The Tidekin

GIANT PACIFIC OCTOPUS

Don't ask how a giant Pacific octopus ended up in the Atlantic Ocean. Olivia may just be the most intelligent creature in Sea City, but she doesn't want to be a teacher, she's a stay at home mom to her 57 babies... and an additional fella (we'll get to him later). If anyone dangerous ends up in the presence of one of the 58 little things she's looking after, she'll kill them, and it won't be quick. When she was just a few days from being an adult, she found a stray egg on the ground. She was intelligent to know it wasn't holding something dangerous, but not enough to know exactly what it was so she brought it back home to her mother before she passed.

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Olivia treats Maria with classic "neighborhood auntie" warmth. She often invites Maria over for tea or to vent about surface-world nonsense, and she's extremely protective of Maria’s secret, promising that if Maria's non-believer parents ever come looking to cause trouble, they'll have to go through eight powerful arms first.

LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE

Shelly is Olivia's best friend. She runs one of the local markets (she sells crystals, insense... she's a hippie if you couldn't tell). Shelly also hosted Olivia free meditation sessions if things get stressful

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Shelly thinks Maria's vibe is totally radical and welcomes her to Sea City with open flippers. She loves giving Maria custom crystal recommendations to help ease her stress about her parents. Shelly also serves as a safe confidante, promising Maria that her secrets are locked away safe in her shell, completely shielded from any bad spiritual energy.

ARGENTINE SHORTFIN SQUID (but larger cuz evolution)

When his mother popped out the egg he incubated in, along with all the other eggs, everything was well... until it was almost time for him to hatch, when a sperm whale came in and ate his mother, accidentally destroyed all the other eggs and damaged his. Later, nearly adult Olivia found him, brought him home, he hatched, and immediately imprinted on her, wrapping his main tentacles around her. Olivia's mother couldn't help but adopt him. After his adoptive mother passed from old age, Olivia has been his main guardian. Oh yeah, since his egg was damaged before he hatched, he is diagnosed with legal retardation, it's ok tho, it's a tame diagnosis

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Sammy absolutely adores Maria! To him, she's like the cool, pretty big sister who tells fun stories. Whenever Maria visits, Sammy excitedly runs over to show off his balloon, favorite rocks, or colorful trinkets he found around Sea City. Maria, in turn, treats him with immense sweetness and patience.

FOOTBALLFISH

This is the point where the school (Sea City High) gets introduced. As much of the students so far, Ashley is the most shy. She would be more open, but because she's an anglerfish (that and because she has braces), she thinks people find her ugly. The gym teacher offered her the opportunity to be on the cheer team with some of the other girls, but she kindly turned it down due to her shyness, so she has a highly private dance class with the theater teacher. She does have one friend, Sammy. Any time he's struggling or makes a simple mistake, Ashley always is there to help him. Before you ask, no, they do NOT have feelings for each other (Ashley is too sheepish and Sammy doesn't know how to have a crush on somebody yet)

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Ashley admires Maria from afar because Maria is so unique as a mermaid in Sea City. Whenever Maria compliments her dance moves or her glowing lure, Ashley turns bright red with shyness. Maria always goes out of her way to reassure Ashley that she's beautiful just as she is.

GHOST CRAB

Carlos was friends with all the crabs his age in his neighborhood when he was young. So much so that he turned down the opportunity of the theater teacher to build and run his own bar with his buddies. But, when Olivia is just walking past, Carlos and the other crabs panic and hide considering the whole "octopi eating hard shell crustaceans" stereotype, but Olivia is vegetarian, they just don't know that yet. So far, Carlos is the only one who has a last name: Le'qualv... he's French

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Carlos treats Maria like a VIP whenever she visits his establishment! He loves serving her fancy non-alcoholic mocktails in tropical shells and loves listening to her stories about the surface world. He often reminds her to watch out for "the purple eight-legged beast" (Olivia), completely unaware that Maria and Olivia are actually good friends.

