With so much of Spider-Man's time currently being focused on symbiotes during the Absolute Carnage event, it can be easy to sometimes forget that for the longest time, aliens weren't Spidey's biggest problem. That honor belonged to the costumed and powered characters known as Goblins.
We've seen Goblins of all colors over the years, which have sometimes featured some incredible character mashups and upgrades, and with recent news that Red Goblin: Red Death would further explore Norman's fusion with the Carnage symbiote, we decided the time was right to find out how the Goblin Army stacked up against each other, and who was the most powerful Goblin?
10 HOBGOBLIN IV
Jason Macendale was a former CIA agent turned mercenary who adopted the costumed identity of Jack O' Lantern before taking on the costume and gear of Hobgoblin. Macendale had no connection to either Kingsley or any Goblins and instead relied on stealing tech from caches he discovered around the city, which would become a common theme for other Goblins.
Macendale never had the Goblin formula to enhance himself, so he would seek new ways to augment his abilities over the years, including demonic bargaining, Kraven's strength-enhancing serum, and later cybernetic technology. A defenseless Macendale would later be killed while in prison by the original Hobgoblin when he reclaimed his title.
9 MONSTER
Following the erasure of Peter and Mary Jane's marriage in the highly controversial "One More Day" storyline, a number of new characters were introduced into Peter Parker and Spider-Man's life. NYPD forensics scientist Carlie Cooper was one of Peter's first big love interests after his deal with the devil made him a single man again.
Carlie would be forcibly inducted into Norman's Goblin Army after he covered her in a new Goblin formula and transformed her into Monster. Cooper's abilities as Monster featured similar strength and durability as other Goblin's, though her transformation was slower and she would be cured before reaching her full potential.
8 GRAY GOBLIN
It was revealed in yet another controversial storyline "Sins Past" that prior to her death, Norman Osborn fathered twins with Gwen Stacy. Due to the Goblin formula in Norman's system, the twins aged at an accelerated pace while Norman convinced them their father was Peter Parker and that he had both killed their mother and abandoned his children.
Gabriel Stacy dosed himself with the Goblin formula and became the Gray Goblin after the twins lost to Spider-Man initially. Gabriel's "double dose" of the serum made him stronger than the other Goblins who have used the formula but also increased his mental instability, which has left him hospitalized for years.
7 GOBLIN CHILDE
Normie Osborn is the son of Harry Osborn (Green Goblin II) and Liz Allan but was born before Harry's exposure to the Goblin formula, so he has no inherited abilities. However, he has always had a deep-rooted hatred for Spider-Man, who he blamed for the deaths of his father and grandfather.
During the "Go Down Swinging" storyline, Norman bonds his grandson Normie with a sliver of the Carnage symbiote, turning him into the Goblin Childe. While Normie doesn't possess any Goblin abilities, as Goblin Childe he had a reduced version of Spider-Man's powers and shape-shifting abilities provided by the symbiote which made him very deadly, despite his child-like size.
6 MENACE
When Carlie Cooper was introduced during "One More Day," her best friend Lily Hollister was also introduced, and she would soon become a love interest of Harry Osborn, who had also returned. Of course, new friends also meant the debut of new villains like the newest Goblin known as Menace.
Menace was revealed to be Lily, who had found the location of a cache in one of Harry's journals and been exposed to a new Goblin formula that transformed her into Menace. Unlike other Goblin formulas, Menace's transformation was a physical change she could trigger that altered her appearance, which changed over time as she gained control of her abilities.
5 GOBLIN KNIGHT
Phil Urich (nephew of the Daily Planet reporter Ben Urich) began his costumed career as the fourth/heroic Green Goblin after he discovered one of Osborn's Goblin caches that featured a new tech costume that granted enhanced powers. Exposure to this costume gave Urich some lasting strength and endurance, as well as the deadly sonic Lunatic Laugh, which is unique to Urich alone.
Phil would switch sides and become increasingly more violent when he became the sixth Hobgoblin. Urich would get another name and tech upgrade when he joined the Goblin Army and became the Goblin Knight and later Goblin King before he was killed. While most of his power was based on tech, Urich gets a boost above some of the other Goblins here due to his Lunatic Laugh.
4 HOBGOBLIN
The very first Hobgoblin was billionaire fashion designer Roderick Kingsley, whose obsession to commit crimes undetected led him to manipulate a series of men including his brother Daniel, "Lefty" Donovan, and Ned Leeds into taking the fall as the Hobgoblin.
Kingsley was eventually revealed as the Hobgoblin when he returned from time abroad in other costumed identities to reclaim his mantle as the original Hobgoblin. He perfected Osborn's Goblin formula and his strength rivals that of both Osborn and Spider-Man, though he is far more reserved and tactical than some of the other Goblins.
3 DEMOGOBLIN
We previously mentioned Macendale's attempts to become a stronger Hobgoblin led to a demonic bargain, which occured when demons invaded New York City during the X-Men's "Inferno" event. Macendale made a deal that bonded his soul with a demon and granted him power but cost him his humanity.
Macendale would eventually separate from the demon, which would take on a new form as the evil Demogoblin, a fiery monster dedicated to wiping out sinners, which was everyone but children. Demogoblin had many demonic powers and mystical weapons that included fiery pumpkin bombs, Darkforce traps, and his mentally-controlled glider made of living Hellfire.
2 GREEN GOBLIN
Norman Osborn was the first man to call himself the Green Goblin, and the first subject of the Goblin formula, though a prototype formula had previously created the Proto-Goblin. Norman would improve his formula and strength over the years, and even attempt to gain further power through a mystical ritual known as the Gathering of Five, which only made him more insane.
Norman's son Harry would follow in his father's footsteps to become the second Green Goblin, though initially he just used the tech. He would later find an advanced and untested version of the Goblin serum that made him stronger and faster than his father, but also destabilized him mentally and eventually killed him, until his return after "One More Day."
1 RED GOBLIN
Norman Osborn had proven his superiority among the Goblins when he managed to die and come back to life thanks to the regenerative effects of the Goblin formula. However, Spider-Man would attempt to end the threat of his greatest enemy once and for all when he injected him with a nanotech cure to the Goblin formula that would keep it out of his system forever.
So Norman being Norman found another way to take the fight to Spider-Man when he got a hold of the Carnage symbiote. When Norman bonded with the symbiote, it burned out the nanotech cure in his blood, which allowed Norman to repower himself with the Goblin formula. This combined with the Carnage symbiote to create the Red Goblin, one of Spider-Man's deadliest villains.