A post about a real animal, outside of April Fool’s Day? Have we gone SILLY? Yes, we have long ago, and I would hope you noticed by now! However, this isn’t a post to discuss in-depth the species itself (sorry amoena), but rather to reveal its legacy! What do I mean by that? You will see.
So! Argiope amoena. A real photo can be seen here! It is an orb-weaving spider, with adult females creating a large, vertical web, which they sit in the middle of as they wait for prey to get entangled. It can be easily distinguished by its striking yellow and black striped abdomen! It is native to southern Asia, including Japan, and as a result, tends to be commonly represented or referenced in Japanese media. This is its legacy!
The most relevant amoena reference to our blog is, of course, Scuttlebug! In Super Mario 64 DS, they were redesigned from fanged gumballs to the stripey spiders they are today, though whether they have suction cups or boxing gloves for feet tends to vary. I actually learned this species’ name BECAUSE of Scuttlebug! I was on Scuttlebug’s wiki page to see if they mentioned its species anywhere, confident it was SOME kind of Argiope, and it turns out its Korean name is literally Argiope amoena. Super Mario is educational! He and his funny friends are full of funny facts! I like this Sticker Star sprite in particular, since it is the exact position the real spiders take in the center of the web!
Scuttlebug is far, FAR from the only one in the Mario universe, too! Here, from left to right, we have Suu from Super Mario Land; Paidan from Wario Land; Arachne from Super Mario RPG; and Webber and Anonster from Wario Land 3! I can’t say for sure that they are all amoena for sure- really, Scuttlebug is the only one that seems confirmed- but I can assure you every creature in this post is almost certainly based on a member of the Argiope genus!
More fictional spiders will be under the cut, be aware that while there will not be any photos, some of these may be more realistic-looking than the Mario examples!
Moving away from Mario, another iconic Argiope is the Skulltula from the Zelda series! Yes, I know I have been going on and on about the striped abdomen, and this one’s abdomen is covered by a skull, but I am still confident here! Not only are the proportions and posture accurate to an Argiope, but it exhibits another important trait of many Argiopes- their extremely fashionable leg stripes! Like Luigi’s extremely fashionable striped socks that Nintendo has erased from history. They can’t edit the striped socks out of nature, though!
In Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (the best Pac-Man game), Pac-Man can encounter an amoena dangling from a tree in town, and he is delighted to see it! After looking at it, he will become oh so jolly and saunter away while whistling. If he is feeling smug, he will get it out of the way, but with a harmless hand wave that encourages it to ascend back up. I am really impressed by how respected this spider is!
The Argiope genus is present in Animal Crossing, with Argiope bruennichi starring as THE spider! The bug called Spider! The only spider in the game besides the tarantula! If a tree is shaken, Spider may descend! What happens to Spider next is up to you...
What’s with all of these orb-weavers focusing on dangling from a thread rather than actually being stationed on a web? I don’t know. But it’s fun either way! Here is Grabber from Sonic 2, one of those lucky Badniks given the blessing to reappear in future games! Grabbers are here to grab, and if they grab you, they will explode shortly after. Fun spider fact! They do not do that in real life.
I always feel like Yo-Kai Watch doesn’t have enough spiders in it, but I think that’s probably because Arachnus, the most notable spidery character, is more of a spider-themed guy than a spider. But then he got a Shadowside form, and this is pretty awesome! He is actually a spider now! The stripes are here! I can always count on the stripes, and I like when the black is more of a purple, too.
If I ever bothered to actually use Arachnus in game, I would have realized that there was a cool actual spider there all along, as his Soultimate move shows what I assume is his True Form in the background, looking more Argiope than ever! Arachnus is a direct adaptation of the yokai Tsuchigumo, which are actually more depicted as resembling ground spiders... but also sometimes depicted as tiger-like! It always comes back to stripes! It is fun to see this one interpreted more like an Argiope, and it would be especially fun if it was intentionally a reference to the tiger stripes!
In one of my favorite Argiope appearances, we have Como from the Kirby series! While it first appeared in Dream Land 3, it was Return to Dream Land that redesigned it with that distinctive striped abdomen. And then Star Allies went and gave it its own ability and made it a full playable character! Como is easily, to me, the most special spider on this list, and my favorite.
Also look at this! An unused concept for a Spider character, superficially similar to Como, but with eyes and a smile on the abdomen, with the head becoming a sort of torso! This design is so fascinating and I really quite love it. The spinnerets become “hair”, the chelicerae become “legs”, and it gains a pair of magic-style floating mitten hands! Also the original eyes are kind of like boobs now. Is this a good thing? You decide!
There is also a striped spider in Seaman, which you will have to trust me about because I was unable to get a good image. It has a creepy face, poisons Seaman when he eats it, and you then have to speak encouraging words to him, or he will die. Please trust me.
Those are all the examples I can think of, really! But I would love to hear about any more! And now you all know to thank Argiope amoena for its service to the arts!
because it’s the one ask I will never send, not for any good reason, but out of tradition, I want to know who’s gonna stay permanently engrained on this blog
So like... Antisepticeye if he had a teen kid, and their having a rlly shitty day- like- A smol drabble plz? I feel like it would be both idk whats happening and like... sorta wholesome idk- brbrbrbr
Hi! Thank you sm for being the first official request on this page. Unfortunately, I don’t write for Anti at this time. But it sounds super cute and I hope you find someone who takes it <3
For the anon who requested the Yoongi halloween/dark romance thing
I’ll be adding you to the to do list of course but what did you mean by “spider web type scenario” bc I wasn’t sure and just want to make sure you get what you requested! Message me ~
