-->"Man, maybe they should have forgotten the name ''Ecco'' and just called the series ''Jesus Christ There's Sharks And Aliens Everywhere.''" -An unknown troper

A {{Sega}} video game series about a [[TimeTravel time-travelling]] [[DolphinsDolphinsEverywhere bottlenose dolphin]] who fights space aliens. His friends include a pteranodon, a telepathic strand of DNA, and flying dolphins from ten million years in the future. Or, if you ask some people, a telepathic crystal and various alternate future dolphins.

The games feature [[NintendoHard notoriously difficult gameplay]], which focuses on solving puzzles with the ever-present OxygenMeter hanging over the player, and surreal storylines focused on a dolphin's perspective on alien invasions ([[HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy that don't involve leaving with a thank-you note]]). Despite the apparent silliness of the premise, the alien (sometimes literally) setting, atmospheric music and minimalist dialogue create a lingering sense of eeriness.

The series was originally for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, and began with ''Ecco the Dolphin''. In this game, Ecco's pod was snatched from the seas by a mysterious storm, so he set out to find them, helping other dolphins along the way.

As the storyline went on, it got progressively more bizarre: first, Ecco went to see a blue whale for advice. The blue whale didn't know much, but sent Ecco to talk to the Asterite, the oldest being in the seas with the appearance of globes arranged on a double-helix. The Asterite, with no explanation, recognised Ecco and told him it could help him, except it was missing a globe and thus not at full power. The solution: travel to {{Atlantis}} and go back in time 55 million years to retrieve the wayward sphere. In Atlantis, Ecco discovers that the source of the storm was [[HordeOfAlienLocusts a species of hiveminded alien]] who had lost the ability to make their own food and was thus harvesting from Earth's seas every 500 years.

In the end, Ecco saves his pod and destroys the Vortex aliens - or so he thought.

''Ecco: The Tides of Time'' picked up where the original left off. Turns out the Vortex Queen was NotQuiteDead and had followed Ecco to Earth, whereupon she killed the Asterite and began a takeover. On top of that, Ecco's time-travelling in the first game had split the timestream in two. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Whoops.]] The second game, then, followed Ecco's adventures as he sought to save the Asterite (also Not Quite Dead) and the good future of Earth. It ended with Ecco vanishing mysteriously into the "Tides of Time"

Then, save for an EdutainmentGame called ''Ecco Jr.'' and [[VideoGameRemake a few remakes]], the series vanished from the face of the Earth for several years.

Its return came in the form of ''Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future'' for the Sega Dreamcast, which brought the series to three-dimensions and completely ignored the universe and storyline that came before it. About the only things it had in common with the original series was the protagonist being a dolphin named Ecco, aliens, and time travel. It also introduced a dolphin/human (and /whale) society, where the original games relegated humans to backgrounds in Atlantis and the odd background sunken ship. Fan reaction was mixed.

In ''Defender'', the plot centered around the Foe aliens breaking the timestream by stealing dolphinkind's "[[MacGuffin most noble traits]]" - Intelligence, Ambition, Compassion, Wisdom, and Humility - in the past, before they could unite with humans. It was of course Ecco's job to get these traits back, over the course of three different alternate futures: Man's Nightmare, Dolphins' Nightmare, and Domain of the Enemy.

One was a dying world with polluted water, no humans on account of them having gone extinct in their war against the Foe, and stupid-but-still-sapient dolphins who either worshipped men as a benevolent force which had uplifted dolphinkind from being mere animals and eagerly awaited their return or regarded them as a nasty species that had enslaved dolphinkind. It turns out both factions were probably right.

The next reality happened after Ecco sent back Intelligence and Ambition, turning dolphins into a surly bunch of warlords who drove humans from the seas. Arguably the prettiest section of the game, since the dolphins used a lot of organic-looking technology, and since it includes Hanging Waters, aka "Let's See How Many [[MythologyGag Mythology Gags]] Can Fit In One Level".

The final alternate reality saw every trait but Humilty restored to dolphins. In this one, the Foe took over and turned Earth into {{Mordor}}. And... that's... about it...

All in all, ''Ecco'' is a very bizarre, haunting, frustrating, and strangely charming series. [[TooGoodToLast Don't expect to see any more of him in either the Genesis or Defender storyline anytime soon]].

