Harry Osborn
Harry Osborn is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Harry Osborn was the male son of Norman Osborn and his wife Emily Osborn. It was note that after his birth that his mother suffered from poor health with her condition getting worse over time. (Spider-Man: Revenge of the Green Goblin v1 #1) When Harry was a young boy, his mother came to pass away with her death destroying his father leading to Norman Osborn beginning to immersing himself into his work where he ignored everything else in his life including his son. (The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual v1 #14) According to one account, his father's business came to be 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)
Afterwards, he and Gwen would later transfer to Empire State University where they cam to quickly befriend Flash Thompson. They also came to adopt his disdain of a reclusively scholarship student named Peter Parker where they came to take his distant behaviour as a sign of snobbery. However, the two quickly learnt that Parker was simply shy and distracted over the his Aunt May who was unwell at the time. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31)
Green Goblin
Harry Osborn secretly came to witness the event of his Norman's death. Wanting to protect his father's identity, he stripped Norman Osborn's body of the Green Goblin costume. Blaming Spider-Man for his father's 'murder', Harry, angry and mentally unbalanced, came to swear vengeance against the Wall-Crawler. Having inherited his father's company, Harry managed to get the business back in shape. One day, to his shock, he found a Spider-Man costume in Peter Parker's apartment and realized that his best friend was the man he blamed for his father's death. Using his father's old equipment, Harry confronts Peter as the second Green Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #136) When he was defeated by Spider-Man, he told everyone that Peter was really Spider-Man before being taken away, but this was dismissed as the ravings of a madman. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #137) He was taken to a medical institution and was released, suffering from amnesia, forgetting Spider-Man's identity and both his and his father's roles as the Green Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #151) After being released and re-entering college, Harry moved in with Flash. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #152)
As the Green Goblin, Harry subjected Spider-Man to a psychological torture using hallucinogens, although they also enabled his escape when he exploded in a fit of mindless rage. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #181) Tracking Spider-Man down, Harry decided to kill him. However, when Peter decided to let Harry deal a killing blown to end things once and for all, Harry found himself unable to deliver it. Conflicted, Harry fled with the promise of his eventual return. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #183)
He then orchestrated an elaborate plan where he intended to leave gifts for his family to make them proud. First, he enlisted the aid of the Chameleon where he helped program a duo of Life Model Decoys that were based on Richard and Mary Parker. These were sent out in order to enter into the life of Peter Parker and create havoc in his life. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #73)
Harry had been aware that his father was still alive and would one day return. For that day, he came to hire the services of Mysterio and Mendel Stromm as part of an ambitious plot to make Norman Osborn's sins were coming back to haunt him. With them, he came to engineer a pair of siblings named Gabriel Stacy and Sarah Stacy where fake memories were implanted in Norman's mind that made him think that he had an affair with Gwen Stacy. He would be led to believe that the children were the result of this affair but in reality Norman only ever had one child. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #73)
Harry began to hound Peter for days dressed as the Green Goblin, following him around the city and threatening to both reveal his secret identity and to kill him. As part of a plan to kill Norman's former associates, Harry publicized the gala opening for a new charity called the Norman Osborn Foundation, and rigged the building with explosives. When Peter decided to finally stop Harry, their fight took place in the rigged building. In an attempt to break the cyclical nature of their conflict, Harry injected Spider-Man with a paralyzing agent and decided to detonate the explosives so he and Peter could die together. Harry realized that both Mary Jane and Normie were in the building, and Peter spurred him on to save them. In a flash of sanity, Harry also returned for Peter and escaped with him before the building exploded. However, the experimental nature of the Goblin Formula in Harry's blood caused him to convulse moments later, and in his final moments of consciousness, he acknowledged Peter as his best friend. Harry was rushed to a hospital but died on the ambulance, holding Peter's hand. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #200)
Death
Per the terms of his father's deal with Mephistso, Harry's soul was sent to Hell following his death and was met by Mephisto, who mockingly informed him he'd been damned not only because of his father's deal but due to Harry not having warned Peter about his posthumous plots. Despite his protests, Harry's soul was tortured by demons with the appearance of his father for several years. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #74)
