| “ | 🎵 The most talented fish! From the bottom... Of the seaaa⁓!🎵 | ” |
―Eugene | ||
Eugene is a merman who appears in the Season 3 episode "Chapter 4: The Laughing Merman", as well as it's adaptation in the tie-in book Hilda and the Laughing Merman. In both he is the main antagonist. The character does not appear in the graphic novels.
Eugene is actually a stage name he uses since his real name is unpronounceable for humans. In the animated series his real name consists of a series of sounds made with gills. The tie-in book gives his real name as Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerynchwyrndrob[1].
Appearance[]
Eugene is a humanoid creature with fins like a fish and the head of a man. He is dressed in a jacket with a bow tie, both of which are darker than the color as his skin, and jaunty top hat. On his head, he has a glowing esca like that of an anglerfish, though this is not always visible.
Abilities[]
Eugene is an entertainer with a large repertoire. He can sing, perform stage magic tricks, do stand up comedy and create large scale illusions that sometimes border on full on reality warping. However, his illusions don't work on a camera and thus don't show up on any photographs.
History[]
Animated series[]
Eugene used to live in the sea where, by his own admission, he used to perform for the king of the sea, the king's court and other VIP's. One fateful day, however, he was caught by a fisherman, who believed Eugene to be a magical, wish-granting fish. He kept him captive for a while, before eventually dropping him in the river. Unable to find his way out of the maze formed by the river, Eugene eventually settled in a cave behind a waterfall. Alas, with no audience to perform for since river fishes could not appreciate his arts, Eugene quickly became starved for attention and approval.
When Hilda, Frida, David, and Louise go rafting during Sparrow Scout camp, but end up on a wrong riverway after David loses the map (and Louise secretly hides it), they run into Eugene. Eugene claims he is being hunted by a ferocious sea serpent, which shows up moments later. In an attempt to escape from the Sea Serpent, the four kids are forced to paddle down a section of the river full of rapids, which ends at a waterfall. They end up going over the waterfall but fortunately survive without serious injuries. Eugene is quite amused about the whole thing. When the kids wonder how to get back to the main river, Eugene shows them the cave and claims it's the shortest way back. However, Hilda doesn't trust him, but the kids decide that they have little choice, since the only alternative is dragging the boat through the woods.
It is only when they are inside the cave that they learn Hilda was right and Eugene tricked them; the cave is his home, and the sea serpent was just an illusion created by him. He lured them to the cave to finally have an audience, and now that he has them here he plans to keep them forever.
Eugene gives the four children a demonstration of his entertainment skills. However, his performance is mediocre at best, and the kids are naturally not thrilled about the idea of having to stay in the cave forever. David makes a deal with Eugene that if he is able to make them laugh within the next five minutes, they will stay as his audience forever, but if not he has to release them. Eugene agrees. He breaks out his best jokes and even warps Hilda, David and Frida into more comedic forms. When he puts Louise in a fart costume, the others can no longer hold their laughter and thus loose the bet. Only Louise doesn't laugh, so Eugene is willing to let her go while the others need to stay. Louise, however, asks Eugene to give her friends one more chance to win their freedom, in return for that if they fail again she will stay too. Eugene agrees again and uses his powers of illusion to warp the entire interior of the cave into a dark void filled with colored, neon-light figures in various shapes (like a starfish and a sea serpent). He claims on of these is the real exit and they get one chance to choose which it is.
As the kids examine the exits, Louise keeps a close eye on Eugene, having noticed how he always tends to laugh whenever his audience is about to do something stupid or dangerous, but keeps a straight face when they do something right. Thus, by observing him reacting to what they're doing the kids are able to eliminate most of the fake exits. Eugene eventually catches on to their strategy and uses another illusion to make himself look stoic. The kids come close to picking a wrong exit, but at the last moment Louise sees through Eugene's disguise with a photo and realizes the deception. They thus escape his trap and pick the right exit.
Eugene follows the kids outside and acknowledges his defeat. Louise points out to Eugene how all rivers lead to the ocean, and he can thus find his way home by simply following the river south. Eugene is grateful for this information. Before he leaves, Louise asks him for a final favor; to use his sea serpent illusion to pull a prank on Jacob and Harry; two boys who were mocking Hilda earlier for always getting into freaky adventures before he leaves for the ocean.
Tie-in books[]
The tie-in book largely follows the plot of the animated series. One difference is that in the final challenge the exits Eugene summons look like three whirlpools, three streams and three portals. He also fails to realize he is giving the kids clues with his laughter and never tries to trick them with another illusion.
The book contains an additional scene at the end which was not in the animated series, where Eugene has made his way back to sea and is now performing for a group of seals.
In the book, the encounter with Eugene earns Hilda, Frida, David, and Louise the golden wings version of the Fish Finder River Badge, as a merman is a rare find. The episode never reveals if they earned the badge at all, or if they got the golden wings.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- His real name as given in the Tie-In series is a shortened version of the name of the Welsh village Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.