ANANSI
Earth-7082
Real Name: Kwaku-Anansi
Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-7082) African god (see comments)
Occupation: Adventurer, trickster god
Group Membership: African gods, Spider-Army (notably Captain Spider/Flash
Thompson-78127 (or an alternate reality counterpart), Old Man Spider/Ezekiel Sims-4, Prince of
Arachne/Peter Parker-71004, Spider-Girl/May
Parker-982, Spider-Ham/Peter Porker-8311, Spider-Man/Ben Reilly-94, Spider-Man/Peter Parker-7122, Spider-UK/Billy Braddock-833, Spider-Woman/Gwen Stacy-65);
Doctor Octopus/Octavia Otto-1104's Spider-Army (SP//dr/Peni
Parker-14512, Spider-Man/Ben Parker-3145, Spider-Man/Peter
Parker-91142, Spider-Woman/Erin Hasko-1036, Spider-Woman-32265,
Spider-Woman-41668, unidentified giant Spider-Man, Venom/Ann
Weying-unidentified reality, others)
Affiliations: Earth, fire, water, and wind spirits, unidentified tiger and hedgehog;
Web-Warriors (Black Widow/Jessica Drew clone-1610, Doctor Octopus/Octavia Otto-1104, Lady Spider/May Reilly-803, Spider-Girl/Anya Corazon-616, Spider-Ham/Peter Porker-8311, Spider-Man-90214/Peter Parker, Spider-Man/Pavitr Prabhakar-50101, Spider-UK/Billy Braddock-833, Spider-Woman/Gwen Stacy-65, Spider-Woman/May Parker-982)
Enemies: Bees and the bee spirit, extradimensional Electros (including Electro/Michael Dillon-1082), Inheritors, Mr. Mighty;
formerly earth, fire, water, and wind spirits
Known Relatives: Father (unidentified; possibly Nyame/Buluku; see comments), Nebasti (uncle)
Aliases: Anansi, King of All Stories, Spider-God;
"Godling," "Spider Boy" (from the wind);
"Young Prince" (from the water);
"Bug" (from the Earth)
Base of Operations: Unrevealed location(s) in Africa;
sometimes visits the African gods' sky realm
First Appearance: Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2 (August, 2007)
Powers/Abilities: As one of the gods of the African pantheon, Anansi is presumably possesses superhuman strength, durability, and longevity (extended lifespan), as well as resistance to conventional disease, etc.
His most notable power is referred to as the ability to bend stories to his wishes, which generally means he can affect objects and beings around him, changing the course of events as he sees fit. The exact nature and limitations of this ability are unrevealed, but he seems to be able to affect reality on a local scale, and he can contain massive volumes within a container only a tiny fraction of the volume of what it contains.
As examples, he can use a simple empty gourd to draw in and contain a mighty wind spirit; transform his kilt into a sponge able to absorb an entire river; and use a hollow log and his own ability to inhale to draw in vast quantities of rock, sand, and soil.
He can project webs from his wrists to bind or blind others. He may be able to use them other purposes, such as swinging or forming various
shapes.
By climbing to the top of a tall tree, Anansi can scale a spider web path to (and then from) the African realm of the gods. The web path is not visible until he reaches for it; presumably it is present but only visible/detectable to beings such as himself. It is unrevealed whether the path only exists from a certain tree, or -- it would seem more likely -- that he summons it from the realm of the gods to the highest point he can reach from his current location.
It remains to be seen whether the web can be accessed by others once he has caused it to appear.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10"; presumably variable)
Weight: Unrevealed (presumably variable)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Apparently bald or shaved (he is not seen with his mask off); black or dark brown eyebrows
History:
(Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2 (fb) - BTS) - Countless tales existed of Anansi -- some telling of how he created the sun, the moon and the stars; that he had blessed mankind with the knowledge of agriculture; and/or that he had tried to steal all of the world's wisdom for himself -- although many believed that he had woven those tales about himself to increase his own legend.
Anansi's impatience and restlessness led to many of his alleged adventures.
