chosen as the Dragon Warrior, something he declared would be the "greatest day in kung fu history". He abandoned his task of selling noodles to see the tournament, but couldn't make it in time, as the gates closed on him, shutting him out.
Po being selected by Master Oogway as the Dragon Warrior
After many failed, desperate attempts to get inside and watch the event, Po was about to give up and go back to work with his father—when the fireworks that he had strapped to a chair lit up and shot him into the sky, flying over the arena. Po abruptly landed inside the tournament grounds just as the grandmaster Oogway was about to choose who would be the Dragon Warrior, and Po fell in front of the Furious Five—with Oogway's claw pointed directly at him. Inspired by the panda's sudden appearance, Oogway took this as a sign that the universe had brought them all the Dragon Warrior. Everyone else, including Po, was surprised by this.
The Valley celebrated, and Po was carried (with difficulty) on a palanquin (which he broke through) to the Jade Palace. Po was dropped inside the palace, where he became distracted as he discovered the many legendary kung fu artifacts kept within. After awing at several displays, he was met by master Shifu, who had objected that a "flabby panda" couldn't possibly be the Dragon Warrior, and the red panda tried to intimidate Po upon meeting him, insulting his portliness, hygiene, and threatening Po with the potential use of the Wuxi Finger Hold, promising the panda that he would regret ever being chosen.
Shifu afterwards led Po to the challenging Training Hall, where the members of the Furious Five were training. Po, thrilled at being in the presence of the Five (who were all observing him), was nervous but eager to try some kung fu moves. But being an unwary beginner, he was hurtled, burnt, punched, and thrown through the various obstacles. The Furious Five later joked about his incompetence, which Po happened to overhear, making him feel inferior.
Po talking with Oogway under the peach tree.
That night, after making accidental damages in the student barracks, Po had an awkward conversation with Crane (where Po himself revealed that he didn't think he belonged at the Jade Palace). He was then given a rebuke from Tigress, who told him stern and straightforward, that he didn't belong in the Jade Palace, was a disgrace to kung fu, and should leave by morning. Po, disheartened, retreated to the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, upset and overeating, cramming his mouth full with peaches. Oogway, upon finding him, listened to Po as the panda related how he had doubts about ever becoming a kung fu warrior. The tortoise gave him some kindly advice, telling Po that instead of being concerned about what was and what would be, he should focus on the opportunity he had at the moment.
The next morning, Po surprised Shifu and the Furious Five by not only staying, but by arriving first at the training courtyard to practice. Once again, Po was put through a kung fu thrashing, beat up by the Furious Five and Shifu long into the day, but Po showed no signs of pain or indignity, as he was so amazed by the skill he witnessed and only welcomed the privilege to spar with the kung fu masters. This optimism and sheer tenacity at such treatment frustrated Shifu, who, even after kicking Po out of the palace, was unsuccessful in making him quit.
The Furious Five, except for Tigress, became impressed at Po's fortitude and came to warm up to him more in the evening. Mantis and Viper tried helping Po feel better with acupuncture, and Mantis assured him about his small size as a warrior compared to Po's. After inadvertently confirming his suspicions that Shifu was indeed trying to get rid of him, Viper and Mantis explained to Po that the old master was not always so strict. Having overheard their conversation, Tigress shared the story of Shifu's past involving how he had raised another student named Tai Lung, who became evil, and Po was rendered speechless. However, due to an unintentional mistake on his facial nerve by Mantis, he ended up making a spastic expression, which angered Tigress.
Po imitating Shifu for the Five during a meal
Po later made the Furious Five some noodle soup, which he was praised for, and made them (save for Tigress) laugh when he imitated Shifu—only moments before the master himself appeared. He announced that Tai Lung had broken out of Chorh-Gom Prison and that it was Po's destiny to defeat him, also relaying that Oogway had passed away. Startled and frightened, Po ran off in a panic, only to be stopped short by Shifu, who, despite his prior disapproval, declared that Po was the Dragon Warrior.
Refusing to believe this, Po confronted Shifu on how he'd never believed in him and had been trying to make him quit since his first day, while Shifu reminded Po that he had chosen to stay, despite all the harsh treatment. Po revealed that he had been hurt both inside and out, but had stayed because, to him, it was better than living every day just being himself, and wanted so badly for the kung fu master to change him into something better, believing he was the only one who could do so. When Po questioned Shifu on just how he planned to make him the Dragon Warrior capable of defeating the mighty Tai Lung, the red panda admitted he didn't know, and departed.
Discouraged, Po again fled to food for comfort, and had nearly ravaged the kitchen in the barracks, punching through cupboards and drawers, even doing a perfect split at one point, when Shifu discovered him the next morning. He stood amazed, seeing that the panda had inadvertently showed a knack for kung fu while merely trying to find food in his distressed state. Shifu decided to use this perceived weakness as a teaching tool to motivate and train Po.
