Arachnocid

Physical description
Gender	N/A
Hair color	None

Arachnocid art in the Prima strategy guide

Arachnocids are creatures of darkness that haunt Morton Manor's ceilings.

Involvement

Swarm of Arachnocid

Infesting the rotting roofs, sheltered tunnels, and darkest places of Shadow Island are a number of spider-like beings that have evolved into patient and deadly predators that silently dangle from ceilings. Growing up to three feet long, they share some arachnid traits with their earthly cousins. However, they tend to congregate in packs, have six legs instead of eight, and don’t use adhesive secretions to disable their foes. Instead, Arachnocides wait until their potential meal is directly beneath them, then drop down onto the victim’s head.

After they latch onto their prey, a large oral cavity opens to reveal thick tendrils used to strangle and incapacitate. Once the victim succumbs to this ambush, a disgusting and otherworldly display of gluttony takes place. However, if an attack misses, or the Arachnocid is shaken off, the pack quickly swarms and swipes at the victim’s feet with vicious pincers. Fortunately for those encountering the Arachnocid, they are easily eliminated with two or three well-aimed bullets or a single Shotgun blast. However, complacent adventurers can become overrun by these hungry abnormalities of the shadow world.

They are among the creatures of darkness that are unleashed by Alan onto Shadow Island and inhabit some parts of Morton Manor, including attic.

Strategy

The player must be careful when dealing with these creatures as they could catch unwary individuals off guard via ambush by latching themselves onto the face or attacking with tentacles if on the ground.

As the enemies are not strong, only a few shots from Carnby's Customized Revolver or Aline's Revolver can kill them.

Trivia

• They bear striking resemblance with the Headcrabs from Half-Life series and even attack by latching themselves on the target's head like the said alien lifeforms do. Unlike Headcrabs, however, they only latch themselves on a victims' head merely as an ambush attack instead of taking over their bodies.
• It is likely that these creatures were born out of a mother, the Arachnocid, a creature removed from the final game.
• In the game boy color version of the game, the sole antagonist, Alan Morton experimented with the statuette on various test subjects, including spiders.

The Arachnocid boss, whoich would have served as the Mother of the creatures

Gallery

Arachnocid artwork