Shen Gong Wu were powerful 75 magical items created by Grand Master Dashi. They are the most important aspects of Xiaolin Showdown. The Shen Gong Wu activated one by one over a long period, and both the Xiaolin and the Heylin had ways of detecting their activation. The Xiaolin warriors had Dojo Kanojo Cho, and the Heylin villains had Wuya. Wuya grew more powerful with more Shen Gong Wu, so the Xiaolin Dragons-in-training had to collected as many as they could to stop her.
History[]
A Xiaolin Showdown was a duel using the collected Shen Gong Wu as wagers. When a Shen Gong Wu was wagered, it was available to everyone in the showdown, but the one who wagered it has it at first. They may be traded randomly in the showdown if one side asks for a Shen Yi Bu Dare, which also makes it so there were 2 Shen Gong Wu per person. Shen Yi Bu Dares happen now and then, such as in "The Demon Seed" between Raimundo Pedrosa and Gigi. A Xiaolin Showdown only happens when two or more people were touching a Shen Gong Wu.
Dojo Kanojo Cho had a rulebook which the Xiaolin warriors referred to at many points throughout the series, such as in when the Xiaolin Dragons-in-training and their fears, created by the Shadow of Fearwhich was in Jack Spicer's possession, had touched the Crouching Cougar at the same time.
A Shen Gong Wu was activated when the user said the name of the Shen Gong Wu. For instance, the Eye of Dashi shot forth lightning only when its name was called.
The Shen Gong Wu also appeared to have the capacity to grow and shrink. When Cyclops had the Wings of Tinabi, they grew for him so he could use them and shrunk for Omi when he was incredibly small, but the Jetbootsu did not grow for Cyclops when he tried to put them on, additionally the Shroud of Shadows was able to grow often (like when Omi hid Dojo's giant wooden cage) but it did not grow for Kimiko when she became a sumo wrestler, showing that they do not grow when wagered.
Although incredibly powerful, the Shen Gong Wu had limits, and sometimes even ran out of power or just broke altogether. The Silk Spitter once ran out of silk (but only for about 10 seconds), the Golden Finger could only pause time temporarily and the Shard of Lightning only let the user move as fast as the speed of light for as long as the flash of lightning. The Shen Gong Wu were very durable and difficult to break but they had been broken on occasion. The first Wu to get broken was the Reversing Mirror which was destroyed by Wuya's powerful magic (however it was also fixed after she was defeated), then the Mosaic Scale dropped by Kimiko, the Hodoku Mouse fell into lava, the Silver Manta Ray crashed in the Ying-Yang World and the Sands of time were vaporized by Hannibal Roy Bean. Wuya also commented on Jack's cousin Megan breaking the Ju-Ju Fly Trap.