r/legendarymerfolk

Mermaids being fictional creatures, obviously the tails are up for interpretation, but I was wondering what style of tales your average mermaid fan best likes.

When I was a kid growing up there was a surprisingly small variety. You had the basic green fins of Ariel in the cartoon or you had Barbie mermaid in pastel colours ranging from hot pink to pale blue. Even movies like The Thirteenth Year (which stands out as one of the few merman movies) weren't especially creative in the tail department. (Splash had a neat looking tail, but unfortunately I didn't see it as a child despite being a millennial, which is a shame because kid!me loved Rom Coms and Mermaids and would have been thrilled if she knew it was a thing!)

I did see some very, very interesting and beautiful mermaid tails in picture books that had a bit more variety than movies growing up. But these were overshadowed by more generic ones which were more popular and based off they Disney Ariel style.

It wasn't until I was a teenager I saw more interesting (but still streamlined and functional looking) mermaid tails. Fifteen year old me was really impressed with how sleek and long Aquamarine's tail was, and seventeen year old me originally thought the orangey tails from h2o looked a little stubby in comparison (though as an adult I would argue I now actually prefer the h2o tail design to the Aquamarine one).

But in the current age of people cosplaying as mermaids online there have been a lot more creative designs for tails. I've seen tails that are bright red meant to be devil or vampire mermaids, lavender "dragon" tails. And as drop dead gorgeous as they are, I'm often caught thinking those don't even look especially aquatic anymore. They're so unfish-like I sometimes think they miss the point.

Looking at the tail for the recent live action version of the Disney Little Mermaid I find myself conflicted. Because it's unique and kind of pretty the way it has all those flowing tendrils, but at the same time it looks more cartoon-y than the cartoon did. It makes me miss the simplicity of the original design, and how it was immediately identifiable as a "mermaid tail". I kind of think we peaked in media with the H2o tails and then we got so insanely elaborate we don't even know what it's supposed to be anymore.

I will admit I think genre plays a huge part. If it's dramatic gritty story then a mermaid with a flashy pink beribboned tail looks absurd but in an underwater fantasy cartoon where everything is supposed to look like it's from a children's colouring book a more elaborate tail looks cool.

But what do you think? Does the style of the tail effect how you feel about a mermaid story as a whole? Does it distract or pull you out of it? What's your favourite mermaid tail design?

In a lot of mermaid stories, especially TV and film since it's usually not feasible to film your entire media piece underwater or in the ocean (but in non visual mediums like books too, for narrative purposes) there will usually be a huge chunk of plot where the mermaid is on land.

Which got me thinking, what do most mermaid fans prefer? A story where the mermaid's tail remains but is hidden in some way, typically by putting her in a wheelchair (think Miranda, the book version of Aquamarine, or that one scene from the ABC family film Princess)? A story where the mermaid CAN change her tail to legs but there usually some rule that she can't touch water or be out after sunset (think Splash, movie!Aquamarine, Mako Mermaids)? A story where a transformation is possible only as part of a magic spell or potion and is largely irreversible (think Little Mermaid)?

Which do you like best, and is your preference just your preference for fun or personal taste reasons or do you feel it makes for a better narrative?

Also, for life-long mermaid fiction fans, has your preference changed since you were a child? Is there a mermaid to human transformation plot ex machina you'd cringe at as a viewer/reader now but in childhood wouldn't have batted an eye at or been bothered by?

When I say "humancore" whimsy, I mean mermaids just doing underwater versions of human activities or living like humans but the "undersea" version. Like mermaids riding giant seahorses (when we know of course seahorses that gigantic are not a thing, even in a world where belief for mermaids can be lightly suspended) or living in sea cottages and sea castles that are just like a regular castle or cottages but made from shells or corals.

These motifs are adorable in children's books and decorations and fun in cartoons (Disney's little mermaid series leaned hard into this much more than the movie did), but I was wondering if a book, film, video game, or other piece of media meant for older than middle grade can use this style without it seeming weird or cliche or suspending disbelief?

What do most mermaid fans think?

I made this for a summer art conquest.

She (Lily from Magic Island) was my favorite fictional mermaid as a kid. But nobody seems to know what I'm talking about when I mention her.

I am in progress of making a short film series about mermaids and mental health set for a fall 2026/spring 2027 release date. (Season one is being filmed this summer.)

This is just TEST FOOTAGE which is why the quality and sound is so bad. I’m filming this series on a camcorder from Amazon that my boyfriend got me for my birthday this year and I didn’t use the additional mic that came with the camcorder because I didn’t think there would be any issues with the sound and that it would sound fine. Turns out, I was wrong, lesson learned about audio quality. I will use the additional mic next time when actually filming for real.

Also I want to disclose that I am NOT naked in these clips! I was wearing a strapless bathing suit top and bathing suit bottoms because my little brother was holding the camcorder for me!

The props in this scene are mermaid scale tights that I sewed scales from Finfolk Productions onto and mermaid gloves designed after Feral Workshop’s mermaid gloves. (I am not taking credit for designing the gloves—that is all Feral Workshop’s original design!) I will however take credit for the tights as I haven’t seen anyone else on tik tok or Instagram or Reddit do that yet.

Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for; the tail. The tail was designed using Fin Fun’s custom tail design template online. You can design your own custom tail using either the diy route where YOU draw the scale patterns and colors and everything, or you can do the template version and plug in colors and decals. I did the template version for convenience and because it was easiest for me.

Anyways, my tik tok for my short film series and mermaiding is @solarplaycinema for those who want to watch the series when it’s out on Tik Tok and YouTube someday! I’m so excited to share more progress updates! If anyone has any questions, please let me know in the comments and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

I just noticed this but Ariel is the only Disney princess to have a kid. She’s actually the only Disney princess to get married and have a kid, she was born a princess married a prince and later has a kid. Let me make this clear she’s not the only princess to get married, but she’s the only princess to have a kid as well as have a husband. Melody is also one of the least known princesses most people aren’t aware that she even exists. Ariel has three animated movies a series and a live action movie. I’m placing an image of Melody’s doll because she doesn’t have a lot of dolls.

my first mermaid tale was a SunTail mermaid tail, this actually uses my mono from that and then a vinyl insert to move the rest of the fluke, it is amazing