THE MARVELOUS JADE-SPIDER

BEN Bushida / JADE-SPIDER

Following the vanishing of his older half-sister Akari before his birth, and getting bit by a radioactive spider at the age of 14, Ben Bushida swings around the streets of New York as the marvelous Jade-Spider, protecting the civilians of Earth-255's New York so that no one else suffers the same fate as his sister.

PROFILE

Name: BENJIRO "BEN" BUSHIDA
Age: 22
Birthdate: JANUARY 1ST, 2004
Height: 5´11
Occupation: SUPERHERO/VIGILANTE, COLLEGE STUDENT, MOVIE THEATER EMPLOYEE, VIDEO EDITOR
Sexuality: NEPTUNIC

POWERS

SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH
SUPERHUMAN SPEED
SUPERHUMAN REFLEXES
SUPERHUMAN AGILITY
SUPERHUMAN STAMINA
SUPERHUMAN DURABILITY
SUPERHUMAN EQUILIBRIUM
HEALING FACTOR
WALL-CRAWLING
SPIDER-SENSE
ORGANIC WEBBING GENERATION
CAMOUFLAGE/INVISIBILITY
BIO-ELECTROKINESIS
NIGHT VISION

ABILITIES

EXPERT MARTIAL ARTIST
PROFICIENT SWORDSMAN
EXPERT MARKSMAN
GIFTED COMBAT TACTICIAN
MASTER ACROBAT
LIMITED REPAIR SKILLS
BILANGUAL (ENGLISH, JAPANESE)
SKILLED PHOTOGRAPHER
GIFTED VIDEO EDITOR

JADE-SPIDER SUITS

CLASSIC SUIT

Gifted to Ben at the age of 14 by Janet van Dyne, created by the latter and
based off of the former's (commissioned) designs. Considered an iconic look.

STEALTH SUIT

Designed and manufactured by Peter Parker, this suit further enhances Ben's stealth capabilities with sound-absorbent gloves and boots, Spider-Tracers and Spider-Drones.

Art by dispensersoda (instagram), design by giuliazobeide (https://www.fiverr.com/giuliazobeide/draw-your-own-spidersona) and dispensersoda

UPGRADED SUIT

An upgraded version of the Classic Suit, boasting an updated design, built-in Web Wings, a heads-up display, and more. This is Ben's current suit, and also his favorite.

LEGACY SUIT

Designed by Ben and constructed on Earth-928B during his time at the Spider-Society, this suit features many designs from suits past, such as Web-Wings and a HUD - but in addition, it can also form four spider-arms from the back. Ben can channel his bio-electricity into these arms, and as a result can either enhance their strikes with bio-electricity or fire beams and blasts of bio-electricity. Also comes in white and black.

EQUIPMENT

WEB-SHOOTERS

Original design and construction by Peter Parker, later further improved by Phoebe Parker. While Ben has organic webbing and thus has no need for traditional web-shooters, he does have a different kind that can instantaneously specialize and modify his organic webs when fired, allowing him to fire gadgets such as Web Bombs and Trip Mines, or even create webbing constructs. Additionally, in the case that Ben runs dry on his organic webbing, they have a setting available for firing artificial webs. However, it is rarely used.

SPIDER-BOTS

Conceptualized by Ben and designed and manufactured by Peter Parker, Ben can control these little drones for a multitude of purposes, such as crawling around in spaces he otherwise can't and sneaking around. These bots can shoot webs, tase opponents, and are equipped with cameras for Ben to record footage. As such, he often secretly deploys them whenever he's fighting a more powerful enemy or supervillain, so that he can record the fight and thus rewatch the footage in order to analyze it, specifically to study his foes' fighting style and learn new techniques and attacks.

KATANA

Gifted to Ben by his older sister Akari on his 19th birthday, this blade was more so intended for show, but Ben has been known to bring it along for missions and operations involving the Hand. The actual usage of it is particularly rare, and even in the cases he does, he rarely uses it for offensive purposes and mostly uses it for defense.

HACKED SPIDER-SOCIETY WATCH/MULTIVERSAL GIZMO

Upon joining the Spider-Society in June 2023, Ben was issued a Multiversal Gizmo by Miguel O'Hara. However, following a disillusionment and falling out with the Spider-Society, Ben had his watch hacked by Phoebe Parker to remove its limitations and connections to the Spider-Society, thus allowing him to jump around the multiverse without being monitored, watched, or restrained.

PERSONALITY

Ben is known for his kind, upbeat, optimistic and confident demeanor, both in and out of costume. Befitting of a Spider-Man, he's quite a friendly and sociable person, never afraid to say hi and strike up a conversation if he so desires. He wears his heart on his sleeve, never one to hide his feelings, and much like other Spideys carries with him a sense of humor - often prone to having a few goofy or silly moments, and of course, quipping as Jade-Spider.Alongside his kindness, one of Ben's key traits is his unwavering selflessness. Whether he's in or out of his suit, Ben is always looking out for others, whether it be those around him or the citizens of New York. His most central reason for being Jade-Spider boils down to the kidnapping and vanishing of his older half-sister Akari before he was even born; her absence was felt throughout his life, and he often lamented not only what happened to her, but also the fact that he never knew her growing up, and how much it changed and affected his family. Thus, Ben became Jade-Spider so that he could protect the streets and keep his city safe, so that no one else would suffer his sister's fate, and so that no one else would have to suffer through bereavement and how it can change a family. In addition, befitting of his title as a Spider-Man, Ben has a very strong sense of justice, having developed one from a young age ever since he learned of what happened to his sister. He carries a strong desire to help people out, whether it be those around him, or the countless other citizens of New York.Ben is on the autism spectrum. Symptoms include some social difficulties (while generally very friendly and sociable, he does find it quite easier to get along with people with similar interests, hobbies or fields of work to him), taking some things and statements literally, infodumping about interests, and a very keen and intense interest within certain subjects. In this case, Ben's special interest (which by itself can be another defining trait of his) is the love for the color green, and all things green - green hair, green foods, green fictional characters, green objects, etc. If it's green, Ben will almost certainly take an intense interest in it.Ben is honest, as he values honesty and communication - but sometimes he can be honest to a fault. He is noted to not be very good at lying, and as such this causes difficulties for him whenever he needs to keep his identity a secret. As a result, most of his lies are either half-truths or are rehearsed beforehand whenever asked for an excuse. Otherwise, he protects his identity by never mentioning anything that can possibly incriminate him - because if more questions arise, he'll have a hard time keeping a story going.He also has a bit of a workaholism streak - whenever a highly dangerous, huge, or deeply personal threat comes along, his sense of work-life balance starts to fade away, neglecting and pushing away everything else, instead prioritizing Jade-Spider and eliminating the threat as soon as possible and however he can to the point where it affects his own life, such as his grades and GPA slipping, or losing freelance gigs he was hired for.As is the case with every spider, hidden under the mask is of course a lot of pain that he has suffered as a result of being Jade-Spider. As such, he has a big tendency to live in the past and frequently dwell over past mistakes, often finding great difficulty or in some cases almost impossible to move on from certain incidents or failures, most notably the deaths of his loved ones over the course of his career as a vigilante. This has previously caused him to be overprotective of those closest to him, even if they have otherwise proved to be able to protect themselves - sometimes even outright pushing them away in what he believed was an effort to keep them safe. However, though he still worries and fears for the worst outcomes whenever a loved one or a close ally joins him in a particularly daunting task, fight, or campaign, he has since addressed this overprotectiveness and overcome it, no longer letting his fears consume him and cloud his judgement.Despite all that he has been through, much like other spiders, he continues to rise up to the task of being a Spider-Man, suiting up and swinging out to protect his city, all with a smile on his face as he hopes to be able to make a difference - which many would argue that he already has.

