Symbiote (comics)

The Klyntar, colloquially and more commonly referred to as symbiotes, are fictional race of aliens featured in the Marvel Comics universe, most commonly in association with Spider-Man.

Overview

They are a parasitic race of aliens who bond with human hosts or else they die. They are able to alter their hosts' personalities and/or memories by influencing their darkest desires, along with amplifying their physical and emotional traits and personality and thereby granting them super-human abilities. There are more than 40 known symbiotes in the Marvel Universe.

The Symbiotes are extremely sensitive to sonic and thermal attacks, making it vulnerable. Loud sound can separate the Symbiote from the host. Electric attacks can also weaken the Symbiote.

The first and most well-known symbiote is Venom, who originally attached itself to Spider-Man during the 1985 Secret Wars miniseries. After Spider-Man rejected it upon discovering its true evil nature, the symbiote bonded with his rival, Eddie Brock, with whom it first became Venom. 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 originated when the Venom symbiote re-merged with Brock after being separated from him for a long time, gaining a new white appearance and additional powers as a result of Martin Li using his powers on Brock to cure his cancer.

In other media

Since their conception, the symbiotes have appeared in various media adaptations, including movies, television series, and video games. Venom has been the most featured one, appearing in the 2007 movie Spider-Man 3, and as the titular protagonist of the 2018 movie Venom. Carnage also made its cinematic debut in the movie Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021).