Anya Corazon

Anya Sofia Corazon is a fictional Latina (half Puerto Rican, half Mexican) superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She initially went by the pseudonym Araña, but later changed to using Spider-Girl.

Origins
On her first day at Milton Summers High School in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Anya Corazon was caught in a skirmish between two mystical clans called The Spider Society and the Sisterhood of the Wasp, and was mortally wounded. To save her life, Miguel, a mage from the Spider Society, performed a ritual on her by giving her a spider-shaped tattoo that endowed her with spider-like powers, and recruited her to be a Hunter for the Society. WebCorps offered Araña various costumes, but Araña decided to make her own costume. She designed a costume with red and blue sneakers, blue track pants, red backpack, red gloves with many pockets, and large yellow-lensed goggles. As part of her powers an insectoid exoskeleton covered most of her body with a bug-like bluish skin. In place of equipment like web-shooters or spider tracers, Araña created her own modified bolas out of discs which are about the size of her palm and have eight red legs able to grip objects. Araña fought a Hunter from The Sisterhood of the Wasp, adversaries of the Spider Society.

Heart of the Spider
While interrogating a spy for the Sisterhood of the Wasp, Anya and Miguel discovered that the Sisterhood has recruited a fifteen-year-old boy codenamed Amun, a descendant of Egyptian assassins who believed he was skilled enough that he does not need to conceal his identity. Anya soon met Amun, who has enrolled at her school under the name Jon Kasiya. The two soon deduced the other's dual identity.

Later, during a fight with Anya, Miguel, and the Sisterhood, Amun told her that he would attack her loved ones if she opposed him. Noting her father was filming the fight, Anya took him to safety. In her absence, Amun seriously wounded Miguel. The encounter left Anya doubting her duty due to the danger it posed to her loved ones. However, in a chance encounter, Spider-Man arrived and, after discussing her origins and adventures, told her, "With great power comes great responsibility" and that in every age, people are called to be heroes.

Soon afterwards, Anya fought Amun and, in anger, nearly strangled him to death. She was stopped by Ted, who told Amun to run. Ted told her that she had released "the Spirit of the Hunter" and warned her not to do it again without Miguel with her. Back at WebCorps, Miguel was revived upon being reunited with Anya, and he told her the history of the organization which would eventually split into Wasps and Spiders.

After an encounter with a gunman in a coffee shop, in which Anya saved Lynn and Amun without revealing her secret identity, Amun promised to respect her double life and to stop targeting her friends and family.

Night of the Hunter
The Sisterhood of the Wasp recruits a Mexico City crime lord, Jaime Jade. Jade has mental abilities that allow him to hypnotize other people. He was also possibly involved in the death of Anya's mother. Miguel stops Anya from going after Jade alone with the promise that Anya can punish him afterwards. Anya and Amun develop a loose truce because Amun has lost his father as well, so he checks into Jade's possible involvement in Anya's mother's death.

Jade hypnotizes Anya into fighting Miguel, but she eventually breaks free of his control and knocks Jade out. When Jade wakes up, the car he is in is suspended by a rope over the river. He thinks she's bluffing, and says, "Little miss super hero won't want my death on her conscience." She replies, "No, my conscience feels fine," and lets go of the rope. Amun arrives too late, and tells her that Jade was not responsible for her mother's death. Realizing that he never admitted to it, and Amun may not be lying, she dives into the water to save Jade, but he has already escaped.

Spider-Man/Araña: The Hunter Revealed
In this one-shot she discovers that her exoskeleton is not an ability from being a Hunter, and she has in fact never been a true Hunter. Upon discovering this, and being faced with a gigantic monster summoned by the Wasps, she grants her Hunter abilities to Nina and renounces Webcorps. During the fight Miguel is killed saving Nina from the wasps hunter. In the end, Nina becomes Webcorps' chosen champion, and Araña is free to pursue a new fate.

