History WesternAnimation / Mulan

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* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Shan Yu's sword can slash through almost ''anything'' — including ''thick wooden columns'' — ''sending them down like TIMBER!''
* AccidentalHero: If Mushu hadn't decided to write the message to get Mulan into war, then the Huns would have made it to the capital city without a problem.
* AccidentalTruth: Mushu writes a [[ForgedMessage fake message]] from General Li saying that Shang's new troops are needed on the front lines. [[spoiler:That message turns out to be desperately true: the village to which they arrive has been sacked by the Huns, leaving no one alive -- not even the general -- among the civilians or the Army.]]
* {{Acrofatic}}: Chien Po is a tubby guy but he can do flips across a series of poles.
* ActionGirl: After going through combat training, Mulan is perfectly capable of taking on adult men hand-to-hand, and even manages to stand against Shan Yu with a bit of cleverness.
* ActorAllusion:
** BD Wong stars as Shang, whose love interest disguises herself as a man to join the army. His first film role was in ''M. Butterfly'' -- as a man who disguises himself as a woman.
** Mushu jokes of "Ah-Chew" as a potential alias for Mulan. Pat Morita, who voiced the Emperor, guest starred on ''Sanford and Son'' as a character called Ah-Chew.
** Yao disguises himself as a woman towards the end. Harvey Fierstein is famous for drag queen performances.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: During "A Girl Worth Fighting For," Chi-Fu joins in the singing. Yao jokes to "Ping" that "the only girl who'd love him is his mother." Mulan, who's been uncomfortable for most of the song, can't help but smirk as Chi-Fu glares.
* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: The reason Mulan turns down a council position in the ballad is because her gender is still a secret, and her comrades don't discover this until they visit her years after the war. In the film, her gender is already known when the emperor makes the offer, and she gives no reason for her refusal except the desire to go home.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: The original Hua Mulan is usually portrayed as quite serious and ambitious. Here she is portrayed as a devoted daughter with an awkward side, who matures over the course of the story.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: In contrast to Hua Mulan, who excels as a soldier and whose real gender is never even suspected, Disney's Mulan lives in tension because who she is -- even as a woman -- isn't what she's supposed to be. She eventually finds the confidence to be a hero and meet society's expectations in her own way.
* AdaptedOut: Mulan had a little brother in the original ballad, and also a sister in some versions. She's an only child here, but her dog is named "Little Brother" as a nod to the mythology.
* AesopAmnesia: Despite Mulan ultimately returning home in triumph, proving that a woman can do more with her life than be a wife and mother, all the women of her village care about is that [[spoiler:while singlehandedly saving the country, she incidentally caught the eye of a handsome suitor more to her liking than the local boys while doing so.]]
* AgainstTheGrain: Mulan struggles with expectations to marry and embarrasses her family after disastrous results from consultations with the match-maker. She further defies expectations by disguising herself as a man to represent her father in the war.
* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Surprisingly averted for a Disney film that features at least four animal sidekicks (if Mushu counts). Khan doesn't act much like a horse, but neither he nor Cri-kee act like dogs either. The fourth, the villain's falcon, doesn't fare quite so well. After being torched by Mushu and rendered featherless, he starts blatantly acting like a chicken.
* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The Japanese version uses [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJPgyJU_J74 "Breathe"]] by Luna Sea as the theme song. The Korean version uses [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faL1-LYOnP4 "Eternal Memory"]] by Lena Park.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Every Hun in the movie is a vicious soldier. Justified, as we only see their army.
* AmusingInjuries: During the TrainingMontage of ''I'll Make A Man Out Of You'', Yao gets his buttock pierced by a burning arrow, which is played for laughs.
* AnachronismStew:
