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Characters / Marvel Comics: Flash Thompson

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Colonel Eugene "Flash" Thompson / "Agent" Venom IV / "Agent" Anti-Venom II

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Click here to see as Eugene "Flash" Thompson 

Alter Ego: Colonel Eugene "Flash" Thompson

Notable Aliases: "Agent" Venom IV, "Agent" Anti-Venom II

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (as Flash Thompson); The Amazing Spider-Man #654 (as Venom IV); Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Inc. Alpha #1 (as Agent Anti-Venom)

"That suit's good now. Or it can be. I know—I helped make it that way."

Eugene "Flash" Thompson was a jock at Peter's high school, and thus "Puny Parker" often was the target of his abuse. However, once he became Spider-Man, Peter began standing up to Flash. Ironically, Flash was always a big fan of the wall-crawler. After college, the two went their separate ways, with Flash joining the army. His time there mellowed him out considerably. So much so, that by the time he saw Peter again, the two realized they had more in common than they thought, and soon even became friends. They even ended up teaching at their old high school together. Peter taught science, while Flash taught gym.

Flash enlisted in the army during the 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 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.

Flash Thompson has appeared in:

Notable Comic Book Appearances (Earth-616 Continuity)

In Alternate Universes

Notable Media Appearances

Flash Thompson provides examples of:

    open/close all folders 

    A-G 
  • Abusive Parents: Flash's struggles to deal with his physically and emotionally abusive father, who in the Remander and Bunn run is revealed to be terminally ill.
  • Adaptive Armor: 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 Destroyer's.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: 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.
  • The Alcoholic: Currently recovering after a relapse after stress with the passing of his 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.
  • Alternate Self: 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.
  • Anti-Hero: As Agent Venom, Flash was a Military Superhero who would be sent on missions by the government, and wasn't afraid to use lethal force if need-be but generally tried to emulate his longtime hero Spider-Man. However, his occasional relapses into alcoholism, issues regarding his terminally-ill father, and failing relationship with Betty Brant led him to go AWOL in the wake of Spider-Island. Flash ultimately repudiated using lethal force unless absolutely necessary, and tried to coach his protege Mania to avoid killing as well.
  • Anti-Hero Team: Flash joined the Red Hulk's Thunderbolts, a black ops team of 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.
  • Arch-Enemy: 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, 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.
  • Artificial Limbs: 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).
  • Ascended Extra: He was initially just a Jerk Jock who bullied Peter, but was a major fan of his web-slinging alter-ego. After the shift away from high school, Flash tended to stick to the background before becoming a soldier. After an accident cost him his legs, he got a second chance in serving his country. He is now the newest Venom, a member of The Avengers and dating Valkyrie. Now, that's impressive.
  • Ascended Fanboy: As a teenager, Flash was a Spidey-fanboy. Flash forward to post-Dark Reign, and Flash is made the government-issue Venom. Lampshaded when he gets the Venom suit. He shoots webs and wall crawls, shouting "I'm Spider-Man!" They correct him that he's actually the new Venom, and then he whines that some other super-heroes are Legacy Characters and he wanted to be one.
  • Back from the Dead: In the Venom tie-ins to King in Black, Flash is gradually resurrected, first as a codex memory, then taking over a symbiote dragon, then ultimately his human body.
  • Badass Normal: Well, he didn't earn his rank as Corporal in the U.S. Army on looks. Due to his military training and former boxing career, Flash is an experienced hand-to-hand fighter and a trained marksman.
  • Badass Teacher: He was the assistant gym coach at a Philadelphia high school and frequently finds himself butting heads with Darius Fowler, the local Jerk Jock and a Generation Xerox to his high school self.
  • Big Jerk on Campus: He started as this, as he was a Jerk Jock who ruled the school and relentlessly bullied Peter. He got better, though.
  • Bio-Armor: While symbiotes function as this for their hosts, encasing them in their biomass, Flash Thompson as Venom takes this more literally than most by having the Venom Symbiote take the form of biomechanical body armor.
  • Black Cloak: Morphs the symbiote into one while infiltrating the DOA cultists and when incognito at an alien bar.
  • Black Eyes of Evil: When under control the symbiote's eyes take the appearance of white-rimmed black lenses, though they usually revert to their customary appearance when it goes berserk.
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: 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.
  • Blown Across the Room: 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.
  • Bully Turned Buddy: He used to be a Jerk Jock who bullied Peter, but the two eventually became friends; he was even Peter's Best Man at his and MJ's wedding.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: 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.
  • Came Back Strong: At the end of King in Black, Flash's consciousness takes over a symbiote-dragon — which are magnitudes stronger than normal symbiotes — and then uses it to resurrect his corpse.
  • Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: A 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.
  • Character Development: He grew from being a Jerk Jock, to Jerk with a Heart of Gold, to one of Peter's closest friends in his adult life. His period in the army changed him from a reckless and immature youth to a tormented and conflicted man.
  • Chick Magnet: He's been described as very handsome by a few women. Betty, the Queen, Valkyrie, and that's just during his time as Venom.
  • Cursed with Awesome: 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.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: 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.
  • Dark Messiah: 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.
  • Deadpan Snarker: 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.
  • Deal with the Devil: After he's 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.
  • Demonic Possession: Gets a powerful demon put in him by 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 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.
  • Demon of Human Origin: Invoked towards the end of Venom (Remender & Bunn), 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 Planet Heck and his demon-form perched on a decapitated statue.
  • Depending on the Artist: Prior to joining the Guardians of the Galaxy, Flash's Agent Venom form had two main designs, dubbed "MK II◊" and "MK III◊" in the concept art. Which design was used depended largely on who was drawing him.
  • Draconic Humanoid: In Extreme Carnage: Phage, when Flash learns that Andi Benton 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 Jagged Mouth evocative of the original Anti-Venom's, four horns, and a set of draconic wings.
  • Embarrassing First Name: "Flash" referred to his instance of premature ejaculation.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: He is the government-sanctioned 4th incarnation of Venom.
  • Enemy Mine: 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.
  • Face–Heel Turn: 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.
  • Failure Hero: 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.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: After transitioning from an Enemy Mine through Teeth-Clenched Teamwork, Flash's relationship with the Venom symbiote — especially post-purification — has become this. Even after it's re-corrupted by Mercurio, Flash 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.
  • Fish out of Water: 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.
  • Frameup: When Sha Shan was attacked by the Hobgoblin, Flash made the mistake of insulting the villain on television. Hobgoblin took revenge by abducting Flash and framing him as Hobgoblin's true identity. Spider-Man was aghast that his old friend was a villain, but Flash was legally exonerated when Hobgoblin's true identity was revealed.
  • Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Flash Thompson wasn't truly a villain, but this was the reason he was such a jerkass in high school. His dad was an angry alcoholic who abused both him and his mom. A story arc in the 90's involved Flash — directionless, lonely and increasingly bitter — developing a drinking problem like his father before him, leading to a car crash that got Flash arrested again and cost him his job as a school gym teacher. By this time, Flash had begun blaming much of his troubles on his family in general and his father in particular, but a violent confrontation with his father finally forced Flash to realize that he had become the same sort of self-deluded wreck his father was, and that only he could take responsibility for fixing his life. Flash sobered up and started trying to turn his life around.
  • Friendly Enemy: 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."
  • Get Out!:
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom: 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.
  • Good Counterpart:
    • Flash is one to Eddie Brock, who he shares many similarities with. However, while Flash manages to suppress the symbiote (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 Alejandra's Antithesis, it was designed to look like an angelic version of Agent Venom.
  • Guns Akimbo: 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.

