History Characters / CaterpillarMainCharacters

* FeminineWomenCanCook: Either that or RealMenCook, but Alice is surprised to hear he cooked the pudding he served her instead of it being some expensive store product.

* OnlySaneMan: Much more sane and kind than the other bug assassins, especially among the mantis folks, and as such he's the perfect bodyguard for the new boss Alice other than Kabutomushi, who doesn't want the girl bound to the Organization.

* RapeAsBackstory: His master Kinohadakamakiri used to regularly rape him with a wire, hoping to make the boy fully submissive to him. It is implied this is actually a tradition among mantis-themed people in the Organization.

* TrainingFromHell: Any training that involves having a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematomorpha Gordian worm-esque]] cord repeatedly being shoved up your butt to mess with your mind can only be described as this.

* CombatPragmatist: Kabutomushi lies to Oki about being unarmed and takes advantage of any openings she finds as she fights. Good for her, because whenever Kabutomushi becomes overconfident and [[SmugSuper showboats before her enemies]], things [[BreakTheHaughty go spectacularly wrong]] for her for a reason or other.

* SmugSuper: She's as proud of her strength as Oki is proud of her speed, but doesn't rely only on it to defeat her enemies.

* VagueAge: She earned her "Kabutomushi" codename when she was actually 15-16 in an undefined but not so distant point in the past. Then she stopped aging for some reason, leading other characters to call her an "old lady" and mock her to wanting to forever look like a highschooler.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Kabutomushi is an assassin who doesn't actually kill anyone and who one of the less evil Pomario managers, so it's assumed that's why she was sent to the Death Caterpillar game to die. In ''Arachnid'' nothing is said about this, but when she ends up killing the Boss it is reported that it was her and she appeared to go rogue while looking for the disappeared Alice. Then in ''Blattodea'' it's largely unknown if she's facing any consequences for what she did ot not.

He is still prominent in ''Blattodea'' as the one who brings Alice in as the new Boss of the Organization as part of a deal with Suzumebachi.

* GagPenis: Something of a RunningGag in ''Caterpillar'' is people not being just surprised by what Hanakama has under his dress, but also scared by it. BiggerIsBetterInBed has its limits, it would seem.

** ''Caterpillar'' adds a Hercules Beetle motif when she gets the Heracles Horn. This also doubles as an Alligator motif because the blade is a variation of the Alligator owned by Roxy and Nichol in ''Jackals''.

* CounterAttack: She can use the Heracles Horn to perform the [[OffhandBackhand Killing Bite counter]] used by Roxy and Nichol in ''Jackals'', though it goes unnamed.

* DoubleWeapon: The Hercules Horn, which is hinted at in ''Arachnid'' but is only in ''Caterpillar'', is a massive double ended blade that [[ShearMenace can be folded]] to chop enemies.

* HandicappedBadass: Towards the end of the battle against the stag beetle quartet, Hiratakuwagata breaks Kabutomushi's left arm. Kabuto receives the Heracles Horn from Gokiburi and still easily lifts a {{BFS}} like that with one hand before taking Hirata down.

** Her ownership of the Heracles Horn [[ContinuityNod confirms]] ''Arachnid'' and ''Caterpillar'' are sequels to ''Jackals'', and implies Alice's Kumoito is likewise related to the one Turis owned in that story. Several scenes of her wielding Heracles are framed exactly like ones with either Nichol or Roxy fighting in ''Jackals'', including the "Killing Bite" counter attack.

* SwordPlant: Has stabbed the ground with the Kabuto Horn due to various reasons. In the prequel, she does it with the Heracles Horn as a feint to fold the blade and chop somebody's leg off.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Regarding this, Kabutomushi receives some strange characterization. In the prequel, due to her killing-addicted master murdering her best friend, she believes strong people shouldn't kill gratuitously and is outright unranked amongst the assassins. Kabuto is then pursued by some of her former students who want to avenge other children who died as a result of her harsh training, but spares all of them after winning the duels. In ''Arachnid'', however, Kabuto never mentions any of this and is always willing to use lethal force. She blows at least two people off the school, orders Alice to finish Dinoponera off and ultimately kills the Boss to protect Alice. We see no real transition between those attitudes.

** Kabuto herself endured harsh training from the previous Kabutomushi, who she resents for killing her childhood friend.

* VagueAge: People keep implying that she is way older than she appears, but the details aren't fully explained.

* TheWorfBarrage: Her Kabuto Slide is shown to be an incredible OneHitKill, but fails hilariously against Dinoponera. In fact, in the prequel it ''never works'' and she is eventually forced to use the Heracles Horn instead.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Her complete failure to fight Dinoponera in ''Arachnid'' is given the excuse that she wasn't wielding the Heracles Horn at the time. ''Caterpillar'' reveals it is a huge double sword based on the weapon the protagonist of ''Jackals'' owned, so you know it's super strong. Furthermore, it makes Kabutomushi's opponent Himekuwagata a blatant {{expy}} of Dinoponera just to drive in that Kabuto suuure would've turned Dino into a quadruple amputee if she just had her cool sword with her.

* WeightWoe: A [[https://arachnid-manga.fandom.com/wiki/File:Height_Comparison_Sketch.jpg height chart]] for the series' major characters portrays Kabutomushi with a smudged-out number on her weight stat, implying she's pretty heavy thanks to her steel-plated armor and doesn't want you to know. This gag never comes up in the actual series though.

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: People like Paraponera, Sasori and Gokiburi come to find out that any sort of toxic or sleep-inducing attacks have little effect on Imomushi. Why? Because '''''[[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum caterpillars]]''''', man. Even ''[[LampshadeHanging in-universe]]'' it doesn't make sense!
%%* AmazonianBeauty: Depicted with a toned body in ''Arachnid'', but the second artist for ''Caterpillar'' didn't get the memo.

* BareYourMidriff

** Imomushi gets far more mileage out of her headbutts than out of the pistol she regularly carries on her. Her final battle against Paraponera is a particularly exaggerated example. It starts with her casually dodging his minigun, walloping him and holding him at gunpoint. Paraponera then [[{{Acrofatic}} flips like a ninja]], beats her down and then holds her at gunpoint. And then [[spoiler:dies from his injuries]].

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Generally, the series is adamant about Hanakamakiri being meant to be seen as a male ''[[OtokonokoGenre otokonoko]]''. He presents as female due to his upbringing and hates when most people try to expose his gender but never discusses this in detail. Amenbo describes him as a "girl in a boy's body", but Imomushi always treats Hanakamakiri as a man in front of everyone. Although irritated at first the mantis is willing to put up with that since he's got a crush on her.

* AttemptedRape: Kabutomushi gets dropped by Sara into her rape zombie basement and is surrounded by the crazy mob. She is able to fight them offscreen and [[spoiler:eventually shows up to save Alice]].

* CounterAttack: She can use the Heracles Horn to perform the Killing Bite counter used by Roxy and Nichol in ''Jackals'', though it goes unnamed.

* DeclarationOfProtection: Kabutomushi is a reliable ally ''when she's around''. After she saves Alice from the Boss, ''Arachnid'' ends with her determined to uphold her promise to Kumo by looking for the spider-girl who had the bright idea of wandering alone into the zombie apocalypse. However, at some point Kabuto figures Alice can take care of herself and ''gives up'', taking residence in a WcDonalds where she waits for over a year until Alice does come by unharmed with Hanakamakiri's help.

* DisneyVillainDeath: This has been her favorite way of killing people, from her first appearances to the end of ''Arachnid''.

* TheDreaded: Oki's first thought upon meeting her at the Arachnid Hunt is to flee. Kabutomushi has quite the reputation as the strongest assassin, so to call Alice, Kabutomushi [[RefugeInAudacity announces to the entire school]] that Oki and Yoriko are with her, knowing that few would dare to attack after hearing her name. Obviously, that happens right after.

