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Venom
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Real Name	Unknown The symbiote takes the name of its current host.
Current Alias	Venom
Aliases	Corrupter, The Spider's Dark Spirit [1]
Relatives	Flash Thompson (current host), "Peter Parker"/Otto Octavius (Spider-Man) (former host/original host), Thaddeus Ross (former host), Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel) (former host), Mac Gargan (former host), Anne Weying (former host, deceased), Eddie Brock (former host) Peter Parker (Spider-Man) (original host), Anti-Venom (twin brother, deceased), Carnage (daughter), Hybrid (son, defused), Scream (daughter, deceased), Phage (son), Riot (son), Lasher (daughter), Agony (son), Toxin (grandson), Scorn (granddaughter), Mania (clone)
Affiliation	Guardians of the Galaxy, Klyntar hive mind; Formerly A.I.M., Avengers, CIA, Cosmic Champions, Cosmic Strangers, Dark Avengers, Landau, Luckman, and Lake, Legion of the Skull, S.H.I.E.L.D., Secret Avengers, Sinister Six, Team Venom, 50-State Initiative , Thunderbolts
Base Of Operations	Mobile; formerly Lighthouse, Project Rebirth 2.0 Facility, Mobile
Status
Alignment	Good
Identity	Known to Authorities Identity
Citizenship	Symbiotes
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Upgrade to Super-Soldiers; formerly Mad killer-alien bent on revenge
Education	Genetic memory, gains new knowledge from previous hosts
Characteristics
Gender	Agender
Height	Variable
Weight	Variable
Eyes	Variable
Hair	No Hair
Unusual Features	As Venom, the Symbiote grants its host an elongated jaw, teeth, and tongue which are really part of the alien costume
Origin
Origin	As part of the Secret Wars on Battleworld, Spider-Man came into possession of a black costume when his red-and-blue costume was damaged in battle. It would later be revealed that this black costume was in fact a symbiote.
Universe	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Planet of the Symbiotes
Creators	Randy Schueller, Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck
First Appearance
Amazing Spider-Man #252 (May, 1984)

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HistoryEdit

In the distant past, the 998th generation of a lineage of feral Klyntar was imprisoned by its brethren for desiring to form a permanent bond with a host and protect them, rather than dominate them. This prison was later inadvertently incorporated into the makeup of Battleworld by the Beyonder.

While on Battleworld Spider-Man damaged his costume in combat and was directed to a facility where he could find a new costume. Spider-Man accidentally found the prison module the symbiote had been trapped in instead. He activated the machine which released the symbiote in the form of a black liquid. When Spider-Man touched the liquid, it covered his body and, reacting to Spider-Man's thoughts about the costume worn by the second Spider-Woman, formed a new black and white costume. To Spider-Man's surprise, the costume could mimic street clothes and provided a seemingly inexhaustible and stronger supply of webbing.

Once back on Earth, Spider-Man learned the costume was a sentient alien symbiote that wished to permanently bond with him and often controlled his body while he slept. With the aid of Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch, Spider-Man discovered the symbiote was vulnerable to sound and flame, and he used sonic waves to remove it and flames to scare it into a containment module. The symbiote escaped and found its way to Peter Parker's closet, where it disguised itself as a spare red and blue costume. When the Vulturions attacked, the symbiote revealed itself and attempted to forcibly bond itself to Spider-Man, who fled to the bell tower of the Our Lady of Saints church. The bells rang to sound the hour, which, coupled with Spider-Man's rejection of the it, weakened the alien and forced it to relinquish its hold on him. The symbiote, using its remaining strength, dragged Peter to safety before, though his rejection left it extremely bitter toward Spider-Man, a trait it would share with its future hosts.

Black Cat thought the black costume was sexier and made Spider-Man a cloth version of the suit. Spider-Man switched back and forth between the two suits for some time until Venom came looking for him. By this time, Spider-Man had married Mary Jane Watson, and Venom scared her horribly. She asked him to stop wearing the black costume, and he returned to his original costume.

Eddie Brock

Eddie Brock was a reporter who was fired after Spider-Man debunked his award story, "the Sin-Eater case," humiliating him and ruining his career, forcing him to find work with cheap gossip magazines. Shortly before this, Brock had found out he had terminal adrenal cancer, and his writing one of the only things that kept it off his mind. Attracted by his fixation on Spider-Man and adrenaline-producing cancer, the symbiote bonded with Eddie and kept him alive. However, Eddie's hatred for Peter twisted the symbiote's own feelings towards its former host into a fixation with either reclaiming or killing him.

