List of aquatic humanoids

The bishop-fish, a piscine humanoid reported in Poland in the 16th century

Aquatic humanoids appear in legend and fiction.^[1] "Water-dwelling people with fully human, fish-tailed or other compound physiques feature in the mythologies and folklore of maritime, lacustrine and riverine societies across the planet."^[2]^: 6

Myth

"Ancient sea deities" have been regarded as the "earliest version of a human-fish hybrid".^[3] Creatures with a human torso and the tail of a fish appear in the myths of cultures around the world and persist in contemporary popular culture.^[2]^: 6^[3]^[4]

Legend

The Amabie from Japanese folklore
The ceasg in Scottish folklore
Finfolk from the folklore of Orkney
Kappa from Japanese folklore
The Loveland frog
Melusine in European folklore
Merrows from Irish folklore
The Neck from Scandinavian folklore
The Ningyo from Japanese folklore
Selkies, from Irish folklore
Sirens, while initially described as birdlike, but have become associated with mermaids in later folklore.
The Umibōzu from Japanese folklore
Undines in the writings of Paracelsus

Hoax

Fiji mermaid, taxidermic hoax perpetuated by PT Barnum.

Fiction

Literature

Grendel and Grendel's mother from Beowulf
Caliban from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
The Little Mermaid, from Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales (1837)
The underwater people from H. G. Wells's story "In the Abyss" (1896)^[5]
The harbor master from Robert W. Chambers's story "The Harbor-Master" (1899)^[6]
Mr. Toad from The Wind in the Willows (1908)
The fish man from Irvin S. Cobb's story "Fishhead" (1913)^[6]
The Frogman from L. Frank Baum's The Lost Princess of Oz (1917)
Ichthyander from Alexander Belyayev's Amphibian Man (1928)^[7]
The Deep Ones from H. P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1936)^[6]
The Newts from Karel Čapek's War with the Newts (1936)^[8]
The Myposans from Edgar Rice Burroughs's "Slaves of the Fish Men" (1941)
Marsh-wiggles from C. S. Lewis's The Silver Chair (1953)
Swimmers from C. M. Kosemen's All Tomorrows (2006)

Comics

The Fish Men from Buck Rogers comic strips
The Shark Men from Flash Gordon comic strips
Namor the Sub-Mariner, from the Marvel Universe
Aquaman from DC Comics
The Water People from Carl Barks's story "The Secret of Atlantis"
Frog-Man and the Ani-Men version of Frog-Man from Marvel Comics
Abe Sapien and the "frog monsters" from the Hellboy comics
Pepe the Frog, a comic character and Internet meme
The Trench in DC Comics.

Films

The frog people from The Mysterious Island (1929)^[9]
The Gill-man from Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)^[10]
The Gill-man from The She-Creature (1956)^[11]
The Gill-man from The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1958)^[11]
The Gill-men from City Under the Sea (1965)^[12]
The titular creatures from Humanoids from the Deep (1980)
The mutant from Leviathan (1989)
The aquatic aliens from The Abyss (1989)
Cecaelia – Half-human, half-octopus, the term was coined by fans in the late 2000s to describe characters such as Ursula from The Little Mermaid (1989).^[2]^: 37

The Killer from Split Second (1992)
Chocki, the shark-man from Cabin Boy (1994)
The "Mariner" from Waterworld (1995)
The Gungans from Star Wars (1999)
The Amphibian Man from The Shape of Water (2017)

Games

The Argonians from Elder Scrolls
Aulbath (a.k.a. Rikuo) from the video game series, Darkstalkers, by Capcom
The Battletoads from the video game series of the same name
Bullywug from the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game
The Melusines from the nation of Fontaine in Genshin Impact
The Murloc are a species of amphibious creatures which live in tribes in World of Warcraft^[13]
The Naga are a species of aquatic humanoids under the command and leadership of Queen Azshara in World of Warcraft
Neptuna, the mermaid-like boss in Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
The Rokea from the roleplaying game Werewolf: the Apocalypse
The sahuagin from the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game
The Salarians, a race in the Mass Effect series
The tritons from the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game^[14]
Zoras from The Legend of Zelda

