Green Goblin
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The Green Goblin is a Marvel Comics supervillain , and arch enemy of Spider-Man.Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964).
The first, current, and best-known Green Goblin is the alter ego of industrialist Norman Osborn. A serum that granted Osborn superhuman strength also drove him insane. Osborn dresses in a garish green and purple goblin costume and uses an arsenal of high-tech weapons, notably grenade-like "pumpkin bombs" and a flying "goblin glider" to terrorize New York City. Ironically, his troubled son Harry was a close friend of Peter Parker, who is secretly Spider-Man. Having much impact in Spider-Man's life, the Green Goblin became his greatest enemy.
In a landmark 1973 storyline, the Green Goblin murdered Peter’s girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, and was apparently killed in the ensuing battle after his glider malfunctioned. Osborn was believed dead for several years (Probably longer than any other major comic-book villain), during which several other characters assumed the title, most notably his son Harry, who died in the role.
The Hobgoblin is another character who imitated the Green Goblin and used his equipment. Norman Osborn was revealed alive in the late 1990s and resumed his role as the Goblin. Recently, he was exposed, arrested, and convicted for his crimes.
The Green Goblin also appeared in several Spider-Man animated series throughout the years and, more notably, in the 2002 Spider-Man film, in which he was played by Willem Dafoe. He is without doubt, Spiderman's most recognisable foe and is widely regarded to be his arch enemy, partly given his similarity to The Joker.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
The original Goblin was Norman Osborn, the son of industrialist Amberson Osborn. Although he was a brilliant student in the fields of science, his alcoholic father had lost control of his company, and turned on his family. Traumatized, the young Osborn killed the family dog, considering it another mouth to feed. In college, he met his sweetheart Emily, got married, and eventually had a son, Harry. In his adulthood, he co-founded a major firm with Dr. Mendel Stromm. Osborn found Stromm had been embezzling from the company and then searched his possessions, discovering an experimental strength/intelligence enhancement formula. While he was researching his work, Emily became ill and died. This tragedy pushed Osborn to work harder, and he barely had time for Harry. Unbeknownst to Norman, Harry had tampered with the formula beforehand, so when Osborn attempted to create the serum, it turned green and exploded in his face. The accident greatly increased his intelligence and strength, but also drove him insane.
Osborn adopted the bizarre identity of the Green Goblin, based off a monster he had feared at childhood, with the goal of becoming the boss of the city's organized crime. He intended to cement his position in the city by defeating Spider-Man in order to enhance his reputation. To this end, he created a personal flying device, which started in a broomstick-like shape and evolved into his Goblin Glider, and hand grenade-like explosive weapons resembling pumpkins, sharp shuriken-like Razor-Bats and gloves which fired energy blasts from the finger tips. Thus equipped, the Green Goblin set out to achieve his twin goals, only to be frustrated at every turn by Spider-Man.
Frustrated, the Goblin decided to lie low until he was sure his enemy's guard was down. When he was ready, he arranged to have Spider-Man exposed to a special gas designed to suppress his spider sense. With that done, Goblin shadowed him until he learned he was really Peter Parker, and then captured him. In turn, Osborn revealed his own identity to Peter and ranted about his origin and his intentions of killing his greatest enemy, before releasing Peter to do battle. Peter defeated Osborn, who lost his memory and had his costume destroyed by Spider-Man to eliminate his menace.
For a long while, the Goblin personality periodically re-emerged in Osborn to bedevil Spider-Man, only to be forced down in turn when he was defeated. Finally, the Goblin took control one final time and threatened the love of Spider-Man's life, Gwen Stacy, by kidnapping her and taking her to the top of a bridge in New York City. During the resulting battle, the Goblin committed one of his most brutal crimes: pushing Gwen from the bridge. Spider-Man's attempt to save her failed. With blood in his eyes, Spider-Man pursued the Green Goblin for revenge, but managed to control himself after defeating him in battle. In one final attempt to kill him, the Goblin tried to spear Spider-Man with his remote control glider, only to be himself impaled by the glider's sharp points when Spider-Man avoided the attack. The Goblin was presumed dead for years.
[edit] Other Goblins
While Norman was assumed to be dead, several villains and one hero took up the mantle of the Green Goblin.
[edit] Nels Van Adder
Before Norman Osborn became the Green Goblin, he tested Stromm's serum on an Oscorp employee named Nels Van Adder. The serum had an adverse effect on him, he was mutated into a demon-like creature called the Prototype Goblin or Proto-Goblin for short. Adder constantly harassed and attacked Osborn until he was shot dead by detectives and his body fell into a nearby river.
