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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 7 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1544984934028235700 |
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| 11 | [[quoteright:320:[[ComicBook/ActionComics https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/big_creepy_crawlies_7.jpg]]]] |
| 12 | [[caption-width-right:320:Superman is [[{{Superdickery}} bugging everyone again...]]]] |
| 13 | %% |
| 14 | %% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion here: |
| 15 | %% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900 |
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| 17 | |
| 18 | ->''"That planet has '''bugs''', Carter. Big, huge, ugly, '''honkin' bugs!'''"'' |
| 19 | -->-- '''Jack O'Neill''', ''Series/StargateSG1'', "[[Recap/StargateSG1S2E10Bane Bane]]" |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Giant bugs. They are bugs or {{muppet}}s or SerkisFolk, whichever, but all are mad creepy. They have no individuality or intelligence, except possibly a HiveMind. Considering almost all variants are hostile towards humans, and every single one of them [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking is really ugly,]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute nobody really worries too much about the morality of killing them]]. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | While these creatures are very widespread and can be encountered in many different places, the trackless depths of the HungryJungle, the barren wastes of the StandardPostApocalypticSetting and the unearthly landscapes of alien worlds are among their most common nesting grounds. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Subtropes include: |
| 26 | [[index]] |
| 27 | * DreadfulDragonfly |
| 28 | * GiantEnemyCrab |
| 29 | * GiantSpider |
| 30 | [[/index]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | For the SuperTrope of abnormally-sized animals in general, see AnimalsNotToScale. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | This often overlaps with AtrociousArthropods, as Big Creepy Crawlies are often depicted as hideous and dangerous beings. See also ScaryScorpions, CreepyCentipedes, CreepyCockroach, BeeAfraid, WickedWasps, MothMenace, SlayingMantis, LiceEpisode and BugWar. If they are from space, they're InsectoidAliens. If they have a lust for galactic domination, they are a HordeOfAlienLocusts. A subset of AttackOfThe50FootWhatever and DireBeast. These are especially common in prehistoric settings. Videogames (and {{Kaiju}}) seem to love combining this trope and MacabreMothMotif. Some of them are also ProportionatelyPonderousParasites. Often led by a [[InsectQueen queen]]. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | To some extent, this was once TruthInTelevision, back in the Carboniferous Period, but only possible due to higher oxygen levels at the time. Such animals lack lungs and breathe, at best, via trachea stuck in the abdomen wrapped in carapace. So ones that get too big can't absorb enough oxygen to survive, and those that get a lot of trachea (centipedes) constantly risk dehydration. The SquareCubeLaw also holds them down. These restrictions are downplayed underwater, however. |
| 37 | ---- |
| 38 | !!Examples: |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 41 | |
| 42 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 43 | * ''Anime/AstroBoy'' features several insectoid robots, such as the Carabus, a beetle-like tank built by the French military; Gadem the [[CreepyCentipedes robot centipede]] and most incarnations of North Number Two from the ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'' arc. |
| 44 | * ''Anime/BlueGender'': The Blue all resemble giant insects. |
| 45 | * ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'': One of the first monsters Team Touden encounters and subsequently eats is a giant scorpion. They make it into hotpot. |
| 46 | * ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' has had some examples over the years with [[Anime/DigimonAdventure Kabuterimon]] and [[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 Stingmon]] being the most well known examples. |
| 47 | * Heroic example in ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheIslandOfMiraclesAnimalAdventure'' - Nobita's stag beetle pet Kabuta had formed a bond with the heroes, just as BigBad Sherman arrives on his Glyptodon HumongousMecha. Doraemon realize his Enlarging Light still have a few seconds' of juice in it, so he enlarges Kabuta into a kaiju-sized beetle to take on Sherman's robot. |
| 48 | %%* ''Manga/{{Dorohedoro}}'': Jonson the cockroach. |
| 49 | * ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'': The entire Bugrum Empire is absolutely crawling with car-sized beetle-like creatures. |
| 50 | * ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'': An early part has the gang dealing with some giant alien cockroaches that have invaded their house. |
| 51 | * ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': The [[AntAssault Chimera Ants]] are human-sized ants and extremely dangerous. By eating other creatures, a Chimera Ant queen can impart the characteristics of ingested creatures onto the next generation of Chimera Ants it gives birth to. To take advantage of the genes of a particular species, Chimera Ants have been known to feed until the fodder species is driven to extinction in its ecosystem. That means, most of Chimera Ants don't look like actual ants, they look more like humanoid mixed-animals. The Chimera Ant King and his three Royal Guards are the most powerful living beings of the world. [[spoiler: And only one of them is killed in a battle, while the other three, including the King, are killed by the poison of the Miniature Rose, a genocide bomb.]] |
| 52 | * ''Manga/TheIslandOfGiantInsects'' follows a group of students that crash-land on an island where all the bugs, from wasps to ticks to tiger beetle larvae to fireflies, have somehow turned gigantic. |
| 53 | * ''Manga/JoujuuSenjinMushibugyou'': One bug is big enough to have a bear in its maw and it's just an ordinary one. There are also bugs so big that they literally dwarf the city of Edo. |
| 54 | * ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion'' has an episode where a grasshopper was mutated by radiation and the end product was this trope. |
| 55 | * ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'': The Vajra range in size from large jet-fighter-sized grunts to ones larger than most capital ships. Their queen in particular is several kilometers in size. |
| 56 | * ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'': Lutecia [[SummonMagic summons insects]] of varying levels of largeness. From the human-sized Garyu, to the car-sized Jiraiyo, to the {{Kaiju}}-sized Hakutenou. |
| 57 | * ''Anime/MazingerZ'': |
| 58 | ** Overlapping with AnimalMecha, several [[{{Robeast}} Mechanical Beasts]] from the first series (such as Winder A2 or Megaron P1 and its "brothers") resemble giant, vaguely-humanoid insects. |
| 59 | ** ''Anime/GreatMazinger'': One whole host of the Mykene Empire army is made up of bio-mechanical, massive insects. Their commander, General Scarabeth, resembles a gigantic rhinoceros beetle. |
| 60 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': The seven-tailed beast, Choumei, is a gigantic beetle. |
| 61 | * ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'' has several of these, like the building-sized woodlice known as the Ohmu. While they can be unbelievably dangerous when provoked, they're usually quite docile and kindly, with the Ohmu being portrayed as extremely wise {{Gentle Giant}}s, akin to terrestrial whales. |
| 62 | * ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': The Magic World jungle contains dung beetles that are around the size of a human torso. |
| 63 | * ''Manga/TegamiBachiLetterBee'' not only has giant soul-devouring insects, but they also have exoskeletons made of metal that grant them NighInvulnerability. |
| 64 | * ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'': Tommyrod keeps eggs of giant horrible insects in his own body and uses his own nutrients to nurture them to maturity as he spits them out. He's even created unnatural hybrid insects designed for maximum slaughter. |
| 65 | * ''Anime/YuGiOh'': |
| 66 | ** Several of Weevil Underwood's monsters, most notably Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth and Insect Queen, are textbook examples of this trope. Naturally, ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' had fun with this one. |
| 67 | --->'''Yami Yugi:''' Go! Summoned Skull! Destroy his cheap [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Mothra]] imitation! |
| 68 | ** Other duelists in the franchise who specialized Insect Monsters were Ren from ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' and Uryu from ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds''. (Both were one-shot characters.) |
| 69 | * ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': The Demon World contains massive centipede-like monsters that dwarf trees and some mountains. They serve as transport in Mukuro's realm. |
| 70 | [[/folder]] |
| 71 | |
| 72 | [[folder:Card Games]] |
| 73 | * ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Several Insect creatures fall under this -- many reach and exceed the size of oxen. |
| 74 | ** [[https://scryfall.com/card/c18/29/crash-of-rhino-beetles Crash of Rhino Beetles]] depicts a stampeding herd of beetles over twice as tall as trees. |
| 75 | ** The [[https://scryfall.com/card/rtr/122/drudge-beetle Drudge Beetle]] is an insect large enough to be used as a beast of burden. |
| 76 | ** The [[https://scryfall.com/card/ncc/293/giant-adephage Giant Adephage]] is a monstrously large beetle shown crawling over the ruins of a city. |
| 77 | --->"To a creature like that, we must seem like, well, bugs." -- '''Dars Gostok, Firefist captain''' |
| 78 | ** The [[https://scryfall.com/card/usg/259/hawkeater-moth Hawkeater Moth]] is not as large as the game's other examples, but still big enough to prey on hunting birds. |
| 79 | ** The krotiqs of Tarkir are centipede-like creatures of absurd size. Beasts such as [[https://scryfall.com/card/frf/122/ambush-krotiq Ambush Krotiq]] and [[https://scryfall.com/card/dtk/202/segmented-krotiq Segmented Krotiq]] dwarfsbeasts that haul full-sized forts around and can prey on dragons. |
| 80 | ** The [[https://scryfall.com/card/ddi/57/lithophage Lithophage]] is an insect so huge that it consumes ''mountains''. |
| 81 | ** The [[https://scryfall.com/card/sok/20/moonwing-moth Moonwing Moth]] is so big that the birds flying alongside it look like barely more than bugs themselves. |
| 82 | * ''Franchise/YuGiOh'': Many Insect type monsters count as this, their size range from realistically small, to as large as a man, to the size of {{Kaiju}}. |
| 83 | [[/folder]] |
| 84 | |
| 85 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 86 | * ''Franchise/TheDCU'': |
| 87 | ** ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': The Godship spawn in ''ComicBook/{{Bizarrogirl}}'' are larger-than-human, insect-like, green bugs with a hard carapace, three pairs of legs and huge maws. |
| 88 | ** ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'': In an issue of ''ComicBook/KryptoniteNevermore'', Superman faces off against two [[AntAssault rhino-sized ants]]. After the fight Superman notes that [[SquareCubeLaw their size]] would have doomed them soon anyway. |
| 89 | ** ''ComicBook/TheJungleLine'' reveals that one of the creatures which inhabited Krypton's Scarlet Jungle was an anaconda-sized, ant-headed green caterpillar. |
| 90 | ** ''ComicBook/DeathAndTheFamily'': The Insect Queen's bug minions are larger-than-a-human, mutated ants and wasps. |
| 91 | ** ''ComicBook/{{Terra}}'': The Illumi-Mites are a subterranean race who look like large flying bugs, about a foot long. Atlee is friends with their prince K'a. |
| 92 | ** ''ComicBook/{{Tomahawk}}'': In #99, Tomahawk and his Rangers battle Chief Cobweb: a Native American who can speak to and control insects and arachnids and has access to variety of giant version a hornet, a firefly and a GiantSpider. |
| 93 | * ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'': In ''ComicBook/ElSulfatoAtomico'', the first full story, the title agents have to recover a sulfate that makes insects grow to gigantic size. |
| 94 | * ''ComicBook/ElToxico'' is set in a world where insects have grown to the size of people, and have destroyed society attacking them. |
| 95 | * ''ComicBook/GiantRobotWarriorMaintenanceCrew'': [[HumongousMecha Herotron]] has a nasty infestation of space parasites, which are about as tall as a human being. |
| 96 | * ''ComicBook/KaijuDayz'': Preytara is a giant mantis while the Genki twins are giant moths, and a giant snail kaiju appears as well. |
| 97 | * ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'': |
| 98 | ** ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}:'' The footsoldiers of the Wave are giant bugs from the Negative Zone, raging from human-sized, to kaiju sized. Not surprising that after everything is over, Richard Rider has a serious hatred for bugs. |
| 99 | ** ''ComicBook/AntMan'': Ant telepathy plus the ability to drastically shrink and grow things makes the control of gigantic insects one of Ant-Man's tricks of the trade. |
| 100 | * ''ComicBook/JuiceSqueezers'': The entire premise of the book is that a team of kids are secretly a team who meet after school to go down into the tunnels below Weeville, California, and take care of the gigantic insects living there. |
| 101 | * ''ComicBook/StarTrekMissionsEnd'', the residents of Archenar-IV are a race of giant spiders, who are sentient, interestingly enough. For transport they ride (which looks really weird) giant centipedes which they call Crawlers. |
| 102 | * ''ComicBook/{{Suspense}}'': In Issue #14, "[[http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2009/06/death-and-doctor-parker.html Death and Doctor Parker]]", an apocalyptic interplanetary war strips the Earth of any animal life besides insects and the immortal main character. In the ages that follow, arthropods regain supremacy over the world and grow to immense sizes. |
| 103 | * ''ComicBook/TalesOfTheJedi'': Colossus wasps are giant spacefaring insects native to the Stenness Node that grow to the size of large starships -- in fact, their exoskeletons are a popular choice of spaceship hulls. |
| 104 | * ''ComicBook/WeKillMonsters'': Vanessa's father is kidnapped and killed by a gigantic bug monster. |
| 105 | [[/folder]] |
| 106 | |
| 107 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 108 | * ''Fanfic/{{Ascendant}}'': The Shirubakumo family all have spider-based Mutation Quirks, ranging from just possessing additional eyes (as well as an amped vision range) to spider heads or legs. |
| 109 | * ''Fanfic/DeanThomasAndTheCurseOfJumanji'': A few camel spiders the size of cats come out of the game in Hagrid's hut. Hagrid, of course, is very pleased. |
| 110 | * ''Fanfic/TheFallCrossover'': The world of ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' is home to no shortage of these. On her first day on Earth, Louise encounters Bloatflies and a scorpion roughly her own size. On her second day, an even bigger scorpion chases her into Goodpsprings, requiring a few people to put it down. On her third day, she hears of Cazadors, giant tarantula hawk-wasps that have infested the road north of the town. Sunny warns that their venom is not something you want to be hit with, considering they were capable of downing a full grown man before they mutated. |
| 111 | * ''VideoGame/IceAndFireMinecraft'': Myrmex are giant ants that live in jungles. Workers are just the size of pigs; queens are several times larger than players. |
| 112 | * ''Fanfic/ItsOverIsntItItsOnlyJustBegun'': Centipeder, a Pro Hero at Sir Nighteye's agency, has the chitin-covered head and body of a centipede. |
| 113 | * ''Fanfic/IWokeUpAsADungeonNowWhat'' has the Insect dungeon minion theme. Even the "Small Lesser" insects on Taylor's first are about as big as a medium-sized dog, and her first floor boss, Atlas, is as big as a moderately-sized car. And it's hinted that Taylor could unlock ''much'' bigger insects for her deeper levels. |
| 114 | * ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'': Encountered by the four in Gothmarik Citadel. Specifically, giant centipedes -- a whole roomful of the nasty things, swarming around a treasure chest. ("Oh GOD, it's like a fuckin' ocean of legs! I'm gonna have crawly things in me nightmares for''ever''!") As the four are [[ActualPacifist Actual Pacifists]] and squashing them isn't an option (thereby defying this trope), George [[VoluntaryShapeshifting turns into]] a [[ScaledUp brass dragon]] and puts them to sleep so the others can move them aside. |
| 115 | * ''Fanfic/LadybirdWorm'': Taylor's magic can create insects significantly larger than normal, like roaches a foot long and bumblebees the size of tennis balls. |
| 116 | * ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfTotalDramaIsland'': The scene where Lindsay is "cornered" replaces the canon cockroach with a large stag beetle -- "harmless, but looking like something straight out of Hell." When Lindsay speaks of the incident a few days later, she {{innocent|Inaccurate}}ly makes her "rescue" sound like "a pitched battle against a thousand-kilo, armor plated killing machine". |
| 117 | * ''Fanfic/PastSins'': The scorpiuses, gigantic, scorpion-shaped living-constellations, are among the Everfree monsters that attack Ponyville in the climax. |
| 118 | * ''Fanfic/PrehistoricParkReimagined'': Several animals from prehistoric times that qualify (particularly from the Carboniferous Period) are amongst the lucky animals rescued. Downplayed however in that several of them, particularly the ''Arthropleura'', end up losing their fear factor as a result of their massive size rather than getting their fear factor enhanced by it. |
| 119 | * ''Fanfic/PrincipalCelestiaHuntsTheUndead'': Donut Joe's once got attacked by 200-pound ants, which burrowed up from the earth. Celestia's group stopped them. |
| 120 | * ''Art/RealisticPokemon'': Bug-type Pokémons are obviously portrayed as such, but more surprisingly, Giratina is depicted as a massive arthropod, Celebi as a medium-sized insect, and Frosslass as a large mosquito-like bug. |
| 121 | * ''Blog/TinySapientUngulates'': The changelings are interpreted as pony-sized {{Four Legged Insect}}s that evolved to mimic ponies' appearance. |
| 122 | * ''Fanfic/TheWeavingForce'' opens with Taylor and Victoria finding themselves in the depths of [[Franchise/StarWars Kashyyyk]]. Taylor quickly demonstrates why having bug control on a planet where bugs are the size of small cars is a very scary thing. |
| 123 | * ''Fanfic/TheWeaverOption'': The bug-controlling parahuman Taylor Hebert finding all sorts of large and nasty insects to use against her enemies as she travels the Imperium of Man. When her forces end up trapped on [[spoiler:the Death Star]], the Mechanicus brings out the samples they had kept stored because they were too dangerous; soon after, Taylor is ''riding'' some of her new bugs. Coloner Erzin's Txacopec 1st Cavalry ends up riding Helspiders into battle, after their original mounts are slain. |
| 124 | * ''Fanfic/TheWorldOfTheCreatures'' has a colony of giant talking spiders in Chapter 8. A lot more almost certainly exist elsewhere in the world. |
| 125 | [[/folder]] |
| 126 | |
| 127 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 128 | * Giant pill bugs are served as food in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove''. Giant isopods really do exist in real life but are only found in the deep ocean. |
| 129 | * The title character in ''WesternAnimation/AMonsterInParis'' is a flea that had been enlarged in a lab accident. |
| 130 | * Creepy crawlies don't come any bigger ([[UglyCute or cuter]]) than the 350-ft. tall Insectosaurus from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens''. |
| 131 | -->[[RunningGag Aaaaaaaa]][[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl aaaaagh!]] |
| 132 | * ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': The Cy-Bugs are pretty huge, with some being as big as Ralph (he's nine feet tall, by the way) or slightly bigger. The biggest bug of all is the BigBad's Cy-Bug form; he appears to be eighteen feet tall at the very least. |
| 133 | [[/folder]] |
| 134 | |
| 135 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 136 | * DemonicPossession movies play with this fear as well. The way that a possessed person moves is often very insect-like, as are the chirping/growling noises they make. |
| 137 | * In ''Film/{{Absentia}}'', the creature which terrorizes the protagonist's family is a giant insect of some kind ([[NothingIsScarier we never get a clear enough view of it]]) which lives in AnotherDimension accessible through the walls of a bridge underpass tunnel. |
| 138 | * ''Film/BeginningOfTheEnd'' is a 1957 film about giant grasshoppers attacking Chicago. |
| 139 | * ''Film/BigAssSpider'' is mostly about, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin this really big spider]] running amok in LA, but TheStinger reveals that a giant cockroach is attacking the Statue of Liberty. |
| 140 | * ''Film/TheBlackScorpion'' is a 1957 film about giant prehistoric scorpions released by a volcanic eruption in Mexico. |
| 141 | * Its [[NeverTrustATitle nonsensical title]] aside, the Canadian ''Film/{{Alien}}'' cash-in ''Film/BlueMonkey'' deals with giant insects running amok in an AbandonedHospital. |
| 142 | * ''Film/CityOfEmber'' has some oversized insects, probably to illustrate the effects of radiation on the wildlife. |
| 143 | * Both ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans1981'' and [[Film/ClashOfTheTitans2010 the 2010 remake]] feature a pair of giant scorpions. |
| 144 | * The human-sized ectoparasites that drop off the rampaging {{Kaiju}} in ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' resemble some kind of sea louse. |
| 145 | * ''Film/TheDeadlyMantis'' has a...well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a giant Praying mantis 150ft long that flies at Supersonic speeds]]. |
| 146 | * ''Film/DeepStarSix'' features a giant [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurypterid eurypterid.]] |
| 147 | * The prawns of ''Film/District9'' are giant walking cockroaches with some resemblance to crustaceans, and are supposed to be named after the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parktown_prawn Parktown prawn]], a kind of giant cricket. |
| 148 | * Similarly, ''Film/EightLeggedFreaks'' is about an army of spiders the size of horses that terrorize a small town. The movie is an explicit homage to the genre's movies from the 1950s, like the aforementioned ''Them!''. |
| 149 | * ''Film/EmpireOfTheAnts'' loosely adapts Creator/HGWells' short story about intelligent ants taking over South America, but enlarges the ants to the size of pickup trucks to make it a straight monster flick rather than an insectile AlienInvasion story. |
| 150 | * Legion from the ''Film/{{Gamera}}'' series is the biggest one by far, it's also a silicon based alien. |
| 151 | * ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'': |
| 152 | ** ''Film/{{Rodan}}'' actually begins with giant dragonfly nymphs known as Meganulon menacing the humans before the titular pterosaur shows up. The Meganulon would later appear in ''Film/GodzillaVsMegaguirus'', in both nymph and winged imago form (known as Meganula), before Godzilla faces off against the eponymous Meganulon queen. |
| 153 | ** ''Film/SonOfGodzilla'' introduces Kamacuras, a giant mutant mantis who shows up from time to time as the Magikarp of {{Kaiju}}, as well as the GiantSpider Kumonga. |
| 154 | ** ''Film/TheReturnOfGodzilla'' has a type of giant sea lice known as Shockirus, which were mutated by feeding on Godzilla's radioactive blood. At five feet long, they were certainly large enough to be a threat to humans, even if not quite {{Kaiju}}-sized. |
| 155 | ** And there's Mothra, probably the most popular insect Kaiju out there. |
| 156 | ** And Mothra's evil twin [[Film/GodzillaAndMothraTheBattleForEarth Battra]], [[Film/GodzillaVsMegaguirus Megaguirus]] the demonic dragonfly, [[Film/GodzillaVsMegalon Megalon]] the drill-armed [[ToughBeetles stag beetle]], [[Film/EbirahHorrorOfTheDeep Ebirah]] the rock-throwing red shrimp, and [[Film/SpaceAmoeba Ganimes]] the [[GiantEnemyCrab mutated rock crabs]] (as you can probably see, Godzilla and co. have certainly run the gamut for giant arthropod diversity). |
| 157 | ** The [[Script/Godzilla2 unmade sequel]] to ''Film/Godzilla1998'' would have involved Godzilla fighting off a horde of giant mutant termites, led by a gigantic winged queen dubbed the "Queen Bitch". |
| 158 | ** ''Film/Godzilla2014'': The "[=MUTO=]s" resemble large insects. Additionally, the Teaser Trailer Monster (a monster from a trailer but which never actually appeared in the movie) resembles a gigantic [[CreepyCentipedes centipede]] or a tardigrade. |
| 159 | ** Seen briefly in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' is a kaiju known as Scylla that resembles a six-legged GiantSpider with a squid face, as well as a FreezeFrameBonus of a GiantSpider nesting in the walls inside Mothra's temple at the beginning. |
| 160 | ** As Kong is running across the lava fields in the HollowEarth during ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', he disturbs numerous crab-like creatures (dubbed "Rock Critters" in concept art) that were hiding amongst the crags. They're small in comparison to Kong, but concept art shows they're about the size of a bus. |
| 161 | * The ant and the scorpion in ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' are normal-sized, but due to our protagonists [[ShrinkRay being miniaturized]], end up having the appearance of Big Creepy Crawlies onscreen. |
| 162 | * ''Film/{{Hungerford}}'' is about the population of the titular town being taken over by bugs the size of shoes that burrow into their head through the back of their neck and seizing control of their body. |
| 163 | * Giant locusts genetically engineered engineered from prehistoric ones are part of ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion'' ‘s plot. |
| 164 | * The giant insects in the ''Film/KingKong2005'' remake qualify, though the sequence was inspired by a DeletedScene from [[Film/KingKong1933 the 1933 original]] which is currently a LostEpisode (though a period-faithful recreation of the sequence by Creator/PeterJackson and co. can be found). Most were bizarre spider/crab or gut parasite/bloodworm {{Mix And Match Creature}}s, but the giant wetas were jumbo-sized versions of ''actual New Zealand insects''. |
| 165 | * ''Film/MenInBlack'': The first movie's villain is a human-sized cockroach alien seeking to conquer the Earth. |
| 166 | * The ''Film/{{Mimic}}'' series has the Judas Breed, a species of man-sized, bipedal cockroaches that live underground and prey on humans. It's noted that their large size is possible because they have evolved lungs as a result of genetic tampering to accelerate the lifespan of experimental cockroaches. |
| 167 | * They're smaller than most of these examples, but the scarabs in ''Film/{{The Mummy|1999}}'' ''are'' bigger, and more bloodthirsty, than ordinary scarabs. |
| 168 | * ''Film/MysteriousIsland'' has giant bees, and a giant crab. |
| 169 | * In ''Film/PrincessOfMars'', Mars is not only home to {{Giant Spider}}s, but also swarms of giant wasp-like insects, one of which plays a major role in the climax. |
| 170 | * ''Film/SinbadAndTheEyeOfTheTiger'' has a giant wasp. |
| 171 | * ''Film/{{Them}}'', a classic {{nuclear|Mutant}} monster movie about [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant ants]]. |
| 172 | * ''Film/{{Ticks}}'' has bigger-than-normal wood ticks due to pollution. Late in the film one giant-sized also appears. |
| 173 | [[/folder]] |
| 174 | |
| 175 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 176 | * ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': |
| 177 | ** The Taxxons, man-sized (or bigger) alien creatures resembling fleshy centipedes and with a ravenous appetite (to the point where they'll eat [[HorrorHunger their own severed parts]]). |
| 178 | ** The larval stage of the Skrit Na looks like a giant cockroach. |
| 179 | * They are a common category of roaming monster in uncivilized areas in ''Literature/TheBalancedSword'', including the dreaded doomlock spiders, and a kind of giant carnivorous caterpillar thing. |
| 180 | * ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'': The Big Chapter Book ''And the Great Ant Attack'' starts off with the Bear family going to see a movie, ''Giant Insects from Outer Space''', about... giant insects, which serve as the villains of the film. |
| 181 | * ''Literature/BruceCovillesBookOf'': |
| 182 | ** ''Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters II'': The titular monster in ''George Pinkerton and the Bloodsucking Fiend of Brokentree Swamp'' turns out to be a human-sized leech which grew to its current disgusting size through mutation and irradiation from a nearby nuclear plant. |
| 183 | ** ''Bruce Coville's Book of Nightmares II'': In ''The Shadow Wood'', while traveling through the titular forest, one of the obstacles the hero faces and defeats is a pack of giant wildcat-sized ants. |
| 184 | * The Chi, neon-yellow arthropodoids, and Knnn, hairy black arachnoids, in the ''Literature/ChanurNovels''. |
| 185 | * ''Literature/ChrysalisRinoZ'' has giant ants as the ''protagonists''. Specifically, Anthony gets the chance to ReincarnateInAnotherWorld as a monster ant, and proceeds to track down his colony and uplift them to approximately human intelligence. The hatchlings are about a metre long, but they can grow 50% larger each time they evolve to a higher tier; Anthony is soon the size of a minibus. They prefer not to pick fights with anyone who doesn't attack them first, though. |
| 186 | * The FantasticNoir MonsterMash ''City of Devils'' series has been hinting at giant ants as a new kind of livestock. The fourth installment, ''Literature/AStitchInCrime'' confirms this, showing the [[{{Pun}} rantches]] where the ants are raised. |
| 187 | * ''Literature/CityOfNoEnd'' has the twenty-pound Greater Humidifant Beetle, or "skitter," which lives in the [[StarScraper Spires]] and is hunted by Spiremen for food. In [[UndergroundCity the Depths]] there are the Ec No Ta, which are dangerous social insects that hoard valuables and preserved food. |
| 188 | * Most of the Vord from ''Literature/CodexAlera'', though the Vord Queen has a degree of VoluntaryShapeshifting and gradually changes from one of these to a CuteMonsterGirl (though her personality never gets any more human, which makes her creepy). |
| 189 | * In Lindsay Gutteridge's ''Cold War in a Country Garden'' and its two sequels, Matthew Dilke is a quarter of an inch tall and meets up with regular sized ants, etc. At one point he grabs and cooks some cockroach eggs. At his size a cockroach might seem about 30 feet long. |
| 190 | * ''Literature/TheDarkTower'' has four-foot crustaceans crawling around one beach that resemble hideous mutant lobsters and are casually referred to as "lobstrosities." They constantly mutter noises that sound almost like they're speaking, although they seem to be mindless predators that eat anything or anyone who's unable to run away. Later it's discovered that they are themselves delicious. |
| 191 | * Underplayed in ''Literature/TheDinosaurLords'', when Melodía mentions offhandedly that the fireflies from which the Imperial Palace takes its name are a metre long. It also features giant dragonflies, which seem to fill a similar ecological niche to medium-sized birds of prey-including being used for hunting. |
| 192 | * In ''Literature/EatThemAlive'', a mentally unbalanced ex-con exacts vengeance upon his former partners in crime with a horde of giant killer praying mantises. The entire book is nothing but page after page of giant mantises rampaging and eating people. |
| 193 | * ''Literature/EndersGame'' uses this with the bug-like species systematically killing the crew of a human starship because, aside from the queens, their own species doesn't have free will, and they just assumed we'd be the same way. Subverted in that the bugs have bones, and that they're actually quite a nice and sympathetic, even naive (if occasionally creepy) species. |
| 194 | * The giant alien insect species, Hetwan, in ''Literature/{{Everworld}}''. |
| 195 | * [[LostWorld Hender's Island]] in ''Literature/{{Fragment}}'' is populated mainly by giant killer crustaceans related to mantis shrimp. This includes tractor-sized predators on land and ''Tyrannosaurus''-sized ones in the island's lake. However, many are hardly recognizable as arthropods because hundreds of millions of years of evolution have turned many into mammal-like shapes. [[BeneathTheEarth Pandemonium]] in the titular sequel plays this more straight, with colonies of hippo-sized amphipods, centipede chains made up of interlinking arthropods, and sea spiders. |
| 196 | * Zigzagged in the short story "giANTS" by Edward Bryant. An IntrepidReporter uncovers evidence that the American and Brazilian governments are working together to [[GovernmentCoverup cover something up]], and various clues -- not least of which being increased interest in the movie ''Film/{{Them}}'' among the involved parties -- make her suspect that an army of giant mutant ants has arisen in South America, and that, like the fire ants and killer bees before them, they're on their way north. She manages to track down a scientist who seems to be connected to the whole thing, but he tells her that there are no giant mutant ants -- ''yet''. [[spoiler:He then explains to her what's actually going on. It turns out that something -- possibly a radiation leak from a nearby power station -- has messed up the life cycle of a swarm of army ants, permanently locking them into their nomadic phase. They're no bigger than other ants of their species, but they're more active, more aggressive and hungrier, and have the power to devastate the ecosystem in their path. Oh, and thanks to incautious use of insecticide over the years, they're resistant to every one available. Fortunately, the project he's part of has come up with an unconventional solution: a mutagen which will, indeed, cause the ants to grow enormous... which will inevitably kill them as [[SquareCubeLaw their bodies can no longer carry their own weight]]. It works.]] |
| 197 | * The ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series by Michael Grant has the bugs from ''Plague''. |
| 198 | * The main antagonists in ''Literature/GrasshopperJungle'' are giant, bulletproof praying mantises. |
| 199 | * ''Literature/{{Hothouse}}'': The surviving insects of the far future -- tree-bees, plantants, tigerflies, and termights -- have grown much larger and more fearsome than their forebears, matching the shrinking future humans until they both reach roughly the same sizes. |
| 200 | * Subverted in Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' books, in which the insectoid Thranx are the principal allies of humankind. Not that the formation of this alliance went through without some problems (of the xenophobic terrorist variety). |
| 201 | * In the ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' novel ''On a Pale Horse'', Zane, the incarnation of Death, faces a gigantic demonic preying[[labelnote:sic]]It looks like a praying mantis, but is a minion of Hell that never prays; it does prey, though.[[/labelnote]] mantis. |
| 202 | * ''Literature/InCryptid'': |
| 203 | ** Apraxis wasps are parasitic WickedWasps the size of a shoe. |
| 204 | ** In the alien dimension [[spoiler:Sarah, Annie, Artie, James, and Mark]] end up in at the end of ''Imaginary Numbers'', there are train-sized [[CreepyCentipedes centipedes]] and millipedes that fly through the sky, and a giant SlayingMantis and {{Giant Spider}}s show up after dark. [[spoiler:Antimony and Sarah]] speculate on how they manage to avoid the SquareCubeLaw, theorizing that they have lungs instead of tracheae, like Earth insects do. |
| 205 | * In Creator/RoaldDahl's ''Literature/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'', James befriends a group of insects living on the eponymous enormous fruit who have become human-sized and anthropomorphic as a result of the same magic that created the giant peach. |
| 206 | * In ''Literature/JurassicPark'', giant dragonflies described as having a six-foot wingspan (presumably cloned ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Meganeura]]'') appear briefly in the aviary ([[BigLippedAlligatorMoment without explanation given for their presence]], considering they are from before the evolution of mosquitoes and thus couldn't be cloned by using the blood in the ones preserved in amber like what had been done with other prehistoric animals). |
| 207 | * ''Literature/KillerSpecies'': Book 3 introduces the Blood Jackets, a hybrid species of baldface hornet and vampire bat, made to target and kill humans. They're about as big as the normal bats, and are very dangerous to those they attack... though the vast genetic differences result in them being relatively and naturally short-lived. |
| 208 | * Most of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek monsters]] in the ''Literature/KingdomsDisdain'' sequence are giant insects, arachnids, or other creepy-crawlies. They seem to be a favorite of the [[BigBad Rot Lord]]. |
| 209 | * In the German SF series ''Literature/{{Maddrax}}'' the setting is a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic world]] in which the animals have mutated into huge monsters. Especially the insects have become very big. |
| 210 | * ''Maggots'' by Edward Jarvis is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin; humanity is plagued by a horde of maggots. Mostly, the maggots are of ordinary size (it's just that there's just a ''lot'' of them), but a few are absolutely disgustingly gigantic. |
| 211 | * Subverted in Michael Crighton's ''Micro''. The bugs are actually normal size, it's the humans who have been shrunk down to half an inch. At one point one character is drawn and quartered by ants. |
| 212 | * Ransom briefly encounters a giant fly and giant beetles in the caves of Venus in ''Literature/{{Perelandra}}''. He's initially quite terrified at their appearance, but they prove to be no threat, and his fear quickly subsides. |
| 213 | * ''Literature/Scorpions2016'' by Mike Cook features a horde of giant prehistoric ScaryScorpions unleashed from underground after an earthquake in Nevada. |
| 214 | * ''Literature/ScorpionSecondGeneration'', the sequel to Michael R. Linaker's ''Literature/Scorpion1980'', has the killer scorpions from the first book return, except this time they've been [[NuclearMutant mutated into giants]] by radiation. |
| 215 | * ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheApt'': Giant insects fill the niche in the ecosystem that mammals do in our world. |
| 216 | * ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'': Creator/RobertAHeinlein used such bugs as a [[ScaryDogmaticAliens metaphor for Communism]]. They have a Brain Caste of very smart individuals and the warriors are as smart as they need to be to fight effectively, but the workers are relatively mindless and instinct-driven. Which actually works pretty well as a metaphor for the USSR.%%In [[Film/StarshipTroopers the movie]], this is extended to the whole species.%%Meaning? |
| 217 | * ''Literature/StarWarsConvergence'': The scorpions of Eiram are about the size of a human head. |
| 218 | * The initially tiny ants in the ''Literature/StillMoreTalesToGiveYouGoosebumps'' story ''Awesome Ants'' gradually develop into this after a boy ignores the instruction manual for his new ant farm and starts overfeeding them. By the ending they've reached the size of mountains, and locked up all humans in town-sized ant farms. |
| 219 | * ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Virtually all wildlife in the world of Roshar is insectoid or crustacean. This is because Roshar gets one of the hypercane-like highstorms every few days, so only things that can weather repeated scourings can survive. Some of them are {{Kaiju}} sized or even [[TurtleIsland big enough to be mistaken for islands.]] According to WordOfGod and [[AllThereInTheManual Arcanum Unbounded]] they dodge the SquareCubeLaw through a combination of lighter gravity, higher oxygen content, and magic. |
| 220 | * ''Literature/SuperMinion'': Giant size is a common [[SuperEmpowering superpower/mutation]] for small animals to develop. The tropics are a [[BugWar constant warzone against giant bugs]], especially army ants. |
| 221 | * ''Literature/SurvivalInAnotherWorldWithMyMistress'': Gizma, native to the Great Omitt Badlands between the Black Forest and occupied Merinard, resemble truck-sized man-eating grasshoppers. The first major battle of the series consists of the villagers and Kousuke exterminating a swarm of them that attacks the village. |
| 222 | * ''Literature/TheTaking'': One of the creatures encountered by the protagonists is a massive bug hiding in a church basement whose features are a mashup of insects, spiders and scorpions. It drags one guy into its lair and messily kills him in the shadows followed by spearing another guy on its stinger. |
| 223 | * ''Literature/TimeMachineSeries'': In ''Search for Dinosaurs'', you meet some impressively large dragonflies in the Triassic period. |
| 224 | * ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'': Creator/JRRTolkien has a cartload of these, including Ungoliant (''Literature/TheSilmarillion''), Shelob (''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'') and the Mirkwood spiders (''Literature/TheHobbit'') |
| 225 | * ''Literature/UniversalMonsters'': In book 1, shortly after meeting Dr. Dunn, Bob comes under attack by a swarm of oversized ticks. Devin Chavarria, who's becoming a vampire courtesy of Dracula, later claims to have sent them; it ultimately turns out she was lying and they were actually a shapeshifted Dracula (as revealed when more giant ticks later turn up in his base of operations and then turn back into him when Captain Bob starts smashing them). |
| 226 | * "Literature/WizardBait": Centurypedes are centipedes large enough to be used as a riding animal and a beast of burden. |
| 227 | * ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' has Atlas, a gigantic Hercules beetle created by [[BioAugmentation Panacea]] and controlled by [[PestController Skitter]] that was capable of supporting a human in flight. |
| 228 | * ''Literature/TheWorms'' by Al Sarrantonio: Giant worms (created by a witch) plague the New England town of Province, but with a twist! Anyone the worms prick with their tail stingers turn into giant worms themselves. Were-worms! |
| 229 | [[/folder]] |
| 230 | |
| 231 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 232 | * The ants from ''Series/TheAquabatsSuperShow'' episode "[[Recap/TheAquabatsSuperShowS1E1ManAnt Manant!]]" fall under this trope, as does the potato bug in "Pilgrim Boy!". |
| 233 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': |
| 234 | ** The first season featured occasional appearances by N'Grath, a crime-lord who looked like a giant praying mantis. |
| 235 | ** The Shadows are five foot tall ''spider people'', a form also suggested by their spacecraft. |
| 236 | * The she-mantis in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E4TeachersPet Teacher's Pet]]" and the giant bugs in ''Series/{{Angel}}'''s "[[Recap/AngelS03E05Fredless Fredless]]". |
| 237 | * In ''The Bush Tucker Man'', Major Les Hiddins tells how in Australia's Northern Territory they talk of a mosquito so big it landed at Alice Springs Airport and was filled with a hundred gallons of aviation fuel before they realised what it was. Les finds it all rather unlikely. "I've never seen a mosquito that big. Ninety gallons yeah, but not a hundred." |
| 238 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 239 | ** The classic series has [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E5TheWebPlanet "The Web Planet"]] and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Planet of the Spiders]]", among others. The queen spider was larger than a double-decker bus, man... Eugh. |
| 240 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride "The Runaway Bride"]] has the GiantSpider Racnoss Empress. |
| 241 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]] has Chantho, an extremely nice humanoid insect alien. Jack Harkness ([[ExtremeOmnisexual unsurprisingly]]) flirts with her. |
| 242 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp "The Unicorn and the Wasp"]] has a human-sized alien wasp. When Donna says she ran into a giant wasp, she doesn't mean big, she means FLIPPING ENORMOUS! |
| 243 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon "Kill the Moon"]] has giant bacteria creatures, which look like spiders, on the Moon-egg. |
| 244 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E4ArachnidsInTheUK "Arachnids in the UK"]] has spiders that were descended from an improperly-disposed-of test subject, modified to live longer, which consequently grew ''huge'' by eating garbage. The smallest are the size of dinner plates. |
| 245 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E9ItTakesYouAway "It Takes You Away"]]: The "antizone" between the two mirror-portals is home to [[MothMenace flesh-moths]] the size of large rats, which eat any kind of meat they can get to. |
| 246 | * The Insects from ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' are wood lice as big as a small planet. The Lexx itself is an insectoid LivingShip the size of Manhattan. |
| 247 | * A staple of Klaus Von Steinhauer's plans in ''Series/MonsterWarriors''. Aside from the GiantSpider, other giant creepy-crawlies he unleashed on Capital City include: [[BeeAfraid a bumblebee]] (Buzz!"); an earthworm ("The Terror Underground"); a carnivorous butterfly ("Attack of the Carnivorous Butterfly"); a slug ("Capital City vs. the Plant Thing"); cockroaches ("Terror of the Giant Cockroaches"); a praying mantis ("Marauding Mantis" and "Terror at the Drive-In"); termites ("Termites"); a ladybug ("Attack of the Enormous Terrifying Ladybug"); stinkbugs ("Attack of the Stinkbugs: Parts I and II"); leeches (Attack of the Leaping Leeches"); and ants ("Trick or Treat"). |
| 248 | * ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' had insect and arachnid based [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] up the yin-yang. In the first season alone, there was Spidertron, Weaveworm, Fighting Flea, Mantis, and Grumble Bee. The ''second'' season... Well, listing all of them would take too long, but suffice to say, bug-like monsters were popular among the villains. |
| 249 | * While made by the same company, ''Series/PrehistoricPark'' actually subverts this despite having giant bugs. Head Keeper Bob actually ''prefers'' that '' Arthropleura'' is a man sized millipede, as it's too big to actually sneak up on you and be scary. He outright calls it a proper animal. |
| 250 | * ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' has several appearance of giant arthropods and worms. The spin-off, ''Series/PrimevalNewWorld'', also has a few nasty critters in it, namely the giant Jurassic beetles from "Fear of Flying". |
| 251 | * ''Series/RedDwarf'' has the Psirens, a form of [=GELF=] who resembled giant human-sized assassin bugs and who used illusions to lure and suck out their victim's brains. |
| 252 | * ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'': |
| 253 | ** ''Series/StargateSG1'': In "[[Recap/StargateSG1S2E10Bane Bane]]", SG-1 once encountered giant alien bugs that tried to turn Teal'c into a nest for more bugs. [[ItMakesSenseInContext Long story.]] |
| 254 | --->'''Hammond:''' ''[listening to dozens of impacts on the Stargate's iris]'' What is ''that''?\ |
| 255 | '''O'Neill:''' ''[uncharacteristically panicked]'' Those are ''bugs'', sir! Really! Big! Bugs! |
| 256 | ** ''Series/StargateUniverse'': This is the show's pride and joy. They've had giant spiders, chestbursters, and a dinosaur. |
| 257 | * Bug {{kaiju}} are quite plentiful in the ''Franchise/UltraSeries''. Some notable examples include: |
| 258 | ** Antlar, a hybrid of a stag beetle and [[AntLionMonster an ant-lion]] from the original ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' is one of the eponymous hero's most iconic foes. He's super tough to kill thanks to his insanely durable exoskeleton and also possesses the ability to breathe a beam of magnetic energy that can pull a plane out of the sky. |
| 259 | *** Ultraman's final enemy was Zetton, an alien kaiju resembling a faceless humanoid beetle. Weirdly enough, its title is "Space Dinosaur". |
| 260 | *** Kiyla from the original series resembled a mix of a woodlouse and a dinosaur with [[BlindedByTheLight literal]] GlowingEyesOfDoom. |
| 261 | ** Aribunta from ''Series/UltramanAce'' is inspired by ants (''ari'' is Japanese for "ant") and has the ability to breathe acid and shoot fire from its claws. |
| 262 | ** Series/UltramanDyna foe Sildron is a mutant insect that possesses the ability to see into the future, allowing it to instantly know its enemy's next attack and counter with its AttackReflector. |
| 263 | ** ''Series/UltramanNexus'' liked this trope with its [[EldritchAbomination Space Beasts]], including Bugbuzun (a gross mix of a cicada, a cockroach, and a locust with an OverlyLongTongue and wings), Grantella (a scorpion-crab mix that shoots lasers from its stinger tail), and Banpira (a GiantSpider that produces fog to hide its presence and can erase memories of its existence). |
| 264 | ** Insectas from ''Series/UltramanMebius'' resembles a a stag beetle-rhinoceros beetle hybrid. It can command swarms of normal-sized insects to swarm foes. [[PeopleInRubberSuits The suit]] possesses six legs with the actor's arms hidden in the pincers, instead of the usual FourLeggedInsect design used for ''Ultra Series'' bug kaiju. |
| 265 | * The MonsterOfTheWeek in ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Folie a Deux" is a giant insectoid... ''thing'' of some sort. It's hard to say ''what'' it actually is, as it moves so quickly and continuously that there's no way to get a good look at it. This was the result of [[ObscuredSpecialEffects the FX team desperately trying to hide how bad the suit looked]], but [[NothingIsScarier not being able to keep it in sight makes the creature all the more disturbing]]. |
| 266 | [[/folder]] |
| 267 | |
| 268 | [[folder:Magazine]] |
| 269 | * ''{{Magazine/Analog}}'': |
| 270 | ** The [[Recap/Analog1930 January 1930 cover]] has four beetles the size of human beings fighting with two men and a woman in a desert. |
| 271 | ** The [[Recap/Analog1931 May 1931 cover]] has an [[OurGiantsAreBigger enormous]] bug-like creature, attacking a group of three humans, each of which is roughly the size of one of its eyes. |
| 272 | [[/folder]] |
| 273 | |
| 274 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 275 | * The Music/CreatureFeature song "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth", being that's it's a FilkSong of ''{{Film/Them}}''. |
| 276 | * An unusually intelligent and benevolent example from the Happiness Stan cycle on Music/TheSmallFaces' psychedelia ConceptAlbum Music/OgdensNutGoneFlake. A fly offers Stan a favour in return for a share of his meat pie; Stan is able to make the fly huge in order to transport him on his quest. |
| 277 | [[/folder]] |
| 278 | |
| 279 | [[folder:Mythology and Religion]] |
| 280 | * Beelzebub, the aptly named "Lord of the Flies" and [[VillainousGlutton Patron Demon of Gluttony]], is often depicted as [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Beelzebub.png a gigantic flying insect]]. The name is also an alternate name for {{Satan}}. Some writers take the less cool option that Beelzebub is just a nickname for Satan comparing him to a pile of dung that attracts flies (hence "Lord of the Flies"). |
| 281 | * Greek mythology has the myrmekes, giant ants attracted to precious metals that hoard treasure in Indian deserts. Legend has it that locals take courageous hit-and-run raids of their gold stores, giving them vast wealth. |
| 282 | * ''Literature/TheVoyageOfMaelDuin'': The first unknown island seen by the voyagers after being carried off into the western ocean is overrun by giant ants, "each of them the size of a foal". At the approach of the ship, the ants gather at the strand and try to swim toward the ship, making the voyagers flee in terror. |
| 283 | [[/folder]] |
| 284 | |
| 285 | [[folder:Pinball]] |
| 286 | * True to the source, the Bugs in ''Pinball/StarshipTroopers'' all easily dwarf a typical Mobile Infantry human. |
| 287 | [[/folder]] |
| 288 | |
| 289 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 290 | * In ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'', Magnus and Merle end up fighting a cockroach while shrunk. Later, (back to regular size), they fight giant tardigrades. |
| 291 | * ''Podcast/TrialsAndTrebuchets'': |
| 292 | ** Golapedra, the Second Eldest of the Plane of Isathil, is [[CreepyCentipedes a centipede the length of a city block]]. |
| 293 | ** The party face off against a Retriever, a robotic GiantSpider, during the [[TournamentArc Autumn's End duels]]. |
| 294 | ** [[CreepyCentipedes Enormous, centipede-like monsters]] called Remorhaz stalk the frozen waters around the city of Troisle. |
| 295 | * Briefly mentioned in the ''Podcast/RelativeDisasters'' episode when describing the life forms that lived during the late Cretaceous period. |
| 296 | [[/folder]] |
| 297 | |
| 298 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 299 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Arduin}}'': Blue bellowers are beetles the size of elephants. |
| 300 | * ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'': The ''Pests of a Colossal Size'' spell turns turns fleas, ticks, mites, etc. present upon a target into very large versions of themselves. |
| 301 | * ''TabletopGame/BleakWorld'' has Wereroaches, which are one of the only two werbeasts that can change at will (the other being werewolves). Their beast form is a six foot tall cockroach, and it is repeatedly noted that they are likely the strongest breed of werebeast, having the ability to fly and lift hundreds of times their own weight. |
| 302 | * ''TabletopGame/TheBookOfUnremittingHorror'': Torture dogs resemble giant mammalian cyborg weevils, with whirring power drills between their oversized, prehensile mandibles. |
| 303 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 304 | ** Numerous giant insects have appeared over the years, including bees, wasps, and ticks, as well as creatures like the manscorpion (a race of ScorpionPeople) and the formians, a race of Law-aligned Outsiders in the form of human-sized ants. |
| 305 | ** ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'': The thri-kreen are a desert-dwelling nomadic race of mantis-men. Many of them have [[PsychicPowers psionic abilities.]] |
| 306 | ** The Hivebrood are a version from Basic/Expert/etc ''D&D'' which doubles as TheVirus. |
| 307 | ** Araneas are giant (4ft long, 2ft wide) spiders originally introduced in TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}. They're fully sapient, ''smarter'' than the average human, [[MageSpecies naturally adept at magic]], and [[VoluntaryShapeshifting therianthrope-style shapeshifters, with a single inherent humanoid form as well as a natural spider form]]. Also, they're ''not'' AlwaysChaoticEvil but typically Neutral, admittedly tending towards being arrogant, manipulative {{jerkass}}es. In fact, they're an official player race in the Red Steel subsetting. |
| 308 | ** Umber hulks are towering beetle monsters whose hulking build and powerful arms are backed up by a magical confusion gaze. |
| 309 | ** Ankhegs are large burrowing insects that look a bit like giant rove beetles and are able to spew acid from their mandibles. |
| 310 | ** Gloomwings are giant predatory moths from the [[DarkWorld Plane of Shadow]] with swirling hypnotic patterns on their wings. Their caterpillars, known as Tenebrous Worms, are even bigger and more ferocious than them, possessing venomous quills composed of a shadowy substance. |
| 311 | ** ''TabletopGame/EpicLevelHandbook'': Vermiurges resemble dragonfly-winged scorpions in the same size range as giants. |
| 312 | * ''TabletopGame/TheEndOfTheWorld'': In the "Skitter" scenario, several meteor strikes bring forth a race of horse-sized alien ants known as Myrmidons. They quickly overrun Earth, cutting down forests, tunneling beneath cities, and capturing humans for food in their mountain-sized mounds. |
| 313 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Godforsaken}}'': |
| 314 | ** Krao control 2.5m long ant-like insects as mounts and guardians, and employ 1-foot (30 cm) long insect builders to build tunnel-ridden mounds of hardened earth. |
| 315 | ** Aarak are beetle-like insects that range from the size of a large dog to that of a small horse. |
| 316 | * ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'': The [[Creator/FranzKafka Ungeziefer]] from ''Urban Magic'' is a [[TheWoobie pitiable]] version of this. Formerly humans they're now giant cockroaches suffering from chronic depression. |
| 317 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Monsterpocalypse}}'' has the Savage Swarm, which are giant radioactive bugs the destroy anything that has bright lights. |
| 318 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' has the Giant Radioactive Mutant Cockroaches, at least in the goofier styles of play. |
| 319 | * ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'': Venus has many species of giant insects including ants, the Trip Line Spider, giant dragonflies and wasps. Some of the small ones are even worse. |
| 320 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Planebreaker}}'': Vux and nux are reminiscent of blood-red giant wasps or hornets. Vux are six feet long and have venomed stingers as one might expect; nux [[AcidAttack spray acid]] instead and are eight feet long. |
| 321 | * ''TabletopGame/RangersOfShadowDeep'': Giant {{giant spider}}s and flies are a common enemy in many scenarios. |
| 322 | * ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'': Venus is home to many species of giant arthropods, including giant ants, spiders, dragonflies and wasps. |
| 323 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Insect spirits are incorporeal entities that possess people and turn their hosts into a human (or dwarf, elf, ork or troll)-sized mixture of humanoid and arthropod. |
| 324 | * ''TabletopGame/TheStrange'': |
| 325 | ** Cataclyst roaches are human-sized roaches with human faces. Similarly oversized roaches inhabit the Crater in the outskirts of New Centropolis, over the ruins of the old Centropolis. |
| 326 | ** Some insects in Mesozoica are large enough to challenge a ''T. rex''. |
| 327 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Talislanta}}'' has a ton of freakish fantastic versions, such as flying leeches, snap-jawed worms, and hive-dwelling semi-humanoid ''scorpions''. |
| 328 | * ''TabletopGame/TechInfantry'': The larger castes of Bugs can be easily [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever fifty feet tall]]. |
| 329 | * ''TabletopGame/TheyCameFromBeneathTheSea'': |
| 330 | ** Aquatepillars are massive, multicolored sea slug-like creatures ranging from 10 feet long and 3 feet in diameter to 30 feet long and 12 feet in diameter. They are slow but relentless predators that attempt to slam into potential meals (aka, anything made of flesh) in order to paralyze them with the venomous hairs adorning their bodies before devouring their prey. They have voracious appetites and whilst capable of feeding on plantlife, they prefer flesh. |
| 331 | ** The Primordials known as Bonellia Viridis Terribilis are literally spoonworms, a real-world aquatic invertebrate, grown large enough to feed on humans. |
| 332 | ** The Gigantic Pillbugs are humanoid shaped and man-sized marine isopods. |
| 333 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Wanderhome}}'': Bugs serve as the pets, livestock, and wild creatures of Hæth, so they are accordingly large. Unlike most depiction of giant bugs, they are supposed to be less creepy and more cuddly. |
| 334 | * ''Franchise/{{Warhammer}}'': |
| 335 | ** ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'': Yanth is a jungle-covered DeathWorld home to a tremendous variety of insects, which range in size from ones that would pass unremarked in an Earth garden to others that can bat aside a heavy tank with ease. |
| 336 | ** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': |
| 337 | *** The original concept of the Tyranids was insects crossed with dinosaurs and while their look has developed more towards the latter they still retain a number of insectoid elements such as a HiveMind, swarms, Queens and their six limbs. |
| 338 | *** Catachan Devils are a species of gigantic centipede-like alien predators with scorpion claws and stingers. |
| 339 | ** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': Alarielle the Everqueen, Goddess of Life, rides into battle on the back of a Wardroth Beetle, a giant-sized combination of a stag beetle and a Hercules beetle. |
| 340 | ** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': The Forest Goblins frequently use giant spiders the size of St. Bernards as cavalry, as well as some the size of moving vans for their shamans and bosses to ride to war on. They also have Arachnarok Spiders, which carry catapults on their backs and are so big Games Workshop had to come up with a custom base for the model. |
| 341 | * ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'': |
| 342 | ** The Nidmuzug, or, more plainly, the Unclean. Humans who ate food contaminated by the spiritual taint that all Nidmuzugs emit and found themselves turning into were''cockroaches''. Their hybrid form is a giant, humanoid cockroach that can have a poisonous bite or claw attack. Their "beast form" is a swarm of hundreds of cockroaches, all controlled by a single mind. Interestingly, they come off as quite [[TheWoobie miserable]] rather than scary. They lose absolutely none of their humanity in the whole BodyHorror process, and they can't live among humans since light hurts their eyes. The elders eventually become estranged from their human sides, but given the general misery that is their existence, it seems more like Unclean who ''[[DrivenToSuicide survive]]'' to that point used the logic of "You know what? [[JerkassWoobie Fuck you]], [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy I]] ''[[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds am]]'' [[TragicMonster a monster]]!" |
| 343 | ** Then there's the more conventional creepies, like the Azlu, or Spider Hosts. They're spiritual parasites who infiltrate human bodies, consume the brain, and turn the body into a puppet. They can turn into giant spiders at will, and are almost singularly dedicated to strengthening the barrier between Earth and the [[SpiritWorld Hisil]]... which [[EverythingTryingToKillYou you'd think would be a good thing]], but with less traffic between Earth and the Hisil, things start to get spiritually barren on this side of existence, leading to general turmoil. |
| 344 | * ''TabletopGame/TheWitcherGameOfImagination'': Just to name few out of a rather big bunch there are scorpions in size of a cow, crab-spiders able to chop your leg with their pincers and ygherns, centipedes measured in meters. As a whole, they a;; have have strong carapaces, most of them are poisonous and all of them are always hungry. Oh, and they are the only creatures immune to the ChunkySalsaRule. |
| 345 | * ''TabletopGame/WorldTreeRPG'': Some creatures resemble outsized arthropods of various sorts. Zonn, for instance, are essentially grasshoppers the size of cattle. |
| 346 | * ''TabletopGame/TheYellowKing'': Slitherers look like three- to four-foot-long myriapods with gnarled carapaces. |
| 347 | [[/folder]] |
| 348 | |
| 349 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 350 | * ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': |
| 351 | ** Many of the rahi qualify, such as the Nui Jaga (giant scorpion) and Nui Rama (giant wasp-like creature). |
| 352 | ** The Visorak, an army of giant intelligent spiders. |
| 353 | [[/folder]] |
| 354 | |
| 355 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 356 | * An Egyptian player that chooses to worship [[WarGoddess Sekhmet]] during the Heroic Age in ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' can train [[ScarabPower Scarabs]] as a myth unit; they are [[ToughBeetles dung beetles]], but ''HUGE''. And instead of dung, they prefer to eat buildings, essentially making them living siege weapons. |
| 357 | * ''VideoGame/AkaManto'': You can encounter a [[CreepyCentipedes centipede]] the size of a snake crawling through [[AirVentPassageway the vents]]. |
| 358 | * ''VideoGame/AliceInWonderland2010'': The Mushroom Forest is populated with [[MosquitoMiscreants gigantic mosquitoes]]. |
| 359 | * In ''VideoGame/ARKSurvivalEvolved'', they're probably the second most plentiful creatures after dinosaurs, from pony-sized spiders and scorpions to dragonflies and ants the size of dogs. [[RuleOfCool Most of them can also be domesticated.]] |
| 360 | * ''VideoGame/BangaiO'': In ''Bangai-O Spirits'' and ''Missile Fury'', one of the enemy types that you face off with are giant ants (of varying sizes). [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere For no particular reason]]. |
| 361 | * ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': The first game features Tickers (large pink termites), Buzzbombs (large yellow dragonflies) and Scabbies (large, rounded flying scarabs colored black and yellow). The Tickers can be found in Mumbo's Mountain and the Christmas tree of Freezeezy Peak, the Buzzbombs appear in Bubblegloop Swamp and the autumn period of Click Clock Wood, the Scabbies appear in Gobi's Valley, and all three of them roam the entrances to their respective levels in Gruntilda's Lair. Click Clock Wood also has the Zubbas, which fall under WickedWasps. |
| 362 | * ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'': There are the Swarmers which are bug-like creatures native to the planet of Ekkunar and the moon of Bliss. These indigenous enemies per their name are known for [[ZergRush swarming in large numbers]] and being a general nuisance for the Battleborn. They come in two types. There's the regular type that is relatively small in size for a giant bug and easy to kill but capable of high damage especially in large numbers. Then there's the swollen type which are larger and tougher than their smaller counterparts but aren't as aggressive, relying instead on [[WeaponizedOffspring spawning tiny Swarmers]] to attack targets. |
| 363 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'': Several of the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Infernal Demons]] [[SummonBiggerFish summoned]] by the titular character of the series are enormous creepy crawlies. There's Phantasmaraneae, a GiantSpider that lives in the magma pools of [[{{Hell}} Inferno]], and also [[CreepyCentipedes Scolopendra]], a demonic centipede that makes it's home in a river of boiling blood and is stated to grow up to ''six miles long!'' Both of these huge creepy crawlies make a return in [[VideoGame/Bayonetta2 the sequel]], only this time as enemies instead of as summonable allies. |
| 364 | * ''VideoGame/BioHazardBattle'': Tons of them abound in the game, which takes place after a virus causes a planet's lifeforms to grow to massive proportions. |
| 365 | * In ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'', there are lots of maggots in various sizes and levels of threat. |
| 366 | * The main enemies of ''VideoGame/BodyHarvest'' are giant alien locusts -- in fact, the average ones are about your character's size. |
| 367 | * ''VideoGame/BubbleAndSqueak'': The first enemies in the game are big-eyed cute-looking bugs that are as big as a small dog. |
| 368 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bug|1995}}'' has insectoid Mooks the same size as the titular character, but it is subverted as the player character himself is a bug. Then you see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73sZVG3o_bQ the ending]], which shows that Bug and the insectoid enemies (who are actually actors) are about half the size of a human! |
| 369 | * ''VideoGame/BugsVsTanks'' probably qualifies. All the bugs in the game are normal sized... you're just really tiny. |
| 370 | * ''VideoGame/ChipsChallenge'' has yellow-colored bugs (the exact species isn't confirmed, but their sprites are based on bumblebees so they're likely that) which walk around walled areas in a counterclockwise pattern. Like all mooks present in the game, they're as large as Chip and move as fast as he does, so dealing with them isn't always an easy task. These bugs also appear frequently in all fan sequels, but the official sequel ''Chip's Challenge 2'' replaces them with orange-colored ants, which retain the same behavior. |
| 371 | * Many of the native alien creatures in ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'' resemble giant bugs. Wolf Beetles are the size of Terran wolves and exhibit similar pack behaviours. Drones are wasps that are bigger than men. Raptor Bugs are even larger, the size of horses, and colonies following the [[GoingNative Harmony affinity]] can [[HorseOfADifferentColour breed and train them to use as mounts]]. The in-game encyclopaedia compares the planet's ecosystem to that of Earth during the Carboniferous period. |
