Some or all of these characters need descriptions. A list of tropes is not a description. Please provide at least a few words telling how these characters differ from other characters with the same tropelists.
Anti-Hero: Spider-Man may be the ultimate subversion of this trope. Stan Lee's original concept, and many of the original Silver Age stories portray Peter's motivations as being largely selfish, or at least relating to his personal relationships and helping his Aunt May make due, and in general Spidey's attitude and difficulties with authority make him come off as a Type I or Type II anti-hero, but when the chips are really down, his selflessness and sheer heroism are second in the Marvel Universe only toCaptain America.
Boxing Lessons for Superman: Peter spent a bit of time as a successful show-wrestler before ever trying to fight crime.
In a straighter example of this trope, he studied martial arts underShang Chi during one of the (many) times he briefly lost his spider-sense and found himself seriously handicapped without it.
Breakout Character: Originally the star of a story in an issue of aTwilight Zone-esque sci-fi anthology, he proved popular enough to get his own series a few months later and quickly became one of the most popular superheroes ever.
Brilliant but Lazy: Subverted most of the time. Peter is often perceived this way because everyone knows how smart he is, but not why he doesn't put more energy into his work (the trope is evenstated by name in the second movie). However, those that do know the whole story have said that Peter isn't exercising his full potential.
Brooklyn Rage: The quintessential New York superhero.
Leo Zelinksy: "Ask me again in that Queens accent how I know you're from around here."
Butt Monkey: Oh so very much. In the first film, not only is he being laughed at by the other students for missing the bus, but the driver is deliberately stringing him along for laughs.
Character Tic: Will often crouch as a means for writers to show his super agility.
Likewise, he has a distinct way of hanging from the end of a web, and extreme contortion is second nature to him.
Characterization Marches On: Peter Parker is often described as an everyman, with all the good nature that implies, but in the early days he was a boiling pot of resentment. It's seen most clearly at the start of his story, inAmazing Fantasy #15. Poor Peter is almost a textbook case of a future school shooter. He wouldn't become the good-hearted everyman we know and love until after the reclusive Steve Ditko left artistic chores and was replaced by John Romita.
Creepy Good: He was often seen as creepy by many fellow heroes in the Marvel Universe, even as recently asThe Nineties, as seen when he andNova fought the Tri-Sentinel. Also, while it isn't canon,Wonder Woman mentioned he was creepy during his secondCrossover withSuperman. This is often due to Spidey's costume, his ability to cling to any surface, and his knack forshowing up out of the blue, to say nothing of the fact that he is often aHero with Bad Publicity.
His above tendencies, coupled with a knack for often frightening contortions and a face concealing bug-eyed mask, were likely whatled to his becoming aHero with Bad Publicity, after which it just became a vicious cycle.
Deadpan Snarker: And how. It's literally how he maintains composure.
Deconstruction: Spider-Man was actually one of the earliest Superhero deconstructions, showing just how much being a super hero could have an affect on someone's personal life.
Don't Think, Feel: Subverted. His powers work very well, if not even better, purely on instinct, but Spidey's foes tend to beexceedingly dangerous, and in very many cases more than a physical match for him. Usually, Spider-Man has to out-think or out-smart his enemies, pulling almost as manyBatman Gambits as theTrope Namer. Additionally, his live-saving reflexes and Spider-sense will generally kick-in whether or not he's thinking or distracted.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Are you kidding? He's arguably Marvel's definitive example of this trope.
Genre Savvy: The 2000/2010s crop of Marvel writers often tend to use this as the reason why Spider-Man fits on the Avengers. He knows almost everyone in the superhuman community at this point, both heroes and villains, and is often the guy who sneaks off into the background to get the real work done while everyone else is involved in the big fight scene. Recent examples thereof involve his guest appearances inAvengers vs. X-Men,Annihilators, andAgents of ATLAS.
Happily Married: Well, hewas (for abouttwenty yearsreal-time) to Mary Jane Watson. But thenJoe Quesada decided that made him feel too old and boring and retconned the marriage. The backlash of ending the marriage was so bad that evenStan Lee didn't fully agree with the new direction, and kept him married in the newspaper strip.
Instant Expert: His powers are hardwired into his reflexes and instincts, so he really has a harder time suppressing them than actually using them. That said, he's theTrope Namer forHow Do I Shot Web? for a reason; his early days were plagued with misapplication of his powers that mostly came with not knowing how toconsciously control them.Unconsciously, he reacts to hisSpider Sense and leaps over a car and sticking onto the side of a building mere moments after the life-changing spider-bite.
Literally Loving Thy Neighbor: With MJ (though to be technical about it, it's more like "literally loving thy neighbor's niece").
The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Let's just say Spidey hasexperience with this... as in he's never had a single relationship where this didn't factor in someway.
Nerds Are Sexy: He's quite theChick Magnet, considering he used to be a complete dork. During their marriage, Mary Jane even seemed to consider moments when he talked about science as a turn-on.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After Gwen was killed, Spider-Man hunted down the Green Goblin with a vengeance. Before delivering the final blow, however, Spider-Man backed away out of fear of breaking hisThou Shalt Not Kill rule.
When Jean DeWolff was murdered by the Sin-Eater, Spider-Man pursued him in a very personal way. This time, he almost beat his prey to death - only stopped by the intervention of Daredevil.
Subverted when the Burglar returns. During the pursuit, Spider-Man reveals his identity to show why he won't just give up. The Burglar - thinking that Peter wants the ultimate revenge for Uncle Ben's murder - has a fatal heart attack out of fear.
Sad Clown: To quote Iron Man, "I can't help but notice - the closer I get to an uncomfortable truth, the more lame jokes you start making."
Science Hero: Some writers portray him as this. Especially in the current "Big Time" arc in his new job.
