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'''Murtogg''': It seems contributory, is all I'm saying.|''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]: At World's End''}}
Fish People are a specific category of (usually) intelligent, underwater fantasy species. While they're humanoids (one head, two arms, two legs), they don't look human at all; their bodies, especially the faces, have a fish-like/reptilian appearance. This means that [[Our Mermaids Are Different|mermaids]] are not true Fish People, at least not the kind described here. Neither are more [[Apparently Human Merfolk|human-like sea dwellers]] such as [[Aquaman]] or Namor the [[Sub-Mariner]]. A Fish Person's [[Character Alignment]] and ability to survive on land vary depending on the character and the series.
While Fish People are most often a pre-existing race, sometimes they are former humans (or fish) who are the result of [[Mutants|mutation]]. This origin seems especially prevalent in [[Western Animation]].
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** Kisame and Fuguki (Samehada's previous owner) both look very much like a shark and a puffer fish, but they're apparently just weird looking humans {{spoiler|except when fused with Samehada.}}
* ''[[Digimon]]'' has a few of these. The most notable one is Hangyomon/Divermon, who despite being one of these, [[Fridge Logic|needs a diving mask and scuba tank while underwater.]] Other examples include the amphibion-like Ranamon from ''[[Digimon Frontier]]'', the squid-esque MarineDevimon, the aptly named Orcamon and Coelamon, and whatever the hell [http://dma.wtw-x.net/dexsurfi.shtml Surfimon] is.
* Sky-Byte from ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise]]'' is this combined with a [[Transforming Mecha]].
* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Blue Submarine No. 6]]'', Dr. Zorndyke, floods the earth in an attempt to wipe out humanity and replace it with his own races of genetically engineered [[Petting Zoo People]], the most numerous of which are the aquatic varieties. Not surprisingly, all of the females are [[Cute Monster Girl]] 's, ''especially'' the mermaids.
* People with fish for heads (yes, that's right, ''fish for heads'') from another planet are shown in the fifth arc of the ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' manga. They can be seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ixdkIOhwVE&feature=related here at about 3:36.]
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* Man Ray, a.k.a. Ray Fillet in the [[Archie Comics]] ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures]]''.
** [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/15317/553652-armaggon_large.jpg Armaggon] as well, a mutant humanoid shark.
* King Shark, former Aquaman and Superboy villain, one-time member of the [[Secret Six]], and post-DCnU reboot a member of the [[Suicide Squad]]. But don't call him a fish person! He is a shark! [[Insistent Terminology|A SHARK!]]
* Fishy Pete from [[The Goon]]
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{{quote|''"There were ''things'', and they were everywhere! They were on the ground, they were [[Ceiling Cling|on the ceiling]], they were everywhere!"''}}
* ''[[Dagon]]'' (2001), an adaptation of [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s ''[[The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]''.
* The titular monsters from ''[[Humanoids From The Deep]]'' are of the mutated fish variety of Fish People.
* As mentioned above, Abe Sapien from ''[[Hellboy (film)|Hellboy]]''.
* ''[[The Last Lovecraft]]'' has Starspawn and his pets as fish people; they're weakened from being away from the ocean. Also there was a curious "Half-Breed" show, probably offspring of one of the many rapings we hear about in the movie.
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== Literature ==
* The titular character/monster in the [[The King in Yellow|Robert W. Chambers]] story "The Harbor-Master" is one of these; it's thought to have been the basis for...
* [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s [[Cthulhu Mythos|Deep Ones]], first appearing in ''[[The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]'', are one of the oldest and most nightmarish examples.
* Michael Reaves and Steve Perry's novel ''[[Dome]]'' is set at a futuristic undersea research lab. One of its residents volunteers to be genetically modified into a Fish Person in order to better survive the underwater environment.
* David J. Schow's short story "Gills" features Manphibian, a [[Captain Ersatz]] of the [[Creature from the Black Lagoon]] who has entered [[Show Business]].
* ''Barlowe's Guide To Extraterrestrials'' depicts a Guild Steersman from ''[[Dune]]'' as resembling this trope.
* A microscopic version of this trope appears in "Surface Tension", a short story by James Blish. A colony ship crashes on a planet virtually devoid of land, so they create (via genetic engineering) tiny aquatic humans to carry on their legacy after they've died.
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== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has famously featured the [[Doctor Who/Recap/S9
** The Expanded Universe has the Krill and the Selachians, as well as one-time [[Doctor Who Magazine]] companion Destrii.
* The ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "Go Fish" had one of these, where the swim team [[Lego Genetics|magically mutates]] into fish dudes due to their coach giving them illegal, soviet fish-based steroids. We know, it makes no sense. Unusually for monsters in a Buffy episode, they all lived [[Happily Ever After]] in the ocean.
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* The "Forevers" from Planet Y in the ''[[Ayreon]]'' saga.
* [[Kate Bush]]'s label is called Fish People. Its mascot is a person whose head is a fish.
* UK Hard trance label Tinrib stands out as having a nautical theme, complete with one of these as their mascot.
