Lilo Pelekai

Lilo Pelekai (first name pronounced LEE-loh) is the female protagonist of Lilo & Stitch and its subsequent sequels and television series. Lilo (meaning "lost" in Hawaiian) is a young Hawaiian girl who lives on the island of Kauai with her older sister Nani and her extended family of alien visitors marooned on Earth. She has been voiced by Daveigh Chase in Lilo & Stitch and Dakota Fanning in its sequel.

Background
Lilo is a cute young 6 year old (7 at the end of Lilo & Stitch) Hawaiian girl with long, straight black hair and brown eyes. She's most often seen wearing a muumuu and sandals, but also wears other warm-weather clothing as well as traditional hula costumes. She also appears to be a little on the chubby side. In Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, her reflection in a mirror is compared to a picture of her young mother, suggesting that they look similar. In the episode "Skip" where an experiment is used to skip time 10 then another 10 years, it's mentioned that older Lilo looks a lot like her sister Nani. By the the end of Leroy and Stitch, she is almost 10.

Personality
Her spirited and highly eccentric personality, especially in light of her parents' death, has alienated her from her fellow children (whom she still considers to be her friends despite them maltreating her), yet Lilo makes the perfect best friend for Stitch, an alien experiment whom she adopts as her dog. Lilo attends Hula school and her hobbies include the photography of obese people, talking about creatures from horror/sci-fi movies, and capturing and rehabilitating Jumba's evil genetic experiments. She idolizes Elvis Presley.

Friends
Lilo's friends were mostly Victoria, Stitch, and Keoni. Lilo's ex-friends were Mertle Edmonds, Yuki, Elena, and Teresa. The reason why Lilo's friends were now her ex-friends is because her parents died and they didn't seem to show sympathy when she was explaining it to them. Victoria and Lilo's ex-friends all belong in hula class. Reuben and Gantu became 2 of Lilo's alien friends.

Family
Lilo's parents died in a car accident some time before Lilo & Stitch (it is suggested that rain made road conditions treacherous), and they have not appeared in the series apart from three photographs: one of Lilo, Nani, and their parents having a picnic on the beach, a photograph of Lilo's mother winning the Hula contest at her school's May Day celebration, and a photo of Nani with her parents when she graduated to intermediate Hula.

Lilo's mother is depicted as kind and loving (and perhaps eccentric like her younger daughter), as well as an excellent hula dancer. She would placate her children by holding a family night, singing lullabies, and making up funny constellations. Lilo's father played the ukulele and was the one who coined the phrase Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. The phrase becomes a sort of family motto for his daughters and their intergalactic adopted clan.

Lilo loves and misses her parents very much. She keeps a picture of them under her pillow and initially would not allow Stitch to touch it (rejecting him when his fight with Jumba caused her house and the picture to become damaged). In the episode "Remmy", which takes place on the anniversary of the accident, Lilo is depressed and takes a nap to help deal with her sadness. The picture is used to turn Lilo's nightmares into a dream of the day the photograph was taken, which manages to make her happy again.

Lilo writes a thank you note to an "Uncle Joe" in "Glitch/Woops". Otherwise, Lilo and Nani are the only known living members of the Pelekai family.

The development of Lilo's ohana (extended family) begins with the adoption of Stitch in Lilo & Stitch. Though Lilo technically owns Stitch by Hawaiian state law, the relationship between the two is more like siblings and best friends. By the end of the series, Lilo's extended ohana includes Nani, "Uncle" Jumba and "Aunt" Pleakley, David, Cobra Bubbles, the Grand Councilwoman, all 627 (627 and 628 was shown dehydrated in the episode of 627, although it could be argued that he still counts) of Stitch's "Cousins" and Gantu.

Lilo & Stitch
Lilo first appears in the film running late for her hula class. After causing some of her classmates to slip and explaining her strange reasons for being late (feeding Pudge), she gets into a fight with Mertle Edmonds and classes are ended early for the day as a result to her dismay. Rejected again by Mertle and her friends, she heads back home by herself and depressed, starts listening to Heartbreak Hotel. Nani arrives trying to frantically get ready for a visit from social worker Cobra Bubbles that ends up turning out disastrously. Lilo and Nani get into a fight, make up and Lilo spots a shooting star (Stitch's starship) and makes a wish for "an angel". The next day, Lilo and Nani visit the local animal shelter and there, Lilo meets Stitch.

Lilo &amp; Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch
Lilo is preparing for an important Hula recital just when Stitch's behavior becomes darker to the point where they have a serious argument. Oblivious to Lilo, Stitch is dying and Jumba and Pleakley are working on a solution with a machine. After yet another argument, Lilo abandons Stitch are decides to do her hula alone. At the recital she begins to fear for Stitch and leaves to search for him. Nani, David, Pleakley and Jumba follow behind. They search and communicate with him via phone. He's taken Jumba's ship to leave to an unknown galaxy but crashes during one of his glitches. Lilo finds him unconscious on the peak of a mountain. Stitch is placed in the machine but is believed to be dead. Lilo mourns for her departed friend, but out of nowhere Stitch is revived. Lilo and her Ohana have their own hula recital centering how love is more powerful than death.

