EDWARD CHARLES BROCK
- Born in New York City, New York. Raised in San Francisco, California.
- Mother died due to complications of Eddie's birth. Father went into a depression and became cold and detached to his son, even as his son strived to attain his approval.
- Excelled in school, especially in sports. This led him to initially major in athletics in college, but he eventually changed his major to journalism.
- After graduation, moved back to New York City and found employment at the Daily Globe.
- Married Anne Weying, a successful lawyer.
- Wrote a series of articles about the Sin-Eater serial killer after allegedly interviewing the killer himself.
- Pressure from the police led him to publically reveal the identity of the alleged killer.
- Shortly after the revelation, Spider-Man revealed the real killer to be Detective Stan Carter and exposed Brock's source as a compulsive confessor.
- Brock's successful career was suddenly in ruins, and he was fired from the Daily Globe. He was forced into writing for cheap tabloids.
- Anne left him shortly after he was publically disgraced. His father also disowned him.
- Brock blamed all of his problems on Spider-Man and began to develop an irrational hatred for the webslinger.
- Began an intense training regimen to relieve stress and take his mind off his misfortunes.
- AS he reached physical perfection, Brock's mind slowly became ravaged by his hatred for Spider-Man.
THE SYMBIOTE
- Part of an alien race who have no emotions of their own.
- These symbiotes feed off the emotions of other creatures and force them to do amazing things in order to leech their adrenaline.
- Their victims would eventually be used up and left for dead.
- The Venom symbiote was shunned by his race for wanting to bond and communicate with his victims rather than dominate them.
- He was placed in a prison cell, awaiting his sentence of death by disintegration.
- Spider-Man unintentionally released the symbiote when his classic red-and-blue costume was torn to pieces. He grabbed the little black ball, which immediately slithered over his entire body.
- The symbiote took the form of the costume worn by Julia Carpenter as Spider-Woman, which Spider-Man had been admiring.
- Spider-Man thought he had stumbled on some weird alien clothing generator and kept the suit.
- He soon found that the suit had its own powers.
- These powers included an ability to mimic any clothing imaginable, an unlimited supply of its own webbing and a built-in web shooter, and a sort of dimensional pocket for storing items such as his camera and wallet without adding to the costume's shape and size.
- Despite being amazed by the suit's capabilities, Spider-Man never seemed to question them at first.
- After returning to Earth, the symbiote started becoming more attached to Spider-Man. While he slept, it would creep onto his body and send him on web-slinging adventures.
- Spider-Man eventually began to worry about the nature of his new suit and agreed to let Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four study it.
- After putting the suit through a series of tests, Reeds suspicions were confirmed: the suit was actually a living symbiotic creature. He advised Spider-Man to take it off immediately.
- The symbiote refused to remove itself from Spider-Man and began to crush his body. Richards used sonic waves to force the creature to relinquish its hold before trapping it in a containment unit.
- Spider-Man vowed to never wear the alien costume again and left it in the care of Richards.
- The symbiote soon found a way to escape by mentally commandeering Hobgoblin's glider to smash into the containment unit.
- Desperate to reconnect with Spider-Man, it snuck into his closet and disguised itself as one of his classic red-and-blue costumes. Once he put it on, it once again tried to bond with him permanently and refused to come off.
- Following an erratic battle across the city as Spider-Man struggled to get to the Baxter Building and the symbiote struggled to keep him away, he managed to make it to the top of a bell tower. The loud vibrations of the bells forced the symbiote to once again abandon Spider-Man and slink away, but not before inexplicably saving Spider-Man.
VENOM
- Eddie Brock, at the end of his wits, decided the only way out of his misery was suicide. Having been raised a devout Catholic, he made his way from church to church, praying for forgiveness.
- One of these churches was the location of the belltower where Spider-Man had fought the alien, and there it remained in the shadows. It had learned to feel from spending so much time with Spider-Man, and it sensed the intense hatred for the Web Slinger that Brock possessed.
- The suit engulfed Brock, and Venom was born.
- Brock's extreme loathing for Spider-Man only strengthened the creature and made it easier to bond with him. The two, now one, immediately made it their sole mission to find and kill Spider-Man.
- The suit continued to mimic Spider-Man's powers, but they were made even more formidable by Brock's enhanced strength and athleticism.
- It also became apparent that Spider-Man's spider-sense was useless in detecting the symbiote, and Brock now that the two were joined.
- The symbiote, knowing Spider-Man's secret identity as Peter Parker, shared this information with Brock, making it easier for Venom to terrorize the web-swinging hero.
- Venom first terrorized Spider-Man's girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson, by showing up at her apartment and scaring her, posing as Spider-Man himself.
