Tropes:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Peter has to abruptly rush out on Felicia for some superhero action. She, however, thinks he's playing rough to send her a message and finds that unpredictable and interesting.
- Batman Gambit: Seeing how much Scorpion hates being called names, Spider-Man repeatedly insults him to get him in position to be electrocuted.
- Berserk Button: "I told you before: don't call me names!"
- Call-Back: As things go wrong, Stillwell says he never should've ignored the warnings of Curt Connors.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Averted. Spidey is not complaining about Jonah saving his life; he's just surprised. Of course, Jonah doesn't like Spidey later throwing this incident in his face.
- Enemy Mine: Jameson hates Spider-Man but admits the latter isn't the greatest menace in comparison to a supervillain who's about to contaminate New York with radiation.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Defied. Spider-Man is willing to bury the hatchet about this adventure, but Jonah pointedly refuses and says this changes nothing.
- Foreshadowing: May wants Peter home for lunch, so he can meet Anna Watson's niece.
- Freudian Excuse:
- Jameson provides one for his hatred of Spider-Man. He hates people who wear masks because a mask protected his wife's killer from being identified, making them feel like they're above the law.
- After a lifetime of mockery, Gargan is very sensitive about being insulted.
- Insane Troll Logic: According to Scorpion, since a form of radiation made him this way, then a power plant meltdown will restore him to normal.
- Lesser of Two Evils: Why Jonah saves Spider-Man from the Scorpion.Scorpion: Why would you risk your puny life to save his?
Jonah: Because you're a greater evil and Heaven help me, he's the only one who can stop you. - Murder by Mistake: Jameson's wife was killed by someone trying to kill him.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jonah's reaction to the Scorpion's rampages.
- Properly Paranoid: Spider-Man suspects he doesn't want to know why Jonah is at the nuclear reactor.
- Sanity Slippage: As he sees how he's mutating, Scorpion begins lashing out at everyone around him. Stillwell determines the genetic realignment has made him mentally unstable. Scorpion gets to the point where he thinks causing a nuclear meltdown in the city will return him to normal.
- Shout-Out:
- "It's not nice to rob jewelry stores in Mister Spider-Man's Neighborhood. Can you say 'I'm going to jail?'"
- "Hey, who do I look like? The Tick?"
- Smarter Than You Look: Jonah is stunned that Spider-Man knows so much about the nuclear reactor.
- Threat Backfire: Spider-Man, trying to scare Jonah into leaving him alone, breaks into his office and snaps at him to "get off [his] case." Instead, Jonah, recalling that a crime boss said exactly that to him before his wife was shot dead, is provoked into creating the Scorpion.
- Trauma Button: Trying to scare Jonah into backing off, Spider-Man tells him, "Get off my case." Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, this is exactly what a crime boss told Jonah before his wife got killed, so a shaken Jonah bankrolls the creation of the Scorpion.
- Water Tower Down: The titular villain knocks down a water tower and it falls on Spider-Man before breaking and releasing all its water. The impact itself knocks Spider-Man out cold.
