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Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin has inflicted pain on Spider-Man as no other villain has. He caused Peter's best friend and Osborn's son, Harry to go insane and die fighting Spider-Man. He killed the Spider-Clone Ben Reilly, whom Peter loved as a brother. But worst of all, he murdered Peter's first true love Gwen Stacy.
The origins of the Green Goblin lead back to many years ago when young Norman Osborn the second was beaten by his father, an aggressive alcoholic. Norman's traumatic childhood led him to become a very bitter and brooding young man whose one saving grace was his love for the beautiful Lydia, whom he later married. Tragically Lydia died a short while after giving birth to Harry, their son. This left Norman angry and devoted to his work, leaving his son without a father for long periods of time. Years later, Norman, still driven towards success and work had his business partner Mendel Stromm arrested for embezzlement in order to gain greater control over his company. It was not until a fight between Osborn, a "proto-goblin" and George and Arthur Stacy that Osborn found Stromm's secret plans for strength enhancement serums hidden in his former partners desk. Osborn then worked upon the serum, until a failed experiment blew up in his face, driving him mad and power hungry.
Years later, when Spider-Man first appeared, Osborn took a fascination with Spider-Man and he attempted to destroy him with a hired thug named the Scorcher. Using a flying apparatus resembling a broom stick the Goblin fought Spider-Man, and faced defeated. After several encounters, Osborn discovered that Peter was Spider-Man! The Goblin then attacked Peter, and revealed himself to be Norman Osborn. During the fight, the Goblin took a blast from his Goblin cannon, and reverted to his pre-insane persona. However, Osborn lost the struggle for his sanity, and became the Green Goblin permanently. During a later fight Osborn kidnapped Peter's girlfriend of that time, Gwen Stacy, resulting in her tragic death. Spider-Man swore revenge on Osborn, until Osborn himself, was impaled by his Goblin Glider. Osborn was dead. Or so we thought. Osborn later fled to Europe, and created a criminal empire with the help of Osborn returned when he learned that son Harry (Who had taken up the Green Goblin mantle himself), had been killed by an untested Goblin strength serum. Osborn blamed Peter for this. So Osborn returned and murdered the Spider-Clone, Ben Reilly, while trying to kill Spider-Man. Spider-Man then webbed a sack of Osborn's pumpkin bombs to the Goblin, which apparently killed him. Osborn later resurfaced reclaiming control of Osborn Industries from Harry's widow Liz, and he purchased the Daily Bugle. Osborn claimed that he was never the Green Goblin, but it was someone trying to frame him, and that he faked his death to get away from his enemies. Osborn then ransacked Peter's house, causing Spider-Man to attacked Osborn and threaten him to leave him alone. The bounty was upped, as Osborn had the Trapster wrap a street thug named Joey Z in 'Webbing', and Osborn convinced New York that Spider-Man was responsible. However, Osborn and Spider-Man had to team together to save Osborn's grandson, but Spider-Man was still hunted for Joey Z's murder. That caused Spider-Man to briefly take up four new identities, in order to continue stopping crime. Following that, Osborn learned of a possible journal revealing his identity, which lead him into a confrontation with the Hobgoblin. After that, Osborn set out to insigate the Gathering of Five, an ancient ritual. It was during that that Osborn assumed great power, and donned the garb of the Green Goblin once more only to discover he had in fact gained insanity.
Upon defeat Norman was taken away by paramedics and placed in a mental insitution. When dismasked it seemed something had happened to his face that caused his doctors to fall back in horror. The shock on the parts of the doctors was in fact due to seeing Norman Osborn unmasked as the Goblin. Moments after his identity was revealed, however, the doctors were killed by members of the Scrier cult, and Osborn taken in to their care. Looked after by his old associate Donald Menkin, Osborn was able to regain his sanity through a medicine cocktail created by Dr. Albert Bendix, over a period in which he grew quite close to his nurse Kolina Frederickson and closely tracked the career of Spider-Man through the Daily Bugle. It was at this time that another Green Goblin came about, and revealed that it was he who was the imposter Goblin Osborn used during the Spider Hunt to draw attention from himself. This other Goblin distinergrated soon after his unmasking but warned Peter of Osborn's forthcoming return.
Following his return to sanity Osborn then reformed the Scriers as a Goblin Cult, used Bendix as a sacifice and put a plan in motion to position Peter, his greatest enemy to fill the void created when Harry died, that of an heir, his son. Taking Peter to the house Osborn's father had once trapped him in, Osborn left Peter for days without food and water and left Peter in a state of despair and self doubt. Following that encounter Norman got away, but, like before, will return when least expected.
Powers and Abilities: The Green Goblin possesses super-human strength, and has electro-gloves, pumpkin bombs, razor sharp bats and various Goblin Gliders in his arsenal. As Osborn, the Goblin is respected and has fooled everyone into believing that Spider-Man's the bad guy, and he is the victim. He is extremely powerful and while he was controlling the Daily Bugle he had J. Jonah Jameson under his thumb, and created alliences with the Jack O' Lantern and Override amongst others.
Key Appearences (In Chronological Order):
Animated Appearences:
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The Green Goblin
The Scorcher failed and that failure drove Osborn to want to get rid of Spider-Man with a vengeance. Another thug, the Headsman, fought Spider-Man and failed, causing Osborn to set off to destroy Spider-Man himself. Thus Osborn became.....THE GREEN GOBLIN!
Stromm, who by this point called himself Gaunt, and the Scrier cult.
Osborn caught the attack on video and used it to frame Spider-Man. At a press conference Osborn put a bounty on Spider-Man's head for a million dollars, and bounty hunters from the Absorbing Man and Titania, to common thugs went after Spider-Man.