Warning: Exploring this aspect of the So I'm a Spider, So What? Wiki contains heavy spoilers.
Ariel is the Origin Taratect, the progenitor of the entire Taratect species, as well as the current Demon Lord. Initially acting as a major antagonist in both the main storyline and the prolepsis—trying to kill Kumoko in the former and instigating The Great Human-Demon War in the latter—she later becomes one of the main characters of the main story.
The Queen Taratects and Puppet Taratects are her closest kin, have wills and personalities of their own, and are not dominated by her Kin Control skill. They are her family and closest allies in the current world. Due to this, she has an important emotional attachment to all of them.
Character File
The oldest Ancient Divine Beast, the Demon Lord, and the Ruler of Gluttony. She is actually the Origin Taratect, the progenitor of the entire Taratect spider-monster species. All Taratects are her kin and offspring, directly descended from her, and their souls are connected to hers. However, one of her offspring turned out to be a reincarnation from another world and rebelled against her. This individual used their mutual connection to launch an unprecedented attack directly on Ariel's soul. Her efforts to resist led to them essentially devouring each other's souls until they merged.
Appearance
Ariel appears no different from a regular human, though she looks like she is in her early teens. She has short black hair, with a pure white stripe in her bangs. Her skin is a light, healthy tone, and her eyes are an unnatural red.
She wears a tube-top and hot-pants outfit, adorned with straps around her waist and legs. Along her back is a stripped cape with a high fur collar. This cape has eight strips, which represent her spider-like nature and which she can control by using her Thread Skill.
Personality
| “ | I know that I’m being selfish. However, I can’t yield on this. I must finish everything with Potimas by myself. | ” |
Not much is known of Ariel's personality before Kumoko's Parallel Mind named Body Brain attacked her soul. But it has been stated by both Güliedistodiez and Ariel herself that her original personality was more cautious, if not outright paranoid. During the battle with Earth Dragon Gakia, Ariel's soul melded with the Parallel Mind; as a consequence, Ariel ended up retaining the wills and personalities of two individuals blended into one.[1]
Ariel has a strong, independent personality but also cares deeply for her kin. She was enraged beyond reason when Kumoko killed the Queen Taratect in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, leading to the deaths of many Earth Dragons that fought her, including Earth Dragon Gakia, the leader of the dragons in the Great Elroe Labyrinth. Afterwards, she felt that her soul had melded with Kumoko's, resulting in a more easygoing personality and gaining certain principles, such as never leaving leftovers behind and adopting the latter's carefree, happy-go-lucky disposition.[1] She was still able to retain much of her original sense of self as a mature, serious individual.
As observed, Ariel has gained several of Kumoko's personality traits upon merging with her Parallel Mind, effectively adopting the same quirky, hyperactive, and somewhat childish tendencies of Kumoko. Ariel was also noted to have gained a large portion of Kumoko's general knowledge about Japanese culture after the merge,as seen when she had the general idea of what a Samurai was and had apparently begun mimicking the same superhero/magical girl posing habits of Kumoko.
Ariel herself noted that she has become much more aggressive and energetic upon merging with Kumoko's parallel will.
During her travels with Kumoko, Sophia, and Merazophis, she seems capable of reading people with extreme scrutiny, constantly pinpointing the emotional struggles Sophia and Mera are dealing with and offering advice on how to handle the personal or relationship issues they are facing, as well as reading their thoughts from nothing but a gaze alone.[2][3] This advice, though, is blunt. Ariel herself is also extremely blunt about her motives: she is not being nice just because. Her advice to Sophia and Mera is partly out of sympathy, but also to benefit herself; she states that getting on Kumoko’s—now named White—good side is her goal in helping them.[2]
Both Sophia and Merazophis reason that Ariel is truly helping them out of her own heart, though, due to how petty she is with White—constantly goading her due to their complicated relationship and the grudge she holds against White for killing so many of her close kin. It can be reasoned that Ariel does not reveal her true motives easily, but is actually a kind and caring individual to those she considers family or friends.[2] She is even willing to be the guardian of these children, comparatively speaking, who are struggling with their emotions. She has a strong sense of responsibility, clearly stating that an adult is the one who is needed to explain to children the correct choices in any given situation—and why those choices are the correct ones.[4]
On the other side of the coin, she is absolutely ruthless towards her enemies, offering no sympathy whatsoever and completely devouring everything that stands in her way.[1][5] In her battle with Kumoko, before Mother's death, Ariel didn't hesitate to completely obliterate Kumoko once she understood that they were enemies.[5][6] She is also a cold-hearted schemer, even after merging with Body Brain. Befriending Sophia and Merazophis was only a calculated plot to make White lower her guard—at least initially. She still fully intended to backstab and kill White while traveling with them to get revenge for the Queen Taratect. Even giving Kumoko the nickname "White" was simply an attempt to mind-control her through the "Naming" skill. Ariel only truly gave up on killing White after her meeting with Dustin, where she finally accepted that revenge was out of reach.[7]
Over the course of their travels together, Ariel eventually lets go of her grudge against White, indicating that she is a rather forgiving person as well. White often refers to her as a true saint, someone who automatically thinks about the well-being of others before themselves. This is mentioned when Ariel decides to save Sael from the tank in the hidden underground facility.[8]
Synopsis
Background
Despite having the appearance of a girl in her early teens, Ariel is actually one of the oldest beings on the planet, having lived since before the implementation of the System.
