Mabaya is a rogue bull elephant who originally belonged to the same herd as Jabari and his parents in The Legend of Tarzan.
Role in the series[]
Like all rogues, Mabaya is almost constantly angry and tramples anything that he sees for almost no apparent reason. He is easily recognized by his broken right tusk and glowing red eyes. Episodes featuring Mabaya usually require Tantor to overcome his fears and face down the renegade in an elephantine match of strength.
In "Tarzan and the Rogue Elephant", after Mabaya plows through an elephant herd, Jabari and many other elephants are forced to move to where Tarzan lives to escape its path. Jabari befriends Tantor and they bond over their mutual fear of things; however, when Jabari says that the African Violet causes an elephant to go rogue, Tantor (who has eaten these flowers for years) is convinced he is a rogue, and even more so after Mabaya stampedes through the jungle, causing him to run away. Jabari learns that the flower doesn't make an elephant go rogue and Tarzan has gone after Mabaya, finding himself no match for the rogue elephant. Tantor must overcome his fears to help both his friend and the jungle.
In "Tarzan and the Missing Link", he returns to get revenge.
Trivia[]
- Unlike the other elephant characters in the series, Mabaya never says a word and only roars.
- His name means 'evil' in Swahili.
- The term "rogue (bull) elephant" is simply a myth, it's basically bull elephants in a periodical state called "musth", which is an Indian word for "intoxicated".
- That said, young male elephants have been observed in the wild, acting unnaturally aggressive towards members of their own species, usually in the absence of mature bulls.