Mythical Creatures Today - Video Games (Merfolk)

Following on from my brief exploration of dragons in video games, I thought I would head from the skies to the seas. Mermaids are one of the four main creatures in Colchester Castle’s Mythical Creatures exhibition, but we found it quite difficult getting hold of representations of mermaids in museum collections.

Often represented on maritime material, such as ships, it’s not often you find a mermaid outside of their watery context. However, video games have always strived to showcase

every facet of humanity’s creativity when it comes to myth and legend.

The following games showcase representations of merpeople within them. Some allow you to live the mermaid fantasy and become a fish-tailed fighter. Others just have images of merpeople in them. I have not played them all and have struggled to find examples. This shows that, much like museum collections, merfolk seem to be far less represented than some other mythical creatures.

Avowed - follow the mermaid

I was pleasantly surprised with Avowed as a game. I thought it would be just another big standard fantasy RPG and, although it is to an extent, there were some wonderful aspects of gameplay and I really enjoyed the storyline.

As I started playing it in the midst of Mythical Creatures planning, I was pleasantly surprised to see one of our top 4 creatures featuring in the game. Sadly this wasn’t as prominent as I’d hoped, but on the wall next to the brothel (all RPGs seem to have brothels these days) in the first major city you get to is a large mural of a mermaid. Whether this mermaid was meant to entice sailors, like the sirens of Greek myth, it’s not quite clear. However, she is certainly eye catching.

One of the main reasons we struggled to find mermaids to include in the exhibition, other than not finding many, was that many were quite “booby” as we described them. Now there’s nothing wrong with the naked body in my opinion, but we always try and consider reactions of our family audiences and some of these “booby” mermaids were more than just nude…

The mermaid in Avowed is your classic mermaid. Female, sexy and enticing to passers-bye. I never managed to figure out what the writing on the wall says, but it may explain what she is doing in the image. Anyone figure it out, let me know.

Animal Crossing - The mermaid lifestyle

Animal Crossing had has many iterations over the years and it easily one of the best life-sim games ever made. The only human amongst an island filed with animals, some charming some the epitome of narcissism, you must build and decorate a home whilst completing various tasks for other villagers living nearby.

One of the incredible things about Animal Crossinf is the variety of designs and objects you can find, craft or buy to add to your home. Whether that’s elegant wallpaper or literal trash (old boots and tyres), you’re sure to find something that matches your own unique style.

One range of designs found in the series includes a mermaid themed set of clothing and furniture. Generally these are “sea” themed making your home appear to be underwater, but for those who want to live the full mermaid fantasy they can wear the outfit to match. Furthermore, any sea life you catch while fishing that you don’t donate to the museum or sell to Nook’s Cranny (the local store) you can display in fish tanks around your home, giving a true deep sea feel.

Sirens - fight like a mermaid

There are few video games where you get to play as an actual mermaid. Sirens is one such game. Not to be confused with the horror game “Siren”, this game allows you to swim underwater fighting a range of beasts including….a spinosaurus?!

Despite the appearance of prehistoric beasts, the game does seem to be set in more recent times. Sail ships and extant marine life are seen in the game, alongside the surviving dinosaurs. Seemingly using a rudimentary spear to battle the creatures of the deep, this game has a lot of potential but has a long way to go in terms of development.

Currently there is only a demo available on Steam, but the intention is that this game will be released on PC and PS5 when enough funds have been raised to complete development.

Sea of Thieves - NPSCs, non-playable sea creatures

Sea of Thieves launched as a popular multiplayer swashbuckling RPG. You play as a pirate who captures ships, fights other pirates and searches for treasure. You can sail the high seas, explore desert islands and amass a fortune to augment your ship. Yet, like many popular MMORPGs, a strong element of fantasy was added to this title.

One element of the game sees groups of merfolk acting as helping hands to the player. They can either take care of your excess loot or transport you to your ship when you’ve become lost at sea. The extremely similar “sirens” are also found within the game, but are enemies to be fought underwater.

Other mythical creatures in the game include the Kraken, reanimated skeletons and the Chuul (a monstrous lobster-like creature with added tentacles). Legends of pirates have often gone hand in hand with mythical creatures, as they explored the world encountering never before seen creatures. This game highlights the many tales created across the world that have associated piracy with fantasy.