Psycho Electric Eel: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
▲[[File:Lightning_Eel_6344.png|link=Table Top Games/Levyn Light|right|[http://levynlight.wikia.com/wiki/Lightning_Eel Electric, electronic,] whatever [[A Worldwide Punomenon|powers]] your boat.]]
"Electric Eels are ''cool''. Dude, they're
▲"Electric Eels are ''cool''. Dude, they're '''animals''' but they have '''[[Shock and Awe|electric powers]]'''! They're like real-life [[Psycho Electro|supervillains]]! They could totally fry you to a crisp, electrify the entire lake, and fire bolts of lightning from their eyes!"
Yeah... that's not ''exactly'' how Electric Eels work in reality.
First off, Electric "Eels" are actually not eels at all. They are a species of [
Anyway, Electric Eels are found only in South America. They are indeed able to stun their enemies with a nasty jolt - up to 1 ampere, enough to kill a human. They can generate a charge large enough to kill a ''grounded'' person, stun a horse or blow out several bulbs. But they don't exactly light up like Las Vegas. Curiously, while electric eels ''are'' dangerous for a submerged body, and they ''do'' aggressively attack larger animals wandering into water near them (even [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/15/scientist_zaps_himself_electric_eel/ jumping out a little to touch the limb above water]), the latter behavior is optimized to inflict very painful, yet non-lethal shocks: applying current between the limbs could be much more dangerous and maybe easier, but the distinct "cattle-prod" attack allows to chase away one possible predator without attracting all ''other'' predators who could smell the body.
In fiction, these fish will be [[Lightning Can Do Anything|ridiculously overpowered]]. Furthermore, thanks to the [[Call a Rabbit
See also [[Electric Jellyfish]] and [[Shark Pool]].
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Anime and Manga ==▼
▲== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* The idea of all eels being "electric eels" is averted in Japanese media in general because most people there are far better acquainted with the regular kind of eels which you eat, and as stated above knifefish only live in South America.
* In an episode of ''[[Princess Tutu]]'', the manager of a ballet troupe is an electric eel. He supplies the lighting needs of the theater.
* An obscure ecchi manga called ''[[Okitsune-sama De Chu]]'' actually ''did'' feature an electric catfish as one off the evil animal spirits possessing people.
==
* Exists as [http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=1751 a not very good card] from the ''The Dark'' expansion set of ''[[Magic the Gathering]]''.▼
== Comic Books ==▼
* ''[[Tintin]] and the Picaros'' has a fairly accurate depiction of a gymnotus.
* [[X-Men]] / [[New Warriors]] enemy Bandit has powers that are often compared to an electric eel by other characters...[[Averted Trope|meaning they're a lot less impressive]] than [[Shock and Awe|Surge, Electro or Storm's]]. He needed skin contact to electrocute others until he made special weapons to work around his limitations.
* In a ''[[What If|What If?]]'' humor story (''[[Spider
== Film ==▼
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Mary Shelley's Frankenstein]]'' by Kenneth Branagh, Victor Frankenstein used electric eels to jump-start his monster.
** A similar, but deliberately comic, use of eels as power sources is in the steampunkish cartoon ''A Gentleman's Duel.''
== [[Live
* This trope is so pervasive that there's an urban legend that Eel-skin wallets erase credit cards. Busted by the ''[[
* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' had the Delta Flyer, doubling as a submarine, in a brush with an ''alien'' giant electric eel.▼
▲* This trope is so pervasive that there's an urban legend that Eel-skin wallets erase credit cards. Busted by the ''[[Myth Busters]]'', seeing that the wallets aren't made of electric eels, duh. (They're not even made of eels, for the record.) And even when they put credit cards next to live electric eels, there was no effect.
▲* Exists as [https://web.archive.org/web/20090414204433/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=1751 a not very good card] from the ''The Dark'' expansion set of ''[[Magic:
▲* ''[[Star Trek Voyager]]'' had the Delta Flyer, doubling as a submarine, in a brush with an ''alien'' giant electric eel.
* In the Broadway musical of Disney's ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'', Flotsam and Jetsam have electric powers. This in spite of their having been ''moray eels'' in the movie, and actually being accurate enough to not have electric powers.
== [[Toys]] ==
* Ehlek, one of the [[Fish People|Barraki]] from ''[[Bionicle]]''.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Many of the watery areas in ''[[Banjo
▲== Video Games ==
* Some [[Roguelike
* ''[[The Punisher]]'' game on [[
▲* Many of the watery areas in ''[[Banjo Kazooie|Banjo-Tooie]]'' feature electric eel enemies. Their current never travels, of course--only touching them damages you.
