Peter Parker was born to Richard and Mary Parker. His parents unfortunately passed early in life due to mysterious circumstances unbeknownst to him and so his care fell to his aunt and uncle May and Ben. They raised him well in their home in the Forest Hills section of Queens until the ripe old age of 15.
The young Parker's life would change forever on the day he went to a science fair and was bitten by a radioactive spider. This bite altered his DNA and gave him superpowers that opened the door to a new life. He first took those powers and tried to cash in on them by participating in a wrestling match against Crusher Hogan. He won, however the fight promoter refused to pay up. It was then that karma seemed to intervene. The promoter was the victim of an armed robbery, and in his flight away dashed past Peter. Peter, in his anger, refused to help. He stepped out of the way allowing the criminal to flee. It is this moment of malice, this single instant of base emotion that haunts Peter Parker for the rest of his life.
The gunman fled, and later that night he encountered Uncle Ben. Peter Parker's father figure, the focus of his moral compass, was killed that night by the gunman. If only Peter had done the right thing, if only he had stopped the robber. The guilt weighed heavily upon him.
With the tremendous weight of the guilt from his Uncle's death heavy upon his shoulders, Peter decided to try and make it up as best he could. He decided to use these powers to try and save lives, to help those who can't help themselves. He reworked the costume he made for wrestling. He used his scientific knowhow to invent a substance for webbing and web-shooters as well. He then began his efforts as a costumed vigilante.
When he first started out, Peter kept a low profile. He'd start with low-level street crime, but soon he began to encounter other individuals who would use their special abilities or equipment to try and take advantage of those less fortunate. Once the public got wind of his efforts against costumed supervillains opinion of him crashed throughthe floor primarily due to the efforts of J. Jonah Jameson and the Daily Bugle.
Despite his decision to try and help his fellow man, Peter still suffered from the realities of the world. That being, primarily, a lack of money. He decided he could perhaps still help people if he joined the Fantastic Four. So he approached the super team and requested to join. Unfortunately he was rejected but did not mind as he also realized that they did not get paid. He still got along well with them, Johnny Storm in particular.
Peter continued his career for several years, fighting many costumed criminals and steadily growing a mixed reputation due to the continued efforts of the Daily Bugle. He was often the target of a smear campaign, but was also impersonated several times which further damaged his public image.
Spider-Man then encountered the villain that would become his nemesis. Upon first conflict, the Green Goblin seemed like any other costumed weirdo. More capable, perhaps, but still just another loon. What Peter did not know was that this villain was Norman Osborne, the father of his friend Harry.
The Goblin was able to find out Peter's secret identity, kidnapped his girlfriend Gwen Stacy, and in the ensuing battle he hurled her off the Brooklyn Bridge. Peter leapt to save her, but in trying to do so her neck snapped and she lost her life. In a rage, Spider-man pursued Green Goblin, and in the ensuing fight Norman Osborne was impaled by his own glider and died. To this day Peter still carries the further guilt of Gwen's death with him.
Peter went on to graduate high school top of his class. He then applied to Columbia University and continued with his education… all the while trying to continue to be Spidey. This split of focus damaged both his personal life as well as his 'professional' life. Eventually he moved out of Aunt May's home and into a loft in the city.
A year later Harry comes back to the States, having travelled all over Europe after graduating. He moves in with Peter and the two begin a life together as best friends making their way through life and the city. Unfortunately Harry chooses to follow in his father's footsteps, becoming the Green Goblin himself. The two battle and Harry is captured.
Life continued much along those lines until Peter found himself swept up by a being of supreme power. He was catapulted with many of earth's other 'heroes' and 'villains' and tasked to participate in a Secret War for the fate of the universe. Luckily the heroes did manage to win. But, as a prize, Peter came away with what he thought was simply a new uniform.
However, that uniform was not all it seemed. Over time Peter learned that the suit seemed to be influencing his behaviour and changing his outlook. He realized that it was a sentient being, a symbiote of sorts that lived off of negative energy. It took a monumental effort on Spider-Man's part, but he was able to rid himself of the symbiote, casting the costume away and freeing himself.
