History Webcomic / WhaleStarTheGyeongseongMermaid

''Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid'' (''Gorae Byul: The Gyeongseong Mermaid'', 고래별: 경성의 인어공주) is a HistoricalFiction {{Korean Webtoon|s}} written and drawn by Na Yoonhee. It was initially released on Naver on June 19, 2019 and concluded on July 7, 2021 after 106 chapters. An English translation was made available on Website/{{Webtoon}} in February 2022; it can be found [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/drama/whale-star-the-gyeongseong-mermaid/list?title_no=3237&page=1 here]].

* ChekhovsGun: Early in the story Haesu gives Su-a a bottle of opium that she holds on to. Very late in the game she gets the idea to [[spoiler:drug Uihyeon so she can assassinate his father instead.]]

It is 1926. UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan has occupied Joseon (Korea) and is summarily exploiting its people and resources. Su-a is the illiterate 17-year-old handmaiden to Yunhwa, the daughter of a wealthy Japanese collaborator living in the seaside city of Gunsan. One day, she finds a young man named Uihyeon washed up on the beach and nurses him back to health. Uihyeon tells her the story of Literature/TheLittleMermaid, a half-fish princess who risked it all for the man she loved.

* DrivenToSuicide:
** After [[spoiler:being forced to kill his own mother, Haesu's younger brother Haeyeong]] killed himself in the backstory.
** [[spoiler:Sunim and Yeongyeong]] kill themselves in prison rather than give up information about LaResistance to the Japanese.

* LaResistance: The main characters are part of the Korean independence movement against Japanese occupation.

''Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid'' (''Gorae Byul: The Gyeongseong Mermaid'', 경성의 인어공주) is a HistoricalFiction {{Korean Webtoon|s}} written and drawn by Na Yoonhee. It was initially released on Naver on June 19, 2019 and concluded on July 7, 2021 after 106 chapters. An English translation was made available on Website/{{Webtoon}} in February 2022; it can be found [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/drama/whale-star-the-gyeongseong-mermaid/list?title_no=3237&page=1 here]].

* TimeSkip: The final chapter takes place five years later.

* {{Foil}}:
** Idealistic and friendly aristocrat Uihyeon and his older, more hardened and ruthless comrade-in-arms Haesu. Haesu even comments on the difference, saying he will allow Uihyeon to be the idealistic and kind patriot while Haesu is the venomous snake that gets his hands dirty in the name of the cause.
** The Han siblings. Older sister Yeongyeong is cold and pragmatic; younger brother Inseong is friendly and outwardly emotional. He laments that Yeongyeong used to be much warmer before the series of losses their family suffered caused her to shutter. [[spoiler:In the end Inseong betrays the group in an attempt to ensure his sister's safety, not realizing that she killed herself in prison out of loyalty to the cause.]]

* LovingAShadow: Poor Haruko can't get it through her head that the version of Uihyeon she loves, the sensitive young student who used to live in her home, is gone. Nevertheless she keeps trying to reach out to him, hoping he'll eventually like then love her back. [[spoiler:He finally breaks off their engagement for good.]]

* PrecociousCrush: That young girl Nokju wants to marry Haesu, who is much older than her, is initially treated as an endearing quirk before it's explained that the two of them are survivors of a tragedy that struck their hometown.

* ArchnemesisDad: After [[spoiler:Uihyeon's father, Japanese bootlicker Judge Geunhyeong Kang, causes the downfall of the rebel cell, Uihyeon decides to assassinate him himself.]]

* LesCollaborateurs:
** The Yeos have kept their family wealth because they're collaborating with the Japanese occupiers.
** Uihyeon's father remains prominent and rich because he's a pro-Japanese judge in Gyeongseong/Seoul. In flashbacks, the other rebels refer to him as "practically Japanese", and joke that his tongue has been licking Japanese boots for so long it's probably black by now.

** Feeling trapped by her gender and her father's expectations for her, Yunhwa kills herself.

* DyingDream: Dying of multiple gunshot wounds and caught by enemy guards, [[spoiler:Haesu dies and dreams he is back in Yeonhaeju with Nokju and his family.]]
* FairytaleMotifs:
** After Su-a compares herself to a fish, content so long as she has basic necessities provided for her, Uihyeon compares her instead to the title character of Literature/TheLittleMermaid. The story itself is a broad retelling, since Su-a falls in love with him, a rich and handsome young man whom she saves from drowning, but loses her voice, and eventually [[spoiler:sacrifices herself to save him.]]
** Haesu, who grew up in Russia, compares Su-a to [[Theatre/TheSnowMaiden Snegurochka]] for her innocence.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Yunhwa is prickly and rude to the help, but is stifled by her gender and position in life. When push comes to shove she recognizes the value of helping Uihyeon and helps him escape. Before she kills herself, she makes sure her loyal handmaiden is provided for.

* LickedByTheDog: The first hint that Haesu isn't simply the ruthless hardass Su-a thinks of him as is that 13-year-old Nokju adores him. It is later revealed that they lived in the same Korean settlement in Russia, and traveled to Seoul together after a massacre happened in their village.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Su-a was raised as a servant and can't read or write. It becomes a roadblock when she is rendered mute. Uihyeon later starts teaching her how to read.

