Mulan

"Even if I don't believe in his methods, I am going to honor his wishes. I'm going to keep you safe."

- Mulan to Aurora regarding Prince Phillip's wishes

Mulan is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the second season. She is portrayed by guest star Jamie Chung, and does not have a Storybrooke counterpart.

Mulan is based on the main character from the Chinese legend of "Hua Mulan".

Before the Curse
At some point, Mulan serves in the army of the Emperor of her native land, and proves herself in battle as a warrior.

In her home empire, Mulan spends months trying to track down a beast called the Yaoguai. After finally reaching the creature's den, Mulan sees a woman, Belle trying to lure it out. When the Yaoguai comes out to attack, Mulan fires an arrow to force it away from harming the woman. Belle is grateful for her help, though Mulan berates her for scaring the beast and ruining her chance of killing the Yaoguai and saving her village. She storms off into the woods; snapping at Belle that the best way she can help is to stay out of her way.

When Belle is later accosted in Mulan's village by her former traveling companions, Mulan attacks and drives them away, saving Belle in the process, but receiving a wound to her leg. When Belle inquires as to why Mulan saved her, she explains that Belle is able to find the Yaoguai and track it in a matter of hours, while it had taken her months to do so. Mulan asks for assistance in following the beast, and then allowing herself to kill it. As they go after the Yaoguai, Mulan discovers her leg injury is worse than she thought, and encourages Belle to defeat the Yaoguai. At first, Belle is unsure and hesitant, but gains more confidence when Mulan hands over her sword.

Belle defeats the Yaoguai by freeing it from a curse and restoring him to his human self, Prince Phillip. She introduces Phillip to Mulan, who eventually become traveling companions.

During the Curse
Mulan joins Prince Phillip on his journey to awaken Aurora. They begin actively travel when the curse is cast by the Evil Queen, however, a small area is spared from the curse due to Cora's shield spell, merely freezing the people there for 28 years.

After the Curse
When Emma breaks the curse in Storybrooke, time resumes, and Mulan and Phillip continue their search for Aurora. They reach a crumbling palace where Aurora remains unconscious under the influence of the sleeping curse. Phillip awakens her with true love's kiss. However, the happy reunion is cut short when a Wraith enters into the world and attacks them. Phillip fights the creature briefly, but it flies off after losing a medallion it carried. Prince Phillip is unwittingly marked by this medallion. Mulan explains that the Wraith sucks the souls of its victims. Phillip, upon realizing he has been marked, leaves Mulan and Aurora to face the Wraith. Once Mulan realizes this, she sets out after Phillip, but is followed by Aurora. Aurora confronts Mulan, stating that Mulan in fact loves Phillip, and she can see it on Mulan's face. Mulan staunchly denies this, stating that although she and Phillip have fought many battles together, she has no romantic feelings for him. The two discover him in time to witness his demise; the Wraith sucks out his soul and returns to the medallion.

Back at the palace, Mulan and Aurora lay Phillip in state. Mulan explains to Aurora what has occurred during her 28 year-long sleep. She then wraps the Wraith's medallion in a white and gold bag and hands it to Aurora. As the two prepare to leave, Mulan hears a sound from the rubble the Wraith created. Upon investigating the rubble, she and Aurora discover Emma Swan and Mary Margaret Blanchard, Mulan then states the two of them were the reason for the Wraith that killed "our" Prince.

Aurora and Mulan ride away from the palace, and force Emma and Mary Margaret to walk behind them with their hands tied together. They reach a safe haven where many survivors are gathered. Mary Margaret tries to make a run for it by kicking down Aurora giving Emma a head start, but Mulan uses her boleadoras to bring her down. Emma and Mary Margaret are thrown into the pit.

