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| 9 | [[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SouthParkPhoneDestroyer https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mosquito_south_park.png]]]] |
| 10 | [[caption-width-right:350:Mosquito wants you to [[{{Pun}} buzz off]].]] |
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| 12 | %% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion in the Caption Repair thread: |
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| 15 | When you think of AttackAnimal, you'll probably think of something big and/or badass, such as wolves, or tigers, or even dragons. Some people, however, have a kick with using... a certain creepier kind of creature. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | This trope is a {{Stock Superpower|sIndex}} of manipulating pest animals like insects, [[SpidersAreScary arachnids]], and [[YouDirtyRat rodents]]. The pests in question can range from tiny vermin to BigCreepyCrawlies and RodentsOfUnusualSize. 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. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Sometimes the controller doesn't only control insects but is also ''made of them'', in which case this overlaps with OneToMillionToOne. If being in the million form is their default, see TheWormThatWalks. They may also be FriendToBugs (especially for the insects version), but not always. It can also overlap with SpeaksFluentAnimal, if the controller is capable of not only commanding the animals but also communicating with them in their own language. If the pest controller is a pest itself, NiceMice is the most-common variation. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Subtrope of TheMinionMaster and AttackAnimal. SuperTrope to BeeBeeGun; bees are indeed among the most popular choice of insect, for [[BeeAfraid many good reasons]]. Can also overlap with MassHypnosis, since mind-controlling entire populations of tiny creatures is often the most common way to preform this power. See also TheInfested, for when characters or creatures have swarms of smaller beings permanently living in their bodies. |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | !!Examples: |
| 24 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 25 | |
| 26 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 27 | * ''Manga/SazanEyes'': Elder Taisui and all those possessed by his power can summon and control swarms of locusts so thick they can actually lift and toss giant trucks as if they were toys. |
| 28 | * ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': The Godhand member Conrad is capable of using plague-carrying rats. |
| 29 | * ''Manga/BlackCat'': The Taoist Shiki uses multiple insect-related attacks, such as with moths, bees, and he can even ride on a giant dragonfly. |
| 30 | * ''Manga/GetBackers'' has an entire race of this, the Kiryuudo race. They even have different "clans", where each clan controls different type of bugs (one clan controls spiders, one clan controls butterflies, and so on). They're the Arch Enemy of the Maryuudo race, who controls more traditional beasts. |
| 31 | * ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'': Lutecia Alpine can control insects on multiple levels, and even summon one as large as Kaiju monsters. |
| 32 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademiaVigilantes'', the spin-off {{Prequel}} to the original ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', gives us [[BitchInSheepsClothing Kuin]] [[EyepatchOfPower Hachisuka]]. Her Quirk allows her to control a swarm of special bees that nest behind her eyepatch. However, if even a single one of them is injured/killed, she will get hit by a backlash. [[spoiler: They're also [[EvilIsEasy convenient]] for spreading the [[PsychoSerum Trigger]] at large.]] It is thanks to this ability that she manages to survive when Stendhal/[[spoiler: Stain]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards finally gets sick and tired of her and tries to kill her]]. |
| 33 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': |
| 34 | ** Shino and the Aburame clan [[TheInfested allow chakra bugs to live inside their bodies]] while giving them control over said bugs. They mainly used the bugs to subdue their opponent quickly by sucking their chakra off their body. |
| 35 | ** One of the Sound Four, Kidomaru, can summon and control either a swarm of big spiders or a single GiantSpider. |
| 36 | * ''Anime/NinjaScroll'': One member of the QuirkyMiniBossSquad is a living nest for Japanese giant hornets. He can control them, use them to scout out the position of the heroes, and then makes the colony swarm them. |
| 37 | * ''Anime/OnePunchMan'': One of the first monsters Saitama faces is a mosquito woman with the power to control a swarm of mosquitos. She powers herself up on blood and uses the swarm to suck every living thing around her dry. |
| 38 | * ''Literature/Overlord2012'': 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. |
| 39 | * ''Anime/ReadOrDie'': Jean Henri Fabre's clone can control bees and other bugs. The giant grasshopper he rides is mechanical, but the smaller bugs seem to be normal, organic insects. |
| 40 | * ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'': Friesia has the ability to control swarms of bugs. |
