| Hobgoblin | |
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.png) The original Hobgoblin design as depicted inThe Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983). Art byJohn Romita Sr. andJohn Romita Jr.. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983)[1][2][3] |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego |
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| Abilities |
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TheHobgoblin is a costumed identity ofsupervillains appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics, most of whom are depicted as enemies of the superheroSpider-Man and belong to the collective of adversaries that make up hisrogues gallery. Created by writerRoger Stern and artistJohn Romita Jr., the Hobgoblin was introduced inThe Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983) as a criminal mastermind equipped withHalloween-themed weapons similar to those used by theGreen Goblin.
The Hobgoblin's true identity was one of the longest-running mysteries in theSpider-Man comics. In 1987, the first Hobgoblin was revealed to beNed Leeds, Peter Parker's journalist co-worker at theDaily Bugle. In 1997, the first Hobgoblin wasretroactively established to beRoderick Kingsley, a fashion designer andMary Jane Watson's former boss, with Ned reframed as afall guy. Other characters that have assumed the Hobgoblin mantle over the years includeLefty Donovan,Jason Macendale, Roderick'stwin brotherDaniel Kingsley,Spider-Man 2211's daughterRobin Borne,Ben Urich's nephewPhil Urich, and Kingsley'sbutlerClaude. Leeds, Donovan and Claude were firstbrainwashed via theWinkler Device as part of a scheme orchestrated by the Kingsley brothers, while Kingsley, Macendale, Borne and Urich operate independently of the others. The Hobgoblin persona has also been utilized byHarry Osborn inThe Amazing Spider-Mancomic strip andUltimate Marvelalternate continuities.
The Hobgoblin has been adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including television series and video games. An amalgamated version of the character namedJason Philips appeared in the 1994–1998Spider-Man: The Animated Series voiced byMark Hamill, while the Harry Osborn incarnation is featured inSpider-Man (2017–2020) voiced byMax Mittelman.
The Hobgoblin was created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita Jr. forThe Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983).[4] Like other writers, Stern found himself under pressure to haveSpider-Man fight theGreen Goblin again, but did not wish to bringNorman Osborn orBart Hamilton back from the dead, haveHarry Osborn be a villain again, or create yet another Green Goblin. Stern instead created a new goblin as heir to the Green Goblin's legacy and developed the Hobgoblin.[5] Stern recounts that he directed Romita to base the costume on the Green Goblin's costume but to make it "a little moremedieval-looking", while Romita asserts that he was given no direction beyond using the Green Goblin as a basis. Both agree, however, that the costume was chiefly Romita's design.[6]
The Hobgoblin's identity was not initially revealed, generating one of the longest-running mysteries in theSpider-Man comics. According to Stern, "I plotted that first story with no strong idea of who the Hobgoblin was. As I was scripting those gorgeous pages from [John Romita, Jr.], particularly the last third of the book, and developing the Hobgoblin’s speech pattern, I realized who he was. It was Roderick Kingsley, that sunuvabitch corporate leader I had introduced in my first issue of[The] Spectacular [Spider-Man]."[6] A handful of readers deduced that Kingsley was the Hobgoblin almost immediately. To throw them off the scent and in the same stroke provide aretroactive explanation for Kingsley's inconsistent characterization in his early appearances, Stern came up with the idea of Kingsley having a brother named Daniel who sometimes impersonates him, sealing the deception by having the Hobgoblin conspicuously appear in the same room as Daniel Kingsley inThe Amazing Spider-Man #249.[6]
