History Characters / MarvelComicsNormanOsborn

[[caption-width-right:250:[[EvilHero Not even in this identity, either.]]]]

The ArchEnemy of ComicBook/SpiderMan, though between 2004-2015, he became more active in the Marvel Universe as a whole before returning to Spider-Man titles again from ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' onwards. He became increasingly prominent in ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'', an importance which led to his biggest role to date: the BigBad of the Marvel CrisisCrossover event ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.

Following his defeat, Osborn escapes from the hospital and resumes the identity of the Green Goblin, vowing to defeat [[ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan the new Spider-Man]]. To this end he dubs himself the "Goblin King" and takes over New York's criminal underworld, enlisting the help of Menace, Monster (Carlie Cooper after being splashed with the Gobin Formula), and Hobgoblin VII (renamed the Goblin Knight). Ultimately defeated by the good old Spider-Man, he still manages to escape. However, his escape wasn't clean as he had lost his powers thanks to a special nanotech vaccine created by the Superior Spider-Man. His search to restore his powers ultimately lead him to the Carnage symbiote, where Norman easily got the symbiote to realize the joy of slowly murdering people and convinced it to join with him. Its first order of business was purging the vaccine from his being, with Norman plotting to fuse the symbiote with the Goblin Formula. He ultimately did so, and became the '''Red Goblin''' - launching a new campaign to torment Peter in ''ComicBook/GoDownSwinging'', at the end of which Spider-Man managed to destroy the Carnage symbiote and induced severe mental backlash that scrambled Goblin's mind -- now believing himself to be Cletus Kasady, and Spidey to be Norman. Acknowledging that the Red Goblin's reign of terror is over, Spider-Man had simply left the now brain-dead Norman Osborn to his own leisure... this of course didn't last given that he later joined the Power Elite. Eventually in ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'', the still lobotomized Norman was recruited by a resurrected Cletus Kasady in his crusade to awaken the evil symbiote GodOfDarkness Knull, granting Norman a copy of the Carnage symbiote to carry out his goals. Suffering defeat again, it would be revealed in ''Ruins of Ravencroft'' that Norman somehow returned to his original persona. Later, Gabriel and Sarah Stacy, clones who believed themselves to be the children of Norman and Gwen, took up the identity of Kindred thanks to Mephisto in order to attack Norman and Spider-Man. They would temporarily resurrect the original Sin-Eater, granting him supernatural powers to take away one's sins. One of those people was Osborn himself, who suddenly was filled with grief and regret over his actions as the Goblin. However, when the Sin-Eater took his own life, Osborn never regained his sins as other villains had; instead the Beyond Corporation was able to take claim to it. The Stacy Twins' plan ultimately lead to the death of Harry Osborn, who was revealed to have been a clone of the real Harry who had still died but his soul trapped in Hell until Spider-Man and Doctor Strange overcame Mephisto.

** In ''Superior Spider-Man'' he came '''roaring''' back as Spider-Man's nemesis. He slowly but surely [[spoiler:built a criminal empire under Otto's nose and then used it to to demolish everything Otto had created in the time he was Spider-Man. He would have actually taken out Peter's loved ones as well, if not for MJ.]]

* BigBad: ''The'' Spider-Man big bad. Although he has competition from Venom (pre-Lethal Protector), Doc Ock, and occasionally the Kingpin, Norman Osborn is usually depicted as the baddest of the bunch, and the one who inflicts the deepest scars against Peter. While the main villain of many storylines, his most notable outings were ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'', ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', and ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.

