Welcome to Sea Monster Week on Tor.com! In honor of the launch of Shark Week over on the Discovery Channel, we’ve decided to dive into the world of some of our favorite creatures ever with articles, book excerpts and more.
But just what is a “sea monster” anyway? Well, we’ve given ourselves a pretty broad definition to work with. Here’s the Stubby the Rocket definition:
Sea Monster (noun): Any sufficiently awesome water-dwelling creature that we perceive as being monstrously cool.
So, with that in mind, prepare yourself for the greatest A-Z list of sea monsters ever compiled, just below the surface of this blog.
A
Abe Sapien (Hellboy): An icthyo sapien, transformed as the result of a strange ritual.
Aquaman (DC Comics): Sovereign of the sea who can breathe underwater and can communicate with sea creatures (either in their own language or telepathically—pretty cool either way).
Afanc (Welsh Mythology): A lake monster who is sort of like a crocodile, beaver or a dwarf.
Architeuthis (Real Life): A giant squid.
Aspidochelone (Medieval Bestiaries): A gargantuan whale or sea turtle that would trick sailors to landing on its back, then drown them. Snap.
B
Battletoads (Battletoads): Toads who do battle.
Beisht Kione (Irish Mythology): Fishermen are afraid of this thing. Its name means “The Beast With a Black Head.“
Blinky the Three-Eyed Fish (The Simpsons): A fish with three eyes, mutated by radiation.
Bloop (Real Life): Mysterious, extremely powerful, ultra-low frequency sound detected by NOAA. No one knows where it comes from. Probably a monster.
C
Capricorn (The Zodiac): A goat with a fish’s tail.
Carcharodon Megalodon (Prehistoric Times): A giant shark that lived in the Cenozoic Era.
Cetus (Greek mythology/constellation): Most of the sea monsters taken out by Heracles and Perseus were referred to as “Cetus,” which could mean an extraordinarily big fish, shark or sea monster.
Champ (Cryptozoology) The name given to the legendary lake monster which supposedly resides in Lake Champlain, located along the Vermont-New York-Canadian borders.
Charybdis (The Odyssey): Basically a giant whirlpool (or monster who causes massive whirlpools) designed to screw over Odysseus.
Chessie (Cryptozoology): Like Nessie, only in the Chesapeake Bay.
Clover (Cloverfield): A weird rip-off of Godzilla that stomps out of the ocean.
Creature from the Black Lagoon (Creature from the Black Lagoon): A Gill-Man who only wants to be left alone.
Crocosaurus (Mega Shark Vs. Crocosaurus) A large, dinosaur-like crocodile.
Cthulhu (H.P. Lovecraft): One of the Great Old Ones. Part octopus, part human, part dragon, all badass. Watch out.
D
Dianoga Trash Monster (Star Wars): A thing with one eye that pokes out of trash pools but has lots of tentacles below the surface.
Dinoshark (Up From the Depths): Pretty much a shark who is from the Mesozoic Era and enjoys chomping and has a toothy dinosaur face.
The Dobhar-chú (Irish Folklore): Monstruous water hound—a dog/otter combo thing which some people claim to have actually seen.
The Terrible Dogfish (Le avventure di Pinocchio): In the book, the thing that swallows Pinocchio. Called “Monstro” in the Disney movie (where it’s more of a whale).
E
Elephant koi (Avatar: The Last Airbender): Giant fish that are fun to ride.
F
Fiji Mermaid (Real life): A sideshow creation consisting of the top half of monkey and the lower half of a fish.
G
Giganto (Marvel Comics): An enemy of The Fantastic Four.
Globster (Real Life/Cryptozoology): A combination of the words “glob” and “monster.” Weird organic masses that wash ashore and can’t be identified as the carcass of any known animal.
Godzilla/Gojira (Gojira, et. al): A prehistoric monster who was sleeping underwater until he was rudely awakened by nuclear testing.
Grindylows (English folklore) Best known for grabbing children from the edge of lakes and ponds; in the Harry Potter series, they appear as small, horned water demons.