[edit] Harry Osborn
Harry, Norman's son, became the 2nd Green Goblin. After being defeated and placed under the care of Dr. Bart Hamilton, Harry while under hypnosis revealed many Goblin secrets and Hamilton decided to become the 3rd Green Goblin. Harry recovered, and fought Hamilton, until an explosion rendered Harry amnesiac of his time as the Goblin and killed Hamilton. Years later Harry's memories returned and he used a new stronger Goblin serum to augment his power, but died from it.
[edit] Bart Hamilton
Before his death, Harry was put under the medical care of Dr. Barton "Bart" Hamilton who managed to make Harry bury his vendetta and identity as the Goblin in his subconscious. Unfortunately, Dr. Hamilton wanted to use Harry's secrets to become the third Green Goblin. Eventually, the underpowered amateur was confronted by Harry Osborn who had resumed the Goblin identity to stop him. They battled and Hamilton was killed by a bomb meant for Spider-Man and Harry became amnesiac. Years later there was speculation that Hamilton was the Hobgoblin but this was disproven.
[edit] Hobgoblin
Roderick Kingsley, a fashion designer, finds information that leads him to one of Norman's many abandoned Goblin caches, full of equipment that he alters and takes up the mantle of the Hobgoblin, looking to become an Underworld leader. He resorts to brainwashing and framing Ned Leeds, a friend of Spider-Man's. He goes into hiding, and another Hobgoblin comes forth. This one is killed by Kingsley years later.
[edit] Phil Urich
Harry's insanity relapsed and he became the Green Goblin again on numerous occasions, until he died from the side effects of a modified Goblin serum. His equipment and the identity of the Green Goblin was then briefly used by Philip Benjamin "Phil" Urich (nephew of Ben Urich of the Daily Bugle), who tried to gain a reputation as a superhero, although he sometimes was seen as being as maniacal as his villainous predecessors. When his equipment was damaged during a battle against a Sentinel in the Onslaught Crossover, Phil was unable to repair or replace it and the fourth Green Goblin thereafter retired. He would later form the team Excelsior. In the MC2 alternate future, he resumes his career as the Green Goblin (see below).
[edit] The Return of Norman Osborn
It was revealed much later that Norman Osborn was still alive and had been manipulating the events of the Clone Saga behind the scenes. For a while, a genetic construct that had once been a human being acted as the fifth Green Goblin following Norman's orders, so that he would not be suspected (despite having admitted in public that he was Norman Osborn, and while wearing the costume). He also bought the Daily Bugle so that he could control and edit out any bad publicity, such as the frequent editorials by Ben Urich. During a period when Norman was driven mad (when a mystic ceremony that he participated in went wrong), the genetic construct sought out Osborn's original formula to stabilize itself and discover who it truly was. But it was too late, and in front of Spider-Man's eyes, it melted into a puddle of goo and died. (The construct was originally intended by Glenn Greenberg to reveal the stand-in Goblin to be Phil Urich as revenge by Norman for using the gear in the first place but was subsequently vetoed by then Editor-in-Chief, Bob Harras.[1][2])
[edit] The Goblin's Heir
After the fifth Goblin died, the Green Goblin developed a new plan for Spider-Man—he wanted Parker to become his new heir. His first move in this game was drugging Parker into flying around in the Goblin's costume and attacking his friends. Norman then took Peter to the old Osborn estate to try to convince him to take up Norman's mantle on his own free will.
After days of physical and psychological torture, Peter cracked under the stress, but still refused Norman at the last minute. Norman's next plan involved using a drunk Flash Thompson to drive a truck into Midtown High School, where Peter worked. The accident caused Flash to suffer major brain damage and enraged Peter enough to decide to finish his feud with Norman once and for all. At the end of the fight, which took place in one of Norman's chemical plants, Spider-Man came close to killing the Goblin, but relented at the last second. Peter told Norman that if he gives into his hatred for the Goblin, the last piece of Gwen would die, and that he did not need to kill Norman anyway, as simply beating him was punishment enough. Parker left, telling Norman that he was tired of fighting him, and declared a truce.
[edit] Exposed
The Green Goblin's true identity was revealed to the public by a dedicated investigation by the Daily Bugle after he murdered one of their reporters. After a battle with Spider-Man and Luke Cage that spanned the length of Manhattan, he was arrested and sent to prison for the first time in the character's 40-year history.
As could be expected, however, Osborn did not stay in prison for long. Even behind bars, Osborn masterminded a plot to get Spider-Man himself to help him escape, which the web-slinger ultimately did, as payment for releasing Aunt May from a kidnapper on Osborn's pay - Mac Gargan, The Scorpion, a promise that Osborn later broke. Spider-Man battled with the Sinister Twelve, a group of his greatest enemies led by Osborn as the Green Goblin, who revealed that he had a hand in financing many of these villains' origins.
The Goblin slipped away in the heat of the battle and abducted Mary Jane Watson, taking her to the George Washington Bridge, but Spider-Man was able to rescue her. The Green Goblin then found himself grappling with a deranged Doctor Octopus, still drugged from being held in police custody. A bolt of lightning sent the two villains plunging into the river. Doctor Octopus was eventually recovered alive and well, and Peter later received a letter from Osborn, mailed before the fight.