The person who would become known as Ariel was born as the daughter of Potimas Harrifenas. She was not birthed through normal means, though. Rather, she was the result of one of his experiments: a chimera created by splicing his genes with that of a spider; code-named “Taratect”. Because of this, her body was born with the ability to generate venom. However, she did not have any poison resistance, causing her to slowly poison herself. To make matters worse, her poison generation consumed all her physical energy, leaving her in a constant state of hunger and unable to move her body.
Taratect's life under Potimas was horrible, as he saw her as nothing more than a laboratory animal and regularly experimented on her. However, he at least provided her essentials: food, treatment for her condition, and even educational videos to see how her mind would develop. One day, however, she was rescued when authorities raided the lab she was held in. Afterwards, she and the other children Potimas had experimented on were taken in by the Sariella Society charitable organization. The organization's founder, Sariel, introduced herself to Taratect and asked her for her name. Unable to answer, she instead tried to utter Sariel's name but could only pronounce “Ariel”, which Sariel believed was her actual name and thus it became her name from that point on.
Prolepsis
Ariel's first appearance is from the perspective of Balto. She is rather nonchalant and disrespectful to the Demon Army Commanders, and she forces her work onto Balto, who guides the meeting. When two of the commanders begin to fight, she displays a bit of her power, literally forcing them to sit down with a unique skill application.[9]
Her next appearance is after the conclusion of the Great Human-Demon War, where she picks up the Hero's scarf and shows it to Shiro before enchanting it with magic and leaving it for the humans to find.[10]
Ariel's fourth appearance is on the back of an Arch Taratect, on the journey to the Elf Village. She is eager to crush the elves but says she will act with enough restraint to not hurt the reincarnations.[11]
Main Story
Both of these events occur before her chronological appearance in the story, where she first meets and engages Kumoko after Mother calls for Ariel's aid. Mother's soul is being devoured by Kumoko's Parallel Wills, so Ariel comes to stop her. Due to language difficulties, negotiations break down. Kumoko is obliterated by Ariel's strength.[6] To Ariel's surprise, the attack on the Queen Taratect's soul does not subside, and she eventually realizes that the Zana Horowa she thought dead is very much alive.[12] She spreads out her Puppet Taratects to find and engage Kumoko, who is using Spatial Magic to keep Ariel and her forces dispersed. The puppets are defeated through underhanded tactics such as drowning, forcing Ariel to tighten their formation around her, so she does not lose any more. Ariel is unable to find and destroy Kumoko before she finishes consuming the queen's soul.[13]
Relationships
- Kumoko
- Ariel first learned of Kumoko when “Mother” sent an S.O.S. that she was attacking her soul. Upon confronting her, she requested her to cease her actions, which she did not understand due to the language barrier. With her request seemingly denied, and judging her to be too dangerous, Ariel attacked Kumoko and seemingly killed her. However, she survived and Ariel sent pursuers. Unfortunately, Kumoko defeated not only them but also “mother” herself, causing Ariel to vow vengeance. At the same time, Kumoko attacked Ariel's soul as well, causing her to learn about Kumoko’s past. Requesting assistance from Güliedistodiez, Ariel launched a surprise attack on Kumoko by teleporting to her location. However, Kumoko survived once again by transferring her soul into one of her offspring. Ultimately, with neither able to defeat the other, Ariel proposed a ceasefire, which Kumoko accepted.
