The Warrior (The Dead Lands)

The Warrior, also known as the Monster of the Dead Lands, is the anti- heroic deuteragonist in New Zealand's 2014 film: The Dead Lands. He is lord of what is now known as the Dead Lands, the lands of a once powerful tribe that was extinguished overnight. Since that time, The Warrior would hunt down, kill and eat anyone who entered his territory. He forms an alliance with the film's protagonist, Hongi, to hunt down Wirepa's tribe who slaughtered Hongi's clan and intrude on The Warrior's land.
He is portrayed by Lawrence Makoare
==Plot==
Tane, the chief of a Maori tribe, his 15-year-old son Hongi and their tribe allow a rival clan access to the remains of the second tribes fallen warriors. Hongi does not trust the rival clans leader, Wirepa, and follows him. As Hongi suspected, the visit is a ruse, and Wirepa desecrates the grave site as a pretext for war, blaming Hongi for disturbing the remains. Tane believes his son is innocent, but offers to kill Hongi if it will prevent war. Wirepa refuses, saying war is imminent. Wirepa's clan returns later in force, kills the men of the tribe and beheads Tane, taking his head as a trophy. Hongi is knocked away from the battle, and survives.
Hongi leaves and attempts to track down Wirepa. On the way, he discovers that Wirepa and his men have entered the Dead Lands, an area of land where any men who venture into are believed to be killed by a monster. Hongi, suspecting that the monster is in fact a man, tracks him down and, although reluctant, the monster agrees to help Hongi hunt down Wirepa. The monster is in fact a warrior (who is never named in the film) who was the sole survivor of a tribe that used to occupy the Dead Lands, and he kills anyone who ventures there to prevent his tribes historic lands from being occupied.
While tracking down Wirepa, Hongi has a series of visions of his long dead grandmother, who helps them on their way. Hongi and the warrior track down Wirepa, and several of his men are killed before Wirepa and his surviving warriors flee. Hongi and the warrior go after them, and the warrior kills a small band of hunters they come across to keep his identity a secret. Hongi is devastated by this, and screams at the warrior. The two separate, but the warrior has a vision from his ancestors that convinces him to continue helping Hongi.
Wirepa and his men are tracked to a mountaintop fort, where they barricade themselves inside. Wirepa taunts Hongi with his fathers head, angering him, but the warrior convinces him to regroup and return later. Wirepa's men leave Tane's head on a spike, and most of the men leave the fort. Again, this is a ruse by Wirepa to lure Hongi in. However, when the trap is sprung, the warrior and Hongi get the upper hand and kill most of Wirepa's men. While Hongi battles Wirepa, the warrior is severely wounded but manages to return and save Hongi. Wirepa, distracted from his battle with Hongi, beats the warrior to the ground before returning his attention to Hongi. This time Hongi gains the upper hand, and is about to kill Wirepa. This pleases Wirepa, because it will allow him to be remembered as a great warrior who died in battle about whom songs will be sung, and stories will be told. Hongi denies Wirepa this honor, and allows him to leave. Defeated and alone, Wirepa walks off in shame.
Hongi returns to the warrior, who is mortally wounded. Hongi adopts the warrior into his clan, so that his ancestors will guide him into the afterlife. The film ends with a final vision of Hongi's grandmother, who is very pleased, as Hongi begins his return home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Lands#Plot
==Personality==
The Warrior was an unnamed master of warfare and a true monster that preyed on anyone foolish enough to wander into his lands. At the same time, he was a tormented soul who became a monster due to the horrific traumas he experienced and committed in his youth.
In battle, the Warrior maintains a brutal, provocative and even demonic persona. His power, bravery, and reputation make him as real a monster as the persona he presents.
As of the events of the film, The Warrior is The Monster of the Dead Lands, a land ruled by him and the spirits of the dead. He and his wives, possibly the females of his tribe, lord over the land and cannibalize on any who wander through. The Warrior has a strained relationship with his wives, they are tied together and yet they are living dishonorable by their old tribe's standards. 
When he was young, The Warrior was a far more civilized member of the tribe that Ruled over what would later be known as the Dead Lands. Like Hongi, the Warrior was asked by his father to make a blood sacrifice to in reparation to an enemy tribe. Unlike Hongi, who was asked to give his own life, The Warrior was asked to personally kill his own wife and children. Doing so drove The Warrior insane and destroyed his notions of honor, for what honor was there in him having to kill his family to make peace with an enemy? That night, The Warrior avenged his dead family by murdering the rest of his tribe their sleep. And so, the Warriors tribe disappeared overnight and he gained a dishonorable reputaion as the monster who slew his own clan.
The Warrior makes pragmatic use of his monstrous reputation and honorless persona. He is an extremely pragmatic fighter who can win over more honor driven foes. Also, he encourages his monster persona as it keeps other tribes from invading his land in force. This is why he kills all who enter his lands for he cannot abide anyone knowing that he is, in fact, human and not the demon his reputation makes him out to be.
