Title Character
Spider-Man
Supporting Characters
Other Spiders | Spider-Man's Allies | Peter Parker's Family and Relatives | Peter Parker's Various Clones and Duplicates | Peter Parker's Love Interests | Midtown High | Empire State University | The Daily Bugle | Neutral Characters
Rogues Gallery
Central Rogues Gallery | Goblins | A-H | I-Z
Spider-Totemic Deities
Great Weaver
The true mythical "Great Weaver" who became responsible for weaving out the web of life and destiny, which was a role that was originally given to her older sister Shathra. Her current fate is unknown, but she used to reside on Earth-001, which is what became the home of the Inheritors. See her character sheet here.
"Great Weaver"
Alter Ego: The "Great Weaver"
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #42 (August 2002)
A totemic spider-deity connected to Peter Parker through the Web of Life and Destiny, which empowers all the Spider-Totems. According to Ezekiel Sims, it is the being that spins the Web of Life, and is worshipped by the Spider Society, the Spider-Tribe of South America, and the Ashanti tribe of Ghana. It is later revealed that there are several such totemic spider-deities. The Other, also known as Ero, was introduced as a rival totemic deity who opposed Peter's resurrection, but was later retconned into being the true name of the spider-totem who resurrected him. He was later retconned as NOT having been the true Great Weaver, or at least not the original, as it was actually Neith who was responsible for creating the web of life and destiny.
- Big Good: A little bit of both this and Greater-Scope Villain, since without it Peter and the other Spiders might not have gotten their powers, but not all the Spiders are good guys.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: While it may be a godlike entity, it thinks like a spider. As such it isn't adverse to turning Peter or Kaine into monsters should they be in danger of dying.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The Great Weaver was first mentioned in Spider-Man Annual 2001, which featured the Spider Clan.
- The Chooser of the One:
- It chooses who becomes the totemic avatars of the Web of Life and Destiny in almost every single universe, with most of them being incarnations of Peter Parker. By and far its most famous avatar is the Peter Parker of Earth-616 (and by extension his clones as well). Anya Corazón and Cindy Moon are backup avatars in case Peter dies or turns against it.
- The Great Weaver eventually deems Ezekiel Sims unworthy of his pilfered spider powers and sends the Gatekeeper to kill him, though it was willing to let him take Peter's place as a true Spider-Totem.
- Cosmic Entity: It is supposedly the totemic spider deity worshipped by (most notably) the Spider Society, and whose Web of Life and Destiny empowers its totemic avatars.
- Decomposite Character: During JMS' run, the Great Weaver was the spider god who weaves the Web of Life and gave Peter his powers and resurrected him with enhanced powers, and Ero was an antagonistic spider totem that wanted to kill Peter to restore the natural order. Scarlet Spider retconned Ero into being the "Great Weaver" Spider-Totem who resurrected Peter and later Kaine with enhanced powers. The remaining aspects of the Great Weaver - weaving the Web of Life and giving Spider-Totems their powers - were rebranded as the Master Weaver in Spider-Verse.
- Deity of Human Origin: According to the mythology of the Ashanti tribe, before becoming the most powerful Spider-Totem in existence it was the world's first incarnation of Spider-Man, Kwaku Anansi.
- Divine Conflict: Despite being a cosmic entity responsible for empowering every spider-themed hero and villain in the multiverse, it has supernatural enemies that would love to eat it, namely the Inheritor Clan and Shathra, or usurp it, like the Spider-Queen.
- Eldritch Abomination: It's a primordial spider-deity said to be responsible for the creation of a metaphysical web spanning the multiverse, and its astral form is a half-buried vaguely spider-shaped green mass embedded with light-green tentacles. Even Spider-Man - who is not only one of the smartest people in the Marvel Universe, but one of its avatars - couldn't wrap his head around what he was looking at when he accidentally ran into it. It's also manifested in spider-like and humanoid forms.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: It has appeared as a bespeckled black man in a suit◊ and a an African shaman◊.
- Get Out!: Booted Spidey back to Earth when he bumped into it in the Astral Plane during the Shade arc.
- Humanoid Abomination: It appeared to Peter in a dream as a monstrous version of Spider-Man◊.
- I Have Many Names: Spider-Man knows it as the Great Weaver, though it - or related entities - is also called the Other and the Gatekeeper.
- Physical God: Before the retcons, it was indicated to be the master and progenitor of the Spider-Totems.
- Retcon: Kaine's run as the Scarlet Spider conglomerated aspects of the Great Weaver with Ero to create the Other, while the remainder were repackaged as the Master Weaver in Spider-Verse.
- He was also later retconned as not being the true great weaver, or at least not the original, with the introduction of Neith many years later.
- The Rival: Its wasp equivalent, Shathra, and the Sisterhood of the Wasp. An annual also had a tribe of its worshippers be ousted from their temple and nearly exterminated by a tribe that worshipped a snake deity (possibly Set).
- Super-Empowering: As its moniker suggests, it is the spider-deity that spins the Web of Life and Destiny, the supernatural force that empowers spider-themed heroes and villains across the multiverse.
- There Can Be Only One: It sent (or manifested as) the Gatekeeper to assassinate Ezekiel, though it was willing to kill Peter in his place.
- Top God: Deities like Marvel Fairy Tales' Kwaku Anansi and Ai Apaec are little more than totemic avatars of its power. Subverted later on when Neith was revealed to be the true Great Weaver, or at least the original Great Weaver. Neith created the Spiders to travers and fix the Web of Life and Destiny after she was done creating it. Leaving the work and responsibility to the Spiders.
- That being said. Despite the retcons made, Spider-Verse Unlimited (2022) firmly established that Anansi is still the Top God among the Spiders, as he’s the one in charge.
Master Weaver
Alter Ego: Karn
First Appearance: Superior Spider-Man #33 (November 2014)
A being at the centre of the Web of Life and Destiny, the Master Weaver's duty is to maintain and spin the Great Web that powers all of the Marvel Multiverse's spider-people. Captured and enslaved by the Inheritors, the Master Weaver was forced to aid them in their attempted genocide of the totemic spider deities connected to the Web. The Master Weaver's identity is revealed to be the future self of the Inheritor Karn, and while Cindy Moon contemplates taking his place after he is murdered by Otto Octavius, Karn's younger self decides to trap himself in a time loop in order to atone for his own actions.
- Captured Super-Entity: He was held prisoner by the Inheritor Clan, who use his power to travel from universe to universe hunting the totemic avatars. Those must be some tough handcuffs they've stuck on him.
- Cool Mask: He wears a strange, gimp-like mask with six glowing red eye-like lenses.
- Kill the God: The Superior Spider-Man claws it, leading to A Truce While We Gawk.Morlun: That was the Weaver of—of—of—the Web of Life and Destiny. You madman! Do you know what you've done?! All of history! Our future! The nature of reality itself!
- Legacy Character: Master Weaver is just the title of the Spider-Totem who oversees the Web of Life and Destiny, and according to an arcane dagger Anya Corazón translates any totemic avatar can assume the position. After Karn's death, Spider-Zero takes up the position in Spider-Verse Vol. 3.
- My Future Self and Me: Karn had several interactions with his past self, the first of which resulted in the death of the matriarch of the Inheritors and his exile.
- Phlebotinum Rebel: Ejects Morlun from the Newspaper Comic Spider-Man's world and tells him it was temporally unstable. Morlun buys this, having been completely thrown for a loop by Comic-Book Time.
- Reality Warper: He can alter the very fabric of reality itself by snapping or otherwise altering the strands of the Great Web.
- Spider Tank: The spider-legged golden globe encapsulating the lower half of his body. Where it came from and who built it is a mystery, as while it can only be opened by the prongs of Karn's bident, which he built as a child, he inherited it from his future self.
- Stable Time Loop: By taking over the position of Master Weaver from his future self, Karn traps himself in a time loop wherein he is destined to be killed by Otto Octavius and succeeded by his past self. This is broken in Spider-Geddon when the Master Weaver is killed by his sister Verna.
- Sudden Name Change: The name Master Weaver is most-likely derived from the Great Weaver above, but other than spinning the Web of Life they have no other similarities.
The Other
Notable Aliases: Ero, The Great Weaver, Miss Arrow
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #527 (February, 2006) note Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4 (March, 2006) note ; Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11 (October, 2006) note
- "Are you the man who dreamed of being a spider? Or the spider who dreamed of being a man? Are you the one... or are you the Other?"
A mysterious entity that first appeared following Peter's resurrection in The Other, taking the form of a swarm of pirate spiders in the shape of a female human. Ero claimed to be opposed to Peter's "violation of the natural order" and tried to kill him, but was forced to retreat. It later returned in human form as "Miss Arrow" and tried to reproduce using Flash Thompson as a host. During a final confrontation, it was killed by Spider-Man, but was resurrected by Mephisto's meddling with the timestream. Following Kaine's death at the fangs of the Lobos siblings, it appeared before him and revealed itself to have been the entity that resurrected and empowered Peter during The Other, offering Kaine the same deal as it had Peter.
- Animalistic Abomination: It is an interdimensional totemic spider-god, and one of its forms is a gigantic spider-like monster.
- Armor-Piercing Question: The above quote, which it posed to Peter while berating him for neglecting the spider side of himself. It later paraphrased this conversation when offering Kaine its powers.
- Back from the Dead: Mephisto's temporal meddling ensured the events of The Other occurred differently, with Peter rejecting The Other, so it chooses Kaine as its host instead.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: The Carrion virus tried to possess Kaine, but was kicked out by the Other.Kaine: Carrion... I can feel him trying to get inside my head... which is bad news for him... because I've already got a monster in there, and it doesn't take kindly to being attacked.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Its preferred manifestation is as a a massive spider-monster◊.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: It manifests venomous stingers from its wrists as Miss Arrow, and grants its hosts the same ability.
- Body of Bodies: As Ero she is composed of thousands of pirate spiders.
- Call-Back: In Scarlet Spider #14 she references the Great Weaver's question to Peter in ''The Other'.Great Weaver: [to Peter] Are you the man who dreamed of being a spider? Or the spider who dreamed of being a man?Ero: [to Kaine] Unlike Parker, you're not a man who dreams of being a spider. You're a spider who dreams of being a man.
- Cosmic Chess Game: Ms. Arrow is annoyed when the original Mysterio, who had just come back from the dead, mentions that he knows what she really is, and that it would be in her best interest to keep both of their bosses happy.
- Cosmic Entity: The Other is a cosmic spider-entity akin to or a part of the Great Weaver, and one of the major players of the Web of Life.
- Distaff Counterpart: Similar to the Thousand, even though he was just a superpowered human and she is a supernatural entity. Both are connected to the spider that bit Peter, their true forms are a colony of spiders, and when the swarm is wiped out the sole survivor is killed by being stepped on. Also along with being dark skinned and blonde she says this is to contrast Peter being male.
- Eaten Alive: By a flock of birds, though the last spider is crushed by Peter. This is undone by One More Day.
- Eating the Enemy: Ate Morlun and Shathra, two of its supernatural enemies. Both later returned seeking revenge. When indwelling Kaine, it dismisses everything around him as "Prey."
- Enemy Without: Following the events of The Other, Ero manifests as a humanoid swarm of pirate spiders and tries to kill Peter in order to see if he is worthy of receiving its powers.
- Evil Counterpart: Describes itself as being one to the resurrected Peter, despite being revealed as the one who resurrected him to begin with.
- Giant Spider: She is a manifestation of the Other, which was the giant spider that appeared before Peter during The Other arc, and assumes this form again when resurrecting Kaine the second time.
- Greek Chorus: Ms. Arrow is a member of the "Geek Chorus" in the early version of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and is the one who shoehorned in Swiss Miss.
- Humanity Ensues: As Ero, it took on human form as "Miss Arrow" to spy on Peter.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Ate Peter's shed skin from The Other incident to assume human form.
- Just Desserts: Pre-retcon, she's eaten by a flock of birds.
- Killed Off for Real: Its manifestation as Ero was killed by Spider-Man, and Morlun killed it at the end of Spider-Verse — with the Master Weaver indicating its resurrection was impossible. Later Subverted when it is revealed to still be alive, choosing The Peter Parker of Earth-982 as its next host.
- Lovecraftian Superpower: It bestows its reciprocals with venomous stingers, fangs, and other monstrous abilities.
- Meaningful Name: The genus of pirate spider that comprises its body is Ero, and it assumes the alias of "Miss Arrow".
- Monster Is a Mommy: Wanted to mate with Flash Thompson so that he would "give birth" to her offspring.
- Monstrous Humanoid: When it takes over, its hosts transform into humanoid spider-monsters. One of its preferred forms when appearing as itself is a Man-Spider-like creature.