* HerbivoresAreFriendly: Dinoponera muses on how kabutomushi beetles are only called the strongest despite being non-lethal herbivores because Japan has been enjoying a period of peace. Meanwhile, the kabutomushi girl is trying to smash her into paste. [[AvertedTrope She most certainly averts this trope.]]

* SmashingWatermelons: There's a beach-themed official poster of her holding a watermelon.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Kabutomushi steals the show in ''Caterpillar'' as her battle against Himekuwagata and her squad, which is unrelated to the main plot, goes on and on.
* [[SwordPlant Spear Plant]]: Has stabbed the ground with the Kabuto Horn due to various reasons. In the prequel, she does it with the Heracles Horn as a feint to fold the blade and chop somebody's leg off.

* WeaponOfChoice: Other than her Kabuto Horn spear, which she uses for fighting mobs, she briefly mentions a Hercules weapon designed for one-on-one combat. Once it finally appears in the prequel, it turns out to be a giant double sword.

* DeclarationOfProtection: Kabutomushi is a reliable ally ''when she's around''. ''Arachnid'' ends with her determined to keep her promise to Kumo by looking for Alice, who went missing in the zombie apocalypse, but soon she figures Alice can take care of herself and ''gives up'', taking residence in a WcDonalds where she waits for over a year until Alice does come by unharmed with Hanakamakiri's help.

** One suspicious aspect of ''Blattodea'''s early chapters. We get confirmation on Dinoponera, Kamadouma and Geji's survival but Kabutomushi goes completely unmentioned. She was last seen looking for Alice with Gokiburi, just for the roach to become the director of Hibarigaoka Prison at some point with Jigabachi and Geji's support.

* DemotedToExtra: Despite being hyped in her introduction scene, Imomushi doesn't get to do much in ''Arachnid'' and we only find out what became of her in the ending of the spinoff. In ''Blattodea'', she's also quite less important than either Alice or Chiyuri, and doesn't join Chiyuri and Setsuna after leading them to Hibarigaoka Prison.

* [[HeroOfAnotherStory Heroine of Another Story]]: Is the protagonist of her own spinoff, ''Caterpillar'', which takes place a year before the Arachnid Hunt. She then reappears in ''Blattodea'' on Chiyuri's side of the story.

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: She has her own business to take care of in the Arachnid Hunt, but won't pass the chance to kill Alice and earn the prize money.

* PunchClockVillain: Refrains from killing anyone outside of her contracts, including witnesses.

* BodyguardingABadass: Alice reasons Kumo hired Kabuto to protect her from large groups of enemies, against which she would have trouble if fighting on her own, especially now that she's badly hurt. It has, however, been established that Alice ''can'' handle mobs with her strings just fine. Also, Kabutomushi sleeps on the job and only meets Alice during the Arachnid Hunt. Then she leaves Alice with Megumi, learns she went missing and completely fails to find her over a year of searching.

* CuteBruiser: Kabutomushi [[PintsizedPowerhouse is much stronger]] than people like Oki because of her implanted armor.
* DarkActionGirl: Although we mostly see her in a anti-heroic light, Kabutomushi can be very ruthless and indirectly killed a bunch of children brought to her by the Organization.

* DeclarationOfProtection: ''Arachnid'' ends with her determined to keep her promise to Kumo by looking for Alice, who went missing in the zombie apocalypse. We then learn she figured Alice could take care of herself and ''gave up'', taking residence in a WcDonalds where she waited for over a year until Alice did come by unharmed with Hanakamakiri's help.

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Biologically male but presents as female and hates when most people try to expose his gender. Imomushi always treats Hanakamakiri as a male in front of everyone though, and although irritated at first the mantis is willing to put up with that.