Civil War
The pro-registration heroes have tasked Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man to find Anya, convince her to register, and train her. After foiling an attempted robbery Anya and her father are taken into custody where Mr. Corazon learns of Anya's superpowers. He is proud to let her train with Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man. Anya's training will essentially comprise her accompanying Wonder Man and Ms. Marvel on missions and playing "sidekick" to them. Anya accompanies them to Stark Tower, where she forces herself into a meeting with Iron Man, and then on a mission to capture the Shroud and Arachne. Arachne escapes, but the Shroud is captured and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. A strike team led by Ms. Marvel and Wonder Man arrives at the home of Arachne's parents to take her into custody. After a battle between the heroes, Arachne is arrested and her daughter Rachel forcibly separated from her. Anya is deeply shaken by the ordeal and states that if being a hero means separating a mother from her child, she wants no part of it. However, she remains part of the pro-Registration strikeforce. Before a battle with Doomsday Man, Ms. Marvel asks Anya to go get help if she fails to make contact with her by a certain time. Eventually, Anya joins the battle, and Doomsday Man rips away her exoskeleton, severely injuring her. Although she eventually recovers, her exoskeleton is gone. Her father takes out a restraining order to keep Ms. Marvel away from her, although Anya secretly visits Ms. Marvel to tell her she is not to blame for what happened. Soon after, Anya quits her job, and is confronted by Arachne, who is enraged and demands to know the whereabouts of her daughter. Anya manages to subdue her, but chooses to accompany Ms. Marvel and Arachne in their attempt to find Arachne's daughter, even though that means violating the restraining order her father has placed against Ms. Marvel.

Anya gets into a fight with her father for treating her like a child after he accuses her of seeing Ms. Marvel. She tells him at least Carol is showing her how to grow up. She is later captured by Chilean soldiers, who deliver her to the Puppet Master; she is added to a collection of female heroes that includes Stature, Dusk, Tigra, and Silverclaw. During a battle with Ms. Marvel's team, Anya is partially subdued by Machine Man and Sleepwalker, and resists the Puppet Master's command that she kill Ms. Marvel, whom she sees as a mother figure.

Grim Hunt
During the Kravinoff family's hunt for "Spiders", Anya is targeted as a sacrifice. Spider-Man, Julia Carpenter, Madame Web, and Kaine come to her aid. Despite their help, Anya is knocked out by Ana Kravinoff, Alyosha Kravinoff, and Vladimir Kravinoff. Anya is captured along with Julia and Madame Web while Kaine (who was dressed as Spider-Man) is sacrificed as part of a ritual that resurrects Kraven the Hunter. Spider-Man manages to free them and she assists him in taking down the Kravinoffs. After the experience, Julia, who received the powers of Madame Web, decides to give Anya her old costume, despite the fact that Anya has no powers. She is referred to as Spider-Girl, much to her chagrin.

Young Allies
Araña was next seen teaming up with the new Nomad (Rikki Barnes) to investigate the Secret Empire. Although information Araña obtained from her father turned out to be a trap, the pair nonetheless bonded, and shared secret identities. Both she and Rikki join the superhero group Young Allies together.

Anya joins the superhero group Young Allies along with her friend Rikki Barnes despite being depowered. During the team's first storyline, Anya and Rikki are kidnapped by a team of teenaged supervillains known as the Bastards of Evil. The Bastards link up a video feed of the bound and gagged heroines across televisions, computers, and cell phones throughout New York City, with the intent of executing the girls in order to build up their reputations. After having the duct tape ripped from her mouth by Electro's daughter Aftershock, Anya cleverly divides the villains by informing them that Aftershock has lied about her parentage in order to get a spot on the Bastards. With their captors distracted, Anya and Rikki escape and ultimately defeat the Bastards once the rest of the Young Allies arrive.

Spider-Girl
Anya accepts the moniker "Spider-Girl" and begins operating solo, although she frequently interacts with her Young Allies teammates such as Rikki Barnes as well as Spider-Man and the Invisible Woman. When Anya's father is killed, she initially believes that Red Hulk is responsible and fights him. He eventually convinces her that he did not kill her father, but rather he was also a target of the assassination attempt that killed her father. She eventually is able to stop the organization that killed her father, and in the intervening time she fought Ana Kravinoff, the new Hobgoblin, and Screwball.

Later, the Young Allies and several members of the Avengers Academy are kidnapped by Arcade. Anya manages to escape, and works with Reptil to rescue the remaining captives. The two teens flirt with one another, and Anya ends up giving Reptil her phone number once Arcade is defeated.

