The Oregon Coast Aquarium has officially become a floor of the dungeon, and I am only slightly annoyed I did not get naming rights. According to Oregon Live, the aquarium has welcomed a giant Pacific Octopus named Juicebox, joining a 22.5-pound male octopus already on exhibit named Donut, after Princess Donut herself. This follows a year where fans have been chasing NYCC Attendees Chase $2,000 Carl Comics in Free Giveaway and previewing A Loot Box Preview: Dungeon Crawler Carl Toys at NYCC, so it appears the franchise is colonizing both the physical and the oceanic realms simultaneously.
The aquarists told Oregon Live they chose the name because octopuses can change their appearance, which is exactly what the changeling Juicebox does in the books, including a memorable shift into Ursula from *The Little Mermaid*, making the transition to an actual octopus less of a stretch and more of a logical promotion. This is a smart play by the aquarium, and I say that as someone who respects a good marketing stunt dressed as biology. The Juicebox octopus will be on display for about a year before being released back to the reef, which means you have a limited window to visit Newport, Oregon, and stare at a cephalopod that carries the name of a character who has probably caused more chaos than any real-world octopus ever could. The fact that Juicebox arrived just as another octopus named Anakin was released is the kind of timing that would make a showrunner jealous.
What this means for readers in practical terms is that the Dungeon Crawler Carl brand has officially achieved a level of cultural penetration that requires an aquarium curator to know your secondary characters. This is not a small thing. The Dungeon Crawler Carl Loot Goes Physical at NYCC slideshow showed us the toys last year, and now we have living loot swimming in a tank. The eighth book is coming out this year, tabletop games are in production, a full toy line is rolling out, and Seth MacFarlane is shepherding a Peacock adaptation. The octopus naming is the kind of weird, specific milestone that tells you a series has stopped being a cult hit and started being a fixture. Will Dungeon Crawler Carl ever be as big as Star Wars? The octopus trends suggest the gap is narrowing, but the real question is whether the aquarium will add a Mongo exhibit next. I would watch that timer closely.