History Main / BoysLikeCreepyCritters

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee'': Darryl seems to have a liking for bugs, as in one episode he imagines that a door in the McGee's basement leads to a world full of centipedes, and he also has a pet tarantula.

%% Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions86
%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

* ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'':
** Jason Fox (10) keeps an iguana named Quincy, which he mostly uses to freak out his 14-year-old sister Paige. He also occasionally takes it to school for the same reason, but is thoroughly befuddled when his new teacher ''likes'' it.
** Another for Jason Fox was an arc in which his mother and sister thought he had a crush on a girl, and naturally teased him about it, much to his confusion. The girl was in fact the classroom's pet ''snake''.

* ''Film/AClockworkOrange'' has teenaged sadist Alexander De Large own a pet snake in his bed's drawer. Since Alex was played by the very-much adult Creator/MalcolmMcDowell, it tends to be lost on audiences that he is supposed to be a schoolboy.

* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer''. While Tom is in church he plays with a "pinchbug" ("large black beetle with formidable jaws") he had caught earlier. Later on he plays with it again at school, aided by his friend Joe Harper.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'' starts with Darren talking about his love for spiders (he's about 12 at the beginning of the series). Later, when he's 29, [[spoiler: a Vampire Prince and a seasoned warrior, making his way through a post-apocalyptic wasteland with his companions, a zombie and a drunken, cannibal pirate]], he still shows his love for them when he charms a cave full of them into letting the trio pass. Throughout the series, he regularly casually refers to them as "cute". The series also caters to this in the audience with Darren's friend Evra the Snake Boy.

* In ''Series/CSICrimeSceneInvestigation'', Grissom mentions he was like this in school (naturally), but his first crush was an inversion ("She liked bugs too.").

* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'': Greg spends most of the series carrying a large frog, which he keeps trying to name. It's revealed that he and his brother Wirt got lost because Greg went after the frog and ended up in the forest.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Sid is a preteen boy who thinks frogs are, in his own words, "the coolest", and catches them as a hobby. He has a pet frog named Sidney (presumably after him) who's the first one he ever caught.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'': Ty and Abby Archer's job description basically works out to "[[AlmightyJanitor secret agent janitors]]", which works out in their favor. Abby arguably has a greater love for gross things than her brother though, with several episodes having her proudly attempting to find things that can actually set off her gag reflex (and failing).

* ''WesternAnimation/SantiagoOfTheSeas'': The titular character, Santi, has a pet coqui frog named Kiko and his cousin/first mate Tomas has a pet green iguana named Nacho.

-->And so we took a stroll and wound up down by the swimming hole
-->And she said do what you want to do
-->I got silly and found a frog in the water by a hollow log
-->And I shook it at her and I said, "This frog's for you."
-->She said,
-->I don't like spiders and snakes
-->And that ain't what it takes to love me
-->You fool, you fool
-->I don't like spiders and snakes
-->And that ain't what it takes to love me
-->Like I wanna be loved by you

* [[VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfWillyBeamish Willy Beamish]] has a pet frog named Horny that he can use to freak out various characters, among them his teacher Ms. Glass and his sister Tiffany. Part of the game's plot has Willy entering the Annual [[MegaCorp Tootsweet]] Frog Jump to win enough money to head to a video game championship.

The morality of said boy (or {{tomboy}}) often varies. He may just be an innocent [[{{Everyman}} everyday kid]] who loves his bearded dragon and thinks green bugs are cool, or an EnfantTerrible who feeds his snake cute living mice [[ForTheEvulz for his own amusement]]. Either way, expect Bob to try to [[GirlsHaveCooties taunt girls]] with the wild lizard he found near the pond in order to gross them out, though amphibians can take that role, too.

Many would think ReptilesAreAbhorrent or SpidersAreScary, but not Bob! Whether it be insects, arachnids, reptiles, or similar critters, he thinks they're just the coolest things on the planet. You're a wuss if you don't agree with him.

The morality of said boy (or {{tomboy}}) often varies. He may just be an innocent everyday kid who loves his bearded dragon and thinks bugs are cool, or an EnfantTerrible who feeds his snake cute living animals [[ForTheEvulz for his own amusement]]. Either way, expect Bob to try to [[GirlsHaveCooties taunt girls]] with the wild lizard he found near the pond in order to gross them out, though amphibians can take that role, too.

May be the reason why a boy is a FriendToBugs. Also related to SlimeSnailsAndMutantTails, for when toys are marketed towards boys with things like "slime" and "gross".