History Film / Splash

--> '''Madison:''' You know where I come from, it never gets cold. \\

'''Allen:''' ''(sarcastically)'' Oh well, hey! What a breakthrough there! You know, you just really just opened up to me there! \\

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Madison prefers to go barefoot in her human form, despite acquiring shoes not long after finding Allen.

* PleasePutSomeClothesOn: What nudity taboo?

%%* DoesNotLikeShoes: Madison, despite acquiring shoes not long after finding Allen.

* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: When Dr. Kornbluth tries to pass off Allen and Freddie as visiting [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] scientists to get them into the research facility where Madison is being held, a suspicious guard asks Allen and Freddie in Swedish, "What are two Swedish scientists doing so far from Sweden?" The guard jovially allows them entry after Freddie tentatively responds in Swedish, "Hey, babe! I got a twelve-inch penis." Freddie later explains that he picked up some Swedish phrases from watching hundreds of hours of Swedish pornography.

* WhatTheHellHero: Allen was mortified and angry when he finds out Madison, the one person he has come to love, is a mermaid. He starts rambling about how "people fall in love every day," and he ends up with (in his word) a "fish." However, his PluckyComicRelief brother Freddie berates him for giving up on Madison, tells him that "people fall in love every day" is nonsense, and people can never be as happy as Allen felt when he was with Madison.

-->'''Freddie:''' People fall in love every day, is that what you said? Yeah? Well, that's a crock. It doesn't ''work'' that way. Some people will never ''be'' that happy! ''I'll'' never be that happy!

* DepravedDentist: PlayedForLaughs, [[spoiler: when a remorseful Kornbluth demands that his dentist operate on him without any anathestic. The dentist seems all to eager to cause Kornbluth pain]].

* DirtyKid: Freddie was perverted even as a child. His childhood ''modus operandi'' was dropping coins next to a lady in a dress.

%%* FishOutOfWater: A semi-literal example with Madison.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Madison

* HeelFaceTurn: Dr. Kornbluth, upon learning that [[spoiler:his colleagues plan to dissect Madison and how he would never earn the respect amongst the scientific community he deserves despite proving the existence of merfolk.]] Kornbluth [[spoiler:never wanted to hurt anybody, he just wanted to prove he was right and not be a butt of their jokes.]]

* HiddenDepths: Freddy spends most of the movie as the LovableSexManiac PluckyComicRelief. Then Allen gripes that people fall in love "every day. Look at what ''I'' got." Freddy gets dead serious, gives Allen a blistering TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, then says that Allen doesn't appreciate how lucky he is to have someone like Madison: "Every day?! Come on! Some people will never be that happy! ''I'll'' never be that happy!"

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Dr. Ross]] never gets any comeuppance for [[spoiler: wanting to disrespect Madison and railroading Kornbluth]] other then losing his prized specimen.

* MeaninglessVillainVictory: [[spoiler: Kornbluth succeeds in exposing Madison to the public. However, he still horribly disrespected by his colleagues, sidelined from receiving the fame he craved, and is left heartbroken with the realization that he damned a sentient being to captivity and vivisection]].

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Dr. Kornbluth, when he learns they're going to kill the mermaid. All he wanted was to show people he's not crazy, which [[AllForNothing eventually turned out to be for nothing]] when his rival Dr. Ross expresses Kornbluth will always be a disgrace of a scientist in his eyes no matter how much he wants to prove himself he isn't. Too bad [[OneSceneWonder his mentor]] wasn't around to say "[[NiceJobBreakingItHero I hope you're happy now?]]" and express his disappointment. Kornbluth drops from the film's initial BigBad to someone who hardly registers as a {{Mook|s}}, and immediately helps Allen and Freddie spring Madison from captivity]].
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: When Dr. Kornbluth tries to pass off Allen and Freddie as visiting [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] scientists to get them into the research facility where Madison is being held, a suspicious guard asks Allen and Freddie in Swedish, "What are two Swedish scientists doing so far from Sweden?" The guard jovially allows them entry after Freddie tentatively responds in Swedish, "Hey, babe! I got a twelve inch penis." Freddie later explains that he picked up some Swedish phrases from watching hundreds of hours of Swedish pornography.

* TrueBlueFemininity: Madison wears a blue poncho, when going to town with Allen, and layer wears a shimmering, blue dress when attending the president's banquet- which she initially saw on a mannequin at Bloomingdale's.

%%* UnderwaterKiss: Must be a mermaid thing.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* EveryoneHasStandards: [[spoiler: Kornbluth may be somewhat egotistical, but he is appalled when his colleagues want to dissect a sapient being]].

* TheRival: Dr. Ross for Kornbluth.
* ShesGotLegs: Being played by Daryl Hannah, Madison on land qualifies for this trope in both senses.

* InterspeciesRomance: [Mermaid and human.
* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: Madison + water = mermaid.

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: During the rescue.

* NonhumanLoverReveal: Whenever Madison is exposed to water.