Though deceased, the artificial intelligence holding Harry Osborn's personality continued its programming to enact its revenge. The two children it grew were aged to adulthood where their unstable genetics led them to die on many occasions. This was until the process was stabilised though it was said that the clone siblings had greatly suffered in the process. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #73)
Later on, Norman Osborn returned where he claimed that he had no ties to the Green Goblin. To maintain this view, he grew a genetic construct based on Harry Osborn who was tasked with being the Green Goblin. This made Norman appear to be innocent and allowed him to operate in the shadows whilst his creation operated as the costumed supervillain. (Peter Parker: Spider-Man v1 #18)
Return
Following his death, the Harry Osborn A.I. came to create a clone of him who was led to believe that he had never died. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #73) Harry came to believe that the Goblin serum actually revived him and that his father faked his death with the help of Mysterio. The Master of Illusion was said to had faked the autopsy reports and left a genetic duplicate so that the world would believe Harry Osborn was dead. Meanwhile, Norman Osborn had his son moved to Europe where he was sent to various clinics across the continent and told that he had a drug relapse with him needing a detox and that this should be kept from the American press. Though he considered Parker his best friend, he came to hate Spider-Man with a vengeance. He was also divorced from Liz Allan and began dating Lily Hollister who was the daughter of New York District Attorney Bill Foster. In addition, Harry became the owner of a chain of cafes that were based on his old college hangout the Coffee Bean. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #581)
Harry lacked any memories of his time as the Green Goblin nor any knowledge of Peter Parker's alter-ego. He returned to New York City from his supposed time in Europe where he celebrated with a massive party and greeted his best friend, Peter Parker. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #545)
During Norman's battle with Menace as the Green Goblin, he called out to Harry - who recognized his father's distorted voice and was horrified and disgusted that his father was a supervillain. Harry angrily confronted his father, who wanted Harry to follow in his legacy and become a greater man. The confused Harry was saved by Spider-Man, who wanted to beat Norman senseless but stopped when he saw a human testing area. Harry was thought to be the one responsible for the atrocious acts, although he attempted to plead innocent. Harry later stated that he wanted to talk to Peter - who moments earlier had been kissed by Lily, while leaving with a mysterious canister labelled Prometheus X-90. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #573) Prometheus X-90 was developed as a successful cure for Mark Raxton's condition as Molten Man. Furthermore, the only human test subject was Charlie Weiderman, the short-lived second Molten Man, and the only person whom the serum could be tested on. After the cure was administered, Liz finally forgave Harry, and gave him back the wedding ring, which she originally claimed she lost. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #582)
Dark Reign
Following the Skrull Invasion, his father Norman Osborn was hailed a hero where he was placed in charge of the security organization known as H.A.M.M.E.R. and even formed his own team of Avengers. He would approach his son where he offered him a position in his organization but Harry would decline. However, after a visit from his pregnant girlfriend Lily Holister he decided to accept his father's offer. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #595)
Afterwards, he came to move out of his penthouse apartment and began staying in Peter Parker's old room at Aunt May's home. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #604)
Heroic Age
To escape his old life, Harry came to move to Seattle, Washington with his son Stanley where he shaved his head and grown a beard to change his appearance. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #697) By this point, he decided to change his name to Harry Lyman after taking his mother's maiden name in order to distance himself from the Osborn legacy. He would return to New York City where his friendship with Peter Parker was revived and he would offer Harry a job at his company Parker Industries as chief of the NY Branch. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #3)
When he regained consciousness, he learnt that the babysitter had taken the children and left with Harry panicking until Liz revealed that she had a tracker on Normie. Alongside Alchemax security, they confronted Emma who still had the kids with Harry believing that she was working for his father Norman. However, the babysitter revealed that she had taken the children to protect them from Norman and that them tracking her had revealed their location. It was then that Norman arrived where he revealed his new Red Goblin form where he easily dealt with the guards. He was then surprised to see the babysitter as in reality she was his supposedly late wife Emily Lyman who had faked her death. Before he could take his grandchildren, Spider-Man's allies arrived to battle the Red Goblin but he effortlessly defeated them. During the battle, Osborn's family attempted to escape with them deciding to split up to evade Norman but he caught up with them. He took Normie with Harry pleading for him to leave his son but Norman stated that he intended to continue with the new generation as he infected the boy with a piece of his Symbiote. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #799) Normie was transformed into the Goblin Childe where he joined his grandfather after showing resentment to Harry for seemingly showing his half-brother Stanley more attention than him. Norman later took Normie to Alchemax where he intended to murder Harry and Liz so that inheritance of the company would pass to his grandson whereupon he would take control of it. Spider-Man arrived to prevent the murder with Harry using a Goblin Glider to impale his father though survived due to his Symbiote. Harry then embraced his son who was convinced to reject the Symbiote and his grandfather. Normie was then taken to the company's laboratories to be freed from the Symbiote matter where he vowed to never leave Normie alone again and that he would care for both his sons equally. He also decided to reclaim his family name and decided to go back to being known as Harry Osborn whilst accepting his mother Emily back into his life. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #800)
