How to Make Tamatoa Costume from Moana
| # | Item | Description | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teal Spiked Shell Backpack | The base of the costume — a big domed shell worn like a backpack, which reads as "giant crab" far better than trying to fake his actual size. Cover it in the coins and gems below. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 2 | Pirate Treasure Gold Coins, 100 Pack | Hot-glue these across the shell. Tamatoa's whole shell is armor-plated in centuries of scavenged loot — the coins are the single most important detail. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 3 | Flatback Acrylic Gems, 1500 Pack | Mixed with the coins for the broken glass, pearls and jewels he's picked off shipwrecks. Glue them in clusters rather than an even grid — his shell is chaotic, not tiled. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 4 | Deep Purple Hooded Sweatshirt | Tamatoa's face and body are a dusty violet-purple. A plain purple hoodie covers your torso and arms under the shell straps and claws. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 5 | Giant Latex Crab Claws | Oversized, ridged claws for both hands. His are actually a dark blue-grey — these come in a deep weathered red, which is the closest shape and size on the market; a coat of matte charcoal spray paint shifts the color if you want it exact. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 6 | Crab Eye-Stalk Headband | Gets his two stalked eyes and thin antennae above your head in one piece, which is the detail that makes the silhouette read as "crab" instead of "purple monster." | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 7 | Ugly Crooked Gag Teeth | For his big, yellowed, crooked grin — he flashes it constantly while singing. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 8 | Purple Face & Body Paint | Cover any exposed skin — face, neck, hands if your claws don't reach the wrist — in this muted purple. Blend a little coral or orange under the chin for his lighter throat. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 9 | Black Joggers | Plain black on the legs keeps the eye on the shell and claws, which is where all of Tamatoa's detail actually lives. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
Tamatoa is a costume built around one big prop and a lot of small, glued-on detail. Get the shell covered in loot and the claws and eye-stalks on, and the purple hoodie and black joggers underneath barely matter — nobody looks at a giant crab's elbows.
Start with the shell. Hot-glue the gold coins on first in dense, overlapping clusters — don't try to cover every inch evenly, since real shipwreck treasure piles unevenly. Work the acrylic gems in around and between the coins, mixing in a few larger "statement" pieces near the top where they catch the most light. If you want to push the reference further, a strand of costume pearls or a broken bit of a cheap necklace tucked into the pile nods to the "pearls" and "diamonds" he name-drops in his song. The goal is a shell so encrusted you can barely see the backpack underneath.
The claws and the eye-stalk headband are what turn "person wearing a decorated backpack" into "crab." Wear the claws with the hoodie sleeves pushed up so the ragged cuffs sit over your wrists, and keep your hands loosely curled inside them rather than trying to grip anything — Tamatoa's claws move like slow, deliberate pincers, not fingers. The headband's stalked eyes should sit noticeably above your own eyeline; if it slips low it reads as antennae instead of eyes.
For the face, cover any skin the shell straps and hoodie hood don't hide with the purple paint, working a warmer coral or peachy tone under the chin and around the mouth to match his lighter throat. Finish with the crooked yellow teeth in and go big with the expression — Tamatoa is never subtle, and a flat expression undersells the whole look. If you want to lean into the "Shiny" theme even harder, a set of gold grillz over your own teeth is a fun (if less accurate) alternative that plays the same joke his song does.
Cheaper route: skip the loose coins and gems and instead cover a plain dome backpack or even an umbrella base in gold wrapping paper and dollar-store costume jewelry — the effect reads fine from a few feet away, which is the distance that matters at a party.
Tamatoa pairs naturally with a group of Moana characters — Moana herself covered in the same shiny bait she used to distract him, Heihei as comic relief, or Maui in his tattoo print, leaf skirt and hook prop, ready to steal his hook back.
About Tamatoa from Moana
Tamatoa is a gargantuan coconut crab and the secondary antagonist of Disney's Moana (2016). He lives in Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters, inside a colossal seashell that he has spent centuries decorating with gold, jewels and other treasure scavenged from sunken ships and fallen adventurers — an obsession born from insecurity over being seen as just a "beady-eyed bottom feeder." That obsession is the subject of his villain song, "Shiny," which he performs while showing off his encrusted shell.
Tamatoa fought the demigod Maui a thousand years before the film's events and has held onto Maui's magical fishhook ever since, keeping it buried among his other treasures. When Moana and Maui travel to Lalotai to retrieve it, Moana covers herself in glittering trinkets to pose as bait and distracts Tamatoa by flattering him into performing "Shiny," giving Maui the opening to steal the hook back before they narrowly escape.
Tamatoa is voiced by Jemaine Clement, the New Zealand actor, comedian and musician best known for Flight of the Conchords. Clement has said he modeled the character's singing voice on David Bowie, an homage the film also works into Tamatoa's design — his mismatched pupil sizes, and the different eye colors he takes on in his bioluminescent form, echo Bowie's own famously uneven eyes.
