When Spider-Man revealed his black suit to the comic book world in Amazing Spider-Man #252, no one knew how much trouble it would cause. Though seemingly benign, the suit turned out to be an alien symbiote with its own thought processes.
When Spidey got rid of the outfit/alien, it found another host in Eddie Brock. Brock ended up becoming the villain/anti-hero known as Venom. Over 30 years later, a whole slew of symbiotes now exists in the Marvel Universe, which might have some fans asking, "how many venom symbiotes are there?"
Updated on March 26, 2022 by Scoot Allan: The popularity of the Venom symbiote and its various hosts has continued to grow over the years since it first debuted as a new costume for Spider-Man. New symbiotes have been introduced while new hosts joined with the original symbiote, resulting in a large family of connected characters. Of course, not every symbiote or bond with the host is as strong as others, so there are a few characters who stand out above the rest as the most powerful symbiotes in Venom's extended family.
15 Bizarnage Is A Mixture Of Bizarro And Carnage From The Amalgam Universe
Marvel and DC got together in the 90s and created a series of one-shots that took place in the blended Amalgam universe. These one-shots combined heroes and villains of both companies into one personality. For instance, Carnage was merged with Bizzaro to create the villain Bizarnage, earning him an honorary place in the symbiote family.
On top of the symbiote's ruthlessness, Bizarnage has the superhuman abilities of Superman's maligned opposite. Overall, the villain was not to be reckoned with by anyone other than the Superboy/Spider-Man hybrid known as Spider-Boy.
14 Raze Was Created When Carnage Was Enhanced With Chthon's Darkhold Magic
Agent Claire Dixon was the head of a special F.B.I. anti-symbiote task force who had spent years hunting down Cletus Kasady/Carnage — who had been targeted by a cult worshipping the elder god Chthon. Carnage gained additional abilities after he was exposed to the magic in the Darkhold, allowing him to create controllable symbiote spawns at will.
Carnage created the Raze symbiote which bonded with Agent Dixon and placed her under Kasady's control. She was only freed when another newly spawned symbiote that bonded with Jubulile van Scotter used the Raze symbiote to banish Chthon and imprison Kasady. Raze's strength was slightly enhanced due to exposure to the Darkhold, though she really never had a chance to shine.
13 The Life Foundation Forced The Venom Symbiote To Spawn Five New Symbiotes
Early in his "career," Venom was captured by the Life Foundation and his symbiote was forced to spawn five additional symbiotes. Venom's children were then forcibly bonded to a group of individuals who became known as Riot, Lasher, Phage, Scream and Agony.
They had the same powers as the Venom symbiote, though their bond with the human hosts was not as strong as the one between Eddie Brock and his symbiote. Four of the Life Foundation symbiotes eventually separated from their hosts while Scream and her host continued to play a role in symbiote events for a few years.
12 Scott Washington Joined With The Life Foundation Symbiotes To Become Hybrid
The former Life Foundation symbiotes fused and bonded with Scott Washington, a disabled guard who released them from a lab. Together, they became the anti-hero known as Hybrid. He decided his first task was to eliminate the gang that had paralyzed him. Not long after Scott became Hybrid, Eddie Brock killed him to eliminate all "evil" forms of the symbiote.
Hybrid has the same spider-like powers as Venom and Carnage. The four unique symbiotes that bonded with him also provided Scott with the ability to camouflage himself, sense other symbiotes, and transform — giving him the power to fly. After Washington was killed the symbiotes were separated and taken by the government.
11 Scorn Was Carnage's Techno-Organic Spawn Who Bonded With Dr. Tanis Nieves
After the Carnage symbiote had been separated from Cletus Kasady it was used in an advanced prosthetics experiment that resulted in yet another spawn from the murderous symbiote. Dr. Tanis Nieves was forcibly bonded to the Carnage symbiote as it attempted to free and rejoin with Kasady, and took the name Scorn.
Scorn was able to merge and communicate with technological components, giving her an edge over some of the other symbiotic spawn. However, Scorn was quickly taken out by Carnage during the Absolute Carnage event which demonstrated her overall power level.
10 Dylan Brock Bonded With The Venom Symbiote To Become A New Anti-Hero With Chains
Eddie Brock eventually learned about his son Dylan, whose mother Anne Weying had been unknowingly impregnated when she temporarily bonded with a symbiote to become She-Venom. When Eddie learned about Dylan, they bonded as father and son while Venom strived to be a better hero.
When Eddie Brock ascended as the new King of Black, Dylan Brock took over as the new Venom. He gave the symbiote a bit of a makeover that included chains and he generally shares the same strength as the previous Venom. However, Dylan also has the ability to connect with the symbiote hive-mind, making his bond stronger than most symbiotes despite his inexperience.
9 Flash Thompson Bonded With The Symbiote To Become The Well-Trained And Tactical Agent Venom
Flash Thompson, known in his hero form as Agent Venom, certainly isn't the weakest member of the symbiote family. Like other members, he had spider-like powers which allowed him to crawl walls and lift heavy objects. Once Flash merged with the Anti-Venom symbiote, he could heal himself as well as others.
However, unlike his friend Spider-Man, Flash doesn't have inherent meta-powers. With advantages from his military and boxing training, Flash tailored the symbiote in specific ways, allowing him to hide weapons or explosives for emergency situations.
