Bug War/Playing With

Basic Trope: Humanity is at war with giant insects.

• Straight: The Chitin are invading Earth. We're not gonna let them have it.
• Exaggerated:
  • When the Chitin invade, the entire planet is literally crawling with them.
  • Alternately, EARTH bugs are the bugs we're fighting. No, not giant, radioactive bugs, regular bugs you would find in your backyard.
• Justified: The Chitin are incredibly alien and their goals incomprehensible or are an aggressive animal plague released by more sophisticated aliens.
• Inverted:
  • We're the ones who are invading, and the bugs are fighting for their lives.
  • Alternatively, the insect invaders want nothing more than peace, or are just passing through.
• Subverted:
  • The invaders aren't bugs, they wear insectoid exoskeletons...
  • Alternatively, the humans and bugs are at war, but not with each other, rather working together against a greater threat.
• Double Subverted:
  • ...Until the Chitin show up in a later season.
  • ...But then they turn against each other after the greater threat is defeated
• Parodied: Rather than advanced weapon systems, we have to use oversized flyswatters and cans of insecticide to fight the invaders.
• Deconstructed: Turns out, the Chitin can't sustain themselves in this environment...
• Reconstructed: ...Or can they? The writers decided that Our Bugs Are Different. It makes sense, seeing as how they haven't evolved on this planet.
• Zig Zagged: The Chitin are invading Earth because their planet was was invaded by the Xenometals and they need to colonize a new planet, but the United Terran Defense Force repels the Chitin and decides to invade their planet to deal with the Xenometals, but The UTDF, Chitin, and Xenometals all end up fighting each other with the Terrans emerging victoriously. General Starblade is hailed as a hero on Earth and elected President of the Terran Nations, but we find out that he has been infested by a Chitin control parasite...
• Averted: The Chitin are actually sentient trading-partners.
• Enforced: Hey! We gotta make our heroes kill dozen of aliens without the audience feeling sorry for any of them. I know! Lets make them giant bugs, because bugs are icky, right?
• Lampshaded: "Why is it that every single insect in this galaxy wants to kill us?"
• Invoked: The Big Bad lets loose the bugs to help him conquer the planet.
• Defied:
  • The UTDF develops specialized Anti-Hive bombs and viral weapons to ensure that the Chitin never establish a foothold on Earth.
  • The Chitin are specifically stated as being humanity's greatest ally and friend.
• Discussed:
• Conversed: "Uh oh, looks like the humans need to call pest control. You'd think they would have learned by now!.

Back to Bug War