Peter Benjamin Parker (Spider Man

History: Taken from Comic Vine up to The Other arc

While attending a demonstration in radiology, high school student Peter Parker was bitten by a spider that had been exposed to radioactive rays. He had learned that he gained great spider-like reflexes. Peter then created a costume and became the Amazing Spider-Man. The tragic death of his Uncle Ben, a death that he could have prevented, taught Spider-Man that " With great power, comes great responsibility", and on that day a true hero was born.

Peter Benjamin Parker, is the only son of Richard Parker and Mary Parker. His parents were SHIELD agents who were killed during a mission against the Red Skull. After the loss of his parents, Peter grew up living with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Peter's uncle Ben was too old to engage in any physical activities with him, and his aunt was very over-protective. This led him to take interest in pursuits that were non-physical such as photography and chemistry.

Peter went to school in New York City at Midtown High School. Peter was extremely gifted in science and academics, but lacked the social skills needed to interact with his peers, becoming the class "nerd". He was regularly ridiculed throughout his academic life by school bullies, most prominently, Flash Thompson who gave Peter the nickname "Puny Parker".

While observing a science experiment dealing with radioactive isotopes, a spider was caught in a radiation. In sudden shock, the spider bit Peter before dying. Feeling a burn on the bite, Peter left the exhibition and rushed back home by going through a unfamiliar section of the city. He was then cornered by a gang of thugs, where he defended himself by tossing one of them with such ease that Peter was even surprised of his own strength. Still heading home, Peter ran through the streets and almost got hit by a speeding car, but he sensed this and quickly leaped over the car and apparently stuck to the side of the wall. He then jumped onto a guy wire and realized that he has excellent balance. Peter then hypothesized that the bite gave him the proportional strength and agility of a spider, he was also able to stick to any surface, and he even developed a "spider sense" which warned him of danger. Spider-Man was born.

While walking home from the science hall and contemplating his fate. Peter passed by a wrestling exhibition offering three thousand dollars to any man who could last three minutes with Crusher Hogan. Peter saw the match as a great chance to test his new powers, but didn't want to look foolish if he failed, so he got himself a mask to hide his identity and challenge the wrestler. He easily defeated Crusher, and quickly found himself being courted by a television producer promising to make Peter a fortune. Peter wanted to increase his showmanship, and decided that since he had spider powers, he would design himself a spider costume. Then he used his scientific expertise to design and build his wrist-mounted " web shooters." Finally, he needed to come up with a name for his alter ego and decided that the "Amazing Spider-Man" was as good as any. Soon Spider-Man appeared on T.V. displaying his miraculous powers and was an instant hit. After Peter's first performance, a criminal robbed the venue and ran right past Spider-Man, but Spider-Man could not be bothered to stop the criminal from escaping, saying that "From now on I just look out for number one". Days later as Spider-Man's fame grew, the same criminal attempted to rob the Parker household. Peter's Uncle Ben surprised The Burglar but was shot and killed. Peter, as Spider-Man, tracked the killer to an abandoned warehouse where the police had the murderer pinned. Upon apprehending the killer, Spider-Man discovered that it was the same man that earlier he had allowed to escape. Shocked by that revelation, and feeling tremendous guilt over the loss of his uncle, Peter threw away his costume, wishing the Spider-Man never existed.

After his uncle’s death, and with no one to provide for the family, Peter and his aunt became desperate for money. Peter decided to once again perform as Spider-Man, but he wanted to keep his identity hidden and couldn't cash his paychecks. Also a hindrance to Spider-Man's performing career, the publisher of the newspaper " The Daily Bugle," J. Jonah Jameson, began a vicious campaign to destroy Spider-Man's public image. Jameson was jealous of the spotlight Spider-Man was getting, and thought that the world should be more interested in "real heroes" like his son, John Jameson. After Jonah's smear campaign, no one wanted to see Spider-Man perform, and Peter's days on television were numbered. Spider-Man saved J. Jonah Jameson's son when a rocket flight almost crashed, but Jonah still hated him as much as ever. In fact, he even convinced himself that Spider-Man himself had rigged the flight so that it would fail, and that when he saved John he would look like a hero. Later on in life, Peter Parker would manage to get a job providing photos he took of himself as Spider-Man to Jameson, even though they were always used against him. It was also during this time at "The Daily Bugle" that Parker began a brief relationship with secretary Betty Brant. Later, the couple would split with Peter's double-life as an indirect cause. Betty's brother Bennett had been shot earlier in the comic series and died, and Betty couldn't bare to have someone else she loved die; in this case if Peter were shot whilst getting crime photos. Betty would go on to date Ned Leeds.

With the world against him, and with no one to confide in, Peter began to wonder how the other heroes got by. That was when he got the idea to join the Fantastic Four. Peter goes to the headquarters of the Fantastic Four for an interview, but finds the elevator locked. Determined to see the Fantastic Four, Peter dons his Spider-Man disguise and sneaks into the building. He manages to allude the Fantastic Four's security measures, and even the Fantastic Four themselves, but when Spider-Man finds out that the Fantastic Four is a nonprofit organization, he loses interest in becoming a member and leaves. Shortly after this encounter, Spider-Man fought his very first villain, a communist spy called the Chameleon, who had the skills to quickly disguise himself as any other person.

Spider-Man's early years in the 1960s were spent fighting colorful villains who were actually rather silly, like Vulture, Chameleon, Lizard, Kraven The Hunter, Mysterio, Electro, Rhino, and Sandman. But when the Green Goblin was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #14, Spider-Man began facing more powerful villains, such as the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus.