** The Forbidden City (constructed during the Ming dynasty) is featured prominently in the finale, but the Huns were already integrated into Chinese society by the time of the Northern Wei.
** The use of fireworks suggests the Sui dynasty but their style of dress suggests a later date.
** GoofyPrintUnderwear with what appears to be an elastic waistband, and a modern toothbrush and toothpaste tube.
** During "I'll Make a Man Out of You," Ling claims to regret "cutting gym [class]," something few teenagers will start doing until the government-sponsored district schools of the Ming dynasty hundreds of years later (for those families which could afford it, which were few).
** See [[http://reocities.com/Hollywood/5082/culture.html this article]] for more on historical/cultural accuracy, which is forced to conclude that Mulan is set in "an imaginary dynasty in an imaginary part of China, based on real customs and lands".
** In the German dub, Mushu compares Mulan to [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]]. Yes, as in ''he mentions the character explicitly by her name''. Apparently ancient China had ''Tomb Raider''. No, wait, forget that, more importantly: apparently ancient China had '''''video games'''''. [[TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson Not that his Batman reference later in the movie made that much more sense, though; after all, Mushu is a dragon, and magical creatures in Disneyverse do this a lot.]]
* AnnoyingArrows: Justified (while defying ArmorIsUseless) when an arrow knocks Shang from his horse, but fails to penetrate his shoulder armor. Subverted for the Chinese RedShirtArmy.
* AnswerCut:
-->'''The Emperor:''' A single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat.\\
''[Cut to Mulan playing with some of the rice in her bowl and eating it]''
* ArcSymbol: Reflections.
* ArcWords: "Honor".
* ArmorPiercingQuestion:
-->'''Fa Mulan:''' You said you trust ''Ping''. Why is ''Mulan'' any different?
* ArsonMurderAndLifesaving: [[spoiler:The Emperor's statement starting with "I have heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan..."]] Bonus points for all of it being true.
* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts:
** During the "I'll Make a Man Out of You" sequence they do deeds worthy of Bruce Lee.
** Take a look at when Mulan kicks Shang. She pivots on her ''toe'' -- in martial arts, you typically pivot on the ball of your foot.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics:
** The lifesaving scene at the end of the avalanche sequence makes heavy use of this. When Yao and the others are having trouble pulling Mulan to safety, Chien Po steps in and lifts not only Mulan's weight, but also that of Shang, Mushu, the ''horse'', all the other soldiers he's "helping" (they are no longer touching the ground at this point), ''and'' all the armor.
** Additionally, Khan the horse, Mulan, and Shang are all being held up by a ''single rope'', implied to be tied in one knot somewhere on the horse's tack. That's an impressive rope to be able to pull something like 1400 pounds at a dead lift without breaking.
** According to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwqCCuTaDz4 this video]] from [[WebVideo/GameTheory Film Theory]], even if Mulan's rocket missed the mountain summit, the avalanche would have triggered anyway from the noise and shock made by the Hun army as they charged downwards. When Shan Yu orders his army to attack, somehow ''hundreds'' of screaming Huns on their galloping horses somehow didn't trigger the avalanche while a ''single'' cannon hitting the summit did.
* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: Why no, Yao and Ling's utterly obnoxious behavior does not count as hazing. Why? Hazing is done by more trained recruits to rookies, and Yao and Ling only precede Mulan in age and maybe half a day when arriving at ''most''. [[ShapedLikeItself Their obnoxious behavior is actually plain old obnoxious behavior]].
* ArtShift:
** The ImagineSpot during "A Girl Worth Fighting For", which shifts to the style of brush paintings.
** The billows of snow, smoke, and fire are noticeably Eastern styled.
* AsianLionDogs: A temple lion statue is used as a battering ram to try and enter the Imperial Palace to [[spoiler:save the Emperor from Shan Yu]].
* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: After seeing Mulan rush towards Shan Yu with the last cannon, the Gang of Three follow her lead and also gallantly charge into battle... until they notice the gigantic avalanche that Mulan's cannon has created and immediately flee back the other way.
* AttractiveBentGender:
** "I bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer..." is sung for Mulan's male persona, and indeed the rice planters take a shine to "him".
** Averted/inverted later, when [[spoiler:Mulan's friends sneak into the palace in disguise. "[It's only] Concubines." "''Ugly'' concubines."]] [[spoiler:Though one of the two guards seems to have a more favorable opinion.]]
* AwardBaitSong: Two of them:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyt6Emkv3iY&list=RDwyt6Emkv3iY True to Your Heart]] by 98º and Music/StevieWonder.
** Christina Aguilera's cover of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8GUCQQZS64 Reflection]].
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Shan Yu and his men deduce that the emperor's army are in a village in the mountain pass. They do this through nothing more than the GPSEvidence on a child's doll that Shan Yu's falcon retrieved.
* BadassBoast:
** Mulan announces to Shan Yu that she took away his victory before he can kill Shang, and reveals herself as "the soldier from the mountains".
** The emperor is commanded to KneelBeforeZod and delivers a DoomedMoralVictor reply:
--->"No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it."
* BandOfBrothers: Ping and the others grow on each other during the TrainingFromHell [[TrainingMontage Montage]] -- which is half of what boot camp is about.
* BearHug: [[TheBigGuy Chien Po]] does this because he is a GentleGiant.
