History YMMV / TheNightGwenStacyDied

** Some fans define the character of Norman Osborn by the crime he committed in this story, and less-informed fans define Gwen Stacy by this moment/her characterization during this moment. She's almost always remembered with the GirlNextDoor type characterization that she had [[CharacterizationMarchesOn at the time]] and is remembered as the "one who died", with many forgetting or being unaware of other aspects such as the fact that she ''hated'' Spider-Man but loved Peter (and was known for quoting Jameson positively), that she blamed Spider-Man for her father's death, that originally she was a high school beauty queen socialite who was in Peter's class. At least in Gwen's case, ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' cartoon and ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' films reemphasized these forgotten character traits, while ''ComicBook/SpiderGwen'' carved out a completely different personality for the Gwen of that universe. An attempt was made in 2020 to rectify this with the (canon) five-issue ''Gwen Stacy'' miniseries, focusing on Gwen's life in high school before she met Peter.

* ValuesDissonance: Peter refers to Gwen as "[[PossessionOfLove my woman]]," even in death, which wouldn't fly with modern sensibilities.

* ValuesDissonance: Peter refers to Gwen as "my woman," even in death, which wouldn't fly with modern sensibilities.

** Gwen's death itself became so famous and influential that it spawned [[FollowTheLeader many more stories of superheroes' wives or girlfriends getting]] KilledOffForReal, which eventually lead to the StuffedIntoTheFridge trope that's so polarizing now to many readers, especially female ones. With the shock value now [[ItWasHisSled gone forever]], and with all the imitations since then, [[OnceOriginalNowCommon it can be hard for newer readers to understand what was so great about this story in the first place]], as it serves as a textbook example of the trope: Gwen's barely in the issue that kills her off, the emotional drama of the story is centered around Peter, MJ, and Harry Osborn rather than Gwen's death, and the revived Green Goblin kills her just to hurt Peter Parker. It doesn't help that most people read this story as a standalone (as it's so often reprinted) divorced from the context of the prior five years worth of ''Spider-Man'' issues, thus finding it hard to see why Gwen was so important and special to Peter aside from being the DesignatedLoveInterest.

** Gwen's death itself became so famous and influential that it spawned [[FollowTheLeader many more stories of superheroes' wives or girlfriends getting]] KilledOffForReal, which eventually lead to the StuffedIntoTheFridge trope that's so polarizing now to many readers, especially female ones. With the shock value now [[ItWasHisSled gone forever]], and with all the imitations since then, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny it can be hard for newer readers to understand what was so great about this story in the first place]], as it serves as a textbook example of the trope: Gwen's barely in the issue that kills her off, the emotional drama of the story is centered around Peter, MJ, and Harry Osborn rather than Gwen's death, and the revived Green Goblin kills her just to hurt Peter Parker. It doesn't help that most people read this story as a standalone (as it's so often reprinted) divorced from the context of the prior five years worth of ''Spider-Man'' issues, thus finding it hard to see why Gwen was so important and special to Peter aside from being the DesignatedLoveInterest.

* ProtagonistTitleFallacy: Gwen Stacy is not the protagonist of the story of her death. She's not even the most significant female character (Mary Jane is).
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:

** For a long time, this became one for Peter, cementing his FailureHero status. In ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', Iron Man even refers to this instance as something that could have been avoided had Peter been registered and given training when he was young and inexperienced, while Alex Ross' ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}'' elevates Spider-Man's failure to save Gwen as the ultimate EndOfAnAge.

* FairForItsDay: While modern takes usually accuse this story of using of the StuffedIntoTheFridge trope, others give the story a GrandfatherClause treatment. The story is often cited as one of the earliest and most famous instances of "fridging", predating the TropeNamer by 21 years. It embodies many of the misogynistic hallmarks of the trope: Gwen has no agency of her own, barely has any lines before she dies, her plotline gets completely unresolved, she's not even the most important female character of the titular story (that's Mary Jane), it was done by [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] to spite Franchise/SpiderMan, and Spidey even ([[ValuesDissonance rather uncomfortably for modern audiences]]) refers to her as "my woman" even after she dies.. However, unlike the many, ''many'' derided examples it inspired, ''The Night Gwen Stacy Died'' is still seen as a good story even still for two primary reasons. The first is that Gwen's death has meaningful consequences for Spider-Man, both the mythos and the character, becoming a ShockingDefeatLegacy that inspired Spidey to become a better hero. It even has a big impact on Mary Jane and the rest of Peter's social circle. Gwen herself is treated as TheLostLenore and ''not'' a DisposableLoveInterest, as it took years for Peter to fully accept her death, and even after Mary Jane became his SecondLove, he still mourns Gwen with the utmost respect, compared to the usual example of a fridged character being mostly forgotten and replaced. There's a ''very'' good reason why the story named the trope ILetGwenStacyDie, instead of "StuffedIntoTheFridge" being known as "Dropped From a Bridge".

