Earth 616 - Comic Norman (THA ORIGINAL)
Norman was (and may soon re-become) the Green Goblin, but as of now he is mourning his deceased son and doing hero things as the Gold Goblin and the Ceo of Oscorp.
This Norman is my #1 favorite. The original of his kind, he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964) as the green goblin and then in Spider-Man #37 (June 1966) as his civilian identity Norman Osborn. The widower of his late (not really lol) wife Emily Lyman-Osborn and father to his son Harold Osborn, he first started his career in crime after he tested oscorp's newest development on himself: the supposed superstrength serum literally blew up in his face, leaving him hospitalised for weeks! But pulled from the ashes by his spineless son Harry, he emerged a much stronger man, and thus the Green Goblin persona was born. He began work in more organised crime, but after being thwarted by Spider-Man 1 too many times, it became personal. a few years of endless torture and manic depression later, he was absolved of his sins by the dumbest plot device in existence (the Sin-Eater), and now he lives a life of guilt and shame, attempting to atone for his sins. Sure sucks he couldnt have gotten shot by Mental-Illness-Eater too, huh?
biography (in progress)
Early life
Norman grew up well-off (nepotism from grandfather's fortune) until his father's business failed due to a supposed stolen invention, leaving the Osborn family poor and without income. Normans father, Amberson Osborn who first appeared in Spectacular Spiderman Annual #14, was a drunkard, his habit of physically and verbally abusing his son for not earning his keep eventually causing Norman to kill the family dog so there was one less mouth to feed. Norman maintained this ingrained belief that only the strong survive and in order to live he has to work well into adulthood. Many of the formative moments in Normans life that left him to become as independent and focused on strength were caused by Amberson, such as when he dragged him into an abandoned mansion in a thunderstorm and left him to fend for himself all night. The young Norman desperately prayed for longer periods of darkness between the flashes of light so he could hide from the goblin figure he saw, thus birthing the goblin (as a symbol) and beginning Normans "the darkness is comfort/be a man/ be an Osborn" approach [peter parker: spiderman #25]
Education
Norman mentioned in American Son that he attended a private school, though whether he graduated there is unclear. it can be assumed he didn't. Norman's high-school sweetheart Emily Lyman ended up becoming his wife and harry's mother. Norman Graduated at Empire State university having done Chemistry and Electrical Engineering, as well as being a qualified biochemist [Marvel Knights Spider-man #6, among other such mentions], though had almost been expelled for cheating [Red Goblin: Red Death].The makings of a Goblin
The Goblin
The Green Goblin persona is a complex one, and while technically there is no 'canon' standpoint on it's nature, i have gathered a few hints and observations that have led me to the (stubborn) conclusion that the Green Goblin is not necessarily a seperate identity, but simply the same person without the previous inhibition to prevent himself from acting on the urges norman already had. It is already shown across spiderman comics that norman has been medicated for schizophrenia (seen in the Thunderbolts Caged Angels arc)and displayed manic symptoms in breaks of clarity, but norman has stated himself multiple times that he is schizophrenic and has been since youth. the only issue with attempting to understand this, is that all statements have been in situations where he would have been more than likely to lie to bring peace of mind to the public (for example, in Dark Avengers when he was on live television or when he attempted to bring comfort to Robert Reynolds). if not for normans own thoughts showing memories of hallucinating and experiencing mania pre-goblin-serum, I would have stayed with the conclusion that he was lying. These reasons are part of what make up my stance on why i heavily disagree with the notion that it's DID, especially considering norman not only remember actions from 'Goblin' fits, but maintains the same personality only more eccentric as well. In short, while the goblin serum definitely clashed with his already screwed up brain chemistry, it isnt the cause of it.
Edit: this actually got confirmed (vaguely, but its about time) in The Amazing Spider-man (2022) issue 30 like 2 weeks after i wrote this. I know my goblins!
Trivia
Here's a list of stuff I like to tell people about Norman sometimes.
Relationships
Norman has had a rocky relationship with relationships. Following the alleged death of his wife, he raised their only son questionably to say the least. he abused Harry all through his life, only ever momentarily showing genuine affection to him despite his love for him. He now spends his days mourning him following his death in the Last Remains fiasco that left him sinless, as well as trying (and failing) to care for his grandson Norman "Normie" Harold Osborn. Norman's "dead" wife was revealed to not actually be dead in spiderman issue 799: Go Down Swinging also known as the Red Goblin arc. She faked her death to get away from him and continued secret angent type work. Norman seemed aware of this in GDS, though when he found this out is ambiguous. Norman has had some relationships along the way (such as June Covington) but overall stays single and too sad to mingle, i guess. I hope him and the hobgoblin find eachother eventually, but theres really no evidence to support they will.
Appearance
Complexion:
His skin tone tends to be drawn differently, ranging from high-blood-pressure-pink in Thunderbolts #120 to a regular beige tone in most other incarnations, but he has relatively fair skin.
Facial features:
He has Green eyes (most of the time. for some reason they are blue sometimes)
Hair:
He has fresh asf 360 auburn waves
Body:
despite being only 185 lbs, he is quite sturdy and has a fair amount of muscle and strong birthgiving hips. take my word for it.
Other:
He has a large cross-shaped scar on his chest from being impaled by his glider.