** Holy cow, if he didn't deserve it before, he does for his actions in ''Superior Spider-Man''. [[spoiler:After coming back, instead of taking the fight to Otto, he waits and slowly builds power. Knowing that Otto created Spider bots to monitor the city, he hacked one of them and uploaded a program that ensures if someone has a Goblin appearance, either by wearing a mask or having a Goblin tattoo, the bot does not register that person, ensuring Otto stays out of Norman's hair. For everything Otto does, Norman somehow benefits. When Otto outed Phil Urich as the Hobgoblin, Norman took the chance to have Urich join his group. When Otto took down the Kingpin, Norman seized power making him the new Kingpin. Norman kidnapped Carly and found out that Otto killed Peter Parker, he simply adjusted his plans to torture Otto as well as Peter's loved ones. When he finally decides to step in the limelight, he has enough forces to keep even the Avengers busy trying to stop his forces or save everyone. Allowing him to focus on Otto, he simply destroys everything Otto has made. He destroyed Spider Island, stripping Otto of back up; destroyed everything that was ever related to Otto, laughing all the way; hacked into Otto's tentacles, nearly killing him; hacked into JJJ's Spider Slayers; kidnapped Otto's girlfriend and finally attempts a hit on everyone close to Peter. The only reason the murder of Peter's loved ones failed was because he underestimated [[BadassNormal MJ]]]].

** In ''Superior Spider-Man'', he more or less [[spoiler:tortures Otto for killing Peter Parker, as he finds it unfair that the real Spider-Man's second greatest enemy end his life instead of his greatest.]] [[spoiler:''Superior Spider-Man Team-Up'' reveals he infected the only woman Otto ever loved with AIDS solely because Otto made the mistake of saying his goal in life wasn't the total destruction of Spider-Man.]]
* TheDon: Norman's original motivation was to become this, although he was quickly sidetracked by his obsession with Spider-Man. Following his return as the Green Goblin during ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', he renames himself the Goblin King and establishes himself as the leader of a Goblin formula-augmented criminal syndicate.

** He once teamed-up with Doctor Octopus, but became annoyed when Otto mentioned that defeating Spider-Man was secondary to his goal of becoming the world's greatest scientist. So, Norman, like any rational person, proceeded to track Otto's ex-fiance down, run her off the road, and arrange for her to be given [=AID=]s. Later in life, he tried to destroy everything that Otto cared about or had worked for due to being upset that Ock was the one who had finally bested Parker by becoming the ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan.

* EvilerThanThou: He had this attitude towards Roderick Kingsley (the original Hobgoblin), and proved it. Big time. He also had this with ComicBook/DoctorOctopus in Superior Spider-man and managed to show Otto why he was Spider-Man's #1 enemy.

* TheJekyllIsAJerk: While Norman Osborn was originally portrayed as a somewhat-caring father prior to his "death", after his comeback in the late 1990s he was portrayed as being just as despicable as his AxCrazy Green Goblin persona -- being a CorruptCorporateExecutive who puts profits over people every time, even going so far as trying to murder his own son. During his time as the leader of the Thunderbolts he admitted to admiring Adolf Hitler; and during the Dark Reign event he became director of SHIELD, renaming it to HAMMER and creating his own Dark Avengers, all while blaming Tony Stark for the Skrull invasion. Even when he was cured of the Goblin Serum following ''Superior Spider-Man'' he claimed he was more dangerous than ever, becoming an international arms-dealer before bonding to the Carnage symbiote to become the Red Goblin in ''ComicBook/GoDownSwinging''. Even after [[HeelFaceBrainwashing his sins were cleansed]] during ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2018'' and he genuinely makes an effort to atone, he still teamed up with Wilson Fisk AKA ''The Kingpin'' in an effort to try and take down one of Spidey's rogues, and has to remind himself not to be a snobbish jerk.

* SuperpoweredEvilSide: Subverted. Played straight in the early stories when he got amnesia and lost his powers, but now his powers are permanent regardless of who is in control (though the Goblin has not actually been in control since he came back - although it succeeds in re-emerging just before Norman's defeat in ''Siege''). [[spoiler:It was in control for his entire run as the Goblin King in Superior Spider-Man, but seems to be gone for the time being with him being given a {{depower}}.]] More recently still, Norman has decided that [[spoiler:he wants his Superpowered Evil Side back after all.]]

His comics appearances are mainly in the pages of ''Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker Spider-Man, Civil War, Dark Reign, New Avengers'', and others. He starred in his own miniseries, ''Osborn: Evil Incarcerated'', showing his time in jail after ''Dark Reign''. Norman Osborn has appeared in other media, [[Characters/SpiderManTrilogyGreenGoblin including]] the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' (played by Creator/WillemDafoe, who reprises the [[Characters/MCUGreenGoblin role]] in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'') and ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'' (played by Creator/ChrisCooper), ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' and ''WesternAnimation/MarvelsSpiderMan''. He was also a playable character in ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'' 2 and a boss in ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance'' and ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance3TheBlackOrder''. He's also a supporting character in ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4''. When stage musical ''Theatre/SpiderManTurnOffTheDark'' played in New York he was played by Patrick Page.