In truth, The Warrior is ashamed of his dishonorable life and is constantly afraid of the judgment of his own tribe that he killed. He feels that he was wronged by his tribe and yet knows that he wronged them by killing them, which makes him a very tormented soul. Though The Warrior will often say there is no honor in the world, his shame implies that he subconsciously does believe in honor and was honorable in his youth. He will often shout "stare at me not!" when committing dishonorable acts for he can feel his ancestor's hatred of him. His ancestors are The Warriors one true fear for he knows that when he dies, his ancestors will not welcome him. After death, The Warrior would be an exiled and cursed spirit for all eternity. 
Hongi is the only visitor to The Dead Lands that the Warrior decided not to kill. The Warrior was impressed by Hongi's bravery in soliciting him, Hongi's positive relations with his own ancestors, but most of all, Hongi's similar experiences and different approach to The Warrior's own experiences. The Warrior is persuaded by one of his wives to aid Hongi because Hongi is opposite the Warrior and may be the key to saving the Warriors soul. 
Over the course of the film, The Warrior and Hongi form a bond best described as brotherly. While the warrior is terrified of communion with the spirits, Hongi is shamanistically in touch with spirits and encourages the Warrior to engage them. In turn, the Warrior teaches Hongi how to fight and avenge his tribe. 
Their mutual respect is strained when The Warrior butchers a tribe of nomads that were friendly to Hongi and the Warrior, before realizing who the Warrior was. Hongi demands an explanation and calls the Warrior an animal for his crimes which causes the Warrior to finally admit his past, breaking down and revealing his tortured humanity. Hongi is moved by the senseless tragedy of both the Warriors past and his own and they once again team up to kill Wirepa's tribe. 
After the war against Wirepa's tribe is won, The Warrior is mortally wounded and despairs for as he is dying he can feel his ancestors rejecting and cursing him to damnation. In gratitude for the tremendous service The Warrior had done for him, Hongi tells the Warrior that he would be embraced by Hongi's ancestors and that Hongi would tell stories to his descendants of the Warrior and his honor. With these words, the Warrior's soul was healed and the two men shared a brotherly hug before the Warrior passed away.
==Powers & Abilities==
Apex Warrior: Befitting his moniker, The Warrior is individually the greatest Warrior in the film. A life-time of killing had made him immensely experienced. When he was uninjured, no other individual could defeat him in battle. Not only was he the strongest fighter, The Warrior also had the best military mind. The Warrior was warfare personified. 
Peak Physicality: The warrior was a mountain of a man, towering over all others in stature. His body gave him tremendous strength, stamina, and endurance. He was able to outrun and outfight large groups, even while injured. In spite of his size, the Warriors reflexes were exceedingly fast. He was able to outmaneuver and kill multiple attackers at once.
Weapons Mastery: The Warrior was a master of axes and spears. He was also an expert in creating and hurling flaming projectiles. 
Master Hunter: The Warrior was an expert tracker and had the stamina to outrun those who entered his lands. He would also make use of traps to slow down his prey.
Dirty Fighter: Due to his disillusionment with notions of honor, the Warrior would fight dirty and take advantage of those who passed up opportunities to kill him for honorable reasons. This made the Warrior a very pragmatic fighter who always do whatever it took to win. The Warrior would always go for killing blows and taught Hongi to do likewise.
Master of Psychological Warfare: The Warrior was a master of using his foe's mind against them in military encounters. He an expert provocateur, throwing off opponent's focus by getting them riled before a duel, usually with insults about a foes mother or sexuality. When Wirepa was gloating and angering Hongi by spitting on his Tane's head behind the fence of a fort, The Warrior was immediately able to turn the situation to his sides favor by implying that Wirepa was not a general holding a fort but a pig in a pen who would either starve or have to face off with the Warrior and Hongi. The greatest example of The Warriors master of psychological warfare is how he created his persona as the Monster of the Dead Lands. Doing so made possible invaders afraid to enter his lands and gave him a larger than life presence in combat.
Expert Military Commander: The Warrior was a master military commander. His good guidance both protected Hongi and used his skills to great effect. The Warrior was a great tutor, quickly helping Hongi to develop into a great warrior in his own right. The Warrior had a no-nonsense, ungentle dialogue with Hongi that primed Hongi for the brutality of war.
Tactical Intelligence: The Warrior was fully versed in the mindset of warfare. Pursuit, combat, and even siege warfare came completely natural to him. When Wirepa's trib took shelter in a fort, the Warrior was immediately able to assess the tactical situation and form a siege strategy that brought the war to its climax.
==Trivia==
The Warrior's portrayer, Lawrence Makoare, earned worldwide fame for his roles in The Lord of the Rings trilogy
==References==
Photo of The Warrior, The Hollywood Reporter, November 22 2017, Web
<https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/dead-lands-toronto-review-730414>
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