It shouldn't come as a surprise that animated movie Finding Nemo isn't exactly the apex of scientific accuracy - but one new theory about the hit film has shaken even the most devout Disney fans to their core.
In a clip that has been viewed over 1.3 million times, a TikTok user who goes by MakeThatMagicshared her horrifying theory of what actually may have happened to Nemo's siblings on that fateful day on the reef.
The film opens with a devastating scene in which clownfish Marlin loses both his wife Coral and all but one of their eggs - save for Nemo - to a barracuda who attacks their home and eats the offspring.
Marlin, who is voiced by Albert Brooks, is left devastated and with an unshakeable fear of the ocean and all the creatures that may be lurking within it.
However, MakeThatMagic has now put forward a much more gruesome theory about what might have really happened to Marlin's spawn.
It's no secret that the portrayal of fish in Finding Nemo isn't exactly the apex of scientific accuracy - but real-life clownfish behavior would have made for a vastly darker storyline
The user noted adocumented aspect of clownfish behavior is that the parents often eat the eggs - hypothesizingthat Nemo's own mother could have been the one to gobble up his siblings in the 2003 movie.
In the first minutes of the movie, viewers are introduced to clownfish dad Marlin and his wife Coral, as the two tend to eggs she's just laid on a seemingly peaceful corner of reef.
Moments later, things are thrown into disarray as it appears that a barracuda has devoured both Coral and all of the eggs except for one damaged egg - which becomes Nemo.
Declaring Nemo's mom a 'Dirty b***h,' the user shared a shocking theory she had learned - that Coral ate all of her own eggs.
'Here I am on my lunch break, thinking that if Nemo’s mom would have survived, he would have never gotten lost,' the TikTok user, who often posts her reactions to Disney films and TV shows online, said.
'[I was thinking] that his daddy was so irresponsible, come to find out: Barracudas don’t eat clownfish eggs. Nor do they eat clownfish,' the outraged Disney fan ranted.
The 'theory' gets even darker, culminating in the prospect that Marlin was so stricken by grief he went on to hallucinate the existence of his only son, as well as the possibility of Nemo getting lost all over again.
'If she ate all her eggs, then why was Marlin looking for Nemo?' MakeThatMagic asked in the video.
'Because,' she answered. 'He was hallucinating and grieving, and he went through all five stages of grief. Denial, anger, bargaining, despair, and acceptance.'
There was one thing in particular that sealed the hallucination theory for the Disney fan though.
'The Latin translation of Nemo is Nobody,' she revealed.
'So, the movie's name is Finding Nobody … I'm shook!' she concluded the gut-wrenching video.
According to marine experts, In real life, there's a little less Disney magic to life on the reef; with adult Clownfish often munching on their own eggs in order to cull their defective and unhealthy spawn.
Sometimes though, this can end in disaster.
In real life, however, it's well-documented that both clownfish parents tend to eat their own eggs, particularly any that are defective
A TikToker who goes by @MakeThatMagic described how Coral may have eaten all of the eggs - and, even worse, the entire existence of Nemo was a grief hallucination in Marlin's head
'By eating these sick and infected eggs, the adult clownfish is increasing the chances of survival of healthy fry to adulthood,' marine site Aquarium Labs noted.
They added: 'However, despite this seemingly good intention of the fish, there are times when the adult fish might go full-on feast mode and eat its entire clutch.'
What's more, barracudas aren't even known to eat fish eggs. They actually prefer to snack on other, fully grown fish, which the predatory species is built to chase down as it can glide through the water at up to 36 miles per hour, according to Florida Museum.
However, the dose of reality was a little too real for some Disney fans.
'So Marlin was in the ocean psych ward with Dory cause she was a little off too!!!! Yo!!! I'm shook!!!! Lol,' one horrified commenter speculated
'Great. Now I’ve gotta call my therapist,' a second moaned.
'Ok so I can't keep getting my childhood consistently destroyed,' a third sobbed.
To complicate things even more, clownfish are born hermaphroditic; with only a dominant one in a given area emerging as a female upon adulthood.
If the female dies, the first male in the hierarchy becomes female within a couple of months.
@makethatmagic I beg all 100 of your pardons!??? #findingnemo #pixar #disney #distok #theory #fyp #dory #creatorsearchinsights #nemo #disneycharacters #animation #greenscreen
♬ Suspense, horror, piano and music box - takaya
In the first moments of the movie, viewers are led to believe that a barracuda eats protagonist Marlin's wife and all but one egg - which then becomes his only child, title character Nemo
Commenters on Make That Magic's post about the alternate Finding Nemo theory were no less horrified at the idea the Marlin had in fact hallucinated the whole plot through grief
In 2013, a brutally honest and rather disturbing alternate synopsis was published by The Fisheries Blog, describing how the movie 'should have started if it were biologically accurate.'
According to the blog, in a realistic version the father and mother clownfish are tending to their clutch of eggs at their sea anemone when the mother is eaten by a barracuda.
'Nemo hatches as an undifferentiated hermaphrodite (as all clownfish are born) while his father transforms into a female now that his female mate is dead,' they wrote.
'Since Nemo is the only other clownfish around, he becomes a male and mates with his father (who is now a female).
'Should his father die, Nemo would change into a female and mate with another male.
'Although a much different storyline, it still sounds like a crazy adventure!'
