Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Spider-Man: Supporting Characters
aka: Spider Man Schoolmates

Go To

WARNING: There are unmarked spoilers on these sheets for all but the most recent comics.

Spider-Man Main Character Index
Title Character
Spider-Man
Supporting Characters
Supporting Characters | Spiders
Rogues Gallery
Central Rogues Gallery | Goblins | Inheritors | Symbiotes | A-H | I-Z

Remember, except where the sheet states otherwise, this is only for characters and examples from the main Marvel Universe (referred to in-universe as Earth-616).

Please do not list characters or examples from shows, movies or alternate universe versions here. If you've thought of a trope that fits an alternate version of the characters, please take that example to its respective sheet.

    open/close all folders 

Family

Peter Parker's Immediate Family

    Benjamin Parker 

Benjamin Parker

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/benjamin_parker_0001.png

Notable Aliases: Uncle Ben

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)

Peter Parker's uncle and the father figure whose death was the main inspiration for Peter becoming Spider-Man. Ben Parker taught Peter that with great power comes great responsibility.


  • Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the origin issue, and in flashbacks, he and Peter are shown having a warm and loving relationship and while Peter had a chip on his shoulder for time in school, Uncle Ben and he were always close. In the Raimi Trilogy and in Ultimate Spider-Man and other versions, they add in some teen rebelling against parents drama between Peter and Ben to make Uncle Ben's death more tragic and heartbreaking (since their final conversation was them fighting and so on).
  • Cool Old Guy: In quite a few flashbacks, he's been shown to have had his hip and happening side. Because Peter had a Friendless Background, Uncle Ben wasn't just his dad and uncle, he was also his best friend growing up. He was also a World War II veteran.
  • Dark Secret: It would be years before Peter could admit to Aunt May that he's responsible for Uncle Ben's death.
  • Death by Origin Story: His murder set Peter down the path of using his powers for good, precisely because Peter could have prevented it.
  • Happily Married: To Aunt May, until his death. They were a childless couple who only had each other and he took in Peter after the death of his brother.
  • Killed Off for Real: Due to Death by Origin Story. He's pretty much the only Marvel character who hasn't come back from the deadnote .
  • The Mentor: It varies in continuity to continuity, but he is the main inspiration in Peter's resolution to do good.
  • Papa Wolf: One flashback to Peter's childhood has him chasing off a few bullies harassing Peter with a baseball bat. Another has him fist-fighting Flash Thompson and his goons and winning despite being outnumbered. He chalks it up to basic training.
  • Parental Substitute: Peter's substitute father.
  • Posthumous Character: He's been dead since the first issue but he hasn't been forgotten for the 1000 plus issues that have been published since then.
  • Practically Different Generations: Despite being Richard's older brother, he often looks around 10-20 years older than him.
  • Retired Badass: Ben Parker was originally a World War II veteran, although recent comics have downplayed this owing to the timeline issues. He still is referenced as some sort of military veteran.
  • So Proud of You: A possible posthumous encounter in the afterlife in Issue 500 has Ben insisting that he's quite proud of his nephew.
  • Tragic Keepsake: An item Peter treasured among his gifts is a microscope. When he visited his grave years later he left that microscope on his grave. Said microscope was picked by a squatter who needed a gift for his genius son.

    May Reilly-Parker 

May Reilly-Parker

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-May_Reilly_Earth-616_from_Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_1_600_3995.JPG

Notable Aliases: Aunt May

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)

Peter Parker's aunt-by-marriage and one of the most important people in his life.


  • Almighty Mom: She can get J. Jonah Jameson and Wolverine, of all people, to submit to her requests!
  • Beware the Nice Ones: As the Chameleon found out to his surprise.
  • Cartwright Curse: While Peter's infamous for losing one certain love interest, May seems to have even worse luck when it comes to them. Her first husband had a fateful run-in with a burglar, her fiancee Nathan contracted inoperable cancer and then suffered a heart attack as a result of a hostage situation, and her second husband passed away from a disease. The Parker luck seems to run in the family.
  • Character Development: Aunt May is unusual in that her character development on multiple occasions was redone and retconned, essentially creating three different versions of the same character:
    • J. M. DeMatteis in Amazing Spider-Man #400 which had her death, had her reveal that she had figured out that Peter was Spider-Man some time ago. She and Peter exchange greetings and sentiments and then she dies. This was absolutely intended by writers and editors to stick and considered her true death and passing. Some two years later, Howard Mackie and John Byrne retconned this and claimed that the Aunt May in this scene was an actress, and she regressed into the clueless Aunt May of before.
    • JMS had Aunt May find out Peter was Spider-Man in "The Conversation" (Amazing Spider-Man #38) and this started a new period in her relationship with Peter which was more open, communicative, and honest than before. OMD retconned this and hit the Reset Button on her relationship with Peter again.
    • Post-OMD, her character who thanks to sliding timescale has been drawn and written a little younger than before. A new arc with her getting married again began, with her having her own life separate from Peter and here she encourages Peter's scientific aspirations (including getting him a job at Horizon). Towards the end, her second husband also dies. Her relationship with Mary Jane which was always warm and supportive (since she saw her as her own daughter) was made distant and colder, and at the start of The Amazing Spider-Man (2018) Peter's plagiarism scandal cooled her relationship with Peter significantly as well.
  • Cool Old Lady: You can beat on Spider-Man all you want, but you don't mess with Aunt May.
    • She cemented this in Lee-Ditko Spider-Man when after Peter fusses about her after an operation has left her wheelchair-bound, she rebukes him firmly and gently:
      Aunt May: Now you listen to me, Peter Parker...!! Even though I'm an old woman, I'm not a quitter! A person needs gumption—-the will to live—-to fight—-you mustn't worry about me so much, Peter dear! We Parkers are tougher than people think!
    • She went from dowdy old fusspot to really cool once readers realized that she was setting her nephew up with Mary Jane Watson, leading many to call Aunt May the ultimate wingman.
    • Later during the Civil War when everyone knew who Peter Parker was and was out to get him, became a downright cool old lady, even going so far as to appear clueless when the Chameleon impersonated Peter while simultaneously tricking him into thinking he'd been poisoned with cookies full of sleeping pills and knitting a sweater with the word "GOTCHA" in big letters the whole time.
    • When Wolverine complains about letting Jarvis have the morning off (with May picking up the slack making breakfast), May grabs the cigar from his mouth and dunks it in his whisky, while setting the rule of "no drinking or smoking in the premises until noon". Wolverine just stares at her for a couple of seconds, then announces he's just going to get doughnuts.
    • She once managed to talk the freaking Scorpion into not attacking Spider-Man. While she was hospitalized no less.
  • Dude Magnet: Despite her age, she dated numerous different men (within her age range, of course) after Ben's death: Otto Octavius, Nathan Lubensky, Willie Lumpkin, Edwin Jarvis (who was actually a Skrull) and JJJ's dad, who ends up marrying her.
  • Granny Classic: Depending on the writer she might Take a Level in Badass, but everyone seems to be in agreement she likes to bake, cook, and can't be bothered with hair dye.
  • Happily Married:
    • To Ben Parker before his Death by Origin Story. They were old, in love, and childless and gladly adopted Peter to complete their family.
    • With JJJ's dad as of BND (the ceremony takes place in issue #600). Peter alternates between finding it adorable and horrifying. Jonah would rather not think about it at all.
  • Heroic Bystander: More so when written by JMS, during her brief time being in on the secret.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: For a long time, she considered Spider-Man to be "awful", and thought Doctor Octopus was a "gentleman" (Even after he held her hostage). She was even like this in her youth: She almost got engaged to a criminal named Johnny Jerome, refusing to listen to Ben when he tried to tell her the truth about him, thinking he was slandering Johnny out of jealousy. It was only when he showed her hard evidence that her engagement ring had been stolen that she believed him.
  • Insistent Terminology: In The '60s, would constantly say "pussywillow" instead of "pussycat" when attempting to use hip lingo.
  • Jerkass Ball: Is not supportive of "Peter"'s relationship with Anna Maria Marconi, going so far as to disparagingly remark on her short stature. Although "Peter" admits that it's also his fault because he should've told Aunt May earlier about Anna's condition before they met.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: For Peter ever since Uncle Ben died. She's Peter's only surviving family and Peter burdened by the guilt of causing Uncle Ben's death and widowing her is constantly worried sick about her health and well-being.
  • The Match Maker: For Peter and MJ most famously. A Running Gag and early story arc is that May wanted to set Peter up with his neighbor's niece and Peter believing that it was embarrassing for his Aunt to set him up with a date wasn't keen, and likewise thought it couldn't be anyone cool. To say the least, he was proven wrong.
  • Maiden Aunt: Although she's a widow and not a maiden.
  • Mama Bear:
    • She has demonstrated this line of abilities when somebody messes with her dear nephew and adopted son, Peter. When the Chameleon, a ruthless assassin and skilled infiltrator, tries to take Peter's place, she not only manages to subdue him in an undeniably classy fashion, she also scares the bejeezus outta him in the process.
    • And in another storyline, when the Vulture broke into their house and threatened them with a gun, after Peter managed to disarm him of it (trying hard not to show his full strength and give his identity away) she picked the weapon up and pointed it at the criminal, and ordered him to leave.
  • My Beloved Smother: Gwen Stacy called her out in this near the end of the Lee-Romita era during a period when Peter was missing. Gwen reminds her that Peter is quite tough (even though she worries about Peter a great deal too)
  • Parents in Distress: Peter will kill you if you even threaten Aunt May. Just ask the Kingpin who got the beating of his lifetime in Back in Black.
  • Parental Substitute:
    • She is Peter's mother all things considered. She and Ben couldn't have children, and when Peter fell into their lives, Peter fulfilled her wishes for a child and so she doted on him greatly. She also keeps worrying about him all the time, hoping he settles down, finds a job that sticks, gets married and so on.
    • Pre-OMD, she was also one for Mary Jane. She always considered MJ Peter's ideal match and believed that she and Peter would be perfect for one another. She was a supportive mother-in-law for both of them during their marriage, and after Peter and MJ reunited, she counseled MJ to turn to acting for the stage when her movie and fashion career was hitting a dead end.
  • Practically Different Generations: Like with Ben, May often looks around 10-20 years older than Peter's birth parents.
  • Progressively Prettier: In the earlier issues, May looked very wizened and wrinkled. Over time, artists have drawn her as less so. They even modernized her hairdo from the classic old ladies' bun to short, shagged hair (which is her default style in the Ultimate Universe). In terms of adaptations, May gets younger all the time, to the point that her Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation is played by Marisa Tomei, of all people.note 
  • Scatterbrained Senior: Early incarnations of her suggested this, though it varies from issue to issue, with her being unexpectedly tough and insightful in some moments, and having questionable judgment on other occassions.
  • Shipper on Deck:
    • Pre-OMD, she was a consistent and vocal Peter/MJ shipper, and conspired with Anna to set them up on their first date. During the "First Clone Saga" when Gwen's clone threw a wrench in Peter and MJ's budding romance and Mary Jane came to her for advice, Aunt May told her to go fight for her man. She also supported and did her best to make sure Peter and MJ got back together during the period of separation in their marriage.
    • Post-OMD, owing to the Cosmic Retcon changing and altering the dynamics of the characters, May and Mary Jane had a falling out, with May taking Peter's side after MJ ended their long live-in relationship with Peter. Anna Watson was still May's friend, and she had to bring MJ as her plus one for May's wedding to John Jameson and while their relationship is cordial, May no longer tries to ship Peter and MJ together, and has on occassion been supportive of Peter's other relationships, such as with Bobbi Morse.
  • Supreme Chef: May is very skilled in cooking with baked goods. Except, Depending on the Writer, for meat loaf.
  • You See, I'm Dying: She has cancer, and the revelation shocks Peter greatly.

    Mary and Richard Parker 

Mary and Richard Parker

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-Richard_and_Mary_Parker_UToSM-1_2594.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5 (November, 1968)

Richard and Mary Parker are the parents of Peter Parker (Spider-Man). They were killed in a plane accident arranged by The Finisher when Peter was still very young.


  • Badass Normal: Depending on the Writer, mind you, but they've been shown doing some pretty awesome things, and they took on the Russian Red Skull, for pete's sake, even if it did result in their deaths, but they died protecting their country, which Peter takes some measure of pride in. More recently in the standalone story Family Business, in particular, they're shown operating some rather powerful weaponry.
  • Death by Origin Story: Something of a lesser variant, they weren't directly involved in Peter's origin as Spider-Man (though their profession and deaths resulted in Peter living with Ben and May), and their deaths weren't even elaborated on until an annual during the Lee/Romita run.
  • The Mole: They were spies; in some continuities they were Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Amusingly, even in mainline continuity, the writers can flip-flop on this. The cover you see to the right? It says they're S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, but in the actual comic, they're working for the CIA instead.
  • Practically Different Generations: Richard is the younger brother of Ben. Richard and Mary often look at least around 10-20 years younger than Ben and May.
  • Strong Family Resemblance: Richard is often drawn looking nigh if not outright identical to Peter. For obvious reasons, not quite so much with Mary.

