The Hobgoblin: Roderick Kingsley
Real Name: Roderick Kingsley
Presumed Killed In: Web of Spider-Man 29. But it turned out that was really his identical-except-for-hairline brother Daniel, and he wasn't killed, just hurt really, really bad. (And you thought only soap operas bought their retconns from the Plot Convenience Warehouse!)
First Appearance: As Kingsley, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man 43. As the Hobgoblin, Amazing Spider-Man 238.
What's His Problem? Originally a self-centered, ruthless fashion designer with an attitude, Kingsley decided his financial empire needed expanding. Mere business acumen seemed insufficient to the task, so Roderick became a self-centered, ruthless masked terrorist with an attitude. After an initial encounter with Spidey left him with broken ribs, Kingsley began an intensive search for the Osborn formula, finally obtaining the super-strength he desired in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man 65. His motives for allying himself with the Rose and using Ned Leeds as a brainwashed stand-in for his dealings with the crime lord, however, remain murky.
Powers: The Hobgoblin used a modified version of the Green Goblin formula to give himself super-human strength, nearly equivalent to that of his arch-foe Spider-Man. While he also delivered powerful blasts from his hands, these "sparkle" or "goblin" blasts were not organic, instead being generated from gloves capable of delivering several thousand volts of electricity.
Spidey's Thoughts the First Time He Saw Kingsley: "Boy, and they used to call me puny Parker!"
Favorite Quote, pre-Hobgoblin: "Oh, Ghod! What have I done?" (Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man 48, after ventilating Spidey's costume. Would have saved himself a lot of trouble later if Spidey had been in it at the time! Oh, and that's a [sic] on the quote...)
Favorite Quote, post-Hobgoblin: "At last! At long last! I have succeeded -- where so many others have failed! I've destroyed Spider-Man!" (Amazing Spider-Man 251. Hobby was a little over-optimistic; in truth, they were only about halfway through the brawl! My all-time favorite comic-book fight, incidently.)
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: Hobby was almost exclusively a Spider-Man baddie, although he tangled with the Black Cat once as well. Roderick's true nemesis was Ned Leeds' widow Betty Brant, who, once she discovered that someone other than Ned had been the original Hobgoblin, couldn't rest until that person had been identified and brought to justice.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: Roderick's older (and identical-except-for-hairline -- sorry, can't get over that) brother Daniel routinely covered for his sibling, even after he discovered (or was told, or something; we haven't been let in on how he found out) Roderick was the Hobgoblin. However, he hated the violence Roderick routinely used and finally confronted Hobby over it. Presumably there are more relatives someplace else, since Hobby was always determined to die rather than be captured so that his family wouldn't suffer his shame.
Most Despicable Act: Sorting out which despicable act belongs to which Hobgoblin gets difficult between Amazing Spider-Man 253 and Amazing Spider-Man 289, but it was definitely Roderick who was responsible for 40 deaths in a Norchem plant explosion during Spiderman: Hobgoblin Lives 2.
In Case You Were Curious: The bio for "the original Hobgoblin" was a lot different when it first went up in August 1996. Wanna have a look?
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