The Carp with a Human Face
Morbid Curiosity #12
On my late night Reddit dwellings I came across a post on r/oddlyterrifying (no surprise that I’m subscribed to there) about a carp with a human face. The low res video featured a carp slowly approaching the edge of the water. As it comes into view of the camera and the murky water begins to disperse it appears that this fish has an extremely human-looking face. I almost didn’t believe it — it seemed like something straight out of an indie horror game.
So I did some research. Of course, this isn’t a half-human half-fish cross breed, that would be scientifically impossible. What we are exposed to within this video is a phenomenon called ‘pareidolia’, the tendency to see human features in non-human objects or creatures. The human face we see on the carp can be attributed to the random markings that are found on its scales. Naturally, however, these uncanny markings would cause quite the stir for anyway fisherman who would happen upon them. It’s unnerving. Users on Reddit began to suspect that fish with such markings may have been thrown back in the water for fear of the unknown. If these carp were released, whilst other ‘normal’ carp were caught and taken back to town, then it would make sense that other genetically spooky fish were being bred within the water, increasing the number of fish that were far too freaky to be served for dinner.
In Japanese mythology there is a Yokai called a Ningyo, which would be best described as a ‘human fish.’ Anyone who eats a Ningyo will be surprised by its delicious taste and will receive the blessing of ‘remarkable longevity’, but if a Ningyo is caught it is said to be a bad omen that will bring storms and misfortune, and so any fisherman who would catch one was careful to throw it back. Perhaps tales such as these from so long ago could attribute to our little man-carps existence?
But why does it creep us out?
Our brain can recognise a human face in the strangest of places. Ever seen a plug socket and thought it looked shocked? Or markings on a potato that make it look like it’s laughing? The pareidolia phenomenon isn’t just about recognising human facial structures in different objects. Our brain is also able to attribute emotions, gender, and age to the differing patterns, something we are able to recognise in other humans when we interact with them. It’s unnerving to us because our brains our connecting human traits to specifically non-human things. We don’t want to peel a potato and feel like we’re peeling the skin off of something with human levels of intelligence — and in the case of our creepy carp friend, we don’t expect to see a lick or critical thinking behind those glossy fishy eyes. What if it starts to speak? What if it has thoughts, feelings, and ideas? What if it decides it doesn’t like me? Those are the things I’d worry about if I ran into a half-human half-anything. It’s a fear of the unknown. It’s unpredictable, and it catches us off guard.
But please, rest easy knowing that it’s just a trick our brains our playing on us. The microwave isn’t going to start talking to you, and it certainly isn’t plotting your untimely demise. I hope.
Thank you for reading!
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