    Teresa Parker 

Teresa Parker

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6685121_teresa_parker_earth_616_from_peter_parker_the_spectacular_spider_man_vol_1_3_0011.jpg

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business #1 (June, 2014)

Peter's long-lost sister. She appears out of the blue to rescue Peter from a gunman and claims to have only learned about their relationship recently.


  • Ambiguous Situation: The story raises the possibility that Teresa is not Peter's sister, but a sleeper agent working for the Finisher who came to believe her false identity. The Chameleon offers to give her definitive answers in exchange for breaking him out of prison, but she refuses and chooses to embrace Teresa Parker as her true identity, regardless of what her origins are.
  • Badass Normal: Like mom and dad, she has no superpowers. She's instead a CIA agent with considerable hand-to-hand combat skills and is a crack shot with a pistol. She later gets a flight pack that makes her a full-fledged flight-based superhero.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Like her brother, Teresa is an nice person to be around, but may The One Above All help you if you piss her off.
  • Brother–Sister Team: She and Peter work together on occasion now that she's back.
  • I Believe I Can Fly: She gets a flight pack similar to Falcon's from Hophni Mason to better help Peter in the field. She grumbles that she spends much of her time carrying people away from fights now that she can fly. Peter tells her that it's 90 percent of her job as a flight-based superhero.
  • Long-Lost Relative: Neither of them knew they had a sibling until Teresa showed up to save Peter from gunfire. Then it's subverted when it's revealed that their relationship may have been nothing more than a figment created by Mentallo's powers... then it's Double Subverted when Teresa uncovers her birth certificate and a picture showing her in Richard and Mary's arms, and then it's Triple Subverted when even that is made ambiguous.
  • Secret-Keeper: She learns about Peter's secret not long after they meet and keeps it under wraps for him.

    Mary Jane Watson-Parker 

Mary Jane Watson-Parker

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mary_jane_7.png

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #42 (December, 1966)

Mary Jane (or MJ) was the wife of Peter Parker in the main continuity from 1987-2008, until One More Day erased those years with a Cosmic Retcon (in other universe, like MC2 universe or The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, they are again married). During their marriage, she legally added Parker to her surname. See her personal page on info relative to her.

Mary-Jane's Immediate Family

    Phillip Watson 

Phillip Watson

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #259 (September, 1984)

MJ's estranged father.


  • Abusive Parents: Stress at his inability to write mixed with rising bills from not having a job lead him to hit Gayle, at which point Madlyne immediately took the kids and left.
  • Didn't Think This Through: Phil was a happily married and successful teacher adored by his students, who wanted to make it as a novelist. All well and good, but he then quit his successful and high-paying job without making sure whether he could write in the first place, at which point the Watson family started to fall apart.
  • High Hopes, Zero Talent: He wanted to be a successful novelist... and as it turned out was no good at it.
  • Jerkass: After Madeline took the kids, he sued her for desertion, won, and then broke off all contact with his daughters anyway. The next time he reappeared in MJ's life, it was to try and pressure her into committing theft for him.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Eventually fell into this after realizing his failed ambitions had cost him everything he loved.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Eventually reappeared having done time, but softened out enough for MJ to forgive him.

    Gayle Watson 

Gayle Watson-Byrne

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #246 (August, 1983)

MJ's older sister.


  • Put on a Bus: She hasn't been seen or heard from in a while now, beyond a mention here and there.
  • The Resenter: Towards MJ, on account of her going off to try and live her life while Gayle has wound up an abandoned mother of two.

    Anna May Watson 

Anna May Watson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Anna_May_Earth-616_1097.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August, 1964)

Anna May Watson is best friends with May Parker and a paternal aunt to Mary Jane Watson. Once the Watsons were neighbors to the Parker's in Forrest Hills.


  • Maiden Aunt: She's Mary Jane's aunt, and never married.
  • Obnoxious In-Laws: In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, treating Peter badly even when he didn't do anything to deserve it. In the comics, she's a sweet lady who's never anything but polite and respectful to Peter. She was also impressed by Spider-Man's kindness and good manners after he saved her from a Spider-Slayer.
  • Pet the Dog: Anna was the only one of the Watson family to show any kind of support to her sister in-law and nieces after Madeline left Phillip.
  • Shipper on Deck: Less so than May, but still helped set up Peter and MJ's first date. No matter how fraught Peter and MJ's relationship got in the 80s, she and May would insist they would be getting married any day.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: When she came to live with Peter and Mary Jane for a while in the 1990s, she filled a similar role to Aunt May.

Clones

    Benjamin "Ben" Reilly 

    Kaine Parker 

    Spidercide 

    Spider-Clones 

Partial Clones

    Itsy Bitsy 

Duplicates

    Doppelgänger 

    Spider-Man (Isotope Genome Accelerator Duplicate) 

Spider-Man (Isotope Genome Accelerator Duplicate)

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5 #2 (September, 2018)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amazing_spider_man_vol_5_3_second_printing_variant_textless.png
Spider-Man Duplicate: Yeah, but come on, even you have to admit — the giant robot was awesome.

After Peter was pushed into an Isotope Genome Accelerator, a machine designed by Dr. Curt Connors to de-hybridise the characteristics of a single being, he became irradiated and split into two separate beings. Peter kept all of his memories and personality but lost his powers, while his Spider-Man identity took a life of its own, keeping all of his usual powers but losing any sense of responsibility.


  • Beware the Superman: His debut arc shows that Spider-Man genuinely could be quite dangerous if he lacked Uncle Ben's teachings about responsibility.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He has some decent quips here and there, but it's mostly averted as he lacks Peter's usual sharp wit, instead often resorting to puerile "randumb" humour and gratuitous pop culture references.
  • Enemy Without: As his wanton disregard for silly concepts like "property damage" and "common sense" gets out of hand, he inevitably clashes with his own secret identity, Peter Parker.
  • Expy: He's somewhat similar in concept to the Superman duplicate from Superman III, being a darker Literal Split Personality of the hero bereft of any sense of morality due to a lack of a human secret identity.
  • Instant Awesome: Just Add Mecha!: He takes control of the Tri-Sentinel on the basis that giant robots are totally awesome, dude! Wait, whaddaya mean it causes tens of millions of dollars in property damage?
  • Literal Split Personality: After a freakish lab accident, Peter Parker and Spider-Man essentially become two separate people. The first story arc of Nick Spencer's Amazing Spider-Man run deals with their ensuing conflict.
  • Manchild: He represents the worst excesses of Spider-Man's childish tendencies, namely his excitability for the superhero lifestyle. This culminates in him putting the city in danger by taking control of a giant Sentinel, purely and unashamedly for Rule of Cool.
  • Meta Guy: He quite directly comments on the controversial developments in Spider-Man's life during Dan Slott's run on the main comic, lampshading the perception that Peter has lost his way by making so many bad decisions in life and becoming a sad-sack loser. Unfortunately, rather than learn from his mistakes, he becomes an uninhibited hedonist.
  • Motor Mouth: This Spider-Man clone demonstrates how utterly obnoxious this trope can be when taken to too much of an extreme.
  • Only in It for the Money: Another unfortunate Parker trait that he exaggerates and deconstructs. Peter often deals with money troubles in the comics and sometimes lets common greed get the better of him, resulting in him taking the occasional trashy promotional deal or trying to use super-heroics for personal gain. This was particularly prevalent in The Amazing Spider-Man (Dan Slott), during which Peter founded his own corporation, Parker Industries, off the back of Otto Octavius's work. As a Take That! to those developments, this Spider-Man immediately signs off his likeness to various corporations in exchange for merchandising profits.
  • Shadow Archetype: He represents what Peter could've turned out like if Uncle Ben played no role in his origin story.

Midtown High

    Flash Thompson 

    Elizabeth "Liz" Allan 

Elizabeth "Liz" Allan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/liz_allan_wikipedia_5.jpg

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)

Liz Allan is one of the first romantic interests for Peter in the Midtown High School. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for Peter, she is Flash Thompson’s girlfriend at the time and thinks next to nothing of Peter. However, after she hears an ailing Peter had donned a Spider-Man costume in order to save Betty Brant from Doctor Octopus, she develops a crush on him and clashes with Betty Brant. By this time, however, Peter's interest has waned considerably, as he notes that Liz never showed any real interest in him until he began dating Betty Brant, and assumes that Liz's feelings are little more than a schoolgirl crush. At the graduation ceremony, Liz admits her feelings to Peter, and says she has come to accept the fact that they are unrequited.

Liz would eventually go on to date and then marry Harry Osborn, even having a son with him called Norman (though everyone calls him "Normie" rather than the same name as his grandfather). However, the marriage broke down, even before Harry's death. Liz would shuttle about for some time, before eventually becoming a founder and CEO of Alchemax.


  • Alpha Bitch: Liz was introduced as one, mocking Peter as much as everyone else, until a boost of Character Development after seeing him in a different light turned her into his love interest.
  • Beta Couple: With Harry Osborn for a while.
  • Betty and Veronica: Initially played the Veronica to... Betty's Betty. Although it was completely one-sided, since Peter was never truly interested in her that way.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: As the CEO of Alchemax, she is Norman's puppet leader.
  • Face–Heel Turn: It is revealed that Liz has been willingly assisting Norman Osborn in order to provide her son with a legacy, and under her leadership Alchemax has engaged in a lot of unethical experiments.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: She became considerably nicer to Peter as she got to know him.
  • Founder of the Kingdom: Liz collaborated with her father-in-law to found Allan Chemical and became Horizon Labs' main shareholder, making one Tiberius Stone the site supervisor. Under Norman's direction, she would subsequently amalgamate "AlChem" with Oscorp and what was left of Horizon Labs and rename it Alchemax.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: As the CEO of Alchemax, she's been both an ally and an enemy to Spider-Man and Venom. It's particularly egregious in Venom, where she callously oversees the capture of Dylan Brock — who in Donny Cates' run had been living in her house and who she had treated as a second son.
  • Hero-Worshipper: During her high school days, she develops a crush on Peter after she mistakenly believed he had tried to pull off some heroics (in reality, he was suffering from Worf Had the Flu).
  • More than Mind Control: Norman's been manipulating her by using her desire to provide a legacy for her son.
  • Offstage Villainy: While Liz presumably condones a lot of the dubious to outright illegal acts that Alchemax regularly engages in, the comics almost always reframe from actually showing her being involved in them, instead using other Alchemax representatives like Tiberius Stone. There is the occasional exception, though, like when she helped the Green Goblin escape at the end of Superior Spider Man or when she personally oversaw Dylan Brock and Sleeper being captured in Venom.
  • Promoted to Love Interest: As mentioned before, she had a crush on Peter in the comic books, but it was completely one-sided. This changed in The Spectacular Spider-Man adaptation, where she gets together with Peter... and then becomes deeply hurt when he breaks up with her to be with Gwen.
  • Secret-Keeper: Not Peter's, but Miguel O'Hara's while he's trapped in the modern day. In fairness, she forced him to reveal himself.
  • Spotting the Thread: During Miguel's time infiltrating Alchemax, Liz notes Spidey 2099's sudden appearance when a supervillain attacks Alchemax, and how he managed to get into the building when it was sealed up tight. From there, she figures Spider-Man must be an Alchemax employee. Some digging reveals a few key facts about "Mike" the new guy...
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Since the events of Brand New Day, she's become increasingly cold and ruthless, especially as the CEO of Alchemax.
  • Transplant: After Harry's death, Liz became a supporting character in Daredevil, serving as a love interest for lawyer Foggy Nelson. The couple breaks up after Mysterio manipulates Foggy into having an affair in a plot to drive Daredevil insane in Guardian Devil. Liz feels like Foggy has let her down and ends their relationship.
  • Viewer Name Confusion: Her last name is Allan, not "Allen".

    Sally Avril 

Sally Avril

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bluebirdsally_8369.jpg

Alter Ego: Sally Avril

Notable Aliases: Bluebird

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)

A classmate of Peter Parker's who wished to be famous like Spider-Man. She developed the costumed identity of Bluebird and employed gadgets to stop crime. Bluebird even helped Spider Man defeat Electro and the Eel when they demanded ten million dollars or would cripple the city's electrical supply. Avril died in car accident while speeding to battle scene involving Spider-Man in order to photograph him.


