Fear Of Large, Underwater Monsters In Videogames
Posted on Friday, September 4 @ 10:11:18 Eastern
I've got a really weird phobia dating back from when I was around 8. Whenever I play videogames with large creatures from the deep I get a chill running down my spine. Its a really weird, unpleasant feeling that comes from my head rather than my gut. I had arachnophobia for a few years at the height of my teens and it meant that I couldn't even lay eyes on spiders - in real life or otherwise. However, thingsindeepwaterphobia only manifests itself when playing videogames. I find that swimming in the open ocean or local pool isn't a problem at all. Neither do I have any particular fear of sharks or whales in real life.
Conversely, I couldn't even play stuff like the Jolly Roger level in Mario 64 thanks to the giant eel. Even the sea serpent on Shadow of the Colossus gave me the shudders. I've done some Googling on the matter and it appears most people have their own explanations as to why they experience such reactions in these situations. Yet most of these people don't like submarines and shipwrecks too. Or they feel the same way in real life. Or they dislike real world creatures alongside fantasy ones. For me its just huge, fictional beasts that give me the creeps.
According to someone on 'Is It Normal?' this phobia is called Thalasso-Meglo-Itchtyo-phobia - 'fear of open ocean with large objects/fish'. Its not really that big of a deal for me. I can roam the waters of Azeroth in WoW quite happily, but I **** myself when doing such things like meeting Oacha'noa. Although Deor and I did manage totake down Tethyr, remember we were 40 levels above the requirement at the time.
Anyone else got this problem? There looks to be lots of variations of it, so why haven't the DSM classified it as a proper phobia yet?
PsychoSavager
Joined: Mar 24, 2007
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| Posted: Sep 10th, 2009 at 3:48 pm |
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| Sounds pretty strange..... I have a sort of weird fear relating to videogames. I'm more afraid of survival horror games when I'm NOT playing them. A friend and I rented out Silent Hill and we got to the end with a couple of jumps and frights but no fainting or heart attacks. Yet, it took me ages to convince myself to buy the game proper as I was afraid of playing it..... despite the fact I'd already completed it without any problems. Likewise, certain disturbing elements don't scare me when I'm playing, but terrify me when I've turned off the console and thought about it afterwards. |
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OutlawCaptain
Joined: Aug 23, 2007
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| Posted: Sep 10th, 2009 at 4:46 pm |
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| One of the star wars games for N64 had an area with a sewer or something that had giant tentacled beasts lurking in the water. I still get chills at the thought of them. |
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De-Ting
Joined: Nov 11, 2006
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| Posted: Sep 10th, 2009 at 8:07 pm |
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| The sharks that eat you in Jak & Daxter always scared the crap out of me. |
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StandardStache
Joined: Nov 29, 2007
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| Posted: Sep 11th, 2009 at 6:18 pm |
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| ^Ditto. The thumping sound of their tails was the worst part. |
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LinksOcarina
Joined: Nov 9, 2005
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| Posted: Sep 11th, 2009 at 6:31 pm |
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| Clanker was the **** man! I loved him! |
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fett0001
Joined: Nov 8, 2005
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| Posted: Sep 11th, 2009 at 8:30 pm |
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| Del Lago must have been terrible. |
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sweetooth334
Joined: Jan 29, 2007
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| Posted: Sep 11th, 2009 at 11:25 pm |
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| Haha thats a good one Fett. Speaking of RE4, those Iron Maidens were the absolute worst. Does anyone agree with me? I had turn the volume down whenever I played sections with them because that groaning/gasping they do just got under my skin psychologically. |
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Melaisis
Joined: Jan 2, 2008
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| Posted: Sep 13th, 2009 at 3:55 pm |
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| Del Lago ain't too bad. Because I don't actually get in the water properly to fight it, its easily dealt with. I think I would have **** myself if I had to properly fight it in the lake though. |
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Melaisis
Joined: Jan 2, 2008
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| Posted: Sep 13th, 2009 at 7:23 pm |
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| @Guys with fear of sharks: This is something I don't personally experience, even though I had my first viewing of Jaws at a very early age. Its only when the monster becomes something unreal that I get the creeps. |
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gonzar09
Joined: Jun 20, 2007
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| Posted: Sep 13th, 2009 at 10:54 pm |
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| Well, I can see where you're coming from to a lesser degree. In video games whenever deep sea areas are to be accessed by the player, it is a historical fact that usually there is gonna be something down there, usually huge, and most likely unpleasant. For a while I refused to play Silent Hill 3 because there was one part where you have to cross murky water but something would spring out and take you down and kill you if you didn't electrify it first. for that reason i usually have a video game-related fear of the water. |
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gonzar09
Joined: Jun 20, 2007
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| Posted: Sep 13th, 2009 at 10:59 pm |
