Sandbox / Our Mermaids Are Different Wick Check

Wicks checked: 50/50

Correct - Describes what makes the mermaid(s) different (19/50)

• Animation.Mermaid: As noted above, the rusalka solve the Mermaid Problem by being fully human in body. That's because they aren't actually fish people: they are the spirits of young women who either drowned themselves or who were murdered by drowning. And instead of being cutesy, they are malevolent: see The Fair Folk above.
• Anime.Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea: Ponyo and her sisters resemble the traditional depictions of ningyo (mermaids) from Japanese folklore. Unlike European mermaids, they're basically fish with human faces (although the folkloric ones tend to be far more grotesque and monstrous). As Toki points out, catching one is indeed a sign of misfortune.
• Anime.Doraemon Nobitas Great Battle Of The Mermaid King: Sophia and her kin are former humans who became adapt to living underwater, with their mermaid transformation being facilitated by turning a button on their clothes. They can survive on dry land for quite a while, but the moment they start drying up they'll need to submerge themselves in water, notably in Sophia's first meeting with the gang - she passes out after flying for several minutes on the Takecopter, but luckily the tub at Shizuka's house is always full of water.
• Bloodborne.Tropes J To Z: The Old Hunters has what's probably the closest analogue to mermaids in the Bloodborne world. They're white, woman-shaped mollusk-like creatures that frequently inhabit large ammonite shells who appear to worship Kos, and have been transformed into their state by her influence.
• Film.Aquamarine:
  • The movie uses the Splash method of wet = tail and dry = legs. However she must change back into her mermaid form at sunset.
  • The movie also gives merfolk the ability to grant wishes.
  • The book treats it in a vastly different manner: Aquamarine cannot change at all. Hailey and Claire have to use a wheelchair to move her around on land.
  • Aquamarine also not only speaks and understands English perfectly but claims to speak every known human language and says such a power is standard for mermaids.
• Film.Pirates Of The Caribbean On Stranger Tides: They're freaking spooky, and siren-esque man-killers.
• Literature.Deep Trouble: The mermaids in the book are strong enough to take on sharks, communicate via sonar, and are extremely protective of their own kind.
• Manga.My Bride Is A Mermaid: Merpeople in this setting can take on human form — though exposure to water can forcibly revert them to their true forms unless they build up a resistance — and possess magic vocal powers that range from Mind-Control Music to Super-Empowering to accelerated healing to sonic blasts.
• WesternAnimation.Luca: The humanoid sea monsters are a take on mer-folk but have two legs and a tail. When they are not wet, by leaving the ocean or leaping high out of the water, they take a human form.
• AnimalMotifs.Video Games: Hornet Man and Splash Woman from Mega Man 9 have bees and fishes for their designs, respectively. Like Centuar Man, though, Splash Woman has her animal motif limited to her lower half, and is thus basically a Robot Mermaid.
• Characters.Chrono Cross: Unlike some mermaids in fiction, she has no trouble navigating on land. ^note This is in reference to Irenes.
• Characters.Courage The Cowardly Dog Minor Villains Season 1: She lives underwater and takes on an angler-like form when Courage comes to rescue Eustace. ^note This is in reference to the Queen of the Black Puddle.
• WesternAnimation.Magi Nation: Orothians have blue skin, human-like hair, and fin-like ears. All those shown have fish tails with horizontal flukes. These tails can turn into legs for locomotion on land.
• WinxClub.Tropes M To R: Andros' realm has a winged version of mermaids and tritons. They have powerful voices and the ability to fly. Some have also magical powers.
• WesternAnimation.Xiaolin Showdown: At least the one the group runs into; in water, she has a very beautiful form. Out of water, though, not so much.
• WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway.Video Games: Wakasagihime becomes stronger in water. And she's still a stage 1 boss. During an incident that empowered the weak.
• VideoGame.Mother 3: Deep under Cerulean Beach you encounter not mermaids, but... mermen? Anyway, these mermen, or Oxygen Machines, supply your party with oxygen, when you kiss them that is. Pucker up!
• TheFairlyOddParents.Tropes K To R: "The island of beautiful mermaids that all look like Trixie Tang." Jorgen (who for once is the storyteller in "Timmy The Barbarian") quickly glosses over the fact.
• SuperMarioOdyssey.Tropes N To Z: The Lochladies of the Lake Kingdom. They all have blue skin, are excellent seamstresses, and can easily maneuver and survive on dry land. Oh, and they're exclusively female.

Misuse - Simply mentions this is a mermaid (15/50)

