Line #19 Main/SynchronizedSwarming


1	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/synch_swarming.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Those rehearsals clearly paid off...]]
3
4	->''"Curse you Plankton, and your ability to join together to form a working human ear!"''
5	-->-- '''Mr. Krabs''', ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''
6
7	It's a common sight gag in humorous animation that fish, insects and other swarms have an amazing ability to coordinate movement into very exact shapes. This is especially impressive with fireflies in the night. In older Western animation, this is especially common when swarms of bees appear.
8
9	This one is interesting because you can see a little bit of how it works. The idea of fish schooling up to form words is pretty ridiculous, but because we are used to seeing schools of fish performing coordinated movements, we can easily suppress disbelief and accept a more complex and coordinated version of a real phenomenon. Ditto, the flocking of birds, insects, etc.
10
11	This is kind of TruthInTelevision as real-life swarms/schools/flocks can move with amazing coordination, and maintain a shape (usually a sphere or some other simple geometrical pattern) even when disturbed.
12
13	Common gags include:
14	* Asking a swarm if they've seen something, and the swarm helpfully forms an arrow pointing to the direction it went.
15	* The target of a swarm (usually bees) is hiding, and when they can't find it they form a question mark for no apparent reason except for the benefit of the audience.
16	* A school of fish shaping themselves into one huge fish to scare off predators.
17
18	When the swarm looks and acts like a single living thing, it overlaps with TheWormThatWalks. When it's bees (or other stinging insects like wasps or hornets) that are swarming, it overlaps with ScaryStingingSwarm. Expect this to happen if someone disturbs or walks into the HornetHole.
19
20	----
21	!!Examples:
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Animation]]
26	* ''Animation/BoonieBears'': In Season 2 episode 12, Bramble attempts to grab some honey straight from the beehive and angers the bees inside it. The bees fight him by forming into the shape of a sword and attacking him, with Bramble fighting back by using the bamboo stick he had on hand as a sword of his own.
27	* In Season 4 episode 3 of ''Animation/HappyHeroes'', the flies summoned by Agent J. swarm in the shape of a giant pair of scissors to scare off some robbers from Big M.
28	* ''Animation/MotuPatlu'': In "Motu Patlu Ka Fashion Show", John the Don provides Motu and Patlu with honey shirts so that he can release a bunch of bees on them. The bees form into several shapes, among them the shapes of a rocket, hands, and teeth, as they aim for and sting Motu and Patlu.
29	* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': In ''Mighty Little Defenders'' episode 5, Huiertai accidentally releases a swarm of bees from a beehive who form into such shapes as a hammer and a mace as they chase after him.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
33	* ''Manga/{{Blame}}'': Issue 7 has the main character briefly interacting with a swarm of microorganisms, which assumes various simple forms -- :) for "hello", O for "yes", X for "no", etc -- to answer his queries. {{Justified\|Trope}}, in that the swarm is actually controlled by an AI, in a highly futuristic world where this kind of trick is pretty common.
34	* ''Anime/DomoTV'': One of the shorts on Nicktoons TV has the title character going ice-skating and following a school of fish swimming just beneath the ice.
35	* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' has a swarm of flies forming into a human hand... who gives [[ButtMonkey Chuck]] a full-scale swatting (after he did so with one of them), [[MicrowaveTheDog throwing Chuck into a microwave]], topped off with the swarm [[FlippingTheBird giving him the middle finger]], complete with WrittenSoundEffect "[[RefugeInAudacity FUCK!]]"
36	%%* ''Anime/SDGundamForce'': The Bagu-Bagu swarms do this.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Comic Books]]
40	* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWIssue82 Dog-Dog-Dogged Determination]]", when Rarity tries to get help from Fluttershy, a group of fireflies take on various shapes to indicate that Fluttershy isn't at her cottage and they don't know when she'll be back.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
44	* ''ComicStrip/{{Foxtrot}}'': One strip shows fireflies writing "HA HA HA HA" to insult Paige.