- Physical God: It is one of the totemic spider deities who weaves the Web of Life and Destiny that holds the multiverse together. It gave Peter his enhanced powers and resurrected him after Morlun killed him, later doing the same for Kaine.
- Poke in the Third Eye: When Aracely tries to read Kaine's mind, the Other attacks her and chases her out.
- Retcon:
- During J. Michael Straczynski's run, Ezekiel Sims tells Spider-Man that he got his powers from a totemic spider-deity called the Great Weaver, who spins a mystical force called the "Web of Life" that gives all the spider-themed heroes and villains their powers. Following Peter's final battle with Morlun, the Great Weaver resurrected him with augmented spider-powers. A second totemic spider-entity called Ero didn't like this and wanted to restore the natural order by killing Peter. Ero later returned in human form, calling herself "Miss Arrow", and tried to reproduce using Flash Thompson's pent up tantric energy before being killed by Spider-Man. After One More Day, Peter no longer possessed his augmented powers, which were instead given to Kaine in Spider-Island. Scarlet Spider Vol 2 #14 and Spider-Verse retconned things further by taking aspects of JMS' Great Weaver - resurrecting its avatar and giving them enhanced powers - and combining them with Ero to make "the Other"; and repackaging the rest of the Great Weaver's aspects as the "Master Weaver", who spins the Web of Life and Destiny and empowers most spider-themed heroes and villains.
- In The Other, Peter embraced his Inner Spider and received enhanced powers. Mephisto retconned events so that Peter, afraid of what he would become, ultimately rejected The Other and caused it to seek out Kaine instead.
- Secret Test of Character: Scarlet Spider and Spider-Verse reveal that Ero is actually a cosmic entity and manifestation of the Other, implying that its attacks on Peter were to see if he could handle and was worthy of his enhanced powers.
- Spider Swarm: Ero is composed of thousands of spiders that possess a hive mind.
- Super-Empowering: It grants its host augmented spider-powers, including venomous wrist-stingers and the ability to communicate with spiders.
- Superpowered Evil Side: The Other is an entity that is essentially the totemic embodiment of the Spider side of the totem's powers, i.e. his predatory instincts and spider-powers, and when it takes over things tend to get a little hairy... and fangy... with the occasional extra eyes and legs. Just ask Morlun and the Lobos siblings.The Other: Prey.
- To the Pain: When Betty Brant thwarts Ero's attempt to impregnate Flash Thompson, she promises to make her spend the rest of her remaining days in terror.
- The Worm That Walks: Like the Gatekeeper, when it first appeared it was composed of thousands of pirate spiders in a humanoid conglomeration.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: She tries to implant an egg sac in Flash Thompson to take advantage of his bottled up tantric energy. When Spider-Man kiboshes that plan, she decides to implant it in him instead, if only to kill him. Following the retcon, her reasons for wanting to do this become unclear.
- Yandere: As Miss Arrow, it menaced Flash Thompson's female friends in an effort to keep his tantric energy all to himself, and was going to kill Debra Whitman when she and Flash got into an argument over Spider-Man.
- You No Take Candle: When it first manifested, its speech was broken and stilted. As Miss Arrow and when it manifests in Peter's and Kaine's minds, it's far more eloquent.
Gatekeeper
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #506 (June 2004)
Following the defeat of Shathra, Ezekiel Sims warned Peter that a new supernatural opponent, the Gatekeeper, was coming to kill him, and tried to convince him to return to the Great Weaver's temple in Ghana. The Gatekeeper manifested as a swarm of spiders in the shape of a human form, easily defeating Peter, and explained to him why he had been chosen as a totemic avatar. It explained that Ezekiel had misappropriated and misused his powers, and therefore been deemed unworthy of them. Ezekiel abducted Peter and took him to the Great Weaver's temple, explaining that the Gatekeeper would only let one of them live. He drugs Peter and summons the Gatekeeper, but just as it's about to eat Peter has a change of heart and attacks. The Gatekeeper grabs Ezekiel and pulls him into the darkness, and hasn't been seen since.
- Animalistic Abomination: In the Great Weaver's temple, it manifested in the form of a huge black spider-monster with glowing red eyes and tentacles for legs when summoned by Ezekiel.
- Body of Bodies: When it appears in New York, it assembles a body out of a swarm of spiders.
- The Chooser of the One: It deemed Ezekiel unworthy of his spider-powers, and would only allow either him or Peter to live.
- Cosmic Entity: It is a totemic entity uncannily similar to the Other's Ero form. Whether they were meant to be related or one-and-the-same is unknown.
- Time Abyss: Ezekiel says he's over a thousand years old, and if he's anything like the other Spider-Totems, he's older than Earth-616 itself.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite being a Spider-Totem, it hasn't been seen since the "Book of Ezekiel" arc and wasn't even mentioned in Spider-Verse.
- The Worm That Walks: When it appeared in New York looking for Ezekiel, it manifested a humanoid body out of a huge swarm of spiders.
The Radioactive Spider
Radioactive Spider
Notable Aliases: Goddess
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)
A spider got caught in a radiation test at a public exhibition demonstrating the safe handling of nuclear laboratory waste materials, sponsored by the General Techtronics Corporation. The radiation, however, was slowly killing it. Before it died it bit a student from Midtown High named of Peter Parker. The spider's venom caused changes to Peter's DNA that gave him certain abilities of a spider, such as the proportionate strength and agility along with the ability to climb on any surface. He could now react to danger quickly with a "spider-sense".
The spider also had time to bite another person following Peter: Cindy Moon, who got the same abilities as Spider-Man. She later took up the identity of Silk.
A student by the name of Carl King, who witnessed Peter being bitten and connected it with the appearance of Spider-Man, ate the spider hoping to gain the same powers of Spider-Man. His body began to break down over time, mutating him into a swarm of thousand spiders sharing a single consciousness.
Due to having been turned into a Gamma mutate, the spider resurrected, attaining sentience and the ability to speak due to having been affected by Peter and Cindy's human DNA. The radiation emitted by the Isotope Genome Accelerator also caused her to split in two, with her clone being the spider that was eaten by Carl King. Capable of increasing her size to massive proportions, she was inspired by Spider-Man and Silk and set out to become a superhero under the name "Goddess" - which had been given to her by a researcher studying her.
- Actually a Doombot: To explain her resurrection, Marvel's Voices said her original exposure to radiation caused her to split into two, explaining that Carl King ate the duplicate.
- Artistic License – Arachnids: In her debut appearance in Spider-Man's origin story, she is mistakenly refered to as an insect by the narrator, when in fact spiders are arachnids.
- Death by Origin Story: She originally died from radiation poisoning after giving Peter his powers.
- Disposable Superhero Maker: It originally died shortly after biting Peter, it was later retconned that it bit Silk and was eaten by Carl King, giving them powers also.
- Doing in the Scientist:
- The Fever storyline retcons her as one of the Arachnix spider demons.
- Ezekiel Sims said the spider was a manifestation of spider god.
- Merger of Souls: She tries to fuse her spirit with Peter's in the Fever mini-series.
- Nuclear Mutant: Zig-Zagged. The spider being radioactive gave Peter superpowers but she realistically died of radiation poisoning. She later got resurrected with human abilities thanks to gamma radiation.
- Small Role, Big Impact: The spider has a relatively small presence, but she is indirectly the catalyst of all Spider-Man stories by being who gives Peter Parker his spider powers in his origin story.
- Spider-Man Send-Up: She becomes an inversion of Spider-Man in Marvel's Voices by gaining human size and intelligence from biting Spider-Man.
- Super-Empowering: She bit Peter Parker and Cindy Moon and gave them their powers.
- Uplifted Animal: Gained human intelligence in Marvel's Voices after biting Peter and Cindy.
Spider Characters
Ai Apaec
Alter Ego: Ai Apaec
Notable Aliases: The Decapitator, Dark Spider-Man
First Appearance: Osborn #1 note ; New Avengers Vol 2 #18 note
Ai Apaec is a Peruvian spider-god, transformed into a dark version of Spider-Man by Norman Osborn.
- The Big Guy: He was the biggest of the inmates freed by Norman Osborn.
- Evil Counterpart: Forcefully turned into one of Spider-Man.
- Fangs Are Evil: He had four prominent fangs.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: Since his monstrous, Spider People form wouldn't fly very well with the public, Norman Osborn and HAMMER modified him so he looked much friendlier and less inhuman.
- Humanoid Abomination: He may look like a six-armed Spider-Man, but he's something much worse.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: His humanoid form has six arms.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: He was known as The Decapitator back in South America.
- Spider People: Looked like a human with his lower body being a huge spider, plus his hair were snakes.
- Squashed Flat: Accidentally stepped on by Toxie Doxie when he was shrunken.
Araña/Spider-Girl
Alter Ego: Anya Sophia Corazón
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy Vol. 2 #1 (August, 2004)
Anya Corazón, also known under the alias Spider-Girl and formerly Araña, is a Marvel Comics superheroine. She's introduced into Marvel Universe in Amazing Fantasy Vol. 2 #1 (August 2004) and is created by Fiona Avery and Mark Brooks.
While not starting out as a member of the Spider-Family, Anya was a member of the mystical part of the Spider Society and usually acted as their hunter. However, a crossover with Spider-Man eventually made her renounce her allegiance and pursue her own path.
She was amongst the Pro-Registration heroes in the Civil War, acting as Ms. Marvel's Tagalong Kid, and while questioning her worst moments, she continued to be on Carol's side, the two helping each other out, despite her father's misgivings. Carol once saved her from the mind control of Puppet Master, solidifying their relations.
Like the rest of the Spider-Family, she wasn't heard from any more until Grim Hunt, where luckily for her, Araña managed to survive the events and helped Spider-Man defeat Kraven. In the aftermath, she was handpicked by Julia Carpenter as the successor of the Arachne suit and becomes Spider-Girl as Julia succeeds the late Madame Web.
Her own series as Araña is titled as The Heart of the Spider. The series has 12 issues and was published from 2005 to 2006. As Spider-Girl, her series has eight issues, plus a three issue tie-in with the Spider-Island event, and was published in 2011.
Anya later becomes part of the new class of students when the Avengers Academy moves to the former headquarters of the West Coast Avengers, though she later returned to New York, becoming Spider-Woman's pupil, and played a key role in Spider-Verse. In the aftermath of the conflict, she choose to accompany Spider-UK (Billy Braddock), whose reality had been destroyed by an Incursion, to stay in the Loomworld, the Inheritors' former base, and form the "Warriors of the Great Web", in order use the Web of Life and Destiny to reach out any universe in need of a Spider-Man. Anya returns to prominence as a member of the multiversal Web Warriors team, as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative.
Anya appears on Marvel's Spider-Man, alongside Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Gwen Stacy.
For other superheroine named Spider-Girl, Mayday Parker from Marvel Comics 2 reality, see Spider-Girl.
Tropes
- Accidental Murder: Her father was seemingly in the middle of a Red Hulk rampage and was accidentally killed by him, though it's revealed that her father was actually poisoned at the same time the Red Hulk was, by a Nebulous Evil Organisation called "Raven" who thought Gilberto was getting a bit too close to their tracks, the poison caused the Red Hulk to rage and also caused his heart to fail, his presumably dead body was then crushed by falling rubble as Red Hulk proceeded to rampage.
- Action Girl: Aside from having superpowers, Anya is capable fighter and skilled gymnast.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: Anya is Hispanic. All other Spider-Ladies before her are Caucasian.
- Almost Kiss: At the Avengers Academy prom, she almost had one with Reptil before being interrupted by a jealous Hardball.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Spiders, of course.
- Anime Hair: During her time as Araña, she kept her hair tied back in a short, spiky ponytail. She's since grown it out a lot longer.
- The Apprentice: She had a master-student dynamic with Miguel, Carol Danvers, Jessica Drew, and William Braddock, being a younger, enthusiastic hero who's almost fanatically dedicated to them and the causes they espouse.
- Arch-Enemy: Amun.
- Badass Longcoat: Rarely wears one, but here◊. Also overlaps with In the Hood. She soon eschews it after Tony criticizes how it provides four points for an enemy to grab her by, noting she shouldn't take practical fashion advice from Wolverine.
- Bilingual Bonus: Araña is the Spanish word for spider. Anya is Hispanic (Mexican-Puerto Rican, specifically).
- Brainy Brunette: Aside from inventing her own Spider-like Bola, she also practices computer hacking in her free time.
- Brought Down to Badass: Even after temporarily losing her powers, she retains her skills and is still a strong fighter.