* CosplayOtakuGirl: Downplayed, but she sometimes shows up in costumes like a plane stewardess uniform or a frilly gothloli dress seemingly for fun. Even the [=WcDonald's=] thing in ''Blattodea'' is likely her breaking into an abandoned restaurant and grabbing an uniform just for the sheer heck of it than her actually working there.

** In the prequel, when one of the stag beetles is smashing her around, Kabutomushi manages to drop him over one of his partners instead.

* TheNameless: In ''Blattodea'', her full birth name is revealed to be "Ran Kabuto".

* GroundPunch: In one fight she jumps, [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning spins]] and then destroys the entire room's floor with a punch.

The main characters from ''Caterpillar'', a spinoff-prequel to ''Manga/{{Arachnid}}''.

[[Characters/{{Arachnid}} Character Index]] [=|=] Main Characters: [[Characters/ArachnidMainCharacters Arachnid]], '''Caterpillar''', [[Characters/BlattodeaMainCharacters Blattodea]] [=|=] Organization "Bugs": [[Characters/ArachnidRecurringAssassins Recurring]], [[Characters/ArachnidMainSeriesAssassins Exclusive to Arachnid]], [[Characters/ArachnidCaterpillarAssassins Exclusive to Caterpillar]], [[Characters/ArachnidBlattodeaAssassins Exclusive to Blattodea]] [=|=] [[Characters/ArachnidOtherCharacters Other Characters]]

* AmazonianBeauty: Depicted with a toned body in ''Arachnid'', but the second artist for ''Caterpillar'' didn't get the memo.

* PantyShot: Wears her pants unzipped, leaving the top of her panties exposed in scenes where she isn't wearing one or two belts over them.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Her completely failure to fight Dinoponera in ''Arachnid'' is given the excuse that she wasn't wielding the Heracles Horn at the time. ''Caterpillar'' reveals it is a huge double sword based on the weapon the protagonist of ''Jackals'' owned, so you know it's super strong. Furthermore, it makes Kabutomushi's opponent Himekuwagata a blatant {{expy}} of Dinoponera just to drive in that Kabuto suuure would've turned Dino into a quadruple amputee if she just had her cool sword with her.

* BurgerFool: After the zombies take over Japan, Kabutomushi figures the best outfit for the occasion is a WcDonalds employee uniform from a restaurant she's broken into to use as a shelter.

* ClothingDamage: Her uniform is ruined by Abu's slashes. [[FanDisservice No fanservice here]], as she does get a messy wound that goes [[DiagonalCut from her chest to her left leg.]]

* CosplayOtakuGirl: Downplayed, but she sometimes shows up in costumes like a plane stewardess uniform or a frilly gothloli dress seemingly for fun.

Although Kabutomushi is introduced in ''Arachnid'', ''Caterpillar'' is what gives her a little story arc and goes over her backstory. After the Arachnid Hunt, she and Gokiburi travel around Japan to find the missing Alice... but then she gets sidetracked and starts working at WcDonalds...

Although Kabutomushi is introduced in ''Arachnid'', ''Caterpillar'' is what gives her a little story arc and goes over her backstory. After the Arachnid Hunt, she and Gokiburi travel around Japan to find the missing Alice.

* BodyguardingABadass: Alice reasons Kumo hired Kabuto to protect her from large groups of enemies, against which she would have trouble if fighting on her own, especially now that she's badly hurt. It has, however, been established that Alice ''can'' handle mobs with her strings just fine.

* TheNameless: In ''Blattodea'', her birth name is revealed to be "Ran Kabuto".

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: While ''Arachnid'''s epilogue shows Kabutomushi travelling in good spirits with Gokiburi, its open nature does not detail whether she's facing any consequences from killing the Organization's Boss. Furthermore, Gokiburi later gets promoted as the director of Hibarigaoka Prison while Kabuto is nowhere to be seen.

