#11
David Lo Pan
50 Points, 3 Lists, #3 Cole Stratton
Mr. Burton, if you have an influence over your youthful friend, you better exert it now. Otherwise, I will have you both brought out to the hell where people are skinned alive, it's that simple, understand?
Wanted For Running gangs, ancient evil magic, not letting D & D nerds know that beholders are real.
ProfileDavid Lo Pan is the main villain of the film Big Trouble in Little China. David Lo Pan was once Lo Pan (sans David, obviously), a power wizard and warrior in ancient China. After being defeated by the emperor, he was made incorporeal until the day he would marry a girl with green eyes. Lo Pan has long sought such a woman, only able to become corporeal for a little while each day as a frail old man. Nonetheless, in this form he became a powerful criminal leader and eventually moved to America to control the gangs in Chinatown. Eventually upon finding two girls with green eyes (which isn’t as rare as you think, Lo Pan), Lo Pan found himself against his old wizarding enemy Egg Shen, Wang and the hapless but well-intentioned Jack Burton.
Lo Pan’s wizarding power is great but also severely limited by his curse. But in his corner, he also has three magic martial artists (the Three Storms), a Borneo Wildman (who actually ends up not doing all that much) and a friggin’ beholder. If Lo Pan is able to re-assume mortal form, he’s been told he will actually be even more powerful than he’s even been, which he wishes to use to finally rule the world. His lair is full of replications of various Chinese “Hells”, promising horrible torture to all who are subject to them.
Lo Pan’s a fun flashy villain with a crazy lair, crazy powers and crazy henchmen. But he’s also a lot of fun in personality, thanks in large part to the performance of James Hong. If you have an hour, watch this great video about the career of James Hong…
https://www.youtube.com/v/mGRmmasmeVk To put it short, Hong brings your classic menace and grandiosity to this classic Fu Manchu-type villain. But while that archetype has fallen out of favour in general, Lo Pan is still a fan favourite due to him having a lot of personality. He’s really quite funny (the video rightly chooses the moment when he just gets pissed at seeing our heroes on a security tape) and the character goes in some different directions while still feeling whole. The movie overall is a lot of fun and a lot is owed to James Hong as Lo Pan.
https://www.youtube.com/v/J4c2hFeD7GQTrivia The Three Storms were partly the inspiration for the popular character of thunder god Raiden from Mortal Kombat fighting video game series, while David Lo Pan was the inspiration for the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung.