History Characters / VenomMainHosts

* AlternateSelf: ''1602: Witch Hunter ComicBook/{{Angela|AsgardsAssassin}}'' #2 features appearances by Anne Weying and Edwin [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Brocc]].

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Her name was originally spelled as "Ann" during the 1990s, before being supplanted by the spelling "Anne".

* TheCorrupter: The symbiote was searching for a worthy host to replace Flash Thompson... but it picked the wrong person. It was initially excited to bond to another soldier, but upon discovering how callous and cruel Price was it came to intensely dislike him. Price, however, revels in the power it gives him and is slowly [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen turning the symbiote from a heroic Agent of the Cosmos back into a "slathering, fanged monster"]]. In issue 4, Price notes that the symbiote is becoming less eloquent and more vicious as its corruption worsens. Using the Mania symbiote, it's gotten worse -- he can now ''possess other people''.

* EvilCounterpart: As a soldier who was unable to serve as a result of losing a limb, Price serves as one to Flash Thompson -- thus far being a thoroughly unlikable psychopathic {{Jerkass}}.

** Tries to do it himself in Vol. 5, thanks to Meridius's actions. [[spoiler:Only a talking-too from Ms. Marvel stops him, and even then he still ''wants'' to attack Eddie.]]

Lee Price was born in Queens to abusive parents. Eventually, he would set fire to his home, killing his parents along with some others, getting away with it thanks to the presence of a mutant neighbour who possessed fire powers. He would then join the Army Rangers, where he was injured in a mine explosion that killed several members of his squad and cost him two fingers on his left hand. Discharged, unable to get his benefits and desperate for employment, he does some light criminal work for Black Cat before the Venom symbiote bonds with him when he is ambushed. The symbiote is ecstatic, thinking Lee to be an honourable soldier like Flash Thompson, but Lee revealing his true nature to the symbiote and imposing his will on it, all while using it to further his own position within the criminal underworld while secretly also operating as '''Venom'''.\\

He eventually loses the symbiote when he is attacked by the authorities and Spider-Man. Wanting it back, he arranged for his lawyer to have him acquitted for his crimes and then ambushes Andi Benton, stealing the Mania symbiote and rechristening himself '''Maniac'''. Using the symbiote to control others, he begins a crime organisation and comes into conflict with Spider-Man, Venom, Anti-Venom and Black Cat.

* {{Fingore}}: Price lost the ring and pinky fingers of his left hand in an explosion, which saw him discharged from the military. He wears a glove on his left hand to hide this, but bonding with the symbiote evidently healed him, as both of his hands look normal on the final page of his first issue.

[[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage Carnage (Character)]] ([[Characters/CarnageCletusKasady Cletus Kasady]]) | [[Characters/MarvelComicsToxin Toxin (Character)]] | [[Characters/MarvelComicsScream Scream (Character)]]\\

[[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | '''Main hosts of Venom''' ([[Characters/VenomEddieBrock Eddie Brock]] | [[Characters/MarvelComicsFlashThompson Flash Thompson]]) | [[Characters/VenomOtherHosts Other hosts of Venom]] | [[Characters/AlternateIncarnationsOfVenom Alternate Incarnations of Venom]] | [[Characters/VenomSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]]\\

-> See Characters/SpiderManPeterParker

-> See Characters/DeadpoolWadeWilson

-> See Characters/VenomEddieBrock

-> See Characters/MarvelComicsMacGargan

-> See Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius

* FinGore: Price lost the ring and pinky fingers of his left hand in an explosion, which saw him discharged from the military. He wears a glove on his left hand to hide this, but bonding with the symbiote evidently healed him, as both of his hands look normal on the final page of his first issue.

* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Ann and [[Characters/SpiderManDailyBugle Joe Robertson]] are kidnapped in the novel ''Venom's Wrath''. When the day is saved, she dismisses Venom's involvement in her rescue.

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' [[ComicBook/MacGargan [=MacDonald=] "Mac" Gargan]]

* ChestInsignia: In his first appearance as Venom, Dylan sports a dragon emblem evocative of Knull's and Dark Carnage's. In ''ComicBook/VenomEwingAndRamV'', however, he goes back to the classic spider-emblem. In the fourth issue, it changes so that the bottom of the spider emblem resembles the straight-tailed version of Knull's dragon emblem, with two downward-pointed legs.

Peter quickly discovered the "Black Suit" could respond to his thoughts and whims: shapeshifting to resemble any clothing he imagined, creating its own webbing, and sliding away from his mouth so he could eat and drink without taking off his mask. Impressed, Peter took the Black Suit with him when he was returned to Earth. Despite its advantages, the Black Suit's autonomy began to unnerve Peter, who was becoming increasingly exhausted: the Black Suit was [[PuppeteerParasite taking over his body while he slept and using it to fight crime]]. Wanting answers, Peter visited the ComicBook/FantasticFour and asked Reed Richards to analyze it. Richards revealed to Peter that the Black Suit was not a costume, but a sentient extraterrestrial [[TheSymbiote symbiote]] that was attempting to permanently bond with him. Horrified and disgusted, Peter had the Fantastic Four remove the creature, discovering it was [[WeaksauceWeakness vulnerable to intense sonics and heat]], and returned to his classic red-and-blue outfit. The symbiote [[NotGoodWithRejection did not take Peter's rejection well]] and eventually escaped captivity, disguising itself as Peter's original costume and attempting to force itself on him during a fight with the Vulturions. In his struggle to remove it, Peter retreated to the bell-tower of an abandoned church and rung the bell, weakening the symbiote, which seemingly sacrificed itself to save him.\\

* AlternateSelf: Given how iconic the symbiote is, it's rare to find a retelling or adaptation that hasn't featured Symbiote Spider-Man, and a few ''WhatIf''s have asked the question of what would happen if the symbiote returned to Peter, or what would happen if they never separated to begin with.
** In ''What If the Alien Costume Had Possessed Spider-Man?'', Peter is accidentally killed by the symbiote, which tries to atone for this by curing Bruce Banner of his Hulk problem but is killed by a vengeful Felicia Hardy.
** In ''What If? Brave New World'', Peter is trapped on Battleworld with the other combatants. Over time, the symbiote assimilates his body until all that's left of him is a skeleton and his psyche, with the symbiote's biomass forming their body.
** In ''ComicBook/MarvelComics2'', the symbiote rebonds to Peter, taking him over to create Spider-Venom (a black and grey Spider-Man with Venom's face). After bonding to Normie Osborn to become the [[HeelFaceTurn heroic]] Dusk, it later bonds to his daughter May and [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices itself to save her life]].
** In the ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' comic, the Black Suit is a cancer cure-turned-bioweapon created by Richard Parker that Peter accidentally exposes himself to. While he initially has the time of his life, he almost eats a burglar who reminds him of his Uncle's killer and realizes too late that the Suit is too dangerous to use. While he manages to rid himself of it and destroy the sample, Eddie Brock exposes himself to a second sample to become Venom. Said second sample later leaves Eddie to take over Peter until it's suppressed by the Ultimates.
** In ''Manga/MarvelMangaverse'', Peter finds a cursed amulet belonging to the evil Shadow Clan, which turns his costume black-and-white and amplifies his powers, but starts corrupting him at the same time. The cursed amulet [[HeroicSacrifice is removed by Venom]], who mysteriously returns with full control of the amulet's powers.
** In the ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' cartoon, the symbiote was created from a sample of Peter's blood and seeks to return to him. While it briefly bonds with him, it's notable that Harry Osborn is the one who becomes Symbiote Spider-Man, at least until he loses control of the symbiote.
** ''ComicBook/{{Venomverse}}'' has an alternate version of Symbiote Spider-Man who reclaimed the Venom symbiote from his villainous version of Eddie Brock. As such, he has a dim view of Earth-616 Venom; and just when it looks like they'll become FireForgedFriends, Venomized Spider-Man is consumed by a Poison and becomes Poison Spider-Man.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: When Spider-Man bonds to a symbiote to fight Deathbird and S.W.O.R.D. after they're overtaken, he enlists No-Girl to help him control it as proof she'd not the traitor within the X-Men. No-Girl has a showdown with the symbiote's will in the middle of Peter's [[MentalWorld inner replica of Queens]] and manages to hold it off for a while. She is ultimately no match for it and her consciousness is expelled, with Spider-Man being taken over and briefly turned into a copy of classic Venom.
* BloodKnight: With the symbiote he became more aggressive and bloodthirsty as he constantly lashed out in violence.
* TheBusCameBack:
** After years of being apart - not counting the "[[ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan Superior Venom]]" incident - and moments where it looked like it would choose him again, [[spoiler:the symbiote rebonded with Peter during his fight with Agent Venom during Civil War II. However, rather than take him over, it used the opportunity to have a long-overdue heart-to-heart with Peter and clarify a number of misconceptions]].
** In ''Go Down Swinging'', Eddie Brock lends the symbiote to Spider-Man so that he'll be able to fight evenly with the Red Goblin; the symbiote taking on an altered appearance with different spider-emblems and eyespots that stick out the side of his head.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Originally, the symbiote did not boost Spidey's powers or make him more aggressive, and he simply tried to kill the symbiote when he found out that it was alive and trying to bond with him. When later writers decided to use it as a new villain, they gave the previous story a quick {{Retcon}} based on the symbiote's portrayal in the 1994 animated series, and gave Peter a better excuse.
* CheapCostume: Black Cat, who thought the Black Suit was sexier than Spidey's classic red-and-blues, made him a synthetic version that he wore until Venom attacked Mary-Jane. He still wears it from time to time, usually as an indicator of how pissed off he is.
* CostumeCopycat:
** Spider-Man assumed that the Black Suit's appearance was based off of the second Spider-Woman's costume, which Peter had been admiring at the time.[[note]]Donny Cates later retconned this to the Venom symbiote's emblem being a cross between Spider-Man's spider emblem and Knull's dragon emblem.[[/note]]
** Eddie Brock, Mac Gargan, and Peter himself have invoked this, the former two by impersonating Symbiote Spider-Man to discredit Peter, and Peter to impersonate Mac Gargan and infiltrate the Dark Avengers.
* CurbStompBattle: During one of the symbiote's moonlit joyrides, it came across Sandman. Baker engulfed Spider-Man attempting to smother him, only for the symbiote to rip him apart from the inside.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Black Cat thought Peter's black costume was sexy and made him a copy out of regular fabric after he got rid of the symbiote. He wore it for a while, until Mary-Jane was traumatized by Venom and begged Peter to stop wearing it. Peter started wearing it again during his DarkestHour in ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Back in Black]]''.
* ADarkerMe: Following the {{retcon}}, Peter became increasingly aggressive under the symbiote's influence, especially when it was in complete control of his body. Spider-Man himself invokes this, as when he's pushed too far he puts on the synthetic black suit Black Cat gave him, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness stops cracking jokes]], and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown stops pulling his punches]]. Just ask Wilson Fisk.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: On special occasions, like when Wilson Fisk hired a sniper who almost shot Aunt May and when Kraven the Hunter's family killed Kaine, Peter puts his synthetic Black Suit on and invokes this by not joking around and not holding back.
* HeroicHost: During the brief period Peter was bonded to the symbiote, he used it for good. He reluctantly rebonds to it during ''Going Down Swinging'' in order to be able to fight the Red Goblin evenly, and begrudgingly admits they make a good team.
* IconicOutfit: The Black Suit is hands-down Spider-Man's most famous and iconic costume aside from his red-and-blues, to the point of being featured in ''every'' adaptation since its inception.
* LegacyCharacter:
** When Mac Gargan agrees to join Norman Osborn's ComicBook/DarkAvengers and impersonate Spider-Man, he's given a drug that reverts the symbiote back to the way it looked when it was bonded to Peter. Also doubles as EvilCounterpart since Mac was still more-than happy to eat people.
** When it becomes clear that he's not powerful enough to take on the symbiote-possessed Deathbird, Spider-Man bonds to one of the symbiotes captured by Hellion and controls it with No-Girl's help, causing it to take on an appearance identical to the Venom symbiote's. Unfortunately, No-Girl loses her BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind with the creature's will and it takes control of Spider-Man... for a single panel, before it's removed by Beast.
** When Spider-Man is bonded to a symbiote during ''Venomized'', it immediately takes on the appearance of his black suit. Unable to remove it like he did his first one, he reluctantly remains bonded to it and it saves his life when he's impaled by Poison Carnage; ultimately being separated from him and returned to Klyntar.
* OneWingedAngel:
** When the Red Goblin mortally wounds Flash Thompson, Symbiote Spider-Man goes berserk and Venomizes, punching Osborn halfway across the city and roaring that he's going to eat his brain. The dying Flash manages to calm Spider-Venom down and begs Peter not to let his rage and hatred towards Osborn be the reason the recently redeemed symbiote relapses into its bloodthirsty monstrous state.
** In ''Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality'', the symbiote is forced to take control of Peter's body when he goes into an AngstComa after seeing Aunt May die, and twice assumes its monstrous form -- once when entering Nightmare's realm and again when attacking Hobgoblin.
** In ''Symbiote Spider-Man: Crossroads'', the symbiote accidentally assimilates the Matrix Norn Stone -- which resonates with its divine heritage. The augmented symbiote promptly takes over Peter, transforms into its monstrous form, and proceeds to CurbStompBattle the Hulk.
* {{Retcon}}: Initially the Black Suit ''was'' just a snazzy new shapeshifting costume, but its lack of popularity quickly led it to be turned into an alien parasite. The idea that the Black Suit was making Peter evil stems from ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', as prior to that Peter rejected the symbiote out of disgust and terror at learning it was alive and wanting to bond to him.
* PsychicBlockDefense: When Mosaic possesses Spider-Man and tries to view Peter's memories of his family, he's brutally attacked by multiple copies of Symbiote Spider-Man.
* SuperPoweredEvilSide: Subverted initially, as all the Black Suit did was [[PuppeteerParasite take his body out for joyrides while he slept]]. Later tellings have it make Spider-Man more aggressive and brutal -- especially when it's puppeteering Peter while he's asleep.
* SymbioticPossession: Played with: All the symbiote wanted to do was help Peter, something [[WhatTheHellHero it has repeatedly berated him for]], but Peter was becoming increasingly unnerved by its autonomy and that it was joy-riding his body while he was asleep to fight crime.

* AngelFaceDemonFace: When Otto was in control of the symbiote his eye lenses and webbing motif were smooth. However, he could assume a monstrous form with a fanged maw, jagged eyes, a distorted webbing motif.
* BadLiar: Otto tells everyone that he was being controlled by traces of the symbiote that infected him when Spider-Man fought Agent Venom in ''Venom'' Vol. 2 #4. Mary Jane buys the excuse, but the Avengers do not.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: Like Flash, Superior Venom has white-rimmed black lenses for eyes. Unlike Flash, Otto plays this trope straight by becoming increasingly brutal and bloodthirsty.
* CombatTentacles: The symbiote turns Otto's robotic spider legs into biomechanical tentacles resembling the ones he had as Doctor Octopus.
* CurbStompBattle: Otto easily defeated Bruin, Devil-Spider, Steeplejack, Tumbler, Ringer, and Blaze - a troop of the Hobgoblin's minions. When the Avengers stopped him from killing Blaze, Otto proceeded to take them all on at once and nearly won. He tanked a direct blow from Mjolnir while staggering Thor with a punch of his own, and badly damaged Iron Man's Model 42 armor with a single blow.
* FightingFromTheInside: In a striking inversion, the ''symbiote'' was the one fighting against Otto's control. When it succeeded in taking him over, Otto unsuccessfully tried to fight it off and gave up until Ghost Peter intervened.
* HijackingCthulhu: Otto dominated the symbiote with his will, preventing it from returning to Flash. The symbiote later [[PuppeteerParasite returned the favor]].
-->'''Symbiote:''' Old host... bad. Tastes... wrong. Want to go home.\\
'''Flash:''' That's it. Come to Flash. Back where you belong.\\
'''Otto:''' I think not!
* HulkingOut: Superior Venom bulks up massively when the symbiote takes over.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: The reason Otto decided to keep the symbiote instead of killing it or putting it back into containment.
* MythologyGag:
** The symbiote turned Otto's robotic spider legs into [[CombatTentacles biomechanical tentacles]] similar to the ones he had as Doctor Octopus.
** Otto refers to himself as a Lethal Protector, Eddie Brock's title during his period as an anti-hero.
* OhCrap: When Otto realizes the symbiote has been undermining his will and that he can't control it anymore, let alone force it to leave him, he starts to panic and gives up. Fortunately for him, Peter's psyche intervenes.
* SssssnakeTalk: As Otto's control over the symbiote wavered his speech became increasingly sibilant.
* TaintedVeins: Superior Venom possesses a white webbing motif on his head and shoulders, as a MythologyGag to Venom in ''Film/SpiderMan3''. When he goes berserk, it becomes distorted and even more vein-like.
* VoiceOfTheLegion: As Otto's control over the symbiote slips, he speaks in distorted red speech bubbles with jagged white text, though he often catches himself and goes back to speaking normally. When the symbiote fully takes over, the speech bubbles become black.
* WhatTheHellHero: When Flash asks the symbiote to come back to him a second time, it fully seizes control of Otto and lays into him verbally and physically for keeping it chemically suppressed.
-->'''Venom:''' You... used chemicals, controlled me. Now I am in control. Better, faster, stronger... Sssuperior!

* AffectionateNickname: Gargan calls the symbiote "Symby" in his diary.
* AnArmAndALeg: It all started when Gargan ate Steel Spider's arm under the influence of the symbiote. As the Sinister Spider-Man, he took to eating the limbs of criminals he apprehended. This led to several of these criminals and supervillains banded together under the Redeemer and trying to kill him.
* AssKicksYou: When Doctor Everything [[WipeThatSmileOffYourFace replaces his mouth with a metal plate]] and Dementoid grabs him from behind, Mac turns his butt into a massive pair of jaws and tries to eat him that way.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: During the early issues of ''Dark Reign'', Gargan's Venom form was ''T. rex''-sized.
* AxCrazy: Not surprising, since the character was written by most writers in a way to top every extreme Venom was associated with.
* BaldOfEvil: Mac has brown hair but keeps his head shaved, but it became more noticeable after he became Venom due to him being shown bareheaded a lot more.
* BewareMyStingerTail: Mac once sprouted a stinger-tipped tail as Venom, using it as a weapon against Spider-Man and a group of other superheroes. After the symbiote was nearly killed by Anti-Venom, Norman modified the Scorpion armor he'd built to turn Mac into "[[AtrociousAlias Ven-orpion]]", equipping the tail with a poison tailored specifically to kill Anti-Venom. After being infected with a piece of the Mania symbiote by Lee Price, he transforms into a monstrous form identical to his "Ven-orpion" form -- including a stinger-tipped tail -- but this is short-lived as his symbiote is purged by Agent Anti-Venom.
* BigBadWannabe: Why Mac so willingly partnered with the symbiote. When it abandons him in ''What If? The Other'' he's left on the verge of tears.
-->'''Mac:''' Wait! Stop! Where are you--?! Get back here! Don't leave me! Don't make me be nothing again!
* BigEater: Was fond of biting off people's limbs, and during the Secret Invasion Skrulls became one of the symbiote's favorite hors d'oeuvre.
-->'''Gargan:''' I eat most anything. Strippers, school buses, grapes. If it's something that can be eaten, I'll down it.
* BizarreTasteInFood: After Osborn is overthrown, Spider-Man complains that half of New York thinks he eats squirrels due to Mac viewing them as fuzzy popcorn.
* BlackComedyCannibalism: Gargan devouring people willy-nilly due to the symbiote's influence was, for the most part, played for laughs.
* BringIt: The discussion Gargan has with ComicBook/NormanOsborn after Daken and Bullseye fail to assassinate him invokes this; though it's not made clear whether Norman meant he'd suit up as the Green Goblin or Iron Patriot, and nothing ever came of it.
-->'''Spider-Man:''' Why'd you send 'em to kill me, Norman?\\
'''Norman Osborn:''' You were causing more trouble than you were worth.\\
'''Spider-Man:''' And now?\\
'''Norman Osborn:''' Now you learn to behave, or next time I'll suit up myself.\\
'''Venom:''' Any time, cornrows.
* BullyingADragon: Gargan tries to kill Lee Price out of personal dislike, with full knowledge that he's the Venom symbiote's most recent host. Even after the symbiote emerges and Venom starts trouncing him, Gargen continues to fight in hopes of either taking the symbiote back or killing it himself.
* CantLiveWithoutYou: The procedure that gave Mac his powers destabilized his DNA, and without his Scorpion PoweredArmor or the symbiote his health rapidly deteriorates.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Norman Osborn threatens to personally kill him the next time he goes AWOL, Gargan walks out, stating the valuable lesson he learned was that "if you start eating somebody, you finish the job".
* CaptainErsatz: What if ComicBook/{{Carnage}} was Venom?
* CostumeCopycat: As the Sinister Spider-Man, the symbiote takes on the appearance it had when Peter wore it. Peter later exploits this by infiltrating the Dark Avengers while wearing his synthetic Black Suit.
* CreateYourOwnVillain: Mac's habit of biting off the limbs of criminals leads to [[FunnyAnimal Hippo]], [[ThoseWackyNazis General]] [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolfram]], [[MakeMeWannaShout Eleven]], [[MindVirus Dementoid]], and [[CaptainErsatz Doctor]] [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Everything]] being outfitted with cybernetic limbs by the Redeemer and setting out to rehabilitate or kill him (whichever came first).
* CriminalDoppelganger: As the Sinister Spider-Man, Mac was identical in appearance to Black Suit Spider-Man, enabling him to gleefully impersonate his longtime foe and run Spider-Man's reputation into the ground.
* CurbstompBattle:
** When the Redeemers attempted to "redeem" him, Gargan ate two of them and mutilated the rest. Later, Osborn sent Daken and Bullseye to assassinate him. Gargan threw Daken halfway up a skyscraper and punched Bullseye's face in, all while chowing down on members of the Rolling Sevens and Park Avenue Players gangs.
** Mac tried to attack [[ComicBook/CarolDanvers Ms. Marvel]], who responded by pulling him out the symbiote through Venom's mouth ("The Hell, lady?"). Unfortunately, this led to [[http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/1/11136/1200049-ms._marvel_venom.jpg the symbiote possessing Carol]].
--->'''Symbiote:''' Ha! We can fly! Ms. Marvel is now my favorite superhero!
** Later:
--->'''Mac/Symbiote:''' [[ShipTease I felt her emotions towards you. Wanna guess what they were?]]\\
'''Spider-Man:''' Wait--you what?\\
'''Mac/Symbiote:''' Oh, that got your attention, huh?
** Mac is on the receiving end when he suits up as the Scorpion and tries to kill Lee Price, who had acquired the symbiote. [[spoiler:Despite his tail possessing sonic and flame armaments, Gargan is swiftly defeated and only saved from being eaten when Spider-Man intervenes.]]
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''The Sinister Spider-Man'' miniseries is all about Mac's misadventures impersonating Spider-Man.
* DeadpanSnarker: While impersonating Spider-Man, Mac took up a wry form of BlackComedy.
* TheDragon: Before he fully succumbed to the symbiote's bloodlust, Gargan was more-or-less Norman's number two on the Thunderbolts. Their relationship decayed as Gargan became increasingly bloodthirsty and reckless.
* DressedInLayers: Some story lines had him somehow wearing his Scorpion armor under the symbiote, although this was quickly discarded.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: While he was initially afraid of the symbiote's growing influence over him, he came to thoroughly relish being Venom. [[spoiler:Even after getting an upgraded Scorpion Suit, he tries to take the symbiote back from Lee Price.]]
* EatingTheEnemy: After the Bluestreak incident, Gargan's go-to solution to dealing with enemies was eating them.
* EvilCounterpart: As Venom, Mac was the symbiote's puppet. As the Sinister Spider-Man, he was all power, no responsibility.
* EvilHero: As a member of Osborn's Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers, Gargan was a government-employed superhero... who was more-than willing to maim and kill the criminals he apprehended, start gang-wars to troll Mayor Jameson, and couldn't be fussed about collateral damage in fights.
* EvilIsPetty: Started a gang war just to mess with J. Jonah Jameson's reputation, vomited a half-digested squirrel onto Dexter Bennet's desk to get back at him for an unflattering article in the [=DB=], and tried to kill [[Characters/IncredibleHulkSupportingCharacters Carmilla Black]] for having the ''audacity'' to use his old nom de guerre.
* EvilMeScaresMe: Early during the ''Thuderbolts'' run, Mac grew increasingly terrified of the symbiote's [[HorrorHunger bloodlust]] and the [[PuppeteerParasite growing amount of control it had over him]], especially after he ate the Steel Spider's arm. After a hallucination of the symbiote gave him a [[BreakThemByTalking Breaking Speech]], however, he [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope embraced its bloodlust wholeheartedly]].
* EvilerThanThou: As bad as Lee Price is, the Venom symbiote considers Gargan to be even worse: while Price is callous and ruthless, he follows orders to the letter; while Gargan is more-than willing to go against orders and cause collateral damage to get what he wants.
* EyeScream: Had an angry toy poodle thrown at him by Bullseye on Daken's behest.
-->'''Mac:''' AAAAAAH! Dog in the eye! Dog! Dammit!
* FightOffTheKryptonite: Mac was blasted point-blank by Eleven's [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic scream]]... and ate her. During the ''Siege'', he was thrown into an explosion by Colossus, and came out none the worse for wear but ''extremely'' pissed off.
* FullyEmbracedFiend: While he was initially afraid of the symbiote when it was dormant, after its hallucinated Breaking Speech Gargan came to fully embrace the power it gave him and relished it.
* FunctionalAddict: Despite initially fearing the symbiote, Gargan eventually [[EvilFeelsGood gleefully]] embraces its bloodlust while impersonating Spider-Man.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Gargan initially had a Comicbook/{{Spawn}}-like vibe, with glowing green/yellow/red eyes being visible within the symbiote's white eye-patches. Later on, Mac's Venom form resembled a ''much'' more monstrous version of Eddie Brock's, without the inner eyes at all.
* {{Gonk}}: Marvel seemed intent on making Mac's Venom form look as repulsive as possible in ''Beyond!''
* HealingFactor: The Swordsman almost cut Mac completely in half with his Makluan Sword, but he recovered thanks to the symbiote.
