Fu Dog is the tritagonist and a main character on the Disney animated television series American Dragon: Jake Long. He is a Chinese Shar Pei and a magical animal guardian to Jake and his grandfather Lao Shi.
Background
Fu Dog is a fat animal guardian for Jake and Lao Shi. Residing with Lao regularly, he frequently assists him with his training in Jake, with providing information on various magical creatures and items, and also creating various magical potions for their use. Like many magical creatures, Fu is able to walk upright and has no trouble using his front paws as hands, despite the apparent absence of opposable thumbs. Despite his age, he frequently keeps up-to-date with current trends and events that will occasionally put him at odds with Lao Shi.
Being over 600 years old, there's been a lot to Fu Dog's overall past. The most prolific of Fu Dog's past was shown in one episode,[1] where it was revealed that he had been feuding with a feline named Yan Yan for hundreds of years, all for the possession of a "lucky coin" (which Fu claims were his dad's, and his dad's dad's, and his dad's dad's dad's). They've fought in many different periods of history, each time the coin ending up in the hands (or in this case, paws) of the other. In a comical twist, it's also seen that Fu's various encounters with Yan Yan have caused various structural damages on modern landmarks (breaking the Sphinx's nose off, tilting the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and sinking the Titanic). Their feud continues to the present day.
More recent parts of Fu Dog's history were shown in another episode,[2] where it was revealed that he was a womanizing thief who was frequently stealing jewelry and other valuables from ladies within popular nightclubs in Hong Kong during the 1970s era. One instance of these crimes was what caused him to meet up with the Chinese Dragon, Lao Shi. He soon joined up with him after proving his worth (helping Lao win a dance contest to obtain information on the whereabouts of the Dark Dragon), turned his life around, and became his animal guardian and partner. His partnership with Lao has lasted to the present day.
Even though he is a Shar Pei he speaks Brooklyn English. Sometimes he forgets he's a dog and speaks, making people freak out. However, in other situations, it is seen as part of an ongoing show, such as when he helps Jake get the demons into the box vault,[3] or when Haley has to explain that he is barking in Chinese.[1] He also has trouble speaking to other dogs, resulting in him saying, "My pants taste like salami." He denotes that he is rusty.
Fu may be a Chinese dog, but he has been everywhere and he likes all kinds of food, except vegetables when he was supposed to be on a diet. In fact, Haley convinces him to be her dog in the class "Show-and-Tell" by promising him sloppy joes (with 3:1 meat-to-bean ratio[1]).
Fu once lost his animal guardian license and while he waits to renew it, he is replaced as Jake's animal guardian by a talking monkey named Bananas B.[1] Jake starts to enjoy having Bananas B around more than Fu and starts to ignore him even forgetting to come and help him take his Animal Guardian test. Fu loses his license for a year, but after Jake gets kidnapped by Chang when Bananas B turns on him, Fu rushes to his rescue after learning what happened from Spud and Trixie. Fu arrives just in time and drives off Chang and Bananas B with one of his potions and releases Jake saying that whether or not he's Jake's animal guardian Jake's his best buddy and he's not sure what he'd do if anything ever happened to him touching Jake with his loyalty. Later thanks to Jake, he regains his Animal Guardian license and becomes Jake's Animal Guardian again.
Fu reveals himself as a talking dog to Jonathan Long after the truth about Jake's family is revealed to him and answers Jonathan's questions as they rush to help Jake.[4] He fights in the final battle with the Dark Dragon, drives off Bananas B (something he clearly enjoys doing), and fights the Shade Demons.
Personality
Fu is extremely loyal to Jake and cares a great deal about him. When he lost his Animal Guardian license and was replaced by a helper monkey,[1] he still was concerned about Jake's well-being and after Spud and Trixie tell him that Jake's in trouble and needs his help, he saves Jake from being killed by Chang by using one of his potions to drive her and Bananas B off, admitting that Jake's his best friend and he wasn't sure what he'd do if something happened to him. He has been shown to be a womanizer at times as demonstrated,[5] but learns his lesson, in the end, kind of.
Fu Dog also has bad manners, which are easily seen because he likes to eat very much, causing him to burp often. His opening line when he answers his cell phone is: "Talk to the Fu."
Talents, Interests, Abilities, and Skills
Potion Making: Fu Dog's most prominent skill is his adept techniques in potion-making. His various creations have served to help Jake in various different aspects of his duties. Some of Fu Dog's featured products include:
- Transformation Potion (Unlocks a Dragon's shapeshifting abilities[6]
- Power-Draining Potion[7]
- Mind-Erase Potion[8]
- Fu's "Bag o' Gags" (Various magical prank items)[9]
- Dragon Spell (Enchantment that grants dragon powers)[10]
- Instant Sunshine[10]
- Portal Spell[11]
- Positive/Negative Chi Amplifier[12]
- Magical Snare[13]
- Magical Air Capsules[14]
- Solar Sand[14]
- Freezing Potion[15]
He also has a rather extensive (though sometimes limited) knowledge of magical items and creatures, as well as some advanced technology (such as helping to design a teleportation interceptor[16]).
Decelerated Aging/Semi-Immortality: It's unknown if Fu Dog's actually immortal, but he at least seems to age very slowly because he's stated to be 600 years old.
Fu Dog also knows Hand-to-Hand Combat when fighting villains.[1]
Weapons
As Fu Dog is, well, a dog, he does not possess weapons of any sort. However, he has been seen fighting using his fists.
Gallery
Trivia
- In the Season One intro, Fu plays the guitar in Jake's imaginary band.
- One of his grandmothers is still alive and is stated to be 1,392-years-old.
- He bears many similarities to Monroe from The Life and Times of Juniper Lee:
- 1.) Both are stated to be around 600-years-old.
- 2.) Both serve as magical guardians to the show's Chinese-American protagonist (Fu to Jake and Monroe to June, although June's fully Chinese while Jake's only half-Chinese through his mother's side).
- 3.) Both can speak English perfectly (although Fu speaks with an American accent while Monroe speaks with a Scottish accent).
- 4.) Both are dogs of breeds originating from China (Fu's a Shar Pei while Monroe's a Pug).
- Coincidentally, John DiMaggio would later voice Jake the Dog on Cartoon Network's Adventure Time and Niblet on The Hub's Pound Puppies.
- In Season 1, Fu walked on his hind legs, while in Season 2, he mostly walked on all fours.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Fu and Tell Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "fu" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Hong Kong Nights
- ↑ Year of the Jake
- ↑ The Hong Kong Longs
- ↑ Eye of the Beholder
- ↑ Shapeshifter
- ↑ Dragon Breath
- ↑ Professor Rotwood's Thesis
- ↑ Dragon Summit
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Keeping Shop
- ↑ Half Baked
- ↑ The Doppelganger Gang
- ↑ Dreamscape
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Feeding Frenzy Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "feed" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Nobody's Fu
- ↑ The Academy
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