** For that matter, he's got a case of this with his son, Harry. Norman repeatedly abuses him emotionally, tries at one point to kill him to gain public sympathy, and seduces his fiancée. Whenever anyone ''else'' threatens, hurts, or insults Harry, howeve Norman tends to enter PapaWolf mode rather quickly.

* FantasyForbiddingFather: Norman's father was one of these.

* GollumMadeMeDoIt: In the 90s cartoon and the Raimi movies, the Goblin is a manifestation of his repressed desires, lashing out at those he considers a threat to him, his company, and family. Both universes feature the two personalities TalkingToThemself through a mirror.

* TheJekyllIsAJerk: Norman Osborn is often portrayed as just as despicable as his AxCrazy Green Goblin persona, being a CorruptCorporateExecutive who puts profits over people every time. During the Dark Reign event, he became director of SHIELD, renaming it to HAMMER and creating his own Dark Avengers, all while blaming Tony Stark for the Skrull invasion. Even when he was cured during ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2018'' and genuinely makes an effort to atone, he still teamed up with Wilson Fisk AKA ''The Kingpin'' in an effort to try and take down one of Spidey's rogues.

The ArchEnemy of ComicBook/SpiderMan, though between 2004-2015, he became more active in the Marvel Universe as a whole before returning to Spider-Man titles again from ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' onwards. He became increasingly prominent in ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', an importance which led to his biggest role to date: the BigBad of the Marvel CrisisCrossover event ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.

His [[LegacyCharacter evil legacy]] lived on with [[Characters/SpiderManGoblins several goblin-themed villains, including his own son Harry]]. At the conclusion of ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'', Norman was shown to be alive, having been orchestrating events from somewhere in Europe, and that it was he who had been behind the Clone Saga. It turned out that the Goblin Serum gave him a HealingFactor and that after being impaled by the glider, Norman woke up at the morgue and he quickly replaced his body with that of a vagrant he murdered and skedaddled to Europe, before returning at the conclusion of the Clone Saga. After that, Norman returned to his campaign of tormenting Peter Parker, through legal and illegal acts, until he was finally caught in ''ComicBook/ThePulse'' for the first time in his 40 year Publication History (the longest for any Marvel villain to evade in-page and on-panel justice). He was released by ComicBook/IronMan to help him in the ComicBook/CivilWar. [[ComicBook/DarkReign This proved to be a mistake]]. Where Lee-Romita showed that there was once some good in Norman, the new era showed Norman to be a malingering, gaslighting, scheming mastermind, obsessed with power and hampered only by a self-destructive streak. After ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'', Norman even loses knowledge of Peter Parker's identity albeit he retains his hatred for Spider-Man and cottons on very quickly whenever a new Spider-Man takes over from the old. After his day in the spotlight as the Top Cop of Marvel Universe, Norman Osborn was put into prison yet again, only to break out mere months later to unite the Goblin Cult, HYDRA, A.I.M, Hand and HAMMER into his own new organization. He revived the ComicBook/DarkAvengers and defeated not one but two teams of Avengers (directly with the Avengers; indirectly with the New Avengers) before his pride cost him everything yet again. As hype for the ''Dark Reign'', Marvel hired an actual psychologist who analyzed old Stormin' Norman and found out just how twisted he is. Suffice it to say, it's A LOT.

* BigBad: ''The'' Spider-Man big bad. Although he has competition from Venom (pre-Lethal Protector), Doc Ock, and occasionally the Kingpin, Norman Osborn is usually depicted as the baddest of the bunch, and the one who inflicts the deepest scars against Peter. While the main villain of many storylines, his most notable outings were ''The Night Gwen Stacy Died'', ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', and ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.

