History Main / MobySchtick

* Creator/ChinaMieville's ''Railsea'' deliberately incorporates elements of ''Moby-Dick'', but ON LAND....WITH TRAINS!

!!Examples

* There was a character in Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}: the Series'' that was obsessed with hunting down some sort of desert whale/shark. His quest was actually quite practical, as the belly of the sand shark was covered in precious jewels, but when he does catch it, he has no idea what he will do now, so he decides to cut the shark free and hunt it again.

'''Cap'n Ahab''': ''*glares*'' Harpoon it anyway!

As [[AtlantisIsBoring not many works utilize a maritime setting]], this trope is often RecycledInSpace. Or [[SandIsWater deserts]]. Or [[FlyingSeafoodSpecial the sky]]. Subverting the original ending so that both antagonists survive, with the pursuer [[WorthyOpponent coming to respect the pursued]], is likewise common.

* In ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'', the white whale is driving a car and rear-ends one with Captain Ahab in it.

''Moby-Dick'' is considered one of the timeless classics of literature, yet many people today are more likely to have seen homages to its central {{Determinator}} Vs. AnimalNemesis conflict than to have actually read the novel. A number of works, particularly animated ones, have paid tribute to this book and its cinematic incarnations, setting a tremendous, pale-colored whale or whale-analog against an obsessive opponent who'll stop at nothing to bring it down.

* In ''{{Brave}}'', Fergus has an intense grudge against bears, hunting them relentlessly, because he lost a leg to Mor'du.

* In ''{{Brave}}'', Fergus has an intense grudge against bears because he lost a leg to Mor'du.

** Played with in the character Azog, a giant albino orc who lost his hand in battle to Thorin. He ''looks'' like Moby-Dick in his size and albinism, yet carries Ahab's obsessive grudge for the one who maimed him, encapsulating both sides of this trope in one villain.

* In the section of ''Doctor Who: Worlds in Time'' set on [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E02TheBeastBelow Starship UK]], there's plot line involving an alien captain learning of the Star Whale and coming to hunt it; an early attempt causes him to lose a leg, which only makes him more determined.

* The ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' episode "Moby Jerk" had Johnny win a cruise, only to board the wrong boat and get shanghaied into helping the mad Captain Spleen in his Ahab-like pursuit of a heckling mer-man.

-->'''Scully''': It's the truth or a white whale. What difference does it make? I mean, both obsessions are impossible to capture, and trying to do so will only leave you dead along with everyone else you bring with you. You know Mulder, you are Ahab.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' had them doing a PlayedForLaughs reenactment of ''Moby-Dick'', with B.J. himself in the role of Ahab, eventually nearly being taken over by the character.

** In the episode "Sleepy Time", Spongebob's dream self enters Mr. Krabs's dream, where he finds Mr. Krabs trying to catch a huge dollar bill for his wallet.

[[AC: Film]]

* The original ''Comicbook/TheTransformers'' comic did a WholePlotReference to Literature/MobyDick at one point. The Transformer in question lived on a world far from most of his race and was a Pretender (a Transformer covered in a pseudo-organic shell that allowed him to pose as an organic but was rather difficult to repair) and so couldn't get his leg properly restored. [[spoiler: He finally incapacitated the beast responsible but decided against finishing it off.]]
* In a couple of story arcs from ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'', the Hulk encounters a space-faring ship with an Ahab-like character, Captain Cybor, hunting a beast called Klaatu with electro-harpoons. At some point in the past, an encounter with Klaatu burned away the entirety of Cybor's right side, which was replaced with [[StephenUlyssesPerhero cyborg parts]]. In his first seen encounter, Cybor is dragged into a sun by Klaatu, burning away his human half. When we see him again he has had himself welded to the prow of the ship, acting as a living figurehead (if you can call that living). During both appearances they shanghai the Hulk to pull the "oars" on the ship.
* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuper-Heroes'': Early on, Lightning Lad had his arm destroyed by an ill-timed attack on a SpaceWhale, and became obsessed with revenge upon it. He got better.

** Speaking of movie adaptations, [[Film/MobyDick years]] [[ActorAllusion later]] [[PatrickStewart ...]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "M�bius Dick" gave this trope a SpaceWhale [[IncrediblyLamePun twist]]. It lampshades this trope, as the SpaceWhale Leela becomes obsessed with hunting [[spoiler: feeds on obsession, so it naturally [[GenreSavvy antagonizes ship captains]]. Leela eventually overwhelms the whale's will with a bigger obsession than revenge: finishing her delivery!]]
* The ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' used this trope for the episode "Ramlak Rising". Ahab-{{Homage}} Captain Koinelius Tunar, a [[{{Fishmen}} Fishman]] who sails the [[SandIsWater sand sea]], has sworn vengeance on the creature who destroyed his home and took his [[AnArmAndALeg eye and leg]]. His nemesis the Ramlak is a giant {{Planimal}}, a ManEatingPlant that's [[HybridMonster hybridized]] with the ambulatory capabilities of a GiantSquid. Like Captain Ahab, Tunar has degenerated into prizing RevengeBeforeReason and shares Ahab's fate almost exactly, while quoting his dialogue.