She Fu: One of the oldest examples, believe it or not, despite being aRare Male Example. He uses it expansively throughout his career. It can be seen a bit more clearly in some of the more recent video games, where you can see Spidey in motion more easily.
All Webbed Up: Created his webshooters on his own in one of the clearest displays of scientific genius on his part. The formula for his webs in particular is nothing short of miraculous, given it's tensile strength and adhesive properties. It disappears after a couple hours or so, so he doesn't even leave a mess.
Green Lantern Ring: There is little he can't do with his webs. Possibly justified—in real life, spiders do tend to be pretty brilliant with them.
Teen Genius: At the start of the series (and the most common portrayal of him in most media).
Thou Shalt Not Kill: He's strongly against killing anyone. Though in fits of rage or frustration, he has been known to say he's going to kill *insert villain here*, but never actually goes through with it.
Vindicated by History: Another in-universe example. Several different future continuities show Spider-Man being remembered as a great hero. When Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 pays a trip to the present day he says as much...to Jonah's face.
Vitriolic Best Buds: WithJohnny Storm. Their team-ups are a constant snark-fest, but Johnny is Peter's closest friend in the superhero community, and Peter is Johnny's closest friend outside the F4.
Wolverine Publicity: Just how he manages to balance being a member of two Avengers teams, his job, his social life, and theFuture Foundation is quite amazing.
Would Hit a Girl: Shriek doesn't get special treatment for having a vagina.
Badass Damsel: She may not be a superhero, but it's your funeral if you try to harm this chick.
Betty and Veronica: Formed this with the good girl Gwen Stacy. Was actually the Betty when she found herself in this situation again with The Black Cat.
Blind Date: How she met Peter and was introduced to the book.
Big Bra to Fill: Mary Jane is one of the curviest non-superheroic females in the entire Marvel universe. InSam Raimi's film series she was portrayed by Kirsten Dunst, who doesn't quite have the body Mary Jane in the comics does (but few real life people do).
Catch Phrase: "Face it, tiger -- you just hit thejackpot."[1]
Character Development: One of the most notable moments occurs, when she decides to stay with Peter whilst he is grieving over Gwen's death.
Amazing Spider-Man #259 delves a good deal into her past.
The Faceless: For a while she was never seen or her face was obscured, not until Romita's Sr.'s run did we see the jackpot.
As noted elsewhere, it took slightly longer to see her in-person fully than it did to find out who the Green Goblin was.
The Fashionista: Although as noted on that trope's page, she's an unusual example in that outside of her interest in fashion and her very girly appearance, she's a bit of a tomboy with an interest in sports.
Fun Personified: Until some hidden depths where revealed and we latter find out it was mostly an actto hide the pain her brought on by her abusive childhood, anyway. She's still a fun character though, just not in a way that it's only only defining trait or that makes her seem like she doesn't care about anything.
The Ghost: Early on in the series, she was mentioned for dozens of issues, but was never seen until the final panel of issue #40.
Heroic Bystander: Many times (just check the awesome moments page!).
Hidden Depths: Up until she stayed with Peter after Gwen's death, she was never shown to do anything seriously.
Readers would also later learn about her abusive father and that her party girl attitude was an act to keep people from finding out how screwed-up her personal life was.
Ironic Echo: When May and Anna Watson were trying to set them up on a blind date, Peter resisted - thinking Mary Jane must be some pathetic teen that couldn't possibly get a date without help. Turns out inParallel Lives, Mary Jane had said the same things about him.
Keep the Home Fires Burning: Many issues focus on her conflicted feelings of being supportive towards Peter and her fear that this could be the time he doesn't make it back.
Literally Loving Thy Neighbor: With Peter (though if you want to be technical about it, it's more like "literally loving thy aunt's neighbor").
Plucky Girl: Although she's gone through some rough patches and worries more than most examples of this trope, she still the type of character that will have no qualms about beating a B list hero with a baseball bat or bringing Peter out of slum with some helpful optimism.
Outdated Outfit: Naturally as the most fashion conscience member of the cast, she falls victim to this the most as time passes.
Secret Secret Keeper: During Tom DeFalco's first run onAmazing Spider-Man, it was revealed that Mary Jane was this.Parallel Lives elaborated that it was since the night Ben Parker was murdered (she had observed Peter returning home and then Spider-Man leaving through his bedroom window). Obviously, after Peter learned all this, Mary Jane was upgraded toSecret Keeper.
Granny Classic: Depending on the writer she mightTake 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: WithJJJ's dad as of BND (the ceremony takes place inissue #600). Peter alternates between finding it adorable andhorrifying. Jonah would rather not think about it at all.
Shipper on Deck: Less so than May, but still helped set up Peter and MJ's first date.
Ben Reilly / The Scarlet Spider
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Badass Biker: During "The Lost Years" Mini and "The Clone Saga" revamp.
Can't Hold His Liquor: Just like Peter.Not played for laughs like usual.In "The Lost Years", a few drinks causes him to start trashing the bar and encourage the bouncer to put him out of his misery.
Driven to Suicide: Heavily implied to be his reaction tofinding out he's a clone. Luckily, he snaps out of it after rescuing a man suffering from the same feelings.
Rummage Sale Reject: His first two costumes—the first when he answers Judas Traveller's challenge at the beginning of the Clone Saga, and the other when he went up against Venom.Justified Trope in that he was pressed for time in both cases. He ended up wearing the second costume for a long time before he finally got a proper costume.
Cassandra Truth: When Miguel tries to tell his mother that he's actually Spider-Man (whom she idolizes), she laughs it off as a pathetic attempt to get her attention.
The Chosen One: The Thorites of 2099 call Spider-Man the "Herald of Thor", who is prophesied to save the world.Turns out he reallywasThe Chosen One, and was the third person to wield Thor's hammer.