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This series provides examples of:
* AdaptationDecay or AdaptationDistillation (YourMileageMayVary) - The comic book adaptation in ''SonicTheComic'', which preserved the basic plot elements, well depicted the setting and characters, but cut out most of the time travel elements (for example, Ecco retrieves the Asterite's missing pearl from a giant squid and the abyssal plain in the present, not Atlantis).
* BadFuture - Central to the plot of ''Tides'' and playable in a few levels. ''Defender of the Future'' has ''three'' Bad Futures to go through in total during Ecco's quest to restore the timeline to its proper state.
* BagOfSpilling - You start Tides with the powers the Asterite gave Ecco in the first game, but they are lost when the Asterite is killed. Which of course occurs just before the first real level of the game.
* BullFightBoss - The Globe Holder from ''Tides'' has elements of this in the second phase, although it's not really a "boss." The great white shark in ''Defender'' is a somewhat straighter example.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome - [[strike:The Sega-CD & PC versions]] ''all'' versions have an ''epic'' soundtrack, though the CD/PC ones are for the most part completely different.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas - "Atlantis Lost" of ''Defender''.
* {{Discontinuity}} - Quite a few fans of the Genesis games hold this attitude about ''Defender,'' although the plot has almost nothing to do with the first two games anyway, so take that as you will.
* DolphinsDolphinsEverywhere - And orcas, and whales, and porpoises...
* [[DoomedHometown Doomed Home Bay]] - Jump really high to trigger the apocalypse!
* DownerEnding - One interpretation of ''Tides of Time''. You spend the {{Playable Epilogue}} chasing the {{Big Bad}} through Atlantis, trying to beat her to the Time Machine and destroy it before she uses it to mess up the timeline [[NiceJobBreakingItHero you just spent the whole game fixing]]. [[spoiler: When you get to it, you use it instead. A scrolling title card (set to the [[CrowningMusicofAwesome rather chilling title theme]]) tells you the Vortex Queen beat you there and warped into prehistory, you went after her, and [[NightmareFuel you were never heard from again]]. This Troper was in tears at the ripe young age of seven.]]
* EscortMission - Each game (even the edutainment one) has at least one, though in the original they are optional. They're also not ''too'' bad as escort missions go; in the Genesis games, your charges are invulnerable, and the ''Defender'' one isn't killable. They're arguably not even true escort missions, since you don't have to protect them or even keep them in sight, they just follow you automatically and unerringly.
** ''Defender'' had an [[GameBreakingBug irritating glitch]] during the most difficult escort mission (there were several, but only one required any real effort). You were meant to protect a dolphin so he could lead you to a door and open it for you. Sometimes, after going through a short tunnel, he would manage to swim ''inside a rock'' on the other side and become stuck. Made irritating by the fact that a Power of Sonar gem would have made him obsolete anyway.
* EverythingIsEvenWorseWithSharks - Well, naturally. Sharks are some of the tougher enemies, often taking three to five hits to kill. Ecco himself is transformed into a shark several times in the second game, mostly so he can rampage about the level eating everything.
** And for an excuse to [[SadisticChoice choose]] between getting munched by {{One Hit Kill}} sharks, or [[DressingAsTheEnemy turn yourself into one]] and proceed to [[FriendOrFoe get attacked by other dolphins]].
* EverythingTryingToKillYou - Ecco's enemies are fairly reasonable for the most part, but the prehistoric levels of the first game feature [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned Trilobites]] and seahorses who shoot their young at you.
* FloatingContinent - In the Good Future. The flying dolphins say they were "born of the great eruptions", whatever that means.
* FlyingSeafoodSpecial - At least, if they don't have dolphin-safe tuna millions of years in the future.
