Sea Devil

Appearances

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The Sea Devils, or Sea-Devils, (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Sea-Devils) also called ocean demons, (TV: Legend of the Sea Devils) Deep Ones, (GAME: Lost in Time) the Aquatic Silurians (PROSE: Blood Heat, A brief lowdown on the Sea Devils) Reptilia sapiens (AUDIO: Tidal Wave) or Reptillia Sapiens, and Homo Reptillia were amphibious Earth reptiles. (PROSE: A brief lowdown on the Sea Devils) Like their land-based cousins, the Silurians, they lived in prehistoric times in a scientifically-advanced civilisation.

As their aquatic colonies awoke from suspended animation, these one-time rulers of the Earth attempted to reclaim their planet, leading to conflict with the new rulers: humankind.

Historians who had been allowed access to the "Monster Vaults" of the databanks in the Doctor's TARDIS observed that the Sea Devils were named as such by unfamiliar humans while the name was also used by the Sea Devils themselves as well as the Silurians, their explanation being that it was the proper name for the species which humans retained as ancient race memories. (PROSE: The Monster Vault) The Ninth Doctor, however, used Reptilia sapiens, identifying "Sea Devil" as an offensive term. (AUDIO: The Seas of Titan)

Biology[]

Overview[]

The Sea Devils were related to the Silurians, (TV: Warriors of the Deep) though they were genetically divergent enough to create problems for the offspring of such matings. (PROSE: The Scales of Injustice) The Twelfth Doctor (PROSE: A History of Humankind) and historians identified the Sea Devils as an example of a Silurian subspecies, being descended from Silurians whom were forced to adapt to life underwater. (PROSE: The Monster Vault) Jo Jones described Sea Devils as "a fascinating deep sea species". Sea Devils hatched from eggs and started out life as infants. The hatching cycle of Sea Devils active in the 21st century was also affected by global warming, with many Sea Devil nests being established on land instead of out at sea. (WC: Defenders of Earth)

Like the Silurians, variations existed among the Sea Devils with different subspecies and appearances. Sea Devils typically looked somewhat like humanoid turtles or plesiosaurs. They had beak-like mouths, large eyes, two fins on their head and long necks. They had three webbed digits on their hands and feet. Their skin tones came in a variety of shades, including green, blue and orange. They were much tougher than humans, since they needed to survive the crushing depths of the ocean. Sea Devils communicated in a language like sonar, but they could speak human languages in a whispering, rasping voice. (TV: The Sea Devils) A Sea Devil's skin was slimy to the touch. (PROSE: The Silurian Gift)

One group of Sea Devil warriors, which appeared at Sea Base 4, were notably distinguished by their silver skin and their lack of head fins. (TV: Warriors of the Deep)

Warrior-class subspecies[]

Another subspecies of Sea Devil, suggested by the Twelfth Doctor to be a "warrior-class", were larger, faster, and stronger than those that he was familiar with. Their muscular bodies sported dark green skin, small red eyes, a pronounced jaw, and a large tail. They lived on the Raven Peninsula. They could communicate using a form of sound-based telepathy and could use this ability as a weapon by producing a deadly sonic scream. (COMIC: Clara Oswald and the School of Death)

There also existed a class of Sea Devils who were much smaller, about the size of an infant human, that could merge with a human host, creating a human-Sea Devil hybrid but with the Sea Devil's psyche dominating its host. They possessed the sound-based abilities of their warrior-class counterparts but also displayed potent psionic powers, specifically telekinesis. The Twelfth Doctor explained that this was a side effect of two minds merging into one. (COMIC: Clara Oswald and the School of Death)

Culture[]

The Sea Devils worshipped the Great Old One known as Dagon as their god. (PROSE: All-Consuming Fire) They were determined to retake the planet from the humans. They held an unwavering view that, as the original rulers, it would always be their right to do so. However, they were willing to make peace with humans, but they quickly changed their minds when they were under attack from the surface. (TV: The Sea Devils) Even though encounters between the Sea Devils and humanity often devolved into conflict in the 20th and 21st centuries as they battled for control of Earth, (COMIC: Clara Oswald and the School of Death, et. al) the Doctor noted that the Sea Devils were largely peacefully, fighting only if they believed it to be needed (TV: Legend of the Sea Devils) or if they had been manipulated. (TV: The Sea Devils)

