The "Warrior of Black and White" refers to a black-and-white-colored "champion" of sorts that was first foretold of in a prophecy by the Soothsayer in Kung Fu Panda 2.

BackgroundEdit

Serving as the court soothsayer for the peacock rulers of Gongmen City, the Soothsayer was one day asked about the city's heir to the throne Lord Shen, who had recently grown a dark and destructive obsession with the potential of fireworks. Using the gift she possessed to see into the future, the Soothsayer declared that "if Shen continued down this dark path, he would be defeated by a warrior of black and white".

This warrior was thought to be a panda, a bear species native to China and known for their black and white fur. Overhearing the prophecy, Lord Shen led a genocidal raid on a small panda village in an attempt to thwart any possibility of defeat in his future. He was banished from the city by his parents as a result, but with the extermination of the pandas, Shen believed that nothing truly stood in his way and spent the next thirty years creating a powerful weapon that could destroy Kung Fu.

HistoryEdit

In Kung Fu Panda 2Edit

Despite his best efforts in ridding the pandas, one female panda managed to hide her infant son inside a radish basket just before her death. The basket was eventually shipped across China into the Valley of Peace, where it was delivered to Mr. Ping's noodle shop. Discovering the child inside, Mr. Ping decided to raise him as his own, giving him the name "Po". Po grew up in the Valley of Peace and eventually became the Dragon Warrior.

Three decades after the genocide, Boss Wolf, Shen's second in command, encountered Po during a raid on the Artisan Village. Shocked that a panda was still alive, Boss Wolf quickly traveled to Gongmen City to alert his master. In the meantime, Shen had returned to Gongmen City and defeated the Masters' Council (the stewardship of the city after Shen's parents' deaths) using his cannon. After taking over the palace, Shen ordered the Soothsayer to see into the future and foretell his glorious future. He received a shock when Soothsayer foretold that the peacock would still be defeated by a warrior of black and white; nothing had changed. Shen was disbelieving until Boss Wolf arrived and told him of his encounter with Po. Furious, Shen vowed to kill the panda and prove the Soothsayer wrong.

Meanwhile, Po learned about the takeover of Gongmen City and, along with the Furious Five, set out to stop Shen. He eventually learned of his destiny from the Soothsayer herself, and once he uncovered his terrible past and mastered inner peace, he faced Shen and his cannons in a climactic battle in Gongmen Harbor. With his inner peace, he developed a technique of redirecting the cannonfire, and while spinning on the spot with the last cannonball, the fiery sparks emanating from the ball coupled with Po's black and white fur, briefly giving the appearance of a flaming yin yang symbol that a stunned Shen recognized from Soothsayer's vision. Po redirected this last cannonball into Shen's own boat, destroying his armada completely.

Po boarded the remains of Shen's boat to confront the peacock one last time, and successfully defeated him, thus fulfilling the prophecy.

ReferencesEdit