Ben Parker (Earth-8876)

When their nephew Peter Parker's parents died in a plane crash, Ben and May took care of Peter. Ben and May had never had children of their own, but after Richard and Mary died, they became Peter’s surrogate parents and raised him as if he were their own son. The teenage Peter, before he gained superhuman powers, was shy and studious, and felt alienated from his fellow high-school students. Ben and May provided him with the love and emotional support he needed, and they were the only two people Peter truly cared for.

Through an unusual accident, Peter gained superhuman powers. He decided not to tell anyone what had happened to him, not even Ben and May, and created the costumed identity of Spider-Man for himself.

### Death and Legacy

As Spider-Man, Peter became an overnight success in the entertainment world. After one television appearance, he saw a guard chasing a thief in the studio building. The guard called out to Spider-Man for help, but the masked youth ignored him, thinking that capturing criminals was none of his business, and the burglar got away.

This unidentified burglar, however, had been the cellmate of the infamous depression era gangster Dutch Mallone. In the 1930's Mallone lived in New York City's Forest Hills section in the very same house that was now inhabited by Ben, May, and Peter. Eventually, Mallone was captured at the same house by a force of Treasury agents led by the celebrated "untouchable" Elliott Ness and was convicted on tax evasion charges. It was long rumored that Mallone had hidden millions of dollars away somewhere. Mallone was sent from one prison to another, and finally, as an elderly man, he became the cellmate of the burglar who Spider-Man allowed to escape. The burglar heard Mallone talk in his sleep about where he hid the money. It was somewhere in his old house in Forest hills. (unknown to the burglar, however, the money was hidden in a box behind a wall in the house but had long ago been devoured by silverfish.)

One night, a few weeks after the burglar and Spider-Man had crossed paths in the television studio, the burglar broke into the Parker home while Peter was away making a personal appearance as Spider-Man. The burglar took the Parker home by surprise and held Ben and May at gunpoint. Saying that he needed her to show him around so he could find something, the burglar grabbed May. Furious, Ben ordered the burglar to unhand May and angrily reached toward him. Frightened, the burglar shot Ben and fled. May wanted to send for an ambulance, but the mortally wounded Ben knew that it was too late for a doctor to help him. Ben Parker died at 12:04 am.

Returning home, Peter was told by policemen that a burglar had killed his uncle and was now trapped by the police in the Acme warehouse at the waterfront. Infuriated, Peter donned the Spider-Man costume, went to the warehouse, and captured the burglar. Upon seeing the burglar's face, Spider-Man realized to his horror that it was the same thief he had let escape at the television studio. Had he captured the burglar then, Spider-Man told himself, his beloved uncle Ben would still be alive. Spider-Man turned the burglar over to police.

From the night he first captured the burglar, the same night that Ben Parker died, Peter Parker's attitude towards his life and superhuman abilities was radically changed. The fact that he could have saved his Uncle Ben's life by taking the time to stop the burglar at the studio weeks before, demonstrated to Peter Parker that with great power there must also come great responsibility. His guilt over failing to prevent the death of Ben Parker became the motivating force behind Peter Parker's career as Spider-Man. Peter vowed never to let harm come to an innocent person ever again if he could help, and so it was that Spider-Man became the crime fighter that he remained to this day.