Television

The characters of Amphibia, a world of anthropomorphic frogs and other amphibians.
The Aquaphibians from the Stingray TV series
Bullfrog from the adult animated show Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix
The race of Cabira (one of Chilled's henchmen) is a race of fish-like humanoids from Dragon Ball
Crazy Frog
The Fish People from the radio broadcast Alexei Sayle and the Fish People
The Fishmen are a race of fish-like humans from the anime One Piece. They are modeled after different aquatic lifeforms. The Fishmen can breed with Giants to create Wotans.
Gill (aka Gil Moss) from "Kim Possible"
Goo from Gumby
Hippocampus from Krapopolis is a piscine humanoid. The episode "Prince Hippo" revealed that he is part of a race of Atlantean fish-men with his mother being the unnamed Queen of Atlantis.
The Hynerians from Farscape
Kermit the Frog and Robin the Frog from The Muppets
Some characters in Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea are humans having the ability to breathe underwater (called Ena)
The Kanassans are a race of fish-like humanoids from the planet Manassas. They are said to possess psychic abilities, including being able to read minds and see into the future. They featured in the special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku
Mer-Man from the Masters of the Universe franchise
Molly, Gil, Goby, Deema, Oona and Nonny from Bubble Guppies
Michigan J. Frog, star of the Looney Tunes short One Froggy Evening and onetime mascot of The WB
Rayza from A.T.O.M.
Queen Oona from Disenchantment belongs to a race of amphibious humanoids called Salamanders.
Sil and the Sea Devils from Doctor Who
In the Dragon Ball Z series, the alien race of Sūi' (one of Frieza's foot soldiers) is a race of humanoid fish-like aliens who worked in the Galactic Frieza Army
The TigerSharks from The Comic Strip segment of the same name

Citations

^ Bane, Theresa (2016-05-04). Encyclopedia of giants and humanoids in myth, legend and folklore. McFarland. ISBN 9781476663517. OCLC 918874339.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hayward, Philip (2017). Making a Splash: Mermaids (and Mermen) in 20th and 21st Century Audiovisual Media. John Libbey Publishing. ISBN 9780861969258.
^ ^a ^b Strozier, Scott (2022). Probable, Possible, Plausible - Explanatory Guide to Monsters and Myth. Dorrance Publishing. p. 161. ISBN 9781636613468.
^ Maxwell, Melissa (2024). "Introduction". The Little Encyclopedia of Mermaids. Running Press. ISBN 9780762488377.
^ Debus 2016, p. 231-232.
^ ^a ^b ^c Joshi 1999, p. 163.
^ Bleiler 1990, pp. 46–47.
^ Debus 2016, p. 235.
^ Debus 2016, p. 230.
^ Debus 2016, pp. 230–231.
^ ^a ^b Debus 2016, p. 237.
^ Mitchell, Charles P. (2001). The complete H.P. Lovecraft filmography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 19. ISBN 9780313316418.
^ Bainbridge, William Sims (2012). The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World. MIT Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-262-28837-8.
^ Furniss, Zack (November 16, 2016). "Volo's Guide to Monsters is the new, awesome Monster Manual for Dungeons & Dragons". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2024-11-25.

General references

Bleiler, E. F. (1990). Science-fiction, the early years : a full description of more than 3,000 science-fiction stories from earliest times to the appearance of the genre magazines in 1930 : with author, title, and motif indexes. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. ISBN 9780873384162.
Bleiler, E. F. (1998). Science-fiction : the Gernsback years : a complete coverage of the genre magazines ... from 1926 through 1936. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. ISBN 9780873386043.
Debus, Allen A. (2016). Dinosaurs ever evolving : the changing face of prehistoric animals in popular culture. Jefferson, North Carolina. ISBN 978-0786499519.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Joshi, S. T. (1999). A subtler magick : the writings and philosophy of H.P. Lovecraft. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Wildside Press. ISBN 9781880448618.

[1] Bane, Theresa (2016-05-04). Encyclopedia of giants and humanoids in myth, legend and folklore. McFarland. ISBN 9781476663517. OCLC 918874339.

[Hayward-2] Hayward, Philip (2017). Making a Splash: Mermaids (and Mermen) in 20th and 21st Century Audiovisual Media. John Libbey Publishing. ISBN 9780861969258.

[Strozier-3] Strozier, Scott (2022). Probable, Possible, Plausible - Explanatory Guide to Monsters and Myth. Dorrance Publishing. p. 161. ISBN 9781636613468.

[4] Maxwell, Melissa (2024). "Introduction". The Little Encyclopedia of Mermaids. Running Press. ISBN 9780762488377.

[FOOTNOTEDebus2016231-232-5] Debus 2016, p. 231-232.

[FOOTNOTEJoshi1999163-6] Joshi 1999, p. 163.

[FOOTNOTEBleiler199046–47-7] Bleiler 1990, pp. 46–47.

[FOOTNOTEDebus2016235-8] Debus 2016, p. 235.

[FOOTNOTEDebus2016230-9] Debus 2016, p. 230.

[FOOTNOTEDebus2016230–231-10] Debus 2016, pp. 230–231.

[FOOTNOTEDebus2016237-11] Debus 2016, p. 237.

[12] Mitchell, Charles P. (2001). The complete H.P. Lovecraft filmography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 19. ISBN 9780313316418.

[murlocs-13] Bainbridge, William Sims (2012). The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World. MIT Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-262-28837-8.

[ZF-14] Furniss, Zack (November 16, 2016). "Volo's Guide to Monsters is the new, awesome Monster Manual for Dungeons & Dragons". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2024-11-25.

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