History Main / CryptidEpisode

[[quoteright:300:[[Anime/{{Kagewani}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kagewani_photos.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Guess Takeru had to find out the hard way.]]

A Cryptid is an animal which is not yet known to modern science, such as [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Bigfoot]], Mothman, or the [[StockNessMonster Loch Ness Monster]]. Sometimes, a show that is not usually focused on them will have an episode or two about them.

If done clumsily, this can easily result in a BizarroEpisode. See also OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious.

* In one episode of ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'', TheGreys are hiding in Hazzard County.

* ''Series/MacGyver1985'' encounters Bigfoot in the thrid season episode "Ghost Ship".

* While most of the creatures in ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' weren't connected to any real-life mythology, occasionally one would turn out to be the source of a legendary creature or cryptid. The most notable examples were the ''Dracorex'' (a dinosaur mistaken for a dragon), the "[[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Mer-creatures]]", the gremlin-like "camouflage creatures", and the ''Pristichampsus'' (implied to be the inspiration for the Egyptian monster Ammut).
* A mid-season revamp of ''Series/{{Baywatch}} Nights'' had every episode switch between this, a ParanormalEpisode or an AlienEpisode willy-nilly. Bear in mind, the original concept of the show was veteran lifeguard Mitch Buchannon and his cop friends quitting the beach life and opening a private-eye agency. [[ScrewedByTheNetwork The show ended up being cancelled shortly afterwards]] [[LaterInstallmentWeirdness because this attempt to]] FollowTheLeader that was ''Series/TheXFiles'' [[AudienceAlienatingPremise got too strange for the audience to care about]].

[[folder: Film -- Live Action]]
* ''Film/FrogDreaming'' (also known as ''Go-Go Kids'' and ''The Quest'' in some markets) is about a young American boy whose family has relocated to Australia, and who becomes obsessed with Australian cryptids and specifically about finding out about a Bunyip-esque monster called "Donkegin" that is supposed to live in the local lake. It turns out that Donkegin is in fact an old Donkey Engine (a type of excavator or steam-shovel) used in construction work, and the pond is in fact a flooded quarry.
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[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Puppet Shows ]]

* An episode of Gerry Anderson's ''Series/{{Stingray 1964}}'' has the submarine and crew shipped to Scotland to find the Loch Ness Monster.

[[folder: Radio ]]

* The ''Radio/HamishAndDougal'' episode "The Monster in the Loch" has the characters accidentally burn the log that gullible tourists mistake for a monster, and then learn that it's RealAfterAll.
* One episode of ''Radio/TheNavyLark'' has the Troutbridge crew reassigned to find the Loch Ness Monster.

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Par for the course in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' So far the characters have met Dragons, Unicorns, Bigfeet, and the Loch Ness Monster.

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[[folder: Web Original ]]

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': The WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail "[[Recap/StrongBadEmailE145MythsAndLegends myths & legends]]" had Strong Bad do a mockumentary on the Bear Holding a Shark, acting like the cardboard cut-out lurking behind Strong Badia's fence is based on a real creature of mysterious myth and legendary legend.
* ''Literature/SuperpowerEmpireChina1912'' deals with AlternateHistory but one of the episodes involves chasing a bigfoot in the Mongolian steppe.
* ''WebVideo/BedtimeStoriesYoutubeChannel'' has an episode entirely about the Mothman, a WingedHumanoid-type cryptid that terrorized people in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in the mid-1960s.
* ''WebVideo/TierZoo'' did a Cryptid Tier list as an AprilFoolsDay joke. It's actually surprisingly well-made for an April Fool's joke, detailing why certain cryptids such as the Chupacabra and Jackalope were low on the tier list due to being diseased animals, while others such as the Loch Ness Monster and Mokèlé-mbèmbé were high on the tier list due to being living prehistoric reptiles.
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* The ''Series/{{Bones}}'' episode focusing on the Chupacabra cryptid uses it as a way to explore the difference in worldviews between rational, scientific female lead and her more open-minded male partner.

[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/{{Kagewani}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kagewani_photos.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Guess Takeru had to find out the hard way.]]

* Cryptid-related sidequests show up fairly often in ''Franchise/MetalGear'':

* In the ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' episode "Spanish Fry", Fry goes to look for Bigfoot, who appears at the end to act as a DeusExMachina.

** A sort-of example is the episode where Homer gets lost in the woods and is mistaken for Bigfoot.

-->"No one takes me cereal!"

* A mid-season revamp of ''Series/{{Baywatch}} Nights'' turned every episode into either this or a SupernaturalEpisode. Bear in mind, the original concept of the show was lifeguard Mitch Buchannon and his cop friends quitting the beach life and opening a private-eye agency. [[ScrewedByTheNetwork The show ended up being cancelled shortly afterwards]] [[LaterInstallmentWeirdness because this attempt to]] FollowTheLeader that was ''Series/TheXFiles'' [[AudienceAlienatingPremise got too strange for the audience to care about]].

If done clumsily, this can easily result in a BizarroEpisode.

* ''Series/MacGyver'' encounters Bigfoot in the thrid season episode "Ghost Ship".

* A crime show may come across a murder or other crime allegedly committed by a cryptid. The characters usually find out that there's a reasonable explanation for it.

* Cryptids are the entire point of ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretSaturdays''.

* One episode of ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' has Ralph wanting to use the supersuit to hunt for a legendary sea serpent, but soon getting diverted into dealing with some human villains. Similar to the X-Files example below, the serpent puts in an appearance ([[SpecialEffectsFailure of sorts]]) at the very end of the episode, seen only by the viewer.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' had enough cryptid episodes to stuff the Berlin Zoo full with them. And often subverted (and double subverted) them. A rampaging lake monster turns out to be a killer alligator [[spoiler: while at the end the lake monster surfaces, unseen by anyone]] and a group of greys walking down a hill at an environmental spill turn out to be misidentification of men in hazmat suits.

* In one episode of ''TheDukesOfHazzard'', TheGreys are hiding in Hazzard County.

* While most of the creatures in ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' weren't connected to any real-life mythology, occasionally one would be mistaken for a legendary creature or cryptid. The most notable examples were the ''Dracorex'' (a dinosaur mistaken for a dragon), the "[[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Mer-creatures]]", the gremlin-like "camouflage creatures", and the ''Pristichampsus'' (implied to be the inspiration for the Egyptian monster Ammut).

* While most of the creatures in ''Series/Primeval'' weren't connected to any real-life mythology, occasionally one would be mistaken for a legendary creature or cryptid. The most notable examples were the ''Dracorex''(a dinosaur mistaken for a dragon), the "[[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Mer-creatures]]", the gremlin-like "camouflage creatures", and the ''Pristichampsus''(implied to be the inspiration for the Egyptian monster Ammut).