BIO

BACKGROUND

Ben's story began before he was even born, dating all the way back to the 90s in Japan. It begins with private eye Junshi Bushida, one of the finest detectives in Tokyo. Throughout the 90s, she has been investigating a series of crimes. It was initially believed to have been tied to the yakuza, however the culprits were later revealed to have been the Hand - a power-hungry, cult-like ninja clan with global reach.In the mid-to-late 90s, Junshi found love, marrying Nagi Kaneko, and on December 29th, 1998, she had her first child: Akari Bushida. For two years, Junshi worked hard to raise her daughter and expose the Hand's crimes. In 2001, Junshi successfully carried out a major investigation into one of the Hand's major operations. It was overall a major blow to the Hand's secrecy and income, and as such, they officially considered her a threat - and had to be dealt with as one. Thus, shortly after the fallout of the investigation, the Hand launched an assassination attempt on Junshi and her family, aiming to kill her and Nagi, and kidnap Akari and raise her as a soldier of the Hand. Junshi and Akari both survived, but Nagi fell victim to the Hand's blades and was murdered.Junshi knew that the Hand would most likely continue to come after her, and as a result both believed and feared that she may be unable to protect her daughter. And as a private detective, knowing she would make many powerful enemies, kept her close family a tightly guarded secret. Thus, she sent Akari off to live with her aunt, Yurina, in the hopes that she would be able to keep her safe.Junshi fled to the United States to keep Hand's pursuers away from Akari. From there, she continued her investigations - which is how she would also stumble upon SHIELD agent Cade Chrysler, who would attempt to help her with her investigations however he could. Eventually, she would fall in love with Cade, and eventually marry him. 2 years after Junshi left Akari with Yurina, Ben was conceived - she felt ready and safe enough to give parenting a second shot, and was preparing to go back to Japan so she could pick her daughter up and not only continue raising her, but also introduce her to her baby brother. But it was not to last - the Hand caught wind of Junshi's plans and learned of Yurina's existence, and thus, just before Junshi could leave for Japan, the Hand struck and kidnapped 4-year old Akari. A massive investigation was launched, but Akari and the Hand was nowhere to be found - she had vanished. The fallout from the kidnapping and subsequent failure to find Akari was severe - Junshi and Yurina's previously tight bond was severely weakened overnight, becoming much more strained and tense, and both sisters were never the same after.Following the aftermath, Junshi joined SHIELD in exchange for resources and intel she could use to find her daughter, and Yurina, though blaming herself for not being able to protect Akari, also moved to the United States so that she could keep a closer eye on her nephew.

