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For the version of Green Goblin which appears in Spider-Man: No Way Home, click here.

Quote1 I chose my path, you chose the way of the hero. And they found you amusing for a while, the people of this city. But the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually they will hate you. Why bother? Quote2
Green Goblin[src]

History

Becoming the Goblin[]

Norman Osborn (Earth-96283) from Spider-Man (2002 film) 0001

Norman Osborn

Doctor Norman Osborn was a brilliant scientist and businessman/industrialist who was known for his contributions to nanotechnology. His son, Harry, resented his father's apparent favoritism toward his friend Peter Parker, who was a science whiz. Norman took an immediate liking to Peter when he was informed that Parker could understand his work, and later admired Peter's desire to make his own way into the world, rather than accepting his help. He was the head of Oscorp, a company that was contracted by the Unites States Military to create a new Super-Soldier. Osborn's colleague, Doctor Mendel Stromm, felt it important to reveal to the Military official who oversaw the project that some of the test subjects had gone insane. After the official heard that, Osborn was threatened with a tight deadline. Needing to prove his formula could succeed, Osborn experimented on himself and birthed the Green Goblin. The Green Goblin personality was a psychopathic murderer, and who killed Stromm. The Military decided to give the Super-Soldier contract to another company, Quest Aerospace, and in revenge, the Green Goblin killed several high-ranked military officers and the Quest Scientists who were present at the test. Although Quest Aerospace's prototype was destroyed, the company decided to expand and, in doing so, assumed control of Oscorp on the condition that Norman step down as CEO.

Confrontation with Spider-Man[]

In retaliation, the Goblin killed the Board of Directors during a festival in Times Square, thus removed the last threat to his takeover of Oscorp, and inadvertently almost killed Mary Jane Watson. The Goblin's appearance at the festival also marked the beginning of his animosity towards Spider-Man. Instead of hating his new enemy, however, Norman viewed Spider-Man as the son that he always wanted, strong and intelligent, and attempted to recruit him to his side.

The Goblin next led an attack at the Daily Bugle to question J. Jonah Jameson for the identity of the photographer who took pictures of Spider-Man. Peter was at the office during the attack and showed up as Spider-Man. The Goblin gassed Spider-Man, took him to a rooftop, offered him a partnership, belittled his choice to become a hero, and warned that eventually the city would turn against him. That started to become true when the Bugle, in response to the attack, printed a story that claimed that the Green Goblin and Spider-Man were allies.

A few days later, the Goblin baited Spider-Man into a burning building and asked him if he had decided to join him. When Spider-Man refused, the Goblin attempted to kill him and eventually slipped way. Norman found out Spider-Man's true identity when he visited Harry (who was Peter's roommate) for Thanksgiving Day, he discovered that Peter had an identical wound to one he had inflicted on Spider-Man in the earlier fight. After he deduced Spider-Man's identity, Norman decided to leave, though Harry tried to stop him. Norman told Harry to do what he wanted with Mary Jane and then dump her fast, as he believed that she was only interested in money as his own wife was.

Final Confrontation and Death[]

After he hallucinated that his other persona informed him to attack Spider-Man's heart, Norman attacked and seriously injured Aunt May, kidnapped Mary Jane, and told Spider-Man that he must either choose to save her or a group of children in a cable car. Both were thrown off the Queensboro Bridge, yet Spider-Man managed to save both the children and Mary Jane.

After he saved the children and Mary Jane, Spider-Man was lunged into an abandoned building. As the Goblin brutally beat on Spider-Man, he told him how he would kill M.J. slowly, and said that "MJ and I, we're gonna have a hell of a time," while he drew a trident. In a rage, Spider-Man attacked him, and gained the upper hand. After being defeated in their final battle and with his own personality apparently resurfaced, Norman removed his Goblin helmet to reveal himself to Spider-Man, and asked Spider-Man to forgive him and protect him from his Goblin persona. At the same time, however, the Goblin, still controlling Norman, secretly directed his glider to impale Spider-Man from behind. Norman stated that he was like a father to him and begged him to be a son to him, to which Peter resorted that he had a father: Benjamin Parker.

Spider-Man sensed the attack with his Spider-Sense and dodged, but the glider killed the Green Goblin by impalement. Just before he died, Norman pleaded to Peter to not tell Harry about his second identity. When Spider-Man took Norman's corpse back to his mansion, Harry saw him placing his father's dead body on a bed. Not knowing that his father was the Green Goblin's host, Harry held Spider-Man responsible for his death. At the funeral, Harry swore revenge on Spider-Man.[1]

Hallucination of Norman[]

Two years later, Norman's death continued to drive Harry's desire for revenge. After Harry discovered Spider-Man's identity, the essence of the Green Goblin in Norman Osborn's form appeared to Harry in a large mirror. The Green Goblin asked Harry to avenge him, but Harry had a change of heart since Peter was his best friend and could not do anything negative towards him, threw a knife at the mirror, shattered it, and drove away the essence. It was revealed that the Green Goblin equipment was stored behind the mirror, which prompted Harry's desire for revenge again.[2]

Harry later lost that desire yet again upon getting amnesia. After Mary Jane refused to be Harry's girlfriend after she kissed him due to tension between her and Peter, his memories came back, as did the essence of the Green Goblin. The Green Goblin, in that final appearance, told Harry his game plan of "First, we attack his heart!".[3]

Attributes

Powers

Green Goblin
Goblin Formula: Norman decided to expose himself to a formula his company was developing that was specifically made to create Super Soldiers for the military, giving him the results he desired, but this caused his mind to create an alter-ego, Green Goblin.

  • Superhuman Strength: After being exposed to his formula, Norman gained greater than human strength and was able to match Spider-Man, he was also able to hold a cable car full of children effortlessly.
  • Superhuman Speed
  • Superhuman Stamina
  • Superhuman Durability
  • Superhuman Agility
  • Superhuman Reflexes

Abilities

  • Gifted Intelligence
  • Expert Engineer
  • Expert Marksman
  • Skilled Combatant
  • Master Acrobat

Weaknesses

Dissociative Identity Disorder: The effects of the Formula caused mental instability in the test animals before Norman decided to expose himself to the formula, after being exposed to the formula, he developed a personality different from his own that was thirsty for blood and vengeance who would be the Green Goblin that was slowly being apored on him.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

  • Goblin Armor: Norman steals an experimental Oscorp armor modified in battle and is capable of absorbing most impacts; he is also designed to withstand temperatures and pressures during flight. The suit was also linked to the Goblin Glider, allowing him to control it remotely via a switch hidden in the wrist. The suit could expel an unspecified anesthetic gas which was potent enough to knock out Spider-Man.

Weapons

  • Pumpkin Bombs: The Green Goblin carried explosives in his glider that he used on different occasions, he also carried a variant that released a bright, radioactive flash that reduced people to skeletons. The Pumpkin Bombs also sprouted rotating wing-shaped razor blades when thrown, and were capable of flight and homing in on a target.
  • Razor Bat: The Green Goblin was equipped with bombs with sharp blades coming out from around them.
  • Goblin Trident: The Green Goblin had a trident which he kept in a hidden compartment of his glider. He took it out to deliver the final blow to a weakened Spider-Man.

Transportation

  • Goblin Glider: The Green Goblin piloted a high-tech Goblin Glider that was armed with heat-seeking missiles, machine guns and sharp blades. Norman also wore green armor that cybernetically connected him to his glider and weapons.

Notes

Trivia

  • Harry says during the Oscorp festival in Times Square that Norman loves the color black.

See Also

Links and References

References

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