Superhero Characters Inspired by Bugs

By Lydia Lee

You may consider bugs as just mere irritants, but many of them have crawled their way to comic books or visual novels and became great superheroes. You can see characters with skills of insects, the power of flight, and even the ability to stick to ceilings and walls. While Pestwiki.com“s task is to get rid of troublesome wood-eaters and various pests, it is ours to let you know the superhero characters sparked by these little creepy-crawlies. So, it“s time to get into action! Here are the bug-inspired superheroes that are ready to save your day!

SPIDER-MAN

Spiders are technically not a bug (they“re from the arachnid family.) But, bear with us as Spiderman is perhaps the most famous superhero character with “insect”“ abilities. His abilities include enhanced speed, stamina, strength, the capability to regenerate and crawl into ceilings and walls with ease. Moreover, who doesn“t love his spidey sense or the webs shooting from his wrists? No wonder that since his introduction in 1962, he has enjoyed a long, continuous duty of saving people and beating villains ever since.

ANT-MAN

Ant-Man is the alter ego of Hank Pym, a scientific genius who has a Ph.D. in nanotechnology and biochemistry. With this expertise in different scientific fields, he began experimenting with size-changing and ingested capsules and particle-brimmed gas. Through that, he gained his ability to change size at will and produce particles that can also change the size of other living things and objects. While in his ant form, he can keep his normal strength but gains significant power and stamina when in giant form because of increased mass. What“s fun is Ant-Man’s cybernetic helmet that allows him to communicate with other bugs.

THE WASP

You can“t include Ant-Man on a list without his wife, The Wasp (Janet van Dyne), succeeding after. Henry Pym has given her the ability, after changing her size, to have wings and shoot ball of energy called ‘wasp things.’ The couple had a troublesome relationship, however, and were only married when Henry got his schizophrenia-incited alter ego, the Yellowjacket. Janet grabbed the opportunity and married this commitment-inclined personality before he can even change his mind. Things didn’t turn out good, though. She suffered from spousal abuse that led to their separation. Don’t worry, as she becomes one of the more famous single ladies in the Marvel Universe – a founding member the original Avengers and is even the person behind the team’s name.

GREEN HORNET

If you are not aware of Green Hornet, ask your parents or better your grandparents as his popularity surged before the Superman era. He doesn’t have superpowers or insect-inspired abilities like the previous ones on this list. He is more of a Batman-type – a typical newspaper published during the say and a notorious masked crime fighter at night. He owned two specialized guns that fire knock-out gas and another one called ‘Hornet’s Sting’ that produced electric shocks. Green Hornet fended off all the biggest public enemies and criminals in America.

BLUE BEETLE

While less popularly known, Blue Beetle is actually one of the cooler and understated characters from DC’s wide collection of superheroes. What’s weird is that three individuals actually referred to themselves as Blue Beetle. Every persona has each unique powers they used to fight crimes, but all can be associated with the alien scarab generated by an alien species.

The first Blue Beetle was Dan Garrett, an archeologist who found the scarab and obtained its powers after stating the phrase “Kaji Dha!”“ Unfortunately, he died in a mishap while investigating an evil robot army. Ted Kord, Garrett’s student, wanted to continue his mentor’s legacy. However, he was unable to unlock the true abilities of the scarab. Kord was forced to depend on his advanced athleticism, fighting valor, and technological whiz to combat bad guys and live up to the trademark of the Blue Beetle name.

Kord also had a tragic end, losing his life while studying a conspiracy to all metahumans. After the incident, the scarab was found clipping onto the back of Jaime Reyes – the third Blue Beetle. Reyes, a Texas-based teenage boy, then, discovered that when connected to a host, the scarab transforms the latter into an exoskeleton with superpowers, the ability of flight and an array of alien weaponry.

THE FLY

One of those one-with-pure-heart-turned-superhero stories, The Fly revolved when an orphan, Tommy Troy, found a ring with a fly-shaped symbol in their attic. He wore the ring and poof! – a ‘Fly’ people appeared and told him he is the chosen one. By rubbing the ring and stating the phrase “I wish I were the Fly,” he swapped ego with the other world and transformed into the adult superhero. He uses a handgun, named as the Buzz Gun, which has the capability to shoot non-lethal stun rays or tranquilizers that varies on the setting. He also had other four additional skills: see in all directions, escape traps, ability to crawl up walls and acrobatic agility.

THE RED BEE

Though created in the Golden Age of comics, The Red Bee wasn’t even given much attention when it was first launched. Imagine an assistant district attorney, named Richard Raleigh, would wear a red and yellow suit and equipped with trained bees to fight mobsters and the Nazis. Moreover, he has his favorite bee, which he named Michael, that he concealed in his belt buckle. Of course, you would assume that someone who is has that much legal smart would do something a little more technologically-bound rather than train bees to fight crime. Another thing is that male bees, in reality, don’t actually sting! With that, a female hero would then take the role and become the new Red Bee. The effort, again, just didn’t fly to much popularity.

While there may be superheroes, there are also bug-sparked villains, anti-heroes, and enemies that tried to bring chaos to the world. Some of the more popularly known include Zorak, Firefly, Insect Queen, The Monarch, and the Bug-eyed Bandit.

They may not have super abilities, but Pestwiki.com can save your day from real-world insects, bug or other pest infestation. They can combat these bad “crawlies” using non-toxic procedures, so make sure to call them right away for a free consultation!

References:

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/g/grenhorn.htm

https://www.jcehrlich.com/blog/10-superhero-pests/