Putting the Science in Fiction by Dan Koboldt

Author:Dan Koboldt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: F+W Media

CHAPTER 31

TENTACLES: FROM OCTOPUS TO ALIEN

by Danna Staaf

Nothing says “alien” like a face full of tentacles. These appendages seem to enjoy perennial popularity in science fiction, from the Martians of H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds to the heptapods in the 2016 film Arrival.

The original inspiration for all these boneless limbs comes from our own home ocean. Step into the water off any coast and you’ll find it chock-full of tentacles—decorated with suction cups, stinging cells, feather dusters, and more. Writers who leave the depths of tentacular possibility unplumbed run the risk of using them as generic squiggles, slapped on a creature merely to enhance its weirdness. Here’s a bit of real-world biology to boost your creativity without getting your feet wet.

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