Ponaturi.

Summary: The Ponaturi are goblin-like creatures from Māori mythology, feared as malevolent spirits of the sea. These short, squat humanoids with pale white skin and shaggy red hair emerge from the ocean only at night. Known for trickery, kidnapping, and murder, the Ponaturi are most active at dusk, often causing havoc for unsuspecting humans. The Ponaturi cannot withstand sunlight, which is fatal to them, and can be repelled using powerful incantations and rituals.

Water Goblins of Aotearoa.

The Ponaturi are monstrous, goblin-like creatures. In MāoriThe term 'Māori' is primarily used to designate t More mythology they are feared as sinister beings of the sea. Dwelling in the ocean by day and emerging only at night, they are described as short, squat humanoids with pale white skin, shaggy red hair, and elongated, grotesque features. Their glowing eyes and gnarled, claw-like hands amplify their eerie appearance. Some accounts describe their bodies as partly scaled or bearing webbed fingers and fins, emphasizing their amphibious nature.

Ponaturi Description.

Ponaturi, sometimes referred to as sea fairies [1]Ponaturi, Whakamārama, National Library Service NZ , and “the horde of Tangaroa [2]MāoriThe term 'Māori' is primarily used to designate t More mythology, Goblins, Monstropedia ,” are inherently malevolent, known for trickery, kidnapping, and murder, particularly targeting humans who stray too close to the water’s edge after dark.

Settlers to New Zealand were warned of the Ponaturi, and their forest dwelling cousins the Patupaiarehe. Both were described as being “maewaho (fairy folk),” having fair skin and either red or light-colored hair. Historian James Cowan [3]James Cowan, ‘The patu-paiarehe: notes on MaoriThe term 'Māori' is primarily used to designate t More folk-tales of the fairy people.’ Journal of the Polynesian Society 30 (1921): 96–102; 142–151 was informed that “they had a lighter skin tone than the MāoriThe term 'Māori' is primarily used to designate t More; their hair was a dull golden or reddish shade, urukehu, similar to what can occasionally be seen in some MāoriThe term 'Māori' is primarily used to designate t More people today.”

Habitat

The Ponaturi reside in underwater dwellings during daylight hours [4]Martin Wikaira, ‘Patupaiarehe – Patupaiarehe and ponaturi’, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/patupaiarehe/page-1 —hidden away from the sun, which is fatal to them. They are most active at dusk and during the night, often coming ashore to wreak havoc on unsuspecting humans and even invading homes near the sea.

Abilities & Behavior

• Nocturnal Predators: The Ponaturi cannot withstand sunlight. Direct exposure to daylight kills them instantly, making them careful to return to their watery homes before dawn.
• Master Illusionists: Legends tell of Ponaturi deceiving humans through mimicry, magical chants, and cunning traps.
• Kidnappers: These beings are infamous for abducting children and travelers, dragging them into the depths where they are enslaved or drowned.

Ponaturi are typically cowardly in direct combat, relying more on ambushes, cunning, and overwhelming numbers.

Cultural Significance

The Ponaturi are symbolic of hidden dangers and the perils of the sea, embodying the MāoriThe term 'Māori' is primarily used to designate t More people’s deep respect—and fear—of the ocean’s power. Their stories reinforce the importance of staying safe near water, especially at night, and highlight key moral lessons about courage, cleverness, and justice.

Weaknesses

• Sunlight: The Ponaturi’s greatest and most fatal weakness. Even a sliver of sunlight is lethal to them.
• Protective Karakia (Chants): MāoriThe term 'Māori' is primarily used to designate t More tohunga (spiritual experts) could repel or banish Ponaturi using powerful incantations and rituals.

Notable Legends

Tāwhaki

One of the most famous tales involving the Ponaturi is the myth of Tāwhaki, a demigod and hero. The Ponaturi killed Tāwhaki’s father, Hemā, and imprisoned his mother Urutonga, whom they put to work as the doorkeeper of their house Manawa-Tāne. Seeking vengeance, Tāwhaki and his brother Karihi travelled to the Ponaturi house at night while the creatures were out hunting. In the house they discovered Urutonga trapped inside. They freed Urutonga who informed them that sunlight was fatal to the Ponaturi. This gave Tāwhiki an idea. He asked his mother to stay at the house and pretend all was well while he and Karihi concealed themselves in the house rafters.

Before dawn, the Ponaturi returned, and after feasting they made their way to Manawa-Tāne so they could sleep securely out of the sun. They covered the windows and any small gaps that may let the sun enter. Once done it was not long until all Ponaturi were sleeping soundkly.

As dawn broke and the sun rose, Tāwhaki and Karihi sprang their trap,. They leapt down from the rafters, pulling the coverings off the windows and throwing open the doors. There was much screaming and wailing as the sunlight found each of the ponaturi who burst into flames, crumbling into ash. Tāwhaki and Karihi had now rescued their mother and avenged their father.

