History Main / MonsterInTheIce

* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' has Galdon, the boss of [=DarkIce=] Mines, who is frozen when you first enter his arena until you have Tricky thaw him out with his Flame command. It's explained in the original ''[[VideoGame/DinosaurPlanetRare Dinosaur Planet]]'' that Garunda Te froze him a few years before the events of the game using a waterfall.

* One worry scientists have about melting glaciers, ice caps, and permafrost is that hibernating bacteria and other pathogens in the ice might come back to life and cause a pandemic.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1992'': Young Ariel finds a selection of dinosaurs frozen in the Arctic and frees them with her [[ProngsOfPoseidon father's trident]]. This inexplicably lets them breath underwater as they rampage through Atlantis.

* ''VideoGame/SubnauticaBelowZero'' has two monsters in one: much of the plot revolves around an enormous frozen Leviathan which happens to be [[spoiler: carrying an ancient form of the Kharaa virus]].

* ''Podcast/FriendsAtTheTable'': The ultimate evil of the [[RealRobotGenre COUNTER/Weight]] series is Rigour, an ancient MechanicalAbomination by way of a HumongousMecha that a MegaCorp unwittingly excavated from the frozen planet of Ionias, having laid entombed in ice for thousands of years following the ''last'' time galactic civilization attempted to kill it. As soon as it's free, it picks up right where it left off in trying to [[WorldOfSilence enslave the galaxy]].

->''"Mayday...mayday...can anyone hear me, over? This is US Station 31; can you read me? We found something in the ice. We need some help down here. Can anybody hear me? We found something...we found something...we found something..."''

** ''Film/FrankensteinMeetsTheWolfman'': Lawrence "Larry" Talbot, the titular Wolf Man, discovers Frankenstein's monster frozen in a block of ice under the ruins of Ludwig Frankenstein's home, and thaws it out in the hopes that the monster can assist him in finding Dr. Frankenstein's notes so he can use them and die permanently. The monster isn't much help though.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Film/RareExportsAChristmasTale'': In prehistoric times, Lapland was ruled the evil Santa Claus (here portrayed as a huge, demonic {{Santabomination}}). The Sámi defeated Santa by tricking him onto a lake covered in thin ice, where he fell into the frigid water and ended up frozen solid. They later pulled the ice block out of the lake, covered it in saw dust to stop it from melting, and buried it beneath a mountain to prevent him from ever escaping. However, in the present day, Santa's elves are trying to free Santa from his icy prison. [[spoiler:Unlike most examples of this trope, Santa never manages to escape.]]

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': In the Sub-Zero Emperor Lyon Arc, Natsu's team travels to an island where a demon named [[SealedEvilInACan Deliora]] has been hidden after being frozen in magical ice that can't be broken or melted except by a spell that takes three years to prepare. Unfortunately, the spell set to be completed soon after they arrive. [[spoiler:The spell succeeds but, thankfully, the magic ice had been sapping away at the demon's energy for seven years at that point, so all he can do when he's freed is take his last breath before being ReducedToDust.]]

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: ''Film/{{Eternals}}'': The titular Eternals are immortal aliens who've been on earth since the dawn of human civilization, tasked to defeat monstrous Deviants. They were under the impression that they defeated the last of Earth's Deviants about five hundred years ago, so they're surprised when new ones turn up in the present day. It's later revealed that these "new" Deviants were frozen in ice in Alaska for millennia and were thawed out due to glacial melting.

** Levistus, an [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils archdevil]] who rules over the [[CirclesOfHell fifth layer]] of the [[{{Hell}} Nine Hells]] known as Stygia, is magically encased in the creatively named Tomb of Levistus, a giant, indestructible iceberg within his own domain, as punishment for [[TheStarscream attempting to overthrow]] [[SatanicArchetype Asmodeus]] and take over the Hells a long time ago. In a twisted bit of political chess on [[TheChessmaster Asmodeus']] part this actually serves to eliminate two of his greatest enemies at once: although Levistus is trapped in the ice, he is still technically the ruler of Stygia, conducting his business telepathically or via minions, which prevents another scheming Archdevil, Geryon, from seizing the layer for himself and also going after Asmodeus as he can't harm Levistus as long as he is stuck behind the ice.

When the Monster in the Ice is still alive, this will almost certainly be a case of HarmlessFreezing. See also HumanPopsicle for when people try to replicate this effect as a form of one-way time travel and CryoPrison for when this is used as a way to imprison criminals. Often overlaps with SealedEvilInACan and DugTooDeep or, if the monster in question is revealed to be GoodAllAlong in a plot twist, a story's BigGood, or a NonMaliciousMonster, with SealedGoodInACan. May be revealed by a GiantEyeOfDoom if the characters discover the creature by accident.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monster_in_the_ice_ghidora.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:This is an IceQueen you do not want to {{defrost|ing ice queen}}.]]

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''Film/{{Eternals}}'': The titular Eternals are immortal aliens who've been on earth since the dawn of human civilization, tasked to defeat monstrous Deviants. They were under the impression that they defeated the last of Earth's Deviants about five hundred years ago, so they're surprised when new ones turn up in the present day. It's later revealed that these "new" Deviants were frozen in ice in Alaska for millennia and were thawed out due to glacial melting.

** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': King Ghidorah was frozen in the Antarctic glaciers for eons, before being awakened and unleashed by ecoterrorists.

