General Shang is the main antagonist of the 2016 Oscar-winning science fantasy film Arrival, based on the 1998 short story Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. He is the protective but harsh commanding general of the Chinese military who seeks to protect his people and country by any means necessary, even if it means overruling superiors or acting unilaterally against the advice of scientists or allied nations.
He was portrayed by Tzi Ma.
Biography[]
Past[]
While most of his past is unknown, it is known that General Shang was happily married before his wife passed away, which proved to be a very upsetting and traumatic moment in his life and may have been a reason he became so cold. As revealed by her final words, his wife was opposed to militarism, despite her authentically loving relationship with him. His wife's death was a traumatic moment in his life.
The Aliens Arrive[]
One day, twelve alien ships landed on Earth, their intentions unknown, with one landing in China. General Shang was sent to oversee the operations surrounding the craft, and was ready to attack if the aliens proved to be hostile. Despite his clear distrust for the aliens, Shang allowed linguists and researchers to study the aliens and their craft, especially trying to discover a means of communication and potentially understanding their language.
However, Shang and the linguists tried to convey communication through games of mahjong, which the other countries feared could lead to the aliens believing humans were nothing more than competition. Despite this, the Chinese were able to decipher some of the alien "heptapod's" language.
Fear[]
Operations ran smoothly until one day when they asked the heptapods their purpose on Earth, to which the heptapods cryptically replied "use weapon", although this may have been an inaccurate translation. This scared Shang and his superiors, leading them to decide to break with their allies in the rest of the world and cut off all communication with them and the aliens. Shang then made a public statement and threat, demanding the aliens leave Chinese territory or they would be destroyed. Russia, Pakistan, and Sudan follow suit.
Redemption[]
Before Shang carries out his threat to destroy the aliens, he gets a call from American linguist Louise Banks on his private phone number telling him his wife's dying words, which, translated from Mandarin, are: "In war there are no winners, only widows". This softens Shang's heart, makes him realize that Louise has a gift, and as a result he orders his forces to stand down. It is not until later that he realizes that, because she mastered the heptapod's language, she began to perceive time as they do, and is able to see the past and the future. She looked into the future to a point where she met General Shang(see below).
Many Years Later[]
Because of the heptapods, all countries have to ally to decipher their language, and eventually, a sustained peace is created. Louise and Shang attend an international ball celebrating the unity, where Shang thanks her and gives her his private phone number and tells her his wife's dying words, knowing her past self will need them when she looks to that point in the future.
Personality[]
General Shang is more overprotective and insubordinate than he is malicious, and is mostly concerned about the safety of his country and people. In the future, he states that even his superiors could not change his mind, suggesting that he is willing to disobey the national leadership if he feels the situation warrants it. He is ready and able to go to great lengths to protect his country. Despite this, he is shown to be quite kind and honorable, and changes his mind when people treat him with respect and show him the error of his ways, which he admits is difficult to do. As opposed to a true villain, Shang is merely guilty of overreacting and misjudging intentions, and had no malicious intent.
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