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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 6 | |
| 7 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1318729492082180000 |
| 8 | %% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 9 | %% |
| 10 | %% Also, this page is not YMMV, so as tempting as it might be to mention "Literal DemonicSpiders", don't do it. |
| 11 | %% Same goes for potholing to NightmareFuel or ParanoiaFuel. |
| 12 | %% |
| 13 | [[quoteright:350:[[Film/EightLeggedFreaks https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_rick_overton_eight_legged_freaks_001_7778.jpg]]]] |
| 14 | [[caption-width-right:350:"Dispatch, [[CaptainObvious we have a problem.]]"]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ->''Most like a spider she was, but huger than the great hunting beasts, and more terrible than they because of the evil purpose in her remorseless eyes. Great horns she had, and behind her short stalk-like neck was her huge swollen body, a vast bloated bag, swaying and sagging beneath her legs; its great bulk was black, blotched with livid marks, but the belly underneath was pale and luminous and gave forth a stench. Her legs were bent, with great knobbed joints high above her back, and hairs that stuck out like steel spines, and at each leg's end there was a claw.'' |
| 17 | -->-- ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers'' |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Arachnophobia is probably the second-most popular phobia (after [[MonsterClown coulrophobia]]), and even non-arachnophobes have to admit that [[SpidersAreScary spiders can be pretty freaky]]. Therefore, the most popular form of BigCreepyCrawlies and one of the most popular [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever 50-Foot Whatevers]] to attack has to be (don't click the link if you like to browse TV Tropes before bed) a [[http://www.livescience.com/animals/news-spider-species-100111.html big spider]]. The bigger they are, the less likely there are to be more of them, but they're almost all so big that [[SquareCubeLaw they realistically shouldn't be able to move or breathe]] (according to natural laws of our universe's Earth, given our atmosphere's oxygen concentration). They will usually have hypertoxic venom, both spin webs and hunt for prey, and spit ProjectileWebbing out of their mouths (most spiders in real life only focus on one trait). For extra terror, [[SpiderSwarm they may even attack in groups]] (again, most spiders in real life are solitary). |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Needless to say, they can be a bit of a problem for viewers that really are arachnophobic, especially in video games with them as a featured enemy. Many games get around this by making the spiders relatively cartoonish, or not having them correspond to any real-life spiders. Granted, they can still be freaky due to the sheer nature of being giant spiders. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | They usually have little personality, beyond vague malevolence. Some of them can talk, but they're rarely very chatty, and only very rarely will they overlap with FriendlyNeighborhoodSpider. They can turn up in a variety of situations, but their most common habitats are the HungryJungle and vast caverns BeneathTheEarth. In fantasy works, they are also likely to turn up in dark, trackless and haunted forests, especially if the work is closely patterned after Tolkien. Sometimes, they're just ordinary spiders who meet up with [[IncredibleShrinkingMan a protagonist who is small]], although it amounts to the same thing. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Not to be confused with DemonicSpiders, who are just difficult enemies, or {{Money Spider}}s, which are just enemies that drop money even though they logically shouldn't -- although either of these ''can'' be literal spiders. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Compare GiantEnemyCrab. Subtrope of DireBeast. Crossed over with HumongousMecha, you get the SpiderTank. |
| 28 | ---- |
| 29 | !!Examples with their own pages: |
| 30 | [[index]] |
| 31 | * GiantSpider/LiveActionFilms |
| 32 | * GiantSpider/{{Literature}} |
| 33 | * GiantSpider/VideoGames |
| 34 | * GiantSpider/WesternAnimation |
| 35 | [[/index]] |
| 36 | !!Other Examples: |
| 37 | |
| 38 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 41 | %%* ''Manga/{{Bizenghast}}'': Bali Lali. She and the other Cleaners are all spider people. |
| 42 | * ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'': Two Digimon skirt the line, namely Dokugumon ([[AllThereInTheManual technically an insect that spins webs]]) and [[MeaningfulName Arachnemon]]/Arukenimon (who is more like a [[SpiderPeople drider]] than the more spider-like Dokugumon). |
| 43 | * ''Literature/TheFruitOfEvolution'': In the anime version, Seichii first starts warming up to his AbhorrentAdmirer, the KillerGorilla Salia, when she rescues him from a giant spider that attacks him when he tries to sneak away from her. |
| 44 | * ''Manga/InuYasha'': Giant spiders or spider-like beings are common, weak Youkai in feudal Japan. Sango and her family were tricked by Naraku (who's a spider-based demon himself) into fighting a giant, ogre-faced spider. In the final battle, Naraku's outer shell is a gargantuan black spider who acts as a final dungeon. |
| 45 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' uses the "[[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrunken hero]]" vs. regular-sized spider variant, as Formaggio traps Narancia (who has been affected by Formaggio's Little Feet stand) in a bottle and pits him against a normal tarantula. |
| 46 | * ''Manga/MajinDevil'': The third chapter is rife with them. Demonic dog-sized spiders with embryos on their backs that crawl out of pregnant girls' hoohahs, tear their way out of their stomachs or rip themselves out of hosts' heads. |
| 47 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': In his fight with Kidomaru, Neji fights giant spiders. |
| 48 | * ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': One of these accompanied [[WolfMan Kotarou]] on his first battle against Negi in the Kyoto Arc. It [[AntiMagic was banished]] by Asuna with one swing of her [[PaperFanOfDoom Iron Fan]]. |
| 49 | * ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Matarael, which looks like a bowl with lots of eyes and has four legs. |
| 50 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': |
| 51 | ** The general zombie Talleran is an enormous spider that was crossed with a monkey by Dr. Hogback. If that wasn't enough he commands a large group of smaller (yet still big comparatively) spiders that were crossed with mice. Vice-Admiral Onigumo also lives up to his name by turning into some sort of human/spider hybrid with [[MultiArmedAndDangerous 8 arms, all with swords]], and 2 legs to stand on. |
| 52 | ** One of the EliteMooks from the Punk Hazard arc, [[MacheteMayhem "Machete" Run]] is a spider-centaur with a massive arachnid body, implying that giant spiders exist in the world of One Piece. |
| 53 | * ''Manga/SazanEyes'': Two different [[BondCreatures Demon Beasts]] resembling giant spiders appear under the control of [[TheHero Yakumo]] and [[TheDragon Benares]]: the former has Jing Gu (Mirror Bug), a spider-like being the size of a soccer ball who can [[AttackReflector reflect light attacks]] and spin thread. Benares control the much more formidable Fu Yao Zhizhu (Monster-Binding Spider), a giant, more realistic-looking spider that pins its victims down, extract their energy, and then imprisons them into a cocoon. Benares states that this monster can subdue even an immortal Wu like Yakumo. |
| 54 | * ''Literature/SoImASpiderSoWhat'': The main character is this, as well as her "family" after she's reincarnated. Her "mother" {{exaggerate|dTrope}}s in sheer size, and is unsurprisingly one of the strongest non-deity entities in the series given the power she has compared to even the settings dragons, as well as the sheer destruction she can cause. |
| 55 | * ''Anime/SpiderRiders'', as its name suggests, features giant spiders as the characters' mounts. |
| 56 | * ''Anime/SpiritedAway'': Kamaji the boiler man is a youkai who seems to be a cross between an old man and a large spider. (Or perhaps an opilione, also known as harvestmen or daddy longlegs.) He's not quite as scary as the other examples on this page, and [[DarkIsNotEvil is actually a rather decent fellow.]] |
| 57 | * ''Literature/TsukimichiMoonlitFantasy'': Mio, one of the story's two female protagonists, is a giant [[EnergyAbsorption magic-absorbing]] super-powered spider-monster called [[TheDreaded The Black Spider of Calamity]]. |
| 58 | * ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': Uru is a very big and menacing spider-looking EldritchAbomination. |
| 59 | * ''Anime/TheUltraman'' has a monster called Darantulas, [[MixAndMAtchCritters a giant tarantula with giant moth wings]]. It ''used'' to be an ordinary creature from an alien planet, until an experiment on it GoesHorriblyWrong. |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 63 | * ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'': In "Shape Shift", one of Lamput's transformations is a giant spider. The docs morph into a fly swatter afterwards to squash him. |
| 64 | * ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': |
| 65 | ** Wolffy runs into one in episode 65 and gets ProjectileWebbing powers from it. |
| 66 | ** In one episode of ''Mighty Little Defenders'', Gogoa is shown in a flashback being chased and bitten by a giant hallucination spider. [[spoiler:It's actually being powered by a chip and shrinks to normal size once the chip is removed.]] |
| 67 | [[/folder]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[folder:Comedy]] |
| 70 | * ''Phill Jupitus: Quadrophobia'': Phill claims to have encountered two "Category 3" spiders: |
| 71 | -->The first time, I was nine and it was in my mum's house. Actually, it was in the bathroom. Actually, come to think of it, it was in the bath. Now, when I say "in the bath", it was actually ''having'' a bath. Six legs up the tap end, reading the ''Daily Mirror''. "Fucking hell, Bobby Moore's gone to Fulham, what's that about? You alright, son, you don't look well." |
| 72 | -->[...] |
| 73 | -->''[After a description of moving a cabinet out of the cellar more recently]'' ...And there, in the corner of the cellar, was a ''bigger'' Category 3 than the one I saw when I was nine. This one reading Creator/JosephHeller's ''Literature/Catch22''. This spider, who was wearing a ''beret'', looks up at me and goes "He died last year, you know. A tragic loss to the world of literature, don't you agree? I always thought he had another novel in him, what say you?" |