Drugs Are Bad: When Miguel wanted to quit Alchemax, his boss secretly gets him addicted to illegal drugs as a retention technique. Miguel's attempt to shake the addiction leads to the accident that grants him his powers.
Deadpan Snarker: In a deliberate inversion from Peter Parker, Spider-Man tends to speak tersely while in costume, and saves his snarking for his civilian identity.
Jerkass: Before the accident that gave him his powers, Miguel was an unabashed self-centered egotistical jerk who belittled almost everyone else he knew.
Luke, I Am Your Father: Miguel secretly discovers that his father isAlchemax CEO Tyler Stone.
Revenge: Miguel's original motivation was to get revenge on Alchemax CEOTyler Stone for accidentally getting him addicted toRapture.
Super Reflexes: Instead ofSpider Sense, Miguel has enhanced perceptions that happen to tune invery quickly to what's pertinent, such as an immediate danger or a general plot point. It's still limited by what he is focused on, and he can still be caught flat-footed.
The Unfavorite: Miguel's younger brother Gabriel is clearly their mother's favorite, largely due to Miguel'sJerkass behavior.
Wolverine Claws: Miguel acquires retractable talons on his fingers and toes. Not only does this allow him toWall Crawl, but he also uses them as a slashing attack.
Boomerang Bigot:In Ultimate Marvel, she is the residentFantastic Racist againstMutants (because her uncle (actually, her father) is the Blob. Although as it turns outshe's a mutant too, and the Ultimate version of Firestar).
Defrosting Ice Queen: She became considerably nicer to Peter as she got to know him.Especially inThe Spectacular Spider-Man, where she developed genuine romantic feelings for Peter and was deeply hurt when he broke up with her (to be with Gwen).
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 fromWorf Had the Flu).
Race Lift: The version of her that appears inThe Spectacular Spider-Man appears to be of Hispanic ethnicity, compared to her mainstream counterpart, who is Caucasian and blonde.
Sympathetic Adulteress: She had a brief affair with Peter and Flash Thompson when she was married to Ned Leeds.
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.
Bury Your Gays:Ultimate incarnation.She tells MJ "I'm not even sure I like guys" and then she's killed by Carnage in the very next scene.
Not sure this counts as she also mentions she was joking in the next scene and has a long-lasting relationship with Peterafter being brought back to life later on.
I Let Gwen Stacy Die:Trope Namer, obviously. Gwen's death is one of the most traumatic events in Peter's entire life, and the memory of it comes back to haunt him on more than one occassion.
The original incarnation as well. She was every bit of a science geek as Peter while still looking like an absolute bombshell.
Pretty Spry for a Dead Guy: It's teased that she's actually alive a couple of times, only for it to revealed to be a clone or something each time.
Spared by the Adaptation: For someone who's best known for being one of the first love interests killed in super hero history, Gwen always seems to surviveoutsideofthe comics.
Tsundere: Her original characterization. Also her tomboyish Ultimate incarnation.
Woman Scorned: Initially was upset that Peter gave her the cold shoulder upon their first meeting.
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-'80sSpectacular 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 inCivil War, having written a tell-all book about her time dating him, and promptly disappeared again.
Felicia Hardy / Black Cat
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Absolute Cleavage: She's had several outfits that all tend to draw on the same basic design scheme, but the unifying factor is that they almost all tend to have an impossibly low neckline.
Alternate Continuity: In the 90s cartoon, she was theAlpha Bitch at Parker’s school before becoming the Black Cat and ultimately gets paired up with Morbius the Living Vampire. She's also very different in the Ultimate Universe as well.
Becoming the Mask: In the comics, she starts dating Flash Thompson to get Parker jealous, but ends up falling in love with him (only to be dumped by him when he finds out and asksWas It All a Lie?).
Expy: She's a not-particularly-villainous burglar with the word "cat" in her name, she dons a black feline-themed suit, she has a on-and-off-again relationship with a superhero who's attracted to her, but has a problem with her immoral ways, she fancies the superhero in the costume more than the man underneath it... sounds kinda likeCatwoman, doesn't it?
Karma Houdini: At this point, Felicia is probably one of the single best professional thieves in the Marvel Universe, but she can walk right up to Captain America and say hello without a problem. By rights, she should be treated like she's a super-villain, but almost no one has even expressed an interest in catching her.
Loves My Alter Ego: Becomes extremely weirded out when Spider-Man first reveals to her that he's Peter Parker. In the Ultimate version, she goes so far as to vomit on him after lifting the mask.
Love Redeems: Ultimately, she ends up developing legitimate feelings for Peter in 616.
Secret Identity Identity: Back in the day she identified more with herself as Black Cat than as Felicia Hardy, and preferred to think of Spider-Man as the same way, not really liking the idea that there's a person with his own life under the mask. The video game adaptation ofSpider-Man 2 has her try to convince Peter to give up his civilian identity and become a hero full-time, but he refuses.
Shallow Love Interest: Played with; Peter dumps her because she only has interest in his Spider-Man persona.
Winds of Destiny Change: She had this power for a time, but she hadDoctor Strange get rid of it after she learned that it was permanently jinxing Spidey.
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.
Embarrassing Tattoo: Almost got one of the Green Goblin while drunk, which crosses from embarrassing to downright psychotic. The one she got of Spider-Man subverted this orginally, only to play it straight when she found out Peter was Spider-Man and broke up with him.
Remember the New Guy?: A retcon story showed she was best friends with Gwen Stacy and her dad worked with Captain Stacy. (As you might guess this didn't exactly do much to endear her to the fanbase that was already throwing around the term "Mary Sue" liberally).
Asian Gal with White Guy: Had a relationship with Sha-Shan though she went to America and re-met him from Vietnam, and then they started something. Averted inSpectacular Spider-Man where she seems to have been born in America.
