Characters / Spider-Man Trilogy: Green Goblin

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Dr. Norman Osborn / Green Goblin

"First, we attack his heart!"

^{Click here to see the Green Goblin}
"Can the Spider-Man come out to play?"

Played by: Willem Dafoe

Voiced by: Jesse Conde (Latin American Spanish dub), Salvador Vidal (European Spanish dub), Jorge Lucas (Brazilian Portuguese dub), Éric Herson-Macarel (European French dub), Guy Nadon (Canadian French dub)

Appearances: Spider-Man | Spider-Man 2^note hallucination | Spider-Man 3^note hallucination and flashbacks | Spider-Man: No Way Home

"You've spun your last web, Spider-Man. Had you not been so selfish, your little girlfriend's death would have been quick and painless, but now that you've really pissed me off, I'm gonna finish her nice and slow. MJ and I, we're gonna have a helluva time!"

The main antagonist of the first Spider-Man and the trilogy as a whole. Norman Osborn is the CEO of Oscorp and the father of Harry Osborn. After a Freak Lab Accident, Norman goes insane, becomes the Green Goblin, and attempts to make Spider-Man's life hell.

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A-F

• Above Good and Evil: Despite acknowledging himself as a Card-Carrying Villain, the Green Goblin's speech towards Spider-Man in an attempt to team-up does indicate that he doesn't care for the whole "hero vs villain" label and is more interested in just ruling over the regular people and terrorize them whenever he feels the need for as the "exceptional", which just so happens to land him in the villainous territory.
• Abusive Dad: Downplayed. While he does love Harry and tries to be a good father to him, his way of doing so involves being emotionally distant and even outright belittling Harry when he doesn't meet his expectations.
• Action Dad: Father of Harry and the Big Bad of the first film.
• Adaptation Distillation: Norman Osborn is largely based on how his comic book counterpart was portrayed during the Lee-Romita era (which reinterpreted him as a frustrated businessman and Workaholic, and a distant but still supportive father of Harry) alongside the idea of the Goblin as a separate personality (rather than Ditko's original interpretation for the character and Bendis' Ultimate version, who were both presented as being two-faced, scheming, and corrupt businessmen without anything good about them to start) being based on the version in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: His armor is typically green with purple accents, particularly the torso and hat. In this universe, the armor is completely green, though the light that reflects off of it tends to have a purple shine to it.
• Adaptational Badass: In the comics, he has low-grade superhuman strength that is consistently shown to be overall less physically powerful than Spider-Man's, but still enough to engage the web-head hand-to-hand. In the film, however, he is physically more powerful than Spider-Man, being able to casually Punch Catch him and send him flying a great distance with a single kick or punch, and can hold a fully loaded gondola without too much difficulty with only one hand.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In the comics, the first supervillain who Spider-Man encounters is the Chameleon (although he wasn't a true supervillain yet) while Green Goblin is the 8th. In the film, however, the Green Goblin is the first major supervillain and Big Bad.
• Adaptational Hairstyle Change: He has straight hair that's slicked back in this adaptation. In the comics, Norman has cornrows.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Norman Osborn is presented in this film series as a scientist first and a businessman second. Originally in the comics, it was the other way around (it was Dr. Mendel Stromm who actually did the groundwork and Osborn then screwed him over and used his inventions to make himself powerful). Of course, later stories have raised Osborn's scientific chops Depending on the Writer, but it's generally acknowledged that Osborn is more of a social and criminal genius than a scientific one.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: The Norman Osborn part of his personality in this film series is far more sympathetic than usual. In the comics, as Peter pointed out, he was "a bad man turned worse." This Norman is mostly a committed but put-upon scientist who struggles to balance the business side with his scientific acumen and is Surrounded by Idiots and saboteurs. He also tries to be a good father to Harry — even if he mostly fails at it — and is genuinely kind to Peter. While not a "good man", he can't really be called a "bad man" either.
• Adaptational Sympathy: His comics counterpart is hopping mad even when he's not in the Goblin outfit, as Dark Reign demonstrates perfectly, and most other Normans before or after this iteration are absolutely horrific fathers to Harry. Here, losing his company (though partially his own doing) is what drove him over the edge, he does care deeply for his son (even if it doesn't show that much), and his madness comes from the Goblin persona within controlling his actions.
• Adaptational Wimp: Unlike the comics where he manages to survive getting the blades of his own glider lodged in his chest through a Healing Factor, Norman dies from the impalement in the movie. Then again, he wasn't fully enhanced by the performance enhancer, according to the official novelization.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Norman's descent to madness and his demise can draw comparisons to that of the downfall of Macbeth. His final line before his death sums up his regret perfectly.
  Norman: Peter, don't tell Harry.
• Alliterative Name: Not his name, but his alias "Green Goblin".
• Alternate Self: Has one on Earth-120703. Also, his appearance on Earth-199999 eventually diverges into a separate variant as a result of that Earth's Spider-Man curing him. And another distinct version is set to appear in Spider-Man: Freshman Year.
• Ambiguous Situation: Whether or not his posthumous appearances are just Harry's alcohol-induced hallucinations of if he is in fact speaking from beyond the grave is debatable. The only other hint of characters talking to dead people is when Peter chats with Ben in the second film - which itself is seen more as an Imagine Spot than a literal communion with the afterlife - yet Harry hears the apparition of Norman say "attack his heart" in the same tone of voice as the Green Goblin, which he'd never heard when his father was alive.
• And Your Little Dog, Too!: When the Green Goblin has Spider-Man at his mercy, he gloats about how he's going to kill Mary Jane "nice and slow". This triggers Spidey's Heroic Second Wind.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • Of all the villains in the films, the Green Goblin is the most dangerous and murderous of Spider-Man's enemies, being the only one who is a match for him in terms of flexibility, strength, and agility, who independently deduces his Secret Identity, and who goes out of his way to terrorize his loved ones to hurt Peter and continues to have an impact even after his death.
