Merpeople are human/fish-hybrids, the legends of which go back more than three thousand years. They are magical creatures of the seas, and the basis for the hit television shows H2O: Just Add water and
Mermaids
Moon Pool
Moon Pool is a pool of water connected to the ocean that turns regular people into merpeople when the full moon passes over the cone of the dormant volcano. It is located on Mako Island off of The Gold Coast in Australia. The second Moon Pool is in a Sea Cave in Ireland. The Moon Pools are known to have turned Emma Gilbert, Cleo Sertori, Rikki Chadwick, Isabella Hartley, Louise Chatham, Gracie Watsford, Julia Dove, Eva and Charlotte Watsford into mermaids and Zac into merman.
On special occasion, the Moon Pool will react to the Full Moon magically and unleash special effects, such as taking away a merpersons's powers temporarily or forever, or enhancing a merperson's powers.
Cleo, Emma and Rikki in the moonpool
Physiology
Rikki, Bella and Cleo as mermaids
While all merpeople are different, they all share the same basic traits.
When mermaids (human transformed) come into contact with water for ten seconds, they grow long copper-colored tails and a matching top. Their tails are covered in scales and end in a classic dolphin-shaped fluke. They also have a short dorsal fin running along the backs of their tails from their waists to a little more than halfway down the tail.
When mermen (human transformed) come into contact with water for ten seconds, they grow long light blue colored tails. They also have a short dorsal fin running along the backs of their tails from their waists to a little more than halfway down the tail.
Merman Tail
They also lose their clothes they were wearing in human form which only reappear when they become human again. There is a possibility that they could absorb their clothing into themselves as a side effect of their metamorphosis into merpeople. Their hair keeps it's natural color and length, but any hair-ties, headbands, hair-clips or hairspray disappears, along with their clothes. When they dry, their hair will return to whatever hairdo it was in. When they transform they hair starts out untangled.
The transformation also occurs when merpeople are exposed to snow, but since southern merpeople never interact with snow, they will also develop snow rash and become feverish. The only way to cure them is by spraying on their skin with dried seahorse powder.
Pods
As revealed in Mako: Island of Secrets, there are Pods of natural born mermaids all around the world. The Mako Island pod consists of over a hundred. The natural born "real" mermaids, unlike transformed humans, live on a seafood diet and wear seashells in their hair. The mermaid council has made many laws.
Mermaids of the Pod.
Some of these are:
- It is forbidden to sing the Enchantment Song.
- It is forbidden to associate with land people and it is escpecially not allowed to use a moon ring to go on land.
- It is forbidden to let land people come on Mako on a full moon, and it is even more forbidden to let them into the moon pool.
- It is forbidden to fall in love with somebody from land.
- It is forbidden to use your Powers to do things for reasons other than either protecting yourself, practising mild spells, and serving your pod.
Sirena, Lyla and Nixie broke the rule of not letting land people on to the island and were later blamed when the pod found out that Zac had also fallen into the moon pool while they were supposed to be guarding it. They were cast out. Later in season 1, they broke the rules of singing the Enchantment Song and using a Moon Ring to go on land.
It is still a mystery how the H2o: Just Add Water characters didn't happen to come across the pod during their period of time living on the Gold Coast and going to the moon pool regulary, let alone notice Lyla, Sirena, Nixie and Zac who went to Mako every full moon in their time. The only theory fans can think of is that the events of H2o and Mako Mermaids happened with a big time difference. Perhaps the H2o characters left the Gold Coast to lead seperate lives and become adults a long time before the Pod came to live at Mako. The moon pool seemed to be somehow changed around and made into a home by the mermaids, become "a sacred place."
Mermaids of the pod use the full moon as a source of magic and power. They created moon rings out of the blue crystal from Mako and they use them as both destruction and healing.
Rita teaching the girls how to make a storm cloud using powers.
Young mermaids in the pod have to train to be worthy of the use of these rings. This "mermaid school" teaches them to use their powers correctly and to be sensible in the difficult choices made through mermaid life.
Rita is a teacher on land, at SunCoast High, but probably used to be a mermaid teacher when she once lived in the pod. She helped Lyla, Sirena and Nixie finish their training.
