The Giant Beetle is a major boss character you face during The Tree chapter in It Takes Two. The encounter is designed to test clean co-op timing and role clarity, because the boss is resistant to your main “shoot the enemy” instinct.

In the game credits, the character is listed as Beetle and is voiced by Glenn J. Wrage.

Where you meet the Giant Beetle

You reach the Giant Beetle after a tense sequence on a rising platform where you fend off waves of buzzsaw-wielding wasps. At the top, you step into a circular arena and the fight begins.

Why the fight feels different

Your tools in this chapter are built around teamwork.

• Cody uses a sap gun that can be detonated
• May uses the Drill Buzzer rifle that fires matches to ignite sap

The twist is that sap does not reliably stick to the Giant Beetle’s armored body, so you win by setting traps in the arena instead of trying to “paint” the boss directly.

Cody sets the trap. May pulls the trigger. The arena does the damage.

How the arena damage works

Look for the grates in the floor.

• Cody fills a grate with sap
• One player baits the beetle into moving over that grate
• May detonates the sap when the beetle is close enough to get hit

Repeat the cycle until the fight ends.

Reliable co-op plan

Cody

• Prioritize filling a grate as soon as you have a safe window
• Call out which grate is loaded so May can pre-aim

May

• Keep your aim ready on the loaded grate, not on the beetle
• Detonate late rather than early, especially during a charge

Baiting

• Stand near the loaded grate and let the beetle commit to the approach
• If the beetle uses a charge, dodge away at the last moment so it stays in the danger zone

Attacks to respect

The Giant Beetle’s pressure comes from simple moves that punish panic.

• Red shockwaves that you should jump over
• Charge attacks that punish players who stop moving or bait away from the grates

If you are getting hit often, slow down and focus on surviving first. The openings come naturally when you stop forcing damage.

Common mistakes that waste attempts

• Detonating sap when the beetle is still a step away from the grate
• Trying to coat the beetle with sap instead of using the floor grates
• Both players running away from the arena center, leaving no one to bait cleanly
• Forgetting that the goal is positioning, not raw shooting speed

What happens after the fight

After you defeat the Giant Beetle, the game shifts from combat to cooperation. The beetle temporarily teams up with you for a fast ride sequence where you control the beetle while using sap and matches under pressure. The story then pushes deeper into the wasp nest, and the beetle does not make it through that assault.

Why the Giant Beetle matters as a character

The Giant Beetle is a practical storytelling beat. It forces Cody and May to stop acting as two solo players and start behaving like a single unit with two roles. If you beat this boss cleanly, later Tree encounters feel simpler because you’ve already learned the core rule of the chapter.