History Main / EldritchOceanAbyss

* In ''ComicBook/SubMariner: The Depths'', Atlantis is depicted as a dark, lost city in the deepest part of the ocean, instead of the bustling country it usual is in Marvel. Namor himself is a silent HumanoidAbomination who guards the city and ruthlessly kills anyone searching for it. [[spoiler:One panel even implies that Namor's humanoid appearance is just AFormYouAreComfortableWith, and his true form is something similar to a Deep One.]]

* In ''ComicBook/SubMariner: The Depths'', Atlantis is depicted as a dark, lost city in the deepest part of the ocean, instead of the bustling country it usual is in Marvel. Namor himself is a silent HumanoidAbomination who guards the city and ruthlessly kills anyone searching for it. [[spoiler: One panel even implies that Namor's humanoid appearance is just AFormYouAreComfortableWith, and his true form is something similar to a Deep One.]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'' once faced off against The Trench, named for their place of origin; a race of vicious, predatory [[FishPeople anglerfish-like humanoids]] who have been isolated in the darkest depths of the ocean for thousands of years. To make things worse, [[spoiler: they are immune to Aquaman's power over marine life, probably because they are descended from Atlanteans themselves]].
* Another Aquaman comic, the Creator/DCBlackLabel graphic novel ''Aquaman: Andromeda'', revolves around [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_of_inaccessibility#Oceanic_pole_of_inaccessibility Point Nemo]], a spot in the Pacific Ocean known for being the furthest away from any land surface on the planet and a submarine crew going down to it to investigate a strange signal that also draws Aquaman to itself.

* ''Film/TheAbyss'' features a United States SEAL team trying to salvage a destroyed nuclear submarine in the deep ocean, and encountering strange creatures dwelling there. It [[FollowTheLeader kickstarted]] a whole wave of this type of movie, including ''Deep Star Six'', ''The Evil Below'', ''Lords of the Deep'', ''Leviathan'', and ''The Rift'', all of which are listed below, and came out in 1989 and 1990. Unlike the subsequent ripoffs [[spoiler: The creatures living in the Abyss are benevolent and are persuaded not to attack humanity thanks to ThePowerOfLove]].
* The AlwaysChaoticEvil creatures who reside in the Trenches in ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'' are all horrific monsters. They actually [[TheMorlocks evolved from original Atlanteans into what they are]] because of the natural environment of trenches. Going even deeper, we eventually find a tropical LostWorld with LivingDinosaurs.
* ''Film/DeepRising'': The cruise ship accidentally strays into the territory of giant predatory worm-like {{Sea Monster}}s [[spoiler:(actually, one gargantuan, octopus-like beast)]] that dwelt on the ocean floor. This is driven home by the opening shot of the film showing numerous whale skeletons and sunken ships littering the seabed.

* ''Film/{{Dagon}}'' ends with the protagonist [[spoiler:growing gills and traveling into an underwater abyss to meet the EldritchAbomination that spawned him and his sister.]]

* ''Film/{{Leviathan|1989}}'' is about an underwater mining crew 15,000 feet below the surface that slowly dwindles due to attacks by a mutant creature.

** ''Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth''. The ocean floors are inhabited by the Deep Ones: [[TheAgeless Ageless]], cultish, artistically-inclined FishPeople who gather in [[UnderwaterCity Underwater Cities]] to worship {{Eldritch Abomination}}s from beyond the stars and receive strange powers in return. They also seem to find human beings [[MarsNeedsWomen extremely sexy]]. The story ends with [[spoiler: the narrator, realizing that [[TomatoInTheMirror he's the product of such a union]], deciding to embrace his inhuman heritage and join them under the sea.]] The Deep Ones also have some part to play in bringing about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, but it's implied ("...some day, if they remembered, they would rise again for the tribute Great Cthulhu craved.") that they're not especially enthusiastic about it.
** ''Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu''. The "nightmare corpse-city" of R'lyeh lies at the floor of the remote South Pacific. In it, the Great Old One Cthulhu [[SealedEvilInACan lies in deathless slumber]], waiting for {{the Old Gods}}' return.
** ''The Temple''. The crew of a German U-Boat during UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne succumb to what is either OceanMadness or the influence of whatever lurks in the UnderwaterRuins they find at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

* ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'' features the fear of eldritch ocean abysses being part of the Vast, which also encompasses the fear of space and freefall (and anything involving Agoraphobia, really). The ocean abyss isn't given too much focus, featuring in only one statement, but according to [[spoiler: Simon Fairchild, the primary Avatar of the Vast, he attempted to build fear of the ocean heavily during the Victorian Aquarium craze, and had a grand ritual that involved dropping a large group of people in a bathysphere into an impossible abyss.]]

* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin'': The original game features the benevolent Asterite, the oldest living creature on Earth, which lives in a deep-sea cave, and appears as a massive DNA helix. Even further down can be found the ruins of Atlantis, including a library filled with mystical crystals and a time machine. [[spoiler: The game's climax eventually brings Ecco to the oceans of an ''alien world'', where he battles the monstrous Vortex and their Queen.]]