Kindred Saga
The Harry Osborn A.I. later came to possess the bodies of Gabriel and Sarah Stacy who became host vessels for it to enact its plan. This saw the clone siblings losing all trace of their prior persona and instead worked to achieve their creators goals. For this, they began to adopt the identity of a masked supervillain called Kindred who looked to bring about the downfall of both Spider-Man and Norman Osborn. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #73)
Overview
Personality and attributes
The demon Mephisto once came to refer to him as the Goblin Prince. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #72) After his fathers death, he came to take over his mantle and became the new Green Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #136) At one point, he wanted to distance himself from his father's legacy and decided to take his mothers maiden name leading to him being known as Harry Lyman instead. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #3)
Over time, he came to believe that people like himself were better off dead. This was because the world was too hard on them with them bruising and bleeding too easily. Harry thought that they came to leave nothing but pain in their wake and that they were toxic to all those around them. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #200)
He had said that after her death that he came to miss Gwen so much and could not believe she was gone. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #200)
Spider-Man thus became the object of his hatred with Harry believing that with him eliminated he would be free to be given full rein to his own passions and plans. He had said that doing so would allow him to live his own life again and he could seek his own glory. Initially, he looked to kill Spider-Man but he then believed that his foe's death needed to be an execution in payment for the death of Norman Osborn. Ultimately, he looked to either utterly destroy Spider-Man by killing him or spiritually by revealing his secret identity. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #136) As the Green Goblin, Harry Osborn was said to had been a nightmare who became obsessed with Spider-Man to the point that all he wanted to do was hurt him an the people he loved. (Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil v1 #1)
After his return, he tried to live a better life where he wanted to do right by his friends and loved ones. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #581)
Powers and abilities
It was remarked that Harry had been undergoing training as he descended into being a supervillain. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #136)
As the Green Goblin, he maintained much of the same equipment as his father. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #136)
He came to alter himself with a new version of his father's strength-enhancing formula that he claimed made him stronger than the likes of Spider-Man. Spider-Man came to comment that the pair seemed to be equally matched in terms of strength. However, it seemed to be imperfect where it seemingly killed the user after sometime. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #200)
From the gloves, he was capable of firing a laser bolt known as a Goblin Sparkle with this being directed from his fingers. He was able to fire these from one hand or both with the beam able to cut through webbing. Though potent, the energy source could only power a set number of shots. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #136)
His gloves included a hidden needle that could emerge from the palm that contained a chemical which shattered a person's equilibrium. It was said to not be poisonous but rather weakened his foe in order to allow him to easily defeat them. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #200)
For travel, he made use of a Goblin Glider that flew through the air. He could make its exhaust release a drug into the air to render his quarry unconscious. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #136)
During his descent into madness, he came to construct a computer that housed an artificial intelligence based on his Green Goblin persona and set to enact his schemes. (Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil v1 #1) This came to continue to enact its creators plans even after his death where through the clone Gabriel and Sarah Stacy siblings they took the name Kindred. It was responsible for resurrecting Harry Osborn as a clone where it altered his memories to make it appear that he was the real one. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #73)
He inherited his membership to the Century Club from his father with it taking two fortunes to join the ranks of the prestigious club. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #249)
Osborn came to establish a chain of cafes that were based on the Coffee Bean. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #581)
Notes
- Harry Osborn was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31 (December, 1965).
