Originally, the Gill-man's design was meant to incorporate a sleek, feminine eel-like figure, which did not have as many bumps and gills as the final version.

[3] The underwater sequences were filmed at Wakulla Springs in northern Florida (today a state park), as were many of the rear projection images.

The Gill-man's scaly skin is extremely tough, which combined with a fast-acting healing factor, allows it to survive wounds which would be fatal to humans, such as gunshots and full immolation.

[4] The last known surviving member of a race of amphibious humanoids which flourished during the Devonian age, the Gill-man (as christened by Dr. Thompson) dwelled in a lagoon located in a largely unexplored area of the Amazon rainforest.

Though the Gill-man reacts violently to the intrusion, he develops a soft spot for the team's only female member, Kay, and repeatedly tries to abduct her, going as far as building a makeshift dam to prevent their boat from escaping.

After having killed numerous members of the expedition, the Gill-man takes Kay to his underwater lair, where he is tracked down by the remaining survivors and riddled with bullets.

The Gill-man escapes, kills the real murderer (although severely wounded by gun shots), and ultimately returns to an ocean he can no longer exist in.

[8] The 1977 novelization of Creature from the Black Lagoon by Walter Harris (writing under the pen-names "Carl Dreadstone" [United States, Berkley Publishing Group, ISBN 0-425-03464-X] and "E.K.

Leyton" [United Kingdom, Star Books, ISBN 0-352-30548-7]) as part of the Universal Horror Library offers a completely different origin for the Gill-man, who in this version of the story is a hermaphroditic giant, almost as big as the Rita itself, weighing in at 30 tons.

After slaying most of the team members, destroying a Sikorsky helicopter, and kidnapping Kay more than once, the Gill-man is killed by the crew of a United States Navy torpedo boat.

[9] The novel takes place in Southern Florida, where reports of shark attacks are suspected to in fact be the work of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Alphas such as "Fleshmolders", "Mudshapers", and "Fishcallers" are highly telepathic individuals in their tribal communities, who each choose a successor from among their respective tribes' children to take their place and title when they die.

The Gill-man itself is a degenerate member of this race, descended from an individual who explored deep in the ocean and became exposed to archaeobacteria, becoming deformed and insane, driven to infect others with the disease.

The Gill-man was the star of Creature from the Black Lagoon: The Musical, a live performance show that once was added to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in Los Angeles, California.