Carnage (Marvel)
Carnage is an extraterrestrial comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
Carnage was the name given to the Symbiote offspring of Venom that was born on Earth.
Its birth was said to had occurred when Thanos began his search for the Infinity Gems. (Venom v4 #20) The two remained cellmates until one day the Venom Symbiote broke Brock out of prison. It re-bonded with him where Venom departed to resume his quest for revenge against Spider-Man. However, a piece of the Symbiote was left behind that was its offspring which came to bond with Cletus Kasady by entering into his body through a cut on his hand, where it amalgamated with his blood. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #345)
Driven entirely by Kasady's chaotic, nihilistic worldview, the newly formed monster dubbed itself Carnage and embarked on a gruesome, random killing spree across New York City. Calling himself Carnage, Kasady went on a month's long killing spree where he left the words 'Carnage Rules' written in the blood of his victims at each murder scene. This activity drew the attention of Spider-Man who looked to stop the deaths leading to a confrontation with the villain at the burnt out remains of St. Estes Home for Boys. The two battled where Carnage came to overpower the Wall-Crawler who was nearly killed by Kasady until police arrived at the scene. Kasady then looked to brutally kill these intruders causing Spider-Man to lash out at the supervillain forcing him to retreat. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #361)
Though seemingly killed, it was eventually revealed that the Carnage symbiote had integrated itself into its host's blood, altering Kasady's physiology and metabolism. As a result, Kasady could generate a copy of his symbiote from his blood whenever it was exposed to open air. (Spider-Man Unlimited v1 #1)
In an effort to stop Carnage, Venom came to rip the Symbiote from Kasady's body and proceeded to devour it thus seemingly killing it. (Peter Parker: Spider-Man v1 #10)
Whilst seemingly killed, the Symbiote survived by going dormant and putting Cletus into a coma. The two then returned to Earth's surface after being found by Michael Hall, who proceeded to extract the symbiote from Cletus and used it to create prostheses and super-soldiers - sustaining it by letting it feed of Shriek's hatred-inducing powers. (Carnage v1 #1)
When Cletus was put into custody in the Thunderbolts Mountain, the symbiote biomass on his person was destroyed - though it used the traces of itself in his blood and DNA to regenerate. Kasady was contacted by beings from the Microverse, who managed to see inside his mind and offer him a deal: they would give him the Microverse to get a whole new universe to kill in exchange for his services. After escaping to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Texas, Carnage and his new allies used new technology to escape to the Microverse, even after Scarlet Spider tried to stop them. (Minimum Carnage: Alpha v1 #1)
While Cletus was in a catatonic state, the symbiote took full control over his body, but it did not have any intelligence and instead rampaged, devouring everyone it came across when not subdued. The Wizard and Klaw freed Carnage from prison; the Wizard intending to mind control Cletus into becoming his ally. After several failed attempts due to Cletus' brain damage. (Superior Carnage v1 #1)
Overview
In appearance, Carnage was a towering, terrifying humanoid abomination whose visual design was deliberately modeled after raw, glistening blood and exposed musculature. Unlike the smooth, uniform surface of his predecessor Venom, Carnage's body was a highly chaotic, writhing mass of deep crimson and pitch-black tendrils that continuously shifted across his form. His head was defined by a wide, jagged maw filled with razor-sharp black teeth, framed by large, white, pupil-less eyes that contorted to reflect his unstable, psychotic expressions. Because the symbiote bonded directly with Kasady's blood rather than just coating his skin, the suit lacked any traditional spider insignia or symmetrical chest markings. Instead, his silhouette was entirely asymmetric, constantly sprouting fluid, weaponized extensions and whipping filaments that gave him a spiked, unpredictable, and deeply unsettling physical presence. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #361)
Its lapse into insanity was said to be a biproduct of its bonding with its first host Cletus Kasady. (Venom v4 #20)
As Cletus was its first host, the symbiote possessed unprecedented bloodlust and gleefully revels in killing everything it encounters. However, Norman Osborn posited that it had grown bored with wholesale slaughter and when offered the opportunity to teach it more nuanced ways of inflicting suffering and death the symbiote eagerly accepted. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #796)
The organism was capable of bonding to a host and granting them superhuman abilities. Though similar to Venom, the Carnage Symbiote was also said to be quite different from its parent. Carnage possessed an incredibly lethal, high-tier suite of physical capabilities and alien traits that made him vastly superior to both Spider-Man and Venom combined. He exhibited supreme superhuman strength, speed, and standard symbiote wall-crawling, augmented by an absolute immunity to Spider-Man's precognitive Spider-Sense, allowing him to easily ambush the hero. His primary combat trait was absolute biomass manipulation, which allowed him to harden his fluid tendrils into dense, solid matter to fashion axes, spikes, and throwing knives directly out of his own limbs. Furthermore, his direct cellular bond to Kasady's blood granted him an advanced regenerative healing factor capable of reattaching severed limbs and surviving traditional mortal trauma. While he retained the standard symbiote vulnerabilities to extreme heat and intense sonic vibrations, his unique blood-bonded biology made him highly resistant to conventional physical restraints, rendering him a nearly unstoppable force of pure destruction. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #361)
As a Symbiote, it did not need eyes to see their opponent but instead the 'costume' was able to relay information to the host from its own substance. It was also noted that the Carnage Symbiote had inherited a trait from Venom in that it did not trigger Spider-Man's Spider-Sense. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #361)
