Editing Doctor Octopus (section)

===''The Superior Spider-Man''===
Within Spider-Man's body, Octavius starts his new career as a hero by redesigning his gear and putting his past as a villain behind himself.<ref name="Avenging Spider-Man 15.1">''Avenging Spider-Man'' #15.1. Marvel Comics.</ref> However, he soon finds himself the target of several villains, such as an Octavius-tech enhanced [[Stilt-Man]],<ref name="Daredevil 22">''Daredevil'' #22. Marvel Comics.</ref> [[Boomerang (comics)|Boomerang]], [[Overdrive (comics)|Overdrive]], the [[Shocker (comics)|Shocker]], the [[Speed Demon (comics)|Speed Demon]], the new female [[Janice Lincoln|Beetle]], and the [[Living Brain]],<ref name="The Superior Spider-Man #1">''The Superior Spider-Man'' #1. Marvel Comics.</ref> all of them trying to take over the place left by the seemingly-dead Doctor Octopus and his Sinister Six. While they are still no match for the new, more ruthless Spider-Man, his violence and new mannerisms start to tip off several of his close friends and allies, such as the whole staff of Horizon Labs, [[Daredevil (Marvel Comics character)|Daredevil]],<ref name="Daredevil 22"/> [[Wolverine (character)|Wolverine]] (explicitly forbidden to have Spider-Man's mind telepathically scanned under the threat of legal action in court),<ref>''Avenging Spider-Man'' #16. Marvel Comics.</ref> [[Mary Jane Watson]],<ref name="The Superior Spider-Man #1"/> and [[Carlie Cooper]].<ref name="The Superior Spider-Man #2">''The Superior Spider-Man'' #2. Marvel Comics.</ref>

Despite his accomplishments, Octavius is revealed to be still haunted by Peter Parker's lingering spirit, unable to reassert control over Spider-Man's shared body, but actively hampering his efforts to stray from Peter's values, and trying to reclaim his body.<ref name="The Superior Spider-Man #2"/> Despite Peter's lingering influence, Octavius's refusal of Peter's values and perceived screw-ups prompts him to "rectify" some mistakes: "Peter" enrolls back to college, pursuing actively the PhD Peter denied himself in the past,<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #4. Marvel Comics.</ref> and breaks the self-imposed "no-kill rule" by taking a proactive stance against evildoers and criminals, shooting the villain [[Massacre (Marvel Comics)|Massacre]] even after Massacre appeared to show signs of recovering from the brain damage that motivated his crimes,<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #5. Marvel Comics.</ref> and violently assaulting the Jester and Screwball for a relatively minor insult.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #6. Marvel Comics.</ref> These actions prompted the Avengers to confront "Spider-Man" about his recent activities, recognizing that their friend would never act in such a manner.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #7. Marvel Comics.</ref> When their subsequent analysis confirms that he is still biologically Peter Parker, Octavius explains that he is merely dealing with stress over recent events.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #8. Marvel Comics.</ref>

Attempting a mind-wipe of all of Peter's memories to destroy the living consciousness completely, Octavius manages to delete the ''Daily Bugle'' memory. Realizing Peter would not surrender, Octavius directly engages his foe in Spider-Man's mind. After beating Peter to a pulp by breaking his spirit with the knowledge Peter was willing let a girl named Amy come close to death when Octavius was performing surgery on her with a scanner that would have detected him, Octavius declares his final victory while calling Peter unworthy to be called Spider-Man and believes that he deleted all of Spider-Man's memories. Returning to the real world, Octavius rejoices from his belief that he is free and has achieved victory over Spider-Man.<ref name="SSM9">''The Superior Spider-Man'' #9. Marvel Comics.</ref> But this erasure has also deprived him of Spider-Man's memories, leaving it more difficult for him to pose as Spider-Man, with some of Peter's friends (such as Carlie, Mary Jane, and J. Jonah Jameson, Sr.) questioning Spider-Man's more brutal approach.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #10. Marvel Comics.</ref> While Octavius has developed more detailed resources than Peter possessed as Spider-Man, such as creating a small army of Spider-bots and Spiderling allies to assist him, as well as helping [[Cyclops (Marvel Comics)|Cyclops]] trap the body-hopping mutant [[Malice (comics)#Malice (Marauder)|Malice]] in a specially-designed containment unit,<ref>''A + X'' #11. Marvel Comics.</ref> he continues to resort to more questionable methods, such as killing [[Alistair Smythe]],<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #13. Marvel Comics.</ref> and blackmailing Jameson into giving him free rein in New York by threatening to expose the fact that Jameson asked him to do this. During a series of confrontations with his former allies in the Sinister Six, he also attempted to brainwash them into becoming his new 'team', resulting in him being forced to join forces with new hero [[Sun Girl (Marvel Comics)|Sun Girl]] when the Six snapped out of his control and tried to kill him.<ref>''Superior Spider-Man Team Up'' #6. Marvel Comics.</ref>

