For a long time, there was only one symbiote: Venom. Today, there are apparently more than 40 known symbiotes in the Marvel Universe. But who’s counting?
Introduced into the Marvel Universe during the 1985 Secret Wars event, the “black costume” was more than a new look for Spider-Man. This was an alien creature that bonded with the superhero and started to influence him. When Peter Parker realized that his new clothes were in fact a conscient being that was changing him not in a good way, he got rid of him… But that was just the beginning.
After that, the symbiote found a new host and was officially named Venom. He instantly became one of Spider-Man’s archenemies. That said, as writers explored the creature from outer space, it evolved as well as its mythology. Venom also had children, some really deadly ones! All had different hosts and powers, but all are vulnerable to intense heat and sonic vibrations.
Also, we are calling them the Symbiotes, but Venom is a member of the extraterrestrial species known as Klyntar. As we learned during the last few years, they were created by Knull, a malevolent god, a primordial Deity–and certainly one of Marvel’s most powerful supervillains –read the King in Black storyline for a better understanding of the menace he represented–, and creator of All-Black the Necrosword.
We are not here to talk about Knull (this is a subject for another article), but to speak about his creations. From Venom and Carnage to Rascal, here is a guide to the major symbiotes that appeared in the Marvel Universe during the last three decades.
Venom
The first appearance of the black costume was in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #252 by writers Tom DeFalco and Roger Stern, and penciler Ron Frenz. It was not their original idea as it came from a writer. It was the early years of the 1980s and Marvel had run a competition encouraging wannabe writers and artists to submit stories. One of them, from a fan named Randy Schueller, was about a new costume for Spidey. This didn’t lead anywhere at the time. Later though, his idea was retooled by artist Mike Zeck during the Secret Wars event during which the superheroes of Earth and their archenemies were transported to another planet to battle.
Spider-Man got a new costume during the trip, as his usual one was mostly destroyed. At first, Peter Parker was happy with his new look, especially as the costume was responding to his mental commands (in 2015, it was revealed that Deadpool already had contact with the symbiote before Peter and corrupted it). Spider-man got read of the costume when he realized how bad its influence was on him. Venom became Venom when the symbiote met Eddie Brock, a journalist who just lost his job and blamed Spidey for it. The two shared a common hatred of Spider-Man and became one of his many enemies.
Eddie Brock was not a bad man at the beginning, just an unlucky one, and Venom became a vigilante and an anti-hero at some point. The road to becoming a legitimate hero was paved with a lot of obstacles. One was Mac Cargan, aka the Scorpion, as he became for a time the host of the Venom symbiote (and a member of the Thunderbolts and the Dark Avengers). Eddie finally got the Symbiote back, but for a while, it was Flash Thompson the host of Venom and, together, they were Agent Venom!
Flash had lost his legs during a mission for the Army, but he was offered the opportunity to walk again. For that, he had to bond with Venom as part of a government experiment, Project Rebirth 2.0. He learned to work with his symbiote and became a real hero, fighting with the Secret Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Though he lost his symbiote, Flash found a new one and kept fighting (see Anti-Venom).
Want to read about Venom? Go see our Venom Reading Order.
Carnage
Introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #361 by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley, Carnage is an offspring of Venom and is more powerful than its progenitor. Also, by bonding with serial killer Cletus Kasady, Carnage found a host who was a perfect match.
Like Venom, Carnage had multiple hosts, but Kasady is the main one, and his propensity for chaos and violence made them a really dangerous enemy to Spider-Man, Venom, and the rest of humanity.
Want to read about Carnage? Go see our Carnage Reading Order.
Scream, Riot, Agony, Phage, and Lasher
While experimenting with the Venom symbiote, the survivalist group the Life Foundation gave birth to five new symbiotes and decided to bond them with mercenaries (Donna Diego, Trevor Cole, Leslie Gesneria, Carl Mach, and Ramon Hernandez) to have an army of symbiotes soldiers. Those symbiotes are called Scream, Riot, Agony, Phage, and Lasher and first appeared in Venom: Lethal Protector #4 by writer David Michelinie and penciler Ron Lim.
