Viper

Master Viper is one of the supporting characters of the Kung Fu Panda franchise. She is a member of the Furious Five, and the daughter of Great Master Viper, as well as one of Master Shifu's students at the Jade Palace. She is a master of the Viper Style of kung fu. On the day of her birth, Viper's parents were disappointed to find that she had no fangs, seeing this as a sign that she could not become a warrior. As a little girl, she became a talented ribbon dancer, which came to use when she ended up saving her father from a gorilla bandit. With her skill made apparent, Viper eventually grew into a kung fu master and formed the Furious Five with Tigress, Mantis, Monkey, and Crane. When first meeting Po, she was hesitant of the panda's capabilities as the Dragon Warrior, though the kindest and most welcoming to him of the Five. She is now a good friend and comrade to Po.

Background
Viper was born as the beloved daughter of Great Master Viper, protector of the village where he relied on his venomous fangs to defeat his enemies. The Great Master hoped that she would carry on his legacy once she was born, however, she was born without fangs, and ceased to develop them as she grew older, much to the dismay of her father. To make her father smile, Viper took up ribbon dancing, blossoming into a very graceful dancer, though this only seemed to mildly please the old snake.

During the Moon Festival, Viper was too timid to attend the festival with her father, and instead stayed at home with her mother. But when her father was confronted by a gorilla bandit who attacked the village and used venom-proof armor to shatter the great master's poison fangs, Viper, hearing he was in trouble, raced to help him.

Though she was momentarily intimidated when hearing the bandit's remarks about her ribbon dancing, she mustered the courage she needed to outwit the gorilla by confusing him with her swift dancing skills and tying him up with her ribbon. With the bandit defeated, the weak Great Master Viper shared a fangless, genuine smile with his daughter, both of them overjoyed with her victory. Thus, her father's legacy was secure with his daughter becoming a mighty warrior on her own terms.

Viper continued to ply her craft as a ribbon-dancer, before eventually being recruited by Tigress due to an accident involving a pair of scrolls. With her father's blessing she joined Tigress, Crane, and Monkey, and with the latter pair demonstrated to Tigress that there were many styles of Kung fu. However, the trio and Mantis were rejected by Shifu, who had sent Tigress to find four trained Kung fu masters, something she had failed to do because of the accident. However, as Oogway observed, "there are no accidents"-the new team of five proved to be just what was needed to defeat the villain Boar; an impressed Shifu then welcomed all five as his students and set about developing their unique talents.

Personality
In defiance of the villainous stereotype of snakes, Master Viper is the most charming, kind, compassionate, and sweetest of the Five, as demonstrated with her quickly developing empathy for Po as his indomitable tenacity became obvious. She also demonstrates a great deal of dislike for displays of cruelty or injustice. This is especially presented when she (undercover with Po and the rest of the Five) urged Po to do something when she saw a sheep in trouble, and was also the first one to resort to violence once the cover is blown. She also tries to break up a fight between Tigress and Po, even trying to tell Po to stay down after being knocked down by Tigress.

Abilities
Viper holds an advantage over most opponents thanks to her status as a snake. In keeping with the Snake Style, Viper is lightning fast, often using her snaky body to wrap around and overpower her foes. Her natural flexibility, honed by her hours of training on the Field of Fiery Death, means that enemies have a tough time keeping track of her and are lucky to land even a single blow. This is shown when several of Shen's wolves fire arrows at the Five and she coils around each of them, and also manages to avoid and counter a wolf's attempt to hit her with a mace.

One of Viper's signature moves is coiling around one of her opponent's arms and pulling it forward, making them punch themselves in the face with their own fist. She did this in battle with Tai Lung[9] and with a wolf in the second film. She presumably invented this technique as a child when she used it on a gorilla bandit who attacked her father.