  • As of his return in Spider-Man: No Way Home part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he also became one to the Tom Holland Spider-Man due to killing Aunt May.
• Awesome by Analysis: He is able to deduce Peter and Spidey are the same thanks to the same arm wound.
• Awful Wedded Life: Implied with his wife, as he claims she was a Gold Digger when telling Harry that Mary Jane is only dating him for his money. A Freeze-Frame Bonus on a newspaper states their marriage was turbulent and they divorced after 10 years, though the details are unclear^note At the time the film came out, Emily Osborn was a case of Death by Childbirth, but a much later comic revealed she faked her death to escape Norman.
• Ax-Crazy: The Goblin personality. He racks up a body count of at least 22 before his defeat. It makes him the deadliest of all on-screen Spider-Man villains, including the villains in the Andrew Garfield reboot and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home matches his scale but even then, none of his attacks had confirmed civilian casualties and all his attempts to kill people are foiled on-screen, making Dafoe's Norman still the reigning champion of the Spidey movie death toll.
• Badass Bookworm: A highly intelligent scientist who took out 4 cops and Spider-Man at the same time.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason why he's affectionate to Peter in their scenes. In their first interaction and meeting, Peter compliments him for his research paper, giving him validation and respect that he otherwise doesn't get from his son Harry (albeit for understandable reasons), his business partners, or the military. Norman appreciates it greatly, especially as he gets to know Peter better and learns that he did it out of sincerity rather than any ulterior motive.
• Berserk Button: Being denied or criticized by others is already a sore point for Norman, but hearing that he's "out" in any form of context is enough to drive him into a murderous rampage.
• Big Bad: He is the main antagonist of the first film and the Greater-Scope Villain of the series in terms of how Harry is driven to avenge his death.
• Big Entrance: The Goblin first shows up at a testing facility, where his signature laughter and a flash of green are shown right before the whole place is blown up. He gets another one at the Unity Festival, where Norman's board members recognize the Oscorp glider off in the distance right before they're treated to a similar fate.
• Broken Pedestal: Peter respected and admired Norman as a scientist, and is thoroughly shocked on learning Goblin's true identity, lamenting that Harry's father became a mass murderer who nearly killed the people he loved.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Norman's Goblin personality is a totally unrepentant supervillain who feels that super-people like him and Spidey have the right to do whatever they want. The Green Goblin takes the opportunity to imply to Aunt May that he is the "evil" referred to in the Lord's Prayer. Later, he refers to himself as "some lunatic" when offering Spidey his Sadistic Choice.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: When he told Spidey he planned to finish off MJ nice and slow, he most likely meant he was gonna subject her to this.
• Cold Ham: As Norman, he's incredibly restrained but his words have no less emphasis. Averted of course as Green Goblin, whose scenery-chewing performance would put Jim Carrey and Nicolas Cage to shame.
• Color Character: The Green Goblin.
• Combat Pragmatist: Befitting the nature of a goblin, he has no problem using his advanced weaponry or dirty tactics to weaken Spider-Man before engaging him in a physical fight.
• Commonality Connection: He bonds with Peter not only because of his intelligence, but also because like Norman he lost his parents at a young age and because he admires Peter's insistence on making his own way in life.
• Composite Character: This version of Norman Osborn has traits that are similar to multiple villains from the Spider-Man mythos and a few other characters outside of that:
  • In terms of his life positioning, he does resemble his comic book counterpart; being the founder and head of Oscorp, having a son with whom he has a strained if not quite as intense relationship, the use of the Goblin persona and gear, etc.
  • Being the first supervillain to fight against Spider-Man along with a penchant for collecting creepy masks brings mind to the Chameleon.
  • Of Doctor Abraham Erskine, since Norman is the creator of the film's equivalent of the Super Soldier Serum in the form of an unnamed military performance enhancer, intending to create Super Soldiers.
  • Being isolated and pushed around by others for having a unique trait, gaining powers derived from a military-grade serum, and having a mentor-student vibe with Peter Parker/Spider-Man channels a bit of Captain America/Steve Rogers into Norman.
  • His physical appearance is similar to his Ultimate universe counterpart, but his powers are more in line with his mainstream Marvel comic counterparts. And like his Ultimate Universe counterpart, he throws Mary Jane from the top of Queensboro bridge.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Norman's first crimes committed as the Goblin is in direct relation to the success of Oscorp and his position as company head. He attempts to better Oscorp's situation by literally eliminating their leading competitor, Quest Aerospace. After being voted out of the company, he murders the board, which seems to have led to his reinstatement as chairman, since Harry was able to inherit the company after his death.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Green Goblin's the first foe who posed an actual threat to Spider-Man with his own enhanced physical abilities, but his real strengths rely on his pragmatism, intellect, fear-inducing mind games, and advanced weaponry. Once he's fully deprived of that against an enraged Spider-Man, who's no longer pulling his punches, the tables are turned in their final fight.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Gives an infamously brutal one to Spidey in their final fight, and then becomes the receiving end after enraging the latter by gloating on how he'll have a "helluva a time" with Mary Jane.
• Cyborg: The Goblin glider has a cybernetic link to his brain to respond to his movements.
• Deal with the Devil: In spirit, the Green Goblin is a devilish figure that grants everything Norman ever wanted by murdering the competition and anyone that slights him. But to Norman's horror, the Goblin has his own set of desires revolving around Spider-Man and demands his alter-ego to comply with them, even if it involves destroying Peter Parker's life. His submission to the Goblin eventually gets him killed.
