Warning: Given the nature of some of the tropes on this page, there will be unavoidable spoilers in regards to certain characters. You have been warned.
- The Ant Kingdomnote
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The Bee Kingdom
The Golden Settlement
Tanjerin and Cerise
- An Arm and a Leg: Tanjerin ends up breaking his horn off trying to move a rock over ten times his size.
- Cartoon Creature: A rarity in this game: Tanjerin and Cerise's species (Fruity Bugs) doesn't exist in the real world in any capacity, though they resemble very round Japanese Rhinoceros Beetles.
- Cheery Pink: The pink-skinned Cerise is very much a joyful sweetheart, albeit not a particularly bright one.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Both of them are eccentric, but Cerise in particular really fits the bill. She doesn't seem to have a good grasp on her surroundings, enjoys napping in a prison cell, and is convinced that Kabbu is old enough to be her uncle. Worse yet, she believes him to be like a Fruity Bug that would resemble Iron Seeds from eating so many.
- The Ditz: Neither of them are all that bright: Tanjerin breaks his horn by trying to lift rocks he knows are too heavy for him to lift, and Cerise ends up getting herself locked in a prison cell due to careless digging. They're both terrible with directions as well.
- Genius Ditz: In spite of how ditzy Cerise is, she is surprisingly knowledgable about digging, and even serves as Ms. Exposition in regards of how you can find Crystal Berries, Dark Cherries and other treasures when you burrow underground, as well as knowing you are safe from monsters when burrowed (if for all the wrong reasons).
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Tanjerin says that he reached Bugaria from the East Kingdom by walking "left" a lot. While this could be explained in-universe with him thinking that "left" and "west" mean the same thing, it fits with mapping in games including Bug Fables, where the west is usually fixed on the left end of the screen.
- The Nicknamer: Cerise nicknames Kabbu "Uncle Iron Seed" due to mistaking him for a Fruity Bug who grew the characteristics of an Iron Seed and claiming he is "old enough to be her uncle".
- Older Than They Look: While they may seem childlike in appearance and behavior, they are both stated by their creators to be around 20 years old —- which would make them at least three years older than Vi — to explain how they could travel alone and how Tanjerin owns a house.
- Pair the Dumb Ones: The two are in a romantic relationship, and both are about as dumb as they are round.
- Planimal: According to their creators, Tanjerin's bowtie and Cerise's bow are actually leafy growths from their bodies, making Fruity Bugs part plant.
- Punny Name: Tanjerin is named after tangerines, while Cerise is a cherry.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: These two are absolutely adorable what with their tiny round bodies and hilarious ditziness. And according to Tanjerin, "everyone looks like [him]" where they come from. Yet a third Fruity Bug shown in the game Skirby is a gruff sailor, showing that not all of them are hopelessly adorable and cute.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Cerise knows that you are safe from monsters if you're underground, and is actually right on this one. However, she believes that this is because they cannot see you if you cannot see them, which is not true, as lampshaded by Kabbu.
- Superboss: Yes, Tanjerin of all people is a superboss... albeit as a hologram in the Cave of Trials named TANGYBUG. It has 99 health, 4 defense points (the highest amount of defense points in the game), and pulls attacks from a number of foes such as boss!Kabbu, Wasp Drillers, and the Venus Buds. It also plays the Watcher's theme when you fight it!
- Women Are Wiser: Very downplayed in regards with Cerise. Even though she is as ditzy as Tanjerin is, she at the very least is a Genius Ditz who is a bit knowledgeable in regards of digging.
Kut
- Asian Cleaver Fever: He can prepare meals for the party hibachi-style in a knife-slashing Big Ball of Violence. Funnily, he does this with various bug-sized ingredients that wouldn't usually need to be chopped up in real life, including leaves, honey, and water droplets.
- Informed Flaw: Downplayed; NPCs mention that he tends to be standoffish and has a poor attitude. While he does brag a lot about his skills, he's not outright rude. At worst, he's a bit terse when you talk to him but don't cook anything.
- Insufferable Genius: He always brags about how he's the best chef of all, claiming that no cooking can be compared to his. He actually is one of the best chefs; the problem is that he never stops bragging about it.
- Punny Name: He's a mantis who cooks by cutting things up, and his name is Kut.
- Supreme Chef: He's widely regarded as an excellent chef, and is the only chef capable of making the Tangy Carpassio, one of the game's best healing items.
Acolyte Aria
- Badass Preacher: As delicate as she looks, Aria is capable of kicking some serious ass. She successfully keeps the Wasp King's imposing troops out of the Golden Hills, and is a fierce combatant during her miniboss battle.
- Crisis of Faith: When she was training to be a priestess, Aria doubted Venus' existence and started going through the motions. But once she met Venus for herself, she became more devout than ever.
- Eyes Always Shut: Her sprite in the overworld always has her eyes closed. Subverted with her battle sprite, which has them open.
- Green Thumb: Can summon vines to help her fight. However, she doesn't have plant powers and the vines are courtesy of Venus herself.
- High Priest: She leads the town of Golden Settlement in paying tribute to Venus during the Harvest Festival.
- Kick Chick: Her strongest attack is a flying kick from atop a vine. It hits harder than anything else in her arsenal, meaning that knocking her off her vine before she can do it should be the player's top priority.
- Lady of War: Even in battle, she's graceful and elegant to a fault.
- No Mouth: Her mouth appears only when she speaks.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Before Team Snakemouth and Team Celia had arrived in the Golden Settlement, she alone managed to thwart the Wasp Kingdom's attempt to invade the Golden Hills for the artifact, sending them fleeing.
- Secret-Keeper: She's aware of Venus' existence and keeps people out of Golden Hills to preserve her secret.
- Slaying Mantis: She is a mantis who is very capable of fighting. While most of her attacks involve Venus asssisting her, that doesn't mean she herself is incapable of battle, as her strongest attack is a flying kick, which uses her own physical strength.
- Stealth Pun: Aria is a mantis and a devout worshiper of the goddess Venus. Or in other words, a praying mantis.
GS Technician
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He's a skilled technician, but he'd rather prefer to doze off than to do his job.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Not referred by name, just GS Technician (short for Golden Settlement Technician).
- Eye-Obscuring Hat: His worker cap covers both his eyes.
- Protection Mission: His sidequest has Team Snakemouth protecting him from three waves of enemies while he repairs the cable car.
- Sleepyhead: Encountered sleeping the first time the team meets him.
- Terse Talker: He talks in short sentences and immediately to the point.
Fortune Teller
- Anti-Frustration Features: For a small sum of berries, he can "predict" where the team can find crystal berries, lore books, and rare medals, sparing the player frustrations of finding that one Last Lousy Point.
- Didn't See That Coming: Played With when the team gives him a scare by talking to him from behind the stand. He says he foresaw that it might happen, but still was caught off-guard due to how sudden it was. He politely tells them to talk to him from the front of the stand and gives them a Crystal Berry for the trouble.
- Fortune Teller: As one can tell from his name, he's a fortune teller who came to share his predictions with Golden Settlement regulars.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He and his sister Charmy are visually similar, with the similar shape of their faces and having the same pattern of their elytra-like capes.
Arie
- Foreshadowing: During the Golden Festival in Chapter 2, the player can encounter her dueling Carmina in the game of Spy Cards. This foreshadows her status as one of the four Card Masters who are needed to be beat in order to go to the Spy Card Tournament on Metal Island.
- Graceful Loser: When beaten at Spy Cards, she doesn't get upset and happily upgrades Team Snakemouth's card.
- The Pollyanna: She's perpetually cheerful butterfly who never stays upset for long.
- Pretty Butterflies: She's a pretty-looking and cheerful butterfly.
Venus (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
- Ambiguous Situation: In the Upper Snakemouth's secret room, there are three monitors, one of which features the image of Venus. All three monitors are labelled with "Guardian", their designation and names, age and current status, all of which are stated to be "stable". There are also flowers and vines hanging from the ceiling of the room. This might imply that she is a Roach creation. However, when talked to her bud in the Lost Sands' Ancient Castle, she mentions the time when Roaches were "scurrying around the land trying to get stuff together", implying she came into being somewhere before or just right after the Awakening. So far there is no conclusive proof as of which version of her origin is the correct one.
- Arc Villain: In a sense. While not really a villain, she is the antagonist of Chapter 2, as she holds the Artifact and makes the heroes brave her challenges.
- Big Good: Alongside Queen Elizant II, Venus, as a goddess, is the main benevolent force aiding Team Snakemouth against the Wasp King and his forces.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After Team Snakemouth bests her guardian in combat, she gives them the tablet artifact and offers to heal them in designated spots, becoming a valuable ally.
- Fertility Goddess: She is the harvest goddess worshipped in the Golden Settlement, with festivals being held in her name to ensure the bountiful harvest, and her power lets her keep Golden Hills and Golden Path in perpetual autumn.
- Fighting a Shadow: In the Chapter 2 boss fight, Venus doesn't fight Team Snakemouth directly. Instead, she uses the sunflower transformed into a monster as a remote body that synchronizes with her movements to combat the team.
- Foreshadowing: She only appears in one room in Upper Snakemouth, and from Chapter 6 and beyond curious players will discover that said room just so happens to house a secret computer revealing that she's just one of several other flower gods.
- Foul Flower: Subverted; while she is initially antagonistic to Team Snakemouth, attacking them with Venus Buds and her guardian, once the team proves themselves worthy in her eyes, she warms up to them and lets them have the Artifact, and helps them on their quest.
- God's Hands Are Tied: While she tends to show up to give the party healing when they need it in most areas, her last appearance is at the entrance to the Dead Lands. She warns Team Snakemouth that, past that point, she simply can't help them any further.
- God Is Good: Disdain for Vi aside, Venus is a kind and just goddess who is incredibly helpful to Team Snakemouth and happily provides for her worshippers.
- Healer God: Venus Buds will heal other enemies in battle, and once Venus is befriended she'll have those same buds heal the player should they encounter one on the overworld.
- I Can't Sense Their Presence: While her Venus Buds scattered across Bugaria are unable to see, she can sense the presence of others through them. She identifies Kabbu and Vi but strangely enough cannot sense Leif. As it turns out, it's because Leif has been Dead All Along and is actually a sentient Cordyceps that absorbed Leif's memories and personality long ago.
- I Gave My Word: As she reveals when spoken to in the Playable Epilogue, the reason she had the Artifact in the first place was because one dying Roach entrusted her with it, asking her to never let it fall in the hands of those who might abuse it for the personal benefit (explaining her disgust for Vi's greed). While Venus was unable to save the Roach, she stayed true to her words and protected the Artifact from everyone, until Team Snakemouth had arrived to claim possession of this artifact.
- Intrigued by Humanity:
Word of God states that she has a particular interest in stage plays and even loves the Bug Rangers for their chivalry. In fact, if one offers the Bug Ranger Plushie to one of her fly traps instead of the required sun or moon stones, she calls it a great offering and only spits it out once Kabbu tries to take it back by force. She also takes great pleasure in eating Fry's Queen's Dinner creation. - Jerkass Façade: When she's first met, she's hostile and venomous in order to protect her Artifact from those who'd misuse it. However, once her guardian is defeated it turns out that she's a lot nicer (even though she's still prickly towards Vi due to her greed).
- Logical Weakness: She may be a goddess, but she's still a flower. And as such, her Buds and Guardian are every bit as weak to Leif's ice attacks as any other plant enemy.
- Mysterious Past: Nobody knows how she came into being. There might be one version of origin (see Ambiguous Situation above), but it's not clear is it true or not.
- Physical God: Even though she is a goddess, she is purely a corporeal being.
- Plant Person: Vines and seeds are considered religious iconography. Also, her true form is a sentient flower, who has control over other plant life.
- Really 700 Years Old: The hidden room in Upper Snakemouth reveals that she is 358 years old.
- Secret-Keeper: Technically one for Kabbu. She knows that deep down, he is secretly sad and the reason for it. She asks why he doesn't reveal his burdens to his friends but she doesn't say anything herself out of respect for his wishes.
- There Is Another: A hidden area in Upper Snakemouth reveals she isn't the only plant deity in Bugaria. At least two others (Mars, age 361, and Pluto, age 34) have been named, but nothing else is explained.
- Walking Spoiler: Her not only being real, but a nice lady underneath her Jerkass Façade who becomes a regular ally of the heroes is a minor twist. Then, there's the matter of what Upper Snakemouth's secret room reveals about the fact she is not the only flower deity, which has heavy implications about the direction taken by any future sequels...
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Her Guardian is far more powerful than the Spider from Chapter 1. Its health is way higher at a whopping 62 HP, it's capable of flying and takes a bit more effort to knock onto the ground than most flying enemies, Venus can boost its attack and defense, and when it's on the ropes, Venus will summon one of her buds to help it out both through healing and attacking the player. Overall, defeating it requires the player to have a good eye for party positioning and TP usage so they can maximize their damage output against it.
- Willfully Weak: In the postgame conversation, she confesses to Team Snakemouth that she was holding back when fighting them through Venus' Guardian. Furthermore, said Guardian's bestiary entry states that it was a display of mere fraction of her true power, and implies that she is capable of creating much more powerful beings when using her full strength.
- What the Hell, Hero?: She calls out Vi for caring more about the Snakemouth Artifact rather than Leif when they wash up from the river, as she heard the entire conversation. She's also not really happy when Team Snakemouth invades the Chomper Cave."I understand you have your reasons, but did you really really have to come wreak havoc here...?"
Defiant Root and the Desert
Kali (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
- Disproportionate Retribution: When Vi breaks her vase, she responds by hypnotizing Kabbu with her pheromones and tries to have him kill his teammates for revenge.
- Dual Boss: She is fought together with hypnotized Kabbu.
- Easily Forgiven: Despite trying to murder Team Snakemouth and hypnotizing Kabbu into doing the deed, she gets off with an apology and a "don't ever do that again" scolding. Leif says she's lucky they're "too lazy to press charges".
- Meaningful Name: "Kali" is the Hindu goddess of destruction and death. Fitting name for someone who gets so angry over a vase being destroyed that she brainwashes an innocent explorer into attacking his own team.
- Moth Menace: Not usually, but Vi breaking her pot triggers a homicidal rage that results in her siccing a brainwashed Kabbu on her and Leif.
- Ms. Fanservice: The closest thing this game has to one, given that she's a beautiful moth designed after a belly dancer who charms men with a combination of beauty and pheromones.
- Never My Fault: Vi only broke her vase because she had a bad allergic reaction to Kali's healing pheromones, which is something she willfully ignores.
- Optional Boss: Is fought alongside a hypnotized Kabbu as part of an optional sidequest.
- People Puppets: When Vi breaks her priceless vase, she uses aromas to control Kabbu's body and have him fight his friends in revenge.
- Shoot the Medic First: She doesn't actually fight herself, only boosting Kabbu's stats from the backrow. Her boss fight will end the second you defeat her.
- Sultry Belly Dancer: She wears a belly dancing outfit and dances to boost Kabbu's stats in battle. She's also uses pheromones to charm men.
- Support Party Member: Doesn't actually fight the party at all during her boss fight, but she instead boosts Kabbu's stats and revives him should you deplete his HP.
- Walking Spoiler: Since her mission is set up to feel like a generic fetch quest, having to fight her and a hypnotized Kabbu at the end is quite a twist.
Crisbee
- Big Fun: He's as fat as he is jolly.
- Chubby Chef: He's a baker and he's quite chubby.
- Insect Gender-Bender: Real male bees do not have stingers.
- Punny Name: A play on the word "crispy".
- Supreme Chef: He's less skilled than Kut or Fry and you have to help him make several dishes through trial and error before he finally settles on his signature meal. But he's an incredibly talented chef all the same and said signature dish (The Crisbee Donut) is one of the best TP recovery items in the game.
- Sweet Baker: He's a baker, and notably the friendliest of the three chefs in the game.
Mayor
- Big Fun: Downplayed compared to other examples in the game, but he has a noticeable potbelly and is one of the nicest guys around.
- Bizarrchitecture: His house is on top of the bar. If it wasn't for that conveniently placed toy car you wouldn't be able to get up there.Vi: Look, all I'm saying is he could've paid for some stairs...
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Never named in the game. Just "Mayor". The artbook, however, reveals that his real name is Emmet.
