Jawnomicon

Ningyo

Also called mermaid.

Ningyo are Japanese human-fish beings, distinct from Western mermaids in temperament and form, whose appearance can portend either fortune or disaster and whose flesh is said to grant extraordinary long life.

At a glance

Tradition
Japanese folklore
Trait family
The Doom-Howlers

Near this figure

Traits

Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.

Form

Behaviour

Omens

  • Portent of disaster
    why

    depending on the telling, a sighting might herald prosperity or, alternatively, be read as an omen of disaster such as an earthquake, typhoon, or tsunami.

Curses

  • Death omen
    why

    Unlike the seductive, danger-luring mermaids of European folklore, the Ningyo is generally described as benevolent and protective, said to warn sailors and coastal communities of coming misfortune rather than draw them into it.

Roles

Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.