Our Mermaids Are Different: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Mermaid, oh murmur into my ear
''The answers to questions I'm longing to hear;
''Does it relax you to hear the sound of the land?
''Do you, O mermaid, have slightly webbed hands?"''
|'''[[Flight of the Conchords]]'''|"Mermaid"}}
Mermaids, or more generally merfolk, crop up quite a lot in fiction. However, [[Our Monsters Are Different|like most mythical creatures and monsters]], they are a little different every time and have different rules applied to them. Their dispositions, morality, and alliances vary depending on the author, and whether or not they can become human is a question everyone answers differently. Even their general appearance isn't fixed: see the picture.
'''Appearance:'''
Merfolk are generally portrayed as beautiful women (mermaids) or handsome men (mermen) with fish- or dolphin-like tails in place of legs. Sometimes they are not ''so'' pretty, but still fall under the [[Cute Monster Girl]] heading. Others are more blatantly sea-creatures with few human characteristics and are quite ugly
Some joke that merfolk have the fish half on top instead of on the bottom in order to resolve "the [[Mermaid Problem]]". Mermaids who are more human-looking (and modest) tend to wear [[Seashell Bra
'''[[Humanity Ensues|Merperson to Human:]]'''
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* [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|The Fredericka Bimm Method]]: Mermaids can switch forms more or less at will. Unlike the Splash method, getting doused with water is not a problem.
* [[Transformation Trinket|The Magical Item Method]]: Common in some mythologies but, curiously, not often utilized in modern fiction. The Mermaid has a magical item which allows her to change from one form to another. Some of these items are obvious; a [[Selkies and Wereseals|Selkie]] needs her shed seal-skin to return to her home in the sea. Others are... kind of random; a Merrow needs a hat made of red feathers to (depending on which variant on the legend you are reading) return to the sea or assume human form.
* And of course, some mermaids don't
'''Good or Evil?:'''
Sometimes mermaids are portrayed as evil seductresses (sometimes called devil fish) who lure sailors to their deaths (this is based on the myths of sirens which were originally birdwomen but who are generally portrayed as mermaids these days [[Lost in Translation|due to language confusion]]). In most mythologies, they display the inscrutable and sometimes dangerous amorality of [[The Fair Folk]], especially if mermaids are treated as marine fae. Sometimes they are good but flirty and mischievous. Sometimes they are mostly innocent and naive. Sometimes they are honorable, and of these, several [[Humans Are
Most merfolk can communicate with fish and sea creatures, [[Carnivore Confusion|regardless of whether they eat them or not]]. Expect merfolk to [[Exposed Extraterrestrials|remain naked]] no matter how deep they swim or how little protection their skin has, though their bodies might have some unseen protection against the cold and high pressure of the depths.
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May occasionally overlap with [[Fish People]], though they are generally more of an [[Petting Zoo People|anthropomorphic fusion]] than a half-and-half mix.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Blue Submarine No. 6]]'' has a genetically engineered, evidently [[One-Gender Race|entirely female]], race of mermaids. Typically, they pilot underwater lobster-ish mecha as the
* Sophia and
* Usamaru Furuya's ''[[Short Cuts (manga)|Short Cuts]]'' has a mock poll about mermaids, asking which would you prefer, a regular (fish bottom) or reverse (fish top) mermaid. The
* ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'' involves mermaids who follow "The Splash Method"
* A one-shot manga tale by [[Rumiko Takahashi]] had a passionate romance between a human boy and a mermaid -- which ended as soon as they kissed. (Mermaid's breath tasted like rotten fish, and human breath tasted like rotting plants. [[Nausea Fuel|Yuck both ways.]])
