Li Shang

## Li Shang李翔

### Likes

Mulan, children, getting his way, structure, rules, schedules, plans, martial arts, military things, strategy, fishing, horseback riding, archery, blue, mild food

### Dislikes

Threats to China, arguing, failing, incompetent soldiers, stress, bending rules, disorganization, Chi-Fu

### Powers and abilities

Martial arts skills
Physical strength and agility
Knowledge of military tactics

### Paraphernalia

Jian
Dagger
Engagement necklace

## Family information

### Other relatives

Fa Zhou (father-in-law)
Fa Li (mother-in-law)
Grandmother Fa (grandmother-in-law)
Fa Family Ancestors † (ancestors-in-law)

### Pets

His horse

 ―Li Shang

**General Li Shang (**(李翔**)** is the tritagonist of Disney's 1998 animated feature film, *Mulan*. Shang is the only son of General Li, the army general, and he dreams of being "China's Greatest Troop".

Shang's dreams begin to crumble when his father appointed him as the head of a ragtag team that must defend China from Shan Yu, the Hun leader.

## Background

Li Shang is the son of the head of the Chinese imperial army, General Li. At the beginning of the first movie released in 1998, Shang was shown to be a highly capable, and disciplined leader with dedication.
His father mentioned that Shang was first in his class, regarding military affairs and was knowledgeable in training soldiers. He is also often called 'Pretty Boy' by some, due to his charming and dashing looks.

### Personality

Knowing that China's safety lies in his hands, Shang is a powerful, strict, and hard leader during his time of being a general in the division. Whenever he would deal with his soldiers, also his supervisor, Chi-Fu, he used verbal and physical force to make whatever he says clear. But he was showing to be an efficient leader, despite his harsh personality.

Shang's major theme throughout the movie was gender stereotypes, for both male and female. Most of this was shown in his song, "I'll Make a Man Out of You". Another time is his change of personality when he found out that Mulan was a woman, as he was raised in a time where woman were not as important as men. Nevertheless, Shang is also capable of changing his perspectives and seeing Mulan's unbeatable bravery and capability, despite being a woman.

Even if it is shown that Shang has amazing skills while in combat, he is also shown to have very poor communication skills, as he has trouble telling Mulan about his feelings for her and can't even congratulate her properly.

### Physical Appearance

Shang is a tall, muscular Chinese man with tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and shoulder-length black hair tied in a bun adorned with a red clip.
His primary appearance has him wearing a black-and-gray Chinese warrior armor that resembles a Genji armor with gold trim. Beneath his tunic is an off-white long sleeve tunic, khaki pants, and black-and-white Chinese warrior boots. He also wears a red cape on the back which on the front has tied on his neck.
When he trains the new recruits including a disguised Fa Mulan, Shang was in shirtless and wears dark khaki Chinese pants adorned with a teal ribbon which is tied on the left side and black toe shoes and white socks. He is soon wearing an off-white tunic after he removes it during their heavy training.
In Mulan II during his marriage with Fa Mulan, Shang's hair is loose and wears an off-white sleeveless Chinese garb along with khaki Chinese pants, black toe shoes, and white socks. He later replaces a light brown Chinese tunic when he was riding a horse together with his wife.
In their mission, Shang maintains his primary outfit on the first film as his armor and his tunic are now in a different shade of gold, similar to the color of his father's armor, along with the trim of his warrior armor now being black.
At the end of the film, Shang wears a traditional Chinese tunic that resembles the male traditional Korean hanbok and a matching gat and it was worn by the male Korean citizens in the 1800s.

### Abilities

* **High Pain Tolerance:** Shang is shown to have very high pain tolerance as he pulled an arrow out of his shoulder like it was nothing at all, a statue crush his finger, and was beaten up many times without showing any care. It is either he has very high tolerance for pain or he is lacking the sense of feeling pain.
* **Strength:** Shang has an above average strength when he and his soldiers were training to fight the Huns and Shan Yu, and he picked up Ping's weight, along with his, without being affected by it. Although, the rest of his recruits were struggling to pick up even one weight. Shang was also able to fight the Hun leader, Shan Yu, unarmed and the Hun leader found him difficult to subdue.
* **Bojutsu:** When he trains the new recruits including Mulan who is disguised as Ping. Shang uses a bamboo stick or a wooden stick that resembles a bo staff as he demonstrates the art of bojutsu to show how to master this Chinese martial art. He was seen deflecting the apples by spinning the wood stick he wielded.

