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Attributes

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Eyes: Blue or gray, depending on who is doing the coloring.

Hair: White

Features: May actually be his older, balding brother impersonating him; you always want to tug on the hair and see if there's a hairpiece involved!

Summary

Created By: Roger Stern, John Romita, Jr., John Romita, Sr.

Real Name: Roderick Kingsley

Current Aliases: None

Former Aliases: None, although he was often impersonated by his brother Daniel

Dual Identity: Yes

Current Occupation: Convicted Criminal

Former Occupation: Fashion Designer, Corporate Head

Citizenship: U.S.

Legal Status: Criminal record

Place of Birth: U.S.

Marital Status: Single

Known Relatives: Daniel Kingsley, older brother

Known Confidants: Just Daniel, who didn't always appreciate it!

Known Allies: Ned Leeds, under brainwashing. Donovan (Hobgoblin II). The Rose, under the assumption he was dealing with Ned Leeds.

Major Enemies: Spider-Man, Betty Brant

Usual Bases: New York City

Former Bases: None

Current Groups: None

Former Groups: None

Education: College

Powers & Paraphenalia

Strength Level: "Nearly" that of Spider-Man's.

Powers: None other than super-human strength.

Abilities: The ability to maintain his balance while riding that glider thingy (hey, that always impressed me!)

Equipment: The vertical-thrust goblin glider, which was powered by a miniature turbo-fan. It could go up to 90 miles per hour and support 400 pounds.

Weapons: Jack O'Lantern bombs, razor-edged bat-wings, and gloves capable of conducting pulses of electricity upwards of 10,000 volts.

Limitations: Over-confidence. And an unshakable belief in his own sanity when he was clearly tottering on the edge of insanity.

Background

A fashion designer who used questionable and ruthless business practices, Roderick developed a financial empire that reached far beyond the fashion industry. It were these hostile business practices that brought him into contact with Narda Ravanna, a rival fashion designer. He forced her out of business, and she attempted revenge on him as Belladonna. Kingsley barely survived her attacks, and he knew that he needed a way to protect himself if he was going to make so many enemies.

Luck was good to him, as a bank robber named Georgie (who escaped into the sewers after his comrades were captured by Spider-Man) stumbled upon one of the secret headquarters of the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn. Eliminating Georgie and taking Osborn's journals, costumes and weapons, Kingsley renamed himself the Hobgoblin.

Roderick searched for and found the original Goblin formula. After modifying the formula in a manner that he hoped would avoid the insanity side effect, he found that it gave him strength nearly equivalent to that of his arch-enemy, Spider-Man.

As the Hobgoblin, Roderick went on a black-mail binge meant to cripple his major competitors, including J. Jonah Jameson, whom he knew had created the Scorpion to defeat Spider-Man. He also kidnapped the pregnant Liz Osborn and Mary Jane Watson to force Harry Osborn into giving Hobgoblin more of Norman's journals. After a fight with Spider-Man left everyone assuming he had drowned, Roderick decided that the direct criminal approach wasn't for him.

He brainwashed the news reporter Ned Leeds into thinking he was the Hobgoblin, and used Leeds as a puppet. Under Kingsley's direction, Leeds helped Richard Fisk become the Rose and aided Fisk during the Gang Wars against the Kingpin that almost destroyed New York City. Becoming bored with being a behind-the-scenes mastermind, and finding that Leeds was increasingly uncontrollable, Kingsley leaked word that Leeds was the Hobgoblin. After Leeds was murdered, Roderick left his brother Daniel in charge of the Kingsley business and retired to Europe for many years.

Although at first amused that the Hobgoblin identity was taken over by another criminal, Jason Macendale, Kingsley became annoyed with Macendale when Jason brought unwanted publicity with the announcement that Ned Leeds was the original Hobgoblin. At the time, the public at large had always assumed that only one person had ever been the Hobgoblin; the resulting uproar threatened to uncover the unsavory business practices of Kingsley's corporation. Returning from Europe, Kingsley murdered Macendale and again assumed the Hobgoblin identity. Determined sleuthing by Ned Leeds' widow Betty Brant uncovered Kingsley's trail. With the help of Spider-Man, she discovered the secret of the Kingsley brothers and cleared the name of her late husband. Kingsley was defeated by Spider-Man and sent to prison.

With the return of Norman Osborn, Kingsley leaked the word of having proof that Norman was the original Green Goblin - one surviving journal. This was a guise to make Norman remove him from jail. Once out, it didn't take much time for Norman to realize Kingsley's intentions, and they fought. The result was a tie, as they both escaped, and they both won something with it: Osborn took over Kingsley's corporation, and Kingsley still maintained some bank accounts that Norman wasn't aware of, so he escaped to the Caribbean. He's presumed to still be there, enjoying the sun, but we can expect the return of the Hobgoblin one day.

Thanks To:

The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.

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