** The mermaids from Takahashi's ''[[Mermaid Saga]]'' are vastly different
* The much older ''[[Mahou no Mako-chan
* ''[[Seto no Hanayome|Seto no Hanayome's]]''
* ''[[Rave Master]]'' has Celia, a very beautiful mermaid who
* ''[[Rental Magica]]'' and ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'' have both had the dangerous, flesh-eating kind of mermaid. Though ''[[Rosario + Vampire|Rosario]]''
* Husky is a [[
* In the ''[[Slayers]]'' anime series, there's a mermaid that's a fish. Literally,
** Their most amusing (and oddly touching) appearance is in a ''[[Slayers]] Try'' episode: a young fishgirl and the shipwrecked sailor she saved are in love
* A similar type of [[Fish People|Fish Person]] is found in ''[[Papuwa]]
* In ''[[One Piece]]'',
* ''[[Moribito Guardian of the Spirit]]'' features the Water Folk, a mysterious, barely glimpsed race of ''[[Creature from the Black Lagoon]]''-style [[Fish People|amphibious humanoids]].
* Mei Mah / Mei Mer of ''[[Ko Beast]]'' changes into a mermaid when wet, or when something makes her cry. Her tears become pearls.
* Luna of the 2003 ''[[PoPoLoCrois]]'' anime/game is {{spoiler|a water sprite who can change into a human using a magic golden key (used previously by Narcia to become Kai) in order to walk on land.}}
* Hayame from ''[[Hell Teacher Nube]]'' has it easier than most. Aside from being a very likeable [[The Ditz|goof]] and a powerful ally, she can [[Good Thing You Can Heal|regenerate from ''anything'']] (even being reduced to a
* In the
*
* The sea people from ''[[Umi Monogatari]]'' resemble humans exactly (not counting their [[Pointy Ears]], which [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight|nobody seems to notice]]) except for the need to breathe underwater, though they also have magic rings that can solve that problem. They also tend
* In ''[[Ponyo]]'', the mermaid equivalents are magical goldfish-sized creatures with protohuman faces and powerful magic who can
* According to [[Cloudcuckoolander|Umino]] [[Ill Girl|Mokuzu]] from ''[[Satou Kashi no Dangan wa Uchinukenai]]'', mermaids can be transformed into humans by witches, in exchange for walking with an [[Cut Himself Shaving|imperfect pair of legs]] and with the risk that they will turn into seafoam and fade away if they don't find a [[Discount Lesbians|"true friend"]] in one month's time. [[Lampshaded]] by [[The Snark Knight|Nagisa]]:
{{quote|''"That's the scenario from [[The Little Mermaid]], isn't it?"''}}
* [[The Smurfette Principle|Blue]][[Token
* ''[[Digimon Frontier]]'': One of the antagonists, [http://dma.wtw-x.net/dexrana.shtml Ranamon], is a
* ''[[Level E]]'' has mermaids with the rather unusual power to [[Living Lie Detector|detect any attempt to lie to them]]... by their tongue involuntarily shooting out and stabbing the liar to death. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, it doesn't stop them from being sold into sex slavery and pretty much wiped out, because a loophole is found to evade the ability, but the mermaids don't realize it.}}
* Isma from ''[[Berserk]]'' is introduced as a lonely, [[Genki Girl|genki]] fisher
* ''[[Hekikai no AiON]]'': The mermaids need to
* The titular 'mermaids' of ''[[Kaizoku to Ningyou]]'', which are actually a race of [[Human Subspecies|demi-humans]] whose hair appears white on land and only reverts to its true color when doused with seawater. They are extraordinarily rare [[In-Universe]] and are frequently targetted for human trafficking on the black market. However, aside from their hair, there is very little separating them from humanity. Not to mention, the only member of this rare subspecies we've met so far is ''male''.
== Comic Books ==
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** And their leaders (?) look like giant, luminescent brine shrimp. No, I'm not joking.
* In ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'', Atlanteans are humanoid amphibious aliens with dolphin-like skin, gills, and small fins on their arms and legs to assist in swimming.
* ''[[Meat Cake]]'' has Effluvia, a beautiful but slutty mermaid who flirts with
*
* The [[Elf Quest]] spin-off ''Wave Dancers'' played with this in several ways. (The "mermaids" were [[Our Elves Are Better|space elves]] modified by magic to live in the water. Exactly ''how'' they were modified varied wildly.)
