Insecticon (Energon)

Insecticon is a Decepticon-allied Terrorcon from the Energon portion of the Unicron Trilogy continuity family.

I am not a Barrage homage.

Insecticon is a swarming, energon-devouring killing machine. Possibly a semi-sentient drone, certainly dull-witted, he is vicious and well-armed, without mercy toward any, and with loyalty only to his Decepticon masters who hold him in thrall.

Like most Terrorcons, Insecticon represents both an individual and a species. A variant is Chromhorn.

Fiction

Toy pack-in comics

When a trio of Autobots surveyed a hill for energon tower sites, Megatron sent a flock of Divebombs to attack them. The attack was a distraction to keep the Autobots from noticing the Insecticons that were consuming the energon underground. When the beetles emerged from the ground to support the Decepticon attack, the Autobots were overwhelmed and fled. Energon Volume 2

Cartoon continuity

Energon cartoon

The Insecticons first appeared when they confronted Misha on her way to speak with Alpha Q. Kicker ran up with the intention of destroying them with the Energon Saber, but Misha prevented it. She then freely passed them and left them with Kicker. With the help of Grindor, Kicker flew past the Decepticons to follow Misha. Each One Fights... Later a large number of Insecticons followed Scorponok into battle against Unicron. Unicron Unleashed

After his change of allegiance Scorponok continued to lead Insecticons as they arrived to back up the Decepticons. They opened fire on Optimus Prime, but he defended himself with an Energon shield. Imprisoned Inferno Another team, once again led by Scorponok, later attacked Rock Planet. Megatron did the same at Blizzard Planet. Most were destroyed when the newly installed energon towers became operational. Another set attacked the energon tower being deployed to Ocean Planet. Yet more were destroyed by the combined Autobot effort while the rest succumbed to the energon grid when that tower became operational as well. Farewell Inferno However, they were able to get their claws on some energon and proceeded to feed it to Unicron Crash Course

The Insecticons guarded a train station on Cybertron while the Omega Train came through. Hot Shot and Arcee opened fire, destroying them all. Meanwhile, Megatron led a series of Insecticons against Optimus Prime and his allies. They hovered in wait as Megatron monologued. Decepticon Army Another set of Insecticons accidentally made their way into the super energon pool and when discovered by Snow Cat and Demolishor, chased them away. They had grown giant and were going berserk. The Decepticons sent Scorponok to subdue them. They would not acknowledge his orders, but followed him around nonetheless. When Scorponok was injured in battle, the Insecticons healed his wound with an energon infusion. Ironhide Team

The overly large Insecticons closed in on Arcee and Kicker when they tried to themselves reach the super energon pool, but were unable to continue pursuit when their quarry jumped over a ravine. More of the Insecticons managed to get in front of Kicker and his team, but Arcee drew their attention by blasting at them while Kicker jumped over and atop of them. Nearby, Scorponok received a grievous injury battling Ironhide once more. The remaining Insecticons rushed to his aid, allowing Scorponok to view the true merit of loyalty to one's subordinates. Destructive Power

Force of Habit

Several Insecticons survived past the destruction of Alpha Q and Unicron, emerging on the side of the Decepticons during the events surrounding the Unicron Singularity. They attacked Ultra Magnus and the Iron Hope during the Autobots' search for the Cyber Planet Keys. Force of Habit

Energon comic

Giving Hot Shot the purplest of nurples.

Insecticon was one of Alpha Quintesson's minions, collecting energon for his shadowy goals. He and the other Terrorcons busted up an energon processing plant in Cyber City before warping to Unicron to present their master with a new recruit, Tidal Wave. This Evil Reborn They later traveled to Earth to siphon an energon vein in Australia, easily brushing aside any human resistance in the process. What Lies Beneath Insecticon was present when Scorponok decided to infuse energon into the Terrorcons rather than giving it all to Alpha Quintesson. What Lies Beneath, Part Two After using the energon to power up, the Terrorcons attacked an Autobot team sent to stop their attacks on humans. The power of energon let them make short work of the Autobots, with Insecticon literally taking a bite out of Hot Shot. What Lies Beneath, Part Three However, the defeated Autobots soon returned for a rematch, and using both Powerlinx tricks and Omnicon reinforcements, they fared much better against Insecticon and his comrades. With their mission ending in failure, the Terrorcons were forcibly pulled off-Earth by Alpha Quintesson. What Lies Beneath, Part Four

Later, as part of the Terrorcon attacks on several major Earth cities, thousands of mindless Insecticon clones entered Los Angeles and began destroying everything in sight. Multiplicity A small team of Autobots led by Jetfire came to the city's rescue, easily taking out Insecticons left and right. Multiplicity, Pt. 2 However, they quickly began to run low on energy in the face of the seemingly endless swarm. Multiplicity, Pt. 3 The Insecticon clones were eventually exterminated when the Autobots received an energon powerup and an insanely powerful Megatron showed up to lend a hand. Multiplicity, Pt. 4

