Green Goblin, not Red

I'm back with more posts. This is about the Green Goblin, one of Spiderman's greatest foes.

Norman Osborn (of Earth-616), also known by his alter-ego of Green Goblin, is a fictional character and a supervillain who appears in the Spider-Man comic books (among others) published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in a Spiderman comic book called The Amazing Spiderman #14 (July 1964).

Norman Osborn was just a child when he first became obsessed with acquiring wealth and power after his father, a failed business inventor who claimed that he was swindled out of his inventions and personal fortune, took out his rage on Norman. Norman realized that he could not depend on his father for financial security, so he began working after school and saving every cent he earned. He would not allow himself to become a failure like his father. Norman studied chemistry and electrical engineering in college. He also took a number of courses in business administration. One of his teachers was Professor Mendel Stromm. They became good friends and later formed a business partnership. Since Norman put up the bulk of the financing, they called their company Osborn Chemical, or Oscorp. Norman married his college sweetheart Emily and they had a son: Harry. Unfortunately, Emily became ill. After she died, Norman buried himself in his work and rarely had time for young Harry. As the brilliant co-owner of a chemical manufacturer known as Oscorp, Norman Osborn, loving wealth and power, decided to take control and had his partner Stromm arrested when he found he was committing embezzlement, granting him complete control over the company and making Norman the official CEO of Oscorp. While going through Stromm's notes, he found a secret formula that would make him superhumanly powerful. However, his son, Harry, who was tired of always being ignored and rejected by his father, switched the chemicals in the serum, which turned it green and caused it to explode in his face. Later, at the hospital, Norman Osborn found himself thinking more clearly than ever before, not knowing that he would slowly become insane. Attempting to achieve power beyond his wildest dreams, Norman Osborn planned to become the most powerful gang-lord of all by uniting all the independent gangs under his leadership in an attempt to gain control over all of New York's crime. To prove his power and establish his reputation, he decided to choose Spider-Man as his victim of choice, and sent two criminals, the Headsman and Scorcher, after Spider-Man. The two were soundly defeated, and Norman Osborn decided to take matters into his own hands. Remembering a giant green goblin monster from childhood nightmares, he created a costume that reflected that monster, and he became the original Green Goblin.

