Hobgoblin (comics)
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The Hobgoblin is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in the Marvel Comics universe as an enemy of Spider-Man who uses a variant of the persona of the Green Goblin. Although there have technically been five characters to take up the Hobgoblin guise in the mainstream Marvel Universe, only three of them did so without being manipulated into the role.
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[edit] Roderick Kingsley
The original Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley, was an enemy of Spider-Man and for a large portion of his criminal career, he initially had no superhuman powers, though he did acquire them later. Of all of Spider-Man's enemies who tried to adopt Norman Osborn's legacy, only Kingsley came close to being as threatening and dangerous as the original Green Goblin. He wore a variant of the Green Goblin's costume distinguished by a hood, cape and a different color scheme.
[edit] Character biography
Roderick Kingsley started out as a fashion designer and millionaire, who had criminal underworld connections and had come about his wealth through unethical business practices and corporate raiding. Coincidentally, he was also the employer of Mary Jane Watson for a time. As a means of avoiding the drill of day-to-day appearances, he had his timid identical twin brother Daniel pose as him to run his corporation day-by-day. Daniel would become just as terrified of Roderick's alter ego as anybody else. An associate of his, George Hill, discovered the secret lair of Norman Osborn. Although the hoodlum had no idea what he had found, he reported his discovery to Kingsley in hopes of earning a reward. Kingsley killed Hill to make sure that no one else got wind of the discovery.
Upon examining the lair and gleaning the secrets within it, Kingsley decided to adopt the legacy of the Green Goblin almost in its entirety. Using the Green Goblin's equipment, Kingsley adopted the identity of the Hobgoblin (which should not be confused with the second Green Goblin who was Harry Osborn). His activities included using some of Norman Osborn's files on prominent figures to blackmail them, and attempting to buy Osborn's old corporation and merge it with his own. These schemes inevitably brought him into conflict with Spider-Man. Kingsley perceived Spider-Man as a nuisance and sought to eliminate him almost as an afterthought, rather than a principal goal. Kingsley also found among Norman's notes incomplete remnants of the strength enhancing potion of Norman Osborn. He became obsessed with finding the complete formula or perfecting the incomplete notes. In his various criminal activities Kingsley repeatedly lost to the web-slinger, as he lacked the raw physical power of Spider-Man.
Persistent and extremely intelligent, Kingsley eventually recovered the strength-enhancing potion he sought. Being well aware that the formula had driven Osborn insane, Kingsley was not about to try it until he had tested it on someone else. He tricked a small-time hood in his employ, Lefty Donovan, into administering the formula and then used mind control to force Donovan to fight Spider-Man in the Hobgoblin costume. From a distance, Kingsley carefully monitored Donovan's vital signs and behavior. When Spider-Man overwhelmed and unmasked Donovan, and his brainwashing begin to fail, Kingsley acted quickly to protect his identity by programming Donovan's glider to crash, instantly killing him. Though Donovan's tenure as a Hobgoblin was brief, he is considered the second Hobgoblin. Judging that the experiment was a success, Kingsley then immersed himself in his completed derivative of the Goblin formula and gained slightly greater strength than even the original Green Goblin had.
Now that he had become a physical match for Spider-Man, the Hobgoblin became more ambitious in his villainy. Despite his increased abilities, he was still narrowly defeated by Spider-Man. Worse still, he seemed to have attracted the attention of powerful criminal interests who perceived him as a threat, among these the infamous Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime. After a bitter encounter with Spider-Man, Kingsley discovered he had been followed by Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds, who had discovered his lair. Kingsley carefully brainwashed Ned Leeds with hypnosis and hallucinogenics into becoming the third Hobgoblin, who acted in concert with Kingsley. Though Leeds lacked superhuman strength, he was effective in his role due to his investigative skills (in fact, he was more effective than the Hobgoblin IV after he had acquired superhuman abilities). Kingsley also discovered that Leeds had been working with the Kingpin's son, Richard Fisk, on a plan to bring down the Kingpin and his empire. Richard Fisk had now adopted the identity of the Rose and posed as a crimelord. Kingsley used Leeds to handle some of the negotiations, fooling many into believing that Leeds was the Hobgoblin. He hoped to use the Kingpin's downfall as an opportunity to advance his own interests.