• Deathly Unmasking: During the finale battle, he removes his mask and reveals his true identity as Norman Osborn in an attempt to play on his opponent's sympathies. He's buying time for him to remotely direct his glider into position so it can run Spider-Man through as soon as his guard's down, but unfortunately for Osborn, Spidey is able to sense the attack coming and leaps out of the way, resulting in the Goblin getting impaled on his own glider. He dies unmasked a moment later.
• Death by Adaptation: While the Green Goblin dies initially in the comics in a similar manner as the first film, he still survives due to the regenerative healing factor from the serum that he took. In this iteration, Norman is permanently killed but still appears as a hallucination to Harry in the later films.
• Devious Daggers: In addition to his mad love of explosives, Green Goblin also utilized various blades in his arsenal, such as his glider, the Razor Bats, and his trident-like weapon. During the Thanksgiving segment, he unnerves Aunt May by sharpening the carving knife while giving The Unsmile, and gave an interesting "reaction" to the cut on Peter's left forearm while still holding the carving knife and deducing Spider-Man's true identity.
• Dirty Coward: Goblin tried to backstab Peter, but it appears he's back to Norman when he has an Oh, Crap! moment when he's about to be Hoist by His Own Petard, suggesting he'd force Norman back to normal rather than suffer through his death.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Anyone who angers, upsets, or irritates Norman will be brutally murdered by the Goblin. It can be genuine slights, like that of Quest Aerospace or the Oscorp CEO, or it can be something as minor as Aunt May tapping his hands at Thanksgiving for starting to eat before grace; it doesn't matter, the Goblin will come after you, either murder you brutally, or torture you into a panic attack. As for Spider-Man, his biggest crime was saying no to the Goblin after the latter was offering him the world.
• Dying as Yourself: Norman spends the film shifting between his normal persona and his Goblin persona, and in the finale, it becomes muddy as to who's who until the "Goblin" persona tries to fake the former to get an easy shot at Spider-Man with his glider. When the glider trick fails, Norman unambiguously reverts back to himself for his final words: "don't tell Harry."
• Enemy Within: The Green Goblin is the evil alternate persona separate from Norman. Made more explicit in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • Goblin sees Spider-Man's heroics as noble but foolish since everyone will turn against him. He was proven wrong when the New Yorkers start throwing stuff at him to distract him from Spider-Man so he can save MJ and the kids.
  • In the novelization, Goblin also believes Love Is a Weakness and only a means to gain power over others; he uses Norman's affection for Harry to manipulate him into turning on Peter, and later targets Spider-Man's loved ones to torture him, not anticipating that this would give Peter an even stronger motivation to take him down.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • More than other versions of the Goblin, Osborn here is a mirror of Peter. A driven scientist who is outwardly successful but so aloof that he messes up his personal relationships and is constantly surrounded by schemers at Oscorp who screw him over, a more grown-up take on "Puny Parker" being picked on at high school. Much like the Spider-Man outfit giving Peter an outlet to put on a more confident and theatrical personality, the Goblin personality magnifies Osborn into a Large Ham while the real Norman is more passive and meek, not unlike Peter and Spider-Man's Secret Identity. However, unlike Peter, he becomes an example of great power without responsibility, using his newfound strength and resources for selfishness instead of righteousness. Norman also tries to downplay his villainous acts by blaming them on the Goblin persona, while Peter owns his mistakes.
  • To Uncle Ben. Both characters are fathers/father figures who try to instill personal philosophies into their sons. However, Norman is emotionally distant and frequently belittles Harry. Uncle Ben is kind and tries to steer Peter in the right direction, although Peter doesn't take it to heart until after his death. Norman tries to be a father figure to Peter, and as such is also much warmer to Peter than his own son, showing more interest in Peter's aspirations and accomplishments than Harry's, but in contrast to Ben's approach of guidance from a distance in the face of adversity, Norman seems much more privy to simply pull strings or buying Peter or Harry an easier path. By the end of the film, Peter accepts Ben as his father over Norman.
• Evil Is Hammy: As the Goblin, Willem Dafoe keeps Chewing the Scenery as much as he can. What makes it effective is that it's a drastic contrast to how restrained and composed regular Norman usually is, and Dafoe really pulls off the double part of his character.
• Evil Is Petty: The reason he goes out of his way to torment Peter and his loved ones is that Peter rejected his "generous proposal". He later makes it clear he's going to kill Mary Jane after he kills Peter, with no reason given other than presumably to really stick it to Peter.
  Green Goblin: No one says no to me!
• Evil Laugh: One of the most famous in films. The Green Goblin's laugh sounds like it could stab you if it got close enough.
• Evil Redhead: Norman has auburn hair and is the Big Bad of the first film.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: Willem Dafoe's distinctive raspy voice becomes even darker and raspier as the Goblin, which makes him seem all the more threatening. It's also a subtle indicator in the climax who is in control: when Norman pleads with Peter, "don't let him take me again!", for a brief moment, it actually is Norman speaking, before the Goblin takes control mid-sentence. The "take me again" part of that sentence is spoken in the Goblin's raspier voice, followed by the Goblin pretending to be Norman as he maneuvers the glider into position.
• Face Death with Dignity: Simply asks Spidey to not tell his son about what happened to him before dying.
• Faux Affably Evil: The Green Goblin can present himself as friendly and cordial. But it doesn’t overshadow the fact that he tried to kill Peter, everyone he loves, and many others. Even in the final battle, he acts friendly to Peter while trying to brutally impale him with his glider. When Peter declares Uncle Ben to be his father, Goblin goes in for the kill.
• For the Evulz: Though he claims to be out for power, once his career as a villain is in full swing, all he aims to do is sadistically antagonize Spider-Man for wanting to do good.
• Freudian Excuse: The novelization implies Norman had a hard upbringing and not much of a childhood. He also struggled with losing both of his parents when he was young.