- Building Swing: With grappling-hook-like equipment as Araña, and with her own webbing as Spider-Girl.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Took a break from crime fighting during the "Civil War" arc. But someone tried to rob the restaurant she worked at during her shift and a couple superheroes from the pro registration side(Miss Marvel and Wonder Man), who happened to be taking a lunch break, saw Anya's carapace come out. Literal in that they lost track of Araña in the scuffle but later showed up at Anya's house while she and Gil were celebrating her birthday.
- Chest Insignia: Anya has had a spider symbol on all her costumes, even on her Araña◊'s Civvie Spandex.
- Child Soldiers: She was technically one for Carol during Civil War (2006), which even Tony Stark briefly spoke against it and only reluctantly agreed as long as Carol supervised her.
- The Chosen One: It was stated in a What If? story that if Peter Parker is killed or did a Face–Heel Turn, Anya would have to become the new "Web of Life" Champion, which would lead to...
- Civvie Spandex: When she was Araña, sans the exoskeleton, her costume was comprised of an assortment street clothes.
- Continuity Nod: During the "Civil War" arc, she got a job at a restaurant called "Chicken Cow", a reference to a giant monster that fought the Incredible Hulk for days in an earlier Spider-man comic.
- Crapsack World / World of Badass: Discussed Trope. This◊ is essentially what Spidey told her about the Marvel Universe in general.
- The Cowl: In Marvel Comics 2's Spider-Girl, Anya is this in comparison to Mayday, who is more of The Cape.
- Curbstomp Battle: On the receiving end of one from Doomsdayman. Despite not being fully healed from it, Araña dealt one out to Arachne, who tried to ambush her as she was leaving work early after quitting. Under Puppet Master's control she also makes short work of Machine Man but proves ineffective against Sleepwalker.
- Daddy's Girl: Since her mom has been long dead, so she's naturally this towards her father, until he's killed.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Her costume is mostly black, though she is one of the heroes.
- Dating Catwoman: Her Marvel Comics 2 counterpart and Black Tarantula (Fabian LaMuerto) had lots of sexual tension. Then it was revealed they used to have a thing. Then they started living together. In Spectacular, Fabian proposed.
- Dead Serious: Brutally done to her father.
- Dead Sidekick: Her older sidekick Miguel the mage got killed.
- Discard and Draw: After losing her initial set of powers along with the Hunter Spirit, she spends a brief stint as a Badass Normal. During Spider-Island, she contracts the Spider-Virus, gaining powers similar to the ones Spider-Man acquired after his encounter with the Queen, and keeps them even after being exposed to the cure.
- Distaff Counterpart: To Spider-Man, being a hero with arachnid-themed superpowers.
- Expy: Her original exoskeleton is generally modeled after Kamen Rider.
- Empowered Badass Normal: She has a new set of spider-powers with the outbreak of Spider-Island. She now has speed, strength, camouflage and Peter's organic web shooters from The Other, truly making her Spider-Girl. Unlike most, she keeps these powers after the storyline.
- Enemy Mine: With The Kingpin and Hobgoblin (Phil Urich) during Spider-Island.
- Epic Flail: She used to wield a pair of bolas.
- Friendly Enemy: Araña developed a friendship of sorts with the Sisterhood of the Wasp's assassin Amun, after saving his life from a gunman. He hasn't been seen since The Hunter Revealed storyline, however.
- The Fundamentalist: May Parker describes Anya as being a little too zealous in following Spider-UK, which is why May would rather hang out with the older but more grounded Gwen Stacy.
- Future Badass/Cynical Big Sister Mentor: In Spider-Girl she mentors May Parker, and later tries to pull a Grand Theft Me on her.
- Guile Heroine: Has demonstrated traces of this now that she has lost her powers, in using her civilian clothes as a trap to lure out Kraven's daughter into a one on one fight as opposed to letting herself be ambushed.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: Formerly as Araña when she was incapable to produce her own webbing, she invented multipurpose spider-like grappling hooks, discs about the size of a palm, attached to cords; able to remotely grip objects, and act as both weapons (ranged or melee) and in a function similar to that of Spider-Man's web-lines. The multipurpose is so creative she can detach the cord at any length to use as a traditional bola or grappling hook for others.
- Heroic BSoD: After her father's death she lapses into depression and wanting revenge.
- Hunter of Monsters: Succeeded her mother as the Hunter of the Spider-Society.
- I Am Not Shazam: It was a running joke for her to be mistakenly referred to as "Spider-Girl" by numerous characters. Even in the face of her impending execution, she angrily tells her captors "The name's Araña," after they take the gag off her mouth in order to let her give her last words to the camera. By late 2010, she decided to just embrace the name.
- I Choose to Stay: In the end of Spider-Verse, Anya chooses to stay on Loomworld with Karn and Spider-UK to help in repairing the Web of Life, stating that there's way too many Spider-females back home and she can do way more on Loomworld.
- I Just Want to Be Special: After losing her powers (and before she got new ones), Anya had some doubts about her usefulness as a costumed hero. One particular moment was when she became depressed because she thought that if she had retained her old powers, maybe she could have prevented Rikki Barnes' death.
- Innocently Insensitive: While talking to Black Widow:Anya: You are named for the spider, right? And not, like, a really sad lady who lost her—
Natasha: [frowned] I'm named for the spider, yes. - It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Her first mission would be take down Peter Parker (if he became evil), and after that take up the role of Spider-Man.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Miss Marvel had convinced Anya to sign the registration act, Gil's protest that she shouldn't have to and ridiculousness of not being able to see his own daughter if she had refused attend S.H.I.E.L.D's training sessions were perfectly rational. Keep in mind Ms. Marvel was supposed to be a proregistration book. Gil continued to protest the initiative, Ms. Marvel and S.H.I.E.L.D. in general, though it was related to something that happened to Anya every time.
- Kid Sidekick: Anya ended up over her head after being taken under Miss Marvel's wing so it did not last.
- Legacy Character: Her mother was apparently one of many Hunters in the Spider-Society and Anya briefly succeeded her as one. Later Julia Carpenter gave her the Spider-Woman costume, but she chose to keep her old nickname. Eventually, she changed her alias to Spider-Girl, if only because because everyone kept calling her that.
- Let's You and Him Fight: When she thinks Red Hulk killed her father she went after him to take revenge. They wound up teaming up to take out the real culprits.
- Mistaken Identity: She was believed by Ezekiel Sims' WebCorps to be their foretold champion and host to the source of their magic, a hunter spirit. It turned out their real chosen one, Nina Smith, was already in the group and the hunter only bonded with Anya by mistake. Nina was deemed unworthy after failing the proper ritual, which was rigged by Miguel since the hunter's host was also foretold to die in battle. After Anya is separated from the hunter it goes to the proper host, copies her carapace, and they attack her.
- Mood Whiplash: The first issue of her Spider-Girl series plays like a Spiritual Successor to lighthearted teen superhero like Young Justice. Then on the last page her father is killed. The second issue is all about her grieving.
- Most Common Super Power: Most often averted, as Anya is still a teenaged high school student and usually drawn with an athletic build and fairly flat chest. However, this trope is sometimes played straight Depending on the Artist, as seen in these◊ covers◊.
- Named by Democracy: Numerous people kept calling her "Spider-Girl" no matter how many times she corrected them. The codename she chose for herself in the Web Corps was "Araña" and even after she got kicked out she kept it, but Anya eventually relented and stopped correcting people when she realized it wasn't working.
- Noodle Incident: Araña was unable to produce webbing, but would sometimes wake up with her room covered in spider webs. How or why this happened was never revealed.
- Not Now, Kiddo: This is everyone's response to her attempts at getting help from other heroes during both Spider-Island and Inhumanity. Although we can understand this attitude coming from the other Avengers (even Spider-Man, since it's Doc Ock inside) in the latter, the fact that even Carol Danvers treats her this way (in both storylines, no less) is somewhat sad.
- Older Sidekick: Formerly she had Miguel the mage and liked to assert her superiority over him since her hunter spirit was the source of his magic. Miguel is now a Dead Sidekick.
- Out of Focus: Following the Brand New Day Soft Reboot, there was a concerted effort to position Anya as the premier Legacy Character in the Spider-Man line. She was given a major role in the Grim Hunt storyline, made a member of the Young Allies (Marvel's attempt at a new Teen Teem), and was eventually given a new costume & official took on the Spider-Girl mantle. Her ongoing unfortunately ended up underperforming and got cancelled after 8 issues. To make matters worst new younger characters like Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen became breakaway successes and became the new focus for the Spider-Office.
- Ordinary High-School Student: She started off as a high school student before being roped into the Spider Society.
- Parental Abandonment: Originally only lacked a mother, but Paul Tobin's first order of business as he took the character over was to kill her loving dad.
- Pink Is for Sissies: In Amazing Fantasy, Miguel The Mage has this reaction when Anya shows up to work with a pink vespa.
- Poisonous Person: Anya Corazón Issue #7: Lady Chi of Clan Fei, a Triad crimelord, has poisonous skin. Her father doesn't share the power but he is immune, making him the only person that can safely touch her.
- Powered Armor: Formerly as Araña, she could summon Carapace, a blue spider-like exoskeleton around her body that emanates from the tattoo on her upper right arm, enhancing her abilities and protecting her from damage. She could control the thickness, coverage, and shape of the carapace. At its thickest, it is resistant to small firearms.
- Power Incontinence: Her carapace would involuntarily retract while she had the flu. Nothing ever came of it though.
- Power Tattoo: Formerly her tattoo could project a chitinous armored carapace and also draw it back in when Anya didn't want it around, but this ability was lost after Doomsday Man ripped the carapace from Anya's body. A story showcased in Marvel Team-Up had Terror gain all of her powers when he assimilated the tattooed arm, which had been blown off when Anya was killed in an explosion.Terror: What? Are you guys still hung up over this? The poor girl wasn't using it! I couldn't just let it go to waste! Besides, the magic armored crap that comes out of this tattoo thing has come in handy.Terror: I am going to weep the day this arm of Araña's rots so much that I have to replace it. And I don't even have working tear ducts!
- Progressively Prettier: As Araña she could have been mistaken as a boy due to her rather petite body, Civvie Spandex costume, and short hair. As Spider-Girl she has longer hair in a Tomboyish Ponytail, a form-fitting body glove costume, and more athletic body.
- Retcon:
- The position of her old tattoo was changed from a Spider-like tattoo on her right shoulder to a big Spider-like tattoo on her back. It's currently on her left arm.
- Current comics seem to have forgotten she lost her original powers and that her current set are a result of her being infected with the Spider-Queen's venom.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: In her time as Spider-Girl, most of her antagonists were minor Spider-Man villains, like the Ana Kravinoff, Screwball or Hobgoblin.
- Secret Identity: Her identity was revealed during Civil War, but when she became Spider-Girl, her identity became secret again. This is a little subverted. A lot of people know her true identity because Anya is really careless at keeping her identity as a secret, often tweeting her whole life, putting her costume on in open bright streets and arriving her apartment and staying inside with the costume on. Her friend Rocky and The Kingpin have pointed out how easy was for them to find out her true identity.
- Sensual Spandex: Her costume as Spider-Girl, contrasting her Civvie Spandex costume as Araña.
- Spider-Sense: Her carapace would come out involuntarily in responses to danger (which caused her classmates in gym to accuse her of hiding some kind of metal weapon), with predictable results. It would even pop up in response to things she could not see coming (such as beverages to the back of her head).
- Suddenly Fluent in Gibberish: Turns out she can read the otherwise unintelligible script the Master Weaver's scrolls are written in, due to her powers being tied to a cult that worships Spider-Totems.
- Super Drowning Skills: If a part of Anya's carapace was submerged the thing would tighten and suffocate her. It does not quite count as a Weaksauce Weakness since she could just retract it and swim normally if needed but was a potential disadvantage in certain areas.
- Superpowered Evil Side: When she actually drew on the hunter spirit, she became stronger, faster, and so on. She also became much more willing to kill her enemies until she suppressed it again.
- Super-Speed: Amun was faster than her unless she drew on the hunter spirit.
- Sword and Sorcerer: With Miguel it was Bolas and Mage.
- The Symbiote: Though of a different kind than Venom and Co. She was bonded to a hunter spirit and could project a blue carapace that protected her from dangers. Turns out the carapace did not come from the hunter spirit but after she was forcibly separated from it, it acquired a new host in Nina Smith, copied the carapace, and the two of them then tried to kill her. Sound familiar?
- Tears of Fear: When she was imprisoned during the Grim Hunt.
- Too Happy to Live: Her father was a nurturing, caring, and accepting parent who while concerned and apprehensive, still did his best to understand his daughter's need to do good with the abilities she'd trained so dedicatedly. So naturally, first order of business in her new series was to kill him.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Anya's old hunter spirit had several magical abilities, but neither it nor she could use them. It was able to amplify Anya's physical abilities(and bloodlust) however.