However, as time progressed, the Rose and Hobgoblin's plan got out of hand. Kingsley wanted to escape from his identity, looked for a way out, and decided to target Flash Thompson, a vocal advocate of Spider-Man who had insulted the Hobgoblin on national television, incurring Kingsley's wrath. Kingsley attempted to frame Thompson as the Hobgoblin, so that his criminal enemies might target him instead. The plan was foiled through intervention of Jason Philip Macendale Jr., who subsequently broke Thompson out of jail, thinking he was doing the Hobgoblin a favor. Jason Philip Macendale Jr. was a mercenary who had been trained by the CIA and various para-military organizations, and was known in his costumed identity as Jack O'Lantern. When Macendale discovered that Thompson was not the Hobgoblin, Kingsley grew furious, as he had planned to operate "under the radar" while Thompson was in custody; this began a long-running feud between Kingsley and Macendale. Thompson was ultimately exonerated and released.
When the Kingpin temporarily abdicated his role at the head of organized crime on the eastern seaboard, the resulting gang war tore New York City apart. During the conflict the Hobgoblin and the Rose had a falling out, with the latter ordering the former's assassination as he had become too dangerous. The Hobgoblin sold the Rose's identity to the Kingpin in exchange for information that would aid Leeds in a story, thus reinforcing the illusion of the latter's identity. Also, during the conflict the Hobgoblin fiercely defeated Jack O'Lantern, causing the latter to seek another way to destroy his enemy.
Macendale paid the supervillain known as the Foreigner to take Leeds out. On an overseas assignment with Peter Parker, Leeds was murdered in his hotel room. As Spider-Man, Peter was later told by the Kingpin that Leeds had been the Hobgoblin and shown a series of photos of the assassination. Although known in parts of the underworld, this information did not become public until many years later when Macendale revealed it at the end of his trial. For many years Leeds was considered to be the original Hobgoblin. Kingsley's plan had worked: his enemies thought they had killed the Hobgoblin and now he could take his ill-gotten gains and retire to Belize. This paved the way for Macendale to take up the role, an unforeseen development that would eventually force Kingsley out of retirement to protect his secret identity (Macendale had enough information to possibly lead the authorities to discover the true identity of the Hobgoblin).
After a retirement of several years, Kingsley returned to New York. He killed Macendale in his jail cell, declaring that he alone deserved the mantle of the Hobgoblin. However, this act was probably more motivated to protect his own identity. Had he then dropped the identity again, it is likely he never would have been caught. But being the Hobgoblin again proved to be too intoxicating. Kingsley kidnapped Betty Brant and set a trap for Spider-Man. In the final fracas, Daniel Kingsley was captured and the Hobgoblin was unmasked, clearing Ned Leeds' name. Roderick Kingsley was taken to prison.
Not long after his arrest, Kingsley took up the mantle of the Hobgoblin once more. Furious at the now returned Norman Osborn's denial of being the Green Goblin, Kingsley decided to spread rumours that there existed a secret journal of Osborn's that proved beyond a doubt that he was the Green Goblin (although this was a ruse: Kingsley himself had destroyed all of the journals years before). He offered to barter for his freedom with this information with the District Attorney, guessing that Norman Osborn would try to get to him first. As he anticipated, Osborn, deciding to make a deal with Kingsley, broke him out of prison. Kingsley was then confronted by both Osborn and the mysterious fifth Green Goblin. Osborn provided Kingsley with new Hobgoblin equipment, and both Goblins swooped in to collect Daniel Kingsley, now in protective custody, who, Roderick claimed, knew the location of the final journal. Spider-Man tried to defend Daniel, but was drugged, and both men were taken back to Norman Osborn.
