Epic Hero Cycle 1
The Huns invade China and the imperial consul visits the family to enlist Mulan’s father into the imperial army. Her father is old, injured, and incapable of serving but his honor dictates that he must serve. Mulan is afraid her father will die so she decides to go to the army camp and enlist for the Fa family in her father’s place.
What is Call to Adventure?
Mulan is a typical young woman living with her parents, grandmother, and dog in a Chinese village. She has chores to do around the household like feeding the chickens. She dresses up and tries to make herself beguiling to impress the matchmaker so she can get a good husband and bring honor to her family.
What is Status Quo?
Mulan leaves her home, her village, and everything she knows to travels to join the army which she knows nothing about. She masters new skills such as swimming, shooting, and fighting. She saves the imperial army, her Captain’s life, and rescues the emperor. She is honored by the emperor with a sword and medal. She returns back home. Her life has changed since she brings honor to her family and finds love with Captain Li Shang.
What is a Hero?
When visiting with the matchmaker, Mulan spills the tea, knocks over the table, and catches the matchmaker's bottom on fire.
What is clumsy?
The little dragon who was sent by the ancestors to watch over Mulan. He provided comic relief.
What is Mushu?
Mulan leaves the Palace to bring her father the sword of Shan Yu and the medal of the emperor and to present herself.
What is the Result?
Mulan leaves her home in the village and travels to the muster location for her training in the imperial army. The training camp is different from anything she has known before. She must learn to act like a man and to become a soldier.
What is Departure?
Shan Yu, leader of the Huns, invades China and sets out to conquer China.
What is a Shadow?
When the emperor’s consul visits Mulan’s father to enlist him into the imperial army, Mulan speaks out and says it is unfair because her father has already served and he is old and incapable.
What is outspoken or impulsive?
The recruits who save Mulan from going over the cliff.
What are Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po?
Mulan faces many challenges after leaving home. There is much that she needs to learn and master in order to be a successful soldier. She learns to act like a man and how to get along with the other recruits who behave, at first, abominably and aggressively. She learns to swim, shoot, and fight as a soldier. When the recruits head out to join the main army, she perseveres and continues on when she comes upon the desolation of the destroyed villages, realizes the main army has been defeated and is ambushed in the mountains.
What is Trials?
In order to transition from a young woman to a soldier, Mulan is given advice from Mushu, the little dragon sent by her ancestors to look after her. When she arrives at the training camp, Captain Li Shang teaches her to swim, shoot, and fight like a soldier.
What is Assistance?
Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po face the same challenges and trials as Mulan. They train to be soldiers alongside Mulan in the army camp and fight with her in the imperial army. Although they are adversaries when their relationship begins, they become comrades, cheer each other on, and have fun together.
What are Allies?
When Mulan is in the training camp, she strives to master the new skills. With her new skills, strength, and smarts, she climbs to the top of the pole and retrieves the arrow. She is the only army trainee able to accomplish this feat.
What is implacable?
The recruit that climbs to the top of the pole and retrieves the arrow.
What is Mulan?
After Mulan saves the emperor from his kidnapping by Shan Yu during the revelry, the emperor bows to her and gives her the medal of the emperor and the sword of Shan Yu in front of a profusion of people. This is the utmost honor but for Mulan, her greatest achievement is that her father does not need to serve the imperial army again.
What is Treasure?
Mulan’s new normal life is having great honor and the Captain as her husband.
What is Resolution?
Captain Li Shang teaches Mulan how to function in the army. He teaches her to swim, shoot, and fight so that she has a chance to be successful as a soldier. After the battle in the mountains and she is found out to be a woman, Captain Li Shang abandons her in the mountains. This is okay since Mulan has the skills she needs and must go on and succeed without this person’s help.
What is a Mentor?
After Mulan was left behind by the army, she overheard the surviving Huns planning to attack the emperor’s palace. She decided to travel to the palace and warn them of the Huns’ attack.
What is brave?
After a short time, the Captain’s ardor and respect for Mulan compel him to visit her at her village and ask for her to marry him. Mulan has changed from a young woman who had brought no honor to her family and was thrown out by the matchmaker to a young woman who has brought great honor to her father and has made a great match for a husband.
What is New Life?
After a cannon goes off and alerts the Huns to their location, Mulan and the recruits fight the Hun army. During the melee, ponderous, clever Mulan commandeers the last cannon and fires it to purposefully create an avalanche.
What is Approach?
Mulan arrives at her home in the village to give her father the sword and medal as restitution for his lost honor. Her father does not care about the emperor's medal and Shan Yu’s sword, he says that being Mulan’s father is the greatest honor.
What is Return?
When the Huns invade China and the Emperor decides to muster his army to protect the nation, the emperor’s consul issues a draft decree to the Fa family to join the imperial army. This heralds the need for a change in Mulan’s life.
What is a Herald?
During the mountain battle, when it looked bleak for the imperial army, Mulan thought to use the last canon to start an avalanche. When the emperor was kidnapped, she suggested to her allies Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po to dress up as women to get closer to the Huns without attracting their notice.
What is clever?
Although Mulan wipes out the Huns with an avalanche, the avalanche also puts her in danger of falling off the cliff. The imperial army troops save her by grabbing a rope and pulling her up. They find that she has been cut by her Hun adversary, Shan Yu. While she is receiving medical treatment, it is discovered that she is a woman. Her fellow troops are appalled at her contemptible deception which is considered treason and could result in her beheading. Captain Li Shang chooses not to behead in return for her previously having saved him in the battle. He and the troops abandon her.
What is Crisis?