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Psycho Electric Eel: Difference between revisions
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First off, Electric "Eels" are actually not eels at all. They are a species of [[wikipedia:Gymnotiformes|Knifefish]], a group of fish closely related to [[The Catfish|Catfish]], many of whom are electrogenic; they are able to generate electric fields which aid them in hunting for food. There are actually a [[wikipedia:Electric fish|surprising number]] of electrogenic fish, but [[Small Taxonomy Pools|don't expect them to show up in fiction]].
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 a Smeerp|confusing name]], writers tend to think actual Eels—a different group of fish entirely—have electric powers (this has led to the asinine belief that eel-skin wallets erase credit cards, when "eel" leather is ''also'' made from an entirely different fish). Worse yet, Eels may even be confused with [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|snakes]], and may be poisonous to compound the electricity. Furthermore, whenever a [[Mad Scientist]] needs to give his monster some extra oomph, he'll give it electric eel powers. Often results in [[X-Ray Sparks]] when they attack someone in a cartoon.
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