Fictional history '' #8, which details
Spider-Man's first encounter with the black costume. Pencil art by Mike Zeck. Symbiotes were originally created by an ancient malevolent primordial deity named
Knull. When the
Celestials began their vast plan to evolve the universe, Knull, seeing that his "Kingdom" was being touched, retaliated by constructing All-Black, the first symbiote, and subsequently cut off a Celestial's head. The other Celestials then banished Knull, along with the severed Celestial head, deeper into space. After that, he started using the head's cosmic energies as a forge for the symbiotes, which is how they developed the weaknesses to
sound and fire. The head would later become interdimensional crossroads and laboratory
Knowhere. Knull then embarked on a campaign of genocide against the other gods. During a battling with the gods, he crashed on a desolate planet where All-Black left him and went to
Gorr, drawn to his murderous hate, who tried to kill Knull. Knull later reawakened and created an army of symbiotes, which he used to conquer planets and destroy entire civilizations, establishing the Symbiote Imperium in the process. However, when a dragon-like creature journeyed to the medieval Earth,
Thor defeated it and destroyed the connection between Knull and the symbiotes. Subsequently, the symbiote hive-mind began to explore notions of honor and nobility as they bonded to benevolent hosts. The symbiotes subsequently rebelled against their god, imprisoning him at the heart of an artificial planet in the
Andromeda Galaxy they called Klyntar, from which they derived the name of their species. The corrupted Klyntar started taking over planets and creating the Imperium. They made hosts put their lives at risk, deriving energy from increased
hormones, like
adrenaline and
phenethylamine. These
hosts would die quickly, either because of the wear or as a result of the inherent danger of the stunts performed. At some point it was believed that a symbiote-run planet was devoured by
Galactus. Due to their hive-mind's memory, all symbiotes now loathe both Galactus and his former herald, the
Silver Surfer.
ZZZXX, a symbiote with a predilection for eating brains, was also captured by the
Shi'ar, and imprisoned and studied for years until it was released and employed as a Praetorian Guard by
Gabriel Summers. The corrupted symbiotes had invaded the
Microverse and tried to absorb the
Enigma Force, but they were defeated by the avatar of the force, after they had caused destructive effects on this world and its
people. The symbiote would arrive on the
Savage Land, where it remained trapped for years to the point of madness and bonded to
Conan during a confrontation between the
Savage Avengers and
Kulan Gath. During the
Kree-Skrull War, the
Kree wanted to replicate the
Skrull's shapeshifting abilities; they acquired a newborn symbiote which had been outcast from its species on the planet where Knull had created them. They recruited the
Kree Tel-Kar to be bonded to the young symbiote, and modified both Tel-Kar and the symbiote so that he could have full control over it. He infiltrated the Skrulls using the symbiote's shapeshifting ability, but was discovered. He deleted the symbiote's memories and separated himself from it. The symbiote then reunited with the parasitic symbiotes, retaining little memory of its first host. When the corrupted symbiotes found out that this symbiote wanted to commit to its host rather than exploit it as they tended to do, they decided that it was insane and trapped it in a canister to be condemned to die on a planet that would later become part of
Beyonder's Battleworld. There, it would be encountered by
Spider-Man in the 1984 miniseries
Secret Wars. In that story, which saw the heroes of Earth transported to this planet to battle their archenemies,
Spider-Man sought to repair or replace his tattered costume, which had been damaged in battle, and was directed by Thor and
Hulk to a device inside the alien compound that they had come to use as headquarters. Mistaking the device in which the symbiote was imprisoned for the device Thor and Hulk mentioned, Spider-Man activated it, freeing the symbiote, which appeared before him as a black sphere that enveloped his body and took on the form of a black version of his costume that could respond to his mental commands. Spider-Man assumed that the device produced clothing designed to do this. He did not know that
Deadpool had already briefly bonded with the symbiote and had corrupted it with his unstable personality. Spider-Man returned to Earth with the symbiote, where, after discovering that it was an alien lifeform that wanted to bond with him, he managed to separate himself from it by using sound waves to hurt the creature, which took refuge in a church's bell tower. It later bonded with
Eddie Brock, who went to the church, despondent and vengeful after his journalism career was destroyed because he incorrectly identified the serial killer known as Sin-Eater as a man who later turned out to be a compulsive confessor; he blamed this turn of events on Spider-Man. Having bonded with the symbiote, the two became the being known as