| 372 | * In the ''Mutant Insects'' game of ''VideoGame/CombatOfGiants'', you ''play'' as one of them. It is also a sort of exception given that the PlayerCharacter is trying to ''resist'' the HiveMind. |
| 373 | * Although it probably isn't canonical (its counterpart in ''Tiberian Dawn'' wasn't), ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'' features what the fans called 'the Secret Ant Missions', so called because it is a hidden (small) campaign about giant ants. The light-red ants '''shoot fireballs'''. |
| 374 | * ''VideoGame/TheConduit'' has creepy crawlies of all sizes, but the big ones include the man-sized Drones, the eight-feet-tall Scarabs, and the tank-sized Invaders. |
| 375 | * ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'': Large, red-colored dung beetles inhabit the excremental mountain that is located in the east side of the Windy area, including the Poo Cabin and the inner mountain that makes up for the Sloprano area. Some of them are jerks (the first four have to be killed because they won't let Conker move onto the mountain or even the alternate path that leads to the Barn Boys area), but most are actually friendly; one of them asks you to defeat the Great Mighty Poo, who's been eating them one by one and terrorizing the survivors. |
| 376 | * Leaving a house empty for too long in ''VideoGame/{{Constructor}}'' results in it being populated by an 8-foot tall cockroach that likes to walk around the neighborhood on [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter two feet]]. Needless to say, the neighbors don't like them influencing their children. |
| 377 | * ''VideoGame/CrossedSwords'' have giant insectoid enemies in both games, the most prominent being gigantic caterpillars that takes up an entire screen as recurring GiantMook enemies. |
| 378 | * ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': Among the monsters you can encounter in the various dungeons are giant Maggots, two types of GiantSpider (Spitters, who spew Blight-inducing venom, and Webbers, who can slow, mark, or even stun your heroes with their webs), the worm-like Carrion Eaters found in the Warrens, and the snail-like Sea Maggots. The ''Crimson Court'' expansion adds the Bloodsuckers, which are [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires styled after mosquitoes]], who look vaguely humanoid at first but will [[GameFace drop any pretense of humanity and become mutated, bug-like monstrosities at their first taste of blood.]] |
| 379 | * ''VideoGame/{{Daxter}}'': While not all Metal Bugs are terribly enormous, some (Particularly, the ''Altum sonatur'' and [[WickedWasps Stripe Mine hive queens]], as well as [[spoiler: [[BigBad Metal Kaeden]]]]) are significantly bigger than adult humans, let alone the titular ottsel. |
| 380 | * The [=ChCh=]-t from the ''VideoGame/{{Deadlock}}'' series. They have a queen, pincer claws instead of hands, a scorpion tail, and all the other usual bug characteristics. They are also a playable race. |
| 381 | * The entire point of ''VideoGame/DeadlyCreatures''. Well, except that the creepy crawlies are normal sized, but you're ''playing as them''. |
| 382 | * ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'' has [[http://devilmaycry.wikia.com/wiki/Beelzebub Beelzebubs]], insects that have grown to enormous proportions as a result of possession by demons. They come in two varieties: the blue Beelzebubs that resemble flies and can spit out maggots that stop you from using guns; and the green Beelzebubs that resemble mantises. |
| 383 | * The [[OurCryptidsAreMoreMysterious Insulidian Plasmid]] in ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' is a ten-foot tall stick insect. [[spoiler:Unlike most examples of the trope it can communicate with something resembling telepathy, and is shy and compassionate.]] |
| 384 | * ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'': Zingers are large bees that often serve as invincible barriers in levels, and have boss versions in multiple games. You get to explore a giant beehive, too... |
| 385 | * ''VideoGame/DragonsCrown'': The Doom Beetle boss is a monstrous beetle more than twice the size of your characters. It's also the adult stage of human-sized giant Worms that had been mutated by magic, so failing to kill these Worms before they emerge from their cocoons during the boss battle will make you fight even more Doom Beetles. However, there's one good thing about these Giant Worms: Their meat apparently makes for good eating, to the point that in the Treasure Art where you collect Worm cocoon sample for some researchers, [[spoiler:adventurers specifically mention the giant worms as a convenient source of protein [[GoneHorriblyWrong after the inevitable happens]] and the giant worms escaped into the wild and began breeding unchecked]]. |
| 386 | * ''VideoGame/DynaGear'' have your character being trapped on a prehistoric planet full of giant monsters. Naturally, you get harassed by oversized insects in several levels. |
| 387 | * The ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce'' series pits players against a massive army of giant ants, spiders, and wasps, supported by HumongousMecha. |
| 388 | ** ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce5'': Like in previous titles a number of enemies appear to be a variety of giant mindless bugs rampaging around the area. |
| 389 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': |
| 390 | ** Giant spiders are a common enemy creature in several games in the series. They are often venomous and are capable of [[AllWebbedUp trapping human-sized prey in their webs]] (and in one case, even a ''woolly mammoth''). |
| 391 | ** Land Dreughs appear in several games, and are large, vicious, humanoid crabs. They are a temporary form of the typical aquatic Dreugh (who more closely resemble [[FishPeople humanoid octopi]]), and come onto land to breed. They possess a natural [[ShockAndAwe shock attack]] and have been known to cocoon their victims to serve as food for their young. |
| 392 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' has the Kwama family of creatures, ranging from the grub-like Kwama Foragers to the adolescent wood louse-like Scrib, to the larger Kwama Workers, Warriors, and Queens. They lay eggs which are a staple of the Dunmeri diet. Shalks are a large black beetle with natural [[PlayingWithFire fire magic abilities]]. |
| 393 | ** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' has Chaurus, which are large, corrosive acid spitting, subterranean insects often found domesticated by the [[TheMorlocks Falmer]], who use Chaurus chitin to craft weapons and armor. Like a cicada, when a Chaurus reaches the end of its life cycle, its body gives birth to a Chaurus Hunter, which is a more dangerous winged variety. |
| 394 | * ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'': Many of the F.O.E. found in the games' strata are large, empowered insects ready to ruin the existence of whoever comes at them unprepared. Examples include the Servitor Ants (bred by the enormous Ant Queen), the Moth Lords, and the Death Mantis. |
| 395 | * ''VideoGame/{{Factorio}}'' has the creatively titled [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin bugs]], which come in a variety of sizes, none of which are smaller than a man. The largest bugs are the size of a dump truck and can shrug off high-explosive rockets and flame attacks. Tiered walls, turret rings, and possibly [[CarFu ramming trains riding in circles around the base]] are necessary to prevent massed bug attacks from breaching into your factories and wreaking havoc with the delicate machinery. [[GaiasVengeance Bugs are made aggressive by pollution]], so creating low-pollution factories inside forests can prevent them from attacking. |
| 396 | * ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'': |
| 397 | ** As a result of the setting being heavily inspired by the motifs and aesthetics of AtomPunk science fiction from the fifties, the game world is crawling with a wide variety of insects and other arthropods [[NuclearMutant turned gigantic by exposure to radiation]], including two-foot-long Radroaches, Radscorpions that grow upwards of six feet long, Giant Ants, some of which breathe fire and others of which fly, Bloodbugs, who are giant mosquitoes that suck your blood and spit it back at you, and Stingwings, scorpionflies the size of birds of prey. |
| 398 | ** A quest in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' involving said fire breathing ants reveals they were given this ability by a scientist who was attempting to return them to a normal size. Naturally, things [[GoneHorriblyWrong went horribly wrong]]. |
| 399 | ** One of the worst of them is the Legendary Bloatfly in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas: Old World Blues'', a simple [[TheGoomba Bloatfly]] -- one of the weakest enemies in the games -- the size of Beelzebub with a SicklyGreenGlow around it that hits harder than some of the toughest enemies in the games. |
| 400 | ** Cazadores break from the pattern somewhat: instead of being nuclear mutants, they originated as tarantula hawk wasps who were genetically engineered to grow to huge sizes by a MadScientist with [[ForScience nothing better to do]]. |
| 401 | ** A number of {{Giant Enemy Crab}}s show up as well, such as the series-wide Mirelurks, as well as the truck-sized Hermit Crabs and two-story-tall Fog Crawlers from the ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' expansion ''Far Harbour''. Fittingly, these tend to be the biggest creepy crawlies in the games they appear in. |
| 402 | * In ''VideoGame/FellSealArbitersMark'' you can encounter giant beetles called Bzzerks on some maps. |
| 403 | * Common enemies if ''VideoGame/FeralFury'' are gigantic, plasma-spitting flies. |
| 404 | * ''VideoGame/FinAndTheAncientMystery'': The first enemy type Fin encounters in the game are gigantic green bugs. |
| 405 | * ''VideoGame/FoxNForests'': Enemies in the game include insects that look roughly the size of [[PlayerCharacter Rick]]'s head, and ants the size of cars. Oh, and there's also, as one boss, the [=GIGANTIC=] queen of the wasps. |
| 406 | * ''VideoGame/FreeSpace'': The bug-like Shivans overlap with InsectoidAliens. They are intelligent and possess extremely advanced technology, and their agility and strength means they don't so much creep and crawl as leap, smash, and throw armored soldiers around like toy dolls. [[spoiler: They may also be cybernetic, and are permanent space-dwellers since their hind legs are configured in a way that only makes sense if they habitually live in free-fall.]] |
| 407 | * ''VideoGame/{{Furwind}}'': The PlayerCharacter can jump into the air and perform a ground pound. It's useful for destroying obstacles that he needs to get under. |
| 408 | * ''VideoGame/GarfieldsNightmare'': |
| 409 | ** The castle levels has large, green-colored beetles that roam across the ground; Garfield can defeat them with a basic stomp. Some big red spiders appear as well, swinging back and forth from ceilings with the help of their web threads. |
| 410 | ** In the volcanic levels, some thick dragonflies with hummingbird-like beaks fly around and will attack Garfield upon first sight. |
| 411 | * ''VideoGame/GianaSistersDS'': Bugs (red-bellied black beetles) and Worms (red-spiked green worms) are as large as Giana. |
| 412 | * ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' features several variants of big arthropods, from the merely large to the truly gargantuan. One of the best-known varieties is the "devourer", a twin-tailed scorpion which proliferates throughout the Charr regions; these things can, especially if domesticated, grow as big as a house and can be used as mobile artillery platforms. (Devourer eggs, especially pickled ones, are considered quite the delicacy by Charr.) Sea scorpions (see the RealLife section below) are a common denizen of Tyria's salt-water seas. Overgrown spiders, mosquitoes, wasps and grubs are ubiquitous pests. On the other hand, rangers can tame juvenile spiders and devourers and adopt them as pets/companions. |
| 413 | * The antlions in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. |
| 414 | * The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series has Drones, who are sapient aliens that look sort of like a cross between a moth and a beetle. |
| 415 | * ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndHisDesktopAdventures'' has {{giant spider}}s and [[ScaryScorpions scorpions]], about as big as Indy, as the [[TheGoomba weakest enemies]] in the game--at the easier difficulty levels they'll barely do any damage, and it's easier to simply ignore them. |
| 416 | * ''VideoGame/IntoTheBreach'': Humanity's main threat are the Vek, who style themselves as giant bugs, such as scorpions, fireflies and hornets. |
| 417 | * ''VideoGame/KidBabyStarchild'': One of the enemy types encountered in the game are giant bugs with sharp teeth. |
| 418 | * Beetle Mania in ''VideoGame/KingOfTheMonsters''. |
| 419 | * ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'': |
| 420 | ** The recurring [[ToughBeetles Bugzzy]] enemy is a giant stag beetle that attacks with wrestling moves. It also has a counterpart called Hornhead who was introduced in ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe''. |
| 421 | ** Also coming from ''Triple Deluxe'', Queen Sectonia is an InsectQueen who is the BigBad of the main game. She soon [[FusionDance combines herself]] with the Dreamstalk so she can rule all over Popstar. Her servant Taranza somewhat qualifies as well. [[spoiler:It's implied that she wasn't always a wasp, however. In ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', a clone of her is fought in ''Meta Knightmare Returns'' and ''The True Arena''. After she is defeated, she somewhat turns into a spider-like creature resembling her former friend.]] |
| 422 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Kolibri}}'' the insects are normal-sized, but the player character is a hummingbird, so in context many of them are giants. |
| 423 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 424 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'': The first game in the series introduces Gohma, which would go on to grow into a family of boss monsters with a large eye as their weakness; in some games (such as ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]''), there are mook versions as well. With one exception, all of them are {{Giant Spider}}s. The outlier is the incarnation in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'', as there it's a large centipede that inhabits the lava beneath the top of Dragon Roost Island, and serves as the KingMook version of the Magtail. |
| 425 | ** ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': |
| 426 | *** Boons are flies large enough to fly while carrying around good-sized rocks. |
| 427 | *** Dealers are {{Giant Spider}}s around Link's size. |
| 428 | *** Geldarms are centipedes considerably longer than Link is tall. |
| 429 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': The game introduces Mothula, a very dangerous large moth that serves as the boss of Skull Woods, and has since appeared in later games (including mook versions in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''. |
| 430 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': There's both a dragonfly mook with an electrified tail in the BubblegloopSwamp region at the south, and a DualBoss of centipedes (Twinmold) in Stone Tower Temple. For the latter, it's recommended to use the Giant's Mask to attack the weak points (heads and tails) more easily. |
| 431 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': The light stolen to the guardian spirits has to be retrieved by killing electric, luminiscent Shadow Bugs. Their queen is the Twilit Bloat, found in Lake Hylia. |
| 432 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'': Stagnox is a gigantic stag beetle that charges at Link during battle, though its abdomen can be hurt. In the first phase, it's necessary to remove the surrounding poison from the abdomen; in the second phase, stunning it requires hitting the head with an explosive instead. |
| 433 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'' has winged Gibdo variants that resemble demonic moths, and Queen Gibdo is clearly an insectoid behemoth. |
| 434 | * ''VideoGame/LepsWorld'': A lot of the enemies in the game are bugs just a head smaller than the PlayerCharacter. |
| 435 | * Almost every single enemy in ''VideoGame/LetsGoJungle: Lost On The Island Of Spice''. Most of which are {{Giant Spider}}s. In fact, the only three enemies that aren't creepy crawlies of some sort are the frogs, [[PiranhaProblem piranhas]], and the ManEatingPlant boss. |
| 436 | * ''VideoGame/LethalCompany'' has its fair share of deadly insectoid aliens. Hoarding Bugs are fat beetle-like {{Bandit Mook}}s that collect scrap they find around and protect their nests if a player disturbs them, Snare Fleas hang around ceilings and drop on players in an attempt to suffocate them, and of course there are the [[GiantSpider Bunker Spiders]]. |
| 437 | * ''Videogame/{{Littlewood}}'': Whirlybugs resemble giant spiders, but have propellers where their spinnerets would be. They're also thoroughly friendly. |
| 438 | * ''VideoGame/MachineHunter'' have giant insects as minor enemies; notably roaches larger than humans in the hospital and sewer levels, and dragonflies in the swamps. |
| 439 | * ''VideoGame/{{Madagascar}}'': The "baobab worms" which appear in ''Coming of Age'' are enormous pink caterpillars. Given their size compared to Melman, they're as large as a human. |
