Villains Profile: Te Kā

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and today, we conclude this year's Halloween Villains Profile event as we look at a character from the newest Disney film as we look at Te Kā from Moana.  And well,  I find myself in interesting predicament as  Te Kā  is not your typical Disney villain.  As this is not who she truly is.   As Te Kā is  the destructive form of Te Fiti and she became this way after her heart was stolen by Maui.

Which as we learn was done because Maui wanted to be loved by the people but taking her heart essentially killed Te Fiti and brought about  Te Kā.    And this was one of the biggest things that I was questioning throughout my watching of this movie for this article.  Was Te Fiti aware of what she was doing as Te Kā?   The answer is possibly.   As the Villains wiki  for  Te Kā states that

Te Kā and Te Fiti are polar opposites with differing goals and ideals; while Te Fiti wishes to spread life and beauty, Te Kā seeks to bring death and corruption, purely out of the belief that mankind is undeserving of the gifts brought to them by Te Fiti.

We get a taste of her destruction early on, with everything that is happening at Motunui. That is something else that needs to be touched upon with Te Fiti &  Te Kā ,   what they bring to the island is shown by how they look.  Te Kā looks like a scary lava monster whereas  Te Fiti is a beautiful woman. 

Of course in the movie,  it's a twist reveal that  Te Kā &  Te Fiti are the same being.  Because throughout the entire movie, it is believed that Te Kā is another obstacle before our heroes reach Te Fiti.   It isn't until Maui tells Moana to look for the spiral as that is where the heart goes, that we discover that they are the same.

And this leads to what is easily my favorite Moana moment as we have a rare instance in a Disney movie,  where the antagonist is stopped when the protagonist shows her compassion.

Moana knows what she is doing but she knows by doing this, she can reach Te Fiti and have her remember, who she truly is.  This was a genius move as throughout the whole movie, Moana had been struggling to figure out who she truly is and in this moment,  it's clear that she knows and she is using this lesson to help  Te Fiti.   It's very touching and the biggest thing that one needs to take away are these two lyrics.

They have stolen the heart from inside you..But this does not define you..

These two lines stand out as the most important to me because of her heart being stolen,  Te Fiti allowed herself  to become  Te Kā and that is who for years, she believed she had to be.  It's a simple lesson on it's surface to be sure but it is one I like.   Just because something bad happens to you, you do not have to allow that to define who you are.   Bad things should not be the building blocks that make up a person as they will only make your life worse.  Yes, bad things can teach you certain lessons but as Moana sings...

This does not define you

And I get goosebumps thinking about that moment because it's a lesson that everyone has to be reminded of, time and again.





Sorry, about not using the traditional format for this one but you really can't use the standard categories to talk about   Te Kā as there is so much more going on there.   She has certainly been one of the more fascinating characters to discuss here.  Piece!