- Eyes Always Shut: Has a constant "^^" expression.
- Nice Guy: A joyful, friendly fellow who is very generous and is even willing to pay a big sum even when Kabbu objects on belief that mayor is paying too much.
Butomu
- The Blacksmith: She works as a blacksmith in the Defiant Root's forge. In the end of her sidequest, she crafts the First Plating medal from the Crimson Ore Team Snakemouth gives her and rewards them with it.
- Famed In-Story: Kabbu mentions how many tales of her strength and journeys were told about how no obstacle would be a match to her when it comes to searching materials, even to the point of Shrouded in Myth levels when people claim that she once walked right through the boulder.
- Insect Gender-Bender: The Y-shaped horns on her head are something only male beetles have in real life.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Much like all other beetles, despite being female, she has no feminine characteristics, so it would be impossible to guess that she is female until you hear characters refer to her as "Miss".
- Tough Beetles: She's a beetle, and quite the strong one, if her bulky muscular appearance is any indication.
Engira
- Artificial Limbs: His hand appears to be replaced or enhanced with a mechanical claw. And he's really proud of HIS CLAW! So much that he gets very furious when his claw gets stolen.
- The Blacksmith: He's another blacksmith in the Defiant Root's forge, making weaponry with his mecha claw!
- Large Ham: He tends to be overdramatic, especially when it comes to HIS CLAW!
- Mad Scientist: The artbook directly refers to him as a mad scientist, and his behavior (particularly his fascination with inventing things with HIS CLAW!) and apparently cybernetic appearance (which is implied to be his own doing) doesn't disprove that statement.
- Unknown Rival: He considers Butomu his rival, but Butomu herself doesn't seem to be aware of (or care about) what he thinks of her.
Isau
- Nice Girl: She's a very kind and compassionate soul who strives to help sick and wounded bugs purely for altruistic reasons. Even when Vi points out that her Panacea would help her make lots of money, she rejects the idea in favor of a cheap treatment, much to Vi's bafflement.
- Panacea: She wishes to create a medicine that would heal any illness. She has found the right combination and requests Team Snakemouth to find the last required ingredient—Sophie Petal that grows over Snakemouth Den.
- Pretty Butterflies: She's an adorable and kind-hearted butterfly.
Charmy
- Expy: To Merlee from the original Paper Mario 64. They both reside in a hard-to-spot side area in the desert town, they both provide enchantments that trigger randomly during fights, and they both have family members that look strongly like them.
- Gameplay Randomization: Her charms give you a random bonus in the heat of battle, either giving you a damage boost before your attack, increase your team's defense before an enemy attack, heal your party after enemy attack, restore your party's TP after the use of skill, and increase the gained EXP after the battle.
- Strong Family Resemblance: She and her Fortune Teller brother are very similar in appearance, having the similar face shapes and elytra-like capes with similar patterns.
Shay
- Cool Shades: Wears a pair of stylish shades to compliment his cool nature.
- Insufferable Genius: He's one of the best Spy Card players, and one of the four Card Masters, and he's got cockiness and arrogance to boot.
Astotheles
- All There in the Manual: Several details about Astotheles were confirmed in the official AMA
. Namely, he lost an arm fighting off the Dune Scorpion when it attacked his hideout, and the hatred for Elizant II stems from her rejecting his numerous attempts to establish the Bandit Hideout as their own independent country. - Arc Villain: One of the two antagonists of Chapter 4, as the leader of the bandits who hold one of the keys needed to gain access to the Sand Castle and kidnaps Team Snakemouth when they infiltrate his hideout.
- Badass Normal: You won't see any magic or overly flashy techniques from this bug. His swordplay is simple, but more than enough to make him a formidable foe.
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: His battle keeps you from using items by way of Astotheles slicing them out of your hands with a Hit Flash. Like most enemies, he can be frozen, numbed, or put to sleep. However, if you think you can heal freely while he's incapacitated, you'll be mistaken, as he'll just break out of the status condition and destroy the item anyway.
- Contractual Boss Immunity: Downplayed, he's not immune to status effects, but will free himself from any of them to stop you from using items.
- Enemy Mine: Claims he doesn't owe the Ant Kingdom a blade of grass, but gives Team Snakemouth part of an artifact key because the Wasps defiled their covenant.
- Evil Cripple: He's missing an arm, though it does little if anything to impede him in battle.
- Expy: Given Chapter 4's striking similarities to Chapter 2 of the original Paper Mario, he comes off as an evil version of Moustafa. He's introduced as a mysterious NPC who is secretly an honorable thief, and ultimately helps the protagonists raise an ancient temple from the sands with a special key.
- Fair-Play Villain: Once defeated, he willingly steps down and lets Team Snakemouth escape the hideout, even when his lackeys are willing to gang up on them.
- A Father to His Men: He treats his gang like family.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: He's actually seen hanging out at the festival at the end of the game, albeit with his face hidden and far from the teeming crowds. When approached, he asks Team Snakemouth to keep his location a secret.
- Handicapped Badass: His missing arm doesn't seem to prevent him from kicking some ass.
- Heel Realization: Reading his diary after beating him reveals that he was quite surprised to be shown mercy by Team Snakemouth and that he left the hideout to "think". This implies he came to question his criminal ways.
- King of Thieves: He's the leader of the Desert Bandits.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: He prevents you from using items during his fight in order to make the battle square. And if you think you're smart by stunning him with a status effect, he'll break through it and destroy your items anyway.
- Manipulative Bastard: He tricks Team Snakemouth into getting ambushed by his men by selling them the key to his hideout while posing as a mysterious merchant.
- Noble Demon: While he's a vicious bandit leader whose lackeys have robbed countless bugs and even maimed one, he takes no joy in his villainy and simply wants to provide for his followers. When he's defeated, he even forces his men to stand down and allow Team Snakemouth to leave his hideout in peace.
- No Item Use for You: He will prevent you from using any items during his battle, destroying them as soon as you will pull them out. Vi's skills (even if some of them are technically items) don't count, though.
- One-Armed Warrior: Even having lost his arm to the Dune Scorpion, he's still one of the fiercest fighters that the party faces. Kabbu is astounded at his skill despite his injury.
- Tranquil Fury: He hates Queen Elizant, and announces his hatred in the iciest manner possible.
Citizens of the Hive
Beette
- Cultural Posturing: She constantly brags about how Bee Kingdom has the best culture of all. This disgusts Vi to the point that she refuses to interact with her at all until settling her issues with the Bee Kingdom.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In spite of her snobbish behavior, she sincerely thanks Team Snakemouth for helping her out via buying her house in the Ant Kingdom, planning to use the gained berries to fund her next project and inviting the team to come in for it for free if it ever takes off, an act which makes Vi regret badmouthing her.
- Poor Communication Kills: According to the artbook, her constant preference to the Bee Kingdom's culture over all over kingdoms' is nothing more than poorly worded homesickness, something which Vi and her friends don't catch onto until they meet up with her back at the Bee Kingdom.
- Red Herring: Her personality, combined with Vi's Unreliable Expositor tendencies, initially makes the player believe that every bee in the Bee Kingdom is an arrogant, snobbish elitist like her, and that Vi was mercilessly bullied and harassed by them. Ultimately, it turns out that Beette was merely one bad apple in the barrel, and is not even that bad.
- Smug Smiler: Appropriately, she's a smug bee with quite the smug grin on her face.
Chubee
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Were you seriously expecting a bee named Chubee to be skinny?
- Big Beautiful Woman: She's quite cute for such a girthy bug.
- Big Eater: She gives Leif a run for his money at Golden Settlement's eating contest.
- Big Fun: A tad rounder than most other bees, and very friendly.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: She's a chubby bee.
- Eyes Always Shut: Contributes to her adorable and approachable demeanor.
- Good Counterpart: To Mothiva, as they're both skilled at stage performance, but unlike her, she is nice and humble both on and off stage.note
- Graceful Loser: Even when she loses in an eating competition, she simply takes the loss in stride and congratulates Leif on his victory.
- Nice Girl: One of the friendliest characters in the game, to the point that she wins Vi over with her niceness while she's still in her "I hate the Bee Kingdom!" phase.
- Punny Name: As noted above, she's a chubby bee named Chubee.
Jaune
- Adaptational Personality Change: In the original 0.1 demo, Jaune was portrayed as far hammier and snootier than she is in the final product, where she's a lot more gruff and reserved.
- Artificial Limbs: Has a paintbrush implanted where her stinger should be.
- Artsy Beret: Befitting her being an artist, she wears a blue beret.
- Big Sister Bully: Deconstructed. She mocked and insulted Vi for thinking she could be an explorer. This ultimately resulted in Vi running away, and being extremely resentful towards her and the rest of the Bee Kingdom.
- Colourful Theme Naming: Her name is French for "yellow", which is complimentary to Vi's full name, Violet.
- Cool Big Sis: Once she Vi mend their relationship, she allows Team Snakemouth to use her studio as a free inn whenever they want.
- Jerkass Realization: After Vi gives the red paint Jaune needed for her painting, apologizes for her behavior and confesses about her own feelings about being put down on her dreams, Jaune realizes how insensitive she was to her sister's dreams and apologizes for her own behavior as well.
- Rejected Apology: At first, she refuses to accept Vi's apology for being rude, seeing it as empty and half-hearted, and tells her to get lost in an condescending manner. However, when Vi returns with the rare red paint Jaune needs for her painting, gives it to her, apologizes and confesses on her own feelings on how she felt when being mocked by her for wanting to be an explorer, Jaune finally forgives her and apologizes for her own behavior as well, reforming the broken bond.
- Small Role, Big Impact: If she hadn't bullied and teased Vi, Vi never would have run away from the Hive and met Kabbu when she did.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Mellows out and becomes a lot nicer once her and Vi's relationship issues are resolved.
Artia
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Her boyfriend is Reed, the bouncer of the underground tavern.
- Artsy Beret: Wears a dark green beret that conceals one of her eyes.
- Foil:
- Jaune's art is bright and colorful. Hers is dark and abstract.
- Her sidequest is just a smaller scale version of Jaune's, with both wanting a rare paint that is really just a specific shade of a color they already had plenty of.
- Interspecies Romance: She's a bee, her boyfriend Reed is a beetle.
- True Art Is Angsty: Seems to be her philosophy."But is art meant only to be pretty? We should explore our inner hideousness…''
- Unknown Rival: Jaune never mentions her.
Professor Honeycomb
- Grumpy Old Woman: Thanks to her early retirement, Honeycomb is a bit on the snippy side.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She may be rude, but even though she knows her Beemerang was stolen she still allows Vi to keep it. Albeit because Vi's usage of said Beemerang provides vital scientific data.
- Miniature Senior Citizens: Is a lot smaller than most bees, though it seems to be due to her hunched-up posture.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: She seems to be in a perpetual state of agitation and doesn't mince words with anyone.
Hawk
- The Consigliere: He serves as Professor Honeycomb's voice of reason. For instance, he convinces her to let Vi keep the stolen A.D.B.P. under explanation that she managed to master it and might be helpful in researching its properties.
- Cool Shades: Wears a pair of sunglasses, giving him a stylish look.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: Appropriately for a scientist, he wears a white labcoat.
- Punny Name: A hawk moth.
- Redundant Researcher: Spends most of Chapter 4 exploring everything pertaining to the lost roach civilization in the Lost Sands, but cannot make much progress at all without Team Snakemouth.
Doctor H.B.
- Boss Rush: She maintains the computer that allows the players to have a marathon rematch against all previously battled bosses or minibosses.
- Creepy Good: She's an ally to the good guys, but seriously creeps Vi and Leif out due to her love of dissection.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Her labcoat and shades are dark and give her a menacing vibe, but she's firmly on the side of good.
- Deadpan Snarker: She has plenty to say under her breath whenever Crow begins a Spy Card duel.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: Appropriately for a scientist, she wears a labcoat, but unlike Hawk, her labcoat is darker and more ragged.
- Lack of Empathy: She tells Leif to his face that she would like to put him under and dissect him. When he quite understandably freaks out and instinctively summons his ice shield to protect himself, she merely remarks that she finds the reaction "fascinating". She also doesn't seem to care that she's overworked Crow into a perpetual bundle of stress. And intends to make fun of Crow after she loses a Spy Card duel.
- Mad Scientist: Shows shades of this when she realizes that Leif is no ordinary bug. She gets giddy at the prospect of getting him under the knife and cutting him open, but thankfully never goes that far.
- Older Than They Look: She's around the same age as Professor Honeycomb, but aged a lot more gracefully.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Has this reaction when Crow reveals her status as a Card Master to Team Snakemouth. Given that she isn't seen among the spectators, she's likely booted from her own lab for the duration of the match, so this is probably a valid concern.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Strikes this pose whenever she gets too interested in whatever piques her curiosity.
- Sinister Shades: Unlike characters such as Reeves and Hawk, H.B's shades are not only cracked, but also a lot duller to the point of looking almost lifeless. Given her creepy tendencies, it's an appropriate look for her.
Crow
- Beleaguered Assistant: To H.B.
- Hidden Depths: She acts far more assertive and confident when being challenged to a Spy Card duel.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: As Doctor H.B.'s assistant, she wears a grey labcoat.
- Nervous Wreck: She's a stuttering, insecure mess when acting under her Mad Scientist - boss's orders. But when she's playing Spy Cards, she's a lot more bold.
- Punny Name: Forms one with Hawk, the other Bee assistant.
Malbee
- The Engineer: She's the Honey Factory's maintenance chief, and, after getting rescued, she quickly repairs the malfunctioning pump, allowing Team Snakemouth to progress.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While she initially comes off as rude and even ungrateful at first, she does soften up to Vi and respects her decision to become an explorer, even if she's a bit biased to the thought of getting her back to working for her.
- Mean Boss: According to Vi, she is quite a hardass towards her employees. Her serious demeanor supports this.
- The Napoleon: She's only a head taller than Vi, and has an attitude to boot.
- Punny Name: "Mal" means "bad" in French, and she's got an unpleasant attitude.
- Ungrateful Bitch: Subverted; when Vi saved her from Abomihoneys, she started scolding her for nearly splattering her with honey and claiming that Vi does not deserve gratitude even despite the fact that she saved her from getting eaten alive, merely because Vi ran away in the middle of her shift. However, when she learned that Vi formed her own explorer group in spite of her expectations and proved herself to be capable of the feat, she concludes that Vi does deserve gratitude and ultimately thanks her, even offering to hire her back (only for Vi to immediately take the offer down).
The Overseer
- Damsel in Distress: She got trapped in the Honey Storage room filled with Abomihoneys and needs to be escorted to safety to override Code 32 and cancel the lockdown.
- Escort Mission: You have to escort her past swarms of Abomihoneys, and if they touch her you have to start all over again. Thankfully, Leif's Bubble Shield completely protects her, making it a lot easier than most examples of this trope.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": She is only referred as the Overseer. In the artbook, her real name is revealed to be Beena.
- Nice Girl: In contrast to Malbee, the Overseer is much friendlier and more amiable, immediately apologizing to Vi for not trusting her back when before she left the Hive.
Aebees
- All There in the Manual: Her name is revealed only in the artbook. In the game, she is only referred as "the border guard", and the internal files call her "Bulkbee", referring to her status as a bulky bee.
- Bee Afraid: Downplayed. While not evil, she is still a massive, intimidating border guard bee who terrifies Team Snakemouth during their first encounter with her aggressive nature.
- Break the Badass: In Chapter 5, when the Wasps destroy the gate, Aebees can be seen cowering in shock, barely even able to speak. When Vi points out that her sole purpose was making sure that won't happen, she slips into complete despair and starts scolding herself for being useless, and the next time you meet her, she is Drowning Her Sorrows in the bar. Even post-game, when she is seen in Queen Bianca's chambers (apparently reassigned), she is still acting meek and loses her intimidation.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After encountering her in the Chapter 5, she can be seen in the Defiant Root bar, drowning her sorrows with Berry Juice.
- NPC Roadblock: Downplayed, as she is not guarding the border with her body as a barrier, but she still prevents Team Snakemouth from entering the Far Grasslands by standing in front of the gate and yelling at them if they ask her.
- The Worf Effect: Intimidating and massive she is, neither she nor the border gate she guards are a match for the Wasp Kingdom's superior firepower.
