<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Green Goblin
Gender	Male
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Origin	Patterson, NJ
First Appearance	Amazing Spiderman #14 (1964)
Creator(s)	Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Alter ego	Norman Osborn
Aliases	Overlord, the Goblin-Lord
Abilities	Superhuman strength, increased speed, endurance, reflexes, and a low grade healing factor. He is highly skilled at business, strategy, mechanics, electronics, and chemistry
Affiliations	Thunderbolts, Order of the Goblin

The Green Goblin is an arch nemesis of Spider-Man, a fictional comic book superhero, owned by Marvel Comics.

The Green Goblin began as a master planner, intent on controlling the underworld, and using Spider-Man’s death to make his reputation.

The Green Goblin had superhuman strength, speed, endurance, and was a skillful master at his own bizarre method of combat. He flew his incredible turbo-fan powered “Goblin-Glider”, a device with high maneuverability, speeds up to 90 mph, and capable of easily carrying 400 lbs through the air. The Glider was controlled through the shifting of weight and balance from its rider, who would sit on top with his legs in the stirrups above each wing. He would wear his chain mail enforced Goblin costume and mask while standing on his Glider, and hurl small “bombs” in the shape of pumpkins from his “bag of tricks”. These devices could explode on contact, emit special gases, burst into flame, or stun his opponent, depending on the individual design. One of those gasses has the effect of temporarily neutralizing Spider-Man’s spider-sense, which allowed him once to follow Spider-Man and discover his secret identity. The Goblin also uses other deadly devices, like electronic razor-sharp bats and gloves that can emit powerful surges of electricity.

The Green Goblin made Spider-Man’s life miserable for months before he was driven to reveal his true identity as Norman Osborn, head of Osborn Industries and the father of Peter Parker’s best friend, the insecure Harry Osborn. Osborn had gained his powers from a “Goblin-Serum” which, while enhancing his abilities, also warped his sanity.

After the Goblin’s identity was revealed to him, Spider-Man defeated him. At the end of the battle Norman seemed to forget he was the Green Goblin, and Peter, no doubt thinking of his friend Harry, burned his outfit and allowed everyone to believe the Goblin was dead. Slowly, Osborn would begin to regain his memory (including the knowledge that Peter Parker was Spider-Man) and soon he would be off again, threatening Peter’s friends and family. This happened about three times. At the end of each misadventure, Osborn would revert to his seemingly sane but amnesiac self, and Peter would worry about when he might regain his memory and return.

The situation culminated atop the Brooklyn Bridge, where Osborn would commit his most infamous crime, the murder of Peter’s love interest, Gwen Stacy. In the battle that followed, Spider-Man accidentally turned the Goblin-Glider away from himself in self-defense, causing Osborn to impale himself with the glider. An unknown witness to the battle, Harry Osborn removed the Goblin’s costume and swore revenge on Spider-Man. Harry Osborn would soon become the second Green Goblin.

For the next seven years, the world believed Osborn to be dead. Unknown to everyone, his regenerative powers kicked in, returning him to life. He hid out in Europe, waiting to see if his son would be successful in triumphing over Spider-Man. When he saw this was not going to happen, Osborn returned to New York. Since then he and Spider-Man have clashed a number of times. Eventually, Osborn was defeated and put in jail.

The passing of the Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA) and the events of the crossover limited series Civil War gave Osborn another chance out in the world. Wearing a chemical patch to keep his insanity in check and injected with nanites that can deliver him a powerful shock if he goes astray, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Tony Stark (Iron Man) has put him to use. He is in charge of a similarly “reformed” group of government sponsored convicted felons called the Thunderbolts whose job it is to apprehend other super-powered criminals and heroes that Stark targets for violation of the SHRA.

Character Origin

Norman was an emotionally detached father driven by demons ever since the death of Harry’s mother soon after the boy’s birth. Disappointed in his son’s merely average accomplishments, Norman became more and more angry and troubled. When his partner, Professor Eric Fromm, invented a serum that might enhance physical prowess, Osborn framed him for embezzlement and had him jailed so that he could take control of both the company and the formula. Trying the serum on himself, the unstable concoction exploded in his face. Osborn gained his super abilities, but lost his sanity even further. Osborn began receiving money from other businessmen to provide villains with superpowers to distract superheroes from investigating corrupt corporations.

His ambition for power driving him further and further, Osborn dreamed of setting up a criminal syndicate, and began to abuse Spider-Man to enhance his criminal reputation. He would design the Green Goblin identity and paraphernalia to strike fear into his criminal competitors and to take on Spider-Man himself.