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María Gabriela Posada[8][9] is the deuteragonist of The Book of Life. She is the daughter of General Posada and the love interest of both Manolo Sánchez and Joaquín Mondragon, but she marries Manolo at the end of the movie.

Physical Appearance[]

María has dark-brown hair and bright copper-brown eyes.

Child[]

María's hair was tied in low twin braided pigtails by two red ribbons where they stick up with her bangs split on either side.

She wore a white short sleeve shirt that is decorated around the collar and sleeves with a yellow pattern, a red skirt, black Mary Jane shoes with white socks and a gold necklace.

Adult[]

Upon returning to San Ángel ten years later, María has now grown into a tall, thin and beautiful young woman with curly knee-length hair that is tied in a high ponytail with small bangs parted a little to the left side while there are more pieces of hair parted on the right side of her forehead where it covers most of her right brow and red lips. Because of her stunning appearance, she has caught every guy's attention including Xibalba, much to the annoyance and jealousy of other women including La Muerte along with Claudia and her sisters.

She wears a white off-the-shoulder blouse that is decorated with flowers, a long red skirt sporting wide, curvy hips with a yellow band at the bottom and top, a pair of black boots and she still wears the same necklace she wore in her childhood.

During her wedding with Manolo Sánchez, María wears a simple embroidered white dress and white boots.

Personality[]

María is a beautiful, spunky, kind, gorgeous, adventurous, rebellious, passionate, independent, very brave, very courageous, fearless, empowered, very strong, strong-willed, free-willed, bold, very daring and very determined young woman who believes in freedom, free will, strength of choice and indomitable spirit. María is also a sweet, very benevolent, friendly, very loving, very generous, very caring and compassionate young woman who loves and cares for both her family, children, her friends and her hometown of San Ángel very much and very dearly. She also loves and adores to read books for both fun and enjoyment. María is also an adventure-loving and freedom-loving young woman. María is also a avid book lover, who wants to learn and know new and different information and knowledge. María is also animal-loving.

María is not a stereotypical "damsel in distress" and is by no means defenseless - she is able to stand up for herself on more than one occasion and knows kung fu and fencing. María is also very caring and compassionate to those around her and is willing to put the town's safety before her own happiness. She has a deep love for animals; to the point of not eating meat at all [10]. She is also a cultured and intelligent young woman who enjoys reading.

In The Book of Life[]

María first appeared in the film as a young child, watching her best friends Manolo Sánchez and Joaquín Mondragon fight for her affection. When La Muerte and Xibalba saw the three, the two decided to make a bet on who would win María's heart; Xibalba immediately chose Joaquín as he was impressed with Joaquín's strength and desire to be a great hero (and his somewhat show-off nature) while La Muerte chose Manolo due to his sensitive and kind nature.

María is later seen with Manolo and Joaquín as they walk around the town of San Ángel and pass by the pig pens where the pigs are ready to be slaughtered. Not wanting that to happen, she releases them, causing havoc in the town square and angering her father General Posada. She does not regret her actions, but she feels guilty that she broke Manolo's first guitar. Her father then decides to send her away to study with the nuns in Spain in order to curb her rebellious behavior and become a proper young lady. When she is sent off, her father cries and excuses himself. Manolo and Joaquín also come to the station where Manolo gives María the baby piglet Chuy that she was fond of while she gives Manolo a new guitar with the words "Always play from the heart. -Love María" inscribed on the back. While she rides the train, her bonnet is loose and Joaquín catches it, keeping it as a memento when he fails to give it back to her.

María returns to San Ángel ten years later having grown into a beautiful young woman, catching the eye of every guy in San Ángel (even Xibalba, much to La Muerte's annoyance and jealousy). She attends Manolo's first bullfight and is concerned when she believes Manolo will kill the bull. While the rest of the townspeople of San Ángel jeer and boo at Manolo for not killing the bull, Maria applauds his compassionate gesture. Later, when everyone has left, she hears Manolo sing about how he feels like he will never fit in and be accepted for being true to himself (the "Creep" song) and feels sorry for him.

