Beetle Maniac

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There is a story, possibly apocryphal, of the distinguished British biologist, J. B. S. Haldane, who found himself in the company of a group of theologians. On being asked what one could conclude as to the nature of the Creator from a study of his creation, Haldane is said to have answered, "An inordinate fondness for beetles." —G. E. Hutchinson, President, American Society of Naturalists, in a speech to the Society's annual meeting

Characters who have a great curiosity and interest in beetles. Very common in anime.

See also Bug Catching, Friend to Bugs.

Examples of Beetle Maniac include:

Anime & Manga

• The Aburame Clan in Naruto not only has interest in beetles, they literally become homes for them, controlling the beetles in exchange for their own chakra.
• Luffy in One Piece shows a keen interest in beetles in the Skypeia arc.
• Samurai Champloo has Sumo Beetle!
• Sasuke and the other ninja stumble upon a rare beetle in Ninin ga Shinobuden.
• Ryuuto from the horror manga Region, who is willing to risk bullying from his classmates and elementary school teacher over his refusal to let them kill the insect collection they were keeping as a class project. This leads to him sleeping with the insects in his bed to help them stay warm, much to his unsuspecting sister's chagrin.
• In the Pokémon anime, there's a kid dressed as a samurai who catches bugs. They match Metapod vs. Metapod until he brings out his Pinsir
• Weevil Underwood in Yu-Gi-Oh! uses a deck that specializes in Insect monsters.

Comic Books

• In Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Amadeus Arkham inherited his obsession with beetles from his mother, who ingested them because they symbolized rebirth (it bears mentioning that Arkham's entire family was insane).

Literature

• On Gor, the only thing that can kill a Priest-King is basically a giant beetle, which the Priest-Kings keep around for when they tire of life. The beetles have an aroma that's overwhelmingly enticing to a Priest-King.
• In the Discworld novel Last Continent, the god of evolution is all about beetles.
• Star Wars Expanded Universe: As a child, Jacen Solo had a fascination with beetles.
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876): in chapter 5 Tom plays with a beetle while in church. The other worshipers and even a dog get into the act.
• Carl Meredith from Rainbow Valley and Rilla of Ingleside
• One of the first things we find out about Eustace Clarence Scrubb is that he "liked animals, especially beetles, if they were dead and pinned on a card".
• In Something Fresh, the first of PG Wodehouse's Blandings Castle novels, J. Preston Peters is fanatical about scarabs and has a large collection. When Lord Emsworth absent-mindedly takes one home, it becomes the MacGuffin for the rest of the story.

Video Games

• Booster from Super Mario RPG is a beetle enthusiast, and has his lackeys go out and collect them for him. Mario can also collect beetles for coins, and there's a purchasable mini-game called Beetle Mania.
• The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess: Agitha has Link collect bugs for her in exchange for items.
  • The Beggar from Ocarina of Time is so completely obsessed with beetles he will pay crazy amounts of money every time someone brings him one. You can exploit a design flaw in the game (whereby one beetle turns into three when released from its bottle) to get very rich very quickly.
  • Strich, one of Groose's lackeys from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, is also insect-obsessed.
  • In Wind Waker, it's implied that Beedle is (true to his name) a beetle lover. Indeed, in Skyward Sword, he has his own beloved pet beetle (despite it not technically being the same Beedle.)
• Mushiking
• Pokémon was inspired by its creator's insect-collecting hobby. There are also the Bug Catcher and Bug Maniac trainer classes that can be fought.
  • Pokémon Gold and Silver/Crystal has the Gym Leader Bugsy who specializes in using Bug type pokemon.
    • Naturally, he reprises the same role in HeartGold and SoulSilver.
  • Pokémon Diamond and Pearl/Platinum has the Bug type specialist Aaron as the first member of Sinnoh's Elite Four.
  • Pokémon Black and White has Burgh as another Bug type specialist Gym Leader. Also, the Unova champion Alder is not officially identified as a Bug specialist, but three of the six Pokémon on his team are Bug types.

Webcomics

• Dr Tarsus Beetle from Girl Genius chose a stylized beetle as his emblem, present all over his city, Beetleburg.
• In The Water Phoenix King, Gilgam has quite a few beetles decorating his equipment. His pauldrons, the large pin which unfolds into a collar that connects them over his warmer-weather gear, the charge crystals for his gun, are all scarab-shaped, and his riding-beast is a robot that looks like a cross between an ant and a beetle of some sort. It makes sense...

Western Animation

• In the animated series at least, beetles are the favorite treat of Beetlejuice.
• Nadine from Hey Arnold! was a complete bug maniac and spoke of her love of beetles at least once.