Norman Osborn
Norman Osborn is a male comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Norman Osborn was born a male human in the modern age as the son of Amberson Osborn. His father had been once been an inventor who owned a business until he was robbed and cheated with his inventions being stolen leading to his family financially struggling. By this point, he would start drinking causing him to act violently in the house where he would be abusive to both his son and his wife. However, he would be repentant over his actions and ask his wife to forgive him or his actions. The young Norman would hear of this one day leading to him vowing to earn a fortune and to be strong as he saw that his father had failed in life. He came to be determined that he had to earn his keep and that it was up to him to take back control over his life. This resulted in him killing the family's pet dog as it meant one less mouth to feed. (Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #14) As a boy, he was afraid of the dark with his father having no tolerance over what he believed to be a foolish fear over monsters. This resulted in the man locking the young Norman in the dark in the belief that this would get him over his fears. (Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin v1 #1)
Whilst studying at Empire State University, he was noted to had taken up chemistry and electrical engineering along with a number of courses in business administration. During this time, he made use of a cheating apparatus that was reported by one of his friends called Ned Tobolowski which resulted in Norman losing his scholarship and nearly getting expelled. (Red Goblin: Red Death v1 #1)
Decades ago, he met a young woman by the name of Emily with the two entering into a romantic relationship and getting married. This led to her becoming known as Emily Osborn with him deeply in love with her when she gave birth to his son Harry Osborn. The birth led to her suffering from poor health and her condition going worse over time. (Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin v1 #1) When Harry was a young boy, Norman's wife was noted to had died with this death destroying him. This led to him immersing himself into his work where he ignored everything else in his life including his son. (The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #14) As he managed his business, he had to spend more time in the office and leaving his son Harry alone at home. The company was headed by both Norman and his business partner Professor Mendel Stromm who borrowed some money from their account which he intended to pay back. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40) According to one account, the company was struggling leading to him trading the soul of the young Harry to the demon Mephisto in exchange for financial success. Per the terms of the arrangement, once Norman Osborn's empire was a success then Harry was destined to suffer from numerous personal tragedies by the time he reached adulthood and when he died then his soul was destined for hell. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #72)
However, Osborn used this as an opportunity to oust Stromm from the company and called the police claiming that Mendell had conducted fraud leading to his arrest. This led to Osborn taking control of any experiments and research left behind where he began to work on a secret formula that Stromm had been working on. During his experiment, an explosion occurred as the solution reached violently leaving Norman badly wounded and being sent to the hospital for weeks. The best surgeons helped save his life though Osborn suffered a stark change in personality as he became even more crueller though his intellect had increased as well as a result of the accident. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40)
Green Goblin
Operating from the shadows, he looked to become stronger and began hiring superpowered criminals to steal more secrets from him. Among them included Scorcher to acquire the plans for experimental electronics equipment, compact turbine engines and explosives which he intended to use for himself. By this point, Scorcher had been defeated by the masked vigilante known as Spider-Man with Osborn dispatching another minion named the Headsman to eliminate the hero. The man was armed with advanced weaponry and worked with the Enforcers to kill Spider-Man but was ultimately defeated. This came to frustrate Osborn who decided to no longer operate through lackeys and take a direct involvement in his affairs where he began crafting a new identity for himself. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #8)
The Green Goblin first battled Spider-Man with the help of the Enforcers, by getting Spider-Man to participate in a movie about him. Attempting to defeat him in New Mexico, he let Spider-Man battle the Hulk, after the Green Goblin, the Enforcers, and Spider-Man accidentally stumbled upon the Hulk's stomping grounds. Escaping the Hulk, Spider-Man attempted to capture the Green Goblin, but was too exhausted to prevent his escape. Returning to New York, the Green Goblin easily hid amongst New York's vast population. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14) Spider-Man and the Green Goblin fought a few months later at a fan club meeting for Spider-Man organized by Eugene "Flash" Thompson. However, when Spider-Man heard that his Aunt May was extremely ill, he was forced to retreat, giving him a sour reputation by most of New York's citizens, including several super heroes, super villains, citizens, and, of course, J. Jonah Jameson, and giving the Green Goblin an impressive reputation. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #17)
Later on, Osborn faced a danger from his old business partner Professor Stromm who was released from prison only for him to plan his revenge against Norman. He came to learn of this from his fellow club member J. Jonah Jameson where he managed to escape Mendel's robotic creations sent to attack him. Doctor Stromm seemingly died from a heart attach thus removing a threat to Osborn. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #37)
After suffering constant defeat, the Green Goblin became more determined in defeating Spider-Man. In time, Osborn became obsessed with Spider-Man and began directing all of his efforts to find a way to defeat his web-swinging adversary. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40) The time came to pass when the Green Goblin managed to discover Spider-Man's secret identity. This was achieved by utilizing a false gang that sprayed Spider-Man with a gas which nullified his spider-sense allowing the Green Goblin to follow him without being detected. Capturing Spider-Man with ease, he brought him to his hideout and revealed himself to be Norman Osborn, the father of Peter Parker's friend. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39) After revealing his past, he let Spider-Man escape, so as to prove his superiority. Spider-Man managed to defeat the Goblin by sending him into a bunch of disconnected, high-voltage wires that were drenched in chemicals. Suffering amnesia, Osborn lost all memory up to the years that his son was in high school. Spider-Man, content in this knowledge, burned the Green Goblin's costume, hoping never to see him again. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40)
Norman eventually regained his Green Goblin memories and became more unhinged and obsessed with obtaining revenge against Spider-Man than ever. To torture Spider-Man, the Green Goblin kidnapped Gwen Stacy and threw her off the Brooklyn Bridge. Spider-Man managed to catch her with a webline, but the whiplash broke her neck, killing her instantly. Filled with rage, Spider-Man brutally attacked the Green Goblin, nearly killing him. He returned to his senses at the last minute, but the Green Goblin took the opportunity to attempt one final trick by remote controlling his goblin glider to impale the wall crawler. Spider-Man was able to dodge the glider which instead impaled the Green Goblin, seemingly killing him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #122) Harry Osborn had witnessed the final defeat of his father at the hands of Spider-Man and removed the Green Goblin costume before the authorities could arrive, thus preserving his secret identity. He even bribed the coroner so that further autopsies would show no trace of the 'Goblin' formula in Norman's blood. And for many years, the world believed Osborn to be dead. Many tried to follow in the original Green Goblin's footsteps, including his first-born son Harry Osborn, therapist Bart Hamilton, and millionaire Roderick Kingsley created his own variation on the goblin motif called the Hobgoblin. Each subsequent Goblin variation were defeated, and Harry eventually died as a result of exposure to an untested experimental version of the formula that had given his father his abilities. Little did anyone know that Norman Osborn was in fact alive and devising a master plan that he hoped would ruin Spider-Man forever. (Osborn journals v1 #1)
The Return of Norman Osborn