* BeleagueredBoss: Shang is in charge of getting the new recruits into shape, over the course of "[[RatedMForManly I'll Make A Man Out Of You]]". Though his efforts go unrewarded at first, the recruits finally shape up once Mulan (the least competent of them all) succeeds in getting an arrow down from a pole, inspiring them.
* BeneathSuspicion: Mulan takes advantage of the culture's gender politics by posing herself and her friends as concubines.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Mulan is the ''only'' Disney princess with a body count... in the '''''thousands.'''''
* TheBigBoard: General Li uses one to explain the war strategy to Shang.
* BigShadowLittleCreature: During his salvation sermon, Mushu casts a towering shadow due to Cri-Kee fanning a small flame nearby. The illusion is broken when he steps out from behind a rock, and his true size is lampshaded by Mulan: "You're...''tiny.''"
-->'''Fa Mulan:''' My ancestors sent a little lizard to help me?\\
'''Mushu:''' Dragon, ''dragon''! Not lizard! I don't do that tongue thing. ''[Does "that tongue thing" for emphasis]''
* BigSisterInstinct: Mulan has this for the girls younger than her. She rescues a doll from some local bullies for its young owner. Later, at the burned-down village, she finds a similar doll and hugs it with a look of anugish.
* BilingualBonus:
** Mulan's male alias, "Ping", makes his full name "Hua Ping" (花瓶), which is Chinese for "flower vase" but also a figurative term for someone who is "just a pretty face" or, in other words, [[BrainlessBeauty pretty but useless]]. Another way of using the term is not derogatory, instead using it to refer to women who are required for a position [[BeautyIsBest to be pretty without considering capability]].
** When Mulan suits up herself as a man and fetches Khan from it's stable, Khan started panicking at the sight of this unknown "man" until Mulan said something to calm it down. Although the background music drowns out the dialogue, looking closely at Mulan's lip movements it appears that she is saying "''shi wo, shi wo''" (It's me, it's me).
** "Hua Ping" is also slang for "[[CampGay effeminate or homosexual man]]."
** Chi Fu's name is a pun on the Chinese word for "to bully."
** Chien Po's chant while trying to calm Yao down is a Buddhist prayer.
** "Hayabusa" is Japanese for falcon, making this a case of ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* BilingualDialogue: Mushu speaks English (or is heard in English; it may be TranslationConvention from Chinese) while Cri-Kee chirps. They frequently converse this way.
-->'''Cri-Kee:''' ''(chirps)''\\
'''Mushu:''' You're lucky? ''(laughs)'' Do I look like a sucker to you?\\
'''Cri-Kee:''' ''(chirps)''\\
'''Mushu:''' What you mean "a loser"? How 'bout if I pop one of your antennas off and throw it across the yard, then who's a loser? Me or you?\\
'''Cri-Kee:''' ''(chirps)''
* BladeReflection: At several moments in the film, Mulan will look at her reflection in her blade or helmet or the Family Ancestor Tablet. It supports the 'reflection' arc word.
* BloodlessCarnage:
** The movie manages to avoid fields of blood even though an entire army was massacred and a village destroyed and burnt by having the devastation seen only after a layer of snow has covered everything.
** Despite getting beaten to a pulp by Shan Yu, Shang isn't even bruised.
** [[spoiler:The way Shan Yu is disposed of would have seen the rocket ripping him apart and ash and bloody/charred gibs raining over a small part of the Imperial City.]]
* BossFight: The final fight with Shan Yu. The dude can punch through walls, cut through columns like timber, and power through hard-clay roofs through sheer force of will.
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: This trope happens the moment Shang leaves behind Mulan after her gender is revealed. Mulan joined the army under illegal false pretenses and has been lying about her entire identity, so Shang's refusal to trust her is understandable, if incorrect. On the other hand, Mulan only did what she did to save her father's life, and she's probably right when she implies ("You said you'd trust Ping. Why is Mulan any different?") that culturally ingrained sexism is also influencing Shang at this point.
* BreakingTheGlassCeiling: Mulan at the end is asked by [[spoiler:the Chinese emperor to join his council. It's downplayed because she refuses the offer because she wants to go home]], but even the job offer itself is groundbreaking because up until now the council was reserved for men.
* BreakUpMakeUpScenario: Shang abandons Mulan after discovering her secret, but they don't reconcile when she catches up to him. [[spoiler:They reconcile, wordlessly, moments later during Operation Save-the-Emperor.]]
* BrickJoke:
** At the movie's beginning, Mulan shortcuts feeding the chickens by tying a punctured bag of grain to her dog Little Brother's tail, tying a bone to a stick and fixing it to hang in front of his face, and sending him loose to chase the bone in the direction of the chicken coops. At the end, we see that the chickens now associate Little Brother with food.
** The decapitated ancestor makes a humorous comeback in the ending.
** One of the things Mulan needs to impress boys? A tiny waist. One of the things the matchmaker disparages her for is being ''too skinny'' to bear sons.
* BrilliantButLazy: 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.