  • Ascended Extra: The bit-parter shown turning down Peter Parker's request for a date (in favor of the "dream boat" Flash Thompson) in Amazing Fantasy #15, Kurt Busiek made her a much more prominent and important character in Untold Tales of Spider-Man.
  • Asshole Victim: Downplayed. In the Amazing Fantasy follow-up issues #16-18 and Untold Tales of Spider-Man, Sally Avril is shown to have been a somewhat callous and self-absorbed young gal who tended join in with the other students in their bullying and mockery of Peter Parker, and a budding young glory hound whose reckless seeking for fame and fortune ultimately got her killed. When she saw her friend Liz Allan offering Peter Parker condolences for Uncle Ben's untimely demise, she broke off the conversation by calling Liz away (to "that, ah, Social Studies thing") while offering no condolences of her own. While Amazing Fantasy #17 reveals that she did have some history of being childhood friends with Peter Parker along with the rest of "the gang" before they drifted away from him and gravitated to Flash Thompson in high school, she doesn't ever seem to have been one of the closer ones. She was also more than willing to try to use both Peter Parker and Jason Ionello (to whom she seems to have been somewhat closer) as her stepping stones, at one point trying to blackmail Parker into helping her launch her career as Bluebird, and later pressuring Ionello to drive her around the city to newsworthy events to help launch her career as a news photographer even though he only had his learner's permit. Despite all her misbehavior, her death was every bit as devastating to Peter Parker as to the rest of her classmates, and Johnny Storm (of all people) ultimately had to talk Spider-Man out of feeling guilty for his incidental involvement in it.
  • Deconstructed Character Archetype: Ascended Extra Sally Avril is basically the kind of Kid Hero Peter Parker might have turned out to be if Uncle Ben's death hadn't shaken him out of his own callous disdain for his classmates and self-absorbtion. Rather than true heroism, Sally's motivations for taking up first being the costumed vigilante Bluebird and then a career in news photography like Peter are fun and fame and fortune. Her weapons were all but useless in a fight (something Electro pointed out when he mocked her for trying to knock him out with one of her ether-filled eggs) and are broadly implied to have been something Jason Ionello developed for her, since he was the one with the scientific mind. When Spider-Man finally got tired of bailing her out from the sticky situations into which her own reckless posing as a superhero had gotten her, he had to stand back and let one of the Mooks she was fighting alongside him punch her in the stomach to convince her she was not cut out for superheroic work. Then her own recklessness and vanity got her killed anyway when she talked Jason Ionello into being her driver even though he only had a learner's permit, and pressured him into running a red light.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Her: Given some play, in that in the issue where she died (Untold Tales of Spider-Man #13), the story momentarily made it seem that Sally's antics as the Kid Hero wannabe Bluebird were going to get her killed when Spider-Man stepped back and let one of the Black Knight's goons punch her in the stomach to clarify to her that she was foolishly risking her life and limbs fighting bad guys when she didn't have any real powers, but this was not what ultimately killed her. Instead, she got into a horrendous car wreck the next evening when she egged Jason Ionello into running a red light, which got their vehicle T-boned by a city bus, killing her almost instantly. While this is a rather mundane way for a character in a superhero comic to die, her development as an Ascended Extra in the previous issues, and the devastating impact her death had on her classmates in later issues (particularly Jason Ionello, who survived the accident, and then had to face down his disapproving classmates and his Survivor Guilt once he'd recovered enough to return to high school) makes her death seem a lot more tragic (especially since this is one of the all-too-common ways teenagers in high school have been known to die in Real Life), and Peter Parker's own grief and guilt (even though she wasn't a very good friend to him and—as the Human Torch points out—he wasn't to blame) quite understandable.
  • The Load: Since she desired some of the "glory" she thought Spider-Man's heroics were bringing him for herself, she created a blue-and-white costume, called herself Bluebird, and tried to team up with Spider-Man with an arsenal of (mostly useless) egg-themed gadgets. Unfortunately, her overinflated ego and reckless behavior made her such a nuisance and a hindrance to him that Spider-Man finally let one of the Black Knight's thugs take a free shot at her to convince her to give up on her ambition to be a superheroine.
  • My Greatest Failure: Spidey blamed himself for her death, believing that she would still be alive if he had let Bluebird be his sidekick as she wanted and mentored her.
    Spider-Man: She'll never laugh again. She'll never toss her head the way she did, instantly dismissing whatever she didn't want to think about in favor of something new. She'll never smile, never capture everyone's attention with a few words, never light up a room with her determination and humor. She could be obnoxious, even pushy, but she was vital and alive and fun to be around and now she's gone...
  • Never Speak Ill of the Dead: To say that Sally Avril had her faults is to make a mild understatement: she very willingly went along with Flash Thompson and even Jason Ionello in their taunting and tormenting of Peter Parker (particularly an incident in which Jason stole Peter's clothes while he was showering; even Flash didn't approve of that prank, but she seemed to find it slightly amusing), showed a callous lack of concern for him as he was grieving over his uncle's death, and was more than willing to go along with Jason's attempts to find out Spider-Man's secret identity. She even tried to blackmail Peter into publicizing her exploits as Bluebird when she found out about his taking photographs for the Daily Bugle. Even so, when her own recklessness got her killed in a car wreck, Peter was still thoroughly devastated, as detailed in My Greatest Failure above. In the end, he only began to be consoled when the Human Torch (who didn't even like Spider-Man) pointed out he had no good reason to blame himself for her death.
    Human Torch: You stopped her from doing something dangerous. That's all. She chose to do something else dangerous, but that's not your fault.
  • No Sympathy: While she doesn't seem to have known Peter Parker all that well even back in junior high when she and Peter Parker's other classmates were also his friends, her casual disregard for his feelings while he was still mourning Uncle Ben's death (demonstrated when she pushed Liz Allan to cut her condolences to Peter Parker short so the group could move on to its next social gathering—to which he, of course, was not invited) is still rather disturbing to behold.
  • Too Dumb to Live: While he's neither too blunt nor at all flippant on the subject, Johnny Storm demonstrates some remarkable insight into the situation when consoling Spider-Man over Sally's death, pointing out that her impulsiveness and overconfidence would likely have gotten her killed regardless of anything he did or didn't do: had Spider-Man offered to train her, she might just as easily have died foolishly trying to take on the Black Knight (who—though his powers were no match for Spidey's—would easily have been able to Curb Stomp her).

    Carl King 
See Marvel Comics: Spiders for more info.

    Jessica Campbell 

Empire State University

Staff and Faculty

    Debra Whitman 

Debra Whitman

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/100px-Debra_Whitman_Earth-616_4558.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #196 (September 1979)

A university secretary who became one of Peter Parker's love interests for a while.


  • The Atoner: At Betty Brant's urging, Debra later rescinded most of what was in the book she supposedly wrote about Spider-Man by revealing it'd been largely edited to make Peter look horrible.
  • Awesomeness by Analysis: She's one of the few people to deduce Peter is Spider-Man, although she later comes to doubt herself about that.
  • Domestic Abuse: When she was married to Mark Whitman. One day her friend Biff Rifkin went to her house and saw Mark beating her. He rescued her and took her to the hospital, but she insisted Mark was a kind and gentle husband, locked in denial. It took some shock therapy to make Debra come to her senses and decide to leave New York to get a divorce.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: She was last seen moving out west with her new boyfriend Biff Rifkin. Considering everything she'd been through before that, the readers can probably take comfort in the fact that she found some happiness with him.
  • Extreme Doormat: Debra has a weak personality. This is evident if you consider that she had an abusive husband in past and how Peter treats her, running out on their dates more than any other of his love interests. Despite this, Debra threw herself at Peter issue after issue only to have him push her aside.
  • Foil: To both Mary Jane and Black Cat. She is not a supermodel or a person with a particularly strong personality, but just an average woman with a fragile mind.
  • Kick the Dog: Well, "kick" may be putting it harshly, but to put it bluntly, Peter was significantly less-than-ideal during their relationship than with any of his other lovers. Aside from the fact that he ran out on her multiple times for Spider-Man related activities-in and on itself not a rarity with his other girlfriends, but ridiculously frequently with her — Peter was remarkably underappreciative of her efforts as a romantic partner Example . Even while with her, he tended to let his eyes fall on other attractive women to the point of almost forgetting he had a date with her, even if he never actually cheated on her. Towards the tail end of their time together, he took note of this and tried to be more appreciative, up to being willing to reveal his identity to her, but at that point, the ship had already sunk.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Debra's tell-all book was actually edited to make Peter seem worse than he actually did, and Debra wasn't comfortable with the changes made. In fact, she didn't event want to write the book but was convinced by J. Jonah Jameson to use the money to pay for her mom's health insurance.
  • Shrinking Violet: Although she's not necessarily shy, her aversion to conflict and reluctance when it comes to taking initiative makes her this in the comics.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: She disappeared completely after being written out of the early-'80s Spectacular Spider-Man book. Every other woman in Peter Parker's dating life tends to reappear from time to time as a member of his supporting cast, except for Debra.
    • She finally reemerged following Peter's unmasking in Civil War (2006), having written a tell-all book about her time dating him, and promptly disappeared again.

    Professor Miles Warren 

    Professor Clifton Shallot 

    Professor Harrison Turk 

    Professor Buck Mitty 

    Dr. Evan Swann 

Dr. Evan Swann

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1120877_evan_unmasked_ii.jpg

Notable Aliases: Captain Universe

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #310 (December 1988)

Dr. Evan Swann was once a professor of physics who worked at Empire State University and is one of the tutors who made Peter Parker into the man he is today. Swann was also a wielder of the Captain Universe powers.


    Dr. Edward Lansky 

Students

    Gwen Stacy 
See Gwen Stacy for more info.

    Harry Osborn 

Harry Osborn

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-Harold_Osborn_Earth-616_002_5631.jpg

Alter Ego: Harold Theopolis "Harry" Osborn

Notable Aliases: Green Goblin II, American Son

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965)

The son of famed billionaire Norman Osborn, Harry had a hard life growing up. In fact, it was Harry who switched around some chemicals when Norman tried to create the first Goblin Serum to pay his father back for neglecting him. However, when he went to college, Harry finally found someone who would care about him far more than his father ever would: Peter Parker. While they started off rough due to Peter's life as Spider-Man, Harry soon became Peter's best friend, and they even shared an apartment. However, the strain of his father's spells as the Green Goblin eventually turned Harry to drugs, and he almost overdosed on several occasions.

On one such occasion, it caused his father to revert back to his Goblin personality, leading to The Night Gwen Stacy Died. Sometime after this, Harry discovered his father was the Green Goblin, and that Peter was Spider-Man. Angry at Peter for causing the death of his father, Harry became the second Green Goblin. However, he eventually quit after he suffered a concussion that made him forget that Peter was Spider-Man.

The two of them reconnected, and for a time, it seemed like Harry's life was finally on the rebound. He took over running his father's company Oscorp, married one of Peter's old high school classmates Liz Allen, and they had a son Normie. However, the Goblin persona began coming back to Harry. First, when the Hobgoblin tried to make the Goblin Serum, he brought Harry's memories of being the Goblin back, and he even donned the mask to help Spidey on several occasions. He eventually tried to rebury the Goblin and focus on his work and family. However, when his subconscious memories of hating Peter and knowing about Spider-Man returned, he tried to take revenge on Peter again, even trying out a new Goblin Serum to make himself even stronger. Angry and manic, he tried to destroy both Spider-Man and himself in an explosion, but after realizing Mary Jane and his son were in the building, he saved them all, before collapsing. Realizing the new serum was fatal, Harry died in Spider-Man's arms, affirming their friendship. That is, until One More Day, when Mephisto's interference summarily resurrected him from the dead.


