Nessie’s Powers and Abilities Explained

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Dandadan, Episode 8, “I’ve Got This Funny Feeling”, now streaming on Crunchyroll.

As if depressing evil spirits and terrifying perverted aliens weren’t enough, Dandadan‘s high schoolers now have to deal with cryptids. The first cryptid to make itself known is Nessie, otherwise known as the Loch Ness Monster from Scottish folklore. You might think that this version of Nessie is an alien rather than a cryptid since it works for the Serpoians, but even the Serpoian who fused with Nessie and Mr. Mantis Shrimp began calling itself an UMA (unidentified mysterious animal), which is another term for cryptid that’s more commonly used in Japan.

Dandadan‘s version of Nessie is smaller than its Scottish cousin, as Nessie from the show is only about 3.5 meters long while the one from Loch Ness is around 7.5-30 meters long, depending on the sightings. However, both Nessies do look alike in that they resemble plesiosaurs with their long necks and stout bodies, which have four flippers and a tail. But no matter how similar they look, Dandadan‘s Nessie is definitely far more supernatural, with powers and abilities that would have left any early Scots’ jaw on the floor.

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Nessie’s Powers and Abilities

The Power to Summon Floods and Turn Terrain Into Water

Although it is never shown where the water comes from, Nessie can flood entire areas with full control of how deep the floods go. The ability was first seen during Dandadan episode 8, “I’ve Got This Funny Feeling”, when Momo, Okarun, and Aira suddenly found themselves in the hallways of their flooded school. At the time, the flooding was only ankle-deep, but it was enough for Nessie to move around in and charge its blasts.

In episode 9, “Merge! Serpo Dover Demon Nessie!”, Nessie’s flooding powers are shown in full force. It was revealed here that, not only can it flood an area, but it can change the entire terrain, such as the school walls, floor, and ceiling, into water. The terrain will still look solid, but as soon as you touch an altered wall or ceiling, your hands will pass right through and get soaked. This grants Nessie better mobility, allowing it to move under the floor, through walls, and soar across ceilings.

Also, this should go without saying, but Nessie can breathe underwater and is a skilled swimmer. It has gills that run along the length of its body that allow it to breathe, making it right at home in the floods it creates.

High-Compression Water Blasts

Yes, the powerful atomic-breath-like blasts it fires are actually just beams of highly compressed water. Although visually speaking, this attack is obviously inspired by Godzilla’s signature move, right down to the way its body glows while charging up the attack. These water blasts are extremely dangerous and devastated the entire hallway Momo was hiding in during episode 8. It also instantly killed a Serpoian in the following episode. Fortunately, before using this ability, Nessie first has to absorb water through its gills and will need to replenish its “ammo” after it runs out. Unfortunately, Nessie can fire its water blasts both in and out of water, as long as it’s been fully charged up, making it a force to reckon with even in shallow waters.

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Nessie’s Weaknesses

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Physically speaking, Nessie doesn’t have many obvious weaknesses. The fact that it can create floods out of nowhere means it’s never out of its element and will never run out of ammo to suck for its compression blasts. However, there is a weakness in the way the compression blasts fire. Each blast takes time to charge and obtain the necessary amounts of water. It also can’t be fired continuously for long periods, so if you can dodge the blasts long enough for Nessie to require recharging, you’d be free to attack it since the blasts are its main line of defense.

Another weakness you can exploit is Nessie’s uncontrollable nature. It is hostile to anyone in sight, even the Serpoians who employed it, making it relatively easy to distract. Nessie also doesn’t seem very intelligent and doesn’t even bother looking for Momo after sensing her presence in episode 8. It simply fired a compression blast, assumed its target got hit, and left. It seems that, at the end of the day, Nessie is just an animal that acts on instinct, so the best course of action against it is to use brains together with brawn.

Momo’s Grandmother’s Bat Is Named Nessie

Sharp-eyed Dandadan viewers might have noticed that the bat Seiko Ayase uses to fight has the words “Nessie’s Strength” (ネッシーの力) etched into it. Does that mean that Seiko or her bat has something to do with the cryptid? Well, this might be a boring answer, but Seiko named her bat Nessie because of Momo. While training a young Momo, Seiko asked her what she thought was the strongest creature in the world, to which Momo replied “Nessie”. Seiko then named the bat after it to show Momo how to use a certain psychic power.

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Dandadan is now available to stream on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Muse Asia, and several other streaming platforms. The release date for the next episode of Dandadan, episode 10, is set to be December 5, 2024, at 9:00 AM PT.

Release Date

September 13, 2024

Studio

Science Saru

Creator

Yukinobu Tatsu

MyAnimeList Score

8.71