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"Ancient legend speaks of twelve talismans, one for each animal of the Chinese zodiac, each possessing a different magic." |
The Talismans are a powerful set of magical charms represented by the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Each Talisman possesses a different magic along with its own individual power. They were originally created nine-hundred years ago when Lo Pei cast a powerful chi spell to defeat Shendu by extracting each of his magical powers into the form of twelve stone vessels whilst imprisoning the demon himself into the form of a stone statue. Reuniting all twelve with Shendu's statue form was the key to breaking him free. As such, Lo Pei resolved to scatter the Talismans to the four corners of the globe to ensure that "the ultimate evil" would never again rise to power. The hunt to retrieve them centuries later serves as the central story arc for Season 1 of Jackie Chan Adventures.
History[]
Ancient Times[]
Origin[]
Long before the Talismans themselves were created, their twelve magical powers each belonged to the legendary ancestors of the Noble Animals, the original twelve members of the Chinese zodiac from ancient times. Accordingly, each Talisman is depicted with an image of its rightful animal owner. At an unspecified point in history, all twelve of these powers were magically obtained by Shendu, the Demon Sorcerer of Fire. With the power of all twelve combined, Shendu was powerful enough to conquer China and rule over its people.
900 years ago[]
Creation of the Talismans[]
When Shendu was finally overthrown at the hands of his own subjects nine-hundred years before the turn of the third millennium, the Demon Sorcerer was challenged by Lo Pei, a Good Chi Wizard and Sacred Warrior of the Ling Dynasty. Through the Sacred Warrior's arcane mastery of Scroll Magic, Lo Pei cast a powerful chi spell to defeat Shendu by extracting each of his animal-derived powers into the form of twelve stone vessels, the Talismans, whilst imprisoning the demon himself into the form of a stone statue. Reuniting all twelve of these magical Talismans with Shendu's statue form was the key to breaking him free. As such, Lo Pei resolved to scatter them to the four corners of the globe to ensure that "the ultimate evil" would never again rise to power.
Modern Times[]
The Talisman Hunt[]
After nine centuries of imprisonment, Shendu successfully managed to forge an alliance with the Dark Hand, a powerful criminal syndicate headed by the equitably ruthless Valmont, enlisting their assistance in retrieving all twelve Talismans in exchange for the legendary Lost Treasure of Ching Xi Hung. When the first Talisman was unexpectedly discovered by Jackie Chan, however, Captain Black of Section 13 sought to employ Jackie's archaeological expertise and skill as a martial artist against the Dark Hand by enlisting him to retrieve each of the remaining Talismans before they could be claimed by Valmont. Although initially reluctant, Jackie accepted Black's offer at the behest of his uncle and niece and agreed to join the fight against the Dark Hand in the ensuing hunt for the Talismans, all the while unknowing of Shendu's involvement.
With the help of Uncle and Jade along with the support of Captain Black and Section 13, Jackie ventured forth in search of the remaining Talismans, his quest spanning all four corners of the globe. Valmont, meanwhile, relied on his enforcers to retrieve the Talismans, using to their advantage a magical Talisman-locating device provided by Shendu. Additionally, Shendu would often reinforce the Dark Hand with his army of Shadowkhan. Despite this, Jackie Chan successfully managed to locate and obtain ten of the twelve missing Talismans, uncovering each of their magical powers in the process before securing them in the vault at Section 13, with the remaining two Talismans being claimed by the Dark Hand and reunited with Shendu.
When Shendu expressed the importance of returning to power in time to exact his prophesied revenge at the stroke of Chinese New Year, Valmont instructed his enforcers to abduct Jackie Chan with the intention of interrogating him into revealing the hidden location of Section 13. Unbeknownst to the Dark Hand, Jackie's spiritual balance had been afflicted by the power of the twelfth and final Talisman, dividing his yin and yang into two separate beings. Upon realizing his enforcers had abducted the yang half, Valmont appealed to Jackie's darker side with an offer of immense wealth in exchange for the Talismans from Section 13. Without the counteracting judgement of his yin half to guide him, Jackie willingly accepted before proceeding to turn over possession of the remaining Talismans to the Dark Hand.