  • 13 Is Unlucky: Born on the 13th of December and a terribly unfortunate guy.
  • Adaptational Early Appearance: On account of his status in comics as Peter's first real friend he is often brought earlier in the timeline in the Spider-Man Trilogy and Ultimate Spider-Man. Originally he and Peter met in college and not high school. Peter got into college on scholarship and movie adaptations never clarify why exactly a rich kid like Harry is attending an ordinary public school among low-income kids.
  • Ax-Crazy: Discovering his father's corpse pinned to a wall and dressed in a goblin costume and finding out his best friend was Spider-Man did a number on his sanity, and he became just as psychotic as his father after taking the Goblin formula.
  • Back from the Dead: One More Day revived him via the restorative powers of the Goblin formula resurrected him. Subverted later on. Harry never actually came back. The Harry since then had been a clone, while his soul was being tortured by Mephisto in hell and the Harry A.I. was possessing the Stacy twins.
  • Badass Normal: He didn't use the Goblin Formula initially.
  • Beardless Protection Program: After his father's failed attempt at taking over the US, Harry moves out of New York, shaves his head, and grows a badass handlebar moustache.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: In American Son, Harry finally gives one to Norman. His revival was worth it, just for that.
  • Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: Interesting in that originally Harry was the cool kid to Peter, but by later issues, he became the loser instead. Peter had a steady and healthy relationship with Gwen while Harry was the rebound for MJ after losing Peter to Gwen. Peter was also a brilliant man while Harry kept wanting approval from his dad, and then he became a drug addict (which eventually led to MJ breaking up with him). After Gwen's death Peter and MJ started dating, which made him even more resentful than before.
  • Deal with the Devil: Norman traded Harry’s soul to Mephisto when he was a child, in exchange for wealth and power.
  • Died in Your Arms Tonight: Harry dies in Peter’s arms a lot in the various comic universes, and twice in the main 616 universe.
  • Drugs Are Bad: In a landmark issue Stan Lee defied the comics code authority to spread this message (revolutionary at the time...) when Harry overdoses and nearly dies from taking too many pills... his drug problems are translated as Drowning My Sorrows in The Movie and a "Globulin Green" addiction in The Spectacular Spider-Man.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: After regaining his memories he took the Goblin formula. Unfortunately, it had an adverse reaction with the LSD he was also taking at the time, which ultimately killed him.
  • Evil Former Friend: He was Peter's roommate, and while they hadn't exactly been close friends at first they'd become besties by the time Norman killed Gwen. Then everything went downhill from there.
  • Genre Turning Point: invokedHis drug use ended up shaping the comics as they are today. Because Stan Lee was asked to commission an anti-drug story, but the The Comics Code wouldn't allow him, having Lee release the three-parter Codeless. The first part of the mini-arc has a random man stoned out of his mind, but Spidey saves him. His drug use however is a whole lot more personal when Peter was already having to deal with the Green Goblin, and Harry was popping pills right in front of him. Then Harry bought stronger pills that caused him to overdose, and Peter had to get him to a hospital. When the Green Goblin finds him, he beings to revert back into Norman after seeing Harry unconscious, and he does too. Peter takes the opportunity to burn his costume and put him on his bed before leaving. This ended up changing the comics as they are today.
  • Heel–Face Revolving Door: On account of his insanity, his insecurity, and being Norman's kid, he constantly went through periods of insanity and lucidity. For a while it seemed like he and Liz Allan made it work and he started a family but then he relapsed as the Green Goblin before dying as a good guy. And even then posthumously, it's revealed that one of his cruel plans to hurt Peter (with robot doubles of his parents brought to fool Peter into thinking they were back) complicated his dying redemption. Since One More Day however, Harry Osborn has been portrayed as a good guy, and though his old A.I. and Mephisto have other ideas, he dies a hero.
  • If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: He had a clear chance to finally end his evil father's reign at the end of "American Son", but Spidey, who had contemplated killing Norman earlier, stops him. He admits that Harry has every right to hate his father and Norman had it coming, but by taking a life he'd be the son Norman always wanted. This convinces Harry to not kill him.
  • I Just Want to Be Normal: Harry ultimately leaves NYC behind and goes into witness protection to live a normal life away from the madness of his father.
  • Impossibly Cool Weapons: Apparently Harry redesigned the Goblin weaponry so that it's even COOLER.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: For a while he forgot that he had been the Green Goblin and that Peter was Spider-Man following being hypnotized by Bart Hamilton.
  • Legacy Character: He became the second Green Goblin after his father "died".
  • Living with the Villain: Peter and Harry are best friends... and, from time to time, mortal enemies.
  • Nom de Mom: Starting from 2017, Harry legally has his name changed from "Osborn" to "Lyman", his mother's maiden name. Norman, as would be expected, is disgusted by Harry's "betrayal".
  • Psychological Projection: Shortly before his original death, Harry claimed that Spider-Man only tried to 'destroy' the Osborn family because he resented their 'stable' family dynamic while he had been a burden on relatives who never wanted him, Harry's mind now so twisted that he was incapable of recognising Norman's flaws as a parent.
  • On the Rebound: MJ dated him after pining for Pete only to see him and Gwen settle in as a couple. Their relationship wasn't good because while Harry liked her and cared for her, his neuroses and constant complaints annoyed MJ to no end, and she dumped him because of his addiction.
  • Papa Wolf: When his son Stanley was almost kidnapped by an ex cop-turned-fanatic of the green goblin, he responds with a taser and a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
  • Parental Abandonment: Harry’s mother Emily left him in the “care” of Norman when he was still a child and faked her own death.
  • Psycho Serum: He created his own "improved" version of the Goblin formula, which drove him just as crazy as his father had been.
  • Redeeming Replacement: Harry once flirted with the idea of turning the Green Goblin into a hero, but Peter said that the Goblin legacy carried too much baggage with it and rejected it.
  • Redemption Equals Death: He was badly injured saving his wife and son from an explosion he set up to kill everyone who'd wronged his family, and died from the effects of his LSD-tainted Goblin formula. It took over two decades from him to "get better" from it.
  • Sanity Slippage: The LSD Harry was taking during university left him a nervous wreck. Learning his dad was the Green Goblin by finding his shish-kabobed corpse and learning his BFF Peter Parker was Spider-Man via his dad's journal pushed him over the edge.
  • Secret-Keeper: He kept the fact that his father's sanity was fraying a secret during the latter's tenure as the head of the Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers.
  • Troll:
    • He would follow Peter around New York in full costume, claiming that since he wasn't committing any crimes Spider-Man couldn't retaliate.
    • He had a pair of robots built by the Chameleon pose as Peter's parents, just to mess with him. Though this was only revealed posthumously after his death.
  • Two Guys and a Girl: In movie adaptations it's often Peter, MJ and Harry as having this dynamic or a Love Triangle. In actual fact, the only time they had this was after Gwen's death and it didn't last long because Harry went insane and Peter and MJ hooked up (and MJ always saw Harry as a rebound from Peter).
  • The Unfavorite: The comics originally had Norman (when not as the Green Goblin) as an absentee father that loved his son, but since his return, his opinion of his son hasn't been very kind. The adaptations also tend to go this route. And remember, Harry is an only child. More recent writers have actually played with the idea that Norman sees Peter as more worthy of being his son.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: All Harry ever wanted was his dad's approval. It takes him a long time to get over it, but he eventually does.
  • You Killed My Father: He found his father's body after the climactic fight with Spider-Man and blamed him for his death.

    Randy Robertson 

Randy Robertson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-Randolph_Robertson_Earth-616_1049.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #67 (December 1968)

Randy Robertson is the son of Daily Bugle city editor Joseph "Robbie" Robertson, enrolled at Empire State University a year behind Bugle photographer Peter Parker.


  • Alliterative Name: Randy Robertson.
  • Dating Catwoman: Despite knowing it's a bad idea, he's in a secret relationship with Janice Lincoln/Lady Beetle, which Peter knows but hasn't told anyone, including Randy.
  • Demoted to Extra: For a period, when Mary Jane was believed dead, Randy offered to share his apartment with the Peter. Peter moved out after Mary Jane turned up alive and once he joined the Avengers, Randy lost screentime.

    Jill Stacy 

Jill Stacy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/93192_168831_jill_stacy.jpg

First Appearance: Spider-Man #76 (January 1997)

The cousin of the late Gwen Stacy, Jill moved to New York City from Hong Kong with her father and brother, Arthur and Paul. She befriended Peter (Spider-Man) and Mary Jane Parker, taking classes with Mary Jane at Empire State University (ESU). Jill sought to understand the events surrounding Gwen's death, and though hesitant, Peter eventually told Jill his side of the story.


  • Long-Lost Relative: She appears first in a photo in Spider-Man #70, near the end of The Clone Saga, and in person in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #76. She is the late Gwen Stacy's cousin.
  • Romantic False Lead: She was set up as a new love interest for Peter after MJ's apparent death. When Mary Jane was found to be alive, Jill withdrew her advances toward Peter and her entire character is put aside.
  • Shut Up, Kirk!: During the period of MJ's death, Jill consoles Peter (and/or makes a surreptitious pass) by stating that he needs to move on from Mary Jane's death, that he deserves to be happy and he needs to open his heart and let someone in who cares for him. Peter coldly replies that he already found and married that someone, and he lost her (though MJ returned later anyway).
  • Strong Family Resemblance: She was Gwen's cousin, but bore a strong enough physical resemblance to Gwen to remind Peter of her. At one point it was shown that aside from Jill having black hair instead of blonde, the two were almost identical.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: To MJ of all people. After the "death" of MJ, her siding up and befriending Peter and consoling him in grief intentionally mirrored how Peter's romance with MJ happened in the aftermath of Gwen's death. It didn't quite work the second time around needless to say.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Jill's last appearance was around Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #31. She disappear without an explanation, but has maybe moved out of New York.
  • Women Are Wiser: Compared to her father and brother, who distrust Spider-Man and are less pleasant towards both Peter and Spider-Man (although neither is too antagonistic). That said, her father Arthur was eventually able to get over his issues with Spider-Man and work with him in investigating Norman Osborn, whereas Jill fixated on the idea of Spider-Man as a threat even when he was actively trying to save her life.

The Daily Bugle

    John Jonah Jameson (Jr.) 

    Joseph "Robbie" Robertson 

Joseph "Robbie" Robertson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robbier_4991.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #51 (August 1967)

"Occam's Razor, Jonah. Simplest explanation. And you must have known it deep down. Must have. I know I did. But you loved the circulation boost. You loved the money. So you chose not to think about it. Didn't look too closely."

Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Bugle, and perhaps the best friend to J. Jonah Jameson.


  • Arch-Enemy: He has a long conflict with the villain Tombstone, with whom he attended high school where Tombstone was a bully.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Robbie ended up in prison with Tombstone due to a judge who was on Kingpin's payroll. When Tombstone coerced him into a breakout, the two wound up in an Amish farm. After years of being terrified of Tombstone, Robbie finally decided enough was enough and stabbed Tombstone with a pitch fork. Tombstone has since dropped his vendetta against Robbie.
  • The Conscience: Frequently the one to rein in Jonah when he threatens to go a bit too far in his crusade.
  • George Jetson Job Security: He has been threatened with being fired a few times and in 2005, Jonah fired him and issues later went to his house to apologize and mentioned he would start to beg if he refused to take his job back.
  • Good Parents: He tries his best with his son Randy. Though they don't always see eye to eye on every issue, he always offers Randy support whenever he needs it.
  • The Lancer: To Jonah. Robbie serves as publisher when Jameson temporarily steps down.
  • Nice Guy: He's generally a lot more level-headed and friendly towards the staff than Jonah.
  • Not So Above It All: After firing Peter, and asking him to clear out his desk, Robbie makes it a point to keep the chair Peter bought from his P.I. days. He's later seen lounging on it:
    Peter: Not my sexy chair.
    Robbie: It's the Bugle's sexy chair now, son.
  • Old Shame: In-Universe. In the past, while working as a reporter in Philadelphia, Robbie witnessed Tombstone murder one of Robbie's contacts. Tombstone threatened Robertson, and the journalist fled to New York City and began working for the Bugle. He told no one of the murder he witnessed.
  • Parental Substitute: He has often served as one for Peter and Spider-Man, being a more kindly and encouraging father figure at the Bugle than he is used to. Most notably, during The Night Gwen Stacy Died, Peter went to Robbie for help in finding Osborn, and Robbie is the only one Peter, in his revenge-fueled fury is kind to.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Robertson is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle. Unlike Jonah, Robbie tries his best to remain objective towards Spider-Man. Robbie is also the only Bugle employee who does not fear the wrath of his boss and is ready to stand up to him on editorial matters.
    • He tries also with Dexter Bennett, who turns the Bugle into a scandalous, muck-raking rag. After learning the DB was indirectly responsible for the deaths of several people whose scandal was exposed by the paper, he quit. Robertson becomes the editor for Ben Urich's newspaper, Front Line, that later becomes the new Daily Bugle.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The cool and reasonable blue to Jonah's very, very angry and passionate red.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
    • He gives one to Jameson after Aunt May is shot by an assassin who was aiming for Peter.
    Robbie: You spent years stoking public sentiment against them, Jonah! Years! It might as well have been your finger on the trigger! And it's my fault, too, because I wasn't able to stop you! "He hosed us for years". My God, Jonah, what were you, stupid? Blind? How could you not have known? How many "coincidences" were needed for Peter and Spider-Man to have been two different people? It's insane. Occam's Razor, Jonah. Simplest explanation. And you must have known it deep down. Must have. I know I did. But you loved the circulation boost. You loved the money. So you chose not to think about it. Didn't look too closely. Look now! Look, dammit! Look at what's on that screen! That's not a story or circulation booster or dollar signs! That's a man and a co-worker and maybe even, Heaven forbid, a friend, and he's in a world of pain! So how about, just for once, we don't add to it. But you do what you want. You're the boss, after all.
    • He also gives a subdued one to Peter after the fallout over Parker Industries' collapse, when Peter comes to the Bugle to complain about an unflattering article he wrote, with Robbie blaming Peter for the damage done to thousands of working-class households. However, the speech does have some problems of its own since Peter explicitly points out the article omits a lot of the positive things he did with PI and the context of his dismantling of it (Peter did so to prevent HYDRA from usurping the company and all of the technology through their new member the Superior Doctor Octopus. although in the end Peter just agrees with Robbie's assesment that he was in way over his head.
  • Secret Secret-Keeper: For decades before Civil War, it had long since been implied that Robbie knew who Spider-Man was, but didn't say anything due to being in the awkward position of paying Peter for taking pictures of himself for years.
  • Shipper on Deck: For Peter and MJ, most famously in Issue #142, when Peter and MJ say their goodbyes at the airport and then make out for several panels while Robbie has the biggest "About damn time" grin on his face.
  • Token Minority: He was one of the first African-American characters in comics to play a serious supporting role, rather than act as comic relief.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: During the period when he took over as head editor of the Bugle, he almost became as abusive as Jonah. This turned out to be caused by the stress of Tombstone reappearing in his life and blackmailing him.

    Elizabeth "Betty" Brant 

Elizabeth "Betty" Brant

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-Elizabeth_Brant_Earth-616_004_2562.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (September 1963)

Peter's first girlfriend. She starts off as Jameson's personal secretary, a position she took after her mother's death, which made her drop out from high school. She starts dating Peter shortly after he starts selling pictures of Spider-Man to the Bugle, attracted to his serious and formal, yet sweet demeanor.

However, Peter's life as Spider-Man started to put a heavy strain on their relationship, especially after her brother got killed by accident during a showdown with Dr. Octopus. Eventually, they break up, although they stay on friendly terms and their relationship evolves into a more sibling-like one. A few years later, she marries Bugle reporter Ned Leeds, who at first looked like he could provide Betty the quiet, uncomplicated married life she was looking for. However, her marriage is a bumpy one due to Ned's constant work overseas, and she leaves him during a long assignment in Paris. Feeling alone, Betty tries to get back together with Peter, who at the time had just broken up with Mary Jane (for the first time), but Ned follows her back to New York and puts a stop to it.