During the Fear Itself storyline, Anya, X-23, Amadeus Cho, Power Man, and Thunderstrike are teleported to a station in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where they fight samurai Shark Men. Later, Anya and the Young Allies are almost beaten by Hydro-Man until Spider-Man shows up.

Spider-Island
During the Spider-Island storyline, she is attacked by The Sisterhood of the Wasp. She ends up getting an unlikely ally in the Hobgoblin who then flies her to see the Kingpin. When Spider-Girl asks why Kingpin wants her help, Kingpin reveals that he and his men have developed Spider Powers and ended up targeted by the Sisterhood of the Wasp. He tells Spider-Girl where he has found the location of the Central Wasp Nest. Spider-Girl refuses his help and tries enlisting the help of the Young Allies and other heroes, but they are too preoccupied with the outbreak of spider powers to help. The new Madame Web approaches Spider-Girl and tells her that for better or for worse, she has to team up with her enemy. As they battle against the Society of Wasps, their queen reveals that they have developed a venom to kill all spider-powered people in Manhattan. Spider-Girl, Hobgoblin, the Kingpin, and the Hand fight against the Society of Wasps until Spider-Girl realizes what Madam Web really meant by teaming up with her enemy. She gets everyone fighting the Wasps to temporarily assist the Wasps in fighting the spider invasion so the spiders cannot help the Queen. This allows Spider-Man and the Avengers to defeat her without being overrun by the spiders. In the aftermath of this, Anya regains her spider powers.

Avengers
Anya is part of the new class of students when the Avengers Academy moves to the former headquarters of the West Coast Avengers. During the Inhumanity crossover, Anya gets help from various Avengers (Spider-Woman, Black Widow, the Hulk, and Wolverine) when trying to track down her social studies teacher who was kidnapped while inside an Inhuman cocoon.

Spider-Verse
Spider-Girl joined Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and other spider totems from all over the multiverse to fight the Inheritors, who threatened to destroy every Spider from all realities in the event Spider-Verse. Her abilities were indispensable for the Spider-Army to discover the Inheritors' plan, as her powers and relationship with the Spider Society allowed her to read their scrolls.

After the Inheritors were defeated and exiled to an irradiated Earth, the spider totems proceeded to return to their respective reality. After the universe of Spider-UK was revealed to had been destroyed while he was fighting the Inheritors, he decided to stay in Loomworld, the former base of the Inheritors, and use the Web of Life and Destiny to reach out to any reality in need of a Spider-Man. Spider-Girl decided to join him in order to make use of her knowledge of the totems.

Secret Wars
During the Secret Wars event when all universes were destroyed and their remains formed a single planet called Battleworld, Anya Corazon and Spider-UK found themselves in the domain called Arachnia with no memories of how they got there. They eventually discovered and teamed up with other Spider-powered people (consisting of Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, and Spider-Man: India), neither of whom remembered their previous encounter during the original Spider-Verse.

Web Warriors
Following the conclusion of Secret Wars the team of six Spiders that formed during the event will rename itself and feature in a new ongoing series called Web Warriors, a name that was coined by Peter Parker from the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series during the original Spider-Verse.

As Araña
Araña originally possessed superhuman strength (able to lift three tons), speed, stamina, reflexes/reactions, agility, coordination, balance, and endurance. She had the ability to cling to walls, and to sprout a spider-like exoskeleton around her body which enhanced these abilities and protected her from damage. When her exoskeleton was ripped out by Doomsday Man, she retained her primary powers. Araña invented spider-like grappling hooks, which she uses to swing from buildings and as whip-like weapons, though she has found these to be harder to use since losing her abilities.

As Spider-Girl
In an interview with Newsarama, writer Paul Tobin stated that as Spider-Girl, the character initially lacks superpowers, but Tobin will be "staying away from having her feel crippled by any power loss; it is for sure on her mind, but Anya is a character that wants to focus on what she can do." Tobin revealed that she regains her powers in the "Spider-Island" storyline. Jackal copies Spider-Man's powers into the entire non-superhuman population of New York, including Anya. Anya submits to the mass cure, but retains her copy of Spider-Man's powers nonetheless.

