History Main / PestController

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' is a WebSerialNovel centered around Taylor, a teenager who can psychically command invertebrates, such as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans. She has lots of fine control over them, to the point where she can summon them unconsciously to aid her when under stress. Uses for the power include making a costume out of spider silk [[BewareTheNiceOnes and threatening people with brown recluse spiders]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has Patrick Poundstone aka [[http://dcanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Ratboy Ratboy]] from the episode, "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS2E9Rats Rats]]", who can control the giant rats that live below Gotham. He is a StalkerWithACrush to Dana Tan, Terry's LoveInterest and kidnaps her. When she rebuffs him, he orders his rats [[IfICantHaveYou to kill her]] but Batman manages to save her. [[spoiler: Other people were not so lucky.]]

* ''Videogame/{{Dofus}}'': This is a power that the [[CatFolk ecaflip race]] and especially ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'' have. They can [[LifeDrain siphon HP]] from enemies using [[MixAndMatchCritters "fleeces"]]that can be [[BigCreepyCrawlies as big as a hand.]]

* ''Videogame/{{Dofus}}'': This is a power that the [[CatPeople ecaflip race]] and especially ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'' have. They can [[LifeDrain siphon HP]] from enemies using [[MixAndMatchCritters "fleeces"]]that can be [[BigCreepyCrawlies as big as a hand.]]

* ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'': There are two characters with this power, the [[NinjaMaid Pleiades Maid]] Entoma Vasilissa Zeta and Kyouhukou. The former has a wide variety of insect-related abilities, which include using insects as weapons, summoning giant spiders as support, and vomiting a giant swarm of flies to devour her foes, the latter mostly just controls an endless swarm of cockroaches. Both are also anthropoids themselves, Kyouhukou being a tiny humanoid roach, while Entoma is a [[SpiderPeople spider person]] that uses other miscellaneous bugs to make herself appear human.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/AwfulHospital https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diptworth.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Maggie's spells are [[{{Pun}} pretty fly.]]]]

* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'': Zero-One's Metal Cluster Hopper form has a suit composed almost entirely of a swarm of metallic locusts which can detach from the armor and collectively shape themselves into any object he wants, or simply eat his enemies alive. Zero-One himself tends to stick to just using them like a GreenLanternRing, but when the Ark's in control of the suit, it has no qualms against using the power to its full horrifying potential.

** A number of spells allow characters to control arthropods and other vermin, such as ''repel vermin'', ''swarmsense'' (summons an insect swarm whose senses the caster can use as their own), ''creeping doom'' (summons four swarms of biting, ground-bound arthropods), ''insect plague'' (summons a varying number of wasp swarms) and ''vomit swarm'' (which does exactly what it sounds like it does).

Subtrope of TheMinionMaster and AttackAnimal. SuperTrope to BeeBeeGun; bees are indeed among the most popular choice of insect, for [[BeeAfraid many good reasons]].

* ''LightNovel/BeastTamerAndTheCatGirl'': Rein Shroud is [[TheBeastmaster an all-purpose Beast Tamer]] who can tame anything from the tiniest insects to {{Cat Girl}}s and {{Weredragon}}s. He tends to use any available creatures for the purposes of support and scouting, but in actual combat he relies on venomous animals in general, with insects being the most frequent. In two separate fights he uses a specific breed of bee and, when rounding up corrupt guardsmen into a trap, uses a swarm of butterflies with paralyzing poison scales to subdue them.

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' is a WebSerialNovel centred around Taylor, a teenager who can psychically command invertebrates, such as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans. She has lots of fine control over them, to the point where she can summon them unconsciously to aid her when under stress. Uses for the power include making a costume out of spider silk [[BewareTheNiceOnes and threatening people with brown recluse spiders]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' episode "Insect Inside". The villain Roach Coach can control an army of cockroaches. Played with since Roach Coach is revealed [[spoiler: to be a roach himself, controlling a [[MobileSuitHuman robotic suit made to look like a man]] ([[SpoilerTitle the episode title is a bit of a give-away]]). His ability to control roaches has less to do with being a superpower, and more to do with being a charismatic leader.]]

* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' has a MonsterOfTheWeek with the ability to control rats, as a WholePlotReference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin. (

* ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'' features this with the character "Maggie," who can command swarms of flies that form elemental attacks such as a [[ShockAndAwe lightning bolt]], fireballs, and a [[BeehiveBarrier protective bubble]]. Later [[http://www.bogleech.com/awfulhospital/847.html revealed]] that she's taken this UpToEleven, becoming [[spoiler:the AnthropomorphicPersonification of all things maggot-related throughout TheMultiverse]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Maggie generates [[{{Pun}} quite the buzz.]]]]

This trope is a {{Stock Superpower|sIndex}} of manipulating pest animals like insects, [[SpidersAreScary arachnids]], and [[YouDirtyRat rodents]]. The pest in question could be from little tiny life-eating bugs to [[BigCreepyCrawlies more gigantic ones the size of buildings.]] Those who have this ability will often be portrayed as creepy themselves -- they may be wicked, but they may just as often be just a decent, if quirky, fellow. Expect TheSwarm and ZergRush to be their standard tactic.

** Another Spider-Man villain with this gimmick was Buck Mitty aka Humbug. Originally, [[MakeSomeNoise he used audio tapes and amplifiers to broadcast the noises of various insect species, which can incapacitate others or damage materials]]. Following his appearances in ''Franchise/{{Deadpool}}'', he began to display the ability to communicate with insects which he [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower used rather creatively]] in ''ComicBook/HeroesForHire''.

* The Franchise/{{Batman}} villain Ratcatcher, who trains and controls rats.

** ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures'': Played with in one issue, where Franchise/SpiderMan bluffs a criminal who is holding a hostage at gunpoint by declaring that he's "summoning the spiders". The criminal freaks out and surrenders.
** Another Spider-Man villain with this gimmick was Buck Mitty aka Humbug. Originally, [[MakeSomeNoise he used audio tapes and amplifiers to broadcast the noises of various insect species, which can incapacitate others or damage materials.]] Following his appearances in ''Franchise/{{Deadpool}}'', he began to display the ability to communicate with insects which he [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower used rather creatively]] in ''ComicBook/HeroesForHire''.

* In ''Comicbook/RedRobin'' the Council of Spiders member "Sac" is covered in spiders which he can effortlessly control by the thousands to bite people or ''lay eggs inside of them'' to use for [[PuppeteerParasite control of their host]]. Eggs which he can control to hatch at anytime before having the resulting spiders [[EatenAlive eat]] their way [[ChestBurster out of their host en mass]].
* Parodied with ''ComicBook/SquirrelGirl'': she has the uncanny ability to control squirrels. It is actually rather [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower powerful]] since she has defeated many super powered beings with it, most notably Doctor Doom.

* ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'': Tommyrod. For bonus disturbing points, he keeps the eggs of his insects ''inside his stomach'' and hatches them at will, ''vomiting'' them at the enemy. Yes, this includes even the [[BigCreepyCrawlies enormous insectoid chimera abominations many times the size of a human]].

* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'': Clyde Donovan's superhero alter ego Mosquito has the power to control, you guessed it, mosquitoes, via his LimitBreak, "Pandemic Pestilence".