Reunited at long last with all twelve of his Talismans, Shendu was finally able to break free from his stone imprisonment where he arose triumphantly to life in his true Dragon form to both Jackie and Jade's horror. Forgoing his alliance with the Dark Hand, the Demon Sorcerer returned to the site of his former palace near Hong Kong with the intention of unleashing an army of dragon minions to exact his revenge on the descendants of his rebellious subjects. When the Chans arrived to confront him at his resurrected palace, Uncle provided Jackie with a magical balm that would allow him to extract the Talismans from Shendu's otherwise impenetrable shell. Rather than having to extract all twelve, Uncle inferred that by simply removing the Rat Talisman, Shendu would revert back to being a statue. Amidst the ensuing showdown, Jackie plucked various Talismans from the Demon Sorcerer until eventually extracting the Rat, effectively causing Shendu to revert back to his statue form. Having also lost the Dog Talisman in the resulting scuffle, Jade proceeded to destroy Shendu's now-terminable statue form with the Dragon Talisman, physically vanquishing him for good. Whilst escaping the subsequent collapse of Shendu's Palace, however, Jackie and Jade were forced to abandon the Talismans in order to rescue themselves, unknowingly leaving them to be claimed by Valmont and his enforcers.
The Demon Crisis[]
With all twelve in their possession, the Dark Hand intended to use the Talismans to commit high-profile acts of crime. Whilst attempting to carry out their Talisman-enhanced crime spree, however, the criminal syndicate was foiled by the untimely arrival of Shendu, who had returned from the Netherworld as a disembodied spirit after being tasked by his seven demon siblings with locating and opening their respective portals. Coerced once again into serving the Demon Sorcerer, the Dark Hand offered to return the Talismans to Shendu, but because they were of no use to him in his spiritual form, he insisted that they might as well keep them for the duration of their new quest. After journeying to Tibet in search of the Pan'ku Box, Shendu and the Dark Hand were confronted by the newly-assembled J-Team. In the ensuing confrontation, Jackie and the others managed to reclaim each of the twelve Talismans from Valmont's enforcers, albeit at the cost of allowing Shendu to escape with the Pan'ku Box.
Having finally reclaimed all twelve, Jackie and the others secured the Talismans in the vault at Section 13. Meanwhile, Shendu and the Dark Hand sought to release each of the Demon Sorcerers by finding and unlocking their respective portals using the Pan'ku Box. With everyone's attention focused on the impending demon threat, the Talismans were, in Uncle's words, "not important". Despite this, Jackie and the others would continue to rely on the Talismans for support, with several even providing direct assistance at a number of key moments in the quest to seal the portals.
After the Chans sealed the eighth and final portal upon banishing each of the Demon Sorcerers including Shendu himself, the Fire Demon's brethren offered him one last chance to release them. Resorting to desperate measures, Shendu sought to rewrite the course of history altogether through the Book of Ages, an ancient book that magically records the accounts of history as they unfold. Upon doing so, the Demon Sorcerer effectively created an alternate reality where he and his siblings were never banished centuries earlier, with each demon now in charge of its own respective domain. In this reality, Shendu still ruled over China with all twelve Talismans in his possession. Whilst applying his alterations to the Book of Ages, however, Shendu was confronted by Jade, who unwittingly managed to retain her memories after tearing out a page from the book in the resulting scuffle. With her memories from the original timeline intact, Jade set out to re-assemble the J-Team against the Demon Sorcerers. After "reminding" Jackie and Uncle of the spell they once used to extract the Talismans from Shendu, the three of them managed to pluck six of the twelve Talismans from his demon shell before proceeding to re-banish each of his seven siblings once and for all until finally correcting the course of history by reverting his alterations to the Book of Ages.
The Amazing T-Girl[]
When Captain Black's superiors insisted on removing the Talismans from Section 13, Uncle determined that the Ben-Shui Temple in Bhutan was the best alternative, inferring that the Talismans would be safest from dark forces on sacred ground. Whilst journeying through the mountains to the site of the temple, however, the magic of the Talismans attracted the attention of Daolon Wong, a powerful Dark Chi Master whom the Chans had crossed paths with before. Intending to reclaim the Talismans for the forces of darkness, Wong summoned his Dark Chi Warriors to ambush Jackie and the others on their way to the temple. Unbeknownst to all, however, Jade unwittingly managed to absorb all twelve powers from their respective vessels when the vault's laser defense system came into contact with the Talismans back at Section 13. Upon uncovering her newfound abilities, Jade adopted the moniker T-Girl. After discovering their vessels to be powerless, Wong set out to ambush the Chans himself only to be confronted by T-Girl. Upon defeating Wong's warriors in a demonstration of her abilities, Jade was magically immobilized by the Dark Chi Master and rendered incapacitated. Seeking to absorb the powers himself, Wong conducted a spell to extract the Talisman magic from Jade. The timely intervention of Uncle's counter spell, however, caused Wong to absorb not the Talisman powers but rather his own incapacitation magic, effectively paralyzing him whilst returning all twelve powers back to the Talismans themselves. With the Talisman powers seemingly returned to their proper vessels, the Chans made the journey home after Black announced that his request to keep the Talismans in Section 13 had been approved.
