I've heard Maine Coons are so gentle they could be bullied by a mouse. :-)
I don't know if it's gentleness or laziness. Our Maine Coon is proof of the theory of evolution- he is evolving into a throw-rug.
They're great cats, though, and anyone who sees them for the first time is shocked at their size. Our vet has a breeding stud Maine Coon that weighs 25 pounds. Plus, they're disturbingly intelligent. Ours has figured out how to open closed doors using door handles.
Our Maine Coon "kitten" ... a 25-pounder at a year and a half ... is a gorgeous, rather shy boy. He plays ferociously with toys but seldom puts his claws out with us. He is more inclined to pat us with his paws. He has been a joy but has developed more slowly than even the ferals I have had in the past. My only other Maine Coon [what a cat!] was 10 years old when I took him after his owner died. If our experience is typical, our kitten will be two years old or more before he has completely given his heart to us, gotten over his shyness and outgrown his kitten ways. Our breeder cautioned us to expect him to develop more slowly than other cats. But, Oh! what a joy he has been. Only now, at a year and a half, is he beginning to want to please me. I ask him if he is hungry. He speaks when I look at him a certain way. Then I tell him to go and sit on his tray. He trots over and sits on the black plastic tray on which I will put his plate of food. I then go to the kitchen to get his food. He is smart as can be! Leash training is next ... but he had to reach a point of wanting to please me before it was worth beginning. I expect it to take only a few weeks at most. I have done it before with another cat.
Hah. Not mine. They called him "Mr." Brian. When the neighbors had houseguests who brought their Rottweilers, the Rotties were fed out by the garage. Brian sashayed up to see what they had in their dish, and one of them chased him off. The neighbor went running after them, because he didn't want to have to tell me his friend's dogs ate my cat, but he said before he could catch up, the dog came running back the other way, with Brian in hot pursuit.
He had been declawed before I got him, so it was pure arrogance. He's been gone over five years now & I miss him every day.