One of the most heartbreaking episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series showed Peter Parker why he was the hero he chose to be.

Spider-Man as a hero has had his fair share of crises of faith, with overwhelming odds in his personal and superhero life. The comics and various mediums have seen the characters give up their identity as Spider-Man as the tragedies and problems in his life get to him.

One such crisis of faith in Spider-Man: The Animated Series saw Peter Parker try to give up being Spider-Man after he overheard J. Jonah Jameson being critical of one of his saves, which really could have cost thousands of lives. Madame Web dragged the webhead into another adventure, one meant to restore his faith in being a hero. However, the episode had perhaps one of the most heartbreaking endings ever set up in an animated superhero show.

The episode saw Spider-Man battle it out with Doctor Octopus as he struggled with whether to continue as Spider-Man. But on his adventures, Spider-Man is accompanied by one Maria Taina Elizando, a young fan of Spider-Man who looks up to him. The character appeared in two consecutive episodes of the show, Make a Wish and Attack of the Octobot.