Viper has also used a move called "Puppet of Death".[10] It is similar to the technique of coiling around her opponent to manipulate his movements, except with this technique, the opponent is unconscious and holding weapons. It also requires assistance from someone else to carry the unconscious person through a crowd while Viper swings his weapons at their enemies.

Another one of Viper's moves is called "Stars of Destiny", which seems to involve using shuriken. This was seen when she aided Po in place settings for the formal Winter Feast dinner at the Jade Palace.

Viper has displayed an ability to swallow large objects, akin to the abilities of her species.

In Secrets of the Scroll she is shown to be a very powerful swimmer. Able to keep up with Crane in flight, support the weight of Tigress on her back and still stay on top of the water.

Kung Fu Panda
Viper was first seen training with Master Shifu with the rest of the Furious Five, where Shifu told her to improve on her "subtlety". Their training was cut short, however, when Master Oogway had a troubling vision: Tai Lung would return to the Valley of Peace. In response to this, the Dragon Warrior Tournament was instigated, in which each member of the Five participated in hopes of being selected as the Dragon Warrior, performing their skills to the masters and the entire Valley. During the tournament, Oogway suddenly sensed the presence of the Dragon Warrior. Viper and her comrades quickly gathered in a line for the choosing. As Oogway approached, it appeared as though his finger was moving towards Tigress, but then a portly panda named Po unexpectedly fell out of the sky right in front of her. Taking this as a sign from the universe, Oogway declared Po the Dragon Warrior, stunning Viper, the Five, Shifu, the villagers, and even Po himself.

After the tournament, the Five all headed over to the Training Hall to train, with Viper honing her flexibility and reflexes in the Field of Fiery Death. She and the others stopped training momentarily to watch Po spar with the Adversary. The sparring ended with Po being knocked into the training course, and his following ordeal ended in him being burned in the same course Viper was training in minutes earlier, much to her horror. That night, while traveling up to the student barracks, the Five mocked Po over his lack of ability to do kung fu. Though Viper laughed with the others, she was the only one who did not mock the panda, instead worrying how "the poor guy is just going to get himself killed". Neither she nor the others noticed Po had been listening in on them.

The next morning, it appeared as though Po had quit, but when Shifu and the Five enter the training courtyard, they were surprised to find that not only had Po not quit, he had arrived there first. Po's training began, with Viper being the first to spar with him. She asked if he was ready, and Po barely had time to confirm before she flung him into the air and slammed him down again, apologizing immediately afterwards, only to be told by Po that the hit was "awesome". When Shifu sparred with Po himself, Viper watched nervously as he flung the panda around and eventually kicked him out of the Jade Palace and down the steps. Noticing Po's tenacity and gaining some respect for him, Viper silenced Mantis with a hiss when he commented on Po's "bouncing" down the stairs.

Once Po made his way back to the palace, Viper and Mantis attempted to help him recover through means of acupuncture. The three eventually started up a conversation, commenting on Shifu's harsh way of treating Po, with Viper trying to assure him with a smile after the panda commented on the possibility that Shifu was trying to get rid of him. Eventually, Tigress joined their conversation and told the story of Tai Lung while Viper and the others listened.

Later that night, Viper and the others all had dinner together in the barracks kitchen. Po served his noodle soup to the Five (Tigress not participating), and Viper complimented that it was amazing after tasting it. She also laughed along with the others (excluding Tigress) when Po did an impression of Master Shifu. But when the master himself showed up in the middle of Po's impression, Viper immediately stopped laughing. She was shocked with all the others upon hearing Shifu's announcement of Oogway's passing and Tai Lung's breakout. Later that night, after Shifu outlawed Tigress' request to fight Tai Lung with the rest of the Five, Viper and the others followed Tigress out of the palace, joining her effort to find and stop Tai Lung.

