Giant Enemy Crab
Giant Enemy Crab is an Internet meme created in video game forums in 2006. It achieved notable popularity in the gaming press and was also referenced by video game developers.
History
The meme originated during the demonstration of Genji: Days of the Blade at the Sony E3 2006 press conference. The producer Bill Ritch claimed that Genji 2's epic battles were based on "famous battles which actually took place in ancient Japan." Almost immediately after this was spoken, the gameplay footage demonstrated contained a boss battle against, in his own words, a "giant enemy crab." Popular memes originating from the Genji demonstration included the game features described such as "you attack its weak point for massive damage" and "real-time...weapon change," despite neither of these being at all new to video gaming, being staples of classic 1980s games such as Metroid. In IGN's E3 2006 wrap-up, they listed a number of Genji 2 quotes.[1]
References in other games
There have been many references to this meme in other games and pop culture:
- In the PlayStation 3 game, Heavenly Sword, Kai considers "hitting your weak point for massive damage" in order to extract a password from an NPC.[2]
- The PlayStation Portable game Monster Hunter Freedom Unite has a mission called "The Giant Enemy Crab" in which players hunt and slay a giant crab monster called the Daimyo Hermitaur.
- The Xbox 360 game Viva Piñata pokes fun at the quotes "real-time weapon change" and "massive damage."[3]
- In the Nintendo DS game Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, the boss named Brachyura is described as a "Giant Enemy Crab" [4]
- The demo version of MotorStorm features a "massive damage" reference.[5] Also, one of the races is titled "Giant Enemy Crab".
- In a trailer for the PlayStation 3 game, LittleBigPlanet, Giant Enemy Crabs can be seen in one of the levels.[6]
- In the World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, a quest in Dragonblight called "The Bait"[7] involves killing a Giant Enemy Crab.
- The Nintendo DS game Scribblenauts allows the player to summon an enormous crab by typing in the phrase "giant enemy crab", "ancient japanese history" or "massive damage."[8]
- In RuneScape, if the player talks to a giant pet crab while wearing a crab claw or crab helmet, it will say that it has no weak point and that you can't hit it for massive damage.
- In the online game League of Legends, the champion Urgot has a purchasable skin named "Giant Enemy Crabgot."
- In the PlayStation Portable game The 3rd Birthday, a mission objective states "Hit [the enemy's] weak spot for massive damage."
- In the Nintendo DS games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, a member of the villainous Team Galactic threatens "causing massive damage to Professor Rowan's assistant".
References in traditional media
- Toshiyuki Kanayama, a Monex analyst, stated to AFP that the fallout over Sony's 2011 data theft may result in "massive damage".[9]
References
- ^ IGN (2006-05-22). "E3 2006: Thanks for the Memories". Retrieved 2007-07-27.
- ^ Kim, Kim (2007-11-04). "Cutscene from Fireworks level of Heavenly Sword". Retrieved 2010-09-08.
- ^ Miller, Ross (2006-11-29). "Viva Pinata takes stab at Genji jokes". Retrieved 2007-07-16.
- ^ "Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia #11- Boss- GIANT ENEMY CRAB BATTLE and Lighthouse". 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
- ^ "The first 10 minutes: Demo of Motorstorm". 2006-11-23. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
- ^ Kiss, Tom (2008-07-23). "Little Big Planet: Now with GIANT ENEMY CRABS". Retrieved 2008-07-23.
- ^ The Bait - Quest - World of Warcraft
- ^ Brian Crecente (2009-07-25). "Scribblenauts In Action With Giant Crab, Eyeball". Retrieved 2009-11-17.
- ^ Hiroshi Hiyama (2011-05-31). "Hack attacks highlight Sony's need for new ideas". Retrieved 2011-05-31.