Water People

The Water People, also known as Atlanteans or (derogatorily) as Frogmen, are a species of sentient humanoid beings who evolved from humans.
==Description==
The Water People were the result of an Atlantean city (which, in the 1950's, they mistakenly held to have been the City of Atlantis itself, though it must have in truth been a mere province) sinking into the sea over hundreds of years alongside the landmass surround it, some time after the “Great Earthquake” which had sunken the true Atlantis. 
Unable to prevent their home from sinking beneath the wave, the Atlanteans somehow found themselves mutating over the generations to gain fishlike quality, until they were fully able to live underwater, and, indeed, unable to breathe in air or even in the topmost layers of the ocean — their lungs having become connected to gills on their neck. The Water People possess webbed hands and feet and sport frilled fins on their back and ears; their bodies are entirely covered in smooth scales, which range from green to blue in coloration, with the occasional salmon-pink. In 1953, it was the Atlantean Teacher's understanding that the Water People's evolution was ongoing, and that they would, in the long run, look even more fishlike than they did then. 
By then, the Water People, ruled by a King, had developed a unique culture, with trained-squid-fights for sport and great humpback whales for sources of dairy products. Scrooge McDuck's dumping of most American 1916 quarters in existence right above their city in 1953, as well as his and his nephews' subsequent visit to the Sunken City to retrieve them, led to two more elements being introduced to the Water People's way of life: swinging 1940's music, and the use of the 1916 quarters in decorative garments (taking the place of beads or medals). 
The Water People, somewhat aware of the surface world (though their understanding of it is patchy), take great pains to remain hidden from it, as they fear that the greedy “Air People”, if they knew of Atlantis's survival beneath the waves, might come and pillage it. 
===Other Atlantean Mutants===
The Water People of the Sunken City were not the only Atlanteans to be turned into fish-like humanoids following the Great Earthquake. For example, another sunken Atlantean city later visited by the Ducks is home to similar, though slightly more piscine, “Fish-People”. 
== Behind the scenes ==
The Water People first appeared in Carl Barks's Secret of Atlantis (1954).
Category:Species
Category:Sapient Species
Category:Humans