* HulkingOut: One of Mac's hallmark traits as Venom was that most often he was just a really bulky guy with sharp teeth, but whenever he got angry or the symbiote came down with a case of the munchies he'd bulk up to the point where he made the Hulk himself look vertically challenged. Also played straight with his ability to shift between his "Spider-Man" and "Venom" forms during the ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'' arc.
* HumanPincushion: Bullseye turns him into one using a [[EyeScream toy poodle]] and ''corn dogs''.
* ImAHumanitarian: During a fight with the Steel Spider, Gargan was overwhelmed by the symbiote's bloodlust and ate Osnick's arm. Gargan [[EvilMeScaresMe was initially horrified by this]], and his team mates wouldn't let him live it down. Following a Breaking Speech by a hallucination of the symbiote caused by Bluestreak III, he embraced its bloodlust to the point where he would more-than willingly commit cannibalism to satiate it.
* IfICantHaveYou: Despite his fear of the symbiote, Gargan is addicted to its power and tries to take it back from Lee Price and Eddie Brock. When Maniac re-empowers him, he's jubilant to have symbiote powers again, and pleads with Agent Anti-Venom to let him keep them as he's being cleansed. He then joins Claire Dixon's Symbiote Task Force intending to bond to the Venom symbiote's latest offspring, and is willing to join Codex's Hive in exchange for a symbiote.
* ImpersonationGambit: Does this to the original Spider-Man as a member of the Dark Avengers, and has it done to him by Peter in return.
* InsanityImmunity: He was unaffected by Dementoid's madness-inducing touch, either due to the symbiote or because he's already too far off the deep end to go any further.
* JumpedAtTheCall: When the symbiote offered its services, Mac gleefully accepted.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: After the symbiote's Breaking Speech, Mac willingly succumbed to its bloodlust.
* MediumAwareness: Wrote the summaries for and answers the FourthWallMailSlot of his own ''Dark Reign'' tie-in.
* MeleeATrois: In the ''Sinister Spider-Man'' miniseries, Mac wound up caught between the surviving Redeemers - a group of vengeful supervillains he'd mutilated, Daken and Bullseye - who'd been sent by Osborn to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness assassinate him]], and the Rolling Sevens & Park Avenue gangs - who he had started a gang war between ForTheEvulz. Mac promptly {{Curb Stomp Battle}}s everyone until ''J. Jonah Jameson'' breaks the fight up, accidentally making Gargan look like a hero in the process.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Gargan was used to invoke this as a member of the Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers: anyone Norman wanted disappeared was thrown into Venom's cell. Om nom nom.
* NoSell: Getting tossed into an explosion during the "Dark Avengers vs. Utopia" arc just [[HulkingOut made him angry]].
* NotMeThisTime: During an altercation with the Jury, Mac exclaims, "Listen... I'm not... the same Venom... you guys had a beef with!"
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: After Gargan eats the Steel Spider's arm, the team becomes increasingly afraid of him, citing this incident. Gargan initially protested it had been an accident, but this became less and less convincing due to his growing inclination towards satiating the symbiote's hunger, and he eventually became proud of the event.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Gargan maintained he was only in the superhero gig for the money... and the strippers, and the [[AnArmAndALeg take-out villain limbs]]...
* PoweredArmor: Norman made him a new Scorpion suit, but to Osborn's outrage Mac turned it down to wear the symbiote. Osborn later [[http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11/117763/2651773-amazing_spider_man__572___page_24.jpg modified the armor]] so that Mac could wear it over the symbiote after it was almost killed by Anti-Venom. It's destroyed when Mac and the symbiote begin bickering over what they should do with Eddie.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: His eyes were drawn as being red in some comics.
* RoyalWe: Sometimes averted, sometimes played straight, depending on the writer. In his ''Dark Reign'' tie-in, he sneers that Eddie was a "sissy elitist" for insisting on referring to himself as "we".
-->'''Anti-Venom:''' You said "me", Gargan.\\
'''Mac:''' [[DiggingYourselfDeeper I-I-I]] meant usss!
* SanitySlippage: Mac became increasingly feral under the symbiote's influence, to the point where even his own teammates were afraid he'd try to eat them.
* ScaryTeeth: His fangs were yellow and just plain rotten looking in ''Beyond!''.
* SeinfeldianConversation: He has several such scenes with the other Thunderbolts[=/=]Dark Avengers.
-->'''ComicBook/{{Daken}}:''' So then I cut off his hand.\\
'''ComicBook/{{Bullseye|MarvelComics}}:''' Whose hand?\\
'''Daken:''' That ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} @#$%\\
'''Bullseye:''' Bull.\\
'''Daken:''' I did.\\
'''Bullseye:''' With what?\\
'''Daken:''' With [[WolverineClaws these]].\\
'''Bullseye:''' Well, sure. That'll do it.\\
'''Mac:''' I don't believe you, Daken.\\
'''Daken:''' I don't care.\\
'''Mac:''' [[Creator/BrianMichaelBendis You cut off his hands?]]\\
'''[[Characters/MsMarvel Moonstone]]:''' Good. That guy is annoying.\\
'''Daken:''' He thinks he's hilarious.\\
'''Mac:''' Like Spider-Man. "Oh Ho! I'm so funny!"\\
'''Bullseye:''' Spider-Man's [[ActuallyPrettyFunny kind of funny]].\\
'''Mac:''' Uh, not really.\\
'''Bullseye:''' If you're in the mood for it.\\
'''Mac:''' Well, then I'm never in the mood for it.\\
'''Moonstone:''' Every time I hear a guy prattle on like that with those stupid jokes, all I can think is that he must have a really small--\\
'''Bullseye:''' [[ComicBook/TheSentry Captain Crazy]] is back.
* SlasherSmile: As Spider-Man, Mac had a habit of manifesting a [[GameFace serrated grin]] without fully shifting into his Venom form, using it to frighten people.
* SociopathicHero: As the Sinister Spider-Man, he deliberately abused Spider-Man's reputation. Wven as a member of the Thunderbolts he threatened to eat innocent civilians, though he later claimed it was to scare Skrulls out of hiding.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mac is given one by the symbiote - actually a hallucination induced by Bluestreak III - in ''Thunderbolts''. It worked, since he became a ''lot'' less reluctant about feeding it afterwards.
-->'''"Symbiote":''' Stop complaining. Always complaining. It's too cold. Stuff hurts. I didn't mean to eat that guy's arm. Whining little maggot. You don't deserve me. You never did. Did I actually hear you say you didn't want to be the scary guy? You used to be the Scorpion. You used to be a hard man. Why did you turn into a schoolgirl as soon as you tasted some fresh meat?
-->'''Gargan:''' What's... What's going on...\\
'''"Symbiote":''' I can't sit back and wait for you to become a man. I get hungry. Look at me, you little girl! It's time I took control of things. No more of you pretending you can't hear me, up there in the driver's seat. I'm hungry. We need to take care of that. Today. Now.\\
'''Gargan:''' No...\\
'''"Symbiote":''' Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes. We are going to get us an honest-to-God meal today. Or I'm just going to have to eat you from the inside out.
* TakeThat: Gargan calls Eddie a "sissy elitest" for referring to himself as "[[RoyalWe we]]" all the time.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Julia Carpenter convinced Mac to join her, Spider-Woman, and Anti-Venom in their crusade against the corrupted Peter in ''What If Spider-Man Killed Kraven the Hunter?''.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Other than [[ImAHumanitarian other humans]], he had a taste for squirrels and Skrulls.
* TranshumanTreachery: Mac originally dreaded the symbiote's influence over him, but after Bluestreak's MindRape he embraced it and became its willing slave. As Venom, Mac deliberately disobeyed Norman's orders multiple times, beginning from when he bonded to the symbiote instead of using the new Scorpion suit Gobby had made for him. This comes to a head when he is photographed committing crimes, putting Norman's power in jeopardy and causing Osborn to try to pull a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on him.
* VilerNewVillain: As Venom, Mac Gargan became far nastier than Eddie had been -- usurping ComicBook/{{Carnage}}'s place as the Marvel Universe's symbiote supervillain for more than half a decade and resulting in Cletus Kasady even being temporarily killed off.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: As a member of the Thunderbolts and the Dark Avengers.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Back when Norman Osborn and Gargan both wore green, they worked together and Gargan came to consider Osborn a friend of sorts. With Osborn in [[PoweredArmor red-white-and-blue]] and Gargan in [[TheSymbiote black-and-white]], they're less amicable towards one another.
* WildCard: Osborn refers to him as such during their search for Spider-Man, where Mac was disregarding orders to follow the symbiote's psychic link to its past hosts.
* WorfHadTheFlu: Towards the end of ''Dark Reign'', Osborn grew weary of Gargan's wily ways and tried to curb them by forcing him to take mood-altering drugs that rendered him meek, introspective, and largely ineffectual.
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Gargan begrudgingly admires J. Jonah Jameson for having "the cahones to grow a Hitler 'stache."