- Wall Crawl: Back when she had powers. The Marvel handbook actually said she couldn't despite her frequently demonstrating otherwise on panel. She became able to do it again with a new set of spider-powers.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Anya developed feelings for Avengers Academy's Reptil and the feeling seemed to be mutual to the point that Reptil changed back to his normal young body (he had decided to keep the body of an older and more powerful version of himself) just because Anya asked him to in a prom where they almost kissed. The relationship was never mentioned again, even when Anya joined the Academy herself some time later (she wasn't featured in stories of the Academy at all while Reptil started pursuing other relationships).
Ezekiel Sims
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #30 (June 2001)
- "This is the five million dollar question. I'm about to yank your chain like nobody else ever has before, and nobody else ever will again. So listen carefully. Did the radiation enable the spider to give you these powers? Or was the spider trying to give you those powers before the radiation killed it? Which came first? The radiation? Or the power? The chicken or the egg or the power?"
A rich businessman with powers similar to Spider-Man
- Alternate Self: It's revealed that Old Man Spider-Man from Earth-4 is Ezekiel from a universe where Morlun killed Peter. Tragically, this is only revealed after Daemos snaps his neck.
- Awesome by Analysis: Claims he deduced Spider-Man's identity by hiring PIs - including Felicia Hardy - and then piecing together the scraps of evidence they collected. It's later revealed he knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man right from the start and has been keeping tabs on him throughout his superhero career.
- Barefoot Sage: Has a penchant for holding philosophical conversations while walking on buildings' roofs and walls without shoes.
- Big Damn Heroes: Saved Peter from Morlun, nearly at the cost of his own life.
- Big Good: A minor example: moments of selfishness aside, Zeke has done a lot of work to organize the protection of the Spider-Totems of Earth-616 from Morlun and others like him. He preceded Araña's mother as a hunter of the Spider-Society and founded a number of companies — most notably WebCorps — to act as fronts for it. He has been keeping tabs on the various individuals connected to the Web of Life, such as Peter Parker and Cindy Moon, for years.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Mild example. He was a founder of WebCorps, tying both him and Spider-Man in with Araña. However, he used his powers for personal gain.
- Doing in the Scientist: Tries to do this by telling Peter that his powers - along with those of other spider-themed superheroes and villains - come from a totemic spider deity called the Great Weaver and a mystic force called the Web of Life instead of radiation. Neither option is mutually exclusive in Peter's case.
- Doom Magnet: It's revealed that Morlun, Shathra, and the Gatekeeper weren't after Peter, they were after Ezekiel due to the Spider-Totems deeming him unworthy of his powers.note
- Enlightened Antagonist: He serves as a sort of a spiritual mentor for Spider-Man, but nonetheless, when the Gatekeeper comes for him, he tries to sacrifice Peter in order to survive. However, he has a last-moment change of heart, and sacrifices himself instead, saving Peter at the cost of his life.
- Fed to the Beast: He tries to do this to Peter Parker in order to become Earth-616's primary spider totemic avatar, taking him to the Spider Totems' temple in Ghana and summoning one of them to devour him. He has a change of heart and sacrifices himself so that Peter can survive.
- Harbinger of Impending Doom: Shows up out of the blue telling Peter his powers are supernatural in origin and that he is being hunted by a cannibalistic being with a taste for totemic avatars.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: He saved Peter from Morlun and initially tried to take him into protective custody. When the Gatekeeper decreed that he was unworthy of being a Spider-Totem and had to die, Ezekiel tried to sacrifice Peter to become a true Spider-Totem himself. He had a change of heart at the last moment, leading to...
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices himself to save Peter from the Gatekeeper.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Why he acquired spider powers in the first place, and why he tried to sacrifice Peter.
- Killed Off for Real: He seemingly reappeared during the Grim Hunt arc telling Spider-Man to warn every spider-themed hero and villain about the Kravinoff family's vendetta, but it was really the Chameleon in disguise tricking Peter into walking into a trap.
- The Mentor: Ezekiel is an older mentor who enlightens his younger pupil to the supernatural aspects of his powers and then dies, and is revealed to be a member of an ancient order of warriors possessing similar powers.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After leaving Peter to die, his Spider-Sense synchronizes with Peter's and he realizes that while he wanted to be a hero all his life, he had only used his ill-gained powers illicitly, whereas Peter had used his own powers altruistically, prompting a Heel Realization and a Heroic Sacrifice.
- Not Quite Dead: Seemingly died fighting Morlun, but was later revealed to have survived.
- Power at a Price: Possesses the same powers as Peter, but is slightly weaker (i.e. He can lift 9 tons compared to Peter's 10) due to acquiring them illegitimately. The Great Weaver ultimately deems him unworthy of his powers and manifests as the Gatekeeper to kill him.
- Properly Paranoid: Built a room designed to hide himself and other totemic beings so that Morlun couldn't find them. He takes Cindy Moon into protective custody when he learns Morlun is looking for her and tries to take Peter Parker in as well.
- Targeted Human Sacrifice: Turns Peter into one in an attempt to become a legitimate Spider Totem when the Gatekeeper decides he has to die.
Madame Web
Alter Ego: Cassandra Webb
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #210 (November 1980)
- "You are much too bright to be asking such stupid questions."
Cassandra Webb was born with incredible psychic powers. Powers which easily compensated for her deteriorating body due to illness and allowed her to work as a professional medium. Her husband, Jonathon Webb designed a life-support system with tubes shaped like a spider web. Now she acts as an overseer of the web of realities appearing normally to give Spiderman wisdom and to point him towards inter-dimensional threats.
- Adaptational Badass: In the mainline comics, she's wheelchair-bound old woman with clairvoyance and telepathy, on the 90's cartoon., she's a cosmic being the same race as Beyonder, with clairvoyance and telepathy.
- Worth noting she didn't have telepathy before the cartoon too.
- Adaptational Personality Change: She talks in deliberately vague ways in the 90's cartoon, while in the mainline comics she tries to be as helpful as she can, and that also affects how both versions of Spider-Man view her, as the 90's cartoon version is annoyed at how unhelpful and arrogant she can be, while mainline comics Spider-Man sees her as an ally he's on friendly terms with. However, it's justified to a certain extent, in the 90's cartoon she's trying to find a Spider-Man strong enough to defeat Spider-Carnage, so she can't be too helpful since he needs to be competent on his own, while in the comics she mostly just helps out with the current situation without any further reasoning.
- Bizarrely enough, her successor, Julia Carpenter, talks in deliberately vague ways despite not needing to, and that irritated Spider-Man a few times.
- Be All My Sins Remembered: Inverted. When she and Mattie were imprisoned by the Kravinovs, Cassandra was too ashamed to admit to Mattie she gave in to their tortures and told them how to attack the other Spiders.
- Bequeathed Power: She transfers her powers to Julia Carpenter as she dies, making her the new Madame Web.
- Blind Seer: She's blind, but she has precognition and a number of other psychic powers to compensate. This seems to be tied to her powers because after she transfers them, Julia becomes blind as well.
- The Cassandra: It's even in her name! Spider-Man initially dismissed her psychic powers as a hoax until she revealed she knew his secret identity.
- Complete Immortality: She was supposedly granted this by the Circle of Five, but all it did was temporarily restore her health and youth.
- Disability Superpower: She's blind and crippled to the point of needing to be on life-support, but possesses clairvoyance and a number of other psychic powers.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Had no telepathy in her first appearances, she had to call nearby telephones to talk with Spider-Man to help him. She likely got telepathy in later appearances because she had it in the 90's cartoon.
- Easy Amnesia: After being attacked by the Juggernaut she is left with amnesia.
- Fatal Flaw: Fear of death and lack of a strong will. Her fear of death is why she joined the Gathering of Five, her clairvoyance made her keep seeing her own death, and she took part in it even though Norman Osborn was behind it, and she even helped him gather what was necessary for the ritual. The lack of a strong will is why torture works on her, since twice she was tortured and she gave in.
- It's worth noting that by Clone Conspiracy, she got over her fear of death, as she refused to take the medicines that would keep her alive, she still gave in to Electro's torture however.
- Gratuitous French: For whatever reason, she spoke with occasional French words in her brief appearances at the end of Sensational Spider-Man vol 2, despite never doing so before, or after this.
- Informed Attribute: Was said at least once◊ to be one of the strongest telepaths in the world, but has no feats to back that up, mostly her use of telepathy was for just for basic communication, which any telepath can do. Her biggest feats are making others forget specific memories, and managing to establish communication with Aunt May when she was dying in Back in Black, but those pale in comparison to what the strongest mutant telepaths can do, even the ones who aren't Omega-level.
- Killed Off for Real: During Grim Hunt she is murdered by Sasha Kravinoff after mocking her failure to resurrect Kraven properly. She transfers her powers to Julia Carpenter before dying, though.
- Was briefly brought back in Clone Conspiracy, but refused to take Jackal's pills that would keep her alive. Both times, Julia was with her in her last moments.
- Torture Always Works: A victim of this. In Grim Hunt she was captured and tortured for weeks by the Kravinovs, and because of her powers, she saw herself eventually giving in, which she eventually did. Then it happened again in Clone Conspiracy when Electro briefly tortured her to learn where Prowler is."I knew I would be too weak to resist the poisons and tortures of the Kravens... That I would turn on my "family," expose their secrets..."
Ben Reilly (Scarlet Spider I/Spider-Man II/Jackal II/Chasm)
Alter Ego: Benjamin Reilly
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #149 (October 1975)
Peter's clone and the first Scarlet Spider.For tropes regarding Ben, see his entry on the Marvel Comics: Scarlet Spider page.
Kaine Parker (Scarlet Spider IV)
Alter Ego: Kaine Parker
First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man #119 (December 1994)
- "I'm doin' something very, very stupid. Don't screw up my hero moment, Parker."
The Jackal's first failed attempt to clone Spider-Man. A former supervillain who serves as an ally, an enemy, and a foil of Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Ben Reilly. He later first appeared as the new Scarlet Spider.
For tropes regarding Kaine, see his entry on the Marvel Comics: Scarlet Spider page.
Silk
Alter Ego: Cindy Moon
First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 #1 (April 2014)
When Peter Parker was bitten by the radioactive spider that gave him his powers, it managed to bite another before dying. This woman, hidden for years by Ezekiel from Morlun, has been found by Spider-Man . . . and is the new spider-hero known as Silk!
Spider-Queen
Alter Ego: Adriana 'Ana' Soria
Notable Aliases: Queen
First Appearance: The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 2 #15 (August, 2004)
- "The metamorphosis has begun. I feel you, all of you, reaching out along the web we all share. Whatever you were yesterday, that was another time. A different life. You are all my children now. My colony. My kingdom. And I am your queen."
A mutant with the ability to psychically control those who bear the "insect gene" - including anyone with arthropod-related superpowers - Adriana Soria was a member of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, and was selected as a candidate for Operation Crossroads, a renewal of Operation: Rebirth - the super soldier program that had created Captain America. Adriana was drafted into the Marine Corps and became the first female Marine to go into combat, and after the war was assigned to the Bikini Atoll during the nuclear tests in hopes of awakening her powers. Exposure to radiation drove her insane and she was committed to an asylum before escaping and spending 50 years in hiding. Calling herself the Queen, she resurfaced in 2004 . note and psychically took control of a number of humans to serve as her drones. Captain America and Spider-Man investigated, and the Queen realized that Spider-Man possessed the Insect Gene and selected him as her mate, infecting him with a mutagenic enzyme through her kiss that slowly transformed him into a giant spider. The Queen intended to have David Jaffe, the scientist in charge of Operation Crossroads, make a bomb that would kill any humans lacking the insect gene, but her plans for Spider-Man were foiled when he died shortly after completing his transformation, then shed his exoskeleton to reveal a reborn Peter Parker with enhanced powers. Spider-Man disarmed the bomb and Adriana was seemingly killed when SHIELD attacked her base, but later returned in 2011, having allied with the Jackal, transformed Captain America and Kaine into anthropomorphic spider-monsters, and converted her mutagenic enzyme into a "Spider Virus" that would give anyone infected powers identical to Spider-Man's before slowly transforming them into giant spiders. Attaining god-like power and transforming into a massive spider-like monster, the Spider-Queen was killed by the rejuvenated Kaine. The Jackal later cloned her, but said clones were killed by Spider-Man and Alpha.
- Actually Pretty Funny: She plays with this between her and Spider-Man. When they first met, one of the first things he did was crack one of his usual jokes while trying to web her. This left her unimpressed with him, and she kicked him in the leg and stood over him, threatening him not to do that again or else. After he manages to impress her in their resulting fight though, she seems a lot more open to his quirks. While she attempts to romance him while holding him captive, and he cracks a joke at her expense, claiming he doesn't date "raving psychopaths", she actually laughs at it and admits she finds his sense of humor "cute", calling it a "bonus". It is unclear how genuine she was being with this and how much was just a façade while attempting to seduce him, but she does try to crack her own jokes to Spider-Man in a later encounter with him, possibly trying to emulate her "lover".
