Ai Shen (also known as The Evil Empress) is the evil ruler of China in "Squatting Tiger, Hidden Dog". She speaks only in Chinese and has bound feet (which could be why she floats). She has weapons such as the Hsu Quandao and the nunchucks.
History[]
In the episode, she rules in her palace and her nephew Di Lung arrives. She tells Di Lung her source of power is draining away because the magic silk worm is dying. She commands him to find someone truly innocent and remove their bones to get her powers back.
In the Great Wall of China, Muriel and Eustace are talking to each other. Di Lung sneaks from behind and says, "Watch where you're going, ya fool!", pushing Courage off the wall. Di Lung uses his pet frog to belch out a green bubble, trap Muriel and take her to the palace of the Evil Empress, as he himself follows. Courage uses Di Lung's frog and creates a bubble and heads to the palace as well. Muriel is seen chained and hanging from the ceiling (however, she thinks she's in a hammock), while Di Lung is ready to remove her bones (which Muriel thinks is a local tradition). Courage tells the Evil Empress that she doesn't want to remove Muriel's bones. Di Lung and the Empress banish Courage out of the palace (along with the box that had the magic silkworm, the source of the Empress' power).
Courage goes through a journey and manages to get to the palace again. He fights the Evil Empress. However, he gets his leg chained by Di Lung. The Evil Empress shoots laser at Courage and accidentally frees him. She makes another blast, but Courage grabs a mirror and the beam hits the Empress and crumble to pieces.
The Good Empress arrives to reclaim the throne and Di Lung puts all the the bones back in Muriel and laughs. The Empress shows that Courage has returned peace and harmony in the village and the silkworm is alive and well. Eustace is seen getting his legs eaten by the Tiger.
In "Aqua-Farmer", Di Lung is seen with the Evil Empress watching Jojo the dolphin (who was shown to be a fish) trained by a human (shows that the trainer was a lizard). The Evil Empress is tired so she ascends.
Powers and Abilities[]
Like her sister, the Good Empress, the Evil Empress possesses magical powers, but she uses them only for evil and ruling over all of China.
Appearances[]
Sightings[]
| Season 4 | ||||||||||||
| Season 4 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "A Beaver's Tale": | Absent | 14. "Squatting Tiger, Hidden Dog": | Debut | |||||||||
| 2. "The Nutcracker": | Absent | 15. "Muted Muriel": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Rumpledkiltskin": | Absent | 16. "Aqua-Farmer": | Debut | |||||||||
| 4. "House Calls": | Absent | 17. "Food of the Dragon": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Le Quack Balloon": | Absent | 18. "Last of the Starmakers": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Windmill Vandals": | Absent | 19. "Son of the Chicken from Outer Space": | Absent | |||||||||
| 7. "The Uncommon Cold": | Absent | 20. "Courageous Cure": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Farmer-Hunter, Farmer-Hunted": | Absent | 21. "Ball of Revenge": | Absent | |||||||||
| 9. "Bride of Swamp Monster": | Absent | 22. "Cabaret Courage ": | Absent | |||||||||
| 10. "Goat Pain": | Absent | 23. "Wrath of the Librarian": | Absent | |||||||||
| 11. "Muriel Blows Up": | Absent | 24. "Remembrance of Courage Past": | Absent | |||||||||
| 12. "Profiles in Courage": | Absent | 25. "Perfect": | Absent | |||||||||
| 13. "The Mask": | Absent | |||||||||||
Trivia[]
- The Evil Empress is most likely inspired by the historical figure Empress Dowager Cixi, who's legacy is viewed today as being highly controversial, corrupt, and tyrannical.
- The Evil Empress was one of 17 villains who were not part of the Ball of Revenge. The others were Fred, Schwick, Velvet Vic, Mondo, Mattress Demon, Jeeves Weevil, Fishsionary, Bluff, Big Bayou, King Ramses, Dr. Gerbil, Elisa and Eliza Stitch, Benton Tarantella, King of Flan, Errol Von Volkheim, and Mad Dog.
- She is one of the few female villains featured in the show.
- She is voiced by Courage the Cowardly Dog producer Winnie Chaffee, who used her Chinese language possibly due to her being born in Taiwan, the Republic of China.