Recap / Strong Bad Email E145: myths & legends

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myths & legends

Airdate: Monday, February 13, 2006

Sender: Cephas, Cornwall CA

"Cephas Cornwall of the Corn Army" wants to know if the rich lore of Strong Badia includes any mysterious myths or legendary legends.

After a bungled first try, we cut to Strong Bad in the "idyllic fruitopia" of Strong Badia, doing a documentary on the not-true-est of not-true-ities: the Bear Holding a Shark. Legend has it that two of the seven elemental spirits of Strong Badia, the Fish Wearing a 'Fro Wig and the British Long Distance runner, combined forces to defeat the other five (the Snake, the Guy with the Big Knife, the Hand Making an 'Okay' Sign, the Board With Nails in It, and General Tso's Chicken) "in paintball, or maybe Red Rover."

Through the years (largely thanks to bad storytelling and the telephone game), the legend mutated, going from "Wildernessman with Sea-Beast" to a Moose Holding a Chameleon to "the bear holding a shark we know today". "Ancient fence drawings" (actually made by Strong Bad, age 5) attribute such disasters as "destroyed crops, stolen babies, and family bike rides" to the creature. While some, like Bubs, seized an opportunity to make a mint off of "Bear-Holding-a-Shark fever" with merch like Bear Holding a Shark T-shirts, Bear Holding a Shark ice-cream bars, and Bear-Tooth Holding a Shark-Tooth necklaces, "not everyone caught the fever".

Apparently Homestar was walking in the woods with Pom Pom (who he for some reason refers to as his "dog" in the literal sense) when they spotted (and snapped some footage of) "a very scary monsterm'n": the Bear Holding a Shark.

Tropes:

• Arbitrary Skepticism: Strong Sad is painted as a "Bear Holding a Shark Skeptic".
  Strong Sad: I'm sure it's just a weather balloon or a foreign exchange student. These strange beasts just aren't real!
  Strong Bad: ...Said the elephant-footed ghost man.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Strong bad shows "ancient fence drawings" depicting the Bear Holding a Shark's involvement in "destroyed crops, stolen babies, and family bike-rides... or family pie-sitting contests."
• Continuity Nod:
  • The Elemental Spirits of Strong Badia include The Guy Holding a Big Knife, the Snake from the Strong Badian flag, and General Tso's Chicken.
  • Strong Bad promises "startling new evidence in the Biscuitdoughhandsman conspiracy." A related Easter egg has Coach Z in silhouette, with his voice "digitally altered again" like in "couch patch".
• Conveniently Distorted Evidence Footage: The "Bear Holding a Shark" cardboard cutout is treated as a Bigfoot-esque cryptid inhabiting Strongbadia. Strong Bad discusses the evolution of the myth and one "Bear Holding a Shark Skeptic" (Strong Sad) before revealing that the creature got "the break all made-up creatures dream of: blurry photographic evidence." The next section has the alleged witness (Homestar) describe his encounter before introducing his personal footage of the Bear Holding a Shark, an old-timey film clip with blurry, shaky imagery in the style of the Patterson-Gimlin film. It's subtly implied that the footage is blurry to disguise that it's a hoax, as the supposed "Bear Holding a Shark" is animated with a gait suspiciously similar to Homestar's.
• Cryptid Episode: Strong Bad does a mockumentary describing the Bear Holding a Shark as a creature of mysterious myth (or possibly legendary legend) lurking in Free Country USA.
• Gossip Evolution: Apparently, the Bear Holding a Shark started as a British Long-Distance Runner holding a Fish Wearing a 'Fro Wig, which mutated into its current form "through years of bad story-telling and the telephone game."
• Literal-Minded: Homestar calls Pom Pom his "dog", but he seems to be talking about him as if he were an actual dog. ("All of a sudden, he started growlin' and poopin' all over the place!")
• Our Cryptids Are More Mysterious: Strong Bad does a Mockumentary that claims the cardboard cut-out of the Bear Holding a Shark is based on a real creature of mysterious myth (or possibly legendary legend) that lurks in the woods of Free Country USA.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: The Bear Holding a Shark in the "blurry photographic evidence" is clearly Homestar in a costume that doesn't cover his distinctive white and blue shoe-feet or disguise the outline of his body.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Homestar didn't film any old monster, it was "A very. Scary. Monsterm'n."
• Shout-Out:
  • An Easter egg shows a fake ad-bug for a special called Walking With Trogdor.
  • The "blurry photographic evidence" of the Bear Holding a Shark references the famous Patterson-Gimlin video of Bigfoot.
  • The background during Strong Sad and Homestar's interview sections is a pattern of "Bear Holding a Shark Week".
• Threatening Shark: The Bear Holding a Shark, because just being a bear is not menacing enough.