45	* ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat'': In one strip, fireflies write "Illekk Krezy Ket" for an election.
46	* ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'': One strip, [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent taking a break from the usual cast]], features a fish named Timmy as part of a school. When a predatory fish comes near, Timmy boasts about how the school provides safety in numbers… only to realise that the rest of the fish have spontaneously formed into the words “EAT TIMMY”.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Fan Works]]
50	* ''Fanfic/SuperSmashBrosUltimateWorldOfLight'': Olimar commands his massive horde of Pikmin to form into military formations, fists, and pillars to create a versatile and adaptable AdvancingWallOfDoom.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
54	* Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon:
55	** ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'': While Alice is traveling through the Tulgey Wood she meets a group of mome raths, who form themselves into the shape of an arrow to lead her to a path.
56	** ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'': Justified with Hiro's microbots, which are controlled by a single person using a neural transmitter in order to form elaborate shapes and do elaborate tasks as one. While Hiro created these for good, Yokai steals them to [[spoiler: get revenge]] and stop anyone who gets in his way. [[spoiler: This ''also'' ends up being his undoing, however, when the gang realizes the best way to depower him is to get rid of the microbots bit by bit, until there is nothing left to control.]]
57	** ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' has a swarm of bees do this while chasing Yzma [[FunnyBackgroundEvent back and forth]].
58	%%** ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': The fireflies do this.
59	* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'': A school of moonfish (voiced by John Ratzenberger) does a series of impressions for Dory and becomes an arrow to give her and Marlin directions to Sydney. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when they mention that they've practiced their impressions.
60	* In ''Animation/HappyHeroes2TheBattleOfPlanetQiyuan'', Big M. is one of the participants of the Superman race and has his LifeMeter slowly lowered by a bunch of bugs that are flying toward him in the shape of a syringe. Happy S. helps Big M. by punching the bugs away.
61	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' has the Mole Clan do this while riding bats to [[spoiler:prey on Rattlesnake Jake's fear of hawks.]]
62	* ''Westernanimation/{{Storks}}'' has a wolf pack that is capable of forming a suspension bridge, a boat and even a submarine, to the complete bafflement of the protagonists. However, when they try to form a plane they just plummet to the ground.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
66	* ''Film/AntMan1'': Hank Pym controls ants to show Scott Lang just how much time he has to escape, with the ants forming numbers representing seconds.
67	* ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'': To track the lab during a car chase, Pym has flying ants form an arrow pointing to it.
68	%%* ''Film/Jaws2'': Brody is alarmed by a shape in the water. It turns out to be a school of fish, and the shark is elsewhere. It is not clear to the audience exactly how similar the shape was to a shark.
69	* ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'': The sentinel robots make a hand-like shape. [[spoiler:Later, robots form a face and it talks to Neo.]] Probably {{Justified\|Trope}} because there is just that much computing power guiding them.
70	* ''Film/NuttyProfessorIITheKlumps'': The professor proposes to his girlfriend by attracting fireflies into the words "Marry me?" using a synthesized firefly pheromone.
71	* ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'': The weird, multicolored jellyfish-like aliens from an aquarium in Jotunheim copy the outline of King Shark's body through the glass, to the latter's great amusement.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Literature]]
75	* ''Literature/CurseOfTheMummy'' has a swarm of hornets attacking the heroes, with hundreds of smaller hornets forming an outline of a giant hornet.
76	* ''Literature/AHatFullOfSky'': In the penultimate chapter, Tiffany dances with another Tiffany made by a swarm of bees (borrowed by Granny Weatherwax), which mirrors her every move.
77	* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'': The Irish mascots at the Quidditch World Cup, a swarm of flying leprechauns that forms shapes to amuse the audience. They get pissed off when Bulgaria does well, eventually forming a hand making a [[FlippingTheBird "very rude gesture indeed."]]