- In their first battle, Spider-Man attempted to use Reed Richards' sonic blaster to separate Brock from the alien, but their bond was too strong. Venom then attempted to kill Spider-Man using the very bells that were last used to drive away the creature. Spidey managed to escape and knock Venom from the tower, where he was stunned long enough to be captured and imprisoned in The Vault.
- Venom would soon escape by posing as a guard. He traveled back to New York and made another attempt on Spider-Man's life, fighting him at a meat packing facility.
- Venom began showing signs that he was not completely evil, only obsessed with killing Spider-Man. He prevented a truck stop from being robbed and later saved the life of a baby. He had a confrontation with the Black Cat, but he did not fight her.
- Venom next confronted Spider-Man at May Parker's house, and the two once again battled. Spidey managed to defeat Venom this time by verbally tempting the symbiote to come back to him. Venom was sent back to The Vault.
- Attempted to lead a prison break, killing a Warden in the process — his first murder. The escape failed.
- Eventually did escape by feigning suicide, the symbiote acting as a synthetic skin and masking his vital signs. Once transported to the morgue, Venom found his way to the exit.
- Found himself on the wrong end of fellow Spider-Man foe Styx, who managed to infect the symbiote which then slid off of Brock, unconscious. Brock was sent back to jail.
Events Post-616MU Universe Split
- While incarcerated, the symbiote found Brock once again and helped him escape once more. He soon turned his rage back towards Spider-Man and led Spidey on a chase across the country, ending with a huge fight in the Caribbean in which Venom thought he killed the Web Slinger.
- After Spider-Man's presumed death, Venom experienced some remorse, thinking of all the lives he had saved over the years. He took it upon himself to return to New York City and become the new Spider-Man, his black-and-white suit already familiar as Spider-Man's backup costume.
- He did his best to become NYC's new arachnid-based masked vigilante, and most civilians were buying the ruse. Other supers, however, began to notice his larger physique and darker personality.
- After helping Ms. Marvel and Dagger defuse a hostage situation, Venom was confronted by Marvel, who knew he was not the real Spider-Man. Venom confessed only to being a new guy who took up the mantle because the city needed a hero with Spider-Man dead. An incredulous Marvel informed Venom that the real Spidey was indeed alive, and the two femme fatales began to deduce his true identity. Venom managed a quick retreat before coming to blows.
- Following this revelation, Venom went into seclusion, shocked, confused, and furious that Spider-Man was somehow still alive. Shock quickly turned to anger, however, as now Spider-Man had stolen not one but two lives from him: his former life as a successful, married journalist, as well as his new life as New York City's newest and greatest superhero.
- Venom has now returned to the Big Apple with a vengeance and a renewed resolve to finish what he started in the Caribbean and kill the Spider, once and for all… New York City be damned!
DUAL PERSONALITY
The symbiote has bonded with Brock so closely that they function as one being known as Venom with their thoughts, feelings, and memories intertwined. Despite this, Brock can sometimes be seen talking to or arguing with his "other half." While much more complete than Spider-Man's previous bond with the symbiote, each personality can manifest seperately at times. Due to this strange relationship of two minds in one body, Venom refers to himself in the first person plural form, such as in his infamous quote, "We are Venom."
CUNNING
Brock has shown a knack for quick thinking throughout his life. This can range from delivering snarky one-liners to making a quick, strategic move to gain the upper hand in a fight. He is very well aware of his enviroment at all times and often uses things around him as weapons during combat. Though usually viewed as an impulsive violent monster, he is also quite good at devising intricate pre-meditated traps for his victims, especially when it comes to his arch-nemesis Spider-Man.
HERO COMPLEX
Eddie has always had a deep desire to feel important and needed, tied closely to his extremely low self esteem. Throughout his life, this has led him to do dishonest things and fabricate scenarios to be portrayed as the hero, such as hiding a neighbor girl's cat only to "rescue" it when she could not find it anywhere later. This feeling is heightened exponentially in regards to his father, who Eddie feels has always blamed him for his mother's death during childbirth. With his new powers, Eddie feels that he has a chance to be someone who is idolized and looked up to by others. Unfortunately his obsession with Spider-Man and general mental instability, in addition to the symbiote's overbearing personality, are clouding his judgment.
MENTALLY UNSTABLE
Because of Brock's insecurities and the many indignities he feels he has suffered throughout his life, his psyche is quite fragile. This has caused him to develop a nasty temper with a very short fuse, especially when feeling insecure or mistreated. He is also obsessive and, once he has his mind set on a task, will only get more aggressive until he accomplishes it. In other words, it does not take much to anger him, and once he is angered he will not stop until he is satisfied. The symbiote has only exacerbated his tenuous emotional state with its own homicidal tendencies, turning Brock into a violent, murderous creature.
NARROW WORLD-VIEW
Brock tends to view the world in black and white, morally speaking. He fails to see the complexities of most moral dilemmas, instead viewing each as either completely right or completely wrong. Compounding this is his severe egocentrism, as he tends to view anything that benefits him as "good" and anything that hurts him as "bad."
