Swarm of Tropes

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A cloud of tiny creatures draws near; is it made of bees? Beetles? Aliens? Nanomachines? No, something far worse: it's made of tropes! And they intend to consume all, until nothing remains. This is an index of tropes related to swarms, swarm controllers, swarm-related abilities, and the various methods and tactics employed by swarms.

For large groups of characters in general, see Crowd Tropes. For non-swarming, disposable badguys in the employ of a stronger villain, see Mooks.

Tropes:

• Animal Eye Spy: A swarm controller might use the constituents of their swarm as remote eyes or ears; common amongst magical Pest Controllers, such as witches.
• Ant Assault: A swarm made up of biting ants; more common in pulpy adventures and Jungle Opera.
• Assimilation Plot: The de facto goal of virtually any alien swarm race that operates under a Hive Mind.
• Attack Animal: Most Pest Controllers use their swarm as a kind of companion for attack and defense, though usually this is achieved via superpowers, magic, or technology, as opposed to special training or conditioning.
• Attack Drone: A swarm made up of tiny, mechanized drones that function as a cohesive unit.
• Barrage of Bats: A character summons a flock of bats as a projectile attack or a defensive shield.
• Bat Scare: A flock of bats flies past a character, to emphasize that the location being explored has gone undisturbed for quite some time.
• Bee Afraid: A swarm made up of killer bees; common across all kinds of media.
• Bee-Bee Gun: A weapon that shoots swarms of creatures as projectiles.
• Beelzebub: As the legendary Lord of Flies, this Demon Prince is often depicted as a fiendish Pest Controller.
• Beetle Maniac: A character who is particularly interested in or familiar with beetles, and oftentimes a beetle-themed Pest Controller.
• Bioweapon Beast: A swarm made up of genetically engineered creatures; this is almost always the explanation for why bees, wasps, or similar swarming insects have become the "killer" variety in a story.
• Bug War: The malevolent Insectoid Aliens of this trope will oftentimes operate as an interstellar swarm.
• Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: A swarm of butterflies is used as a visual motif or foreshadowing device for death, reincarnation, or similar themes.
• Compact Infiltrator: A swarm (or someone that can transform into one) can easily infiltrate a guarded structure via pipes, ventilation shafts, cracks in doors, and similar openings.
• Creepy Cockroach: A swarm made up of cockroaches; often used to emphasize the filthiness or dinginess of a given location, and/or played for a kind of unhygienic horror.
• Creepy Crows: A flock made up of ominous crows; a common swarm theme for magical Scary Scarecrows and related characters.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: Swarms often damage their opponents via an onslaught of tiny bites or stings, in rapid succession.
• Devoured by the Horde: A character is consumed by a swarm, sometimes for Body Horror and sometimes for Black Comedy. This is a very popular form of Laser-Guided Karma for a villainous Pest Controller who manipulates their swarm via abuse or pain-administering devices, and later loses control while the swarm protests their treatment with some biting remarks. The character's body is often Stripped to the Bone, as a result.
• Dog Pile of Doom: Someone is trapped by a swarm of opponents all pinning them at once.
• Drone Deployer: A character, creature, or vehicle who releases a cloud of Attack Drones, as their primary method of defense.
• Explosive Breeder: Swarms replenish their numbers by reproducing prolifically.
• Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong: Some swarms use other organisms to reproduce.
• Feathered Fiend: In many cases of attacking birds in horror media, they will act as a bloodthirsty, swarming flock.
• Flea Episode: In cartoonier media, the fleas will usually be depicted as a buzzing cloud.
• Flies Equals Evil: A swarm made up of black flies, houseflies, or similar insects; will always be malicious or wielded by villainous Pest Controllers.
• Friend to Bugs: A character who adores insects; often applies to insect-themed Pest Controllers and similar characters.
• Grey Goo: A swarm made up of Nanomachines that can consume virtually any substance.
• Heroic Host: In some depictions, a Superhero will derive their powers from a swarm that has fused with them in some way.
• The Hive: When The Swarm is expanded to cover an entire race, faction, or simply a colossal world-ending mob.
• Hive Caste System: More organized swarms come in specialized classes.
• Hive Drone: The near-mindless individual members of a swarm.
• Hive Mind: The constituents of swarms in speculative fiction will often be able to mentally communicate with one another.
• Hive Queen: The personified leader of a Hive Mind.
• Horde of Alien Locusts: An alien race dedicated only to consuming the world might be a literal or figurative swarm.
• Hornet Hole: A level or region in a video game with a beehive theme.
• The Infested: A character whose body is home to a swarm of some kind; their nonchalance at swarm constituents crawling over their skin or inside an eye will be played up to emphasize their unsettling weirdness. Often overlaps with Pest Controller.
• Insectoid Alien: An alien race based on insects is often a swarm of some kind, and will almost always have a Hive Mind.
• Insect Queen: Biological swarms are often ruled by one of these.