78	* ''Literature/{{Lorenzo}}'': A school of fish looks like a big fish and scares the sharks away. One of them is an odd-colored fish, so it has trouble staying away from predators until the other fish agree to make it be the eye.
79	* In ''Literature/MermaidsSong'', the first trial of the Choosing requires each mermaid to use her mind to control a school of lightfish and get it to move in certain ways. Most of the competitors aren't very good at it, although Kili gets her fish to form a mantle around her. Elan easily wins the competition with her fish's complex, constantly changing patterns, and is so good at it that as less skilled maids lose control of their fish, they join Elan's school.
80	* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': Ygramul the Many, a swarm of poisonous beetle-like bugs which forms a devilish face, a giant scorpion, a fist...
81	* ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive'': Some of the Old Ones take the form of a swarm of flies that mould themselves into the shape of sword-wielding men on horseback. If anyone tries to strike the figures, the swarm just dissipates and re-forms, and one of the protagonists wonders whether when they attack their swords stay solid or separate and sting their victim to death.
82	* ''Literature/{{Prey}}'' has nanobot swarms that do this, and it's mentioned that their AI is based on insect swarms. By the end of the book, they do it convincingly enough that a swarm can be mistaken for a human being.
83	* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'': The swarm of snow gnats can take on forms like hoops and arrows when attacking people, whom they enjoy stinging for no good reason whatsoever.
84	%%* ''Literature/{{Swimmy}}'' by Leo Lionni is similar. Some fish species in real life employ synchronized schooling like this.%%ZCE. How's it an example?
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
88	* ''Series/{{Lexx}}'': Mantrid's Drone Arms periodically do this, forming a hammer, polygonal shapes, and the distinctive Cluster logo.
89	* ''Series/PushingDaisies'': In one episode, following a case where a woman says she was attacked by a "terrifying bee man", Ned speculates about being chased by a human-shaped swarm of bees. Turns out [[spoiler: it was actually a person covered in bees]].
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Roleplay]]
93	* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'': Jenna can command the swarm [[TheWormThatWalks that composes her new body]] to form various shapes. The default, of course, is a humanoid, but they're shown to react subconsciously to her thoughts: when she gets knocked over, for example, they form into a cartoony ball and splat against the ground.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
97	* Ride/UniversalStudios: The Minions in the ''Ride/DespicableMeMinionMayhem'' ride are shown as being able to form together a giant arm, which later ends up becoming the ChekhovsSkill.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Video Games]]
101	* ''720°'', an arcade game, has a swarm of bees that chase the player if he hangs around the hub world for too long. The swarm takes on various threatening shapes including a hammer, a skull, an arrow, and a pair of scissors.
102	* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': The Giant Bat, a recurring boss, is sometimes made of a lot of normal bats (such as ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'' with Bat Company).
103	* ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'': Bees from the bee hive trap will form a question mark if no targets are in range. When they spot one, they form an exclamation point before attacking.
104	* ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'': One of the enemies is a swarm of small black insects called Uja that form themselves into various threatening shapes, such as Master Hand or a sword.
105	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': When a swarm of bees is turned hostile, it forms itself into an X shape and flies towards Link. It will temporarily scatter if struck, but will quickly return to formation if it wasn't enough to defeat it.
106	* In ''Videogame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth'', Yu Nanba's default class "[[MagicalHomelessPerson Homeless Guy]]" has the Kiwami Attack "Essence of Big-Ass Bird" in which he summons a flock of pigeons to group together into one single [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Big-ass Bird]] to charge into his foe.
107	* ''VideoGame/LogicalJourneyOfTheZoombinis'': The "Fleens!" puzzle requires you to bait a group of three specific Fleens off a tree branch which has a hive hanging from it. Their jumping off will eventually agitate the bees living inside into chasing off the other Fleens, taking the form of a pair of scissors, an arrow, or a storm cloud. In the remake ''Zoombinis'', the swarm usually takes the shape of a vicious shark.
