Art blog

On Zhen:

Design wise, I'd change it a little bit to fit in better with the rest of the franchise, mostly by making her facial marking more prominent (kinda like her wanted poster) + shorten her eyelashes a bit. I'm not too sure with her body plan, maybe make her shorter? I'm mostly just glad she follows the kfp tradition of not having boobs. I'd also shorten her tunic, it looks like a tripping hazard.

Personality wise, I'd make her less... playful? At ease? Especially at the start. This is a girl we're told lived on the streets for a long time and was taught that she can't truly rely on anyone, but I feel like we don't... get to see that. Show don't tell, y'know?

I'm also aware that some people have a problem with her voice/Awkwafina's performance, but personally? I think it's fine. It kinda suits her.

On the Chameleon (OH BOY DO I GOT NOTES FOR HER):

Design wise, she's pretty much perfect already imo. If I have to nitpick, I'd change her robes' colors to add a bit of contrast bcs she's otherwise very green.

I would give her a real name. She goes by "the Chameleon" as an intimidation technique + weird homage to her crushed kung fu dreams, kinda like how every master who see who isn't Shifu and Oogway are just called by their species' name. Because come on. There's no way the Furious Five's names are actually that.

Related to that, Zhen would be the only person in the entire movie who would be show calling the Chameleon by her name. This is to help show that the Chameleon and Zhen do care for each other, which adds to both of their characters imo. All the previous villains were shown having some sort of care for someone else, and it added a dimension to their character that the Chameleon severely lacks. (Also, I think it's funny that, whereas Tai Lung and Shen had parental issues, the Chameleon is a parent with issues)

Her kung fu stealing abilities work differently: the masters she steals the kung fu of can still fight just fine, they just become... less good? More sloppy? Less supherhuman, let's say. (For example, Crane would lose his ability to manipulate wind (I am not kidding, this is something he can do)). This comparative weakness is traded for greater magic, as she's just able to bring people back by herself- albeit with great effort that takes a lot out of her.

While at it, while very good at mimicking other people's fighting styles, especially with her shapeshifting abilities and kung fu stealing powers, she's not a master at them. For example: let's say she copies Tigress. While she can easily beat up mooks, actual kung fu masters are a whole other can of worms.

Speaking of which: Of the three previous antagonists, only Tai Lung would be brought back. This is the prevent the story from getting too bloated, but I do have in-universe reasons for why Shen and Kai stay dead: Shen wasn't actually a Kung Fu master, so he's in a different part of the afterlife working off his bad karma (+ that guy is absolutely operating with sunk cost fallacy in mind, which wouldn't mesh well with 4's themes). And Kai got obliterated at the end of KFP 3.

It's a very, very minor thing, but I would give the Chameleon her own color instead of a mix of the previous three? Tai Lung has blue, Shen has red, Kai has green, and the Chameleon would have a pale, washed out yellow. It's deliberately close to Po's heroic gold, to show how he could've ended up had Shifu not gotten his act together.

However, on suggestion of a friend of mine, and because I actually kinda like what the movie had going on for her color wise since she's a chameleon, the other three's colors do pop up around her? When she's being extra villainous: Tai Lung's blue when her pain and pride blinds her, Shen's red when she's being extra homicidal, and her magic would gain Kai's green tint near the end.

ONTO THE PLOT

The movie would open with a flashback sequence detailing the Chameleon's backstory: once a hopeful kung fu fan like Po, she got her own lucky break to learn at a prestigious school. (Although, it was nowhere as extreme as being chosen by Oogway himself to become a warrior of legend) But because of her small size, lack of natural skills, and her teacher's own shortcomings, she was eventually thrown out without ever getting a real chance. Her dreams crushed, she swore to make everyone regret how she was treated...

Title floats up in the sky, and we pretty much immediately cut to seeing Po in some kind of epic fight. We find out pretty quickly that it's just him recounting the tale to a bunch of customers at his dads' new-and-improved restaurant, attracting customers. It's also then we find out that the Furious Five are on their own missions (they appear properly later in, don't worry).

