Hua Mu Lan - The TV Series

Character Profiles

Hua Mulan is the heroine of this story. She is the fourth daughter in the family and has one brother, who is much younger than she is (at least a dozen years). Her father, Hua Hu, taught her martial arts and archery when she was young. She left her family for the army, registering as Hua Mulan (the "lan" she used is written differently from her real name. She used the masculine form of "lan," which refers to waves of water). The actual show has Chinese subtitles, so it is always clear which form is used, depending on whether the speaker realizes she is a woman. An English example would be the names Francis and Frances: they sound the same but the spelling determines if it's a man's or a woman's name. To keep things simple, I used Mulan for both cases, so you'll have to figure out which it is by context. Somehow, she becomes a lieutenant in the army (I missed the first half of the series, so if anyone knows how the story goes, please drop me a line) and distinguishes herself both as a warrior and as an officer. Her character is full of pluck and a high sense of duty towards family and country. She does not have much sympathy for those who do not (or cannot) live to such high ideals.

Hua Hu is Mulan's father. He is a former officer of the emperor's army, about the equivalent of a colonel. He has two wives and five children. His limp is due to an old war wound and he gets around with the help of a cane.

Li Liang, aka General Li, is Mulan's commanding officer (and love interest) in the second half of the series. Mulan highly respects him as a warrior and a man. He has a high sense of honor, like Mulan. He is a shrewd officer, able to accurately analyze political and military situations. His uncle is the commanding general of the emperor's army.

Su Jili is the mortal version of the Kitchen (or Hearth) God. In the series, he is the Kitchen God for the Hua family and no one else. It seems every family has their own unique Kitchen God (though traditional Chinese folklore only indicates one all-encompassing Kitchen God). The Goddess of the Heavens placed a bet with the God of the Heavens that she could make Mulan a hero. (It seems she admires Mulan's courage and pluck). Jili is sent to help Mulan as best he can, though due to previous transgressions, he can no longer fly and must be "mortal" until the Higher Gods deem he is worthy for reinstatement. He is often seen hovering around the kitchen, trying to sneak food to eat or eating like a glutton once he finds it. He has a cowardly streak at times, but due to his romantic interest in Mulan, he sometimes acts with extraordinary courage.

Yu Chunun is Mulan's childhood friend. He comes from the same village her family resides in, so he knows her true identity. In the first half of the series, he is her commanding officer (he's a brigadier general or something like that), but due to a falling out (Mulan, who used to have a crush on him, had refused to marry him), he tries to expose her to the commanding general (unsuccessfully). He later leads an unsuccessful attack on the invading barbarian army, which results in the death of the commanding general, nearly gets the Crown Prince killed, and results in the deaths of many soldiers. He ends up becoming a Tao priest (kind of like becoming a wandering monk) to help cleanse his soul from his sins.

The Crown Prince is the heir to the throne, a kind-hearted man who trusts others a little too implicitly. He is a bit of a playboy at times, but means no harm. He takes up martial arts under the tutelage of Li Liang, though he is rather inept at first. He also has a lot of respect for Li Liang and Mulan. In particular, he covers for his younger brother in spite of the rather ugly scrapes his younger brother gets into.

The Second Prince is the younger brother of the Crown Prince. This character is an underhanded and manipulative person who is often two-faced, especially to his older brother, the Crown Prince. He has a standing feud with General Li and Mulan.

Monkey is a soldier in Mulan's platoon, a rather thin and scrawny soldier who is often dreaming of young women (think Ling in Disney's "Mulan"). Like the other soldiers in Mulan's platoon, he admires Mulan's abilities.

The Emperor is the emperor of China, of course. The series says he belongs to the Sui Dynasty, but I'm not sure which specific emperor. He is sometimes stern and enjoys being flattered.

The Empress is the emperor's wife. She is the mother of the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, with the later being her favorite. She, along with the emperor, often get exasperated at the Crown Prince's antics, much preferring the dignity of the Second Prince (they seem oblivious to the fact he is two-faced, but that's another story).

Mulan's mother: I haven't been able to figure out her name yet. She is the first wife of Hua Hu and the birth mother of Mulan (and probably all the other children, but I'm not sure about this). She dotes upon and spoils her only son, Tianci, while continually berating Mulan for not being a son (i.e.-being a burden upon the family, instead of an asset). I find it really odd that a mother can treat her own child so cruelly, but I suppose the series' writers wanted to give Mulan additional reasons for wanting to leave home for the army.

Stepmother: This is Hua Hu's second wife and Mulan's stepmother. She treats Mulan pretty well, but doesn't seem to have the backbone to stand up to Mulan's mother (I suspect it has to do with the family pecking order).

Head back to Variations on Mulan.