question: Why is cockroach shown in fiction to survive major apocalypse? What's so special about it that other insects do not have to survive?
comment: The premise is that cockroaches are relatively hardy with regards to toxins and ionizing radiation. Moreover, they are an easily identified pest that people understand is hard to get rid of. In reality, cockroaches would be casualties of any apocalypse that killed human beings for the simple reason that they're adapted to surviving off human civilization. Without human garbage, cockroaches wouldn't have anything to eat and would mostly die off.
passages: In Manhattan, cockroaches are spreading the deadly "Strickler's disease" that is claiming hundreds of the city's children. Dr. Peter Mann, Deputy Director of the CDC, recruits entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler, who uses genetic engineering to create what she calls the Judas breed, a large insect that releases an enzyme which accelerates the roaches' metabolism and causes them to starve to death faster than they can take in nourishment. The disease is successfully eradicated, and Peter and Susan later marry.
   For on-screen moments, TV shows and movies often employ the Madagascar hissing cockroach due to its large size and very slow speed.
  
  Section::::In film.
  
  BULLET::::- "Gagamboy" — There is a super villain named Kuanting (Cockroach Man) portrayed by Jay Manalo who later became Gagamboy (portrayed by Vhong Navarro)'s nemesis who accidentally ate a cockroach in a sandwich.
  
  BULLET::::- "Joe's Apartment" — The bugs are cheerful, swinging party-goers who help the titular human hero.
   BULLET::::- "ALF", Alf inadvertently releases a cockroach from his home planet in the house. When it is sprayed with insecticide, it grows bigger until it is large enough to eat him. He discovered by accident that a bottle of perfume could kill the cockroach.
  
  BULLET::::- The short-lived kids television show "Freaky Stories" was hosted by a cockroach named Larry.
  
  BULLET::::- "Transformers Animated", an experiment on a cockroach goes wrong, causing it to grow and absorb everything in its path. Sari caught and damaging Prowl.
   BULLET::::- Spy-Roach / Cockroach Terminator – A cockroach that was trained by Donnie in to spy on the Kraang with special micro-equipment in "Cockroach Terminator," where Raph's fear of cockroaches is revealed. It accidentally fell into the mutagen vat and mutated with the micro-equipment fused onto it.
  
  BULLET::::- Parasitica Wasp – A giant mutant parasitoid wasp that mind-controls the Turtles into protecting its egg by stinging them (the mind-controlled victims infect their enemies by biting them).
   BULLET::::- In the television show "King of the Hill", the character Dale Gribble has been shown as a breeder of cockroaches. He attempts to breed a colony of Madagascar hissing cockroaches to do his bidding, theorizing that they will believe he is their mother and obey if he is the first thing they see when they hatch.
   BULLET::::- Toxic gas roaches - These cockroaches have green gas masks that protect them from the toxic slime. In level 8, the gas they leave behind explodes if ignited by fire ants or buddy bugs, so they may die without Rollie having to fight them.
  
  BULLET::::- Ghost ants - If you kill a spear throwing ant in level 9, he will rise again as a ghost ant. He cannot be kicked but he will die if he is in lava or water. If you hide for a while, he will dissipate.
   BULLET::::- "Twilight of the Cockroaches" — A hybrid anime/live-action Japanese film featuring a society of cockroaches living in a bachelor's apartment that faces extermination when a cockroach-phobic woman moves in.
  
  BULLET::::- "Creepshow" — Swarms of them terrorize a cantankerous and verminophobic old man in the segment, "They're Creeping Up On You."
  
  BULLET::::- "Damnation Alley" — A post-apocalyptic Salt Lake City, Utah is infected with a four-inch long, flesh-eating mutant variety (played by the Madagascar hissing cockroach).
  
  BULLET::::- "Mimic " — Diseased cockroaches are the target of the genetically-altered titular species.
   BULLET::::- "Bug" — also starred Madagascar hissing cockroaches, this time able to produce fire from their abdomens, wreaking havoc.
  
  BULLET::::- "Men in Black" — Edgar the Bug's actions threaten to lead to the destruction of the Earth.
  