Gunakadeit (Tlingit Myth): A sea monster who brought a starving village good luck and prosperity.
Gungans (Star Wars): Amphibian residents of the planet Naboo. Everyone is smarter than them.
H
Hippocamp (Greek Mythology): A sea horsie!
Hydra (Greek Mythology/Real Life): The Lernaean hydra was a many-headed, serpent-like beast killed by Heracles. Also a genus of tiny, predatory, fresh-water animals with regenerative abilities.
I
Iku-Turso (Finnish): Total jerk of a sea monster. Terrifying. Sometimes mentioned as the god of diseases and/or war in Finnish mythology.
J
Jaguar Shark (The Life Aquatic) Murder of Esteban. Enemy of Steve Zissou. It remembers you.
Jaws (Jaws): Though it doesn’t technically have a name, we call it Jaws. Smile, you son of a b*tch.
Jonah’s Whale (Bible): Big whale that likes to swallow dudes up.
Jörmungandr (Norse Mythology): AKA, the Midgard Serpent, offspring of Loki and Angrboða and archnemesis of Thor. When he lets go of his own tail the world will end.
K
Kappa (Japanese Folklore): A water sprite. Sometimes hairy.
Kelpie (Celtic Mythology): A water horse with ghostly trappings. Sometimes appears as a beautiful woman. Not to be trusted.
Koizilla (Avatar: the Last Airbender): At the end of season 1, Aang fuses with La, the Ocean Spirit to become Koizilla: the wrath of the ocean embodied in awesome fish-monster form.
Kraken (Greek Mythology. Also, real life.): Sometimes referred to as the giant squid. But also a thing released in Clash of the Titans. (Don’t release it!)
L
Land Shark (Saturday Night Live): A deadly creature that will get into your apartment and eat you no problem.
The Lady in the Lake (Arthurian legend): Strange woman best known for lying in ponds, distributing swords. Also, author Raymond Chandler’s drag name.
Leviathan (The Bible): The Original Biblical Sea Monster. Hangs out near the Hellmouth.
Lion Turtle (Avatar: the Last Airbender): Giant, ancient, looks like an island, gives pretty great advice.
The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Andersen/Disney): The heroine of one of Andersen’s most beloved tales, the Little Mermaid falls in love with a human prince, and…well, the Disney version is much less complicated. Very big in Copenhagen.
Lobstrosity (The Dark Tower): More like beach monsters than sea monsters, these things are scorpion/lobster mash-ups.
Loch Ness Monster (Real Life?/Cryptozoology): A possible plesiosaur rumored to be living in the Loch Ness in Scotland. Often called “Nessie.” Dislikes American Idol.
Lusca (Real Life?): Caribbean sea monster. Associated with globsters. (Not with Johnny Depp).
M
Makara (Hindu Mythology): Any creature that is half land animal on top with the bottom half of an acquatic creature; so: person + seal, or wildebeest + whale. Makara!
Marsh-wiggle (Narnia Chronicles): Extremely private, pessimistic humanoid creatures that live in the marshes of Narnia.
Moby Dick (Moby Dick): A misunderstood white whale who only wants to give Captain Ahab a love tap.
Morgawr (Cryptozoology/Real Life?): Supposedly, this sea monster lives in Falmouth Bay in Cornwall.
N
Naiads (Greek Mythology): Nymphs who live in streams, wells, brooks and other small bodies of water. Generally nudists.
NTIs (The Abyss): The shiny underwater aliens (or “Non-terrestrial Intelligence”) encountered in The Abyss.
O
Ogopogo (Cryptozoology/Real Life?) A monster living in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, CA. Has perhaps been around since the 19th century. Beautiful singing voice.
Orca (Orca): A killer whale on a vengeance-fueled rampage.
P
Piranhaconda (Piranhaconda): Exactly what it sounds like. A giant snake merged with a piranha. There were actually two of them in the movie.