Comics

 * A version of Anya Corazon exists in The Amazing Avengers. This version is introduced as Anya Corazon-Rogers, one of the grandchildren of Steve Rogers. She was five years old when the Avengers first banded together. Eight years later, Anya became Midtown High's most beloved cheerleader, nicknamed "Princess Marvel" to honor her heroine Captain Marvel.
 * Another version of the character is in Ultimate Marvel: Earth-2. This version is the Hulk and Scarlet Witch's 11-year-old adopted daughter who was raised as an infant after the Abomination's rampage resulted in the death of her parents. Anya soon became Meteorite after being exposed to the energies of an Asteroid shard which contained duplicated energy from her adoptive parents' powers, granting her the abilities of flight, increased physical strength, phasing and to absorb and redirect energy. She has been Meteorite at the same period Kamala Khan first became Ms. Marvel.

TV shows

 * Anya Corazon is a central character in Iago PUC's version of Marvel's Spider-Man, voiced by Melanie Minichino. As in the original show, she is a top student in Horizon High School and Gwen Stacy's best friend. She becomes Spider-Girl in episode Webs and Shields after she and Gwen are bitten by two radioactive spiders, discover Spider-Man's identity of Peter Parker and train under Black Widow's tutelage. She is also among the founding members of the Web Warriors (later renamed Champions).
 * Anya also appears as a recurring character in the series' spin-off web series Marvel's Ant-Girl, voiced again by Melanie Minichino. She plays a supportive role in the titular character's story, acting as a babysitter for Cassie Lang and also occasionally joining her ordeals with supervillains, such as helping Ant-Girl in protecting the Werefox from Rita DeMara / Yellowjacket II.
 * Anya is also a supporting character in the series' Hulu-exclusive Adult-oriented spin-off Marvel's Astonishing Thunderbolts, voiced again by Melanie Minichino. Like Ms. Marvel, she appears alongside Spider-Man and Nick Fury in certain encounters with the Thunderbolts, and is shown to be rather disgusted with most of the team members' violent actions. She also does not like hearing or saying curse words, but (according to Spider-Man) makes an exception when pushed to a breaking point.
 * Anya Corazon appears as a central character in Marvel's Spider-Man: Webbed Champion, voiced by Melanie Minichino. Her story is the same as in the original plot of Marvel's Spider-Man (which takes place after Season 1 and the first episodes of Season 2), on which she is a top student in Horizon High and is Gwen Stacy's best friend. In "On the Tiger's Claws", she is among Peter Parker's friends who admit awareness of his double life as Spider-Man and expressing support for it. Anya and Gwen also befriend Peter's girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, and learn of her secret nature as Tigra. Later, in the "City of Heroes" arc, she learns that she still has her Spider powers from the Man-Spider incident and uses them to become Spider-Girl. She and other teenage heroines (Mary Jane / Tigra, Liz Allan / Firestar, Michelle Jones / Wave and Gwen / Ghost-Spider) become the main focus of "What Girls Are Made Of" (the only episode where Peter / Spider-Man does not appear); Anya and Gwen are featured in the segment "Web of Shadows", where they team up with Cindy Moon / Silk to stop Madame Hydra, who had just ingested a serum based on Raymond Warren's Jackal formula and became the monstrous Viper and plans to collect the Jackal's mind-control researches, which she plans to use against Inhumans. In the "Family Business" arc, Anya is among Peter's friends who help him finish his parents' secret projects, and bring their persecutors (including Red Skull and Norman Osborn) to justice. She and Gwen are also brought to tears of joy after Peter is reunited with his long lost younger sister Teresa, who was at the time operating as Stormranger, and also welcome her in open arms. Later in episodes "Brand New Champions" and "Real Wild Initiation", Spider-Girl becomes one of the founding members of the Champions along with Spider-Man and the rest of his friends. Anya and Gwen also welcome Kamala Khan to Horizon High. In the "Legendary Universes" arc, she joins Spider-Man's journey across the dimensions his parents explored to obtain the source of their scientific projects and destroy the Oscorp protocols which were discarded before the Regent can collect them. She takes part of the trip in "Part 5: Of Spiders and Turtles", where she and the Spider-powered Champions team up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to stop a clan of ninjas mutated by the Jackal's Animal Formulas and solve the origins of the substance which created Mantis. She becomes primarily partnered with Donatello during the episode. Later in "Part 6: Ultimate Alliance", she is among the heroes joining the final battle against the Regent's army from the Negative Zone. During the battle, she and the genius heroes (BB-8, Miles "Tails" Prower, Ratchet and Donatello) break into Alchemax Labs to hack the control panels and shut the Negative Zone portal down.
 * Anya Corazon / Spider-Girl also appears in Avengers Unleashed, voiced by Kari Wahlgren.
 * Anya Corazon / Araña appears in Iago PUC's version of The Spectacular Spider-Man Season 3, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.
 * A version of Anya Corazon appears in Marvel: All New, All Different Chronicles, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. This version is reimagined as Anya Banner Corazon, and is the 12-year-old daughter of Bruce Banner / Hulk. She was 2 years old when her mother Sofia was killed by General Ross' mercenaries and her father's mind and consciousness was transferred to that of the Hulk's. She developed Spider-powers after being bitten by an advanced version of the lab spider which gave Spider-Man with his powers created by Norman Osborn in Oscorp for his plan to create a Spider-powered Super Soldier for the company. As in the comics, she also has organic webbing. Despite her superhero alias of Araña being public knowledge like her father's alias of the Hulk is, she is still accepted by citizens as a heroine. She is a junior student in S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy like other young heroes whose identities are public.