Eventually, she manages to work things out with her husband and save their marriage, but their life together gets utterly destroyed during one of the first Hobgoblin sagas, in which Ned died and Betty almost went insane. However, she was able to recover; after that she decided to become a journalist herself.

Currently, she's one of the Bugle's boldest reporters and has a relationship with Flash Thompson.


  • Action Girl: After losing her husband Ned (again) in the 90s Betty reinvented herself Taking a Level in Badass and decided to start packing heat and learned martial arts.
  • Alliterative Name: Betty Brant.
  • Betty and Veronica: Literally the Betty to Liz's Veronica.
  • Clear Their Name: She cleared the name of her dead husband, Ned Leeds, when she revealed that Roderick Kingsley was the real Hobgoblin (Ned was brainwashed in believe to be Hobglobin by Kingsley).
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: She was really afraid of losing Peter to other girls during her earlier years. The fact that she got to see and meet MJ before Peter made her gulp since she knew that nobody would beat her.
  • Damsel in Distress: She has a habit of being abducted by supervillains. She was also this in an earlier comics issue, when she was kidnapped by the Brainwasher and held hostage alongside her father.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Betty suffered a complete mental breakdown after the news of Ned's death reached her and suffered denial believing him to still be alive. In her state, a young recruiter from the Cult of Love was able to persuade her to join their faction under a leader called the Teacher where she was programmed in their ways. The Teacher turned out to be nothing more than a con artist conning people out of their possessions. Fortunately Flash and Spider-Man figured this out and saved Betty, though she lost everything she owned and had to take up residence with Flash Thompson.
  • First Love: To Peter. Many people often consider Gwen Stacy to be Peter Parker's very first love, forgetting that Betty Brant dated him long before he met Gwen.
  • Important Haircut: Got a page-boy cut after her brother died.
  • Intrepid Reporter: Betty's new career and she easily rivals Lois Lane for her skill and fearlessness.
  • Lost in Imitation: She's Peter Parker's first girlfriend but don't expect to see that in too many adaptions since the idea of a high school student dating a secretary is a bit squicky (it should be noted that she was younger than Peter in the original comics because she had to drop out of high school to work, but that's not really a thing anymore) though various adaptations play with it. In the Raimi films, she obviously has a fondness for Peter and is sort of his cheerleader while JJJ bullies him(it should also be noted that, in this continuity at least, Peter was in college by the time he met Betty, so there shouldn't have been any problem with them dating. It's just that he had already set his sights on MJ back in high school). Also, Peter has a crush on her in The Spectacular Spider-Man, but she turns him down gently because she's too old for him (in this adaptation, Peter is 16 and Betty is 20).
  • Operation: Jealousy: Betty originally started dating Ned Leeds to make Peter jealous, but he was too busy to notice and she eventually fell in love with Ned for real.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: Her current relationship with Peter. She considers him her best friend.
  • Promoted to Love Interest: While their relationship didn’t last too long in the comics, Spider-Man (1967) had her as Peter’s main love interest. note 
  • Satellite Love Interest: During her relationship with Peter. See the trope below for more information.
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: In the early days of the comics, this was her defining characteristic. She didn't want to date any badboys or daredevils (her constantly-in-trouble brother having destroyed any patience she might have had for such nonsense). She just wanted a simple relationship. This was the source of her attraction to Peter. When Peter, from Betty's perspective, started exhibiting bad boy traits, she dumped him.
  • Sympathetic Adulterer: She had a brief affair with Peter and Flash Thompson when she was married to Ned Leeds (during this time Ned was much hostile because of the Hobglobin personality).
  • Took a Level in Badass: Following her husband Ned's death, Betty checked out for a while. Once she got her head together, she reinvented herself, going from the Bugle's harried secretary to a fearless reporter in her own right, willing to go toe-to-toe with supervillains and monsters if required. Recent adaptations that include Betty tend to start from this characterization, to the point where a lot of newer fans won't recognize her at all if they go back and read her pre-1989 appearances.
    • Demonstrated and momentarily discussed when she, for example, rushed in to save Spidey and Flash from Ero. Using a pumpgun with silver bullets.
    Betty: I figured, y'know, the opposite of unholy might work, so while I was home I grabbed—
    Peter: You have a shotgun and silver bullets at home?!
    Betty: I'm a reporter for the Daily Bugle. I've seen stuff that would freak out Kolchak.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: She demanded to know what gave Debra Whitman the right to create that slanderous book about Spider-Man after Peter revealed his identity.

    Benjamin Urich 

    Edward "Ned" Leeds 

Edward "Ned" Leeds

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nedhob_8628.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #18 (November 1964)

Roderick Kingsley: Hello, do-gooders! And welcome to phase-three of the Kingsley Program, or as I like to call it, our "Ned Talks", an elite and underground series of lectures named after my good friend, Ned Leeds, the first successful person to ever take part in the Roderick Kingsley Program.

Ned Leeds was a Daily Bugle reporter whom Roderick Kingsley brainwashed into becoming the Hobgoblin until his eventual demise.


  • Adaptational Villainy: Appears in The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride, in which he's depicted as being pure evil as opposed to being brainwashed.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy/Frame-Up: When Spider-Man battles the Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley), Ned follows him to the villain's hideout. Hobgoblin captures and brainwashes him into becoming the third Hobgoblin, deciding it would be better to have a scapegoat in case he is unmasked. Ned's regular brainwashings by Kingsley cause his marriage and professional relationships to fall apart.
  • Crazy Jealous Guy: Was this for a while shortly after his and Betty's marriage to Peter, falsely believing Betty and Peter were having an affair behind his back, to the point that he began physically threatening Peter if he ever went near her. For extra points, Peter was actually starting to show interest in the Black Cat around that time.
  • Killed Off for Real: Ned and Peter Parker go on an assignment in Berlin and Leeds is murdered by the Foreigner at the request of Jason Macendale, who replaces him as the Hobgoblin. His death is finally undone near the end The Amazing Spider-Man (2018), where it's revealed that he had injested a bit of the Goblin Formula.
  • Legacy Character: Was believed to have been the original Hobgoblin for some time. Years later, Spider-Man and Betty subsequently provoking Hobgoblin into confessing his role in framing Ned and clear his name.
  • Retcon: For much of the 80's and 90's it was believed in-universe and out that Leeds was the original Hobgoblin. Then, after Ned's death, Mr. Kingsley was revealed to have been the original all along.
  • The Rival: He and Peter Parker compete for the affections of Betty Brant, but Parker drops out of the running when he realizes that Brant won't be able to accept his double identity as Spider-Man. Leeds and Brant are married shortly after.

    Gloria "Glory" Grant 

Gloria "Glory" Grant

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/glorygrant_347.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #140 (January 1975)

"Out-of-site! You're a photographer, and I'm a model. Fate has thrown us together, baby. My name's Gloria Grant. You can call me Glory."

Initially a neighbor of Peter Parker. Peter then helps her secure a position as J. Jonah Jameson's secretary at the Daily Bugle, replacing Betty Brant.


  • Alliterative Name: Gloria "Glory" Grant.
  • Demonic Possession: She was a victim of this, courtesy of Calypso, in her plan to revive her true body. Fortunately, after Calypso succeeded, she left Glory alone.
  • Horrible Judge of Character: Her former lover Carlos Lobos was both a mobster and a mutant werewolf, and even after she found about it, she could live with it; until he was killed in a mob war between his gang and The Kingpin's.
  • Offscreen Moment of Awesome: When Glory was looking for a job, Peter took her to apply for the job as Jameson's secretary. When they arrived, Jonah had just fired Betty's latest replacement, and was in an even worse mood than usual. He took Glory into his office to interview her in private...and she somehow not only managed to convince Jameson to hire her on the spot, but put him in a good mood.
  • Sexy Secretary: Took Betty Brant's place as the Bugle's secretary.
    • When Jameson becomes Mayor of Manhattan, Glory becomes one of his aides. However, she later quit his administration when she saw that Jameson would never end his personal vendetta against Spider-Man.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Finally does this to J. Jonah Jameson during the "Goblin Nation" arc of Superior Spider Man when Jameson prioritizes using the Spider-Slayers on Spidey over using them to get rid of the Goblins. She quits on the spot in protest.
    Glory: Jonah! Are you serious? The city's under attack. Peter could be dead... and all you care about is some old vendetta?!
    Jonah: Glory—
    Glory: No. Don't even. I'm done, Jonah. With this administration... and with you! Your wife's dying wish was for you to let go of your hate. If you won't do it for her... you never will.

    Nick Katzenberg 

Nick Katzenberg

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nicholas_katzenber5.png

First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man #50 (May 1989)

A sleazy tabloid paparazzi with no morals who specialized in making celebrities, including Spider-Man, look bad.


  • Fat Bastard: A fat and jerk photographer.
  • Formerly Fat: Justified, his cancer treatment caused him to lose a lot of weight.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: He was known for his immoral way of doing journalism and had various fights with people, inside and outside the Daily Bugle. Everybody hated him, except for Cynthia Bernhammer, Robbie's attorney, who had an affair with him (and even she wondered why she was with him at one point).
  • Immoral Journalist: Unlike Jameson, who still held some journalistic integrity even at his worst, Nick would stoop to any low to get paid, and enjoyed every second of it.
  • Jerkass: While not evil, Katzenberg was sleazy, immoral, and generally unpleasant.
  • Karmic Death: Due to his constant smoking, Nick was diagnosed with lung cancer, which would ultimately kill him.
  • Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Peter. His rivalry with Peter Parker was an excuse for him to discredit him in any way he could. This resulted in Nick attempting to blackmail Peter. He also frequently made harassing phone calls to Mary Jane.
  • Smoking Is Not Cool: He later eventually lost a battle to lung cancer, brought about by his many years of smoking. It was the sad, sorry, deteriorating state he was in during his final moments that helped convince Mary Jane to give up her smoking habit.

    Norah Winters 

Norah Winters

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2468019_norah.jpg

First Appearance: ''The Amazing Spider-Man" Vol 1 #575. (December 2008)

Norah Winters is a young reporter who just started out at the Daily Bugle. Her first assignment was with Peter Parker.


  • The Bus Came Back: After getting fired from the Bugle during the Superior Spiderman series, Nora suffered a long absence from Spidey's world, but eventually returned in The Amazing Spider-Man (2018).
  • Career Versus Man: When, during Spider-Island, Randy fought off the Hobgoblin (with the spider-powers he had acquired), Norah stayed on the sidelines to film the fight. Randy was angry that Norah put her career before their relationship and broke up with her.
  • Character Development: Once she fell she was not seen as a real reporter, but more as a pretty face, making her even more determined to become a really good journalist.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She seems to like sarcastic humor and Peter is usually the target of her jokes.
  • Genki Girl: She has a spontaneous and outgoing personality, often bringing a smile to the people she meets.
  • Intrepid Reporter: Norah's nosy and unusual personality sometimes gets her into trouble, but this is also what made her such a good reporter.
  • Romantic False Lead: To Peter Parker during the Brand New Day. She was often flirtatious with him while they worked together, but later began dating Randy Robertson, son of Robbie Robertson, editor of the Daily Bugle.
  • Transplant: She appeared in The Punisher run by Greg Rucka where, reporting on a crime scene, helped Frank when he was wounded after a fight.
  • Trauma Conga Line: In Superior Spiderman, Norah along with the rest of the Daily Bugle staff, learn from a television broadcast from Spider-Man (Otto Octavius) that her boyfriend Phil Urich is the new Hobgoblin. After Spider-Man goes to the Daily Bugle and forces him to expose himself to confirm this is true, Phil takes her hostage. Norah is able to break free, allowing Spider-Man to subdue him. However, as this incident had stained the Bugle's reputation (due to once again unknowingly hiring a criminal into their ranks), Robbie Robertson had no choice but to fire Norah from the Bugle's staff because of her affiliation with Phil.

NYPD

    George Stacy 

George Stacy

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #56 (October, 1967)

A former police captain and Gwen Stacy's father.


  • The Commissioner Gordon: Captain George Stacy was the first character who really played the role. He was friendly and tried to play down some of Peter's issues with authority. Then he died, and while on his deathbed he revealed he was Peter's Secret Secret-Keeper and approved of him, his death ended up making Spider-Man look bad within the police force and in the eyes of Gwen (who blamed him for her father's death).
  • Heroic Sacrifice: He dies saving a kid from being crushed by rubble.
  • Police Are Useless: Subverted, as Capt. George Stacy was even deliberately introduced as a more levelheaded foil to Jameson, willing to give Spidey the benefit of the doubt more often than not... so of course, he had to die to keep up that ol' Parker luck.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Although less famous than Gordon, there are a few cops that see past J. Jonah Jameson's rants and recognize Spidey for the hero he is, and give him whatever help they can. Notable examples include George Stacy, Jean DeWolff.
  • Secret Secret-Keeper: Captain George Stacy knew Spidey's secret as well. When he was mortally wounded during a fight between the web-slinger and Dr. Octopus, he revealed his knowledge of Peter's dual identity before he died in the hero's arms.