Po and Master Shifu playing "keep-away"
Led through the Wu Dan Mountains to the Pool of Sacred Tears, Shifu told Po the origins of kung fu. Po agreed to learn from Shifu, astounded and emotional from finally getting a chance to live his dream. And so began his first serious step in kung fu training. Po was put through various exercises, from push-ups to ten-mile hikes, to balancing soup bowls, defending his own meals from attack, and a game of keep away, using chopsticks and a dumpling as a reward. Through determination, and with Shifu's teaching, Po's senses grew sharper, he became more confident, and in time, had achieved tremendous improvements in body, mind and spirit.
But the Furious Five, led by Tigress, had left to fight Tai Lung on their own. Despite putting up a courageous fight on the Thread of Hope that morning, each of them was overwhelmed by Tai Lung's superior skill, but left alive as a warning. Crane weakly carried his comrades back to the Jade Palace, where Po and Shifu found the rest of the Five all paralyzed, struck by Tai Lung's nerve attack. Seeing his heroes wounded before him, Po was worried about facing Tai Lung himself, but Shifu assured him that he could beat Tai Lung—with the help of the Dragon Scroll.
He retrieved it, giving it to Po and promising him extraordinary powers of sight and sound when he would read it, and feeling "the universe in motion around you". Po opened the scroll, only to find it was nothing but a golden, reflective surface that was completely ‘’blank‘’. This confused and disappointed both him, Shifu, and the Five, leaving Po to believe that he really had been picked to be the Dragon Warrior by accident. With little options left, Shifu told him & the Furious Five to evacuate the Valley, saying that he would fight Tai Lung himself to buy them all time. They obeyed, Po reluctantly leaving with the others.
The Five split up to escort the villagers out, leaving a dispirited Po to seek out his father. Mr. Ping was glad to see him again, tying an apron around Po and talking to him about future plans for a new noodle shop as they fled with the rest of the Valley. Having come so close at becoming the kung fu warrior he'd aspired to be, and being pulled back into his former life as if nothing had happened, Po unhappily lingered for a moment, his hopes crushed. Mr. Ping tried to assure his son that he still had a destiny at the noodle restaurant. Not encouraged by this, Po remarked that he sometimes couldn't even believe he was the goose's son.
Po realizing the secret of the Dragon Scroll
Mr. Ping, taken aback, tried to comfort Po by finally telling him the truth: the secret ingredient of the noodle shop's secret ingredient soup—was nothing. He explained that he never needed to add anything more to ordinary noodle soup. By simply believing it to be special, it became special on its own. Astounded, Po took out the Dragon Scroll, and found himself looking into his own reflection. Mr. Ping's words made the connection, and at last Po understood the meaning of the Dragon Scroll, the secret to "limitless power".
Po challenging Tai Lung with the Dragon Scroll
He made his way back to the Jade Palace, climbing the stairs (which exhausted him), and arrived just in time to distract Tai Lung and save Shifu, who was nearly unconscious as a result of his battle with the snow leopard. Facing Tai Lung, Po proclaimed that he was the true Dragon Warrior. Tai Lung laughed at the claim, and Po smugly revealed that he the Dragon Scroll in his possession. This lead to a back-and-forth struggle for the scroll which soon turned into a battle that spread down into the Valley, both Po and Tai Lung trying to get the Dragon Scroll as it fell from place to place.
Po used his creative cunning to keep the scroll away from Tai Lung, even using noodles and a cart propelled by fireworks in the battle, as well as the same maneuvers in his game of "keep-away" with Shifu. Despite his ongoing success, Po finally collapsed when Tai Lung met him with a powerful punch, pummeling the panda to the ground. When Tai Lung finally had the scroll, he was disappointed and stunned when he discovered it was blank. Po, as he was getting up, told him that he hadn't got the scroll's meaning the first time either, and explained that "There is no secret ingredient; it's just you." Infuriated, Tai Lung threw down the Dragon Scroll and struck Po, but his deadly nerve attacks only served to have a ticklish effect on Po, making him laugh due to his fat body.
Po using the Wuxi Finger Hold on Tai Lung
Again, the two fought, Po besting and outsmarting Tai Lung again and again, developing his own improvised style in the process. Eventually, Po caught Tai Lung in the Wuxi Finger Hold, declaring to have figured out the secret to the mysterious technique on his own, and with the word "Skadoosh" and the flexing of his pinky, Po performed the move, sending a massive golden shock wave throughout the Valley of Peace and beyond and defeating Tai Lung.
When the Furious Five and villagers returned, they watched Po emerge from the haze in silence, and became elated, the villagers cheering for his triumph. Mr. Ping raced to his son, overjoyed and proud of his victory as a kung fu warrior. Tigress stepped forward and bowed to Po in respect, smiling and calling him "Master," and the rest of the Furious Five and the Valley followed suit. Po was modestly pleased, but quickly remembered that Shifu was hurt back at the palace. He rushed back and found Shifu still injured, and told him he had defeated Tai Lung.
Shifu weakly thanked Po for bringing peace both to the Valley and to him, afterwards trailing off and closing his eyes, leaving Po to momentarily mistake him as dying, to which Shifu exclaimed he wasn‘t. After a quiet, meditative moment, Po asked him if he wanted to get something to eat. He and Shifu later enjoyed a meal of dumplings at the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, overlooking a new day in the Valley of Peace.
