Warning: Spoilers ahead for Pixar’s Luca!
Who is a sea monster and who is human in Luca? Similar to Monsters, Inc., the world of Luca was filled with an abundance of both humans and other creatures, which included the movie’s titular character. Set in the Italian Riviera’s seaside town of Portorosso, Luca follows him and best friend as they go on new adventures while trying to keep their identities from locals and new friends a secret.
The Pixar animation is the company’s second film to head directly to Disney+ after Soul, which debuted on the streaming service in December 2020. Luca is all about growing up, the friendships that shape one’s life as a child, and breaking free of fear. The sea monsters in the film are unique because they can transform into humans as soon as they are dry and on land. Rain, a splash of water from the fountain, taking showers, and swimming back into the sea can change them back into their original ocean forms. While Luca doesn’t necessarily explain why the sea monsters can become human and not the other way around, the story device allows for the exploration of fear and being one’s true self no matter what.
The animation splits its characters between the sea dwellers and those who live topside. Luca and Alberto are, of course, sea monsters, with vibrant hair, gills, scales, and a tail to denote the differences between their sea anatomy and their human counterparts. His parents, Daniela, Luca’s overprotective mother, and Lorenzo, his easily distracted father, are also sea monsters. By extension, Luca’s grandmother, who enjoys venturing on her own to Portorosso every once in a while, is also a sea creature, as is Luca’s uncle Ugo, who lives in the deeper, darker part of the ocean where Daniela wanted to send her son after disobeying her.
When Luca and Alberto swim to Portorosso, they meet a host of humans who have no idea of their identity. Giulia Marcovaldo befriends the pair and she, alongside her father Massimo, who is a fisherman and hunter of sea monsters, are human. The town’s local bully and Giulia’s rival, Ercole Visconti, and his equally cruel sidekicks Guido and Ciccio, are also regular land-walking people. Ercole is also one of the only people in town who calls for Luca and Alberto to be attacked despite the others lowering their spears and making peace between the two factions. While Portorosso’s seaside location makes it easy for sea monsters to show up in town, and perhaps even live there for a time undetected, most of its denizens are actually human beings.
The big surprise comes at the end of Luca when it’s revealed that some of the characters previously believed to be human were actually sea monsters like him and Alberto. That includes two older women the friends kept bumping into while walking around town. The women would huff and glare sternly before walking away, so it was a bit surprising to learn they were originally citizens of the sea. They, along with a couple of other Portorosso citizens, drop the pretense by lowering their umbrellas, letting the falling rain reveal the truth after Luca and Alberto bravely outed their identities.
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