Films

 * Spider-Girl is in Marvel's Transformers: Assemble and Roll Out, voiced by Melanie Minichino. She along with her fellow Champions and other featured Marvel heroes team up with Optimus Prime and the Autobots to stop a war between their enemy factions and defeat Darkspine.
 * Anya Corazon / Spider-Girl appears in A Marvel Christmas Carol (set in the continuity of Marvel's Spider-Man: Webbed Champion), voiced again by Melanie Minichino. She first appears along with the Champions helping the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy defeat an Frost Giant army led by Ymir before setting out to prepare for F.E.A.S.T.'s Christmas party. Anya is shown with Gwen Stacy visiting Peter Parker's aunt May and helping her decide what Teresa might wear in the party. The girls are also shown overhearing from Mary Jane Watson about Vincent Dawson's condition while voicing disgust over Franklin Todd's poor treating of him. Her Spider-Girl form is later seen along with the superheroes in a Christmas Eve party held at the main F.E.A.S.T. Shelter during Peter's act as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Later, during Cloak's act as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and Dagger's second act as the "Soul Chain" and their show of an alternate future (which would occur had Todd not changed his ways), Anya is shown in an alternate future with Gwen, voicing little sympathy over Todd's death, and later comforting Vincent over his ill son Cody's death, claiming they will miss him too. Later in the end, Anya is shown exchanging gifts with her friends while pleased to hear Peter, Cassie Lang, Groot, Cloak and Dagger were successful in reforming Todd and giving the Dawson family a better chance to be happier.

Video Games

 * Anya appears in Marvel's The Avenging Spider-Man, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. In the game, she is Mary Jane Watson's 12-year-old surrogate sister whose parents were killed during an Oscorp lab accident and one of Kamala Khan's best friends along with Gwen Stacy, who are the only two of her friends aware of Kamala's secret life as Ms. Marvel (and also of Spider-Man's identity of Peter Parker). She appears as a supporting playable character in the main story, being playable in key moments of the game (like how Mary Jane and Miles Morales were in the previous game), and becomes playable in the DLC chapter "Webslinging Buddies" as Araña.
 * Anya Corazon / Spider-Girl is a playable character in Marvel/DC Heroes Unite!, voiced by Melanie Minichino.

Coolot1's ideas

 * A version of Anya Corazon is in Marvel's Red Falcon. This version is Anya Thorsdottir Corazon, and is the half human, half Asgardian daughter of Thor. She uses the superhero alias of Stormbreaker.
 * Anya appears in Coolot1's version of Marvel's Spider-Man, voiced by Melanie Minichino.

Joint ideas

 * Anya Corazon appears in Ms. Marvel and the Young Avengers, voiced by Melanie Minichino. While she still has ties with Carol Danvers as in the comics, this version adopts the alias of Spectrum (similarly to Monica Rambeau in the comics). She is also a close friend of Kamala Khan and Teresa Parker.