Character page for Raya and the Last Dragon.
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Main Characters
Raya
Raya
"Let's catch you up. My name is Raya. Our lands have been at war for as long as we can remember. Our people never see eye to eye."
Voiced by: Kelly Marie Tran (English), Trần Trúc Anh (Vietnamese)
The daughter of the Heart tribe's Chief Benja, having been trained to be the Guardian of the Dragon Gem. After the Druun returned following the shattering and theft of the Dragon Gem, Raya set out on a quest to find the Last Dragon to help her reclaim and reunite the pieces of the Dragon Gem.- Action Girl: She's been trained in hand-to-hand, arnis sticks, and sword play ever since she was a young girl. Only Namaari can match her.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her father calls her "Dewdrop".
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: She has her father, but her mother is neither seen or mentioned.
- Badass Adorable: A cute young woman who happens to be the warrior princess of Kumandra.
- Cool Big Sis: Becomes this to Boun and Noi. She tries to act stand-offish towards them at first, but comes to care about them, and treats them with a nurturing hand, given they both were orphaned by the Druun.
- Cracks in the Icy Façade: The titular character, Raya is shown to be aloof and distrustful of others because of her experience with Namaari, and has a very cynical outlook on life as a result. However, she is shown to be (somewhat) caring and/or trusting of Little Noi, a con artist baby who, even after she tricked her, is shown to have a Hidden Heart of Gold. Raya also was shown feeling out over meeting Sisu and is very patient with her when she's starting to learn about current life in this post-Druun era, hinting at Raya's Heal the Cutie arc that she will go on during that movie.
- Cynicism Catalyst: The betrayal of Namaari and the Druun attack at the beginning of the movie gave her a lot of trust issues.
- Daddy's Girl: Raya adores her single father Benja, and reviving him, and the world, is her motivation throughout the film.
- Deadpan Snarker: She's described as having a wit as sharp as her blade. This is made more apparent during her banter with Namaari in Tail and Spine.
- Fallen Princess: Not that Raya cares, but she goes from a comfortable warrior princess to a cynical scavenger with only Tuk Tuk for company. It's implied from her initially refusing Boun's meal that she's used to going hungry, and makes handfuls of jackfruit jerky to stay alive. To top it all off, she's an orphan, and the Last of Her Kind.
- I Work Alone: Her mentality for the first part of the movie. She has trust issues from the incident with Namaari and is reluctant to let the others get close to her. Sisu helps change her mind.
- Lethal Chef: Raya's homemade jackfruit jerky is so disgusting, even a hungry dragon would rather go without food then eat it.
- Martial Arts Staff: Raya fights with Eskrima sticks during her training to be the next protector of the Dragon Gem.
- My Greatest Failure: She blames herself for letting Namaari see the Dragon Gem, as Fang attempting to steal it is what resulted in its shattering and the destruction of her home and family.
- The Power of Hate: In her first fight with Namaari as a young woman, she's only stalling her and is constantly talking to get under her skin. She loses the fight. In their final fight, after Sisu's accidental death, Raya is fully trying to kill Namaari, and fights with extreme ferocity and says not a single word. She wins and comes very close to killing Namaari, only choosing not to at the last moment.
- Tomboy Princess: Easily the best example in the Disney Animated Canon, and a contender for the most tomboyish of the Disney Princesses overall (alongside Merida). She dislikes getting dressed in her formal clothes and is a seasoned warrior.
- Took a Level in Cynic: Namaari's betrayal which allows the Druun to return shattered her faith in others. With her homeland devastated by the Druun, she works alone to find Sisu. The movie is about her healing from this and learning to trust again.
- Unkempt Beauty: She takes very little effort in her appearance, yet she is still a beautiful young woman, despite her dirty clothes and loose lanky hair.
- Whip Sword: Her weapon is a sword that converts into a segmented bullwhip.
Namaari
Namaari
Voiced by: Gemma Chan, Jona Xiao (young) (English); Phan Huỳnh Như Thùy (Vietnamese)
The daughter of the Fang Land's Chieftess Virana.- 0% Approval Rating: In the present day, no one outside Fang likes her due to her actions leading to the Dragon Gem being shattered, causing the Druun to be released and the tribes to suffer more than before.
- Affectionate Nickname: Her mother calls her "my little morning mist."
- Amazonian Beauty: Grows up to be very muscular, broad-shouldered, and attractive. Her outfits show off much more skin than Raya's, allowing her to show off how muscular she is.
- Ambiguously Absent Parent: Similar to Raya, she has only one parent present, her mother, but no mention of her father.
