History Characters / MarvelComicsEddieBrock

* AndThenWhat: Dryly notes he'll sit out the end of the eighth multiverse and see the birth of the ninth, and has no idea what he'll do then; either become a cautionary example for the next King in Black, or get a Porsche. "Either way, I plan to enjoy my retirement."

* DarkIsNotEvil: Identifies as a black magician compared to the Beyonders' white, but takes the time to note this doesn't necessarily make him a villain any more than their being the Ivory Kings makes them good.

* FutureMeScaresMe: Meridius is terrified of becoming this guy, and everything he does is an attempt to stop that happening.

* TheNthDoctor: [[spoiler:The absolute last of Eddie's future selves, and the inevitable end result for all of them.]]
* ScrewYouElves: Not expressed directly, but his disdain towards the Beyonders when Eddie realizes they're the King in Black's light counterpart makes it clear how he feels about them.

!!!'''Species:''' Human

!!'''Venom I''' / Anti-Venom I / Toxin II / Sleeper I / Captain Universe / King in Black II

!!'''Venom I''' / Anti-Venom I / Toxin II

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Web of Spider-Man'' #18; ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #299 (as Venom); ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #569 (as Anti-Venom); ''Venom'' Vol. 2, #17 (as Toxin II)

* RedemptionPromotion: Eddie in the 616 verse is usually a lot more powerful or competent as an anti-hero than a straight villain. As Anti-Venom, Toxin, or the King in Black he lacks his usual weaknesses or has extra superpowers he doesn't have as Venom. This carries over to the symbiote in modern times as well.

* FitnessNut: Not as extreme as other examples, but Eddie does like to work out. In ''Venom: On Trial'', Kasady mentions that Brock was always doing sit-ups and the like when they were cell mates, and in the [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries 1994 animated Spider-Man series]], Peter once tracked down Eddie through his home gym equipment.

* AntiHero: As Venom, Eddie starts off as a NominalHero before mellowing into an UnscrupulousHero, killing almost anyone who got in his way provided he didn't consider them "innocent". As Anti-Venom, he made an effort to stop killing people, but occasionally slipped back into his Lethal Protector mindset. As Toxin, however, he fully reverted back to his Lethal Protector mindset and has no problem killing and eating bad guys. Once returning to being Venom, Eddie is making an effort to stop killing people again, even chewing out his symbiote for killing a bunch of thieves, and has further mellowed into a PragmaticHero.

** The Venom symbiote notes that while Eddie says that he dislikes [[Characters/SpiderManLoveInterests Liz Allan]], he also thinks about her a lot and experiences "strange feelings" whenever they visit her at Alchemax.

* ShaggyDogStory: Played with. ''AXIS: Carnage'' has a demonic Sin-Eater, claiming to be the ghost of Emil Gregg, repeatedly declare that he was the original Sin-Eater and that Stan Carter was the copycat. Upon hearing this, unscrupulous reporter Alice Gleason accepts the possibility of Eddie Brock had been right out-of-hand but the demonic Sin-Eater's claim and identity were never officially confirmed. Though Emil's reappearance in Donny's run at the very least implies he and the demonic Sin-Eater are indeed one and the same and he still claims to be the orginal.

** Despite his obsession with his ex-wife Ann Weying, in the '90s series Eddie had a crush on Beck Underwood, a lawyer fighting to protect the homeless people living in the underground city beneath San Francisco.

** As Anti-Venom, his relationship with Jenna Cole was ''very'' possessive.

[[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | [[Characters/VenomMainHosts Main hosts of Venom]] ('''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]]\\

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

* ShaggyDogStory: Played with. ''AXIS: Carnage'' has a demonic Sin-Eater claiming to be the ghost of Emil Gregg repeatedly declares that he was the original Sin-Eater and that Stan Carter was the copycat. Upon hearing this, unscrupulous reporter Alice Gleason dismisses the possibility of Eddie Brock had been right out-of-hand, and the demonic Sin-Eater's claim and identity were never officially confirmed.

* ShaggyDogStory: Played with. Apparently out he was right about Emil Greg being the original Sin Eater, and Stan Carter was the copycat all along. This was never officially confirmed though.

