When it comes to living suits, you can't get much better than the OG Venom. After debuting in 1988, the character quickly became a fan-favorite. Venom became the center of what would be an entirely new species within the Marvel Universe with dozens of offshoots and "children" associated with it. While Venom is clearly powerful, you would be hard-pressed to say Venom is the most powerful living suit in fiction. Even in the Marvel Universe, several of Venom's offspring have overpowered it and that's just when looking at the other symbiotes. Even in the Marvel Universe, there are a few suits with minds of their own capable of winning the day against the likes of Venom.
That being said, Venom is the original suit and one of the most beloved bad guys in comics so there aren't many stories of him getting taken out. He may go down in a fight, but Venom will almost certainly get back up sooner or later to take revenge on an enemy. Cast the net outside of Marvel and there are even more living suits of armor, symbiotic or otherwise, capable of going toe-to-toe against the crazy Klyntar from outer space. Novels, DC Comics, Valiant and many other publishers have created numerous living entities capable of dealing with Venom, and we found the 15 most powerful. We may have missed one of your favorites, so shout out in the comments and let us know which living suit we forgot that you think could take out Venom in this list of 15 "living" suits more powerful than Venom!
15 CARNAGE
Carnage is the first of Venom's offspring who came into being during a prison break. As Venom departed through a large, gaping hole in the wall, a small portion of the symbiote was left behind to bond with Cletus Cassidy. Unfortunately, Cassidy was an insane, homicidal maniac, making him far more aggressive, unpredictable and dangerous than Venom. Cassidy and the symbiote's bond was stronger than the one between Venom and Eddie Brock.
When he first came on the scene, he was so powerful, Spider-Man couldn't take him down. In order to bring down Carnage, Spider-Man was forced to team up with Venom and the two were able to overpower him. The symbiote was believed destroyed, but it managed to survive deep within Cassidy's body. Carnage eventually returned to wreak havoc on the Marvel Universe.
14 IRON MAN SENTIENT ARMOR
There's no denying Iron Man's armor is powerful, and given the right attachments and weaponry, he could make short work of Venom (how hard is it to install a sonic weapon?). Normally, his armor wouldn't be on a list like this one, which is all about living suits, but there was a time his armor gained sentience. The armor became sentient via a lightning storm and a fight with whiplash resulting in a near-fatal heart attack for Tony.
The Armor wanted to "become one with Tony," which didn't sit well with the Avenger. They ended up fighting and just as the armor was about to take out its former host, he had another heart attack. After refusing to bond in order to save his life, the armor ripped out its own heart, saving Stark, which ended its "life."
13 ANTI-VENOM
After Eddie Brock and the Venom symbiote part ways, it bonded to Max Gargan, otherwise known as Scorpion. Brock was working in a soup kitchen and was dying of cancer, but thanks to Mister Negative's assistance, he was cured. A small portion of the Venom symbiote remained in his body and with Mr. Negative's interference, the symbiote bonded with his white blood cells, resulting in the creation of a new symbiote called Anti-Venom when Venom attempted to re-bond with Brock.
Anti-Venom manifested the same powers as Venom via its original bonding with Spider-Man, but also has the ability to cause harm to its progenitor via touch. It is stronger than Venom thanks to its resistance to fire and sonic-based attacks, which is typically a symbiote's greatest weakness. The Anti-Venom symbiote was sacrificed to save people from the Spider-Island virus.
12 BLUE BEETLE
The newest Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, has a form of armor different from the characters who came before him. The scarab he bonded with turned out to be alien in origin and after it bonded with his spine while he was sleeping, the two were literally inseparable. He was quickly recruited by Booster Gold to help Batman assault a satellite only he could see, which launched him into a new career as a superhero.
The Blue Beetle armor is sentient and comes with a number of impressive weapons and defensive capabilities. In addition to flight, the wearer has enhanced strength and durability, can create all manner of weaponry, fire off powerful blasts of energy from the hands and is able to translate alien languages.