As such, the Thirteenth Doctor was surprised to meet one Sea Devil chief who prepared for mass-human genocide before even attempting peace. She reasoned that he was simply "the bad egg" of his kind. (TV: Legend of the Sea Devils) Sea Devils were very protective of their young. It was a privilege for non-Sea Devils to watch one of the young hatch. (WC: Defenders of Earth)

Pirate Sea Devils[]

Pirate Sea Devils (TV: Legend of the Sea Devils ^[+]Ella Road and Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who Easter Special 2022 (BBC One, 2022).) were a subgroup of Sea Devils who had spread to "the depths of the oceans on various planets". They were "known for their advanced technology, cunning strategies, and a penchant for pillaging and plundering", being "often seen as cosmic marauders who navigate[d] the time and space continuum raiding planets and spacecraft with impunity". These Pirate Sea Devils' society was structured around a "brutal hierarchy", with ruthless captains answering to no shared higher authority exerting sole dominance over the "aquatic realms". They were said to "typically don flamboyant, pirate-themed attire, complete with eyepatches, tricorn hats, and cutlasses". (GAME: Worlds Apart ^[+]Doctor Who card games (Reality+, 2021).)

Technology[]

The Sea Devils were more advanced than the humans of the 20th century when they went into hibernation. They had colonies around the world, each filled with thousands of Sea Devils. (TV: The Sea Devils) The colonies could be awakened en masse through the use of a sonic signal. (TV: The Sea Devils) They built their underwater colonies inside caves. One base, located near a sea-fort, had simple grey-black-coloured walls, (TV: The Sea Devils) while another appeared to be carved into the rock, and was covered in algae and seaweed. (TV: Warriors of the Deep)

They also used special orange capsules to transport land-dwelling creatures. (TV: The Sea Devils)

The Sea Devils had stockpiles of weapons in these bases. They typically used small, round, side arms. (TV: The Sea Devils) During their invasion of Sea Base 4, they made use of a larger version of the device to cut through the doors. (TV: Warriors of the Deep) The group that commandeered the ship of Sin Ji-Hun wielded swords instead, with their captain using a special, technologically advanced blade with a glowing section down the centre that could inject a lethal poison into those it wounded. (TV: Legend of the Sea Devil)

The Sea Devils which attacked HMS Seaspite wore gauze-like dresses. (TV: The Sea Devils) The Sea Devils warriors in the 2084 invasion wore thick black armour reminiscent of samurai armour. (TV: Warriors of the Deep)

The Sea Devils that attacked Ravenscaur Island had an enormous underground colony located in a network of caves that artificially reproduced the environment and climate of prehistoric Earth, indicating they had advanced terraforming and environmental technology.

They had colossal war machines that were shaped like giant metal spheres with tentacles that could pierce through the hull of a human battleship easily.

Sea Devils also had large submarines heavily armed with laser armaments that could easily outmatch an aircraft carrier with its speed and firepower.

A fearsome piece of technology they possessed was sonic destructors. These were enormous tower-like structures that produced sonic pulses capable of sinking an entire island by causing intense earthquakes. (COMIC: Clara Oswald and the School of Death)

History[]

Dominance[]

According to historians, the Sea Devils evolved from a group of Silurians during a period of tectonic upheaval, when conditions on the land deteriorated and the Silurians had to spend more time feeding and breeding in the sea until it became their sole habitat. (PROSE: The Monster Vault) On 28 January 425,000,000 BC, the Sea Devils signed a peace deal with the Silurians. (PROSE: Time Traveller's Diary) The Sea Devils ruled the Earth when humans were apes, just as the Silurians did. (TV: The Sea Devils)

