User:Locoman/Sandbox/Insecticon

The name or term "Insecticon" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Insecticon (disambiguation).

Because Incesticon clones would be too creepy.

Insecticons are a ravenous Cybertronian subspecies driven by perpetual hunger, a mindless urge that compels them to consume everything in sight. In their natural state, these simple creatures organise themselves into swarms under the control of a rudimentary gestalt consciousness. A single Insecticon is no match for a reasonably competent Cybertronian warrior—but the Insecticons never, ever come alone. Different Insecticons sport unique powers, but the vast majority share an unusual ability to self-replicate: given enough time and raw material, a single Insecticon can create a fully-autonomous clone (sometimes called an Insecticlone) of itself. Some Insecticons possess advanced intellects, and many share the ability to transform into humanoid robot modes, but each successive "generation" of cloned Insecticons are inferior to their predecessors and lack the intelligence and individual initiative needed to be effective without direct guidance.

Since most of their number are basically animals, Insecticons respond best to displays of power, and their swarms are normally dominated by the smartest and strongest among them. Nevertheless, a sufficiently strong or clever Cybertronian might wrest control of a swarm, and many morally-dubious scientists across the multiverse have experimented upon their natural cloning abilities for all kinds of nefarious purposes.

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

The Transformers cartoon

During their first encounter with the Autobots on the island of Bali, the Insecticons Bombshell, Kickback, and Shrapnel defended themselves from the Autobots by breaking a combine harvester to bits, then using their "electronic clone beams" to reconstitute the scrap metal into an army of clones and drive the Autobots off. Later, after the Insecticons teamed up with Megatron, the Insecticons left their clones with the Decepticon leader, who used them to help take over an oil refinery. The clones had Bumblebee and Spike Witwicky surrounded until Trailbreaker used his force field to interrupt Shrapnel's control beam, which caused the clones to disintegrate to nothing. A Plague of Insecticons

On another occasion, the Insecticons created a vast army of clones who converted human crops to energy via an Energon Transfer Device. The Insecticons proved too numerous for the Autobots to defeat in combat; instead, Optimus Prime sent Cosmos, Bumblebee, and Spike to Floron III to pick up some robotic insecticide. When Cosmos returned contaminated with Morphobot spores, the Insecticon swarm attacked the robotic creatures but were themselves devoured. Quest for Survival

Under the command of Megatron, the Insecticons and some clones invaded a human city. The Protectobots evacuated the area, allowing the Autobots to destroy all the clones. The Revenge of Bruticus

Wings Universe

Perceptor speculated that the natural cloning abilities of the Insecticons had been amplified through Decepticon experimentation. The Sweeps would go on to inherit a version of this ability, accounting for their near-limitless numbers. Menagerie #3

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

Many thousands of years ago, Shockwave dispatched Bombshell, Kickback, and Shrapnel to Earth, where they eventually established a hidden base of operations in California. Their new alternate modes, combined with the long period of isolation, took a toll on Bombshell's sanity, and he began operating outside of his preordained mission parameters. In time, he devised a new scheme to build an army of his own: using artificial growth pods, he created a legion of techno-organic clones that sheathed organic matter beneath a layer of Cybertronian armor. Individual clones gestated within their growth pods and grew from a larval stage into a fully-operational lifeform capable of consuming organic material. Extermination

As Bombshell slowly took over the nearby town of San Desto using his cerebro-shells, a a group of Autobots and Earth Defense Command operatives came to investigate but rapidly found themselves outnumbered when Bombshell released the full might of his brood. Infestation It was bug-squashing time for the Autobots, who waded through dozens of Insecticlones looking for the real Bombshell. Jazz uncovered the central "nest" and torched the remaining larvae before any more could be hatched, but there were still plenty of bugs to go around. Ultimately, it was the rookie named Bumper who came up with the idea to send a disruptive pulse back through one of Bombshell's cerebro-shells, which disrupted his control over all the drones at once. Extermination

Descent into Evil

In the twilight of the Great War, the Insecticons had dwindled to a handful of individuals and somehow lost their ability to self-replicate. Buzzclaw's bio Deathsaurus experimented on the Insecticons Buzzclaw and Dirge, and used their latent genetic abilities to create the Virulent Clones. Virulent Clones' bio However, their first encounter with the Autobots led to the corruption of their genetic matrix and the destruction of Deathsaurus's cloning facility on Ceti Alpha Seven, ensuring that this first batch of clones would also be the last. Descent into Evil

2005 IDW continuity

The first Insecticons were a naturally-occurring race that dwelt deep beneath Cybertron, a mindless "swarm" that defended the core of the planet from subterranean threats. First Strike #5 Historia In the years leading up to the Surge, Deluge and a group of Decepticon scientists and launched a campaign to weaponize the creatures through extensive cloning and genetic modification programs. Historia The campaign eventually led to the creation of Bombshell, Kickback, and Shrapnel—but the highly inefficient process yielded but one sentient Insecticon for every thousand failures, and the Decepticons soon abandoned the three thousand deformed, aggressive mutants to their fate on the dead world. All Hail Megatron #7

Once the Decepticons had taken Earth, Megatron banished the defeated Autobots back to Cybertron, where they spent a great deal of time contending with the Swarm. When Hot Rod and his crew were shot down over the planet, they narrowly avoided the Insecticons; All Hail Megatron #5 a few days later, Drift and Perceptor dealt with two wayward members of the swarm. All Hail Megatron #6 Soon, however, the full might of the swarm descended upon them, and the Autobots retreated to a fallback position All Hail Megatron #7 needing only to destroy a bridge to keep the swarm at bay. The swarm took out Perceptor and forced Sunstreaker to sacrifice himself by manually blowing the bridge. All Hail Megatron #8 Replay

We were important to the plot, honest!

By the time that the Autobots had revived Optimus Prime, All Hail Megatron #9 the swarm had located another bridge and besieged the Autobots for a second time. Although emboldened by the return of their leader, the sheer numbers of the swarm began to overpower their defenses. Surrounded, outnumbered, and out-gunned, the Autobots were facing imminent death at the hands of the swarm until Omega Supreme arrived to help turn the tide. All Hail Megatron #10

When Alpha Trion returned to Cybertron some three years later, he found that the swarm was still active, and reactivated Ironhide to exterminate them as part of his plan to restore Cybertron to life. Ironing Out the Details Ironhide did what they could to thin out their numbers, but was eventually overwhelmed and requested Alpha Trion's assistance. Together, the pair baited the swarm towards Trion's ally Metroplex, who stomped the majority of the swarm underneath his foot. The battle marked the end of the majority of the swarm, though Alpha Trion charged Ironhide with wiping out the stragglers and rogue colonies across Cybertron. Iron in the Blood Any Old Iron Together with a repaired Sunstreaker, Ironhide found that if you separate a member from the swarm, they could be easily domesticated; Sunstraker adopted one of the creatures and named him "Bob". By the time that Galvatron returned to the planet, the swarm had been mostly eliminated. Out of the Silent Planet

Though the Autobots had sucessfully driven the mutant clones extinct, the original Insecticon strain had survived the death and rebirth of Cybertron. One swarm attempted to stop Joe Colton and the other members of the Iron Ring during their attack on Cybertron, but the villains were able to push past them and continue on their way to Cybertron's core. First Strike #5

Notes

Foreign names

• Japanese: Insectron Clone Army (インセクトロンクローンアーミ Insekutoron Kurōn Āmi)