History Main / MonsterWhale

* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'': A sea witch captures Hellboy and says that to end the threat he poses to the world, she'll feed his hand to a certain whale, apparently the oldest living creature, and once it dies and falls into a pit ther will be nothing left of the Antichrist and the world (more specifically, she) will finally be safe.

* Whale King Moon from ''Manga/Toriko'' is the most powerful of the [[AnimalisticAbomination Eigth Kings]] who rule the [[DeathWorld Gourmet World]]. It belongs to a species aptly named "Black Hole Whale" and swallow pretty much anything it encounters. To further enhance the supernatural vibe, Moon's stomach leads directly to the equivalent of the Netherworld.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WebOriginal/{{Mortasheen}}'' has a huge variety of [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire sea animals]], but the largest of them is the [[https://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/vampiathan.htm Vampiathan]]--a vampire whale that feeds by engulfing prey in its cavernous mouth and draining it of its blood.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': In "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E15MobiusDick Möbius Dick]]", the Planet Express crew is attacked by a massive white SpaceWhale lurking in {{The Bermuda T|riangle}}etrahedron. Leela becomes obsessed with hunting it down ''a la'' Captain Ahab, which is apparently what the whale is counting on, as it hunts by swallowing particularly obsessive captains [[AbstractEater to feed on their obsession]].

Whales are some of the largest things that swim. Mysterious giants of the open ocean, they've spent millions of years swimming the seas, often as apex predators. In modern times, sperm whales plunge the depths of the ocean to hunt {{giant squid}}, and even baleen whales will devour enormous amounts of prey.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Art]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* Mr. Big from ''Film/MeetTheFeebles'' is [[InformedSpecies supposedly]] a whale (and a very menacing one to boot, with sharp teeth), and he's the leader of a drug-smuggling gang. He gets defeated rather embarrassingly, though, when Bletch and Trevor drive their car into his mouth and out his anus.

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Disney/{{Pinocchio}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monstro_the_whale.png]]]]

* ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'' features Monstro, a huge, aggressive whale that swallows people whole and [[TheDreaded whose name causes panic among other sea creatures]]. This is a [[AdaptationSpeciesChange deviation]] from [[Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio the original book]], where the sea monster is a "[[ThreateningShark terrible dogfish]]" (that is, a shark).

* Icelandic folklore generally didn't depict real whale species this way, especially not the blue whale, which was imagined as benevolent and heroic. But it did have some ''imagined'' whale species called illhveli ("hell-whales") that fit this trope to a "t", being devoted to the destruction of humans and benign whales and taking sadistic pleasure in the death and devastation they cause. The sole exception is the Skeljngur, which is described as NotAlwaysEvil (and unlike other illhveli, its flesh is edible).

* Icelandic folklore generally didn't depict real whale species this way, especially not the blue whale, which was imagined as benevolent and heroic. But it did have some ''imagined'' whale species called illhveli ("hell-whales") that fit this trope to a "t", being devoted to the destruction of humans and benign whales and taking sadistic pleasure in the death and damage they cause. The sole exception is the Skeljngur, which is described as NotAlwaysEvil (and unlike other illhveli, its flesh is edible).

* ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'' depicts the prehistoric whale ''Basilosaurus'' as a fearsome predator, hunting smaller whales, sharks and elephant-ancestors that wander into the ocean. Appropriately, the episode featuring it is called "Whale Killer". Ironically, the ''Basilosaurus'' is also the protagonist of the episode, with the plot revolving around a [[MonsterIsAMommy female looking for a safe place to give birth]]

* ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'' depicts the prehistoric whale ''Basilosaurus'' as a fearsome predator, hunting smaller whales, sharks and elephant-ancestors that wander into the ocean. Appropriately, the episode featuring it is called "Whale Killer".

* Mr. Big from ''Film/MeetTheFeebles'' is [[InformedSpecies supposedly]] a whale, and he's the leader of a drug-smuggling gang. He gets defeated rather embarrassingly, though, when Bletch and Trevor drive their car into his mouth and out his anus.

* In ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', cachalots are described as hulking monstrosities who are mostly teeth and jaws. Anyone not familiar with archaic species names might be forgiven for thinking that Creator/JulesVerne was describing mythical beasts rather than sperm whales. That being said, this is a bit of a deconstruction, as Nemo's wanton slaughter of them to protect a pod of baleen whales is not portrayed in a positive light: [[GreatWhiteHunter professional harpooner]] Ned Land [[EveryoneHasStandards doesn't bother hiding his contempt]], and the massacre serves as an early indicator of Nemo's less savory side. The message is clear: even if they are monstrous, that doesn't give humans the right to massacre them wholesale.

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'': Jeremiah Whitewhale is a human-sized anthropomorphic whale who is a monster only in the metaphorical sense: a CorruptCorporateExecutive who mistreats and [[BadBoss outright murders]] his own employees. He is still a "giant" in the business sense and "swallows" smaller companies by buying them out similarly to how a real whale swallows its small prey.

* Myth/ClassicalMythology: The SeaMonster sent by Poseidon to devastate Aethiopia in the myth of Perseus and Andromeda was named Cetus, from which we get the word cetacean. This has led some modern artists to depict it as whale-like, even though it was probably originally serpentine.
* The Ziphius of British and Scandinavian folklore is a man-eating whale that can and will sink ships with its knife-like dorsal fin.

* ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'' features Monstro, a huge, aggressive whale that swallows people whole and [[TheDreaded whose name causes panic among other sea creatures]]. This is a [[AdaptationSpeciesChange deviation]] from [[Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio the original book]], where the sea monster is a "[[ThreateningShark terrible dogfish]]".

