Basic Trope: A character is deliberately based on Spider-Man.
- Straight: Arachni-Boy is a spider-based superhero who can cling to walls, possesses Super-Strength and reflexes and can shoot webs out of a specific part of his body. In his civilian life under the identity of Kevin Keats, he is unpopular, has a crush named Quinn Macy, a hot-headed bully named Dash Yeong, and all of the typical foibles of everyday life.
- Exaggerated: Arachni-Boy looks exactly like Spider-Man and has all the same powers but he insists that he is not Spider-Man and that he is actually themed off of a lobster.
- Downplayed: Arachni-Boy is themed off a spider, with powers and a costume that only vaguely resemble Spider-Man.
- Justified:
- Arachni-Boy was inspired by Spider-Man.
- Spider-Man is a comic book character that Kevin Keats/Arachni-Boy is a fan of, using Peter Parker's adventures as inspiration.
- Inverted: Arachni-Boy is a supervillain who flies around on a glider and throws bombs. In his civilian life, he is rich and ostensibly popular, making it all the more surprising that he is a supervillain.
- Subverted: Arachni-Boy makes his debut as a superhero, only for everyone to call him out for being a Spider-Man ripoff.
- Double Subverted: Arachni-Boy is revealed to be an imposter posing as Spider-Man, only to reveal that he is in fact Spider-Man impersonating an impersonator.
- Parodied: Arachni-Boy is a token member of a superhero team whose members are all deliberate spoofs of Marvel Comics characters.
- Deconstructed:
- Arachni-Boy wears an outfit similar to Spider-Man, only to change it afterwards because he finds the outfit impractical for hero work, including forgoing web-shooters in favor of a different weapon and forgoing the bright red and blue in-favor of camouflaged kevlar.
- Arachni-Boy discovers that it would be far batter to simply sell his web-shooters as a cheap, non-lethal weapon that can be used both by law enforcement and for self-defense.
- Reconstructed:
- Arachni-Boy finds out that Spider-Man got a few details right in both his costume and equipment and uses them to upgrade his newer suit, making him an original and effective superhero all on his own.
- Arachni-Boy provides his technology to law enforcement while at the same time joining them, creating a newer, more effective team of law enforcement capable of using nonlethal methods, revolutionizing law enforcement for the whole country.
- Zig-Zagged:
- Arachni-Boy looks and acts like Spider-Man, only to be revealed as an imposter, but then he reveals that he is the original Spider-Man of a parallel universe, only to reveal that he is actually that Spider-Man's clone created by a supervillain.
- Despite his similarites to Spider-Man, considering the invertebrate motif, spider-like powers, super strength, Super-Reflexes, and his use of technology and equipment, his creator actually meant for him to be based on Kamen Rider, which is why he's also a cyborg who transforms into his costume using a special belt and owns a Cool Bike. The creator does understand how this makes Arachni-Boy resemble both.
- Averted: Arachni-Boy looks nothing like Spider-Man, nor does he act like him in personality and abilities. He may not even be a superhero.
- Lampshaded: "Apparently great power doesn't come with great creativity."
- Enforced:
- The producer is a massive Spider-Man fan and wanted to create his own homage.
- A new Spider-Man movie recently came out and a rival studio wants to capture that popularity by making their own non-copyright Expy.
- Implied: All superheroes in the setting are either Animal Superheroes or Animal-Themed Superbeings, with a flow-chart dividing them into categories, one of which being "Arthropods (Shellfish, Bugs and Arachnids)."
- Logical Extreme: Arachni-Boy has every superpower one can assume a person with spiderlike anatomy can have (web-shooters, wall-clinging, eight limbs, venomous fangs, egg-laying, injection of digestive juices, etc.).
- Played for Laughs: Arachni-Boy appears, divulges his well-thought-out backstory, only to get crushed by a hero with enlargement superpowers that confuses him for an actual spider.
- Played for Drama: Arachni-Boy becomes an example of why altruism can be a destructive and even selfish concept to his fans. As his Chronic Hero Syndrome continually goes off, it causes him to squander his potential in other areas and even erodes any form of stability he could have had. He flunks out of high school, can't land a steady job (let alone one that pays for more than peanuts), he becomes isolated from his friends and family and he can't develop any relationship (whether know his secret identity or not) because of the strain it causes. When he gets sick or injured, he can't go to a doctor because of his mutant physiology. He begins developing a host of psychosis including depression and PTSD, but he can't go to a therapist because he tries to keep his identity a secret. Because the local news is hellbent on making him looking like a villain, the constant bombardment of insults and putdowns bother from the news and the very people he tries to save wane on his self-confidence even more, but he can't quit because he has long internalized the idea that he has a civic duty to use his powers for good, a fact that he can't get process in any constructive way without therapy. All this leads to further self-destructive tendencies like self-harm and even suicidal thoughts.
- Played for Horror: Arachni-Boy seems cool at first, only for him to slowly exhibit spiderlike abilities and tendencies that aren't glamorized (a strange taste for bugs, covering his room in webbing, etc.) before he lures in his girlfriend, has sex with her and tries to eat her. She escapes, only for her to find out that she is pregnant and viscerally eaten alive from the inside by her spider-mutant offspring. Arachni-Boy also ultimately mutates further into a giant humanoid spider creature. Horrified at how dangerous he really is, he then goes on the run from the authorities, developing a violent temper from his traumatic experiences that can have him lash out at anyone who tries to face him.
- Defied: Kevin declines the Spider-Man-like powers that are offered to him.
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