GOBLIN SHARK

Gibson unfortunately is homeless. One day, he was spotted by a group of dolphins on their way back from school and they chased him. Gibson ended up bumping into a bigger shark that scared off the dolphins because even though Gibson is a pitiful wimp of a shark, he's still a carnivorous shark. He's also a huge ass junkie

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Maria feels a mix of pity and concern for Gibson. Whenever she sees him hanging around the alleys, she tries to offer him spare food or a warm meal rather than turning a blind eye. Gibson thinks Maria is surprisingly nice for a surface creature, though his paranoid nature means he always keeps his distance just in case.

BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN

The third student of Sea City High (same district as Sammy and Ashley). He's both a jock and a bully who wants to get all the ladies (very difficult when you're an asshole) except Ashley, he openly said to his fellow dolphin bois that she was ugly and they all laughed. He also had an incident with the lead cheerleader of the team (it should have gotten him arrested but she didn't press charges so that it didn't make him angrier at her. Who she is, you'll find out). When Darius was young, his parents wanted to venture outside the barrier bc they were curious, only for them to get viciously devoured by a great megalodon that circles around the outside of the barrier to Sea City so now Darius lives with his uncle (he's the one who taught him the negative side). Oh yeah, this is the dolphin that chased Gibson

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Darius constantly tries to hit on Maria because she's a mermaid and "a major prize," completely ignoring her obvious disgust toward him. Maria can't stand his toxic behavior, especially how he treats Ashley, Sammy, and Gibson, and openly shuts down his smooth-talking attempts every single time.

GREAT HAMMERHEAD

Harnold is one of the sharks that scared off Darius and his fellow dolphin bois from chasing Gibson. Well, he wasn't THE shark per se, but he was one of them. Harnold is a member of the "Backstreet Sharks," a gang of sharks dedicated to bad things. Harnold is the pool shark, literally, he makes bets in pool. If he wins, you hand over the money you bet on, if you win, he'll loose his damn mind and attack you until you hand over the money. Either way, you make a bet with him, you're handing over money.

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Maria avoids Harnold like the plague! She knows better than to step anywhere near the shady joints where he hangs out, having heard stories about his violent temper. Harnold thinks Maria would be an easy mark to hustle out of cash, but he knows better than to push his luck too close to Olivia's territory.

GREAT WHITE SHARK

Wallace is the main leader of the Backstreet Sharks and THE shark that scared off Darius and his fellow dolphin bois and promises to keep Gibson safe on one condition, as long as Gibson helps sell their "seaweed" or "exotic corals." Of course, Gibson agreed, but is constantly scared he's gonna get arrested for it. Wallace, knowing Gibson is a fellow carnivorous shark, is always there to keep him calm. If someone snitches about the drug deals, Wallace will send [hint: 🫐] after them. If [hint: 🫐] is sick or severely injured, Wallace will go after them himself, clearly the worse outcome. I mean, look at him

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Wallace views Maria as an untouchable outsider. He has no direct beef with her, but he warns his boys to keep their illegal deals away from her path, mostly because he knows that getting on Maria’s bad side means drawing the attention of Olivia, and even a hulking great white knows better than to pick a fight with an enraged, genius octopus mom.

KILLER WHALE (ORCA)

Kevin is Darius's uncle (because killer whales are closer to dolphins than whales). Before taking Darius into his care, Kevin was a serial killer with a body count higher than any famous human killers. During his trial, he smiled throughout the whole thing and enjoyed his prison sentence, so much so, the guards let him keep his uniform as a souvenir as long as he didn't kill any more citizens of Sea City. He genuinely cares for his nephew, where he would tell Darius all the things he did in school when he was Darius's age, probably what caused him to be this way. Kevin has big beef with the Backstreet Sharks for scaring off his nephew, constantly getting into fights with Wallace to the point his uniform is tearing apart. He wants to kill Wallace so bad but he can't because he doesn't want to lose his nephew.

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA
Maria is absolutely terrified of Kevin, and for good reason! Knowing his dark history and seeing him roam around in a shredded prison uniform with a knife is enough to make her stay far away. Kevin mostly ignores her unless she gets in Darius's way, but his mere presence makes the entire neighborhood uneasy.

