Giant Spider: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|And [[Superman]] needs to fight a Giant Spider in the third act. Do you know about spiders? [[Critical Research Failure|They're the fiercest killers in the insect kingdom!]]

 

Arachnophobia is probably the second-most popular phobia (after [[Monster Clown|coulrophobia]], that most tired of plot devices), and even non-arachnophobes have to admit that spiders can be pretty freaky. Therefore, the most popular form of [[Big Creepy-Crawlies]], and one of the most popular [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|Fifty Foot Whatevers]] to attack has to be a [http://www.livescience.com/animals/news-spider-species-100111.html big spider]. (Don't click the link if you like to browse All The Tropes before bed.) The bigger they are, the less likely there are to be more of them, but they're almost all so big that [[Square-Cube Law|they logically shouldn't be able to move or breathe]]. They will usually have hypertoxic venom, both spin webs and hunt for prey, and spit silk out of their mouths (most spiders in real life only focus on one trait).

 

{{examples}}

* The third chapter of ''[[Majin Devil]]'' is rife with them. Demonic dog-sized spiders with embryos on their backs that crawl out of pregnant girls hoohahs,tear their way out of their stomachs, or rip themselves out of hosts head.

* Two ''[[Digimon]]'' skirt the line, namely Dokugumon([[All There in the Manual|technically an insect that spins webs]]) and Arukenimon(who is classified as an arachnid but looks less like one than Dokugumon).

* In his fight with Kidimaru, Neji fights giant spiders in ''[[Naruto]]''.

 

* Trauma (whose superpower is turning into people's worse fears) transforms into one during a training exercise in [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers: The Initiative #1]]. This turns out to be a very bad idea; the arachnophobic Armory freaks out and accidentally kills one of her teammates.

* While not a giant spider ''per se,'' The Crimson King in the comic adapation of ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' often sports a couple of spider legs when ever he shows up.

* In one issue of ''[[Havoc Inc]]'' an unusually large tarantula caught Chester and Deck off guard as they were sleeping on a jungle planet. As portrayed on the [http://www.radiocomix.com/havoc-inc/2012/03/07/havoc-inc-05-cover/ cover art].

 

 

* Quite a few films of the [[B-Movie]] genre use these, whether in stop motion or just extreme close-up:

** ''[[Planet of the Dinosaurs]]'' has a large, stop motion spider in one scene.

*** Well, from a grammatical standpoint he's right. While spiders are arachnids, the insect world, as a spider's primary and most-common prey, could view spiders as the fiercest killers in their "kingdom".

** Peters' fascination doesn't even end there: he is known to have requested a mechanical spider be present in a film adaptation of [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Sandman]]'' comics as well. Rumour has it that he was at one point involved in the live-action adaptation of legendary anime movie ''[[Akira]]'' too, which conjures up terrifying mental images of Tetsuo mutating into a giant spider. Thankfully he no longer seems to be involved in the project.

** In all fairness to Peters's taxonomic dumbth and spider fixation... Superman fighting a giant spider on film ''would'' be ''awesome.''

*** Also in all fairness, most of the "quotes" from Jon Peters were just from a story told by Kevin Smith. It's still unknown how much of it was exaggerated.

* One of the sideiplots in ''[[Krull]]'' involves a giant albino spider guarding/imprisoning an oracle in a rather comfortable-looking cocoon in a gigantic web. It moves to eat anyone coming to consult with her, and is only prevented when she pours the sands of her life away (freezing it in place while the sands are in motion).

 

* Colin Wilson's ''Spider World'' novels are set in a post-apocalyptic future in which telepathic giant spiders (and other various insects) are the dominant species ruling over mankind.

* ''Castle Roogna'', one of [[Piers Anthony]]'s earlier ''[[Xanth]]'' novels actually features a gigantic spider named Jumper as one of the two main heroes. Too bad Xanth novels got [[Sequelitis|increasingly uncomfortable to read]]...