After days of traveling, Viper and the others finally located Tai Lung on the Thread of Hope. A long battle ensues, each of the Five using their combined prowess to fight the snow leopard. Viper assisted by using her skills to fight Tai Lung, wrapping around him and performing her Self-Punching Technique, but was soon caught by the throat. Monkey arrived to save her, after which they all attacked together, sending Tai Lung to a great fall. But when it seemed like they had won, Tai Lung reappeared again and performed a nerve attack on four of the Five (Viper included) — only sparing Crane so he would be able to carry the rest of them back to the palace in means of a message.

Shifu and Po had just finished another day's worth of extensive training when they finally returned, Crane exhausted and the others paralyzed. The Five each told about their grieving experience and defeat, which placed doubt into Po when he realized that not even his idols, five kung fu masters, could stop Tai Lung. However, Shifu still believed he could defeat him if Po was given the Dragon Scroll, and they all went to the Hall of Warriors in the Jade Palace to retrieve it for Po. Shifu, Viper, and the other Five watched as Po opened the scroll, and Viper appeared just as confused as everyone when he said it was blank. Believing nothing else could be done, Shifu offered to stay behind to hold back Tai Lung while his students and the rest of the Valley escaped. Viper and the others shared a final respectful bow to their master, knowing it could be their last, as he could well lose his life to Tai Lung.

While Po went to find his father, Viper and the other Five assisted in evacuating the Valley. Viper was tasked with gathering the southern farmers, to which she did so before moving out with the others. They were all just about out of the Valley when a large golden gust pulsed and blew past them. The Five and the other villagers returned to investigate and found Po victorious in his battle with Tai Lung. Marveling at the panda's skill that enabled him to do what they could not, Tigress led Viper and the rest of the Five, as well as the villagers, in a respectful bow to Po as a kung fu master.

Kung Fu Panda TV Series
So far, Viper has appeared mainly as a background character for most of the show. However, she did play a larger role in "Ladies of the Shade" where she helped Po and Crane obtain an artifact back. Viper later had the lead role in the episode "Serpent's Tooth".

Kung Fu Panda 2
Viper and her friends were first seen in the Training Hall, staring in awe at Po as he performed the feat of stuffing as many bean buns in his mouth as he can fit. While the others cheer him on, Viper cringed in terror and actually fainted when Po succeeds in his stunt.

Viper was shown to be the most transparent in her feelings and the most openly compassionate. On the way to Gongmen City, she and her teammates overheard Po telling Tigress about his issues with his father, and she showed the most sympathy toward him. When the group hid inside a Chinese dragon costume and witnessed the wolves' brutal treatment of the city's residents, Viper's face was shown to be openly horrified.

Later, when the group was captured by Shen's wolves in a plan to get into the peacock's Tower, Viper used the end of her tail to pick the lock on Tigress' handcuffs. This allowed the rest of the group to be freed from their chains and to destroy the cannon in Shen's throne room. However, Po let Shen escape and they were all forced to flee the Tower when the peacock had the building destroyed. They went back to Gongmen Jail to hide, where they confronted Po about his failure to capture Shen. While her teammates were too afraid to stop Tigress from fighting with the panda, Viper tried to plead with her and warned Po to stay down when he was beaten. When Tigress made as though to attack Po, Viper called out for her to stop, only to watch in utter amazement as she hugged him instead.

Leaving the panda behind, the Furious Five set out to stop Shen's plans to conquer China without him. They decided to destroy his arsenal of cannons by blowing up the cannon foundry. However, Po unwittingly foiled the plan when he was spotted fighting with Shen inside the building. The group was forced to snuff out the explosives, and Shen's wolves were descend on them. As they fought, Viper told Tigress to go help Po while she and the others fought off the wolves. But Tigress was unable to reach him in time, and the Furious Five became Shen's captives again.

The night Shen set out to begin his invasion, Viper was chained up with her comrades on one of his many ships. The peacock planned to kill all of them when they reached the harbor, but to everyone's surprise Po appeared and came to their rescue. Once he freed them from their chains, the Five fought bravely against Shen's wolves. During the battle, Viper used a technique called "Puppet of Death", in which she used her snaky body to control the arms of an unconscious wolf while Tigress carried her.

