7. Flash Thompson
Flash Thompson has gone through a journey that I highly doubt anyone could have predicted when he first appeared alongside Peter Parker in Amazing Fantasy #15. Arguably going through as much evolution as Peter, Flash has gone from the class bully to Spider-Man's biggest fan to a troubled, close friendship with Peter Parker (waitthere's life AFTER high school?!) to a soldier who loses both of his legs to the current Venom. And over that time, we've continued to learn more than we ever thought possible about the truth behind the jock. Flash's father was an abusive alcoholic. Abusive alcoholics come a dime a dozen in comics, but how it's been used to develop Flash has been tremendous. Flash's personal insecurities, pain, and issues with responsibility (a great foil for Peter Parker in so many ways) have led him to not only bully Peter, but to cheat on at least one girlfriend and even become an alcoholic himself. Flash also worries about hiding the truth in all its forms from both Betty Brant and Peter Parker while currently dealing with his own willpower and responsibility in trying to contain the Venom symbiote. Yet throughout all these things, we know that Flash has a good heart, and this allows us to remember that his flaws are just being human. It takes the Spider-Man stories, as well as Flash's own, to tremendous new places.