History Main / AlluringAnglerFish

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[[caption-width-right:350:[[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo ...Good feeling's]] [[OhCrap gone.]]]]
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Deep-sea anglerfish are fishes well-known for their [[LightIsNotGood luminescent lures]], used to attract prey amidst the ocean's dark depths. They, or creatures with similar lures on their head, are often used in media because of the surprise value: the [[SchmuckBait lure seems nice and pretty at first]], but turns out to be a trap set by a horrifying creature with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily. (It also helps that RealLife deep-sea anglerfish are one of the more hideous-looking deep-water beasts.)

Anglerfish are easily susceptible to an AnimalGenderBender, as in real life the deep-sea varieties possess one of the most extreme cases of BizarreSexualDimorphism: The image that most people think of is actually the ''female'' anglerfish; males of this sort have no lures, and are smaller than the females ... ''much'' smaller. [[ScienceMarchesOn At one point]] in history, scientists even believed them to be separate species. The male's life consists entirely of locating a female, then attaching itself to the female's body like a parasite, turning into [[http://theoatmeal.com/comics/angler a spare pair of gonads]] so that the female can reproduce. [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle Now you know.]]

Frogfishes, monkfishes, and sea toads are also anglerfishes, but they seldom appear in the media, as these species live in shallower waters and their lures don't glow in the dark, making them less visually-intriguing (they are considered just as ugly by most people though).

For VideoGames, see also the ChestMonster, a creature that lures unsuspecting players through an attractive disguise of its own.

SubTrope of FiendishFish. Related to BioluminescenceIsCool. Usually found in the EldritchOceanAbyss.
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!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* One of the earliest enemies in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is a hollow nicknamed "Grand Fisher" -- he has a monstrous body that could hide very well and a long feeler that could take human shape to serve as bait.
* The Puuchuu Queen in the horror film episode of ''Anime/ExcelSaga'', except her light was another Puuchuu. She also looked like the Alien Queen from ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.
* ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'': An Anglerfish is the mascot of Miho Nishizumi's tank. Appropriate to the style, she uses a lot of distractions and traps as her fighting style. It also helps that an anglerfish stew is a signature dish in the real city of Oarai.
* ''Anime/TheGreatMissionToSavePrincessPeach'': After [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] jumps into the ocean to search for the star, he comes by a glowing light and upon getting close, it was actually a Bulber that chases him off.
* Sisters Mimi and Sheshe from ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' ARE angler fish. And considering the description of males above, [[FridgeBrilliance that explains why they're lesbians.]]
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': On their way to Fishman Island, the Strawhat pirates met a gargantuan angler named Ankoro ("anko" in Japanese means "angler fish").
* ''Manga/ShinkaigyoNoAnkoSan'' [[MoeAnthropomorphism tranforms]] this hideous anglerfish into an adorable little [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent mermaid girl]]. It's implied that her species does "fuse" to reproduce, as mentioned above, and her lure normally looks like a big round shiny pearl capable of [[BlindedByTheLight stunning people with its light]], though in one chapter she reveals it can also split apart into a cluster of smaller tentacles tendrils, each tipped with its own glowing lure. In this state, it practically hypnotizes people into embracing her, much to Anko's embarrassment.
* In ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'', we have Yakitori, one of Onimaru's Shitenno in the Onimaru's Fortress arc. It actually has a Japanese paper lantern attached to it, and he's very proud of it. Oh, and don't call him "[[BerserkButton Toadstool]]".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' has a supervillain called Anglerfish (and his son). Anybody who looks into their lures sees their greatest desire (Anglerfish claimed that his son only ever used it to get laid).
* ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'': In one Bubbly story, the space adventurer suddenly sees images from his family and love interest on Earth inviting him to stay with them, which he gets out of his ship to investigate. As he drawed near, however, the computer of his spaceship uses a robotic arm to quickly drag him back, revealing that the images Astronaut had been seeing were nothing more than illusions created by a gigantic Anglerfish-like creature from the depths of space that used what any bystanding travellers wished the most as a lure to get them as its prey.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'': One cartoon has a man peering into an alley at a giant set of jaws with a tongue shaped like a beer bottle.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'': Marlin and Dory are chased by one while looking for the diver's mask.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie'' features a frogfish whose lure is in the guise of an old lady selling ice-cream.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/ErikTheViking'' has a scene where the Vikings see a glowing, swaying globe that they think is the sun (which they've never seen because Fenrir the wolf swallowed it). Turns out that what they're actually looking at is an anglerfish-type lure attached to the great Dragon of the North Sea.
* The moorwen in ''{{Film/Outlander}}'' operates like this, hiding in the darkness of the woods, flourishing some of the lights on its tail and skin to attract prey. When it goes [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]], somebody's dead.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/UnderThePendulumSun'': The [[WeirdMoon moon]] in the LandOfFaerie is a colossal anglerfish that swims through the sky. With the right charm, it can even be summoned.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The angler fish was crowned as ''Series/TheMostExtreme'' in "Oddities" (the male), "Appendages" (again the male), and "[[BioluminescenceIsCool Night Lights]]".
* ''Series/UltramanLeo'': FlyingSaucer Creature Hangler was an angler-like kaiju that hid underground with only its lure and maw disguised as a traffic light and a tunnel to lure unsuspecting drivers into its maw. If that didn't work, its VacuumMouth would do the trick.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/TheAgonist's song "Dead Ocean" mentions one in its lyrics: "The moon mocks you with a knowing grin. Or is that the lure of a distant angler fish? Was your role fulfilled? Was that it? Are you face up or face down?"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'': One sketch revolves around the origin of the anglerfish, designed by a member of a celestial divine team after an ''extremely'' bad break-up, hence the creature's look, and method of reproduction. The fellow's boss is, not unreasonably, concerned about this, to say nothing of the designer's mental state, but lets the design go through, albeit with a slight change of name from "Angelafish".

