My list:

5 Doc Ock

4 Electro

3 Green Goblin

2 Spider-Carnage (from Spider-Man TAS)

1 Venom and The Lizard (tied)

What do you guys think?

1. Green Goblin
2. Venom
3. Doc Ock
4. Lizard
5. Kraven/Kingpin... not sure on this one.

5. Spider-Slayer

4. Hobgoblin

3. Kraven

2. Mysterio

1. Venom (Eddie Brock)

@master_of_suprise: Good call on Hobgoblin! I was this close to adding him to my list. Those battles were classic! But I got to ask... Mysterio all the way up at number two?

1 Green Goblin

2 Doc Ock

3 Venom

4 Sandman

5 Lizard

green goblin (norman)

hobgoblin (kingsley)

doc ock

kraven

electro/sandman (this is a draw, they are his most powerful enemies)

@quickfingers26:

He was originally number 3 but Superior killed any interest I had in doc Ock. So results are Mysterio moves up a rank and Otto get taken off the list.

Here are the top 5 and here's why for each one.

1- Green Goblin: Hands down his arch-nemesis. Has caused him more pain than anyone else. Killed Gwen Stacy, killed Ben Reilly, turned the entire city against him in Identity Crisis, cause Harry to use drugs and made him go crazy, made Flash Thompson, a recovering alcoholic, drink again and almost got him killed, buried Aunt May alive, tried to kill MJ several times, almost made Peter himself go crazy and inject the Goblin Serum, had an affair with Gwen and caused their children to go after him, just to name a few...

2- Doc Ock: Almost made the top spot. Before Goblin killed Gwen, Ock was Spidey's most dangerous foe. He gave Spidey his first real defeat, almost unmasked him in front of his friends, He caused the death of George Stacy (albeit accidentally), almost hooked up with Aunt May and tried to use a nuclear device on the city, held the whole world hostage in Ends of the Earth and led to the death of Silver Sable, Spider-Man always barely manages to beat his plots, and let's not forget the Superior Spider-Man saga.

3- Venom: The symbiote has been a thorn in Spidey's side for many years. When it bonded to him, it almost killed him had he not seperated himself from it, then it bonded with Eddie Brock and terrorized him for years, Spidey was physically no match for Venom, he kidnapped and tried to kill MJ many times, he kidnapped Peter's (fake) parents. Even after it seperated from Brock, it bonded to other hosts who also terrorized Peter.

4- Hobgoblin: Terrorized Peter for many years without him knowing his true identity. Caused the death of Ned Leeds which haunted Peter for many years, led a gang war that almost destroyed the city, gave him some of his vicious fights ever.

5- Kraven: Kraven makes this list simply because of Kraven's Last Hunt and Grim Hunt, besides those stories, Kraven was never a major villain. But in KLH, he did something most of his villains couldn't do, defeat him and prove his superiority.

@anjales: Perfect list and excellent reasons. I knew I should have added Hobgoblin. Ahh the shame, the shame!!

@quickfingers26 Nah don't feel bad, our lists aren't really that different, my #6 and 7 are Lizard and Kingpin. And no one can blame you for forgetting Hobgoblin simply because the "real" Hobgoblin hasn't been a major Spider-Foe in 20 years! Yes he's made some appearances recently, but outside of his Goblin War with the Green Goblin recently, he hasn't done much in the 2000's to put him on the level of the others on the list. Back in the mid-80's however, when Norman was presumed dead, it can be argued that Hobby was Peter's arch-nemesis at the time.

1. I'm pretty partial to the Hobgoblin. He's probably one of the most successful Spidey villains, considering how long it took for Spider-man to win a decisive victory over him and how he was even able to retire on a tropical island with a vast amount of riches up until recently. He was an extremely powerful and crafty villain that I feel is often not given his proper due.

2. Doctor Octopus. I just love what a vindictive monster this guy is/was. Seriously, if you haven't already, you should go read Bill Mantlo's Owl/Octopus gang war, where Doc Ock wants to set off a bomb in New York just to prove a point. He even has Kingpin scared in this storyline. He is just, overall, an extremely fun to read villain that is able to challenge Spider-man both physically and mentally.

3. The Green Goblin. I don't really think much explanation is necessary for Norman Osborn. There are very few rivalries in comics that come close to equalling the intensely personal enmity between Norman and Peter.

4. Venom. I'll be the first one to admit that Venom did turn into quite a bore for quite a while, but his first few appearances, and, after his overexposure in the 90s, some of his more recent ones, especially Paul Jenkins' The Hunger, are some of the best Spider-man comics out there. In contrast to most of Spider-man's fairly silly looking rogue's gallery, Venom looks like something that crawled out of a nightmare and acted in a similar fashion. Watching Spider-man have to come up with new and interesting ways to defeat this twisted doppelgänger was always a pleasure and was certainly a highlight of Michelinie's Amazing Spider-man run.

5. Electro- I'm gonna be lame here and say that it's just fun to watch Spider-man fight a guy that is made of lightning bolts.

@vegandiet: Excellent points. Venom was more exposed than a Kardashian. And once again, I feel like a dunce for not selecting Hobgoblin. I just got done reading Spidey and his battles in the 80s like a month ago.