What will the Sea God look/be like?

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
We've discussed this question to some extent in the episode threads but I think this deserves a thread of its own.

The Sea God is the entity behind every hardship Guts et al. have encountered since episode 308. By all accounts, from its very name to the minions it employs, it seems to be an extremely powerful and dangerous being. According to what Isma told Isidro and Schierke, we know that it is an ancient, malevolent creature who almost emptied the sea of all life before it was defeated and imprisoned by merrows.

Even then, it was still strong enough to attack whatever it could during full moons. Now that the worlds have merged it is about to be free again; in fact a mysterious "rebirth ceremony" that would serve that exact purpose is supposed to be taking place tonight from the characters' perspective.

At this point we've seen what its minions (its "arms and legs") look like: monstrous sea cucumbers coming out of even bigger sea slugs. Said minions have the ability to assimilate the humans they kill to transform them into tentacles. But we've yet to learn anything concrete about what the Sea God itself is like. The only visual clue we have is the old idol the villagers used to worship:

SeaGod-Idol.jpg

So simply said: what do you think the Sea God will be like? A ridiculously huge monster the size of the island itself? A comparatively small creature at the heart of a "network" of minions? An astral, intangible being sealed away by magic? Will it show some real intelligence and maybe even communicate with Guts' band or will it be dumb and bestial? Will it look just like the idol or is it merely a symbolic representation?
 

Th3Branded0ne

I'll be back.
While I like the idea to look like the idol itself, and maybe those tentacles are attached to the slugs as well? I'm also leaning in the idea that it could be a smaller sea god with powerful magic and the ability to either manipulate sea creatures or make them with magic to shape on its own will. Hopefully, Miura shows us soon enough what's behind the slugs and sea cucumbers.
 
How about that.
It's far fetched but still... this is a theory :).As Aaz already said i believe that the island (or a big part of it) is actually the Sea god. All that we actually know is that the sea god was sealed somewhere inside the island by the merrows. So what if the island by itself is the sea gods shell. I imagine that the head of the monster will come out of the big cave and that we won't actually see his entire body.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Well, I've considered a lot of possibilities, my favorite being that it doesn't have a physical body -- YET. But what I truly and honestly believe is that it will strongly resemble the statue shown in this thread. I don't think Miura would show us that and then have it look nothing like the statue in the end.

However, I do somewhat agree with Rus here, in that when it does finally emerge, it will shatter the island by the end. Isidro noted that the island was oddly small. I wouldn't be surprised, but WOULD be thrilled if the thing fell into massive island pieces as the party escapes. :ubik:
 

Gobolatula

praise be to grail!
I'm also thinking it will resemble the statue. But, the thing is, I'm assuming it's been a long time since people have actually seen it. I'm expecting a similar shape, but something much more fierce and shocking.
 
In one panel, we can see the monster's limbs/ tentacles that look as if they were spawning from the inside/ base of the island (ref Page 8, Episode 313).

Like you guys suggest I think the monster would look a bit different than the miniature idol god we're shown. Maybe, it were to merge with the island, it could use the rocks to make it some sort of a shield for itself. I'm curious to know how the mermaids sealed it the first time - brute strength or magic or both.

Do you think the 'weird voice' Isma mentions is the monster or a call to her from her mermaid mother/ other mermaids?
 
Well i don't know if it was the mermaid's call but i believe we are going to see some mermaid action once the Sea God is reborn.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Gobolatula said:
I'm also thinking it will resemble the statue. But, the thing is, I'm assuming it's been a long time since people have actually seen it.

Well the statue isn't exactly recent itself.

IncantatioN said:
In one panel, we can see the monster's limbs/ tentacles that look as if they were spawning from the inside/ base of the island (ref Page 8, Episode 313).

We don't explicitly see where they're coming from. Also, in episode 315 our friend the bearded skeleton told Guts and the others that the sea cucumbers' tentacles were the Sea God's limbs, meaning that those panels don't necessarily signify much.

