Characters / Mulan

Click here to see the 2020 film's character page.

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The characters of Disney's animated Mulan films.

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Title Character

Fa Mulan

Fa Mulan / "Fa Ping"

"It's going to take a miracle to get me into the Army..."

^{Click here to see Mulan at the beginning}

^{Click here to see Mulan as "Ping"}

Voiced by: Ming-Na Wen (speaking), Lea Salonga (singing)
Voiced in Latin American Spanish by: Maggie Vera (speaking) and Analy (singing)
Voiced in European French by: Valérie Karsenti (speaking) and Marie Galey (singing)
Voiced in Brazilian Portuguese by: Kacau Gomes
Voiced in Italian by: Laura Lenghi (speaking)
Voiced in Hebrew by: Rinat Gabay
Voiced in Mandarin Chinese by: Xu Qing, Ye Bei (singing)
Voiced in Taiwanese Mandarin by: Coco Lee
Voiced in Cantonese by: Kelly Chen

Appearances: Mulan | Mulan II | Sofia the First^note as a magical summon
Appearances in alternate continuities: Kingdom Hearts^note Mulan retelling in Kingdom Hearts II | House of Mouse | Disney Infinity | Ralph Breaks the Internet

A flighty young woman who is the daughter of a retired soldier, and the black sheep of her ancestors. When her father is enlisted for an oncoming war, she secretly takes his place in the field of battle under the command of young captain Li Shang as they train in preparations against the Huns and warlord Shan Yu.

She's also a member of the Disney Princess line.

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• Action Girl: One of the most battle-oriented characters in Disney, having saved China. She’s also one of the few female leads to have killed the villain herself and has the highest canonical on-screen kill count of any Disney character. She finishes off an army of fifty thousand Hun nomads with the help of a cannon and a mountain full of snow.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In contrast to the original ballad, where she accomplishes everything effortlessly in the army to the point of being able to return home without ever having been caught, she has obvious insecurities about not fitting into her designated role in society and living up to her family's expectations that she must learn to grow out of to become a hero.
• Adaptational Badass: Zig-zagged. Disney's Mulan doesn't start off with the many skills and abilities as her ballad counterpart, making it a case of Adaptational Wimp. However, she later does gain these skills in a relatively short time.
• Adaptational Wimp: In the original ballad, Mulan is already skilled in archery, swordsmanship, spearmanship, bojutsu, martial arts, and various other forms of hand-to-hand combat, all of which she learned from her father. In this adaptation, while quite clever, Mulan was never taught any of those skills in the beginning. Which arguably also leads to Adaptational Badass as she does acquire quite the combat skills in a fairly short amount of time.
• Adaptation Name Change: The original ballad was written at a time when women were only referred to by their surname, meaning "Mulan" was actually her surname. Her surname was later changed to "Hua" in the play "The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father's Place" with "Mulan" becoming her given name. Disney uses the spelling for the Cantonese pronunciation, "Fa". Likewise, "Mulan" is typically treated as a unisex name and the earliest case of her using an alias had her use her father's name "Hu", while here she takes the alias of "Ping".
• Age Lift: According to the DVD commentary, Mulan is sixteen. The first case of her age being given was in "The Complete Account of Extraordinary Mulan", which gave her age when she went to war in her father's place as fourteen.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Mulan is initially hated by the entire Chinese Army before gaining their respect.
• Anime Chinese Girl: Averted on the anime part because this story takes place entirely in China before the Manchurian stuff (i.e. cheongsams). However, she does learn martial arts in the army.
• Attractive Bent-Gender: During the marching scene of "A Girl Worth Fighting For", "Ping" notices several women tending rice fields eyeing her flirtatiously and hides her face in embarrassment.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: When the Emperor gifts her with his dragon pendant and Shan Yu's sword.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Justified in her family, as Mulan lives in a Multigenerational Household, where she lives with her elderly parents and paternal grandmother.
• Badass Adorable: Saves China through her martial prowess, as well as topping her platoon in fitness, agility, and skill. She also does all her badass feats while retaining her feminine side and dorky, adorable qualities.
• Battle Couple: Becomes this with Shang in the sequel. They guard the princesses, fight off their kidnappers, and plan their wedding.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: One of most beautiful characters of the film, and probably the one with the biggest heart.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Even when she's disguising herself as a man or in battle, she still looks great.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Such a friendly and family-loyal girl, and this is why she joins the army. Plus, by the end of the first film, she manages to become the only Disney princess to have a body count in the thousands.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: The least talkative of her comrades but is possibly the most deadly.
• Bifauxnen: The other soldiers comment what a handsome young boy she makes, and much to Mulan's embarrassment she receives some flirtatious looks from women.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Mulan has smooth but thick eyebrows, which she most likely inherited from her father.
• Birds of a Feather: Opposing personalities notwithstanding, Mulan and Shang bond over their struggle to be good soldiers (shown when Mulan comforts Shang after Chi Fu antagonizes him for being a poor captain) and their desire to help their fathers. They also happen to be good with children.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Mulan at the start of the movie is quite intelligent, but it's shown that she tries to cheat on her matchmaker test and gets her dog Little Brother to help with her chores while she's running late. Training in the army takes away the laziness, and forces her to use her creativity in combat.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Zigzagged with Shang. Both have their own set of insecurities and doubts but comfort each other at those moments.
• Butt-Monkey: Until she Took a Level in Badass, she is the butt of jokes and embarrassment. She's humiliated in front of her family, bullied by the other soldiers (especially Ling and Yao, who later become two of her closest friends), and suffers a lot of slapstick and Amusing Injuries.
• Character Development:
  • Becomes more assertive and confident as the movie progresses.
  • A subtle example, but Mulan's time in boot camp forces her to reconstruct her Laborious Laziness tendencies into clever ways to get the job done that don't rely on strength.
  • When Mulan first leaves to join the army, all she wants is to protect her family. Seeing the ruins of the Tung Shao Village and the Imperial army, combined with realizing that Shang just went through the exact thing Mulan was trying to prevent for herself, turns her into a more selfless person who wants to protect all of China.
• Character Tic: Plays with her hair after her early-movie humiliation, something her voice actress, Ming-Na, usually did.
• Child Soldiers: She's sixteen. Some of her fellow recruits don't look much older.
• Classical Anti-Hero: Mulan begins the film insecure and awkward about where she fits in the world. She later grows more confident.
• Combat Pragmatist: Mulan's ability to improvise is what sets her apart from the rest of the soldiers. This gets some Foreshadowing early on when we see her using shortcuts for chores and her matchmaking session. Her "work smarter, not harder" attitude is not nearly as appreciated in women's domestic life as it is in the army.
• Cool Helmet: Which she stole from her father's armor. Shang journeys all the way from the Imperial City to bring it back. Although there may have been ulterior motives in there...
• Cool Sword:
  • Her father's has a dragon face on the hilt. Interestingly enough, she never wields it against another person. Instead, she resorts to improvised weapons or those she can swipe from her enemies.
  • The Emperor gifts her with the fallen Shan Yu's sword. It's a long and curved weapon with a black hilt.
• Covert Pervert: She's a sweet girl but couldn't help gawking at Shang's Shirtless Scene which revealed his Heroic Build.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Early on, when she drops her father's teapot in her opening scene and later spills a cup of tea on the matchmaker, with predictable consequences. Her military training makes her vastly more coordinated. She seems to be aware of her clumsiness, judging from the fact that she bothered taking a spare cup with her before bringing the teapot to her father.
• Daddy's Girl: She initially joins the army because she loves her father and believes that he will die if he returns to the battlefield.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: In the matchmaker sequence, she unquestioningly accepts that someone else will be making the decision of whom she marries; she's distressed only that she doesn't know how to play the part very well and ultimately bungles the interview. Subverted in the sequel, where Mulan objects to the impending arranged marriages of the princesses.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Zigzagged. Mulan has to prove herself numerous times to some of the characters before they'll respect her, such as Li Shang. Chi Fu, however, remains an Ungrateful Bastard towards her the entire time, even after she's saved his life repeatedly.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: She goes through a hell of a lot in the army, surviving a brutal boot camp, an injury, and coming face to face with Huns, all to look into the mirror and "see someone worthwhile". Her dad says that someone had been there all along.
• Elemental Motifs: Fire is a recurring theme with Mulan — she accidentally sets the Matchmaker on fire, killed most of the Hun army with a dragon-themed rocket, and uses fireworks as a way to kill Shan Yu. Her mythical motif is a dragon, a creature best known for its fire-breathing in Western folklore.
• Establishing Character Moment: Mulan shows she is resourceful and clever by making a way for her dog to feed the chickens so she has time to get changed. Also, she is shown resorting to cheating and shows a lack of grace, even before meeting the matchmaker, suggesting that a quiet married life will not properly fulfill her destiny.
• Exactly What I Aimed At: Mushu initially assumes Mulan was trying to hit Shan-Yu with the rocket at a closer range (practically point blank), and is briefly exasperated when she misses. Shan-Yu seemed to assume the same thing and that he managed to dodge the rocket, though Mulan’s confident grin quickly clues him in, and he turns around long enough to watch an avalanche beginning to form on the slopes of a nearby mountain, which was actually what Mulan was aiming at.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Mulan starts off with feminine long hair, where she feels awkward and unsure of herself. She later cuts her hair to disguise herself as a male soldier. Later, she adopts a bobcut, which symbolizes her maturity and a more confident version of herself.
• Enlightened Self-Interest: Her joining the army is ultimately revealed to be this, as she hoped to prove her worth there where she failed with the Matchmaker's trial.
  Mulan: Maybe I didn't go for my father. Maybe what I really wanted was to prove I could do things right.
• Extremely Protective Child: Mulan's initial and primary reason for joining the army was to protect her father.
• Femininity Failure: She screws up the traditionally feminine "matchmaker" process. To be fair, the cricket shares partial responsibility and she was way too nervous from before; she would've probably done better had she managed to calm down.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Yao, Ling, and Chien Po (though Chien Po less so, considering he didn't start out vitriolic). The first two are obviously on bad terms since their earlier misunderstanding and both sabotage and play pranks on "Ping" during the training montage. However, they eventually start to respect "him" (demonstrated with Yao gladly handing "Ping" "his" Bo Staff at the end of the montage, as opposed to tripping "him" like in the beginning) and offer to "start over" and be friends.
• Flowers of Femininity: The comb in her hair has a flower decoration, which of course she has to ditch when playing Sweet Polly Oliver.
• Flower Motif: Her name means "wood orchid" or "magnolia", which is used by multiple characters and deliberately invoked with the flower in her hair. When she fails her matchmaker exam, her father draws a comparison between her and a flower in the garden.
  Fa Zhou: My, my. What beautiful blossoms we have this year. But, look, this one's late. But I'll bet that when it blooms, it will be the most beautiful of all.
• Folk Hero: For China in Real Life. There's a ballad called "Ode to Mulan" and a large number of regions say "Mulan was born here". This is due to her demonstrating a model of filial piety, a traditionally valued virtue in Chinese culture.
• Fragile Speedster: Stands no chance against Shan Yu in a straight fight, but manages to win through a combination of speed and guile.
• Friend to All Children: Proven during "Lesson Number One" in the sequel, and her defense of the little girl the other boys were picking on.
• Friend to All Living Things: Has no less than three animal companions in the first film (Little Brother, Khan, and Cri-Kee). Mushu may arguably count, although he's much more anthropomorphic than any of the aforementioned and is a mythical creature rather than a real-world animal.
• From Zero to Hero: Mulan comes from a respectable family, but she struggles to fit in and conform to traditional gender roles; the local matchmaker even publicly declares she'll "never bring [her] family honor" because no man would want to marry her. After disguising herself as a man to join the army, Mulan works hard to become a good soldier and ends up saving China from the invading Huns, with the Emperor himself bowing to her out of respect, along with everyone else.
• Gender-Concealing Voice: Mulan makes her voice lower when speaking to the other soldiers to keep them from realizing she's a woman.
• Generation Xerox: Like her father, she enters into the Chinese Army and becomes a Living Legend.
• Girly Bruiser: Despite disguising as a man for most of her movie, Mulan doesn't come anywhere close to renouncing her femininity, wearing dresses in her downtime and being ecstatic about getting married.
• Green and Mean: Inverted. Her main color scheme in her soldier outfit is green but she's The Hero.
• Guile Heroine: While she achieves a degree of martial skill, her greatest achievements are by her wits. For example, using the cannon to trigger an avalanche and wipe out the entire army instead of Shan Yu.
• Handicapped Badass: Shan Yu slashed her in the stomach during the mountain scene, severely injuring her. She was able to shake it off temporarily in order to save herself, Shang, Mushu, Khan, and Cri-Kee from the avalanche. However, given the severity of the wound, she faints from the pain and requires medical help.
• Heartbroken Badass: First in the sense of just how much she's let her family down when her Sweet Polly Oliver disguise fails, and then in the sequel after Shang's Heroic Sacrifice leaves her thinking he's dead. For awhile.
• Heroes Love Dogs: She has a puppy named Little Brother for a pet.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Downplayed. Mulan does use her father's sword, and later Shan Yu's sword, but only a couple times for a specific plan.
• Heroic Ambidexterity: Mulan is left handed but is seen using the sword in her right hand, so she may be ambidextrous.
• Humble Heroine: When she's offered the honorable position of a member of the emperor's council, Mulan declines and says that she just wants to go home.
• I Did What I Had to Do: "I did it to save my father! It was the only way!"
• Idiot Ball: A minor one, but the matchmaker probably wouldn't have been set on fire if Mulan hadn't fanned her butt while it was still smoldering from landing on hot coals.
• I Just Want to Be Special: As she admits to Mushu: "Maybe I didn't go for my father. Maybe what I really wanted was to prove that I could do things right. So that when I looked in the mirror I'd see someone worthwhile."
• Important Haircut: Cuts off half of her hair to tie into a topknot to disguise herself as a soldier.
• Improvised Weapon: She manages to disarm the Big Bad and steal his sword using a fan. A flipping fan!
• In Name Only: The only Disney Princess to not actually be a princess, be it born of royalty or marrying into one.
• Jeanne d'Archétype: She has a lot of the elements, being devoted to her country and posing as a man to join the army, despite being based on a Chinese legend a thousand years older.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: In the climactic battle, she ditches the armor in favor of more traditionally feminine Chinese attire due to disguising herself as a concubine, and then defeats Shan Yu and saves China. Bonus points for using her attire in the fight. Fan defeats sword!
• Kid Hero: She's sixteen and she wipes out almost all of Shan Yu's army and later kills Shan Yu himself, saving all of China.
• Laborious Laziness: Her Establishing Character Moment is her writing cheat notes on her arm for the matchmaker exam, which makes her late for said exam, especially since she has to do her chores before leaving. To help with the chores, she recruits her dog Little Brother to feed the chickens while she gets her father's herbal tea; Little Brother means well but also leads chickens into the family's prayer temple. As her mother points out later, she could have just arrived on time when she complains the tub water is freezing.
• Made of Iron: She survived getting slashed in the abdomen by Shan Yu. You know, the guy who was later shown cleaving wooden pillars in half with that same sword ? In fact, she didn't just "survive" that sword strike. She got back on her feet and running in a matter of seconds, and was in peak physical condition during the movie's climax a few hours later. Then again, one could argue that, since she was crouching on the ground while Shan Yu was on horseback when he slashed at her, he only hit her with the tip of his sword and she was wearing armor at the time.
• Maybe Ever After: With Shang, at the end of the first movie, though they do get Happily Married by the end of the sequel.
• Meaningful Name: Mulan means "magnolia blossom" in Chinese. It could also mean "wood orchid". Both are fitting for a character who has yet to 'bloom' into her own person.
• Mythical Motifs: Dragons.
  • In the beginning, she is seen around a dragon statue, called the Great Guardian.
  • One of her animal companions is a small dragon.
  • Her father's sword and the medallion given to her by the Emperor have dragon markings on them.
• Nice Girl: She is loyal to her family and friendly to the other soldiers. Bonding through gruffness doesn't work for her.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Based on the actress Gong Li, physically.
• Official Couple: Shang becomes her husband in the sequel.
• One of the Boys: By being the only woman in the army, and pretending to be a man.
• One-Steve Limit: Lampshaded and subverted. Mushu suggests "Ling" for a fake name when she's being grilled by Shang, but Mulan points out that that's already soldier Ling's name- as if it would be suspicious if they had the same name. So they end up going with Ping instead.
• One-Woman Army: Single-handedly wipes out an entire army with some quick thinking and a well-aimed rocket.
• Opposites Attract: The rule-breaking, free-spirit Mulan falls in love with the rule-abiding, no-nonsense Shang.
• Pink Means Feminine: Her matchmaker dress, in contrast to the more subdued green-ish dress that she prefers later.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, them being her closest allies in the army outside Shang.
• Plucky Girl: Never throws in the towel, no matter how dire her circumstances get. Though she comes close after her secret is discovered and she is abandoned in disgrace by the army, she rallies out of her self-doubt and back into action the very second she realizes that the Huns still pose a threat.
• Pretending to Be One's Own Relative: Mulan disguises herself as a man in order to join the army in her father's place, claiming to be Ping, her father's son that he doesn't like to talk about very much. Essentially, she pretends to be her own brother.
• Protagonist Title: Mulan.
• The Quiet One: While obviously the main character of the films, Mulan tends to be the least talkative person in a room. When talkers like Mushu or the other soldiers are around, she tends to listen far more often than she speaks.
• Sarashi: As part of her disguise she wraps up her chest. And yes, it's relevant.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Her reason for going to war.
• Secretly Selfish: Downplayed, as Mulan's primary goal for sneaking into the army was to protect her father but admits to Mushu during her Heroic BSoD, that a small part of her also wanted to prove she could do something right.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Not that she wasn't good-looking before, but she looks really nice in her matchmaker ceremony dress. On an unkinder note, the matchmaker says that looking like a bride is the only attribute she has.
• Shipper on Deck: In the sequel, Mulan immediately shouts with joy when she discovers that the princesses truly love Ling, Yao, and Chien Po.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Mulan falls for the brave, honorable, and dedicated Shang.
• Smart People Play Chess: Mulan makes a successful move on a xiangqi (aka Chinese chess) board belonging to two old men during the Matchmaker scene after contemplating for only a moment.
• The Smurfette Principle: Justified. She's the only woman of the Chinese army because no one know she's disguised as a man, as the reveal would mean her execution.
• Stealth Pun:
  • As a soldier she goes by the name "Ping", which in Mandarin Chinese means "peace".
  • Also, "Fa Ping" is Chinese slang for a homosexual man; more specifically, the Camp Gay variety. And if Yao's comment about "Ping" being a "charmer" during the Girl Worth Fighting For song is any indication, Mulan's male persona is seen as a "pretty boy" In-Universe.
• Strong and Skilled: The beginning of the movie shows that she has a strategic mind, and thanks to boot camp, Mulan is now a capable martial artist.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: Probably the most famous example. Mulan impersonates a son to her father to take his place in the war.
• Teacher/Student Romance: Zigzagged. She first meets with Shang when she is disguised as "Ping", and the former is the latter's military instructor. And it's implied that Shang's attraction to Mulan began when she was "Ping". After her gender is revealed and she saves all of China, Shang is more visibly smitten.
• Technical Pacifist: Very technical, since she's a soldier who kills people on purpose. Still, with the Big Bad right in front of her, Mulan uses the sword she's holding for every purpose but the one it was built for.
• This Is Gonna Suck: The instant she's called out for "speaking without permission" by the matchmaker, she knows her session is not going to go well.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Tomboy to the princesses' Girly Girls in the sequel, because she's still a soldier.
• Tomboy Princess: In her movie, no, but she is this compared to the rest of the Disney Princess line-up.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Mulan is quite unconventional and struggles to fit into the strict gender roles in Imperial China. However she does like the makeover she gets to prepare for the Matchmaker, had actually struggled with fitting in amongst the other soldiers (and even complained that she didn't want to smell like a man), and she finds comfort in a simpler (but no less lovely) blue dress in the finale. Her girly streak grows longer in the sequel, as while Mulan is as badass as ever and pretty tomboyish when compared to the princesses, she's revealed to have a romantic side, which is best shown by how happy she was with marrying Shang and how ecstatic she was when the princesses get together with Yao, Ling and Chien Po.
• Took a Level in Badass: Justified; it is in boot camp, though her improvement to being equal to or perhaps even more skilled than Shang really stands out.
• True Blue Femininity: Her disguise as a concubine incorporates two different shades of blue.
• Turn the Other Cheek: To Chi Fu. Despite him treating her with nothing but condescension at best and openly prodding Shang to execute her "per the law" when she's discovered the most she does in response is smile at a joke Yao tells about him. And even if she turned down his job because she wanted to go home, the fact remains that with she as the savior of China and in good standing with the emperor, and he in disgrace for being extremely disrespectful to said savior of China, she could have easily made his situation quite nasty. She's more interested in seeing her family and her father, though.
• Weak, but Skilled: Even if she took to her training well enough to become a hardened badass quickly, muscle development takes a while, and she's still thin as a stick compared to the rest of the cast. Nonetheless, through planning and skill, she saves all of China, and is instrumental to the defeat of the Huns.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Mulan just wants to make her family proud. She just can't do it as a girl.
• What's Up, King Dude?: Very downplayed; Mulan just as respectful to the Emperor as any other Chinese citizen of her time would be, but she can't refrain from giving him a big hug after he acknowledges her as the savior of China and respectfully bows to her. In Real Life, merely touching the Emperor of China without permission was considered an offense worthy of execution; thankfully, the Emperor depicted in this movie is both a good man at heart and a Reasonable Authority Figure and, given his reaction to Mulan's hug, it's clear that he's obviously touched by what would otherwise be considered an act of blasphemy.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In the sequel, Mulan gets rightfully angry at Mushu when he confesses to sabotaging her and Shang's relationship in order to keep his job.
  Mulan: You mean you got between Shang and me so you could keep your job!?
• Women Are Wiser: Downplayed. None of the male soldiers are dumb, but it's Mulan who comes up with the intelligent, crafty plans none of them thought to do.