- Anti-Villain: Despite how antagonistic Namaari acts, her actions are objectively pragmatic and not necessarily 'evil'. Her primary motivation is for the greater good of her Tribe, even if it causes other tribes to suffer so Fang can thrive. Deep down, Namaari is shown to be a kinder person and displays great reverence towards the dragons. She even shows remorse for what she's done long before the film's climax. Basically, Namaari acts the way she does because that's the way she'd been conditioned to think due to her extreme devotion to her mother.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She pretended to be Raya's friend in order to claim the Dragon Gem for Fang. Subverted afterwards, as she's implied to be harboring intense guilt for what she did as a child, and yearns to make up for it.
- Boyish Short Hair: The back and sides of her head has hair that is shaved short, with only the top of her head having hair that's grown out.
- Dark Action Girl: A ruthless warrior princess with skills on par with Raya herself.
- The Dragon: To her mother, Virana. Namaari is her right hand and main enforcer.
- Dragon-in-Chief: Although serving Virana, Namaari is the main antagonist to Raya and her friends and the one actively opposing them throughout the story, whilst her mother stays within Fang's borders.
- Evil Is Angular: Compared to the heroic Raya, who has rounder features, Namaari is tall, lean, and has sharper features that are complemented by an angular undercut.
- Exposed to the Elements: She never stops wearing her sleeveless outfit even in the colder snowy regions of Spine.
- False Friend: When they were children, she pretended to befriend Raya in order to find and steal the Dragon Gem.
- Fatal Flaw: It is apparent that Namaari is devoted to her mother. As a child, she follows her mother's plan to learn the location of the Dragon Gem hurtfully betraying Raya in the process. Later, after learning that Raya has found the last dragon and was collecting the Dragon Gem pieces to save the world, she briefly attempts to convince her mother to support that effort only to quickly fall in line with her mother's desire to secure the Gem so Fang can save the world. After asking what's going to happen, her mother answers with "That is no longer your concern, my love. You have done enough" effectively dismissing her further involvement in light of her failure to return with the Dragon Gem pieces herself. It is this sense of disfavor that drives Namaari to betray Raya a second time when she pulls out a crossbow and tries to claim Sisu and the Gem pieces for Fang.
- Friendless Background: As implied by some of her dialogue, it doesn't seem that Namaari has any real friends.
- Friendship Trinket: Her Sisu Pendant. She gives it to Raya as a gestures of "friendship", yet when Raya returns it to her with the same sentiment six years later, she is genuinely touched, and heavily considers the truce with Raya and her friends.
- Friend to All Children: The kids in her tribe are shown to be very fond of her.
- The Heavy: She's acting in accordance with her mother and leader, but she's still Raya's main pursuer and antagonist.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: When Namaari learns that Sisu has returned, she realizes Raya’s is attempting to save the world. Her immediate reaction is to try and convince her mother to help Raya. Unfortunately, her mother’s reaction is to dismiss her daughter saying that Fang should be the one to put the Dragon Gem together, pointing out (correctly) that the other lands blame them for what happened and would likely seek out vengeance against Fang. If Fang was able to put the gem together and had Sisu with them to eliminate the Druun, they would achieve redemption. This causes Namaari to fall back under Fang’s self-centered ideology. It’s downplayed, as she’s clearly not happy with it.
- Heel–Face Turn: Although she was always an Anti-Villain, Namaari chooses to help Raya's group restore the Gem in the climax.
- Hereditary Hairstyle: Her hair is styled the same as her mother's, but mirrored such that it's hanging on the right side of her face instead of the left.
- A Hero To Her Hometown: Despite how the rest of the world sees her as a villainess, her people adore her, as the children get excited when she returns to Fang, and she is shown to care deeply about her people.
- Hidden Depths: She has a deep inner-child love of Dragons that didn't fade away with adolescence or cynicism, and shows nothing but a deep reverence for Sisu's family who sacrificed themselves to save humanity from the Druun. The first time Namaari sees Sisu in her dragon form she's nearly driven to tears, and it’s not from fear of an angry dragon coming towards her. It’s in this scene that we first get a glimpse at the guilt and remorse for her actions that Namaari harbors.
- His Story Repeats Itself: In the beginning, Namaari gleefully betrays Raya's trust to benefit her own people in getting the Dragon Gem, which causes the Druun to rise and start a perpetual apocalypse. She does the same much later in the film and six In-Universe years later, but this time she's far more reluctant about, and even knows that it's stupid, but she genuinely feels that she doesn't have a choice, and the end result is the same.
- It's All My Fault: It's heavily implied that Namaari harbors a lot of guilt and fully blames herself for basically destroying the world and getting her whole tribe labeled as a bunch of no-good villains, and later for killing Sisu.