Stern's original plan was to have the Hobgoblin's mystery identity run exactly one issue longer than that of the Green Goblin's identity, meaning the truth would be revealed inThe Amazing Spider-Man #264.[6] However, Stern left afterThe Amazing Spider-Man #251, and editorTom DeFalco took his place. Wanting to resolve the mystery in a manner that would do justice to Stern's stories, DeFalco asked Stern who the Hobgoblin was, but objected when Stern said it was Kingsley. DeFalco argued that the "twin brother" scheme was cheating the readers since there had been no hint that Roderick even had a brother (aside from a singlethought bubble), much less one who could serve as a body double. Stern disagreed but said that DeFalco should feel free to choose whoever he wanted for the Hobgoblin's secret identity, reasoning that "I knew that whomever Tom chose, he would make it work."[6] Upon reviewing the clues, DeFalco decided that the Hobgoblin wasRichard Fisk. He opted to prolong the mystery of his identity as long as possible, since it was the chief element that made the Hobgoblin interesting.[6] Through both Stern and DeFalco's runs, the answer was continuously teased on the cover art, with the covers ofThe Amazing Spider-Man #245, 251, and 276 all showing Spider-Man having unmasked the Hobgoblin.[7]
The mystery was further complicated afterJames Owsley came on as editor of theSpider-Man titles. Owsley's relationship with DeFalco and artistRon Frenz was strained from the beginning. When Owsley asked who the Hobgoblin was at a creators conference, DeFalco lied and said it wasNed Leeds. Owsley then wrote the one-shotSpider-Man vs Wolverine in which Leeds is killed off (though the actual death is not shown), and instructedThe Spectacular Spider-Man writerPeter David to reveal the Hobgoblin's identity as theForeigner. David objected and argued that the only person who fit the clues was Leeds. Having been present at the Spider-Man creator's conference, David also thought that Leeds was who DeFalco intended it to be. BecauseSpider-Man vs. Wolverine had already been drawn, however, it was too late to undo Leeds's death.[6] Thus, the Hobgoblin's identity was revealed posthumously in the double-sizedThe Amazing Spider-Man #289. With Spider-Man's archenemy now dead, a new storyline was created fromJason Macendale's hatred of the Hobgoblin.[7] Though the Hobgoblin's posthumous unmasking as Leeds was unpopular with fans, David said in a 2009 interview of still being proud of the story, arguing that the Hobgoblin being unmasked in a climactic battle with Spider-Man was the sort of tale readers had already seen countless times before, whereas having an archvillain unmasked in a flashback after having been brutally killed by nameless assassins was unprecedented and shocking.[6]
Macendale supplanted the original Hobgoblin for a decade (1987-1997). Initially he wielded only the weaponry of his predecessor, but during the 1988–1989 "Inferno"crossover writerGerry Conway had Macendale imbued with demonic powers by the demonN'astirh. In addition to power over hellfire and strength and speed far greater than his predecessor, N'astirh also disfigures Macendale so that his head resembles the Hobgoblin mask, and ultimately alters his mind so that he is deluded into thinking that his appearance is normal. Several years later, in issues ofThe Amazing Spider-Man, Macendale succeeds in purging himself of his demonic powers, leaving the demon that N'astirh imbued him with to becomeDemogoblin. Towards the end of Macendale's run as the Hobgoblin he was revamped again, this time with cybernetic implants.
Stern was unhappy with the revelation that the Hobgoblin's civilian identity was Leeds and wrote the three-issue miniseriesSpider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives in 1997, with theretcon that Kingsley was the original Hobgoblin while Leeds was brainwashed into serving as afall guy. In this miniseries Macendale is killed off. According to Stern, initially he had not known how to resolve the situation of having two Hobgoblins, and it was at the suggestion of the editorial staff that he had Kingsley kill Macendale and return to operating as the Hobgoblin.[6] Leeds returns as an independent Hobgoblin in the 2019 miniseriesSymbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality, revealed to have trained as a sorcerer underBaron Mordo in the art ofreality-alteringchaos magic. Leeds and Kingsley are brainwashed to serve as the Hobgoblin enforcers of theQueen Goblin in the 2022 storyline "The Hobgoblins' Last Stand" byZeb Wells.[8]