With the help of the Fantastic Four, Peter Parker was able to overcome the symbiote's bond entirely and for a time was even given a new suit to replace the one he lost. Of course, this suit wasn't terribly flattering being nothing more than an old FF uniform and a paper bag. Well, and a 'Kick Me' sign.
That was not the last Spidey would hear of the symbiote, however. Eddie Brock, a colleague of Peter Parker's, suffered a setback in his career and blamed Spider-Man for it. The symbiote was drawn to Brock due to their shared rage with the Spider and so both bonded to form the villain of Venom.
Over the next several years Spider-Man reclaimed his old costume and continued to battle his gallery of rogues as well as his new nemesis Venom
Peter Parker
Peter is a genuinely nice guy. Really. He is. Usually there with an easy smile and a joke, he's that boy next door. Unfortunately, he always just seems to be rather… unreliable. All too often, he's not showing up when he promised, cutting out suddenly and disappearing entirely. Sure, he's truly sorry when he does and it shows but… sometimes, you just can't count on the guy.
It kills Peter to know that's what people think of him and, alas, it's not really an act. He makes his choices and he has to live with the consequences, his secret and responsibility all to often coming in the way of that 'happiness' thing.
And yet, people can see that Peter is trying. Why can't he get his act together is a question that friends and family have asked many a time.
Spider-Man
Most heroes come up with a persona for one of their identities. Sometimes its the hero that's the act, sometimes it's the civilian. With Spidey, it's something a little different.
As Spider-Man, Peter's personality is more… let off of the leash. He feels far freer to express himself, letting his thoughts fly from his lips, the costume both a burden and a release for Peter Parker.
As Spider-Man, he has the freedom to do exactly what is needed to save lives, to use his powers to the best of his ability to do so. He rushes in where angels go "What the….? Are you kidding, I'm not going in THERE!"
And of course, that brings us to his chatterbox mouth. Spidey is well aware that his quips and humor are a way to deal with the pressures, hardships and dangers of his life… and the quips and humor thus far have been up to the challenge of those difficulties. It sure beats being a grim avenger of the night, doesn't it?
SPIDER SENSE:
Spider-Man possess what he calls his 'spider-sense' which manifests itself as a tingling through his head which has an intensity in proportion for the danger that is being manifested. It doesn't tell him /what/ the danger is, only what direction its coming from. If he just moves instinctively though, more often than not he'll avoid whatever's coming his way.
Spider-Man's spider-tracers are tuned to 'ping' off of his spider-sense.
WALL CRAWLING:
Spider-Man has the ability to 'cling' to almost any surface and although he prefers to use his feet and fingers to do so, actually his entire body can produce the clinging effect. Thick gloves and shows will block his wall crawling abilities, although his costume, socks and the like won't hamper this particular ability.
SPIDER STRENGTH:
While Spider-Man isn't known exactly for being a powerhouse, his strength still is something to be contended with. While he rarely exerts full strength, he is capable of pushing himself to lifting some ten tons although that will leave him quite sore when he does so.
SUPERHUMAN SPEED:
While not super-speed in the sense that he can run faster than a speeding bullet or anything, Spider-Man /can/ in fact /move/ faster than a speeding bullet. It's a subtle distinction, perhaps, but at his fastest Spider-Man can move his body faster than the blink of an eye.
SUPERHUMAN STAMINA:
All work and no play makes Peter a dull boy. Well, while Peter can hardly be dull, he does quite a bit of 'all work and still play', which leaves sleep all too often left to be done at an undisclosed time. Fortunately, his altered physique gives him wells of stamina that help keep him going, able to keep him going at his quite often frantic pace for hours at a time as well as to cope with not getting his full eight hours of beauty sleep. Course, that doesn't mean he won't WANT that sleep…
SUPERHUMAN DURABILITY:
Pumpkin bombs, men in rhino suits, scientists with semi-intelligent robotic arms and the like… all too often, Spider-Man ends up taking a beating. Fortunately, his body's advanced physique manages to stand up to most of it, making it a bit harder to break bones, bruise and the like… and while he doesn't have a healing factor, per se, he does recover from bruising, sprains and minor injuries a bit faster than normal humans. Broken bones and the like, unfortunately, take just as long although scarring is all but nonexistent.
