History Main / SirensAreMermaids

* ''TabletopGame/Yu-Gi-Oh!" has [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Deep_Sea_Diva Deep Sea Diva]], a mermaid with a heavy musical motif that can summon other monsters to it from the deck.

* In Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'', Ariel has a beautiful singing voice. Most Disney heroines do, but here it's actually a plot point, since the BigBad's price for changing her into a human is her beautiful voice. However, this is taken from the original story. Used in a more direct fashion when Ursula transforms herself into a human woman and uses Ariel's voice to cast a spell on Eric, hypnotizing him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'', the Dazzlings' original Siren forms resemble hippocampi or merhorses.

* The original ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' cartoon gave us the Seaponies, who are a rather strange subversion. They've got the beautiful singing voices down alright and some impressive choreography to go with it, at least if you happen to like Creator/BusbyBerkeley, but instead of luring unwary sailors to their doom they're actually running a sort of BedouinRescueService. Their sole canon appearance was something of a BigLippedAlligatorMoment even by G1's standards, so naturally the bronies picked it up and ran with it.
* Though we only see storybook sketches and energy-based avatars resembling their real forms in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'', the Dazzlings' original siren forms are finally revealed in the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic main series]] episode ''Shadow Play'' to be massive slender hippocampus-like creatures with vaguely equine demonic dragon faces. True to form, their modus operandi is unleashing an enthralling HatePlague that makes ponies quarrel and fight among each other so they fan feed on the negative energy.

** In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'', the Dazzlings' original Siren forms are depicted as slender hippocampus-like creatures, only more demonic-looking with dragon-like faces. [[spoiler:During the last battle, upon gaining full power, the Dazzlings remain human, but gain traits like pony ears, tail-like hair extensions and fin-shaped wings (something their original forms lacked, but could fly anyway). They are even able to summon avatars resembling what could possibly be their true Equestrian selves to use as weapons against the Humane 7.]]

This trope is an old one; the siren as mermaid was well-established in the medieval bestiary. In Thomas Hoccleve's early fifteenth century text, ''La Male Regle'', lines 233 ff. speak of mermaids singing men to their deaths, "as old books tell us." The issue is not helped by the fact that in many Romance languages, both sirens and mermaids are referred to by the same word. In more traditional definitions of mythology, the Siren is often depicted as a winged bird-woman hybrid, but somehow along the line they got confused with each other. In fact, the original Greek Sirens were portrayed as a cross between women and songbirds, and could die by drowning.

* DefenseOfTheAncients includes a Siren hero whose ultimate spell is to sing the opposition to sleep and whose character model is a mermaid.

* [[spoiler:Akira Okouchi]] from ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' pactio name is ''Siren Valida'' while the outfit is more clearly mermaid themed than harpie.

* Averted in ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' where Mermaids and Sirens are completely different monsters. The mermaids also never sings (they instead suck the life energy of people), while the Sirens do and from what we see can see from their true form, they are birdlike, resembling angels.

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica,'' the [[MonsterOfTheWeek witch]] [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie Oktavia von Seckendorff]] is an EldritchAbomination resembling a weird cross between a witch and an orchestra conductor. Possibly an accidental example, however, because there are symbolic reasons for this form ([[spoiler:her backstory resembles ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid,'' but with a musician friend in place of the prince]]).

* Sirens (and their stronger kin, the [[UndergroundMonkey Lamia and Ekhidna]]) appear this way in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt''... at least at a distance. In fact the beautiful female upper bodies are a means of luring prey (read, unwary sailors) along with their voices. The deception drops when they attack, revealing the true, monsterous form beneath. They can both [[FlyingSeafoodSpecial swim and fly]] but are rendered practically defenseless if knocked onto solid ground.

* Sirens (and their stronger kin, the [[UndergroundMonkey Lamia and Ekhidna]]) appear this way in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt''... at least at a distance. In fact the beautiful female upper bodies are a means of luring prey (read, unwary sailors) along with their voices. The deception drops when they attack, revealing the true, monsterous form beneath. They can both [[IfItSwimsItFlies swim and fly]] but are rendered practically defenseless if knocked onto solid ground.

* Sirens (and their stronger kin, the [[UndergroundMonkey Lamia and Ekhidna]]) appear this way in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt''... at least at a distance. In fact the beautiful female upper bodies are a means of luring prey (read, unwary sailors) along with their voices. The deception drops when they attack, revealing the true, monsterous form beneath. They can both swim and fly but are rendered practically defenseless if knocked onto solid ground.

* Elulu from ''LuminousArc3'' whose job class is Siren but also bears a lot of traits similar to mermaids.
* The Sirens of ''Mabinogi'' fit this to a tee. If you need an image, you don't need to look for one, they're almost the same as the above picture from LuminousArc (however, they are NOT a rip-off). And they're bad guys.

This trope is an old one; the siren as mermaid was well-established in the medieval bestiary. In Thomas Hoccleve's early fifteenth century text, ''La Male Regle'', lines 233 ff. speak of mermaids singing men to their deaths, "as old books tell us." The issue is not helped by the fact that in many Romance languages, the two words are synonymous. In more traditional definitions of mythology, the Siren is often depicted as a winged bird-woman hybrid, but somehow along the line they got confused with each other. In fact, the original Greek Sirens were portrayed as a cross between women and songbirds, and could die by drowning.

* In Irish folklore, merrow were beautiful mermaids who fell in love with mortal men and bewitched them into following them beneath the sea...where they used their magic to keep their husbands alive under the sea so they could live HappilyEverAfter. Male merrow were ugly and more sinister; they killed their victims and trapped their souls under the sea, although even then, some stories implied they thought their victims were happy about the whole deal.

* The [[MonsterOfTheWeek witch]] [[EldritchAbomination Oktavia von Seckendorff]] from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is a [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent music-themed mermaid]]. May be an accidental example, as there's entirely seperate [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie symbolic reasons]] for the music and the mermaid-ness.

* The [[MonsterOfTheWeek witch]] Oktavia von Seckendorff from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is a music-themed mermaid. May be an accidental example, as there's entirely seperate symbolic reasons for the music and the mermaid-ness.

* In Kate Beaton's ''HarkAVagrant'', a mermaid [[http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=119 aims to drown a sailor with her frilly singin']]. Mermaids matching this trope make a few other appearances, including [[http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=188 one longer story arc]] (where no mermaid singing is heard, but is referred to, along with their tendency to drown people).

* In ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'', a Siren is a specific title for a merfolk sorceress.