Fungus Humongous: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"Don't look now, but there's a [[Rhymes on a Dime|humongous fungus among us!]]" ''|'''[[The Red Green Show|Red Green]]'''}}

Sometimes in fantasy works there are mushrooms that are larger than average. While some actual mushrooms have been known to grow as large as soccer balls, in fiction mushrooms can grow to be as large as people, or even trees, leading to whole forests of nothing but mushrooms. Sometimes they are merely supposed to be an unusual flora used to convey the alien nature of the place, when unreal or differently sized trees, grass, and the like just wouldn't seem alien enough. Other times they are supposed to show corruption, an evil blight that is spreading across the land.

Does not apply to [[Mouse World|tiny people living in regular mushrooms]], since in those instances it is the people that are unusual, not the mushrooms. Also does not apply to [[The Deadliest Mushroom|mushroom clouds]], which are just mushroom shaped. Nor does it apply to sentient fungi, since they are not necessarily part of the scenery, unless they are so humongous that they dominate the scene. See [[Mushroom Man]] for that sort of thing. Of course, if they live in giant mushrooms, that is another matter. However, it ''may'' cross over with [[Springy Spores]] if it's in a video game level.

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** And also don't forget Fungus Slivers, which make all Slivers have the same ability as the Fungusaur.

** Neither should you forget about the Mycoloth, a giant fungus monster from Jund. It comes out as a 4-power/4-toughness creature that has devour 2 (i.e. you can sacrifice as many creatures as you want up to how many you control when it comes into play and put two +1/+1 counters on it for each one that you do). It then proceeds to make a 1/1 creature token at the beginning of each of your upkeep phases for each counter on it. With the right cards, you can also give it more +1/+1 counters each turn, turn it into a Fungusaur, make the creature tokens it generates have power and toughness equal to how many of them are in play...

* ''[[Magi Nation]]'', the entirety of the Underneath is covered in mushrooms, and most of the dream creatures in the area resemble them tremendously. Giant Korrits, Brubs, Vulbors, you name it, it's a mushroom. They make houses out of the things, too. Ormagon, possibly the most powerful dream creature in the game, is a colossal, ambulatory mushroom that completely decimated all of civilization in The Underneath in no time at all.

** [http://www.maginationbr.hpg.com.br/images/spoilers/unlimited/ormagon.jpg The little thing at the bottom is a CITY.]

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* [[Eleanor Cameron]]'s ''[[wikipedia:Eleanor Cameron#Mushroom Planet series|Mushroom Planet]]'' series.

* Zack Parsons's serial story [http://www.somethingawful.com/d/daily-dirt/instruction-for-america.php?page=1 Instructions For A] is worth reading without spoilers. However I'll say that {{spoiler|1=it's a frightening take on what our lives would be like if there were a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOQ0VU24xw Cordyceps] fungi species that could infest every living thing on the planet}}.

* In ''The Forgotten Planet,'' Murray Leinster carefully [[Justified Trope|justifies]] this by giving the planet patterns of weather that make photosynthetic life forms non-viable, allowing saprophytes to fill the niches occupied by trees, grasses, etc.

* These things spouted from the ground around the city of [[Ambergris]] sometimes in mere hours in Jeff VanderMeer's ''[[Ambergris|City of Saints and Madmen: The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of Ambergris]]'', as foreshadowing to the mysterious incident known as the Silence where two thirds of the city's population mysteriously vanished overnight without a trace, along with all the mushrooms.

** In the sequel novel ''[[Ambergris|Finch]]'' the city is overtaken by the Graycaps, and their giant mushrooms grow to the size of buildings, and periodically spew out spores that are delicious and nutritious, but also contain extremely addictive drugs, and are used for population control.

* The ''[[Tunnels]]'' series has a massive fungus that grows inside the Pore. Its shelf-like protrusions can provide a soft landing for some of those unfortunate enough to fall in.

* [[Piers Anthony]]'s ''Omnivore'' is set on a planet where animals never arose, but some fungi did evolve mobility. In addition to plenty of oversized stationary fungal species, there's an omnivorous mobile type the size of a minibus. (Also sentient mobile carnivorous ones, but that's a different trope.)

