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- Somehow, Venom and the rest of the symbiotes keep getting even more popular. It's not hard to see why, either. Venom has now had two feature films (in addition to his panned appearance in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3), and, while they haven't been critical darlings, they've been financial successes that have kept the character in the public eye.
When comics fan Randy Schueller wrote Marvel Comics in 1982 to suggest that Spider-Man adopt a new stealth black costume, he couldn't possibly have imagined what would come of it.
After the concept was adopted into the comic, this most drastic change to Spidey's appearance in 20 years would eventually evolve into the now infamous alien suit that eventually became Venom, and subsequently snowballed into an entire species of symbiotic creatures. Since these humble beginnings, the alien symbiotes, officially known as the "Klyntar," have multiplied over the years, becoming a unique corner of the Marvel Universe unto themselves.
Updated on September 30th, 2022 by Quinn Levandoski:
Somehow, Venom and the rest of the symbiotes keep getting even more popular. It's not hard to see why, either. Venom has now had two feature films (in addition to his panned appearance in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3), and, while they haven't been critical darlings, they've been financial successes that have kept the character in the public eye.
The recent "King in Black" storyline in Marvel Comics also added new depth to symbiote lore. While some background information was always known about the Klyntar, the symbiote god/creator Knull has elevated their power to new heights.
Sleeper
A newer symbiote in Marvel Comics, Sleeper is the seventh spawn of Venom and possesses many of the abilities of its progenitor, including webbing generation and camouflage. Concerned that bonding with a host while still in its infancy would corrupt it, the Venom Symbiote kept its pregnancy a secret from host Eddie Brock, and after spawning, insisted that Sleeper be kept securely under watch at the research facility Alchemax.
While under observation, it would be revealed that the Sleeper Symbiote possessed its own unique abilities of chemokinesis, allowing it to generate liquids and gasses to a variety of effects, including psychologically influencing those in its proximity, altering their emotional state. After the events leading to Sleeper's escape from containment, the symbiote would become determined to remain close to its parent, where it assimilated into Eddie Brock's civilian life, taking the form of a house cat.
Mania
Technically not a symbiote entity unto itself, Mania originated as a piece of the Venom Symbiote, severed in battle. Collected by the mysterious Ararat Corporation, this fragment was then used to create a clone of the original. After terrorizing the corporation's facility and eliminating the scientists within, the Venom clone was eventually reabsorbed by the original.
When the Venom Symbiote was bonded to Flash Thompson in order to create the covert operative Agent Venom, the clone separated once again, bonding to high schooler Andi Benton, one of Flash's students in his civilian identity as a gym teacher at Midtown High School. As a clone of the original, the subsequently named Mania Symbiote possesses all the abilities of Venom, albeit to a lesser degree, while also being much harder for its hosts to control.
Silence
It's almost poetic that Scream is followed by Silence. After the former died, Doctor Steven (last name unknown) attempted to harvest and revitalize the Scream symbiote. It didn't work, so a sample was combined with Anti-Venom serum to create Screams antithesis: Silence.
Scream's host, Andi Benton bonded with this new hybrid and was able to defeat Phage, who had killed Scream. This new symbiote seems to combine Scream's symbiote powers with the "cleansing" properties of Anti-Venom, which allows Silence to disconnect the symbiote from the Klyntar hive-mind.
Scorn
The second spawn of Carnage, Scorn was left bonded to Dr. Tanis Nieves as a horrific parting gift following a harrowing ordeal with its parent. When the Carnage Symbiote was separated from its longtime host, serial killer Cletus Kasady, it was chemically lobotomized and harvested in an attempt to create an advanced line of prosthetics.
Attached to Dr. Nieves in place of her missing arm, the symbiote would regain consciousness and eventually abandon her, leaving Scorn bonded to Nieves in its place. As a symbiote born from an experimental union of alien biology and Earth technology, the Scorn Symbiote possesses the ability to interface with computer systems, as well as absorb and adapt all forms of cybernetic enhancements and weaponry.
Life Foundation Symbiotes/Hybrid
When Eddie Brock was captured by the doomsday-obsessed Life Foundation and separated from his symbiote, the group forcibly removed five gestating spawns from the alien entity. These would then become the symbiotes Riot, Phage, Lasher, Agony, and Scream. Although Scream would escape with its host Donna Diego, the remaining four would eventually be merged into the gestalt entity Hybrid.
A composite being with four distinct consciousnesses, things would only become more complicated when it then bonded to prison guard Scott Washington, whose own identity struggled for control amongst the amalgamation.
Scream
One of the five Life Foundation Symbiotes, Scream was the only one in the group to not be absorbed into the composite entity, Hybrid. Instead, it and the host Donna Diego set out on their own. Over time, Donna's psyche combined with the inexperience and immaturity of the symbiote slowly transformed Scream into an unpredictable and erratic entity.
After Donna was killed by Eddie Brock, the symbiote continued to operate as Scream for a time, in possession of Donna's animated corpse. When it was eventually separated from her skeleton, the Scream Symbiote went on to bond with Andi Benton, the former host of Mania.
