The Wu Assassin is a title given to an individual who is deemed worthy to defeat the Wu Warlords and tasked to save the world. The Wu Assassin is empowered by a thousand monks who sacrificed their lives to empower a monk shard (an artifact that is similar to Wu Xing). The current Wu Assassin is a man name Kai Jin, although it is unknown if he still retains his abilities.
The monk shards that gifts the user the power of the Wu Assassin.
History[]
Thousands of years ago in Ancient China, 5 Chinese Warlords were corrupted by the Wu Xing pieces, and they planned to conquer China itself. One thousand monks sacrificed themselves to empower a Monk Shard, an artifact that holds great power. Ying Ying, a warrior, found the monk shard for unknown reasons, and she became the first Wu Assassin. She was the first individual to hunt down the 5 Wu Lords and extracted their Wu Xing shards. Ying Ying extracted her own Monk Shard and assembled the Wu Xing and Monk Shard to form a mystic tortoise shell. Before she could do anything with the tortoise shell, she was attacked by the enemy. The enemy's first blow scattered the monk shard and Wu Xing pieces across the four corners of the world, and the second blow killed Ying Ying.
Alec McCullough is granted the power of the Wu Assassin by Ying Ying.
The monk's spirits led Ying Ying to a place called The Path. For unknown reasons, the monk spirits allowed Ying Ying to exist in The Path. As a result, Ying ying is neither alive nor dead. She is tasked with training the next Wu Assassin in order to save the world. In the 1500s, she met a man name Alec McCullough, whom she tasked to defeat the 5 Wu Warlords. Alec was able to kill 2 Wu Warlords . However, Ying Ying did not know that Alec McCullough managed to cheat death, and would not know for many years to come.
Throughout the Series[]
In Drunken Watermelon while running away from Triad gang members, Kai Jin, an aspiring young chef, accidentally "knocks" down a young woman name Ying Ying. She wakes up and gives him a monk shard (a piece of a tortoise shell that holds great power). Kai is then bestowed the Wu Assassin powers, and Ying Ying explains the Wu Warlords and the Wu Xing, as well as Kai's newfound abilities.
Kai jin acquires the Wu Assassin powers for the first time.
In Misspent Youth, Ying Ying starts to train Kai by putting him in exercises that involve a certain element in order for Kai to build a resistance. Kai starts to punch a rock extremely hard and fast into rubble, gets his head put under water, and puts his hand in the fire. Kai meditates in the Path where he is shown a violent vision of the future. Uncle Six learns that the Wu Assassin was the one who attacked his men and "saved Kai"; he orders a search party for the Wu Assassin.
In Fire Chicken, Kai goes to Christine and tries telling her that he is the Wu Assassin, but she does not believe him.
In A Twisting Snake Uncle Six fights against Kai, and nearly kills him (thinking Kai is the Wu Assassin). Uncle Six finds out Kai is the Wu Assassin after Kai's disguise wears off. Kai is pulled into The Path by Ying Ying where he finds previous statues of Wu Assassins, one of them is Alec McCullough.
In Codladh Samh, Kai reveals to Lu Xin Lee, Jenny Wah, and Tommy Wah about his Wu Assassin abilities. Kai explains to a vengeful Lu Xin that he can not willingly give the Wu Assassin abilities to him.
Kai Jin's monk shard is expelled from his body.
In Gu Assassins, Kai asks Ying Ying is it possible to remove a Wu Xing from a host's body without killing them. Ying Ying replies yes, but a previous Wu Assassin died in the attempt because it was too dangerous. When Kai stubbornly tells her he must try to save Uncle Six, Ying Ying regretfully leaves him for the time being. Kai also tells Lu Xin that it is impossible for him to give the Wu Assassin powers to Lu Xin Lee willingly.
In Paths: Part 2 Kai is transported to The Path forcibly by Alec McCullough, where his monk shard is forcibly expelled from him to merge with the Wu Xing to form a portal to the real world. At the end, Ying Ying appears in front of Kai Jin seemingly in the real world and tells him the world still needs a Wu Assassin.
Powers and Abilities[]
Enhanced Strength: The Wu Assassin gains heightened strength. Kai Jin, as the Wu Assassin, shows this by reducing a boulder to rubble in the Dao, lifting boulders out of his head, and snapping people's necks with his bare hands. He has also shown to block rocks from James Baxter, the Earth Wu Warlord, and punch rocks away.
Kai Jin dodging bullets near point blank range; he can see where the bullet trajectory is.