| 74 | [[/folder]] |
| 75 | |
| 76 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 77 | * ''All Eight Eyes'' is set in a world where giant spiders exist and prey on humans, but only a single vagrant is shown doing anything about them because people at large [[WeirdnessCensor rationalize away any evidence]]. A teenager witnesses him killing one and is incapable of forgetting, so he ends up joining him. It's pointed out in the first issue that, though physical limitations prevent them from nesting anywhere but underground, physically they shouldn't be capable of being that big. |
| 78 | * ''ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative'': Trauma ([[BadPowersGoodPeople whose superpower is turning into people's worst fears]]) transforms into one during a training exercise in issue #1. This turns out to be a very bad idea; the arachnophobic Armory freaks out and accidentally kills one of her teammates. |
| 79 | * ''ComicBook/Batman66'': "Caught in the Widow's Web"/"Batman Fights the Penguins' Dread" features the Black Widow siccing a giant spider named Lulah on the Dynamic Duo during the final battle. |
| 80 | * ''ComicBook/CaptainKlutz'': Gorgonzola is a giant spider with distinctly Martinesque features -- which turned out to be a costume worn by a criminal who was wanted for 'trick-or-treating' without a license. |
| 81 | * ''ComicBook/{{Cavewoman}}'': Meriem runs afoul of a nest of giant spiders in ''Cavewoman: Deadly Venom''. |
| 82 | * ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'': Conan encounters giant spiders all the goddamn time in Marvel's ''Savage Sword of Conan'' comics, but his most famous adventure involving a giant spider is probably his battle with Omm, a giant spider worshiped as a god in the city of Yezud. A later adventure has Conan fighting Omm's equally large offspring, Zath. |
| 83 | * ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'': While not a giant spider ''per se'', the Crimson King in the comic adaptation often sports a couple of spider legs and armored shell whenever he shows up. |
| 84 | * ''ComicBook/TheFrankensteinMonster'': One of the many opponents that the Monster must fight is a giant spider whose zombifying bite is used to create an army of slaves. |
| 85 | * ''ComicBook/TheGoon'' has Spider (Actually called Percival Goodbody), a man-sized spider wearing a bowler hat with a tendency to cheat at card games getting him into trouble with Goon or other characters. |
| 86 | * ''ComicBook/HavocInc'': In one issue, an unusually large tarantula caught Chester and Deck off guard as they were sleeping on a jungle planet. As portrayed on the [[http://www.radiocomix.com/havoc-inc/2012/03/07/havoc-inc-05-cover/ cover art]]. |
| 87 | * ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'': |
| 88 | ** AGV (Arachnid Gene Virus) is a rare disease in Mega City One that turns a person into a man-sized spider. One story features a woman with AGV slowly succumbing to it, and its sequel story has her visiting her husband who didn't stay by her side as promised... |
| 89 | ** There are giant spiders in the Cursed Earth that dig burrows in the ground, where they lie waiting before attacking unsuspecting prey. Dredd and a team of Judges ran into a couple of them during a patrol outside the new mutant settlements. |
| 90 | ** Additionally, there's an even rarer shapeshifting breed of giant spiders which disguise themselves as humans to [[BlackWidow seduce hapless men before devouring them]]. |
| 91 | * ''ComicBook/JungleComics'': The villain Org uses a drum to control giant spiders. |
| 92 | * ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'': The denizens of Mercury that Johnny Thunder is found by in ''All-Star Comics'' # 13 look like giant spiders with a pair of their legs switched out for tentacles. |
| 93 | * ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast1992'': The monster fought in the Tower of Hera is a giant tarantula as opposed to the Moldorm fought in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast the game]]''. However, when the monster's ghost appears in Ganon's Tower, Link identifies it as Moldorm. |
| 94 | * ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': The second issue of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDWIssue1To4 The Return of Queen Chrysalis]]" features a few. They wear hats. [[spoiler: One of them doesn't have one, so it takes Applejack's.]] |
| 95 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Necromunda}}'': ''ComicBook/TheRedeemer'' features a mutant giant spider whose eye can give its bearer PsychicPowers. |
| 96 | * ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'': The Last Haga is a giant ''space'' spider. She is enormous (and can grow even bigger), is stated to be able to devour whole ''planets'' given enough time, reproduces [[ExplosiveBreeder extremely quickly]] and [[TrulySingleParent asexually]] (her offspring also qualify for this trope), and she is totally undetectable by radar or any other type of sensor. A small gang of space pirates worship the Haga as a deity, referring to her as [[RedBaron "Ironheart", "Mother" and "Devourer"]]. Furthermore, their wording imply that the giant Haga we see in action (which later merges with their spaceship upon returning) is the ''larval form'' of the Haga, implying that it could transform further. |
| 97 | * ''ComicBook/SamuraiSquirrel'': [[TheProtagonist Nato-san]] takes on several spiders bigger than him in their own lair to rescue the baby bird that their leader, known as Silverback, kidnapped to eat. |
| 98 | * ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': Discussed. Barbara wonders if her dreamworld has these creatures, and learns that while it does, they are [[DarkIsNotEvil on her side]], and [[CowardlyLion very timid]]. |
| 99 | * ''ComicBook/{{Sojourn}}'': The insect-like Urnethi use giant spiders as mounts. |
| 100 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': A few show up. |
| 101 | ** Spidey once builds one realistic enough to scare a thug trapped in a web into giving him information. |
| 102 | ** And there was a villain who was obsessed with killing Spider-Man and for some reason would only use giant spider robots called "Spider Slayers" for the job. One version of the Spider Slayer was a scorpion though, which makes a bit more sense, given that scorpions do commonly prey upon spiders. This was the original reasoning in giving Mac Gargan the power and abilities of a scorpion to serve as Spider-Man's EvilCounterpart. |
| 103 | ** To say nothing of Spider-Man transforming into the HalfHumanHybrid Man-Spider on occasion. |
| 104 | ** The storyline ''ComicBook/SpiderIsland'' is literally [[{{Pun}} crawling]] with them. |
| 105 | ** In the first team-up between the ''Superior Spider-Man'' and the ''X-Men'', they tackle a giant spider, which in addition to having mutant powers, also has human eyes. After being stunned by Spidey, the creature [[spoiler: turns into a normal-sized blond human woman. It was revealed to have been created by Spider-Man's enemy, the Jackal, using technology stolen from X-Men villain, Mr. Sinister]]. |
| 106 | ** The Thousand was a [[TheWormThatWalks a swarm of spiders that inhabit a human body]]. The main spider was the size of a human head. |
| 107 | ** The villain Queen [[VillainessesWantHeroes wanted Spider-Man to be her mate]] and vowed he would love her whether he wanted to or not. After easily beating Spidey in their first fight she [[ForcefulKiss forced a kiss on him]] and over the next few issues, it was discovered her kiss was slowly mutating him into a giant spider mutant. He eventually turns into a giant spider and is completely under Queen's control, and she plans to use him as an egg sac to give birth to her offspring. [[spoiler:It was a small miracle that Peter managed to survive the process. His giant spider form died unexpectedly and he got his original body back.]] |
| 108 | ** ''ComicBook/MarvelsVoices'': "Inspiration" is about a black widow spider exposed to gamma radiation, turning into a large, sentient, animal who becomes inspired to fight crime after seeing Spider-Man and Silk. The scientist studying her nicknamed her "Spider-Hulk". |
| 109 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind'' appears a Reptilian Spider, a car-sized red arachnid which used to live in Krypton's Flame Forest. Its giant mandibles can easily uproot large trees. |
| 110 | * The ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' story ''[[Recap/TintinTheShootingStar The Shooting Star]]'' (also present in the [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin1991 animated series]]) has a [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum meteor with strange properties]] crash in the Atlantic ocean (without causing an extinction event), and it doesn't sink. After winning the RaceAgainstTheClock to plant his team's flag first on said meteor, Tintin opens his cantine and a minuscule spider escapes from it. Fast-forward a minute or so later, the spider has grown giant due to the meteor's strange properties, and starts attacking Tintin, only to be crushed under a giant apple from a giant apple tree that grew from an apple Tintin had a bite in and threw away. |
| 111 | * ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries'': Arachnosaurs are massive spider-like ambush predators native to an alien planet that Wheelie gets trapped on. They're big enough to pose a serious threat to most Cybertronians (though they're no match for [[CombiningMecha Monstructor]]). |
| 112 | * Creator/ECComics: A story in ''The Vault of Horror'' has some white-collar criminals in a small plane get caught in a giant web spun between two mountains, deep in the South American jungle. When the denizen of the web shows up, they're dinner. The Vault-Keeper gleefully informs us that a smaller spider will probably curl up and die at the mere mention of the name "Giant Mountain Crawler." |
| 113 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: In the ComicBook/WonderGirl Impossible Tale in #116 Ronno tries to steal a necklace from the cave of a sea spider, and gets caught in its web as the truck-sized arachnid approaches to make a meal of him. |
