Hey guess what I have all the originality of a mobile game add designer, so I don't know if @monsoon-of-art created megamer but they are tagged at about half of it and you know how much it was tempting to follow and go leeching off that sucess. I don't know jack about marine biology or marine life ethics ( both irl and in universe) btw.
The setting changes from the colloseum to wildlife documentary, different networks breed, raise and train mers to cooperate with human crews and show off the ecosystem. Sanda is a hands on diver while White is a geneticist, this cannot possibly go wrong now that the infection touches organic being with no clean off/on switch suceptible to the old yeller special.
Beck's a cuttlefish, (adaptable, weird and a singular backbone) or maybe a horseshoe crab, would go with the blue blood, ressembling ancient life and having weird medical miracle potential.
Pyrogen could be a salmon I guess, don't really have other ideas but it fits the big generalist build, very active with migration and river climbing, also there is the whole zombie salmon thing that could be played for horror.
Cryosphere could be a sea angel ? Don't know much about those but they are small, can live in cold water and have a round head, don't know how to work hermaphrodites into the lore but there's already a jellyfish
Dynatron is a jellyfish, easily, don't know much about what exact species.
I really want to make Seismic a crab but no clear idea on the details, maybe coconut for the size and the earth robot being able to go on land but it would take away from the whole setting, maybe a deep dwelling like the yeti carb but I'm not big on the hair.
Battalion as a pistol shrimp is way too obvious but it is for a reason, maybe cone snail for the armor and power but that level of venom is kind of broken, (maybe he just doesn't use it for a challenge)
Aviator could be a flying fish, or maybe also a marlin, with speed and agility combined with a snoz for the ages. Maybe a hammerhead shark now that I think about it with all the sensors and weird head shape.
Brandish could fit with a lionfish (all the sharp edges) but I feel it doesn't really work for the speedy acrobatic style, maybe a lobster ? I think those fight a lot and the color would fit for sure, maybe have the scarf as antennas ?
Countershade. Number eight, camouflage, lost an a arm when it should be trivial to replace, disorients vision, Octopus, without a doubt.
Call is a clam, mainly defensive but great at getting information (the whole clams used to measure water quality thing)
The patches aren't merfolk but a bunch of cleaner wrasses and other parasite eaters.
No one cares about the minibosses, Round digger could be a pufferfish, with the weird sand structures they make for mating. M.O.M and Unamed could be an infected coral reef monster sending a bunch of different sick feral creatures stuck together by sponges, K9 could be really any shark or a catfish, those are huge and will eat anything, also irony.
Trinity is a sea slug/ sea bunny, squishy, colorful and already associated with rabbits, which can be both cute and a nightmare of a invasive species, she mutates into a sephonophore, keeps the worm imagery and the hive mind is cool.
Ray would probably be a shark, but I would also like a piranha, usually found in big groups while she's all alone and fits with the colors. In any case, would have a mess of genes with experimentation, both sharks and piranhas are not very dangerous (to humans at least) when they aren't extremely hungry. Guess what. She's hungry.
