Shan Yu is the main antagonist of Mulan. He is the leader of the Hun Dynasty, and aims to conquer China. He is voiced by Miguel Ferrer.
Biography
China is facing its most deadly adversary. The Huns have advanced across its borders, led by Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer), a hulking mountain of a man. He speaks with a dark voice and shows no pity, attacking anyone in his way. He and the Huns are coming for the Emperor and, according to Shan Yu, not even China's greatest troops will be able to stop them.
Fa Mulan (Ming-Na) is a young woman worried that one of those potential troops will be her father. He has fought in wars before for the Emperor, and has already proven his loyalty. Advanced in years and broken down from the strain placed upon his body, Mulan's father is in no shape to fight again, but if he does, he will certainly not make it home. Mulan pleads for him to stay, but he tells her it is an honor to fight for China, so during the night before her father leaves, Mulan slips away with her father's armor and sword. She cuts her long hair and steals away to the nearest camp to represent her family in her father's place.
Disguised as a young man, Mulan joins the rag-tag group of troops drafted to take on the Hun Army. Led by Captain Li Shang (B.D. Wong), they learn to work together and improve their skills, but Mulan, calling herself "Ping," has not proven herself as a worthy soldier yet. The troops are soon pulled into battle, discovering the remains of a village, and the Hun Army soon after. Shan Yu attacks and the Chinese troops survive only by some creative thinking from Mulan. The entire Hun Army is wiped out by an avalanche, but Mulan's true identity is discovered. Regardless of the great victory, Mulan is cast out by her captain.
Shan Yu resurfaces, however, with a number of his troops, and takes the Emperor hostage. Mulan comes up with another ingenious idea to defeat Shan Yu, and the troops agree to work with her. Eventually, Mulan finds herself facing Shan Yu alone. With quick thinking and some lucky help from her ancestors, Mulan sends Shan Yu hurtling into a cache of fireworks, blowing him up and ending the Hun threat once and for all. Mulan is celebrated as a national hero. For Shan Yu, it's an embarassing end to a promising, terrifying campaign across China, but underestimating the will of the Chinese people cost him everything.
Other appearances
Kingdom Hearts II
Shan Yu as he appears in Kingdom Hearts II
He appears in the Land of Dragons, a Mulan-based world. The game follows much of the movie's storyline, except for the fact that instead of having an army Of Huns, he could summon an army of Heartless.
He traps Sora and Mulan in a cave full of Heartless, while he destroys the Imperial Army's village. When Sora, Mulan, Donald and Goofy, along with the Imperial army, appears at the summit, the scene plays like a similar mountain scene in the film. He then makes his way into the Emperor's castle, but is stopped by Sora, Mulan, and the others. He fights them, using dark energy to enhance his abilities and working alongside his attack falcon, Hayabusa, and a swarm of Heartless.
He tends to favor the Rapid Thruster Heartless, creating an army of them to attack Sora and friends on the mountain pass (in the movie it was his Hun army that attacked the heroes on the pass). During the boss battle he will send three Nightwalker Heartless to try and take down the door. This swarm of Heartless is resurrected when Sora fights a mysterious cloaked man that is later revealed as Riku on the same pass. He is ultimately slain by Sora.
Shan Yu was not associated with Maleficent or Organization XIII, making his role in the game equivalent to that of Clayton from the first game. Shan Yu also appears as "Shan-Yu" in The Kingdom Keepers, where he challenges Finn Whitman and finding that Finn can turn from human to pure light tries to kill him as well as his friend Charlene.
Trivia
- It is possible that Shan Yu and his tribe are part of the Xiongnu people, given his name, the setting, and their origin.
- Shan Yu never underestimated Mulan, even when he found out she was a woman. This was surprising as in those times, women were second-rate.
- His death by being blown up was intentional, because the developers wanted to avoid the typical fall to death.