Badass Normal: Well, he didn't earn his rank as Corporal in the U.S. Army on looks...
Handicapped Badass: After hisHeroic Sacrifice in Iraq saving some of his squadmates under fire & kicking a lot of terrorist ass, he lost both of his legs.
Badass Abnormal: He is offcially the government-sanctioned 4th incarnation of Venom.
Big Fan of My Alter-Ego: Even in the earliest stories, he was a huge fan of Spider-Man and was as committed to defending him as he was to giving Peter Parker a hard time.
Blonde Guys Are Evil: Well, a big jerk... in high school. Grew out of it later & became one of Pete's best friends.
Drugs Are Bad: In a landmark issueStan 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 asDrowning My Sorrows inThe Movie and a "Globulin Green" addiction inThe Spectacular Spider-Man.
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 seesPeter as more worthy of being his son.
Peter Parker's loudmouthed boss and editor-in-chief of theDaily Bugle. He holds an extremely low opinion of Spider-Man and sees him as a threat, rather than an actual hero.
Bad Boss: Played with. He regularly verbally abuses those that aren't Joe Robertson, but he's also protective of his staff.
Illustratedrather well in the first movie, where he protects Peter from the Green Goblin by refusing to say who takes their pictures of Spider-Man, despite the fact that doing so would certainly result in severe personal injury or worse.
Depending on the Writer: JJJ's character varies from writer to writer and the reasoning behind his hatred of Spider-Man and the depth of that hatred run the gamut from being a jerkass to secretly being jealous of Spider-Man's truly heroic nature.
Doting Parent: Praises his son, the astronaut John Jameson, every chance he can get. He may becompensating.
Also in everything else except where Spider-Man is concerned he is absoloutely commited to truth in reporting. Even then, many interpretations of the character have himgenuinely believing the superhero is a menace, despite all the evidence to the contrary, his hate runs that deep. Even then, JJJ has printed so many retractions of his published accusations that at least one fan kept a whole photo album's worth of the clippings.
Actually, even when it comes to Spider-Man. For example, in the third movie, he's thrilled with finally getting photographic proof that Spider-Man is a criminal. Then he finds out those photos were faked and (begrudgingly) issues an immediate retraction.
George Jetson Job Security: Played for laughs in the second movie, where he fires and un-fires Peter in the span of five seconds.
Heroic BSOD: After Spencer Smythe shackled Spidey and Jonah together with a bomb. As time was about to run out, Jonah cracked under the pressure. Spidey naturally saved the day in the nick of time, but Jonah realizes that the man he hates most has seen him at his most vulnerable. Already reeling from the supposed death of his son, Jonah launches a new anti-Spidey campaign and appears to be having a nervous breakdown.It would later be revealed he was being pushed over the edge by Jonas Harrow, though.
Hidden Depths: From his verbal tirades against Spider-Man and his own staff, you'd never know how much Jonah loves his family or how much he values those that work for him. He's also a staunch supporter of human and civil rights foreverybody, black, gay, mutant, whatever. Heck, he even paid Peter's legal bills duringThe Clone Saga (secretly, of course).
Intrepid Reporter: Was a photojournalist in World War II, among other hostile environments and eras.
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.
Secret Secret Keeper: For decades beforeCivil War, it had long since been implied that Robbie knew who Spider-Man was, but didn't say anything (due to the awkward position of paying Peter for taking pictures of himself for years).
Heel Face Turn: Went from being a Jerkass Anti-hero/villain to accepting his change and apologizing to Liz.
Jerkass: Gave a lot of crap to Liz back in the day. He got better at least.
Ollie Osnick / The Steel Spider
A chubby young nerd who idolized Dr. Octopus and built his own set of octopus tentacles. After meeting Spider-Man, he idolized Spidey instead and redesigned himself as "Spider-Lad", Spider-Man's sidekick. After being turned down by Spider-Man, he's had an off-again off-again career as the Steel Spider, in a metal exo-suit equipped with Spider-like abilities.
Accidental Murder:Her father was in the middle of a Red Hulk rampage and was accidentally killed by him.
Or not, it's been revealed that her father was actually poisoned at the same time the Red Hulk was, by aNebulous Evil Organisation called "Raven" who thoughtGilbertowas getting a bit too close to their tracks, the poison caused the Red Hulk to rage and also caused his heart to fail, his presumably dead body was then crushed by falling rubble as Red Hulk proceeded to rampage.
It seems she has a new set of spider-powers with the outbreak ofSpider Island. She now seems to have speed, strength, camolflauge and Peter's organic web shooters from 'The Other', truly making her Spider-Girl. Unlike most, she keeps these powers after the storyline.
The Chosen One: It was stated in a "What If" story that if Peter Parker is killed or did aFace Heel Turn, Anya would have to become the new "Web of Life" Champion, which would lead to...
Guile Heroine: Has demonstrated traces of this now that she has lost her powers,most recently in using her civilian clothes as a trap to lure out Kraven's daughter into a one on one fight as opposed to letting herself be ambushed.
I Just Want to Be Special: After losing her powers (and before she got new ones), Anya had some doubts about her usefulness as a costumed hero. One particular moment was when she became depressed because she thought that if she had retained her old powers, maybe she could have preventedRikki Barnes' death.
Legacy Character: Julia Carpenter gave her the Spider-Woman costume, but she chose to keep her old nickname. Eventually, she changed to Spider-Girl.
Named by Democracy: She didn't actually choose the name Spider-Girl, she resigned herself to it because everyone kept calling her that.
Parental Abandonment: Originally only lacked a mother,but Paul Tobin's first order of business as he took the character over was too kill herloving dad.
