|
This article is a stub. You can help Fictional Characters Wiki by expanding it. |
David Kawena is a supporting character in the Lilo & Stitch franchise. He is Nani's on-and-off boyfriend and a good friend to Nani's little sister Lilo.
Biography[]
David happily comes by to surf, but then sees the beach destroyed and asks the two sisters what happened. Lilo just tells him that both of them had a bad day, so David offers to take them surfing to cheer them up. They happily oblige, with David showing a playful, caring side around Lilo, leading to Nani jokingly kick him off his surfboard. However, when Jumba and Pleakley appear to capture Stitch, dragging Lilo with him, David volunteers to rescue Lilo and later Stitch for them. David helps Nani get the two of them safely back to shore, but it is of no help as the social worker Bubbles witnessed everything and is further convinced that Nani is a poor fit to be Lilo's guardian, despite acknowledging that she means well. When David is left alone with Stitch, he tells him that he genuinely thought the sisters had a chance, until Stitch came along.
The day after that, Nani is waiting for Bubbles to return to her home and flinches when she hears someone knocking on the door. She is immediately relieved when she hears David's voice and opens the door. David is excitedly telling her about having found another job for her and Nani rushes out of the house, telling Lilo to remain exactly where she is.
David appears again when Jumba's ship crashes into the ocean, Lilo safely on board. She asks him if David can give all of them a lift. Though David is somewhat stunned, he agrees after realizing that he'd probably have to do it twice. David is entirely unphased about finding out that Nani and Lilo's new "dog" is actually an alien, asking him if the currents are good in outer space.
After things are settled with the Grand Councilwoman, leading to Stitch being acknowledged as part of Lilo and Nani's family, David volunteers to help rebuilding their house along with Bubbles, Jumba and Pleakley. He regularly crashes at their place and seemingly became close friends with the three of them as well. Most of the credits consist of pictures of David taking the sisters and Stitch to various Hawaiian landmarks.
Personality[]
David is a good-natured but clumsy individual. He is very kind and a good loyal friend to Nani, Lilo, and their adopted ʻohana. He cares for Nani as more than a friend but is very patient with making the next move as he understands the stresses of finding and keeping a job and taking care of a family.
David is very loyal to Nani, and he treats Lilo well like a little sister and/or a biological daughter he never had, and even helps watch out for her.
He can be very romantic and bashful when it comes to Nani but cares for her deeply. He is also a very calm person, going along with whatever is happening and not losing his temper or freaking out and being peaceful, preferring talking and peacemaking rather than violence.
A Hawaiian living in the island of Kauai, David appears as the boyfriend of Nani Pelekai, supporting her needs when she finds herself overwhelmed. He also has a passion for surfing, usually spending his time surfing at the ocean. Through Nani, he was acquainted with her sister Lilo, whom she viewed him as a watchful guardian.
He gave support, he was patient, he was unconditionally kind, he accepted all the difficulties with child services and all the weird alien visitors with barely a blink. He dove into the ocean to rescue Stitch because Lilo was worried. And through it all, he proved that he was more than willing to do everything in his power to help these girls and make them smile, without any thought of a reward or being "owed" for his friendship.
Even his line at the end, when Nani thanks him for helping her find a job ("That’s okay. You can just date me and we'll call it even."), is delivered with a certain amount of humor, and his behavior throughout the rest of the film shows that he would still accept it if she turned him down. Because more than just liking Nani, he RESPECTS her.
Physical appearance[]
David is a young man who is "slightly muscular" with broad shoulders. He is usually shirtless, but sometimes wears a white singlet or V-neck T-shirt, and his most prominent outfit is a red or blue Hawaiian swim trunk, sandals, and a fish hook necklace.
Abilities and talents[]
Fire juggling:
Surfing:
Swimming:
Bodybuilding and muscle growth: David is shown to have huge muscles, and seems to get bigger and huge each time they are displayed, and growing at almost pure will.
Trivia[]
- David is a minor supporting character; he is Nani's best friend and her love interest. David hopes to someday be her boyfriend, and Nani clearly reciprocates his feelings, but she has her hands full, and for now he is content with helping her and Lilo in whatever way he can. David is nice – a bit goofy, as you would expect from a surfer in basically any movie – but it is good to see that the sisters have some sort of support system beyond each other. With the family drama cleared up and the Pelekais finally having some space to breathe again, Nani and David are finally allowed to be together at the end of the film.