** One of the females is the octopus variation, but not shunned or evil. Her lower half looks like a hoop skirt made of tentacles.
* ''[[Fathom]]'' is about a race of beings who can turn into water or use it as a weapon, among other things.
* In ''[[Nightmares and Fairy Tales]]'', [[Mister Seahorse|a character]] [[Laser-Guided Karma|ends up pregnant]] after messing with a mermaid. When he complains, another character points out that it wouldn't have happened if [[Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil|he'd simply left the creature alone]].
* In ''[[Keepers of the Elements]]'', there are the mermaids who live in Aequori Kingdom. They are all shown to wear regular tops on their top halves. The [[Making a Splash|previous Water Keeper]] Marissa lived there for some time and even fell in love with one of mermen there, eventually getting him changed to a human somehow and going to Earth to live with her where they eventually had a family together.▼
▲== Fan Fic ==
* The ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' [[Alternate Universe|AU]] [[Fanfic]] ''[[Captivity]]'' by [http://atrieisan.deviantart.com/ Atrieisan] has an interestingly comprehensive take on the [http://atrieisan.deviantart.com/art/Anatomy-of-a-Mer-530231184 "mermian"] species. Seeing as one of the core themes of the story is [[Poor Communication Kills|the tragedy of miscommunication]] ([[From Bad to Worse|and it's a biggie]]), it should come as no surprise that the mers in question [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|aren't exactly kid-friendly]]. The story suffers from sporadic updates, but it's worth taking a look at for the artwork, if nothing else.
▲* In [[Keepers of the Elements]], there are the mermaids who live in Aequori Kingdom. They are all shown to wear regular tops on their top halves. The [[Making a Splash|previous Water Keeper]] Marissa lived there for some time and even fell in love with one of mermen there, eventually getting him changed to a human somehow and going to Earth to live with her where they eventually had a family together.
== Film ==
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** There was also Ursula herself, who had an octopus bottom despite supposedly being related to Ariel and Triton.
** Ursula being Ariel's aunt was left out of the final film and the sequel seems to follow this with her sister Morgana having the same tentacle bottom.
** When Ariel appears in ''[[Ralph Breaks the Internet]]'' she seems able to magically switch her human legs for her mermaid tail when she needs to - obviously a case of [[New Powers as the Plot Demands]].
* Interestingly, the mermaids in Disney's [[Peter Pan]] are of the "dangerously amoral" type, especially for its time. Their shell bras are much more "realistic" than Ariel's, which comes later; they're not held on by any straps, they're just sea-creatures attached to the mermaids' chests. One of them is quite obviously only covered by a flower lei, and another by her [[Godiva Hair|hair]]. When Wendy meets them, they attack her. When Peter calls them on this, one of them protests, "We were only trying to drown her!" By the time [[The Little Mermaid]] came around, Disney had toned down its mermaids quite a bit, and no one seems to remember the ones from Peter Pan.
* ''[[Splash]]'', obviously.
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* ''[[Dagon]]'' starts with the protagonist having a dream about a classic mermaid, only that it turns out she had sharp teeth. Later in the movie, he meets that mermaid... {{spoiler|but she does not look like a typical mermaid or have the fangs she had in the dream. She looks like a human with gills along her ribs and a long, squid-like tentacle in place of each leg}}.
** She was also {{spoiler|his half-sister}} and {{spoiler|wanted him to marry her.}} Yay Lovecraft.
* The [[Creature from the Black Lagoon]]. Now, now, he is ugly and lives in [[The Amazon]] rather than the
* The Made-for-PAX-TV Movie ''Mermaids'' (not to be confused with the 1980s Cher vehicle - which has nothing to do with mermaids) features the "Splash Method," with an added complication: the protagonists also turn into mermaids at low tide every night.
* ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' has an "Underwater Gal" as a scene-stealing minor character. She is essentially a Mermaid-as-[[Cute Monster Girl|Monster-Girl]].
