Kwaku Anansi (Earth-616)

Anansi
Name	Kwaku Anansi
Current Alias	Anansi
Aliases	A. Nancy, The Spider-God, Ananasi, The Spider, Nanzi (Lesser Antilles name), Great Weaver
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	West African Gods, Council of Godheads, Spider-Totems
Relatives	Buluku (father); Gaea/Nana (mother); Lusa (brother); Mawu (sister); Avlekete, Ezili (nieces); Eschu, Legba, Ogun, Damballah, Sagbata (nephews); numerous others
Marital Status	Married, <sup, [[:Category:Marital Status Needing Correction|Marvel, [[:Category:Marital Status Needing Correction|
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	5′10″ (1.78 m)
Weight	250 lbs (113.4 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Brown
Hair	Black
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Vodū
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Lake Bosumtwi (modern-day Ghana)
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	Orun
Occupation	God of wisdom, trickery and culture
Education	Extensively self-educated
Base of Operations	Orun
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, J. Michael Straczynski, John Romita Jr.
First	Thor #398 (December, 1988) (first seen)Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #48 (February, 2003) (identified)
First	Thor #398 (December, 1988) (first seen)Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #48 (February, 2003) (identified)

History

Anansi is one of the Vodū, a race of extra-dimensional beings still worshiped as gods by the tribes of Africa and by modern-day practitioners of Alton tradition.

According to Ezekiel Sims and the Ashanti tribe in Ghana, Anansi was the first Spider-Man, using his spider-powers to traverse Africa and see all there was to see. Desiring further enlightenment, Anansi struck a bargain with the sky god Nyame, offering his eternal service in return for enlightenment and vanished from the mortal world, his power and knowledge transmitted into spiders everywhere across a Great Web.

Anansi's temple in Ghana was used by Spider-Man to defeat the totemic wasp entity Shathra, and was later the site of a duel between Ezekiel Sims and Peter Parker in order to appease the totemic spider deity called the Gatekeeper.

Spider-Island

One day Anansi, disguised as pest specialist A. Nancy, visited the bar & grill that Hercules worked at. They talked for awhile -- about Nancy's blind dog Coltrane and his job. Without revealing his true name Nancy even told Herc about how Anansi once tricked Nyambe into telling Anansi all his stories.

Hercules later helped Nancy to sneak into Arachne's apartment so he could steal Arachne's Tapestry. Once outside Nancy was attacked by Elektra, who immediately stole the tapestry, but spared Nancy's life even though Baba Yaga told her to kill him.

Powers and Abilities

Power Grid

Powers

Anansi possesses the conventional attributes of the African gods. He can also tap into and manipulate ambient magical energies for a variety of effects, including shapeshifting.

Notes

• Anansi is also the name of the arachnoid race that was part of the Originators, group of species that inhabited Wakanda before humans and was expelled by humans and Gods of Wakanda, apparently there is no relationship between Kwaku Anansi and that race.

See Also

• 10 appearance(s) of Kwaku Anansi (Earth-616)
• 5 mention(s) of Kwaku Anansi (Earth-616)
• 3 image(s) of Kwaku Anansi (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Anansi at the Guide to the Mythological Universe
• Anansi at the Appendix to the Marvel Universe

Footnotes

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