| 41 | * ''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]]. However, despite his preference for summoning bugs, he's ''even more dangerous'' when he decides to fight personally. |
| 42 | * ''Anime/TheUltraman'' has an alien locust monster called Badan who can control entire swarms of locusts, which it then sics into human cities causing plenty of destruction. |
| 43 | [[/folder]] |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 46 | * Luna, the first BigBad of ''Animation/BalalaTheFairies'', gained the power to control swarms of insects from researching dark magic. This comes in handy in many tough situations, like when she needs to break the seals protecting a PowerCrystal. |
| 47 | [[/folder]] |
| 48 | |
| 49 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 50 | * The ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' villain Ratcatcher, who trains and controls rats. |
| 51 | * In the two-issue mini-series ''Dracula Versus Zorro'', Dracula sics rats from Notre Dame's basement on Zorro while he's trying to rescue a Spanish lady from the undead's clutches. |
| 52 | * ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'': |
| 53 | ** At one point in his superhero career, Henry Pym went by the name ComicBook/AntMan and wore a helmet that could control ants. In [[Film/AntMan1 the movie]] the helmet itself only facilitates breathing when shrunken. Ant commands are issued via a small device worn over the ear that translates thought waves into an olfactory signal the ants can act on. |
| 54 | ** There's also the minor villain Swarm, who is [[TheWormThatWalks made entirely out of bees]] that he can direct and control at will. |
| 55 | ** Played with in one ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures'' issue when ComicBook/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. |
| 56 | ** Another ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' villain with this gimmick is Buck Mitty a.k.a. Humbug. Originally, [[MakeSomeNoise he uses audio tapes and amplifiers to broadcast the noises of various insect species, which can incapacitate others or damage materials]]. Following his appearances in ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'', he begins to display the ability to communicate with insects, which he [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower uses rather creatively]] in ''ComicBook/HeroesForHire''. |
| 57 | ** {{Parodied|Trope}} with ''ComicBook/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl'': she has the uncanny ability to control squirrels. It is actually rather [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower powerful]] since she has defeated many superpowered beings with it, most notably Doctor Doom. |
| 58 | * ''ComicBook/TheMovement'': Jayden Revell a.k.a. the Mouse showed a closeness with rodents even as a baby, his parents were once horrified to find him sleeping soundly in his crib with rats. As he grew older, his learned to talk and control rats and mice. |
| 59 | * In ''ComicBook/OzCaliber'', the Scarecrow summon and control huge flocks of crows from within his own body. |
| 60 | * ''ComicBook/ThePitifulHumanLizard'': Human-Lizard's colleague, the Majestic Rat, has an army of rats at his command. |
| 61 | * ''ComicBook/{{PS238}}'' has The Flea, who can talk to, [[AnimalEyeSpy see and hear through]], and control insects. He's also extremely good at it. If he weren't FunPersonified he'd probably be absolutely terrifying. |
| 62 | * 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 any time before having the resulting spiders [[EatenAlive eat]] their way [[ChestBurster out of their host en masse]]. |
| 63 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': |
| 64 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': The "Earthworm" is named for his lanky and wrinkled appearance, but the creatures he controls, like a more famous Gotham based villain who operates out of the sewers, are rats. |
| 65 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2011'': Milan controls large swarms of flies, [[TheInfested most of which live inside his body]] and are expelled through his mouth and empty eye sockets. |
| 66 | [[/folder]] |
| 67 | |
| 68 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 69 | * ''Fanfic/CodexEquus'': |
| 70 | ** Belladonna Heartstrings, a goddess of Arthropods, can control all kinds of bugs, including spiders, scorpions, and stink bugs. After her band's previous instruments were destroyed by bullies, she summoned a swarm of harmless spiders to discourage anyone from doing it again. |
| 71 | ** Sekra the Indomitable command swarms of golden scarabs to eat her enemies alive. |
| 72 | * ''Fanfic/MiraculousNinja'': Professor Arthur Camson is akumatized into the bug-themed supervillain, King Arthurpod, who controls all insects and has the power to evolve them into giant, humanoid creatures. |
| 73 | * ''Fanfic/{{Wyvern}}'': While Taylor gains Lung's shard and powers, he gained the ones she got in canon. He calls himself Inago, and controls vast swarms of insects and other vermin. |
| 74 | [[/folder]] |
| 75 | |
| 76 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 77 | * Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': training rats isn't [[spoiler:Bruno]]'s power, it's his hobby. Ironically, a different character has the SpeaksFluentAnimal gift. |
