Shan Yu



Shan-Yu was the main villain in Mulan. He was the leader of the Huns and a ruthless warlord who sought to conquer China. He has a pet falcon that he used as a messenger and spy.

His entire army was buried in an avalanche, but he and a few of his choice warriors survived. He went on to infiltrate the capital and tried forcing the Emperor to give up his throne. He was stopped by Mulan and her friends, and was finally killed when he was hit by a giant firecracker and flung into a pile of fireworks, which exploded.

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Shan Yu (单于Xiang Yu) is the primary antagonist of the film. He is voiced by Miguel Ferrer in Mulan and Corey Burton in Kingdom Hearts II. Shan Yu is the cruel leader of the Huns who is bent on conquering China, and with his Hun army, climbs over the Great Wall and invades the land to prove his "superiority" to the Emperor. He is the only Hun to have yellow eyes.

Mulan

Like his people, Shan Yu is trained in living off the Earth, possessing heightened senses and a saker falcon as his pet. His strength is demonstrated many times during the course of the film, such as easily breaking down a barricaded door or effortlessly slicing through a massive pillar with his sword, making him easily one of the strongest characters in the film (second perhaps only to Chien-Po). Ruthless and cold-hearted, Shan Yu kills without mercy, remorse and, on occasion, as a joke; for example, after freeing two captured Chinese scouts to carry a message to the Emperor, he then comments to an archer, "How many men does it take to deliver a message?" (The archer replies "one", nocking an arrow.) While clearly heartless to his foes, he is proud of his army, as shown at the beginning when he thought it was perfect that all of China knew him and his army were there after the signal fire was lighted and when he flatly refused to avoid the Imperial troops and instead opt to take them head on, despite knowing that they are the elite of China's armies.

Some time after General Li's recruits complete their training, Shan Yu's pet falcon, Hayabusa, acquires a doll from a village in the Tung Shao Pass. After close examination of the doll and traces on it by his five main men, Shan Yu deduces that the Imperial Army is waiting for them. Ambushing General Li's army, Shan-Yu wipes out the Emperor's best troops, including General Li, and sets the village on fire, only the aftermath of which is seen in the film. No known survivors were discovered by Li Shang's troops. As they head for the Imperial City, the Hun army ambushes Li Shang's troops in the Tung Shao Pass, casting flaming arrows from the mountains to disintegrate their ammunition. Shan-Yu then leads his entire army to wipe out Li Shang's small battalion. Mulan, however, takes control of Li Shang's last cannon, aiming it for a nearby mountain. This maneuver triggers an avalanche that wipes out almost all of Shan-Yu's army and encases Shan Yu in a blanket of snow. At first, it seems like a victory, thanks to Mulan. Unfortunately, it is not. Following the avalanche and the departure of Li Shang's troops, Shan Yu rises from the snow, shaken and infuriated at the loss of his army. A loud yell of anger is all it takes for Mulan to realize that there is still a chance for the Huns; Shan Yu's pet falcon and five of his best troops had survived the assault. With no one to stop him, Shan Yu and his troops head for the Imperial City with Mulan close behind.

While his troops hide within a Chinese lion at the Imperial celebration, Shan Yu lies in wait on top of the roof of the Emperor's palace. At the right moment, Shan Yu's falcon retrieves his sword and his troops sprung into action, locking up the palace and kidnapping the Emperor. As Shan Yu threatens the Emperor to bow to him, Mulan, Li Shang, Yao, Chien-Pao, and Ling infiltrate the palace in an attempt to rescue the Emperor, the latter three being in drag (as a disguise). Mulan, Yao, Chien-Po and Ling defeat Shan Yu's men and his pet falcon is fried by Mushu. After securing the Emperor, in an attempt to distract Shan Yu from Shang (whom he was about to slaughter) Mulan reveals that it was she who destroyed his army. Pursuing her throughout the palace and onto the roof, Shan-Yu's attempt to kill Mulan backfires when Mulan initiates a plan of her own. Immobilizing Shan-Yu on the roof, she pins him to the roof with his own sword while Mushu aims a rocket at Shan Yu. Releasing the rocket, Mushu, Mulan, and Crik-ee escape the roof as the Hun leader is pulled by the rocket into a munitions tower and dies in a brilliant explosion. Mulan is then awarded Shan-Yu's sword for her success at ridding China of the Huns forever.

Kingdom Hearts II

Shan Yu appears in Kingdom Hearts II as one of the first Disney Villains that Sora and company can fight in the game. 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.