[edit] Sins Past
It was recently revealed in a controversial storyline that, prior to Gwen Stacy's death, Osborn had engaged in an affair with her, resulting in twins. After Stacy's death, Osborn took the children into his care during his sabbatical in Europe. The children, named Gabriel and Sarah, aged and matured rapidly after only a few years (due to inheriting Norman's enhanced DNA). The twins emerged after Osborn's takedown and confronted Spider-Man, whom they believed to be their real father, and who they believed had murdered their mother. After a series of confrontations, Gabriel and Sarah discovered their real father's identity after Peter dug up Gwen's grave for a DNA sample. Sarah rejected Osborn's vendetta, but Gabriel assumed the mantle of the sixth Green Goblin, or "Grey Goblin". Gabriel, deranged and amnesiac after a battle with Spider-Man, disappeared along with Sarah, although she later reappeared in Paris. This explained a great deal to Peter: why the Goblin had killed Gwen, why Mary Jane Watson avoided Peter for a long time, having known the secret, and why Osborn wanted Peter as his 'heir'.
[edit] Civil War
- Main article: Civil War
After escaping to Paris, Osborn was apprehended by SHIELD agents and taken into their custody.
While in SHIELD custody, Osborn watches in shock as Spider-Man publicly reveals his identity as Peter Parker (also confirming Osborn's identity as the Goblin and his role in Gwen's death in the process), railing that Peter "broke the rules!" He's then approached by SHIELD agents who are seeking his aid.
The Goblin confronts and attacks Ben Urich in an alley, but SHIELD's nanomachines cause him to stop, involuntarily making him collapse and foam at the mouth.
Later he makes a deal with Tony Stark who gives him a serum to override the control nanomachines implanted by SHIELD. In the next two issues, Osborn attacks a group of Atlanteans in his Goblin gear, killing and wounding many. Later, when one of an Atlantean ambassador attempts to give a speech, Norman appears and shoots at him, wounding but not killing him. As he is being taken away by security, Norman says he is 'sick' and is not in control of his actions. While being interrogated by two officers, Norman becomes increasingly agitated when they question who gave Norman access to the press conference AND assisted in smuggling a weapon there. At first, Norman becomes angry, threatening to kill the two officers' families, then he becomes more and more afraid until Stark arrives at which point Norman begs the officers not to let him go, even promising to reveal all he knows to them.
Norman Osborn is now the government appointed new director of the Thunderbolts and has been prescribed medication to stabilize his personality. He remains unbalanced, however, and prone to occasional maniacal fits.
[edit] Powers and abilities
As originally conceived, the formula that turned Norman Osborn into the Green Goblin bestowed upon him enhanced intelligence and limited super-strength only.
Today, Norman Osborn possesses superhuman strength comparable to that of Spider-Man. His reflexes, speed, and stamina are enhanced. His durability has been augmented over the years to the point that bullets fired from most conventional weapons can't pierce his skin. Apparently, a .45 Magnum at close range can injure him, as Mary Jane Watson realized when she shot him when he tried to kidnap her. However, Osborn is capable of healing from damage that would be lethal to a normal person to a limited degree, having regenerated from being impaled through the chest by his own rocket-glider leaving only a scar as a reminder and later from having over a dozen of his bombs explode while webbed to his chest. This was first used as a plot device to bring Norman Osborn back from the grave.
He is armed with a variety of bizarre incendiary devices and uses a Goblin Glider as a personal transport. It is fast and extremely maneuverable.
Aside from his physical advantages, the serum also greatly enhanced Norman's already highly above average intellect, making him a bona fide genius capable of making progress in advanced areas of genetics, robotics, engineering, and applied chemistry that most professional scientists can scarcely comprehend. However, these aptitudes are inhibited by the fact that Osborn is criminally insane.
The superhero Green Goblin (Phil Urich, nephew of Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich), also had the ability to produce an ear-shattering maniacal laugh that threw off his enemies. Unlike the other Goblins, Phil was exposed to a different Goblin formula where the powers were dormant. His powers were triggered by the mask, which delivered an electric burst to his brain that activated his strength and speed, with some of the typical negative effects on his sanity. His mask also gave him access to remote-controlled weaponry and spy devices. His increased intelligence seems to stay active even without the mask.
[edit] Alternate versions
[edit] MC2
[edit] Normie Osborn
Normie Osborn is the son of Harry Osborn and Liz Allan, and the grandson of Norman Osborn. In the alternate timeline of the MC2 universe he would become the Green Goblin and battle Spider-Man's daughter, May Parker before reforming and becoming her ally.
