Did the eel in Super Mario 64 fuck you up?

[Durden]

It definitely fucked my shit up. I was so excitedly playing SM64 as like a 6-7 year old. I had just gotten the game and was running through all the levels. I jumped into Jolly Roger Bay and just started swimmin' on in, not prepared at all for what greeted me.

I froze. A cold chill went down my spine and stayed there. I closed my eyes, and felt my way to the power button on the console.

For YEARS I could not deal with water shit in games. I had to get help from my sister or a friend in levels like Jolly Roger, Tiny Big world with the big fish, Dire Dire Docks, and plenty of other games like Clanker's Cavern in Banjo Kazooie. I would straight up turn my back, and instruct her on what to do.

To this day I can still get uncomfortable in certain water situations in games, and certain games that are heavily based underwater such as scuba diving stuff I've generally completely avoided. I'm afraid of mass deep open bodies of water IRL, and wouldn't go scuba diving in the deep ocean for damn near anything. I always wondered if this was the actual source of that or if it was more of a coincidence.

For a long time I thought this was fairly exclusive to me, but it's pretty established now that this thing fucked with a lot of people in similar ways. Did it fuck your shit up?

 

[Dice]

I fucking hate this fuck and all of its higher-res brethren

 

[Admiral Woofington]

there are two things that fucked me up from underwater levels:

- This Eel

- The first time you're swimming in the MH they introduced Lagiacrus and it shows up while you're just swimming in the peaceful water.

 

[DarkStream]

Nightmares. That's what the eel gave me.

 

[Rowsdower]

Yep, it fucked me up. Gave me a life long fear of deep water.

 

[Mario_Bones]

God did it ever

There was an upgrade in Far Cry 3 that required me to dive deep into shark-infested waters and I was honestly paralyzed staring at the screen for a good while. It was all the fault of that eel and Clanker

 

[shotgunbob04]

I played and beat the DS version as an elementary school child, and I honestly don't remember it. I definitely get scared easily (even moreso back then), so I'm surprised I don't remember it.

 

[Lady Bow]

Nah but this did:

 

[giancarlo123x]

Yup. Hated that level for a long time

 

[Durden]

I played and beat the DS version as an elementary school child, and I honestly don't remember it. I definitely get scared easily (even moreso back then), so I'm surprised I don't remember it.

Click to shrink...

They made it a lot less horrifying in DS

I was able to handle it on release even with at the time me still holding the deep fear of the original.

Something about the original one just hit all the right pressure points of unsettling. The N64's graphics in general helped with that.

 

[adj_noun]

This thread title abbreviates to

Did the eel in Super Mario 64 fuck you

on the main page.

I didn't know what to expect.

 

[Kneefoil]

It did scare me, but didn't leave a trauma that would've made me scared of other water levels.

The Eel wasn't the first underwater creature in games to really scare me, though. That honour goes to this dopey fella:

 

[Etain]

I think I might have been a bit nervous but I don't think it really messed with me. This from Shadow of the Colossus on the other hand fucked me up.

 

[CaptainK]

Yep. The mad piano jump scare also got me reeeeally good.

 

[nbnt]

It sure did. I remember making my brother finish this level with me sitting behind the TV, lol.

Also, seeing this later didn't exactly help:

Don't you just love nightmarish things in platformers?

 

[MasterYoshi]

This reminds me of how god damned scary Echo the Dolphin was as a child.

 

[Apollo]

Hell yes it did.

 

[cHinzo]

Yes it did. This guy too.

 

[Vivian-Pogo]

I'm probably the only one who was not scared even a bit by the 64 eel, but is freaked out by Eely Mouth in Sunshine.

The 64 Eel you see in broad daylight, but in Sunshine it's all dark and you gotta make your way down with these glowing eyes looking up at you.

And then it has rounded human-like teeth. Round teeth make anything creepier. And you have to clean the teeth without getting eaten. Some vore fetishist designed this boss I bet.

 

[Dad]

Yeah, and I'm still not over it. Had to drop the Outer Wilds recently because of it

 

[MrSaturn99]

Hoo, yeah. I think the Sonic drowning music laid the groundwork for my water-level phobia as a kid, but this definitely cemented it. Can The Eel Come Out to Play? ended up being the last star obtained thanks to that stupid thing!