Mulan's Friends and Allies

Captain Li Shang

Voiced by: B.D. Wong (speaking), Donny Osmond (singing); Yamil Atala (speaking) and Cristián Castro (singing) (Latin American Spanish dub); Renaud Marx (speaking) and Patrick Fiori (singing) (European French Dub); Göran Rudbo (Swedish dub); Jackie Chan (Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese Chinese and Taiwanese Chinese dubs); Claudio Galvan (Brazilian Portuguese dub); Lior Ashkenazi (speaking), Ilan Leibovitsh (singing) (Hebrew dub)

"Leader of China's finest troops — no, the greatest troops of all time."

A Chinese Army captain and the son of General Li, the head of the Chinese Army.

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• The Ace: He is the most capable and elite of all the soldiers in the army.
• Adaptation Name Change: Traditionally, Mulan's love interest and commanding officer are two different characters, with the earliest cases of them having names being "Wang Qingyun" and "Xin Ping" respectively, though the 1964 film "Lady General Hua Mu-Lan" did have her love interest as "Li Guang".
• Amazon Chaser: He compliments Mulan by saying "you fight good".
• Ambiguously Bi: It's been pointed out throughout the webosphere that his presumably slowly-building interest in Mulan began when she was assumed to be a male soldier.
• Ascended Extra: Since "The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father's Place", Mulan's love interest has gotten a larger role beyond a guy who is only known by his surname and only appears at the end to marry Mulan. Of course, being combined with Mulan's commander Xin Ping probably has a lot to do with it for this adaptation.
• Badass Cape: Because of his rank, he wears a stylish cape.
• Badass in Distress: A few times, such as the avalanche and when fighting Shan Yu.
• Badass on Paper: He is promoted to captain based on his success as a student (and the fact that his father is the general). He has no actual combat experience, which is a sore spot Chi-Fu likes to poke.
• Badass Teacher: This guy was able to turn recruits like "Ping", Yao, Ling, and Chien Po into competent soldiers—as shown during "I'll Make a Man Out of You", where they start out clumsy, clueless and weak, but end up skilled soldiers thanks to Shang's training.
• Battle Couple: Becomes this with Mulan in the sequel. They guard the princesses, fight off their kidnappers, and plan their wedding.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Shang first opens up to "Ping" when the latter gave him comforting words that he was a great leader. He also opens up more when "Ping" gives Shang condolences for the death of his father.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has thick, black eyebrows not unlike Mulan's.
• Birds of a Feather: Opposing personalities notwithstanding, Mulan and Shang bond over their struggle to be good soldiers (shown when Mulan comforts Shang after Chi Fu antagonizes him for being a poor captain) and their desire to help their fathers. They also happen to be good with children.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Zigzagged with Mulan. Both have their own set of insecurities and doubts but comfort each other at those moments.
• Butt-Monkey: In the sequel, due to Mushu's initial wacky schemes comically injuring him. Not to mention the crazy expressions he gets.
• The Captain: Promoted to leader of the new military unit in his first scene.
• The Chains of Commanding: Not only does he have to stay captain at all times, he has the obnoxious Chi Fu hanging around, ready to report him to the Emperor.
• Character Development:
  • Shang held some sexist beliefs in the first film, especially noted in some of his lyrics in "I'll Make A Man Out of You" and was initially dismissive of Mulan's claim that Shan-Yu is alive because of it (although it was also mainly due to her lies). But, by the end, he lets go of sexism and was ready to attack Chi Fu when he made sexist insults at Mulan despite saving all of China.
  • He loosens up considerably during the sequel and starts thinking of his own interests instead of just those of his country.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Implied. He was able to carry more weights than the other soldiers and take on the much stronger Shan-Yu, despite losing in the end.
• Chick Magnet: Played for laughs in the ending when he follows Mulan home. Without even trying he charms three different generations of the Fa family.
  Mulan: Would you like to stay for dinner?
  Grandmother Fa: [offscreen] Would you like to stay forever?
• Composite Character: Traditionally, Mulan's love interest and commanding officer are two separate characters.
• Cool Horse: He has a White Stallion, but unlike Mulan's it doesn't have a name.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: When fighting Shan Yu, he manages to hold the latter down long enough for Chien Po to rescue the Emperor, right before Shan Yu unleashes a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on him.
• Deadpan Snarker: Most of the time he can meet any situation with dry wit, but when love or family is involved, he becomes awkward or locks down and becomes The Stoic.
• Death Seeker: One interpretation of his leading his men into a hopeless battle against an army that is larger in numbers and strength than his own. He doesn't even have a sword after using his to make the memorial for his father. Thankfully, Mulan's quick thinking wins the day, and he is grateful (and astonished) that she saved his life.
• Debt Detester: Shang saves Mulan's life after she dishonors the Chinese Army in return for her saving his life during the Hun attack.
• Decomposite Character: The first case of Mulan's commanding officer having a name had it be "Xin Ping". While the surname goes unused, the given name is given to Mulan as an alias.
• Determinator: Your father just got slaughtered by the Huns? Lead your men against the much stronger invaders. The Huns survived AN AVALANCHE and just absconded with the Emperor? Break down the door! Just woke up, because your last fight with Shan Yu got you a concussion? Fight him again, because Mulan's right behind you. Complaints where they are, the guy can still back up his rank.
• Disney Death: In Mulan 2 due a Heroic Sacrifice and others thinking it killed him.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: "You're a spineless, pale, pathetic lot and you haven't got a clue, but somehow I'll make a man out of you." He's not kidding: one of the exercises consists of him shooting Arrows on Fire at the recruits, and he's shooting to hit (as Yao finds out when an arrow gets him on the butt). It works, and by the end of the Training Montage they are capable soldiers (and Yao evades all the flaming arrows when Shang gives them a repeat). It's also clear that Shang knows when to quit, since he failed the teenaged and underperforming "Ping" and told him "he" wasn't cut out for war.
• Faux Action Guy: He's introduced as a badass, fights circles around his recruits, trains them to perfection... and from that point on becomes consistently less competent than Mulan. That being said, his badassery is genuine, just outclassed; Shan Yu is far stronger than he is, and Mulan's more creative, flexible approach is better suited to working under a disadvantage (plus she's the main character).
• Friend to All Children: Implied during his interaction with girls Mulan is training and saying that there could be as many children at his and Mulan's wedding in the sequel.
• Good is Not Nice: As is to be expected from a military captain on the hero's side. Notably, he also doesn't treat the "son" of the esteemed Fa Zhou any differently from the other recruits (and in fact tells Mulan to go home when it seems that she won't catch on).
• Good Is Not Soft: Hellish as his training might be, it's to make his recruits into top-class soldiers and also to drive home the point that if they can't handle his Training from Hell, then they won't last very long in real war. And if it looks like someone genuinely can't hack it, he'll cut her from the team for the good of everyone.
• Hard Head: Subverted. He takes a headbutt from Shan Yu during the climax and is promptly knocked unconscious. While he wakes up quickly, he's not in any shape to fight afterward. Fortunately, by then Shan Yu is more interested in killing Mulan.
• Heartbroken Badass: Shang falls into despair after seeing not only the remains of a burned village raided by the Huns, but also finding out his father died in the battle.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: Shang is the tritagonist and uses a sword for combat.
• Heroic Ambidexterity: Shang is possibly ambidextrous. He tends to do a lot with his left hand as well as the right.
• Heroic Build: The Tritagonist and he has a broad, muscular build.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In the sequel. It involves a breaking rope bridge, Mulan trying to hold them both up as they dangle from a rope, and the rope about to snap. To Mulan's horror, he lets go so that she can pull herself up, and it takes her awhile to learn that he survives the fall.
• I Owe You My Life: Mulan/Ping saves him when the avalanche knocks them both off a cliff. When her gender is revealed, he merely expels her rather than execute her as the law and honor would require.
  Shang: A life for a life. My debt is repaid.
• Jerkass Ball: Happens to him in the sequel because of the stereotypical "men won't ask for directions" bit. He reverts to normal by the climax.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Shang lives by discipline and expects his men to do the same, but he has purely good intentions and will be there when you need him.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority: During the second half of the movie, he wears a red cape.
• Leeroy Jenkins: While he and Mulan are equally capable, his tendency to rush into things and rely solely on his own strength and martial prowess generally makes him fail where Mulan, who utilizes her environment and quick thinking to her advantage, succeeds.
• Love Makes You Dumb: He is usually The Stoic but when he tries to talk to Mulan after Shan Yu's defeat, he doesn't have a clue what to say.
• Made of Iron: Shang has shown a high pain tolerance. He pulled an arrow from his shoulder and took a number of beatings before getting up relatively easily.
• Maybe Ever After: With Mulan, when he agrees to stay for dinner.
  Grandma Fa: Would you like to stay forever?

  By the sequel, they're going strong, but getting Happily Married takes a while.