G-M

• Genius Bruiser: The Green Goblin possesses a genius-level intellect, along with a fighting prowess on par with that of Spider-Man.
• Goblin Face: The Goblin persona undoubtedly leans into this trope when he dramatically wrinkles up his face while being angry or laughing.
• A God Am I: The novelization explains that the Green Goblin's desire to wreak havoc stems from a twisted God complex. He believes his enhancements give him the power he deserves, and views mere “mortals” as sheep meant to be taken over by him. Goblin even quotes Jesus at the bridge in the climax: “Suffer the little children.”
• Gollum Made Me Do It: Norman uses this excuse in his final battle, though it appears that he actually is "Gollum" when saying this. Towards the end, the Goblin is in control. But in his dying moment, it was definitely Norman.
• Gone Horribly Right: Exposing himself to the performance enhancer was meant to prove that the experiment could work. And it did, with great consequences.
• Green and Mean: Hoffman suggests calling him "Green Meanie".
• Groin Attack: Fatally impaled by his glider through his lower abdomen, which also looks like it got him in his crotch.
• Hammerspace: The Green Goblin was able to hide a large electro-trident on his person in his final fight with Spider-Man.
• Healing Factor: He gains one thanks to the performance enhancer, but it's unable to save him from the injuries caused by his glider.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He is ultimately killed by his own glider.
• Hover Board: The goblin glider. A prototype was built for the military, but once the plug was pulled on Oscorp, the Green Goblin took it for himself.
• Hyde Plays Jekyll: This happens just before his death; he asks for mercy, protesting his innocence while putting his glider into position to impale Peter. Upon his death, he definitely reverted back to Jekyll.
• Hypocrite: The Green Goblin claims to Spider-Man that he's not looking forward to playing arch-enemy, noting that it will inevitably get a lot of innocent people killed for no reason (even if it's the Goblin who'll be doing the killings). However, he's a power-hungry sadistic lunatic who wants to cause chaos and destruction, destroy or take over New York, and tries to kill everyone Spider-Man loves. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, he kills MCU Aunt May simply to get MCU Spider-Man to kill him in anger.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: Averted. When Spider-Man overpowers him, he seemingly reverts back to his good side and begs for mercy. Since both he and Spider-Man know just how dangerous the Goblin can be, it's clearly telling that he's up to something.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gets impaled by his glider while attempting to use it against Spidey.
• Incompletely Trained: Incompletely Enhanced. According to the Official Novelization, Norman wasn't fully powered by the performance enhancer due to Dr. Stromm cutting the process off in fear of Norman undergoing what looked like a cardiac arrest. As the Green Goblin, however, his enhanced physical abilities are enough to completely No-Sell against Spider-Man's own Super-Strength through a Punch Catch and send him flying with a single kick.
• Incoming Ham: "BACK TO FORMULA?!" while performing a Neck Lift. And the Goblin always make sure to have a big entrance whenever he returns, with both the Evil Laugh and breaking or blowing something.
• Jekyll & Hyde: Norman — absent, neglectful father. Goblin — power-hungry, sadistic, and a complete lunatic. Before the "Goblin" takes him over completely, Norman might have been rough and far from a saint but his reaction to finding out he killed people was to be horrified. The way he's been treated seems rather unfair too (even if he brings it on himself at times): A military general switches their funding to a clearly inferior solution because he personally dislikes Norman and the board of directors fires him from the company he built to get more money. The Goblin insists that he's only doing what Norman secretly wants to do but lacks the nerve to actually follow through on.
• Jerkass Has a Point: When Norman takes off from Thanksgiving dinner, he tells Harry privately (though Peter, MJ, and May can hear him through the door) that MJ isn't with him because she's actually into him, practically calling her a Gold Digger. MJ is offended by this at the time, but ends up validating his words about her feelings for Harry by the end of the movie, albeit not for the reasons he thinks.
• Jerkass Realization: Norman seems to realize that he has never been a good father to Harry and apologizes to his son, giving the two a brief reconciliation before his death.
• Joker Immunity: If there's one villain of Spider-Man who will never truly go away, it's the Green Goblin. Even dying isn't enough to keep him from tormenting Spider-Man.
  • The Green Goblin first appears as the Big Bad of Spider-Man, in which he causes trouble for Spider-Man throughout the film until his death at the end.
  • Despite his death, he comes back at the end of Spider-Man 2 as a ghost/hallucination to persuade his son Harry him to follow in his footsteps and avenge his death by killing Spider-Man.
  • In Spider-Man 3, Harry becomes the new Goblin and serves as one of the Big Bads of the film, with the ghost/hallucination of his father continuing to appear to influence him and urge him to kill Spider-Man.
  • Almost two decades later, the Green Goblin returns in full force as the Big Bad of Spider-Man: No Way Home, this time spending most of the film bringing misery in the life of the MCU version of Spider-Man, and also making one final attempt to kill Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man at the end.
