Arachne Gorgon is a character from the Soul Eater series, the eldest of the three Gorgon sisters that include her younger sisters Medusa Gorgon and Shaula Gorgon. She is also the one who created the Magic Weapons and is thus an enemy to both the DWMA and the witches.
History
Eight centuries prior to the series, inspired by Excalibur, Arachne use a set of instructions within the Book of Eibon to produce the first Magic Weapons by bonding human souls with weapons. However, as the process required the soul of a witch as a catalyst, Arachne's transgression labeled her as a traitor to her own kind. In time, marked for death by the witches for her actions, Death began to hunt Arachne as well. Betrayed by Medusa and left to die by Death's hand, Arachne escape her fate by sealing her soul with a golem created by her servant Giriko. From there, Arachne had her body burst into thousands of small spiders that serve as her spies around the world while she begins to regain her strength to prepare in enacting her revenge.
The Return
When Asura, his madness wave length speeds up Arachne's restoration as the golem her soul is sealed in begins running amok with the DWMA sending Maka Albern and Crona to investigate. After a hole is cut into the golem, using a spell to paralyze Maka, Arachne's spiders gather and the witch recreates her physical form. Revealing that she have been seeing what has occurred over the last eight centuries through her spiders, Arachne provoked her sister's child Crona to attack her and defeats the child with ease. When Justin Law shows up to assist the DWMA students, Arachne tells Giriko that they are leaving with the golem covering their departure. Afterwards, reunited with her other servant Mosquito while taken to Baba Yaga's Castle, Arachne is given a welcome by the Arachnopobia organization that have awaited her return. Soon after, Arachne began her "Magic Training" while drafting many witches and other warriors to fight for her as she searches for Asura. She is later reunited with Medusa, who was possessing a girl named Rachel, though the two part on uneasy terms.
Ironic Demise
Eventually, Arachne's enemies put aside their differences in a temporary ceasefire and invade Baba Yaga's Castle, while the others work to disable the fortress, Maka, her weapon partner Soul Evans, and Medusa go after Arachne herself. However, by the time that they arrived to her throne room, Arachne had discarded her body and became a spiritual being of pure madness as the first step to joining with Asura. However, though now goddess-like in power, Arachne finds herself quickly outmatched by Maka and is eventually reduced to a soul that Soul consumed to achieve Death Scythe status. With her soul devoured, Arachne's lifeless body is taken by Medusa, who revealed the ceasefire was an excuse to take her sister's body as her own. However, as residual aspects of Arachne were still present at the time, Medusa is forced to take her leave to assert control over her new body.
Anime
In the anime, Arachne, the heretic witch, is one of the three main villains. She is seen more than Asura but less than her sister Medusa. Her two main henchmen are Mosquito and Giriko.
In the past, Arachne killed witches and used their souls to create magical weapons, causing Death and other witches to chase after her. She scattered her body in the form of spiders while hiding her soul inside the first golem. She slept for 800 years until she was reawakened by the madness waves from Asura's awakening.
Arachne managed to find Asura and convinces him to join her in order to spread insanity using her Morality Manipulation Machine to amplify his madness wavelength. However, mistaking his feelings of love for fear, Asura killed Arachne, impaling her with his hand, and devoured her soul.
Trivia
- Her Japanese voice actress Michiko Neya also voiced Diana (MAR) and Adiane (Gurren Legann).