* SelfMadeOrphan: Invoked when he asks Eddie to kill Carl Brock, [[AbusiveParents who beat him up and broke his arm in a fit of rage]] following Eddie's return, and has beaten him before. Ultimately, he doesn't really mean it and is revealed to actually be Eddie's son.

* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: In ''Venom #19'', he discovers that the Sleeper symbiote can't bond to him and recoils in pain when it tries.

-> See [[Characters/VenomFlashThompson Flash Thompson]]

[[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | '''Main hosts of Venom''' ([[Characters/VenomEddieBrock Eddie Brock]] | [[Characters/VenomFlashThompson Flash Thompson]]) | [[Characters/VenomOtherHosts Other hosts of Venom]] | [[Characters/AlternateIncarnationsOfVenom Alternate Incarnations of Venom]] | [[Characters/VenomSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]]\\

[[folder:'''Venom VI''']]

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/{{Venom|DonnyCates}}'' Vol. 4 #7; ''Venom'' Vol. 4 #35 (LGY #200) (as Venom VI)

* EvilIsPetty: Started a gang war just to mess with J. Jonah Jameson's reputation, vomited a half-digested squirrel onto Dexter Bennet's desk to get back at him for an unflattering article in the [=DB=], and tried to kill [[Characters/IncredibleHulkFamily Carmilla Black]] for having the ''audacity'' to use his old nom de guerre.

* {{Meganekko}}: Anne wore glasses, except in ''Dark Origin''.

** In the ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' cartoon, the symbiote was created from a sample of Peter's blood and seeks to return to him. While it briefly bonds with him, it's notable that Harry Osborn is the one who becomes Symbiote Spider-Man, at least until he loses control of the symbiote.

* OneWingedAngel: When the Red Goblin mortally wounds Flash Thompson, Symbiote Spider-Man goes berserk and Venomizes, punching Osborn halfway across the city and roaring that he's going to eat his brain. The dying Flash manages to calm Spider-Venom down and begs Peter not to let his rage and hatred towards Osborn be the reason the recently redeemed symbiote relapses into its bloodthirsty monstrous state.

* SuperPoweredEvilSide: Subverted initially, as all the Black Suit did was [[PuppeteerParasite take his body out for joyrides while he slept]]. Later tellings have it make Peter more aggressive and brutal.

* TattooedCrook: As revealed in the 2019 Free Comic Book Day ''Venom/Spider-Man'' issue, while imprisoned in Ryker's Island he gets a tattoo of Venom's chest insignia.

[[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | '''Main hosts of Venom''' ([[Characters/VenomEddieBrock Eddie Brock]]) | [[Characters/VenomOtherHosts Other hosts of Venom]] | [[Characters/AlternateIncarnationsOfVenom Alternate Incarnations of Venom]] | [[Characters/VenomSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]]\\

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/venom_vol_2_27_textless_9554.jpg]]
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/agent_venom_3_0_3763.png]]
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[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anti_venom_flash_thompson_earth_616_from_amazing_spider_man_venom_inc_alpha_vol_1_1.png]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Colonel Eugene "Flash" Thompson\\

Peter Parker's former JerkJock [[TheBully bully]] of a friend. Flash enlisted in the army during the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror Iraq War]] and is grievously wounded in action, losing his legs while saving his comrades. Lauded as a hero for his sacrifice, he is given an offer by the military: he can "rent" the Venom symbiote, which was subdued by drugs, for 48-hour periods (never long enough for the symbiote to establish control) for use in important missions, regaining the use of his legs in the process. Thompson agrees and subsequently becomes the new '''Venom''', marking the character's transition to fully-fledged [[{{Superhero}} hero]].\\
\\
After going AWOL to protect his friends and family from his enemies who had learned his identity, he is recruited onto the Secret Avengers by Captain America. Flash later set up a new life for himself as a vigilante and assistant high-school gym coach in Philadelphia, including having his own teenage sidekick, Mania. He would also join Thaddeus Ross' Thunderbolts during this time. Eventually, he was given the role of the Avengers' member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, leaving Earth to travel the cosmos. He would even later, after having learned the history of the symbiotes, become an Agent of the Cosmos -- this marking the ''symbiote's'' transition into a heroic figure -- before returning to Earth to assist Mania. After being ambushed by the FBI, he lost the Venom symbiote.\\
\\
However, while hunting down Lee Price after his theft of the Mania symbiote, he would be reunited with his symbiote partner. In its anguish as it tried to decide between Eddie and Flash, it bonded to both of them, Spider-Man dousing it in an artificial Anti-Venom solution to try to destroy it. Instead, this resulted in the half of the Venom symbiote bonded to Flash -- the half that did not contain its mind -- transforming into a new Anti-Venom symbiote, Flash regaining the abilities he had as Venom and a few more. He resumed his heroic role, now going by '''Agent Anti-Venom'''.