| 78 | * Oogie Boogie, the BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', is [[ExaggeratedTrope an insect who controls other insects]]. His origin story reveals that he's the AnthropomorphicPersonification of a forgotten holiday devoted to insects, meaning he's the ''[[ExaggeratedTrope embodiment]]'' of this trope. |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 82 | * ''Film/BruceAlmighty'' has the eponymous character use his newly acquired [[JerkassGods "God-hood"]] to [[LaserGuidedKarma get revenge]] on a group of gang members who jumped him earlier in the film. When they refuse to apologize, he [[spoiler: [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor makes a monkey come out of the lead gang member's butt]]]] and spews a swarm of flies from his mouth, sending the others [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCf_t9aRgXc running away in panic.]] |
| 83 | * ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'': Giselle has a singing voice that can summon animals to aid her in housework chores ala Snow White. In the beautiful animated land of Andalasia, these animals are the sweet forest animals. In the real world of New York, these animals are [[DisneyCreaturesOfTheFarce cockroaches, pigeons, flies and rats]]. |
| 84 | * The Amazon priestess in ''Film/FrankensteinIsland'' is able to control spiders and snakes. She uses a pair of spiders to destroy a zombie during the final battle. Exactly how a pair of tarantulas could harm a zombie that (according to its creator) could only be stopped by being cut in half with a machine gun is not explained. |
| 85 | * ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'': Count Orlok brings a cargo of plague rats with him to the hero's hometown. For extra creepiness, the rats are all packed into several coffins, just like their master travels in a coffin. |
| 86 | * In ''Film/{{Phenomena}}'', Creator/JenniferConnelly has the power to control insects, and uses corpse flies to assist in a murder investigation. |
| 87 | * In ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'', Cleo Cazo, also known as Ratcatcher II, is the daughter of the Batman villain mentioned above. She has a device that allows her to control massive swarms of rats, [[spoiler: which she even uses to defeat Starro the Conqueror.]] |
| 88 | * ''Film/{{Willard}}'': The eponymous hero trains a colony of rats to do his bidding. |
| 89 | [[/folder]] |
| 90 | |
| 91 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 92 | * [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Arachne]] of ''The Ashtown Burials'' has command over spiders, mostly ordering them to create magical fabric from their silk and occasionally knock someone unconscious with venom. [[spoiler:She almost kills Phoenix by having her spiders unpick the coat he's bonded to, disintegrating him.]] |
| 93 | * ''Literature/TheAuthorities'': One of the members of the titular investigative group is a college professor who specializes in bees. He keeps thousands of bees at their HQ, some in the van, and several specially-trained bees in a device that looks like a handheld metal detector wand. Each bee in the device is trained to react to a particular scent, and the device has a screen to let the professor know which bee reacted and how much. This turns the device into an extremely-powerful scanner. Additionally, when Rutherford is chasing a suspect, the professor unleashes the bees in the van to follow the suspect, whom he previously sprayed with a special compound that attracts them. The bees easily subdue the suspect and later prove invaluable when [[EnhancedInterrogationTechniques interrogating]] him, although the team's manager tells the professor that he can't use the latter option again for fear of a negative public image. However, they do their best to make sure that the [=YouTube=] video of Rutherford getting saved by bees goes viral. |
| 94 | * ''Literature/BeastTamer'': 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. |
| 95 | * ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'', a dozen or so of the students at Tentir, the military college, can "bind" animals. One (Gari) can control insects, another can control small rodents (mice and rats). |
| 96 | * ''Literature/TheCloakSociety'' has Bug, a [[AscendedFanboy superhero fanboy]] with the power to telepathically control bugs, including for AnimalEyeSpy. He also has a dragonfly named Zip, whom he adopted as a pet upon realizing that, for whatever reason, she's unusually intelligent and can link with him over longer distances. |
| 97 | * ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' has Mr Bobo and his mice. He claims to be training them to perform, and he can apparently even command them to send messages to Coraline. His BizarroUniverse counterpart uses rats instead, and [[spoiler:turns out to be [[TheWormThatWalks made of rats]]]]. |
| 98 | * Court members in ''Literature/CreatureCourt'', in addition to transforming into TheSwarm, have a level of attraction and control for their animal which sometimes overlaps with this, most notably with Velody (whose mice run messages), and Dhynar, who attracts a retinue of urban foxes. |
| 99 | * In ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'', the secondary antagonist and HeroKiller Gao Jineng is a general who possess a magic purse called the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Wasps and Centipede Bag, from which he can spawn swarms of wasps and centipedes]] to take down his opponents. His trick is beaten by Chong Heihu, who [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame uses his magic gourd to summon countless Divine Hawks that eat the bugs]], leaving him harmless. |
