- “No, we’re just getting… started.”
- ―Nalo[src]
Nalo is the main antagonist of Disney's Moana franchise, first appearing in Moana 2.
A powerful and misanthropic being, he is a power hungry storm god who seeks to destroy humanity by separating the people and preventing them from voyaging, which would eventually lead to their extinction. He is Matangi's master as well as the arch-nemesis of both Moana and Maui respectively.
Appearance
Nalo is a shapeshifting god who appears in two different forms during the film. His first form is a giant monstrous storm with his face sometimes being visible in the clouds. His body is made out of dark storm clouds while his face is made out of magenta lightning. Some paintings and his silhouette during Maui's song show a more humanoid version of that form.
His second form (also possibly his true physical form) is much more human-like as he resembles a large and muscular Melanesian man with dark hair and facial hair as well as glowing magenta eyes and thunderbolt tattoos. He wears a dark piece of cloth over his crotch.
Role in the film
Moana 2:
He is first mentioned by his minion Matangi and Maui during their confrontation and he is revealed to be Maui's enemy from the past.
He interrupts a ceremony for Moana's accomplishments as a voyager by nearly striking her with a thunderbolt, which knocks her unconscious and causes her to have a vision of her ancestors in the middle of his storm surrounding Motufetu. Later in the vision, she is at the beach of the completely empty Motunui and a spirit of her ancestor tells her that would eventually happen to her island unless she breaks Nalo's curse and reunites the people across the ocean.
Moana tells her parents about the vision and then her friend Moni explains who is Nalo and what has he done in order to fully destroy humanity and gain even more power. Moni also shows them a painting of Nalo in the form of a giant humanoid monster made out of storm clouds.
Later in the film, Moana and her crew encounter Kakamora in the middle of the ocean and they are revealed to be heavily affected by Nalo's actions in the past. His curse on Motufetu caused Kakamora to get lost and they have been searching for their home island ever since. They agree to help Moana and her crew find Motufetu and break Nalo's curse so they can finally find their home island.
Moana eventually meets Matangi who tells her that Nalo forced her to be his servant and imprisoned her in the giant clam for a thousand years. Matangi then helps Moana, her crew and Maui to enter a magical portal which leads to Motufetu and she tells one of her pet bats that Nalo would kill her if he finds out about her betrayal.
Inside the portal, Maui tells Moana that Nalo made it impossible for humans to reach Motufetu and break his curse. When they exit the portal, they are in the middle of the ocean during the night and they see Nalo's storm in the distance, but they are suddenly attacked by his giant eels. Maui starts fighting them off while Moana and her crew try to escape, but the eels damage their boat and one of them catches Moni so Maui goes underwater to save him. Another eel prepares to attack the rest of the crew moments before the sun comes out, causing the eels to retreat. Maui saves Moni and all of them go to a small nearby island where they find a destroyed boat that Moana's ancestors used in the past before Nalo killed them. Maui motivates Moana by singing a song during which she goes through an obstacle course and defeats Nalo's monstrous silhouette.
Moana and her crew then sail towards Nalo's storm for a final battle and they see his giant face as the storm is actually his monstrous form. He tries to kill them using thunderbolts, tornadoes and huge waves, but Maui defends the rest of the crew. Moana realizes that Nalo is primarily targeting humans so she tells Maui to go to the center of his storm and pull Motufetu to the surface while the rest of the crew distracts him. Her plan works and Maui starts pulling the island to the surface, but Nalo suddenly strikes him with a massive thunderbolt, torturing him via electrocution and causing all of his tattoos to disappear which kills Mini Maui. Maui falls unconscious into the ocean and Moana's boat gets turned over by a huge wave, but Moana remembers Matangi's advice, tells her crew to save Maui and dives to reach Motufetu while it is still at the bottom of the ocean.
While the crew saves Maui, Nalo deduces what Moana is trying to do, so he tries to strike Moana with thunderbolts, but he misses a few times as she manages to get very close to Motufetu. Eventually, Nalo's final thunderbolt fatally strikes Moana, but not before she manages to touch the island, thus ending the curse and dissipating Nalo's storm for good. Maui and the spirits of Moana's ancestors then manage to revive Moana as a new demigoddess, allowing Maui to regain his demigod powers and revive Mini Maui. Maui and Moana then proceed to pull Motufetu back to the surface, therefore accomplishing their quest in reuniting the people of the ocean.
In the film's after credits scene, Nalo appears in his much more human-like form as he furiously confronts Matangi over the fact that Moana has broken his curse and that Matangi aided her on it. Taking Matangi into custody, Nalo states that he's getting started, not only on his next intent to punish Matangi, but also to get revenge on Moana and Maui. The giant crab Tamatoa approaches Nalo, offering to help him in taking revenge on Moana and Maui. However, Nalo is annoyed by Tamatoa's flamboyant behavior and refuses by striking the latter with a thunderbolt, prompting a nervous Tamatoa to offer in singing a song about crab legs.
Quotes
- "A human should never have been able to reach Motufetu... or break my curse!"
- "No, we’re just getting… started."
Trivia
- Since he did not die or redeem himself in the sequel, he plans on getting on revenge on Moana making clear that probably Moana 3 is confirmed and Nalo will not just be (probably) the main villain of the 3rd entry but probably the main villain of the franchise.
