‘The Terror’: What Manner of Monster Hunts the Crew?

Spoilers ahead for those of you who aren’t caught up with AMC’s The Terror.


Back when Lost was a thing, a major hook for audiences was the introduction of polar bears to what appeared to be an otherwise tropical island. Fast forward nearly 15 years and that hook is still in people’s minds, especially for those of us who have become ensnared by AMC’s period-piece mystery/thriller/drama The Terror. A twist on the real-life tale of Captain Sir John Franklin‘s 19th century voyage to find a way through the icy, treacherous Northwest Passage, the crews of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror find themselves hunted by a mysterious and massive creature. And as of the most recent episode, “First Shot a Winner, Lads”, the monster was finally revealed.


Now personally I preferred the stealthy, off-camera approach to the show’s predator; revealing the creature in the fifth episodes feels a bit too soon, even if the real terror of the story has more to do with isolation, the elements, and the behavior of your fellow man than a near-mythical monster.


However, there’s plenty yet to be explained and uncovered about The Terror‘s monster, which appears to be more than your average polar bear. We’ll get into the mythological explanations and prehistoric possibilities in a bit, but first, let’s revisit the show’s compelling creature known as the Tuunbaq.


Here, you can take a deeper dive into the creation of the creature thanks to Framestore and this AMC featurette:

The show’s VFX supervisor Frank Petzold laid out the creation of the creature during a recent press event. It all started with an illustration by Neville Page (Star Trek: Discovery, Goosebumps, Falling Skies) and then the VFX team and animators made Tuunbaq their own thing. Here’s what Petzold had to say:

We all started with an illustration by the creature designer Neville Page, so he got the creature approved by David [Kajganich] and Soo [Hugh]. Of course that was just one glimpse of the creature, and we started to translate it into the computer, not just the model and the form but we also had to start thinking about the character and who is he really. Because if you’re animating a creature and you really mean it, you don’t look at it as a device, you actually give it a name and you talk about it. Quite often people say, “Oh no, he wouldn’t do that.”

You can expect the mortality of both the creature and the crew to be put on display as the series goes on:


The other thing we had to think of as doing the story, it’s sort of a parallel evolution with the crew. The crew is suffering, starving to death, freezing to death, there’s personal terror, and at the same time, they’re also trying to attack the creature because the creature is attacking them and in return, the creature gets shot at, he gets burnt… so he deteriorates as well. There’s a little bit of a parallel evolution where in the end you’ll actually feel some compassion for the creature.


Still, the terrifying creature isn’t wholly animalistic; there’s a disturbing human likeness baked into its design, as confirmed by co-showrunner Soo Hugh:

“We never wanted to scare the audience. We wanted to make sure he looks human.”

That’s partially due to the intention of making it easier to feel compassion for the creature, and perhaps partly due to the monster’s mysterious mythology.


Tuunbaq


In the latest episode, we learned the term Tuunbaq thanks to the interrogation of Lady Silence (Nive Nielsen). Not much more is given here, except for a rough translation from a similar “Russian America” term for a “spirit”, despite the team’s best efforts. Not only has the creature been brutally killing their crew members, it’s been doing so in intelligent, almost surgical ways. The ambiguous nature of the monster is fuel for the fear, allowing the imaginations of both crew and audience to run wild … at least until it was recently seen by both parties.


The Tuunbaq itself, a partial creation from the novel’s author Dan Simmons who borrowed heavily from Inuit mythology, is a “killing spirit”, a soul-consuming monster that was given life during a war between Inuit gods before being banished to the frozen wasteland. Particularly fond of humans, the Tuunbaq can only be defeated by “spirit governors”, chosen Inuit shaman gifted with psychic abilities. The six shamans, who pay homage to the Tuunbaq by allowing it to eat their tongues (…), can maintain telepathic control over it through ritual singing and sacrifices of animal flesh. But now that one of the six has fallen …


Update: As of the most recent episode of The Terror, “Terror Camp Clear”, it seems that the Tuunbaq is not only alive and well, but in hunting shape. The monster tore through the relatively easy-pickings of the crew scattered about in the fog and mist in their unprotected camp. One particular unfortunate soul, Henry Collins (Trystan Gravelle), had his … well, soul seemingly taken up by the Tuunbaq during the man’s death by disemboweling. Is this an extra power source for the creature or just something spiritual he does on the side? Time will tell…


Yeah, there’s a strong chance The Terror could get very supernatural before the end, but if they want to stay scientific with it, there are other options available.


Prehistoric Possibilities


If The Terror wanted to go with the more realistic angle that an apex predator who had weathered the brutalities of the frozen north fed on human populations and became folded into their mythology, there are some intriguing possibilities. Sure, polar bears come to mind. Weighing in at up to 1,500 pounds and roughly 8 to 10 feet long, modern polar bears would make for a formidable predator, especially against ice-locked humans out of their element and armed with 19th century munitions. The polar bear’s natural coloring and cold-resistance make it perfectly suited to the arctic environment where stalking sedentary humans would be much more efficient than chasing down seals.


But let’s say that the 19th century, though a mere blink of the evolutionary eye between now and our modern era, still head some scary secrets in uncharted territories. Perhaps it’s possible that some prehistoric holdovers remained in the arctic circle and just happened to cross paths with the crews, to their detriment.


The largest bear ever, Arctotherium angustidens, weighed in at maximum of about 3,500 pounds and was more muscular and stoutly built than modern bears. This thing could go toe to toe with other apex predators of the time, like saber-toothed cats, but it was isolated to South America, the opposite end of the planet from The Terror. Other creatures like the cave bear and the giant short-faced bear are certainly possible explanations for the monster, but I prefer the Ursus maritimus tyrannus, a.k.a. King Polar Bear. (How great is that?) This mysterious monster was thought to be a top predator among other predators, even scaring off other meat-eaters from their meals. That’s a definite possibility for the beast hunting the crew of The Terror.


But thanks to the most recent episode’s look at the monster, The Terror is probably sticking with Simmons’ mythological take. The creature definitely has the size and characteristics of a King Polar Bear, but with the weird and slightly off-putting traits similar to that of humans. It’ll either be a creature of pure mythology or perhaps some weird amalgamation like a product of Doctor Moreau’s mad science. We’ll be sure to update this article once we know more, but for now, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!


The Terror airs Monday nights on AMC.