| 114 | [[/folder]] |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 117 | * ''Fanfic/BesidesTheWillOfEvil'': [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Ungoliants]] are enormous spider-like monsters created by [[BigBad Reiziger]] as muscle for his armies. They create an aura of shadow around themselves, and unlike real spiders, they have a poisonous stinger hidden beneath their bellies. |
| 118 | * ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' mentions the Acromantulae of the Forbidden Forest and [[BoisterousBruiser Uhtred]] immediately perks up. Harry immediately tells him that no, he can't go hunt them because it would upset Hagrid. While this may seem odd, Uhtred is a teenage Asgardian well on course to be bigger than Thor and as strong as [[StoutStrength Volstagg]] and is, moreover, the protégé of [[WarGod Sif herself]]. In short, Harry is very right to worry for the spiders. |
| 119 | * ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'': The first enemy Shinji fights is a skyscraper-sized spider-shaped EldritchAbomination spread its webs all over the city and spawned millions of smaller spiders danced around its legs and flooded the city's streets. |
| 120 | -->''It showed a creature that resembled a huge spider, hundreds of feet tall, lying on its side, its legs working the air feebly. It was surrounded by a charred cocoon of spider silk and the corpses of countless spiders. However, more were erupting up from the ground and forming from its blood, which was puddled around it. Furthermore, the charred marks on its exterior were fading, and ichor was no longer leaking from it.'' |
| 121 | * ''Fanfic/CodexEquus'': |
| 122 | ** Cuddle Spiders, based on ''WebAnimation/LucasTheSpider'', are the size of a medium-sized dog. They're also adorable, friendly, and make great pets sustained by their owner's affection and love. They're the domesticated version of a now long-extinct species of love-sucking, wolf-sized spiders that were far less friendly. |
| 123 | ** More traditional ones live in the Giant Lands, where proportionally to giants they're the same size as normal ones are to ponies. When the get out of the Giant Lands, however, they're a much bigger problem. |
| 124 | * ''Fanfic/DividedRainbow'': Lero runs into a giant ("as tall as a rhinoceros, and equally as wide") seven-legged spider (the eighth leg is just an infected-looking stump) in chapter 3, and names it Mr. 7. He very nearly gets killed by it until Rarity shows up to help. |
| 125 | * ''Fanfic/DoctorWhoovesTheSeries'': ''Along Came a Spider'' has pony-hoof-sized ones as well as [[EvilIsHammy ANASI, THE SPIDER GODDESS]] (straight from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Metebelis III]]. |
| 126 | * ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': |
| 127 | ** There are monsterous giant spiders, mainly used by Keeper Arachne, as seen in [[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/dungeon-keeper-ami-sailor-moon-dungeon-keeper-story-only-thread.30066/post-6355677 "Captured!"]]: |
| 128 | ---> With a strange wrenching noise, a quartet of giant spiders dropped out of thin air, each one landing in a separate corner of the room. Even the smallest of the ugly, hairy monsters was as big as a sheep at least, not even counting the long legs covered in sharp bristles. |
| 129 | ** The Vermin Lord grants his Keepers the ability to enlarge vermin such as spiders to be [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever bigger than buildings]]. |
| 130 | * ''Fanfic/EquestriaDivided'': |
| 131 | ** Wood spiders, enormous creatures resembling spiders shaped out of living wood, are among the monsters native to the Everfree. They sometimes have poison-spitting plants rooted in their backs, allowing them to pelt enemies with poisonous liquids at range before moving in to maul them. |
| 132 | ** One changeling unit, the weblings, resembles a monstrous spider with a changeling's head and can shoot tough ProjectileWebbing. |
| 133 | * ''Fanfic/HeartOfTheForest'': After their abandonment, the White Tail Woods became home to colonies of spiders the size of deer. |
| 134 | * ''Film/{{Aliens}}''[=/=]''Series/OnceUponATime'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Monsters|Aofie}}'': The Xenomorphs in this version are spider-like creatures and can grow to easily tower over humans. |
| 135 | * ''Fanfic/TheNightmareHouse'': The spiders in Leni's nightmare are enlarged with "Super Spider Growy Stuff". |
| 136 | * ''Fanfic/PersonalityConflicts'': One appears in ''The Green-Eyed Monster'', in the Castle of Nyghtmayr. The castle defenses replicate the same emotion-evoking powers as the eight Minor Demons, and Fyar's powers summon up a giant spider for Tasha to [[FaceYourFears confront]]. She's able to defeat it by [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath listing three biological reasons why the creature before her can't actually exist]] (any permeable-membraned egg that size would dry out before it could hatch; SquareCubeLaw means "the cross-section of the legs only increase on a square curve" and would soon be too small to support it; and spiders and insects both "breathe through tracheal tubes that run from their 'skin' to their bloodstream. Those tubes can’t be longer than an inch or so, otherwise no air gets down them, and the spider suffocates"). Each example causes the spider to shrink until it's the size of a normal tarantula, allowing Tasha to step on it and crush it into nothing. |
| 137 | * ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'': There's the Polyphemus Gargantula, more commonly known as Giant Cyclops Spider. Aahg from G1 is a member of this species, however the [[MonsterProgenitor first and most deadly]] of the entire species was Lahb, [[spoiler:a creation of Hydia's ancestor, the First Witch Lilith]]. Lahb was a forty-foot tall titan with legs as wide as tree trunks and fangs big enough to impale a centaur. |
| 138 | * ''Fanfic/PrehistoricParkReimagined'': The newly discovered InUniverse ''Megalorachne'' prove to be reasonably massive spiders for the time period in which they naturally live in before their kind get rescued to be put on display at the titular park, with at least one of the females being explicitly confirmed to be at least the same size as one human character's head. Rather appropriately, they are explicitly based on the 'mesothelae' from ''Series/WalkingWithMonsters''. |
| 139 | * In ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheMinisukas'', Matarael is a man-sized, multi-eyed spider-like abomination. |
| 140 | * ''Fanfic/TheSecretReturnOfAlexMack'' includes a crossover with ''Film/{{Tarantula}}'', but unlike the original, after killing the 200-foot spider, a horde of car-sized babies appears; the SRI team has to invade their cave and deal with them. Alex gets nightmares afterwards for weeks. |
| 141 | * ''Fanfic/VariousVytalVentures'': "Bark and Bite" introduces a new form of Grimm, the ''Aggromantulas'', which are big, fast, vicious, and carry a paralyzing venom in their fangs. Their Queen, however, is something else. |
| 142 | * ''Fanfic/TheVinylAndOctaviaSeries'': One captures Vinyl and Octavia in its web in ''Vinyl and Octavia Machete Their Way Through the Jungle''. |
| 143 | * ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Haara and Walburt fight several (complete with flaming jaws) while infiltrating the Genasi volcano mines. |
| 144 | * ''Series/WalkingWithMonsters'': The Mesothelae are amongst the prehistoric animals rescued in ''Fanfic/PrehistoricEarth'', and the first one seen is explicitly referred to as a "giant spider". |
| 145 | * ''Fanfic/TheWorldOfTheCreatures'': Batman and the Eleventh Doctor are captured by a colony of giant spiders that talk. It's implied that these are either from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' or ''Literature/TheHobbit''. |
| 146 | * ''Roleplay/WitchQuest'': Rochelle is a sane Witch whose normal form is of this. She even introduces herself this way to others at first ("[[VerbalTic Hwee ahr a giahnt spidahr]]"). She [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] the usual portrayal of this trope insofar as she's actually trying to help {{Magical Girl}}s get happy endings, although mistrust, misunderstandings, and [[InSeriesNickname Na]][[SociopathicHero pa]][[KillItWithFire lm]] stand in the way (among others). |
| 147 | * ''Fanfic/TheWorldIsFilledWithMonsters'': The first monsters encountered in the story are a colony of enormous and very aggressive spiders, ranging from the size of a cat to the size of a house to the biggest of them all, Blightweaver, which is more than two stories tall and has legs as thick as tree trunks. The first sign the company gets of them is enormous webs stretching across most of a forest's canopy, with whole flocks of geese webbed up like flies. |
| 148 | [[/folder]] |
| 149 | |
| 150 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 151 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Dreambuilders}}'': Minna creates a giant mechanical one to scare Jenny during her nightmare. It later comes to life in the Dream Trash and attacks the two girls as they're trying to escape, until Minna shuts it down. |
| 152 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'': The Other Mother's [[OneWingedAngel true form]] is a sort of spider [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot zombie doll thing with hands and legs made out of needles]]. |
| 153 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/HellboyAnimated Hellboy: Sword of Storms]]'' has a woman sitting in a forest clearing covered in fallen leaves playing a stringed instrument who looks perfectly normal...until her fingers start bleeding as she plays, spiders start to swarm around, Hellboy gets caught by three spiders the size of dogs, and the woman rises up out of the leaves to reveal an enormous spider abdomen and set of legs -- then she starts [[BreathWeapon to breathe fire]]. |
| 154 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart'': A real-life spider crawls over Emmet while he's stuck Undar of the Dryar. Of course it's tiny, but compared to a LEGO minifig it's huge, and freaks him out a bit. |
| 155 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': |
| 156 | ** Ahgg, the primary minion of the witches of the Volcano of Gloom, resembles a monstrous spider larger than a house, albeit one with a mammalian mouth and tusks and a single vertebrate eye. |
| 157 | ** At the start of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE12TheGhostOfParadiseEstate2 The Ghost of Paradise Estate, Part 2]]", the ghost turns itself into (six-legged, vertebrate-faced) spider of giant size to scare the ponies. |
