mowgli

Mowgli (also known as the Man-Cub) is the protagonist of Disney's 1967 animated feature film The Jungle Book. A young, orphaned boy with an adventurous spirit, Mowgli had been found by a black panther named Bagheera and raised by a pack of wolves in the jungles of India since infancy. When a murderous tiger becomes determined to kill him, however, Mowgli is forced to leave his pack to live among humans in the Man-Village. Refusing to abandon his wild side, Mowgli instead strives to find a new place in the jungle, preferably with a fun-loving bear named Baloo. Background Mowgli is a human child, who was found in a basket on the edge of a torn-apart boat as a baby by Bagheera, a black panther, with that fraction of a boat laying on a rock and its rear pointing up. Apparently orphaned, Mowgli was raised by a pack of wolves until he was 10 years old. However, the threat of Shere Khan forces the pack to send him away, and Bagheera decides to take him to a nearby man-village for his protection

In the first scene of the film, Mowgli, as an infant, was found in a battered canoe. His biological parents were nowhere to be found, but it is implied that they died not too long before Mowgli was discovered by Bagheera. How exactly is unknown, but it can be concluded that a messy river accident claimed their lives.

Mowgli is a rather complex person. He is portrayed as an average child in the original film: generally innocent, mischievous, kind, and happy-go-lucky. However, Mowgli suffered from an identity crisis due to how out of place he was in the jungle. Although Mowgli knew he was human, he was at a loss as to what being a human actually means. Throughout his life in the jungle, Mowgli struggled with this identity crisis, but the frustration of being unable to solve it made him stubborn, rebellious and particularly insecure because he tried everything to convince himself and others that he belongs in the jungle. As a result, Mowgli would spend the course of the film imitating other animals in hopes of finding a sense of belonging. This is one of the reasons as to why Mowgli's relationship with Baloo is so strong. Baloo, being a part of the jungle's counterculture, had no qualms with Mowgli finding his own identity in the jungle and live the way the man-cub sees fit. Once Baloo eventually did come around to realize the importance of Mowgli's entry into the Man-Village, it was out of love, as he only wanted what was best for Mowgli, despite the fact that it would lead to their separation. The same can be said for the wise and often grouchy panther, Bagheera, though Mowgli's stubbornness and failure to understand the circumstances of his situation, would leave the man-cub feeling unwanted and unworthy of love. Nevertheless, Mowgli would come to understand by the end of the film, and immediately patch his close relationships. At the end of the film, Mowgli finally understood what a human is when he met Shanti, a very beautiful girl from the Man Village. He felt instinctually drawn to his own kind and quickly realized that what he feels for another human is something he can never feel for an animal. With that epiphany, Mowgli's identity crisis was finally solved.

Because the wolves sheltered Mowgli as he grew up (this was done to prevent word about the boy's presence in the jungle from spreading to Shere Khan), he became considerably naïve and lacking the necessary instincts and knowledge of the jungle in order to survive in it. Throughout the film, Mowgli refused to accept this truth, as it would require him to admit that he does not belong in the jungle. However, he finally accepted his limitations after barely surviving his encounter with Shere Khan. Despite the lack of animal survival instincts, Mowgli is incredibly brave. When met with obstacles in the jungle, the man-cub would retaliate once the danger is realized, and often come out on top. However, much of his resolve came from the awareness of the fact that his status as a human embodies the power and mystique that animals like Shere Khan fear. Mowgli would realize this illusion during his first confrontation with Shere Khan, who proved to be a force powerful enough to actually strike legitimate fear within Mowgli; but even then, once Mowgli learned the tiger's weakness, he retained his bravery as he refused to let Baloo die and once again took charge of the situation by driving Shere Khan away, revealing his true courage in doing so. In the sequel, an older and more mature Mowgli had his resolve tested by Shere Khan once again and his bravery and nobility were stronger than ever before, showcased by him being willing to sacrifice himself to protect Shanti.

Although young and inexperienced, Mowgli is quite intelligent. Despite his identity crisis, Mowgli has learned to nurture many of his innate human instincts that overrule animal behavior, such as walking upright, during his life in the jungle. He is also a fast learner, quickly learning from first experiences, such as avoiding Kaa's gaze after his first encounter with the snake, using tools to acquire a prickly pear after he could not do so with his hands etc. He is also very trusting of his instincts and intuition, which has enabled him to solve problems in a way that the wolves could not have taught him, such as tying a knot, swimming, swinging from vines and even use the environment to his advantage, such as when he threw dust at Shere Khan's eyes to temporarily blind him, allowing the man-cub to get a head start. In the sequel, where Mowgli is older and more mature, he has learned to apply himself properly, which has allowed his intelligence to shine even more. Most notably with his charisma, theatricality and leadership skills that has gained him much popularity among the village children. Finally, Mowgli is prone to making sassy remarks, showing that he is very witty.

