Summary
WithTransformers Onein theaters, fans of the early 2010s cartoonTransformers Primeshould find plenty to be excited about. It is a CG-animated film, just as Prime was, and it even features music from Brian Tyler, who composed the music for the cartoon.
One bigPrimecharacter who returns inTransformers Oneis Airachnid. Bearing a more than passing resemblance to the recurringTransformerscharacter Blackarachnia, she is a unique addition to the franchise who, until this point,has not appeared in a feature film. IfTransformersPrimeis any indicator, she is bad news for both Autobots and Decepticons alike. Here are a few things that make Airachnid one ofTransformers’ deadliest villains.
8She Is A Triple-Changer
More Than Meets The Eye
Given the “rachnid” name in Airachnid, one can surmise what the villain’s alternate form is. She can convert into a humanoid spider, complete with a sticky webbing to trap her opponents, as well as producing a dangerous acid as caustic as xenomorph blood.
When Airachnid is on Earth, she manages to pull another trick. She scans a military helicopter that allows her to go airborne. It makes for an easy getaway in tough situations, and it is also a sleek look for her, which putsthe ground-based Autobotsat a disadvantage.
7She Runs When Things Get Tough
She Who Fights And Runs Away
Airachnid is a formidable opponent. With her dangerous set of abilities and twisted mind games, she is a threat to any sentient being who stands in her way. However, she is not above running and hiding when things get tough.
She is someone who likes to be in control of a situation. She will put up a fierce fight, but when everything starts falling apart, she either burrows into the ground or takes off in her helicopter form for a quick escape.While she is powerful, she follows the old adage “He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.”
6She Can Control The Insecticons
An Armada At Her Command
Having a spider-form gives Airachnid unique abilities that would giveSpider-Mansome competition. She also has one unique trait that makes hereven more dangerous: she can control the Insecticons.
Insecticons are creatures native to planet Cybertron. They are large and bulky, but also deadly fast, and their sharp mandibles can easily tear a Cybertronian’s armor. Due to their bug-like nature, Airachnid has a psychic link with them, allowing her to control hordes of these creatures.
5She Is Ultimately Out For Herself
She Will Do Whatever It Takes To Get What She Wants
Airachnid was a soldier for the Decepticons in the Cybertron War. Since then, she became independent, taking an interest in collecting the heads of diverse alien species. While she ends up rejoining the Decepticons, she is ultimately focused on what will suit her own goals.
Such a case is when she goes on a search mission on Earth with Decepticons Breakdown and Dreadwing, only to take out Breakdown and leave his remains for the para-military group MECH. She then lures Megatron out in the open, sicking her newfound Insecticon minion on him in order to take him down, so that she could take over the Decepticons. Ultimately, she can becolder than Megatron ever was.
4She Is Sadistic
It’s All A Game To Her
The Decepticons have no issue with eliminating the sparks of their enemies, but Airachnid takes particular pleasure in it. She doesn’t just kill her victims, but toys with them and mocks them, ultimately making it more of a game than anything.
She shows her love for playing with her victims inTransformers Prime’s season one episode “Crossfire.” Airachnid teams up with para-military organization MECH to lure Arcee out in the open. She does this by abducting the mother ofher human partner, Jack, and giving him a limited amount of time to rescue her before she decides to off her.
3She Tortures Her Victims
Some Scars Are Deeper Than Armor
Airachnid and Arcee have a grudge for extending their time fighting in the war on Cybertron. She abducted her and her partner, Tailgate, and tortured them for information, until deciding to kill Tailgate, as Arcee pleaded with her not to.
Arcee carries the scars of that encounter with her throughout the series. Airachnid is the only enemy that she fears, and as her human partner Jack tells her, “You’re never afraid.” She would go on to have several skirmishes with Arcee throughout the series.
2She Becomes A Zombie
Braaaaains
In the season 3 episode “Thirst,” the Decepticon doctor Knockout and Starscream perform experiments on Silas, leader of the paramilitary group MECH, who bonded himself with the body of fallen Decepticon Breakdown. The results turn him intoan energon-sucking zombie, who proceeds to infect the Vehicon soldiers on the Decepticon ship. This forces Knockout and Starscream to work together to survive the night.
Eventually, Airachnid becomes one of the infected, and she is teleported to one of Cybertron’s moons when she and her Insecticon minions attack Soundwave. The last time she is seen, she is devouring her insecticon servants.
1Her Japanese Version Is Completely Different
Lost In Translation
When cartoons get dubbed for international releases, some things are bound to get lost in translation. Take the Western dub ofYu-Gi-Oh!, for example, which left in Japan a whole first season, which is remarkably darker than a card game.
WhenTransformers Primewas dubbed for Japan, Airachnid’s character was rewritten as a Yandere, which is essentially a violent character who is completely obsessed with a love interest. She has a particular fixation on the human character Jack, with whom she is smitten in the Japanese dub.