Though killed, the Goblin Formula within his body came to revive and repair his body leading to Osborn waking in the morgue where he departed the site. He then found a homeless drifter who he killed and placed in his drawer at the morgue. It was then that he came to attend his funeral with the world believing Norman Osborn to be dead. This offered him an opportunity to strike at Peter Parker at his leisure and from the shadows. However, returning to his hide-out, he came to find his son with Harry looking to honor his father by adopting he Green Goblin persona in order to get revenge on Spider-Man. Proud of his son, Norman decided not to reveal that he was alive and instead let Harry continue their vendetta against Spider-Man though intended to act if his child failed in his mission. He then decided to take advantage of the situation by going to Europe to examine foothold established there by his business empire. (Osborne Journals v1 #1) Fading into the background, Norman wanted to give his son a chance to succeed whilst he spent the ensuing years carving a criminal empire. (Spider-Man v1 #75)
From the shadows, Osborn manipulated Empire State University Professor Miles Warren as part of a grand scheme to have Peter Parker believe he was in fact a clone and that Ben Reilly was the original. However, with Mary Jane Watson pregnant and the possibility of a life without Spider-Man on the horizon, Peter freely relinquished his alter-ego to Reilly. (Osborne Journals v1 #1)
Unsatisfied with these results, Osborn returned as the Green Goblin revealing himself to be alive on Halloween and as the mastermind behind the chain of events. During the battle that ensues between the two, Osborn attempts to kill Parker by impaling his nemesis with his goblin glider. Ben Reilly though came to sacrifices himself to save Parker from Osborn. Reilly's body disintegrated that was a trait common with all clones made by the Jackal thus proving that Peter was in fact the real Spider-Man all along. In addition, Osborn had his employee Alison Mongrain drug Mary Jane into an induced premature labor, kidnapping the child. (Spider-Man v1 #75)
Returning to his former seat of power, Osborn regains control of his business and also buys out the Daily Bugle, humiliating former friend and societal peer J. Jonah Jameson as the latter no longer has control over the newspaper. He also torments Ben Urich and demands a retraction over an exposé of his time as the Goblin, providing faked evidence that he never was the supervillain, despite Urich's extensive research. (Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil v1 #1) However, he saves his most sadistic treatment for Peter, acting not only as a constant reminder of all the pain he's inflicted on his nemesis over the years, but a looming threat that could strike at any time. This build-up of pressure eventually makes Spider-Man snap by savagely beating the civilian and non-resistant Osborn in front of the latter's CCTV, which, combined with Osborn convincing the Trapster to frame Spider-Man for murder, results in Spider-Man being a fugitive again. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #250) To get around this, Peter adopts four new identities, using two of these identities to convince Trapster to expose Osborn's scheme. (Spider-Man v1 #92) He also came to provide fake evidence that the individual that beat up Osborn was an impostor. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #258)
For a time, Osborn retires his costumed persona and uses a stand-in so as not to be suspected of being the Green Goblin. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #258) This fifth Goblin kidnaps Norman's grandson and clashes with the wanted and injured Spider-Man. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #255)
Later on, Norman came to embark on a plot to make Peter Parker his heir. This saw him terrorising the people close to him before going after Parker. Drugging him, he took him captive where he began to manipulate him psychologically in an effort to break his mind and make him embrace the role as an Osborn whilst being dressed as the Green Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man v2 #25)
Afterwards, a number of missing staff at Oscorp drew the attention of Daily Bugle reporter Terri Kidder. Looking to investigate the matter, she arranged a meeting with Osborn claiming she was writing a newspaper article on the most powerful men in the country. Norman's ego led to him agreeing where she began to question him about missing employees. This led to him murdering her there and then where as the Green Goblin he dumped her body in the river. (The Pulse v1 #2)
He later came to witness his arch-nemesis Spider-Man publicly reveal his identity as part of the Registration efforts. This included him revealing that Gwen Stacy had died at the hands of Norman Osborn in his Green Goblin guise. To Norman, he believed his foe had broken the rules of their conflict and was angered at his actions. (Civil War: Front Line v1 #2)
Thunderbolts
After the creation of the Superhuman Registration Act, the superpowered team known as the Thunderbolts were reassigned as special marshals for the Commission on Superhuman Activities with Norman Osborn heading the initiative. In this role, Osborn came to recruit mostly supervillains alongside former members Moonstone and Songbird. Each were outfitted with nano-chains that could shock them if they went out of line and they were formed into a field team tasked with arresting anyone in breach of the Superhuman Registration Act. (Thunderbolts v1 #110) He then deployed them on their first assignment which was to capture Jack Flag who was successfully brought back to headquarters. (Thunderbolts v1 #111)
Later on, Spider-Man made a deal with the demon Mephisto that erased all knowledge of his true identity from people in the world with Osborn being among those affected by this change in reality. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #545)
Osborn was then contacted by New York mayoral candidate Randall Crowne who's illegal sweatshop had been uncovered by reporters. He would ask for Norman's assistance and would apply for special permission to allow the Thunderbolts to operate in the city. This would also allow the Thunderbolts to hunt down any unlicensed superheroes operating in the city thus making Spider-Man a target. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #568) He would then deploy his unit to hunt down the photographer Peter Parker in order to use him to locate Spider-Man. Parker would claim though that he had no connection to the vigilante Wall-Crawler thus forcing Osborn to back away for the moment. Norman would then attend a public celebration by the city where he was given awards for his activities as head of the Thunderbolts program and Dexter Bennett of the DB! would retract all the newspaper allegations about the man. Osborn would then put his public support behind Crowne and declared that he had come to end the serial killer activities attributed to Spider-Man. He also declared that he had come for a family reunion where he met his son Harry Osborn who had headed the Coffee Bean and opened chains of the shops across the country in an effort to impress his father. During their meeting, Norman would meet Harry's new girlfriend Lily Hollister and expressed a disappointment in Harry for not embracing the Osborn legacy. Afterwards, he went to his newly built manor to manage the Thunderbolt operations when his headquarters was infiltrated by Spider-Man looking to stop him but the Wall-Crawler escaped after Norman had his unit target the F.E.A.S.T. centre. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #569)
This resulted in the Swordsman and Venom going rogue within Thunderbolts Mountain with the former taking out the latter. After seeing Strucker still on the loose, Osborn decided to take matters into his own hands to deal with the loose operative. He recovered his Green Goblin gear and let the persona loose where he hunted down Andreas von Strucker where he brutally beat the man to near death. He left him near dying and pinned to the wall whilst going off to deal with any further signs of dissent in the mountain. (Thunderbolts v1 #120) He then went on a rampage in Thunderbolts Mountain as he looked to kill anyone that opposed him that included a number of guards. Ultimately, Songbird confronted him with the two fighting one another to the death where they knocked each other unconscious after a long and brutal fight. Bullseye by this point had woken up from his surgery and eliminated captive telepathic prisoners in the mountain that had been orchestrating the unrest in the Thunderbolts headquarters in an effort to take down Osborn. The supervillain came upon the telepaths cells where he eliminated each of them thus ending the problems being experienced in the mountain. In the resultant clean-up, Osborn returned to command where he hid the fact that he had reverted to his Green Goblin from his superiors and placed the report as the result of the telepathic tampering of their prisoners. (Thunderbolts v1 #121)
At the height of the conflict, Osborn was responsible for landing the killing blow against the Skrull Queen Veranke thus helping end the invasion of the planet. This resulted in him being a hailed as a hero with the U.S. government placing him in charge of the security agency that was replacing S.H.I.E.L.D. Secretly, he also assembled a cabal of powerful and influential supervillains in the world so that they could begin their own plans. (Secret Invasion v1 #8)
Dark Reign
In his new position, Director Osborn set about establishing a powerbase for himself and came to form the organization called H.A.M.M.E.R. to replace S.H.I.E.LD. He also recruited Victoria Hand to serve as his Deputy Director whilst he formed his Dark Avengers with Norman himself leading it as the Iron Patriot. (Dark Avengers v1 #1) He avoided a trap set by the fugitive New Avengers by sending information on the superheroes location to the Hood who attacked them. (New Avengers v1 #50) The Dark Avengers next learnt of an attack on the freed Doctor Doom who was returned to Latveria only for him to be ambushed by Morgan le Fay. With his team, Osborn attacked the Arthurian era sorceress with the Sentry seemingly killing her by ripping her head off. However, the nature of time travel allowed her to return to life and back to that point where she used her magic on the various Dark Avengers. (Dark Avengers v1 #2)