- Ariel initially intended to use their ceasefire to find a way to either control Kumoko or kill her permanently. To this end, she attempted to tame her by giving her a name—Shiro (or White)—but this had no effect at all. Moreover, even after learning the key to her immortality, Ariel was forced to give up on revenge as it would be nigh impossible to destroy all of Shiro's offspring. After this, though, the two finally began to bond as they laid their grievances bare and both ended up saving each other’s lives during the battle with G-Fleet.
- Spoilers for Volume 7+
- Exactly how much Ariel had grown to care for Shiro is on full display in how she protected her following her evolution into Shiraori, rather than taking advantage of her initially weakened state. After finally making it back to the demon country, Shiraori became Ariel's most trusted associate and proved instrumental in turning the tide of the shadow war against the Elves in her favor. Overall, Ariel concluded that she had made the right choice in recruiting Shiraori, as she not only gained a loyal follower but also a granddaughter.
- Potimas Harrifenas
- Ariel displays an extremely antagonistic attitude toward Potimas and the elves he rules—so much so that Ariel's kin possess an instinctual hatred toward elves. She views him as an exceptionally distrustful, cunning, and power-hungry individual. To the point that she stationed a Queen Taratect, a legendary S-class monster, near his village to keep him in check. Considering him the worst, most hateful, and most problematic existence in the world, she intends to eliminate him together with all the elves once the proper time comes.
- Dustin LXI
- Acquaintances: Despite their contradictory philosophies and enmity, Ariel and Dustin share a very respectful relationship with each other, being able to have honest conversations and even occasionally providing assistance to one another—despite knowing they are bound to become enemies one day. It is implied that they have known each other for a very long time, both being among the few who were alive before the creation of the System.
- Güliedistodiez
- An acquaintance and occasional ally. As shown through their interactions, Ariel has a friendly, amicable relationship with him, and it is implied that they have known each other for a very long time. This is evident in how the two are comfortable enough to share information with one another, and later, Güliedistodiez himself was willing to help Ariel and do her favors—viewing her in a positive light as the daughter of a dear friend. He even offered to teleport her to Kumoko's location. The two have also shown themselves to be long-time allies in dealing with their mutual enemy.
- Sophia Keren
- Rescued as a baby by Ariel. Ariel offered to protect her during their journey, which Sophia accepted. She also gave Sophia the choice of either going to live with humans or coming with her to the Demon Realm, and Sophia chose the latter. Sophia looks up to Ariel as a mother and mentor in her life and is currently serving in the 10th Army.
- Balto Phthalo
- Close aide: Balto is one of the few earnest subordinates Ariel has among the demons. However, his loyalty does not stem from trust or respect, but from fear—being one of the few people aware of her true strength. Despite this, Ariel trusts Balto enough to put him in charge of the Demon Realm in her absence and to ensure that any rebellious elements are kept in check.
- Bloe Phthalo
- Ariel views Bloe as a childish and annoying individual due to his disrespectful attitude toward her. However, she lets his behavior slide as a small favor to Balto and because she knows he poses no real threat to her. She makes him the new 7th Demon Army Commander and gathers all rebellious elements around him to make them easier to deal with.
- Queen Taratects & Puppet Taratects
- Ariel is shown to have a very close relationship with the Queen Taratects and the Puppet Taratects, as they are her strongest and oldest subordinates. Ariel has openly admitted that she feels strong maternal instincts and emotions toward them, considering them her “daughters” due to them technically being her children. She is extremely protective of them. This is demonstrated when she flew into a rage upon realizing that one of her daughters was being “killed” by one of its offspring and immediately rushed to her side to save her. Her grudge against the creature responsible only deepened when it went on to kill some of her Puppet Taratects during their hunt to exterminate it. Later, she felt genuine grief when the Queen was finally killed, which caused her to swear vengeance. Upon realizing that she couldn't kill the one responsible, Ariel fell into deep sorrow and silently prayed for forgiveness from her daughters—asking them to forgive her shortcomings as their mother.
- Taratect
- As the progenitor of the Spider Monster Race, Ariel is the leader of the Taratects, all of whom are descended from her. She has complete control over them, and they follow her orders without question. Ariel has also shown a clear fondness for her descendants, treating them with care and affection.