## Appearances

### Mulan

Shortly after his initial introduction in the film, Shang is appointed as an army captain by his father General Li. The appointment comes at the protest of Chi-Fu, the Emperor's consul, who fears that Shang might be too young for such a large responsibility. General Li defends the choice, noting Shang's knowledge and numerous accomplishments as well as his impressive military lineage. As a slight compromise, Shang is ordered to train the new recruits, and then, pending Chi-Fu's approval, join the main army in the Tung Shao Pass to halt Shan Yu and his army's advance towards the Imperial City. Shang is initially excited at the prospect but is slightly disappointed when the new recruits are shown to be lacking in skill. When he meets Mulan, who is disguised as a boy named Ping, he greatly disapproves of her inadvertently causing a massive brawl in his camp, but soon turns his attention to disciplining the rest of his men; he punishes the new recruits for their bumbling recklessness and infighting by ordering them to pick up every last rice grain that was spilled because of their squabbling, instantly earning Mulan everyone else's ire over getting them all in trouble. During the training montage the next day, when Fa Mulan, disguised as Ping, proves to be unable to make it through any of the training regiment, either failing via Yao, Ling, and Chien Po or trying to cheat thanks to Mushu, which would be putting her fellow troops in danger without strict strength and discipline to protect their lives as well as her own, Shang confronts her one night, hands her the reigns to Khan, and tells her to go home, dismissing her from the unit, disappointed by her poor performance and declaring her unfit to see battle at all. However, the next morning, hearing a commotion, Shang emerges from his tent to find, to his shock and surprise, Ping had completed the initial challenge he set at the start of the training regiment with climbing a tall pillar and retrieving the arrow he shot into the top of it, convincing him to allow Ping back into the unit after seeing the other recruits cheering on Ping for "his" success. After hard training, he is able to turn them into respectable soldiers. Shang then goes to Chi-Fu, who refuses to grant his approval, despite Shang's protests. Chi-Fu disparages both the soldiers and Shang, hinting that he believes Shang only became captain because of his father and his rank as General in the Imperial Army. Chi-Fu then threatens that Shang's troops will never see battle after the General reads his report.

A letter later comes for Shang (supposedly from the General, but actually faked by an irate Mushu over hearing Chi-Fu declare that Shang's troops will never see battle and thereby threaten his plans to help Mulan bring honor to the Fa family) ordering him to move his troops to the front and rendezvous at the Tung Shao Pass to reinforce the main Imperial Army waiting for Shan Yu and the Hun army at once. Chi-Fu foregoes his initial threat upon getting the message and shows it to Shang, thus mobilizing the recruits for immediate combat. Coming to a village in the mountain pass that General Li had taken his army to protect, they discover that the village had been razed by the Huns, with no survivors from the residents that had been living there. While searching for potential survivors from either the village or General Li's army, Shang learns that the entire army, including his father, perished in the battle when a nervous Chi-Fu calls Shang over to show him the ravaged remains of what had been General Li and the Imperial Army's best troops that the Emperor's consul had discovered, and Chien Po brings Shang his father's helmet, intact, but with the feathers on it broken and bent. Shang takes a moment to mourn, making a small shrine to his father, before taking his soldiers in pursuit of the Huns, who are headed toward the Imperial City, realizing that with General Li and the main Imperial army destroyed, Shang's smaller force of freshly-trained recruits are the only defense the Emperor has left before the Huns would be able to overtake the Imperial City. They soon meet the Hun army after Mushu accidentally fires a cannon, causing his position to be given away to Shan Yu and the Huns, only to learn that they are hopelessly outnumbered. Shang prepares for a last stand. However, Ping is able to stop the Huns by burying them in an avalanche "he" has triggered. Shang is caught in the avalanche but is saved by Ping.

After Shang recovers, he thanks Ping and accepts "him" as a trusted friend. However, while Ping is receiving treatment (due to a slash wound "he" received from Shan Yu), it is discovered that "he" is a woman named Mulan. Though the law states that a woman who is discovered in the army is to be killed, Shang spares her due to a debt he owes her for saving him. Shang then leaves Mulan and leads his army to the Imperial City. Chi-Fu attempts to beg him to execute her, but he angrily refuses as she had saved his life; thus, he repays his debt of gratitude.