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* There's a running joke in [[The Cabin in the Woods]] about one character's desire to see a "merman." His partner replies, "Why? Those things are terrifying." [[It Makes Sense in Context]].
* In the Animal Planet Horror "Documentary" film ''Mermaid: The Body Found'', merpeople are descended from primates that took to the water, and so look like a cross between a primitive human and a dolphin, and speak a very unusual language.
== Literature ==
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** At the VERY end, the mermaid who wanted a soul dies and becomes an air spirit who can earn a [[Our Souls Are Different|soul]] by 100 years of good deeds - with the [[Anvilicious]] remark that an air spirit's time may be reduced if she sees well-behaved children who make her smile, or increased if she sees wicked children who make her weep.
** Arguably, the [[Disneyfication|Disney version]] is the more sadistic and power-hungry version of the sea-witch, placing not only a time limit on the spell, but planning to ruin the mermaid's chance at happiness herself and steal the kingdom to boot. The original witch is neither good nor evil, and warns the mermaid of the consequences presented by the deal she wishes to make.
** The witch provides the only way out of the spell to the mermaid's concerned sisters: a special knife for her to kill the prince in order to splash his heart's blood over her legs, reverting them to their fishtail form. The knife was much
* In the ''Ingo'' Young Adult books by Helen Dunmore, the Mer ('''don't''' call them Mermaids, Mermen, or Merfolk) are described as [[Selkies and Wereseals|half-human, half-seal]]. They can't become human but humans can become Mer apparently. They don't like humans very much, except for the [[Half-Human Hybrid|Half Human Hybrids]] with whom they can communicate.
* In ''Four Kids, Three Cats, Two Cows, One Witch (Maybe)'' Kevin tells Beverly a story about a family of merpeople where the father gets fed up of being neglected by his family and leaves to marry a human woman. He loses his tail because of this but is able to regain it at night time.
* The original, printed page ''[[Aquamarine]]'', by Alice Hoffman, centers around a Mermaid who is stranded in a swimming pool after a storm. She's a bit self-centered, but eventually realises she will need the help of the only humans who know about her if she is ever to return home and to her sisters. She cannot transform into a human ''at all''. The rescue actually takes some time and
* There's also Indigo, also by Helen Dunmore, which is about two [[Half-Human Hybrid]] boys, who have webbing between their fingers and toes, can hold their breath for a very long time, drink salt water, love eating fish, and constantly daydream about the ocean. Their mother was a traditional mermaid with a tail instead of legs, however.
* The [[Emily Windsnap]] books also use "The Splash Method".
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* K?b? Abe's short story ''Ningyoden'' (Mermaid Legend) is about a man falling in love with a flesh-eating mermaid. There's also some cloning involved. Since his work was influenced by [[Franz Kafka]] it's also a [[Mind Screw]].
* Three examples from the work of [[Jack Chalker]]:
** The Umiau from Chalker's ''Well World'' series are an alien species of aquatic mammals that just happen to look remarkably like traditional mermaids. (They're also [[Hermaphrodite
** Mermaids in the ''[[River of Dancing Gods]]'' series are half human and half dolphin but their social organization resembles a pack of hyenas crossed with the mafia. They make their living extorting protection money from fishermen.
** The [[Half-Human Hybrid|Half Human Hybrids]] of Chalker's [[Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke]] novel ''[[The Moreau Factor]]'' (note the title) include at least three species of merfolk: [[Half Human Hybrids|hermaphroditic frog-women]], [[Unscaled Merfolk|humanoid dolphins]] and "Creature from the Black Lagoon"-style [[Fish People]].
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* In ''The Merman's Children'' by [[Poul Anderson]] merfolk are humanoid, with bluegreen skin, webbed hands and feet, gills and attractive enough that one of them seduces a human woman and has children by her.