* As pointed out in the ''Walking With...'' entry, other prehistoric whales were all hunting other large marine lifeforms rather than filter feeders. ''Basilosaurus'' was an apex predator in its day, although its body is much more slender than most modern wales, hence its NonIndicativeName, as it's not even a reptile.

[[/folder]]

** A trolual appears during the Elf Island arc to highlight the mythical world merging with the real one. Thankfully it doesn't attack or even come within sight of the ship, [[https://mangapark.net/manga/berserk/i2073019/v35/c308/8 it just shows up to eat a sea serpent]] [[SummonBiggerFish that was about to eat a seabird.]]

* InMusic/{{Voltaire}}: In "The Beast Of Pirate's Bay", the twist is that the titular Beast, which was built up as a great, big, ravenous sea monster, is actually a whale. It's also {{subverted|Trope}}: the whale isn't beastly, but was beached and in great pain, so the narrator created the Beast rumor to keep people away from it.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'''s [[https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Behemoth Behemoth]] is a [[MobySchtick giant white sperm whale]] with a narwhal's horn that it uses to sink ships.

* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Typhoon Whales are vast, [[TimeAbyss primordial]] entities from TheTimeOfMyths, [[FlyingSeafoodSpecial flying]] over the oceans and bringing hurricanes in their wake.

* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'':

* Subverted in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' with Whamon, who despite being a creepy-looking {{cyborg}} whale and swallowing the Digidestined whole, he was BrainwashedAndCrazy by a black gear. Once they free him he goes on to be one of their major allies, showing himself to be a GentleGiant and serving as their LivingShip.

* While all whale-like monsters in ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' technically qualify, there are some that fit the spirit of this trope:
** Fortress Whale, Darkest Fortress Whale and Citadel Whale are some very scary-looking monsters that resemble a cross between a sperm whale (though the latter two [[ArtisticLicenseBiology appear to have baleen]]) and a fortification with turrets.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo''. While a whale ''does'' end up very nearly consuming Marlin and Dory, it does so unintentionally, and it turns out to be friendly, giving them some advice that helps them escape its mouth before it can accidentally swallow them.

* The title character of ''Literature/MobyDick'' is undoubtedly one of the most iconic examples of this trope. He's an incredibly destructive and fearsome albino sperm whale who's so notorious for killing whalers and destroying their vessels that he's speculated in-universe to be some kind of malevolent supernatural entity.

* While not explicitly described as a whale, the kraken in ''Literature/GoodOmens'' awakes to destroy Japanese whaling ships.
-->Ten billion sushi dinners cry out for vengeance.

* Subverted in ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow The Beast Below]]" where a Star Whale is attached to Starship UK, a space-faring colony built upon its back. Originally the Star Whale seemed like a MonsterOfTheWeek who would eat victims given to it (which nearly includes the Doctor and Amy). However it's later revealed that the Star Whale was the real victim, as the government of the colony had been torturing it to keep it piloting forward. The twist is that the Star Whale had actually come to help the colony on its own free will. So once released from its pain with the help of Amy, it was able to move faster and without suffering.

* "The Mariner's Revenge Song" by Music/TheDecemberists features an absolutely ''enormous'' whale that's implied to have human-sized (if not larger) teeth. It attacks two ships without apparent provocation, sinking them both and devouring most of their crews.
* In Music/{{Voltaire}}'s "The Beast Of Pirate's Bay", the twist is that the titular Beast, which was built up as a great, big, ravenous sea monster, is actually a whale. It's also {{subverted|Trope}}: the whale isn't beastly, but was beached and in great pain, so the narrator created the Beast rumor to keep people away from it.

* The SeaMonster sent by Poseidon to devastate Aethiopia in the [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek myth]] of Perseus and Andromeda was named Cetus, from which we get the word cetacean. This has led some modern artists to depict it as whale-like, even though it was probably originally serpentine.

* Behemoth Whales in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' are a subversion. They're certainly gigantic (commonly reaching over 1,000 feet long and 400,000 tons) and have been known to swallow ships whole... but they're generally neutral in alignment, and rarely attack sapient creatures unless provoked.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia''. The Gigas are ancient destroyers of which each civilization made one to be their weapon during the wars. The Purple Civilization went at it uniquely by converting an [[SpaceWhale arcwhale]] into their Gigas, Plergoth. Once they're gone, the whale goes its own way, becoming the only Gigas to roam freely, and gaining the name "Rhaknam" ("Mobys" in Japanese) . It and party member Drachma become [[{{Expy}} expies]] of Moby-Dick and Ahab after Rhaknam causes the death of Drachma's son. Rhaknam eventually dies when his body is at its limit and Drachma, taking pity, forgives it. For all the danger Rhaknam was presented as posing, it is the only Gigas that is not fought for its crystal.

* Jeremiah Whitewhale from ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' is a human-sized anthropomorphic whale who is a monster only in the metaphorical sense: a CorruptCorporateExecutive who mistreats and [[BadBoss outright murders]] his own employees. He is still a "giant" in the business sense and "swallows" smaller companies by buying them out similarly to how a real whale swallows its small prey.

[[/folder]]

** The Leviathan is frequently depicted as a whale, or at least as having whale-like qualities.

So it's no surprise that, for centuries, it was very common for whales to be portrayed as {{Sea Monster}}s. Creepily enigmatic at best and outright malevolent at worst, whales were frequently cast in a negative light. For centuries (even millennia in some places), the most common image of a whale in many cultures was a violent, ravenous beast that devoured everything it could and destroyed whatever it couldn't. Tales abounded of unlucky people being SwallowedWhole by whales, to the point that "belly of the whale" became a metaphor to describe a dangerous and difficult to escape situation. Sperm whales in particular were hit with this image, due to how dangerous they were to hunt.