At the Imperial City, Shang and his troops are honored for defeating the Huns. However, he, along with the rest of his troops (minus Chi-Fu), are seen to be downcast due to Mulan. Mulan suddenly arrives in the city and tries to warn Shang that the Huns are alive (due to having seen them pop out of the snow). Shang refuses to believe her as she had lied about her identity and continues his way to the palace. As Shang presents the sword of Shan Yu to the Emperor, Shan Yu's falcon suddenly snatches the sword away to hand it back to its owner, and several Huns, Shan Yu's elite officers, hidden in one of the parade dragons as performers, capture the Emperor and barricade the palace. Shang and his soldiers attempt to lead a rescue mission but are unable to break through the palace's front doors as the Huns barred it, making an attempt to punch them open with a battering ram to be almost futile. Mulan takes charge and although Shang is initially hesitant to follow her lead, he agrees to join her a little later as they climb up pillars to an upper floor, using the skills he taught them back during training to do so. While Mulan, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po take down the Hun guards, Shang rushes to a balcony and fights Shan Yu, during which the trio takes the Emperor to safety and Mulan prevents Shan Yu from pursuing them. As Shan Yu threatens Shang for robbing him of his victory, Mulan chooses to forgo her own safety to assist him, revealing to Shan Yu that she was the one who decimated his army with the avalanche.

After Shan Yu is killed, Shang is seen running outside the palace, where Mulan falls on him. He later defends Mulan as a hero when Chi-Fu begins ungratefully scolding her, nearly being forced to assault the Emperor's consul for his disrespect before the Emperor intervenes. Shang is among the first to bow to Mulan when the Emperor honors her as the hero of China. As Mulan prepares to go home, Shang attempts to tell her how he feels but ends up stuttering out a reference to her fighting talents. Shang is shown to be disappointed in his failure, but after being counseled by the Emperor, he chooses to travel to Mulan's home to see her. He speaks to her, somewhat nervously, under the guise that he is returning her (technically her father's) helmet, which she had left behind. As Mulan's father, Fa Zhou, realizes what Shang is trying to say, he motions to Mulan, who then invites Shang to dinner that night, which he greatly accepts.

### Mulan II

In the sequel of the original film, Shang returns but now as the deuteragonist. The sequel takes place one month after Mulan saved China from the Huns and Shan Yu. The film begins with Shang proposing to Mulan, which Mulan happily agrees to.

During a meeting with the Emperor of China, Shang is now promoted to be the captain, instead of a general. Shang and Mulan are then tasked to bring the Emperor's three daughters, Ting-Ting, Su, and Mei to a neighbouring kingdom in hopes for an arranged marriage for peace with the Mongols.

Shang and Mulan agree but go through many conflicts in their relationship, mainly caused by Mushu.

Midway through the film, he and the group are attacked. Shang and Mulan are left dangling from a bridge. Since the bridge cannot support both of them, Shang lets go to save Mulan. When the Princesses reveal that they don't want to go through with the marriage, Mulan offers to take their place, as Shang is presumably dead. At the end of the film, however, it is revealed he somehow survived the fall (with help from his horse), and Mushu saves the day by pretending to be the Golden Dragon of Unity and freeing the princesses from their vows. Mushu (still posing as the Golden Dragon) marries Shang and Mulan, using that as the marriage to bring peace and harmony between the two neighboring kingdoms of China. Mulan later tells Shang about Mushu and Shang makes the choice to combine both families' temples so that Mushu can remain a family guardian and Mulan's most trusted confidant.

### Cameos

Shang was shown in the House of Mouse, but only appear's briefly in Max's New Car.

He also appears in Descendants at Ben's coronation, with Mulan, his wife. Shang is shown to have a daughter called, Lonnie.

## Video Games

### Kingdom Hearts II

Shang does not appear in the first two games, but he appears at the third game, as the captain of the Chinese army to protect The Land of Dragons from Shan Yu.

He initially disliked Ping (who is Mulan in disguise) because of "his" vast shortcomings in terms of fighting but learned to trust "him" after "he" caused a mountain of snow to fall down on Shan Yu and his army. However, Mushu accidentally lets the truth slip and Shang realizes that Ping is actually Fa Mulan. Though she was supposed to be sentenced to death, he spared her life, similar to the events in the original film.

When it turns out that Shan Yu is alive and heading for the Imperial City, Mulan tries to warn him, but he refuses to listen until he sees the truth for himself. He then rescues the Emperor and thanks, Mulan, Sora, Donald, and Goofy for their help in protecting their country and ultimately defeating Shan Yu.

Upon Sora's second visit, a black hooded man (who is actually Riku) had visited the Emperor and easily defeated the Captain. After Mulan, Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeat the Storm Rider Heartless, Mulan becomes Shang's partner in protecting their world and their Emperor, much to their pleasure.

During the end credits, Shang is seen sharing a romantic moment with Mulan, until Yao, Ling, and Chien Po reveal that they had been eavesdropping on them. Mulan is amused, but Shang is annoyed and goes to reprimand them, amusing Mulan even more.

## Gallery

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