The following are fictional characters from Disney's 1998 film Mulan and its sequel, Mulan II.
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| Captain Li Shang | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Mulan (1998) |
| Created by | Robert D. San Souci Dean DeBlois |
| Voiced by | B.D. Wong (speaking) Donny Osmond (singing) |
| Aliases | Captain Shang, General Shang |
Captain Li Shang is a Chinese army captain. His speaking voice was provided by B.D. Wong in all three titles, and his singing vocals were performed by Donny Osmond (Jackie Chan in the Mandarin version). During his appointment in the first movie, is a highly capable leader with a dedication to his cause to match, albeit at times being too "by-the-book" and putting his duty above his feelings, in contrast to Mulan. He is often called a 'Pretty Boy' due to his dashing good looks and strong physique. He is reserved and thoughtful, a more logical and calming influence to Mulan's vivacious and reckless personality. Shortly after his initial introduction in Mulan, Shang is appointed newly as an army captain, by his father who is a general. Later through the film, he becomes friends with Ping (who is Fa Mulan disguised as a man), after his life is saved by him/her. Shortly after, however, he finds out she is actually a woman, which is forbidden by the empire's law, punishable by death. After sparing her life, and later helping her save the empire, they become love interests to each other with the closing of the film.
In Mulan II, the film begins with him proposing to marry Mulan, to which she gladly agrees. He is promoted from captain to general by the emperor, and he and Mulan are directed by the emperor to escort his three daughters to a conflicting kingdom in hopes that an arranged marriage between them and the three princes of the opposing nation will bring peace. He and Mulan go through much conflict around their relationship, and midway through the film he is assumed dead after falling into a canyon with a streaming river further down. Later, when it is revealed he is alive (with help from his gray-spotted white horse), Mushu saves the day by pretending to be the Golden Dragon of Unity and freeing the princesses from their vows. Mushu (still posing as the Golden Dragon) marries Shang and Mulan. Mulan later tells Shang about Mushu and he combines both families temples so that Mushu can remain as Mulan's guardian.
B.D. Wong reprises his role as Shang in Kingdom Hearts II, which is almost copied and pasted from the film with the exception of Sora, Donald Duck, Goofy. As in the film, he initially distrusts Mulan, Sora, Donald and Goofy, but learns to respect them after they defeat Shan-Yu and his Heartless army. Later on in the game, when Riku arrives in this world to warn the Emperor of Organization XIII's evil plans, a distrusting Shang attempts to fight Riku, who easily defeats him. In the end, after Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mulan have destroyed the Heartless Storm Rider created by Xigbar, Mulan becomes a bodyguard for the Emperor alongside Shang. During the game's credits, he and Mulan almost kiss, but are interrupted by Yao, Ling and Chien-Po, who were spying on them but fell over.
| Mushu | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Mulan (1998) |
| Created by | Robert D. San Souci |
| Voiced by | Eddie Murphy (Mulan) Mark Moseley (Mulan II, Kingdom Hearts, House of Mouse) |
Mushu is Fa Mulan's closest companion throughout the Mulan series. He is a Chinese dragon with ears- his body is a red color and he has orange accents. He is voiced by Eddie Murphy in his first appearance and Mark Moseley afterward. At first, Mulan's companions were to be two reptilian creatures; the idea of the creatures being dragons had not been established. However, feeling that two sidekicks would overcrowd the story, the animators then decided on a two-headed dragon, though they were green and grotesque. After the animators decided on a single-headed dragon, they established Mushu's physical concept. For better use, the animators shrunk Mushu to a smaller size.[1] Around the time when the music of the film was to be created, the songwriters had written a piece for Mushu for him to sing to assure Mulan that he will be there to help her. However, after Eddie Murphy came to voice the character, the character and his dynamic changed, and the animators canceled the piece, although it was a favorite among the filmmakers.[2]
Mushu was once a guardian spirit of Mulan's family, but he has been demoted to the humiliating position of an incense burner and gong-ringer for the deceased Fa ancestors ever since he failed to protect a family member, a soldier named Fa Deng, resulting in the soldier's demise by decapitation (he's seen carrying his own head as a spirit). In contrast to Mulan, Mushu is in most situations more comical, overconfident, and impulsive.[3] He strives to be one of the family guardians again, but he is content to help Mulan, even if he's the one who starts the trouble.[3] He can also be selfish at times, but his heroism proves that he has a big heart, despite his size.[3] Mushu is also sensitive about his size, claiming to Mulan that his small stature was simply for her convenience rather than his default state. He also dislikes being compared to a lizard, insisting that he doesn't do "that tongue thing". He has the body of a snake, the horns of an elk, the claws of an eagle, and the face of a camel, coming to resemble a legendary dragon found in Chinese art around the time.[1] He is able to survive more like a mythical creature than an animal; he endures being stomped on, explosions, and an avalanche in the first movie. He can also understand other animals, as seen when he converses with Cri-kee (Mushu's cricket) and horse Khan. At one point when he wants to disguise as a soldier riding a horse, he uses a giant panda as the soldier's steed. Like many dragons, he is able to breathe fire, at first unsuccessfully, but masters it in time to stop Shan Yu's falcon, Hayabusa, from alerting the Huns to Li Shang's presence.
