Dota 2 Hero Lore - Kunkka and the biggest
lore myth BUSTED
Contrary to common belief, and my shitty “““cosplay”””,
kunkka isnt actually a pirate. He is an admiral
in the navy, in fact, which is like the opposite
of a pirate. Or is he… Before that, lets
brief over his basics across the dotaverse.
In underlords, wren and kunkka are allies,
but wren is a bit worried about his rival,
tidehunter. In Artifact too, we only hear
about him in clear the deck, where tidehunter
is hunting him. In dota 2 voice lines, we
also constantly hear kunkka and tide talking
smack and they obviously has a turbulent past.
But why do they hate eachother so much? WHat
caused it? In some voice lines, they even
seem kinda friendly, like they were allies
way back… Hmm…
Kunkka is from cladd, a collection of islands
where the suicide-mages live, and the powerful
claddish navy calls its home. The suicide
mages are called that because their magic
involves summoning ancestral spirits, and
as we will get back to, maybe even permanently
summon them, or lock them in limbo. But using
the ultimate abilities costs them their lives,
which is why they have that name. Kunkkas
sword, the tidebringer, has an ancestral spirit
inside it, which gives it special powers.
The claddish navy is another faction of cladd,
which kunkka used to be the admiral of. His
primary task was defending cladd. Their colours
are, as you can see on kunkka, blue and gold.
Like i said, cladd is made up of many isles.
One of which is the trembling isle.
The trembling isle has hosted 2 great battles.
The first of which kunkka won and took the
hat of the enemy captain, and the second one
is much more infamous and we will get back
to it. The trembling isle itself is surrounded
by treacherous waters, likely meaning storms
and strong currents.
Kunkkas relationships are overwhelmingly just
tide, plus some fishy and some… undead heroes.
Have a listen to some
of them: 
In dota 1, he is kunkka, the master and commander
of the seven seas. Though few know his actual
name. Some call him captain coco, some jack
sparrow - which is a reference to the pirates
of the caribbean, and some the legendary mariner.
Kunkka is actually the name of an artist,
who made loading screens and other things
for dota 1 and dota 2. He is named in his
honor. Other names of kunkka is daelin proudmoore,
coco and captain obvious. The first of which,
daelin proudmoore, is a warcraft character
which is his dota 1 model. Other trivia, his
voice lines for slardar, death prophet, doom,
windranger and ancient apparition comes from
the poem by samuel taylor coleridge, “The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner” His voice line
"Rough seas ahead, crew. Strap me to the mizzen
when I give the word." probably references
when obysseus wanted to get strapped to his
mast in the odyssey, so he could hear the
siren songs without getting lured.
So its time to talk about kunkka and tidehunter.
And to really understand the story between
them, we have to open the archronicus and
read the summoning sea poem. Because if most
lore experts are to be believed, then this
is about the two of them and maelrawn the
sea god.
Beyond the reach of Southward's End,
Where summer's warmth dares not to roam
Songs tell of ancient treasures lost
Worth more than titles, lands and home
At night skies streak in ribbon's glow
Chill ocean's maze of jagged frost
Wild winds betray the best of men
Where boldest captains fear to cross
Within 'tis said's a hidden coast
Unknown to neither map or man
Where once there died a seaborn fiend
Washed up along its sandy span
Inside this corpse, the legends claim
A gem lay hid away from sight
And who dares hold this stone unique
Shall see all hidden forms of fright
From whence the single frigate sailed
No soul still lives to dare recall
Brave voyage launched into the cold
Afraid of neither gale nor squall
To southern ice and wind they forged
The dauntless crew did plot their trek
In times the fields of floe and berg
Gave glimpse of land to all on deck
Upon an arctic shore they spied
Frost touched remains of monster vast
Old marks from briny wars they saw
And ice locked teeth to dwarf their mast
On darkened beach was set a host
To excavate this mortal coil
Their picks and tools they lifted high
Then dug into their grisly toil
For days and days they hacked and crawled
As stained was beach in ancient gore
Through rib and tissue, deep they delved
And wrought their path to monster's core
From humid depths came glowing dim
Strange spectral light of emerald hue
Great gem matched size with finder's fist
Worn crew rejoiced; old songs proved true
Returned to deck with treasure held
As one all crew did choke their breath
For ringed they were by wraiths of yore
Ghost ships long sunk, and those past death
For hidden from the common eye