• Jump Scare: They seem to be everywhere with this guy. When the Goblin is first born, his eyes snap open with a Scare Chord. When Norman tries to remember how the experiment went, he's suddenly greeted by the sight of himself convulsing wildly. The Goblin startles May to the point where she's left a gibbering wreck and Peter has a nightmare of the Goblin suddenly rushing towards him. Even in death, the Goblin gets one in for old time's sake, when Harry finds a hidden room, he turns around and sees the Goblin mask staring straight at him.
• Karmic Death: Goblin's attempt to backstab Peter backfires because he didn't know about Peter's Spider-Sense and he winds up being stabbed in the gut by his glider instead.
• Kick the Dog: Traumatizing May just to put Peter on edge.
• Knockout Gas: At one point, the Green Goblin sprays soporific gas from his suit to put Spider-Man to sleep and capture him. It's implied he used it again when kidnapping Mary Jane.
• Large Ham: On a truly legendary level. Even when he's Norman Osborn and not the Goblin, Dafoe is giving every scene his all. He even carves a Thanksgiving turkey evilly!
  Norman Osborne: "YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I'VE SACRIFICED!?"
  Green Goblin: WE'LL MEET AGAIN, SPIDER-MAN!!!
• Lean and Mean: In contrast to Peter's Heroic Build as Spider-Man, Norman's thin physique still looks the same despite his increased muscular density, but is still quite dangerous as Green Goblin.
• Like a Son to Me: Goblin invokes this at the very end to Spider-Man, and Peter rebuffs this, though it's implied that Norman is sincere about some fatherly affection towards Peter and Spider-Man, just not very sane or healthy.
• Logical Weakness: Just because he's tough enough to withstand blunt trauma doesn't mean he's immune to being dazed, as seen after Spider-Man dropped a thick brick wall on him.
• Lonely at the Top: In Peter's eyes, Norman is the perfect picture of success. A brilliant scientist who is also a successful businessman and has a family, but this turns out to be his public face. In actual fact, Norman's company depends on government funding to make super soldiers so as to better support the biochemistry research that Norman really cares about (as per his line about "tapping the potential of human evolution" before he injects himself), he is personally quite lonely and aloof because Intelligence Equals Isolation and he feels constantly Surrounded by Idiots and disappointed by his own son Harry, he's not well-respected by his own company (since they keep going over his head, first Mendel Stromm saying "back to formula" to General Slocum and then his own board of directors acceding to a corporate merger without telling him). He apparently had a very bad marriage and in the way he projects Peter/Spider-Man as his real son, you can sense that he's really desperate for some connection, and represents a kind of cautionary tale for what Peter could become.
• Lookslike Orlok: The Goblin mask resembles a stylized take on the vampire from Nosferatu, with its hooked nose, pointed ears, sharp teeth, arched brows with bulging eyes, and narrow chin.
• Mad Bomber: He cackles wildly as he tosses his pumpkin bombs to endanger civilians.
• Malevolent Masked Men: The Goblin mask often acts as the physical manifestation of Norman's malicious side. When Norman first hears the Goblin speaking to him, his first instinct is to look to his collection of tribal masks as if expecting some supernatural element. He even talks to his Goblin mask despite knowing the Goblin's voice is in his own head.
• The Man in the Mirror Talks Back: The Green Goblin appears in the reflections of both Norman and Harry, encouraging them to kill Spider-Man.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: After Harry discovers Spider-Man's identity, he begins seeing his father encouraging him to give in to his hatred and avenge him. Unlike Norman, Harry hasn't taken the performance enhancer that turns him into the Goblin at the time, leaving the question as to whether the "Norman" he sees is his father's ghost or a sign of Harry's growing insanity.
• Mean Boss: In the Spider-Man novelization, it's shown that Norman doesn’t like or trust most of his employees or business associates and views them as security risks in Oscorp, likely stemming from his I Work Alone and Surrounded by Idiots attitude. This feeling is implied to be mutual, considering how the board of directors constantly go over his head. A Freeze-Frame Bonus even implies he's not above "sacrificing" those who are loyal to him in his path to success.
• Mood-Swinger: When Norman switches into Goblin mode in public, he gives off this vibe. Especially when he shouts in anger at the Oscorp board room meeting. Even more extreme is the dinner scene where he delights in mocking Aunt May's fixation on decorum for Thanksgiving and then suddenly storms off, but not before hurling misogynist insults towards Mary Jane.
• Moral Myopia: The Green Goblin wants his business partners and rivals dead and is willing to put his own son in harm's way to do so.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: While the performance enhancer increased his muscle strength and density, it doesn't make Norman look outwardly bulky compared to Peter's Heroic Build from the spider bite. It doesn't stop him from being Spider-Man's physical superior as the Green Goblin though.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: Despite dying, his actions heavily affect the trilogy. Peter makes a promise to him not to tell Harry he's the Green Goblin. This makes Harry think Spider-Man killed his father and becomes the second Green Goblin. And because no one was left to run his company but Harry, Harry has to fund Otto's experiment that turns Otto into Doc Ock to save the company.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Norman has this reaction when he meets Green Goblin and realized what he had done while under his control.
• Mythology Gag: He ends up dying the exact same way as his first death in the comics; trying to remotely control his glider to strike Spider-Man, only for Spider-Man to jump out of the way thanks to his Spider-sense, causing the glider to ram into and impale Norman instead.