* In the second of Elizabeth Bear's 'Jacob's Ladder' books (''Chill'') there are several levels inside the [[Generation Ship]] where massive insects and fungus have developed in humid darkness resulting from wonky life support- two characters make camp on a shelf the size of a mattress.

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== Live-Action TV ==

* An episode of ''[[The X-Files]]'' featured a [[Monster of the Week]] which was a giant underground fungal complex (see Real Life below); the nonsentient growth sucked down its human victims and dosed them with powerful hallucinogens to keep them docile while it slowly digested them.

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== Videogames ==

* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] 3: [[Morrowind]]'' has giant mushrooms scattered across the island of Vvardenfell, a lot of times in lieu of actual trees. House Telvanni has most of it's buildings in giant mushrooms and other giant plants.

** ''The Shivering Isles'' expansion to ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] 4: Oblivion'' likewise features giant mushrooms.

** ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] 5: Skyrim'' is mostly mushroom-free, with one very notable exception--the massive cavern called Blackreach, which contains huge glowing mushrooms along with veins of [[Power Crystal|Soul Gems]] and ancient Dwarven ruins.

* In the [[Warcraft]] series we first see giant mushrooms in ''Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal'' on Draenor, the native world of the orcs, and these mushrooms provided the same lumber as trees. ''Warcraft III'' and [[WoW]] added other places with giant mushrooms growing there - such as some dungeons and the Plaguelands. Strangely, in [[WoW]]'s Outland - the place that remained of Draenor after its [[Apocalypse How|destruction]] - the only place where giant mushrooms grow is Zangarmarsh.

* ''Diablo'' has a quest line where the player must retrieve a larger-than-average black mushroom. The blacksmith, Griswold, exaggerates its size by calling it "A huge, gargantuan, swollen, bloated mushroom". {{spoiler|It wasn't so big.}} [http://youtu.be/1q0ltHwY4xQ?t=46s Quest: The Black Mushroom]

* ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' has a hidden area known as Mushroom Road that is covered with giant mushrooms.

* ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles]]'', Mushroom Hill Zone, which contains mushrooms that can be bounced on and used as gliders.

** A similar level appeared in ''[[Sonic Heroes|Heroes]]'' and ''[[Sonic Rush Series|Rush Adventure]]''. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''Heroes'' when Team Sonic encounters [[Exaggerated Trope|a mushroom the size of a mountain]]:

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* One of the levels of [[PS 1]] game ''Future Cop LAPD'' featured a part where you had to move across gigantic mushrooms growing in the sewers you were in to avoid getting damaged by what was probably corrosive fog covering the floor.

* ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]'' had a level consisting of huge mushrooms connected by big green vines. Because everything looked pretty much the same, it was something of a [[Scrappy Level]].

* In the classic MMO ''[[~~Ever Quest~~]]'s'' expansion "Shadows of Luclin" you were on the moon. The moon's 'darkside' was literally that - it '''never''' got light. There were groves of mushrooms and even a giant mushroom rainforest.

* In the classic MMO ''[[EverQuest]]'s'' expansion "Shadows of Luclin" you were on the moon. The moon's 'darkside' was literally that - it '''never''' got light. There were groves of mushrooms and even a giant mushroom rainforest.

* ''[[Lineage 2]]'' has giant mushrooms in various areas of the world, some man-sized, others are big as buildings. In particular is the Sea of Spores, which in addition to being inhabited by giant fungi of many varieties (including ones that attack you), is filled in every direction by a literal fog (or snow) of spores from them. It is so bad that there is a giant domed forcefield to keep the damned thing from spreading. One wonders how the little dragons breath or the stone golems don't get broken apart by fungus growing all over them. However, aside from this being a fairly good place for low 40's to grind and being part of a class change quest, this area is almost entirely ignored. That is, if you don't count [[That One Boss|Orfen]], the [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|fifty foot six-armed spider queen]] that hides in there.

* The deadliest peril in ''[[Repton]] 3'' is the rapidly growing fungus. Unless you block it off, it can cover entire ''levels''.