Kung Fu Panda 2[]
Po stuffing forty bean buns in his mouth
Some time after defeating Tai Lung, Po, cheered on by the Furious Five in the Training Hall, attempted to see how many bean buns he could stuff into his mouth. After reaching forty, he was soon summoned to the Dragon Grotto where he witnessed Shifu meditating. The master then performed a technique that allowed him to catch and guide a falling water droplet upon his paws without breaking it, much to Po's fascination. Shifu specified that he could do this because he'd found inner peace, and that it was the next step in Po's training. Before they could proceed with the lesson, Tigress arrived and told Po that the Musicians' Village was under attack by bandits. Po immediately rose to the challenge and left with the Five.
Po facing Boss Wolf in battle
As Po and the Furious Five fought the invading pack of wolves, they worked together in battle and managed to save most of the metal the wolves were attempting to steal. The pack had been chased off, and the village celebrated their heroes. Suddenly, Po turned to see another wolf still present and prepared to fight him off. But before he could do so, he noticed the symbol on the wolf's armor and received a vision of his mother, which temporarily dazed him long enough to take the wolf's hammer to the face, knocking him down and allowing the wolf to escape.
Po questioning Mr. Ping about his origins
Not knowing what to make of this vision, Po then went to the Noodle Shop to seek answers from Mr. Ping. After explaining what he'd seen, he nervously asked the goose where he came from. Mr. Ping hesitantly admitted the truth that he had adopted him, and showed him an empty radish crate, telling him the story of how he had found him in it as a baby, and had taken care of him, growing to love him and raise him as his son. Wishing to know more, Po was dissatisfied with what little information he‘d gained. Though his father tried to comfort him, reminding him that he had a good life regardless of how his story began, Po remained troubled with lingering questions about his past.
Shifu telling Po and the Five about Lord Shen
Soon time later, Shifu received a message that Master Thundering Rhino of Gongmen City had been killed by a powerful weapon that Lord Shen had made, which was capable of making kung fu obsolete. Shifu then told Po and the Five to go to Gongmen City, destroy the weapon, and defeat Shen, though Po was concerned about how they would be able to "stop something that stops kung fu", to which Shifu advised him that anything was possible—if he had inner peace.
Before Po and the Five could leave the Valley, they were stopped by Mr. Ping, who gave Po a backpack full of his favorite foods, paintings of their moments together, and Po's action figures. Fearing for his son, Mr. Ping pleaded with him not to go, but Po remarked that he had to fulfill his duty as the Dragon Warrior, asking rhetorically what he would be if he didn't go to save kung fu. Mr. Ping supplied that he was his son, to which Po merely stared at him, not answering when the goose questioned whether he agreed. Pressed to leave with the others by Tigress, Po said goodbye to the goose and set off on his journey as Mr. Ping sadly watched him go.
Po and the Furious Five traveling on a sampan boat to Gongmen City
They spent several days traveling across China, crossing snowy mountains and huge deserts. One night while sleeping on a river in a small boat, Po had a dream about his parents replacing him with a radish, and woke in distress. He went outside the boat to try and do the technique Shifu had showed him. However, droplets of water kept falling on him, eventually causing him to yell in frustration. Po was then confronted by Tigress, who started to spar with him. Po shared how he had found out that Mr. Ping had adopted him, though tried to shrug off that this bothered him, and complimented Tigress‘ "hardcore" ability to not feel anything, his comment making Tigress pause in thought.
Po trying to get Storming Ox to leave his cell
When they arrived at Gongmen City, they found that the wolves that had raided the Musicians' Village had taken over the city, harassing the citizens. Po soon separated from the Five and snuck in with a dragon costume, the Five eventually joining him in his disguise. He eventually found a sheep, who told him that Master Storming Ox and Croc were being kept inside Gongmen Jail. Upon arriving at the jail, Po and the Five burst the masters' prison cell door open. However, the two masters refused to come with them and instead were resilient to stay in their cell, stating that kung fu was dead.
Po in a rickshaw chase in Gongmen City
Taken aback by this, Po tried again and again to force them out of their cells, but was unsuccessful, though remained convinced that kung fu still lived. However, before he and others turned to depart, the Boss Wolf and two of his wolves found them. Although the two wolves were quickly taken down by the Five, the Boss Wolf fled and Po tried to catch him, their battle becoming a frantic chase that led out into the streets, until eventually they ended up in front of Shen's palace, where all of Shen's wolves surrounded them. Po then surrendered, though he stated that he had a plan.
After they were taken up to Shen, Po found a small figurine of the weapon and destroyed it, but his triumph turned to horror when he saw the actual, larger weapon. He met Lord Shen, who laughed at the sight of him in chains, and conversed with the Soothsayer about the panda having had “A lifetime to plan his revenge”. Po began to sense that Shen and the Soothsayer knew something that he didn't, but Shen gave no answers, and ordered Boss Wolf to fire the cannon at him and the Five. When he tried to light the fuse, however, Mantis (who had actually been replaced by Po's action figure of him in a cage when they were captured) was quick to put it out, and attacked Boss Wolf.