N-Z

• Nested Mouths: In some shots, Norman's mouth can be seen through the goblin mask's open jaw, creating this effect.
• Never My Fault: In the novelization after he learns Peter's Secret Identity, Norman is horrified at the thought of favoring Spider-Man over his son, but is quickly convinced by Goblin that Peter deceived him into being like a father to the latter, which caused him to push Harry away. Norman refuses to acknowledge his faults as a parent or the fact that his and Harry's problems run way before Spider-Man entered the picture.
• Nightmare Face: Bizarrely, at times, Norman Osborn's regular face looks infinitely more evil and scary than his Goblin mask. The sudden switching between Norman looking scared and vulnerable and the Goblin looking ecstatic and conniving certainly add to his menace.
• Nightmare Fetishist: The Spider-Man novelization reveals Norman had an affinity for face masks, amassing an entire collection from his traveling which is seen in his mansion's den, giving it a creepy vibe.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The Green Goblin seems to have an entire philosophy built around this.
  Green Goblin: The one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually, they will hate you. Why bother?
  Green Goblin: This is why only fools are heroes, because you never know when some lunatic will come along with a sadistic choice!
  • The Goblin even seems to acknowledge that he's not immune to this.
    Green Goblin: I offered you friendship and you spat in my face.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: On both ends during the climax of the first film. He infamously does this to Spider-Man after the latter is badly injured from a pumpkin bomb detonating in his face. However, after he gloats about going to kill Mary Jane, Spider-Man immediately gains his strength back and weakens Goblin by crushing him with a brick wall before viciously beating the Green Goblin to a pulp.
• No-Sell: He Punch Catches Spider-Man effortlessly in their first encounter, and before that, was unfazed after falling from a couple of stories. Also, when Spider-Man shoots webs at him during the final fight, he effortlessly rips the webs out of his way. It's only till he enrages Spider-Man to the point where the latter stops pulling his punches is where he resorts to his I Surrender, Suckers tactic.
• "Not So Different" Remark: The Green Goblin gives one to Peter after capturing him, saying that they're the only two in New York with superpowers and should be treated as such, which is why he (Norman) offers to team up with him. Peter thinks otherwise, but this doesn't stop Norman from trying to convince him.
  • Given that Norman was pushed around, despised and distrusted by everyone he did business with (though this was partly his fault and mutual) and Spider-Man is on the receiving end of a smear campaign courtesy of the Daily Bugle, the Green Goblin must have felt some degree of kinship with the web-slinger, warning him that all of his efforts won't stop people from hating him for petty reasons.
• Oh, Crap!: His reaction when his glider is about to impale him.
  • Also a little brief one when Spider-Man begins to overpower him in the final confrontation and looks at him with pure rage.
• Parental Neglect: To his son. He seems to apologize for it at the end, but the Goblin has so morphed Norman's mind, it's hard to know if it's true.
• Parents as People: He does love Harry and wants to be a good father to him but the demands of his work, Harry's discomfort at his privileged upbringing, and Norman's distant personality make it difficult. And that's before Norman goes off the deep end.
• Pet the Dog: To Peter on his graduation where Norman sincerely gives condolence on Uncle Ben's shooting and offers emotional support. It's about the only time he's being genuinely nice in the entire movie.
• The Peter Principle: He's a better scientist, well relatively speaking, than a businessman, not really good at optics or reading the mood of his clients, completely blindsided by a corporate merger of his own company behind his back which also has his ouster, and too passive to allow a coworker like Mendel Stromm to speak freely before a client rather than present a common front. Ironically, Harry Osborn actually shows more aptitude for the business side of things at the start of Spider-Man 2 and if Norman had appreciated that, groomed him, and promoted him, he could have balanced that part of his life better.
• Powered Armor: As Green Goblin, he wears an armoured suit strong enough to withstand Spider-Man's punches.
• Practically Joker: Willem Dafoe is a regular fan-favorite to play a live-action Joker, so casting him as the Marvel equivalent makes sense. Especially with his psychotic laughter and Slasher Smile. He even attacks during a festival.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "Godspeed, Spider-Man." This is thankfully Averted when Spidey jumps out of the way of the glider, which then impales Norman.
• Present Absence: He influences the story long after his death, particularly his son's Story Arc.
• Professor Guinea Pig: He became the Green Goblin due to him personally testing a performance-enhancing drug which went horribly wrong.
• Psycho Serum: The performance enhancer gave him vastly enhanced physical abilities, but the test subjects all descended into murderous insanity, and Norman himself developed an extremely violent, cruel, vindictive, and megalomaniacal alter personality stemming from repressed mental illness and his own worst impulses.
• Punch Catch: When Spider-Man tries to punch him during their first fight, the Goblin effortlessly catches his fist before kicking him a few meters away, demonstrating how strong he is.
  Green Goblin: Impressive!
• Rage Helm: His goblin mask is fixed into a constant snarl.
• Rule of Three: He uses three types of pumpkin bombs throughout the first film. The first one is capable of causing explosions that could damage a large stone balcony, the second one exposes a dangerous form of radiation capable of vaporizing people in an instant, and the third one releases a couple of advanced flying shurikens.
