Creature Feature: Release the Kraken

Creature Feature created by Michael is a feature that focuses on the wonderful world of fantasy, science fiction, and horror creatures. 

Kraken:

Ah, the viral meme that started from a trailer to the 2010 film Clash of the Titans. So what exactly is a Kraken?! A squid, an octopus, a sea serpent.

Just like in test that tries to trick you, the correct answer is all of the above. The Kraken is from the Norse mythology though its beginnings may have originated from the Greek. Hence why the movie Clash of the Titans may have used the Kraken instead of the Greek equivalent of Cetus (large sea serpent).

The word kraken is Norwegian in origin,  which means an unhealthy animal or something twisted. A Kraken is usually a large squid in many of its interpretations. Though some have described it as a large octopus or just a large sea creature. The Kraken is most often described as a squid that is as large as an island, and that sailors have been able to walk on its body.

Just like the other sea creatures I have discussed in weeks before Sirens and Mermaids, Kraken have also been noted as being an actual sea monster.

The Kraken was first written as an actual creature in 1180 by King Sverre of Norway. There have been many accounts of the Kraken from sailors and others. The Swedish physician, botanist, and zoologist Carl Linnaeus included the Kraken in his introduction of the Linnaean Taxonomy in his first edition of Systema Naturae. 

According to Wikipedia, the Kraken has been used as an explanation for some of the sunken ships. Pierre Dénys de Montfort believed 10 British warships, including the captured French ship of the line Ville de Paris, which had mysteriously disappeared one night in 1782, must have been attacked and sunk by a Kraken. 

So is the Kraken real? Well, we know a squid is, but one as big as an island is pure fiction. Like many legends, the Kraken has grown in size and in the strength it posses. Sailors have probably "fish-tailed" this creature into this huge beast to gain more notoriety or attention with peers.

The Kraken has appeared in film, books, and games

Movies such as: 

Books such as: 

And video games such as: 

And of course many many others.

One of the coolest scenes in a film with a Kraken has got to be near the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. You may know this part: