Bad Travelling story
A giant man-eating crustacean called a "thanapod" violently boards a shark- hunting ship, slaughtering most of its crew before occupying the ship's hold. After drawing straws, the ship's first mate and navigator, Torrin, is unfairly chosen by a bigger crewmate (who drew a shorter straw than Torrin) to confront the thanapod. Puppeteering the body of a slain crewman, it demands to be taken to the nearby Phaiden Island, where it will presumably feed on the unsuspecting population. Torrin accepts on the condition that his life be spared. Throwing the prior cheating crewmate to the thanapod, and holding the crew at gunpoint, he asks them to vote on whether to agree to the thanapod's demands or to trick it by dropping it off on a farther deserted island, a longer trip that makes survival less likely but spares Phaiden Island's population. Torrin then executes two of the crew who voted to go to Phaiden Island and feeds their bodies to the thanapod to buy time. However, the thanapod demands more food to feed its newly hatched offspring. When the crew mutinies, Torrin kills them and feeds them to the thanapods. Torrin reveals to the last crew member that every crew member voted for the shorter voyage before pushing him to his death. Nearing Phaiden Island, Torrin then sets the shark oil in the ship's hold on fire and escapes in a lifeboat, killing the thanapod and its brood. Cast: Troy Baker, Kevin Jackson, Anthony Mark Barrow, Chantelle Barry, Parry Shen, Time Winters, James Preston Rogers, Jason Flemyng, Elodie Yung, Max Fowler Directed by: David Fincher. Story by: Neal Asher.
7 total · 2 choice · 5 major
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| human vs. monster | choice | A shark-hunting expedition on the high seas took a grim turn when, in the midst of a ferocious nighttime storm, a giant man-eating crab monster forced its way aboard and claimed the ship's hold as its lair. The remainder of the story concerns the rest of the crew's fight for their lives. |
| sacrifice to prevent mass death | choice | Torrin could have taken the easy route by giving into the giant man-eating crab monster's demand to be transported to a nearby populated island, where the crab monster and its brood would presumably feast on the local inhabitants. Instead, Torrin executed a plan, at great personal risk to himself, that culminated with the crab monster and its brood being fricasseed in shark oil. |
| control by intimidation | major | The big crewmate used his size to proclaim himself the leader when he had, in fact, drawn the shortest straw meaning he should have been sacrificed. Torrin had to use his wits, but also a cleverly procured firearm in order to keep the cowardly crew under control. |
| crustacean-like being | major | The story centers around an enormous sentient crab that had a particular craving for human flesh. |
| giant monster | major | The story's antagonist was a giant man-eating crab monster. |
| heroism | major | Torrin was notably heroic. He went against his crew members and sacrificed himself and his crew to prevent the crab monster from decimating an inhabited island. |
| leadership | major | Torrin had to use his wits, but also a cleverly procured firearm in order to keep the cowardly crew under control. |