Gwen Stacy

Gwen Stacy is a supporting character in the Spider-Man franchise.

A blonde college student, Gwen was originally the first true love of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) before he developed deep feelings for her friend and rival, Mary Jane Watson.

Tragically the Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) caused Spider-Man to accidentally kill Gwen in The Amazing Spider-Man #121 (June 1973) when the Goblin had knocked her off a bridge and Spider-Man attempted to save her via a webline to her leg though the whiplash from the sudden stop snapped her neck.

Both the decision to kill Gwen and the method in which Marvel implemented it remain controversial among fans, but the death became a pivotal point in both Spider-Man's history and in American comic books in general.

Many point to Gwen's death as the end of the so-called Silver Age of comcis. Spider-Man writers and fans disagree about who is the character's "one true love": Gwen or his subsequent love interest, Mary Jane.