Real Name: Lady Treefern

Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Microverse) humanoid insectoid (Insectivorid, citizen of Kaliklak)

Occupation: Knight of Kaliklak;
    formerly leader of small band of rebels

Group Membership: Kaliklakian rebellion

Affiliations: Battle-bats (steeds), Bug, Micronauts (Acroyear, Bug, Huntarr, Marionette), Queen of Kaliklak, unnamed knights

Enemies: Baron Karza, battle-beetles

Known Relatives: Jasmine (older sister)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Kaliklak, Microverse

First Appearance: Micronauts I#56 (January, 1984)

Powers/Abilities: Treefern is a Kaliklakian Insectivorid, like Bug. She displays similar traits, such as speed through the trees and exceptional agility; she can probably cling to walls as well. Being younger and with less experience, her levels would be slightly lower than Bug's. She is a fierce and loyal fighter for Kaliklak. She stands about 5'7" (relative size) and is light green in color, with dark green hair and yellow insectoid eyes. Her speech is interspersed with a 'tik' sound, which is characteristic of Insectivorids due to a chitinous membrane in the throat. She carries little other weaponry than a sword, which is sufficiently sharp to cleave a battle-beetle's carapace.

History:
(Micronauts I#56 (fb) - BTS) - When Treefern was much younger, Bug used to bounce her on his knee.

(Micronauts I#56) - At Bug's suggestion, and in the hope of securing new allies in the war against Baron Karza, the Micronauts (Acroyear, Bug, Fireflyte, Huntarr, Marionette, Arcturus Rann) journeyed to Kaliklak in Bioship, but encountered the battle-beetle invasion of Bug's world instead. Landing on the surface, the Micronaut team of Acroyear, Bug, Huntarr and Marionette traveled through the rosy hues of Kaliklakian flora to Bug's old hideout. However, once there, the Micronauts were attacked by various Insectivorid warriors until Bug announced himself and Treefern, the rebel group's leader, embraced him in a passionate kiss. The fighting immediately stopped, with Marionette showing quiet jealousy of Treefern, as she was now in a relationship with Bug. Treefern announced the threat to their unhatched Queen and Marionette then declared the Micronauts' support.

    Treefern and her rebels, along with the four Micronauts, then traveled by foot, but the trip was slow, so Bug called/communicated with some insects to find some faster transport -- namely battle-bats. They flew quickly to the Nest, the heart of Kaliklak, which was under siege by swarming battle-beetles, with Treefern riding with Bug. The four Micronauts and Treefern flew toward the all-important Hatchery, where unborn generations lay, including the new Queen. In attempting to stave off the battle-beetles' savage assault, Bug was knocked down, but rescued by Treefern. The group then fought their way to the Royal Tower of the Hatchery where the Queen lay. There they defended the Queen, just as she hatched. The Queen thanked them for their valiant efforts, but denied the Micronauts' request for aid, as the liberation of Kaliklak was the Queen's first priority. She then made Treefern a Lady and her rebel band became knights. Treefern then bade the Micronauts farewell as they returned to Bioship.

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo (writer), Butch Guice (pencils) and Kelley Jones & Sam Grainger (inks).

    It might be fair to say that, given her reaction to seeing Bug, Treefern had a crush on Bug when she was younger.

    Bug is listed twice under "Affiliations" because she knew him before he became a Micronaut.

Profile by Grendel Prime

Clarifications:

Treefern has no known connections to:

• Tree - @ 1961, plant-life, granted wishes to the Hadleys in whose back yard it dwelled @ Tales to Astonish I#19/2
• Tree of Eternity - present on the moon Titan @ Captain Marvel I#
• The Tree People race @ Ka-Zar the Savage#13
• Treece, Roland - leader of Treece International, allied with Life Foundation, formerly employed Chance to assassinate witnesses against him @ Amazing Spider-Man I#298
• Trees of the Dimension of Paradise and the City of Death, animated by Nalee @ Incredible Hulk II#303
• Treetop of Earth-148611 - alias of Louis Barrington @ Mark Hazzerd: Merc#1
• Tree Alien - alien exile left on Earth for one year, resembled a leafless tree @ Tales to Astonish I#28
• Living Trees - intelligent trees discovered in System 472 by Earth space explorers in the year 2500 @ Tales of Suspense#4
• Fern - Warpies, cherubim, vascular cryptogram, vegetable mass, generate large amounts to ensnare others, levitate @ Captain Britain II#7
• Any other "Tree-" or "fern" characters

Battle bats have no known connection to:

• Any other "battle" or "bat" characters

but may be related to:

• Cave-Bats found on Polaria (Ice Zone) on Homeworld, giant bats that hang in caves and swoop down unsuspecting adventurers for food, with one such bat capturing Bug, only to be slain by him @ Micronauts I#32

    Battle-bats were giant black bats that Kaliklakian Insectivorids had domesticated to use as fast airborne transport. They were not bound to darkness, although it was sunset when Bug used them to aid in the quicker transport of the four Micronauts plus Treefern and her rebels so that they could reach the Nest faster. The bats would travel as they were steered and, despite their large ears, were not affected by the firing of Bug's lance. The battle-bats could carry two Insectivorids/humans at a time. Their name indicates that the Kaliklakian Insectivorids used them for war.

--Micronauts I#56

images:
Micronauts I#56, p.26, panel 3 (charging)