History Webcomic / Insecticomics

* IncompatibleOrientation: One of the two main reasons Bonecrusher and Killdozer (his renamed female counterpart in the Energon Constructicons) are just friends -- they both prefer "big chicks". (The other reason is that while his gender could easily change, he'd still be too short for her tastes.)

* MegaNeko: Animkee, Wayward's cat.

** There are several references to "the business with the zombies". It doesn't occur onscreen, but among other things it resulted in Dreadmoon owing Ultra Magnus a favor. (It's heavily implied this ties back in some way to the 'City of Fear' arc in the Marvel UK run of the comic, which involved Ultra Magnus and the GhostTown of Kalis, Dreadmoon's DoomedHometown.)

* TallIsIntimidating: When a massive fight broke out between Decepticon factions, the Constructicons attempt to invoke this by combining into Devastator. Unfortunately, since the G1 Constructicon toys were fairly small, Devastator isn't big enough to successfully intimidate the other Decepticons. And then Tidal Wave (who's toy was enormous) shows up to intimidate ''him''!

* WholesomeCrossdresser: As much as the Insecticons can be called 'wholesome'.

* BestHerToBedHer: Grimlock seems to operate by this type of logic- Defeat someone, and they have to marry you. Considering this is [[DumbMuscle Grimlock]], his definition of "defeat" is odd.
* {{BFG}}: The Hydra Cannon [[spoiler: a.k.a. Galvatron]], originally from ''Anime/TransformersArmada''. Essentially a giant cannon empowered by nine Minicons combined into three weapons.

* BigEater: The Insecticons. But then it's kind of their original canon shtick.

* BrickJoke: ''I Am Best Assemblydrone on Planet Basket!''

* BurpingContest: Override suggests one to Armada!Thrust to resolve a dispute in strip 127. He refuses.

* TheUnreveal: Optimus Prime appears in shadow at the end of an early strip... only to be revealed as Pepsimus Prime, an actual Prime repaint that feature Pepsi colors and logo. He's characterized, naturally, as a tremendous corporate shill (as opposed to [[TheCape Optimus's more common personality]]) and becomes a ButtMonkey.

* WeaksauceWeakness: Said Pepsimus Prime reacts to Coke like it's a caustic acid. (Well, y'know, moreso than it actually is.)
** Considering he ''[[http://www.insecticons.com/insecticomics/v2/104.html bursts into flames]]'', Coke is apparently more like napalm to him.
* WeddingBellsForSomeoneElse: Invoked in the volume 5 arc "Come For The Wedding, Stay For The Open Bar!". Kickback and Lazorbeak decide to have a wedding in protest of events from ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'', because "the strip is ending when the one-interesting older daughter marries her emotionally-manipulative creepo high school fling. On the anniversary of when the creepo married his first wife, no less." Bombshell and Elita assume Kickback and Lazorbeak are the ones getting married; it's not until the ceremony that they learn the former two are just ''hosting'', and the whole thing is actually the Earth-legal marriage of [[WesternAnimation/BeastMachines Stryka and Obsidian]] (apparently, Earth doesn't recognize Cybertronian bond-relationships, and being recognized as married is important to the pair).
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Subverted as being yet another of White Chromia's fics.

%%* CharacterCatchphrase: "Don't wanna. Can't make me."

* ConRecap.

%%* DeaderThanDead: What happens when Armada doesn't like you.

* DecompositeCharacter: Override and Nitro Convoy. In ''Transformers: Galaxy Force'' canon, Nitro Convoy is male, while in the English dub (''Anime/TransformersCybertron''), he was given a gender-swap and rename into the female Override. Override subsequently got two toys in the U.S. towline -- her original version (who portrays cartoon Override in the Insecticomics) and Override GTS (the same character, but toyline exclusive, with a new paint scheme). Subsequently, the Insecticomics used Override GTS to portray cartoon!Override's previously-unmentioned twin brother, who shares the name of their ''Galaxy Force'' counterpart.

* EldritchAbomination: The bat-like Transformer that attacked Thrust in the afterlife. Supposedly, it's a [[{{Precursors}} Firstforged]] named Armada. There's also Unicron, as to be expected.