* TheWorfBarrage: Her Kabuto Slide is shown to be an incredible OneHitKill, but fails hilariously against Dinoponera. In fact, in the prequel it ''never works''.
* TheWorfEffect: Defeats the wasp duo with ease, but then gets killed instantly by Abu's techniques. Except not and she gets to demonstrate her defensive abilities to make short work of him and back up her claims of being the strongest assassin. But then she is one of four who are unable to harm Dinoponera at all. [[ZigZaggingTrope Don't worry]], though, she gets to worf the hell out of the Media ants later.

* BadassAdorable[=/=]LittleMissBadass: When she was younger.

* DemotedToExtra: Despite being hyped in her introduction scene, Imomushi doesn't get to do much in ''Arachnid'' and we only find out what became of her in the ending of the spinoff.

* TrickedOutShoes: Her shoes nail themselves to the ground, allowing Imomushi to catapult herself forth and back.

* YearsTooEarly: She uses this taunt as something of a CatchPhrase in ''Caterpillar'' but not in ''Arachnid'', oddly enough.

* BelatedBackstory: She's a prominent character, but a lot about her [[MysteriousPast went unexplained]] until the prequel gave her a backstory. And even then it leaves several blank spots.

She makes an extended cameo in ''Arachnid'' that is given full context towards the ending of ''Caterpillar''. Her role in ''Blattodea'' is unknown so far.

* ActionGirl: A fine close-range combatant and the deuteragonist of the prequel.
* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Biologically male but presents as female and hates when most people try to expose his gender. Imomushi always treats Hanakamakiri as a male, though, and although irritated at first the mantis is willing to put up with that.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Despite his traumatic past and in contrast to almost every other assassin in either story, Hanakamakiri seems nice and of sound mind. He's also quite calculated and doesn't shy away from ruthlessly slashing his enemies.

* ButNowIMustGo: Feeling guilty over making a deal with Suzumebachi for Imomushi's protection without her knowing, Hanakamakiri leaves to parts unknown at the end of ''Caterpillar'', much like how Alice left Oki. And like Oki, Imomushi swears to find him and claim his virginity.

* DudeLooksLikeALady: Thanks to Klinefelter syndrome.

* PetTheDog: He cooks pudding for Alice and promises to keep making more as long as she remains the new Organization Boss. He's pretty much the only person in there who wouldn't be overly malicious to Alice, though he [[BaitTheDog also doesn't mind]] Karina manipulating her into accepting the job -- a contrast to how worried he was when Mika appeared before Imomushi two years earlier.

* TheNameless: Actually is named Kozue Shiihara, though that sense of self is [[ThatManIsDead long gone]].

* PetTheDog: He cooks pudding for Alice and promises to keep making more as long as she remains the new Organization Boss. He's pretty much the only person in there who wouldn't be overly malicious to Alice, though he also doesn't mind Karina manipulating her into accepting the job -- a contrast to how worried he was when Mika appeared before Imomushi two years earlier.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Already an orphan for 4 years, Hanakamakiri lost his foster family to a robber who wanted to rape him and had to kill him when he got home from school. He was then adopted and trained as an assassin by the extremely controlling and abusive Kinohadakamakiri, who frequently raped him.

* DragonWithAnAgenda: Downplayed; Hanakamakiri bears no ill will against Alice and his personal reason for helping her lead the Organization is to be in a position he can use to prevent anyone in there from targeting Imomushi.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Kabutomushi steals the show in ''Caterpillar'' as her battle against Dorcus and her squad, which is unrelated to the main plot, goes on and on.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: While ''Arachnid'''s epilogue shows Kabutomushi travelling in good spirits with Gokiburi, its open nature does not detail whether she's facing any consequences from killing [[spoiler:the Organization's Boss]].

* PutOnABus: Sara prevents Kabutomushi from helping Alice by making her fall into an ambush by countless brainwashed students. She can fight them handily, but has been busy offscreen for a dozen chapters. [[spoiler:She comes BackForTheFinale in Chapter 71, killing Yoriko while Oki rescues Alice. And although Kabuto isn't seen at all during the last chapter, she does appear in the epilogue.]]