ORIGINS

Ben himself was eventually born on Janaury 1st, 2004. He lived a mostly normal life, developing interests in video games, movies, content creation, filmmaking and photography, and perhaps most of all, the color green. However, throughout his childhood, the loss of Akari hanged over his - and the rest of his family's heads. With the absence of his sibling, Ben felt like something incredibly important was missing - though he never got to know Akari, ever since he learned of her story and fate, Ben always expressed a profound desire and wish to have gotten to know her, and mourned not only that he never got the chance to do so, but also her as a whole - especially punctuated when he heard tales of how close his mother and aunt were previously, before his sister's disappearance.One day, though, in May 2018, Ben's life would be irreversibly changed. During a school field trip to Bannertech Industries, Dr. Bruce Banner showcased his soon-to-be-completed Gamma Reactor (the same one that transformed Banner into the Incredible Hulk years prior), as well as some experimental radioactive spiders that he had been researching - during the accident that created the Hulk, a spider was observed to have survived the blast as well, becoming irradiated with gamma. As such, Banner had been recreating the accident with the spiders in hopes of trying to develop a cure. However, the field trip was cut short when one of the spiders was discovered to have escaped, and the students were evacuated. Unbeknownst to Ben or Dr. Banner, the spider had crawled its way into Ben's jacket - and shortly after leaving Bannertech, the spider bit him. As a result, Ben would develop strange new abilities overnight - superhuman physiology, the ability to stick to and crawl on walls, a sixth sense warning him of danger, the ability to fire webs from his wrists, night vision, bio-electricity generation, and the ability to turn virtually invisible by camouflaging.Initially, Ben was scared - he was unsure of what to do with his powers, or how to handle them. However, with his sister's abduction in mind, wanting to make a difference and wanting to be more like the heroes he grew up watching on TV, such as Green Lantern, Batman and the Ninja Turtles, Ben resolved to use his powers for good - to help the people of New York and make the streets safer, and so he could prevent others from suffering his sister's fate, as well as make sure no one else would have to suffer through bereavement and how it could change a family, like it changed his. Thus, he put together a homemade suit, and thus, New York's one and only Jade-Spider was born.Though he was still rather green when it came to heroics, Ben had already starting putting an extensive amount of effort into his Jade-Spider persona - most notably attempting to design his own proper superhero suit. However, he didn't get very far due to not being very good at drawing - so instead, he would anonymously commission his much more artistic classmate Miles Morales to bring his vision and ideas for a suit to life. Jade-Spider's heroics caught the attention of the city, both from media outlets like the Daily Bugle, corporations like Oscorp, and other superheroes - most notably, Dr. Banner, who had deduced that Ben's powers had come as a result of the radioactive spider that escaped. Initially, Banner attempted to talk Ben out of the crime-fighting and superhero life, warning him of the dangers that would come with it. Despite this, however, Ben still wanted to commit to being Jade-Spider, wishing to make a difference, as well as cope with the void left by his missing sister and the effects it had on his family. Realizing that he couldn't talk Ben out of his desire, Bruce instead resolved to at least guide Ben through his exploits, becoming an advisor and the closest thing he had to a mentor. In addition, Bruce contacted Janet van Dyne, asking her to pay Jade-Spider a visit and create a new suit for him. Once Janet managed to get in touch with him, Ben submitted the commissioned design (and also made sure Miles would get proper compensation for it) - and a few days later, Janet gave him the suit, with the very same design Miles had drawn and brought to life based off Ben's ideas and vision. Now having a proper suit, he graciously accepted it, and he has been protecting New York ever since.In the years that have sinced passed, Ben has suffered through much - including the loss of his aunt, his parents, his best friend, and countless other hardships. But he has also experienced good things, too - like finding love, and most notably, finally finding and reuniting with his sister (who's an insanely cool ninja vigilante now, known as the Ronin). No matter what has happened to him, he has always risen back up to the challenge and carried on to protect his city from harm and evildoers - and will continue to do so for ages to come.

IF YOU WISH TO READ MORE ABOUT BEN'S COMPLETE HISTORY, AN EXPANDED HISTORY PAGE IS IN THE WORKS!

EARTH-255

Earth-255's New York City differs from most other dimensions in quite a clear way: namely its status as a green city that has successfully created a harmonious co-existence between humans and nature, creating a eco-friendly/urban-solarpunk aesthetic and mixing together urban and green lifestyles to make New York City not only the greenest city in America, but also one of the greenest cities in the world - and a much greener city than most New Yorks out in the multiverse. It's characterized by several key traits: green buildings, infrastructure and architecture everywhere, with most (if not every) building in the city incorporating and integrating greenery in some way (such as in the form of green walls/vertical gardens), more car-free streets and pedestrian-friendly zones, with several streets having been replaced with outdoor spaces, and a greater focus on public transport; in addition to buses and the subway, New York also has its very own tram system for every borough. And to top it all off, a majority of the city runs on sustainable energy, such as hydropower from the Hudson River, and wind power from wind turbines/an offshore wind farm.

New York's massive transformation can be owed largely to this universe's Future Foundation, an organization dedicated to better serving humanity's future founded by Reed Richards in the early-to-mid 1960s - with the Fantastic Four having been founded and debuting at the very start of the decade (1960). In the buildup leading to and during the very first Earth Day protests of 1970, the Foundation lobbied for an eco-friendly transformation for the city, with several propositions being made in an attempt to show the world that blending together green lifestyles and urban lifestyles was possible.

