Blackarachnia (BW)


 * Blackarachnia is a Predacon, Maximal, and a Decepticon in the Beast Era. She gets around, huh?



A sultry femme fatale, Blackarachnia is smart, sexy, and dangerous. She's got eight legs, and she knows how to use them. Of the several rebellious Predacons under Megatron's command, she's one of the very few who can, on occasion, outguile him. Always looking out for Number One, Blackarachnia values her independence and freedom above all else. She would rather perish than be a slave.

Blackarchnia's greatest weakness, other than her overconfidence, is her feelings for the Maximal Silverbolt. Something about his heroic demeanor and the kindness he shows her makes her uneasy. She hasn't experienced unconditional love before, and it scares her, though she'll never admit it.

Spanish name: Araña Negra  Japanese name: Blackwidow  French-Canadian names: Mygale, La Veuve Noire 

Beast Wars
Voice Actress: Venus Terzo (US), Ryōka Yuzuki (Japan)

Beast Machines
Voice Actress: Venus Terzo (US), Ryōka Yuzuki (Japan)

Beast Wars Metals Manga


(Note: Although it picks up after the first season, the Beast Wars Metals manga is not in-continuity with the TV series.)

Blackarachnia appeared through-out the Beast Wars Metals manga as a Predacon warrior, much as she did in the TV series. Unlike most characters, however, her design underwent the smallest change. While most characters got re-designs for laughs, the only change in Blackarachnia would appear that she's a bit smaller and "cuter".

Beast Wars

 * Blackarachnia (Deluxe, 1995)
 * Japanese ID number: D-8


 * Blackarachnia's original toy was a redeco of the Tarantulas mold, transforming into a rather generic-looking organic spider. She features a removable spring-loaded launcher hidden in her beast-mode abdomen; it nominally fires the "grappling hook" attached to her abdomen, but her front four beast-mode legs could also be removed and used as missiles.


 * Blackarachnia (Happy Meal Transmetal, 1997)


 * Part of the second McDonalds Beast Wars Happy Meal pack-in, Blackarachnia's "Transmetal" form rather resembles some sort of dust mite more than a spider and the robot mode appears to have fallen out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.


 * Blackarachnia (Transmetal 2, 1999)
 * Japanese ID number: C-48


 * The Transmetal 2 version of Blackarachnia transforms into a large organic/mechincal monstrous spider, featuring a grappling hook, switching faction symbols, and a spin-kick action feature. This toy was initially hard to find at retail, as one of the toy's features, a piece of removable chest armor (no, really), was altered slightly, delaying later shipments.


 * This mold was used to make the BotCon 2000 exclusive Arcee.

Beast Machines

 * Blackarachnia (Deluxe, 2000)


 * An early toy in the Beast Machines line, Blackarachnia transforms into a technorganic spider. In spider mode, squeezing her pedipalps together raised her central fangs; they were spring-loaded to release and lower, respectively.


 * This mold was used to make Crystal Widow.


 * Blackarchnia (Happy Meal, 2000)
 * Happy Meal Balckrachnia is a super-simplified version of her retail toy, with a coloration much closer to the Mainframe CGI model.


 * Blackwidow (Deluxe, 2005)
 * Japanese ID number: BR-04


 * Part of the Japanese Toys 'R' Us exclusive Beast Wars Returns series, this toy is a redeco of the orignial Beast Machines Blackarachnia in a more show-like maroon coloration.

Universe

 * Blackarachnia (Deluxe, 2003)


 * For Universe, Blackarachnia returned as a Decepticon, and as a redeco of the original Beast Machines figure.


 * This mold was used to make Crystal Widow.

Unreleased



 * In 2004, a group of test-shots made their way onto ebay, among them a redeco of the original Beast Wars Tarantulas/Blackarachnia mold in black with silver spider-legs and salmon-colored robot parts. Later, Hasbro's official website checklist featured listings for two "Halloween Horrorcon Value Packs" that were to be Wal*Mart exclusives... which also likely explains why they were cancelled. (Wal*Mart had taken a good half-dozen exclusives and released them more-or-less simultaneously, leading to a huge glut. A lot of other Transformers exclusives were cancelled during the Universe era.) One of the sets was "Leatherhide Vs. Blackarachnia"... and thus, the mystery spider was confirmed, as the other test-shots in that group lined up with the name listings given in the sets.


 * In 2005, the mold used for Alternators Decepticharge was presented as an upcoming release for the Japanese Binaltech line. Though a bio and story chapter was written to accomodate her into the Binaltech fiction, it was ultimately dropped when the toy was put on indefinite haitus due to low line sales. A single Photoshoped promotional image was released of the item.  It has not been revealed as to how the story would have dealt with this time-displaced character addition, and is unliekly to, as Binaltech author Hirofumi Ichikawa is unlikely to reveal confidential work-for-hire pieces, since he still works for Takara.