Eddie Brock was raised a devout Catholic by his [[AbusiveParents cold and distant]] father, who blamed Eddie for his wife's death during childbirth, resulting in a distance between the two that instilled in Eddie a need to [[WellDoneSonGuy impress his father]]. As an adult, Eddie marries Anne Weying, a lawyer, and becomes a successful journalist for the Daily Globe in New York. Eddie's luck changes for the worst when he is contacted by a a man claiming to be the serial killer called the Sin-Eater. Eddie's interviews with the Sin-Eater initially bring him great success until the police force him to out his source, Emil Gregg. Unbeknownst to Eddie, the very next day Spider-Man seemingly debunks Brock's article by capturing a copy cat going by the name Stan Carter. Brock is subsequently [[TraumaCongaLine fired from the Daily Globe, divorced by his wife, and disowned by his father]]. Reputation destroyed, he is only able to find employment as a two-bit writer for a disreputable tabloid. [[FreudianExcuse Blaming Spider-Man for his troubles]], he begins to work out obsessively in an attempt to assuage his rage, but eventually Eddie [[DespairEventHorizon cannot take it anymore]] and goes to the Our Lady of Saints church to pray for forgiveness for the [[DrivenToSuicide suicide he is contemplating]] -- unaware that Spider-Man had used the bells in the selfsame church to drive away his symbiotic Black Suit. The symbiote, lying in wait for an appropriate host, is drawn to Brock's mutual obsession with Spider-Man and bonds with him. In the process, Brock learns Spider-Man's true identity, and Brock's overwhelming hatred for Spider-Man [[TheCorrupter turns the already bitter]] symbiote's love into a [[IfICantHaveYou twisted obsession]].

** Although Emil Greg was the actual Sin Eater, Eddie being forced into outing him by the police and his boss, and Spider-Man catching the supposed "real" Sin-Eater the following day was just a bad coincidence, but the mistake sparked a series of unfortunate events that ruined Eddie's professional and personal life, and he blamed Spider-Man for his misfortune.

* ShaggyDogStory: Turns out he was right about Emil Greg being the original Sin Eater, and Stan Carter was the copycat all along.

* EvilCounterpart: To Peter Parker, and later Flash Thompson. AS both Venom and Toxin Eddie Brock is pretty much what Peter and Flash would be he had Knight Templar qualities and never bothered to suppress the Symbiote they possessed.

* EvilMeScaresMe: The reason he hates the symbiote so much is because of the things he did under its influence. Even after rebonding to it and becoming Venom again, Eddie is unsure if that was the right decision to make given its renewed proclivity for excessive violence and that when he was unconscious it almost killed a innocent priest, and is making an effort to find out what happened to put it back in its vicious state. [[spoiler:He's also very (and rightfully) suspicious of Meridius when he introduces himself as his aid in the Time Garden, yet allows Bedlam to tear Finnegan apart. To say that Meridius revealing himself to be an Eddie Brock from a far future is something that does not sit well with Eddie. AT ALL]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Part of being Peter's EvilCounterpart, he's known to be the villain that actually makes ''Spidey'' scream "Shut up!"

* OffModel: Purposely done by artist John Romita, Jr., who depicted Venom as being perpetually warped and distorted.

[[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | [[Characters/VenomMainHosts Main hosts of Venom]] ('''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]]\\

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Eddie went from being a disgraced, terminally ill journalist to a monstrous villain simply by virtue of being in the right place at the right time. [[spoilers: Taken even further when taking Meridius into account, who is an Eddie Brock so far into the future, he manipulates Eddie and the other Kings in Black (i.e, himself from different points in time) in order to create a StableTimeLoop, ensuring that Eddie will eventually turn into him]].

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Eddie's and the symbiote's vendetta against Spider-Man is a classic case of this: Eddie for losing his job and reputation; the symbiote for being rejected. As Anti-Venom, when Eddie learns his LivingEmotionalCrutch Jenna Cole is back on drugs again... the [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge result isn't pretty]]. [[spoilers: His future counterpart Bedlam basically lives off this trope, wanting to destroy Meridius; but he's so caught up in his anger, it allows Meridius to manipulate Bedlam to do his bidding]].