- The character later took on the identity of the Green Goblin in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #136 (September, 1974).
- He briefly appeared as the American Son in the Amazing Spider-Man v1 #597 (August, 2009).
- In Back Issue! v1 (2010), writer Gerry Conway commented on using his own experience with drugs for Harry Osborn's own issues with substance abuse, "with psychedelic drugs, hallucinogens, if they've been misused, there is a potential for additional hallucinogenic experiences that are completely beyond your control or volition. I could imagine Harry getting hit by something like that, in the fragile emotional state following the death of his father, and losing touch with reality, as a result. Besides, I never had any intention of getting rid of the Green Goblin as a concept forever, so it all came together."
Alternate Versions
- In Ultimate Spider-Man v1 #1 (2000), an alternate version of Harry Osborn was shown to exist in the Ultimate Marvel reality designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. Harry Osborn was a rich kid born as the only son of industrialist Norman Osborn, who was mostly neglected by Osborn and his alcoholic mother. He eventually met Peter Parker in public school. Despite their differences, the two bonded; Harry improved Peter's social status, and Peter helped Harry with his homework. He also had a brief romantic relationship with Peter's soon-to-be girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson.
- In Spider-Gwen v2 #1 (2015), an alternate version of Harry Osborn was shown to exist in the Spider-Gwen reality designated as Earth-65 in the Multiverse.
- In Edge of Spider-Geddon v1 #4 (2018), an alternate version of Harry Osborn was shown to exist on Earth-44145 in the Multiverse. On this world, 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. Before his death, Parker sent a note to his best friend Harry urging him to take down his fathers empire and provided him a goblin costume where he took the name Kobold. This led to a fight with his father in Oscorp where he discovered Norman was using a damaged Cosmic Cube to observe worlds in the Multiverse. Harry then used a beam weapon shot at the Cube in an effort to destroy it thus seemingly defeating his father.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Harry Osborn featured in the 1990's animated television series where he was voiced by actor Gary Imhoff.
- In Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, Harry Osborn appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Ian Ziering.
- In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Harry Osborn appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor James Arnold Taylor.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, Harry Osborn appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Matt Lanter.
- In Spider-Man, Harry Osborn appeared in the 2017 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Max Mittleman.
Films
- In the Sam Raimi Spider-Man Trilogy, Harry Osborn featured in the continuity setting.
- In Spider-Man, Harry Osborn first appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor James Franco.
- In Spider-Man 2, Harry Osborn appeared in the live-action film sequel where he was once again portrayed by actor James Franco.
- In Spider-Man 3, Harry Osborn returned in the live-action film where he was again portrayed by actor James Franco.
- In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Harry Osborn appeared in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Dane DeHaan.
Video games
- In Spider-Man 3, Harry Osborn as the New Goblin appeared in the setting of the 2007 action adventure video game tie-in where he was voiced again by actor James Franco.
- In Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Harry Osborn as the New Goblin appeared as a playable character in the video game where he was voiced by actor Josh Keaton.
- In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Harry Osborn appeared in the setting of the open world action-adventure film tie-in video game where he was voiced by actor Kevin Dorman.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1965)
- Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man Presents: American Son v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v4:
- Amazing Spider-Man v5:
- Gwen Stacy v1:
External Links
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