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Instant Fish Kill

 Instant Fish Kill
type
FeatureClass
 Instant Fish Kill
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill
page
InstantFishKill
 Instant Fish Kill
comment
In any visual work where a body of water is suddenly afflicted by something, be it a toxic shock, electricity, or even farts, frequently expect lots of dead fish to suddenly pop up on the surface as a display of its potency. If the character in question is hungry, this may be a way to find food. Almost always Played for Laughs and an example of Black Comedy Animal Cruelty. Otherwise, it usually serves as an expression of the power of whatever happened to the water.
Fish kills are unfortunately a very real problem that have become increasingly frequent from various causes of human origin. Still, most of these are in the range of days or hours rather than seconds as portrayed in media. An exception is for underwater explosions, that can either immediately kill or at least disable a fish's swim bladders, causing them to float up. This is a tactic that has sadly become a common way of fishing in parts of the world.
Compare That Poor Plant. Canary in a Coal Mine could be seen as a more serious counterpart to this trope. Electrified Bathtub is a common way for this to happen. When used for comedy, this trope is usually facilitated by No Cartoon Fish.
Not related to killing someone with a fish, instantly or otherwise. That's Shamu Fu.
 Instant Fish Kill
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2023-10-19T05:45:54Z
 Instant Fish Kill
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2023-10-19T05:45:54Z
 Instant Fish Kill
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Dropped link to AlcoholInducedStupidity: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Instant Fish Kill
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 Instant Fish Kill
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AlcoholInducedStupidity
 Instant Fish Kill
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DBTropes
 Instant Fish Kill / int_1869a077
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_1869a077
comment
Samurai Jack: In the episode "Jack and the Farting Dragon", Jack discovers a river piled with dead fish after they were exposed to the dragon's smell.
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Instant Fish Kill / int_1869a077
 Instant Fish Kill / int_1e812a69
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_1e812a69
comment
The fourth issue of the 2022 I Hate Fairyland series has Gertrude skinny dip in a lake, causing the fish around her to die and their corpses to float to the surface.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_1e812a69
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1.0
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 I Hate Fairyland (Comic Book)
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Instant Fish Kill / int_1e812a69
 Instant Fish Kill / int_223c2a48
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_223c2a48
comment
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Link can shoot electric arrows, bomb arrows, or remote bombs at fish swimming in bodies of water, which causes large amounts to rise to the surface.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_223c2a48
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 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Video Game)
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Instant Fish Kill / int_223c2a48
 Instant Fish Kill / int_23ae009a
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_23ae009a
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In one chapter of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, Onizuka cuts a power line and uses it to electrocute fish for a barbecue. He also ends up electrocuting a shellfish poacher, who he has to give CPR to.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_23ae009a
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_23ae009a
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 Great Teacher Onizuka (Manga)
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Instant Fish Kill / int_23ae009a
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_261c8d3f
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The Simpsons: Homer removes a tracking tag from a bear, which he finds is giving the bear painful shocks. After subsequently befriending the bear, they find themselves under attack from a hunter. Homer realizes the hunter is following the tag, which he throws into the water, saying it will never hurt another living creature. The tag zaps the water, and several fish float up dead, followed by a scuba diver.
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Instant Fish Kill / int_261c8d3f
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_34e0e9fc
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Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People: At one point in Baddest of the Bands, Strong Bad has to pour bleach into a pond to frame the band Limozeen for being anti-environment. Upon doing so, dead fish float to the surface.
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_3b442d5c
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At one point in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, Don Octavio dumps tar into an aquarium in a dastardy moment, killing all the fish. Bentley avenges the fish by destroying a ferris wheel that Octavio has been using to pump tar.
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 Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (Video Game)
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Instant Fish Kill / int_3b442d5c
 Instant Fish Kill / int_400469e
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_400469e
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In a Calvin and Hobbes strip, Calvin tries blasting the fish out of a lake by throwing a large rock into the lake; he does so, but only succeeds in making a huge splash, getting him and Hobbes wet in the process. This annoys Hobbes, who tells Calvin that it was a good idea, they just didn't throw a large enough object into the lake...
 Instant Fish Kill / int_400469e
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_400469e
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Instant Fish Kill / int_400469e
 Instant Fish Kill / int_4617a9f2
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_4617a9f2
comment
Married... with Children combines this trope with Smelly Feet Gag. During the Bundys' three-part trip to England, Al takes a moment to soak his feet in a fountain. Almost immediately the fish inhabiting the fountain float to the surface, dead after exposure to Al's legendary foot stench.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_4617a9f2
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Instant Fish Kill / int_4617a9f2
 Instant Fish Kill / int_4fb93230
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_4fb93230
comment
In Hope and Glory, the two children are trying to catch fish and having no luck, when an airplane drops a bomb in the lake they're fishing in (the film is set during WWII); suddenly, dozens of dead fish float up to the top of the pond, which the children take back home, much to the shock of their parents and grandparents.
