Shere Khan (2018)

"My, my, how you've grown."

- Shere Khan upon seeing Mowgli.

"You can not be leader forever. The day you miss your kill, the man-cub's blood will run down my chin!"

- Shere Khan vowing to Akela that he will kill Mowgli.

Shere Khan is the main antagonist of the 2018 Netflix live action adventure drama film Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.

He was voiced and motion captured by Benedict Cumberbatch, who also played Khan in Star Trek: into Darkness, The Grinch in The Grinch, Smaug and Sauron in The Hobbit, and Dormammu in Doctor Strange.

Biography
Shere Khan first appeared chasing after men after they trespassed in the jungle. He killed Mowgli's parents, leaving him orphaned. He then showed up at the wolves' council meeting after Tabaqui told him about Mowgli. Shere Khan bragged to them that he killed the man-cub's parents and that his blood was his right. Akela and the wolf pack refused to hand Mowgli over to him, as did Bagheera and Baloo. Akela told Shere Khan that Mowgli was under protection of the pack and that their part of the jungle was closed off to him. Shere Khan warned Akela that if he missed his kill, he would no longer be leader of the pack and left with Tabaqui.

After many years, Mowgli grew and lived amongst the wolf pack. One day, Mowgli went swimming alone and went underwater, then saw Shere Khan taking a drink. Shere Khan suspected that he sensed Mowgli in the water. After Mowgli comes out and runs, Shere Khan chased after him. He ultimately fails to kill the man-cub when his attempted victim fell into a pit and was saved by Hathi, a benevolent Indian elephant missing a tusk.

Later on, when Mowgli failed the wolf pack's final trial that would determine if he could become a full member of the pack thanks to the actions of an unrestrained Bagheera, he was kidnapped by the Bandar Log, a gang of Hanuman langurs, on Tabaqui's orders for Shere Khan while Baloo and Bagheera fought over the issue. Shere Khan attempted to kill Mowgli while he is unconscious, slicing his arm with a claw on his crippled paw, but was stopped by Baloo and Bagheera. During their battle with Shere Khan's monkey minions, they were overwhelmed, only for Kaa herself to appear and save Mowgli.

After Mowgli learned that Kaa has been watching him the whole time and that she believes that he has the power to change the jungle, he was then directed by the python to face Shere Khan, who was again challenging Akela for Mowgli. Mowgli stopped the tiger and Akela's challengers with fire taken from the Man-Village, but shamed himself in Akela's eyes and was forced to leave for the Man-Village.

With Mowgli gone, Shere Khan was free to drive the wolves loyal to Akela to the edge of the jungle. Mowgli met with Baloo, Bagheera and the wolf pack, declaring that Shere Khan must die. The animals felt obligated to remain out of the conflict as it would break jungle law to fight Shere Khan, but Mowgli proceeded with his plan and lured the killer of his parents to the edge of the village, where, with the help of the bull elephants, he mortally wounded his nemesis while Tabaqui fled. However, a British colonial hunter named John Lockwood accidentally injured Mowgli with a bullet while trying to kill the tiger and shoots Akela when the wolf saves Mowgli from Shere Khan. Lockwood was stopped and injured by the moss covered elephant (whom he robbed of his tusk) before he could do more harm and the other animals rallied to Mowgli upon seeing his resolve.

Akela gave Mowgli his blessing to lead the jungle's creatures and the wolf pack before he died peacefully. Mowgli decided to leave the village behind and returned to the jungle, where he stabbed the wounded Shere Khan, finally killing the tiger and ending his reign of terror forever.

Trivia

 * Like Shere Khan in Mowgli's Story, he's the master of Tabaqui the hyena.
 * Like Shere Khan in The Jungle Book, he is portrayed as being crippled with a deformed leg.

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Shere Khan (2018)