[edit] Phil Urich
In the MC2 timeline, Phil Urich married his girlfriend Meredith and became a forensic scientist and friends with Peter Parker. He is aware of both Peter and Spider-Girl's identities. Phil Urich resumed the Goblin identity, first under the name of the Golden Goblin, then as the Green Goblin with the assistance of Normie Osborn (III). After Phil lost a long series of battles, Normie recreated Phil's original mask, which granted him superhuman strength and other abilities, greatly enhancing his effectiveness. He is also a founding member of the New New Warriors. 5
[edit] Fury the Goblin Queen
Élan DeJunae, daughter of the San Mardeo DeJunaes crime family in South America, was betrothed to Normie Osborn when she was just a baby because of her father's involvement with the Order of the Goblin. Since then, Élan learned the family business and eventually made connections with the Black Tarantula. She grew up training to follow Norman Osborn's footsteps, and eventually became the leader of the Order of the Goblin.
Following a near fatal attack on Normie, Élan returned to New York to follow through with their arranged marriage, but Normie was not aware of the betrothal. Meanwhile, Élan and the Black Tarantula plotted to use Spider-Girl to destroy Lady Octopus and Canis so they could take control of the New York underworld. Following plans made by Norman Osborn before his death, the Queen of the Goblins tried to dose Normie Osborn with a new version of the goblin formula. However, Spider-Girl defeated Élan, but in the battle, the formula exploded and the Queen escaped.
Because Normie spurned her and denied his place in the Goblin legacy, Fury crashed his wedding to Brenda Drago and forcibly bonded the Venom-symbiote to him in an attempt to corrupt him. This so far seems to have backfired as Normie has gained control of the symbiote and gone on to become a hero. After Fury crashed Normie's wedding, Phil Urich (the good Green Goblin) defeated her and sent her to prison. She is likely still plotting revenge. 7.
[edit] Marvel 2099
In the Marvel 2099 setting, the Goblin is a radical trickster who wants to prove that Spider-Man (Miguel O'Hara) is in the pay of a megacorp. He has batlike glider-wings and a bag of "tricks", similar to the 20th century version. He also has the ability to project illusions.
He is eventually unmasked, and appears to be Spider-Man's brother Gabriel, although it is later revealed, in a retcon, that he is a shapeshifter who took Gabriel's identity. Writer Peter David, who quit the book between creating the character and the unmasking, has said that it was his intent for the Goblin to be the female Catholic priest Father Jennifer, and for Gabriel to be a red herring. [3] (There is a similarity between this situation and the earlier confusion over the identity of the Hobgoblin, in which it was David who wrote the initial unmasking story).
[edit] House of M
In the Spider-Man: House of M from the 2005 Marvel comics series House of M, there are two versions of the Green Goblin. The first is Peter's wrestling friend and rival Crusher Hogan, who uses the identity as his wrestling franchise. The second is Peter Parker himself, who, feeling guilty posing as a mutant when really he was a human given powers in the usual Spider-Man fashion (Radioactive Spider bite), poses as the Green Goblin to reveal the information about him being a human to J. Jonah Jameson, his then publicist, and eventually the entire world. Norman Osborn is also present in this continuity.
[edit] Ultimate Green Goblin
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Norman Osborn is a corrupt industrialist and scientist who is trying to perfect the Super Soldier drug for SHIELD. He neglects his wife and son, Harry. In Ultimate Spider-Man #1, an OZ-injected spider bites Peter Parker on a field trip. Peter develops amazing powers, and Norman theorizes that since the OZ combined with spider DNA gave Parker the abilities of a spider. Therefore, if Norman were to receive OZ combined with his own DNA he could become a heightened version of himself. The experiment goes wrong and an explosion occurs, affecting Harry and Dr. Otto Octavius. Norman, however, is transformed into a muscular, grotesque, demonic-looking monster. In an attempt to destroy all evidence of his existence, Norman kills his wife and attempts to kill Harry, who manages to escape while the house is burning down. The next day, he attacks Harry's school but is stopped by Spider-Man. During the fight, Osborn plummets off a bridge into the river, seemingly dead.
However, Norman survived and has, in his words, "evolved". He can now control his transformations into an intelligent incarnation of the "Green Goblin" via OZ injections. Due to overdosing on OZ, Osborn suffers from hallucinations. These include seeing everything through a blood-red filter, objects such as the Spider on Spider-man's chest moving around, and creatures called "plasmids" tormenting him.
Taking Harry back, Norman moved back into the city, blaming rival Justin Hammer for the explosion. He reveals himself to Parker, telling Parker to give up the life as Spider-Man and work for him, or suffer the deaths of Parker's loved ones. Osborn tells Parker to kill Nick Fury, the Head of SHIELD. When Parker refuses, Norman kidnaps Mary Jane Watson, Peter's girlfriend, and attempts to kill her by hurling her from the top of a bridge. Spider-Man is able to save Mary Jane, and joins SHIELD operatives in attacking Osborn. The battle continues at Osborn's Manhattan penthouse, where Osborn transforms even further after taking several more OZ injections and begins to choke the life out of Parker. Harry discovers the scene, picking up a shattered window pane and jamming it into his father's back, reverting him to his human self. Osborn is taken into custody by SHIELD.