Are ones who drift when lifeblood fails
Bright gem grants truth to sight they learned
Then set with fright to raising sails
Yet ghastly shades no harm intend
But warning men whose air's still drawn
To bring sight's stone on waters wide
Would raise the wrath of deep Maelrawn
A day and twelve on ocean waves
Passed laden, anxious crew's retreat
When came long shadows in their wake
Lord Maelrawn's servant, come to eat
By haste and lucky breeze they sped
Four dawns the scourge kept far at bay
Until a wisp of earth drew far
When fickle fortune's winds betrayed
As beast drew under ship to strike
Rowboats were filled with man and loot
Then loosed were heavy chain and weight
To crashed ship's anchor on sea's brute
Then deck leaned port as seabeast scaled
Wild tendril fury came aboard
In frenzied panic three boats fled
With ship entangled, kraken roared
Through tree thick feelers twist and squeeze
Wood hull made vent to frozen surge
As half-ship sank, death's master called
The gem still moved, and neared shore's verge
In rushed pursuit the kraken swam
To overtake the first boat of three
When drowned men froze and wreckage sank
Did hunter learn its charge stayed free
As second crew in horror rowed
Slick grasping fingers closed around
Yet once again gem was not there
And third boat's band set foot aground
So terrified of Maelrawn's rage
Did thrashing scourge set out anew
Then breached itself upon the surf
As kraken flailed, its foe withdrew
Of fated crew's last port and call
No grey account still deigns to say
Some firm believe they made toward home
Though others tell of hangman's sway
Of gem and tidal deepgod's hunt
Vain quest goes on without reward
Its servants blindly come to shore
To kill and raze, be put to sword
For no thrall creature of the depths
Nor spirit bound in drowning's keep
Nor Maelrawn the Tentacular
Shall rest till seas, gem comes to sleep
Before i say anything, let me summarize what
happens. A mysterious crew goes south to a
frigid cold place looking for a fabled treasure.
They find a beast on a hidden beach, and the
gem of true sight is within it. They dig it
out, and discover they can now see ghosts
and other spooky things usually hidden - which
scares them into setting sail. The ghosts
however are nice, and warns the men that if
they continue, maelrawn the ocean god will
come for them to get the gem. They dont listen
to the warning, so their ship gets sunk by
the kraken, which is definitely tidehunter,
with only 3 row boats remaining with the crew
trying to escape. Tides ravage first catches
one boat, then another, but the third one
makes it safely to shore with the gem.
Theres a few interesting things about this
poem. First of all, is the crew even lead
by Kunkka? It doesnt seem like hes an admiral
here at all, instead referred to as captain,
and instead of behaving like a marine, they
are looking for treasure. Sounds kinda piraty
to me. Not convinced? How about the fact that
the crew that survived, is said to have either
got home or got hanged. Why would the navy
get hanged? In kunkkas lore we learn he USED
to be in the claddish navy. Maybe he abandoned
it for a more adventurous but illegal life?
Second of all, and in my opinion the most
important thing - listen again to this from
near the end: For no thrall creature of the
depths, Nor spirit bound in drowning's keep,
Nor Maelrawn the Tentacular. 3 major characters
- maelrawn, kunkka and tide? While the poem
and kunkkas bio says wether hes alive or not
is unknown, THIS in my opinion is soft proof
he is infact a spirit bound in drownings keep.
A living dead. Trapped in limbo by both the
gem and the suicide mages. Because 3 major
things are being mentioned here - maelrawn,
tidehunter and kunkka or at least him and
his crew. So why would they be referred to
as all drowned?
But… This poem isnt about Kunkka. Like i
touched on, it was the suicide mages who trapped
him in limbo - not this whole gem quarrel.
I know some people are gonna be mad, but theres
just more evidence against it than for it.
Its one of the biggest lore myths of the entire
dotaverse, even bigger than the myth that
pugna is male. Thats a joke, but for real,
its not kunkka - please hear me out. As much
as i want it to be the story about tide and
kunkkas first rivalry shaping fight and why
kunkka is undead, the poem is just a story
about a crew and their meeting with the gem,
maelrawn and tide - and its more to show the
power of those two than highlight the quarrel
between tide and kunkka. The reason why is
revealed as soon as we actually compare the
details of both the poem and kunkkas lore
bio. But you can rest assured that it is Tidehunter,
and all the evidence that its tide, such as
the anchor, his kraken shell and ravage ult,
doesnt rely on that its also kunkka in the
story.
