Because of their long, persistent association with humans, cockroaches are frequently referred to in art, literature, folk tales, and theater and film. In Western culture, cockroaches are often depicted as vile and dirty pests. Their size, long antennae, shiny appearance and spiny legs make them disgusting to many humans, sometimes even to the point of phobic responses.David Berle (2007) Graded Exposure Therapy for Long-Standing Disgust-Related Cockroach Avoidance in an Older Male. Clinical Case Studies 6(4):339-347 C.M. Botella, M.C. Juan, R.M. Banos, M. Alcaniz, V. Guillen, B. Rey. (2005) Mixing Realities? An Application of Augmented Reality for the Treatment of Cockroach Phobia. CyberPsychology & Behavior. 8(2): 162-171. .
For on-screen moments, television series and films often employ the Madagascar hissing cockroach due to its large size and relatively slow speed.
In film Gagamboy — Dodoy, a rival vendor of Junie, is transformed into a humanoid cockroach after accidentally eating a cockroach that had been exposed to chemicals. Joe's Apartment — The insects are cheerful, swinging party-goers who help the titular human hero. Twilight of the Cockroaches — A hybrid anime/live-action Japanese film featuring a society of anthropomorphic cockroaches living in a bachelor's apartment that faces extermination when a cockroach-phobic woman moves in. Creepshow — Swarms of cochroaches terrorize a cantankerous and verminophobic old man in the segment, "They're Creeping Up On You." Damnation Alley — A post-apocalyptic Salt Lake City, Utah is infected with a four-inch long, flesh-eating mutant cockroach (played by the Madagascar hissing cockroach). Mimic — Diseased cockroaches are the target of the genetically altered titular species. Bug — After his wife Carrie dies from having an insect crawl in her hair, Professor James Parmiter becomes obsessed with the insect and successfully breeds the new species with the cockroach, creating a hybrid species that is intelligent and capable of flight. Desperate Living — Peggy Gravel and Grizelda Brown are forced to eat cockroaches when having dinner with Queen Carlotta. Mouse Hunt — Ernie is forced to close his restaurant due to a cockroach infestation. Men in Black — The Bug is an insectoid alien who kills a farmer named Edgar and utilizes his skin as a disguise. Monsters vs. Aliens — Dr. Cockroach is a scientist with the head of a cockroach. An American Tail — 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. A Bug's Life — A cockroach appears as a waitress in one scene yelling out, "Hey! Who ordered the Poo-Poo platter?" Godzilla vs. Gigan — 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. Scarface (1983) — Tony Montana refers to Gaspar Gomez and the Diaz Brothers, rival gang leaders to Frank Lopez, as cockroaches. Pacific Heights — Carter Hayes breeds and releases cockroaches in his apartment as part of his plan against the landlords. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master — Freddy Krueger kills Debbie by transforming her into a cockroach and crushing her. WALL-E — WALL-E keeps a cockroach as his pet. West Side Story — In both the Broadway musical (1957) and film (1961), the Jets, the Anglo-American gang, refers to the Sharks, the Puerto Rican gang, as cockroaches. Enchanted — Cockroaches (and other pests) assist a princess with housecleaning duties such as scrubbing the bathtub. Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie — Features three fictional cockroaches. Joey, Dee Dee and Marky are featured in more antagonistic roles as Oggy ventures through a variety of timelines. The Nest Despicable Me 4 — Maxime Le Mal transforms himself into a cockroach hybrid and does the same to a gas station employee and Gru's son, Gru Jr. Goat — Will Harris gets startled by a cockroach greeting him at his friend's place. The next day he unintentionally insults the cockroach community and needs to apologize on live Q&A.
In politics In India in May 2026, after the Chief Justice of India described unemployed youth as "cockroaches" and "parasites of society", the term was reclaimed by supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party, a satirical political party.