To break the status quo, Osborn then began to gather information on key targets that he wanted to eliminate that were threats to him with these being gathered in the List. (Dark Reign: The List - Avengers v1 #1)
He along with his Dark Avengers responded to an incident at Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. where the Absorbing Man had escaped and intended to absorb the fragments of the Cosmic Cube. This forced Osborn to work alongside Hank Pym's Mighty Avengers to stop the supervillain who gained some measure of reality manipulation abilities. Both Osborn and Pym came to realise that Creel's wrecking ball had similarly taken on the properties of the Cube making it into an actual cosmic containment unit. The two then raced to claim its power with the Iron Patriot reaching it first but Hank tricked him into thinking he had already acquired the cube's power. Having lost the Cube, Osborn came to suffer a breakdown when he was approached by Loki who gave him an enchanted Asgardian sword that was a spellbreaker which he used against the Absorbing Man. With it, the Iron Patriot removed Creel's powers thus turning him back to normal and ending the crisis with Norman being hailed a hero by the media. He allowed the Mighty Avengers to depart but declared them an unsanctioned team that had interfered in an Avengers mission and stripped John Walker of his rank. (Mighty Avengers v1 #33)
As the Iron Patriot, he went to investigate the sighting of the New Avengers only to find the heroes to had been defeated by the Hood's gang of supervillains. They had intended to forge their own pact with Osborn which he had made with Robbin's but Norman refused. This led to Jonas Harrow directing his Power Drainer against the Iron Patriot and the Dark Avengers who were left as powerless as the New Avengers. (New Avengers v1 #56) With his armor hacked, Osborn made a deal with Harrow who restored his suits power and the abilities of the Dark Avengers where they tried to capture the New Avengers. However, Mockingbird managed to arrive in a jet and helped her comrades escape where they went to a nearby hospital for Luke Cage who was suffering from cardiac arrest. (New Avengers v1 #57)
Osborn came to view the presence of Asgard above Oklahoma as a threat to the American way of life. (Siege: The Cabal v1 #1) At Loki's suggestion, he sought to create a scenario that would force the President of the United States to allow H.A.M.M.E.R. to invade and destroy Asgard. Osborn tasked the Hood with recruiting a team of villains that would be able to instigate the Siege. (New Avengers v1 #60) The Hood's U-Foes implicated Volstagg, an Asgardian, in the massacre of thousands of innocent spectators at a football game at Soldier Field in Chicago. With an Asgardian apparently responsible, Osborn was now able to justify his invasion. (Siege v1 #1) Despite Ares' initial misgivings, and without receiving official clearance from the President, Osborn led the Dark Avengers, members of the Thunderbolts Initiative and the Hood's gang, and a surfeit of H.A.M.M.E.R. troops and helicarriers in an assault of Asgard.[88] While the Void set about destroying Asgard proper, Osborn and his cronies battled with Thor, Maria Hill, Nick Fury and his Secret Warriors, the New and Young Avengers, the recently-returned Steve Rogers, and the recently-revived and Extremis-free Tony Stark. (Siege v1 #3) Meanwhile, in the White House, appalled by Osborn's unsanctioned attack on Asgard, the President gave the order to dissolve H.A.M.M.E.R. and arrest Osborn for treason. Back in Oklahoma, Osborn encountered both Rogers and Stark. While fighting Rogers, Osborn's Iron Patriot suit was disabled by Stark's own MK IV armor. Osborn, realizing his imminent defeat, commanded the Void to destroy Asgard utterly. Before Rogers could place Osborn under arrest, the compromised Iron Patriot armor disintegrated, revealing that the stress of running H.A.M.M.E.R. had taken a grievous toll on Osborn's mental health: underneath, Osborn had been wearing a crude face-paint rendition of the Green Goblin mask. The images of Osborn's breakdown were broadcast worldwide, cementing his downfall and the end of the Dark Reign. The assembled heroes were subsequently threatened by the grotesquely malformed Void. Osborn, deranged and defiant, claimed that his sympathy and influence was all that had kept the Void under control, and that without it, the Void was unstoppable. In the ensuing battle, Osborn briefly escaped, only to be recaptured by Volstagg and Rogers. (Siege v1 #4)
For his actions, he was placed under arrest and placed on trial for his actions as H.A.M.M.E.R. was disbanded. (Siege v1 #4) This saw him being transported to the Raft as he was sent to prison. (Dark Avengers v1 #16) He was later secretly transferred to a supermax containment facility alongside some of the world's most dangerous criminals. (Osborn v1 #1) Whilst there, he was approached by Father Coulmier who was a priest sent to hear his confessions but in reality was part of an apocalyptic cult that worshipped the Green Goblin as a bringer of change to the world. He offered an opportunity for Osborn to kill the guard allowing him to open the cells of his fellow prisoners that included Ai Apaec, June Covington, Carny Rives, Kingmaker and Xirdal where they were to follow his orders until they escaped the underwater prison facility. (Osborn v1 #2)
He was set to be tried at an international criminal court but during the transfer his loyalists acted and freed him where he managed to escape the New Avengers. During the escape, he freed Superia and came to rendezvous with others that rallied under his leadership. (New Avengers v2 #16.1)
Osborn went to Monica Rappacini on what she could offer him to battle the heroes where the A.I.M. scientist helped empower him with the abilities of an Adaptoid. With this, he came to start absorbing abilities making him a threat to the Avengers where they overloaded him with their combined powers. This left Norman in a coma where he was arrested and placed into custody whilst his H.A.M.M.E.R. organization was dismantled. (Avengers v4 #24)
Goblin King
He later woke from his coma and departed the hospital holding him without the staff being aware of it. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #697) A wanted man, he could not show himself openly and decided to use plastic surgery to change his face allowing him to assume new identities. In this time, he decided that corporations were the true force in the world and wanted this power to be part of the Osborn name. Thus, he helped orchestrate the rise of Alchemax where he intended his grandson Normie Osborn to inherit. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #31) Operating in the underground, he came to establish the Goblin Nation that were a criminal gang based on the goblin persona with himself as their leader where he was the Goblin King. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #10) Afterwards, Shadowland was assaulted by Spider-Man and his Spider-Army causing the Kingpin to flee with his criminal empire tumbling as a result. The survivors though managed to escape where they were offered shelter in the Goblin Underground where in exchange for this protection they swore loyalty to Osborn who declared the new Kingpin of Crime. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #14) With Menace's help, Osborn later releases Phil Urich from a prison transport and upgrades Urich's Goblin armor and weapons, asking in return only that Urich's only identity from here on shall be Goblin Knight. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #16) Osborn trains Goblin Knight who was anxious to confront and get his revenge on the Superior Spider-Man. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #17) Osborn later came to pose as the Hobgoblin who was sighted by some of the Spiderlings. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #18) Later, Menace came to bring Carlie Cooper to his lair where he took her journal whose contents revealed to Norman that Otto Octavius's mind now resided in Spider-Man's body. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #21) Osborn douses Carlie with the Goblin formula, causing the woman to mutate into the new superhuman villain Monster. He demands to know Spider-Man's identity, but Monster first asks the Goblin to reveal his own identity. He assures Monster that he is Norman, but refuses to remove his Goblin mask until Carlie has proven a loyal follower and dispatches Monster and Menace on a mission. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #25) At some point in time, Norman Osborn underwent facial reconstruction surgery and became Alchemax's executive Mason Banks and started a plot to create an empire for his grandson. Gathering followers that were brutalized by the Superior Spider-Man to his cause, including Phillip "Phil" Urich and Menace, the Green Goblin gradually amassed an army in the underground sewers of New York. Thanks to Superior Spider-Man focusing on the larger picture, the Green Goblin was effectively able to own over half of New York's organized crime, and he made sure to stamp his authority by wiping out those against him. After kidnapping Carlie Cooper, the Green Goblin soon learned that Otto Octavius's mind was now in Spider-Man's body. He then entered into conflict with the Hobgoblin where he defeated the Goblin impostor. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #26) Having staged a coup of New York after spreading his resources by exploiting Otto's reliance on technology, Osborn directly confronts Superior Spider-Man, angry that he was cheated out of the opportunity to defeat his enemy, but offering Otto the chance to join him though Octavius rejected the offer. When Otto finds being unable to win against Osborn's resources, having had various allies abandoned, and with faith in his own abilities gone, Otto sacrifices himself to restore the original Spider-Man's mind in order to save Anna Maria Marconi. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #30) Ultimately, Osborn's plans failed when he did not count on Otto sacrificing himself so that the original Spider-Man could regain control of his body. He was caught unaware when confronted by Spider-Man and attempted to flee. After an epic duel, Spider-Man unmasked the Green Goblin and injected him with the Goblin Serum antidote, effectively depowering him. However, he managed to escape captivity thanks to Liz Allan's interference. In hiding once again, he reflected that the various heroes will be unprepared for him when he returns with a new identity and approach as a businessman, seemingly no longer afflicted by the mental illness associated with the Goblin formula. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #31)
