Character: master tigress
post #3113076 post #3863434
Master Tigress is a South China Tiger who is the strongest and boldest of the Furious Five. Tigress bitterly resented Po when he was chosen to be the Dragon Warrior instead of her, and was the most vocal of the Five in her contempt for the panda even while her comrades grew to respect him. On his first night, she firmly told Po he didn't belong at the Jade Palace, coldly proclaiming that he was a disgrace to kung fu, and that he should leave. Though dejected, Po eventually chose to stay.
After the passing of Oogway and news that Tai Lung had escaped prison, Tigress overheard Po protesting to Shifu that he would never be able to defeat Tai Lung. Tigress took it upon herself to intercept the incoming villain, along with the rest of the Five. However, they were all defeated by Tai Lung's superior martial skill and nerve attack. At the order of Shifu, Tigress and the rest of the Five evacuated the Valley without question. When Po defeats Tai Lung, Tigress is the first to acknowledge him as a master of kung fu, giving him a smile and bowing to him in respect, with the rest of the Five following suit.
In Secrets of the Furious Five, Tigress was revealed to be an orphan living in the Bao Gu Orphanage where she was greatly feared by the other children and the matron due to her destructive temper and strength. Isolated in her room for the safety of the other children, she began to see herself as a monster, as everyone else did. Shifu, at the request of the orphanage, came to teach her to control herself by playing dominoes, which required discipline, grace, and precision. After months of training, Tigress learned to control both her anger and her movements.
However, she was still feared by all potential parents who visited the orphanage, and Shifu soon took her in as a foster daughter, giving a small but genuine smile to her as they walked towards Tigress' new home, the Jade Palace. However, Shifu still carried the emotional scars of previous events, and was strict and distant in her upbringing. An adult Tigress explained that Shifu loved Tai Lung like no other person before or since, including her.
In spite of her temperate, stoic, and sometimes cold attitude, Tigress is probably the most loyal of the Five, extremely dedicated to the well-being of the Valley of Peace. The "leader" of the group, Tigress holds an enormous sense of responsibility, and has no greater ambition than to protect the Valley and perfect her own skills.
However, through Po's single comment in the Kung Fu Panda 2 that she's so hardcore she "can't feel anything", Tigress begins to question how others perceive her. She has also become a close friend to Po, and better understands his foibles, fighting closely with the panda and using tandem combat techniques they have developed together. While still direct and commanding, she is also protective of Po, as shown by her efforts to keep him from fighting Lord Shen after he freezes in front of the peacock, explaining that she "can't watch (her) friend be killed." Additionally, she later pushes him out of the way when Lord Shen fires his canon at him a second time. Po reciprocates this closeness to her immediately after that sacrifice with he and all his comrades strewn half-conscious about in the bay; namely, he swims to her alone in deep concern for her well being. After Po's single-handed defeat of the peacock, Tigress helped him out of the water before complimenting him for his astounding victory, which Po silently answers with a hug.
Tigress also displays a caring personality towards infants. At the end of the original film, when Tai Lung is defeated, she is seen holding a rabbit child and protecting it from the blast's shockwave. In Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, she playfully feeds one of the village piglets during the festival.
In Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, it is revealed that Tigress was left at the Bao Gu Orphanage by her parents. It's also shown that she was, at one point, not good with children. Tigress appears to be more stern and irritable throughout the series, and gets agitated with Po more than any of the rest of the Five. Despite this, she is still a dedicated warrior and friend.
The following tags are aliased to this tag: mastertigress, tigress_(kfp), tigress_(kung_fu_panda) (learn more).
This tag implicates kung_fu_panda (learn more).