Swindle's Spiel

Swindle, Swindle and Swindle had Insecticons among their Terrorcon drones for sale. Swindle's Spiel, 5/10/2015

Spacewarp's Log

At some point, a lost Insecticon patrol crash-landed on the planet Serton. One of their number interfaced with the database which operated the ruined underwater city Sertlandia, becoming Chromhorn. Chromhorn sent his troops out to raid local villages for slaves in order to rebuild the ancient Sertlandians' Temporal Analysis & Replication Dampening Interference Subjugator. Unfortunately for Chromhorn, the villagers of Azurala paid the visiting Decepticon Spacewarp to investigate the abductions. To keep the powerful TARDIS out of Chromhorn's possession, Spacewarp and her crew tried to take it for themselves, only to be confronted by the Insecticons. Spacewarp proceeded to trick Chromhorn into turning the TARDIS on, and Chromhorn was trapped in his own increasingly unlikely future. Spacewarp's Log (1), 2015/10/29

Ask Vector Prime

In an unspecified reality, Killswitch employed hordes of Terrorcons, including Chromehorns, to guard Existimus. Ask Vector Prime, 6/11/2015

Games

Transformers Energon: Battle for Megatron

Insecticon and his fellow Terrorcons went on a mission to retrieve Megatron, held deep within Unicron's defenses. In order to destroy the many units standing in their way, Insecticon could use his Energy Blaster and his "Acid Splash" attack. He also acted as the team's sniper, and could repair his fellow Terrorcons if the need arose. The Terrorcons were eventually successful in liberating Megatron from Unicron's clutches. Transformers Energon: Battle for Megatron

Toys

Energon

• Insecticon (Energon Class, 2004)

• Takara name: Chromhorn (クロムホーン)
• Takara ID number: SD-16
• Takara release date: 10 June 2004
• Accessories: "Horn Spear" drill-sword, "Horn Shot" gatling-cannon, Decepticon energon chip
• Known designers: Eric Siebenaler (Hasbro), Shogo Hasui (TakaraTomy), Joe Ng (packaging artist)

Released in the third wave of Hasbro Energon "Energon Class" toys (effectively "Basics"), Insecticon transforms into a robotic rhinoceros beetle. In robot mode, his front pair of insect-legs swing up to become over-shoulder (non-firing) blaster-cannons.

He comes with two energon weapon parts, a drill-sword and a rotating gatling-cannon. The gatling-cannon is designed to fit over his insect-mode head as a helmet, and while the quad-barreled portion can turn, how freely it spins seems to vary wildly from sample to sample. The cannon also has a Mini-Con-style Powerlinx port, letting it activate Armada-mold Powerlinx gimmicks. The cannon and sword combine to form a large "Energy Tornado" Ultimate Energon Weapon (unnamed in the Hasbro release); this form is also basically the only way to store the drill-sword in his insect mode. He also comes with a Decepticon-style energon chip that can attach to the spark crystals of most other Energon toys.

The Takara Super Link version of "Chromhorn" has transparent bright green energon parts, matching (most of) the other Takara Terrorcons' energon color, rather than the Hasbro version's yellowish energon. The base toy is otherwise identical.

This mold was used to create Chromhorn Limited Forest Type. A redeco of the Energy Drill came with the "Nightscream Rebirth" toy in Japan.

• More information on Insecticon at TFU.info

Universe (2003)

• Insecticon (Basic Class, 2005)

• Accessories: drill-sword, energon cannon, Decepticon energon chip

Insecticon was repackaged on a Universe-themed card and sold through discount chains in the US like Big Lots!. There are no notable differences between this release and the original Energon release.

Merchandise

Attacktix

• Insecticon (Booster, 2006)

Attacktix Insecticon is basically a support figure for the much more powerful Scorponok figure, whose Recruit special summons up to two Insecticons into play from back-ups. Insecticon also has a Recruit power, summoning another Insecticon into play from backups. This combination of powers replicates nicely the swarms of Terrorcons from the Energon cartoon. Insecticon hordes can be effectively reduced by Vector Prime's special power which removes up to two Insecticons from play.

Each Insecticon figure has four points of articulation; waist, head and shoulders. While the strength of Insecticon figures is in swarms, individual Insecticons can use their articulation to form an effective defensive tripod.

• More information on Attacktix Insecticon at TFU.info

Notes

• The Insecticon shown in Hasbro stock photography has a slightly different coloration from the final product, mainly the use of orange rather than brown plastics. Hasbro representatives noted at OTFCC 2004 that they were considering making a running change to Insecticon so this orange-limbed version could be released, but this never happened, similar to how the intended running change to Armada Wheeljack never came to be.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Chromhorn (クロムホーン Kuromuhōn)