Released in 1998, Disney's animated feature film Mulan remains a humorous and quotable classic. While the release of the live-action version brought up discussions on both versions' portrayal of the original story of Mulan, the animated version remains the preferable one thanks to many of its characters, including Mushu. Mushu, the little guardian dragon with a big attitude, was voiced by Eddie Murphy and remains one of the highlights of Mulan. After suffering a demotion before the events of the film and accidentally destroying the Great Stone Dragon, Mushu is bent on ensuring Mulan does well as she masquerades as a man in the Chinese army -- and in doing so, he actually saves the day.
On the surface, it seems strange to say this -- Mushu is easily one of the more comedic, albeit self-serving, characters in Mulan. As he confesses to Mulan after the battle at the Tung Shao Pass, he was really in it for himself, not out of a greater concern. But oddly enough, it's this self-serving attitude that even gets them to the Tung Shao Pass, where Mulan takes out the Hun army with one well-aimed cannon.
Mushu, after accidentally breaking the Great Stone Dragon, tells Cri-Kee that he'd have to bring Mulan back with a medal to appease the ancestors, which then inspires him on his course of action. He does his best to get Mulan into the army and doing well, but when Chi-Fu, the advisor to the Emperor, tells Li Shang that he absolutely refuses to send their army into battle, Mushu decides to take matters into his own hands, as he tells Cri-Kee. This leads them to forge a document from Shang's father and convince Chi-Fu that Shang's army is needed at the front, thus getting them sent to the little village near the Tung Shao Pass.
And it's at this village that the army discovers the massacre that the Huns wrought, wiping out the village and the army defending it -- an army that could have never sent word for help. If it weren't for Mushu forging the document, the Hun army would have continued to the Imperial City unabated. Meanwhile, the Chinese army would have stayed at the training camp without ever knowing of the crushing defeat.
It gets better, though -- Mushu's goal was to get Mulan to see action so she could earn glory and bring honor to the Fa family. In forging the document to get the army to the front, they end up confronting the Hun army -- thanks to Mushu accidentally setting off one of the cannons and alerting the Huns to their position. After a brief but intense battle, Mulan gets the idea to cause an avalanche, which wipes out most of the Hun army.
Later, when the remaining Huns continue to the Imperial City, she's in a position to see it and alert the others, eventually leading to the rescue of the Emperor and the defeat of the Hun leader Shan Yu. She ends up saving the day, bringing honor to her family, and coming home safe and sound -- all because Mushu forged a document to ensure she'd see combat. Without Mushu, Mulan would have never been in a position to save the day, meaning Mushu is secretly one of Mulan's greatest heroes.