* FanFic: The entirety of the ''Insecticomics'' could theoretically be considered fanfiction. However, Dreadmoon himself is based on a character of same name from Wayward's Transformer fanfiction, which in some circles has become so popular that other people have also written Dreadmoon fanfiction that uses Wayward's works as its 'canon'.

** Thrust declared himself female in an effort to thwart [[MoralGuardians Moral Guardian]] Lady Jaye's protests, and then just stuck with it. It is not clear exactly how everyone can ''tell'' that she's changed genders, but they can.

* JerkAss: According to Override, ''everyone'' from Speed Planet is to some extent.

* LoveTriangle: Dreadmoon is quite obviously in love with Starscream, who is quite firmly with Skyfire and doesn't seem to care what Dreadmoon thinks. (Well, he does care, he just classifies it as "useful".) Thrust, meanwhile, seems to like Dreadmoon but is content with hitting on him and taking him out on occasional dates (and is dating Flamewar on the side). There's also Shortround, who crushes on Thunderblast, who will only hook up with people more powerful than she is.

* NoodleImplements: Transformers porn (that is, porn made by Transformers for Transformers, not porn made of Transformers by fans with strange fetishes). Even after watching it, Sassy Devine didn't understand it.

* NoodleIncident: Barricade did ''something'' to Michael Bay's car. Everyone wants to know what, and even asking [[BerserkButton sends him into a rage]].

%%* CatchPhrase: "Don't wanna. Can't make me."

* AnimatedActors: The character from the 2007 ''{{Film/Transformers}}'' movie are portrayed as actually being Vehicons hired to play those parts. (Strangely, movie Jazz, the only movieverse Autobot, seems to be accepted as normal Jazz.)

* {{BFG}}: The Hydra Cannon [[spoiler: a.k.a. Galvatron]], originally from ''Transformers Armada''. Essentially a giant cannon empowered by nine Minicons combined into three weapons.

* BrokenAesop: The comic pokes fun at fangirls quite often, while at the same time being a host to some of the [[YaoiFangirl more prominent traits]].

* CensorBox: Lady Jaye makes all the transformers wear one to "protect the children". To get around this, Bombshell transforms into weevil form... only to have Lady Jaye drop a huge censor bar on him.

* DecompositeCharacter: Override and Nitro Convoy. In ''Transformers: Galaxy Force'' canon, Nitro Convoy is male, while in the English dub (''Transformers: Cybertron''), he was given a gender-swap and rename into the female Override. Override subsequently got two toys in the U.S. towline -- her original version (who portrays cartoon Override in the Insecticomics) and Override GTS (the same character, but toyline exclusive, with a new paint scheme). Subsequently, the Insecticomics used Override GTS to portray cartoon!Override's previously-unmentioned twin brother, who shares the name of their ''Galaxy Force'' counterpart.

--> "Insect! We have kidnapped your friend-with-benefits!"
--> '''Kickback''' (later): Predacon women can liberate themselves.

* FlatEarthAtheist: Dreadmoon and Skyfire. Their leader is occasionally a ghost, they're in the same neighborhood as the powerful servants of a chaos god, they have been ''visited'' by said chaos god, they've encountered an artifact that brings life to inanimate mechanical objects, and their resident old guy is a time travelling agent of Primus. And still they mock Thrust for his tarot cards.
** WordOfGod: "[[NayTheist Super-powerful and inexplicable entities exist in the ''Insecticomics''. Skyfire and Dreadmoon acknowledge their existence while denying their divinity]]."

* FiveManBand: [[http://www.insecticons.com/insecticomics/v5/457.html Discussed]], where Kickback suggests that he, the other Insecticons and their two female friends could form an evil version of the trope -- Shrapnel as TheLeader (just to give him something to do), Bombshell as the EvilGenius (because he ''is'' smarter than the rest of them), Elita as TheBigGuy (because Kickback claims she's the biggest and dumbest of them), Lazerbeak as the DarkChick (because she's the only other female), and himself as second-in-command. The others are considering it... and then he adds Tiny Scarf Penguin as the TeamPet, and the others decide to hit him with things until he forgets what he was talking about.