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' GaidenGame ''TabletopGame/{{Dreadfleet}}'' introduces the Orb Leviathan, which is basically a combination of an anglerfish and a whale that is big enough to swallow a massive warship whole. Its lure glows green, which causes some to mistake it for [[GreenRocks warpstone]].
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** A magran is a big, ethereal "anglerfish" (actually a legless reptile) native to the Ethereal Plane. Its light is visible farther than it has any right to be in ethereal fog and creatures who sees it are entranced and thus become easy morsels; the critter itself is not only hideously tough, but turns invisible at will (cannot extend this to freshly swallowed prey, though).
** One old ''Dragon'' article of fan-submitted monsters included a predatory fish-creature with a dorsal fin that, unfurled at the surface, resembled a drowning woman struggling in the waves: ready SchmuckBait for a passing potential rescuer.
** Another monster that hunts similarly to an anglerfish is the wolf-in-sheep's-clothing. It looks like a small fluffy rabbit-like creature, but that is only its lure. The monster's real body is disguised as a tree stump.
** Lantern {{sea serpents}} have anglerfish-like lures on their heads, which presumably help them use ''hypnotic pattern'' to incapacitate prey.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': One of the mini-comics depicted a Wyld-mutated anglerfish hunting humans using a baby as bait. ''Exalted'' is weird like that.
* ''TabletopGame/KingdomDeath'', being the kind of game it is, has two monsters with anglerfish-like lures: the Gorm, which otherwise looks like a cross between a pachyderm and a giant baby, and the Spidicules, a GiantSpider with a humanlike face, which uses the torso of one of its victims as a lure. Sometimes, [[AndIMustScream said victim isn't dead yet]].
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
** The game has a Phyrexian Horror called "[[https://scryfall.com/card/som/128 Tangle Angler]]". It's a [[AmbiguousRobots biomechanical]] anglerfish mounted on many deformed, stiltlike legs, with the gameplay rule that any creature it targets must block it, symbolizing it being taken in by the angler's lure.
** The Return to Innistrad block includes the card [[https://scryfall.com/card/emn/63 Grizzled Angler]], which transforms into Grisly Anglerfish as a result of the [[EldritchAbomination Eldrazi titan Emrakul's]] BodyHorror. The latter is an enormous, monstrous anglerfish with a living human head for a lure, and the rule that any enemy creature that can attack must attack.
** The Khans of Tarkir block has unleashed another called "[[https://scryfall.com/card/frf/72 Gurmag Angler]]", a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombified version]] which lives in the swamps of the Sultai Brood and uses a fleshy lure shaped vaguely like a human being in order to eat the Sultai's zombie slaves that populate the area.
-->''If everything in the Gurmag Swamp hungers for human flesh, what bait could be more effective?''
* ''TabletopGame/{{Monsterpocalypse}}'' has a {{Kaiju}}-size one named Anglax, trained by [[UltraTerrestrials the Atlanteans]] to attack human coastal population centres so they can sink them and [[MissingStepsPlan move in]]. ''Monsterpocalypse'' is weirder like that.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Numenera}}'': Spiny schisans, eel-like predators found in the ocean depths, are a variation. While they do have a glowing lure at the tip of a stalk on their chin, their main way of attracting prey is with the kite-shaped, red and yellow fin at the end of their tail. Through their low-level telepathy, they make it seem like something a viewer swears they recognize from somewhere. The resulting psychic call lures passersby in to investigate and stumble right into the schisan's mouth.
* Ceratioidi in ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' are [[FishPeople humanoid]] anglerfish. They can use the lure growing from their heads to mesmerize other creatures. Someone entranced by a ceratioidi's lure will stare at it in stupefied fascination, even if there were fighting its owner moments before, until the ceratioidi actually attacks them. Like the real creatures, the humanoid is the female, while males are intelligent parasitic eels the size of a rat. Combined, they can use both their minds to share the body, which means they can wield two weapons with no penalties and have an easier time multiclassing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/AceAnglerFishingSpirits,'' one of the mascots of the aquarium is an anglerfish, representing deep sea lifeforms. She actually has her husband clinging to her back (though he's not depicted as having bitten into her), and while he doesn't speak, she translates for him.