| 158 | * ''WesternAnimation/OggyAndTheCockroachesTheMovie'': One tries to make a meal out of Oggy Magnon, only to get knocked out by the cat's smelly feet without him even noticing. |
| 159 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'' had a fairly large spider that looked enormous to the mouse protagonist. It mostly existed to serve as a very memorable [[StabTheScorpion way to establish]] the barely-controlled danger of the [[Creator/JohnCarradine Great Owl]]; if Mrs. Brisby is threatened by a spider and the spider is nothing but a snack for the Owl... well, let's just say she's lucky to survive that scene. |
| 160 | * Franchise/{{Superman}} fights a giant mechanical spider at the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/SupermanDoomsday'', while Creator/KevinSmith, in an animated cameo, looks on and says "Lame!". It's a TakeThat against the ExecutiveMeddling forced upon Smith's ''Superman Lives'' script -- see [[GiantSpider/LiveActionFilms Live-Action Films]]. |
| 161 | * Scroop, the main villain of ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' resembles an evil, giant alien spider/scorpion hybrid. |
| 162 | * ''WesternAnimation/PinocchioInOuterSpace''. Among the creatures inhabiting the caves under the Martian city are spiders the size of a large building. |
| 163 | [[/folder]] |
| 164 | |
| 165 | [[folder:Gamebooks]] |
| 166 | * A really popular choice of enemy in the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' series, starting from ''Literature/TheWarlockOfFiretopMountain''. Notable examples include the "Mizugumo Fens" in ''Literature/SwordOfTheSamurai'', where your hero can encounter and fight several giant spiders living in the marsh, ''Literature/MidnightRogue'' (a gigantic spider shows up in the final dungeon as a rather difficult fight), and ''Literature/HowlOfTheWerewolf'', where you can venture in a cavern infested by all manners of monstrous arachnids, including a literal spider-wolf horror and their queen, the vaguely humanoid Arachne. |
| 167 | * Subverted in ''Literature/SpaceAssassin'', where aboard one of Cyrus' lab, you can uncover a giant spider who can talk, and communicate with you. Turns out this spider used to be a sentient life-form from another planet, one of the many victims abducted by Cyrus, an EvilutionaryBiologist, and if you release him the spider will give you an important clue before leaving. |
| 168 | * In the ''Literature/GrailQuest'' series, the hero's [[TalkingWeapon Talking Sword]] Excalibur Junior is arachnophobic. This is problematic when fighting giant spiders, as the sword is either shaking in fear or plain refusing to be pulled from its scabbard. |
| 169 | * In the French gamebook series ''Literature/LaSagaDuPretreJean'', Giant Spiders are often encountered by the titular hero at least once per book, and sometimes will have fatal venom. The sole exceptions are Book 5, set in ancient India, and the last fanmade book set in Tibet. |
| 170 | [[/folder]] |
| 171 | |
| 172 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 173 | * The ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless}} Selfless]]" starts out with one of these. |
| 174 | * The MonsterOfTheWeek in the ''Series/Charmed1998'' episode "[[Recap/CharmedS6E18SpinCity Spin City]]". |
| 175 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 176 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Planet of the Spiders]]" has the titular Giant Spiders of Metebelis 3 (which evolved from normal spiders). |
| 177 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng Chiang]]" has the Doctor and theater manager Jago find one the size of the Doctor's hand in the theater's cellar. The Doctor identifies it as a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linyphiidae money spider]], a real, harmless and very common variety. They're also ''tiny'', so he knows it's been affected by "genetic distortion" from the villain's experiments that also created giant rats. |
| 178 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride The Runaway Bride]]": The Racnoss, as a species, cross this trope with HordeOfAlienLocusts, although the Empress is [[SpiderPeople partially humanoid in appearance]]. |
| 179 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon Kill the Moon]]": The Doctor and co. stumble upon giant ''germs'' shaped like spiders living on the Moon. |
| 180 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E4ArachnidsInTheUK Arachnids in the UK]]": There's a mother spider the size of, in Graham's words, a ''van''. [[spoiler:It's actually a test subject from a university laboratory that grew that size after it was improperly disposed of by a waste company owned by a CorruptCorporateExecutive, which grew so large due to eating garbage in the landfill it was dumped in. And, unlike some other giant spiders on this show, it ''is'' affected by the SquareCubeLaw, as when the Doctor finally confronts it, she realizes it's dying of suffocation as it's grown too big to breathe.]] |
| 181 | * In the ''Series/GilligansIsland'' episode "The Pigeon", the castaways run into a Black Morning Spider. It's six feet long, [[RedEyesTakeWarning has red eyes]], and weighs 500 lbs. |
| 182 | * Some seasons of ''Franchise/KamenRider'' feature a spider monster in the first episode, and more recent seasons like ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'' and ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' have a recurring spider monster. Admittedly these are just PeopleInRubberSuits with spider heads and maybe legs sticking out the back. However, ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' and ''Series/KamenRiderHibiki'' went all the way, with proper giant spiders by way of CGI. ''Film/KamenRiderZO'' had one that was made with {{Claymation}}, featuring a creepy face and unnatural movements that make it ''so much'' more scary than the better-animated versions. |
| 183 | * The UK kids' game show ''Series/{{Knightmare}}'' had Ariadne, a very slow, very large spider who could block the path and eat the dungeoneer. |
| 184 | * In the ''Series/Merlin2008'' episode "[[Recap/MerlinS01E04ThePoisonedChalice The Poisoned Chalice]]", Arthur is trapped in a cave with a bunch of giant spiders. They aren't as big as some of the beasties on this page, but they are bigger than his head -- not counting the legs. Oh, and [[ZergRush there's hundreds of them]]. |
| 185 | * ''Series/MonsterWarriors'': The first monster Von Steinhauer unleashes upon capital City is a giant spider in "The Giant Spider Invasion". |
| 186 | * Guest star Raquel Welch has a dance number with a giant spider in an episode of ''Series/TheMuppetShow''. |
| 187 | * ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai'': |
| 188 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' also has a CGI giant spider in one episode, complete with giant web. It wasn't even the MonsterOfTheWeek, just a denizen of a dangerous forest. |
| 189 | ** Spidertron (Dora Tarantula in ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'') from ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', on the other hand, ''was'' a monster of the week. Rita, being a WitchWithACapitalB, created it upon discovering Zack had a fear of spiders. Zack bored its guts out with the Dragonzord Fighting Mode's [[ThisIsADrill Power Staff]]. |
| 190 | ** Arachnofiend from Season 3 of ''Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'', who was Tsuchigumo in ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger''. Another Tsuchigumo appeared in ''Series/ShurikenSentaiNinninger'', renamed Tangleweb for ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel''. |
| 191 | ** Gozunagumo from ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' is based on the Ushi-Oni mentioned below. He was renamed Arachnitor for ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai''. |
| 192 | * ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' had giant prehistoric spiders in its second episode. It's pointed out that, technically, they're not really spiders, but spider ancestors. They are not, however, the most threatening monster in the episode. [[spoiler: A giant millipede is.]] |
| 193 | * An episode of ''Series/TheReallyWildShow'' had a spoof monster movie, in which the show's pet tarantula grew to the size of a building. This being an EdutainmentShow, of course, it was followed by an explanation of why you couldn't really get spiders that big. |
| 194 | * When Phill Jupitus nominated "people who ''aren't'' scared of spiders" to go into ''Series/Room101'', the illustrative prop was a fake spider a foot in diameter which, rather than Paul producing it from behind the desk, was lowered from the ceiling while they were talking. Jupitus, who is ''severely'' arachnophobic, had a genuine moment of panic, before realising, and commenting "It's a big comedy one and all, what kind of twat am I? Big, googly-eyed, cartoon spider, I run a mile." |
| 195 | * Within the ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' story, Big Bertha is [[spoiler: an earth-moving, psychically powered, possible divine]] version of this. Yeah, it's pretty damn cool. |
| 196 | * ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'': Implied at the end of "[[Recap/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCodyS3E4SuperTwins Super Twins]]" (the {{superhero|Episode}} story part of Creator/DisneyChannel's "[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Wish Gone Amiss]]" weekend) after the two defeat the Meanager (Mr. Moseby's supervillain persona): |
| 197 | -->'''Carey:''' Aw, guys, I'm sorry, but the phone's been ringing all night. Apparently a lot of people need your help. ''(whips out the list)'' Let's see, there's a [[BusFullOfInnocents bus on a broken suspension bridge]], and... Ooh, I think I'd start with the giant spider that's climbing city hall.\ |
| 198 | ''(a crowd is heard screaming outside, and the twins and Carey peek out the window)''\ |
| 199 | '''Carey:''' Oh, he just ate the mayor!\ |
| 200 | ''(monster burping)'' |
| 201 | * ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1985S1E16 The Elevator]]", a spider ate the super food developed by Roger and Will's father in order to solve world hunger. It then killed the smaller but still giant [[MegaNeko cat]] and [[CanisMajor dog]] and possibly the [[RodentsOfUnusualSize giant rats]]. When Roger and Will call the elevator in their father's factory, the giant spider grabs them with its pedipalps and kills them. |
| 202 | * Franchise/UltraSeries examples: |
| 203 | ** ''Series/UltraQ'' has a giant tarantula inhabiting an abandoned mansion, who is simply named... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Giant Tarantula]]. |
