DEATH SPIDER II

PERSONAL DATA

HISTORY

The second Death Spider is an innocent child utterly corrupted by a vengeful psychopath. He is the son of the heroes Renegade (Joshua Chambers, a new identity adoped by Jonathan Law Jr. aka the third Tarantula) and his lover the fifth Tarantula (Katherine Robbins, formerly the hero Arachnia). After his apparent death, the original Death Spider had managed to survive in a fashion by concealing a copy of his memories and personality in the mind of Katherine. Upon his death, the copy was activated and took possession of Katherine's mind and body. When the Death Spider copy discovered Katherine was pregnant (something Katherine herself had been unaware of) he hatched a twisted scheme to further his psychotic need to torment Renegade.

Going into hiding, Death Spider waited until the pregnancy was far enough along that the child could be safely removed. Using technology stolen from the Cadmus Project and other technologically advanced groups Death Spider had the child transferred into a device that could rapidly age it to adulthood while also enhancing the child's physical strength and reflexes to near superhuman levels. As the process neared completion Death Spider used the same Silver Path technology that allowed the copy of his mind to take over Katherine to now transfer that copy into the now-adult body of the newborn.

With this complete the newly born second Death Spider arranged for Katherine to be found and "rescued", after having false memories implanted to make her believe she had been a captive of an organized crime boss the whole time (in reality Death Spider, while in Katherine's body, had been secretly running the criminal organization she now believed she had been a captive of). Due to the possession and false memories Katherine still had no idea she had been pregnant, let alone that she had given birth.

Taking the resources he had accumulated while running the criminal organization Death Spider now set out to enact a final vengeance on Renegade. Relocating to Renegade's hometown of Superior City, Death Spider first set about tearing down the life of Renegade's civilian identity of Joshua Chambers. First he burned down Chambers' bookstore business then, with the help of his former ally Enforcer, Death Spider framed Joshua for the deed, causing him to be charged with arson and insurance fraud. Death Spider further had Enforcer drain all of Joshua's finances, depriving him of the money needed to maintain his heroic identity and further implicating him in criminal dealings.

With Joshua Chambers' life falling apart Death Spider then targeted his heroic Renegade identity. Death Spider formed a street gang, equipping them with guns and motorcycles and sent them out to attack and murder other criminal gangs in the city. The members of this vigilante gang refer to themselves as The Renegades and act as if they were inspired by, and possibly even supported by, the hero Renegade. Their actions damage Renegade's heroic image and cause him to be sought for questioning by the authorities. At this point Death Spider revealed his presence as the leader of the Renegades, though not his actual identity, to Renegade, taunting the hero. Having to remain hidden from the authorities in both his civilian and heroic identities, Renegade nonetheless tried to put a stop to the activities of the Renegades and learn the identity of their leader, seeking help from his teammates in the Enforcers of Justice and from other allied heroes in Superior City.

After further efforts that threaten the very legacy of the Renegade heroic idendity, the foe revealed himself as the second Death Spider but before Renegade could act on this he and the Enforcers were drawn into a conflict between Vandal Savage and the Wilde Family, a conflict that resulted in the death of Renegade's teammate ArcAngel. With Renegade at his lowest point, Death Spider kidnapped his "mother", Tarantula, and lured Renegade and his remaining allies into a battle with himself and Enforcer in the underwater headquarters of the Enforcers of Justice itself. Enforcer was defeated and the other heroes escaped with Tarantula leaving Renegade to face off against Death Spider as the headquarters began to flood. It was a close battle, but Renegade emerged victorious after electrocuting Death Spider with an incapacitating, but not lethal, jolt. Death Spider's defeat triggered the playback of a recording in which Death Spider reveals that the body he inhabits is actually that of Renegade's own son. Death Spider had intended for his "father" to kill him in the battle, at which point the revelation that Renegade had killed his own son was to be the final blow in destroying the hero. Instead the electrical jolt had not been lethal, but had still been enough to trigger to playback.

Devastated by what he had learned, Renegade nevertheless was able to escape from the headquarters before it was completely flooded and was able to bring Death Spider with him. In the wake of the revelations both Renegade and Tarantula retired their heroic identities and devoted themselves to undoing what Death Spider had done and restore their son to a normal infant. Death Spider remains incarcerated in suspended animation while his "parents" work on the cure.

POWERS & WEAPONS

The second Death Spider possessed the skills and memories of the original. This included an expertise in various martial arts and with multiple forms of hand-to-hand and ranged weapons. He was also knowledgable in advanced technology, including some future technology that has not been invented yet. Death Spider was also a master tactician and was adept at manipulating others, a key skill in recruiting minions and allies for his insane revenge schemes. Death Spider's body had been artificially aged from that of a newborn to adulthood, and the process had included genetic enegineering to grant the body near superhuman strength, reflexes, and resilience.

Death Spider typically equipped himself with advanced versions of the Tarantula equipment including an armored bodysuit, goggles with various vision-enhancing abilities, and a pair of guns that could fire a spiderweb-like substance for ensnaring or tripping up foes. The guns could also fire a range of lethal and non-lethal ordnance. Death Spider's deep knowledge of super-heroes and super-villains also gave him awareness and often access to a range of rare or unique advanced technologies he could make use of for his various plans.

Warp Zone | DC Heroes | Villains | Death Spider II