- Kick the Dog:
- She may just be doing what she thinks is right when she originally tries to steal the gem, but the way she smirks at Raya while betraying her in the opening flashback is pretty cold.
- When she runs into Raya in the present, Namaari shows no remorse for how her betrayal destroyed the Heart tribe and even mocks Raya by sarcastically complimenting her on finally finding a real frined (Sisu, who is pretending to be human in that scene).
- Light Is Not Good: Like the rest of the Fang tribe she wears white and gold but is the main human antagonist.
- Mean Boss: Her first Establishing Character Moment after the six-year time jump is her leading a group of Fang soldiers in search of Raya. One of her underlings questions the need for the mission, given the constant Druun presence. Her response is to immediately throw him down to the ground and intimidate the others into continuing the mission.
- Muscles Are Meaningful: She's more muscular than Raya as a young woman. The strength difference is noticeable when comparing their first two fights, where the first one is when they were both nonmuscular children. In both fights, Raya uses an aerial roundhouse kick against Namaari, who barely has a chance to react and tries to block it with her arms. As a child, Namaari failed to deflect this attack. As a young woman, Namaari blocks and even catches Raya's leg.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Her reaction after she accidentally shoots and kills Sisu.
- My Greatest Second Chance: A dark example. Partially due to her mother's influence, and partially due to her own guilt, the idea of Fang being able to restore the world becomes this to her. Unfortunately, she chooses to betray Raya a second time trying to force her and her crew to give her the Dragon Gem shards and have Sisu come back with her to Fang.
- Nothing Left to Do but Die: After Raya defeats her, Namaari asks to be killed, having given up all hope after her mother was consumed by the Druun. This ultimately prompts Raya to spare Namaari's life, leading to them working together to restore the Gem.
- Peer Pressure Makes You Evil: It's implied that her mother's upbringing and the Fang tribe's pragmatism ideology played a large part in converting her into who she is, even though deep down she feels remorseful about the cruel actions taken to ensure the safety of the tribe. Best shown in the third act when she learns the existence of Sisu and realizes that Raya is trying to save the world. She informs her mother about it and suggests cooperation, but her mother points out that when everyone returns the Fang tribe would be the target of their resentment... unless they could become the ones to save the world and redeem themselves in the eyes of the other tribes. To add to the pressure, when Namaari asks what to do next, her mother dismisses her with "it's no longer your concern... you've done enough". It's implied that Namaari ends up pulling a crossbow on Raya and Sisu and tries to take the Gem shards from them, even though she doesn't really want to do it in the hopes of restoring herself in her mother's eyes and ensuring the survival of her people. It doesn't end well.
- Took a Level in Badass: As a child, she had some combat skill, but was still ultimately beaten by the more trained Raya. As a young woman, she has grown much more muscular and has had much more training. Raya lampshades this, sarcastically remarking "looks like someone's been taking classes".
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Namaari becomes this when she moves to claim the Dragon Gem for Fang. She didn't mean for the Druun to invade and turn most of the world into a wasteland, but it was definitely her fault. The Druun are fed by human discord and her painful betrayal of Raya would have been strong flare to draw them so once the Dragon Gem was shattered, they instantly appeared.
- Villainous Breakdown: With her mother gone and the Druun having finally managed to invade Fang, a grief-stricken Namaari turns on Raya and engages her in a vicious sword duel to the death. When Raya stands victorious, Namaari begs her to go ahead and finish her off.
- "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: As a revered warrior and future leader, she is determined to do whatever it takes to help preserve her kingdom, while going to great lengths to gain her mother's appreciation.
- What You Are in the Dark: At one point, her hunting party rides through an ancient battlefield filled with the stone remains of dozens of dragons. Without a word, she slows the group from a furious gallop to a calm, respectful walk; taking care not to disturb the ancient dragons and regarding them with a genuine mournful reverence. As they leave the battlefield, Namaari alone, looks back upon all the dragons and honors them with the dragon salute. This private moment demonstrates that her childhood reverence for dragons was genuine.
Sisu
Sisudatu "Sisu"
"I'm not, like, the best dragon."
Click here to see her as a human
Voiced by: Awkwafina (English), Nguyễn Hạnh Thảo (Vietnamese)
The last surviving dragon, and one of five siblings who combined their magic to banish the Druun over 500 years before the start of the film.- All-Loving Heroine: She genuinely believes the best in everyone, wanting to trade for the Gem rather than steal it and appeal to the goodness in others. She's the first to believe that Namaari can be worthy of trust.
- All Your Powers Combined: As the group acquires more Dragon Gem shards, she gains the abilities of her siblings.note
- Barrier Maiden: Dragons are the source of life-giving water in the world, if Sisu were to die while all the others are still petrified, then all the water in Kumandra would dry up forever.
