Hopper

**Hopper** is the main antagonist of the 1998 Disney/Pixar film A Bug's Life. He is a cruel grasshopper who bullies and enslave the ants until his death. He is also the former leader of the grasshoppers including his pet Thumper and younger brother Molt as well as Flik's arch-nemesis.

He is voiced by Kevin Spacey.

## A Bug's Life

At the beginning of the film, Flik accidentally cause Hopper and the other grasshoppers' food fell on a pond. When the grasshoppers arrive and attack the ants, Hopper is enraged to see that his food is gone and scolds Princess Atta and other ants for this. Molt then interrupts and talks about birds eating grasshoppers and the time Hopper almost got eaten by a blue jay. Hopper pins Molt against the wall and tells him that if he hadn't promised their mother on her deathbed that he wouldn't kill Molt he would do so by now. When Molt didn't say any words to Hopper after the latter tells him that he doesn't want to hear any word from him while they're on the ant island, Hopper was angry by this in which cause him to punch another grasshopper. Hopper then tells the ants that he's a "compassionate insect" and he'll give them a second chance since there are a few months till the rain comes.

When the queen points out that its almost the raining season, Hopper announces that if the ants can't keep their end of the bargain, then he can't guarantee their safety as well as also revealing one of the ants will get killed by Thumper. Dot (who is scared of Thumper) tries to run away from Thumper, but Hopper catches her and nearly feeds Dot to Thumper. Flik then tells Hopper to leave Dot alone but cowers back in fear when Hopper approaches and dares him to take Dot from his hand. Hopper tells the ants that they are forgetting their place as well as the fact he is doubling the food that the ants must prepare. Hopper also reveals that he and his gang will be back at the end of the season when the last leaf falls. Hopper and the other grasshoppers then leave Ant Island and flies back to their home/hideout in the desert.

At Hopper's home/hideout in the desert, Hopper is seen having massage by a millipede which is before Molt suggests to Hopper that they do not need to go back to Ant Island to collect the food the ants have due to the grasshoppers having enough food for them throughout the winter as well as the fact that Hopper doesn't like grain to begin with. As Hopper was beginning to get angry at Molt, Molt frantically reveals that what he said wasn't his idea and that the idea actually belongs to Axle and Loco. Realizing that his minions are unable to understand his plans, he goes into the bar and lies to his minions by announcing that they will stay in their home/hideout instead of going back to Ant Island. After that, Hopper tells Axle and Loco that he was still thinking about Flik standing up to him as well as also demonstrating them the strength of an ant by throwing a grain at them pretending that it's an ant only for the two grasshoppers to laugh it up due to how weak it is. Hopper then releases the lid from a wine bottle full of grain causing it to pour on Axle and Loco alongside an unnamed grasshopper in which buries them alive. Hopper then announces to his minions that they will go back to Ant Island due to fact that if Flik stands up to him, then all of the ants might stand up to him too as well as the fact that they can outnumber them 100 to 1. Hopper also reveals that that his plan is "not about food but it's about keeping the ants in line" Hoppers questions the grasshoppers if they want to stay in the hideout and the grasshoppers go with him to Ant Island out of fear.

Arriving at Ant Island in a foggy time, Hopper was angered by the fact that the ants have lesser food for him. After that, Hopper has taken over Ant Island and has his minions attack the ants as well as plotting to assassinate the Queen in order to control over the island and the ants. After hearing from Dot about Hopper taking over Ant Island and planning to kill the Queen, Flik and the circus bugs decide to return to Ant Island as well as rescuing the queen and stopping Hopper's evil by distracting Hopper and his gang with a circus show and of course with the help of the fake bird they made earlier in the film in which will scare Hopper given he has a fear of birds (ornithophobia). However, Hopper discovers that the bird is fake after its set on fire by P.T Flea due to the flea believing that the bird was real. After this, Hopper gets enraged by the idea of a fake bird attacking him, he almost attacks Princess Atta due to believing that the bird idea was her's until Flik reveals that the idea was actually his'. Realizing this, Hopper had Thumper pulverize Flik. Hopper then has a speech about ideas being dangerous as well as ants being losers and serving to grasshoppers.

However, a quicky-recovered Flik makes his heartfelt and assertive speech about how strong his colony is in numbers and how unique they are as well as the fact that ants don't serve grasshoppers. In anger, Hopper swats Flik to ground and raises his foot to squash him to death but however Princess Atta intervenes this. Hoppers then turns to see that the ants and the circus bugs are to fight and bombard him. After the other grasshoppers ran away from the ants and the circus bugs, Hopper is trapped into the circus cannon. Before the ants and the circus bugs are prepared to launch him at his homeland in the desert, rain came in.

Seeking revenge on Flik for ruining his plans, Hopper has Dim unintentionally shoot him out of the cannon and captures Flik as well as flying away with him. The circus bugs chase Hopper to save Flik, in which Rosie launches Tuck and Roll onto Hopper's back to stop him only for Hopper to maneuvers himself through a small hole on a tree and manages to shake off the two pill bugs, but they reveal a piece of one of his antennae. This creates enough distraction for Atta to save Flik from Hopper, and he chases the two ants throughout the river when Flik had an idea about a way of defeating Hopper.

When Flik and Atta arrives at the land the former is planning to, he tells Atta to hide while he goes out to find Hopper, only for the evil grasshopper to land right in front of him. He strangles Flik as an attempt to kill him while he is also saying that he will get more grasshopper and be back for next season while he won't as he corners him against a bird's nest. Suddenly, a bird (the same one the heroes face off earlier in the film) appears and notices the two bugs. Hopper at first believes that the bird is one of Flik's tricks in which Flik lies to him that it is but when the bird shrieks at him, Hopper realizes that the bird is real and tries to run away from her, but the bird blocks his path and catches him as well as also feeding the screaming grasshopper to her chicks, with a hidden Flik and Atta looking away from Hopper's death.

## Personality

Hopper is a ruthless, cruel, violent, intimidating, cunning, egotistical and aggressive tyrant who thinks of killing/bullying/enslaving ants, a species he considers lower than dirt which shown when Hopper rudely calls Flik an ant after he said that he is lower than dirt. He is also shown to not care about his gang of grasshopper which is shown when he wants to kill his younger brother Molt so bad as well as pouring the grain on Axle and Loco after the two latter told Molt about deciding to stay at their home rather than going back to Ant Island.

Despite this, he has one redeeming quality which is loving and caring about his mother which is shown when he tells Molt that if he hadn't promised their mother on her deathbed that he wouldn't kill Molt, he would kill Molt by now.