At the start of the film, Mushu does not make his official appearance until after Mulan runs away from home to serve in her elderly father Fa Zhou's place in a war against the deadly Hun army. Knowing that Mulan's exposure will lead to the disgrace of the Fa family, the spirits of the ancestors choose to send the Great Stone Dragon to retrieve her. For the task of awakening him, they send Mushu, who would rather go himself. After several unsuccessful attempts, he eventually ends up accidentally destroying the dragon statue. In order to escape punishment from the ancestors, he secretly sets out to make Mulan a war hero. Mushu helps a lot and with the help of Cri-kee, helps Mulan defeat Shan-Yu, resulting in him being returned to the position of guardian.
In Mulan II, when Mulan prepares to marry Li Shang, Mushu is at first overjoyed to the point of tears, going as far as planning the wedding himself. However, things change once the ancestors tell him that if Mulan marries Shang, his family's guardians will take over for Mulan, thus forcing Mushu to return to Gong duty. Desperate to keep his pedestal, he continuously tries to break the Mulan and Shang apart to keep his position, so in a way playing the role of the movie's main antagonist, but not villain. He later changes and marries them (pretending to be the golden dragon) and decides that he's happy if Mulan's happy. His actions cause Mulan to forgive him and he even brings peace to the kingdoms by using Shang and Mulan's marriage as the one to unite two kingdoms. Mushu also uses his impersonation to free three princesses from being forced into an arranged marriage so they can marry whoever they want. He is then gratified when Shang combines the family temples, giving Mushu his pedestal back.
In the first Kingdom Hearts, Mushu (ム羽 Mūshū) became a summon gem after his home world was destroyed by the Heartless. His primary attack - "Fire Breath" - aided Sora and his friends in their battles. He returns to his world after the door to Kingdom Hearts is sealed. In Kingdom Hearts II, he is helping Ping (Mulan) get in to the Imperial Army. When Sora, Donald and Goofy show up, they quickly reminisce about their past adventures, and after telling them he was a family guardian, Sora and the others agreed to help out Ping as payback for borrowing Mushu in the first game. In a later scene, he accidentally reveals that Ping is a woman and she is discharged from the army. In the end, peace was restored to their world and he went back to being a guardian, but not after receiving a quick scolding from Sora. When Sora and Mulan use their Limit, Mushu helps by spurting fireballs.
Mushu also appears in the Drawn to Animation attraction at the Disney California Adventure Park theme park and Disney's Hollywood Studios. He is also a meetable character at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
| Shan Yu | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Mulan (1998) |
| Created by | Robert D. San Souci Pres Romanillos Tim Hodge |
| Voiced by | Miguel Ferrer (Mulan) Corey Burton (KHII) |
Shan Yu 单于 (Shan-Yu or Xiang Yu, as he is sometimes called) is the primary antagonist of the film. He is voiced by Miguel Ferrer in Mulan and Corey Burton in Kingdom Hearts II. Shan Yu is the cruel leader of the Huns who is bent on conquering China, and with his Hun army, climbs over the Great Wall and invades the land to prove his "superiority" to the Emperor. He is the only Hun to have yellow eyes.