In television In The X-Files episode "War of the Coprophages", cockroaches are seen to group together to murder people. The character Dr. Berenbaum suggests that swarms of cockroaches are responsible for most UFO sightings because they can generate an electrostatic field which can be illuminated dependent on atmospheric conditions. In the ALF episode "La Cucharacha", Alf inadvertently releases a cockroach-like alien from his home planet in the house. When it is sprayed with insecticide, it grows bigger until it is large enough to eat him. Alf discovers by accident that the creature can be harmed and killed by perfume. The television series Freaky Stories was hosted by a cockroach named Larry. In "Transform and Roll Out", the first episode of Transformers Animated, an experiment on a cockroach goes wrong, causing it to grow and absorb everything in its path. 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. In the series 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."Heroes" Post-Game Report with Tim Kring, Part One In The Cosby Show, Theo's friend is nicknamed Cockroach. In the Family Guy episode "Screwed the Pooch", Brian Griffin encounters two giant roaches in gang attire at the motel he is staying at. Oggy and the Cockroaches features three anthropomorphic cockroaches in the main cast of characters. Their names are Dee Dee, Joey and Marky. They frequently mess with Oggy and Jack, with Joey as the leader, Dee Dee as the glutton, and Marky as the mischievous assistant. 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 is revealed to be a sentient cockroach who controls a mech resembling a human. In the Courage the Cowardly Dog episode, "Courage in the Big Stinkin' City", the Bagges arrive at New York City and meets a shady giant cockroach named Schwick. In Yin Yang Yo!, one of the main antagonists in the series is Carl the Evil Cockroach Wizard. In the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode "Cockroach Terminator", Donatello installs cameras on cockroaches to use as spying devices. One of the cockroaches falls into a vat of mutagen, transforming it into a giant cybernetic form. HaChartzufim, the Israeli version of the British satirical puppet series Spitting Image, has recurring sketches about a family of cockroaches living under Sara Netanyahu's sink.
In written works In Franz Kafka's story The Metamorphosis, the character Gregor Samsa awakes to find himself transformed into a giant "vermin." Although the type of bug Gregor changes into is not specified, the physical description offered implies that it is a cockroach. This novel has been parodied in various ways, including at least two other published works: Marc Estrin's 2002 Insect Dreams: The Half Life of Gregor Samsa, where Gregor Samsa prospers despite his transformation, becoming an important figure in society, and Tyler Knox's 2006 noir comedy Kockroach in which a cockroach wakes up one morning as a human and becomes a leading gangster in Times Square during the 1950s. Daniel Evan Weiss's novel The Roaches Have No King tells the story of a humanized colony of cockroaches, who swear revenge against their hosts for renovating the kitchen and thus preventing easy access to food supplies. Shoebag, a children's book by M.E. Kerr, centers around the cockroach character Shoebag, who awakens to find himself transformed as a human. In Arabic and other eastern societies, sometimes a traditional method to protect books and scrolls was a metaphysical appeal to "Kabi:Kaj" (كبيبكج/كَبِيكَج), the "King of the Cockroaches". After hearing an appeal to the king to protect a manuscript, cockroaches of less nobility (or lesser insects) would refrain from intruding on documents which could be eaten by the king only. Since many manuscripts were made with fish-glue, starch-paste, leather, and other edible substances, insect appetites were a constant problem to Arabic books and scrolls.Pollock, James W. "Kabi:Kaj to Book Pouches: Library Preservation Magic and Technique in Syria of the 1880s and the 1980s West." Middle Eastern Library Association Notes (MELA Notes), Number 44, Spring, 1988, pages 8-10. A similar technique from Syria was to name the first and last page of a document or manuscript "The Page of the King of the Cockroaches", in the hope that the Cockroach King would control all other insects. Translated appeals include "O Kabi:kaj, save the paper!", "O Kabi:kaj, save this book from the worms!" and "O Kabi:kaj, do not eat this paper!"Gacek, Adam. "The Use of Kabikaj in Arabic Manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East. Volume I, 1986. Pages 49-53. "In Maghribi manuscripts, the word appears in its evidently corrupt form, Kaykataj and is clearly used as a talisman... and mentions, after a certain Muhammad al-Samiri, that when one writes Kaytataj on the first and last folio of the book, one can be sure that worms will not attack it."Gacek, Adam. "The Use of Kabikaj in Arabic Manuscripts." Manuscripts of the Middle East. Volume I, 1986. Page 49. Along with rats, cockroaches are frequently seen infesting various locations in Steve Purcell's comic book series Sam & Max, and one storyline features a race of gigantic cockroaches living on the moon. Archy the cockroach is a sympathetic writer and chronicler in a classic series of newspaper columns by Don Marquis. In Revolt of the Cockroach People, an autobiographical novel by Oscar Zeta Acosta, cockroaches are used as a metaphor for oppressed and downtrodden minorities in US society in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly Mexican-Americans. There are several references to the folk song La Cucaracha throughout the novel. In Vertigo comics' The Exterminators the main villain is a breed of cockroaches named Mayan Hissers, being responsible for "destroying" Mayan civilization. Milquetoast the Cockroach was a character in the comic strips Bloom County and Outland by Berkeley Breathed. 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. In the comic series Badger there is a villain known as the Roach Wrangler, who holds supernatural control over an army of cockroaches. In the manga series Terra Formars, giant mutated humanoid cockroaches with incredible physical strength are the main antagonists. The second in the Harry Hole crime novel series by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø is entitled Cockroaches, with cockroaches used here as a metaphor for the murky Thai underworld into which the protagonist must plunge.