- For gallery, see here.
The Great Spirits are characters that appear in Brother Bear and Brother Bear 2.
They are beings who make magical changes in the world and are considered gods by both tribespeople and animals.
When someone in one of the tribes come of age, they are given a totem by their shaman, who was given by The Great Spirits. It is then hoped that person would live by what their totem represents.
Whenever someone passes away, their spirit would join The Great Spirits. Their spirit form could change between their human form and an animal form that resembles the animal their totem was shaped like.
They also have the power to transform humans into animals most notably a bear.
Temperament[]
The Great Spirits are harmonious and just, with a reverence for nature. They maintain relationships with humans through shamans, to whom they provide totems to help guide human behavior. Despite these more gentle attributes, the Great Spirits will enact justice when wronged, as seen when they punish Kenai by transforming him into a bear.
Brother Bear[]
The Great Spirits present a shaman woman named Tanana with a totem to give to one of her tribe's members Kenai, who had come of age.
Later that day, Kenai's brother Sitka sacrifices himself to save Kenai and his other brother Denahi from a bear and his spirit joins The Great Spirits.
After Kenai kills the bear to avenge Sitka, The Great Spirits arrive at the scene and are not pleased with Kenai for his needless actions. The Great Spirits take away the bear's body before Sitka's spirit transforms Kenai into a bear in order to teach himself to see life through another's eyes.
Whilst travelling to the Mountain "where the lights touch the Earth", Kenai's bear companion Koda tells him how his mother told him of The Great Spirits.
At the end of the film, Sitka's spirit returns Kenai to his human form before returning him to his bear form as Kenai wishes to remain with Koda, who is briefly reunited with the spirit of his mother (who was the bear that was killed by Kenai) before she and Sitka return to the other spirits.
Brother Bear 2[]
When Kenai's childhood friend Nita prepares to marry her fiance Atka, The Great Spirits intervene and cause a crack in the ground between the two. Nita learns from her tribe's shawoman Innoko that the reason this has happened is because Nita is already bond to Kenai due to an amulet he gave Nita when they were children and in order for Nita to marry Atka, she must go with Kenai to Hokani Falls and burn the amulet, thus sending their bond back to The Great Spirits. Innoko channels the power of The Great Spirits to give Nita an ability to talk to animals in order to be able to communicate with Kenai.
After Nita burns the amulet and returns to have her wedding, Kenai (who had developed feelings for Nita) is saddened. Wanting Kenai to be happy, Koda talks with his mother and The Great Spirits about changing Kenai back into a human so he could be with Nita.
At the end of the film, The Great Spirits arrive to change Kenai back to a human, but he does not want to leave Koda. Wanting to remain with Kenai, Nita, with her father Chilkoot's blessing, has The Great Spirits turn her into a bear.
Known Great Spirits[]
- Koda's Grandma
- Koda's Grandad