SUPERHUMAN AGILITY:
Spider-Man has an agility that a circus contortionist would be jealous of, able to easily and without thinking twist his body in ways that would make people cringe. It allows him to flip through the air within his webbing, dodge about through gunfire, and other such tricks that help keep his precious blood supply in his body.
SUPERHUMAN EQUILIBRIUM:
Spider-Man has beyond perfect equilibrium, able to keep in his bearings flipping through the air, balancing on single fingertip, running along weblines and the like.
SUPERHUMAN REFLEXES:
Spider-Man quite often reacts without thinking, trusting his instincts. He can react at a truly inhuman pace, able to react in time to avoid a bullet.
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Peter never thought that his bread-and-butter would be a camera… his skills with the camera are borne from experience alone, having forced to improve them in order to get better shots. That said, he's gotten pretty good over the years… and yet, it's still just a job to him. He has no great love or passion for photography, it's not something that fills him with joy. A means to an end…
ACROBATICS:
Whether a side affect of his unique biology or just something that Peter never would have dreamed he'd enjoy so much, Peter has a true affinity and joy with acrobatic stunts. His dexterity, agility and reflexes all give him a truly unnatural talent with acrobatics but it's more than that. He could just jump from point A to point B but it's far more fun to flip twice, land on a flagpole and then swan dive off. Almost all of his movements seem infused with this acrobatic energy and, to be honest, he rather enjoys showing it off.
BRAWLING:
Spider-Man… has absolutely no training in any kind of fighting style whatsoever. He never trained under a mysterious master of the martial arts. He never had uber-fighting skills beamed into his mind from a port in the back of his head. He never spend years toiling in a monastery to hone his skills to razor sharp perfection.
What Spider-Man HAS done instead was jump straight into the fire and see what works. His fighting style is actually more just the combination of his enhanced speed, reflexes and strength working in tandem with instinct and his spider sense. It's a combination that has served him well and often makes his next move incredibly difficult to predict since, well, in the heat of the moment he isn't thinking about his movements so much as reacting.
SCIENCES:
Ah, science. NOW we're talking! Peter has always been scientifically inclined and there's little that'll get Peter's Nerd-Fu reared up in a hurry than something new and exciting in the world of science. When it comes to the sciences, Peter has his fingers in quite a bit of everything and while he's certainly not going to be able to dazzle Mr. Fantastic, Peter can more often than not at least grasp the foundations and not be left in the dust.
CHEMISTRY:
Peter's love and skill with chemistry might just be his strongest point. At the age of fifteen, he figured out the requirements for his webbing, able to fashion it out of just the things that he had available at the time. He aced all his advanced chemistry courses in high school and since then, in his collegiate life, has only increased in his skills. If a certain radioactive spider hadn't come along…
Given his own unique alteration and the number of times that Spider-Man has had to deal with enhanced biologies, such as the Lizard, Peter's skill in biochemistry is also been honed and between his chemistry and biochemistry skills, probably has the equivalent of a higher degree. Of course, no degree means no money but when the skill is needed it's there.
INVENTION_&_IMPROVISATION:
At the age of fifteen, Peter was able to fashion himself a costume, invented a formula for webbing, designed a pair of web shooters AND designed a tracer that is tuned to his own spider-sense. To say that Peter has some skill in the area of invention is an understatement. That said, it's not a skill he's honed over the years…he's improved his toys, yes, but he's not obsessed with pushing the envelope as far as technology is concerned. Maybe he could have gone down the road of Tony Stark but…he never did.
Instead, this skill seems to most manifest itself in reacting to the latest problems, improvising up solutions off the fly, perhaps in ways that most people wouldn't, giving him an edge as far as using the environment as much as his own powers.