Royalty
Queen Bianca
- Actual Pacifist: Downplayed; she is a pacifistic ruler and prefers to avoid conflicts with other kingdoms. However, in the final chapter, she agreed to guard the Ant Kingdom from the Wasp Kingdom forces in Queen Elizant II's absence, mostly because the Wasp King simply cannot be reasoned with.
- Almighty Mom: As with real-life bees, she's the mother of every bee from her territory, including Vi, and is thus the mother of almost every bee in the game, with only a few bees from a northern hive outside of Bugaria present otherwise.
- Godzilla Threshold: Normally, she is very pacifistic, but during the last chapter she agrees to protect the Ant Kingdom due to the Wasp King being completely unreasonable.
- The High Queen: She is very caring towards her subjects, who in turn consider her a mother to them.
- Insect Queen: She's a queen bee and a ruler of the Bee Kingdom.
- Large and in Charge: As with Elizant II, she is the largest bee in her own Kingdom, just like real-life queen bees.
- Nice Girl: Queen Bianca is kind, and humble who cares for the well being of all and also saw Vi's desire to be an explorer matured Vi. The only time she was angry was when the factory shut down endangered everyone in the factory.
- So Proud of You: When Vi returns to the hive, Bianca welcomes her back with open arms, and is happy to see that being an explorer has helped her grow and mature.
The Termite Kingdom
King Hector IV
- Berserk Button: Merely seeing Elizant makes him go from happy to have a guest to fuming with rage.
- Compensating for Something: Mainly for the fact that he's very short: he wears a crown that's almost as big as he is, and is constantly Chewing the Scenery to make himself important.
- Cool Crown: Wears a huge, colorful crown that's almost as tall as his body.
- Eyes Always Shut: Unless he's angry, then they're wide open.
- Hot-Blooded: He's a real spitfire, with Queen Layra having to calm him down so he doesn't drive himself to the point of fainting out of anger towards Elizant.
- Insect Gender-Bender: Averted, termites really do have kings as well as queens.
- Insistent Terminology: Wants Elizant to only refer to him as "King Hector IV" with all the titles, and berates her when she doesn't.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's an absolute ass towards Queen Elizant and prone to losing his temper, but he's relatively pleasant otherwise. And by the end of the game he lets go of his grudge with the Ant Kingdom, and happily celebrates the Wasp King's demise with everyone else at Elizant's palace.
- Kick the Dog: He takes a cheap shot at Elizant I's obsession with finding the Everlasting Sapling just to hurt her daughter's feelings.
- Large Ham: Very much so, despite his size.
- Mister Big: King of the termites, he's also the shortest "Royalty" character in the game.
- The Napoleon: A very short king, and quick to anger. Fortunately, he comes around.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: He's very short, while his wife, Queen Layra, is enormous.
Queen Layra II
- Adipose Rex: While all the Queen bugs in the game are big, she's the only truly fat one and is so enormous she has to be hauled around by her servants.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Like with Chubee, Layra can be considered this.
- Big Fun: She has quite a big belly, and is a lot more approachable than her husband.
- Insect Queen: She's a termite queen who serves as a ruler of the Termite Kingdom together with her husband, King Hector IV.
- Large and in Charge: While this trope applies to all of the queens in the game, Layra takes the cake for being the biggest out of them all. She's so huge that her caretakers have to carry her around.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: At first, when Elizant asks for the termites' help in dealing with the Wasp King, she is skeptical that the wasps would pose a threat because of her kingdom's defenses. When she witnesses Team Snakemouth best them in The Colosseum (with the knowledge that they couldn't defeat the Wasp King), she immediately realizes that Elizant is not lying, and complies.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: She is very huge in comparison to her husband, King Hector IV.
- Women Are Wiser: Her husband isn't stupid, but he's far too prideful for his own good when it comes to dealing with Queen Elizant. While Layra similarly dislikes her, she checks her pride at the door due to knowing that Bugaria's fate is more important than the Ant/Termite feud. She also seems to keep Hector's temper in check so he doesn't faint out of the sheer anger and disgust Elizant inspires in him.
Cross and Poi
- Dual Boss: They both are fought simultaneously in the Colosseum.
- Bug Bites Bug: Cross can attack by biting one of his targets with his mandibles.
- Natural Weapon: Along with using their handheld weapons, Cross can attack with his mandibles and Poi can attack with his head cannon (which is a natural weapon).
- Poisonous Person: Poi can use the cannon in his head to shoot poison.
- Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: Downplayed; Cross and Poi are long-range and short-range guys, respectively, as reflected by their weapons of choice (Cross wields a crossbow and Poi wields a sword), yet Cross can attack in melee via biting, and Poi can use his head cannon to shoot from distance.
- Those Two Guys: They are always seen together.
- Weaponized Headgear: Subverted; what appears to be a helmet with a cannon Poi has is actually part of his head, and the cannon is also a part of his body. It's called "fontanellar gun", which real termites also have.
- You All Look Familiar: They share the same design with every other Termite guard.
Yatanta & his brother
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite being annoyed with him, Yatanta truly loves his brother and constantly makes lunch boxes for him so that he won't collapse from hunger at his job. Lampshaded by himself:Yatanta: He's annoying, but I do love him!
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Yatanta is a responsible sibling, being a caring brother who always makes his brother lunch and makes sure he won't forget to eat, while his brother is a foolish sibling, being the one who always gets so pumped up for a job that he forgets to take his lunch, to the point that he passes out from hunger in the middle of the wilderness.
- Forgets to Eat: Yatanta's brother constantly forgets to take his lunch when he goes on his patrols and then collapses from hunger in the middle of the wilderness, much to the annoyance of Yatanta himself. At the end game ceremony, he once again forgets his lunch, though fortunately for him, there is food at ceremony.
- No Name Given: Yatanta's brother is never named in the game.
- Workaholic: Yatanta's brother always gets focused solely on his job, to the point that he Forgets to Eat, much to his brother's annoyance.
- You All Look Familiar: Yatanta's brother shares the same design with every other bulky Termite guard (such as Cross).
Tarar
- Insane Troll Logic: Once Team Snakemouth gives him a Drowsy Cake to let him sleep, he gets worried at the prospect of oversleeping to the point that he'll end up being late to work. To solve this issue, he suggests Team Snakemouth to bring him Shock Candy so that he'll eat it at the same time with a Drowsy Cake, to fall asleep for a second, and then instantly shock himself awake and full of energy. Possibly justified by the fact that he's most likely not thinking straight due to exhaustion.
- Motor Mouth: According to the artbook, his anxiety and addiction to Hustle Drinks makes him talk very fast, sometimes to the point of incomprehensibility.
- Sleep Deprivation: He's unable to get a proper sleep due to his nonstop working. He even requests Team Snakemouth to give him something that would make him fall asleep, because his insomnia starts affecting his work performance.
- Sweet Tooth: He loves sweets, which is why he wants to use Drowsy Cake to sleep, and then a Shock Candy to try to shock himself awake.
- Truth in Television: Tarar's insomnia is based on real-life termite workers' behavior; termite workers never sleep, and in fact they sometimes overwork themselves to death.
- Workaholic: Tarar constantly works non-stop, to the point that he can't get a proper sleep, which starts affecting his work performance.
The Wasp Kingdom (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
The Wasp King
Click here to see his final form
The king of the wasps, and a vile usurper who wants to obtain the Everlasting Sapling before the Ant Kingdom does.
- 0% Approval Rating: He's loathed and feared by all, and more than a few wasps hate him for being a tyrannical madman. Even his fanatically loyal troops are brainwashed into serving him, and once he dies and they go back to their old selves, none of them are sad to see him go.
- All-Encompassing Mantle: His regal mantle completely envelops his body, hiding that he is not a real wasp. Averted in his Everlasting King form, as his mantle is now tattered and spread around, revealing the body underneath.
- All There in the Manual:
- A lot of his backstory is actually only mentioned in the bestiary if you managed to throw in a Spy on him during the second fight against him, including his real name, Hoaxe; and his species, a Mimic Fly.
- More of his backstory is explored in a prequel comic that's included with the art book.
- Ax-Crazy: He's incredibly violent and foul-tempered. Double points for wielding an axe, too.
- Bad Boss: All of his soldiers are brainwashed to serve him against their will, and on his way to the Sapling he abandons his men to die against the monsters and roaches blocking the way.
- Big Bad: He is the dictator of the Wasp Kingdom and the one who wants the Everlasting Sapling for himself so he can conquer Bugaria. The post-game reveals that he isn't even a wasp, but a wasp-mimic fly who usurped the rightful Queen.
- Body Horror: After his defeat as the Everlasting King, the Everlasting Sapling turns him into a tree. It's somewhat difficult to see given the simple art style, but it appears as though the tree explodes out of him.
- The Caligula: He is an absolutely twisted and insane ruler who keeps his people in poverty, brainwashed his troops into becoming loyal to the point of suicide, brutalizes anyone who stands on his way, is very prone to bursts of aggression, and wants to be the king only for the sake of forcing Bugkind to submit to his rule.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: It's heavily hinted that he's done this to Queen Vanessa.
- Contractual Boss Immunity: You can freeze him, numb him, and put him to sleep, but he will break out of it on his turn and attack you. Damaging statuses work as normal.
- Cool Crown: Wears the golden crown on his head. It's actually a Roach artifact that allows him to brainwash wasps.
- Crown of Power: His gold crown is an ancient Roach artifact that allows him to use the magic of flame and brainwash wasps to blindly and unquestionably serve his will.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: According to Word of God (which was then confirmed in "Hoaxe: Origins" prequel comic), his parents were fleeing from the Dead Landers and abandoned him to save him. The Dead Landers got to them not much longer afterwards and he only survived by chance.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His backstory is not a happy one. He was abandoned by his own parents in the Dead Lands as a baby (to save him, although he isn't aware of this). When he finally found a place he felt like he belonged in the Wasp Kingdom, no one there cared about him. All of a sudden, his obsession with having absolute control over everyone makes a lot more sense.
- Defiant to the End: Even after his final defeat as the Everlasting King, he refuses to give up, attempting to charge up one final attack right up until the tree growing within him completely consumes him.
- The Dog Bites Back: As revealed in the "Hoaxe: Origins" comic, back during his days as a janitor in the Wasp Kingdom, he was frequently bullied and beaten up by other wasps. But as soon as he learned of the Ancient Crown and its wasp-brainwashing properties, he immediately set off into Metal Island and bought it with the sole desire to turn his former bullies into his obedient puppets. As soon as they were put under his thrall, he turned them into his personal cannon fodder, forced to obey and be discarded as he saw fit.
- Establishing Character Moment: His first appearance in the game shows how ruthless and powerful he is right off the bat. He is first seen during his invasion that brings the Ant Kingdom to chaos, he defeats even Elizant's giant bodyguard as he demands to take the artifacts, and when Vi and Leif try to attack him, he sidesteps their Beemerang and ice spike without even looking at them.
- Evil Counterpart:
- He serves as one to Vi, in the sense that both are stinging insects (or in his case, looks like one) that grew up friendless and ostracized by their peers, and eventually left for bigger and better things which led them down the path of the explorer and usurper respectively. Greed is also a defining flaw of both characters, but Vi grows as a person and comes to value her friends and the people around her, while the King is consumed by his selfishness and obsession with the Sapling to the point of throwing away the lives of his men in pursuit of it.
- In some sense, he's one to Leif as well. In appearance, both are decently tall, thin bugs wearing a cloaked garment (well, in Leif's case, his moth wings cover his body in a way that gives off this effect); however, the Wasp King's normal color palette consists primarily of shades of reds, while Leif's color palette is mostly made of of shades of blue. As for abilities, both can use elemental magic; however, Wasp King uses fire whereas Leif uses ice. On top of that, both of their elemental powers are a byproduct of Roach invention; Wasp King's fire powers are granted to him via his Crown of Power that was originally a Roach invention, while Leif's powers are a result of cordyceps inhabiting his corpse that were given magical properties due to the Upper Snakemouth Roach experiments. And, while both have had some pretty dark backstories, Leif is content to not let his tragic past negatively affect his future prospects with his newfound friends, whereas the Wasp King is so consumed by his bad lot in life that it drives him to become a tyrannical despot, eventually leading him to his demise.
- Evil Is Burning Hot: As befitting of one of the game's most violent, evil characters, he controls destructive fire magic. In a world full of bugs, it's brutally effective and leaves just about everyone he fights powerless against him.
- Evil Overlord: He rules the Wasp Kingdom with an iron fist, keeping the citizens in poverty and jailing some for small offenses, and he aims to expand his rule to all of Bugaria.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Has one of the deepest voices in the game, even compared to other wasps. Not that he's one anyways.
- Evil Virtues: Determination, which he has in spades. His life was a hard one, but he rose to the challenge time and time again, managing to survive his hellish upbringing in the Dead Lands, save up enough money to buy his powerful mind controlling crown, and take over the Wasp Kingdom, all through sheer determination alone. Even when he finds out that the Everlasting Sapling has wilted, he refuses to surrender and puts up a hell of a fight against Team Snakemouth in a grueling three-stage gauntlet, before dying in the middle of charging up a final defiant attack.
- Expy: Of Sir Grodus. Like Grodus, he is the Big Bad in charge of a secretive organization and an Evil Sorcerer with a wand/axe and cloak, and both seek to collect ancient artifacts that will lead to a treasure said to grant great power, which they will use to Take Over the World. They also kidnap royalty (Princess Peach/Queen Vanessa) to aid in their plans, and are ultimately betrayed and taken down by the very power they sought.
- Flies Equals Evil: He's actually a wasp-mimic fly who brainwashed every wasp with a magical crown.
- Freudian Excuse: He was abandoned in the Deadlands as an infant, and when he later made his way to the Wasp Kingdom, he ended up becoming a friendless trash collector spurned by all.
- Friendless Background: He lived a lonely life in the Wasp Kingdom before his rise to power, and spent his days collecting trash and being ignored by all.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Before coming to power by usurping the queen, he was nothing more than a trash collector. His crown, the source of his power, changed this.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: In the final chapter, it was mentioned that he had activated the stove and managed to pass through the flames unharmed, meaning that he is immune to fire. However, in the actual battle, neither of his forms display immunity to Burn status effect, taking damage from the fire all the same.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His consumption of a leaf from the Sapling to gain power ended up being his undoing when the leaf turned him into a tree.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: The first encounter with him cannot be won. At first he seems to be difficult yet manageable, but then he decides that he's gotten bored and ends it with an eruption of flames.
- I Call It "Vera": He calls his axe "Slayer" because, according to the art book, he just thought it would sound cool. No other reason.
- Immortality Seeker: He seeks to seize the Everlasting Sapling for himself to become immortal, all-powerful tyrant, ruling Bugaria with an iron fist for all eternity.
- Insect Gender-Bender: Wasps don't have kings in real life. It's justified since the Wasp King is both a usurper and a fake wasp to boot.
- Killed Off for Real: After being defeated, he loses his powers and the Sapling turns him into an inanimate tree. Leif notes he feels no magic coming from it, which means it's very unlikely that the Wasp King will ever manage to recover from that.
- Knight of Cerebus: His debut at the end of Chapter 4 marks the moment where the game's tone becomes a lot darker. In contrast to every other villain before him, the Wasp King is a cruel and sociopathic tyrant, intentioned to conquer all of Bugaria and find the Everlasting Sapling to achieve immortality and become unstoppable.
- Man of Kryptonite: His fire magic makes him a powerful threat towards every bug in Bugaria, thanks to fire being a very potent weakness to bug kind. This magic comes entirely from his Cool Crown, which is actually a Roach Artifact. Unfortunately, his reliance on it means that if a way to weaken his fire magic is ever discovered, he will be left at a major disadvantage, which is exactly what happens in the final fight against him.
- Marathon Boss: Thanks to the Everlasting Sapling's regenerative powers, his health completely refills three times during the final boss fight, making it one of the longest battles in the game by far. And if you count the fight with him his base form right before that, he technically has four phases with a total of 255 HP to eat through.
- Mass Hypnosis: He managed to brainwash nearly all of the wasps in the Wasp Kingdom through the use of his crown.
- Meaningful Name: His true name, revealed only in the Bestiary, is Hoaxe. Because he's both a false king and a false wasp.
