u/IsaacVMartin

It seems to be unpopular even with a lot of fans but I thought it was sweet and dreamy.

In Hindu mythology, the Deva gods and goddesses fought a war with the Asuras, defeated them, and alotted to them the seven "subterranean heaven realms" beneath the earth, collectively called Patala. Interestingly, the inhabitants of Patala are said to possess glowing crystals, and one of the realms of Patala is called Atala. Also, the stunning architecture of Patala was designed by an Asura named Maya. Since Atlantis's architecture in the film is partly based on that of the Mayans, perhaps they're named after this god. The late Cedric Leonard was one professional "Atlantologist" who believed that Atala was based on Atlantis and claimed that Hindu texts describe it as being located beneath the "western ocean."

I've always wondered why it was the queen and not the king who was chosen as a host by the Heart of Atlantis. I think this is because the "royal bloodline" refers specifically to the maternal bloodline. Perhaps this goes all the way back to Cleito, Poseidon's mortal lover from Plato's story, and she was the first Atlantean to utilize the crystal? She could have also merged with it like Kida and her mother. Plato describes how Poseidon raised up rings of land around the island that Cleito lived on to make Atlantis a "continent" bigger than Turkey and Libya combined. Perhaps Plato just found it convenient to attribute this feat to a male god and it was actually done by crystal Cleito. In any case, I suspect that, if she did exist, she was the first Atlantean to be mutated by the crystal and have her hair changed to white.

I always assumed they were genetically engineered since they're so different from any living on the surface world. And I doubt they evolved underground since Atlantis has only been under the ocean floor for about 8,500 years (I think).