Airachnid (Prime)
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| The name or term "Airachnid" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Airachnid (disambiguation). |
- Airachnid is a Decepticon from the Prime portion of the Aligned continuity family.
Long ago, Airachnid was with the Decepticons, where her cruel, cold-sparked, murderous demeanor served her well. After the Great Exodus of Cybertron, however, she decided to go solo. These days, Airachnid spends her time engaging in her new hobby: collecting endangered species... well, parts of endangered species, mostly the heads. Now, if a species isn't endangered? Oh, they will be. She'll make sure of that, and she'll make sure it's a slow, painful process.
Less trustworthy than even Starscream, she is more than willing to kill her own men or leave her commanding officers behind if it means getting what she wants. The pain and trauma she had inflicted on Arcee, from said Autobot's torture to the brutal execution of her partner, have given them a vicious, bitter history, and both will stop at nothing to kill each other. She also has the ability to control Insecticons.
Fiction
Prime cartoon
- Voice actor: Gina Torres (English), Ryōka Yuzuki (Japanese), Erica Edwards (Latin American-Spanish), Heide Domanowski (German), Julia Martínez (Spain-Spanish), Marina Thovez (Italian), Ella Pyhältö (Finnish)
During the war for Cybertron, Airachnid managed to capture Arcee and her partner Tailgate. Quickly realizing that Arcee would resist the physical torture she used, Airachnid decided to employ a simpler threat: Tell her the attack coordinates of an impeding attack, or Tailgate dies. Arcee insisted she didn't know the coordinates, but Airachnid didn't believe her and killed Tailgate. Moments later, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper burst into the holding room, killing the two Vehicons and rescuing Arcee. Airachnid, however, escaped.
Following the Great Exodus, Airachnid concluded that the war was over, meaning she needed a new way to spend her time. Abandoning the Decepticons, she decided to hunt sentient species, then wipe them out after getting a trophy. Eventually, Airachnid crash-landed her ship on Earth. She initially laid her optics on a lone camper, but was ambushed by Arcee. While Arcee gained the upper hand, she was distracted by her human partner, Jack Darby, and Airachnid webbed her to a rock. Having learned of Cliffjumper's recent demise, Airachnid decided that making Jack her next trophy would be a delicious way to hurt Arcee before finally snuffing out her spark. She chased Jack back to her ship, but discovered too late that the human had snuck out the underside. She spotted Jack just in time to see him hurl a flaming stick into a pool of energon that was leaking from her ship. Airachnid barely managed to escape the explosion, but she was wounded and really pissed. She managed to web the fleeing Jack to a tree, but before Airachnid could deliver the killing blow, Arcee came to the rescue and absolutely wiped the forest floor with the Decepticon. Deciding she had endured enough for one night, Airachnid drilled into the ground and fled. Predatory
Learning of MECH's treatment of Breakdown, Airachnid engineered a distress call which lured Silas to the forest. She made a deal with the MECH agent to give him Arcee – at least, what would be left of her – if he could deliver Jack to her. Silas used the Internet to track down information on Jack and have June Darby kidnapped so Airachnid cocooned her and dangled her from a building in the disused Jasper factory MECH was occupying. When Jack arrived, Airacnid gave him six minutes to rescue his mother. She followed Jack around the factory and, when he eventually found June and claimed victory, she pointed out the task was to rescue mom, not just find her. Before Airachnid could start with the dismemberment, Arcee arrived to attack her and the two enemies fought at length around the building's structure. During the fight, Airachnid was thrown into a container and coated with concrete, but managed to get free and web Arcee to the ground. She was about to finish off Arcee when she was attacked by Agent Fowler's helicopters, and was forced to scan one so she could escape. Crisscross
