Legendary Catfish: Difference between revisions

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trailing from his aching jaw."|"The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop}}

Those legendary giant fish that inhabit certain lakes. They usually have names like "Bubba" or "Sherman". The exact kind of fish is usually a Catfish. They each have a story on how they're [[Stronger ~~With~~ Age|old as the lake itself, big as a bus]], and ''almost'' impossible to catch.

Those legendary giant fish that inhabit certain lakes. They usually have names like "Bubba" or "Sherman". The exact kind of fish is usually a Catfish. They each have a story on how they're [[Stronger with Age|old as the lake itself, big as a bus]], and ''almost'' impossible to catch.

That ''almost'' part is important. The protagonist will thus be encouraged to go out and be The One To Catch Said Giant Fish. Eventually he does so and he has a huge battle with it. Finally the protagonist wins the fight and the great fish gives in. Inevitably, the protagonist lets the fish go; usually he says that "the legend must live on" or makes up some other excuse.

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== [[Literature]] ==

* ''[[~~Moby Dick (Literature)|~~Moby Dick]]''.

* ''[[Moby Dick]]''.

* ''[[The Old Man and ~~The Sea (Literature)|The Old Man and The~~ Sea]]'' by [[Ernest Hemingway]].

* ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]'' by [[Ernest Hemingway]].

* [http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-fish/ "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop], quoted above, is a poem about a boy who catches a fish seemingly old as the sea. Big, googly eyes, huge teeth, hooks from the fishers who failed still in her mouth like lip-piercings and badges of courage, scarred all over with fins worn down to ribbons and - in the narrator's eyes - beautiful in his own way. Like he's survived everything the world can throw at him. And since this legend seriously deserves to live on,

{{quote| "Everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow - and I let the fish go." }}

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* In ''[[A Canticle for Leibowitz]],'' the giant catfish Bo'dollos is rumoured to haunt a lake formed over a crater once occupied by a village and 'an intercontinental launching pad, complete with several fascinating subterranean storage tanks.' Incidentally, the site was excavated by the Venerable Boedullus.

* The ultimate example has to be the short story [http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/waldrop5/waldrop51.html "God's Hooks"] by [[Howard Waldrop]].

* In ''The Sword in the Stone'' ([[The Once and Future King|book by T. H. White]] and [[The Sword in ~~The~~ Stone|Disney movie]] both) Wart and Merlin encounter the king fish of the moat, who argues that "might is right."

* In ''The Sword in the Stone'' ([[The Once and Future King|book by T. H. White]] and [[The Sword in the Stone|Disney movie]] both) Wart and Merlin encounter the king fish of the moat, who argues that "might is right."

* In ''December Boys'', an old fisherman named Shellback spends his days trying to catch a huge fish called Henry, {{spoiler|and was visibly upset when one of the orphans beat him in catching Henry}}.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* The show ''[[~~River Monsters (TV)|~~River Monsters]]'' and variants, are all about this.

* The show ''[[River Monsters]]'' and variants, are all about this.

** They did a show about giant catfish in Germany, where tradition going back hundreds of years says, they eat people. It turns out they [[I'm a Humanitarian|only nip at them a little]]. Overlaps with [[Legendary Carp]].

*** In the episode focusing on them, he notes that the ones that've been allowed to breed in Barcelona are growing much bigger than the ones from their homeland typically do (thanks to warmer environment, basically), and it shouldn't be more than a few years before there genuinely will be ones big enough in those rivers to drag fishermen off the banks and swallow people whole.

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== [[Music]] ==

* ''Boudreaux Was a Nutcase'', by [[The Austin Lounge Lizards]]. This one's a large-mouthed bass, named [[Shout Out|Moby Jack]].

* ''Boudreaux Was a Nutcase'', by [[The Austin Lounge Lizards]]. This one's a large-mouthed bass, named [[Shout-Out|Moby Jack]].

* [[Cledus T Judd]] has a song called ''Goodbye, Squirrel!'', which is a parody of the Dixi Chicks' song ''Goodbye Earl''. The song tells the story of a couple of deer hunters who were thwarted from shooting a 34-point buck by a squirrel that jumped out of a tree and onto one of the hunters, causing him to fall out of the tree stand. The hunters return with TNT and M-80 fireworks and proceed to blow up a section of the forest (and themselves) in an attempt to kill the squirrel. The squirrel survived unharmed, but the hunters were "barely alive by the time the game warden arrived".

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== [[Video Games]] ==

* In ''[[Breath of Fire IV]]'', there's a [[Bonus Boss]] to be encountered by approaching the hexed city of Chamba from the back (in other words, go to the next waypoint after Chamba and return). This boss is a gigantic Angler fish, called (appropriately enough) "Angler". Beating him earns you the North Chamba fishing spot, which is full of Jellyfish and some of the biggest catfish in the game. If you want to get the highest possible rank for catfish, this is your fishing spot!

* There is a cross-dressing talking giant catfish in ''[[Dark Cloud ~~(Video Game)~~|Dark Cloud 2]]''

* There is a cross-dressing talking giant catfish in ''[[Dark Cloud|Dark Cloud 2]]''

* In ''[[Lufia]] II: Rise of the Sinistrals'', the first actually somewhat challenging enemy happens to be a giant, bored catfish that has been tormenting the nearby village with earthquakes.