* ''VideoGame/{{Aquaria}}'' has some particularly nasty ones in The Abyss, which, other than trying to attack you, consumes the other benign creatures that normally help you (or at least look pretty).
* Giant angler fish live in the deep oceans of ''VideoGame/ArkSurvivalEvolved''. Both sexes have glowing lures and are large enough to put a saddle on and ride. They have an increased gather rate for pearls, but are slower and weaker than many of the oceans' other denizens. The ''Aberration'' DLC also has the [[UglyCute Bulbdog]], a friendly dog-like mutant with an anglerfish-like face and glowing lure which can be used for light and to ward off darkness-loving creatures.
* ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'': Lord Woo Fak Fak is the boss of Jolly Roger's Lagoon, being a gigantic anglerfish with some luminiscent weak spots, and can be found in Davy Jones' Locker (itself found in the deepest region of the sea). His lure contains a Jiggy.
* In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadowMirrorOfFate'', the Lady of the Crypt is a massive arthropod with a woman-shaped appendage on its forehead. The "woman" serves as a relatively simple opponent in the first stage of the fight before the main body reveals itself for an epic ColossusClimb.
* ''VideoGame/ChampionsOnline'' includes both a single angler lure, and a DUAL angler lure as optional costume parts when designing characters.
* The Siren in ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' has a lure on her head, and is able to enchant your teammates and use them against the rest of the party.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'': The boss Dagon (as well as his identical brother Bael and entire species), has [[CastingAShadow the ability to create darkness]] and [[StepIntoTheBlindingFight disappear into it]], leaving the only part visible his antennae/lures-which resemble beautiful, naked nymphs called Rusalka who [[GirlOnGirlIsHot play with each other]] to entice victims to get within striking range. Nero, being the serious-minded one of the protagonists, doesn't have much of a reaction to their attempts at seduction. Dante, on the other hand, provides one of the more hilarious scenes in the game when he comes across them.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'': Glimmer, although it's a subversion in that it's not hideous-looking and actually helps the Kongs by providing light. There is a similar tadpole character in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64''.
* ''VideoGame/DontStarve'': Depths worms are enormous subterranean predators who spend most of their time buried just underground, with only their stalked, luminescent berry-like lure visible in the darkness of the caves. When someone comes along to investigate, seeks shelter in the light, or tries to harvest the "berry", the depths worm bursts from the ground and attacks.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Dredge}}'', staying out too long at night runs the risk of running into a monstrous angler fish that is more than happy to take a bite out of your boat. Said angler fish has a lure that makes it appear as another boat, only to reveal its true form once it gets close enough to start chowing down.
* In the Cambrian stage of ''VideoGame/EVOSearchForEden'', you can evolve to have an Angler Horn, which lures prey closer to you.
* One of the new creatures in the ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' expansion ''Far Harbor'' is the Angler, which appears to be a mutated anglerfish. It hides in shallow water, where its lure looks similar to lure-weed plants. Rather than trying to lure people in, they just try to wait until unsuspecting prey passes by, then pop out of the water and start spitting fireballs at it.
* Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/FeedingFrenzy Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown]]'', as while Edie the Anglerfish uses its esca to hunt down smaller fishes, they are not attracted to its light.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is a partial example, as while its "Angler Whelk" is a giant ''snail'', it has an angler fish's lure, from which hangs [[ChestMonster a treasure chest]].
* In ''VideoGame/GemSmashers'', the boss of [[UnderTheSea Poseidonia]] is an anglerfish. To damage it, your character must hit the lure when they are both the same color.
* ''VideoGame/Grandia1'' featured one of these as a boss -- a giant fish, with a generically pretty mermaid on a feeler as a lure. It had a tendency to cast a charm spell on the male main character.
