History YMMV / RiverMonsters

** The entirety of "Amazon Apocalypse", at least the parts that weren't NightmareFuel. A particular standout is the story of a mother who survived the attack, but lost her son in the first place. When Jeremy met her, she and her daughter were visiting the deceased son in a cemetery full of other Sobral Santos victims.

** The Sawfish. Not only is it really just a GentleGiant (to us, not to its prey), but it's been nearly fished to extinction (and almost always ''just'' for its badass titular NaturalWeapon). As a result, it's nearly extinct from everywhere in the world but Australia. The one Jeremy caught was covered with crocodile and shark attack wounds, because this juvenile was farther downstream towards the harsh, often brackish environment of the lower river, because humans have forced it there by blocking its way upstream thanks to climate change. HumansAreBastards, indeed.

* WinTheCrowd: One of the few Animal Planet shows that will actually teach you about strange and unusual animals. It also promotes learning over fearing the unknown as well as the importance of conservation.

* {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}}: Many of the catches. Go [[Awesome/RiverMonsters here]] for the specifics.
* {{Crowning Moment of Heartwarming}}: The way the entire village celebrates when he brings back the Tigerfish.
** The baby Kaluga at the end of "Russian Killer". If there is a baby, it's gigantic mothers must be out there.

* IronWoobie | StoicWoobie: The Sawfish. Not only is it really just a [[GentleGiant gentle giant]] (to us, not to its prey), but it's been nearly fished to extinction (and almost always ''just'' for its badass titular [[NaturalWeapon Natural Weapon]]). As a result, it's nearly extinct from everywhere in the world but Australia. The one Jeremy caught was covered with crocodile and shark attack wounds, because this juvenile was farther downstream towards the harsh, often brackish environment of the lower river, because humans have forced it there by blocking its way upstream thanks to climate change. HumansAreBastards, indeed.

* NightmareFuel: See [[NightmareFuel/RiverMonsters the page]]

* SoCoolItsAwesome: It's one of the few series from Creator/AnimalPlanet's [[NetworkDecay Surprisingly Human]] phase that would fit right in with ''[[Series/CrocodileHunter The Crocodile Hunter]]'', ''Series/TheJeffCorwinExperience'', and other shows from the network's heyday.

* IronWoobie | StoicWoobie: The Sawfish. Not only is it really just a [[GentleGiant gentle giant]] (to us, not to its prey), but it's been nearly fished to extinction (and almost always ''just'' for its {{badass}} titular [[NaturalWeapon Natural Weapon]]). As a result, it's nearly extinct from everywhere in the world but Australia. The one Jeremy caught was covered with crocodile and shark attack wounds, because this juvenile was farther downstream towards the harsh, often brackish environment of the lower river, because humans have forced it there by blocking its way upstream thanks to climate change. HumansAreBastards, indeed.

* {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}}: Many of the catches. Go [[Awesome/RiverMonster here]] for the specifics.

* {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}}: Many of the catches.
** The goonch catfish he caught? Largest one on record.
** The climax of the Nile Perch episode.
** The Arapaima he caught in 'Lair of Giants'? Possibly a new species.
** Jeremy waited ''25 years'' for that gigantic tigerfish. It was his moment of awesome in his entire career.

** In one episode, Jeremy travels to a Matis village in South America only to learn that the village is in the midst of a vigil for the chief's mother whom is near death from an unknown illness. The sight and sounds of the whole village mourning her imminent passing is incredibly sobering.
* WinTheCrowd: One of the few AnimalPlanet shows that will actually teach you about strange and unusual animals. It also promotes learning over fearing the unknown as well as the importance of conservation.

** The baby Kaluga at the end of "Russian Killer".

** The last few minutes of the 'Russian Killer' episode are largely about how screwed the featured fish, the kaluga sturgeon, is, due to the caviar market.

** It's either this or DemonicSpiders when Jeremy keeps trying to catch a Sawfish, but no matter where he goes, all he seems to pull out of the water are bull sharks.
* IronWoobie | StoicWoobie: The Sawfish. Not only is it really just a [[GentleGiant gentle giant]], but it's been nearly fished to extinction (and almost always ''just'' for its {{badass}} titular [[NaturalWeapon Natural Weapon]]). As a result, it's had to resort to breeding far upstream in rivers. In fact, the one that he finally catches at the end of the sawfish episode has bull shark bite marks, ''and'' crocodile bitemarks on its body. And this was just a ''baby''. It really says a lot about this animals plight when you remember that it's ''intentionally'' going into these areas as it's still safer than going out into its preferred areas where the humans are. HumansAreBastards, indeed.

* GoddamnedBats: Kind of a RealLife example in "Silent Assassin". When trying to catch a short-tailed river stingray, Jeremy constantly catches piranha, or has his bait stolen by (he presumes) piranha. He caught a couple of catfish, too, but the piranha were the main problem.

* IronWoobie | StoicWoobie: The Sawfish. Not only is it really just a [[GentleGiant gentle giant]], but it's been nearly fished to extinction (and almost always ''just'' for its {{badass}} titular [[NaturalWeapon Natural Weapon]]). As a result, it's had to resort to breeding far upstream in rivers. In fact, the one that he finally catches at the end of the sawfish episode has bull shark bite marks, ''and'' crocodile bitemarks on its body. And this was just a ''baby''. It really says a lot about this animals plight when you remember that it's ''intentionally'' going into these areas as it's still safer than going out into its preferred areas where the humans are. [[HumansAreBastards Humans Are Bastards]], indeed.

* SoCoolItsAwesome: It's one of the few series from [[AnimalPlanet Animal Planet's]] [[NetworkDecay Surprisingly Human]] phase that would fit right in with ''[[Series/CrocodileHunter The Crocodile Hunter]]'', ''TheJeffCorwinExperience'', and other shows from the network's heyday.

** In one episode, Jeremy travels to a Matis village in South America only to learn that the village is in the midst of a vigil for the chief's mother whom is near death from an unknown illness. The sight and sounds of the whole village mourning her imminent passing is incredibly sobering.

** The last few minutes of the 'Russian Killer' episode are largely about how screwed the featured fish, the kaluga sturgeon, is, due to the caviar market.