* RichKidTurnedSocialActivist: Uihyeon is the Korean son of a rich judge who afforded him many opportunities, including studying abroad in Japan. However, witnessing the abuse of UsefulNotes/KoreansInJapan following the Great Kanto Earthquake made him want to fight for Korean independence, so he went home, took a gap year, and joined an independence movement.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Yeongyeong lost her husband to torture by the Japanese and now raises their infant son without him.

* FallenPrincess: Yeongyeong and Inseong are the children of a very old and rich family in Gunsan, but they lost their wealth supporting the Joseon provisional government in exile in Shanghai.
* {{Foil}}: Idealistic and friendly aristocrat Uihyeong and his older, more hardened and ruthless comrade-in-arms Haesu. Haesu even comments on the difference, saying he will allow Uihyeong to be the idealistic and kind patriot while Haesu is the venomous snake that gets his hands dirty in the name of the cause.

* NaturalizedName: Koreans who are in their occupier Japan's good graces have Japanese names. Yunhwa Yeo becomes Rinka Riyo, while Uihyeon Kang is referred to as Iken Kan when he studies in Japan.

It is 1926. UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan has occupied Joseon (Korea) and is summarily exploiting its people and resources. Su-a is the illiterate 17-year-old handmaiden to Yunhwa, the daughter of a wealthy Joseon collaborator, in the seaside city of Gunsan. One day, she finds a young man, Uihyeon, washed up on the beach and nurses him back to health. Uihyeon tells her the story of Literature/TheLittleMermaid, a half-fish princess who risked it all for the man she loved.

** Uihyeon's father remains prominent because he's a pro-Japanese judge in Seoul. In a flashback, the other rebels refer to him as "practically Japanese".

** After Su-a compares herself to a fish, content so long as she has basic necessities provided for her, Uihyeon compares her instead to the title character of Literature/TheLittleMermaid. The story itself is a broad retelling, since Su-a falls in love with him but loses her voice.

* RayOfHopeEnding: The webcomic ends with [[spoiler:all the other named rebels dying. Su-a manages to assassinate Uihyeon's father and many known Japanese associates and was likely killed doing the deed, but nobody knows what happened to Uihyeon. Geon thinks he's alive and still supports the rebels, but doesn't know anything beyond that. Korea remains under Japanese rule (and readers with knowledge of history know it will remain that way until Japan surrenders at the end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. But the rebel cause lives on, and Geon gets to see Yeongyeong's son Jingyu as he grows up.]]

* AntagonisticOffspring: After [[spoiler:Uihyeon's father, Japanese bootlicker Judge Geunhyeong Kang, causes the downfall of the rebel cell, Uihyeon decides to assassinate him himself.]]

->''"If the life that you had regained, was one that I had breathed back into you… Is it too much to hope for you to love me back with that life?"''

''Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid'' (''Gorae Byul: The Gyeongseong Mermaid'', 경성의 인어공주) is a HistoricalFiction {{Korean Webtoon|s}} written and drawn by Na Yoonhee. It was initially released on Naver on June 19, 2019 and concluded on July 7, 2021. An English translation was made available on Website/{{Webtoon}} in February 2022; it can be found [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/drama/whale-star-the-gyeongseong-mermaid/list?title_no=3237&page=1 here]].

But Uihyeon cannot hide forever -- he's a member of a group of freedom fighters who want to relieve Joseon from the shackles of the Japanese, and his near-death experience had been the aftermath of a botched bombing. Su-a and Yunhwa help him escape, but this starts a chain of events that result in Su-a losing both her voice and the life she has known for the last decade. Su-a seeks revenge against those that have wronged her, but finds herself among Uihyeon's fellow rebels, who live in a world where people are willing to risk life and love for the causes they believe in.

* FairytaleMotifs: After Su-a compares herself to a fish, content so long as she has basic necessities provided for her, Uihyeon compares her instead to the title character of Literature/TheLittleMermaid. The story itself is a broad retelling, since Su-a falls in love with him but loses her voice.

''Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid'' (''Gorae Byul: The Gyeongseong Mermaid'', 경성의 인어공주) is a {{Korean Webtoon|s}} by Na Yoonhee. It was initially released on Naver on June 19, 2019 and concluded on July 7, 2021. An English translation was made available on Website/{{Webtoon}} in February 2022.

''Whale Star: The Gyeongseong Mermaid'' is a {{Korean Webtoon|s}} by Na Yoonhee. It was initially released on Naver on June 19, 2019 and concluded on July 7, 2021. An English translation was made available on Website/{{Webtoon}} in February 2022.

But Uihyeon cannot hide forever -- he's a member of a group of freedom fighters who want to relieve Joseon from the shackles of the Japanese, and his near-death experience had been the aftermath of a botched bombing. Su-a and Yunhwa help him escape, but this starts a chain of events that result in Su-a losing both her voice and the life she has known for the last decade. Su-a seeks revenge against those that have wronged her, but finds herself in a world where people are willing to risk life and love for the causes they believe in.

* LesCollaborateurs: The Yeos have kept their family wealth because they're collaborating with the Japanese occupiers.
* DrivenToSuicide: Feeling trapped by her gender and her father's expectations for her, Yunhwa kills herself.

* NeverLEarnedToRead: Su-a was raised as a servant and can't read or write. It becomes a roadblock when she is rendered mute. Uihyeon later starts teaching her how to read.

* WelcomeToTheBigCity: Upon first arriving in bustling Gyeongseong (Seoul), country handmaiden Su-a is immediately pickpocketed. It's only thanks to the kindness of a stranger, Geon, that she is able to make her way to Whale Star at all.