History:(Avengers Forever II#11 (fb) - BTS) - Earth-45863's Norman Osborn was one of the richest men in the entire Multiverse, so much so that he even had Elder gods on his payroll.
GHOST GOBLIN
Earth-45863
Real Name: Norman Osborn
Identity/Class: Alternate reality
(Earth-45863)
human mutate
Occupation: Destroyer, Spirit of Vengeance
Group Membership: The
Multiversal Masters of Evil (Black Skull/Johann
Shmidt of Earth-21798, Black Skull/Johann Shmidt of Earth-38590, Dark
Phoenix/Raven Darkholme of Earth-14412,
Doom Supreme/Victor von Doom of Earth-22215, Hound/James Howlett of
Earth-83466, Kid Thanos, King Killmonger of Earth-36054)
Affiliations: Mephisto, Mephisto of Reality-616, the Multiversal Masters of Evil
Enemies: Deathloks, Ghost
Rider of
Earth-1719, numerous other alternate reality Ghost Riders and denizens
of destroyed realities;
Earth-616 natives:
The Avengers (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Captain Marvel/Carol
Danvers, Echo/Maya
Lopez, Ghost Rider/Robbie Reyes, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Namor the
Sub-Mariner/Namor McKenzie, Nighthawk/Kyle
Richmond simulacrum, Starbrand/Brandy
Selby, Thor/Thor Odinson, Valkyrie/Jane Foster), the Avengers of
1,000,000 B.C. (Agamotto,
Iron
Fist/Fan Fei, Moon
Knight, Odin/Odin Borson, Starbrand/Vnn), the Orb
(mercenary);
Earth-818 natives:
Ant-Man (Tony Stark), the "Black Panther," the
Gorgilla Phoenix, Lady Starbrand, Odin, the Rider, the Savage Iron Fist;
Earth-5478 natives:
All-Mother Odin, Black Panther, the Ghost Rider, Horus, Lady Agamotto,
Phoenix, Startooth, Thor (Horus)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: "The Ghost Bomber," "Richest Man in
the Multiverse"
Base of Operations: Mobile throughout the
Multiverse;
formerly Earth-5478,
Earth-45863
First Appearance: (unidentified) Free Comic
Book Day 2021: Avengers/Hulk (October, 2021);
(identified) Avengers VII#50 (February, 2022)
Powers/Abilities: The Ghost Goblin was a Spirit of Vengeance with superhuman strength sufficient enough to rip apart other Spirits of Vengeance with his bare hands. His status as a Spirit of Vengeance also granted him the ability to sense the taint of demonic influence in other Spirits of Vengeance, if not any other beings in general. He can also project hellfire from his mouth and generate chains composed of hellfire capable of burning the souls of other beings.
The Ghost Goblin had been shown to tell the bloodline of other Spirits of Vengeance though it was unclear if this ability was an actual superhuman power or simply recognition of particular bloodlines common in many Spirits of Vengeance (i.e. Ketch, Kale, etc.) or ones he had personally encountered throughout the Multiverse.
In addition to his supernatural
powers, the Ghost Goblin utilizes an armored costume that provides a
measure of protection against physical harm and a motorized glider for
air travel. He also carried a large satchel full of the severed heads
of Multiversal Spirits of Vengeance that he had decapitated and he
hurled the skulls (which he referred to as "Noggin Bombs") as weapons,
which would explode in a blast of soul-burning hellfire.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'11")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 185 lbs.)
Eyes: (as Osborn) brown; (as Ghost Goblin) none
Hair: (as Osborn) brown; (as Ghost Goblin) none
History:
(Avengers Forever II#11 (fb) - BTS) - Earth-45863's Norman Osborn was
one of the richest men in the entire Multiverse, so much so that he
even had Elder gods on his payroll.
(Avengers VII#63 (fb) - BTS) - Norman Osborn sold his
soul to Mephisto for sin (see comments).
(Avengers Forever II#11 (fb) - BTS) - The Ghost
Goblin was made a Spirit of Vengeance.
(Avengers VII#50 (fb) - BTS) - The Ghost Goblin was chosen for the Doom
Supreme of Earth-22215's Multiversal Masters of Evil as Doom was
organizing the group.
(Free Comic Book Day 2021:
Avengers/Hulk (fb) - BTS)
- The Ghost
Goblin accepted the Doom Supreme's offer to join the Multiversal
Masters of Evil.
(Avengers Forever II#11 (fb) - BTS) - Shortly after
joining the Multiversal Masters of Evil, the Ghost Goblin was tasked
with cutting off the heads of Ghost Riders the Masters encountered
across the Multiverse.
(Avengers VII#50) - Accompanying the Multiversal Masters of Evil to Earth-818, the Ghost Goblin aided in destroying the reality in its infancy. As the other Masters took down each of the early heroes on Earth-818, the Ghost Goblin severed the head of that reality's Spirit of Vengeance, Rider, acquiring his skull to keep and claiming the other Masters could do what they wanted with the other heroes.
(Avengers Forever II#2 (fb) - BTS) - The Ghost Goblin
murdered many Ghost Riders across the Multiverse, adding their skulls
to his arsenal.
(Free Comic Book Day 2021: Avengers/Hulk (fb) - BTS)
- At some point, the Ghost Goblin acquired the severed head of
Earth-1719's Ghost Rider and, with the Multiversal Masters of Evil, had
destroyed several Multiversal Deathloks.
(Free Comic Book Day 2021: Avengers/Hulk) - While on
the barren Earth-63241 (diverged from Earth-10222 when the Masters of
Evil destroyed Earth-10222) with the Multiversal Masters of Evil, the
Ghost Goblin
encountered a Deathlok and hurled the head of Ghost Rider-1719 towards
the Deathlok. As the head of Ghost Rider-1719 exploded, destroying the
Deathlok, the Ghost Goblin complained that he was almost getting tired
of killing Deathloks.
(Avengers Forever Infinity
Comics#1) - The Ghost
Goblin accompanied the Multiversal Masters of Evil in attacking the
prehistoric heroes of Earth-5478, where he used his exploding Spirit of
Vengeance skulls to kill that reality's prehistoric Black Panther as
the Panther was picking up All-Mother Odin's hammer. Once Earth-5478's
prehistoric heroes were slaughtered, the Goblin and the rest of the
Multiversal Masters of Evil looked over their handiwork before
departing towards another Earth to destroy.
(Avengers VII#50) - Having acquired an entire satchel full of severed skulls of alternate reality Ghost Riders, the Ghost Goblin accompanied the Multiversal Masters of Evil to Earth-616's modern era, where Doom Supreme revealed that they would be hunting the Deathloks that had converged there. King Killmonger argued that he had not agreed to follow Doom's orders but the argument was interrupted by the arrival of Earth-616's Watcher-empowered mercenary Orb, whose appearance surprised the Ghost Goblin. Doom quickly murdered the Orb and the Masters set their sights on Avengers Mountain, headquarters of Earth-616's mightiest heroes.
(Avengers VII#52) - Tracking
Deathloks to Earth-616's
Kansas City, Ghost Goblin and the Black Skull attacked a group of
Deathloks in the company of Earth-616 Avengers Captain America, Captain
Marvel and the Starbrand. Ghost Goblin first hurled a severed alternate
reality Ghost Rider head into the Avengers' midst and it exploded in a
blast of green hellfire, obliterating the Deathloks and destroying the
home that had once belonged to the Starbrand's mother. The Ghost Goblin
and the Black Skull then made their way to the city proper, where the
Ghost Goblin gloated about how he had killed at least a thousand
Deathloks with his so-called "Noggin Bombs" and joked that they would
need to destroy at least a dozen more universes for the Black Skull to
keep up. Having pursued the two Masters of Evil, Captain Marvel tackled
the Ghost Goblin in midair and when the Ghost Goblin asked if Marvel
was going to ask who he was, Captain Marvel replied that the Goblin had
told her all she needed to know when he tried to kill her friends.
Shoved to the ground by Captain Marvel, the Ghost Goblin pulled out a
Spirit of Vengeance skull and detonated it in Captain Marvel's face
before pummeling her with more skulls and gloating about how
insignificant Captain Marvel was to him. He was soon knocked aside by
the Starbrand and remarked in surprise that a Starbrand was even active
on Earth-616. Realizing that the two of them could not stand against
the power of a Starbrand, the Black Skull suggested the Ghost Goblin
dump his entire arsenal of Noggin Bombs to cover their escape. Ghost
Goblin did just that, laughing that it would be fun to harvest more
skulls, and Captain Marvel quickly gathered up all of the skulls but
the Starbrand stepped in and burned out the skulls before they detonate.