Both the Silurian and Sea Devil races were led by the Triad, their "custodians". (TV: Warriors of the Deep) While one Sea Devil chief, whom the Thirteenth Doctor wrote off as a zealot, claimed the Earth had been covered "in glorious aqua" during the age of his kind, (TV: Legend of the Sea Devils) the Sea Devils and Silurians lived alongside each other, (TV: Warriors of the Deep) with the Silurians ruling over warm landmasses (PROSE: Blood Heat, TV: The Hungry Earth) while their underwater cousins lived within the seas. (TV: Warriors of the Deep)

When the Moon approached Earth, (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians) the Silurian and Sea Devil scientists calculated a great catastrophe in which "all life" would be wiped out (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Sea Devils) by the Moon "sweep[ing] by Earth" (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Cave-Monsters) and drawing away the atmosphere. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians) The Third Doctor repeated the claim to Marc Marshall that the Silurians built the shelters when they thought the planet would "suck away" Earth's atmosphere as it rushed by. (PROSE: The Scales of Injustice)

Conversely, the Fifth Doctor recalled that the Silurian astronomers predicted that Earth was about to be "struck" by the planet at the time, (PROSE: Warriors of the Deep) and the Eleventh Doctor described the trajectory of the planet the astronomers had predicted as a "crash course". (TV: Cold Blood) The catastrophe did not happen as predicted, and the Sea Devils remained inside their hibernation units. During millions of years of hibernation, the reactivation machinery of the hibernation units deteriorated. (TV: The Sea Devils) There were millions of hibernating Sea Devils across the globe. (GAME: Lost in Time)

Awakenings[]

16th century[]

A lone Sea Devil scientist was prematurely awakened around the late 16th century due to a defective hibernator, proceeding to study how the world had changed during his sleep. After ten years, the Sea Devil rescued and befriended a human, Diego de Columba of Cordoba, who had washed up on the beach. Unfortunately, the Sea Devil was later captured by pirates, one of whom inadvertently activated his device which called a creature to awake from under the sea, proceeding to destroy the pirates' ship. Diego presumed the Sea Devil to have perished with the pirates. (COMIC: Devil of the Deep)

Also in the early 16th century, a zealot Chief Sea Devil became active alongside his crew in the seas of China. Capturing the ship of the "great captain" Sin Ji-Hun in order to "strike fear" into the hearts of the "land crawlers", he and his band became fearsome pirates. The Chief Sea Devil sought a particular gemstone, the Keystone, actually of Sea Devil origin, which he wanted to use to flood the entire Earth, wiping out humanity. However, Ji-Hun had managed to sneak the Keystone off the ship before the Sea Devils captured it, and his second-in-command Lei Bao was eventually able to use the Keystone himself to freeze the Chief Sea Devil in time, turning him into a statue on the shore. His crew returned to hibernation, awaiting his return. (TV: Legend of the Sea Devils)

19th century[]

In 1807, Madam Ching, a notorious pirate who was looking for the lost treasure of the Flor de la Mar, travelled to the small Chinese village where the petrified Chief Sea Devil pirate was still watched over by the descendants of Lei Bao. Misunderstanding the legends and believing a map to the treasure was hidden within the statue, she accidentally released the Chief Sea Devil, who slaughtered the village and called his crew out of hibernation. However, the Thirteenth Doctor and her companions teamed up with Madam Ching, as well as Sin Ji-Hun, whom the Sea Devils had kept locked in a living death for all these centuries as a punishment for tricking them, to stop his plan. Shortly after Ji-Hun stabbed the Chief Sea Devil to death in a duel, he and the Doctor managed to rig the pirate Sea Devils' base to explode, killing them all, destroying the Keystone, and stopping the Chief Sea Devil's plan to flood the Earth from coming to pass. (TV: Legend of the Sea Devils)

20th century[]

In 1909, a group of Sea Devil woke up beneath Raven Peninsula. They used terraforming technology to create an earthquake which separated the peninsula from the main land. Ravenscaur became known as Raven's Isle. The Sea Devils infiltrated the school and village on the island by turning the humans into Sea Devils. (COMIC: Clara Oswald and the School of Death)

