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Background
Normie Osborn has led a very full life for someone so young. His
life has been in danger since before he was even born, but that's an
unfortunate consequence of being the son and grandson of two Green
Goblins.
It was his notorious bloodline that caused his pregnant mother, Liz
Osborn, to be kidnapped by the original Hobgoblin, who hoped to
learn the secrets of the original Green Goblin and threatened to
"spare the world the birth of another mad Osborn"(ASM 261).
Hobgoblin's hopes of acquiring Norman Osborn's journals from Harry
Osborn were ended by Spider-Man but Normie was nearly kidnapped a
second time soon after his birth by none other than his own
grandfather (PP: Spider-Man #25 vol. 2). Norman decided that
Spider-Man would be the true heir to the Osborn Legacy and turned
his attention away from Normie.
Normie was raised by his parents, unaware that his grandfather had
faked his death and was living in Europe. As Normie grew older, he
showed a strong hatred of Spider-Man, demonstrated by his repeated
crushing of his Spider-Man action figure and muttering, "Kill the
Spider...break his back...Kill the Spider...break his back." This hatred
was probably caused by the fact that the second Hobgoblin attacked
his home, also looking for the secrets of Norman Osborn (Web #47).
Spider-Man fought off the attack, but all that the frightened child
understood was that the man in the red and blue costume was part of
a scary situation.
The experience also unhinged Harry, who began to remember his own
brief stint as the second Green Goblin, shortly after Norman's
"death." His memories returning, Harry railed against Spider-Man, no
doubt deepening Normie's own fledgling hatred of the hero. Harry
again became the Green Goblin, tried to kill Spider-Man and failed,
losing his life in the process. Normie was at Harry's side and in
Spider-Man's company when his father died, giving him one more
reason to hate the wall crawler.
Unfortunately, Harry did even more damage to Normie's young mind posthumously,
when a trio of robotic Goblin women kidnapped the boy
and tried to expose him to the toxic, strength enhancing Goblin
formula. Again, Spider-Man came to the rescue, with the help of the
reformed Molten Man (Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil).
While Normie could have been killed (unintentionally) by a Green
Goblin in his previous adventure, he was saved by one in his next.
Liz Osborn became the CEO of Osborn Industries after Harry's death,
which made her and Normie the target of a kidnapping and ransom plot
by the criminal called Angel Face and her sidekicks: Salt and
Pepper. Liz had set up a meeting with the heroic fourth Green Goblin (Phil
Urich)
and when she didn't arrive at the agreed time, the Goblin flew to
her apartment and quickly disabled Salt and Pepper. Angel Face took
the opportunity to flee with Normie to the parking garage, where he
bit her, forcing her to let him go. She was ready to shoot the kid
when the Goblin showed up and finger blasted the gun out of her
hand. The Goblin's reward was a punch in the face from the angry
brat, who screamed, "You're not my daddy! You're not!" (Green Goblin
#8)
Peter Parker tried his best to steer Normie away from his dark
heritage by being a positive role model (Spectacular Spider-Man
Annual #14) but Normie was too aware of his father being the Green
Goblin and eagerly awaited the Goblin's return. After Norman
Osborn's self imposed exile in Europe ended, he had a bionic
construct (I don't understand it, either) dress up as the Goblin and
kidnap Normie. The boy willingly went along with the impostor
Goblin, believing it to be his father and Norman offered a ten
million dollar reward for the boy's safe return, all part of a
scheme to prove that Norman wasn't the original Green Goblin. While
Spider-Man battled the fake Goblin, a civilian named Clarence
Fielding rescued Norman Jr. from the junk yard when he was being
held, despite the boy's protests (Spectacular Spider-Man #255).
In a way, Normie's next kidnapping was a lucky turn for the boy.
After Norman Osborn had been defeated after the Gathering of Five
ceremony, the cult of the Scriers faced a sort of civil war over the
role of their deposed leader. A rebel Scrier kidnapped Normie in an
attempt to draw Norman out into the open and be killed, using a
hologram of Harry Osborn to gain Normie's trust. After Spidey saved
Normie yet again, the Harry hologram spoke to Normie in private,
telling him that Spider-Man was his friend, that his grandfather
couldn't be trusted and that Spider-Man had nothing to do with
Harry's death. For the first time, Normie Osborn trusted Spider-Man
and Spidey took the boy home to Liz.
That new found trust could easily be all that saves Norman Jr. from
his increasingly unstable grandfather. In a subsequent battle with
Spider-Man, Norman taunted Peter, saying "Fact is, the boy is too
much like his father. Dirty genes cant be scrubbed out when the
stain is that stubborn. Just imagine: The same pitiful traits as
Harry, the same worthless soul, the same weakness...No. I cant have
him weaseling his way in on all of the loot when I'm gone. I'll
dispose of the little ape, as I should have done the day he was
born." Filled with rage, Peter growled, "I'll kill you" (PP:
Spider-Man #46). That's where the boys life stands, between two
powerful men of equal determination, who are willing to kill for
him.
Recently, a new threat, unrelated to Norman Osborn, attacked Norman Jr. After
Peter Parker revealed his secret ID during Civil War, the Chameleon joined
Scarecrow, Will O'Wisp and coerced the Molten Man into holding Normie and
Liz hostage to draw out Peter. Peter saved Normie and Liz with the help of the
Black Cat and returned to Avengers Tower just in time to see that Aunt
May
saved herself from the Chameleon.
Thanks To:
Some of the above information is extracted from the various
versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent
Marvel Encyclopaedias.
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