Edward "Ned"Leeds was a reporter working for theDaily Bugle. In stories published in 1987, he is revealed to be the first Hobgoblin, and is murdered by theForeigner.[9] In a 1997 story, Leeds isretroactively established to have been brainwashed by Roderick Kingsley to act as a stand-in on many occasions and fool the underworld into thinking that he was the Hobgoblin, and Kingsley takes back over the role.[10] A clone of the character is introduced inDead No More: The Clone Conspiracy. Leeds is revived in a 2021 story showing that, under the influence of the brainwashing, he ingested a copy of the Goblin formula which revived him shortly after his initial assassination, and went into hiding.[11] In a 2022 story, Ned and Kingsley are brainwashed by theQueen Goblin into both resuming their roles as Hobgoblins once more.[8] InSymbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality, Ned's Hobgoblin is revealed to have trained as a sorcerer underBaron Mordo in the art ofreality-alteringchaos magic.[12]
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Roderick Kingsley became a socialite, fashion designer and billionaire with criminal underworld connections by using unethical business practices and corporate raiding. Kingsley was an employer ofMary Jane Watson for a time.[13] As a means of avoiding the drill of day-to-day appearances, he has his timididentical twin brother Daniel Kingsley pose as him to run his corporation.[14] Kingsley's activities give him many enemies, one of which is Bella Donna (Narda Ravanna), a rival fashion designer whose business he ruined. She attempts revenge on Kingsley but is twice thwarted bySpider-Man.[15][16][17]
After these incidents, Kingsley seeks to protect himself and his empire by gaining more power. The thug George Hill reports to Kingsley of stumbling uponNorman Osborn's secret lair in hopes of earning a reward. Kingsley instead kills Hill to make sure that no one else gets wind of the discovery.[18] Upon examining the lair and gleaning its secrets, Kingsley decides to use the Goblin equipment. Arriving to the conclusion that all the previousGreen Goblin mantle wearers went mad, he creates a similar but different mantle: the Hobgoblin identity.[18] He uses some of Osborn's files to blackmail prominent figures,[19] and attempts to buy Osborn's old corporationOscorp and merge it with his own.[20] These schemes bring him into conflict with Spider-Man, to whom he repeatedly loses, as he lacks raw physical power.[21] Among Osborn's notes, Kingsley finds remnants ofMendel Stromm's strength enhancing potion and eventually perfects it, but, aware that Osborn was driven insane, Kingsley opts to test on someone else first.[22] He tricks small-time hoodLefty Donovan after using a mind-control device developed byGerhard Winkler (Osborn's former employee), the "Winkler Device", able to turn anyone into a Hobgoblin enthralled to another. Kingsley monitors his pawn's vital signs and behavior from a distance. When Spider-Man overwhelms and unmasks Donovan and the brainwashing begins to fail, Kingsley acts to protect his identity by programming Donovan'sglider to crash into a building, instantly killing Donovan.[22][23] Judging the experiment a success, Kingsley immerses himself in his completed formula derivative and gains greater strength than the original Goblin. He uses this strength to battle Spider-Man and theBlack Cat.[24] Despite his increased abilities, he is still narrowly defeated by Spider-Man. Worse, he attracts the attention of powerful criminal interests who perceive him as a threat, including theKingpin.[19] After a bitter encounter with Spider-Man,[25][26] Kingsley discoversDaily Bugle reporterNed Leeds investigating his lair.[10] Kingsley captures and brainwashes Leeds with the Winkler Device into being the Hobgoblin.[10]
The Hobgoblin kidnapsHarry Osborn. He battles Osborn who uses his own father's weaponry against the Hobgoblin.[27] During the events ofSecret Wars II, the Hobgoblin is recruited byMephisto to join the Legion Accursed, a team of ninety-nine supervillains who try to destroy theBeyonder.[28] Leeds works withRichard Fisk on a plan to bring down the Kingpin's empire as Richard adopts theRose crime lord identity, using Leeds to handle some negotiations. As Leeds gets too erratic to function as a decoy, Kingsley arranges for Leeds to be assassinated byJason Macendale and theForeigner while on a trip to Berlin, and retires from the Hobgoblin identity.