- The Ageless: Does not appear to have aged since the end of WWII.
- Attempted Rape:
- This was essentially what she planned to do with Spider-Man. She wanted for him to be her mate and father her children in her new world, even when he makes it clear he isn't interested. The fact that she uses her powers on him to try to control him and force him to love her, and later mutates him to act as an egg sac for her offspring, supports this further.
- Judging by her dialogue (see Interplay of Sex and Violence below), she was going to do this to Flash before Captain America's timely intervention.
- Animalistic Abomination: After going One-Winged Angel, she becomes a gargantuan spider beast linked to the Web Of Life, ascending to an obscene form of quasi-divinity in the process.
- Bee People: Can exert psychic control over humans who have the "insect gene" and those infected with the Spider-Virus. She can control them telepathically via their minds or simply telekinetically control their motor functions, referring to those she controls as 'drones'. Drones remain aware of their surroundings, but only particularly strong-willed individuals, such as Spider-Man, can mount any resistance to her commands.
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Ana was originally just a marine trying to serve her country, but when she and her unit were drafted to Operation Crossroads she was subjected to various testing in an attempt to awaken her powers as a super solider. When her powers didn't surface she was deemed a failure and sent to an asylum for her trouble. She eventually escaped when her powers awoke and swore revenge on the country that she felt had betrayed her, including Captain America.
- Big Bad: Of the Spider-Man prologue section of Avengers Disassembled and later of the Spider-Island event.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: With the Jackal, who betrayed her and was eventually revealed to be a clone.
- Bitch Slap: When Spider-Man forces her off of him while she is attempting to seduce him and spits out her kiss in disgust, she is so enraged over his rejection of her love and disrespect that she slaps him hard across the face twice, before grabbing him by the chin and vowing he'll love her whether he wants to or not.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: One of her main powers shown is being able to control anyone with an "insect gene", which in total amounts to about 1/3 of the world's population. Upon arriving in New York she instantly gains control of a large mass of people just by humming, and they obey her without question. Despite being controlled by her they still seem to possess some free will of their own, shown when one dived in front of Captain America's shield to save Queen from being struck when she didn't notice it. Those with a strong will like Spider-Man were able to temporally resist Queen's control over them. During their second kiss Spider-Man almost gives into her seductions and control, but regains himself at the last moment. However, upon fully mutating into a giant spider he finally succumbs to Queen, embracing his role as her mate until his sudden "death".
- Captive Date: She attempts one on Spider-Man when she captures him after defeating him in their first encounter. He wakes up not long after falling unconscious to find himself trapped inside the building The Queen took over, restrained to the wall in some webbing. She visits him not long after he wakes up, with one of the straps on her dress now noticeably loosened and hanging on her arm in a seductive manner. She flirts with him, assuring him she hasn't taken his mask off due to having no interest in his real identify, laughing at his jokes and admitting she finds his sense of humor funny, and asks him to call her by her real name, Ana. She rolls up his mask again, ignoring his pleas for personal space, while telling him to relax since this is just "nature's way" and whispers for him to just enjoy it before embracing him in another deep passionate, but forceful, kiss. Her powers slowly begin to effect Spider-Man's mind, causing him to briefly give in to her seductions and kiss her back, but he manages to regain control of himself and forces her off him, spitting out her kiss. This act of disrespect and rejection of her love causes The Queen to drop her attempts at a romantic approach and fly into a rage, grabbing Spidey by the chin while growling that nobody does that to her and calling him a "little worm", slapping him across the face twice, and vowing he will love her whether he wants to or not before leaving him alone in the dark, ending their "date" on a bad note.
- Cloning Blues: Jackal stole one of her legs and used it to create Princess and the other Spider-Queens.
- Combo Platter Powers: She has a handful of powers that don't seem to really be related to each other: Super-Strength, Sonic Scream, Telepathy, telekinesis, insect control, mutagenic saliva, Voluntary Shapeshifting, Mind Control. Possibly explained by her having both mutant powers and activated insect genes.
- Condescending Compassion: Her attempt to comfort Spider-Man and flirt with him after defeating him in their first encounter is filled with this. She catches him as he collapses and cradles in a hug instead of letting him fall to the floor which would normally be seen as a Pet the Dog moment, except for the fact that this is after she was the one who caused him to black out from the pain of her point blank sonic scream in the first place. While holding Spider-Man close to her she gently tells him not to find any shame in his defeat against her, but instead of it being because he was a Worthy Opponent she tells him that it is because "he could never have stood against her" and it's simply "nature's way", essentially telling him not to feel bad she beat him senseless because he was doomed from the start. Finally, after she says this she "rewards" Spider-Man for impressing her and earning her love by pulling him into a deep wet kiss while he is not only a mess from bleeding heavily but also unconscious and unable to resist her forcing herself on him, essentially making it a "Take That!" Kiss.
- Cradling Your Kill: A non-lethal example with Spider-Man. After she defeats Spider-Man in their first fight, she catches him in a hug as he starts to fall unconscious. Holding him close, she attempted to comfort him by gently assuring him not to be ashamed of his defeat because he could never have stood against her, before pulling him into a big wet kiss while he is unable to resist until he fully loses consciousness.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: She dishes plenty out to Spider-Man in her debut storyline.
- In their first fight he briefly manages to trip her up and restrain her before she breaks free, but once she starts using her powers she wins almost immediately, knocking him out with two sonic screams.
- She makes even quicker work of him in their second fight, using her telekinetic powers to completely restrain him and pin him down, with him not even being able to fight back like last time.
- She similarly has little trouble against a mutated Spider-Man, even as he continues to resist her and lunges at her she simply uses her powers to continually slam him into a brick wall until he falls unconscious while treating the whole event like it was a simple "lovers' quarrel" that she won.
- She easily takes down Agent Venom in the Spider-Island storyline. Her Sonic Scream is especially effective on the Symbiote, and she beats Flash down while he is left weak and vulnerable from it. He didn't do much better even with the Symbiote's help though. She also easily takes down Captain America in a fist-fight, with him only managing to hit her once via sneak attack. Had Agent Venom not come to his rescue, stabbing The Queen from behind with Cap's shield, he almost certainly would have died.
- Dating Catwoman: This was assumed to be the case by New York at first. Her first kiss with Spider-Man was caught on the news and shortly afterwards it was all anyone was talking about, with many believing that the two of them were now a couple. But, everyone thought it was Spider-Man who kissed Queen instead of the other way around like it really was, even Mary Jane and Aunt May. In reality it is averted. Despite her flirting and beauty Spider-Man is not attracted to her at all and finds her just as disgusting as his other enemies, she just forces herself on him regardless.
- Deadpan Snarker: After defeating the mutated Spider-Man by knocking him through a building, she lifts him up telekinetically and says she told him he'd fall for her, "like a ton of bricks."
- Death Glare: She can give an absolutely terrifying one and a nasty snarl when angered. She first gives one to Spider-Man after listening to one of his bad jokes and kicking him in the leg when he tries to web her, then in the very next issue gives him another after he rejects her and forces her off him in the middle of her kiss.
- Deity of Human Origin: By transforming most of New York's populace into giant spiders she hijacked the Web of Life, the supernatural force that grants arachnid-themed superheroes and villains their powers, and gained god-like power.
- Disney Villain Death: Subverted; in her second issue, Captain America rushes her from behind while she is busy yelling at a jet that fired a missile at her and Spider-Man, and once she finally sees him coming she only has enough time to shout "You wouldn't dare," before he knocks her over the side of the building and she is last seen plummeting towards the ground. Despite this though, Cap knows she is still alive and orders a team to find her before she can escape, and the following issue shows she is perfectly fine.
- Dramatic Unmask: She has her mind controlled servants hold Spider-Man in a giant dogpile lock while she slowly peels off his mask, but stops halfway after getting to his nose. Subverted in that she wasn't trying to unmask him and doesn't care about his secret identity, she was unmasking him enough to kiss him.
- Dude, She's Like in a Coma: Gender-reversed example between her and Spider-Man. When she defeats Spidey in their first fight, unleashing a sonic scream he can't defend against, he eventually collapses from the pain, with her catching him as he fell towards her and gently embracing him in a hug. While she is holding Spidey she flirts with him and attempts to comfort him over his loss against her, before pulling him into a deep kiss against his will. He was either unconscious during the kiss or eventually lost consciousness while it was happening, but either way he was too weak to resist her forcing herself on him.
- Entitled to Have You: After meeting Spider-Man and defeating him, she is impressed by his strength and determination and declares that he is part of her hive now and she is his Queen. She declares he will be her mate and he will love her whether he wants to or not.
- Expecting Someone Taller: When she first meets Spider-Man she tells him he is shorter than she was expecting.
- Faux Affably Evil: She acts flirty to Spider-Man, but she's really a sadist and a terrorist planning to kill a large portion of the world's population. When Spider-Man refuses her advances she becomes violent and angry, harming him and anyone around him to break his spirit. Even her flirting includes her hugging Spider-Man after she beats him unconscious and telling him he could never have stood up to her as a way of comforting him before forcing a kiss on him.
- Feet-First Introduction: She is first seen exiting from her limo with just her feet and legs, before the next panel shows the rest of her.
- Forceful Kiss: In her debut appearance she easily defeats Spider-Man with her powers, and after telling him he could have never beaten her, gives him a big wet kiss on the lips while he can't resist her. She gives him another one while he is tangled in some web in the next issue, but he is able to force her off him.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: This applies to her both in the actual comics and in real life.
- In the comics: Queen was originally just an ordinary woman named Adriana trying to serve her country during World War II. She was subject to various testing in a secret project meant to create more super soldiers, but was deemed a failure and left to rot in an asylum. When her powers finally manifested she decided to use them for revenge on the country that wronged her, and when she resurfaced in 2004 her very presence is enough to scare Captain America shitless, describing her as being more dangerous "than a hundred hulks".
- In real life: When the Queen debuted she was assumed to be an odd one-shot villain whose only purpose was to give Peter powers resembling the ones he possessed in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy, and was assumed to have been killed at the end of the arc. Come Spider Island, she's suddenly a lot more dangerous, and come Kaine's Scarlet Spider series, it's implied she was a pawn of Ero/The Other.
- Giant Spider: Her One-Winged Angel form is a giant half human, half spider-like monster.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: She calls herself Queen since she can control anyone with an insect gene, and she considers herself superior to all other humans, with or without the insect gene. She takes it a step further when in "Spider Island" she planned to mutate the whole world into giant spider mutants that she could control.
- If I Can't Have You…: She is heartbroken when Spider-Man, who had just recently completed his transformation and was under her full control as her mate, suddenly dies right in front of her. When she encounters him shortly afterwards after his "revival", she tries to simply kill him since she knows she can't have him as her mate like she had wanted.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: She appears in a beautiful and elegant dress, but shows it doesn't slow her down at all in fights. She is easily able to handle Spider-Man in a physical fight, quickly knocking him down with a kick and slamming him against a wall with a hard punch. She even breaks out of a hold when Spidey tries to restrain her legs, and kicks him across the face at an angle. She is also able to use her psychic and telekinetic powers to disable any foes so she doesn't need to get in close.
- Kaiju: In the climax of Spider Island, she transforms into a monstrous 28 stories tall spider monster form, dubbing herself "The Spider Queen". This form was powerful enough to fight dozens of superheroes simultaneously.
- Killed Off for Real: She is killed by Kaine at the end of the "Spider-Island" storyline.
- Kiss Diss: When she is flirting with the captured Spider-Man she forces a second kiss on him in an attempt to gain control of him and make him fall in love with her. It almost works, with Spidey briefly giving into her seductions, seeing her love as a "honor", and kissing her back. But while the two are making out, Spidey manages to regain control of himself, forcing The Queen off him and spitting out her kiss in disgust. To say she took offense to this would be an understatement.Queen: (snarling while grabbing Spider-Man by his chin) No one does that to me, you little worm! NO ONE!
- Leave Him to Me!: At the end of her first fight with Spidey, the hero continues to resist her despite being outnumbered and just seeing her knock out Captain America. Queen tells her drones to step aside, she'll deal with Spider-Man herself; and she knocks him out with a second sonic scream.
- Leg Focus: Her beautiful dress helps draw attention to her legs, especially since she holds her dress up to walk. While fighting Spider-Man she shows she is no slouch in kicks. She first spin kicks him in his legs for annoying her and kicks him across the face on two separate occasions. Additionally, the first panel where she is officially seen shows just her legs as she exits from her limo, before the next panel immediately afterwards reveals her completely.
