History Main / MermaidProblem

* In an omake of the first volume of the manga ''Mermaid Boys'', the newly-human main character [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Naru/Nal]] wonders what that other new thing that came with his legs is. He asks the other male character that he's living with, and gets an explanation, and then the [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent schoolgirl main character]] comes in, and, [[AccidentalPervert well...]]

* The ''Literature/KyoKaraMaoh'' manga has a brief episode of this - Yuuri, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Conrart]], and Wolfram have a conversation about a past love of [[spoiler: Conrart]]'s. After a minute, Yuuri thinks they're talking about a mermaid. Turns out it's a maidmer, a reverse mermaid. [[LampshadeHanging Yuuri remarks]] that [[spoiler: Conrart]]'s strike range is wider than he thought...

* ''Film/{{Dagon}}'' averted this via tentacles and large amounts of {{Squick}}

* The mermaids in the ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'' series avert this, their tails only go up to above their knees, with completely human looking thighs, giving them a sort of ZettaiRyouiki with their scale bikinis.

That isn't to say, of course, that mermaids are completely [[NonHumansLackAttributes lacking]] in sexual organs. Real fish, of course, have actual genitals. They just aren't compatible with those of a mammal, let alone easy to find or obvious to point out. A few biologists have a hard time even calling piscine reproductive organs "genitals" because they are so very different from what we humans would recognize. Most (though not all) fish reproduce externally, meaning that conception happens outside of the body. The female lays her eggs first, which are then fertilized by the male's free-floating sperm. A far cry from what we humans (and most other animals) would recognize as making sweet love.

* Creator/JohnVarley:
** In ''Literature/TheGoldenGlobe'' a theatrical director in the far future complains about the difficulty of finding actresses willing to give up sex in order to play mermaids; it seems far future labor laws have replaced CGI with MagicPlasticSurgery.
** One character in ''Literature/TheOphiuchiHotline'' is a spacer who has used MagicPlasticSurgery to [[{{Transhuman}} modify her body until she's little more than a cylinder with an arm on each end.]] Varley's protagonist gives her credit for coming up with a very creative solution for the question of where a crotchless woman would keep her genitals but Varley (perhaps wisely) doesn't specify what that solution was.

* Ricky Gervais parodies the hell out of this trope in ''animals''.

* In ''Literature/TheMermaidOfBlackConch'' by Monique Coffey, this is the point. Aycayia was ''cursed'' to be a mermaid by the women of her village, and the fact she can't have sex is very much part of it.

* Mero from ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' has human genitalia where a human's would be, but she also has pelvic fins for steering and wears clothes that cover that particular part of her body anyway. It's especially prominent during the "Second D" letter, as she tries to get SomeoneToRemeberHimBy before the situation gets cleared up.

* Mero from ''Manga/MonsterMusume'' has human genitalia where a human's would be, but she also has pelvic fins for steering and wears clothes that cover that particular part of her body anyway.

This trope mainly deals with the variety where they don't gain human legs ''and'' have the standard fish equipment downstairs. It is equally applicable to mermen, since they'd lack a penis for all the same reasons. And despite most merfolk having perfectly functional, humanlike hands and mouths, don't expect the human/merfolk pair to explore ''other'' forms of sexual gratification beyond plain old penis-in-vagina. Sometimes this problem may be {{lampshade|Hanging}}d, but others no explanation is given. Compare NonMammalMammaries.

* Creator/JackLChalker:

** It should be noted that this doesn't seem to be a problem with the other monster girls either, Miia the lamia has human parts where the tail meets the body, Centorea the centaur has her reproductive organs in the same spot as horses, though not directly stated it is strongly implied that Rachnera the arachne has compatible parts were her spider half meets human half and that her pedipalps are used to hold mates in place. It helps that most "X from the waist down" monstergirls in this series are more "X from the ''hips'' down."

-->"But I don't give a damn 'bout the upper part / 'cause that's how I gets me [[IncrediblyLamePun tail]]..."

* In Cracked ''WebVideo/AfterHours'' this is brought up by Michael for a reason that, long-term, a relationship between Eric and Ariel will fall apart. He mentions the Futurama take on the problem; when they need to make royal heirs, Ariel is just expecting to lay a clutch of eggs in a bathtub and let Eric fertilize them, and will inevitably be disgusted at the idea of human intercourse.

* ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'' averts this. As the heroine explains to her friend through hand gestures, the {{fishm|en}}an who she falls in love with has [[ExoticEquipment dolphin-style normally internal genitals that emerge from a hole between his legs]].