Peter later learned that his Aunt May blamed herself for Uncle Ben's death; they had had an argument the night he had died and she had taken a long walk to compose herself before the two could resolve it more calmly, but by the time she had returned to their house, he was already dead.


After Peter graduated from High School, he enrolled in Empire State University. This was where Peter met Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy for the first time. Originally Harry and Gwen didn't like Peter, as he had seemingly been ignoring them, thinking he was too good for them, but Peter was actually quiet since his Aunt May had recently gotten a radioactive particle into her blood (from when Peter donated blood to her), and she was dying. Over time, however, Peter convinced Harry and Gwen he was actually a very friendly person. Also, his aunt introduced Mary Jane to Peter during his college years. A surprising twist to Parker's college years was that he had attended his four-year graduation ceremonies, only he was not called for his diploma. Afterward he learned from the Dean that because of him constantly leaving to be Spider-Man he had one credit left untaken, and of all the classes it had to be gym. At one point in his adventures as Spider-Man, Peter seriously considered giving up being Spider-Man after Aunt May had another heart attack. Whilst he was inactive as Spider-Man, one of the most notable villain, Wilson Fisk the Kingpin of crime, made his move to take over New York. However, by now Peter had realized that no matter what he had a duty to protect those who can't protect themselves, and so returned to the webs to stop Kingpin. During this story arc Frederick Foswell was also killed when he protected J. Jonah Jameson from gunfire. Peter began dating Mary Jane for awhile but eventually settled with Gwen Stacy because he felt Mary Jane was too much of a “party girl.” Harry and Peter become best friends and eventually roommates. However, Harry’s relationship with his friends and his girlfriend Mary Jane took a turn for the worse, and Harry resorted to taking drugs. When Gwen’s father, Captain George Stacy, died after being caught in the middle of a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus, (due to a pile of bricks falling after Doctor Octopus's flailing tentacles knocked a chimney over) it strained Peter's and Gwen’s relationship because Gwen blamed Spider-Man for her father’s death. Gwen then left the country to live with her uncle and aunt in London for awhile. It was later revealed in the story arc “ Sins Past” that during her time in Europe, Gwen had had an affair with Norman Osborn. Eventually Gwen returned to America and shortly afterwards, Harry overdosed on drugs, but did not die.

In the story arc titled " The Death of Gwen Stacy" Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, had amnesia and couldn't remember what had happened in previous story arcs. He remembered nothing of his insane secret life, but he suddenly remembered everything when he was about to be declared bankrupt and found out about the problems that Harry was going through. This reawakened his hidden Green Goblin persona, and he vowed to kill Spider-Man. He kidnapped Gwen Stacy, Peter's girlfriend, and fought Spider-Man as she lay unconscious on a Brooklyn Bridge.

Finally, the Green Goblin was seemingly defeated by Spider-Man, despite that Spider-Man was sick at the time of the fight. But as the Goblin stood there defeated, in a spiteful, evil move, he threw Gwen Stacy off of the bridge. Spider-Man caught her leg with his web, but there was a loud “snap” sound and Gwen broke her neck.

In anger, Peter tracked the Goblin to an abandoned warehouse where the two engaged in battle. They fought long and hard before the Green Goblin was finally impaled and pinned against a wall with his own glider when he tried to attack Peter from behind with it, only to have Peter dodge it.

After Gwen’s death, Peter became anti-social, but found find Mary Jane constantly supporting him through this traumatic incident. At first, Peter pushed Mary Jane away but she kept coming back to support him. Eventually Peter fell in love with Mary Jane and the two began dating. As a direct result of Gwen Stacy dying, Professor Miles Warren became the Jackal, and he hired the Punisher to take out Spider-Man in the Punisher's first ever appearance, but the Punisher found out that the Jackal had killed one of his best friends so he stopped pursuing Peter.

Later Peter encountered a clone of himself and a clone of Gwen Stacy. Miles Warren, a protégé of Herbert Edgar Wyndham better known as the High Evolutionary, who called himself the Jackal, was the man who created the clones. He made them because he blamed Spider-Man for killing Gwen. Eventually the clone Spider-Man was apparently killed, and the real Spider-Man took his clone to a factory smokestack and threw the lifeless body into it. The Gwen Stacy clone left Peter afterwards, since she knew she was just a clone created for one purpose.

Mary Jane and Peter broke up after Peter proposed to her. Mary Jane told him that she was not ready for a serious commitment. Mary Jane, then left New York for a brief time in order to pursue her acting career.

Unknown to Spider-Man, Harry Osborn had secretly witnessed the battle and the death of his father, Norman, and Harry swore vengeance against Spider-Man for murdering his father. Eventually Harry discovered a Spider-Man costume in Peter's room, learning Spider-Man's secret identity. Harry then became the new Green Goblin so that he could battle Spider-Man. Figuring out that Harry was now in the Goblin costume, and not wanting to hurt his best friend, Spider-Man was able to render Harry unconscious during their fight, and he turned him into the police who refused to believe Harry's claims to be the Green Goblin. Harry was sent to a mental institution, where he was treated for his mental instability, and it seemed that his sanity had returned. Harry remained amnesic about the Green Goblin and Spider-Man, but he later regained his memory of Spider-Man's identity. Harry was taken to a psychiatrist, Doctor Bart Hamilton, and was hypnotized to cure him. However, whilst hypnotized, he told Bart Hamilton all about the history of the Green Goblin, Peter Parker's identity, and a warehouse where the Goblin's gear was located. Checking to see if this was true, Bart found himself overwhelmed by the sense of power. He then hypnotized Harry into taking pictures of Spider-Man disposing of his clone then mailing them to J. Jonah Jameson, in the hope that this would expose his identity. The plan backfired, and after a psychiatric session which ended with Harry attacking him, Bart decided he would take up the mantle of the Green Goblin. He tried to take over the mobs so that he would be king of the underworld, but they only agreed to give him leadership if he captured Spider-Man. Bart fought with Peter many times in one night, but after Peter finally unmasked him, Harry arrived, also with the Goblin gear, ready to stop Bart. The two foes fought, and in the end Bart got out his ace-in-the-hole: a miniaturized bomb. However, just before he detonated it, a conveyor belt he was on knocked him back, so Peter and Harry were alright. Bart then died in the explosion. Fortunately, Harry again lost his knowledge of Peter's identity as a result of the explosion.