| 440 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Rachni resemble a hybrid of a spider and a prawn, but the Rachni Queen appears the most buglike. You also run into klixen a few times, which are crab-bug monsters the size of a man that breathe fire, and the [[spoiler:Leviathan]] are shaped rather like cuttlefish but have a semi-insectoid appearance due to their thick plates and articulated, rather than muscular, tentacles. |
| 441 | * ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has six-foot tall, humanoid shaped '''ants''' that can only be [[KillItWithFire killed with fire.]] |
| 442 | * Many levels in Chapter 5 of ''Super VideoGame/MeatBoy'' are filled with large maggots. Often there are piles of them. The chapter boss itself consists of 3 of the largest maggots. |
| 443 | * ''Franchise/MegaMan'': |
| 444 | ** Junk Man's stage from ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'' contains several nests of cockroaches called Gockroach S. |
| 445 | ** Quite a few Mavericks from the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series are anthropomorphic, larger-than-normal robot creepy crawlies ([[VideoGame/MegaManX1 Boomer Kuwanger]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX2 Morph Moth, Magna Centipede, Crystal Snail]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX3 Blast Hornet, Gravity Beetle]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX4 Web Spider]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX5 Shining Firefly]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX6 Commander Yammark, Ground Scaravich]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX7 Splash Warfly]], [[VideoGame/MegaManX8 Dark Mantis and Gravity Antonion]]). |
| 446 | * Plenty of big creepy crawlies exist in the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' games. Even the metroids themselves have a few characteristics usually associated with bugs. |
| 447 | * ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight'' brings us the Spiderbugs, which infest some of the Metro tunnels and are so feared that a large group chasing you breaks off pursuit rather than follow you into their territory. They're roughly the size of a malamute, the males of the species have [[BewareMyStingerTail giant scorpion-like stingers on them]] and their upper carapaces are ImmuneToBullets. |
| 448 | * In ''VideoGame/MichiganReportFromHell'', the second report you're with can die from a big (relatively, it couldn't hide behind a beer can) scary spider if it jumps on her and bites. You can knock her out of the way, or if you see it enough it scurries off. |
| 449 | * ''VideoGame/MightyAphid'': The vast majority of enemies in the game are giant bugs created by [[BigBad Lady Bug]] using the powerful moon gems that she stole from Dr. Cavor. |
| 450 | * ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': Giant arthropods are the second-most prevalent type of enemies after TheUndead. The most common are the player-sized {{Giant Spider}}s, but there are also dog-sized cave spiders, chicken-sized bees, and cat-sized silverfish[[note]]In real life, silverfish are around as long as fingernail[[/note]]. As an in-game category, they're united by their common weakness to weapons enchanted with [[WeaponOfXSlaying Bane of Arthropods]]. |
| 451 | * ''VideoGame/MinecraftDungeons'': The spiders from regular ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' are here, including the venomous Cave Spiders. |
| 452 | * ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' has its fair share of insectoid monsters (known in-game as "Neopterons.") The small ones mostly serve as [[GoddamnedBats minor annoyances]] at worst, to the point that [[NoBodyLeftBehind their bodies usually splatter]] upon death, meaning no carcass for you to carve parts from, but the ''really'' big ones are strong enough to serve as a BossBattle in their own right. |
| 453 | ** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2004'': |
| 454 | *** Hornetaur are relatively docile beetle-like small monsters that jump and try to stab you with their horns once angered. |
| 455 | *** Vespoids are flying wasp-like monsters that zip around erratically and possess a paralytic sting. In ''[[VideoGame/MonsterHunterFreedom2 Freedom Unite]]'', they're led by a [[KingMook Vespoid Queen.]] |
| 456 | ** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'': |
| 457 | *** Bnahabra are similar to Vespoids, but they can also spit a corrosive goop that lowers elemental resistance based on region. Later games toned it down to "just" paralysis. |
| 458 | *** Altaroth are [[StrongAnts ant-like]] Neopterons that store items in their stretchy stomachs, then take it back to their nests and vomit it out like bees. Their bodies are even ''more'' [[MadeOfPlasticine fragile]] than most Neopterons; ''any'' lethal damage that isn't poison will splatter them. When their bellies are inflated, they'll drop an item upon being killed, depending on what's in them. In ''Rise'', they may leave a corpse to carve, however. |
| 459 | ** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterOnline'': Lightenna is a truck-sized Neopteron exclusive to the [[NoExportForYou Chinese-only]] MMO ''Monster Hunter Online'' that resembles a mix between a grasshopper and a beetle with its big horn. What's notable about it, however, are its wings. It doesn't resemble a grasshopper for nothing; when it rubs its wings together, it can generate an [[ShockAndAwe electromagnetic charge,]] which it can use to generate barriers and charge Hunters, changing who its positive and negatively charged thunder shots will target. The Poikilos subspecies, on the other hand, ditches this gimmick and instead generates Dragon energy using its wings. |
| 460 | ** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter4'': |
| 461 | *** The Seltas is a speedy large Neopteron who rams things with his horn; he can also shoot balls of water that [[DamageIncreasingDebuff reduce your defense.]] The Seltas Queen, on the other hand, is the Seltas' [[SpiderTank tank-like]] female counterpart, who likes to burrow, charge like a Tigrex, and can perform a devastating [[ChargedAttack charged water blast.]] The Seltas Queen calls Seltas as her minion during battle. He can mount her and shoot Stamina-sapping water blasts like a rotary turret, and his wings allow the [[MightyGlacier very heavy]] Seltas Queen to fly. Unfortunately for the poor Seltas, the Queen isn't too grateful for his help, as she'll slam him down onto the ground and ''[[MonstrousCannibalism eat]]'' him when she starts running low on stamina, then just [[WeHaveReserves call in another one.]] The [[JapaneseBeetleBrothers two-horned]] ''[[UndergroundMonkey Desert]]'' Seltas in ''4 Ultimate'' has it even ''worse,'' as the Queen [[FastballSpecial blasts him]] so hard at the pesky Hunters that he freaking ''[[NoBodyLeftBehind explodes...]]'' [[CrossesTheLineTwice upon which she'll just yank another Desert Seltas out of nowhere.]] Notably, their design and concept invokes the image of a CombiningMecha as well as that of a giant bug, which is also reflected in the armors you can craft with their materials. |
| 462 | *** Starting from this game, ''you'' can also use one, [[ImprobableWeaponUser as part of a weapon, no less!]] The Insect Glaive is a staff-like weapon that allows you to jump super high in the air, something only one other weapon is capable of (the Lance, and only during its DashAttack.) However, the other half of the weapon is the Kinsect, a roughly-coconut-sized insect that resides on your arm. You can command it to fly and [[PowerParasite bite monsters to leech "extracts" from them.]] Drinking the "extracts" the Kinsect brings back gives you several boost, up to and including [[CriticalHitClass boosts to Affinity]], [[StanceSystem a different standard attack chain]], [[NoSell the ability to ignore weak monster roars]], [[ImmuneToFlinching immunity to some types of knockbacks]], and [[LifeDrain restoring a bit of health.]] They start out as the weak Mauldrone or Culldrone, but by feeding them Jellies, Ambrosias, and assorted monster parts and materials, you can upgrade their stats and elemental powers to your liking. |
| 463 | ** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterGenerations Ultimate'': Ahtal-Ka is a [[BlingOfWar golden]] [[SlayingMantis mantis-esque]] Neopteron who builds a colossal nest out of abandoned materials with her silk, and can pick up objects bigger than she is to swing them around like an EpicFlail. However, this isn't the ''only'' notable thing about Ahtal-Ka. You see, she's called the "[[RedBaron Empress of Ruins]]" for a ''reason''. Ahtal-Ka is apparently [[ItCanThink smart]] enough to collect abandoned human siege materials, and then, using her silk, she builds ''a freaking [[HumongousMecha big silk]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Gundam]]'' called the Ahtal-Neset with the siege materials. She then goes on to raid ''active'' human fortresses and ''triple'' the Ahtal-Neset in size. Since the shinier the specimen, the more likely they are to attract a mate, she's also very interested in shiny objects, which is why you can mine her mecha for the [[PinataEnemy Golden Eggs, Platinum Eggs, Charms and various gems]] [[DragonHoard she stores within.]] |
| 464 | * The main enemies of the Namco arcade game ''{{VideoGame/Motos}}'' are space bugs that attach themselves to your base. The weaker versions look like different colored orbs, but as you progress, you encounter more powerful ones that actually resemble insects. |
| 465 | * ''VideoGame/MushroomKingdomFusion'' also has those man-sized maggots in Corpse of the Behemoth (4-7). |
| 466 | * In ''VideoGame/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasThePumpkinKing'', a prequel game to ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', a good deal of the enemies and several of the bosses are giant insects or arachnids. |
| 467 | * ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'': The minigame Bug Out! has Travis visit an apartment to exterminate a large group of grasshopers, bees, mice and scorpions, all of them being the same size as Travis himself if not bigger. The minigame is divided into four levels, with each one taking place in a wider room or floor than the last, and thus having more crawlies to deal with. |
| 468 | * ''VideoGame/NorthernJourney'' features a wide variety of big creepy crawlies, from the near-obligatory spiders to more rarely seen critters like diving beetles, ticks, and pseudoscorpions. |
| 469 | * ''VideoGame/OneDogStory'' has plenty of insectoid enemies as big as the PlayerCharacter. |
| 470 | * ''VideoGame/{{Overland}}'': The game’s enemies consist of hostile, alien-like creatures known colloquially as “Bugs”. They come in many shapes and varieties, but generally appear large, black and blocky with colorful tendrils protruding out of their bodies. |
| 471 | * The largest family of [[MadeOfEvil Darkers]] in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' consists of insectoids that generally don't bear much of a resemblance to any kind of real insect in particular (Some exceptions being the Gwanada, which is an antlion, and the Dicahda and Predicahda, which are mantises.) They vary in size from the knee-high, locust-like Krahdas to the three-story tall Dark Vibrace, which looks like a cross between a UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex and a rhinoceros beetle. |
| 472 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': The franchise has a large number of {{Mons}} that are based off of insects or arachnids, and all of them are huge compared to those found in real life. |
| 473 | ** This is quite typical of the in-game Bug-type. The absolute smallest member of this group is Joltik, a 4-inch-long tick. More common Bug mons like Caterpie tend to be around the size of small dog. The largest? Scolipede, an eight-foot tall, 442 lb., ''roaring'' centipede! |
| 474 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' have UB-02 Beauty Pheromosa and UB-02 Absorption Buzzwole; the former is a StatuesqueStunner of a roach woman while the later is a massive mosquito man with a body that puts ComicBook/{{Superman}} to shame. They are not to be trifled with. |
| 475 | ** And none of those hold a candle to the over 200' long Gigantimax Centiskorch in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', whose size and raw heat can destabilize air currents. |
| 476 | * In ''VideoGame/PotionPermit'', Crownmites, Goldenhorns, and Sandcrawls are beetles almost the size of the Chemist. They have [[HeavilyArmoredMook tough exoskeletons only breakable by hammer]], with the [[EliteMooks Goldenhorns' being much tougher.]] They [[FlippingHelpless flip over once their armor is destroyed, making them more vulnerable to attacks.]] |
| 477 | * ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': |
| 478 | ** The series liked to play this by having giant snakes, tarantulas, and a Black Tiger... a GiantSpider that Creator/{{Capcom}} specifically redesigned from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRemake'' on so it looks like an Australian funnelweb to make Chris or Jill shit themselves. |
| 479 | ** Drain Deimos and Brain Suckers (giant fleas) in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' and [[DemonicSpiders Reapers]] (giant bipedal roaches) in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''. |
| 480 | ** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'', according to the designers, all of the [[AdaptiveAbility "combat mutations"]] for the J'avo are based on this; mantis-like sickle-claws, legs being replaced by spider-legs or the body of a giant moth, armor-plating based on clumps of sea lice, CombatTentacles based on the body of a silkworm, replacing the head with a monstrous stag beetle or a cluster of three cicadas or the abdomens of two bees... Ironically, most of the "Complete Mutations" that pop out of chryssalids aren't insect-based, except for the one that turns the J'avo into [[TheWormThatWalks a sentient swarm of giant bees]]. |
| 481 | * In addition to multiple varieties of giant spiders which are about knee height to a player character, ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' also has Kalrag, which is a spider much bigger than the human player character (and surrounded by the smaller giant spiders; that portion of the relevant quest is not good for arachnophobics), as well as several forms of giant cockroach, and some giant beetles called kalphite, which range from workers the size of the aforementioned giant spiders, to the building sized Kalphite Queen. |
| 482 | * The Kitins of ''VideoGame/{{Ryzom}}'' are giant insects and shellfish that are largely responsible for the two [[BugWar Great Swarmings]] that have occurred in the game--one in its backstory, one in the game proper. They include the docile (and rather UglyCute) Kipee and Kiban, the GiantFlyer Kizoar and Kipesta, the downright terrifying (and huge) Kirosta, Kincher, Kinrey, and Kipucka, and the extremely rare (and extremely ugly) Kizarak. |
| 483 | * ''VideoGame/SeaSalt'': Many of the beginner units are giant arthropods, mollusks, and annelids -- specifically the Swarm (small arthropods resembling tiny [[Franchise/StarCraft Zerglings]]), the Worm (giant worms that spew acid), and [[GiantEnemyCrab Crabs]]. |
| 484 | * The PC version of ''VideoGame/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2004'' has giant mosquitoes as occasional enemies. Klaus [[LampshadeHanging comments]] that he's seen pictures of large mosquitoes in his books, but has never seen them that big. [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight Strangely, no one seems to pay much attention to their size]]. |
| 485 | * ''VideoGame/ShadeWrathOfAngels'' have enemies which are either TheUndead, or giant insects, including giant spiders, scorpions, and scarabs. The largest of these can and will chomp your head off with ease. |
| 486 | * ''VideoGame/ShadowGuardian'' have giant scarab beetles as enemies in the Luxor Temple, with a tank-sized scarab as a boss. |
| 487 | * The ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' series isn't a stranger to this trope. In fact, the giant roach monster (Buggs in the [[VideoGame/ShadowHearts1 first game]], Gregor in both ''[[VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant Covenant]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/ShadowHeartsFromTheNewWorld From the New World]]'') hold the honor of being the only enemy to appear in every game of the trilogy. Other Big Creepy Crawlies include Zosim (a wasp pupa infected by a parasitic snake), a flesh-eating [[CreepyCentipedes centipede]], large snails that feed on human blood, Megafilaria and Gigafilaria (magic-powered leech-like creatures) and Gatorback/Scorplinus (heavily-armoured scorpions). |
| 488 | * The first two ''VideoGame/{{Sinjid}}'' games contained giant bugs as low to mid-level enemies. ''Battle Arena'' had the [[TheGoomba weakly]] Purple Critter and its [[PaletteSwap stronger variants]], the Metal-Tailed Moth and the Spirit Bug, while ''Shadow of the Warrior'' had the [[WickedWasps Poison Wasp]], the first enemy to be found inside the Monster Portal. |
| 489 | * Several of the enemies in ''VideoGame/SolatoroboRedTheHunter'', including one called the "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin bigant]]". Elh thinks they are horrifying and demands that Red [[EekAMouse kill them immediately]]; Red, for his part, says they are "harmless" (despite the fact that they try to kill you [[EverythingTryingToKillYou like any other enemy]]), but usually goes about killing them anyway. |