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| It's almost as if the developers of games know that there is an entire world under any body of water that most of us peasants wont ever get the chance to fully experience, and they play off our ignorance of it. we all know that there are gigantic things in oceans that make us seem like nothing at all, and since it is natural to fear what you dont know or understand, they make it seem like everything huge and underwater could potentially make for a Jaws-like experience. |
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Yoshi
Joined: Nov 10, 2005
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| Posted: Sep 14th, 2009 at 3:11 am |
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| Ha! you've hit the spot, my friend. I've been wanting to write up a blog post of the exact same genre. My biggest problem is spiders: I cannot, for the life of me, play a game that features one. Recently I played Call of Juarez, and close to the end of the game I entered a cave and saw spider-webs. I immediately closed the game and googled the game for spiders - check came back positive, and I was stunned. Such a nice game, and suddenly I can't play it. Anyway, I also have a problem with water creatures - entering water in most FPS's is a negative experience for me - maybe since that little bit from Opposing Forces with the HUGE SUPRISING FISH in some aquarium. Be Strong! |
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OutlawCaptain
Joined: Aug 23, 2007
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| Posted: Sep 14th, 2009 at 4:04 am |
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| I just remembered the shark behind the grate at the bottom of the dive pool in Ocarina of Time. Unsettling. |
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Melaisis
Joined: Jan 2, 2008
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| Posted: Sep 14th, 2009 at 11:06 am |
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| @Yoshi. Used to totally have the same problem when I was a bit younger. WoW cured me, because it starts you off facing fairly small and cute spiders before sending giant ones at you. Because you've already invested a lot of time and effort into the game, then you're less reluctant to put it down. Furthermore, the cartoon graphics make it easier. @Outlaw: I remember that, in the shack next to the lake? OoT dodged anything bigger I think, unlike MM! |
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JCvgluvr
Joined: Feb 8, 2009
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| Posted: Sep 14th, 2009 at 12:02 pm |
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Nintendo creatures that are massively guilty of this fear:
- Definitely the Eel in Super Mario 64 that you mentioned.
- Big Cheep Cheep in Super Mario Bros. 3, since he can swallow Mario in one gulp!
- Alpha Blogg in Metroid Prime 2. It doesn't help that the water is murky, and slows down movement.
- The Eel in Super Mario Sunshine with the dirty teeth. (What is it with Mario games and fish/eels?)
- The big fish in Banjo Tooie's Jolly Roger Lagoon. What's that Rare? You want me to swim INSIDE THAT FREAK?!
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n8magee
Joined: Sep 14, 2009
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| Posted: Sep 14th, 2009 at 1:52 pm |
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| i just wanted to say that i share the exact same phobia as you, only fictional things in water scared me. banjo kazooie i hated with the giant fish b/c i didn't know he was a good guy. i refused to play that level when i was a kid. and actually, there is a game that focuses on this specific phobia, and i love it. it's one of the best and mostvunderrated survival horror games ever. it's called Call of Cthulu Dark Corners of the Earth for xbox. short summary for the game, a fish cult raises and mates with fish monters from the ocean and try to summon their fish monster god. it sounds corny, but the gameplay elements and your fight with Dagon are epic. i always hated falling in the water even all that happens is you die from drowning. |
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gonzar09
Joined: Jun 20, 2007
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| Posted: Sep 15th, 2009 at 12:17 am |
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| @Yoshi - You remember the scene from RE1 for the gamecube when you entered into the Pool Hall, aka "spider room" for the first time? The camera angle changed for only the first instance when you walk into the room so you could see the giant spider coming down the door to you - that messed me up big time! I was so shocked at the time due to how life-like it was, and immediately handled business with a grenade launcher and put the controller down. I had to breathe out for a few minutes before going on. |
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Lien
Joined: Feb 1, 2008
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| Posted: Sep 15th, 2009 at 6:59 pm |
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My gods... i also have this phobia, i was afraid of pools for two years. But you know, i was also afraid of loud noise under water in games too. Like in serious sam or in duke nukem. Or under water instant kills, like the first 2 minutes of "Another world" or the leeches in Blood 2 (if you don't know about this, the less the better) And i'm still afraid of all this to this day.
Glad to know I'm not the only one.
In other news, i'm still afraid of huge knives (I'm looking at you pyramid head!) |
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Yoshi
Joined: Nov 10, 2005
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| Posted: Oct 1st, 2009 at 2:12 am |
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| Heh, you guys are adorable. Anyway you'd be happy to know I was drunk the other night, so I picked up Call of Juarez again and kicked the **** out of all those ****ing spiders. When I got to the endgame, though, a serious bug prevented me from finishing. So. Nevermind. :P |
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Melaisis
Joined: Jan 2, 2008
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| Posted: Oct 28th, 2009 at 3:26 pm |
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A serious BUG, eh Yoshi?
Eh, eh? |
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