108	* ''VideoGame/NEOTheWorldEndsWithYou'' generally avoids this trope when it comes to Noise enemies. [[spoiler:The Soul Pulvis are another story, being small bird Noise born from the Dissonance stored in Rindo's Player Pin. Because a single Soul Pulvis poses little threat on its own (case in point, Minamimoto effortlessly crushes one in his hand two separate times), the murder of these little ravens take the shape of other Noise the Wicked Twisters encounter, and there's so many of them that you won't run out of the little blighters to erase even if you tear into such large numbers at once. This is a plot point, and after you've erased enough, Kubo just directs the entire flock at you to wipe you all out.]]
109	%%* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'': The Smorgs combine like this to form a giant... [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere monster]]...[[BuffySpeak thingy]]...%%ZCE...
110	* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': Each game's title screen features the Pikmin forming the logo from a top-down view.
111	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Wishiwashi is a scrawny, weak fish that has an ability where it forms a school into a larger, much more powerful form resembling a submarine (to the point that it's considered TheDreaded). The school can even launch individual fish from its sides like torpedoes. The school will scatter if it takes too much damage.
112	* ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'': The Shoal is a school of fish swimming through the air around a larger whale wearing a tophat and smoking a pipe. The Shoal holds weapons using several small fish's bodies as hands.
113	* ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammerIII'': Nurglings are modeled so that each "individual" model is textured so as to appear as a group of several nurglings, which still move and attack as if they were a single entity. This is exploited in their attack and moving animations, where the group's component members grab onto each other and move in complex maneuvers such as grouping into a sphere to roll forward, [[BodyOfBodies building a humanoid body]], or turning themselves into a whip to lash enemies.
114	* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' uses this, with full-on costumed superheroes, as the game's core gameplay mechanic. The primary power of the Wonderful 101 allows them to use this technique to form actual, functional, giant-sized weapons.
115	* ''VideoGame/YoshisStory'': The swarms of bees in the Jungle Hut stage form a large open palm to prevent you from passing by them.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Web Original]]
119	* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'': Skitter can command swarms of arthropods to form complex shapes. She has put it to use on several occasions, creating warning of impending danger and acting as a form of ad hoc command and control during crisis situations.
120	[[/folder]]
121
122	[[folder:Web Videos]]
123	* ''WebVideo/AskANinja'',: According to the Ninja this is a power of killer-killer bees, which are "killer bees that kill killer bees." One unfortunate victim of theirs tried to escape a swarm by diving into a pool of water. The killer-killer bees then formed into a bee submarine, dove into the water, and shot the man dead with a bee-torpedo.
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Western Animation]]
127	* ''WesternAnimation/BarneyBear'': ''Wild Honey'' has a swarm of bees forming a ''bomber plane'' ([[{{Pun}} a "Bee-19"]]) and dropping "bombs" on Barney. They also form a bow and arrow to sting him on the butt with.
128	* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'': "Risky Beesness" has a swarm of bees forming not only flying hearts on behalf of the queen, but also stealing musical instruments while hypnotized by a thief playing a mind-controlling tune.
129	* ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'': In "Inferior Decorator", Donald gets into a feud with a bee. Toward the end of the cartoon, it calls on all its friends, which swarm out of the hive and form a question mark, as if to say "Yeah, what do you want?"
130	* ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk'': In ''Dragons: Race to the Edge'', "[[Recap/DragonsRidersOfBerkS3E4WhenDarknessFalls When Darkness Falls]]", the Night Terrors are small dragons that fly as a swarm to form the shape of a bigger dragon in order to frighten their predators. For this, though, they need the presence of their leader (a white Night Terror that the Dragonriders name "Smidvarg") to command the flock and takes the position of the "eye" of the mock dragon.
131	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E1TouristTrapped Tourist Trapped]]" opens InMediasRes with Dipper and Mabel fleeing a mysterious, giant creature of "unimaginable horror". Through flashbacks, this is later revealed to be [[spoiler: a huge pack of gnomes, invoking this trope to turn into a giant gnome.]]
