Maui

**Maui** is the deuteragonist of *Moana*. He is a boisterous demigod of South Pacific legend. With the power of his giant, magical fish hook, Maui serves as the audacious guardian of mankind. During one of his escapades, Maui awakened a terrible darkness that threatened to destroy the islands of Polynesia. This crisis forced Maui to join forces with Moana, a young hero chosen by the ocean, to save the world.

## Background

Maui was born to human parents, centuries before the events of the film. Apparently wanting nothing to do with their son, Maui's parents threw him into the sea as an infant, and left him for dead. He was saved by the gods, who raised Maui, granting supernatural abilities, immortality, and a magical fish hook that allows him to shapeshift. Despite his demigod status, Maui's cruel upbringing would forever scar him. Feeling rejected by humans, he used his powers to benefit mankind in any way they pleased as a means to earn the love and validation that he was denied by his parents; he pulled islands from the sea to provide them with homes, extended their days by pulling back the sun, and stole fire from the bottom of the earth to provide them with warmth on cold nights, among many feats. As a result, Maui became one of the most acclaimed figures of Oceania history.

As the people acclimated to Maui's gifts, he had to perform increasingly grand feats to sustain their adulation. This led him to steal the heart of Te Fiti, the mother island. As the gem has the power to create life, Maui believed it would make the perfect gift to mortals all across the world. Unfortunately, once the heart was removed from its resting spot, darkness slowly began consuming the world. The removal of the heart also gave birth to the wrathful lava demon Te Kā, who confronted Maui before he could escape. The two battled, but Maui was defeated, losing both the heart of Te Fiti and his magical fish hook in the aftermath. The heart would remain lost for centuries, while Maui's fishhook eventually fell into the possessions of his arch-rival, the giant crab Tamatoa.

Maui, meanwhile, was banished to a desolate island by Te Kā, and was doomed to remain there for all eternity as punishment for his crimes. Even so, legend proclaimed that Maui was destined to team up with a hero—the "chosen one"—to return the heart to its rightful place.

### Personality

Maui is boastful, gregarious, and mischievous. His manner of carrying himself matches his massive physique, being larger-than-life and a true god among men. He is responsible for most of the necessities and luxuries currently belonging to mankind, and with his magical fish hook at hand, is amongst the most powerful figures in South Pacific lore. Widely regarded as a clever trickster, Maui is rarely matched when it comes to adversaries, being greatly feared by villains and monsters lurking throughout the sea. Maui can be extremely arrogant and pompous as a result of this reputation, although his many achievements tend to justify his vainglorious attitude.

For all his heroics, however, Maui can also be short-tempered, bitter, pretentious, and his inflated ego tends to give him a superiority complex. This attitude lead him to be quite antagonistic, and even murderous. When he first meets Moana, he had no regard for her life and was completely willing to leave her stranded on a barren island or even lost at sea. He can also be selfish, initially choosing to focus solely on reclaiming his hook with no intention of saving the dying world, though Moana was able to change his mind.

As a result of his poor upbringing, Maui has spent a majority of his life living with crippling insecurity. He went out of his way to perform godly deeds for mankind's benefit to gain the love and appreciation denied to him by his parents. While he seemed to enjoy the praise he earned, Maui secretly longed to be appreciated beyond his demigod status; as the human he is on the inside, rather than the deity portrayed in legends. Additionally, despite boasting about his accomplishments to Moana, Maui initially credited the gods for his many feats, claiming they're the ones that "made him Maui". He saw himself as "nothing" without his hook, and was extremely reluctant to take on challenges without it, becoming somewhat of a coward.

Through Moana, however, Maui slowly began to realize that the hook is only an accessory during his adventures and that his many accomplishments over the years were a result of his own bravery, rather than what the gods created to assist him in such exploits. Though still arrogant and gruff, Maui developed into a much more selfless and humble figure following his adventure with Moana.

## Trivia

* Maui has dimples, which are based on Dwayne Johnson's dimples.
* He is voiced by Dwayne Johnson (The Rock).
* Maui meets Thomas, Twilight Sparkle and their friends in *Thomas and Twilight Sparkle Meets Moana.*
* Maui guest star in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures Series.

### Gallery

Shark head MauiRooster Maui with HeiheiMaui as a whale.Maui as a bird.