History JustForFun / TheUglyBarnacle

* TrailersAlwaysLie: It was set up in a way to make it seem as if it is an uplifting tale about someone overcoming the stigma of being ugly. [[spoiler: Instead, we get a KillThemAll DownerEnding.]]

An animated film adaptation of the tale, also titled ''The Ugly Barnacle'', was produced in 2000. Unusually, the movie is both a [[TheFilmOfTheBook Film of the Book]] and a {{Biopic}}, as it focuses on both the legendary story and the events surrounding its creation. The film managed to avoid many problems commonly faced by page-to-screen adaptations, a fact which many critics attributed to P.F. Patrick's extensive personal engagement with the film-making process, and the script-writing and casting+design in particular. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WejTV7r3tkU Experience this work of art here, albeit dubbed over in English,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osc04vpIz98&feature=related and now in Venezuelan Castilian]]. [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes Unfortunately the original French is not available]], as the Département ''Bikini des Basses Terres'' Ministère de la Défaite claims exclusive French-language broadcast rights [[ScrewedByTheLawyers and has a very well-funded]] [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil anti-piracy sub-office]].

* AssholeVictim: Either everyone else or the barnacle can be this, depending on who you interpret as the villain.

* CosmicHorrorStory: If mere ''barnacles'' are enough to [[spoiler: KillEmAll]], imagine [[NightmareFuel what other things in the ocean are able to do]]... [[spoiler:Not a lot, since they're all dead.]]

* KillEmAll: The ugly barnacle was so ugly that [[spoiler:everyone died]].

* NonstandardCharacterDesign: Most people in the universe of ''The Ugly Barnacle'' are so nondescript that they are glazed over in ''one word'' ("everyone"). The titular barnacle, by contrast, is described as being [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination so ugly]] that [[KillEmAll everyone died]].]]

* WhamEpisode: The story starts off calm and unassuming. [[spoiler:The second sentence changes everything in a DarkerAndEdgier fashion with a KillEmAll conclusion.]]

'''Spongebob Squarepants''': ''[Beat]'' ''[[AssuranceBackfire "That didn't help at all!"]]''

* EndingAversion: Patrick told [=SpongeBob=] the story with the intention of cheering him up, due to [=SpongeBob's=] own ugliness. [[spoiler:This probably explains why [=SpongeBob=] was not amused by the TwistEnding.]]

-->[[spoiler:You just read [[{{Troperiffic}} 139 tropes]] on ''a joke from WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife Good job wasting a good 15 minutes or more.]]]]

-->[[spoiler:You just read [[UpTo11 139 tropes]] on ''a joke from WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife Good job wasting a good 15 minutes or more.]]]]

* BlackComedy: To some, the story is a hilarious nihilistic take on children's stories.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The titular barnacle kills everyone but it's goals, personality and backstory are so unclear that it can be determined as being a hero, villain or neither.

* FridgeLogic: If the Ugly Barnacle [[spoiler: was so ugly, everyone died,]] does that mean it's own ugliness caused ''itself'' to die?

'''Spongebob Squarepants''': ''[Beat]'' ''[[AssuranceBackfire That didn't help at all!]]''

'''Spongebob Squarepants''': ''{{Beat}}'' ''[[AssuranceBackfire That didn't help at all!]]''

->''"Once, there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The end."''

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: An interesting case. [[spoiler: The story is technically a 3, due to everyone dying, though without graphic details. However, it could be a 10 if we learned the fashions in which everyone died and how.]]

-->[[spoiler:You just read [[UpTo11 139 tropes]] on ''a joke from WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife Good job wasting a good 15 minutes or more.]]]]

An animated film adaptation of the tale, also titled ''The Ugly Barnacle'', was produced in 2000. Unusually, the movie is both a [[TheFilmOfTheBook Film of the Book]] and a {{Biopic}}, as it focuses on both the legendary story and the events surrounding its creation. The film managed to avoid many problems commonly faced by page-to-screen adaptations, a fact which many critics attributed to P.F. Patrick's extensive personal engagement with the film-making process, and the script-writing and casting+design in particular. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WejTV7r3tkU Experience this work of art here, albeit dubbed over in English,]][[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osc04vpIz98&feature=related and now in Venezuelan Castilian]]. [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes Unfortunately the original French is not available]], as the Département ''Bikini des Basses Terres'' Ministère de la Défaite claims exclusive French-language broadcast rights [[ScrewedByTheLawyers and has a very well-funded]] [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil anti-piracy sub-office]].

''The Ugly Barnacle'' is a classic ShortStory in the Pacific Literary Canon, the authorship of which is generally attributed to one Peter F. Patrick (then using the pen name "Patrick Star"). According to legend, "Star" improvised "The Ugly Barnacle" in an attempt to cheer up a friend who believed himself to be suffering from a case of ''The Ugly'' or ''The French Disease'' as it was then known (The two later realized that the friend actually had a bad case of halitosis after eating a homemade "sundae" of sorts.) Unfortunately, the tale failed to console him in any manner whatsoever.

* ShockingSwerve: We're given no foreshadowing at all that [[spoiler: everyone could die because of the Barnacle's ugliness.]]

* CharacterDeath: [[spoiler: ''Everyone'' dies at ''the second sentence of the story''.]]

** Technically unspecified.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Whether Everyone [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation deserved it or not]], [[spoiler: they're all dead, and possibly the barnacle too]], whether ''[[spoiler: it]]'' deserved it or not.
** Even the FramingDevice is momentarily subject to this, as it didn't help [=SpongeBob=] at all.

* FridgeHorror:
** If a mere barnacle can kill everyone, imagine what other creatures can do...
*** [[FridgeBrilliance Not much]], since [[spoiler: they're all dead]].
** In another episode, there is another story called "The Drain" where everyone involved dies [[spoiler: also revealed to be AllJustADream]]. It also includes other characteristics similar to The Ugly Barnacle, such as brevity, disproportionately high stakes, and [[spoiler: it being told by [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick]]. What if this similar story is merely a corrupted version of The Ugly Barnacle, warped to create AnAesop? What if this Drain is the only barrier between the living world and the world of the ugly barnacle?

** [[TheWoobie The barnacle]] was so ugly that it never had any friends. How can you not weep over his plight?
*** Combined with him JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, he's quite the WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds. How the mighty can fall...

* CompleteMonster: In the VillainProtagonist interpretation: The Ugly Barnacle is an incomprehensibly hideous EldritchAbomination. For no apparent reason other than his own amusement, the Barnacle uses his profound ugliness [[spoiler: to exterminate all lifeforms on earth, possibly killing himself in the process, to which he does not care. ]] A being of utter chaos, the Ugly Barnacle makes a disturbing impression of savageness within his short screen time.

* ShootTheShaggyDog

* AssholeVictim: Either everyone else or the barnacle can be this, depending on who you interpret as the villain.
* AuthorAppeal: Patrick lives underwater - that's probably why he chose a barnacle as the ugly character.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the traditional fairy tale where the hero can overcome his or her challenges through believing in him or herself. Instead, [[spoiler:everyone died]].

* DiabolusExMachina: The first part of the story implies that the barnacle will overcome its ugliness by the end. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, the ugliness proves to be so lethal that it kills ''everyone''.]]

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Possibly the fate of [[spoiler: everyone before dying]], since the barnacle was [[spoiler: ugly enough to kill people by its mere ugliness.]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Assuming "everyone" includes the barnacle, his ugliness was enough to do himself in.]]

* ItsShortSoItSucks: If the amount of attention it has on TV Tropes is anything to go by, this is a ''strong'' inversion.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: ''Everyone'' at the end.]]

* InformedDeformity: We're told that the protagonist is ugly, and we're told of the ramifications of his ugliness, but it is never made clear exactly what features he has that make him so ugly. It's possible that if we were told, [[spoiler:we would die]].
* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: The most likely reason Patrick told [=SpongeBob=] the story to comfort him over his ugliness, since he obviously didn't anticipate his friend being upset about the ugly protagonist [[spoiler:killing everyone with his ugliness]].

* MoodWhiplash: At first, it sounds like a charming fairy tale. ''At first.''

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: The Ugly Barnacle is a literal example, knowing [[spoiler:the ending of the story.]]

** WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: The Barnacle is perhaps the ultimate example.

''The Ugly Barnacle'' is a classic ShortStory in the Pacific Literary Canon, the authorship of which is generally attributed to one Peter F. Patrick (then using the pen name "Patrick Star"). According to legend, "Star" improvised "The Ugly Barnacle" in an attempt to cheer up a friend who believed himself to be suffering from a case of ''The Ugly'' or ''The French Disease'' as it was then known (The two later realized that the friend actually had a bad case of halitosis after eating a homemade "sundae" of sorts). Unfortunately, the tale failed to console him in any manner whatsoever.

''The Ugly Barnacle'' is a classic ShortStory in the Pacific Literary Canon, the authorship of which is generally attributed to one Peter F. Patrick.[[note]]Then using the pen name "Patrick Star".[[/note]] According to legend, "Star" improvised "The Ugly Barnacle" in an attempt to cheer up a friend who believed himself to be suffering from a case of ''The Ugly'' or ''The French Disease'' as it was then known (The two later realized that the friend actually had a bad case of halitosis after eating a homemade "sundae" of sorts). Unfortunately, the tale failed to console him in any manner whatsoever.

''The Ugly Barnacle'' is a classic ShortStory in the Pacific Literary Canon, the authorship of which is generally attributed to one Peter F. Patrick.[[note]]Then using the pen name "Patrick Star".[[/note]] According to legend, "Star" improvised "The Ugly Barnacle" in an attempt to cheer up a friend who believed himself to be suffering from a case of ''The Ugly'' or ''The French Disease'' as it was then known. The friend actually had a bad case of halitosis after eating a homemade "sundae" of sorts. Unfortunately, the tale failed to console him in any manner whatsoever.

** He was ugly because he was dead for a while and was an old, rotting corpse.

** Everyone died! [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Ha, that's funny! Right?]] [[DudeNotFunny Right?]][[note]]It might actually be, depending on your taste of BlackComedy.[[/note]]