Literally, a heavily smoked type of kipper with a reddish colour. Figuratively, a misleading clue or distraction that diverts attention from an item of significance.

Knightmare featured many red herrings in the form of superfluous clue objects that would prove at best useless, at worst harmful to the quest if taken. On several occasions in the first two series, one of the objects to be avoided was literally a reddish-coloured fish, although few of the contestants involved seemed to pick up on the joke.
Team 4 of Series 1 found a red herring as well as a bunch of grapes in the Level 2 clue room, prompting Treguard to comment "Something fishy here! There should be only one food object on the table." The team inferred that one of the two must be poisonous, and spent over half a minute debating which was safe to consume. They eventually decided on the grapes ("How is he gonna eat a raw fish?"), only to spend further time discussing whether the fish might yet be worth taking with them. It was a hint from Casper the key that ultimately persuaded them otherwise.
Team 6 of Series 1 found a fish on the Level 1 clue table, but the advisors could immediately be heard whispering "red herring" and did not hesitate in choosing the bread instead. Wall monster Granitas then provided the clue "The key is as useless as the fish".
The red herring also made an appearance on the Level 1 clue table for Team 5 of Series 2. They rejected it after being informed by Olgarth that "The fish is off today".

Finally, Team 13 of Series 2 found a red herring in a more unusual place - on a table in the giant reptile room, shown in close-up lying on a plate. Interestingly the life force animation failed to appear when Karen put the fish in her knapsack, so it's not clear whether this food item had any nutritional value (they had previously been told by Gretel that today was Back-To-Front Day in the dungeon, meaning "everything is the opposite of what it usually is"). At any rate it was apparently a trap, as a large snake appeared behind Karen once she was standing by the table.

Other types of fish were successfully used to restore life force in Seasons 2 to 6.

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