This Horrific Finding Nemo Theory Changes Everything About Marlin

The Internet has many purposes, but none of them play a more integral role in the fabric of society than its ability to provide an endless stream of outlandish fan theories dissecting pop culture and entertainment. Some of these barely make sense, while others shine a critical — though at times all-too-uncomfortable — light on the reality of things that audiences take for granted.

One theory that falls in the latter category was put out by TikTok influencer @‌mndiaye_97. The hypothesis directly attacked one of the core elements that make "Finding Nemo" such a tear-jerker. According to the theory, the clownfish Marlin didn't lose his wife and most of his unhatched kids to a hungry barracuda. That's a cover story for the much darker truth: the kids were eaten by their mom.

In essence, the idea here is that a barracuda wouldn't eat a clownfish. However, female clownfish are bigger and stronger than males. They're also willing to devour their own young. What if Marlin's wife, Coral, ate the couple's entire family in one go, and Marlin was too weak to stop her? Following this much darker timeline, one could assume Marlin's barracuda story is just a devastated father in denial. He's made up the story to help him forget the fact that his wife cannibalized his own kids. Even worse, the influencer posits that his only surviving son is a made-up fiction Marlin created, naming him Nemo. The translation of that title from ancient Latin? "Nobody." 

According to our own research, while barracudas can eat clownfish, they aren't particularly attracted to such a small target or its eggs. As far as clownfish eating their own eggs, well, that is true. But it appears they usually eat the unfertilized ones.

Suggesting Mrs. Coral devoured her young as if she was a seafood aficionado doesn't quite hold up under scrutiny. And yet, it's one of the more popular fan theories out there. The "Marlin's family wasn't really eaten by a barracuda" theory was first posted back in 2021. Since then, it's received well over six million likes and has been shared over 185,000 times as of this writing. It is a top-trending theory on the social platform, and nearly 70,000 fans have chimed in with their thoughts.

TikTok user @geeyanmesa, for instance, summed up the experience for countless "Finding Nemo" fans by stating, "how to ruin childhood in 1 minute." TikTokker @ms.ravn echoed the sentiment, saying, "why does everybody on tiktok wants to ruin my childhood."

Multiple users also pointed out that the movie isn't about finding Nemo, then. It's about finding nobody. As with all comment threads on the internet, some contributors went in a weird direction, too. TikTok user @oleey, for instance, commented that the theory actually makes them like the story more. No explanation as to why, though.

Still others brought everything back down to earth. User @kris123431 said, "Yo you thinking to much this is a child movie," while TikTokker @marioatolivegarden brought home the humor with the line, "bro it ain't like the ocean...it's not that deep."

As a final flourish, the original poster ended their morbid theoretical rant by saying, "Disney, you have 24 hours to respond, or I'm just going to assume the worst." As far as we're aware, the House of Mouse has not posted a response to date.