- Letting Her Hair Down: Throughout her first major appearance she has her hair up in a bun, but when she returns during Spider-Island she has let her hair down.
- Little Black Dress: Her outfit during her debut appearance was an elegant black dress.
- Love at First Punch: She initially seems unimpressed with Spider-Man during their first encounter, but once they begin to fight Spidey initially gets the upper hand against her by tripping her and begins to restrain her while she's down. Though she manages to quickly break free, she seems impressed by this and begins to flirt with Spider-Man for the remainder of their fight, and his resolve to keep fighting her even when she has him outmatched quickly impresses her enough to choose him as her mate.
- Magic Kiss: Her saliva contains a mutagenic compound that connects those infused with it to the Web of Life - or amplifies their connection if they already are - and eventually transforms them into giant spiders.
- Make an Example of Them: She orders several of her brainwashed drones to jump off a building to their deaths to teach Spider-Man a lesson for resisting her and as a demonstration of her powers.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: One of her major goals through her first appearance was to get Spider-Man to love her and become her mate. She technically succeeded after Spider-Man fully mutated into a Giant Spider due to the effect of her kiss and was under her complete control. Unfortunately for her, the mutation ended up being unstable because it was happening too fast and Spider-Man's body was rejecting the process, causing him to "die" right in front of her shortly after she finally had him as her mate, essentially rendering her efforts All for Nothing.
- Mind Control: Can exert psychic control over humans who have the "insect gene" and those infected with the Spider-Virus. She can control them telepathically via their minds or simply telekinetically control their motor functions, referring to those she controls as 'drones'. Drones remain aware of their surroundings, but only particularly strong-willed individuals, such as Spider-Man, can mount any resistance to her commands.
- Mind over Matter: Able manipulate things around her with hardly any movement on her own part. She sent a taxi flying into a building and crushed a helicopter's rotor blades.
- Most Common Super Power: She has big breasts for her body size.
- Mrs. Robinson: She looks like a beautiful young women only in her 20s but is actually a WWII veteran. She has also chosen the much younger Spider-Man to be her "mate", forcing several kisses on him and attempting to make him fall in love with her. She temporarily gains full control of him when her kiss transforms him into a giant spider.
- Moment Killer: The only moment that can be remotely considered "romantic" between her and Spider-Man is when she visits him while she has him and Cap captured. During her visit she flirts with Spidey, calls his sense of humor cute, and reveals her real name to him. Spidey tries to resist her advances and her invasion of his personal space, but she simply tells him to relax and enjoy "nature's way" before planting another deep passionate kiss on him. Spidey is affected by her kiss and slowly starts to give into her seductions and control, seeing it as an honor to be loved by her and slowly begins to kiss her back before suddenly regaining control of himself and pushing her off him and spitting out her kiss. This act of disrespect causes Queen to drop her romantic attitude and fly into a rage against Spider-Man, vowing he'll love her whether he likes it or not and he will be her mate.Spider-Man: PTUI! Get offa me, lady!
Queen: [snarls and grabs him by the chin] No one does that to me, you little worm! NO ONE!
[Queen slaps Spidey across the face twice and grabs him across the chin, looking him in the eye]
Queen: You'll forget you were ever a man, or that you lived among them. You're one of my hive now. You'll love me whether you like it or not. [turns to leave Spidey trapped in the dark]
Spider-Man: I doubt it, you skank. - Mood-Swinger: She has shown a few occasions of this. She can go from being scary to flirty or vice-versa:
- During her first encounter with Spidey, she knocks him around a bit and threatens his city before restraining him and saying she likes him.
- She flirts with Spider-Man while he's captured and forces a second deep kiss on him, but once he rejects her she angrily calls him a worm, slaps him across the face, and vows he'll love her whether he wants to or not.
- Murder by Suicide: During her second fight with Spider-Man, she demonstrates the control she has over her drones by ordering some of them to jump off the building they were on to their deaths. She does this in part to prove a point to Spider-Man and teach him a lesson for defying her, attempting to break his spirit and make him accept her as his queen and mate.
- Mutants: Adrianna belongs to a subspecies of Mutants called Homo insectus. She is so far the only known member of this subspecies.
- New Old Flame: Revealed to have briefly dated Captain America in 1945.
- No Range Like Point-Blank Range: At the end of her first fight with Spider-Man, when he continues to struggle against her despite seeing how powerful she is and being outnumbered by her drones, she decides to accept his challenge and orders her drones to release him so she can deal with him herself. As soon as he is released, she immediately unleashes a second sonic scream while standing directly next to Spider-Man. He is unable to resist this, and after screaming in pain he eventually blacks out from the pain and collapses, with The Queen catching him when he collapses toward her and pulling him into a hug.
- No Sense of Personal Space: While seducing Spidey she gets up close and personal, much to his discomfort. He even begs her for personal space when she is leaning in to kiss him a second time, but she tells him to simply enjoy it.
- Not Good with Rejection: She goes berserk whenever Spider-Man rejects her. One of the biggest examples was after he rejected her after she kisses him a second time. She snarls angrily calling him a worm, slaps him across the face twice, and vows that he'll love her whether he wants to or not.
- Older Than They Look: She looks like an attractive 20-something woman, but is a WWII veteran.
- One-Winged Angel: After being mortally wounded by Agent Venom, she sheds her human form and transcends into a 28-story-tall spider-monster with godlike power. Although the exact strength of this transformation seems to depend upon the amount of arachnids she fed off of, via the Web of Life.
- Pest Controller: Can command insects, as well as humans who have the "insect gene" and those infected with the Spider-Virus.
- Physical God: After Ariana transforms, Julia Carpenter despairingly proclaims that the Queen has merged with the Web of Life to become a god.
- Politically Correct History: Was a female marine who saw combat in WWII. Later handwaved by saying that Operation: Crossroads selected genetically suitable candidates from among all the U.S. services and drafted them into a special unit of the U.S. Marines Corps, with Soria having been drafted from the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.
- Pragmatic Villainy: After getting her hair done by a hairdresser, she notes that she must remember to spare him when she puts her plan into action, since even though she can't control him it is hard to find a good hairdresser these days. She also says she will need to make a list of certain individuals she wants to save for other reasons, and adjust her plans to fit them.
- Psychic Powers: She can psychically control those with the Insect Gene, which amounts to roughly a third of the world's population, including anyone connected to the Web of Life, and turn them into her "drones".
- Radiation-Induced Superpowers: Gained her powers after being exposed to nuclear weapons testing on Bikini Atoll.
- Sadist: While pummeling Agent Venom, she says that killing someone is the closest bond two people can share and that beating him to death is turning her on more than conquering the city did.
- Sex Is Violence: Her speech to Agent Venom exposes her as a sadist who is turned on by death and violence. Her banter with Captain America is also full of innuendo.Queen: (while beating Agent Venom): Still, a smidgen too impudent. Better—humble. So much sexier this way, soldier. There's intimacy to taking a life. To be the last face a man will ever see. The closest bond two people can share. It's arousing. This gets me purring, gets me revved up more than taking over the entire city did. To mount you. To dominate you. To be the last woman you'll ever touch...
Captain America: Don't mean to interrupt, Queen... Central Park has rules about public fornication... and we've got a fight to finish.
Queen: So many handsome men vying for my affections. Fortunately, boys, my appetite is voracious. You seem upset, seeing me straddling another soldier. Don't be jealous, Steven. You'll always be my first. I don't want you to use protection. Don't hold back. Give me all you have. Yes, satisfy me. Oh, Steve. You are truly one of a kind. You make me feel like a woman. Make me feel incredible... - Single Specimen Species: Adrianna is the only known member of the mutant subspecies Homo Insectus.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: She mixes this and Kiss-Kiss-Slap with her "relationship" with Spider-Man. During their first meeting, Queen angrily attacked him for his attempt to web her and violently punched his head into a wall. Immediately after this though she becomes attracted to Spider-Man, with him having impressed her, and after knocking him out in a bloody mess she passionately makes out with him, declaring him as her mate. From then on all their confrontations start with Queen flirting with him and trying to seduce him to her side, only for her to react violently and beat him up when he refuses her love, and then return to flirting with him once she's done. This is also discussed by several citizens, when their fight and kiss was captured on the news. Some people were confused why the two of them went from beating each other up one moment to making out with each other in public the next, and others mistakenly believed that it was "a beautiful moment between lovers", thinking that they were now a couple, and that Spider-Man was the one who initiated the kiss.
- The Social Darwinist: She sees herself as a survivor and ruler of all with an insect gene. She planned to kill all life on Earth that she couldn't control with a bomb, and even compared herself to a cockroach with the bomb. She chose Spider-Man as her mate because she recognized him as a survivor like her, and was impressed by his strength and determination against her, even if she knew he couldn't beat her, and saw him as the strongest of her "subjects."
- Sonic Scream: Adriana can unleash a powerful scream. It was powerful enough to knock out Spider-Man with only two bursts, and later killed The Jackal after Queen had been powered up.
- Superpower Lottery: Adriana was stated to possess countless superhuman abilities, but only displayed a handful of them.
- Super-Strength: A very mild case, as she can lift roughly one ton in her base form, but is still strong enough to knock out Spidey and Cap.
- Super-Empowering: Her Saliva contains an mutagenic venom that has been used to enhance Peter's connection to the Web of Life, give Araña spider-powers... and transform most of New York's citizens into spider-monsters.
- Super-Soldier: Is the result of yet another attempt by the US government to recreate the Super Soldier Program.
- Super-Strength: Able to lift one ton.
- Superpowerful Genetics: Adriana was a mutant born with the Insect Gene, and considered herself to be above even other mutants, calling herself the sole member of "Homo insectus".
- "Take That!" Kiss: After beating Spider-Man with a second sonic scream she catches the unconscious hero in a hug and holds him close, saying he could have never beaten her before kissing him.Queen: Don't find shame in defeat Spider-Man. This is the way of things. You could never have stood against me. This is nature's way. (Kisses Spidey)
- Tears of Remorse: She is reduced to tears when the mutated Spider-Man dies right in front of her, shortly after he finished his transformation and he was finally under her full control as her mate.
- Telepathy: Can communicate with her drones over long distances through telepathy. She utilizes her telepathy to also control the minds of insects and humans with the insect genes.
- Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Her powers awakened when she was nuked during the Bikini Atoll test, where she watched the rest of her unit die and she was thrown in an asylum afterwards.
- Unexplained Recovery:
- She is knocked off the roof of a building by Captain America in her second issue but shows up in the very next issue without a scratch on her.
- She is apparently killed in an explosion when her base is attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. but years later resurfaces during "Spider-Island" with no clear indication of how she survived.
- Villain Team-Up: She works with Jackal during the "Spider Island" storyline, creating the spider virus with his help.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: A dark variant. When she makes the decision to have Spider-Man serve as her "mate" she's made the decision to turn him into a giant spider monster that would serve as a living egg sac for her offspring. It was a small miracle he survived and returned to normal.
- Villain Respect: She has a respect for those who she deems as "survivors". She quickly finds herself attracted to Spider-Man for this reason.Queen: Eh... I like you Spider-Man... you're a survivor. I can respect that. It's all about survival— who'll be left standing when the bomb goes off. Think of me as a cockroach. The biggest one you ever saw.
- Villainous Face Hold: She does this while Spider-Man is helpless against her several times, which vary from her flirting with him to being more openly violent to him.
- When she takes a liking to Spider-Man during their first fight she starts rolling up his mask as her drones restrain him and can be seen holding his head. Later after defeating him and pulling him into a hug, she holds him by the right cheek as she attempts to comfort him for his loss and continues holding it as she kisses him to keep his head steady.
- While having her Captive Date with Spider-Man she briefly pinches his chin while commenting how she likes his cute sense of humor and grabs him by the chin to hold him steady before kissing him again and continues caressing his face while making out with him. After Spider-Man rejects her though and forces her off him, she becomes violent and grabs him by the chin while growling no one does that to her, and after slapping him twice grabs him by the cheeks to force him to look into her eyes while vowing he'll love her whether he wants to or not.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Able to turn herself in a monstrous spider-like creature. The power of this creature depended upon the number of arachnids she had to feed off of through the Web of Life.
- The Worf Effect: Her first appearance has her take over a large part of New York's population with her powers and she causes Peter's spider sense to go ballistic, making him bleed from his nose and ears. Cap tries to warn Spider-Man to stay away from her, but he ignores Cap and Queen proceeds to beat both of them with no trouble. Cap even says later that she's more dangerous "than a hundred hulks" and her kissing Spider-Man is a serious problem.