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After several years, Kingsley returns to New York. He kills Macendale to prevent him from giving the authorities information that would jeopardize his secret identity in addition to seeing Macendale as an unworthy successor.[14] Learning thatBetty Brant has begun to investigate Ned's activities as the Hobgoblin—informed of the truth by Spider-Man after deciding that the Foreigner's human operatives could never have killed Leeds if Leeds had been super-powered—Kingsley kidnaps Betty and sets a trap for Spider-Man.[29] In the final fracas, Daniel is captured and the Hobgoblin is unmasked, clearing Ned's name. Roderick is taken to prison, imprisoned in the same cell where he killed Macendale.[10]
Furious at Norman Osborn's return and denial of being the Green Goblin, Kingsley spreads rumors of a secret journal that proves beyond doubt that Osborn was the Goblin, actually a ruse, knowing Osborn has been sending spies on him: all of the journals in his possession were destroyed during a battle with Spider-Man years before.[25] He offers to barter this information, for his freedom, with the District Attorney, guessing that Osborn will try to get to him first. Osborn, deciding to make a deal with Kingsley, breaks him out of prison. Kingsley is confronted by both Osborn and another Green Goblin.[30] Osborn provides Kingsley with new Goblin equipment, and both Goblins swoop in to collect Daniel, now in protective custody, who Roderick claims knows the final journal's location. Spider-Man defends Daniel, but is drugged and both men are taken back to Osborn.[31] Osborn knew Kingsley was lying about the journal and has bought Kingsley's company out from underneath him; the purpose of helping Kingsley escape is for Osborn to personally eliminate the one person who can prove that he is the Goblin. Kingsley attacks Osborn, who is shocked that Kingsley fails at killing him despite being stronger. The building burns as a result of their battle, and Spider-Man escapes with Daniel. With several million dollars hidden away in foreign bank accounts, Kingsley moves to a small island in the Caribbean to enjoy his retirement.[32]
Kingsley is seemingly killed byPhil Urich, who takes on the Hobgoblin mantle,[33] but this was in fact Daniel with Roderick still active in Ecuador under the alias ofDevil-Spider. Roderick learns of his brother's murder[34] and returns to New York City and the Hobgoblin role, intending to go after Urich.[35] Kingsley attacks Urich and the Kingpin in Shadowland. After a brief battle between the two Hobgoblins, Parker andMax Modell escape with the Goblin Key (a key to one of the Goblin warehouses). Kingsley and Urich call a brief truce and go after them.[36] After accessing the warehouse, Peter uses the Goblin tech to make himself a "Spider-Glider" and escapes. Urich insists on going after but Kingsley stuns Urich with a taser so they can both escape. Kingsley decides to let Urich remain the Hobgoblin, but only if Urich gives him a cut of whatever profits are made.[37]
Kingsley obtains one ofMysterio's suits, which he sells to a criminal who takes on the name Mysterion.[38] He sells theCrime Master's gear to an unnamedMaggia operative.[39] Hobgoblin ends up in a gang war with theGoblin Nation, selling equipment to low-level criminals who became the latest versions of8-Ball,Answer, Blaze, Devil-Spider,Gibbon,Hitman,Killer Shrike,Mauler,Melter,Ringer,Steeplejack,Tumbler, andUnicorn as well as a new villain named Bruin who wears one ofGrizzly's old exoskeleton bear suits.[40] He is killed by the first Goblin King while his henchmen are claimed for the Goblin Nation, but his butler Claude went in his place so that his enemies could be distracted and Kingsley is actually in Paris. Kingsley decides to lay low once again working on his personal empire.[41] Kingsley sells costumes and gear that make the latest versions ofHydro-Man,Tiger Shark,Squid,[42] andBeetle.[43]
During the "AXIS" storyline, Kingsley appears as a member of Magneto's unnamed supervillain group during the fight against theRed Skull'sRed Onslaught form. When Magneto arrives to recruit him, Kingsley attacks and is subjugated and forced to join Magneto's team.[44] Kingsley accompanies Magneto and the other villains recruited to Genosha.[45] The inversion spell caused byDoctor Doom and Scarlet Witch affects not only the Red Skull but all those present in Genosha, making the superheroes present evil and the supervillains present good. Following his inversion, Kingsley returns to New York and finds himself happier with his inversion, although still motivated by greed rather than altruism. He reactivates his franchises where he leases the personas and costumes of deceased or retired superheroes to ordinary people, but remains a wanted criminal. He also enfranchises his Hobgoblin persona to various people to perform heroic deeds as Hobgoblin and publishes a comic about the group for promotion. Among those who answer an ad are the amnesiacLily Hollister and the underemployed teenager John Myers. Other attendees include a differentDemolition Man, Flower Girl, Leather Boy, a character resemblingAnti-Venom, a newRazorback, and a new Water Wizard. He sets a three phase program including a book and various articles with his brand and underground speeches named after Ned for people to make their own franchises in exchange for a share of their profits.