We all know Spiderman, the friendly neighborhood but picture this, villains that look almost the same as Spidey! How did that even happen? Randy Schueller couldn’t have guessed what would happen when he wrote Marvel Comics in 1982 to suggest that Spider-Man wear a new stealth black outfit.
After the concept was accepted into the comic, the most significant change to Spidey’s appearance in 20 years would eventually morph into the now-famous alien suit known as Venom, which then snowballed into an entire species of symbiotic organisms. The extraterrestrial symbiotes, technically called the “Klyntar,” have grown in number over the years, forming a unique corner of the Marvel Universe in their own right.
In the Marvel Comics universe, the Symbiotes (formerly known as Klyntars) are a race of alien parasites. Symbiotes encase their hosts like garments, forming a parasitic relationship that allows them to control their hosts’ minds. Symbiotic organisms are also fully conscious and sentient beings.
So here 7 of the most powerful Symbiotes in Marvel comics.
#1- Sleeper
Sleeper is the eighth spawn of Venom and shares many of its progenitor’s skills, including webbing creation and concealment, according to Marvel Comics. The Venom Symbiote kept its pregnancy a secret from host Eddie Brock, and after spawning, insisted that Sleeper be kept safely under supervision at the research facility Alchemax.
While under observation, it was discovered that the Sleeper Symbiote possessed its own unique chemokinesis skills, allowing it to create liquids and gases for a variety of purposes, including psychologically influencing and modifying the emotional state of others in its vicinity. The symbiote became determined to stay near to its father after the events that led to Sleeper’s escape from containment, and it merged into Eddie Brock’s civilian life, adopting the shape of a housecat.
#2- Mania
Mania began as a portion of the Venom Symbiote that was severed in battle and was not a symbiote being in and of itself. This fragment was collected by the mysterious Ararat Corporation and utilized to construct a clone of the original. The Venom clone was finally consumed by the original Venom after terrifying the corporation’s facilities and destroying the scientists within.
While the Venom Symbiote was connected to Flash Thompson in order to become the secret operation Agent Venom, the clone split up and bonded to high schooler Andi Benton, who was one of Flash’s students when he was a gym teacher at Midtown High School in his civilian guise. As a clone of the original, the Mania Symbiote has all of Venom’s abilities, albeit to a lesser extent, and is also far more difficult to control for its victims.
#3- Scorn
Following a horrible adventure with its mom, Carnage’s second child, Scorn, was left connected to Dr. Tanis Nieves as a horrifying parting gift. When the Carnage Symbiote was isolated from its long-term host, serial killer Cletus Kasady, it was chemically lobotomized and collected in the hopes of developing a new line of prostheses.
The symbiote, which had been attached to Dr. Nieves in place of her missing arm, would soon acquire consciousness and forsake her, leaving Scorn bound to Nieves in its place. The Scorn Symbiote, being a symbiote developed from an experimental merger of extraterrestrial biology and Earth technology, can connect with computer systems and absorb and adapt all types of cybernetic modifications and weaponry.
#4-Hybrid
When the doomsday-obsessed Life Foundation kidnapped Eddie Brock and separated him from his symbiote, the organisation forcibly plucked five gestating offspring from the alien organism. Riot, Phage, Lasher, Agony, and Scream would then become symbiotes. Despite the fact that Scream and its host Donna Diego escaped, the remaining four were eventually combined into the gestalt entity Hybrid.
#5- Scream
Scream was the only one of the five Life Foundation Symbiotes who was not assimilated into the composite creature Hybrid. Instead, it and the host, Donna Diego, went their separate ways. Donna’s mind, along with the symbiote’s inexperience and immaturity, gradually turned Scream into an unpredictable and volatile entity.
After Donna was killed by Eddie Brock, the symbiote remained in control of Donna’s animated body for a while as Scream. The Scream Symbiote went on to merge with Andi Benton, the former host of Mania, after it was finally dislodged from her bones.
#6-Anti-Venom
After being separated from the Venom Symbiote, Eddie Brock met Mr. Negative, a criminal gang leader who triggered the remnants of the extraterrestrial in Eddie’s bloodstream, resulting in the creation of a “negative symbiote” known as Anti-Venom. Brock revealed a number of new skills as Anti-Venom, including the ability to heal wounds and cure diseases, which were significantly different from those he possessed as Venom.
Furthermore, because this new symbiote had no mind of its own, Brock was able to maintain complete control over it while wielding it. During the “Spider-Island” incident, the Anti-Venom Symbiote was destroyed after it was used to treat The Jackal’s epidemic mutant virus.
#7-Toxin
Toxin, the Carnage Symbiote’s first progeny, was pushed into the long-running rivalry between its parent and grandparent right away. Carnage wanted to eliminate Toxin because he was scared of another symbiote that could be stronger than him, whilst Venom wanted to mentor and train the new addition to their lineage in the hopes of creating another alien-powered hero.
When it linked with its first host, NYPD officer Patrick Mulligan, his abrupt and unexpected involvement in the ongoing extraterrestrial feud utterly turned his life upside down, forcing him to abandon his wife and infant kid. Toxin was anticipated to gain skills greater than Venom or Carnage as the 1000th in their line, but the symbiote and its host’s inexperience prevented it from ever attaining this potential.
Sources: Screen Rant, Geeky Nerd, Spider-Man Wiki