Cryptid Episode

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A Cryptid is an animal which is not yet known to modern science, such as Big Foot, Mothman, or the Loch Ness Monster. Sometimes, a show that is not usually focused on them will have an episode or two about them.

This type of episode can be used as a characterisation exercise, establishing some of the characters as believers and others as skeptics.

Possible plots for this kind of episode include:

  • The characters spend the episode trying to find the cryptid. In a Slice of Life series, they generally don't succeed, conclude that it must not exist, and go home. (Sometimes it will be revealed to the audience that the creature is Real After All, but the characters discovering a cryptid could permanently change their lives forever, and that's bad).
  • The characters find a cryptid early in the episode, and spend the episode trying to look after it/hide it/help it find its way home.
  • Characters are traveling on holiday and encounter one. (Abominable Snowman seems to be the most common one for this, what with mountain getaways and Christmas Episodes providing plenty of snowy settings).
  • A show with a Monster of the Week format will have a cryptid as one of said monsters.
  • A crime show may come across a murder or other crime allegedly committed by a cryptid. The characters usually find out that there's a reasonable explanation for it.

If done clumsily, this can easily result in a Non Sequitur Episode.

Examples of Cryptid Episode include:

Anime and Manga

  • Lupin III had an episode where Fujiko's singing voice attracted the Loch Ness Monster.
  • Creamy Mami, of all things, had an episode based around a sea monster.
  • In an episode of Sailor Moon, they find a sea monster while on vacation. It doesn't have any connection to the magic of the show.
  • One chapter of Girls und Panzer spin-off manga Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! started with spooky stories but included an account of hunting for Kappa while ignoring another cryptid seen at close range. And then there were the girls who never realized they'd seen Bigfoot, instead believing it was just a creepy mundane guy.

Literature

  • In the short story "The Convenient Monster", The Saint uncovers a murder that looks like the work of the Loch Ness Monster. At the end of the story, the murderer is killed by the actual Loch Ness Monster.
  • Goosebumps uses either stock monsters (vampires, werewolves, mummies, etc.) or original ones, the sole exception being The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena.

Live Action TV

Puppet Shows

  • An episode of Gerry Anderson's Stingray has the submarine and crew shipped to Scotland to find the Loch Ness Monster.

Radio

  • One episode of The Navy Lark has the Troutbridge crew reassigned to find the Loch Ness Monster.

Web Original

Tabletop Games

  • The Yu-Gi-Oh! game has an archetype called "Danger!" with monsters based on cryptids, including Bigfoot, Nessie, Chupacabra, the Michigan Dogman, Jackalope, Mothman, Ogopogo, Thunderbird, and Tsuchinoko. The strategy of a deck using these cards involves revealing a players' hand, but then concealing it again, reflecting how cryptids - should they exist - seem to do their best to hide from humans and are only seen briefly.

Western Animation