[46] Kingsley debuts his Hob-Heroes: Lily as Queen Cat, Myers as Missile Mate, Flower Girl, Leatherboy, Rocket Head, and Water Wizard. When the second Goblin King confronts Kingsley in his headquarters, Myers is convinced by Urich's claims that Kingsley will soon abandon the heroes he has trained. Missile Mate goes to Urich's headquarters and asks to join to be a supervillain. Urich is reluctant, but Myers shows also gathering all the supervillains Kingsley "abandoned" after being a good guy.[47] When the celebration of a "Hobgoblin Day" is being held with a parade in Kingsley's honor, Missile Mate betrays Kingsley and attempts to murder him in the Goblin King's name. Kingsley has already expected the betrayal and has been using a hologram decoy which takes Missile Mate's blow. As soon as Kinglsey confronts Missile Mate, Urich appears with the Goblin Nation and attacks the celebration. Kingsley bests Urich in combat and leaves his rival to the authorities. After, he is approached by Steve Rogers to be part of a team of Avengers with the objective to stop the inverted X-Men from detonating a gene bomb which would kill everyone on the Earth who wasn't a mutant.[48] The Avengers team that Kingsley joins is called the Astonishing Avengers.[49] After the reinversion spell is cast to restore the Avengers and X-Men members that were affected by it back to the side of good, Kingsley is evil again.[50]
Kingsley was also revealed to have sold one ofGoldbug's costume to an unnamed criminal to establish his version of Goldbug.[51]
Kingsley starts to get his old franchises back under control. Outside of recruitingBlizzard, Kingsley regains his former minions Beetle, Bruin, Hitman, Ringer, and Unicorn as well as establishing his versions ofCutthroat,Diamondback,Mockingbird, andViper. When franchiseePorcupine informs him of an intent to end the contract, Kingsley tries to kill with a Pumpkin Bomb to reclaim said suit for future franchisees.[52] In the resulting battle with Porcupine and crimefighting mentorSpider-Woman, Kingsley is taken down byCaptain Marvel.[53]
Kingsley turns up as a member of the Sinister Six led by the Iron Spider. He accompanies the Sinister Six in a plot to steal a decommissioned S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.[54]
Kingsley later attempted to enter into a business deal with the sin-purged Osborn who returned the companies he had stolen from Kingsley years earlier in an attempt to put an end to their ongoing feud. Subsequently, in the storyline "The Hobgoblins' Last Stand", both Kingsley and Leeds are brainwashed by theQueen Goblin using theWinkler Device into both resuming their roles as Hobgoblins once more, serving as her maniacal enforcers.[8]
During the "Gang War" storyline, the Hobgoblin is shown to runBushwick, Brooklyn,Greenpoint, Brooklyn, andWilliamsburg, Brooklyn, having broken free from the Queen Goblin's influence.[55] Hobgoblin is shown looking at a map of Brooklyn.[56] The Hobgoblin approachesAaron Davis outside his apartment for help with a "spider problem".[57] The Hobgoblin and the Prowler provide weapons for the Enforcers in order to sway them to Hobgoblin's side. The Hobgoblin later watches the altercation between the newSpider-Man and the Cape Killers on his screen.[58] As the Hobgoblin works withRabble on an invention using technology stolen from theBeyond Corporation, they also mention plan to go after theQueen Goblin. In addition to keep his hideout safe, Hobgoblin had hired Goldbug,Lady Stilt-Man,Man-Bull,Mr. Fish,Ricadonna, andShocker to be his hired muscle. When Spider-Man, the Prowler, Ms. Marvel, andCape-Killers member Gust enter the building, Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel are ambushed by the Hobgoblin and Rabble.[59] During Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, and Gust's fight with the Hobgoblin and Rabble, Spider-Man notices that the Hobgoblin's suit has been upgraded as the Hobgoblin's drones show up. In the nick of time, the Scorpion, Shift, and Starling show up after the Scorpion convincing the hired villains to turn against the Hobgoblin when the Scorpion asked them when was the last time a Goblin had followed through on their promises that were made to them. While Rabble gets away, the Hobgoblin sets off every one of his pumpkin bombs vowing to see Spider-Man soon. After everyone evacuates, the hideout explodes, although Spider-Man doubts that the Hobgoblin died in the explosion.[60]
