| “ | At last, my destiny approaches. I'll expand my rule from Juniper City to every city in town and village. From here to the Valley of Peace and beyond! They will all know the name of... The Chameleon! | „ |
| ~ The Chameleon saying that people will remember her, despite being extremely forgettable. |
The Chameleon is the main antagonist of DreamWorks' 46th full-length animated feature film, Kung Fu Panda 4, the fourth installment in the Kung Fu Panda film series.
She is a mysterious shapeshifter who sought to steal the powers of other villains in order to destroy kung fu schools across China.
She is voiced by Viola Davis.
What Makes Her a Scrappy?[]
- Due to the director's decision to deny the Chameleon a backstory, she lacks any kind of motivation. What's worse is that Kung Fu Panda is a franchise known for compelling villains.
- What little backstory she was given, being that she was rejected from Kung Fu schools due to her size, was heavily criticized, as there were numerous Kung Fu masters established in the franchise prior that were smaller than Chameleon (such as the obvious in Mantis and Viper). This backstory also falls "short" at making her sympathetic, which was presumably the idea.
- While it was explained that not all Kung Fu schools were accepting of smaller animals, it did little to salvage the Chameleon's origin.
- To make this worse, Kai (who despite being less sympathetic than Tai Lung and Lord Shen) had a more interesting backstory, as well as a more valid and understandable reason to feel betrayed by Oogway.
- She doesn't have any personality other than being evil, hating Kung Fu and being a Lord Shen-wannabe. Thus, fans saw her as the flattest, and easily weakest villain in the quadrilogy.
- She doesn't do anything remotely intimidating or evil in the film. Before the third act, the worst she does is push an unnamed thug down a few stairs without even killing him. This is nowhere in comparison to what the other villains showed they were capable of; Tai Lung with how he nearly destroyed the village in a fit of rage and his prison escape, Shen with his near success of genocide against the pandas, and Kai with how he was able to collect almost every kung fu master into his army of Jombies. While Chameleon does come off as a threat during the climax, the fact her only villainous act beforehand is pushing a guy down a flight of stairs really undermines her threatening presence, even with her ability to shapeshift.
- Many fans found her to be an extreme waste of a character. Not only is she made far more pathetic with what Tai Lung, Shen and Kai brought in the first three movies, but she barely even uses her shapeshifting abilities.
- She's overall one of the main reasons Kung Fu Panda 4 is so divisive among fans.
Trivia[]
- The Chameleon was formerly on the Base Breaking Character wiki until it was discussed and agreed upon that her detractors far outweigh her defenders.
External Links[]
- The Chameleon on the Villains Wiki
- The Chameleon on the Near Pure Evil Wiki
- The Chameleon on the Kung Fu Panda Wiki
- The Chameleon on the DreamWorks Wiki
[]
 Scrappies
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