• Military Brat: His father's the general. Chi Fu gives him a barbed comment about only getting his captaincy through nepotism, but Shang seems competent enough.
• Mr. Fanservice: Mulan can't keep her eyes off him because he takes his shirt off for the Training Montage. According to the DVD commentary, when the scene was screened, "you never heard so many female animators catcall."
• My Country, Right or Wrong: His refusal to go against the Emperor's orders causes most of the tension between him and Mulan in the second movie. He eases up by the end.
• Nepotism: It may have had some influence in Shang's promotion, but his father justifies that Shang was the best in his class and well-versed in training techniques. While this may not warrant such a high rank, Shang would, on this merit, be reasonably qualified to train the new conscripts.
• Official Couple: Proposes to Mulan in the sequel and they marry by the end.
• Oh, Crap!: He has this reaction when Mulan goads Shan Yu into chasing after her, and Shang is too beaten up from the No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to follow and help.
• Opposites Attract: The rule-abiding, no-nonsense Shang falls for the rule-breaking, free-spirit Mulan.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Shang makes sexist remarks in "I'll Make a Man Out of You" and is dismissive of Mulan after her reveal as a woman. He comes to change his viewpoints, going so far as to threatening Chi Fu for continuing to make misogynistic remarks towards Mulan despite her heroism.
• Rage Breaking Point: How Shang feels with Chi Fu in the end when the latter continues to demean Mulan despite her saving all of them. He's just about to give him a well-deserved clock-cleaning for it when the Emperor comes down.
  Chi Fu: Stand aside! That creature's not worth protecting!
  Shang: She's a hero.
  Chi Fu: [snidely] 'Tis a woman! She'll never be worth anything!
  Shang: [angrily grabs Chi Fu] Listen, you pompous—!
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: No matter what Chi Fu says, this guy has got the skills to back up his rank.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He all of his recruits that they suck, and why they suck, at length, for the bulk of the training montage. He almost gives one to Chi Fu, but the Emperor cuts that one short.
• Red Is Heroic: Sports a red cape and is a true hero.
• Rescue Romance: It's implied that he falls for Mulan after she saves his life twice.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: He would rather break the laws of China, specifically the law demanding death to any woman who joins the army, than kill someone to whom he owed his life. Much later, he prepares to defend her to the Emperor after she defeats Shan Yu.
• Sergeant Rock: In terms of his actual assigned duties, Shang is closer to this rank than captain.^note Sergeants are usually the ones in charge of training new recruits.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: As Mulan and the others find out the hard way, when training his recruits, he does NOT hold back.
• Smile of Approval: He smiles more around Ping after the latter completes the arrow challenge, and improves vastly in training. In the climax, he gives Mulan a rewarding smile when she incorporates the lessons from the arrow challenge into her plan to rescue the Emperor.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Despite his skill at military affairs, he seems to be somewhat lacking in social skills, as he has trouble telling Mulan about his romantic feelings for her, or even properly congratulating her following her success in saving China, managing only an awkward "you fight good."
• The Stoic: When in command, Shang takes a no-nonsense attitude.
• Supporting Leader: he's the titular protagonist's commanding officer and Love Interest.
• Sweet on Polly Oliver: Implied to be confused about his attraction to "Ping".
• Teacher/Student Romance: Zigzagged. He first meets with Mulan when she is disguised as "Ping", and he's her military instructor. It's also implied that Shang's attraction to Mulan began when she was "Ping". After her gender is revealed and she saves all of China, Shang is more visibly smitten.
• Technician Versus Performer: As the Technician, he knows exactly how it's supposed to be done, and he's a good teacher, but Mulan's more flexible Performer thinking is ultimately what wins the day.
• Training from Hell: One example is running through a field of flaming arrows and another is climbing a pole with heavy weights attached to one's wrists.
• Tritagonist: In both movies he is the third center character, after Mulan and Mushu.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Shang is The Comically Serious no-nonsense type. And he falls for the rule-breaking Plucky Girl Mulan.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Takes it off for the Training Montage.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: One of the reasons he joined the military was to please his father.
• Well-Trained, but Inexperienced: First in his class, and The Ace in every art a soldier should know, but he's never taken command and thinks 'too rigid' and 'too small.' Mulan, not as indoctrinated into how things 'should' be done, is the only who comes up with the winning strategy against the Hun army.
• White Stallion: His mount of choice, being a commander and supposedly higher social status than his soldiers. This contrasts with Mulan's horse, who is black as ink and doesn't actually belong to her.
• Worthy Opponent: Shan Yu all but calls him this, accusing him of taking away Shan Yu's "victory".
• Young and in Charge: He's barely older than Mulan but is put in charge of an entire military unit. Justified in that he is the capable son of a legendary commander, and the Chinese army was quickly losing other suitable leaders to the Huns. Also, Shang was mainly responsible for training the new recruits and then joining up with his father and the main Imperial forces later. After the general and his squad are wiped out he's put in charge of the military.

Mushu

Voiced by: Eddie Murphy; Mark Moseley (Mulan II); Eugenio Derbez (Latin American Spanish dub); José Garcia (European French dub); Mario Jorge Andrade (Brazilian Portuguese dub); Kōichi Yamadera (Japanese dub); Tomer Sharon (Hebrew dub), Chen Peisi (Mandarin Chinese), Jacky Wu (Taiwanese Mandarin), Eric Kot (Cantonese)

"My little baby, off to destroy people."

A small dragon who is Mulan's companion. He was once a guardian spirit of Mulan's family, but he has been demoted to the supposedly humiliating position of an incense burner and gong-ringer for the deceased Fa ancestors ever since he failed to protect a family member. He hopes to make Mulan a hero in order to become a guardian spirit again.

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• Accidental Truth: He fakes a message from the Imperial Army saying they're in dire straits and need all the recruits to come immediately for backup. Turns out he was actually right about them being needing help, but by the time they arrive they're too late to offer any due to the Huns having already massacred them.
• Aesop Amnesia: In the first movie, Mushu laments that he took on the mission for his own sake. What does he do in the second? Try to sabotage Mulan's engagement for his own sake.
• All for Nothing: Whether it was going to happen or not, in the sequel's ending, Mushu is still able to keep his pedestal once Shang brings his family's ancestors to combine with Mulan's. Since Mulan told Shang about Mushu, it was possible Shang only did so because it would help Mushu. It's unclear if he was going to do it anyway had she not told him about Mushu's existence.
• All of the Other Reindeer: The Ancestors like picking on Mushu and show nothing but respect to the other guardians. This is not because of some trait that he can't help (as in the straight version) but because it was his fault Fa Deng lost his head. They give him his dues when he helps Mulan save China, though revert back to hating his guts in the sequel, this time for the justified reasoning of how doubly arrogant and spoiled he acts towards them now he's in a position of power.
• Big Bad: Downplayed. He's basically the villain of the second movie, as he does everything he can to make sure Mulan doesn't marry to keep his current position as a family guardian intact, using Mulan and Shang's differences as an excuse to do so. While the plot's conflict is technically started by the leader of the Mongols, the guy never appears and Mushu probably wouldn't have acted any differently. He gets better at the end of it, though.
• Big Shadow, Little Creature: Invokes this to intimidate Mulan at their meeting.
• Breath Weapon: He can breathe fire. Early in the first movie all he's capable of is smoke and a few sparks, but by the end he torches Shan Yu's falcon with a torrent of flames.
• Character Development: Zigzagged. He has quite a bit throughout the first film, as he sees Mulan as more than a way to earn back his status, coming to genuinely care for her. But he loses it in the second film, as he tries to sabotage her and Shang's relationship to keep his status, but confesses after getting some Oblivious Guilt Slinging from Mulan and redeems himself by the end.
• Deadpan Snarker: His trademark sassiness and wisecracking personality along with Eddie Murphy's over-the-top expressiveness when portraying him makes him hilariously snarky but at same time, not completely deadpan.
• Dead Person Impersonation: Pretends to be The Great Stone Dragon so he can help Mulan.
• Delightful Dragon: Well, "Delightful" might not be the right word to describe Mushu, but he's certainly on the side of the heroes, and eventually he grows to care for Mulan.
• Deuteragonist: In both of the movies, he has his own character arc and similar story focus as Mulan.
• Ear Notch: Missing a part of his right ear.
• Establishing Character Moment: His first words upon awakening are "I LIIIIIIVE!"
• Fairy Companion: Allowing for cultural differences, he might count as this.
• Fiery Redhead: Literal on the "fiery" part and technically red-scaled.
• Guardian Entity: Tries to sell himself as such to Mulan when they first meet; after she is outed, he confesses that it was all a lie.
• House Fey: Mushu used to be a Guardian Entity for the Fa family but now he's been demoted to a mere servant. In this case, it's for the family rather than the building it lives in.
• Hypocritical Humor: Is quickly forgiven for lying about being Mulan's guardian, but is shocked that Cri-Kee lied about being lucky.
• Incoming Ham:
  • "I LIIIIIIIVE!"
  • "DID I HEAR SOMEONE ASK FOR A MIRACLE?"
• Insistent Terminology: He's a dragon, not a lizard. (He doesn't do that tongue thing.)
• Iron Butt Monkey: He's invulnerable enough to survive slamming into a mountain while riding an exploding cannon-head, but his immortality provides him little in the way of being able to actually help fight most of the time.
• It's All About Me: The only reason he went to help Mulan because he thought doing so would make him a guardian again. It gets worse in the sequel, when he was willing to sabotage Mulan and Shang's relationship to save his guardian position. As such, it's his main Fatal Flaw.
• Jerkass Realization: In the sequel where Mushu purposely sabotages the relationship between Mulan and Shang in order to keep his job. When Mulan tells him that he's a good friend who always looks out for her, he felt the guilt becoming too unbearable and admits to what he did. Mulan does not take it well.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Eventually. As mentioned above, his original intentions in the first film are to obtain a high position among the guardians. Over the course of it, he becomes protective and supportive of Mulan. In the sequel he's more of a straight-up Jerkass for most of the film, only redeeming himself at the end.
• Large Ham: "Who am I? WHO AM I? I am the guardian of lost souls, the powerful, the pleasurable, the indestructible Mushu!"
• Law of Chromatic Superiority: Inverted. While his skin is red he is the lowest of the Fa family's familiars and in terms of the story he's a Sidekick.
• Let Me at Him!: Mushu has to be held back by Cri-Kee when he sees Shang grab Mulan by her shirt collar during “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”.
• The Load: In-universe, the ancestors see Mushu as barely competent enough to ring a gong. Mulan herself often seems to see him as not helping her, although she obviously appreciates him.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In the sequel, after succeeding in making Mulan and Shang break up, Mulan's kind words to him eventually become too much for his conscience to bear that he confesses his involvement in their break up. Mulan is not happy one bit.
• Mythology Gag: His name. In the 1903 play Mulan Joins the Army, "Mushu" was the name of Mulan's cousin, a coward who chickened out of taking his uncle's place, resulting in Mulan having to go in his place under the name of "Hua Mushu."
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His ill advice got one of Mulan's ancestor's killed. Then he literally breaks the dragon statue meant to house a dragon guardian to look after Mulan.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: He's indestructible, not that this helps Mulan much.
• No Indoor Voice: Doesn’t talk in a level voice too much.
• Non-Human Sidekick: A dragon (not a lizard!) for Mulan.
• Noodle Incident: He was demoted to gong-ringer by the family's ancestors after his previous attempt to help a member of the Fa family ended with said member getting decapitated.
• Not Hyperbole: He introduces himself to Mulan as being "indestructible," which first comes off as him simply being braggadocious. However, he survives being on a rocket when it explodes and triggers an avalanche without a scratch on him, so he isn't actually exaggerating on that front.
• Our Dragons Are Different: He is a 'travel size' dragon while the Great Stone Dragon is as big as a horse and less serpentine.
• Papa Wolf: As one of the family guardians, Mushu is fiercely protective of the Fa family. His introduction is him demanding to know who has wronged the family so that he may avenge them. He repeatedly takes offense for people insulting or getting rough with Mulan. At one point, he has to be held back from confronting Shang for being rough with Mulan during her first day of training.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Somehow, he manages to convince the Ancestors, and then, all of China, that he's a powerful entity just by standing behind a statue of said entity.
• Playing with Fire: Being a dragon, he can breathe fire. At the beginning, he can only make a little ember, but near the climax of the movie, his flames are hot enough to burn all the feathers off Shan Yu's falcon.
• Plucky Comic Relief: His most frequent contribution is sarcasm and making hilarity ensue.
• Primary-Color Champion: A red-scaled dragon with a yellow belly and blue horns.
• Quaking with Fear: After accidentally destroying the Great Stone Dragon, he trembles at the knees in fear for his life.
• Red Is Heroic: Has red scales and is one of the good guys (despite being a bit of a Jerkass initially.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Cri-Kee's Blue because he's louder and more aggressive and excitable.
• Relationship Sabotage: In the sequel, he really doesn't want Mulan and Shang to marry and tries to break off their engagement.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Despite being a tiny Chinese dragon, he's named after a red-scaled Babylonian dragon.
• Servile Snarker: Doesn't have a problem showing his bosses, The Ancestors, his snarky side.
• Shield Surf: During the avalanche with a stolen Hun shield.
• Shoulder-Sized Dragon: He even lampshades this.
  Mulan: You're, um...
  Mushu: Intimidating? Awe-inspiring?
  Mulan: Tiny.
  Mushu: That's right. I'm travel-size for your convenience. If I was my real size, your cow here would die of fright. [indicating Mulan's horse]
• Snarky Non-Human Sidekick: A sarcastic, wise-cracking dragon for Mulan.
• So Proud of You: When Mulan is finally able to beat the Huns, defeat Shan Yu, and save the Emperor.
  Mushu: My little baby is all grown up and... (sniffles) ...savin' China!
• Spanner in the Works: If it wasn't for his intervention and faking the report that backup was needed, the Huns would've succeeded in their takeover.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: He can understand and translate both Cri-Kee and Khan.
• Talking Animal: Unlike Cri-Kee and Khan, he can talk. This is likely because, unlike them, he's a supernatural creature.
• Token Evil Teammate: In the sequel, where he's kind of an antagonist and he starts most of the trouble for Mulan and Shang.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In the first movie, he gradually loses his selfishness and grows to care for Mulan. By the sequel, his ego becomes bigger than the Great Wall and he tries to sabotage Mulan's marriage for the sake of his job security, having become such an annoying and egotistical jerk to the Ancestors in his higher position that they actively conspire to get rid of him through Loophole Abuse.
• The Trickster: His attempts to help Mulan during Boot Camp amount to trickery (putting a pomegranate on her arrow during an archery exercise and finding a fish for her during a fishing exercise).

Cri-Kee

Voiced by: Frank Welker

A "lucky" cricket who follows Mushu and Mulan.

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• Amplified Animal Aptitude: Is incredibly smart, and can write (by working as a typewriter including sounds, no less).
• Artistic License – Biology: He has four legs, chirps with his mouth instead of his wings, and uses the Matchmaker's cup as a hot tub.
• The Atoner: It's implied that part of the reason he follows Mulan around and helps Mushu help her is out of guilt for sabotaging her visit to the Matchmaker. When Mulan first releases him, he's ready to go until he hears her singing sadly about being a failure, looks extremely sad, then seems to dedicate his life to watching over her.
• Beleaguered Assistant: To Mushu, both in his theatrics and general trickery.
• Born Lucky: Zig-zagged. He was purchased by Grandma Fa for luck, but he causes disaster for Mulan during her meeting with the Matchmaker. He then helps Mushu help Mulan when she joins the army, which also causes a lot of problems. However, Mulan eventually flourishes in the army and successfully defeats the Huns, and then both Cri-Kee and she survive the avalanche (after which Mushu actually calls Cri-Kee a lucky bug) and later fireworks.
• Butt-Monkey: He has his moments, mostly in Mulan II. When he desperately tries to stop Mushu from ruining Shang and Mulan's relationship, only to get effortlessly smacked away.
• The Conscience: To Mushu, especially in the sequel. He tries to act as Mushu's voice of reason and stop his selfish schemes, but to no avail.
• Intelligible Unintelligible
  Cri-Kee: (chirping noises)
  Mushu: What do you mean, a loser? How 'bout if I pop one of your antennas off and throw it across the yard? Then who's the loser, me or you?
  Cri-Kee: (chirp chirp)
• Foil: To Mushu, who is selfish and rude, whereas Cri-kee is selfless and polite.
• Literal-Minded: When Mushu decides that they should "take this war into our own hands", Cri-Kee takes a moment to stare at his hands.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": "Cri-Kee" sounds quite a bit like "cricket" which is the type of insect he is.
• Mundane Utility: Mushu uses it for Mulan's alarm clock.
• Nice Guy: Polite and very selfless.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Serves as one to Mulan and Mushu, and does stuff for him like forging the letter to Shang and giving it the idea of making Mulan a warrior.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Less so than Mushu, however.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Mushu's Red, because he's calmer and and more polite.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: There are only a few animated works that have drawn a cricket this cute.
• Sidekick Creature Nuisance: At least to Mushu when Cri-Kee tries to get the dragon to do the right thing.
• Unluckily Lucky: He's supposed to be a lucky charm, but for the most part all that means is that people take him into dangerous situations, terrifying the poor bug out of his wits. He also sabotages Mulan's meeting with the Matchmaker, which leads to her joining the army, saving China, and netting a guy she actually liked.
• Vague Age: His age is never really indicated in any way.