* The Sea Monster from ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic IV's'' appearance is inspired by an angler fish. It is also one of the single deadliest enemies in the game, and one of only two creatures that cannot under any circumstance end up as part of the player's army in the original game. Its special ability is an instant kill attachment to an already powerful normal attack which swallows several victims whole, barring resurrection, which is quite a hindrance for otherwise incredibly powerful [[DeathIsCheap hero units]].
* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': Nosk the optional spider boss lures you toward its arena with a lookalike of your character attached to one of its legs. According to the Hunter's Journal and last thoughts of the corpses outside Nosk's lair, many of its victims thought they'd found long-deceased loved ones.
* Inverted by ''VideoGame/{{Insaniquarium}}''[='s=] Gumbo, who protects your guppies.
* Deep Dive Deep, a level from ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'', ends with the poor pink flufferoo escaping from the jaws of an anglerfish made entirely out of buttons and pipe cleaners. Its lure appears to be a grabbable patch. How evil. The first angler fish Kirby encounters in the game are harmless, one [[{{foreshadowing}} blocking the way to]] Deep Dive Deep.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** That valuable red Rupee standing in the middle of nowhere, ready for the grab? Most likely a shield-eating Like-Like's Rupee-shaped appendage.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'': A big anglerfish serves as the boss of Angler's Tunnel. Due to it being an aquatic creature, it's also the only boss in the game that is fought underwater.
** Jabun from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' resembles a mix between an anglerfish and a catfish. His lure, which resembles a man-made lantern hanging from a tendril, appears to be purely decorative.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendsOfOwlia'': One of the enemy types you face in the game are anglerfish that float above the ground.
* Lurerre the Abysroid, one of the ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' bosses is based on an angler fish. Or rather, she's based on the light of an angler fish. Her lure half is a cute (though not really Humanoid), Mermaid-shaped Pseudoroid, while her fish half is huge, mechanical, ugly, and [[BehindTheBlack juuuuuust off screen]] most of the time. We're not actually sure which is technically considered her "true" body. This actually shows up in strategy for fighting her, because the "light" part is a [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak point]] -- and if you try to go for it, the monster ''will'' come out and get you.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterEye'' has an underwater level where you battle a ''giant'' anglerfish (larger than most submarines) as a boss.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'': The Gobul is largely modeled after shallow-water monkfishes, with which it shares a flattened body, wide mouth, short teeth, ambush-hunting lifestyle, and long spines and tendrils extending from its body, to which it adds a large glowing lantern based on those of deep-water anglerfish. Although it fits the trope, it interestingly does not use its lantern as the lure. Instead, it burrows itself into the soil and lures cow-sized herbivores in by disguising its catfish-like barbels as plants, and then it proceeds to swallow them whole with its enormous mouth (it will also casually inhale small schools of fish if they group around it). The lantern, meanwhile, is just used to blind its enemies with bright flashes.
%%* ''VideoGame/TheOceanHunter'': Charybdis, the boss of the third level.
* ''VideoGame/{{Octogeddon}}'': The Anglerfish tentacle continuously emits a powerful light beam which can reveal hidden enemies.
* ''VideoGame/OuterWilds'': The inside of Dark Bramble has a thick fog, with the only way to navigate is to follow [[ALightInTheDistance distant lights]]. Each light is either a portal or an anglerfish that will try to eat you.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Chinchou and its evolution Lanturn, although its appearance is also based on a dolphin. They happen to be the rare [[MakingASplash Water]]/[[ShockAndAwe Electric-types]]. Unsurprisingly, one of their abilities is "Illuminate", which raises the likelihood of meeting wild Pokémon. They are, however, ''cute''.
* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' has the midboss of the Iron Whale stage, it's huge and has a relic chest for a lure. After killing it, you can inspect the chest to find that it ''really is'' a relic chest with Chester inside.
* ''VideoGame/SlimeRancher2'' has angler slimes, which can stun chickens and other slimes with a burst of light from their lures.
* ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'': The [[EldritchOceanAbyss Abyss]] includes an anglerfish that's been [[spoiler:mutated by [[MutagenicGoo Structure Gel]]]] to the point that it's large enough to swallow a man whole. It also doubles as SchmuckBait, as the player is supposed to follow a trail of lamps to cross the deep-sea terrain.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** Bulbers are anglerfish-like enemies that appear throughout the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' games. Like actual anglerfish, their bulbs illuminate the darkness around them as they move together in a group.
** A blue bullet-shaped creature from ''VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS'' has a green Yoshi egg hanging from the tip of its antenna.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': The Moglum are giant anglerfish covered in coral. They will sometimes drop items outside of battle by shaking off the coral on them.
* ''[[Website/GaiaOnline zOMG!]]'': the Robofish's appearance is based on anglerfish, only robotic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In the Strong Bad E-mail "animal", one of the ideas Strong Bad has for what he'd be if he were an animal would be "one of those deep-sea fangly fishes". Its lure was Homestar's head, which offered free puppies, ginger snaps, and pocket [=PCs=]. Since Homestar's head wasn't luminous, the fish had Christmas lights all over its body. And it had a back deck "for dinner and dancing", though after Strong Bad remembered he was re-imagining ''himself'' as the animal, he realized he couldn't really take advantage of that deck.
* ''WebAnimation/MetaRunner'': The boss of Scarpbeard’s Fortress being used as a backdoor is a giant monstrous anglerfish with a metal jaw, and it’s lure resembles a smaller, much cuter anglerfish.
* ''WebAnimation/MonkeyWrench'': Dr. Agness is a [[FishPerson humanoid anglerfish]] who covers her body with a lab coat and presents her glowing, flowerlike lure as her face. She lures Monkey Wrench to work for her with false promises of saving the Lythops from extinction. It's only when they've brought the Lythops before her that she drops the act, revealing her true colors, her real face, and her murderous intentions for everyone else involved.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' has a {{Kaiju}} {{Scary Scorpion|s}} having this effect on Jaune, who mistook the glowing [[BewareMyStingerTail stinger]] as the relic he was seeking.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' comic "Bugfuck", a praying mantis female lies to lure a male into mating with her so she can eat him. In the epilogue comic, an anthropomorphic anglerfish in a bathrobe accurately describes the mating habits of her species, then mocks the reader for assuming every FunnyAnimals story is a thinly-veiled satire of the human condition. The male anglerfish is depicted with a glowing lure, but this might just be to verify that he's the same species as the female.
* ''Webcomic/TheUnspeakableVaultOfDoom'': Even Cthulhoo knows how to use the trick, using a [[http://www.goominet.com/unspeakable-vault/vault/295/ giant luminescent squid as lure.]]
* ''Webcomic/WhiteDarkLife'': Nessie is an [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent angler fish mermaid]] with a peculiar level of intelligence.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'' has a few fish... "things" with angler-like protuberances, such as one that looks like a comely woman, or one with fleshy, glowing "fruits" that enslave those who eat some so the monster has servants/bloodbags to use at its convenience. [[SchmuckBait For those brave enough to go and explore the site]]: sweet dreams.
** A variant of the "woman on a lure" also appeared in a sequence of zombie-related strips and again in one of the animated shorts.
* ''WebVideo/CarmillaTheSeries'' EldritchAbomination/fish god Lophiiformes (whose name is literally the biological family to which anglerfish belong).
* Music/HankGreen's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t7E4amWDqI "A Song About An Anglerfish"]]--a song that first appeared on WebVideo/VlogBrothers--is probably the only song in existence that details the mating patterns of anglerfish.
* ''Website/SCPFoundation''
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-968 SCP-968 ("Tar Baby")]]. SCP-968 hunts humans by altering part of itself to mimic a baby or small child to lure in rescuers.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1305 SCP-1305 ("Cat Lure")]]. SCP-1305 can create a lure that appears to be one of its past victims, such as a cat or a human being. It uses the lure to draw human beings close to it so it can attack and eat them.
** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-745 SCP-745, ("The Headlights"),]] are bioluminescent nocturnal predators that hunt in pairs, resembling the headlights of a car at a distance. Rather than luring their human prey in, they instead challenge them to a deadly GameOfChicken by sprinting at oncoming cars at speeds over 100 mph, running the panicked drivers off the road and leaving them vulnerable to attack.
** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-2640 SCP-2640]], ("[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurdon_Light The Gurdon Lights]]"), are this and ''literal'' FishOutOfTemporalWater. They're giant, prehistoric anglerfish partially intruding upon our time period through a rift in spacetime [[EverytownAmerica in the small town of Gurdon, Arkansas]]. The Foundation keeps them at bay with AppliedPhlebotinum and under normal circumstances, they appear as floating balls of light that harmlessly phase through people (and produce a drowning sensation), but if left unchecked they become just corporeal enough to prey on anyone unlucky enough to cross their path.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': In "Cloudy", the cloud with the bathroom turns out to be an angler lard that tries to eat Jake.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'', Puss tries to rescue a princess only to find that it is actually a monster that traps heroes with a princess-shaped lure.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'': Ripjaws has a lure on his head like an anglerfish.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Bunnicula}}'', the animals decide to hire a monster to give the humans in the apartment a supernatural experience. They end up settling on a ghost that just looks like a small sphere with a goofy face, because all of the other monsters were too scary. It turns out that the ghost ball is actually the lure of a giant anglerfish-like monster that can make the rest of its body invisible, who then tries eat the humans instead after being told he is not scary enough.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The Deep South" includes a gag in which Zoidberg spots a delicious-looking worm that turns out to be the lure of one of those non-phosphorescent lures mentioned in the trope description. In a future year that ends with a 20 (351120 AD, to be exact), Farnsworth, Bender, and Fry see a watery wimp of a mermaid who is in fact part of a large, bloodthirsty shrimp.
* In Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Tenzin, Bumi, and Kya encounter one of these in the spirit world.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' fell prey to an angler fish in one CouchGag. (Its lure looked like a couch.)
* Several anglerfish intimidate ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' in the episode "Rock Bottom" while he's waiting in line. He's never seen any fish like that before, because he's from much shallower water.
* On ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'', one of the denizens of the AbsurdlySpaciousSewer is a kind of angler with [[CashLure "a living wallet" as a lure]].
* Considering the Kratt brothers' love of weird creatures, especially weird sea creatures, it's no surprise that ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts'' has featured anglerfish more than once. The current page image is taken from an episode about deep-sea creatures, while another episode featured "Rocketjaw" the frogfish, and showed off the frogfish's ability to swallow a prey animal faster than the eye can follow.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Anglerfish are not the only animals that use a part of their body as bait to lure in prey. Alligator snapping turtles have a projection on their tongue that resembles a worm which they wiggle around to attract fish into their mouths. Various pit vipers when young use the brightly colored tip of their tail to lure lizards and such, while the bizarre spider-tailed viper uses its highly specialized tail (structured in such a way that it looks and moves very much like a arachnid) to lure birds into striking range.
* Although anglerfishes are most famous for doing so, there are ''lots'' of kinds of deep-water predators that use bioluminescence to attract prey: the deep-sea anglers are really only unusual in that they display their lures on such specialized appendages.
* The cookiecutter shark even inverts this strategy, sporting photophores on its belly that conceal its body against the overhead brightness of the surface, except for a small patch on its chest that looks like the silhouette of a much ''smaller'' fish. When other predators investigate, the shark nips a bite from them.
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* ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats'' has an anglerfish enemy named Henry, but it's otherwise [[SubvertedTrope not an example.]] Instead of luring anything with his light, Henry uses his light to shine a beam on far-away Cats, freezing them in place.