- Worthy Opponent: She decided she liked Spider-Man enough to make him her mate shortly after meeting him, with most of this encounter being her beating him up, telling him she can tell he is a survivor like her and respects him for that. After knocking him unconscious she catches him in a hug, instead of letting him fall to the floor, and comforts him by telling him not to be shamed of his defeat before kissing him, beginning the process that will make him her mate. Downplayed a little by telling him he never stood a chance against her and becoming violently angry at him when he rejects her love.
- You Have Failed Me: She eventually kills The Jackal after he fails her one too many times during "Spider Island". Though it turns out she actually killed a clone of The Jackal, and the real one had kept himself hidden from her during their entire partnership.
- You Will Be Spared: She decides to spare the hairdresser who styled her hair, since it is hard to find a good hairdresser these days. She also notes she will need to make a list of anyone else she chooses to spare.
Spider-Boy II
Alter Ego: Bailey Briggs
First Appearance: Spider-Man (2022) #7
- "I get it. And you're right. Spider-Man doesn't need a sidekick. But this sidekick really needs a Spider-Man."
Following the events of End of the Spider-Verse, Silk was able to undo the damage Shathra had done to the Spider-Totems. However, they were surprised when a young boy appeared out of nowhere. Calling himself Spider-Boy, young Bailey Briggs claims to know both Peter Parker and Miles Morales and was actually the former's sidekick. While he is part of Earth-616, being severed from the Web of Life and Destiny for so long has erased him for history, thus making him a young hero without a home or a past.
- Alliterative Name: Bailey Briggs.
- The Aloner: Due to being a case of Remember the New Guy?, Bailey has been Ret-Gone from reality and none of the people he knew, including Peter, Aunt May, and the workers at F.E.A.S.T. recognize him. Part of the reason why he reveals his Secret Identity to the girl he saved is because he wants someone to know who he is. Luckily, the girl, Christina, is thankful for him saving her life and vouches for him so he can stay at F.E.A.S.T. with her family. And at the end of Spider-Man #11, Peter decides to hear Bailey out despite not remembering Bailey at all.Spider-Boy: My name is Bailey Briggs. And I'm all alone.
- Artificial Animal People: He's a spider/human hybrid created by Madame Monstrosity.
- Attention Whore: He very clearly loves being in the limelight, calling himself NYC's "short king" and posing for social media and screenshots.
- Badass Adorable: He's a cute kid with Youthful Freckles, curly red hair, and the usual suite of spider-powers that allows him to wipe the floor with hardened criminals without much hassle.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: Disoriented by his eight extra eyes and his other powers, Bailey needed extensive training from Daredevil in order to get a handle on his powers.
- Expressive Mask: Like with Spider-Man's, his mask acts like an extension of his face. Also, somehow, his extra eyes also appear in the mask when he activates them.
- Extra Eyes: He has ten eyes: a pair of eyes, like a normal human, and eight more, like a spider's. This gives him virtually 360 degrees of vision because of the extra eyes on the sides of his head. He can also retract his extra eyes to appear normal when unmasked.
- Fiery Redhead: He has curly red hair under the mask and is exeptionally bombastic when fighting crime.
- Fun Personified: Bailey often treats superhero work less seriously than he should, posing for social media and referring to unwanted tasks given to him by his Spider-Sense as "sidequests". He's not at all concerned when he's kidnapped by Arcade and treats escaping Murderworld as though he were at the amusement park. To some extent, this attitude is a coping mechanism, as he admits that his family never had the money to actually visit one.
- How Do I Shot Web?: When he was first experimented on, Bailey found his eight additional eyes more disorienting than helpful, mistakenly believing that he's seeing six of the same person at once. It's not until he trains with Daredevil to master his senses and process the information from his extra eyes that Bailey can take advantage of his increased field of vision.
- Homeless Hero: Given that he owns a locker at F.E.A.S.T., it's implied that Spider-Boy was homeless and orphaned even before he was Ret-Gone from reality. He's familiar with Aunt May because of her time volunteering at the shelter and doesn't know where he'll stay when the other workers don't recognize him. But after he saves a girl staying at the shelter, she vouches for him after he reveals his Secret Identity to her, staying with her family in the shelter.Bailey: Great, I can't even stay at a F.E.A.S.T. center. Where am I gonna go? What can I do?
- Hulking Out: He claims to be able to "monster-out" but he'd rather not do so. What little he does show involves retractable fangs with paralyzing venom and eight additional eyes that give him virtually 360 degrees of vision.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Bailey can be bratty, egotistic, and doesn't always take superhero work as seriously as he should. He loves basking in the limelight and seems to have an inflated opinion of some of his accomplishments. His pestering Peter to remember him also makes Bailey come across as a Bratty Half-Pint. But Bailey's heart remains in the right place, as he rushes to people's aid despite being irritated by the "sidequests" his Spider-Sense gives him.Bailey: This is how most of my adventures start. And I have to see 'em through. Because if I don't...someone could get hurt, and then I'd never forgive myself.
- Kid Sidekick: He's Spider-Man's long lost sidekick. According to Bailey, he's been fighting crime as Spider-Boy for three years, almost a whole third of his life so far.
- Mistaken for Related: After tackling Aunt May out of the way of the Big Wheel, May mistakes Bailey for Spider-Man's son and calls Spider-Man a fine father.
- Mouthy Kid: Bailey zigzags between this and Bratty Half-Pint because of how egotistic he can be. While he likes to brag about himself, he often does make salient points about Peter. He calls out Norman for cranking up Peter's Spider-Sense to frankly unhealthy levels. When Peter dismisses him, Bailey uses Peter as a jungle gym to demonstrate that Peter treating him as a helpless kid is flawed.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Bailey is quite short and scrawny, to the point that Auny May has to look down to make eye contact with him. But he can still punch out people much larger than him.
- My Suit Is Also Super: Bailey's costume is made of unstable molecules, which allows him to wear sneakers and still stick to walls. He lampshades this when he points out Peter wallcrawled with shoes on when he first got his powers and Miles' recent costume has sneakers as well and he still wallcrawled.
- The Paralyzer: Bailey possesses venomous fangs that can inject a paralyzing toxin into whoever he bites akin to Spider-Man 2099. When Bailey bites Electro to save Peter from getting fried, he has to go out of his way to clarify that he didn't kill him.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Spider-Boy is so short that he has to tell Aunt May to look down to make eye contact with him. He's also described as being nearly as strong as Spider-Man.
- Primary-Color Champion: His costume is mostly orange-ish red with sky blue, with yellow for the eyes in the mask.
- Psychometry: One of Bailey's defining abilities is that his spider-sense is significantly more potent that Peter's, enabling the kid to psychically sense other people in imminent danger and know exactly how they'll be put in peril via precognitive visions. The catch is that once his Spider-Sense recognizes that somebody is in need of help, it will not stop blaring until Bailey personally intervenes. On the flip side, the actual Spider-Sense aspect is nonexistent, as he doesn't notice Arcade's truck driving up right behind him because he's busy arguing with Peter over the phone in a flashback.
- Remember the New Guy?: Inverted. Bailey was apparently Spider-Man's sidekick for three years straight, knew both Peter and Miles' secret identities, and had a close relationship with Aunt May prior to being erased by Shathra. When the kid is finally restored back into reality, nobody can remember him.
- Sad Clown: For all of his quipping and whining, Bailey is clearly terrified to be in a world where no one remembers him. After the revelation that he's a Homeless Hero with no family to return to and nothing but the clothes on his back, his pestering of Peter comes across as a desperate plea for the person he trusts most to recognize him.
- Small Name, Big Ego: After beating a supervillain solo for the first time, Bailey expects to be able to ask for free food from a food trunk owner, who has no idea who he is.
- Street Urchin: Bailey is homeless and has been living at Aunt May's F.E.A.S.T. center long enough that he was considered a regular face prior to being Ret-Gone. Also, during a mission with Spider-Man against Arcade (retold by the boy to Spider-Man), he mentions his family is "dirt poor".
- Superhero Speciation: Bailey was not bitten by a spider but instead had DNA directly spliced into him. As a result, he can sprout eight additional eyes to give him 360 degrees of vision and his Spider-Sense acts as a form of Psychometry at the cost of not being able to sense danger coming. Peter also barred Bailey from using webshooters because of a Noodle Incident where he embarrassed himself with them, leaving him to get around solely through his superhuman agility and acrobatics.
- Super-Senses: Due to his additional eyes, Bailey has virtually 360 degrees of vision. He boasts that this makes it impossible for anyone to sneak up on him. But this is only useful if he's paying attention, as he fails to notice the truck driving up behind him while arguing with Peter over the phone.
- Unperson: Played for Drama. Bailey has been severed from the Web of Life and Destiny for so long that any memory or record of his existence has essentially been wiped off the face of Earth-616. Everybody he knows and loves treats him like a total stranger, what little worldly belongings he owns at the F.E.A.S.T. center is gone, including the picture of his late mother, and all of his attempts to reconnect with Peter has been firmly rebuked. This leaves the kid so starved for companionship that he unmasks himself to Christina Xu, a total stranger he had just rescued from the Inner Demons, just so that somebody can know him.
Spider-Woman I
Alter Ego: Jessica Miriam Drew
First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight #32 (February 1977)
- "Raise your hand if you have spider powers, a history of erratic behavior and a deeply disturbing backstory involving trust issues. Also: a knife."
When Jessica was little, she was infected with uranium radiation and was in danger of dying. Her father used an experimental spider serum to save her, and put her in a tube to accelerate the serum's growth, saving her life but aging her rather rapidly to the point that she looks, and acts, much older than she is. She was raised in Wundagore by the cow-woman Lady Bova, eventually left to make her way in the human world, fell in love... then accidentally killed her first love with her latent superpower: bio-electric blasts. Accused of being a witch, Jessica fled Wundagore and was taken in by HYDRA, tricked into thinking that it was a good place for refugees even though it was actually a terrorist group. She was trained in martial arts and learned to harness her powers more effectively. These include the discovery of her other powers such as Wall Climbing and Pheromones, which attract men and women. Oh, and she was given her codename, first Arachne, but quickly changed to Spider-Woman.
On her first mission to assassinate Nick Fury, Jessica came to realize that HYDRA was wrong, so she rebelled and was left on her own to cope with her power and with her daily life. It was tough, but eventually she managed to overcome her problems, especially meeting Spider-Man, who advised her to use her power for good; she later became a bounty hunter and a private detective.
For more information on her, please refer to her page.
Spider-Woman II/Arachne/Madame Web II
Alter Ego: Julia Eugenia Cornwall Carpenter
First Appearance: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #6 (October 1984)
Julia Carpenter got tricked into entering a program to create a superhero, under the guise of "Athletic Study", and was accidentally injected with a different spider serum, granting her super strength, wall-climbing and the ability to project psychic webbing from her fingerprints. She was given the identity of Spider-Woman by the Commission on Superhuman Activities, although she preferred "Arachne" (suggestion overruled). Her first major involvement was the Crossover event Secret Wars, in which she met Spider-Man and gave him the inspiration of the design for his symbiotic black suit, which would later become known as Venom. She was then roped into joining the newly-formed Freedom Force (Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, pardoned and given a government sanction, although other heroes would be added to the roster). Julia didn't make any friends on the team, however, when she helped free The Avengers from the Vault after the Force had arrested them on trumped-up charges. However, instead of locking her up, CSA director Valerie Cooper (Julia's college friend, who'd been responsible for turning her into Spider-Woman) gave her a second chance to serve her country, although she'd be officially classified as a rogue agent. Julia eventually got caught up with the West Coast Avengers, joining that team and severing her ties with the CSA. While with the Avengers, she was caught in a conflict with the criminal trio Death Web, whose powers were derived from the same source as Julia's, and whom she defeated when they threatened her daughter Rachel and her parents. Soon afterward, when the Avengers shut down the West Coast branch, she joined Iron Man's new team, Force Works, but after that team folded, she retired from superhero activity to continue raising Rachel.
The retirement, however was cut short when she, along with Jessica, was attacked by Charlotte Witter, and she was rendered wheelchair-bound. However, she still took a resistance and mentored the 3rd Spider-Woman, Mattie Franklin. Some time later, she was involved with the Civil War, joining Iron Man's Pro-Registration side and taking the name "Arachne", but eventually she revealed that she was The Mole for the Anti-Registration side. Before she could change sides, however, she was beaten down by Ms. Marvel and was forcefully separated from Rachel as her punishment. The loss of Rachel caused Julia to nearly slip into insanity: she broke out of the prison in the Negative Zone and went into Colorado to search for Rachel. In a fit of rage, she attacked a superpowered girl named Araña, but her instability cost her victory and she was beaten, whereas she met Ms. Marvel again, who apologized and promised to search for Rachel. But despite so, and even the success of reuniting with Rachel, it was clear that the friendship between Julia and Carol was strained.
