Bugbears in popular culture
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Bugbears have appeared many times in popular culture. In the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, bugbears are the largest of the various goblinoid races (the others being goblins, hobgoblins, and other, more obscure ones such as forest-kith goblins and varags). They are vaguely bearish in appearance, being hairy and strong, but primarily just larger versions of the smaller, moderately more civilized compatriots.[citation needed] In the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, bugbears are a creation of the goblins through eugenics. Significantly larger and stronger than goblins, they also have enhanced senses that includes multiple eyes. They are implied to be second-class citizens that are relegated the jobs that require brute strength. They also appear in other Final Fantasy games as normal enemies.[citation needed] In the Super Famicom game, PlayStation, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable remakes of Tales of Phantasia, bugbears are a staple of enemies, resembling hairy bearish goblins with clubs.[citation needed] A Bugbear is also a hobgoblin like creature (taller and generally fatter) in Lineage I and Lineage II.
- There is a monster called a "Bug Bear" in the MMORPG Mabinogi
- In the role-playing game Kingdom of Loathing, bugbears are bipedal creatures that resemble small bears with a "w" for a mouth. Confusingly, actual bears are known as 'bars' (mimicking the speech of some dialects of American English).
- Bugbear appears as an enemy monster in the PlayStation game Dragon Warrior VII, designed by Akira Toriyama.
- Bugbear is also the name of a monster in the Nintendo DS game Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. In the game it is portrayed as a levitating eyeball with a long tail and a pair of spikes coming out of either end of the eyeball. The spikes and the tail both generate electricity. In actuality, the creature's name was mistransliterated from backbeard, a different entity which it much more closely resembles. It is a palette swap of the Peeping Eye.
- In the Harry Potter world, bugbears are blood-sucking bears.
- In the online game DragonFable, bugbears are large greenish bears with 4 spines in their backs. They are guards in Cysero's tower.
- The Bugbear computer worm (also known as Tanatos.A) caused widespread infections on the Internet during the first half of 2002.
- A Bugbear is a minor boss in The Bard's Tale.
- A Bugbear is a mob in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. As well as a slightly larger and significantly more powerful mini-boss, the Bugbear Chieftain.
- In Raymond Briggs' graphic novel Fungus the Bogeyman a bugbear is the bogeyman equivalent of the humans' teddy bear. It has foul, rancid fur and is infested by insects.
- A Bugbear is another term for "pet peeve"
- Bugbear is also another term for scarecrow.