  BULLET::::- "An American Tail" — the chief villain, Warren T. Rat, carries with him a cockroach named Digit whom he forces to count his money and frequently abuses, even threatening to eat him at one point.
   BULLET::::- "Naked Lunch" — the main character, William Lee's "case worker" appears to him in the form of large cockroach that speaks through a hole in its abdomen. Later, this cockroach appears again as a hybrid of a cockroach/typewriter that has a keypad on its face. The case worker reveals his name as "Clark Nova", which also happens to be the name of Lee's typewriter model.
   BULLET::::- In Vertigo comics' "The Exterminators" the main villain is a breed of cockroaches named Mayan Hissers, being responsible for "destroying" Mayan civilization.
  
  BULLET::::- Milquetoast the Cockroach was a character in the comic strips "Bloom County" and "Outland" by Berkeley Breathed.
   BULLET::::- In the popular television show "Heroes", cockroaches are often shown near the main antagonist of the series, Sylar. The series' creator Tim Kring has stated that, because of their ability to survive and adapt so well, cockroaches present the embodiment of evolution to him, so he included them because of the show's evolutionary theme.
  
  BULLET::::- In "The Cosby Show", Theo's friend is nicknamed Cockroach.
   BULLET::::- "Godzilla vs. Gigan" — both "King Ghidorah" and "Gigan" are controlled remotely by "Nebulans", an alien race of giant cockroaches that inherited a waste planet after the dominant species on it polluted it into oblivion.
  
  BULLET::::- "Scarface" (1983 version) — Tony refers to Gaspar Gomez and the Diaz Brothers, rival gang leaders to Frank Lopez, as cockroaches in one of the film's most famous lines: "I'll bury those cock-a-roaches."
  
  BULLET::::- "Pacific Heights" — The Michael Keaton character breeds and releases cockroaches in the apartment building as part of his plan against the landlords.
   BULLET::::- "" — features three fictional cockroaches as main characters. Their names are Dee Dee, Joey and Marky.
  
  BULLET::::- "The Nest"
  
  Section::::In television.
   BULLET::::- "Fallout 3", "", "Fallout 4", and "Fallout 76" have a mutant form of the American cockroach called the Radroach. It is about the size of the house cat and is hostile towards the player if encountered. Examples are, however, very weak and do not pose a significant threat.
  
  BULLET::::- In the "Silent Hill" series of games, monsters resembling cockroaches are featured in some enclosed spaces.
   It appears that the creature, impersonating Klaski, has been caring for Remy's well-being with a mind to fulfill its base purpose. Unfortunately for it, when they finally meet in a suspenseful setting in Remy's apartment, she decapitates it. However, it is not dead as cockroaches can live up to two weeks without a head and Remy and one of the students, who is now living with her, are left wondering how to handle the situation.
  
  Section::::Cast.
  
  BULLET::::- Alix Koromzay as Remy Panos
  
  BULLET::::- Edward Albert as Darksuit
  
  BULLET::::- Bruno Campos as Detective Klaski
  
  BULLET::::- Will Estes as Nicky
   Cockroaches have appeared and have been mentioned several times in the series, particularly in relation to Sylar. In the pilot episode, Mohinder Suresh refers to the cockroach as a superior lifeform, stating, "if God has indeed created himself in his own image, then I submit to you that God is a cockroach." Tim Kring has stated that the cockroach represents survival.
  
  Section::::Recurring elements.:Helix.
   Section::::Popular culture.
  
  The Madagascar hissing cockroach has been known to be featured in Hollywood movies, prominently in "Bug" (1975) as cockroaches who could set fires by rubbing their legs together and, in "Damnation Alley" (1977), as post-nuclear-war mutant armor-plated "killer" cockroaches. In "Starship Troopers", a movie about a war against an enemy called "The Bugs", a teacher is shown encouraging her students to step on this species as part of a TV propaganda broadcast.
   After the mayor uses a potentially dangerous substance to protect the local plantation, the lakeside town of Mountview, in California, is attacked by a lethal species of large cockroach. After some of the town's inhabitants are killed, the mayor enlists the help of eccentric pest exterminator General George S. Merlin in order to prevent further harm to the local dwellers.
  
