Fish make up one of the most intriguing categories of animals in the world, with more than 33,000 species. And they’re the ones we know about. There could be thousands more that haven’t been discovered yet, since scientists have only explored around five percent of the earth’s oceans.
People are fascinated with fish, and this is reflected in their everlasting presence in the entertainment industry. Different artists have depicted them using diverse methods, with films and games showing the myriad ways we can appreciate these scaley creatures.
How Have Fish Been Represented in Games?
The game world is probably the best place to find the greatest variety of fish representations. There’s an eclectic mix of realism and fantasy, with the variations designed to appeal to different groups of players. One of the most unique games in recent times was FishVille, a now-defunct game from Zynga. It featured a whole host of colorful creatures, with a cartoony focus. Players who enjoyed the style of this may also like the Fishing Frenzy slot from Blueprint Gaming, as the artists have employed a similar technique with their fish design.
For players in search of fish imagery that has a closer resemblance to the real-life water dwellers, there are some games that have put realism front and center. Fishing Planet is considered the most immersive and accurate fishing game of all time, and players will even be able to notice unique speckles and patterns on the fish.
Filmmakers Have Had Different Visions of Fish
Fish have appeared in countless films over the years, and they are often depicted as horrifying creatures. The piranha has been used on the silver screen many times, as this carnivorous freshwater predator is one of the most intriguing creatures on the planet. The reason why it has worked so well as a horror device is that there is a real possibility that schools of these fish could be deadly to anyone who encounters them. In reality, the scaly monsters sometimes injure swimmers, but there have been few instances where they’ve killed anyone.
Still, Joe Dante’s Piranha in 1978 was a great premise for a film, and it was so popular that it led to a sequel in 1982, Piranha II: The Spawning. The comedy horror was rebooted in 1995 and 2010 as well, with the latter, Piranha 3D, leading to a 2012 sequel, Piranha 3DD. In all these movies, the filmmakers’ visions of the fish have been terrifying, and the CGI made them look far from beautiful. In reality, the red-bellied variant of the fish is quite stunning.
Tim Burton’s Big Fish is a film that captured the slippery nature of the magnificent creatures well. It imagined a fantastical fish that was uncatchable and could transform into other things. This picture paid homage to the beauty and the mystery surrounding creatures of the deep.
Artists in the entertainment industry have managed to portray fish in several different ways. Many games opt to show the colorful side to the creatures, while filmmakers often focus on the enigmatic and unsettling things about the various species.
