William Red Herring

• Species

  Other

• Species (Other)

  Sea Monster

• Age

  Varies, but I mostly use Teen at age 13

• Gender

  Male

• Residence

  As an teenager: Portorosso, Italy

• Hometown

  Portorosso, Italy

• Physical Description

  He's a Sea Monster who's a rare shade of red, which may or may not protect him from possible predators. Since his real biological parents are a total mystery, his rare colorization also plays a part in what he is and what he can do as he goes through his teen years. The blue heart shaped fins flare up when he's especially happy and the red spikes in between flare up when he's angry or agitated.

  In human form when he's dry he has blonde hair and common white skin 

• Backstory

  Found and adopted as a human baby on a beach in seaside Portorosso Italy by a Native Italian Fisherman named Antonio Falsapista (Red Herring) and an American Woman named Mary Smith, he was named Guglielmo Falsapista (Italian) or William Red Herring in English. He was taught by both parents but prefers English over the native Italian. His whole childhood, he felt like... a fish out of water. Never really having any real friends. Even though he could have befriend Giulia Marcovaldo due to their fathers Antonio Falsapista and Massimo Macrovaldo being childhood friends, Will would hardly say anything to her outside of business transactions between the two families 

  Will has been staring at the water long as he can remember never really knowing why. But after suffering a near drowning experience when he was younger, he recently felt the sea calling to him. And so he decided on his 13th birthday in Early August to face his fears and step into sea waters again. In doing so, a "spell" was broken; a spell that kept him human all this time. And now getting wet would reveal him as a sea monster in a town that while everyone pretends to believe such things exist, the people of Portorosso would want to protect themselves from potentially dangerous creatures. He decided to keep this side of himself secret from everyone, even his adopted parents. He would live a secret life, sneaking into the harbor at night to embrace his sea monster side but never once crossing the buoy that represents Portorosso's borders from the open ocean. And during the day, Will would wonder around town with a dreamy far off look and  his nose in a book about the sea, whether fictional or real. Some people took notice of how what a puzzle to the rest of them is Will. But most of the townsfolk see him as any ordinary kid, albeit an quiet and shy one. Sometimes, he would go through the worry whenever he looks at a mirror, wondering who is the boy staring straight back at him and other times, he would stand on the 3rd floor balcony overlooking the Plaza out to the Portorosso Bay, wondering if out there in the open ocean if there are others like him and he could be a part of their world.

  Putting this 2nd half in Spoilers for those who still want to see Pixar's Luca unspoiled.

  Spoiler

  But on a certain day after an alleged sea monster attacked some fishermen the night before near the mysterious Island of the Sea, Will had an opportunity. He convinced his father to let him come along in order to get close to open water that his sea monster side longs for. But as they were investigating not too far from the Island, Will believed himself to have willingly jump overboard into the water to swim around freely. He even comes across a cave of a shy creature who refused to come out and seen only by the light of its eyes, so Will tried to impress it with some water tricks.

  But as he was about to breach the water, his father was calling for him. As he pulled himself out of the water, he shook himself dry...or so he thought. Because when Father Antonio turned to face Will, he didn't see his son, he saw a sea monster. No matter how much Will dried himself or tried to speak in English or Italian, to both his father and his suddenly-appeared mother shouting "What have you done to our son, monster?!" Will couldn't convince them it was their son they raised. Mary would tackle the "monster" like a professional American football player. As his father raised his harpoon over the Monster's head, Will woke from his daydream turned nightmare. He never did jump into the water at all. Despite the sequence being Will's mind telling him his parents love him very much to the point of willing to protect him, he's more convinced than ever that his parents must never know. His father, none the wiser, would take him straight home. As they did, Will's subconsciousness was quietly telling him that someone was watching him from under the sea. And unknown to all, there WAS someone watching from an undersea cave after grabbing a few human trinkets: LUCA. The two Sea Monsters never saw even a glimpse of each other, but they would be fated to meet each other and in their own ways would help each other become true to themselves.

  The day Luca and Alberto came to town seeking a Vespa to take them wherever they wanted to go, Will witnessed them teaming up with Guilia as the Portorosso Underdogs to compete in the Annual Portorosso Cup near the end of August. Despite not officially teaming up with the Trio, Will would do what he could to support the team that could potentially put the jerky 5 time champion of a bully Ercole Visconti in his place. Will would provide all the pasta for Alberto's pasta-eating training; he would help time Luca on the uphill biking portion of the race; Everyone else is so afraid of Ercole's bullying that Will's actually the only one actively helping the dream team. Although his insecurities make him believe he's not worthy of being part of the team, let alone their friend, he was starting to become more open than just the quiet English preferring boy.
  
  Long story short, Will would learn that there really are other sea monsters besides him when he helped Luca's parents that were almost seen in sea folk form. Ultimately, Will would help Luca and Alberto individually. First helping Luca get the diving suit to town offscreen in the middle of the night and helping Alberto get the Umbrella needed to help Luca. Even when Massimo stood up for the expose Sea boys seeing them as the boys he's come to know and care for, there were still hostility from the paranoid townsfolk, so Will finally gained the courage to reveal himself. His reveal that he has been a Sea Monster raised in Portorosso for 13 years helped to dissuade some but not all the townsfolk from their misguided belief that the sea monsters are as dangerous and unreasonable as sharks.

  And as for his parents...in defiance to his nightmare, all it took was a brief look in his eyes for the couple to recognize the boy they raised. Even since his traumatic near drowning experience, they have been trying to get their son to open up and be confident with himself. Sea monster or human, they accept him and they couldn't be happier for Will to finally be true to himself and finally found friends. Giulia even pulled Sea Monster Will into the victory circle non-verbally accepting him as a friend.
  