Like his people, Shan Yu is trained in living off the Earth, possessing heightened senses and a saker falcon as his pet. His strength is demonstrated many times during the course of the film, such as easily breaking down a barricaded door or effortlessly slicing through a massive pillar with his sword, making him easily one of the strongest characters in the film (second perhaps only to Chien-Po). Ruthless and cold-hearted, Shan Yu kills without mercy, remorse and, on occasion, as a joke; for example, after freeing two captured Chinese scouts to carry a message to the Emperor, he then comments to an archer, "How many men does it take to deliver a message?" (The archer replies "one", nocking an arrow.) While clearly heartless to his foes, he is proud of his army, as shown at the beginning when he thought it was perfect that all of China knew him and his army were there after the signal fire was lighted and when he flatly refused to avoid the Imperial troops and instead opt to take them head on, despite knowing that they are the elite of China's armies.
Some time after General Li's recruits complete their training, Shan Yu's pet falcon, Hayabusa, acquires a doll from a village in the Tung Shao Pass. After close examination of the doll and traces on it by his five main men, Shan Yu deduces that the Imperial Army is waiting for them. Ambushing General Li's army, Shan-Yu wipes out the Emperor's best troops, including General Li, and sets the village on fire, only the aftermath of which is seen in the film. No known survivors were discovered by Li Shang's troops. As they head for the Imperial City, the Hun army ambushes Li Shang's troops in the Tung Shao Pass, casting flaming arrows from the mountains to disintegrate their ammunition. Shan-Yu then leads his entire army to wipe out Li Shang's small battalion. Mulan, however, takes control of Li Shang's last cannon, aiming it for a nearby mountain. This maneuver triggers an avalanche that wipes out almost all of Shan-Yu's army and encases Shan Yu in a blanket of snow. At first, it seems like a victory, thanks to Mulan. Unfortunately, it is not. Following the avalanche and the departure of Li Shang's troops, Shan Yu rises from the snow, shaken and infuriated at the loss of his army. A loud yell of anger is all it takes for Mulan to realize that there is still a chance for the Huns; Shan Yu's pet falcon and five of his best troops had survived the assault. With no one to stop him, Shan Yu and his troops head for the Imperial City with Mulan close behind.
While his troops hide within a Chinese lion at the Imperial celebration, Shan Yu lies in wait on top of the roof of the Emperor's palace. At the right moment, Shan Yu's falcon retrieves his sword and his troops sprung into action, locking up the palace and kidnapping the Emperor. As Shan Yu threatens the Emperor to bow to him, Mulan, Li Shang, Yao, Chien-Pao, and Ling infiltrate the palace in an attempt to rescue the Emperor, the latter three being in drag (as a disguise). Mulan, Yao, Chien-Po and Ling defeat Shan Yu's men and his pet falcon is fried by Mushu. After securing the Emperor, in an attempt to distract Shan Yu from Shang (whom he was about to slaughter) Mulan reveals that it was she who destroyed his army. Pursuing her throughout the palace and onto the roof, Shan-Yu's attempt to kill Mulan backfires when Mulan initiates a plan of her own. Immobilizing Shan-Yu on the roof, she pins him to the roof with his own sword while Mushu aims a rocket at Shan Yu. Releasing the rocket, Mushu, Mulan, and Crik-ee escape the roof as the Hun leader is pulled by the rocket into a munitions tower and dies in a brilliant explosion. Mulan is then awarded Shan-Yu's sword for her success at ridding China of the Huns forever.
Shan Yu appears in Kingdom Hearts II as one of the first Disney Villains that Sora and company can fight in the game. He appears in the Land of Dragons, a Mulan-based world. The game follows much of the movie's storyline, except for the fact that instead of having an army Of Huns, he could summon an army of Heartless. He traps Sora and Mulan in a cave full of Heartless, while he destroys the Imperial Army's village. When Sora, Mulan, Donald and Goofy, along with the Imperial army, appears at the summit, the scene plays like a similar mountain scene in the film. He then makes his way into the Emperor's castle, but is stopped by Sora, Mulan, and the others. He fights them, using dark energy to enhance his abilities and working alongside his attack falcon, Hayabusa, and a swarm of Heartless. He tends to favor the Rapid Thruster Heartless, creating an army of them to attack Sora and friends on the mountain pass (in the movie it was his Hun army that attacked the heroes on the pass). During the boss battle he will send three Nightwalker Heartless to try and take down the door. This swarm of Heartless is resurrected when Sora fights a mysterious cloaked man that is later revealed as Riku on the same pass. He is ultimately slain by Sora. Shan Yu was not associated with Maleficent or Organization XIII, making his role in the game equivalent to that of Clayton from the first game.