* ''VideoGame/WaterWombWorld'' is a short indie game involving a Christian scientist hunting for the supposed true origin point of man in Gaspar's Zone, a remote location in the middle of the ocean. Outside his sub in pitch darkness he finds [[TimeAbyss ancient species of fish]], mysterious coral, and [[spoiler: the actual being man evolved from, then becomes one himself]].

[[folder:Web Original]]

* In the "Rock Bottom" episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', the town of Rock Bottom is populated by numerous deformed-looking fish that terrify [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick.
* Played with on the ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts'' octopus episode, when what ''seems'' like a gargantuan deep-sea horror to the explorers is actually a normal octopus turned MixAndMatchCritter by a Power Suit malfunction. Averted in the double-length hydrothermal vent episode, in which the weirdness of the local sea-bottom life forms merely evokes the team's wonder and admiration.

Compare OceanOfAdventure. Not to be confused with TimeAbyss. May overlap with EldritchLocation, although the work can portray the deep ocean as relatively "normal" but just home to creepy things. Also compare SpaceIsAnOcean, as stories about exploring the deep sea may share genre conventions with space stories and portray sea life in a manner similar to aliens, and OceanMadness, the feeling of insanity after being out (or in this case, ''down'') at sea for too long. See also CreepyOldFashionedDivingSuit for another otherworldy source of horror on the ocean floor.

* Ocean in real life is home to strange stuff, especially deep down in the trenches.

** High water pressure of deep marine trenches make them unsuitable for vertebra fish so they populated purely by huge invertebrates.

** The Underwater Islands biome consists of several huge chunks of rock suspended between the surface and the ocean floor some 500 meters below, given buoyancy by colonies of Floater organisms. Navigating them successfully requires three-dimensional thinking and going over the edge of one of the islands can be unnverving as you see nothing but dark waters beneath you.

The ocean is mysterious. We know more about the surface of UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} than we do about our own oceans. The really deep, dark parts of the ocean are even ''more'' mysterious. The ocean floors and trenches have forms of life that are wholly alien to humans: deep sea anglerfish, {{Giant Squid}}s, gulper eels, chimera fish, to which fiction can add any bizarre variety of [[SeaMonster horrific leviathan]].

Comopare OceanOfAdventure. Not to be confused with TimeAbyss. May overlap with EldritchLocation, although the work can portray the deep ocean as relatively "normal" but just home to creepy things. Also compare SpaceIsAnOcean, as stories about exploring the deep sea may share genre conventions with space stories and portray sea life in a manner similar to aliens, and OceanMadness, the feeling of insanity after being out (or in this case, ''down'') at sea for too long. See also CreepyOldFashionedDivingSuit for another otherworldy source of horror on the ocean floor.

Not to be confused with TimeAbyss. May overlap with EldritchLocation, although the work can portray the deep ocean as relatively "normal" but just home to creepy things. Also compare SpaceIsAnOcean, as stories about exploring the deep sea may share genre conventions with space stories and portray sea life in a manner similar to aliens, and OceanMadness, the feeling of insanity after being out (or in this case, ''down'') at sea for too long. See also CreepyOldFashionedDivingSuit for another otherworldy source of horror on the ocean floor.

* The Sundering Seas in ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'' is a dangerous huge sea with violent storms and the home of mysterious dangerous sea creatures such as the Wyrm, a SeaSerpent.
* In the show ''The Rig'', the Northern Sea is portrayed homing a several millions old ancient sentient parasite species that has been unleashed from the ocean floor and can infect the rig crew members to experience behavioural changes.
* ''Series/Siren2018'': The North Pacific Ocean is the home to sirens, a predator aquatic humanoid race which is capable of transitioning into a form with legs when they have to come on land. The sirens are guilty of many mysterious deaths inciting the imagination ignorant about the ocean.

* ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'' thrives on this. The "starter" biomes near the map's center - the reefs of the Safe Shallows, the Kelp Forests, the Grassy Plateaus, even the giant undersea Mushroom Forests - are all familiar enough and bathed in comforting sunlight during daytime, but the deeper you go, the more dangerous and twisted the landscape becomes, and the more lethal the local wildlife.

* ''VideoGame/SubnauticaBelowZero'' continues this trend:

* In ''Film/TheMeg'', scientists accidentally release a {{megalodon}} shark[[note]]Extinct, and thought to be a shallow-water predator[[/note]] from the Marianas Trench. According to the original novel, megalodons are explained to have evolved into an abyssal species but are no less horrifying or {{threatening|Shark}} for it. One of the characters is also attacked by a GiantSquid, but is inadvertently saved [[AlwaysABiggerFish when a megalodon eats the squid]].
* ''Film/{{Megalodon}}'': The film is kicked off when a new experimental deep sea oil-drilling rig penetrates through the ocean floor off the coast of Greenland, revealing a LostWorld hidden for millions of years inhabited by prehistoric sea life. Among these is [[TagLine sixty-feet of prehistoric terror]], a full-grown {{megalodon}} that quickly turns the drilling expedition into a fight for survival.