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Instant Fish Kill / int_4fb93230
 Instant Fish Kill / int_56a63131
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_56a63131
comment
On The Simpsons Movie, a flashback has Homer taking Bart fishing, where he throws a bug zapper in the water, which causes all the fish to float up dead. Homer picks up a fish and tries to eat it, but gets shocked every time he bites into it.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_56a63131
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1.0
 Instant Fish Kill / int_56a63131
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Instant Fish Kill / int_56a63131
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5908ee91
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5908ee91
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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Using any part of the FUS RO DAH Shout on a body of water will cause all harvestable fish in it to float to the top dead.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5908ee91
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1.0
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5908ee91
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 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Video Game)
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Instant Fish Kill / int_5908ee91
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5a05b300
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5a05b300
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Wilde Life: A local witch immediately investigates when people find a lake full of stunned fish. The phenomenon turns out to be caused by a predatory serpentine monster who Was Once a Man.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5a05b300
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Instant Fish Kill / int_5a05b300
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5dfc7572
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5dfc7572
comment
In The Angry Beavers Norbert gets a beaver disease called "stinky toe" and when he tries dipping it in their pond a whole bunch of fish while not dying, jump out of the pond and onto dry land.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_5dfc7572
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Instant Fish Kill / int_5dfc7572
 Instant Fish Kill / int_60f02ddb
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_60f02ddb
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The CIA fishing trip in American Dad! began with Bullock ordering attack helicopters to pass over the lake and unleash enough munitions to kill all fish inside, including Ariel.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_60f02ddb
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Instant Fish Kill / int_60f02ddb
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_6d2aec8f
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In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, after The Green Baby awakens, the fish in the surrounding lake immediately float dead.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_6d2aec8f
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Instant Fish Kill / int_6d2aec8f
 Instant Fish Kill / int_70814599
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_70814599
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In one episode of Stargate SG-1 O'Neill and Maybourne get stranded on an alien planet. While O'Neill is trying to fish Maybourne tosses a claymore mine in the river, causing O'neill to comment that he cheated.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_70814599
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_70814599
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_7cea4fb2
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_7cea4fb2
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Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019): When Godzilla and King Ghidorah get into a fight off the Mexican coast, Admiral Stenz decides to attack them with an Oxygen Destroyer missile. On top of crippling Godzilla, the weapon also kills hundreds of fish that subsequently float dead on the surface of the bay. The Stinger also has a local fisherman say that the Destroyer exterminated all of the local fauna and fishing has become impossible.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_7cea4fb2
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_7f02dd41
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_7f02dd41
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Star Wars: Battlefront: In the planet Kashyyyk battlefieldsnote Both Islands and Docks, but the latter is easier to see to being daytime fish can be seen swimming in the water. Throwing a grenade or firing a rocket into the water will result in dead fishes floating to the surface.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_7f02dd41
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_7f02dd41
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Instant Fish Kill / int_7f02dd41
 Instant Fish Kill / int_7fd9364
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_7fd9364
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In the opening sequence for Total Drama Island, after Owen farts on a fish in the water, it floats to the surface dead, then gets carried away by an eagle.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_7fd9364
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_7fd9364
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Instant Fish Kill / int_7fd9364
 Instant Fish Kill / int_82439e64
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_82439e64
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In The Office (US) has a more justified case in that the body of water is only a fish tank, in which a light fixture falls. After being hit by a basketball!
