Mulan / Tropes D to F

Mulan Trope Examples
Main series: A - C | D - F | G - L | M - R | S - Z

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D

• Dance Party Ending: Cri-Kee sounds the gong at the end of the film, starting the instrumental of "True to Your Heart," which the guardians all dance to, leading into the closing credits as the vocal begins.
• Dare to Be Badass: The song "I'll Make A Man Out Of You".
  Tranquil as a forest
  But on fire within.
  Once you find your center
  You are sure to win.
  • The chorus is not only this, but practically a Badass Creed.
    Be a Man!
    We must be swift as a coursing river
    Be a Man!
    With all the force of a great typhoon
    Be a Man!
    With all the strength of a raging fire
    Mysterious as the dark side of the Moon!
• Dark Is Evil: The Huns are gray skinned and wear all-black. Even their horses are black.
• Darker and Edgier: This film, unlike most Disney movies, thoroughly addresses the subject of war and the grim consequences thereof, including the implied large-scale murder of the innocent and the grieving family members of those killed. This is softened somewhat through frequent comic relief.
  • Mulan's strategic avalanche-triggering makes her personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of men, something that cannot be said about any other Disney Princess.
  • Shan Yu may also be the only Disney character to actually hit a real person with a sword, using the sharp edge, on-screen.
• David Versus Goliath: Shang is a tall and well-built man but Shan Yu is larger and stronger. Goliath wins that round. Mulan, who is even more of a David in comparison, wins by refusing to fight him on his terms.
• Deadpan Snarker: Shan Yu has his moments, such as just after his soldiers capture two Chinese scouts:
  Shan Yu: Good work, gentlemen. You've found the Hun army.
• Dead Hat Shot: The helmet of Shang's father is found in the snow after the troop reaches the town destroyed by the Huns.
• Death of a Child: When walking through the ruins of a raided village, a single doll is found, as a G-rated signal that there were children killed here.
• Debt Detester: Shang spares Mulan's life after she dishonors the Chinese army in return for her saving his life during the Hun attack.
• Defiant to the End:
  • The unnamed soldier on the wall at the beginning. He desperately runs to the nearest signal, and when confronted by Shan Yu he lights the beacons knowing full well he's about to die.
    Soldier: Now all of China knows you're here.
  • The emperor also counts, since he refuses to Kneel Before Zod and knows that he'll die for it.
    The Emperor: No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Shang despairs over Ping more than the rest of his raw recruits but gradually comes to respect "him" as he proves himself. After the defeat of the Huns, he unthaws enough to offer his unconditional trust, but freezes again when the deception is revealed. When Mulan shows her courage and nobility — as herself this time — he falls for her but Cannot Spit It Out until given some unsubtle prompting by the emperor.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance:
  • Several (but not all) male characters at least start out pretty sexist because, hey, it's ancient China. It's also lampshaded when 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.
  • 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.
  • There's the song "You'll Bring Honor To Us All." The entire piece is about how a woman's sole purpose is to marry well and be a dutiful, obedient wife but this part in particular can come as a shock to those hearing it again as adults:
    We all must serve our emperor, who guards us from the Huns — a man by bearing arms, a girl by bearing sons!
• Description Cut: When Shang is promoted captain and is about to step out of his tent.
  Li Shang: Captain Li Shang. Hmm... "Leader of China's finest troops"—no, "The greatest troops of all time!"
  [Exits his tent to find the recruits in an all-out brawl with the camp in total chaos]
• Determinator:
  • Shang dismisses Mulan midway through the "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" segment, which would have relieved Mulan's family of their war duty, but also potentially disgraced them. Mulan refuses to just walk away, and proves she is worthy of being a soldier.
  • Yao finds himself holding an arrow tethered to a safety line for "Ping" and Captain Shang. Despite nearly being pulled over the cliff as well, he won't let go, digs his body into the ground as the other soldiers grab on, and does his best to get them up.
