Anansi
A West-African spider god, normally hailed as the God of Stories.
Name:
Anansi
Publisher:
Real name:
Kwaku Anansi
Aliases:
- Kwaku Ananse
- The Spider God
- The Great Weaver
- The Trickster God
- A. Nancy
- Mr. Nancy
Birth date:
None
Gender:
Male
Powers:
- Animal Control
- Astral Projection
- Blast Power
- Divine Powers
- Energy Manipulation
- Healing
- Immortal
- Intellect
- Invisibility
- Invulnerability
- Leadership
- Magic
- Radar Sense
- Shape Shifter
- Stealth
- Super Hearing
- Super Sight
- Super Speed
- Super Strength
- Unarmed Combat
- Wall Clinger
- Webslinger
First issue:
Marvel
On Earth-616, Kwaku Anansi is the Great Weaver, an Orisha who is purportedly responsible for bringing Spider-Totems into the Age of Marvels. It is on his web - the Web of Life of Destiny - that all Spiders exist throughout the multiverse, and he acts as their patron deity.
Anansi has had a tricky relationship with the Olympian gods of Marvel. During the Skrulls' invasion of Earth he openly disputed Athena's intentions when forming the first God Squad, suspecting the Olympians of sabotage towards the other pantheons. He has also appeared to and teased Hercules multiple times in his civilian disguise "A. Nancy."
Recently Anansi has chosen Miles Morales as his champion on the Earthly plane. He does not possess Miles in the way Khonshu does Marc Spector, but their relationship has a similar dynamic. In the aftermath of the Blood Hunt, Miles was infected by Varnae's vampiric curse and sought out the Wakandan goddess Bast to cure him, as she had previously done so to her avatar the Black Panther. Bast refused to do so, claiming that Miles was already claimed as the herald of her hated sibling Anansi, and once Miles proved himself worthy of Anansi's blessing he has become the champion of the Trickster God.
God War
By making Miles Morales his champion, Anansi ignited the feud between himself and the Olympians. Their God of War Ares responds in kind by making Miles' recurring antagonist Agent Gao his new avatar, granting her the power to eliminate Spider-Man as the herald War Cry. She fails, but the action prompts the Asgardian Thor to attend a meeting with Anansi where he warns him that his reappearance on the Earthly plane shall stir the ancient grudges with Olympus. Anansi retorts that the Vodu-Olympian nonaggression pact remains, but that does not stop Ares from assembling his War Dogs and sending Zip Zephyr after Spider-Man. Anansi appears to Miles and warns him before using his wiles to lure Thor and Hercules to Miles' aid, before Ares himself arrives to confront his Orisha nemesis. Ares demands that, as Olympus was destroyed by Nyx, the Olympian-Vodu pact is nullified, and he challenges Anansi to an Agon. Anansi accepts the invitation to a Tournament of the Gods.
DC
He's the one that gave Animal Man and Vixen their powers (and changed them) and seems to be responsible for the contradictory histories of characters like Buddy Baker.