In the Ultimate Six limited series, Osborn and his old assistant, Dr. Octavius, devise a plan to escape from prison which uses Norman's new ability to transform into the Goblin at will. It also seems that he is no longer under the influence of the hallucinogenic "plasmids," with Osborn having stated that he had been undergoing a "transitioning stage" during his last confrontation with Peter; furthermore, his speech is more coherent in his Goblin form, suggesting that he is no longer hallucinating as a result of the Oz formula. They kidnap Spider-Man and force him to join them. Norman considers Parker to be his 'true' son and believes Parker belongs with him. In a battle between the Ultimate Six and the Ultimates at the White House, Harry is used as a trump card by Nick Fury. Harry pleads with his father to stop. Norman is about to change back when a trigger-happy Iron Man blasts him from behind, severely altering Norman's genes and causing him to lash out at the SHIELD personnel before being shot down to Harry's horror. He is again taken into custody. At the end of the issue, he is revealed to be in cryogenic suspension, with half of his face in goblin form on account of Iron Man's reckless genetic-disordering shooting.
In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game the Beetle, a Latverian mercenary, breaks him out to provide samples for Latverian experiments in creating super-soldiers. Osborn rampages around New York city but is stopped by Spider-Man after a confrontation in the UN Conference Building.
No character uses the name "Green Goblin" in Ultimate Spider-Man to refer directly to Osborn; however, when the X-Men's Kitty Pryde uploads a hologram of the Ultimate Six into the Danger Room, the Osborn hologram refers to itself as the Green Goblin. Also, several student friends of Peter Parker recalled what they saw as a 'Green Goblin Monster' to Johnny Storm in the "Superstars" arc. In Issue 106, The Green Goblin is finally given his proper name by Ben Urich.<Ultimate Spider-Man, Issue 106: Ultimate Knights, part I>
Ultimate Green Goblin has superhuman strength greater than Spider-Man's, enabling him to leap great distances, superhuman reflexes, stamina and durability. He appears to also be pyrokinetic, as he can throw flaming balls of destructive energy and (in the Ultimate Spiderman videogame) surround himself with flames.
[edit] Other media
[edit] Animated series
[edit] 1994 animated series
The Green Goblin was a long-term recurring villain in the Spider-Man series, voiced by Neil Ross. However, though Osborn had been present almost from the beginning, the Goblin himself was a relative latecomer to the series, with Osborn not becoming him until Season 3, despite almost all other villains appearing in Season 1 (including the Hobgoblin). In the series, in the Goblin's debut episode, Enter the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn and his partner, Mendel Stromm, were coerced into creating a formula for the Kingpin that grants superhuman strength. Also, he is one of the few characters in the series who knew that Wilson Fisk is Kingpin. Unlike his comic counterpart, Norman Osborn here was never a corrupted businessman, neither a megalomaniacal, and had instead developed a multiple personality disorder. His other side was the Green Goblin, who acted on destroying everyone who had hurt Osborn throughout his life, thus, Osborn never truely was responsible for his actions, however, in later the episodes Osborn accepted the Goblin persona and they became 'one', determind to destroy everyone who had hurt him. Also, unlike the comic book version, who considered his son Harry weak, Norman Osborn here deeply cared for Harry with his life.
An unstable reaction resulted during one experiment and Norman disappeared in the explosion, presumed dead. His son, Harry blamed the Oscorp stockholders, J. Jonah Jameson, Anastasia Hardy, and Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin) among others, for the death of his father.
Soon a mysterious airborne figure, identifying himself as the Green Goblin, began kidnapping the stockholders one by one.
Harry quickly became the main suspect and was followed by a wary Mary Jane who became kidnapped herself. Tracking her down, Spider-Man uncovered an underwater base where the Goblin intended to kill everyone he had kidnapped. Fighting the Goblin, Spider-Man unmasked him, only to discover that the Green Goblin was Norman Osborn. Amnesia ensued and Norman was unable to remember his dual identity. The following morning at OsCorp, he announced that he will no longer build chemical weapons.