Poseidon (Greek Mythology): Poseidon was very big in old Greece. Big time sea god. Went under the name Neptune when he was laying low.
Proteus (Greek Mythology): An early sea god. Homer called him the ”Old Man of the Sea.“ (But never “Papa.”)
Q
Qalupalik (Inuit Mythology): Lives in the sea. Green skin and long creepy fingernails.
R
The Rainbow Fish (Hinduism): This whale-sized fish ate Vishnu once. It’s scales were made of fire, ice, grass, and lightning.
Rhedosaurus, the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, “The Fog Horn”): A dinosaur who rises up out of the sea and trashes a lighthouse, in Bradbury’s story; in the film version, he pretty much trashes the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S.
Rock Lobster (The B-52’s): Watch out for these guys. They hang out with sea robins, piranhas, narwhals and bikini whales.
Rusalka (Slavic Mythology): An underwater succubus demon. Bad news.
S
Saturnynians (Doctor Who): Fish from Space. Occasionally buxom.
Scylla (Greek Myth): Lived across the way from Charybdis. Had four eyes, six necks and twelve tentacle-legs, with a cat’s tale and a bunch of dog-heads around her waist. Not to be messed with.
Sea Hag (Popeye): A sea witch with a weird, unrequited crush on Popeye the Sailor.
Selkies (Irish, Icelandic, Faroese, and Scottish Folklore): Two for the price of one! Seals in the sea, humans on land. Whoa.
Sharktopus (Sharktopus): Genetically engineered half-shark, half-octopus. Has its own theme song. Is the best.
Sigmund (Sigmund and the Sea Monsters): Friendly sea monster shunned by his family for refusing to frighten humans, star of trippy, puppet-centric 70s TV show created by Sid and Marty Krofft.
Sirens (Greek Mythology, Starbucks Coffee): Sea-dwelling singers of deadly songs that lure sailors to their doom. Also, apparently a symbol of being overly-caffeinated.
Snorks (Hanna-Barbera) Underwater knock-offs of The Smurfs. Hated by all. Do not, under any circumstances, “come swim with the Snorks.”
Supergator (Dinocroc Vs. Supergator): A gator who is super. Causes destruction.
T
Tiamat (Babylonian Mythology): Primordial ocean/chaos monster who created the cosmos by mating with the god of fresh water.
Tlanusi (Cherokee Legend): A giant, river-dwelling leech.
Triton (Greek Mythology): Poseidon’s son. (And the Little Mermaid’s dad).
U
Umib?zu (Japanese Legend, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers): If you talk to one of these guys, they’ll tip your ship over. Just for fun.
Unagi (Avatar: The Last Airbender): Gigantic carnivorous eel encountered by Team Avatar off Kyoshi Island; feeds on elephant koi and anything else that gets in its way.
Ursula the Sea Witch (Disney): Loves poor, unfortunate souls. Part person, part octopus. Steals voices/souls. Extremely sassy.
V
Vampire squid (Real life): A squid that just looks super scary, with red eyes and a “cloak” of webbing connecting its arms; its Latin name, “Vampyroteuthis infernalis,” literally means “vampire squid from Hell.”
W
Whales (Star) (Doctor Who): Poor creatures who travel through space and randomly have obnoxious humans build spaceships on their backs.
Watcher in the Water (Lord of the Rings): In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo and his companions are attacked by this tentacled creature, which lurks in the lake outside the mines of Moria.
X
Xenomorph (acquatic variety, Alien: Resurrection): Aliens that reproduce by implanting in humans and popping out of their chests. They are relentless underwater, like a toothy, acid-blooded Esther Williams.
Y
Yacu-mama (South American Mythology): Giant water snake, lives in the Amazon. Will eat anything that gets close to it.
Z
Zin (West African Foklore:) Malevolent water spirits that live in the Niger River.
Okay, sea monster lovers: tell us what we’ve missed!
Stubby the Rocket is the voice and mascot of Tor.com and wants you to know that it’s safe to go back in the water now.
