| Captain Nemo | |
|---|---|
| Voyages extraordinaires character | |
 Captain Nemo taking noon observations. | |
| First appearance | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) |
| Last appearance | The Mysterious Island (1875) |
| Created by | Jules Verne |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | Prince Dakkar |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Captain; Prince |
| Origin | Bundelkhand, India |
Captain Nemo (/ˈneɪmoʊ/; also known asPrince Dakkar) is a character created by the French novelistJules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's science-fiction books,Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) andThe Mysterious Island (1875). He also makes a brief appearance in a play written by Verne with the collaboration ofAdolphe d'Ennery,Journey Through the Impossible (1882).
Nemo is a mysterious figure. Though of unknown nationality in the first book, he is described as the son of anIndianraja in the second book. A scientific visionary, he roams the depths of the seas in hissubmarine, theNautilus, which was assembled from parts manufactured in several different countries, then shipped to a cover address. The captain is consumed by a hunger for vengeance and hatred ofimperialism; Verne included references to anti-imperialist uprisings, including theKościuszko Uprising andIndian Rebellion of 1857, in the various backstories of Nemo.
Nemo has appeared in various film adaptations of Verne's novels, where he has been portrayed by actors such asJames Mason,Herbert Lom,Patrick Stewart,Naseeruddin Shah,Ben Cross,Omar Sharif andMichael Caine. He has also been appropriated by other authors for their own novels, includingAlan Moore andKevin O'Neill'sThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,Philip José Farmer'sThe Other Log of Phileas Fogg,Kevin J. Anderson'sCaptain Nemo: The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius,Thomas F. Monteleone'sThe Secret Sea andHoward Rodman'sThe Great Eastern.
Nemo isLatin for 'no one' or 'nobody'.Nemo is itself the Latin translation ofAncient GreekOutis 'Nobody', the pseudonym adopted by the sea-faring heroOdysseus inGreek mythology to outwit theCyclopsPolyphemus. This appears to be the intended meaning, since inThe Mysterious Island, whenCyrus Smith addresses him as Captain Nemo, the latter replies, "I have no name!"[1]
Chief among the few details of Nemo's history given inTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas are his hatred of imperialism and his grief over the loss of his loved ones in years past.
InTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Captain Nemo is not described as an Indian yet; in fact, his nationality is unknown. This was a result of an argument between the author and the publisher on this subject. Verne's original intention was to make Nemo a Pole, a participant of theJanuary Uprising against the occupation ofPoland by theRussian Empire, and it was planned that Nemo would sink Russian warships. However the publisher,Pierre-Jules Hetzel, strongly objected to this for fear of losing the lucrative Russian book market—the book would be banned by Russian censorship. In addition, Hetzel felt that the book would undermine French-Russian relations.[2]
InThe Mysterious Island, Captain Nemo identifies himself as Prince Dakkar, son of theHinduraja ofBundelkhand, and a descendant of theMuslimSultanFateh Ali Khan Tipu of theKingdom of Mysore, famous for theAnglo-Mysore Wars (1767–1799) andMysorean rocket technology. After theIndian Rebellion of 1857, in which Dakkar lost both his family and his kingdom, the prince devoted himself to scientific research, ultimately building theNautilus and cruising the seven seas with a crew of devoted followers.[3] They gatherbullion from various shipwrecks in the ocean, most notably from the hulks of the Spanish treasure fleet sunk during theBattle of Vigo Bay.
Nemo claims to have no interest in terrestrial affairs but occasionally intervenes to aid people in distress, e.g., by giving salvaged treasure to participants in theCretan Revolt (1866–1869) against the island'sTurkish rulers; by saving (both physically and financially) aCeylonese orTamil pearl diver from a shark attack; by rescuing the castaways inTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas; and by covertly protecting another set of castaways inThe Mysterious Island.
Like many actualIndian princes of the era, Nemo received a Western education, during which, as he states, he spent his youth touring and studying throughout Europe. In his first meeting with Professor Aronnax and his companions, the three castaways speak to him in French, English,Latin, and German; Nemo later reveals that he is fluent in all of these tongues. Aronnax praises the captain's French, noting that he "expressed himself with perfect ease and without any accent." Relying on his intuition and knowledge ofethnology, the professor concludes that "there's southern blood" in him but can't determine the captain's exact origin. TheNautilus's library, lounge, and art collections reveal that Nemo is intimately acquainted with European culture, and that he is an accomplished performer on theorgan.
Nemo dies of unspecified natural causes on board theNautilus, docked permanently inside Dakkar Grotto onLincoln Island in theSouth Pacific. Cyrus Harding, leader of the castaways whom Nemo protected, performs the last rites, then submerges theNautilus in the grotto's waters. Shortly after, the volcanic island is destroyed whenmagma reaches the sea water in the gotto, creating a massive steam explosion which blows the island and theNautilus to pieces.
