[Phantasm]

ARAÑA

Real Name: Aña Corazón.
Occupation: High school student, part-time superhero, part-time child-sitter.
Identity: Secret.
Legal Status: Dual citizen of the United States and Mexico with no known criminal record; still a minor.
Other Aliases: Anya Corazon, Spider-Girl, "little spider", Arañita (a nickname given to her by her father.
Place of Birth: Santa Barbara, California.
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: Gilberto "Gil" Corazón (father); Sophia Araña Corazón (mother, deceased).
Group Affiliation: Occasional partner of Spider-Woman.
Base of Operations: Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California.
History: Aña "Anya" Corazon was raised by her father, Gil, an investigative reporter, after their mother died in a fire while residing in Mexico City. According to an account by her father, Anya's mother, Sofia, had been a costumed hero in the city, but was shot and killed by a crimelord while at home; said crimelord then burned the house down. Anya was six at the time, and only vaguely remembers the funeral.

Not long after, Gil moved him and Anya to Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, where Gil took a job with the Los Angeles News Group, often working long hours while investigating and exposing the city's organized crime syndicates. Despite that, he was always there for Anya when she needed him, and she for him.

Recently, Anya found herself developing powers which appeared to match those of various others who had taken on spider-themed identities both recently and in the past. At the same time, she began to see her mother in her dreams, urging her to embrace her destiny.

That destiny came sooner than she thought. During a school field trip to the Los Angeles Natural History Museum, the museum was attacked by a group known as the Sisterhood of the Wasp (see Sisterhood of the Wasp). According to the leader of the Sisterhood's strike team, the Wasps had detected two of what they referred to as "totems", supers whose powers reflected and were in some way linked to an animist spirit; in this particular case, both totems were spider-totems. Anya was attacked by the Sisterhood's "drone" soldiers – seemingly identical men in suits who never said a word – only to be saved by Spider-Woman; Spider-Woman had been at the museum in her civilian identity of private investigator Jessica Drew, and was one of the two totems the Sisterhood had detected (see Spider-Woman). During the fracas, Anya was temporarily knocked unconscious, at which time her vision of her mother warned that the Wasps were after her as well, as Anya was the second spider totem. Sofia revealed that while living in Mexico she had opposed the Wasps as a spider totem, and that Anya had inherited her spider-powers. Upon waking, Anya saw the Wasps about to kill Spider-Woman and sprung into action to save her. At the same time, her tattoo flared and covered her with a light-blue carapace Calling herself by her mother's maiden name, Araña – perhaps not ironically the Spanish word for "spider" – Anya came to Spider-Woman's defense, and the two forced the Sisterhood's "drones" to flee.

As Araña, she has become Spider-Woman's part-time partner; while the press has referred to Araña as Spider-Woman's sidekick, Anya and Jessica see each other as colleagues, and have shared their histories with each other. Araña has spent most of her summer "interning" for Jessica's private investigation firm. Despite Anya's best efforts, Gil Corazon soon learned that Araña was Anya; however, both have decided that it is probably best for Anya to not attend any superhuman-oriented high school, such as San Francisco's Champions Academy or New York's Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, instead keeping Anya in her usual school in Los Angeles (see Champions Academy; Xavier Institute).

Anya occasionally works as a child-sitter, minding younger children for various single parents. Among her charges is Evie Blake, the daughter of Eden Blake, who is secretly the adventurer sorceress Mantra (see Mantra). At present, neither Eden nor Anya are aware of the other's secret identities, despite both answering the call to assist the superhero community when the Zodiac Cartel raised a force dome around Manhattan (see Zodiac Cartel).
Age: 15.
Height: 5' 3".
Weight: 115 lbs.; (with carapace) 123 lbs.
Eyes: Brown.
Hair: Brown.
Other Distinguishing Features: Araña has a blue tattoo in the shape of a spider on her right upper arm.
Uniform: White sleeveless t-shirt with a red spider logo, black spandex leggings, black fingerless gloves with red padding over the knuckles and a set of pouches around the wrist, black sneakers with red trim and laces, red belt with a silver clasp and red pouch, black choker with a red gem, and goggles with yellow lenses in a black frame. Carries a red knapsack with red pouches on the straps.
Strength Level: Araña possesses superhuman strength, enabling her to lift (press) roughly five tons. As she is not yet fully grown, it is believed her strength will grow over time, potentially matching or even exceeding Spider-Woman's ability to lift (press) 10 tons.
Known Superhuman Powers: In addition to her superhuman strength, Araña possesses superhuman reflexes and agility. She is able to perceive bullets in flight and is quick enough to dodge them. She is able to adhere to most surfaces with her hands and feet, even through gloves and sneakers. She also possesses a kind of danger sense which often warns her of trouble. Her leg muscles enable her to perform a standing high jump up to 25 feet.

Araña's spider-tattoo on her arm is composed of a light blue metal that's been referred to as a kind of organic steel; when she wills it, the tattoo forms a red and blue carapace which covered most of her body; she is able to alter the coverage as she requires. The carapace is strong enough to withstand most conventional police and military rifles, as well as advanced laser rifles; it is probably not strong enough to protect against anti-tank weaponry.
Other Abilities: Anya possesses a sharp and inquisitive mind. She was also a skilled gymnast and athlete before her powers manifested, skills which were only enhanced by her powers. In addition, she is knowledgeable in mechanical and electrical systems, enabling her to design and build her spider-bola.

Anya is bilingual, being fluent in both English and Spanish.
Paraphernalia: Araña uses a home built spider-head bola which she can use as either a grappling hook or as a weapon to trip and entangle opponents. The bola has a 100 foot spool of high-tensile wire which can retract into the head as needed.
Limitations: When armored up in her organic steel carapace, Araña will panic if even partially submerged in water. She does not suffer this affliction when the carapace is not active; whether this is related to her being one of the spider-totems is not currently known.

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