Maura (Deep)

Maura is other secondary character from the 2017 animated movie Deep. Her origin is unknown but it is known that she is also orphan like all the protagonists in the film. Her talking to herself from time to time leads some to speculate that she has dissociative personality disorder. Others simply see the habit as a practice that arose from her loneliness- as a way to keep herself company as she never blames her actions on 'anyone else' and through the film acknowledges that her actions are her own- even if done on a subconscious level.
== Biography ==
=== Background ===
Maura, unlike Deep, Evo, and Alice was hatched outside the colony in the dangerous waters of a post cataclysmic Earth. Not much is said of her life before meeting the group though she's stated that she's never had a friend, doesn't like to know the names of those she eats (stating that such ruins the moment for her), says she's not into eating lantern fish, and likes to have her tummy rubbed. She also learned of the City of Man enough to know that journeying to it is dangerous and to have heard that Humans where really smart. She was also informed in the past that friends lookout for one another and don't eat each other though she herself never had any friends. At some point before she met Deep, Alice, and Evo Maura came to reside at Steel Mountain or perhaps she is native to that area where she took up residency in a tire.
=== Deep ===
Maura first spotted Deep from her tire home and looked upon him with a concerned (if not conflicted) and surprised expression before going with her gut, having by that point been without food and social contact for what she states feels like years, coils around him intent on eating the new comer. But when Deep mentions that he has friends her resolve started to weaken and before she even caught sight of the friends Deep mentioned she released him from her coils and returns to her tire crying over her loneliness. When Deep, to the shock of Evo and Alice, suggests that they can be friends Maura informs him that since she wants to eat him that's problematic. Maura begins talking to herself attempting to resolve her conflicting desires; food for her hunger or company for her loneliness.
While she's having a conversation with herself Evo, Alice, and Deep consider leaving while she's distracted and she pulls herself together to introduce herself by name and in turn receive their names. After telling her they are traveling to the City of Man the three start to leave fearing for their lives. Maura cuts them off suggesting that as the journey is dangerous she can provide protection from predators. When Alice states that Maura is a predator Maura informs them that she can protect them from worse predators and promises she will not eat them 100%. After the trio have a frantic dispute over accepting, one ending with Deep approving her offer, she is most thankful and quietly recites to herself as they travel that friends don't eat friends.
Still feeling hunger pains Maura becomes distracted and swims into Evo resulting in a discussion where she assures him that she doesn't find him appetizing due to how she's certain she'd glow where she to eat him. She then agitated by Deep's lack of listening to the group jokes about having him for dinner to Evo and Alice. That night, after they finally get some rest Maura in a fashion befitting her Moray Eel species- swallows the three in her sleep but Alice clawing at Maura's throat on the way down causes Maura to wake up and realize what she's done. Initially in a panic Maura finds difficulty bringing them back up her esophagus but after getting them to help her calm down she manages to get Alice and Deep out and with their help gets Evo out as well. Alice and Evo do not forgive her though Deep in the interest of preventing Maura from becoming openly hostile from the hostility of the other two does.
This incident doesn't leave the groups memory nor her own and she continues to follow them still on an empty stomach. When they are ambushed by a multitude of crabs she sees they are too many for her to take on and eventually gets swept into the dance battle that happens only because Deep managed to get the crab's leader from wanting to kill them to being open to some arrangement where they could pass in exchange for entertaining him. Only in the City of Man does she finally get to eat though it's not what she thinks it is. In the ruins of New York Alice and Evo find a 12 inch action figure of a diver and they find it disturbing but suggest it's a Human. Maura quickly moves in to investigate and after toying with it for a bit swallows the figure proclaiming it not very impressive nor tasty.
This action latter seems to come back to bite her when the group finds it's self in close space surrounded by mannequins in diving suits. Alice quickly comes to the conclusion that Maura ate a baby Human and that the Humans have come to punish them. Maura has the same impression and angerly prepares to defend herself while trying to get Alice to be quite in the hopes they can get past the 'Humans' without them knowing what she's done. But that plan of hers fall apart when Deep apologizes on the groups behalf much to Maura's fearful shock. Though the Humans are fake a chain reaction caused by Deep putting his tentacle on one causes a multitude of crossbow bolts to fly.
After Deep again puts her life in danger, this time by going to an area the group was warned not to go to- resulting an an attack by 'Zombie Fish' brought about by nuclear waste she and her friends get pulled into a powerful current to the waters near Greenland. Alice and Evo finally bring up their grips about Deep's leadership to Deep and Maura chimes in with her own, in regards to how he doesn't listen to anyone else, getting angry enough to state that she should have eaten him when they first met and that they are through being friends as she turns to swim away. But this departure is averted by the arrival of three strangers- as Penguin, a Dolphin, and Walrus.