In the aftermath of his defeat, the Goblin Nation came to be usurped by Phil Urich who became the new Goblin King. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #5) Meanwhile, Norman came to find shelter in the nation of Symkaria where Countess Katarina Karkov became his close ally after he helped her in taking control of the country. He came to be responsible for transforming the country into the largest weapons manufacturer in Europe thus cementing the Countess Karkov's power. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #27) Osborn also began to operate internationally where sold weapons to various nations and dictators so that they would use them against Parker Industries after it became an international venture. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #3) In addition, Osborn started to make use of plastic surgery to better cover his tracks and keep his secrecy more easily. After defeating the new Jackal, Spider-Man set his sights on capturing Norman Osborn. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #25) On Osborn's trail, Spider-Man allied himself with Silver Sable to invade Symkaria and overthrow its current leaders. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #26) Through plastic surgery, he made himself resemble his Green Goblin's facets, Furthermore, he intended to release a modified version of the Goblin formula to turn the whole country into Goblin-powered soldiers programmed to be loyal to him. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #27) Norman had looked to grow his Goblin Army in numbers by gassing the Symkarian people with the Goblin Serum. However, the missile meant to spread the gas was disabled by Spider-Man's allies whilst the wall-crawler was personally fighting Osborn. When S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared on the scene, Osborn was forced to flee from the scene and managed to escape capture. This encounter led to Osborn to conclude that the only times he had come close to beating Spider-Man were when he let his Green Goblin persona out. As a result, Norman set out to regain his insanity and his former power. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #28)
Feeling lost without his goblin persona, Norman looked to find various means to restore his old self. This included a variety of means such as technological and psychological treatments. Osborn even tried modifying the Goblin Formula but the nanites in his system removed any trace of them. This led to him deciding to seek out a spiritual means of restoring himself and he travelled into remote mountains where he came upon the Temple With No Name. The monks took him in after he asked them to help restore his true self. Whilst there, he touched the Emerald Oracle of Ikkon that would show his true potential as a practitioner of the mystic arts. It was then that he experienced a vision of himself learning magic but instead of using it to better himself he came to use it to get revenge against Spider-Man whereupon he killed the monks. Upon seeing this, the monks became horrified at seeing the kind of man Norman Osborn was and expelled him from their temple. Though his journey ended in failure, Norman came to determine that the incident showed that his goblin persona was still within him and he became ecstatic as he planned his next attack against Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #32)
Red Goblin
The first step in this plan occurs with Osborn managing to steal the Carnage symbiote from an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. storehouse while Spider-Man is occupied with the return of Zodiac. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #794) Seeking to bond with it, Osborn's efforts to control the Carnage symbiote initially backfire when he merges with it and finds himself overwhelmed by the urge to kill rather than his own prior plan to direct its power against Spider-Man specifically. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #795) However, he was able to convince it to let him have control in favor of trying something other than its usual mindless slaughter. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #796) Kidnapping J. Jonah Jameson, he interrogated the man for information on Spider-Man whilst also taking a brief interval from the torture to kill the self-proclaimed Goblin King who tried to raid one of his old storehouses. After Osborn appeared as the Green Goblin, Jameson mentioned how the villain could not stop Spider-Man since even throwing Gwen off the bridge did not stop the hero from fighting back. These words caused Norman to remember that Spider-Man was Peter Parker thus breaking the spell that prevented him from knowing the hero's identity. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #797) Dressed as the Green Goblin, he targeted the Daily Bugle where he demanded to confront Spider-Man and allowed Peter Parker to depart to bring in the hero. He then placed the stolen Tritium with a bomb intending to blow up the building and fought Spider-Man who managed to contain the resultant explosion. Norman was caught in the blast and impaled in debris where he seemingly was dying only to reveal that it was a ruse as he revealed his new Red Goblin form along with his knowledge that Peter Parker was Spider-Man. He overpowered Spider-Man but stated that he had no interest in the man behind the mask and warned Parker that if he ever used his powers or wore the mask again then he would kill all his loved ones. Peter complied by burning his costume leading to Norman laughing as he believed he had attained his victory over Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #798) He then decided to reunite with the Osborn family where he sought to claim his grandson Normie. The boy and his brother Stanley were taken from their home by their babysitter against their parents wishes with Norman arriving at the scene just as they did so. It was then that Norman realised that their baby sitter was actually his wife Emma Lyman who had faked her death and put herself into the Osborn family as their babysitter to protect her grand children. Spider-Man and his allies arrived at the scene in an effort to stop the Red Goblin who easily defeated them. He then pursued his family before they could split where he took Normie from them and infected him with the Symbiote stating that he would become his new legacy. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #799) Norman intended to take control of Alchemax through his grandson Normie who was turned into the Goblin Childe. After seeing Spider-Man again, the Red Goblin decided to target Peter's loved ones where he attacked Mary Jane at Stark Industries whilst Normie was sent after his Aunt May. Both attempts were thwarted with Norman reuniting with his grandson who he took to Alchemax where he attempted to murder Harr and Liz with this turning Normie against him. They were saved by the intervention of Spider-Man who had bonded with the Venom Symbiote to make it a fair fight with Norman's plans to use his Symbiote matter to kill those infected by his attacks being thwarted by Flash Thompson's Anti-Venom powers. In a rage, Norman fatally wounded Thompson with Spider-Man knocking the Red Goblin into the centre of the city. There, Norman decided to randomly kill civilians in order to hurt Peter Parker with Spider-Man challenging Osborn by saying any victory he had was actually the result of Carnage rather than as the Green Goblin. This caused Norman to reject Carnage and fight Spider-Man without their respective Symbiotes with Peter managing to defeat him. In desperation, Osborn attempted to call upon the Symbiote to bond with him again but Spider-Man caused a car to explode thus destroying the creature. The shock of the brief bonding warped Norman's mind leaving him in a near catatonic state where he came to believe he was Cletus Kasady leading to him being arrested and placed at the Ravencroft Institute. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #800)
