Tamatoa

"The power of creation, for a crustacean!"

- Tamatoa

Tamatoa is the secondary antagonist of the Disney's 56th full-length animated feature Moana.

He is voiced by Jemaine Clement who also played Nigel, Boris the Animal, and Fleshlumpeater.

Personality
Tamatoa is unpredictable and possibly insane. His mood tends to shift at the drop of a hat, going from cheeky and comedic, to murderous and menacing in a mere matter of seconds. He's quite monstrous in both size and attitude, one of his most well-known traits being his sadistic habit of eating anyone around him, be they humans, sea creatures or even gods—he even admitted to eating his own grandmother.

Tamatoa is also quirky and comical, though in a dark and wicked sense. He has a twisted sense of humor, specifically shown when he nonchalantly commented that it took a week to eat his grandmother and blamed the delay on her enormous size in a joking tone. He also takes pleasure in torturing his enemies both mentally and physically, as shown when he playfully - yet brutally - thrashed Maui across his lair, while crushing the demigod's ego at the same time. With an apparent lack of boundaries, Tamatoa has no qualms with mocking someone's dead loved one, or exposing someone's deepest insecurities to amuse himself.

Above all, Tamatoa is extremely narcissistic. With a superiority complex, he views himself as beautiful, and others as irrelevant and disposable. This is only surface-level, however, which actually serves as an antithesis between Tamatoa and the film's overarching message of identity and being true to yourself: Unlike Moana, Tala and Maui, Tamatoa does not believe in inner-beauty or "listening to your heart". Instead, he views anyone who is not physically attractive or outwardly strong as insignificant and lesser than him, albeit perfectly fit for a meal. This is his biggest flaw and ultimately causes his downfall, as he underestimated Moana's intelligence (because she's a human), which allowed her to best the villainous crustacean. Though he considers himself beautiful, however, he welcomes anything that will increase his power and, by extension, his social status, such as the heart of Te Fiti.

In the movie
Tamatoa is first seen during Gramma Tala's story concerning the mother island Te Fiti and her life-giving heart. According to Tala, many sought the heart for its power, and among these ancient entities was Tamatoa, though Maui was the only one capable of actually stealing the heart. In doing so, he was banished to a desolate island, while his fishhook was lost at sea in a battle for the heart against a wrathful lava demon known as Te Kā. The fishhook would be recovered by Tamatoa, who added it to his collection of treasures.

Later on, Maui is freed from his exile by Moana, who needs Maui to return the heart of Te Fiti to its rightful place. Maui eventually agrees, but needs his fishhook in order to accomplish such a goal. Moana and Maui travel to Lalotai, and the two soon find Tamatoa's lair. Moana is sent in as bait, covering herself in shiny objects to attract the crab. Tamatoa soon awakens, and examines the human that has entered his shell. Meanwhile, Maui reaches in to grab his hook, and although Tamatoa nearly notices, Moana is able to distract the crab by getting him to talk about himself through the song "Shiny". After Tamatoa brags about his shell and explains his love for all things shiny, he tries to eat Moana, only to pause when Maui reveals himself with his fishhook in hand. Tamatoa cowers in fear until he realizes Maui's hook is out of commission, crippling his ability to shapeshift.

Tamatoa sadistically takes advantage of this by attacking and brutally thrashing Maui about his lair. When Moana tries to stop the cruelty, Tamatoa traps her within a cage-like plant. Soon enough, Tamatoa darkens his lair and his form becomes bioluminescent, giving him a glowing yet menacing appearance. Tamatoa tries to devour Maui, but Moana escapes her cell and creates a phony duplicate of Te Fiti's heart. She calls to Tamatoa to show him the shiny prize in her possessions, and the crab immediately discards Maui in favor of his coveted treasure. He chases after Moana, who drops the heart in a crack on the ocean floor. As Tamatoa digs for it, Moana and Maui make their escape. It isn't long before Tamatoa realizes he's been tricked, and the enraged crustacean chases after the duo. They launch themselves onto a geyser heading to the surface, and the impact of the shooting water knocks Tamatoa onto his shell. Unable to move, he's left stranded on the ocean floor, asking if Moana at the very least enjoyed his song.

Tamatoa is last seen after the credits, where he is still trapped and struggling to get off his shell, but to no avail. He asks the audience for assistance, and quips that if his name were "Sebastian" and he had a Jamaican accent, the audience would feel happy to help (a reference to the supporting character of the same name from The Little Mermaid.

Trivia

 * In earlier concepts, instead of a crab, Tamatoa was conceived as a giant, headless warrior from an Oceanic myth.
 * Artist Ian Gooding compares the design of Tamatoa's upward spiraling seashell lair to the architecture of the Guggenheim museum.
 * Tamatoa breaks the fourth wall twice; first when he tells the audience to look up what a decapod is during "Shiny", and later during his after credits scene, where he asks the audience for help.
 * When Tamatoa rants during the after credits scene, he directly mentions and references Sebastian from The Little Mermaid, a Disney film also directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, who later directed Moana).