Hank is an octopus. Actually, he’s a ‘septopus:’ he lost a tentacle — along with his sense of humor — somewhere along the way. But Hank is just as competent as his eight-armed peers. An accomplished escape artist with camouflaging capabilities to boot, Hank is the first to greet Dory when she finds herself in the Marine Life Institute. But make no mistake: he’s not looking for a friend. Hank is after one thing — a ticket on a transport truck to a cozy Cleveland facility where he’ll be able to enjoy a peaceful life of solitude.[1]
Personality[]
Hank is described as a seven-tentacled octopus (dubbed "septopus"), due to him losing his tentacle at one point. As a master of disguise, Hank uses the ability of camouflage, which octopuses use in real life to confuse their predators. In spite of his temper towards Dory about her delaying tactics in a plan to find her parents before the truck leaves the Marine Life Institute to arrive at Cleveland, he still shows care towards her. As an octopus, Hank unleashes ink whenever intimidated, as shown during the part where several children attempt to touch Dory and Hank at the touch pool exhibit at the Kid Zone area, just like what octopuses do in real life when threatened by predators. Later, as shown on one of the digital signages at the Open Ocean area, Hank has three hearts, just like octopuses in real life have.
In spite of his pragmatic behavior in planning to live at a permanent aquarium at Cleveland, Hank learned to adapt living in the ocean, learning that he can experience more life at the ocean than living in an aquarium as shown at the end of the film.
Physical appearance[]
Hank is a red seven-tentacled octopus with teal eyes.
Hank first appears in the film in Dory's tank room in the Marine Life Institute, planning to escape into Quarantine so he can live a life of solitude in Cleveland. To do so, all he needs is a tag, which Dory has. He decides to help Dory find her family as long as she gives her tag in return.
Hank takes her through the building, but Dory sees a bucket labeled Destiny and causes herself to fall into a bucket of fish food for Destiny, a near-sighted whale shark, who tells her she's from the Open Ocean exhibit, and how to get there through the pipes. Dory decides not to go through the pipes, vowing instead to travel with Hank as she thinks she'll get herself lost without company.
Dory and Hank use a baby stroller to find the Open Ocean Exhibit, but Dory's interest in the world's most powerful glasses causes them to fall into a touching tank, where Hank shows his fear of being touched by humans. Dory calms him down by telling him to keep swimming, only for him to release ink upon being poked, scaring all the kids away.
Dory and Hank finally make it to the Open Ocean Exhibit, where Dory thanks Hank for helping her by giving Hank her tag. Hank tells Dory he thinks she's ready before dumping her into the tank, but not before he tells her that he will have a hard time forgetting about her when Dory states that she thinks she'll remember him, finally revealing the softer, sweeter side of his personality.
Hank later appears in Quarantine and helps Dory, Marlin, and Nemo get to the Blue Tang tank, telling Dory to hurry as the truck leaves in 3 minutes. When Dory starts to hallucinate upon hearing her parents may be dead, Hank runs out of time and scoops Dory from the tank, leaving Marlin and Nemo in the tank by accident, only to drop the beaker carrying Dory when a human tries to grab him, sending Dory down a drain and back into the ocean where she finds her parents.
In the truck to Cleveland, Marlin and Nemo spot a fish they think is Dory, only for it to be a camouflaged Hank. He sadly apologizes for losing her as the doors close.
Dory, with the help of some otters, breaks into the truck and try to save Marlin and Nemo, only for Becky to appear and carry her bucket with Marlin and Nemo away, leaving Dory in the truck with Hank. Dory asks Hank to come live in the ocean with her; at first, he refuses but eventually accepts, possibly upon realizing that he'd rather be in the ocean with those he cares about instead of being in a glass box all alone.
Hank scares off the truck drivers and drives the truck around towards the ocean, only for it to fall off a cliff into the water, freeing all of the fish. At the end of the film, Hank becomes Mr. Ray's substitute teacher while the latter joins the stingray migration. When asked when Mr. Ray will return, Hank states that if Mr. Ray is smart, he would stay away from the class as long as possible.
During the credits, Hank hides in each scene throughout the film. He appears in certain scenes such as the kelp forest of Morro Bay on a pole, the quarantine area by the transport truck, the gift shop on a tank with a green toy fish resembling Dory, the motorboat on the surface of Morro Bay where he controls it, the Open Ocean area on a "Wet Floor" sign, the tide pool exhibit where he hides in a large clam (the same clam that bothered Marlin and Nemo), the tree where Becky tries to land on but falls, the Open Ocean exhibit tank on a sunfish (the same fish that told Dory to be careful twice), the stingray migration where he blends in with the stingrays, the sunken beetle car where he hides inside and pretends to ride, and the midnight zone where he hides in a large crate with the giant squid inside it as he escapes from it.
Hank appears in this short film where he comments on Dory about her encounters with the residents of the Marine Life Institute, along with Destiny, Bailey, and the sea lions Fluke and Rudder.
Hank is a playable character in Disney Heroes: Battle Mode, he appears as a duo character with Dory. Hank and Dory is a Front-Line control role hero pair. Hank and Dory fight in battlefield using their skills:
Crafty Camouflage: Hank can turn invisible for a duration, and his attacks blind enemies.
Inked: At the start of each wave, Hank and Dory drop from above into the middle of enemies, dealing and blinding enemies with Hank's ink.
Whale Call: Dory calls for a whale to appear, causing a whale tail to hit backline enemies, damaging and stunning them.
A Bit Forgetful: Dory forgets what just happened and 'keeps swimming', cleansing and healing the duo.
Unlike real octopuses, Hank has only seven tentacles.
The real reason Hank only has seven tentacles is that the animators realized they were unable to fit eight onto his body. He was thus given seven, with the loss of his eighth tentacle being worked into his backstory, though it is never revealed exactly how he lost his tentacle. However, it is implied that he lost it in an incident that involved being touched by kids.
Strangely, all his arms are equally spaced and have surrounding webbing, and he does not seem to have a gap or a stump where his lost arm would have been (furthermore, octopuses can actually regrow lost arms, so his inability to regenerate his may imply severe trauma).
On April 1, 2016, Hank's voice actor, Ed O'Neill, was featured with Andrew Stanton as part of an April Fool's joke. The joke involved deceiving viewers into believing that Hank was the oldest and most coveted Pixar Easter Egg in history.
Hank is an octopus, and therefore, he can survive out of water for some time, squirts ink when he's scared, and can change color for camouflage.
Hank's behavior is actually very similar to that of a real-life octopus: octopuses are notoriously hard to keep in captivity, as they are intelligent escape artists that are known to leave their tanks and wander around on land.
His camouflage ability not only has him changing color, but also his shape: a technique used by real-life octopuses (especially the mimic octopus) to escape predators or mimic more dangerous animals for defense.
Hank does not know that he, in fact, has three hearts (which is brought up by Dory) until he sees a sign near the Open Ocean exhibit that says so, which helped Dory remember where the exhibit was.
For some merchandise, Hank's mouth is seen on his body, which is incorrect as it is under him.
Hank makes a cameo in The Good Dinosaur in a pool into which Arlo falls and learns to swim.
Hank is the deuteragonist of the movie as he has more screen time than Marlin.
Each of Hank's seven tentacles has 50 suction cups, which make up a total of 350 suction cups.
Specifically enough, while octopuses in real life normally have eight tentacles and if Hank had eight, then that would make up to a total of 400 suction cups.