Po and the Five battling Shen and his minions
Meanwhile, Viper had successfully picked and unlocked Tigress' cuffs, freeing her and the others. Po and the Five then rose to fight, the Five proceeding to destroy the weapon and Po taking on Shen himself. When Po had the chance to fight the peacock, however, he received another vision, this time of Shen, and realized that he had some connection to his past. With Po frozen before the peacock, Shen escaped and the panda and the Five soon found to their horror that ‘’more’’ cannons had been produced. Seeing that they were trapped inside, they made their way up to escape and reached the top of the palace, where they jumped and evaded the fire arrows being shot at them.
They returned to Gongmen Jail, where Masters Storming Ox and Croc asked what was happening. Tigress confronted Po as to why he had let Shen escape, telling him to stay while they went to stop Shen after he didn't answer. After Po made many efforts to leave, only to be stopped by Tigress, he finally told her that Shen knew what had happened to his parents, and that had to know the truth about his past, adding that “The hardcore can‘t understand“. He was then surprised when Tigress unexpectedly hugged him, telling him that she did understand, but didn't want to see her friend die. She then left with the rest of the Five as Po stayed behind.
Po facing Shen
However, Po later found his own way into the cannon foundry, and eventually found the peacock. They ensued in a battle, the Five struggling against Shen's minions to reach Po while the panda demanded Shen to tell what had happened. The peacock told him with satisfaction that he'd seen his parents abandoned him and that they didn't love him. Taking advantage of Po's shock at hearing this, he revealed one of his largest cannons and fired at the panda. Although Po had shielded himself with a wok pan, the force still shot him out of the factory and into a nearby river, where he drifted unconscious and badly-injured.
After floating down the river, Po was eventually rescued by the Soothsayer, who brought him to a derelict village and healed him. The Soothsayer brought up his troubling visions, and told him how she had long ago foreseen that Shen would be defeated by a warrior of black and white. As Po looked around the village, he saw more flashes in his mind from his past, and even recognized an old burnt panda doll. At the advice of the Soothsayer, Po allowed the visions to come freely instead of fighting them, until his full memory finally came back, and he remembered what had happened.
Po in a meditative state as he remembers his past
He saw his parents happily living with him in the village when he was a baby, and saw Shen and his wolves attacking pandas in the village. While raindrops fell as the story flowed through his mind, Po managed to perform the same water drop technique Shifu had demonstrated. He saw that his parents had not abandoned him as Shen claimed, but had both risked their lives to save him, and his mother had hidden him in a crate of radishes before distracting Shen and the wolves to follow her alone. Though saddened at discovering this, Po then recalled all the good memories of his past, as well as the happiness he had in the present. He realized that he had led a fulfilling life since being adopted by Mr. Ping, and, finally knowing who he really was, found inner peace.
Po then returned to Gongmen City, and saw the Furious Five tied up in chains above Shen's fleet, which was just about to leave the city to begin his conquest of China. But Shen noticed the panda, and ordered his wolves to fire at him. Po made it on the boat and attacked the wolves, freeing the Five and fighting alongside them. Later in the battle, Storming Ox and Croc joined in, along with Shifu, who had traveled to the city after sensing Po's near-death-experience. As the battle raged on, Shen managed to take control of a cannon and aimed it Po. Before he fired, however, Tigress pushed Po out of the way, taking most of the impact of the cannon, and she and the other kung fu warriors were blasted into the water.
Po facing Lord Shen's fleet in the city harbor
After surveying the rest of his friends, who were weak and exhausted as they hung on to the wreckage, Po saw to the injured Tigress, and held her paw in concern. Angered at Shen, Po swam to an overturned boat and stood before the entire fleet as the others watched. Shen fired at him once more, and Po, concentrating on inner peace, evaded the cannonball, redirecting it with ease similarly to the technique Shifu had shown when he had guided the water droplet. Shen ordered to fire at him again and again, but Po continued to evade and throw the blasts elsewhere, until he caught one of the cannonballs and struggled with its force. Before releasing the cannonball, he said "Skadoosh", then threw it at Shen, and it collided with his cannon, destroying it and his entire fleet.
Po later found Shen among the remains, and the peacock asked him how he managed to find peace after all he had done to him. Po told him that he had simply left his past behind, and urged Shen to do the same. Shen instead started attacking Po in a rage, with Po evading most of his strikes, until Shen had inadvertently cut loose his destroyed cannon, which then fell on top of him and exploded as Po dived out of range and into the water. After Lord Shen was killed, Po surfaced near the dock and was greeted by Tigress, who then helped him out of the water and complimented his actions as "pretty hardcore". Po then hugged her, shocking her and the rest of the warriors who were watching nearby. Shifu then came and and congratulated Po on achieving inner peace. All of the villagers then cheered as Po and the other masters watched the fireworks display above the city.