Yao, Ling, and Chien Po

Yao voiced by: Harvey Fierstein (original); Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza (Latin American Spanish dub); Christian Pélissier (speaking) and Michel Vigné (singing) (European French dub); Chaim Tsinovitsh (Hebrew dub), Zhang Chao (Mandarin Chinese), Yang Shaowen (Taiwanese Mandarin), Leung Cheuk Bun (Cantonese)

Ling voiced by: Gedde Watanabe (speaking), Matthew Wilder (singing) (original); Raúl Aldana (Latin American Spanish dub); Pierre-François Pistorio (European French dub); Ryūsei Nakao (Japanese dub); Yossi Toledo (speaking), Momi Levy (singing) (Hebrew dub), Guo Zhengjian (Mandarin Chinese), Zhang Hanyu (singing, Mandarin Chinese), Leo Lee (Taiwanese Mandarin), Elton Loo (Cantonese), Barry Chung (singing, Cantonese)

Chien Po voiced by: Jerry Tondo (original); Jesús Barrero (Latin American Spanish dub); Thierry Ragueneau (European French dub); Yehoiachin Friedlander (Hebrew dub), Jerry Tondo (Mandarin Chinese), Chang Li-Wei (Taiwanese Mandarin), Sze Lot (Cantonese)

^{Click here to see the trio disguised as women.}

Three newly recruited soldiers who later become Mulan's friends.

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Tropes applying to all of them

• Ascended Extra: They get more screentime in the sequel.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: Chien Po, Ling and Yao, respectively. However, their body types have little effect on what they can do as a result of their training.
• Birds of a Feather: Yao, Ling, and Chien Po are told by the Matchmaker that they will never find girlfriends because of their "lack of personalities." Not only do they find girlfriends with personalities like their own—Yao's is feisty and rebellious, Ling's has a corny and immature sense of humor (though she tries to hide it), and Chien Po's is a sweet Big Eater—but they are princesses.
• Bodyguard Crush: In the sequel, the trio are tasked with protecting the Emperor's daughters. On the journey, they each fall in love with a princess whose personality matches each of their own.
• The Bully: At first, Yao and Ling are the most antagonistic towards Mulan. They lighten up eventually.
• Bully Turned Buddy: Ling and Yao were introduced as Mulan's tormentors but they eventually grew to respect and then befriend her.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Goofy as they may be, they're considered China's three greatest soldiers for a reason. They're just behind Mulan and Shang in the badass department.
• Character Development:
  • Ling and Yao start out as annoying jerks but grow into true friends for Mulan. Chien Po was nice from the get-go.
  • As a whole, the trio started off as pretty chauvinistic on what kind of girl they wanted. They get over it by end and by the sequel they now want to find love with women who they have a special bond with.
• Color-Coded Characters:
  • The sashes of their armour and the sleeves/linings of the training outfits are colored uniquely. Yao is red, Chien Po is blue and Ling is yellow.
  • In the sequel, their colors become purple, blue, and green, respectively.
• Comic Trio: They engage in slap-stick and group bickering and the occasional Big Ball of Violence.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: They may be clowns, but you wouldn't want to be their enemies.
• Disguised in Drag: They do this to sneak past the Huns. Made even funnier by the reprise of "I'll Make a Man Out of You" playing in the background.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Yao and Ling didn't think much of Mulan as Ping, where they prank her any chance they get during the Training Montage. They became friends once they all succeed in their training. Best exemplified when Mulan is sentenced to be executed, and the three of them rush forward in her defense, only to be stopped by Chi Fu.
• Freudian Trio: Ling is the Superego (flirting and the one who does the formal introductions), Chien Po is the Ego (mediator who calms them down), and Yao is the Id (Violent, impulsive, etc).
• Has a Type: During "A Girl Worth Fighting For," each of them sings about what kind of girl they'd like to marry. Ling wants a particularly beautiful girl, Yao wants a girl who will admire his strength, and Chien Po is not worried about looks, but wants a girl who can cook well.
  Ling: I want her paler than the moon / With eyes that shine like stars!
  Yao: My girl will marvel at my strength / Adore my battle scars!
  Chien Po: I couldn't care / Less what she'll wear / Or what she looks like / It all depends on what she cooks like! (Beef, pork, chicken, mmmm...)
  • This is updated in the sequel, as their interests in women have changed to be much more about the personalities of the women rather than whether those women provide for them. Ling wants to be with someone who he can have a good laugh with (and share his sense of humor), Yao wants a woman who is willing to be kind and caring to him when he's down or sick. Chien Po doesn't really change that much, although it's notable that his desires seem to be about finding a woman who loves food like himself, rather than just a woman who cooks for him.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Lampshaded with Yao, Ling, and Chien Po in the second movie after having been told by the matchmaker that none of them would ever find matches for themselves:
  Chien Po: I guess I'll spend my life with you two.
  Yao: Pass the hanky.
• Laugh of Love: Invoked and exploited when the trio disguise themselves as concubines and giggle while approaching Shan Yu's guards in order to take them out. This is successful.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Chien Po, Yao and Ling, respectively; Gentle Giant, Hot-Blooded, and the Casanova Wannabe.
• Official Couple: With Mei, Ting-Ting and Su respectively by the end of the sequel.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Mulan — as they are all her closest friends, harbor no romantic feelings for her, and act like surrogate brother figures to her.
• Plucky Comic Relief: They have little purpose to the plot and most of the time serve for humor.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: They start out as pretty chauvinistic, but they get over it by the end.
• Rags to Royalty: The second film has them becoming Official Couples with the princesses of China.
• Three Stooges Shout-Out: Yao, Ling and Chien Po of Moe, Larry, and Curly/Shemp respectively.
• Took a Level in Badass: Not nearly to the extent of Mulan, but they are extremely incompetent at the beginning of the Training Montage in the first film, such as Ling breaking his face (and some teeth) when he attempts to smash a block with his face, and Yao getting hit by an arrow during an exercise. However, after Mulan manages to successfully retrieve the arrow, it inspires all of them to try harder, and afterward they are all seen performing their previous exercises superbly. By the movie's climax they've become invaluable backup. The sequel has them as decorated war heroes who are recognized by the Emperor as China's greatest foot soldiers.
• True Companions: Their intro implies they were great friends before or immediately starting boot camp and the sequel shows they are still together. They extend this friendship to Mulan as well.

Tropes that apply to Yao

• Animal Motifs: The sequel has him compared to both a gorilla and panda bear. The first time is when a smitten Mei talks about him to her sisters — they refer to him as the former but Mei retorts that she thinks he's more like the latter. The second time is during the date at a local festival — after Yao wins a fighting contest he makes a stance that is immediately cut to a stuffed gorilla toy in the same manner and he chooses a stuffed panda bear for Mei after seeing that she liked it the most.
• Antiquated Linguistics: Interestingly, in the Swedish dub Yao speaks in a very old-fashioned manner. In fact, many of the words he uses are hardly ever spoken anymore.

• Bully Brutality: Yao embraces this trope early on, his first action is to punch a random soldier in the stomach, hard enough to knock him over, when said the other soldier's only crime is that he believed his tattoo was lucky enough to protect him from injury. Yao's sadistic smirk before and after the act make it clear he more enjoyed an excuse to inflict pain and less "helping" the other soldier realize that he'd been scammed.
  • And then, when Mulan comes over to introduce herself, he immediately draws his fist again just because she looked at him.
  • He also wails on who he thinks is "Ping" after an insult (that was actually from Mushu). When it turns out he'd been pounding Ling instead, he tries to sweep it under the rug, only for Ling to attack him back as revenge, which sets off the brawl.
  • He also hits Mulan in the backs of her legs hard enough for her to fall over, all while keeping a perfectly straight face.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Of the entire cast, Yao has the biggest and thickest set of eyebrows.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: His first scene has him violently punch a guy and threatening to do the same to "Ping". He later openly cries when bidding farewell with Mulan and is quite tender with Mei.
• David vs. Goliath: In the final battle against the elite Huns he takes on Lieren, the largest of them, and easily overpowers him.
• Deadpan Snarker: If it's not dry sarcasm it's biting scorn.
  "I'll get that arrow, pretty boy... And I'll do it with my shirt on."
• Eye Scream: Less violent than some other examples we could list, but Yao has one of his eyes permanently blacked out.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: A minor slight to Yao can trigger a full-on brawl.
• Handicapped Badass: Yao's left eye is permanently blacked out, but he's quite tough and strong, and becomes even more so after he Took a Level in Badass.
• Hot-Blooded: Yao is the most impulsive and violent of the trio.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Yao looks like a young Harvey Fierstein.
• Iron Butt Monkey: He gets shot in the butt with a flaming arrow during "I'll Make a Man Out of You".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Yao may be a hot-tempered and sarcastic person (who started off as a bully to Mulan), he proves to be a loyal, true friend, and has a soft center underneath his tough demeanor.
• Large Ham: "And I am Yao! King of the Rock!"
• The Leader: Yao is the self-appointed leader of the trio.
• Love at First Sight: Yao with Mei in the sequel. With just one look into each other's eyes, Yao is completely smitten with Mei. The feeling is mutual.
• Manly Facial Hair: Has a killer looking moustache and becomes a skilled soldier.
• Manly Tears: He sheds a few when Mulan leaves to go home.
• The Napoleon: Yao is one of the more fierce and Blood Knight-ish soldiers on the heroes' side and is also the shortest of them.
• Noodle Incident: He already has his blacked-out eye before arriving at the training camp, but we never find out how he got it. Though considering his short temper and aggressive nature, we might draw some conclusions.
• Pintsized Powerhouse: The only human character Yao is taller than is Mulan's grandmother, but he has the strength to lift a gigantic man above his head and throw him several feet and is also suggested to be the best fighter of the three.
• Red Is Heroic: He wears red in the first film, and while he starts off as a jerk, he shows his heroic side later on.
• Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even after going from Mulan's bully to friend, Yao is as brash as ever.
• Slasher Smile: Before becoming Mulan's friend, he was seen giving these when he was about to hurt Mulan or somebody else.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: In the sequel, Yao is the Tiny Guy to Mei's Huge Girl; Yao may be physically muscular, he only reaches around Mei's waist.
• Took a Level in Kindness: With Ling. Chien Po was already a Nice Guy, but he and Ling started off as jerks to Mulan. After going through some intense training and witnessing Mulan's determination, the two quickly changed their attitudes and offer reconciliation.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ling. They tend to get into arguments that break into all-out brawls constantly, but they remain inseparable friends.

Tropes that apply to Ling

• Affectionate Nick Name: Ting-Ting gives Ling the nickname "Lingy Bear".
• Blue Is Heroic: His signature color becomes blue in the sequel. And by then, he has proven (with his friends) to be an honorable and brave soldier.
• Butt-Monkey: He is not immune to all forms of bad luck, whether it be getting a black eye from Yao, attempting to break a block of concrete with his face at one point in the song "I'll Make A Man Out of You", or Chien Po diving in the lake and creating a big splash at the same time.
• Bully Brutality: He certainly finds it a riot when Yao socks someone in the stomach, and gets a little too excited when one of Shang's training ideas involves Mulan standing on the edge of a cliff while they throw rocks at her to deflect with a bo staff.
• Casanova Wannabe: A milder example. If his lines in A Girl Worth Fighting For are any indication, he was a flirt back home. He's also the most immediately confident when dealing with the princesses in the sequel, despite having the worst luck with the one he pursues.
• Commonality Connection: Ling and Ting-Ting both enjoy jokes, but the former had to pretend she didn't because she was ashamed of her laugh. They even do the same chopstick-nose trick!
• Hard Head: He's seen smashing a pile of rocks using his head in the I'll Make a Man out of You Training Montage.
• The Hyena: Ling lives to laugh.
• Hypocritical Humor: In the sequel, he berates Yao on flirting with Mei because she's engaged to be married, but the first thing he does when he meets Ting-Ting is flirt with her.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Ling's sense of humor tends to involve a lot of these. Only he seems to find them funny.
• In Love with Looks: During the song "A Girl Worth Fighting For", Ling states that his ideal woman would be a girl with pale skin and beautiful eyes. When Ping suggests choosing women for their minds, Ling, alongside the other men, scoffs at the idea. Thankfully, in the second movie, he grew out of this idea.
• Insecure Love Interest: Subtle, but it's there. Out of his friends, Ling has the hardest time wooing Ting-Ting feeling saddened when his attempts fail and, at one point, quietly rants to himself that Ting-Ting doesn't like him.
• Iron Butt Monkey: Even more so than his friends.
  • He gets several of his teeth knocked out when Yao accidentally pummels him in the face.
  • Breaking a brick with his face (and his teeth).
  • Falling face first in the mud due to Yao moving the carriage he was leaning on.
  • Getting punched in the face by a girl he was flirting with in the sequel.
  • Having fireworks go off while he's right there.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While he may have been insensitive, Ling wasn't wrong in that Yao couldn't fall for Mei because she was engaged to be married.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ling could be an immature jerk, a prime example being his bullying of Mulan (with Yao). But when Mulan proves her worth, he apologizes and asks if they could be friends. Other than that, Ling is a pretty decent and friendly guy with occasional moments of obnoxiousness and insensitivity. He even rallies the disillusioned men and boosts their morale by suggesting they talk/sing about who they want to fight for.
• Keet: He's the most enthusiastic of the trio.
• Lean and Mean: Before his Character Development, Ling was a rail thin jerkass.
• Must Make Her Laugh: He spends most of the sequel trying to get Ting-Ting to laugh with little success. It turns out she does think he's funny, but was too ashamed of her laugh.
• Teeth Flying: Ling during the camp brawl scene, and during the first brick-breaking scene in I'll Make a Man Out of You.
• Took a Level in Kindness: With Yao. Chien Po was already a Nice Guy, but he and Yao started off as jerks to Mulan. After going through some intense training and witnessing Mulan's determination, the two quickly changed their attitudes and offer reconciliation.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Yao. They tend to get into arguments that break into all out brawls constantly, but they remain inseparable friends.