María later attends her father's grand welcome home party celebrating her return, but she is annoyed when she finds out her father is also arranging for her to marry Joaquín. She also becomes annoyed with his sexist views of women and goes to her room. Here, Manolo's friends try to help Manolo win her heart, much to her annoyance and amusement. Manolo decides to sing her his own song called "I Love You Too Much" and she seems to be won over, but she teases him by saying "You think it was going to be that easy?" and pushes him off her balcony. She holds his guitar and promises to give it back to him. When she reaches the bottom of the stairs, Joaquín proposes to Maria and General Posada mentions that Joaquín is the only one who can protect San Angel from Chakal. Manolo then enters the building with Joaquín thinking Manolo had already proposed. After a small argument, a fight between Joaquín and Manolo starts over their affection for her. Maria intervenes and stops the fight, saying she has also learned fencing. Soon, some of Chakal's men threaten San Ángel and she is ready to fight along Manolo's side to protect the town, but Joaquín takes care of everything. General Posada once more pushes María to accept Joaquín's proposal for the sake of the town and forces her to flirt with him, breaking Manolo's heart.

Maria dies

María falls unconscious after the snake bite.

Later that night, Manolo goes to her porch once more and asks her to meet him outside town. She reluctantly agrees and follows a path of white wax candles, leading to Manolo singing a song called "Can't Help Falling in Love" about his love for her. He then shows her the view of San Ángel when the sun shines over it, creating a beautiful spectacle and describes this as the feeling he gets when he's with her. María returns his affection and states she will always love a man who plays from the heart and accepts his proposal. However, Xibalba interrupts this by sending a two headed snake to bite her in the leg, causing her to pass out and fall unconscious. Manolo, believing her to be dead, brings her to Joaquín and General Posada who also believes that she is dead and blames Manolo for her death. Manolo sacrifices his life to be with Maria in the Land of the Remembered, only to discover that he has been tricked. María regains consciousness after Joaquín kisses her forehead with the Medal of Everlasting Life touching her skin, thus reviving her. She is very deeply heartbroken to hear Manolo is dead and decides to marry Joaquín to protect the town as she can no longer be with Manolo.

María is not seen again until her almost wedding with Joaquín when Chakal and his army of banditos interrupt the wedding ceremony and proceed to steal back the Medal of Everlasting Life. She rallies the towns people together with an inspiring speech before she is soon reunited with Manolo who has been resurrected after completing his trial to see if he was worthy of regaining his life where he engages her in a passionate kiss before she and the townspeople engage in the fight against Chakal and his army of banditos. During the fight, Chakal grabs Maria and tells Joaquín and Manolo to bring the magic medal or he will kill her (which earns a disgruntled comment from Maria), but Manolo (with the help of his family) climbs to the top of the building and frees her while the two dance and fight Chakal. Manolo decides to sacrifice himself after seeing that Chakal is going to use the bombs on his chest to blow himself up and the town of San Ángel with him. Manolo and Joaquín restrain him before Manolo pushes Joaquín away and topples the bell onto him and Chakal in order to protect the town from the explosions of the bomb. He faces Maria and tells her not to forget him.

However, when Manolo appears lost, the bell is pushed aside and Manolo is revealed to be alive due to being given the Medal of Everlasting Life by Joaquín. Maria and Manolo are soon married as her father accepts Manolo as his son-in-law before they joyfully sing and celebrate their wedding with the town of San Ángel.

Relationships[]

Manolo Sánchez[]

María and Manolo have been best friends since they were children and the two often played together with Joaquín Mondragon. Before she was sent to Europe, Maria gives Manolo a gift: a new guitar with written words that says "Always play from the heart - María". Manolo promises to wait for her return, a promise he keeps and both kept in contact by letters [11].

After ten years, when María returns to San Ángel, she is disappointed when Manolo dedicate her a bullfight instead of the song he promised her; fearing that Manolo has renounced music in favor of the tradition of his family of bullfighters. But that fear is vanished when Manolo refuses to kill the bull (for which she applauds him animatedly) and hearing him sing "Creep" when he believes that all the spectators are gone.

Although it is obvious that she loves Manolo, she does not make things easy for him as seen when Manolo touches a serenade for her on her balcony and leans forward to kiss her, but she stops him and says affectionately: "It will take more than that." Her affection for him also does not prevent her from reprimanding him when he gets into a fight with Joaquín and she points out that "both" are behaving like fools. She was completely devastated by the news that Manolo had died. Believing she had lost the love of her life, she agreed to marry Joaquín so that he would stay to protect San Ángel.

However, when Manolo returns to life, their love is revived and they come together to protect San Ángel and they fight together against the bandit known as Chakal, showing how strong their bond is and how willing they are to protect each other.

At the end of the movie, María gets married to Manolo and they soon have three kids; twin daughters and a son.

