Kenai

""The Bear of Love?" A bear doesn't love anyone! They don't think! They don't feel! I mean they're...they're thieves!"

- Kenai expressing is distaste for his totem

Kenai is the younger brother of Sitka and Denahi, the adoptive older brother of Koda, the husband of Nita and main protagonist of the 2003 film Brother Bear and it's 2006 sequel Brother Bear 2. He is the youngest of three brothers who gets turned into a bear, to teach him to see through their eyes.

He is voiced by Joaquin Phoenix in the first film and Patrick Dempsey in the sequel.

Brother Bear
Kenai was a young Inuit on the verge of becoming a man. But after his older brother Sitka died saving him and Denahi from a bear, Kenai decided to kill the bear at all costs. He succeeded, but for acting out of hate rather than out of love as he had been commanded to do, the spirits turned Kenai himself into a bear as punishment for his actions. The only way for him to become human again was to travel to a mountain peak called, "the place where the (Northern) lights touch the earth." Along the way, however, Kenai met an orphaned bear named Koda. At first Kenai did not like the young bear's company, but eventually he became attached to him.

During his journey, Kenai was pursued by Denahi, who did not witness Kenai's transformation and believed that his brother was killed by a bear (who is Kenai). Then Kenai learned that the bear he had hunted and killed had been Koda's mother. After saving Koda from Denahi, Sitka returned him to his human form. Not wanting to leave Koda alone, Kenai, with the blessing of Denahi, returned to his bear form to care for Koda. For this act of love, Kenai was declared to have become a man.

Brother Bear 2
Kenai and Koda wake up from hibernation and met Kenai's childhood friend Nita who haven been given the ability to talk to animals, asks Kenai to come with her to burn an amulet he gave her in childhood so she can get married to her fiancé Atka. Kenai and Nita begin to rekindle, causing Koda to think Nita will convince Kenai to became human again and so flees but Kenai tells him he woukd never do that.

After the amulet is burned, Nita bids farewell to Kenai and Koda and returns to her village to marry Atka. Koda follows Nita with Kenai following soon after, where they are attached by Atka and the villagers. Kenai is badly injured by Atka but Nita stops anymore from happening an declares her love for Kenai. The spirits turn Nita into a bear so she can be with Kenai and the two get married.

Trivia

 * Kenai is the first Disney protagonist to kill someone's parent (in this case, Koda's mother, which is why he got turned into a bear in the first place due to his sin).


 * Kenai's age is never stated. Though judging by the fact that he had a manhood ceremony in the first film, he is most likely aged between 16-18 as that is usually when a person comes of age.