- Demons
- Ariel has currently taken command of the Demon Race in order to use them to wage war on humanity, with the goal of generating MA energy to help accelerate the planet’s recovery. Due to her sudden appearance and immediate claim to the title of Demon Lord, along with her rapid militarization of the Demon Realm despite the race's internal issues and dwindling population, Ariel is widely hated and disliked by her subjects, who have already branded her a tyrant. Because Ariel actively hides her true power, many demons assume she is not particularly strong, further fueling their discontent and leading to numerous acts of revolt during her rule. Ariel herself remains largely unconcerned with how the demons perceive her and feels unthreatened by them.
- Elves
- Ariel has had centuries of active conflict and bloodshed with the Elves due to their status as the servants and spare bodies of Potimas. Ariel herself has shown nothing but deep contempt and hatred for the Elves, seeing no distinction between them and Potimas. She considers them nothing more than a threat to the world that must be purged. Over her long life, Ariel has spent centuries fighting the Elves, successfully slaughtering thousands of them—earning her specific titles and skills that can only be gained by killing Elves in large numbers. In fact, Ariel's hatred for the Elves is so immense that her children, such as the Queen Taratects, have developed an instinctual hatred toward them as well, her feelings having passed on to the deepest parts of their souls.
- Reincarnations
- Ariel learned of the reincarnations after absorbing Kumoko's “Body Brain” Parallel Mind. She believes they were reborn to bring about change, as their world had grown stagnant. Overall, however, Ariel pities the reincarnations for the unfortunate situation they were placed in and wants them to live peacefully if possible. She actively indulged Shiraori's requests to protect them and leave them relatively unscathed in the grand scheme of their plans. Nevertheless, she remains willing to dispose of them should they stand in her way.
- Sariel
- Ariel sees Sariel as a motherly figure. After being abandoned by Potimas as a failed experiment and left on the verge of death, Ariel was rescued and brought to Sariel’s orphanage. Sariel was the first person Ariel met after Potimas, and the first to properly talk and communicate with her. She is also the one who gave Ariel her name.Ariel’s stay at the orphanage, and her relationship with Sariel and the people there, saved her from a fate of merely awaiting death as a being without emotions or a will to live, and gave her life meaning. It also helped her gradually improve her physical condition over time. Sariel is the reason Ariel became the Demon Lord and spearheaded the Great Human-Demon War—in an attempt to save Sariel by increasing the energy provided to the world through sacrifices, thus restoring it to its normal state. She is also the reason behind Ariel’s deep hatred toward humanity, who sacrificed Sariel to save the very world they had ruined through their greed and ignorance. Currently, Ariel is willing to do anything to free Sariel from her shackles—even if Sariel doesn’t want to be saved, and even if more than half of humanity must be sacrificed to achieve that end.
Powers & Abilities
Ariel is the most powerful being within the confines of the System, rivaled and surpassed only by the gods, with all her stats being nearly maxed out. Her primary fighting style appears to revolve around overwhelming her opponents through brute force. Furthermore, being the progenitor of the Taratect species allows her to summon any of her kin to her side at will, giving her enough firepower to take on the entirety of humanity by herself. Kumoko describes Ariel's strength as “genre-breaking,” comparing her to characters from “some power-creeper shōnen.”
Titles & Skills
- Gluttony – her signature move: This ability allows her to consume anything—earth, metal, living beings—and convert it into sustenance and power, further increasing her already nearly maxed stats beyond the System limit. All she needs to do to activate it is clamp her teeth together, and any target in her line of sight is automatically consumed, allowing her to use it offensively as well.
- Humility: Gained after absorbing Kumoko's “Body Brain” Parallel Mind, this ability allows Ariel to surpass the limits of the System, effectively granting her power on par with a god. However, since she is not a god, using it places a heavy burden on her soul, reducing her lifespan and leaving her in a permanently weakened state afterward.
- Precise Magic Power Operation: Allows her to perceive and control Magic Power better than the regular Magic Power Operation.
- Kin Domination: As the progenitor of the entire Taratect species, she can mentally exert her influence over any of her descendants.
- Summoning: Allows her to teleport any Taratect to her side from anywhere in the world.
- Marionette Threads: Combines multiple high-level thread Skills, such as Divine Thread Weaving, Thread Genius, and Thread Control, to produce threat from her fingertips and control it.[9] She mostly uses it to restrain her opponents and control others' movements as if they were puppets.
Other Abilities
- Stats: As a result of all her stats being nearly maxed out, Ariel is capable of killing nearly any opponent in a single blow. Her strength is so immense that she can create shockwaves just by swiping her arms, and she is so fast that by the time Kumoko detected her, she was already right next to her. Shiraori even claimed that Ariel could destroy an entire town just by sneezing.
