Bug (Starship Troopers)

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The Arachnids (more commonly known as Bugs) are a fictional alien race from the movie Starship Troopers. Note that the bugs in the movie differ considerably from those in the novel on which it is based. In the novel, the bugs are called "Pseudo-Arachnids".

[edit] Differences between Movie and Novel

The bugs in the movie are basically portrayed as mindless insectoid beings. However, at the beginning of the film, when Rico and Carmen dissect Arkellian sand beetles, the biology teacher states that the Arachnids have millions of years of evolution behind them and are, in the case of survival capability, the perfect species. They have the ability to colonize planets "by hurling their spore into space" and possess a social structure which fits their mental capabilities.

In the novel, it is established that the Bugs have spacecraft, beam weapons and advanced technology, far from the mindless insects of the movie.

Currently, Mongoose Publishing has started work on creating a role-playing game of Starship Troopers as well as model miniatures.

[edit] Castes of bugs

• Queen— The Queen of a Bug colony is the progenitor of the colony, whose sole function is the production of its members. In the novel and film, no Queen has ever been seen; it is thought that they cannot move of their own accord (see below for Queen as shown in TV series).
• Brain Bug— Leader of a Bug colony. It is hinted at in the novel that the Brain Bug is telepathic and shares a symbiotic relationship with the Bug Colony (i.e. If it dies, the colony dies). In the movie, it assimilates knowledge by consuming a human's brain, is carried by small cockroach insects called Chariot Bugs and is created when a colony's size reaches three hundred generations.
• Warrior— Are bred to serve as the infantry of the Bug forces. In the film, Warrior bugs are four-legged bugs approximately two to three meters long and are colored as to the terrain, such as desert warriors will be tan with black and yellow stripes. The rearmost pairs of legs are much longer than the two front forelegs, and serve as the primary locomotion, the forelegs being 1/3 shorter. Warrior bugs are quite agile and fast, they can climb and burrow if needed but would rather use tunnels made by burrower bugs. These Bugs utilize a powerful pincer-like mandible that is capable of crushing rock, metal and severing limbs as a means of attack. The two upper forelegs or "side mandibles" are utilized in the manner of swords for attack as well as defense, it was thought to use these as 'hands' for grasping objects in the manner of a praying mantis^{[citation needed]} but this is not the case, a warrior has no dexterity with them they are merely stabbing and slashing implements, it uses as its primary weapon as they reach out to well over a meter, 2 feet further than their forelegs or 3 feet further then its actual mandibles. In the novel, Warriors are armed with beam or plasma based weaponry. In the movie, it is said that they can lose a limb and still fight at 86% efficiency.
• Worker— The Worker Bugs do the manual labour for the Colony, digging and upkeeping the tunnels. They are semi-defenseless and will usually flee at the first sign of danger unless they have no way out. They are physically similar to Warriors but possess a non-aggressive mentality. They are not however completely useless; near the end of the novel, a large mass of Workers were used as a decoy for the Mobile Infantry while their Warriors prepared a greater trap; the Workers did not fight, even when they were attacked.

Castes appearing only in the Movie adaptation

• Control Bug— Enters through the mouth or in more aggressive and direct matters will burrow right into the brain from the skull and take control of a person's mind. These bugs were used in an attempt to conquer the Federation high command. They were first seen in the sequel "Hero of the Federation". (Despite claims by fans the control bug in the second movie is clearly the same control bug in the animated show, only a different color)
• Plasma Bug—Resembles a giant firefly crossed with a stag beetle. Typical adult Plasma Bugs can exceed 30 meters in length and stand more than 20 meters tall. Has the ability to launch a massive plasma burst into orbit, which can deflect an asteroid or slice a ship in two. It is most vulnerable when creating a plasma burst, and at all other times impervious to attack except on its underbelly. In the Bug forces, the Plasma Bug serves in ground artillery and air defense roles, as well as planetary defense. Despite their firepower, the Plasma Bug's role for offensive actions is mainly limited to fire support and long-range bombardment due to its huge size and the immense danger to nearby Bugs from a plasma explosion should one be hit.
• Hopper—Resembles a giant wasp in many ways. It is green and has chitinous jagged wings it uses to great effect to gain high altitude. It glides rather than flies as its wings barely have the muscle tissue to lift it up for altitude, when it reaches a suitable height before setting its wings rigidly and taking a long running leap from a a high cliff and will decapitate men as it glides, or try to pick them up to be stung repeatedly with a control bug. Its wings are used to gain altitude by angling like plane wings, it gains altitude by jumping, in upwards to 50 meters. In the television series, a new variation of Hopper capable of "shooting" a stinger filled with a corrosive toxin was revealed.
• Tanker Bug—Resembles a giant bombardier beetle. Tanker Bugs are generally black in color and are nearly as large as Plasma Bugs. Has the ability to spray a stream of flammable, corrosive liquid from its head. In the 1997 movie, the Tanker ejected fuel from a nozzle-like spout in the top of the head, which is ignited by an electric spark generated by two short antennae on either side of the spout. In the CGI cartoon, Tankers spew fuel from two tube-like nozzles on either side of the mouth - method of ignition is unknown.

