From Men's Health · Miles Surrey · · 2m
Whalefall: Best Whales in Pop Culture, Ranked
15 iconic whales ranked from pop culture: Moby Dick to SpongeBob's Pearl.
In brief
15 iconic whales ranked from pop culture: Moby Dick to SpongeBob's Pearl. Moby Dick is ranked #1 for his role in literature and pop culture as the archetypal vengeful whale. Originally reported by Men's Health.
Whalefall: Best Whales in Pop Culture, Ranked
Whalefall is a movie where a homeless dude from Weapons gets swallowed by a sperm whale.
“The whale is not a bad guy. The whale doesn’t understand that it’s swallowed Austin. It’s trying to swallow its lunch, and Austin is just a byproduct of that.”
15. The Orca from Orca
Orca is a 1977 thriller where killer whales coordinate attacks on boats and kill animals for sustenance.
“Killer whales are legit scary. They can coordinate attacks on boats. They kill animals, not only for sustenance, but sometimes for the love of the game.”
14. The Beached Whale Blown Up with Dynamite in Oregon
In 1970, officials in Florence, Oregon blew up a beached whale carcass with a half ton of dynamite.
“blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds”
13. Tobias Whale
Tobias Whale is a hulking albino crime lord from Black Lightning who uses a harpoon gun.
“Tobias Whale is one of DC’s most striking villains: a hulking albino crime lord who has a longstanding beef with Jefferson Pierce, a.k.a. Black Lightning.”
12. Laboon, One Piece
Laboon is a giant whale in One Piece with scars from ramming into mountains and a pirate crew symbol painted on his head.
“Monkey D. Luffy paints his pirate crew’s symbol on the whale’s head to deter it from further self-harm.”
11. Purrgil, Star Wars
Purrgil are giant space whales that can travel through hyperspace and possess biological abilities for space travel.
“They’re basically giant space whales that, in a twist straight from an ayahuasca retreat, possess the biological ability to travel through hyperspace.”
10. The Humpbacks from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
In Star Trek IV, humpback whales are used to stop an alien probe disabling Earth’s power grids.
“The probe can’t be stopped because whales have gone extinct, and it’s notable that the film was released in the same year that an international whaling ban went into effect.”
9. The Sperm Whale from In the Heart of the Sea
A sperm whale sank a whaling ship in 1820, leaving crew stranded in the Pacific Ocean.
“In 1820, a whaling ship was sunk by an aggressive sperm whale, leaving the crew stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.”
8. The Whale from Finding Nemo
The whale in Finding Nemo helps Marlin find his son in the ocean.
“THAAAANKKK YOUUUUU FOOOOOOOR HEEELLLLPING MARLLIIIIIN FINNND hiIIiiss SONNNNN.”
7. Monstro, Pinocchio
Monstro is a sperm whale that swallows Geppetto in Pinocchio.
“The original #WhalefallChallenge was performed by Geppetto, Pinocchio’s master who was swallowed by the sperm whale Monstro.”
6. James Whale
James Whale directed Universal Monster films including Frankenstein and The Invisible Man.
“James Whale, right, with The Invisible Man star Claude Rains.”
5. The Tulkun, the Avatar Franchise
Tulkun are pacifist whale-like creatures hunted by the Sky People for their brain goo.
“Tulkun: pacifist whale-like creatures that, naturally, the evil Sky People are hunting for their special brain goo that stops aging.”
4. Tilikum, Blackfish
Tilikum is an orca involved in three deaths in the SeaWorld documentary Blackfish.
“The documentary Blackfish centers on one such orca, Tilikum, who was involved in three deaths.”
3. Willy, Free Willy
Willy is an orca from Free Willy who was rereleased into the wild but died soon after.
“The real-life orca that played him, Keiko, was in captivity himself, and while he eventually became the first orca to be rereleased into the wild, he died soon after.”
2. Pearl, SpongeBob SquarePants
Pearl is a sperm whale in SpongeBob SquarePants with a whale-krab hybrid parentage.
“Pearl Krabs’s parentage: clearly, her mother was a fellow sperm whale, but that doesn’t account for Mr. Krabs being her dad.”
1. Moby Dick, Moby-Dick
Moby Dick is Herman Melville's 1851 novel about a vengeful whale.
“Herman Melville's 1851 novel delivered the archetypal whale whose imprint is all over this ranking: Orca, Monstro, and even Payakan going Sicko Mode on poachers.”
The takeaway
Moby Dick is ranked #1 for his role in literature and pop culture as the archetypal vengeful whale.