%%* AmbiguousGender: All the Transformers.

%%* {{BFG}}: The Hydra Cannon [[spoiler: a.k.a. Galvatron]].

* TheCasanova[=/=]TheVamp: Thrust, if [[http://www.insecticons.com/insecticomics/v7/607.html you're a boat]].

%%* CuddleBug: Blinky. Literally.

* [[WebOriginal/LOLCats LOLScorpions]]: Blackout's Scorponoks tend to be these.

%%* PracticalJoke: Usually the Insecticons, who seem to view it as their calling in life.
%%* ThePrankster: The Insecticons are this in general, but it particularly applies to Kickback. He often has nothing better to do than make life vaguely annoying for someone else.

* ShoutOut / MythologyGag: Quite a few.

%%* TheStarscream: Natch.

* HelicopterParents: Obsidian exposits to Kickback how he and his wife Stryka tried to constantly guide their only child into being a great Vehicon general... only to have him skip Cybertron to become an ''actor''. Their son turns out to be Blackout from the Michael Bay ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries''. The joke is that both Obsidian and Blackout transform into VTOL craft and as such, Obsidian is literally a helicopter who ''is'' a parent, a parent ''to'' a helicopter, and a helicopter parent in the usual sense.
* HilarityEnsues: The inevitable result of pretty much anything anyone does. Some characters, especially the Insecticons, deliberately aim for this.
* [[HighClassCallGirl High Class Porn Star]]: Debacle, aka 'Debbie'. You know, the one who did Daebola?

* SailorEarth: Used for pretty much every character that is [[MerchandiseDriven toy only]], as the most characterization they get is a blurb on the back of their box. Dreadmoon is a special case, as the author actually 'made' him by repainting an Energon Dreadwing toy.

* ScrewYourself: Sideways asks his upgraded [[OppositeSexClone female]] counterpart if it's weird if he makes out with her... about five seconds after they meet. During the {{Shipping}} arc, Starscream is shown to have hooked up with one of his former bodies.

** Several former members of the movie cast now work on the SpinoffBabies show "Michael Baybies", which combines ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies''-esque whimsy with Michael Bay's trademark love of things exploding.

* TheStarscream: Natch.
** And without Starscream officially a member of the Decepticons anymore, Megatron is terribly bored, because his underlings are scared witless instead of trying to take power from him.

* ParodySue: Angelle Darque, complete with long-winded self narration. Taken UpToEleven with Sassy Devine, who is actually an ''ex''-MarySue.

* AliensStealCattle: The most likely explanation for where the cattle that Bombshell and Shrapnel got for Kickback came from.
** Also when Terrorsaur and Waspinator try to steal said cattle.

* AmbiguousGender: All the Transformers.

* {{BFG}}: The Hydra Cannon [[spoiler: a.k.a. Galvatron]].

* CatchPhrase: "Don't wanna. Can't make me."

* CuddleBug: Blinky. Literally.
* DeaderThanDead: What happens when Armada doesn't like you.

* PracticalJoke: Usually the Insecticons, who seem to view it as their calling in life.
* ThePrankster: See above. The Insecticons are this in general, but it particularly applies to Kickback. He often has nothing better to do than make life vaguely annoying for someone else.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The cast page identifies the series as having a cast of over four hundred.

** WordOfGod: "[[NayTheist Super-powerful and inexplicable entities exist in the ''Insecticomics''. Skyfire and Dreadmoon acknowledge their existance while denying their divinity]]."

* FiveManBand: [[http://www.insecticons.com/insecticomics/v5/457.html Discussed]].

* TheUnreveal: Optimus Prime appears in shadow at the end of an early strip...only to be revealed as Pepsimus Prime, an actual Prime repaint that feature Pepsi colors and logo. He's characterized, naturally, as a tremendous corporate shill (as opposed to [[TheCape Optimus's more common personality]]) and becomes a ButtMonkey.

* CerebusSyndrome: Averted. There have been several longer and more serious story arcs recently compared to the comic's rather nonsensical origins, but they are usually balanced by jokes. One comic specifically states Wayward wants to avoid drama as much as possible, since she feels the more serious a Transformers photocomic becomes, the more like children's toys the "actors" look.