Airachnid followed a magnetic signal and found Breakdown with a polarity gauntlet. Seeking to obtain the weapon, she buried him underground, but he escaped and she was forced to fight him. Then Arcee turned up with a new partner for her to snuff and she had to fight them as well. When Breakdown activated the gauntlet, she fled in alarm. She later ambushed the 'Con on his way back to the Nemesis, taking the gauntlet from him and reacting with disdain to his suggestion they could take it back to Megatron together. The Autobots caught up with them, and Airachnid used the gauntlet to draw Arcee to her for a little one-on-one fighting. When the battle started to turn sour, however, she grabbed the gauntlet and attempted to flee in her helicopter form. Unfortunately, Bulkhead grabbed her and threw her into Breakdown. Fused magnetically to the 'Con, she was carried back to the Nemesis, where she had no choice but to rejoin the Decepticons. Metal Attraction
Immediately ingratiating herself with Megatron, Airachnid told the Decepticon leader that Starscream had been keeping information to himself, such as the location of the crashed Decepticon ship, the Harbinger. Megatron ordered Starscream to take Airachnid to the ship's crash site and secure the experimental weapon it contained. Once there, Airachnid discovered that the half of the ship containing the Immobilizer had broken off before impact. She webbed up Starscream and forced him to tell her the location of the aft section, but was attacked by the Autobots while leaving. After a brief fight with Arcee, Airachnid was chased off by Optimus Prime, and instead went to find the Harbinger's aft. She quickly located it and retrieved the Immobilizer, then lay in wait as Optimus's team approached the ship. She was able to freeze Bulkhead and Optimus, but some deft trickery by Bumblebee allowed him to sneak up on her and destroy the Immobilizer. She retreated back to the Nemesis where she tried to blame the loss of the Immobilizer on Starscream as well as explain why she left him behind. Unluckily for her, an enraged Megatron roared that by allowing the Decepticon second-in-command to be taken prisoner, she'd just put all Decepticon intelligence at the fingertips of the Autobots. Partners Despite this, she was promoted to Second in Command during Starscream's absence. One Shall Fall
When the Decepticons located the last part they needed for their space bridge in a human installation, Airachnid suggested she could burrow up under it, but Megatron announced that the time for stealth was past, so she didn't. Once they secured the power source they needed, Airachnid and Knock Out observed Megatron acting strangely and wondered if their leader was losing it. One Shall Fall While the miners gathered up Dark Energon, Airachnid hung out on the bridge and watched as Soundwave played back Unicron's pulse. She reported to Megatron that the hold was full, and they should think about retreating. He responded by leaving her in charge while he went to go and talk to Unicron. One Shall Rise, Part 1 Airachnid returned the Nemesis to orbit to wait. When no further word came from Megatron, she told Soundwave that Megatron might not be coming back. One Shall Rise, Part 2
When she called the Nemesis' crew to the bridge, she had deduced that Megatron, either deceased or deep within Unicron, had abandoned them, and with Earth falling into chaos, decided that they should relocate to Regulon Four. As none of the other Decepticons spoke out against her, Airachnid ordered Soundwave to set the Nemesis on course, however the silent Decepticon refused to comply. She attempted to assert her leadership by attacking him, only to discover that she was no match for Soundwave and his Minicon Laserbeak. The pair double-teamed her, and she was forced to yield when held underfoot. She subsequently decided to be elsewhere when Megatron did return. One Shall Rise, Part 3
Airachnid was soon back as Megatron's subordinate, though she expressed her concern about the amnesiac Optimus Prime being allowed full run of the ship. When Arcee sneaked on board The Nemesis to find Optimus, Airachnid readily volunteered to go and deal with her, even offering to offline the Autobot. However, Megatron felt that the situation needed to be dealt with more subtly, so he sent Soundwave instead. Orion Pax, Part 1
Airachnid offered to employ her tracking skills in finding more artifacts, and Megatron sent her, Dreadwing and Breakdown on a search mission. However, the whole mission was a ploy; her partners were under orders to terminate her for her attempts to wrest command of the Decepticons during Megatron's brief absence. Her relentless needling of Breakdown made the 'Con lose his cool and try and kill her before Dreadwing gave the order. She quickly webbed Dreadwing to a tree, leading Breakdown on a chase through the woods. Though she was damaged in the chase, she eventually caught Breakdown in a webbing trap, and promptly dismantled him. Limping away, she ran across an Insecticon which she was able to control. Starscream, missing his transformation cog, happened upon the pairing and offered a partnership. Airachnid instead sicced the Insecticon on him, hoping for another kill, but the weaselly Decepticon managed to escape. Airachnid then lured Megatron to an abandoned energon mine and set the Insecticon on him, watching the fight until she was attacked by Arcee. The Autobot pursued her as she burrowed away, but Airachnid managed to ambush her foe. She was prevented from terminating the helpless Arcee by Starscream, and instead had to flee yet again, but this fortuitously led her to stumble on a whole Insecticon hive. Crossfire
