Throughout Marvel comic history, symbiotes have plagued the universe, presenting some of the most powerful and dangerous adversaries and anti-heroes of all time. The danger of a symbiote, an amorphous alien creature who bonds with its host, isn't just the symbiote's own powers but the magnification of its hosts darkest qualities and desires. Although some Marvel media has previously touched upon symbiotes, most notably the third and worst installment of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series, this week we'll get to see an entire film devoted to Venom, one of the most popular symbiotes.
Venom is a powerful entity, a being that reeks of pure id and while we can't wait to see how Tom Hardy handles the symbiotic relationship between the extraterrestrial and Eddie Brock, its human host, we also know that Venom is only one among many symbiotes over the years. The creatures aren't even limited to Spider-Man comics, although they do turn up quite a bit in Peter Parker's world and, while some of them show just how incredibly powerful Venom is, others sort of put the monstrous parasite to shame, depicting how strong a symbiote can often be with the right host or set of abilities. A symbiote's limitations often predict whether or not the creature will be much of a menace as well.
The host, of course, is another factor that helps determine the level of heat that a symbiote will bring to a fight, so keep that in mind while considering these 16 Symbiotes More Powerful Than Venom (And 9 Weaker).
More Powerful: Carnage
There's a reason Carnage was given a much more hostile name than venom: the symbiote is a bigger concern. An archenemy of Venom, Carnage has been used by both Norman and Normie Osborn, transforming the men into the brutal Red Goblin.
Ranked as IGN's 90th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time, Carnage is undetectable by Peter Parker's spider-sense, is essentially Venom's progeny and is much more powerful than his predecessor. Spider-Man and Venom had to work together to take Carnage down.
Weaker: Pork Grind
Yes, this symbiote is as ridiculous as its name sounds. Granted, it went after Spider-Ham, AKA Peter Porker, in the Aniverse, where all of the superheroes turned into animals... which means that the symbiote was doomed to the bottom of the supervillain bin from the start.
A wild boar from Australia, Pork Grind was known to say things like, "Now, you little girly-pig, I turn you into bacon," which should make us laugh but sort of makes us wince instead. Then again, after that Spidey song-and-dance number from Spider-Man 3, maybe it wasn't as cringe-worthy as other moments of Spiderhood.
More Powerful: Mania
Venom is pretty much the standard symbiote, the one that most of us know best. Given that Mania is a part of Venom, you might have heard of him, as he's the clone made from Venom's own tongue in Venom #31. The clone proved to be highly unstable, ending every human it encountered and bonding to Patricia Robertson in order to become the second She-Venom.
Brock did defeat Mania (AKA She-Venom) but given the fact that Maniac eventually was able to bond and unite with other hosts before being taken out by Spiderman, Venom and Agent Anti-Venom together, we think it was more powerful than Venom alone.
Weaker: Marcus The Centaur Werewolf
A centaur werewolf sounds like something J.K. Rowling came up with while drinking and giving him the name Marcus really doesn't improve things much. The symbiote's story is so ridiculous that it's hard to repeat: Marcus is actually a cyborg from ancient Greece who was not only bitten by the creature who gave him his werewolf identity, but also possessed by a symbiote.
Perhaps the ludicrousness of this creature is better explained by his first appearance, which was in Deadpool: The Gauntlet. Anybody showing up in a Pool piece, digital or otherwise, is going to fit in a Cabinet of Curiosities.
More Powerful: Toxin
Toxin is the wicked stepchild of the symbiotes, the one with Carnage as his father, Venom as his surrogate caregiver and Spider-Man as his defender. He might spawn from the idea that Carnage should make more mini Carnages, but in reality he just presented a complicated situation for his host, Patrick Mulligan, a virtuous cop who tried to do right by his newfound powers.
Toxin proved to be so much more powerful than both Carnage and Venom that the two wanted to take him out together, but Spidey, who saw the good beneath the power, helped Mulligan use his symbiote to fight more nefarious versions of his own kind.
Weaker: Riot
As insane as Carnage was, his "brother," Riot, was one of the most dangerous of the Guardian Symbiotes of the Life Foundation's creations. Riot, who latched onto a security guard well trained in armed and hand-to-hand combat as his host, made his first appearance in the series Venom: Lethal Protector.
While it might make sense to chalk Riot up as one of the symbiotes more powerful than Venom, especially given its ruthlessness and propensity for physical altercations, ultimately the fusion of Riot, Hybrid, was taken out by Eddie Brock, proving him more powerful.
More Powerful: Agony
Agony's look was not one of fear; in fact, the bright purple, suggestive figure and sharp elbow extensions pretty much gave us agony to look at. The symbiote was another experiment developed from the Life Foundation against Venom's will and its host, Leslie Gesneria, a willing subject to the evil experiment.
As icky as her purple look is, which we frankly want to chalk up to the desire to make her more "girly," the symbiote could spit freaking acid, which made her pretty formidable. It would have been interesting to see what Agony could have done with the powers she absorbed before the symbiote Scream took her out.
Weaker: Bizarnage
The Marvel vs. DC event may have given fans a few answers to their "what if" questions regarding what might happen if the two worlds clashed for a few issues, but it also gave us some pretty weak versions of our favorite characters. One example is Bizarnage, a combo of DC’s Bizarro and Marvel’s Carnage, who was the product of the Amalgram universe.
Bizarnage talked like Bizarro but acted more like Carnage, which just wasn't something we could take seriously given how closely he resembled a sleek abominable snowman. Between that and his ridiculous name, Bizarnage just wasn't the nightmare-inducing villain that is Carnage.
More Powerful: Phage
Another one of the Life Foundation's illicit creations spawned against the will of Venom himself, Phage was a pretty powerful symbiote who considered himself the leader of the five Guardian Symbiotes. Spoiler alert: he wasn't, which is why Scream got the upper hand on all of them, but the orange and black symbiote was not only a natural mascot for Halloween but also the embodiment of knife mutation, able to make the weapons out of his own body, which was quite formidable.
The only way that Venom could take Phage and company down was with the aid of Spider-Man and some cool gadgetry.
Weaker: All-Black The Necrosword
If you're basically an inanimate object, you can't be stronger than Venom, right? All-Black The Necrosword was forged from the shadow of an evil god. The symbiote may have technically been a sword in form, but it was still made from living darkness and able to corrupt its bearer to commit dastardly deeds to the point of executing anyone within range.
No, it wasn't as powerful as Venom, but it shouldn't be discounted and is much more impressive than some of the more Razzie Award-worthy symbiotes in this list.
