# Krakatit — Krakatit character guide

> Krakatit in Krakatit by Karel Čapek.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Comrade Krakatit, the Krakatit

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

Not a person but a force — the explosive Prokop has loosed into the world, named, feared, and half-worshipped as if it had a will of its own.

## Who they are

Krakatit is the invention everyone wants and no one can safely hold: a substance that could blow humanity to pieces in the wrong hands. It shadows every conversation, every negotiation, every embrace, turning allies into bidders and love into leverage. Personified in Prokop's fevered mind as 'Comrade Krakatit,' it is less a weapon than a mirror of the passion and corruption it promises to unleash.

## In the story

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/krakatit_se/chapters/xvi)

The explosive substance that Prokop realizes is missing and fears could be misused.

### [XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/krakatit_se/chapters/xx)

The explosive substance that reacts to mysterious waves, central to the discussion.

### [XLVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/krakatit_se/chapters/xlviii)

The explosive substance that Prokop recognizes and speaks to as a living entity.

### [XLIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/krakatit_se/chapters/xlix)

The explosive substance that is the center of the meeting's chaos.

### [LII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/krakatit_se/chapters/lii)

The explosive substance that Thomas is attempting to recreate, and which causes the catastrophic explosion at Grottup.

### [LIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/krakatit_se/chapters/liii)

Prokop's discovery, which he now claims to have forgotten how to make.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/krakatit_se/characters/krakatit
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/krakatit_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/krakatit_se/characters