Norman Osborn

The Green Goblin
File:Green goblin2.jpg Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin, art by Luke Ross.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	(as Green Goblin) The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964) (unnamed) Amazing Spider-Man #23 (April 1965); (named, as Norman Osborn) The Amazing Spider-Man #37 (June 1966) (as Iron Patriot) Dark Avengers #1 (March 2009)
Created by	Stan Lee Steve Ditko
In-story information
Alter ego	Norman Virgil Osborn
Team affiliations	Dark Avengers H.A.M.M.E.R. The Cabal Oscorp Thunderbolts Sinister Twelve Commission on Superhuman Activities Daily Bugle Hellfire Club
Notable aliases	Goblin Lord, Overlord, Scrier, Iron Patriot
Abilities	Superhuman strength, intellect, stamina, durability, agility and reflexes due to ingesting the "Goblin Serum" Regenerative healing factor Genius intelligence Skilled in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts Uses goblin-themed weapons and a "Goblin Glider" which has a variety of offensive weapons as paraphernalia

The Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964).

Although many characters have taken up this identity, the most well-known is the original Green Goblin, Norman Virgil Osborn. Norman Osborn was originally an industrialist head of OSCORP and father of Spider-Man's best friend, Harry Osborn, who took a serum which enhanced his physical abilities and intellect but also drove him to insanity. He adopted a Halloween-themed appearance, dressing in a goblin costume, riding on a bat-shaped "Goblin Glider", and using an arsenal of high-tech weapons, notably grenade-like "Pumpkin Bombs", to terrorize New York City. He is one of Spider-Man's most persistent foes, and many consider him to be one of the archenemies of Spider-Man, being directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Spider-Man's life, such as the death of Gwen Stacy and the Clone Saga. He is also the lead protagonist of the company-wide "Dark Reign" storyline.

The character was ranked number 19 on Wizard Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Villains Ever list, and 27th on its Top 200 Comic Book Characters list. In 2009, Norman Osborn was also ranked as IGN's 13th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time. He also placed #11 on GuysNation's Top Villains of All Time. Comics journalist and historian Mike Conroy writes of the character: "Of all the costumed villains who've plagued Spider-Man over the years, the most flat-out unhinged and terrifying of them all is the Green Goblin."

Publication history

According to Steve Ditko, the Green Goblin, as we know him, was entirely his creation. He claims:

Stan's synopsis for the Green Goblin had a movie crew, on location, finding an Egyptian-like sarcophagus. Inside was an ancient, mythological demon, the Green Goblin. He naturally came to life. On my own, I changed Stan's mythological demon into a human villain.

The Green Goblin debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #14. At this time his identity was unknown, but he proved popular and reappeared in later issues, which made a point of his secret identity. Apparently, Lee and Ditko disagreed on who he should be. According to one theory, Lee always wanted him to be someone Peter Parker knew, while Ditko wanted him to be a stranger, feeling this was closer to real life. Ditko has refuted this rumor, however, claiming:

So I had to have some definite ideas: who he was, his profession and how he fit into the Spider-Man story world. I was even going to use an earlier, planted character associated with J. Jonah Jameson: he [was to] be [revealed as] the Green Goblin. It was like a subplot working its way until it was ready to play an active role.

Ditko left the series with issue #38, before he could reveal the Goblin's identity, and Lee subsequently unmasked him in the next issue as Norman Osborn, a character who had been introduced two issues earlier as the father of Harry Osborn. John Romita, Sr., who replaced Ditko as the title's artist, recalls:

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.

The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964), the Green Goblin's first appearance; the character originally used a turbo-fan-powered "flying broomstick." Cover art by Steve Ditko.

After the Green Goblin killed Peter Parker's girlfriend Gwen Stacy, writer Gerry Conway decided that the Goblin had to pay a heavy price. Osborn accidentally caused his own death in the course of a fight against Spider-Man. Others, such as Harry Osborn, later adopted the Green Goblin identity, and writer Roger Stern later introduced the Hobgoblin to replace the Green Goblin as Spider-Man's archenemy.