* AdaptiveArmor: After bonding to Flash the symbiote took on the appearance of body armor. When he joined the Guardians of the Galaxy it lost the body armor motif but retained a biomechanical exoskeletal appearance. After being purged of its bloodlust, the symbiote has gotten a new design which combines the body armor look with a sci-fi motif and a ridged faceplate resembling the [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Destroyer]]'s.
* AintTooProudToBeg: When the symbiote ditches him to forcefully rebond to Eddie Brock, Flash is forced to plead for it to return to him, even though he was relieved to be rid of it.
* TheAlcoholic: Currently recovering after a relapse after stress with the passing of his [[AlcoholicParent father]] and other issues caused him to fall off the wagon before while in Las Vegas. He suggests that the Thompsons are more likely to be alcoholics.
* AlternateSelf: As with most long-running Spider-Man characters, there have been a number of alternate universe iterations of Flash, both as himself and as Agent Venom.
* AntiHeroTeam:
** Flash joined the Red Hulk's Thunderbolts, a black ops team of [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver black-and-red]]-clad antiheroes, until he felt that the team's liberal attitude towards lethal force was causing his hold on the symbiote to slip.
* ArchEnemy: Jack O'Lantern, formerly one of Crime Master's minions, is the Green Goblin to Flash's Spider-Man, as he knows Venom's secret identity, targeted his {{Love Interest|s}}, and even possesses a similar gimmick to Norman - with a few nasty tricks of his own.To some extent Carnage serves as this as well.
* ArtificialLimbs: Flash initially uses the symbiote to form prosthetics, but is later equipped with a set of cybernetic legs by Peter (well, Otto while he was possessing Peter).
* AscendedFanboy: As a teenager, Flash was a Spidey-fanboy. Flash forward to post-''ComicBook/DarkReign'', and Flash is made the government-issue Spider-Man.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:In the ''Venom'' tie-ins to ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'', Flash is gradually resurrected, first as a codex memory, then taking over a symbiote dragon, then ultimately his human body.]]
* BadassTeacher: He was the assistant gym coach at a Philadelphia high school and frequently finds himself butting heads with Darius Fowler, the local JerkJock and a GenerationXerox to his high school self.
* BlackCloak: Morphs the symbiote into one while infiltrating the DOA cultists and when incognito at an alien bar.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: When under control the symbiote's eyes take the appearance of white-rimmed black lenses, though they usually revert to their [[BlankWhiteEyes customary appearance]] when it goes berserk.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: When duking it out with Carnage, Flash transforms his arm into a sword-like blade and decapitates Cletus, and retains the ability to form bladed appendages afterwards.
* BlownAcrossTheRoom: Flash accidentally uses the symbiote to throw a dodgeball so hard it sends Darius Fowler halfway across the gym. It's what tips Andi Benton off that there's something strange about her gym coach.
* CallingTheOldManOut: After Flash's alcoholic father berates him for being a cripple and dependent on the government, Flash internally berates his father for continually ruining his life even on his deathbed and walks... err... rolls out on him when he tries to apologize.
* CameBackStrong: At the end of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'', [[spoiler:Flash's consciousness takes over a symbiote-dragon -- which are magnitudes stronger than normal symbiotes -- and then uses it to resurrect his corpse]].
* CantLiveWithThemCantLiveWithoutThem: A [[CantLiveWithoutYou literal example]]: Flash may not like being bonded to an oversized alien amoeba with a taste for human flesh, but he finds out that the drugs he's been taking to control it have altered his body so that without the symbiote he'll die in a few hours time. Of course, he only learns this ''after'' Superior Spider-Man separates him from the symbiote and takes it for himself.
* ChickMagnet: He's been described as very handsome by a few women. Betty, the Queen, Valkyrie, and that's just during his time as Venom.
* CoolGun: He initially had one, simply called the [[SwissArmyGun Multi-Gun]] which disappeared for no reason after issue six of his own series. Drax convinces him to sell it to an alien arms dealer in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' #14, despite Flash protesting that it's a one-of-a-kind weapon and that he's grown fond of it.
* CursedWithAwesome: Flash sees being Anti-Venom as such, as it prevents him from re-bonding with the Venom symbiote. Despite possessing all the powers he had as Venom, he'd rather be with his partner. Once he realises Eddie is a good host, he accepts that the symbiote has someone else looking out for it and happily continues his heroic role, this time as Agent Anti-Venom.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Given his hero worship of Spider-Man it isn't that much of a surprise. His outfit is spiky and he can hulk out into a giant Venom form, but Flash is very moral and operates as a soldier would.
* DarkMessiah: Mephisto chose Venom as a candidate to become a Demon Lord following the events of the Circle of Four. Damian Hellstrom even stuffed a powerful demon into him in an effort to turn the symbiote into one of his Monsters of Evil. The "honor" has since been passed on to Mania.
* DeadpanSnarker: Takes a leaf out of Spider-Man's book and dishes out witty quips while beating up bad guys. Though he himself has expressed embarrassment at his bad jokes.
* DealWithTheDevil: After he's [[NeckSnap killed]] by Gari Goyle, Flash, Red Hulk, Ghost Rider, and X-23 make a deal with Mephisto, who offers to resurrect them in exchange for an unspecified service later on. Unbeknownst to them, the demon lord marks them as potential successors should he be selected to become the Devil during the Descent. When the Hell Mark is passed on to his teenage neighbor Andrea Benton and makes her a target of the DOA, Flash summons Mephisto, who helps them dispose of his turncoat minions but refuses to remove the Hell Mark from Andi, revealing it belongs not to either human but to the symbiote.
* DemonicPossession: Gets a powerful demon put in him by [[TheAntichrist Daimon Hellstrom]], though in a subversion the demon is ''not'' happy with the arrangement and actually ''wants'' to be exorcised. Flash is worried it and the symbiote are [[VillainTeamUp cooperating]] to take over him, but it turns out the symbiote itself is less-than pleased with the arrangement and apparently evicts the demon along with the Hell Mark into Mania.
* DemonOfHumanOrigin: Invoked towards the end of ''ComicBook/VenomRemenderAndBunn'', Flash has a dream-vision of what would have come to pass had the demon taken him over and[=/=]or he'd become a Hell-Lord after the Descent, with Philly reduced to a PlanetHeck and his demon-form perched on a decapitated statue.
* DependingOnTheArtist: Prior to joining the Guardians of the Galaxy, Flash's Agent Venom form had two main designs, dubbed "[[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120428010912/marveldatabase/images/8/8c/Eugene_Thompson_%28Earth-616%29_Agent_Venom.png MK II]]" and "[[http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maesxk16QE1qc63ooo1_500.jpg MK III]]" in the concept art. Which design was used depended largely on who was drawing him.
* DraconicHumanoid: [[spoiler:In ''ComicBook/ExtremeCarnage: Phage'', when Flash learns that Andi has been captured by Alchemax -- who has been conducting unethical experiments on various aliens but symbiotes in particular -- he smashes through the window of Dr. Steven's office sporting talons, a JaggedMouth evocative of the original Anti-Venom's, four horns, and a set of draconic wings.]]
* EnemyMine: Pulls one with Toxin to fight the Symbiote Slayers, and Eddie eventually concedes that as long as Flash uses the Venom symbiote to do good he'll leave them alone.
* FaceHeelTurn: Invokes this in ''Thunderbolts #23'' when he lets the symbiote take over to see if the team could stop him if he truly lost control.
* FailureHero: No matter how much Flash tries, he gets as much and even worse crap dropped in his lap than Peter Parker in a much shorter amount of time. He lampshades this in inner monologues, lamenting that none of his childhood dreams have come true and that he continuously fails the people most important to him.
* FireForgedFriends: After transitioning from an EnemyMine through TeethClenchedTeamwork, Flash's relationship with the Venom symbiote -- especially post-purification -- has become this. Even after it's re-corrupted by Mercurio, Flash [[GoThroughMe refuses to let Tarna kill it]] and take him to the Planet of the Symbiotes to get a replacement, calling it his friend, and helps it keep a handle on its rage.
* FishOutOfWater: Flash was simply a member of the US Military who lost his legs trying his damnedest to save a superior officer, before jumping at the opportunity of being able to walk again thanks to the symbiote and volunteering to essentially become a government issue Spider-Man. And then was taken even further out of water by being appointed as the Avengers' liaison to the Guardians of the Galaxy.
* FriendlyEnemy: Flash tries to be this towards Eddie after they team up against the Symbiote Slayers, even going so far as to tell the reporters that Toxin fought to protect the students, give him sole credit for the rescue, and call him "pretty frightening... but kinda nice too."
* GetOut:
** When Andi comes across him [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice severely wounded]] after his rematch with Toxin, Flash yells at her to leave him alone.
** Noticing Flash has a symbiote, an alien arms dealer angrily demands that he leave the premises, screaming, "[[FantasticRacism We don't serve your kind here!]]" [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] due to symbiotes in general being highly seen as dangerous predatory parasites that are [[TheDreaded feared throughout the galaxy]].
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Flash's night vision causes the black parts of his eye-patches to glow green, although he's only seen using it in during his battle with Kraven and when tracking down Jack O'Lantern.
* GoodCounterpart:
** Flash is one to Eddie Brock, who he shares many similarities with. However, while Flash manages to suppress the symbiote ([[SuperpoweredEvilSide most of the time]]), Eddie never bothered suppressing it and just gave into its bloodlust.
** H'elian's Mirror Cauldron spat out the Evangelist, a tall, skinny preacher with a Bible full of razor-edged pages, as Flash's Antithesis. While Ichor was technically [[ComicBook/GhostRider Alejandra's]] Antithesis, it was designed to look like an angelic version of Agent Venom.
* GunsAkimbo: Usually uses guns this way on the covers. Switches back and forth between this trope and the proper way to use a gun in the books themselves. He's also used symbiote tendrils to wield up to six guns total.
* HairTriggerTemper: Flash still has a bit of a temper left over from his alpha-jock high-school bully days, and he has a minefield of {{Berserk Button}}s that set him off, like being offered alcohol, Jack O'Lantern's [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor antics]], his girlfriend being threatened, and his father. Unfortunately, Flash getting angry gives the symbiote a foothold to take control and start eating people.
* HandicappedBadass: Proves it during a battle without the symbiote suit against a equally depowered and legless Cletus Kasady during the ''Carnage U.S.A.'' series.
* HeadbuttingHeroes:
** Flash's first encounter with Spider-Man as Agent Venom happened when the symbiote was rampaging. Both of them were looking to save Betty Brant, who had been kidnapped by the Crime Master, but Spider-Man assumed Venom was behind it and [[PoorCommunicationKills misinterpreted Flash's garbled attempts at explaining what was happening]], which weren't helped by the symbiote trying to kill him. Flash managed to tell Spider-Man where Betty was being kept, and the two of them later argued over whether Venom had been behind the kidnapping or trying to help.
** During a manhunt for Carnage, Agent Venom bumped into [[ComicBook/ScarletSpider Kaine]], who was -- to put it lightly -- having a bad day. The Venom symbiote going on a rampage and first trying to eat and then bond to Kaine didn't help matters.
** As a member of Ross' Thunderbolts team, Flash didn't get along with any of the other members due to the nature of the missions clashing with his moral compass and making it hard to keep the symbiote in check.
** When Venom returned to Earth to find Mania, Spider-Man ambushed him and picked a fight, thinking the symbiote was still evil and had taken over Flash.
* HealingFactor: Flash has had his head sliced in half by Crossbones and was impaled by Toxin, and recovered with a few days' R & R thanks to the symbiote.
* HeroicHost: From the start Flash has served as this for the Venom symbiote, even joining multiple super hero teams including the Secret Avengers, Ross' Thunderbolts, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Agents of the Cosmos.
* HeroicSacrifice: Despite his weakened state, he attempts to battle the Red Goblin and loses, being electrocuted by the madman. He then refuses the Venom symbiote's healing powers in fear that, should it fail, it would die -- that and he thought Spidey needed it against the Red Goblin.