* ''Film/TheThing1982'': At the start of the film, a FlyingSaucer which is carrying the Thing crash-lands in the Antarctic, leaving the Thing frozen in the ice for more than 100,000 years, per Norris' estimation. It's then dug out of the ice by the Norwegian expedition (depicted in [[Film/TheThing2011 the 2011 prequel]]), and subsequently encountered by the Americans when the last Norwegians try to kill the dog-Thing.

* ''Recap/AsterixAndTheGriffin'': A Roman expedition sent to find the griffin for Caesar's menagerie discovers it in Sarmatia (modern-day Ukraine), where the locals revere it. But instead of the eagle-lion hybrid they were expecting, they instead discover it's [[spoiler:a ''Styracosaurus'']] frozen deep beneath a lake (so deep that only its silhouette is visible). The Romans are furious with the shaman they forced to guide them, as so ridiculous-looking a creature can't be brought to Caesar.

* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': [[spoiler: ''The Devil'']] is a ragged beast trapped inside the ice in the center of hell.

* ''Series/HouseOfFrankenstein1997'': Frankenstein's monster is found frozen inside an ice block found in the Arctic and brought as an exhibit to Grimes's nightclub, where naturally he escapes and havoc ensues (especially when it turns out Grimes is a vampire).

[[folder:Organized Wrestling]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk'': In one episode, the dragon of the week is a [[ShockAndAwe Skrill]] found frozen in an iceberg -- and unlike most other dragons in the franchise, that thing ''cannot'' be tamed. Unlike all the other dragons who are portrayed as quirky and highly intelligent animals, the Skrill is near demonic in how relentless it is in its assault, and how incredible its lightning BreathWeapon is. In the end, the only option Hiccup and Toothless had was to freeze it in an iceberg ''again''.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'': In the PilotMovie "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E1TreasureOfTheGoldenSuns Treasures of the Golden Suns]]", while exploring a penguin civilization in Antarctica, Mrs. Beakley and her granddaughter come across a giant "prehistoric woolly walrus" frozen in ice. Later, when Scrooge [=McDuck=] and the nephews free themselves from the penguins' prison with a tuning fork, the [[GlassShatteringSound shattering noise from the fork]] also frees the walrus.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': In "Cold Cash and Hot Water", Jim Venkman (Peter's father) finds one of these in Alaska; it turns out to be Hob Anagarak, a very powerful demon [[SealedEvilInACan encased in a block of black ice]]. The black ice can't be melted except with the use of special magic spells.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretSaturdays'': In the Season 1 finale, the gigantic cryptid thought to be Kur [[spoiler:(actually a RedHerring)]] is discovered frozen in the Antarctic ice along with its symbiont cryptids, awakening and breaking free thanks to Argost's efforts.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'': In "Prehistoric Pterodactyls", after millions of years frozen in Arctic ice, two pterodactyls are freed and immediately go on a rampage.
** ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons'': In ''The Arctic Giant'', a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' is thawed out of a block of ice and goes on a rampage. Of course, this being the 40s, it looks more like Franchise/{{Godzilla}} than an actual ''T. rex''. Though it averts being a {{Notzilla}} by predating the {{Kaiju}} by 14 years, making for a case of OlderThanTheyThink.
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'': In "[[Recap/YoungJusticeS1E8Downtime Downtime]]", a glacier holding [[Characters/YoungJustice2010OtherVillains Starro the Conqueror]] is excavated by the Atlanteans. During a fight involving Black Manta who covets the contents, Starro's preserved arm is broken free, but the glacier and most of the creature are promptly blown to kingdom come. It's revealed in later episodes that Starro was alive enough for the Light to create MindControl chips from its surviving tissue.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* There have been [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly_mammoth#Frozen_specimens many cases of mammoths]] found frozen in ice and extremely well preserved. In fact, the word "mammoth" may come from the Estonian "maa mutt", meaning "earth mole", because of how often their half-buried remains were found, and they were thought to be subterranean animals.
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/HouseOfFrankenstein'': Frankenstein's monster is found frozen inside an ice block found in the Arctic and brought as an exhibit to Grimes's nightclub, where naturally he escapes and havoc ensues (especially when it turns out Grimes is a vampire).

* ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'': During the Carnen questline, [[NatureSpirit Carnen]], Talion and Celembrimbor come across a group of Orc acolytes who were sent by Sauron to enlist the aid of Tar-Goroth, a Balrog that had been recently reawakened by Talion and Celebrimbor's forging of the New Ring. Tar-Goroth has other ideas, and rampages across Mordor until Talion, Celebrimbor and Carnen catch up to him. After battling with the giant fire demon, Carnen uses the last of her life force to seal Tar-Goroth away underneath the icy surface of a frozen lake. One of the surviving Orc acolytes later tries to resurrect him again, but Celebrimbor and Talion slay the Orc before he can do it, leaving Tar-Goroth to remain frozen forever.

* There have been [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly_mammoth#Frozen_specimens many cases of woolly mammoths]] found frozen in ice and extremely well preserved. In fact, the word "mammoth" may come from the Estonian "maa mutt", meaning "earth mole", because of how often their half-buried remains were found, and they were thought to be subterranean animals.

* ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms'': The titular monster, the rhedosaurus, was frozen in Arctic ice since the early Cretaceous and is thawed out by nuclear testing.