History WesternAnimation / MulanII

** Mulan is hit with this big time; uneasy at the idea of an arranged marriage being imposed on the princesses, she continually encourages them to follow their own hearts, which is overshadowed by the fact that if they do not go through with the union China will not have the strength necessary to repel the incoming Mongols; Mulan applauds their choice to marry the men they choose, and the union is never confirmed, thus leaving China's fate unclear.
*** Compounding this is Mulan offering her own hand in marriage to see the alliance through; despite being a war hero Mulan hardly carries the political sway of the ''Emperor's three daughters'', and that she doesn't own anything of value, land or otherwise, to offer to the alliance. That said, it's hard to imagine how Mulan hoped to deter the Mongols through her union with the prince of Qui Gong.

* SmallReferencePools: Presumably how the writers had the balls to have [[Creator/HenrikIbsen "My duty is to myself"]] as the Aesop.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Mushu sabotages Mulan's relationship with Shang... because if she marries him she'll lose his job. To be fair, Mulan had only really known Shang personally for a month, (they'd met at least a few weeks before, but it was a soldier-commander relationship, and she was lying about her identity at the time) and them turning out to be very different from each other as they were planning their wedding raised more then a few alarm bells, but he had zero problems with any of this until he realized what it all meant for him personally.

* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Mushu has apparently become so conceited and spoiled from his acheievements in the first film that the other ancestors regret giving him back his guardian role and plot to use LoopholeAbuse to throw him out.

* SecretlySelfish: Mushu [[BelievingTheirOwnLies convinces himself]] that he’s trying to save Mulan from having an AwfulWeddedLife with Shang because of how different they are, when it’s clear he wants to protect his job..

* ItsAllAboutMe:
** Mushu sabotages Mulan's relationship with Shang... because if she marries him she'll lose his job. To be fair, Mulan had only really known Shang personally for a month, (they'd met at least a few weeks before, but it was a soldier-commander relationship, and she was lying about her identity at the time) and them turning out to be very different from each other as they were planning their wedding raised more then a few alarm bells, but he had zero problems with any of this until he realized what it all meant for him personally.
** Mulan, to a lesser extent. It's explained to her very clearly that China is going to be ravaged by Mongols if the princesses don't marry the princes. The princesses, while not thrilled about the arrangement, are definitely willing to go through with it, especially what with the urgent circumstances. Then Mei falls in love with Yao and Mulan, without the slightest hesitation or conflict, tells Mei to follow her heart, screw over the lives of millions.

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Mushu claims he’s trying to save Mulan from having an AwfulWeddedLife with Shang because of how different they are, when it’s clear he wants to protect his job. He even [[BelievingTheirOwnLies convinces himself this]].
--> '''Mushu:''' This is ''not'' about my pedestal! This is about Mulan making the biggest mistake of [[ItsAllAboutMe my]]... [[FreudianSlip I mean]], ''[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial her]]'' [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial life!]]

* PandaingToTheAudience: Yao's gift to Mei is a stuffed panda.

* OffModel: The characters' more expressive and wild expressions can probably be excused by the fact that it's a LighterAndSofter movie, but even with that justification there's just no excuse for [[http://68.media.tumblr.com/34cd0676b92ebae0274bf28a8a9c2e3b/tumblr_n1b1o6E5FV1tt9o51o2_500.jpg Shang's]] [[http://media.tumblr.com/9c5bc49f53a638324bc3eccfaf7f406a/tumblr_inline_mtrgjlEt641rc08ww.png ridiculously]] [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/07/0d/c7/070dc7a6df7f3ce26a6d3b8960750cb7.jpg awkward]] facial expressions during his argument with Mulan midway through the movie. It's as though someone else's angry faces were photoshopped onto Shang's head.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: No, you cannot change firmly entrenched views about women held by an entire nation for an untold amount of time, especially not in a month. All of the allies Mulan made in the first movie, while polite to Mulan specifically, still are misogynistic towards women as a whole. The Emperor has made no major reforms after publically honoring Mulan, and is using his own daughters as bargaining chips to form an alliance. Shang knows that most women are being treated unfairly, but doesn't care because it doesn't affect him, Mulan, or his relationship with her. Yao, Ling, and Chien Po's wife fantasies have gotten even ''worse'' in the time skip, as shown by what they told the matchmaker they wanted in a bride, and during the song Ling steals chopsticks from an innocent girl advertising a shop and sticks up up his nose because she assumed her waving at him ''had'' to be a romantic gesture (she wanted to promote her shop, small wonder she punched him right after that). They treat the princesses decently for the first and only three days of their relationship before getting married (Ling following Ting-Ting around bothering her after she's made it clear she's not interested and wants to honor her engagement notwithstanding) In real life, change takes time. The only person who is seen improving is the matchmaker, as she throws the gang of three out in disgust when she hears their obnoxious demands, ostensibly wanting to protect any girl from having to deal with them as husbands.

