Sometimes you want to be caught in the spider's web.
"Will you walk into my parlour?" said a spider to a fly;
" 'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to shew when you are there."
" 'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to shew when you are there."
— Mary Howitt, "The Spider and the Fly"
Of the different types of arachnids, spiders seem to fascinate people the most. Usually they're something to be afraid of, but sometimes not only are they friendly, but weirdly... attractive. Even if they're still nasty, there's something seductive about a being who's cunning, and attracts and entices its prey. After all, the Black Widow trope is named after a spider. There's also the fact that spiders tend to be shaped like the Impossible Hourglass Figure.
While this comes into play with Spider People, this can also apply to a spider-themed character. Usually the character is a woman, due to the aforementioned vamp traits and allusions of domination and bondage that webbing can be compared to. The different species of spiders each have their own traits that can be translated into the appropriate turn-ons in humanoid form, whether it's the athletic fitness of jumping spiders, the underwater beauty of swimming spiders, the well-hidden love nests of the funnel spiders, or the big and shy appeal of tarantulas.
Tsuchigumo and Jorogumo are often cases of this, as Jorogumo in particular are spider-women who seduce humans, sometimes with their beauty and sometimes with a supernatural allure, in order to eat them or feed them to their young.
Compare Snakes Are Sexy, for another animal usually seen as dangerous being depicted as alluring and attractive, and Sexy Cat Person and Foxy Vixen for more fluffy animals depicted as sexy. See also Sneaky Spider, which this trope often overlaps with due to its nature.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Interspecies Reviewers features an arachne-themed brothel, the "Archne's Nest", that styles itself as an 'escape dungeon' game where prospective men put in 500 gold and make their way through a webbed maze, which typically results in men hitting tripwires and getting carried off by the arachne ladies to a private room where sex ensues (men who somehow get through the maze without getting caught and carried off to have sex can reclaim their 500 gold bid). During Chapter 39, the Reviewers finally visit this place - Crim the angel was the first to be caught, but didn't like the experience since the arachne who grabbed him wasn't much for intimacy, while Zel the elf used a Decoy Doll spell he learnt from the Grand Mage Demia to turn the tables on the arachne that tried to jump him, and rode her to the private room on her back - his review later mentions how sensitive arachne legs are (due to how they use their legs to sense the vibration of the tripwires in their webs), and the arachne he turned the tables on was dominated by him instead.
- All the monster girls in Monster Musume are attractive, but Rachnera Arachnera is among the most seductive and sexualized of them all. The rest of her species aren't far behind. Notably their physiology is specifically tailored for mating with human men, their otherwise rarely-used pedipalps serving to hold the man in place.
- Tsuchigumo from Karas is the sole demon who is female, and a human-spider hybrid with an attractive figure. She can also take on an absolutely gorgeous human form.
- Monster Girl Doctor:
- Arahnia is introduced as a hedonistic temptress who, after meeting her best friend's crush Glenn, contemplates raping him just to see her friend's reaction and "share" something in common with her. It's later revealed that due to a Freudian Excuse she has a habit of seducing other women's boyfriends, only to ditch them before anything physical happens. She eventually falls for Glenn for real and undergoes Character Development but her hedonistic temptress nature toward Glenn remains.
- It's later revealed that the entire arachne species (the only known all-female species in this series) are infamous for aggressively seducing human men, much preferring them as husbands despite arachne being also able to breed with males of other species of monster. This is because the vast majority of their species are turned-on by the fact that human men are weaker and afraid of them — in the days when humans and monsters were enemies, arachne became infamous for intentionally laying webs in places humans frequented so that they could literally abduct a mate and feed on his... fluids. Even in peacetime, the Race Fetish is so strong that when a human male walks into an arachne textile shop, every woman without a mate in the building immediately gives him their undivided attention.
- Black Maria from One Piece is a seductive looking member of Kaido's pirate crew who's dressed like a Japanese oiran. With the Devil Fruit she ate, she's capable of turning into a spider hybrid that resembles an alluring jorogumo. Although the spider lower half of her transformation possesses a very cartoony face instead of a more realistic spider one, she nonetheless still retains her attractiveness in her human upper half.
- Soul Eater: Arachne Gorgon is an Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette whose appearance is heavily spider-themed, and has spider-related powers. While all the Gorgon sisters are attractive, Arachne is the one who acts like The Vamp and flaunts her beauty more than the others.
- TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy-: Mio is coded as a hypersexual sado-masochist right from the start, moaning in pleasure while fighting against Makoto in her giant spider form, being so excited by her injuries and the taste of his blood that both he and Tomoe call her a "pervert". After the battle, she declares that she will follow Makoto and belong to him for the rest of her life, and repeatedly tries to coax him into bed with her.
