Shen Gong Wu:

Shen Gong Wu are primarily used in Xiaolin Showdowns, eponymous challenges over Shen Gong Wu, themselves. The first Xiaolin Showdown was between the creator of the Shen Gong Wu Grand Master Dashi and the evil witch Wuya. It was a great battle, in which Dashi used the Shen Gong Wu against Wuya's Heylin magic. Eventually, Grand Master Dashi was the victor, and Wuya was trapped within a mystical puzzle box. Determined to ensure that Wuya would not be able to get her hands on the Shen Gong Wu and rule the world with them, Grand Master Dashi and the dragon Dojo hid the Shen Gong Wu all over the world. Dashi then created the Xiaolin Temple and began a lineage of Chosen Xiaolin Warriors to prevent the Shen Gong Wu from falling in the wrong hands. Each Xiaolin Warrior is endowed with the power of one of the classical elements; fire, wind, water, and earth. Should Wuya ever be freed, the Xiaolin Warriors would rise up and fight the forces of the Heylin.

After 1,500 years, Wuya was finally freed from the puzzle box by Jack Spicer, but she was reduced to a ghostly form. With Wuya's freedom, the latest set of Xiaolin Warriors were put into action; the orphaned monk Omi who wields the element of water, the technologically proficient Kimiko Tohomiko who wields the element of fire, the laid back Raimundo Pedrosa who wields the element of wind, and cowboy Clay Bailey who wields the element of earth. When the Xiaolin and Heylin sides meet, the Shen Gong Wu begin to reveal themselves, and the Xiaolin Showdowns begin, again.

A Shen Gong Wu can only be located when it chooses to reveal itself, and at that point, both Wuya and Dojo can sense its revealing and can find its general location. Wuya is able to tell what Shen Gong Wu has revealed itself, while the Xiaolin must defer to the Scroll of the Shen Gong Wu to find out which one has been revealed. Jack Spicer had also devised a mechanical device that senses a new Shen Gong Wu, and Chase Young is also capable of anticipating when a new Shen Gong Wu will be revealed.

It is unknown how many Shen Gong Wu there are, as the nature of the show is for at least one new one to be revealed in each episode. In the first episode, Wuya commented that there are "hundreds," lending to the show's open-endedness.

There are two occasions during which astronomical events affect the Shen Gong Wu. When the planets align themselves, the Shen Gong Wu gather to form Mala Mala Jong. When the rare Heylin Comet flies over Earth, the Shen Gong Wu come alive and take over their user. Raimundo was subject to the Heylin Comet's magic in the episode The Last Temptation of Raimundo, and he was taken over by the Golden Tiger Claws, Third Arm Sash, Helmet of Jong and many other Shen Gong Wu. He was turned into a giant freakish brute until the comet had passed and it was safe to take the Shen Gong Wu off.

Known Shen Gong Wu:

As of this writing, there have been 75 known Shen Gong Wu that were revealed in the series. In the episode The Crystal Glasses, several unnamed Shen Gong Wu were revealed. While these Shen Gong Wu were eventually collected by the Xiaolin, they have not been used, save for the Wushu Helmet. In the episode The Black Vipers, another unknown Shen Gong Wu was shown to be in the hands of the Xiaolin, and again, it was not used, named, or seen since.