  • Several Huns survive the avalanche and go right back to marching.
  • Shang finds out his father and China's best men were slaughtered. He tells his troops, after making a Shrine to the Fallen, that they have to go and stop Shan Yu to keep the capital and Emperor safe. Then when it seems the odds are hopeless, he orders everyone to fight anyway. Only an avalanche— and Shan Yu himself — can keep this guy down.
• Didn't Think This Through: Mulan writes notes on her arm, with ink. They're not completely dry when the beauticians force her in the bathtub, and get wet in the water. Thus, when she gets to the matchmaker, the lady touches her hand and obliviously smears it over her face. Mulan goes Oh, Crap!, realizing she ought to have thought ahead about this.
• Digging Yourself Deeper: Mulan does this to herself whenever she gets into trouble as Ping because she is flustered and makes further mistakes.
• Disney Acid Sequence: "A Girl Worth Fighting For," with its Art Shift into the comic trio's imagination.
• Disney Death: Shan Yu and a few members of his army survive the avalanche, and are able to sneak their way through the Imperial City to capture the emperor.
• Disney Villain Death: Averted, deliberately. Shan Yu does not die from falling. He dies from a fireworks rocket shooting him horizontally into a fireworks cache. The DVD's audio commentary has Lampshade Hanging.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Mulan exploits this to save the emperor. One Hun is besotted with the "ugly" concubines and picks up an apple that Ling drops.
• Dodge the Bullet: Part of the training for the new recruits is to learn to run through a hail of burning arrows without being hit. This starts as an inversion in that when they are no good at it they do some actual dodging, but once he's got the hang of it, Yao runs through without being hit and without making any visible effort to dodge.
• Does This Make Me Look Fat?: Said by Yao when dressed as a woman, which is also an Actor Allusion (his voice actor has performed in drag). He gets a Dope Slap for his trouble.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: After the Imperial Army leave with the general, Shang appears to the recruits during their fight ("Soldiers!"). They all point at Mulan and say, "He started it!" Sort of like a fight in a school interrupted by a teacher.
• Do Not Go Gentle: When the Huns prepare to bear down on Shang and his troops, who are outnumbered and with one last cannon, Shang orders his men to prepare to fight. They aren't going to lie down for the Huns. Fortunately, Mulan finds another way.
• The Dragon: Hayabusa the falcon, who acts as Shan-Yu's chief reconnaissance scout (bringing back a doll that leads to the Huns attacking the village), who frequently brings his boss whatever information or items he may need.
• Dramatic Irony: The entire "Be a Man" sequence — Shang and the other soldiers may be oblivious, but the audience knows that Mulan is, in fact, a woman. The song later gets a reprise when the male soldiers disguise themselves as concubines to infiltrate the Emperor's palace.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Shang has a song illustrating just how nasty he is, and it sounds exactly like what a Drill Sergeant Nasty is supposed to sound like, just with the language cleaned up. Besides the language, it's downplayed in that he isn't that nasty — he's tough but good, and reacts with approval when he sees his band of miserable slobs becoming efficient and disciplined soldiers.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Even after Mulan has single-handedly wiped out the entire Huns army and saved all of China, she loses the trust she's earned from her former allies simply because they find out she's really a woman. It takes her doing it again to regain their trust, and even so, Chi-Fu orders her to be executed.
• Dwindling Party: At first, Shang's retinue has at least forty men, enough to get into a camp brawl when Mulan accidentally starts one. Then Shan Yu's army successfully assaults them when Mushu accidentally gives away their location; given the number of arrows and that one hit Shang, one can assume the body count was high. By the time Mulan sets off the avalanche, only about eight to ten men survive, including Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po. It's unknown how many didn't survive the snow.

