Kaiser Tarantula (Beta)
Kaiser Tarantula is a villain upon the Beta server, an Arachnos Soldier of the Crab Spider variety. Vicious, power-hungry, and fanatically loyal to the Arachnos ideal, if not its leadership, Kaiser Tarantula is always looking for new opportunities to obtain power for his own ends.
Origin
Kaiser Tarantula's original identity is shrouded in mystery; what is known from fragmentary records that survived the purging of his history, is that he was inducted into Arachnos at the tender age of 14, and he offered himself up for experimentation by the Arachnos science corps not long after, taking the risk that the experiments would make him stronger. What followed was an experimental, extreme-intensity training, diet, and mental conditioning regimen that has since been adapted and abbreviated for use on common Arachnos troops.
The training worked - Kaiser Tarantula grew from 5' nothing to nearly seven-foot-ten inches in height in the space of eight years, emerging from the training program a mountain of a man, possessed of tremendous strength, stamina, and commitment to the Arachnos cause. However, the time the training took, and the fact that his exceptional performance was largely due to beginning as such an exceptionally young candidate, meant that the training program had to be cut down and modified for use on rank-and-file soldiers. Kaiser Tarantula was secretly considered a failure, and relegated to the Wolf Spiders as a result.
Unfortunately for Arachnos, Kaiser Tarantula is nothing if not ambitious. Conspiring with Alan Desslock, he added his own name to the Destined Ones list, securing his independence from Arachnos's chain of command. With the freedom being a Destined One allowed, he began to play the field of the villain groups of the Rogue Isles, always with the objective of gaining power in mind. His one true objective is to gather enough power to surpass Lord Recluse himself.
Powers and Abilities
Kaiser Tarantula is, beneath the armor and weaponry, a normal human being of exceptional height and physical development. He can bench-press about 400 pounds, and can run a mile over level ground in about 4 minutes from a standing start. That, however, is where the similarities end.
Equipped with a suit of Arachnos Crab Spider powered armor, his physical strength and stamina are amplified several times, allowing him to go toe-to-toe with even the mightiest of Paragon City's heroes. The Crab Spider Armor also comes equipped with a Crab Spider Servolimb Pack, which is directly connected to his nervous system via surgical attachment to his spine, allowing him to move the four clawed limbs as though they were his own. Among the weapons mounted in each of these limbs are a Longfang heavy machinegun, a Channelgun energy cannon, and a grenade launcher capable of firing various munitions. Each limb is tipped with a monomolecular-edged claw of solid Impervium, ensuring that no hero can escape a close-ranged confrontation with him unscathed. In addition to this, he also carries an Arachnos standard-issue assault rifle, a souvenir of his days in the Wolf Spider corps, although he's seldom seen actually using it save to launch web grenades at fleeing opponents.
Kaiser's fanatical upbringing during adolescence has warped his mind, instilling the ideal of Arachnos as his driving motivation above all else. He bears little actual loyalty to the organization, seeing it as limiting the growth of his power. He believes that the best way to serve Arachnos and its ideals is to treat it as a client, rather than a master. It's this strange duality of his loyalty that other Arachnos agents find frustrating - he will cheerfully sing Lord Recluse's praises and preach Arachnos philosophy, even when working directly against Lord Recluse's stated goals. This dichotomy makes him difficult to read and even more difficult to control, even for potent psychics.
Due to the eight year training regimen, Kaiser Tarantula is a master of battlefield tactics and a capable leader. His fanaticism is simultaneously inspiring and terrifying, and some say he has a voice that just compels one to follow orders - in reality, that ability comes from a device pilfered from Baron Zukor's corpse; the Suggestion Engine. Though the loss of Baron Zukor and Kaiser's own lack of major psychic potential has weakened it significantly, the Engine still serves to make his statements unusually compelling. Coupled with his skills in battlefield tactics, he can easily improve the performance of any villain willing to cooperate with him and follow his instructions.
Weaknesses
Kaiser's primary weakness, in a world of superheroes and supervillains, is that underneath the armor, the training, the physical development, he's an ordinary human. If his equipment fails and his allies rebel, he can die just as easily as any other man. Keenly aware of this limitation, Kaiser Tarantula prefers to be the first to strike, using the element of surprise to throw opponents into disarray. Similarly, due to the risk of his armor being opened up like a can by a Hero with super-sharp claws or swords, or just monstrous levels of super strength, he typically fights from a distance, only lashing out with his Crab Spider claws from close range once the enemy's been softened up by his Channelgun, Longfang, and grenades.
Kaiser's other weakness is his unchecked ambition. He will jump at almost any chance to gain power, often taking seemingly-insane risks to do so. Usually, he is canny enough to avoid catastrophe, but it's only a matter of time before reckless ambition turns around to bite him. A promise of power is an exceptional method of baiting him into a trap, and he has reputedly fallen for this several times, though as of yet no ambusher has succeeded in killing him.
Outside of active villainy, Kaiser doesn't lack for hobbies. Proficient at weapon design and robotics maintenance, he keeps a small supply of customized, personally-modified Arachnobots, which he obtained after stealing some Arachnobot blueprints during a raid on an Arachnos base. He also operates a cloning lab, operated by Mane Corp., which utilizes stolen Cray technology from their Paragon Protector program. It's hypothesized that, due to this lab, that there may actually been several Kaiser Tarantulas, each one being replaced by a clone of the original when it dies. It's impossible to say for certain, as all Kaiser Tarantulas thus far have been indistinguishable from the original, right down to their memories. If the rumors about this are true, then destroying or seizing the lab would be represent a significant blow to his abilities, as he could no longer afford to be so reckless and could not call on his Arachnobot minions.
