Live action TV
Description
Dokubarigumo is a mechanical synthetic kaijin from the 1973 film Kamen Rider V3 tai Destron Kaijin, as well as episodes 20 and 21 of the Kamen Rider V3 television series. This monster is a creation of Destron, an evil organization, and its design motif combines a spider with a syringe. Standing 165 centimeters tall and weighing 53 kilograms, Dokubarigumo originates from Gunma Prefecture. Its name is a portmanteau reflecting its nature, incorporating elements meaning poison, needle, and spider.
The character’s most defining feature is its right hand, which is a large syringe. This syringe contains a substance referred to as the Control Virus. By injecting this virus into a victim, Dokubarigumo can place that person completely under Destron’s control. This ability makes the monster a valuable asset for espionage, sabotage, and creating chaos from within enemy ranks. Reflecting its spider nature, Dokubarigumo possesses the ability to shapeshift, allowing it to disguise itself as an ordinary human or even transform into a small spider to spy on or ambush its targets. However, this form has a notable physical weakness: the syringe on its hand is fragile and can break if the monster moves too violently or recklessly. To counterbalance this, Dokubarigumo carries an antidote or serum in its right flank that can reverse the effects of the Control Virus.
In terms of personality and motivation, Dokubarigumo is portrayed as a cunning and strategic operative, which is typical for a Destron kaijin entrusted with complex objectives. Its primary mission is not simple destruction but the retrieval of blueprints for a device called the SS装置, or SS Device, which is crucial for Destron’s plan to occupy the Shikoku region. Alongside this mission, it is also tasked with the elimination of Kamen Rider V3, whose civilian identity is Kazami Shiro, as the Rider is the main obstacle to Destron’s ambitions.
The role Dokubarigumo plays in the story is that of a direct and persistent antagonist. Its plan unfolds in multiple stages. First, it attacks a scientist named Fukasawa Hideo who has escaped from Destron, injecting him with the Control Virus to turn him into a puppet. It then uses this scientist as bait to capture and inject the virus into Tachibana Tobei and his companions. These brainwashed individuals are later used to drug Kazami Shiro, allowing Dokubarigumo to inject him with the virus as well. This attempt fails because Shiro has a tolerance to the sleeping drug, and when he transforms into Kamen Rider V3, the transformation process nullifies the Control Virus’s effect. During the struggle, Dokubarigumo is tricked into stabbing its own syringe into itself, and V3 witnesses it using the serum, thus revealing both the monster’s location and the antidote’s weakness. Forced to retreat, Dokubarigumo later moves its operation to Kochi to activate the SS Device. After technical failures force it to bring in an engineer, it collaborates with another Destron kaijin, Guillotine Zaurus, in a final battle. The creature is ultimately destroyed by Kamen Rider V3’s finisher, the V3 Hanten Kick.
Dokubarigumo does not have a significant character arc or development; its role is strictly functional as a villain of the week. It maintains a professional relationship with its Destron superior, Doctor G, and fights alongside Guillotine Zaurus. Its narrative purpose is to demonstrate the cunning and insidious methods of Destron, contrasting direct physical assaults with psychological warfare and mind control. The defeat of Dokubarigumo is directly tied to the exposure of its weakness, showing that even a seemingly overwhelming power like mind control can be overcome through resilience and tactical observation.
The character’s most defining feature is its right hand, which is a large syringe. This syringe contains a substance referred to as the Control Virus. By injecting this virus into a victim, Dokubarigumo can place that person completely under Destron’s control. This ability makes the monster a valuable asset for espionage, sabotage, and creating chaos from within enemy ranks. Reflecting its spider nature, Dokubarigumo possesses the ability to shapeshift, allowing it to disguise itself as an ordinary human or even transform into a small spider to spy on or ambush its targets. However, this form has a notable physical weakness: the syringe on its hand is fragile and can break if the monster moves too violently or recklessly. To counterbalance this, Dokubarigumo carries an antidote or serum in its right flank that can reverse the effects of the Control Virus.
In terms of personality and motivation, Dokubarigumo is portrayed as a cunning and strategic operative, which is typical for a Destron kaijin entrusted with complex objectives. Its primary mission is not simple destruction but the retrieval of blueprints for a device called the SS装置, or SS Device, which is crucial for Destron’s plan to occupy the Shikoku region. Alongside this mission, it is also tasked with the elimination of Kamen Rider V3, whose civilian identity is Kazami Shiro, as the Rider is the main obstacle to Destron’s ambitions.
The role Dokubarigumo plays in the story is that of a direct and persistent antagonist. Its plan unfolds in multiple stages. First, it attacks a scientist named Fukasawa Hideo who has escaped from Destron, injecting him with the Control Virus to turn him into a puppet. It then uses this scientist as bait to capture and inject the virus into Tachibana Tobei and his companions. These brainwashed individuals are later used to drug Kazami Shiro, allowing Dokubarigumo to inject him with the virus as well. This attempt fails because Shiro has a tolerance to the sleeping drug, and when he transforms into Kamen Rider V3, the transformation process nullifies the Control Virus’s effect. During the struggle, Dokubarigumo is tricked into stabbing its own syringe into itself, and V3 witnesses it using the serum, thus revealing both the monster’s location and the antidote’s weakness. Forced to retreat, Dokubarigumo later moves its operation to Kochi to activate the SS Device. After technical failures force it to bring in an engineer, it collaborates with another Destron kaijin, Guillotine Zaurus, in a final battle. The creature is ultimately destroyed by Kamen Rider V3’s finisher, the V3 Hanten Kick.
Dokubarigumo does not have a significant character arc or development; its role is strictly functional as a villain of the week. It maintains a professional relationship with its Destron superior, Doctor G, and fights alongside Guillotine Zaurus. Its narrative purpose is to demonstrate the cunning and insidious methods of Destron, contrasting direct physical assaults with psychological warfare and mind control. The defeat of Dokubarigumo is directly tied to the exposure of its weakness, showing that even a seemingly overwhelming power like mind control can be overcome through resilience and tactical observation.