Mother Longlegs

Mother Longlegs, also known as Arachnida Acidosasa, Arachnida Malum, Mater Crura, and Bamboo Spiders^[1], are a giant arachnid superspecies that first appeared in the 2017 MonsterVerse film, Kong: Skull Island.

Name[]

The Mother Longlegs name is based on the famous term, "Daddy Longlegs", a common nickname for various types of insects and arachnids. The "mother" prefix refers to the species as female only.

The classification of the species has been inconsistent across MonsterVerse media. A superspecies profile from the Discover Skull Island website simultaneously classifies the species as Mater Crura and Arachnida Acidosasa. In both a Kong: Skull Island bonus featurette and the mobile game Godzilla x Kong: Titan Chasers, the species is classified as Arachnida Malum.

Design[]

Appearance[]

Mother Longlegs are gigantic spider-like creatures that stand around 5 to 7 meters tall. They possess incredibly long legs that resemble bamboo stalks, allowing them to blend in seamlessly with the surrounding forests, with their legs posing as plants and their upper bodies held high above the canopy. The cephalothorax, which contains the spider's 8 red eyes and fangs, is noticeably smaller than the abdomen, which is covered in a sparse coating of thin hairs. In addition to their eight legs, Mother Longlegs possess two additional limbs located closer to their heads, which are equipped with pincer-like claws. As an all-female species, every Mother Longlegs is a female.

A giant Mother Longlegs is also seen in Issue #4 of Skull Island: The Birth of Kong. It is far larger than the average Mother Longlegs, and can even compete in size to creatures such as the Mire Squids, Skullcrawlers, and Kong himself. Its head contains a crown-like crest unlike its smaller counterparts, and is covered in a thicker coating of hairs.

Juvenile Mother Longlegs, known as "Spiderlings", resemble the adult form albeit much smaller in size and lacking the pincer-like claws.

Personality[]

Mother Longlegs are ambush predators that lurk in bamboo forests for unsuspecting prey. They seldom leave the bamboo forests they inhabit unless forced out by larger rivals^[2] or in pursuit of prey. In rare circumstances, they are capable of cooperating with one another in bringing down large or multiple victims.

Juvenile Mother Longlegs, or Spiderlings, initially live in hollow chambers on the underbelly of their mothers and feed on scraps provided their kills. Eventually, the Spiderlings leave to hone their hunting skills in the lower canopies of young forests. Forming large "clusters", the Spiderlings cooperate to take down prey before eventually growing larger, in which they will begin competing for territory.^[3]

Origins[]

Mother Longlegs[]

An all-female, self-reproducing species, this towering arachnid is unlike any spider seen on Earth. The dense bamboo forests of the island's north-side offer the perfect habitat for a colony of predatory creatures with such slender, extended limbs. When the spider is perfectly still, the bamboo trunks conceal it perfectly, turning an entire forest into a silent deathtrap of legs and mandibles.

Theoretical possibility: these creatures are a supermutation of the Opiliones order of arachnids, known colloquially as 'harvestmen'. Vascular bundles of woody xylem found within the appendages of the Mother Longlegs suggest that trace elements of actual bamboo are within its physiology, as though the flora of its natural habitat has become infused within its DNA.

The Mother Longlegs has evolved sharpened spikes at the end of its powerful legs. Eight razor-sharp blades rein down from above on unsuspecting prey, pinning them to the ground with a poisoned spur that immobilizes the victim and sucks vital nutrients from the body like a milkshake through a straw. These creatures are not just man-eaters. They drink their prey. Once immobilized, the creature's underbelly unleashes muscular tendrils that ensnare the victim and lift them high off the ground to be swallowed up by the beast's open stomach.

― Monarch Creature Profile

Mother Longlegs Spiderling[]

Deadly spawn of the horrific Mother Longlegs. In the early stages of their development, they reside within a hollow chamber in their mother's underbelly, feeding on the dregs of meals that she pulls up from the forest floor. Once they reach the size of a small human child, they leave the comfort and safety of their mother in search of their own hunting grounds.

Still vulnerable at their diminutive size, these spiderlings form clusters with their sisters. Together, they can stalk larger prey in the understory of younger forests, towering over ferns and bushes until they grow so large that they begin competing for space.