132	* ''WesternAnimation/LifeWithLouie'': One episode has a scene in which Andy teaches a swarm of bees to spell his name, and has to correct their spelling after the first attempt ("Andie").
133	%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheWonderfulWorldOfMickeyMouse'': "Hard to Swallow" has a swarm of fleas attacking Pluto and Mickey this way.
134	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mickey Mouse\|2013}}'': In "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS2E18AFlowerForMinnie A Flower for Minnie]]", a swarm of bees forms a fist to smash Mickey and pick up the flower he's carrying.
135	* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'':
136	** "[[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS01E05MrPigeon Mr. Pigeon]]": The flocks of pigeons under the villain's control takes various threatening shapes, notably that of bomber planes.
137	** "[[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS01E26StoneheartOriginsPart2 Stoneheart (Origins, Part 2)]]": Hawk Moth reveals himself to Paris using a swarm of akuma shaped like his head.
138	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
139	** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E10SwarmOfTheCentury Swarm of the Century]]": A small Parasprite swarm clinging to Rainbow Dash forms things like a beard and a bikini on her body before she shakes them off.
140	** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E13FallWeatherFriends Fall Weather Friends]]": Rainbow Dash gets chased by a swarm of bees, and they form a "?!" when she manages to hide from them.
141	** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E3CastleManeia Castle Mane-ia]]": Downplayed. There are no geometric shapes or letters but, when the beekeeper retrieves his bees, they follow him as a single airborne blob instead of scattering.
142	%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'': A very common sight.
143	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'': One cartoon has the title character annoy a swarm of bees. While taking cover inside a house blocks them, the bees take a form of a drill, and create a hole in the door that they fly through.
144	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'': "WesternAnimation/InsectToInjury" has Popeye trying to stop a swarm of termites from eating his new house. When he traps them under a garbage can, they escape when they form a car jack to lift it up; later, the swarm takes the shape of an exclamation mark when the termites see Popeye running towards them with a large roller.
145	%%* ''WesternAnimation/SchoolhouseRock'': "Busy Prepositions."
146	* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'': The Cicada Creature, [[TheWormThatWalks a massive cicada monster formed from cicadas]], turns out to be this when it's revealed that [[spoiler: its true identity is a cicada swarm being controlled via soundwaves by Grandma Moonbeam.]]
147	* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': In "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS3E4Vindicators3TheReturnOfWorldEnder Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender]]", one of the Vindicators is named "One Million Ants" and is literally [[TheWormThatWalks millions of ants forming a human being]].
148	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In [[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E18MissingIdentityPlanktonsArmy "Plankton's Army"]]: Plankton rallies his extended family to aid him in finally stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula by swarming together to form things like giant hands. The least plausible feat--making a giant ear that can crack a safe--is lampshaded.
149	-->'''Mr. Krabs:''' Curse you Plankton, and your ability to join together to form a working human ear!
150	%%** "Jellyfish Jam": Done by jellyfish.
151	* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'': In "The Incredible Shrinking Molly", after getting their stingers ground off by the propellers of the shrunken-down Seaduck, the hornets form "OW!".
152	* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'': The ants that invade Spike's picnic are quite organized, which helps them walk off with the entire food supply... and Spike's son.
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Real Life]]
156	* [[http://www.metro.co.uk/news/802617-starlings-give-twitchers-the-bird One news story]] talks about a flock of starlings in a FlippingTheBird formation.
157	* Swarming in military strategy is the act of striking at an enemy force with mobile elements which hit and run, perpetually disrupting the enemy and destroying command and control by preventing the enemy from being able to react before the situation has changed. This is not a simple ZergRush of throwing troops at an objective in rapid waves, but an extremely complex, difficult to coordinate, and devastatingly effective plan to cause confusion and disorientation.
158	* [[MusicAtSportingEvents Marching Bands]].
159	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SynchronizedSwarming