U'hané Hula Dancer, digital illustration by Paul Zdepski
This character is another of the mischievous and evil demon U’Hané spirits that had stolen the sacred conch shell from the people of the Waipi'o Valley of Hawai'i. This is his original incarnation, with evil red eyes, and sharp shark-like teeth. Far into the project, I found that the editor wanted to shop the story to Scholastic and Random House as an option, so I toned him waaaaaaay down… His final form in the story is a set of broad human teeth with a softer eye looking skyward as he tries his best to do his hula. I think the evil version is closer to the folk story, since the U'Hané were to be feared and respected, BUT commerce is commerce. I needed to sell the story to the big boys.
