#tumatauenga

Māori Gods in Thor: Love & Thunder!!

Tūmatauenga (also known as Kū in Marvel Comics), the Māori God of War, is referenced as a possible ally by Thor in Thor: Love & Thunder!!

(screen capture from @newrockstarsofficial)

And a Māori Goddess makes her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut at Omnipotence City in Thor: Love & Thunder (played by Chayla Korewha)!!

Next up for the Tokusatsu AU is Ikki’s estranged master, Tumatauenga Guilty!

Guilty hails from Death Queen Island, a small plot of land floating close to the assembly of islands that make up New Zealand.  His native Maori Pantheon joined Sanctuary’s alliance far later than most other Pantheons as Sanctuary was unaware of them until the Maori exited the age of myth with the English’s exploration of the land.  Entrusted with the extremely dangerous Phoenix Cloth, Guilty has an unfortunate track record of killing any student he is charged with due to the harshness of his training.  With his mate dying under the harsh climate of Death Queen Island, the only source of humanity Guilty has left is his daughter Esmeralda.

When Ikki arrived on Death Queen Island, it became clear that he was many steps above his previous charges, but that only fueled Guilty to be crueler.  The only time there was a speck of humanity offered to Ikki was when the Japanese youth would wander into his tent to watch rugby with the modest reception Death Queen Island could receive from the video feed.  Sadly for both of them, these peaceful moments were extremely rare, and overall their impressions of each other did not change for the better.

The tipping point came on the night prior to Ikki’s final trial, when Guilty learned about Ikki’s blossoming romance with his daughter Esmeralda.  Ikki’s “seduction” of his daughter had become so profound that she tattooed Ikki’s arm in the traditional Maori custom, which was strictly forbidden to outsiders as per Guilty’s decree.  For Ikki’s graduation, Guilty fought to kill and demanded Ikki do the same.  Esmeralda, seeing their mortal combat and Ikki’s hesitance to kill the father of the girl he cared for, threw herself into the melee and took Guilty’s fatal strike.  In his anger, Guilty blamed Ikki for corrupting his daughter, but this was exactly what Ikki needed to stop holding back.  Ikki struck Guilty with his own Phantom Fist attack (rechristened the “Gemna Ken” in Ikki’s native tongue) and his psyche melted into a puddle of his worst nightmares while Ikki claimed the Phoenix Cloth and head back to Japan for his vendetta against the Graude Foundation.

Days later, Guilty awoke malnourished and filthy, unexpectedly surviving the killing blow.  As he learned that Ikki had yet again succumbed to weakness and joined his alleged mortal enemies to become the fifth member of the “Zodiac Knights” that stood against Sanctuary, Guilty challenged Ikki for control of his Black Saint Sect under an alias.  Ikki accepted, as he had a falling out with Seiya over his leadership calls indirectly resulting in Shiryu’s injuries sustained against Algol and Hyoga’s heartbreak in the Eris conflict.  When Ikki arrived at the designated duel location in Hawaii, he was shocked to see his old master donning the battle garments of his Maori God of War, Tumatauenga.  

Having resolved to finish whatever conflict came in his way, as decisively as possible, the Phoenix Saint killed Guilty properly with a new attack: the Houyoku Tenshou.  However, Ikki’s rage that once fueled him had matured and stabilized into an overwhelming need to see that good triumphs over evil, and with that resolve came the return of mercy even to his fallen foes.  Through their battle, Ikki learned the truth: Guilty had sought him out one more time to be his executioner for his crime of slaying his daughter Esmeralda.  With his dying breath, Guilty awarded Ikki his “Mask of Rage” and told him to don it only when his hour was most desperate and there was no choice but to engage in raw brutality.  

In Māori mythology, Tū or Tūmatauenga (Māori: 'Tū of the angry face') is one of the great gods, and the origin of war. All war-parties were dedicated to him, and he was treated with the greatest respect and awe. He is usually a son of the primordial parent, sky and earth (see Rangi and Papa). In a Te Arawa version, Tūmatauenga advises his brothers to kill their parents Rangi and Papa in order to allow light and space into the world, but the kinder proposal of Tāne is accepted and instead the primordial pair are forced apart. Tūmatauenga thinks about the actions of Tāne in separating their parents, and makes snares to catch the birds, the children of Tāne, who can no longer fly free. He then makes nets, and traps the children of Tangaroa. He makes hoes to dig the ground, capturing his brothersRongo and Haumia-tiketike, heaping them into baskets to be eaten. The only brother that Tūmatauenga cannot subdue completely is Tāwhirimātea, whose storms and hurricanes attack humankind to this day because of his indignation at the actions of his brothers