After experiencing so many bad circumstances such as the death of Captain Stacy, Harry becoming a drug addict and the departure of Gwen to Europe, Peter has had enough and contemplated that being Spider-Man has become a burden too much to carry and he has to get rid of Spider-Man in his life. Shortly after that, Peter tried to take a serum that would get rid of his spider powers. Peter managed to sleep it out and he had nightmares of all his enemies surrounding him, while also feeling pain. When he woke up he was surprised at what he saw; the serum has failed on its objective of getting rid of his spider powers and he had grown four extra arms instead. Whilst trying to get rid of the arms, he visited Dr. Curt Connors to try to help him get rid of his extra arms. Spider-Man and Curt later encountered Morbius the Living Vampire, which forced Connors to turn into the Lizard.

When Morbius took a bite of the Lizard, somehow the bite reverted Lizard's intelligence into that of Dr. Connors. He and Curt Connors managed to create a serum from Morbius's blood that got rid of Peter's extra's arms. Shortly before the famous "Death of Gwen Stacy" story arc (see below), Peter went to Canada, since Aunt May's lawyer had something he needed to give either Peter or Aunt May. When Peter finally managed to meet with him, he was shot by a mysterious man. Months later, Peter was shocked to find out that Aunt May was going to marry Doctor Octopus.

However during the ceremony, Hammerhead, Doc Ock's gang rival, interrupted the ceremony, as he wanted to take Aunt May for a hostage. It turned out that Aunt May had inherited a small Canadian island with a nuclear reactor on it. Her lawyer had been trying to tell her, only he had been shot by one of Hammerhead's men so that he couldn't tell Peter or Aunt May. Eventually Peter managed to get his Aunt May and himself off the island just before the reactor exploded, leaving Hammerhead and Doctor Octopus seemingly dead. Doctor Octopus was later revealed to have survived, and Hammerhead had turned into a ghost, but was soon returned to life after Doctor Octopus accidentally used a nuclear device on him.

While moving an old trunk into the basement of his Aunt's home, the teenage Peter Parker discovered some old newspaper clippings, which claimed that his parents were traitors who had been plotting against the government. The teenager was wracked with confusion. He forced Aunt May to reveal what had really happened to his parents, and she told him that they had died in a plane crash in Algeria under mysterious circumstances. Desperate to learn the truth about his parents, Peter changed into Spider-Man and went to Algeria to find out what happened.

Arriving in Algeria, Spider-Man searched the Casbah, hunting for the contact his aunt had told him about. His search attracted the attention of the man he sought, who sent out a group of thugs to stop him. Fighting them off, Spider-Man discovered the whereabouts of his enemy. Tracking down the hideout, the arachnoid was shocked to discover that his adversary was none other than Captain America's greatest enemy, the Nazi terrorist known as the Red Skull. The battle with the Red Skull resulted in the destruction of the fascist's headquarters, but Spider-Man was able to save the files relating to his parents. As a result of this, he found the proof he needed to clear their names. He discovered that they had been working as double agents for the United States government and had not been traitors after all.

Later, Richard and Mary Parker had seemingly returned from the dead. According to the Parkers, Russian agents had kidnapped them many years ago, taking them prisoner before they could board the plane. After spending weeks getting reacquainted with his parents, Peter Parker revealed his identity to them.

Spider-Man was shocked when he soon found his parents with the Chameleon and the Vulture. It was later revealed that the people Peter thought were his parents were actually highly sophisticated robots that had been programmed by the Chameleon to mimic Richard and Mary Parker. Though the Richard robot was perfectly willing to betray Peter, Mary hesitated. She had been programmed to think of Peter as her own son and had grown to love him. When Spider-Man confronted them, Richard instantly began to metamorphose into a deadly engine of destruction. Torn between her conflicting programs, Mary stopped Richard from revealing Spider-Man's true identity and was forced to terminate her robot husband.

In return for destroying the Richard robot, the Vulture destroyed the robot that had been Mary Parker. As she lay dying, she told Peter that she loved him. Devastated and furious by the deception, Spider-Man pursued the Chameleon and eventually captured him. That was when the arachnoid learned that someone else had encouraged the Chameleon to create the Parker robots, supplying the criminal with all the necessary information. The Chameleon, the Vulture, and the robots had all been pawns of Harry Osborn, the Green Goblin

When his spider-sense suddenly flared from the force of an exploding bomb, Peter Parker instantly realized that he was in intense danger. Almost blind with pain from the intensity of his spider-sense, he struggled to locate the source of this new threat. He changed into his costume and followed the tingles deep into New York's Central Park.