* In the ''[[Doctor Who Expanded Universe|Doctor Who]]'' tie-in spin off ''Genius Loci'' one of the characters tells [[Bernice Summerfield]] a gruesome mermaid story in which a fisherman, with a fine sense of the pragmatic, chops a mermaid in two and takes the fish half home as his catch of the day. The bifurcated mermaid turns out to have been the daughter of the queen of the mermaids and hilarity ensues.
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Warhammer
* [[Goosebumps]]: Deep Trouble - The main character is rescued by a mermaid before it is captured and almost sold to a zoo by the mean humans.
* In Andrei Belianin's ''Thief of Baghdad'', the main character ([[Fish Out of Temporal Water]] with [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]) and his friend [[wikipedia:Nasreddin|Nasreddin]] encounter a mermaid, who will only help them if one of them satisfies her. The main character, recognizing the [[Mermaid Problem]] promptly passes the "honor" to Nasreddin. After some time, Nasreddin returns with a smile. When asked, he is surprised that his companion doesn't know that mermaids briefly turn into humans when they want to "get it on".
* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[Chronicles of Chaos|Fugitives of Chaos]]'', Amelia speaks of sailors who brought back mermaid
* Kit Whitfield's Deepmen in ''In Great Waters'' are air breathing (although they can stay under for up to 30 minutes) mammals with tails, notably less intelligent than humans, although they have a language it's limited to purely practical matters, abstract concepts like religion being alien to them and can breed with humans. In fact all the royal houses of Europe (and possibly the world) [[Half-Human Hybrid|have some Deepman blood]].
* "[[The Princess Series|The Mermaid's Madness]]" by Jim C. Hines features a proud tribe of merfolk (they prefer the term "Undine") who appear to be of the standard human-on-top, fish-on-bottom variety. Members of the nobility of this tribe differ however, in that they have two tails (bypassing the [[Mermaid Problem]] quite nicely.)
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* ''[[Changeling: The Dreaming]]'' has the Seelie Merfolk and the Unseelie Murdhuacha (pronounced ''mer-RU-ka''). The Merfolk are what one generally thinks about when one thinks mermaid: their lower halfs are of various bony fish (except for House Melsinee, who instead take the form of air-breathing marine mammals and reptiles). The Murdhuacha are [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?|merged with crustaceans, mollusks, and other seagoing invertebrates]]. When either Kith takes to land, their lower halves automatically turn into legs and they resemble Sidhe with their otherworldly beauty.
** There's also a bit of [[Nightmare Fuel]], as the Merfolk and Murdhuacha are trying to fight off the game's constantly-oppressive force of Banality. Any changeling who succumbs to Banality loses all access to their fae abilities and forgets all about their second life. Imagine being one of them, and coming to in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean... about five hundred feet down.
* There are merfolk in ''[[Dungeons
** [[Mystara]], like most ''D&D'' settings, has merfolk, called "merrow". Its are unusual in that they can breed with humans (solving the [[Mermaid Problem]] via shapechanging by one or the other). The Queen of Aquas, half-sister of the heir to the Empire of Alphatia, is half-merrow on her mother's side.
** ''[[Dungeons
** [[Forgotten Realms]] got shalarin - humanoid fish-folk supposedly gated from some other world, with big dorsal fins, eyes, gills and all, silvery skin, but with legs and no scales.
** Al-Qadim has shapeshifting (woman/tropical fish/hybrid form) sea nymphs they for some reason named Pahari.
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* In some variations of [[Nautical Folklore]], it is possible to take a mermaid captive by stealing an item of magic thus keeping her captive. Because [[Abduction Is Love]] she will often marry the man who did this and raise a loving family. But, she will spend all her spare time trying to find it, and once found she will swim away.
** Those who are nice to stranded mermaids on the other hand receive kindness from them. One Scottish boatbuilder rescued a stranded mermaid and wished that no boat he built would ever sink. His family's boats are, according to one version, famous through large parts of Scotland.