* TheBrute: All but a few of the Huns are huge. Some look LeanAndMean.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: What Ping eventually becomes to "his" fellow soldiers -- unorthodox almost to the point of madness, but ''very'' effective.
* BurningTheFlag: As the Huns attack the Great Wall, a Chinese soldier lights a signal fire as he is confronted by Shan Yu and defiantly says, "Now all of China knows you're here." Shan Yu breaks a nearby flag off its pole and adds it to the fire. "Perfect!"
* ButHeSoundsHandsome: The soldiers idly discuss the type of woman they'd like to marry in "A Girl Worth Fighting For". Mulan, disguised as the male Ping, throws in a vote for "How 'bout a girl who's got a brain? Who always speaks her mind?". The men are not impressed.
* CallARabbitASmeerp: The "Huns" referred to in the movie are almost certainly the Xiongnu, who were similar in many ways and often identified with the Huns, but were different. [[TranslationConvention This is presumably because 'Huns' is much easier to rhyme in English]]; the Mandarin version calls them the Xiongnu.
* CannotSpitItOut: Shang towards Mulan at the end. The ''emperor'' calls him out on this. [[spoiler:Even when Shang later shows up at Mulan's house, he initially tries to claim it's only to return her father's helmet. Luckily for him, she invites him to stay for dinner anyway.]]
* CassandraTruth: Shang brushes off Mulan's concerns that Shan Yu and some of the other Huns have survived the avalanche. She is vindicated when [[spoiler:Shan Yu dramatically reappears, kidnaps the emperor in full view, and seizes the palace]].
* ChainOfPeople: [[spoiler:Mulan's troupe forms one after she falls off the cliff. Turns into a Self-Retracting Chain Of People immediately after, when Chien Po joins in.]]
* TheChainsOfCommanding: Due to being captain, Shang can't go easy on any of his recruits and has to whip them into shape. He doesn't fraternize with any of them, not even for baths, and doesn't respond to Mulan complimenting him for being a good captain. [[spoiler:He is also the one honor-bound to execute Mulan for impersonating a man, even after she single-handedly won the victory ''and'' saved him personally.]]
* ChallengeSeeker: Shan Yu takes the Great Wall as a challenge, deliberately challenges the Chinese Army and [[spoiler:curb-stomps them, and when he and his {{mooks}} are buried in an avalanche, they just pop right out of the snow! [[note]]''Like daisies!!''[[/note]]]]
* CharacterDevelopment:
** Mulan goes from a BrilliantButLazy awkward teenager to a BadassNormal soldier who uses creative strategies to get the upper hand in battle.
** After Mulan accidentally antagonizes them, Ling and Yao start to warm up to "Ping" after she manages to get the arrow. Like her, they also become a BadassNormal trio with Chien Po, who remains a GentleGiant.
* CheatedAngle: The topknots on Shang and Mulan are cheated up slightly to keep them visible even when they would otherwise be blocked in a front angle view.
* CheatersNeverProsper: Mushu attempts to help Mulan cheat with shooting arrows into persimmons. Shang immediately catches her.
* ChekhovsBoomerang: Arrows. One is used in the pole while the recruits are training, and Mulan retrieving it inspires the others to pass their training. [[spoiler:Then Shang's troops are attacked by Huns with arrows (including flaming ones) before the full army appears. Finally, Mulan and Shang are rescued from the avalanche with an arrow tied to a rope.]]
* ChekhovsGun:
** It's a good thing Mulan got prepared within hours to see the matchmaker. [[spoiler:It allows her to disguise herself and her friends as concubines to save the emperor.]]
** Fa Zhou's helmet, which becomes part of Mulan's army ensemble. It gets emphasis when she wears it to march, especially after the wagons explosion knocks it off. [[spoiler:Shang somehow found it despite the battle and avalanche, and uses it as a pretext to visit Mulan and court her. It works; Mulan invites him to stay for dinner]].
* ChekhovsClassroom: "Reflect before you act. This will bring you honor and glory." This lesson that Mulan recites for the matchmaker [[spoiler:is fulfilled when she sees a snow drift in the reflection of her sword and is inspired to cause an avalanche to bury the Hun army, which is a big part of how she earns honor and glory.]]
* ChekhovsSkill: Almost all the skills the soldiers learn during the TrainingMontage are put to use later in the movie:
** Mulan first uses the skill of aiming and shooting rockets to [[spoiler:defeat Shan Yu's army, then to kill Shan Yu himself]].
** Pole climbing. The climactic scene from "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" returns as an instrumental part of [[spoiler:the heroes' operation to infiltrate the Emperor's palace after it's been seized by the Huns. Shang even rewards Mulan with a smile as she remembers their very first lesson.]]
** Ling uses the brick-breaking headbutt he learned in training to take out one of the Huns.
** ''Shoe throwing'', of all things. Mulan uses it to [[spoiler:catch Shan Yu's attention, stopping him just short of chopping Shang's head off. When she does the same to Khan earlier, who knew it'd come in handy?]]
