Master Shifu
The strict red panda who trains the Furious Five.
Master Shifu is a red panda, the headmaster of the Jade Palace and the trainer of the Furious Five. Dustin Hoffman voices him in the films and TV specials, and Fred Tatasciore in the television series and video games. He was taught by the tortoise Master Oogway, and he raised the snow leopard Tai Lung from infancy as his student and adopted son.
Lore & Background
In Kung Fu Panda (2008), Oogway warns Shifu that Tai Lung will break out of prison and go after the Dragon Scroll. Shifu tightens the prison guard and holds a tournament to name one of the Five as the Dragon Warrior, then treats Oogway's choice of Po as a mistake. Before ascending to the Spirit Realm, Oogway names Shifu his successor and makes him promise to believe in Po. Shifu finds that Po performs best when food is the reward and trains him that way, then faces Tai Lung alone and is badly beaten before Po arrives. In Kung Fu Panda 3, Kai's attack on the Jade Palace turns Shifu into a jade soldier; he is restored when Po destroys Kai in the Spirit Realm.
More in Characters & Masters
Elsewhere in Kung Fu Panda
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