Lilin,Lilen,Lilan,Lilon,and Liloon!

[MermaidKasumi]

These Mermaid sisters are my favorite characters of the Suikoden series!

Moreso Lilin since we got to interact with her more throughout the game. I love their character designs, they're beautiful!
Lilin's voice also fits her perfectly and I love the little accent she has going on. Unfortunately none of the mermaids were playable T_T which sucks since they had great potential to be water-based mages like Irenes from Chrono Cross. I hope they make future appearances and since they're mermaids(who usually have much longer life-spans than humans in fiction) it could work out well. Too bad mermaids have only appeared in IV but I'm hopeful there will be future appearances! I'd love to see at least Lilin, and possibly even playable that would be amazing ^_^!

What do you guys think of the mermaid sisters, or on the idea of having a future playable mermaid?
I think they'd have great potential to be unique water-based mages and healers.

[patapi]

I've always fond of these merfolks when I first saw their design prior to Suikoden IV's release.

However, like so many other S4 things, most of its potential remained unrealised, with all 5 of them manning the same shop with little effort to differentiate them. The decision to opt for a legged design instead of the classic, limited fish-like movement definitely earned credit from me.

Would be lovely if they made a fighting mermaid though. Would be even better if we start having ones that speak properly and blend well with society somewhere. A male one would be a nice change, too.

Was half-expecting them to show up in some form in Tactics, but alas. All things considered, I still prefer these guys over Tierkreis' Porpoises as far as water-related clans are concerned.

[MermaidKasumi]

I've always fond of these merfolks when I first saw their design prior to Suikoden IV's release.

However, like so many other S4 things, most of its potential remained unrealised, with all 5 of them manning the same shop with little effort to differentiate them. The decision to opt for a legged design instead of the classic, limited fish-like movement definitely earned credit from me.

Would be lovely if they made a fighting mermaid though. Would be even better if we start having ones that speak properly and blend well with society somewhere. A male one would be a nice change, too.

Was half-expecting them to show up in some form in Tactics, but alas. All things considered, I still prefer these guys over Tierkreis' Porpoises as far as water-related clans are concerned.

Yes I agree, though I have a feeling the race(like almost always in other games and fiction) consist of only females. The Porpoise race in Tierkreis dissapointed me, I wish they would have just given us mermaids and at least one playable one. I also liked their fish-half design, though I wouldn't have minded a classic tail(many games have made it work like Chrono Cross and Saga Frontier just perfectly). They would have made unique(and beautiful!) fighters, though who knows maybe Suikoden 6?

[patapi]

Well, like the Beavers, one could argue the Porpoises does serve specific terrains that aren't typically associated with Mermaids. i.e. lakes and rivers.

Heh, I know the -maids suffix usually lend itself to be limited to females, but if Konami can give them legs, why not males as well?

[freshmetal]

Derek Zoolander: "Mer-man..*cough,cough*..Mer-MAN!!"

I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. I would have loved to see some individuality among the mermaids in S4, or at least one of them usable in combat. It seemed to me that, with very few recurring characters from previous games, Konami struggled to fill-out the roster, and the mermaids just served as filler.

[MermaidKasumi]

Derek Zoolander: "Mer-man..*cough,cough*..Mer-MAN!!"

I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. I would have loved to see some individuality among the mermaids in S4, or at least one of them usable in combat. It seemed to me that, with very few recurring characters from previous games, Konami struggled to fill-out the roster, and the mermaids just served as filler.

lol ^_^

Well I was just speaking generally like in Final Fantasy,Tactics Ogre,Chrono Cross, and various others in fiction always portray mermaids as an all-female species. I think because of their origin as beautiful female figures who would seduce male sailors such in the case of Ulysses(spelled correclty?). I got the feeling they were going in the same direction in suikoden because of the sisters and their journey to find other "mermaids" not "merfolk".There have been male counterparts in more recent fiction occasionally, but usually portrayed as more monster or fishlike (which we already know in the Suikoseries as Fishmen) and predominantly not related directly to mermaids, almost as if they were a species of their own.