SO from kunkkas bio, we learn that kunkka
isnt actually an adventurer, he is just a
protector of the cladd isles, as the admiral
of the navy. Why hes not anymore, we will
come back to. Kunkka never set out to find
the gem, instead what happened was the demons
of the cataract was plagueing the cladd isles,
comitting bolder and bolder attacks over the
years. Then it all climaxed at the trembling
isle, where the demon fleet once and for all
faced off agains the claddish navy, Under
aid by the suicide mages. This is a very sad
story actually, even though it doesnt seem
like it at first. The suicide mages ancestral
magic helped barely turn the tide of the battle,
by bringing back the dead spirits from the
claddish side as they fell in battle. It is
even hinted that kunkka with his tidebringer
ahd direct control over the magic too, just
look at this sentence: “As Kunkka watched
the Demons take his ships down one by one,
he had the satisfaction of wearing away their
fleet with his ancestral magic.” HIS ancestral
magic. not the one of the suicide mages. Their
ritual was likely a one-time thing, wher ethey
sacrificed their lives, summoned ancestors,
one of which merged with kunkkas sword, and
made him able to raise the fallen comrades
as they fell, temporarily to aid against the
demon fleet. If this wasnt chaotic enough
as is, maelrawn the tentacular also decided
to show, as a fourth power in this battle,
sumoned by none other than tidehunter. Why
is not explained, other than maybe just the
wild battle of demons and humans and undead
on his seas. OR… because the trembling isle
is maelrawns home? He is not summoned by the
gem like in the poem. It could be the treacherous
waters is LITERALLY his home, and tide summoned
him because of the noisy neighbour fight.
It is known he is from a whirlpool, and the
waters surrounding the trembling isle are
described in a way where thats not very far
fetched. The ocean god had been slumbering
in the depths, and now surfaced to shut them
up. His tentacles rose, pulling down ships,
both human and demon. And NOWS the truly interesting
part. What happened? even in the bio itself,
it is stated that its unknown. Listen to this:
“What happened in the crucible of that storm,
none may truly say. The Cataract roars off
into the void, deserted by its former denizens.
Kunkka is now Admiral of but one ship, a ghostly
rig which endlessly replays the final seconds
of its destruction. Whether he died in that
crash is anyone's guess. Not even Tidehunter,
who summoned Maelrawn, knows for sure.”
Why would they even mention that he may be
dead in both bio and on main page under gameplay?
And why is it said he USED to be in the navy?
Hes not a former navy because he became a
pirate. Hes not even in the archronicus poem.
Its because he died. Hes not in the navy anymore,
because he is dead and alive at the same time
- like many stories of seamen tells tales.
If it wasnt for the comment about hanging
the crew after the battle, i would maybe believe
that the summoning sea poem was about kunkka.
But it still doesnt make sense that they got
scared by ghosts. They shoudl be used to them
by now. Besides, kunkka only commands one
ship - the ghost ship now. If it was in the
past, he would not be a famous navy protecting
the cladd isles. By then his existence would
already be legendary. They just dont add up.
SO to summarize, first of all they are seperate,
and second of all, the poem is about tide
only, and in kunkkas lore bio tide is already
hostile to kunkka. So we dont actually know
why they hate eachother still. My guess is
its more a general hate kinda thing, where
its just as they say in voice lines, the monster
and the admiral - destined to love to hate
eachother. There sno one event that caused
it, its just destiny. Seamen vs sea monsters
is a classic, and once again tasteful dynamic,
just like samurai and american western in
bountys lore. So dont be sad the poem isnt
about kunkka and tide, instead, be happy that
now you can go be an insufferale nerd and
correct casuals who thinks they know about
this epic theory about their relationship.
For real though, i was really mad when i discovered
that kunkka isnt part of the poem. It was
after i had recorded and illustrated it, so
at that point i couldnt scrap that either
and save it for tides video. Trust me, i,
just likeyou, wish it was true, but im sorry,
its a myth, and its now busted.
This video is made for and dedicated to my
dear patron and friend fuskee! thank you so
much for your support and patience! Thank
all of you for watching, and i hope to see
you around. PEACEE
