Henry Yan is a Tai Chi instructor at the San Francisco Chinatown Community Center who also happens to be a Chinese Art History graduate student at UCSF. Henry is an expert in Ancient Chinese history and folklore, which ends up benefiting Nicky Shen, as she is dealing with ancient Chinese supernatural forces.
Biography[]
Early life[]
He trained in Wushu China for three years prior.
Season 1[]
Pilot[]
Nicky and Henry first meet, and the two seemingly have instant chemistry. It is so strong that it stopped a random Asian Auntie in her tracks to have her comment on the good-looking pair. Later, Henry reveals to Nicky the fabled magical potential of the weapon that Zhilan Zhang now has in her possession.
Silence[]
At the community center in San Francisco, Nicky finds Henry. She gives him the drawing of the necklace, and he recognizes the style of the art. They make plans to meet at the library later to investigate the lead further. She goes to leave, and Henry asks if she’s trained lately. She says she hasn’t been able to find her groove since returning from the monastery in the Yunnan Province. Henry shares with her that he spent two years training in Beijing and also had a hard time coming home. He offers to train her at the park, which she accepts.
Once Evan Hartley leaves with his order from the Shen's family restaurant as Henry texts Nicky. She goes to leave, and Jin sees her. He excitedly shows her that he saved a picture of their last game night together so they can pick up where they left off. They make a date for 8 p.m. as she leaves to meet Henry.
At the library, both Nicky and Henry are running into a wall researching. Nicky shares what happened with the girl in the park and shows Henry the wallet. He recognizes that a band in the wallet belongs to a local homeless shelter. Later, Henry tells Nicky that he found the symbol. As it turns out, it’s a symbol for one of the families guarding each of the eight weapons, which makes Zhilan and Pei-Ling Zhang part of these guardians. He then mention that their lead is Winston Chau, who is a professor who is an expert in these symbols, and Henry then says he’s in Singapore now.
Patience[]
Nicky is finally able to see what Henry is capable of as the two spar, but Henry observes that Nicky is visibly distracted by the news that Zhilan has resurfaced in Singapore and is likely linked to the disappearance of Professor Chau due to his expertise on the mythical eight weapons she is on the hunt for.
Late, he and Nicky make a discovery of their own, finding an ancient key that may lead them to the next of the eight weapons and thus guaranteeing a showdown with Zhilan in the process.
Unbeknownst to Henry, Evan launches a private investigation into him after learning he and Nicky broke into Chau's office.
Hand[]
Before Nicky meets up with Henry to discuss the origins of the ancient key they discovered inside the puzzle box, Althea Shen teases her younger sister over her will-they/won't-they romance she seems to have with Henry and advises her sister to act on the attraction she is feeling towards Henry.
Elsewhere in San Francisco, Evan is feeling guilty over letting his jealousy get the better of him, and investigate Henry. However, before he can back out, he gets a call from the friend who was looking into Henry. His friend then emails him the information he got on Henry, who isn't all he appears. As it turns out, Evan's background check on him reveals he has an extensive criminal record.
Since the local and wealthy entrepreneur linked to the key conveniently happens to be out of town, Henry suggests that he and Nicky should break into his palatial estate to investigate for additional clues. While there Henry displays a surprising amount of prowess in break-in techniques and contemplates stealing a Chinese artifact he finds in the home, believing it belongs back in China rather than a mansion in the California Bay Area.
Eventually, Henry meets with his fence Randall, who repatriates stolen artifacts back to their native culture. Revealing he stole the relic from the mansion, Henry gives it to his fence for information about who the mysterious burglar was while Nicky is quietly updated on Henry's past from Evan. Nicky challenges the thief to a fight, wagering the key if she loses, emerges triumphant and opens the box to recover the scabbard to the sword that burned her inside. Touching the scabbard ceases the pain in Nicky's hand and she relinquishes the scabbard to Henry for safekeeping, sharing a kiss with him after he confesses that he had a rough upbringing growing up impoverished with his grandmother before finding his true calling in Chinese history.
Sanctuary[]
At the Chinese Community Center, Nicky and Henry are meeting up for an early training session where the pair trade blows while unabashedly flirting. When Henry teases that Nicky is going easy on him and that she could have ended the fight already, Nicky quips that you “can’t blame a girl for wanting to make this last longer.” Not to be outdone, Henry fires back, “I’m all for a marathon session, but I’m just saying… You don’t have to hold back. I know you can kick my ass. I think it’s hot.”