Retcon: Anya hated the idea of having to dress in spandex like a freak, but suddenly she began to like it when she became Spider-Girl. In the same way, she used to hate the name “Spider-Girl”, but suddenly she began to like it.
These aren't really retcons, Anya has explicitly said she still dislikes the "Spider-girl" monicker, she's merely resigned to it because people refuse to call her anything else. Similarly, she still has never expressed a liking to the spandex suit, she just uses it because it was a gift from Julia Carpenter.
The position of her old tattoo was changed from a Spider-like tattoo on her right shoulder to a big Spider-like tattoo on her back.
Secret Identity: Her identity was revealed duringCivil War, but when she became Spider-Girl, her identity became secret again.
This is a little subverted. A lot of people know her true identity because Anya is really careless at keeping her identity as a secret, often tweeting her whole life, putting her costume in open bright streets and arriving her apartment and staying inside with the costume on. Her friend Rocky andThe Kingpin have pointed out how easy was for them to find out her true identity.
The Symbiote: Though of a different kind than Venom and Co.
Tears of Fear: When she was imprisoned during the "Grim Hunt".
Too Happy to Live:Her father was a nurturing, caring, and accepting parent who while concerned and apprehensive, still did his best to understand his daughter's need to do good with the abilities she'd trained so dedicatedly. So naturally, first order of business in her new series was to kill him.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Has not been seen since 2006.In "Hunt of the Symbiotes", the symbiote is seen separated from him, but he still does not appear. Toxin is now bonded to Eddie Brock instead.
Secret Secret Keeper: Upon his introduction, George was determined to figure out Spider-Man's true identity (as he felt it would better make him understand the young hero's motives). Peter made sure to watch his step, but upon his death, George revealed that he had long-since figured out the truth, but kept the secret out of respect.
Loves My Alter Ego: Developed a crush on the webslinger, though was never blatant about it. Spider-Man didn't figure out the truth until after she had died.
Oscorp employees, too. During "The Final Chapter" arc, he uses several employees as unknowing test subjects for his DNA weapon. The firstPulse storyline also demonstrated his habit of murdering his employees to satisfy his urges.
Canon Immigrant: Thematic example. InRevenge of the Green Goblin, Osborn, his son Harry then long dead, started to realize that Peter himself was everything he ever wanted in a son and heir—smart, resourceful, tough, and able to live through everything life throws at him. This was since retconned out of existence (partly because Harry is back, partly because Norman no longer knows who Spidey is), but it was well received and became an integral part of his character in other media, such as the movie and theThe Spectacular Spider Man cartoon. So successful some more recent fans thought it wasan integral part of the character.
Character Development: He is a very different person from the one who appeared in the 60's and 70's, but not just because ofDepending on the Writer. The main difference is the Osborn from the old stories had no idea he was the Green Goblin; the one in the modern takes knows, took control... and realized he liked it. The other big one is the changing nature of his emnity withSpider-Man, from business, to personal, tovery personal, to twisted admiration, and finally warpedFriendly Enemy.One More Day regressed it back to "very personal", minus the motivator of Harry being dead.
Crazy Prepared: Mac Gargan once described one of Norman's hideouts as a "cornucopia of plans and counter-plans."
Cut Lex Luthor a Check: FrequentlyLampshaded, though also inverted. The Hobgoblin only turned to crime becase he wasn't as smart as Norman, and though Osborn had to be insane to use his amazing tech in the same way when he could easily make a fortune out of it. That said, Osborn is already a successful corporate millionare and his superbrain has only made him more money and power (ironically enough, he ended up buying out the Hobgoblin's own company when the latter tried to blackmail him). Nonetheless, he is still too messed up to use his mind to its fullest potential.
Oddly inverted in his pre-Spectacular cartoon appearances, where the Goblin had a high, screeching voice and laugh. (In fact, a later Goblin, Phil Urich, weaponized the laugh.)
The Mentally Disturbed: Norman has been consistently depicted with a range of mental illnesses, in addition to his psychopathic tendecies. He is a manic depressive, prone to violent mood swings and, untreated, paranoia, hallucinations and occasionally aSplit Personality. This isin additon to his textbook sadism, egomania and antisocial personality, and they tend to make each other worse. It's very common for these to bite him in the ass particularly since he denies or covers up the fact that he has such "weaknesses". It especially threatens his attempts to be aVillain with Good Publicity, usually because he finds himself unable to control his homicidal urges.
Morality Pet: Harry; once in the 70s, Peter defeated the Goblin by showing him his overdosed son, causing the Goblin to actually cry and snap back to Norman's benign personality.
Also the Ultimate version, whoasked to be killed after seeing what he did to Harry.
And now subverted to hell and back, as Norman has tried tomurder him. Forratings.
Retcon: In the 60s and 70s, he was portrayed as being a decent guy before becoming the Goblin, however since his return, it's been established that even before he became the Goblin, he was quite a bastard.
Um, decent? In the early comics when his origin is revealed, we found out he screwed his business partner over and had him arrested and then stole his formula. The only difference is that before the retcon, Norman genuinely loved his son, but he was still power hungry. The Goblin formula just made him crazy.
It seemed more like that Norman started off as a misguided father who gave his son gifts. Then one day there was a lab accident and he gradually became aJerkass and stopped being a legitimate businessman then became a villain.
Oddly, the Norman side only became unambiguously good when he had amnesia.
Super-Powered Evil Side: Subverted. Played straight in the early stories when he got amnesia and lost his powers, but now his powers are permanent regardless of who is in control (though the Goblin has not actually been in control since then).
Took a Level in Badass/Took a Level in Jerkass: He is several magnitudes more dangerous, calculating and sadistic than he was in his early appearances since he cameBack from the Dead. The main reason for this is that thoughOsborn survived beingHoist by His Own Petard back in the 70's,The Goblin seems to have been largely suppressed. The result though was that Norman retained his memories as the Goblin for once and evolved into a much more rational psychopath who was able to take advantage of his considerable strength, intelligence and resources, and since he decided thatEvil Tastes Good he now frequentlyKicks the DogFor the Evulz. Some notable examples include:
Killing Peter and Mary-Jane's unborn babyprobably.
