Seaman

*This article is about the character. For the game, see Seaman (Dreamcast).*

**Seaman** (*Habibi de Kimo*, lit. "friend of Kimo") is the titular creature that the player is tasked with taking care of.

He is voiced by Jeff Kramer and Yutaka Saitō in the English and Japanese releases, respectively.

## Life stages

Seaman transforms drastically over the course of his development, but a constant feature throughout his evolution (excluding the Mushroomer stage) is his signature human head with a proboscis, or SCSII (Seaman's Crap and Symbiosis Ichthyological Interface), protruding from the top.

### Egg

A Seaman egg typically contains multiple Mushroomers (seven in-game), and has a transparent shell like a frog or fish egg. There is little to no behavior during this stage, although the Mushroomers can be observed moving slightly within the egg. Within 3-5 minutes of an egg's placement in an ideal environment, the egg will hatch, releasing the Mushroomers.

### Mushroomer

The Mushroomer is the initial larval form of a Seaman, with a tail-like appendage and a single black eye. The "tail", similar to the later stages' proboscis, is a multi-functional organ that the Mushroomer uses to swim, breathe, and attach to a surface. A Mushroomer does little but float around its environment, but its main purpose seems to be that of a parasite. A Mushroomer has a lifespan of 4-5 days, and will die unless it feeds on something to provide it adequate nutrition to further its development. The typical hosts of a Mushroomer include fish and cephalopods (a nautilus is provided in-game). After ingestion by its host, the Mushroomer will absorb nutrients from it, slowly killing it from the inside, until the host finally dies and the Mushroomer emerges as a newly-formed Gillman.

### Gillman

The Gillman is the next (and longest) stage of development that a Seaman enters after leaving its host, appearing as a carp-like fish with a human face. Just like human babies, young Gillmen won't know any words at all, and will only speak in gibberish. However, with repeated attempts to teach them a language via outside influence, the Gillmen will quickly adapt and learn to repeat words and give simple responses to questions or commands, until eventually becoming able to discuss more complex subjects - such as culture, philosophy, or the player's personal life. Early on, the young Gillmen will use their probosces to drink the blood of their siblings until only two remain: a male and a female. When the two surviving Gillmen reach the later part of the stage, they will switch to consuming food pellets or live prey for sustenance.

### Podfish

Physiologically, the Podfish stage closely resembles the late Gillman stage, with the exception of crude limbs sprouting from its body. This stage is when the Seaman reaches sexual maturity. The male Podfish will approach the female before linking probosces with her and copulating. After breeding, the male dies. The lone female Podfish will further her bond with her caretaker before clambering onto dry land to lay her eggs. After laying the eggs, the Podfish will die from exhaustion.

## Story

### Past

Thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, Seaman was once the son of Djoser, the first pharaoh of the third dynasty. At some point, Seaman had fallen in love with the daughter of the priest Imhotep, but due to belonging to different social classes, their marriage was forbidden. However, Imhotep had taken pity on them, and so consulted with the god Thoth to find a way for them to be together in the future. Thoth then transformed Seaman and his lover into a fish and a bird, respectively, and they were both separated - the ultimate goal being that they would eventually evolve back into their original forms. Djoser, now filled with remorse, had a pyramid built to serve as a beacon so that the couple may find each other again someday.

### Present

Fast forward to the year 1932, April 15th. Jean Paul Gassé, a French scientist, was part of a team conducting research on the Nile river. During the expedition, Gassé discovered strange bones in the riverbed and began studying them. He determined that the creatures the bones belonged to had evolved rapidly, and were capable of communicating with humans. This ability allowed the creatures to gain human knowledge and, thus, become closer to being human themselves.

## Trivia

* Jeff Kramer, Seaman's voice actor, is also known for voicing Francis York Morgan from *Deadly Premonition*.

## References

1. ↑ The Seaman Expedition
2. ↑ Thank You And Guys, I Love You!! - A SWERY Interview
3. ↑ 斎藤由多加 on Twitter: "Who had posted the description onto wiki saying that the face of Seaman is that of its producer,Yooy Saito? The truth is that voice was."[sic]
4. ↑ Dialogue with Seaman
5. ↑ Leonard Nimoy's final dialogue after Seaman is released.
6. ↑ The Seaman Expedition
7. ↑ The Seaman Expedition