Is Moana A Demigod After Moana 2? Her Tattoos Explained

At the time of writing, it’s been a couple months since Walt Disney Animation Studios released its latest feature-length film, the long-awaited sequel “Moana 2” (read /Film’s review). As the film awaits its fate at the Academy Awards, it’s managed to rake in more than one billion dollars worldwide, including over $450 million domestically. That should come as no surprise, considering how instantly beloved the original “Moana” was when it hit theaters in 2016.

Where “Moana” told the story of how the titular young woman (voiced by Auli’i Cravalho) went on an intense voyage across the ocean to help revive her village’s dwindling harvests, “Moana 2” takes Moana and her demigod friend Maui (Dwayne Johnson) on a darker adventure that also ropes in a few other members of the village of Motonui. Fans of both films know that Maui is marked as a demigod not only through his massive strength and power, but also through an intricately designed and animated set of tattoos that tell the story of his life to anyone who may want to look. But by the end of “Moana 2,” he might not be the only demigod-like figure around. 

Indeed, by the time the sequel wraps up, you may find yourself wondering if Moana herself is now a demigoddess, seeing as she gets a tattoo of her own. Let’s dig in.

If you haven’t seen “Moana 2” yet, or if you simply forgot what happened, let’s remind ourselves. This sequel takes place roughly three years after the events of the first film, and life on Motonui seem pretty great. Moana herself is now serving as a Wayfinder and happily spending her days sailing around the watery ocean to locate even more villages and people than she could have imagined when she was younger. But while this means she has at least achieved her vision of being a voyager, she then gets a dire warning in a vision from her ancestor Tautai Vasa (Gerald Ramsey). 

That warning? That the people of Motonui will soon become extinct if Moana doesn’t take serious action. See, while it is true that she’s found scattered villages around the vast ocean, those villages were only scattered thanks to the malevolent doings of the storm god Nalo (Tofiga Fepulea’i). As part of his cruelty, Nalo sunk an island called Motufetu, which essentially served as the hub between all the smaller islands and villages. In short, if Moana can’t raise Motufetu from the depths of the ocean, her village and all others will go extinct.

This, naturally, leads to the core adventure of the film, as Moana recruits the speedily clever boat designer Loto (Rose Matafeo), the grouchy elder statesman Kele (David Fane), and the ebullient Maui fanboy Moni (Hualalai Chung) to join her on this immense quest. Of course, no story with Moana would be complete without Maui, who also joins the team as they attempt to fend off Nalo and the god’s antagonistic nature.

But while this is a Disney movie we’re talking about, and everything does end up happily, including Moana and the others lifting Motufetu from the deep water, it doesn’t come without a cost. After all the songs, the fast-paced and colorful action, and before everything wraps up, it looks like the only way Moana will be successful in her journey will be via sacrificing herself for Motonui and her family.

For the most part, modern Disney animated movies attempt to eschew the most common cliches and tropes of what the studio did in its earlier years. So yes, while there are songs in the “Moana” films, they do not center around the heroine’s dreams of romance nor do they emanate from some mustache-twirling villain with a world-devouring plan they want to enact. Similarly, although there are cute animals, they’re not exactly sidekicks (aside from being fodder for Maui referring to Hei Hei the chicken as a “boat snack”). 

One cliche that has stood the test of time, however, to the point of being grievously overused, is the “Disney death.” The short version is simple: a character appears to die only to come back to life at the most emotionally appropriate moment. It’s been a part of Disney’s animated films since the very first one, the massive gamble that was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” And while it’s not accurate to say that every Disney animated film employs this cliche, lots and lots and lots of them do. For better or for worse, “Moana 2” is no different.

Does anyone aside from a very small child think that, when Nalo’s powerful lightning bolt strikes Moana as she makes a last-ditch effort to touch the underwater island of Motufetu to raise it, Moana is actually dead? Likely not, because … well, again, this is a Disney movie, and while there have been notable deaths in their history of animation, it’s never the hero or heroine who bites the big one. 

So, of course, Moana ends up coming back to life, which is where the question of her tattoo comes in. Maui encourages Moana’s ancestors to do the right thing and give her a second chance at life, which inspires them to go one step further and decorate her with a Wayfinder’s tattoo. And yes, that does mean that Moana’s journey has now turned her into a demigoddess. But what does that mean for the character at large?

We can guess that becoming a demigoddess means a great deal for Moana, but the answers of what specifically may have changed for the character is still unclear. We should keep in mind at this point that “Moana 2” was originally not going to be released in theaters at all; in fact, it was initially intended to be a TV show streaming exclusively on Disney+. (Its massive success at the box office makes its obvious that movies going direct to streaming is no longer a very good idea.) That’s worth noting because if this story had always been meant to play out across a handful of episodes, a show could also dig into the ins and outs of inheriting such powers. 

For now, though, there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to Moana’s demigoddess status. While “Moana 2” co-writer and co-director Dana Ledoux Miller has confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Moana is indeed a demigoddess, there’s still so much we can’t know yet about the character’s new status simply because her story is not fully complete. BUt we do know that Maui has been gifted with an immense amount of powers, not least of which would be his super-strength as well as his seeming immortality. Certainly, considering the events of “Moana 2,” the village of Motonui is in a very good and safe place. Where Motoniui was pretty close to extinction when the film began, its people are now able to connect the dots with other villages (while their Wayfinder is a demigoddess who has chosen to literally die to protect them).

Moana’s noble efforts are all the more impressive since becoming a demigoddess wasn’t among her plans (or what she expected to happen). But for now, we can imagine what Moana’s powers will be without knowing what they are in greater detail.

This is the challenge with a film that can’t possibly be the end of the “Moana” franchise, such as it is. While the 2016 original was a solidly successful movie, “Moana 2” made over one billion dollars worldwide, which is all the more impressive considering that it was only because of Disney’s again-CEO Bob Iger that the sequel wasn’t released as a streaming-only TV series. (Yes, there really is a universe in which this movie remained a show because of a previous regime’s predilection for sending everything to Disney+, no matter what.) In the eight years between the two films, Disney has already added Moana’s presence to its theme parks, but we still don’t know if there might be a third “Moana” movie on the horizon.

All this is to say that, for now, there is no easy way to explain any of Moana’s demigoddess powers, as opposed to just a wishlist (a la fancasting of what those powers may be). The second film does end with the portent of Nalo (in his human form) still being very much alive, so you have to assume that Nalo would come back for some fireworks in the eventual third film. Of course, considering how long Disney takes, understandably, to make its sequels, that third entry may not arrive until the 2030s.

So, what powers would be the most tantalizing? It might be a bit odd for Moana to go through some wild transformation to gain the same kind of muscles as Maui (and a bit jarring for the kids in the audience who’re familiar with her as a less swole individual), but knowing that Moana’s gifts as a wayfinder have served her so well for so long, perhaps now she’ll have the ability to instantly locate other villages, and not just because Motufetu has been raised from the ocean. And just as a hook is Maui’s weapon of choice, you have to guess that Moana’s oar (like the one she’s carrying in the photo seen above) may well be her preferred hand-tool.

For the time being, though, definitive answers have yet to emerge. We’ll just have to wait for Disney to make the right call and tell another feature-length story so we can see a whole film of Moana living as a demigoddess in her home village.