In Goblin War!, Norman Osborn became the Green Goblin again, after being pressured by the Kingpin to reveal the identity of the Hobgoblin, who he had hired before to kill Fisk. The Goblin persona tricks Osborn into thinking that Spider-Man, Hobgoblin, and the Kingpin are trying to hurt him. With the Goblin in control of his body, he then tracks down the Hobgoblin in Jason Phillip Macandale's home, because he knew that villain lived there as Macandale. The Goblin kidnaps him and his fiancé, Felicia Hardy, who had just figured out who Macandale was. He took the Hobgoblin's Time Dilation Accelerator, a machine which can create portals from anywhere around the world or in other worlds, and nearly killed Macandale and Felicia by almost melting them in a pool of acid at OsCorp. Spider-Man battled the Goblin, knocked him out, saved Felicia and Macandale from certain death and nearly destroyed the Accelerator using one of the Goblin's boomerangs. However, the machine had enough energy to create another portal and Spider-Man warned him not to go in because the Accelerator is too low on power and he'll be trapped in limbo. The villain stated he wanted to take his chances in limbo than be defeated by him and jumped in. Later after the Hobgoblin's arrest, the Goblin returned as the Accelerator still had enough energy to get him back to OsCorp and began plotting the downfall of his enemies.
In the next episode Turning Point, the Green Goblin finds out Spider-Man's secret identity with the Time Dilation Accelerator. Spider-Man and the Green Goblin fight atop the George Washington Bridge. At the end, the Goblin gets stuck in another dimension, after his glider pushes him through a portal when he wanted to also push Spider-Man in as well, but not before he propels Mary Jane into a wormhole, never to be seen again except for the appearance of a clone that took her place in several episodes in the fourth and fifth seasons.
In The Return of the Green Goblin, the Green Goblin chooses Harry Osborn as the new Green Goblin, because Norman wanted to leave the other dimension in which he was stuck. Harry had difficulties being the new villain, but like the original Goblin, he wanted Spider-Man dead because the original Goblin, who he contacted with a spiritual link because both Harry and Norman/the Goblin were related as father and son, promised Harry that if he kills Spider-Man, then he will see his father again, despite the fact that the Goblin was Harry's father and ironically, Harry didn't know who he was. When Spider-Man tracked him down, the hero revealed to Harry his father was the Goblin and just when Harry thought the hero was lying, the original Goblin revealed himself to his son. This event drove Harry insane and caused him to embrace his role as the new Green Goblin. The new villain battled Spider-Man and the Punisher at the George Washington Bridge where it ended with Spider-Man jumping on Harry and both of them fell into the New York City river. Harry was knocked unconscious and the Punisher took his body, brought it to Peter Parker's house and realized who Harry was. After the clone of Mary Jane appeared, Spider-Man took Harry to the Ravencroft mental hospital.
In The Wedding, Harry Osborn becomes the Green Goblin again, because he hears that his friends, Peter Parker and Mary Jane are going to get married. At the church, Harry tells the priest to make Mary Jane marry him or he will blow up the church with everyone inside it. In the end, Harry lets Mary Jane go and returns to Ravencroft after Liz Allan reveals her love for him and convinces Harry that his real friends are Mary Jane and Peter, not the Green Goblin. With his connection to Harry broken, Norman Osborn remains trapped in limbo.
The Green Goblin makes his final appearance in I Really, Really Hate Clones, the first part of the first part of the two-part series finale, in which he was working for Spider-Carnage and the Kingpin in an alternate reality. It is not clear if this is the same Norman Osborn that was stuck in limbo, but it is likely that it is simply a parallel version of the character in this other universe, as there was nothing that implied of the previous Norman Osborn. When the Green Goblin was confronting the Spider-Men from different realities who had joined forces to stop Spider-Carnage, all of them used their webbing to stick him to a floor of the Kingpin's tower. In the next episode, although he didn't appear in it, the Green Goblin likely dies in an explosion that destroys the tower.
[edit] Other animated media
The 1960s animated television series featured the first depiction of the Goblin outside of the comic book, although the Goblin here is depicted as a dimwitted robber who is obsessed with magic and the supernatural - fields of expertise that Norman Osborn in the comics was never interested in (save for one incident in the late 1990s), preferring to use technology to commit crimes.