Enhanced Speed and Reflexes: The Wu Assassins gains heightened speed and reflexes to the point where they can catch knives in mid-air and see the bullet's trajectory. This is shown when Kai, having just acquired the monk shard's abilities, dodges bullets from point blank range effortlessly. The Wu Assassin's fighting speed is increased to the point where their hits seem like a blur.
Enhanced Stamina: The Wu Assassin possesses significantly greater stamina and endurance, allowing them to exert themselves for longer, and in a far greater physical capacity. On multiple occasions the Wu Assassin has been able to combat groups of opponents, and keep up with them without showing signs of physical exhaustion. While in the Dao, Kai Jin was able to use his abilities as the Wu Assassin to rapidly destroy a massive boulder with his strikes, being barely fazed by the exertion.
Enhanced Durability: The Wu Assassin gains heightened durability to the point where they can shrug off blunt force trauma and energy attacks. An example is when Kai is walking underneath a cave when a large group of boulders fell on him. Kai simply pushed the boulders away after being overwhelmed, as well as able to block James Baxter's attacks with little damage. Kai also took many blows from Uncle Six's attacks (a fire ball to the chest, fire whips, and a fire blast to the face) without a significant amount of damage.
Dao Travel: The Wu Assassin is able to travel to the Dao at will. The Dao is a plane of existence outside of time, allowing the Wu Assassin to spend as much time as they wish their with only a fraction of a second passing in the physical world. In the Dao they are able to converse with previous Wu Assassins, usually so they can guide them through their missions and train them in using their abilities.
Knowledge of a Thousand Monks: The Wu Assassin possesses the knowledge and skill of the thousand monks that sacrificed themselves to empower the monk shard. Their immense skills makes the Wu Assassin a deadly, almost unstoppable foe. The Wu Assassin's are also capable of communicating with the sacrificed monks in the plane of existence known as the Dao, allowing the monks to guide the Wu Assassin on their mission.
Change Appearance: The Wu Assassin is able to take on the visage of any of the thousand monks whose knowledge and abilities empowers the monk shard. They are able to change their visage to look like one of the monks at will, however it also appears to happen whenever they are in the heat of combat.
Wu Xing Control: The Wu Assassin is able to control the elemental energies created by the wu xing pieces. They are able to deflect the different energy attacks from the wu xing, and can even undo some of their effects. This was made evident when Kai Jin was able to control and deflect some of Uncle Six's fire blasts, as well as deter the Earth Warlord's effect of turning people to stone.
Ability to travel to The Path: The Wu Assassin is the only individual to enter The Path without any consequences. This is because The Path was used specifically for The Wu Assassin. Anyone else that enters The Path may cause reality to shift in unforeseen ways.
Visions of the Future: If a Wu Assassin meditates in a cave of The Path, then he is shown to have visions of a possible future. Kai shows this in Misspent Youth by seeing visions of Lu Xin Lee dead, Jenny with a shiny object, Tommy committing suicide, and Christine Gavin saving him from Uncle Six.
Appearance[]
The Monk Shard that contains the power of the Wu Assassin looks like a part of a tortoise shell, with yellow Chinese symbols on the inside. When Ying Ying deems a user worthy to become the Wu Assassin, the user is engulf in yellow streams of energy before the monk shard is absorbed inside of their body.
The inside of the Monk Shard.
Weakness[]
Although the Wu Assassin may have increased durability, they are not invincible and still susceptible to damage. This is shown when Kai is injured heavily after his fight with Uncle Six and James Baxter. The Wu Assassin is still mortal, and can be killed by any means. For example, Ying Ying was killed by a surprise attack from the enemy, and Alec McCullough killed himself by slitting his throat in the past. If the Wu Assassin takes too much damage, then their disguise will wear off, leaving their identity exposed.
Known Wu Assassins[]
- Ying Ying (The First Wu Assassin)
- Alec McCullough (The Wu Assassin of 1519)
- Kai Jin (The Current Wu Assassin)
Trivia[]
- Alec McCullough is currently the only individual to become both a Wu Assassin and a Wu Warlord
- It is unknown if Kai retains his Wu Assassin abilities, due to the Wu Xing and Monk shard combining to form a portal to the real world, however Kai still retains his knowledge of martial arts.
- It is unlikely for an individual to become simultaneously a Wu Assassin and a Wu Warlord, as the Wu Assassin was created to oppose the Wu Warlord.
- It is unknown if the Gu (a poison that expels the Wu Xing from a wielder's body) will work on the Wu Assassin.
- It is unknown how Ying Ying determines an individual worthy to become the Wu Assassin. She chose Alec McCullough because of his swordsmanship, and she chose Kai Jin because of his pure heart (although she may have chose him because of his close connections with Uncle Six, the Fire Wu Warlord).