* DirtyOldMan: A particularly dark version, Norman is nothing if not a misogynistic predator for young women despite being old enough to have a fully adult son. One of his various infamous conquests was his son's wife/his own daughter-in-law, which even fellow villains found skeevy. Gwen Stacy was also on this list, but it was eventually revealed that it was all part of the Harry Osborn AI's demonic mindgames and the Stacy twins were genetically engineered.

* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:In ''[[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManNickSpencer Amazing Spider-Man]]'' #72/LGY #873, it is revealed that Mephisto made a deal with Norman to help him obtain power and money, thus destroying Mendal Stromm's reputation and leading to the creation of the Green Goblin.]]

* HeelFaceBrainwashing: ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManNickSpencer'' had the Sin-Eater remove Norman's sins and evil at the behest of the Kindred, turning Norman into a normal and repentant man, one who even [[spoiler:mourns Harry's death at the hands of the Kindred]]. While Norman has become a better person, it was not really of his own volition, and the only reason why the Kindred did this to Norman was as a form of torture, as they wanted him to suffer emotionally, which would be largely impossible if Norman was still TheSociopath. This is why they made it so that Norman would be the only one of the Sin-Eater's victims to remain changed and good after the Sin-Eater's defeat; all of the other villains went back to normal after their sins returned to them after briefly possessing and corrupting a bunch of Spider-Man's allies.

-> ''"But you, [[Franchise/SpiderMan Parker]]... How does it feel to once again, let a friend down? You seem to have quite a history of failing your friends and loved ones. Dear, sweet Gwendolyn, your deceased girlfriend who died so young. Your beloved aunt May, who asked for so little of you and received exactly that until she was taken from you. My son, Harry. You claimed to be his friend, his confidant, and when he needed you most, you failed him as you do everyone else who gets close to you."''

The ArchEnemy of Franchise/SpiderMan, though between 2004-2015, he became more active in the Marvel Universe as a whole before returning to Spider-Man titles again from ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' onwards. He became increasingly prominent in ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', an importance which led to his biggest role to date: the BigBad of the Marvel CrisisCrossover event ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.

** One of his weapons, razor bats, are metal, bat-shaped throwing weapons that hybridize boomerangs and shuriken. They're [[Franchise/{{Batman}} batarangs]] in all but name.

* {{Expy}}: The Green Goblin persona has drawn a number of similarities to ComicBook/TheJoker, with several characters in the Marvel Universe even confusing his Goblin-themed persona with being clown-based. Ironically, the Goblin also shares with the Joker's [[Franchise/{{Batman}} famous arch-rival]] the fact that his motif was born out of something he feared. Post-resurrection, the Norman Osborn persona became one for ComicBook/LexLuthor, playing up the CorruptCorporateExecutive traits that were originally barely there in his original stories.

* TautologicalTemplar: Is willing to murder his own son for ratings... all for the Greater Good, of course. If he hadn't spent the last 50 odd years being a MadBomber and DiabolicalMastermind who shamelessly gloated about his selfish quest for money and power, and had an obsessive and homicidal grudge against a [[Franchise/SpiderMan well known superhero]] that extended to [[AndYourLittleDogToo everyone who shook the hero's hand]] because said hero didn't let Osborn ''murder'' him years ago so Osborn could get enough street cred to become the dominant crime lord of New York City...[[SarcasmMode you'd almost be inclined to believe him.]] During Comicbook/DarkReign, he does things like turn Bruce Banner back into the Hulk and recruit a crew of dangerous "evil" mutants....because this is what is needed to stay in power so he can keep people safe from the likes of the Hulk and "the mutants."

* VillainousLegacy: He had this role for decades after he "died". He had killed Franchise/SpiderMan's girlfriend and created a [[LegacyCharacter supervillain legacy]] that not only included his own son, but several goblin-based villains that plagued Spidey for years. Of course, since DeathIsCheap, Osborn is back these days.

** He has tried failed to act as this to Peter, who refuses to become anything like Norman.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Is it Osborn, Osbourne, or Osborne? Media outlets don't seem to care, and even Marvel gets them mixed up on occasion, although the correct spelling is Osborn. Osborn''e'' (with an E at the end, and no U) is the ''ComicBook/{{Marvel 1602}}'' version of him.

* SadisticChoice: A frequent tactic of hi, to the point that he is even the TropeNamer.