JELLY BLUBBER

Here, the lead cheerleader of the sports team, but Jessica is also the popular pretty girl in Sea City High, just anyone that sees her knows her. She has the sweetest heart of any student. Of course, that draws unwanted attention, like gag Darius 🤮. She might be a jellyfish, but she doesn't sting on any physical contact, only when threatened. This all leads into the... incident. One day after school, Darius snuck into the locker room and decided it's time to make his move, since it's Jessica he's lusting (THEY ARE ADULTS JSYK). She had to use all her energy to shock him away, temporarily stunning him from her before any contact was made. She made a bolt for the window but she didn't have enough energy to make a good jump so she just ended up landing in a bush, so she stayed in it until she felt it was safe to return home. Ok, that went dark, let's lighten the mood. Now she's taking therapy, and it is helping her mood, especially in cheer practice. But currently, she has no interest in romance after that shtick, but she does find Sammy's crush on her cute (despite the fact she's slightly older than him). Apparently, her mom and Olivia were great friends and high school and still are right now. She even cheers for Ashley after she finishes a dance. This is something you don't hear, but that jellyfish needs a hug

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Maria holds a lot of respect for Jessica's resilience and sweet heart. Furthermore, their families share a close connection, Jessica's mother and Maria’s guardian, Olivia, were best friends in high school and remain close to this day. Maria always makes sure Jessica feels safe whenever she hangs around her corner of town.

GULPER EEL

Gordon works as both a chef at a restaurant and a lunch man at Sea City High. At the start of every service or shift, he tends to get a bit nervous of making even a small mistake, but that almost never happens. If he does make a mistake with the food, he gulps it down (he's allowed to do that). He legally changed his last name to Reefzy. Gordon Reefzy

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Maria loves Gordon's cooking! She frequently visits the restaurant where he works as a chef to enjoy his dishes. Knowing how anxious he gets before a big shift, Maria always offers him kind words of encouragement, which helps calm his nerves.

SPERM WHALE

Spencer is the most athletic cop in Sea City, despite the rumors his head is too heavy, which it isn't, it's just fine. When dealing with criminals, he takes it seriously (at a correct level of seriousness). Outside of work, he's chill, like someone you'd hang out in a bar with. It didn't help that his older brother was best buds with Kevin so you can imagine the absolute hell Spencer was feeling, especially when his big bro ate Sammy's parents like a crazed lunatic, which led to him getting the chair

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Spencer and Maria have a very friendly rapport. Maria respects his dedication to keeping Sea City safe, especially since he actively tries to keep the street gangs away from her corner. Whenever Spencer stops by Carlos's Bar after a long shift, he and Maria often share a casual chat about how the city is faring.

RED-BELLIED PIRANHA

It is unknown how Petey used to go about his day until one day, something in his head clicked and he all of a sudden bit into a random citizen's shoulder while his body twitched violently. Now he just remains in the insane asylum, sitting there in a straight jacket, facing the door, and losing his god damn mind and lunging at the door if someone walks by it's window while frothing at the mouth (not rabies) and trying to chomp at the metal door

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Maria has never met Petey in person, though she has heard terrifying rumors about the "asylum piranha." Just hearing about his sudden snapping and violent nature is enough to give her chills.

AMAZONIAN MANATEE

The school teacher of Sea City High. Chill guy. Uh, he doesn't have legs like some citizens, he has a tail like Gordon, so he cut a pant leg off and sewed the hole... I got nothing else, he's a minor character

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Maria thinks Manny is a sweet, reliable presence in town. Since he's so laid-back, she occasionally chats with him about school events or how the kids are doing. His peaceful, calm demeanor is always a welcome break from Sea City's usual madness.

MEGALODON

Zeezur is the Megalodon that ate Darius' parents, and he is also the last living one on this planet to ever exist. As you can already guess, he is very evil and basically everyone in the sea fears him, especially Darius. He doesn't have an anthro form, because if he did, Sea City would be cooked by now

RELATIONSHIP WITH MARIA

Maria is absolute, 100% horrified of Zeezur. She knows that if anyone steps outside the safety barrier, he won't hesitate to swallow them whole. His existence alone is the main reason Maria stays safely within the borders of Sea City.