Mulan

Background Story

Mulan is a young woman of marriageable age, but she is also a free spirit, considered a disgrace to her family and culture. As the Chinese empire goes to war with the Huns, her elderly father is called to the front. Determined to protect him, Mulan disguises herself as a man, taking his place without anyone knowing. Upon learning of Mulan’s actions, the ancestors of the Fa family send a legendary dragon to retrieve her. Due to a mishap caused by Mushu, a small dragon (considered a lizard), he replaces the legendary dragon without the ancestors realizing it. Mushu sets out to find Mulan, accompanied by Cri-Kee, a small cricket with good luck. He “helps” her join the army under the name Ping. There, she meets Shang Li, the troop leader. After training, due to a trap set by Mushu, the troops must leave to aid Shang’s father’s army in defending China against the Huns. Upon arrival, they discover Shang’s father’s army has vanished, and the village has been destroyed. Facing the outnumbering Huns, Mulan causes an avalanche in which the Huns disappear, but she is injured. While healing her wound, they discover she is a woman, a crime punishable by death. Shang spares her life, on the condition that she saved him during the avalanche, but she is expelled from the army. Shang arrives in the Imperial City, where they are celebrated for defeating the Huns. Mulan, abandoned in the mountains, realizes the Huns are not entirely defeated and rushes to announce the emperor’s danger.

Background Story

In the city, she tries to warn the people, but no one believes her until they discover the Huns have arrived, kidnapping the emperor within his palace. While this happens, Mulan devises a plan to rescue the emperor, and with the help of Shang and her friends, they save the emperor and defeat the Huns. Mulan is honored, and the emperor offers her a position in the Imperial Court, but she declines, feeling she has been away from home for too long. Upon her return, her parents welcome her with great joy, and Mushu achieves his goal of becoming the guardian of the Fa family.

Personality

Mulan is introduced as a free-spirited outcast. She is a clumsy girl who cannot follow rules, regulations, or traditions. Despite this, she has a warm heart and wants nothing more than to uphold her family's honor while keeping true to herself. Because of her society, however, this is difficult to accomplish and often brings chaos and embarrassment into her life. The driving force of Mulan's journey is the love she has for her father. When her father is drafted to serve in the Emperor's army to defend China, Mulan steals his orders and reports to the camp in his place to protect him as well as to satisfy her desire to prove her own self-worth. She was seen having difficulties with self-confidence due to society's mistreatment towards her and the pressures of the society into which she was born - particularly in the lives of women. Early in the film, whenever she went against sexism and injustice or simply handled a situation in her own, unique way (such as shouting "Present!" when the matchmaker called her name), Mulan was greeted with anger or some form of annoyance from those around her, thus furthering her socially-awkward attitude. During her time in camp, Mulan's personality shifts. She proves to be fierce, both physically and mentally, as well as self-reliant, impressionable, and persistent. As she learns the ways of strength and agility, she rises to the top of her class, setting an example for the men surrounding her, and soon earns their respect and friendship. She is 18 years old

Personality part 2

Over time, Mulan gains more confidence, symbolizing her growth, as she becomes more of a mature woman by the film's third act. She can perform successful tactics through quick-thinking and mental observation instead of mere brute strength (something idealized in her camp), eventually saving her fellow soldiers and China on notable occasions. Nevertheless, she retained her humble nature, not once becoming overconfident and boastful, even after becoming a beloved heroine and receiving countless amounts of praise and respect from the very society that continuously opposed her. It wasn't until Mulan returned home and received a loving welcome from her father that she truly emoted her satisfaction over her previous successes, proving her goal, overall, was to uphold her family honor while being true to herself; this being visually and thematically represented by her relationship with her father. The sequel shows that Mulan's personality, seen during the latter half of the first film, has remained. Mulan is a responsible young woman, seen as a fearless warrior, leader, and beloved role model among her people, both men, and women. Nevertheless, she is also fun-loving and optimistic

Appearance

Mulan is a young tomboy of Chinese origin. She is a natural beauty, with dark brown eyes and straight, black hair that used to be long and waist-length. Later in the film, when she leaves to join the army in disguise, she cuts her hair with her father's sword into shoulder-length and ties it up in a bun. This helps her blend into the army so that the other soldiers don't know that she's really a woman. In the second film, her hair was grown. Not to its original waist-length, but it's noticeably longer a few inches longer towards her back. In promotional works, her hair is always shown as its original length, down to the waist. During the two films, Mulan wore a range of outfits, from a beautiful Hanfus (Chinese dresses) to her soldier's getup, though her most notable outfits come from the original film; in which her promotional dress comes from, which is a simple Hanfu, which consisted of either a creamy green-yellow dress, with blue overshirt, which has green sleeves and a red band around her waist. She also sports a Kung fu-styled soldier's outfit, as well as her pink matchmaker's Hanfu and her father's armor.

Appearance part 2

Except when she goes to the matchmaker, Mulan does not wear any makeup or anything to beautify her appearance. Mulan is naturally beautiful nonetheless. She wears a light blue tank top, short blue shorts, and is barefoot when she sleeps. She wears a dress consisting of a green long-sleeved shirt with olive brims and both a yellow skirt and inside shirt with a low cut neckline, blue wrap, red waistband, and black ballet flats, but also has been seen barefoot as well. To impress the matchmaker, she had her face painted in white, red lipstick, hair tied in a loose bun with a red hair ribbon, a narrow crimson and pale pink Chinese skirt, a pink jacket with long, flowing sleeves, an aqua and plum collar, a blue wrap with a red ribbon to fasten it, a light purple scarf, same color shoes, a jade bead necklace, gold dangling earrings, and a special lotus flower hair pick. When she was disguised as "Ping," she has her hair tied in a bun with a teal ribbon to look like a man (when she cuts her long, beautiful hair with her father's sword into a shoulder-length), and dark green soldier armor. In the Martial Arts sequence, she had a cream suit. In the Shan Yu battle, she wore a teal dress consisting of a poet-sleeved blouse, a long olive vest with a crimson collar, a crimson belt, light pink sash, and black shoes.

Abilities

Martial arts, Strategist, swordswoman.

Important Relationships

1. Mushu: Mulan’s small dragon companion. 2. Cri-Kee: The lucky cricket that also accompanies Mulan. 3. Shang Li: The leader of the troops. 4. Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po: Three fellow soldiers who befriend Mulan during her time in the army. 5. Grandmother Fa: Mulan’s grandmother, providing support and wisdom. 6. Khan: Mulan’s horse, a loyal companion.