It was then that Osborn revealed the truth. He explained that he knew that Kingsley was lying about the journal and that he had completely bought Kingsley's company out from underneath him. Furious, Kingsley attacked, and a titanic battle between the two followed, Osborn as the Green Goblin, and Kingsley as the Hobgoblin. The building began to burn down as a result, and Spider-Man was barely able to safely escape with Daniel Kingsley. All three of the villains managed to escape as well; neither Goblin having managed to overcome or destroy the other. In the end of the ordeal Osborn appeared to have gotten the best of Kingsley with his corporate takeover. Yet, Kingsley still had several million dollars hidden away in foreign bank accounts, and quietly moved to a small island in the Caribbean to enjoy his retirement. Although he did wonder to himself, while sipping a martini, whether someday the Hobgoblin would return...
The Kingsley Hobgoblin may return soon. Peter David had wanted to use this character for a recent Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man storyline, but was prevented by the editors. He instead used the Hobgoblin 2211 character that he had created previously (see below). This restriction on the use of Kingsley might indicate that Marvel has other plans for him.
In the limited series Secret War, a character in a new variation of the costume appeared, identified as the Hobgoblin, but it appears to be someone new to the Goblinhood.
[edit] Powers and abilities
In the beginning of his career Kingsley had no superhuman abilities, but possessed a keen analytical intellect with enough knowledge of chemistry and biology to understand the notes of Norman Osborn regarding the Green Goblin Formula and other inventions to the extent that Kingsley was eventually able to complete Norman's work and even improved many of Osborn's various inventions. He also had expertise in areas outside of the original Green Goblin's knowledge. Kingsley was a master of hypnosis and drug induced mind control. Kingsley was highly skilled in the management of both criminal organizations and legally run professional businesses. He was also a talented fashion designer.
Due to the green chemical that he bathed in, Kingsley possesses superhuman strength similar to that of Spider-Man. His reflexes, speed, and stamina are also enhanced to superhuman levels, as well as his intelligence, but at an extraordinary level. He was actually physically stronger than the original Green Goblin in the beginning, because of longer exposure to the formula. The derivative of the Green Goblin formula Kingsley used did not apparently drive him as insane as the original formula did to Norman Osborn, thanks to some certain modifications, though both Kingsley and his brother did at times worry that he had indeed developed insanity.
He is armed with a variety of bizarre incendiary devices and uses a Goblin Glider as a personal transport. It can reach high velocities and is extremely maneuverable.
[edit] Jason Macendale
- See also: Jack O'Lantern I
The next Hobgoblin, Jason Macendale, was an enemy of Spider-Man formerly known as Jack'O'Lantern. Originally, he had no superhuman powers, then later gained them at the cost of his sanity, lost them, and then gained different superhuman powers only to be assassinated in prison by Roderick Kingsley.
Macendale was obsessed with finding the secret formula of super human strength of the original Green Goblin. However, he did not have the scientific expertise of the Green Goblin or the original Hobgoblin to recreate or complete the formula, whilst his attempts to steal it from Harry Osborn failed as the latter did not have it at the time. After Osborn had donned the identity of the Green Goblin and beaten Macendale in a fight, the latter sought alternative means to gain similar abilities. During a demonic incursion on New York City, Macendale foolishly offered to sell his soul to N'astirh in exchange for the power of a demon. N'astirh refused the offer, considering Macendale's wretched soul to be worthless to him. However, in return for amusing the demon's twisted sense of humor, N'astirh fused a demon to Macendale anyway, just for making him laugh.
Macendale went insane as a result of this transformation, and became convinced that he was appointed by God to kill sinners. It was in this state that the Hobgoblin joined the temporarily reassembled Sinister Six. However, the two identities of Macendale and the demon fought fiercely over control of the body. Shortly thereafter, the demonic presence physically separated itself from Macendale and continued its purge of the city, calling itself the Demogoblin. The Demogoblin also wanted to destroy Macendale, and Spider-Man found himself in the middle of the two clashing Goblins. In a final battle in a cathedral, the Demogoblin was destroyed when it moved to protect a child, which it deemed an innocent, and was crushed by a falling pillar.