Return

During the Clone Saga storyline, the Spider-Man writers were met with a massive outcry from many readers after the decision to replace Peter with his clone Ben Reilly as the true Spider-Man. Eventually, the writers decided to reveal that one of Spider-Man's arch-enemies had been manipulating events from behind the scenes. The initial plan was to use Mephisto, but they felt a more down-to-earth character was needed. It was then suggested that the semi-zombified cyborg known as "Gaunt" be revealed as Harry Osborn, who had been killed in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. Gaunt was a late entry to the controversial storyline, created mainly as a plot device to return Harry to life; the plan for the character included Harry regaining his humanity, taking credit for tricking Peter Parker into thinking he was a clone, and resuming his identity as the Green Goblin full-time. However, the plotline was changed by newly promoted editor in chief Bob Harras, who disliked the Harry Osborn character, and instead chose Norman be the mastermind, revealing Gaunt as Mendel Stromm. Osborn briefly reprised his original evil businessman role, minimizing his Goblin identity, in the lead-up to "The Final Chapter", which closed out the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man.

New roles

Following the "Civil War" story arc, Warren Ellis began writing Thunderbolts, and Osborn was brought into the title as the director of the team. He was one of several characters offered to Ellis, who picked him because, according to Thunderbolts editor Molly Lazer, "[t]here was something about Norman, his instability, and his fixation with Spider-Man that Warren liked, so he’s in the book!" Ellis admitted not being very familiar with the character, saying, "all I remember of the Norman Osborn character was from the Spider-Man reprints my parents used to buy me when I was very young, and Norman Osborn was this guy with a weird rippled crewcut who was always sweating and his eyes were always bulging out of his head. That guy as a Donald Rumsfeld-like public governmental figure... [Joe Quesada] talked me into writing the book while I was still laughing." Lazer confirmed that the new team was answerable to the Commission on Superhuman Activities, giving him the opportunity to do what he wanted: "He's a free man with a lot of power .... And his agenda, well, it's not that secret. He wants to get Spider-Man."

Writer Christos Gage took over for the Secret Invasion tie-in stories, which ended with Osborn taking credit for the defeat of the Skrulls, after he killed the Skrull queen Veranke. This allowed the character to be placed into an influential position in the aftermath, Dark Reign. Although the dark turn at the end was always part of the plan for the storyline, Brian Michael Bendis, Secret Invasion's writer, says that Osborn was picked for the leading role because of the changes implemented by Ellis: "While I was putting it together, Warren [Ellis]'s Thunderbolts run made it very clear that if one would choose to do so, Norman was on track to head toward this kind of storyline, very organically, very in-character, and very much within the realm of what was going on." Bendis stated, "Norman's team is made up of people who are outstanding at what they do. These are bad-ass, hardcore get-it-done types. They'll close the door and take care of business, and he's dressing them up to make them something that the people want."

Meanwhile, Andy Diggle took over the writing of Thunderbolts. He introduced new characters to serve as Osborn's black ops team, explaining, "Norman selected agents with stealth, infiltration and assassination skills rather than overt flying-and-fighting type powers" and "now that he's reached a higher level, he's reconfiguring the Thunderbolts into something much more covert and much more lethal: his own personal hit squad." Diggle's Osborn is still mad: "To quote the movie Speed, he's 'crazy, not stupid.' He's clearly fiercely intelligent and a natural born leader, with the ego and competitive drive to succeed against all odds. He also just happens to be crazy as a shithouse rat." He describes his take on Osborn: "I think the secret to understanding Norman is that he doesn't realize he's the villain. He thinks he's the hero. He truly believes that he deserves public adulation, and it bugs the hell out of him that so-called 'superheroes' are getting it instead of him."

