Kraken

## The Kraken

The kraken underwater as seen in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

## Biographical information

### Occupation

Manhunter for Davy Jones

**The Kraken** is a cryptid from maritime folklore featured in the *Pirates of the Caribbean* franchise.

## Description

The Kraken is a giant cephalopod which was approximately 1400 feet in total length. It had dozens of massive tentacles and a large maw with rows upon rows of sharp teeth.

## History

### Folklore

The Kraken is a legendary cryptid which was frequently identified as being a giant octopus or squid like creature which attacked ships in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is now known that the kraken was the spawn of historic misidentifications of the Giant Squid. The name Kraken comes from Scandinavia and was first used in the 12th century for describing sea monsters the sizes of islands. However the descriptions of krakens in these older texts barely resemble the better known tentacled creatures.

### Pirates of the Caribbean (film-series)

The Kraken was a giant sea-monster that was able to be summoned by the captain of the Flying Dutchman, a supernatural ship which ferried the dead between worlds. It was frequently summoned by the Dutchman's captain Davy Jones to hunt down and kill his debtors, dragging them to the depths of Davy Jones' locker. It would do this by hunting down whoever had the supernatural black spot on the palm of their hand, pursuing them with ravenous hunger.

Around 1727, the kraken was summoned by Jones to hunt down the debtor Captain Jack Sparrow resulting in the kraken destroying Sparrow's ship the Black Pearl and killing the pirate captain. When Davy Jones' heart was obtained by the East India Trading Company, they used it to order Jones to kill the kraken. The kraken's corpse would be beached on the shore of *Black Sand Beach* in the Caribbean Sea.

## Appearances and allusions

### Pirates of the Caribbean

The Kraken is mentioned on a map for the cursed island of Isla Tesoro in the possession of the pirate crew of the Wicked Wench. In red ink on the island's coast are the words, "Beware the Kraken!" inferring that it might had been well known to prowl Isla Tesoro's waters.

### Tom Sawyer Island

In Disneyland's *Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island*, there is a shipwreck implied to have been wrecked by the kraken. Said shipwreck is used as, "Pirate's Den", a makeshift fortress for the island's pirates which appears to be haunted by the Dutchman's crew. The map of the island also shows the kraken attacking a ship north of the isle.

### 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

In this attraction, the location of Kraken Reef is named for the legendary monster. Its name however likely comes from it being home to a giant squid which attacks ships.

### Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure

The Kraken physically appears in this attraction when the boats of Jack Sparrow's crew go under the waters of Treasure Cove to seek Davy Jones' legendary sunken treasure.

## Trivia

* The development team for *Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest* used the Giant Squid from *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea* as reference, even citing the Kraken as being an, "Old Disney character".