The siblings were left for dead but survived and gained their freedom. As the years went by, they changed hosts multiple times. Some wanted redemptions, others were barely developed, but they were all capable of evolving, especially Riot, Agony, Phage, and Lasher (see Hybrid).
Hybrid
Introduced in 1995 in the pages of Venom: Along Came a Spider #1 by writer Larry Hama and penciler Joe St. Pierre, Hybrid is not one, but four symbiotes. After Scream killed their original hosts Riot, Phage, Lasher, and Agony were captured by the government and detained in a Top Secret Testing Facility where they were experimented on by Dr. Edmund Zwerling.
Following dramatic events, they combined in order to survive and became one. Helped by a guardian named Scott Washington, they regained their freedom. Later, they reconnect with Scott and made him their host. Together, they are Hybrid. Years later though, the fusion was ended, and the four symbiotes bonded with new hosts to fight Carnage… but that was not the end of Hybrid!
Toxin
Created by Peter Milligan and Clayton Crain in Venom Vs. Carnage #2, Carnage is the spawn of Venom, and Toxin is one of Carnage. Also, he is the 1000th symbiote in its lineage and was feared to be the most dangerous of them all.
His first host was police officer Pat Mulligan, and together they tried to be heroes, but–ears later–this didn’t end well for Pat. Eddie Brock became the new Toxin for a while (and fought Venom!). Weakened by his fights, Toxin was not considered a threat for a long time. He finally found a new host, a teenage boy named Bren Waters, and went back to fight Carnage.
Anti-Venom
Created by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. in Amazing Spider-Man #569, Anti-Venom is not a Symbiotes with a long history, on the contrary. But its impact was important.
When the supervillain Mr. Negative (Martin Li) used his powers to cure Eddie Brock’s cancer (at a time when he was Venomless), the traces of the symbiote that stayed in his bloodstream mutated, leading to the creation of a new symbiote: Anti-Venom. Totally in control, Eddie used his newfound powers to heal, but it was destroyed when he cure the Spider-Virus.
Nevertheless, it was not the end of Anti-Venom as it was artificially recreated and bonded with Flash Thompson who used it to fight the Red Goblin.
Mania
Also known as Maniac, this symbiote first appeared in Venom #1 (in 2003), created by Daniel Way and Francisco Herrera. Mania is a clone of the Venom symbiote created by the Ararat Corporation who had evil intentions with it. This didn’t end like that. With the intervention of Flash Thompson, the symbiote found its way to the young Andi Benton who accidentally bonded with it. Mania was born.
As Mania, Andi fought organized crime in Philadelphia until she lost control. But that was later that she lost Mania, as she was attacked by Lee Price (who was really briefly host to Venom and wanted a new symbiote) who took Mania and became known as Maniac.
As for Andi, she later became the host of Scream to fight Carnage (and now she’s Silence after a lot of adventures and meeting another symbiote).
Sleeper
A creation of Mike Costa and Mark Bagley in Venom #165, Sleeper is the seventh spawn of Venom who was born in an Alchemax laboratory. He was forced to bond with Eddie Brock to fight the Kree soldier Tel-Kar who ended up lobotomized–and the perfect host for Sleeper who could be in full control, exploring the universe.
After discovering a massive threat, Sleeper came back to Earth to help Eddie. That’s how e met Dylan Brock, Eddie’s son, and the two didn’t bond, but became teammates (Sleeper took the shape of a cat and lived with the Brockes).
Rascal
Introduced by Ram V and Stefano Raffaele in Free Comic Book Day 2022: Spider-Man/Venom #1, Rascal is a new symbiote that was offered to Normie Osborn as a way for him to fight alongside Dylan Brock and Venom to save Eddie.
Normie has a conflicted relationship with Rascal as the symbiote brings its inner darkness to the surface, but the two learn to know each other and to control their powers.
There are a lot more Symbiotes in the Marvel Universe–a LOT more–, and things are getting quite complicated lately with future versions… And there are multiverse versions. But those listed above as the main ones to know. That said, maybe one or two should be added to the list, let me know in the comments below.
