Supervillain Origins: The Hobgoblin

Supervillain Origins: The Hobgoblin

He took over where the Green Goblin left off. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we will explore the comic book origins of Roderick Kingsley, otherwise known as the Hobgoblin.

As with most comic book characters, there are often re-imaginings and different versions to a character’s past. We have chosen to primarily follow the storyline that unfolded in 1983’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” #238, which was expanded upon in 1997’s 3 part mini-series “Hobgoblin Lives.’

A shadowy nemesis of Spider-Man, this villain is unique for both being the unofficial heir to a deceased foe, the Green Goblin, and for having had his true identity shrouded in mystery for nearly a decade. That was before it was ultimately revealed that he was famous fashion designer Roderick Kingsley.

In the beginning, before he was a well-known player in Peter Parker’s world, this villain used criminal associates to smear the reputations of his competitors.

As it turned out, one of his associates, a petty crook named George Hill was on the run from Spider-Man. This led him to hide in the sewers in order to lose the web slinger. This led him to accidentally locate the secret lair of the Green Goblin.

Informing Kingsley, his boss arrived to inspect what he had found. Recognizing the power and importance of the find for his criminal endeavors, Kingsley killed his associate, relocated all his findings and burned original the place down, before beginning to dive into Norman Osborn’s journals and experiment with his technology.

Deciding to take the theatrical route to crime, while still operating his fashion empire, Kingsley modified the Green Goblin Costume to make it more fearsome. He also improved the available equipment and weapons, despite having no background in engineering, though he had a keen analytical mind.

While stealing resources and technology from Osborn manufacturing, such as an armored battlewagon, he began to yearn for a chance to succeed when Osborn had failed, with the death of Spider-Man. However, during their first battle he was quickly defeated, since he lacked the Green Goblin’s enhanced super strength.

This caused him to reproduce Osborn’s formula, while filtering out the problems that caused insanity. Again, he achieved this despite having no formal training in the field of chemistry either, not that readers seemed to mind at the time.

Testing the formula on another henchman named Lefty, Kingsley sent him out to as the Hobgoblin to face Spider-Man. When Lefty failed his mission, Kingsley killed him to by controlling the glider and crashing it into a building so that the mess couldn’t be traced back to him. However, Spider-Man suspected the deception.

Afterward, Kingsley used the Hobgoblin persona to blackmail the well-known socialites of New York. This led to Spiderman track the Hobgoblin to his lair. There he destroyed all of the journals written by Norman Osborn. A final battle with Spiderman ended with the Hobgoblin’s battlewagon flying into the river, leaving the floating Goblin mask as the only trace of the villain.

Surviving, the Hobgoblin opted to brainwash and frame others in order to have them take on the identity of the Hobgoblin, including Peter’s friend Flash Thompson.

Eventually, longtime fans where shocked when the Hobgoblin was finally unmasked and shown to be Roderick Kingsley, a minor character from the 1980s. He had apparently gone undetected since he has frequently used his twin Daniel to help create alibies and appear at Hobgoblin attacks!

A Spider-Man foe yet to receive the silver screen treatment, the Hobgoblin did appear on small screen in the 1994 cartoon series, as a henchmen hired by Norman Osborn.

Leading up to this, he provided comic book fans with a much-needed break from the Green Goblin, and gave the series with a compelling and long running mystery. That is, of course, until the Green Goblin eventually returned to retake his mantle.

Are you a fan of the yellow-faced Goblin, or do you prefer the original of the green variety? For more in depth comic book origins, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.