  Section::::Cast.
  
  BULLET::::- Randy Quaid as General George S. Merlin
  
  BULLET::::- Brenda Epperson Doumani as Dr. Laura Casey
  
  BULLET::::- Katherine Heigl as Shannon Griffin
  
  BULLET::::- James Doohan as Sheriff Carlson
  
  BULLET::::- George Takei as Dr. Hiro Fujimoto
   BULLET::::- In "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", Donatello installed cameras on cockroaches to use as spying devices. One of these fell into a vat of mutagen, and transformed into a giant cockroach. Raphael was also revealed to have a paralysing fear of cockroaches, a fear he eventually learns to control.
  
  Section::::In written works.
   Sal, the head scientist at Bug-Be-Gone, also discovers that insects mutate after prolonged exposure to Draxx, skipping their evolution up several generations. After Henry and his new partner clean out a run down apartment complex and a swarm of mutant cockroaches attack them, Henry breaks up with his girlfriend who is working at the company that produces Draxx and plans to market it as a street drug to wipe out poorer neighborhoods.
   One of the apartment's mutated cockroaches finds the resurrected AJ, now calling himself CJ, who is actually a reborn Egyptian pharaoh who worships insects. CJ murders one of the employees of Bug-Be-Gone to prove himself to the mutant roach leaders, as fruit from Madagascar infested with Hisser cockroaches is shipped to America. The hissers eat the Draxx, and evolve into Mayan hissers, responsible for that civilization's destruction. Henry's ex-girlfriend, now the head of the Draxx producing company, is herself removed from the board after the hissers paralyze her, and Henry moves on to a new girlfriend.
   BULLET::::- "Oggy and the Cockroaches" features three fictional cockroaches as main characters. Their names are Dee Dee, Joey and Marky.
  
  BULLET::::- In "The Powerpuff Girls" episode "Insect Inside", an evil man named Roach Coach possesses a swarm of cockroaches as his pets and uses them to attack and rule the City of Townsville. After his defeat, Roach Coach turns out to be a sentient, talking cockroach that controls a mech resembling a human. Also, in the episode "Bubble Boy", Brick (Blossom's male counterpart) of the Rowdyruff Boys challenges Bubbles (disguised as Boomer) to eat a cockroach.
   A study conducted by scientists at Purdue University concluded that the most common cockroaches in the US, Australia and Europe were able to develop a “cross resistance” to multiple types of pesticide. This contradicted previous understanding that the animals can develop resistance against one pesticide at a time. The scientists suggested that cockroaches will no longer be easily controlled using a diverse spectrum of chemical pesticides and that a mix of other means, such as traps and better sanitation, will need to be employed. 
  
  Section::::Relationship with humans.:As food.
   BULLET::::- In the young adult fiction series "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins there are giant cockroaches beneath the Earth that are shy and emotional and help Gregor on his Quest. They are perceived by the other people under the Earth (Underlanders) as slow, weak, and cowardly things, but prove to be loyal to their allies and wiser than they appear.
  
  BULLET::::- In the comic series "Badger" there is a villain known as the Roach Wrangler, who holds supernatural control over an army of cockroaches.
   Section::::Pest control.
  
  The German cockroach is very successful at establishing an ecological niche in buildings, and is resilient in the face of many pest-control measures. Reasons include:
  
  BULLET::::- lack of natural predators in a human habitat
  
  BULLET::::- prolific reproduction
  
  BULLET::::- short reproductive cycle
  
  BULLET::::- the ability to hide in very small refuges
  
  BULLET::::- sexual maturity attained within several weeks, and
  
  BULLET::::- adaptation and resistance to some chemical pesticides
  
presuppositions: Something is special about cockroaches that would make them survive. Cockroaches can survive a major apocalypse.
corrections: Cockroaches would die from lack of human garbage. Cockroaches are adapted to surviving off human civilization, so they would not survive a major apocalypse.
raw_presuppositions: Something is special about cockroaches that would make them survive. Cockroaches can survive a major apocalypse.
raw_corrections: Cockroaches would die from lack of human garbage. Cockroaches are adapted to surviving off human civilization, so they would not survive a major apocalypse.