Enters Shifu, who needs to talk to Po about something. To put it simply: Shifu is old, and while he's not dying, he definitely doesn't think he has much more time left on this plane. And he would prefer for Po to properly succeed as Oogway's successor as the spiritual leader of the valley sooner rather than later. I'm not sure I'd make it that Po has to give up the Dragon Warrior title? Since that was very much a destiny/Oogway needs a specific person to defeat Kai thing. Still, I wanted to keep the theme of change going. Still, Shifu would like him to take in a student of his own, and informs him that a competition will happen tomorrow for him to choose.

Po goes back inside of the restaurant, and explains to his dads that he is VERY nervous about taking Oogway's place while helping at the restaurant. Both Ping and Li Shan reassure him that he's got this in the bag: he understood the Dragon Scroll, achieved inner peace, and mastered chi! And if it's teaching he's worried about? He taught an entire panda village how to defend themselves well enough that they were able to handle a jombiefied army of kung fu masters. They honestly believe in their son, and that alone help settles Po's nerves.

Cut to the next day, there’s a competition being held for learning under the Dragon Warrior, which has the canon competitors for getting the title. Po, of course, is fanboying the whole time. But when comes the time to accept a student however, Po kinda… freezes? And after a moment, decides that… none of them will be his student: all of them are already very skilled warriors, and Po doesn’t think there’s anything he can teach them. He says some things about how they’re already on their own paths, and it wouldn’t do to pull them away from those paths, and to keep being awesome. Ironically, this just convinces Shifu that Po is going to be perfect for the job.

But then, someone arrives at the Jade Palace, flanked by an army of Komodo Dragons: Tai Lung himself, and he's there to fight. In fact, he defeats the candidates quite easily. Everyone is panicking besides Po and Shifu: Po is ready to bring the thunder once again, and Shifu can tell that something is seriously off. His work is sloppy, and he's behaving strangely.

Anyways, there's a huge battle, and during the chaos, Shifu somehow gets knocked out and restrained by Tai Lung. But when Po moves to go rescue his teacher, his old enemy... suddenly turns into Crane? And flies off with him? The battle is still raging around him so Po has to focus on that, and by the time it's over, "Tai Lung" is already far away.

Po is panicking. Tai Lung is back! And kidnapped Shifu! And he can turn into Crane? No time to question that, he's gotta go save his teacher! We get a montage showing how Po could be a good leader: he gets the could've been students to agree to watch the Valley while he go rescues Shifu, reassures them that Tai Lung is really good and there's nothing shameful about losing to him, plans out his trip, things like that.

Finally, we see Po enter the hall of heroes, with the intention to retrieve the Staff of Wisdom. This is where he meets Zhen, who snuck in to steal stuff. A fight similar to the movie happens, except for Po having a waaay easier time knocking her out... and feels very guilty upon doing so, since that is pretty much all the confirmation he needed that this was not a fighter, but someone who was probably just trying to make ends meet.

So when Zhen wakes up, they're at the noodle shop and one of her legs is tied to a bed. Po and his dads are tending to her while they discuss what they should do, and Po ends up freaking out. Why? Because he doesn't have the time for this since TAI LUNG IS BACK! And kidnapped Shifu! And can turn into Crane???

And Zhen, hearing this, proceeds to promptly free herself before telling him about the Chameleon, and how she's a shapeshifting sorceress who rules over Juniper City (a bit of a nitpick on my part, but I'd probably rename Juniper City something different, most likely something Chinese). And Po has to admit: shapeshifting sorceress trying to lure him into some kind of trap definitely makes more sense than Tai Lung somehow breaking out of the Spirit Realm and gaining the ability to turn into Crane.

And so, Po and Zheng come to an agreement: Zheng will guide Po to and into Juniper City, and in exchange, Po will drop whatever charges he might've pressed for her attempt at stealing from the Jade Palace.

Some time after they leave, both Ping and Li Shan agree to follow after Po bcs they're scared for their son, and the movie would periodically cut back to them and their own misadventures in trying to follow after Po and Zhen. They're comic relief scenes, so I won't be describing them unless relevant to the main plot.