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16795197170.91184100 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'': A big anglerfish with an alluring lamp serves as the boss of Angler's Tunnel. Due to it being an aquatic creature, it's also the only boss in the game that is fought underwater.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'': A big anglerfish with an alluring lamp serves as the boss of Mermaid Cave. Due to it being an aquatic creature, it's also the only boss in the game that is fought underwater.

** One of these serves as a boss in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening''.

* Anglerfish are not the only animals that use a part of their body as bait to lure in prey. Snapping turtles have a tongue that resembles a worm which they wiggle around to attract fish into their mouths.

* ''WebOriginal/Mortasheen'' has a few fish... "things" with angler-like protuberances, such as one that looks like a comely woman, or one with fleshy, glowing "fruits" that enslave those who eat some so the monster has servants/bloodbags to use at its convenience. [[SchmuckBait For those brave enough to go and explore the site]]: sweet dreams.

* Website/{{Bogleech}}'s ''[[{{Mons}} Mortasheen]]'' section has a few fish... "things" with angler-like protuberances, such as one that looks like a comely woman, or one with fleshy, glowing "fruits" that enslave those who eat some so the monster has servants/bloodbags to use at its convenience. [[SchmuckBait For those brave enough to go and explore the site]]: sweet dreams.

[[caption-width-right:350:...[[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo Good feeling's]] [[OhCrap gone]].]]

* ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme:'' One sketch revolves around the origin of the anglerfish, designed by a member of a celestial divine team after an ''extremely'' bad break-up, hence the creature's look, and method of reproduction. The fellow's boss is, not unreasonably, concerned about this, to say nothing of the designer's mental state, but lets the design go through, albeit with a slight change of name from "Angelafish".

