History Main / WickedWasps

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', throughout the series, has wasps (erroneously localized as bees until ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons''), which are the main hazard you face when you try to chop or shake trees for their goods; doing either carries a risk of dropping a hive and having an entire swarm of wasps chase after you. Depending on the game, getting stung once or twice by them will knock you out and have you respawn at your home. However, if you can catch a wasp, they fetch for a lot of Bells.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet Asian Giant Hornet]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zWGOGjLxs video from National Geographic here]]), a massive wasp with a needle-sized stinger, is a terrifyingly aggressive large insect with alarm pheromones that call her sisters to the hunt. The thing that makes these killer wasps absolutely feared by humans is that their stings inject a venom that partially digests the victim, which normally renders the innards of insect prey into a protein soup for their larvae to consume, and is potent enough to do severe damage to human flesh (potential side effects include severe bleeding due to destroyed red blood cells, necrosis, and kidney failure), in addition to making their stings excruciatingly agonising. These menaces are so feared by humans that on at least [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2465276/Killer-hornets-nest-destroyed-FLAME-THROWER-Chinas-army.html one occasion in China]], the villagers called for the People's Liberation Army to deploy men with [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]] to burn out their nest when it was too close to a farming settlement. These hornets are documented to have a legitimate death toll of humans on an annual basis, and against unprepared honeybee hives, a handful of them can slaughter hundreds of bees effortlessly. And recently, they've been spotted in the USA.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet Asian Giant Hornet]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zWGOGjLxs video from National Geographic here]]), a massive wasp with a needle-sized stinger, is a terrifyingly aggressive large insect with alarm pheromones that call her sisters to the hunt. The thing that makes these killer wasps absolutely feared by humans is that their stings inject a venom that partially digests the victim, which normally renders the innards of insect prey into a protein soup for their larvae to consume, and is potent enough to do severe damage to human flesh (potential side effects include severe bleeding due to destroyed red blood cells, necrosis, and kidney failure), in addition to making their stings excruciatingly agonising. These menaces are so feared by humans that on at least [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2465276/Killer-hornets-nest-destroyed-FLAME-THROWER-Chinas-army.html one occasion in China]], the villagers called for the People's Liberation Army to deploy men with [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]] to burn out their nest when it was too close to a farming settlement. These hornets are documented to have a legitimate death toll of humans on an annual basis, and against unprepared honeybee hives, a handful of them can slaughter hundreds of bees effortlessly.

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', throughout the series, has wasps (erroneously localized as bees until ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons''), which are the main hazard you face when you try to chop or shake trees for their goods; doing either carries a risk of dropping a hive and having an entire swarp of wasps chase after you. Depending on the game, getting stung once or twice will knock you out and have you respawn at your home. However, if you can catch a wasp, they fetch for a lot of Bells.

While bees have long been viewed as a friend to humanity, people have not, historically, had many reasons to like wasps. They don't make honey or pollinate flowers, are far more aggressive, and can sting as many times as they like. They're also highly territorial and easily roused, even by mistake, in defense of their nests. People have therefore learned to associate them with [[BeeAfraid angry swarms]] and impending pain.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet Asian Giant Hornet]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zWGOGjLxs video from National Geographic here]]), a massive wasp with a needle-sized stinger, is a terrifyingly aggressive large insect with all the aggressive traits of your average hornet, like the alarm pheromones that call her sisters to the hunt. The thing that makes these killer wasps absolutely feared by humans is that their stings inject a venom that partially digests the victim, which normally renders the innards of insect prey into a protein soup for their larvae to consume, and is potent enough to do severe damage to human flesh (potential side effects include severe bleeding due to destroyed red blood cells, necrosis, and kidney failure), in addition to making their stings excruciatingly agonising. These menaces are so feared by humans that on at least [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2465276/Killer-hornets-nest-destroyed-FLAME-THROWER-Chinas-army.html one occasion in China]], the villagers called for the People's Liberation Army to deploy men with [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]] to burn out their nest when it was too close to a farming settlement. These hornets are documented to have a legitimate death toll of humans on an annual basis.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet Asian Giant Hornet]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zWGOGjLxs video from National Geographic here]]), a massive wasp with a needle-sized stinger, is a terrifyingly aggressive large insect with all the aggressive traits of your average hornet, like the alarm pheromones that call her sisters to the hunt. The thing that makes these killer wasps absolutely feared by humans is that their stings inject a venom that partially digests the victim, which normally renders the innards of insect prey into a protein soup for their larvae to consume, and is potent enough to do severe damage to human flesh, in addition to making their stings excruciatingly agonising. These menaces are so feared by humans that on at least [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2465276/Killer-hornets-nest-destroyed-FLAME-THROWER-Chinas-army.html one occasion in China]], the villagers called for the People's Liberation Army to deploy men with [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]] to burn out their nest when it was too close to a farming settlement.