* Giant space spiders are the antagonists of Philip Reeve's [[Steampunk]] novel ''[[Larklight]]''.

* The ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' series includes creatures called Acromantulas, essentially giant spiders that can get up to elephant-size. They can talk and are sentient, but [[Exclusively Evil|don't think you're likely to survive a conversation with one]] (unless you're Hagrid). They are most prominently featured in Chamber of Secrets, whose film adaptation actually specifies spiders in the BBFC content notice.

*** And the spiders return in ''Deathly Hallows'' when {{spoiler|the Death Eaters drive them out of the forest and force them to attack Hogwarts.}} Presumably this will be in the film too...though some hope otherwise.

* ''[[The Hobbit]]'' has lots of spiders about the size of a dog, who can speak. ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' introduces Shelob, their much larger mother. And her mother, Ungoliant, featured in ''The Silmarillion'', is even bigger. [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]] was bitten by a tarantula in South Africa when he was a young boy; he almost died. The numerous spider-monsters in his books are probably influenced by this.

* Arachne is a character in the ''[[Alex Verus]]'' series. The books describe her as a 'tarantula the size of a minivan'. Unusually for this trope she's extremely nice and helpful, and also makes really good clothes.

 

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has the Giant Spiders of Metebelis 3 and the Racnoss. Their empress was half humanoid though.

* Episode 12 of the UK version of ''[[Who Wants to Be a Superhero?]]'' featured one terrorising various London landmarks and the superheroes' task was to mix a formula to shrink it.

* In the ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' episode "The Poisoned Chalice" Arthur in trapped in a cave with a bunch of giant spiders. They aren't as big as some of the beasties on this page, but they are bigger than his head - not counting the legs. Oh, and [[Zerg Rush|there's hundreds of them]].

 

* The radio version of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' briefly featured a Giant Spider as a [[Shout-Out]] to "Boris the Spider."

 

* The ''tsuchigumo'' and ''jorogumo'' [[Youkai]] of Japanese mythology, both of which are also known for shapeshifting and illusions, along with deadly poisons and large webs which they used to catch their prey. Archetypal myths for both involve posing as a beautiful girl or young boy to attract and snare unwary travellers, or accosting and offering wishes or marriage to someone who is kind to spiders. The latter is actually fairly common, since [[wikipedia:Nephila clavata|jorogumo's natural form]] is considered lucky for its bright coloring.

 

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' features spiders of variable enormous size.

** The Underdark is home to the [[Our Elves Are Better|Drow]], who worship an evil spider goddess, and sometimes end up as [[Biological Mashup|Driders]].

** Variants include mechanical spiders, spiders that move through the astral plane, various kinds of really poisonous spiders, psychic spiders, werespiders and so on and so forth.

** [[Spelljammer]] has Clockwork Horrors - spidery [[Mechanical Lifeform]] that tend to [[Horde of Alien Locusts|strip-mine planets to build more of its own]] and tear apart or shoot (they come equipped with dart-spitters, more advanced types with [[Death Ray]]) any pesky critters who object to this.

** Let's not forget the Bebiliths, quite literally [[Demonic Spiders]]. The ''normal'' variant has a body the size of a plow horse and over 4 metres leg span. Let it be noted that a Bebilith is an Arachnid demon that hunts OTHER DEMONS!

** Giant spiders in the Classic D&D game (Basic, Expert, etc) were a bit more varied than in other versions of D&D, and often had [[Truth in Television]] (crab spiders blending into their surroundings) or folklore-inspired abilities (the "tarantella"'s poison causing a spastic "dance") to make them interesting.

** Giant Spider is not the biggest Spider in the game, either. Goliath Spider is. It's a 7/6 and its illustration is it eating a drake. There's also Plated Spider, which has the amusing flavor text "Most spiders wait patiently for their prey to arrive. Most spiders aren't forty feet tall."