Powerless once more, Macendale obtained the strength formula of Kraven the Hunter. Subsequently, he had himself outfitted with cybernetic implants, but he still was unable to best Spider-Man and was incarcerated. While in prison he was murdered by the original Hobgoblin. The character appeared in Secret War storyline as a prisoner of S.H.I.E.L.D., but this was part of a flash back sequence to provide history for the story. It was later stated explicitly that the character had indeed been killed by the original Hobgoblin.
[edit] IV's Powers and abilities
Hobgoblin IV originally possessed no superhuman powers, but used similar paraphernalia to the first. After his attempts to force Harry to give him the Goblin formula, (which Harry didn't have) he made a deal with a demon during Inferno that turned him into a demon with super strength, speed, and agility, as well as hellfire powers. However, the human and demon later split into two beings, resulting in the loss of those powers for Macendale. Later he managed to acquire the performance enhancing formula of Kraven the Hunter instead, which enhanced his athletic abilities and senses, but the serum may have soon worn off like it did with Kraven. Kraven himself, an olympic level athlete, was only about half as strong as Spider-Man when using the formula so it is unlikely that Macendale was any stronger. Macendale later had his body augmented cybernetically.
Macendale did have superior military training in hand-to-hand combat, espionage, and knowledge of conventional weaponry than any other individual to bear the goblin mantle. He used conventional military weapons more often than his predecessor. He was able to make improvements to the maneuverability to the goblin glider. Macendale had masters degrees in both mechanical engineering and physics.
[edit] Hobgoblin V
The fifth Hobgoblin was introduced in the series Secret War. Very little is known about him, including his true identity. He was sent, along with Lady Octopus, to attack Captain America in his civilian identity by the terrorist-elements wound into the events of the Secret War. Chatter from the Goblin indicated he'd been in contact with other members of Spider-Man's rogue's gallery, who'd warned him about Spidey's constant and inane joking.
This Hobgolin is jailed along with the various defeated villains after the conclusion of the "War".
[edit] Behind the scenes controversy
The Hobgoblin was created by writer Roger Stern when he was writing the Amazing Spider-Man in the early 1980s. Like other writers Stern found himself under pressure to have Spider-Man fight the Green Goblin again but did not wish to bring Norman Osborn or Bart Hamilton back from the dead, have Harry Osborn become the Green Goblin again or create yet another Green Goblin. Instead he decided to create a new character as heir to the Goblin's legacy and developed the Hobgoblin.
A key part of the character's appeal was that his identity was not initially revealed, generating one of the longest running mysteries in the Spider-Man comics. However Stern left the series after Amazing Spider-Man #252 and subsequent writers struggled with the question of the identity. Interviews and articles written by various writers, most notably Tom DeFalco and Peter David, artist Ron Frenz and editor James Owsley (now known as Christopher Priest) are all somewhat at odds with one another over many details about the course of events and what was agreed. However all sources agree that DeFalco, who had taken over the writing chores on the title, was due to bring the storyline to a revelation when he suddenly departed the title. Owsley then wrote the one-shot Spider-Man vs Wolverine in which Leeds was killed off (though the actual death was not shown), fully intending that Leeds was not the Hobgoblin. Shortly afterwards Peter David (at the time the regular writer on Spectacular Spider-Man) was commissioned to write Amazing Spider-Man #289, a double sized issue in which the Hobgoblin's identity would be revealed. After examining the recent issues David came to the conclusion that the only person who fit the clues was Ned Leeds, and so wrote the unusual revelation issue in which a dead man was revealed as the villain. With Spider-Man's then-archenemy now dead, a new Hobgoblin was created from the storyline of Macendale's hatred of the Hobgoblin.
The revelations proved controversial and many fans felt that the Macendale Hobgoblin was subsequently treated poorly, often coming across as one of the weaker Spider-Man villains. Roger Stern pitched the idea for a Spider-Man story in which it would be revealed that Leeds had not been the Hobgoblin after all and the real identity would be revealed. Working on the basis that Leeds' death was implausible given the Hobgoblin's strength, the limited series Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives was commissioned in which Kingsley was revealed as the original Hobgoblin, ending the mystery after over thirteen years.