The Noble Animals[]
Seeking to rebuild the Dark Hand, Valmont ordered his enforcers to infiltrate Section 13 and steal the Talismans. By chance, Daolon Wong had likewise chosen to infiltrate Section 13 that very night with the intention of claiming the Talismans. After Jade alerted Jackie to the double intrusion, a fight between the three parties over the Talismans ensued. Unwilling to allow either side to escape with them, Jackie opted to destroy the Talismans once and for all, determined to prevent them from ever falling into the wrong hands again. Using a laser cannon, Jackie blasted the Talismans into smithereens, seemingly destroying them as their stone vessels imploded together before being consumed in a massive surge of energy. Following the spectacle, Uncle informed Jackie that while the Talismans themselves can be destroyed, the magical powers they contain cannot, explaining that without physical vessels to contain them, the magic had been set free and scattered to the winds, determining that the powers would instead seek out living hosts, specifically the noblest and most worthy descendants of their original animal owners, the original twelve members of the Chinese zodiac.
Having unwittingly started the Talisman hunt all over again, Jackie and the others promptly set out to locate each of the Noble Animals before their powers could be claimed by Daolon Wong. With his original warriors imprisoned at the hands of Uncle's magic, Wong enslaved each of Valmont's enforcers and transformed them into his new Dark Chi Warriors to hunt down and retrieve the animals in yet another globe-trotting quest. Whilst successfully managing to secure nine of the twelve Noble Animals, the Chans were unable to prevent Daolon Wong from absorbing the powers of the Pig and the Rooster.
Without a suitable host to claim it, the power of the Dragon Talisman was believed to be lost. Nevertheless, Daolon Wong managed to strike a deal with the banished spirit of Shendu to resurrect him in exchange for the Talisman's power of combustion. Upon being resurrected, however, Shendu double-crossed Wong and instead claimed the Dragon power for himself before proceeding to strip the Dark Chi Master of his Rooster and Pig powers. Seeking to reclaim the remaining Talisman powers, Shendu launched an assault on Section 13. Unable to prevent him from penetrating their defenses, Jackie and Jade attempted to lure Shendu out of the facility using the nine animals as bait, intending to buy Uncle enough time to research a spell to defeat the Demon Sorcerer. After eventually catching up with the animals, Shendu proceeded to extract each of their respective powers until finally possessing all twelve. Before being able to deploy his newly reacquired powers against Jackie and Jade, however, Uncle arrived armed with the same spell that was originally used to defeat Shendu nine centuries earlier, imprisoning him once again whilst effectively recreating the Talismans. Along with Shendu's statue form, the newly reforged Talismans were kept safe in the Section 13 vault.
The Final Battle[]
After Drago absorbed all eight Demon Chi powers, Jade supplied each member of the J-Team with a Talisman in the final battle against the Fire Demon. To further even the odds, Uncle unleashed Shendu on his treacherous son after successfully releasing the Demon Sorcerer with a spell. When Drago began to gain the upper hand in the resulting battle against his father, Jade instructed everyone to throw their Talismans to Shendu so that he would stand a greater chance. Reunited at last with the Talismans, Shendu and Drago proved evenly matched. Amidst the ensuing standoff, however, Uncle and Tohru deployed a spell to reverse Drago's portal to the Netherworld, effectively banishing both Drago and Shendu in the process. The Talismans, bound once again to Shendu, were banished along with both Fire Demons.
At least 10 years in the future[]
Ultimate Fate[]
Believed at first to be lost, the Talismans were somehow reclaimed and eventually found themselves back into the possession of Section 13 in the years following Drago's defeat.