Tropes that apply to Chien Po

• Acrofatic: Despite his size, he's seen doing cartwheels in the later half of I'll Make a Man out of You.
• All-Loving Hero: He is very good-natured and would never do anything to upset anyone, making him the most ready to befriend Mulan.
• Big Eater: His ideal wife is a great cook, which Su is.
• Big Fun: Chien Po is a fat Gentle Giant.
• The Big Guy: He possesses great strength and can lift multiple people (or a massive stone statue) with ease.
• Blue Is Heroic: His signature color is blue in the first film, where he was shown to be the nicest of the trio and (initially) the Token Good Teammate.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength: Unlike his two friends, Chien Po doesn't actively engage in their frequent brawls, but his large size and great strength lead to him accidentally hurting them anyway. During the Training Montage he actually causes the climbing pole to bounce out of its hole when he fell and looks around sheepishly after doing so.
• Gentle Giant: Chien Po is a Nice Guy from the start, and recites a Buddhist mantra to calm Yao down when he gets into a rage. As mentioned before, Yao is a contrast because he's short, rude and impulsive.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: In the sequel, Chien Po is the Huge Guy to Su's Tiny Girl—Chien Po's the biggest of him, Ling and Yao while Su's the youngest and smallest of her and her sisters.
• Lightning Bruiser: He may look like a Big Guy Mighty Glacier (and he shows himself to be just as strong as he looks), but after some training he's as agile as a monkey.
• Morality Pet: He seems to be able to reign in Yao's anger and bullying to an extent.
• Nice Guy: Chien Po was nice and friendly from the get-go.
• Not So Above It All: Though he generally is a Nice Guy and initially tried to calm Yao down, he did chase "Ping" along with Yao and Ling once the fight escalated, presumably with the intent to beat "him" up. He also isn't above making jokes at Chi Fu's expense, along with the other soldiers.
• Real Men Love Jesus: A variant. He is clearly a practicing Buddhist, as he recites mantras and, before hoisting the soldiers up the mountain (see below), he has his hands folded in prayer.
• Skewed Priorities: During the big brawl scene, when the whole camp is busily fighting each other, he's seated on the ground happily chowing down on a bowl of rice, oblivious to the chaos around him.
• Stout Strength: Chien Po is made of fat and muscle, capable of easily lifting at least half a dozen men, then while holding them, pull a full grown horse carrying two armored soldiers back up onto a cliff without any visible strain.
• Through His Stomach: During "A Girl Worth Fighting For", while Ling wants a beautiful girl and Yao wants one who will admire his battle scars, Chien Po states his ideal girl is one who is a good cook.
  Chien Po: I couldn't care less what she'll wear, or what she looks like...
  It all depends on what she cooks like! Beef, pork, chicken, mmmm!
• Token Good Teammate: Initially—he wasn't exactly supportive of Mulan/Ping, but at the same time, he never went out of his way to act like a jerk to her like Ling and Yao did.

Mulan's Family

Fa Zhou

Voiced by: Soon-Tek Oh; Tito Reséndiz (Latin American Spanish dub); Michel Ruhl (European French dub); Yehuda Efroni (Hebrew dub), Laoli (Mandarin Chinese), Wu Lap Shing (Taiwanese Mandarin), Chu Hak (Cantonese)

"The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter."

Mulan's father.

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• Adaptation Name Change: The earliest case of him having a given name had it as "Hu".
• Be Careful What You Say: He told Mulan during their fight to know her place; she finds it by stealing his conscription and armor before riding off to join the army. It's obvious he regrets it.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Rectangular, thick eyebrows.
• Blue Is Heroic: Fa Zhou's clothing are mainly blue and he's shown to be a caring person.
• Cool Old Guy: He's a poet and a cunning gambler.
• Cool Sword: Like the aforementioned helmet, the dragon-hilted sword Mulan carries is actually his. He manages to demonstrate some skill with it, too, before his health problems force him to stop.
• Cultured Badass: A Warrior Poet who also happens to be a Living Legend.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: In the original ballad, Mulan's father was simply aged. The film adds a bad leg.
• Disappeared Dad: Inverted. His daughter disappears and he is devastated knowing that she left for his sake, and to make matters worse if he attempts to take her place there's a possibility that she'll get exposed so he can't chase after her. Mulan's efforts to prevent this trope from being in full effect is what kicks off the plot.
• Famed In-Story: Shang is astonished to meet the son of "the Fa Zhou" and greets him very respectfully when they meet at the end of the film (though he loses his cool the instant he sees Mulan).
• Feeling Their Age: While he retains some measure of his old skills, his bum leg, old age, and implied heart problems all mean he simply can't perform as he used to. This is the main reason Mulan runs off to take his place in the war, knowing that he won't survive if he goes to fight.
• Good Parents: He genuinely loves his daughter and is extremely distressed when she leaves to take his place in the army.
• Handicapped Badass: Deconstructed. He is self-disciplined, skilled, and knowledgeable, but simply can't perform as he used to because of his injured leg and advanced age. Judging by the way he clutches his chest when Mulan spies on him, he may also have heart problems. This is further supported by Mulan reciting his doctor's prescription of three cups of tea in the morning and three at night, which clearly implies a special medicinal blend.
• Happily Married: To Fa Li. He gives Mulan and Shang 'yin yang' advice in the sequel.
• Hero of Another Story: He's famous enough that Chi Fu and Li Shang know him by name. How did he become so famous? What happened to his leg?
• Honor Before Reason: Played with. When Mulan angrily asks if he's willing to die "for honor" when there are other young men ready to fight and die for China, Zhou corrects her by saying:
  "I will die doing what's right!"
• Insistent Terminology: When his wife admonishes him for gambling:
  Fa Zhou: Betting my mother is not a gamble! It's an investment.
• Living Legend: The people of his village stand aside when he walks up to receive his conscription notice. His status as such is further reinforced by this dialogue:
  Shang: The Fa Zhou!?
  Chi Fu: I didn't know Fa Zhou had a son!
• Moment of Weakness: He's a Reasonable Authority Figure, but he hits his Rage Breaking Point after Mulan has failed her matchmaking exam, embarrasses him in front of the Emperor's official, and then argues with him about dying in battle. He tells her "I know my place and it's time you learned yours," only to learn later that night she ran away with his conscription, Khan, and his old armor. He and Fa Li imagine the worst where if she's exposed she will be killed, while she might be killed in battle.
• Nice Guy: Aside from his traditionalist nature, he's a really sweet guy.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He's normally a relaxed, patient father to Mulan but noticeably snaps at her to know her place when she tries (and fails) to convince him to not be drafted.
• The One Guy: The only male among his family, as the others are his wife, daughter, and mother.
• Open-Minded Parent: Considering the time period, he's very accepting of Mulan's personality and does his best to reassure his daughter after her poor performance at the matchmaker's. He's also very proud of Mulan's status as a war-hero at the end.
• Perilous Old Fool: Subverted. Zhou is an aged war-hero who needs a cane and has implicit heart troubles, but unlike the average perilous old fool he knows he's not in the best shape and isn't the warrior he once was, and he doesn't disagree with Mulan that he's going to his death. However, China calls for his draft service as a man and he will answer it as he has no sons to take the duty because it's the right thing to do.
• Properly Paranoid: Not only does his daughter go off to war in his place, she does so in a disguise that, if broken, will get her executed. Which means there's nothing he can do to stop Mulan. When she returns, with gifts from the Emperor, he tosses them aside and hugs her, telling her she is the greatest gift of honor.
• Real Men Love Jesus: A variant. Fa Zhou makes daily prayers to his ancestors.
  "I'm going to pray some more."
• Retired Badass: Served in the army during his younger years. Both Li Shang and Chi Fu respect his name when "Ping" claims to be his son.
  "Fa Zhou...? (realization sets in) The Fa Zhou?"
• Shipper on Deck: By the sequel, he is wagering with his mother when Shang will propose to Mulan.
• So Proud of You: To Mulan, when she returns as a war-hero with the blessings and respect of the Emperor himself. Though he's also relieved that she's alive.
• Throwing Off the Disability: Subverted. He doesn't use his cane when he accepts the summons to war but it doesn't change the fact he is no longer in fighting shape (his limp is still evident when he walks, and later on he collapses when practicing with his sword). This is the reason why Mulan takes his place.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: He's more composed than his wily mother.
• Warrior Poet: Skillfully draws a metaphor between the late-blooming flower and Mulan.

Fa Li

Voiced by: Freda Foh Shen; Nancy McKenzie (speaking) and Vicky Córdova (singing) (Latin American Spanish dub); Rosine Cadoret (European French dub), Freda Foh Shen (Mandarin Chinese), Wang Bin (Taiwanese Mandarin), May Tse (Cantonese)

"I should have prayed to the ancestors for luck."

Mulan's mother.

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• Adaptation Name Change: The earliest case of her given name had it as "Jia".
• Cool Old Lady: In the parenting way. She always tries to understand her daughter and accepts all the same.
• Deadpan Snarker: Towards Mulan when she complains about the temperature of the bath tub.
  Fa Li: It would had been warm if you were here on time.
• Good Parents: Similar to her husband and mother-in-law, Fa Li does not berate her daughter after she fails at the matchmaker's and appears genuinely upset and concerned for Mulan afterwards. She's also very scared for Mulan's safety after she leaves for the army.
• Happily Married: To Fa Zhou. See his entry.
• House Wife: Like other women her age in this setting, she cooks and raises children.
• Nice Girl: Motherly, loving, and understanding.
• The Quiet One: Like Mulan herself.
• Shipper on Deck: She cries Tears of Joy when Mulan accepts Shang's marriage proposal.
• So Proud of You: Her contented smile at the end when she sees her returned daughter speaks volumes for how proud she is of Mulan and her accomplishments.
• Strong Family Resemblance: She and Mulan have some similar features.
• What the Hell, Hero?: A tiny one; she tells off Mulan for being late for her matchmaking exam preparation.

Grandmother Fa

Voiced by: June Foray (speaking), Marni Nixon (singing); Rocío Garcel (Latin American Spanish dub); Lily Baron (speaking) and Marie Thérèse Orain (singing) (European French dub); Nechama Handel (Hebrew dub), Feng Xianzhen (Mandarin Chinese dub), Choi Choi (Taiwanese Mandarin dub), Lai Suen (Cantonese dub)

"WOO! Sign me up for the next war!"

Mulan's grandmother. While she may seem to be a bit kooky, she is still quite wise.

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• Adaptation Name Change: In "The Complete Account of Extraordinary Mulan", where she made her debut, her married name was "Zhu" rather than "Fa."
• Ascended Extra: In the 1800 novel "The Complete Account of Extraordinary Mulan", Mulan's grandmother was a mere onlooker, while her husband Zhu Ruoxo taught their granddaughter martial arts and dark magic. No, really. Here, she has a somewhat larger role and seems to be a widow.
• Blue Is Heroic: Wears blue clothing like her son and is a kind-hearted woman.
• Cloudcuckoo Lander: She believes in lucky crickets and decides to blindly cross a busy road with Cri-Kee as her good luck charm.
• Cool Old Lady: She fixes her granddaughter with a little bit of luck, gambles, and she has the sarcasm and appreciation of young men to blend in with her teenage counterparts.
• Deadpan Snarker: The line: "Who spit in her bean curd?" is a good example.
• Didn't Think This Through: Equipping Mulan with her lucky cricket Cri-Kee moments before her meeting with the Matchmaker didn't work out so well for her granddaughter, to put it mildly.
• Dirty Old Woman: She's very impressed with Shang.
  Grandmother Fa: Sign me up for the next war!
• Good Parents: She has done very well by Fa Zhou and definitely adores her granddaughter, whom she fully accepts for who she is and only wants the best for her.
• Hidden Depths: While wise-cracking and charmingly rude for most of the movie's introduction, she does have a remarkably strong spiritual side. She gives Mulan numerous amulets for good luck with the matchmaker, immediately wakes up when Mulan runs away, and also the only one whose prayers actually reach the ancestors.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: She is much shorter than the other characters.
• Multigenerational Household: Typical for the time period and Chinese culture in general. She gets on well with the entire family, especially her granddaughter.
• My Significance Sense Is Tingling: She sensed Mulan running away while she was asleep.
• Nice Girl: She's open-minded, protective, and fun-loving.
• Open-Minded Parent: A grandparent example. She's very accepting of Mulan's personality and does not take well to anyone criticizing her granddaughter.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Particularly for people she doesn't like or those she likes a bit too much (see: Shang).
• Shipper on Deck: Grandmother Fa definitely ships Mulan and General Shang.
  Mulan: (to Shang) Would you like to stay for dinner?
  Grandmother Fa: Would you like to stay forever?
• Strolling Through the Chaos: To show that Cri-Kee is a lucky cricket, she crosses a street while covering her eyes. Even Cri-Kee is scared by the ensuing chaos but she's unharmed and describes it as proof of Cri-Kee's luck.
• Unnamed Parent: The mother of Fa Zhou and grandmother of Mulan, but her given name isn't revealed.
• Wacky Parent, Serious Child: She's more wily than her serious son.

Khan

Voiced by: Frank Welker

Mulan's horse.

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• Amplified Animal Aptitude: He's smart enough to be Mulan's Secret-Keeper.
• Cool Horse: A black stallion.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Has black fur, but is one of the good guys.
• Foil: Like Cri-Kee, he is this to Mushu. While the former is selfish doesn’t initially care about helping Mulan, the latter clearly has Undying Loyalty for her.
• A Friend in Need: Wherever Mulan goes, Khan will be right there with her, even if it's into an avalanche.
• Given Name Reveal: His real name is only revealed by Mulan addressing him by it in his final scene (with Mushu calling him “Khannie” in an earlier scene).
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: He is the most proves to be a rather more helpful sidekick to Mulan than Mushu. He even braves rushing into an oncoming snow avalanche in order to save her, while every other character (understandably) runs away from it.
• Intelligible Unintelligible: Only Mushu can understand him.
  (Khan whinnies)
  Mushu: What d'you mean the troops just left?
• Made of Iron: He survives a massive avalanche that hit him head-on and then rode to the Imperial City at a dead sprint.
• Mythology Gag: His name. In the original version of the legend, Mulan's monarch was the Khan of the Northern Wei and the invading force came from the Rouran Khaganate while in the Sui Tang Romance version, Mulan was a subject of Heshana Khan, Ruler of the Western Turkic Khaganate.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Mulan's warhorse.
• Silent Snarker: One can interpret by looking at some of Khan’s expressions that he is constantly silently snarking.
• Undying Loyalty: To Mulan. Justified as Real Life horses have been known to go to great lengths to save their humans, often times at the cost of their own lives. This isn't seen very often, but when a horse develops a bond with a human, there is nothing on heaven or earth that will keep them apart.

"Little Brother"

Voiced by: Chris Sanders (Mulan), Frank Welker (Mulan II)

The Fa family pet dog.

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• Mythology Gag: In the Chinese legend, Mulan has an actual little brother who is too young for the army, but he was Adapted Out.
• Nearly Normal Animal: Cartoonish in appearance, but he's not a talking animal.
• Precious Puppy: He's an adorable, hyperactive little puppy.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: A floppy little dog, who looks like he's part beagle and part pillow.

The Ancestors

"Go! The fate of the Fa family rests in your claws."

Voiced by: George Takei (First) (original); José Lavat (First), Daniel Abundis (Abacus One), Magda Giner (Lady Ancestor), Ricardo Hill (Big Beard Ancestor), Esteban Siller (Farmer Ancestor) (Latin American Spanish dub); Jean Davy (First Ancestor) (European French dub); Ntinos Soutis (First) (Greek dub); Dov Raizer (First) (Hebrew dub)

The ancestors of the Fa family.