Kaiser Tarantula is a villain upon the Beta server, an Arachnos Soldier of the Crab Spider variety. Vicious, power-hungry, and fanatically loyal to the Arachnos ideal, if not its leadership, Kaiser Tarantula is always looking for new opportunities to obtain power for his own ends.
Origin
Kaiser Tarantula's original identity is shrouded in mystery; what is known from fragmentary records that survived the purging of his history, is that he was inducted into Arachnos at the tender age of 14, and he offered himself up for experimentation by the Arachnos science corps not long after, taking the risk that the experiments would make him stronger. What followed was an experimental, extreme-intensity training, diet, and mental conditioning regimen that has since been adapted and abbreviated for use on common Arachnos troops.
The training worked - Kaiser Tarantula grew from 5' nothing to nearly seven-foot-ten inches in height in the space of eight years, emerging from the training program a mountain of a man, possessed of tremendous strength, stamina, and commitment to the Arachnos cause. However, the time the training took, and the fact that his exceptional performance was largely due to beginning as such an exceptionally young candidate, meant that the training program had to be cut down and modified for use on rank-and-file soldiers. Kaiser Tarantula was secretly considered a failure, and relegated to the Wolf Spiders as a result.
Unfortunately for Arachnos, Kaiser Tarantula is nothing if not ambitious. Conspiring with Alan Desslock, he added his own name to the Destined Ones list, securing his independence from Arachnos's chain of command. With the freedom being a Destined One allowed, he began to play the field of the villain groups of the Rogue Isles, always with the objective of gaining power in mind. His one true objective is to gather enough power to surpass Lord Recluse himself.
Powers and Abilities
Kaiser Tarantula is, beneath the armor and weaponry, a normal human being of exceptional height and physical development. He can bench-press about 400 pounds, and can run a mile over level ground in about 4 minutes from a standing start. That, however, is where the similarities end.
Equipped with a suit of Arachnos Crab Spider powered armor, his physical strength and stamina are amplified several times, allowing him to go toe-to-toe with even the mightiest of Paragon City's heroes. The Crab Spider Armor also comes equipped with a Crab Spider Servolimb Pack, which is directly connected to his nervous system via surgical attachment to his spine, allowing him to move the four clawed limbs as though they were his own. Among the weapons mounted in each of these limbs are a Longfang heavy machinegun, a Channelgun energy cannon, and a grenade launcher capable of firing various munitions. Each limb is tipped with a monomolecular-edged claw of solid Impervium, ensuring that no hero can escape a close-ranged confrontation with him unscathed. In addition to this, he also carries an Arachnos standard-issue assault rifle, a souvenir of his days in the Wolf Spider corps, although he's seldom seen actually using it save to launch web grenades at fleeing opponents.
Kaiser's fanatical upbringing during adolescence has warped his mind, instilling the ideal of Arachnos as his driving motivation above all else. He bears little actual loyalty to the organization, seeing it as limiting the growth of his power. He believes that the best way to serve Arachnos and its ideals is to treat it as a client, rather than a master. It's this strange duality of his loyalty that other Arachnos agents find frustrating - he will cheerfully sing Lord Recluse's praises and preach Arachnos philosophy, even when working directly against Lord Recluse's stated goals. This dichotomy makes him difficult to read and even more difficult to control, even for potent psychics.
Due to the eight year training regimen, Kaiser Tarantula is a master of battlefield tactics and a capable leader. His fanaticism is simultaneously inspiring and terrifying, and some say he has a voice that just compels one to follow orders - in reality, that ability comes from a device pilfered from Baron Zukor's corpse; the Suggestion Engine. Though the loss of Baron Zukor and Kaiser's own lack of major psychic potential has weakened it significantly, the Engine still serves to make his statements unusually compelling. Coupled with his skills in battlefield tactics, he can easily improve the performance of any villain willing to cooperate with him and follow his instructions.
Weaknesses
Kaiser's primary weakness, in a world of superheroes and supervillains, is that underneath the armor, the training, the physical development, he's an ordinary human. If his equipment fails and his allies rebel, he can die just as easily as any other man. Keenly aware of this limitation, Kaiser Tarantula prefers to be the first to strike, using the element of surprise to throw opponents into disarray. Similarly, due to the risk of his armor being opened up like a can by a Hero with super-sharp claws or swords, or just monstrous levels of super strength, he typically fights from a distance, only lashing out with his Crab Spider claws from close range once the enemy's been softened up by his Channelgun, Longfang, and grenades.
Kaiser's other weakness is his unchecked ambition. He will jump at almost any chance to gain power, often taking seemingly-insane risks to do so. Usually, he is canny enough to avoid catastrophe, but it's only a matter of time before reckless ambition turns around to bite him. A promise of power is an exceptional method of baiting him into a trap, and he has reputedly fallen for this several times, though as of yet no ambusher has succeeded in killing him.
Outside of active villainy, Kaiser doesn't lack for hobbies. Proficient at weapon design and robotics maintenance, he keeps a small supply of customized, personally-modified Arachnobots, which he obtained after stealing some Arachnobot blueprints during a raid on an Arachnos base. He also operates a cloning lab, operated by Mane Corp., which utilizes stolen Cray technology from their Paragon Protector program. It's hypothesized that, due to this lab, that there may actually been several Kaiser Tarantulas, each one being replaced by a clone of the original when it dies. It's impossible to say for certain, as all Kaiser Tarantulas thus far have been indistinguishable from the original, right down to their memories. If the rumors about this are true, then destroying or seizing the lab would be represent a significant blow to his abilities, as he could no longer afford to be so reckless and could not call on his Arachnobot minions.