At some point, the mysterious Kindred came to secretly visit Norman Osborn in Ravencroft. He quoted that Norman looked down on the citizens of New York from his tower and states that he could have his centipedes rip him apart if he wanted them to. Kindred even made a reference to how he appeared in Mary Jane's nightmares and how he would not be able to kill Spider-Man as Kindred states that he "already won a long time ago.". (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #30) Whilst at the Institute, Spider-Man made arrangement so he and Venom could save him as Carnage was hunting down the former hosts of Symbiotes. Spider-Man and Venom attempt to retrieve Osborn from Ravencroft to test a machine that can extract the codex from former hosts, as the Maker is uncertain of potential side-effects. Despite their efforts, Kasady managed to get to Norman but infected him with a Symbiote to make him part of his army. (Absolute Carnage v1 #1) Norman who believed he was Kasady came to be confused and frustrated by Dark Carnage for not simply butchering everyone they come across in a gleeful frenzy of chaos and violence. This resulted in the delusional Osborn being annoyed at Dark Carnage for being a fake. In response, Dark Carnage dismissed Norman as a wannabe playing dress-up; Carnage retorting that sooner or later they'd fight to the death over the codices, and the outcome of that duel would determine who the one true Cletus Kasady was. (Absolute Carnage v1 #2) Carnage was dispatched to locate Normie and claim his codex. When Carnage attacked Oscorp and confronted Harry Osborn, Norman's persona fought to reassert itself but was suppressed. However, Harry managed to escape when the facility exploded. Norman fell into the sewers, where he had a brief confrontation with the Carnageized Grendel symbiote about his identity, killing two utility workers in the process. Returning to Dark Carnage's lair, the true serial killer was angry that his copycat didn't found Normie and still annoyed by his identity crises, proved himself to be the real Cletus Kasady by showing his face, and recommended Norman to resolve it and then return to their plans. Norman meet Doctor Treadwell in his house by killing the officers who were protecting his house. Norman calmed the psychiatrist down and said he just wanted to be 'fixed'. Unfortunately, the Carnageized Grendel symbiote killed the doctor and took control of Norman's body. (Marvel Ultimate Comics: Absolute Carnage Season 1 v1 #4)
Osborn was sent to accompany a group of Symbiote-infected supervillains in capturing Deadpool as he was a former Symbiote host. (Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool v1 #2) Capturing Spider-Man instead, Osborn took him to Dark Carnage's lair; surreptitiously followed by Deadpool, who foiled Dark Carnage's attempt to harvest his codex by filling his body full of dynamite and blowing up the lair. (Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool v1 #3) Recovering, Osborn accompanied the rest of Dark Carnage's horde in an attack on Rex Strickland's Warehouse, and pursued Spider-Man in order to hunt down Dylan Brock and Normie. (Absolute Carnage v1 #4) Around this time, one of Kindred's centipedes that had been implanted into Osborn began to scratch at Norman's mind as he tells Kindred to let him be the one to kill Spider-Man. He then turns his target towards Dylan Brock and Normie. Spider-Man gets to his feet and defeats Norman. As more of the flashback is shown, Kindred states to Norman that he will leave now and will return when Norman is himself again so that they can confront the truth together. As Kindred starts to leave, Norman's Kasady persona states to Kindred that he has a message for him from Norman who states that he is "so proud of him". Kindred takes his leave as Norman's Kasady persona broke out in maniacal laughter. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #31) With Norman unconscious, the Carnage infected Grendel symbiote left him in an attempt to kill Dylan but was destroyed by Dylan's symbiote powers. While the others were distracted by Venom's final showdown with Carnage, Norman regained consciousness and escaped unnoticed. (Absolute Carnage v1 #5)
Kindred Saga
In the aftermath, Osborn escaped any repercussions as he was returned to his true self with him returning to a life of wealth and privilege due to the influence of the J.A.N.U.S. organization. In this time, he came to be appointed the Director of the Ravencroft Institute by Mayor Wilson Fisk. As J.A.N.U.S.'s mole within Ravencroft, he was given the task of helping John Jameson regain the ability to turn into Man-Wolf so he could become an asset to it. (Ravencroft v1 #5)
Osborn came to find himself the target of the resurrected Sin-Eater who was brought back to life by the mysterious Kindred and granted the supernatural ability to cleanse criminals of their sins. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #46) The Sin-Eater's army of followers attacked Ravencroft to get him, Osborn was rescued by his old nemesis Spider-Man, who had been conflicted whether to let the Sin-Eater get to Osborn or not. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #48) The duo eventually teamed-up to fight a super-powered Sin-Eater, who had absorbed the powers of the Juggernaut, with Norman returning to his identity of the Green Goblin for the occasion. After saving Spider-Man's life once during the battle to repay him for the very first time the Wall-Crawler saved him, the Green Goblin attempted to drown Spider-Man in a pool of liquified cement they had used to neutralize the Sin-Eater. He was stopped by the Order of the Web, and they all fled on an escape pod. When Norman recognized Ghost-Spider as an alternate universe version of Gwen Stacy, he began to taunt Spider-Man about the original Gwen. This caused Spider-Man to break, and he threw Norman out of the vessel, leaving him at the Sin-Eater's mercy. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #49) The Sin-Eater eventually caught up to Norman and cleansed him, causing Osborn to lose his depravity and develop a deep sense of repentance, which prompted him to seek out Kindred. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #50) Despite the effects of the Sin-Eater's crusade being reverted, Norman was the only of his victims to remain 'purified'. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #56) Norman recruited Mary Jane Watson as an intermediary to reach out to Harry. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #52.LR) This led to him facilitating her in joining in the confrontation between Kindred and Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #55) Osborn also allied himself with Fisk to intercept the encounter and trap Kindred in a cage of Darkforce, after which Harry was transported to Ravencroft. Norman attempted to reach out to Kindred to make amends, but Harry remained unresponsive. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #56) Norman would also use his new lease of life to make up for past and began trying to reconnect with his grandson Normie. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #58)
As part of his efforts to redeem himself, he was noted to had reformed Oscorp where he intended it to pursue altruistic endeavours using Osborn's engineering proficiency. Using his expertise in aerodynamics, he came to tailor the company's efforts towards aviation ventures but soon expanded to battery technology and miniaturisation. Norman Osborn as part of his effort to redeem himself also looked to aid Spider-Man where he created a new version of his costume for him. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #7) Osborn also gave Peter Parker a job at the company and provided him a new suit equipped with a Spider-Glider called Bug alongside other advanced gadgets with these being invaluable to Spider-Man during a fight against the Vulture. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #8) Later on, Osborn came to be approached by Roderick Kingsley who looked to reacquire his own business holdings that had been absorbed by Norman years ago. During this time, a new Hobgoblin emerged that attacked the pair with it believed that this was actually Ned Leeds in the goblin guise. The attack left Norman injured and he was left recovering in the hospital whilst Spider-Man confronted the attacker. It was ultimately revealed that both Kingsley and Leeds were operating as the Hobgoblin who worked together to attack the Web-Slinger who was nearly killed from their joint assault. Observing the fight remotely, Osborn decided to use his prototype suit for Spider-Man to help the hero. Norman savagely beat Leeds in his Hobgoblin guise and had to be stopped by Spider-Man who revealed that Ned was a victim of brainwashing. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #13) Around this time, Norman was also being plagued a fictious Gwen Stacy who reminded him of his evil past as the Green Goblin. Osborn continued operating as a hero with this new equipment where the public came to refer to him as the Gold Goblin despite Norman's reluctance over using the name. (Gold Goblin v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
It was known that after his 'death' that he retained a cross-shaped scar marking where he was impaled by his own glider in a battle against Spider-Man. (Spider-Man v1 #75)