He first battled Spider-Man with the help of the Enforcers, by getting Spider-Man to participate in a movie about him. Attempting to defeat him in New Mexico, he let Spider-Man battle the Hulk, whose stomping grounds the Goblin, the Enforcers, and Spider-Man accidentally stumbled upon. Escaping the Hulk, Spider-Man attempted to capture the Green Goblin, but was too exhausted to prevent his escape. Returning to New York, the Green Goblin easily hid amongst New York's population. Spider-Man and the Green Goblin fought a few months later at a fan club meeting for Spider-Man organized by Flash Thompson. However, when Spider-Man heard that his Aunt May was extremely ill, he was forced to retreat, giving him a sour reputation by most of New York's citizens, including several superheroes, super-villains, citizens, and, of course, J. Jonah Jameson, and giving the Green Goblin an impressive reputation. Later still, the Green Goblin pretended to be helping the police by attempting to capture Lucky Lobo, a big gang leader, and, after seeing defeat by Spider-Man, attempted a partnership with the Crime-Master, which again ended in defeat. With every one of these defeats, the Green Goblin became more determined. In time, Osborn became totally obsessed with Spider-Man and finally began directing all of his efforts to finding a way to conquer his web-swinging adversary. One of the biggest success in the Green Goblin's career was learning Spider-Man's secret identity, by utilizing a false gang that sprayed Spider-Man with a gas that nullified his spider-sense, allowing the Goblin to follow him without being detected. Capturing Spider-Man with ease, he brought him to his hideout and revealed himself to be Norman Osborn, the father of Harry Osborn, one of Peter Parker's classmates. After gloating and revealing his past, he let Spider-Man escape his bindings, so as to prove his superiority. Spider-Man managed to defeat the Goblin by sending him into a bunch of disconnected, high-voltage wires that were drenched in chemicals. Gaining amnesia, Norman Osborn lost all memory up to the years that his son was in high school. Spider-Man, content in this knowledge, burned the Green Goblin's costume, hoping never to see him again.
The Goblin's Last Standled to Europe. There he joined the Cabal of Scriers, eventually moving up in their ranks and completely taking them over. After the death of his son Harry, whom Norman believed would prove himself in his absence, Osborn accelerated a series of plans he had formulated over the past several years. From the shadows, Osborn manipulated Empire State University Professor Miles Warren as part of a grand scheme to have Parker believe he was in fact a clone and that Ben Reilly (the real clone) was the real Peter Parker. However, with Peter's wife Mary Jane Watson pregnant and the possibility of a life without Spider-Man on the horizon, Peter freely relinquished his alter-ego to Reilly. Unsatisfied with these results, Osborn returned as the Green Goblin revealing himself as the mastermind behind the entire fiasco and killed Ben Reilly who sacrificed himself to save Peter. Reilly's body disintegrated, proving that Peter was in fact the real Spider-Man all along. In addition, Osborn had an employee of his, Alison Mongrain, poison Mary Jane into an induced premature labor, kidnapping the child. Osborn's next grand scheme was to make Spider-Man his heir, first drugging him into wearing the Goblin costume and attacking his friends. After days of physical and mental torture at the Osborn Estate, Peter nearly gave in, but refused at the last minute. Next, the Goblin used a drunken Flash Thompson to drive a truck into Midtown High School, where Peter had taken a job as a teacher. The accident caused Flash brain damage, and spurred Peter into a final battle with his old enemy. Although, it seemed that in some strange way Norman wanted Peter to finish him off, Peter refused saying he did not want to fight him anymore and declared a truce. Sometime later, Norman Osborn was finally revealed to the public as the Green Goblin and after an climatic battle with Spider-Man and Luke Cagethat raged across Manhattan, he was finally imprisoned. However, things were far from over. From behind bars, Osborn once again masterminded a plan against Spider-Man. This time he had Mac Gargan, also known as the Scorpion, kidnap Peter's Aunt May. The plan was for Spider-Man to break Osborn out of prison in exchange for his Aunt's life. Peter reluctantly agreed and with the help of the Black Cat proceeded to break Osborn out, only to have twelve of his greatest enemies waiting for him on the outside. Osborn had assembled a Sinister Twelve, which included Mac Gargan newly bonded with the Venom symbiote. However, Mary Jane had contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. and the villains were faced with the combined might of Captain America, Iron Man, Yellowjacket, Daredevil and the Fantastic Four. During the fracas, the Goblin had escaped to kidnap Mary Jane and took her to the George Washington Bridge in order to replay his murder of Gwen Stacy, a final act of vengeance against Spider-Man. However, a drugged Doctor Octopusintervened, attacking the Goblin. Spider-Man was able to save Mary Jane after a bolt of lightning sent the two villains into the river. Following some verbal clues from the Goblin, Peter was also able to discover where he had hidden Aunt May and rescued her as well. It was revealed that Osborn sent Peter a letter before the fight, thanking Peter for giving his life meaning and purpose, but Peter never received the letter due to moving from his residence. After the Goblin's take-down, Norman and Gwen's twins confronted Spider-Man. They believed Parker to be their real father as well as responsible for killing their mother and abandoning them. Spider-Man told the twins the truth - Gabriel rejected Spider-Man, and accepted the Goblin mantle as the Gray Goblin, becoming insane in the process. After battling Spider-Man, a deranged Gabriel disappeared, while Sarah sought training to use her powers for good. The Goblin later watched in shock as Spider-Man publicly revealed his identity as Peter Parker, railing that Peter "broke the rules!" Peter also confirmed on TV that Osborn was the Goblin, and that he killed Gwen Stacy. He was then approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who were seeking his aid. When Osborn fled during his last jail break, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents picked him up outside of Paris and returned him to his jail cell under heightened security. The Goblin confronted and attacked Ben Urich in an alley, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nano-machines caused him to stop, involuntarily making him collapse and foam at the mouth.