E

• Ear Ache: In one scene, as Mushu attempts to awaken the Great Stone Dragon, he accidentally chips an ear off, causing the entire statue to erode in the process.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Mulan goes through a lot of hardship, both physical and mental, but ultimately achieves her goal of honoring her family, and then some!
• Earth/Wind Juxtaposition: Shan Yu holds the Emperor at swordpoint, demanding the latter bow to him. The Emperor only responds, "No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it." No points in guessing who is the mountain and who is the wind.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Mulan's eyes go wide when she sees Shang shirtless. Yao does admit Shang is a pretty boy, if derisively.
• Effeminate Misogynistic Guy: Chi-Fu is a Non-Action Guy known for his Girly Scream, yet when told that Mulan is a hero, he simply says, "'Tis a woman. She'll never be worth anything!"
• Empathy Doll Shot: Shan Yu's falcon retrieves a doll from a small village that lies in his way. The Huns determine the presence of the imperial army from it and suggest going around, but Shan Yu opts to go through the village because it's the quickest way to the Forbidden City, smirking as he remarks that they should return the doll to the girl who owned it. Later, Mulan discovers the doll in the smoking, empty ruins of the village.
• Entertainingly Wrong: The matchmaker seems suspicious when Mulan is reciting the lessons a good bride must have, but she mispronounces a few words due to misreading them on her arm. She checks Mulan's fan for notes instead, suggesting other would-be brides tried the same trick.
• Epic Fail:
  • Where to start with Mulan's matchmaking exam? She seems okay enough when stumbling over her notes, but then Cri-Kee escaped and she thought it was a great idea to hide him in her mouth while still talking. Then the Matchmaker gets ink on her hand from Mulan's cheat notes and smears it all over her face. Mulan is so shocked she pours the tea too much and spills it on the table. When handing the cup to the Matchmaker, she sees the cricket taking a bath and tries to politely take it back. This leads to her setting the Matchmaker on fire, and emptying the pot of scalding tea to put it out. It's a miracle that all the Matchmaker did was chew her out in front of everyone for being so incompetent.
  • Mulan tells a worried Mushu to stand watch while she bathes. Mushu prepares to do that while complaining that it's risky. Before he can blink, three men rush past him. It's Ling, Yao and Chien-Po who had the same idea to bathe. Mushu goes Oh, Crap! on realizing he didn't give Mulan any warning and goes to correct the sitaution.
• Etiquette Nazi: The matchmaker marks down Mulan for everything she does. After calling for Mulan, the girl says "present," and yet the matchmaker mutters "speaking without permission." Even Mulan's grandmother thinks this is too far.
  Grandmother: "Who spit in her bean curd?"
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Grandmother Fa looks insulted on Mulan's behalf when the Matchmaker docks her a point for answering that she was here for her matchmaking evaluation. She asks who spit in the lady's bean curd.
  • Mulan is prepared to impersonate a man to save her father. She tells Mushu that she would rather not be a dirty man, as she prepares to bathe in the nearby lake.
  • When Mulan seems to be pulling a Suicide Mission by stealing the last cannon from Yao and running towards Shan Yu, Shang's reaction is not anger for "Ping" defying orders. It's fear; he starts running and shouting for Ping to stop because he's more concerned about the recruit not dying by Shan Yu's hands than about the insubordination.
  • Among the Emperor's summation of Mulan's crimes and misdemeanors, he pointedly says that she deceived Shang, her commanding officer. Shang when listening silently admits that it's a legitimate point given his expression, and is touched that the Emperor cared about him in the summation.
• Evil Plan: Shan Yu goes to war against China out of spite because he sees the Great Wall as a challenge.
• Exactly What I Aimed At: Instead of shooting at Shan Yu and killing only him, Mulan shoots at a mountaintop and creates an avalanche that wipes out most of his army, turning what could have been a rout for the Hun force into a victory for the Chinese.
  Mushu: [Flying towards the mountain on cannonback] YOU MISSED! HOW COULD YOU MISS?! HE WAS THREE FEET IN FRONT OF YOU!!!