Hidden from view by a forest of trees, Spider-Man was shocked to discover a strange-looking alien structure rising from the ground. As he approached the unknown edifice, dazzling lights suddenly engulfed Spider-Man and he disappeared within the blinding blaze. Spider-Man found himself on a satellite in a galaxy far from Earth. Along with other super-heroes, such as Captain America, and super-villains, including Doctor Doom, Spider-Man was brought to the satellite by a near omnipotent being called the Beyonder. The Beyonder wanted heroes and villains to fight a war on a planet called Battleworld. Spider-Man fought many battles there, and his costume was left in tatters. Then he found a machine that could replace ruined clothing.

Spider-Man triggered the clothing machine and a round black object sprang from it. It immediately started to spread up Spider-Man's arm and did not stop till it had covered his entire body. The alien costume seemed to know what Peter wanted, sometimes even before he did. At first Peter was surprised about his new look, but then he realized that he might have been subconsciously influenced by the design of the new Spider-Woman costume which Julia Carpenter, who later changed her alias to Arachne, was wearing. As the alien costume slithered over Spider-Man, it absorbed and dissolved away the tatters of his old costume. After defeating the villains and escaping the Beyonder, the heroes returned to Earth, and Spider-Man took his alien costume with him. He learned that his new super-costume was capable of generating a seemingly endless supply of webbing, and that it could also change its appearance at will. Peter and his alien costume were always in some kind of psychic contact, even when physically separated. If the costume was in a different room, it came at Peter's mental summons.

Each night while Peter slept, the alien costume secretly slipped over him and took the unconscious Spider-Man wall-crawling. Peter awoke each morning with no memory of his nocturnal adventures, all he knew was that he felt more exhausted than before he had gone to bed. As Peter's fatigue continued to grow, he slept through entire days and began to have terrible nightmares. So Spider-Man went to Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four for help. After an exhausting series of tests, Mr. Fantastic made a startling discovery. Instead of an amazing suit composed of some unknown extra-terrestrial fabric, was actually a living creature. It was a sentient Symbiote who had formed a mental and physical bond with the arachnoid. As soon as the symbiote's secret was revealed, it attempted to permanently graft itself to Spider-Man's body. Spider-Man did all he could to escape from the costume, but the symbiote tightened its grip on him, almost crushing Spidey in the process. Luckily, Reed Richards had discovered that the symbiote was vulnerable to certain sound waves. Using these sounds, Richards managed to separate Spider-Man from the costume. At last Peter was free and the alien was imprisoned. Later, the symbiote escaped from Richards's laboratory and pounced on the unsuspecting Spider-Man. In desperation, Spider-Man lured the alien to the bell tower of Our Lady Of Saints Church. Knowing that the sound of the bells could free him from the symbiote, Peter banged against the bell and the alien pulled away from Peter. The symbiote knew that only one of them could survive the ordeal, and sacrificed Peter to save itself. It later turned up alive in the bell tower, and gripped itself onto Eddie Brock who became Venom.

After saving a friend of Aunt May from muggers, Spider-Man found out that his friend, Jean DeWolff was murdered in her sleep. He later found out from the detective who was investigating the case that the killer is someone calling himself the Sin-Eater. Attorney Matt Murdock is later legally defending the same muggers that attacked Aunt May's friend and they were relased on bail. Peter was at the hearing disgusted on the verdict and Matt was visibly guilty of his own actions. He was confronted by the presiding judge, who is also his mentor and told him that he was weak. Then the Sin-Eater goes on to kill the judge and Matt couldn't do anything to defend him without revealing his superhero identity as Daredevil. Peter was also investigating and he find out that Jean was in love with him as Spider-Man, which makes her death even more painful for him. Matt was at Jean's funeral and could hear the Sin-Eater's heartbeat but dared not to speak out if it weren't for his secret identity. When the priest who oversaw the funeral of DeWolff was hearing a confession, he was killed by the person who was confessing to him, revealed to be the Sin-Eater. Spider-Man and Daredevil later team-up to track down the Sin-Eater, who is now out to kill J. Jonah Jameson.

The heroes find out that the identity of the Sin-Eater is the same detective that was investigating the murder of Jean DeWolff, Stanley Carter. The Sin-Eater entered JJJ's house to kill him but only found Betty Brant, who was watching over the house. Spider-Man managed to save Betty before she was shot. Spider-Man was so mad at the Sin-Eater that he beat him within an inch of his life and he could have killed him until Daredevil pinned him into submission. Sin-Eater was arrested and sent into jail, but he was followed by an angry mob, including Jean's father, who was ready and willing to punish him. Daredevil tried to save Sin-Eater but he was overwhelmed by the people with Spider-Man turning his back and is about to leave. It wan't until Daredevil cried out Spider-Man's real name that he almost instinctively swung by and managed to save both Daredevil and Sin-Eater. In the rooftop, both Spider-Man and Daredevil both revealed each other's secret identities to each other and Matt even offered his legal services to Peter if he needed. This solidified the friendship between the superheroes.

Mary Jane Watson eventually returned to New York and also showed signs of maturity. She admitted to Peter that she had known he was Spider-Man for a long time. She had known on the night of his Uncle Ben’s death that he was Spider-Man because she had seen Peter sneak out of his room in his Spider-Man costume. The couple finally decided to tie the knot and get married in the Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. They had taken into consideration that they might be too young and Peter’s alter ego might cause strain on their marriage. At the night before their marriage, they both contemplate about having cold feet. However, in spite of all that, the two decided to marry anyway, believing that their love was strong enough to see them through it all. One of the biggest reliefs for Peter was when he gained the blessings of marrying Mary Jane from Harry (who was MJ's ex-boyfriend), who advised Peter about his cold feet feeling and told him that love conquers all. The marriage was later taken away after Peter and Mary Jane made a deal with Mephisto in order to save his Aunt May's life in One More Day.


