| “ | Kabbu: You would attack a fellow exploration team!? Mothiva: Ohohoho! It's a bug-eat-bug world, on the way to stardom! We'll just put you to sleep for a bit! |
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| ~ Mothiva initiating the battle with Team Snakemouth. |
| “ | Kabbu: This is ridiculous! You realize you could be dooming us all!? What if the Termite King loses trust in the Queen!? What if you lose to the Wasp King without our help!? Have you gone completely, utterly insane!? Have you lost all intelligence! Mothiva: Yikes. You're overthinking this WAY too much. The Ant Kingdom's way better in our hands than with you LOSERS. |
„ |
| ~ Mothiva brushing off Kabbu's concerns when the latter points out that her reckless bid for ambition might doom all of Bugaria. |
Mothiva is the secondary antagonist of the 2019 role-playing video game Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling. She is one of the most popular celebrities in Bugaria, as well as an explorer and the leader of Team Mothiva, made up of herself and her henchman (and romantic partner) Zasp. She serves as the rival to Team Snakemouth.
Biography[]
Team Snakemouth meets Mothiva for the first time in Chapter 2: Sacred Golden Hills, in Golden Settlement, where she was performing for the public, and later during a festival, where she was having lunch in Kut's restaurant. In both cases, Team Snakemouth refused to interact with her to not disturb her during her activities, while Mothiva reacted with disdain upon seeing them.
After Team Snakemouth successfully finds two pieces of the Big Crank required to operate the lift to the top of the Golden Hills, where the artifact is rumored to be found, Mothiva introduces herself to the team together with Zasp, complimenting them on their hard work. However, she demanded them to allow her to complete the mission and claim the artifact, which angered them, and they refused to submit. Mothiva was displeased, revealing her inner disdain to Team Snakemouth for them threatening to overshadow her in popularity ever since their first mission in Snakemouth Den. Team Snakemouth still refused to give up their mission, unwilling to lose their reward and answer to Leif's questions, so Mothiva and Zasp chose to resort to violence. However, they lost, and Mothiva, angered with her defeat, chose to retreat.
Team Snakemouth encounters Mothiva the second time in the Bee Kingdom Hive in Chapter 3: Factory Investigation, where she was entertaining her fans. Upon noticing Team Snakemouth again, she reacts with anger, tells her crowd to leave, and then starts complaining about Team Snakemouth ruining her tour. Kabbu tries to tell her that if they cooperate, they all would be recognized, but Mothiva brushes his words off by claiming that fame is no good when shared with the likes of them. Vi tells her to go to the meeting point, which she does.
Once Team Snakemouth notified all other explorers in the Hive, they all were granted access to Queen Bianca's throne room. Mothiva tried to suck up to the Queen by putting an innocent, bubbly façade, which made even Zasp ask her not to overdo it, but she was angered when Bianca focused her attention on her daughter Vi, who was a member of Team Snakemouth. After Doctor H.B. informed the Queen and the group present the current situation, Bianca asked the explorers to accompany her into the Honey Factory and take the tour. To appeal to the Queen, Mothiva took her offer and went to the Honey Factory.
At Honey Factory, Mothiva quickly got bored and impatiently decided to investigate the factory by herself. But just when she left, the alarm announced that the Code 32 was in effect, and the whole factory went into lockdown. Team Snakemouth assumed Mothiva was responsible, but it turned out not to be the case (in reality, Code 32 happened due to a giant Midge named Broodmother making her nest in the Factory Power Plant and the Wasp Kingdom attacking it).
After Team Snakemouth travelled into the Honey Factory Storage, they had an encounter with a massive Abomihoney, known as the Ahoneynation. After destroying the Ahoneynation, they discovered that Mothiva and Zasp were eaten by it alive. Once they came to their senses, Mothiva refused to show gratitude and insisted they never talk about it ever again, and she left to the Factory Main Hall.
Once Team Snakemouth rescued the Overseer, they were granted access to the Factory Core. But just when Doctor H.B. was about to replace it, a group of Bee-Boop drones, led by Heavy Drone B-33, barged into the room to protect the core against the perceived intruders, even declining the deactivation command due to Code 32 being in effect. Explorers decided to fight together against a common threat, but Mothiva was not happy when Team Snakemouth took Heavy Drone B-33 on by themselves, claiming she would've dealt with it much quicker. After the drones were destroyed, Doctor H.B. finally replaced the core, and Mothiva demanded her to give her the old core, which was the artifact, in hopes of giving it to Queen Elizant. Unfortunately for her, the doctor gave the core to Team Snakemouth instead, angering Mothiva. After grumbling, she insisted that her help would better be acknowledged, and she returned to the Ant Kingdom with Zasp.
At the Ant Kingdom, Team Snakemouth reported to Queen Elizant II that they managed to claim the artifact, mentioning that Mothiva helped as well. After handing over the artifact, Team Snakemouth and Team Mothiva were rewarded, but then Professor Neolith revealed that the artifact they found was merely one half of the whole artifact. When Team Slacker had arrived and announced that the second half is located in the Sand Castle buried underneath the Lost Sands, Mothiva was eager to deliver it by herself, angrily rejecting Kabbu's offer of cooperation. However, unwilling to sully her fluff with sand, Mothiva chose to partake in other activities, leaving Zasp in charge of the mission.
Much later, in the end of Chapter 4: Mysterious Lost Sands, when the Wasp Kingdom invaded the Ant Kingdom, Mothiva, together with Zasp, took part in protecting the city against the invaders, particularly displeased with them attacking the theater. After that, she wasn't seen again until the beginning of Chapter 6: Assault on Rubber Prison.
At the beginning of said chapter, she had returned to the Ant Kingdom, asking what happened in her absence. After Kabbu explained that the Wasp King managed to defeat them and seize all artifacts, she was outraged and started reprimanding them for losing. Maki said they did what they could, and were actually present during the scene, unlike her. This angered Mothiva, and she with Zasp started arguing with Team Maki, which nearly came to blows until Leif pointed out that the main priority is saving the kingdom. Just when Maki and his team had left, Mothiva continued announcing her disdain for Team Snakemouth, and they responded that they are going to the Termite Kingdom and tell her not to get in the way. Mothiva seemingly shrugged it off, but Zasp was suspiciously interested when they mentioned the Termite Kingdom, and they left to prepare for Mothiva's show.
Later, when Team Snakemouth was trying to prove their strength in the Colosseum (and, by extension, the Wasp King's danger) to the Termite royalty, King Hector IV and Queen Layra II, Mothiva and Zasp intruded into the battle, knocking out the Primal Weevil Team Snakemouth was supposed to fight. After that, Zasp and Mothiva had explained that they want to upstage Team Snakemouth in the Colosseum to prove that they are stronger than them so that Queen Elizant II would have to bring them to fight the Wasp King instead.
This revelation infuriated Kabbu, who pointed out that their plan might doom all of Bugaria, since it might result in the Termite royalty cutting off all ties with the Ant Kingdom, or that Mothiva and Zasp themselves could not turn out to be powerful enough to defeat the Wasp King on their own. Mothiva simply brushed off his claims as him "overthinking it", which enraged Kabbu further, who outright called her a witch and brought up that they saved her life before, something Mothiva has said to never bring that up ever again.
Team Snakemouth tried to convince Zasp to make her change her mind, but he refused, completely dedicated to Mothiva's cause and wanting to get payback at Team Snakemouth for previous defeat. Knowing that they can't reason with her, Team Snakemouth proceeded to fight their rivals once again, and managed to defeat her, forcing her to submit. After that, Mothiva tried to end the show by appealing to the crowd, only to find that they are now praising Team Snakemouth. Angered with being denied victory and losing the following in the Termite Kingdom, she left, insisting that she never wants to see Team Snakemouth ever again.
However, despite her earlier claims, Mothiva meets Team Snakemouth once again in the Rubber Prison once the team defeats General Ultimax and reclaims the prison. Together with other exploration teams, she travels through the Giant's Lair to track down the Wasp King and prevent him from obtaining the Everlasting Sapling. Once they reached the fridge, the group was surrounded by Dead Landers, horrific monsters that inhabited the lair. Together, they managed to defeat them, and then proceeded to climb the fridge, reaching the top, where they found a village, inhabited by Roaches. After Queen Elizant II had explained the situation, the Roaches revealed that the Wasp King went past them while they were dealing with his soldiers, who he used as cannon fodder. Mothiva was appalled by him treating his loyal followers like that, which surprised Team Snakemouth. However, when Queen Elizant announced that she wants to destroy the Everlasting Sapling, the Roaches refused to grant them passage to the Sapling Plains, not wanting them to destroy their sacred relic. In spite of this, they allowed the group to settle in the village.
Fortunately, Team Snakemouth managed to convince the Roaches that the Sapling must be destroyed due to all the harm it caused to everyone, and with that, they granted them passage. Once the group entered the Sapling Plains, they learned from a wounded Roach that Wasp King turned on the stove, creating massive flames to prevent anyone from following him. Soon thereafter, a group of enflamed Roach constructs appeared and attacked the village, forcing the group to protect it and the Roach. After defeating them, more constructs appeared, and Maki agreed to stay behind and protect the village, prompting Zasp and Mothiva to accuse them of stealing fame. However, the Queen told them that their team and Team Snakemouth are needed to doze the flames. Soon, Team Snakemouth manages to turn off the stove and doze off the flames. Mothiva arrived with the group and begrudgingly complimented Team Snakemouth's actions by saying they didn't take as long as she expected. After that, the group followed to the Wasp King, readying themselves for the final fight.