- Mind-Control Device: His Cool Crown is actually a Roach artifact that allows him to brainwash all-but-several wasps in the Wasp Kingdom. According to the Word of God, it affects any yellowjacket through their antennae, and the wasps who are Immune to Mind Control are protected either by broken antennae, magical artifacts that counter his mind control powers, or by not being yellowjackets to begin with.
- Named Weapons: He calls his axe the Slayer.
- The Napoleon: Being a fly disguised as a wasp, he's naturally shorter than the Large and in Charge queen that he usurped.
- One-Winged Angel: His Everlasting King form, obtained after eating the one leaf that remains of the wilted Everlasting Sapling, in which he gains the power of levitation and other great plant-based powers.
- Parental Abandonment: He was abandoned in the Dead Lands by his parents as an infant. Word of God states that it was to save him and his parents didn't last much longer against the Dead Landers after leaving him, something that was confirmed in "Hoaxe: Origins" prequel comic.
- Playing with Fire: His most powerful attack is a fire pillar that deals a whopping 99 damage to the whole party!note
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: As far as nobility goes, he's incredibly proactive and always leads the charge in his conquests. He personally invades the Ant Kingdom twice, wipes the floor with the heroes in combat, and manages to threaten the Queen into giving up the artifacts at axepoint both times.
- Signature Attack: His fire pillar, which instantly kills your entire party the first time facing him.
- Spell My Name with a "The": After eating the Everlasting Sapling's remaining leaf, he becomes "The Everlasting King". His first phase in battle is just called "Wasp King."
- The Sociopath: He is willing to hurt and kill anyone, whether it be his enemies or his own men, to get what he wants.
- Take Over the World: While not quite the world, his ultimate goal is to conquer the continent of Bugaria.
- This Cannot Be!: Reacts in disbelief when he ends up losing his powers and finds himself about to turn into a tree."................N-no... It can't... NO! I'M THE KING! I...I ORDER THIS BODY TO... AAAAAAAAH!!" [turns into a tree]
- Transflormation: After eating the Everlasting Sapling's leaf, he turns into the Everlasting King, a half-plant demigod with the power of levitation and many other plant-based powers, including extreme regeneration. However, after being defeated in this form, he ends up losing control of the Sapling's powers and turns into an inanimate tree.
- Undignified Death: His death is definitely not something to be proud of: after being defeated as the Everlasting King, he attempts to use all of his powers to destroy Team Snakemouth, but runs out of power, reacts in disbelief and panic as his body is paralyzed, screams like a child throwing a tantrum, and then finally turns into an inanimate tree.
- Unskilled, but Strong: While he can get creative with his attacks when he's forced to, as shown in the first phase of his boss fight, and has considerable skill with his axe, it's implied that he heavily relies on his overwhelming fire magic to coast him through most fights. If his fire magic is ever weakened or negated, then he's left as a simple, but still fairly dangerous, axe wielding bug that Maki can easily tag when the opportunity arises, and even Team Snakemouth are able to make quick work of him in the first phase of his boss fight with help from the Flame Brooch.
- The Usurper: He is not the rightful king, or even a wasp- he is a fly who took the throne from Queen Vanessa. His battle theme is named "The Usurper" to reflect this.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: His first appearance marks the game's true shift from a lighthearted and fun tone to a far more dire one. Unlike the other villains up to that point, he is much crueler and darker, as the game shows what a horrible despot he is and how many innocent lives he has ruined and taken.
- Villainous Breakdown:
- After beating his first phase, he unlocks the chamber to the Everlasting Sapling... only to see that it's wilted. He grabs the only leaf of it left and horks it all down, turning him into the Everlasting King.
"Impossible... I reject this outcome! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT IT!"- Then, after being defeated and unable to heal himself, he goes even more crazy, powering up a huge flame to burn the heroes, before the sapling kills him.
- Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about him without revealing the following twists: Elizant isn't evil or the game's Big Bad, most of the wasps are brainwashed, and he isn't even a wasp.
- Wicked Wasps: He is the tyrant king of the wasps and the Big Bad, as well as the vilest character in the game. Subverted as he is actually a fly mimicking a wasp.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: Despite the fact the Ant Kingdom is trying their hardest to keep the Everlasting Sapling out of the hands of the Wasp King, he still succeeds. The Wasp King takes the artifacts by force, reaches the Sapling before the heroes, and manages to power himself with the last remaining leaf. Team Snakemouth stops him before he can assert his new power over Bugaria though.
Queen Vanessa II
- Faux Action Girl: Despite ruling over a society of warriors and her mother raising her fist defiantly in her stained glass mural, Vanessa herself isn't a fighter. Thanks to this, she was helpless against the Wasp King when he stole the throne from her.
- The High Queen: When she finally regains power, she is shown to be a fair and just ruler, helping to rebuild the kingdom from the destruction brought about by the Wasp King. She's also sympathetic to Queen Elizant's insecurities and offers her encouraging words after the Wasp King's second invasion leaves her distraught.
- Immune to Mind Control: She is immune to the Wasp King's brainwashment thanks to the Flame Brooch she carries.
- Insect Queen: She is the queen of the wasps.
- Large and in Charge: As with the other insect queens, she's the tallest wasp in her kingdom.
- My Greatest Failure: While she isn't as hard on herself as Elizant is, it's pretty clear that she feels horrible about simply hiding and letting the Wasp King take over her kingdom unopposed.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: When Team Snakemouth first meets her, they assume that she must be Wasp King's wife. The first thing she says in response is "Heavens, no!".
- Rightful Queen Returns: After the Wasp King is defeated, Queen Vanessa takes back her throne and goes to work rebuilding everything that was destroyed.
- Spanner in the Works: If she didn't give her protective Flame Brooch to Team Snakemouth before they went to confront the Wasp King in the Giant's Lair, they wouldn't have stood a chance of defeating him.
- Walking Spoiler: Her existence spoils the fact that the Wasp King is not the rightful ruler, and that the wasps weren't always evil.
- Wicked Wasps: Averted, she's a wasp, but the moment Team Snakemouth meets her she's good from the start.
General Ultimax
- Arc Villain: Alongside the Wasp King himself, he is the antagonist and boss of Chapter 6 as the one in charge of Rubber Prison after taking it over.
- Boisterous Weakling: He is very arrogant and boastful, but by himself he's very weak, with even his own troops outpowering him. In fact, his sole direct attack is merely a barrage of pathetic slaps, which can be easily blocked even on Hard Mode. The only time he can actually put up a good fight is when he's piloting a tank.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: This is the case for all wasps, but most apparent with Ultimax given that his loyalty to the Wasp King goes to suicidal extremes despite how clearly afraid he is.
- Clipped-Wing Angel: Once his ULTIMAX Tank is destroyed, the fight transitions into his third and final phase... which is just a repeat of his mini-boss fight, except he has no troops to back him up. All he has left is a measly 20 HP and a weak three slap attack.
- Commissar Cap: Befitting for the general of Wasp Kingdom's military forces, Ultimax wears a red peaked cap.
- Cowardly Lion: When his backup is defeated or his tank is destroyed, he panics. However, he still stands his ground and goes down swinging in both boss fights. Even after he's defeated for the last time, he refuses to move and yells that Team Snakemouth will have to rip him apart to get past him, though that seems to be the Wasp King's hypnosis talking.
- Didn't Need Those Anyway!: His ULTIMAX Tank, after receiving enough damage, has its cannon destroyed, making it unable to fire cannonballs. After that, Ultimax himself starts throwing bombs at the party and uses his ram attack more often.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": When Queen Vanessa refers to him with his real name (Fuff), the first thing he responds with is "NOT MY NAME!".
- The Dragon: He's the Wasp King's chief servant.
- Embarrassing First Name: His real name is Fuff.
- Expy: Can be viewed as one for two different Paper Mario villains.
- Most obviously, he's one of Lord Crump, as The Dragon to the Big Bad who is rather goofy and significantly less threatening than his boss. But he's still capable of posing a genuine threat, and is the boss of the penultimate chapter. Both also do a Heel–Face Turn by the end.
- He's also one of General Guy, as both characters are hammy military generals who first fight the heroes with their troops, then commandeer a powerful tank when that fails. Ultimax is even blatantly called "General Guy" by Vi in a bit of overworld Spy dialogue.
- Good All Along: Like the other wasps, he's only as unpleasant as he is due to the Wasp King's brainwashing. Once the king is defeated, he's a lot more humble and likeable, and extremely apologetic of how he acted despite the fact that it wasn't his fault.
- Go Through Me: Thanks to the Wasp King's brainwashing, he's so insistent on refusing to let the heroes through even after he lost that he outright tells them that they'll need to destroy him if they want to go further. Thankfully, Leif comes up with an alternative.
- Hammered into the Ground: After he's defeated, Kabbu rams him with his horn, launching the general into the air, and when he lands, his head gets stuck in the ground. He remains stuck for the remainder of the scene until Team Snakemouth goes into the royal quarters. Later, when his ULTIMAX Tank explodes, he gets launched into the air again, and once again gets his head stuck in the ground, but this time he unstucks himself quicker than before.
- Heel–Face Turn: After the Wasp King is defeated, he re-joins forces with Queen Vanessa, and also tries to start fresh with Team Snakemouth, even if he's utterly embarrassed.
- Humiliation Conga: He's defeated by Team Snakemouth twice, the first time he's launched into the ground by Kabbu with his head stuck in it, and the second time he's frozen solid by Leif.
- I Shall Taunt You: During his mini-boss battle, he can laugh at Team Snakemouth, wasting his own turn. Unlike Kabbu and Zasp, it's not even a Practical Taunt; he just wastes his turn to laugh at them.
- Large and in Charge: He's taller and bulkier than the wasp troops he commands, which makes sense given that he's a hornet.
- Major Coward: Despite his imposing presence and smug behavior when he is backed by his troops or a tank, when left to fight heroes on his own, he ends up becoming a shivering wreck whose only way to attack is a barrage of pathetic frantic slapping that can be easily blocked.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: While his first battle as a miniboss portrays him as a helpless buffoon, he eventually becomes a more threatening boss later in the game after getting a tank.
- Oh, Crap!: When he's the last enemy standing, he reacts in complete terror, as he himself is ineffectual when fighting alone.
- Paper Tiger: Thanks to being a big bulky hornet, Ultimax looks far more intimidating than his soldiers… but he's also a cowardly wimp who's only a threat when backed up by his troops or a tank. Get him alone, and he goes down fast.
- Recurring Boss: Fought twice in the game; first time with his troops, second time with him operating the ULTIMAX Tank.
- Smug Snake: He's a cocky, obnoxious braggart who's nowhere near as powerful as he thinks he is, and is quick to flip out when the tide turns against him.
- Support Party Member: Provides stat-boosting and healing items to his soldiers during his first battle.
- Tank Goodness: During the rematch in Chapter 6, he fights Team Snakemouth in ULTIMAX Tank, a powerful and durable tank that can fire missiles and cannonballs, or ram the team at full speed.
- Tanks, but No Tanks: ULTIMAX Tank has wheels and a fixed casemate instead of caterpillar treads and a rotating turret, so according to military terms, it's an assault gun instead of a tank. It also resembles a recycled bug spray container (though it never sprays anything).
- Throw Down the Bomblet: After the cannon of ULTIMAX Tank is destroyed, Ultimax himself start throwing bombs at the party, including status effect bombs.
- Vehicular Assault: Fights Team Snakemouth in the ULTIMAX Tank at the end of Chapter 6.
- Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: Unlike his king, General Ultimax is more bumbling and comedic.
- Walking Spoiler: Due to him turning out to be brainwashed and doing a Heel–Face Turn.
- Wicked Wasps: He is the general of the wasp forces who aids them in their conquests, though subverted as he is Brainwashed and Crazy.
- Wimp Fight: If there are no other enemies left, he would resort to pathetic slapping. This is his only method of attack. He also uses this tactic when his ULTIMAX Tank is destroyed.
Jayde
- Fangirl: She is a huge Bug Rangers fangirl, and was very overjoyed when she believed she met her idols. Team Snakemouth decided to play along to not disappoint her.
- Immune to Mind Control: She is one of the few wasps who is unaffected by the Wasp King's mind control. According to Word of God, this is due to the pendant she wears protecting her from brainwashment.
- Mistaken Identity: She mistook Team Snakemouth for the Bug Rangers. They decided to play along, although later Kabbu wanted to tell her the truth, but couldn't because of Jayde not listening or Vi shutting him up to not lose their discount.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Unlike every other wasp in the Wasp Kingdom, Jayde is very friendly and doesn't want to help the Wasp King to take over Bugaria. She even notes that every wasp went insane ever since the King had appeared and the Queen was gone.
- Nice Girl: Jayde is incredibly friendly and welcoming, which provides Team Snakemouth some much-needed relief when they're right in the heart of enemy territory.
- Supreme Chef: She sells the team her own homemade stew, which was noted by the characters to be exceptionally delicious and the description states it's a hit among the prison staff.
- Wicked Wasps: Averted; even though she is a wasp, she is friendly from the start and is even disgusted with how the other wasps act.
Wasp Kingdom Military
From left to right: Wasp Trooper, Wasp Scout, Wasp Driller and Wasp Bomber
The various soldiers in service of the Wasp King.- Airborne Mook: Wasp Scouts are constantly flying in the air.
- Battle Theme Music: All battles with the Wasp enemies use unique theme, aptly called "Oh no! WASPS!!".
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Every soldier under the Wasp King's command is forcibly turned ruthless and violent thanks to his crown's powers.
- Cannon Fodder: A bunch of Wasp Troopers are callously left to die by the Wasp King during Chapter 7.
- Degraded Boss: The first Wasp Trooper fought by the player serves as an early game miniboss. Later on, you start fighting them as proper enemies. The Scouts, Drillers, and Bombers are this to a lesser extent, since you first fight a Scout backed up by desert bandits as well as a Driller and Bomber along with Ultimax long before they become normal enemy encounters.
- Elite Mooks: Wasp Drillers and Bombers are the strongest troops in the military. Drillers are even more formidable in combat than the Troopers since their drills hit hard and can be used as shields, and despite being physically weak the Bombers have strong defenses and throw explosives that really pack a punch.
- Flechette Storm: Wasp Scouts attack by throwing knives, which are poisoned.
- Heel–Race Turn: After the Wasp King's defeat, they are freed of their brainwashment and become peaceful, attempting to make amends for all evil they've committed under his mind control.
- Insect Gender-Bender: They all are referred with masculine pronouns (except Wasp Bombers, who are referred with "it" pronouns), and they also have stingers and are incredibly common. In real life, most wasps are female, and male wasps lack stingers. Particularly jarring is that they are the only social insects in the game who play this straight, unlike ants, bees, and termites.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: In the Wasp Kingdom prison, Team Snakemouth can meet a lone peaceful Wasp Scout locked up in the prison. Once they dig into his cell and talk to him, he states that every wasp in the kingdom went insane, and not even his best friend would listen to him. As subtle Foreshadowing, one of his antennae are broken off, which is the reason he was Immune to Mind Control.
- Slave Race: All of them are merely slaves to the Wasp King's will, thanks to the Ancient Crown on his head.
- This Is a Drill: Wasp Drillers use powerful drills, which they can use as weapons and shields, as well as for burrowing.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: Wasp Bombers throw various bombs at the party, most of which inflict status effects.
- Undying Loyalty: All of them are fanatically loyal to the king, with the Troopers in particular being singled out as the kind to happily fight until their dying breath. It's revealed later that it's all a result of the Wasp King's mind control powers.
- Wicked Wasps: As to be expected, they're incredibly violent and when encountered in the wild, are often up to no good. Subverted as their behavior's only due to mind control. Once the Wasp King dies, they're a lot more approachable and pleasant.
Voi
- All There in the Manual: Voi's name is revealed only in the artbook.
- Immune to Mind Control: He's one of the few wasps who is not affected by the Wasp King's brainwashment, because of his broken antennae.
- Interspecies Romance: He's a yellowjacket wasp who's dating Rebelle, a velvet ant.
- Token Heroic Orc: He's one of the few friendly wasps who live in the Wasp Kingdom, since he's immune to Wasp King's brainwashment because of his broken antennae. Though Team Snakemouth and Bumble initially mistake him for a kidnapper, he turns out to be quite a friendly person who holds no ill against the party even after they gave him a scare and gives Team Snakemouth a medal to make up for giving off a bad impression.
Unaffiliated
Samira
- Good Counterpart: To Mothiva. Both are famous bug musicians, but Samira is friendly, humble, and shy while Mothiva is rude, vain, and an outspoken attention seeker.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: She has blue eyes, which compliments her shy and innocent appearance.
- Nice Girl: Unlike Mothiva, Samira's an utter sweetheart.
- One-Man Band: Samira can play any of the game's songs with just her ocarina, many of which sound like they'd be played by multiple people at once.
- Shrinking Violet: She's incredibly shy and timid.
- Sound Test: She can replay any music the player has heard in the game.
- Street Musician: She plays the music in cities to gain income. She appears to be fairly successful, given that Team Snakemouth can encounter her in the Metal Island (which can be visited only by the richest) and the Termite Capitol.
- Wandering Minstrel: As mentioned above, Samira is quite the worldly bug: she travels Bugaria, and can be found in just about every city ready to serenade passerby with a tune for a few berries.
Traveling Caravan
- Anti-Frustration Features: If you missed the medals that were available during a limited time (i.e., defeated the bosses on Normal Mode instead of Hard Mode, losing an ability to get the reward medals from Artis), the travelling merchants will have them on sale, preventing the Permanently Missable Content issue.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: The snail serves as a counterpart to the pack mule, being a large animal used to carry wares around.
- Henpecked Husband: Downplayed; it is mentioned that Huscada is quite meek and submissive to the fiery and saucy Criketly, but they have a good relationship.
- Interspecies Romance: Huscada, a cicada, is married to Cricketly, a cricket.
- Intrepid Merchant: They are travelling across the world to sell their wares, even willing to cross the desert full of bandits to do so.
- Opposites Attract: Huscada is meek and polite, while Cricketly is fiery and temperamental. However, they live in a healthy relationship.
- Punny Name: How appropriate for Cricketly's husband to be a cicada literally named Huscada.
Layna and Nero
- Insect Gender-Bender: Layna is a female winged firefly. In real life, female fireflies (or glowworms, as they are actually called) are wingless and elongated.
- Lighting Bug: In Forsaken Lands' particularly foggy area, Layna can use her glowing to illuminate the glowshrooms' trails to help Team Snakemouth with navigating through the dense fog.
- Loyal Animal Companion: Nero is Layna's pet pillbug, and he's so loyal that he once ran off into the dangerous Forsaken Lands to find a special glowshroom that is needed for Layna's Rite of Passage.
Carmina
- Badass Boast: When fought in Metal Island's Spy Cards tournament."I brought you into the scene... But I'll crush you nonetheless!"
- Bookends: She's the first Spy Cards opponent, and can potentially be the last depending on how Metal Island's Spy Cards tournament goes.
- Disproportionate Retribution: She is, perhaps understandably, more than a little miffed when Team Snakemouth burrows through a weak wall in the hotel and accidentally crashes into her private suite. But did she REALLY have to give them an extreme beating over that? The only reassuring thing is that the team doesn't die when they lose, and get simply kicked out of the room.
- Ditto Fighter: Her effect in Spy Cards, which the party can see early on because she has herself in her deck, is to randomly use the effect of any mini-boss card.
- Foreshadowing: While she's teaching Leif how to play Spy Cards for the first time, one of the cards in her deck is herself. A hint that she can be fought, and thus Spied on, later.
- The Gambler: Gambling is her primary motif, which is reflected even in her boss fight, as she uses cards and dice as weapons, and uses the roulette to determine what happens at the start of her turn.
- Get Out!: Should you lose to Carmina in her boss fight, and she simply kicks you out of her room. And even when she gets defeated, she, after complaining, tells the team to get out of her room.
- Graceful Loser: When she loses a game of Spy Cards, she takes it in stride and compliments Leif on a good game.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Occasionally, her own roulette works against her, causing her damage or even poisoning or sedating her, which certainly works in Team Snakemouth's favor.
- Luck-Based Mission: Her boss fight isn't hard, but her strategy is left entirely up to luck.
- Mentor Archetype: Carmina is Leif's Spy Cards mentor and will show him the ropes before a challenging him to a friendly duel.
- Non-Standard Character Design: There are two other velvet ants in the game: Bumble and her sister Rebelle, and they look closer to how velvet ants look in real life. Carmina however looks nothing like either of them, and lacks their telltale fluff, mouthparts, and white sheen in her eyes.
- Optional Boss: Can be fought as an actual boss if the player recklessly digs into her room on Metal Island.
- Playing Card Motifs: Her body is stylized with hearts (♥) and diamonds (♦), while her abdomen is stylized with spades (♠) and clubs (♣), and she's an avid card player.
- Projectile Kiss: One of her attacks is blowing a kiss to a party member which lowers defense and if isn't blocked stuns the target.
- Punny Name: Her name is Carmina, and she loves card games.
- Randomized Damage Attack: Her dice attack is simulatenously randomized and Fixed Damage Attack, as it can deal any damage ranging from 1 to 6, depending on where the dice lands, and the damage is fixed and unblockable under normal circumstances.
- Shout-Out: She shares the name with the name of Ms. Mowz in the French version.
Spy Cards Tournament players
From left to right: Serene, Johnny, Kage, Bu-Gi and Ritchee
Bugs of many kinds who travelled to Metal Island to partake in the Metal Island's Spy Card Tournament. Carmina and Janet have their own folders above.- In the Hood: Kage wears the hood to fit his gloomy aesthetic.
- Meaningful Name: Serene means "peaceful". Kage is Japanese for "shadow". Ritchee is rich.
- Passing the Torch: Bu-Gi inherited his deck from his grandfather and is determined to uphold his legacy as the Spy Cards champion.
- The Power of Hate: Kage, in his words, challenges his own pain and hatred into his own cards.
- Rich Bitch: Ritchee is a rich white bee who is a very haughty and condescending card player. She also doesn't take the loss to Leif well.
- Serious Business: They all are very serious about the Spy Cards, but Kage takes the cake, because he, in his own words, "channels his pain into his cards". Averted with Serene, who simply plays just for fun, and even expresses confusion at everyone being so serious, as it's just a game.
- Shout-Out: Bu-Gi is a living reference to Yugi Muto, with him wearing a hat with multi-colored leaves evoking Yugi's multi-colored Anime Hair and proudly stating that his deck has been inherited from his grandfather.
- Sore Loser: Ritchee doesn't take defeat well at all; her losing animation has her furiously throw cards at floor and stomp them in rage, her losing line has her express fury at her winning streak being cut short, and when Team Snakemouth talks to her again after the match, she furiously decries Leif's deck as garbage and accuses him of being a fluke.
- Spirited Competitor: Unlike the other players, Serene plays just for the sake of thrill from the game and doesn't care about winning or losing. She just wants to have a fun game of Spy Cards. Even when beaten, what disappoints her is not loss, but the fact that the fun has ended.
Bumble and Rebelle
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: After Bumble and Team Snakemouth give her and Voi a scare, Rebelle apologizes to Bumble and admits that the whole fiasco with the group mistaking Voi for kidnapper could've been avoided if she explained her intentions.
- Cowardly Lion: Bumble is normally shy and timid, but when she feels like Rebelle is in danger, she musters up enough courage to face whoever she thinks is threatening her.
- Interspecies Romance: Rebelle is a velvet ant who's dating a yellowjacket wasp.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Rebelle is hot-blooded, headstrong "Red", Bumble is timid, subdued "Blue".
- Unwanted Rescue: Team Snakemouth and Bumble had attempted to rescue Rebelle from her "kidnapper". However, Rebelle proceeds to snap at them, revealing that she wasn't kidnapped at all—they are dating, and Bumble nearly ruined their date (though Rebelle does apologize after realizing that the situation could've been avoided if she explained herself).
Spider
- Arc Villain: It is the antagonist of Chapter 1 as the guardian of the Artifact in Snakemouth Den who eats explorers.
- Giant Spider: By bug standards, at least; it is two times as big as the main heroes.
- Hero Killer: It's said to be responsible for the deaths of many adventurers in Snakemouth Den, and Team Snakemouth is only able to defeat it because of Leif's magic weakening it. It was also responsible for the death of the original Leif.
- Killed Off for Real: Is knocked out by the heroes as the artifact room is filling with water, and drowns in the ensuing flood.
- No Name Given: It has no given name. Instead, it's referred to simply as the "Spider". The developers, however, tend to refer to it as "Spuder" in the official soundtrack and the game files.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: This giant spider that is responsible for the deaths of countless explorers and came close to killing the main characters, or in the case of Leif, actually did kill him many years ago, gets probably the most upbeat battle theme out of all the chapter bosses in the game.
- Spiders Are Scary: This spider is a nigh-unstoppable beast that towers over the party and has killed plenty of explorers that have entered its den.
- Starter Villain: It is the first major antagonist of the game.
- Super-Persistent Predator: After Team Snakemouth managed to avoid it for the first time, it followed them across the entire Snakemouth Den, reaching them just when they finally found the artifact.
- Warmup Boss: The boss of the game's first chapter.
The Beast (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
- Animal Nemesis: Serves as this to Kabbu, which is justified thanks to it killing his friends.
- Arc Villain: It is the antagonist of Chapter 5 as the monster that guards the swamplands around the Wasp Kingdom.
- A Beast in Name and Nature: A giant, monstrous, and implicitly sadistic centipede known only as "The Beast" that devours any unfortunate soul that wanders into the Wild Swamplands, including Kabbu's old friends.
- Climax Boss: It's the first truly major boss of the late game, with its battle serving as the point where Kabbu's character development really kicks into gear.
- Creepy Centipedes: Not only is it unsettling, but it is gigantic (by bug standards, anyway) and devours any bugs that enter the swamplands. It's based on the Amazonian giant centipede, Scolopendra gigantea, which is coincidentally also the same basis for Scolipede.
- The Dreaded: Just about everyone is terrified of this thing, and its appearance causes a group of normally fearless Leafbug warriors to get the hell out of dodge.
- Evil Counterpart: To the Spider from Chapter 1, in a sense. Both are large, imposing bugs responsible for the deaths of countless people, but the Spider is just a wild animal acting on instinct. The Beast on the other hand comes off as a knowing Sadist who goes out of its way to kill other bugs for fun.
- Hero Killer: This thing is responsible for killing Kabbu's friends, and came dangerously close to finishing the job and taking out his new team to boot.
- It Can Think: This creature seems sentient to a degree, given the way it seems to take genuine sadistic joy out of terrorizing and attacking the heroes.
- Non-Standard Character Design: It's one of the only characters in the game whose sprites are shaded, which gives it a darker and creepier appearance. The dev notes from the artbook even state that they don't usually shade sprites, but it felt right in case of the Beast, as "it needed to look absolutely evil".
- One-Hit Kill: It wipes out Team Snakemouth with a series of 99 damage bites when its health reaches 10 HP (and won't go lower than that until the attack is pulled off), but thankfully Kabbu gets right back up (if he was already KO'd, he subtly revived with 5 HP) and finishes it off thanks to his overwhelming determination and anger.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: It has primarily red and black colors, and is a monstrous centipede that has a near-perpetual grin on its face when attacking other bugs.
- Sadist: Implied. It smiles when it's about to attack someone, although it also does this when it gets attacked.
- Slasher Smile: When it's about to attack, it has a menacing, fanged grin on its face.
- Walking Spoiler: Since it is the being responsible for killing Kabbu's friends.
Monsieur Scarlet
- Agent Peacock: He's a flirty crossdresser with pink skin, but he's not to be taken lightly: he regularly picks fights with exploration teams and his boss fight is definitely on the tougher side.
- Ant Assault: He's an effeminate ant criminal who preys on explorers by luring them via false help requests before sucking out their lifeforce.
- Creepy Crossdresser: Dresses like a woman so he can have an easier time at catching explorers off guard and killing them.
- Depraved Homosexual: Hints of this when he tries to give Levi a massage before sucking his life out. Furthermore, the backer who designed him had confirmed that Monsieur Scarlet has a husband. May explain why he’s the only drone seen in the game.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: If it weren't for his name or the fact that he possesses wings (which only male ants or infertile ant queens possess), it'd be nigh-impossible to tell that he's a guy what with his pink skin, red dress, parasol, and woman's sunhat.
- Faux Affably Evil: He acts very polite when meeting Levi, if a little too touchy-feely, but as soon as he realizes he's been set up he drops the act and tries to drain his opponents of their life force.
- Hero Killer: His Wounded Gazelle Gambit has lured many explorers to their doom and he comes dangerously close to doing in Team Celia.
- Life Drain: His bread and butter: every attack of his restores some health, and the key to beating him is to keep doing more damage than he can heal back.
- Optional Boss: Fighting him is part of an optional mission.
- Our Vampires Are Different: He lures explorers into a secluded area to drain the life from them and, if Levi is any indication, acts pretty seductive while doing so, has a stark red color theme and almost all of his attacks involve some form of Life Drain.
- Parasol of Pain: His signature weapon is an umbrella, and it hurts. It’s also a magical artifact that lets him cast illusions, teleport, and suck the life from bugs.
- Psycho Pink: His skin is pink and he wears a dress, but he's still a hardened, extremely dangerous criminal at the end of the day.
- Punny Name: The alias he lures explorers in with is Rogu, which is one letter short from "Rogue". His actual name also compliments his eye-catching red dress.
- Secondary Sexual Characteristics: An observant eye may notice that he possesses wings, and is the only ant in the game to do so. Only male ants and infertile queen ants possess wings, which serves as a subtle giveaway that he's the male ant.
- Serial Killer: Seems to be a G-rated version, and preys upon exploration teams he lures in with job postings only to ambush and drain the life from them.
- The One Guy: He's the only male ant in the game, which is amusing given his fashion sense.
- Vampiric Draining: His modus operandi is luring explorer teams into a trap and then draining the life from their bodies.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: His boss fight is a tough one thanks to his life-draining attacks, and it gets even tougher thanks to him getting a permanent attack buff at low health. His boss fight shows players that the bosses fought in sidequests are definitely a cut above most of the ones fought in the storyline.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: His whole shtick. He pretends to be just a poor soul who got lost in a cave and needs an exploration team to save him — only to then ambush them and drain the life from their bodies.
Cenn and Pisci
- Birds of a Feather: As stated in their Bestiary entries, they immediately bonded ever since their first meeting due to their shared love for mischief.
- Boulder Bludgeon: Pisci attacks mainly by throwing rocks.
- Carry a Big Stick: A literal example; Cenn uses a big stick as a weapon.
- Dirty Coward: They're more than happy to threaten and harass a defenseless storage worker, but when Team Snakemouth puts up a decent fight they run for the hills.
- Dual Boss: They are always fought together.
- Hidden Depths: If they're defeated before the assault on Rubber Prison, they stay put in their cells and don't escape or help the wasps and escaped convicts cause trouble. It seems like they legitimately want to turn over a new leaf and are willing to serve their sentences, even if Pisci isn't happy to see Team Snakemouth.
- Impersonating an Officer: A variant; they impersonate an exploration team, complete with the fake permit, to abuse their "rank" in order to take anything they want.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Like most female beetles, Pisci doesn't look feminine. In fact, she looks and acts downright manly and the only indication that she's female is her bestiary entry.
- Moth Menace: Cenn is the only evil butterfly in the game.
- Obviously Evil: Their designs are particularly mean and aggressive-looking.
- Optional Boss: They're fought as part of an optional mission.
- Primitive Clubs: Cenn uses a stick as a weapon, signifying his reliance on a brute force and lack of actual combat experience. However, his attacks hit hard and become ever stronger if Pisci falls in battle.
- Punny Name: When you pair their names together and remove the C from Cenn's name, you get Enn Pisci/NPC. And when you pair that with Gen and Eri's names put together, you get Generic NPC.
- Put on a Prison Bus: After defeat, they are sedated after their failed escape attempt and get shipped off to prison. In said prison, you can actually encounter them again, where they don't try to escape or help the wasps and escapees make trouble, implying the repentance in their villainy.
- Tough Beetles: Pisci is quite durable, possessing defense stat of 1 (2 in Hard Mode), ensuring that she can take a lot of punishment before going down.
- Unskilled, but Strong: They're not particularly skilled, and it shows with their choice of weapons: Cenn uses a stick, and Pisci throws rocks at people. But Cenn hits hard while the rock walls Pisci builds protect them from a number of attacks. And to top it off they both get a damage buff when the other falls, which is bad when Cenn already hits hard and Pisci attacks multiple times a turn.
- Villain Respect: Inverted. In Rubber Prison, they still (understandably) aren't fond of Team Snakemouth, but by staying in their cells instead of taking the chance to escape or helping the Wasps, they've earned Team Snakemouth's respect. Leif is impressed, Kabbu is convinced they've taken their words to heart, and Vi wonders if Maki will give them a second chance if they try again to become real explorers someday.
The Wizard
- All-Powerful Bystander: He appears to be a very powerful sorcerer, yet he prefers not to meddle into the affairs of the beings outside his tower, as long as nobody interferes with his.
- Defrosting Ice King: While not hostile like many of the other spiders in the game, he's still rude and especially snippy with Team Snakemouth for barging into his home despite all the signs saying to keep out. However, by bringing him the specific ingredients he needs, he'll grant Leif the Frost Relay skill and will thank the group for going out of their way to help him, even telling them that they can visit any time!
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Not named in the game, just "The Wizard". In the artbook, his real name is revealed to be Tarantular.
- Friendly Neighborhood Spider: Downplayed; while he's still gruff and antisocial, he's not outright hostile, unlike other spiders in the game, and more-or-less tolerates Team Snakemouth's presence. In fact, Leif actually refers to him as "friendly neighborhood Tarantula" when they first meet him.
- Get Out!: His reaction to Team Snakemouth accidentally breaking into his home.
- Grumpy Old Man: He is quite old, and is very gruff and grumbling.
- The Hermit: His tower is surrounded by "keep out" signs.
- The Minion Master: Has an army of Daddy Longlegs contained inside gashapon capsules.
- Nonstandard Character Design:
- His sprite is entirely 2D rather than being drawn "origami-style" like the other spiders.
- Unlike the sapient Four Legged Insects that form the vast majority of the cast, he is drawn with all eight limbs common for his species.
- Offscreen Reality Warp: Unlocks the front door to his tower just by saying it's now unlocked.
- Robe and Wizard Hat: He wears a classical wizard attire, consisting of dark blue robe and a wizard hat of the same color.
- Uplifted Animal: Even moreso than other characters (who are also Uplifted Animals); unlike every other arachnid in the game, who remains a non-sapient "lesser bug" even after the Day of Awakening, the Wizard is a fully sapient being. While the characters briefly question this the game never gives an explanation of why this is the case.
- Verbal Tic: He tends to start his sentences with "BLIMEY!" a lot, mostly when irritated or surprised.
Riz
- Badass Normal: He's just a paranoid hick living in the woods armed with only a spear and homemade drilling bombs, but a fierce fighter all the same. His high damage output and bulky defenses make him one of the tougher optional bosses in the game.
- Big Brother Instinct: He's very protective of his sister, as well as his father.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After Team Snakemouth defeats him and then assures him that they don't mean any harm, he apologizes for attacking them and grants them entrance to his family's village (even though he's still wary of them).
- Developer's Foresight: If you use the submarine to walk into his village before meeting him and then exit it through where he is fought, the dialogue with him is altered, as he starts believing Team Snakemouth are poachers who had harmed his family and tries to avenge them, refusing to listen to the team as they try to explain themselves.
- Dreadful Dragonfly: Subverted; even though he's initially hostile to Team Snakemouth, he's not actually evil and only wants to protect his family.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He invented his own bombs that tunnel underground and attack after a two-turn delay. They hit hard and can inflict status ailments, making them incredibly effective weapons.
- Knight Templar Big Brother: He's so overprotective of his family he will attack anyone who simply wanders around their village, and, at one point, he reacts with anger to Team Snakemouth giving his sister a cake (granted, he had no idea what the cake was, but still...).
- Optional Boss: You don't have to fight him at all, unless you want access to the Fishing Village.
- The Paranoiac: Riz is incredibly hostile and violent towards anyone looking to enter the Fishing Village, and even when Team Snakemouth defeats him and assures him that they mean no harm, he still doesn't entirely trust them despite granting them passage into the village.
- Status Effects: What makes Riz tough is that nearly all of his moves cause a debuff of some kind if not blocked in time. His bombs can cause things like Freeze and Poison, while getting smacked with his spear can result in the Ink ailment, which seals a bug's skills for a few turns.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: As mentioned above, Riz makes use of motorized drill-bombs in battle when he's not using his spear. The color of the bomb's shell before it burrows into the ground determines what ailment it will inflict if it strikes, so be sure to pay attention (a bomb colored light blue will freeze someone for example).
Riz's family
- All There in the Manual: Riz Sr.'s name is revealed only in the artbook.
- Big Brother Worship: Rizza greatly admires her older brother and even shows concern for him when he neglects his own well-being and gets too stressed out protecting the village.
- Cheerful Child: Rizza is a happy, cheerful and excitable child. In the Help dialogue, Vi even gets confused by how she can remain so cheerful if there's nothing to be cheerful about in the Fishing Village.
- Eyes Always Shut: Riz Sr.'s eyes are always closed, which almost makes him look like he's sleeping while fishing (even though he actually isn't asleep).
- Giver of Lame Names: Creativity is not Riz Sr.'s stronger suit, given that named both of his children after himself, which gets lampshaded in the artbook.
- Sweet Tooth: Rizza likes sweets, and her quest even has her request Team Snakemouth to bring her a cake from the outside.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: You can tell that Rizza is a girl by the purple flower on her head.
That one Stickbug
- "Begone" Bribe: He'll give Team Snakemouth a Heal Plus medal to make them leave him alone and keep his place a secret.
- Furry Reminder: Disguising oneself as a stick is a real stickbug behavior.
- No Name Given: He has no known name. In the credits roll, his name is listed as "That one Stickbug", and not even the artbook bothers to give him a name.
- Riddle for the Ages: Just why exactly he hides in the Fishing Village and why he doesn't want to be found? Are Riz or his family aware of his presence? Is he aware of their presence? For an one-off gag NPC, he sure gives out many questions.
Patton
- Anti-Frustration Features: For the price, he can remove all rank-up and stat-boosting bonuses from the team, converting them into potions, with the rank-up potions being able to be converted into other kind of bonuses, greatly helping the player if they got the wrong bonus when ranking up.
- Bag of Holding: The syringe he pulls out for experimentation is much larger than the bag he pulls it from.
- The Exile: He was exiled from the Ant Kingdom by Queen Elizant II for unethical experimentations and disregard for safety regulations, and had to settle in Forsaken Lands. After the end of the game, she reversed the exile for his cooperation, however, since the patch of Forsaken Lands he lives in officially became the Ant Kingdom territory, he still lives in the same place as during the exile.
- Expy: His stat-swapping role makes him an obvious analogue to the Chet Rippos from the first two ''Paper Mario" games.
- False Reassurance: He constantly defends his actions with assuring that his experiments didn't hurt anyone…too badly, and that his services won't hurt…much.
- Giant Medical Syringe: He uses a huge syringe to drain Team Snakemouth's stats when they offer to reassign their stats. After experimentation, the team is left clearly visibly pained.
- Mad Scientist: He tends to experiment on other bugs while disregarding the ethics and safety regulations. Queen Elizant II even explicitly refers to him as mad scientist, with extra emphasis on "mad".
- Plague Doctor: His design is heavily reminiscent of the classic plague doctor look.
- Playing with Syringes: While doing his scientific services to other bugs, he tends to forget about the words "safety regulations" and "ethics" from his vocabulary, which is why he was banished from the Ant Kingdom by the Queen herself.
- Shout-Out: He's directly based on Patton Normstrom, a character from Revival: A Dungeons & Dragons' Realplay podcast.
Dead Lander Omega (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
- Ambiguously Human: Its hands have a very human-like quality to them, best witnessed whenever it tries to drop a Dead Lander Gamma on the player. But if this thing ever was a human at some point, it's far beyond one now.
- Creepy Child: If the theory about it being formely human is true, it is most likely some sort of heavily mutated human child given its morbid curiosity with its prey and that it doesn't try to eat Team Snakemouth and toys with them instead, much like how a child would be tempted to torture a bug out of sheer morbid curiosity or purely out of spite for them being invertebrates.
- The Dreaded: Team Snakemouth are utterly terrified of this thing. One can hardly blame them. And then the Word of God confirms that even the other Dead Landers are terrified of it.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Despite being properly introduced in the final chapter, particularly observant players can see it as early as chapter 3. Its silhouette can be seen skulking around the tall grass outside of Giant's Lair through the Bee Kingdom's Eliascope.
- Eldritch Abomination: All the other Dead Landers fit this bill, but this takes the cake! It's clear that whatever it is isn't human, animal or insect, and it even has bones for hands.
- Giant Eye of Doom: One of its only visible parts is a giant, glowing eye that gazes from the darkness, searching for travelers to drop Dead Lander Gamma on.
- Hellish Pupils: Its eye is very reminiscent of a cat's, only far more demonic-looking.
- It Can Think: Whatever it is, it's no mindless beast: even when it can't see Team Snakemouth it knows they're there, and will constantly jump ahead their path and reposition itself in order to find them. It's also smart enough to understand how healing crystals work and will use a special red one as a trap, looking right at the player if they ever use it and giving them barely any time to hide. In the first portion of the Dead Lands, you can trick it by getting Kabbu to throw a moss rock from the ground, being distracted by it and giving you time to go to the next room it would've been guarding otherwise.
- Just Toying with Them: Could easily squash the trio flat, but prefers to watch them fight other Dead Landers for its own amusement.
- Kaiju: By bug standards, absolutely. Its hands alone are bigger than most bugs, and its overall size is so immense that fighting it simply isn't an option.
- King Mook: The biggest and scariest of all the Dead Landers.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Most other characters in the game are 2-dimensional "paper cutouts" with cute designs and are typically not that much bigger than the protagonists. Even freaky-looking characters like the Beast or the other Dead Landers are also cutouts. But the Dead Lander Omega is a massive, terrifying monster rendered in 3D, and if its bony hands are any indication it is also the sole vertebrate in a game otherwise full of arthropods, living plants/fungi, and robots.
- Nothing Is Scarier: We never get a true look at it, merely only ever seeing its giant glowing eye and boney hands.
- Riddle for the Ages: What is this thing? Is it a demon, an alien, a mutated cat or bird? Or most disturbingly, a human? If it is, what the hell happened to turn it into this thing?
- Units Not to Scale: Is almost as tall as the lair itself when viewed through the scope, but is the size of a child when you meet it in person. Per the developers, the former is its true size and the latter was just to fit it on the screen.
- The Unfought: Despite terrorizing the group throughout the house, it never directly fights them, merely just dropping other Dead Landers on them when it spots them.
Giants (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
An unseen race of giant creatures that once inhabited what is now Bugaria and the Dead Lands and whose structures and devices are found almost everywhere. Heavily implied to be humans.
- Humans Are Cthulhu: All that the inhabitants of Bugaria know is that giant creatures once lived across the realm and left many artifacts behind. They don't know what these mysterious giants looked like or what exactly happened to them.
- Precursors: They had mighty civilizations long before bugs achieved sapience in the Day of Awakening, and the Roaches and other races have based much of their science and technology on Giant artifacts. It's also speculated that they had some connection to the Day of Awakening itself.
- Uncertain Doom: Did the Giants die out? Or did they simply leave the area that now makes up Bugaria and the Dead Lands? The final Lore Book mentions a Roach legend about a "Day of Reckoning" involving "fires raining down from the sky and destroying the earth", which would seem to imply some kind of nuclear war (which itself commonly goes along with the Cockroaches Will Rule the Earth trope that the game uses more explicitly). But the author of that book notes that nobody has found any physical evidence of such a cataclysm such as craters, and the penultimate Lore Book speculates that the Giants either could come back or left for some other world.
The Lost Roach Civilization (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Snakemouth Roach Village
The ruins of a village belonging to the secretive Roach Civilization, which collapsed a generation prior to the beginning of the game.
Lost Sands Roach Village
The ruins of a Roach village hidden in the desert. Irrelevant to the greater lore as anything besides motivating a side character.
- Riddle for the Ages: How did this Roach village collapse? Was it in the same incident that destroyed the Snakemouth Roaches or something far longer ago?
Upper Snakemouth Lab Experiments
The failed results of the Roach scientists’ attempts to recreate the Sapling’s immortality using Ancient Crystals.
- All Myths Are True: The bestiary indicates that Zombiants were once viewed as myths to scare bugs with. As Team Snakemouth can attest to, they're very real.
- Ant Assault: Zombiants are zombified versions of ant corpses fused with cordyceps.
- Bee Afraid: Zombees are zombified versions of bees fused with cordyceps.
- Body Horror: There's tentacles/fungus mycelia growing out of their bodies and heads. Zommoth has one big one instead of a face.
- Climax Boss: Zommoth is fought at the end of the darkest, longest sidequest of the game, long enough to be its own chapter, and comes when the horrifying circumstances of Leif's existence are revealed. Fittingly, it's one tough customer as well.
- Dark Reprise: "The Other One," Zommoth's theme, is this to the normal Optional Boss theme, "Reckless for Glory!"
- Evil Counterpart: With the exception of the Zombiant, the zombie enemies are this to Team Snakemouth. The Zombees, Zombeetles, and Zommoth all correspond directly to Vi, Kabbu, and Leif, with the Zommoth in particular having similar magical powers given to it by the Roach scientists.
- Festering Fungus: They are cordyceps-infused insect corpses that were created in Roach Scientists in attempt to find immortality.
- Foreshadowing: The fact that Leif knows exactly what the Zombiants are (accurately calling their fungal growths cordyceps) and has the same kind of eyes as them is sneaky foreshadowing about his identity as a fellow cordyceps zombie.
- Gone Horribly Right: The Zombees and Zombeetles were made to surpass the natural limitations of their species, and Zommoth was made to be 'the ultimate weapon' of the Roach Scientists. They’re all just as formidable as advertised, but…
- Gone Horribly Wrong: The Bees and Beetles were mindless monsters, and Zommoth broke out, turned against its creators and killed them.
- Marathon Boss: Zommoth's health is ridiculously high in proportion to when it's first available to fight, and it has one point of defense to reinforce that bulk. To put things into perspective, its health is 94, a mere four points higher than the first phase of the final boss.
- Moth Menace: Zommoth is a massive zombified cordyceps-infested moth that can use blight magic.
- Optional Boss: Zommoth is the boss of an optional area.
- Parasite Zombie: All of the insects that were experimented on have been possessed by the Cordyceps fungus.
- Raising the Steaks: They are literally Zombie bugs.
- Tortured Monster: These poor creatures used to be ordinary bugs, until Upper Snakemouth's scientists got ahold of them and turned them into freakish bioweapons.
- Tough Beetles: Zombeetles are cordyceps-infested beetles that possess more health than other zombies and have stronger defenses. They can also throw huge boulders similarly to Kabbu or ram the party at full speed.
- Turned Against Their Masters: All the experiments, but Zommoth in particular: it was created to be a guardian to the roach scientists, but broke out of the containment and killed everyone in the lab.
- Walking Spoiler: Their origin is a major twist, and casts Snakemouth Den in a horrific new light.
- Was Once A Bug: All the experiments were once normal bugs who had their lives and minds destroyed in the name of immortality.
Upper Snakemouth Scientists
A crew of scientists who led a project on finding a way to get immortality without the Everlasting Sapling.
- Abusive Precursors: They callously experimented on innocent bugs with no regard for their lives.
- Asshole Victim: They conducted experiments on innocent bugs that turned them into zombies. When one of those subjects, Zommoth, breaks out, it proceeds to wipe them out. When told about them, a roach in the roach village outright says that they got what they deserved.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: A shorter orange roach and a taller yellow one seem to be the ones in charge of the operation, given their presence in various video logs around the lab.
- Blasphemous Boast: One note that can be found laying around is one of the head scientists sneering at an underling's fears about their Zommoth project, and boasting about creating something stronger than a god.
- Creepy Cockroach: While most roaches in the game are not scary or evil, these guys are an exception due to the horrific experiments they oversaw.
- Fat and Skinny: One of the apparent leaders is shorter and fatter and the other is taller and thinner.
- Fat Bastard: The short orange roach is quite fat and he, alongside his partner, oversaw the horrific experiments.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Their creation of Zommoth, intended to be a super-soldier that would protect them, backfired as it rampaged around the facility and killed them all.
- Immortality Immorality: The reason why they performed such horrible experiments. Ironically, this is what led to their demise.
- Karmic Death: Killed by their own creation, Zommoth, after kidnapping and transforming countless innocents into horrific monsters.
- Mad Scientist: In their mission to find immortality, they kidnapped and conducted experiments on innocent bugs.
- Playing with Syringes: They conducted experiments in which they would destroy the minds of their subjects and turn them into cordyceps zombies.
- Posthumous Character: They're long dead before Team Snakemouth discover their lab.
- The Sociopath: They have zero regard for their subjects, kidnapping them and forcing them into zombification experiments, and have one cordyceps (the one that would become Leif) callously tossed away as a failure.
- Token Good Teammate: The dark roach with the Opaque Nerd Glasses is the only one of the three to have any form of Heel Realization.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: They are as despicable as the Wasp King, being a pair of Mad Scientists who perform horrifying experiments on innocent bugs, and the abandoned lab where they performed their experiments is one of the darkest levels in the game.
- Walking Spoiler: Their role in the game with their experiments is a big twist, and paints the seemingly ordinary first dungeon in a horrific new light.
The Dead Lands Roach Village
The only living Roaches in Bugaria. They have endured in the Dead Lands for untold generations, guarding the Everlasting Sapling from those who would abuse its power.
- Creepy Cockroach: Averted with a vengeance: they're cockroaches that live in the horrific Dead Lands, but they're not evil in the slightest and quite reasonable towards the player. One of them even expresses disgust towards the scientists of Upper Snakemouth for the atrocities they committed in search of immortality.
- Foreshadowing: One of the lore books the player can collect has the author make a big fuss about how he believes that not all of the roaches could have disappeared and that some communities could easily remain, albeit far beyond Bugaria. Lo and behold, they were right on the money.
- Fluffy Tamer: One particularly buff roach is shown to have domesticated normally vicious scorpions, and turned them into guard dogs to help protect the Sapling.
- Last Episode, New Character: The roaches and their elder are the last important characters to be introduced, and come into play during the very end of the game.
- Not So Extinct: Roaches are said to have all been wiped out in the distant past, but this village's very existence shows that at least some survived.
- Wasteland Elder: These roaches are led by an old female roach, who is the roach equivalent to the queen bugs of other kingdoms.
- You All Look Familiar: Unlike the rest of bugkind, most roaches here look identical which is usually only the case for soldier insects. The only truly distinct roaches in this village are the elder and the scorpion tamer.
Bestiary
Lesser Bugs
Insects that never gained the gift of sentience, and have evolved aggressively territorial instincts and advanced defense mechanisms in response to encroaching inbugstrialization.
- Ass Kicks You: Primal Weevil has an attack where it hits the party member by smacking it with its huge abdomen. For uneducated, bugs' abdomens are located in their rear areas, and Primal Weevil is no exception to this rule.
- Bait-and-Switch Boss: In the Colosseum challenge in Chapter 6, Team Snakemouth is led to believe that they have to refight the Primal Weevil. However, before the fight starts, Zasp and Mothiva appear, smack it away, and then challenge Team Snakemouth themselves.
- Beastly Bloodsports: The Primal Weevil was taken by the Termite Kingdom to fight the challengers in the Colosseum as the final opponent in the arena challenge.
- The Brute: Belostoss are among the most powerful lesser bugs, with beefy defenses and enough strength to effortlessly hurl around big rocks.
- Degraded Boss: The Primal Weevil is the first miniboss of Chapter 6 with its appearance capping off the dangerous trek through the Forsaken Lands. It's fought again later as part of the Termite Kingdom's arena challenge and can be fought as many times as the player wants. However, it's not fought during the plot-mandated arena challenge since Zasp and Mothiva swoop in and defeat it before challenging Team Snakemouth themselves.
- Enfant Terrible: Inichas, Denmukis and Madesphys are caterpillars permanently stuck in their larval phase and were turned into violent monsters.
- Expy: Weevils attack identically to Fuzzies in the Paper Mario series. Right down to the difficult to block attack animation and life draining.
- Mothflies are also this to the Smorg from The Thousand Year Door. They look similar to the individual Smorgs since they're small, fuzzy, black, and have yellow eyes, and on top of that they're incredibly dangerous in a group.
- Fantastic Racism: Mosquitoes gained intelligence after the Day of Awakening but the midges didn’t. Suggesting to a mosquito that the two species are related is asking for trouble.
- Friendly Neighborhood Spider: In Forsaken Lands, there is a friendly jumping spider who will pay a big sum for items left in front of her hole.
- Guest Fighter: Weevil, Primal Weevil (renamed Primeweevil), Psicorp, Dune Scorpion (renamed Dunescorp), Denmuki and Belostoss all appear in Abomi Nation as Abomis that can be fought or captured. Some even gained the new game-exclusive variants: Psicorp and Dunescorp have Tamed variants (based on Roaches' tame Scorpions in the Giant's Lair), while Belostoss has a larval pre-evolved variant called Beloskick.
- It Can Think: All the lesser bugs in the Forsaken Lands are a good deal more intelligent than most of their ilk. The weak Mothflies know how to cluster together and make themselves stronger, with some being intelligent enough to form their own society and language. They can even disguise themselves as properly sentient bugs, which the Mimic Spider also does in order to lure in travelers for the kill.
- And on the less horrific, positive side of things, a friendly jumping spider is capable of written communication and bartering with the player, paying back full shop price for any unwanted purchases and giving them tons of berries for the right items. She's even formed a friendship with a visitor from the Termite Kingdom.
- King Mook: The Dune Scorpion, Broodmother, and Primal Weevil are these to the Psicorps, Midges, and Weevils respectively.
- Magikarp Power: Despite living in the Forsaken Lands, Mothflies are incredibly fragile and weak... individually. Smarter ones group up in massive clusters that are far more formidable, and one particularly powerful and crafty Mothfly cluster is one of the game's powerful bonus bosses.
- Mama Bear: The Broodmother attacks Team Snakemouth when they stumble upon her eggs.
- Mosquito Miscreants: Midges are bloodsucking insects who tend to hunt in packs and prey on unsuspecting bugs, sucking their fluids to restore their health. The Broodmother is an even larger version of them.
- Non-Malicious Monster: The Broodmother didn't cause trouble at the Honey Factory on purpose, it was just collateral damage to her battle with a bunch of Wasp Kingdom saboteurs, and she only attacks Team Snakemouth to protect her eggs. According to flavor text, the local bee guards feel guilty about having to remove her eggs because of this.
- Optional Boss: The Broodmother, who is oddly fought in an optional sidequest despite being partially responsible for everything going wrong in Chapter 3.
- Predators Are Mean: Due to the existence of plant-based motile organisms, Weevils will very frequently Unfriendly Fire on their plant "allies" (which are often the adorable Seedlings) for food before actually attacking Team Snakemouth.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Pillbugs, aphids, and cochineals are all small, harmless, and adorable. Unsurprisingly, they're popular pets throughout Bugaria. Pinky the friendly spider is also really cute due to being a pallette swap of the similarly cute Jumping Spiders, but with eyelashes, a flower on her head, and adorably mangled grammar on her house sign.
- Rolling Attack: Inichas and Madesphys are spiny, armored caterpillars that attack mainly by rolling.
- Scary Scorpions: Psicorps and the Dune Scorpion, with the latter being so dangerous that it almost kills Leif.
- Shock and Awe:
- Denmukis are electrically charged caterpillars that attack by electrocuting the party member, numbing them in process.
- The Broodmother is a giant, electrically charged Midge that attacks by shooting numbing sparks at party members.
- Small Role, Big Impact: The Dune Scorpion is basically a miniboss thrown into Chapter 4 for the sake of having an extra fight to pad it out, but it nearly killing Leif is what exposes the cordyceps controlling him, which finally begins to answer some of the questions surrounding him.
- Spiders Are Scary: Mimic Spiders look freaky when they drop their ant disguises and attack.
- Stone Wall: Diving Spiders don't hit particularly hard, but are tanky thanks to their high health and the bubble shields they put up. Said shields are like Leif's in the sense that they're impenetrable, forcing the player to simply wait until they wear off in order to kill them.
- Token Heroic Orc: A friendly jumping spider named Pinky lives in the Forsaken Lands, and will pay handsomely for items given to her. She's especially fond of Longleg Summoners.
- Xenophobic Herbivore: Despite being herbivores, Weevils are extremely aggressive and territorial, and will attack any bug that will approach close. They even show behavior usually seen in predators with an attack that's only seen if there's Plant Mooks in the battle, causing it to prioritize on them first and pounce on it to feast and restore health, killing them in the process.
Monsters
Strange wild creatures infesting Bugaria and only interested in making life difficult for bug-kind.
- Action Bomb: Abomihoneys are capable of blowing themselves up, and it hurts.
- Ambushing Enemy: Jellyshrooms and Bloatshrooms are capable of disgusing themselves as inanimate mushrooms before revealing themselves for attack, as do Cactilings and Plumplings, who disguise themselves as cacti and pumpkins respectively.
- Anthropomorphic Food: Abomihoneys and Ahoneynations are huge, sentient globs of honey.
- Armored But Frail: Pumplings have extremely high armor, enough so as to only receive scratch damage from the very strongest attacks and completely negate everything else, but have only five hit points beneath it. This makes them particularly vulnerable to a number of strategies, such as Vi's armor-piercing attacks and Kabbu's Spiky Bod badge, which deals an unavoidable point of damage to any enemy whose melee attacks he successfully blocks.
- Blob Monster: Abomihoneys and Ahoneynations are huge globs of honey that came to life thanks to honey being mixed recklessly.
- Cactus Person: Cactilings are cactus-based variants of Seedlings encountered only in the Lost Sands, where they disguise themselves as cacti before attacking the unsuspecting travellers.
- Expy:
- Seedlings, the first enemy encountered in the game, are pretty much Goombas with leaves on their heads. They come in many regional varieties, most of which are expies of other classic Paper Mario enemies.
- Chompers are an obvious expy for Piranha Plants given their Man-Eating Plant appearance and style of fighting (which involves biting down on their opponents).
- Fantastic Flora: Most of the monsters are some form of living plant brought to life by the Ancient Crystal shards in Bugaria’s soil. Abomihoneys exist because honey is super concentrated flower nectar, and accumulations larger than the standard Honey Drop item come to life. The sole exception to this are Jellyshrooms and Bloatshrooms, since they are living mushrooms, not plants.
- Fantastic Vermin: Seedlings are considered everyday's pests, since they are very common and have insatiable appetite, which they satisfy by devouring farmers' crops.
- The Goomba: Seedlings are among the weakest enemies in the game and design-wise are quite similar to Goombas.
- Guest Fighter: The entire Seedling family, along with Abomihoneys (and Ahoneynation as an evolved form), appear in Abomi Nation as Abomis that can be fought or captured. They also have new game-exclusive ice variants: Frostlings are icy variants of Seedlings, while Abomihoney and Ahoneynation have Frozen counterparts.
- King Mook: Ahoneynations are this to Abomihoneys, as are Mother Chompers to the Chompers.
- Man-Eating Plant: Chompers are flytrap-like plants that are known to prey on bugs.
- Metal Slime: Golden Seedlings are very rare, receive only one damage (even from multi-hits, as only the first hit will register), very damaging, are quick to flee, but they give a lot of EXP and rewards, including very rare Tangy Berry.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: Jellyshrooms are living mushrooms with the traits of jellyfish.
- Optional Boss: A Mother Chomper can be fought in a secret dungeon underneath the path leading to Golden Settlement. If she's defeated, the player gets access to one of her babies, who is a secret fourth party member.
- Pumpkin Person: Plumplings are Seedling sub-species that are reminiscent of pumpkins.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Seedlings are tiny, adorable little seed creatures, and Leif openly laments about having to fight them because of this.
- Support Party Member: Flowerlings are terrible at fighting, and excel at buffing the stats of the far more dangerous enemies they live with.
- Stone Wall: Wild Chompers are ridiculously bulky, with their defense of 2 making any fight with them a tedious slog. Plumplings are even bulkier with a rare defense of 3, meaning you'll be pumping a bit of TP into getting rid of them.
- Waddling Head: Anatomically-wise, Seedlings are basically heads with feet.
Honey Factory Robots
Robots and machines operating in the Honey Factory, protecting it against threats and assisting in honey-making. During Code 32, they went haywire and will attack anything on sight.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: After Code 32, the robots protecting Honey Factory went out of control and will attack anything they perceive as intruders.
- Attack Drone: Bee-Boops and their upgraded version, Heavy Drone B-33, are robotic bee-like battle drones that are designed to protect the factory against the intruders.
- Bee Afraid: Bee-Boops are robotic bee-like drones that attack anything on sight. Heavy Drone B-33 is a bigger and stronger version of them.
- Cute Machines: Menders are considered very adorable by others, to the point that Leif even ponders can the team receive their own Mender or at least a plushie of it.
- Cyber Cyclops: The Bee-Boops' blaster modes and the Heavy Drone B-33 have only one optic. Also, Menders have only one visor with a blue "vertical pupil".
- Edible Ammunition: Security Turrets and Bee-Boops attack by shooting honey with their blasters. Electrified honey, that is.
- Flunky Boss: Heavy Drone B-33 can summon Bee-Boops during the fight.
- Just a Machine: All of them run on primitive A.I. and do not have a full-fledged intelligence. So when Kabbu questions Malbee's request of whacking Menders to reset them, since it might "hurt their feelings", both Leif and Malbee assure him that they don't have any.
- King Mook: Heavy Drone B-33 is this to Bee-Boops, being a spherical robotic bee-like security drone.
- Macross Missile Massacre: Heavy Drone B-33 uses missiles as a primary weapon.
- Mechanical Insects: Bee-Boops are bee-shaped drones that patrol the Honey Factory, protecting it against the intruders.
- Murderous Malfunctioning Machine: All of them went haywire during Code 32 and, with the exception of Menders (who don't have any weapons), will attack anything they perceive as intruders.
- Percussive Maintenance: After the Code 32, several Menders went out of control and had to be reset. To reset them, they need to be whacked until they work.
- Ramming Always Works: One of Heavy Drone B-33's strongest attacks is charging up, and then ramming into party for massive damage. Also, Bee-Boops in their "visor" modes attack by ramming.
- Sentry Gun: Security Turrets are stationary weapons that protect the factory against intruders.
- Shows Damage: When Heavy Drone B-33 transits to the second phase, its body visibly cracks.
- Sweeping Laser Explosion: Heavy Drone B-33 has an attack in which it fires two lasers across the ground, which is followed with a trail of explosions that damage the entire party.
Roach Constructs
Remnants of the technologically and magically advanced Roach Civilization. Not friendly.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The fire variants in the Dead Lands will attack anything, even the Roaches who created them.
- Action Bomb: Wardens can blow themselves up, which doesn't hurt too bad but will damage the entire party.
- Ambushing Enemy: Wardens disguise themselves as Roach statue heads before revealing themselves for attack.
- Ancient Egypt: They have Egyptian motifs.
- An Ice Person: The constructs can use ice powers when in cold temperatures (i.e., when near the active ice magic crystal, or if frozen by Leif, or when inside the fridge).
- Back for the Finale: The constructs found in Chapter 4 reappear in Chapter 7, mainly to be used as puzzle-solving tools until the Wasp King turns on Giant's Lair's stove and introduces the fiery variants of the constructs.
- Elite Mook: Fire-spewing constructs are the last set of enemies fought in the story mode, and they hit harder than their chapter 4 counterparts. They can also hit the player with the rare burn status which is basically a stronger poison status.
- Flying Face: Wardens are flying disembodied Roach statue heads.
- King Mook: The Watcher is a more powerful version of the Haunted Cloths.
- Living Clothes: Haunted Cloths are vampiric robes powered by a giant ancient crystal at their core. The Watcher is an advanced version of them that can use sand and ice magic.