| 204 | ** An episode of ''Series/{{Ultraseven}}'' has the TDF getting stranded in a monster infested swamp, with Soga being pursued by an oversized arachnid creature called a Gumonga. The creature's name is a direct reference to the Godzilla foe, Kumonga. |
| 205 | ** The ''Series/UltramanNexus'' {{kaiju}} Banpira is a giant bipedal spider with four arms. Like all the Space Beasts, Banpira likes ToServeMan, but it is also able to cloak its presence by creating OminousFog. From there, it incapacitates prey with a sonic shriek before snatching targets with webbing from its mouth and then erasing survivors' memories with a flash of light from its eyes. [[NothingIsScarier Sweet dreams]]... |
| 206 | * Giant melon-sized spiders called "''Mesothelae''" appeared in the Carboniferous segment of ''Series/WalkingWithMonsters''. They were larger than any genuine spiders of that (or any) time, and were only depicted as being so huge because a proto-scorpion had been mistaken for a spider; otherwise, this would be listed under RealLife. |
| 207 | * Episode 12 of the UK version of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'' featured one terrorising various London landmarks and the superheroes' task was to mix a formula to shrink it. |
| 208 | * In ''Series/TheWildWildWest'' episode "[[Recap/TheWildWildWestS2E3TheNightOfTheRaven The Night of the Raven]]", James West and a Native American princess are menaced by a spider while shrunk. That's right, the series did a Giant Spider scene (more or less) 33 years before TheMovie (cited elsewhere). |
| 209 | [[/folder]] |
| 210 | |
| 211 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 212 | * Music/FrankZappa was a huge fan of B-movies, especially monster movies, and thus giant spiders appear a lot in his work, including "Cheepnis" on ''Music/RoxyAndElsewhere'' and "Spider Of Destiny" on ''Music/SleepDirt''. |
| 213 | [[/folder]] |
| 214 | |
| 215 | [[folder:Mythology and Religion]] |
| 216 | * The TsuchigumoAndJorogumo {{youkai}} of Japanese mythology, both of which are also known for shapeshifting and illusions, along with deadly poisons and large webs which they used to catch their prey. Archetypal myths for both involve posing as a beautiful girl or young boy to attract and snare unwary travellers, or accosting and offering wishes or marriage to someone who is kind to spiders. The latter is actually fairly common, since [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephila_clavata jorogumo's natural form]] is considered lucky for its bright coloring. |
| 217 | ** The Ushi-Oni is sometimes described as a giant spider with crab-like claws and a bull's head. |
| 218 | * Natives of the Congo jungles and cryptozoologists tell tales of a species of monkey-sized trapdoor spiders known as [[http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/09/mysterious-giant-spiders-of-the-congo/ J'ba Fofi]] ("Giant Spider" in Bakongo). |
| 219 | * In [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]] we have Arachne, a weaver of extraordinary talent who once challenged Athena with her work. Ironically, Arachne was turned into a spider by the angry goddess for her arrogance; [[DependingOnTheWriter some other versions instead have it that]] Arachne saw that she couldn't compare to Athena and hanged herself (or was about to) and Athena turned her into a spider so that she could keep weaving, out of pity rather than as a punishment. A lot of art depicts Arachne as either human with spider features or a giant spider altogether, even if at least Ovid's original version suggests Arachne was transformed into a standard (not giant) spider. |
| 220 | * Anansi, the West African TricksterGod (later a part of Caribbean folklore due to the Slave Trade), was depicted either as a spider (his name means "spider"), a man, or [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs a man-sized spider]]. |
| 221 | * Areop-Enap, the CreatorGod of Nauruan mythology, is a gigantic spider. |
| 222 | [[/folder]] |
| 223 | |
| 224 | [[folder:Pinball]] |
| 225 | * ''Pinball/{{Krull}}'' has the Crystal Spider, who dwells on the upper playfield to trap players. |
| 226 | [[/folder]] |
| 227 | |
| 228 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 229 | * Holland, the "large brown spider"-turned-Dash Two monster from episode 5 of ''Podcast/FindUsAlive''. He's described as being about the size of a large dog. |
| 230 | * In ''Podcast/{{Jemjammer}}'', the first monsters the group encounter is a trio of giant spiders. This is just a taste of the neogi, giant ''alien'' spiders that can control minds and breed by having their young burst from their corpses. The party has to fight them after they attack Alana's ship. The fact that Jylliana (and to a lesser degree her player Annie) are arachnophobic doesn't help. |
| 231 | * In ''Podcast/TrialsAndTrebuchets'', the party battle a Retriever, a giant mechanical spider, during the [[TournamentArc Autumn's End duels]]. |
| 232 | [[/folder]] |
| 233 | |
| 234 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 235 | * In Fit the Eleventh of ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978'', Zaphod and Ford enter a hanger full of TechnoWreckage and huge cobwebs. A huge spider briefly lands next to them and says "'scuse me" in a [[Music/TheWho "Boris the Spider"]] voice before scuttling off. |
| 236 | * In the ''Radio/LightsOutEverybody'' episode "The Spider", two small-time down-on-their-luck thugs scour the Amazon basin for exotic butterflies, looking to make enough money to get back to the States. Instead, they spot a dog-sized spider, which appears to be their ticket out. But there's a problem... |
| 237 | [[/folder]] |
| 238 | |
| 239 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 240 | * ''TabletopGame/ThirteenthAge'': Phase spiders reportedly hail from some parallel dimension of giants where they are merely little pests. In the Dragon Empire, everyone is bite-sized to them. |
| 241 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Arduin}}'': |
| 242 | ** The Greater Demon Calyandagg the Lord of the Spiders is a spider the size of a Greyhound bus. He does devastating damage in close combat, including a [[PoisonIsCorrosive acid-like venom]] that he can inject with his fangs and well as a SuperSpit. |
| 243 | ** The Snow Spider can grow nearly as large as a full-grown horse and their poison can cause permanent blindness. |
| 244 | ** Spiga are spiders with [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowing ruby red eyes]] that can grow as large as a school bus. Their forelegs can inflict 1-36 HitPoints of damage per hit and their bite does 1-48 HitPoints damage. |
| 245 | ** Star Spiders are about 10-12 feet wide and long. They have 5-24 13 feet long CombatTentacles that each do 1-12 HitPoints of damage on a hit and 4-16 HitPoints of constriction damage thereafter. They can swallow human-sized targets whole, and opponents that are sucked or pulled into their mouths are destroyed by heat and radiation at a rate of 51-100 HitPoints per combat round, which also [[VampiricDraining consumes the victim's soul]]. They have a single [[RedEyesTakeWarning glaring red eye]] like the headlamp of a giant train. |
| 246 | ** Giant Tarantulas are black, hairy spiders 6-8 feet long with a leg span of up to 24 feet. Their venom inflicts nerve damage for up to 10 melee rounds and causes intense, debilitating pain. |
| 247 | ** Web Widows are giant black widow spiders (up to seven feet long) that can cast illusion spells. Their bite injects a venom that does 31-50 HitPoints of damage and paralyzes the victim. |
| 248 | * ''TabletopGame/ArkhamHorrorTheCardGame'': The stronger minions of the spider-god Atlach-Nacha range from Leng spiders (dog-sized) to really huge ones. |
| 249 | * ''TabletopGame/BattlelordsOfTheTwentyThirdCentury'': In the ''Shadis'' magazine #23 adventure "Bug Hunt", the {{P|layerCharacter}}Cs have to fight the giant Spiders of the planet Driscoll VII. Adults are up to 2.5 meters tall and weigh up to 300 kg. |
| 250 | * ''TabletopGame/BurningWheel'': In the Monster Burner book, one of the playable monster races is the Great Spiders, which are spiders of human intelligence that range from the size of a medium-sized dog to that of a horse (depending on breed and life-path). Most are loners (like real spiders) and the ones that aren't are either pack hunters or Evil (although that is not a barrier to playing a characters in ''Burning Wheel'', where campaigns as one of the horde of the EvilOverlord is a viable option.) |
| 251 | * ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'': In the ''Dreamlands'' supplement, Leng Spiders can grow to gigantic size and weigh hundreds of tons. |
| 252 | * Creator/{{Chaosium}}'s supplement ''All the Worlds' Monsters'' Volume III: |
| 253 | ** Demon Spiders are the size of a large timber wolf and can cast webs that inflict fire damage and VampiricDraining of LifeEnergy. Their ruler, the Demon Spider Lord Ishral is twice the size of a man. |
| 254 | ** The 11th level Basic Demon takes the form of a giant spider that lives in a web of darkness. |
| 255 | ** The Rainbow Demon is a huge spider (36-360 HitPoints) whose legs are [[RainbowMotif colored red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, and clear]]. Each leg has a special power: four of them can [[AttackReflector reflect missiles, Breath Weapons, clerical magic, and all magic]]. |
| 256 | ** A variety of semi-normal giant spiders: Black Widow (10-foot leg spread), Fiddle (8-foot leg spread), Giant (4-5 feet tall), Red (giant size, [[VampiricDraining drains its victim's Constitution]] by hitting it with one of its claws), Trap Door (size of a Great Dane). |
| 257 | * ''TabletopGame/CityOfSevenSeraphs'': The veryx are a species of human- to halfling-sized arachnids. |
| 258 | * ''TabletopGame/ClankADeckbuildingAdventure'' has a giant spider as the antagonist of the ''Gold and Silk'' expansion. It is the progenitor of the webs that ensnare treasures on one side of the board, and the guardian of abandoned Dwarven mines in the other. In any case, they serve as an undefeatable presence that stalk the players throughout their journey. |
| 259 | * ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'': Maraskan tarantulas, {{Familiar}}s available to the Black Widow coven of witches, are poisonous spiders with a diameter of two meters or more. |
| 260 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'': There are are fifty-foot giant spiders that hunt openly, and man-sized ones that hide under the ground and pull you into their burrows. |
