History Main / SpiderPeople

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Date with Destiny", Robin is forced to take SpoiledBrat Kitten to the prom, just to spite her ex-boyfriend Fang, who looks like a human from the neck down but has a spider head, as well as the rest of the spider's body. Or he may be a giant spider who just so happens to have a functional human body hanging from below its head. Whichever is more appropriate to describe him.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}: Half Genie Hero'', Shantae's spider transformation is redesigned from an actual GiantSpider into one of these.

[[quoteright:300: "Do you know how much I spend on shoes?"]]

* Captain Talleran from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is a literal Spider Monkey. As in, body and legs of a gigantic spider combined with the hands, head and tail of an equally big monkey. Much later, Black Maria reveals that she ate the Spider Spider Fruit, [[SeldomSeenSpecies Model: Rosamygale Grauvogeli]] and in her hybrid form her lower body is replaced with the body of a whole huge spider, head included.

* Myth/JapaneseMythology has the {{yokai}} jorogumo (literally "whore spider") and tsuchigumo. Both are spider-spirits that can adopt a wholly or partially human form, but jorogumos tend to be seductresses who live in disguise among human society, whilst tsuchigumos are GiantSpider demons who command armies of lesser yokai.

* In the world of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', Franklin D. Roosevelt was accidentally turned into one of these as a side effect of an experimental vaccine for polio.

See also OurCentaursAreDifferent when the spider person resembles an aranean centaur and SeductiveSpider if they're sexy. For a different kind of arachnid-humanoid chimeras, see ScorpionPeople, who may serve as a more exotic or threatening replacement for Spider People.

%%* Keito from ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' is the local Jurogumo. %%ZCE

See also OurCentaursAreDifferent when the spider person resembles an aranean centaur. For a different kind of arachnid-humanoid chimeras, see ScorpionPeople, who may serve as a more exotic or threatening replacement for Spider People.

* ''VideoGame/{{MGCM}}'': [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Arachne demon]] bodies resemble a combination of the body of a woman with the body of a spider (as seen on [[https://imgur.com/a/y8dNLV4 these images]]). There's another demonic spider humanoid in the 1st season of Endless Battle mode called {{Tsuchigumo|AndJorogumo}}: she's female despite her name.

* Rachnera Arachnera from ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl''. She is an arachne with the common [[OurCentaursAreDifferent centaur-esque]] form of a human upper half and giant spider lower half. She also has six eyes, fangs and for some reason, her arms have a black exoskeleton over them. She also has the beginnings of human legs, which turn into the spider's pedipalps (fortunately, WordOfGod says there's [[VaginaDentata no mouth down there]]).

* Captain Talleran from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is a literal Spider Monkey. As in, body and legs of a gigantic spider combined with the hands, head and tail of an equally big monkey.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimayedSeries'': Peter recalls having a nightmare about mutating into one when he got bitten by the spider. First he was the size of a normal house spider, but after he got flushed down the drain by Aunt May, he woke up (in the dream) washed up on the river bank, having grown to a monstrous size.

** One variety of the Nerubians are like this, with spiderlike lower halves and humanoid upper halves. They still look pretty spider-like on the humanoid part, with long, clawed arms and a spider's face. Other Nerubians have widely different body types, with the biggest ones being essentially [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant beetles]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', Grunkle Stan had a bad run-in with one named [[spoiler:Darlene]]. She's a drider-like being that, rather than having a human torso on a spider body, has a humanoid body that is very spider-like as well, being covered in exoskeleton and having spider mandibles instead of a human mouth.

* The Stalk in ''ComicBook/{{Saga}}'' is a more terrifying blend of human and spider elements -- she has four rows of eyes, a human torso with no arms, and each of her spider legs end in a human hand.

* Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer had an '80s shared world sci-fantasy series called ''The Dungeon'' where alien beings are transported to a series of melded worlds for the amusement of an advanced civilization. Among the protagonists was a Shriek, who was a telepathic multi-armed, superhumanly strong, [[BeastMan spider person]] with [[SpikeShooter poison-tipped spines]]. The main hero Clive Folliot was initially horrified at meeting the inhuman Shriek (her head was that of a giant spider's and her whole body was covered in hairy spines like a tarantuala) but soon the pair became staunch friends.

* The ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' episode "Web of Desire" showed a different take on the Arachne myth. She was jealous of her daughter's beauty and drowned her in the ocean. Zeus cursed her into a Spider Person form and banished her on an deserted island.

* [[Myth/ClassicalMythology In Greco-Roman mythology]], there was a mortal weaver named Arachne. Arachne boasted of how her skills in making beautiful tapestries were better than those of Athena/Minerva, the Goddess of wisdom and crafts. What happened next depends on who you ask: either Athena/Minerva grew so tired of her boasting, or won a weaving contest with the girl or ''lost'' and [[JerkassGods was so salty over it]] that she turned Arachne into either a spider woman, [[BalefulPolymorph an ordinary spider]] or a giant spider depending on the adaptation.
* Myth/JapaneseMythology has the {{yokai}} jorogumo (literally "whore spider") and tsuchigumo. Both are spider-spirits that can adopt a wholly or partially human form, but jorogumos tend to be seductresses who live in disguise amongst human society, whilst tsuchigumos are GiantSpider demons who command armies of lesser yokai.