Po reuniting with his father
Bringing with him two crates of radishes as well as his old panda doll, Po returned home to Mr. Ping, who was dealing with a unsatisfied customer and her son, and was beset with worry for Po. Relieved to see him, he hugged Po happily and asked him if he saved China, to which Po confirmed he had. Po then told him that he had found out about his origins and how he had ended up in the radish basket as a baby. Po declared to Mr. Ping that he knew who he was: he was his son. The two shared a long tearful hug before they went into the noodle shop's kitchen, both insisting to cook for each other.
Meanwhile, far away from the Valley and unknown to Po, his still-living panda father had suddenly become aware that his son was alive, and appeared hopeful as he overlooked the view his small village, inhabited by other pandas.
Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness[]
In Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness after putting Shen behind, Po and Monkey have become best friends. In "Scorpion's Sting," when Tigress is infected by a deadly fever he & Monkey set out to retrieve a flower that is the only cure in the territory of a villainous Scorpion with the power to sting her victims into obeying her, and when Monkey's mind-controlled to kill Po by Scorpion, the panda tries to reminds him that they're friends and when that doesn't work, Po then hits him, fortunately Po is able to snap him out of the mind-control & together they defeat Scorpion & take the cure to Tigress just in time.
In "Chain Reaction," Po said that he would like to be friends with Tigress; he tells her that he "dreamed" of being friends with her since he was five and later, when she goes off on him, he says that she "stinks at the friendship and fun ship" but are eventually forced to work together when they are handcuffed together & a bunch of Crocodile bandits led by one named Fung, after beating them up, they are able to uncuff each other & Tigress gains newfound respect for Po.
In "Bad Po," it is revealed that Po has a split personality: one is kind, considerate, caring, polite, sensitive, very positive, helpful, hard-working, selfless and compassionate (which makes him "Good Po") and the other one is rude, very negative, lazy, sadistic, unhelpful, heartless, abusive, mean-spirited, selfish, manipulative, mischievous, cruel, uncaring, destructive, misbehaved and devious (which makes him "Bad Po" or "Evil Po"). Both of his personalities have been split when he looks into the Mystical Mirror of Yin and Yang. Bad Po blames Good Po for his evil deeds and when one panda gets hurt, the other feels the same. In the end, Good Po makes Bad Po look in the mirror and both pandas are rejoined.
As he goes on more adventures, Po encounters more foes & allies alike ranging from a constable elephant named Hu who frequently visits the valley, another former student of Oogway named Chao, and even Tai Lung's long-lost nephew Peng, who after a somewhat rocky start after revealing the truth to him comes to respect him. He also comes into conflict with the likes of an evil inventor named Taotie, a ruthless loris named Tong Fo, Shifu's longtime rival for being master of the Jade palace named Junjie, a former prison guard from Tai Lung's prison named Hundun who blames Po for losing his job, and the ruthless leader of the Quidan clan Temutai, though Po finds a true challenge in the form of a dangerous owl named Fenghuang who was once a pupil of Oogway before she got consumed with power & became evil.
Eventually in "Royal Pain," Po is not only tasked to actually begin training someone in kung fu, but the student he's assigned to train is actually a young accident-prone water buffalo named Lu Kang, who is the grandson to the Emperor himself who says he must learn kung fu in order to ascend his place as heir of the royal family. While initially struggling to teach him at first, Po discovers that the young prince simply needs confidence in himself to pull of his training, with that set he gives Lu Kang a bean pod & passes it off as magical, which fuels up his confidence & begins training much better, however, on the day he would be picked up, Po & Lu Kang discover that the latter's emissary was actually hoping he'd fail because he plans to become emperor himself & attacks them, during the battle he breaks the bean pod which make Lu Kang unsure with himself, but after Po reveals his little lie & that he was getting better, Lu Kang gets his confidence back & beats the traitor & has him arrested, afterwards Lu Kang is officially made heir to the royal family & he happily thanks Po for all he's done for him.
In the "Enter the Dragon" duology, Po has slightly become a little overconfident in himself & has begun losing sight of what it means to be a hero, which doesn't help given the fact that he hasn't come up against an actually threatening opponent for sometime. However after beating up a bunch of thugs, Po returns to the Jade Palace to find that everything is being cleared out & when he asked Shifu what's the problem, he reveals to him that the Peach tree is slowly dying which spells even more disastrous things coming quickly.
When Po is still confused with what's happening, an already-annoyed enough Shifu decides to tell him why the Peach tree is really important & the hidden purpose of the Jade Palace: Long ago, back when Oogway was young, the valley was ravaged by legions of bloodthirsty demons who broke free from the underworld & planned on going global, but Oogway was able to stop them & send them all back down into the underworld before sealing the way forever just as he becomes exhausted, unfortunately what he didn't know was that not only was one demon away from the valley, but said demon, known as Ke-Pa, was the darkest & most powerful among them & he ruthlessly rips Oogway apart, but before he could kill him, the peach tree saved Oogway & stripped the demon king of his powers & blasted him away. After that fight, Oogway then went on to build the palace directly above the entrance to the underworld, but also discovered that the peach tree was the one thing keeping Ke-Pa down & knowing he needs to be stopped, told Shifu about it to prepare for the day when it dies arrives.