One of Spider-Man's earliest foes was Kraven The Hunter, a big game hunter who prided himself on being able to defeat and capture any living creature. He was continuously defeated by Spider-Man, and eventually Kraven became obsessed with defeating his arachnid-enemy. Kraven was finally able to get the drop on Spider-Man. After dropping a net over him, he shot him point blank with a rifle, then proceeded to bury him on his land. Defeating Spider-Man was simply the beginning of his plan. Kraven then went out dressed as Spider-Man with his own copy of the costume, attempting to show that he was superior to him by defeating a villain, Vermin, whom Spider-Man had been unable to defeat on his own.

Two weeks went by and Peter found himself alive, but buried in a coffin. Kraven had never shot him with real bullets, but instead a highly concentrated tranquilizer. In a panic, Spider-Man managed to claw his way out. The first thing Peter did was go home where he was relieved to find that Mary Jane was safe. She asked him to stay with her but he felt had to go after Kraven. Spider-Man found Kraven at his estate, where Kraven seemed to have lost his fight. He had nothing left to prove. He showed a battered Vermin to Spider-Man, proving his worth and that he was "better" than Spider-Man. Rather than fight Spider-Man, Kraven let Vermin go, taunting Spider-Man to go after him in order to save "innocent lives." Spider-Man felt he had no choice but to go after Vermin. Upon Spider-Man's departure, Kraven went upstairs and shot himself with his rifle. His life had been complete and he felt he had nothing else to live for. It was this experience, in addition to the torment from Venom, that caused Mary Jane to beg Peter to stop wearing the black costume.

A sequel was released after the success the "Kraven's Last Hunt" story arc had. In this story Spider-Man was confronted by the soul of Kraven. Now confused, Spider-Man decided to go to Kraven's grave to find out what exactly was going on. Once Spider-Man was at Kraven's grave, he met a mysterious spiritual figure who appeared to look like Death. Spider-Man was then told that the spirit and Kraven had a spiritual bond. The spirit then revealed to Spider-Man that Kraven's soul could not find peace because he had died through suicide. Spider-Man was then dragged underneath the ground bye Kraven's body. At first Spider-Man appeared to have accepted this; however, he decided midway down to fight back and was able to resurface. This finally helped enable Kraven's soul to find peace.

While Spider-Man was strong physically, he had never exactly been the strongest costumed hero on the block. Iron Man, the Mighty Thor, the Incredible Hulk, and even the ever-loving blue-eyed Thing were all much stronger. It can even be argued that super-villains such as Doctor Octopus, the Sandman, and the Scorpion possessed far greater raw power. However, that all changed when a laboratory accident exposed Peter Parker to an unknown energy source. He was transformed into the cosmic Spider-Man. While pursuing his graduate studies at Empire University, Peter Parker was bathed in the unknown energies when an experimental generator exploded. The explosion also caused nearby power lines to overload dangerously. Changing into Spider-Man, Peter spotted a live wire falling toward a young couple. He instinctively caught the wire and was surprised when he wasn't harmed by the massive surge of electricity. Spider-Man discovered that he had some amazing new powers. Using his webbing, he could instantly form any complex shape that he imagined, and then manipulate the webbing in whatever way he wanted.

Spider-Man's new power included the ability to generate concussive blasts from the tips of his fingers, or combine them into a fist-sized blast powerful enough to shatter an army tank. Spider-Man's vision was also enhanced. His eyes could now see much farther than any conventional pair of binoculars, and he could look through walls. His senses had also developed to where they had become far sharper than those of Daredevil or Puma. Suddenly, he could hear a spider crossing a window pane two blocks away, and smell the fragrance of a potted plant on a distant building ledge. Quickly learning how to filter out the excess noise and smells before they overwhelmed him, Spider-Man also used his new powers to locate and defeat a professional criminal called the Trapster. Spider-Man's new powers had actually come from a mysterious extra-dimensional entity known as the Enigma Force. It bestowed its Uni-Power on various individuals, turning them into a being known as Captain Universe and giving them superhuman powers long enough to cope with a specific crisis. Spider-Man was merely the latest Captain Universe. As Spider-Man grew more comfortable with his new cosmic powers, he found himself fighting a different class of enemy. During a battle with Magneto, the greatest enemy of the uncanny X-Men, Spider-Man eventually drove the master of magnetism away when the villain realized that he could never take on the cosmically charged Spider-Man on his own.

While Spider-Man had not particularly liked being drafted by the Enigma Force, he realized that he had a responsibility to fight the menace it had foreseen. This menace proved to be in the form of three massive Sentinel robots. In an act of spite, the evil god Loki caused these robots to merge, creating one super-powered robot named the Tri-Sentinel. Loki then instructed the robot to create as much damage and mayhem as possible. The Tri-Sentinel attempted to cause a nuclear meltdown at a research facility that bordered Manhattan. The web-covered Captain Universe summoned the full power of the Enigma Force and incinerated the Tri-Sentinel in a nova like blast. After the crisis, the exhausted Spider-Man returned to normal.

