Raya and the Last Dragon departs from years of Disney canon with the introduction of Sisu, a magical water dragon who accompanies Raya on her quest to save Kumandra. As the newest addition to Disney's dragon line-up, Sisu carries on a tradition of dragons as magical sidekicks (and sometimes terrifying obstacles to a happy ending). Although Sisu follows some Disney standards by acting as emotional support for Raya and occasionally comic relief, she doesn't conform to the norm in terms of her appearance or powers.
One of the first Disney movies to portray a dragon was 1959's Sleeping Beauty. Toward the end of the film, evil fairy Maleficent transforms into a huge, fire-breathing monster, eventually falling to the knight-like figure of Prince Phillip. A similar dragon appears in 1963's The Sword in the Stone, when Madam Mim transforms into a lizard-like creature with wings and claws. In 1977, Pete's Dragon introduced Elliott, a friendly green dragon who used his powers for good. Like The Reluctant Dragon and Figment, Elliott was a charming and lovable friend to humans.
All these dragons are based on westernized, European myths that portray the mythical creatures as large, lizard-like creatures. Disney branched out somewhat with Mushu from Mulan, a fan-favorite sidekick voiced by Eddie Murphy. Mushu was fashioned after the Eastern depiction of dragons, taking the form of a tiny, serpent-like creature and acting as Mulan's guardian. Raya and the Last Dragon takes that interpretation a step further, basing Sisu entirely on Southeast Asian folklore and depicting a dragon strongly intertwined with Eastern culture. Sisu is meant to reference the Naga, a snakelike guardian from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The Naga is said to inhabit the Mekong River, a nearly 3,000-mile-long waterway flowing through Southeast Asia.
Sisu's appearance in Raya and the Last Dragon departs drastically European expectations. Instead of having a bulky body, she's slender and snake-like, similar to depictions of dragons in China. Like Mushu, her form is made up of several different animal elements. Her head is covered in fur, like the mane of a lion, while her body has dorsal fins and is covered in fish-like scales. Her teeth, feet and claws are tiger-like, another trait taken from Chinese mythology.
One of the biggest differences between Sisu and other Disney dragons is her lack of wings. In Disney canon and Western culture, the existence of bat-like wings is what allows dragons to fly. Accordingly, Mushu's lack of wings in Mulan erased his ability to fly. Sisu, on the other hand, fits more closely into Eastern stories, in which a dragon's flight is mystical. Sisu's magical control over water allows her to form stepping stones from raindrops, leaping through the air from one place to the next. While flying, Sisu's movements are sinuous, evoking old images of dragons from Asian art. Her up-and-down motions look a lot like the coils and curves of the dragon on Raya's scroll and in other real-life drawings of Eastern dragons.
Sisu's magical abilities take her another step away from Disney's traditional depiction of dragons. In Raya and the Last Dragon, Sisu gains the ability to shapeshift, glow, and control fog and form clouds from her brothers and sisters, all abilities found somewhere in Asian mythology. But her greatest power is her control over water, which is significant, as since the 1950s, pretty much all Disney dragons have been associated with fire, including Mushu. By contrast, Sisu follows Eastern traditions in which dragons have dominion over water, and therefore control over the weather. As in Chinese stories, dragons in Raya and the Last Dragon are said to be responsible for the prosperity of the land, getting credit for fruitful harvests, and blame for droughts and floods. Sisu's affinity for water fits that pattern. At the end of the movie, she and other dragons are able to bring life back into the world, triggering the return of rainfall, waterfalls and flowing rivers.