** Perhaps the most iconic of all are Driders, who created the definitive "humanoid from the waist up, giant spider from the waist down" appearance that almost every spider-person has since used. These are Drow transformed into their new form by Lolth, [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils Demon Queen of Spiders]] and [[EthnicGod racial patron]] of the dark elves. Traditionally, this is a ''punishment'' for the drow in question, although 4th edition pointed out the FridgeLogic of being made more spidery by a god ''of'' spiders somehow being a punishment and instead made it a blessing[[note]]as originally conceived, it was a punishment because from the drow perspective it meant that Lolth didn't think you could become powerful on your own, so she reshapes you into a powerful form. As this was combined with not being able to grow ''more'' powerful -- driders, unlike drow, couldn't get class levels -- drow society, [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinist]] that it is, had every reason to look down on driders as unworthy. This seemed a bit thin when edition changes meant driders ''could'' get class levels, but it remained as TheArtifact.[[/note]].

** Chitines are a race of spider-people created by the drow as a slave-race, appearing as bipedal figures with pronounced fangs and multiple elongated, multiply jointed arms. They are ruled over by female priestesses called Cholodriths, who, depending on edition, either look like [[http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/mof_gallery/MonFaePG27.jpg spiders with elven faces]] or else something like a more hideous drider. Unfortunately for the drow, Lolth took offense to the fact that the chitines weren't "properly" consecrated to her, and inspired them to rebel. [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters Now they constantly wage war on the drow to prove that they re Lolth's "true children".]]
** Ettercaps are extremely spidery humanoids, although how spidery has varied over the editions: they started out as trollish humanoids with the ability to secrete silk, gained very thin, spider-like hands and limbs in 2E -- making them very spider-''like'' without actually being spiders outright -- became humanoids with spiders' claws and heads in later editions and, by 5E, transformed into large, bipedal and armor-plated arachnids. Characterization-wise, they're web-spinners who shepherd and guard spiders, commonly ally with {{Giant Spider}}s and spider-like monsters and often have a particular dislike for fey creatures. One issue of ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' gave them the reputed origin that they are the descendants of a druidic order that worshiped spiders and tried to become closer to their totem animals, only the whole experiment became a case of GoneHorriblyRight, perhaps due to demonic intervention.
** In ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'', we have the Aranea, who combine this trope with OurWerebeastsAreDifferent. They're a race of sapient {{giant spider}}s who developed both an innate affinity for magic and the power to shapeshift into a partially or wholly humanoid form. In a rarity amongst such races, they're actually not evil, with a typical alignment of TrueNeutral; they mostly just want to be left in peace and live a quiet life.

** 2nd Edition introduces the Anandi, who resemble humanoids with the heads of jumping spiders. Notably, in a total aversion of what's usually expected from spider-people, they are ChaoticGood. However, the Anandi are aware that their appearance is unnerving to humans, so they've developed the ability to magically shapeshift into humans as AFormYouAreComfortableWith.

** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=214382 Sheoldred]] of the New Phyrexians have a similar look, although the lower portion is more like a cross between a spider and a crab, with four legs. And a giant mouth across its entire front.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Numenera}}'': [[TheLostWoods The Westwood]] of Navarene is inhabited by the Culovas, which resemble giant spiders with a humanoid torso, arms ending in clawed fingers, almost no neck and a head with multiple spider-like eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth.

** The Spinne are humanoid spiders mostly found in Germany, with two legs, four arms, rudimentary internal skeletons and a spiracle-based respiratory system that draws air through their skin and consequently prevents them from wearing any but the loosest armor or clothing. They feed on the blood and liquified organs of mammals, and Spinne females are much larger than the males. They're divided into two distinct bloodlines: the Starke are descended from web-builders and tend to be even-tempered, staid and clinical, while the Schnellig, descended from hunting spiders, are much more aggressive and outgoing. Consequently, Starke tend to be researchers and engineers, while Schnelling are more often warriors and spies.

* Inverted for the Sharan, a race of spider people in the old Polish rpg ''Krysztaly Czasu'' -- they are spiders from the waist up and look really awkward (even though their claws had enough dexterity to handle items).

** Mephala is the Daedric Prince of lies, sex, murder, secrets, and plots, and she is also known by the names Webspinner, Spinner, Spider, Teacher of the Secret Arts, Queen of the Eight Shadows of Murder. Some depictions of her show her to have spider-like characteristics such as multiple arms. She's also the Daedric Prince who the Spider Daedra work for.

* Drachnids in both ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' games. Upper body of a Dark Elf, lower half of a spider. Made as an experiment / wedding gift by an especially crazy sorceress toward an exceptionally powerful vampire. He didn't care for them, so he released them on Kunark where they quickly populated.
* Spider-Human hybrids were meant to be the next step up from the first ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'''s Chimera monsters, which were humanoid flies. Unfortunately, the concept was created during ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2''[='s=] ''1.5'' phase -famously abandoned during a late build by the creators, and the creature went along with it.

* ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'': Driders are based off the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms version, with a few subspecies to boot: Waelinider are the original Driders created by merging drow with the bottom halves of spiders, a process that renders them sterile, Streekaider are the result of Waeliniders going mad and losing their higher mental functions, and Ne'kalsaider are "natural" Driders who were born with spider legs and are implied to be the offspring of Waeliniders who somehow managed to keep their reproductive functions after their transformation.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' episode "Attack of the Arachnoid" involves a MadScientist named Zoltan who finds a way to imitate Spidey's powers, and impersonates him while committing crimes. Unfortunately, the formula then goes out of control, turning him into a full-fledged spider-centaur who calls himself the Arachnoid. [[spoiler: Zoltan's assistant (and love interest, horrified at what Zoltan has become) helps Spidey and his friends turn him back to normal.]] The episode was, for all intents and purposes, a near-total remake of the earlier "The Web of Nephillia" story from the earlier 1981 ''[[WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1981 Spider-Man]]'' show.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' has Spiderlegs, a powerful ghost that looks like a beautiful blonde woman from the waist up and a black widow from the waist down already trapped in the Containment Unity, but with her minions trying to liberate her.

%%* N'ktane from ''Literature/{{Tasakeru}}''%%ZCE