Even a casual Marvel fan will probably know
all about Venom, and they might know a thing or two about Carnage, as well. But many
other alien symbiotes have appeared in the comics over the years. Here's the low-down
on the biggest and baddest of them all. While trapped on another world, Spider-Man
used an alien machine in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 to obtain a new, black-and-white
costume. After he returned to earth, however, he discovered that his new "outfit" was
actually a living, alien, symbiotic organism. Distraught, Peter used the loud bell tower of a cathedral to divorce himself from
the symbiote, but in doing so, he hand-delivered it to a man who would become
one of his greatest enemies: Eddie Brock. First introduced as nothing more than a
mysterious hand in Web of Spider-Man #16, Eddie was a newspaper reporter who was blacklisted
when Spider-Man debunked his claims about a local serial killer. When Peter rejected the symbiote
at the church tower, Eddie was praying below, and the symbiote dropped
down and bonded with Brock. Their mutual hatred for Peter
united them, and they became Venom. "I like being bad. It makes me happy." Topher Grace was the first actor to portray
a live-action Venom in 2007's Spider-Man 3, although it's safe to assume most
fans prefer the Tom Hardy incarnation, who appeared in Venom and its sequel,
Let There Be Carnage. Speaking of whom… When Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote were
defeated and temporarily separated, Eddie was imprisoned alongside a notorious serial killer
named Cletus Kasady. The two didn't exactly get along, and when the Venom symbiote finally came
back for Eddie, it spawned a new symbiote — one that bonded with Kasady at a cellular level,
creating the monster known as Carnage. Carnage possesses all the powers
of Venom, but is stronger, faster, and more durable. Additionally, because Kasady
and Carnage are bonded at a cellular level, they can’t be separated like Venom and his many
hosts; Kasady can simply reform Carnage at will. With his newfound powers, Carnage
easily escaped from prison and began a new killing spree. He was only
stopped when Venom and Spider-Man teamed up to defeat him in Amazing Spider-Man #362
and 363. Since then, Carnage has returned time and time again to terrorize the planet.
Cletus Kasady made his silver screen debut in the first Venom movie before returning
as the main antagonist in the sequel. "That is a red one!" "You need to come out right now." Before 2018, Riot was one of the most obscure
symbiotes in the Marvel Universe. In fact, he didn't even get a name until Carnage, U.S.A. #2
in 2012, nearly a decade after he was introduced. But that all changed when Sony Pictures decided
to use Riot as the central antagonist in Venom. "Oh God!" "Where's Venom?" "That is the ugliest looking
thing I have ever seen!" Since then, Riot has become far
more popular with fans — although the movie did take some liberties with
the character's backstory. In the film, Riot is the leader of an advance party sent
to earth by the Klyntar species in order to prepare for the symbiote invasion. He bonded
with Carlton Drake, the head of the sinister Life Foundation, and convinced him to help
bring the rest of the symbiotes to Earth. In the comics, the Riot symbiote
wasn't a separate individual but instead another of Venom's many offspring.
Riot and four others were all created by experimenting on the Venom symbiote and
forcing it to reproduce five more times. Introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #298, the Life Foundation was created to ensure
the richest and most powerful people on earth could survive a nuclear war by sheltering
in their own personal utopia. To that end, they sought out creatures that could
survive such a world. Enter the Klyntar. Collectively referred to as the "Life Foundation
Symbiotes," Riot, Phage, Agony, Lasher, and Scream were all artificially created from the original
Venom symbiote after it was briefly captured. Phage initially bonded with Carl Mach, an officer
of the Life Foundation's private security force. When Venom finally escaped his imprisonment, Phage and his siblings were sent to recapture him.
Venom subsequently teamed up with Spider-Man to fight the Life Foundation Symbiotes.
Even though they were badly outnumbered, the duo emerged victorious using a device
that seemingly aged each of them to dust. Originally bonded with Security Officer
Leslie Gesneria, Agony was unique among her Life Foundation siblings due to her ability
to deconstruct and create chemical compounds. She and her siblings all survived
Brock's attempt to disintegrate them, largely thanks to the Life
Foundation's advanced technology. When the symbiotes began to gain more
control over their hosts' bodies, however, the five hosts revealed themselves to
Eddie Brock in the hopes that he would teach them how to stay in charge.
