Airachnid (Prime)

Airachnid is aDecepticonfrom thePrimeportion of theAligned continuity family.

There once was a spider who knew how to fly / I don't know why the spider could fly / Perhaps you'll die

Long ago,Airachnidwas with theDecepticons,where her cruel, cold-sparked, murderous demeanor served her well. After theGreat ExodusofCybertron,however, she decided to go solo. These days, Airachnid spends her time engaging in her new hobby: collectingendangered species... well, parts of endangered species, mostly the heads. Now, if a speciesisn'tendangered? Oh, they will be. She'll makesureof that, and she'll make sure it's a slow, painful process.

Less trustworthy than evenStarscream,she is more than willing to kill her ownmenor leave hercommanding officersbehind if it means getting what she wants. The pain and trauma she had inflicted onArcee,from saidAutobot's torture to the brutal execution ofher partner,have given them a vicious, bitter history, and both will stop at nothing to kill each other. She also has the ability to controlInsecticons.

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

Primecartoon

Voice actor:Gina Torres(English),Ryōka Yuzuki(Japanese),Li Ye(Chinese),Erica Edwards(Latin American-Spanish),Heide Domanowski(German),So-yeong Lee(Korean),Julia Martínez(Spain-Spanish),Marina Thovez(Italian),Ella Pyhältö(Finnish),Denise Reis(Portuguese, season 1),Denise Simonetto(Portuguese, season 2 onwards),France Bastoen(French)

Shelob gave dieting a go after seeing how much weight her director lost.

During the war for Cybertron, Airachnid managed to captureArceeand her partnerTailgate.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,BumblebeeandCliffjumperburst into the holding room, killing the twoVehiconsand rescuing Arcee. Airachnid, however, escaped.PredatoryArcee later recalled Tailgate's death while on a mission with Cliffjumper.Out of the Past

Following theGreat 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-landedher shiponEarth.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 herspark.She chased Jack back to her ship, but discovered too late that the human had snuck out the underside. She spotted Jackjustin time to see him hurl a flaming stick into a pool ofenergonthat was leaking from her ship. Airachnid barely managed to escape the explosion, but she was wounded andreallypissed. 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

Finally a use for those helicopter cockpit halves on her shoulders!

Learning ofMECH's treatment ofBreakdown,Airachnid engineered a distress call which luredSilasto the forest. She made a deal with the MECH agent to give him Arcee – at least, what would beleftof her – if he could deliver Jack to her. Silas used theInternetto track down information on Jack and haveJune Darbykidnapped so Airachnid cocooned her and dangled her from a building in the disusedJasperfactory 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 torescuemom, 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 byAgent Fowler's helicopters, and was forced toscanone so she could escape.Crisscross

"Breakdown, you have a bug on your... um... windshield?"

Airachnid followed a magnetic signal and foundBreakdownwith apolarity 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 anew partner for her to snuffand 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 theNemesis,taking the gauntlet from him and reacting with disdain to his suggestion they could take it back toMegatrontogether. 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 theNemesis,where she had no choice but to rejoin the Decepticons.Metal Attraction

"Even shinier than thePolarity gauntlet!"

Immediately ingratiating herself with Megatron, Airachnid told the Decepticon leader thatStarscreamhad been keeping information to himself, such as the location of the crashed Decepticon ship, theHarbinger.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 theImmobilizerhad 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 byOptimus Prime,and instead went to find theHarbinger'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 theNemesiswhere 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.PartnersDespite this, she was promoted to Second in Command during Starscream's absence.One Shall Fall

Who needs Starscream?

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 andKnock Outobserved Megatron acting strangely and wondered if their leader was losing it.One Shall FallWhile theminersgathered upDark Energon,Airachnid hung out on the bridge and watched asSoundwaveplayed backUnicron'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 1Airachnid returned theNemesisto 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

Round One. FIGHT!!!

When she called theNemesis' 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 toRegulon Four.As none of the other Decepticons spoke out against her, Airachnid ordered Soundwave to set theNemesison 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 MiniconLaserbeak.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

Let the shipping commence!

Airachnid offered to employ her tracking skills in finding more artifacts, and Megatron sent her,Dreadwingand 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 anInsecticonwhich she was able to control. Starscream, missing histransformation 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 theNemesis,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 tothe 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 recruitSmokescreenwas 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 RecruitLater, when Starscream used hisRed Energonto infiltrate the Autobot base and steal theOmega Keys,he came across Airachnid. Seeing her predicament answered a few of Starscream's questions about her whereabouts.Inside JobFollowing the destruction of the Autobot base,Darkest HourAirachnid's stasis pod was pulled from the wreckage by the Decepticons.Darkmount, NVRather than free her, they placed her stasis pod in storage on theNemesis,where Smokescreen later stumbled on it while looking for theForge of Solus Prime.Prey

If you thought she was avampbefore...