(Avengers Forever II#2) - Passing by Earth-22170 (diverged from Earth-818 when the Masters of Evil destroyed Earth-818's early heroes), which the Black Skull had taken over, the Ghost Goblin arrived just in time to hit Earth-616's Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) as Ghost Rider was attempting escape from the Black Skull's torture. Happy to see another Ghost Rider, the Ghost Goblin asked when he could get Ghost Rider's head to add to his arsenal of Noggin Bombs. Once Ghost Rider was recaptured and his Hell-Charger immobilized, the Black Skull discussed the Hell-Charger with the Ghost Goblin, asking if the Goblin had ever seen such a beast of a vehicle among all of the Spirits of Vengeance the Goblin had murdered. Admitting that he had never seen a Hell Charger before, the Ghost Goblin also noted that Earth-616's Ghost Rider was not a Ketch or a Blaze or a Kale nor any other counterpart from the typical bloodlines he had encountered, further noting that he sensed no connection to Mephisto. Black Skull agreed that the Goblin's observations were curious but the Ghost Goblin warned the Black Skull against getting hung up on a Multiversal variant Ghost Rider, suggesting instead that the Black Skull again sever the Ghost Rider's head and be done with the Rider. As Goblin made his remarks, the severed skulls in his satchel began hailing Earth-616's Ghost Rider as the "All-Rider."
(Avengers Forever Infinity
Comics#4 (fb) - BTS) - A million years in
its timeline after the time-traveling Multiversal Masters of Evil
destroyed Earth-5478's heroes in their primordial infancy, the Ghost
Goblin returned and took over the now-devastated world, transforming it
into an industrial society where the rich Highborn lived in high
society while the low society lived below ground in the Underslums.
(Avengers Forever Infinity Comics#3 (fb) - BTS) - The Ghost Goblin
was worshiped as a god among the so-called Highborn of Earth-5478.
(Avengers Forever Infinity Comics#2) - After a low
society miner named Horus was granted the power of Thor by finding and
touching All-Mother Odin's long-buried hammer, the Ghost Goblin
confronted the blind Horus in midair and proclaimed him under arrest.
(Avengers Forever Infinity Comics#3) - Attacking
Horus, the Ghost Goblin commented that a blind Thor shouldn't exist, as
the Goblin himself had helped scrub Earth-5478 of heroes back in the
prehistoric age. Instinctively wielding the hammer of Thor, Horus
fought back against the Ghost Goblin. When the Ghost Goblin's Noggin
Bombs destroyed a balcony, Horus rushed to rescue the falling Highborns
before returning to the sky to continue the fight. When the Ghost
Goblin realized Horus was one of the low society workers and remarked
that Horus was out of his element, Horus sarcastically replied that he
was not cut out to be a sky god as he dropped the hammer onto the Ghost
Goblin's glider, sending it plummeting towards the ground. After the
falling hammer forced the Ghost Goblin into the ground, the battle
continued underground until the Ghost Goblin used his hellfire chains
to separate Horus from the hammer. As the Ghost Goblin prepared to
destroy the hammer by dragging it to a pyre with his chains, Horus,
realizing that he had found the hammer so he could free it, grabbed the
hammer and hurled it into the atmosphere. The Ghost Goblin was
surprised as the hammer flew into space and Horus plummeted from the
glider to his death, accepting his heroic death.
(Avengers Forever Infinity Comics#4 (fb) - BTS) -
Following Horus' death, the Ghost Goblin departed Earth-5478 and not
long after, Reality-14412's Atli and her Asgardian sisters arrived on
Earth-5478, having been lead there by their hammers. Learning of the
Ghost Goblin's corruption of Earth-5478, Atli's sister Frigg searched
the entire planet for the Ghost Goblin, only to discover he had
departed that reality.
(Avengers Forever Infinity Comics#4 - BTS) - After attending Horus' funeral, Atli returned to her sisters and reminded them how the Ghost Goblin had warped the devastated Earth-5478, removing any trace of gods. Atli's sisters proclaimed that Earth-5478 had gods now and Ellisiv demanded to know where the Ghost Goblin could be found. Frigg then informed her sisters how she had searched the entire planet for the Ghost Goblin, only to learn he had escaped Earth-5478.
(Avengers VII#54) - Once the final Deathlok on Earth-616 was destroyed, Doom Supreme opened a mystic portal and entered it alongside Kid Thanos, regrouping on the other side with the Ghost Goblin, Dark Phoenix and her Hound, King Killmonger and a new, alternate Black Skull.
(Avengers Forever II#5) - The
Ghost Goblin
accompanied the Multiversal Masters of Evil to Earth-91, a reality
populated by beings resembling Earth-616's Man-Thing. Once the
prehistoric heroes of Earth-91 were all killed, diverging the barren
Earth-35521 from Earth-91, the Ghost Goblin
claimed Earth-91 for himself, announcing plans to build mountain ranges
out of the skulls between oceans of marrow. Dark Phoenix argued claim
over the reality herself but the new Black Skull suggested they stop
arguing, as he was next in line for a reality by order. King Killmonger
argued that the former Black Skull couldn't even control the reality
the previous Black Skull
had been given, instead nominating himself to rule Earth-91, but
Killmonger was interrupted by Kid Thanos, who laid claim to Earth-91 by
the fact that he had already started an autopsy on the corpses. The
Ghost Goblin became angry, claiming that the corpses belonged to him,
at which point Dark Phoenix suggested they question Doom Supreme about
his
own possible claim. When Doom expressed interest in staying out of the
Masters' petty squabbles, Killmonger questioned why Doom had not
claimed any of the Earths they had destroyed and the Ghost Goblin asked
what sort of game Doom was playing, questioning whether Doom thought he
was better than the rest of the Masters.
(Avengers Forever II#11) - As the Multiversal Masters of Evil wrapped up killing the prehistoric heroes of another reality, the Ghost Goblin asked how many destroyed Earths this particular one made and Doom Supreme replied that their mission would be completed with the fall of only one more Earth. Grinning, the Goblin commented that they had saved the best for last and Kid Thanos remarked on how he never understood what made Earth-616 so special. Moments later, however, the new Black Skull lost control of his symbiote and it attacked King Killmonger, prompting the Ghost Goblin to ask what the Skull was doing. As the Skull explained his loss of control as an attack on the Masters of Evil, Earth-616's Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) drove into the group to attack up close and the Ghost Goblin immediately recognized Robbie as the Ghost Rider that had single-handedly defeated an army of Black Skulls on the diverged Earth-22170. The Ghost Goblin then entered the battle against Ghost Rider, bragging that he had killed 417 Spirits of Vengeance and that there was always room in his satchel of Noggin Bombs for one more head. Gloating about how he had been tasked with cutting off Ghost Rider heads, the Ghost Goblin hurled several Noggin Bombs at Ghost Rider-616 but Robbie proclaimed himself no longer a Ghost Rider and turned the Noggin Bombs back on the Ghost Goblin. After Ghost Rider was saved from sacrificing his life to defeat the Doom Supreme, the Ghost Goblin regrouped with the Multiversal Masters of Evil and witnessed Ghost Rider escaping into space alongside Earth-818's Ant-Man. A shrunken Doom Supreme promised the Masters would regroup and finish the fight with one last slaughter, at which point the Ghost Goblin sarcastically remarked that Doom might also regrow.
(Avengers Assemble Alpha#1) -
After engaging both the
time-traveling modern day Earth-616's Avengers and the Avengers of
1,000,000 B.C., Doom Supreme summoned the Ghost Goblin and the rest of
the Multiversal Masters of Evil to begin the battle against both teams
of Avengers for Earth-616's future.
(Avengers VII#63) - The modern
day Avengers charged
into battle against the Multiversal Masters of Evil, only for the Dark
Phoenix to blast them back. Upon witnessing the event, Kid Thanos
admitted that he hated when Dark Phoenix didn't share her kills and the
Ghost Goblin agreed, questioning why the rest of the team even got
dressed for the occasion. Having survived the blast, both teams
regrouped and again rushed the Masters of Evil, with the Ghost Goblin
first facing off against Earth-616's Nighthawk simulacrum. Shocked to
recognize Norman Osborn as the man behind the fire that made up the
Ghost Goblin, Nighthawk questioned what Osborn had done to get that
kind of power and the prehistoric Ghost of 1,000,000 B.C. responded
that Osborn had to have sold his soul. The Ghost Goblin gloated that he
had done the same as Ghost himself but Ghost assured the Goblin that
he was nothing like him before firing a blast of hellfire at the
Goblin. The Goblin responded with his own blast and the two went
face-to-face in a fierce battle of hellfire that resulted in a large
explosion. Weakly emerging from the rubble in his human
form, Norman Osborn questioned what happened to his powers moments
before he was impaled by a rock wielding by the prehistoric Ghost, who
proclaimed Osborn deserved to burn and rot for his sins.
(Avengers VII#66) - After fleeing the scene of the
battle, Kid Thanos found Reality-616's Mephisto and remarked on how
un-masterful the Masters were, with the Ghost Goblin dead, King
Killmonger beaten, and both Dark Phoenix and the Supreme Doom having
seemingly fled from Reality-616. Mephisto responded by questioning why
Kid Thanos was still present himself and Kid Thanos answered that he
remained
to acquire knowledge by dissecting the fresh corpses of Killmonger, the
semi-melted Hound and the Ghost Goblin, as well as the bound but still
living alternate Black Skull. Content to let Mephisto continue his plot
alone,
Kid Thanos teleported away with Killmonger, Hound, the Ghost Goblin and
the Black Skull.