- Beware the Nice Ones: When Sisu sees Raya threatened by Namaari, instead of fleeing as ordered, she charges out of the gate to scare the Fang soldiers into terrified shock at the sight of a dragon roaring and growling at them.
- Big Brother Worship: Sisu is quite honest about the smaller role she played in saving the world than the legends say. When she takes Raya to the mountaintop where her petrified family rests she speaks with particular respect and pride towards her older brother Pengu for his determination in refusing to accept defeat and tells Raya that as The Leader of the family it was he who decided to create the Dragon Gem and make their last stand.
- Big Little Sister: In this case it's played straight with her sister Amba. Sisu mentions that glowing was her "little sister" Amba's magic, but later on a flashback shows that Sisu was the smallest out of all her siblings.
- Blue Is Heroic: She’s a blue water dragon, and is working with Raya to restore humanity to the world.
- Boring, but Practical: Her swimming skills sound unimpressive on paper, compared to abilities such as Human Disguise, but they end up useful in many occasions.
- Delightful Dragon: She's a kind-hearted water dragon who genuinely believes the best of everyone and appeals to their better inner qualities.
- Fatal Flaw: Naiveté. Sisu's sense of idealism and optimism is strong part of her personality. However, she shows a resistance to learning from experience and continues to make foolish mistakes throughout the story. She correctly believes that to build trust sometimes one must take the first step, but she never incorporates Raya's painful experience into her philosophy where Raya did take the first step and was betrayed and lost her father as a result. Even after nearly being killed by blindly trusting the Talon chief, Sisu doubles down and charges into Spine determined to prove her philosophy works. Of course this leads to her and Raya being immediately captured. Finally, when trying to talk Namaari out of her second betrayal, Sisu thinks that suddenly glowing is a good idea, causing an already emotional Namaari to become even more agitated adding to the situation that leads to Sisu being shot by the arrow.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: She has no memory of what's happened in the past 500 years, and thus has no idea of how bad things have gotten in Kumandra.
- Good Is Dumb: Dumb no. Naive yes. She believes the best in people, which is how some people, like the chief of Talon, takes advantage of her kind and trusting nature.
- Good Is Not Soft: Peace-loving or not, she can be fierce when she wants to. She's a dragon, after all. When Raya is at Namaari's mercy, she doesn't hesitate to show herself in her dragon form and go to Raya's aid and scare the living daylights out of Namaari and her Fang soldiers. She quickly softens up after she sees Namaari's tearful expression up close, though, showing that while she is capable of being scary, she prefers not to.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: Despite her power of 'being a strong swimmer' being played for laughs, when she and Raya are making their getaway on Boun's boat, she's shown to have enough strength to easily propel the boat at great speed away from their enemies.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: The entire world sees her as the heroine who slayed the Druun, but Sisu puts all the credit to her siblings for sacrificing their lives to empower the Dragon Gem. She compares herself to a kid who didn't do anything in a group project except turn it in.
- Humanity Ensues: After getting the gem fragment from Tail, Sisu is able to use her sister Pranee's magic to transform into a human woman.
- Humble Heroine: She readily admits to not being the best and has several Fish out of Water misfortunes, however she continues to inspire the main cast with her desire to see the best in people. However, she never sees herself as a role model, and always places credit on her brothers and sisters.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Sisu's human form looks exactly like Awkwafina, except with blue hair instead of black.
- Last of Her Kind: She is the only surviving dragon, her siblings having sacrificed themselves to create the Dragon Gem to banish the Druun. After the Dragon Gem is reconstructed, all the petrified Dragons are revived and she returns to life.
- Making a Splash: The dragons have a connection to water and it's life-bringing aspects. Sisu is a remarkably gifted swimmer who can move through water with effortless beauty and flexibility. As the last dragon, when she is killed, all the water in the land dries up, giving the Druun the opportunity to invade Fang.
- Middle Child Syndrome: The third of five siblings — she has an older brother and sister and a younger brother and sister — but she's the smallest of them, and considers herself to have the least talent.
- Morphic Resonance: When she shapeshifts into her human form, she retains her purple eyes and bluish-violet hair.
- Nice Girl: Sisu is sweet-tempered and caring and always tries to see the best in others.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: She disguises herself with Raya's hat and red cape to go unnoticed despite the fact that many people would see a giant talking female blue dragon wearing a hat and red cape and Raya asks Sisu about why does she wear clothes and we get this:Sisu: Oh you definitely chose the right hat/outfit for that.
- Super Swimming Skills: Her inborn talent, ostensibly magical in nature, since every dragon has a magical gift.
- Tail Slap: Sisu accidentally tail whaps Raya when they first meet, not realizing at first Raya is there.