They battled against Shen's army, and were soon joined by Master Shifu, who had arrived from the Valley of Peace, as well as Masters Ox and Croc. Viper and the other kung fu masters almost won, but were blasted into the Gongmen Harbor by Shen's cannon, leaving them all badly injured. Viper watched, along with everybody else, watched in shock as Po stood on an upturned boat in the middle of the harbor, and deflected all of Shen's cannonballs.

By the time Shen was killed, Viper was up on dry land along with the rest of the Five. And when Po emerged out of the water, Viper then jumps to hug Po, along with Mantis and Monkey. Viper then happily watched the fireworks along with all of her friends.

Kung Fu Panda 3
Viper's first appearance in the film is when Shifu announces his retirement as a kung fu teacher and hands over responsibilities to Po. This turns out to be very bad for the Five, who sustain numerous injuries thanks to a combination of Po's horrible teaching and the newly upgraded Training Hall; Viper is struck by Crane whilst navigating the Seven Talon Rings and is left wrapped around one of the wooden croc training dummies, though she still manages to gasp out words of encouragement to Po. When Kai later attacks the Jade Palace, Viper is forced to face Crane and Mantis, who have been turned into Jade Zombies by the yak. Unable to fight her friends, Viper is captured along with Monkey and Shifu and her chi is absorbed. Now transformed into a Jade Zombie, Viper is used to attack the Panda Village but is freed from Kai's control when Po destroys him in the Spirit Realm. She and the others then watch as Po returns as Master of Chi and bearing another gift from Oogway, the Yin-Yang staff.

Video Games
Viper is a playable character in the following video games:
 * Kung Fu Panda
 * Kung Fu Panda 2
 * Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of Legendary Legends (non playable)

Her father

 * “No one beats up my daddy!”
 * —Young Viper to gorilla assailant, Secrets of the Furious Five

When Viper was born, Great Master Viper was relieved to finally have a child to continue his legacy as a warrior, but was taken aback to see Viper was born without venomous fangs, believing she could not become a warrior without them. This made the old master unhappy, and as Viper grew, she strove to please her father and make him smile with her ribbon dancing, and though this made him smile somewhat, it did not ease his discontent.

However, when a gorilla challenged him and shattered his poisonous fangs with his armor, Viper immediately raced to his rescue and used her swift ribbon dancing skills to defeat the gorilla. Viper's father was in awe at her ability to fight without the use of poisonous fangs, and he accepted her as she was, proud of his daughter's skill and moved by her courage.

As Viper continued to ply her craft as a ribbon-dancer, before eventually being recruited by Tigress to join the Jade Palace. Viper was happy and told her father that she would make him proud. Her father gave her his blessing by saying he was always proud of her.

Her mother
Though Viper's mother was also concerned that her daughter was born without fangs, she seemed less displeased than her husband. When Viper was too timid to attend the Moon Festival, her mother stayed at her side to comfort her, and called her back when the young snake left after hearing her father was in danger. It is assumed that she, like her husband, became more confident in Viper after she defeated the bandit and rescued her father.

Her sisters

 * “Ah, I used to love cooking with my sisters...”
 * —Viper reflecting on her family's holiday traditions, Kung Fu Panda Holiday

In Kung Fu Panda Holiday, Viper mentioned how she used to love cooking with her sisters during the holidays, indicating that she enjoyed spending time with them. Since she was the first-born of her parents, it is likely that they are younger siblings.

The Furious Five
Viper is more or less the "mother hen" of the group. With her warm and understanding personality, she often acts out as peace-bringer between the diversely different personalities of the Five. She bears a great deal of respect and trust for them all; however, she occasionally displays discomfort at the rude or less-cooperative behavior of her friends, and was shown to be more sympathetic toward Po while the rest of the Five were harsher and mocked him.