* UnderwaterKiss: Must be a mermaid thing.

** The print streaming on Creator/DisneyPlus as of April 2020 censors all nudity on the part of Creator/DarylHannah (her hair was digitally extended to cover her bare rear end and a lot of scenes with Hannah being topless[[note]]though, with her hair covering her breasts, nothing was shown[[/note]] had to either be cropped or replaced with alternate footage).

''Splash'' is a 1984 fantasy romantic comedy directed by Creator/RonHoward, surrounding the fairy-tale romance between Allen Bauer (Creator/TomHanks) and the mermaid (Creator/DarylHannah) who rescued him from drowning as a boy. Allen grew to adulthood, believing the young mermaid he saw in the water was only a hallucination, until she again saves him from drowning - but in doing so appears on the radar of Dr. Walter Kornbluth (Creator/EugeneLevy), an eccentric, disgraced scientist who wants to prove the existence of mythical creatures like mermaids.

It is said that everyone has a soul mate, someone with whom they are destined to fall in love and be with for the rest of their lives, regardless of age, gender, geography...

Can these star-crossed lovers find romance? Can she convince Allen that his series of failed romances are just destiny knocking him on the head? What will their kids look like?

* DirtyKid: Freddie was perverted even as a child.

* PyrrhicVillainy: [[spoiler: Kornbluth succeeds in exposing Madison to the public. However, he still horribly disrespected by his colleagues, sidelined from receiving the fame he craved, and is left heartbroken with the realization that he damned a sentient being to captivity and vivisection]].

* RapunzelHair: How Madison gets around the censors. It doesn't explain her bangs, though.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The bitter part is Allen will never see his brother, friends, or even Kornbluth again. The sweet part is being with Madison always.]]

%%* TheDitz: The brothers who help Kornbluth

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Despite proving the existence of mermaids, Dr. Kornbluth is still treated like a joke by his colleagues. This is a factor in his eventual HeelFaceTurn.
* DrJerk: Dr. Ross, a cold-hearted scientist who is willing to dissect a sentient being ForScience and mocks and belittles his rival Kornbluth.

* HeroWithBadPublicity: Allen becomes this as he separates Madison from the hands of those who want to contain Madison for research and examine her biology.

* HumansAreBastards: How do humans react to a mermaid? All but one (and his friends) try to capture her for science. All but Kornbluth don't even notice how sickly she becomes in their captivity. Worse, [[spoiler: the scientists were planning on dissecting her.]]

* InhumanableAlienRights: The scientists treat Madison like an animal, even though she's a sentient human-like being who even speaks English; they keep her confined in a lab and plan to dissect her. As time was likely running out for her to be able to return to the sea, Allen, Freddy and Kornbluth had to rescue her immediately, since any legal procedures to protect her would have taken too long.

* InterspeciesRomance: Mermaid and human.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Dr. Ross]] never gets any comeuppance other then losing his prized specimen.

* LovableSexManiac: Freddy, who has been married countless times (even bringing a ''date'' to one of his own weddings), writes letters to ''Penthouse'' and will pick up multiple women in one night. However, he's still our PluckyComicRelief who believes in true love.

* MadScientist: Kornbluth is more of a PlayedForLaughs LargeHam example. His rival Dr. Ross, while more subdued and serious-sounding then Kornbluth, is an amoral PlayedForDrama example as he wants to vivisect Madison in spite of her being a sentient person, in contrast to Kornbluth's own morals and conscience he keeps.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Dr. Kornbluth, when he learns they're going to kill the mermaid. All he wanted was to show people he's not crazy, which [[AllForNothing eventually turned out to be for nothing]] when his rival Dr. Ross expresses Kornbluth will always be a disgrace of a scientist in his eyes no matter how much he wants to prove himself he isn't. Too bad [[OneSceneWonder his mentor]] wasn't around to say "[[NiceJobBreakingItHero I hope you're happy now?]]" and express his disappointment. Kornbluth drops from the film's initial BigBad to someone who hardly registers as a {{Mook|s}}.

* NotSoAboveItAll: Despite appearing to approach his scientific career in a more professional manner, Dr. Ross proves himself to be much worse MadScientist than his outwardly acting rival Kornbluth due to his amoral treatment of the sentient Madison while doing experiments on her and his plan to dissect her without battling an eye in contrast to Kornbluth's own morals.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Freddy was last seen about to be arrested by the feds. If he goes to prison, and Allen never comes back, who's going to run the company?
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Played frighteningly straight. The scientists (minus Kornbluth) perform various tests on Madison and plan to dissect her. They never once consider her feelings about this despite her clearly being an intelligent, sentient creature.

* NonhumanLoverReveal: The first time she gets wet.

* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Kornbluth

* StorefrontTelevisionDisplay: Not really in the storefront, but after losing her in the department store, Allen finds Madison transfixed by all the TVs on display. (It's also from those TVs that she learns how to speak English.)