History Comicbook / Venom

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Some see him as this to ComicBook/{{Bane}}; They are both bigger, nastier ShadowArchetype counterparts of the heroes they fight, both wore down their opponent mentally before beating them in their first appearance, and both have had lengthy stints as anti-Heroes and evolving motives. (However unlike Bane, Venom stayed as a anti-hero.)

** ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' introduced a retcon that, at first glance, appears to throw out almost ''all'' the previously established lore regarding symbiotes: most symbiotes are benevolent and transform their hosts into noble warriors and paragons of justice intended to protect their the cosmos. Unworthy hosts like Eddie Brock, Mac Gargan, and Cletus Kasady can corrupt them into the predatory monsters most are familiar with, which led to the establishment of the intergalactic empire of predatory parasites established in the original ''Planet of the Symbiotes'' arc. The reason given for this retcon is particularly grating, however, since it insinuates that ViewersAreGoldfish at best and ViewersAreMorons at worst.
** PlayedForLaughs in ''Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars'' #3, where it's revealed that the symbiote briefly bonded to SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} before it was found by Spider-Man. This sets up ''[[http://comicbook.com/marvel/2016/07/22/exclusive-deadpool-gets-a-symbiote-in-back-in-black/ Deadpool: Back in Black]]'', which showcases Deadpool's previously unseen adventures with the symbiote.

* ShaggyDogStory: The symbiote's redemption arc in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' and ''Venom: Space Knight'', as [[StatusQuoIsGod it is quickly re-corrupted]].

** In ''Guardians of the Galaxy''[='=]s "Planet Venom" arc, the Venom symbiote is returned to its homeworld and purged of its corruption, becoming a force for good. The subsequent series, ''Venom: Space Knight'' and ''Venom'' Vol. 3, undid this development.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Some see him as this to ComicBook/{{Bane}}; They are both bigger, nastier ShadowArchetype counterparts of the heroes they fight, both wore down their opponent mentally before beating them in their first appearance, and both have had lengthy stints as Anti-Heroes and evolving motives.

** Eddie himself was given terminal adrenal cancer, changing both the explanation for why he wanted to kill himself and why the symbiote bonded to him. In ''Lethal Protector'' Eddie was given a fairly sympathetic backstory, but ''Dark Origin'' turned him into a pathological liar who deserved his humiliation and comeuppance. The only details kept the same were Eddie's father blaming him for his mother's death, him being a journalist and Ann Weying a lawyer, and the symbiote bonding to him in a church, to the point where [[http://4thletter.net/2008/09/venoms-shiny-new-origin-if-it-aint-broke-dont-fix-it/ a critical reviewer]] wondered if the writer and artist had done nothing more than consult Venom's {{Wiki/Wikipedia}} page for research due to the sheer number of {{Series Continuity Error}}s present in it.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Thaddeus Paine was introduced as a ComicBook/{{Morbius}} villain, but is possibly more well-known for his appearance in ''Venom: The Hunger'', probably because [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse it was his last]].

* AntiHero: Or AntiVillain, depending on the host: Peter Parker is a straight-up hero; Eddie Brock was a SociopathicHero before mellowing out into a UnscrupulousHero; Angelo Fortunato was a DirtyCoward, Mac Gargan was an AxCrazy VillainWithGoodPublicity; Flash is a straight-up [[TheHero hero]], or at least [[SuperpoweredEvilSide he tries to be]]; and the Superior Spider-Man is an UnscrupulousHero turned NominalHero.
* ArchEnemy: One of the three big ones for Spidey, alongside Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin. Venom mainly filled the role from the late eighties to the mid-nineties, after which his career as an anti-hero and afterwards his status as a LegacyCharacter caused him to drop out of the role in favour of the other two, which are still competing for the title.

* AngelFaceDemonFace: The way Venom looks ties closely with the relative morality of the symbiote's host. On the heroic side, Peter's suit looks more or less like his usual costume but in black; heroic soldier Flash Thompson wears what looks like body armor (unless he loses his temper); in the ''Comicbook/SpiderGirl'' series, Normie Osborn had what looked like the usual suit but with his face visible underneath and no fangs; and in ''Comicbook/EarthX'' it looks just like a regular suit that May is wearing (but [[ClingyCostume can't take off]]). On the evil side of things, Eddie Brock's costume usually looks the same as Peter's but has MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily, claws, and a lolling tongue; and when the eviler Mac Gargan and Lee Price wear the symbiote it looks even more monstrous than Brock's usual version.

* AngelFaceDemonFace: The way Venom looks ties closely with the relative morality of the symbiote's host. On the heroic side, Peter's suit looks more or less like his usual costume but in black; heroic soldier Flash Thompson wears what looks like body armor (unless he loses his temper); and in the ''Comicbook/SpiderGirl'' series, Normie Osborn had what looked like the usual suit but with his face visible underneath and no fangs. On the evil side of things, Eddie Brock's costume usually looks the same as Peter's but has MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily, claws, and a lolling tongue; and when the eviler Mac Gargan and Lee Price wear the symbiote it looks even more monstrous than Brock's usual version.

** ''ComicBook/WaroftheRealms''

** ''Venom: First Host'': 1 - 5: A miniseries acting as a conclusion to Mike Costa's run on Venom.[[/index]]

** ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage''

* EvilCounterpart: Eddie as Venom is generally considered '''the''' one for Spider-Man. Both Peter and Eddie had worked under news agencies and both gain the same spider-esque abilities, although while Peter is honest with his journalism and is a humble hero who acknowledges that power must be used responsibly, Eddie was a corrupt liar who got fired as a result, merging with the symbiote out of a mutual hatred for Spider-Man, and using his new power to kill him, or at least destroy his life. Nowadays however, [[CharacterDevelopment things changed, and so had Eddie and Venom.]]

** ''Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2'': Mac Gargan's Venom form is playable, with Eddie Brock's as an alternate costume

* Diane Duane's [=CCRC=] Trilogy

* ''Spider-Man: Venom's Wrath''

* ''Spider-Man The Lizard Sanction''
* Venom Trilogy

** ''Spider-Man: Venom's Wrath''

* RoguesGallery: Venom in his spin-off series Venom has his own villains to deal with his Arch-Enemy is {{Carnage}}, Pyre, Sin-Eaters, Crime-Master, Jack O'Lantern, Symbiote Slayers, The Jury, and many others.

Venom is a ''Creator/MarvelComics'' character, and arguably one of the most famous of Franchise/SpiderMan's RoguesGallery, though over time his character and motivation have [[CharacterDevelopment evolved]]. To date there have been [[LegacyCharacter four different men and two women who have assumed the mantle of Venom]].

* EerieArcticResearchStation: * The 2003 ''Venom'' series kicks off with an evil clone of the Venom symbiote massacring and escaping from the Northern Canadian research station that was studying it. It makes its way to a nearby radar base, jumping from host to host as it looks for one that will last long enough to bring it to civilization.

** ''Venom'' Vol. 3 1 - 6 (Lee Price; the return of Eddie Brock)

** ''Venom'' Vol. 1: 150 - 165

** ''Venom'' Vol. 4: 1 - Ongoing

Following ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', Venom got a new ongoing, ''ComicBook/VenomSpaceKnight'', as part of the ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'' relaunch. Following ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'', in which Venom returns to Earth, the symbiote was separated from Flash and acquired a new, villainous host: Lee Price, a former Army Ranger able to dominate the symbiote with his will... at least until it broke free and reunited with Eddie Brock.

* ''Film/Venom2018''