The group confronts the Wasp King, who, after announcing his intentions, swipes the group away with the flame pillar, with exception of Team Snakemouth who were protected with the Flame Brooch, allowing them to fight back. Once the Wasp King was defeated and turned into a tree after losing power given to him by the Everlasting Sapling, Mothiva was surprised to learn they managed to win. After the group pondered on why the Wasp King lost his power and decided to leave the tree as a reminder to not seek the Sapling's power, Mothiva offered the group to celebrate the victory, given that the Wasp King is defeated and they technically found the Sapling.
After Wasp King's defeat, Mothiva appears at the ceremony in the Ant Kingdom. There, Kabbu thanks her for helping them in the Giant's Lair, which made Mothiva flattered, and then, after initially struggling to do so, she thanks them back, catching Team Snakemouth off-guard.
Personality[]
| “ | Kabbu: We need not hog the glory. If we work together, we will all be recognized! Mothiva: *Sigh.* So naive. What good is fame when shared with the likes of you? |
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| ~ Mothiva explaining her views to Kabbu. |
To the public, Mothiva appears to be bubbly, sweet, and kind and loving to all her fans. However, all of this is merely a facade, concealing her true nature as a rude, vain, and condescending egomaniac who is willing to do anything, no matter how unethical, for the sake of having all the fame and glory for herself.
Seeing Team Snakemouth as a threat to her own popularity, she constantly expresses anger at having to work with them and hearing about their successes, badmouths them at every turn, refuses to show them gratitude when they save her from the Ahoneynation (unlike her partner Zasp), and is even willing to attack them just to steal their missions to complete them by herself. She is so obsessed with personal fame she doesn't even take a bigger picture into consideration when her reckless bid for ambition, in hopes of becoming the one to defeat the Wasp King, might potentially endanger the whole Bugaria, and even when Kabbu points that out, she brushes his words off as him "overthinking it".
The only person she ever shows some sort of affection for is Zasp, but that's only because he is useful to her. In their boss fight, should Zasp be the first one to fall, Mothiva does not display concern for his well-being; she simply gets annoyed with him and tells him to get back on his feet before reviving him. She also appears to have a corrupting influence on him, as when she is not around, he greatly mellows out and proves himself to be a valuable ally to Team Snakemouth, but when she is, he is just as egotistical as her, bringing out his worst qualities while suppressing all of the redeeming ones.
In spite of this, she is not completely evil, as at the final chapter she expresses disgust upon learning that Wasp King uses his own soldiers as cannon fodder, showing that she does have moral standards, and during the same chapter, she came to begrudgingly respect Team Snakemouth, no longer insulting them and even complimenting their actions, as well as outright thanking them back when Kabbu thanks her for her help, albeit she initially struggles with saying so.
Bestiary[]
| “ | One of Bugaria's most famous idols, Mothiva also works as an explorer. Despite the friendly appearance she gives off to the public, she is ruthless and ambitious. Together with Zasp, she has no qualms being unethical to reach her goals. | „ |
| ~ Mothiva's bestiary entry. |
| “ | Mothiva... You are respected and adored by so many! It pains me so to see your true colors... Let's defeat her, and then take care of Zasp! | „ |
| ~ Kabbu's spy notes on Mothiva. |
| “ | Tch. I don't even know why I got excited to meet her. She's just another pretentious, snotty bug! I've gotta be careful hitting her though, Zasp gets really mad! | „ |
| ~ Vi's spy notes on Mothiva. |
| “ | Well, if we didn't care for her shows before, this certainly ain't helping. We should probably knock her out first, even if Zasp gets mad. Let's wrap this up. | „ |
| ~ Leif's spy notes on Mothiva. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Mothiva's name is a portmanteau of the words "moth", her species, and "diva", a word for a famous female pop singer or a self-important person who is difficult to please.
- In the game's demo, Mothiva's role was different. She was giving the team the quest "Theater Help Wanted!", where she requested Team Snakemouth's help with her play to serve as actors. Her personality was mostly similar to the one in the final version, as she still complains about Team Snakemouth ruining her play but convincing herself that the public at least enjoyed her presence regardless. In the final version of the game, her role went to Chubee instead.
- The creator of Mothiva and Zasp has confirmed that they are in a romantic relationship.
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 Villains
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Wasp Kingdom Bounties Snakemouth Den/Upper Snakemouth Other | ||