Regardless of fact vs. fiction, over the years, Anansi became many things to many people: A savior, trickster, hero, and/or a god.
(Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2 (fb) - BTS) - As Anansi set out on a quest (the one before the quest in the main story), his advised that with great power of any kind, there must always come responsibility.
(Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2) - Bored, Anansi sought aid from his father; climbing to the top of a tall tree, he then grasped and then scaled the spider-web-like path to the realm of the African gods. While his father was not available, Anansi's uncle Nebasti offered his aid. When Anansi announced that he wanted to go on another quest, one for the power of the great beasts so that he could bend the wills of others, Nebasti cautioned him that such power was better earned than taken, and he reminded Anansi about power and responsibility. Anansi assured Nebasti he was responsible, and while Nebasti was uncertain about this, he nonetheless felt that it was not his place to deny his brother's son. Nebasti thus advised Anansi to travel to the far edge of the mortal plane to find the spider-orchid and inhale its flower's pollen. Nebasti further advised Anansi that the path was dangerous and that many would oppose him, but Anansi dismissed this, noting his power and that he could defeat any challengers. Presumably appreciating that further discussion was pointless, Nebasti gave Anansi a water-filled gourd for his travels.
As soon as Anansi began to climb back down the spider web, the wind spirit confronted him. Not wishing Anansi to gain any more power, the spirit prepared to cast him into a distant land where he would become lost. Emptying his gourd, Anansi caused the wind to become pulled into and trapped within the gourd until it promised to return him to where he had come from. After doing so, the wind was intrigued with Anansi's benevolent treatment and his mission, and it sent a portion of itself to follow him.
Anansi was subsequently challenged by a water spirit, which pulled him under and threatened to drown him, but Anansi instead transformed his kilt into a sponge that absorbed the entire river. Realizing that the nearby villagers needed the water, Anansi released it and instructed it to provide for them. Much like the wind spirit, the water found Anansi not to be the carefree trickster of whom he had heard, and it had a portion of itself accompany him as well.
As Anansi subsequently vaulted across a chasm, the earth quaked and it then assaulted him in various forms. Using his breath to draw the sand into a follow log, Anansi convinced the earth to allow him to pass in peace, but it to sent a portion of itself to observe his journey.
That evening, around a campfire, the various spirits noted how Anansi had changed, showing them compassion and drawing them to his side. When Anansi discussed how he wished to have the power to control others, the flame took form and threatened him, noting that his wishes were selfish. The fire assumed that Anansi controlled his brethren, but when it found that they had accompanied him of their own volition, it desisted. Deciding to see his quest through on his own, Anansi parted ways with the various spirits.
Reaching the garden at the end of the Earth and locating the spider-orchid, Anansi was confronted by a swarm of bees and a bee spirit, who -- considering spiders to be their enemies -- wished to prevent him from gaining any further power. As the bees threatened to overwhelm Anansi, the wind, water, earth, and fire spirits arrived and came to his aid, helping him drive off the bees.
With his path now unobstructed, Anansi ultimately declined taking the power of the spider-orchid, concluding that he had gained/earned the most by finding within himself the power of responsibility, trust, and friendship.
Looking down from above, Nebasti was pleased, and he hoped that Anansi's new companions would ease his restless soul.
(Spider-Verse I#2/2 (fb) - BTS) - Mr. Mighty hired Anansi to look after his flock of sheep, and when the sheep went missing, Mr. Mighty blamed Anansi and chased him.(Spider-Verse I#2/2) - Fleeing and futilely trying to convince Mr. Mighty of his innocence, Anansi invoked Shango the storm god, who appeared and threatened Mr. Mighty. Fleeing during the distraction, Anansi was confronted by Spider-UK-833, who sought his aid against the Inheritors, who sought to destroy all spider-totems in the Multiverse. Unwilling to stop in the middle of the story, Anansi agreed to help if Spider-UK aided him in bringing the story to its conclusion sooner.