After hearing the story, Po is left unsure if he really can stop Ke-Pa, but is unfortunately knocked back into overconfidence when he sees Ke-Pa's mortal form & laughs at it, only to be immediately trampled by him thanks to slowly regaining his demon powers, however he soon discovers that he's heading for the peach tree to destroy it now, racing to the peach tree where he tries to stop him from killing Shifu, Po accidentally sends him crashing into the tree, killing it. Once the tree fully rots away, Ke-Pa becomes surrounded by energy & falls off the cliff, & while Po thinks they've won, he is proven even more wrong when he sees that with the tree gone, Ke-Pa once again has all of his powers as well as his true form back: a colossal red demonic dragon, & as soon as he gets he wastes no time in destroying the Jade Palace & announcing his presence to the villagers, but just before Po could do something about it Shifu angrily sends Po away, rebuking him for failing to evacuate the village like he was ordered to, something which a heartbroken Po does all while the demonic dragon laughs at this.
Still very upset by this, Po is eventually convinced by his dad to fix the mess he had created regardless, which is something Po does & he races back to the valley to stop Ke-Pa, but what Po didn't know was that the other but even more important reason for Shifu banishing him was that because burning deep inside him was the Hero's chi: a special type of power granted to a chosen hero every generation, Oogway was the previous holder & that same power is what he used to ensure the seal to the underworld remained shut. Shifu tricked Ke-Pa into thinking he had the Hero's chi so he wouldn't go after Po, but when Po returned, Ke-Pa immediately discovered the lie & quickly captured Po before ruthlessly squeezing every last of the Chi out of him which then brought Po to near death, effectively using it to break the seal to the underworld & allowing the demon king's hordes to enter the world once again.
Thinking quickly, Shifu & Tigress carry a near-dead Po back to the peach tree in the hopes of tree performing the same miracle it had done for Oogway before, but by the time they had got there it was too late, the tree had completely withered away & had turned to dust, & with his seemingly last breath, Po apologizes for his earlier cockiness & wishes he at least got the second chance he wanted to take before dying. But just when it looked like the demons have won, Po's lifeless body was able to touch a sapling of the Peach tree (which had planted by Shifu during the 1st film while he was ranting to Oogway before the latter's departure), & through this act, Po is able to come back to life & as a bonus, it greatly enhanced his Hero's chi which allows him to be more of a match for the demons.
No with the second chance of making things right given to him, Po rushes to save the valley from the demon's rampage, using his newly-restored Chi to blast away as many demons as he can before getting the rest of them to chase after him directly back into the portal to the underworld, racing out of there right on time & sealing it shut once again. Unfortunately, much like what happened with Oogway last time, only Ke-Pa remained & now that he's completely angry that all his work had been undone in seconds, launches an all-out assault on Po with his Hero's chi now greatly drained, but when he launches Po directly into the air in an attempt to eat him, Po is able to fortunately gather up all the Chi left inside him & blast it all directly into Ke-Pa's mouth & this time, it completely destroys him, ending the demonic dragon's reign of madness over the valley once & for all. With Ke-Pa & the threat of demons in general gone for good, Po & Shifu properly treat the new peace tree in preparations for the future, with Po once again understanding what it means to be a hero as he, Shifu, and his dad look over the valley as a new day once again dawns.
In A Stitch in Time, after accidentally wrecking a wall in the jade palace, Po uncovers a pouch full of Shuyong seeds: seeds that came from the first tree to ever be planted that allows anyone who has them to go back in time. Although initially using them for fun purposes, Po actually gets to use them when Fenghuang attacks the Jade palace, but when she sees Po using them, she takes the pouch & flies away with them.
With the seeds in her possession, Fenghuang plants one of them that sprouts into a tree that bears fruit, & once she eats one of them, she gains complete control over time & space which she uses to go back in time & prevents all of Po's friends from ever existing. Needing to fix his mistake, Po fights Fenghuang all over time and space for control of the remaining seeds, which ultimately culminates into both of them getting stuck in the very beginning of the world where time hasn't begun yet.
Recognizing the world's first tree, Po and Fenghuang race to get the last fruit before the other does, & after fighting the tree's guardians, they discover that the tree itself is alive & decides to pit them against each other to see who is worthy of it's fruit. Initially putting up a good fight, Po eventually realizes that he's unworthy of the fruit & willingly lets Fenghuang win, but when the tree senses this, he let's Po have his fruit while he destroys Fenghuang for good, afterwards the tree sends Po back to when he first found the seeds & learning from his mistake, he burns them all so that no one will use it's powers again.
In the Emperors' Rule duology, Po is once again visited by Lu Kang and is surprised to learn that his grandfather retired from his duties as emperor & made him his successor, but is even more surprised to learn that Lu wants him to be his head of security as a show of gratitude for his help from his last visit. While obviously happy about this, Po is slightly saddened by the fact that Lu only wants him to be with him & ultimately takes it to prove them wrong when they have doubts in his abilities to keep things safe.
After packing up his things to move into the capital city, Po, Lu, and the guards they are with stop by the bamboo forest to rest for the night, where he is kinda unable to get respect from any of the guards, but while he is getting dinner, he overhears one of the members of Lu's imperial court Zhihui planning on overthrowing Lu to take control of China. When he crashes into his carriage, Zhihui switches his schedule of his coup immediately and has the guards under his control chase after him & Lu who escape from their sight.
