Fishtales 2 (2017) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The story takes place primarily on the Greek island of Spetses in the Aegean Sea, known for its blue waters and quiet harbor towns. Oxford University serves as the secondary setting, providing the academic backdrop for Professor Thomas Bradley's work.

• spetses
• greek island
• aegean
• setting
• locations

Oxford University serves as the intellectual home base for Professor Thomas Bradley, a Classics professor. His colleague Professor Coulter hosts him there and facilitates the research collaboration that eventually draws Thomas to Spetses to pursue his breakthrough in translating ancient relics.

• oxford
• university
• professor
• academia
• thomas bradley

Neried is a mermaid who can only take human form at night. She travels to land to help Thomas translate ancient relics and becomes his romantic partner. Her character bridges the gap between Greek myth and modern scholarship, representing the magical element that transforms Thomas's academic pursuit.

• neried
• mermaid
• myth
• magic
• romance

Thomas Bradley is a widowed Classics Professor at Oxford who travels to Spetses with his daughter Serena seeking a breakthrough in his scholarly work. His obsession with finding ancient love spells drives the plot, as he risks professional jeopardy to pursue a discovery that blends academic ambition with personal healing.

• thomas bradley
• professor
• oxford
• scholar
• obsession

Serena is Thomas's 12-year-old daughter who accompanies him to Spetses. She is curious and thoughtful, discovering the ancient book with Greek inscriptions that sparks the translation work. Her presence humanizes the story and serves as a bridge between her father's academic pursuits and the island's mythological elements.

• serena
• daughter
• thomas bradley
• child protagonist

The mermaid Neried represents the intersection of ancient Greek mythology and modern scholarship. Her relationship with Thomas awakens an ancient spell, and her ability to transform blurs the line between myth and reality. The story explores how love can transcend time and form, grounded in the island's mermaid legend.

• mermaid
• myth
• greek mythology
• neried
• transformation

A forbidden romance develops between Thomas and Neried, the mermaid. This relationship challenges professional boundaries and personal loyalties, while also serving as the catalyst for translating ancient inscriptions. The romance blends Greek myth with modern emotional stakes, revealing that love can transcend conventional limits.

• romance
• thomas
• neried
• love
• relationship

The story weaves together scholarly pursuit and ancient magic as Neried helps Thomas translate relics and unlock secret inscriptions. The boundary between myth and academia is tested when translation becomes revelation - the inscription elevates understanding beyond simple language into emotional and magical resonance.

• myth
• science
• translation
• inscription
• ancient magic

Thomas faces mounting pressure from grant deadlines and professional expectations as he pursues his scholarly breakthrough on Spetses. His quest for ancient love spells represents the intersection of personal loss and professional ambition. The island setting intensifies his pressure to achieve a major scholarly milestone while also opening him to romantic and magical experiences.

• academic
• obsession
• scholarship
• thomas
• career

Captain Mavros is a fisherman on Spetses who befriends the Bradleys and introduces them to local island life. He embodies practical island wisdom and serves as a grounded counterpart to Thomas's scholarly ambitions, providing the human connection to the island's traditional way of life.

• captain mavros
• fisherman
• spetses
• island wisdom

Dimitri is a local teenage boy on Spetses who develops a romantic crush on Serena. This subplot adds a teenage dimension to the island's human drama, representing youth and the desire for connection amid the larger magical and academic stakes surrounding the adult characters.

• dimitri
• serena
• teen romance
• spetses
• youth