The 1980s Spider-Man and Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends shows depicted Osborn as something closer to The Lizard, with a serious medical problem of physically and uncontrollably changing into the Goblin, a kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
A Counter Earth version of the Green Goblin appeared in the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series voiced by Rino Romano, who also plays Spider-Man. This version is actually a good guy instead of a villain, also making a mistake Spider-Man was a villain at their first encounter. By the end of his first appearance, after saving Naoko and Shayne Yamada-Jones from one of Venom and Carnage's plans with the help of Spider-Man and after the Goblin lets Naoko and Shayne go, he whispers to himself about calling Naoko his love. It is revealed in the next episode, whom the Goblin himself doesn't frankly appear in, that Naoko had a jealous ex-husband who worked for the rebellion against the High Evolutionary and Naoko's ex-husband, who was standing in the shadows by the end of the episode, that he is jealous, suspecting Naoko and Peter Parker, the man who pays the rent while living at Naoko's home, are having an affair and he punches a wall that bricks fall down and the Goblin has super strength, confirming the Goblin is Naoko's ex-husband. The Goblin's next appearance was when he found out that both Spider-Man and Peter Parker are the same person! He also learned that Spider-Man was from the original Earth, and his intentions on Counter-Earth are to rescue John Jameson, who was also from the regular third rock from the sun. But since Jameson, who is working with the rebels against the High Evolutionary, doesn't agree to come and lets Spider-Man go off on his own, the Goblin decides to help by getting a ship the High Evolutionary has, which was originally Spider-Man's. Spider-Man and the Goblin team up with the Rejects, a group of Beastials that the High Evolutionary gotten rid of since they proved useless, and they got to Solaris II, the ship Spider-Man once had. But Spider-Man had more heart and had Solaris II crash into one of the High Evolutionary's towers, which presumably killed the Goblin in the explosion. However, by the series finale, it was revealed he survived the explosion and joined the Rejects. But he left them to help Spider-Man and the rebels against the High Evolutionary fight against the Evolutionary. By the end of the episode, he was one of the characters who ran off when thousands of symbiotes sprung to Counter-Earth by Venom and Carnage's plans.
[edit] Video game appearances
- The first video game appearance of the Green Goblin was in the 1982 Atari 2600 Spider-Man game.
- The Goblin was originally meant to appear in The Amazing Spider-Man for the Game Boy, but he was replaced by the Hobgoblin.
- The Green Goblin was a boss in the Spider-Man arcade game. Though not the final boss, he is often acknowledged as being the hardest [4].
- In 2000's PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast game, Spider-Man there is a crane Spider-Man can enter which contains pumpkin bombs, a Goblin Glider and a Green Goblin poster inside. This is a reference to the numerous hidden hideouts of the Goblin; the Green Goblin himself does not appear in this game.
- The Goblin appears in the 2002 Spider-Man video game, based on the Spider-Man film. He was voiced by Willem Dafoe. The game's biggest unlockable, is the ability to play through the game as Harry in the Goblin suit and equipment, apparently featuring a Harry who has discovered his father's Goblin gear and is trying to learn more about his father's plans as the Goblin. Because the levels were designed for Spider-Man, certain levels (Eg, the bell tower level) are harder, whilst some are far easier (Such as the chase sequences). Levels where Spider-Man fought the Goblin feature a second Goblin, with a distorted voice, who claims to have been hired to fight Spider-Man; his true identity is unknown. Harry was voiced by Josh Keaton. And in the game as a villain, Osborn didn't become the Green Goblin directly after Peter Parker became Spider-Man - Osborn first found out about Spider-Man's DNA that he has all the agilities of a superhuman spider and decides to use spider slayers to capture him. But when Spider-Man defeated the robots, he turned an employee named Mac Garkin into the Scorpion, but he became too dangerous and disappeared. So finally, Osborn became the Goblin, figured out Spider-Man's secret identity and kidnapped Mary Jane Watson, taking her to the Queensboro Bridge. But Spider-Man saved her and got into a final battle against the Goblin, which ended with the superhero winning. After the Goblin was beaten, he revealed his secret identity to Spider-Man and then tried to use his Goblin glider to ram Spider-Man from behind. But his spider sense told him about the glider's attack and jumped up, ramming in Osborn instead and the impact killed him, leaving him to fall to the road.
But before he died, he tells Spider-Man to tell Harry he is sorry. And after the villain's reign of terror had come to an end following his death, Spider-Man says he is sorry, too.
- Ultimate Green Goblin briefly appears in the 2005 Ultimate Spider-Man video game, where he is voiced by Peter Lurie. He was held captive by S.H.I.E.L.D. since he was such a dangerous threat, but the villain Beetle had snuck into the headquarters and freed the Goblin, having him go on a rampage throughout New York. Spider-Man had confronted him and they fought throughout the city, with the battle ending in a warehouse where Spider-Man finally beat Goblin to a pulp, knocking him unconscious. Shortly after the villain's defeat, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrived in the warehouse and arrested Osborn back to S.H.I.E.L.D., without giving Spider-Man a "thank-you", which upset the hero.
- Green Goblin II (Harry Osborn) will appear in Spider-Man 3 video game as a main boss and a playable character on the PS3 Special Edition. With him is Sandman , Venom and comic villains as well.
[edit] Fan films
[edit] Green Goblin's Last Stand
In the fan film Green Goblin's Last Stand, Norman Osborn/Green Goblin was potrayed by James Kinstle.
[edit] Live action feature films
[edit] Spider-Man
The Green Goblin's first live action appearance (beyond a 1982 television commercial for the Atari video game) was in the blockbuster feature film Spider-Man (2002), which starred Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn.