11 KRON STONE
Kron Stone is the Venom of the Marvel 2099 timeline/universe, which technically means he is venom, but mutated and more than a century older than he is in the standard Earth-616 timeline. Because the character is so different and evolved from the original, we are classifying it as a separate entity from the original for this list. Kron is the half-brother of Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man of the same timeline.
The two share the same father (Tyler Stone), but that's about all they shared. Kron was near death when his body was dumped in a sewer. He came into contact with the Venom symbiote and bonded to become the supervillain, Kron Stone. This evolved form had numerous additional abilities including acidic blood and venomous saliva. Additionally, it bonded at the molecular level allowing Stone to completely alter his form.
10 TOXIN
Toxin was the offspring of Carnage and the 1,000th symbiote in Venom's familial line, which made it susceptible to psychopathy and violence. Even Venom was concerned with what could happen if Carnage reproduced, which is why Carnage planned to destroy any offspring that came about. Instead, Carnage implanted Toxin into Patrick Mulligan, a police officer who vowed to become a hero and use Toxin to fight crime.
As Toxin's powers began to manifest and grow, Carnage and Venom allied together to destroy it but failed in their attempt. Toxin became more powerful and stronger than both but came with some alterations. The mind of Toxin is separate from its host and the two often converse with one another. Toxin retains the abilities of Carnage and Venom but is stronger than both making it incredibly dangerous to the likes of Venom.
9 SPAWN
You likely know Leetha of the 7th House of K by her other name: Spawn. Technically, Spawn is Al Simmons, but the costume he was bonded to when brought back to life and returned to Earth had a name of its own, which is often simply shortened to K7-Leetha. The costume is a neural parasite made entirely of necroplasm and born in hell. K7-Leetha has a number of powers, which greatly augment the person it bonds with.
K7-Leetha is constantly evolving and growing stronger with new abilities, but otherwise possesses the ability to glide with limited flight, shapeshifting, adaptive camouflage and both incredible strength and durability. The chains are a part of K7-Leetha and can be used as weapons as can the cape. Overall, K7-Leetha is an incredibly useful and deadly suit.
8 GUYVER: BIO BOOSTER ARMOR
Hopping across the pond into Japanese Manga and Anime, there exists mostly Mecha. Fortunately, that isn't the only type of deadly suit coming out of Japan; Guyver: Bio Booster Armor has been around since the comics first premiered in 1985. The armor is a special organic weapon designed to be worn by a soldier but ended up bonding with a high school student. Once the Guyver bonds with a person, the merging is permanent and a new, deadly weapon is formed.
In terms of powers, the armor offers significantly dangerous abilities including increased strength, speed, stamina and armor. It also moves internal organs around to better protect them and provides edge weapons and the ability to fire off incredibly powerful energy blasts. The armor also heals any injury and can repair itself when necessary.
7 X-O MANOWAR
The X-O Manowar, also known as Shanhara, is a living, sentient battlesuit, and relic holy to the alien race known as the Vine. Shanhara bonded with an ancient Visigoth warrior named Aric after he led a revolt against his captors aboard a Vine vessel. Aric's natural militaristic abilities and his powerful drive to fight for what's right helped him and Shanhara become a powerful superhero in the Valiant Universe.
Shanhara is ancient and powerful with abilities crossing the threshold between organic and technological. She can interface with complex alien technology, heal Aric of otherwise life-ending injuries, fly, shoot energy blasts (and absorb them), cease the aging process of whom she is bonded with, fire missiles and much, much more. It's unlikely Venom would last long against the X-O Manowar, but that's a fight we'd love to see.
6 RADICAL TWO
This may be one you might have missed, but should definitely check out. Karin Lowachee's amazing short story, "Nomad," introduced readers to a special armored battlesuit called Radical Two. The suit was commonly referred to as Mad thanks to its nature as a nomad who are usually seen as unpredictable and dangerous. Mad is sentient and sad following the death of her former host, Tommy. Instead of reintegrating with another human, Mad struck out on its own and found another option.
