DAKUWANGA: A Shark God. He was a seaside menace with a voracious appetite. There was no stopping him, until along came an Octopus God who slapped him about in no uncertain terms and forced him to behave.

Also known as BIRD-MAN, TANGATAMANU TANGATA-MANU: The Bird-Man deity of Easter Island, and Earthly representative of MAKE-MAKE. A thousand years ago, the Rapanui people were quite content to worship their ancestors, pay homage to MAKE-MAKE and build rather a lot of huge MOAI statues. But due to greed and a complete lack of ecological savvy, the flourishing forests were destroyed, the land was over-farmed, and Easter Island became a pretty tough place to live. There were two factions at the time, the Fat Ones and the Thin Ones. No-one knows for sure, but it seems that the Fat Ones owned all the juicy bits of land while the Thin Ones toiled and scratched. Result: revolution. The Thin Ones rose up, slaughtered their rivals, threw down the MOAI, and adopted a brand new deity. The cult of TANGATA-MANU was born and statue-building was abandoned overnight, leaving a graveyard of unfinished MOAI to puzzle future archeologists. TANGATA-MANU the Bird-Man was supposed to be MAKE-MAKE's Earthly ambassador, but he didn't object to a bit of devout fun. Thus began the Great Easter Island Egg Hunt, a yearly sporting event in which daring lads would scramble over cliffs and rocks in search of the first egg of the season. This was quite a dangerous mission, and whoever found and returned the egg safely was showered with praise and crowned Bird Man of the Year. TANGATA-MANU himself is somewhat elusive. There are many carvings of him bending over an egg and looking at it in a rather perplexed manner. We don't know what to make of it either.

MOAI: The mysterious statue figures of Easter Island. One of the most evocative images in the entire world, the MOAI are ancient brooding figures carved from great slabs of volcanic rock. More than a thousand MOAI can be found scattered over the island, most of them standing with their backs to the sea. Hundreds more lie half-completed in a volcanic quarry, mysteriously abandoned after a tribal war (see TANGATA-MANU). Opinion is divided regarding their purpose; some people believe they represent tribal leaders or ancient ancestors (see AKU-AKU) — and some people don't. The subject has been ripe with rampant speculation, and Easter Island attracts cranks like you wouldn't believe. The mystery is enhanced by the fact that most of the MOAI weigh a truly ridiculous amount of tons. How did the primitive Rapanui islanders shift those collossal statues across the landscape without the benefit of computers and cell phones? Many theories have been proposed, including ingenious block-and-tackle engineering by the natives, and extraterrestrial intervention by space aliens. But we prefer the simple solution, as explained most convincingly by the native islanders: "They just got up and walked by themselves".

Godchecker/Countries/Gods from Oceanic Mythology... RONGOMATANE RONGOMATANE: God of Peace and Root Vegetables. We have it on good authority that he particularly likes a nice plate of tasty kumara. His brother is HAUMIATIKETIKE, the God of Wild Food. And he may be related to RONGO. In fact he might even be RONGO.

MAUI: A Pest of a God. He would nick his brother's fish off their lines with his own hook and they wouldn't take him fishing any more. Mum (Queen Taranga) was not pleased and sent him off to his dad MAKEA, King of the Underworld. Mum had never liked her son much. Not since the day he was born looking like a jellyfish and she had thrown him into the sea. He was rescued by a God called TAMA, who hung him up to dry. When he'd assumed a more child-like shape and grown into a scamp of a boy he was sent off back to mum. She had so many children by now she couldn't quite remember which one he was and couldn't remember his name so called him MAUI. We have no idea what this means, probably something like 'Oi Yu' or 'Thingy'. His dad seemed quite pleased to see him however, and gave him a magic fishhook called Manai-Ka-Lani which meant he would be able to catch his own fish. He tried to go fishing with his brothers again but they threw him out of the canoe. He kept pestering, and one day they relented and he had some big catches, but when he pulled them up they became islands. He also showed off and hooked the sun to make it move more slowly. After this of course he became an unbearable smart-ass, discovered playing with fire and showing off at every opportunity in the best trickster tradition. He eventually came to a very tricky end. Finding HINENUITEPO the Goddess asleep, he became very curious because she was a Big lady. We are talking colossal here. MAUI thought it would be fun to walk through her body — starting from an entrance not normally accessible. Now HINENUITEPO was not sleeping in a very ladylike position (although missionaries have since put it to good use). At the crucial moment, a flock of birds twittered in shock at the unusual spectacle and she woke up with a start. Her legs clapped together and Splunch!. No more MAUI.

ABEGUWO: Goddess of Rain. The world is her lavatory. ABEGUWO lives in the sky, and whenever she needs to relieve herself she has no inhibitions about letting loose all over the planet. She really should be called Abiguwee, or perhaps Abigupee. When she takes a pee it's time to get out your umbrella. This might sound a little unsavory, but if you think about it, it could be a lot worse. Better to nice to her or she'll rain on your parade. And don't even think of challenging her to a pissing contest.

ADARO: Sea Demons, half-fish and half-human with crablike claws and long spindly horns like swordfish. They ride on waterspouts and the rainbow express. Just for kicks they hurl flying fish at folk, which can knock them out, and in some cases right out. As in dead

Also known as HINE-NUITEPO HINENUITEPO: Goddess of Death and Great Lady of the Night. She used to be HINETITAMA, the happy Goddess of Light and Dawn. Until one day she discovered that her husband TANE-MAHUTA was also her father. This revelation was too much for her to cope with, so she fled to the Underworld, changed her name and became rather more grim.

ABERE: A Cannibal Demoness who lurks in the marsh and lures people to their doom. When you go down to the swamp today, you're sure of a big surprise. A beautiful naked lady, a tangle of reeds from which there is no escape, and suddenly you're the main course. Didn't your mother warn you about playing near the bog?

Also known as HI'IAKA, HI'AKA, HA'IAKA HIIAKA: Younger sister of PELE the Volcano Goddess. She started life as an egg carried under her sister's arm until finally she hatched. HIIAKA used to run errands for her big sister and one day was sent off to fetch a handsome prince for matrimonial purposes. The prince seemed willing enough to accompany her, but on the journey back they came under deadly demon attack. The prince, being mortal, kept being killed and had to be re-constituted after each affray, with HIIAKA having to run around and catch his soul which kept turning into a butterfly, or smoke, or perfume. It was a very versatile soul and made the most of its freedom. Meanwhile PELE fretted with impatience, and then jealousy, which finally erupted when the wayward couple appeared. She swamped them with volcanic lava which proved fatal to the prince. HIIAKA reconstituted him for the last time, and decided they could not go on meeting like this. The prince, having experienced PELE in action, agreed. So they did a runner because they realized love was just around the corner. Or maybe a bit further, because PELE never found them.

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Thanks for sharing