Osborn next starred in the five-issue miniseries Osborn, by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Emma Rios, looking at the character's life in prison.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Goblin years

Norman Osborn, the son of industrialist Ambrose Osborn was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Although he was a brilliant student in the fields of science, his alcoholic father loses control of his company, and turns on his family. His father once locked Norman in one of the family's empty estates in an attempt to toughen him. It is in that darkened mansion that Norman is haunted by a "green, goblin-like" creature that is "waiting to pounce on him." All of these events had a severe impact on Norman, planting the seeds of the megalomaniac he would eventually become. He would stop at nothing to regain the family wealth that his father had lost.

In college, wherein he studies chemistry and electrical engineering, Norman Osborn meets his sweetheart Emily, gets married, and eventually has a son, Harry. In his adulthood, he co-founds a major firm with Dr. Mendel Stromm, Osborn Industries, of which he is owner and president. However his wife Emily becomes ill and dies when Harry is barely a year old. This tragedy pushes Osborn to work harder, and he barely has time for Harry. Hoping to gain more control of his company, Osborn accuses Stromm of embezzling (Stromm claims he was merely borrowing) from the company and has him arrested. Osborn then searches his possessions, discovering an experimental strength/intelligence enhancement formula. When Osborn attempts to create the serum, it turns green and explodes in his face. The accident greatly increases his intelligence and physical abilities, but these enhancements cost him his sanity.

Enter the Goblin

File:Amazingspiderman39.jpg

The Amazing Spider-Man #39 (Aug. 1966). Cover art by John Romita, Sr.

Osborn adopts the bizarre identity of the Green Goblin, based on the monster he feared in his childhood, with the goal of becoming boss of the city's organized crime. He intends to cement his position by defeating Spider-Man. As the Green Goblin, he would bedevil Spider-man many times but fail to achieve his goal. His old partner Stromm returns and attempts revenge with his robots but apparently dies of a heart attack. Osborn discovers that college student Peter Parker, a classmate of his son Harry, is Spider-Man. Osborn captures Spider-Man, and manically reveals his own true identity in before releasing Spider-Man for what he intends to be their climactic battle. However, Spider-Man defeats Osborn, who loses his memory, and destroys the Goblin costume.

Osborn continues to be troubled by memories, which he takes as hallucinations, of the Green Goblin and Spider-Man. A presentation on supervillains by NYPD Captain George Stacy restores Osborn's memory, but after a brief return to his Green Goblin persona, in which he abducts Parker's friends and threatens Parker's elderly Aunt May, he is exposed to one of his own "psychedelic bombs", inducing another amnesia spell. In The Amazing Spider-Man #96, Osborn stumbles upon an old Green Goblin hideout, restoring his memory. The Goblin battles Spider-Man in this and the following two issues, until Spider-Man leads Osborn to see his son Harry Osborn hospitalized, overdosed on drugs. The shock causes Osborn's amnesia to return yet again.

In issue #121 (June 1973), his memory having been regained, the Green Goblin throws Parker's love, Gwen Stacy, from a tower of either the Brooklyn Bridge (as depicted in the art) or the George Washington Bridge (as given in the text). She dies during Spider-Man's rescue attempt; a note on the letters page of issue #125 states: "It saddens us to say that the whiplash effect she underwent when Spidey's webbing stopped her so suddenly was, in fact, what killed her." The following issue, the Goblin appears to accidentally kill himself in the ensuing battle with Spider-Man.

Return

In fact, however, the Green Goblin formula had also endowed Osborn with a healing factor that allowed him to circumvent this otherwise certain death. Osborn, no longer suffering from bouts of amnesia, escapes from a morgue and goes to Europe, where he can move freely and be unnoticed. He becomes the leader of the Scrier cabal, which he utilizes to carry out revenge on Parker, using Seward Trainer, Judas Traveller, the Jackal, and Mendel Stromm, who is now the cyborg-like Gaunt, as his pawns. It is this group of individuals who become crucial in duping Parker during the controversial 1990s storyline the "Clone Saga", in which a clone of Parker, dubbed Ben Reilly and created in 1970s comics by the Jackal, returns to New York City. Osborn reemerges in Parker's life, and initially convinces Parker that Parker and not Reilly is the clone. When Parker learns the truth, Osborn kills Reilly, the real clone.