We cut to Juniper city, where a mostly-unconscious Shifu is shown being thrown in a jail cell by "Crane." This is followed by Crane walking off screen, muttering about having business to attend to before attending to him, and a flash of pale yellow light. We then cut to a courtyard, where a bunch of crime bosses are gathered and discussing the Chameleon and what they should do about her, with the talk quickly turning mutinous. One of the bosses reveals themself to have been the Chameleon the whole time, and she implies she killed him for trying to stage something. She quickly cows the remaining bosses into submission, kills their ringleader, and makes it clear that she'll be expecting their tributes.

We then get a montage of Po and Zhen traveling together, kinda like the training montage in 1, and the traveling montages in 2 and 3. This is how we're shown them slowly bonding and growing more comfortable around one another. Finally, they arrive at the Happy Bunny tavern, they enter to find a boat...

... and find Tai Lung- the actual one- in the middle of fighting everyone in the tavern and... struggling a little. He and Po pretty much recognize each other on sight, and the people who are fighting Tai Lung proceed to try and fight Po as well, since they think they're friends.

Po and Tai Lung are forced to fight side by side, while Zhen swiftly dodges everything, pickpockets a lot of people, maybe trips one or two guys along the way, and gets all the way to the bar to both buy them food and ask for a boat. Reinforcing that fighting is not her strong suit, and that she's a sneaky fellow who's good at bartering.

Anyways, Po and Tai Lung finish kicking everyone's butts. And once they do, Tai Lung immediately attempts a nerve attack on Po. It doesn't work, and as Po is getting back up, Tai Lung bemoans what "that damn lizard" did to him. Po is able to open dialogue with him: turns out, Tai Lung was dragged out of the Spirit Realm by the Chameleon, and she stole his kung fu. He was able to escape while she was out of town for an extended period of time, which is implied to be while she was kidnapping Shifu.

Tai Lung and Po agree to a truce, as they both want to stop the Chameleon. And Tai Lung demands a rematch to prove he's the "real" Dragon Warrior once he gets his kung fu back or something, although Po isn't too worried about that. The scene ends with Zhen cutting in, and telling Po she found them a boat.

We cut back to Shifu, who... very nearly escapes jail in a manner very reminescent of how Tai Lung broke out of Chorh-Gom. Like master, like student. But just as he's about to escape, the Chameleon intercepts him. They have a small talk where the Chameleon expresses genuine admiration towards Shifu for training both Po and the Furious Five- most of which aren't traditional warriors- and... something resembling regret that she didn't meet him when she was younger. They get into a fight, Shifu gets taken off-guard when she turns into Tai Lung, and she steals his kung fu. She then has her guards take him away with the "other prisoners", while apologizing to Shifu that things have to be this way. Smash cut to Po, who saw the whole thing in a vision.

Anyways, it's morning, and they're now at Juniper city. Tai Lung- most populated area he's ever been in that wasn't a battlefield is the Valley of Peace- is shown having more troubles navigating the place than Po- who has traveled a lot at this point. Not that it matters much: they get in trouble almost immediately because Zhen is a wanted criminal. A chase scene ensues as the trio tries to escape the city guards, with Po more focused on keeping Zhen and Tai Lung out of trouble.

They eventually make it to the Den of Thieves to seek shelter, and once again almost immediately get into trouble because Zhen has unspecified beef with the leader, Han. Zhen at first tries to brush it off, but Han makes it clear that it's because she abandoned the Den for something else. That is when Zhen uses Po's title as Dragon Warrior to get everyone to comply, much to Po's chagrin and Tai Lung's exasperation- which Po is kinda surprised about, since he assumed that Tai Lung wanted the title purely for the clout. Also: in my rewrite, people in Juniper City know who the Dragon Warrior is, Po just doesn't like using the title to get his way.

Han agrees to let them stay the night, and is even willing to trade them some info when he learns that they're in Juniper City to stop the Chameleon. Namely, that she's planning some kind of big ritual on the Blood Moon night, which is in two nights. The three of them agree to make their move tomorrow.

I'd include a scene where Po, Zhen and Tai Lung all bond through sparring, with the two masters giving Zhen some pointers during her spars. During Po and Tai Lung's own spars, Po tries to explain the meaning of the Dragon Scroll to Tai Lung when he inevitably expresses confusion about how much better Po has gotten since their last fight. Also, Po might allude to some of his past adventures.

