The symbiotes, also known as the Klyntar (), are a fictional species of extraterrestrial symbiotic life forms appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with Spider-Man. The symbiotes form symbiotic bonds with their hosts, through which a single entity is created. They are able to alter their hosts' personalities and memories, often influencing their darkest desires; amplify their physical and emotional traits and personality; and grant them super-human abilities. The symbiotes are also weakened when in range of extreme sounds or sonic frequencies. There are more than 40 known symbiotes in the Marvel Universe.
The first and most well-known symbiote is Venom, who originally attaches itself to Spider-Man during the 1984 Secret Wars miniseries. After Spider-Man rejects it, the symbiote bonds with his rival, Eddie Brock, with whom it first becomes Venom, though it still possesses the powers of Spider-Man. The character has since endured as one of Spider-Man's archenemies, though he has also been occasionally depicted as an antihero. Other characters have later merged with the Venom symbiote, including the villain Mac Gargan, and Flash Thompson, who became the superhero Agent Venom. Other well-known symbiotes are Carnage, an offspring of Venom who, when merged with its most infamous host, Cletus Kasady, has served as an enemy of both Spider-Man and Venom; and Anti-Venom, which originates when the Venom symbiote re-merged with Brock after being separated from him, gaining a new white appearance and additional powers.
Since their conception, the symbiotes have appeared in various media adaptations, including films, television series, and video games. Venom is the symbiote with the most appearances, appearing in the 2007 film Spider-Man 3, and as the titular protagonist of the 2018 film Venom. Carnage also made its cinematic debut in the film Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021). Additional symbiotes debuted in the 2024 film Venom: The Last Dance.
Publication history The first appearance of a symbiote occurs in The Amazing Spider-Man #252, The Spectacular Spider-Man #90, and Marvel Team-Up #141 (released concurrently in May 1984), in which Spider-Man brings one home to Earth after the Secret Wars (Secret Wars #8, which was months later, details his first encounter with it). The concept was created by a Marvel Comics reader; the publisher purchased the idea for $220. The original design was then modified by Mike Zeck, at which point it became the Venom symbiote. The concept has since been explored and used throughout multiple storylines, spin-off comics, and derivative projects.
Depiction Fictional history
Symbiotes are created by an ancient malevolent primordial deity named Knull. When the Celestials begin their vast plan to evolve the universe, Knull, seeing that his "Kingdom" is being touched, retaliates by constructing All-Black, the first symbiote, and subsequently cuts off a Celestial's head. The other Celestials then banish Knull, along with the severed Celestial head, deeper into space. After that, he starts using the head's cosmic energies as a forge for the symbiotes, which is how they develop the weaknesses to sound and fire. The head later becomes an interdimensional crossroads and laboratory, Knowhere. Knull then embarks on a campaign of genocide against the other gods. During a battle with the gods, he crashes on a desolate planet where All-Black leaves him and goes to Gorr, drawn to his murderous hate, who tried to kill Knull. After recovering, Knull created an army of symbiotes called the Symbiote Imperium, which he used to conquer planets and destroy entire civilizations. However, when the symbiote dragon Grendel journeyed to 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 it 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. However, these altruistic goals were imperfect, as the Klyntar symbiotes could be corrupted by hosts with harmful chemical imbalances or problematic personality traits, turning them into destructive parasites that would spread lies and disinformation about their own kind to make other people fear and hate the Klyntar species as a whole. The corrupted Klyntar started taking over planets, creating the Imperium.
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. 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 became too much for Eddie to handle, and he separated himself from it. Venom was later bonded to Flash Thompson as part of Project Rebirth. Thompson originally struggled to control the symbiote, who 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.
Culture The symbiotes, when they are created, are used as tools by Knull to conquer the universe. At the time, they have a symbiote dialect.Venom Vol 4 #1. Marvel Comics. When they are freed from Knull's control and begin learning about compassion, they establish the lie about their nature to redeem themselves. They form the Agents of Cosmos, symbiotes bonded to benevolent hosts, forming noble warriors who try to maintain peace across the universe. However, some symbiotes are corrupted by malevolent hosts, turning them back into monsters and reestablishing the symbiote Imperium first formed by Knull; these symbiotes are cut from the Klyntar hive mind. The symbiote Imperium conquers planets and infects 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 depend 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.Venom Vol 3 #3. Marvel Comics.
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 lose all sense of time and sentience and start engaging in gruesome self-inflicted pain rituals to remember their past lives.Annihilation: Conquest Wraith #2. Marvel Comics.
Biology
The symbiotes are an alien species of inorganic,Venom #12. Marvel Comics. amorphous and multicellularVenom Lethal Protector #5. Marvel Comics. 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 those 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 intelligenceSpider-Man: Brand New Day Yearbook-2008. Marvel Comics 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. The ability to negate damage caused by terminal illnesses and permanent injuries. While symbiotes can somewhat heal their hosts, they generally seek to force their hosts to depend on them in order to ensure their own survival. For example, Eddie Brock was able to survive indefinitely with terminal cancer, 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.Annihilation Conquest #6. Marvel Comics.Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #1. Marvel Comics. They can reproduce asexually with a limited number of seeds inside their mass. 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 attacksVenom The Mace #2. Marvel Comics and fit inside of small areas, such as electric wires and the insides of cars, to completely disable them.Nova Vol. 3 #7. Marvel Comics 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.