** The card, [http://magiccards.info/al/en/107.html Giant Spider], is now the only card that has been in [http://magiccards.info/m11/en/179.html every base set ever printed].

* Oddly toyed with in [[Mortasheen|Morta]][http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen.htm sheen]. You'd think the [[Half-Human Hybrid|human-insect hybrid]] Arthropoid class of creatures would have one, but in actuality, the spider based creatures they have there aren'[t all that big and tend to look more like humans with weirdly spidery proportions (The biggest one looks more ape-like than anything else). But, there is a monster that fits this trope, though oddly enough it's actually [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/gorgoblepas.htm a weird cow thing designed to produce meat].

 

 

* [[Neverwinter Nights 2|"XP granted for befriending a giant magical spider!"]]

** To elaborate, [[NWN 2]] has a rare example of a friendly giant spider. Your party comes across it in a cave, and it tries to communicate with you by drawing letter in the dirt with it's legs. If you befriend it, then later on {{spoiler|when you get Crossroad Keep}}, it will show up in the basement and eventually weave a magical spider-silk cloak for you!

* Most MMOs will have you fighting giant spiders at some point, especially MMOs in a fantasy setting.

* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'', Giant Spiders took the form of psychic women who undergo massive surgery and augmentation to be installed in a robotic spider bodies. Most of them don't seem to mind though.

* The ''[[Warcraft]]'' universe has the Nerubians: giant, sentient, vaguely humanoid spider-creatures, as well as the more traditional giant spiders of various sizes, ranging from human-sized to size of a small house. And then there's [http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=2707 Shadra], the lake-sized spider god.

** They also have more generally-huge spiders, usually bigger than a human but not quite as big as a tauren. Until you enter [[I Don't Like the Sound of That Place|Naxxramas]]. There they get to be FUCKIN' GIGANTIC. For one thing, there's Anub'Rekhan, one of the most trusted lieutenants of the king of the Nerubians, Anub'Arak (neither are actually spiders, they're more like beetles, but hey). And then there's [http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=15952#comments Maexxna.]

* Giant spiders show up in ''[[Wizardry]] VII: Bane of the Cosmic Forge'' in the dwarven mines, and occur periodically from then on out. Their only noteworthy trait is the ability to shoot webs and paralyze the party. Oddly enough, the Silence spell stops them from doing this...

* The PC role playing game ''[[Wizards and Warriors]]'' had scary giant spiders that would get right in your face and attack. They were rather lethal as well, given the game is played from a first person view and seeing them up close to attack is horrifiying.

** They reappear in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' alongside the Queen Spider, which makes the others look like midgets.

* ''[[Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles]]'' features a giant spider who is actually very friendly.

* You have to fight a few Giant Spiders in ''[[Rayman|Rayman 2: The Great Escape]]''. They're very tough opponents. Also, in the original concept of ''Rayman Raving Rabbids'', Rayman would have been able to ride a Giant Spider. [[What Could Have Been]]...

* ''[[Darksiders]]'' features an entire level filled with oversized arachnids. They range from the table-sized mooks (which can be annoying until you realize you can just have War stomp on them with a melee attack), the car-sized [[Elite Mooks|Loom Wardens]] (which can be easy enough once you get the Abyssal Chain), the house-sized [[Mini Boss|Brood Mother]] (which isn't so hard once you figure out the trick to beating it), and three-story tall Spider Queen Sliltha (which is... [[That One Boss|not easy at all]]).

* ''[[Master of Magic]]'' has [http://masterofmagic.wikia.com/wiki/Giant_Spiders Giant Spiders] as summonable creatures (Nature Realm) - fast melee unit comparable with cavalry, with mediocre poison attack (many stronger units are immune or just too tough for it). Their strong side is casting Web (like spell, anywhere on the battlefield), which allows to down flying creatures, temporarily disable shooters or split [[Zerg Rush|melee rushes]].