Realizing the symbiote viewed Spider-Man as its ideal host and fearing that Spider-Man would accept the symbiote back, thus condemning him to death, Eddie sought to kill the webslinger. When bonded, Venom spoke using the first person plural (we), signifying that Brock and the symbiote were two separate entities joined together - although, on occasion, Eddie referred to it as 'My Other and I'. They fought Spider-Man many times, and came close to winning on several occasions. As well as fueling Eddie's rage against Spider-Man, the symbiote allowed him to indulge in a sporadic career as a vigilante. After switching back and forth several times between either helping Spider-Man or fighting against him, Eddie became increasingly ill-at-ease with the symbiote's growing bloodlust. Following a Christian reawakening, Eddie sold the symbiote to Don Fortunato after he discovered his cancer had returned.

Eddie would have a hand in determining Aunt May's fate who was in the same hospital as him after being shot by a sniper hired by Wilson Fisk. It was an action that would "damn him forever or redeem him". He was in the hospital, suffering from hallucinations of the symbiote representing his dark side. After a long time of this figment of his imagination taking away his sanity, he spotted Aunt May and Mary Jane and had no idea what to do, but his dark side then persuaded him to order a black suit similar to Peter's and put it on, apparently making his decision that may forever damn him. Although Eddie eventually resisted his other's urging to murder the helpless May Parker, it was implied that Eddie still sought to reunite with the symbiote, stating that 'I'm the one in charge.'

For a short time during the Spider-Island event, Eddie and the symbiote merged again, but by this point Eddie hated the symbiote, and he was physically terrified at the prospect of being re-bonded to it, even shedding tears as it covered him.

Other Hosts

Anne Weying

The Venom symbiote joined with Eddie's ex-wife on two occasions. The first bonding occurred when Anne was seriously wounded after being shot by the second Sin-Eater. With her condition rapidly deteriorating, the symbiote bonded with Anne on Eddie's insistence in order to save her. Under the influence of the symbiote, Anne impulsively murdered a pair of thugs, an act she instantly regretted. The second time she bonded with the symbiote occurred in police custody. Used as bait to lure her ex-husband, Anne was once again joined with the symbiote after Eddie transferred his other through a telephone line, allowing her to escape. These instances proved traumatic for Anne, causing her to commit suicide later on.

Angelo Fortunato

Angelo Fortunato, the Don's son, became the second Venom for a brief period of time. However, Angelo proved to be a weak host for the symbiote, being humiliated in a battle with Spider-Man. The symbiote abandoned Angelo while he was between buildings and the subsequent fall killed him.

Mac Gargan

The Venom symbiote approached Macdonald "Mac" Gargan , who was considered a low-level villain, offering him new abilities. Gargan bonded with the creature, which would later give him an extra edge as part of Norman Osborn's Sinister Twelve. Even with these additional powers he was still swiftly defeated by Spider-Man, as the Avengers dealt with the rest of the Twelve. Gargan later became a member of a sub-group of the Thunderbolts, which was drafted by the Avengers to hunt down the members of the fugitive Secret Avengers. It was then revealed that he had been outfitted with electrical implants by the government to keep the symbiote in check. Over time, Gargan's control over the symbiote declined, leading to him devouring Oliver Osnick's arm. Following this, Gargan expressed nausea and fear of the organism, but after being vehemently berated by either the alien itself or the third Bluestreak, he rapidly embraced the creature's bloodlust and came to enjoy eating other humans, Skrulls, Atlanteans, Kree, and squirrels. After the events of Siege, the U.S. Military has removed the Symbiote from Gargan.

Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel)

While trying to help Spider-Man defeat Venom outside of Asgard during Siege, Carol successfully pulled Mac Gargan out of the symbiote. At that point, the symbiote gravitated toward her, and she became the host. With the help of Spider-Man, she was able to eventually pull it off of herself when she flew into some powerlines and expelled all the energy she had absorbed from them^[1].

Flash Thompson

After the Symbiote was removed from Mac Gargan, the US military reassign it to Flash Thompson. With it Flash regained his legs (only while in contact with the creature) and gained spider-powers. Apparently, Thompson has a different link to the symbiote than previous hosts, like making the symbiote come back to him because Thompson "needs it". Scientist researchers found out that there are 48 window hours after the first contact with the symbiote until it totally bends to its host. Venom battled the Crime-Master, and destroyed a illegal shipment of Vibranium. To this, the villain kidnapped Betty Brant, but gave the location to Thompson only if he doesn't bother him any more. During Spider-Island, Venom battled the Spider-Queen and infiltrated its hive dressed as her guard, Spider-King. Along with Steve Rogers, Thompson killed the Spider-Queen, but she mutated into a giant spider, which was later killed by Kaine. When bonded to Flash, the symbiote initially took on the appearance of body armor, later manifesting chitinous spikes and a more exoskeletal appearance. As a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the symbiote lost all semblance of body armor while maintaining an exoskeletal appearance and manifesting a jagged mouth. After being purged of its bloodlust by its benevolent ancestors, the symbiote took on the appearance of body armor once more, with a face markedly resembling that of the Destroyer.