Appearance[]
Owing to their rightful animal owners, the face of each Talisman is depicted with a member of the Chinese zodiac. Displayed on the opposite side are ancient inscriptions describing their respective powers. The Talismans themselves are octagonal in shape and appear to be made out of carved grey stone. Described by Jackie as being the size of a golf ball, each Talisman fits perfectly in the palm of a human hand.
Powers and Abilities[]
Each Talisman possesses its own magical power which can be harnessed at the will of its user. Combining certain Talismans together can grant entirely new abilities. For instance, using the Rabbit Talisman (Super Speed) in conjunction with the Rooster Talisman (Levitation) allows for supersonic flight. Conversely, the Tiger Talisman "loses" its most noteworthy ability when combined with other Talismans. When used on its own, the Tiger divides the spiritual being of its user into two separate entities. When combined with all twelve, the Tiger's magical power of spiritual balance instead acts as a glue that binds the otherwise conflicting powers of all the other Talismans into one unified whole, making it possible for a single entity to seamlessly wield more than one Talisman power without trouble.
Although Talismans can be activated in a number of different ways, they are typically done so by being held in the palm of their user's hand.
List[]
Talisman | Power | First User | Discovered | First Appearance |
---|---|---|---|---|
Levitation Telekinesis |
Jade Chan | On a decorative shield within a Bavarian castle in Germany | The Dark Hand | |
Super Strength | El Toro Fuerte | On the mask of a famous luchador in Mexico | The Mask of El Toro Fuerte | |
Invisibility | Viper | Within an ancient temple situated along the Amazon River in Brazil | Snake Hunt (Chronological Order) Enter the Viper (Episode Release Order) | |
Super Speed | Tohru | On the shell of a tortoise in the Galápagos Islands | Shell Game | |
Astral Projection | Jade Chan | Inside a crate onboard a freight train bound for Istanbul, Turkey | Project A, for Astral | |
Combustion | Valmont | Within a lava cave beneath a volcano in Hawaii[1] | Bullies | |
Animation | Gnomekop | On a lamp at an auction house in San Francisco, California[2] | Tough Break | |
Healing Regeneration |
Tohru | Within a monastery in the mountains of the Himalayas[3][4] | The Rock | |
Animal Shapeshifting | Jade Chan | Within a set of sunken ruins beneath the ocean of Micronesia | The Jade Monkey | |
Immortality Rejuvenation |
Uncle | Within the wall of a windmill in the Netherlands[5] | The Dog and Piggy Show | |
Thermal Vision | Hak Foo | On an automaton at the top of a Bavarian clocktower in Germany | The Dog and Piggy Show | |
Spiritual Balance | Jackie Chan | Inside a pie at a county fair in Texas[6] | The Tiger and the Pussycat |
Talisman Locators[]
Shendu possessed a magical device capable of locating the Talismans. It consisted of a torch-like handle with four, dragon-like heads. When held, the eyes of the dragon facing the nearest Talisman would glow bright red, effectively directing the user to its location. After joining forces with Valmont in search of the Talismans, Shendu provided the Dark Hand with his Seeking Device (seemingly creating it from his own petrified body) to guide them along their quest.
- Main article: Seeking Device
Through the use of Chi Magic, one could cast their own specific locator spells to detect the Talismans and/or their powers. Unlike with the Seeking Device which could be used to locate all twelve, each Talisman required its own unique locator spell along with a separate list of spell ingredients. After Jackie Chan destroyed the Talismans and unwittingly released their twelve magical powers, both Uncle and Daolon Wong employed the use of such spells to locate the Noble Animals.
- Main article: Talisman Locators
T-Girl[]
Jade once managed to absorb all twelve powers from their respective vessels when the vault's laser defense system came into contact with the Talismans at Section 13. The resulting shock extracted the powers from the Talismans themselves and merged them with Jade. Upon uncovering her newfound abilities, Jade adopted the moniker "T-Girl". In this instance, she could activate each power using a different finger and body part.
- Left thumb = Rooster
- Left index finger = Ox
- Left middle finger = Snake
- Left ring finger = Rabbit
- Left pinky = Sheep
- Right pinky = Monkey
- Right ring finger = Tiger
- Right middle finger = Dog
- Right index finger = Horse
- Right thumb = Rat
- Eyes = Pig
- Tongue = Dragon
Trivia[]
- Each Talisman power seems to be a reference to a well-known concept or expression about the animal it depicts.
