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Marvel Database

For years, I listened as my whimpering patients cried over horrors long past. I'd often wonder how a parent could hurt a child. Be so cruel. But now, seeing the two of you cowering in front of me. Powerless. I get it.

Queen Goblin to Janine Godbe and Mary Jane Watson[source]

History

Beginnings[]

At some point after the real Dr. Ashley Kafka died in the cloned body the Jackal (Ben Reilly) gave to her,[7] Norman Osborn found and released a second clone of her that had been stored in an old laboratory of Professor Miles Warren. Knowing that John Jameson had feelings for Dr. Kafka, Norman convinced her clone to go to the Ravencroft Institute so he could use her to manipulate John and turn him into an asset for J.A.N.U.S., the organization that helped him recover his wealth.[8] Upon arriving at Ravencroft,[9] Kafka's clone was submitted to a series of tests which were secretly forged by Dr. Karl Malus, another accomplice of Norman, to make John think she was the real deal.[10][8] Eventually, Norman was able to accomplish his mission for J.A.N.U.S. and Kafka's clone became the new chief scientist for Ravencroft.[8]

Ashley Kafka (Clone) (Earth-616) from Amazing Spider-Man The Sins of Norman Osborn Vol 1 1 001

Original appearance

The Sins of Norman Osborn[]

When the Sin-Eater and his followers attacked Ravencroft to get Norman, its newly appointed director, Dr. Kafka was tricked into leaving the facility's panic room by a security guard who had been corrupted by the Sin-Eater's touch. The Sin-Eater then used his corrupting touch on Dr. Kafka as well and had her open the Juggernaut's cell, enabling him to absorb the avatar of Cyttorak's sins and powers, like he had done with Mister Negative and other Super Villains before him.[11]

After Norman was also cleansed of his sins, Dr. Kafka and other members of the staff found him in the ruins of a hidden sublevel of the Institute and rescued him. Stricken by guilt over his past actions, Norman convinced Dr. Kafka to not hand him over the authorities so he could stop Kindred, the person behind the attack on Ravencroft. As Norman wanted to save Kindred, believing he was his son Harry,[12] Dr. Kafka advised him to seek someone to act as an intermediary between them.[13] Norman ended up recruiting Mary Jane Watson for that role, as she was one of Harry's closest friends.[14]

Queen Goblin[]

Dr. Kafka was later approached by the Beyond Corporation's Super Hero Development division about rehabilitating their newest asset: Ben Reilly, her creator and fellow clone. Accepting the offer right away,[15] Dr. Kafka ended Beyond Corp's memo-surgeries on Ben, since the procedure could cause the accidental erasure of his formative memories, and negotiated total autonomy as a condition of her employ, meaning Beyond could neither interfere nor monitor her work.[16] During her therapy sessions with Ben, which happened whenever he returned from his missions as Spider-Man, Dr. Kafka used a special device to help him recover his erased memories without Beyond Corp's knowledge.[17][18]

Having discovered the Beyond Corporation's involvement with Super Villains during an encounter with Doctor Octopus, Ben tried to share his findings with Dr. Kafka during a therapy session, unaware that they were being watched by Maxine Danger, Head of Super Hero Development. Consequently, the session was interrupted by Beyond Security and Ben was taken away to have his memories wiped out again.[16] Dr. Kafka was then forcefully bonded to the sins of Norman Osborn for being unwilling to cooperate with the company. Mutating grotesquely into a creature Maxine dubbed the Queen Goblin, Dr. Kafka was equipped with some tech and programmed to intercept Janine Godbe, Ben's girlfriend, before she could use a data drive in her possession to expose Beyond's darkest secrets to the public.[19]

Queen Goblin attacked Janine and her ally Mary Jane at the Daily Bugle Building, completing her mission during a fight against Ben, who fled with his girlfriend as soon as he could.[1] While rescuing MJ, Black Cat fell victim to the Queen's Goblin Gaze and was coerced into jumping to her death, but the original Spider-Man (Peter Parker) saved her life.[2] In her ensuing battle against Peter, the Queen Goblin attempted to cause his death by using her Goblin Gaze on him; however, Peter managed to overcome it and defeated her. Beyond subsequently took control of her glider to take her unconscious body away from Spider-Man.[4] Once she regained her consciousness, Queen Goblin took shelter on an abandoned building somewhere. At this point, the sins of Norman Osborn had made it impossible for her to remember who she was before her transformation, prompting her to vow to go after Norman.[20]

Haunting Norman Osborn[]

Keeping to her vow, Queen Goblin manipulated events to ensure Roderick Kingsley's return as the Hobgoblin and had him brainwash Ned Leeds again. While Spider-Man managed to save Ned, the Queen was accepting of having only Kingsley in her thrall.[21] Wanting to break Norman down, she manipulated Owen Ward into returning to his Jack O'Lantern identity to threaten Norman, who had become the new hero Gold Goblin.[22]

Adamant on getting rid of the sins, the Queen Goblin attacked Norman in his secret shelter, only for her to realize that his sins had become one with hers and couldn't be returned to him. As she battled Norman's guilt in the form of Gwen Stacy, Norman escaped to reunite with Spider-Man. In her Dr. Fromme identity, she attempted to publicly discredit Norman as an irredeemable madman, but was confronted by both Gold Goblin and Spider-Man. Transforming into the Queen Goblin, she attempted to transfer Norman's sins to Spider-Man, but was stopped when Gold Goblin was forced to snap her neck using her own chains.[5] She later somehow came back to life during a failed attempt to do an autopsy on her body.[6]

Forming an alliance with Kraven the Hunter, Queen Goblin imbued his spear with Osborn's sins in order for him to turn Norman back into the Green Goblin and kill him in order to prove himself to be better than his father.[23] However, Spider-Man intervened, causing him to be infused with the sins, becoming an evil maniac who decided to go after everyone who had wronged him. This included Kraven, who he buried alive in a coffin similar to what his father did to him, but Queen Goblin arrived to save him and help with his hunt.[24]

Attributes

Powers

Enhanced Clone Physiology: Being a clone of Ashley Kafka, she possessed no powers of her own until being forcibly merged with the sins of Norman Osborn, which caused her to develop some powers similar to those he had while augmented by the Goblin Formula.[1]

  • Superhuman Strength[1]
  • Superhuman Durability[1]
  • Goblin Gaze: Exclusive to the Queen Goblin, the Goblin Gaze is a psychic attack that enables her to use the negative thoughts of her targets against them, choking out their free will in the process.[2]
  • Physical Transformation: Kafka can switch between her human and Queen Goblin forms at will.[25]
  • Matter Generation: While transforming into the Queen Goblin, Kafka is somehow able to spontaneously manifest clothing, weapons, and even a Goblin Glider.[25]

Weaknesses

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Pumpkin Scepter: The Queen Goblin wields a high-tech mace with two spherical striking heads in each extremity. The weapon's handle can change from a rigid form to a chain retractable one, making the weapon function and look like a three-section staff. Its two heads resemble jack o'lanterns and can fire "bomb blasts."[1][26] The heads can also burn the Queen Goblin's victims from the inside out if touched.[2]

Transportation

Goblin Glider: Like most of the other Goblins before her, the Queen Goblin makes use of a high-tech glider as her main way of transportation. It can split itself into two, enabling both parts to act as independent drones.[1][27]

Notes

  • Kafka's clone only has the original Kafka's memories up to the moment of her first death,[13] as she was created sometime before Kafka's second demise.[8]

See Also

Links and References

References