• Sadistic Choice: Trope Namer. Presents one to Spider-Man in the climax: Save Mary Jane or a cable car full of children.
• Sanity Slippage: Norman starts losing it even without the Goblin's prodding.
• Satanic Archetype: His Goblin costume looks demonic in general. This is thoroughly emphasized when he attacks Aunt May during the middle of her prayer, burning background and all. Ironic considering Willem Dafoe once played Jesus. He's explicitly compared to a demon in the official novelization.
• Scary Teeth: Downplayed. When Norman Osborn is himself or when the Goblin is pretending to be him, Willem Dafoe is wearing fake "perfect" teeth. When the Goblin is in control, we are seeing Dafoe's natural teeth, including his gap, as a subtle indication in character shift.
• Secret Identity Apathy: The Green Goblin honestly doesn't care that much about Spidey's secret identity. At first, he just wants to work with him and doesn't even unmask Peter when he has him unconscious and gassed-out (which Comics!Goblin did the minute he had the chance). Upon finding out Peter's identity, however, he goes after and terrorizes his Aunt May so as to better hurt Peter's resolve by going after his heart, and then after learning from Harry that he cares for MJ, he goes after her instead.
• Sky Surfing: Courtesy of his Goblin Glider.
• Slasher Smile:
  • When Goblin smiles as Norman, run. The board meeting at Oscorp is a perfect example when one of the committee members says "You're out" and Norman replies "Am I?" with a really evil grin. Even more so is his smirk while sharpening a carving knife on Thanksgiving, which unnerves Aunt May. Incidentally, the Goblin Mask is frozen in a permanent full-toothed grin as well, which given that we don't see it associated in the early prototype demonstrations is something the Goblin really put work into emphasizing.
  • Some, including no less than "Weird Al" Yankovic, have even noted that Dafoe looks scary enough without the Goblin mask. Invoked in No Way Home, in which Norman destroys the Goblin mask in his first scene yet is no less scarier for it.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Whenever the Green Goblin isn't shouting, he manages to seem even scarier. His first meeting with Norman and his promise to torture Mary Jane to death are the two biggest examples.
• Split Personality: The effect of the Freak Lab Accident above. Also drifts into a variant of Split-Personality Takeover as Norman is shown to be very submissive to the Goblin's whims despite his reservations, hinting that the experiment may have divided his psyche into passive and aggressive rather than simply make up a new personality.
• Split-Personality Makeover: The difference between Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin is huge, but it's done entirely with facial expression, vocal mannerisms, and body language!
• Straw Misogynist: The few times Norman interacts or talks about women, he seems to give this vibe. He calls his wife, Harry's mother, a Gold Digger and sees Mary Jane as just the same, doesn't hide a pervy glance at her, and mocks and insults her and Aunt May in public. As the Goblin, Norman delights in tormenting Aunt May when he attacks her at home and dials up the creep factor to Peter when he says how "MJ and I... we're gonna have a helluvatime!" One shudders to imagine what that might have entailed.
• Suddenly Shouting: When the board of Oscorp tells Norman to resign, he does not take the news well.
  Norman: You can't do this to me! [laughs] I started this company! YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SACRIFICED!?
• Super-Senses: Thanks to the performance enhancer, Norman's five senses become superhumanly acute. His reflexes are capable of not only maneuvering his glider with ease but can react against Spider-Man's fast blows and counter them accordingly. He's also able to hear a single drop of blood splashing on the floor.
• Super-Intelligence: He's already an intelligent scientist, but the performance enhancer boosted his natural intelligence further. To the point where he's not only able to continue improving the performance enhancer, glider, and advanced weaponry independently, but also deduce Spider-Man's true identity after observing a cut on Peter's arm, which was the same one where Spider-Man's arm got cut in their fire-building brawl.
• Super-Strength: Given he was using a formula meant to create super-soldiers, it's not surprising.^note According to Dr. Stromm, the performance enhancer would increase the muscle strength over 800% from earlier testing As the Green Goblin, he's capable of sending Spidey flying two dozen feet across from him with a single punch/kick and could lift a Roosevelt Island tram cabin full of kids (take note: an empty cabin weighs at 22,125 lbs and could range up to 41,525 lbs full) with little effort.
• Super-Speed: He's quite agile thanks to the performance enhancer, where he not only can skillfully pilot the Goblin Glider despite having no prior experience, but is quite fast when engaging Spidey in hand-to-hand combat.
• Super Supremacist: He seems to fit this bill. "There are eight million people in this city. And those teeming masses exist for the sole purpose of lifting the few exceptional people onto their shoulders. You, me? We're exceptional." in No Way Home this gets upgraded up to A God Am I levels.
• Super-Toughness: Along with his super strength, the performance enhancer has also made Norman much more durable than a normal human. This durability also increases when becoming the Green Goblin as his costume gives him additional protection, best seen when he's dropped from a height of several stories and gets up unfazed. Furthermore, none of Spider-Man's attacks were able to bruise or keep him down for long until their final battle.
• Strong and Skilled: Downplayed as he's not as quick as Spider Man, but Green Goblin can counteract Spider Man's attacks with ease and generally keep up with the younger adversary, as well as kick and punch him across the room during their first two fights, and is skilled at using his agility and speed to perform impressive martial arts moves, taking from boxing, wrestling and karate in his final fight with Peter.
