Comment
Silverfish:
With all this research going on with developing the new species in the Underground, it seems only fitting that we move on to yet another Insect-O-Fact! With that in mind this newest installment features the Silverfish, their history, and habits.
Many of us have been there; waking up in the middle of the night, for a nocturnal trip to the washroom. With sleep still encrusting your eyes, you flick on the light. As you quickly adjust to the brightness a quick movement…or slithering catches your eye. Too small to be a cockroach, too large and fast to be an ant. Upon closer investigation you come face to face with a shimmering, slithering, silvery creature approximately twelve millimetres in length. You have been infiltrated by the Silverfish.
There are many interesting facts about the Silverfish; for instance they are one of the oldest forms of insect life on the planet, they are one of the most adaptable, versatile, and resourceful. The Silverfish are approximately 300 million years old with specimens dating back to the paleazoic era. A generation can survive for up to 3 years, even living for a year with no food at all! To this day small appendages line their abdomen linking them with their prehistoric ancestors. While they will feed on almost anything they come across (including their own cast off skins!), they preferred resources tend to be paper, book bindings, starchy or sugary substances.
There are several forms of the Silverfish which vary greatly in size, and appearance. In The Underground, they will initially be represented as two ‘castes’. The Seriata, and the Cauda. These two castes will represent the Japanese Ninjas, and Samurai respectively. They are an ancient race who live by an ancient code.
“Every moment has it’s course; the code leads every action.
Every thought has it’s place; the code guides every whim.
Every silversfish has it’s caste; the code defines everybug.”
-Excerpt from the Silverfish Dogma
The traditions and heritage of the Samurai compare well with the history and lifespan of the Silverfish, and the Ninjas night tactics, and stealthiness are easily related as well. With such diversity in the species, only one thing can be for certain, their alliances lie with themselves, and trust can only be handled as the moment dictates for those who live outside the code.
Cyrus versus Hive Scout (The Underground #1: TOS 1999)
As if having his home destroyed, and being left for dead wasn’t enough for a ladybug! After dusting himself off and heading out for Coryn, Cyrus is attacked by a patrolling Hive Scout. The scout battered Cyrus around a bit before being taken out by Styx and the Zealots Elite. Kind of an bland entrance for our heroes. This time around we planned a monster size enemy for the Elite to lock mandibles with! Enter the Mole Cricket! In issue #0 (Harvest), Cyrus found himself in a Mole Cricket egg chamber before being rescued by our valiant ants.
Cyrus meets the Elite (The Underground #1: TOS 1999)
In the original series, Cyrus didn’t pass out infront of our heroes like he does in the present story. In fact he kind of bickers with them, even sticks his finger in Lor’s face! Looking at the big picture, and what our plans are for Cyrus we really couldn’t have him being so self-confidant and full of bravado so early in the story. So we’ve made him a little more wimpy, and less secure in himself. I think we’re going to have plenty of opportunity for some comic relief, and a much more satisfying journey for our unlikely hero.
‘Blowflies’: Also referred to as the ‘bluebottle fly’, it contains among others, the ‘greenbottle fly’. Admiral Cree, while I commonly refer to him as a ‘blowfly’, would more accurately be described as a Greenbottle Fly. As explained in his bio, Admiral Cree is a coward, and so I spent much time looking for a particularly dirty, cowardly, and desperate creature to represent him. The blowfly has to be one of the grossest insects I have EVER read about (and THATs saying something!). Their eggs are laid into the carcasses of dead animals, or the eyelids of live frogs! That way the emerging larvae have plenty to eat…EEEEEEEEWWWWWWW. I guess if you’re too weak or cowardly to go hunting for food this is a fair alternative…ya, that sounds Cree enough for me!