Getting Flash Thompson drunk and putting him behind the wheel of a truck (after hiring the unwitting Flash to be his driver, just to mess with Peter), resulting in Flash being brain damaged after Osborn made the truck crash into his and Peter's school (oh, and class wasin).
Trying to murdereveryone who was connected to either Peter or his son (he felt that those friends had"betrayed him" and indirectly caused Harrys death by making him a weakling) after orchestrating"The Clone Saga", a convoluted plot to drive Peter insane (meaning he nearly got Marvelbankrupt, which means he is guilty of bothArson, Murder, and Jaywalkingand being anOmnicidal Maniac).
Attempting once to murder every living thingon the planet by turning them into prehistoric goo (he was more crazy than usual at the time thanks to some messing with magic, which convinced him he was aPhysical God and mistakenely think he would survive such a scheme, but the plan was clearly set in motion before that occured).
Giving a prison guard advice on how to cure his wife's illness, that actually made the woman die a faster and more painful death (the guardcame to him).
And afterBrand New Day, he tried to murderhis own son just because the public would feel sorry for him and give him more support, since his son was dead.
Would Hurt a Child: His biggestMoral Event Horizon in the movie is when he threatens to drop both MJ and a tram full of kids to their doom and forces Spider-Man to make aSadistic Choice between saving MJ or the kids.He manages to save both.
Affably Evil: In the first annual, he kidnapped Betty Brant and Aunt May and then gave them tea and cookies while apologizing for neglecting his guests.
Arch Enemy: Another contender. First villain to defeat Spider-Man, first villain to take up an entire issue, first villain to get his own two-part story, leader of the Sinister Six. Had the role during most the original Stan Lee run and for most of the hiatus when Norman Osborn was thought dead (whenever the Jackal, Hobgoblin, or Venom didn't have the role).
Badass: Despite being fat and blind without his glasses, he's one of Spider-Man's deadliest enemies.
Evil Counterpart: To Peter, on the scale of being a scientist, using smarts for evil purposes and being based in one eight-legged creature. Also he's a motor mouth to Spidey's wisecracks.
Evil Cripple: He is now dying from internal injuries sustained over the years from being beaten up by Spider-Man, and has constructed a suit ofPowered Armor to prolong his life.
Glass Cannon: If Spidey can get past the tentacles, it doesn't take much to knock him out. This is being playedvery harshly inBND: the years of repeated blunt force trauma have shortened his lifespan (he only has one year, 18 months at most, left to live) and left him a wreck. He's added four extra arms to compensate, and is looking for ways to stave off death.
Took a Level in Badass: Two words, adamantium tentacles. He beat theHulk unconscious. He gaveIron Man such a thrashing he consideredretirement. At the end of the "Revenge of the Sinister Six" storyline (not the novel of the same name), he was, per Spidey's own words, "holding his own" against Spidey, theFantastic Four, the Hulk,Ghost Rider, andNova.At the same time.
Always Someone Better: Part of the reason why Brock hated Spider-Man so much. The symbiote wanted revenge for being rejected, but apparently held out a bit of hope that its original host would want it back. If that ever happened, the symbiote would abandon Brock in a second - something he knew and (given his cancer) couldn't bear the thought of.
Arch Enemy: Not so much nowadays, but early on Venom was basically presented as Spider-Man'ssuperiorEvil Counterpart that was also undetectable to hisSpider Sense.
Berserk Button: As Venom, it was Spider-Man's percieved wrongs against him. As Anti-Venom, not even beingThe Punisher will help you if you callJenna Cole a junkie to his face.
Character Development: If there's one good thing aboutBND is that Eddie is actually feeling sorry for all the stuff he's done and became Anti-Venom. Now he is Toxin
Heroic Sacrifice: Of a sort:Eddie sacrificed being Anti-Venom to cure the people affected by the Queen's spider-virus during the "Spider-Island" arc. Later he became Toxin.
Horrifying Anti-Hero: Considers himself to be one, especially during his stints as the "Lethal Protector" and as Anti-Venom.
Honor Before Reason: Upon first appearance, often claimed that despite his hatred for Spider-Man, others were innocent and would not be harmed. Of course, the trope was often subverted - with him killingguards, doctors and a clown for getting in his way.
If I Can't Have You: The symbiote specifically. It hates Spider-Man for rejecting it and first bonded with Brock (who hated Spidey for his own reasons) to exact revenge. The second Venom story showed that the symbiote still had a desire to be with Spider-Man, who exploited that to survive the day.
Informed Ability: In his heyday, Venom was widely feared in the rest of the supervillain community, although this likely has more to do with how effective he is against Spidey. He's been defeated much more easily by C-List characters like the villain Styx and the superhero Darkhawk. It crosses intoFridge Brilliance when you realize that he has a major psychological edge against Spider-Man (he knows Peter's civilian identity, and has even visited him at Aunt May's house to freak him out) and is immune to Peter's spider-senses, which puts a major cramp on Peter's usual fighting style. Against someone like Darkhawk, who isn't weakened or psyched out by Venom, Eddie loses all his trump cards and goes down much more easily.
Invisibility Cloak: One of the Symbiote's powers is a camouflaging effect.
Knight Templar: Despite havinggiven up being Anti-Venom during the "Spider-Island" arc, Eddie is planning oncarrying out a crusade to eliminate all the symbiotes, regardless of whether they're evil or not - especially Venom. Then he became the new Toxin.
