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timewandererus · 11 months

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Never trust a demon

Especially if they’re from Jackie Chan Adventures

In Season One, Valmont provides the statuesque Shendu with all twelve of his talismans (which Jackie Chan stole at Valmont’s behest) and thus frees him from his petrification. Once free however, Shendu reneges on their previously agreement and refuses to provide Valmont with the lost treasure of Ching Xi Hung.

“Regrettably, Valmont, you did not provide me with the talismans. Jackie Chan did.”

Shendu justifies this reneger through a minor technicality that has no validity-that it was Jackie that obtained the talismans and not Valmont’s men. A ludicrous distinction, seeing as Chan was in Valmont’s employ at the time and was acting as his agent as much as Finn, Ratso or Chow were. This is clearly a pretext to refuse Valmont his rightful reward, indicating that Shendu never planned to give Valmont a single coin. Incidentally, by doing this, Shendu has much in common with another fictional dragon, who’s name shall not be mentioned here.

This first act of betrayal sets the tone for the dishonouring of demonic promises in the series. Ironically enough, the next person to suffer from the reneger of a demonic promise is Shendu himself.

After being destroyed by Jade Chan and being consigned to the Netherworld as a spirit, Shendu is at the mercy of his vengeful siblings. He only manages to forestall their wrath by promising to free them from their prison. While the seven siblings agree, they devise a contingency which traps Shendu within the first mortal he possesses, promising to free him only after he opens all seven of their portals.

Fast forward to several months later, when Shendu and his minions open the seventh and final demon portal in Rome. Only to be flatly denied his release by his sister, despite the previous agreement.

Po Kong, Xiao Fung, Tchang Zu, Dai Gui, His Wu, Tso Lan and finally Bai Tsa were all released from the Netherworld by the efforts of their disembodied brother. And every one of those demons, through no fault of Shendu’s, found themselves banished once more within hours or days of their release.

Po Kong never even managed to leave the courtyard where she was released, before the elder Chan’s spell sent her right back to the Netherworld. Xiao Fung never left the prison walls into which he was freed before being sent back to the void. Tchang Zu wreaked havoc in Hollywood for a couple hours before being cast back into his portal. Dai Gui rampaged around Spain for less than a day before being exiled once more. Hsi Wu was the exception to his siblings in that he was able to stay free for a couple days, before sharing their fates. Tso Lan spent perhaps an hour outside the Netherworld before being whisked back. Bai Tsa was the smartest of the lot and managed to outmaneuver the Chans twice, but eventually was also hunted down and banished again.

All these demons squandered their brief freedom by blundering around the mortal world, blind to any dangers that existed to them-namely Uncle Chan and his chi spells, overwhelmingly arrogant in their own power. By the time Bai Tsa emerged from her portal in Spain, the other six demon sorcerers had been freed by their brother and reimprisoned just as quickly.

All six demons were furious at the abbreviated nature of their short-lived freedom, but they had no one but themselves to blame for their return to the pit. Had they acted differently, found a stronghold to hide in and built up their knowledge and strength, they could have survived and prospered in the modern world. As it was, they blundered around, drunk on their own power and found that their strength and magic did nothing to prevent their banishment.

Having learned nothing from centuries of incarceration, the six re-imprisoned demons blamed others for their lack of freedom as did their yet-to be freed sister. Specifically, their brother, as if Shendu had anything to do with their renewed banishment.

Thus, when Bai Tsa was released and Shendu asked her to release the spell she and the others had placed upon him, he was met with a flat refusal. Just as Shendu had cited a ridiculous technicality to deny Valmont his due, Bai Tsa cited a similar one to deny Shendu his just reward.

“You dare request your freedom? Six demon sorcerers remain trapped in the void!”

Similar to Valmont’s claim, Shendu is completely in the right here. The agreement was that he would free all seven of his siblings. He did so, by using the Pan Ku box to open all of their portals, one by one. After releasing Bai Tsa, Shendu’s part of the bargain was complete. But, as the demons were seriously dissatisfied with the scant hours of freedom they had received, they chose to take their displeasure out on their brother by denying him what he wanted. After all, if they had to suffer imprisonment for eternity, so should he.

This is another prime example of demons dealing in bad faith. A refusal to honour a bargain after it has been struck and one party has fulfilled their obligation is a prime example of untrustworthiness and reneger.

Shendu’s reputation for this sort of dishonesty does not seem to spread among the supernatural community, as a year later, a dark chi wizard strikes up a new bargain with the still-disembodied Shendu.

Daolon Wong agrees to reincarnate Shendu in a new body on Earth, in exchange for the Dragon power which is currently adrift on the magical winds. Wong holds up his end of the bargain and reincarnates Shendu in a new body. But mere moments after Shendu opens his eyes and the Dragon power emerges, Wong finds himself thrown aside as Shendu claims this promised power for himself.

“While I may be a noble dragon, I am also a demon sorcerer and not known for keeping promises.”

Wong gets his revenge on Shendu by sharing a spell with the Chans that returns Shendu to stone mere hours after his rebirth. But this final betrayal proves, once and for all, that demons cannot be trusted to honour their words.

Shendu and Bai Tsa’s renegers have a veneer of justification on the basis of flimsy technicalities. But once Shendu is reborn, he does away with even this pretence and confirms outright what we’ve known all along. Demons cannot be trusted to honour their promises and will only ever do what is in their own best interest.

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