Nicky pulls off a classic move and ends up on top of Henry, essentially straddling him when she goes in for a kiss. But as fate would have it, they are interrupted by two other gym goers, who were already scheduled to use the studio space.
After awkwardly grabbing their stuff and freshening up, Nicky and Henry take over the library and begin their quest to find one of the magical weapons. When Henry suggests that there was likely a time that all eight weapons were used together, Nicky remembers reading an ancient legend about a small band of Chinese warriors who won a battle with magical, green-glowing weapons.
Later, Nicky and Henry run into their own troubling incident in Chinatown, with an unarmed Black teenager named Andre shot by the police after being mistaken for a robber, dying the next day from his wounds.
Eventually at the library, Henry and Nicky are both still a little shaken by the protests, but they get their first lead from one of Randall’s sources, who has sent a video confirming the existence of an unidentified weapon in South America that also glows green.
Rage[]
During their research, Nicky remembers that Randall mentioned the knife dig site was in St. Cristobal finds, and finds out that the specific site is none other than the Orura Silver Mine in Bolivia, which collapsed, taking two lives. She then discovers the mine was brought down intentionally. Henry subsequently finds out that Li Jiang, one of the victims, was thought to be a member of one of the guardian families by Professor Chau. The pair then theorize that Li Jiang brought the mine down to keep the dagger safe.
While Nicky is training, Henry calls and informs Nicky that the dagger is coming to San Francisco.
At the Shen’s restaurant, Nicki gets texts from Henry saying he’s set up a meeting between them and Randall for noon at the apothecary. Mei-Li then walks in and proceeds to comment on how Nicky’s been happy before not-so-subtly inquiring about Henry. Nicky deflects and leaves.
At the apothecary, Randall tells Nicky and Henry the dagger should be arriving in one day to the Reed Museum and that he plans to extract it.
After finding out about the gala, Nicky tells Henry that they’re going to break into the museum and get the dagger. He’s skeptical and needs a little convincing. Henry has to go teach a class, but asks Nicky to wait for him before making a plan.
Althea tells Ryan he needs to “schmooze” people to get funding for the clinic. Nicky asks Althea to pull some strings and get tickets to the gala for her and Henry. She does some recon of the museum before meeting up with Henry, laying out a plan to steal the dagger.
Frustrated, Henry stops her, saying that her plan depends on a ton of luck, so they’re never going to get the dagger this way. She assumes that this means that he’s out, and gets upset. She then proceeds to tell him that she’ll do it alone if he won’t help her.
Later, Ryan, Althea, and Henry corner Nicky about her plan. Instead of trying to stop her, they’ve decided to help her.
Eventually, Nicky, Henry, Althea, Dennis, and Ryan arrive at the gala dressed to the nines. They go over the plan one last time: which has Henry mentioning how he will get to the server room and provide Althea remote access, that way she can open the doors to where the dagger is being held for Nicky and Henry during the mayor’s speech while everyone is distracted.
Unfortunately, Nicky bumps into Evan, who expresses surprise at seeing her at an event like the gala. Not long after that awkward encounter, the gang runs into Jin and Mei-Li, who the Soongs gave their extra tickets to. Ryan tries to distract them with an art exhibit, but they all get roped in. Mei-Li starts questioning Henry about his plans after graduate school. To escape, Nicky spills wine on Henry’s tux, which gives everyone a convenient excuse to slip away. Henry then enters the control room.
Evan suspiciously looks on as Althea and Nicky get into the security system. Althea says the firewall was already down due to routine maintenance according to the system.
As Nicky goes to meet Henry, Evan corners her, saying he knows the Shens are up to something. He asks her to tell him the truth, saying he’s stuck his neck out for her and deserves at least that. She lies and says she’s just there for the party before walking off.
Jin asks Mei-Li why she was interrogating Henry. Mei-Li says she’s heard things around town about Henry’s past and his family. Jin reminds her that whatever happened in the past, Henry’s pulled himself up by his bootstraps and turned his behavior around. Jin then mentions how Henry reminds him of himself.
Unfortunately, Nicky and Henry run into a security detail. Ryan distracts them by pretending to be inebriated and hassling the mayor about cutting funding. Althea buzzes them in. Nicky finds the dagger in a crate before the pair are accosted by men who demand she hand it over.
The three men pull guns on them, but Henry reminds them that shooting them will only draw attention, which is a surefire way to lose the dagger. They pull out zip ties, which gives Henry and Nicky the split second they need to jump into action.
