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The Talismans of Shendu: From Worst to Best
One of my favorite shows to watch on Kids WB in the early 2000s was Jackie Chan Adventures. I just loved watching Jackie, his adorable yet feisty niece Jade, his wise yet crotchety chi wizard uncle, and many of the allies going up against the most dangerous of foes, both human and nonhuman. But one of the most powerful foes that Jackie and Company have faced is obviously the Demon Sorcerer of Fire, Shendu. Shendu was one of eight powerful demon sorcerers, that's threatened to take over the world in the past. But Shendu was easily the strongest out of all of them, wielding powers that mere mortals only wish they could possess. But that was until a powerful Chi wizard came along and defeated Shendu, not only turning him to Stone, but also channeling his powers that into 12 magical talismans, each one bearing one of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. And each Talisman can bestow those who possess them one of the powers that Shendu once revealed.
Now some of the powers that each of the talismans can grant are pretty awesome, while others can be pretty lame or not very favorable in certain situations. And that's why I'm going to talk about today. I'm going to rank each of the 12 talismans based on how cool their powers are, as well as how useful they would be in real life situations.
Now these are my own personal opinions, so if I talk about a certain talisman that you actually like or that you're not fond of, voice your opinion in the comments below. Now with all that out of the way, let's get it on!
12. Tiger - Dualism
Starting off, we have actually one of my favorites talisman's on the show, the tiger talisman. Originally, the talisman give its user spiritual balance, but due to suffering a crack in its debut episode, the tiger Talisman now separate the user's Yin from their yang. Or for those who don't speak Chinese, it separates a person's good side from the bad side. Now at first, it seems like a good Talisman to have. I mean, it essentially makes two of you, allowing you to literally be in two places at once! But considering separate your good side from your bad side, it might not be as useful as you thought. Say you're in a biker gang and you want to send your good side and your place while you attend your daughter's birthday, but said good side ends up ruining your tough-guy reputation, while your bad side ends up going your daughter's birthday. Or you decide to blow off your job and let your bad side take your place at work, only for you to get fired. But it's not entirely useless, as it did once helped Jackie & co. save their friend, Captain Black, during the Oni Mask Arc. I'm not going to get into much detail on that incident to avoid spoilers, so I recommend checking the episode out yourself. But yeah, as much as I like the tiger talisman, I definitely don't see myself using it anytime soon.
11. Rat - Motion to the Motionless
Next we have the rat talisman, which grants Motion to the Motionless, or in layman's terms, it can bring any inanimate object to life. At first, just me seem like a useful talisman to have, being able to bring your favorite toys or a cardboard cutout of your favorite celebrity to life. Who wouldn't want that, right? But as movies like Small Soldiers and Night at the Museum have taught us, is that there are certain objects that should be sentient. For example, let's say you have a action figure or a giant figurine based off a villain or a monster from a movie or TV show. So the last thing you should do is give it a talsman they can bring in the oven object to life, especially ones that might kill you. So if you ever get your hands on the rat Talisman, make sure you don't accidentally tossed it into your kid's toy chest. You don't know what my call out of it.
10. Monkey - Shape Shifting
If you could be any animal in the world, what would it be? Would you want to be a lion? What about a snake? Maybe a bear? Well, then the monkey talisman is right up your alley! With this, you can be any animal you want to be. Late for school? You could be a falcon and fly your way to school. Stuck on a sinking ship? Give could transform yourself into a shark and swimming your friends to shore. Dropped something down on storage drain? You could transform into the talisman's namesake and use your brand style tails to grab it out of said drain. But this does have a few drawbacks. Depending on the animal, you could get in more trouble then you might think. Turn yourself into a dog, and you might get caught by the dog catcher. Turn yourself into a fly, and you'll have a shorter lifespan to deal with, provided you don't get swatted first. Turn yourself into a rhino and you're bound to be targeted by a poacher for your horn. Take my advice when I say: you're better off being a human.
9. Dog - Immortality
If you have a chance to live forever, would you take it? I know I wouldn't! As we seen in various movies, TV shows, video games and comics, immortality's not all it's cracked up to be! I mean, what's the point of living forever if you're going to outlive your friends and family. Thanks, but no thanks! I think I'll take mortality over immortality any day of the week!
8. Sheep - Astral Projection
Have you always wondered what it would be like to going to other dreams? Well, with the Sheep Talisman, you could do just that! This baby lets you create an astral projection of yourself, allowing you to fly through solid objects, but also visit other people's dreams. Not only that, but you could also grab a friend or two and use the sheep talisman to switch bodies with each other. There are a few hitches to this, unfortunately. For one, you have to make sure your body isn't out in the open when you do this. Otherwise, people might think you're dead, which means some people might try to steal your body. And don't try repossessing your body when other people are around, or else they might get freaked out when you suddenly "come back from the dead". Not only that, but if someone else is in possession of your body, you won't be able to repossess it yourself. But regardless, this is a pretty cool talisman. Just don't leave your body out in the open.