Eddie refused,believing that all of Venom's children would eventually become
psychopathic murderers like Carnage. Agony's sibling, Scream, eventually proved
Eddie's fears right and began systematically killing off her other siblings one by one. After
Scream believed all of her siblings were dead, she confronted Eddie Brock — but was
defeated after a pretty brief fight. The outcast of the Life Foundation Symbiotes,
Scream was originally bonded with Security Officer Donna Diego, a woman with a history
of schizophrenia. After she became Scream, she decided to test out her abilities by
attacking a mall in California. Spider-Man stopped her assault and forced Scream to
retreat to the Life Foundation's headquarters. This allowed the Web-Slinger to follow her,
free Venom, and defeat the five symbiotes. Though they survived, the
experience sent Scream down a dark path. Suffering from her schizophrenia,
she attempted to kill her symbiote siblings, believing they would all eventually be corrupted. Eventually, Donna learned to cope with her
mental illness and came to an understanding with her symbiote. This allowed her
to operate as a hero for a short time. She helped Venom defeat a number of foes,
but was ultimately killed by Eddie — for the same reason she had once used to
justify betraying her own siblings. Originally merged with Security
Officer Ramón Hernández, the green symbiote known as Lasher fought
alongside his Life Foundation siblings until they were all seemingly killed at the
hands of Scream. Unknown to Venom, however, the United States government discovered that
the reports of their death were only half true. Though the hosts had all died, their symbiotes
had lived on, and the US government paired each to a different member of the elite special
ops military team known as "Mercury Team." "Where do all these guys come from?" Because the symbiotes were damaged from their
last encounter with Eddie Brock, they were each partially bonded to augment one specific part of
the hosts' body. Riot was bonded with one member's feet, Phage with another's hands and eyes,
and Agony with the last member's shoulders. Lasher, meanwhile, was partially bonded with both
the team's leader, Marcus Simms, and his German Shepherd, forging a leash-like tether between
the pup and her master's hand. Though effective, the symbiotes' new hosts were eventually killed
by Carnage during one of his many rampages. When Riot, Phage, Agony, and Lasher's symbiotes
were imprisoned within the Vault, the government decided to violently torture and experiment
on them in a secret lab beneath the facility. Weakened by the experiments, the four symbiotes
merged together to survive when they were freed by a symbiote invasion of earth. Together,
this new "Hybrid" was incredibly powerful, possessing each symbiote's unique abilities. Free from its containment unit, the symbiote
bonded with a prison guard named Scott Washington and escaped. Though initially just as cruel
and indifferent as the other guards, once they bonded with him, Scott realized how much pain the
creatures had experienced. This sudden epiphany of empathy changed the pair for the better,
creating one of the few true symbiote heroes. Ultimately, Hybrid was killed by Eddie
Brock when he tried to exterminate every symbiote on Earth. Though the
Hybrid itself managed to survive by separating into four symbiotes once
again, Scott himself was not so lucky. Cloned by the Ararat Corporation from a severed
piece of Venom's tongue, the symbiote that would become known as Mania refused to permanently bond
with anyone, instead choosing to kill and consume everyone offered to it. Mania eventually escaped
its prison and embarked on a killing spree across the country until Venom could finally confront
and absorb the symbiote back into his biomass. Despite this, Mania lived on within the Venom
symbiote, waiting to emerge once again. When Flash Thompson became Agent Venom for a time,
he used his symbiote to shield a student named Andrea Benton. Much to their surprise, however,
that piece of symbiote bonded with the young girl and revealed itself as Mania. Flash
helped Andrea control the symbiote, and the two worked together as heroes until
a criminal named Lee Price used sonic weapons to steal the symbiote for himself. With a new
host, Mania renamed himself “Maniac” and began a short-lived crime empire — before being defeated
by an alliance of heroes led by Spider-Man. Because they reproduce asexually, each
symbiote can trace its lineage directly back along one straight line. Venom was the 998th
symbiote in his line, and Carnage was the 999th. Venom and Carnage also knew that the
latter's offspring would be the 1000th and believed that this symbiote would be
more powerful than the two of them combined. Fearing this, Carnage attempted to kill his
offspring in Venom Vs. Carnage #1, but Venom wanted to raise the newborn as his villainous
ally, giving it the name "Toxin." Ultimately, both villains failed when Toxin bonded with a New
York City police officer named Patrick Mulligan. Worried that this new host would turn Toxin into
a superhero, Venom and Carnage teamed up in an attempt to kill Toxin, but were ultimately
beaten by the 1000th member of their line. Despite this victory, Patrick was constantly
terrified that the symbiote would take control and become an unstoppable monster. Because of
this, he fled from his family and attempted to "raise" the young symbiote as
a hero. His efforts were thwarted, however, when the demon Blackheart killed
Mulligan and took Toxin for his own ends. Blackheart forced Toxin to bond
with Eddie Brock in Venom #17, setting the newly minted villain loose to kill
Flash Thompson in his Agent Venom identity. Toxin was defeated, however, and was left
severely weakened as a shadow of his former self. During a time when Venom was
separated from Eddie Brock and bonded with Mac Gargan, Eddie
discovered that he had cancer. Eddie was eventually healed, but
the process completely altered the traces of the Venom symbiote that were
left within his cells. Because of this, when Venom attempted to leave Gargan and reunite
with Eddie, his cells rejected the symbiote. The portions of Venom that had touched him
became the new, separate Anti-Venom symbiote. Anti-Venom was the villain's inverse in more ways
than just his color scheme. The symbiote possessed incredible healing powers that could be used
to rejuvenate his host or anyone around him. That healing ability eventually led
to this version's death, however, when it exhausted its life force to
heal Manhattan of a Spider Virus. A scientist later used remnants of Anti-Venom
to create a cure for Venom's toxins, but when it was given to Flash Thompson
in a battle against Eddie Brock, it didn't cure anything at all. Instead,
it turned the portion of Venom attached to Flash into a new Anti-Venom symbiote,
allowing Flash to become "Agent Anti-Venom." Before the current cosmos was
created, there was nothing but a void, and its name was "Knull." When the universe began,
the nearly omnipotent Celestials attacked Knull, and he created the first symbiote in order to
fight them off. Knull shaped the first symbiote into a blade and used it to decapitate a
Celestial, driving the rest of them away. Inspired by his success, Knull created
an army of symbiotes and sent them out to conquer the universe. When they reached
Earth, however, a young Thor fought them off. "Because that's what -". "Because that's what heroes do." He infected the symbiotes with a sense of
honor that led them to unite against Knull and imprison him — seemingly forever.
In their language, "Klyntar" meant "cage," and by literally becoming Knull's
prison, they became the Klyntar race. Eventually, Knull corrupted Scorn — yet another
symbiote that originated from Carnage — and used her to resurrect Carnage and free
himself from his prison. The void god attempted to conquer all of existence
once again — but was ultimately killed by the combined might of earth's heroes
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