The leader of the Safe Haven, Lancelot, wishes to speak with Emma and Mary Margaret. He recognizes Mary Margaret as Snow White and they have a warm reunion. Because Lancelot trusts them, Mulan lets down her guard, though Aurora still holds animosity towards the two women for Phillip's death. Mulan warns her not to confuse vengeance with justice. Later, she gives Emma and Mary Margaret weapons for their journey to the castle. In the woods, Mulan tells them they will make a camp and need to get fire and water. While Mary Margaret is making a fire, Aurora—who has been secretly following the trio—attacks her and the two start arguing. Mulan intervenes; telling Mary Margaret to stay out of the conflict and let her speak to Aurora. Emma reacts by firing her gun in the air, which startles both Mulan and Aurora. The noise attracts ogres, so they split up.

Later, as the foursome progress through the woods, Aurora complains the terrain is ruining her dress. Mulan advises it's her own fault for not wearing proper traveling clothes as well as the fact she was supposed to stay in the Safe Haven. Emma takes pity on Aurora and lends her own jacket to the girl. When they arrive at the castle, Mulan volunteers herself and Aurora to keep watch at the gate while Mary Margaret and Emma are inside. By chance, Mary Margaret and Emma are caught off guard by the appearance of a Lancelot disguised Cora. As they battle her, Mulan and Aurora hear the commotion and rush to help. Stunned at Cora's trickery, Mulan is shocked she fell for the disguise of a shape shifter and is unsure what she will tell the survivors back at the Safe Haven. Mary Margaret suggests she should tell them the truth; that Lancelot died a heroic death. With Lancelot dead, Mulan elects Mary Margaret as the new leader to guide the survivors. Though appreciative of the title, Mary Margaret wishes to return to her own home in Storybrooke with Emma. Mulan and Aurora agree to aide them in their quest.

On the way back to camp, Mulan is perplexed on how to detail to the Safe Haven residents the manner of Lancelot's death. Upon entering the Safe Haven, Mulan is horrified to see everyone is dead with their hearts ripped out, which is Cora's doing. Aurora discovers a survivor beneath some bodies and they speak to him in order to learn about how he managed to live. He talks about hiding under some of the corpses to avoid Cora, but Mulan is not buying his story. With Emma's help, Mulan ties Hook to a tree to allow the approaching ogres to eat him. Finally, the man confesses to his true identity, Captain Hook, as a shocked Mary Margaret pulls out hooked hand from his satchel. He admits to being on the same side as Cora, but asks to team up with them instead. After Emma cuts him free, Mulan holds a sword to his back as Hook leads them to the location of a beanstalk. He states the item they need to return home; a enchanted compass is at the top, but they need to get past a giant.

At the base of the beanstalk, Mulan insists she should be the one to climb the beanstalk as most experienced warrior of out of all of them. Emma overrules her, and speaks to Mulan privately before making the journey up the beanstalk. She asks about the strength of her sword, and Mulan states it is the strongest sword in the land. From there, Emma requests to be given a time limit of ten hours to get back down from the beanstalk, and if she has not returned, Mulan absolutely must cut down the beanstalk and ensure Mary Margaret gets back to Storybrooke safely. Mulan agrees, and provides Emma with poppy dust to knock the giant unconscious. After Emma and Hook set off, Mulan draws a line in the sand and punches a stick in the sand at the end as a way to keep track of time. When it reaches ten hours and there is no sign of Emma, Mulan deals out a heavy blow to the stalk with her sword while Mary Margaret attempts to stop her. Mulan strongly insists it is Emma's wish she cut down the beanstalk. As the two women fight, Emma jumps down from the beanstalk in time with the compass in hand.

To divide the four women up, Cora uses the hearts of the Safe Haven victims and commands them to rise and attack them. As the undead approach, Mulan and Aurora flee in one direction while Mary Margaret and Emma are left behind to face the creatures. Mulan becomes distracted after she is tackled to the ground by one undead while two others grab Aurora and make their getaway. Mulan takes off the head of the undead and regroups with Emma and Mary Margaret only to inform them Aurora was kidnapped. Mary Margaret asks to be put back to sleep in order to contact Henry in the Netherworld, which Mulan is able to procure from a nearby poppy field.