Needing a place somewhere safe, Po and Lu race back to the Jade Palace for help, but quickly discover that Zhihui and his forces have already beaten them their & captures Shifu and the five, needing to find another way in Po & Lu sneak into one of the palace's water ways in an attempt to free them. Unfortunately, when they enter the main hall, Po & Lu discover that Zhihui and the guards are actually brainwashed & that Pang Bing, a seemingly naïve servant Po befriended at first, is actually an evil sorceress with a mind-control spell over the court & explains that the reason she's doing this is that it's in act of revenge because 1000 years ago, she was once a part of an order of mystics that wanted to spread peace throughout china, but the people at the time (the emperor among them) were afraid of their power & had them imprisoned, with her being the only one to escape.
With her act now out of the bag, Pang Bing proceeds to explain her master plan: to use her mind-control spell during the upcoming eclipse (which was the time when Lu was going to ascend and officially become emperor) in which her magic will be increased a thousand-fold and allow her to brainwash all of china, effectively taking it over. However, Po learns from Pang Bing that while her mind-control spell does work on everyone, it only works if the person she's trying to control can do numerous things at once & that those who are to gullible, him & Lu being prime examples, won't be affected by them.
With that knowledge now at their disposal, Po & Lu barely make it of the jade palace but witness too late that Pang Bing has already took control of most of the valley and has them hunting for them, knowing they need help in taking down the sorceress, Po makes his riskiest decision yet by bringing Lu to Chorh-Gom prison & breaking out all of his enemies in an attempt to get them to help him. Although they initially all used this opportunity to get their revenge on Po, he reminds them that none of them will be safe if Pang Bing succeeds, which is all the reason for them to put their hatred of Po aside and work together to save china before the eclipse begins.
Racing to the capital city unseen by any of Pang Bing's brainwashed goons, Po, Lu & their band of unlikely allies successfully manage to sneak into the palace but are unfortunately captured by a brainwashed Shifu and he is eventually brainwashed himself by all of his friends. Fortunately, Po only pretended to be brainwashed so he can pull a sneak-attack on Pang Bing & his villainous allies arrive to back him up, but despite their best efforts, Pang Bing begins her ritual to brainwash all of China which involves sacrificing Lu due to his royal blood, but just before it's complete Po (with the help from Lu) discovers that the thing to put in a barrel to make it lighter (which was a riddle Shifu asked him when he shows his doubts in keeping things safe & has been wondering what it was during his whole adventure) is a hole & makes one in one of the barrels Pang Bing was using as part of her ritual & it ultimately disrupts her spell just as the eclipse ends.
With Pang Bing now powerless to do anything, Lu Kang has the guards arrest her & everyone attending celebrates Po for his heroic effort, though his villainous allies (quite predictably) turn on him once the sorceress problem is over but they quickly flee at the sight of the royal guards. Although Po is glad that his friends are safe, it slightly turns sad when Shifu (now fully confident in him) reminds everyone that as head of security he can't come home with them, however, Lu friendly fires Po from his position by telling him that while he is now emperor, China needs "the Dragon Warrior" more than him, which Po happily does so before bidding farewell to his pupil-turned-emperor & returning to the valley to face new adventures that'll come for him.
Kung Fu Panda 3[]
In the third film, Po "must face two hugely epic, but very different threats: one supernatural and the other a little closer to home." He will additionally reunite with his biological father and travel to a hidden village filled with other pandas, and have the difficult task of training his fellow pandas to fight a new, supernatural threat."
Greatly enjoying his status as Dragon Warrior, Po is stunned when Shifu announces that he is leaving the training of the Furious Five to Po in order to pursue his own studies in the art of controlling Chi. After a miserable first day, Po learns that Shifu knew that such would be the case, but that he knows that new challenges are the only way for Po to reach his full potential. He tells the panda that there's more to being the Dragon Warrior than fighting and running through town giving high-fives. Shifu's words plant the seeds of doubt in Po about his own identity.
When he returned to the noodle shop to play with his action figures while bathing, Po is caught in the act by Mr. Ping, who could tell that something was bothering him. Po soon opened up about his insecurities about being a teacher and whether he was still the Dragon Warrior. Mr. Ping only caught the first half and became excited, knowing that it puts Po in a higher position to expand their franchise.
Then suddenly, a pig burst in, announcing that a stranger was beating Po's dumpling eating record. Po went to the restaurant to investigate and was surprised to see the challenger to be another panda. The panda introduced himself as Li Shan and stated he was looking for his son. Both pandas were slow on the uptake until the assembled crowd groaned and Po and Li warmly embrace each other. Though a jealous Mr. Ping attempts to dispute whether Li was actually Po's biological father, the pandas ignored him as Po learned how to belly gong. Li then shared with Po that learned of his survival via "a message from the universe", and that there was a secret village of pandas.