- Wicked City: Taki has spent three months trying to seduce a woman he met at a bar. One night she finally goes home with him and they have sex. However, she turns into a spider demon and tries to eat him with her Vagina Dentata.
- Yokai Girls: Kirue the Jorogumo, who made a habit of seducing men, taking them back home, and then eating them. Yatsuki nearly got the same treatment but thankfully had some outside help.
Comic Books
- The Incredible Hercules: In the Herc series, Hercules is one of many heroes in New York who wind up with the same powers as Spider-Man during Spider-Island, but under the mental control of a villain. He further mutates into a Spider Person while fighting the X-Men, only for the Greek goddess Arachne to come to his rescue. After taking a look at Herc in his new form, Arachne becomes VERY aroused and the two begin mating right on the spot, in full view of the webbed-up X-men.
- Saga: The Stalk. This dangerous Professional Killer has many grotesque and terrifying features, including a torso with no arms, a face with eight red eyes, an arachnid-shaped lower body, and hairy Handy Feet at the end of her many legs. She still manages to look attractive, perhaps because she always goes topless. No wonder The Will still has feelings for her.
- Spider-Man:
- The Queen is a villainess with mystical control over spiders and is an extremely sexy woman who uses both her beauty and mental powers to seduce and control others. She once chose Spider-Man as her "mate"; unfortunate for him, as he was both married at the time, and "mating" meant that he would be the one impregnated, not the other way around.
- Silk and Spider-Man mutually-secreted hormones that made the two of them irresistibly attractive to one-another. Even though they eventually decided they were Better as Friends, whenever they had a conversation, it was always laced with heavy Sexual Euphemisms and unintentional (as well as intentional) flirting.
- Spider-Woman: Pheromones' are part of Jessica Drew's spider-based powers, allowing her to manipulate men (and sometimes also women, Depending on the Writer).
Fan Works
- Sophia, the White Widow is a Royal Monster: a classification of Monster who are raised by Cardinal or Vassal Heroes and gain a more humanoid form, who was herself raised by a previous Vassal Whip Hero 90 years ago and in the present day becomes a part of Naofumi Iwatanis' party in Family of the Shield.
- Iktomi, the leader of the Hunters organization, follows this in A Waterbending Quirk. She has a "Redback Spider
" Quirk that gives her extra eyes and legs on her back. Despite this, she is quite attractive, wearing long gloves and a tight black dress that accentuates her curvy body, similar to Jessica Rabbit.
Films — Animation
- A Bug's Life has Rosie, who is a G-rated version of this. She wears eyeshadow and bright red lipstick and looks more humanoid than the other bugs, her act presents her as alluring and mysterious, and she's been married twelve times.
- In the film adaptation of James and the Giant Peach, Miss Spider is portrayed as the femme fatale of the gang of arthropods (complete with a sultry French accent courtesy of voice actor Susan Sarandon). She takes a shine to Mr. Centipede and frequently hits on him, despite his antics often frustrating her (and everyone else). However, she is also very maternal to James and in the end helps save the day by webbing up his evil aunts when they come to New York to cash in on the peach.
Gamebooks
- The Fighting Fantasy series have a few examples:
- Sword of the Samurai has the battle in the Nushi cavern, against three spider-woman who will try to seduce the player before the battle. They are based directly on the Jorogumo from the Mythology folder.
- In one side quest from Howl of the Werewolf, you can choose to confront the five members of the Cadre Infernal, one of them which is Arachnea the Spider Queen, a giant black widow spider with a woman's slender body. Her backstory involves her being a seductress who use her charms to woo men before being cursed into becoming a spider-themed monster.
Literature
- Journey to the West has the spider-demoness and her cronies, shapeshifting spider-women who tries to seduce Tripitaka into giving up his quest and submitting under their order. Their default forms are giant spiders, while there are adaptations that depicts them as the classical half-woman half-spider seductress.
- Shadow of the Fox: A Jorogumo appears in the first novel whose upper body is a beautiful woman in a black-and-red kimono with her lower body that off a spider. Her MO is to seduce the Lord of the castle into giving her sacrifices who she webs up and lays her eggs in. They are then eaten alive from the inside out.
- In The Spider and the Fly, the Spider is portrayed as a Bluebeard and serial charmer of unsuspecting insects. He spends the entire poem flirting with a skittish fly he intends to eat, who's clearly shown to be attracted to him and falls for his sweet words.
Live-Action TV
- A G-Rated platonic version occurs in Big Wolf on Campus episode "Pleased to Eat You". Merton and Tommy end up on the outs with each other, and while they're apart Merton makes new friends in three people who are secretly spider monsters. They charm him into drinking a special potion that gradually fattens him up to eat, but Merton is too glad to have new friends to pick up on what's happening.