** Mushu's firebreathing. Attempted when trying to impress the ancestors, later used to [[spoiler:light the avalanche-triggering cannon, roast the feathers off Shan-Yu's pet falcon Hayabusa, and light the rocket that sends Shan Yu to his death.]]
** Chien Po's SuperStrength. He was shown earlier picking up Yao without a problem. [[spoiler:When his retinue is desperately holding onto a rope to keep Mulan and Shang from falling with the avalanche, he picks them all up and helps them mount a successful rescue. Much later, he uses the same skill to evacuate the Emperor from the palace when Shan Yu threatens the latter]].
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: While pretending to be a man, Mulan ''appears'' to be this to others, but it's caused by a combination of trying to act manly, having to hide her gender, and being sabotaged by the others after making an initial bad impression.
-->'''Chi Fu:''' The boy is an absolute lunatic!
* CombatHandFan: Mulan uses a paper fan to disarm [[spoiler:Shan-Yu.]]
* CombatPragmatist: After Shan Yu [[spoiler:beats Shang to a pulp, Mulan wisely intuits that she won't win a head-on fight with Shan Yu after she goads him to take his vengeance on her. Instead, she lures him to the roof and distracts him long enough to pin him down and has Mushu light the largest firework he can find.]]
* CompositeCharacter: Starting in the 18th century, French scholar Joseph de Guignes proposed a link between the Huns and the Xiongnu. Since that time, there has been a great effort devoted to investigating such a connection, but there is little consensus on a direct connection between the two peoples. The film pretty much just combines the two peoples: they're called "Huns" but their leader is a "Shan-Yu" (also represented as "Chanyu") and roughly translates to "Majesty Son of Heaven." Also, a rather controversial belief is that the Xiongnu are the ancestors of the Huns. What is done in this movie is pretty much the equivalent of calling the Vikings "Normans."
* {{Conscription}}: Sets the main plot in motion. A decree goes out that every household in the region must provide at least one man to serve in the army for the war with the Huns. Since the only man in the Fa household is Mulan's elderly father, for whom going to war would be a death sentence, Mulan disguises herself as a man and goes in his stead.
* ConservationOfCompetence: The usual Disney case is averted -- Shan-Yu has no comedy underlings, which (much like giving him a song) would've detracted from his particular image.
* CooldownHug: Chien Po, on the first occasion when "Ping" ticks off Yao, picks up Yao and guides him in a calming chant.
* CoolOldGuy: The Chinese emperor. Even when he's not dispensing sage king wisdom, he has his moments with some witty one liners.
* CouldntFindALighter: During the battle with the Huns, Mulan is trying to light the last firework but Hayabusa makes her drop her flint and steel. She eventually resorts to using Mushu.
* CoverIdentityAnomaly: Mulan does this when asked her name. Her family name (which she must use as part of the cover story) is Fa, but she hasn't thought of a ''personal'' name, leading to a very awkward conversation where Mushu tries to secretly help her come up with a name.
* CreatorCameo: The film's directors (Tony Bancroft & Barry Cook) are animated as the two guards in the fireworks tower.
* CrisisCatchAndCarry: When she and the others arrive to stop the Huns, Mulan yells to Chien Po to take the emperor to safety. Chien Po apologizes to the emperor for what he'll have to do, picks him up under one arm, and uses a lantern line to get both of them safely out of [[BigBad Shan Yu's]] reach.
* CruelToBeKind: Why Shang initially kicks Ping out of the army when the latter collapses during a training exercise. Ping is young, TheMillstone, and the worst of the recruits. War would be a CurbStompBattle. He tells "him" that Ping isn't "suited for the rage of war" and says going home will mean living. It's only when Mulan is too stubborn to leave and proves that she can stay -- by fetching the arrow, excelling in the previous training exercise, and knocking Shang down during a sparring session-- that Shang changes his mind.
* CryingWolf: [[spoiler:After Mulan is revealed as a woman, Shang blows off her warning that some of the Huns survived. Yao, Ling, and Chien Po believe her, but they don't have a choice but to follow orders. Mulan says, "You'd trust Ping; why is Mulan any different?"]]
* CueTheSun: The climax of "I'll Make a Man out of You". Mulan fails the whole training regimen and Shang tells "Ping" to go home. She then sees the arrow at the top of the pole and decides to give it one last try. As she does, the sun rises and the other men come out of their tents and start cheering her on. She succeeds and throws the arrow down to Shang's feet for emphasis, proving she ''can'' [[StealthPun pull her own weight]].
* CurbStompBattle: Three examples:
** The first one (which isn't seen but is heavily implied) between the Huns and the Chinese army. Based on the aftermath Mulan and her friends see, it didn't go well for the Chinese troops.
** Mulan, herself, later delivers one [[spoiler:to the Hun Army when she uses a rocket to cause an avalanche, destroying nearly all of the Huns in the process.]]
** Mulan, Yao, Ling and Chien Po versus the Huns guarding Shan Yu and the Emperor. It helps that they have the element of surprise.
[[/folder]]

