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Quote1 What am I doing this all for? I have no home. Just one warehouse after another which I use the money from my mercenary activities to decorate with the fanciest trappings. I have no friends. My ex-wife would just as soon see me dead...my son hates me and fears me. I have no loyalties to any cause. I've got power, money...and now these fancy cybernetics, but... when it comes right down to it I've got NOTHING! And to top it all off, now I'm talking to myself. Quote2
Hobgoblin[src]

History

Jack O'Lantern[]

The U.S. Marines recruited Jason Macendale while he was attending an undergraduate class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, forming him into a fighter pilot. Upon discharge from the Marines, he began four years' active service as a CIA field agent in the Asian theatre. However, his methods and tactics soon proved too brutal and extreme for his superiors to tolerate. Seeking employment elsewhere, Macendale embarked on a career as an international mercenary. Eventually evaluating his craft to a precise science, he adopted the distinctive costume of the Jack O'Lantern to help promote his accomplishments to prospective employers.[6][7]

Jason Macendale Jr

Jack O'Lantern

He later salvaged the Hobgoblin's Battle Van after being hired through intermediaries by that villain.[8] However, the two men became rivals during the Gang War that raged in New York over the Kingpin's former territory.[9]

Hobgoblin[]

Macendale eventually hired the Foreigner to identify and kill Ned Leeds, who was believed to be the Hobgoblin. At the time it appeared Foreigner's assassins were successful,[10] and Macendale became the new Hobgoblin.[11]

After losing fights with Spider-Man and the Green Goblin,[12] Macendale took advantage of the Inferno crisis by following several demons back to their lair and confronting their demonic lord, N'astirh. Macendale wanted enough power to defeat his enemies, and offered his soul to N'astirh in exchange for such power. When N'astirh stopped laughing, the demon lord decided that Macendale's effrontery was worth something even if his soul wasn't, and had him possessed. This gave Macendale the physical strength he craved, coupled with superhuman speed and endurance.[13]

Despite his new power, Macendale was grotesquely misshapen by the demon possessing his body, giving him an appearance similar to his old Goblin masks. A spell cast by Doctor Strange later altered Macendale's perceptions, causing him to think he looked normal.[14]

After a brief scuffle with Spider-Man and Puma,[15] Macendale broke Carrion out of the Vault and manipulated him into uniting in their shared hunger for revenge against Spider-Man. Together, they captured him and held him captive in the sewers. Macendale promised to let Carrion kill Spider-Man, once he had arranged to be paid by Hammerhead to deliver him the Wall Crawler's head. However, Spider-Man managed to escape and defeat Carrion before an enraged Macendale arrived to finish the job himself. In the midst of the fight, Carrion, upon seeing Spider-Man shield his mother and Mary Jane Parker from harm, jumped in and took a Pumpkin Bomb for them, nearly killing him and Macendale in the process.[16]

Macandale was later recruited into the new Sinister Six,[17] working for Doctor Octopus and later against him.[18][19] Unfortunately, the demon who possessed him proved to be incompatible, and the two fought many a battle for control of Macendale's physical form until the demon literally ripped away from its human host and began a separate existence as the Demogoblin.[20]

Powerless again, Macendale needed an edge and found it when he presented himself to Vladimir Kravinoff, the Grim Hunter. Kravinoff needed a guinea pig to test his father's serum on, and Macendale had nothing to lose. An element of his former demonic possession allowed Hobgoblin to survive the process that killed others, restoring his superhuman strength. And it was with this power that he managed to finish off his tormentor, the Demogoblin, once and for all.[21]

After Doctor Octopus's murder, a more confident Hobgoblin, the Vulture, Mysterio, and Electro were recruited by Elias Hargrove, a cousin of the Doctor, to steal Octopus' equipment and notes from a government facility. It was later revealed to be a scheme concocted by Mysterio to keep all the booty for himself.[22] Later on, the Hobgoblin became leader of the Sinister Seven. He was concentrating his efforts on riding his new organization of Doctor Octopus' killer, Kaine. During this time, he had some trouble obtaining the Vulture's cooperation.[23]