Instead of fusing with a new warrior, Mad linked up with an inexperienced kid. On its own, Mad possesses numerous weapons including heavy assault guns and grenades. Even without a human inside, Mad is almost impossible to destroy, but when bonded with a human, Mad is almost unstoppable and a certain contender for the likes of Venom.
5 ZZZXX
Zzzxx is regarded by the Shi'ar Empire as one of the top five most dangerous criminals in the galaxy due to its penchant for eating the brains of its victims/hosts. Unlike other members of its species, it neither cares to receive nor bothers asking for compliance from its host/victim. Eventually, it was discovered that Zzzxx slowly ate the brain of the unfortunate soul who bonded with it.
Zzzxx is certainly powerful and dangerous, but he was taken out of the Marvel Universe in a fight against the Fault. The tear in spacetime represented a significant threat, which the Starjammers dealt with by shooting Zzzxx into it. The universe on the other side, affectionately referred to as the Cancerverse, was forced to contend with the sadistic symbiote from that point forward.
4 MAYHEM
Back when Peter Parker and Mary Jane had a baby named May Parker (also known as Spider-Girl), Norman Osborne decided to clone the baby. He then began an experiment wherein he combined and tweaked the DNA of the clone with that of a symbiote, which resulted in a human/symbiote hybrid. Not fully human, but not fully symbiote either, this new character, April Parker, became the vigilante, Mayhem.
Because her physiology was hybridized, Mayhem possessed numerous powers and abilities different from a typical symbiote. Her entire body is malleable instead of existing as a suit over a human host. This enables a great deal of flexibility and attack capabilities. She also has the same power-set as Spider-Girl and other symbiotes, making her a particularly powerful character.
3 RIOT
Riot was one of the symbiotes extracted from Venom via the Life Foundation and was, by far, the most violent of them all. The symbiote was bonded with Trevor Cole, a former security guard who had trained in various forms of hand-to-hand combat and firearms. With the two bonded, Riot took on a form similar to Venom's but was slightly larger and more brutish in appearance. Riot is stronger than Venom, but this theory is soon to be tested.
From the previews, it's clear Riot will take on Eddie Brock and company in the 2018 release of Venom. The character is being played by Riz Achmed though he is playing Carlton Drake, the head of the Life Foundation. The two symbiotes are expected to duke it out when Venom hits the theaters on October 5, 2018.
2 SCORN
Scorn is one of the most unique of all the symbiotes in the Marvel Universe thanks to how it came into being. As an offspring of Carnage, Scorn initially developed within an advanced prosthetic arm used by Dr. Tanis Nieves. Initially, Nieves rejected the symbiote's attempt to bond with her and cast the arm away. Because of this, the symbiote continued to develop within the arm and after a brief association with Shriek, it returned to Nieves, who accepted it and became Scorn.
The biggest difference between Scorn and the other Klyntar is that her powers are deeply rooted in technology. This affords her the unique ability to fuse with different forms of tech in addition to many of the powers held by Venom. She is a formidable foe and certainly one of the most interesting of all the symbiotes.
1 HYBRID
When the Venom symbiote was forced to reproduce at the hands of the Life Foundation, it produced a number of dangerous offspring. Many of them were eventually destroyed, but four combined into a single entity called Hybrid. The newly-formed Hybrid then sought out Scott Washington, a crippled former guard who allowed them to escape and bonded with him. This gave him incredible power seeing as he had four symbiotes combined into one, but they also gave him the ability to walk once more.
Washington then became an anti-hero whose aggression is kept in check by Hybrid (instead of the other way around). Eventually, Washington was taken out by Eddie Brock, but the symbiotes survived and were used separately before once more combining into Hybrid. They even bonded with Deadpool at one point to help take out Carnage and Shriek.