 Instant Fish Kill / int_82439e64
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_82439e64
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 The Office (US)
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Instant Fish Kill / int_82439e64
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9045b1b7
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9045b1b7
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World War Z: Jesika says that she saw the other American refugees in rural Canada throwing in sticks of dynamite to cause all the fish to float to the surface, a major case of Idiot Ball that caused them to run out of food and resort to cannibalism in a matter of months.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9045b1b7
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Instant Fish Kill / int_9045b1b7
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9048706b
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9048706b
comment
Pirate Express: In "Little Miss Swordshine", Poseidon farts while meditating and shortly thereafter, the fish he was meditating with float up dead.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9048706b
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1.0
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9048706b
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 Pirate Express
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Instant Fish Kill / int_9048706b
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9096e12c
type
Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9096e12c
comment
Carnivàle: Ben Hawkins has the power to heal, but only by transferring life from one creature to another. Case in point; he takes his friend Gabriel into a lake and heals Gabriel's broken arm, causing dozens of fish to bob to the surface around them, dead.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_9096e12c
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_9096e12c
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Instant Fish Kill / int_9096e12c
 Instant Fish Kill / int_911abba4
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_911abba4
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1000 Ways to Die: One story revolves around an electrician taking up fishing to curb his Hair-Trigger Temper. When fishing with a rod doesn't work, he resorts to sticking a high voltage cable into the water which causes several fish to float up to the surface. Unfortunately, the electrician gets so excited that he accidentally falls into the metal part of his boat and is electrocuted to death.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_911abba4
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_92916f5a
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_92916f5a
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An iconic example in Shrek; in the film's opening set to "All Star" showing Shrek's daily routine, there's a scene where Shrek farts in the pond he's bathing in, causing some dead fish to float up. He then takes one of them, presumably for consumption.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_92916f5a
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_92916f5a
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 Shrek
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Instant Fish Kill / int_92916f5a
 Instant Fish Kill / int_95d534e1
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_95d534e1
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The Dragon Prince: As a giant fish-like monster is chasing Rayla and Bait, Callum uses a lightning spell to electrify the water just in time, killing the monster and some fish.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_95d534e1
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1.0
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Instant Fish Kill / int_95d534e1
 Instant Fish Kill / int_a663d58a
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_a663d58a
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Ice Age: Continental Drift: When Granny falls off the iceberg and has her "first bath in decades", an oily substance oozes off her and multiple dead fish and a shark suddenly pop up.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_a663d58a
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1.0
 Instant Fish Kill / int_a663d58a
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 Ice Age: Continental Drift
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Instant Fish Kill / int_a663d58a
 Instant Fish Kill / int_b9a762be
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_b9a762be
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In the first Azumi film, Azumi shows off her killing skills by hurling a rock into a pool. Several dead fishes float up to the surface a few seconds later.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_b9a762be
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1.0
 Instant Fish Kill / int_b9a762be
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Instant Fish Kill / int_b9a762be
 Instant Fish Kill / int_c21cdcdd
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_c21cdcdd
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In Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense., one of the boss fights is a kraken whose tentacles regenerate and is too fast to swim after. Maple kills it by using Hydra to poison the ocean.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_c21cdcdd
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 Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense.
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Instant Fish Kill / int_c21cdcdd
 Instant Fish Kill / int_ca777bd7
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_ca777bd7
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"Crocodile" Dundee 2: The film opens with Mick in a small boat, smoking a cigarette before lighting a stick of dynamite, which he threw into the water. The blast causes multiple fish to surface, which he promptly begins to collect until he's interrupted by a police siren. The camera then pans back to reveal that he's dynamite fishing in New York Harbor.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_ca777bd7
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 "Crocodile" Dundee
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_d46cc708
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_d46cc708
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In the Ed, Edd n Eddy episode "Thick as an Ed", after spending the entire day trying to dispose of Ed's 57 day old stinky cheese to get Double D to help catch some frogs for a frog-jumping derby, and Ed continuously preventing them from doing so due to repeated misfortune, Eddy proceeds to furiously swipe the cheese and chuck it into a pond next to him. Cue several fish floating up.
 Instant Fish Kill / int_d46cc708
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_d9c602eb
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The South Park episode "Volcano" when Jimbo, Ned, and Kenny are fishing in a lake using hand grenades. They end their fishing by firing a rocket in the water killing every fish.
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Instant Fish Kill
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Invoked in one entry in Jay Leno's Headlines, in which a newspaper article about a fishing contest notes that "the use of dynamite or other explosives is prohibited".
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Instant Fish Kill
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Wednesday: Wednesday and Pugsley's reunion has them at the pond with Pugsley's favorite fish bait, given to them by Gomez— a hand grenade.
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 Instant Fish Kill / int_ead87ade
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_ead87ade
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In the first book of The Heir Chronicles, after Ellen Stephenson (secretly a warrior chosen by one wizard faction to serve as said faction's champion in an upcoming duel to the death between two warriors) finds out that her love interest Jack Swift (the titular 'heir' of that specific book) is in fact the warrior set to be the other wizard faction's champion (whom she'd been secretly sent to kill), she tries to scare him into leaving his neighborhood to avoid getting brought to the duel by the wizards by first poisoning a snowcone he'd bought and then knocking it into a nearby lake where he'll be able to get a clear view of the mass number of fish that die and float up to the surface because of the poison.
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Instant Fish Kill
 Instant Fish Kill / int_fe16b92c
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Happy Heroes: In Season 6 episode 7, Little M. uses a smelly sock as bait for his fishing rod. The stench is so bad that it immediately kills a bunch of fish in the water below, and they float to the surface.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Instant Fish Kill
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Comedy Tropes
 Instant Fish Kill
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Death Tropes
 Instant Fish Kill
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Toxic Tropes
 Happy Heroes (Animation) / int_2f15a52
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Instant Fish Kill
 I Hate Fairyland (Comic Book) / int_2f15a52
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Instant Fish Kill
 Outsiders (xTRESTWHOx) (Fanfic) / int_2f15a52
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Instant Fish Kill
 The Bay / int_2f15a52
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Instant Fish Kill
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Instant Fish Kill
 Better Than Wolves (Video Game) / int_2f15a52
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Instant Fish Kill
 The Crumpets / int_2f15a52
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Instant Fish Kill