| 261 | * ''TabletopGame/DragonQuest'': ''Magazine/{{Ares}}'' magazine #13 adventure "The Treasure of Socantri" has, as one of the new monsters included, a man-sized intelligent spider covered with long hair and capable of casting many spells of Earth Magic. |
| 262 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': |
| 263 | ** Spiders are sacred to the [[EvilCounterpartRace drow]]'s goddess Lolth, so not only do the drow have a spider motif by association, they've bred several varieties of giant spider to use as mounts or attack animals. Drow who have [[YouHaveFailedMe failed]] their goddess in some way or another are sometimes transformed into [[SpiderPeople driders]] or masses of spider legs called chwidenchas, while Lolth's realm in the Abyss, the Demonweb Pits, is home to absolutely enormous spiders called Demonweb Terrors. |
| 264 | ** Other races of the Underdark, such as the duergar dwarves or the ettercaps -- themselves spider-headed, web-weaving humanoids -- similarly use giant spiders as mounts. |
| 265 | ** Giant spiders in the Classic ''D&D'' game (Basic, Expert, etc.) were a bit more varied than in other versions of ''D&D'', and often had interesting abilities based on TruthInTelevision, such as crab spiders blending into their surroundings, or folklore, like the "tarantella"'s poison causing a spastic "dance." |
| 266 | ** Bebiliths are quite literally demonic spiders, known for hunting other demons. The "normal" variant has a body the size of a plow horse and legs over four meters long, and they get bigger from there. |
| 267 | ** Blackspawn stalkers are one variety of Spawn of Tiamat, a web-weaving, acid-spitting combination of giant spider and black dragon. |
| 268 | ** Blade spiders are by and large normal giant spiders, except that their legs and pedipalps end in sharp metal blades. |
| 269 | ** Bristle spiders are huge (an in-game size category for creatures around the girth of a giant) spiders that live in [[HungryJungle thick jungles]]. They can spit [[PoisonIsCorrosive acidic poison]] and shoot their needlelike bristles in untargeted barrages. |
| 270 | ** Grim puppeteers are jungle-dwelling giant spiders that, after they've drained their victims dry of fluids, string up their remains like marionettes with their silk, climb up a tree, and use their macabre puppets to lure passersby within striking range. |
| 271 | ** Harpoon spiders are arachnoid aberrations with disturbingly human eyes encircling a spiderlike head. They hunt by firing their adhesive-coated fangs at prey, reeling in their target via fleshly lines, injecting them with a paralytic venom, and then [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling]] their helpless victim upon the spines covering their body. They're also fully sapient and capable of speech and known for having morbid conversations with their food while it "ripens" on their spines. |
| 272 | ** Phase spiders are two-eyed, man-sized spiders capable of shifting between the Material and Ethereal Planes, hence the name. They observe and stalk prey from the Ethereal Plane undetected, then shift to the Material to attack seemingly from nowhere, and either hit-and-run or drag their food back with them to the Ethereal to feed. |
| 273 | ** Retrievers are [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot giant robot demon spiders that can shoot lasers from their eyes.]] Demon lords use them to hunt down those who displease or offend them. |
| 274 | ** Tomb spiders are horse-sized arachnids suffused with negative energy and have a disturbing life cycle. They specifically lay their eggs in humanoid corpses, then wrap the body in silk to create a "web mummy," which is then animated by negative energy and serves its creator as a guardian. Once the eggs inside the undead husk hatch, the newborn tomb spiders feed on the corpse, then each other, until one emerges as a fully-grown adult in a few weeks. If the web mummy is destroyed before then, it releases a SpiderSwarm of tiny tomb spiders. Oh, and tomb spider venom causes victims to be hurt by ''cure wounds'' spells and healed by ''inflict wounds'' spells, [[ReviveKillsZombie as if they were an undead creature.]] |
| 275 | ** ''TabletopGame/CurseOfStrahd'': An entire nest of giant spiders can be found in the ruins of Argynvostholt. They also are among many random encounters the player can have in their travels. |
| 276 | * ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'': In the Creator/{{Chaosium}} RPG, adventure "Lord of the Spiders'', the {{P|layerCharacter}}Cs must explore a forest filled with huge spiders. The spiders' venom puts the victim into suspended animation, after which [[Literature/TheHobbit the victims are webbed up and hung from trees]]. |
| 277 | * ''TabletopGame/EncounterCritical'': |
| 278 | ** The main rules have giant spiders as monsters. Each has from 3-60 HitPoints and can do 1-20 HitPoints of damage (plus poison) on a hit, which is more than most monsters. |
| 279 | ** Supplement ''Asteroid 1618''. Inside the Vanishing Pyramid the {{P|layerCharacter}}Cs can find eggsacs laid by a giant spider. If the eggsacs are broken open (from prodding or gunfire) 1-20 baby spiders will emerge and attack the {{P|layerCharacter}}Cs. If {{P|layerCharacter}}Cs kill any of them the mother spider will go MamaBear on them. |
| 280 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' includes these among the variety of creatures in Creation. Some are mundane animals that just happen to be huge; others are smaller but intelligent, malicious elementals called Wood Spiders. Then there are the pattern spiders, the mechanical gods that maintain the Loom of Fate. And then there are anhules, a category of demon. No, not race, ''category.'' As in, "there's at least one subspecies of them descended from each [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Yozi]] because Yozi are jerks like that." |
| 281 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fate}}'' has giant spiders as monsters. They're no longer present as you progress to deeper levels of the dungeon. |
| 282 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Godforsaken}}'': If the Spider Collective wishes, it can take a few thousand (or more) spiders and have them form a huge spider-shaped mass that can act as a single enormous spider. |
| 283 | * ''TabletopGame/GodsOfTheFall'': |
| 284 | ** Isaleran's fungal fields are under constant threat by giant spiders, which apparently desire mushrooms more than life. |
| 285 | ** The Spider Wood is infested with spiders of all kinds, including giant spiders. |
| 286 | * ''TabletopGame/GURPSSpaceAtlas 4'': Winterjewel is an [[SingleBiomePlanet Ice Planet]] whose dominant life form is a gigantic spider. It looks like a huge tarantula with white fur and weighs seventy pounds. |
| 287 | * ''TabletopGame/HeartOfTheSunkenLands'': Giant Spiders will always attack unless they're outnumbered. Their venom causes either paralysis for 1-6 days or a coma. While their prey is helpless they wrap it in webbing and carry it off to eat later. |
| 288 | * ''TabletopGame/HollowEarthExpedition''. One type of monster {{P|layerCharacter}}Cs can encounter inside the Hollow Earth are giant meat-eating arachnids that are 10 feet long (not including the legs). They hunt like normal spiders, injecting a paralyzing poison with their bite and cocooning the prey to eat later. |
| 289 | * ''TabletopGame/InNomine'': Arachnidae, a dreamscape created by the dreams of spiders, is inhabited mainly by the dreaming selves of the sleeping arachnids that sustain it -- with the caveat that common spiders appear as large as a human, while more substantial species are quite a lot bigger. |
| 290 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'': Two of the sample wild creatures in the Omnibus are the Damhánalla, a spider about the size of a human head, and the nastier Tarantella, which is even bigger. |
| 291 | * ''TabletopGame/ItCameFromTheLateLateShow'': |
| 292 | ** Main rules: Giant Spiders are Monsters that are 15 feet long and act like normal wolf (hunting) spiders. They bite their prey and poison it, then drink its blood. |
| 293 | ** Supplement ''It Came from the Late, Late Show II'', adventure "Bjorn on the Bayou, or Escape from Alkatrazz XII": Alkatrazz XII is a prison planet that is mostly covered with swamps and forest. One of the alien monsters that can be encountered there is a giant spider. |
| 294 | * ''TabletopGame/LEGOGames'': In ''Heroica'''s Waldurk Forest board, large spiders are normal enemies. |
| 295 | * ''TabletopGame/LejendaryAdventures'': Jumping spiders are about twice as large as a human being and web spiders can be as much as 40 inches wide. They both inject a dangerous venom. |
| 296 | * ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has several spiders as creature cards, and they're usually able to block creatures with flying, representing flying creatures (from small birds and insects to full-sized griffins and small dragons) getting caught in their webs. |
| 297 | ** The first was actually called "[[https://scryfall.com/card/m19/183/giant-spider Giant Spider]]", and holds the distinction of having been the only card to have been in every base set printed until it was left out of Magic 2013, although it came back in Magic 2014 and still holds the record for longest continuous run in the core sets. |
| 298 | ** A trend in card art depicts [[FoodChainOfEvil spiders in the act of subduing very large flying monsters]]. [[https://scryfall.com/card/ori/197/skysnare-spider Skynsare Spider]] is shown preying on a griffon; [[https://scryfall.com/card/rav/168/goliath-spider Goliath Spider]] is shown eating a drake. |
| 299 | ** [[https://scryfall.com/card/uds/116/plated-spider Plated Spider]] has the amusing flavor text "Most spiders wait patiently for their prey to arrive. Most spiders aren't forty feet tall." |
| 300 | ** Planechase gave us [[https://scryfall.com/card/pca/87/dragonlair-spider Dragonlair Spider]], which spawns insects. Spiders aren't insects, but then you read the flavour text. Those insects are not spawns of the spider; they're scavengers eating the bits of ''dragons'' that the spider discards. [[FoodChainOfEvil That thing eats]] ''[[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]]''. |