As they are hacking their way through the forest with Mulan leading, a raven swoops onto Mary Margaret's shoulder. The bird informs her if the compass is not given to Cora by sundown, then something will happen to Aurora. Fearful about Aurora's safety, Mulan demands to be given the compass, and when Emma refuses to hand it over, she moves to take it by force. Emma and Mary Margaret convince her to allow them till sundown to contact Henry and come up with a plan. If that does not work, then they will give the compass to Mulan so Aurora can be rescued. She reluctantly agrees and leads them to the poppy field; cutting the flower and crushing it into dust. When the powder is blown, Mary Margaret falls asleep and travels to the Netherworld.

Mary Margaret awakens frantically to tell Emma about David's trapped state in the Netherworld as he, too, is under a sleeping curse. Then, they notice the compass is missing and presume Mulan took it. Hastily, they catch up to her as she is running through the forest. Mary Margaret fires an arrow to halt Mulan, to which she turns around to see them. Despite that Mary Margaret orders her to turn over the compass, Mulan desperately wants to recover Aurora from danger. She is tackled to the ground by Mary Margaret, who pulls an arrow out of her quiver and presses it against Mulan's neck. With deep-seated stubbornness, Mulan retorts they will have to kill her first. Mary Margaret raises the arrow to do so just as Aurora draws near to break up the altercation. Aurora recounts her escape with Hook's help, and asks what they are going to do next. From Mary Margaret's previous communication with David in the Netherworld, they learn the key to defeating Cora is some squid ink located in Rumplestiltskin's old cell, and continue on their expedition.

As they arrive and venture into the underground jail beneath the ruins of the palace, Mulan uses her torch to search the cell for any sign of the squid ink. After Aurora finds a note written by Rumplestiltskin with Emma's name scribbled on it, Mulan discovers an empty small glass vial with no ink inside. Suddenly, Aurora entraps them in the cell, to which Cora parades in with Hook to reveal she is in possession of the girl's heart. After the two leave to make their way to Storybrooke, Mulan apologizes to Aurora for allowing Cora to get her heart. While stuck with no way out, Mary Margaret recalls seeing Cora use magic in a certain manner and realizes the squid ink is on the parchment with Emma's name. She demonstrates its power by blowing the ink dust onto the cell handle bars, which melt away. Aurora insists Cora still has too much power over her and asks to be left behind. Reluctantly, Mulan ties her to the remnants of the jail cell and hurries off with Emma and Mary Margaret to Lake Nostos.

Just as Cora and Hook prepare to jump into the portal to Storybrooke, Mulan, Emma and Mary Margaret do their best to fight their way through. With her sword blade, Mulan deflects Cora's incoming magic. Though she moves to attack, Cora vanishes into a puff of smoke. Aurora's heart nearly falls into the portal, but Hook makes a grab and tosses it back to Mulan. After Emma knocks Hook out, Mary Margaret directs Mulan to go and give Aurora back her heart. Before she leaves, Mulan hands her sword to Mary Margaret for magic deflection.

She makes her way back to Aurora. Nervously, Mulan is dubious on how to place the heart back in, but is successful in doing so. Aurora shares information on the whereabouts of Phillip's soul, which she was told by Cora, and the possibility he can be revived. They set off to find a way to bring him back.

Using unknown means, Mulan and Aurora manage to retrieve and restore Phillip's soul. By the beach's shoreline, the trio come across an unconscious man and attempt to help awaken him.

Trivia

 * The casting call described her as, "Female, Asian. Early to mid 20s. A warrior first and foremost, she could hold her own against a swordsman or even a king. She is trained in weaponry, tracking and riding, but has a spirituality that enhances her tactical and strategic abilities.
 * The casting call name for her was "Magnolia".
 * The name "Mulan" is of Mandarin Chinese origin derived from the words "mu" and "lan" that respectively mean "wood" and "orchid". By itself, "Mulan" means "lily magnolia".
 * Mulan is the first character on the show to be derived from a legend rather than a traditional fairy tale, modern fairy tale or myth.
 * Mulan wears armor (with her face and hair covered) in her first appearance in "Broken," and Aurora thinks she is a man; this alludes to Mulan's original story, where she pretended to be a man to take her father's place in the army.
 * Mulan's sword is claimed to be the most powerful blade in all the realms, and is capable of deflecting magic.