The Termites are minor antagonists of the film Antz (Calling them "villains" may be unfair; the Ants seem to have been the aggressors, as the Termites were only seen defending their colony).
Appearances
In Antz
The Termites were first mentioned by General Mandible and Colonel Cutter. The General and Colonel mentioned that the Termites were desperate for foraging grounds (despite the fact that they lived in a wooden stump), and the colonel had gathered up a list of all platoons loyal to the queen (as opposed to General Mandible). The General declared war on the termite mound, in order to kill off both the Queen's loyalists, and the termites, both of whom could have posed a threat after the rebellion. The Queen was reluctant to approve the attack, preferring to send an emissary, but Mandible was able to convince her that the Termites were a danger to the colony (This is unlikely to have been true, as it is ants that are known to invade termite colonies, not the other way around).
At the Termite's colony, the ant soldiers (including Z) attempted a siege. They marched for several minutes, an hour or even possibly several hours. When the ants finally reached the termite colony, a large piece of wood, they yelled battlecries and charged in. Everything was quiet inside and everyone wondered where their termite adversaries were.
A termite engaging ants in combat.
A termite appeared out of nowhere, killing one of the ant soldiers. Then a huge army of termites charged out from the walls of the stump and the battle started. The Ants began hacking and stabbing, while the Termite warriors were biting, shooting acid and slashing the ant soldiers in an attempt to repel the invaders. One termite begins to squirt slimy acid at the ant soldiers, causing them to melt, and the flying ants battle the termites from above. Z saw a termite trying to assist one of its comrades by sneaking up on some ant soldiers not looking. When the termite tried to kill Z, then Barbatus stabbed the termite in its belly using its spear before running off with an axe. Barbatus jumped on a termite and hit it with his axe. Three ant soldiers fought a termite when another appears to assist its sibling, Z warns the soldiers but the 2nd termite hears him. The Second Termite charges him, shooting acid from its forehead nozzle. Z fell into a hole and the termite tripped and collapsed on the ground, impaled by a sharp piece of wood. After the war, Z wakes up and somehow gets out of the hole, he finds the dead bodies of both the Ant and Termite Soldiers.
All the termites were presumably killed, though the Termite queen was never shown to be killed, and all the ants except Z were killed. It is however stated later that the enemy was eliminated, and seeing as a survived queen would have meant that the termites could have rebuilt their colony, this probably means that the queen was killed along with the rest of her colony.
Physical appearance
The Termites are huge (when compared to the ants), and green insects. They have large tubes on their foreheads to squirt acid. They have large eyes, but these eyes are almost the same color as the heads, as termites are blind. Their pincers and legs are purple and they can stand on all of their legs or just their hind legs. on each of their two front pairs of legs they have 3 fingered hands, while the back pair looks more like feet.
They are stronger and better armored than the ants, and even though they appear to be outnumbered 3/1, they still kill all the ants in the war except Z. Barbatus mentions that the principal advantage the ants have over the termites is sheer numbers.
They must also be sufficiently heavier than the ants, as even though ants can lift a giant wrecking ball made out of ants, they were never seen lifting termites. And the termites used their weight to crush several ants to death, as seen when one was killed it toppled on its murderer and sprayed acid over several others, crushing the former.
Powers and abilities
- The Termites appear to be very cunning, since one of them ambushed an Ant Soldier and killed him.
- The Termites use large mandibles to seize and crush ants, even with their armour and exoskeletons.
- Termites are Larger than the ants, and can be seen falling on top of ants upon death to crush and suffocate them.
- The Termites can use their claws to punch, claw and backhand opponents.
- The Termites can use acid from nozzles in their foreheads to melt opponents. They surprisingly accurate with these nozzles, despite being naturally blind.
Gallery
Trivia
- When one of the termites noticed Z, it began to squirt acid at him and Z's feet are seen touching the acid. This is possibly an error in the film.
- General Mandible, Colonel Cutter (formerly), The Termites and The Human are the only antagonists of the movie.
- They were voiced by Frank Welker, who only did them growling.
Notes
- Some people think that the termites ate the ants due to the biting the ants with their mandibles, but in fact, Termites eat only wood, grass and mushrooms (and the products of such things, like paper and cardboard). Termites can however bite in order to defend their colony.
- Termite's designs look closer to a Termite worker than a Termite soldier.
- Despite being able to lift a wrecking ball full of ants, no ant is seen able to lift a termite.
- Termites appear to have only one caste in the film, when in reality they typically have 3 (soldier, worker and reproductive).
- The Termite queen is never seen being killed, and her death is never confirmed.
- Termites in the film were possibly based off a mixture of real-life termite castes and species, The body shape of a worker, jaws and size of a soldier, visible eyes only possessed by reproductives and the acid shooting ability of the Nasute termite soldier.
- In reality, ants are among the greatest threats posed to termites. While termites are never particularly aggressive towards ant colonies, ants will often invade and destroy nearby termite colonies in order to use the larger insects as food and/or appropriate their tunnels.
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