Maui

Maui is the shape-shifting demigod in Disney's 2016 animated film Moana, voiced by Dwayne Johnson. Long before the film's present-day story, he stole the glowing heart of Te Fiti, a goddess whose power creates life. As Maui escaped, Te Kā, a lava demon created by the loss of that heart, attacked him. Maui lost both the heart and his magical fishhook in the sea. The opening legend credits him with feats including pulling islands from the ocean, snaring the sun, and filling the winds with sails. Those boasts reappear as animated tattoos across his body, especially in "You're Welcome" song. Centuries later, the ocean selects Moana, daughter of Motunui's chief Tui, to restore the heart. She sails beyond her island's reef, finds a stranded Maui, and releases him from the cavern where he has been trapped. Maui initially tries to take his hook and abandon her, but discovers that the ocean has placed Te Fiti's heart inside Moana's necklace. At Lalotai, the realm of monsters, he and Moana recover the fishhook from Tamatoa, a giant crab who has made a glittering shell from treasure. Maui then agrees to teach Moana wayfinding, although their training begins with his unsuccessful attempts to make her sail safely home. The voyage reveals that Maui's confidence masks hurt. He tells Moana that his human parents abandoned him as a baby, after which the gods found him, made him a demigod, and gave him the fishhook. He sees the hook as proof of his worth and panics when Te Kā cracks it during an attack. Maui leaves, believing he cannot face Te Kā without it. Moana reaches Te Kā alone, recognizes the demon as the heartless Te Fiti, and sings "Know Who You Are." The ocean lets her pass Te Kā. Moana restores the heart, changing the demon to Te Fiti. With Te Fiti healed, vegetation returns and the curse on the ocean ends. Te Fiti repairs Maui's fishhook, giving him a renewed reason to use his gifts. He returns Moana to Motunui, where she teaches her people to navigate the open sea again, and then flies away as a hawk. Maui's role is not simply comic support: his theft begins the central catastrophe, his departure forces Moana to act independently, and his reconciliation with the ocean's chosen voyager completes his change. The film closes on Motunui's fleet sailing beyond the reef, while Maui appears in hawk form overhead, above them.