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• American Gothic Couple: Two of them are based on the painting.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: They live inside the tablets in the Fa family shrine as spirits.
• Dysfunctional Family: Hoo Boy. Their different personalities really clash with each other, and that's not even talking about their lifestyles, choices and destinies, much to the elder ancestor's dismay.
• Fog Feet: Since they're ghosts, they don't have feet.
• Jewish Mother: One of the female ancestors acts like a stereotypical Jewish mother, claiming that her children never caused trouble because they all became acupuncturists. A male ancestor who is implied to be her husband retorts, "Well, we can't all be acupuncturists!"
• Noodle Incident: Whatever Mushu did that ended with Fa Deng losing his head is not explained.
• Off with His Head!: Fa Deng was decapitated on account of Mushu's misguidance (resulting in his demotion to gong-ringer), and his spirit is shown carrying it.
  Fa Deng: Yeah. Thanks a lot.
• Only Sane Woman: One of the female ancestors attempts to speak up on Mulan's behalf and points out that she's just trying to help her father, but is overruled.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Apparently solid, as seen in the scene where Mushu grabs onto the First Ancestor's beard. Then again, Mushu is a dragon.
• Papa Wolf: When someone threatens their descendants, they unleash powerful animal guardians.
• Severed Head Sports: When celebrating at the end, the Fa Deng gets his head thrown around like a beach ball.
• Staff of Authority: The First Ancestor wields one and directs the others.
• Supernatural Floating Hair: The First Ancestor's hair and beard float.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: A more justified case towards Mushu. They are implied to have demoted him to a unappreciated menial due to his bad track record and generally impudent attitude, though did give credit where it was due when he proved himself through Mulan and reinstated him as guardian...only to completely regret the decision by the second film when he gains an insufferable spoiled ego over it, using Loophole Abuse as a means to finally be rid of him for good. Mushu does get back his position again, though unlike the first film, none of them are celebrating, especially since he is as arrogant towards them as ever.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the second film, they are so eager to be rid of Mushu that they plan to utilise Loophole Abuse to destroy his clause as soon as Mulan marries, and gloat his unemployment prematurely as soon as the engagement is announced. They didn't anticipate that Mushu would be desperate enough to stoop to sabotaging Mulan and Li Shang's relationship to prevent it happening.

The Royal Family and Counsel

The Emperor

"No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it."

Voiced by: Pat Morita (original); Jesús Colin (Latin American Spanish dub); Bernard Dhéran (European French dub); Yitzchak Seidof (Hebrew dub), Zhou Zhiqiang (Mandarin Chinese dub), Tong Shaozong (Taiwanese Mandarin dub), Kwan Hoi Shan (Cantonese dub)

The emperor of China.

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• Age Lift: The original ballad was about Tuoba Buri's 429 campaign against the Rouran Khaganate, which lasted twelve years. Buri Khan was 21 when the campaign started and 33 when it ended. The Emperor, by contrast, is a man who is at least in his sixties.
• Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving: A textbook example. He starts off admonishing Mulan for her various misdeeds throughout the movie but finishes the list with the fact that she saved all of China by doing so. It's even the page quote.
• Badass in Distress: Falls victim to a Hun ambush and has to be rescued.
• Big Good: The wise and benevolent ruler of China whom all the heroes answer to.
• Cool Old Guy:
  • Not only is he wise and fearless but he bluntly points out to Shang how into Mulan the former is.
  • Mulan hugs him in gratitude for his praise, which would have normally gotten her executed for sacrilege. Not only does he not have a problem with it after a split second surprise, he's even endeared by it like the kindly old grandfather he really is. It also plays into the humility he shows at the beginning of the movie, where he views his people as more important than himself, showing that he doesn't care too much about his own status to be bothered about such a detail.
• Deadpan Snarker: He not-so-subtly insults Chi Fu by telling Mulan she can have his job, and later tells Shang (about Mulan), “You don’t meet a girl like that every dynasty.”
• Defiant Captive: When Shan Yu captured him, he treats the much bigger and stronger guy like some slow-in-the-head child, and refuses to bow to him.
• Demoted to Extra: He only gets a couple of scenes in the beginning of the second film, although he only had one scene at the beginning and a single long scene at the end of the first
• The Emperor: The illustrious sole ruler of China.
• Establishing Character Moment: When told his armies will protect him, he declared that the armies should also go out to protect his people, showing that he is a benevolent ruler. He also shows wisdom and caution with his "grain of rice" line.
• A Father to His Men: More like a Father to his Country, he cares deeply for his people, wishing to protect them, sending his palace warriors to the borders to fight off the invasion, dispense his great wisdom freely to those around him, and even in his declaration of victory to the public he refers to his people as "My Children".
• Foil: To Shan Yu. While the Emperor is a king who is respected by his people and wishes to have peace, Shan Yu is a general who is feared by China and wishes to declare war.
• Gold Makes Everything Shiny: His robe, palace and everything around is are coated in gold or is heavily accented with it.
• The Good King: This is his establishing character moment and cardinal trait. When he's on screen, his actions are guided by China's welfare.
• Kneel Before Frodo: The Emperor (and subsequently everyone at the capital) bows to Mulan for her heroism.
• Kneel Before Zod: Defied AWESOMELY.
  Emperor: [to Shan Yu] No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it.
• Nerves of Steel: A master of this. He never loses his cool or shows fear even when threatened with murder.
• Nice Guy: All signs point that he is just as affable in his personal life as he is in public matters. Best shown when Mulan hugging him, an act that to answer Yao's question, she is most certainly not allowed to do, shows that he doesn't really mind his own status too much and takes it like the grandfatherly sage he is.
• Non-Action Guy: By all accounts, he's not a soldier. That doesn't stop him from being awesome in his own way.
• No Name Given: The reigning Emperor's name is never mentioned, so "Your Majesty", "Your Excellency", etc is all we get.
• Papa Wolf: To all of Imperial China. When he gives the "protect my people" line it is the same tone as 'protect my children'.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He accepts Mulan's nature as a hero almost instantly.
• Shipper on Deck: He tries to be subtle about how Shang should go after Mulan, but Shang doesn't get it, so he goes straight to the point.
  Emperor: The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.
  Shang: ...Sir?
  Emperor: You don't meet a girl like that every dynasty!

Chi Fu

"Be careful, Captain. The General may be your father, but I am the Emperor's counsel. And oh, by the way, I got the job on my own."

Voiced by: James Hong (original); Mario Filio (Latin American Spanish dub); Michel Prudhomme (European French dub); Yoshito Yasuhara (Japanese dub); Lior Zohar (Hebrew dub), Tian Erxi (Mandarin Chinese dub), Sun Chung Tai (Taiwanese Mandarin dub), Tinson Lung (Cantonese dub)

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.

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• Adaptational Villainy:
  • In Mulan Jr., in which there's a throwaway line about him betraying the army for his own personal gain. While he really disliked certain members of the army, there was no indication that he felt any disloyalty towards them and even allows them to join Li in battle when he gets a (forged) letter that indicates Li needs it.
  • Zig-zagged with Mulan being revealed. He completely loses it in the movie, but he did have a reason to be genuinely angry: by deceiving everybody, she had brought dishonor to everybody in the entire Chinese army - while there weren't that many army members left, she had screwed over several people, and their families - and dishonor is a pretty big deal...in the stage show he actually takes it the most calmly out of everybody, but can't be bothered by the potential ramifications for everyone else and just makes a note about tightening up security. Then he still suggests Mulan be executed. The Dissonant Serenity is arguably worse.
• Ambiguously Gay: Loosely implied, since the soldiers assume his "girl back home" is his mother and he doesn't show much appreciation for women. Granted, that's not particularly special in this period, but with Chi Fu it's significant. Though it's highly possible, based on his position and the time in which the film is set, that he is a eunuch.
• Berserk Button: Just the idea of women being equal to men make him fly into a rant. Just try it.
• Bilingual Bonus: Chi Fu's name is a pun on the Chinese word for "to bully."
• Butt-Monkey: It's rather entertaining to see him get made fun of or talked down to and given his actions and attitude, he deserves every bit of it.
• Dirty Coward: He cowers underneath the cannons like a big baby during the fight in the mountains.
• Effeminate Misogynistic Guy: Chi Fu is a Non-Action Guy known for his Girly Scream, yet when told that Mulan is a hero he simply says "'tis a woman, she'll never be worth anything." Granted, there is some room for interpreting this as contempt for Mulan as an individual, but given his statement that women should know to hold their tongues in front of men, he is definitely the most openly-misogynistic male character.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Even he is horrified when he finds the razed village.
  • It's also worth noting that when he is tasked with bringing the revealed Mulan out of her tent, while he does chew her out and drop her on the ground, he otherwise does his best to be decent with handling the half-naked girl; only holding her by her forearm and keeping her facing away from him whenever he can. Whether he was being mindful of Mulan's modesty or just so disgusted he couldn't bring himself to look at her more than strictly necessary, it did show a line he wouldn't cross.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: No one in the Chinese Army seems to regard Chi Fu with any respect, from the chain of command down to the lowly recruits. General Li gives him a Disapproving Look (essentially ordering him to shut up) when he tries to interject during Li and Shang's meeting, Shang openly detests him, and the trainees mock him every chance they get without fear of repercussion. It's telling that when he tries to join in while the troops are all having a lake bath, they kick him out and humiliate him for good measure. Even the Emperor who appointed him doesn't seem to care for him much, thinking nothing of dismissing him and giving his job to Mulan.
• Girlfriend in Canada: Chi Fu claims he has an amazing girl back home. The sideways glance he gives the other soldiers implies he's just lying to impress the other guys. Yao isn't even convinced.
• Hate Sink: Shan-Yu has done lots of horrible things, but we can't really hate him since he's an awesome villain. We can, however, hate Chi Fu for a dozen reasons that make him too close to the sort of people we encounter in real life. He's condescending, arrogant, obstructive, misogynistic, and provides no help against the Huns outside of conscripting villagers.
• Heel–Face Turn: He undergoes one in Mulan's Adventure Journal: The Palace of Secrets where he and Mulan become allies to save the Emperor from a conspiracy against his life.
• Jagged Mouth: No, he's not constantly pouting, as his bizarrely shaped lower jaw can be seen even when he's genuinely smiling.
• Jerkass: The only person he is not rude to is the Emperor himself.
• Jerkass Has a Point: When Mulan is exposed as a woman he all but demands her execution... Because she had committed a capital crime, even stating "You know the law" as a matter of fact when Yao, Ling, and Chien Po try to oppose the decision.
• Knight Templar: Mildly given his comical moments. While he’s on the side of the Empire rather than the Huns, he’s one of the most horrible characters in the franchise.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Played with; after all his abuse towards Mulan, he doesn't really get punished for it, but the Emperor is so impressed by her deeds that when Chi Fu scoffs at the idea of making her one of his advisers, the Emperor casually offers her his job instead, much to Chi Fu's disbelief and he faints. And although Mulan turned it down, it's most likely he was fired anyway for all his mistreatment towards her.
• Lean and Mean: The thinnest and the meanest (non-antagonist) character in the film.
• Non-Action Guy: Justified. He's the Emperor's aide, not a soldier, and is understandably terrified when he is present during a Hun attack.
• Noodle Incident: "You men owe me a new pair of slippers!"
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: Attempts to keep Shang's soldiers out of the war with his report.
• Pet the Dog: He has the decency to be horrified when they stumble upon the razed village and slaughtered army, even giving some polite words to Shang.
• Put on a Bus: Unlike the other characters that returned in the sequel, Chi Fu doesn't return.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Played with, his obstructing of the heroes is played up for all it's worth, but closer watching reveals that in these he's never once acting in his own specific self-interest, and is actually just principled to a fault. This is what allow the protagonists to get him off their backs - when the emperor suddenly decides to favor Mulan, he does quietly cede: Well, until the emperor starts talking about making sixteen year old Mulan one of his counselors-that was too much for even him to submit to.
  • It's not mentioned, but as a member of the Emperor's Counsel he's one of the most important men in China, second only to the Emperor, the Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Prime Minister (in this order). In spite of this he doesn't demand horrific punishments from the soldiers for insulting him as he could have, knows enough of military matters to let Shang do his job as the military specialist, and when Shang decides to not execute Mulan he accepts (offscreen) to spare her in spite of having committed a capital crime.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Right after denying it he does it!
• Self-Made Man: As he points out, he got to his position through his own hard work, not nepotism.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He's quite full of himself, believing he's indispensable as the Emperor's personal counsel and is not afraid to flaunt his position in front of China's officers. Despite his ego, he never actually says anything of worth and just keeps running his mouth like some authoritarian big shot. The upshot is that if the Emperor is to be believed, his job is easy to replace anyway.
• Smug Snake: "Impossible! No one could get through the Great Wall." This comes right after hearing that someone did get through the Great Wall.
• Straw Misogynist: What makes Chi Fu more irritating and hated than Shan-Yu himself: he is essentially a walking embodiment of incompetent, sexist and sycophantic authority figures everywhere. It's very unlikely that a regular person would be unlucky enough to cross paths with someone like Shan-Yu. However, unless you live a very charmed life, you have met or will meet someone like Chi Fu, whether it's a teacher, a boss or your co-worker.
• Token Evil Teammate: Not necessarily evil, but he's the only one on China's side who remains a thoroughly unpleasant Jerkass by the end of the first film.
• Took a Level in Kindness: He learns to respect Mulan in the comicbook Mulan's Adventure Journal: The Palace of Secrets, as they work together to protect the Emperor from a conspiration.
• Undying Loyalty: Despite his snobbish behavior, he does show a positive trait in being industrious and loyal to the Emperor, as when the Emperor ordered the distribution of conscription notices to all of China, Chi Fu went as far as to distribute them himself. In the comicbook Mulan's Adventure Journal: The Palace of Secrets, the Emperor even considers him the only person he can still trust after finding out there's a conspiration against his life taking place in his own palace.
• Vague Age: Downplayed, he's clearly older then the rest of the main cast but other that it's rather hard to pinpoint, his voice actor was seventy when the movie came out, but Chi Fu has no problem traveling and chasing after the army recruits as he tries to keep them in line. However his position was something that he probably had to slowly work towards for years and his overall attitude and beliefs give off a very traditional energy. He could be anywhere between a very old fashioned forty year old or a very healthy seventy year old.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Yes, even after Mulan saved all of China from Shan Yu and his Huns, Chi Fu stands by his opinion that she's worthless.

Mei, Ting-Ting, and Su

Left to right: Su, Ting-Ting, and Mei.

Ting-Ting voiced by: Sandra Oh, Judy Kuhn (singing voice) (original); Gaby Cárdenas (Latin American Spanish dub); Véronique Alycia (speaking) and Marielle Hervé (singing) (European French dub)
Su voiced by: Lauren Tom, Mandy Gonzalez (singing voice) (original); Irazema Terrazas (Latin American Spanish dub); Marie Millet (European French dub)
Mei voiced by: Lucy Liu, Beth Blankenship (singing voice) (original); Natalia Sosa (Latin American Spanish dub); Véronique Desmadryl (European French dub)

The Emperor's three daughters who appear in the sequel to participate in an arranged marriage.