Shifu
Like the rest of the Five, Viper greatly respects Shifu as her master and is an obedient student. In the first film, she and the rest of the Five were often met with stern demands and criticisms by the master, such as his pointing out to Viper about her failure with "subtlety". However, Shifu did entrust her and the others to evacuate the Valley of Peace, saying he was proud of them, and has since become less harsh with the Five.

Po

 * Viper: “Are you ready?”
 * Po: “I was born rea--”
 * [She begins attacking Po, to which he is left on the ground.]
 * Viper: “I'm sorry, brother! I thought you said were ready!”
 * Po: “That was awesome! Let's go again!”
 * —While sparring in the training courtyard, Kung Fu Panda

Unlike the rest of the Five, who felt disdain for Po or made fun of him after he was chosen as Dragon Warrior, Viper quickly felt empathy for him, believing him to be just a victim of bad luck. Like the rest of them, however, she also didn't believe he was the true Dragon Warrior, but became impressed by Po's struggling determination in his training, and later in his sense of humor and great cooking skills, and like most of the other Five, she took a liking to him. Since the original movie, she now respects him as the Dragon Warrior as well as a comrade and a friend.

She also cares greatly about Po's well being, shown in the first film when she worries that he's "just going to get himself killed", and in the sequel, when she was worried that Po was injured after the Boss Wolf hit him.

In the tv series, while their relationship is not greatly explored she does get along with Po. She seems to get the least annoyed with him and out of all the Furious Five, goes to her for advice (along with Mantis). This was shown in "Present Tense" where he asked for her opinion on what to get his father. She seems to take on a motherly, sisterly role for Po and he seems to see her as a reliable trustworthy person. She in turn cares for Po a great deal but tends to get exasperated at his ability to get distracted and can get annoyed with him, especially when he makes an annoying remark as shown by his remark that there were no women at the Jade Palace in "Ladies of the Shade" showing he didn't consider Tigress or her ladies, when he said how women were annoying in Love Stings she slapped him after giving him advice on how to deal with his father's new girlfriend, and in Serpent's Tooth where she threw him in the air after the number of unintentionally insensitive remarks about snakes he made.

The gorilla bandit

 * “My deceptive dancing defies your poison-proof armor!”
 * —Young Viper, Secrets of the Furious Five

Upon their encounter, the gorilla bandit mocked Viper for her small size and the fact that she carried a dancing ribbon. However, the threat to her father helped her find the courage to stand up to the bandit. Viper even began to mock him as his armor, which had thwarted her father, proved no obstacle to her.

Knownable Relatives

 * Viper's Mother
 * Viper's Father
 * Sisters

Trivia

 * In Kung Fu Panda, when Po mentions how all of the Five possess a unique and useful quality but him, he says "venom" in referral to Viper. But in Secrets of the Furious Five, it was revealed that she was never even born with fangs to inject any such venom. It now seems Viper has grown a pair of small, blunt fangs.
 * Though Viper was shown as a firstborn, only child in Secrets of the Furious Five, she mentioned in Kung Fu Panda Holiday that she has sisters who she loved to cook with during the Winter Feast.
 * The second film demonstrates that Viper has some experience in lock picking.
 * Viper's battle weakness is frontal attacks.
 * The Valley of Peace villagers named a well after Viper in honor of her heritage and her heroic efforts in saving the village.
 * For designing Viper, character artist Nicolas Marlet used Chinese poetry for the markings on Viper's skin.
 * Viper was the most difficult character to animate.
 * Viper has 120 bones along the length of her body.
 * Her voice actress Lucy Liu also voices Future Jade in Jackie Chan Adventures.

Voice Actresses
all information on Viper came from http://kungfupanda.wikia.com/wiki/Viper
 * Japanese : Megumi Furuya (First Film & Second Film), Romi Park (Third Film), Michiko Kaiden (TV Series)
 * English : Lucy Liu (all media)