F

• Face Death with Dignity: Almost happens at the Huns' ambush.
  Li Shang: If we die, we die with honor.
• Facepalm: Mushu facepalms upon seeing Mulan involuntarily smacking the other soldiers around because of her Squirrels in My Pants moment.
• Failure Montage: The song "I'll Make a Man Out of You" opens with a montage of all the soldiers trying and failing to retrieve Shang's arrow from the top of a pole.
• Family-Unfriendly Death:
  • Shan Yu is blown to bits by several fireworks lit by Mulan and Mushu.
  • The village massacre, since it's implied no one is left alive. Not even the little girl missing her doll.
  • The Hun Army being buried by the avalance. While most were crushed to death by the sheer weight, Shan Yu and his elites survived unscathed, so there's every reason to believe that there are huns (and their horses) still buried beneath the snow with no chance of rescue while suffocating or freezing to death.
• Fanservice:
  • Shang, shirtless and swinging a pole around while singing "I'll Make A Man Out Of You". Hilariously reviewed by The Daily Show's Camp Gay film critic Frank DeCaro, who responded "Yes, PLEASE! ...And bring the pole."
  • Mulan also; it's notable that compared to other Disney princesses, she is the one that has the most nude scenes (two bath scenes, one of which is fairly extensive), except perhaps for Ariel.
• Faux Action Guy: Shang is introduced as a mighty soldier; he fights circles around his recruits, trains them to perfection... and from that point on becomes consistently less competent than Mulan. It's downplayed in that he is still a good warrior, but his lack of success with brute force to defeat the Huns shows that the Chinese will have to use guile and cleverness to win. He provides perfect timing in disarming Shan Yu and even lands a few good hits on him in the ensuing fight. The problem is that Shan Yu is bigger, meaner, and devastatingly good at headbutts — it takes more than being a Badass Army Captain to beat this guy.
• Feeling Their Age: Though Fa Zhou retains his sword skills, his old age, bad leg, and an implied heart condition prevent him from performing as he used to, as shown when he collapses doing basic exercises. This is the main reason why Mulan runs off to take his place in the war, knowing he won't survive if he goes off to fight.
• Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter: Fa Li is an accomplished Housewife and Proper Lady. Her daughter Mulan is fairly feminine, but questions her destiny of ending up in an Arranged Marriage, fails at all her attempts to be a Proper Lady, and flourishes as a warrior when she runs away to join the army in her father's place. Note that Mulan's masculine behavior is atrocious.
• Feminist Fantasy: Based on the Chinese legend. Mulan is resourceful and brave, choosing to disguise herself as a man in order to take her father's place in the Imperial army. Through her quick wits and determination, she becomes an accomplished soldier and goes on to defeat the Big Bad and save China. Her love interest follows her home, to return her helmet. When awkwardly complimenting her, he focuses on her fighting skills.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Though the other men of the army initially reject Mulan, once she proves herself by beating the Flagpole Challenge, they welcome her as one of the boys and they all start becoming an army.
• Fireworks of Victory: A firework is actually part of the victory, as Mushu launches a huge one right at Shan Yu. This not only kills him, but sets off a huge fireworks display as Mulan outruns them and jumps off the roof with an Improvised Zipline.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: When Khan, Mulan and an unconscious Shang are caught in the avalanche snowdrift, Mulan looks behind her as Mushu and Crick-Ee reunite with then. She goes Oh, Crap! and says, "We need help!" When Mushu and Crick-Ee look as well, they also go Oh, Crap! because they're about to fall off a cliff!
• Flagpole Challenge: Shang fires an arrow into the top of a pole and challenges the recruits to retrieve it while carrying two heavy metal discs. None of the recruits are able to do so, until Mulan wins the challenge by taking the two heavy discs she was given, tying them together, and wrapping them around the pole to hold her tight to the pole while climbing.
• Foil:
  • Shan Yu is one to Mulan, surprisingly. While completely different in personality and appearance, they have similar goals. They are both trying to prove themselves; Mulan wants to prove herself as a soldier, and Shan Yu wants to prove himself as a conquerer. Also, they are both The Determinator and The Unfettered (Shan Yu commits multiple atrocities to achieve his goals, and Mulan destroys the entire hun army with an avalanche).
• Force and Finesse: Mulan and Shan Yu during the final battle. Mulan used strategy, her thought processes and the skills she has learned in order to defeat Shan Yu (finesse) while Shan Yu is much more blood-thirsty, vengeful and relies on his Stout Strength to overpower her (force).
• Foreshadowing:
  • Mulan's chopsticks are pointing straight up in the rice, this is bad table manners because it's associated with funerals and bad luck. Indeed, the interview with the matchmaker didn't go well.
  • During the matchmaker song, Mulan saves a girl's doll from two boys with toy swords. Later, she is able to save a doll, but not the girl who owns it.
  • She also demonstrates some cleverness by turning the tide of a game of chess with just a single move. Later, one clever move is enough to bury the Hun Army.
  • A Stealth Pun "A girl can bring her family great honor in one way/by striking a good match." Both of Mulan's victories involved firepower.
  • At the end of "Honour To Us All", Mulan is visibly out of step from the rest of the girls, showing that she is the only one who doesn't know what she's doing and foreshadowing that her interview with the matchmaker won't go well.
  • When the conscription notices are being handed out, a man in the second family says he will join the army in place of his aged father. Mulan ends up doing exactly this a few scenes later.
  • She shows she's good at aiming a thrown slipper when she chastises Khan for laughing at her first attempt to be "manly." Later, she distracts Shan Yu the same way when he's about to finish off Shang.
  • Subverted with the fact that if Mulan's true identity as a woman in the army is exposed, she will be executed. This is brought up first by Fa Zhou, then by Mushu. When she is exposed, it looks like Shang is about to kill her, but because she had saved his life in the avalanche, he refuses to kill her and flings the sword to the ground.
  • Mulan spends the morning of her matchmaking session avoiding the "proper" way of doing things and instead using shortcuts such as getting her dog to feed the chickens and writing a supposedly-memorized speech on her arms. It seems lazy and dysfunctional at the time, but it's exactly this kind of "work smarter, not harder" attitude that will soon turn her into a respected Combat Pragmatist in the army.
  • At one point, Mulan has the opportunity to shoot Shan Yu with a firework cannon, but barely misses him in order to trigger an avalanche that takes out his army instead. She later takes him out for real with another rocket.
  • During his first scene, Shan Yu's response to the Wall sentries alerting the Chinese Army to the Hun invasion is a satisfied "Perfect." While this establishes him as a Blood Knight, it's also a clue that he needs the Chinese Army to come after him; his Xanatos Gambit is dependent on it.
• Forged Message: Mushu gets Mulan's company into the war by having Cri-Kee write a fake letter from the general urgently ordering the new recruits into action. Unknown to him, said message turns out to be true and desperately needed. See Accidental Truth example above.
• Fruit of the Loon: The boys stuff their dresses with a variety of fruit, including... a banana.

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