When Henry comes to get her, Nicky tells him what happened with Zhilan. Obviously worried, he begs her to be smart and not to go after her, saying that Zhilan will kill her this time.
Henry then mentions how ever since they found out about the dagger, Nicky has been driven by something dark that isn’t justice at all.
Eventually, Nicky tells Henry to get her family away from the gala before she goes after Zhilan.
Guidance[]
Sometime after the fight, Nicky is discovered by her ex-boyfriend Evan Hartley, who helps her and takes her away from the scene as Nicky contemplates the bombshell revelation from Zhilan. Meanwhile, Henry is forced to watch from the sidelines.
While Ryan Shen advises Nicky to refrain from training and fighting to give her body a chance to heal from injuries endured during the fight against Zhilan; Henry and Nicky are approached by a young man with concerns about his sister Phoebe's martial arts mentor Master Drake and his violent methodology.
In the aftermath of her fight against Drake, Henry admits he watched Nicky and Evan depart from the art gala without knowing where they went off to. Thus, until Nicky can resolve her lingering romantic feelings for Evan, he decides to pause any progression in their own romance.
Destiny[]
At the venue, Henry arrives with a massive cardboard cutout of Dennis Soong that Nicky ordered. Nicky’s about to tell him about what she found out, but Chloe runs in a panic. A man named TJ pulls her out of the venue as Nicky and Henry follow her. Chloe says she doesn’t want to do this anymore, but TJ insists she get in the car. Nicky and Henry watch as they speed away.
Henry and Nicky then decide to go after Chloe and not disturb Althea’s party. Henry notices a custom design on the car and calls a friend who might know the designer.
Elsewhere, Nicky tells Henry that Chloe’s friends are big time thieves and that TJ and Chloe were definitely involved. Nicky heard TJ say something is going down tonight, and Nicky sighs. She goes to Althea to tell her what’s going on, including that she lost Chloe in the process. Althea barely holds in a scream of frustration, but then tells Nicky and Henry to find Dennis, who is currently at his bachelor party.
Nicky and Henry eventually find Dennis. The trio then realize that Chloe and her group are going to break into their own house.
As Chloe tries to stop TJ and the girls from leaving, TJ pushes her down. Luckily Nicky shows up in the nick of time and beats the snot out of TJ and the other with Henry also assisting.
At the party, Henry and Nicky fill Althea in.
Isolation[]
As Nicky regroups with Henry, the duo make a new plan to stop Zhilan. Nicky thinks finding Mei-Xue is the key to getting ahead of Zhilan, and they look at Mei-Xue’s last letter that arrived with a red panda figurine. The letter is mostly nonsense, but a line about a fringe jacket rings a bell for Henry. When he was searching message boards he found a post from Professor Chau mentioning a woman in a fringe jacket searching for the weapons in the 1980s and 90s. Henry also found an alias for the woman: Sandra Yang.
Evan invites himself along when he realizes Henry is accompanying Nicky on the roadtrip to Canada.
Just as Evan finishes packing the car,Nicky and Henry approach, and all three get in the car for what is proving to be a tension filled trip.
Back in the car, Evan turns on Dua Lipa to keep Henry awake as he drives, making both Henry and Nicky laugh as he dances along. The next morning, the trio arrive at their destination. While Henry and Evan understandably want to use records to find Mei-Xue, Nicky gets a gut feeling about where she is. The two follow her to a local bar. They ask the bartender about Mei-Xue, but she doesn’t have any information about her. She does point them in the direction of Hank, a local whose father Duke used to own the bar. Nicky tries to talk to Hank to get to Duke, who Hank shares is dead to him. When another pool player tries to get Nicky to leave, Evan steps in and gets punched for his trouble. Nicky takes over, and she and Henry tag team the other men.
At Duke’s cabin, Nicky spots a red panda statue. They split up to look for Duke, and Nicky notices a carving of a woman. Duke points a gun at Nicky, and she pulls out the red panda statue. She tells him about Mei-Xue, and he lowers the gun. He raises it again when Evan and Henry emerge, but Nicky tells them to wait in the car.
Meanwhile, Evan and Henry are antsy waiting for her and find Duke, who tells them Nicky went looking for Mei-Xue following his directions.
Henry wants to go after Nicky, but Evan reassures him. He says he and Nicky used to go camping all the time, and she knows how to handle herself.