[edit] Ultimate Hobgoblin
[edit] Hobgoblin 2211
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Hobgoblin 2211 first appeared in Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man. She was created by Peter David. While her costume sported the green-and-purple color scheme of the twentieth-century Green Goblin, she boasted that she was the Hobgoblin of the year 2211. Her identity was not revealed to readers (or to the visiting Spider-Men of previous eras) at the time, but her later reappearance in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Also written by David) revealed her true identity and origin.
Hobgoblin 2211 is the daughter of Spider-Man 2211 named Robin Bourne. Nicknamed "Hobby" and "Hob" as a child, her father always seemed to put his superhero career before raising his own daughter. She wanted to save the universes from 'intersecting'; that is, having other parallel universes merge with the existing one, causing it to override.
She was later arrested by her father for something that she would have done in future: unauthorised time travel, chronal displacement, jumping the tracks to other realities.
She was held in a virtual reality prison where she lives a benign and trouble-free existence in what appears to be Kansas. Her boyfriend attempts to free her by uploading a virus into the prison, but inadvertently causes her to be driven insane.
She attacked her father with a 'retcon bomb' (a variation on the original Goblins' pumpkin bombs) but it hit her boyfriend instead, erasing (or 'retconning') him from existence.
Now suited up as the Hobgoblin, Robin managed to time-travel to the current year, attacking the current Spider-Man in his reality and derailing an Uncle Ben from another reality into the present one causing a time paradox.
Later, in a confrontation with her father, she threw a 'retcon bomb' at him. Spider-Man, believing it to be no more harmful than a regular pumpkin bomb, caught it with his web and threw it back to Robin, unwittingly erasing her from existence.
[edit] Hobgoblin in MC2
The original Hobgoblin made his MC2 debut in Spider-Girl #97, as a hired assassin to kill many of the Spider-Girl characters, including Normie Osborn, Spider-Girl, and Peter Parker.
After a fight against both Spider-Girl and her father, he came close to victory, but at the end his only success lay in killing the Venom symbiote, and also in escaping without a trace.
He is currently masterminding a complex plot to become the new kingpin of crime.
[edit] Other media
The Hobgoblin has appeared in many episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voiced by Mark Hamill. In his first appearance, he was a criminal-turned-assassin hired by Norman Osborn to kill New York's most feared criminal mastermind, Wilson Fisk, also known as the Kingpin, in which the Hobgoblin himself didn't know about that Fisk was the Kingpin. Osborn was indebted to the Kingpin for various shady loans that Osborn was unable to repay. After the assassination is foiled by the appearance of Spider-Man and Peter Parker when they save Fisk when he was going to create a criminology school and cause the Hobgoblin to flee, the Hobgoblin demands Osborn to pay him and he'll take another chance to kill Fisk. But Osborn refuses to pay him and fires him. This sets off a chain of events in which the Hobgoblin is curious about why Osborn wants Fisk dead and while snooping around Fisk's building, he is captured and realizes Fisk is the Kingpin. Just when the Kingpin would kill the Hobgoblin, the Hobgoblin asks for a chance for a partnership with the Kingpin and defeat Norman Osborn, the man who hired the Hobgoblin to kill Fisk. Kingpin was so despised at hearing this news and Osborn for what he did that he aligns with the Hobgoblin and sends him to kidnap Harry Osborn, Norman's son, in order for the elder Osborn to make good on his payment, but when Hobgoblin sees that Kingpin will not pay him immediately, he eventually betrays the Kingpin by going to Norman for better weapons to kill the Kingpin and Osborn can have his company and son. Osborn gives him a better glider and weapons and by the time the Hobgoblin returned to the Kingpin, Hobgoblin realizes the Kingpin knows he was going to double-cross him, causes the Kingpin to flee, having the Hobgoblin think he died and took over his empire. The story concludes with the Kingpin, Osborn, and Spider-Man all loosely allying themselves to defeat the Hobgoblin, who escapes after crash-landing into the water. In the end, Osborn sells 50% of his company to the Kingpin in order to repay his debt, Harry Osborn is returned safely, and the Kingpin rebuilds his headquarters.