The returned Osborn devises a contrived story to explain his absence, and regains control of his business. He even uses a Goblin stand-in so as not to be suspected as the Green Goblin. Osborn joins a cult hoping to receive great power but instead goes further into madness. Osborn comes to see Parker as the son he had always wanted, and attempts to have Parker take on the Goblin mantle using physiological torture but ultimately fails. Osborn's next plan involves using a drunken Flash Thompson to drive a truck into Midtown High School, resulting in an accident causing Thompson brain damage. This successfully enrages Parker into what Osborn anticipates will be a climactic battle. During this confrontation, an emotionally weary Parker tells Osborn he is tired of this roundelay, and declares a truce.

Osborn's identity as the Green Goblin is revealed to the public through an investigation by the Daily Bugle after Osborn murders one of its reporters. After a battle with Spider-Man and Luke Cage, Osborn is arrested and sent to prison for the first time. Regardless, Osborn masterminds a plot that forces Spider-Man himself to help him escape. Osborn escapes to Paris but is apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Rise and fall

File:DarkavengersIP.jpg

Norman Osborn as the Iron Patriot

Osborn attempts to distance himself from his Green Goblin persona after being prescribed medication. During the "Civil War" over the Superhuman Registration Act, Osborn is appointed director of the superhero team the Thunderbolts, now tasked to apprehend anyone who resists registering. During the "Secret Invasion" by the shape-shifting alien race the Skrulls, Osborn kills the Skrull queen Veranke, leader of the invasion. He leverages this widely publicized success in defeating the Skrulls to replace Tony Stark as director of S.H.I.E.L.D., which he in turn replaces with H.A.M.M.E.R., a paramilitary force he uses to advance his agenda. Osborn simultaneously formed an alliance called the Cabal with Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, Namor, Loki, and the Hood, but this 'alliance' quickly falls apart when Namor and Frost betrayed the Cabal to aid the X-Men.

His attempts to exert his authority are increasingly jeopardized by various superheroes. This includes Tony Stark tricking Osborn into attacking him while Stark was suffering from brain damage in his original suit of armor, and the New Avengers using a tracking device Osborn had planted in Luke Cage to trick Osborn into blowing up his own house. Osborn then creates a rationale to invade Asgard, claiming it poses a national security threat. During a pitched battle with several superheroes, the Sentry causes Asgard to fall to Earth. Stark removes the Iron Patriot's armor remotely, revealing a maddened Osborn wearing green facepaint to create a goblin-like look. Osborn is captured by Volstagg while trying to escape, and is incarcerated in The Raft penitentiary, where he blames his Green Goblin alter-ego for ruining his chance to protect the world.

Powers, abilities, and weaknesses

Norman Osborn was turned into the Green Goblin by a chemical solution he had devised based upon a formula originally conceived by Professor Mendel Stromm. The process granted Osborn superhuman agility, strength, speed, stamina, and dexterity, as well as a "healing factor" that allows him to quickly heal even from such lethal bodily damage as being stabbed through the chest by large blades. In addition to these physical advantages, the serum also greatly enhanced Norman's already-above average intellect, making him a bona fide genius capable of making breakthroughs in advanced areas of genetics, robotics, engineering, physics and applied chemistry. The Goblin formula is also said to have driven Osborn mentally insane – defects in his personality were strongly augmented by the serum, resulting in dangerous mood-swings and hallucinations.

Weapons as the Green Goblin

The Green Goblin is armed with a variety of bizarre devices. He travels on his bat-shaped "Goblin Glider", an incredibly fast and maneuverable rocket glider equipped with various armaments. Other weapons the Goblin uses include incendiary Pumpkin Bombs, smoke- and gas-emitting grenades resembling ghosts and jack-'o'-lanterns, razor-edged boomerang-like throwing weapons, resembling bats, and gloves woven with micro-circuited filaments which channel pulsed discharges of electricity at nearly 10,000 volts. He wears a green costume underneath bulletproof chainmail with an overlapping purple tunic. His mask has a built-in gas filter to keep him safe from his own gasses.