During the Inferno crossover many heroes, including Spider-Man, had to fight Madelyne Pryor and her demons, one of which possessed the villain known as the Hobgoblin. During this time, the barriers blocking Harry's conscious and sub-conscious mind were broken, causing him to remember his life as the Green Goblin. Harry's hatred for Peter continued to grow, and Harry began believing that Peter killed Norman because he disliked that Harry had a "stable family" and Peter did not. He then proceeded to say that the next time he faced Spider-Man, it would be their last meeting. Harry recreated the Goblin Formula and modified it to be even stronger then his father Norman's original formula. Harry began stalking Peter and constantly taunting him, until one day Peter could take it no longer and punched Harry. Harry retaliated and punched back, showing Peter his new strength.

Harry had a new plan which he would use to kill all of his enemies at once (Spider-Man and his father's business associates). He invited everyone to a dinner in a place he wired with bombs. Spider-Man knew that something bad was going to happen, and he dropped by. Peter and Harry engaged in a battle inside the building. Harry was able to inject Peter with a drug that immobilized him but left him conscious. Harry began taunting Peter again until he realized that Mary Jane and his son, Normie, were still inside the building. Peter was able to convince Harry to save the two people that he really cared about. Upon bringing Mary Jane and Normie outside, Harry regained his sanity and realized that he had left his best friend inside to die. Harry rushed in and was able to carry Peter out before the building collapsed. As Peter was about to thank him, Harry collapsed and it was discovered that the Goblin Formula was poisoning him. Paramedics came to take Harry to a hospital, and Peter, in his Spider-Man costume, stayed by his side. Just as Harry was about to die, he confirmed to Peter that despite everything they had gone through together, they were still best friends. Harry died right afterwards in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. Harry later returned in Brand New Day with no knowledge of Peter being Spider-Man.

During the first Clone Saga which was published in 1975, the first Scarlet Spider was a clone of Spider-Man, created by the Jackal, Professor Miles Warren, Peter's biochemistry teacher during his college years at Empire State University. Miles was obsessed with Gwen Stacy and had created a clone of her. Spider-Man was forced to fight a clone of himself, both believing themselves to be the real Spider-Man. When a bomb went off, one of the Spider-Men was crushed and seemingly killed. The Gwen Stacy Clone asked the remaining one if he was the real one or the clone and he was momentarily stumped. He truly believed he was the real one but that could have been the result of the Jackal's programming. After pondering the thought and (seemingly) disposing of the body, he came to realize that he had strong feelings for Mary Jane. He comes to the conclusion that even though the clone had been given most of his memories, an emotional response is not something that could be programmed.

The second Clone Saga started in 1994 and lasted through 1996. The clone, still alive, left to give the real Peter his life back. His adventures would be published in a miniseries entitled Spider-Man: The Lost Years. During this time he took the name of Ben Reilly out of respect of Peter Parker's uncle and using his Aunt May's maiden name. He wandered around aimlessly for five years. He returned to Spider-Man's home of New York when he discovered Aunt May was deathly ill, and found himself once again wanting to be a hero. Ben fashioned his own costume, and became the Scarlet Spider and utilized web capsules instead of the web shooters. Later it was revealed that the Scarlet Spider was deceived and was the real Peter Parker, and that Spider-Man was the clone. Mary Jane found out that she was pregnant around this time, and that further complicated their lives. The Scarlet Spider fought alongside his "brother" Spider-Man, and proved himself to be such a great hero that Spider-Man asked him to watch over the city, while he and his wife tried to start a family. Eventually Peter decided to retire from being Spider-Man and let Ben take over. Peter and Mary Jane moved to Portland to try and raise their baby in peace far away from his alter-ego Spider-Man. But the couple eventually returned to New York because they missed their friends and families. When his name was smeared by a second, evil Scarlet Spider, Ben assumed the identity of Spider-Man, donning Spider-Man's classic costume. Eventually it was revealed that the mastermind behind this whole ordeal was in fact the Green Goblin. The Green Goblin also revealed that he really manipulated Peter into thinking he was the clone. Ben fought the Green Goblin until his death at the hands of Norman Osborn. Norman had tried to impale Peter with the Goblin glider but Ben instead took the hit. Ben’s body began to dissolve, proving that Peter was the real one and Ben was the clone. Peter muttered to Ben as the latter laid there dead, “Rest easy...brother.” Aunt May had also seemingly died during this saga. During Spider-Man's fight with The Green Goblin, Mary Jane had a miscarriage and lost the baby.

When Spider-Man was framed by the Green Goblin and the Trapster for a murder of a small time crook and was caught on camera attacking Norman Osborn, a bounty was put on Spider-Man's capture. Unable to operate as Spider-Man because of what was happening and without cops and people trying to catch him for his bounty, Peter briefly retired as Spider-Man and created two hero personas, Prodigy and Hornet, that will continue his superhero career without being Spider-Man and two villain personas Ricochet and Dusk, to infiltrate the criminal underground and find out who set him up. While under the guise of Dusk, he found out that he has not killed the crook and in the Prodigy guise, he produced fake evidence that it was a Spider-Man impersonator is the one that attacked Norman Osborn. The Ricochet guise was able to discover and get more information about a new villain named Black Tarantula and the Hornet guise was exposed as Spider-Man during a skirmish against the Vulture. With the bounty removed in Spider-Man's capture, Peter returned back to his Spider-Man costume. The costumes would later be used by four teenagers given by Black Marvel to form the short-lived superhero team, Slingers.

