Kung Fu Panda is one of the best animated franchises that captivated the interest of audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The intriguing idea of talking animals giving their best to learn the art of Kung Fu made it more exciting. With the franchise centered around the protagonist Po Ping, a giant panda who went through several tribulations to learn lessons that inspired many, it surely gained a special place in fans’ hearts.
While the idea of talking animals clinched our attention, the franchise never explained the lack of humans. However, a psychotic fan theory reveals the existence of humans in an animal-dominated society.
Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness Hinted at Human Existence!
Given that the Kung Fu Panda universe has also every possible animal existing, many might wonder why humans are the only kind missing from the world. However, a Reddit user shared their insights on the lack of humans in this universe with an intriguing possibility that humankind was once present in the animal-dominated franchise. As per the user, the answer lies in an episode of Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.
As the series revolves around our protagonist, Po, who learns more about Kung Fu’s history amid other of his adventures, one particular episode, Ghost of Oogway, indirectly connects with how humans exist in the universe.
The user shared,
“In this episode, Junjie, an enemy of the Jade Palace, disguises himself as the dead master Oogway to trick Po into lowering his defenses through laziness. This is revealed to be a trick, of course, to gain power.”
The user added,
“Shifu (disguised as Oogway) uses his shell to beat up Junjie for a short period of time. Junjie, in the form of Oogway, also is shown to be rather slow in his speech and some of his motor skills, like the tortoise was in his living days.”
Given that the characters were aware of the ability to shapeshift, Oogway’s mannerisms were identical to a real tortoise which as the user indicates “not only does the shapeshift effect allow the performer to APPEAR like another animal, it also allows one to ACT like another animal in question.”
This shape-shifting technique also led the user to explain the possibility of humans in the Kung Fu Panda (KFP) world. This special technique led to a hypothetical unseen event, where humans shapeshifted themselves into animals.
A Reddit Theory Shed Light on Human Existence in Kung Fu Panda Universe!
The user proposed a farfetched theory of the past in which Kung Fu masters from across China in the KFP universe were actually humans. To validate their theory, they explained how this universe has quite a few primates like apes and monkeys stating,
“So the idea that there may be (or have been) human beings walking around isn’t exactly that farfetched.”
They further added,
“Since the Land of China lives and breathes kung fu, we can assume that in order to augment their skills into fighting styles, the kung fu masters used this kung fu move to shapeshift into the variety of animals we see in the show. This unseen event (which I call the ‘Mass Zooification’) not only explains the lack of humans, but it also explains why everyone else is an animal.”
Since it has already been explained earlier that shapeshifting causes one to adapt their mannerisms like another being in question, the user added how the masters who shapeshifted to animals bred to “produce offspring of other animals.”
Since the kung fu masters knew of this ability to shapeshift, it might be possible that the wives of Kung Fu masters were knowledgeable of shapeshifting moves as well.
“This explains the lack of humans in the land of China, and why the in-universe animal characters gained human sentience. The theory also reveals the reason as to why certain characters have mustaches, beards, and other human-like features. Because they could’ve been humans, if it weren’t for their ancestors.”
Given that women in the series were proficient at magic and Kung Fu, this possibility might not be completely impossible. However, it only explains the lack of humans in China.