  Finally, as Luca would be heading off to attend a human school with Giulia in Genova as Alberto is essentially adopted by her father Massimo, I would give Luca my fond farewell gift of gratitude: by breaching the water in open Ocean truly for the first time as Luca would see from the train. Despite the distance between, we would share a smile of mutual friendship as I realized:

  Now we can Swim! Now we can run! Now we can be in both sea and the sun!

  As good buddies! And I can be, Part of Both Worlds!

   

• Personality

  Shy and feeling out of place at first especially after he first transforms on his 13th birthday, but his experiences leave him more confident and true to himself.

• Likes

  Being in the Water in Sea Monster form, Pasta (his chef of a mother makes the best), the American Culture, Disney stuff including Records, book adaptations of the American Animated film and newspaper clippings, his friendship with Giulia, Luca. and Alberto

• Dislikes

  Racism even among like species, bullying, feeling like a burden, disappointing his friends, letting his loved ones down

• Magic Spells

  Sea Monster Transformation: Just Add Water; Oracle: Subconsciously Can See Past Present And Future, Even Other World And Timelines

• Friends

  Luca Paguro , Alberto Scorfano. Giulia Marcovaldo

• Rivals

  Ercole Visconti

Recent Posts

1. 

   Happy Nightmare’s Night week 2022!

   October 29, 2022

   Also I dressed up as Luca from the Pixar movie while I was in Walt Disney World Florida using this shirt and mask
   
   
2. 

   Ask William Red Herring

   March 9, 2022

   Well I guess if no one's going to ask me any questions I might as well just tell you a little bit about myself instead.
   Beside the sea monster side of me, growing up in the late 1950s and early '60s and Portorosso Italy wasn't always easy. For one thing my adopted mother was the only native English speaker due to her upbringing back in America before World War II. So even though I was raised from when I was found as the ordinary human baby, to the point where I could understand Italian and English in my mind I always think in American English. Whenever Italian words hit my ear my mind always translated into English. And it's also a reason why I'm always so shy about meeting new people since a part of me doesn't quite feel comfortable having to always speak Italian to be understood by my peers. Heck I even had a hard time talking with Guilia despite her being awesome at speaking her mind and not letting bullies like Ercole walk over her. Even though she's the daughter of my father's childhood friend and about my age, I hardly say anything to her outside of business transactions
   And I was always afraid how people would think about me if I were to open my mouth to speak. In a way I guess you can say I lost my voice like a certain other little sea creature. And yet when Luca and Alberto came to town, because they were initially planning only to stay in town to win the race to pay for a Vespa, I figured that since they're only going to be here for a short while, what does it matter if I say something to them and they don't like me? They'll probably just leave town when they get their Vespa and I'd never see them again anyway. To be honest this bit of logic did made it so I started to talk more often coming a bit more out of my shell. One day during training week I spent the day with Luca and another day I spent the day with Alberto getting to know them. And even though I had suspicion about what they really were, I kept all my suspicions to myself and looking back at it now it's a good thing I got to know them first as humans before discovering for sure that they were sea monsters like me. Had I known they were sea monsters like me from the very beginning I likely would have only liked them just for being Sea Monsters and not for what they really were, human or otherwise.
   I suppose I'll tell more about my one on one interaction with the boys some other day
   
3. 

   Ask William Red Herring

   February 8, 2022

   Hello everyone. I traveled across time and space from Portorosso Italy in the late 1960s to mingle with the land people. My adopted parents named me Guglielmo Falsapista but I prefer the English version William Red Herring. I'm really good friends with Luca Paguro,  Alberto Scorfano, and Giulia Marcovaldo so I can answer a few questions you might have for them on their behalf.
   One of my powers makes me an oracle. I can see into the past president future so your questions don't necessarily have to be restricted to one time period. Also as a lifelong Disney fan growing up in the 50s and 60s (got that from my adopted American mother) I was lucky to meet the man Walt Disney himself when he visited Portorosso in the early 60s. So don't be afraid to ask Disney-related questions, whether it's the '60s, before the 60s and all the way to the present of the 21st century and beyond!
   Basically just ask me anything and I should answer to the best of my ability
   

Topics I Participated In

1. 

   Happy Nightmare’s Night week 2022!

   Started by Princess Luna · October 26, 2022

   Joyous nightmare’s night week! what spooky plans doth thee all has't for this upcoming nonce in nightmare’s night?? Free feeleth to shareth thy costumes, outdoor/indoor decorations , or maybe some treats for thee event! Just a reminder here, we art running a scary stories contest so be sure to participate it if you wish to share your scary fiction! we shall also have a pumpkin art  contest as well coming anon! Stay tune!
   
   
2. 

   Ask William Red Herring

   Started by William Red Herring · February 8, 2022

   Hello everyone. I traveled across time and space from Portorosso Italy in the late 1960s to mingle with the land people. My adopted parents named me Guglielmo Falsapista but I prefer the English version William Red Herring. I'm really good friends with Luca Paguro,  Alberto Scorfano, and Giulia Marcovaldo so I can answer a few questions you might have for them on their behalf.
   One of my powers makes me an oracle. I can see into the past president future so your questions don't necessarily have to be restricted to one time period. Also as a lifelong Disney fan growing up in the 50s and 60s (got that from my adopted American mother) I was lucky to meet the man Walt Disney himself when he visited Portorosso in the early 60s. So don't be afraid to ask Disney-related questions, whether it's the '60s, before the 60s and all the way to the present of the 21st century and beyond!
   Basically just ask me anything and I should answer to the best of my ability
   

Other Characters by this Player