Note: Due to a time travel incident which occured during the third season of the Stitch! anime, it is highly likely that this movie has either been retconned from canon or could simply take place in an alternate timeline.

Stitch! The Movie
In this film, Lilo teaches Stitch about cousins but during a day at the beach, Stitch is unable to befriend anyone. Back at the home Lilo tries to cheer up Stitch right before Jumba is kidnapped by Gantu. Lilo and Stitch learn why he was capture. Gantu's current boss Dr. Hämsterviel wants the other 625 experiments (as Stitch is the 626th) who have been dehydrated to the form of pods. Lilo refuses to give the experiments as they are Stitch's family. Jumba still needs to be saved so Lilo and Stitch unleash one of the experiments. Experiment 221 is activated through the use of water. The lightning bolt-like experiment runs loose having Lilo and Stitch chasing after him. They give up for the night but the next morning they set off again finally retrieving him and befriending. Lilo names him Sparky and heads to the lighthouse where Cobra Bubbles and Pleakley are about to trade the other experiments for Jumba's freedom. While Jumba is freed, the experiments are taken but Lilo, Stitch and Sparky board Hämsterviel's ship. They rescue the experiments who are now scattered all over Hawaii. Back on Earth, Sparky powers back the old lighthouse now claiming it his home while Lilo and Stitch become experiment hunters.

Lilo and Stitch series
Lilo and Stitch have become full time experiment hunters. In the series, Lilo has decided to name all the experiments. They meet various experiments along the way some having large impacts on their lives while others are a grab and go. Nearly everyday the battle Gantu for the experiments. Aside from the hunting, Lilo falls in love with a local boy named Keoni Jameson. Throughout the course of the series, she sometimes uses the experiments to impress him in some way. She also meets a new friend Victoria who had just moved to town. Despite being a human with no powerful abilities, Lilo is viewed as a large threat to the plans and ambitions of the series' villains. She often refers to Gantu as "The Big Dummy", whilst he refers to her as "The Little Earth Girl''. The series also depicts Lilo as being rather mischievous as well. As a result, she and Stitch often get into trouble with Nani and other adults around the island.

Leroy and Stitch
Lilo, Stitch, Jumba and Pleakley are at being awarded by the Grand Council Women as they have successfully retrieved all of the genetic experiments. Lilo becomes the caretaker of the experiments in Hawaii, Pleakley is given a position at the Galactic Alliance Community College, Jumba is given access to his lab and Stitch becomes the captain of the Big Red Battleship. The friends are now given the choice to fulfill dreams or stay together. Unfortunately for Lilo, the aliens departure leaving Lilo with Nani. After a few days Jumba has been held captive to finish an experiment named Leroy by Hämsterviel. Lilo tries to communicate with Stitch but he, Pleakley and Jumba have been captured by Leroy. Lilo goes to the only one who has the technology to reach her friends; 625 who is soon named Reuben. Together they learn about Leroy and head to the Grand Council Women who has been demoted to Hämsterviel's assistant. Lilo and Reuben are imprisoned by Gantu but later freed when Gantu has a change of heart.

They reunite with Stitch and sets off to Earth in order to save the captive experiments. A battle engages having the experiments battle Leroy and his clones. Lilo, Stitch, Reuben and other experiments rally together to defeat the villains by singing "Aloha 'Oe" (during Leroy's creation the song was playing and if heard again Leroy and the clones will be shut down). The plan is successful. Back at the Galactic Alliance, Lilo and her friends reunite forgetting their awards. They return to Hawaii where they, Nani, David and all experiments come together and take a family photo.

Stitch!
Though the series was originally planned as an alternate continuity, Lilo would appear in the third season, now a mother with a child that looks exactly like she did when she first met Stitch; the identity of the girl's father remains unknown. Stitch left Kauai sometime after Lilo went off to college, but her busy schedule kept her from visiting often and on the day she was to meet Stitch again, she showed up late. Afterwards, Stitch left Earth and after several years of cruising through space, finds his way back to Earth, landing on an island off the coast of Okinawa and meeting a new owner.

Disney Parks


Lilo appears along with Stitch at Disney parks around the world as a meetable character. The pair are most commonly seen at Walt Disney World in Florida.

She is available for meet and greets at Disney's Animal Kingdom. She also makes regular appearances at Disneyland Paris and on occasion at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Lilo can be spotted at the Magic Kingdom in Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade.

Lilo is also featured in Disneyland Paris' Disney's Stars 'n' Cars and Merlin and the Witch Academy during Halloween. Lilo is also present on the Disney Fantasy cruise ship were she and Stitch hula to Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride in the show "Wishes".

It's a Small World
Lilo appears with Stitch on a surfboard in the tropics scene of the Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland versions.

Fantasmic!
In Disney's Hollywood Studios version, Lilo is seen at the finale onbaord Steamboat Willie.

World of Color
Lilo makes a cameo with Stitch and Nani during the finale.

Trivia

 * Despite not appearing in the show itself, Lilo was featured in some online games for the television series House of Mouse.