The Bug Master is a villain from the animated series Darkwing Duck. Her real name is Bianca Beakley, a former newscaster and Gosalyn Mallard's role model. To boost ratings, Bianca became a villain and started to commit crimes by controlling insects in the episode "Fraudcast News". She was voiced by April Winchell.
Background[]
Bianca Beakley was a popular journalist and reporter, who wanted to boost her ratings by interviewing Darkwing as he fought the city's fiercest villains. Unfortunately, the Supervillain Convention in Florida left St. Canard crime-less. Beakley decided to create her own super villain persona, "The Bug Master" to create news coverage. Unfortunately, she got a little too wrapped up in her creepy persona, kidnapping the most famous Circus Flea in the world, and attempting to melt Darkwing in boiling wax. Eventually her identity is uncovered, and Bianca Beakley's career is destroyed.
Personality[]
The Bug Master shares several traits with Darkwing Duck, such as a fondness of theatrics, a need to be in the spotlight, and a short temper. She, however, chooses to combine her needs and flaws in ways that foremost benefit her and with utter disregard of what cost this may put on others. In her civilian days, she already was two-faced in a near-literal way. While showing herself to the world as a prim and proper lady who at most took a risk to get a worthy scoop, behind closed doors she had no hesitation letting her image slip if things didn't go her way. If irritated or worse, she can be borderline demonic, becoming almost unrecognizable from the woman on television and acting verbally and physically abusive to her crew.
What stops the Bug Master from simply being a raging monster is her intellect. She always has her eye on the prize and the way to get to it. She easily adapts to changes in the situation and incorporates new facts while dropping plans that show themselves no longer worth to pursue. Her one scheming flaw is that she might disregard what she deems low priority, only to find herself caught by surprise by said low priority later.
Upon becoming a supervillain, the Bug Master threw herself heavy on her bug gimmick, undertaking only bug-themed crimes and laying on the bug puns thickly. As she did this in part to get a good story for Canard Copy. It is possible she loosened up later on as professional supervillain. Equally, it is unknown if, after being fired, she still makes a point of getting her crimes recorded.
Role in the series[]
The Bug Master began her career on a different path as the news reporter, Bianca Beakley. She was a popular face on TV, but after some time she saw her audience dwindling. To boost ratings, Bianca became the Bug Master and started to commit crimes with a distinctive insect theme to report on herself.
Gosalyn Mallard becomes very suspicious on the bug-themed villain lady, in think the Bug Master is Bianca Beakley. The red-haired duck goes to the Canard Copy to talk with Bianca Beakley about the Bug Master. After Gosalyn saw Bianca's helmet, the girl realized her idol is "The Bug Master". The news caster tells to the little girl saying that she is using the idea with the Bug Master to make Darkwing Duck to look good (but that is a lie to convincing Gosalyn to be her sidekick, The Grub).
Later at an abandoned warehouse for beeswax, the Bug Master with some help of the Grub (which is Gosalyn) captured Darkwing Duck and his sidekick Launchpad McQuack. When the news anchor wanted to kill the St. Canard's favorite hero and his sidekick and Merriweather the Cockroach Mine in beeswax, Gosalyn realized Bianca Beakley lied to her and take Bianca's ray gun to create a diversion while Darkwing frees himself and handles the henchmen to get access to the lever to pull Launchpad and Merriweather back up.
After Gosalyn and Darkwing Duck defeated the Bug Master, her identity as Bianca Beakley is made public and she is fired from her job as a news anchor and she is also arrested by the police for her all crimes she made as the Bug Master.
Trivia[]
- It is unknown if she has any relation with Bentina Beakley.
- The word "master" is more used in male villain names (Bianca Beakley is a woman) and some fans think for Bianca Beakley, her villain name must be "The Bug Mistress".
- Gosalyn dressed up as the Bug Master in the DuckTales (2017) episode, Let's Get Dangerous!.