In 1972 or 1982, (COMIC: Clara Oswald and the School of Death) a group of Sea Devils hibernating beneath the English Channel were awoken by the Master. He attempted to persuade them to reclaim the planet from the human race. Despite the Third Doctor's efforts to convince them otherwise, hostilities escalated when Private Secretary Walker ordered the Royal Navy to attack the base, and the Sea Devils decided to go to war with the humans. However, before they could use the Master's sonar device to reactivate more bases, the Doctor blew up their base by overloading the devices by reversing the polarity of the neutron flow, preventing the war between humans and Sea Devils from starting. (TV: The Sea Devils)

When a temporal crisis swept across the universe, making TARDIS travel impossible except between a network of Waypoints supercharged with vortex energy, one of these Waypoints was Atlantis, caught in a time eddy in its final moments because of the Crystal of Kronos. There was a Sea Devil hibernation colony close to Atlantis. They were awakened by the Doctors' manipulation of the vortex energy, and began causing trouble in what was, from UNIT's perspective, the 20th century a short time after the prior Sea Devil incident — notably tripping several NATO anti-submarine monitoring systems. Martha Jones, who had discovered the coordinates of Atlantis in the 21st century, returned to them with UNIT backup, only for the UNIT representative to be a young Liz Shaw instead of her contemporaries due to the temporal anomaly. The two met a Sea Devil representative, who told them that their base was preparing to send a worldwide signal to awaken all other Sea Devil colonies. They pleaded with the Sea Devil to delay the signal so that proper peace talks with humanity could be held first, and the Sea Devil agreed to consider the offer. Martha and Liz called the Doctor on Martha's mobile phone, who arrived in the form of the Thirteenth Doctor and began negotiating with the Sea Devil. (GAME: Lost in Time)

In 1983, Sarah Jane Smith and K9, visiting Warren Martyn's archaeological expedition in Egypt, discovered an underground city of Silurians and Sea Devils. Sarah Jane opened diplomatic relations with them. On her return to England, she contacted the Brigadier, who wished to make amends for his earlier mistakes. (COMIC: City of Devils)

Early 21st century[]

In the early 21st century, a colony of both Silurians and Sea Devils were discovered under the South Pole. After a corrupt businessman attempted to blackmail them into providing him with a unique energy source, they revolted, with the Sea Devils launching an attack. They were forced back into hibernation by the Eleventh Doctor, who collapsed the crevice leading to their colony afterwards. (PROSE: The Silurian Gift)

In 2015, the Sea Devils at Ravenscaur School were discovered by Christel Dean who alerted Clara Oswald and the Twelfth Doctor to their presence. When the Sea Devils declared open war on humanity, the Doctor managed to turn their sonic devastators back on them, wiping them out. (COMIC: Clara Oswald and the School of Death) Sometime before the shutdown of UNIT, a group of Sea Devils had attacked a classified military base in South Wales, leaving Brigadier Winifred Bambera missing in action. (PROSE: At Childhood's End)

By the 2020s, Sea Devil communities had been forced to establish their nests on land instead of in the ocean due to the rise in climate change affecting their hatching cycles. One colony of Sea Devils that was based just off a coastline came to the attention of Jo Jones, who arrived in time to stop a guarding Sea Devil from attacking the young couple Kat and Alex in order to protect the eggs. Shortly afterward, one of the three eggs hatched, and Jo helped the infant Sea Devil out to sea so the young creature could join up with the colony. After she assured Kat and Alex that the other two eggs would hatch by the time the parents would return, a Sea Devil walked out of the ocean onto the beach once they departed. (WC: Defenders of Earth)

Late 21st century[]

A colony of Sea Devils were awoken in 2084 by a group of Silurians who believed peace with humanity was impossible. Alongside a Myrka, the Sea Devils were sent as shock troops to invade Sea Base 4 to ignite the war the base had been built to fight in. Although they were better prepared, they were all killed by the Hexachromite gas used by the Fifth Doctor, who proclaimed that "there should have been another way" as he looked over the remains of the Silurians and Sea Devils. (TV: Warriors of the Deep)