Comments: Created by Jason Aaron and Iban Coello.
The Black Skull and Ghost Goblin's attack in Avengers VII#52 is somewhat confusing as to where exactly it takes place. Captain America, Captain Marvel and Starbrand are all said specifically to be in Kansas City, Kansas when the Ghost Goblin & Black Skull attack yet a short time later, we see the two Masters of Evil attacking Deathloks and the caption specifically states they are in Kansas City, Missouri. So either the state names were listed incorrectly or the two Masters destroyed the Deathloks in Kansas and continued on their way to Missouri, where they attacked more Deathloks. That would also mean that Captain America and Captain Marvel pursued the Masters from Kansas to Missouri as well. Now, sure, I guess it's possible that the Ghost Goblin hell-spawned glider could have gotten him across a few states in a semi-short amount of time and it's especially possible that Captain Marvel could've flown Captain America there just as fast, if not faster, but it seems as if the writer had intended the two locations to both be in one city/state and a mistake was made in the captions....U DECIDE!
Avengers Forever II#8 mentions
that the Multiversal Masters of Evil had devastated Earth-56337 but we
are not which Masters of Evil were present during the attack or whether
the Ghost Goblin was present in that attack. Therefore, I've chosen not
to list that issue as an appearance of the Ghost Goblin,
behind-the-scenes or otherwise.
Despite the Tony Stark Ant-Man
being mentioned in-story as being from Earth-818, he is actually from
Earth-22170, the barren wasteland reality ruled by the Black Skull that
diverged from Earth-818 when the Multiversal Masters of Evil destroyed
Earth-818's early heroes.
Update 8/7/2024:
After re-reading the Avengers Assemble storyarc several times, I'm
leaning more towards Earth-818 being the reality that diverged when the
Multiversal Masters of Evil traveled there and killed their first
prehistoric Avenger. When we first see the mention of Earth-818, it is
after the Multiversal Masters have slaughtered some of the prehistoric
Avengers there, so it stands to reason that Earth-818 had already
diverged by that point. Perhaps Earth-22170 would be the reality prior
to the divergence point that was restored by Earth-616's Starbrand
(Brandy Selby) at the end of the Avengers Assemble arc? --Proto-Man
Avengers VII#63 mentions that
Osborn sold his soul "for sin," which was a strange wording since
Osborn didn't acquire sin in exchange for his soul. He acquired the
supernatural Spirit of Vengeance powers for his soul, not sin. I'm sure
his soul was full of sin when he sold it though...
Profile by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Earth-45863's Ghost Goblin should be
distinguished from:
| --Free Comic Book Day
2021: Avengers/Hulk#1 |
| --Avengers VII#63 (fb) -
BTS |
Appearances:
Free Comic Book Day 2021: Avengers/Hulk (October, 2021) - "The Tower at
the Center of Everything" story - Jason Aaron (writer), Iban Coello
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#50 (February, 2022) - "An Earth
Unlike Any Other (Just Like All the Rest)"
story - Jason Aaron (writer), Aaron Kuder, Carlos Pacheco, Rafael
Fonteriz, Ed McGuinness, Javier Garron (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever Infinity Comics#1 (March, 2022) - Jason Aaron
(writer), Kev Walker (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#52 (March, 2022) - Jason Aaron (writer), Juan Frigeri
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever II#2 (March, 2022) - Jason Aaron (writer), Aaron
Kuder, Carlos Magno (pencils), Scott Hanna, Roberto Poggi, Cam Smith
(inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever Infinity Comics#2 (March, 2022) - Jason Aaron
(writer), Kev Walker (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever Infinity Comics#3 (April, 2022) - Jason Aaron
(writer), Kev Walker (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever Infinity Comics#4 (April, 2022) - Jason Aaron
(writer), Kev Walker (art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#54 (May, 2022) - Jason Aaron (writer), Juan Frigeri (art),
Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever II#5 (June, 2022) - Jason Aaron (writer), Jim Towe
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Forever II#11 (January, 2023) - Jason Aaron (writer), Jim Towe
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers Assemble Alpha#1 (January, 2023) - Jason Aaron (writer), Bryan
Hitch (pencils), Andrew Currie (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#63 (February, 2023) - Jason Aaron (writer), Javier Garron
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Avengers VII#66 (May, 2023) - Jason Aaron (writer), Javier Garron
(art), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First posted: 11/27/2023
Last updated: 08/07/2024
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Ghost Rider (Earth-1719)