Xiaolin Showdown is an American animated television series about Omi, a young orphaned monk-in-training from the Xiaolin Temple (a name based on the real-life Shaolin Temple), street-smart Raimundo Pedrosa from Brazil, high-tech focused Kimiko Tohomiko from Japan, and cowboy Clay Bailey from Texas who have been chosen by the Temple's head monk Master Fung to become the Xiaolin Dragons and to find and protect the sacred Shen Gong Wu, artifacts that possess great magical powers, from being taken and used by the Heylin (forces of evil), predominantly represented by the ghost of the ancient witch Wuya and her protege Jack Spicer, evil boy genius.
The use of the artifacts is shown to be usually combined with the use of the martial arts, which are portrayed as evoking internal, mystical powers linked to the classical elements that work synergistically with the Shen Gong Wu. The show makes frequent use of Chinese culture and archetypes despite the international setting — the Xiaolin Temple is in China and the origins of most of the Shen Gong Wu all seem to be Chinese.
When more than one person grabs a Shen Gong Wu at the same time, a Xiaolin Showdown occurs. Each side wagers a Shen Gong Wu he/she already owns. In some cases, the competitors invoke a Shen Yi Bu Dare, where multiple (usually two) Shen Gong Wu are wagered. The winner keeps the Shen Gong Wu that they wagered and wins both the opponent's Shen Gong Wu and the Shen Gong Wu that the Showdown was fought for, totaling five Shen Gong Wu. In some cases, when more than two people touch a Shen Gong Wu at once, a different kind of Xiaolin Showdown occurs: the Showdown Trio is a three person free-for-all, a Xiaolin Showdown Tsunami is either a two-on-two or a four person free-for-all Showdown, and an Eight-Way Xiaolin Showdown is a four-on-four Showdown. One can also call for a Cosmic Clash Showdown, allowing the caller to bring more people into the Showdown who didn't touch the Shen Gong Wu. Generally, the competitors in a Xiaolin Showdown of any type use the Shen Gong Wu that they wagered to compete with. However, there have been instances where a Shen Gong Wu not wagered was used in the Xiaolin Showdown, as in "Enter the Dragon" when Omi used the Reversing Mirror and the Shroud of Shadows against the two-headed Dojo and in "The Last Temptation of Raimundo" when Wuya used the the Shroud of Shadows against the Xiaolin Warriors while she was possessing Raimundo.
The challenge in a Xiaolin Showdown can be anything, but most commonly is some sort of race to the Shen Gong Wu. When the Showdown is called, the world warps around the competitors and by-standers, and the terrain they are on becomes an extreme extent, such as a mountain side becoming a field of rock pillars, or a snowfield becoming a large snowboarding course. Some Showdowns have also affected those involved, such as gaining weight for a sumo wrestling showdown. Other contests have been games of tag, basketball, or combat. The challenge officially begins after the change, and when both (or all) combatants yell "Gong Yi Tanpai!" Then the decided contest starts. When one is victorious, the terrain returns to normal, and the winner gains possession of all of the wagered Shen Gong Wu.
"Gong Yi Tanpai!" is a Chinese way of saying "Ready, Set, Go!". Tanpai means "showdown" in Chinese, Gong is Chinese for "begin" as to attack, and Yi means "the" in Chinese, so it literally means "Begin the showdown!"
Xiaolin Showdown features an extremely large cast, many of whom do not appear for more than one episode.
It is also noted that during the episode Wu Got The Power, Omi temporarily learned the Wudai Crater - Earth, Wudai Star - Wind, and Wudai Mars - Fire techniques, while using the Longhoorn Taurus, Crest of the Condor, and Cat's Eye Draco, respectively. Doing this caused him to have a surplus of elemental energy, which was worn down later in the episode. Omi now only retains his Water techniques.
It is assumed that anybody using one of the Elemental Shen Gong Wu is capable of using its respective Wudai Technique, though this has not been confirmed, as Omi is the only warrior to date who has worn one other than his own, the Kaijin Charm.
These are fighting techniques, used mostly by Chase Young and Omi. They're fictional spoofs of real kung-fu attacks.
Ancient Scroll of the Shen Gong Wu: This magical scroll that Dojo was entrused with guarding for 1,500 years contains information on every Shen Gong Wu including the magical powers a specific Shen Gong Wu possesses and how it can be used with other Shen Gong Wu. The Scroll itself is magical because on the section for each Shen Gong Wu, there is an unexplained animation of figures showing how the specific Shen Gong Wu is used.