- Toothy Issue: She lacks the perfectly-aligned Eternally Pearly-White Teeth almost all the other characters have, and is in fact missing a tooth in both her dragon and human forms. It adds to her childlike innocence and naiveté.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Even though her human form has billowing blue-purple hair in an ancient Southeast Asian setting, nobody in the film comments on it or even seems to give it a thought.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Played with; Sisu is very self-deprecating about her powers, since hers is just excellent swimming, believing her siblings contributed more to the dragon gem's power. However, as the pieces of the dragon gem are collected and grant her their powers, they're shown to not be very impressive either. In order they're glowing, shapeshifting into a human, conjuring fog and summoning rain. Attention isn't drawn to this, though some of them are practical, because Druun are repelled by water, but the focus is strictly on the completed gem's ability to destroy Druun across the land.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Even though she understands that human discord creates and feeds the Druun, she still chooses to believe that most people have good in them, even when shown plenty of evidence to the contrary, and is trusting and naïve to a fault in a world where deceit and suspicion now dominate.
Tuk Tuk
Tuk Tuk
Voiced by: Alan Tudyk
Raya's steed.- Affectionate Nickname: Raya teasingly calls him "you furbug" whilst lampshading that he never grew out of his tendency to get distracted by little things.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Shown to be easily distracted by small creatures during important missions both before and after the timeskip, the fact that he never grew out of it was lampshaded to him by Raya.
- Bizarre Alien Locomotion: Like a pill bug, he can pull himself into a "sphere" and is somehow able to roll. Raya even has a special saddle to accommodate it.
- Cool Bike: Raya has ridden him like a unicycle with a spherical wheel across the entire length of Kumandra.
- Delicious Distraction: Loyal he may be, but he's easily distracted by food.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: He angrily growls at Tong when he first sees him and his threatening appearance, but eventually warms up to him after realizing he was helping Raya's friends escape from Namaari.
- Gigantic Adults, Tiny Babies: In the span of six years, he grows from the size of a baseball to the size of a small car.
- I Got Bigger: Six years in the past, he was about the size of a baseball. In the present he's much bigger than Raya, about the size of a rickshaw, and acts as her mount.
- Meaningful Name: He's named for the tuktuk, the Thai version of the auto rickshaw
. Just as Tuk Tuk is Raya's mount, the auto rickshaw is a common form of transportation in Southeast Asia. - Mix-and-Match Critters: He's a cross between an armadillo, a pillbug, and a pug, and is considerably bigger than all three.
- Only Friend: He was Raya's only companion from the point when the Heartlands fell until she met Sisu.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Whether small at the beginning of the movie or older and bigger throughout the rest of it, he has a cuddly and adorable appearance. Even with a mix of pillbug in him!
Boun
Boun
Voiced by: Izaac Wang (English), Lữ Hoàng Bách (Vietnamese)
A young entrepreneur who owns the Shrimporium, a boat restaurant in the Land of Tail.- Actually, I Am Him: When Raya asks for the whereabouts of the captain of the boat, Boun pretends to search for him only to reveal that he is the captain.
- Adorably Precocious Child: A ten year old boy who runs his own business.
- Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: He has sauces to add to his shrimp congee that range from hot, hotter and "boun-goes-the-dynamite" which is the one Sisu tries to her immediate regret.
- Houseboat Hero: The Shrimporium boat/restaurant isn't just his business, it's his home. He stays there to avoid the Druun.
- Meaningful Name: Lao for "prosperity, goodness". Despite being ten, he's already a successful and ethical restaurant owner.
- Motor Mouth: He talks really quickly when he's selling something. If he slows down, you know he's serious.
- Parental Abandonment: His family was petrified by the Druun.
- Punny Name: His spiciest sauce is called "Boun Goes the Dynamite", named after a sports recap show clip that went viral a few years prior to the movie's release.
- Supreme Chef: He's not even a teenager, but can cook well enough to get rave reviews from everyone who tries his food.
Little Noi
Little Noi
Voiced by: Thalia Tran (English), Adeline Chetail (French)
A toddler-aged con artist from Talon.- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Acts cute, but is actually pretty sinister. At least before her Heel–Face Turn.
- Brainy Baby: She is very intelligent for her young age, using her cuteness to run scams.
- Heel–Face Turn: Joins Raya in her quest to fix the world after initially scamming her.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being a con baby, she eventually joins Raya in her quest.
- Little Miss Con Artist: An even younger-than-average example. She manages to trick the cynical Raya of all people into lowering her guard.
- Parental Abandonment: Her mother was turned to stone by the Druun and she was taken in by a group of Ongis that looked after her.