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In general

• Arranged Marriage: The main conflict in the sequel is that to help avert a war, the princesses have an arrange marriage. Problem is they want to Marry for Love. Thanks to Mushu, the princesses get out of the wedding, avert a war, and marry for love.
• Birds of a Feather: With Yao, Ling, and Chien Po. Mei is feisty and rebellious (Yao), Ting-Ting has a corny and immature sense of humor (Ling, though she tries to hide it), and Su is a sweet Big Eater (Chien Po).
• Bodyguard Crush: They fall in love with the three soldiers tasked with protecting them.
• Color-Coded Characters: Mei is pink, Ting-Ting is purple and Su is yellow.
• Daddy's Girl: All three princesses love their father very much and don't want him to be disappointed in them.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Ting-Ting's the oldest and most mature. Su's the youngest and most childish. Mei's kind of in between the two.
• Freudian Trio: Ting-Ting is the Superego that initially reproves Mei for suggesting that she and Ling have a connection and knows where her duty lies (will do the arranged marriage because it's her duty to do so), Su is the Ego who acts as the emotional middle ground of stability between Mei and Ting-Ting, even in the midst of her connection with Chien Po (she wants to marry for true love, but also understands that doing so will cause a lot of problems), and Mei is the Id who rebukes Ting-Ting for denying that she and Ling have a special connection (she was planning to run away from the arrangement, even though it meant a possible war).
• High-Class Fan: The princesses are often seen with a fan in their hands, to show off that they're Proper Ladies. Ting-Ting seems to especially hold on to hers, as she is the oldest and most mature of them, and during their "I Want" Song, "Like Other Girls", her younger sisters rip the fan out of her hands when trying to convince her to live a little.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: See "I Want" Song; it's about the freedom and individuality that the princesses desire despite the limitations that stereotyped gender roles confine them to.
• "I Want" Song: "Like Other Girls".
• Nice Girl: All three of them are kind, thoughtful, and polite.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Downplayed. All three are nice, but differ in temperament: Su (Nice) is the most cheerful and fun-loving. Ting-Ting (Mean) tells her sisters, especially Mei, not to fall in love because they have to abide by the arranged marriage. Mei (Inbetween) a really nice girl, but is willing to risk her country's safety for her own happiness, though it's portrayed quite sympathetically.
• Marry for Love: What all of them truly want..."To meet a nice guy who likes me for me". And get thanks to Mushu.
• Official Couple: Mei with Yao, Ling with Ting-Ting, and Su with Chien Po.
• Prefers Going Barefoot: During their song "Like Other Girls", the princesses claim that, if they lived like commoner girls, they wouldn't have to wear shoes (which they claim as "pinchy"). They then proceed to remove their shoes and spend the rest of the song barefoot.
• Scary Shadow Fakeout: Not scary, but rather bizarre. As they approach the back door of the Emperor's palace ready to leave for Qigong, we see a shadow of what appears to be an aardvark, but only turns out to be shadows of themselves merged together, justifying their stylized hairdos.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: All three of them want to marry someone who loves them for them. They end up falling in love with some of China's bravest, most loyal, and eternally dedicated and decorated soldiers: Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, respectively.
  • Mei tells her sisters there's more to Yao then what meets the eye and later tells him she finds it easy to talk to him.
  • Ling won Ting-Ting's heart by making her laugh. Before that, she gave him a warm smile after he found and personally dried her fan before before giving it back. Also, he gets extra points for Ling for finding her laugh (which she admittedly hates) adorable.
  • Su and Chien Po bonded over their love of food, and Su was smitten with his kindness.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girls (more accustomed to "lady like" things) to Mulan's Tomboy (isn't very good at it and has the most experience with fighting).
• Uptown Girl The princesses of China fall in love with commoners (who are also decorated soldiers).
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: Part of the reason they agreed to the arranged marriages was to please their father.

Mei

• Genki Girl: While not on Su's level, Mei is a very passionate woman.
• Love at First Sight: With Yao. After just one look at Yao, Mei admits to her sisters that there's something special about him.
• Pink Means Feminine: Mei's signature dress is pink and she's as girly as her sisters.
• Shipper on Deck: She even scolded Ting-Ting for denying she and Ling had a connection.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Mei is the Huge Girl to Yao's Tiny Guy; Yao may be physically muscular, but he only reaches around Mei's waist.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Downplayed. When Su makes an insult towards Yao, Mei throws a pillow at her.
• Women Prefer Strong Men: Mei had a dreamy look on her face when she saw Yao split a log with his bare hands.

Ting-Ting

• Annoying Laugh: She has the stereotypical pig snort laugh, which she herself hates, though Ling thinks it's cute.
• Big Sister Instinct: When the carriage was about to fall in the river, the princesses were stuck inside. Mei was safely pulled out, leaving Ting-Ting and Su inside. Ting-Ting immediately grabbed Su and tossed her outside, knowing that one of the guards would catch her.
• Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Ting-Ting's signature dress is purple and she produces an air of "queenliness" (understandable, since she's the oldest and thus is next in line for the throne after their father).
• Ms. Exposition: Ting-Ting explains the princess life.
• Not So Above It All: She is the eldest and most mature of the three, and tries to keep her sisters in line, but even she has her limits. While she spends the first halve of "Like Other Girls" trying to get Mei and Su to act civilized, she quickly joins in and shows she hates rules just as much as they do. When not acting like a dignified princess, she likes to make a fool of herself and wiggle chopsticks in her nose.
• Not So Stoic: When Ling gets Ting-Ting to laugh.
• Only Sane Woman: Ting-Ting is the most reasonable and mature of the three.
• Repetitive Name: Ting-Ting.
• The Stoic: Ting-Ting for about three-quarters of Mulan II. "Just get your pomegranates in the carriage."
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Ting-Ting is the most mature and reserved of her sisters, but is also polite and caring.
• Tough Leader Façade: Ting-Ting, for a long time, hid her sense of humor because it wasn't dignified for a princess to wiggle chopsticks in her nose.
• Uptight Loves Wild: 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.

Su

• The Baby of the Bunch: Su's the youngest and shortest daughter of the Emperor, as well as being the most childish.
• Big Eater: Her second biggest concern appears to be food.
• Comedic Underwear Exposure: The part during the "Like Other Girls" song where she shows her underwear.
• Flat Character: Compared to Mei and Ting-Ting, all Su basically contributes to the film is to agree with whatever either sister is saying or giggle at anything.
• Genki Girl: Su is the most excitable of her sisters.
• Hidden Depths: Su appears to be a speed reader when reading Mei's letter.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Su is the Tiny Girl to Chien Po's Huge Guy; the guy is the Gentle Giant of his friends, while Su is the youngest of her sisters.

The Hun Army

Shan Yu

"By building his wall, [the Emperor] challenged my strength. Well, I'm here to play his game."

Voiced by: Miguel Ferrer (original); Rubén Moya (Latin American Spanish dub); Richard Darbois (European French dub); Mikael Persbrandt (Swedish dub); Hiroshi Fujioka (Japanese dub); Ohad Shachar (Hebrew dub), Massimo Corvo (Italian dub), Li Jianyi (Mandarin Chinese dub), David Hu (Taiwanese Mandarin dub), Chow Chi Fai (Cantonese dub)

The main antagonist of the first movie. He's The Leader of the Huns who is bent on conquering China.

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• Absurdly Sharp Blade: His sword can cut through thick pillars far too easily.
• Adaptational Name Change: The first case of the leader of the enemy force having a name is in "The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father's Place", where his name was "Leopard Skin."
• Amazing Technicolor Population: His skin is unbelievably grey to make him appear more sinister.
• Ambiguously Human: Some of Shan Yu's physical characteristics are quite alarming: he has clawed fingernails, fanged teeth, eyes that are definitely not a normal man's, and Super-Strength. A deleted scene even shows him sharing some kind of spiritual link with his falcon. But it's never really made clear who or what he's supposed to be other than his given background as a vicious foreign conqueror. It's worth noting that the real-life Xiongnu and Huns practiced a number of styles of body modifications, such as tooth-sharpening, head-flattening, and scarification. While Shan Yu's appearance is certainly not quite consistent with these modifications (there's no way anyone back then would have been able to get his eyes to do that), some of his features like his pointed teeth could be attributed to such practices.
• Animal Eyes: His eyes are hawk-like black and yellow. This is in contrast to his falcon having human-like eyes of the same color.
• Badass Boast: Is fond of making these. In fact, he makes one in all of his (speaking) appearances.
  "Tell your emperor to send his strongest armies! I'm ready."
  "Your walls and and armies have fallen, and now, it's your turn."
• Bad Boss: In one deleted scene, after the Huns have ransacked a village, one of them finds a small bird in a cage, still alive, and smuggles it into his clothing. Shan Yu finds him moments later after asking the Huns if anything at all in the village was still alive. He releases the bird, remarking, "all creatures should be given a chance to live free, but freedom has its price" as his falcon kills the bird and he stabs the man, turning it into a Badass Boast about what they're going to do to the Emperor of China.
• Bald of Evil: Downplayed. He's a violent Blood Knight with a bit of hair missing from the top.
• Barbarian Longhair: Apart from on top of his head, Shan Yu's hair is pretty long.
• Benevolent Boss: Surprisingly enough, he's very respectful towards his army. He constantly praises their abilities, never treats them harshly, and is quite outraged when the majority of them are killed in an avalanche. He even politely declines one of his generals when they suggest avoiding the Chinese army. It makes sense when one takes his Genius Bruiser tendencies in mind and remember that an army that hates its leader isn't an army that will function well.
• The Berserker: While normally cold and collected, he really loses it when his plans are foiled.
• Big Bad: He is the leader of the Huns and the one directing the invasion.
• Big Entrance: Scaling the Great Wall of China!
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: The biggest eyebrows to add to his unusual and beast-like appearance.
• Black Eyes of Crazy: His irises are yellow, but his sclerae (the "whites" of his eyes) are black. Unusual example in that this is actually his eye colour, and consequently they stay this way all the time, even when he is totally calm, rather than turning this colour when he loses it.
• Blood Knight: His first two scenes suggest him to be this, and he later confirms it when he rejects a suggestion to avoid the Imperial Army rather than meet them in combat. Shortly before the avalanche wipes out his army he personally leads the charge against the heroes, and is so far in front of his horde that it is very clear he wants to fight them himself.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: When the Imperial scouts are captured he hoists one of them in a Neck Lift with a single hand like he's picking up a feather. Later after infiltrating the palace in an effort to kill Mulan he furiously slices a sword through thick wooden pillars like they're made of cloth, and punches through thick walls with little effort.
• Cool Sword: It has jagged edges.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Mulan uses a rocket to send him flying into a stockpile of fireworks.
• Deadpan Snarker: His low-key and sardonic nature actually makes him scarier than if he were a typical scenery-chewing antagonist.
  • There's this moment just after his soldiers capture two Chinese scouts.
    Shan Yu: Nice work, gentlemen. You found the Hun army.
  • Also, when finally meeting the Emperor:
    Shan Yu: [while hanging upside down] Boo!
• Determinator: After having lost his army sans 5 men to an avalanche, Shan Yu continues unabated to take on China and almost succeeds in dominating the country by taking the Emperor hostage.
• The Dreaded: Though the Emperor himself is too dignified to have a true Oh, Crap! moment, his expression and actions when General Li says the Huns are being led by Shan Yu shows that he is aware that China could be in a lot of trouble. Also, when two imperial scouts get caught by the Huns and Shan Yu takes his hood off, revealing his face, one of them mutters a truly terrified, "Shan Yu!"
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • In the very first scene of the film, he leads an attack on the Great Wall of China, and does not stop a sentry who lights the signal fire. When the sentry defiantly says "Now all of China knows you're here", Shan Yu says "Perfect" while burning the Imperial flag in the signal fire.
  • His next appearance marks another one, where he claims the reason he's invading China in the first place is because, "By building his Wall [the Emperor] challenged my strength. Well, I'm here to play his game. Go! Tell your Emperor to send his strongest armies. I'm ready." He then jokingly orders his archer to kill one of the captured Chinese, apparently For the Evulz.
• Even Evil Has Standards: It's subtly implied he's a Politically Correct Villain, see the trope itself for details.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": If you match the story up to real life and accept that the "Huns" are in fact the Xiongnu (made explicit in the Chinese dub), Shan Yu is not the villain's name but his TITLE (also represented as Chanyu, and in either event roughly translates to "Majesty Son of Heaven").
• Evil Is Bigger: Towers over all the heroes, except for Chien Po.
• Evil Laugh: Celebrates a victory with a deep and menacing laugh.
• Evil Plan: Oddly enough he doesn't seem that interested in taking over China, but rather in proving himself superior to the Emperor by making him bow.
• Evil Sounds Deep: From having the deep husky voice of Miguel Ferrer.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Shan Yu only wears a glove on his left hand, which he uses as a perch for his falcon.
• Faux Affably Evil:
  • The doll scene. The subtext of "The little girl will be missing her doll... we should return it to her" is clearly "let's murder her and raze her village to the ground while we're at it". He also kills General Li and his soldiers during the massacre of said village.
  • His interaction with the two Imperial scouts also reeks of this. He straightens one's cape seconds before hefting him into the air by his throat and holding his sword under the scout's chin. Then, just as it seems he's letting them both get away with their lives, he orders his archer to take one of them out.
• Four-Star Badass: He is the supreme leader of his army, and he personally leads the attacks. When we finally see him in action it is clear that he is extremely formidable.
• Frontline General: He's always the first man in a charge.
• Genius Bruiser: Tactically speaking, he is brilliant, and physically speaking, he's a monster.
• Implacable Man: He really wants the Emperor to acknowledge his superiority, and minor inconveniences like being buried alive in an avalanche of freezing snow which kills almost his entire army only make him angry and cause him to re-evaluate his strategy. He nearly manages to win even then! Once Mulan reveals herself as the one who buried Shan Yu's army with an avalanche, he pursues her, not caring if he needs to break everything to do so.
• The Juggernaut: Makes a beeline from the borders of China directly to the Emperor. Anything that gets in the way will be crushed. Being buried under an entire avalanche does nothing but piss him off.
• Kneel Before Zod: His ultimate goal is to make the Emperor bow before him to signify his triumph over China.
• Large and in Charge: Both taller and broader than his lieutenants.
• Lightning Bruiser: Shan Yu may look like a Mighty Glacier, and he shows himself to be just as strong as he looks, but he's as agile as a monkey. He's also fairly intelligent and an excellent strategist.
• Little "No": He utters one when he looks to the crowd to see if he can find the Emperor, right before he enters a massive Villainous Breakdown.
• Made of Iron: The avalanche should have killed him. Shan Yu simply pulls himself out without injury. With absolutely no effort, he's out of the snow like a daisy!
• Near-Villain Victory: Even General Li and his army were no match for him and the new soldiers were inexperienced even including Li Shang. The only reason he fails to conquer China is Mulan's creativity.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: He might have been inspired by notorius nomadic conquerors like Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan. Or he is based on one of the Chanyus (the leader of the Xiongnu in real life). One in particular matches Shan Yu's ruthlessness, Modu Chanyu.
• No Song for the Wicked: This is one of the few films in the Disney Renaissance not to feature a Villain Song, the others being The Rescuers Down Under, Hercules (though Hades sings in the series), and Tarzan. If you discount the three from prior to the Disney Renaissance, this is also the only Disney Princess film without a villain song.
• Obviously Evil: His grey skin, his black and yellow eyes, and his bestial appearance all point to "barbarian overlord". Plus, he has fangs.
• Politically Correct Villain: It's subtle, but it's suggested he's not exactly sexist. Whereas Chi Fu did everything he could to bemoan that Mulan was a woman in the army, when she ties back her hair into a top knot to show, Shan Yu instantly recognizes her as "the soldier from the mountains," and fights her with as much ferocity as he would any male soldier. Sufficed to say, he rightfully focused less on her being female, and more on her being a mighty warrior. Justified by the fact that he is actually Xiongnu, and female Xiongnu could be soldiers.^note To be fair, any sexism would have also taken a backseat to how pissed he was at recognizing the soldier who wiped out his entire army.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
  • To one of the two Chinese scouts he turned loose to give a message to the Emperor. While he doesn't directly kill the scout himself, he does give the implicit order to do so with chilling humor.
    Shan Yu: How many men does it take to deliver a message?
    Archer: [nocking arrow] One.
  • He attempts this with Mulan at the end.
    Shan Yu: It looks like you're out of ideas.
    Mulan: [Using the fan to parry the attack and take the sword] Not quite.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The leader is the most dangerous.
• Red Right Hand: In addition to the grey skin and yellow eyes, concept art that depicts the anatmony of his skeleton reveals his spine to be deformed.
• Sadist: He takes very fiendish joy in the prospect of hurting and/or killing someone. Notice how he smiles while declaring to "return the doll to a little girl."
• Skyward Scream: When he realizes that the avalanche wiped out almost all of his army.
• The Sociopath: As a ruthless barbarian king who declares war on China because he sees the Great Wall as a challenge, he has some traits of ASPD. He has a dark sense of humor as shown when he quips about how many men are needed to send a message while his archer readies to kill one of the two Imperial scouts after he let both of them go, and in the doll scene where he quips about "giving it back to the little girl" as they prepare to raze the village in Tung Shao Pass. When his plans fail because of an inconvenience, he loses his composure but remains sane enough to change his plans. That said, he is respectful towards his army but this may be more out of pragmatism than genuine respect.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: The only time he raises his voice is when the Emperor refuses to bow to him.
• Sticks to the Back: The scabbard to his sword is positioned on his back.
• Super-Strength: He's powerful enough to demolish a reinforced double-door with his bare hands and later smashes through the palace rooftops with minimal effort.
• Taking You with Me: Once he sees that the avalanche is about to engulf his army, he slashes Mulan with his sword in an attempt to take her down with him.
• Unstoppable Rage: When he gets angry, little obstacles like a massive barred door, thick columns, and a tiled roof don't slow him down.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Aside from his lack of reaction to Mulan being a woman, he hardly reacts when he sees a literal dragon at the end of the movie. Granted, he was probably more focused on the giant explosive Mushu was aiming at him, and the fact that Mulan had once again outsmarted him.
• Use Your Head: Caps off a short, vicious fight against Shang with a headbutt, which only highlights his brutality.
• Villainous Breakdown: A downplayed trope since the breakdown simply makes him more beast-like than he was already.
• Villainous Valour: To his enemies, he's a terrifying monster who slaughters entire villages. However, when the battle starts, he's leading his men at the forefront.
• Villain Respect:
  • When threatening Shang, he all but calls him a Worthy Opponent for taking his victory.
  • As far as he was concerned, Mulan was just some no-name Red Shirt when they met on the mountain pass. When he finds out who she is, he drops everything to defeat "The Soldier from the Mountains".
• Would Hit a Girl: The poor little girl and Mulan are examples.
• Would Hurt a Child: "The little girl will be missing her doll. We should return it to her."
• Xanatos Gambit: His entire initial plan was a masterstroke of strategic brilliance. He allowed the word of his army approaching to get out, knowing that China would gather its army to confront him. Once the army was located, he destroyed it with a sneak attack. One of his men suggested simply avoiding the army, but if he'd left it alone, the army would have tried to retake the capital after he'd taken it, and he knew that once the army was broken, there was no way that a new one could be assembled before he had conquered China. Were it not for Mulan, he'd have conquered China effortlessly.

