Ningen (folklore)

In modern Japanese folklore since the mid-2000s, the Ningen (ニンゲン) is an aquatic humanoid whale-like and mermaid-like creature supposedly inhabiting the subantarctic oceans. It was invented by Japanese internet users.^[1]

Ningen

Creature information
Other name(s)	人間 Human in Japan
Sub grouping	aquatic humanoid
Origin
Region	Subantarctic, Antarctica
Habitat	deep antarctic water and ice sheets

History

The story of the Ningen began in 2007 on a post on the Japanese online forum, 2channel, which claimed that the crew of a whale research ship witnessed the creature as it surfaced near their ship off the Antarctic coast.^[2] Originally thinking it was a submarine, they went to take a closer look, but the "submarine" vanished into the waves.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Google Earth captured what some people believed to be a Ningen near the Southern Ocean. Skeptics suggest that the "Ningen" was actually an iceberg or beluga whale that coincidentally looked like the sea monster.^{[citation needed]}

Ningen compared with man.

In 2010, the Japanese Enoshima Aquarium published a YouTube video showing the ocean life that they observed. Near the end of the video, a large object appearing to have small eyes and a large, slit-like mouth can be spotted lying on the ocean floor. It was claimed that the video shows the Ningen^{[3] [citation needed]}. However, the aquarium identifies the object as an unusual rock formation in the shape of a frog, with two sponges forming its "eyes".^[3] Sometime around the 2010s, an unknown user posted underwater footage depicting a large humanoid sea creature which some believe to be the Ningen.^[4]

Description

The Ningen is described in two forms; one has it as a large, aquatic, whale-like creature with anatomical similarities to humans, such as a distinct, humanoid face; sometimes it is given extremely large limbs and/or arms and hands, about 20–30 m (65–100 feet) long.^[5] The second, less common, description portrays it as a considerably smaller, terrestrial organism that consists of little more than a large head on humanoid legs, with which it wanders Antarctica.^[6] The pigmentation of this creature is said to be pale blue. The creature has a large, slit-like mouth and either small or large gaping eyes.^[5]

Pop culture

The ningen was discussed on "BillsChannel", a YouTube channel which frequently looks over mysteries and decides if they are real or fake.^{[7][undue weight? – discuss]}

The Ningen was the subject of the analog horror series The Ningen, created by M4NTICOR3.^[6][8]

In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, a 2 stage evolution line called Cetoddle and Cetitan are both based on the ningen.^{[9][better source needed]}

See also

• Large Antarctic Sea Mammal, also known as Antarctic Godzilla, another large, whale-like cryptid first allegedly sighted by a Japanese vessel in Antarctic waters.
• List of legendary creatures from Japan