The latest Disney animation told a story that was a little darker than most of their recent
movies.
The tale of how Kumandra fell and became divided was a grim one.
Like many films produced by Disney and Pixar in recent years, there aren’t exactly evil
people.
Still, we want to tackle who would be considered the least good and who stayed above the rest.
I’m Kyle with WickedBinge and this is Raya and the Last Dragon: Good to Most Good.
Our gold medal of least good goes to the Druun.
Referring to the main threat of this film, Sisu explains how they gained so much power.
They were creatures that fed on fear and malice, growing in numbers every time they claimed
another human...or dragon.
Because of them, the people lost not only territory and resources but also entire families.
We can’t exactly say they are evil since they come off as almost mindless in their
hunt for more people.
But we have to give them the title of least good due to the damage and heartache they
caused for hundreds of years.
Our silver medal of least good goes to the current chief of the Talon tribe, Dang Hu.
Though she looked like a friendly old woman, she was dubbed ruthless, even by her own people.
When she saw the human Sisu being surrounded, she used the chance to lure the shape-shifted
dragon to the edge of the city.
Thankfully, Dang Hu’s plan didn’t work, and Sisu was able to escape thanks to Raya.
Dang Hu was a grim reminder that some people were willing to do whatever it took to survive
the Druun.
Even if it meant leading an innocent young woman to be turned to stone.
We aren't sure how she compares to the chief before her, but we can only guess that being
cold-blooded in this new world was a family trait.
After all, Raya herself stated that Dang Hai was seen as a relentless warrior who wouldn’t
be easily swayed.
It would make sense if he gained this trait from a careful and merciless mother.
Our bronze medal of least good goes to Chief Virana of Fang.
While we understand she was trying to make the best choices for her people, we had to
give her a low ranking.
Virana’s demand for Namaari to gain the Gem and Sisu led to her daughter betraying
Raya.
Though Virana didn’t intend for the Gem to be broken or for Sisu to be killed, in
a way, she caused these things to happen.
We give her credit for trying to do what was best for Fang, but she put the other tribes
at great risk to help her own people.
It’s difficult to believe that Virana would rather steal the Gem for her own tribe rather
than try to agree to Chief Benja’s plan to unite the land.
And when the Gem broke, Virana had one of her men gather one of the biggest pieces and
flee.
When Namaari pleaded to try and use Raya’s plan, Virana’s response was that no one
would help them or show them mercy as they blamed Fang for the land falling to the Druun.
We also have to place Virana this low on the ranking for insisting and commanding her men
to steal the Gem despite knowing that Chief Benja and his frightened young daughter were
the only ones protecting it.
I mean, happily using lethal force to take on a little girl and her father?
That’s pretty ruthless.
And we can’t say we felt too bad when she was one of the many to fall to the Druun.
She had chances to work with the other tribes and try to fix her mistakes, but it was easier
for Virana to focus her concerns on her own tribe’s well-being.
After the threat was taken care of, Virana was thankfully able to see the error of her
ways and unite with the people, following her daughter’s example.
Though she had been a proud woman, she wasn’t so proud as to not see Raya’s hand in saving
the land.
Daughter of the Fang and brilliant fighter, we have Namaari.
Like Raya, she was a self-proclaimed dragon nerd.
Namaari was clearly a child raised to understand that her people were lacking, making a comment
when she and Raya met that she hadn’t had rice in ages.
Because of this, it’s easy to see why Namaari went along with her mother’s plan to hunt
down the Dragon’s Gem for their own tribe.
Although it was deceptive of her to use Raya to get the Gem, she did what she thought was
best for her people.
By the end of the film, Namaari was once again caught in the conflict.
She clearly wanted her people to be taken care of.
And with her mother guilting her to retrieve Sisu and the Gem, Namaari clearly felt trapped.
The relief was evident on her face when she saw Sisu, and she made a point to try and
convince her mother to go along with Raya’s plan.