* IncompatibleOrientation: One of the two main reasons Bonecrusher and Killdozer (his renamed female counterpart in the Energon Constructicons) are just friends - they both prefer "big chicks". (The other reason is that while his gender could easily change, he'd still be too short for her tastes.)

* MirrorUniverse: The latest story arc has Kickback get sent to a "[[ComicBook/TransformersShatteredGlass Cracked Glass]]" universe due to a teleporter accident.
* [[MoralGuardians Moral Guardian]]: Lady Jaye.

** For example: there are no less than three active Megatrons in the strip - Beast Wars, Energon (who retired at the end of volume 2) and Classics.
** There are no less than ''five'' active Starscreams: G1 (using an actual G1 toy, an Energon variant in G1 colors, and a Classics toy), Armada, Energon, Cybertron and 2007 movie. When the "Six Weeks of Christmas" story happened, all five (plus the G1 Energon variant, a new Animated Starscream, a tiny version of the G1 figure and what appears to be a small version of the 2007 movie version) appeared in the ninth strip.
** Name reuse is referenced by Beast Megatron when he tries to get some Terrorcon Dinobots to obey him, only to be told they only answer to Scorponok. Thinking they mean his former lieutenant (who eventually reappeared some volumes later), Beast Megatron says he's been dead for years, only for Energon Scorponok to show up and reply that they mean him. Megatron then bemoans that he hates name reuse.
** The G1 Constructicons[[note]]one of five Constructicon teams in the strip - there's the G1 versions, the Sixbuilder repaints from the Universe line, the Build Team repaints from the Universe line, the Energon team that forms Constructicon Maximus, and ''their'' Universe repaints, who become part of the Brigade[[/note]] try to play it straight, G1 Bonecrusher forcing his namesakes in the Energon/Constructicon Maximus team and the Universe/Build Team repaints to change their names to Killdozer and Spanky, respectively.

* OriginalCharacter: Dreadmoon (originally a sculpture and later a custom repaint of Energon Mega Class Dreadwing) is the most prominent, but a few others, like Snowcrash (portrayed by ''Shattered Glass'' Starscream, a redeco of Cybertron Voyager Class Starscream), the Devourist (a priest of Unicron portrayed by a Cybertron Deluxe Class Unicron toy) and various humans, have also appeared.
* OverlyPreparedGag: Kickback set up one in [[http://www.insecticons.com/insecticomics/v4/321.html this strip.]] Doubles as a ShoutOut to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.

* PornStash: [[BrainBleach LOCUST PORN]] -- view [[http://www.insecticons.com/insecticomics/v3/213.html here]] (The comic in question, not the locust porn...)

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: At least some stories and character upgrades came about because Wayward found and bought older figures on eBay or at conventions, or got new toys that had just been released (such as the Classics and Movie lines). Also why G1 Soundwave stopped appearing - the figure broke.

* StrawFan: There's a fifty-fifty chance that any human character in the comic is one of these. Strangely enough, there's also at least a slight chance that even these characters will be treated with some dregs of respect. The recent Unicron arc actually seemed to indicate that Wayward at least sympathized with a Straw Fan Mary Sue's desire to be at the big fight and do all she could, even if that was effectively nothing.

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: Quite a few humans, MoralGuardian Lady Jaye included, keep forgetting that the Transformers are ''robots'', have no real genders (it's all cosmetic), and can't have any sort of actual "interaction".

The ''[[http://www.insecticons.com/insecticomics.html Insecticomics]]'' was a ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' FanWebComic by Melissa [=DeHaan=], also known as Wayward Martian. Originally, the comic was a series of amusing pictures of toys done for no real purpose, which explains the bad photography and writing. Eventually, the comics became more and more frequent and around episode 100, Wayward decided to make it a triweekly thing. The photography began to get better, the cast expanded and Wayward began using props and eventually whole sets, but the irreverent sense of humor remained.

* FiveBadBand: [[http://www.insecticons.com/insecticomics/v5/457.html Discussed]].