* SadisticChoice: A frequent tactic of his. He is even the TropeNamer.

* SadisticChoice: A frequent tactic of his. He even used the term by name once.

* BeingGoodSucks: ''Comic/TheAmazingSpiderMan2022'' showcases his struggles after his "sins" have been purged from him. Now with a regular mind, he is constantly haunted by the vivid memories of his various crimes and victims, and while he doesn't want to be a villain again, he's horrified to discover that committing violence still not only comes naturally to him but provides him with straightforward enjoyment as well.

* HeroWithAnFInGood: Even after the Sin Eater cleanses him of his sins and ingrained villainous impulses, Osborn spends much of ''TheAmazingSpiderMan2022'' barely nicer than his pre-Green Goblin days, acting as a demanding boss to Peter and Kamala Khan, and raising Normie like he did Harry albeit with labored if earnest patience. The ''Gold Goblin'' mini-series even suggests that his attempts at being a superhero are just a way to vent out his frustrations at attempted reform through vigilante violence.

* ExpressiveMask: The Green Goblin's freaky mask may as well be his face given how expressive it is.

* EvilLaugh: As the Green Goblin, he was fond of maniacal cackles.

* FashionVictimVillain: His costume is a frequent subject of mockery for both heroes and fellow villains, but Norman's effective enough of a scoundrel to get away with dressing as he does.

* BigBad:
** For a lot of Spidey's recent existence, including ''The Night Gwen Stacy Died'' and ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', which was a completely different Spidey before the orginal returned. Basically in all of Spider-Man's life, it's the Goblin that is his most reoccurring villain and the one still cause him the most suffering.
** And of ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.
** He also created Alchemax corporation, making him responsible for the Marvel 2099 misfortunes.

Following his defeat, Osborn escapes from the hospital and resumes the identity of the Green Goblin, vowing to defeat [[ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan the new Spider-Man]]. To this end he dubs himself the "Goblin King" and takes over New York's criminal underworld, enlisting the help of Menace, Monster (Carlie Cooper after being splashed with the Gobin Formula), and Hobgoblin VII (renamed the Goblin Knight). Ultimately defeated by the good old Spider-Man, he still manages to escape. However, his escape wasn't clean as he had lost his powers thanks to a special nanotech vaccine created by the Superior Spider-Man. His search to restore his powers ultimately lead him to the Carnage symbiote, where Norman easily got the symbiote to realize the joy of slowly murdering people and convinced it to join with him. Its first order of business was purging the vaccine from his being, with Norman plotting to fuse the symbiote with the Goblin Formula. He ultimately did so, and became the '''Red Goblin''' - launching a new campaign to torment Peter in ''ComicBook/GoDownSwinging'', at the end of which Spider-Man managed to destroy the Carnage symbiote and induced severe mental backlash that scrambled Goblin's mind -- now believing himself to be Cletus Kasady, and Spidey to be Norman. Acknowledging that the Red Goblin's reign of terror is over, Spider-Man had simply left the now brain-dead Norman Osborn to his own leisure... this of course didn't last given that he later joined the Power Elite. Eventually in ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'', the still lobotomized Norman was recruited by a resurrected Cletus Kasady in his crusade to awaken the symbiote GodOfEvil Knull, granting Norman a copy of the Carnage symbiote to carry out his goals. Suffering defeat again, it would be revealed in ''Ruins of Ravencroft'' that Norman somehow returned to his original persona. Later, Gabriel and Sarah Stacy, clones who believed themselves to be the children of Norman and Gwen, took up the identity of Kindred thanks to Mephisto in order to attack Norman and Spider-Man. They would temporarily resurrect the original Sin-Eater, granting him supernatural powers to take away one's sins. One of those people was Osborn himself, who suddenly was filled with grief and regret over his actions as the Goblin. However, when the Sin-Eater took his own life, Osborn never regained his sins as other villains had; instead the Beyond Corporation was able to take claim to it. The Stacy Twins' plan ultimately lead to the death of Harry Osborn, who was revealed to have been a clone of the real Harry who had still died but his soul trapped in Hell until Spider-Man and Doctor Strange overcame Mephisto.