Though she threatened Raya and tried to take Sisu, we know that Namaari was under orders
from her mother and that their people were struggling with expansion.
In the end, Namaari came around and used her fragment of the Gem to help lead her people
to safety.
When Raya and the others handed over the Gem pieces, Namaari decided to stay and try to
join the pieces together.
And when she feared it wasn’t enough, she stayed by Raya’s side, allowing the Druun
to turn her to stone.
Namaari only wanted to be the leader she had been raised to be.
Sure, she made mistakes, but she was eventually able to atone for them.
And by the end, she was able to get her mother to agree to unite the lands again.
The next spot goes to the con baby Noi and the Ongis.
Noi was very capable and cunning for a baby.
It was both amusing and heartbreaking to see her work, considering how she wound up having
to be so resilient.
She didn’t just rely on the Ongis but instead helped them too.
When she’s defeated by Raya, Noi is seen handing pieces of food to the monkeys, where
one of the Ongi informs Raya about what happened to her parents.
After joining the crew, Noi was more than willing to help Raya try and gather the pieces.
She was the one to sneak into the palace and leave the dragon trinket to convince Namaari
to join them.
And when the Druun came through Fang, Noi and Ongis were able to use a fragment to help
save countless people.
For such a young kid, Noi was surprisingly smart.
When they were surrounded by the Druun, she understood what it meant to trust Namaari.
Noi knew that she would be turned to stone like the rest of her family and still trusted
that Raya was making the right choice.
It’s not often in animated features like this that we see someone so young being hurt
in the conflict, and we give a lot of props to Disney for showing it.
Our next spot goes to Raya’s aid Tuk Tuk. Disney is great at creating companion animals
for their heroes, and this movie was no exception.
Tuk Tuk was always right by Raya’s side.
He aided her in training to be a guardian of the Dragon Gem.
He traveled with her after their escape from the collapsing Heart tribe.
He helped Boun and the others get the people of Fang to safety when Raya was fighting Namaari.
Tuk Tuk was easily distracted by the occasional bug or food laid out.
Still, he was also able to help Raya cut off Noi and the Ongis when they tried fleeing
with the Dragon Gem fragments.
Tuk Tuk clearly loved both Raya and Benja, happy to help hunt down every river end to
find Sisu.
Tuk Tuk clearly cared for Raya just as much as she cared for him.
Like many animal companions in these movies, Tuk Tuk was shown to be composed in a high-stakes
situation.
He showed composure when Namaari was chasing them and when they were leading the people
of Fang to safety.
A warrior and father, Tong also gets his spot on this ranking.
Tong was revealed to be the only survivor of his people when they attempted to attack
the Druun.
Because of this, Tong wasn’t so much a formidable enemy as he was a man suffering from the loss
of his family and tribe.
He captured Raya and Sisu but was clearly intending to have them as a company so he
wouldn’t be alone in the now empty village.
He quickly agreed to lead Raya and the others to safety, and his heart softened when Noi
reminded him of his own child.
Tong became a father figure to the group, being especially protective over Noi.
He had been less willing to forgive Namaari for her actions, labeling her as a killer.
But when he saw Raya and Boun sacrifice themselves so that Namaari might have some hope of saving
them, Tong followed suit.
He respected Raya’s decision as their leader.
And because of this, he was able to have his family again.
Tong was a good example of why you should never assume what a person is based on how
they look or what you may have heard of them.
Sure, Tong was tough.
But more importantly, he was honorable.
Tong was loyal.
And he was able to learn to let others in rather than hiding away in fear as he had
done for years.
Up next is the princess herself, Raya.
Yes, Raya is the main hero of this movie.
Like Namaari, however, she also caused a lot of problems for herself.
She was the one to lead Namaari to the Gem, despite having just been appointed a guardian
of it.
We have given her some slack since she was a kid trying to give some hope to another
young girl.
