Shan Yu is the villainous leader of the Hun army in Disney’s 1998 animated film Mulan.
Shan Yu leads the invasion that threatens imperial China and serves as the film’s principal antagonist. He is presented as a powerful military commander who survives the avalanche at the mountain pass and later reaches the Imperial City with a small group of soldiers.
The character is a Disney creation rather than a clearly documented historical figure from the Ballad of Mulan. The traditional ballad describes a long military campaign but does not establish the same named villain, dragon companion, or comic military-camp storyline used by the animated film.
Shan Yu is sometimes confused with Bori Khan, the antagonist in the 2020 live-action adaptation. The two characters occupy similar narrative positions but belong to different versions of the story. Bori Khan is connected to the Rouran forces, whereas Shan Yu is identified as the leader of the Huns in the 1998 animation.