Moana (character)

**Moana** is the titular protagonist of Disney's 2016 animated feature film of the same name. Born on the island village of Motunui, Moana is the daughter of Chief Tui and Sina, with an inherited love for the seas and voyaging. When her island becomes endangered by a life-killing darkness, Moana is chosen by the ocean to journey across the sea and save the world—with the help of the shape-shifting demigod Maui.

## Appearance

At 16 years old, Moana of Motunui has a slender yet muscular build that sets her apart from previous Disney princesses and heroines. She has brown eyes with thick eyebrows, full brownish-pink lips, and long, wavy, black hair. Moana usually wears her hair down, only tying it in a top bun sporadically when sailing.

## Personality

As described by Gramma Tala, Moana "stands out from the crowd". She is sea-loving, headstrong, strong-willed, practically fearless, and physically capable. Though she has moments of self-doubt, she has great pride in who she is, and is generally too stubborn to back away from new challenges. Moana approaches new experiences and tasks with the utmost seriousness and will stand her ground to fight for what she values even when all seems lost. Despite her lack of experience outside of Motunui, Moana can present herself as an imposing force despite her size and has bested the most fearsome beasts and impossible obstacles across the seas of Oceania while relying almost solely on her own intelligence.

For all her strengths, Moana suffers from major identity crises. Surrounded by a loving family and a supportive community of neighbors, Moana cares a great deal for her people, and the village in which she was born and raised. However, she also has a passionate love for the ocean and the idea of voyaging beyond her home island's barrier reef. Throughout Moana's life, voyaging had been prohibited as a means to keep the people of Motunui safe, but even so, Moana's spirited and tenacious attitude kept her dreams of experiencing life beyond her island alive. At the same time, Moana was happily devoted to her village during her time as chief-in-training. An intelligent and resourceful leader, Moana was quick to remedy any problems her village faced and was masterful in keeping herself composed and optimistic during times of a crisis. Moana's loyalty towards her family and people actually played a part in her crippling identity crisis. As she cared for them immensely, she occasionally felt extreme guilt for being drawn to the sea, as lamented in her song "How Far I'll Go"; she believed that if she were to pursue the ocean, she would ultimately disappoint the people she loved. Simultaneously, she felt an obligation towards her ancestors, wanting to reinvigorate their ways of wayfinding as a means to honor them and the legacy they left for her people. These conflicted emotions would ultimately act as Moana's greatest challenge throughout the film.

When it was revealed that she had been chosen by the ocean to restore the legendary heart of Te Fiti, Moana did not put her focus on the potentially devastating outcome of her mission, but the unity between her love for Motunui and her dream of voyaging in the tradition of her great ancestors. Though this would ultimately benefit all parties, this mindset is perhaps Moana's greatest flaw. In being heroic and deathly devoted to her goals, Moana can be selfish in that she is willing to endanger others in order to prove she is capable of confronting her ambitions without fail. Both Tui and Maui confront Moana on this during the film's events, and though she denied both accusations, she knew - deep down - that this was correct. She can also be reckless with herself in this regard, as she drove herself out to sea without proper training in the ways of wayfinding or even sailing. She fears very little, but because of this, she can occasionally bite off more than she can chew. However, these acts are not done with malicious or even notable intent. Moana is extremely sympathetic and caring, which drives her to perform life-threatening stunts for what she genuinely believes to be the greater good.

Even as a child, Moana was a courageous youth who displayed bravery, a longing to leave home and sail beyond the reef to experience adventures. As other children feared Gramma Tala's story of Te Fiti and Maui, Moana was fully invested and excited. However, due to a lack of experience out in the sea, Moana wasn't aware of the dangers that came along with it. For instance, Maui teases Moana during his song "You're Welcome" and, with her transfixed, he shuts her in a cave so he could steal her boat. Throughout her adventure to return the heart of Te Fiti, Moana was dunked, sent flying, or occasionally stumbling as well as slipping on her feet. Like most teenagers, Moana was also wide-eyed and shy, having a tendency to stammer when she speaks, fidget with her hands, flinch when frightened, and stand or stagger in a pigeon-toed stance. Nevertheless, Moana held her own against the dangers of the sea. Although initially thinking the Kakamora are "kind of cute", only for them to immediately attack, Moana was able to board the Kakamora's ship and survive their attacks as well as dodge the darts being shot at her. Moana also had the ocean on her side whenever she needed help, such as when Maui repeatedly flung her overboard, the ocean popped Moana back onto her canoe, dripping wet. Upon entering Lalotai, Moana is attacked by a frog-lizard monster and a sloth monster, where she scream or squirm in panic, having never been so afraid in her life as the monsters attempts to eat her. Fear and shock distracted Moana as Tamatoa flipped her into the air and clutched her in his pincer, hanging her midair as his mouth opening wide to catch her. Despite the odds, Moana refused to give up and kept on going with her strength and bravery, though at times she can be reckless, cocky and gets confused easily in her lack of experience. Still, Moana would keep going, asserting her stance and using her wits to find her way out of situations by unorthodox methods.

In contrast to this, Moana grows with failure. When the Kakamora try to steal the heart of Te Fiti, Moana fights back, successfully recovering the heart and defeating the pirates. After Maui refuses to assist her in battling Te Kā following a disastrous first encounter on her account, she works up the courage to redeem herself by facing the lava demon alone. She is also empathetic and looks to help herself by helping and understanding others first. This is most notably seen when she puts hours worth of focus on coming to understand Maui and the reasoning behind his own inner demons. In doing so, she was able to exhibit self-loving wisdom (specifically regarding how one should look inside themselves for strength and guidance, and not in someone else). Moana would later use this to encourage herself during her darkest hour.

As she grew with her adventure, Moana discovered more about herself. She came to realize that no one can define who you are, other than yourself; she was neither meant to be devoted solely to the sea or solely to her people, but to herself. As such, she was able to bring her two loves together, ultimately recreating and honoring what came before her: a unity between her people and the sea.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Ocean connection:** Though Moana does not technically possess the skill to bend water to her will, she does share a unique and exclusive connection with the ocean itself. Sometimes the ocean helps her when she's in need. For example, when Maui leaves Moana with her boat, and repeatedly throwing her overboard, the ocean popped her back on board, dripping wet.
* **Athleticism:** Growing up on an island has provided Moana with an environment that allows her to use her strength and agility to traverse throughout it. As seen during "How Far I'll Go", Moana is physically dominant, as she was seen zip-lining and running at a fast pace without losing stamina. She also has a natural talent for swimming and can endure being underwater for a considerably long period of time for a human. During her brief time trapped in Maui's cave, Moana demonstrated incredible leg strength by moving and toppling over a statue of the demigod many times her size and weight, so she can climb out through a tiny crevice. Moana also held her own while fighting back against the Kakamora and has demonstrated that she is able to outrun various monsters.
* **Master sailor:** Though inexperienced at first, Moana has always been drawn to the sea as a result of her ancestral heritage. When she first embarked set sail with Pua in an attempt to go beyond the reef, her sailing skills left much to be desired, and as a result, she was nearly killed by the strong currents. However, she made it passed almost effortlessly the same night, and throughout her adventures with Maui, steadily learned various necessities and tricks that would ultimately lead her to become a talented sailor - and by extension - a master navigator.