What You Probably Didn't Know About Moana's Maui

The "Moana" version of Maui tries to do good things for all of humanity. After being abandoned by his family when he was a baby, Maui was saved by the gods and granted the special powers of strength, shapeshifting, and immortality that we see in the film. He also wields the power of a magic fish hook. Despite the many great things that he has done (including several things that will be discussed later in this list), Maui would become reviled for stealing the heart of Te Fiti, creating the lava demon Te Ka, and plunging most of the world into darkness.

The part of Maui's backstory that finds him cast out and narrowly avoiding death lines up with the Māori version of the story (via LongLongTimeAgo). However, the film does leave out how the waves formed him after his premature birth and carried him until he was found by his grandfather, Tama-nui-ki-te-Rangi. When Maui was grown, he left his grandfather and set out on a quest to find the rest of his family, leading to a reunion with his brothers and a confrontation with the mother who cast him aside.

In Māori tradition, Maui's parents are named Taranga and Makeatutara, while the Hawaiian version casts him as the son of Akalana and Hina, the latter being a goddess commonly associated with the moon.