Mavka is the one of the two main protagonists of Animagrad's 2023 film Mavka: The Forest Song, alongside Lukas. She's a spirit, the soul of the enchanted forest, who is chosen to become its next guardian. In the original ukranian version, she is voiced by Natalka Denysenko. However, in the english dub, she is voiced by Laurie Hymes.
Background[]
Mavka has a very special bond with the animals of the forest, who she protects and cares for deeply. In return, they often help her when needed. Being the soul of the forest, she can feel their emotions and understand them when they communicate with her.
While trying to protect the forest from intruders, Mavka meets Lukas, a young human boy who'd been sent there to find a magical leaf in exchange for the money he needs to buy medicine for his beloved uncle. Despite spirits and humans being enemies, she is greatly fascinated by his ability to play the flute, and she therefore does not want to hurt him or scare him away. When she finds out about his sick uncle, she decides to help him, ignoring the forest's law, and he promises he will play for her again as a way to thank her.
On that same day, Mavka was chosen to become the new guardian of the forest. However, one of the nymphs, Ondina, smells a human and thus reveals Lukas is there. While he runs away, his flute falls and breaks. Mavka finds it and fixes it with her magic, and thus decides she should bring it back to him.
Using her new guardian powers to disguise herself as a human, she leaves the forest and finds Lukas' house, where she gives him the instrument back and he invites her to come with him out in town, to watch his band perform. She accepts and, after a small makeover, they dance together. Before she leaves, he remembers his promise to play for her and therefore insists to do so. His flute's music, however, messes up her disguise, as she glows and her hair turns back to its natural color, leaving everyone around them horrified.
Lukas gets knocked out and Mavka almost gets killed, but is saved by the former guardian, who brings her back to the forest and explains that, years ago, he made the same mistakes of trusting a human and horrible consequences followed. In the meanwhile, the humans plan to attack the forest.
During their attack, Kylina lies to Mavka about Lukas, claiming he only pretended to be good, but was actually working with her the entire time. This upsets Mavka greatly and Kylina takes the chance to take her off guard and knock her out. After this, Mavka's guardian powers do not work and she is unable to help her people, so she asks The One Who Sits in the Rock for help, who bestows her with the Spark of Rage after she promises to pay with her life.
The power, however, proves to be too much as she loses her sense of empathy, driving out both the humans and forest dwellers. Realizing that Mavka can't hear his words, Lukas plays his flute, which works and snaps her out of it. However, having to fulfill her promise, she doesn't come back alive. While Lukas mourns her, The One Who Sits in the Rock tells her she must now remain in the Void for all of eternity, like she promised. Mavka refuses this, however, saying that her heart is now full and will never die. The Supreme Spirits, impressed by her words, return her to life, and she shares a kiss with Lukas to reaffirm the love they felt all along.
Physical Appearance[]
Mavka is an ukrainian fair-skinned, slim immortal spirit with green eyes and long, wavy, greenish-blue hair. In her human form, her hair and eyes both turn brown.