Shortly after, Macendale was in the middle of leading a train robbery when a new Green Goblin and the Thing came barging in.[24]

Jason Macendale Jr

Hobgoblin

Later, Macendale started working for Gaunt during the Clone Saga with the mercenary group called Cell-12, who had outfitted him with cybernetic implants.[25][26]

After being captured by Spider-Man,[27] Macendale revealed to the press of killing and replacing his apparent predecessor, Ned Leeds. He was transferred to Great Neck. He experienced nightmares of being haunted by Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin. Waking up, he was confronted by a mysterious figure standing outside his cell. He had the same voice as the Hobgoblin; in fact, he was the Hobgoblin. Ned Leeds was a "dupe" donning the costume. Because Macendale had become such an embarrassment, he had to die. And thus, he was blasted within close range, reduced to a smoldering skeleton.[28] Roderick Kingsley, the Hobgoblin, was back.[29]

Dead No More[]

Some time later, a new cloned of Macendale was created by the Jackal at New U Technologies with clone Spider-Man villains. But the bodies were flawed by design, Macendale and the others were forced to take a pill to not only keep the body from decaying but to be under the Jackal's control.[4][30]

All of the Jackal's clones, including Macendale, began to decay when their creator started to broadcast globally a frequency that accelerated the cellular degeneration. He, long with Green Goblin and Jack O'Lantern chased Spider-Man, who was being aided by one of their own in Gwen Stacy. But Macendale and the others would be stopped by Gwen, she had directed Spider-Man to the Jackal's lab and stayed behind and confronted them. Macendale appear to have died with the others when Gwen set off a Pumpkin Bomb, killing herself along with them.[5]

Attributes

Power Grid[36]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Experienced Fighter:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Single Type: Short Range:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Regenerative:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (800 lbs-25 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Gifted

Powers

  • Cybernetic Enhancements: As a cyborg Jason possessed several superhuman abilities.[31]
    • Superhuman Strength: His cybernetics enhanced his strength to the point where he could lift 10 tons.[31]
    • Detachable Claws: As a cyborg Jason possessed detachable claws.[31]
    • Enhanced Vision: Jason's bionic left eye had night and telescopic vision.[31]

Abilities

  • Martial Arts: Macendale was an exceptionally military-trained master of most known forms of hand-to-hand combat and the martial arts.[32] His fighting skill was enough to match even that of Spider-Man.[33]
  • Acrobatics: Extremely agile, Macendale was an above average gymnasts.
  • Aviation: Macendale has received extensive CIA sponsored flight training, which includes single and multi-engine propeller and jet aircraft, a helicopter, gyrocopter, and hang gliding qualifications.[31]
  • Gifted Intellect: Also has extensive training in the fields of electrical engineering and physical sciences.[31]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Jack O'Lantern Armor MK I

Jason Macendale Jr

Jack O'Lantern employs numerous types of custom designed a grenades including anaerobic, lachrymatory, regurgitant gas, smoke, and concussion grenades. Jack O'Lantern wears a complete body armor made of metal-covered, multi segment Kevlar panels, incorporating a rigid, articulated shell which can resist a 7 lb. bazooka anti-gun warhead.[34]

Jack O'Lantern's head is covered by a bulletproof helmet with an internal, 3 hour, compressed air supply and is equipped with telescopic infrared image intensifiers for seeing in the dark. The base of the helmet is equipped with a fine network of pin holes which maintained a low temperature flame ("stage-fire": a low density flame used safely on stage to simulate fire) their rings around his head at all times. The air supply cools the interior of the helmet semi-adiabatically through expansion.[citation needed]

Hobgoblin Armor

Weapons

As Jack O'Lantern he was equipped with wrist blasters, which incorporate high-frequency electric transducers that can deliver a long-range shot (effective range: 35 ft).

Transportation

Goblin Glider; formerly Jack O'Lantern's Platform and Hobgoblin's Battlewagon.

Trivia

  • His American citizenship was revoked when he enlisted in the army of a foreign power.

See Also

Links and References

References

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