The Puzzle Box: Any simple pebble in the hands of a great Xiaolin Grand Master Dragon can be turned into a magical puzzle box that can trap any person inside and reduce them to a ghost. According to Dashi, the box will only open when the person who needs to open it, opens it. There have been two puzzle boxes in the history of Xiaolin Showdown, and both were used to trap Wuya within them. The first was used by Dashi 1,500 years ago in the first Xiaolin Showdown, and the second was used by Raimundo after Omi went into the past to retrieve the second puzzle box from Grand Master Dashi.
Le Mime's Tricks: The French mime in Like a Rock!, Le Mime, uses real mime tricks to lure and capture enemies. Hired by Jack Spicer in an attempt to get the Fist of Tebigong.
Grand Pappy's Texas Tin Horn Sizzlin' Salsa: Although not specifically noted as magical, this hot sauce has strange, near magical qualities. When submerged in lava it has extremely explosive qualities, and when consumed by Dojo, it allowed him to produce a massive blast of fire from his mouth which allowed him to defeat the Sapphire Dragon.
Spear of Guan: The Spear of Guan is a jagged spear used by Master Monk Guan and given to Omi and Raimundo. There is a whole room full of these spears. It appeared many times. However it was only Heylin in 'Time after Time' where Monk Guan became evil aided by Wuya, Chase Young and Hannibal Roy Bean. Soon the four Heylins where joined by almost all the evil characters encountered in the series such as Jack Spicer, Vlad and Tubbimura.
The Lao Mang Long Soup: The Lao Mang Long Soup is an ancient Heylin potion that once drank turns the person to the Heylin Side. The user of the Soup trades their soul for eternal youth. Once the user has traded their soul and has been placed on the Heylin Side, they become a form of a monster. If the user doesn't drink the Soup everyday he/she will turn into this monster. Apparently, one can also turn into the monster at any moment. Its ingredients are a cup of wheat grass juice, a tablespoon of salt, a pinch of dried frog, and, of course, one whole dragon (known as Long in Chinese), such as Dojo. The alternate form's appearance varies from person to person. This fact is shown in "Time After Time (2)": while Chase Young turns into a lizard, Master Monk Guan becomes an insect-lizard-like creature.
Heylin Seed: A puny seed that holds a huge and powerful plant (which Jack named Gigi). Almost destroyed the world 1,500 years ago.
Heylin Comet: A special comet that will affect the Shen Gong Wu, giving the Wu a mind of its own. It was shown by Raimundo after he came back from his hometown in Brazil after saving it, and after removing the Sword of the Storm, he was unable to take the Golden Tiger Claws off.
The Year of the Green Monkey: One special year is made for the power of monkeys, green monkeys. Their power is ripe and terrible. Happened once in the show so far in The Year of the Green Monkey where Jack (using the Monkey Staff) commanded them to attack the Xiaolin Temple.
The Bird of Paradise: The Bird of Paradise is actually not at all a bird, but an old lady who cannot sing very well. The Bird has a lot of mastered ability. Rumor says that the Bird can crush buildings and do other terrible things, but when the Monks reach her they are given true inner-powers.
The Ying-Ying Bird: Hannibal Roy Bean's bird. Can travel in and out of the Ying-Yang World at will. Sometimes changes into a parrot for cover.
Wudai Weapons (Dispute between Shen Gong Wu or just Magical Objects)
Heylin Eclipse: An eclipse named after the Heylin Side. Affects some parts of the Heylin Side. Most notably it affects Chase Young.
Monk - Others living at the Xiaolin Temple. May or may not have magical powers like the Dragons. Seen using bows and arrows against Mala Mala Jong on his first attack on the temple. Omi once called himself a monk, so this may be an overall term.
Dragon-in-Training - Not capable of a lot of power, just using one's element to boost attacks.
Xiaolin Apprentice - Capable of bigger amounts of power; using elements with a corresponding attack and Shen Gong Wu. At the Apprentice level, the Warriors gain a new type of ability - the Dragon X-Kumei Formation - which can multiply their 'Apprentice Powers'. Identified by a blue sash.
Wudai Warrior - Capable of huge amounts of strength and power; using elements with attacks, weapons, and power-ups or enhancers. Also a special form is acquired which could be called a Wudai or Orion form, allowing the user to boost his or her elemental power. The look of this form is pretty much a black sillouete of the person with a colored outline, the color connected to the element (Blue-Raimundo, Red-Kimiko, Silver-Omi, and Green-Clay). Identified by an aqua sash. This form makes its debut in season three and it seems the user can change into it via the Orion Formation. Though in the Episode Dream Stalker, Raimundo is the only one to change into it without the formations help, but it is most likely that he was able to since he was fighting in his dream world, and just about anything can happen there.
