In the year 3000, Earth has become overrun by alien species of insects coming in all shapes and sizes. With the world's government being completely unable to deal with these often strange and deadly creatures, a dangerous rift between humanity and nature has begun to appear.
Enter Dex Hamilton (voiced by Dwayne Hill), an Australian-accented intergalactic insect expert with an unmatched passion for all the creepy-crawly creatures of the universe. With the help of a team of offbeat characters (including a human-insect hybrid named Zap Monagan (Lyon Smith), a cloned Wrench Wench named Jenny Ten (Stephanie Anne Mills), and a frog-like alien named Tung Swampton (Carter Hayden), Dex Hamilton is dedicated to keeping Earth and humans safe while also protecting and studying the extraterrestrial arthropods he encounters by placing the bugs in a unique sanctuary called The Habitat. However, things are complicated by a mysterious and sinister figure known as Syrrus (Dan Chameroy), who is capturing and genetically modifying these same insects to create living weapons and wreak destruction throughout the galaxy.
A 2008 Australian-Canadian animated series co-produced between Canada's March Entertainment (also known for Chilly Beach and Yam Roll) and Australia's SLR Productions, Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist was the brainchild of Matthew Fernandes (who would later found Industrial Brothers, the studio behind such shows as Dot., Top Wing, and Remy & Boo). The series originally ran on CBC in Canada and Network Ten in Australia for a total of 26 episodes over a single season, but reruns popped up on Qubo in the United States in 2014. The show also had a made-for-TV prequel movie called Dex Hamilton: Fire and Ice.
Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist contains examples of:
- Ace Pilot: Zap Monagan.
- Amnesiac Hero: Zap. In Rebirth it's established that Zap has no memories prior to joining the team.
- The Berserker: Zap when he turns into his insectoid form.
- Big Bad: Syrrus, an alien bio-terrorist who wants to create an army of insectoid monsters to wipe clean the galaxy from all life.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Most of the alien insects Dex and his crew deal with are of the giant variety.
- Can't Spit It Out: Zap in regards to his crush on Jenny. Even while under Truth Serum he refuses to admit it.
- Clone Angst: A source of angst for Jenny 10. It gives her a common point of reference with Zap, who was also born as a genetic experiment for military purposes like her.
- Crush Blush: Happens to Zap twice while in the presence of Jenny. It's use in Is this a Part of the Tour to establish Zap's crush on Jenny. Then, later in the opening scene of Seeds of Destruction.
- Cute Machines: Jenny's little flying robot Happybot. He mostly gets used for reconnaissance.
- Disappeared Dad: Winston Hamilton, Dex's father, disappeared in an expedition because of his accident of bringing Comet Mites into another dimension.
- Dissimile:Tung: "It's like staring into my soul. Only with more birds. And fewer voices."
- Evil Poacher: Regis Stone from I've Got You in My Sites
- Evilutionary Biologist: Syrrus. Also Dr. Monagan, the creator of Zap and the evil conspiracy that created Jenny and her "sisters."
- Expy: Dex is Steve Irwin IN SPACE! He even has the accent!
- "Fantastic Voyage" Plot: The space whale episode.
- Father to His Men: Dex sometimes takes on a parental role with his employees. Whether it be encouraging Tung or reining in Zap's rebellious nature.
- In particular, Dex and Zap's interactions in Rebirth and The Black Widow read more as a father scolding his teenage son, then employer and employee.
- Fed to the Beast: In the second episode, Dex and Sally were eaten by the Devil Banshee Queen.
- Friend to Bugs: Dex is a friend to anything that can remotely be called an insect. The more disgusting or dangerous it is, the more he'll wax rhapsodic about how gorgeous it is.
- Frog Men: Tung is a relatively humanoid example, but we know from seeing other members of his species that he will look significantly more froggy when he grows up.
- The Future: Takes place in the year 3000, the 31st century.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Jenny 10 spends most of Family Business jealous of the attention Jenny 8 receives from the team especially when it appears that Zap might have feelings for her.
- Goggles Do Nothing: Jenny, Zap and Tung all wear goggles. Jenny and Zap never wear them over their eyes, while Tung never takes his off his eyes.
- Insectoid Aliens: Dex has devoted his life to studying alien insect species, some of which are sentient.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Zap Monagan
- I Resemble That Remark!: This exchange (when the characters are being forced to express their true feelings towards one another):Zap: You're not exactly the brightest firefly in the swarm, if you know what I mean!Tung: As it happens, I don't!
- It Tastes Like Feet: When Dex and his crew are Caught in a Snare, Tung attempts to break the rope with his prehensile tongue, only for their captor to tell them that the rope is woven from unbreakable alien silk worm residue. Tung then adds "And it tastes like feet".
- LEGO Genetics: Jenny and Zap are both the product of genetic engineering, created for military purposes.
- MacGyvering: Jenny 10 is an expert at this.
- Mr. Fanservice: Zap Monagan, when the director says he's actually "a hot half-insect" on Episode 13.
- Metamorphosis Monster: When Zap's insect DNA overwhelms his human DNA, he transforms into a gigantic, monstrous insectoid form. Fortunately, his friends are able to bring him back.
- Multipurpose Tongue: Tung often uses his elastic tongue as a weapon or an extra arm.
- Oddball Doppelgänger: When it's revealed that Jenny 10 was the tenth of a series of genetically engineered clones, we meet her "sister," Jenny 8. Jenny 10 wants nothing to do with Jenny 8 because she feels (quite understandably) that Jenny 8 threatens her sense of individuality. By the story's end, though, we realize that their personalities are actually quite different, and the two reconcile.
- Overly-Long Tongue: Tung
- Rip Van Tinkle: When the series Big Bad Syrrus awakens from a centuries long hibernation, he ponders what his first act should be. After a few seconds thought, he decides it should be to find a bathroom.
- Role Called: Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist
- Space Pirates: In one episode Dex and his crew are captured by space pirates who have imprisoned a giant star fly.
- Space Whale: Combined with "Fantastic Voyage" Plot when Dex and his crew have to travel inside the body of a space whale in order to save it.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Zap can turn into a giant destructive bug if his DNA becomes unbalanced.
- Swallowed Whole: Dex and Sally suffer this for a while, when a pair of Devil Banshees capture and feed the two to their queen, who swallows them alive.
- To Serve Man: The Devil Banshee Queen feeds on humans by swallowing them alive in order to produce more of her kind. Dex and Sally were swallowed by her, though it didn't last long as they escape from her insides later on.
- Truth Serums: Seeds of Destruction has the team comes into contact with a truth serum pollen that causes them to say exactly want they are thinking.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Jenny and Zap.
- Winged Humanoid: Zap has wings resembling a dragonfly, due to his status as a human-insect hybrid. They vanish when not in use.
- Wrench Wench: Jenny Ten, who maintains the insect's habitats and builds the weapons used by the team to capture new bugs.
- The Xenophile: Dex is absolutely fascinated by all types of alien insects, be they tiny or ginormous.
- You Are Number 6: Jenny 10. It is eventually revealed that she is the tenth in a series of genetically engineered clones, when she encounters her 'sister' Jenny 8. It is unknown what happened to the other seven Jenny clones.
- Zerg Rush: The Devil Banshees come in many groups to infest everything that they come across.
