Rider (Fate/Crossover - Fa Mulan)

**Rider** (ライダー, *Raidā*) is the servant of ??? in the ??? Holy Grail War.

"*My duty is to my heart.*" - Mulan

## Profile

### Identity

Rider's true identity is **Fa Mulan**, the protagonist of Disney's 1998 animated feature film of the same name and its 2004 direct-to-video sequel. She is inspired by the legendary Hua Mulan from the Chinese poem The Ballad of Hua Mulan.

She is the strong-willed and tenacious daughter of a war veteran, who strives to uphold her family's honor. When her father is called back into battle to defend China from Shan Yu, Mulan opts to protect him by taking his place under the guise of a man who is a soldier named Ping.

### Personality

At the start of the film, Mulan is introduced as a free-spirited outcast; a clumsy girl who is unable to follow rules, regulations, or traditions. Despite this, she has a warm heart and wants nothing more than to uphold her family honor while keeping true to herself. Because of her society, however, this is difficult to accomplish and often brings chaos and embarrassment into her life.

The driving force of Mulan's journey is the love she has for her father. When her father is drafted to serve in the Emperor's army, Mulan steals his orders and reports to the camp in his place to protect him as well as to satisfy her desire to prove her own self-worth. She was seen having difficulties with self-confidence, due to society's mistreatment towards her, as well as the pressures of the society she was born into - particularly in the lives of women. Early in the film, whenever she went against sexism and injustice, or simply handled a situation in her own, unique way (such as shouting "Present!" when the matchmaker called her name), Mulan was greeted with anger or some form of annoyance from those around her, thus furthering her socially-awkward attitude.

During her time in camp, Mulan's personality takes a shift. She proves to be fierce, both physically and mentally, as well as self-reliant, impressionable, and persistent. As she learns the ways of strength and agility, she rises to the top of her class, setting an example for the men surrounding her and soon earns their respect and friendship. Over time, Mulan gains more confidence, symbolizing her growth, as she becomes more of a mature woman by the third act of the film. She has the ability to perform successful tactics through quick-thinking and mental observation, as opposed to mere brute strength (something that is idealized in her camp) which would eventually result in saving her fellow soldiers, as well as China, on notable occasions. Nevertheless, she retained her humble nature, not once becoming overconfident and boastful, even after becoming a beloved heroine and receiving countless amounts of praise and respect from the very society that continuously opposed her. It wasn't until Mulan returned home and received a loving welcome from her father that she truly emoted her satisfaction over her previous successes, proving her goal, overall, was to uphold her family honor, while being true to herself; this being visually and thematically represented by her relationship with her father.

By the sequel, it is shown that Mulan's personality, seen during the latter half of the first film, has remained. Mulan is a responsible young woman, seen as a fearless warrior, leader, and beloved role model among her people, both men and women. Nevertheless, she is also fun-loving and jovial, especially when seen with Shang, whom she had developed a strong, romantic relationship with by the start second film. The sequel also shows her to be rather laid-back, open-minded, and philosophical, believing in the practice of following one's heart.

## Abilities

Although Mulan possesses no magical or superhuman powers, she has military training courtesy of Shang.

Martial Arts: As part of her training, Mulan learned kung fu, eventually becoming proficient in hand-to-hand fighting.
Swordsmanship: Mulan honed her skill with her father's sword and became an expert swordswoman, easily holding her own against even the battle-hardened Shan Yu.
Marksmanship: Under Shang's tutelage, Mulan developed skill with ranged weaponry, from the bow and arrow to gunpowder cannons.
Horseback riding: Even before her time in the army, Mulan is an excellent equestrian, further enhanced by her bond with loyal steed Khan.
Strategist: Mulan is also intelligent, cunning, and resourceful, as shown on several occasions, such as when she was first to climb the pole and retrieve an arrow embedded in the top successfully during training. Knowing her unit was vastly outnumbered, she was able to quickly think of using the last cannon to cause an avalanche on the entire Hun army, quite literally stopping them cold, and later lure Shan Yu into Mushu's firing range. When she pulled out her fan, she acted as though she was in shock from having nothing left to fight with, when all along she planned to disarm him with it.

She also relys on Mushu's Fire magic in battle, although she also uses her sword. She is very agile and can perform several aerial attacks.

### Noble Phantasm

#### **Flametongue**

Mulan charges into the air surrounded by Mushu's fire, slashing as she goes through the flames.

#### **Dragon Eruption**

Mulan fires a Red Rocket into the air, it explodes and tons of fireballs rain from the sky. It can also be use to cause and avalanche or landslide, just as how she is able to stop an invasion of huns with firing the rocket to cause the avalanche.

## References

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Fa\_Mulan

https://hero.fandom.com/wiki/Fa\_Mulan

https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Mulan\_(Disney)

https://kingdomhearts.fandom.com/wiki/Mulan