Detecting a beacon transmitting from the Nemesis, Airachnid woke the Insecticon army to go eliminate Megatron. Their activity drew the attention of the Autobots, and though Airachnid sent Insecticons after them, Arcee broke away from the swarm and relentlessly pursued her nemesis into the Insecticon hive. As the two fought, Arcee managed to maneuver Airachnid onto one of the Insecticon's open stasis pods, which quickly snapped closed around her, breaking off one of her spider-legs in the process. The stasis-locked Airachnid was taken back to the Autobot base... leaving Megatron suddenly in control of Airachnid's former army. Armada
The Autobots stashed her in the same place they kept the Iacon relics. When new recruit Smokescreen was given a tour of the base by Jack, they walked past the spider bot's pod, and Jack warned him that she was not the kind they wanted to mess with. New Recruit Later, when Starscream used his Red Energon to infiltrate the Autobot base and steal the Omega Keys, he came across Airachnid. Seeing her predicament answered a few of Starscream's questions about her whereabouts. Inside Job Following the destruction of the Autobot base, Darkest Hour Airachnid's stasis pod was pulled from the wreckage by the Decepticons. Darkmount, NV Rather than free her, they placed her stasis pod in storage on the Nemesis, where Smokescreen later stumbled on it while looking for the Forge of Solus Prime. Prey
Airachnid was finally freed when Cylas, having been infused with a mixture of Dark and Synthetic Energon, ripped open her stasis pod in an attempt to drink her energon. She managed to fight him off, terminating him in the process, and promptly retook control of the Insecticons on board the Nemesis. She instructed them to destroy all of the Decepticons, however the group first encountered Soundwave, who used the space bridge to transport them all to one of Cybertron's moons. Having been infected by Cylas while fighting him (via a small scratch on her neck), Airachnid soon became an Energon-vampire herself. She then ordered the Insecticons to approach and serve their queen, as she drained their Energon. Thirst
Games
Transformers: Prime - The Game
- Voice actor: Gina Torres (English)
Airachnid, ordered by Starscream to locate the Autobots who had fallen to Earth, found Arcee near a factory outside Jasper, Nevada. Her Insecticon troops were easily dispatched by Arcee. Airachnid then engaged Arcee herself. As Arcee prepared to terminate Airachnid, Jack arrived on the scene. Airachnid took advantage of Arcee's distraction, capturing Jack and flying away with him. Arcee pursued her, managing to free Jack before Airachnid escaped.
Later, Airachnid set a trap for Arcee when the latter infiltrated the Nemesis. Airachnid took Arcee to the top of the ship to fight her once again. As before, Arcee emerged victorious. But before Arcee could finish Airachnid off, two Insecticons attacked. Airachnid fled while Arcee blasted the Insecticons. Transformers: Prime - The Game
Toys
Prime
- Airachnid (Deluxe, 2012)
- Series / Number: 1 / 012
- Japanese release date: 8-25-2012
- Japanese ID number: AM-18
- Accessories: Rotor/Triple-bladed sword, two "electro-stingers" (Hasbro only), "Ida" Arms Micron (TakaraTomy only)
- Part of the fourth wave of Prime: Robots in Disguise Deluxe Class toys, Airachnid transforms into a stealth helicopter with an opening canopy. She comes with two "electro-stingers", while her rotors can detach from the base and be used as a sword. All three weapons can mount via 5mm post onto her open palms or helicopter sides/her upper arms, and the stingers each feature two pegs and a peg-hole, allowing them to peg/be pegged in different ways.
- In robot mode, Airachnid has a severely limited range of articulation. Her head is unable to turn or tilt in any significant way due to her light-piping plastic being molded as the helicopter seat and being blocked by the surrounding cockpit, her hands cannot be swung down parallel to her panel arms due to a bit of the panel getting in the way, and while her legs were designed to have thigh swivels, her thigh panels and the helicopter kibble behind it block much of her leg articulation.
