Mer (Primeval)

Infobox Primeval Creature
name = Mer
period = Future


image_caption =
species =
first_appeared = Episode 10
last_appeared =
number_through = 11+
humans_killed = 1
returned = 10: 2 killed in the present, two in the future.
12/13: Killed in battle with other creatures.

Mers are a fictional creature from the ITV science fiction series "Primeval". They are roughly the size of an elephant seal and eat both fish and other types of meat. They appear in Episodes 10 and 13 of the series.

Characteristics

Mers seem to be an intelligent cross between a seal and a baboon or Mandrill. It is also possible that they are a form of monkey that returned to the sea after the land became increasingly hostile.Citequote|date=September 2008

While a close-up picture shows the creature has tusks, the smaller specimens also have fangs on the upper jaws as well as tusks. The Mer "kidnap" people in the episode and keep them alive, possibly for storage of fresh food for when times become leaner.

Mer have a specific leader, called a Merqueen. This female animal is much larger than the others and has a huge sac of fat on the underbelly, similar to beachmasters in elephant seals, or queen ants. The Merqueen also has a more Gorilla-like face, a longer tongue, larger, more prevalent tusks, and is more violent towards others of her species (she is seen knocking youngsters out of her way). The Merqueen is shown as being a clumsy animal, and may well crush several smaller Mer if she is rushing to attack, which again bears a reference to bull elephant seals which may crush calves that get in their way (although elephant seals do this by accident while the Merqueen appeared to do it deliberately)cite episode
title = Episode 10
series = Primeval
serieslink = Primeval (TV series)
network = ITV
station = ITV1
airdate = 2008-03-17
season = 5
number = 69] .

The size and build of these animals suggests a lifestyle very similar to the modern day elephant seal. They also shed sheets of skin like a seal or walrus, and sing underwater in a similar manner to humpback whales as a form of communication. The Mer are also shown to be capable of surviving on fishcite episode
title = Episode 12
series = Primeval
serieslink = Primeval (TV series)
network = ITV
station = ITV1
airdate = 2008-03-23
season = 2
number = 6 ] . These factors all point towards a mammalian ancestry. However, Cutter speculates they could potentially have evolved from humans.

The Mer appear to have very weak skulls, as several times characters appear to have successfully killed them by dropping rocks on their heads. Abby Maitland also manages to cause a possibly fatal level of damage to one by kicking it in the chin.

It is clear that the Mer were added to the show as an explanation for what sailors believed to be mermaids.Citequote|date=September 2008 Cutter mentions that they might be the evolutionary future of human beings, which is probably in homage to Kurt Vonnegut's novel Galápagos.

History within the show

The first episode they appear in, they "kidnapped" a teenager named Lucien, the team originally presuming it was a future shark they found and killed, but later finding out otherwise.One of them later dragged Abby Maitland to an underground sewer and then through a time anomaly to the Mer's home era. The Mer are also at this stage shown vulnerable to attacks to their skulls when two are assaulted using rocks and appear to be mortally wounded. Stephen Hart and Nick Cutter also kill several of the creatures, including the Merqueen, with a pistol(presumably a glock) and an M4 S-system that continuosly appears throughout the series. cite episode
title = Episode 10
series = Primeval
serieslink = Primeval (TV series)
network = ITV
station = ITV1
airdate = 2008-03-17
season = 2
number = 4 ] .

Mer returned in the the second season finale as one of the many creatures captured by Leek, but did not play an important role in the episodecite episode
title = Episode 12
series = Primeval
serieslink = Primeval (TV series)
network = ITV
station = ITV1
airdate = 2008-03-23
season = 2
number = 6 ] cite episode
title = Episode 13
series = Primeval
serieslink = Primeval
network = ITV
station = ITV1
airdate = 2008-03-20
season = 2
number = 7 ] .

References