Goblin Glider

The Goblin Glider's controls and microprocessor are located behind the head of the glider. The pilot is attached to the glider via electromagnetic clasps on the wings of the glider. It has great maneuverability and is steered mostly by leaning, but manual controls are available behind the head of the glider. The Green Goblin later added radio-linked voice controls to his mask. Its top speed is 90 miles per hour (140 km/h), and it can support about 400 lb (180 kg), though it could lift far more for brief periods. Flying at top speed with a full load and a full fuel tank would deplete its fuel supply in about an hour.

The glider possesses a wide array of armaments, including heat-seeking and smart missiles, machine guns, extending blades, a flamethrower and a pumpkin bomb dispenser/launcher.

Pumpkin Bomb

A grenade used by the Green Goblin, the Pumpkin Bomb resembles a miniature Jack-o'-lantern and, when thrown ignites almost soundlessly and produces enough heat to melt through a 3-inch (76 mm) thick sheet of steel. The Goblin carries these and a variety of other weapons in a shoulder bag he calls his "Bag Of Tricks". The Green Goblin has a range of other "Pumpkin Bombs" at his disposal, including smoke- and gas-emitting bombs. Some release hallucinogenic gases, while others emit a specially created mixture that neutralizes Spider-Man's spider-sense for a limited period of time. All of these are covered in a light plastic mantle that flutters like a ghost when thrown.

Weapons as the Iron Patriot

During the events of the "Dark Reign", Osborn created a new identity, the Iron Patriot (an amalgam of Captain America and Iron Man), to cement his standing as a hero. As the Iron Patriot, he utilized a version of Iron Man's armor. The armor featured superhuman strength, enhanced durability via a pliable crystalline material with a molecular structure that can collimate into super-hard planes upon the application of an electrical field, flight, magnetic impact blasts, heat seeking missiles, miniaturized lasers, flamethrowers, and a communications system housed in his helmet which allowed him to interface with any U.S.-controlled satellite or computer network. While the original Iron Man armor utilized repulsor technology, Osborn's design does not; Stark destroyed all but one repulsor, and stated that "Oz is too stupid" to make his own repulsor-based weapons system. The star shaped Uni Beam projector on his chest, because of its shape, also has a less powerful output than that of the original Iron Man model.

Mental illness and other weaknesses

Norman Osborn has consistently been depicted with several unusual weaknesses related to his psychosis and to his personality. He suffers from manic depression. He has a pronounced superiority complex and, in some depictions, multiple-personality disorder. He is also highly sadistic, showing disregard for the lives of innocent people who stand between him and his objectives. These weaknesses have often been referenced in stories featuring him and exploited by his enemies.

In Thunderbolts Norman Osborn is shown to be severely manic depressive. This has been referenced several times in a myriad of Spider-Man stories. When he is not under the direction of a psychiatrist and taking medication, he has dangerous mood swings. At the apex of his mania, he is paranoid, delusional, and suffers from visual and auditory hallucinations, including hearing the voice of his Green Goblin persona and seeing its face in the mirror rather than his own. Previously, Osborn's arrogance caused him to refuse to submit to psychiatric treatment unless forced to; he viewed mental illness as an imperfection and therefore would not admit that he is mentally ill. In later conversations with the Sentry, Osborn revealed that he had come to accept his own mental illness.