| 100 | * In one ''Literature/HomerPrice'' story, the town hires a pied piper type who uses a mechanical contraption to play the music in order to lead mice out of town. Homer and his friends decide to follow along and see what happens, but since Homer has all the kids stuff cotton in their ears so they won't hear the music. Despite this, when the adults see the piper with a gaggle of kids following behind they fear the worst. |
| 101 | * ''Literature/InCryptid'': In ''Calculated Risks'', [[PsychicPowers Sarah]] telepathically tames a GiantSpider and rides it to meet up with the others. |
| 102 | * The Rot Lord in ''Literature/KingdomsDisdain'' is said to command plagues of bugs. |
| 103 | * In the ''Literature/MarlaMason'' series, Somerset -- a former chief sorcerer of Felport -- had the power to control hordes of rats and pigeons. Marla calls this "[[{{Whatevermancy}} vermomancy]]". |
| 104 | * ''Literature/MotherOfLearning'': The Taramatula family raise swarms of bees, whom they direct using mind magic. Besides honey, they're also helpful for scouting, home defence, and a variety of other jobs. Orissa even goes into combat wearing a beehive on her back. |
| 105 | * ''Literature/TheOriginOfLaughingJack'': In the middle of his mutilation of Isaac, many hordes of filthy roaches crawl out of Laughing Jack's mouth to infest Isaac's exposed abdomen. |
| 106 | * ''Literature/{{Parahumans}}'': |
| 107 | ** ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' centers around Taylor, a teenager who can psychically command all invertebrates, such as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans, within a range of several blocks. She has such a fine control over them that 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]]. |
| 108 | ** ''Literature/{{Ward}}'' has Ratcatcher, who has well-trained rats. She doesn't have a superpower that lets her control them, but she may have had her psychology altered to make it easier to work with them (similar to Bitch in Worm). |
| 109 | * ''Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin'' is renowned for his MagicMusic to enthrall rats. So much so that many similar characters found in other works are usually homages to him. |
| 110 | * ''Literature/RatmansNotebooks'': The protagonist, known only as The Ratman (he is given the name Willard in the film adaptations), has a deep affinity for rats that he is able to command them to do his bidding. However, it is not total control, as the rats tend to outright turn on him when they have a falling-out with him. |
| 111 | * ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': Joseph Albright has an affinity for bees, which is first demonstrated with the swarm of stinger bees he summons in volume 2 during his SoreLoser routine against the Sword Roses. In volume 7, he's shown normal-sized bees as {{familiar}}s to scout for him during his team's elimination round match against Teams Aalto, Carste, and Bowles. |
| 112 | * In ''Literature/{{Renegades}}'', Honey/Queen Bee has the ability to command various species of bees, wasps and hornets. |
| 113 | * In Creator/ThomasMDisch's short "The Roaches", the main character discovers that she possesses the ability to telepathically communicate with and command cockroaches. Let's just say that it turns out to be not so good of a thing in the end... |
| 114 | * In ''La Saga de los Confines'', by the Argentinian Liliana Bodoc, Kupuka is a magician of the Fertile Lands who can control insects on a small scale, for example, making red ants attack the bare legs of an undesirable spy. But he later helps win an important battle by attacking the enemy army with -- among other animals -- swarms of wasps, bees and mosquitoes, although it is implied that this required days of effort. |
| 115 | * The BigBad of ''Literature/TheSpiralLabyrinth'' by Creator/MatthewHughes has an army of insects at its command. Under its control, they can even take down attacking dragons. |
| 116 | * ''Literature/UniversalMonsters'': In book 1, an army of giant ticks attacks Captain Bob, and Devin Chavarria later claims she was the one who sent them. Subverted when the penultimate battle reveals they were actually a transformed Dracula. |
| 117 | * ''Literature/VillainsCode'': The aptly named Pest Control can summon and control any species of insect, whether normal or meta, as long as he has studied them in at least some way. He has found some creative uses for regular insects, but with meta ones, he can do some real damage. |
| 118 | * ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': Members of the Blue Ajah are taught a technique to summon swarms of insects. They can even specify the type. While this potentially has lots of uses, in the books it's only seen used for pranks. |
| 119 | [[/folder]] |
| 120 | |
| 121 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 122 | * In a deleted scene in ''Series/GoodOmens2019'', the demon Crowley commands a small army of rats, although it's not clear whether this is one of his powers or if he simply SpeaksFluentAnimal. However he does it, they infested a communications tower on his behalf. |
