Shan Yu

DisneyChar
name = Shan Yu


caption =
first appearance ="Mulan" (1998)
created by = Robert D. San Souci
voiced by = Miguel Ferrer ("Mulan")
Corey Burton ("KHII")
aliases =
relatives =

Shan Yu (or Shan-Yu, as he is sometimes called) is the villain of Disney's 1998 animated film "Mulan". He is voiced by Miguel Ferrer in "Mulan" and Corey Burton in "Kingdom Hearts II". Surprisingly, he is one of two Disney villains introduced in the 90s to not have his own theme, the other being Clayton from "Tarzan".

Mulan

In Mulan, 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 invads the land to prove his "superiority" to the Emperor. Shan Yu is probably loosely based on Modu Shanyu the Hun, though without much historical accuracy. Like his people, Shan Yu is trained in living off the Earth, possessing heightened senses and a falcon as his pet. Ruthless and cold-hearted, Shan Yu kills without mercy, remorse and, on occasion, as a joke; he has one of his men execute one of the two Imperial scouts he let live to reveal that he intends to head toward the Imperial City. One such joke: "How many men does it take to deliver a message?" After asking this to his archer, the archer replies "one" before he executes the soldier.

Some time after General Li Shang's recruits complete their training, Shan-Yu's pet falcon acquires a doll from a village in the Tung Shao Pass. After close examination of it by his main men, Shan-Yu realizes 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 Captain Li Shang's troops (Captain Li Shang being the son of General Li Shang).

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 isn't. 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, including his archer/executor, 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 Dragon 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 retrievs 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, Chein-Po, and Ling infiltrate the palace in an attempt to rescue the Emperor, the latter three being in drag. After securing the Emperor, Mulan reveals to Shan-Yu that it was she who destroyed his army, not Li-Shang or even a man, as he had expected. 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 killed 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 a villain 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, he could summon 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, but is killed after an intense battle.

Shan Yu only gets two line of dialogue, saying, "Now you'll bow to me" to the Emperor, and "Attack!" to his army of heartless on the mountain pass. He also says various things during the boss battle with him (the closest to being a dialogue is "Can you overpower me?"), however, for the rest of his appearances Shan Yu only growls, laughs, or screams. 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 one of the first Disney Villains that Sora and company can fight in the game.

Shan Yu was not associated with Maleficent, Pete, or Organization XIII, making his boss fight very similar to the fight against Clayton on the first game.

Historical connections

Shan Yu is a character's personal name in "Mulan" and "Kingdom Hearts II". This is similar to the historical "Shanyu" or "Chanyu", which was the title used by the rulers of the Xiongnu, a nomadic Altaic people. As did the fictional Shan Yu in "Mulan", the Xiongnu threatened China's northern border during the Han dynasty. Although Shan Yu is identified as a Hun in the film, there is some debate over the relationship between the Xiongnu and the Huns (see "Northern Xiongnu becoming the Huns").

External links

*Shan Yu in the [http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/villains/shanyu/shanyu.html Disney Archives-Villains]

ee also

Modu Shanyu