 

* ''[[Girl Genius]]''

** In addition to the big "[[Spider Tank|war stompers]]", also has real giant spiders, ridden by the Geisterdamen priestesses. This is actually one of the ''least'' creepy things about them (the Geisterdamen).

* in ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'' Quentyn reveals that his marvelous silken cloak is woven from the silk of [https://web.archive.org/web/20130227024716/http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/00416.html biomancy enhanced spiders the size of tomatoes.] (canonically, they are literally too large to walk on their own, and have to be hand-fed by their handlers.) Sam is not enthused.

 

* Giant Congolese Spiders infest the [[The Other Wiki|WikiWorld]] in ''[[AH Dot Com the Series]]'', the result of [[Memetic Mutation]] about a vandalised wiki article stating that the Congo is home to four-foot-tall spiders.

* Lots of large spiders appear in the first chapter of the [[Web Serial Novel]] ''[[Tasakeru]]''. {{spoiler|Also applies to their sentient and very hostile mother.}}

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx1tBjwhXx8&src_vid=PkSZivKpqzk&annotation_id=annotation_868941&feature=iv This.] A guy finds a pretty big spider in his backyard, so he sprays insecticide all over his house and on the spider... {{spoiler|only it turns out he picked up insecti''steroids'' instead. Then the all-grown-up spider invades his house and kills him.}}

 

* MC Pee Pants in ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'', a diaper wearing giant spider who gets releases a rap CD with not so [[Subliminal Seduction]] in his lyrics. Said lyrics are about eating candy so his fans can come down to his place and use their hyperactive blood-sugar levels to power a drill into hell so that he can release demons for his global diet pill pyramid scheme. Averted, because very few traits aside from the fact he's a giant spider belong to this trope.

* In the ''[[Jonny Quest]]'' episode "Terror Island", a [[Mad Scientist]] turns several animals (including a spider) into giant monsters.

* A giant spider couple is the main focus in the ''[[Adventure Time]]'' episode "Web Weirdos". When Jake and Finn get caught in a giant web, Finn tries to find a way for him and Jake to escape by offering advice on how the male spider (named Ed and voiced by [[Bobcat Goldthwait]]) can improve his relationship with his wife, Barb (voiced by [[Susie Essman]]). After making up, Barb gives birth to a thousand baby spiders.

 

* Mostly averted in [[Real Life]]: spiders as a whole are tiny creatures, with most of them being smaller than your fingernail.

* The biggest spider known is the South American goliath birdeater tarantula, growing to over a foot (30 cm) in size, this creature's relatively harmless (to humans) venom is made up for by its increased aggression compared to most tarantulæ and tendency to fling clouds of irritating spines into the eyes of larger enemies. While they usually only eat the externally digested liquid remains of amphibians, lizards and rodents they paralyze with their venom, they do occasionally manage to catch a bird (and no, they do not build giant webs to catch them with.)

*** Same difference, considering that a spider with the leg-span of a pencil is still pretty damn freaky.

*** To quote Cracked [http://www.cracked.com/article_16054_6-endangered-species-that-arent-endangered-enough.html "It's frequently described as 'larger than a dinner plate,' presumably because spider-scientists don't want to freak people out with the significantly more relevant 'big enough to fit over your face.'"]

* There is an extinct species of spider that grew to ''eight feet'' in length! Granted, the body was only about a foot long and it was mostly leg, but ''still!'' Freaky! Of course, these lived in a time period long before dinosaurs, when the oxygen in the atmosphere was ''much'' more concentrated, and bugs could grow to gigantic sizes. After a while, the atmosphere started shifting to what it is today, and the giant spiders - as stated above - were unable to survive at that size due to inability to breathe.

** [[wikipedia:Megarachne|Scientists are still arguing about that one.]]

 

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Bigger Is Better]]

[[Category:Invertebrate Index]]

[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]

[[Category:Horror Tropes]]