#mo'o

So he stood, his back to the shoreline, his expression unreadable. Clutched in his talons was a crumpled letter, belonging to Mariko's new precious horde. There was nothing in particular that stood out about this one. Contained inside was a humble greeting, hopes of seeing one another, and a promise. He grimaced. The realistic part of himself wanted her to stop any hope of fulfilling such a request, but Raiden didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise.

A harsh gust tossed and turned the grass and trees, bowing from the force.

He was upset. A sudden thought came to mind, and he instantly shoved it further into the furthest recesses of his mind. Shame filled him, threatening to boil over.

Why? Why must she always-

He heard the water first, the familiar sounds of a slow rippling tide, then a shadow looming over him.

"Mo'o." Plainly stated, hollow as he felt now. He didn't turn to face her as she breached the surface. Now he did, out of politeness, and instantly regretted it.

The Gyarados' face was filled with concern as she approached the shore. Did she know what he was thinking? "Raiden. You are isolating yourself… again." She added more quietly at the end. "Do you not feel the urge to reach out and speak with me when you are troubled like this?"

"I can handle it myself." Like he always had done.

Resting her claws in the sand, Mo'o said, "But you are no longer alone."

She always did this, used words and a soothing voice to beckon him.

Raiden shook his head. "Why?"

"Why…?"

Raiden scowled. "Why do you care so much?" His face was as turbulent as the wind beginning to stir around them. "You should stick to what you promised me and nothing more." Power to face what may come in the future.

She flinched, "Raiden." She inhaled, her expression becoming more resolute. "This is what you need as well. Come here." She made a gesture with her claw.

Begrudingly, he stepped forward until they were mere inches apart. "What is it?"

"Listen."

"I'm-"

"Truly listen to." She leaned in close. "Raiden… Are you jealous?" Mo'o asked tentatively.

His lip rose silently into a snarl, "I met others to talk to, as she did. Why would I?"

"That does not answer me."

He snorted, averting his face from her. "…Maybe I was," he admitted quietly. Mariko was at her most radiant that evening. He had never seen her so happy, except in her younger days; when she was a small chick, she followed his every move.

Slow down, brother! I wanna swim with you!

To see her happily conversing with others, strangers, with ease, while he struggled, he felt a disgusting sensation shove its way down his throat. And he didn't know why.

"I don't… know. I should be happy for her. She's able to talk to others." He kept remembering the way she chimed happily, so fondly of this Goomy in particular that listened to her plights. He growled in the back of his throat, wings in the air. "It should have been me. She should have told me these things that bothered her! Not these nobodies who have no place in her life!"

Mo'o looked at him gravely. "Would you have listened to her? Would you have opened your ears, your heart, if you hadn't attended the festivities with her?"

He faltered. He didn't want to think of the possibilities if he hadn't left with her.

"So now you understand." Mo'o smiled widely. "Both of you opened your hearts to others other than each other."

"You smile like this is a good thing."

"It is!" She cradled his face, squished his cheeks. "You're still young, my child. Fending for yourself and your sister at quite a young age. Younger than you should have. This pursuit of power, you believe you need, is merely a step. You need to grow first before you properly fill the role you desire."

Raiden huffed. He batted her claws away with a brush of the wing. "Easy for you to say." At her raised brow, he groused, "You had an easier time. A god's blessing, I take it?"

"I did not. You understand, correct…? I was once a Magikarp. Very weak. Maybe you know of them?"

Who didn't? He used to hunt down a few that washed ashore. "I didn't know you came from a Magikarp."

"Yes. I was a small one," she said. "Hardly worth the time for anyone to snack on. But I was quick, I was smart. I never let anyone know where I was, and I could escape before anyone knew I was there. The local god took notice. He gave me a test, believing I would succeed, and I became as you know me now."

"I-I… " He was lost for words.

"It was what I earned for the trial and merit. I wish.." She sighed. "This duty has left me somewhat isolated. I see you two struggle, and I want better for you both. I want you and Mariko to thrive. You are too young to seek this strength you want so quickly. You have yet to enjoy the joys youth has to offer you. I want this for you. You both."

