Holy Mackerel

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This is a real frickin' embarrassment.
The Scout on fish-kills

The Holy Mackerel is a community-made melee weapon for the Scout. It is a fish, presumably a mackerel, wrapped in faded newspaper and tied with a rubber band. The end of the newspaper is shaped for easy handling. While the Scout is moving, the Holy Mackerel will bend around, depending on your direction.

The Holy Mackerel is identical to the default Bat. However, being slapped by the fish is considered so humiliating that the kill list displayed in the HUD will record every connecting hit, displaying the corresponding number of hits dealt. Should a player be killed by the Holy Mackerel, the kill list will display the phrase 'FISH KILL!' along with the kill icon for the Holy Mackerel.

The kill feed will neither register hitting an Engineer building nor the Horseless Headless Horsemann.

The kill icon for the Holy Mackerel was contributed by HyenaDip.

Damage and function times

See also: Damage
Identical to: Bat
Damage and function times
Damage
Base damage 100% 35
Point blank 30-40
Critical 105
Mini-crit 40-54
Function times
Attack interval 0.5 s
Values are approximate and determined by community testing.

Item set

Main article: Item sets
The Special Delivery
Backpack The Special Delivery Bundle.png
Effect

Leave a Calling Card on your victims

Demonstration

Crafting

See also: Crafting

Blueprint

Sandman Reclaimed Metal Holy Mackerel
Item icon Sandman.png + Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png = Item icon Holy Mackerel.png
Class Token - Scout Slot Token - Melee Scrap Metal Possible Results
Item icon Class Token - Scout.png + Item icon Slot Token - Melee.png + Item icon Scrap Metal.png =
Item icon Sandman.png Item icon Holy Mackerel.png Item icon Boston Basher.png Item icon Candy Cane.png
Item icon Sun-on-a-Stick.png Item icon Fan O'War.png Item icon Three-Rune Blade.png Item icon Atomizer.png
Item icon Unarmed Combat.png Item icon Wrap Assassin.png Item icon Freedom Staff.png Item icon Ham Shank.png
Item icon Bat Outta Hell.png Item icon Conscientious Objector.png

As a crafting ingredient

Holy Mackerel Refined Metal Milkman
Item icon Holy Mackerel.png + Item icon Refined Metal.pngx4 = Item icon Milkman.png

Update history

September 30, 2010 Patch (Mann-Conomy Update)
  • The Holy Mackerel was added to the game.

October 6, 2010 Patch

  • This weapon was altered to not display the hit message concerning disguised Spies.
  • Hitting someone with this weapon no longer counts as a kill, as this would cause problems with achievements and some statistics systems.
  • [Undocumented] This weapon will no longer add to the kill feed when hitting a building.

October 8, 2010 Patch

  • [Undocumented] This weapon was added to the crafting blueprint for the Milkman.

October 18, 2010 Patch

December 17, 2010 Patch (Australian Christmas)

  • [Undocumented] This weapon's client view is altered to continually face the player.

February 3, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed the assister's name not being listed in the fish humiliation and kill notices.

February 14, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed this weapon's melee attack not destroying remote detonation pipes (Stickybombs).
  • Fixed players getting set bonuses applied on tournament servers when the server is restricting the player's weapons using the item_whitelist.

June 3, 2011 Patch

  • Added new community contributed response rules to this weapon.

October 13, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Added Strange Quality.

Bugs

  • The flipped viewmodel version of this weapon appears as if it has been turned inside out.
  • Upon hitting a Spy with the Dead Ringer out, the kill feed will not display 'FISH KILL!'. Instead, it will add to the number of times hit, thus notifying the player of the Spy's remaining prescence.
  • After 24 hits on a single target, the weapon will no longer broadcast a hit announcement in the kill feed.
  • The base of the weapon clips with the Scout's hand.
  • On random occasions, the Holy Mackerel will appear twisted near the neck or even the entire fish

Trivia

  • The Holy Mackerel's level, 42, is a reference to Douglas Adams' book series Template:W in which 42 is considered to be the answer to "the ultimate question of Life, The Universe, and Everything".
    • Two further references are the books Template:W, a title in the overall book series whose name was taken from a line in the original book, and Template:W, a posthumous collection of various essays and an unfinished novel written by Adams.
  • "Holy Mackerel!" is an expression of surprise found commonly in comedy TV shows, as well as cartoons and other children's TV shows.
  • The texture file of the Holy Mackerel reveals that the newspaper wrapped around the fish is named The Gravel Pit Gazette, alluding to the map Gravel Pit. The Gravel Pit Gazette was also the newspaper that advertised the Soldier vs Demo conflict.
  • The melee weapon for the Special Delivery pack was originally a spiked bat named "Nail Biter" before being replaced by the Holy Mackerel.
  • The subtitle for this weapon's announcement in the Polycount pack (shown here) is a reference to the British comedy troupe Monty Python's sketch about a British ritual.
  • The Holy Mackerel is a reference to the famous brass casting, unofficially known as the Holy Mackerel, hanging from the chandelier in the Massachusetts Senate chamber (shown Template:W)[citation needed]

Gallery

See also