The pair spend some time goofing off in the Jade Palace, before being discovered by Shifu and the Five. After they identified Li as his father, Shifu suggested that Li observe Po teach a class. Thankfully for Po, they then heard a bell signalling that the valley was under attack by strange monsters made out of jade, whom Po and Monkey quickly dub jombies. Po then recognized some of their attackers as Masters Badger Twins and Porcupine, who were supposed to be deceased. As the fight moved to the floor of the noodle shop, Po used his "Dumplings of Doom" technique so he and his friends could subdue the jombies. An ominous voice then spoke from the creatures, identifying himself as a warrior named Kai, vowing to take their chi, before the jombies turn into jade statuettes and flew off.
Returning to the Jade Palace, Shifu found an obscure, green scroll written by Oogway himself, revealing that Kai was once a comrade of Oogway's five hundred years. Po became deeply interested in the tale when it mentioned that pandas were once great practitioners of chi, who taught Oogway the art, but Kai abused the power to take chi from others, leading to Oogway banishing him to the Spirit Realm. The tale ended stating that only a true master of chi could defeat Kai, which Po assumed Shifu qualified, but was told otherwise. Li then stated that he could teach him, but to do so, Po had to come with him to the secret village to rediscover the true meaning of being a panda. Believing his father's arrival was a sign from the universe, Po agreed to accompany him.
Journeying to the panda village with Li Shan - and being accompanied by Mr. Ping - Po meets other pandas, including his cousins Dim and Sum and the ribbon dancer Mei Mei, and learns more about his mother. However, when Tigress arrives with word that the other masters have all been defeated and turned into jombies by Kai, Po is dealt a second unpleasant surprise: his father has been lying to him about knowing how to control Chi out the misguided belief he was protecting his son. Angered, Po resolves to take Kai head on, but Tigress insisted that Kai couldn't be beaten in a head-on fight, so Po insisted on using the Wuxi Finger Hold instead. However, Tigress poked the holes in his plans by reminding that Kai sees through the eyes of his jombies, making it impossible to sneak up on him. They are then approached by Li, Mr. Ping and the other pandas, who volunteer to stand with him and learn kung fu to fight Kai. Po is initially hesitant, but when Li claimed that they could learn to be like Po, he then realizes what Shifu tried to help him learn: that in teaching others he needs to help them become their best selves, not duplicates of their teachers. He thus set about helping the pandas become kung fu warriors in their own way, and soon his "army" faced off with Kai's force of jombies.
Po's plan worked to perfection, until he learned the unfortunate truth: the Wuxi Finger Hold was ineffective against Spirit Warriors like Kai. However, Po then hit upon an alternative strategy, and used the hold on himself while grabbing Kai in order to send them both to the Spirit Realm. Furious, Kai began to steal Po's Chi as he had the other masters', but Po then received unexpected aid: the villagers and Tigress unlocked the power of their chi and in so doing helped Po master his own. With his new power, Po manifests his chi in the form of a dragon, while acknowledging that as the son of a panda, the son of a goose, a student, and a teacher, is what makes him the Dragon Warrior, and fought Kai again. After destroying his two jade swords, Kai swore to take Po's chi even if it took him another five hundred years, to which Po only mocked him, provoking him into attacking. Po then willing gave his chi to Kai, overloading him with power, destroying him and freeing the masters he had captured, including Oogway.
The battle having knocked him out, Po was roused by Oogway, who was pleased with how much Po had matured. He revealed that he was the one who sent Li the "universe mail". He also revealed that reason why he chose Po as Dragon Warrior was because when he first laid eyes on him, he saw the future of kung fu in Po, as well as the pandas who taught Oogway chi in the past, making Po the perfect embodiment of the yin-yang and Oogway's true successor. Oogway then presented Po with a Yin-Yang staff. Though Po was hesitant to take it, he accepted after Oogway mentioned he possessed a bigger staff. After fencing with his new staff, Po asked Oogway what was going to happen next. The tortoise then seemed to vanish in a cloud of petals, making Po panic, only to discover that Oogway wasn't going anywhere, as he was already home. After being told that he could decide whether or not to return, Po was able to use his chi to return to the Physical Realm. Having emerged triumphant, Po was happily embraced by his fathers and fellow masters. As he greeted Shifu, the latter expressed his pride that the student had finally become the teacher, but got caught off after noticing Po's new staff. Po explained that it was a gift from Oogway, to Shifu's annoyance, before asking if Po could teach him.
With Kai defeated once and for all, Po and his extended family all return to the Valley of Peace, where they continue practicing both their kung fu and chi with him happily accepting his role as the new master, as Po proudly gazes upon his legacy in the spot where his journey began.
Kung Fu Panda 4[]
Po is first seen fighting a stingray and saving a few children. He then returns to the Valley of Peace to announce the opening of his father's new restaurant, but is summoned to the Jade Palace by Shifu, who tells him that it is time to choose a successor. Po is hesitant as he wants to remain as the Dragon Warrior, but Shifu insists that he must follow in Oogway's footsteps and choose a successor by tomorrow.
However, the next day, Po chooses himself to in an attempt to stay as the Dragon Warrior, much to an annoyed Shifu's frustration.