* GainaxEnding - The other interpretation of the ''Tides of Time'' ending. [[spoiler: It is implied the Vortex Queen, upon arriving in prehistory, got stomped by the local wildlife ([[GoddamnedBats goddamned trilobites]]!), and was unable to dominate Earth's ecosystem, instead integrating into it [[StableTimeLoop and evolving into stuff we already had]]. Not weird enough? According to a {{Word of God}} [[http://ecco-darksea.com/?p=11 interview]] -- god only knows how reliable the source, but it sure [[RuleOfCool sounds cool]] and it's not like we're going to see another game -- [[XanatosRoulette Ecco knew this would happen]] and didn't even bother using the time machine to chase the Queen at all! He used it to go to the time of the [[{{Precursors}} Atlanteans]], for "[[XanatosGambit specific reasons reserved for the 3rd game]]."]]
* GeniusLoci - The ocean in the good future, according to the future dolphins.
* [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned Crabs/Pufferfish/Trilobites]] - There are quite a few enemies in the Genesis games that make you see the positive side of driving things to extinction.
* HailfirePeaks, naturally all with an UnderTheSea twist:
** GreenHillZone - The first level in every game.
** UndergroundLevel - The Undercaves would be the first example.
** SlippySlideyIceWorld - In which Ecco can literally slip and slide around on his belly atop the ice.
** {{Prehistoria}} - And ''how.''
** EternalEngine - [[FixedScrollingLevel Welcome to]] [[ScrappyLevel the Machine]]
* HeroicMime - Ecco does use his voice as a general problem-solving tool, but the player's never privy to anything he says beyond "Queek-queek-queek" and "SQUAAARK!!"
** He also chatters when you press the sonar button out of water in ''Defender.''
*** Interestingly, one of the scrapped ideas involved being able to see what Ecco's sonar translated to by singing at a mirror (''Defender'').
* HiveMind - The aliens in both storylines.
* HordeOfAlienLocusts - Again, the aliens in both storylines.
* HumansAreBastards - In ''Defender'', when they take over without uniting with the dolphins. Of course, the dolphins from the Dolphins' Nightmare section are some pretty nasty customers as well, so maybe it's more like Unchecked Dominant Species Are Bastards.
* LockedDoor - "SEARCH FOR THE KEY-GLYPH"
* TheMaze - At least one in each game, some more frustrating than others.
* MakeMeWannaShout - Ecco's sonar gets various weapons-grade upgrades throughout the games.
* MyOwnGrampa - Variant: while retrieving the Asterite's globe in ''Ecco the Dolphin'', Ecco encounters some proto-cetaceans and accidentally gives them the idea to take to the seas.
* NewAge - Self-explanatory, really.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero - "You are the Stone that splits the Stream of Time in two."
* NightmareFuel -
** The entire game is a claustrophic, haunting experience. [[ItGotWorse It gets worse]]. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids Do]] ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids not]]'' [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids let the fact that the protagonist is an adorable dolphin fool you.]] [[http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4163/vortexqueenrf5.gif Seriously.]]
** Welcome to the Machine. Not only does it feature a pukish green background and some really unnerving music, but it's also pretty long, [[FixedScrollingLevel even for a level with automatic scrolling.]]
*** ''And'' thanks to a surely deliberate plant on the password screen, it's easy to be transported to it accidentally with no knowledge of what awaits you there.
* NintendoHard - Controller-throwingly so.
* NoOntologicalInertia - The Asterite's powerup only works when it's alive.
* NostalgiaLevel - ''Defender'' includes two hidden sidescrolling levels based on the Genesis games; one is actually ''called'' [[IncrediblyLamePun Passage from Genesis]]. Also, the Hanging Waters levels are one big MythologyGag reference to the Good Future water tubes from ''Tides'', although that doesn't change the fact that they look awesome.
* OddballInTheSeries - Ecco Jr.
* OneHitKill - So many things do this you wonder why they bothered letting you keep the life meter for the last few levels.
* ParanoiaFuel - So you've just started ''Tides of Time''. You're zooming around one of the [[GreenHillZone first levels]], enjoying the [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel better controls]], and suddenly you see a [[NightmareFuel terrifying mass of blue chitin]] that [[OneHitKill kills you instantly]]. It was one of the alien enemies in the first game that you never saw till the last level. One the one fin you don't want to go that fast ever again in case more of them are floating around, but on the other...[[OxygenMeter you have to]]. Eep.
* PassThroughTheRings - Those goddamn teleport levels from Tides. Predictably, some of this in ''Defender'' as well, since it's the only 3D game in the series.