- Raised by Wolves: After losing her mother, a troop of monkey-like creatures called Ongis became her caretaker and companions.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: She gets Raya to fall for her ruse by pretending to be an abandoned baby crying in an alley. When Raya drops her guard, her crew acts.
Ongis
Ongis
- All There in the Manual: Their names are only revealed in tie-in materials.
- Big Eater: According to Boun they have nine stomachs.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: Dyan is the tall thin one, Pan is the medium sized thick one, and Uka is the smallest one.
- Intellectual Animal: Although they can't speak, they demonstrate that they have human-level intelligence and can understand human speech. They willingly choose to become custodians of Noi and when Raya asks, "Where is your family?", Uka's face goes sad and does the "petrified prayer pose" in front of Raya to answer her question.
- Mischief-Making Monkey: They are part-monkey and help Little Noi with her scams.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: They are reportedly half monkey (somewhat resembling Indian langurs) and half catfish.
Tong
Tong
Voiced by: Benedict Wong (English), Nguyễn Minh Trị (Vietnamese)
A warrior from the Land of Spine.- And Then What?: After capturing Raya and Sisu, he has a lot of trouble trying to come up with a good idea.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: He's a Proud Warrior Race Guy who fights with a large axe.
- Didn't Think This Through: He had absolutely no idea what to do with Raya and Sisu after capturing them.
- Eye Patch Of Power: His left eye is covered by an eyepatch, and he's a powerful Spine warrior.
- Face of a Thug: He's introduced as an intimidating-looking warrior who traps Raya and Sisu, but actually is just a lonely man who's suffering the trauma of losing his whole tribe and family.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: Tong seems to be angry and suffering some PTSD from having his village wiped out by the Druun as well as losing his child. He gets better when joining the crew.
- Hidden Depths: This aggressive barbarian guy pays enough attention to minute details to figure out Noi's real name - though it's partly because he actually is a father.
- Last of His Kind: He is the only surviving member of his tribe.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His baby was one of the ones taken by the Druun. It's why he gravitates towards Noi.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: He really plays up the warrior aesthetic of his tribe, but his bark is a lot worse than his bite.
- Token Adult: While he isn't much more mature than they are, he's the only adult in the team.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Played for Laughs - when he calls Noi by name, he reacts to the others' confusion by pointing out that her name was stitched onto her shirt's collar, then calling out everyone else for not even thinking of checking for something like that.
The Land of Fang
Virana
Chieftess Virana
Voiced by: Sandra Oh, Phạm Thị Phương Minh (Vietnamese)
The chief of Fang and the mother of Namaari.- All for Nothing: Her attempted heist on the Dragon Gem made life worse than before; the Druun are starving out her people, no tribe would help even if she asked due to the Fang tribe being seen as villains, and the realm is becoming badly overcrowded.
- Animal Motif: It applies to all of Fang. They have a feline motif, with large cats being their mounts, and Virana referring to the children as her little kittens.
- Anti-Villain: She convinces her daughter to do some shady actions, but those are what she believes is the best course of action for the safety and prosperity of her people and her kingdom. When the Druun are defeated, she sees the error of her ways and reunites with the rest of the clans to reform Kumandra.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: She is the only chief to remain silent and professional as the others throw accusations and insults at Benja, but she is actively plotting to steal the gem by any means necessary and bring prosperity to her faction and poverty to Benja's.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Her one concern about Namaari going after Raya is that she's worried her daughter will be killed in the attempt, given Raya's fighting prowess and grudge and clear dangers of the Drunn.
- Fatal Flaw: Extreme pragmatism that focuses exclusively on Fang's well-being. It was her attempt to claim the Dragon Gem for Fang that caused the Druun to return in the first place. After that, she works to keep her people isolated from the other tribes instead of cooperating to find a way to resolve the crisis. While she is correct in pointing out that the other tribes blame Fang for the current state of the world and are likely to seek payback, her isolation policy is slowly dwindling Fang's resources so they cannot survive on their own in the long run. When Namaari informs her that Raya has found the last dragon and is collecting the Dragon Gem pieces to save the world, Virana again pulls back into a Fang-centric course of action that intends to have them reassemble the Dragon Gem and save everyone in an attempt to redeem Fang in the eyes of the world.
- Foil: To Chief Benja. Both of them are leaders of their own tribes who are willing to do what they thought is best for their people, and they both love their respective daughters and encouraged them to follow their footsteps. The only real difference between them is their ideology. While Benja is optimistic about peaceful diplomacy between the tribes and wants to see Kumantra reunited, Virana prefers pragmatism and has a more cynical attitude towards cooperation, wanting to keep her people isolated from the world in order to protect them.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Despite being the instigator of the Druun's return and the devastation that it brought upon the world for six years, she and her tribe lived in good, if somewhat paranoid, prosperity thanks to building a canal that cuts the land of Fang from the mainland, preventing the Druun from reaching the shores. That prosperity was on the verge of collapse when the population got too big for the island to support and ends completely when Namaari accidentally kills Sisu in an attempt to reclaim the rest of the Dragon Gem, causing the river to dry up and allowing the Druun to cross.