* HollywoodCyborg: "[[Comicbook/SuperiorSpiderMan Peter]]" outfits him with a set of robotic legs, and uses the operation as an excuse to remove the Venom symbiote from him. Flash later throws them away, but gets a new set from 803.
* HoneyTrap: The ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' Annual has the team acquiring mystical weapons for use against a rogue ComicBook/DoctorStrange (actually a disguised EldritchAbomination). Flash's mission involved... seducing and sleeping with his on/off girlfriend Valkyrie, while ComicBook/ThePunisher raided her armory and made off with her CoolSword.
* HonorBeforeReason: Has had bouts of this since the end of the Savage Six arc and his joining the Avengers.
* HulkingOut: When the symbiote takes control of Flash it usually bulks up enormously -- to the point of matching Red Hulk in height and mass - and occasionally emulates Eddie Brock's appearance as Venom, and more rarely Mac Gargan's.
* ImAHumanitarian: While Flash has tried to rein in the symbiote's appetite for human flesh, he wasn't able to completely suppressed it. When overwhelmed by a group of armed thugs in ''The Thunderbolts'' #17, he loses control and is shown chowing down on an armed thug's intestines.
* ICannotSelfTerminate:
** ComicBook/ThePunisher interprets Flash's request for the Thunderbolts to take him down with the symbiote cut loose as a request for a mercy-killing.
** Flash tells Eddie that if he ever loses control of the symbiote, he'll want Toxin to mercy-kill him.
* IHatePastMe: Flash hates that he used to be a bully in high school - especially after seeing the trauma he caused his former victims - and finds himself wishing he could go back in time and beat some sense into his teenaged self. Unfortunately, one of his students, Darius Fowler, is a GenerationXerox of his old self, which infuriates him to no end.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: After losing the symbiote, Flash laments to Betty Brant that he misses being a superhero and hates being a normal human.
* ImNotAHeroIm: Flash refuses to be called a superhero, especially one remotely close to being at the level of his idol Spider-Man. [[ImAMonster He's just Venom]].
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Flash is not adverse to [[ScareEmStraight terrifying criminals]] by threatening to eat them.
* JaggedMouth: After joining the Guardians of the Galaxy his appearance changed, with him manifesting a mouth lined with solid black teeth.
* JustEatHim: When Deadpool tried impersonating Spider-Man during Flash's fight with the Thunderbolts, Venom simply chewed him up before spitting him out in pieces.
* KidSidekick: Gets one in the form of [[DistaffCounterpart Mania]] when the Venom symbiote's clone bonds to his teenaged neighbour Andrea Benton.
* LaResistance: ''[[ComicBook/SecretWars2015 Secret Wars]]: ComicBook/SpiderIsland'' is set in a domain of Battleworld based on a reality where the Spider-Queen succeeded in taking over New York. Flash is the head of a resistance that includes ComicBook/SpiderWoman, Vision, the furry half of ComicBook/WerewolfByNight, [[EnemyMine Stegron]], Spider-Man, and monster-ized versions of Captain America, [[ComicBook/CarolDanvers Captain Marvel]], ComicBook/IronMan, the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk, Betty Brant, ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson, Carlie Cooper, and [[ComicBook/{{Agent 13}} Sharon Carter]].
* LightIsGood: As Agent Anti-Venom, his symbiote is a white-and-black version of his Agent Venom appearance.
* ManBitesMan: He bites off Toxin's arm during their first rematch, and occasionally munches on thugs to satiate the symbiote's hunger.
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: His relationship with Betty Brant takes a nosedive after he becomes the new Venom. It is only after her surviving the Savage Six arc and learning he has been operating as Venom where she dumps him for good.
* MilitarySuperhero: He's a colonel in the US military and was working for them until a short time after the ''ComicBook/SpiderIsland'' arc. Following that, he served under ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and the Avengers while moonlighting as an independent hero. He later signed onto Red Hulk's Thunderbolts before leaving the team to join the Guardians of the Galaxy.
* MindRape: An ability Flash's "[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Venom]]" persona developed after Hellstrom stuck a demon into him, making it able to look into enemies' minds and remotely control several individuals at the same time. He only demonstrated it during his battle with the U-Foes and hasn't used it again since.
* MistakenForGay: Deadpool jokes that Flash has the hots for General Ross. His response:
-->'''Agent Venom:''' [[SarcasmMode Don't ask; don't tell.]]
* MonstrousHumanoid:
** When the symbiote went berserk when bonded to Flash both as Agent Venom and as a member of the Agents of the Cosmos, Venom would often transform into a monstrous form similar to Eddie's but with two spider legs going over his shoulders and two under his arms... or just transform into Eddie's Venom form.
** The form Flash takes when threatening a drunk Kree was ''very'' H. R. Giger-y.
* OffTheWagon: After the death of his father and being blackmailed into helping Jack O'Lantern steal the Toxin symbiote, he goes AWOL and resumes binge-drinking.
* OneWingedAngel: He has two: if he loses control of the symbiote it will revert to its monstrous form -- often with a chest insignia having two spider legs going over his collarbones and two going under his arms, while sometimes maintaining the body armour appearance and white-rimmed black eyes; and Demon Venom, which turns the spider chest insignia into a pentagram and usually comes with a pair of long, backwards curved horns and the ability to control demons.
* PromotionToParent: In his long list of aspirations, Flash notes that the one thing he ''never'' wanted to be was a father due to [[AbusiveParents his own being a jerk]]. However, he ultimately accepts the responsibility of looking after Andi after her own father is killed because of him and she's bonded to the symbiote's demonically-enhanced clone.
* PuppeteerParasite: The symbiote tries to usurp control of Flash whenever he gets sufficiently angry or the drugs suppressing it wear off. Its HorrorHunger even managed to freak out a ''demon'' Daimon Hellstrom put into Flash, though the two of them seem to have become [[VillainTeamUp BFFs]]... at least until the symbiote decides it doesn't want a roommate and apparently shunts the demon along with its clone to a new host.
* RageBreakingPoint: In the lead-up to and during ''Spider-Island'', Flash had a ''really'' rough time, to the point where he was happy to let the symbiote take over Eddie Brock. When on his way to the hospital to check on Betty and begrudgingly make amends with his dying abusive father, Flash came across the Hijacker going on a bank-robbing spree while the NYPD is struggling to recover from being turned into spider-monsters. The Hijacker runs over a security guard ploughing through a bank wall, and when Agent Venom tries to stop him he rockets his tank into the air and accidentally runs over a mother and her young son. Flash promptly goes berserk and ambushes the Hijacker when gets back to his base, breaking his fingers off, beating his face in, making him beg for his life, and then biting his head off.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: When he joins the Thunderbolts, Flash shifts the white parts of the symbiote to red, much to ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'s derision.
-->'''Agent Venom:''' ...I might as well fall into compliance.\\
'''Deadpool:''' Brown-noser.\\
'''Agent Venom:''' Uniforms serve a purpose, you little [[SymbolSwearing $%&#%#]]. They let the ''dumber'' ones in the squad know which people ''not'' to shoot.
* RePower: While Flash may have lost the Venom symbiote, as part of ''Venom Inc.'' he became ''Agent Anti-Venom''.
* SecondSuperIdentity: In order to avoid people figuring out that he's Venom after moving to Philadelphia, Flash uses the symbiote's shapeshifting to come up with secondary super identities, including a spectral nun called Hail Mary, the Mother Superior of Punishment.
* SelfDestructMechanism: Initially had one of these placed by the government on him if he ever went out of control in the suit, though the symbiote later removed the device.
* SleepWalking: Develops a dangerous example due to the demon inside of him taking over, where while asleep he lashes out at various people ranging from {{Mooks}} he defeated earlier to terrorizing his own traumatized mother.
* SpeakInUnison: Mania does this to annoy him while he's threatening Crossbones and Master Mayham.
* SpikesOfVillainy: An antiheroic example. The symbiote's pauldrons, vambraces, and greaves were often drawn as being studded with spikes meant to make them resemble an arthropod carapace.
* SuperheroPackingHeat: One of the trademarks of Flash's Venom is that he is usually armed with some form of gun or at least starts out like that. He even stores spare pistols using the symbiote's pocket dimension ability.
-->'''Spider-Man:''' The Punisher is dressed like me.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide:
** If Flash loses his temper or surpasses the drugs' time limit the symbiote takes control and rampages, often taking on appearances similar to Brock's or Gargan's incarnations. Following it being purged of bloodlust, this is (presumably) no longer an issue, though it can still manifest a fanged mouth and tongue at will.
** Later he gets a actual demon placed in his body that occasionally tries to take over him.
* TaintedVeins: There are visible veins in Flash's "mask" in ''Carnage U.S.A.''
* TeethClenchedTeamwork:
** Flash and the symbiote initially only got along because Flash kept it chemically lobotomized most of the time and he liked being able to walk, and because it was sick of changing hosts all the time and all its favorite hosts wanted it dead. Flash was relieved when it briefly abandoned him to re-bond with Eddie Brock, and only took it back because he needed Eddie's [[HealingHands Anti-Venom powers]] intact, while the symbiote jumped at the opportunity to return to its former hosts and only reluctantly returned to Flash.
** During the Minimum Carnage crossover, Scarlet Spider and Agent Venom don't get along too well, with Flash being less-than impressed with Kaine's callousness and hair-trigger temper. Things aren't helped with the Venom symbiote takes over Flash, beats the snot out of Kaine, and tries to leave Flash to take over him.
** When the Symbiote Slayers attack the high school where Flash is working as a gym coach, Flash and Eddie set aside their differences and grudgingly work together, though Flash briefly considers letting the machines kill Eddie.
* TerrorHero: Like Eddie, Flash is a Type 1 + 3 more than willing to bust out the [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily teeth]], talons, and BrainFood threats to [[ScareEmStraight scare thugs into submission]].
* ThemeMobile: Once had the symbiote merge with a junked car to create the [[http://cdn.denofgeek.us/sites/denofgeekus/files/styles/insert_main_wide_image/public/venommo10.jpg Venom-Mobile]], which came complete with an "Agent Venom" VanityLicensePlate.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Flash was the most moral member of the Red Hulk's Thunderbolts, and ultimately quit due to their proclivity towards excessive lethal force undermining his control of the symbiote.
* TopHeavyGuy:
** Whenever Flash gets mad or the symbiote takes over, it usually bulks up to the proportions it had when bonded to Eddie Brock and Mac Gargan.
** ''[[ComicBook/VenomSpaceKnight Space Knight]]'' Venom was given a bulky appearance as a deliberate callback to when Eddie first wore the symbiote.
* UnstoppableRage: After CListFodder Hijacker murders a security guard and a mother and her son with his battle tank in front of him, Flash goes berserk and tracks him to his lair. He proceeds to [[{{Fingore}} break off Hijacker's fingers]] and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutally beat him to near-death]], then tells the thug to beg for his life before [[OffWithHisHead biting his head off]] and spitting it back out.
-->'''Flash:''' I could take him to the cops. Vehicular manslaughter, fleeing the scene of a crime - he'd get life in jail. But he doesn't ''deserve'' life ''anywhere.''
* VitriolicBestBuds: Flash and Peter rib each other over their past relationship as a JerkJock and {{Nerd}}, though they're HeadbuttingHeroes as Venom and Spider-Man.
* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Flash used the symbiote to assume a multitude of appearances ranging from a Satanic cultist to a morbidly obese nurse. While trying to stay incognito early on in Philly, Flash had some fun with this aspect of the symbiote by coming up with a few alternate superhero identities, such as a chain-wielding ghostly nun.
* WeaponOfChoice: While Flash is good with a variety of guns, semi-automatic pistols are his favourite, and he keeps several stored in the symbiote's vambraces.
* WellDoneSonGuy: All Flash wanted growing up was his abusive alcoholic father's approval.
* WingedHumanoid: When Flash loses control of the symbiote after joining the Guardians, his new Venom form has bizarre bat/insect wings instead of arms.
* WorkingWithTheEx: His physical therapist ended up being his ex-wife Sha Shan Nguyen.

