Kraken

Kraken
Creature Type
(Subtype for creature/kindred cards)
Statistics	29 cards 82.8% 3.4% 10.3% 3.4% 7 Kraken creation cards 85.7% 14.3% as of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
Scryfall Search
type:"Kraken"

Kraken are massive fiends from the deepest reaches of the ocean.

Description

Krakens in Magic take various features from different forms of oceanic classes, most commonly the tentacles of the cephalopodic octopus and squid. Some others feature dorsal spines, binocular vision, and mandibles of fish and a few have pincers of crustaceans. The only truly unifying features of the species are their massive size and destructive capability, and with the art direction not depicting the entire being, it is unlikely there will ever be a clear taxonomic definition. They are not to be confused with leviathans.

The first card to bear the creature type was Polar Kraken in Ice Age. All Krakens but one (Rot-Tide Gargantua) are blue.

Storyline

Capenna

There is a kraken living in the central lake of Ferara Park, which was imported by the founding fathers of the city. It is unknown if there are other krakens outside New Capenna.

Dominaria

Krakens inhabit the large oceans of Dominaria, occasionally emerging on the surface hunting for food. Here, they first appeared during the Ice Age.

During the Time Rift crisis, large krakens entered Dominaria's seas through the rifts and remained in the deep sea after the crisis was solved.

Innistrad

Kraken (who double as Horrors) apparently live in the frozen north of Innistrad, where they are sometimes found by expeditions encased in ice. The Stromkirk line worships them as avatars of pre-avacynian gods.

Kaldheim

Krakens are known to be found in the freezing waters of the Realm of Karfell.

Lorwyn

Despite Lorwyn having no seas or oceans, krakens exist in some of the larger lakes of the world and they are as deadly as their oceanic counterparts from other planes.

Mercadia

Mercadian Krakens are more humanoid than other specimens. They threaten both pirates and merfolk.

Mirrodin

Although never observed or depicted on a card, Mirran krakens apparently existed in the Quicksilver Sea, as apparent by the Kraken's Eye. Their fate following the poisoning of the Quicksilver Sea with glistening oil is unknown.

Shadowmoor

Previously unknown on Lorwyn, krakens manifest in the Shadowmoor phases of the world. As the world lacks large seas, they inhabit the Dark Meanders that connect all rivers and lakes of the plane and can strike out of them for prey. Some are so large that they are mistaken for islands.

Theros

Krakens are fearsome, destructive gargantuan creatures of the sea and the most terrifying entities of Theran depths. The arrival of a single determined kraken can spell the end of an entire polis, and even casual actions by a kraken can wipe out fleets of ships or decimate fishing grounds. Thassa is known to use kraken as harbingers of her wrath.

Krakens' destructive power comes not only from their immense size but also because they seem able to breathe air and can crawl on land, meaning they can create swaths of destruction along the coasts or even deeper inland.

Zendikar

Zendikari krakens are sapient beings, symbolizing will and self-determination. Some turn to destructive thoughts and actions, creating devastation, but most spend their adult lives in isolation in the depths of the sea, contemplating and exploring. As adults, they have a roughly humanoid shape. Their head is encased in a rough shell that sprouts two large horns, and one of their hands is a bony claw. They have dozens of tentacles — a writhing mass below their toothy mouth, another mass at the end of one arm, and several long tentacles in place of legs. On their back is a huge conch-like shell. As larvae, they inhabit these shells similar to snails and are thought of as delicacies.

Notable Krakens

Ikoria

• Gyruda

Innistrad

• Krothuss

Theros

• Arixmethes
• Tromokratis

Zendikar

• Brinelin, the Moon Kraken
• Wrexial, the Risen Deep

Non-canon

• Monstrosity of the Lake
• The Watcher in the Water

Tokens

Token Name	Color	Type Line	P/T	Text Box	Source	Printings
Kraken	Blue	Creature — Kraken	1/1	Trample	Invasion of Segovia
	Blue	Creature — Kraken	8/8		Kiora, the Tide's Fury Ominous Seas
	Blue	Creature — Kraken	8/8	Hexproof	Kiora Bests the Sea God
	Blue	Creature — Kraken	9/9		Kiora, the Crashing Wave Reef Worm Spawning Kraken

Trivia

• All multicolored Kraken are legendary; Wrexial, the Risen Deep, Gyruda, Doom of Depths, and Krothuss, Lord of the Deep are blue-black, and Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle is green-blue and the only green Kraken.
  • While several cards create Kraken tokens, the multicolored one that does so is also legendary: the green-blue planeswalker Kiora, the Crashing Wave.
• Kraken's Eye is a lucky blue charm.
• Although essentially a Scandinavian trope, Krakens were added to the Greek flavored Theros-set because the film "Clash of the Titans" had changed the public perception.

Gallery

• 

  Wrexial, the Risen Deep depicts iconic tentacles. Art by Eric Deschamps.

• 

  Tidal Kraken depicts humanoid features. Art by Christopher Moeller.

• 

  Polar Kraken looks a lot like a leviathan. Art by Mark Tedin.