Eddie's cancer was cured by Mr. Negative'sHealing Hands, which also fused the remnants of the symbiote inside him to his white blood cells, creating Anti-Venom.
Up to Eleven: Every measurable power that Spider-Man has, Venom has an augmented version. In addition to nullifying theSpider Sense (Spidey's most useful power), this gave Venom pretty much every advantage possible against Spidey in a straight fight. And indeed, trying to take Venom head on in any manner usually spelled suicide for Spider-Man. Later in his career (and in most of the video-games) Spider-Man can usually hold his own by dint of just being a better fighter.
Wolverine Publicity: Lampshaded while he was fighting Nova. Several executives from Marvel Comics watched the two battle and pointed out how an appearance from Venom always boosts sales in their comics and that this battle would be sure to give Nova a popularity boost.
Darker and Edgier: Since the 90s, they've tried making the Lizard more feral and fiercer. And they've tried it again inBND, whereafter eating Connors' son, the Lizard shreds his skin and is sleeker, has hair, spikes on his arm, can talk, and seems to revert humans to their reptilian state (?) YMMV.
Evil All Along The basis of two retcons (so far) regarding the Connors persona.
"I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Often occurs since Peter is friends with Connors. A few times Connors was actually in control of the Lizard body, the first when Morbius was introduced.
And I Must Scream: After running afoul of theSilver Surfer, Carnage was imprisoned in a statue-like state - able to think, but in no way able to move or talk. He later got better, though.
Dropped a Bridge on Him:The Sentry up and rips him in half... it was very dissatifying to long-time fans who would have preferred makingSpider-Man and/orVenom, or Toxin be the one to do it. Even readers that don't like Carnage expressed distaste with this.
And yet, fans were still horrified to discover that he was in fact alive.
I Am Legion: Generally averted. In his first appearance, Kasady acknowledged the Carnage symbiote's intelligence, but tended to refer to himself as "I". Successive appearances had Carnage continue to do so - implying that Kasady outright overtook the young symbiote's personality (the fact that it's bonded with his blood likely helps).
In the 90s cartoon, Spidey suggests that it's a sign of them taking their 'union' a step further than Venom.
Nietzsche Wannabe: He doesn't believe in order and morality, and kills people for fun.
Not Quite Dead: The recent Carnage miniseries revealed that the Carnage symbiote managed to keep Kasady alive for nearly a year in space before a corporation found them, removed the symbiote, and gave Kasadyprosthetic legs.
Dangerously Genre Savvy /Only Sane Man: In the very first Sinister Six team-up, the Vulture was the only one who advocated that all six of them attack Spider-Man together, as opposed to making him fight them one at a time. After he was outvoted, and his turn did come up, he forced Spidey to remove his web-shooters before the fight ("otherwise I'll just fly away") as he knows the webs were the only reason Spidey won last time.
Darker and Edgier: In the Mark Millar 12-parter, his costume is black and red... and it actually works!
A new Vulture has popped up that is darker and edgier like it was the 90s again.
Even before that, two Vultures were introduced in the 60s and 70s to be more formidable replacements. Adrian outlasted them both.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: In 1980, he had a nephew who was loyal to him. When he was shot by a gangster they were trying to kill, he wept and then went berserk at seeing the one family member who cared about him die. Later in 2004, he learned he had a sickly grandson and went on a crime spree to pay for his treatment.
Driven to Suicide: DuringKevin Smith'sDaredevil run, Beck learned he had cancer and wouldn't last long. After making Daredevil's life a living hell, Beck shot himself in the head.
Glass Cannon: Really good traps, but once he's face to face with Spidey, he tends to have one or two final tricks before going down quickly.
Played for laughs in theSpider-Man 2 video game. When Spider-Man meets Mysterio late in the game, it seems to be the set up for a long drawn-out boss battle (the game gives him aboutfive health bars to diminish). One punch knocks him out.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Was shown as returning via supernatural means with new magical powers beforeOne More Day; post-OMD, he's been sticking to his usual special effects fakery, implying that his demonic phase was more special effects trickery. Writer Dan Slott has thus far refused to say for sure, though.
Only in It For the Money: His main motivation for joining up with Doc Ock's current Sinister Six.InEnds of the Earth once Ock's plan is revealed Spider-Man convinces him to pull aHeel Face Turn, if only for a little bit, due to the fact that the money would be useless should Ock succeed.
Race Lift: In theDaredevil movie. Notably, some versions hold that he originallywas supposed to be black, but Marvel was wary of having a black villain at the time.
Badass Normal: Though he's often depicted as getting some kind ofenhancement before or after meeting Spidey.
Came Back Wrong: Thanks to Kaine sabotaging the ritual, he has been 'cursed with un-life' and only Peter can kill him. Mentally, he's all there, just angry about it - Madame Web even mocks his wife for assuming he's changed. He's exactly the same, she just prefers not to remember him that way.
Characterization Marches On: In his origin, it was mentioned he got smarter due to the process; however, everyone wrote him as dumb afterwards. Recently, he's gone back to being written as being of at least average intelligence but who knows how long that will last.
The Chew Toy: For a time,Deadpool shrunk him down to about the size of a hamster and kept him as a pet. He eventually got payback on Deadpool though.
Depending on the Writer: His intelligence and how strongly affixed his costume is. The first time he took on the Hulk, his costume was more of a slip-on thing, while other writers have made it clear that he can only go to the bathroom due to a tiny flap and he can't get laid. This has since been fixed and he can put it on and take it off at will.
Mark Waid once explained this by claiming the mutation was unstable regarding his intelligence, then had it stabilized in that same story.
Even Evil Has Standards: His fight with Spider-Man in "The Origin of the Species" is short-lived as Spider-Man reads him the riot act for trying to start a fight when Spidey has a baby in tow. Rhino, much to Spidey's shock, actuallydoes drop the fight and leave of his own accord in response.