Hogoblin went on to make two more appearances, starting with the crossover of the X-Men Animated Series. He discovered that Dr. Herbert Landon, who was said to cure mutation, (and secretly promising to make a mutant army for the Kingpin) was planning to exterminate all mutantkind. The Hogoblin blackmailed Landon that if Landon didn't give the villain the money he thought he deserved, then Landon's real intentions will be revealed to the public. However, Spider-Man tracked the Hobgoblin down and learned that Landon could potentially make good on his threat. Teaming up with Wolverine, Spider-Man tracked Landon to his lab. They battled Hobgoblin, who managed to escape with discs outlining Landon's master plan. Spider-Man and the X-Men managed to defeat an ironically mutated Landon after the Hobgoblin escaped, and Landon was taken into a hospital to be cured of his mutation.
The Hobgoblin's next appearance was in the second Green Goblin story arc, in which his identity was revealed to be Jason Philip Macendale, fiancé to Felicia Hardy and had a portal-creating machine called the Time Dilation Accelerator. Once his identity was revealed to his fiancé, he and Felicia were kidnapped by the Green Goblin who stole the Accelerator from the villain and took both fiancé to their doom at OsCorp where they will be killed in an acid pool. Spider-Man forced the Goblin into limbo (right before he would return in the next episode), saved Macandale and Felicia and their relationship ended. The Hobgoblin was then immediately taken into custody afterwards.
An alternate-reality version of the Hobgoblin appeared in Part One in the series finale of Spider-Man as an enemy of the Scarlet Spider. He battled the various Spider-Men from different realities to try to stop Spider-Carnage from destroying all of reality, suffered defeat, and was tied up. In the last episode of the series, the Kingpin's building (where the beaten Hobgoblin was kept) exploded. Madame Web used her powers to save Spider-Man, his associates, and the Kingpin, but Hobgoblin apparently perished in the explosion.
Appearances in the Show:
- The Hobgoblin: Part One
- The Hobgoblin: Part Two
- The Mutant Agenda
- Mutants' Revenge
- Rocket Racer (as Macandale only)
- The Spot
- Goblin War!
- I Really, Really Hate Clones
[edit] Toys
- Hobgoblin first received a toy in the Secret Wars toy line produced by Mattel.
- He later received toys in the animated Spider-Man and Sneak Attack toylines of the '90s.
- He received 2 toys in the Spider-Man Classics. The first (Series 2), was similar to that of the demonic Jason Macendale version, while the more recent one (Series 17) is similar to that of the original Roderick Kingsley version.
- The Jason Macendale version was reused twice. The first time, it was repainted and given a newly sculpted Green Goblin head for the Spider-Man v.s. The Sinister Six box set in the Marvel Legends toy line. The second time, it was repainted and renamed Demogoblin in the Spider-Man :Origins toy line produced by Hasbro.
- All Hobgoblin toys produced after the Secret Wars toy line and produced before the Spider-Man: Origins toy line were produced by Toy Biz.
[edit] Video game appearances
- The Kingsley version of the Hobgoblin (although he is not named as Kingsley, the Hobgoblin's identity still a mystery at the time of the game's release) appears in Spider-Man and Captain America in Doctor Doom's Revenge, allied with Dr. Doom
- The Hobgoblin appears as a boss in The Amazing Spider-Man for the Game Boy. It is never stated which Hobgoblin this is, although it appears to be the Macendale Goblin.
- Hobgoblin again appears as a boss in the sequel, Spider-Man 2. Once he is defeated, Spider-Man uses his glider to pass a wall that he could not scale.
- Hobgoblin also appears in the Sega Genesis Spider-Man game.
- The Hobgoblin makes another appearance in Spider-Man: The Video Game.
[edit] External links
- Squandered Legacy: The Rise and Fall of the Hobgoblin A five part series of articles on the Hobgoblin in all of his incarnations and identities
- Foolish Consistencies and... Peter David, author of the issue that revealed Leeds to be the Hobgoblin, recalls the production background from the time
- Hobgoblin on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
