The world of Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is full of impressive sea creatures both based on real life and mythology, even beyond the titular Giant Krakens. There are entire kingdoms hidden away under the seas of the film, intermixing with the kind of real-life creatures that can be found in the real oceans of the world. While the film spends a lot of time on land dealing with Ruby’s interactions with humans, her adventures in the ocean up an entirely new world.
The cast of the film also steadily increases as it showcases many of the creatures and species that can be found under the seas by Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’s characters. Some of them have darker intentions for the ocean, seeking to usurp the peace established by the Giant Krakens. Others seem to be at peace with the current system and have even found ways to live alongside them. Some of them could appear more prominently in future stories (which may be unlikely, given Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’s box office woes.) Here are all the creatures that appear in the oceans in Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.
How Old Every Main Character Is In Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
The main characters in DreamWorks new animated movie Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken vary greatly in age, from seven to over seventy years old.
6 Giant Krakens
The Queens Of The Sea
The Krakens are typically portrayed as horrifying monsters in most myths and legends, but Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken subverts these expectations by reimagining them as more heroic figures. Capable of living on land and assuming the more standard form of most sea folk when away from the water, the Giant Krakens become behemoths when exposed to the sea. Ruby is initially unaware of this difference, as her mother (and fellow Kraken) Agatha strived to keep her away from the ocean for years.
On top of their enhanced size and strength, giant Krakens are also able to generate electric-charged bioluminescence to create laser blasts from their eyes. According to Ruby’s grandmother, there had previously been far more Krakens like them in the sea. Most fell in conflict with the mermaids years before the events of the film. Grandmamah believes there are only three Giant Krakens left in the world, and they belong to her family. Ruby, her mother Agatha, and her Grandmamah are the only remaining Giant Krakens, making their responsibility to protect the oceans from other threats all the more vital.
5 Krakens
A Kingdom Under The Waves (And A Family On Land)
While Ruby and her family line are the only remaining Giant Krakens on the planet, they are far from the only Krakens. There’s an entire kingdom of them who live under the protection of Grandmamah. They’re introduced to Ruby when she ventures into the ocean. However, the film’s primary focus remains on the Gillmans, who largely live on land. Notably, the Krakens like Agatha’s brother Brill, her husband Arthur, and their other child Sam are shown to retain their average Kraken size and height in sea or on land, lacking the powers of the female members of the family.
The Kraken’s biology makes them uniquely perfect for exploring the ocean, as they can swim at high speeds with ease. On land, this translates to their bodies being extremely maneuverable and flexible even as they retain their blue skin. They’re able to bounce back from potentially fatal injuries, like when Brill more or less ignores any potential injury from being struck by a car. Sam also highlights how agile Krakens can be on land, bouncing around with ease during a game of dodgeball. It’s a good showcase for how Krakens adapt on land.
4 Mermaids
The Greatest Threat To Peace In The Ocean
The Mermaids are established as some of the most dangerous creatures in the world of Dreamworks’ Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. Grandmamah considers them to be the vilest creatures in the ocean, far more dangerous than even the larger sea creatures that have otherwise threatened the Kraken kingdom. Led by their Queen Nerissa, the mermaids are portrayed as vain and manipulative creatures that came close to overwhelming the Giant Krakens with the use of the ancient weapon known as the Trident of Oceanus.
The mermaids are shown to be similar to krakens when they go on land, although their appearances are far more human. Gaining a power boost from the Trident of Oceanus allows Nerissa to achieve her own giant form similar to the Giant Krakens, giving her the ability to go head-to-head with the Giant Krakens in a confrontation. The Mermaids are some of the most dangerous creatures in the film and are a dark contrast to the Krakens.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken Was Universal’s Answer To Disney’s Massive Streaming Hit From 3 Years Ago (But It Didn’t Work)
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken was supposed to be Universal Pictures’s next big hit. However, a number of factors contributed to the movie’s failure.
3 Nessie
Nessie Proves The Krakens Have Pets
Nessie is the Gillman’s pet. Like the rest of the Krakens, Nessie seems capable of living comfortably on both land and sea. Unlike the Gillmans, Nessie seems to retain a more animalistic perspective and intellect. Nessie acts like a regular dog on land, proving to be a loyal pet to the family. This suggests that other members of Nessie’s species might fill similar roles for other members of the Kraken race.
It’s one of the most notable little touches in the film because it implies a lot of little things about the similarities between Krakens and Humans. Although Grandmamah believes humans are nearsighted and stupid, the fact that both species tend to take in animals and care for them as pets indicates that they are more similar than she wants to admit. it speaks to one of the underlying elements of the film, which suggests that the creatures of the sea and the people on land aren’t all that different.
2 (Real Life) Undersea Animals
There Are Plenty Of Real Animals In Ruby Gillman
Although the most prominent sea creatures in Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken are the Krakens and a particularly dangerous mermaid, there are several other animals seen in the ocean. These are typically more synonymous with real-life animals, although they seem to have some additional attributes over most people. The Giant Krakens are capable of communicating with other sea creatures, with Ruby and Grandmamah befriending some of them during their journeys through the oceans.
Ruby’s Grandmother reveals that she has a hammerhead shark as a therapist, while Ruby befriends a whale named Clarence. Jellyfish are shown serving as assistants to Grandmamah in her palace. The animals retain their personalities even on land, even if they lack clear means of communication with humans. This can be seen with Davey, the pet crab that Gordon the fisherman has with him on his adventures. Although Davey can’t talk, he’s able to get across a great deal of personality silently while alongside Gordon.
1 Other Ocean Monsters In Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
Although the mermaids are established as the primary threat to the Giant Krakens and the world at large in Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, they’re far from the only monster under the sea. Grandmamah brings Ruby to a part of her castle that contains statues of many of her previous conquests, introducing several monstrous creatures that help flesh out the universe. These creatures seem to pull from a mix of mythology and real life, with some seeming similar to giant versions of the Angler Fish that exist in deep parts of the oceans.
One of the mythological ones is the Leviathan, which seems to represent the giant sea serpents that sailors once feared stalked the waters. The other is the Umibozu, a giant black yōkai from Japanese folklore. Although these have been seemingly defeated by the Giant Krakens, other threats still exist in the waters, as indicated by the end of the film. Ruby closes out the movie rushing to combat a Devil Whale, suggesting that these other threats might still exist for Ruby to confront in potential future stories following up on Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
- Director
- Kirk DeMicco
- Studio(s)
- DreamWorks Animation
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures
- Writers
- Pam Brady , Brian C. Brown , Elliott DiGuiseppi
- Cast
- Lana Condor , Toni Collette , Annie Murphy , Sam Richardson , Liza Koshy , Will Forte , Colman Domingo , Jaboukie Young-White