| 123 | * ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' has a MonsterOfTheWeek with the ability to control rats, as a WholePlotReference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin. |
| 124 | * ''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 SwissArmyWeapon, but when the Ark's in control of the suit, it has no qualms against using the power to its full horrifying potential. |
| 125 | * ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': One of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek meteor-empowered metahumans]] from season one is a girl named Sasha Woodman who gained the ability to control bees after being stung by bees that had been infected with [[GreenRocks kryptonite]]. |
| 126 | [[/folder]] |
| 127 | |
| 128 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 129 | * Music/TheDarkestOfTheHillsideThickets have a song called "Arachnotopia" that is about a madman preparing to unleash an army of spiders that will, he hopes, take over the world. |
| 130 | [[/folder]] |
| 131 | |
| 132 | [[folder:Mythology and Religion]] |
| 133 | * {{Beelzebub}} is literally the Lord of the Flies, and is attributed the power to both summon and dismiss pestilence and disease. |
| 134 | * In the Literature/BookOfExodus, God brought forth frogs, lice, flies and locusts as four of the ten plagues of Egypt. |
| 135 | [[/folder]] |
| 136 | |
| 137 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 138 | * ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'' features Jane Prentiss, who [[spoiler:emerges as the BigBad of Season 1]]. She (or the being using her body) commands masses of strange silver worms which infest more people and thus kill or enslave them. It is hinted that she may also control be able to control ordinary insects, spiders and other creepy-crawlies. |
| 139 | [[/folder]] |
| 140 | |
| 141 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 142 | * ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}''. There is a Kraata with the Insect Control ability. By extension, Makuta have this power as well. |
| 143 | * In ''Toys/TeddyScares'', Hester Golem commands an army of roaches. |
| 144 | [[/folder]] |
| 145 | |
| 146 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 147 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 148 | ** Druids and other spellcasters have long had access to spells that allow them to summon and direct swarms of insects and other pests. |
| 149 | ** The Vermin Lord subclass from the ''Book of Vile Darkness'' specializes in this trope. |
| 150 | ** Vermiurge are giant arthropods constantly surrounded by swarming clouds of venomous insects under their control. |
| 151 | ** A Fifth Edition Unearthed Arcana introduces the Swarmkeeper subclass for the Ranger, whose main draw is their ability to summon a swarm of fey that take the form of tiny beasts. While these don't necessarily have to be vermin (animals such as rabbits and foxes qualify from the class description), it does also grant access to the spells Giant Insect and Insect Plague, which don't appear on the Ranger's Spell list normally. |
| 152 | * ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': |
| 153 | ** The Golgari Swarm of Ravnica can use their Green Mana powers to act as a more conventional form of TheBeastmaster, but because they meld Green Mana with Black Mana, they are more associated with controlling BigCreepyCrawlies and rats, due to those animals' associations with death and decay. |
| 154 | ** The nezumi RatMen of Kamigawa have shamans who can control swarms of biting insects. |
| 155 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': |
| 156 | ** 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; depending on your caster level, you can pick whether to hork up a swarm of spiders, wasps, or army ants). |
| 157 | ** Azruverdas, giant beetles with human faces, can control vermin within their line of sight, although the creatures' low intelligence means that the commands need to be relatively direct -- "go there", "come here", "attack that creature" and so on. The amount of vermin they can control at once is represented as equaling twice the azruverda's hit dice; in practice, this means they can control entire hordes of low-level pests or limited numbers of powerful monsters -- such as, for instance, two purple worms at once. They also possess a number of magical abilities to aid them in doing this, such as the ability to summon swarms of wasps and spiders or to turn normal vermin gigantic. |
| 158 | ** Ancient black dragons get ''Insect Plague'' as a spell-like ability, allowing them to summon swarms of wasps. |
| 159 | ** Korir-kokembes are a type of dragon that hosts swarms of arthropods -- either spiders, wasps or army ants -- that live symbiotically in their gullets, which they can vomit forth to attack other creatures. They can also cast ''repel vermin'', ''creeping doom'' and ''insect plague''. |
| 160 | ** Nunos have a strong affinity for ants: the swarming insects never attack them, while the nunos themselves can control them as they please and make their homes within and beneath anthills. |
| 161 | ** Mites share a bond with vermin and can tame and control them, such as by controlling swarms of smaller vermin or using larger specimens as mounts. |
| 162 | ** The thriae BeePeople can summon bees when in need of aid. |