- Rooster (Levitation): References how poultry are birds, yet are mostly incapable of flight.
- Ox (Super Strength): References how cattle are tremendously strong.
- Snake (Invisibility): References how snakes are adept at concealing themselves.
- Rabbit (Super Speed): References how rabbits are very fast.
- Sheep (Astral Projection): References the practice of counting sheep to fall asleep faster (astral projection being similar to dreaming).
- Rat (Animation): References how rats are sometimes portrayed carrying food in cartoons, making the food look like it's alive.
- Dragon (Incineration): References how Dragons breathe fire.
- Horse (Rejuvenation): References the expression "Healthy as a horse".
- Monkey (Transmogrification): References the expression "Monkey see, monkey do".
- Dog (Immortality): References how dogs age differently than humans.
- Pig (Optical Beams): References the expression "In a pig's eye".
- Tiger (Spiritual Balance): References the fact that some tigers are black & white (the same colors as The Yin & Yang Symbol).
- Jackie, Jade and Shendu are the only characters in the series known to have used all twelve Talismans at least once.
- Shendu is known to be particularly possessive of the Talismans, as they allow him to attain a higher level of power which he deems his "complete" state.
- A regular occurrence in the series is to have a light quickly shine over the Talismans, especially when its power is activated.
- Despite their ultimate fate in the final episode, the Talismans are still shown to be in Section 13's possession in both J2: Rise of the Dragons and J2 Revised which are set in the future.
- Although the Dog Talisman prevents death or major injury, it does not prevent one from feeling pain, which is something the Horse Talisman is capable of. This was demonstrated by Finn in The Stronger Evil, when he flew into a bridge overpass, stating that "Immortality hurts". Ironically, he had previously said having both healing and immortality would be redundant, and swapped the Horse for a different Talisman shortly before.
- Although the Pig Talisman isn't as strong in its offensive uses as the Dragon Talisman, it can also grant the user thermal imaging in order to counter the effects of the Snake Talisman.[citation needed]
- According to Shendu, his favorite Talisman is the Dragon Talisman.
- When asked which Talisman he would prefer to have most in real life, Jackie Chan responded that he would want to have all of them.
- In sharp contrast, Jackie Chan's animated counterpart generally dislikes the Talismans and only agrees to use them as a last resort against evil.
- Jade once commented that the Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Rooster, Snake and Dragon are "the good ones", in that they are the most useful of the twelve.
- Finn considered the Rat, Sheep, and Tiger Talismans the three most useless due to their non-combative applications. Jackie likewise considered the Sheep Talisman particularly useless in Day of the Dragon.
- The Talismans are often activated by pressing them in one's hand, but the effect can be maintained as long as they are kept on the user's person (for example; worn as necklace, inside a pocket or even contained within the user's body after consumption). When Jade had the Rooster Talisman inside her body after unknowingly swallowing it, she could use its power by leaning her stomach forward.
- The Talismans also seem to be capable of bestowing their power on inanimate objects by making physical contact with them. However, the effects seem to stop if that physical contact is interrupted for even an instant.
- Dai Gui seemed to dislike the Talismans and Shendu's possession of them, remarking in Demon World (Part 2) after the Rabbit Talisman gave Tohru an advantage against Dai Gui; "Shendu and his accursed Talismans!"
- A common recurring theme with the people using the Talismans is making puns based on their animal or power.
- Only seven of the twelve Talismans show complete animals on their fronts, while the other five show only a head or half of the animal depicted. The animals depicted as incomplete on the Talismans are the Tiger, Horse, Ox, Dragon and Pig. The animals depicted as whole on the Talismans are the Rooster, Snake, Sheep, Monkey, Rabbit, Rat and Dog.
- The Tiger Talisman is the only one to show more than one animal, though it may "technically" be one, as it represents its ability to balance or split the yin and yang halves of a single user.
- The Ox Talisman is the only one to show the animal looking directly forward, though the Pig is looking mostly forward as well.
- Those looking to the left (from the perspective of someone looking at the Talisman head-on) are the Snake, Dragon, Horse, and Pig. The Tiger is arguably also looking left if its two images are rotated to each be upright.
- Those looking to the right are the Rooster, Rabbit, Sheep, Rat, Monkey, and Dog.