María Posada

María Gabriela Posada is the deuteragonist of the 20th Century Fox and Reel FX Animation Studios' 2014 computer-animated feature film The Book of Life. 
She is a kind and brave young woman who Manolo and his best friend, Joaquín, both love. Maria has more important matters to attend to, though, like helping to save her village from bandits.
She is voiced by Zoe Saldana, who also voiced Princess Maya in Maya and the Three, she also potrayed Neytiri in Avatar, Nyota Uhura in Star Trek and Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
==Physical Appearance==
María is a beautiful gorgeous young woman with a small slender figure. She has large hazel brown eyes and salmon colored lips, her hair is brown umber and curly with curls and pulled up into a high ponytail with a side fringe parted to the right. She wears an off the shoulder sleeved Puebla with a long red skirt and three gold stripes along the bottom. Along with it she wears a gold triangular necklace.
==Personality==
Maria is a kind, feisty independent, brave, courageous, fearless, empowered, strong, strong-willed, free-willed, bold, daring and determined young woman who believes in freedom, free will, strength of choice and indomitable spirit. She is not a stereotypical princess and is by no means a helpless, defenseless or weak damsel in distress but rather a strong fighter who can do things on her own and without any help from anyone, and stands up for what's right. Maria is also an adventurous young woman.
==In The Book of Life==
She first appeared in the film as a young 8-year-old child, watching her best friends Manolo and Joaquin fight for her affection. When La Muerte and Xibalba saw the three, the two decided to make a bet on who would win Maria's heart. Xibalba immediately chose Joaquin as he was impressed with Joaquin's strength and desire to be a great hero (and his somewhat show-off nature) while La Muerte chose Manolo, due to his sensitive and kind nature.
Maria is later seen with Manolo and Joaquin as they walk around the town of San Angel and pass by the pig pens where the pigs are ready to be slaughtered. Not wanting that to happen, she releases them, causing havoc in the town square and angering her father. She does not regret her actions but feels guilty that she broke Manolo's first guitar. Her father then decides to send her away to study with the nuns in Spain in order to curb her rebellious behaviour and become a proper young lady. When she is sent off, her father cries and excuses himself. Manolo and Joaquin also come and Manolo gives Maria the baby piglet Chuy that she was fond of while she gives Manolo a new guitar with the words "Always play from the heart. -Love Maria" inscribed on the back. While she rides the train, her bonnet is loose and Joaquin catches it, keeping it as a memento when he fails to give it back to her.
Maria returns to San Angel ten years later having grown into a beautiful young woman, catching the eye of every guy in San Angel (even Xibalba, much to La Muerte's annoyance and jealousy). She attends Manolo's first bullfight and is concerned when she believes Manolo will kill the bull. While the rest of the townspeople of San Angel jeer and boo at Manolo for not killing the bull, Maria applauds his compassionate gesture. Later, when everyone has left, she hears Manolo sing about how he feels like he will never fit in and be accepted for being true to himself ("Creep" song) and feels sorry for him.
Maria later attends her father's grand welcome home party celebrating her return, but is annoyed when she finds out her father is also arranging for her to marry Joaquin. She also becomes annoyed with his sexist views of women and goes to her room. Here Manolo's friends try to help Manolo win her heart, much to her annoyance and amusement. Manolo decides to sing her his own song and she seems to be won over, but she teases him by saying "You think it was going to be that easy?" and pushing him off her balcony. She holds his guitar and promises to give it back to him. When she reaches the bottom of the stairs, Joaquin proposes to Maria. General Posada mentions that Joaquin is the only one who can protect San Angel from Chakal. Manolo then enters the building, with Joaquin thinking Manolo had already proposed. After a small argument, a fight between Joaquin and Manolo starts over their affection for her. Maria intervenes and stops the fight, saying she has also learned fencing. Soon, some of Chakal's men threaten San Angel and she is ready to fight along Manolo's side to protect the town, but Joaquin takes care of everything. General Posada once more pushes Maria to accept Joaquin's proposal for the sake of the town, forcing her to flirt with him, breaking Manolo's heart.
Later that night, Manolo once more goes to her porch and asks her to meet him once more outside town. She reluctantly agrees and follows a path of white wax candles, leading to Manolo singing about his love for her. He shows her the view of San Angel when the sun shines over it, creating a beautiful spectacle and describes this as the feeling he gets when he's with her. Maria returns his affection and states she will always love a man who plays from the heart and accepts his proposal. However, Xibalba interrupts this by sending a two headed snake to bite her, putting her into a coma. Manolo, believing her to be dead, brings her to Joaquin and General Posada who also believe she is dead and blames Manolo for her death. Manolo sacrifices his life to be with Maria in the Land of the Remembered only to discover he has been tricked. Maria is resurrected after Joaquin kisses her forehead, with his medal of everlasting life touching her skin thus reviving her. She is very deeply heartbroken to hear Manolo is dead and decides to marry Joaquin to protect the town, as she can no longer be with Manolo.