Roderick Kingsley hiresItsy Bitsy to take outRhino, who givesRhino drugs that drive him berserk. Spider-Man is given the same drugs, but manages to overcome the hallucinations caused by them. He webs up Itsy Bitsy and then goes after Hobgoblin. Hobgoblin attacks Rand Enterprises and targets Brian Nehring and Maira Osmani-Milton. Before Hobgoblin can take them out, Spider-Man arrives and webs up Hobgoblin's flight pack. Hobgoblin removes it and runs after Brian and Maira. As Spider-Man fights Hobgoblin, Brian throws a mushroom whose spores cause Hobgoblin to hallucinate being swarmed by spiders, causing him to flee.[61]
Outside the courthouse, Roderick Kingsley was with his lawyer at a press conference as his lawyer states that he showed up as a courtesy. The prosecutors dropped the charges against him in the cola-tampering case and plan to find the people who accused his client. Norman Osborn was present and privately congratulated Kingsley on getting acquitted. Before leaving, Kingsley states to Osborn that he lost his edge when he stopped being Green Goblin and denied sending an assassin after him stating that he would've done it himself. This was witnessed by a mysterious hooded person who tells his people that they have a new ally to their cause. Kingsley later meets with these people who are shown to have grievances with Osborn.[62]
Arnold Samuel "Lefty"Donovan was a petty thug until he was exposed to the Goblin formula, disfiguring Donovan's face and granting superhuman abilities. Donovan is taken to a hospital. Brainwashed by the Winkler Device, Donovan eventually escapes the hospital and follows preprogrammed instructions to go to a hidden cache of Goblin weapons and dress up as the Hobgoblin.[22] Donovan attacks New York City but Spider-Man confronts and unmasks him. Spider-Man recognizes Lefty. As Donovan shakes off some of his programing and starts talking, Kingsley programs the Goblin glider to crash into the side of a building, killing Lefty on impact.[23]
Jason Philip Macendale Jr. was a mercenary who had been trained by theCIA (and various para-military organizations). He appeared as the supervillainJack O'Lantern before adopting the Hobgoblin identity.[63]
An unidentified fifth Hobgoblin was introduced in the seriesSecret War. He received his equipment from theTinkerer. He is sent along withLady Octopus to attackCaptain America in his civilian identity by a terrorist.[64] This Hobgoblin is jailed along with the various defeated villains after the conclusion of the "War".[65]
Daniel Kingsley is Roderick Kingsley's twin brother. He acts as a body double until he is exposed byBetty Brant while the true Hobgoblin is unmasked by Spider-Man.[10] In protective custody, Daniel is unknowingly used by Roderick to blackmail Norman Osborn, resulting in the Hobgoblin swooping in to collect Daniel. Spider-Man defends Daniel but is drugged while Daniel passes out and both are taken to Osborn.[66] As Kingsley and Osborn fight each other, Daniel is rescued by Spider-Man.[67] Kingsley later returns to New York, posing as his twin brother as the Hobgoblin.[34] Kingsley investigates an old lair at OsCorp which has a flaming energy sword, but discovers Phil Urich trying to retrieve the same gear. Kingsley is stunned by Urich's "Lunatic Laugh" long enough for Urich to kill him using his own sword, allowing Ulrich to claim the Hobgoblin mantle.[33]
Phillip Benjamin "Phil" Urich (who once used the Green Goblin identity to operate as a superhero) took on the Hobgoblin identity as a supervillain with some new gear (new body armor, a winged jetpack, and a flaming energy sword).[33]
Norman Osborn briefly impersonated the original Hobgoblin.[68]
Claude was Roderick'sbutler who was sent in place and to talk like his master to distract the Goblin Nation. He fought against and was killed in battle by the Goblin Knight who then discovered it was Claude who was killed and destroyed his body to keep the Goblin King from finding out about the imposter Hobgoblin.[69]
As the Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley wears bulletproof mail with an overlapping tunic, cape, and cowl. A computerized system cybernetically causes the finger-blasters to randomly vary their attack vectors when trained on a particular target. He uses a Goblin glider, a one-man miniature turbo-fan-powered vertical thrust, cybernetically-controlled vehicle. It can reach high velocities and is extremely maneuverable. He uses concussion and incendiaryJack O'Lanterns, wraith-shaped smoke and gas-emitting bombs, bat shaped razor-edged throwing blades, and gloves woven with micro-circuited power conducting filaments which channel pulsed discharges of electricity. He wore a shoulder bag to carry his small, portable weaponry.[18]