Raiden appeared torn. "Why?"

Mo'o cocked her head. "It's natural to see young children want them to prosper?" She hesitated, clasping her claws together. "Like children, I never had."

His eyes flashed, his expression grew hardened. "I'm not your child."

She reeled back. "No, no. You are not but… it doesn't stop the urge…"

He turned his back to her. "You don't need to concern yourself with us like that." Before she could say more, he took off to the skies, a flash of lightning coursing in his wake.

She sighed, watching his shadow. "We have a long way to go…"

Alright, so I've seen the K-pop demon hunters movie, and I quite enjoyed it! The characters were fun, the story was cool, and best of all, it took inspiration from actual korean mythology like jeosung-saja and king yeomna.

But that made me think...what other creatures from different mythologies exist in this universe?

So I decided to make a kpdh oc ska band out of my personal favorite mythological creatures: the mo'o.

"What are mo'o?" I hear you asking? Well here's a summary.

Mo'o are shapeshifting reptile spirits from hawaiian mythos that can change from human dosguises, to more reptilian forms that vary from mo'o to mo'o. Theg can also disguise themselves as regular reptiles and even weathern patterns like fog. Most named mo'o are female, but there are a few male mo'o here and there. Some are benelovent, others...not so much. When a mo'o dies, they turn into a rock formation.

Lapalapa

Lapalapa's true form resembles an anole in appearance. Her human disguise alias is "kaia kama". She's mostly known for her very excitable and bubblly personality, and her love of surfing. She plays the saxophone in the band.

Kaliona

Kaliona's true form resembles a chameleon in appearance. His human disguise alias is "jackson brooke". He is the only male member of the mo'o girls(think of it like a reverse smurfette principal), and is known for his very quiet and shy disposition. He plays the keyboard in the band.

Ulika

Ulika's true form resembles a gecko in appearance. Her human disguise alias is "nina day". She is known to be quite the eccentric loudmouth, and despite having opposite personalities, is kaliona's best friend. She is the vocalist of the band.

Akamu

Akamu's true form resembles a skink in appearance. Her human disguise alias is "mel solomon". She's kind of known as "the strsight woman" of the group, not really having anything...over-the-top per say, about her, just kinda being the "normal one". She plays base in the band.

Pikake

Pikake's true form resembles an iguana in appearance. Her human disguise alias is "jasmine hibiscus". She is known for being a very mellow and laid back woman, sometimes people even call her a hippie. She plays the guitar in the band.

Mo'olele

Mo'olele's true form resembles a snake in appearance. Her human disguise alias is "millie thomas". She often has an affably conviving demeanor, and tends to speak very eloquently. She plays the drums in the band.

Akinahu

Akinahu's true form resembles a crocodile in appearance. Her human disguise alias is "sophia ambrosia". She is known for her gruff nd roigh around the edges demeanor. Though she does have a more caring sude toward her kin. She makes the lyrics for the band.

Kahiko

An alteration in his expression she couldn't read. Anger? Hurt? All he said was, “I don’t want to...” Before she could decipher his words, the waves began to slosh violently before them, attracting her attention.  

“Here she comes,” came Raiden's exasperated voice drowned out as a creature rose from the depths.

“I am doing no such thing.”

“Yet I hear Little Song speaks her mind so loudly against you. I had to come and see.”

The Gyarados leaned in to brush her snout against Mariko's, “Little Song,” she murmured. Sounds of happiness as the two nuzzled each other. 

"Mo'o! You came to check on things?"

"I came due to disturbance of the waters... only to see your brother's temper was the source of it."

For the time being, Mo'o is available for questioning!