There are many examples of Osborn's pronounced superiority complex. He generally views other people as dim-witted pests, lacking in creative vision, unworthy to be graced by his presence. He goes out of his way to remind others of their personal failures and shortcomings and to remind those in close relationships with him, such as his son, that they are incapable of measuring up to his achievements. For example, when he first learned Spider-Man's identity, he claimed that when Spider-Man previously had defeated him, it did not count because Spider-Man had only beaten his lackeys or been rescued by the intervention of other super powered beings such as the Human Torch, despite the fact that he always departed the battles after Spider-Man's victories rather than trying to defeat his foe himself. He also missed the opportunity to lead the original Sinister Six because he felt that joining the group would mean admitting he needed the help of others to rid himself of Spider-Man. When he participated in the mystical ritual known as the Gathering of Five, he appeared convinced that he would automatically receive the gift of power from the ritual – which would bestow upon the participants power, immortality, knowledge, madness and death, respectively – only to receive the gift of madness instead, subsequently requiring an elaborate cocktail of drugs to restore himself to a semblance of sanity. During his time in charge of H.A.M.M.E.R. he was provoked into attacking Asgard by his Goblin side because his ego couldn't allow himself to consider the possibility that the Asgardians wouldn't threaten his power Later events revealed that Loki at least slightly influenced Osborn's decision to further Loki's own goals.

Osborn has demonstrated a high degree of sadism. While he was in prison, a guard once asked him for his advice in helping his critically ill wife; Osborn's advice led her to a quicker and more agonizing death. As director of the Avengers, he allowed Bullseye to continue to function as an Avenger, even after Bullseye allowed over thirty innocent bystanders to be killed during a skirmish with a supervillain. As director of H.A.M.M.E.R. he directed his officers to shoot down an airplane full of innocent people just to see whether his enemy, Pepper Potts, was powerful enough to rescue the passengers with her Rescue variant of the Iron Man armor. Because these actions threatened the hero persona he had carefully crafted some in the media began to see him for what he really was, and many of his highly-credible former enemies spoke out against him. His Goblin persona vied for control of his body, as depicted in the January 2010 issue of Dark Avengers, where he is shown writhing on the floor and imploring, apparently to himself, "Why won't this face come off...?", and finally took over when Osborn was defeated by Iron Man at the end of the "Siege" arc.

Other Goblins

Main article: Green Goblin (set index)

While Norman was presumed dead, several other villains and one hero took up the mantle of the Green Goblin. A few other villains also created separate Goblin mantles.

Other versions

Main article: Alternative versions of the Green Goblin

As a fictional character, the Green Goblin has appeared in a number of media, from comic books to films and television series. Each version of the character is typically established within its own continuity within parallel universes, to the point where distinct differences in the portrayal of the character can be identified. Various versions of the Goblin are depicted in works such as Marvel's Ultimate line and Earth X.

In other media

Main article: Green Goblin in other media

The Green Goblin has appeared in many Spider-Man related media.

Television

In television, the Green Goblin appeared in the 1960s Spider-Man animated TV series voiced by Len Carlson. and in the Spider-Man episode "Revenge of the Green Goblin." He also appears in the 1980s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon with Norman Osborn voiced by Neil Ross and Green Goblin voiced by Dennis Marks. The Green Goblin also appears in the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series, again voiced by Neil Ross. A Counter Earth version of the Green Goblin appears in the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series voiced by Rino Romano. Green Goblin appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man with Norman Osborn voiced by Alan Rachins and Green Goblin voiced by Steven Blum.

Film

He is the antagonist in the feature film Spider-Man (2002), which starred Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn. Dafoe reprised his role briefly in Spider-Man 2 and in Spider-Man 3.

Video games

The first video game appearance of the Green Goblin was the 1982 Atari 2600 Spider-Man game. He also appeared in Spider-Man arcade game. and in video game adaptation of Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The Goblin appears in the 2002 Spider-Man video game based on the film with Willem Dafoe reprising his role as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in the game. He briefly appears in the 2005 Ultimate Spider-Man video game voiced by Peter Lurie. He appears in the game Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, voiced by Roger L. Jackson. Green Goblin appears in the Nintendo DS version of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. He appears as a playable character in the game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Armin Shimerman. Also The Noir version of the Green Goblin appears in the final Noir chapter of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions voiced by Jim Cummings.

External links

Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) at the Marvel Universe wiki

• The Green Goblin on Spider-Man Wiki
• The Green Goblins Hideout for a complete Norman Osborn biography