|Last known status||Extinct (more hatch ingame)|
|Pictures of Cy-Bugs|
- "They don't know they're in a game. All they know is EAT, KILL, MULTIPLY!!"
- ―Sergeant Calhoun
Cy-Bugs: Insects Gone Bad
"Menacing creatures known as Cy-Bugs are a deadly threat to not only their game, Hero's Duty, but to the entire arcade. They know just three things: Eat, destroy and multiply. Cy-Bugs can morph into anything they eat-from an attack buggy to an assault rifle. They do have one weakness: an attraction to bright light. (They are bugs, after all.)"
"This ever growing, infinitely respawning army takes many forms. Some crawl, some hop, some buzz around the ventilation shafts. Whatever kind they may be, the only good Cy-bug is a squashed Cy-bug. Got it twinkle toes?"
The Cy-Bugs are the main enemies in Hero's Duty and are very similar to a mass-virus. The Cy-Bugs are unaware of their presence as the villains in a game; all they know is that they are made to kill and destroy and only to kill and destroy (unlike other arcade villains, who are just merely taking up on their roles as actors). They also become literally what they eat. Eventually, they can be vulnerable to gunpower, but the only way to destroy a large swarm of Cy-Bugs is to create a beacon of light, which can attract them to their deaths as part of their programming.
The Cy-Bugs are known to have caused a lot of trouble in the virtual gaming world, and not just by their interfering with the player's journey to earn their gold medal. This is emphasized when Sergeant Calhoun's dead fiancé is spoken of, who was killed by a Cy-Bug just before they were to get married in Sergeant Calhoun's backstory. It is also shown when a Cy-Bug escapes into the undergrounds of Sugar Rush and takes a bite of a candy cane tree root, turning the cy-bug candy cane colors, after sneaking in with Ralph. The Cy-Bug eventually made hundreds to thousands of babies in the underneaths of Sugar Rush. When they all hatched, they went free into Sugar Rush, almost ruining Vanellope's chance at winning the race, as they destroyed almost everything. One of the Cy-Bugs ate Turbo while he was racing in the Random Roster Race, who merges with the Cy-Bug, hoping to destroy every game in the arcade. Fortunately, Ralph creates a strong beacon of light using Mento stalactites and a pool of Diet Cola, which then attracted all of the Cy-Bugs in Sugar Rush, including Turbo, to their demise.
Cy-Bugs mutate to mimic the material of whatever they eat, and as a result, there are infinite possibilities for the many subspecies of Cy-bug that could exist. However, the most common mutations are listed below.
- Hatchlings/Juveniles- The term for larvae, or newborn Cy-bugs. They grow into adulthood within a few minutes.
- Drone Soldier- This is the basic, unaltered form of an adult Cy-Bug.
- Flying Minion- Adult Cy-bugs that have adapted specifically for flight. Their wings are significantly larger and sparking with acid green electricity, while their forelegs have shrunk in favor of having longer hindlegs. It has a bee-like stinger.
- Jawbuster- This form of Cy-Bug has taken on the guise of a jawbreaker. Their armor is enhanced by several layers of impenetrable candy shell, and they fight by tucking into tight balls and rolling at high speeds towards their enemies.
- Zapper- A Cy-bug that has mutated by eating some form of streetlamp. Its abdomen is a large light bulb that can charge up electrical attacks to launch at foes from a distance. In the video game, it is best defeated by Felix's hammer throw.
- Human and Cy-Bug Hybrid- A Cy-Bug that has mutated by eating a human, notable hybrid's include Dr. Brad Scott and Turbo. Though both have been killed, these sort of mutations are far more powerful than any Cy-Bug mutation; with better actions and development of speech. These mutations can still be killed though normal ways of killing Cy-Bugs due to their new programming.
The Cy-Bug Queen is the sole leader of the insect colony, and she is encountered in the video game adaptation. She is ten times the size of a normal Cy-Bug, with several rows of massive mandibles and tentacle-like arms that can extend up to 50 feet.
Upon devouring Sugar Rush, many of the Cy-Bugs become assimilated to specific sweets they consumed, such as jawbreakers, chocolate drops and bars, candycorn, and various-colored candy canes.
There are also several Cy-Bug bosses in the video game with other unique anomalies, including ones that are based on ice cream, grenades, and airship shuttles.
- Their name is a pun on "Cyborg".
- According to the opening cutscene of Hero's Duty, Cy-Bugs were the result of "an experiment gone wrong." This is confirmed in the prequel comic.
- The Cy-Bugs have similarities to many insect species. Aesthetically, they seem to resemble beetles or wasps. Like moths and other nocturnal insects, they are attracted to light. As with eusocial insects, Cy-Bugs have a hive mind mentality, and are led and mothered by a single female Queen.
- Early designs of Cy-Bugs looked more like grounddwelling insects and arachnids, like scorpions and silverfish.
- Cy-Bugs bear a strong resemblance to Metroids from the Metroid series, in that they are powerful bioweapons rather than consciously evil villains, but are still dangerous.
- The Cy-bugs ability to turn into anything they eat is very similiar to Kirby's power.
For images of the Cy-Bugs, click here.
Secondary Characters: Sour Bill | Mr. Litwak | Cy-Bugs | Tapper | Gene | Wynnchel and Duncan | Taffyta Muttonfudge | Candlehead | Rancis Fluggerbutter | Moppet Girl | Q*bert | Markowski | Dr. Brad Scott |