- Logical Weakness: When in low-temperature mode, the constructs will be weaker to Kabbu’s horn, because their frozen components are extra sensitive to sudden shocks. Likewise, when they’re overheating, they’re sensitive to the sudden temperature changes caused by Leif’s ice magic. They’re still immune to the Frozen status effect while on fire, obviously.
- Magitek: Constructs powered by ancient crystals patrol places of significance to the ancient civilization.
- Mummy: The Watcher is a mummified Roach, a result of the Roaches experimenting on one of their own kind.
- Palette Swap: Unlike the dramatic model differences between the Warden and Haunted Cloth variants, all Krawler variants are the same design just with a differently colored back-mounted crystal.
- Playing with Fire: In Chapter 7, after the Wasp King turns on the stove, the constructs absorbed its power and became much more powerful than ever before.
- Slasher Smile: The fire version of the Warden enemy has a demented grin on its face.
- Small Role, Big Impact: The Watcher initially appears to be merely another big baddie to show up and ruin Team Snakemouth's day, but, after its destruction, it leaves behind a peculiar gem that opens the way to Upper Snakemouth, helping Leif to learn more about his past.
- Underground Monkey: Has more powerful fire variants encountered in the final stretch of the Giant's Lair, which share the same name and entry as the ones encountered in the Ancient Castle. This makes a strange scenario when you fight them in the Cave of Trials before encountering them in the Giant's Lair, as they're shadowed, but if you had Spied their earlier versions, you can still see their health.
- Was Once a Bug: As revealed in the artbook, the Watcher is the result of the Roaches experimenting on one of their own kind.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: The Krawlers' name is spelled this way.
Bandits
Sapient bugs who live the life of a crime, ambushing the travelers in the Lost Sands and stealing their goods. They are mostly led by Astotheles. They are also encountered in the Rubber Prison and were freed by wasps during the outbreak.
- Bandit Mook: All of them can steal items from the party. After successfully stealing an item, they will run for it, unless the player manages to make them drop it.
- Blow You Away: Thieves can blow gusts of wind with their wings to deal damage to the entire party.
- Boxed Crook: The Wasp Kingdom forces have enlisted the help of freed bandit prisoners during the Rubber Prison occupation.
- The Brute: Burglars are the biggest and the toughest of the Bandits, having more health and defence than others.
- Desert Bandits: They're a large gang of thieves and brigands who live and operate in a large underground base under the Lost Sands desert, harassing and stealing from both travelers in the wastes and the nearby town of Defiant Root.
- Dreadful Dragonfly: Thieves are dragonflies who steal items and can blow gusts of wind.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: The bandits' ranks are made up of dragonflies, crickets, and ladybugs.
- Even Evil Has Standards: As revealed in the artbook, even they refuse to associate with the Ruffians locked in the Rubber Prison, finding them way too cruel and violent to their liking.
- Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: All of the bandits get along just fine and live like a family, with Astotheles as A Father to His Men, Thieves as "the youngest siblings", and Bandits as their "older brothers".
- Fat Bastard: Burglars are quite fat, and are vicious, well, burglars.
- For the Evulz: Sometimes, they steal items that hold no value to them at all, just because they feel like it, such as taking Tanjerin's broken horn and Eophi's leaf mask, and then bullying Mun for him demanding them to give it back.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: In "Theater Help Wanted!", several bandits take a part in the stageplay, with the Burglar playing an evil prince and a duo of bandits portraying...bandits. And no, this isn't just a case of Gameplay and Story Segregation; an Easter Egg that occurs if you allow the bandits to steal your items and escape the battle in the second act reveals that these are actual bandits, since they immediately leave the theater after they steal your items, with the voice outside trying to report them to security.
- Group-Identifying Feature: They all wear hoods with their distinct insignias, which are upside-down emblems of the Ant Kingdom, representing their leader's resentment towards the Ant Queen.
- In the Hood: All of them wear hoods with the unique Bandit insignia (which is an upside-down emblem of the Ant Kingdom).
- Lightning Bruiser: Despite their bulky looks, Burglars are surprisingly fast and can tackle the entire party at high speed, stealing their item in process.
- Non-Indicative Name: Burglars attack travelers in the outdoors. As in mugging, not burglary.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Ever since Queen Elizant II banished all ladybugs from the Ant Kingdom for the crimes of the seventeen of their kind, many of them decided to not bother with fixing their reputation and turned to crime, becoming Burglars, which tarnished the already poor reputation of ladybugs further.
- Tough Beetles: Burglars are bulky ladybug criminals who possess much more health than the other bandits on par with having higher defenses and an ability to ram the party at full speed, stealing an item if not blocked.
Ruffians
Mantis criminals that were locked up in the Rubber Prison until the Wasp Kingdom freed them during the occupation. They tend to operate with wasps and other bandits.
- Ax-Crazy: They are very cruel and violent, which is why they got sentenced to prison.
- Boxed Crook: Much like the bandits, the Ruffians were also freed by the Wasp Kingdom to cause mayhem in the Rubber Prison during the occupation.
- Death Glare: Their constant facial expression is a perpetual intimidating sideways glare, which gives them more hostile appearance.
- Improvised Weapon: They can use their cuffs and ball-and-chains as weapons.
- Psycho for Hire: They are more than happy to work for wasps if it means they get to beat up others.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: They have red eyes, which compliments their violent appearance.
- Slaying Mantis: They are the violent mantis criminals who are some of the stronger enemies in the late game.
- With My Hands Tied: Wasps could've easily break their cuffs, yet they didn't, because the Ruffians are already dangerous enough.
Leafbugs
Hostile warrior tribes living in the Wild Swamplands. Unlike the other threats lurking in the swamp they're sapient, but the language barrier between them and other bugs makes them impossible to reason with.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Downplayed, as they are stated to be the anti-villains who simply want to protect their home, but every leafbug Team Snakemouth runs into wants them dead, no exceptions.
- Ambushing Enemy: Leafbug Ninjas can disguise themselves as foliage before attack.
- Annoying Arrows: Leafbug Archers don't hit too hard normally. If you attack their teammates however then prepare to hurt.
- Anti-Villain: Though aggressive to Team Snakemouth and anyone else who travels through Wild Swamplands, they simply want to protect themselves and their home, and considering in what kind of place they live, it's hard to blame them when they consider everything and everyone to be a threat. Kabbu even sympathizes with them, as seen in the Help dialogue of the second area of the Wild Swamplands.
- Bait-and-Switch Boss: When a group of Leafbugs ambush Team Snakemouth at the end of the Wild Swamplands, they're eager and willing to fight... until the Beast shows up. Then they instantly run for the hills.
- Barbarian Tribe: They are a group of sentient bugs who live indigenously in the Wild Swamplands and will attack any other bugs they come across using the likes of clubs and bow and arrows. They also speak in a language other bugs can't understand.
- The Brute: Leafbug Clubbers are the tankiest leafbugs, and hit hard. Very hard.
- Language Barrier: They speak their own language and don't understand the language of other bugs. Due to that, it's impossible to reason with them, and subsequently, all encounters with them end up being violent.
- Malevolent Masked Man: They're hostile tribals whose faces are obscured by masks.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: According to their bestiary entry, scientists are fascinated with the Leafbug Ninja's ability to clone themselves and have no idea how they do it. It could be a form of magic but thanks to how rare it is, it's every bit as likely to be some odd sleight of hand.
- Ninja: The Leafbug Ninjas use camouflage to blend in with the foliage, attack with needles and kicks, and to top it all off can create illusory copies to befuddle the player.
- Poor Communication Kills: Team Snakemouth doesn't want to fight them, but can't communicate that with the Leafbugs due to the Language Barrier between them, causing all encounters with them to be violent.
- Primitive Clubs: Leafbug Clubbers are primitive barbarian bugs who wield clubs as weapons.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: The Leafbug Clubbers are described in their bestiary entry as proud and arrogant warriors who believe themselves to be deserving of praise and respect for their strength.
- Self-Duplication: Leafbug Ninjas can duplicate themselves to confuse their targets. The clones disappear instantly after receiving damage, but can still inflict damage on their targets themselves.
- Wolfpack Boss: What's intended to be the game's final sidequest pits the player and Maki against a constantly respawning horde of Leafbugs. And thanks to the seemingly never-ending flood of reinforcements, the player will be constantly boosting their attack power up thanks to hitting their comrades, which turns what seems like an easy battle against midgame enemies into an utter nightmare.
Bounties
These insanely powerful monsters are among the fiercest foes in all of Bugaria, and mostly seem to be regarded as myths or urban legends. When the player meets Doppel in the Ant Kingdom underground, he'll task the player to defeat these beasts in exchange for an incredible reward.
- Achilles' Heel: Attacking the Tidal Wyrm's tail would result in it getting stunned for the next 2 turns.
- All Myths Are True: The Peacock Spider is the focus of sailor legends about an island that lures in sailors with hypnotic music only for them to never be seen again. Turns out those weren't just legends.
- Beef Gate: Unlike the other Bounties, the Devourer can be fought as early as chapter 2 if you know where to look, but… well,
good luck beating it that early. - Dance Battler: The Peacock Spider uses various dances to empower the minions it summons.
- Eating the Enemy: The Devourer can do this to any member of the party, and then slowly dealing damage to them while restoring its own health. Swallowed victim cannot be released until it or the Devourer dies, or if Devourer would ship them out eventually.
- Flunky Boss: Every one of these bosses is one: the Tidal Wyrm summons the aquatic bugs of Stream Mountain, the Seedling King summons various Seedlings, the Devourer has several flytraps backing it up, the Peacock Spider commands spider enemies, and the False Monarch can summon Mothflies.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Most of them are just random, powerful monsters that have minimal connections with the plot and exist primarily for challenge and worldbuilding.
- Glass Cannon: The Devourer has the lowest amount of HP out of all the Bounties, but makes up for it with its sheer damage potential thanks to its poisoning attacks, flytrap minions, and party-hitting slam attack.
- It Can Think: The False Monarch, disturbingly enough. The mass of Mothflies are sentient to the point that they can disguise themselves as a civilian bug and get other mothflies to do the same to lure unaware adventurers to their village. The civilians in the False Monarch's village are even capable of (unintelligible) speech.
- King Mook: The Seedling King, False Monarch, and Peacock Spider are these to the Seedlings, Mothflies, and Spiders respectively, and they'll summon them during their boss fights.
- Magikarp Power: The Seedling King is the end result of this: if a Seedling survives against all odds and lives long enough it gets a confidence boost that actually buffs up its strength and resilience.
- Making a Splash: The Tidal Wyrm has water powers, fittingly enough.
- Man-Eating Plant: The Devourer is a giant pitcher plant that eats any unfortunate bug it encounters, and can even swallow one of your party members.
- Mind-Control Music: The Peacock Spider plays music to allure the travelers who come on its island to it so that it could devour them. Kabbu and Leif were allured by said music, while Vi was unable to hear it for some unknown reason.
- The Music Meister: The music the Peacock Spider makes causes Vi and Kabbu to uncontrollably dance… at least it does according to their Spy logs.
- Optional Boss: All of them are optional and tougher than just about anything else you'll fight in Bugaria.
- Our Dragons Are Different: The Tidal Wyrm is a serpentine dragon who lives in water, and can fight by spewing water through a blowhole on its head. In a Reddit AMA, Genow revealed that it is supposed to be a worm mutated by the magic of the ancient crystals.
- Poisonous Person: The Devourer constantly spits venom at the party.
- Riddle for the Ages: Invoked by Kabbu and the Bestiary entry for the False Monarch and its society. They both comment that it is fascinatingly advanced behavior for Lesser Bugs, but alas it will remain a mystery due to further research no longer being possible with all the citizen mothflies gone.
- Rush Boss: Compared to the other Bounties, the Devourer is somewhat frail and can be taken out in a few turns with a variety of party setups - and it has the potential to ruin you even within that timeframe by eating a party member for three turns, ruining whatever you strategy you may have had and likely wiping you immediately after due to its obscene strength.
- Sea Serpents: The Tidal Wyrm is a serpentine creature that inhabits the water pond in the depths of the Stream Mountain.
- Slasher Smile: The Tidal Wyrm constantly wears a malicious grin on its face. The False Monarch's mask also depicts a permanent, blank-eyed smile.
- Spiders Are Scary: The Peacock Spider is basically a Bugarian version of the siren, luring the travelers on its island with mysterious alluring music only to ambush and devour them when they reach it.
- Support Party Member: While it does attack every now and then, for the most part the Peacock Spider is content to simply summon spider flunkies and boost their stats with its dancing.
- The Worm That Walks: The False Monarch is a bunch of mothflies that disguise themselves as one bug, and uses said mothflies to attack the party.
Dead Landers (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
The monsters in the Dead Lands. A collection of disturbing creatures, no one knows what they are, or where they came from.
- Balloonacy: Dead Lander Beta seems to be carried by balloons, or at the very least growths that look exactly like them.
- Boss in Mook Clothing: All of them have incredibly high stats for what are basic enemies. Chief among them is Dead Lander Gamma, which has stats greater than most minibosses. Quite tellingly, you're encouraged to run from them, and in the one instance you're forced to fight a few, you're backed up by Maki's high damage output and Queen Elizant's stat boosting Royal Decree.
- Eldritch Abomination: All of them. They might have been ordinary insects at some point but the conditions of the Dead Lands are so inhospitable that these creatures have long since mutated into something far, far more dangerous.
- Dead Lander Alpha resembles the stick-bug in the fishing village, but with no face and a Lamprey Mouth in its hands and cranium.
- Dead Lander Beta resembles a spiky pot full of teeth and eyes suspended by indestructible balloons and capable of projectile vomiting more poison than its body is capable of holding.
- Dead Lander Gamma looks a lot more like an actual organic monster, but even it is incredibly alien and freaky-looking.
- Giant Enemy Crab: Dead Lander Gamma looks like some kind of hellish, ridiculously monstrous crab.
- Nothing Is Scarier: The game never explains just what these horrific things are, and they're all the scarier for it.
- Rare Random Drop: Dead Lander Gammas have a chance of dropping the incredibly rare Dark Cherries if you'd rather not drop fifty berries for them.
- Riddle for the Ages: What are these things? Heavily mutated bugs? Heavily mutated fungi? Aliens? Demons? A clear answer is never provided and Team Snakemouth would rather not have to think too hard about them.
- Weak to Magic: They all take extra damage from Leif's ice attacks, which may or may not indicate that they're plant or fungi-based life forms.
- Zombie Puke Attack: While it's not clear are they zombies or not, Dead Landers Beta can projectile-vomit huge streams of poison.
TANGYBUG
A mysterious holographic entity that looks suspiciously like a silhouette of Tanjerin.
- Ascended Meme: Added as an inside joke among the developers and fans regarding Tanjerin's popularity.
- Bragging Rights Reward: Beating it reveals a menu code with a cosmetic, silly effect, and the only evidence of it having been fought afterward is a Tangy Berry as a trophy in Team Snakemouth's house.
- Ditto Fighter: It borrows attacks and properties from various enemies such as Kabbu, Spider, Acolyte Aria, and The Everlasting King.
- Expy: Of MISSINGNO., being a Glitch Entity with otherwise-impossible stats, being made up of a hodgepodge of assisting assets, and depending on specific item slots in the player's inventory.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Almost zero context is given to this encounter. The Cave of Trials glitches without warning, and then this strange enemy appears. It also has no Bestiary entry and cannot be Spied on.
- Glitch Entity: In-universe. TANGYBUG is encountered by the Cave of Trials glitching out under very specific conditions, and when targeting it, its name — appearing to be a mere filename anyway — glitches out with random syllables.
- Guide Dang It!: There are no hints pointing to this fight's existing in normal gameplay. It only appears if your inventory either has a Tangy Berry in the fourth item slot or three Tangy Berries in total when you clear all 50 waves of the Cave of Trials — something not likely to happen by mistake.
- Marathon Boss: Not only does it have 99 HP, it's the only enemy in the game to have a defense rating of 4 — more than even Stratos. Beating this thing is going to take a while.
- Leitmotif: Borrows The Watcher's theme, likely to reflect that it's another instance of Roach technology going wrong.
- Superboss: One of the three hardest fights in the game, and the only one able to be encountered before the postgame.
