Deaspider

Deaspider is a Beastformer from the Generation 1 continuity family.

Don't let his frightening appearance fool you, Deaspider (デスパイダー Desupaidā) is actually a very timid and kind sort. How he ended up working for the wicked Alligatron is a mystery, but "was bullied into it" seems likely. He'd honestly rather spend his time on handicrafts, but as it turns out his natural ingenuity, mixed with his ability to create incredibly strong adhesive fibers, makes him an excellent trapper. Not only that, his MVP Weapon, the Death Binder (デスバインダー Desu Baindā) can fuse items together once they get between its twin blades.

Following the Great War, Deaspider ended up as the Emperor of Hogland, serving under King Hedgehog. The two get along very well together, both being somewhat reclusive yet friendly, and Hedgehog's tunneling skill meshes well with Deaspider's trapping abilities, meaning any intruders on their domain are in for a very rough time.

Fiction

Beastformers comic

Deaspider traveled to underneath the dried up Lake Sagan to search for the Three Wise Ones' Water Gem of Stillness together with White Leo, Bowdog, Bluehorse and Badshark. The mission had several possible outcomes and the Beastformers may have either succeeded or been forced to retreat by a giant scorpion or the mysterious enemy Sur, who would battle them for the gem if they found it. In one outcome, Deaspider attempted to use his Death Binder to dig for the Water Gem to little effect, while in another he was responsible for sending the giant scorpion fleeing. The Water Gem of Stillness

Legends comic

In 2038, the then-peaceful Beast was invaded by Galvatron II's Decepticons. Deaspider was part of the joint Beastformer-Laser Beast alliance that fought against the invaders, but he was trounced by Dreadwing's Dread Roadblock Mode. The Road to Legends' Revival Chapter 3

Toys

Transformers: Beastformers

• Deaspider (Beastformer, 1987)
  • Beast ID number: 27
  • Accessories: Claw weapon

Part of the first series of Takara's Beastformers toys, Deaspider is an anthropomorphic spider in lavender robotic armor. His left arm ends in a (non-spinning) drill. The rubsign on his chest reveals one of three symbols; Fire, Water or Wood.

The Hasbro Battle Beasts release of the figure can vary in the tone of the paint used on its armor, with some samples being a glossier blue-tinted lavender; it's uncertain if the Takara version has similar (minor) paint variation.

He was re-released in the subsequent second and third series; while the toy proper was not changed, the packaging and packed-in bio card was. The Series 1 release comes in a generic purple-grid "Destron Beastformer" box, with a purple-grid bio card with a painted character image on the front, though there was a random chance of his card being replaced by the rare "Holography Mirror" card. Series 2 came in a green-grid generic "Destron Beastformer" box, with the bio card putting the painted image on a jungle backdrop. Series 3's box was unchanged, but the bio card replaced the painted image with a simpler line-art image, first used in Hasbro's Battle Beasts cast poster. In the green-box releases, depending on the "Pack" he came in, there was a chance of his bio card being replaced with a rare "Secret Photo", "Bewitching Serpent Seal", or "VS Holography Mirror" card.

Beastformers

• Deaspider (Beastformer, 1988)
  • Beast ID number: 27
  • Accessories: "Death Binder" MVP Weapon

Re-released in the Transformers-less Beastformers sequel series, Deaspider was given a straight re-release with new packaging and a new, more filled-out bio card with corrected coloring. This new card also gave his weapon, now branded an "MVP Weapon", the name "Death Binder".

He was sold in the initial "RPG" assortment, in generic boxes that advertised the chance for the included bio card to instead be a rare holofoil card of White Leo with a "Burstsun" rubsign in a baggie taped to the back, so you could apply it to the Beastformer of your choice. So far, no samples of Deaspider in the later style of box, with the name sticker on the bottom, have been found.

Late in the run, the "mood ring" styled rubsigns were replaced with new rubsigns that revealed full-color Fire/Wood/Water images on black backdrops. It is unknown if Deaspider was ever released with the full-color version. (These rubsign variants also happened at the same time in the Hasbro Battle Beast version of the line.)

• Deaspider (Gashapon/candy-toy Beastformer, 1988)
  • Meiji ID number: 11
  • Accessories: "Beastar" weapon

A small, super-deformed, articulation-free version of Deaspider was sold both as a gashapon capsule prize by Takara, and as a candy toy with "chocoballs" through the candy/ snack company Meiji. The candy toy version came with a bio/data card with its own role-playing rules, using the old Transformers-era painted character art.

This stumpy lil fellow could be found in red, blue or green plastic, representing the Fire, Water, and Wood elements (even though he still had a rubsign). All of the Meji Beastformers comes with a different Beastformer's weapon attached to their left shoulder by a snippable sprue. Deaspider came with Beafox's "Beastar" weapon, while Rabbit Kid came with Deaspider's "Death Binder".

Notes

• Deaspider's name is a combination of "death" (デス) and "spider" (スパイダー); it could also be Romanized "Deathpider" as the th sound doesn't exist in Japanese and is usually replaced with the s sound. "Deaspider" is the official Romanization as seen in the image atop this page.
• His 1988 bio card gives him the nickname "Deaspa" (デスパ Desupa), and notes that he was born in the mountain forests of North Snarl... but not which country in specific said mountains are in.

Foreign names

• English: Webslinger Spider