When Spider-UK agreed, Anansi covered him in a sheep's fleece and told him to remain silent so as not to disrupt the story and risk "the end of all." A tiger (another ally of Anansi) then rushed forward to grab this "sheep," and Anansi directed Mr. Mighty to the tiger as the thief. After recovering and rounding up his sheep, Mr. Mighty took a nap, and after hours the tiger noted that Anansi's friend had been most cooperative and that he should let him out. Anansi then guided Spider-UK out of the pen, although Spider-UK was annoyed to learn that the sheep could speak, and he wondered what was the point of him being silent.(Spider-Verse I#1/2) - Anansi joined Spider-Army members Old Man Spider-4, Spider-Man-94 (Ben Reilly), Prince of Arachne-71004, Spider-UK-833, Spider-Ham-8311, Spider-Girl-982 (May Parker), Spider-Woman-65 (Gwen Stacy), and Captain Spider-78127 (Flash Thompson) in traveling to Earth-7122 to convince that world's Spider-Man (Peter Parker) to join the Spider-Army. Before confronting Spider-Man-7122, the group saved Peter by firing a number of webs that incapacitated Venom-7122.
Anansi presumably participated in the assault against the Inheritors.
(Web Warriors#11) - Anansi joined the Web Warriors in confronting the army of extradimensional Electros, which was ultimately accomplished when Spider-Man-3145 (Benjamin Parker) transferred his mind into Electro-1082 (Michael Dillon)'s mind.
Comments: Created by C.B. Cebulski and Niko Henrichon.
See the Anansi-616
profile for further information on that character. However, there is no
evidence that Anansi-7082 shared any of those qualities beyond that
which was revealed in his appearances.
I'm not aware of any Nebasti in African mythology, and a quick Internet search leads only to references to Anansi-7082). It seems to me that the "Neb" is "Ben" (for Peter Parker's Uncle Ben) spelled backwards and then modified to make it more African-sounding. The whole power and responsibility discussion fits that well.
In reality-616, the Africa gods are known as the Vodū, and their sky realm is known as Ala. We don't know that either of those are the names used in Reality-7082.
Anansi may or may not have any or all of the abilities of his Earth-616 counterpart, which include:
Anansi possesses the conventional superhuman attributes of a Vodū god,
and he can lift about 25 tons. He can transform partially or completely
into a spider. Anansi is a self-taught scholar in many areas of
knowledge, is a keen observer of human nature and serves as the
repository for the Vodū’s entire oral history.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Kwaku-Anansi of Earth-7082 should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
Spider-Verse I#2/2, p6, pan1 (main image)
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2, p3, panel 5-6 (climbing spiderweb)
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2, p9, pan1 (containing wind)
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2, p12, pan1 (capturing water)
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2, p16, pan3 (capturing earth)
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2, p21, pan2-3 (shooting webs)
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2, p23, panel 2 (unmasked face)
Spider-Verse I#2/2, p4, pan1 (meeting Spider-UK)
Web Warriors#11, pg. 2 (confronting Electros)
Appearances:
Spider-Man: Fairy Tales#2 (August, 2007) - C.B. Cebulski (writer), Niko Henrichon (artist), Molly Lazer (editor)
Spider-Verse
I#1/2 "Spider-Clan: The Many" (January, 2015) - Skottie Young (writer),
Jake Parker (artist), Ellie Pyle (assistant editor), Nick Lowe (editor)
Spider-Verse I#2/2 "Anansi: A Spider in Sheep's Clothing" (March,
2015) - Kathryn Immomen (writer), David Lafuente (penciler), Alvaro Lopez (inker), Ellie Pyle
(assistant editor), Nick Lowe (editor)
Web
Warriors#11 (November, 2016) - Mike Costa (writer), David Baldeon
(penciler), Walden Wong, Scott Hanna, John Dell, Lorenzo Ruggiero &
Terry Pallot (inker), Allison Stock (assistant editor), Devin Lewis
(editor), Nick Lowe (executive editor)
First posted: 08/12/2022
Last updated: 08/12/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
� 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!