I know I'm a bit late, but it's Kung Fu Panda's 10th anniversary! YAHOO! I'm feeling so old; it feels like it was yesterday that I went to see this awesome piece of animation after waiting months to see it and leaving the theater happier than ever.
But back to the main topic, as you know, The New Legend Reboot is over, but my love for the KFP franchise will never be. And so, I decided to create this new story to make top 10 or 5 lists about a variety of things. And we're gonna start with this one:
Top 10 Things You Didn't Knew About Koji
Since the New Legend Reboot started, the character who stood out the most is easily the New Legend's underdog, Koji. Not only because he is an abnormal big beetle (let's be honest, have you ever seen a similar character on the KFP fandom before?), but also because he is Samoan, have a big love for music and dance, as much as for Kung Fu, and because he has a funny personality. And today, we're here to count down 10 interesting facts about him. So without any further due, let's count down the top 10 things you (probably) didn't knew about your favorite beetle:
#10: The meaning of his face paint
Koji's signature purple face paint has actually a meaning behind it. The author took inspiration from real life professional wrestling tag team The Usos who wear similar face paint for the purpose of being able to distinguish one from another. Since the beetles in Koji's tribe are all similar, it's possible that he wears it for the same reason.
#9: His name and character arcs were different in the original script
Believe it or not, but in the first script of what would become The New Legend Reboot, Koji was actually going to be named Alex, as a reference to the author, and his story arc was going to include a rivalry and later friendship with Lord Shen along with a love story with Viper. However, the author decided that "Alex" didn't really fit in a Asian influenced world and also chose to change his love story from Viper to Suya. He instead opted to make him a Samoan.
#8: He's very inspired by some manga characters
It's no secret that the author is a huge manga/anime fans and likes to include elements from his favorite Japanese cartoons in his Fanfiction work. Koji in particular has been pretty well influenced. For example, his never giving up mantra has been influenced by Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee of the Naruto franchise. The reason being that the author really liked those two characters as a kid and took inspiration for them to create his own underdog hero. He didn't wanted Koji to be a simple side character who served as a comic relief and jumped into action from time to time which is why he gave him his very own story and life goal. Also to note, his whole half-demon powers are inspired by Bleach's Ichigo Kurosaki. Apparently, the author liked Ichigo's Hollow powers, but was disappointed they were used only a few times. To compensate this empty, he took inspiration from them to create Koji's Cong Wo form.
#7: His Bairen Zhengyi sword is inspired by a toy
Believe it or not, but Koji's trademark demon sword is based on a toy the author owned as a kid. Its design was entirely inspired by this toy. The author no longer have it, but decided to honor its memory by giving it to his favorite little beetle.
#6: He has yet to defeat Crane
Koji and Master Crane are good friends by now, having fought side-by-side more times than I can count. However, they fought against each other three times and, believe it or not, but Koji never managed to take the Crane Style Master down. the first time they fought was during the Furious Five vs New Legend sparring match during which Koji putted on a good fight but was ultimately outmatched by Crane's aerial skills. He had no choice but to send the two of them crashing down. While he did took down Crane, he also knocked himself out of the match. Therefore, it wasn't a victory, but a draw. The second time was during the entry tournament in TheDragonSaver's "Kung Fu Academia". He once again putted on a good fight but was ultimately blasted out of the fighting zone by Crane's Wings Of Justice. And the third time is non-canon as it was during a roleplay the author had with a friend. Crane made Koji give up by twisting his foot in a painful submission hold. So it's two defeats and one draw for Koji against Master Crane.
#5 He created his very own fighting style and has a second one in his arsenal
Koji's trademark Samoan Fist style is a creation of his own. It's no secret that the young beetle was far from being a prodigy like his comrades, back in his days in Master Yoshi's dojo. Being unable to learn any of the known Kung Fu styles, Koji instead opted to mix the martial art with the other thing he knew the most: dancing. Another little known fact is that he also knows the Sumo fighting style, but rarely use it as it isn't as useful as the Samoan Fist.
#4: He has three beings living inside him
Kung Fu Panda is no stranger to the theme of having a big power sleeping inside its characters. however, in Koji's case, it includes three mystical beings. the first one is Cong Wo, the demon who gives him his Half-Demon Chi. the second is Atrocious, the demon of hate which only comes out when Koji enters in a state of pure rage and hate. And finally, the third one is his mother who give him the mystical power of the Mother-Son Bond.
#3: He can use the Drunken Fist Style
For those of you who don't know, the Drunken Fist is a style of Kung Fu which requires to fight in a drunken state. Koji can use this style. the author planned to write a scene where Koji would face Tai Lung and drink a bottle of sake to enter into Drunken Fist mode. He would then completely dominate and lampoon Tai Lung with funny moves.
#2: He's gonna appear in "The Dynamic Adventure"
"The Dynamic Adventure" is another one of the author's stories and his most successful one so far. Debuting last February, it's a Rio fanfic which sees Blu eating a special fruit that gives him powers and go on adventures with his other naturally gifted friends. What makes this story so special is that while it is a Rio story, Blu and his friends travel oversea to other worlds from other animated movies. So far, they went into the Legend Of The Guardians: the Owls Of Ga'Hoole's world (one of the author's favorite movies). And believe it or not, but he's also planning a trip to the Kung Fu Panda world. And so, Blu and his friends are gonna meet Koji as well as his New Legend comrades.
#1: His creation story
The story behind Koji's creation is a rather odd one. See, after seeing the first Kung Fu Panda movie, 10 years ago, the author started making dreams of himself at the side of his favorite animated movie characters as a ladybug with two small legs and six arms. What's funny is that he was getting called Beetle despite not being a beetle. The author used this character to play as with his friends, but as time passed by, he stopped making these dreams. However, many years later, after discovering Fanfiction and getting on the KFP fandom, the author finally got his chance to bring his dream character to life. The rest is history and Beetle the ladybug ended up being Koji, the beetle we all know and love.
Did you like it? Was this list filled with details that surprised you? Lemme know in the reviews and also don't hesitate to tell me if there's another top 5 or 10 (or even 15) list like this one you'd like me to do.
And again, happy 10th anniversary, KFP :)