| Name |Iron Patriot // Norman Osborn
| Age |Early 40s
| Character Differences |In this timeline Norman Osborn is no longer a villain, though calling him a hero might be overselling it. Still as narcissistic, condescending and ruthless as ever, he's humanity's unlikeliest savior. A great deal of his recent life has been dedicated to fighting for humanity's survival, not just because his interests happen to align with the side of light (namely not wanting to die in an alien-induced genocide), but because he sees that fight as a road toward personal redemption. The war with the Skrulls is Norman's chance to prove he's no longer the monster he once was, that he's conquered the Goblin, and that he deserves to see his son again. All the while he continues to struggle with his psychosis in a silent battle for his mind and his soul.
| Brief World Background |Earth wasn't in the least bit prepared when the Skrulls came for Earth. Unlike in the mainline continuity, Tony Stark never learns of the Secret Invasion, and the Skrulls are able to systematically pick apart every major threat before they're discovered. The Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the x-Men, and even SHIELD all fall, the world none the wiser to what's taken place. It was only after victory was assured that the aliens launched an all-out attack on Earth.
Yet the swift triumph they anticipated never came, for in their darkest hour humanity still managed to resist- led not by its traditional heroes but instead by dictators, conquerors, terrorists and villains of all other stripes. Pariahs once shunned by the world for their misdeeds rose up in earnest to defend it. Among the highest echelons of the resistance sat men and women like Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, and Namor, united in common purpose. They were the strongest mankind had left to lead them, and that ensured their demise. The Skrulls managed to pick off the leadership one by one, carving out a power vacuum within the command structure.
A vacuum that Norman Osborn stepped in to fill.
The war was a long, grueling affair, with neither side willing to give even an inch of ground. It was the bloodiest conflict the world had ever seen, and it raged on for more than a decade before Osborn was able to strike the critical blow that would turn the tide in earth's favor: he punched through the Skrull flagship and put a bullet through their queen. It didn't end the fight by any measure, but it marked the turning point that allowed a united earth to crush the invasion for good.
With the Skrulls pushed back into space, the surviving members of humanity began to reorganize themselves to prepare for further conflict- they knew well that the invasion of Earth was only the start of things. Osborn was, naturally, the best choice to lead the effort. He established HAMMER as a militarized opposite to SHIELD with himself as its director. Construction of a space fleet began, headed by former scientists and engineers from AIM, with the hope of striking back at the Skrulls for all that they had done.
| Brief Character Background |Norman Osborn gained his wealth selling prototype weaponry to the American military. His company, Oscorp, was once a significant competitor to the likes of Stark Industries, only for the entire industry to be flipped on its head the day the 'Iron Man'- quickly revealed to be Tony Stark himself- appeared on the public stage. Nothing Oscorp was developing at the time could ever hope to live up to the armor, and every country on the planet was looking to replicate it. Osborn was far too proud to stoop to the level of many of his competitors that were racing to make and sell copycat suits en-masse, and he stuck religiously to his current project: attempting to re-discover the Super Soldier formula that created Captain America.
But progress was painfully slow, and USFDA refused to allow human trials to begin until the numerous side effects appearing in the animal testing phase were addressed. Norman flushed more and more resources into the development of the drug, diverting them from the company's more profitable ventures in the hopes of making a breakthrough. It didn't work, the serum remained unstable, and Oscorp was dragged under by his obsession. In a final, desperate bid to prove he wasn't a failure, Osborn injected himself with the incomplete formula, and the psychopathic killer known as the Green Goblin was born. That personality dominated Norman for eight, long years of his life, compelling him to terrorize the people of New York City and do battle with local hero Spider-Man.
This 'second personality' wrought chaos across the city, killing, maiming and destroying whoever or whatever he pleased, showing an intense obsession with proving its superiority over everyone else- most especially Spider-Man. It wasn't until Norman's son, Harry, was caught in the crossfire that Osborn was able to wrestle some semblance of control back. He surrendered himself to SHIELD, beginning down the arduous path of rehabilitation with the hope of one day being allowed to see his son again.
It became immediately clear to his doctors that the chemical mixture Norman had injected himself with was altering the state of his mind in a profound way, causing symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and Borderline Personality Disorder to manifest. A treatment plan was written up that involved a great deal of medication and therapy over the course of three and a half years. There would never be a cure for Osborn's condition- not without a miracle- but they were confident they could stabilize him enough for him to return to polite society.
It was the hardest thing he'd ever done or would ever do, but Norman committed to the plan and refused to give up on himself. Norman Osborn wasn't going to let himself be beaten by this.
Unfortunately he was never given the chance to finish the treatment. The Skrulls invaded earth, assassinated its front line of defense and swarmed over the rest of humanity like a plague. It became brutally obvious that mankind wouldn't be able to win this war on its own, and Osborn couldn't simply sit back and watch the planet burn from a padded cell. Freeing himself from his rehabilitation facility, Norman armed himself with stolen commandeered Stark tech and began organizing a resistance movement with many of his old rivals from his time as the Goblin.
Captain Uni,
Eddie Brock,
Cyberlad,
Neziul,
Supermaxx,
Scrawl Banditta,
Sistros,
AndyC,
King Kindred,
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