Prior to his assassination,Ned Leeds wore the Hobgoblin's uniform and used the Goblin glider and equipment which included Jack O'Lantern bombs, razor bats and electrical shock gloves. However, he had no healing factor or superhuman strength.[10] Following his ingesting the Goblin Formula and subsequent resurrection, Ned developed superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, and stamina as well as a low-level rapid healing factor,[70] the latter of which allow him to survive otherwise fatal gunshot wounds.[71] Wieldingchaos magic following his training as a sorcerer underBaron Mordo, Ned's Hobgoblin is capable of sensing other magic users, as well as casting spells relating to flight,teleportation, time manipulation, elemental manipulation, and reality warping, using the latter skill to rewrite reality around Spider-Man and himself to make himselfSorcerer Supreme, before he is defeated by Spider-Man, although he is able to use his magic to fake his death in the aftermath, before returning years later under the guise of having been a "patsy for the 'real' Hobgoblin", free to resume his plans.[12]
As the Hobgoblin,Phil Urich wears an orange Hobgoblin costume with wings on the back that allow him to fly without the use of a Goblin glider and he took the Hobgoblin mask as his own. He uses the traditional Pumpkin Bombs all Green Goblins and Hobgoblins before him have used, but he also has a new flaming sword.[33] He still retains his "Lunatic Laugh" and he also has superhuman strength, speed, durability, stamina, reflexes and senses, and enhanced intellect. For unknown reasons, he no longer needs his Goblin mask to activate this power. With the help of Reverbium, his "Lunatic Laugh" was able to cause a building to collapse.[72]
During the "Secret Wars" storyline in the pages ofAmazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, the Roderick Kingsley version of the Hobgoblin appears as a member ofRegent's Sinister Six where they are tasked to hunt down Spider-Man.[73] During the fight with Spider-Man, the Hobgoblin's hand was webbed up by Spider-Man before he could throw his Pumpkin Bomb which led to Hobgoblin getting killed in its explosion.[74]
| Hobgoblin 2211 | |
|---|---|
 Hobgoblin 2211 (left) andSpider-Man 2211. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man (November 1995) |
| Created by | Peter David Rick Leonardi |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Robin Borne |
| Species | Human mutate |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability and reflexes Genius-level intellect Use of goblin-themed weapons and paraphernalia |
Hobgoblin 2211 first appears inSpider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man. While her costume sports the twentieth-century Green Goblins' green-and-purple color scheme, she boasted that she was the Hobgoblin of 2211. Her identity was not revealed to readers (or to the visiting Spider-Men of previous eras) at the time, but her later reappearance inFriendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (also written by David) revealed her true identity and origin.
Hobgoblin 2211 isRobin "Hobby"/"Hob" Borne,Spider-Man's daughter. Her father always seemed to put his superhero career before raising his own daughter. She wanted to save the universes from 'intersecting'; in other words, 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: unauthorized 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 anUncle 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.
In the last issue ofJLA/Avengers, the Hobgoblin is among the enthralled villains defendingKrona's stronghold, and is defeated byHawkgirl.[75]
In this continuity, the Hobgoblin is an unidentified criminal who found a stash of Green Goblin's weaponry because he had forgotten to leave the entrance locked. Delighted at his new technological power he challenges the Green Goblin to a confrontation. Spider-Man defeats them both.[76]
The Roderick Kingsley version of Hobgoblin made hisMC2 debut as a hired assassin to kill many of the Spider-Girl characters, including Normie Osborn,Spider-Girl, and Peter Parker.[77] 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 theVenomsymbiote, and also in escaping without a trace.[78] He attempted a complex plot to become the new kingpin of crime, but was undone due to an act of treachery by his partner, theMindworm. Killing the Mindworm, and deciding the New York underworld had become too "hot" for him at the moment, he chose to return to the Caribbean, but vowed someday to come back and finish off Spider-Girl.[79] He is later revealed to be the instigator of a mob war against theBlack Tarantula, returning to New York to finish the job.[80] He defeatedAmerican Dream and theNew Warriors. He then dropped them from a great height, planning to kill Spider-Girl as she tried to save them. However, he himself was then killed by Mayhem, Spider-Girl's half-symbiote clone.[81]
Harold "Harry"Osborn is an equivalent of the Hobgoblin in two different Marvel continuities.
