One of the most common and popular tropes inspired by the insect world is that of The Swarm, a monstrous army of innumerous proportions, something more akin to a living river of jaws and claws than anything we can ever be capable of producing as a species.
The concept of The Swarm has been as much part of fiction as it is part of our reality, from curious children to obsessed visionaries and people of science humanity has looked down at the dirt marvelling at the wonders scuttling under our feet. Empires of ants, flying swarms of bees and wasps, indeed eusocial insects have been the single most captivating aspect about the insect world worldwide since the very beginning of human conscience.
There is a certain awe and fearful respect we as large mammals feel when looking at the organised almost mechanised ways of the ant and bee. We study their tactics, we emulate their minds into our own little crude mechanical imitations, we create tales and legends about these beasts, we look at the very stars above us and wonder if somewhere inside the endless void of space there is another civilisation not unlike the social insects of Earth. Then we dream of meeting them and pray they don't consider us food, slaves or hosts.
Fiction is the best window into humanity's hopes and fears and science fiction in particular tackles the fears we feel might actually come true in our future.
The Swarm is the inhuman face of our fear of being the underdog, the less efficient force waging war against an entity made up of an entire ecosystem. An army of one.
Most Swarms in fiction tend to be inspired and modelled after ants, bees and wasps, it's only logical considering hymenopterans have mastered the art of hive life to near perfection.
However there is another Swarm on this planet, one I would argue is far more likely to be representative of what we might actually find in the void of space one day.
Eusociality in insects did not start with ants or bees, in fact ants and bees didn't even exist before the emergence of the first wasps.
Then which was the first social insect?
Bark beetles seem to have been among the first to realise that social life has more benefits than drawbacks. Their social organisation is still remarkably different in comparison to the optimised approach of hymenopterans and I feel is a lot more interesting and messy in a good fun way.
Yet the Swarm I want to write about today was truly the first to achieve what we might consider as empires and kingdoms long before ants, bees and wasps arrived to challenge them.
Let's talk about termites!
Termites are cockroaches! Or at least that's how I would have phrased it in a classroom full of awe struck students if I actually pursued my dream of becoming a biology teacher. Still the order Isoptera which all termites belong to has officially been demoted and assimilated into the greater Cockroach Empire!
Long Live The Cockroach!
But enough about our future Overlords and Galactic Caretakers of Biological Life let us move on to their wood munching relatives.
Termites have a troubled relationship with us humans which is unsurprising considering we tend to view all life that doesn't benefits us in any way as unnecessary at best and undesirable at worst.
Termites like wood, they eat wood, they can technically digest wood, might sound like nothing much but few animals can actually digest the tough cellulose making up wood. Termites being the resourceful little critters they are have made good use of symbiotic microorganisms in their guts to help them digest cellulose and extract the nutrients they need to survive and thrive. Some species even seem to be able to digest it quite well on their own but still rely on some help from their microbial gut fauna.
So in the same manner to how as soon as we humans moved from caves to self-made caves we started referring to cockroaches as pests instead of the cleanup unit they were now termites are also called pests due to the sheer irony of mankind's tendency to construct homes out of food, termite food.
It's no surprise then that termites have been demonised and painted as infernal enemies of Man in more than enough campaigns designed to raise awareness towards an unseen but deadly enemy of our homes and infrastructure. What is more surprising to me however is the lack of termites as a Swarm in fiction.
Ants, bees and wasps have been the face of insect swarms for millennia but termites? Less so, very very much less so.
I won't hide the fact I am anything but unbiased when it comes to termites, they were some of the first insects I read extensively about in the colourful encyclopedias of my childhood to the point I wanted to visit Africa not because of lions, elephants or velociraptors but rather to finally see in person the gigantic termite mounds I read so much about!
I'm but a dude in a world drowning in fictional works and materials so it is impossible for me to do an extensive enough look at termites in fiction but as I mentioned in previous posts one of the main reasons I started this blog is to inspire others to dig deeper and more vigorously than I ever could!
Also I'm lazy and in need of vacation... Like mountain forest type of vacation... Not listen to music in bed all weekend type of "vacation".
With all this out of the way, lets dig into the wood of the matter!
The horrifying monstrous termites from Antz are some of the more well-known examples of termite swarms in fiction even if to be expected in a tale about ants.
And while I absolutely adore their rounded almost pill bug looking morphology I feel they've lost any resemblance to real termites, I wouldn't be surprised if no one could guess their affiliation without the needed clarification.
And then they shot acid at the ants, now that's more of what I expect from any termite soldier attempting to fight off an ant invasion!
Overall the termites from Antz are iconic and very well-designed if lacking most traits we see in wood munchers.
The next example however is a bit different.
Oh Half-Life, one of my earliest and most passionate of childhood obsessions.
