Green Goblin

The Green Goblin is the alias of several characters from Spirerman comics. The first and most high-profile incarnation of Green Goblin is Norman Osborn.

The Green Goblin is a Halloween-themed supervillain whose weapons are styles after jack-o’-lanterns, bats and ghosts. Green Goblin is considered the primary archenemy of Spider-Man.

Who is The Green Goblin?

The Green Goblin made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #14. In this issue and for several issues afterwards, his secret identity was never revealed.

The Green Goblin is unusual because it seems to have its own personality, that can be distinguished from the personality of the person who is wearing it.

This is probably because one of the side effects of the Goblin Serum is that an alternate persona is created. Regardless of who is wearing the costume, you can expect the Green Goblin to be homicidal and sadistic.

Norman Osborn

Norman Osborn is the character most associated with the Green Goblin because he was the first one to wear the costume. He was the one who developed it after he became exposed to the Green Goblin formula.

Harry Osborn

Harry Osborn was born Harold Osborn and is Norman’s son. He was the second person to use the alias of Green Goblin.

Bart Hamilton

Dr. Hamilton came from Scarsdale in New York and worked as a psychologist. He became the third Green Goblin.

Phil Urich

Phil Urich was the fourth person to use the Green Goblin alias and was also the nephew of Ben Urich.

Biography Of The Green Goblin

Norman Osborn’s father was a violent alcoholic who lost the entire family fortune. Norman became a ruthless industrialist who was completely self-made.

He becomes involved with creating opponents for the Superhero community to battle so they are distracted from investigating corrupt corporations.

This brings him even more wealth. He gains complete control of the firm by ensuring his partner, Professor Mendel Stromm, gets sent to jail for embezzlement.

When he discovers Stromm’s formula for a serum that will enhance strength, he decides to test it out on himself.

The formula is unstable and explodes in his face which results in him spending several weeks in the hospital. He recovers and is smarter than before with super human strength. However, he no longer has any morals and soon becomes insane as the Green Goblin identity takes over.

The costume he designs is based on a nightmare he had as a child and it is the colour of the serum. He glides around on an object similar to a broomstick that is equipped with high-tech weapons.

He made changes to the first glider so that it would give him more manoeuvrability and this becomes known as the Goblin Glider.

He and Spider-Man became arch enemies and this led to a cycle of loss and pain that played out over many years. Peter Parker and Harry Osborn, Norman’s son, were very good friends and when Peter found out Norman’s true identity, he tried to keep the truth from Harry.

Death Of The Green Goblin

Norman’s obsession with Spider-Man only continued to grow and kidnapped Gwen Stacy before throwing her off a bridge.

Spider-Man tried to save her but the force needed to catch her with his web broke her neck.

A fight broke out between the two and the Green Goblin tried to impale Spider-Man to the wall using the Goblin Glider. Spider-Man managed to get out of the way and the Goblin was impaled instead which appeared to have killed him.

Harry Osborn

Harry Osborn had witnessed the final battle between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man. Before the authorities arrived, Harry removed the costume from his father so that his secret identity was protected.

He also bribed the coroner not to reveal that he had found traces of Goblin serum in Norman’s blood at the autopsy. As far as everyone was concerned, the Green Goblin was dead.

Harry started wearing the costume himself when he discovered that Peter was Spider-Man. He briefly became the new Green Goblin and fought Spider-Man in a battle that destroyed Peter’s apartment.

After this, he started seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Bart Hamilton, who tied him up and stole the costume for himself.

When Harry escaped he used his father’s notes to try and recreate the formula that would give him superhuman strength. He made some modifications of his own to the formula and it worked even better than he expected.

He became much stronger than his father had been and he also became strong enough to be a match for Spider-Man.

Harry was eventually killed due to exposure to a new version of the formula that he was working on. This was the event that led to the reveal that Norman Osborn was alive.

The Return Of Norman Osborn

The powers that Osborn gained from the formula also meant that he was able to regenerate. This is how he was able to survive being impaled.

He made his escape from the morgue and replaced his body with that of a drifter who he had impaled so that they had similar injuries.

He fled to Europe and joined an organisation called the Brotherhood of the Scriers. He eventually completely took over this group and became their leader.

There was a time when he used a stand-in to take over the Green Goblin persona so that he did not become a suspect.

This was the fifth Green Goblin and he also clashed with Spider-Man, as well as kidnapping Norman’s grandson.

Powers and Abilities

The costume of the Green Goblin is green as you may expect. This costume is worn underneath bulletproof chainmail. The costume also includes a mask which has a filter that protects the wearer from the gasses that the Green Goblin creates.

When the Goblin first appears, it seems as if he is a normal man who gets all his powers from the costume and gadgets. However, it is later revealed that it is the formula that gives the Goblin his increased strength, speed and endurance.

Damaged tissues and organs can be regenerated, but the Goblin would be left with a scar if they were seriously injured. He has become very intelligent but this has been at the expense of his sanity.

Osborn was a cunning businessman and the Goblin also had some of these traits, although he often became very manic.

The Green Goblin has a large range of devices that he uses. This includes the Goblin Glider which is an armed glider that he can manoeuvre in any direction that he wants.

Other weapons that the Green Goblin uses include Pumpkin Bombs. These are grenades shaped like ghosts and jack-‘o-‘lanterns that emit smoke and gas.

Razor bats are throwing devices with razor edges that come back to the Goblin like boomerangs. His gloves are also woven with filaments that can discharge electricity at 10,000 volts.

The Green Goblin is one of the top Marvel villains listed in our page of comics fans favourites.