Mowgli

**Mowgli** (also known as the **Man-Cub**) is the protagonist of Disney's 1967 animated feature film, *The Jungle Book*. A young, orphaned boy with an adventurous spirit, Mowgli had been raised by a pack of wolves in the jungles of India, since infancy. When a murderous tiger becomes determined to kill him, however, Mowgli is forced to leave his pack to live among humans in the Man-Village. Refusing to abandon his wild side, Mowgli instead strives to find a new place in the jungle, preferably with a fun-loving bear named Baloo.

## Background

Mowgli is a human child, who was found in a basket on the edge of a torn-apart boat as a baby by Bagheera, a black panther, with that fraction of a boat laying on a rock and its rear pointing up. Apparently orphaned, Mowgli was raised by a pack of wolves until he was 10 years old. However, the threat of Shere Khan forces the pack to send him away, and Bagheera decides to take him to a nearby man-village for his protection.

In the first scene of the film, Mowgli, as an infant, was found in a battered canoe. His biological parents were nowhere to be found, but it is implied that they died not too long before Mowgli was discovered by Bagheera. How exactly is unknown, but it can be concluded that a messy river accident claimed their lives.

## Appearance

Mowgli is a handsome preteen slender boy with dusky skin, brown eyes, thick black eyebrows and wild untidy black hair that covers his forehead, ears and reaches his neck. In both films he is half-naked, wearing only a red langot made of cotton.

## Personality

Mowgli is portrayed as an average child in the original film. Generally innocent, mischievous, kind and happy-go-lucky, but was also rebellious and insecure. His insecurity and rebelliousness stemmed from how hard it was for him to find his place in the jungle because of how out of place he was. As such, Bagheera and the wolves did everything in their power to protect the boy, or he would unknowingly become the pawn of schemes from some animals, such as Kaa the python and King Louie, who both sought out to manipulate Mowgli for their own, personal gain, rather than being accepted for who and what he is, which is truly what the man-cub desired.

This is one of the reasons as to why Mowgli's relationship with Baloo is so strong. Like the wolves, Baloo did not care that Mowgli was a human and had no qualms with the idea of Mowgli staying in the jungle where he was happy. Once Baloo eventually did come around to realize the importance of Mowgli's entry into the Man-Village, it was out of love, as he only wanted what was best for Mowgli, despite the fact that it would lead to their separation. The same can be said for the wise, and often grouchy panther, Bagheera, though Mowgli's stubbornness, and failure to understand the circumstances of his situation, would leave the man-cub feeling unwanted and unworthy of love. Nevertheless, Mowgli would come to understand by the end of the film, and immediately patch his close relationships.

Despite the lack of animal survival instincts, Mowgli is incredibly brave. When met with obstacles in the jungle, the man-cub would retaliate once the danger is realized, and often come out on top. And even when outmatched, physically and mentally, Mowgli would stand his ground and make it a point to prove that he isn't afraid. The one exception to this situation is the final confrontation with Shere Khan, who proved to be a force powerful enough to actually strike legitimate fear within Mowgli; but even then, once Mowgli learned the tiger's weakness, he once again took charge of the situation and drove Shere Khan away. In the sequel he overcame his fear of Shere Khan a second time and was even willing to sacrifice himself to protect Shanti. In addition to that, Mowgli has also proven to be strong-willed. This is seen in his first encounter with Kaa, who had difficulty hypnotizing the boy to sleep due to his continuing resistance and only succeeded by using the comfort of his coils to relax him. While Bagheera, who is much more mature and wiser, was put in a trance without much effort. It was only later on when Kaa put Mowgli in a trance immediately by tricking him into letting his guard down.

Despite Mowgli's headstrong and assertive nature, he does have a sensitive side to him which is rarely shown. This is evidenced when he was haunted by the thought of being an unloved outcast after his perceived rejection by his friends and family, at which point it only took a simple mockery by the vultures to make him cry. His love for Shanti has also been known to bring out his softer side, as evidenced by his regret for accidentally breaking her heart when Baloo revealed that he told him to scare her away in case she found them.