- Her stock photography depicts paint details on her legs and toes that were omitted on the final product.
- The TakaraTomy release, part of the sixth wave of Japanese Prime toys, omits some of her detail-based paint operations, replacing them with customer-applied foil stickers. (She even comes with an extra "spiderweb" sticker for you to stick wherever it amuses you to.) She has also been slightly retooled, giving her a pair of rocket-thrusters just under her rotor blades. Each thruster has a 5mm post and hole as part of the line-wide Arms Micron gimmick. These additional post-holes actually make it pretty easy to re-create her "spider-lady" robot mode with an extra set of rotors, though the TakaraTomy version uses a darker purple plastic than the Hasbro version, meaning you need to buy two of either version unless you don't care about mismatched rotor colors. Instead of her electro-stingers, she comes with an Arms Micron, Ida, a spider that transforms into a bladed shield-weapon-thing.
Cyberverse
- Airachnid (Cyberverse Legion, 2013)
- Series / Number: 3 / 003
- Japanese ID number: EG08
- Accessories: Nova Stinger Bow, rotor
- Part of the first wave of Prime: Beast Hunters Series 3 Cyberverse Legion Class toys, this Airachnid is a smaller-scale toy. She features 3mm ports for her hands, on her helicopter sides/robot shoulders, and underneath her cockpit, which ends up behind her robot head. Her instructions omit or gloss over several steps (mostly involving her legs), but they're fairly obvious.
- Her rotors can also detach from the base/her robot back, revealing another port, and allowing the rotors to mount elsewhere via 3mm post. She also comes with the "Nova Stinger Bow", a crossbow which has two 3mm ports and three posts, allowing it to mount/be mounted in different ways. This bow, in varying colors, was also used by Bumblebee, Rippersnapper, Windrazor, and Cindersaur.
Notes
- Airachnid's head design and largely black color scheme have heavy similarities to the Disney villain Maleficent.
- Airachnid's alternate mode doesn't really make sense: Airachnid scanned Agent Fowler's Bell 212 Huey helicopter, but she somehow ended up with a stylized RAH-66 stealth helicopter alt mode.
- The existence of the name "Airachnid" was first revealed when Hasbro filed an intent-to-use trademark application for the term with the US Trademark and Patent Office. However, the application was eventually denied for registration.[1].
- Deluxe Airachnid's electro-stingers are modeled after the null-ray Knock Out offered Starscream in "Shadowzone."
- In the Japanese dub of Prime, Airachnid's personality is completely different from her US interpretation. In the dub, she is a bubbly, giggling, high-strung chatterbox that is obsessed with collecting handsome boys as trophies. Played up as something of a female Pepe Le Pew, she constantly swoons over Jack, calling him her "hunk," her "darling," her "cutie Jack-chan" and various other lovey-dovey remarks as she amorously pursues him (even going so far as to sing love songs to him, mid-chase). When she finally catches Jack near the end of "Predatory", she even proposes marriage to him.
- Also regarding the Japanese dub, Airachnid is played by Ryōka Yuzuki, the actress who dubbed Beast Wars Black Widow and Animated Blackarachnia. As such, many of the quirks she conceived for those characters (such as a habit of making a hissing tshaaa— noise) are present. Likewise, the constant, incessant talking seems to be a throwback to the "ad-libbing" prevalent in the Japanese dub of Beast Wars. Whenever she fires her webbing, she shouts "Sticky-Sticky Attack!" (粘粘攻撃, nebaneba kougeki).
- Airachnid's actually the second female vampire with a helicopter altmode.
Arms Up Modes
In the Japanese Prime toyline, Airachnid has named powered-up modes when given various Arms Microns in certain configurations:
- Hunter Mode (ハンターモード Hantā Mōdo)
- Arms Microns: Ida, Jida, Noji
- Seen on her box-back photo, this mode is simply Airachnid brandishing the Lunatic Chainsaw Super Combo Weapon. Wheeeeeeeeeee.