- Grimm: Amongst the spider-like Wesen, the Spinnetod (who from Nick's journals seem to be the inverse inspiration for the Tsuchigumo), females are always extremely attractive. However, they also suffer from an affliction where they shed their skin every five years or else will prematurely age. As their skin doesn't naturally shed, they are forced to devour three males (either human or Wesen) over a span of several days to break through each layer, and traditionally go about doing so by seducing their prey into inviting them into a secluded location first.
- In Star Trek: Voyager, Tom Paris's intentionally campy "Captain Proton" holo-novel has the Spider People, whose queen, Arachnia, seduces the villain Chaotica with her "spider pheromones". In "Bride of Chaotica", Janeway has to pretend to be Arachnia
Myths & Religion
- The Japanese jorogumo as mentioned above, is the Distaff Counterpart of the tsuchigumo whose name translates to "binding bride" or even "whore spider". They are spiders who can shapeshift into a beautiful woman, usually to eat people or feed them to their children. Sometimes for mating, sometimes both.
Tabletop Game
- Dungeons & Dragons: Lolth is the goddess of the Drow, and a spider goddess. The Drow tend to be beautiful in spite of their villainy, and she is usually seen as a beautiful Drow woman with a spider's body. She can also take fully humanoid form, appearing as a stunning beautiful female Drow elf.
Video Games
- The Black Heart has Ananzi, a Ms. Fanservice who wears a skin-tight suit with one leg exposed. She's also actually made entirely of tiny spiders assembled into a humanoid shape, and uses several spider-themed moves, such as sprouting four extra limbs from her back and making spider webs. Her Finishing Move has her turn into a Giant Spider that implants her young into the opponent after webbing them up, and when she turns back, her clothes are gone, leaving her naked.
- Diablo III: The Maiden of Lust is Cydaea, a demon woman with the body of a spider. Described as beautiful and grotesque, she tempts mortals of either gender, and takes pleasure in taking your hits.
- Divinity: Original Sin II: Dorotya is a succubus-like were-spider who's eager to lead the Player Character away for a Magic Kiss that boosts one of their stats. Unusually for the trope, her spider form isn't anthropomorphic at all, but a PC can still eagerly ask to go another round.
- Dragon Age: Origins has resident Femme Fatale and Ms. Fanservice Morrigan, a shapeshifter who can turn into a giant black widow spider.
- The Elder Scrolls: Mephala is a Daedric Prince associated with spiders due to their sneakiness. Along with being a Trickster Goddess, shenote is also associated with sex. She's a Femme Fatale and sex goddess. She's commonly associated with the Spider Daedra, female demons with the lower body of a spider.
- One of the Node Guardians faced in Ghostbusters: The Video Game is the Spider Witch, a woman who is partially a spider-like monster and used her attractive appearance to lure many men to their deaths.
- I=MGCM: Arachne demon bodies resemble a combination of the body of a sexy woman with the body of a spider (as seen on these images). There's another demonic spider humanoid in the 1st season of Endless Battle mode called Tsuchigumo: she's female despite her name.
- Elise from League of Legends is a very beautiful woman who seduces victims to ensnare them into the Shadow Isles so that she could sacrifice them to her spider god, Vilemaw and grant her eternal youth.
- Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars: The Player Character is a sexy Harem Seeker Dominatrix spider-woman. So is her rival and ex-girlfriend, the Tarantula Queen.
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War: The spider monster Shelob from The Lord Of The Rings makes an appearance in the game, taking an alternate form as a very sexy human woman.
- Overwatch: The spider-themed Widowmaker is a beautiful French Femme Fatale in a skintight bodysuit who was kidnapped and brainwashed so that her only interest is killing. Her very first murder was killing her own husband in bed.
- Street Fighter: Juri Han is a sadistic Amazonian Beauty with plenty of Psycho Lesbian and BDSM overtones, and spiders are her Animal Motif.
- Muffet from Undertale fits the bill. She's a Cute Monster Girl Spider Perky Goth and her battle has more than a hint of being a seductive dance, what with her description being: "If she invites you to her parlor, excuse yourself." Plus, her battle theme is literally called Spider Dance.
Visual Novels
- Atlach=Nacha: Hatsune Hirasaka is a jorogumo named after the Lovecraftian spider Great Old One. Given this is an eroge, she's less of an Eldritch Abomination (for the most part) and more a sexy succubus-like jorogumo. Unlike most, she prefers women.
- Reigning Passions: Xenia is a curvaceous woman with a spider-themed appearance, tends to wear outfits that are revealing in some way, and can act quite seductively when it suits her.
Webcomics
- Vitani in Exterminatus Now is a spider-daemon and is not above using seduction despite serving the Patterner rather than the Soulthirster.
