In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same traditions), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans. The male equivalent of the mermaid is the merman, also a familiar figure in folklore and heraldry. Although traditions about and sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts. The male and the female collectively are sometimes referred to as merfolk or merpeople.

The Western concept of mermaids as beautiful, seductive singers may have been influenced by the Siren of Greek mythology, which were originally half-birdlike, but came to be pictured as half-fishlike in the Christian era. Historical accounts of mermaids, such as those reported by Christopher Columbus during his exploration of the Caribbean, may have been sightings of manatees or similar aquatic mammals. While there is no evidence that mermaids exist outside folklore, reports of mermaid sightings continue to the present day.

Mermaids have been a popular subject of art and literature in recent centuries, such as in Hans Christian Andersen's literary fairy tale The Little Mermaid or in the Neverland Mermaids in Peter Pan. They have subsequently been depicted in operas, paintings, books, comics, animation, and live-action films.

In The Shadow Over Innsmouth, there is a grim variant of merfolk lore via The Deep Ones. Man-fish creatures are subservient to their patron gods Father Dagon and Mother Hydra. They have an affinity for intermarrying with humans and promoting the worship of The Old Ones.

Any published appearances of mermaids before January 1, )-(95)}} are public domain in the US.

Notable appearances can be found [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaids_in_popular_culture here] and below:

*Nibelungenlied (ca. 1200)
*Rabenschlacht (13th century)
*Hortus Sanitatis (1491)
*“The Yellow Dwarf,” by Madame d’Aulnoy (1697) – The original French text refers to the mermaid as a siren, reflecting [https://www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SirensAreMermaids how the Romance languages conflate] the two beings.
*The Wonders of Nature and Art (2nd ed,, 1768)
*The Hurricane, by William Gilbert (1796)
*The Mermaid “at Home!” (1809)
*The Mermaid Not Fabulous (1809)
*“On Mermaids” (Jan. 1823) – article in The Gentleman’s Magazine
*“The Mermaid Exposed” (Apr. 1823) – response in The Gentleman’s Magazine
*Citation and Examination of William Shakspeare, Euseby Treen, Joseph Carnaby and Silas Gough, Clerk, by Walter Savage Landor (1834)
*“The Little Mermaid,” by Hans Christian Andersen (1836)
*“The Golden Mermaid,” by Arthur and Albert Schott (1845) – translated to English in The Green Fairy Book (1892)
*Moby‐Dick, by Herman Melville (1851)
*“The Mermaid of Legend and of Art,” by Llewellynn Jewitt (1880)
*Brownies and Bogles, by Louise Imogen Guiney (1888)
*“M’Ginty Restored to the Bosom of His Family” (8 Feb. 1890) – poem in The Wasp
*[https://literature.fandom.com/wiki/The_Fisherman_and_his_Soul The Fisherman and His Soul], by Oscar Wilde (1891)
*The Sea Lady, by H. G. Wells (1901)
*Peter and Wendy, by J. M. Barrie (1904)
*“The Journey’s Beginning,” by Burges Johnson (5 Dec. 1908) – poem in Judge, reprinted in Judge’s Library (Dec. 1909), Caricature (1912)
*The Magical Man of Mirth a.k.a. Dollie’s Big Dream, by Elbridge H. Sabin (1910)
*The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie (1910)
*The Fairies and the Christmas Child, by Lilian Gask (1912)
*Wet Magic, by E. Nesbit (1913)
*The Sea Fairies (1911)
*The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1915)
*The Scarecrow of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (1915)
*Deary Dot and the Squee, by Nina B. Mason (1916)
*The Story of Superstition, by Philip F. Waterman (1929)
*The Mystery and Lore of Monsters, by C. J. S. Thompson (1930)
*“The Sea Princess” (1930) – anonymous story in By Seven Singing Willows
*The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1936)
*“The Mermaid of Maracot Deep,” by Alexander Blade (Mar. 1949)

* “Clerk Colvill” (ballad)
* “The Mermaid” (ballad)
* The Mermaid (farce), by Andrew Franklin (1792)
* King Flame and Queen Pearly Drops; or, Harlequin Simon Simple and the Pretty Mermaid at the Bottom of the Sea (pantomime), by Nelson Lee (1865)

*The Mermaid (1904)
*Siren of the Sea (1911)
*Neptune's Daughter (1914)
*A Daughter of the Gods (1916)
*Queen of the Sea (1918)
*Venus of the South Seas (1924)

*The Turr’ble Tales of Kaptin Kiddo (newspaper strip) (14 Aug. 1910 and 11 Dec. 1910)
*The Unseen #14
*The Hand of Fate #21
*Meteor Comics #1
*Funny Pages #6
*Fairy Tale Parade #5, 7
*Blue Bolt vol. 2 #8
*Nightmare #2

* Permanent Wave (1929)
* Sport Chumpions (1941)

* Uncle Walt (1964)

*A list of mermaid characters on this wiki can be found [https://pdsh.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Mermaid_Characters here].
*In the Pokemon anime, [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Ash_Ketchum Ash Ketchum]'s friend [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Misty_(anime) Misty] appears as a mermaid in two episodes: "[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/EP061 The Misty Mermaid]" from Pokémon: Indigo League and "[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/HS02 Cerulean Blues]" from Pokémon Chronicles. In addition [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Primarina_(Pok%C3%A9mon) Primarina], a Water/Fairy-type originally from the games Sun & Moon, is based on both a mermaid and a sea lion.

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid Wikipedia]
*[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/mermaids/4060-58881/ ComicVine]
*[https://myths-in-media.fandom.com/wiki/Mermaid Myths in Media Wiki]
*[https://www.publicdomainreview.org/essay/mermaids-and-tritons-in-the-age-of-reason/ The Public Domain Review]
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