LOFT APARTMENT: Peter owns a loft in one of the taller buildings. It's nothing impressive, really, but it does the job and gives Peter a place to hang his hat. Or he would, if he wore a hat. But it IS a great place to hang up his costume and best of all, it has a great window that is out of sight of most people. The view isn't great but when one needs a less than ordinary door…
FREELANCE WORK: Peter's job as a freelance photographer isn't one that leaves him rolling in the dough, not by any stretch of the imagination…but it pays the bills. Usually. Most of the time. But on the other hand, it gives him the freedom to come and go, to not have to punch a time clock and to sleep in on days that being Spider-Man has kept him up WAAAAYYYYYY too freaking late.
PROFESSIONAL CAMERA:
When Peter realized that he was going to be making his money off of pictures he was taking, he realized that he would have to actually start producing quality work. So, saving up for awhile, Peter was able to purchase a high end digital camera that he has since modified lightly so that when he leaps in front of it, the camera reacts to a micro transmitter in Spider-Man's belt that causes the camera to take the picture.
WEB SHOOTERS: r Spidey's web shooters are little marvels of engineering, worn underneath the wrist and forearm of his costume with a trigger in his palm and a nozzle at the underside of his wrist. By changing the pressure and tapping of that trigger, Spidey can produce a wide variety of effects with his webbing, from the thin strands that he shoots out to swing through the city, creating a thin but strong net, creating solid objects such as a bat, a thick goop or even small little balls that can be shot with a great deal of velocity.
The web-shooters have been mothballed, Spider-Man no longer needing them for the time being with the symbiote costume he now wears.
WEB FLUID:
Spider-Man's webs are all from a compact pourus fluid that solidifies into a thick and strong strand when exposed to air. It's rather sticky in the first several seconds of being exposed and, should it be touching something, it will quickly adhere to it. The webbing will dissolve into harmless components after about an hour.
Sadly, the components for the webbing are a bit more spendy than any other part of his costume and Peter is constantly trying to refine it, to make it cheaper or more effective.
Spider-Man no longer needs to make the web-fluid, as his Symbiote costume produces its own webbing.
SPIDEY BELT:
Peter wears a thin little belt beneath his costume, nearly invisible beneath his costume that holds several extra clips of web fluid for his shooters, his spider-tracers, the microtransmitter that triggers the auto-shudder of his camera, as well as a 'spider-signal' that can be projected from the buckle.
SPIDER TRACERS:
Invented by Spider-Man early in his career, the spider-tracers are small little red spiders that resemble the symbol on the back of his chest. They are tuned to 'ping' on Spider-Man's spiders-sense, able to allow him to hone in and track them.
FANTASTIC FOUR:
Spider-Man might not have been able to join the team but he has remained on good terms with the superhero team since then, especially with Johnny Storm. While Spider-Man certainly doesn't have access to any of the FF's tech or resources, he can come to them when he's faced with a problem that he just can't deal with on his own.
DAILY BUGLE:
Peter has many contacts within the Daily Bugle, with J. Jonah Jameson himself taking an interest in the photographer even if he rarely admits to such fondness. Peter has also garnered a reputation with the reporters and is oft considered a lucky charm since Peter's connection with the wall crawler often brings his intervention into some of the more dangerous stories. Plus… Peter's photos are GOOD for business.
AUNT MAY:
A constant source of advice and affection, Aunt May is always there for Peter in any way she can. She can't offer him money, alien technology, or power beyond the ken of men…but she can offer a warm cooked meal, a word of compassion and a family. And that is just enough to keep Peter going on the worst of days.
MARY JANE WATSON:
Aunt May has been trying to get set up Peter and Mary Jane Watson for many years now and eventually, the too did meet and date for a short while although Peter's activities as Spider-Man kept it from getting too serious. She's now a part time model in New York and the two remain on good terms and the two occasionally still go out together.
SYMBIOTE COSTUME: While on Beyonder's Battleplanet, Spider-Man's costume was destroyed and replaced by a machine, however it is far more than just a mere costume. The costume can shift into any clothing that Spider-Man thinks of, from a bathing suit to a superhero costume to a tuxedo, although it's natural state is that of a costume. While it can form pockets, the costume can also absorb small items like wallets, keys and the like, storing them within itself even if in a form that has no pockets.