    Jean De Wolff 

Jean DeWolff

First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #48 (May, 1976)

A police detective.


  • The Commissioner Gordon: Captain Jean DeWolff was the other major character who tried to be this for Spider-Man. But then her death left another vacuum in his eyes.

    Carlie Cooper 

Carlie Cooper

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-Carlie_Spider-Man_564_022_5590.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #545 (January 2008)

Carlie Cooper is a forensic specialist who is a friend, since high school, of Lily Hollister. She is one of the first potential romantic interests for Parker after "One More Day" and eventually becomes his girlfriend for a time.


  • Alliterative Name: Both her first and last names start with C.
  • Alternate Self: An alternate version of Monster appears as one of Verna's Hounds in Spider-Verse.
  • Birds of a Feather: Attempted. Her interest in science was supposedly intended to make her seem like a natural fit for Peter.
  • Black Eyes of Evil: As Monster, her eyes are solid black.
  • Blood Knight: According to Ulrich, as Monster, she was a little too enthusiastic when it came to fighting.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Thanks the Goblin Formula as applied by the Green Goblin, she has become Monster, essentially a Distaff Counterpart to the Green Goblin himself. And... possibly subverted. She was spying on Osborn while still crazy, but she was cured to an extent in the second annual.
  • Character Shilling: A lot of her appearances consisted of everyone talking about how super awesome she was — even those who had never met her before. If this weren't bad enough, she appeared in an issue titled "The Many Loves Of Spider-Man" before they were even dating. When they finally got together, Peter declared it was "the rightest thing in the world" (despite the fact she was dressed up as his ex).
  • Composite Character: Probably not intentionally, but fans have noted a lot of her personality traits are from previous love interests (the science girl thing is Gwen, the daddy issues are MJ, the "regular girl" thing is Deb, her being a police contact is Jean Dewolff, her conflict of Peter vs. Spider-Man is Felicia etc.)
  • Contrasting Sequel Main Character: The first major love interest after Marvel's attempt to remove Mary Jane from that position, Carlie was designed to be the "Anti-MJ." Hollywood Homely to MJ's more glamourous Head-Turning Beauty, smart and brainy to compare to MJ's street smarts, and works as a forensic scientist as opposed to MJ's celebrity lifestyle. Unfortunately this worked against Carlie's favor, as while MJ is an attractive character and moderately famous in-universe, she is also a unique presence, whereas Carlie wasn't able to establish a character identity of her own.
  • Depending on the Artist: Due to how frequently she falls victim to this, fans still aren't sure how long or even what color her hair is supposed to be. They seemingly eventually settled on her hair being light brown and kept in a similar fashion to that seen in the picture here, but even then it wasn't 100% consistent.
  • Disappeared Dad: During the Mysterio arc of The Gauntlet, she finds out that her dad was a Dirty Cop who faked his own death.
  • Embarrassing Tattoo: Almost got one of the Green Goblin while drunk. The one she got of Spider-Man subverted this originally, only to play it straight when she found out Peter was Spider-Man and broke up with him.
  • Friend on the Force: She was this to Spider-Man.
  • Fighting from the Inside: As Monster, after the Green Goblin sprayed the Goblin Formula on her, what was left of Carlie inside her managed to spy on the Green Goblin and pass the information on to the good guys.
  • Hollywood Homely: Was meant to be more of a contrast for the glamorous Mary Jane Watson.
  • Important Haircut: When Carlie learns that her father was not the good cop he was made out to be, she has him arrested. She then cuts her hair and decides to be more assertive in her life.
  • In the Hood: During her first outing as Monster, she wore a hooded green cape that obscured her face.
  • Not Quite Back to Normal: Although mostly cured of the effects of the Goblin Serum, she still has scales around her eyes, which are still jet black.
  • Oblivious to Love: She was not aware that Officer Vin Gonzales, Peter's roommate, had a crush on her.
  • One-Winged Angel: Is transformed into "Monster" by the Goblin King. Also a Face–Monster Turn, or at least Brainwashed and Crazy. She is cured, at least temporarily, in Superior Spider-Man Annual #2.
  • Put on a Bus: At the end of the Superior Spider Man saga, she leaves New York to recover and resume her career away from Spidey.
  • Remember the New Guy?: A retcon story showed she was best friends with Gwen Stacy and her dad worked with Captain Stacy. This isn't exactly the most consistent either, as Carlie ends up referring to Gwen as "that poor girl" at one point in an impersonal almost unfamiliar way, not by name like you'd expect of a close friend. Then there's that whole "Goblin tattoo" business, which really would have been awkward and inappropriate considering it was both public knowledge that Norman was the Green Goblin and that he killed Gwen.
  • Satellite Love Interest: When first introduced. Later issues attempted to broaden her characterization (albeit a characterization that kind of made her a Composite Character of several former love interests). Averted now that she is A) no longer a love interest and B) the books are mostly focusing on her as a Friend on the Force.
  • Tuckerization: Named after Quesada's daughter.
  • Unintentionally Unsympathetic: During The Gauntlet, after dealing with the revelation that her father was still alive and a dirty cop, Carlie tells Peter that he couldn't possibly understand what she went through and that one has to go through a gauntlet to truly find out what they were made of. Carlie is saying this to a person who - in just his civilian identity - has lost both his parents, two surrogate father figures, and a girlfriend all before the age of 30. Which doesn't even get into the hardships Peter faced as Spider-Man. The fact that the story tries to paint Carlie as in the right was a point of no return for Carlie's character, with many fans writing her off after that point.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Breaks up with Peter when she realizes he is Spider-Man and assumes their whole relationship was a lie.

Horizon Labs

    Max Modell 

Max Modell

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3202812_max.jpg

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #648 (January, 2011)

A genius scientist and inventor, and one of Peter's childhood heroes, Max Modell was the head of the Horizon Labs up until it was taken over by Alchemax.


  • Alliterative Name: M's as it's typical for characters associated with Spider-Man.
  • Big Fun: He's overweight, but he's a friendly genius who wants to make the world a better place.
  • Honest Corporate Executive: He's the (former) CEO of Horizon Industries and a genuinely nice guy who just wants to make the world a better place through technology.
  • Straight Gay: He's openly gay, but doesn't display any stereotypical mannerisms.

    Uatu Jackson 

Uatu Jackson

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1530818_uatu_jackson.jpg

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #649 (January, 2011)

Co-worker of Peter Parker at Horizon Labs and also a child prodigy, he works at Lab 5. He would later assist Doctor Octopus in creating his city wide security system before the Spider-Island.


  • One-Steve Limit: His name is the same as Uatu the Watcher, because his parents are huge fans of the Fantastic Four, and he even has all the licensed comics of the team.

    Sajani Jaffrey 

Sajani Jaffrey

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2181371_sajani.jpg

First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man # 648 (January, 2011)

One of Peter's co-workers at Horizon Labs, Sajani Jaffrey was cold, pragmatic, and ambitious. Following Horizon being bought up by Alchemax, she was hired by Peter but repeatedly undermined his authority to work on her own unauthorized side-projects, and even outright betrayed him. She strongly dislikes Spider-Man, and is the one who forbids Peter from supplying Spider-Man with Parker Industries tech.


  • The Bus Came Back: In a sense; After being fired by Peter, she vanished for a while, but got a brief mention at the beginning of The Amazing Spider-Man (2018), with a reporter saying that she was claiming to be the real brains behind Parker Industries, and was planning to sue Peter alongside many others.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Sajani double-crosses and subverts Peter repeatedly, and while he still writes her pay checks. He even puts her in charge of her own facility in the rebooted universe, but when Zodiac starts trying to steal his company's tech he makes it doubly clear that he won't tolerate her betraying him again.
  • Frame-Up: Otto's mind (hidden in the Living Brain) frames her for him having the Parker Industries nanotech used on all the security cameras in London, resulting in Peter firing her for supposedly going behind his back again.
  • Multidisciplinary Scientist: She's an expert in xenotech, biology, and chemistry.
  • Never My Fault: After her attempt to strike a deal with the Ghost almost gets her killed, she decides it's all Peter's fault.
  • Not Me This Time: Well sorta. Doc Ock in the Living Brain ends up framing up her with the intent on getting fired and it works. Given everything she did to Peter in the past at him and while he's Spider-Man, it's unsurprising that he holds little trust in her.
  • Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: She tries to sell Peter out to the Ghost, and is almost killed. Fortunately, Spider-Man saves her.
  • The Starscream: She has a history of repeatedly going behind Peter's back and subverting his authority as CEO.

Parker Industries

    Anna Maria Marconi 

Anna Maria Marconi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marconi_4103.jpg

First Appearance: Superior Spider-Man #5 (May 2013)

A chemistry and physics tutor who offers her help to Otto Octavius/Peter Parker.


  • Animal Stereotypes: After Peter's and Cindy's intimacy gets on her nerves, she takes a squirt bottle to them and says that as long as they act like dogs in heat she'll treat them as such.
  • Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A variation. After finding out the truth about Otto stealing Peter's body, Anna blatantly tells him that she would never forgive him for deceiving her. Even so, she sticks with him to the very end while he makes his deal with Mephisto. She is even sobbing and grabbing his arm as she fears losing the good Otto that she has come to care for.
  • Brutal Honesty: A softer example, but she does often cut out lies Peter tells before they can spiral out of control from him trying to cover them up—though she'll leave out parts that need to be secret, like telling Aunt May they've broken up and remain Amicable Exes without mentioning the brain-swapping and admitting he has a secret entrance for Spider-Man and is still giving him tech to Sanjay, but not that he is him.
  • Damsel in Distress: During the "Goblin Nation" arc she is kidnapped as a deliberate call-back to Gwen Stacy.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: Annna started the Superior Spider-Man(2019) series calling out Otto for what he did to her, and was about to call down the authorities on him. As the series progresses, she begins to care for him, working alongside him as a partner and doing her best to turn him into a hero. By the end, she admits that he has turned into a true hero and cries when she realizes Mephisto would soon turn him back into a villain.
  • It's Not You, It's My Enemies: In an odd way - Peter tells Anna Maria of the truth between him and Doc Ock and what their relationship was. She actually takes it in stride and doesn't get cheesed off. At least, not at Peter.
  • Loving a Shadow: After learning the truth, she comes to realize she was in this situation with Otto. The man she loved wasn't really Otto Octavius, but Otto Octavius pretending to be Peter Parker. When prompted by the Living Brain (who, unbeknownst to her, had a copy of Otto's brain patterns within it), she states that she could never love the real Otto, as he was a criminal madman who threatened the entire world.
  • Morality Pet: For Otto. She even tags alongside him on purpose so she can steer him towards good.
  • Nice Gal: Towards Peter.
  • Plucky Girl: Part of what attracts Otto. The way she handles the truth shows a lot of signs of this as well.
  • Shipper on Deck: She tells a clueless Peter that Mockingbird (Bobbi Morse) is apparently interested in him. She wraps her arm around his to get Bobbi jealous.
  • Shorter Means Smarter: She has dwarfism, but still manages to attract Otto with her intelligence.
  • So Proud of You: She admits that while SpOck was more smooth and sexier than Peter was, the fact that he rescued Electro from Ock's workings and depowered him to save his life makes her so happy to be his friend.
  • Robot Me: Ock creates a holographic companion based off of her in Spider-Verse.
  • Villain Has a Point: She maintains that Otto's policy of leaving street-crime to the normal cops was more efficient than Peter's policy of trying to do everything himself.

    Lian Tang 

Lian Tang

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lian_tang_7.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol.4 #1 (December 2015)

Designer and Mechanic of the the Spider-Mobile and former girlfriend of Peter Parker.


  • Asian and Nerdy: Lian Tang is a Chinese designer at the Shanghai branch of Parker Industries. She co-designed a new Spider-Mobile with Peter Parker.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Despite dating Peter, she disappears after the "Zodiac" arc.
  • Easily Forgiven: She tries to kill Spider-Man using the Spider-Mobile, but is talked down and helps him save Shen Quinghao from Mister Negative. Afterwards, she expects to be unceremoniously fired, but Peter explains that if there's one thing he and Spider-Man understand it's that people will go to extreme lengths for family.
  • Loves My Alter Ego: Lian is strongly implied to be in an intimate relationship with Peter, but hates Spider-Man to the point where she offers to kill him for Scorpio.
  • The Mole: She is in league with Scorpio, leader of the Zodiac, providing him Parker Industries' security codes in exchange for medication for her mother, who was sick with cancer.

Superheroes and Vigilantes

    Alpha 

Alpha

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alphaspidey_4719.jpg

Alter Ego: Andrew Maguire

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #692 (October, 2012)

"Put the knife down and let the lady go. Sweet. I just said that thing super heroes say!"

An average fifteen-year-old given extraordinary abilities by an experiment gone wrong, leading him to become the sidekick to Spider-Man. After misusing his powers in a mission with the Avengers, he was depowered by the web-head. However, he has since been repowered by Doc Ock possessing Peter Parker's body.


