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Apparently Human Merfolk: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
So you have mermaids and -men, half-human half-fish (or part [[Unscaled Merfolk|seal, dolphin, whale]]) who come with their own [[Mermaid Problem|set of problems]]. Then you have [[Fish People]] who are humanoid but scaly, think of the [[Creature from the Black Lagoon]].
Then there's these characters. They look so human that they could wander unnoticed down a city street, but can breathe and live underwater. In fact many prefer to live underwater as that is often where they were born, and they only come to the surface to complain that [[Humans Are Bastards]] for polluting the ocean, or to do some superheroing. In fact if they are unused to life on land they may find themselves [[Incredibly Lame Pun|acting like a]] [[Fish Out of Water]].
This can include anything from an individual who has this ability as a special quirk, to whole civilizations of these who may or may not live in an [[Underwater City]].
Often overlaps with [[Walk, Don't Swim]], [[Water Is Dry]], and [[Water Is Air]].
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== Film ==
* At the end of ''[[Splash]]'' Allen becomes one of these so he can be with the more typical mermaid love Madison.
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055844/ There's] an old Soviet romantic sci-fi film called ''Chelovek-Amfibiya (The Human Amphibian)'', in which an oceanologist's son with sick lungs [[We Can Rebuild Him|was given]] [[Bio Punk|additional implants]] [[Artistic License: Biology|derived from the gils of a young shark]]. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|He can survive on land, but mostly sticks to the sea, where he's more comfortable with breathing.]] The main plot point of the movie is {{spoiler|the gradual deterioration of his ability to breathe atmospheric air and the need to forever leave dry land and live purely in the sea}}.
* The Mariner in ''[[Waterworld]]'', played by Kevin Costner, has gills behind the ears.
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== Literature ==
* The titular character of ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians|Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' what with him being Poseidon's illegitimate son and all.
* ''[[The Secret of Platform 13]]'' has Melisande, a merrow who is proud of having feet and continually points them out, for some reason touchy about the idea that people will mistake her for a mermaid.
* The rifters from Peter Watts' [[Rifters Trilogy]] are modified humans (cybernetics and genetic engineering are used) who can survive in deep sea conditions. In fact, they prefer the sea to staying in their confined [[Underwater Base]].
== Mythology ==
* The oceanids, nereids, and naiads of [[Greek Mythology]] look entirely human, though perhaps more beautiful than mortals.
* This is the typical form of mermaids in the [[Arabian Nights]] and other Middle Eastern folklore; the only difference between them and land-dwelling humans is that they (and in one story, their children with humans) can breathe underwater.
* [[Selkies and Wereseals|Selkies]] of Faroese and [[Scotireland|Scotirish]] folklore wear a sealskin as a wetsuit and take human form when they shed it. The Faroese story "The Seal Wife" is about a man who steals a selkie woman's wetsuit and locks it up so that she can't go back to the sea.
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* [[Traveller]]: The Nexines who actually are human merfolk. They are a race genetically engineered for underwater mining.
== [[Video Games]] ==
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' gives us Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, parody [[Expy|Expies]] of Aquaman and Aqualad.
* Marina and her people (all of whom are mute) from ''[[Stingray (TV series)|Stingray]]''
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