Spider

"Good card, eh?"

- Spider's victory line

Spider (スパイダー) was introduced as an ally in Mega Man X: Command Mission. He uses playing cards as weapons and has a high rate of evasion. He apparently was somewhat well-known in Giga City before the game took place, as at least one resident seems to know him.

Spider first appears in Chapter Two, when he is hired by Wild Jango to seek out and assassinate X. When he finds X, he engages him in combat but is defeated. Not to be deterred, he returns not long after for a second strike, this time easily getting the upper hand. However, upon seeing the crest of his former comrade Aile in X's possession, he decides to join X and fight against his employer instead of for him.

He stays with the party until X and the others are trapped by Incentas, when Spider "sacrifices himself" to allow the others escape. In the final chapter, he reveals himself as being both Spider and the Far East Maverick Hunter general in charge of the unit at Giga City, Colonel Redips, before using the Supra-Force Metal which he'd already obtained from X to take on an entirely new godlike form. Like Axl, Spider, or at least Redips, has a copy chip, and can assume multiple forms. This is how he carries on the masquerade of himself as both Spider and Redips as he motions towards the Supra-Force Metal.

Speculation & Trivia

 * There is wide speculation as to who was the real character of the two between Spider and Redips, as well as when and how he came to be able to achieve both bodies. One quite popular theory is that the real Spider had joined the group and shortly afterwards was secretly murdered by Redips, who used his Chameleon Chip to assume the form of Spider afterwards. Proponents of this theory point to the dialogue scene which came after the group succeeded in rescuing Professor Gaudile and Cinnamon, noting that X had commented on Spider's long absence as soon as he entered.

Moreover, following Epsilon's defeat, as X heads over to the base heliport to await transportation back home, Marino tells him that she researched the chameleon ability and found out that a long time ago, Spider was at a place that researched copy abilities. All of these new factors hint to the idea that whatever happened to cause Spider and Redips to be one and the same occurred long before Command Mission events.
 * However, within the same dialogue scene, almost immediately before Spider entered the room, a transmission with Redips had suddenly lost the feed. Also, it was never specifically stated just how long Spider had been gone for, and it should be noted that his questioner, X, had just heard that Zero had indeed survived an attack at Lagrano Ruins. In addition, Spider had already started complaining about taking commands from R, hinting towards being more comfortable being the one in charge, and talking about having "goals of [his] own", back when he and X first entered Tianna Camp to free Resistance POWs - the very first order of business shortly after teaming with X and reclaiming Central Tower for the Resistance.
 * Interestingly enough, it was implied in the final chapter of the game that the Wild Jango who Spider saved X from and helped him to defeat in New Hope might have actually been Redips in disguise, which if true would make Spider having been Redips through all of the events shown in-game impossible. (See the Colonel Redips article for the point-counterpoint on that theory.)
 * It seems as if the two forms have separate personalities, as although both (or at least the real host's portrayal of both) are evil, Spider is clever and suave while Redips goes from prudent and decisive to insane and power-obsessed. Of course, this is mere speculation and cannot be confirmed.
 * A sub-mystery also surrounding the identity of Spider and Redips is as to whether Spider really knew Aile, or just simply fabricated the story of being his past bounty hunting partner to earn X's trust in order to join his faction. On one hand, Spider's turn from Rebellion mercenary to Resistance soldier upon seeing Aile's ID seems to indicate some level of camaraderie. On the other hand, he would later betray the very movement that Aile gave his life for simply to advance his own goals of ultimate power. Depending on when and how Spider and Redips became one and who is the true person of the two, either conclusion (or perhaps even both) is entirely possible.
 * One theory on this is that Redips had built Spider during the pre-game story events and thus had the ability to become him. Spider could have escaped and became a bounty hunter with Aile, and then became a solo bounty hunter later before joining up with X. Following Spider's death, Redips could now be the only Spider. This is also unconfirmed speculation.
 * Redips is Spider spelled backwards. In the instruction booklet, Redips' name is spelled "Rideps" in all instances, perhaps to hide the otherwise obvious connection from being deduced by merely reading the book.
 * Interestingly, despite the fact that Spider/Redips was the one who murdered Botos in Chapter 8, he doesn't see him in Chapter 10 as he did with the Rebellion Army members the Resistance defeated with him in tow (perhaps for that reason alone). Shadow was also exempt from duplication, probably because Spider had fully earned Zero's trust specifically by intercepting and destroying him. By logic, either duplication would have resulted in a clue that could have compromised his plan a bit too soon for his convenience.