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'': The Gobul is largely modeled after actual anglerfish, most notably having a large lantern dangling off the front of its hit. Although it fits the trope, it interestingly does not use its lantern as the lure. Instead, it burrows itself into the soil and lures cow-sized herbivores in by disguising its catfish-like barbels as plants, and then it proceeds to swallow them whole with its enormous mouth (it will also casually inhale small schools of fish if they group around it). The lantern, meanwhile, is just used to blind its enemies with bright flashes.
* Charybdis, the boss of the third level in ''VideoGame/TheOceanHunter''.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Octogeddon}}'', the Anglerfish tentacle continuously emits a powerful light beam which can reveal hidden enemies.
* The inside of Dark Bramble in ''VideoGame/OuterWilds'' has a thick fog, with the only way to navigate is to follow [[ALightInTheDistance distant lights]]. Each light is either a portal or an anglerfish that will try to eat you.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Chinchou and its evolution Lanturn, although its appearance is also based on a dolphin. They happen to be the rare [[MakingASplash Water]]/[[ShockAndAwe Electric]] types. Unsurprisingly, one of its abilities is "Illuminate", which raises the likelihood of meeting wild Pokémon. They are, however, ''cute''.

* The [[EldritchOceanAbyss Abyss]] in ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'' includes an anglerfish that's been [[spoiler:mutated by [[MutagenicGoo Structure Gel]]]] to the point that it's large enough to swallow a man whole. It also doubles as SchmuckBait, as the player is supposed to follow a trail of lamps to cross the deep-sea terrain.

[[caption-width-right:350:...[[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo Good feeling's gone]].]]

* ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'': In one Astronaut story, the hero suddenly sees images from his family and love interest in the countryside, which he gets out of his ship to investigate. As he drawed near, however, the computer of his spaceship uses a robotic arm to quickly drag him back, revealing that the images Astronaut had been seeing were nothing more than illusions created by a gigantic Anglerfish-like monster that used what any passing space travellers wished the most as a lure to get them as its prey.

* Sisters Mimi and Sheshe from ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' ARE angler fish. And considering the description of males above, [[FridgeBrilliance that explains why they're lesbians...]]

* In ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'', we have Yakitori, one of Onimaru's Shitenno in the Onimaru's Fortress arc. It actually has a Japanese paper lantern attached to it, and he's very proud of it. Oh, and don't call him [[BerserkButton "Toadstool"]]....

* A blue bullet-shaped creature from ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland DS'' has a green Yoshi egg hanging from the tip of its antenna.

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** A variant of the "woman on a lure" also appeared in a sequence of zombie-related strips.
*** And again in one of the animated shorts.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The Deep South" includes a gag in which Zoidberg spots a delicious-looking worm that turns out to be the lure of one of those non-phosphorescent lures mentioned in the trope description.
** In a future year that ends with a 20 (351120 AD, to be exact), Farnsworth, Bender, and Fry see a watery wimp of a mermaid who is in fact part of a large, bloodthirsty shrimp.

Frogfishes, monkfishes, and sea toads are also anglerfishes, but they [[SeldomSeenSpecies seldom appear in the media]], as these species live in shallower waters and their lures don't glow in the dark, making them less visually-intriguing (they are considered just as ugly by most people though).

[[folder:Other Sites]]
* ''Website/SCPFoundation''
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-968 SCP-968 ("Tar Baby")]]. SCP-968 hunts humans by altering part of itself to mimic a baby or small child to lure in rescuers.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1305 SCP-1305 ("Cat Lure")]]. SCP-1305 can create a lure that appears to be one of its past victims, such as a cat or a human being. It uses the lure to draw human beings close to it so it can attack and eat them.
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* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' has a horrific land-based variation. [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-745 SCP-745, "The Headlights",]] are bioluminescent nocturnal predators that hunt in pairs, resembling the headlights of a car at a distance. Rather than luring their human prey in, they instead challenge them to a deadly GameOfChicken by sprinting at oncoming cars at speeds over 100 mph, running the panicked drivers off the road and leaving them vulnerable to attack.