• MsFanservice.Anime And Manga: The Mermaids in Fishman Island are naturally appealing, so Sanji was in heaven.
• PainfulTransformation.Video Games: In Cuphead, during Cala Maria's boss fight, she is transformed into a gorgon by two electric eels, who bite and electrocute her. Judging by her initial reaction and her screams, it was a very unpleasant experience for her.
• ParentalAbandonment.Anime And Manga: New companion Isma is a subversion, as her father died and her mother abandoned her but her mother came back upon the reveal that she is a merrow.
• InterspeciesRomance.Live Action TV: Chad (human) falls in love with Merina (mermaid) in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue (episodes "Ocean Blue" and "Neptune's Daughter").
• InterspeciesRomance.Video Games: Link's Accidental Marriage to Princess Ruto in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. While she does let him off the hook due to the "Sage of Water/Hero of Time" thing, she really did want to go through with. Also, Word of God confirms that Navi had fallen for Link just like nearly every other girl in the game.
• WesternAnimation.Polly Pocket:
  • In "Area Fifty-None," one the creatures housed there is a mermaid. She makes later reappearances when the facility is mentioned or seen.
  • An entire kingdom of mermaids appears in the "Mermaid Kingdom" two-parter.
• WesternAnimation.Bubble Guppies: The guppies themselves are typical mermaids, but we also have mer-dogs, mer-cows, mer-horses... basically all land animals are mer-creatures in this show.
• Characters.Vampire Princess Miyu: Rima, who is a full-blooded mermaid and has to live in a tank. Mari, on the other hand, is almost completely normal save for her Psychic Link with Rima.
• AmbiguouslyHuman.Video Games: A Link Between Worlds has Rosso the miner, who looks like a Goron even though, going by A Link to the Past, his ancestors were apparently human. Though if Medli can be a direct descendant of Laruto in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, it's at least safe to assume he's genuine human as it's pretty clear evolution basically does whatever it feels like in the land of Hyrule.
• AmericansHateTingle.Anime And Manga: Shirahoshi, the gigantic mermaid princess who won't stop crying, is wildly unpopular with the American fans. In Japan? She ranked 28th in the fifth popularity poll, and 31st in the sixth poll.
• Anime.Tropical Rouge Pretty Cure: The costumes of the Cures have elements from mermaids and sailors. Lampshaded by Cure La Mer, who is a mermaid princess.
• CaptainObviousReveal.Anime And Manga: Monster Musume: Eventually it's revealed that Mero is actually a princess. This came to the surprise of absolutely nobody since the foreshadowing is so blatant that it's almost impossible to miss. Most notably, almost immediately after being introduced, Centorea goes off on a tangent about Mero's "royal aura". Even in-universe, the amount of surprise is minimal.
• WesternAnimation.My Little Pony The Movie 2017: Mythology Gag: While they've appeared previously in G4 storybooks and comics, the movie officially carries G1's seaponies into the G4 animation. The song that happens in their kingdom, "One Small Thing", evokes a Busby Berkeley Number, which the G1 seaponies' song also did. The group also call upon the seaponies when they're in distress.
• Yandere.Literature: In Kier Neustaedter's short story "And Sáavüld Danced..." the title character, put in a situation much like the Stardoc example below, goes to similar lengths (albeit by making a deal with an Eldritch Abomination rather than by way of technology) to get revenge. However, she's treated far more sympathetically—a sort of tragic Anti-Villain Protagonist, as it were.
• VideoGame.Puyo Puyo: Serilly, although she seems to believe in the eat-the-mermaid myth.

Misuse - Ties mermaid theme to character who isn't a mermaid (13/50)

• Characters.The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls Voiced Idols: Her fish theme makes it inevitable. ^note This is in reference to Nanami Asari.
• Characters.The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls Cool Type: Rare+ costume. Tends to be her stage gimmick in general. ^note This is in reference to Shiori Sena.
• DextersLaboratory.Tropes M To R: Dee Dee pretended to be a Mermaid swimming in the sea in "Ocean Commotion" episode.
• DrinkingGame.Pokemon: If Misty showcases blatant Super Not-Drowning Skills at any point, finish your current bottle, then drink the whole of your next bottle.
• ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated.Tropes I To R: Totally alien blue looking mermaid, but it turns out to be a woman in a costume.
• WesternAnimation.Coraline: Sirens Are Mermaids: During the Other Spink and Forcible's song, the Other Spink describes herself as "the siren of all seven seas" while dressed as a mermaid.
• Characters.Turning Red: Precocious Crush: She has a massive one on Devon, the seventeen-year-old store clerk, though originally, she thought he looked like a hobo and only gets interested after making animesque drawings of him. Her fantasies of him usually involve mermaids. In fact, he was the impetus for her premature red panda transformation, and she hilariously cannot control her supernatural spirit whenever he's in the vicinity.
• BreadEggsBreadedEggs.Western Animation: Robot Chicken: One sketch has a fisherman catch a mermaid who angrily corrects him when he mistakes her for a genie. A few moments later, she reveals herself to be a genie who only looks like a mermaid.
• Characters.Ganbare Goemon: In some games she gains the ability to turn into a mermaid, allowing you to swim underwater in deep bodies of water like rivers and oceans. ^note This is in reference to Yae.
• Characters.Hyrule Warriors DLC Characters: Marin wields a bell as her main weapon, itself a magical instrument created by mermaids. She uses the bell's chimes to create water-based attacks or summon the Wind Fish. She can also sing sweet melodies to attack enemies.
• Characters.Kingdom Hearts Sora: While in Atlantica, Sora will appear as a merman with a blue dolphin tail, thanks to Donald's magic.
• BoundAndGagged.Disney: Also, during the "Ursula's Revenge" number in Atlantica, Flotsam and Jetsam used their bodies to tightly restrain Sora, which nearly causes him to suffocate (despite being a merman). He gets saved by Donald and Goofy before killing his former captives with a beam of light from his Keyblade.
• TakenForGranite.Video Games: Happens during the battle with Cala Maria in Cuphead. In her gorgon form, she can fire out a huge beam that'll turn our heroes Cuphead and Mugman into stone (complete with their empty eye sockets), which will put them in danger of getting hit by a real bullet if they're not quick to break out of their stoned forms. This eventually gets turned on her in her second-to-third phase transition, where her whole body (sans her head) turns to stone and crumbles into the ocean, forcing her to detach her own head and continue battling the boys. In simple difficulty, her entire body becomes completely petrified after her defeat.

Other (3/50)

• Series.Pair Of Kings ^note It's just the trope name and that's it.
• WesternAnimation.Adventures Of The Gummi Bears: Standard fantasy version appears in "Water Way to Go."
• VideoGame.Mega Man ZX: Luring in Prey: Lurerre from ZX is mostly shown as a robotic mermaid, but the "mermaid body" is actually her lure — her big, fish body is offscreen most of the time, and sometimes appearing to launch a strong attack.