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Mya Hartman-Wong is the protagonist of the Poptropica graphic novel series. She is a young girl who, along with her friends, is lost in the mystical world of Poptropica. She appears in the Poptropica comic strip, Poptropica graphic novel series, and Mystery of the Map Island.
History
The death of her mother from an unknown sickness plunged Mya into unhappiness and depression. Two years later, her father, Kevin, met and married Oliver's mother, Sandy. Mya struggled to accept Oliver as her new brother, longing for a return to her old life. However, their adventures in Poptropica taught her to move forward, embrace her new reality, and cherish her family and friends.
Appearance
Mya has black hair and wears a yellow collared shirt, white tie, and blue plaid skirt. A yellow headband adorns her head, and she stands slightly taller than Oliver and Jorge. Her eyes are more oval than other characters, to show that she is Asian.
Personality
As the eldest and most mature member of the group, Mya is protective of her friends, though often annoyed by their antics. She is distrustful of others, but has a passion for culture and dreams of becoming an author. She is also the most sarcastic and deadpan of the trio. Despite her sharp wit, Mya cares deeply about the well-being of others, particularly the less fortunate. This is evident in her eagerness to help the crew of the H.M.S. Terror and her desire to save the people of Pompeii and Ancient Egypt, even though she knows the consequences of altering history. While she initially sympathizes with Octavian after learning his backstory, she still recognizes the damage he has caused.
Although Mya has a habit of saying hurtful things without meaning to, such as blaming Oliver for his father's departure and suggesting that their families could be "whole again" if they live in separate universes, she always apologizes and corrects herself. Her emotions simply get the best of her at times.
At one point, Oliver and Mya have opposing ideals about the citizens of Poptropica. Mya wants to save the people of Pompeii, while Oliver knows that changing history will lead to more trouble. In the end, they both realize that it doesn't matter, as there are an infinite number of timelines.
Mya's fantasy of the H.M.S. Terror as a pirate ship reveals her love of culture and fantasy.
Relationships
Family
Mrs. Wong
Mya is never seen interacting with her mom in detail, but after her mom passed away she became very depressed. It can be assumed that they had a good relationship and were close.
Kevin
Mya and her father Kevin have a complicated, but ultimately loving relationship. Kevin took care of Mya after her mother died. Mya misses her mother very much, and Kevin tried to help her through her depression.
Mya did not want to upset her father, so she was reluctant to tell him how she really felt. During her depression she isolated herself from him because she did not find the same joy in family activities without her other parent present, and she didn't want to bring him down. Mya was not very happy when Kevin met and dated Sandy, but again she kept her true feelings about the situation hidden in order to not ruin his newfound happiness, to the point where Kevin was convinced that Mya was happy with Oliver (who she hated) and that she'd be happy with his marriage to Sandy.
After her adventure in Poptropica with Oliver and Jorge, she learned to express her feelings and be more open and vulnerable. She also began to accept her new life, so it's assumed that her relationship with Kevin improved and got back to how it was before her mother's death.
Sandy
Mya and Sandy got off to an awkward start. Kevin introduced Mya to Sandy, and Sandy was very happy to meet Mya, having heard many great things about her from Kevin.
Mya was shy and uncomfortable at meeting Sandy, since she didn't like the idea of Kevin meeting someone new. Mya is then introduced to Sandy’s son Oliver, who Mya didn't like even more.
The only other time Mya and Sandy are shown interacting is at the end of the story, after the trio return home from Poptropica. Sandy and Kevin find Mya under the balloon, and Sandy is relieved to see Mya is ok, and embraces her. Mya asks Sandy if the boys are alright, and the boys reveal themselves to be ok.
It's unknown how their relationship changed at the end of the story, but it can be assumed that Mya began to warm up to Sandy and interact with her more.
Oliver
Mya and Oliver have the most complicated relationship, that did not get off to a good start but had evolved over the course of the story.
When Kevin introduced Mya to Sandy and Oliver, Oliver came on too strong to Mya, causing her to run off in tears. For the next several months, Sandy and Kevin date each other, while simultaneously having their children hang out with each other in the hopes that they'll become friends.
Oliver wanted to be friends with Mya, and also tried to cheer her up from her depression. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that he was annoying her, so Mya hated him and the situation. Mya kept her true feelings towards him and the situation bottled up, and Oliver failed to notice Mya's obvious social cues that she was unhappy, until she exploded in anger. Their relationship didn't improve significantly after their parents got married and they started living together. Mya viewed Oliver as an annoying nerdy sibling who constantly made noise and broke things, while Oliver viewed Mya as a stick-in-the-mud neat freak. Even so, Oliver still viewed her as a sister and tried to be nice to her, while Mya did not view him as a brother (even though later she referred to him as brother, acknowledging that legally he was technically her brother, even if she didn't like it).
During their adventure in Poptropica, they are shown to have a few positive moments with each other, such as the two of them racing happily in the snow, and Mya reassuring Oliver that everything will be alright when the blizzard hits and when the Protector Troopers capture them.
When they are in the custody of the Protectors, they go back to bickering and being at odds with each other. Oliver sided with the Protectors, as he believed in not interfering with the past and risking worse things happening in the present, while Mya sided with Octavian, as she believed in fixing bad things in the past in the hopes of making a better present.
After Oliver potentially ruins their chances of getting home by blowing up the Aegis, Mya yells at him, and she accidentally reveals that she doesn't blame Oliver's father for leaving him, as she finds him insufferable too. Although when she sees Oliver's sad reaction, she immediately apologizes, knowing that she went too far. She also unintentionally reveals that she considers having Oliver for a sibling one of the worst things that could possibly happen to her, and Oliver is clearly offended.