- Kick the Dog: When she hears that Raya is journeying to Spine, she shows smug amusement at the idea that the Druun there will kill Raya.
- Light Is Not Good: She wears white and gold and lives in a bright place. However, her concerns end at her tribe's survival, being willing to be manipulative if it means its success and survival.
- Magic Staff: Post-Time Skip, she wields a Staff of Authority that holds the largest piece of the dismantled Dragon Gem.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Rules Fang, but never takes an active part in the hunting of the Dragon Gems and is petrified offscreen, leaving her daughter to be the one to fight Raya.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Thanks to her and her daughter’s actions, her tribe is seen as dishonorable and blamed for the end of the world. Virana is well-aware of this.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: To a degree. While she's only concerned with Fang's well-being for much of the movie, she cares for her people and is willing to hear out her daughter when she explains why Fang should also be pursuing the Dragon Gem.
- Silver Fox: She looks very beautiful for someone her age.
- Stealing the Credit: When she learns that Raya has found the last dragon and is collecting the Dragon Gem pieces to save the world, rather than helping, Virana prefers a Fang-centric course of action that intends to have Fang reassemble the Dragon Gem and save everyone in an attempt to redeem Fang in the eyes of the world.
- Strong Family Resemblance: She looks a lot like an older Namaari.
- Taken for Granite: She gets turned to stone when the Druun invade Fang after Sisu is accidentally killed, by her own daughter, no less. She gets better.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: When she dismisses Namaari from any further plans regarding the Dragon Gem pieces, it leaves Namaari feeling her mother's disfavor which drives Namaari to pull a crossbow on Raya and Sisu even though she doesn't really want to do it in the hopes of restoring herself in her mother's eyes and ensuring the survival of her people. However, this leads to Sisu being killed which causes the water surrounding the city of Fang to dry up, allowing the Druun to invade and destroy the city.
The Land of Heart
Benja
Chief Benja
Voiced by: Daniel Dae Kim (English), Cao Thanh Danh (Vietnamese)
The chieftain of the Heartlands and the father of Raya.- Big Good: Benja is the leader of Heart who wants to unite all the kingdoms and have them be at peace.
- Good Parents: There’s a reason why Raya enjoys sparring with him, and he helps her to understand his desire to bring Kumandra back.
- I Will Only Slow You Down: He is injured in the initial confrontation with the other tribes. When the Druun start chasing after everyone Raya tries to help him along, but he realizes that she would never make it at the pace they were going at. He throws her over the bridge to give her a chance at survival and is petrified shortly afterwards.
- Martial Pacifist: He's a Nice Guy through and through, whose main goal is to reunite the tribes of Kumandra through peaceful diplomacy. However, he's also a guardian of the Dragon Gem and is quite skilled in the use of the whip-sword.
- Papa Wolf: If anyone threatens his daughter, he will draw a weapon on them. Benja's last act is to toss Raya to safety before the Druun can turn her to stone.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He focus is not only keeping his people safe but also trying to get the other lands to cooperate and become Kumandra once again.
- Taken for Granite: He gets turned to stone by the Druun when the Dragon Gem is broken and stolen at the beginning of the movie.
The Land of Talon
Dang Hai
Voiced by: Sung Kang (English), Phan Quốc Hưng (Vietnamese)
The chieftain of Talon at the time the Dragon Gem was broken.- The Reveal: Raya remembers Dang Hai as the chief of Talon, a land "of fast deals and fighters with even faster hands". In her recap she envisions him doing a mid-air somersault while cutting fruit in half then giving a smug aside glance. However, after her six year search for Sisu, when Raya sneaks into his palace to steal his Gem fragment, she learns that he's been petrified by the Druun. He is restored at the end of the film along with everyone else.
Dang Hu
Voiced by: Lucille Soong (English), Thùy Lan (Vietnamese)
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first, she looks like a Cool Old Lady out to help Sisu, when in reality, she's a ruthless leader who won't hesitate to kill her for her own benefit.
- Cool Old Lady: Subverted. She's introduced rescuing Sisu from an angry mob of merchants she stole from.
- The Dreaded: A servant in the Talon palace describes her as the most vicious chief Talon has ever known.
- Miniature Senior Citizens: Elderly and quite short.