* The Giant Asian Hornet ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zWGOGjLxs video from National Geographic here]]), a massive wasp with a needle-sized stinger, is a terrifyingly aggressive large insect with all the aggressive traits of your average hornet, like the alarm pheromones that call her sisters to the hunt. The thing that makes these killer wasps absolutely feared by humans is that their stings inject a venom that partially digests the victim, which normally renders the innards of insect prey into a protein soup for their larvae to consume, and is potent enough to do severe damage to human flesh, in addition to making their stings excruciatingly agonising. These menaces are so feared by humans that on at least [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2465276/Killer-hornets-nest-destroyed-FLAME-THROWER-Chinas-army.html one occasion in China]], the villagers called for the People's Liberation Army to deploy men with [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]] to burn out their nest when it was too close to a farming settlement.

* The Giant Asian Hornet ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zWGOGjLxs video from National Geographic here]]), a massive wasp with a needle-sized stinger, is a terrifyingly aggressive large insect with all the aggressive traits of you average hornet, like the alarm pheromones that call her sisters to the hunt. The thing that makes these killer wasps absolutely feared by humans is that their stings inject a venom that partially digests the victim, which normally renders the innards of insect prey into a protein soup for their larvae to consume, and is potent enough to do severe damage to human flesh, in addition to making their stings excruciatingly agonising. These menaces are so feared by humans that on at least [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2465276/Killer-hornets-nest-destroyed-FLAME-THROWER-Chinas-army.html one occasion in China]], the villagers called for the People's Liberation Army to deploy men with [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]] to burn out their nest when it was too close to a farming settlement.

* The Giant Asian Hornet ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7zWGOGjLxs video from National Geographic here]]), a massive wasp with a needle-sized stinger, is a terrifyingly aggressive large insect with all the aggressive traits of you average hornet, like the alarm pheromones that call her sisters to the hunt. The thing that makes these killer wasps absolutely feared by humans is that their stings inject a venom that partially digests the victim, which normally renders the innards of insect prey into a protein soup for their larvae to consume, and is potent enough to do severe damage to human flesh, in addition to making their stings excruciatingly agonising. These menaces are so feared by humans that on at least one occasion in China, the villagers called for the People's Liberation Army to deploy men with [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]] to burn out their nest when it was too close to a farming settlement.

* Subverted with other parasitoid wasps, at least from a human perspective. Wasps that sting grasshoppers and caterpillars for their young are actually incredibly important to agriculture, for obvious reasons. Unlike normal predators, parasatoid populations rise much quicker in response to increased populations of prey/hosts since a successful hunting immediately results in the parasitoid producing more offspring. This keeps prey species from overrunning crop fields, and parasitoid wasps are considered one of the best biological pest controls.

* The Giant Asian Hornet, a massive wasp with a needle-sized stinger, is a terrifyingly aggressive large insect with all the aggressive traits of you average hornet, like the alarm pheromones that call her sisters to the hunt. The thing that makes these killer wasps absolutely feared by humans is that their stings inject a venom that partially digests the victim, which normally renders the innards of insect prey into a protein soup for their larvae to consume, and is potent enough to do severe damage to human flesh, in addition to making their stings excruciatingly agonising. These menaces are so feared by humans that on at least one occasion in China, the villagers called for the People's Liberation Army to deploy men with [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]] to burn out their nest when it was too close to a farming settlement.