Castes mentioned in the CGI cartoon and the Mongoose RPG

• Rippler/rippler mother— Creature from Hydora that was manipulated genetically to become part of the bug swarms. The Ripplers are flying creatures with six legs that shoot acidic barbs at their targets. Unlike other bug species, ripplers are not created by a queen but rather by a mother rippler, a larger purple pigmented rippler with spines covering its back.
• Infiltrator— genetically created bugs that are made to be more bipedal and human like, these bugs can compact their bodies allowing them to fit into power armour and infiltrate enemy lines. Once deep enough, they return to their true form and unleash havoc in their enemies' midst.
• Jungle Spider—Large, agile crab-like creatures approximately 4 meters long that move around on six strong legs allowing them to jump long distances. They can shoot a sticky web to encase their prey for return to their controlling brain bug for 'questioning', or for return to a nursery to be fed on by Nurser Bugs for nutrients for their offspring.
• Firefry— small six-legged parasitical bugs similar to fireflies that are created by infecting other life forms with their spores. The firefry spores hatch under the skin of the infected host, then leave the host en masse, giving rise to a swarm of baby firefries about the size of normal fireflies, but rapidly grow into a vastly larger adult "infernofrier" (about the size of a Warrior Bug). Unlike fireflies, firefries not only generate light, but heat as well, and adults are capable of shooting out a stream of flame against their targets. Their adult forms can suvive in a vacuum for extended periods.
• Control Bug— smallish black bugs about 30-40 centimeters in length capable of enslaving another species by leaping onto their necks and psychically controlling their victim. These are the same as the ones in "Hero of the Federation." In the CGI cartoon, Control Bugs can be driven from their hosts by X-ray radiation.
• Ice Bug— Colossal, asteroid-sized worms that hibernate for millennia in deep space until they acquire sufficient energy to reawaken. Ice Bugs are capable of destroying an entire planet by diving directly at said world and devouring it from the inside out. A much smaller version of this bug exists.
• Burrower Bug/pit worm/tanker worm— Considered by many the larval form of Ice Bugs. These are large bloated worms with one gaping maw filled with nothing but teeth. They build and sculpt all the formations that make up Arachnid "Bug Cities" and the spawning maze tunnels the insects traverse, by eating, regurgitating and excreting rock in many forms. They will also burrow en masse and lurk just below the surface and devour troopers as they walk by similar to the manner of the Terran ant lion. These Bugs will work hand-in-hand with tankers and are resistant to its flammable liquid.
• Nurser Bug— A beetle-like Bug that creates a powerful mutagen that modifies indigenous life forms caught as prey by Jungle Spiders to be fed to their young to create different subspecies of Bug readily adapted to other worlds without the need for terraforming.
• Blister Bug— reddish-brown Bugs approximately three meters in length with a huge gaping maw from which they can eject a powerful, corrosive green liquid that is capable of destroying a wide range of substances as well as flesh. Unlike the larger Tanker Bug that carries with it a constant supply of bio-flammable liquid, Blister Bugs must first produce the bio-corrosive acid in its abdomen that it spits forth from its maw to ranges of ten meters or more. It is believed to be a genetic malformation of the Warrior and Tanker Bug or perhaps a Warrior and a Plasma insect.
• Blaster Bug—nearly identical to the Blister Bug except it sprays a flammable liquid that burns at temperatures exceeding 500° Celsius instead of a corrosive liquid. Blaster Bug swarms can simultaneously fire large amounts of this fuel in synchronized bursts creating massive firestorms capable of fusing soil into a glass-like substance. Blaster Bugs swarms also generate enough residual heat collectively to form a dome-shaped heat shield capable of destroying incoming weapons fire and missiles. Like the Plasma Bug, they are also vulnerable underneath to explosive attacks. Unlike its cousin the Blister Bug, Blaster Bugs generally attack in massed swarms for maximum effect, whereas Blister Bugs attack individually or in smaller swarms supported by Warrior Bugs.
• Cliffmite Bug— Looking like giant dust mites, these things pose more of an annoyance rather than threat. They will burrow into walls and leap out at enemies, trying to encase them so they can devour them. They will also rip hooks and lines out of walls at random. They can climb vertically and at any angle.
• Nurse Spider Bug— A combination spider and nurse, these bugs use their webbing to collect massive amounts of eggs for transport or augmentation.
• Transport Bug— These massive, ship-sized forms of plasma bug function as the troop transport. They carry the masses of the swarm from place to place to reinforce colonies or to bring important bugs like Brains or Queens to strategically important star-systems. In the Roughnecks episode "Trackers", it is implied that the Transport Bugs can cover a distance of some 75 light-years at speeds comparable to human-built starships.
• Queen Bug— Approximately 15 meters long and the primary mother of a Bug colony as well as its leader. The Queen Bug is capable of laying as many as 1,800 eggs per day.

A list of bug images that are relatively similar to the list here can be found at http://www.trooperpx.com/RSTC/RSTCbugs.html it deals with the insects found in the Roughneck Chronicles, which shows the variety and massive diversity of the bug race, and is thusly considered more canon than the movie.

A functional and animatable 3D-Model from the Warrior Bug you can download at: http://www.volumic.net

[edit] See also

• Klendathu