Rātā

Rātā’s father Wahieroa had been treacherously killed by Matuku-tangotango, an ogre and his bones stolen by the Ponaturi. Rātā determined to retrieve his fathers remains, needed a waka (canoe) to travel with his warriors and take back the bones of Wahieroa. So he cut down a large Kauri in the forest. The next morning when he returned the tree was standing. So he cut it down again, and again when he returned the next the morning the tree was standing upright. Rātā determined to learn what was happening cut the tree down again and rather than return home he hid in the forest and waited to see what would happen.

After dark he heard the voices of many hākuturi (forest spirits, sometime referred to as rorotini), who begin to work on rebuilding the tree, placing each chip back in its original spot. Rātā rushes out and captures some of the hākuturi, who explain that they restored the tree because he had offended Tāne, the forest god, by failing to perform the proper rituals before cutting it down. Feeling ashamed, Rātā shows remorse. Following reciting the correct karakia and rituals the hākuturi agree he may take the tree for his waka and they craft a canoe for him, naming it Niwaru [5]B. G. Biggs, ‘MaoriThe term 'Māori' is primarily used to designate t More Myths and Traditions’ in A. H. McLintock (editor), Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, 3 Volumes. (Government Printer: Wellington), 1966, II:447-454. (also known as Niwareka, Āniwaniwa, and other names).

Rātā launched the canoe which held 140 warriors and they embarked without delay to seek their foes, the Ponaturi. One night, just at nightfall, they reached the fortress of their enemies. When they arrived, Rātā alone landed, leaving the canoe afloat and all his warriors on board. As he stole along the shore, he saw that a fire was burning on the sacred place, where the Ponaturi consulted their gods and offered sacrifices to them.

Rātā, without stopping, crept directly towards the fire, and hid himself behind some thick flax bushes. He saw some Ponaturi priests on the other side of the same bushes, at one of their sacred places. To aid their magical practices, they were using the bones of Wahieroa, knocking them together to keep rhythm while chanting a powerful incantation known only to themselves, called Titikura. Rātā listened carefully to this chant until he memorized it completely. Confident he had learned it, he attacked the priests. Caught off guard and unaware of the size or origin of their enemy, the priests offered little resistance and were quickly defeated and killed. Rātā grabbed his father Wahieroa’s bones and hurried back to the canoe. Once he boarded his warriors immediately paddled away toward his fortified village.

It was not long before some of the Ponaturi went to their sacred place and found their priests dead. Without hesitation, they set out in pursuit. A thousand warriors from their tribe chased after Rātā. Eventually, they reached Rata’s fortress, and a battle broke out. Rātā’s tribe was defeated, losing sixty warriors. Then when all seemed lost Rātā remembered the incantation he had learned from the priests. He quickly recited the Titikura, and by its magic, his fallen warriors were brought back to life. They charged once more into battle, and Rātā’s tribe slaughtered the Ponaturi—killing all one thousand of them.

Ruapupuke

Another famous legend uses a similar method to battle the Ponaturi. Ruapupuke was a chief who lived by the ocean. His young son had drowned, and Tangaroa (God of the sea) had taken the child to the sea floor, turning him into a tekoteko (carved figure) placed on the ridge-pole of his house, above the door. Ruapupuke wishing to avenge hgis child dives to the bottom of the sea and finds a house, but it is empty. And there is noi sigfn of his child.

While he is there, he meets Hinematikotai, a woman who tells him that this is the house of the Ponaturi and that they will return at sunset to sleep. She also told him that letting in daylight will kill them. Intent on following Hinematikotai’s advice, he also wanted to make sure none could survive. And so he began blocking up all the crevices of the house, making it completely dark. When the Ponaturi return and fall asleep Ruapupuke sets fire to the house.

Because all the gaps and crevices in the house had been blocked no light entered the space. The Ponaturi, thinking it was still night, threw open the doors and rushed outside to avoid being killed by fire. However, what they found as they ran from the burning house was bright sunshine which killed them instantly. The ‘hordes of Tangaroa’ who were not killed by sunlight were killed by the flames of the burning house.  Ruapupuke returned to his home taking some of the Ponaturi carvings back with him to use as a model for carving in the human world [6]E.R. Tregear, Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary (Lyon and Blair: Lambton Quay), 1891. .

In Popular Culture

Though lesser-known outside of Aotearoa, the Ponaturi have appeared in modern storytelling, visual art, and cultural revivals. Their unsettling image—part goblin, part sea monster—makes them a compelling subject in horror and fantasy genres, especially within New Zealand’s vibrant mythological heritage.

Ponaturi Video from @CreepyPasta Beasts.