As a costumed supervillain, he came to operate under the name of the Green Goblin with green being his favourite color. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14) He went by the identity of the Iron Patriot after claiming a set of Iron Man Armor and becoming the Director of H.A.M.M.E.R. (Dark Avengers v1 #1) As leader of the Goblin Nation, he came to crown himself as the Goblin King. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #10) This led to him setting himself up as a crime lord where he came to refer to himself as the Goblin Kingpin of Crime. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #14) Due to being a wanted man, he began to use plastic surgery to alter his facial features in order to assume new identities one of which included being an Alchemax executive named Mason Banks. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #31) After bonding to the Carnage Symbiote, he came to take the name Red Goblin for himself. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #798) After being purged of his evil sins, Osborn looked to repent for his past actions and even operated as a hero where a child came to call him the Gold Goblin. (Gold Goblin v1 #1)
As a child, he held much resentment, anger and hostility as a result of his family struggling once his father lost their fortune. It was then that he was determined to never be weak and believed that only the strong would survive. (Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #14) He claimed that he used to be a snivelling brat that would cry being left in the dark but his father had forced him to become a man by making him to learn to embrace it. (Amazing Spider-Man v2 #25)
Norman had said that nothing kept him down as he simply rose up and became stronger than before where he had survived death, betrayal and the entire world turning against him. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #26)
To Norman, he had felt that money was the most important thing of all as he believed that wealth was the key to power. As the head of his own business, he felt that he needed to be ruthless and allowed no one to stand in his way including his own business partner. He was held as being greedy ruthless businessman initially in his life. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40)
Osborn was ultimately deemed a psychopath who lived a fantasy world of his own making. This began as a result of the explosion during the experiment on the chemical formula that Professor Stromm had worked on with it making him worse. A result of the incident led to Norman feeling that he was stronger, smarter and tougher than anyone else. With the scores of scientific devices in his chemical company, he believed he could become the greatest costumed criminal with this idea developing into an obsession. It was this that resulted in him making a costume that he painted green after his favourite colour and led to him becoming the Green Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40) After his accident, he suffered a noted change in his persona where he believed he could become the greatest costumed criminal of all time. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40) He believed that the world belonged to the strong. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #8) It was said that Norman Osborn never wanted to be the Green Goblin with it said that he suffered from brain damage and was sick. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #97) A psychiatrist believed that the Green Goblin was an expression of Norman's self-hatred in that deep down he felt that he was a bad person and worthless. They believed that Osborn came to project that inner self externally as a monster who demanded respect and fear from others. This was believed to offer him the validation that he could not give himself. Police detectives though believed he was a standard issue psycho-path whose powers afforded him the opportunity act out early against the world for not giving him everything he wanted. (Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil v1 #1)
According to one assessment, Osborn was massively bipolar and used medication to keep this in check where he combined medicines in an unapproved manner. (Thunderbolts v1 #113) The diagnosis of superhuman psychiatrist Leonard Samson would note that Osborn was both psychotic and psychopathic which stemmed from being a bipolar psychotic with concurrent aspects of psychopathic megalomania and malignant narcissism. A lethal cocktail of intersecting personality disorders was responsible for making him one of the most dangerous human beings on the planet/ (Thunderbolts v1 #128) He would claim that he had come to accept his own mental illness. (Dark Avengers v1 #3)
After being cleansed of the Green Goblin personality by Sin-Eater, Norman began to feel immense guilt for his past crimes. His guilt was so strong that he started seeing hallucinations of those he had hurt. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #50)
Norman Osborn was shown to had been the son of inventor and businessman Amberson Osborn. (Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #14) From his own father, he learnt not to be afraid of the dark with it capable of being his friend if he simply embraced it. He was shown to had been a cruel parent but Norman came to believe that his father showed him how to be a man. Norman came to consider that his father was wiser than he had never known. (Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin v1 #1) Osborn would claim that he would still sometimes hear his father's voice as if he was a child again. (Amazing Spider-Man v2 #25)
He felt that it was a long time since a woman made a fuss over him with the first time being with his wife Emily Osborn. Norman was deeply in love with her and was devastated at her death. Though he gained a son and heir, he lost his love with him feeling that this was not a fair exchange. (Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin v1 #1) For a long time, it was believed that his wife Emily Lyman was dead. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #799) Norman had believed that she had died when their son Harry was a baby forcing him to raise him alone. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40)
Norman thought that he was a good father to his son and tried to be Harry's friend. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40)
Family remained to be an important aspect to Norman as he was fixated on the family legacy and believed that his grandson Normie could achieve this where his son Harry could not. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #799) He said that he had tried to be a good father to his son but had to leave Harry alone many times in his youth as he prioritised his business. Despite that, he felt that his son had no reason to complain as the time spent on the business allowed him to buy Harry many presents. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40)
Initially, his battles against Spider-Man were not personal but rather a demonstration of his power to the world. As such, he could have become any heroes arch-foe at first with their enmity developing over time. (Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil v1 #1) This developed to the point where he felt that merely destroying or crushing the hero would not satisfy him. Instead, he wanted to toy, outsmart and utterly humiliate the Wall-Crawler before finally finishing him off. It was this that led to his desire to finding out the secret identity of Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39) Osborn explained that he wanted to take everything Peter Parker had namely his friends, his family, and lastly his life. (Spider-Man v1 #75) At one point, he looked to make Peter Parker his heir and looked to brainwash him into becoming part of the Osborn family. (Amazing Spider-Man v2 #25)
During the Dark Reign, Osborn felt that the world had given him the respect and adoration that he deserved. As such, he became desperate in ensuring that his image as a hero of the world was maintained. (Dark Reign: Hawkeye v1 #1)
After being targeted by the Sin-Eater, Norman came to find himself expunged of his evil self. This saw him feel genuine remorse for everything he had done, deeming himself unworthy of help and in a long time wanting to help his son Harry. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #50)
Powers and abilities
When he was a boy, he had five years of lessons in learning how to dance which he hated at the time. (Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin v1 #1)
Among his creations included:
- Retroscope :
- Goblin Protocol : at one point, he was able to institute a program that caused sensors to visual recognition protocols to ignore anyone that wore a goblin mask or symbol thus thwarting certain automated security features. (Superior Spider-Man v1 #14)
- Kingslayer Mark 1 : described as walking tank painted in green/purple colours with it being equipped with a cannon. It came in two models where one was for piloting and the other was self-driving. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #26)
It was noted that he had created the cure for cancer but refused to share it. (Deadpool v4 #12)
From Professor Stromm's notes, he found details of a strange new formula that Norman looked to exploit for profit. The chemicals later caused an explosion that had sent Osborn to hospital where the best neurosurgeons in the state helped in his recovery. It was believed that his brain was damaged in the accident though Norman claimed it actually made him more brilliant. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40) It was said that the formula also imparted on him an incredible healing factor that repaired his body after a fatal injury. (Osborne Journals v1 #1) It was said that he created a new experimental batch of the serum that led to physiological changes to the person when they took on their 'goblin' persona. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #586) The Goblin Serum was held to be his greatest invention and through years of study he came to perfect it where it became similar to the Super-Soldier Serum. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #27)