7. Snake - Invisibility
If there's one power that a lot of people would love to have, it's invisibility. I mean, who wouldn't want to walk among people unseen. I know I would. If you're invisible, you could sneak into places you wouldn't normally be allowed to go into. Like an abandoned building, your school at night time, the museum at the closing time. You could also pretend you are a ghost and try to scare the living daylights out of people. Of course, there are a few ways this could backfire. For starters, if you were to suddenly drop the snake talisman, you would end up being visible again, which would be bad if you were in a place you weren't supposed to be in the first place. Not only that, but if someone was aware of you being invisible, they would have tried to reveal your whereabouts, either by dumping something on you like flour or paint Mike, have you step in flower or paint so you would leave footprints, or shine a spotlight on you so you would cast a shadow. After all, you may be invisible, but your Shadow isn't. Still, invisibility is a pretty cool Power. Just make sure you're aware of your surroundings and you won't give away your position.
6. Rooster - Levitation
Have you ever faced a task that required a bit too much lifting? Rather than lifting something with your body, you could lift it using the levitating powers of the rooster talisman. Just take the towels man, focus on the item you wish to levitate, and put it anywhere you want. You can even levitate yourself, allowing yourself to float anywhere. You could also levitate other people, with their permission, of course. The downside is is that the heavier the object or person that you're trying to levitate, the harder it will be to levitate them. Still, this would be a handy tool to use when it comes to clean up. Just don't overexert yourself.
5. Rabbit - Super Speed
Another Power that I know a lot of us would love to have is super speed. I mean, who wouldn't want to run at supersonic speed? You would never be late for school or work, cleaning up your room would be a breeze, and of course, you can race to someone's rescue. The downside is that if you're not careful and don't look where you're going, you might crash into something. And crashing into something as supersonic speeds would probably hurt like heck! Not only that, but it would be really hard to run on something slippery. So be aware of your surroundings, and you'll be able to leave people in the dust.
4. Ox - Super Strength
Here's yet another superpower I know a lot of people would love to have: super strange! I mean, who wouldn't want to have super strength? You would be able to lift items that would normally be too heavy for you to lift, you would be able to fight people you would normally be too weak to fight, and of course, you would be able to stay people using your impressive strength. Of course, since the strength comes from the talisman itself, if you were to lose the Talisman, you will lose your strength. So don't lose it, and your foes will feel your Wrath!
3. Pig - Heat Vision
Here's another iconic superpower a lot of people would love to have: heat vision! It's pretty self-explanatory. You literally shoot heat beams from your eyes! You can blast anything with them, be it food, trash, or things you are not interested in. Be careful though, you might seriously hurt someone if you don't aim right. Need to say is a pretty awesome Talisman to use. Just don't be zapping any trophies.
2. Dragon - Combustion
If you could control any element in the world, what would it be? For me, it would be fire! So that's why the dragon Talisman and its combustion power is right up my alley! With the dragon talisman's fiery combustion powers, you either cook food with it, burn trash with it, and even fight crime with it. But just like with the Pig talisman oh, you have to be careful or else you might help people with it. Like the old saying goes, play with fire, and you're going to get burned.
1. Horse - Healing
Now there might have been a bit of bias on my end, given how I was born in the Year of the Horse, but I think the best talisman in my opinion will have to be the horse talisman. The horse talisman is known as the Healer, because it has the ability to heal you or any one else of any injury or illness, regardless of how minor or major it might be. Whether it's a broken leg, a simple cold, a heart attack or an incurable disease, the horse Talisman can cure you of anything. And is not just people it can heal. It can also go objects, as Jackie and company have used it to save a sinking cruise ship once. So if you have a broken game console, torn bed sheet or ripped book, the horse talisman can definitely fix it. This is why the horse talisman is the best Talisman of them all!
And there you have it folks! All 12 talismans ranked from worst to best! So what do you guys think? Do you agree with my ranking or do you disagree? Which Talisman do you like the best? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time!
Benjanime Posted on May 10, 2021 at 11:37 PM
i really need to get into watching jackie chan adventures again, just as i was in my midway point of high school (around 2004) i kinda lost interest with the kids wb block and seemed to forget that the show was still going on, i forgot the majority of powers there were and i'm glad this article gave a refresher on that. very neat idea for a great early 2000s cartoon. i'm assuming that picture of the trix yogurt was unintentional unless you planned to mention your previous article in this one. either way, greatly written.
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