Changes: Merman

Revision as of 04:58, 22 February 2020

The Merman is one of the monsters on the whiteboard. He is bet on by Hadley. He laments on the Merman not being chosen, as it is one of the few monsters he has never seen.

Physical Description

The Merman is shown as a half-human, half-fish monster with flabby blue skin, a large mouth full of sharp teeth, long unkempt black hair, and a blowhole on its back. It kills by attacking the victim with its teeth and blowing their blood out of its blowhole. Sitterson comments on this gruesome process, stating that "the cleanup on them is a nightmare." While it can survive on land, it is incredibly slow and bulky and thus only effective at finishing off incapacitated victims.

Originally, it was supposed to be a scrapped monster known as a Wendigo .

It is summoned by the conch in the basement.

Appearances

The Merman is one of the only trashy monsters not shown in its cube cell. Later he does appear during the System Purge, where he finishes off an injured Steve Hadley during the attack on the control room. The Merman was among the monsters portrayed in the Universal Orlando Attraction Halloween Horror Nights 23 in 2013. In this appearance, though, it was not portrayed by a person wearing a costume as it was in the film, but instead as a life size, non-moving prop.

Inspiration

The Merman is likely inspired by The Creature from the Black Lagoon or the cult classic Frankenfish. Mer-men and mermaids (or mer-folk in general) are prevalent in nearly all the world's mythologies, particularly in Greece whose sea-based culture described sea divinities, such as Oceanides and Nereids. The Sumerians worshipped Atargatis, the mermaid-goddess, but the Japanese feared Isohime, a giant mermaid who snatched and drowned sailors on the sea.

Russia is said to have derived its name from "Ros", the mermaid-goddess. In classical mythology, mermaids were beautiful fish-tailed women who abducted sailors as lovers while mer-men were usually described as ugly. However, most scholars believe these legends were based on animals like manatees and dugongs unfamiliar to fishermen. Mermaids appear often in modern media, such as the "Chicken of the Sea" mascot and the Disney motion picture, The Little Mermaid (1989). The Merman was obviously inspired by the Merrows from Irish folklore.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[File:Merman.jpg|thumb|253x253px]]
 '''The Merman''' is one of the monsters on the whiteboard. He is bet on by [[Steve Hadley|Hadley]]. He laments on the Merman not being chosen, as it is one of the few monsters he has never seen.
 ==Physical Description==
-The Merman is shown as a half-human, half-fish monster with flabby blue skin, a large mouth full of sharp teeth, long unkempt black hair, and a blowhole on its back. It kills by attacking the victim with its teeth and blowing their blood out of its blowhole. Sitterson comments on this gruesome process, stating that "the cleanup on them is a nightmare." While it can survive on land, it is incredibly slow and bulky and thus only effective at finishing off incapacitated victims.
+The Merman is shown as a half-human, half-fish monster with flabby blue skin, a large mouth full of sharp teeth, long unkempt black hair, and a blowhole on its back. It kills by attacking the victim with its teeth and blowing their blood out of its blowhole. Sitterson comments on this gruesome process, stating that "the cleanup on them is a nightmare." While it can survive on land, it is incredibly slow and bulky and thus only effective at finishing off incapacitated victims.
+Originally, it was supposed to be a scrapped monster known as a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo Wendigo] .
-It is summoned by blowing on the Conch Shell in the basement.
+It is summoned by the conch in the basement.
 ==Appearances==
-The Merman is one of the only monsters not shown in its cube cell. Later he does appear during the [[System Purge]], where he finishes off an injured [[Steve Hadley]] during the attack on the control room.
+The Merman is one of the only trashy monsters not shown in its cube cell. Later he does appear during the [[System Purge]], where he finishes off an injured [[Steve Hadley]] during the attack on the control room. The Merman was among the monsters portrayed in the Universal Orlando Attraction [http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/cabin-in-the-woods.html Halloween Horror Nights 23] in 2013. In this appearance, though, it was not portrayed by a person wearing a costume as it was in the film, but instead as a life size, non-moving prop.
+==Inspiration==
+The Merman is likely inspired by The [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/ ''Creature from the Black Lagoon''] or the cult classic [[wikipedia:Frankenfish|''Frankenfish'']]. Mer-men and mermaids (or mer-folk in general) are prevalent in nearly all the world's mythologies, particularly in Greece whose sea-based culture described sea divinities, such as Oceanides and Nereids. The Sumerians worshipped Atargatis, the mermaid-goddess, but the Japanese feared Isohime, a giant mermaid who snatched and drowned sailors on the sea.
+Russia is said to have derived its name from "Ros", the mermaid-goddess. In classical mythology, mermaids were beautiful fish-tailed women who abducted sailors as lovers while mer-men were usually described as ugly. However, most scholars believe these legends were based on animals like manatees and dugongs unfamiliar to fishermen. Mermaids appear often in modern media, such as the "Chicken of the Sea" mascot and the Disney motion picture, ''The Little Mermaid'' (1989). The Merman was obviously inspired by the Merrows from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_folklore Irish folklore].
-The Merman was among the monsters portrayed in the Universal Orlando Attraction [http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/cabin-in-the-woods.html Halloween Horror Nights 23] in 2013. In this appearance, though, it was not portrayed by a person wearing a costume as it was in the film, but instead as a life size, non-moving prop.
-==Inspiration==
-The Merman is likely inspired by The [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/ Creature from the Black Lagoon] or the cult classic [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenfish Frankenfish]. It may also have roots in old sailor's tales of mermen, which by their accounts were always ugly, while the mermaids were considered beautiful.
 ==Gallery==
+<gallery>
-[[File:ODM2NDMxMzA=_o_behind-the-merman-scene-from-cabin-in-the-woods.jpg|left|thumb|300px]]
+File:ODM2NDMxMzA=_o_behind-the-merman-scene-from-cabin-in-the-woods.jpg
-[[File:Citw74a.jpg|left|thumb|The Merman attacking [[Steve Hadley]].]]
-[[File:Merman.jpg|thumb|left]]
+File:Citw74a.jpg|The Merman attacking [[Steve Hadley]].
+</gallery>
 [[Category:Monsters]]
 [[Category:Monsters shown during the Purge]]
 [[Category:Monsters from mythology]]
+[[Category:Monsters that are direct references]]
+[[Category:Characters]]
+[[Category:Males]]
+[[Category:Villains]]