- Homestuck: Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, Vriska's ancestor, was a pirate who, like her descendant, had a spider lusus and an arachnid motif. Her journal describes her as having many lovers, from her dysfunctional kismesitude with Orphaner Dualscar, to the many trolls she Mind Raped into becoming her Sex Slaves (including Virgin Mary archetype the Dolorosa), to the Summoner, her flushed partner who eventually killed her. Vriska attempts to emulate this flirtatious behavior, especially in her toxic relationship with Summoner's descendant Tavros, dressing in a silk fairy dress to seduce him, forcibly kissing him, and attempting to mind control him into loving her.
Western Animation
- BoJack Horseman: A flashback in "The BoJack Horseman Show" depicts the spider Jill Pill (then known as Jill Filipowitz) as extremely flirtatious with her superior, the hamster Cuddlywhiskers. She defies his orders and runs all her arms down her body proclaiming how "filthy" she is, then runs her arms over Cuddlywhiskers' shoulders imploring him to come punish her. In the present day, while Jill has moved to New York and seems a bit more responsible, she still urges Bojack to pick up a graphically sexual letter from Cuddlywhiskers' house that holds "sentimental value" for her.
- Gravity Falls: Darlene from "Roadside Attraction" appears to be an attractive, tanned older woman with long blonde hair, a slender physique and a sultry voice. However, in reality she is a giant spider monster who seduces men (often preying particularly on pick up artists), devours them and then presents their bodies as "mummies" at her road side attraction, using its publicity to draw in more victims.
- Velma Green, The Spider Queen, from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy wears a great deal of makeup and has a shapely body (with considerable cleavage) on her humanoid half.
- Hazbin Hotel: Anthony "Angel Dust" is a more humanoid spider demon who has a job as a Drag Queen, porn star, stripper and gay prostitute. Due to his job he's the most sexualized member of the main cast and will sleep with just about anyone for the right price (though he charges more for women because he's gay). He's a more crass take on this trope, and the Addict suggests he's not all that happy.
- Legends of Chima: Spinlyn, queen of the Spider Tribe, thinks she is this. And to the other spiders, she is very beautiful, choosing her as their leader because of her looks. As for what everyone else thinks... well Spinlyn's first appearance broke a mirror. At the very least, she is consistently portrayed as very vain and concerned about her looks.
- Parodied on the Looney Tunes short "Eatin' on the Cuff", where the spider trying to seduce the moth protagonist is a middle-aged spinster with a homely face. She disguises herself as a sultry Veronica Lake-like Sexy Sweater Girl, but her bangs can't effectively hide her Gag Nose.
- Love, Death & Robots: The episode "Beyond the Aquila Rift" sees Thom and his crew accidentally get marooned on a space station beyond known space. There he meets an old flame of his named Greta and they rekindle their romance. Thom begins to notice A Glitch in the Matrix and Greta reveals that she's actually a spider-like alien that's been keeping him in a Lotus-Eater Machine because he has no hope of being rescued. Bonus points for the reveal of Greta's true form Emerging from the Shadows initially appearing to be a shapely woman but when she's fully emerged is completely grotesque.
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Big Mama is a spider Yokai known as the Jorōgumo. Like the mythological creature she takes the form of a beautiful woman to lure in unsuspecting victims to become fighters for her Battle Nexus. She is very flirty with Splinter/Lou Jitsu even after the latter learned of her malevolent nature, and many other males throughout the show.
- Transformers
- Beast Wars: Blackarachnia, the evil Predacon who turns into a black widow spider, manages to win over Knight in Shining Armor Silverbolt and even convince him to help her with her nefarious schemes. Silverbolt, to his credit, believes there is good in her and does manage to get her to undergo a High-Heel–Face Turn. Bonus points for her character model supposedly taking inspiration from an exotic dancer after a trip to a strip club the staff went to.
Silverbolt: You don't know whether to kill me or kiss me.
Blackarachnia: I'm a black widow spider, I can do both. - The Transformers: Animated incarnation of Blackarachnia is also visually attractive (at least as long as she hides her Facial Horror underneath her helmet), and she had used her alluring looks to disorient and distract Optimus Prime before knocking him unconscious, and much later, she seduces insane Autobot fugitive Wasp into allowing himself to become her test subject for creating technorganic Transformers by turning him into Waspinator.
- Beast Wars: Blackarachnia, the evil Predacon who turns into a black widow spider, manages to win over Knight in Shining Armor Silverbolt and even convince him to help her with her nefarious schemes. Silverbolt, to his credit, believes there is good in her and does manage to get her to undergo a High-Heel–Face Turn. Bonus points for her character model supposedly taking inspiration from an exotic dancer after a trip to a strip club the staff went to.