Joaquín Mondragon[]

María and Joaquín have been best friends since childhood; Joaquín also favors Maria and competes with Manolo Sánchez for her affections. While María does care for Joaquín, she is disgusted and turned off by his sexist views of women and their roles in society, which effectively squash any fleeting romantic feelings she might have felt for him.

Although she truly loves Manolo, she still appreciates Joaquín as a good friend and they remained close friends even after she didn't choose him in the end.

General Posada[]

General Posada is María's father whose only wish is for her to be more "lady-like"; he is constantly angered by her rebellious and reckless attitude that he sends her away to study with the nuns in Spain so she will grow up to be a proper young lady. However, despite General Posada's attempts, María remains a passionate spirit with a rebellious streak. He favors Joaquín Mondragon over Manolo Sánchez and attempts to get María to marry the former, so he would stay to protect their town. Despite all of this, it was shown he genuinely cared for her very much as he cried after seeing her off to go to the sisters and was deeply heartbroken when she died, to the point that he banishes Manolo as he believes it to be his fault for not properly protecting her.

By the end of the film, the General seems to have accepted his daughter for who she is, saying that "[She's] like the son I never had.. but much prettier!"

Chuy[]

Chuy was a piglet that was to be slaughtered at the town's butchershop and his sad eyes caused María (with the help from Joaquín Mondragon and Manolo Sánchez) to release him and other other animals when she was a child.

When María leaves for Europe, Manolo presents the piglet to her as a gift and Chuy returns with María (albeit much larger) to San Ángel after several years. Chuy is very loyal to María, warding her of men who attempt to win her heart.

Family Tree[]


 
General Posada
 
Dora Luz Ramirez
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnamed sister
 
Maria Posada
 
 
 
Manolo Sánchez
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unnamed twin girl one[12]Unnamed twin girl two[13]
 
Unnamed baby boy[14]
 


Etymology[]

  • The name María means "sea of bitterness", "drop of the sea", "star of the sea", "rebelliousness", "exalted one", "beloved" or "wished for child" in Latin.
    • One of the few meanings of "Maria" in Hebrew is "rebellion", which alludes to her rebellious nature she had (and still has) as a child.
  • María's middle name Gabriela means "able-bodied one of God" or "messenger of God" in Latin.
  • María's surname Posada means "halt/stop", "resting place" in Spanish/Latin, which implies a place where one can rest.

Trivia[]

  • After the events of the movie, María and Manolo Sánchez had 3 kids; twin girls and a boy. [15]
  • María and Manolo wrote to each other during the time she was in Spain. [16]
  • María is loosely based on Jorge's wife, Sandra. There are also parallels in how Sandra's father didn't want them to be together. (she had a 10 pm curfew when she was 22!)
  • In The Book of Life Art Book, it is stated that María has the signature Sánchez curls near her eyes, signifying that she only has eyes for Manolo Sánchez.
  • According to Jorge R. Gutierrez, he responds on his Twitter webpage account that María:
    • Loves reading poetry and comics.
    • Her artistic talent is drawing and painting.
    • Mrs. Posada (María's mother) is divorced to her ex-husband General Posada before the film's prologue. She left the town of San Ángel and moved to Spain before the film's prologue and it was implied that she is still alive and still currently living in Spain near the end of the film, ironically.
    • María's necklace was given to her by her mother who lives in Barcelona. [17]
    • María's mother was apparently on the train with her on the day Maria left San Ángel. [18]
    • It can be implied that she is now María Sánchez since she married Manolo.
    • On some official posters, parts of her neck and arms are connected, line-less.
  • After the movie, Manolo and María moved in with her father General Posada, although it didn't last for long and they moved into Joaquín Mondragon's mansion [19].
  • Jorge R. Gutiérrez confirmed that María is the reincarnation of Maya.
    • Jorge R. Gutiérrez also confirmed that María could later reincarnated into Frida Suárez.
  • During her studies abroad, María learned and became extremely proficient in both kung-fu and fencing.
  • María got all her looks from her mother Dora Luz Ramirez.
  • María's color motif and favorite color is red, which symbolizes her bravery and the fact that both dresses she wore as a child and adult were both red.
  • María is the only main character who does not have a montage of her growing from a little girl into a young woman, unlike Manolo and Joaquín where the film illustrates them growing from little boys into young men as the years go on in San Ángel.
  • Other than La Muerte, María is the only female character to wear her hair in a ponytail.

Gallery[]

Posters[]

Concept art[]

Screenshots[]

Animations[]

Toys[]

==References==

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