The symbiote costume also enhances Spider-Man's strength and agility but there is more to it than just that. The symbiote costume also acts an air filter, making Spider-Man immune to gasses and the like. Most beneficial of all, however, is the fact that the costume now makes its own webbing… beneficial because Peter no longer has to pay to get the things needed to make it but a bit of a downfall at the same time, as he can no longer just snap in a new webbing cartridge to refill.
INDOMITABLE WILL:
Peter Parker does not give up. No matter what the odds, no matter how badly things are going, no matter just how it seems that he won't see the next morning, he just seems incapable of giving in and throwing in the towel, to just sit down and -die-. It allows Peter to push through the pain, the hardships, to do what needs to be done. It also gives Peter a bit of mental defense, but on that is brute will rather than finesse.
GIFTED INTELLECT:
Peter is more than just a bright boy, he's just a bit shy of being a certified genius. He's advanced his chemistry skills through a great deal of self-teaching, he's invented web shooters, a webbing fluid and spider-tracers. Indeed, his intellect may be Peter's greatest untapped asset, spending more time as Spider-Man than honing an intellect. He's not always cognizant of the fact that he has far more to offer the world than a pair of fists and a few witty quips.
ROGUES GALLERY:
There are a whole lot of people out there would love to kill Spider-Man, people who wear costumes and can…and have in the past… work together to try and achieve that particular goal. Supervillians that, while they've run across other heroes as well, have a particular place in their hatreds for the wall crawler. The Sandman, Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, the Hobgoblin, the Lizard, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter… they're all people who would gladly give up quite a bit of profit to see Spidey's head on a stake.
GUILT:
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility. Peter's guilt complex is as developed as any super power of his and it makes him all too easy to manipulate all too often. With his powers, he feels he /should/ be able to do so much and because he /should/ do it, he feels he /has/ to do it. There's no faster way to get Spider-Man to do something than to convince him that if he doesn't, people will suffer… or that its his fault/responsibility… or that he could have stopped it to begin with… Or…
Yeah. The boy's got a complex.
SECRET IDENTITY:
Like most super-heroes, Peter Parker has a secret identity that he has to keep secret to protect his friends and family. It's a secret that Peter keeps very closely guarded to his chest… Green Goblin taught the lesson and Gwen Stacey paid the price for Peter being unable to keep it a secret. He won't see that happen to others.
NAIVETY:
Peter has a tendency to believe in the best of people, that they can become better people, that deep down they truly do want to do the right thing. While he's definitely a brilliant mind, when it comes to judgment and character calls, he relies far more on his heart than his brain.
FATE'S DOORMAT:
Some might say the fates are aligned against him, some might say that he just can't catch a break, some would say that he's got some truly diabolical script writers for his life. Whichever theory you choose to follow, it seems that the fates really do like to screw around with Peter. Woman troubles, money troubles, unable to balance his two lives… Sometimes, Peter would swear that Fate personally has it out for him.
AUNT MAY:
May Parker is Peter's only surviving family member and she means the world to him. While she's healthy for her age, she's no spring chicken and neither is she exactly financially secure. Peter visits her as often as he can, although his life as Spider-Man often interferes with that… and, of course, if his identity were to be discovered, she'd be a prime target.
PUBLIC OPINION:
No superhero, not even the Hulk, has the public relations nightmare of a life that Spider-Man has. Spider-Man does everything he can to try and do the right thing and yet he's constantly being labeled a criminal and a supervillian. The people of New York are starting to come around but a lot of the damage has been done. Government types and high ranking law enforcers are most prone to thinking the worst of Spidey, while the beat cops tend to be a bit more split. Either way, people seem to either love Spidey… or think he's worse than the people he takes down.
SYMBIOTE COSTUME:
Spider-Man's new costume is /not/ some fancyshamncy costume. It is, in fact, an alien symbiotic creature that wishes to bind itself permanently with its host and should such a bond be made, breaking it would be near fatal for both of them. While seemingly benign, the symbiote is capable of taking control of Peter's body while he's asleep to explore its new world. For the time being, its purpose and plans are still unknown. However, should it be rejected from its bond… it would not take kindly to such.
