r/mermaids

One detail that stood out to me ever since I was a kid is that mermaids are very often depicted with their belly buttons visible. It's such a small thing, but for some reason I couldn't help noticing it, especially with Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Even as a kid, I remember thinking it was interesting that she had a fish tail but still had a clearly visible navel.

It's such a small detail, but I find it really interesting from an artistic and fantasy-design perspective. Even though a mermaid's lower body is a fish tail, artists will often keep the human anatomy around the stomach and navel, which makes the character feel like a blend of human and aquatic creature

I think part of what fascinates me is that it helps reinforce the "human half" of the mermaid and makes the design feel more relatable and human despite the fantasy elements. But I'm curious if there's a deeper artistic, historical, or mythological reason why visible belly buttons became such a standard feature in mermaid depictions. Or is showing your belly button simply just a popular way merfolk express themselves with mermaid fashion.

I've noticed it across a lot of different mermaid artwork, illustrations, statues, costumes, and media, and I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this or has thoughts on why the belly button became such a common part of mermaid designs

Has anyone else noticed this, or am I the only one who paid way too much attention to this detail growing up

Is it mainly just a way of emphasizing their human half, or is there some artistic/history reason behind it?

Loved taking my new tail out to a group photoshoot! I made a new top for the occasion. All of the sand in my hair was worth it. 🥰

Original artwork from Muriel Juneberry Fahrion, the original creator of Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, and the GetAlong Gang was inspired by wife to create this piece of art in her mermaids collection.

I love this little mermaid so much.

Photo taken by my friend!

i love mermaiding!!

Apologies for the bad cropping but mfs are funny 😭

What you're seeing is a sketch of an original character for a comic in development, which was originally for a parody series of Gaturro (aka the Argentina's Garfield rip-off), although in the end I wanted to do something of my own with Ayalen. She is the daughter of a sumpall (mapuche creature that has some similarities with the mermaids) and Nahuelito, so she's half lake monster. Besides falling in love with a shapeshifting, naturalist sea lion named Morgan Leandro, Aside from having a conflict about feeling that she wants to be more than just a pretty face and not be in the shadow of her father, she is trying to become famous on her own merits.

I don't know what you think of this and the sketches I made of her, and if you want, you can leave your suggestions for the character in the comments.

Now, lets be real here. I‘ve always had a thing for merfolk. But one Headcanon I can get behind (That I made up) is that Ursula’s spell that she used to turn Ariel human has the REVERSE effect on land dwellers. Aka turning them into merfolk.

That first gif definitely shows how mesmerizing I find the reversed version of Ariel’s first transformation as she sheds her human legs for the familiar fins. I like to think that she enjoys the feeling of her feet flattening and her legs merging into a singular structure.

And the second gif just screams that the vortex the contract has surrounded her in is changing her legs into a tail to swim the seas- even though Triton literally signed himself over to take her place.

Which leads me into the fact that some Disney ship video makers use gif number 2 a lot for when they want to transform Ariel back into or have her become a mermaid. It’s in the same vein as Melody’s transformation in the sequel.

In short, both of them are surrounded by a magical whirlpool that lifts them into the air and turns their legs into tails.

Sorry for the rambling, but this is just a cold take I wanted to share!

And it awakened my obsession with turning fictional characters into merfolk… yeah.

And I’m a girl, btw.

kind of a basic thing right now. not sure how far this'll go. i have a few ideas but i am not to certain on if i can do them or if it is worth it.

I got this diamond painting a while back and finished it sometime last year. Thought you guys might like it.

Funniest shit I’ve ever seen. I’m also definitely not swimming in this thing. No monofin and it was like 15 bucks on Amazon (I’m also not a very strong swimmer but I’m also 6’3 so it’s not a big issue). May post more tail pics soon.