The Sea God[1] is a creature that was sealed within an island that Guts' New Party encounter as they travel to Skellig.[1]
Abilities[]
The Sea God has innumerable tentacles that extended from every side of its body, each tentacle branching into several more. The Sea God transforms those it devoured into tentacle-based extensions of itself, allowing them to maintain their sense of individuality, as well as their natural form (such as the Captain Sharkrider crew).[6] The individuals feel a numbness in their lower bodies after the change, though.[9] Additionally, its immense spiritual pressure blocks the powers of any and all spirits.[3]
Though not an ability in its own right, the Sea God's innards housed thousands of creatures both symbiotic and parasitic, which acted as a line of defense. These consisted of isopods, spider-like creatures,[9] sharks, and giant hagfish and lamprey. Its heart and cardiovascular system launched waves of kinetic energy along with its inner muscle necessary to keep it alive, consciously weaponizing it.[7][8] These sound waves were such that Guts could barely endure them and could not approach close enough to attack,[10][7] becoming dizzied and losing sense of direction and senses.[8]
Story[]
Long ago, the Sea God consumed all living being within its reach before being confronted and sealed within an island cave by a tribe of merrow. Since then, the island's fearful inhabitants considered it taboo to go in the cave.[1] Eventually, it became the centre of a disquieting od covering the island. As for the being, it was seen as a "sinister, dreadful god" that was able to sink ships and eat people.[4]
During full moons, the Sea God is able to extend its tentacles away from the island to kill fishermen. Thus, the islanders are so afraid of incurring its wrath that they started demonizing the merrows despite benefitting from them.[5]
Fantasia Arc[]
After the Great Wave of the Astral World, the Sea God is able to eat and assimilate the Captain Sharkrider ship, its crew[6] and the islanders.[5] When directly confronting the Seahorse crewmembers, the assimilated pirates attempt to eat the people aboard. When Guts arrives, a larger part of the creature arises, with Bonebeard explaining those were but its whiskers.[11] When warning they made "him" mad, another crewmember warns of the impending sunrise, and his ship submerges once more.[1]
When Schierke finds the cave where the Sea God resides, she is is accosted by several tentacle-creatures identical to those summoned by Bonebeard, only much smaller.[4] Later on, Isma tells Isidro, Schierke and Ivalera that the villagers stopped going about their daily schedules and shutting in. In the meantime, the rest of the Black Swordsman Party learns the islanders have become tentacles as well.[5] The Captain Sharkrider appears on land surrounded by giant slugs, with Bonebeard explaining how conversion works.[12] Though Guts can face them,[13][12][14] a plan is concocted to attack the cave nest.[15] Under the full night, and as Guts and Schierke (as a luminous body) venture into the cave, the witch notices the deity is awake.[16]
Once inside, the duo meet the Captain Sharkrider crew again, and Bonebeard explains that the sea slugs surrounding them are but its whiskers, but adds that the Sea God enraged after having them cut. As the pirate commands the slugs to attack, Guts decides to get right inside the being's mouth.[3] As he does so, Bonebeard urges the sea slugs to attack the Seahorse. As Guts and Schierke traverse up the stomach, the pirates and the monsters unleash their attack.[17] They cannot touch the ship thanks to Farnese's Four Kings of the World conjuration, but, as the pirate ship was originally of the physical world, it can penetrate the bulwark. The crew of both ships do battle. In the meantime, Guts opens the Sea God's stomach lining to continue the missions, having been conrnered by the isopod-like creatures living within the deity. The swordsman and the witch meet spider-like creatures, theorising they live in a state of mutualism, eliminating foreign enemies in exchange for nourishment.[9] Outside, and just as Isidro tosses an explosive bomb into the mouth of the large tentacle controlling Bonebeard and his crew, they retreat along with the sea slug. Returning to Guts and Schierke, they have reached the being's eye-covered heart, and more creatures came to defend it. Right then, the Sea God breaks free from the island.[10]
The ensuing wave crashes against the Seahorse, and Isidro is washed off the deck. Isma strips naked and dives into the sea after him. Though she reunites with him, several tentacle monsters rush up to them from below. As she kicks upward, Isma begins to hear a voice inside her head, one that commands her to say her true name. Isma utters it silently, and she is instantly transformed into a hybrid human-fish creature whose torso and head largely remain the same but whose legs become a tail. With her new powerful tail, Isma easily swims back up to the surface with Isidro in her arms.[18] As the Sea God consciously weaponises its heart beat to stop Guts from attacking,[7] a large group of merrow appear, with Isma joining them to hinder the tentacles. One particular merrow saves the girl, and explains that they fight using song. It is then that Isma recognises her as her own mother. Meanwhile, the Seahorse crew attack the Sea God. The sea and the clouds start to swirl around the being, with Roderick identifying it as a way for it to drag the ship in. Within the Sea God, a blinded and dizzy Guts is guided by Schierke to attack the Sea God's Heart after having killed the beings within the deity.[8] As the merrows start to sing, the Sea God trembles, and the beating is cancelled. Thus, Guts takes a chance to rupture its heart. Soon, the Sea God is floundering and spilling the many ships within its body.[2]
Notes[]
- The Sea God's heart has a similar appearance to the Idea of Evil's core.[19]
- Its full body is never shown, but it was massive enough that it destroyed the island housing it in the process of escaping.[10]
- When inspecting a statue in its likeness, Schierke states the creature depicts one of the ancient gods that were forgotten by humanity and faded into the depths of the astral world.[4]
Trivia[]
- The Sea God being worshipped by villagers who become inhuman is similar to the story of The Shadow over Innsmouth.
- The Sea God is also very similar to the kraken, a mythical Nordic creature which appears to be an island to unknowing sailors, yet is an octopus of immense size.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f Berserk :: Volume 35, "Solitary Island"
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 37, "Siren"
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 36, "Sea God (1)"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 35, "Girl of the Roaring Shallows"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 35, "Denizens of the Sinister Sea"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 35, "Ghost Ship (2)"
- ^ a b c d Berserk :: Volume 36, "Merrow (1)"
- ^ a b c d e Berserk :: Volume 37, "Merrow (2)"
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 36, "Sea God (3)"
- ^ a b c Berserk :: Volume 36, "Booming Heart"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 35, "Ghost Ship (3)"
- ^ a b Berserk :: Volume 35, "Tentacled Ship"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 35, "Human Tentacles"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 36, "Full Moon (1)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 36, "Full Moon (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 36, "Beast Warrior"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 36, "Sea God (2)"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume 36, "Call from the Deep"
- ^ Berserk :: Volume N/A, "God of the Abyss (2)"
Appendices[]
| God Hand |
| Apostles
Zodd · Wyald · Unidentified Roaming Apostle · The Count · Borkoff · Rosine · Unidentified Female Apostle · Snake Lord · Egg of the Perfect World · Rakshas · Locus · Grunbeld · Irvine · Ganishka |
| Pseudo-Apostles
Zondark · Elves of Misty Valley · Great Goat · Mozgus · Mozgus' Disciples · Ganishka's Spawn |
| Phenomena
Abyss · Brand of Sacrifice · Sacrificial Ceremony (Eclipse · Incarnation Ceremony) |
| Others
Beherit · Man-Made Beherit · Sea God · Daka · Dead Spirit · Demon Child (in essence) |