| 163 | ** Swamp blights can summon and control swarms of insects, and are surrounded by a cloud of biting mosquitoes at all times. |
| 164 | ** Wihsaak sahkils, being living embodiments of entomophobia, can cast ''vomit swarm'' at will and are immune to damage or distraction by swarms. |
| 165 | ** Derghodaemons have three different spell-like abilities that summon swarms of insects, and are immune to damage from swarms themselves. |
| 166 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': Clan Verms, a clan reviled even by other Skaven, shares a close affinity with insects, spiders and other tiny, crawling things, and is believed to have been responsible for creating several of the larger varieties known to exist. |
| 167 | * ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': Drycha Hamadreth is able to command the swarms of centipede-esque squirmling spites that nest in her body to attack her enemies. She can also play host to the ravenous, beetle-like flitterfury spites that will attack anything, friend or foe, on their mistresses command. |
| 168 | * ''Franchise/TheWorldOfDarkness'': |
| 169 | ** Many of the splats in both the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' and ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'' game lines have powers that can allow them to control vermin. Vampires have the Animalism Discipline, werewolves and other shifters have Gifts, mages can use the Life Sphere, etc. Some of the splats even have a more intimate relationship with vermin, like the Nosferatu and Baali vampires, Ratkin wererats, Black Spiral Dancers werewolves, Fomors and Nephandi mages. |
| 170 | ** In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', vampires of the Melissidae Bloodline can bend swarms of bees and wasps to their will, sometimes hosting them within their own bodies. |
| 171 | [[/folder]] |
| 172 | |
| 173 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 174 | * ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'' has Jennyanydots the Old Gumbie Cat, who spends her days lounging about like any old cat but spends her nights teaching artistic and professional skills to mice and roaches in order to make them more upstanding citizens. As in the other songs, the lyrics to this character's song come from a poem in the source material, ''Literature/OldPossumsBookOfPracticalCats'' by Creator/TSEliot, but the musical takes this trope a step further by showing Jennyanydots leading her vermin pupils in [[https://youtu.be/4hqGq-Kr9Hs a dance number]]. |
| 175 | [[/folder]] |
| 176 | |
| 177 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 178 | * ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt'': Stratos has this power, dubbed "Fly"... for all intents and purposes. The flies his body is made of are actually particles, but other trappings of this trope (such as HorrorHunger and [[DoingInTheWizard what appears to be]] decaying flesh) apply. [[AllThereInTheManual Of course, you'd never get that information in the game itself.]] |
| 179 | * Likewise, ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' has many consumables and powerups dedicated to summoning and controlling spiders and flies. |
| 180 | * ''VideoGame/BioShock1'': The Insect Swarm plasmid allows you to attack enemies with swarms of bees, causing them to panic and get distracted. |
| 181 | * ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' has Arakune, a black blob that WasOnceAMan. Since he's mostly TheWormThatWalks, his attacks usually involve a lot of bugs, even including a mechanic that fills up a gauge with certian attacks, and once it's full, he can temporarily summon ''even more bugs'' with his normal attacks. |
| 182 | * ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': Abaddon is usually a grasshopper-like humanoid who commands swarms of locusts. |
| 183 | * ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer3TiberiumWars'' has the Scrin, where the commanders can control some bug-like creatures such as Buzzers and Disintegrators. |
| 184 | * In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', the spell Gnaw and its stronger version Dorhys' Gnawing throw swarms of insects at the enemy that cause [[StatusEffects bleeding]]. |
| 185 | * ''Videogame/{{Dishonored}}'': Corvo can gain the ability to summon a swarm of rats to attack enemies. |
| 186 | * ''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.]] |
| 187 | * ''VideoGame/DontStarve'': Webber can control a very large number of spiders, and he is also a spider himself! |
| 188 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': Some Spriggans (a race of hostile [[WhenTreesAttack tree-like]] PlantPeople with a GaiasVengeance tilt) attack by siccing swarms of bees on their opponents. |
| 189 | * ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance EXTRAPOWER Star Resistance]]'': Nemuri attacks by throwing TheSwarm of demon homing insects, starting with flies and building up to beetles and spiders with each power-up. Don't get her mad or she'll feed you to the insects! |
| 190 | * ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' has the [=AntAgonizer=], a woman with a comic supervillain-themed costume and personality who can controls giant ants to "terrorize" the nearby town (although it's actually more of a series of show fights against her nemesis, the Mechanist). |