| 301 | ** The planes of Shadowmoor and Innistrad -- both based on horror themes, fairytale horror in the first case and Film/HammerHorror in the second -- are both home to a specific species of giant spiders the size of cottages known as [[https://magiccards.info/shm/en/117.html gloomwidows]]. [[https://magiccards.info/shm/en/121.html They start out as ground-based hunters]] who kill their prey with their powerful venom, but become preferential web-spinners as they mature. Those from Shadowmoor cover whole cliffs with their webs, while those from Innistrad are often found in abandoned towns, with webs filling the air between spires and belltowers, although [[https://magiccards.info/emn/en/162.html others]] lurk in graveyards instead. |
| 302 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Numenera}}'': |
| 303 | ** Ghost crabs are a species of spiders that average about one meter across and can grow as large as a meter and a half. |
| 304 | ** Steel spiders are the size of a dinner platter, and spin thin webs made of metal. |
| 305 | ** The dearth spiders of Swarmstar are human-sized and live in large colonies, building webs hundreds of yards. |
| 306 | ** Noculters are spiderlike creatures with bodies nearly as large as humans that hunt the Storm Layer. |
| 307 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': |
| 308 | ** Shriezyx resemble monstrous spiders three feet in height. Shriezyx queens can reach a solid eight. |
| 309 | ** Second Edition introduces the Anadi, a playable race of man-sized wolf spiders who mostly live in the Mwangi Expanse. Fully aware that most people are rather afraid of Giant Spiders, nearly every Anadi that lives near humanoids has been taught magic to take a Human form at will. |
| 310 | * ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'': Some species of Venusian spiders have bodies up to a metre in diameter, with legs potentially even longer. |
| 311 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Rolemaster}}'' ''Shadow World'' supplement ''Jaiman: Land of Twilight''. The H'taan is a huge spider that lives in ancient ruins and other rocky, remote locations. They dig holes like a trap door spider and lie in ambush, paralyzing victims with their venom. They grow up to thirty feet or more across. |
| 312 | * ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'': |
| 313 | ** ''Into the Troll Realms'', adventure "Skyfall Lake": Crab City has spiders that are as large as a mammoth. They have warty gray skin and drop pools of acid. |
| 314 | ** ''Dorastor: Land of Doom'': Of the Spider Folk who live in the Spider Woods, the largest type are the Great Mother Spiders. They can reach a Size of 54, which means they weigh just less than 7,000 lb. |
| 315 | ** Supplement ''Trollpak'', "Book of Uz" part 2: The trolls have domesticated several types of giant spiders. The largest ones weigh more than 6,000 lbs. |
| 316 | * ''TabletopGame/ShadowOfTheDemonLord'': The Spider Wood is a forest filled with various kinds of oversized spiders, including a CannibalTribe of SpiderPeople. |
| 317 | * ''TabletopGame/SorceryAndSuperSciencePostApocalypticRolePlaying'': The Scritch are spider-like creatures that are about 2 feet across and can [[SuperSpit spit poison]]. There are unconfirmed rumors that they can grow as large as a small pony. |
| 318 | * ''TabletopGame/TheStrange'': |
| 319 | ** The night spiders of Ardeyn measure two meters in diameter. |
| 320 | ** A monument spider's legs can stretch almost 152 meters from tip to tip. |
| 321 | ** Xyz'pln is like a spider, if a spider were large enough to span a miles-wide space. |
| 322 | * ''TabletopGame/TailsOfEquestria'': Giant spiders are included in the bestiary. They live deep underground by preference, and detest both fire and bright light. They often live in large nests or colonies led by a larger queen. In ''The Festival of Lights'', [[spoiler:they are the main antagonists due to the spider-queen Insidira deciding that she's tired of ruling only over caverns and planning to take over the UndergroundCity of Umberfoal and then move on to the surface world]]. |
| 323 | * ''Franchise/{{Warhammer}}'': |
| 324 | ** ''TabletopGame/{{Necromunda}}'': |
| 325 | *** The {{Hive Cit|y}}ies of Necromunda are infamous for their giant spiders that can range in size from several feet across to larger than a man. Species include the long-legged wolf spiders, the stealthy orb spiders[[note]]both of which had rules for use in 1st Edition Arbitrated Campaigns[[/note]] and the amphibious sump spiders that have precious gems for eyes. |
| 326 | *** In the 3rd Edition of the game, the technologically proficient House Van Saar are known to capture, breed, and cybernetically enhanced Necromundan giant spiders for various purposes. In-game, Van Saar gangs can purchase these cyberarchnids as pets from the Campaign Trading Post. |
| 327 | ** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Canoptek Spyders are floating robot spiders responsible for overseeing and repairing [[RobotWar Necron]] Tomb Complexes while their masters sleep in stasis. Even the smallest of Canoptek Spyders are larger than a human, and there have even been a few encounters with such constructs, known as Tomb Stalkers, that equal or exceed the size of the Imperium's largest HumongousMecha. |
| 328 | ** In ''[[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Warhammer Fantasy]]'' and its sequel ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'', Forest Goblins and Spiderfang Grots (respectively) ride giant spiders into battle, with the rank-and-file riding spiders about twice their size while their bosses ride spiders twice as big as those of their followers. The largest spiders fielded by these tribes are the arachnarok spiders, which are so massive that they can be fitted with howdahs bearing catapults or primitive shrines. |
| 329 | * ''Franchise/TheWorldOfDarkness'': |
| 330 | ** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' includes a race of blood-sucking werespiders called Ananasi. One of their forms is indeed a spider one-and-a-half times their human weight, and about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. Their other forms are human (with a few spider internal organs), spider-human hybrid monster, and an entire swarm of normal-sized spiders linked by a hive-mind. In that form, they can survive the death of any number of spiders, [[FromASingleCell as long as one is left]] -- though losing a lot will change their appearance and personality. Regular Ananasi are sinister and emotionless, but the Kumo of East Asia are sadistic, insane, and evil. |
| 331 | ** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' features giant spiders known as Azlu, which are bizarre spirit hybrids. They start off small and looking mostly like natural spiders, and feed themselves on regular spiders and other Azlu. When they get big enough they start targeting humans and either [[BodyHorror eat their brains and ride around in their heads, or (when bigger) suck the body empty and wear the skin]]. When they get big enough, they often resemble a hideous combination of human and spider parts and will be covered in poisonous spines and fangs. They eat humans, spirits, and the occasional werewolf. When they get big enough, they stop being able to pass as human, but often gain the ability to lay eggs, either eating the young or letting them grow into a family to bring it more prey. On top of all that [[FromASingleCell if they are killed they split into dozens of their original form, which all have to be killed to prevent them from growing into new Azlu]]. |
| 332 | [[/folder]] |
| 333 | |
| 334 | [[folder:Theme Parks]] |
| 335 | * The ''Ride/DungeonOfTerror'' haunted house from Ride/UniversalStudios' ''Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights'' had a six-foot spider dangling down at the guests. |
| 336 | [[/folder]] |
| 337 | |
| 338 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 339 | * ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': The Visorak horde, made up of car-sized spiders. There are also the elite Visorak, the humongous Kahgarak spiders, several stories high. Also, a variety of giant spider-like Rahi qualify as well, like the Chute Lurker, the Sea Spider, and Vezon's steed Fenrakk. |
| 340 | * ''Toys/Bionicle2015'' had the Skull Spiders. They are about the size of a Toa's head, but their leader, the Lord of the Skull Spiders, is the size of a small house ([[YourSizeMayVary though his toy is about the size of a Toa figure and is definitely way shorter]]). Some of the Skull Spiders have scorpion-like tails and like the Visorak, they are four-legged. The Lord has six legs. |
| 341 | [[/folder]] |
| 342 | |
| 343 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 344 | * ''Webcomic/AbeAndKroenen'': Rasputin tries to capture a giant spider for his own use. It's later found out that its name is Starbuck and belongs to Davy Jones. |
| 345 | * ''Webcomic/ABeginnersGuideToTheEndOfTheUniverse'': While exploring [[spoiler:the caves on the Dark Star]], the Everyman is ambushed by a giant wolf spider as large as he is. |
| 346 | * ''Webcomic/DaddyLongLegs'': Mr. Scapegrace stands more than twice as tall as a human. However, while he is a cellar spider, he ''stands'' that tall because he is a BeastMan and standing on his fourth pair of legs, having hands on the others. |
| 347 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Elliot initially [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2008-07-28 mistakes the Bloodgrem for one of these]] after seeing its [[ExtraEyes many spider-like eyes]]. |
| 348 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': |
| 349 | ** The Geisterdamen ride ghost spiders, pale spiders several meters tall and with very long, slender legs. This is actually one of the ''least'' creepy things about the Geisterdamen. |
| 350 | ** There's [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090729 a different one in Castle Heterodyne]], which while not being much bigger than a real-life tarantula is still able to completely envelop an adult human in webs in a few seconds. |
| 351 | * ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Trolls are [[RaisedByWolves raised by alien monsters]] called lusii naturae; Vriska's is a spider the size of a house. She is also responsible for ''[[HorrorHunger feeding it]].'' It's outright stated that she EatsBabies. |
| 352 | * ''Webcomic/NatureOfNaturesArt'': Since it's about spiders, ''Lycos]'' usually averts this trope; pretty much all of the spiders who appear are their actual sizes. Then the trope gets inverted with ''Patu digua'' (one of the world's smallest spiders), and then played straight with... none other than ''Theraphosa blondi'' (the above-mentioned Goliath Birdeater Tarantula), who ''dwarfs'' the titular spider. [[http://www.nofna.com/?T=1-1-15-174 Three guesses why this page scared the crap out of some readers]]. |
