Francisco Lérida

> Have you seen the state my world is in? Corruption and evil everywhere! Only a few good people left! I'm not going to sacrifice their lives and leave my world absolutely defenseless.
>
> Francisco Lérida (Tarantula) to  Koba Soso (Winter Steel)

## Other Information

### Affiliation(s)

Mexico City Police
Dimensional Balance Corps
Watchdogs

**Francisco Lérida** is an ally and leader of the Dimensional Balance Corps. He is a street superhero known by the people as Tarantula.

## **History**

### Early Life

Francisco was born in Mexico City on 1993. His family was Anthrotherian, a race of human-animal hybrid. This made him one also. At age 6, Francisco began to developed his Anthrotherian powers: the power of a spider. He soon began crawling and walking on walls, and shooting webs from his wrists. Since his family was not wealthy, he had to be homeschooled to save money. This continued until he was 12, where he attended public school for the first time.

Throughout senior high school, he met Mariana Cruz, his classmate. The two became very close, and soon began dating. After graduating, Francisco's family held a celebration at home, but tragedy struck. During the celebration, an armed robber entered the house and shot and killed his parents when they tried to stop the robber. The police did everything they could to find the robber, but failed.

Seeing that the police couldn't find the robber, Francisco decided to enter the police academy and become a police officer himself. After harsh training, he eventually become a police officer at the age of 22. All this was a disguise, however, as Francisco's real plan was to use the police department's resources to help him become a superhero. With his Anthrotherian powers, he began fighting crime in his hometown, effectively dropping the crime rate. People began seeing him as a hero. After revealing his identity to Mariana, and vice versa, the two got married on 2016.

### Watchdogs

3 months since he first became a superhero, he was greeted by other Mexican vigilantes, inviting him to their team which they called Watchdogs. Francisco accepted, and with the combined resources of the police department and the Watchdogs' investigations, Francisco became an even more effective superhero.

### Multidimensional Threat Arc

One day Francisco encountered a Chaos Creature while trying to stop a bank heist. A battle between the unknown creature and Francisco ended in his victory. He told Mariana what happened, and she confirmed that a multidimensional threat is rising. In order to stop it, he and Mariana agreed to put together a team powerful enough to stop it.

## **Abilities**

**Unyielding Spirit**: Francisco rarely feels fear, feeling motivated and courageous instead.

**Martial Arts**: To compliment his agile fighting style, Francisco has taken classes on several martial arts.

**Sticky Skin**: Thanks to his Anthrotherian genes, Francisco can stick to almost any concrete surface.

**Web Shooters**: Francisco can fire webs from tiny holes on his wrists.

## **Equipment**

**Kevlar Suit**: Francisco's superhero suit is made from kevlar. This allows him to withstand gunshots to some degree.

## **Battles**

* Tarantula vs. Leyva (*victory*)
* Tarantula vs. Villalobos Brothers (*victory*)
* Watchdogs vs. Calibre 50 (*victory*)

## **Known Multidimensional Variants**

* Jodie Singleton (D-021)
* Jason Wright / Brown Recluse (D-222)
* Fanny Errata / Wolf Spider (D-346)