Airachnid was finally freed when Cylas, having been infused with a mixture of Dark andSynthetic 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 theNemesis.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

EaglemossPrimecomic

Airachnid encountered Optimus in an Amazonian jungle and webbed him to a tree. She was ready to add his head to her collection, but a Vehicon sympathetic to Optimus knocked her aside, allowing Optimus to free himself and uppercut her into some nearby quicksand.Friend or Foe?

I want to tell you about the Transformers! This character article is astuband is missing information on theirfictional appearances.You can helpTransformers Wikibyexpanding it. Deadly Alliance

Legendscomic

Airachnid was among a group of evil female Transformers in one ofTigatron's dreams who attempted to kidnap him, fighting the heroic female Transformers guarding him in the process.Bonus Edition Vol. 11

Kre-Obios

Airachnid once webbed Arcee to the floor so thatInsecticoncould tickle her.

Kre-Ocartoon

Airachnid was goalie for the Decepticons in a game of soccer. She prepared to blockBumblebee's penalty kick, but it turned out to be unnecessary asDevastatorblocked the shot first.Ultimate Defender

Kre-Oonline manga

Once when Megatron was defeated in battle withOptimus Prime,Airachnid took it as a chance to try to charm Prime into letting her join the winning team. Her disparaging remarks about Megatron enraged the downed Decepticon leader who fired on her, only to blast Prime instead. Faced with her angry leader, Airachnid convinced him that her attempted betrayal was all an act meant to distract Prime.

Later, while bored of cleaning the Decepticon base, Airachnid showeredStarscreamwith compliments to manipulate him into doing her job for her.Breakdowntried to put a stop to it by telling Starscream the story of the spider's history of lying, to no avail.Temptation of the Female Soldier, Airachnid!Airachnid later attended Megatron's flower-viewing party together with Starscream.Stop Operation Brainwash Humanity!

Commercial appearances

• Airachnid reacted with confusion to several of Megatron's answers as he took questions from his adoring public.Ask Megatron

Games

Transformers: Prime - The Game

You've faced my Insecticons and lived, but will you survive my tinier, weaker Insecticons?

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 theNemesis.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

Transformers Prime: Decepticon Strike

Airachnid dueled Optimus in the skies over a desert. She boasted that she would "add [him] to the endangered species list" but her helicopter mode proved to be no match for the Autobot leader. She flew off, but returned later to aid Megatron in his own battle against Optimus. The Decepticons were trounced once more by the Autobot and fled.Decepticon Strike

Angry Birds Transformers

Main article:Stella (AB)#As Airachnid

Airachnid appears as a character unlockable in Challenge Events and through Special Missions. She is portrayed by Stella.Angry Birds Transformers

Toys

Prime

Robots in Disguise

Quite possibly does the meanestrobotthis side of the Milky Way.

Seems like quite a bit of effort and money just for a single, primitively-engineered chunk of plastic. And the Micron.

• Airachnid(Deluxe Class, 2012)

• Series / number:1 / 012
• Takara release date:August 25,2012
• Takara ID number:AM-18
• Accessories:Rotor/triple-bladed sword, two "electro-stingers" (Hasbro only), "Ida" Arms Micron (TakaraTomy only)

Part of the fourth wave ofPrime: Robots in DisguiseDeluxe 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 via5 mm postonto 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.

Inrobot mode,Airachnid has aseverelylimited range ofarticulation.Her head is unable to turn or tilt in any significant way due to herlight-pipingplastic 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 legsweredesigned to have thighswivels,her thigh panels and the helicopter kibble behind it blockmuchof her leg articulation.

Herstock photographydepicts paint details on her legs and toes that were omitted on the final product.

TheTakaraTomyrelease, part of the sixth wave of JapaneseSuper Robot Lifeform Transformers Primetoys, omits some of her detail-basedpaint operations,replacing them with customer-applied foilstickers.(She even comes with an extra "spiderweb" sticker for you to stick wherever it amuses you to.) She has also been slightlyretooled,giving her a pair of rocket-thrusters just under her rotor blades. Each thruster has a 5 mm post and hole as part of the line-wideArms Microngimmick.These additional post-holes actually make it pretty easy tore-create her "spider-lady" robot mode with an extra set of rotors,though the TakaraTomy version uses a darker purple plastic than theHasbroversion, meaning you need to buy two ofeitherversion unless you don't care about mismatched rotor colors. Instead of her electro-stingers, she comes with anArms Micron,Ida,a spider that transforms into a bladed shield-weapon-thing.

• More information onRobots in DisguiseAirachnid at TFU.info

Cyberverse

Surprisingly better articulated than her larger toy.