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Eddie went from being a disgraced, terminally ill journalist to a monstrous villain simply by virtue of being in the right place at the right time.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Eddie's and the symbiote's vendetta against Spider-Man is a classic case of this: Eddie for losing his job and reputation; the symbiote for being rejected. As Anti-Venom, when Eddie learns his LivingEmotionalCrutch Jenna Cole is back on drugs again... the [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge result isn't pretty]].

* EvilMeScaresMe: The reason he hates the symbiote so much is because of the things he did under its influence. Even after rebonding to it and becoming Venom again, Eddie is unsure if that was the right decision to make given its renewed proclivity for excessive violence and that when he was unconscious it almost killed a innocent priest, and is making an effort to find out what happened to put it back in its vicious state. [[spoiler:He's also very suspicious of his future counterpart Meridius (though Eddie didn't know it at the time) when he allows Bedlam to tear Finnegan apart]].

* EvilMeScaresMe: The reason he hates the symbiote so much is because of the things he did under its influence. Even after rebonding to it and becoming Venom again, Eddie is unsure if that was the right decision to make given its renewed proclivity for excessive violence and that when he was unconscious it almost killed a innocent priest, and is making an effort to find out what happened to put it back in its vicious state.
* EvilWearsBlack: As Venom with his black costume contrasting vividly with Spider-Man's brightly colored red and blue. Notably intinally after his start into his anti-hero transtion he was colored more to be [[BlueIsHeroic blue]] in the [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack '90s]] despite earlier comics with him as a villain just coloring him black.

* TheExtremistWasRight: While as Anti-Venom, Eddie claimed that the symbiotes were a bunch of demons corrupting humanity, and it turns out that this claim has some truth to it. As Knull orginally created the symbiotes to corrupt creation and bring them under his control, only for the symbiotes to later rebel and turn on him after being disconnected from his hivemind and bonding to humanity.

** Although Emil Greg was the actual Sin Eater, Eddie being forced into outting him by the police and his boss, and Spider-Man catching the supposed "real" Sin-Eater the following day was just a bad coincidence, but the mistake sparked a series of unfortunate events that ruined Eddie's professional and personal life, and he blamed Spider-Man for his misfortune.

** Lampshaded in ''Venom'' Annual #1, where a group of villains at the [[BadGuyBar Bar with No Name]] tell each other Venom stories. Black Cat speaks of how she once got the jump on him and kicked him into an exploding car, the bartender speaks of how Venom once fought Wolverine, who mocked him for picking only on Spider-Man and got the better of him in that particular bout, and lastly a third patron speaks of how Venom once went toe-to-toe with Juggernaut - while claiming the entire time that Venom was out of his depth and got curb-stomped, [[UnreliableNarrator although the actual flashback shows Venom fending him off]]. Mac Gargan -- who once was Venom himself, mind you -- starts [[TemptingFate outright mocking Venom and asking why anything he just heard should give him the scares]]. [[spoiler:Then it turns out the third patron was Venom in disguise and he sends the bar's entire patronage running for their lives. Mac Gargan is ''not'' amongst the lucky ones, with the ending of the issue implying that Venom ate him, though later it would be revealed that he surived.]]

** Eddie's involvement in [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfJeanDeWolff the Sin-Eater]] storyline is this. In the original story, Emil Gregg went to the Daily Bugle armed with a gun intent on killing Jameson because of his anti-vigilante stance. Peter (who wasn't in Spider-Man gear at the time) knocked him out with a typewriter alowing him to be subdued and arrested. Daredevil was able to deduce that Gregg wasn't the Sin-Eater by listening to his heartbeat and finding out it didn't match the real Sin-Eater's. A search of Gregg's apartment and the discovery that he was the neighbor of Stan Carter, the actual Sin-Eater, proved Daredevil's claim. The story makes no mention of Gregg talking to a reporter about being the Sin-Eater yet Brock's origin as told in ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #300 has him as the one who turned Gregg over to the police instead of the Daily Bugle staff.