Master Tigress

Tigress is the strongest and boldest of the Furious Five. She is noted to have the typical qualities of a hero: overachieving, brave, fearless, and willing to do anything to save the day. The one exception to her willingness, however, was to believe in Po, whom she thought was a joke. But even the strongest can be wrong, and Tigress learned that destiny sometimes arrives in unexpected ways. Since the events of the first film, she has been unwaveringly loyal to Po and what he represents as the Dragon Warrior. But underneath her stoic, iron-jawed exterior is a warm compassion that others seldom see.

She is generally friendly, but the least sociable of the Five, and can be very intimidating at times due to her incredibly serious and direct demeanor. In many scenes of the first film in which the other four of the Furious Five and/or Po were joking or having fun, Tigress would often remain quiet and withdrawn. At the time, it was strongly believed, by Shifu and herself, that Oogway was about to choose her as the Dragon Warrior before Po's entrance, despite Oogway's statements. As a result, Tigress bitterly resented Po for thwarting her dream, and was the most vocal of the Five in her contempt for the panda and his perceived lack of respect for kung fu, even while her comrades grew to respect him, due to perhaps still believing she was the Dragon Warrior. While rescuing Master Storming Ox and Master Croc from Gongmen Jail, Tigress was able to intimidate Master Croc without even trying to, demonstrated by Croc's visible nervousness and desire to return to his cell to get away from her, although Tigress was not displaying any signs of hostility.

When she was a young cub, Tigress had trouble controlling her violent temper. Shifu had helped teach her how to control this temper since then, but she still occasionally loses control. This is shown during the first film while she was telling Po about Shifu's past with Tai Lung and herself, as she had mistaken Po's sudden facial expression into thinking that he was making fun of her. She then reacted by pulling back her paw and unsheathing her claws, having every intention on striking him, but Mantis stopped her before she could do so while confessing that he accidentally hit his facial nerve with one of his acupuncture needles, to which she pulls back.

However, Tigress does possess a "soft side", particularly towards children in some instances. This is shown near the end of the first film where she politely helped some young villagers evacuate the Valley, and in Kung Fu Panda Holiday, where Tigress playfully helped to feed a young toddler piglet during the Winter Feast. Tigress appears to have sustained a more calm and content attitude since the events of the first film and in the holiday special, she is seen to behave in a kinder and friendlier way as demonstrated when she and the rest of the Five help Po with his difficulties in preparing for the Winter Feast. In the third film, she was initially confused and later tried to push Lei Lei away from her before eventually conceding and letting her climb on her shoulders.

However, in "Kung Fu Day Care", Tigress said she does not like children when a small child named Zan is taken for ransom by the Croc Bandits and takes a particular liking to her when he is saved by her and Po. She was assigned to be his guardian by Shifu for this reason, and was very reluctant to do so. In the end, once she remembered how she felt and what Shifu did for her as a child, she felt bittersweet when he went back home with his mother, and promised to visit him.

Master Tigress is one of the main supporting characters of the Kung Fu Panda franchise. She is a member of the Furious Five as well as one of Master Shifu's students at the Jade Palace. She is a master of the Tiger Style of kung fu.

Tigress first lived at the Bao Gu Orphanage as a cub, where she received help in controlling her strength and temper from Shifu, who later took her in as his student. Over the years, she trained under Shifu's strict instruction, developing into a powerful fighter and forming a stern personality. Eventually she became a member of the Furious Five along with Mantis, Viper, Monkey, and Crane. Of the Five, she was the most skeptical of Po's calling as the Dragon Warrior, but has since accepted his title. She now fights alongside Po as a loyal friend and ally.

Appearance Tigress is a beautiful, slender, south china tiger with yellow eyes and amber pupils. She wears a traditional red Chinese vest with golden vine patterns and black trim, held together with small metal fasteners and a waist wrap. She also wears black silk pants and black sandals with soles designed to resemble paw pads.

Tigress' outfit has also included her having sleeves in non-canonical appearances, such as in early concept art and during a 2D-animated appearance at the end credits of the first film.

In Kung Fu Panda Holiday (During the Winter Feast dinner at the Jade Palace and later at the noodle shop), Tigress and the other members of the Furious Five each wear an outfit similar to their normal attire, but with colors that match the colors of the holiday. Tigress wears a silver vest with red vine patterns, a red Shaolin waist wrap, and dark brown silk pants as opposed to her usual black. Tigress also briefly wears a headdress similar to some of the other masters at the table during the Palace dinner.

In Kung Fu Panda 3, Tigress wears a long-sleeved yellow garment with red vine patterns, similar to the designs on her red vest.