Shan Yu also appears as "Shan-Yu" in The Kingdom Keepers, where he challenges Finn Whitman and finding that Finn can turn from human to pure light tries to kill him as well as his friend Charlene.
| Yao, Ling and Chien-Po | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Mulan (1998) |
| Created by | Robert D. San Souci Rita Hsiao Dean DeBlois |
| Voiced by | Harvey Fierstein (Yao) Gedde Watanabe (Ling) Matthew Wilder (Ling’s singing voice in Mulan) Jerry Tondo (Chien-Po) |
The army recruited Yao, Ling and Chien-Po to fight the Huns. Like other newly recruited soldiers, they lacked military skills before they were trained. However, they were harder to train than most. Even Mulan learned faster than they. Eventually, their training paid off and the trio were capable fighters. Even so, they still had trouble doing things right and were rather clumsy. They served largely as the comic relief, often involving slapstick humor that made them reminiscent of the Three Stooges. Eventually, despite some early conflict, the three extended an open hand to Mulan and became her "army buddies", though they, like the rest of the army, thought she was a man named Ping. As soldiers, they each had a different color uniform: green for Mulan, red for Yao, yellow for Ling and blue for Chien-Po. Unlike most other soldiers, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po did not seem to think any less of her when they found out she was a woman. When they later met up, they even agreed to participate in her plan to stop the surviving Huns by disguising themselves as concubines. Somehow, they fooled the guards, though none of the three made a very attractive woman (especially Yao, as he kept his facial hair even in makeup).
In the second film, the three were given a more substantial role and are shown not to have changed since the first film. Reprised by the original voice actors (sans Wilder; Watanabe did his own singing), they had been to see the matchmaker that rejected Mulan in the first film, but she decided there could not be a match for any of them, and threw them out. They were discouraged, but felt better when Mulan and Li Shang came to recruit them for another mission. Shang claimed to the emperor that just the five of them would be enough protection for his three daughters. Although still as bumbling as ever, Shang knew that they were instrumental in their victory against the Huns, which they did not appear to have received the same credit for. They gladly joined the escort to get the emperor's daughters to the Qui Gong princes they are engaged to. Along the way, they develop feelings for the princesses. They take the princesses to a carnival for some amusement. Eventually, all three princesses admit that their feeling are mutual, and do not want to marry the princes, despite their duty. Mulan, knowing this, leaves the trio with the princesses, and goes to offer herself to the royal family instead. However, the trio arrives with the princesses, as does Shang. Mushu pretends to be the Great Golden Dragon of Unity who commands that they be allowed to marry whoever they want, allowing them to be with Yao, Ling and Chien-Po. Presumably they did marry, though nothing was shown to indicate this.
In Kingdom Hearts II, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po appear as minor characters in The Land of Dragons with pretty much the same role as they had in the original film: they, along with Mulan, are members of Li Shang's troop.
Yao is the self-appointed leader of the trio. His signature color is red in the first film and purple in the second film. An arrogant and short-tempered individual with a bit of a Napoleon complex, he is short, stocky and has a permanent black eye. In the first film, he enjoys picking on Mulan for fun at first, but eventually becomes her friend. His clumsiness reveals, however, that he is not as powerful a man as he claims to be. He states about wanting a girl who'd admire his strength and battle scars.
In the second film, he reveals a rewarding plaque that has a picture of himself on his chest and falls in love with Princess Mei, the emperor's middle daughter. She accepted the idea that "my duty is to my heart" and is the easiest to be won over. In his encounter, he puts the slipper back onto her foot and sets the table for her with oranges, meat buns and tea. He wanted to marry a girl who would be impressed with his looks and his fighting ability. Although such traits leave something to be desired, he managed to impress her, and when he wins a fight at a carnival and is given a prize, he chooses a stuffed panda bear with three black legs and one white leg and gives it to her.