After discovering the Nexus and alternate timelines, Mya was not hesitant to find a universe where her mother never died. She had to convince Oliver to look into a world where his own father never left. Oliver did not want to leave the life he had now, because unlike Mya he had no problems with his current family situation (except for Mya hating him of course). Mya unintentionally reveals that she believes their blended family isn't “whole” and not good enough, and Oliver is offended once again. Mya apologies once again, not meaning to say something offensive.
Jorge convinces Oliver to tell Mya how happy their new family makes him, and that the both of them are lucky that they have a new family together. Mya now tells Oliver how depressed her mother's death made her, and how much she wished her life could go back to how it was before then. But after acknowledging everything that the three of them have been through together, Mya accepts her life with Oliver and Jorge.
After her adventure in Poptropica, Mya and Oliver have a much healthier relationship and a true sibling bond.
Friends
Jorge
Mya and Jorge's relationship is not very detailed, but it did improve as the story progressed.
Initially, Mya was just as annoyed with Jorge as she was with Oliver, maybe even more so. Mya saw Jorge as unintelligent, annoying, and unhelpful. Jorge saw her as a stick-in-the-mud complainer and neat freak.
When Mya was upset that their boat sank and blamed herself for taking a break from finding a way home, Jorge agreed that it was her fault, even though he (with Oliver) convinced Mya to take a break. Mya was annoyed that Jorge refused to help them drag the lifeboat across the snow while he sat in it and ate, and Jorge was annoyed by her complaining.
During their adventure in Poptropica, they are shown to have a few positive moments with each other, such as Jorge convincing her to have fun exploring, Mya reassuring Jorge that everything will be alright when the Protector Troopers capture them, Mya and Jorge agreeing that Oliver was a dweeb, Jorge trying to break the tension between Mya and Oliver's arguments, Mya playfully teasing Jorge as they go to steal a Hovercraft, Jorge attempting to cheer the siblings up after Octavian escaped and they believe Jonas died.
After discovering the Nexus and alternate timelines, Jorge was the one who convinced Mya and Oliver to go back home together in their rightful timeline. Jorge confesses that the two of them are his first real friends, and that he refused to leave them. His vulnerable confession is what causes Mya and Oliver to get vulnerable with each other for the first time, and Mya acknowledges that while the three of them might have lost something along the way, they gained a very powerful friendship together after everything they've been through.
Captain Franklin
Captain Franklin acts as a mentor towards Mya, teaching her about the concept of leadership and remaining strong for the people following them. At first Mya was annoyed by Franklin throwing her in the brig, but after listening to him and his crew's plight, she began to respect him and decided to put off her own mission of getting home to help them.
Jonas
Mya started off not completely trusting Jonas, and not caring about the Protectors mission, instead just wanting to go home.
Spencer Albright
Enemies
Octavian
Mya's relationship with Octavian is interesting, in that she started off seeing him as a pure villain and a creep who had gotten them into that mess, until she empathized with him the most out of all the characters.
Mya was the only one who proposed the idea that instead of trying to cause trouble, Octavian was trying to fix something from history. She was also the only one who agreed with his actions, although after the Aegis blew up she disagreed with him.
When Octavian gives his spiel about losing Paulla in the submarine, Mya's the one who’s listening the closest, because Mya actually understands his pain and his goals. But even though Mya felt for him the most, she still didn't approve of his actions.
Lieutenant Rogers
At first Mya respected Rogers, but after figuring out she had attacked Captain Franklin, she realized that she was a Protector spy. Mya saved Oliver and Jorge from being killed by Rogers. Even after Rogers tried to kill them, Franklin respected her devotion to her duty, which Mya didn't understand.
Trivia
- According to the author Mitch Krpata, she is 12 years old.
- Her backstory and character development is meant to be a contrast to Octavian's. The lesson she learns at the end is to move forward from her past of losing a loved one (her mom), and learn from her struggles. Meanwhile, Octavian decides to go back to his past and save his loved one (Paulla) instead of accepting his reality.
- She likes literature such as Shakespeare and fantasy novels.
- Novels she is seen reading are Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, all from the series His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman.
- In an alternate timeline, she became a bestselling author.
- Her favorite day is Christmas.
- She and her dad might be Christian, as they are seen attending church on Easter Sunday.
- She is not a fan of insects, as when she saw a giant bug in Mystery of the Map she said "ew", and when Oliver showed her his bug collection in The End of Time she got scared and ran away in tears.
- After her mother's death, she had a habit of wearing headphones with music in order to drown out the world and isolate herself from everything, including her father.
- She might like cats, as she once dressed as a black cat for Halloween.
- She also might be a fan of dolphins, as she has a dolphin picture in her room, and in her fantasy of the H.M.S. Terror there were dolphins in the ocean.
- Mya and Oliver met 1 year after Mya's mother dies, and Oliver’s father left.
- She doesn't like loud noises.
- She is a neat freak, meaning she hates messes or anything dirty.
- When she was younger she wore a pink bow in her hair for Christmas photos.
- As an adult she wears glasses, similar to her mom.
- She is the second Poptropica character to suffer from depression, the first being Fiona from Ghost Story Island.
- She is a fan/is knowledgeable of anything related to seafaring, including ships, submarines, sailors, dolphins, etc.
Meta
- She does not appear in the Poptropica comic strip.
- Her name is "Mia" in the French translation.
[[Category:Poptropica Heroes]]