* The [[w:Fairy Flag|Fairy Flag of MacLeod]] might count if you fudge it, as the [[Home Base]] of the Macleods is on a coastal island and mer-folk are basically nautical fairies. There is a real fairy flag but several tales of its origin, all interesting though not equally plausible. The best one is that a MacLeod prince fell in love with a local spirit but she could not decide between her lover and her own people. Leaving the Fairy Flag to protect Macleods in the future was [[Take a Third Option|a compromise.]] According to tales, the MacLeods can [[Rule of Three|call on its protection three times]] against great danger, which usually means [[Proud Warrior Race|war]]. According to the legend the Macleods have already used it twice (although one version says it was never actually used in [[World War 2]] though the MacLeods took pieces of it to battle).
== Toys ==
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** Not to mention the actual mermaid in Link's Awakening.
* The Mermen race in ''[[Darkstalkers]]'' are an odd mix of the traditional beautiful merpeople, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Lovecraftian Deep Ones. They have disturbingly beautiful faces, webbed claws for feet and hands, come in a multitude of rainbow colors, and can [[Shapeshifter Weapon|transform their body parts]] to mimic the appearance and abilities of any other sea creature - although usually on a bigger scale.
* In ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] 9'', Splash Woman's look is based on the regular
* In ''[[EVO Search for Eden]]'', you are able to ''become'' a mermaid, albeit only temporarily, in the last age by stepping into the ocean off the southmost point of South America. While you're first given a workable amphibian version of whatever you've evolved into, you now have the option to "evolve hands and feet"; doing so will turn you into a seal, then a dolphin, then... something the [[Let's Play]] titled "Abomination" for [http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/EVO/Update%2031/36-evo033ew.jpg a good reason], and then blonde mermaid. It's not clear which gender you are, but you apparently attack with devastating effect by ''kissing'' your foes. Also, since you cannot evolve further, you cannot replenish HP by minor evolutions, making the boss fight a good deal more difficult. Of course, since you're an evolutionary dead end, once you've defeated the local boss you're returned to the shore as the creature you entered with.
* The Nereids of ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'' are essentially a [[One-Gender Race]] of mermaids. Due to this they use males of other species in order to breed. This is why [[Wife Husbandry|they have a little human boy around with them.]]
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** Not to mention like Real-life Carribean-located water-dwellers, they are very colorful.
* Mermaids are the 'townsfolk' near the Kraken and water crystal in [[Final Fantasy I]]. Apparently, they ran out of [[People of Hair Color]].
* ''[[
* There are merpersons in ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]''. Their bones [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=25967.0 used to be]{{Dead link}} worth as much as ''dragon bone'', though now mermaids (as sentients) are no longer butcherable and don't have valuable bones.
* Although Aquell from [[A Witch's Tale]] is supposedly based off of [[The Little Mermaid]], she seems to behave similarly to the mermaids in [[Peter Pan]].
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' uses typical girls-with-fishy-bottoms mermaids as NPCs in [[Final Fantasy I|the first game]], but somewhere along the way someone decided that they may have been a bit too much of a cliche fantasy element and they haven't appeared in a game since (unless you count the totally-not-[[Star Wars|Gungans]] Hypello in ''[[Final Fantasy X]].'')
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* The mermaid we meet in the Telltale ''[[Sam and Max]]'' games is completely human in appearance (save for oddly-coloured hair), and (by [[Word of God]]) basically immortal, except for accidents. She's also psychotically evil, but that's probably not a mermaid thing.
** She's not really a mermaid either. Her outfit has a distinct mermaid theme to it, but that's neither here nor there. {{spoiler|She's actualy an unholy golem created from an infernal recipe called "The Cake Of The Damned", and why the ambulatory form of The Cake Of The Damned should be a psychotically evil, attractive young lady in a mermaid-themed outfit is for the writers to know and us to never find out}}.
*** At least, {{spoiler|that appears to be the case until episode 305 apparently, and somewhat confusingly, [[Retcon
* ''[[Ōkamiden|Okamiden]]'' allows the player to have a mermaid girl as their partner. She looks like a traditional mermaid, but she has the Dragonians' fin-ears.