Mowgli is also shown to have brotherly instincts. In the beginning of the first film, it is shown that he is admired by his wolf siblings and possibly looked up to by the new pups. Lastly, Mowgli is also mischievous, as shown when he tickled Baloo when he was lying on the ground and when he pulled pranks on Shanti, either by simply playing on her fears or by startling her so she would trip and fall into the river and resulting her becoming soaking wet.

In *The Jungle Book 2*, Mowgli has gained considerable emotional maturity due to having connected and socialized with his own kind and children his own age for a while, particularly Shanti, his friend-turned-girlfriend, who has had highly positive influence on him. Although he retains his boyish charm and fun-loving nature, he now displays more rationality, is less rebellious and is in more touch with his feelings. His brotherly instincts are also even more noticeable as he displays protective attitude towards his new adoptive brother Ranjan and the latter looks up to him for that. His charisma has been known to go beyond his relationship with his families, as he is able to charm Shanti and occasionally bring out her fun-loving side, following Baloo's example when he used his own charm to cheer him up when they first met.

Because the jungle was for a long time Mowgli's only concept of home, it took him a long time to warm up to his new adoptive parents, viewing them more as authority figures than parents, and found it difficult to accept the crowded and organized structure of the Man Village over the sparse and peaceful jungle and left the village with Baloo as a result. But once found out that Shanti went through extreme lengths to find him and that all the villagers are looking for him, he realized how ungrateful he was to leave the village and that they care more about him than he knew. As such, he came to the conclusion that he truly belongs in civilization with his own kind.

## Powers and Abilities

Mowgli now has the power of the Keyblade to fight evil creatures.

* **Excellent Strength:** Mowgli is unusually strong for a boy his age as a result of having to rely more on his physical strength all his life in the jungle. In the first film, he was able to push Kaa's massive piled up coils down a tree with relative ease and was able to deliver a blow that was hard enough to knock down Baloo as well as landing several blows on Shere Khan with a wooden club that were powerful enough to disorientate the tiger for a few seconds.
* **Excellent Speed:** Being raised by wolves, Mowgli learned to run as fast as the rest of his pack. In both films, Mowgli has demonstrated that he is able to outrun Shere Khan, a full-grown tiger.
* **Excellent Durability:** Mowgli is very resilient and durable for a boy his age. In the first film, Baloo accidentally hit him and sent him rolling towards a log, but Mowgli was able to shrug it off immediately with no injuries.
* **Excellent Willpower:** Mowgli's strength of will is one of his most iconic traits. Mowgli is one of the few individuals who can resist Kaa's hypnosis through sheer strength of will, while more mature individuals like Bagheera and Shanti fell into a trance as soon as they looked into the snake's eyes. Despite his impressive willpower, Mowgli is not immune like Shere Khan and can be manipulated by the right tactics.
* **Climbing:** Thanks to Bagheera's tutorship, Mowgli is able to climb almost any tree with ease while maintaining perfect balance. In the second film, his climbing skills have improved as shown when he surprised Shanti by hanging upside down from the tree branch above her and during "Jungle Rhythm" he showed he was more nimble than all the other children in the village.
* **Animal Empathy:** Having been raised by animals, Mowgli sees the inhabitants of the jungle as individuals rather than just creatures like most humans do. Unlike the villagers, Mowgli is also able to interpret animal facial expressions and feelings while the people of the Man Village can only sense whether or not an animal is hostile.

## Role in Sora’s Adventures

He appeared in Sora’s Adventures in Kipling Jungle he even touched Sora Keyblade to perform Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony so he can use it to protect the jungle from Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed and used it to battle Shere Khan.

## Jiminy's Journal App Entry

*The Jungle Book (1967)*

Age:

Weapons: Keyblades

Place of Birth: Kipling Jungle

Currently Residing: Kipling Jungle

Powers and Abilities:

Laterality: Right-handed

Favorite Food: Any fruit

Favorite Drink: Sweet tea with honey in it