Venom. During this time, it spawned seven offspring and a clone; its first child later had three of its own, producing the symbiotes Carnage,
Scream,
Lasher,
Phage,
Agony, and
Riot. The Venom symbiote eventually becomes too much for Eddie to handle, and he separates himself from it. This separation causes a telepathic scream that is heard by the other corrupted symbiotes, who then invade Earth. Eddie, Spider-Man and
Scarlet Spider team up against the invasion. The battle comes to an end when Eddie rebinds with Venom, causing another scream which results in the symbiotes committing suicide. While bonded to
Flash Thompson as part of
Project Rebirth, who originally struggled to control it, the symbiote developed a slight affection for him. It is later established that the host's mental state affects the symbiote just as much as the other way around: Venom's first child, the
Carnage symbiote, is as psychotic as its host,
Cletus Kasady, and the Venom suit's explosiveness worsened after bonding with Angelo Fortunato and
Mac Gargan, both of whom are career criminals. Likewise, the various symbiotes bonded to heroes are not shown to be as twisted, though they do occasionally struggle with aggression. A swarm of
Brood that had been overtaken by symbiotes later invade the
S.W.O.R.D. satellite and possess all of its inhabitants, including
Deathbird and her unborn child, to expand the symbiote Imperium. However, Spider-Man, bonded to a second symbiote, defeats the symbiotes with help from his class at
Jean Grey's School. When the body of
Grendel, the dragon-like composite symbiote defeated by Thor, is discovered on Earth, this reawakens Knull enough to allow him to control the creature. It is subsequently stopped by Venom and
Miles Morales, and is later incinerated by Eddie, denying Knull the chance to escape Klyntar. After some months, a cult had gotten hold of Cletus's damaged body inside a chamber and had planned to revive him by using the Grendel's remnants, which they stole from
Maker. This cult, who worships Knull and Carnage as Knull's prophet, was led by
Scorn. They implanted the remnants inside Cletus, reviving him, and at first he resembled Ancient Venom (Venom possessed by Knull), until the Carnage pieces were absorbed by the ancient symbiote and acquired Scorn's remnants by killing her. When Cletus came in contact with Knull, he got a new purpose: to free Knull. The only way left to do this was to acquire every single Codex – the symbiote remnants containing the genetic information of the host – left inside the bodies of every single host, dead or alive, who came into physical contact with the symbiotes on Earth, to overload the symbiote hive mind and scatter the Klyntar.
Culture The symbiotes, when they were originally created, were used as tools by
Knull to conquer the universe. At the time, they had a symbiote dialect. When they were freed from Knull's control and began learning about compassion, they established the lie about their nature to redeem themselves. They formed the Agents of Cosmos, symbiotes bonded to benevolent hosts, forming noble warriors who try to maintain peace across the universe. However, some symbiotes were corrupted by malevolent hosts, turning them back into monsters and reestablishing the symbiote Imperium first formed by Knull; these symbiotes were cut from the Klyntar hive mind. The symbiote Imperium would conquer planets and infect their inhabitants to drain and consume them. The symbiotes in general do not have a proper culture. As seen with Venom and Carnage, the symbiote's personality and psychology depends largely on the host's nature, as the link between the host and the symbiote is what gives the symbiote a purpose and meaning to their life. As for the Nameless, a group of Kree explorers infected by the Exolon parasites, after being infected by the parasites which consumed their souls, they lost all sense of time and sentience and started engaging in gruesome self-inflicted pain rituals to remember their past lives.
Biology The symbiotes are an alien species of inorganic,
amorphous and
multicellular symbiotic parasites formed from Knull's "Living Abyss". They record the genetic material of each of their hosts in a genetic codex. They also empower a host's natural abilities to the point that they far exceed that of normal members of the host's species. These abilities include the following: • Superhuman strength (strong enough to lift 50 tons or more), speed, endurance, agility, healing powers, and intelligence • Genetic memory, allowing them to recall information from previous hosts. They also leave traces of themselves, called a codex, attached to the host's DNA, to send information to the hive mind. and
Scott Washington was able to walk despite being paraplegic. Similarly,
Flash Thompson and
Cletus Kasady had received "legs" when bonded with the
Venom symbiote and
Carnage symbiote even though they had lost their legs.