- Even though David acts like a general big-brother figure to Lilo throughout the whole surfing montage, he does act so fatherly and protective to her when a few instances:
- He clenches his fist, so Lilo grabs his forearm, and he carries her to his surfboard before placing her on it.
- When they reach up in the air, Lilo was excitedly open for his arms and they both dive in the water together.
- The moment when Nani grabs Lilo and tosses her to David in his arms, he tosses her in the air and rocks her body like a baby, even tickling her in the belly from her one-piece swimsuit.
- When they all take a break from surfing, David and the girls are back on the beach while he and Nani hold Lilo's hands and play with her by swinging her back and forth on the beach just like actual parents, and they build an impressive sandcastle over her body.
- After building a sandcastle over Lilo, David looks at both the Pelekai sisters as he is shown to be considering them like a family he never had of his own. This predicts that David wants to be a part of their family as Nani's future husband and Lilo's guardian/father-figure. While looking at Nani lovingly, he wants to be alone with her and finally make love with her so she does not reject any more of his offers.
- After Nani notices Cobra Bubbles approaching them, she hands Lilo to David as he becomes so worried about her, and when he holds her in his arms, he felt like she is hugging him in sadness and fear saying "David, I'm scared". David then walks up to Nani with a greatly traumatized Lilo in his arms as she is shown to be resting her face on his bare chest like a security blanket.
- David Kawena displays big brother instinct with Lilo, and Stitch, as a spear counterpart to Nani, diving into the ocean to rescue Lilo and Stitch from drowning after Jumba unsuccessfully tries to capture Stitch, and making at least two trips to bring Lilo's ʻohana and the aliens to the mainland after Stitch defeats Gantu.
- Just like Lilo was late for hula class in the beginning while soaking wet in her one-piece swimsuit, David got himself covered in soot while accidentally let the stage go on fire.
- In the first Lilo & Stitch movie, Nani's love interest David doesn't put on a shirt until the epilogue, and even then only because it was snowing.
- David surfs in his downtime, and when he sees how gloomy Nani and Lilo are after the failure montage, he cheers them up by asking if they want to join him. They do, and Stitch tags along as well.
- As a supporting character, David has been known to be helpful to the Pelekai sisters:
- He supports Nani and Lilo through thick and thin because he knows she's struggling, he never pushes Nani into a relationship, respects her decision when she rejects him because she has to provide for Lilo, he saves Stitch even after he believes the latter almost drowned Lilo, and he finds Nani a job at nearly the last minute, all without expecting anything in return. He's such a general nice guy.
- Lilo actually supports the relationship between David and Nani. In any other movie, David would see Lilo as a threat and try to get rid of her so he can be with Nani or he would be turned off by Nani once he learns she's a guardian. Instead, David fully accepts that Lilo is Nani's top priority and he maintains a positive relationship with Lilo because he understands it's a package deal and he won't insert himself into either of their lives without their permission or comfort. This makes it clear that he understands Nani's struggle and wants to help her as much as he can.
- The credits actually reveal that Nani and David did eventually go out together and they appear to be having a good time. So, it's not only nice to see that David and Nani are enjoying each other's company, but it's also nice to see Nani actually socializing in her free time after handling the responsibility of raising Lilo at the ripe old age of 19. In fact, when David asked her out at the Luau, he phrases it in a way that implies that he's doing this both as a romantic gesture and a friendship gesture, implying very early on that should Nani have accepted the offer, he would have been happy to have just taken her away from the stresses of her life, even if just for a little while.
- After Lilo lifted his spirits by saying that "Nani likes your butt and fancy hair", David was pleased when Nani thinks his hair is fancy, which carries the implication that David knows his butt looks good but was worried if she would like his hair.
- In the TV series episode "Cannonball", we learn in this episode that both David and Lilo had frequently snuck into the Birds of Paradise Hotel swimming pool numerous times.
Relationships[]
Nani[]
To be added
Lilo[]
To be added