Tales from Neverland puts the crocs in the realm’s seas and waterways, with a history of killing its inhabitants. Going into their territory alone is presented as an exceptional…

Tales from Neverland puts the crocs in the realm’s seas and waterways, with a history of killing its inhabitants. Going into their territory alone is presented as an exceptionally dangerous thing to attempt. Pan’s decision to face one ties that danger to his own rise. The encounter offers a way to gain the tribes’ respect and pursue the throne. A creature that the inhabitants have reason to fear becomes part of a newcomer proving himself to them. That gives the Croc material two different kinds of importance. There is the immediate threat of being attacked, and there is what surviving such a threat can mean to the people watching. Pan’s ambitions enter through that second part. The danger has value to him because other people understand it. These creatures were already a problem for people living there. Their significance doesn’t begin when someone from Earth shows up.