Hua-Shen
The Hua-Shen was a giant sea creature used by the Sea Devils to "hunt", "seek" and "feast" in the oceans and seas of 19th century China. It was allowed to roam free to feed on unsuspecting sailors and bring them down below the depths to its masters.
Zheng Yi Sao initially described the Hua-Shen as a myth. (TV: Legend of the Sea Devils)
Abilities[[edit] | [edit source]]
It had the ability to resist and catch multiple cannonballs, as well as spit them back at full speed; and would often rise up from the depths with a wide-open mouth to devour and catch its prey. (TV: Legend of the Sea Devils)
Similar creatures[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Hua-Shen resembled a large fish similar to the sea creature found by the Twelfth Doctor and Bill Potts in the River Thames during the last Frost Fair of London 1814. (TV: Thin Ice)
In particular, it had large dorsal fins that jutted out of the water; ten orange eyes split between both sides of its head; and hundreds of razor-sharp teeth lined up in multiple rows in its mouth. This made it extremely similar to a unique Myrka found in the Pacific Ocean in 1886; placed there by the Sixth Doctor to attack a ship with Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, Rose Tyler and the Ninth Doctor onboard, resulting in them becoming shipwrecked on an island. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension)
It was also similar in appearance to another creature, equally under the control of the Sea Devils, found roaming around South America in the early 1600s. (COMIC: Devil of the Deep)
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
The name "Hua-Shen" could be derived from "huà shēn"; the Pinyin spelling of the Chinese word 化身 meaning "incarnation" or "reincarnation", which is unconventional in Chinese to be used directly as a name. "Shen" might also referred to 蜃, which is a dragon-like mythical sea creature.
On 10 September 2023, Chibnall said during an interview with the WHO Corner to Corner podcast, in accordance with the disproven rumour that the Hua-Shen was going to turn out to be the Myrka (last seen in Warriors of the Deep [+]Loading...["Warriors of the Deep (TV story)"]) that one could make a case that the Myrka was actually an off-spring of the Hua-Shen.[1]