* TearJerker: Gwen's death and everyone's reaction to it.

* FairForItsDay: While modern takes usually accuse this story of using of the StuffedIntoTheFridge trope, others give the story a GrandfatherClause treatment. The story is often cited as one of the earliest and most famous instances of "fridging", predating the TropeNamer by 21 years. It embodies many of the misogynistic hallmarks of the trope: Gwen has no agency of her own, barely has any lines before she dies, her plotline gets completely unresolved, she's not even the most important female character of the titular story (that's Mary Jane), it was done by [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] to spite Franchise/SpiderMan, and Spidey even ([[ValuesDissonance rather uncomfortably for modern audiences]]) refers to her as "my woman" even after she dies.. However, unlike the many, ''many'' of the derided examples it inspired, this one in particular stands out positively and is seen as a good story even still for two primary reasons. The first is that Gwen's death has meaningful consequences for Spider-Man, both the mythos and the character, becoming a ShockingDefeatLegacy that inspired Spidey to become a better hero. It even has a big impact on Mary Jane and the rest of Peter's social circle. Gwen herself is treated as TheLostLenore and ''not'' a DisposableLoveInterest, as it took years for Spidey to fully accept her death, and even after Mary Jane became his SecondLove, he will always mourn Gwen with the utmost respect, compared to the usual example of a fridged character being mostly forgotten and replaced. There's a very, ''very'' good reason why the story named the trope ILetGwenStacyDie, instead of "StuffedIntoTheFridge" being known as "Dropped From a Bridge".

* MoralEventHorizon: The Goblin's murder of Gwen is perhaps ''the'' best known example for a Moral Event Horizon in the history of comic books. Not only because of the act itself, but because of his utter dismissal and even contempt for the value of Gwen's life.

* FairForItsDay: While modern takes usually accuse this story of using of the StuffedIntoTheFridge trope, others give the story a GrandfatherClause treatment. The story is often cited as one of the earliest and most famous instances of "fridging", predating the TropeNamer by 21 years. It embodies many of the misogynistic hallmarks of the trope: Gwen has no agency of her own, barely has any lines before she dies, her plotline gets completely unresolved, she's not even the most important female character of the titular story (that's Mary Jane), it was done by [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] to spite Franchise/SpiderMan. However, unlike the many, ''many'' of the derided examples it inspired, this one in particular stands out positively and is seen as a good story even still for two primary reasons. The first is that Gwen's death has meaningful consequences for Spider-Man, both the mythos and the character, becoming a ShockingDefeatLegacy that inspired Spidey to become a better hero. It even has a big impact on Mary Jane and the rest of Peter's social circle. Gwen herself is treated as TheLostLenore and ''not'' a DisposableLoveInterest, as it took years for Spidey to fully accept her death, and even after Mary Jane became his SecondLove, he will always mourn Gwen with the utmost respect, compared to the usual example of a fridged character being mostly forgotten and replaced. There's a very, ''very'' good reason why the story named the trope ILetGwenStacyDie, instead of "StuffedIntoTheFridge" being known as "Dropped From a Bridge".

* ValuesDissonance: Peter repeatedly refers to Gwen as "my woman," even in death, which wouldn't fly with modern sensibilities.