Half-Life is one of the few franchise I can safely say have yet to disappoint me when it comes to creature design, be it multilegged or just a plain altered human.
I've been preparing an entire post analysis just for the Antlions from Half-Life 2 (spoiler: we'll talk beetles) but there is no way I could not talk about one of my favourite termite inspired alien designs in any fictional work!
Designed by
Ted Backman in his iconic "gummy alien" art style the Antlion Worker is a prime example of taking an earthly creature and twisting it into an amazingly unique and inspired alien design!
And they shoot acid, because you know.
A very similar termite alien design was also in the 2000's Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy strategy game.
And before you ask...
Yes it also shoots acid.
The two designs feel very similar to me, very distinctly drawing inspiration from termite heads and... acid shooting capabilities.
Can we go weirder though?
Morrowind's psychedelic
Kwama designs
Surprised the Kwama are termites? You shouldn't be. They most certainly look nothing like ants and very much so appear as artistically twisted and reshaped beyond recognition termite species!
Later iterations of the Kwama species have lost some of its unique charm and weirdness for a more grounded and realistically insectile design.
The termite traits are now far more distinct and obvious, which to me personally ruins the original design entirely. Morrowind's strength was its unique and alien setting and ecosystem, this is just bug people.
Although I won't deny such a humanoid and straightforward look has certain advantages and useful design quirks in a fantasy RPG.
Now then in order to not upset the gods of Europe I am demanded to immediately bring up 2001's Gothic after giving Morrowind some praise.
Where the Kwama were designed as invaders from a psychedelic nightmare Gothic's Minecrawlers are what I expect fantasy geeks would create for an old-school axe-to-the-head gritty medieval setting's version of overgrown pests.
Indeed as their name suggests Minecrawlers inhabit mines and caves often not only crawling in them but also slaughtering everything that tries to go near their eggs or Queen.
Speaking of the Queen.
As you'd expect... she is simply gorgeous! A giant bloated parrot-faced egg-laying maggot machine! Love it!
Too bad later iterations turn her into a beetle grub for some odd reason...
Minecrawlers surely are among the weirdest of fantasy bugs in any media I've seen.
I almost feel they don't even fit within a single real life phylum.
Certainly not entirely part of Arthropoda as we know it!
But to balance this analysis a bit I feel we should also take a look at some more conventional designs, ones you can point at and say with certainty "That's a termite!" before getting that can of pesticide you hold on to to feel in control.
As far as strategy games go Relic Entertainment are a legendary developer, creating classics such as Homeworld and Dawn of War in 2003 they released a bit of an oddity among a genre dominated by serious and bloody battles for dominance and triumph.
A game I personally enjoyed as a kid and was more than overjoyed when the first major expansion released was called Insect Invasion and as you could expect added a lot of new creepy crawlies to an already impressively large and diverse roster of real life animals to select from and combine!
Naturally the game featured a termite with the ability to infest buildings and cause major structural and economic damage to your opponent, rather fitting for such a tiny but mighty beast.
More recently Obsidian Entertainment's
Grounded also features termites as part of the glorious adventures awaiting players in the undergrowth.
Do I feel a resurgence of realistic bug games? Maybe!
It's been decades since games like SimAnt or Empire of The Ants have shown us the beauty and spectacles of the insect world!
Also lets not forget the modding communities which have produced forgotten gems like
Insects Infestation, an unfortunately now dead mod for Half-Life 2, one I was very much eager to try for myself as a teen.
If the big bug movies of the 50s and 60s have taught us anything it's that even if your giant bug has to be realistic looking it doesn't mean you cannot add a bit of personal artistic touch to it!
And that is exactly what
Fil Barlow did with his monstrous termite designs in the animated
Godzilla show.
It's worth noting Fil also worked on Roughneck's Bugs so he is no stranger to creating incredibly unique yet functional giant insect designs!
Of course no termite monster discussion can be complete without mentioning Mimic's Judas Breed.
But I have larger plans when it comes to analysing the mantid-termite human mimicking hybrids so lets move on to the end of this analysis.
However before that I want to make one last less significant example of termites in fiction.
James Cameron's concept art for the Xenomorph Queen
Oh yes, that's right! Cameron himself has stated that the one and only Mother of Monsters and Queen of the Xenomorphs was inspired by real life termites! I mean it's more than obviosu when one observes her impressive egg-filled ovipositor and that signature termite overbloated behind!
But doesn't this also imply something far... larger?
Oh my...
OH MY!
Oh no...
...
The Royal Termite Booty trait has gone convergent! It's spreading among Alien Queens across the multiverse!
I guess the impact termites have had so far on our fictional creations isn't as tiny as we all thought!
HAIL TO THE WOOD MUNCHERS
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HAIL TO THE WOOD MUNCHERS
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