| 191 | * ''VideoGame/GhostMaster'': Buck was an OldDog who have died along with his giant swarms of fleas. In the afterlife, they have reunited once again as ghosts, making ghostly Buck able to call for his ghostly fleas to swarm upon people to scare them. |
| 192 | * In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', after killing the antlion queen, a vortigant extracts a gland which lets you control her spawn. You then invade Nova Prospekt backed up by a HordeOfAlienLocusts. |
| 193 | * ''VideoGame/HellgateLondon'': Bosses with the ''Hivehost'' power emit a swarm of bees in your direction when you attack them. |
| 194 | * In ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', self-styled "Bug Princess" Agitha can summon her insect friends to assist her in battle. |
| 195 | * ''VideoGame/KingsleysAdventure'': Gustav the Grave is a {{bear|sAreBadNews}} who can summon bees to attack you. |
| 196 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' has Odalwa, the boss of the Woodfall Temple. Among his many abilities, he can summon [[ZergRush swarms of]] [[GoddamnBats moths]] and beetles to attack Link. |
| 197 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'': |
| 198 | ** The Pain can control bees, using them to create copies of himself, deliver grenades, and even create guns... as well as just soaking you in bee alarm pheromones and letting the little monsters go to work. |
| 199 | ** Naked Snake can tame non-Pain hornets by donning the Hornet Stripe (gained by completely depleting the Pain's stamina bar instead of his life bar) camo, thus having the hornet swarm attack the nearest enemy soldier next to Snake, temporarily disabling that guard into panic of said swarm. |
| 200 | * ''Videogame/MortalKombatX'': D'vorah is a woman whose body is infested with symbiotic insect minions, mostly maggots. She is unharmed by them, but she can command them to [[DeadlyEuphemism take temporary residence]] [[FinishHim in her defeated opponents]]. Also, they make [[KissOfDeath kissing her]] very, very inadvisable. |
| 201 | * In the later part of ''VideoGame/APlagueTaleInnocence'', [[spoiler:Hugo gains the ability to control the rats. This causes an UnexpectedGameplayChange, as from this point, instead of trying to keep away from the rats, you can use them to your advantage. In the FinalBoss battle, the BigBad Grand Inquisitor Vitalis controls the white rats.]] |
| 202 | * ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon'': Members of the Tento Clan summon [[BigCreepyCrawlies gigantic insects]] for boss fights. Their preferred method of assassination is using tiny luck locusts to steal someone's luck which results in them being killed in an unfortunate accident. |
| 203 | * ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard'': Marguerite Baker can generate and control swarms of mutated insects. |
| 204 | * ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'': The Sting spell summons a small swarm of bees on a foe for a non-elemental attack. It's fairly average strength-wise, but it's notable for its alchemist being fairly well hidden in a desert. |
| 205 | * ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'': Clyde Donovan's superhero alter ego Mosquito has the power to control, you guessed it, mosquitoes, via his abilities "Skeeter Swarm" and "[[LimitBreak Pandemic Pestilence]]". |
| 206 | * ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'': The [[EverythingTryingToKillYou hostile trees]] in Fracture Hills attack Spyro by sending out bees from the beehive on one of their branches. |
| 207 | * ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' has several items that allow you to employ vermins, from the Spider Staff which makes a number of spiders follow you and attack your enemies to the Honey Comb which summons bees to sting back at your enemies when you take damage. |
| 208 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': This is Wriggle Nightbug's ability. Somewhat justified, since Wriggle is a firefly youkai, and thus an insect herself.%%First, "somewhat justified" isn't a thing. Second, explain what their ability is. |
| 209 | * ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': Crypt Lords like Anub'Arak are giant bugs who can summon carrion beetles from corpses and a swarm of angry locusts to attack their enemies. |
| 210 | [[/folder]] |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 213 | * ''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 become [[spoiler:the AnthropomorphicPersonification of all things maggot-related throughout TheMultiverse]]. |
| 214 | * ''Webcomic/BobTheAngryFlower'': Subverted in [[http://angryflower.com/beesan.gif a strip]] where Bob tries to use chemical and light signals to control a swarm of "supersonic hyper-bees" to use as a weapon of mass destruction. This backfires on him when, being a talking flower, the bees change course and swarm over him... but it turns out they just wanted to borrow his pen to write a novel. |
| 215 | * ''Webcomic/{{Erma}}'':[[spoiler: Sidney can control small, non-sapient rats mentally]]. |
| 216 | [[/folder]] |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 219 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has Patrick Poundstone a.k.a. [[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 love interest, 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.]] |