• Airachnid(Cyberverse Legion Class, 2013)

• Series / number:3 / 003
• Accessories:Rotor, "Nova Stinger Bow"
• Known designers:Joe Kyde(Hasbro)

Part of the first wave ofPrime:Beast HuntersSeries 3CyberverseLegion Class toys, this version of Airachnid is a simpler, smaller-scale toy. She features3 mm portsfor her hands, on her helicopter sides/robot shoulders, and underneath her cockpit, which ends up behind her robot head. Her instructions omit or gloss overseveralsteps (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 3 mm post. She also comes with the "Nova Stinger Bow", a crossbow which has two 3 mm ports and three posts, allowing it to be mounted in different ways. This bow, in varying colors, was also used byBumblebee,Rippersnapper,Windrazor,andCindersaur.

• More information on Cyberverse Airachnid at TFU.info

Kre-O

• Airachnid(Kreon Micro-Changer, 2012)

• Bag number:22851 49
• Accessories:Stand-block, 2 clip-on rifles
• Known designers:Ed Masiello(Hasbro)

As part of the first normal wave ofKre-OMicro-ChangerKreons,Airachnid is ablindpacked-bagged mini-figure with extra parts, which enables you to rebuild her into a spider mode.

If you like, you can try and turn her into a helicopter with some other parts.

• More information on Airachnid at TFU.info

• Airachnid(Kreon Micro-Changer, 2016)

• Collection:1
• Accessories:Logo plate, 2 clip-on rifles

In 2016, Collection 1 was re-released in a whole new production run for Dollar General stores in the US as part of a large collection of re-releasedKre-Osets. But where most of these releases are nigh-identical to the originals, the re-released Micro-Changer blind-bags use the almost-entirely-retooled 2015 Kreon, with slightly-differently-hued plastics than the originals. (It is possible for some of the add-on pieces to be in the older hues.)

Airachnid's torsotampographhas also been reworked to be slightly more detailed, and the formerly-bare legs now have extra detail tampographing on them.

Sadly, this release has no individual-identification code on the bag, requiring you to use the feel-through-the-bag method or just buy blind and hope.

EZ Collection

• Airachnid(EZ Collection, 2013)

• ID number:EG08
• Release date:April 27,2013
• Accessories:Bowgun, rotor

CyberverseAirachnid was re-released in Japan in the first wave of the mixed-themeEZ Collectionline that ran duringTransformers Go!.There appear to be no notable differences between the two releases.

Notes

• Airachnid's colors, design, and spider-like qualities are inspired by several previous characters namedBlackarachnia.
• Airachnid'salternate modedoesn't really make sense: Airachnid scanned Agent Fowler'sBell 212 Hueyhelicopter, but she somehow ended up with a stylizedRAH-66 Comanchealternate mode.
• The existence of the name "Airachnid" was first revealed when Hasbro filed an intent-to-usetrademark applicationfor 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 thenull-rayKnock Out offered Starscream in "Shadowzone".
• In the Japanese dub ofPrime,Airachnid's personality is completely different from her original interpretation. In the dub, she is a bubbly, giggling, high-strung chatterbox that is obsessed with collecting the heads of "handsome boys" as trophies rather than endangered creatures. Played up as something of a femalePepé 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 "Mystery Insect Transformation! Forest of the Spider Woman!",she even proposes marriage to him. This behaviour is probably based off the Japaneseyanderetrope.
  • Also regarding the Japanese dub, Airachnid is played byRyōka Yuzuki,the actress who dubbedBeast WarsBlackwidowandAnimatedBlackarachnia.As such, many of the quirks she conceived for those characters (such as a habit of making a hissingtshaaa—noise) are present. Whenever Airachnid fires her webbing, she shouts "Sticky-Sticky Attack!" ( niêm niêm công kíchNebaneba Kōgeki).
• The Covenant of Primusstrongly implies that Airachnid is a member of a sub-type of Transformers known asArachnicons.
• Kre-OAirachnid'sinstructionslabel her as aPredacon,using theBeast Warssymbol.
• An orange and blue look-alike of Airachnid lacking spider legs appears in theRobots in Disguiseepisode "Metal Meltdown".

Arms Up Modes

In the JapanesePrimetoyline, Airachnid has named powered-up modes when given variousArms Micronsin certain configurations:

• Hunter Mode(ハンターモードHantā Mōdo)
  • Arms Microns:Ida, Jida, Noji

Seen in her box-back photo, this mode is simply Airachnid brandishing theLunatic ChainsawSuper Combo Weapon. Wheeeeeeeeeee.

Foreign names

• Japanese:Airachnid(エアラクニッドEarakuniddo)
• Mandarin:Hēiguăfù( hắc quả phụ, "Black Widow" )
• Russian:Airachnida(Эйрахнида)

References