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[Kung Fu Panda] Was Tai lung really an evil villain?

I dont think he should really be considered that much more than an anti-hero or misleaded villain.

If he is a villain than he's the most tragic.  All his life he was trained Day and night, through blood, sweat, tears, bone breaking, heart wrenching, and ruthless training by Shifu, who told him daily that he would be the dragon warrior someday, but when the time came, he was instantly told he wasn’t what he was told he was supposed to be, what he trained to be, what he thought he was destined to be since childhood. Everyone looks at him like he had no reason to be the monster he is, when if you thought about it in his eyes, his body, you’d be pretty pissed off too. Tai Lung has every right to do all the things he did, his actions were incredibly justified.﻿ 

Sure he raided the village but never really killed anyone. Plus its understandable for him to be in a rage. Imagine being told your entire life that you were meant to do something great and then when the time finally came you were denied it All the blood, sweat, tears and hard work, all those broken bones and aching muscles, all that **effort** Only to be told you were never good enough . Yeah, I'd be pissed off too﻿

Also even after 20 years in prison he wasn't that willing to kill others as he only pressure point the Furious Five and Po instead of killing them. When he comes to face Shifu his intention seems to be for Shifu to accept him again and give him the scroll.  Before trying to kill Shifu he reasons with him and gives him a chance to make him the dragon warrior now that Oogways gone. Also the fact that he wants Shifu to be the one to give him the scroll shows that he wants him to be his father and master again. 

Even his goals are not that evil. He never wanted to use the dragon scroll to take over the world or anything just to earned the title of Dragon Warrior that he worked his whole life for. And he said he wanted to do this to make Shifu proud.

What do you guys think?
gpt
I think Oogway is the key to all of this, and it's really his failures that led to the situation.  The other important distinction in Tai Lung's case is that hurting innocents is never acceptable - and that was the line he crossed.  If he'd focused his anger on just his masters, he might have been redeemable.

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Tai Lung was failed by everyone around him, and ultimately failed himself.

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Shifu failed Tai Lung, and that was a defining moment in his life. He didn't understand what it meant to be someone's Master. Tai Lung suffered because of it, and Shifu should be held accountable for his actions; but he should also be understood as a sympathetic person who *also* needed guidance at this critical juncture.

His training of the Furious Five is an example of how he careened back in the opposite direction in his training (hurting more students). It wasn't until Po that he finally understood, and came to terms with his past mistakes. Shifu wasn't really a *Master* until after the events of the first movie.

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Tai Lung is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He was a failed student. Not just because of his reaction to Oogway's assessment, but also in his failure to help his Master(s) improve themselves. This gets fuzzy quickly, because it's a chicken and egg scenario: Should Tai Lung have helped his Masters through their own growth; or was he a victim of circumstance, being trained improperly and being unable to cope with the problem.

Someone with true Kung Fu in their heart would have taken that rejection and meditated on it, understood it, then returned to challenge his Masters on their failure. That Tai Lung couldn't do this is both his own fault, and the fault of his Masters. Ideally, a student should look at Tai Lung as an example to avoid; but also understand that the Masters had a part to play in it.

Where Tai Lung ultimately failed was when he turned his internal anger, and anger at this Masters, towards innocents in the village. That failure was his alone.

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Oogway though is the ultimate cautionary tale: Those that can create, and those that can master a skill, aren't always qualified to be Masters. He creates problems where he goes because people look up to him unquestioningly. He is not a good person, but he created something worth studying. Again, both the Master and the Student should be aware of Oogway's failings and help him through.

Perhaps he should have set down his mantle of Master, or perhaps he should have more carefully picked students. But it's a lesson to beware of symbols we hold up of perfection, and recognize that they need our help as well.