* RealityEnsues: No, you cannot change firmly entrenched views about women held by an entire nation for an untold amount of time, especially not in a month. All of the allies Mulan made in the first movie, while polite to Mulan specifically, still are misogynistic towards women as a whole. The Emperor has made no major reforms after publically honoring Mulan, and is using his own daughters as bargaining chips to form an alliance. Shang knows that most women are being treated unfairly, but doesn't care because it doesn't affect him, Mulan, or his relationship with her. Yao, Ling, and Chien Po's wife fantasies have gotten even ''worse'' in the time skip, as shown by what they told the matchmaker they wanted in a bride, and during the song Ling steals chopsticks from an innocent girl advertising a shop and sticks up up his nose because she assumed her waving at him ''had'' to be a romantic gesture (she wanted to promote her shop, small wonder she punched him right after that). They treat the princesses decently for the first and only three days of their relationship before getting married (Ling following Ting-Ting around bothering her after she's made it clear she's not interested and wants to honor her engagement notwithstanding) In real life, change takes time. The only person who is seen improving is the matchmaker, as she throws the gang of three out in disgust when she hears their obnoxious demands, ostensibly wanting to protect any girl from having to deal with them as husbands.

'''Ling:''' Pass the hanky.

* TooDumbToLive: Despite being the wisest person in the movie, Shang has the idea of hiring only three soldiers to escort the princesses. [[spoiler:Shang almost dies when the group is attacked by a small group of Huns, who would not have posed a threat if Shang had had a full battalion.]].

* TheUnfought: The Mongols. Apparently even without the arranged marriage the alliance between China and Qui Gong still happened thus the invasion is discouraged.

%% * EasilyForgiven: DoubleSubverted with Mushu. In spite of his [[RelationshipSabotage meddling in Mulan's love life to the point of near irreparable damage]], he is ultimately forgiven by her and Shang after learning his lesson and helping via DeusExMachina. He still got an albeit mild scolding from Mulan upon her initial discovery of Mushu's sabotage.

As Mulan is getting married to General Shang, the Emperor asks her to escort his three daughters to a neighboring kingdom for an arranged marriage there in order to cement an alliance against the Mongols.

* EasilyForgiven: DoubleSubverted with Mushu. In spite of his [[RelationshipSabotage meddling in Mulan's love life to the point of near irreparable damage]], he is ultimately forgiven by her and Shang after learning his lesson and helping via DeusExMachina. He still got an albeit mild scolding from Mulan upon her initial discovery of Mushu's sabotage.

* EasilyForgiven: Mushu, in spite of his [[RelationshipSabotage meddling in Mulan's love life to the point of near irreparable damage]], is still forgiven by her and Shang after learning his lesson and helping via DeusExMachina. He still got an albeit mild scolding from Mulan upon her initial discovery of Mushu's sabotage.

* EasilyForgiven: Mushu, in spite of his meddling in Mulan's love life to the point of near irreparable damage, is still forgiven by her and Shang after learning his lesson and helping via DeusExMachina. He still got an albeit mild scolding from Mulan upon her initial discovery of Mushu's plot.

* EasilyForgiven: Mushu, in spite of his meddling in Mulan's love life to the point of near irreparable damage, is still forgiven by her and Shang after learning his lesson and helping via DragonExMachina. He still got an albeit mild scolding from Mulan upon her initial discovery of Mushu's plot.

* AcquiredSituationNarcissism: Mushu has apparently become so conceited and spoiled from his acheievements in the first film that the other ancestors regret giving him back his guardian role and plot to use LoopholeAbuse to throw him out.

* TheMilstone: Mushu and the other ancestor's power feud is the cause of the central conflict of the movie. The only helpful contribution they make is Mushu pulling a trick to get Mulan out of her arranged marriage, largely to atone for all the trouble he caused in the first place.

* BigBad: [[BigBadFriend Mushu]] does everything in his power to make sure Mulan doesn't marry so he can retain his position as her guardian. [[HeelRealization He gets better by the end though]].

* KarmaHoudini:
** Not only does Mulan get away with basically kidnapping the princesses and marrying them to common soldiers, even after presenting herself as the marriage offering in replacement she ''doesn't have to do that either''. She gets to marry Shang after all and True Love wins through 100%. It's generally implied that the prince is just so ''impressed'' that he allies with China in war for absolutely no benefit to his kingdom at all (not getting set on fire by the "Unity Dragon" is a benefit to himself).
** Mushu also falls under this trope. He keeps that JerkassBall close to his chest and with a vice grip, constantly trying to sabotage Mulan and Shang's relationship with an utterly an disgusting amount of glee, to the point where some consider Mushu to be the villain of this movie. And while there is ''some'' justification to wanting break up Mulan and Shang, it's clear that his actions are for [[ItsAllAboutMe himself]] not for the sake Mulan. And while he does experience a HeelRealization , broke down and confessed to Mulan, and then saved the day later via DeusExMachina, it still doesn't excuse his petty, selfish, and malicious behavior throughout the movie. The only punishment he gets for trying to ruin his friend's lovelife, is a ''very'' mild scolding from an albeit furious Mulan. And in the end he regresses back to that spoiled and selfish behavior he displayed at the beginning of the movies to show that he learned practically nothing.

* KarmaHoudini: Not only does Mulan get away with basically kidnapping the princesses and marrying them to common soldiers, even after presenting herself as the marriage offering in replacement she ''doesn't have to do that either''. She gets to marry Shang after all and True Love wins through 100%. It's generally implied that the prince is just so ''impressed'' that he allies with China in war for absolutely no benefit to his kingdom at all (not getting set on fire by the "Unity Dragon" is a benefit to himself).