Raya couldn’t have possibly predicted that Namaari would attack her and go after the
Dragon Gem.
Because of this betrayal, Raya refused to allow others in and wanted to take on the
task of fixing her mistake alone.
She had been reluctant to take Sisu’s advice in the beginning, but we understand why.
After all, though Sisu was proven to be right in the end, there were plenty of times throughout
the movie that justified Raya’s caution.
Because of Sisu, Raya slowly grew to care for Noi, Boun, and Tong.
She even faced Namaari alone to give them all a chance to escape Spine.
But Raya still resented Namaari for what happened when they were kids.
This distrust led to Sisu dying in the conflict and allowed the Druun to gain more power.
While the others were leading the people of Fang to safety, Raya was driven to fight Namaari.
She only understood the fault of her choice to gain revenge when she saw her friends fighting
without her.
Thankfully, Raya was able to find a solution and trust Namaari again.
Not only that, but Raya’s actions led to the land unifying as Kumandra just as her
father had hoped.
Raya more than earned her spot among the Disney princesses.
Taking our next spot is the lovable Captain Boun.
The first to join Raya and Sisu, Boun was initially in it for the money.
But he rolled with the punches and came to care for the misfits that slowly joined their
crew.
When Sisu’s real identity was revealed, Boun had demanded to know why they weren’t
given all the details of what was going on.
But he didn’t stay angry long.
Instead, Boun, like the others, was relieved to know they had a chance to bring everyone
back.
When Raya went to confront Namaari, Boun had been the one to use their pieces of the Dragon
Gem to get everyone to safety.
This led to the others they recruited doing the same.
When they got trapped, Boun had clearly resented the idea of handing over the Gem fragments
to Namaari, blaming her for Sisu’s death.
But when he saw Raya’s sacrifice, Boun quickly followed her lead, inspiring the rest of the
crew to do the same.
Seeing Boun turn to stone while clinging to Raya’s side was heartbreaking, and it was
a relief that he was able to be reunited with his family.
Our bronze medal of most good goes to Sisu.
Though we mentioned the dragons before, Sisu deserves her own spot on this list.
After being released by Raya, she quickly agreed to help hunt down the Gem pieces to
restore them and save the people.
Throughout the entire movie, Sisu kept pushing Raya and the others to try and trust others.
This meant she also got in the way of Raya’s mission a few times, but Sisu’s heart was
always in the right place.
And her insistence on allowing others to help led to a nearly unstoppable team of people
from every tribe.
Because of Sisu, they were able to put aside their fear and suspicion to try and help the
people they lost.
For the silver medal of most good, we’re giving that to Chief Benja.
Raya’s father and the chief of the Heart Tribe, he was a disciplined protector.
He had been tasked with keeping the Dragon Gem safe but had higher aspirations than just
keeping the peace.
He wanted to bring the people together and re-unite the lands.
Benja dreamed of the people being Kumandra again, and he encouraged his daughter Raya
to help with that dream.
When the Gem split, Benja had tossed Raya to the water to save her from the Druun, knowing
his injury was slowing them down.
Our gold medal of most good goes to the Dragons.
Unfortunately, we don’t get to see much of them in the movie.
But, thanks to their magic, the land was prosperous for so many years.
When the Druun came, the dragons came together to form the Gem, using it as a way of holding
off the threat.
Thanks to this last effort, they were not only able to keep the Druun at bay, but they
were able to return all the people that had been turned to stone.
When the dragons were finally freed in the end, their first act was to restore the land,
helping the people that had been caught in the conflict.
There wasn’t a single instance of these creatures being seen as terrible or selfish.
But let us know in the comment section: do you agree with our ranking?
Who is the most good and least good character in your opinion?
And tell us what we should cover next.
Remember to hit that notification bell and binge our Good to Evil playlist.
Where we break down the morality of the characters in your favorite cartoons, shows, and movies.
But most importantly, stay wicked.