It would eventually be revealed that Aunt May was in fact not dead. She was actually kidnapped by Norman Osborn and the death was a hoax to torture Peter. Peter was able to rescue Aunt May and quit being Spider-Man for a while. Eventually, Peter returned to his life as Spider-Man behind Mary Jane’s back. Soon afterwards, Mary Jane was seemingly killed in a plane accident caused by a stalker. Spider-Man later discovered that Mary Jane was actually kidnapped by an unknown telepathic mutant who wanted to take over Peter's life. Eventually that telepath absorbed too much of Peter's personality, causing him to feel the guilt of kidnapping Mary Jane. He
committed suicide soon after and Peter and Mary Jane were able to reunite again.

However, she left him after that traumatic experience and went to Los Angeles to resume her acting career. Meanwhile Aunt May tried to find her spot in Peter's life again. She tried to help comfort Peter during the time where he thought Mary Jane was dead. One day Aunt May decided to pay Peter a surprise visit, but on her arrival, she discovered that Peter was badly injured, and sleeping, with a torn Spider-Man costume laying near his bed. In this way, Aunt May finally came to know the truth about Peter--the truth he had believed he could never reveal to her because of the weakness of her heart. May was shocked at first by her discovery, then angry that Peter hadn't told her. Peter told his aunt everything about how he became Spider-Man, also sharing how he was responsible for the death of Uncle Ben. Then May told Peter about what she believed to be her role in the death of her husband, telling Peter that they had had an argument the night he had died and she had taken a long walk to compose herself before the two could resolve it more calmly, but by the time she had returned to their house, he was already dead. The two bonded, and eventually became closer than ever, now that Peter no longer had to lie to his beloved aunt. Peter was happy that he could be honest to his Aunt about his super-hero activities, but Aunt May still struggled to accept the life he had chosen--or rather, the life that had chosen him.

Later a wealthy CEO named Ezekiel sought Peter and warned him that the accident that gave him his powers might not have been a fluke. He also warned that Peter might have a connection to a spirit spider totem and tried to get Peter to embrace the mystical nature of his power. Later, Morlun who fed off powers possessed by an animal totem, sought out Spider-Man and beat him nearly to death. Shortly afterwards, Peter and Mary Jane reconciled. Later, Spider-Man again fought Venom, who revealed to Spider-Man that he was dying of cancer.

Peter later received in the mail a letter from Gwen Stacy that was written to him. There were still missing pieces of the letter, so Peter was not able to understand the letter fully. Peter asked a friend of his, detective Lamont, to try and translate the missing words that were embedded on the paper since Gwen wrote back to back on the paper. Peter was visiting Gwen’s grave when all of a sudden he was attacked by two mysterious strangers. Peter was able to escape and later received the letter. He read it and it explained that Gwen had been pregnant with twins. Peter took a DNA sample of Gwen to do a DNA test to confirm his suspicions.

Later it was revealed that the two that attacked Peter were Gwen’s twin children and that their father was Norman Osborn. The twins grew at an accelerated speed due to the goblin formula inside Norman. Norman had told the twins that Spider-Man was their biological father and was the one responsible for their mother’s death. They eventually came back to battle Spider-Man, claiming a vendetta against him.

Spider-Man tried to convince the twins that he had not been responsible for the deaths and was not their father. One of the twins, named Sarah Stacy, believed Spider-Man; however, the other twin, named Gabriel who later assumed the alias of the Grey Goblin, did not. The situation resolved with Sarah and she moved back to Europe to stay, but Gabriel disappeared, soon being revealed to have washed up on a beach with no memory of who he is.

Peter was eventually offered a membership in the New Avengers. Later Peter’s apartment and Aunt May’s house were both destroyed by a super-powered person named Charlie Weiderman, a former classmate of Peter who had enlisted Peter's help in developing vibranium suits for the armed forces. Tony Stark offered Peter and his family residence in Stark Tower since Peter now worked for Tony Stark anyway. Peter continued to teach at Midtown High School and also resumed his freelance photography for the Daily Bugle.

Peter had began suffering from headaches, blackouts, and dizziness. He had also been having dreams of Morlun putting him in a morgue. Later Spider-Man fought a new villain named Tracer. Tracer was robbing a bank and Spider-Man came to stop him. The two fought, and Tracer shot a homing bullet at Spider-Man. The bullet eventually struck Spider-Man in the shoulder, and Tracer was able to escape. Mary Jane saw the battle live on television and rushed home to confront Peter about it. Peter went to Dr. Castillo, whom Captain America had recommended, to heal his wound. Dr. Castillo took a blood sample of Peter for a test. She later called Peter and told him that she had bad news. Mary Jane eventually caught Peter and confronted him, telling him that he was asking for a death wish. Peter was forced to confess to Mary Jane about the news he had received from Dr. Castillo. Later May woke up and walked to the kitchen where she ran into Peter. Peter yells at Aunt May, told her to not worry about anything, and left to help out the disastrous city. Spider-Man encountered one of Tracer’s robots and battled it in the city, then all of a sudden he lost his powers. Morlun then confronted Spider-Man and taunted him. Peter eventually returned home and found Aunt May talking to the Tracer, who had told her that he was a “reserve Avenger.” Peter fought the Tracer, but when Tracer discovered Peter’s health condition, he refused to fight Spider-Man and eventually escaped. Peter then proceeded to tell Aunt May about his current condition.

