APPEARANCE
Height:
5' 11"
Weight: 185 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Reddish Brown
Features: Apart from wearing a green latex outfit and
jetting around on a goblin glider, none.
SUMMARY
Real Name:
Norman Osborn II
Other Current Aliases: The Goblin-Lord
Former Aliases: None
Dual Identity: Once secret, revealed years after his
"death", covered up again upon his return
Current Occupation: Professional supervillain, leader of
the Order of Goblins
Former Occupation: Owner and president of Osborn
Industries, Inc.
Citizenship: U.S.
Legal Status: No known criminal record
Place of Birth: Hartford, Connecticut
Marital Status: Widowed
Known Relatives: Harold "Harry" Osborn, son(deceased);
Norman Osborn III, grandson; Norman Osborn I, father(presumedly
deceased); Emily Osborn, wife(deceased),Liz Osborn (daughter-in-law)
Known Confidants: The Scriers, Mendel Stromm (Robot Master
/ Gaunt), Spider-Man, Donald Menken, Kolina Frederickson
Known Allies: The Crime-Master, Kraven the Hunter, the
Scriers, Gaunt, the "Host"
Major Enemies: Spider-Man
Usual Base of Operations: New York City and an
unidentified European location
Former Base of Operations: none
Current Group Membership: leader of the Order of Goblins (derivative
from the Cabal of Scriers)
Former Group Membership: The Enforcers, the Scriers
Extent of Education: College
BACKGROUND
After having his business partner, Professor Mendel Stromm, imprisoned for embezzling, industrialist Norman Osborn experimented with one of Stromm's formulas in an attempt to increase his intelligence. The formula had not been tested thoroughly, and blew up in his face. Norman nearly died, but discovered that the formula increased both his intelligence and strength. It also drove him insane. Plotting to become leader of the underworld, Osborn created his Green Goblin personae and decided to establish his reputation by killing Spider-Man. He came close but failed many times. Devising a compound that would weaken Spider-Man's spider-sense, he followed the Web-slinger undetected. Snatching Spider-Man while he was in his civilian identity of Peter Parker, the Goblin carted him back to a secret hideout. There he revealed to Peter his own secret identity. During the battle, the Goblin came in contact with live wires, which seemed to jolt him into partial amnesia. Since Osborn had no memory of his criminal past, Spider-Man let him go.
The amnesia, however, proved temporary. Osborn several times regained the memories of the Green Goblin and, knowing Spider-Man's own secret identity, came after Parker each time. For what would be the "final" time, deciding the direct approach wasn't working, the Goblin kidnapped Gwen Stacy, Parker's girlfriend, and killed her throwing her off of the Brooklyn Bridge. Although Spider-Man came close to exacting the ultimate revenge for this act, he pulled back before killing the Goblin. The fight may have continued, but the Goblin was accidentally impaled by his own goblin glider.
Numb with shock after witnessing the event, his son Harry Osborn removed the Goblin's costume so that the arriving authorities found industrialist Norman Osborn, not the Green Goblin, dead. His secret identity was thus preserved for many years after his apparent death.
Though he was in the morgue, Norman Osborn's tale did not end there. According to his journals, the chemicals that altered Norman Osborn's strength, intelligence, and sanity also gave him superhuman healing ability. Despite being impailed through the chest, Norman regenerated, and escaped the morgue replacing his body with that of a drifter he murdered (and impaled through the chest). To cover-up the shame of his father's alter-ego, Harry bribed the coroner to fake the autopsy ensuring there would be no record of the Goblin formula in his blood.
POWERS AND PARAPHENALIA
Strength
Level: Somewhat less than Spider-Man's (lift (press) 10 tons)
Powers: The Goblin formula dramatically increased Osborn's
intellect, although not to superhuman levels. His reflexes, and
coordination are heightened. His strength is superhuman.
Abilities: Adept at organization. A genius when it came to
chemistry and mechanical gadgets.
Equipment: The vertical-thrust goblin glider, which was
powered by a miniature turbo-fan. It could go up to 90 miles per
hour and support 400 pounds.
Weapons: Concussive, smoke, gas and incendiary bombs.
Gloves capable of conducting pulses of electricity upwards of 10,000
volts. Gas and chemicals able to numb Spider-Man's spider-sense.
Limitations: Not quick enough to avoid malfunctioning
goblin gliders. Insanity (mitigated by medicated dermal patches)
For seven years Norman was in hiding - planning, plotting, waiting for the day to arrive when he would strike back. He joined a legendary society, the cabal of Scriers. There, he quickly rose up the ranks, and made an "unorthodox hostile takeover," expanding his powerbase.