His agility, balance, and bodily coordination were enhanced to levels beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. (Thunderbolts v1 #120) It was shown that he was capable of operating at superhuman speeds. (Peter Parker: Spider-Man v1 #44) In one case, he was able to survive multiple small explosives detonating at his chest. (Spider-Man v1 #75)
Upon designing his equipment, he came equipped with a pair of gloves capable of a number of feats. By activating a button, he could use his Goblin Sparkles that came from his gloves where a sparkling effect came around them as he was able to shoot out energy beams from his fingertips. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #17) A Sparkler spray shot at a person's eyes was capable of blinding them temporarily. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #97)
He was known to make use of miniature pumpkin bombs that he could throw at his foes. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #17) One weapon in his arsenal was a series of stun-bombs that he stored in his bag and threw at his enemies. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14) These could generate bright sparks upon detonation where they were able to blind a target. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #17)
Stun pumpkins could be used to keep his foe off-balance. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #97) He also used glue bombs that trapped enemies by adhering them to their surroundings. A different pumpkin bomb was able to emit a gas that was able to prevent the likes of Spider-Man from adhering to a surface thus preventing him from wall-crawling. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #98)
Another armament in his arsenal was hallucinogen gas that was used to weaken his foes. This could cause his opponent to see several versions of the user around them whilst they became dizzy. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #97) He developed a gas that when inhaled was able to weaken the senses of superhuman opponents including the Spider-Sense of Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39)
Among his gadgets was a electrically-activated bat that could fly out and emit a thick black smoke to blind a target. This made a target vulnerable to subsequent attacks from the Green Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #17)
Initially, he came to use a flying broomstick in order to move rapidly through the air. He could use it to maintain his distance from his enemies and attempt to stay out of their range of attack. Alternatively, he could use the broomstick's tip to generate heat allowing him to burn through obstacles. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14) This was abandoned and re-designed in favor for a jet-powered Goblin-Glider that was noted for being both fast and manoeuvrable. The glider was capable of moving fast and conduct a sudden stop in mid-air. The exhaust from the bat-like glider served as an effective preventative against pursuit by enemies. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #17) He modified the rocket-powered flight system to make it faster and more manoeuvrable than before. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39)
For a time, he came to possess his own version of the Iron Man Armor when he operated as the leader of the Dark Avengers as the Iron Patriot. (Dark Avengers v1 #1) It was noted that the star shaped Uni Beam projector on his chest was also had a less powerful output. (Dark Reign: The List-Spider-Man #1)
From A.I.M., he was empowered with an Adaptoid physiology allowing him to manifest the superpowers of any superhuman being he touched. It was considered the perfect defensive bio-weaponization where his body adapted to an enemy's superpower. Thus, his body became a replicating neurocytoma transtomitor and thus bio-download abilities to give him powers. However, he had to be careful on how much power he adapted as too many could result in physiological changes and internal combustion as well as physical mutation. Though, with the right mix of abilities, he could keep on taking powers from others and become exponentially more powerful from the accumulated abilities. (Avengers v4 #24)
To attain power again, he acquired the Carnage Symbiote at one point leading to his transformation into the Red Goblin. In this state, he attained all the abilities of a Symbiote enhanced host including increased strength, endurance, resistance to pain, healing and an immunity from Spider-Man's Spider-Sense. The Red Goblin was also able to control the Symbiote matter allowing him to shape it into weapons such as Carnage-Bombs resembling the Green Goblin's Pumpkin Bombs that could home in one targets as well as laugh, speak and bite their targets before detonating. Such was his control was that he could feel a Spider-Tracer placed on his body and easily remove it. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #798) The Red Goblin could also shoot out Symbiote matter as sharp projectiles to wound people though he could achieve a more sinister purpose with them as once they entered into the body he could make them travel into the brain where he could cause them to kill the person infected with a simple command remotely. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #800) A combination of Goblim Serum with the Symbiote also made it immune to the creatures weaknesses of sound and fire. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #799)
After being purged of his evil self, Norman looked to repent for his past actions. This saw him looking to work with Spider-Man and develop equipment for him. Part of this included a variation of his old Goblin suit and equipment. He came to be forced to wear this in order to save Spider-Man leading to the creation of the Gold Goblin suit. (Amazing Spider-Man v6 #13)
Norman had created a device called the Goblin Key that was an access key to Osborn's most valued cache assets including his goblin tech and the secrets he amassed when Norman headed H.A.M.M.E.R. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #696)
He called the Osborn Manor his home which was located in Columbus Circle. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #569) The family estate was a vast mansion that was built by Norman's great-grandfather in the 1800's. (Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin v1 #1) Among these secret lairs was the Goblin's Workshop the contained Osborn's various equipment. It was equipped with a holographic recording of Norman himself that engaged verbally with people entering the site. Improper access activated a self-destruct sequence requiring the input of a password in 60 seconds to deactivate it. Typically, Norman was known to make use of he passcode STROMM that was named after his first business partner. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #697)
Gathering followers from their ranks, he re-organised them into the Order of the Goblin and named himself the Goblin Lord. (Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin v1 #2)
Notes
- Norman Osborn was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in the Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14 (July, 1964).
- In Comics Creators on Spider-Man (2004), John Romita, Sr. recalled that, "Stan wouldn't have been able to stand it if Ditko did the story and didn't reveal that the Green Goblin was Norman Osborn. I didn't know there was any doubt about Osborn being the Goblin. I didn't know that Ditko had just been setting Osborn up as a straw dog. I just accepted the fact that it was going to be Norman Osborn when we plotted it. I had been following the last couple of issues and didn't think there was really much mystery about it. Looking back, I doubt the Goblin's identity would have been revealed in Amazing #39 if Ditko had stayed on."
Alternate Versions
- In X-Universe v1 #1 (1995), an alternate version of Norman Osborn appeared in the setting of the Age of Apocalypse designated Earth-295 in the Multiverse. This version went by the name of Red. He was a wealthy financier and businessman who, in order to survive the cullings, bought his way into the Marauders, a band of human terrorists who betrayed humankind and served Apocalypse in exchange for their lives. Osborn equipped himself with body armor and flying stepping disks.
- In Speed Demon v1 #1 (1996), an alternate version of Norman Osborn was merged with Two-Face of DC Comics in the Amalgam Comics reality. This version was Harvey Osborn who was once respected member of Gotham City society until he was was scarred by Dark Claw. The event resulted in the loss of his sanity where he came to wear the Green Goblin mask becoming the Two-Faced Goblin in order to hide his hideous face, which was deformed on one side.
- In What If...? v1 #105 (1997), an alternate version of Norman Osborn appeared in the Marvel Comics 2 reality designated as Earth-982 in the Multiverse. After he abducted May and gave her to Alison Mongrain, he fought one final battle with Spider-Man in which he managed to blow Spider-Man's leg off. He then disappeared in an explosion caused by his own pumpkin bomb, presumably dying.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man v1 #1 (2000), an alternate version of Norman Osborn appeared in the Ultimate Marvel universe that was designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse.
- In Spider-Man: House of M v1 #1 (2005), an alternate version of Norman Osborn appeared in the reality of the House of M designated as Earth-58163 in the Multiverse.