Samson

Also during the events of Spider-Island, the Symbiote temporarily bonded with Samson, a German Shepherd belonging to General Brad Dodge, at the Project Rebirth headquarters.

Red Hulk

During the Circle of Four, Flash gave Red Hulk the symbiote. Also, Red Hulk was bonded with the Spirit of Vengeance, becoming both Venom and Ghost Rider, a being of immense power (but this brings up the question why the symbiote didn't come off). After the events of Circle of Four, Red Hulk returned the symbiote to Flash Thompson.

Groot

After being separated from Flash by Peter Quill and Rocket Raccoon, the symbiote escaped containment and took over the nearby Groot.^[2]

Rocket Raccoon

After being separated from Groot by Drax, the symbiote takes over Rocket. While in control of Rocket, it transforms his arms into multi-barrelled biomechanical guns.^[3]

Drax the Destroyer

When Drax grabs ahold of Rocket, the symbiote immediately transfers over to him.^[3]

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Powers

The Symbiote can mimic any type of clothing whatsoever, as well as blending Venom in his surroundings, rendering him invisible. The Symbiote has augmented all of its host's physical abilities to superhuman levels equal to, and in some cases greater than, Spider-Man's.

Venom (1st Incarnation): The first individual to bond with the symbiote was Edward Brock, seeing as Peter Parker did not allow it to complete the process. Naturally the symbiote chose to endow Eddie with most of the powers Spider-Man had, but the symbiote via Brock's innovative mentality managed to create some new powers and even mutate over time.

• Superhuman Strength: Before he came into contact with the costume, Brock had conditioned himself to lift (press) 700 lb.^[4] Once they merged, the costume added Spider-Man’s superhuman strength to Brock’s vast human strength, making him more powerful than Spider-Man. However, his full strength often fluctuates. Venom has demonstrated strength ranging from only slightly greater than Spider-Man's to being capable of trading blows with high-powered individuals such as Juggernaut. This is caused by the several mutations that the symbiote took with Brock, gaining additional bulk and muscle mass over long periods of time with its host.

• Superhuman Durability: Venom's body is highly resistant to physical injury, capable of withstanding assault from high-caliber bullets as well as attacks from super powered individuals. When distributed at a typical thickness over Brock's body, the Symbiote is capable of absorbing bullets from small-arms weapons firing conventional ammunition. The Symbiote is however particularly vulnerable to both sonic and heat-based attacks.

• Superhuman Stamina: Venom is also capable of surviving in harmful areas for long periods of time such as underwater or in toxic gases, the symbiote filtering breathable air to the host.

• Accelerated Healing Factor: Additionally, the symbiote is capable of healing injuries in the host at a faster rate than normal human healing allows. The symbiote is also capable of healing injuries and illnesses that current human medical care cannot such as cancer. The symbiote has enabled its host to recover from injuries that should have been lethal, such as Mac Gargan having most of his abdomen vaporized by the Swordsman's Makluan Sword;^[5][6] and Flash Thompson being impaled by Toxin's blade-arm,^[7] and having his head sliced in half by Jack O'Lantern V's scythe.^[8]

• Genetic Memory: The symbiote possesses some psychic ability, making it capable of obtaining information from its hosts and even other people and symbiotes simply by touch; The symbiote is capable of recalling information from previous hosts. This ability allowed Eddie Brock to know the secret identity of Spider-Man when the symbiote bonded with him. It can however, be forced to forget information if the symbiote is inflicted with heavy trauma.

• Offspring Detection: The symbiote is also capable of psychically detecting its offspring, however with effort this ability can be blocked.

• Wall-Crawling: The alien costume also replicates Spider-Man’s ability to cling to walls by controlling the flux of inter-atomic attraction between molecular boundary layers.

• Webbing Generation: Venom can shoot strands of the alien’s substance in the form of "webbing" at high pressure up to a distance of 70 feet. The alien’s substance seems to be composed of tough, flexible fibers of organic polymers, which regenerate swiftly after "shedding." The strands have extraordinary adhesive properties, which diminish rapidly once they abandon their living source. After about three hours, with no source to nourish them, the strands dry up like dead skin and dissolve into a powder. The strands possess a tensile strength of 125 pounds per square millimeter of cross section. The one limitation to this ability was used to Spider-Man's advantage during their second bout; Since the webbing itself comprises the costume, if Venom generates too much he will be left vulnerable as the symbiote is weakened and unable to replenish his lost mass for a short period of time. In addition to creating webbing, Brock can use the symbiote in the form of tentacles or tendrils to attack or ensnare his opponents.