After Harry disgraced the Osborn family name, ending up in a mental institution, Norman sent a Scrier to one of Parker's college professors, Dr. Miles Warren (aka, the Jackal). The Scrier promised Warren with recreating his beloved student, Gwen Stacy, while funding his cloning research. One of Warren's assistants, Seward Trainer, was caught stealing files by the Scrier. The Scrier promised to keep Trainer's secret in exchange for a future favor.
Norman saw that the Jackal's plans for revenge were interfering with his own plans. After the explosive conclusion during the battle between Spider-Man and his clone at Shea Stadium, the Jackal retrieved his clone and put who he thought was the real Peter Parker into a state resembling death. Actually, Norman's Scrier called in his favor from Trainer, having Trainer tinker with the Jackal's equipment such that the Jackal had the identities reversed. Norman allowed the real Peter Parker to walk away from the battle, and dump his clone (in the near-death state) into a smokestack in Brooklyn. The Jackal retrieved the clone's body, and replaced it with the corpse of a earlier failed Parker clone. The clone wandered the country calling himself Ben Reilly.
Later, hearing of the return of his old partner, Mendel Stromm, Norman sent his Scriers to investigate. Althought this "Stromm" was just a robot, the Scriers checked the corpse of the real Stromm and discovered he was decayed, withered, yet still alive. Stromm had used the original "Goblin" formula upon himself before his "death". Norman revived Stromm, and outfitted him in a life-support suit where he became known as "Gaunt". Through Gaunt, Norman gained technology that allowed his Scrier to appear as a single mystical being.
Norman became infuriated over news of the Hobgoblin's aquision of his equipment and journal notes. But before acting, he remained in the shadows, sending a Scrier and a team (the Host) to befriend criminal psychologist and deranged mutant, Dr. Judas Traveller.
Upon the death of his son, Harry, from the toxic effects of an updated Goblin formula, Norman accelerated his revenge against Parker. When Ben Reilly returned to New York and the Jackal resurfaced, Norman returned to New York as well. Norman had Gaunt coerce Trainer to tamper with the Jackal's equipment again, so that Ben Reilly will think he was the original Peter Parker.
After the Jackal's second apparent death, and the true Parkers (with Mary Jane pregnant) moving to Seattle, Ben Reilly became the new Spider-Man. Norman was not pleased with the happy ending. In "REVELATIONS", Norman returned as the Green Goblin revealing himself as the mastermind behind the clone saga. Ben Reilly was killed by the Goblin, and disintegrated revealing that he was truly the clone. Mary Jane was poisoned into a premature labor by Osborn employee Alison Mongrain. It appears Norman somewhere still has custody of the child.
Later, Norman revealed that he had Aunt May held captive, admitting that he had sent a genetically transformed actress to take her place (and die in Amazing Spider-Man #400). Norman organized and participated in an ancient ritual called "the Gathering of the Five" where he hoped to obtain ultimate power - but instead received insanity.
Norman was defeated as the Green Goblin by SPIDERMAN once again, though in his madness, he believed he had triumphed. He was taken off to jail, but rescued by the Scriers. His sanity maintained by medicated dermal patches, Norman has since organized the Order of the Goblin, fell in love with his nurse, Kolina Frederickson, and attempted to brainwash Peter Parker into becoming his rightful heir to the Goblin legacy.
CRIMINAL HISTORY
First
Appearance: AMAZING SPIDERMAN #14
Origin Story: Amazing Spider-Man #40.
Ref: Amazing Spider-Man #17-#19: RETURN OF THE GREEN
GOBLIN
Ref: Amazing Spider-Man #25-#26: PARTNERSHIP WITH THE
CRIME-MASTER
Ref: Amazing Spider-Man #39-#40: DISCOVERS SPIDERMAN'S
SECRET IDENTITY
Ref: Amazing Spider-Man #121-#122: KILLS GWEN STACY BEFORE
HIS OWN ACCIDENTAL "DEATH"
Ref: PP:SM #75, ASM #418,Sens. SM #11, Spect. SM #240:
RETURNS TO NY. REVEALED TO BE BEHIND CLONE SAGA-KILLS BEN REILLY
Ref: SM: The Osborn Journal: TIME SPENT BETWEEN "DEATH"
AND RETURN DESCRIBED
Ref: ASM #441, PP:SM #97-#98, Spect. SM #263: THE
GATHERING OF THE FIVE. DEEPER INSANITY
Ref: SM Revenge of the Green Goblin #1-#3: FORMS ORDER OF
THE GOBLIN. PLOTS TO TURN PETER PARKER INYO HIS NEW HEIR Ref: ASM
Vol 2 #25, PP:SM Vol 2 #25: KIDNAPS PETER PARKER, FAILS TO TURN
HIM INTO HIS NEW HEIR