It was followed by a DirectToVideo sequel in 2004, ''WesternAnimation/MulanII''. A GraphicNovel, ''Mulan's Adventure Journal: The Palace of Secrets'' was published by Creator/DarkHorseComics in March 2020. A [[Film/Mulan2020 live-action version]] was released on Creator/DisneyPlus in September 2020. A version of Mulan has also appeared in the live-action TV show ''Series/OnceUponATime'', (which is also produced by the Disney empire) where she is played by Creator/JamieChung.

* AdultFear:
** Mulan runs away from home to take her father's place in the army. Her parents can only remain silent, knowing that she ''might'' be killed in battle if she fights but most certainly ''will'' be executed if they expose her.
** The [[PartingWordsRegret last thing Fa Zhou says to Mulan]] is "I KNOW MY PLACE! It's time you've learned ''yours,''" which piles on a bit more fear and guilt. [[spoiler:When she returns, with Shan Yu's sword and the emperor's crest as "gifts to honor the Fa family," he tosses them away and hugs her tightly, telling her "the greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter".]]

* TranslationConvention

* RaceLift: In the original ballad, Mulan, her family, soldiers and monarch were all Xianbei, the ancestors of the Mongols, and rather than the Huns/Xiongnu, they were facing the Rourans, also ancestors of the Mongols. Interestingly, the Rouran may have been descended from the Xiongu.

* RaceLift: In the original ballad, Mulan, her family, soldiers and monarch were all Xianbei, the ancestors of the Mongols, and rather than the Huns/Xiongnu, they were facing the Rourans, also ancestors of the Mongols.

-->'''Mushu''': Stony? Stony? ''(knees shaking)'' Oh, man, they're gonna kill me...

** After the screwup with the Great Stone Dragon, Mushu gets three more. The first is [[spoiler:when he accidentally sets off a rocket and Mulan [[DeathGlare death glares]] at him. His face says it all. The rocket gives away the army's position and they are promptly attacked by the Huns.]] The second is [[spoiler:during the avalanche when he sees that he, Mulan, Shang, Khan, and Cri-Kee are about to go over the edge of a cliff]]. The third is after Mulan passes out from her wound, when the doctor treating Mulan tells Shang that Mulan is a woman, as Shang enters the tent to confront her.