8 The Anti-Venom Symbiote Has A Cleansing Touch That Can Be Lethal To Other Symbiotes
The hero known as Anti-Venom was created from symbiote remnants within Eddie Brock's body that were charged by the villain Mister Negative. As a result, an artificial being was created that occasionally worked for good.
Besides the normal Venom traits, Anti-Venom's greatest ability is its cleansing touch — which can cause extreme pain or death in another symbiote. While the Anti-Venom symbiote appeared to die after curing Manhattan during the Spider-Island event, a resurrected Flash Thompson returned as the new Agent Anti-Venom with similar abilities.
7 Andi Benton Bonded With A New Symbiote Created From The Remains Of Scream And Anti-Venom Called Silence
Flash Thompson was both a neighbor and a teacher to Andi Benton before she gained a symbiote of her own and became Mania, a clone of Venom that had been absorbed by the symbiote years earlier. Andi worked as Flash's sidekick for a short time and she gained additional abilities due to a demonic Hell-Mark passed down by the symbiote.
After she lost the Mania symbiote, Andi later bonded to the Scream symbiote created by the Life Foundation. After Scream's death, a new symbiote named Silence was created using the remains of the Scream and Anti-Venom symbiotes which bonded to Andi and shared the powerful abilities of both symbiotes.
6 Peter Parker Wore The Suit As Spider-Man And His Abilities Were Transferred To The Symbiote
The Venom symbiote would have remained a glob of inanimate matter if it weren't for Peter Parker. His costume in tatters after the events in Secret Wars, Peter went in search of the machine that produced outfits for the other heroes. What he found was a costume that changed his life.
Under Peter's control, the symbiote was able to form the black Spider-Man costume with a thought. In addition, it boosted his already impressive powers and provided him with unlimited webbing. When Peter rejected the symbiote, it retained most of Spider-Man's powers which were passed on to Venom and the other spawns of his symbiote.
5 Eddie Brock's Bond With The Venom Symbiote Makes Him One Of The Most Powerful Members Of His Family
After Spider-Man, one would probably think Eddie Brock is the most powerful owner of the symbiote. Though it's true he's a match for the original Wall-Crawler, he isn't as strong as the other symbiotes who came after him.
Nevertheless, what Eddie does have is fairly significant. Since the symbiote retained Spider-Man's powers, Eddie has superhuman strength, speed, and stamina. He can adhere to vertical & horizontal surfaces and shoot living "webs" from his hands. Venom's greatest tool against Spider-Man is his invisibility to the Wall-Crawler's Spider-Sense.
4 Sleeper Is A Powerful Spawn Of Venom With Stealth Abilities And Chemokinetic Powers
Sleeper is a unique symbiote spawned from Venom allowed to mature without a host in Alchemax's astrobiology lab, where it developed chemokinetic powers. Sleeper eventually took control of Venom's original host, the lobotomized Kree soldier Tel-Kar, in order to explore the cosmos after it briefly bonded with Eddie Brock.
On top of the base Venom powers, Sleeper has the ability to create numerous liquid and aerosol chemicals. Some of these act as pheromone agents while others are corrosive materials used in battle. The emotional agents allow Sleeper to use a form of pheromone telepathy to hypnotize its victims. Sleeper likes to take the form of a cat when not bonded with a host like Dylan Brock.
3 Toxin Is A Powerful Spawn Of Carnage Who Bonded With An NYPD Officer Before Young Bren Waters
The first spawn of Carnage was feared by both its progenitor and Venom, as it was the 1000th spawn in Venom's line — which foretold it would be more powerful than those that came before it. This symbiote became known as Toxin and was forced to bond with an NYPD officer named Patrick Mulligan to protect itself from Venom and Carnage.
Although Mulligan and Toxin attempted to lead a heroic life, Mulligan was killed and Toxin worked through a couple of hosts, including Eddie Brock. Toxin eventually bonded with a young teen named Bren Waters, and shares Venom and Carnage's abilities, though at a more powerful level.
2 Serial Killer Cletus Kasady Bonded With The Carnage Symbiote To Become One Of Marvel's Deadliest Villains
Take Spider-Man's powers and the symbiote's capabilities, combine them with the insanity of a serial killer, and Carnage is born. Venom's first spawn was left in a jail cell with the psychopathic murderer Cletus Kasady. The symbiote's detachment and Kasady's love of killing resulted in one of Spider-Man and Venom's most dangerous villains.
Cletus Kasady's lust for blood enhances the symbiote's natural powers so they surpass his "father" Venom, continuing to grow in power over the years as the symbiote further mutated. While Cletus Kasady's body has long since been destroyed, the Carnage symbiote retained his controlling personality which it uses to manipulate new hosts like Arthur Krane.
1 Knull Is The God Of Symbiotes With Enough Cosmic Power To Take On Earth's Strongest Heroes
The origin of the alien symbiotes has changed. The most recent version has given them a father of sorts in the form of Knull. Born in the earliest days of the universe, the god-like figure has waged a constant battle with the Celestials and their attempt to bring light into the dark vastness of space.
Knull's greatest power is the ability to spawn symbiotes and is a cosmic being with enough power to take on Marvel's heroes without breaking a sweat. These abilities have allowed him to live several billion years as the God of the symbiotes, though he spent those years imprisoned within the Klyntar planet before he was freed and turned on Earth in the King In Black event.