Fijian mythology Fijian mythology refers to the set of beliefs practiced by the indigenous people of the island of Fiji. Its gods include Degei, a serpent who is the supreme god of Fiji. He is the creator of the (Fijian) world. He judges newly dead souls after t ...

, Dakuwaqa (Dakuwanga) is a

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

god In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

. He was greatly respected by

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

because he protected them from any danger at

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

and sometimes protected them from evil denizens of the sea. He was once going inland to conquer

Kadavu Island Kadavu (pronounced ), with an area of , is the fourth largest island in Fiji, and the largest island in the ''Kadavu Group'', a volcanic archipelago consisting of Kadavu, Ono, Galoa and a number of smaller islands in the Great Astrolabe Reef. Its ...

through the river when another goddess challenged him in the form of an octopus. After a great battle, the octopus won by pulling out his teeth with her 8 arms which enabled her to hold off the massive attack of Dakuwaqa, forcing Dakuwaqa to promise to never attack Kadavu again. That is how Dakuwaqa became the god and protector of Kadavu. Dakuwaqa can also change shape into anything, but his real form is that of a muscular Fijian man with the upper torso of a shark. In the book ''Pacific Irishman'', the Anglican

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

Charles William Whonsbon-Aston records in Chapter 1, ''

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

'':

In popular culture

American writer Jeff VanderMeer wrote a story about Dakuwaqa that can be found in his book, '' The Third Bear''. Dakuwaqa is featured and recreated in the third episode of the TV miniseries ''

Beast Legends ''Beast Legends'' is a science fiction mini-series produced by a Toronto and Leeds based independent film company called Yap Films, Inc. It was first shown on the Canadian History Channel in the summer of 2010 and was later aired on the US SyFy Ch ...

''. Dakuwaqa is the father of the supervillain

King Shark King Shark is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character, also known as Nanaue, was created by writer Karl Kesel and artist Tom Grummett. King Shark's first key appearance was in ''Superboy'' #0 (October 1994) ...

in the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...

. Dakuwanga is an

Atlantean As an adjective, Atlantean (or Atlantian) means "of or pertaining to Atlas or Atlantis". Atlantean may also refer to: * Atlantean figures, a type of ancient artifacts * ''Atlantean'' (documentary series), a trilogy of TV films discussing the ori ...

Bio-weapon in the Earth Prime setting of the

Mutants & Masterminds ''Mutants & Masterminds'' (abbreviated "M&M" or "MnM") is a superhero role-playing game written by Steve Kenson and published by Green Ronin Publishing based on a variant of the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast. The game system is designed t ...

roleplaying game. Dakuwanga is the official pet in the "

Quidditch Quidditch is a fictional sport invented by author J.K. Rowling for her fantasy book series ''Harry Potter''. It first appeared in the novel '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997). It is a dangerous but popular sport played by wi ...

World Cup

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

2014" in the '' Harry Potter'' universe.

References

External links

*{{Commonscatinline Fijian deities Fish gods Sea and river gods Shapeshifting Animal gods

In popular culture

See also

References

External links