** Mushu gets three. The first is [[spoiler:when he accidentally sets off a rocket and Mulan [[DeathGlare death glares]] at him. His face says it all. The rocket gives away the army's position and they are promptly attacked by the Huns.]] The second is [[spoiler:during the avalanche when he sees that he, Mulan, Shang, Khan, and Cri-Kee are about to go over the edge of a cliff]]. The third is after Mulan passes out from her wound, when the doctor treating Mulan tells Shang that Mulan is a woman, as Shang enters the tent to confront her.

* KickTheDog:
** [[BigBad Shan-Yu]] captures a pair of Chinese scouts (and mockingly congratulates them on finding his army), then lets them go to tell their Emperor he is coming. As they flee, he turns to one of his henchmen, an archer:
--> "How many men does it take to deliver a message?"
--> [nocks arrow] "One."
** Later, after having his pet falcon steal a small item from a nearby village to confirm the presence of the Chinese army there, he orders the attack:
---> "Besides, the little girl will be missing her doll. We should return it to her."

* HateSink: Chi Fu’s main role in the story is to prove the Huns don't have a monopoly on awful people.

* HistoricalFantasy: Downplayed: the only fantasy elements in a story otherwise about an Anchient Chinese war hero are the ancestral spirits and Mushu the dragon.

-->''"MUSHU!"''

** Well, it depends on your definition of "body count" with regards to [[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Tiana]] with [[DraggedOffToHell Dr. Facilier]] and [[WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries Rapunzel]] with [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Zhan]] [[NoBodyLeftBehind Tiri]].

** [[spoiler:The skill of aiming and shooting rockets]] as Mulan first uses it to [[spoiler:defeat Shan Yu's army]], then to [[spoiler:kill Shan Yu himself]].
** [[spoiler:Pole climbing. The climactic scene from "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" returns as an instrumental part of Operation Save-the-Emperor. Shang even rewards Mulan with a smile as she remembers their very first lesson.]]
** Ling uses [[spoiler:the brick-breaking headbutt he learned in training to take out one of the Huns]].
** [[spoiler:''Shoe throwing'', of all things. Mulan uses it to catch Shan Yu's attention, stopping him just short of chopping Shang's head off. When we see her do the same to Khan earlier, who knew it'd come in handy?]]
** [[spoiler:Mushu's firebreathing. Attempted when trying to impress the ancestors, later used to light the avalanche-triggering cannon, roast the feathers off Shan-Yu's pet falcon Hayabusa, and light the rocket that sends Shan Yu to his death.]]

** As mentioned, several (but not all) male characters at least start out pretty sexist because, hey, it's ancient China. It's also lampshaded when [[spoiler:Mulan, after being honored as a hero, gives the emperor a big hug; Yao asks, "Is she allowed to do that?" (No, it would have been punishable by death; then again, after all the rest that happened, the emperor is perfectly fine with letting it pass.) The other guys just shrug.]]
** Additionally, Mulan's crippled father going off to war just because he is the only man in his family is precisely what was expected of men at the time, even if they were old and/or infirm. It was seen as the honorable thing to do, whereas the modern age would see it as pointless and/or cruel.

* DramaticIrony: The entire "Be a Man" sequence -- Shang and the other soldiers may be oblivious, but the audience knows that Mulan [[SweetPollyOliver is, in fact, a woman]].

* HerosMuse: The soldiers discuss this trope in the song "A Girl Worth Fighting For".

* IWantSong: "[[Music/ChristinaAguilera Reflection]]" and "A Girl Worth Fighting For".

* TheMakeover[=/=]MakeoverMontage: Mulan goes through this twice: once at the hands of a pair of [[MakeoverFairy Makeover Fairies]] in "Honor to Us All" to look like a potential bride, and again when she "becomes" a man.

** Shortly after the above example comes a double whiplash: [[spoiler:somberness turns into humor when a rocket fires out of Mulan's cart, having accidentally been lit by Mushu (who, stunned, weakly tries to blame Cri-Kee); then humor turns into panic as the Huns take notice and attack]].
** [[spoiler: After burying the Huns under the avalanche, our ragtag army celebrate Mulan's brilliant plan and her promotion as Shang's second-in-command. Then Mulan winces in pain from the wound Shan Yu gave her, and passes out from blood loss.]]
** Another double whiplash occurs near the beginning after the matchmaker scene. After Mulan's "Reflection" number, we get the heartwarming scene of her father cheering her up. Then the mood quickly switches again after Chi Fu arrives to deliver the conscription notices.

