Read on to find out the strangest and most bizarre symbiotes in comic book history. If you thought Venom was strange wait till you see these guys.
In Secret Wars #8 (1984) Peter Parker finds a black shape-shifting alien suit. Little did he know it would create one of his greatest villains. Turns out the amorphous alien, known as a symbiote, was also an evil creature that took Eddie Brock as a host and has dogged Peter ever since. People love them, so they’ve shown up all over the Marvel universe. Maybe too many times.
The Venom movie is coming and features Tom Hardy as the hero. But the movie is also going to have some other lesser-known symbiote hosts. I’ll bet you’ll never see some of these strange ones.
For the purpose of this article, I’ll call them symbiotes but they’re really hosts of symbiotes. From dogs to centaurs. From T-Rex to pigs here are the weirdest and most bizarre Venom of all-time.
10. Lasher
First Appearance: Carnage, U.S.A. #2 (2012)
It’s hard to imagine anything weirder than man’s best friend turning into Venom but it happened.
When the Mercury team was fighting the symbiotes a dog was bonded to help fight in the war. An unnamed German Shepherd war dog was bonded to a symbiote and becomes man’s best fiend (see what I did there?).
Chief petty officer Marcus Simms was his handler. The dog became known as “Lasher”. Deadpool says he’s a war dog “whose bite is worse than his bark”.
9. Ben Grimm
First Appearance (Symbiote): Peter Parker – The Spectacular Spider-Man #304 (2018)
In an alternate timeline, Norman Osborn has created a dystopian future with his son as president. When Peter Parker joins the Resistance he sneaks into a super secret super tough prison. It seems easy. Until he meets the head guard who just happens to be a Venom infected Ben Grimm.
Super-strong, spider powers and rock hard skin makes for one weird supervillain.
8. Punisher Venom
First Appearance (as Symbiote): What If…? #44 (1992)
In another alternate reality story, Frank Castle is in the church instead of Eddie Brock. The symbiote feels his hatred for Spider-Man and bonds with him. The idea pretty much goes where you think it would as the ultra-violent Punisher becomes the ultra-violent Venom.
Instead of webbing, he shoots bullets. Instead of punching guys, he’s biting their heads off. Actually, this one is weird but kind of cool.
7. Rocket Racoon
First Appearance (as Symbiote): Guardians of the Galaxy #21 (2015)
Rocket Racoon is a raccoon. When Agent Venom started losing control of the symbiote it was taken by the Guardians of the Galaxy.
One of the hosts is Rocket who not only has Venom powers, he also has a cache of awesome weapons. Raccoons are usually cute but this one gets a pass.
6. Groot
First Appearance (as Symbiote): Guardians of the Galaxy #21 (2015)
Groot is a tree. A sentient tree. That’s pretty weird. But it got weirder. When the symbiote attacks Groot it takes him over and turns him into a bizarre plant/symbiote hybrid.
Instead of saying “I am Groot”. It says “I am Venom”. Groot is a shapeshifter himself, so you get a shapeshifter bonded with a shape-shifter.
5. Venomsaurus Rex
First Appearance: Wolverine #69 (2009)
Jurassic Park is scary, but this dude is even scarier. In an alternate reality, Old Man Wolverine and Old Man Hawkeye are traveling through a wasteland when a Tyrannosaurus Rex starts chasing them. Turns out the Venom symbiote bonded with a Savage Land dinosaur. It gets blasted by Old Man Black Bolt.
It shows up a few more times and is always awesome. Weird but awesome.
4. Venompool
First Appearance (Symbiote): “What If? Iron Man: Demon in an Armor” #1 (2011)
Peter Parker is known as the first symbiote host but it turns out Wade Wilson aka Deadpool was bonded before him. He’s hired by the Galactus to kill the Beyonder (the omnipotent space deity with a cosmic Jeri curl) for fusing M.O.D.O.K. to his butt. The symbiote gets the drop on him and turns him into a new cool anti-hero with sentient Jeri curls.
The Merc with a Mouth becomes the wackiest symbiote ever. It figures out that with his healing ability it can live forever eating chimichangas and breaking the fourth wall. Venompool returns several other times and is always suitably weird and fabulous.
3. Bizarro
First Appearance (Symbiote): Spider-Boy#1 (1996)
Once upon a time DC and Marvel started working together. It didn’t last but it left some awesome and weird cross-over comics known as “Amalgam”.
In the SuperboySpider-Man crossover comic introduced Bizarnage. He’s a combination of the opposite Superman known as Bizarro and the psychotic symbiote killer known as Carnage. Bizarro is normally dumb as rocks but when you add Carnage’s psycho personality it’s even more dangerous.
2. Pork Grind
First Appearance (Symbiote): What The–?! #20 (1992)
In the parody comic “What The” an alternate reality exists with funny animal cartoon character versions of the Marvel universe. This includes the character from the short-lived comic “Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham”. He’s a character that exists only to justify the pun.
In the comic, a burly Austrian black-suited Spider-Man shows up. He’s not given a back-story but from his costume, we have to assume he’s a symbiote like Venom. The two grapple but the character is wasted as a poor man’s parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
1. Marcus the Centaur Werewolf
First Appearance: Deadpool: The Gauntlet #8 (2014)
Just when you think it can’t get any stranger comes Marcus. First, he’s a half-man, half-horse centaur. Then he gets bitten and becomes a werewolf. Then he gets bonded to a symbiote. Dracula hired him along with some other monsters to hunt down Deadpool. Dracula called him “a perfect soldier with no weaknesses”.
Except for silver bullets, sonic attacks, and comfortable shoes. Plus he was diabetic so he had to stop for insulin shots. Other than that he was perfect.
There you have it! Now when your friends tell you Venom is strange you can tell them about the dog, the pig or the tree. That’ll shut ’em up.
Which is the weirdest symbiote of all time? Are there any I missed?
Note: Some links may lead to an approved affiliate and small proceeds from the sale go to support the blog. Thank you!
If you enjoyed this, then please use the buttons below to tell your friends about this post! Follow us! Email | RSS | Twitter | Facebook