* ''Manga/{{Himenospia}}'': A species of wasps parasites female humans by turning them into mutants with venomous VaginaDentata stings and brainwashing them to a certain extent such that they are driven mad and become terrorists once the wasp dies. The protagonist, [[BrokenBird Himeno]], is turned into an ageless Queen-ranked mutant and [[CorruptTheCutie gets increasingly embittered]] as she comes into conflict with both the Japanese goverment who wants to exploit her powers and an [[ShadowDictator American Queen]] who [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne has been murdering would-be-rivals]] for the past century.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

While bees have long been viewed as a friend to humanity, people have not, historically, had many reasons to like wasps. They're highly territorial and easily roused, even by mistake, in defense of their nests. People have therefore learned to associate them with [[BeeAfraid angry swarms]] and impending pain.

[[folder:Film — Animation]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* ''Literature/InCryptid'': Apraxis wasps are voracious predatory wasps about the size of a man's foot which attack and consume anything they come across. Apraxis wasps implant eggs in their hosts which hatch into nymphs inside the host, releasing a paralyzing agent that sends their host into a coma. These vile wasps are also highly intelligent and even sapient with the ability to mimic human voices to get closer to their prey and catch then unawares.

* ''Videogame/{{Minecraft}}'': The ''Biomes [='=]o Plenty'' mod includes Nether wasps, which are only found in giant hives in the Nether -- {{Hell}}, for all intents and purposes -- and unlike other animals are hostile and attack on sight.

** A particular type of solitary wasps, mud daubers, have caused a few hundred deaths by building nests in airplane altimeters and air speed indicators, which have resulted in fatal crashes. Of course, this is accidental and can happen with birds too.
** However subverted with other parasitoid wasps, at least from a human perspective. Wasps that sting grasshoppers and caterpillars for their young are actually incredibly important to agriculture, for obvious reasons. Unlike normal predators, parasatoid populations rise much quicker in response to increased populations of prey/hosts since a successful hunting immediately results in the parasitoid producing more offspring. This keeps prey species from overrunning crop fields, and parasitoid wasps are considered one of the best biological pest controls.

* The Schmidt Sting Pain Scale, which measures the intensity of insect stings on a scale of 0(least painful) to 4+ (most painful), has only four species that rank at the highest level. Three of them are wasps-- the Japanese giant hornet, the tarantula hawk wasp, and the executioner wasp.

'''This is not a list of all wasps in fiction. This refers specifically to wasps being portrayed as evil, villainous or monstrous.'''

* The Schmidt Sting Pain Scale, which measures the intensity of insect stings on a scale of 1(least painful) to 4 (most painful), has only four species that rank at the highest level. Three of them are wasps-- the Japanese giant hornet, the tarantula hawk wasp, and the executioner wasp. The fourth is the bullet ant.

** A particular type of these wasps, mud daubers, have caused a few hundred deaths by building nests in airplane altimeters and air speed indicators, which have resulted in fatal crashes. Of course, this is accidental and can happen with birds too.

* ''Literature/InCryptid'': Apraxis wasps are voracious predatory wasps about the size of a man's foot which attack and consume anything they come across. Apraxis wasps implant eggs in their hosts which hatch into nymphs inside the host, releasing a paralyzing agent that sends their host into a coma. These wasps are also highly intelligent and even sapient with the ability to mimic human voices to get closer to their prey and catch then unawares.

* The lifestyle of the ichneumonid wasps, which lay their eggs in live insects for their young to eat, was something that nineteenth-century naturalists and theologians struggled to come to terms with. Most notably, the wasps [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumonidae#Darwin_and_the_Ichneumonidae drove Charles Darwin]] to a CrisisOfFaith, where he seriously questioned the idea that a world that contained such apparent cruelty in nature could've been created by a benevolent God and used them along with the cats violent behaviour towards their prey as an example to make his point.

* The lifestyle of the ichneumonid wasps, which lay their eggs in live insects for their young to eat, was something that nineteenth-century naturalists and theologians struggled to come to terms with. Most notably, the wasps [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumonidae#Darwin_and_the_Ichneumonidae drove Charles Darwin]] to a CrisisOfFaith, where he seriously questioned the idea that a world that contained such apparently cruel-by-nature animals could've been created by a benevolent God.

** A particular type of these wasps, mud daubers, have caused a few hundred deaths by building nests in airplane altimeters and air speed indicators, which have resulted in fatal crashes.