- In Marvel 1602: New World v1 #2 (2005), an alternate version of Norman Osborn appeared in the Marvel: 1602 reality designated as Earth-311 in the Multiverse. Master Norman Osborne was attempting to find 'the Source' that empowered individuals such as Virginia Dare and David Banner, which was guarded by the Natives of Roanoke Island, and utilize it to gain unimaginable power; to achieve his goal, Osborne allies with King James I of England and makes several attempts to create conflict between his fellow American colonists and the Natives. Ultimately, Osborne didn't discover the source as it is revealed to have been gone after Rojhaz was sent back to his time, and is captured and imprisoned in the stocks after peace between the colonists and Natives resume, and the English are forced from America.
- In Savage She-Hulk v2 #4 (2009), an alternate version of Norman Osborn was shown to had resided on a world designated as Earth-8009 in the Multiverse. On this Earth, Osborn used his position as Director of H.A.M.M.E.R. to harvest the genetic material of registered superheroes after which he sold them to the Origins Corporation upon being Chairman and majority shareholder of the company. The mass proliferation of superpowers led to the destruction of the world within a century. By the 23rd century, the world was a post-apocalyptic environment that was divided on gender lines with women forming the United Sisterhood Republic that was based in the city of Milago and were at war with the primitive Tribes of Men.
- In Old Man Logan v2 #8 (2016), an alternate version of Norman Osborn appeared in the Wastelands reality designated as Earth-21923 in the Multiverse. As the Green Goblin, he was one of those involved in the supervillain uprising that killed the worlds superheroes. After the battle, Osborn earned a part of Amerika later called Osborn County.
- In Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #304 (2018), an alternate version of Norman Osborn was shown to reside in a timeline that was inadvertently created in an attempt to stop the Vedomi invasion of Earth. After an early encounter with a future Spider-Man, Osborn abandoned the guise of the Green Goblin and did time in prison where he was eventually released. He then turned away from crime and sold his Goblin Formula as a health supplement thus earning him a fortune. Together with his son Harry, they made a move into politics where they were voted as President of the United States. Once there, he used his influence in attaining power and control over the nation where he targeted superheroes with many being killed, detained, in hiding or forced to work for him. Tony Stark attempted to stop him in a public attack on the President but was killed in the assault. He also had Doctor Doom captured and arrested following an invasion of Latveria once the dictator was declared a national security threat. Whilst in control, a resistance of surviving heroes formed who sought to topple the Osborn regime.
- In Spider-Verse v1 #2 (2015), an alternate version named Norman 'Ozzy' Osborn appeared in the Spider-Punk universe set on Earth-138 in the Multiverse. This reality Osborn was the president of America and planned to wipe out the Anarchic Spider-Man and his Spider-Army. His company Oscorp created Variable Engagement Neuro-sensitive Organic Mesh or V.E.N.O.M. which was used by the Thunderbolt Department who were the police and fire department of his regime. He and his Thunderbolt Department were defeated in the battle with Spider-Punk who smashed Osborn's stomach with a guitar.
- In Edge of Spider-Geddon v1 #4 (2018), an alternate world was shown that inhabited the Multiverse where it was revealed that Oscorp ruled that particular Earth. On that world, Norman Osborn gained abilities similar to Spider-Man and gained multiple arms where he ruled the planet from the shadows and had been responsible for killing Peter Parker. At the head of his business empire, he managed to find a damaged Cosmic Cube though it could only observe worlds across realities in the Multiverse which he used to see parallel Earths. During this time, his son wore a goblin costume and took the name of the Kobold who broke into the Oscorp in order to destroy the Cube. The Cube then opened a tear in reality sending Norman Osborn into the Multiverse but he was taken by another Spider-Man who took him to join an army to fight a threat to the Omniverse.
- In Infinity Wars: Arachknight v1 #1 (2018), an alternate world was created when Gamora using the Infinity Stones used its powers to merge various individuals with one another leading to Norman Osborn along with Jacob Russell combined into a single entity that had their own unique backstory as Norman Russell. This version was once a billionaire who had a son named Harry and at some point was transformed into the Goblin who killed Peter Parkers aunt and uncle. No one except his son knew the truth about this and Norman's public life saw him becoming ill where he became a beloved philanthropist cared for by his son.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin appeared in the setting of the 1960s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Len Carlson.
- In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin appeared in the 1980s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Dennis Marks. This version suffered from a serious medical problem that resulted in his transformation into his goblin identity with physical changes impacting his body and mind. He was shown to had a niece named Mona Osborn who had no knowledge of her uncle's double identity.
- In Spider-Man, Norman Osborn appeared in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced by actor Neil Ross. He was shown as a rich industrialist who headed Oscorp and was the father of Harry Osborn. During the rise of his business empire, he faced numerous debts that he had towards businessman Wilson Fisk thus forcing him to work for the man who was secretly the Kingpin of Crime.
- In Marvel Future Avengers, Norman Osborn appeared in the setting of the anime television series where he was voiced by Japanese actor Hiroshi Yanaka and actor Dave Wittenberg in the English dub.
Films
- In the Spider-Man Trilogy, Norman Osborn made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Spider-Man, Norman Osborn made his first live-action film appearance where he was portrayed by actor Williem Dafoe. He was shown to be a rich businessman who owned a company called Oscorp and had a teenage son in Harry Osborn with the pair living in their estate that was cared for by their butler Bernard Houseman.
- In Spider-Man 2, Norman Osborn appeared as a vision in the live-action film sequel where he was once again portrayed by actor Williem Dafoe.
- In Spider-Man 3, Norman Osborn was referenced in the third live-action film instalment.
- In The Amazing Spider-Man, Norman Osborn was referenced in the setting of the live-action film. He was the millionaire and business owner of Oscorp that was a leading body in genetics research who employed Dr. Richard Parker along with Dr. Curt Connors to develop Cross-Species experiments. The reason for this was because Osborn himself was dying and sought a cure in hybrid research with Rajit Ratha being charged in overseeing the management of employees on this project.
- In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Norman Osborn briefly appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Chris Cooper.
- In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Norman Osborn appeared in the setting of the 2021 live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was once again portrayed by actor Williem Dafoe.
Video games
- In Spider-Man, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin appeared in the setting of the 1982 vertical scrolling action arcade video game.
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, the Norman Osborn Green Goblin appeared as a playable character in the video game where he was voiced by actor Armin Shimerman.
- In Marvel Heroes, the Norman Osborn Green Goblin appeared in the story mode of the MMORPG and also was a playable character.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, the Norman Osborn Green Goblin appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game where both the normal and Ultimate Marvel version of him could be used by players.
- In Spider-Man, Norman Osborn appeared in the setting of the 2018 video game where he was voiced by actor Mark Rolston.
- In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin appeared in the setting of the video game where he was voiced again by actor Steve Blum.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1964)
- Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1:
- Civil War: Front Line v1:
- Thunderbolts v1:
- Secret Invasion v1:
- New Avengers v1:
- Dark Avengers v1:
- Siege v1:
- Osborn v1:
- New Avengers v2:
- Avengers v4:
- Superior Spider-Man v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man:
- Red Goblin: Red Death v1:
- Absolute Carnage v1:
- Red Goblin: Red Death v1:
- Ruins of Ravencroft v1:
- Ravencroft v1:
- Avengers of the Wastelands v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v5:
- Amazing Spider-Man v6:
- Gold Goblin v1: (2022)
- Dark Web v1: (2022)
External Links
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