• Macabre Moth Motif: A swarm made up of moths is often used as a visual indicator of death, decay, or similarly ominous themes.
• Marionette Master: A character who can control dolls or puppets will occasionally manipulate an entire swarm of them at once; usually portrayed as a kind of last-ditch Super Mode that takes opponents by surprise, but consumes much of the puppeteer's energy.
• Mass Hypnosis: Many Pest Controllers use a form of mass Mind Control to manipulate their swarms.
• Master of the Levitating Blades: Through magic or telekinesis, a character controls a large number of floating blades at once, effectively creating a slicing swarm of dancing daggers or flying swords.
• Mechanical Insects: A swarm made up of tiny robots, golems, or similar automatons constructed to resemble insects.
• Microbot Swarm: A swarm made up of tiny robots that work together to form larger shapes and to solve problems.
• The Minion Master: A character who commands a swarm of tiny Mooks to perform tasks and/or to defend themselves.
• Mosquito Miscreants: A swarm made up of vampiric mosquitoes; will always be malicious or wielded by villainous Pest Controllers.
• Mummy: The archetypal undead Pest Controller of the desert. Will almost always be capable of summoning a swarm of scarab beetles, scorpions, or similarly desert-themed vermin; bonus points if they spew the swarm as a ghastly kind of Breath Weapon.
• Nanomachines: Microscopic robots, and the iconic swarm type of Science Fiction.
• One to Million to One: A very flavorful form of Teleportation, where the user transforms into a swarm temporarily, and then reforms elsewhere. The bat-themed version is especially common amongst vampires.
• Orifice Invasion: In pulpier or more horrifying media that features a swarm attack, there will often be a shot of the swarm's constituents crawling into a victim's nostrils or mouth, as a form of Body Horror.
• Our Pixies Are Different: Pixies are sometimes depicted as a kind of fairy swarm, resembling a cloud of sparkling lights.
• Pest Controller: A character who controls a swarm as their primary power.
• Pest Episode: A swarm of creatures will sometimes be the pest, usually in cartoonier media.
• Petal Power: A character manipulates (or is constantly surrounded by) a swarm of flower petals; sometimes used merely for symbolic or visual effect, but at other times, the petals themselves are powered in some way and might slice like knives, deliver poison, or serve some other combat purpose.
• Piranha Problem: A swarm made up of killer piranha; common in pulpy adventures and Jungle Opera.
• Plaguemaster: A supernatural or mythological bringer of plagues is oftentimes also a Pest Controller, accompanied by a swarm of diseased flies, plague rats, or similarly infected vermin.
• Pretty Butterflies: A swarm made up of butterflies; sometimes used as a sign of fertility or life, but occasionally used as a spooky symbol of intoxicating allure or deceit.
• Puppeteer Parasite: Some swarms have specimens that can take over people's bodies.
• Rogue Drone: A breakaway individual from a swarm.
• Scary Stinging Swarm: A vicious swarm is made up of tiny, stinging insects.
• Shooting the Swarm: Characters attacked by a swarm will often try to defend themselves by shooting at individual constituents, in an attempt to weaken the swarm. It doesn't work very often.
• Snack-Stealing Seagulls: A flock of seagulls will always be characterized as a comically food-crazy swarm, and usually belligerent in a dimwitted sort of way, as well.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: A character controls the swarm by communicating with them directly; more common amongst Druids, Nature Heroes, and benevolent (or at the least, sympathetic) Pest Controllers. Aside from speaking to them verbally with a made-up language of buzzes or chirps, this power often operates via Pheromones, special tonal frequencies, vibrations, or some other medium inspired by how the swarm's animals communicate in Real Life.
• Spider Swarm: A swarm is made up of violent spiders; more common in Fantasy, often serves as foreshadowing or a prelude to the appearance of Giant Spiders.
• The Swarm: Swarms, The Trope.
• Swarm of Rats: A swarm made up of rats or similar rodents; typically associated with plague and uncleanliness, or an ominous herald of villainous Rat Men.
• The Symbiote: A character enjoys a mutually beneficial relationship with a swarm.
• Synchronized Swarming: A swarm takes the form of simple shapes or symbols to convey information or simply as a sight gag.
• Termite Trouble: A swarm made up of termites; often depicted in sillier or cartoonier media as capable of devouring wooden objects or structures, almost instantaneously.
• Tracking Device: A swarm controller can track someone by stealthily planting a constituent of the swarm on the person's clothes or possessions.
• The Virus: Swarms may recruit by turning people into new members of the swarm.
• Voice of the Legion: A swarm that can speak will almost always have an eerie voice, made up of many voices in a distorted chorus.
• Wicked Wasps: A swarm made up of killer wasps, often as a more sinister counterpart to bees, beetles, or other insects that are culturally perceived as benevolent.
• The Worm That Walks: A character consists entirely of a swarm; they will often attempt to disguise themselves as a conventional person, to avoid detection or simply to exist in society.
• Zerg Rush: Overcoming an opponent through sheer quantity of disposable attackers; the default tactic of a swarm.