Norman Osborn is a brilliant scientist and businessman who is known for his contributions to nanotechnology. His son, Harry, resents his father's apparent favoritism toward his friend Peter Parker. He is the head of Oscorp, a company contracted by the United States military to create a new supersoldier. Osborn, needing to prove his formula is the new technology the military is seeking, experiments on himself and becomes the Green Goblin. The process drives him insane however, and he kills his partner, Dr. Mendel Stromm. The military decides to give the supersoldier contract to another company, Quest Aerospace, and in revenge, the Green Goblin kills several high-ranking military officers and Quest scientists who were present at the test. Although Quest Aerospace's prototype was destroyed, the company decided to expand and, in doing so, assumes control of Oscorp on the condition that Norman Osborn step down as CEO.
In retaliation, the Goblin kills the board of directors during a festival in Times Square, thus removing the last threat to his takeover of Oscorp, and inadvertently almost killing Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). His appearance at the festival also marks the beginning of his animosity towards Spider-Man. Instead of hating his new enemy, however, Norman views Spider-Man as the son that he always wanted, strong and intelligent, and attempts to recruit him to his side.
The Goblin next led an attack in the Daily Bugle to question J. Jonah Jameson of who is the photographer who takes pictures of SpiderMan. Unfortunately, Jameson doesn't know who it was and when Spider-Man arrives, he thinks that he is working with the Goblin. After using a gas on Spider-Man, he asks him to join him but Spider-Man doesn't answer him as the Goblin took off and said a request "think about it, hero!"
The enraged Green Goblin finds out Spider-Man's identity when, while visiting his son Harry (who is Peter's roommate), he discovers that Peter has an identical wound to one he had inflicted on Spider-Man in an earlier fight. He attacks and seriously injures Aunt May, then kidnaps Mary Jane and tells Spider-Man that he must choose either to save her or to save a group of children in a cable car. Both are thrown off the Queensboro Bridge, yet Spider-Man manages to save both the children and Mary Jane (a marked difference from the source story, "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", which ended in the death of Spider-Man's sweetheart).
After being defeated in their final battle & with his own personality resurfaced, Norman removes his Goblin helmet to reveal himself as the Green Goblin's alter-ego to Spider-Man, and asks Spidey to forgive him, while at the same time, he secretly directs his glider to impale Spider-Man from behind.
Spider-Man sensed the attack with his spider-sense and dodged, and the machine killed the Green Goblin by impaling him (the same death he suffered in the comics, except, if one is notable enough, the difference from the Goblin's comic book death and his movie death is that in the comic, he was impaled in the chest while in the movie, he was impaled in the thighs which results in more internal bleeding than in th comics that he sufffered as it went all the way through his legs). Just before dying, Norman pleaded Spider Man not to tell his son about his second identity. When Spider-Man takes Norman's corpse back to his mansion, Harry sees him keeping his father’s dead body on a bed. Not knowing that his father was the Green Goblin, Harry assumes that Spider Man had killed him in cold blood. At the funeral, Harry swears revenge on Spider-Man.
In the film, the Green Goblin pilots a high-tech Goblin Glider, armed with seeking missiles, machine guns & razor-sharp spears. He also wears green armor that cybernetically connects him to his glider and weapons. He is seen using three varieties of his signature "pumpkin bombs": one which is a simple explosive; one that releases a bright, radioactive flash & reduces people to skeletons; and one that splits into flying, razor-sharp blades. Rather than carrying a shoulder "bag of tricks", the weapons are contained in the glider. His suit is armed with hallucinogenic gas that is released from the wrists, and is linked to the Goblin Glider, allowing him to control it remotely.
[edit] Spider-Man 2
In Spider-Man 2, obsessed with defeating Spider-Man, Harry forms a brief alliance with Doctor Octopus, which leads him to the discovery of Peter's secret identity. Harry subsequently hallucinates that his father is speaking to him from inside of a mirror, demanding that Harry avenge his death.
When Harry shatters the mirror, he discovers his father's hidden Green Goblin costume and arsenal.
[edit] Spider-Man 3
In Spider-Man 3, Norman Osborn continues to appear in Harry's hallucinations, prompting his son to seek revenge on Spider-Man.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Green Goblin on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
- Ultimate Green Goblin on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
- Green Goblin at Marvel Database
- Green With Evil: Essays on the Green Goblin (Pieces together an entire history for Norman Osborn)
- Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards
- Villains of Marvel Comics- Profile
- Norman's Profile at Spiderfan.org
- Brief profile on Phil at Spider-girl Fansite
- A profile of Fury The Goblin Queen at a Spider-girl fansite
- Phil's Profile at SamRuby.com
- Phil's Profile at Spiderfan.org
Categories: Comics articles needing cleanup | Cleanup from March 2007 | Fictional goblins | Fictional businesspeople | Fictional characters from New York City | Marvel Comics mutates | Marvel Comics titles | Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength | Fictional child abuse victims | Fictional murderers | Marvel Comics supervillains