Wraith was able to use his Exolon powers to cure the Kree who were infected by the
Phalanx. • They can reproduce
asexually with a limited number of seeds inside their mass. For example, Venom gave birth to seven "children", and its first child Carnage had three. • Senses that extend over its entire surface, enabling hosts to "see" what is behind them or otherwise not in their line of sight (like a Spider-Sense). • The ability to change shape and size at will. This ability functions regardless of the host's actual stature and bodily dimensions, as the symbiotes are living
tesseracts. This includes expanding to any size as long as they have something to grow on, such as a host or an object. Symbiotes can form multi-layered shields against powerful attacks and fit inside of small areas, such as electric wires and the insides of cars, to completely disable them. This shapeshifting allows the symbiote to change its color and texture, which allows it to blend into the environment as a form of camouflage, or to change the host's outward appearance (including mimicking the appearances of other beings). • The ability to sense the thoughts and will of the host. When Spider-Man was originally selected, he had been thinking about
Spider-Woman's costume in the Secret Wars. The symbiote acted on this and formed a similar costume to hers and Knull's emblem, which is the one seen on Spider-Man and Venom. • The ability to excrete matter that enters in its body, like bullets, turning them into the green saliva • Immortality, as evidenced by
Venom 2099, which was still alive in the year 2099, and All-Black, which was created in the beginning of the universe and was still alive in
King Thor's timeline. • The ability to merge with other symbiotes or otherwise absorb one another. This is similar to how Hybrid was formed, or when Carnage absorbed another symbiote from the
Negative Zone, regenerating itself. The symbiote can also absorb the codices of other symbiotes, obtaining their genetic memory - for example, when Spider-Man bonded to two other symbiotes, they absorbed Venom's codex, allowing them to appear exactly like Venom. • The ability to force their hosts into a comatose state, as shown with
Zak-Del and Eddie Brock • The ability to prolong their host's life by replacing their failing organs with simulacrums manifested from their living abyss - however, they cannot do this indefinitely Because they record the genetic material of each of its hosts, there are also additional powers that have been demonstrated, but are not necessarily universal to all symbiotes: • The ability to block parts of the host's mind - Venom and all its descendants possess the ability to bypass Spider-Man's Spider-Sense; because the original symbiote was attached to Peter Parker (Spider-Man) first, it took his genetic information and spider-powers by using its Parasitic Inheritance. This means that battles between Peter and Venom or any of its descendants would essentially be a fight between Peter and his black-suited self, which would not set off his Spider-Sense • The ability to form fangs or simple bladed weapons out of their limbs. The first appearance of this was the
Carnage symbiote. • The ability to form wings, as shown when Venom came into contact with Knull and grew a pair of web-like wings; in some cases the symbiote has also been shown to form gliding wings. • In the case of the purified Klyntar,
cosmic awareness, which allows the Agents of Cosmos to sense people in need • The ability to project the surface of the symbiote to attack at a distance • The ability to stick to walls (adapted from
Spider-Man) • The ability to produce acid, toxins, and venoms, like the venomous bite Venom delivered to
Sandman (see Venom, Agony, and
Venom 2099) • The ability to produce webbing from its own mass (adapted from Spider-Man) • The ability to sense the presence of other beings within a certain distance and the
Inheritors's life-absorbing touch • The ability to generate and manipulate an ice-like substance (adapted from
Iceman), use telepathy and telekinesis (adapted from
Marvel Girl), create powerful kinetic blasts (adapted from
Cyclops), increase strength and intelligence (adapted from
Beast) and grant the host with the ability to fly (adapted from
Angel) • The ability to create storage portals inside of themselves (this allowed Peter Parker to stow and access his camera) • The ability to filter breathable air for its host, allowing them to breathe underwater (seen in
Vengeance of Venom), inhale poisonous fumes, and even survive in the vacuum of space • The ability to transfer symbiote traits to its host - for example, when Carnage ate Karl Malus and he became a symbiote-human hybrid • In the case of the Venom symbiote, the possession of empathic abilities, and the ability to project desires and needs into the thoughts of its host or potential hosts; this ability can also aid Venom in detecting the truth from those he interrogates. • In some realities, the symbiote feeds on the emotions of its host, creating an increasingly hostile personality. The longer the host is exposed to the symbiote, the more overpowering this state of mind becomes. • Each symbiote has its own unique abilities: Venom has a venomous bite;