Post-contact[]

By the 26th century, the inter-species conflicts appeared to have come to an end. Silurians and Sea Devils were accepted into Earth society, and the term "Earth Reptile" was apparently popularised among humans. (PROSE: Love and War)

Because of humanity's pollution of the seas of Earth, a number of Sea Devils and humans had, by the 2600s, colonised the planet Chosan, which was being attacked by Calabraxian terrorists. The Earth Reptile Council asked the Braxiatel Collection for aid. They sent Bernice Summerfield. She found the ocean planet held a sentient protein in the waters which had began to infect the water-dwelling Sea Devils. The entities attempted to possess the Sea Devils and use them as an army against the humans but faced difficulty in integrating themselves into the host's biology. This led to mutations. They took the Sea Devil Lurnix as a host. They tried to have Lurnix lower the security grid and infect all the Sea Devils for an army. However, Bernice Summerfield evacuated the colony and detonated a bomb at Chosan, ending that threat. The Sea Devils were forced to abandon the Chosan colony due to the continuing threat. (AUDIO: The Poison Seas)

In the 30th century, the Earth Reptiles were part of the Earth Empire and were considered full members of that government as an Earthborn species. (PROSE: So Vile a Sin) In the 32nd century, it became illegal on Dramos to trade in Earth Reptile pituitary analogue extract. (PROSE: Burning Heart)

In the 52nd century, Vertebrae Rax was brought up on legends of his people's reign on prehistoric Earth and later joined a failed raid on the Maldovarium in hopes of stealing a vortex manipulator to travel back to that era. (PROSE: The Heist)

In the 101st century, the Earth Reptiles were part of the Union. (PROSE: The Crystal Bucephalus)

Undated events[]

During the Last Great Time War, a Sea Devil was imprisoned by an unknown force. (COMIC: The Forgotten) A group of Sea Devils were imprisoned in the TARDIS by the Master. (GAME: Destiny of the Doctors) A Sea Devil was worth an unidentified amount of points in the I-Spyder Book of Earth Creatures if it was spotted. (PROSE: The Last Dodo)

As shown in the Anubian Book of Deliverance, the Anubians attacked the Sea Devils. (TV: Curse of Anubis)

A Sea Devil visited the beach on Beachelguese with a Silurian and a Macra. (COMIC: Surfshock)

The Pirate Sea Devils were a faction of Sea Devils who spread across the universe, making their home in the oceanic depths of various worlds while engaging in space piracy. The Doctor and the Pirate Sea Devils clashed "throughout time and space" on a great number of occasions, resulting in "epic confrontations as the Doctor [sought] to thwart their malevolent plans and protect innocent civilizations from their rapacious ambitions". (GAME: Worlds Apart ^[+]Doctor Who card games (Reality+, 2021).)

Alternate histories[]

In one alternative version of the 1990s, the Doctor having died during the Wenley Moor incident, the Silurians ruled Earth unchecked while the Sea Devils served them as underwater soldiers. (PROSE: Blood Heat)

In an alternate timeline created by the Black Guardian where the First Doctor never left Gallifrey and became Lord President, the Sea Devils and the Silurians fought over the Earth along with several species of alien invaders. This timeline was destroyed when the Seventh Doctor retrieved the Key to Time. (COMIC: Time & Time Again)

In an alternate timeline created by a paradox caused by an encounter between the Thirteenth and Tenth Doctors, the Skithra awoke the Sea Devils in the Raven Peninsula in 1903 to conquer Earth on their behalf. By 2020, the Sea Devils ruled Earth. This timeline was erased when a Skithra Queen and Rose Tyler, who had been brought back in time by the two Doctors, killed the Skithra drones before they awoke the Sea Devils in 1903. (COMIC: Alternating Current)

