[doug*platypus]

The watcher has been referred to as a Kraken by most people who have written books on Tolkien's world (e.g. David Day, author of the Tolkien Bestiary). A Kraken is some crazy-@ss prehistoric monster in squid form. If I ever saw a Giant Squid I'd be scared (and disgusted!) out of my wits, and you bet your life I'd make up a story about how he was as big as a 747.

I think that the Watcher was one of the strange inhabitants of the depths of the Great Sea, rather than a creation or even a servant of Morgoth. There are many malicious powers in Arda, not all of which are under the control of the evil entity (another example is the wild creatures of the Redhorn Pass). I have no idea how it would have come to be at the Westgate of Moria. Possibly at the end of the First Age either the great upheavels, or maybe even the Balrog, had something to do with its being there, and it was not until much later when Moria was deserted that it came out of the subterranean depths.

I think a more interesting question is, what were its motives? Was it coerced by some other will to trap the fellowship in Moria? Seems rather odd behaviour for a creature that, I would have thought, would just be out for a long-awaited meal. By the way, I've always loved the garbage compactor in Star Wars, A New Hope, as a (possible) homage to the Watcher. He even goes straight for the most important member of the group.