Anti-Venom
After being separated from the Venom Symbiote, Eddie Brock would eventually come into contact with the criminal gang leader Mr. Negative, who activated the remnants of the alien in Eddie's bloodstream, creating a "negative symbiote" which came to be known as Anti-Venom. As Anti-Venom, Brock demonstrated a series of new abilities, vastly different from those he had possessed as Venom, including healing wounds and curing diseases.
Additionally, this new symbiote possessed no consciousness of its own, allowing Brock to retain full control while wielding it. The Anti-Venom Symbiote would later be destroyed when it was used to cure The Jackal's epidemic mutant virus during the "Spider-Island" event. When Flash Thompson, the former Agent Venom, encountered a newly reunited Brock, bonded to the Venom Symbiote once more, the alien was torn between its two former hosts. Attempting to split itself between them, a recent procedure that Thompson had been subjected to involving remnants of the negative symbiote instead metamorphosed the portion exposed to him into a replica of the white symbiote, transforming him into Agent Anti-Venom.
Toxin
The first spawn of the Carnage Symbiote, Toxin was immediately thrust into the long-standing rivalry between its parent and grandparent. Carnage, afraid of the existence of another symbiote potentially stronger than him, wanted to destroy Toxin, while Venom sought to mentor and train the new addition to their lineage, hoping to create another alien-empowered hero.
When it bonded to its first host, NYPD officer Patrick Mulligan, his sudden and unexpected involvement in the ongoing alien feud completely upended his life, resulting in Mulligan's abandonment of his wife and infant child. As the 1000th of their line, Toxin was expected to develop abilities greater than either Venom or Carnage, but the inexperience of both the symbiote and its host prevented it from ever reaching this potential.
Venom (Flash Thompson)
Some fans were hesitant when it was revealed that Flash Thompson would become the primary host for Venom in Rick Remender's (and eventually others') now-acclaimed run on the character, but the character is so different that it's almost like a different symbiote.
Flash, Peter's former bully turned best friend, has a much more dangerous relationship with the symbiote and often finds himself terrified when it breaks out of its pseudo-suppression. The symbiote also manifests differently due to Flash's experience in the armed forces. Instead of a spandex-like suit, it looks more like body armor. Furthermore, Flash uses it to aid his use of firearms instead of relying on symbiote teeth and tendrils. The partially antagonistic relationship holds the two back for quite a while, and they never quite reach the power level of Eddie Brock's Venom, but Flash is still one of the most powerful Venom hosts of all time.
Carnage
Easily the most ruthless and dangerous of all of Marvel's Earth-based symbiotes, Carnage has been plagued since its inception by the evil of its first host, notorious serial killer Cletus Kasady. Because of this initial union, the Carnage Symbiote has carried this destructive streak throughout each of its various hosts, corrupting and infecting them with Kasady's love for chaos.
Technically stronger than Venom, as each generation of symbiotes genetically improves upon the previous, this volatility is unfortunately also Carnage's greatest weakness, allowing it to be outsmarted and manipulated frequently. It has, however, displayed some abilities not common in its species, including condensing itself into a subatomic state and expanding to infect multiple hosts at a time, once simultaneously absorbing and possessing the citizens of an entire town.
Venom (Eddie Brock)
The original and most famous symbiote of all, Venom has been a hero, a villain, and everything in between. The most emotionally and mentally well-rounded of its brethren, the Venom Symbiote has evolved over time from a terrifying alien parasite into a sympathetic character who seeks only acceptance and partnership. To this end, it has willingly performed both altruistic and heinous acts in its efforts to appease the whims of its partners.
As the only Earth-based symbiote not born of this world, the Venom Symbiote is intelligent, mature, and more experienced than its counterparts, drawing upon its years of exposure to a multitude of hosts to regularly modify its tactics and abilities for continuously greater results. It's bond is perhaps strongest with Eddie Brock (the host featured in the films), who openly communicates and treats the symbiote like a person more so than other hosts.
Grendel
"Giant symbiote dragon" may seem ridiculous, and it is, but this powerful creature of Knull's creation is a destructive force that spent millennia roaming the universe taking out gods and mortals alike. The creature was imprisoned by Thor in the 500s A.D., after which it was trapped in a glacier until the lead-up to "King in Black."
Though it has the same heat, sound, and electricity weaknesses as most other symbiotes, Grendel is more powerful than almost every other Klyntar, as it was directly created by Knull. Given that Grendel can engage in intergalactic flight, almost nowhere is safe from this behemoth.
Knull
An ancient and powerful entity, Knull is the "God Of Symbiotes" and the creator of their species. Inextricably linked to the cosmic void beyond dimensions, Knull is able to summon and manipulate this primordial darkness, utilizing it as though it were a vast symbiotic being itself, or forging fragments of it into incredibly powerful cosmic weapons.
As the originator of their entire alien lineage, Knull is capable of controlling and commanding all currently existing symbiotes, as well as creating new ones at his whim from the void which empowers him. Further empowered by the cosmic energies of a slain Celestial, Knull represents a massive scale threat to all life in the universe as he seeks to return existence to the oblivion from which he came.