In "The Amazing Spider-Man" newspaper strip by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber, Harry as the Hobgoblin has repeatedly attacked Spider-Man, seeking vengeance for Norman Osborn's death. After trying to kill both Spider-Man and Black Widow after, under hypnotic influence of psychiatrist "Dr. Stone" (actually spy-assassin Dimitri Gregorin who has killed friends of the Black Widow in the past), Harry, seeing Spider-Man's heroism, realizes that Spider-Man is a hero, his father was a murderer, and vows to never assume the Hobgoblin identity again.
TheUltimate Marvel equivalent of the Hobgoblin is Harry when a second personality takes control.[82][83]
In the pages ofOld Man Logan that took place on Earth-21923, the Roderick Kingsley version of Hobgoblin was among the villains that attacked the Avengers in Connecticut. He worked with theVulture to fight Wasp only for the Wasp to use her stingers to shoot the Hobgoblin off his Goblin Glider.[84]
Around the events ofAmazing Spider-Man #258 (November 1984), the Hobgoblin battles with black suit Spider-Man; during the fight, the Hobgoblin is unmasked as Roderick Kingsley, so Spider-Man threatens to Kingsley to not attack innocent civilians anymore. Kingsley causes an explosion atMay Parker's house when he sees Spider-Man change into Peter Parker using the Venom symbiote; The symbiote shifts blame into Kingsley for May's death, and changes into a monstrous form. Spider-Man uses his fingers to kill Kingsley who is regarded as Spider-Man's first victim.[85]
In theSpider-Geddon event on Earth-11580, a version of Hobgoblin is seen alongside theGreen Goblin,Jack O'Lantern andDemogoblin during the Goblin Night. Under the orders of theGoblin Queen, they try to killGwen Stacy, butSpiders-Man arrives and defeats the Goblins.[86]
In the alternate continuity ofSpider-Gwen, theGreen Goblin uses an army of Hobgoblin-based androids to assist him during his assault againstSpider-Woman.[87]
The "Spider-Verse" had two versions of Hobgoblin:
Overwhelmed with rage over the death of Gwen Stacy, the Earth-21205 version of Peter Parker, as Spider-Man, murdered the Green Goblin and later retired his Spider-Man identity. He soon after became "the Goblin", a villain similar in costume to the Hobgoblin. This character was later targeted by Verna of the Inheritors (alongside theHoundsScorpion andRhino) as a Spider-Totem. TheSpider-Woman of Earth-65 attempted to recruit him into a growing army of Spiders to protect him from the Inheritors, but he initially turned the offer down. When Spider-Woman revealed herself to be an alternate version of Gwen, he sacrificed himself to save her as atonement for failing to do so in his own dimension.[88]
The Earth-001 version of Hobgoblin appeared as a member of Verna's Hounds alongside the multiple Green Goblins. The Hobgoblin and the other goblin-themed Hounds attackedSilk, Spider-Woman of Earth-65, and Black Widow of Earth-1610.[89] He is killed by theSuperior Spider-Man, Assassin Spider-Man, andSpider-Punk.[89]
In the 2007Spider-Man/Red Sonja mini-series, the Hobgoblin was one of several supervillains who was transformed into asword-and-sorcery version of themselves due to the spell cast byKulan Gath. It was never specified which version of Hobgoblin it was.
In 2009, anIGN list of the top 100 comic book villains ranked the Roderick Kingsley incarnation of the Hobgoblin as the 57th best.[90]
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A Hobgoblin mask appears inSpider-Man 3 (2007) as part ofNorman Osborn's secret lab.[105][106][107]
The Ned Leeds incarnation of the Hobgoblin appears inThe Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, voiced byPat Fraley.
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