雑魚ざこ

雑魚ざこを釣つるto catch small fish
川かわで雑魚ざこを釣つった。
I caught some small fish in the river.
雑魚扱ざこあつかいするto treat someone as a nobody or small fry
彼かれはいつも雑魚ざこ扱あつかいされている。
He's always treated like a nobody.
雑魚ざこを倒たおすto defeat weak enemies or low-level players
ゲームで雑魚ざこを倒たおしてレベルを上あげた。
I leveled up by defeating weak enemies in the game.
雑魚ざこが湧わくweak players or enemies keep appearing
オンラインゲームでは雑魚ざこが湧わいてくる。
Weak players keep popping up in the online game.

Kanji

小こ魚ざかな sense 1
小魚 is a neutral term for small fish, while 雑魚 often carries a dismissive nuance of being cheap or worthless.
三さん下した sense 2
三下 is an old-fashioned term for a low-ranking underling, while 雑魚 is a broader, more modern word for any unimportant or weak person.
小こ物もの
雑魚 is a more slangy, dismissive way to call someone a weakling or nobody, while 小物 can be used more neutrally to describe low rank or importance.
ハエN1
蠅 as an insult calls someone worthless like a bothersome fly, while 雑魚 mocks someone as an insignificant, low-ranking nobody.

大おお物もの sense 2
大物 means an important or powerful figure, the opposite of 雑魚's sense of an insignificant nobody.
兵つわもの sense 3
強者 describes a skilled or dominant player, contrasting with 雑魚's slang meaning of a weak, inexperienced player.

匹ひきN3sense 1
Small fish like 雑魚 are typically counted with 匹, the counter used for small animals and fish.

雑魚寝ざこね
sleeping bunched together; sleeping in a huddle
雑魚ざこキャラ
background character; nameless minor character · mob; weak enemy; minor enemy

雑魚Usage32%
- ざこ
  gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
  Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
- ざっこ
  out-dated reading
- じゃこ
  gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
じゃこUsage46%
gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
Alternate reading; less common and may be confused with 雑魚 (じゃこ) meaning small fish used in cooking.
ジャコUsage16%
ザコUsage5%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling common in informal writing, especially for the derogatory and slang senses.
ざっこUsage2%
out-dated reading
Obsolete kana variant; not used in modern Japanese.
雑ざ喉こUsage<1%
search-only kanji formgikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
Search-only kanji form; not used in modern writing.

Compound of 雑 (miscellaneous, mixed) and 魚 (fish). The derogatory figurative senses developed from the idea of small, worthless fish.