Giant Seahorse
Giant Seahorse is a group of enlarged seahorse kaiju created by Hanna-Barbera that first appeared in the 1979 The Godzilla Power Hour episode, The Macro-Beasts.
History
The Giant Seahorses were among several marine animals enlarged to giant size, thanks to recent volcanic eruptions and a mysterious underground substance emerging from Capaldi Island; a relatively young formation which itself was created by the aforementioned geological activity. The Giant Seahorses were the very first of the enlarged animals spotted by the crew of the Calico, as the green and yellow colored creatures swam high above the ocean's surface.
Seemingly harmless creatures, compared to the more antagonistic Giant Manta Ray, the Giant Seahorses were still herded along with their fellow 'Macro-Beasts' and collared into an isolated pool near Calpadi's shore, where an iceberg brought by Godzilla was used to change the water's temperature, as cold water reverse the combined growing effects of the mysterious substance and warm water on the Macro-Beasts, transforming the Giant Seahorses and the rest of their enlarged brethren back to their original sizes.
Trivia
- The sight of these beasts leads Pete (the Calico's youngest member) to comment on the Seahorses 'being the size of real horses', however by the climax of the episode, the Giant Seahorses have grown three-or-more-times that size.
- The mysterious purple substance that enlarges the Macro-Beasts is likely a direct reference to the titular subterranean chemical from H.G. Wells' novel The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth (1901-1904), which also enlarged any life-form which consumed it.
- Not counting purely fanciful and comedic plays on the pun within the species' namesake, giant monsters based off on the otherwise benign and beloved seahorses are rather rare in fiction, with the only other scant example being Mega-Jappa from TV series Ultraman Orb (2016).