* PluckyGirl: Mulan doesn't let a little thing like [[spoiler:a bleeding wound]] stop her from [[spoiler:saving Shang's life]]. Hell, aside from the initial pain, she doesn't even seem to ''notice'' it until things have calmed down. Gotta love that [[JustifiedTrope adrenaline]], eh?
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain:
** Averted. [[BigBad Shan Yu]] is one of the few male characters in the movie to never say anything sexist against Mulan. This could be because the Huns were less sexist against women than the Chinese.
** [[{{Jerkass}} Chi-Fu]] plays this straight, however, to the extent that he can be considered a villain.
* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Averted. Many of the male characters are ''extremely'' sexist or prejudiced. Mulan, herself, is in no way rebelling against the prospect of arranged marriage or Ancient China's idea for proper feminine behavior at the beginning of the film, and is in fact significantly upset because she ''wants'' to fit into that role, but can't manage it.

** Reflections are a motif in the movie -- the pond at her house, the multiple ones in the ancestors' shrine (where she wipes off her makeup), the ''song'', her helmet (which she throws to the ground), and the iconic sword.

* RedshirtArmy: [[spoiler:Sadly, this fate befalls the supposed "elite" Imperial Army, led by Shang's father. It's to [[TheWorfEffect demonstrate how dangerous the Huns are]].]]

** An Asian ActionHero [[TheyFightCrime fights bad guys]] while paired up with a [[UncleTomfoolery wisecracking black guy]]. [[Film/RushHour Didn't I see this last year?]]

** Likewise, during the village scene, everyone is mostly quiet, with tiny bits of dialogue. Mulan is completely silent when she finds the little girl's doll and hugs it to her chest. Likewise, Shang creates a shrine to his father without saying a word.

* SnowMeansDeath:
** There's snow on the ground of the massacred village. It also starts snowing after Shang creates a memorial for his father.
** [[spoiler:Averted for Shan Yu and a handful of other particularly resilient Huns after the avalanche. They pop right back out of the snow.[[note]] ''[[RunningGag Like daisies!!]]''[[/note]]]]

* SweetOnPollyOliver: Averted. What Shang develops with "Ping" is closer to a bromance FireForgedFriends-style.

* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Averted. Just as Yao is on the verge of saving Mulan and Shang from getting knocked off the cliff by the avalanche by firing a rope-tied arrow to them, he takes the time before grabbing the rope to say out loud that he should grab it, causing him to just miss it.

** "A girl worth fighting--" ''[Cut to reaction shot of destroyed village]''

* WarIsHell: [[spoiler:The razed village scene, complete with EmpathyDollShot, is a reality of war.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** The Fa ancestors [[LampShading predict]] that although Mulan's actions were of good intentions, consequences are nonetheless riding on those actions: should she be discovered and/or killed, it could bring shame to her household, her family lineage will be cut off, and they could lose their land.
** Mulan in the original myth was an InstantExpert who mastered her training. There is none of that here: Mulan's physical activities include horseback riding and farm labor, not combat. At least the other men arrived at the training grounds earlier and have the stamina if not skill. Shang accurately pinpoints "Ping" as the worst student because he can't follow orders, cheats at complicated tasks, and fails at the rest. In fact, this leads to Shang kicking Ping out because the soldier would be TheMillstone in battle, especially when Mulan collapses while holding weights during a mountain trek. Mulan has to prove that she can stay and genuinely works to earn her place -- first by retrieving the arrows and then by mastering all the tasks that she previously failed.
** Although Shang did realize how noble Mulan was for battling alongside the army to defeat the Huns and protect her crippled father, he ends up not trusting Mulan after it is revealed that she was really [[SweetPollyOliver a woman disguised as a man]]. While Mulan did have good intentions, this doesn’t change the fact that she not only deceived Shang and the army about her true gender and identity since the day they met, but Mulan also brought dishonor to the Chinese Army and violated the law. Lying and deceiving people ([[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight even if you had a very good reason to]]) will cause people to deem you as untrustworthy.

* RefrainFromAssuming: Shang's training song is called "I'll Make a Man Out of You", not "Be a Man" or "[[{{Mondegreen}} We are Man/Men]]".

** In the German dub, Mushu compares Mulan to [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]]. Yes, as in ''he mentions the character explicitly by her name''. Apparently ancient China had ''Tomb Raider''. No, wait, forget that, more importantly: apparently ancient China had '''''video games'''''. [[TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson Not that his Batman reference later in the movie made that much more sense, though.]]