Ling is the group's middleman of medium height and very slim build. His signature color is yellow in the first film and blue in the second film. He is a friendly and enthusiastic man with a joke for every occasion. Though he teases Mulan at first, he, like the other two, becomes her friend. He and Yao occasionally have disagreements, but he grows to accept him as their leader. He was the one who coined the phrase "a girl worth fighting for."
In the second film, he falls in love with Princess Ting-Ting, the eldest princess. She is the most uptight princess, devoted to honor, and tries be a role model to her sisters. Ling, who wanted a girl who would laugh at his jokes (even knowing the chopstick nose trick that Ling believes to have invented), had to try harder than his partners to impress her. Unlike most people, Ting-Ting is amused by his puns, but would not laugh, claiming to dislike laughter, though the reason is that she thinks her snorting laugh is embarrassing. He begins to doubt himself. However, at the carnival, when some fireflies accidentally set off firecrackers that hit Ling, she cannot contain herself at his misfortune. She snorts, but Ling doesn't mind and thinks it's cute.
Chien-Po is by far the tallest and most obese of the three with a bald head. His signature color is blue in the first film and green in the second film. He is the calmest and most spiritual of the three, and his appearance seems to have been inspired by Buddhist imagery. He is rather naïve compared to his partners, and loves food more than anything, which is the main thing he considers when searching for a woman for he wishes for a wife that will be good at cooking and preparing food. He is very good-natured and would never do anything to upset anyone, making him the most ready to befriend Mulan. He also possesses great strength (which he often cannot control) and can actually lift multiple people with ease.
In the second film, he falls in love with Princess Su, the youngest sister. The most childlike, she is easily swayed, and is soon convinced of Mei's opinions. She loves food as much as Chien-Po, and when the group stops traveling for a while, she spends her time picking fruit from trees. Chien-Po discovers this, and the two of them bond easily. He even saves her when the carriage ends up falling in the water. At the carnival, they both order some dumplings, ginger and soybeans.
Cri-Kee is a purple cricket who is considered to be a bringer of good luck. In the first appearance, he is shown being caged up and gets very angry at the matchmaker who thinks Mulan is too skinny. During the "Reflection" musical number, she releases him. He tells Mushu that he has to find Mulan when the Great Stone Dragon (except its head) crumbles to pieces. It's said that in his first film, he's considered a lucky cricket. He helps Mushu defeat Shan Yu in by firing a Chinese missile towards him on top of the Emperor's palace (or some people call it the roof). In Cri-Kee's second film, he accuses Mushu for destroying the carriage and breaking up Mulan and Shang. Cri-Kee was voiced by Frank Welker.
Khan is Mulan's horse with a black coat and white markings on his face, belly and legs. He is portrayed as a very intelligent and confident horse. When he first saw Mushu, he tried to kill him with his hooves. In the first film, during the surprise ambush on the mountains, Mulan causes an avalanche killing many Huns. Khan risks his life to save Mulan and tries his best to run to safety before she almost falls to her death off the cliff. he also seems to be very close to Mulan. In the second film, he gets angry at Mushu who tries to break Mulan and Shang up after her saddle is unbuckled and in one of his attempts, he injures him by stamping him with his hooves. Khan is voiced by Frank Welker.
Little Brother is Mulan's pet dog. He has a blue collar around his neck. Mulan often uses him to spread chicken feeds by hanging a bone in front of him, similar to the carrot on a stick trick. He is voiced by Frank Welker.