― Monarch Creature Profile

History[]

Kong: Skull Island[]

Packard and his group encountered a Mother Longlegs while trying to navigate through a bamboo forest. It impaled a soldier with one of its legs before attempting to drag Mills, another soldier, into its stomach. The group quickly begins hacking off the giant spider's legs, causing it to lose balance, before incapacitating it with a barrage of gunfire, causing it to collapse to the jungle floor. Laying helpless and wounded, the Mother Longlegs could only watch as Packard walked over and fired several rounds into its head from his pistol, killing it.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters[]

At some point during the 1973 Monarch expedition to Skull Island, it was revealed that a Mother Longlegs had managed to separate Bill Randa from the expedition's survivors. After chasing Randa out from a bamboo forest and directly into the island's rocky shoreline, the Mother Longlegs prepared to kill the man, but accidentally disturbed a dormant Mantleclaw. The Mantleclaw rose and engaged the arachnid in a brutal brawl, but the Mother Longlegs stood its ground and fought back. Eventually, the Mother Longlegs stabbed one of its limbs into the Mantleclaw's face, causing the monster to stumble backwards and into the water, taking the Mother Longlegs with it.

Skull Island: The Birth of Kong[]

A horde of Mother Longlegs, include a gigantic one around the size of Kong, attacked the Iwi settlement when Riccio destroyed the walls using the seismic charges brought by the previous Monarch expedition. The giant arthropods started to kill many, including Riccio's colleague Medov. When Aaron Brooks and Ato were cornered by the giant Mother Longlegs, Kong arrived to fight off the creatures, killing all of the Longlegs in a rampage.

Kingdom Kong[]

Audrey Burns and her team comes across a Mother Longlegs moving above them as they traverse the jungles of Skull Island. In an effort to cope with her PTSD, Audrey wills herself to shoot and kill the giant arachnid before it could ambush her team.

Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted[]

Mother Longlegs are among the taxidermized creatures kept in Raymond Martin's personal compound.

Abilities[]

Camouflage and stealth[]

Mother Longlegs are perfectly adapted for camouflage in the dense bamboo forests of Skull Island. Their limbs, which have evolved to resemble bamboo stalks, blend seamlessly into the forest while holding their bodies high above the forest canopy. This allows the spiders to attack unaware prey that pass through their territory.

Pincers[]

Mother Longlegs are equipped with spike-covered pincers that allow them to grab their prey and pull it into their mandibles. The pincers are powerful enough to grapple with creatures of similar size to the Mother Longlegs.

Poison[]

The legs of the Mother Longlegs are filled with poison that immobilizes victims, which allows the Mother Longlegs to drain vital nutrients from the victim.

Self-reproduction[]

The Mother Longlegs are described as an "All-female, self-reproducing species".

Speed and agility[]

Mother Longlegs can use their legs to strike their intended victims in a swift motion. They are also able to jump and reach large heights.

Strength and combat[]

Mother Longlegs can carry humans in their pincers and tendrils, and the spear-like tips of their legs can pierce through humans and creatures of comparable size with ease.

Tendrils[]

Mother Longlegs use fleshy tentacles they release from openings beneath their abdomens to snag their prey and reel them up to their stomachs.

Webbing[]

Mother Longlegs are capable of firing webbing, which is strong enough to slow down large opponents like Kong.

Weaknesses[]

Limited durability[]

The smaller Mother Longlegs are vulnerable to gunfire and they can easily be overpowered by the larger Kong. The larger one was more impervious to gunfire but was killed quickly by Kong.

Vulnerable legs[]

The legs of the Mother Longlegs are quite thin and fragile. If some of the legs are cut off, the Mother Longlegs will fall to the ground and become helpless.

Trivia[]

The Mother Longlegs' design may have been inspired by Kumonga, the Pit Spider from the original 1933 King Kong film, and the Arachnoclaws from the 2005 King Kong remake.
It is also possible Mother Longlegs may have been inspired by the Giant Mutant Widow Spider from Godzilla: The Series. This giant spider is also a female that could reproduce asexually.
- Coincidentally, in one scene of its debut episode, Elsie Chapman did refer to this giant spider as "Mommy Longlegs".

Gallery[]

Concept art[]

Production[]