These Villains Were Created By Spider-Man

Spider-Man's entire reason for being, when you get down to it, is the understanding that with great power comes great responsibility. As fans and longtime readers will recall, he learned that lesson the hard way when he didn't stop the robber who would later go on to kill his dear Uncle Ben. However, there were times during his career when he inspired villains who weren't simply interested in ruling the world, robbing banks, or controlling the New York mobs. Some villains' entire existence could be traced to Spider-Man, either because someone wanted him dead, wanted revenge solely on him, or because of some dubious decisions he made.

J. Jonah Jameson, Peter Parker's boss at the Daily Bugle, was responsible for funding the creation of several villains to destroy what he perceived as a public menace. Peter Parker picked up a mysterious goo that bonded with him in the form of a new, black Spider-Man suit on Battleworld during Secret Wars and wound up bringing a horrifying alien symbiote to Earth. People like Harry Osborn and Miles Warren took up super-villain identities because they believed Spidey was responsible for the death of someone they loved. The Sinister Six was formed to get revenge on Spider-Man, while Kraven the Hunter did it for glory. 

Unlike Tony Stark, whose cutthroat business decisions drove some men to villainy, or Hank Pym, whose own inventions took on a horrifying life of their own, poor Peter Parker rarely did anything with that degree of hubris. He's just Marvel's bad-luck magnet. Let's take a closer look at the villains that Spider-Man created.

The creation and eventual proliferation of the killer robots dubbed Spider-Slayers was entirely Peter Parker's fault. 

Selling some photos to J. Jonah Jameson one day, an inventor named Spencer Smythe burst into the Daily Bugle offices with a goofy-looking robot that he claimed could defeat Spider-Man. Jameson tried to throw him out, but a greedy Peter talked him into listening to the scientist, convinced that he could easily defeat it as Spider-Man and maybe make a few bucks selling pictures.

Unfortunately for Peter, Smythe's Spider-Slayer was a legitimately deadly device. Covered with a non-stick coating that sloughed off webs, it tracked down Spider-Man thanks to its sensitivity to arachnids. When near its target, it uncoiled super-strong steel cables to trap its prey. It could climb up buildings or step off of them with hydraulic limbs. To add insult to injury, its faceplate featured the face of whoever was running it, so Jameson had a merry old time chasing Spidey around while Spidey could see him gloating.

The Spider-Slayer eventually captured Spider-Man, and Jameson and Smythe raced over to unmask Spidey. Given a precious few moments, Peter found the automaton's control panel and deactivated it, leaving an empty costume in its clutches just to make Jameson mad. 

However, this would hardly be the last of the Spider-Slayers. Smythe kept upgrading it, and when he died, his son kept up the family tradition. All told, the Spider-Slayer was remade 20 more times after its introduction. Keep your mouth shut, Pete!

When Peter Parker had his costume shredded during the first Secret Wars on Battleworld, he saw how Spider-Woman made herself a new costume with alien technology. He decided that he would try the same trick, and he wound up with a black costume that responded to his thoughts and produced unlimited webbing. Unbeknownst to him, he had bonded himself to a Klyntar alien symbiote. It was intelligent, alive, and wanted to bond itself to Peter permanently.

Peter didn't realize this until he brought it back to Earth, inadvertently triggering a series of events that would kill dozens of people. When he started to realize that the costume seemed to have a mind of his own, Reed Richards confirmed this for him and revealed to him its intention to permanently fuse with him. Peter rejected the symbiote as Reed discovered it was vulnerable to sonics and high heat; it then escaped and tried to forcibly bond with Peter before the tolls of a church bell drove it out and seemed to kill it.

A disgraced reporter named Eddie Brock, who had been humiliated by Spider-Man, went into that church. The symbiote bonded with him, sensing their mutual hatred of Spider-Man. They named themselves Venom and made it their business to destroy Spider-Man. Venom eventually became a "lethal protector" with Brock, but the symbiote bounced to many others, including Mac Gargan. The symbiote's seething hatred of Peter Parker was a constant, even as it yearned to be reunited with him.

Kindred was once a human sent to hell who became a powerful demon. Appearing in a tattered costume with two huge centipedes crawling over him, he had a grudge against both Peter Parker and Norman Osborn. He knew Peter well enough to call him "Pete," and when Spider-Man was off fighting Kraven, Kindred watched over Mary Jane, making sure no harm came to her. 

Kindred told Peter that he was going to torture for him for something he'd done, but he declined to say what it was or offer up his true name. He's unleashed a series of schemes and underlings, including a resurrected Mysterio, Sentinels, and the Robot-Master. He even got the Kingpin to obey him. He implanted a centipede in Osborn's ear, content to let him rot in prison thinking he was Cletus Kasady. However, Kindred blamed Osborn for his demonic transformation. Kindred insisted that he would be the one to kill Spider-Man when the time came and even saved Spider-Man from Osborn when he broke out of prison.

Kindred is a terrifying opponent, with the mystery of his identity being especially creepy. The question is, what did Peter do to deserve his hatred? Was this a direct result of one of his actions, or was it the kind of misunderstanding that helped create the Jackal? All that's known for sure is that Kindred certainly blames Peter for something, and he's doing horrible things as a result.

Upon escaping from prison after being beaten by Spider-Man yet again, Dr. Octopus came up with a new plan. He created a team of villains he dubbed the Sinister Six, all of whom had been defeated by Spidey multiple times. They were all out for revenge, and their hatred spawned a new team that went through many iterations and caused all sorts of problems. Of course, Doc Ock outsmarted himself, as he concocted what he thought was a foolproof plan. Kidnapping Betty Brant and Aunt May, he had Spider-Man go to locations that would be advantageous for each member of his team.

Electro fought Spider-Man in an electrical plant, but Spidey grounded himself and won easily. He then outmaneuvered Kraven the Hunter and two big cats in a park, getting his card with the address of the next fight. He used his Spider-Sense to see through Mysterio's illusions and then beat the Sandman in an airtight chamber when his foe ran out of oxygen. The Vulture seemed to outsmart him when he forced Spider-Man to fight without his webbing, but Spidey used the Vulture's weapons against him.

That left just Doc Ock, who fought Spider-Man in a giant fishbowl. In that tight space, Spidey's webbing slowed his opponent down and ended the battle. Spidey chastised Doc Ock for his convoluted plan, saying that if they had put aside ego and attacked him together, they might have beaten him. The Sinister Six reappeared nine more times, with similar results.

The night that Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn died had severe repercussions. Not only did Harry Osborn blame Spider-Man for his dad's death, but ESU professor Miles Warren blamed Spider-Man for Gwen Stacy's death. A brilliant but twisted chemist, he fell in love with Gwen Stacy while she was still his student. Warren had collected DNA samples from his entire class, which included Peter. Studying it, Warren realized that Peter was actually Spider-Man.

Warren was an expert on cloning and whipped up clones of both Gwen and Peter before he was confronted by his lab assistant. Warren completely snapped, killed his assistant, and took on the costumed identity of the Jackal as part of his quest for revenge. The Jackal roped in the Punisher, the Scorpion, and Tarantula into his scheme but eventually had Peter confront his clone in battle. 

Warren would go on to inflict misery on Peter and his clone Ben Reilly for years, though it was usually behind the scenes. Warren eventually altered his own DNA to make himself actually resemble a mutated jackal, and he later followed the Gwen Stacy of Earth-65 (Ghost Spider) back to her home dimension in order to profess his demented "love" to her. Poor Spider-Man was caught once again in the middle of a sick mind's delusional obsessions, but there's no question that his mere presence attracted such weirdness.