In addition to that, Mowgli has also proven to be strong-willed. This is seen in Mowgli's first encounter with Kaa the python, who had difficulty hypnotizing the boy to sleep, due to his continuing resistance and only succeeded by using the comfort of his coils to relax him, whereas the more mature Bagheera and Shanti were both put in a trance without much effort. In their second encounter, Kaa managed to put Mowgli in a trance immediately, but only because Mowgli's resolve had been shattered by depression. Mowgli's bravery and iron will more or less makes him an equal to Shere Khan, as they are both controversial creatures of the jungle who are fiercely determined to succeed and never back away from any threats. Despite Mowgli's strong will, he is as impressionable as children tend to be, being easily won over by King Louie's tempting offer of being given a new home with the bandar-log and quickly picking up Baloo's lifestyle. Despite Mowgli's headstrong, assertive mind and tough exterior, he does have a sensitive side to him, which is rarely shown. This is evidenced when he was haunted by the thought of being an unloved outcast after his perceived rejection by his friends and family, at which point it only took a simple mockery by the vultures to make him cry. His love for Shanti has also been known to bring out his softer side, as evidenced by his regret for accidentally breaking her heart when Baloo revealed that he told him to scare her away in case she found them.

Mowgli is also shown to have brotherly instincts. In the beginning of the first film, it is shown that he is admired by his wolf siblings and possibly looked up to by the new pups. Lastly, Mowgli is also mischievous, as shown when he tickled Baloo when he was lying on the ground and when he pulled pranks on Shanti, either by simply playing on her fears, or by startling her, so she would trip and fall into the river and resulting her becoming soaking wet. In The Jungle Book 2, Mowgli has gained considerable emotional maturity, due to having connected and socialized with his own kind and children his own age for a while, particularly Shanti, his friend-turned-girlfriend, who has had highly positive influence on him. Although he retains his boyish charm and fun-loving nature, he now displays more rationality, is less rebellious and is in more touch with his feelings. His brotherly instincts are also even more noticeable as he displays protective attitude towards his new adoptive brother, Ranjan and the latter looks up to him for that. His charisma has been known to go beyond his relationship with his families, as he is able to charm Shanti and occasionally bring out her fun-loving side, following Baloo's example when he used his own charm to cheer him up when they first met. For this reason, Mowgli is very popular among the children of the Man Village.

Abilities Excellent Strength: Mowgli is remarkably strong for a boy his age as a result of having to rely more on his physical strength all his life in the jungle. In the first film, he was able to push Kaa's massive piled up coils down a tree with relative ease and was able to deliver a blow that was hard enough to knock down Baloo as well as landing several blows on Shere Khan with a wooden club that were powerful enough to disorientate the tiger for a few seconds. Excellent Speed & Agility: Being raised by wolves, Mowgli learned to run as fast as the rest of his pack. In both films, Mowgli has demonstrated that he is able to outrun Shere Khan, a full-grown tiger. Also, Mowgli has shown to be very flexible and agile while climbing. Excellent Durability: Mowgli is very resilient and durable for a boy his age. In the first film, Baloo accidentally hit him and sent him rolling towards a log, but Mowgli was able to shrug it off immediately with no injuries albeit dazed. Excellent Willpower: Mowgli's willpower is one of his most iconic traits. Mowgli is one of the few individuals who can resist Kaa's hypnosis through sheer strength of will, while more mature individuals, like Bagheera and Shanti fell into a trance as soon as they looked into the snake's eyes due to their emotional vulnerabilities. Despite his impressive willpower, Mowgli is not immune like Shere Khan and can be manipulated by the right tactics when distracted or his resolve is weakened.

Excellent Charisma: Ever since his identity crisis was solved at the end of the first film, Mowgli has experienced considerable growth. He has demonstrated quite a lot of interpersonal intelligence, emotional maturity, and confidence thanks to his life in the village, improving his natural charisma. He has become the most popular youth in the village and with an aptitude for theatricality, showmanship and boyish charm. He has also demonstrated a certain amount of suave and cheeky humor. For this reason, he is able to charm Shanti, despite her being very intelligent and refined, into letting loose and bring out her fun-loving side, strengthening their romantic feelings for each other. Climbing: Thanks to Bagheera's tutorship, Mowgli is able to climb almost any tree with ease while maintaining perfect balance. In the second film, his climbing skills have improved as shown when he surprised Shanti by hanging upside down from the tree branch above her and during "Jungle Rhythm", he showed he was more nimble than all the other children in the village. Animal Empathy: Having been raised by animals, Mowgli sees the inhabitants of the jungle as individuals rather than just creatures like most humans do. Unlike the villagers, Mowgli is also able to interpret animal facial expressions and feelings, while the people of the Man Village can only sense whether or not an animal is hostile.