History Main / LivingGasbag

* ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'' has the [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/miasmadusa.htm Miasmadusa,]] which is something like a gas-filled Man 'O War and can rain down deadly toxins on their opponents.

Often overlaps with StarfishAlien or FlyingSeafoodSpecial. Self-propelled forms employ BizarreAlienLocomotion. May count as a GiantFlyer. May double as a LivingShip, in which case it's probably also a CoolAirship or even an AirborneAircraftCarrier. Compare SpaceWhale and ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld. May provide {{Balloonacy}}.

* ''Franchise/OnePiece'': "Sky Fish" are fish that live in the clouds (or, more specifically, the "white sea"), having become flat and floaty in order to adapt to the environment, where the "water" offers less resistance. They're literally living gasbags as they pop like balloons when pierced. An example is the "takoballoon" (English: "octoballoon") who appears at the end of the Skypiea saga to safely lower ''Going Merry'' to the Blue Sea.

* Creator/JunjiIto's short manga "Hanging Blimp" featured a very odd take on this trope. Giant living balloons, each one bearing the likeness of a specific person's face, suddenly appear all over the world, hunting down the people they look like and strangling them with their strings. The balloons are easy enough to destroy, but doing so kills the person they are "connected" to as well.

* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'': In "Venus Rising" Franchise/WonderWoman accompanies a scientific expedition to Venus, where she and the scientists are surprised to find giant dragon-like living gasbags which seem intent on tearing apart their vessel.

** The Jigglypuff line is a subversion; though gasbags, they don't fly. (Except in the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime.]] In a few episodes, Harley's Wigglytuff does get airborne, though he has very little control once up there.) In ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'', Jigglypuff ''does'' have a very "floaty" jump, giving it a rather slow descent whenever it does so.

* In ''Film/ManInBlack3'' the Boglodites (the BigBad's species) invade the Earth with what appear to be armored {{Eldritch Abomination}}s with fleshy underbellies covered in large pulsating blisters that suggests that they're LivingShip gasbags.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''

Lightweight, floating creatures are a great way to dress up your AlienSky or populate a [[SingleBiomePlanet gas giant]]. Typically hollow, and filled with a light gas of some sort, these creatures usually resemble blimps or jellyfish or some strange hybrid. They may be [[GiantFlyer large]] or small. If large, they may be used as [[LivingShip transportation]] by the natives or colonists. If they're filled with hydrogen, expect them to be highly explosive.

* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': Many of the organisms in the games float this way, including the titular Metroids.

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' 3 introduces the Locust Gas Barge as a means of transportation after the flooding of the Hollow.

-->-- '''A netch hunter''' (on his quarry, pictured to the right), ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim -- Dragonborn''

** ''Series/UltramanAce'': The kaiju Bad Balloon is a living hot air balloon which can alternate between the forms of a harmless balloon, or a giant balloon-themed monster. It uses its balloon form to [[AdultFear abduct unsuspecting children and drain them of their souls, leaving behind kids as emotionless shells of their former selves]].

%%* This should go under TextbookHumor, but to be scientifically exact, the [[FanNickname Blaue Blätter]] aren't, but the info organ of the German Chemistry Society. Each [[AprilFoolsDay April month]], they run assorted chemistry gags. Relevant one here: An alien species on Jupiter(?), surely falling under this trope, has detected wacky chemistry on Earth and speculates whether this might indicated life, but stays scientifically solid on the inconclusive evidence. The reference to a [[FictionalDocument "Monography on Chemistry in Non-Ammonia Solutions"]] (read: water) is epic alone.%%Messy. Work of origin unclear, talks about everything except how it fits this trope.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'': The thirteenth colossus ([[FanNickname Phalanx]]) is a giant flying worm with dragonfly like wings that clearly don't do enough to keep it airborne. It also has large gas sacks which it presumably uses for lift, since shooting them with arrows deflates them and brings it down low enough for you to reach.

* ''Series/UltramanAce'': The kaiju Bad Balloon is a living hot air balloon which can alternate between the forms of a harmless balloon, or a giant balloon-themed monster. It uses its balloon form to [[AdultFear abduct unsuspecting children and drain them of their souls, leaving behind kids as emotionless shells of their former selves]].
* ''Series/UltraQ'': The title creature in "Balloonga" is a blimp-like creature from Saturn that can expand ad infinitum as long as it has a steady supply of energy.

%% The examples on this page have been sorted alphabetically. Please help keep this page tidy by adding new ones in order. Thank you!

** Soarwhales are floating creatures that resemble baleen whales, docile enough to serve as living blimps that carry gondolas or howdahs for passengers or cargo. They also have a unique defensive mechanism, a "breath weapon" attack that involves releasing a cloud of their buoyant gas - the soarwhale rapidly drops 100 feet before stabilizing, while everything in the area it previously occupied must make a Fortitude save or become paralyzed for about half a minute, usually a very ''bad'' thing when you're a mile off the ground.

*** The lanceballoon's body is an oval-shaped gasbag filled with helium, which allows it to float in the air. It has fins that look like sails to steer. The tentacles that hand down from it has embedded crystals that it uses to focus sunlight and use it as a weapon.

** ''Spacefarer's Guide to Alien Monsters''. The floater is an alien creature whose body is a bag containing hydrogen gas, which allows it to float through the air. It has electrically charged tentacles which descend below it. The tentacles stun any creatures they touch and drag them up to the floater to be eaten.

** Jellyfloats are essentially hovering, air-filled jellyfish that suck up their prey rather than sting it. The Medusal Slurkers that replace them in ''Pikmin 3'' work much the same way, with the addition of a dandelion-like puff sprouting from their tops as an extra flotation device.