Ulupoka

According to the summarized accounts in the available sources, Ulupoka was beheaded by other gods but, because of his divine nature, did not die. The gods took and hid his head and left his body alive. The beheading and concealment of the head set the ongoing mythic condition: for centuries the body wandered causing death and disease while the hidden head continued to act independently and to seek reunion with the body. In one narrative strand recorded in modern summaries, Ulupoka later entered a bargain with Milu, the Hawaiian ruler of the underworld, whose assistance was said to involve using Ulupoka's body in attacks on islands—episodes that draw Ulupoka into inter-god conflicts affecting human communities.

Sources consistently portray Ulupoka as a dismembered/divided figure: a headless body that wanders the islands and a separated head that moves independently. The head is described as seeking the body and as biting the necks and heads of sleeping people; it is also said to travel at the speed of hurricane winds across the Pacific. Beyond the motif of the headless body and roaming head, the available summaries provide no consistent additional visual details.

Modern summaries ascribe to Ulupoka the capacity to bring sickness, death, misfortune, and mischief. Both the wandering body and the mobile head are said to cause sickness and death among islanders; the head in particular is described as biting sleeping people. The narratives record that Ulupoka fought other gods, was driven into the sea at times, and took part in alliances and campaigns (for example a bargain with the Hawaiian underworld figure Milu) that produced warfare and suffering. He is portrayed as hostile to humans and allied with demons in mythic accounts.