Static Shock: Anansi

Anansi the Spider is a superhero native to Ghana, and the greatest hero in West Africa. Named after the trickster spider of African folklore, Anansi has the power to create visible, realistic illusions. He explains this ability as “people only see what I want them to see”. He also has the ability to cling to surfaces, stand upside-down and walk on vertical surfaces.

In both his appearances, references to Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man are subtly made.

In the Season 3 episode Static in Africa, when Virgil told him to hit Osebo with a “web blast”, he replies, “I’m not that kind of spider”, and in the Season 4 episode Out of Africa, Gear remarks that he expected Anansi to swing in on a web, and Anansi replies with “I get that a lot.” He also seems to inspire Virgil (Static) about what being a superhero really means.

In Out of Africa, Anansi traveled to Dakota to stop Osebo, Mmboro and Onini (three of his enemies that are based on the animals the legendary Anansi caught to attain his stories) from obtaining an ancient golden spider talisman, which is revealed to be the source of Anansi’s powers. Static and Gear got drawn in when Sharon was kidnapped by Osebo. In the end, Anansi reclaimed the artifact, but not before Sharon used it to make all of the dirty dishes “disappear” and took it for a spin for a while before being abducted by Osebo. Luckily, Static, Gear, and Anansi rescued her. The spider artifact was never seen again afterward, as Anansi made sure to hide it quite well.

Then, after Osebo, Mmboro and Onini are taken away by the police, Anansi kisses Sharon’s hand and charmingly tells her that he’s forever in her debt. Sharon then expresses that she had a good time and the whole thing was an adventure for her, but she couldn’t help but think that she’s “forgetting something”. Then her father calls her and says that he’s in the kitchen looking at the dirty dishes — the very ones Sharon is going to be washing every night for the next month.

“Oh, yeah. Now I remember,” she replies afterwards.

Anansi’s enemies are based on an ancient legend; the story, as told by Anansi, was that a clever Spider wanted to be able to tell stories, and the “Sky Spirit”, king of all the lands, agreed to give the spider what he wanted if he captured three troublemakers: Onini the Python, Osebo the Leopard, and Mmoboro the Hornet. The Spider trapped Mmoboro in a gourd, tied Onini to a stick, and dug a pit and covered it with leaves before luring Osebo into it. The Sky Spirit thanked the spider and granted its wish, giving it the ability to tell stories through the power of making illusions.

Anansi has three enemies: Mmoboro (a giant talking wasp who can turn into a swarm of smaller wasps), Onini (a giant talking black python) and Osebo (a large man-shaped talking leopard with a metal fist).

At first sight, everyone mistakes Osebo for a tiger as he has stripes instead of spots; everyone who has ever heard that his is a leopard wonders why he has stripes. In Out of Africa, Anansi himself told Static, “I too have often wondered about the stripes.”