GUILT
Brock has been a devout Catholic his entire life and, once convinced he has done something wrong, experiences intense feelings of guilt. No better example of this can be found than his life-long guilt over his mother's death during his birth. It is often his guilt that causes his depression and low self-esteem, which in turn feed his other mental neroses. Underneath the layers of hate, rage, and mental unbalance, Brock strives to maintain the facets of his religion. He feels most ashamed about violent acts that the symbiote has compelled him to commit.
SUPER STRENGTH: The symbiote is able to mimic most of the abilities of its former host, Spider-Man. This includes his super strength. Because Brock's intense physical training regimen before bonding with the symbiote allowed him to lift 700 pounds, the power is heightened and his strength actually exceeds that of Spider-Man. While the true limits of his strength are unknown, it is estimated that Venom can lift almost 11 tons.
SUPER DURABILITY: Venom is heavily protected against physical injuries by the symbiote. It seems to act as a shock-absorbant skin over Eddie Brock's body and is known to be able to withstand attacks from small-arms weapons firing conventional ammunition. If prepared, it can also absorb high-caliber ammunition and attacks from most super-powers.
SUPER STAMINA: The symbiote is capable of filtering breathable air to Eddie Brock if necessary in harmful environments. This allows him to survive for long periods of time under water, in extreme temperatures, or in toxic conditions.
WALL CRAWLING: As with most of Spider-Man's powers, the symbiote can mimic the power to cling to sheer surfaces. This is accomplished by altering the electrostatic forces between atoms, but the full nature of the ability has not been ascertained.
WEB GENERATION: Although Spider-Man's webs are generated through mechanical web-shoooting devices, the symbiote mimics this ability organically, allowing Venom to shoot very similar webbing. These webs, however, are made of the symbiote's own matter, meaning that there is a finite supply until the symbiote can regenerate its mass. Venom can shoot the webbing to a distance of 70 feet, and the webbing material has a strength of 125 pounds per square millimeter of diameter.
VENOMOUS FANGS: In an attempt to live up to his name, Brock commanded the symbiote to generate a mouthful of needle-sharp fangs that secrete a powerful venom. These fangs were a natural progression from the wide, leering mouth and long tongue that Brock adopted to distinguish himself from Spider-Man.
CAMOUFLAGE: The symbiote has a powerful camouflage ability that allows it to blend in with its surroundings, mimic any form of clothing, and disguise itself as other people. Its only limitations are Brock's frame as it cannot change its shape, only its outward appearance.
E.S.P. (SPIDER-SENSE): The symbiote is able to in effect mimic Spider-Man's "spider-sense," but the mechanism is somewhat simpler. The creature is able to detect danger from all directions, allowing Brock time to act, but the ability is somewhat slower than Spider-Man's. This inefficiency is compounded by Brock's inferior agility, which also causes him to react more slowly.
CONSTITUENT MATTER CONTROL: Similar to his webbing ability, Venom can manipulate the black matter that comprises his costume in more advanced ways. He can send part of it away from his body to directly attack an individual. This is often used in the form of tentacles that bind his enemies or globs that smother them.
ACCELERATED HEALING: The symbiote can speed up the metabolic healing rate of its host, meaning that Venom's wounds heal faster than those of normal humans. It can also heal human diseases, including many that there are currently no known cures for, such as cancer. This accelerated healing process is not instantaneous, however, and is much slower than that of many other superhumans or mutants, such as Wolverine.
TACTILE TELEPATHY: Due to the nature of the symbiote creature, it possesses a limited psychic ability, allowing it to read an individual's thoughts and memories through touch. The amount of information that the symbiote is able to learn is proportional to how long it remains in contact with an individual. This works not only on the symbiote's hosts but also others who may come into contact with it. The symbiote can also use this ability to psychically share information.
JOURNALISM: Before his career was ruined, Eddie Brock was a rising star in the world of journalism. He is quite good at using the written word to capture people's attention, which is why his last article for the Daily Globe made that day's edition one of the quickest selling in the publication's history. Too bad he didn't check his sources.
INTIMIDATION: Even without wearing the terrifying symbiote suit, Eddie is a massive, imposing figure due to his excessive weight training. He also knows how to turn up the scariness factor with threatening gestures and tough talk. It is quite easy for him to buffalo the less courageous into doing his bidding.
STRENGTH: After losing his job and his wife, Eddie Brock devoted himself to working out and training, particularly with weights. He now has the bulky, muscular body of a seasoned weightlifter and the impressive strength to back it up. Before bonding with the symbiote, he was able to lift 700 pounds.