In the forest, Nicky finds herself facing a wolf as she gets closer, and it drags away her backpack as she twists her ankle. She splints it herself and continues on. Henry and Evan continue bonding while waiting for Nicky. They both note how Nicky is independent and really doesn’t need their help, laughing at the realization. Evan shares that he broke up with Sabine and that Nicky doesn’t know yet. Henry says that in the end, it’s Nicky’s choice whether to be with Evan or Henry.
Alas, Nicky makes her way back to the car and wakes up Evan and Henry, telling them what happened.
Choice[]
Althea and Ryan then tease Nicky about being stuck between Evan and Henry now that Evan broke up with Sabine.
Back at the community center library, Nicky and Henry are looking at Mei-Xue’s tapes and journals, respectively. Nicky can’t take her eyes off of Henry, and Henry notices something is up with her. Henry notes that in Mei-Xue's tapes starts talking about a place called “The Forge.” As she listens to the tapes some more, Nicky learns that the weapons, having continually lost their power over time, would unleash the terrible power they held only if all eight weapons were reunited where they were created, the place with the most Biange energy: The Forge. Thus, Nicky and Henry must find The Forge to protect it from Zhilan.
Later, Althea notices Nicky seems happy and starts prying for details on her love life. Nicky tells her about her and Henry’s kiss a while back but that it’s complicated now. She admits how she loves Evan; always have, and probably always will. She doesn’t want to tell Evan how she feels about Henry and risk losing him, especially since he and Sabine broke up.
Unbeknownst to Henry, Nicky and Evan talk, and she admits that the two exes are different people now. She tells Evan she’ll never stop caring about him, but she wants to be with Henry.
Nicky eventually finds Henry and asks him to be her date to Althea’s wedding. In a long speech, in which Henry tries to interject quite a few times, Nicky reveals her feelings for Henry. She wants more. Henry tells her that things haven’t changed on his end and the two kiss.
Attachment[]
After their liaison together in the library, Henry and Nicky wake up to the constant knocking of the entrance door and hastily dress up while tidying up the library before opening it up for attendees, who snigger at their late opening of the library, realizing their reasons. They briefly reminisce before discussing the secret clue in Mei-Xue's tape recording about the Forge, which did not have direct clues, but was cryptic in nature. Henry then states he needs to leave to teach a class before searching for the meaning of the words in history. He then notes on how Nicky seems less desperate and impatient and more at ease, which she tries to pin on her parents' happiness and her sister's engagement and her brother's relationship, to Henry's amusement.
Henry is then paid a visit by Nicky with drinks amidst his research, where they identify each other's flavors before discussing the path to the Forge, which Zhilan will need to start Biange. They end up hitting dead ends in the history books, until Henry called in a friend, who uses a BETA program that translates text into any historical language for help, where they find a Korean match to the lyrics, whose writer, Simon Lau, is revealed to be another Guardian, due to wearing a similar pendant to Zhilan and Pei-Ling, but with a falcon, who protects a meteor hammer, one of the eight weapons in rumor. They find an opportunity to corner him at Belmondo in Las Vegas to question him about his heritage and the weapons. Henry then creates a scene to steal a ticket for entry.
Sacrifice[]
To be added
Transformation[]
To be added
Personality[]
He’s just really passionate and he just is very knowledgeable when it comes to Ancient Chinese history. For him, it’s like these comic books are historical comic books coming to life. So, to know that this magical mythology is potentially real, he's very excited about that prospect. Henry is also the kind of guy who's definitely ready to jump in and help.
Skills[]
- Expert Martial Artist: Henry is well versed in martial arts specifically Kung Fu and Tai Chi.
- Expert Historian: Henry is well verse in ancient Chinese Histories and lore.
- Skilled Thief: Henry is an accomplished thief being able to pick a lock.
Powers[]
- The Compass Bearer: As the Bearer Henry has a wide range of mystical abilities.
- Mystical Sensing
- Mystical Locating
Appearances[]
| Kung Fu: Season 1 (12/13) | ||||||||||
| "Pilot": | "Silence": | "Patience": | "Hand": | "Sanctuary": | "Rage": | |||||
| Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | |||||
| "Guidance": | "Destiny": | "Isolation": | "Choice": | "Attachment": | "Sacrifice": | |||||
| Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | Appears | |||||
| "Transformation": | ||||||||||
| Absent | ||||||||||
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
Trivia[]
- In Patience, Henry tells Nicky he learned how to pick a lock via YouTube.