- Never Mess with Granny: A ruthless leader. She threatens to leave Sisu outside the village gates for the Druun if she doesn't give up information on the Dragon Gem.
Chai
Voiced by: Jon Park (English
A servant and "flower guy" in the Talon chief's palace.- Mistaken from Behind: Raya mistakes Chai for Dang Hai when sneaking up on him.
- Real Men Wear Pink: He is a guy who makes it no secret that he loves flowers while wearing bright pink clothing.
- Surfer Dude: He isn't shown surfing, but his accent comes across as the stereotypical "dude speak".
Others
Sisu's Family
Sisu's Family
Jagan, Pengu, Amba, Pranee
While Raya's world was once filled with dragons, the movie particularly focuses on these four dragons: Pengu, Jagan, Pranee, Amba who are Sisu's brothers and sisters and the creators of the Dragon Gem.- Big Good: They created the Dragon Gem to protect Kumandra from the Druun.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sisu's family used their magic to create the Dragon Gem to ward off the Druun from Kumandra. Before becoming petrified themselves, they give the gem to Sisu, trusting her to activate it.
- Making a Splash: All Dragons are associated with life and water such that if the last dragon dies, all the water in the world will dry up and vanish. While all dragons have a magic ability, some have powers associated with water like Jagan who can generate fog and Pengu who can summon rain. In addition, all dragons have the ability to dance on rain drops giving them the ability to fly.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Like all the dragons in Raya's world, they're based on the Phaya Naga, a type of naga that are believed to be divine and are associated with rivers. Furthermore, each dragon has a different appearance and ability, ranging from Light 'em Up to Human Disguise to limited Weather Manipulation (rain or fog).
The Druun
Druun
- Always Chaotic Evil: They are a mindless force, lacking personality, emotion, or any motivation beyond a primal hunger for souls.
- As Long as There Is Evil: Since they are born from humanity's discord and distrust, they cannot be killed for good. But they can be sealed away by the Dragon Gem infused with The Power of Trust.
- Cannot Cross Running Water: They are repelled by water and rivers in particular. Talon's population is largely safe because their houses are built on the water. Fang, meanwhile, has adapted by digging an artificial canal, separating their territory from the mainland.
- Dark Is Evil: They are malevolent dark spirits that float around like black and purple clouds.
- The Dreaded: They are the most feared entities in all of Kumandra.
- Emotion Eater: They are attracted by human discord and mistrust and it's hinted that their hunger is amplified in the presence of hatred and wrath such when Raya and Namaari fight in the city of Fang.
- Evil Counterpart: According to Sisu, dragons bring water and life to the world, while the Druun are like a relentless fire, consuming everything in their wake, until nothing is left but ash and stone in the form of their petrified victims.
- Evil Only Has to Win Once: There's no higher power shown than the Dragons who are the bringers of life and water. If the Druun successfully spread and petrify all dragons then all the water dries up and the whole world dies.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: They're mindless spirits whose only purpose is to consume life, and function more as a constant background threat than a real character. Hence, the story focuses far more on the hardships brought on by their existence than the Druun themselves.
- Invincible Villain: What makes them particularly terrifying is that they cannot be defeated, not without the Dragon Gem being whole, and even then they're simply banished. Shards of the Dragon Gem and water can repel them but never directly harm, and it's clear fighting them directly is a fool's errand.
- Made of Evil: They're born from human discord. The shattering of the Dragon Gem summoned them back, and the tribes' continued division has allowed them to thrive.
- Near-Villain Victory: At the climax, Sisu's death causes all the world's water to dry up, removing the one last defense mankind had against the Druun. The city of Fang is quickly overrun and while Raya's team helps some of the population escape, without water it's only a matter of time before all of humanity is petrified. In the end, Raya and her team trust Namaari with all their gem pieces and are petrified. Namaari chooses to reassemble the gem and we watch the gem cracks "heal" but its inner glow fades and Namaari is also petrified. For 30 seconds, the Druun have won and the world is in darkness, before the gem reignites sending out wave after wave of energy that summons a life-giving rain that restores the petrified people, recalls water into the world, brings back the petrified dragons and most importantly vanquishes the Druun.
- Purple Is the New Black: They’re an amorphous blob of black and purple energy.
- The Soulless: Sisu states that the Druun have no souls.
- Taken for Granite: They absorb the souls of their victims, turning them to stone.
- The Virus: Druun multiply every time they devour a human soul. Initially there was only one, but the chaos caused by breaking the Dragon Gem lead to them growing into a massive force, and by the time Raya finds Sisu they've devoured most of humanity.
- Would Hurt a Child: Nobody is safe from their clutches, not even children. We actually see them petrify Noi and Boun on screen during the climax.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: They do this while turning their victims to stone.