* PlayableEpilogue - ''Tides'' has one ''three levels long''.
* [[PoisonMushroom Poison Fish]] - Seen in ''Defender''; Among the many health-restoring fish there is one specific kind that'll hurt instead of heal you.
** These Poison Fish are the only way to heal you from a slow death due to Jellyfish Poison. If you're poisoned and eat this fish, you won't take damage and your health won't increase, but the poison will be gone.
*** They can also be mildly useful after you learn the Song of Fish. Sharks don't want to eat poison fish, so having a little cloud of them following you around makes a nifty living shield. The downside? Fish are slow, so said living shield is only effective when you don't need/want to swim quickly.
* PortingDisaster - The [=GameGear=] version of ''Tides''. It is now thought it was based on a prototype of the Genesis/Mega Drive game. The Game Boy Advance port of the original ''Ecco'' isn't quite so atrocious, but removed almost the entire soundtrack, replacing it with a 30-second loop heard during the time travel sequences in the original game.
* SceneryPorn - Lovely shots of the ocean, in both the Genesis games and ''Defender''.
* ScrappyLevel - Every game has at least one. Inevitable given the general difficulty, really.
** ''Ecco the Dolphin'' features Welcome to the Machine: Five minutes of twisting, turning, auto-scrolling Hell. And just to make things even better, if you lose to the final boss you get to go through again!
** Subverted with the Hanging Waters level in ''Defender of the Future''. It has all the makings of a ScrappyLevel, but it's generally forgiven because the concept behind it is so awesome and said concept is executed flawlessly.
* TheSkyIsAnOcean: ''The Tides Of Tide'' features [[FlyingSeafoodSpecial flying dolphins, a giant flying jellyfish]], and ocean paths in the sky.
* SomewhereAPalaeontologistIsCrying - The prehistoric levels of ''Ecco the Dolphin'' include [[AnachronismStew trilobites, pteranodons, and proto-cetaceans cohabiting]].
* SpaceIsAnOcean - ''Defender'' seems to make it apparent that both man and dolphin prefer the "space fetus" method of interstellar travel from the end of ''2001: A Space Oddyssey.''
* StableTimeLoop - Ecco is sent back in time to find the Asterite's lost globe, but ultimately ends up stealing it from it in the past, and thus being the reason the Asterite doesn't have said globe in the first place. The Asterite itself comes to this revelation when you first meet it, but of course, you're not likely to understand a word it's saying at the time.
* StalkingMission - ''Defender''. There's a deadly version in ''Tides''.
* SurpriseCreepy - You wouldn't think a game about a dolphin could possibly be this eerie, would you?
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement - The special powers the Asterite gives Ecco in the first and second games, the dolphins' noble traits in Defender.
* ThatOneBoss - Again, given the general difficulty almost all the bosses are well-hated, but the final boss of the first game deserves special mention. She actually isn't all that bad herself, but if you die you have to pick your way through Welcome to the Machine again. Worse, she has a move that will kill you instantly or even freeze the game forever if you have infinitie life.
* TheyJustDidntCare - Arguably ''Defender''; the guy who wrote the storyline has never played the Genesis games, and the original creator of the series was not part of production.
** They cared enough to hire David Brin, the writer of the ''{{Uplift}}'' series, to pen the script for the new game rather than just getting a staff writer to do it. [[ContinuityReboot Just because it disregards the story of the first two games doesn't mean it sucks.]] Then again, [[http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2008/02/science-civilization-march-on-non.html he apparently can't tell the difference between the Genesis games and ''Defender'']], so he may only have cared about getting a paycheck. The "arguably" above is well-justified, and it's worth noting that gameplay-wise ''Defender of the Future'' wasn't half bad.
* TimeTravel - In every single game, apart from ''Ecco Jr.''
* UnderwaterRuins - Doubles as SceneryPorn.
* UnpleasableFanbase - On the other [[IncrediblyLamePun flipper]], perhaps this is the only "problem" with ''Defender''.
* WombLevel - ''Defender'''s final boss.
* XenSyndrome - ''Defender'' gets hit with this ''bad'' during Domain of the Enemy.
* {{Xenofiction}} - At least, the Genesis games are.

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