Try our affiliated browser extension - redirect to BreezeWiki automatically!

Merman

James Carson Poseidon
"Now, he looks like I always imagined a merman to look."
―Jack Sparrow on Tonra[src]

A merman (or mermen) was an aquatic creature with the body of a male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down. As merfolk, mermen were familiar figures that appear in the myths, legends, and folklore of many cultures worldwide. Sometimes mermen were described as hideous and other times as handsome, and were generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts, mermaids.

History

CotBPBlackPearlTrident

By the Age of Piracy, mermen appeared with the merfolk in the myths, legends, and folklore of many cultures worldwide. During his early teenage adventures, young Jack Sparrow had encountered mermen,[1] namely the merman Tonra.[2]

Mermen would also be symbolized in forms of art, such as paintings, sculptures, statues, or carved decorative work.[3][4][5] The most well-known example was two bearded mermen holding tridents being used for the design on the stern of the ships, namely the pirate vessels Wicked Wench and the Black Pearl.[3][5]

At least one lithograph depicted the mythical god of the sea Poseidon holding a three-pronged Trident,[6] where even in the simple drawing, the object's power was clear.[4] Young 12-year-old Henry Turner spent his life studying the myths of the sea and had every inch of his bedroom wall covered with paper, including the image of Poseidon, as well as drawings of mermaids and mermen swimming through blue waters, their lips pulled back to reveal fangs instead of teeth as they chased hapless sailors.[4][5]

Notable mermen

Behind the scenes

Although mermen were used as a decorative design for the Black Pearl in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,[3] the term "merman" was first used in the 2008 book Jack Sparrow: Poseidon's Peak,[1] prior to their first appearance in Jack Sparrow: Bold New Horizons.[2]

Triton of Greek mythology was depicted as a half-man, half-fish merman in ancient Greek art, the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, who were not merfolk.[7] However, while Triton being a merman in the Pirates universe is unconfirmed, Poseidon was depicted as a merman in at least one lithograph by James Carson,[6] which appeared in opening scene of the 2017 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.[5]

Appearances

See also

External links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jack Sparrow: Poseidon's Peak
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jack Sparrow: Bold New Horizons
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 POSEIDON LITHO - Jim Carson Design: Film Design / Production Illustration - Archived
  7. ↑ Triton on Wikipedia