They invite them on board the Ark-3; a space ship they crew and she's shown where the protein pellet dispenser is before she and the others are shown a video of the Ark Project where she and those she's been traveling with finally see an actual Human. Enough to realize that they hadn't actually encountered Humans before. Darcy, the Penguin, convinces Maura to help him cryogenically freeze Alice, Evo, and Deep so they can escape to New Earth. She can see that he's likely correct in that the group wouldn't listen to reason- especially Deep- and thus try to return to the doomed colony they come from. She tricks them into being captured and joins the crew, taking a place on the bridge during the final hour before launch. However after being seen communicating with Deep Darcy's paranoia kicks in and he tries to eliminate her after he allowed the group to escape which is something they where asking Maura to do.
When she's saved by Deep, Evo, and Alice she helps them attempt to stop the launch and failing that gets ejected along with the other crew and subjects of the ship into Earth's oceans leaving the vessel with only it's autopilot and no cargo. After going to Deep's home colony and helping to save it from destruction she starts a breeding program using the now unfrozen subjects from Ark-3 in the hopes of repopulating the planet. She even finds Deep a mate much to his appreciation.
== Personality ==
Maura talks to herself from time to time, having full conversations and debates. While she never blames her actions on anyone else, she does exhibit signs of a disassociative personality. When she first sees Deep her expression is one of curiosity though her action is to ensnare Deep, intending on eating him but loosing her will do so when he mentions having friends. With her own loneliness being felt she retreats to her tire home and begins talking to herself in a debate over food for her hunger or friends for her loneliness. The dialogue she's having is mildly backgrounded with focus on Deep and his friends but she convinces herself to settle her feelings of loneliness rather than hunger. Having previously stated that she doesn't like knowing the names of those she eats she introduces herself and gets their names as a show of her intention to socialize. The personality she expresses during this early interaction is jestful, and friendly.
In her sleep she ingests first Evo, whom she said she had no interest in eating, than Deep, and finally Alice whose clawing at her throat wakes her up. It's unclear if she was actually asleep, or the scene is meant to express a more concerning situation of 'DPD with Amnesia' as she's instantly upon waking up distraught at having swallowed her new friends. While saying she's never had friends, she admits to having had experience with this situation of sleep eating by telling Evo, Deep, and Alice what usually works in getting her to calm down enough to bring them back up her throat.
Assuming she does in fact have an alternate personality it would have first materialized on screen during her tire talk dispute over weather to eat Deep or befriend him. The second manifestation of this personality would have been as the crabs came around with hostile intent. The third manifestation would have been at the City of Man where believing Alice to be correct, that she ate a Human baby, Maura snaps at Alice with hostility at her suggesting such out loud. Her personality in this moment is more tactful, distrusting, defensive, and despite concern she's shown over eating people before- is not at all apologetic for the (incorrect but at time believed correct) realization of what she's done. This personality focuses primarily on self survival with little regard for others. Continuing this assumption the personality's control in that moment is broken when Deep unexpectedly apologizes on Maura's behalf. This would be the last time in the film that said personality manifests.
With the potential other personality being one designed to keep her fed and safe it implies that her DPD is caused by trauma and that such would have involved past associations being destroyed by her and an inability to reconcile what she did in the past. Her statement that friends don't eat friends but she never had friends and condition where in she eats in her sleep could indicate what that trauma is and why she was afraid when it seemed to be happening again.
There is also the possibility that she has a third personality that isn't defensive but playfully predatory- and that such was the one Deep first encountered. Said third personality would be a vague reconciliation of the two others that while predatory is 'nice' about it and tries to make the situation 'fun' or otherwise pretend that what she's doing isn't horrific. The fun aspect accounting for her being somewhat seductive where her other more amiable jesting self is a bit aloof to romance at all.
==Description==
She is a blue moray eel with yellowish eyes, sharp teeth, and a small mole on her face.
==Gallery==
===Gallery===
Maura The moray ell.jpg
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Category:Movie Heroes
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Tragic
Category:Animals
Category:Predators
Category:Female
Category:Dreaded
Category:Amazons
Category:Seductress
Category:Dissociative
Category:Wrathful
Category:Teenagers
Category:False Antagonist
Category:Indie/Doujin Heroes
Category:Scapegoat
Category:Orphans
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Adventurers
Category:Lethal
Category:Chaste
Category:Determinators
Category:Poor
Category:Misguided
Category:Passionate Learners
Category:Anthropomorphic