The Mako Island pod fled Mako in Outcasts and joined another pod in the South Pacific. Lyla, Nixie and Sirena currently are waiting for them to return now that Mako is safe for mermaids again.
Powers
- Main article: Merpeople Powers
Natural Merpeople Abilities
Rikki, Cleo and Bella's hand movements of their powers
All merpeople have several common abilities. They all have a transforming power, in which they have absolutely no influence, 10 seconds after they come in contact with water. If all water is removed (dried) from the merperson's body before the 10 seconds are up then the merperson will remain in human form. But if not dried, then the merperson will grow a tail. Every merperson has a power over water.
Merpeople can stay submerged for long periods of time but they still need to breath air. Merpeople can hold their breath for at least 12 hours before needing to resurface but with more practice merpeople can stay under for much longer.
Emma, Cleo and Rikki's hand movements of their powers
In water, merpeople also have the additional ability of speed-swimming. When a merperson speed-swims their body is enveloped in bubbles that they use as a jet stream with which to swim quickly. This can be a great advantage when trying to flee from enemies such as another mermaid/merman or boats and other water crafts. The merperson's tails are also very strong, this is shown when Emma saves Zane by smashing in the steel door on Miss Chatham's boat, or when Nixie broke the iced surface of the pool in the Grotto.
It is possible that the place where the merperson's transformation happened affects the powers over water, e.g. the Moon Pool at Mako Island gave the people the power to control, freeze and boil water, but the pool in the sea caves in Ireland where Bella changed gave her the power to turn water into a jelly-like substance and turn water hard.
Snow Rash
Mermaids and mermens natural as Lyla, Nixie and Sirena if created in warm waters where never interact with snow develops Snow Rash, a green rash caused by contact with snow and also cold water to both make us grow tails merpeople. It is accompanied by fever and malaise and neither Dr. Blakely could realize what it was. It is not known whether human transformed into merpeople by Moon Pool a also develops the disease, but uncompensated yes, since they were turned into merpeople. It was first shown in Mako Mermaids. It is also unlikely that merpeople born and raised in icy waters develop some immunity to the cold and also on Snow Rash. Rita said the girls were "Southern Mermaids" and this implies that there are also "North Mermaids".
Merpeople Magic
Mermaid Mythology Book
Merpeople posses several magical abilities that Emma, Cleo, Rikki and Bella find out about along the way.
- With the help of Lewis McCartney the girls found a book, "Mermaid Mythology" that held a recipe for a Mermaid's Potion that could give mermaids the power to grant wishes. The potion was made using specific types of sea algae along with an equal amount of each mermaids powers. The potion had to be smeared on one of the girls faces while they were in mermaid form for the wish to come true.
- Ambergris is an old substance that at one point in time was used to make beauty products such as ladies perfume. It comes from the intestines of a whale and it can be used to attract mermaids. In "Irresistible", Zane finds some old ambergris which Nate later tries on. The smell from the ambergris makes him stink but it also makes him literally irresistible to Emma, Cleo and Rikki.
- Sirens are mythological women with voices beautiful enough to entrance men. In "The Siren Effect" when Cleo saw the moons reflection she went into her bathroom and touched water in the sink. While she had absolutely no musical talent previously, she then had the voice of a siren. She sang a melodious songs that literally entranced all the boys in town. This fantastic talent however disappeared when the full moon did.
- Mermaids seem to have an allergic reaction to a certain substance of aftershave, which cause their powers to blow uncontrollably when they sneeze.
Dangerous Coral
- Mermaids have a strange reaction to a type of coral. If they get cut by it, toxin enters their body causing them to go on a feeding frenzy for sea food. Then the scales start to turn white, grow gills on the neck, webs between the fingers and the hair starts to turn green. In "Fish Fever" Emma gets cut by the coral and goes though the changes, but is fortunately cured.
Known Merpeople
- Cleo Sertori
- Emma Gilbert
- Rikki Chadwick
- Isabella Hartley
- Gracie Watsford - (temporarily)
- Louise Chatham - (temporarily
- Julia Dove - (temporarily)
- Charlotte Watsford - (temporarily)
- Eva
- Zac Blakely
- Sirena
- Nixie
- Lyla
- Rita Santos
- Aquata
- Maya
- Erik
- Ondina
- Mimmi