Wuya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wuya | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
Wuya is a fictional character on the animated television series Xiaolin Showdown. Wuya serves as one of the show's main antagonists and is one of the show's two recurring female characters. She is voiced by Susan Silo.
Contents |
[edit] Character history
As explained in the first episode, Wuya was a powerful and evil witch 1500 years before the current Xiaolin team was formed. She was defeated by the Xiaolin monk, which at the time was Dashi, Master Monk Guan, and Chase Young. Grand Master Dashi then trapped Wuya in a small puzzle box and transformed her into spirit form. 1500 years to the present, after receiving the puzzle box from his father, Jack Spicer solved and opened her magical prison, therefore releasing Wuya albeit remaining in spirit form.
Intangible and unable to do touch anything in her current condition, she needed someone to do the job of collecting the magical Shen Gong Wu for her, so Wuya promptly joined Jack and served as his mentor. After many repetitive failures, Wuya grew increasingly irate at his buffoonish attempts in defeating the Xiaolin Warriors and claiming the magical Shen Gong Wu, she replaced him upon finding the Heart of Jong, which was used to form the unstoppable demon warrior Mala Mala Jong.
Upon Jong's defeat, Wuya tried to return to Jack. However, Jack, spiteful, turned down her offer. Wuya then attempted to recruit the frustrated and impatient Raimundo, promising him fame and fortune. Taking her up on her offer, Raimundo returned her to human form.
It was in this form that she managed to take over the world. Unfortunately for Wuya, Raimundo's fickleness cost her the victory. He ultimately betrayed her, returning her to ghostly form.
Since then Wuya has gone back to Jack, turned Raimundo into a giant Shen Gong Wu monster and possessed him, sided with the new villain, Chase Young, returned to her human form (albeit without her original powers), teamed up with Hannibal Roy Bean (another new villain) and used Jack Spicer and Cyclops as henchmen at times.
[edit] Character personality
Wuya combines the wickedness of a witch with the conniving mind of a mastermind criminal. She knows how to get what she wants (going as far as feigning a romantic interest in her fellow cohort, Chase Young) and seems almost willing to ally herself with anyone including angsty teenagers and talking legumes to retrieve the mystical Shen-Gong-Wu.
[edit] Relationships
Wuya seems to serve as a sort of mother figure to Jack Spicer. Despite her constant annoyance with the evil boy genius, she has shown fleeting moments of affection for him. She also seemed to act like a devil-conscience, or big sister to Raimundo while they were allied (it is interesting to note that this relationship is never specifically mentioned after Citadel of Doom.). She banters with the dragon (Dojo) at times, though generally seems to disregard his existence. She seems to have a sort of mutual respect with the ancient monk Dashi who imprisoned her, and she briefly comments that he was "a fool...smart dresser... but a fool." (implying a more personal relationship). She does not seem to regard any of the other monks in any way, (though Kimiko appears to think of her as a rival). Wuya also served as a type of roommate and gun moll to Chase Young who both live together in Chase's citadel. Many rumors have been said to a relationship between Wuya and Chase, but evidence of this is interpretation at best. Chase has even once referred to Wuya as his housekeeper.
[edit] Appearance
In human form, Wuya bears a striking resemblance to her voice actress Susan Silo, mainly her auburn hair and mannerisms. She also resembles a crow (her fanning hair loosely resembles wings), which is what her name translates to. Wuya is very vampish in appearance and has some very animalistic features, including large claw-like hands, fang-like teeth, and pointed ears. While in the first episode, Wuya was seen with purple hair; in all of her later appearances, Wuya has red hair.
Wuya in her human form generally wears a short black dress with a purple outline. Briefly, in "Days Past," Wuya wore the outfit of Penelope Pitstop, a ditzy female cartoon character from the 60's who drove a red sports car, just like the one Wuya created for Raimundo. In "Treasure of the Blind Swordsman" Wuya wore a flairy black cowgirl outfit and hat. In Raimundo's dream sequence in "The Dream Stalker," she was wearing a pink kimono almost identical to the one Kimiko had been wearing before her appearance. The 'Good Wuya' featured in The Life and Times of Hannibal Roy Bean wears a white dress instead of a black one, and in Time after Time for a brief moment she is seen chained to a wall, dressed as a cheerleader.
Wuya's ghost form looks very similar to an octopus; a disembodied floating head with many tentacles that resemble hair. She also is constantly masked in this form. She flashes and sparks when a Shen Gong Wu is located or when she is emotional. She is also able to read minds in this form by entering her target's ear.
In "The Journey of a Thousand Miles" Wuya's ghost-form is slightly different from the way it appears during the rest of the series. For one thing, her mask cannot move while in later appearance it seems to move and animate like a face would. She is also significantly larger. Wuya is commonly referred to as an old hag due to her age and appearance as a spirit. While still referred to as a hag, in her human form Wuya is actually youthful and very attractive. It is uncertain how she has managed to avoid aging. However, because she has not physically aged a day in the episode Time After Time (which takes place 80 years into the future) it can be assumed that she is essentially immortal.
[edit] Voice
Susan Silo has done the voice of Wuya for the character's entire existence. While in her spirit form, Susan Silo uses a deeper more raspy voice along with an echo effect to make the character seem more frightening. However, in human form, Susan uses a much more sensual and alluring voice to make the character appear more stimulating.
[edit] Name translation
Wuya's name translates into Crow, which matches her personality and character design quite well.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Wuya has several forms, each of them with different levels of power. Her original ghost form can pass through anything, and while intangible, can still somehow smell, be blown away, and be splashed by water (although this is largely for comedic effect). Her ghost form can detect when Shen Gong Wu have been activated, can create extensive illusions and can enter people's minds to read them. In the episode The Last Temptation of Raimundo, through circumstances in the episode, Wuya was able to possess Raimundo's body. It is unknown if she can do this outside of the terms established in that particular episode, but it is presumed that she cannot. Her human form normally has many abilities, she is largely invulnerable and can cast green energy bolts. She is also able to summon large pillars of stone, including giant rock monsters. Her current form no longer has these powers. Instead, she has super-strength, super-speed, and she is capable of transforming her kisses into energy projectiles.
Arguably, Wuya's greatest power however, is her "female willies," (as Omi refers to them). It is through her own guile that she convinced many of her allies to join her (namely Chase Young and Raimundo). She also uses these 'abilities' to lull enemies into a false sense of security (Clay in "The Life and Times of Hannibal Roy Bean"), or cause them to become enraged and careless. (Kimiko in the same episode).
In the episode "Time After Time," Wuya has vastly different powers and potential from what has been seen before. The fully-powered Wuya seen at the beginning of the episode appears to no longer be able to fly, and cannot fire the energy projectiles that were seen in "Citadel of Doom." Whereas the Wuya seen later in the episode is far more powerful than she had been for the rest of Season 3. These powers include flight, the ability to bring statues to life and immense strength. It is likely that these powers were a result of the alternate timeline. In which Guan restored her to physical form, as opposed to Chase Young.
