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Panda is one of the more recognizable fighters in the Tekken fighting video games. Because she’s a panda.

Specifically, a martial-arts-trained panda that acts as a bodyguard to a high-school martial artist. Sure, if it’s something a bit different that you’re after, then look no further.

She also has an odd contentious relationship with an attack bear that’s been making romantic advances on her with all the grace and dignity of a creepy stalker.

Well she’s a martial arts trained panda.

She seems to exhibit human level intelligence. Panda is extremely empathetic, and has a strong bond with her owner Líng Xiǎoyǔ.

This isn’t unheard of. The bear Kuma also has human-level intelligence – though he’s dafter than Panda. Panda and Kuma can communicate through growls, but humans cannot understand them.

(However, Panda’s growls are often subtitled in the games’ narrative sequences).

Panda somehow understands Japanese, Cantonese Chinese, English, and perhaps others.

In the video games, she’s a slow and powerful character. She has a wide array of punches, but is best played defensively given her poor speed. Panda hits like a… a panda.

She can also dance fairly.

Panda reportedly knows how to plant and maintain flower beds.

Líng Xiǎoyǔ, a Hong Kong teenager with an obsession for theme parks, snuck aboard Mishima Heihachi’s yacht. She sought to confront the world-beating billionaire to demand that he build her her own theme park.

The young stowaway was soon discovered. But, being a world-class martial artist, she mopped the floor with Heihachi’s guards.

Heihachi, not exactly known for being warm and cuddly, couldn’t stop laughing when Xiǎoyǔ made her demands. He told her that he would build her a park if she won the next Tekken Tournament.

Impressed by her skills, Heihachi also became her legal guardian in Japan.

He helped her train, along with his grandson Jin Kazama. And since the tournament would be so dangerous, Heihachi assigned the sapientCapable of intelligent reasoning.  bear Panda as Xiǎoyǔ’s bodyguard.

Heihachi also had a sentient bear companion, Kuma II. Kuma was smitten by Panda. But she continually spurned his advances as she had no romantic interest in him.

Kuma and Xiǎoyǔ both participated in the third King of the Iron Fist (no relation) Tournament.

Being lower-tiered characters, they didn’t have much of an impact on the main storyline. They both likely washed out within the first few rounds.

Both Xiǎoyǔ and her pet Panda went back to school as if nothing had happened. But the girl soon grew bored. Furthermore, she kept wondering what had happened to her missing adoptive brother Jin.

Like Jin, Kuma II had gone missing at the end of the tournament. This perplexed Panda.

When the fourth Tekken Tournament was announced, Xiǎoyǔ was warned about Heihachi’s sinister intent by a mysterious e-mail. She thought that Jin was its secret sender.

This led the girl to attend the Tournament for answers. Caring for her human, Panda again joined as her bodyguard.

Once again, the pair didn’t have a major impact on the main storyline. Nor did they find answers.

Panda searched for Jin Kazama for Xiǎoyǔ’s sake, but that didn’t work either.

Joining the fifth Tournament also was a wash.

But during the sixth, they made a little progress for a change. They established that both Heihachi and Kuma were still alive.

This might mean that they didn’t wash out nearly as early in the competition as they did in the previous ones.

The latest instalment of this game was less of a tournament, and more of a series of events.

Xiǎoyǔ sneaked into a highly secure Mishima facility, looking for Jin. But she didn’t come back. Panda came looking, and somehow made the staff understand that she was looking for Xiǎoyǔ.

The bear was hurriedly ushered within a building. However, much to her anger, she was brought face to face with Paul Phoenix. This martial arts champion was known for a long rivalry with Kuma.

What happened next remains unrevealed. Though it seems unlikely that Panda could beat Phoenix.

Panda is well, a giant panda

In her early appearances, she was known for wearing glowing bracelets similar to Xiǎoyǔ’s. In later games, she occasionally sports feminine accessories such as a sash, a purse, or a pink hat.

In some games, Panda can have outfits similar to Líng-chan’s. These includes a school girl uniform, and a traditional Chinese dress. Both look just plain ridiculous on a towering, 440+ pound panda.

Panda is kind and extremely empathetic.

However, she often cannot fully grasp the full situation around her. For instance, she just joins Tekken Tournament because Xiǎoyǔ needs her there. Panda’s happy as long as the girl’s safe and satisfied.

She seems to have zero romantic interest in Kuma, her would-be suitor. But many of her endings note that she occasionally thinks of him, perhaps as a friend or an embarrassmentThe name for a group of pandas, somehow.  member.

This might, possibly, reference pandas being in danger of going extinct as they have little apparent desire to copulate. They just lounge around eating bamboo all day, and wait for humans to fawn all over them. Bah!