* The Undines from ''[[Monster Rancher]] 2'' have a transparent, Jell-like appearance and use both water and ice based attacks.
* ''[[Etrian Odyssey]]: The Drowned City'' has mermaids appear in the form of {{spoiler|the Deep Ones}}. The first of these you meet is {{spoiler|their childlike [[Ambiguous Gender|Prince/Princess]] who can freely spawn them from drops of hir blood}}. Sorta creepy...
* Mermaids in ''[[Monster Girl Quest]]'' have the standard appearance. They can walk on their tails with enough skill to more or less function on land. [[Sirens Are Mermaids|Their songs have a hypnotic effect on listeners]] and their blood has healing properties.
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* ''Pearls of Mer'' a webcomic about a standard, ''Splash'' style mermaid.
* [[A Loonatics Tale|Rebecca Burg]] has released concept art which reveals that in Loonatic-land, merfolk are a type of aquatic ''vampire''. When they're luring in prey, they're fairly cute, if slightly overfinned. When they're about to feed, their eyes take on a crazed look, and their mouth splits into a grin which reveals that ''all'' their teeth are razor-sharp. And unlike some vampires in this setting, where being turned isn't even a guarantee, when a mermaid feeds on you, you become one.
* ''[[The Dreamland Chronicles]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20120624110641/http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/chapter-06/page-376/ Mermaids to the rescue!]
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', there's an alien race of horned, water-dwelling humanoids known as Sea Dwelling Trolls. They're considered Royalty among the Land Dwelling Trolls, and the only examples we see of them are the heir apparent and a [[Abhorrent Admirer|genocidal noble with a crush on her]].
* At the end of the first volume of ''[[Tales Of Gnosis College]]'', Li Anwei reveals that she is in the process of a slow transformation into something like a mermaid by showing expanded webbing growing between her fingers. She still looks pretty human when she takes to the sea, though.
* In ''[[Question Duck]]'', [
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' turned this somewhere strange. The mermaids seem to be iconic mythological creatures. There are also Deepdwellers, but they are <s>[[Cthulhu Mythos|Deep Ones]]</s> amphibious humanoids with fins and feet, not half-man half-fish. So a chef decides to honour the Queen's guest rumoured to fancy "risque" outfits by making a great pie [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20191211 in the shape of her as a mermaid] (with [[Seashell Bra|starfish bra]]). Then the Deepdwellers see this and decide she really looks like this. Being on their territory and in a diplomatically tenuous situation, she and the rest of present [[Mad Scientist]]s figure a mermaid suit would solve the problem. Then it turns out that maybe this was what the Deepdwellers meant, because there [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200406 used to be a strange order of humans] using sort of fish tailed diving suits, and ''they'' were in good relations with the Great Cetaceans and their minions, so it's taken as a good sign. Then [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200422 on a submariner] we see… large, colourful tattoo of [[Youkai|Amabie]], with three tails and all, and the name to make it really clear.
== Web Original ==
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* ''[http://citizenofzozo-art.deviantart.com/art/Mermaid-Transformation-47459835 Mermaid Transformation]'' by CitizenOfZozo-art. Apparently, sometimes you dive to pick some valuables off that sunken ship, put found jewelry on and BLOOP! blurgle-blurgle.
* ''[http://coralwerks.deviantart.com/art/A-Sudden-Change-85360508 A Sudden Change]'' by Coralwerks. "Another magical pool, another changed human (there really outta be a law)."
* In [[The Dragon Wars Saga]], the merfolk can shift their tails into
* [[The Whitest Kids U' Know]] has a sketch [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyOQoKDkkVQ on this very trope].
* The one encountered in ''The Adventures of [[The League of STEAM]]'' episode, "Tall Tails", is of the standard "beautiful woman with fishlike tail" variety.
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== Western Animation ==
* In ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' mermaids can't switch but they can live on land for long periods. Long enough for one {{spoiler|to go undercover at Jake's school for several months as his
* The short lived (French?) ''[[The Prince Of Atlantis]]'' feature a ''legged'' human-dolphinish-hybrid.