  • Arch-Enemy: Has one named Zeta, who is a tumor-like beast. He's also the mugger that Alpha nearly killed. Alpha asked Spider-Man to help finish him, but some of Zeta's cancerous tissues escapes, meaning he will be back again.
  • The Atoner: In the Alpha: Big Time mini-series he really wants to make up for his mistakes. When he believed he killed a mugger by accident he was ready to get arrested and depowered again.
  • Anime Hair: Andy is a recent example, especially in his Alpha persona while using his powers.
  • Barrier Warrior: Can protect himself with forcefields.
  • Blackmail: He's currently being blackmailed by "Boss" Cohen, the crimelord of Pittsburgh over the incident above in The Atoner. And this was after Cohen attempted to kill his mother through a fire and then targeted his Love Interest.
  • Butt-Monkey: Without his powers (and the confidence boost that comes with them) he is pretty much this.
    • His life has been steadily getting worse as his parents have divorced (which perhaps his homelife may not been as good as first assumed) and he is currently being blackmailed by a crimelord while trying to be the protector of Pittsburgh.
  • Cannot Talk to Women: Before he got his powers.
  • Character Shilling: Assessed by Reed to potentially be the first Alpha-level threat, which puts him above the Hulk, Sentry and even the Phoenix in terms of power level.
    • Turns out this is because his "power source," Parker Particles, are tied to the expansion of the universe. It certainly explains why he can be a danger.
  • Create Your Own Villain: Zeta appears to be the result of his ill-controlled powers mutating someone into a tumor-like abomination. Said someone was the mugger.
  • De-power: Spider-Man eventually decided Alpha was too irresponsible for his power and used Terminus' lance to depower Alpha after too much collateral damage.
    • This was undone by the Superior Spider-Man (Doc Ock) who was gradually repowering Andrew during his weekly Horizon Labs test in the hopes of taking that power for himself.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: After his actions as Alpha, no one has a good image of him. The kids at his school think he is a freak and the adults think he is a doofy kid.
  • Instant Expert: During his first appearances it looked like this was the case since he was kicking ass even outshining Thor, but then you realize that all his first fights were against giant monsters and when the time came for him to stop a regular burglar, this trope is subverted.
    • He would get depowered as he was too reckless against Terminus and Peter decided it wasn't worth it.
  • Jumped at the Call: The day he got powers was his best day ever, although he jumped more because of the fame and noteworthiness rather than his desire to help.
    • But later in his mini, it was revealed that deep inside he just wants to be normal. Given how things are going worse for him, not hard to blame him.
  • Junior Counterpart: He is somewhat like Peter Parker back when he got his powers, but before losing Uncle Ben. He wanted to use his powers for fame and profit.
  • Kid Hero: He's still in high school.
  • Lame Comeback: After recovering his powers, he finds himself struggling with responses to other people.
  • Left Hanging: His mini introduced a number of plot threads that seem unlikely to be resolved as time goes by: a local crime boss is blackmailing him into ignoring his crimes, his love interest he finally began talking to is too scared to be around him because aforementioned boss threatened her, and his Mom who he revived from an attempted hit is now infected with his power, which has a cancerous mutating effect on everyone that isn't him.
  • Mistaken Identity: In his own series, the people he attempts to rescue frequently mistake him for one of the original New Warriors. Specifically the ones Marvel created to be "the next Spider-Man" such as Nova or Speedball.
  • Named After Somebody Famous: He must be related to Tobey Maguire although maybe his parents are more fans of Andrew Garfield.
  • Only Friend: Duncan Kilgore is his confidant and only non-superhuman friend.
  • Ordinary High-School Student: Like Peter Parker once was. Unlike Peter though, he was even more average, being a C- student and having little motivation.
  • The Scrappy: Both in-universe and in real life, to where it seems almost intentional. He was doomed to become this since the beginning (something his creator Dan Slott kinda expected it seems), first announced as Spider-Man's new sidekick to light the fire of the fandom (who despised the sole idea of Spidey joining the Avengers, let alone getting a sidekick), then wrote him as a complete Jerkass with no redeemable qualities and to top it all, making him a God-Mode Sue who is shown to be stronger than Thor in one fight. Even now when he's getting some better characterization in his mini, people still cry why did he get a mini instead of being thrown at "The Arena".
  • Secret Identity: He didn't have one at the beginning. After getting his powers back, he tries to have one but unfortunately for him, everybody recognizes him and not in a good way.
  • Shoo Out the New Guy: A perfect example (although he does come back later). He's even accused of being a "Poochie" (alternate name for this trope) in-universe.
  • Superpower Lottery: Let's see, flight, energy blasts, nigh-invulnerability, low-level telekinesis, matter manipulation and with enough power to put people in a severe coma at 10%. The only downside being that he can only use one ability at a time. All of this coming from a lab accident with "Parker Particles," described by Reed as a hyper-kinetic form of energy tied directly to the expansion of the universe, providing near-limitless power (and being Marvel's equivalent to dark energy.)
  • Super-Senses: Can see down to the molecular level and hear things happening all over the world.
  • Took a Level in Badass: A more subtle example, but after he got repowered, Andrew discovers that his senses have now been heighted to where he could see things at a molecular levels and hear things across the world.
  • Thousand-Yard Stare: Andy, immediately after Spider-Man de-powers him.

    The Avengers 

    Black Cat 

    Captain America 

Captain America

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_spectacular_spider_man_vol_2_15_textless.jpg

Alter Ego: Steven Grant Rogers

First Appearance: Captain America Comics #1 (March, 1941)

During World War II, Steve Rogers volunteered to receive the experimental Super-Soldier Serum. Enhanced to the pinnacle of human physical potential and armed with an unbreakable shield, he became Captain America. After a failed mission left him encased in ice for decades, he was found and revived by the Avengers, later joining their ranks and eventually becoming the team's leader. Spider-Man looks up to him as a role model, and when they are not teaming up, the veteran hero usually drops by to offer advice.

For more information on him, see his page.


    Captain John Jonah Jameson III 

Captain John Jonah Jameson III

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6668840_astro_spider.jpg
Click here to see Man-Wolf 

Notable Aliases: Captain Jupiter, Man-Wolf, Stargod

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March, 1963)

John Jameson is an astronaut, a test pilot and for his father J. Jonah Jameson the archetype of a true hero unlike these “masked clowns” like Spider-Man. John has also been transformed into a werewolf-like creature called the Man-Wolf after finding a powerful gemstone called the Godstone on the moon, and was once host to the Carnage Symbiote.


  • Ace Pilot: John is a skilled pilot and experienced astronaut.
  • Alliterative Name: John Jonah Jameson, much like his father and grandfather.
  • Animal Motifs: The wolf.
  • Anti-Villain: As Man-Wolf.
  • The Captain
  • Clarke's Third Law: The moonstone called the Godstone that turns him into Man-Wolf is not really magic, but it sure looks and acts like magic.
  • Clingy MacGuffin: The Godstone turning John into the Man-Wolf. In the story where he fought Carnage, it's stated that his body chemistry is permanently altered to recreate it whenever it's destroyed.
  • Containment Clothing: As Colonel Jupiter a combination of lack of control over his new strength and his body being under physical strain necessitated the creation of a suit to correct for both.
  • Discard and Draw: Had a single issue as Captain Jupiter before being depowered and, later on in an entirely unrelated story, became empowered as Stargod.
  • Heavyworlder: The theme behind his single issue stint as Colonel Jupiter. Spores from the eponymous planet made him grow larger, denser and strong to the point that attempting to stand up launched him through a brick wall. Notably his body didn't have the secondary effects to handle this change, and the strain put his body at risk until a special suit was devised to correct it.

    Cloak and Dagger 

    Daredevil 

As perhaps the two most prominent "street-level" superheroes in Marvel's New York City, Spider-Man and Daredevil have teamed up on numerous occasions and regard each other as good friends and peers.

    Deadpool 

    El Muerto 

Juan-Carlos Estrada Sánchez

First Appearance: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 (May, 2006)

A masked wrestler who uses a supernatural mask to gain super strength and due to failing to fight a supernatural luchador named El Dorado has to defeat and unmask a costumed hero to prevent the luchador from killing him. He contacted Jameson to arrange a fight with Spider-Man, but the two became allies and the hero helped El Muerto defeat his foe.


  • Legacy Character: The identity of El Muerto has been passed down from father to son for generations before Jaun-Carlos took on the role.
  • Refusal of the Call: He didn't want to become the new El Muerto and refused to fight El Dorado as part of the ritual for the mask. However this only resulted in El Dorado trying to kill him and his father sacrificing himself to save his son.
  • Super-Strength: The mask gives him enhanced strength.

    Fantastic Four 

One of Spider-Man's very first exploits was an attempt to join the Fantastic Four, and though that didn't work out, he has gotten to be on very good terms with the team over the years. In particular, he and the Human Torch have a long-standing Friendly Rivalry.

    Frog-Man 

Frog-Man

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1585299_lpf3.jpg

Alter Ego: Eugene Patilio

First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1 #121 (September, 1982)

Frog-Man is Eugene Patilio, the son of the former super-villain Leap-Frog, who hoped to do good and become a hero. He clumsily tried to battle crime to redeem his father's name. His only "power" is the ability to leap great distances with electrical coils in his boots.


  • The Dutiful Son: Son of the retired small-time villain Vincent Patilio, alias Leap-Frog. After learning how Vincent was haunted by his inept past as the Leap-Frog, Eugene decided to take up his father's mantle and try his hand at superheroics, in a bid to clean up their legacy. Even before this, much of Eugene's after-school time was taken up by his part-time job, to help support the struggling household.
  • The Fool: He has difficulty asserting any real control over his father's old suit, and tends to bounce around uncontrollably. Nonetheless, he still usually manages to succeed at taking down his targets through sheer blind luck.
  • Never Be a Hero: Defied. When Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, advised Eugene to give up after his first outing, Eugene rejected this notion, on the grounds that he was the one to have taken down Speed Demon, where Johnny and Spider-Man had failed. As Eugene walks away with his father, the two veteran heroes muse that, while they don't think Eugene's decision to be wise, they nevertheless admire him for putting his life on the line for his father.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: After Eugene's successful debut as a hero, Vincent amusedly wonders aloud what he's going to do with a son like Eugene. Eugene's response? To love him. The pair then cheerfully leave the scene together.

    Jackpot 

Jackpot I

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1069736_5_amazing_spider_man_presents__jackpot_02.jpg

Alter Ego: Sara Ehret

First Appearance: Spider-Man: Swing Shift (May, 2007)

Sara Ehret, a pregnant scientist at Phelcorp (a subsidiary of Oscorp) works on gene therapy to cure Parkinson's disease when she is accidentally exposed to "Lot 777". The virus rewrote the DNA in her cells leaving her in a coma for 4 months. Coming out of her coma Ehret went on to have her child Madeline with no complications, however when her family came under threat by falling debris she displayed superhuman strength to save them.

Jackpot went on to train and become a government sanctioned Initiative superhero for New York City. Though she served as a crimefighter for a while, Sara Ehret had no desire to remain one, preferring to her normal life and family. When another woman, Alana Jobson, recognized Sara and showed genuine enthusiasm at paying her for the use of Sara's Jackpot identity and license, Sara took the offer and gave up costumed crime fighting.


Jackpot II

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/535344_462125_secinvsm003_cov_super.jpg

Alter Ego: Alana Jobson

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #546 (January 2008)

Alana buys Sara's identity, and while the latter goes in hiding, the former starts using a cocktail of enhancement drugs, including Mutant Growth Hormone to grant herself the powers of super-strength, stamina, and invulnerability associated with the Jackpot identity. In denial of her own sexuality, Alana developed a crush on Spider-Man, whom she emulated. She later was revealed to be a lesbian. She had been attracted to Sara but never revealed this to her.


  • Drugs Are Bad: Took several drugs, including Mutant Growth Hormone, in order to simulate the powers of Sara, only to have an overdose when Spider-Man administrated her with the antidote of Blindside's poison.
  • Incompatible Orientation: She was attracted to Sara, who was straight, yet she never told her how she felt.
  • Killed Off for Real: Died from a drug overdose and has never returned.
  • Red Herring: She debuted during a time Mary Jane was missing from the comics, which led readers - and Peter - to think she was MJ (especially with the codename Jackpot, as in, "Face it, Tiger, you just hit the"). It was quickly explained not to be the case, though.
  • Redhead In Green: Wore a red wig and her costume was mostly green.
  • Statuesque Stunner: She was the same height as Sara Ehret and very pretty.

    Marrow 

    Ms. Marvel 

    Mockingbird 

    Morbius the Living Vampire 

    Nightwatch 

Nightwatch

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4398564_nighteater.jpg

Alter Ego: Dr. Kevin Barry Trench

Notable Aliases: Warbringer, Nighteater, Trench

First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man #97 (February, 1993) note ; Web of Spider-Man #99 (April, 1993) note ; She-Hulk #12 (February, 2015) note 

After finding a dark costume on the body of his older, slain self, the man known as Dr. Kevin Trench would eventually become the hero Nightwatch.


  • Captain Ersatz: His Nighteater costume looked very similar to Spawn.
  • Evil All Along: He was later revealed to have been a villain known as Nighteater, who cast a spell to rewrite everyone's so they would think he was always a hero.