Julia eventually moved to Canada and joined Omega Flight. She would end up unused for a while, until the Spider-Man story arc Grim Hunt, in which she was captured by Kraven the Hunter, who wanted to destroy every trace of the Spider family. Julia ended up being picked as the successor of Madame Web, but the process of the inheritance made her blind. Following this, she passed on her Arachne costume onto Araña.
For more information on her, please refer to her page.
Spider-Woman III
Alter Ego: Martha "Mattie" Franklin
First Appearance: The Spectacular Spider-Man #263 (November 1998)
The niece of J. Jonah Jameson, Mattie Franklin attended the Gathering of Five - a mystical ceremony that bestows the five people gathered with power, insanity, immortality, knowledge, or death - in place of her father, giving her spider abilities when she was chosen to receive power. Later, Spider-Man had a 10-Minute Retirement, so Mattie donned a costume similar to his and called herself Spider-Woman, taking his place in crime-fighting. Spider-Man realized this and helped her a bit after he got out of retirement.
Around this time, Doctor Octopus created a new villain named Spider-Woman using Madame Web's daughter Charlotte Witter; she attacked Jessica, Julia and Mattie and absorbed their powers. Both Jessica and Julia eventually guide Mattie to become the next Spider-Woman and defeat Charlotte, also getting parts of their Spider-Woman powers.
Mattie later fell in with a bad crowd: her boyfriend drugging her in order to harvest Mutant Growth Hormone from her body. She conducted an investigation into the activities of the Slingers, having sex with Ricochet to prevent him from finding out, but left the team in disgust. Unfortunately, the next time Mattie appeared was during the Grim Hunt arc and she was less lucky than the rest, being the first to be sacrificed by Kravinoffs.
For more information on her, please refer to her page.
Steel Spider
Alter Ego: Oliver Osnick
First Appearance: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #72 (November 1982)
- "Stop this crime! Desist at once, or face the terrible wrath of—the Steel Spider!"
A chubby young nerd who idolized Dr. Octopus and built his own set of octopus tentacles. After meeting Spider-Man, he idolized Spidey instead and redesigned himself as "Spider-Lad", Spider-Man's sidekick. After being turned down by Spider-Man, he's had an off-again off-again career as the Steel Spider, in a metal exo-suit equipped with Spider-like abilities.
- Alliterative Name: Oliver Osnick.
- An Arm and a Leg: Mac Gargan lost control of the Venom symbiote and ate one of his arms.
- Ascended Fanboy: He started off as one for Otto Octavius, but later became one for Spider-Man.
- The Chew Toy: Literally, once Venom III got his fangs into him.
- Gonk: As a teenager he was obese and unattractive.
- Progressively Prettier: Since somewhere in the 1990s he started to look much more slender and muscular. And he started wearing a cooler costume.
The Thousand
Alter Ego: Carl King
First Appearance: Tangled Web: The Thousand #1 (June 2001)
- "Everything. I wanted what you had for myself, Parker. The things I could do with it... with power like that... but what I got was different. Something better, Parker. Something worse. Something that could live inside, that could liquefy the innards of a man and walk the Earth within his hollow shell... something that could watch. And wait. And fester."
A merciless bully, Carl King's favorite pastime was torturing Peter Parker. On the fateful day Peter was bitten by the mystical/irradiated spider, Carl witnessed his favorite punching bag instinctively use the abilities the spider gave him to avoid a car; Carl subsequently took to stalking Peter, who went on to become Spider-Man. Envious of Spider-Man's powers, Carl attempted to replicate them by stealing and eating the spider, which had been kept for study after dying. Instead of granting Carl arachnid-based abilities, the spider caused the thuggish youth to gradually metamorphose into a swarm of a thousand spiders, which could devour the innards of others and wear their skin like a suit. Laying low for years in order to master and strengthen his new form, Carl eventually went after Peter, intending to kill and replace him as Spider-Man.
- Animalistic Abomination: Notable in that he used to be human, but is now a Spider Swarm version of The Worm That Walks.
- Arc Villain: Only appears in the three-issue arc "Tangled Web: The Thousand."
- Ax-Crazy: The consumption and death of his mother at his hands may have been an accidental killing, but what he did to his dad and girlfriend was perpetrated willingly and for little more than sick kicks. After going underground to get used to his new state and to build up his strength for Spider Man, he spent his time taking his violent urges out on the homeless population and whatever unfortunate happened to cross his path.
- Bed Trick: In a particularly horrifying case, it's implied through the art that he had sex with his father while possessing his mother's corpse before killing him and taking over his body.
- Body Horror: His powers embody this trope.
- Break Them by Talking: What Carl tried to do to Peter during the time he bullied him, in addition to the physical violence. Emphasis on tried, as already back in school Peter, along with everyone else, saw right through him and knew he was nothing but a sadistic and pathetic sociopath who only knew cruelty and fear, and was only a threat to Peter on account of his larger size and greater physical strength.
- Bully Brutality: During his Evil Gloating, King nonchalantly recalls doing such things to Peter as forcing him to eat dog crap, dangling him off the Williamsburg Bridge, and holding a knife to his crotch purely because he messed up his math paper.
- This Cannot Be!: When Carl is about to take over Peter's body, he gives a speech about how Peter is still weak and pitiful compared to him even after getting superpowers. Peter stuns him with a single sentence.Spider-Man: Carl...I'm not afraid of you at all.
Carl: But.... - Card-Carrying Jerkass: In high school, Carl was an even more vicious bully to Peter than Flash Thompson; in the present, he revels in the memory of how much he made Peter's life miserable and freely admits he was a "rotten kid." As the Thousand, he's crossed the line into Card-Carrying Villain.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He acknowledges himself as a supervillain after admitting he killed his parents to Spidey.Thousand: You remember what a rotten kid I was, Parker. It's hardly surprising I turned out to be a rotten supervillain, too.
Spider-Man: A supervillain?
Thousand: I think I fit the profile. - Didn't Think This Through: Having seen what the radioactive spider bite did to Peter, Carl decided to break into the exhibition building to acquire one for himself. It was only after he did so that he realized that he had no idea how to irradiate a spider, and the spider that bit Peter was dead, which left him with "Plan B" - eating the spider's corpse.
- Disposable Vagrant: His main source of nourishment.
- Entitled Bastard: He's insanely jealous of Peter's fame and power as Spider-Man, firmly convinced such things are rightfully his.
- Evil Counterpart: To Flash Thompson, who does not appear in the story. Both bullied Peter, but while Flash did so due to his troubled home life and own insecurities, Carl did it simply because he was a sadistic sociopath. Both idolized and wanted to be like Spider-Man, and while Flash looks back on his time as a bully with embarrassment and shame, Carl revels in the memories of his past misdeeds.
- Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Spider-Man normally doesn't hate anyone, and even against the evilest of foes, he's still open to delivering wisecracks and jokes at their expense. With Carl? Peter straight-up calls him pathetic with a blunt and serious tone, never making a single joke once when fighting against him. Considering Carl's history as an unrepentant bully towards Peter, his shamelessness about hurting others, and his insanely self-absorbed reason for wanting publicity, it's no wonder why Spider-Man had such contemptuous and disdainful thoughts toward him.
- Evil Gloating: After biting Spider-Man and paralyzing him, he ties him up and goes on a long monologue, explaining his origins, his powers, and how he plans to Kill and Replace Spidey. This, combined with the interruption of Peter's landlord, who King promptly devours, buys Spidey enough time for the poison to wear off. Spidey even lampshades it before breaking free and attacking him.Spider-Man: You're in love with the sound of your own voice. You strut around smirking like a two-year-old who's just finished potty training. You can't resist laying out every detail of your descent into evil and your big, bad plan... and you get so into it you forget your paralyzing poison is about to wear off.
- Fatal Flaw: Carl's pathological need to gloat and grind Peter's face to the dirt when he has him at his mercy. See the Evil Gloating entry above.
- Fat Bastard: As Carl, and Peter's landlord Mr. Ambrose.
- For the Evulz: Regularly bullied and tormented Peter in high school for the hell of it. In his current state, he's just as bad, admitting he's a supervillain and recalling how he ate children with a smile on his face.
- Giant Spider: The main spider is about the size of a human head.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Solely motivated by envy for Peter's life as Spider-Man, believing it to be perfect.
- Humanoid Abomination: When he’s wearing his latest victim and pretending to be human, he perfectly embodies this. He can act and look perfectly normal up until the moment he feels he has the upper hand. At which point he can distort and warp his host body (which is little more than a bag of skin animated by his spider form) into a varied array of horrific configurations to overtake his opponents. He’s also completely divorced from humanity both in his natural state and mental state, as well as believes himself to be vastly superior both to normal people and Spider-Man alike.
- Hate Sink: He's a vile, predatory abomination both literally and figuratively. Even among Peter's worst foes like Norman Osborn and Carnage, the Thousand has none of their bravado or even slightly sympathetic qualities, being a vicious, entitled bully who kills and torments for the pettiest of reasons.
- High-Voltage Death: Spider-Man electrocutes him, reducing the Thousand to the One. While swearing vengeance, the remaining spider is stepped on by an oblivious passerby.
- Hive Mind: A single mind in one thousand little bodies.
- I Can't Sense Their Presence: He's immune to the Spider-Sense.
- It's All About Me: Incorrigibly selfish, using everyone else for his entitled pleasure and punishing them for failing to satisfy his wants.
- Kill and Replace: His plan for Spider-Man.
- Karmic Death: Despite twisting himself into a hideous abomination and going on a killing spree, all with the end goal of killing Spider Man to take his fame and glory for himself, it’s gloriously cathartic for him to end his pathetic quest for recognition as a smear on the bottom of an average citizen’s shoe, crushed to death as his killer continues on with their day blissfully unaware of his presence.
- Killed Off for Real: As if to demonstrate how unworthy he is even to be a supervillain, he gets killed at the end of his introductory story and has never come back.
- Madness Mantra: "It should have been me!"
- Meta Origin: Ever wonder about what happened to the spider that bit Peter?
- Never My Fault: Blames Peter for his condition and how it led to him devouring his girlfriend, even though he immediately dismisses normal human lives as worthless and, as Peter points out, he had a choice every step of the way.
- Orifice Invasion: His spiders invade a person's body this way, devour their innards, and wear their leftover flesh as a suit.
- The Paralyzer: His bite can temporarily immobilize others.
- Parental Incest: It's heavily implied he, while puppeteering his mother's corpse, pulled a Bed Trick on his father. Ewww...
- Psychopathic Manchild: For all his power, King is nothing more than a Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up, utterly fixated on Peter and insanely jealous of his fame and glory as Spider-Man. During their fight, he rants about how he believes he should have become Spider-Man and how he deserves Peter's "perfect life." Spidey even lampshades it, remarking that Carl hasn't changed at all from the pathetic bully he was when they were kids.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In addition to what Spidey says to Carl before breaking free and attacking him, there's also what he says when he's laying into him.Spider-Man: I remember you, Carl <punches him in the face>. Not quite the same way you do <punches him in the stomach>. You think the kids at school liked you? You think they liked that you picked on kids like me? You were pathetic, Carl! You didn't know how to make friends! You were terrified of girls! All you knew was cruelty and fear, and making people nervous to get your attention! And look how far you've come, Carl! <kicks him in the chin> You're just the same old SADIST you always were!!
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The spiders.
- Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: Except he never did grow up, physically or mentally.
- Self-Made Orphan: After becoming the Thousand, he murders his own parents and takes over their bodies.
- Self-Serving Memory: Like most bullies, is under a delusion that he was popular. He violently denies Peter's argument how pathetic everyone, including the other bullies, actually found him.
- Smug Snake: He's nowhere near the threat he thinks he is.
- The Sociopath: He only cares for himself and what he wants, and is obsessed with becoming Spider-Man, believing he's entitled to the power and position Peter has. Other human lives are nothing but stepping stones to satisfy his wants, and he casually admits to Spidey that he ate dozens of people to grow stronger, including his girlfriend, his parents, and children.
- Spider Swarm: The Thousand is a swarm of spiders in a human shell.
- Stalker Without A Crush: He stalked Peter and followed his exploits as Spider-Man for years.
- Trampled Underfoot: His last spider gets squished.
- Undignified Death: He escapes Spider-Man's electrical attack with one spider left and vows to return and exact revenge... only to get squished by a random bystander who didn't even realize he was there.
- Would Hurt a Child: He willingly admits to Spider-Man that some of his victims have been children, which is far from the only atrocity he admits to in the long-winded account of his past.
- The Worm That Walks: His true form is a swarm of a thousand of normal-sized spiders and one big one; he wears the skin of anyone he kills, after devouring their insides.