 

[Fanuilos]

Eel enemies are the fucking worst. Hate the ones in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

 

[Deleted member 35077]

For me it was Bubba, I thought it was a freak of nature with it having no eyes and his mouth being a dark void that will sent you to hell if swallow. Doesn't help that he is the only enemy to be able to one hit KO you.

 

[Deleted member 46414]

No.

 

[mopinks]

mostly it just annoyed me because I knew if I didn't grab the star as soon as it emerged it was gonna take a damn while

 

[Kouriozan]

I was probably 8 years old when I played Mario 64 but somehow that eel was never scary to me.

 

[ToddBonzalez]

This guy was definitely my nemesis as a kid. That music always got my heart racing.

 

[Ultimadrago]

 

[BasilZero]

Nope, didnt have any issue with it.


Had more issues with the Slide in the snow level and flying level on the castle tower with the winged hat due to my fear of heights.

 

[skeezx]

Click to shrink...

this was way creepier than the eel

i know SMB2 is canonically a fever dream but what weird creepy game

 

[Brazil]

Yeah

Diving in Majora's Mask was way worse, though

 

[Sanchoco]

Nah but this did:

Click to shrink...

I second this

Eel was fine, but this demon piano fucked me up

"Oh look a pia-AHHHHHH"

 

[Deleted member 10726]

Eel was fine, I'm still shook from the fucking piano.

 

[RestEerie]

Hm...i played Resident Evil when i was 10 and i laughed.

 

[pikachief]

Yeah, and I'm still not over it. Had to drop the Outer Wilds recently because of it

Click to shrink...

Outer wilds definitely rekindled my water monster fears lol

 

[Dice]

 

[FantasyZone]

Nah but this did:

Click to shrink...

This. Especially because I played the piano growing up.

 

[ffdgh]

Not one bit surprisingly. Now redeads on the other hand...

 

[kubev]

I tend to really dislike underwater segments in first-person games. Oddly, despite its cute aesthetic, I'd argue that Minecraft has probably scared me more than most other games. Whether it's the sounds that a creeper or a spider makes, some skeleton randomly shooting an arrow at you, falling from ridiculous heights, digging in such a way that lava floods into the room or digging in such a way that water floods into the room, Minecraft has scared me a LOT.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

Loved it. It fucked me up. What a masterpiece!

 

[thewienke]

I was 15 when I first played Super Mario 64 so no.

Now the bathtub in Eternal Darkness though...

 

[Deleted member 3815]

Given that I wouldn't play Mario 64 till I was an adult, no. I also doubt that it would have scared me as a kid, either.

 

[djplaeskool]

Not as much as this bastard right here:

 

[ScoobsJoestar]

Nah but this did:

Click to shrink...

 

[cnorwood]

I had a nightmare about the eel finding me at school and later avoided playing dire dire docks for a while. It does have the goat mario song tho

 

[Ionic]

That childhood one two punch with the M64 eel and Banjo-Kazooie shark has made water levels a lifelong struggle for me.

 

[Gundam]

DK64's "Get Out!" Was way more scary

 

[lmog]

Gloomy Galleon from DK64 actually gave me nightmares. That place was scary.

 

[Mekanos]

Eel was fine, I'm still shook from the fucking piano.

Click to shrink...

This. Eel was whatever but Big Boo's Haunt is a genuinely scary level for a Mario game.

"GHOSTS...DON'T...DIE! Can you get out of here... alive?"

 

[Giga Man]

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: I was scared the moment I entered Jolly Roger Bay. The atmosphere up to that point was so different by comparison. The music was beautiful, but it felt so dark and mysterious. When I saw the Eel, I didn't want anything to do with it. I was so scared of certain 3D games that I had my sister play the likes of Mario 64 and Zelda. GameCube games didn't affect me, but It took me years to get over my fear of N64 graphics and actually sit down and play the games myself. Keep in mind, it was just Mario 64 and the two Zelda games that frightened me. Everything else I played was fine. I was too scared to go outside of Kokiri Forest, not even going towards the Great Deku Tree, and I always had this haunting memory of the giant Cheep Cheep sitting in the lake outside of Peach's castle, the lake with the cannon that you fall into after exiting the Wing Cap stage, waiting for me to drop in and eat me alive. Every time I fell in, I would rush out of there as fast as possible.