The Karathen is an antagonist/protagonist in the 2018 DCEU film Aquaman. Karathen is an underwater mythical sea creature that is the most powerful creature on Earth. She was the guardian of King Atlan's corpse and his trident keeping it safe till the true Atlantean worthy of wielding the trident came.
Source: https://dccomicsextendeduniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Karathen
Devoted to defending Atlan's Trident with deadly force the Karathen is a powerful foe. She is surprized when she realizes Arthur Curry (Aquaman) can hear and understand her. She then allowed Aquaman to attempt to free the trident but warned him if he fails, she hasn't feasted in quite some time.
Once Aquaman frees the trident she turns from threat to friend and returns to the Brine Kingdom to assist in the Battle for Ocean Master. Her massive attacks destroy even the largest forces in the ensuing battle. No force or weapon can withstand her punishment.
Appearance
The Karathen resembles part dragon, part shrimp, part squid and a leviathan. She is huge. There are three limbs on each side of her body, ending in huge sharp points she uses for locomotion. She has two huge, long arms ending in lobster-type claws she uses in battle. A massive long tail ending with a set of fins doubles her length and she has a mass of squid-like tentacles exiting the rear of her abdomen which are equipped with huge spiked pads she uses for swatting and crushing blows.
Her face has a pointed lower jaw and her mouth is lined with huge sharp teeth. She sports a horned crest on the top of her head which ends in spikes. She is covered in a thick armored shell, mottled dark green which makes her nearly invisible in the dark depths of the sea. She has four eyes, two on each side of her head just above the mouth's jawline.
Powers and Abilities
The Karathen possesses the following powers and abilities:
- Extremely massive size and weight
- Intelligent, strategist
- Telepathic
- Immortal
- Impervious armored shell
- Fastest swimmer in the ocean
- Jump/lunge
- Swipe/smash
- Bite/claw
- Tentacle whip/club
- Tail whip
- Fear-inducing appearance
- Throw/toss
- Force wave generation from movement
Fate
The Karathen survives the events of this film taking no significant damage.
Trivia
Source: https://dccomicsextendeduniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Karathen#Trivia
- Karathen bears similarities to "the Kraken" from the Clash of the Titans Remake
- Karathen also bears similarities to the Leviathan machines from Disney's Atlantis
- Karathen is similar to kaiju from the Pacific Rim, most notably Slattern
- Karathen is heavily inspired by kaiju designs
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaman_(film)
- Julie Andrews provides the voice of Karathen
- All the animals, including the Karathen, were built by ILM and animated using keyframe animation.
- ILM was the lead VFX vendor and worked on creating Atlantis and all its CGI animals, the Karathen and the final battle.
Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1477834/trivia
- The Karathen is based on the Karaqan, an ancient guardian monster who appeared in the "New 52" Aquaman Graphic Novels.
- She also incorporates traits of Topo, presented in the "New 52" as a octopus-crab monster
- Arthur was originally to confront his ancestor Atlan for his trident, and Atlan would be a zombie, in an homage to his role in the DC comics as the Dead King. This was rejected and replaced with the Karathen sea monster.
- Method Studios handled the Sicily fight sequence between Arthur, Mera, and Black Manta; Arthur's encounter with the Karathen in the Well of the Souls, and his acquisition of Atlan's Trident.
Photo Gallery
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