Based on the real life emperor Qin Shi Huang, this character is shown as the wisest of all China. He lives in a palace and he has a long mustache and beard. Yellow is his color that he wears. In his first film, when everybody's ambushed, he gets captured by Shan Yu and his henchmen resulting his hat to fall off, but then with Mulan and Shang, in order to save him, Yao, Ling and Chien-Po (disguised as concubines) trick Shan Yu's henchmen into being attracted to them and so dropping their guard. After Shan Yu is terminated, the emperor comes down the steps and criticizes Mulan for impersonating a soldier, but thanks her for saving their beloved country. He is the first person to bow to her, even offering her a position on his council, but Mulan politely declines the offer by saying that she feels she should return to her family. In gratitude, he takes off his crest and puts it on her neck and gives Shan Yu's sword to her as tokens for her efforts, the crest representing what she did for him while the sword represents what she did for China. After she leaves, he puts his hat back on and tells Li Shang to go after her, noting that "You don't meet a girl like that every dynasty". His role is a little smaller in the second film, where he suggests Mulan and Shang to take his daughters to Qui-Gong as part of the mission. He is voiced by the late Pat Morita in the first two films and Kingdom Hearts II.
Chi-Fu is a member of the Emperor's consul and advisor to Li Shang who refuses to allow the recruits to join the battle against the Huns. Chi Fu is a minor protagonist and antagonist in the film. He is often disrespected by the recruits. Blue is the color he wears mostly. He gets mad when his hat is burnt. He is shown to be devoted to his job and loyal to the Emperor, but is incompetent, egoistic, pompous and misogynistic, as he silences Mulan and tells Fa Zhou to teach her silence in men's presence, and close to the film's conclusion when he pompously scoffs to Li Shang that Mulan would never be worth anything because she's a woman. At the end of the film, the Emperor tells Mulan she can have Chi-Fu's job, causing him to faint dropping his board. He does not appear in Mulan II, but it is shown that someone strikingly similar to Chi-Fu is a royal advisor to Lord Qin of Qui Gong. He was voiced by James Hong.
General Li is Li Shang's father and a high-ranking member of the Chinese army who was killed in a battle against the Hun army. He has his helmet left after he and his crew were killed. He was voiced by James Shigeta.
This character is an impatient and harsh woman, who judges potential brides. After the musical number called "Honor To Us All," she opens the doors, calls Mulan's name and takes her inside. She judges Mulan, calling her too skinny, and asks her to pour the tea as the second part of the test. Cri-Kee, who attempts to escape, ends up in the Matchmaker's cup of tea, and when Mulan tries to take the cup back, The Matchmaker falls on a stove, lighting her backside on fire. Blaming Mulan, she scolds her and says that she will never bring any honor to her family. The second film reveals that she's "smug and snooty," as accused by Ling, which causes her to throw a pot onto his head as she flings out the masculine trio. She is voiced by Miriam Margolyes in the first film and April Winchell in the second film.
Hayabusa is Shan Yu's pet saker falcon, who acts as his master's eyes and ears from the distance. At the end of the first film, his feathers are burned down by a fireball from Mushu, who then taunts him as "Mongolian barbeque". Doing so tames him and he gives Mushu and Cri-kee a ride, but isn't seen afterwards. It's interesting to note that his name is the Japanese word for "falcon".
In Kingdom Hearts II, Hayabusa appears in the boss battle against Shan Yu. He can grab Sora, lift him into the air, and throw him.
The Emperor of China's three children; Ting-Ting, Mei and Su are princesses. He sends them into the carriage to complete the mission which is to marry the Princes of Qui Gong hiding their pretty faces with paper fans. When in the carriage, these princesses begin to panic as Mushu causes it to slide down by banging his head on the wheel.
Sha-Ron is a very excited little girl. She first visits Fa Li and says that she wants to see Mulan, who's practicing kung-fu with a rake. Then as she goes outside and drops the buckets down, she and all of the other excited daughters of the villagers meet her and get trained how to fight enemies as so during the "Lesson Number One" musical number. Then as General Shang arrives, she takes his helmet with more excitement and runs home. Her name is a play on Sharon. She is voiced by Mary Gibbs.
Lord Qin is the priest of Qui-Gong. When Mulan is about to complete the mission, he allows her to marry his son Prince Jeeki who likes playing with the Chinese finger trap. As Lord Chin engages Mulan and his son, their wedding is interrupted and he makes Shang go away until the Golden Dragon of Unity begins to talk with Mushu's voice. He timidly allows Mulan and Shang to marry each other and then begins to play with the fingertrap Jeekee used to play with. Lord Qin is voiced by Keone Young and Prince Jeeki is voiced by Rob Paulsen.
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