Fa Family Ancestors

The Fa Family Ancestors are characters from the films Mulan and Mulan II. They are deceased members of the Fa family, and thus are the ancestors of the current members. Most go unnamed, but they have distinctive appearances.

Role in the films
In the films, the ancestors serve as guardians of the Fa family. They are awakened from their slumber when Mulan runs away to join the army. They initially disagree on what to do, but eventually decide to send a guardian to retrieve her. At the end of the first film, they throw an impromptu party to celebrate Mulan's success as a war heroine.

By the second film, the ancestors have become fed up with Mushu's constant demands that they wait on him hand and foot. Thus, when Mulan becomes engaged to Shang, they all grow excited. If Mulan marries Shang, then she would become a member of his family, so his ancestor's guardians would take over, resulting in Mushu's demotion from family guardian. Throughout the film, they eagerly plan what menial tasks they intend to have Mushu do as payback. However, Mushu's demotion is prevented when Shang combines the family temples, forcing the ancestors to continue letting Mushu be a guardian.

Members

 * First Ancestor Fa (voiced by George Takei): The founder of the Fa family, he serves as the leader of the ancestors. He appears to have some mystical power, as he carries a staff, which he conjures, and is able to awaken Mushu from his status as an incense burner. It's implied that he was the one who demoted Mushu from his position as a family guardian, as he has an antagonistic relationship with the dragon.
 * In the first film, he decides to send the Great Stone Dragon after Mulan, but unknown to him the statue is destroyed by Mushu. At the end of the film, he grudgingly reinstates Mushu as a guardian for helping Mulan to bring honor to the family. By the time of the second film, he is actively looking forward to Mushu's impending demotion, which is supposed to happen after Mulan marries Shang. When Shang combines the family temples, allowing Mushu to retain his position, the First Ancestor is very disappointed.


 * Fa Deng: the only ancestor to be given a full name. It appears that he was once a soldier during his lifetime. Unfortunately, as a result of Mushu's bad guidance, Fa Deng met some untold disaster. As a result, Fa Deng was beheaded, and Mushu was demoted to gong ringer. This situation is later referenced as a reason why Mushu can not be a guardian to Mulan. At the end of the first movie, he uses his unattached head as a party balloon, when the ancestors are celebrating Mulan's success.

Other Unnamed Ancestors

 * Two ancestors, apparently a married couple, bear similarity to the couple from Grant Wood's painting American Gothic. They worry that if Mulan is discovered, Fa Zhou and Fa Li would lose the family farm.
 * One neurotic man is shown with an abacus, calculating on the losses the family would receive once Mulan would be discovered.
 * One woman, who in the second film is referred to as "Prunehilda" by Mushu, is shown deriding Mulan as a troublemaker, claiming that her children were all acupuncturists. In Mulan II, she wants a foot massage.
 * The male ancestor next to her, claims that not everyone can be an acupuncturist. If dialogue is to be believed, this man may be the great grandfather of Mulan, as another ancestor points out that his great-granddaughter became a cross-dresser.