Octopans (pronounced: "oc-to-puns") are a hostile species of aquatic humanoids, prevalent in The Little Mermaid franchise. They look to be a combination of cephalopods and human beings.
Notable members of the species include the sea witches Ursula and Morgana.
Biology and Society[]
Little is known about the octopan race, except that they and merpeople are long-time enemies.
Octopans can have purple, green, or dark-blue skin, and unlike merpeople, have a diverse style of "clothing" and can seemingly dress up their upper half however they like. As it seems to be part of their octopus half, though, it's not clear how this is done.
They, or at the very least Ursula and Morgana, also have no qualms eating living creatures or enjoying semi-cannibalistic meals; as Ursula was shown to eat live shrimp and Morgana offered Melody a plate that included some type of tentacled "snack".
Octopans have strong tentacles that can be used as arms and legs, but unlike normal cephalopods, they seem to possess a skeletal system. It's unsure how it connects to their more flexible lower half, but it can be assumed that starting from their pelvis, there is only muscle.
Abilities[]
Octopans may possess a great amount of magic and relevant abilities, the best example being Ursula. They practice this either through making potions, harnessing talismans, or setting up unbreakable contracts, though the original movie also showcased some minor supernatural occurrences that appeared to come naturally; like spawning moving images or an object.
Nevertheless, not all octopans are equally gifted and some might not have any magic abilities at all.
Media Appearances[]
- Octopans first appeared in The Little Mermaid, with the main antagonist, Ursula.
- They were further expanded on in The Little Mermaid TV-show, specifically in the episode "Heroes", wherein Ursula revived a deceased octopan army she had formerly commanded.
- Octopans then appeared in The Little Mermaid II, starring Ursula's sister, Morgana.
- Aside from Ursula herself, Donald Duck assumes the form of an Octopan during visits to Atlantica in the Kingdom Hearts games, as a subtle reference to his role as a magician in the games.
Trivia[]
- The physical design of octopans are based on the cecaelia.
- The name "octopan" was solely mentioned in the "Heroes" episode;
- It's possible that it is not the name of the species, but of the army featured;
- This episode is the only instance where male octopans made an appearance.
- The episode "Heroes" which many from the octopans appeared it, is sheds light on the main octopan Ursula and her motives: Ursula is apparently the leader of the octopans. It is implied that the reason Ursula was banished from Atlantica by Triton, was because she tried to create copies of the Trident for her octopans army, so they can conquer Atlantica. Ursula's strong hatred towards the merpeople and their king Triton probably stems from the old rivalry between the merpeople and the octopans, and therefore she habits to transformation the merpeople into polyps as a result of transactions with her, and after that she predator them gradually. Apparently one of the reasons Ursula wants to rule Atlantica is in order to kill all the merpeople and populate the octopans in Atlantica in their place.
Gallery[]