Maria is not seen again until her almost wedding with Joaquin, where Chakal and his army of banditos interrupt the wedding ceremony and proceed to steal back the medal of everlasting life. She rallies the towns people together with an inspiring speech, to then soon be reunited with Manolo, who has been resurrected after completing his trial to see if he was worthy of regaining his life and engages her in a passionate kiss before she and the townspeople engage in the fight against Chakal and his army of banditos. During the fight, Chakal grabs Maria and tells Joaquin and Manolo to bring the magic medal or he will kill her (which earns a disgruntled comment from Maria) but Manolo (with the help of his family) climbs to the top of the building and frees her while the two dance and fight Chakal. Manolo decides to sacrifice himself after seeing that Chakal is going to use the bombs on his chest to blow up himself and the town of San Angel with him. Manolo and Joaquin restrain him while Manolo pushes Joaquin away and topples the bell onto him and Chakal in order to protect the town from the explosions of the bomb. He faces Maria and tells her not to forget him.
However, when Manolo appears lost, the bell is pushed aside and Manolo is revealed to be alive due to being given the medal of eternal everlasting life by Joaquin. The two are soon married as her father accepts Manolo as his son in law and they joyfully sing and celebrate with the town of San Angel. 
==Relationships==
===Manolo Sánchez===
Maria and Manolo have been best friends since they were children and the two often played together with Joaquín. Unlike Joaquín, Manolo is just as brash as Maria is and he is more than happy to help her without a second thought. When she is sent to Europe, Maria gives Manolo a gift: a new guitar, enscribed "Always play from the heart - Maria". Manolo promises to wait for her return, a promise he keeps. While she tended to tease him, it is evident that she truly loves Manolo: his songs and simple gestures earned her love.
Several years later, when Maria returns as a young woman, she is caught between Manolo and Joaquín, who both vie for her affection. Both men attempt (and, for the most part, fail) to win over Maria.
While Joaquín tries to woo her with his heroic strength (and outdated views of women), Manolo plays his guitar and serenades Maria from her windowsill - they lean in for a kiss, but she pulls back: "it will take more than that", she says. Manolo comes up with an idea and asks Maria to come to the edge of town at dawn. When she arrives, Maria finds that Manolo has laid out hundreds of candles and plays her another song before kneeling down to propose. Unfortunately, Maria is bitten by a snake sent by Xibalba and appears dead. While the town blames Manolo for not protecting her, Manolo is willing to die in order to see her again in the afterlife. Upon realizing that he had been tricked - and that Maria was only in a coma - Manolo crossed the Land of the Remembered and the Land of the Forgotten to see Maria again. The two reunite near the end of the film and share a passionate kiss and get married at the end of the film.
===Joaquín Mondragon===
Maria and Joaquín have been best friends since childhood; Joaquín also favors Maria and competes with Manolo for her affections. While Maria does care for Joaquín, she is disgusted and turned off by his sexist views of women and their roles in society, which effectively squash any fleeting romantic feelings she might have felt for him.
Although she truly loves Manolo, when he is believed to be dead, Maria agrees to marry Joaquín to protect the town of San Angel from Chakal and his army of banditos. However, Joaquín sees Maria's true feeling and is willing to put her happiness before his own as he refused to marry her if she wasn't truly in love with him.
===General Posada===
General Posada is Maria's father. His only wish is for her to be more "lady-like"; he is constantly angered by her rebellious and reckless attitude. He sends her away to study with the nuns in Spain so she will grow up to be a proper young lady. However, despite General Posada's attempts, Maria remains a passionate spirit with a rebellious streak.
He favors Joaquín over Manolo and attempts to get Maria to marry the former, so he would stay to protect their town. Despite all of this, it was shown he genuinely cared for her very much as he cried after seeing her off to go to the sisters and was deeply heartbroken when she died, to the point where he banishes Manolo as he believes it to be his fault for not properly protecting her. By the end of the film, the General seems to have accepted his daughter for who she is, saying that "[She's] like the son I never had.. but much prettier!"
===Chuy===
Chuy was a piglet that was to be slaughtered at the town's butchershop. His sad eyes caused Maria (with the help from Joaquín and Manolo) to release him and other other animals when she was a child. When Maria leaves for Europe, Manolo presents the piglet to her as a gift. Chuy returns with Maria (albeit much larger) to San Angel after several years; he acts more like a dog and sounds like a goat. Chuy is very loyal to Maria, warding off men who attempt to win her heart.
==Gallery==
Maria (The Book of Life).png.png
==Trivia==
*Maria is a vegetarian.
*Maria is 21 Years old.
*Jorge R. Guttierez confirmed that she's the reincarnation of Prince Zatz.
*Jorge also confirmed that she could later reincarnated into Frida Suárez.
*Guardians of the Galaxy and The Book of Life, both of which Zoe Saldana starred in, came out in 2014.
==External Links==
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