| 490 | * ''VideoGame/{{Spiritfarer}}'': |
| 491 | ** Nebula pillbugs, the adults of which are about the size of a sheep. Thankfully, they're friendly. |
| 492 | ** Jacob, Stanley's pet ghost beetle, is almost as big as the mushroom child spirit himself. The ghost mites, which Stella can help Stanley and Jacob collect for their ectoplasm, are much smaller, but they're still relatively bigger than real-life mites. |
| 493 | * The draclets in ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'' are bugs that are big enough to eat a snow leopard. Thankfully, they won't harm Spyro. |
| 494 | %%* The Zerg of ''Franchise/StarCraft''. |
| 495 | * Skrashers in ''VideoGame/{{Startopia}}'': They develop aboard your station inside the trash-eating Memaus before bursting out as huge insectile monsters with giant claws to smash up your station. They can also turn up through a random event as a ShoutOut to ''Franchise/{{Alien}}''. |
| 496 | * ''VideoGame/SupaRoboGakuen'' features giant cockroaches in one sidequest - large enough to act as summoners, not monsters, in a {{Mons}} game! |
| 497 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': Some of the enemies in the series games appear to be giant insects. |
| 498 | ** ''VideoGame/MarioBros'': Fighter Fly is a large insect enemy that starts roaming the playable area from Stage 6 onwards. It moves by making short leaps, meaning that Mario and Luigi have to time when to hit their standing floor from below in order to stun it. It returns in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosSpecial'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'', while a Mystery Mushroom costume based on it can be unlocked in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker''. |
| 499 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' introduces the Buzzy Beetles, which resemble reptilian beetles that act like Koopas, but cannot be killed with fireballs. These enemies only appear in a few worlds during a normal playthrough, but replace the Goombas in ''all'' worlds during the NewGamePlus. |
| 500 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'': Hoopsters are giant labybugs that constantly clamber up and down trees and vines. They're especially prevalent in 5-2 and 6-3, where they impede the quartets' attempts to climb up vines. They're generally harmless when they are below the player, but cause damage when they climb down from above. They move quicker when Mario and friends are nearby, who have to jump to another vine to avoid the Hoopster. |
| 501 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' introduces the Wigglers, which are giant yellow caterpillars that will become angry (and turn red) if stomped on. Fireballs don't kill them either. Defeating them requires either throwing a strong object at them, or using an InvincibilityPowerUp. |
| 502 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'' has an ant species known as Antotto. These are large-sized ants that can be found in Tree Zone and Macro Zone; those of the former simply walk around, but in the latter world special variants can be found: Some have spikes on their bodies, some dig with shovels to throw dirt balls at Mario, and some shoot pellets with a cannon in their heads. A successor species called Ant Trooper appears later in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2''. |
| 503 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' has the Mandibugs and Flipbugs. The former are [[ToughBeetles giant beetles]] that charge at either Mario/Luigi and can only be killed with a GroundPound, due to them having a large star on their backs. The latter are cowardly insects that will run away if they see Mario/Luigi in normal form (and falling over if they get too close), but will chase them is they see them in bee form. |
| 504 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'': The game marks the debut of Biddybuds and Stingbies. Biddybuds are ladybug-like mooks that walk in a specific pattern; a flying version known as Para-biddybud is also present. The Stingby is a BeeAfraid version that flies towards Mario when he's in its vicinity; it returns in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2''. |
| 505 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'': The Urban Stingby is a mosquito relative of the Stingby, and comes in two forms: Larval and adult. They attack by charging at Mario and exploding when hitting him or a solid wall. |
| 506 | * ''VideoGame/SuperMarioFusionRevival'' has a level (3-1: Viscuous Burrow) full of maggots about as big as Mario. Then you get farther into the level and have to avoid bigger ones... |
| 507 | * ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': Approximately human-sized ladybugs are a type of enemy. |
| 508 | * Many of the monsters in Creator/{{Epyx}}'s ''VideoGame/TempleOfApshai'' fall under this trope, including giant centipedes, giant leeches, giant ticks, giant wasps, giant fire bugs, and giant mosquitos. Possibly justified as Apshai is described as a giant Insect God. |
| 509 | * ''VideoGame/{{Temtem}}'' has a few {{mons}} based on arthropods. For example, Scaravolt and Shaolant are a rhinocerous beetle and anthropomorphic ant, respectively, and they're both 1.5m tall, which is taller than most children. Arachnyte, a robotic spider, is 20cm (2/3 of a foot) taller than them. |
| 510 | * ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' has many examples, from [[AntlionMonster antlions]] (including the rarely seen flying life stage) to [[SandWorm underground worms]] to [[BeeAfraid giant bees]] and [[WickedWasps hornets]], and [[GiantSpider terrifyingly large spiders]]. [[RandomDrops If you're lucky]], you can even get the Honeyed Goggles from the Queen Bee boss, allowing the player to summon and ride a slightly smaller giant bee. |
| 511 | * ''VideoGame/TinyHandsAdventure'': Giant wasps are an enemy [[PlayerCharacter Borti]] faces in the game. |
| 512 | * ''VideoGame/TitanQuest'': Several giant insects, usually in Egypt. Including spiders, scarabs, antlions, and mantises. They're accordingly classified as Insects, which also includes half-human examples such as Arachni and Scorpos. |
| 513 | * ''VideoGame/TheTwins2020'' has a giant beetle that acts as the pet of the villains. |
| 514 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Vectorman}} 2'', Earth is taken over by giant insects mutated by the toxic waste that polluted their environments (and which Orbots like Vectorman were tasked with disposing of by taking to the Sun). These giant insects serve as the game's enemies, and a few of them serve as its bosses. Their leader is the Spider Queen, a giant black widow spider [[BrainMonster with an exposed brain in her thorax]] who serves as the game's FinalBoss. |
| 515 | * One of the fighters in ''VideoGame/WarOfTheMonsters'' is Preytor, a mutated preying mantis that more or less is ''Film/TheDeadlyMantis''. One of her alternate costumes is instead a winged ant. |
| 516 | * ''VideoGame/TheWayOfCinnamon'': One of the enemy types [[PlayerCharacter Cinnamon]] can face is giant beetles. |
| 517 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a number of notable examples, in addition to various giant spiders, scorpions and the like. |
| 518 | ** The Silithid are a hive-dwelling race with a great deal of internal variation (or possibly several sub-species) to fulfill different roles. The [[EldritchAbomination Old God C'Thun]] transformed some of them into the Aqir. The Aqir empire launched a BugWar to wipe out all non-Aqiraji life, and on their defeat split into two different races, the Qiraji and the Nerubians. The first remained servants of C'Thun, and continued to launch Bug Wars against the rest of Azeroth. The Nerubians left for [[GrimUpNorth Northrend]] where they created an underground empire, which was destroyed by the [[TheUndead Scourge]]. Although some materials describe them as being just as xenophobic and evil as the Qiraji, the entirety of player interaction with living Nerubians is friendly. They also abandoned the worship of C'Thun on the basis that it "makes as much sense as a fly caught in a web worshiping the spider who is about to devour him". |
| 519 | ** ''Mists of Pandaria'' introduced the mantid, a sister race to the Aqir, who served another Old God, Y'Shaarj; they also have a particular breed of insect called the kunchong, house-sized bugs with scythe-like arms. One kunchong uses its bulk to bash down one of the gates in the Serpent's Spine, the game's equivalent to the Great Wall of China, while an even bigger one smashes a huge hole in the wall itself. |
| 520 | * ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'': All of the insectoid indigens are ''big''. The smallest types, Blattas, are on average the size of a dog, and they just get bigger from there, up to the whale-sized [[CreepyCentipedes Millepods]] and the legendarily massive [[SandWorm Sabula]] Tyrants. |
| 521 | [[/folder]] |
| 522 | |
| 523 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 524 | * ''WebAnimation/HumansBGone'': The setting is inhabited by macrovolutes, sapient insects and arachnids -- other types of arthropods explicitly do not reach these sizes -- so huge that humans are to them what normal bugs are to us. |
| 525 | * ''WebAnimation/TheMightyGrandPiton'': At one point, the Grand Piton is shown to fight some kind of giant bug that appears to be attacking the airport. |
| 526 | [[/folder]] |
| 527 | |
| 528 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 529 | * ''Webcomic/ABeginnersGuideToTheEndOfTheUniverse'': |
| 530 | ** Some of the early void beasts that the Everyman fights are a giant void fly and a large void cockroach, each about the same size as he is. They are fairly weak foes, on the whole -- the fly on briefly threatens him due to his inexperience and lack of good gear, while the cockroach is swiftly beheaded before being able to inflict any damage. |
| 531 | ** Later, the Everyman is attacked by a humongous void wasp several times larger than the tank he's hiding in at the time, which proves a much more dangerous opponent. |
| 532 | * ''[[Webcomic/FifteenMinds Blue Moon Blossom]]'': At one point, the bunny and dino have to travel through a LethalLavaLand, with volcanoes crawling with enormous shadowy caterpillars that are nearly as long as the mountains are tall. |
| 533 | * ''Webcomic/CrossedClaws'': [[spoiler: The "Tall Things" turn out to be insectile monsters that can mimic mammalian species and possess some sort of control over plants]]. |
| 534 | * ''Webcomic/DaddyLongLegs'': The cast is made up of anthropomorphic arthropods, the smallest of which are about human-sized. |
| 535 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Grace encounters [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fantasywasteland-03 a giant roach]]. |
| 536 | * ''Webcomic/FreeSpirit2014'': "Bedbugs and Broomsticks" has Winnie and her friends confront some giant bedbugs, who grew after sucking Winnie's magical blood. |
| 537 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': |
| 538 | ** The warrior-type slaver wasps are aggressive insect-like creatures the size of a large hound. |
| 539 | ** The [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070105 Hoomhoffers]], one of the products of mad science the Baron has included in his army, are giant beetles around the size of tanks. |
| 540 | * ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Zimmy is briefly menaced by a large, insectile ''thing'' [[ImaginaryEnemy that may or may not actually exist]]. |
| 541 | * ''Webcomic/ILogInAlone'': The first dungeons after the test dungeon Jung entered are full of nothing but giant centipedes. |
| 542 | %%* ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'': The People-Eating Poly-Sorbate Insectoid (P.E.P.S.I.) . It [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/19 eats the main character once]], but he gets better.%%ZCE |
| 543 | * ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings'': Commander Badass is very uncomfortable around millipedes ever since his tour on the millipede planet during millipede season. He spent most of it covered in huge millipedes. The kicker was an encounter with a giant millipede that promptly vomited even more millipedes on his head. So his daughter got herself a pet millipede. |
| 544 | * ''Webcomic/MrSquare'': In this [[http://revfitz.com/comic/issue234/ comic]], a balloon reveals a horde of normal-sized spiders when popped... whose presence promptly summons a spider the size of a cottage to join them. |
| 545 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': In the bonus story ''Uncivil Servant'', Belkar is repeatedly ambushed by an ankheg, a type of burrowing acid-dripping bug from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. |
| 546 | * ''Webcomic/{{Outsider}}'': The Umiak are a species of six-limbed aliens that are very mantis-like in appearance, with exoskeletons, multiple segmented eyes, and rigid mandibles, but are roughly the size of a human or larger. |
| 547 | * ''Webcomic/ThePetriDish'': Through genetic engineering, Thaddeus Euphemism has created a giant fly and several giant (talking) bees. |
| 548 | %%* ''Webcomic/TwoEvilScientists'': Buzz's girlfriend [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Beedra]]. |
| 549 | * ''Webcomic/TuesdayTitans'': [[spoiler:[[https://www.deviantart.com/jollyjack/art/Tuesday-Titan-2023-04-25-959709135 The caterpillar Titans]]. Giant, hungry, aggressively territorial monsters living in the ruined cities of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Though miniscule compared to other [[{{Kaiju}} Titans]], their numbers and hostility more than compensate for their lack of size.]] |
| 550 | [[/folder]] |
| 551 | |
| 552 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 553 | * ''Literature/TheCityOfNever'': Some of the creatures from the City are contorted arachnid or slug-like beings. The most notable example is the Needler, a spider-like abomination that can create more slug and leech-like monsters. |
| 554 | * ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': In the flashback in "A Curse or a Blessing", Melinda's curse's first form is a giant purple spider that goes down with a single Shock Bomb. |
| 555 | ** The insect creature that attacks Vampire Lord, Anjren, and Ahjeen in that episode is the size of a human. |
| 556 | * ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': Bee is a bee about the size of a dog. He is a friendly pet store owner though. |
| 557 | * ''Webcomic/TheMotleyTwo'' has a giant [[CallARabbitASmeerp beetlebeast]] with about dog-like intelligence, and a giant belligerent "mantid". Both of these are the lusii of the troll protagonists (in case you haven't read ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', their pets/guardians/surrogate parents) and are scheduled to train to become BRAVE AND MIGHTY STEEDS once their owners are drafted into the army. |
| 558 | * An image offering worthless "advice" on surviving wild animal attacks depicts a wasp in between a goose and a snake ("[[WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973 turn it into a balloon]]") and claims that this wasp is apparently the size of a goose so you're screwed. |
| 559 | * ''Website/SCPFoundation'': |
| 560 | ** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-363 SCP-363 ("Not Centipedes").]] Under normal circumstances they look like the real life Amazonian giant centipede, which can grow up to a foot in length. However, if it's darker than dusk[[note]]darker than 2 lux, to be exact[[/note]] they rapidly grow in size, and can easily grow to at ''least'' 30 feet in length and 6 feet in width. And not only that, as it grows it get new body parts, like tentacles and [[EyesDoNotBelongThere eyes]]. |
| 561 | ** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1575 SCP-1575 ("Venus Statue").]] When the water altered by SCP-1575 is drunk by a mammal, parasitic vermin infesting the mammal can start changing into human beings. They usually don't survive, but you can end up with half human/half flea or half human/half tapeworm abominations. |
| 562 | * Reemus, of ''VideoGame/TheSeveralJourneysOfReemus'', tends to deal with these guys, which makes the fact that he's not quite as famous or well-respected as his dragonslayer brother just a bit nonsensical, since Reemus can and sometimes does take out entire colonies of giant beasties in his line of work, while his brother usually only gets one at a time. |
| 563 | * The beetles in ''WebAnimation/SpoilsburyToastBoy'' range from normal beetle size to human size, with one about as big as a ''house''. |
| 564 | * Half the characters of ''Theatre/{{Starship}}'' are Big Creepy Crawlies, who implant their eggs in mammals and gladly give their lives for the hive and their Overqueen... and they're (mostly) ''good guys''. The protagonist is a bug named Bug who talks and acts like he just walked out of a Disney movie, and eventually the audiences gets to see a small BugWar where both sides' POV is clearly shown: [[GreyAndGreyMorality "OMG, these things are disgusting and gross! We've gotta destroy 'em before they destroy us!"]] |
| 565 | * One episode of ''Podcast/TheStoragePapers'' featured giant, cave-dwelling mantises that live in the wilderness of Palomar Mountain. Oh, [[ItCanThink and they can]] ''[[ItCanThink think]]''. |