• Teen Genius: A Freeze-Frame Bonus in Spider-Man reveals he graduated from MIT at 18.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: The Green Goblin loves to throw his pumpkin bombs around, whether to create devastating explosions or to simply disintegrate certain individuals.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Norman wasn't exactly a saint but after taking the Goblin serum, he goes from mild-Jerkass to full-blown Jerkass and supervillain.
• Toxic Friend Influence: The Green Goblin acts quite chummy with Norman, though he will keep himself in the passenger seat at all times unless Norman's personality is needed.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: While his successors definitely pose a threat and get their share of scary moments, the Goblin has the biggest body count, commits a gruesome mass-murder completely on-screen with the vaporizing pumpkin bomb, beats Peter within an inch of his life, and even gets a few jump scares in throughout the movie, all in an otherwise fairly lighthearted and somewhat campy film. His disturbing intentions with Mary Jane also make him stand out from every other live-action Spider-Man rogue. Of course, he's still completely hammy and entertaining while this goes on.
• Villain Has a Point: He actually did make a good point about what would happen if Spider-Man died fighting him. After Jameson's editorial, Peter actually seems to agree (as Goblin's speech replays on a close-up of his face), but MJ then restores his faith:
  Green Goblin: I chose my path, you chose the way of the hero. And they found you amusing for a while, the people of this city. But the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually, they will hate you. Why bother?
  • While he may have been proven wrong in the first movie, Goblin's beliefs bore cruel fruit for Spider-Man's Earth-199999 counterpart in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
• Villainous Breakdown: He has a brief outburst at the Oscorp board members when they demand his resignation.
• Villainous Cheekbones: Both Norman and his Goblin mask sport these. In fact, Norman might even look scarier without the mask.
• Villainous Crush: Gives MJ a creepy Male Gaze when he first meets her, then later taunts Peter with an Implied Rape threat towards her ("MJ and I... we're gonna have a helluvatime!").
• Villainous Legacy: Even after death, the Goblin continues to appear in the form of Harry's hallucination to encourage him to take on his mantle and kill Spider-Man. In No Way Home he becomes this to himself due to his actions carried from the first movie and continued in the MCU.
• Villains Want Mercy: As mentioned in Dirty Coward, the Green Goblin starts begging Spider-Man to lay off once he realizes he's outmatched in a fistfight, using Norman's identity to keep Peter conflicted while he sets up his glider for a sneak attack.
• Villain Takes an Interest: The Goblin figures he'd rather have Spider-Man on his side than have to deal with him obstructing any future acts of terror.
• We Can Rule Together: He attempts this several times with Spider-Man during the movie.
• We Will Meet Again: Yells this after his first brawl with Spider-Man, when the latter scrambles his glider.
  Green Goblin: WE'LL MEET AGAIN, SPIDER-MAAAN!!!
• Why Are You Not My Son?: Norman and Goblin both seem to regard Peter and Spider-Man as their true son and heir. Norman genuinely admires and consistently praises Peter for his intelligence, hard work, difficult home situation, and the fact that he's independent enough to turn down a job offer at Oscorp. Of course, the Goblin turns even these good qualities to the extreme. Norman also appreciates the fact that Peter actually read one of his scientific papers, which Harry snarks about when he leaves. However, before his death, he tells Harry that he is aware he hasn't been the best father and apologizes, at this point having learned Peter was Spider-Man and possibly no longer seeing him as his son.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: The imperfect performance enhancer increased Norman's physical abilities but at the cost of giving him a sadistic and violent Split Personality.
• With Great Power Comes Great Perks: See Super Supremacist above.
• Worthy Opponent: The Spider-Man novelization shows he was this for J. Jonah Jameson, holding his own in their verbal sparring matches.
• Would Harm a Senior: He scares and traumatizes Aunt May as part of his plan to hurt Peter.
• Would Hit a Girl: He has no problem terrorizing Aunt May to hurt Peter and later uses Mary Jane as a hostage as part of the Sadistic Choice he gives Peter in the final fight.
• Would Hurt a Child:
  • Sets an entire apartment complex on fire, which nearly kills a baby.
  • Drops a cable car full of school kids off the Queensboro Bridge.
• Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: His costume has demonic golden yellow lenses, that alongside the demented teeth base, make him look like an evil demon, which is emphasized in the scene where he terrorizes Aunt May, who mentions his eyes while in hospital.

Variants

No Way Home's Norman Osborn

See his page

Your Friendly Neighborhood Norman Osborn

Norman Osborn

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Affiliation(s): Oscorp

Appearances: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

A Variant of Norman Osborn who recruits Peter Parker prior to the events of Civil War instead of Tony Stark.

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• Adapted Out: Inverted in comparison to the main MCU continuity as that instead established that Oscorp and by extension Norman apparently doesn't exist while the Green Goblin seen there was from another universe. Your Friendly Neighborhood however takes place in a universe where Norman and presumably Oscorp coexist with the rest of the MCU.
• Ambiguously Brown: He has a darker skin tone than his Raimi counterpart.
• Truer to the Text: He has his signature cornrows and resembles his comic book counterpart more than his Raimi counterpart.

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"Peter... don't tell Harry."