Though as Patapi said, if they can give mermaids legs they can sure as hell make a Merman lol.

[Runemaster]

Well.. Actually, I admit, tough it's original, that I was disappointed with those mermaid legs. I mean, hey, they were just wearing scaly pants! And are they wearing shirts????

Oh, I imagine Lilin with a 'claw' as her weapon in combat...hmmm.....

[JanusThePaladin]

Well I was just speaking generally like in Final Fantasy,Tactics Ogre,Chrono Cross, and various others in fiction always portray mermaids as an all-female species. I think because of their origin as beautiful female figures who would seduce male sailors such in the case of Ulysses(spelled correclty?). I got the feeling they were going in the same direction in suikoden because of the sisters and their journey to find other "mermaids" not "merfolk".There have been male counterparts in more recent fiction occasionally, but usually portrayed as more monster or fishlike (which we already know in the Suikoseries as Fishmen) and predominantly not related directly to mermaids, almost as if they were a species of their own.

Though as Patapi said, if they can give mermaids legs they can sure as hell make a Merman lol.

Actually Ulysses was seduced by the Siren, not mermaids. In classic mythology Mermaids to have a masculine counterpart known as the Trident. Theres some other names for them as well, but Tridents are whats coming to mind. Anyway, much as Men are to Women, Tridents are to Mermaids. Same species, just a different title.

[MermaidKasumi]

Actually Ulysses was seduced by the Siren, not mermaids. In classic mythology Mermaids to have a masculine counterpart known as the Trident. Theres some other names for them as well, but Tridents are whats coming to mind. Anyway, much as Men are to Women, Tridents are to Mermaids. Same species, just a different title.

True though the sirens were portrayed earlier as bird women(harpies), over time they were depicted in the form of mermaids. Thus many still view mermaids as these seductive yet deadly sea maidens and that image is still being upheld today in popular culture.Their alluring voices and their beauty(like the Sirens) is pretty much what has come to be known as traits of the mermaid. In fact in many languages the word siren is used for the English word mermaid. In Greek Mythology the mermaids were the daughters of Triton, King Neptune's son( I think your basis for the "Tridents"). Though there were Mermen in Greek Mythology, unfortunately they seem to have quickly lost popularity in comparison to their female counterpart and many stories tell of mermaids as an all female race(which seems to be the route Suikoden took in IV).

[Chris_Lightfellow]

I think you mean Poseidon instead of Neptune. You kinda combined your Greek and Roman mythologies there. I don't recall hearing about a Trident as being his son either, and I used to study Classical mythology. As far as I can recall, Poseidon had only daughters, who became the water nymphs, or Naiads. I'll look at my books later though....

[MermaidKasumi]

I think you mean Poseidon instead of Neptune. You kinda combined your Greek and Roman mythologies there. I don't recall hearing about a Trident as being his son either, and I used to study Classical mythology. As far as I can recall, Poseidon had only daughters, who became the water nymphs, or Naiads. I'll look at my books later though....

Oopsie yes Poseidon is the Greek name and Neptune is the Roman name. Poseidon did have a son(with Amphitrite), Triton, who was a merman.

[JanusThePaladin]

oh thats right it was triton wasnt it! Ugh, me and my bad memory. Anyway, there is a male version of the mermaid, you just seldom if ever see them. They're probably shut ins or something.

[MermaidKasumi]

oh thats right it was triton wasnt it! Ugh, me and my bad memory. Anyway, there is a male version of the mermaid, you just seldom if ever see them. They're probably shut ins or something.

lol
Supposedly they aren't intrested in humans like the mermaids are.

Have you guys heard of the upcoming cg film "Empires of the Deep" it's being described as Star Wars underwater with Merfolk and such! Monica Belucci is rumored to be playing the Mermaid Queen, should be a real treat!

[Sagiri]

How did you get on to the greek stuff?

[JanusThePaladin]

Because most stories that have mythological creatures pull their basis from other mythologies to create their character. Like how suikoden's vampires are weak to holy objects (though we dont know of ANY religion in suikoden) and holy spells.