== Mythology ==
* One legend pertaining to the legendary Merovingian Dynasty claims that they were descendants of Fish People. The writers of the ''[[Holy Blood Holy Grail]]'', and ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'' decided to interpret this as that they were in fact the descendants of Jesus Christ, since early Christians used a stylized fish as their symbol, not to mention that the Greek word for fish, ''icthys'', formed a nice acronym of Jesus's name and titles. There isn't an ounce more evidence to prove this theory than there is to prove actual Fish People's involvement, though.
** This seems to be based on a rather desperate interpretation. "Merovingian" means people of the sea, and so originally most likely referred to a people who lived on the coast, or settlers who came from overseas.
*** The Merovingians were perfectly historical, and they're called that after an ancestor named Merovech. If [[The Other Wiki]] may be believed, his name has, despite the similarity to "mere", German ''Meer'', etc, nothing to do with the sea, but means "famed fight".
* There is a report of the 16th century King of Poland being shown a fish-like creature resembling a Bishop, that gestured to be asked for release to a group of Catholic bishops. Upon its release, it made the sign of the cross and disappeared back into the sea.
* The Undine
* The ''umibozu'' mentioned above probably served as a folkloric antecedent for the ''[http://pinktentacle.com/2010/01/ningen-humanoid-sea-creatures-of-the-antarctic/ ningen]'', a sort of gigantic (and absolutely [[Uncanny Valley|terrifying]] sea creature with vaguely human characteristics. It's probably an urban myth. Hopefully.
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* The very first edition of ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' had a race actually called the Fishmen.
** The 8th Edition book has reintroduced references to them, causing no small amount of [[Epileptic Trees]].
* The Homebrew ''[[New World of Darkness]]'' game ''[[Leviathan: The Tempest]]'' allows the player to play demigod fishmen descendants of beings such as Dagon. It originally began as a joke that White Wolf should [[Vampire: The Requiem|complete the]] [[Werewolf: The Forsaken|Universal]] [[Promethean: The Created|Monsters]] [[Mummy|stable]] by making a "Creature of the Black Lagoon" [[Splat]], but then it took a turn towards Ancient Mediterranean mythology and ''[[The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]''...
* The ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' gamebook world of Titan features the [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Fish Men]], a race created by an [[Evilutionary Biologist]] sorcerer who blended a number of unwilling humans with fish. They tend to be solitary, cruel, and hostile to humans, attacking them with tridents when the humans intrude on their territory or simply to steal the humans' riches.
* The Triton parahumans in ''[[GURPS|GURPS: Bio-Tech]]'' have their gills on their chests in order to function properly. The extensive modifications needed to let them survive underwater required making them inhuman inside and out.
* The Merfolk of ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic the Gathering]]'' are more fishlike than most, featuring scales all over their bodies, and some have legs instead of fish tails. There are also Homarids, who are lobster-people, and Cephalids, octopus-people.
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* The Zora from ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' games. They're actually [http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Zora much better looking] than most fish people.
* Rikuo Aulbath and the other mermen ([[Last of His Kind|the few that are left]]) from ''[[Darkstalkers]]''.
** Rikou is named after Ricou Browning, the stuntman who played the [[Creature from the Black Lagoon]] in underwater sequences, as a [[Shout-Out]].
* ''[[Warcraft]]'' has the murlocs and other subraces.
* The Argonians from ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' are [[Lizard Folk]] with some fish-like features.
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* Trilarian, the aquatic race from ''[[Master of Orion]]'' 2. It isn't clear when they debut, but they're confirmed to be fish in ''Master Of Orion'' 3.
* In ''[[Fallout 3]]'' the mirelurks are crabs that have become huge and bipedal [[Nuclear Nasty|due to radiation]], but the mirelurk kings are former snapping turtles that look exactly like the [[Creature from the Black Lagoon]].
* Blue Minions in the [[Overlord]] series get very close to this at least.
* In ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]],'' a tiny version of these appears as one of the animals you can give to your Chao.
* ''[[Perfect World]]'' has the Tideborn and (more correctly) the Lochmur.
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* Neptunia from ''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]]'' is another mutant Fish Person. She starts out as a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who wants [[Revenge]] against the surface world for polluting her ocean home (yes, just like one of the ''[[DuckTales]]'' examples above), which caused her to mutate from an ordinary fish. However, she does a [[Heel Face Turn]] and eventually joins Darkwing's [[Superhero]] team the Justice Ducks -- even though, as she protests any time anybody mentions the name, she's ''not'' a duck.
** Stegmut ''used'' to be.
* The cast of ''[[Monster Force (animation)|Monster Force]]'' included animated versions of several old school [[Universal]] monsters, including the [[Creature from the Black Lagoon]].
* Gill from ''[[Kim Possible]]'' is also a once-human mutant, transformed into a Fish Person by toxic waste.
* The Triceraquins from the ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' episode "Jack Under the Sea".
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* In the ''[[Adventure Time]]'' episode "Susan Strong," {{spoiler|after finding what he believed to be the last tribe of true human beings in the Land of Ooo, Finn discovered that they were merely fish people with hats, possibly save for Susan herself.}}
* Darwin, Gumball's brother from ''[[The Amazing World of Gumball]]''.
* The ''[[Thundercats 2011]]'' episode "Ramlak Rising" introduces Captain [[Punny Name|Koinelius Tunar]] and his crew of Fishmen sailing the [[Sand Is Water|Sand Seas]].
* A few appear in later seasons of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''.
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