In an alternate dimension in which the Doctor's adventures existed as a fictional TV show called Doctor Who, a fan dressed as a Sea Devil was present at a Doctor Who convention which the Eleventh Doctor visited with Ally in 2013. (COMIC: The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who)

The Sea Devils of Mondas[]

Main article: Sea Devil (Mondasian)

The planet Mondas had lifeforms identical to Sea Devils. (COMIC: The Hungry Sea)

Other references[]

In the video game Happy Deathday, played by Izzy Sinclair on the Time-Space Visualiser, a Sea Devil was among a host of "every single enemy" that the Doctor had ever defeated, who were assembled by the Beige Guardian and pitted against the Doctor's first eight incarnations. (COMIC: Happy Deathday)

UNIT case file 9938334t concerned the Sea Devils. (PROSE: A brief lowdown on the Sea Devils)

Behind the scenes[]

• A Sea Devil was to have appeared as one of the dead prisoners on the spaceship in The Stones of Blood. Although Malcolm Hulke was paid a copyright fee, shots of the creature were lost at the editing stage.
• Ironically, the Sea Devils do not feature in the comic story entitled The Sea Devil.
• The Alan Moore graphic novel series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen refers to lizard-men called Silurians and Sea Devils and retcons the Creature from the Black Lagoon as one of the latter.
• The Sea Devil and Silurian are shown as the original inhabitants of Earth in the steampunk graphic novel Scarlet Traces: The Great Game.
• The mention of the Sea Devils worshipping the Great Old One Dagon in All-Consuming Fire conflates them with the Cthulhu Mythos's Deep Ones, an ancient race of fish-like humanoids created by H. P. Lovecraft in his short story The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Aside from minor differences in physical features, the principal trait of the Deep Ones not exhibited by the Sea Devils is their immortality; the Deep Ones do not age, though they can still be killed through violence. Additionally, the Deep Ones can interbreed with humanity (a trait referenced in Guardian At The Gate), whereas mating even between Sea Devils and their close cousins the Silurians is shown to be problematic in The Scales of Injustice.
• The image of a Sea Devil appears on the cover of the Fourth Doctor-era book The Amazing World of Doctor Who.

v • e Homo Reptilia stories For the purposes of this list, a "Homo Reptilian story" is one in which one living, authentic Silurian or Sea Devil plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. Stories like Frontier in Space, The Pandorica Opens and The Wedding of River Song are also not included due to Homo Reptilians' cameos being of little consequence to the plot of the story. Stories featuring Madam Vastra of the Paternoster Gang are only included on the Paternoster Gang story template. Silurians Television Doctor Who and the Silurians • Warriors of the Deep • The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood • Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Prose Blood Heat • The Scales of Injustice • Cold War • The Little Planet • The Silurian Gift • Dr. Eighth • The Red-Eyed League • The Master and Margarita Comics Final Genesis • Twilight of the Silurians • City of Devils • As Time Goes By • Faster Than Light • Surfshock • Supremacy of the Cybermen • Untitled • The Lost Dimension Video games Destiny of the Doctors • Evacuation Earth • The Mazes of Time • Dalek Supremacy • The Eternity Clock • Lost in Time Audio Bloodtide • The Coup • Call to Arms • Retrieval • United • The Silurian Candidate Complete list of appearances Sea Devils Television The Sea Devils • Warriors of the Deep • Legend of the Sea Devils Webcasts Defenders of Earth Comics Devil of the Deep • The Bit After the Last Bit • Under Pressure • City of Devils • Clara Oswald and the School of Death • Surfshock • Alternating Current Prose Blood Heat • Dr. Eighth • The Heist • A brief lowdown on the Sea Devils Video games Destiny of the Doctors • Lost in Time Audio The Poison Seas • Tidal Wave • The Seas of Titan • Storm of the Sea Devils Complete list of appearances Mondasian Silurians and Sea Devils Comics The Dead Heart • The Flesh Unbound • The Black Sky • The Hungry Sea • The Dark Flame • The Future Perfect • The Ugly Underneath • The Prodigal Returns