Paul The Octopus : The Tentacled Fortuneteller

Prophecies and fortune telling. All that fascinating. A rather usual scene in the imaginary world whereas it's practically impossible in this world which is real. But yet, we have seen people or certain living bodies pulling off extraordinary things. look at 2010. The FIFA world cup. Arguably the best enjoyable world cup for the average millennial. What made it more special is a certain octopus from Germany. Remember Paul? This is him.

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His prediction abilities became apparent when he was transferred to Sea Life Oberhausen, an aquarium in Germany, from England. later that year, the caretakers at Oberhausen tested Paul's psychic abilities during the 2008 euros. During feeding time, Paul was presented two different glass boxes. One bearing the German flag, the other the flag of the opponent. containing a mussel. Paul then selected his mussel of choice, which would be his prediction. He successfully predicted the outcome of four out of six German games. Not too shabby for an octopus less than a year old. Yet to set tentacles on to the pitch.

They also discovered Paul had a fondness of unscrewing the lids of jars, suggesting he had abnormally strong psychic and physical prowess for an octopus. The Germans knew they had something special for an octopus. Fast forward two years later. Paul's caretakers wanted to see if his prediction ability would match his 2008 record. And boy did it match. There was a one in 256 chance that Paul would correctly predict the outcome of each Germany game, and he defied the odds including their quarterfinal victory over Argentina. In total, Paul was cruising 8-0 on predictions, even picking Spain over the Netherlands in the World Cup final. And as predictions came to life, Paul amassed an array of admirers throughout Europe, waiting to see what the psychic octopus would choose before each match.

There were haters as usual. These people claimed that if Paul was given two different sized mussels so he would pick one over the other. Some others doubted that the caretakers had some residue or fragrance outside a certain box so Paul would pick that. But all these accusations would've potentially led to match fixing. And besides, nobody listened or paid any attention to these accusations. German television NTV would broadcast Paul's predictions. The social media was flooded by news and posts of Paul the octopus. Especially Twitter. Paul was outshining Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. And he ultimately outshone Germany.

That year Germany's semifinal match against Spain, Paul sent shockwaves across the nation when he selected his mussel from the glass box favoring the opposing nation. This wasn't the first time he had predicted a German loss. He had, against the odds, predicted their loss to the an irrelevant Serbia in the group stage. Alongside this prediction, Paul was correct about Spain. Germany lost, 1-0. This is a good place to note that when Paul first earned high German acclaim during the Euro 2008 tournament, his only incorrect predictions were when he incorrectly predicted Germany would win against Croatia and Spain. The Germans weren't used to the psychic octopus predicting their downfall. Paul's correct prediction of a Spanish win was a blow to the nation.

Typical German fashion, Paul managed to lose his countrymen's affection way faster than he earned it. The nation that once adored him, threatened to chop him up and fry him. Death threats were a regular. Germans flooded Facebook and Twitter with their plans to cook and kill their once beloved Paul. Meanwhile, Spain's Industry Minister, Miguel Sebastian, offered an immediate free transfer for Paul to ensure his protection. Sadly, Paul did not live long enough. He was found dead in his tank just a few months later, on October 26, 2010. He may had lived an average life for an octopus by time, but a extraordinary life of an octopus by events. The impact of his death was felt throughout Europe, even in Germany. The country that once was determined to slaughter Paul was devastated by his demise. Der Spiegel ran a lengthy and loving obituary to him. The Oberhausen aquarium raised a memorial of the octopus with a golden urn containing his ashes.

Since then people have always tried to replace him with many other animals. Basic human nature. But nobody came close to Paul. Paul is one. Tentacles of many, tentacles forging bits of future.