Octavius's focus on the larger scale also resulted in him missing the Green Goblin's efforts to establish a new criminal empire, with the Green Goblin rescuing criminals who have escaped Spider-Man and recruiting them into his new gang, as Octavius simply focused on the leaders whereas Peter would have tried to capture the whole gang. His fixation in proving himself Spider-Man's superior reached a particular climax when [[Spider-Man 2099]] came to the past to deal with a temporal anomaly,<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #17. Marvel Comics.</ref> with Octavius becoming so fixated with solving the problem and keeping his identity secret that he actually attacked the future Spider-Man rather than ask for his help,<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #18. Marvel Comics.</ref> his actions resulting in the destruction of Horizon Labs because he could not solve the [[vibranium]]-related equations that Peter was able to resolve. Unknown to Octavius, Peter's memories managed to survive the deletion. When Octavius attempts to access Spider-Man's memories (because Octavius can only view memories that were looked at before the delete), Peter is shown lifting the 'rocks' off himself from the mental battle.<ref name="ReferenceA">''The Superior Spider-Man'' #19. Marvel Comics.</ref>

When Carlie had found evidence that Doctor Octopus' mind is in Spider-Man's body, she mourns Peter in Doctor Octopus' grave. The grave then collapses and Carlie falls in where she discovers that Doctor Octopus' body is not there. After Carlie has been captured by Menace, the Goblin King receives Carlie's journal from Menace, where the Goblin King discovers evidence in it that states that Doctor Octopus' mind is in Spider-Man's body.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #21. Marvel Comics.</ref>

Following him being possessed by the Venom symbiote, Octavius receives unexpected help from Peter Parker's consciousness, though Octavius is still unaware that Peter survived their mental duel. Peter decides to maintain a low profile until Octavius does something that will cause him to spring into action.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #25. Marvel Comics.</ref> Peter finds that Octavius's delete has left him with very few memories of his own, but after realizing those he still has are the ones that define him, vows not to give up, and that he will regain control of his body.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #26. Marvel Comics.</ref> The Superior Spider-Man finds himself facing the full force of the Goblin Underground since the possession of the Venom symbiote 31 days ago. When the Superior Spider-Man finally confronts the Goblin King, he mentions that he knows about Doctor Octopus' mind-swap with Spider-Man. The Goblin King then makes his next move by having missiles targeted at Spider-Island II.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #27. Marvel Comics.</ref>

Octavius survived the bombardment and escaped with the Living Brain. He then tries to find the Goblin King; however, before he can do so, Menace takes supporting character [[Anna Maria Marconi]] hostage.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #28. Marvel Comics.</ref> Meanwhile, the Goblin destroys all the buildings that mean something to Octavius, to punish him for robbing the Goblin of his dream: Killing Spider-Man. Octavius is lured to Empire State University, where he finds Don Lamaze. During the ensuing fight, Lamaze takes a blade meant for Octavius and dies in the Superior Spider-Man's arms. Heading to Alchemax, he is confronted by Spider-Man 2099, who takes control of the Spider-Slayers and demands answers. However, before he gets them, the Goblin King reactivates the Slayers to kill the Spiders, stating Norman Osborn now rules New York.<ref>''The Superior Spider-Man'' #29. Marvel Comics.</ref> Although he manages to escape, Octavius is forced to realize that he has failed in his goal to be a 'Superior' Spider-Man when the restored Peter Parker takes over to save a child from a runaway train where Octavius hesitated, reflecting that he is aware of his fundamental inferiority, as he overcompensates while Peter holds himself back, but acts when he has to. Octavius then willingly deletes his own consciousness so that Peter can regain control of his body. As Octavius's last memories fade, it is shown he had really fallen in love with Anna Maria, much to Peter's surprise. Octavius tells Peter he is willing to give up his love to keep her safe - something only Peter can do as the ''true'' Superior Spider-Man - and urges the hero to save New York in his place.<ref name="The Superior Spider-Man #30">''The Superior Spider-Man'' #30. Marvel Comics.</ref>