Airachnid (Prime)

Airachnid is a Decepticon torture expert, assassin, and alien collector. She has a cold-sparked, murderous demeanour. She left Cybertron in the Great Exodus and went solo. She started visting other planets, when she does, she takes... souvenirs the heads of the dominant species, which she keeps in specimen jars on her ship. She has quite a history with Arcee.

"Yeah she's domineering and the extra arms are weird but I find myself intrigued by her."

- Breakdown on Airachnid

Prime cartoon

 * Voice actor: Gina Torres (English)



Airachnid's ship crash landed on Earth while Arcee and Jack were on Energon Patrol. She had come to Earth for her next souvenir. As soon as Arcee saw the ship, she knew who it was. This led her to a flash back while she was in Airachnid's torture chambers on Cybertron. Arcee witnessed her partner 's death by Airachnid's hand, Airachnid then proceeded to scour a mark on Arcee's face with her Acidic touch. Later though, Arcee faced her demons. Arcee arrived just in time to stop Airachnid harming Jack. Airachnid pinned her to the wall with her webs. After getting free, Arcee managed to defeat Airachnid with a little help from Jack, only to see her escape under-ground in her drill mode.

She later had a "partnership" with M.E.C.H. to get revenge on Arcee and Jack. M.E.C.H kidnapped June Darby, Jack's mother, and lures them to Arachnid. When Arachnid was about to strike her revenge, Agent Fowler showed up. She scanned his helicopter and fled.

Later, she stole the Polarity gauntlet from in the desert, claiming "It fits, a girl can never have to many accessories." When Arcee arrived, magnetized to Bulkhead's rear, they fought. A stray blaster bolt from Arcee knocked the gauntlet from Airachnid's hand, causing it to activate, but Breakdown managed to turn it off. Later in the battle, she got stuck to Breakdown and was taken aboard the . She told, "What can I say, it's good to be back."

Airachnid and Starscream went in search of the Harbinger, a lost Decepticon transporter that carried a special weapon, the Immobilizer. Airachnid activated the ship's computer, but Starscream warned that the Autobots would trace the energy signal, which They did. When Airachnid found out the ship was broken in half when it was attacked by Autobots, she wasn't happy. She tied him up and left for the Autobots. He told where the other half is though. When the Autobots found him, he said he wanted change sides and become an Autobot.



Not far away, Airachnid had found the other half of the ship, and, the Immobilizer. When the Autobots arrived, she attacked them with it. She hits Bulkhead, freezing him. Nearby, Arcee was guarding Starscream when he made the Primus awful mistake of admitting to her that he was the one who killed Cliffjumper. Enraged at finding the 'Con who killed her partner, Arcee allowed Starscream to be escape and they began to fight. Thinking she had frozen him, Airachnid left Bumblebee, only for him to sneak up to her and punched her round the chops. She dropped the Immobilizer and Bumblebee destroyed it. Airachnid transformed and escapes in her helicopter form, only to get the riot act from Megatron, who was furious at her for leaving Starscream to the Autobots, thereby giving them access to valuable Decepticon information. What both of them did not realize was that Starscream had escaped and declared himself neutral to the bots and cons before flying off to parts unknown.

Personality & Traits
A sadist in the purest sense of the word, Airachnid takes sick and twisted pleasure and enjoyment out of inflicting pain upon others; whether it's physical, mental, or emotional. Having studied and practiced the arts of torture to horrifying degrees, she is able to measure one's strength of will by how much they resist the agony she inflicts upon them.

A 'con of sport, Airachnid enjoys hunting (mostly sentient beings), as well as collecting endangered species (and if they're not endangered, she'll make it so). She likes to toy with her victims, prolonging their suffering for as long as possible. A vengeful and conspiring woman, Airachnid will always settle scores, as she tried to against Jack when she attempted to kill his mother in front of him. Making him watch while she takes his family apart "the sweetest revenge [she] can possibly devise", as retaliation for Jack destroying her ship.

Toys

 * Airachnid (Deluxe Revealer, 2012)

Note



 * Airachnid is the first Transformer with a beast mode in.


 * Airachnid has multiple modes: humanoid mode, "beast" mode, drill mode, and helicopter mode.
 * It is later revealed that her "drill mode" consists of her in her beast mode with her legs formed around her in a diamond shape. She burrows through the ground by spinning rapidly.


 * Airachnid's ship is very Predator-esque, with the heads of aliens in tanks and all.


 * She shares several aspect with Lockdown from the cartoon. Both of them are obsessed with hunting and poaching down their own kind as trophies, possibly a reference to the novel The Most Dangerous Game. Both of them have no interest in serving Megatron or the other Decepticons, prefering to do their hobbies solo.


 * When Airachnid froze Optimus and Bulkhead with the Immobilizer, she asked Bumblebee if he thinks Megatron will enjoy the trophies. Airachnid originally said in "Metal Attraction" that she only steals things for herself, which would mean Airachnid would choose to immobilize Megatron, not please him.


 * Just as Breakdown is Bulkhead's rival, Airachnid is Arcee's.


 * Airachnid made mention of Breakdown's capture and their past acquaintance, while striking her deal with M.E.C.H. The voice actors for Airachnid and Breakdown (Gina Torres and Adam Baldwin respectively) previously worked together on the television series Firefly and the movie Serenity.


 * Her name, spelled with an additional i, is almost certainly a reference to her later choice of altmode.


 * Her drill mode is very similar in appearance to the Aparoid Moth boss of Nintendo's Star Fox series.


 * Despite scanning Agent Fowler's helicopter, her alternate mode has little to no resemblance to that helicopter model being far more angular than Fowler's and having a complete absence of landing gear, likely because of her smaller size compared to other Transformers.