IncantatioN said:
Do you think the 'weird voice' Isma mentions is the monster or a call to her from her mermaid mother/ other mermaids?

It's either the Sea God or the merrows, that's for sure, and it's not necessarily a voice; the word she uses can simply refer to sounds.

[quote author=Rus & IncantatioN]mermaid[/quote]

They're called merrows. Get it right. :miura:
 

Aphasia

ALL MYSTERIES MUST BE SOLVED
Miura's monster designs has to be one of my favorite things about Berserk. They always get even more creative and wild than I can imagine. And so far, with the theme of everything being connected to something else, I anticipate the Sea God looking extremely unique. I can't wait to see how it's revealed. Giant eye anyone?
 
Aazealh said:
It's either the Sea God or the merrows, that's for sure, and it's not necessarily a voice; the word she uses can simply refer to sounds.

Now that you mentioned, in episode 318 the sound that Isma hears again (and also caught the moonlight boy's attention) is from the Sea god?

I initially thought it was the merrows since the panel focus something underneath the sea rather than the cave which the sea god reside in.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Smith said:
Now that you mentioned, in episode 318 the sound that Isma hears again (and also caught the moonlight boy's attention) is from the Sea god?

I initially thought it was the merrows since the panel focus something underneath the sea rather than the cave which the sea god reside in.

We still can't tell for sure at this point. Right now I lean more towards it being from merrows, but given the risk of an attack against the Sea Horse by the Sea God's minions, we shouldn't discard the other possibility.
 
That would actually be EPIC :zodd:

EDIT: Maybe something that looks like a Leviathan but on a larger scale or a cross with the tentacles of a Kraken perhaps? It just struck me that the Leviathan is a Biblical Sea Monster ... :???:
 
I hope the Sea God doesn't turn out to be some Cthulhu wannabe or another generic sea-monster. That would be a real anticlimax after all the suspense building up to its appearance.

In Miura we trust.
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Doc said:
I hope the Sea God doesn't turn out to be some Cthulhu wannabe or another generic sea-monster. That would be a real anticlimax after all the suspense building up to its appearance.

In Miura we trust.

I don't think we'll be disappointed. Miura hasn't let us down yet (and I doubt he ever will :miura:).
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Doc said:
I hope the Sea God doesn't turn out to be some Cthulhu wannabe ... That would be a real anticlimax after all the suspense building up to its appearance.

:judo:
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Griffith said:

Haha, I feel the same way. I hope there's something in its appearance that is a nod to Cthulhu in some way, be it a tentacled maw or wings. You can bet there will be plenty of nudibranchs and sea cucumbers, as well. :guts:
 
Hello everyone ! First apparition here on these forums.

A little note to apologize for any weird english, as it's not my natural language.

I just finished my reading of volume 35 in french, cause yeah for the first time french edition is a step forward the english one ; that saved me the sending cost to get Black Horse's release !

Anyway I came here to speak about it, and I'm very pleased to see someone mentionning Cthulhu, as it's exactly about that I had something to say =D

Nightcrawler, you said it'd be awesome to see an all out sincere lovecraftian homage, but I think what we got in this volume is already more than a big homage !

The fishers village is obviously some Berserk version of Innsmouth, with silhouettes behind half closed doors when you can see eyes watching you, weird and big fishy eyes, slapping windows at your face when you come closer. The fishermen turning fishy and hiding from sight... The "old octopuss god" sealed inside an island by sea creatures waiting for the stars to be right in order to be freed (!) (oh well, ok, waiting the full moon, big stuff in da space, all the same). Cthulhu and this sea god of Miura have quite the exact same story, yet I believe Cthulhu was only at war against sea creatures, and was sealed in his island by something else.

The inspiration, or homage, makes no doubt for me.

So, it would not be so surprising to see this god looking in some ways like our dear Cthulhu, even if it would be a little too much maybe.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Hey there, welcome.