| 566 | * ''TabletopGame/TechInfantry'' features the Arachnids, also known simply as The Bugs. Yes, they're [[{{Homage}} shamelessly ripped off]] from ''Literature/StarshipTroopers''. But these versions are, if anything, even scarier. The Guardian Bugs, Emperor Bugs, and Queen Bugs are enormous, easily [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever fifty feet tall]]. And those and the smaller but still deadly Warrior Bugs can use [[RealityWarper magic]]. |
| 567 | * The Large Beetle from ''WebAnimation/WaterHuman'', at least in episode one (later on, he gets smaller, which is explained by a HandWave). He's actually friendly and intelligent, and is the protagonist's closest friend. |
| 568 | * Howdy from ''ARG/WelcomeHomeClownIllustrations'' is a giant anthropomorphic caterpillar who towers over the other characters in artwork. Subverted since he's the good-natured local shopkeeper. |
| 569 | * In ''Roleplay/WereAnimalsInAPostApocalypticTown'', the first monster faced by the heroes, in the forest ruins, is a giant stag beetle. |
| 570 | * ''Roleplay/YouHaveBecomeYourAvatar'': One of things found in the Springfield between the border of New Mexico and Colorado is a gigantic termites' nest. The termites tried to attack Joshua and bRaHiAn because they were intruders, but they were easily beaten back. One of their biggest weaknesses is hot water. |
| 571 | [[/folder]] |
| 572 | |
| 573 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 574 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' has plenty of these ranging from cat-sized to being large enough to eat one of the FrogMen who inhabit Amphibia. Said frog-people also keep some of them as pets or farm animals, with the Plantar family owning a giant snail named Bessie that they use as a pack animal. |
| 575 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'' had a recurring villain named Al Vermin, who happened to be a cartoon roach. His henchmen were also giant anthropomorphic insects. |
| 576 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': "[[Recap/CodenameKidsNextDoorS1E7AOperationLICE Operation: L.I.C.E.]] had the Sector V operatives dealing with a swarm of giant mutated hair-eating lice that infested their treehouse, thanks to the Delightful Children from Down the Lane after Numbuh 5 infiltrated their mansion to steal tortilla chips for their nacho cheese dinner, to which they swapped out her real hat with one infested with the lice. After the operatives defeat the swarm with nacho cheese, they give the Delightful Children ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine [[BookEnds by stealing Lenny's football helmet and swapping it out with one with lice]]. |
| 577 | * ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': "[[Recap/CourageTheCowardlyDogS2E15 Courage in the Big Stinkin' City]]" features Bushwick, a big, humanoid, talking cockroach. (And while he is scary, he is ''not'' the scariest thing in this episode, which is saying a lot, as it is one of the creepiest episodes in an already-creepy series.) |
| 578 | * ''WesternAnimation/DexHamiltonAlienEntomologist'': Most of the alien insects Dex and his crew deal with are of the giant variety. |
| 579 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangbone}}'': Skullbanian slugs and snails are huge, carnivorous, lightning-fast monsters that spit acid and inhabit slime-drenched hives. BigBad Venomous Drool occasionally sends them out to fight Fangbone and Bill, and [[RaisedByWolves was in fact actually raised as an infant by said slugs]]. |
| 580 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Freaktown}}'': Lenny is a ditzy man-sized praying mantis who happens to be the best friend and roommate of protagonist [[DemBones Ben]]. |
| 581 | * ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries'': |
| 582 | ** "Where is Thy Sting?": Ts-eh-Go is a massive {{Kaiju}}-sized scorpion [[spoiler:that [[PlayingWithSyringes turned out to be the First Wave of a secret military project]]]]. There's also a swarm of smaller scorpions around the size of a human torso [[spoiler:which were created as the Second Wave of the same project after the First Wave proved uncontrollable]]. Both are disposed of by Godzilla [[spoiler:and the episode ends with the revelation that a Third Wave of monster scorpions are currently under development]]. |
| 583 | ** Zilla Jr. fights a number of other super-sized bugs throughout the series, including giant bees, spiders, cicadas, and mosquitoes. |
| 584 | * ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestVersusTheCyberInsects'': The titular mutant space-bugs, which BigBad Dr. Zin created from ordinary Earth insects (cockroaches, ants, etc.). |
| 585 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' episode "Roachie," a scientist unleahes an army of giant roaches on Middleton. Ron, who is terrified of regular-sized cockroaches, is strangely not grossed out by the giant sized bugs and befriends one. |
| 586 | * ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'': The mutant-dominated future world is home to a variety of oversized arthropods, most notably the giant, three-tailed, blind scorpions known as deathstalkers. |
| 587 | * ''WesternAnimation/MartinMystery'': "[[Recap/MartinMysteryS1E2TerrorFromTheSky Terror from the Sky]]" has the protagonists deal with giant bugs [[NuclearMutant mutated by a radioactive meteorite]]. |
| 588 | * ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'': A common foe, as one of the recurring villain races are precisely the Bugs; a race of sapient AlwaysChaoticEvil InsectoidAliens. |
| 589 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'': The main villains are the Cluster, robots who look like beetles, roaches, and bees. |
| 590 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Changelings]] naturally resemble insectoid equines the size of ponies, but Pharynx specifically shows a preference for adopting a massive form resembling a cross between a spider, a fly and a tank when he needs to fight or intimidate someone else. |
| 591 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'': In "The Lethal Lightning Bug", the eponymous creature is a gigantic lightning bug created when [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning strike a swamp]]. |
| 592 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsS3E4BubblevisionBoughtAndScold Bubblevision]]" featured a giant ant eating the city like no tomorrow as the villain of the episode. In spite of the constant ridicule from her sisters when she needed glasses due to her vision going bad, Bubbles' new glasses end up being the girls' only hope at defeating it. |
| 593 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': "20,000 Leagues Under the Street", the last episode, had the team fighting giant insects made like that by an ancient Egyptian insect-like god named Apshai trying to TakeOverTheWorld. |
| 594 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E20Bounty Bounty]]", the milodons used as mounts by the Kages resemble centipedes the length of city buses. |
| 595 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'': One episode has the superheroes facing giant insects controlled by an intelligent giant Scorpion. |
| 596 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins'': In "[[Recap/ThreeTwoOnePenguinsS1E3LazyDaze Lazy Daze]]", the Rockhopper crew encounters giant ants while out on a picnic. |
| 597 | * ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': |
| 598 | ** Kickback, Bombshell, and Shrapnel are all Decepticons that can turn into insects. |
| 599 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' had Inferno show up in the second season for the Predacons. Beast form, [[AntAssault giant ant]]. Robot form, giant ant-headed robot whose abdomen turned into a [[KillItWithFire flamethrower]]. Best known for thinking he was ''actually'' an ant, referring to their ship (and at first, just his pod) as "the colony," and referring to [[BigBad Megatron]] as "my queen". A majority of the Predacons also took on insect or arthropod modes. |
| 600 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': The Insecticons are back, and they're bigger and uglier than ever. |
| 601 | [[/folder]] |
| 602 | |
| 603 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 604 | * Giant insects/arthropods were common from the Ordovician to the Carboniferous period, with seagull-sized proto-dragonflies, 8 and a half-foot long millipedes, and 3-foot long scorpions. Several of these survived into the Permian Period. This was partially possible because the oxygen in the atmosphere was almost ridiculously high at the time, 2-3 times today's. Since arthropods absorb oxygen through small holes in their body and have no specialized respiratory system like vertebrates do, their size is strictly limited by the concentration of oxygen in the air. |
| 605 | ** However, lack of competition also helped, as griffinflies (not actual dragonflies, just close relatives) with ''45cm wingspans'' managed to make it into the Permian, despite the oxygen levels being much lower than the Carboniferous. In addition, the below-mentioned titanopterans survived until the Triassic, which is when pterosaurs finally pushed them out of dominance. |
| 606 | ** Special mention goes to the giant millipede ''Arthropleura'', believed to have grown eight feet long and weighed well over one-hundred pounds, making it by far the largest terrestrial arthropod known to have ever lived, and was probably one of the largest land animals on Earth at the time. |
| 607 | * While not the size of the Paleozoic behemoths mentioned above, the Triassic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanoptera Titanopterans]] are massive insects by anyone's standards. These mantis-like insects (they were actually related to grasshoppers and crickets, and probably also had the ability to "chirp") could have wingspans as long as 16 inches and were probably carnivorous. |
| 608 | * Trilobites were no slouches. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotelus One genus]] is known to have exceeded two feet, longer than the biggest confirmed finds of their SpiritualSuccessor, the giant isopod, which itself can achieve lengths of up to 20 inches. |
| 609 | * While not being true arthropods, radiodonts, aka anomalocarids deserve a mention. ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegirocassis Aegirocassis]]'' grew up to 2m long, even after their Cambrian heyday, and was probably the baleen whale of its time. ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminacaris Laminacaris]]'' also probably grew over a metre long based on more complete relatives. ''Anomalocaris'' itself, while not exactly being ''small'', only got to around a foot long. |
| 610 | * ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnidens Omnidens]]'', despite being even more distant from arthropods than the radiodonts, grew up to ''1.5 meters long'' (not including the grasping appendages that probably extended well beyond their face) before any other animal. |
| 611 | * For decades, the entomology department of the University of Illinois have held an annual Insect Fear Film Festival, at which movies with Big Creepy Crawlies are screened. After each film, members of the department bring out live examples of the corresponding arthropods -- large tarantulas, centipedes, and stag beetles are favorites -- and pass them among the audience while they explain the biological implausibilities of giant insects. |
| 612 | * The biggest arthropods of all time, the eurypterids (aka "sea scorpions", although they were also known from freshwater regions) were marine cousins to modern arachnids, and they lived worldwide from the Ordovician to Permian. Even average-sized eurypterid species could grow 8 inches long, and the biggest exceeded 8 ''feet''. |
| 613 | * The infamous Giant Asian Hornet is the size of your thumb, can fly faster than you can run, and its sting has venom that ''dissolves flesh'' and has pheromones that call more of the damn things to attack you, and they live in and around major cities like Tokyo? |
| 614 | ** They also massacre honeybees. [[LightningBruiser 30 giant hornets]] can kill 30000 honeybees in under an hour! |
| 615 | ** On the other hand, their larvae are delicious when fried. They taste like crab-flavored popcorn! |
| 616 | ** Also Japanese Honeybees can outwit the hornets by luring them into the hive, swarm them and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6m40W1s0Wc&feature=player_detailpage#t=121s shake and bake.]] [[CycleOfRevenge Most bees survive, the hornets are toast.]] However, the presence of the hornets has made it difficult to import more productive European honeybees to East Asia. |
| 617 | ** These "Murder Hornets" arrived in North America in 2019 and became front-page news in 2020. |
| 618 | ** Other insects are also capable of defeating Asian Giant Hornets. A full-grown Praying Mantis is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHZP9-Ypaks more than capable of eating these hornets.]] |
| 619 | ** Even bigger than the giant Asian hornet is the giant scarab-hunting wasp of Sumatra and Java. It's three inches long, and has a wingspan of more than four inches. Fortunately for the wasp-phobic among us, it's solitary and doesn't live in colonies. It preys on the larvae of the Atlas beetle, which also qualifies for this trope by being one of the world's largest beetles. |
| 620 | * Cicada killer wasps (''Sphecius'' species) are as big as Asian giant hornets and sometimes get mistaken for them. They're less dangerous, though (unless you are a cicada), and can be differentiated at a distance because they have small black heads rather than huge orange ones. |
| 621 | * The wingspan record among the butterflies is held by the [[http://eol.org/pages/559418/overview/ White Witch moth]], just under 300mm. On the second place is [[http://eol.org/pages/385381/overview Atlas Moth]] spanning up to 262 mm. Other than [[http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/collections/contributors/Grzimek_insects/Lepidoptera/Attacus_atlas/ looking somewhat weird]] due to reinforced wing edges [[NightmareRetardant it's a fairly typical butterfly, so it has no mouth and can't bite you, so if one]] [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-Ab3LtWIW_g/TEqwD7nWx0I/AAAAAAAAAIw/0MUS8ynG470/s1600/atlas-moth.jpg lands on your hand]], all it can really do is to sit there or take off again. |
| 622 | * Normal wetas, insects that look similar to katydids, crickets or grasshoppers native to New Zealand, are large enough at 4cm, but the ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin giant]]'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_weta weta]] can grow to a whooping 10cm in size, not including the legs and the antennae, and can weigh up to 35g. Largest reported cases have reached double those numbers and became the most massive insect known. [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2068547/Weta-insect-Heaviest-world-weighs-3-times-mouse.html This thing weighs as much as 3 mice and can eat a small carrot all on her own]]. |
| 623 | * ''Scolopendra gigantea'', the Amazon giant centipede. Centipedes are creepy enough, but ''Scolopendra gigantea'' is about a foot long. It occasionally can eat a toad or even [[http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Pteronotus_davyi/ a small bat]]. There's people who keep this as a pet or simply collect a few and let them hang around and feed on pests. If you're in the American Southwest, you may actually see a close and slightly smaller relative, ''Scolopendra heros''. That's "slightly" smaller, not "small." |
| 624 | * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliathus Goliath beetles]] are the world's heaviest beetles, measuring between 2.4 to 4.3 inches long and weighing as much as an apple. They also have some of the heaviest grubs of any insect species, which can weigh in at a whopping 3 and a half ounces and measuring up to 10 inches long. |
| 625 | ** The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_beetle titan beetle]] (''Titanus giganteus'') of South America can reach nearly 7 inches in length; for comparison, goliath beetles are usually about 4 inches. Other rivals for the title of largest beetle include the various rhinoceros beetles, most prominently the elephant and hercules beetles of South America and the atlas beetle of Southeast Asia. |
| 626 | * Australia's infamous huntsman spiders, which boast leg spans of up to one foot. Luckily, the species humans most frequently run into, ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delena_cancerides Delena cancerides]]'', are not aggressive towards humans, although meeting one can be slightly surprising. They tend to happily eat roaches, flies, mosquitoes, and other pests in a house. |
| 627 | * ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megachile_pluto Megachile pluto]]'', or Wallace's Giant Bee, is 1.5 inches long with huge mandibles which are used to build nests inside termite mounds. |
| 628 | * Stick insects wouldn't win any weight records, but they ''are'' among the ''longest'' insects, with some approaching or over a foot long. There's also the related giant leaf insect, which is typically between 4 and 6 inches long and around 3 or 4 wide; it [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin looks like a leaf]] until you see it moving. |
| 629 | [[/folder]] |
| 630 | ---- |
| 631 | ''Quick, get the Raid! Lots of it!'' |
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