Shan Yu's Elites

Left to right: Zhencha, Leiren, Bai, Bao and Sheshou.

Five Hun soldiers who stand out amongst Shan Yu's army: Sheshou (Archer), Zhencha (Swordsman), Lieren (Hun with Brown Vest), Bai & Bao (Two Shirtless Huns (Shirtless Hun with hair on head and Shirtless Hun with completely bald head, respectively)).

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• Awesomeness by Analysis: The group gathers to look at the doll given to them by Shan Yu; Lieren finds black pine, Bao finds white horsehair, and Zhencha finds cannon sulfur.
• Bald of Evil: Three of the five (Sheshou, Bai & Bao) have no hair on the top of their heads. All of them (as well as the two that have hair (Zhencha and Lieren) are ruthless killers.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The group ended up on the receiving end of one due to being caught off-guard by the surprise attack of Yao, Ling, and Chien Po being disguised as palace concubines.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Bai seems quite smitten when he sees Mulan along with a disguised Yao, Ling, and Chien Po. Bao, however is not and even gives Bai an elbow jab for being distracted by them.
• Elite Mooks: Apart from Shan Yu, the five have the most characterization in the army, and are the only survivors of the avalanche caused by Mulan. They then join Shan Yu's raid on the Emperor's palace. Before then, they are also the soldiers that weed out the Imperial scouts, lead the initial assault over the Wall, and are the ones who took part in the Awesomeness by Analysis circle to find the location of the Imperial army.
• Evil Brit: Sheshou's accent sounds slightly British.
• Genius Bruiser: Lieren, Bai & Bao are the largest of the Huns alongside Shan Yu, and just like him, the darker-Bao and Lieren prove to be extremely clever and bright by (along with Zhencha) correctly guessing various components of the little doll without even taking a few minutes to figure it out. Bao is notable for appearing to keep his guard up somewhat when the group encounters the "ugly concubines", not that it helped him in the end.
• GPS Evidence: Related to the above Awesomeness by Analysis, Shan Yu's lieutenants were able to pinpoint the Imperial Army's location based on the few clues they find on a doll brought to them by Hayabusa.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Sheshou gets choked out with his own bow.
• Jerkass: All of them really, but Sheshou and Bao stand out, the former for being an open sadist and the latter for openly insulting the "concubines" within earshot of them.
• Lean and Mean: Sheshou answers Shan Yu's question about the scouts with a vicious inflection.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The archer has a roundshield on his left arm when he breaks out of the snow.
• Made of Iron: It seems like they're dead after the avalanche, but then they pop out of the snow! Like daisies!
• No Name Given: None of the five were given names.
• Pet the Dog: One of the larger shirtless Huns tries to act friendly by giving back an apple that fell from an "ugly concubine".
• Pragmatic Villainy: After learning of the imperial army's attempt to ambush them, Sheshou notes they could easily avoid the trap to avoid unnecessary casualties. Shan Yu decides, however, that going through the Tung Shao Pass was the fastest way to get to the emperor.
• Put Their Heads Together: Chien Po disposed of Bai & Bao by slamming melons on their heads and then slamming the heads together.
• Sadist: Sheshou is arguably the most evil of the five. He joins in on Shan Yu's fun to kill one of the retreating scouts with a sadistic smile while cracking a joke (when Shan Yu supposedly rhetorically asks how many men it takes to deliver a message, Sheshou answers "One"), and he seems to be more willing to attack women than the others, as when he sees the "ugly concubines", he still tries to fight Mulan after learning she is the only true woman among them. Ironically, it's he who suggests to Shan Yu that they avoid the Imperial army, although this is probably less out of reason or cowardice and more so that he can get to raiding China faster.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: Once again, the doll scene. They located the imperial army from miles away from a child's toy through winter snow without making tracks.
• Undying Loyalty: They're extremely loyal to their leader. When the archer suggests avoiding the imperial army and Shan Yu declines he and the others comply with his orders without discussions. Even when the rest of the Huns are dead and they and Shan Yu are the only ones left, they still help their leader to try and take over China despite them being just a few men. Normally any other men would have quit and left their commander on his own.
• Villainous Friendship: They seem to get along with each other quite well since they work as a team in a quite efficient way. They also appear to be on good terms with Shan Yu himself who treats them more like equals than mere subjects.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Bai & Bao lack shirts for some reason.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: They hesitate to attack a bunch of "ugly concubines" (i.e. disguised Chinese soldiers). That said, Sheshou does hesitate to lower his bow when he first sees them, and he does try to fight Mulan after learning she is the only one of the "concubines" who is actually a woman.

The Huns

"Nice work, gentlemen. You've found the Hun army."- Shan Yu

Shan Yu's army.

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• Always Chaotic Evil: Every Hun on screen is part of the Hun Army, so every single one of them is hostile. However, a deleted scene shows one of them taking pity on a bird in a village they burned down, only for both him and the bird to be killed by Shan-Yu and Hayabusa respectively.
• Artistic License – History: The history (such as it is) and their leader's "name" show that they are really Xiongnu rather than the Huns of Attila Western audiences would be more familiar with. They are indeed called such in the Chinese dub. That said, it's a popular academic theory that Huns and Xiongnu might have been related in a way, but it's hard to draw any conclusion.
• Badass Army: We see the aftermath of their fight with the section of China's army led by Shang's father. All the fatalities appear to be Chinese.
• Character Death: Minus the five Huns that survived the avalanche, yes.
• Genius Bruiser: "Soldier" in Disney-Hun must translate as "killer and tracker".
• The Horde: They’re portrayed as a mass of bloodthirsty barbarians with no redeeming qualities other than their loyalty to their commander, invading and pillaging China for the sake of doing so, and the Elite Mooks are thoroughly evil monsters who engage in one dog-kicking after another. They’re even drawn in a distinctly inhuman way, with yellow eyes and black sclerae, and claws on the tips of their gloves. Moreover, even their horses look evil.
• Mooks: The soldiers in the Hun Army are indistinct and exist to fill out the scenes.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: The archers are pretty thin, but a pair of them still managed to muscle their way through the avalanche snow.
• The Unfought: On a technical standpoint. With all things considered, Mulan did her army a favor since Shan-Yu's army numbered thousands and could had killed her and them, and makes the genius idea to blow up a mountain peak that buried them.

Hayabusa

Voiced by: Frank Welker

Shan Yu's pet falcon, who assists in carrying out his plans to conquer China.

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• A Dog Named "Dog": Technically. "Hayabusa" means "Peregrine falcon" in Japanese.
• All There in the Script: His name is never spoken in the film, but is seen in the source material.
• Animal Eye Spy: A deleted scene revealed that Shan Yu can see through his eyes.
• Brutal Bird of Prey: A malicious saker falcon and Right-Hand Attack Dog (er, Bird) to Shan Yu.
• Calling Card: Hayabusa is typically used to indicate Shan Yu's presence, such as when he climbs over the Great Wall Of China.
• The Dragon: He serves as Shan Yu's right-hand man... er, bird by shouting out and watching his back.
• Feathered Fiend: The big bad's pet and is just as evil as his owner.
• Interchangeable Asian Cultures: He's supposed to be Mongolian, but his name is Japanese. However, it is possible that Shan Yu acquired him in Japan or from a Japanese merchant/trainer, already named.
• Naked People Are Funny: His final fate in the film is having his feathers burned away by Mushu.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Shan Yu's loyal falcon who's just as ruthless as him.
• Silly Animal Sound: When Mushu burns off all his feathers, he makes a silly, chicken-like cluck.
• Uncatty Resemblance: Compare him to Shan Yu.◊
• Undying Loyalty: Hayabusa is loyal to Shan Yu. He kept looking for him after the avalanche and returned to his side upon him coming out of the snow.

Other Characters

The Matchmaker

"You are a disgrace!"

Voiced by: Miriam Margolyes (original), April Winchell (sequel); Mayra Rojas (Latin American Spanish dub); Liliane Gaudet; Perrette Pradier (Mulan II) (European French dub); Nurit Kohen (Hebrew dub), Tang Jichen (Mandarin Chinese dub), Jiang Gui-Jin (Taiwanese Mandarin dub), Lo Fun (Cantonese dub)

"Speaking without permission..."

An impatient and harsh woman, who obnoxiously judges potential brides.

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• Anti-Villain: Mulan's Starter Villain but is just a snooty and critical matchmaker.
• Disaster Dominoes: Her meeting with Mulan starts with Mulan pouring tea, escalates through her catching on fire and finally Mulan tossing that tea in her face.
• Etiquette Nazi: Mulan fails every one of the rules of bridal behavior, even with cheat notes.
• Fat Bastard: "You may look like a bride, but you will never bring your family honor!"
• Female Misogynist: Justified. Given the time period, she has conservative views on how a prospective wife should be.
• Flowers of Femininity: Wears two of them on the right side of her head, and she acts quite feminine.
• Gonk: She's fatter, uglier, and wears worse makeup than others.
• Humiliation Conga: How her meeting with Mulan ends. She gets her face stained with the washed-down ink from the notes Mulan wrote on her wrist, her rear set on fire, and Mulan herself pouring tea on her to put out said fire.
• Informed Ability: She is never seen matchmaking on-screen.
• Jerkass: She's bad-tempered, rude, and judgmental.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • She had every right to be angry at Mulan in the first movie. Not only did Mulan try to pass her exam by cheating, she set her on fire. While she does go too far in saying Mulan would never bring her family honor, she was still right to chew her out.
  • In the sequel, while she is again harsh towards Yao, Ling, and Chien Po after throwing them out, her telling them to "come back when (they) get personalities" wasn't entirely unjustified.
• Large and in Charge: Effectively controls these young women's futures, and is definitely not fun-sized.
• No Name Given: Her real name isn't revealed in either the first or second film.
• Perpetual Frowner: She is so grumpy down to the point where we never see her smile.
• Real Women Have Curves: In-universe. She believes this since she says that Mulan is too skinny and her body type will not be good for bearing sons.
• Starter Villain: She is Mulan's first "boss fight", so to speak and sets up her character arc.
• Take That!: Was indirectly given two of these, one in the first film and another in the sequel.
  • Mulan's relationship with Shang and her war-hero status could be considered a subtle form of this towards the matchmaker since she'd originally said that Mulan was a disgrace and would never bring her family honor.
  • Yao, Chien Po, and Ling eventually finding love in the form of the princesses of the Middle Kingdom (Mei, Su, and Ting-Ting) could be considered this as well since the matchmaker assumed that the three soldiers wouldn't find love matches for themselves.

General Li

Voiced by: James Shigeta (original); Arturo Casanova (Latin American Spanish dub); David Savignat (European French dub), Lu Jiawei (Mandarin Chinese dub), Kang Dian-Hong (Taiwanese Mandarin dub), Ko Hon Man (Cantonese dub)

Shang's father and the General of the Imperial Army.

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• Big Ol' Eyebrows: He has thick, black eyebrows befitting of a strong leader.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: General Li and his entire army were on the fatal receiving end of a one-sided battle due to (greatly) underestimating their powerful foes.
• Dead Hat Shot: The only thing left of him is his helmet.
• Disappeared Dad: For Shang after he is murdered by Shan Yu and his army.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride. He never saw the Huns as a real threat and believed that China's victory was already good as sealed from the get-go. Despite Chi Fu's brown-nosing, General Li's excuse of a "strategy plan" to combat the Hun advance was actually very basic, poorly thought-out, and completely dependent on the likelihood that his own troops have the higher numbers + firepower. It didn't matter, as the Huns were able to deduce his plan, and the general and his forces suffered the ultimate price for his arrogance by being completely wiped out.
• Good Parents: He seems to have a great deal of faith and pride in Shang, choosing to promote his son to Captain for his accomplishments, despite Shang's young age and the responsibility of the position.
• Killed Offscreen: At the hands of the Huns.
• Out-Gambitted: His plan to intercept the Huns in the Tung Shao Pass might not have been so ill-fated had the Huns not been able to deduce his location from a small doll Hayabusa seized while scouting the mountains, allowing them to plan their own counter-ambush.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: His apparent favoritism towards his son notwithstanding, when the two see the huge brawl between the recruits taking place, General Li is surprisingly lax about the whole spectacle and simply gives his son (whom he just promoted to captain) a look that can be interpreted as "Just give it some time." He nonchalantly departs the scene, seemingly confident that Shang could rein in the situation, and bids him good luck before deploying with his troops.
• Sacrificial Lion: His and his army's death serves to have Shang, Mulan, and the others as China's only defending force against Shan Yu.
• Strong Family Resemblance: An older, slightly chubbier version of Shang.
• Underestimating Badassery: See Fatal Flaw above. No matter how many victories he might've scored in the past, Li's poor assessment of the Hun army's threat level was his biggest and last mistake.
• Unnamed Parent: His given name is never revealed.
• The Worf Effect: He and his army, consisting of China's elites, get annihilated by Shan Yu to set him up as the powerful threat that he is.

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