Fictional Character Biography
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Harry is the son of industrialist Norman Osborn and his wife Emily. Unfortunately, the circumstances of Harry's birth weakened Emily, and she died after several years of illness. Heartbroken, Norman becomes a cold and unloving father; he either contemptuously dismisses Harry, or lashes out at him in fury. As a result, Harry spends much of his life trying desperately to earn his father's approval.
Upon graduating from high school, he enrolls in Empire State University. Among the wealthiest students in the school, Harry soon becomes one of the most popular as well, despite his aloof manner. He has a clique of rich, popular students around him; one of these is the lovely Gwen Stacy. Gwen is intrigued by a new student: bookish, studious and painfully-shy Peter Parker. Harry takes a dislike to Parker; he resents the attention Gwen gives to Peter, and he assumes that Peter's standoffishness is snobbery. After confronting Parker, Harry realizes that Peter is merely shy, and is also worried about his ailing aunt, May. Despite this rocky start, Harry and Peter became friends, eventually sharing an apartment.
Harry does not realize that Peter is the superhero Spider-Man. Harry's father became the Green Goblin in an accident while attempting to create a super-serum. Spider-Man and the Goblin had already battled twice when Peter and Harry become friends. In a later battle, the Goblin discovers Spider-Man's identity and captures him, revealing his own identity in the process. Horrified that his greatest enemy is also his best friend's father, Peter's loyalties are torn. When the Goblin falls onto an electric transformer during the resulting fight, the shock removes all memory of being the Green Goblin from Norman Osborn's mind. Spider-Man removes the Goblin's costume and equipment, hoping it will be the end of the Goblin menace, that Mr. Osborn will return to normal, and that no one else, especially Harry, will ever need to know the truth.
However, Norman's Green Goblin persona resurfaces from time to time; he then battles with Spider-Man, only to become Norman Osborn again when the fight is over. These are difficult times for Harry, as his father's periodic episodes are unexplainable. He had experimented with drugs in his teens, but he escalates his usage, as well as trying ever-harder substances. This affects his mental stability and his relationships with his friends. Spider-Man uses this to his advantage during one battle with the Green Goblin; he is able to stop the fight by showing Norman his son's emaciated condition, brought on by an accidental cocaine overdose. The sight shocks Norman so much that it brings him back to sanity for what is to be the last time.
It wasn't long after, though, that stress causes Norman to become the Green Goblin again. Harry's life has fallen apart. His relationship with Peter's friend Mary Jane Watson has come to an end when she dumps him, fed up with his self-destructive lifestyle. A disconsolate Harry turns to drugs and suffers an amphetamine overdose. He survives, but this tragedy, compounded by imminent bankruptcy, drives the Green Goblin over the edge. He kidnaps Gwen as bait for Spider-Man, and then throws her off the George Washington Bridge (or Brooklyn Bridge). When Peter stops her fall with his webbing, she dies because her neck snaps. A vicious battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin ensues, with Peter barely able to control himself from killing the villain. The Goblin then directs his goblin glider to impale Spider-Man, but the wall-crawler jumps out of the way and the Goblin is impaled through the chest and seemingly dies. Peter is wracked with guilt and sorrow, but takes comfort in the fact that the Green Goblin is finally gone.
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