It's the next morning, and our trio proceeds to break into the Chameleon's palace, with Tai Lung guiding the way since he broke out of the place once before. They get into shenanigans while trying to find Shifu, and they do manage to eventually find him!... alongside the rest of the Furious Five. Turns out, the missions they had been called onto where traps, and the Chameleon has their kung fu. Thus explaining why she was able to turn into Crane.

And then a trap is set off. Po pushes Tai Lung out of the way and ends up becoming the sole victim of that trap, now another prisoner. After both breaking it apart and just lifting it fails, Po hands the staff to Zhen for leverage while he and a guilt-stricken Tai Lung lift.

But then Zhen starts backing away, and the Chameleon comes out of the shadows, congratulating her. This is the reveal that Zhen is the Chameleon's adoptive daughter, and the sorceress gives an abridged version of her own backstory.

Still, Po and Tai Lung are able to escape the cage, the prison, and eventually the palace as they disappear back into Juniper city proper. The Chameleon notices that Zhen is feeling down after all of this, and offers her some genuine comfort. Her motives are also revealed during their conversation: The Chameleon wants to be respected, both the one she was genuinely denied and the one she feels she's owed to. And once she accomplishes the ritual to make the Staff of Wisdom hers, nothing will be out of her reach.

Anyway, we cut back to Po and Tai Lung who are busy making it back to the Den of Thieves, and they're both freaking out over everything that just happened. Still, even while reeling from Zhen's betrayal- which Tai Lung is taking extra hard-, they both agree that they have to go back.

That scene gets derailed pretty much the moment the Den. Because Po's dads are there. And everyone in the Den fucking loves those two.

Po is very glad to see his dads, and Po's dads are very happy to see him too. And while Ping is initially pissed off about seeing Tai Lung, Li Shan is pretty quick to warm up to him once Po affirms that they're working together and are now friends. Tai Lung's protests that they aren't friends are cut short by Li Shan hugging him, emotionally devastating him because this is the most affection he's gotten in 20+ years. One of Po's father expresses concern about what happened to Zhen, and both of them reassure Po that there's no shame in being tricked: Zhen made her choice. That's all.

But there's no time to waste: the Blood Moon ritual is tonight, and they have to stop the Chameleon. With some help from Tai Lung, his fathers, and a slight misunderstanding over the meaning of a proverb he just made up, Po is able to rally the Den into helping him storm the Chameleon's palace.

It's now night. The Chameleon is in her courtyard, with some of her guards and an increasingly guilt-ridden Zhen watching. The Chameleon is waiting for the Blood Moon to rise, with a gag similar to the movie proper were she audibly wonders if it always takes the moon this long to rise. However, upon a random guard questioning her, she confirms that unfortunately, it's not just for dramatic effect here. It's the most important part of the ritual.

We see the thieves from the Den successfully breach the palace's defenses with help from Ping and Li Shan, and the scene cuts back to the Chameleon as the alarm is being rang. She sends everyone else in her courtyard to deal with the attack since she has to focus on the ritual, Zhen included. Before she goes though, the two of them have a short but sweet talk, where the Chameleon expresses complete faith in her daughter, and Zhen hugs her.

Meanwhile, thanks to the distraction provided by the thieves, Po and Tai Lung have been able to break in unhindered. They're confronted by Zhen however, and while Po is glad to see she's alright, both of the them are understandably pretty mad at her. Zhen is trying to convince them to turn back because she doesn't want the Chameleon to kill them, but neither of them are hearing it. After a short fight- where Zhen both attacks first and puts up a decent showing- she's able to get it through to them that she truly is sorry.

Po sighs, admits that he's just happy she came back, hugs her, and asks her about how she ended up working for the Chameleon. Zhen gives her full story: how she was a child living on the streets, how she was taken in by Han at first, the slowly growing friction between them, and how she gained the Chameleon favor- and eventually, her love. And how she had to watch her mother be driven half mad by he crushed dreams and ambitions.