Nemo's characteristics are largely presented through the observations of Professor Pierre Aronnax, narrator ofTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. At their first meeting, the professor remarks: "Whether this individual was thirty-five or fifty years of age, I couldn't tell." He goes on to describe Nemo as a tall, self-contained man with a straight nose, broad brow, and wide-set eyes—"certainly the most wonderful physical specimen I'd ever met up with." InThe Mysterious Island, the captain is in his late sixties and sports a long white beard.
He avoids dry land, except fordesert islands and uninhabited regions such asAntarctica. In keeping with his contempt for surface civilization, he uses few commodities that aren't marine in origin, be they food, clothing, or eventobacco. As for his political views, he reveals an intense hatred of oppression, which he associates with the world'simperialistic nations. He therefore identifies himself with the Earth's oppressed, whetherCeylonesepearl divers,Cretans rising against theTurks, or evenright whales attacked bysperm whales. When Professor Aronnax suggests that Nemo violates maritime and international law by sinking warships, Nemo responds that he does so in self-defense when attacked. He insists that terrestrial laws no longer apply to him, exclaiming in one scene:
The sea doesn't belong to tyrants. On its surface they can still stake their evil claims, battle each other, devour each other, haul every earthly horror. But thirty feet below sea level, their power ceases, their influence fades, their domination vanishes! Ah, sir, live! Live in the heart of the seas! Here alone do I find independence! Here I recognize no superiors! Here I'm free![4]
Nemo is devoted to his crew and grieves deeply when members are killed after a mysterious collision with a surface vessel or during agiant squid attack in theCaribbean Sea. He is equally compassionate in his treatment of the castaways inThe Mysterious Island, also retaining a deep attachment to his deceased wife and children. Despite these tragic losses, he rarely expresses his anger. Moreover, he is a man of immense courage, taking the lead in every emergency, from fighting sharks and squids to releasing theNautilus from Antarctic ice—an ordeal that entailed reduced oxygen stores and consecutive eight-hour shifts. Aronnax also credits him with discoveringAtlantis.
An innovative engineer, Nemo both designed and manufactured theNautilus, including her electric propulsion units and navigational systems. Utilizing them with extraordinary skill, he navigated some of the ocean's most difficult underwater passages, such as those beneath the Antarctic ice barrier, as well as a fictitious tunnel under theIsthmus of Suez.
He has an exhaustive knowledge ofmarine biology, and it is his respect for Professor Aronnax's preeminence in the field that led to his befriending the professor once the latter was cast aboard theNautilus. Further, Nemo is apolyglot, able to read all the books in theNautilus's vast library, regardless of their language. He demonstrates his linguistic ability inTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, when Arronax and two other character speak to him inFrench,English,German, andLatin and he understands all four languages. Other than this he also knows Indian languagesHindi,Kannada,Tamil,Telugu, andMalayalam, furthermoreGreek among others. Nemo also invents a newlanguage that he and his crew use to communicate with each other.[4]
The captain has an exquisite taste in the fine arts, possessing many masterpieces of both painting and sculpture, from old masters to moderns. They are housed in the main lounge of theNautilus along with Nemo's collection ofpearls,corals, seashells, and other marine items, all gathered with his own hands. "No museum in Europe," Aronnax tells the captain, "has such a collection of exhibits." Yet, despite the opulence visible throughout theNautilus, Nemo's stateroom was furnished with little more than a bed, a worktable, and the navigational instruments essential to theNautilus. Even so, Captain Nemo claims to be extremely wealthy, boasting that "without the slightest trouble I could pay off the two-billion-dollar French national debt!"
Nemo later tells Aronnax that he will enclose his scientific findings and autobiography in a small unsinkable container: "The last one of us left on theNautilus will throw that container into the sea, and it will drift wherever the waves take it."
Subsequently, a rather different container does wash ashore inThe Mysterious Island, bearing tools, firearms, navigational instruments, an atlas, books, blank paper, and even clothing. They are found in a crate lashed to empty barrels, its contents sealed in a waterproofzinc envelope and showing careful preparation, and packing. Throughout the same book, Nemo repeatedly acts in this providential way, as when the sailor Pencroff pines fortobacco, then the young naturalist Harbert identifies some of the island's plant life.
Captain Nemo's emblem, as reproduced on the flag he raised when claiming theSouth Pole, is a large goldenN on a black field. The motto of theNautilus wasMobilis in mobili, a Latin phrase which Aronnax translates as "Moving within a moving element". It also has been rendered as "Moving within motion", "Changing with change" and "mobile/movable [person] in mobile/movable [thing, vehicle]".