▲* Some [[Roguelike|Roguelikes]] have electric eels which do electricity damage. Possibly the worst example is [http://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/ Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup]. Although toned down in later versions at one point they were capable of flinging lightning bolts across the screen for massive damage then diving underwater when you got close, making them among the most annoying enemies in the game.
▲* ''[[The Punisher]]'' game on [[PS 2]] and PC both averts and subverts this trope in quite a hilarious way. During one level you can 'interogate' an enemy mook by threatening to dunk him in an Electric Eel's tank. While the aquarium's (automated) PA system goes into scientific detail about the Eel - pointing out that it's actually a fish, for example - when you dunk the mook, he's electrified to death in a very dramatic manner.
* According to the game manual for ''[[Street Fighter]] 2'', Blanka learned how to electrify his skin by observing electric eels. Apparently it's a skill, like basket weaving or flower arranging.
* Electric eels show up in an (admittedly based on South America) area in ''[[
* In the first ''[[Freddi Fish]]'' adventure game, at one point the titular fish finds her way blocked by a hostile electric eel with a very sleazy voice who emanates cartoon lightning bolts. However, this being a kid's game, no actual violence ensues<ref>(well, except in a [[Dummied Out]] [[Indulgent Fantasy Segue]] that was most likely made for the developers' own amusement)</ref> and Freddi gets past him by giving him a sandwich.
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' posesses a few eel-type monsters in Zangarmarsh that have (rather weak) electric powers.
* ''[[
** There's also Stunfisk, the Electric/Ground flatfish/flounder/stargazer which is also electric.
** The Barboach/Whiscash line can have Spark bred onto them. Remember the header? About electric eels actually being close cousins of ''catfish''?
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* Volteel Biblio from ''[[Mega Man Zero]] 3''.
* As an exception to the "no other electric fish" rule, Volt Catfish from the third [[Mega Man X]] game.
* ''[[
== [[Web Original]] ==
* The Eel, a supervillain from the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' has the ability to generate an electrical charge in addition to having the "[[
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
* In an episode of the ''[[
▲== Western Animation ==
* Coming from a show you'd think would know better: The [[Mad Scientist]] in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' who worked out a way to [[Cursed
** Not to mention Sevarius got "shocked to death" when Goliath kicks him into the tank containing said eels and he grabs onto one. Of course, given that he survived the encounter with no ill effects and that it was all part of the overseeing [[
▲* In an episode of the ''[[Robo Cop]]'' cartoon, a [[Mad Scientist]] gave one of his creations electric eel powers.
* A vat of Electric Eels and a special containment system are used for Electro's origin in ''[[The Spectacular Spider
▲* Coming from a show you'd think would know better: The [[Mad Scientist]] in ''[[Gargoyles]]'' who worked out a way to [[Cursed With Awesome|change humans into Gargoyles]] - sort of - explained that the real Gargoyles had a magical means of storing solar energy as they slept through the day as stone. Lacking another animal that could do so, he decided to give his human-goyles the [[Lego Genetics|genes for an electric eel's]] ''electric organs''. Which allowed them to fire bolts of lightning from their hands. Naturally.
▲** Not to mention Sevarius got "shocked to death" when Goliath kicks him into the tank containing said eels and he grabs onto one. Of course, given that he survived the encounter with no ill effects and that it was all part of the overseeing [[Plan|planmeans]] [[Genre Savvy|he and Xanatos probably knew that his little pets were mostly harmless]] [[Fridge Brilliance|and was counting on Goliath and Derek to assume they're lethal to the touch.]]
▲* A vat of Electric Eels and a special containment system are used for Electro's origin in ''[[The Spectacular Spider Man]]''.
* Despite being based on a Japanese eel, Unagi from ''[[Sushi Pack]]'' uses electrical power to attack.
* Used in ''[[Kim Possible]]'' to allow Kim a chance to vent and lampshade the predictability of her rogues gallery and to predict the inevitable 'Shocking' line that the villain does indeed use.
* The CG-animation short ''[[A Gentlemans Duel]]'' features a Victorian-steampunk mecha... that also harbors several electrogenic fish. Their electricity is harnessed as a mode of attack.
* One of the [[Killer Rabbit|cute but dangerous]] baby animals the harried [[Delivery Stork]] in ''[[Pixar Shorts|Partly Cloudy]]'' must deliver is an [[Ugly Cute|adorable]] knifefish.
* Used in the ''[[Beetlejuice (
* In ''[[The Simpsons]]''' "The Cartridge Family":
{{quote|
** ''Cape Feare'' also featured electric eels menacing Bart when he tried to jump off a houseboat to escape Sideshow Bob. [[Misplaced Wildlife|This despite the fact that they were nowhere near South America at the time]].
* Used by the Hooded Claw to power a [[Death Trap]] in ''[[The Perils of Penelope Pitstop]]'' episode "The Treacherous Movie Lot Plot".
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