10 Things You Didn't Knew About Toka
Toka is the snow leopard leader of the New Legend and Phoenix Warrior who protects the Valley of Peace and all of China alongside his teammates, Po, the Furious Five, and a bunch of other allies he made throughout his journey. While he might have played the role of protagonist throughout the whole New Legend Reboot Saga and went on a crazy adventure which saw him go from a scary feline kid to fulfill his destiny as the Phoenix Warrior, we didn't exactly saw everything there is to know about him, wether it's about little details about his personality or background infos that were not mentioned in the story. So let's count the 10 things you didn't knew about Toka:
#10: The origin of his name
"Toka" can sound like a slightly odd name for a Chinese character as you've probably never heard any Chinese (or even Asian people) going by that name at all (I think). The reason that made the author choose this name for his protagonist is that he though about calling him "Kota", but decided it sounded a bit cheesy. An idea then came into his mind: switching the k and t's places. He liked the sound of the name "Toka" as it was both original and sounded like the name of a strong guy like the one Toka ended up being.
#9: The real name of his Iron Fist technique
There are many details that were not explained before The New Legend Reboot ended. One of them being the origin of Toka's Iron Fist technique which he unlocked upon having his first fight with his teammates against a giant gorilla as a kid. Another cut scene was going to have Toka's father explain him that the Iron Fist is actually called the "Bǎohù Fist". Bǎohù in Chinese means: "To protect". It's a fitting name as Toka unlocked this technique because he wanted to stop the giant gorilla and protect everyone.
#8: He doesn't have very good artistic talents
Every New Legend member have his/her little special talent: Koji is a great musician; Suya is a champion at dancing; Alena is so good at painting that it became one of her demigoddess powers, and Neyo...well, he's got plenty of talents. Toka, however, doesn't have the same artistic sense as his companions. He can't draw to save his life, he sucks at painting (like in Kung Fu Academia when he accidentally destroyed Crane's equipment), and he's only good at dancing slows with a partner or when he's in his female form.
#7: He got his little...desires
While Toka focused the majority of his life to training in Kung Fu and spending time with his friends, he still has been a teenager like everyone. And with that came the time of puberty. The story never explored this side of the young snow leopard or it would have needed to change for a M rating. But what I can tell you here is that Toka has always kept books with pretty...daring drawings hidden underneath his bed. He made sure no one ever found them. However, one time, Tigress walked in while he was...alone with his books and let's just say it caused an awkward that they never talked about again.
#6: He prefers retro gaming
There hasn't been video game in the New Legend Reboot as it takes place in ancient China, but in TheDragonSaver's Kung Fu Academia story which takes place in a more modern setting, Toka is an avid gamer. However, unlike the others, he doesn't want to buy the newest generation of games and prefer searching for old classics. His favorite game is Ratchet: Deadlocked which he finished with Koji more than 10 times, but even then, they keep replaying it over and over again.
#5: His favorite meal
Food have always been a good theme of Kung Fu Panda and every character seems to specially enjoy Mr. Ping's Dumplings and noodles. Toka, however, while he too ADORE them, his favorite dish is actually a speciality of Master Yoshi. This dish is called Fire Noodles and is EXTREMELY spicy. Anyone who eats this food is better have a solid mouth or have a lot of water around. Believe it or not, but this infernal dish is actually Toka's favorite food. Though right?
#4: He almost ended up being like Tai Lung
Toka is pretty similar to Tai Lung in many ways - they are both muscled, grew up without knowing their parents, but most of all, they wanted power. the only difference is that Tai Lung wanted power to get a destiny he felt was his while Toka wanted power in order to be able to protect his friends. However, the irony of the story is that, had Toka never met koji and his future teammates and best friends, he could have ended with his heart filled with rage and hate against everyone. Eventually unlocking his Fire Chi and Iron Fist technique, he would have gone to cause chaos against those who made his life miserable. It's strange to think the New Legend Reboot's protagonist could have ended up being of the China's biggest criminals.
#3: For a few minutes, he became as strong as Master Oogway
The final battle of Toka against Lord Zhan Ju is one of the most iconic moments in the franchise. After the evil peacock took down literally all of China's strongest warriors, Toka took the power of all his friends and unlocked the second level of his Phoenix Warrior form. In this form, he reached new highs never achieved before as everything he learned and his unbreakable determination to save everyone gave him the biggest power someone could wish for. Though it was only for a few minutes, Toka became stronger than the creator of Kung Fu, Master Oogway, himself.
#2: He had a crush on Tigress
As of now, it's known that Toka's love belong to his beloved wife Alena, the first feline he met and also the very first person to ever understand him. However, while learning Kung Fu, he also learned more about the leader of the Furious Five and found her to be very similar to him in many ways. Upon joining the Jade Palace, Toka actually grew very close to her (as you probably don't remember, she took Toka under her wing because he reminded her of Tai Lung) and even went to develop secret feelings for her. However, it never came to light as Toka knew Tigress was a solitary person and that the only one who could really make her feel happy was Po. The Phoenix Warrior respected that and instead developed feelings for Alena, but never regretted it.
#1: He too will appear in "The Dynamic Adventure"
Just like Koji as mentioned in the other top 10 list, the author is planning on making Toka appear alongside his New Legend comrades in his Rio story "The Dynamic Adventure". though we still have to know which role he will play and if the New Legend Team will be formed in it.