The Jaguar's wife is the menacing counterpart to her generous husband in the Apinayé origin-of-fire myth. While the Jaguar treats the stranded boy kindly, his wife resents the human child and growls at him whenever her husband is away. The Jaguar coaches the boy in how to face her, but her hostility keeps the house perilous, and it is in flight from her, carrying off the fire, that the boy finally returns to his people. She belongs to the recurring Jê figure of the dangerous female at the hearth of the fire-owner.