In addition to this, the Earth Day protests left a bigger impact than they did in most universes - within no time, multiple states began taking more initiatives for green building and infrastructure, such as tax credits, mandates for water and energy consumption, and mandates for new construction projects to include a public green space equal to any greenery removed for construction, with New York being most notable amongst them. The new initiatives introduced, coupled together with the Future Foundation's lobbying, led the city's mayor to announce a green transformation of the street surrounding the Flatiron building (pictured below), turning it into a pedestrian-friendly green space - with surrounding buildings, including the Flatiron, integrating greenery and planting more trees around the area. The transformation essentially served as a test drive for the Foundation's vision for the future.

Image credit: https://www.watg.com/green-block-flatiron-a-vision-for-a-new-new-york-city/

The transformation was incredibly well-received, and Flatiron became a popular new spot for citizens and tourists alike. The makeover provided more space for exercise and leisure for pedestrians, with walkers and cyclists taking full advantage of it, and local businesses such as shops and restaurants thrived as a result of the increase in people stopping by the Flatiron (which led to them, too, beginning to take a more green approach in their business, such as using and selling green products, outdoor dining and shoppping, etcetera). As a result of the reception, the mayor embraced the Future Foundation's proposal for New York and announced plans for a citywide transformation.

New York City then spent the next two decades transforming into the United States' green capital. By the mid-70s, construction had begun - new buildings were mandated to add either green roofs or a solar photovoltaic system, while existing buildings were adapted to match the newer buildings as well, with practically every roof in New York incorporating a sustainable roof. In addition, most buildings also began incorporating greenery and plants, with several adding vertical gardens/green walls. Multiple streets were redesigned and transformed, adding more pedestrian-friendly zones and green spaces, as well as putting an even larger emphasis on public transportation. A brand new tram system was designed, and construction was quick to begin.

One of the citywide makeover's most notable changes was the transformation of Central Park into Central Garden, as part of the makeover included enhancing the existing greenery and nature present in the city. The existing plant life in the park was conserved, however more plants were planted all across the garden, such as trees, orchids and flowers - in addition, large conservatories and greenhouses were built, housing countless species of plants from all across the world. Central Garden has since become a highly popular spot in the city.

The city also began integrating wind power, with an offshore wind farm beginning planning and construction after NASA began to develop wind turbines. Hydropower was also integrated, using water from the Hudson River. With combined solar power, hydropower and windpower, a sizable portion of New York's energy supply became renewable. By the 1990s, the city had completed its transformation, becoming a vision and ideal for other cities worldwide to strive for in terms of sustainable urbanism, and even today, the city continues to look for further solutions to improve and continue its work.

ART STYLE

As a dimension in the Spider-Verse, Earth-255, much like others, has its own distinct art style and design to help separate it from other universes; and in this case, Earth-255 sports a line-and-wash style.

Image credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/CApTKPbnuRZ/?utmsource=igembed

As such, it sports similar elements to that of Earth-65, Spider-Gwen's dimension: most notably a watercolor aesthetic. However, it also contains some differences that separate it from Stacy's universe: first and foremost, unlike 65, 255 does not have a mood ring aspect, and as such, New York does not change colors in accordance to Ben's current mood. Instead, it features naturalistic colors as opposed to abstract ones and an overall more washed out appearance. Another key difference between 255 and 65's artstyle is its added focus on outlines - thus making it more than just watercolor, and earning the label of line-and-wash.

Image credit: https://dougjacksonartwork.com/what-is-line-and-wash.html#/

Though there is no mood ring aspect for the New York of Earth-255, it still has a unique trait similar to that of Earth-65 - though it cannot be perceived by dimensional natives, the color of the city's street lights and skyscraper lights during night turn green. The phenomenon isn't detected or noticed by dimensional natives such as Ben himself, but it is a trait that further helps drive home the "green" aesthetic, as well as serve as a semi-representation of sorts of what Ben sees in the dark thanks to his night vision.