GOOD LIAR: Eddie has been lying to people, usually to make himself sound better, since he was a young child. He has used this skill, with varying levels of success, to impress women, to gain favor with his peers, and to advance his career. At this point he has come close to mastering the art of twisting the truth for his own benefit.
STREETWISE: Since the downfall of his marriage and career, Eddie has come to know the underbelly of New York City quite well. At varying times homeless and living in the slums, he has learned how to deal with the seedy characters that populate the City That Never Sleeps' darker sides. Now having lived for years in one of the most crime-infested city's in the country, he possesses the skills necessary to survive and even thrive on the streets of any city.
VENOM SYMBIOTE: Venom's powers are derived from his bond with the alien symbiote. Originally thought to be a simple costume, the black suit soon proved to be a living organism determined to bond with its host. Rejected by Spider-Man, the costume sought out Eddie Brock, who willingly accepted the bond. The symbiote is currently content with its relationship with Brock. However, it has the ability to leave him for a new host at any moment and has, in fact, been tempted to return to Spider-Man, if he were to allow it. Because of this, Brock sometimes worries about being abandoned by the creature.
HOMELESS: Eddie Brock is currently destitute and homeless, due to the loss of his career and marriage and subsequent mental breakdown. He has shown no intention of remedying this situation any time soon, as his bond with the symbiote satisfies most of his needs. He has become accustomed to finding shelter wherever he can, and he doesn't even need clothing due to the symbiote's ability to take the form of any clothing he wishes. He is a man of few, if any, possessions, and what little he may have is stashed in a hidden cache on the roof of a building.
SPIDER-SENSE IMMUNITY: Due to his prolonged exposure to his original human host, Spider-Man, the symbiote has learned to bypass Spider-Man's spider-sense. Because of this, Venom is able to attack Spider-Man by surprise, which gives him a large advantager over the web-slinger.
PETER PARKER: Because of its time spent with Spider-Man as its host, the symbiote has learned his true identity of Peter Parker. After bonding with Eddie Brock, it then shared this knowledge with him. This gives Venom yet another dangerous advantage over the man he is obsessed with destroying.
SYMBIOTE REPRODUCTION: The alien symbiotes are able to reproduce asexually, and this usually takes place without the parent symbiote even being aware. A small piece of the symbiote's matter will break off and seek a new host. This new symbiote will then lay dormant in the host for a short time before growing and manifesting itself.
PUBLIC IDENTITY: Eddie Brock's identity as Venom is public knowledge. Even in his human form, he is easily recognizable. Because of this, it is quite difficult for him to pass as an everyday civilian without some sort of disguise.
SONIC VULNERABILITY: The symbiote has shown to be extremely sensitive to sonic attacks. This can include attacks from sonic-based weapons or even loud, ringing sounds, such as church bells. These types of attacks stun the symbiote and then cause it to begin separating from its host.
THERMAL VULNERABILITY: The symbiote is vulnerable to fire and heat-based attacks. It will retreat from fire, and if it too close, will begin breaking apart and separating from its host.
PHENETHYLAMINE HUNGER: The symbiote is slowly developing a hunger for phenethylamine, a mood-controlling substance produced in the brains of mammals. This will eventually lead to the symbiote craving and feeding on human brains, an urge that Brock will have little power to suppress.
CANCER: While not aware of it at the moment, Eddie is at high risk to develop cancer. The symbiote's regenerative abilities can suppress the disease, but this means that if separated from the symbiote, Eddie's health could quickly degenerate.
MENTAL INSTABILITY: Eddie Brock is a highly unstable individual, and his mental state can thus be manipulated quite easily. One major component of this instability is his obsession with Spider-Man, which can cause him to make irrational decisions. At any given time, Brock is on the verge of a psychotic breakdown.
DESTITUTE: Eddie Brock lost his career, marriage, and nearly all of his personal possessions before bonding with the symbiote. He lacks financial resources of any kind and does not even have a permanent home. The symbiote is truly the only thing he has left.
DUAL PERSONALITY: While Brock and the symbiote have similar interests and motivations and usually have no problems agreeing, there have been times when they have disagreed. These conflicts can obviously put Venom at a large disadvantage until resolved as the two personalities struggle to reach an agreement. In these moments of confusion, Venom is highly susceptible to being caught off-guard.
FINITE CONSTITUENT MATTER: The matter that makes up the symbiote can be used up, such as when shooting an excessive amount of webbing in a short amount of time. When this happens, the symbiote itself begins shrinking, and in turn Venom quickly begins losing his powers. His only option at this point is to retreat so that the symbiote can regenerate itself.
HISTORY WITH SPIDER-MAN: While the symbiote and therefore Venom know a lot about Spider-Man, including his real identity, Spider-Man likewise knows much about the nature of the symbiote creature itself because of his time with it. Because of this, he is able to better exploit its weaknesses than others, making him a much more dangerous opponent.