* Then there is the WoodyWoodpecker short ''Dopey Dick the Pink Whale'', in which Woody is press-ganged into helping a cowardly captain hunt down the whale that repeatedly tore his trousers.

* There's a ''Tom & Jerry'' short called "Dicky Moe" where Tom is on a ship trying to catch Jerry while the captain is trying to catch his white whale.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeetleJuice'' had them doing a PlayedForLaughs reenactment of ''Moby-Dick'', with B.J. himself in the role of Ahab, eventually nearly being taken over by the character.

Sometimes a WholePlotReference, other times a ShoutOut or {{Homage}}. Actual '''adaptations''' of ''Moby-Dick'', character names and all, are more remake than MobySchtick, even if they happen to be RecycledInSpace.

Examples:

* The original ''Comicbook/TheTransformers'' comic did a WholePlotReference to MobyDick at one point. The Transformer in question lived on a world far from most of his race and was a Pretender (a Transformer covered in a pseudo-organic shell that allowed him to pose as an organic but was rather difficult to repair) and so couldn't get his leg properly restored. [[spoiler: He finally incapacitated the beast responsible but decided against finishing it off.]]

* ''LegionOfSuperheroes'': Early on, Lightning Lad had his arm destroyed by an ill-timed attack on a SpaceWhale, and became obsessed with revenge upon it. He got better.

* In ''IceAge 3'', Rudy the giant albino baryonyx plays the Moby Dick role to Buck the Weasel's Captain Ahab. In flashback, Rudy's humped back is seen looming up from a fogbank to menace Buck, who wields a stick in lieu of a harpoon.

** ''StarTrekFirstContact'' was also partly inspired by ''Moby-Dick'', with Picard as the obsessive Ahab-esque captain and the Borg as the white whale. It's even lampshaded in the film.

* The influence of ''Moby-Dick'' on ''{{Jaws}}'' goes without saying, particularly in the character of Quint.

* El Blanco, the albino Graboid from the third ''{{Tremors}}'' film and TV series, is something of a Moby Dick Expy, with Burt Gummer as a hunter-nemesis turned WorthyOpponent.

* Granny Aching's story of the Jolly Sailor and the whale from ''The Wee Free Men'' is a non-comedic example. When Tiffany visits the realm of the elves, this trope is ''enforced'' on the Queen when she assumes the whale's form, as she's compelled to abandon her pursuit of Tiffany and chase the Jolly Sailor's ship.

* ChinaMieville's ''Railsea'' deliberately incorporates elements of ''Moby-Dick'', but ON LAND....WITH TRAINS!

* The first season of ''{{Farscape}}'' does this, with Moya as the SpaceWhale in question and Crais as Captain Ahab.

* The ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' ep. "The Doomsday Machine" also had this element with Commodore Decker's obsessive pursuit of the titular (indestructible) weapon.

* On ''CodenameKidsNextDoor'', Operation D.U.C.K.Y. featured a giant rubber-duck robot that menaces a shipload of kids unwilling to take baths. The robot, of course, was called Moby Duck. In Operation: A.F.L.O.A.T., the same trope is used, this time with a giant white ''asparagus'' that confronts Sector V and is killed, whaling-style, by Stickybeard.

* The ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "M�bius Dick" gave this trope a SpaceWhale [[IncrediblyLamePun twist]]. It lampshades this trope, as the SpaceWhale Leela becomes obsessed with hunting [[spoiler: feeds on obsession, so it naturally [[GenreSavvy antagonizes ship captains]]. Leela eventually overwhelms the whale's will with a bigger obsession than revenge: finishing her delivery!]]

* One episode of ''DragonTales'' had the main characters help a [[SkyPirates sky pirate]] hunt down a giant flying whale for eating his ship. At the end of the episode, they successfully capture the whale, and it turns out that the ship said whale ate was a toy ship.

* ''PhineasAndFerb'' had an entire episode called "The Belly of the Beast" referencing ''Moby-Dick''.

* A story arc in ''RockyAndBullwinkle'' starts off like this with Maybe Dick, before we learn that the whale is actually a submersible which Boris Badinov uses to steal treasure.

* There was a character in Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}: the Series'' that was obsessed with hunting down some sort of desert whale/shark.
** Though his quest was actually quite practical, as the belly of the sand shark was covered in precious jewels.
** But when he does catch it, he has no idea what he will do now, so he decides to cut the shark free and hunt it again.

* In the ''StormHawks'' episode "Leviathan", Stork turns into a Captain Ahab expy and becomes obsessed with hunting down the eponymous Leviathan after it swallows the ''Condor'' and Radarr.

* This was done in two episodes of {{Spongebob Squarepants}};

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeetleJuice'' had them doing a PlayedForLaughs reenactment of ''MobyDick'', with B.J. himself in the role of Ahab, eventually nearly being taken over by the character.