Dakuwaqa

In one recorded creation-mythic episode Dakuwaqa planned to advance inland to conquer Kadavu Island via a river, but was challenged by the octopus goddess Rokobakaniceva (also recorded as Rokobakana in some summaries). After a great battle the octopus triumphed by pulling out his teeth with her eight arms and forced Dakuwaqa to promise never to attack Kadavu again; following that promise Dakuwaqa became the island's god and protector. Other accounts present him more generally as a guardian of islands and protector of fishermen without repeating the Kadavu episode.

Descriptions vary across accounts. He is commonly described as a shark deity and a fierce sea monster guarding islands. One eyewitness/traditional account records a great sea creature near 60 feet in length, brown-spotted and mottled on its back, with the head of a shark and the tail of a whale. Other traditions emphasize his shape-changing nature and anthropomorphic form: his 'real form' is described as a muscular Fijian man with the upper torso of a shark, though he 'can also change shape into anything.' These variants coexist in the literature as differing portrayals of the same being.

Attested abilities include extensive shape-changing ('can also change shape into anything'), great physical power sufficient to menace islands and approach inland rivers in mythic narrative, and a protective role toward fishermen and particular islands (notably Kadavu after the contest). He is also responsive to reciprocal ritual behavior: in a recorded shipboard anecdote a crew poured a strong libation of kava into the sea; this placatory offering reportedly caused a huge sea creature that had risen under their cutter to submerge and depart. Sources thus present him as both dangerous in specific stories and able to be placated or bound by vows and offerings.