    Prowler 

Prowler/Hornet III

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/prowlerspidey_4008.jpg

Alter Ego: Hobart "Hobie" Brown

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #78 (November, 1969)

"Anyway, the first time the Prowler struck, I was just a know-nuthin' kid—I was hardly wet behind the ears—which is why Spider-Man was able to beat me. But I learned a lot since then. I'm older, stronger, smarter. And what's more—I've got a real mission."

Hobie wanted to be noticed for his genius after feeling stuck as a window washer. He invented several gadgets to make the work easier, but his boss wouldn't listen to his ideas. Modifying the look, the outfit for cleaning windows eventually became a costume that Hobie dubbed the Prowler. While at first torn up about whether the Prowler would be a hero or villain, Hobie thought he'd compromise by having the Prowler steal, while Hobie Brown returned the goods later. However, when stopped by Spider-Man, Hobie realized that the life of a villain wasn't for him, and soon became the wall-crawler's steadfast ally. He is currently Parker Industries' chief-of-security, and masquerades as Spider-Man when Peter is out of town.


  • Affirmative-Action Legacy: During King In Black, Hobie became the newest user of the Hornet moniker, and his predecessors were white.
  • Ascended Fanboy: Hobe was once a lowly geek, but now works alongside Spider-Man and S.H.I.E.L.D.
  • Black and Nerdy: He uses his exceptional intellect to create gadgets capable of tangling with Spider-Man.
  • Badass Bookworm: He's a skilled engineer.
  • Badass Cape: It's a cape that doubles as a glider. Eat your heart out, Batman.
  • Cape Wings: He can use his cape to glide.
  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Hobie's a subversion in that he started out trying to use his inventions to earn money legitimately. He only turned to crime because his bigoted boss wouldn't give him a chance.
  • Expressive Mask: The shape of his eye lenses change depending on his facial expressions.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: He is naturally inventive, especially in the field of pneumatics.
  • Happily Married: With his once girlfriend Mindy McPherson, especially after they worked out their issues.
  • Improbable Weapon User: He defeated Spider-Man (temporarily) using gadgets he invented for window cleaning.
  • Killed Off for Real: Subverted. He seems to be killed by new Electro (Max Dillon's former girlfriend Francine Frye) during the The Clone Conspiracy and Jackal cloned him. In the last issue, the original Hobie Brown was eventually found fully recovered in one of the sub-basements of the Jackal's second headquarters following the deterioration of his clone.
  • Massive Numbered Siblings: He's the youngest of nine siblings.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: His brother Abraham Brown, better known as the Black Tiger, is a martial artist who uses an amulet to improve his skills, while Hobie uses gadgets and technology. Plus Hobie wears a mask while Abe has his face uncovered.
  • Weak, but Skilled: In his first appearance he was able to do rather well by catching Spider-Man off guard.

    The Punisher 

    Silver Sable 

    Slingers 

    Solo 

Solo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5318150_solo.jpg

Alter Ego: James Bourne

First Appearance: Web of Spider-Man #19 (October, 1986)

Terrorism's greatest enemy, Solo is an adept soldier with the ability to teleport himself certain distances. As long as he lives, terror dies.


  • Costume Copycat: Dressed as Bullseye in order to kill the real Bullseye (who was impersonating Hawkeye).
  • Redhead In Green: He's a redhead and his costume is military green.
  • Vigilante Execution: He is pretty much the same as the Punisher, except he specializes in terrorists.

    Toxin 
See Toxin

    Venom 
See Venom

    Wraith 

Wraith

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yuriko_watanabe_earth_616_from_superior_spider_man_vol_1_16_001.jpg

Alter Ego: Yuriko "Yuri" Watanabe

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #600 (July, 2009) note ; The Amazing Spider-Man #663 (June, 2011) note 

Yuri Watanabe is a NYPD Captain who rose through the ranks alongside Jean DeWolff, and is an ally of Spider-Man. She is also the current Wraith.


  • Affirmative-Action Legacy: She's Japanese-American while her predecessor (and Jean's brother), was a caucasian man.
  • Daddy's Girl: Not her father, but her grandfather, who inspired her to become a police officer.
  • Combat Tentacles: Her costume includes several ribbon-like tentacles.
  • Latex Perfection: Wore a life-like mask of Jean DeWolff to impersonate her.
  • Most Common Superpower: She's actually pretty busty, as her Wraith costume highlights.
  • One-Steve Limit: There have been other, unrelated Wraiths, like Hector Rendoza, John Wraith and Zak-Del.
  • Purple Is Powerful: Her costume is purple and she's a skilled police officer and vigilante.
  • Wall Crawling: She can do this thanks to the ribbon-like tentacles her costume has.

Others

    Cissy Ironwood 

Cissy Ironwood

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cissy_ironwood.jpg

First Appearance: Marvel Team-Up #80 (January, 1979)

A short-lived girlfriend of Peter Parker.


  • Bad Date: Her first date with Peter was interrupted by a Werewolf, later revealed to be a transformed Doctor Strange.

    Caryn Earle 

Caryn Earle

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/caryn.jpg

First Appearance: Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol 2 #30 (June 2001)

Caryn Earle was Peter Parker's neighbor while he lived in New Jersey. They became friendly and dated after Mary Jane Watson returned to Los Angeles. After Mary Jane returned to Peter's life, their friendship distanced.


  • Angry Guard Dog: Her dog doesn't like Peter.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Her regular outfit is a revealing top that and blue shorts.
  • Romantic False Lead: Caryn briefly dated Peter until MJ returned officially in his life. Afterwards, she disappears and is not mentioned again.
  • The Tease: She is extremely flirtatious.

    Sarah Stacy 

Sarah Stacy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sarah_stacy.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #509 (August 2004)

The alleged daughter of Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn. She and her twin brother Gabriel were raised by "Uncle Norm" to believe that Peter Parker was their father and had killed their mother as Spider-Man. Trained as assassins, Sarah and Gabriel attacked Peter and eventually learned the truth about their mother's death. While Gabriel became increasingly insane, Sarah was outraged and turned against her father, fell in love with Peter herself, and became an Interpol agent.


  • Action Girl: Sarah is a good pistol shot and has excellent strength and reflexes due to her Goblin genes.
  • The Bus Came Back: Returns late into Nick Spencer's Spider-Man run, revealing her to be the host body taken by Kindred.
  • Bus Crash: The Sarah that was present during Sins Past suffered Clone Degeneration and died. Another clone is used as Kindred's body.
  • Cain and Abel: When they learned the truth about her mother's death, Gabriel- having been driven insane by a second dose of the Goblin Formula- kept on blaming Peter and became a super villain. Sarah denounced Norman and (after a period of trying to shelter and help him) became an Interpol agent to bring her brother to justice.
  • Generation Xerox: She is physically identical to her mother, which gave Spidey a major shock when he unmasked her.
  • Half Identical Twin: She and her brother are mostly identical, except for their hair length and the fact that Gabe's a guy.
  • Heel–Face Turn: When she learned about the truth of her mother's death, she turned against Norman and her increasingly insane brother, and eventually became an Interpol agent.
  • I Hate You, Vampire Dad: She loathes her father for lying to and using her and her brother.
  • May–December Romance: She put the moves on Peter after he saved her life, made a little disturbing due to her looking identical to her mother, the extreme age difference between them, and that until recently, she'd believed him to be her father. Made even worse when Mary Jane walked in on Sarah kissing Peter.
  • Ms. Fanservice: As an attractive young lady, she's often been drawn in halter tops and other revealing clothing.
  • Obliviously Evil: She and Gabriel snuck out of the house Norman had them at and made friends with some local punks who got them to serve a couriers for packages. The twins saw it as a game before realizing that they were moving drugs.
  • Professional Killer: She and her brother were trained as assassins by Norman.
  • Rage Against the Reflection: She has some moments of this while wrestling over her painkiller addiction early on.
  • Rapid Aging: The Goblin Formula she inherited from her father caused her to grow from a baby to a young adult in a few years' time.
  • Reformed Criminal: While no longer evil, she was still wanted for criminal activities when Interpol recruited her to hunt down some drug dealers and her crazy brother.
  • Rescue Romance: She fell for Peter after he saved her life and helped her apprehend her brother.
  • Spotting the Thread: Despite being raised to see Peter as her villainous father all her life, she realises that this can't be true when he goes to the trouble of getting a DNA sample from Gwen's grave to compare it to their own and yet never ran his own. As Sarah explains to Gabriel, Peter would never have gone to that much trouble without testing his own samples as well unless he knew that she and Gabriel couldn't be his children.
  • Super Cop: She is a superpowered Interpol agent.
  • Superpowerful Genetics: The Goblin Formula in her father granted her superhuman abilities and aged her to adulthood in a few years time.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: She is more or less Gwen Stacy 2.0 with assassin training and superpowers.
  • True Blue Femininity: She has a certain innocence to her in some ways, such as coming to believe Peter sooner than her brother, and wears a blue T-shirt for most of Sins Remembered.
  • Vapor Wear: She's pretty evidently not wearing a bra under her shirts in most of her appearances (particularly the second half of Sins Remembered).
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: While Gabriel reappeared during Dark Reign, Sarah hasn't been seen since One More Day.
  • Younger Than They Look: She's only a few years old but looks like she's in her late teens or early twenties.

    Michele Gonzales 

Michele Gonzales

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/michele_gonzales_earth_616_3.jpg

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #3 (May 2009)

Michele Gonzales is the older sister of Vin Gonzales who went to represent her brother in court. Later, she becomes Peter Parker's roommate and a potential love interest. She is a criminal defense lawyer and is known for her volcanic temper.


  • Derailing Love Interests: She has been mutated into a total bitch and ended up technically raped by Chameleon, just so she could be removed from Peter's "girlfriend material" zone.
  • Hello, Attorney!: She is a criminal defense lawyer and is known for her volcanic temper.
  • Jerkass: Michele just really crossed the line at this, randomly destroying or selling Peter's stuff. Most people, having such a landlady, would seriously consider living under the bridge. Some would even choose it.
  • Kissing Under the Influence: In Amazing Spider-Man #601, she and Peter wake up in bed naked. They apparently had sex after Parker had one too many at his Aunt May's wedding. It's later explained that, as a gag, Michelle kept filling his glass with cider when Peter wasn't looking, so he thought it was wine.

    Ashley Kafka 

Ashley Kafka

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ashley_kafka_earth_616_from_amazing_spider_man_the_sins_of_norman_osborn_vol_1_1_001.jpg

First Appearance: The Spectacular Spider-Man #178 (July, 1991)

Ravencroft Sanitarium for the Criminally Insane psychiatrist. She has been the Doctor to Carnage, Shriek, Carrion, Vermin, Chameleon, Massacre and Venom to name a few.


    Master Matrix 

Master Matrix

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6923611_master_matrix.jpg

First Appearance: Spider-Man/Deadpool #31 (June, 2018)

The Master Matrix was an advanced Life-Model Decoy found in a Hydra weapons depot on an uncharted island.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Spider-Man and his future self are able to convince Master Matrix to abandon his plans of destruction, and he looks to present Spider-Man and Deadpool to help him decide what to do next.
  • Irony: He got along with Mary Jane Watson while both were working at Mysterio's movie, not knowing Mary Jane is the girlfriend of one of his "fathers".
  • Mysterious Past: Who originally built him is unknown. His blueprints were discovered on an old HYDRA base, blueprints HYDRA itself discovered some time before that.
  • Super Prototype: Master Matrix is one to the original S.H.I.E.L.D. LMD units, who were all reverse-engineered from him by Richard and Mary Parker.

    Joseph Hogan 

Joseph "Crusher" Hogan

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (August, 1962)

A professional wrestler in New York City. While by no means a villain, he was the first opponent Peter Parker faced immediately after gaining his spider-powers.


  • Dented Iron: While still a large and strong man, a career in professional wrestling left him with many of the health issues that came with the profession. After wrestling, he worked as a janitor in the same gym he formally trained at.
  • Exact Words: How Peter Parker won their first match. The prize of $100 (equivalent to over $800 in 2021 dollars) was to anyone who could stay in the ring with Crusher for three minutes. Normally, this would mean they could keep Hogan from pinning them or putting them in a submission hold, or put Crusher in the same position. Peter simply used his superior speed, strength, and agility to dodge Crusher's attacks for the duration of the match. The match ended when Peter easily picked up Hogan and carried him partway up a support pillar before gently setting him back down. Hogan quickly conceded.
  • Heel: His wrestling image, intended to get people to want to enter the ring and try to beat him. Outside the ring, he was actually pretty friendly and low-key.
  • Pet the Dog: At the gym, Crusher would tell the other gym members harmless stories about how he trained Spider-Man, helped him develop his costumes and web-shooters, and started him on his superhero career. These stories were generally not believed. A chance encounter with Spider-Man at the gym ended with the members telling Spider-Man all of Crusher's stories. Crusher was in the background and clearly ashamed that the truth was about to come out, but Spider-Man good-naturedly played along, shaking Crusher's hand and thanking him for all his help in front of everyone. The scene ended with Crusher in tears as the rest of the gym members shook his hand and apologized for doubting him.

Alternative Title(s): Prowler Marvel Comics, Spider Man Allies, Spider Man Schoolmates, Spider Man Family, Spider Man Clones, Spider Man Midtown High, Spider Man Empire State University, Spider Man Daily Bugle, Spider Man Neutral Characters, Spider Man Love Interests

Top