MBTI Type: ISTP

Mulan is a creative thinker, who shows her proficiency for “getting around the rules” early by rigging up a system so the dog will help her with her chores. She admits later that she is learning things by doing them, and “figuring it out as I go.” When the rest of the camp relies on traditional methods to accomplish things, Mulan “thinks” her way around them – eventually figuring out how to climb the pole to fetch the arrow using the weights as a balancer instead of a hindrance, and firing the cannon not at the enemy but the mountain to cause an avalanche. Only a Se user would impulsively take immediate action to save her father from certain death by cutting off her hair, stealing his armor, and riding away on his horse to impersonate a male member of the family, all on a hunch she can somehow accomplish it. Mulan learns best by hands-on experience, showing significant improvement the more she applies herself to learning battle techniques and core strength training. She is highly observant of her environment – she notices the potential to cause an avalanche and rushes out to meet the Huns, in order to set off the charge. She fires an arrow intended to rescue them from certain death. She convinces her friends to impersonate concubines, to sneak into the palace and save the emperor. She throws herself off roofs, and uses the environment in how she fights (helping her friends escape, then rescuing the man she loves, and finally, killing her adversary). Her Ni causes her to worry about her father’s almost certain death, as well as convinces her without proof that the Huns have come to the great city and intend to move against the emperor. It troubles her inferior Fe that “to be herself” would bring her family “dishonor.” She sings about her desire to see in her reflection, the true person she is inside, but tries to fit in wherever she goes, and not to dishonor her father. She needs her father’s acceptance in order to feel at peace with herself, which she finds once she has returned home – and he casts aside priceless gifts from the emperor to embrace her.

Enneagram: 6w7 sp/so

Mulan tries everything she can think of, to “fit in” with her family… and then to do the same in the training camp. She wants others to like her so desperately, she cracks inappropriate jokes and tries to form camaraderie with the rest, hoping to fool them and gain friends. Though her fear of what might happen to her father gives her the courage to step forward and take his place, Mulan also questions her own ability to do this. She confesses to being terribly nervous, as she rehearses her introduction several times. She scribbles notes, when she’s off to see the Matchmaker, on her wrist, fearing she might forget something important. Her tendency to leap into action shows her disintegration into 3 – working hard and asserting herself with confidence, but also becoming determined to prove herself. Her 7 wing makes her run out into the world, rather than withdraw from it. It also gives her a sense of humor and a playfulness that allows her to win over the others.