Shen is extremely smart, supremely lethal, and burns with ambition; it is a combustible combination. His past has forged in him the notion that he's been wronged and that the world owes him something. He intends to do everything in his power to take it, which includes inventing a powerful weapon unlike anything the world has ever seen. Shen is intent on using this weapon to wipe out Kung Fu and take over China. That puts him on a collision course with Po and the Five.[2]

Shen is shown to be unspeakably ruthless, willing to decimate an entire village just because a simple fortune-telling warned him one of its inhabitants would be his downfall. Still, he shows some cowardice a few times in the movie, such as when he was willing to kill China's population of pandas in order to prevent the Soothsayer's prediction from comming true, and preferred to let his cannons and henchmen do his dirty work rather than dealing with his obstacles himself. He has no regard for any life but his own, as he blasted a bridge in his way without hesitation, despite there being villagers on it, and was willing to sacrifice his own troops, which put him in conflict with his most trusted subordinate, Boss Wolf, who refused to kill his own men, leading to Shen striking him down simply for his disobedience. Shen is rather sadistic, claiming to Po that his parents abandoned him and did not love him, taking advantage of the panda's pain, and enjoying the emotional cars he inflicted on Po. Saying Po's parents abandoned him may have been a result of Shen being jealous that Po's parents loved him while Shen's own parents, to him, did not love him, which is a primary reason to his taking a wicked path. Possibly, the only one Shen ever really loved was his childhood nanny, the Soothsayer, despite the threats and insults he gave her while she was his prisoner. But still, he remembered her love and kindness and set her free, claiming "She is of no further use to [him]."