The son of Eddie Brock and Anne Weying, Dylan was conceived when Anne bonded with the Venom Symbiote as She-Venom, impregnating her to create a weapon against the mad god Knull. Anne gave Dylan to Eddie's estranged father Carl with the intent of retrieving him, but would commit suicide upon seeing Spider-Man wearing his fabric black costume. Carl would abuse Dylan until Eddie suddenly arrived, the boy believing Eddie to be his "older brother". Eddie would take Dylan away from Carl, intending to keep his heritage a secret, but that proved futile as Knull's servants managed to bring about the dark god's return. Dylan learned about his lineage as he used his unique powers to help his father fight off the mad god, eventually culminating in these powers being stripped from Dylan and Knull's defeat.

The son of Eddie Brock and Anne Weying, he was conceived when Anne bonded with the Venom Symbiote as She-Venom, impregnating her to create a weapon against the mad god Knull. Anne gave Dylan to Eddie's estranged father Carl with the intent on retrieving him, only for her to commit suicide upon seeing Spider-Man wearing his fabric black costume. Carl would abuse Dylan until Eddie suddenly arrived, the boy believing him to be his "older brother". Eddie would take the boy, intending to keep his heritage a secret. However, that proved futile due to [[ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage Dark Carnage's assault]]. When Knull came to Earth, Dylan served his purpose, using his powers to weaken Knull's connection to the symbiotes. When Eddie, empowered by the [[ComicBook/CaptainUniverse God of Light]], vaporized Knull's body, the dark god tried to possess Dylan, only for Eddie to use his power to strip Dylan of his powers. After an encounter with Jack O'Lantern, Dylan was almost killed, but the Venom symbiote saved him, becoming the new Venom. With Eddie now God of the Symbiotes, he has given his son and the symbiote his blessing to keep going as the new Venom.