* FairForItsDay: While modern takes usually accuse this story of using of the StuffedIntoTheFridge trope, others give the story a GrandfatherClause treatment. The story is often cited as one of the earliest and most famous instances of "fridging", predating the TropeNamer by 21 years. It embodies many of the misogynistic hallmarks of the trope: Gwen has no agency of her own, barely has any lines before she dies, her plotline gets completely unresolved, she's not even the most important female character of the titular story (that's Mary Jane), it was done by [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] to spite Franchise/SpiderMan, and Spidey even ([[ValuesDissonance rather uncomfortably for modern audiences]]) refers to her as "my woman" even after she dies. However, unlike the many, ''many'' of the derided examples it inspired, this one in particular stands out positively and is seen as a good story even still for two primary reasons. The first is that Gwen's death has meaningful consequences for Spider-Man, both the mythos and the character, becoming a ShockingDefeatLegacy that inspired Spidey to become a better hero. It even has a big impact on Mary Jane and the rest of Peter's social circle. Gwen herself is treated as TheLostLenore and ''not'' a DisposableLoveInterest, as it took years for Spidey to fully accept her death, and even after Mary Jane became his SecondLove, he will always mourn Gwen with the utmost respect, compared to the usual example of a fridged character being mostly forgotten and replaced. There's a very, ''very'' good reason why the story named the trope ILetGwenStacyDie, instead of "StuffedIntoTheFridge" being known as "Dropped From a Bridge".

* PopularityPolynomial: The story's popularity changes as per trends:
** The story's reception at the time it was made was divided. The fans flooded Marvel with letters, some praising the creators for taking such a bold move, others calling them murderers. It was regarded later as a bold step for a company to kill-off a prominent supporting character and make the hero genuinely fail. Alex Ross saw it as the end of the Silver Age of Comics and made it the climax of ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}''.
** Since TheOughties-onwards however, the story has been regarded less kindly for being the precursor of the StuffedIntoTheFridge trope (although SeinfeldIsUnfunny is in play here), and in the wake of the popular revisions of Bucky Barnes and Jason Todd, the idea of KilledOffForReal within comic books is no longer considered desirable. The popularity of ComicBook/SpiderGwen has also diminished the appeal of the story, since it proves the character can exist without being either LoveInterest or StuffedIntoTheFridge. Likewise, the shoehorning of retcons in ComicBook/JMSSpiderMan and ComicBook/DanSlottSpiderMan to either milk mileage from the story or pile on misery and guilt on Peter make a contingent of readers wish for Marvel to bring her BackFromTheDead already.

** Of course, this story is best known for its ''subversion'' of the trope. Nobody thought Marvel would really go so far as to kill off a prominent love interest. ''They would''.

* BrokenBase:
** The moment word got out that Marvel had decided to kill Gwen Stacy, fans sent loads of letters into Marvel HQ. Some letters commended Gerry Conway and the other writers for killing Gwen, others... well, weren’t so nice (one letter made a few theatrical curses, for one). Even today, fans are still arguing if Gwen should have died or not.
** A more recent debate, although most people agree that this story was the precursor of the highly controversial StuffedIntoTheFridge trope, in the sense that the trope became a thing due to later creators trying to imitate it and/or trying to reproduce its impact, there's more of a debate about whether the story itself should be regarded as an actual example of the trope or not. See FairForItsDay below.

* AlasPoorScrappy: An example so effective, few remember that Gwen ''was'' TheScrappy when alive. Sure, she had little in the way of consistent personality and often came across as a DesignatedLoveInterest, but her death was so brutal and had such a serious effect on Peter that she would be remembered as a tragic victim of the Green Goblin's vendetta and TheLostLenore for Spidey.

** Likewise, by having Peter fail to save his LoveInterest, the writers set up such a ShockingDefeatLegacy for Peter that they couldn't add on to it without making him too much of a FailureHero. Conway's idea of killing Gwen was merely a [[ItOnlyWorksOnce one-time solution]] to the problem of whether or not Peter should age. Later writers tried to mimic it, with the death of at least one would-be love-interest ("The Death of Jean [=DeWolff=]") whose connection to Peter and circumstances of her actual death added to SurvivorsGuilt for Peter but not the same sense of failure. Likewise, after Peter and MJ got married, they tried to spin a story that Mary Jane had actually been killed in an aircraft accident, albeit in a NeverFoundTheBody manner that added to Peter's frustration ''and'' his failure, making him such a sad-sack that it made his books cross into DarknessInducedAudienceApathy.