The Sea Raiders sea monsters include Scylla and Charybdis of Greek mythology, and the kraken of medieval times which is thought to have been a giant squid. Previous fictional encounters with giant squids are described in chapter 59 of Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" of 1851, and in Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" of 1870. The narrator describes a recent period when a new sort of giant squid, a species named "Haploteuthis ferox", became known. (This fictitious name can be compared with the genus name "Architeuthis" of the giant squid.) As a part of the survey of the period, including early encounters
Sphere (novel) original code, Johnson realizes by transposition the entity's name should be "Harry" (Adams). Johnson hypothesizes that the sphere is an object which allows a person's subconscious thoughts to manifest in reality, and Harry Adams has acquired the power through entering it. (Confirmed by his childhood fear of squid, especially the giant squid in the novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", manifested in the form of a vast number of small squid and later a giant squid that attacks the DH-8 Habitat.) Johnson and Halpern sedate Adams and wait for contact to be re-established with the surface, but the manifestations