TV-Series
Description
Lee Pailong, also rendered in some English versions as Lee Pyron or Lee Pai-Long, is a supporting character in the anime and manga Shaman King. His name can be read as meaning the White Dragon. In life he was a famous kung fu master and action movie star, celebrated for his skill with the nunchaku and known as the successor to a highly dangerous martial arts technique called the Dao-Dan-Do. He was born on November 29, 1948, and died at the age of thirty under circumstances the public never learned. His body disappeared after his funeral, and it was widely assumed that he had simply retired and gone into hiding.
The truth was that the Tao clan had taken an interest in his fighting talents. Against his wishes, he was kidnapped and killed by Tao Chin, the head of the clan, and then transformed into a jiang shi, a reanimated corpse, to serve as a mindless bodyguard and servant for the young Tao Jun. Controlled through a talisman placed on his forehead, he spent roughly seventeen years acting as an obedient undead guardian who carried out Jun's orders without any will of his own.
In personality, Pailong reveals himself, once freed from the talisman's control, to be a proud and principled martial artist. His first reaction after regaining his senses is anger: he attacks Jun for what her family did to him, taking out his fury over having been murdered and enslaved. He is eventually persuaded to let go of that desire for revenge, and he comes to forgive Jun, after which he becomes deeply loyal to her and protective of her wellbeing. Beneath his warrior pride, he is driven by an artist's ambition as well, carrying a lifelong dream to complete and perfect his own fighting style, the Dao-Dan-Do, a goal he was unable to achieve before his premature death.
His central motivation is tied to that ambition. Although he is free to depart from the living world after regaining his sense of self, he chooses to remain on Earth with Jun so that he can continue pursuing his dream of perfecting the Dao-Dan-Do technique. This decision shapes his later role, as he shifts from being a controlled weapon of the Tao family to a willing companion and defender who stays by Jun's side.
In the story, Pailong first appears when Jun decides to deal with Yoh Asakura personally and sends her undead servant to attack him. During the confrontation, Yoh breaks the seal on Pailong's forehead, which restores his consciousness and memories. Free from control, Pailong turns against Jun, and to subdue him Yoh unifies with Pailong's old master, Sha-Wen, the founder of the Ruichong-quan style that served as the foundation for Pailong's own fighting method. After this encounter, Pailong gives up his vengeance and becomes a faithful companion to Jun, accompanying her through the events that follow.
His key relationships reflect this journey. With Tao Chin, he shares a history of victimhood, as the clan leader is the one who had him murdered and reanimated. With Tao Jun, his relationship evolves from master and controlled servant into a genuine bond of trust and devotion after he forgives her and chooses to stay with her. With Yoh Asakura, he shares gratitude, since Yoh is the one who frees him from his enslavement. And with his sensei Sha-Wen, he shares a martial lineage, since Sha-Wen's Ruichong-quan style became the basis of the Dao-Dan-Do that Pailong devoted his life to developing.
In terms of abilities, Pailong's undead nature gives him unusual endurance, allowing him to keep fighting even after taking wounds that would stop a living person. Because his original soul was restored to his own body, he is able to use every technique he possessed in life at full strength. He is a highly accomplished hand-to-hand fighter, especially skilled with the nunchaku, and his personal style, the Dao-Dan-Do, combines elements of boxing, Muay Thai, and karate. His known techniques include the dive bomber, a series of acrobatic flips used to close distance, the bomb kick, a thrusting kick aimed at the face, and the rocket kick, a sudden thrusting strike delivered to the body.
His development over the course of the story moves him from being a powerless, manipulated corpse to a self-aware individual who confronts his own resentment, forgives those who wronged him, and finds a new purpose by staying in the world to finish the martial art he began in life.
The truth was that the Tao clan had taken an interest in his fighting talents. Against his wishes, he was kidnapped and killed by Tao Chin, the head of the clan, and then transformed into a jiang shi, a reanimated corpse, to serve as a mindless bodyguard and servant for the young Tao Jun. Controlled through a talisman placed on his forehead, he spent roughly seventeen years acting as an obedient undead guardian who carried out Jun's orders without any will of his own.
In personality, Pailong reveals himself, once freed from the talisman's control, to be a proud and principled martial artist. His first reaction after regaining his senses is anger: he attacks Jun for what her family did to him, taking out his fury over having been murdered and enslaved. He is eventually persuaded to let go of that desire for revenge, and he comes to forgive Jun, after which he becomes deeply loyal to her and protective of her wellbeing. Beneath his warrior pride, he is driven by an artist's ambition as well, carrying a lifelong dream to complete and perfect his own fighting style, the Dao-Dan-Do, a goal he was unable to achieve before his premature death.
His central motivation is tied to that ambition. Although he is free to depart from the living world after regaining his sense of self, he chooses to remain on Earth with Jun so that he can continue pursuing his dream of perfecting the Dao-Dan-Do technique. This decision shapes his later role, as he shifts from being a controlled weapon of the Tao family to a willing companion and defender who stays by Jun's side.
In the story, Pailong first appears when Jun decides to deal with Yoh Asakura personally and sends her undead servant to attack him. During the confrontation, Yoh breaks the seal on Pailong's forehead, which restores his consciousness and memories. Free from control, Pailong turns against Jun, and to subdue him Yoh unifies with Pailong's old master, Sha-Wen, the founder of the Ruichong-quan style that served as the foundation for Pailong's own fighting method. After this encounter, Pailong gives up his vengeance and becomes a faithful companion to Jun, accompanying her through the events that follow.
His key relationships reflect this journey. With Tao Chin, he shares a history of victimhood, as the clan leader is the one who had him murdered and reanimated. With Tao Jun, his relationship evolves from master and controlled servant into a genuine bond of trust and devotion after he forgives her and chooses to stay with her. With Yoh Asakura, he shares gratitude, since Yoh is the one who frees him from his enslavement. And with his sensei Sha-Wen, he shares a martial lineage, since Sha-Wen's Ruichong-quan style became the basis of the Dao-Dan-Do that Pailong devoted his life to developing.
In terms of abilities, Pailong's undead nature gives him unusual endurance, allowing him to keep fighting even after taking wounds that would stop a living person. Because his original soul was restored to his own body, he is able to use every technique he possessed in life at full strength. He is a highly accomplished hand-to-hand fighter, especially skilled with the nunchaku, and his personal style, the Dao-Dan-Do, combines elements of boxing, Muay Thai, and karate. His known techniques include the dive bomber, a series of acrobatic flips used to close distance, the bomb kick, a thrusting kick aimed at the face, and the rocket kick, a sudden thrusting strike delivered to the body.
His development over the course of the story moves him from being a powerless, manipulated corpse to a self-aware individual who confronts his own resentment, forgives those who wronged him, and finds a new purpose by staying in the world to finish the martial art he began in life.