* Volt Catfish from ''[[Mega Man X|Mega Man X3]]''.

* ''[[~~Okami (Video Game)~~|Okami]]'' has you catch these two times in the main story: a giant catfish that ate the reflection of the moon and a "living sword" (i.e., cutlass fish). There's also [[That One Boss|That One Fish]], a nigh-impossible to catch extra-special ingredient that must be caught for [[One Hundred Percent Completion]] and to unlock a hidden brush technique. The marlin is truly a beast of pure evil.

* ''[[Ōkami|Okami]]'' has you catch these two times in the main story: a giant catfish that ate the reflection of the moon and a "living sword" (i.e., cutlass fish). There's also [[That One Boss|That One Fish]], a nigh-impossible to catch extra-special ingredient that must be caught for [[One Hundred Percent Completion]] and to unlock a hidden brush technique. The marlin is truly a beast of pure evil.

* ''[[~~Okamiden (Video Game)~~|Okamiden]]'' Has one as well. A giant evil catfish that convinced himself that he was a Carp that would turn into a catfish when he climbed up a waterfall.

* ''[[Ōkamiden|Okamiden]]'' Has one as well. A giant evil catfish that convinced himself that he was a Carp that would turn into a catfish when he climbed up a waterfall.

* In ''[[~~Castle Crashers (Video Game)|~~Castle Crashers]]'' one of the bosses is, literally, a Catfish. In more ways than one.

* In ''[[Castle Crashers]]'' one of the bosses is, literally, a Catfish. In more ways than one.

* [[Opoona]] has the aptly named fish "Legend". Though, the point of the battle is only to collect a scale, not to truly catch it.

* ''[[Endless Ocean]]'' and its sequel have several examples, though you only observe them, not catch them. Examples include Magu Tapah and Thanatos, giant great white sharks; the Ancient Mother, a giant ''whale''; and [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|the Golden Catfish]].

* ''[[Endless Ocean]]'' and its sequel have several examples, though you only observe them, not catch them. Examples include Magu Tapah and Thanatos, giant great white sharks; the Ancient Mother, a giant ''whale''; and [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|the Golden Catfish]].

** The sequel has three stronger examples {{spoiler|the [[Stock Ness Monster|Sea Serpent]], Anomalocaris, and Cameroceras}} all of which you can't directly interact with and agree to never speak of again.

* In ''[[Persona 4]]'', you actually have to catch one to max out a Social Link.

** [[Nintendo Hard|To the horror]] [[Guide Dang It|of many.]]

** Once you catch the Guardian, you can use it to fully restore a party member's SP... or feed it to a cat to cut the feedings needed to complete "Cat Needs Food Badly" from twenty to four.

* In ''[[~~The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|~~The Legend of Zelda]]'' fishing minigames, there is often a big fish of this sort that will earn you the maximum prize for catching it.

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' fishing minigames, there is often a big fish of this sort that will earn you the maximum prize for catching it.

** It's usually the "Hylian loach", and it has a tendency to be utterly impossible to catch, unless you have a special lure that the fishing hole's proprietor may or may not approve of, in which case it's merely ''nigh''-impossible to catch.

* The gaint lung fish from ''[[~~Psychonauts (Video Game)|~~Psychonauts]]''.

* The gaint lung fish from ''[[Psychonauts]]''.

* In ''[[~~Ape Escape (Video Game)|~~Ape Escape]]'', there's a level in the Primordial Era where you have to catch apes in an ancient jungle. Earlier you learn how to swim, but you can't swim in large areas in this level because a giant catfish lives in the water and will attempt to shock you.

* In ''[[Ape Escape]]'', there's a level in the Primordial Era where you have to catch apes in an ancient jungle. Earlier you learn how to swim, but you can't swim in large areas in this level because a giant catfish lives in the water and will attempt to shock you.

* The King Fish in the [[Harvest Moon]] games

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* An episode of ''[[Nightmare Ned]]'' subverts the usual plot- Ned and his dad actually succeed in catching the legendary fish, but after a [[Once an Episode|nightmare]], Ned lets it go. Then his dad decides they'll try and catch it ''every'' year...

* Legend told on ''[[Angry Beavers]]'' of a fish known as "Old Gramps" which was large enough to swallow a Swede. {{spoiler|Turns out its his mate who's the large one, and SHE'S big enough to swallow the Beaver Bros.' dam... along with ''several'' Swedes.}}

* The fishing episode of ''[[Kid VS Kat]]'' features one.

* The fishing episode of ''[[Kid vs. Kat]]'' features one.

* In the animated ''[[~~Pippi Longstocking (Literature)|~~Pippi Longstocking]]'', the two policemen are always scheming to catch a giant (pink!) fish in a local lake. {{spoiler|At the end of the film, it's lashed to the roof of their car.}}

* In the animated ''[[Pippi Longstocking]]'', the two policemen are always scheming to catch a giant (pink!) fish in a local lake. {{spoiler|At the end of the film, it's lashed to the roof of their car.}}

* A swamp-dwelling fisherman in one of the more recent [[Scooby Doo]] cartoons was trying to catch a pesky giant Louisiana catfish. It not only kept stealing his bait, but swam up to his houseboat and spat water in his face to taunt him each time it did so.