Zhen once again tries to convince Po and Tai Lung not to fight the Chameleon. Once again, both refuse: they can't let the Chameleon run rampant. Surprising them, Zhen agrees... and gets out a ring of keys. Turns out, while hugging the Chameleon, she pickpocketed the keys to the cages from her. They agree on this: Tai Lung goes with Zhen to go free the Five and Shifu, while Po goes confront the Chameleon.

Po enters the courtyard, and finds the Chameleon still waiting for the full Blood Moon to rise. Like with Shifu, the Chameleon expresses genuine admiration for Po and his achievements, and envy that things worked out for him while her own kung fu dreams were crushed. Po tries to convince her that it's not too late to turn things around- he even brings up that he's looking for a student, and that he'd be willing to take her in. She considers for a moment... and ends up refusing- one cannot change the way they are seen, and she's been burned too many times.

So they fight, and it’s mostly the Chameleon shapeshifting between all of her forms to keep Po on his toes and stop him from getting too used to a single form. At some point she’s able to bite him and steal some of his kung fu, but not enough to affect his performance. But just as she’s about to land a solid blow on him…

… Tigress suddenly comes flying in with a kick to the face! Po and the Furious Five are reunited, and whatever holes are in their defense as a result of the Five’s kung fu having been stolen? Tai Lung and Shifu can cover. They start quickly turning the tides on the Chameleon, who’s confused as to how they’re free. And then the staff of Wisdom is knocked out of her hands and back into Po’s and-

-she spots Zhen on the sidelines, helping back up on of the masters she knocked down-

-and promptly loses it, turning into the big fucked up hybrid dragon form we see in the movie. (Note: this is also when her magic turns green) Everyone is appropriately terrified, even if Po finds it awesome. The Chameleon proceeds to focus on Zhen, and both Tai Lung and Po jump after her. They’re able to bring the Chameleon back in the courtyard, but Tai Lung is momentarily taken out of the fight. Shifu proceeds to pull him out of the situation out of sheer instinct- with Mantis serving as an on-field doctor to make sure nothing’s broken- while everyone else gets ready for round 3.

Now using Po’s form, the fight becomes the world’s most epic tug’o'war over the Staff, Po using its central position in her plans with the ritual to keep her distracted from the rest of the Five slowly whittling her down, with Mantis and Shifu joining in once they made sure Tai Lung was fine. Unfortunately, they’re also running out of steam, and soon she’s got everyone but Po dispatched.

The Staff somehow gets out of both their hands when the Chameleon finally knocks Po down, and ends up Zhen’s. The ensuing fight is very sad, very emotional. The Chameleon is genuinely hurt by Zhen’s decision to betray her, and Zhen is crushed that the situation has come to this. Still, either the efforts to wear the Chameleon down worked, or she can’t bring herself to hurt Zhen too badly, but she doesn’t use her shapeshifting abilities for this part of the fight, making her much more manageable.

Eventually, Zhen is able to hit her with a proper magical attack, which both knocks her out for a little bit, and gives everyone else their kung fu- and thus a good bit of their vitallties- back. Po is elated, and proceeds to introduce Zhen to everyone else properly. However, the Chameleon soon gets back up, tries to get in a sneak attack… and promptly gets paralyzed courtesy of a nerve attack from Tai Lung, who just chuckles something along the lines “still got it”.

He and Shifu then have a one on one conversation, where they both apologize for what happened in the past and part on peaceful terms. Tai Lung also acknowledges Po as a worthy Dragon Warrior, picks up a paralyzed Chameleon, and asks to be sent back to the Spirit Realm. Po opens a portal with the Staff of Wisdom, and after requesting that Po comes visit because he does want that rematch- albeit a friendly one now- he bids everyone farewell.

Sidenote: I’d keep it ambiguous what Tai Lung is planning on doing to the Chameleon, just reassuring Zhen that he’s not going to hurt her, just bring her somewhere where she won’t be able to run too rampant. But I like thinking he brought her to Oogway so he can teach her kung fu properly.

Anyways, they reunite with Po’s dads, they’re celebrated as heroes for taking down the Chameleon, and the Jade Palace gang promptly deciding to get the hell out of Juniper city: they all miss home. I’d have the movie/rewrite end on Po asking Zhen if she wants to come back with them, and her smiling widely. Cut to the credits, where she’s shown training with the Furious Five.