In early drafts ofTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Nemo appears as aPolish noble, a member of theszlachta bent on avenging the murder of his family during Russia's violent suppression of theJanuary Uprising. Verne's editorPierre-Jules Hetzel feared that the book would offend theRussian Empire, a major French ally, and cause the book to be banned from that country's bookstores. Accordingly, Hetzel insisted that Verne revise the novel to conceal Nemo's background and political motivations.[5][6]
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas was first published in 1870 and reports the activities of theNautilus over the years 1866 to 1868.The Mysterious Island was published in 1875 but is set in the years after the close of theAmerican Civil War, i.e., 1865 to 1869. Described as an elderly man in his late sixties, Captain Nemo claims in its pages to have conducted his undersea travels some sixteen years earlier than the dates given in the prior novel.
It is true that the first French hardcover issue ofTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (an octavo edition published in 1871 byPierre-Jules Hetzel) contains minor errors that may have been perpetrated by its printers or even by Hetzel himself—who, at times, seems to have made edits without querying Verne. However the chronological discrepancies between this book andThe Mysterious Island appear to have been present since its publication. They may have arisen from Hetzel's insistence that Verne drastically revise his original concept for the latter novel, in which, some scholars speculate, he had not initially planned to include Captain Nemo at all.
In most subsequent media adaptations of20,000 Leagues andMysterious Island, Captain Nemo is depicted as a European, in accordance with the earlier of the two novels. Actors who have played him include:
In theLeague of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic series byAlan Moore andKevin O'Neill, Captain Nemo's Indian ancestry as Prince Dakkar is emphasized, yet his religious identity is left ambiguous betweenHinduism andSikhism. Journalist Shreya Ila Anasuya writes that Moore's Nemo is "nebulously portrayed as aKali-worshipping man in a turban, never self-consciouslySikh."[14] The title of "Nemo" is later inherited by Prince Dakkar's daughter, Janni Dakkar, inLeague of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Nemo Trilogy, and by Janni's grandson Jack Dakkar, inLeague of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume IV: The Tempest.
Nemo is the official file manager for theCinnamon desktop environment; the name plays off of theNautilus file manager from which it was forked.[15]
TheMichael Schenker Groupinstrumental song "Captain Nemo" was released on their 1983 albumBuilt To Destroy.
A Polish singer – Bogdan Gajkowski – popular especially during the 1980s, started recording under the stage name "Kapitan Nemo".
In 1990, the groupDive released their debut single "Captain Nemo", based on Verne's character. This song was covered bySarah Brightman on her 1993 albumDive.
In 1998, Swedish group,Ace of Base released their 3rd album,Flowers, with a song named Captain Nemo. The song refers to captain Nemo as one who prefers to avoid human contact, and watch the world from the bottom of the sea.
The Japaneseotomevisual novelCode: Realize- Guardian of Rebirth features a scientist named Nemo. Nemo creates an airship named theNautilus within the game. He considers the engineer Impey Barbicane,a reference to another Jules Verne novel, his ultimate scientific rival.
The Japanesemobile gameFate/Grand Order features a rider class servant named Captain Nemo. Nemo commands a magicalsubmarineNautilus through the Void Space.
Kevin J. Anderson wroteCaptain Nemo: The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius (2002), a fictional life of Captain Nemo.
In the 2006 graphic novelCaptain Nemo by Jason DeAngelis (Seven Seas,ISBN 978-1933164083), set in an alternate timeline whereNapoleon was never defeated at Waterloo but went on to found a dynasty whose descendants have conquered most of the world, Captain Nemo was, according to the French authorities, "slain and his accursedNautilus sunk" in 1873, and twenty years later his son (who bears the same name as his father) leads his crew aboard theNautilus II against the forces of Napoleon IV using the same tactics as his father, who is buried in a coral tomb, along with members of his crew, on the sunken island of Lemuria.
Daughter of the Deep, a 2021 novel byRick Riordan, features two descendants of Captain Nemo as the protagonist and antagonist.
The animated seriesSpace Strikers (known in French as20,000 Lieues dans l'espace; translation: "20,000 Leagues in Space") stars a descendant of the original Captain Nemo, leading the crew of the spaceshipNautilus in a crusade to liberate Earth and other planets from the evil forces of Master Phantom.
In the novel... no one of Alberto Cavanna (original title... nessuno, Mursia, Italy, 2020), Nemo is John Digby, an admiral of the Royal Navy, appointed captain of the Nautilus by the dying builder.
Captain Nemo appears as the protagonist of the storyInvitación al viaje (2023) byÓscar Esquivias.[16]
Captain Nemo appears in two gamebooks, Nemo's Fury, and Nemo's 2: Octo War, by Chris Hunneysett.[17]
The 2024 ten-partadventuredrama television seriesNautilus focuses on Nemo and the backstory of the eponymous submarine. A reimagining of the original Verne novel, the series presents an origin for Nemo as a prince-turned-crusading scientist.[18]
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