Submersibles and [=ROVs=] have allowed closer study of the ocean depths, and oceanographers have not found any EldritchAbomination or Cthulhu in any part of the sea-floor. Nevertheless, there is still some TruthInTelevision to this for a host of different reasons: the environmental conditions (low or no light, high pressure, low temperature, low oxygen, and very little food or prey compared to shallow waters) in the midnight,[[note]]"bathypelagic", around 1,000 to 4,000 meters below sea level,[[/note]] abyssal[[note]]"abyssopelagic", about 4,000 to 6,000 meters below sea level; ocean floors are included in this zone,[[/note]] and hadal[[note]]"hadopelagic", extending down to about 11,000 meters below sea level,[[/note]] zones of the ocean have led organisms to evolve traits that are completely different from creatures that evolved on land and even from some shallow water fish. For example, many creatures do not have eyes or have evolved special eyes due to the lack of light, and are usually either very dark, transparent, or bright red in color.[[note]]Most deep sea creatures have no need for thick skins to protect their organs from ultraviolet radiation from the sun, so theirs tend to be transparent. Their eyes being bright red is the result of submarine light reflecting off of the back of their eyes which illuminates blood flowing through their bodies. If you've ever seen people with red eyes in a photo that was taken with a flashing camera, you've seen this effect.[[/note]] This biome is utterly inhospitable to humans, and the logistical difficulties of conducting research in it only adds to these regions' sense of mystery.

* ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'': While most of the game takes place in the Pathos-II UnderwaterBase situated on a huge plateau, the last third of the game involves taking a 4000-meter elevator ride down into the Abyss. To reach sites Tau and Phi, you have to follow a path of barely visible lights while enduring a powerful ocean current [[spoiler: and rabid sea creatures mutated by [[MutagenicGoo Structure Gel]], including a GiantSquid and an enormous [[AlluringAnglerfish angler fish]].]]

The ocean is mysterious. We know more about the surface of UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} than we do about our own oceans. The really deep, dark parts of the ocean are even ''more'' mysterious. When depicted in fiction, the ocean floors and trenches may be populated by unrelenting horrors the likes of which no human can comprehend: AlluringAnglerfish, {{Giant Squid}}s, gulper eels, [[SeaMonster horrific leviathans]] -- any briny monster you can name, and plenty more that you can't.

Submersibles and [=ROVs=] have allowed closer study of the ocean depths, and oceanographers have not found any EldritchAbomination or Cthulhu in any part of the sea-floor. Nevertheless, there is still some TruthInTelevision to this for a host of different reasons: the environmental conditions (low or no light, high pressure, low temperature, low oxygen, and very little food or prey compared to shallow waters) in the midnight,[[note]]"bathypelagic", around 1,000 to 4,000 meters below sea level,[[/note]] abyssal[[note]]"abyssopelagic", about 4,000 to 6,000 meters below sea level; ocean floors are included in this zone,[[/note]] and hadal[[note]]"hadopelagic", extending down to about 11,000 meters below sea level,[[/note]] zones of the ocean have led organisms to evolve traits that are completely different from creatures that evolved on land and even from some shallow water fish. For example, many creatures do not have eyes or have evolved special eyes due to the lack of light, and are usually either very dark, transparent, or bright red in color.[[note]]Most deep sea creatures have no need for thick skins due to the lack of light and unltraviolet radiation from the sun, so theirs tend to be transparent. Their eyes being bright red is the result of submarine light reflecting off of the back of their eyes which illuminates blood flowing through their bodies. If you've ever seen people with red eyes in a photo that was taken with a flashing camera, you've seen this effect.[[/note]] This biome is utterly inhospitable to humans, and the logistical difficulties of conducting research in it only adds to these regions' sense of mystery.

* In ''Film/TheMeg'', scientists accidentally release a {{megalodon}} shark[[note]]Extinct, and thought to be a shallow-water predator[[/note]] from the Marianas Trench. According to the original novel, megalodons are explained to have evolved into an abyssal species but are no less horrifying or {{threatening|Shark}} for it.

* ''Film/{{Underwater}}'' follows a deep-sea drilling team who [[DugTooDeep dig too deep]] and end up unleashing [[spoiler:Cthulhu. Yes, ''the'' [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu]].]]

* ''Film/TheAbyss'' features a United States SEAL team trying to salvage a destroyed nuclear submarine in the deep ocean, and encountering strange creatures dwelling there. It [[FollowTheLeader kickstarted]] a whole wave of this type of movie, including ''Deep Star Six'', ''The Evil Below'', ''Lords of the Deep'', ''Leviathan'', and ''The Rift'', all of which are listed below, and came out in 1989 and 1990.

* ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'' once faced off against The Trench, named for their place of origin; a race of vicious, predatory [[FishPeople anglerfish-like humanoids]] who have been isolated in the darkest depths of the ocean for thousands of years. To make things worse, [[spoiler: they are immune to Aquaman's power over marine life]].

* ''ComicBook/Aquaman'' once faced off against The Trench, named for their place of origin; a race of vicious, predatory [[FishPeople anglerfish-like humanoids]] who have been isolated in the darkest depths of the ocean for thousands of years. To make things worse, [[spoiler: they are immune to Aquaman's power over marine life]].