Flowers for Algernon Syndrome: Becomes a heck of a lot smarter inFlowers for the Rhino. So much so that he reverses it because it made his life far less interesting.
Book Dumb: Not very well educated but he can be clever in a pinch.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Eventually revealed to be the main reason theHeel Face Turn didn't stick; his old partner, the Wizard, used a device to turn him back into a criminal.
Me's a Crowd: He seems to have taken a page from Agent Smith recently: the drawback is that his different bodies can act out subconscious urges without him even being aware of it.
The Atoner: Played straight, and then brutallydeconstructed. After doing some soul searching, Mac decided to pull aHeel Face Turn. Immediately afterwards, he bumped into Spider-Man, who was having a very bad day and was delighted to have an opportunity tovent. Mac's sanity took a dive, and he went right back to being a bad guy.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Mild example; the treatment that gave him his powers affected his sanity, making him the psychopath he is today. On a few occasions, he's falsely believed he was stuck in his costume. Being bonded to theVenom symbiote didn't help, although Garganadjusted and came to relish its bloodlust.
Shocker / Herman Schultz
A description of the character goes here.
Tropes exhibited by this character include:
Badass Bookworm: Smart guy and puts up a good fight. Has updated and improved his costume and blast gauntlets based upon past encounters with Spider-Man.
Lethal Joke Character: Half of the real world population seems to think he's just a joke character... but more people need to remember that he's got one of the best records of fighting Spider-Man. His victories rival that of Doc Ock!
One time he even defeated Spidey with the help of fellowLethal Joke Character Trapster (aka Paste Pot Pete). The only reason they let him live was because their employer told them he'd double their pay if they let him go.
Only Sane Man: Arguably the mostprofessional of the Spider-Man rogues.
Say My Name: One of his more memorable schemes involved causing mass blackouts in Manhattan that when viewed from above spelled out SHOCKER. Can't remember what he was actually trying to do, but it was pretty cool.
Too Dumb to Live: He once made fun of Venom's weaknesses to sonics and fire...to Venom's face. Venom later nearly beat him death.
Took a Level in Badass: In Mark Millar'sMarvel Knights, it's shown how terrifying someone with electric powers would actually be; also, he used his powers with metal to magnetize them.
Cain and Abel: Roderick Kingsley, the heartless, multiple-murderer Hobgoblin, and his twin brother Daniel, themostly spineless, but well-meaning wimp that Roderick can manipulate and terrify with ease.
Camp Straight: Before he became Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley was depicted as a somewhat effeminate fashion designer (Roger Stern based him offRex Reed andJim Backus). After his first appearance, some readers wrote in to complain that Stern was stereotyping gay people. Stern, who had never intended Kingsley to be gay, gave him a supermodel escort in his next appearance to make sure everyone knew he was straight.Instead, the same fans said she was just Kingsley's beard.
Arch Enemy: For a few years, he was siccing super villains after Peter Parker and was his more frequent enemy, but from behind the scenes.
Hot for Student: Gwen Stacy. His refusal to admit it to himself until after she died led to him becoming a supervillain.
The Man Behind the Man: He hired numerous villains to attack Peter like Tarantula, the Scorpion, or the Grizzly before going in himself. And here's where it gets impressive: he was this to the Punisher in his debut.
My God, What Have I Done?: Briefly regained his sanity at the last moment and was able to save the Gwen Clone before dying in an explosion, or so it seemed.
Up to Eleven: As implied in the comics and later confirmed byWord of God, some of Kaine's powers are actually augmented spider-powers - the Mark of Kaine forwall-crawling and premonitions forSpider Sense.
Characterization Marches On: In his first two appearances he was more of a scientist who was doing a good deed by trying to stop Spider-Man. In the 70s, after a long absence, he was a card carrying criminal.
Took a Level in Badass: People today would probably laugh at his old costume, which didn't look very beetle-esque, however when he updated his armor in the 80s it's stuck around.
The Corrupter: Mr. Negative's powers allow him to corrupt people's souls when he touches them, giving him some measure ofMind Control over them as a result. The more goodhearted the person was prior, the more easily they can be corrupted.It fails when he tries it on the Hood, since the man'sunderlying power transcends Negative's own.
Evil Costume Switch: Whenever Li transforms into Mr. Negative, his hair, skin and even his clothes turn into photo-negative versions of themselves. The same thing applies to anyone hecorrupts with his powers.
Adaptational Badass: In most continuities, he's a brutal thug who does other people's dirty work. He assumes the role of the Kingpin inSpectacular due to legal issues (and itworks).
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: While Carnage and Demogoblin probably just saw her as a useful killing tool, Carrion and Doppelganger actually grew to reciprocate the "motherly love" she had for them.
Hate Plague: She can induce temporary insanity in others; the exact mechanics of this are never explained, but it's presumably an extension of her sonic powers.
I Reject Your Reality: She once irrationally blamed Spider-Man for Doppelganger'stemporary death, even though she was right there when Carnage attacked him.
I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: When Carnage gets pissed at Shriek for whatever reason inMaximum Carnage and tries to attack her, Doppelganger steps in. Carnage then decides killing Shriek's "baby" will be punishment enough (though he gets better... after a couple decades).
Butt Monkey: Sometimes written as a joke villain, especially in Ultimate Spider-Man.
I Know Madden Kombat: Was a major league baseball pitcher before getting kicked out for accepting bribes. It does help him throwing his boomerangs... A LOT.
Rogues Gallery Transplant: He started out as a Hulk villain, but will be more known as one of Spidey's foes. He's also tangled with Iron Man, the Defenders and the X-Men.
Trick Boomerangs: Shatterangs, Gasarangs, Razorangs, Screamerangs, and Bladarangs, just to name a few varieties.