Kaa (Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle)

Kaa is the overarching protagonist of the 2018 Netflix live-action adventure drama film , based on the late Rudyard Kipling's .
She is a gigantic, mystical Indian Python who is described as old as the jungle itself and able to see the past and the future. She also served as one of Mowgli's mentors, possible admirer and the narrator of the entire film.
She was portrayed in motion capture by .
==Biography==
===Background===
Kaa in the opening narration informs us that she's ancient, though the jungle is far older than she is. She also states that she can see the past and the future. Baloo, in this story she is telling, tells Mowgli in regards to Kaa "you don't want to meet Kaa." and implies that Kaa's diet primarily consists of the lawless monkey folk who "can't stand the sight of her."
===Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle===
The film opens up with our narrator introducing herself with a deep stare in her eyes. Opening camera shots indicate that the death of Mowgli's parents is being viewed by Kaa who slithers along the ground, stopping under some brush and remaining still as Shere Khan commits his transgression against the Jungle's sacred law. Her body is visible slithering and coiling as her gaze lands upon a 'mancub'- a baby, Mowgli, not long before Bagheera shows up and takes the child to be raised by a pack of wolves. Every event in the narrative is a visual representation of the story being told by Kaa to an unknown audience. Her only intervention in the narrative, when she stopped being an observer and took an active role in the events around her, was saving Mowgli from the Monkey People and Shere Khan who came among them to claim Mowgli as a prize. Mowgli not understanding why she rescued him went out on his own to find her and ask her why she saved him. He also asks Kaa if she can see the past and the future. Kaa gives a rather long response while holding Mowgli in her coils and slithering about around him. She tells him that he is the hope for a peace between the Jungle and the World of Man and that one day all the animals of the jungle shall heed his voice. She then let's him go and informs him that she'll be watching as the Wolf Pack begins a traditional fight for the pack leader. She would have watched as Mowgli tried to put an end to the fighting using Fire- a tool of man. An action that would get him banished. After Mowgli was captured by Lockheed in the Village, Kaa observed Mowgli's life there from the edge of the jungle where she also observed his final battle with Shere Khan.
==Appearance==
In contrast to her book incarnation from the original novel by Rudyard Kipling, this version of Kaa is realistic in appearance due to her being a live-action version of her original counterpart of the same name, except she is much bigger than any real-life snake and closer in size to a Titanoboa, has unusually blue eyes and even green scales, making her resemble a green anaconda. Unlike her book counterpart, she is female instead of male.
==Personality==
Unlike her Disney counterparts, this version of Kaa is by no means villainous.
==Trivia==
*Just like in the original book, Kaa is portrayed as a being feared by the rest of the jungle. Baloo had once thought Mowgli that Kaa is the only one that the Monkey-People are frightened of and not only are they too terrified to stop her from protecting Mowgli, but even Shere Khan backs down when she demands him to.
*There are certain similarities between Kaa and Galádriel from Lord of the Rings as both of them are portrayed as (possibly ancient) goddess-like characters, whose wisdom and countless experiences provide a narrative framework for the history leading up to current events. Thus, both Kaa and Galádriel are portrayed by Cate Blanchett.
*While Kaa has no intention of eating Mowgli in this version due to jungle law and having seen his destiny, she is not above making an implied threat of it in order to get him to speak properly.
*In the book, Baloo and Bagheera have to seek Kaa for his help on rescuing Mowgli from the Bandar-log, knowing that they are terrified of him. Here, in this version, Kaa unexpectedly shows up at the temple just when Shere Khan and the Bandar-log are about to kill Mowgli.
*She is currently one of the eleven characters of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book universe portrayed by an actor with a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, being played by Cate Blanchett (Hela). The others are Andy Serkis (Ulysses Klaue), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Christian Bale (Gorr the God Butcher), Bill Murray (Krylar), Ben Kingsley (Trevor Slattery), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Lupita Nyong'o (Nakia), Garry Shandling (Senator Stern) and Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan).
*This is the second incarnation of Kaa to be female after her live-action Disney counterpart from the 2016 remake of The Jungle Book.
==Navigation==
Category:The Jungle Book Heroes
Category:Movie Heroes
Category:Fantasy Heroes
Category:Action Heroes
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:Female
Category:Animals
Category:Predators
Category:Anthropomorphic
Category:Narrators
Category:Female
Category:Wise
Category:Mentors
Category:Protectors
Category:Bigger Good