A Big Tentacle, also known as a Tentapillar, is a large section of a Tentacle that appears underground, going up toward the surface. Attacking it will cause several, smaller "Baby" Tentacles to spawn around it, which will focus their attack on the player, but are weak and will die from one hit with a Spear. When defeated, the Big Tentacle will retreat into its hole, causing an Earthquake and dropping a variety of items, some of which are limited to a number per day across all Big Tentacles.
Whenever a Big Tentacle is attacked or an Ancient Pseudoscience Station is hammered, it will spawn several "Baby" Tentacles, spawning groups of them with every swing. These tentacles are smaller than regular Tentacles and only take one hit from most weapons to be killed. They do not drop anything, as they are there only to protect the Big Tentacle/Pseudoscience Station. They also lack the spikes that the regular Tentacles have, though they still sport the telltale bumps in the ground indicating when they're about to come out.
If the Big Tentacle and the Baby Tentacles aren't attacked for a while, they eventually retreat back into the ground. Baby Tentacles are only found underground.
Baby Tentacles will fight nearby Tentacles and vice-versa.
When playing as Wendy, Abigail can easily kill off baby tentacles while the player attacks the big tentacle.
Hunting
When fighting Big Tentacles, bringing Fugu Hutch can bring a great advantage. When Hutch is pushed next to both the player and the Big Tentacle, it protects the player with its spiky exterior. Hutch can kill Baby Tentacles within their first strike, leaving an open area near void of the Baby Tentacles' attacks. The regenerative powers of Hutch negates any damage from the Baby Tentacles.
If one cannot find Hutch, one can use the Tail o' Three Cats or Bull Kelp Whip to kill the Baby Tentacles all while staying safe from the range of the attacks. With the Baby Tentacles out of the way, the player can strike the big tentacle once more.
Tentacles are always considered as Wet mobs, even when it isn't raining. This makes the Electric Dart always deal 150 damage. A Wolfgang with full Mightiness can deal 300 damage per dart this way, and kill a Big Tentacle with just three darts from a safe distance.
Below is the number of hits it takes with each weapon to kill Tentacles when playing with characters with a default damage modifier. The Weather Pain is not included due to the random nature of its projectile.
Weapon
No. of hits for
Immune
118
37
30
19
17
15
12
9 - 17
7 or 12
10
9
8
5
3
Trivia
Maxwell expresses surprise at the existence of the Big Tentacle and the Baby Tentacles, suggesting that the Tentacles are reproducing and were not planned to do so. Wilson and Wickerbottom mention that Tentacle Spots are its genitalia; supported by Maxwell's quote for Tentacle Spots, "This is how they reproduce".
The small tentacles that appear around the Big Tentacle used to be colored green.
In the script that handles the Tentapillar's emergence when the hole is attacked, there is a note/Easter Egg that says: ("Hit calls cthulhu"). This is a reference to the famous novella by H.P. Lovecraft titled "The Call of Cthulhu".
Baby tentacles are actually arms of the big tentacles, as stated by the developers when they explained why baby tentacles don't drop souls.[1]
Wormwood mentions how Tentapillars are "sleeping" before being attacked by the player.
Gallery
Smaller Tentacles spawned after attacking the Big Tentacle.
Baby Tentacles, some of which have retreated into the cave floor and appear as bumps.
A few Baby Tentacles killed by Rock Lobsters.
Ideal spot for attacking as the baby tentacles cannot spawn.
Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures
Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures
Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures
Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these Mobs
Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/DLC/function/tags of these Things. Some of them are not even.
Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/DLC/function/tags of these Things. Some of them are not even.
Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/DLC/function/tags of these Things. Some of them are not even.
Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/DLC/function/tags of these Things. Some of them are not even.
