History Main / CryptidEpisode

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[[quoteright:349:[[WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/courage_meets_bigfoot_title_card.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:349:He also met a [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thebigtoe.png big foot]] once, but that's another story.]]

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* ''Manga/EngagedToTheUnidentified'' has an episode where the cast leave the city for a while and may or may not have found an analogue to Nessie.
* One series of mini-corners in ''Anime/YokaiWatch'' had Komasan and Komajiro recruited in a series to explore legends and mysteries, some of which were finding cryptids. The man that recruited them (poorly) faked them all only for Komasan to witness their existence as they leave. [[spoiler:[[RealAfterAll When the cameras were off and Komasan was alone, though...]]]]

* ''Manga/MaguchanGodOfDestruction'': Gu La is introduced when Kikyo's occult research club investigate reports of a dangerous creatures that "only" turns out to be another being of chaos.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''High Rhulain'', one of the Literature/{{Redwall}} books, contains the Slothunog, an obvious Loch Ness Monster expy. It's notable for being the only instance in the entire series where Brian Jacques deviated from his rule of only using real animals, though one could argue that it's [[LoopholeAbuse based on a prehistoric sea reptile]].
* ''Literature/NickVelvet'': In "The Theft of Silver lake Serpent", Nick is hired to steal a serpent that has been sighted in the lake near a resort. [[spoiler:The 'serpent' turns out to be a fake, designed to generate publicity for the resort. Nick manages to steal the fake serpent anyway.]]

* ''Series/TheLoveBoat'': One storyline involved a group of anthropologists on board the boat who were searching for a Malayan Bigfoot "Missing Link", although it eventually turned out to be a complicated con involving a down-on-his-luck actor in a bad wig and stage make-up.

[[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]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' encounter Bigfoot in episode "Camping Out", whilst ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'' face the Jersey Devil in the eponymous episode.
* Two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'' had Team Quest looking for cryptids (the Jersey Devil and Yetis, respectively) and running into [[ScoobyDooHoax people who used the legends to conceal their own misdeeds]] (In reverse order, thieves and two FeudingFamilies descended from [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution Redcoats and American Revolutionaries]] who were ''still'' fighting the war (most specifically, struggling over ''the'' original version of the Declaration of Independence) and used a Jersey Devil costume to steal children to raise as soldiers). In both instances, it turns out that the cryptid was RealAfterAll.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2Substance'''s "Snake Tale E - External Gazer" is a story about Snake being sent by Otacon to photograph a weird sea monster that's been spotted in New York. Otacon is curious about what this means for the sciences, Mei Ling wants it in a zoo, and Snake doesn't believe it exists (and has to fight it, obviously). The sea monster is a giant version of the {{Mook}} soldiers you fight in the main game with a fin on its head, though this is never mentioned in the plot.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' contains a chunk of ''Franchise/MonsterHunter''-pastiche missions where the player gets to fight and harvest meat from dinosaur-like monsters referred to in-universe as UMAs, including Gear Rex (a non-"metal" version of Metal Gear REX). It also contains ghost photography missions where you must detect and photograph ghost guards.

* One season's shorts in Yokai Watch had Komasan and Komajiro recruited in a series to explore legends and mysteries, some of which were finding cryptids. The man that recruited them (poorly) faked them all only for Komasan to witness their existence as they leave.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' had a "cock-a-mouse," part cockroach, part mouse, capable of flight.

[[folder:Films -- 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.

[[/folder:Comic Books]]

** Also one cut to 2029 references this in a BackgroundGag, with an older, balding Marshall standing in front of a newspaper clipping reading "NYC Lawyer Captures Nessie".

* A [[LaterInstallmentWeirdness latter-season]] episode of ''Series/MiamiVice'' has one of the characters being kidnapped while investigating a cult and the rest of the cast rushing to find her, only to find out that they have run into an honest-to-God AlienAbduction plot with honest-to-God aliens (the leader of which [[WhatTheHellCastingAgency is played by]] ''Music/JamesBrown''). A good example of the "BizarroEpisode" variant.

* Interestingly enough, ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' completely averts it: in the course of six-and-a-third seasons, the main characters have encountered [[FantasyKitchenSink angels, zombies and everything in between]], but [[RunningGag any hunter worth his rock salt knows that Bigfoot is a hoax]].
** The Wendigo was still played straight though.

* ''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.

* In ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries'', Godzilla fights the Loch Ness Monster.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'', the discovery of the legendary Hodag turns out to be a hoax as usual, [[spoiler: but it's not an uman but a trained monkey controlled by a thief]].

* Two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'' had Team Quest looking for cryptids (the Jersey Devil and Yetis, respectively) and running into [[ScoobyDooHoax people who used the legends to conceal their own misdeeds]] (In reverse order, thieves and two FeudingFamilies descended from [[TheAmericanRevolution Redcoats and American Revolutionaries]] who were ''still'' fighting the war (most specifically, struggling over ''the'' original version of the Declaration of Independence) and used a Jersey Devil costume to steal children to raise as soldiers). In both instances, it turns out that the cryptid was RealAfterAll.

[[caption-width-right:350:He also met a [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thebigtoe.png big foot]] once, but that's another story.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/courage_meets_bigfoot_title_card.png]]]]

--> '''''': [[spoiler:[[BestialityIsDepraved My great-grandfather was a]] ''[[BestialityIsDepraved yeti-lover!]]'']]

* In ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'' "Canada", Dan and Chris run afoul of a yeti [[spoiler:who is descended from Chris' great-grandfather, meaning him and Chris are related.]]

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.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'', the discovery of the legendary Hodag turns out to be a hoax as usual, [[spoiler: but it's perpetrated BY the meddling kids and they get away with it]].

* ''High Rhulain'', one of the Literature/{{Redwall}} books, contains the Slothunog, an obvious Loch Ness Monster expy. It's notable for being the only instance in the entire series where Brian Jacques deviated from his rule of only using real animals, though one could argue that it's based on a prehistoric sea reptile.

* ''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.

* ''High Rhulain'', one of the Literature/{{Redwall}} books, contains the Slothunog, an obvious Loch Ness Monster expy. It's notable for being the only instance in the entire series where Brian Jacques deviated from his rule of only using real animals.

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

[[folder: Film -- Live Action]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[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 ]]

[[folder: Video Game ]]

[[folder: Visual Novel]]
* A DatingSim H-Game ''Club Life'' has a cryptid route. In this route, the main character and his love interest save a lake monster, obvious {{Expy}} of Nessie, from a crazed hunter.

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

[[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.

* ''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.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' had an episode, "Trout!" where Jim drags Peter on a road trip after seeing a (obviously faked) postcard of a 'Giant Fur-bearin' Trout'. At the same time, Queen Slug-For-A-Butt is on earth searching for said fish, as, for some bizarre reason, Professor Monkey-For-A-Head's newest weapon is powered by fish-hair. Jim almost gives up after going to the maker of said postcard who admitted it was a fake, but is drawn by a vision which actually does lead him to the Giant Fur-bearin' Trout, which he must protect from the queen.
* In the ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' episode "Spanish Fry", Fry goes to look for Bigfoot while on a camping trip, which leads to him getting abducted by aliens who steal his nose. Bigfoot [[ChekhovsGun actually appears at the end]] to help resolve the plot.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episodes "Jakavosaurs" and "Jewpacabra".

[-[[caption-width-right:350:He has also met a [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thebigtoe.png literal big foot]] once, but that's another story.]]-]