Mermaids (Tara Duncan)

Mermaids are magical creatures who appear in the animated series Tara Duncan.

Description
Mermaids are duel-natured spellbinders; a hybrid of a spellbinder and a sea creature. Mermaids are a mixture of a very beautiful woman, fish and cetacean (dolphin, whale). Mermaids live in the oceans of the Otherworld. Also inhabiting their oceans is the Great Orca, the mermaids' greatest predator and natural enemy. The sea beast relentlessly hunts the mermaids. The mermaids' beautiful singing is their only defense against the creature as the beast is immune to spell casting. Mute mermaids are powerless against the Orca.

Mermaids are very beautiful creatures and can be vain. According to Fafnir, mermaids think they are prettier than any other creature. In the episode "Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble", it is implied that any mermaid who isn't beautiful is treated as an outcast by her kind.

Mermaids love the sea, water and the creatures within this element. During her transformation into a mermaid, Tara was drawn to the rain and was content and happy just watching it. Mermaids can communicate with sea creatures and do not approve of them being eaten. "Mer-made" shows a mermaid using a knife to cut through a fishing net. Mermaids can be fierce when protecting their world. Odarelle was willing to use her voice to flood the world to free fish from human domination. Their is a magic potion that can turn a person into a mermaid. The potion can be injected and it leaves a mark in the shape of a puffer fish. As the transformation progresses, cracks sprout from the fish's spines. The metamorphosis is slow and gradual. The victim will be drawn to water and whenever she/he speaks, bubbles will come out of their mouths. They will also gain the ability to understand sea creatures. The victim then gains the power to breathe underwater and withstand intense water pressure. Soon, the victim's arms grow fish scales and their legs become a mermaid's tail. When the spell runs its course, the victim will remain a mermaid forever and will possibly be unable to use a transformation spell

Physical Appearance
Mermaids have the upper bodies of beautiful women. Their hair is long and often red. Their hands are webbed like a seal's flipper or a duck's foot. A mermaid's tail is sinuous and looks like a mix between a fish's tail and an eel's body with a vertical tail fin. A mermaid tail's structure allows them to move vertically like a dolphin or horizontally like a fish, depending on their choice. Most mermaids have triangular fins like Aquaphonis and her daughter but Lorelei and Odarelle have more eel-like tail fins. Short, smooth fins run over down the sides of their tails, from their hips to over halfway down their tails.

Mermaid tails are covered in blue-green scales. A mermaid's clothing seems to be attached to their tails. This along with the similar style among mermaids and the shared blue-green hue suggests that their clothing is made of their own scales. Some mermaids may have other colors on their scales like Aquaphonis's daughter whose chest was covered, not just in turquoise scales, but emerald green and deep amber. When submerged in water, mermaids gain a light blue aura.

Powers and Abilities
As spellbinders, mermaids can wield magic and cast spells. They are strong enough to constantly and easily use transformation spells to gain human form, something other creatures like werewolves and harpies seemingly cannot without an enchanted object. As they are part fish, mermaids have the ability to breathe underwater as well as air. Their voices are undiminished by water, enabling them to communicate loud and clear in the ocean. With their eel/fish-like tails, mermaids can swim quickly through the water with enhanced agility and grace. Like dolphins, mermaids can leap high out of the water. They can adapt and live in any kind of water, including fresh and saltwater. As shown by Tara in "Mer-Made", mermaids have a high resistance to water pressure and can dive to depths no human could withstand. A mermaid's hearing is attuned to the sound of a conch shell.

Since they rarely appear in the series, not much is known about their powers. A mermaid's voice possesses magical powers. Their song can mesmerize the Great Orca. They can manipulate water with their voices and conjure waves and water spouts. Some, like Lorelei and Odarelle can influence entire oceans with their voices. When the sisters sing together they can summon gigantic tidal waves capable of flooding the entire world. One mermaid could transform her entire body into water and travel through pipes, drains and cracks. She could also blast water from her hands and expand water molecules, keeping her liquid form from diminishing.

During Tara's mermaid metamorphosis, she displayed the ability to understand the language of all sea creatures, including common goldfish. Mermaids can mimic the sounds of cetaceans like whales and these musical sounds make up their language. A young mermaid's distress call is similar to the cries of an infant whale's. They may be capable of projecting their cries over vast distances underwater in a similar manner to a dolphin's echolocation in order to summon other mermaids or even sea creatures like dolphins.

Known Mermaids

 * Aquaphonis
 * Aquaphonis' Daughter
 * Lorelei
 * Odarelle
 * Tara Duncan (temporarily)
 * Unnamed Mermaid

Episode Appearances

 * The Silent Siren
 * Mer-Made
 * Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble

Trivia and Notes

 * Tome 02.png is no mention of mermen but tritons are mentioned to exist. Like mermaids they are human-fish hybrids but tritons have a more monstrous appearance with dull green scales all over their bodies.
 * It is unknown if they are a completely separate species, the mermaids' male counterparts or just close enough for the two beings to consider themselves two sides of the same coin.
 * If a mermaid has a contagious disease, anyone splashed by the water that makes up her liquid form will catch the sickness.
 * Mermaids share characteristics with both fish and cetaceans(dolphins, whales).
 * They have a salty scent.
 * With the exception of Odarelle, all the mermaids seen in the series have red hair. In English folklore mermaids were described as having flowing hair that ranged from blonde to red. The red hair could also be an allusion to Ariel.

Links

 * https://taraduncan.fandom.com/wiki/Mermaids