Shoku Warrior - Is the leader of the Xiaolin group and is the one who makes all the decisions. Further abilities are unknown at the moment. Raimundo is promoted to this level at the end of the episode "Time After Time (2)".
Master - Master Fung's stage. Has probably mastered half of a Master Monk.
Master Monk - Has mastered all tai chi forms. The only known individual of this level is Master Monk Guan.
Grand Master Xiaolin Dragon - The ultimate stage of the Xiaolin. Not fully explained, but a Grand Master Dragon is so extremely talented they can turn a pebble into a puzzle box capable of trapping a certain Heylin witch, but this is only one of many unknown abilities. The only known individual of this level is Grand Master Dashi, who lived more than 1,500 years ago.
Several characters are seen with having mysterious dots on their forehead. Omi has nine white dots, in three rows of three. Master Monk Guan has six, two rows of three standing on the width; his are yellow. One of the monks in the Xiaolin Temple had the same pattern as Master Monk Guan, as seen in the episode with the Sapphire Dragon. When Master Monk Guan showed Omi the scroll that showed a large shadow along with a goat-demon enslaving Chase Young to evil, the shadow had four dots as a square in his debut.
Omi also has three rows of three red dots balancing on a corner, when he turned evil and left behind his good chi in the Ying-Yang world, they became a diamond shape. When Omi turned into a cat, the essence of Omi made Chase Young stronger, that's how he got his dots. But when the Xiaolin Warriors defeated him in the showdown, Omi got his dots back and Chase Young lost his.
In the series, these dots that appear on the aforementioned characters have never been explained. However, they are most likely the representing of a warrior's chi, but only the most powerful warriors (or only the warriors destined for greatness) will have these dots.
Four is considered an unlucky number in Chinese culture because the Mandarin and Cantonese word for four sounds like the word for death. Continuing with this numerological interpretation, the Mandarin and Cantonese word for three sounds like the word for life. Also, to a Buddhist monk, three represents the Three Jewels.
But in the episode "The Dream Stalker" the dots seemed to be able to sense the coming of danger and a creature. And in the Showdown of the Monks vs. the Fearsome Four, the dots are seen to give off light, since the showdown was in darkness, the Four easily found Omi, and he needed to wear Clay's hat to hide himself.
A stylized taijitu (more commonly known as the yin-yang) can be seen in nearly every episode, as yin and yang are important beliefs in Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. The taijitu can be seen primarily in the center of the Reversing Mirror, but it has also shown up as a crater on the moon, in clouds, and many other places.
Out of all Xiaolin Showdowns fought in this show as of Ep. 313, (regular showdowns, generic Xiaolin Showdowns, Shen Yi Bu Dares and All-Ins, Trios, Tsunamis, and Cosmic Clashes) the Xiaolin side has the better record over the Heylin with an astonishing 42 wins to the Heylin's 11. Dashi's challenge to Omi was not counted, nor was Raimundo's against Omi, both because they were technically fought between one side. Another showdown that is ruled out is the one where Jack Spicer fought the Chameleon-Bot. Like the aforementioned Raimundo vs. Omi match, the Xiaolin Dragons all thought that they had one person on their side; Raimundo was actually on the Xiaolin Side, and Chameleon-Bot, who was masquerading as Kimiko, was truly on the Heylin Side.
Despite being a popular show, Warner Bros has not showed any signs of having a fourth season of Xiaolin Showdown. Some fans believe that there will be a fourth season, as none of the main antagonists have met any sort of final defeat, as well as mentions of Raimundo's duties as leader only beginning, and the open-ended amount of Shen Gong Wu. However, the close-ended finale to the third season, including a musical number, a great battle, and the majority of the Shen Gong Wu held by the side of the Xiaolin gives some closure to the series. It is said that the third season ended without a cliffhanger because of the writers' lack of knowledge as to whether or not the show was renewed for another season.
Recently, an advertisement at the Toywiz page for Xiaolin Showdown states that a new season of Xiaolin Showdown will start on September 17. [1] However, this is an outdated banner from 2005 announcing the third season (September 17 falls on a Sunday in 2006, and fell on a Saturday in 2005). Similarly, there has been a Postopia.com tie-in, in which there are "sneak peeks" for new Shen Gong Wu that may appear in the fourth season, should it be made.
Konami is developing a Xiaolin Showdown video game, that is dated to release in November 2006 to PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, and Nintendo DS.
Warner Home Video is currently preparing a DVD for Xiaolin Showdown. Rather than a single-disc DVD best-of, the 2 disc DVD will contain the entire 13-episode first season, set for release on August 8, 2006. No bonus features have been revealed at this point. Source: TVShowsOnDVD.com