Do we like them?

Do we like Māui?

A character from Polynesian mythology (the Māui cycle) (Ancient oral traditi)

Our score: 8 out of 10. Mostly yes. He fishes up islands, slows the sun and brings fire to humankind. He's cheeky, boastful and sometimes cruel to family, but his tricks usually help people.

Māui is the trickster-hero of Polynesian tradition, told from Aotearoa to Hawaiʻi, Tonga and Samoa. He is a young man with great magic and is often called a demigod. He is usually the small, overlooked youngest child who outwits gods and nature. Details vary by island, but his main exploits stay close across the region.

His best-known deeds are practical gifts to humankind. He and his brothers snare the sun and beat it until it agrees to cross the sky more slowly, so people have longer days to find food. He wins fire from the fire-keeper Mahuika through a risky bit of cheek. With a magic hook made from an ancestor's jawbone and baited with his own blood, he hauls a giant fish from the sea. In the Māori telling, that fish becomes the North Island of New Zealand.

That is why he scores well. He is brave, funny, inventive and generous with his results, and he always aims his tricks at something bigger than himself. The knocks against him are his vanity and his habit of picking on relatives. In one tale he turns his brother-in-law into a dog in a fit of jealousy over a fishing contest.

His last adventure shows his flaw. He tries to win immortality for humankind by sneaking through the sleeping goddess of death, Hina. A bird's call wakes her and she crushes him, which is the traditional explanation for why people die. He fails, but he fails while attempting something for all of us.