* ''[[Futurama]]'' has a episode with Merpeople, the [[Hollywood Evolution|accelerated-by-caffeine-evolved-humans]] who can't switch. Fry falls for one till he discovers the [[Mermaid Problem]]...
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{{quote|'''Nathan:''' "This one's called Murmaider!"
'''Murderface:''' "It's about mermaid murder." }}
* In one episode of ''[[
* There's a new{{when}} show on Nick Jr. called ''[[Bubble Guppies]]'' that flips the mermaid concept on it's head. The merpeople on the show are tiny, about the size of guppies. They can't change shape, but apparantly they've developed the ability to swim through air.
* ''[[Jimmy Two-
* Marina from the French cartoon ''[[Zig and Sharko]]'' is mostly a typical mermaid, except she can survive on land and walk on her tail fins. Also, her parents are mermaid and a human man, [[Mermaid Problem|somehow]].
* Applied to Iguana Seals in [[All There in the Manual]] in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Similar to the manatee-mermaid misidentification, the hybrid animals were often mistaken as mermaids by sailors due to their melodious sounds. Like the manatee, upon realizing they were nothing but seal-finned aquatic reptiles, they were subsequently killed for food.
* The Blue Mermaid from [[Team Umizoomi]] counts. She is [[Friend to All Living Things|friendly to the sea creatures]], loves her sea home, her [[Curtains Match the Window]], and {{spoiler|her tail glows}}!
* Mermista from ''[[She-Ra and the Princesses of Power]]'' is either a mermaid who can magically swap her fish-tail for human legs or a human that can turn into a mermaid. Whatever the case, she's far more tomboyish than traditional mermaids and has a much different personality, being [[Good Is Not Nice| both snarky and cynical.]]
== Real Life ==
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** There's a wonderful bit in one of Christopher Columbus's logs abotu seeing "mermaids" in the Caribbean - he says they're less beautiful than they are painted, because their face resembles that of a man. A seriously ugly man, one assumes.
** Referenced on ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]''. Barney theorizes that sailors saw manatees as beautiful women because [[Meat-O-Vision|they have not seen real women for so long]]. He adds that this is why men and women can't just be friends: eventually the "manatee" turns into a mermaid.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090301152345/http://www.stuff.co.nz/4858855a11.html Nadya] [https://web.archive.org/web/20130613230209/http://www.itexaminer.com/weta-turns-woman-into-mermaid.aspx Vessey], an amputee, has been given a really neat [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9jCsbii5rs mermaid's] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YMUWe9V-94 tail] '''prosthesis''' by [[Peter Jackson]]'s WETA workshop. That's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|awesome]] in more [[Awesome Yet Practical|ways]] [[Rule of Cool|than]] [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|one]].
** ''Popular Science's Future Of'' showed the [http://www.lunocet.com/ Lunocet mermaid-style swim fin], designed to increase swimming speed.
* In West African mythology, mermaids (aka Maame Water) are beautiful but evil demonic spirits tasked by Satan to steal people's souls in exchange for riches. However foreign depictions of mermaids such as in Disney's Little Mermaid are still popular because, after all, Their Mermaids Are Different.
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* The ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (a collection of medieval Irish histories compiled in the early 17th century) casually mention mermaids being caught several times. Most impressive is a mermaid listed as having washed ashore in the year 887:
{{quote|''One hundred and ninety five feet was her length, eighteen feet was the length of her hair, seven feet was the length of the fingers of her hand, seven feet also was the length of her nose; she was whiter than the swan all over.''}}
* Mermaiding, which essentially amounts to a form of cosplaying as a mermaid. It's fairly popular with little girls, but some performers do it for the [[Fanservice]]. Tails can be made of almost any material, but silicone is especially coveted because of the near-natural scale effect it gives off.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]
[[Category:Mythical Motifs]]
[[Category:
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