Carnage was able to manipulate the Symbiote matter of its body to achieve various feats. Among these included turning into slithering tendrils that could grab onto a distant target. It could also shape constructs from its own body such as making an axe that could be launched at a target. He could also shoot out razor sharp claws from its fingers as projectiles that could kill a person. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #361)
Similar to all Symbiotes, Carnage possessed the genetic memories of his entire race and thus inherited experiences from the past from his predecessors. Among these included of Galactus destroying a symbiote-conquered world. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #430)
The Carnage symbiote had a unique ability to download the insanity and evil of both its host and the symbiote into another sapient mind through use of its tendrils. (Carnage: Mind Bomb v1 #1) It can also force Cletus Kasady's memories onto its hosts in order to torture and corrupt them. (Carnage v1 #3)
The symbiote considers Cletus to be its ideal host, calling him its family, and loathed being separated from him. (Superior Carnage Annual v1 #1)
It was noted for being the parent of its own Symbiote offspring named Toxin. (Venom Vs. Carnage v1 #2)
Hosts
- Cletus Kasady : It was said that there had never been a greater symbiotic bond than that held by Cletus Kasady and the Carnage Symbiote. (Extreme Carnage: Alpha v1 #1)
- Ben Reilly : a male clone of Peter Parker operating as Spider-Man when the Carnage Symbiote escaped and had bonded to John Jameson. To save Jameson, Reilly offered himself as a host with Carnage agreeing as the two bonded. Ben fought a constant internal battle against the symbiote’s psychotic urges. He was eventually able to resist its control long enough to return to Ravencroft. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #410)
- Karl Malus : a male mad scientist who was recruited by the Wizard at a time when he looked to control Carnage. However, Cletus Kasady was lobotomised at the time and unable to move. As a result, the Wizard had the Carnage placed on Malus as a new host who was under Bentley's control. (Superior Carnage v1 #2)
- Norman Osborn : a male human businessman who came to lose his powers that he had as the Green Goblin and looked for a new means to empower himself in order to destroy Spider-Man. Acquiring the Carnage Symbiote, he bonded with it and became the Red Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #795)
- Arthur Krane : a male human who was the son of Senator Peter Krane who subsequently affiliated himself with the Friends of Humanity and began appealing to and inflaming the growing anti-extraterrestrial prejudice in order to garner supporters for his presidential campaign - straining his relationship with Arthur, who was projecting an affable, kindhearted persona as part of a secret plot to assassinate his father and usurp his place as Senator. (Extreme Carnage: Alpha v1 #1) A sociopath, Arthur began torturing and killing animals as a child before moving on to humans, relying on his father to cover up his dark secret. (Extreme Carnage Omega v1 #1)
- Eddie Brock : a male human who was the host of the Venom Symbiote but had been separated from it after the Venom War. Badly injured, he would have died had the similarly injured Carnage not bonded with him thus saving both their lives. The two were then stuck in a reluctant partnership as Carnage was not strong enough to take control of Brock's body. (Eddie Brock: Carnage v1 #1)
- Torment : a male serial killer who targeted family that Carnage contacted in order to bond as a host where he was part of a scheme targeting the loved ones of Eddie Brock, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. (Venom v6 #256)
- Peter Parker :
Notes
- Carnage was created by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #359 (February, 1992).
- In Stan Lee presents Spider-Man Carnage (1993), Marvel co-founder and chairman Stan Lee would also have some input for the human host, having come up with the name 'Cletus Kasady', with the idea of Carnage's host being a remorseless psychopath whose bond with his Symbiote was far more complete than Eddie Brock and Venom Symbiote's, and therefore would refer to himself as 'I' instead of Venom's 'we', signifying his Symbiote had little agency of its own and acted more as a weapon and extension of Kasady's will, maximizing his ability to murder people in creative and gruesome ways.
Alternate Versions
- In Spider-Girl v1 #44 (2002), an alternate version of Carnage appeared in the Marvel Comics 2 reality that was set on Earth-982 in the Multiverse. This version came to be referred to as Specimen 297 which bonded with Spider-Girl's friend Moose Mansfied, who wanted to use the symbiote to cure his father from cancer. He also infected Spider-Girl's little brother, turning him into a miniature version of himself. Spider-Girl uses the sonic blasters of the villain Reverb to destroy all traces of the symbiote. In a later timeline, samples of the symbiote are used to create Biopreds, living weapons that the government use to try to stop Mayhem, Spider-Girl's part-symbiote clone, who, after killing the real Spider-Girl, became a murderous vigilante, eventually killing the hero American Dream. The Biopreds run wild, however, decimating the world and its defenders. Mayhem, seeing the error of her ways, goes back in time and sacrifices herself to stop her past self from killing Spider-Girl, ensuring the events that led to the Biopreds' creation never occurred.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man v1 #61 (2004), an alternate version of Carnage appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality that was set on Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. This version was a self-regenerating vampiric organism created from DNA samples of both Spider-Man Peter Parker and the Lizard, and combined with samples from Richard Parker's symbiotic suit research. When first introduced, the organism was a blob of instinct, with no intelligence or self-awareness, with its only aim to feed on the DNA of others, including Gwen Stacy, to stabilize itself. After feeding on multiple people, Carnage turns into a damaged form of Richard. Carnage and Peter battle to which Peter throws Carnage into a fire factor steel chimney, killing the beast. But before its death, the organism splintered into a replica of Gwen's form.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Carnage appeared in the 1990s animated television series where he was voiced as well by actor Scott Cleverdon.
Films
Video games
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1992)
- Venom Vs. Carnage v1:
- Carnage v1:
- Minimum Carnage: Alpha v1:
- Superior Carnage v1:
- Venom v4:
- Absolute Carnage v1::
External Links
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