(This creature is directly inspired from Hawaiian Mythology)

The Mo’o are a rare reptilian shifter race, isolated to a few volcanic islands amongst the Ocean, some believe they are actually a sort of dwarf island dragon, but they lack the wings of other Draconic species. In their true form they appear to be a Gecko-like semiaquatic Lizard with shiny black scales that resemble obsidian and have a deadly corrosive gas breath that can burn into stone and metal let alone flesh but becomes a poisonous murk when released in the water. All true Mo’o are Female and have the ability to shift into a mostly Human-like form that bears a few reptilian features like eyes, scattered scales, and their tail. No matter your leaning towards the appearance to scaly ladies their natural pheromones make them nearly irresistible to humans who they desire to mate with.

Thanks to the isolation of their islands Mo’o sightings are few and often unsubstantiated, many folk often mistake them for a common lizard-folk or a Yuan-Ti, but because they can’t rely on men always coming to them sometimes a Mo-o matriarch will swim to the mainland once to mate or kidnap men with their seductive abilities and take them home to serve as male concubines.

A Mo’o Matriarch will lay many eggs but very few of them will be another true Mo’o keeping their numbers purposefully restricted because Mo’o tend to be territorial to one another and sisters may fight among one another over land, and control over servants. The rest of the eggs laid by a Mo’o are worker drones sometimes nicknamed Mo’obolds.

Here's a reference sheet I finished back in April, even though her role is just to be a boss fight.

She is standing at a standard height of 231cm, capable of spewing a breath to poison and confuse foes in a drunken daze. This is where all the spice went. Hopefully I'm not moidered for this.

I created Nahesa after learning about what mo'os actually are in Polynesian/Hawaiian mythology, thank you Lockstin. They aren't dragons, they're just sexy, shape-shifting gecko spirits (usually female, but Wikipedia does list a male individual. There is probably more, but I wouldn't know. I'd actually be happy to learn more about them if anyone has info to share).

And yes, she's designed after Salazzle, I couldn't not, black scales n'all, poison too.

Mo'o are dragons from Hawai'an folklore which protect bodies of water. They can take the form of long, black, serpentine or fisklike creatures, or they can take the form of a young woman.

In Dracones Mundi, these dragons have a belly pattern which looks uncannily like human faces and body parts, and, with the right movements and in the right lights, the serpentine dragon may indeed seem to take the form of a young woman (this is one of a few species of dragon that have this belly pattern - in most dragon species the patterns look abstract, but are similar enough that you can see how this pattern evolved).

It is mer-May here on tumblr, a month for celebrating merfolk, and while mo'o aren't strictly speaking merfolk, they are powerful water spirits which can take forms of water creatures and humans, so I think they fit the theme nicely. (for those curious, the Hawai'ian words for mermaid are wahine hiʻu iʻa)

"Mo'o" is a word with a few meanings: in English we may refer to many lizards as 'dragons' (Komodo Dragon, Bearded Dragon, Water Dragon), and in a similar way the word mo'o is also used to describe lizards such as geckos. One blog I found even said that the spirits of mo'o dragons could inhabit the bodies of mo'o geckos so that they may act as house guardians, which is a nice concept!

Name: Kalamainuʻu

Type: Mythology

Culture of Origin: Native Hawai’ians

Description: As a Mo'o, Kalamainuʻu would appear as a black lizard, or as a beautiful woman.

Myth: Kalamainu'u had fallen in love with Puna-ai-koa'e, and decided to keep him prisoner in her cave. When he longed to go surfing again, she allowed him, but told him not to speak with anyone. He defied her, and learned of her identity. His confidants turned into wrasses to escape her, but she built a fishing basket to catch them.

Facts:

Kalamainu'u will fill the traps of those who ask.

Mo'o are shape-shifting lizard spirits in the mythology of Hawaii. Often revered as deities in particular families, they can often appear as humans, geckos or enormous, monstrous reptiles. They can control water and the weather, and when they die, they petrify and become part of the land.

Some notable mo'o include include Kalamainu'u, known for wrasse fishing; Mamala, known for surfing; and Kapulei, whose body is said to lie on the mythical Kamalō Ridge.

Image source.

Monster master list.