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Uncle Ben
Uncle Ben

Full Name: Benjamin Parker
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15
Created by: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko
Home Universe: Earth-616
Alignment: Good
Status: Deceased
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York
Citizenship: American
Base: Forest Hills, Queens, New York
Affiliations: Formerly U.S. Army Military Police
Powers/Abilities:
Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)
Weight: 175 lbs (79 kg)
Hair Color: White (originally Brown)
Eye Color: Blue
Unique Features: {{{18}}}


"With great power, there must also come great responsibility."
— Uncle Ben


Benjamin Parker (of Earth-616), also known as Uncle Ben, was Peter Parker's guardian.

He was killed by a robber that Peter could have stopped. With Uncle Ben dead, Peter learned that with great power, also comes great responsibility.

History[]

Early Life[]

Benjamin Parker was born in New York City, he was the eldest of Mr. & Mrs. Parker's two sons. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he was made a military policeman. This gave him a strong sense of devotion to duty and to law and order. 

The Great Depression[]

Uncle ben

When his enlistment was over he returned to his native New York, but the Great Depression had hit the city hard. To make ends meet Ben went to work for Coney Island as a barker. He was attracted to May Reilly, an attractive young woman Brooklyn. May, however, rejected Ben's advances, already having a boyfriend named Johnny Jerome. A big factor in May's attraction to Johnny was that he was well-to-do, and her parents, who struggled to pay the bills, were worried sick that she would be doomed to a life of similar squalor. They pressured May to keep up her relationship with Johnny Jerome. Ben, however, realized that Johnny was involved in organized crime, and warned May that his wealth was ill-gotten. May brushed off Ben's concerns as the ranting of a jealous man.

One day, Jerome proposed towards May and be together immediately. Ben angrily came and told Jerome robbed a jewelry store and killed a man who called for help. May realized that Jerome was indeed a criminal and rejected his proposal. Jerome left and May was left weeping in Ben's arms. Jerome was convicted with murder and burglary.

Marriage[]

This was a turning point in May's life. She began set aside the idea of marrying someone financially and learn to make decisions her own. Appreciating Ben Parker's company, May fell in love with him. Ben when on to marry May and live on happy together.

Raising Peter[]

Ben had a younger brother, Richard, who became an intelligent agent and when on to marry another agent Mary, and two had a son, Peter. After Peter's parents were killed on their last mission, Ben and May took care of Peter and raised him as if they were his own son. While Peter was growing up Ben and May provided him with care and loving support that he needed and the only true people Peter care for.


Death[]

As Spider-Man, Peter became an overnight sensation on television. After one of his television appearances, he saw a burglar running down the hall of the studio. The guard asked for help from Spider-Man but ignored him, letting the burglar getting away.

The unidentified burglar had a cellmate who was a gangster known as Dutch Mallone. On that same house that Ben and May lived Mallone kept a certain treasury hidden on that house that he was arrested. After the burglar heard about this when he was talking in his sleep he escaped from prison to look forward the treasure it was buried in the old house (unknown to the burglar that the treasure was behind the wall of the house but was devoured by silverfish).

Returning home, Peter was told by a policeman that a burglar had killed his uncle and now trapped by the police in a warehouse. Peter donned the Spider-Man costume, went to the warehouse, and captured the burglar. Spider-Man realized that it was the same thief that he saw at the television studio. Telling himself, that if he had captured the thief, his beloved uncle Ben would have still be alive. Spider-Man turned the burglar over to the police.

Post-Mortem Appearance[]

In Amazing Spider-Man #500, during the prevention of resurrecting Dormammu, a higher power provided Doctor Strange with a small box that he gives to spider-Man as a reward. When Peter opened the box on the roof of his apartment building, it had note that said "You have five minutes. Spend them as you will". It was revealed that a ghost of Ben having been relocated from the moment of his death, concluding that Ben had said that the only thing that he would be disappointed about Peter was to ever settle for less because he was afraid of reaching more. This helped Peter to see he lived a good life and knows the fact that he was proud of him before he vanished.

During the "Dark Reign" story line, Ben makes an appearance in the underworld when Hercules was in trial for Zeus, directing Amadeus Cho to find his parents in the afterlife.

Notes[]

  • It has been stated that the only person who will not come back to life is Uncle Ben. However, the same was said of Bucky Barnes, who not only came back to life, but later became the new Captain America.

Trivia[]

  • A prototype version of Uncle Ben appeared in a story in Strange Tales Vol. 1 #97, published some months before Amazing Fantasy #15.
  • Ben's motto, "with great power, also comes great responsibility" is homage to by Raven in an episode of Teen Titans Go! where after giving Robin superpowers in the episode, "Super Robin" she says "With great powers, comes even greater responsibility."
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