Hopper
Hopper is a feared grasshopper and the main antagonist of A Bug's Life.
Personality[]
Ruthless and violent, but also cunning, Hopper thinks nothing of killing ants, whom he considers lower than dirt, and his manner of speaking to Princess Atta is reminiscent of an abusive boyfriend mocking his terrified girlfriend. He also beats up his own gang members, and even kills two of them to keep control of his gang. He dislikes being thought of as weak in any way.
Hopper is also briefly depicted as a very anxious character. Indeed, during the Mexican bar scene, he expresses his gang the necessity of getting respect and obedience from the ants because they are far more numerous than them. He explains an only rebel ant is enough to cause entire colony's mutiny (which, ironically, will take place at the end of the movie). It should reveal a huge fear toward ants, hidden by his ruthless and dictatorial manners toward ants and even his own troups.
In any case, Hopper sees mercy and compassion as weaknesses, and relies mostly on fear to maintain control over both his own gang and the ants.
Role in the film[]
Upon the grasshoppers' first invasion of Ant Island, Hopper discovers the absence of food. Due to his belief that mercy is a weakness, he demands that the ants try again - and when Flik tries to stand up to him, tells the ants to double their normal payment. During their brief stay, his younger brother Molt starts to gabble on about how Hopper is afraid of birds, and Hopper tells him that if he hadn't promised their mother on her deathbed that he wouldn't kill Molt, he would kill him. Further infuriated by Molt, he vents by punching another grasshopper to the ground.
Later back at the grasshopper hangout, Molt asks Hopper why they're going back to Ant Island at all, and when this angers him, hastily admits that it was Axel and Loco's idea to stay. Hopper calms down slightly, realising that there is dissent in the gang. He points out to the gang that while one ant is weak, together they could be a real danger - and kills Axel and Loco to maintain his control over the gang. They then return to Ant Island.
On their return, Hopper finds that the ants have failed to meet his demands, and orders that the island be totally stripped of food. He then takes the Queen hostage, and plans to kill her as soon as the food is gathered as a lesson to the ants. However he is interrupted by the Circus returning and stalling the grasshoppers with their acts.
Meanwhile Flik, the circus troupe and a group of young ants rescue the Queen with the help of the fake bird that they made earlier in the season. Hopper is initially terrified at the sight of the bird, but then discovers the bird is fake. He beats Flik violently for the plan, but Flik bravely speaks out that the ants are stronger than Hopper claims, and that he is actually afraid of them, and this motivates the entire colony of ants and the circus crew to stand up to the grasshoppers and charge towards them, resulting in Hopper's gang to abandon him and flee, leaving Hopper to be seized by the ants and trapped in a circus cannon. However it starts to rain, and the entire colony descends into panic.
Hopper then takes the opportunity to get Dim to shoot him out of the cannon towards Flik, during which he snatches the ant and flies away with him. The circus bugs chase after them to try to save Flik, but they only succeed in pulling off one of Hopper's antennae. Princess Atta then intervenes and swipes Flik away from him. Hopper catches up with Flik and corners him to a bird's nest, intending to kill him. A bird then pops out but Hopper, at first believing her to be another of Flik's tricks, taunts the bird until she shrieks at him. Hopper, realizing that this bird is real, tries to flee but is cornered and snatched up by the bird and taken to her nest, where the evil grasshopper meets his death when the bird feeds him to her baby chicks.
Role in Ultima[]
In Ultima, Hopper was resurrected by Maleficent, who recruited him into the Organization as part of Mephiles's scheme to collect the Chaos Emeralds to revive Solaris. Hopper was assigned to capture one of the Emeralds, which granted him greater strength in order to contend with the Society.