Toxin can change its shape and form into a Spider-Man-like build (slim, but strong) and Venom-like build (big and muscular) depending on its mood; Scream can use its web-like hair as a weapon; Agony can spit acid and manipulate matter; Phage can create bladed weapons; Lasher can create tendrils on its back; Riot can use bludgeoning weapons and agility; Payback can produce electricity; Scorn can fuse with technology; All-Black can grant its host immortality; and Sleeper can manipulate chemicals, providing limited telepathy and excellent cloaking abilities through pheromones. • Some symbiotes are immune to sonic attacks and fire through modification, like Anti-Venom,
Red Goblin, Payback, and Grendel. • The ability to change the mood of its host by manipulating their brain chemicals • The ability to replicate itself, as seen with Carnage and All-Black in the mainstream universe and
Venom in
Spider-Man Reign However, the symbiotes also possess weaknesses that can be fatal. Some of these weaknesses include: • A natural weakness to
sonic attacks and heat-based attacks, which Knull unintentionally gave them while they were being forged. However, symbiotes have a growing resistance to sound and fire due to their evolution. Still, there has not been an invulnerable symbiote in mainstream continuity, because the newest breeds can be harmed by incredible amounts of sonic waves and heat. Symbiotes, like Krobaa, are also seemingly vulnerable to light. The symbiotes in
Ultimate Marvel are only vulnerable to the heat produced by high voltage electricity. • Vulnerability to chemical and biological attacks - for example,
Iron Man created a cure to a virus-like bio-weapon based on the Venom symbiote that was created by
Doctor Doom. Venom and Carnage have shown susceptibility to chemical inhibitors. Whether a symbiote can mutate and reduce the effect of these weaknesses is unknown. • Potential hosts with advanced healing factors, such as
Wolverine, have shown resistance to symbiosis. • In some incarnations, the symbiote is depicted as requiring a certain chemical (most likely
phenethylamine) to stay sane and healthy, which has been said to be found abundantly in two sources: chocolate and human brain tissue. Thus, the host is forced to either consume large amounts of chocolate or become a cannibal who devours the brains of those they kill. This peculiar trait has only been witnessed in the Venom symbiote. However, both
Carnage and
Toxin have threatened their enemies with aspirations to "eat their brains", as well as various other body parts. When Toxin teamed up with Spider-Man and
Black Cat, he struggled to keep himself together, but told Spider-Man that he was only "joking" about eating the robbers' brains. Similarly, the Exolons feed on the immortal soul of the hosts, making the hosts immortal; however, this causes the host to descend into madness, as well making them forget all of their old memories unless they inflict pain to themselves in an attempt to keep their memories for longer (see Zak-Del and the Nameless). • On at least one occasion, Spider-Man was able to exhaust the Venom symbiote by taking advantage of the fact that it made its webbing out of itself; after the symbiote had already used a great deal of webbing to bind him to a bell, Spider-Man forced Venom to use further webbing so that it would exhaust itself, like blood dripping from a wound (although the sheer amount of webbing that the symbiotes would need to use for this weakness to be exploited makes its use in a fight limited). and again with Flash and Eddie (although the Carnage symbiote did not display this weakness when bonding itself to people in Doverton,
Colorado) • Susceptibility to feelings - in the storyline
Planet of the Symbiotes,
Eddie Brock releases a cry of pain and agony so great that the entire symbiote race commits mass suicide, but how they kill themselves is not clear. • The '''''', a race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters which prey on symbiotes, generate an unknown incendiary chemical that can paralyze them. • Numerous occasions have shown that when a corrupted symbiote remains bonded to a host for too long, the symbiote will eventually consume the body of the host, leaving the host a dead husk (see the soldiers who were bonded to the Grendel symbiotes and with Peter Parker in two
What If?!) • When Eddie Brock was diagnosed with cancer,
Martin Li used his Lightforce healing ability to cure him, accidentally producing
white blood cells in Eddie's blood which combatted the Venom's symbiote remnants; this created a new, non-sentient symbiote called
Anti-Venom. This symbiote had the ability to cure every sickness (including Spider-Man's powers) and it was also
corrosive to the symbiotes, as shown when Eddie and Flash nearly killed Venom, Mania, the Poisons and
Red Goblin. There have been no symbiotes shown to be immune to Anti-Venom. • Vulnerability to the abilities of telepaths ==List of symbiotes==