Peter sought Mr. Fantastic to find out more information about his current condition. Mr. Fantastic told Peter that his condition was not cancer or anything ordinary human beings could receive. Dr. Hank Pym then told Peter that his infection was radiation-based and recommends Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. Upon seeing him, Banner unfortunately told Peter that at the rate his poison was spreading, there was no possible way to find a cure in time. Banner then recommended that Peter seek out the Black Panther, who also could not help Peter’s condition. Now back in New York, Peter engages against The Ox but mistakenly thought it was Morlun, whom Peter would beat nearly to death before Daredevil stopped him. Peter later decided to take Mary Jane to Las Vegas since they had never been there, and hoped to use his spider-sense to win money in blackjack. But ultimately Peter decided not to go to Las Vegas because he did not want villains interrupting their intimate moment. Instead Peter and Mary Jane hid away in one of Tony Stark’s space pods. After returning to Earth, Peter resumed his nightly patrol, but Morlun watched him. Spider-Man lowered his guard, which allowed Morlun to attack Spider-Man. The fight grew extremely intense and they were flying all over New York. The fight ended up at Empire State University where Spider-Man appeared to be winning. However, Morlun revealed that he was not hurt at all and gouged Spider-Man’s left eye out and ate it. Morlun then proceeded to beat Spider-Man to a bloody pulp, leaving him unconscious and on the brink of death.

Morlun was about to suck the rest of Spider-Man’s life force out of him but was interrupted by police officers showing up. They took the fallen hero to the paramedics and transported him to the nearest hospital. The Avengers and Mary Jane all rushed to the hospital upon hearing the news on television. Morlun returned to Spider-Man while he was unconscious in the hospital, in an attempt to finish off the job. However, Mary Jane tried to stop Morlun but he threw her across the room. Peter woke up and transformed into a spider-like beast. He attacked Morlun and pinned him to the ground. Peter then proceeded to bite Morlun in the neck and apparently killed him. Peter reverted to normal and fell in Mary Jane’s arms, in which he told her goodbye and died. Iron Man took Spider-Man’s body away to shield the public from his apparent death. His body was transported back to the Avengers Tower, where Mary Jane, Aunt May, and Jarvis were all grieving. Mary Jane decided to talk to Captain America and Iron Man if they should reveal his identity to the world or not. Mary Jane later talked to Spider-Woman who reveals that something was not right with Peter. She claimed that they might have a connection somehow because their powers had originated from some kind of irradiated spider. Later they heard a crashing sound in the chamber where Peter’s body was and believed that someone might have stolen the body. However, they deduced that there was only skin left and the window had broken from the inside, leaving them with a mystery. It was later revealed that Peter was in a webbing cocoon somewhere underneath a bridge. Peter was sleeping for days in his cocoon talking to his subconscious mind. The voice in his mind claimed to be the Other part of Spider-Man. It claimed that Peter had rejected the Spider part of himself for his entire life, and that Morlun killed his human self, but the Spider lived on and killed Morlun. It then told Peter that the only way to be reborn was to accept his spider part. Peter agreed and was resurrected back to his human form. He returned to the Avengers Tower to relieve Mary Jane and Aunt May. Peter then returned to the room that stored his body and took back his wedding ring.

Tony Stark began running tests on Peter worried that he might be a clone, but it appeared that he was the real deal. Also a bonus was that every injury he has sustained in the past was repaired, even his tonsils that he had removed in the fourth grade were back. Peter then swings around the city with Mary Jane, meanwhile there were pirate spiders eating up Peter’s old body. Upon returning to the Avengers Tower, he discovers it covered completely in webbing. Peter goes inside and engages against the pirate spiders who took Peter’s form by using his old dead shell. Peter’s stingers reappear again and he continues to battle the pirate spiders and eventually chases it down to a church. Peter believed that this was the Other that his subconscious was talking about. Peter, still confused, hears an explosion nearby and rushes to it to find people trapped under debris. While Spider-Man tries to rescue the people, he discovers he has new abilities that allow him night vision, he can feel all vibrations through his webbing, and Peter now also has the ability to spin webs on his own and no longer needs web shooters. Spider-Man is successful in rescuing all the people and Peter finally understands that he gained new abilities because he is now “embracing the Other.”

Peter returns home to watch the news with Mary Jane. Later Tony would unveil a new costume for Peter with many new built in abilities.

Sample Role Play Post:

Another nightmare.... in spite of the fact that her death was ambiguous until the day Sarah Stacy appeared, Peter would always be haunted by the fact that he had killed her. Gwen was a one of a kind girl, the kind that one doesn't normally find, and as he bitterly realized from that time, one that never really lasts. Though a fortuitous circumstance came from her death, he and Mary Jane connected through the grief. He stood up and walked over to what appeared to be his normal red and blue costume; however, the moment his hand touched it, the fabric liquefied and spread over his body, the scheme turned from red and blue to crimson and gold, a trademark perhaps of all of Tony Stark's armor designs; however, that mattered little to Peter, the costume, which he had dubbed "Iron Spider" could appear as he wanted it to, whether it be its normal appearance, his red and blue costume, or even his black costume.

He tuned into several police scanners, it was quiet....odd... he looked at the sleeping red head and sighed, "It's amazing really," He chuckled to himself, "You find that the woman you once thought only about partying has quite a few skeletons in her closet."

The costume seemingly disappeared as he sat down on the bed and simply stared at Mary Jane while she slept. Sure it may have seemed odd, but...with Peter, it gave him a form of comfort to know that he could readily act when needed; though...the awareness that came with being awake was not really necessary, not when one had a "Spider-Sense" which before could alert him at major threats with intensity; but, now it alerted him with a frequency that could be described as something like a dog whistle to a dog.