• Constituent-Matter Generation: Venom can also use the same substance comprising the symbiote in the form of constituent black matter or goo, and uses it in this method for lethal force against criminals. Venom can send a part of the symbiote and direct its movements into a victim's body, smothering them from the inside.^[9]

• Constituent-Matter Manipulation: The Venom Symbiote has recently developed this new ability: Venom can morph sections of his body, such as his hands or feet, into spikes, blades, axes or a shield.

• ESP (Spider-Sense): Venom also possesses an extrasensory ability similar to Spider-Man’s spider-sense. This response is not as complicated as Spider-Man’s inherent sense since the alien costume can detect danger from every direction and conduct Brock in plenty of time. It's a lot more efficient than Spider-Man’s spider-sense because it takes less time to sense the danger, and Brock’s reflexes are faster than Spider-Man’s, because they are enhanced by the alien costume for instance Venom can dodge a gunshot or a barrage of bullets. It should be noted that as Ben Reilly was cloned from Peter before he bonded with Venom, Eddie was not immune to his spider sense.

• Immunity to Spider-Man's Spider Sense: Due to Spider-Man being a host to the symbiote, Venom, and his offspring, is able to bypass Spider-Man's spider-sense. Venom is capable of attacking Spider-Man without alerting him, making Venom a deadly foe.

• Camouflage Capabilities: The symbiote is capable of mimicking the appearance of any form of clothing, camouflaging with its surroundings, and even mimicking other people. Brock's preferred form of clothing was a black shirt, jacket and pants.

• Poisonous Fangs: An ability developed by Eddie Brock upon bonding with the symbiote. Originally he commanded the symbiote to sprout a maniacal grin and tongue, differentiating him from Spider-Man. Later it is revealed that this set of fangs not only intimidates foes but can deliver a powerful, venomous bite (true to Brock's namesake). This bite was able to cripple the Sandman, eventually leaving the villain turned hero unable to reform himself properly, presumably causing his death.^[10]

• Stretching and deforming: Although it's wide known that the Symbiote can stretch and deform itself, recently it was able to perform this ability during bonded with a human host. Venom can expand to any size as long as they have something to grow on such as a host or an object. Symbiotes can get inside of small areas such as electric wires and the insides of cars and completely disable them.

• Power Mimicry/Absorption: The symbiote can steal the powers and abilities of other beings. It has been recently discovered, that the symbiote can recall and mimic the powers and abilities of previous hosts. Venom has also adapted the spider powers from Spider-Man.

• Shapeshifting: The Symbiote allows the user shape-shifting abilities. Venom can mimic clothing, and completely change its appearance and stature.

  Strength level

Weaknesses

The Symbiote is extremely sensitive to sonic and thermal attacks, making it vulnerable, although the degree of sensitivity has varied over time. Samuel Sterns mentioned that symbiotes also have a weakness to magnesium. However, this is not known by many people and is likely an extension to its intolerance of heat.^[11] However, this turned out to be false as it had no effect on Venom.^[12]

ParaphernaliaEdit

Equipment

Transportation

Weapons

None

NotesEdit

The idea of the black suited Spider-Man was originally conceived of by a Marvel Comics reader from Norridge, Illinois named Randy Schueller.^[13]

TriviaEdit

• Starting with Spider-Man The Animated Series, all reimaginings of the symbiote instead make Peter more powerful, while at the same time bringing out his more aggressive and violent side. But in the comics it only provided to Spider-Man "unlimited" organic webbing and camouflage capabilities.
• The Symbiote shares similar aspects with the Xenomorphs, also know as the Aliens. Both species need a host, are able to walk on walls, and depending on what its host is becomes increasingly powerful: a facehugger with a Predator will became an Predalien, and the Symbiote with host like Carol Danvers or Groot will be stronger than with an normal human. Not coincidentally, during Venom The Hunger Vol 1 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 the symbiote manifested a ridged exoskeleton, and Flash's "Mk 3" Agent Venom concept art has "H. R. Geigery bioarmor" as a design note.
• The retconned backstory of the symbiotes, Venom's new design, and the symbiote's redemption in Guardians of the Galaxy #23 were intended to appeal to new fans who do not know the character was ever a villain and simply perceive him as being "a hero, a good guy with a super cool costume that can do amazing things" instead of a monster.

LinksEdit

• 365 Appearances of Venom (Symbiote) (Earth-616)
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Footnotes