Spider-Man
Friendly Neighborhood Hero?
Wisecracker
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
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History: Raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, science prodigy Peter Parker grew up shy and bookish. He had trouble making friends and was something of a social outsider in his school. When he was fifteen years old, Peter went on a school field trip, during which an irradiated spider bit him. The radioactive venom somehow caused a series of mutations that gave the boy superhuman abilities.
Attempting to earn money to help his financially struggling family, Parker donned a costume and tried his hand as a small-time television celebrity. Thinking himself too important because of his newfound fame, Peter ignored the chance to stop a thief escaping the studio one day, only to return home later to find that a burglar had murdered Uncle Ben. Hunting the burglar down, Parker discovered the killer was the man he had chosen to ignore earlier. Consumed by guilt, and having his future celebrity career curtailed by a set of critical editorials published by J. Jonah Jameson’s Daily Bugle, Peter began a checkered career as the costumed vigilante Spider-Man. He eventually put Jameson’s animosity to good use by making a living as a news photographer selling to the Bugle and specializing in photos of his alter ego.
Peter eventually graduated college and developed a strong relationship with girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, a romance that evolved into a happy, if problematic, marriage. Leaving his work with Jameson behind him, Parker used his science credentials to become a teacher, while continuing to fight the good fight as Spider-Man, no matter the personal cost.
Personality: Peter Parker is a courageous and good-hearted man driven by crushing guilt and an unshakeable moral core. The
death of Uncle Ben taught him that with great power comes great responsibility. He is the everyman— mortal, fallible, and often subject to the
cruel whims of fortune—who nevertheless gives his all to fight and bleed for his conscience. Spider-Man hides his fears and uncertainty in battle under an incessant torrent of wisecracks and taunts.
Abilities & Resources: Spider-Man possesses superhuman strength, agility, and reflexes, as well as a sixth sense attuned to danger. An attraction field based around his palms and the soles of his feet enables him to cling to most surfaces and even climb them.
Despite having extraordinary powers, Peter frequently has to rely on his exceptional scientific acumen. Among other applications, Parker has used his innate genius to fashion a pair of “web-shooters” that spray a short-duration chemical adhesive of his own devising. He has learned to use this so-called “webbing” to form swing lines or nets, and even to spin together solid structures, such as small barriers or parachutes.
Spider-Man notably lacks the wealth of material resources many other heroes have, though he does have the respect of a number of those he’s worked alongside. Parker has a small circle of contacts through the Daily Bugle (such as reporter Phil Urich), as well as the emotional support of his wife Mary Jane and his Aunt May. Other than his powers and intellect, though, Parker normally has little else to rely on besides pure gumption and blind luck.