| 353 | * ''Webcomic/SquidRow'': [[http://squidrowcomics.com/?p=364 What your imagination will do to you.]] |
| 354 | * ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'': Quentyn reveals that his marvelous silken cloak is woven from the silk of [[https://web.archive.org/web/20070515024817/http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/00416.html biomancy enhanced spiders the size of tomatoes.]] (canonically, they are literally too large to walk on their own, and have to be hand-fed by their handlers.) Sam is not enthused. |
| 355 | * ''Webcomic/WastedTalent'' [[http://www.wastedtalent.ca/comic/how-start-panic-bus plays with this.]] |
| 356 | * ''Webcomic/{{Xkcd}}'': In strip #1530 "Keyboard Mash", a giant spider ties up a human, and then tries to impersonate that human online. |
| 357 | [[/folder]] |
| 358 | |
| 359 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 360 | * The osteopods in ''WebVideo/AlienBiospheres'' are genetically distinct from true spiders due to evolving on a different planet, but their eight legs, six eyes, [[MonstrousMandibles mandibles]], pedipalps, and {{cephalothorax}} cause them to look the part. |
| 361 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx1tBjwhXx8 "Giant Spider Invasion"]]. A guy finds a pretty big spider in his backyard, so he sprays insecticide all over his house and on the spider... [[spoiler: only it turns out he picked up insecti''steroids'' instead. Then the all-grown-up spider invades his house and kills him.]] |
| 362 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAoDgCF-feg This]] particularly famous WebVideo/Jerma985 clip. Complete with beatboxing! |
| 363 | * In the ''WebOriginal/KriegsMaiden'' novel universe, there's a series of spider-type Kriegsmaiden. The most infamous is the Widow, which doesn't look humanoid at all, and can have a leg span longer than the average car! |
| 364 | * {{Downplayed|Trope}} but still present with the titular character of ''WebAnimation/LucasTheSpider''. He is far larger than any real species of jumping spider, which tend to be a few millimeters in size, where as Lucas seems to be around 3 inches long. |
| 365 | * Oddly toyed with in ''Website/{{Mortasheen}}''. You'd think the [[HalfHumanHybrid human-insect hybrid]] Arthropoid class of creatures would have one, but in actuality, the spider-based creatures they have there aren't all that big and tend to look more like humans with weirdly spidery proportions (the biggest one looks more ape-like than anything else). There is a monster that fits this trope, though oddly enough it's actually [[http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/gorgoblepas.htm a weird cow thing designed to produce meat]]. |
| 366 | * In ''Literature/MotherOfLearning'', the aranea are a somewhat {{downplayed|Trope}} example -- Zorian's narration describes them as being the size of his chest. [[SpidersAreScary They're still pretty scary, though]], not in the least because [[spoiler:they are a species of mind-mages]]. |
| 367 | * One of the various terrors beset on [[WebVideo/TribeTwelve Noah Maxwell]] at the [[EldritchLocation Victor Park Boardwalk]] is this, as well as one of the various forms of [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos the Administrator]]. |
| 368 | * ''Website/SCPFoundation'': |
| 369 | ** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-278 SCP-278 ("A Large Mechanical Spider")]]. SCP-278 is a giant robotic spider. When it escaped confinement, it was covered up as a new performance artpiece (see "La Princesse" in the RealLife section). |
| 370 | ** [[http://scp-wiki.net/scp-940 SCP-940 ("Araneae Marionettes")]]. SCP-940 is a spider-like creature with a leg span up to 7 meters across. |
| 371 | ** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2507 SCP-2507 ("A Web Of Cliques")]]. SCP-2507 are spider-like creatures with an average weight of 45 kilograms (~100 pounds) and average height of 3 meters (~10 feet). |
| 372 | ** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2922 SCP-2922 ("Notes From the Under")]]. SCP-PC-005, "The Impenetrable" is a RealityWarper that lives in the afterlife known as Corbenic. It resembles a gigantic spider. |
| 373 | * This appears to be the true form of the creepy Victorian throwback villain Spider in ''Literature/WorldDominationInRetrospect'', as revealed when the fight goes against him. |
| 374 | * Invoked in [[https://youtu.be/YoB8t0B4jx4 this video]], in which a German Shepherd is dressed in a spider costume to prank unwary passersby. |
| 375 | * [[NothingIsScarier From what little we can see of them]], the Woodcrawlers from ''WebVideo/GeminiHomeEntertainment'' appear to be shaped similarly to spiders. They have four front legs that seem to be arachnid in shape, and they're large enough to fill up most of a doorway. |
| 376 | [[/folder]] |
| 377 | |
| 378 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 379 | * Mostly averted in RealLife: spiders as a whole are tiny creatures, with most of them being smaller than your fingernail. |
| 380 | * The biggest spider known is the South American goliath birdeater tarantula, growing to roughly 9-10" (22-25 cm) in size, this creature's relatively harmless (to humans) venom is made up for by its increased aggression compared to most tarantulae and tendency to fling clouds of irritating spines into the eyes of larger enemies. While they usually only eat the externally digested liquid remains of insects, reptiles, and amphibians they paralyze with their venom, they do occasionally manage to catch a bird (and no, they do not build giant webs to catch them with). To quote Cracked [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16054_6-endangered-species-that-arent-endangered-enough.html "It's frequently described as 'larger than a dinner plate,' presumably because spider-scientists don't want to freak people out with the significantly more relevant 'big enough to fit over your face.'"]] |
| 381 | * Australia is infamous for its thick concentration of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsman_spider huntsman spiders]], which can grow to be the size of one's face. According to native Aussies, the first time you see one you scream and run away, the second you try to get rid of it, the third you just ignore it. They are venomous, but their bite is effectively harmless to any healthy human, and they keep other bugs out of the house. (The spiders, not the Australians.) |
| 382 | * Everybody meet the new kid in town! The ''Heteropoda maxima'', also called the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_huntsman_spider Giant Huntsman Spider]] is another 30 cm (12 inch) beast from Laos. It isn't as bulky as Goliath, but it definitely holds as much Nightmare Fuel for those scared of lanky, skinny spiders. It is also, as the name implies, the largest species of all Huntsman spiders. |
| 383 | * [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Princesse La Princesse]], the fifty-foot spider marionette. She appeared on the side of a tower, was taken to a dock, and started roaming Liverpool and spraying people with water. She "seemed to be leading the entire population of the city on a merry dance, like some kind of arachnid Pied Piper." |
| 384 | * [[http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdnjustin/4507060920/ Maman]], the giant pregnant spider which now menaces Ontario. |
| 385 | * It was once believed that a fossil arthropod from the Carboniferous, called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megarachne Megarachne]]'', was one of these. However, more recent evidence shows that the extinct creature [[ScienceMarchesOn wasn't a spider at all]] but in fact part of an extinct group of animals known as sea scorpions. So yes, [[FalseReassurance not Giant Spiders]], just ''Giant Scorpions''. The largest sea scorpion, ''Jaekelopterus'', reached a length of over eight feet (2.5 meters), ''four times'' as long as ''Megarachne''. But it didn't ''look'' like a spider, [[SarcasmMode so that's all right then.]] |
| 386 | ** As a matter of fact, the largest known prehistoric spiders (the Jurassic ''Mongolarachne'' and the Permian ''Arthrolycosa'') were actually ''smaller'' than the largest spiders of today, with neither exceeding 5 inches in leg span. |
| 387 | * Although they are not true spiders (though they are distantly related), some species of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_spider pycnogonids (also known as sea spiders)]] can reach 2 feet across. The largest ones tend to be found in cold, deep water so you're unlikely to encounter those kinds. |
| 388 | * Also, there is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_spider_crab Japanese spider crab]]. It's a kind of crab reaching 3.8 m from claw to claw and looking like a giant spider. |
| 389 | * A persistent {{urban legend|s}} holds that giant spiders were found in the summer of 2001, living near Windsor Castle. They were discovered by British Telecom workers in an underground maintenance tunnel. Entomologists initially reported that they were venomous, aggressive and possibly a type thought to have been extinct for centuries. On later examination they proved to be ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Meta_menardi.jpg Meta menardi]]'' cave spiders, which are notoriously ''non''aggressive. The colony was rehomed to a nearby forest. |
| 390 | * Another persistent urban legend is that of the so-called Iraqi [[CreepyCamelSpider Camel Spider]]. Supposedly, these creatures grow up to one foot in length, can run up to twenty-five miles an hour, make a screaming noise when they run, can jump two feet in the air, have a venom powerful enough to melt flesh, and attack and kill camels to lay their eggs in their stomachs. This has come with many claims about them attacking humans. In reality, Camel Spiders are not spiders at all but are part of a separate group of arachnids called Solifugae. They never grow beyond six inches in length, have a top speed of ten miles an hour, can't jump, and don't even produce venom. The idea that they attack camels and humans comes from their name; "Solifugae" means "flee from the sun", which is exactly what they're doing. Dead camels and humans provide shadows for them to use to get out of bright desert sunlight. And aside from all that, they're not even exclusive to the Middle East, also being native to the American Southwest. |
| 391 | [[/folder]] |
| 392 | ---- |
| 393 | ->''SHE JUST WANTS TO GIVE YOU A HUG!'' |
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