Vinsssounet said:
Anyway I came here to speak about it, and I'm very pleased to see someone mentionning Cthulhu, as it's exactly about that I had something to say =D

Nightcrawler, you said it'd be awesome to see an all out sincere lovecraftian homage, but I think what we got in this volume is already more than a big homage !

You may not have noticed but this thread is about a year old, and there have been quite a few developments since I made it. We've actually had several talks on the topic since the solitary island was introduced (mostly in the relevant episode threads, feel free to check them out using the forum's search engine if you're interested), and yeah it's pretty obvious that the island, its inhabitants and the Sea God are all an homage to HP Lovecraft's work. Since you've read volume 35, I think you must have appreciated the talent with which Miura depicted the oppressive atmosphere looming over the village.

Vinsssounet said:
The "old octopuss god" sealed inside an island by sea creatures waiting for the stars to be right in order to be freed (!) (oh well, ok, waiting the full moon, big stuff in da space, all the same). Cthulhu and this sea god of Miura have quite the exact same story, yet I believe Cthulhu was only at war against sea creatures, and was sealed in his island by something else.

Nah, the background isn't the same, at least not in that regard. In Lovecraft's mythos, Cthulhu is a creature that came from another planet eons ago and lies dead deep underwater in a sunken city of cyclopean proportions, the architecture of which follows non-Euclidean geometry. Depending on what you consider canon or not in the mythos, he and his brethren (other "gods" like him, called the Great Old Ones) are mentioned to be at war with another race of extraterrestrial beings (hence his banishment to earth), but when it comes to sea creatures, he's the top dog and rules over the "Deep Ones", a race of sea men.

There is one major resemblance that I pointed out at the time though: the fact the two are mentioned to be "dead", yet are not completely incapacitated and are expected to rise out again. In the case of the Sea God, the reason of his return is the merging of the astral and corporeal worlds. The full moon marks the apex of his power because it empowers all things magical in general, as explained by Schierke in volume 28. That is also why, despite the fact it was "dead" for centuries after its defeat at the merrows' hands, its "minions" ventured out at every full moon to attack whatever ships sailed near the island. Yet his influence remained comparatively slight until the merger. After it happened, the Sea God was strong enough to assimilate all the villagers (Isma was only saved by her mother's charms) and to get the unfortunate pirates, preparing itself for its incoming release. And now that time has come.

Vinsssounet said:
So, it would not be so surprising to see this god looking in some ways like our dear Cthulhu, even if it would be a little too much maybe.

I take it you don't follow the prepublication, but we've seen the Sea God already. Not entirely (so far, as that should change with episode 323), but enough to know that he's not too similar to Cthulhu's depiction in Lovecraft's work. Another thing you might not be aware of if you read the French edition (given the level of its translation) is that Miura has been making many references to sea food ever since the introduction of the ghost ship, both through the characters' dialogue and the design of the monsters. It might not be immediately obvious to a westerner but given the importance and prominence of sea food in Japan it's quite relevant (and somewhat funny).
 
Yes, I kinda hesitated to post here when I noticed how old was the topic, yet when I saw the title of the thread it seemed the right place to speak about that.

You got it right about prebublication, I only read published volumes.

About the mythos, I think in the Mountain of Madness a submarine war between the Elder and Cthulhu and his Deep Ones is described, yet I might be mistaking, my mythos would deserve some revision. Well good or wrong, it was with that in mind I noticed this one more similarity (submarines creatures fighting the octopuss god).

Anyway, I'll go join you on the other thread you're having your discussion on.
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
Vinsssounet said:
About the mythos, I think in the Mountain of Madness a submarine war between the Elder and Cthulhu and his Deep Ones is described, yet I might be mistaking, my mythos would deserve some revision.

The Old Ones against the Shoggoth (a creature created by them that rebels). And then there is a third party coming to Earth and fight against them both. Cthulhu is only mentioned in passing in The Mountains of Madness.
 
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