Boss Wolf

"Guess nobody told you: you mess with the wolf.... you get the fangs."

- Wolf Boss taunting Po.

Boss Wolf, also known as the Wolf Boss, is the secondary antagonist of DreamWorks' 22nd full-length animated feature film Kung Fu Panda 2. He is Lord Shen's most loyal servant, military strategist, and trusted right paw.

He was voiced by Danny McBride, who also portrayed himself in This Is The End.

Personality
Boss Wolf is fast, sneaky, ruthless, diabolical, manipulative, and intelligent. He is very strong and clever, and is both respected and feared by his pack. Boss Wolf was Lord Shen's second-in-command and most loyal subordinate. Boss Wolf is shown to be very acquiescent, obedient, and savage, as he takes part in the massacre of the panda village, and was even attempted to kill an innocent baby, which cost him his left eye at the hands of the child's father. He is also low enough to endanger the citizens of Gongmen City, even a crateful of rabbit children.

Though Boss Wolf usually carried out Shen's commands without hesitation, he hesitates when Shen ordered him to fire his cannon during the final battle with the kung fu masters, which would mean killing their own soldiers. Boss Wolf refused, and was struck down by three of Shen's blades as a result. This defiance showed that while Boss Wolf was unsympathetic and merciless towards his enemies, he was nowhere near as evil as Shen, and cared for the lives of his own warriors. He was also shown to be almost puppy-like at times, talking too much and making Shen angry with his own comments.

Origins
Boss Wolf (along with his pack of wolf brothers and sisters) were once guards in Gongmen City's royal palace. The only member of the royal family ever to befriend the wolves was Shen - the frail, albino heir to Gongmen City's throne. Shen fed them, played with them, and treated them like family. It was then that the Wolf Boss swore his allegiance to the young prince.

Boss Wolf's loyalty to Shen went as far as willingly helping the young lord wipe out an innocent farming village of pandas. Boss Wolf took a savage part in the massacre, as when he tried to slay an innocent panda cub. The child's father saved his son's life, whacking Boss Wolf in the face with his hammer, causing him to fly and land on Shen's drawn sword and permanently scar his left eye. Boss Wolf managed to outwit the farmer and he, along with other wolves and Shen gave chase to the farmer's family. It is presumed Boss Wolf may have been the one who killed Po's mother, if not then Shen. Once the attack was made known to Shen's parents, Boss Wolf, along with his pack, was banished alongside his master.

Kung Fu Panda 2
Boss Wolf first met Master Po, as well as the Furious Five, as he and his pack robbed the Musicians' Village of their metal to use for Lord Shen's cannons. When he saw Po, he said, "The panda? That's impossible!" because of the fact that he and his wolves had supposedly neutralized the threat of the pandas under Shen's orders. Mocking Po's fat body and his fluffiness, he was surprised by Po's agility. After the rest of his pack had been defeated, he charged at Po with his hammer and struck a hard blow to his face when the panda was distracted by the symbol on his arm. Boss Wolf escaped, laughing.

He encountered Master Po and the Furious Five again in Gongmen City as he attempted to stop them from rescuing the two surviving Kung Fu masters, Storming Ox and Croc. Having noticed how he was outnumbered, he ran away and escaped on a rickshaw cart. He and Po fought across town, using their carts to dodge and escape each other's attacks. But despite Po's success in finally catching him, Boss Wolf ended up leading Po and the Five into an ambush at the front gates of Shen's palace.

During the final battle between Po's group of Kung Fu masters and Shen's army of wolves and artillery of cannons, it quickly became apparent that the Kung Fu masters were winning. Fearful of being defeated, Shen ordered Boss Wolf to fire at the barrier of wreckage blocking their way to the city harbor. He hesitated, noting the amount of powder in the wreckage and arguing how some of his pack would be killed as a result. Shen, refusing to care about the potential loss of his own wolf pack, ordered Boss Wolf again to fire. Seeing who Shen really is, Boss Wolf finally refused. Infuriated, Shen killed him with his throwing blades and proceeded to fire the cannon himself.

Kung Fu Panda 3
Boss Wolf doesn't make a live appearance in Kung Fu Panda 3, but it turns out that several pandas (led by Po's father, Li Shan) have escaped the slaughter and have taken refuge in a village on the mountains. However, Boss Wolf is briefly seen near the end of a recycled flashback told by Li of how he lost his family, just as Po and Li conspire together to protect the panda village from the arriving Kai and his army of Jombies.

Trivia

 * According to the creator's commentary, Boss Wolf was originally intended to be a crow and was animated as a crow in a deleted scene (viewable here). He was changed to a wolf mid-production as the film makers thought he was too similar to Shen.