| 220 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' episode "[[Recap/Ben10S1E12SideEffects Side Effects]]", while redeveloping a dilapidated residential area, the workers run afoul of Clancy, a homeless man who can control bugs who taken up residence in one of the buildings to be demolished. When the building is destroyed in a fight with Ben, he vows revenge. He then tries to causie a nuclear meltdown, planning to survive the blast with an armor made of cockroaches. [[spoiler:He is eventually defeated after being frozen by Heatblast (who was turned AnIcePerson due to a cold) and his control over insects was disrupted by Max's homemade medicine. He later shows up as part of the Negative 10, somehow becoming an insect-human hybrid.]] |
| 221 | * ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'': In "Chocolate Chips", the confectioner Heinrich von Sugarbottom uses mind control juice injected via intelligent mosquitos to compel the local wildlife, including the visiting Rangers, to transplant cacao trees closer to his Incan temple hideout. |
| 222 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': In "[[Recap/CodeLyokoS1E12 Swarming Attack]]", XANA possesses a swarm of hornets to attack humanity. |
| 223 | * ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': In "[[Recap/DuckTales2017S2E20TheGoldenArmoryOfCorneliusCoot The Golden Armory of Cornelius Coot!]]", after being disowned by Ma Beagle Bigtime decides to prove himself by following Webby and the triplets in their quest to find the eponymous armory. He somehow bonds with and tames the spiders that infest the caves beneath Fort Duckberg, and briefly starts calling himself "Bugtime Beagle". |
| 224 | * From an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'', there is the Piper, an homage to ''Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin'', who is capable of controlling pesky ghosts via his music. Subverted however though since he is actually a ghost himself who was scamming people, and the pesky ghosts he was controlling were actually a part of him. |
| 225 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'' has two villains with this theme: Insectiva, who controls bugs of all kinds, and her sister-slash-bitter rival Arachnidia, who controls spiders. |
| 226 | * ''WesternAnimation/GrowingUpCreepie'' has a [[BadPowersGoodPeople rare heroic example]] with the titular character, a PerkyGoth who could [[SpeaksFluentAnimal talk to bugs]] after [[RaisedByWolves being raised by them]]. Rather than controlling them per se, she's a FriendToBugs and good at convincing them to cooperate with her. |
| 227 | * Bug control is considered a form of beast keeping magic in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', with both named members of the coven using it to great effect. Gwendolyn is able to intimidate a group of scammers by turning a small swarm of fire bees in to a raging inferno, and coven head Eberwolf manages to subdue a fellow coven head with flesh eating beetles he keeps hidden in his mane. |
| 228 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': Roach Coach, the villain in the episode "[[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsS1E2InsectInsidePowerpuffBluff Insect Inside]]", 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]]. |
| 229 | * ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'': The fake monster in "[[Recap/ScoobyDooMysteryIncS1E13WhenTheCicadaCalls When the Cicada Calls]]" is able to control cicadas and is covered in a swarm as their disguise. |
| 230 | * The Rat King from ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' tends to be depicted as having control over rats in some adaptations. In [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 the first cartoon]], he is initially capable of doing so via a flute ala ''Literature/ThePiedPiperOfHamelin'', and in later episodes he can do it psychically. In [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 the 2003]] and [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 the 2012]] cartoons, he is able to do so mentally from the start. |
| 231 | * ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' has three Sheng Gong Wu capable of facilitating this ability: the Tongue of Saiping, which allows the user to talk to animals and somewhat control them; the Ju-Ju Flytrap, which allows the user to sic a swarm of flies or bees upon their opponent; and the Moonstone Locust, which summons a swarm of locusts (perfect for eviscerating plant life). |
| 232 | [[/folder]] |
| 233 | |
| 234 | [[folder: Real Life]] |
| 235 | * In the modern military, as of 2010, bees are trained and used to search for explosives. It is only as of 2010 because at that moment a few corporations started to understand how to create bee hotels for that purpose. |
| 236 | ** Moths have also been proposed for this purpose -- specifically sphinx moths, which have possibly the most acute sense of smell in the entire animal kingdom. |
| 237 | * So-called "roborats" -- laboratory rodents with implants that stimulate their brains' reward-centers to control their movements -- have been developed for the purpose of exploring rubble of collapsed buildings after disasters. Equipped with remote cameras, such animals can probe through narrow crevices and scramble over debris to locate trapped survivors, guided by an operator/trainer like a living drone. |
| 238 | [[/folder]] |
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