- Intelligence: Being one of the oldest beings on the planet, Ariel possesses an unimaginable amount of experience in both battle and politics. She also has excellent deductive abilities, having been able to figure out the mechanics of Shiro's Egg Revival from just a few hints.
- Polyglot: Ariel is fluent in both the human and demon languages. After absorbing Kumoko's “Body Brain” Parallel Mind, she also became capable of speaking Japanese.[14]
- Immortality/Longevity: Ariel is stated to naturally possess an extraordinary level of longevity, possibly even true immortality. Even Potimas was unsure how it happened or how it was possible, but Ariel’s body has a lifespan that may surpass even that of the Elves. This is evidenced by the fact that she has never physically aged beyond the appearance of a teenager, even before the System was implemented. Potimas himself was never able to decipher or replicate this ability, despite studying and researching it for hundreds of years.
Status
| Vol 4-7: Demon Lord Attack | |||||
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| Origin taratect | LV139 | Skill Points: 0 | Ariel | ||
| Status | |||||
| HP | 90,098 +99,999 | ||||
| MP | 87,655 +99,999 | ||||
| SP | 89,862 | ||||
| 89,856 +99,567 | |||||
| Average Offense Ability : | 90,021 | ||||
| Average Defense Ability : | 89,997 | ||||
| Average Magic Ability : | 87,504 | ||||
| Average Resistance Ability : | 87,489 | ||||
| Average Speed Ability : | 89,518 | ||||
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| Titles | |||||
| Human Slayer • Human Slaughterer • Human Calamity • Demon Slayer • Demon Slaughterer • Demon Calamity • Monster Slayer • Monster Slaughterer • Monster Calamity • Wyrm Slayer • Wyrm Slaughterer • Wyrm Calamity • Dragon Slayer • Dragon Slaughterer • Merciless • Foul Feeder • Kin eater • Assassin • Poison Technique User • Thread User • Puppet User • Commander • Champion • Lord • Ancient Divine Beast • Ruler of Gluttony • Demon Lord | |||||
Trivia
- Ariel has been a member of the adventurer guild for a long time, but only because of the perks that it provides.[15]
- Ariel's Japanese voice actress Sumire Uesaka previously voiced Kumoko for the light novel's promo videos.
- Her English voice meanwhile is provided by Veronica Taylor, best known as the first English voice for Ash Ketchum from Pokémon: The Series.
- According to D, Ariel has the second-smallest chest size in the series, smaller than Sue and the only one smaller being Filimøs.
- Due to Ariels long life her soul became worn out, preventing her level, stats and skills from increasing, after she absorbed Kumoko's "Body-Brain" Parrel Mind she was capable of a bit more growth allowing her to acquire Telepathy and Humility.
Galleries
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Volume 5-Interlude: The Demon Lord and the Administrator
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Volume 6-V1: Fortune, Misfortune
- ↑ Volume 6-Interlude: The Servant's Hesitation
- ↑ Volume 6-Interlude: The Demon Lord's Soliloquy
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Volume 5-Interlude: Clash of the Ancients
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Volume 4-7: Demon Lord Attack
- ↑ Volume 6-Interlude: The Demon Lord and Immortality
- ↑ Volume 7-3: Ancient Ruins Discovered!
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Volume 2-Interlude: The Demon Lord's Aide Sighs at a Meeting
- ↑ Volume 2-Interlude: Spider Demon Lord
- ↑ Volume 4-Interlude: Demon Lord
- ↑ Volume 4-8:Returning Monster of the Week Always Gets Killed Right Away
- ↑ Volume 4-11: Matricide
- ↑ Volume 5-9: Worst Elf Ever!
- ↑ Like I’d Live in this World! I’m Going Home!
| Characters (collection) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Reincarnations | Kumoko • Shun • Katia • Fei • Filimøs • Yuri • Hugo • Sajin • Ogi • Kunihiko • Asaka • Sophia • Wrath | |
| Natives | Ariel • Meiges • Julius • Cylis • Ronandt • Sue • Potimas • Merazophis • Ael • Sael • Riel • Fiel • Hyrince • Yaana • Jeskan • Hawkin • Aurel • Dustin • Balto • Bloe • Agner • Felmina • Anna • Klevea • Wald • Sanatoria • Kogou • Huey • Darad • Buirimus • Goyef • Basgath | |
| Gods | Güliedistodiez • Shiraori • Sariel • D • Meido | |