    H-Z 
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: 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 Buttons that set him off, like being offered alcohol, Jack O'Lantern's antics, his girlfriend being threatened, and his father. Unfortunately, Flash getting angry gives the symbiote a foothold to take control and start eating people.
  • Handicapped Badass: Proves it during a battle without the symbiote suit against a equally depowered and legless Cletus Kasady during the Carnage U.S.A. series.
  • Hates My Secret Identity: In nearly every version of the franchise, Peter Parker in his younger days is bullied by Flash Thompson who idolizes Spider-Man.
  • Headbutting Heroes:
    • 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 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 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.
  • Healing Factor: 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.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: Even though Flash tries to keep his activities as Venom strictly heroic, he's saddled with the symbiote's bloodlust and reputation for eating people. This leads to him getting into fights with various superheroes — including his idol Spider-Man and Captain America.
  • Heroic Host: 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.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: 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.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • Back in the high school days he once admitted that it was he that started a fight with Parker, after Parker got caught fighting.
    • In the Gathering of the Sinister Six novel, the other characters are flabbergasted when Flash makes a Citizen Kane reference. He indignantly responds that he has seen some good movies.
  • Hollywood Cyborg: In Superior Spider-Man, "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.
  • Honey Trap: The Thunderbolts Annual has the team acquiring mystical weapons for use against a rogue Doctor Strange (actually a disguised Eldritch Abomination). Flash's mission involved... seducing and sleeping with his on/off girlfriend Valkyrie, while The Punisher raided her armory and made off with her Cool Sword.
  • Honor Before Reason: Has had bouts of this since the end of the Savage Six arc and his joining the Avengers.
  • Hulking Out:
    • When the Venom 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.
    • In Savage Avengers Vol. 2, Flash is shown taking on Eddie Brock's Anti-Venom appearance when he gets particularly pissed off or his symbiote decides to go berserk.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: 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 Thunderbolts #17, he loses control and is shown chowing down on an armed thug's intestines.
  • I Cannot Self-Terminate:
    • The Punisher 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.
  • I Hate Past Me: 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 Generation Xerox of his old self, which infuriates him to no end.
  • I Just Want to Be Special: After losing the symbiote, Flash laments to Betty Brant that he misses being a superhero and hates being a normal human.
  • I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: Flash refuses to be called a superhero, especially one remotely close to being at the level of his idol Spider-Man. He's just Venom.
  • Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Flash is not adverse to terrifying criminals by threatening to eat them.
  • Jagged Mouth: After joining the Guardians of the Galaxy his appearance changed, with him manifesting a mouth lined with solid black teeth.
  • Jerk Jock: Started as this to Pete, bullying him regularly.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Became this later.
  • Just Eat Him: When Deadpool tried — badly — impersonating Spider-Man during Flash's fight with the Thunderbolts, Venom simply chewed him up before spitting him out in pieces.
  • Kid Sidekick: Gets one in the form of Mania when the Venom symbiote's clone bonds to his teenaged neighbour Andrea Benton.
  • La Résistance: Secret Wars: Spider-Island 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 Spider-Woman, The Vision, the furry half of Werewolf by Night, Stegron, Spider-Man, and monster-ized versions of Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, the Hulk, Betty Brant, Mary Jane Watson, Carlie Cooper, and Sharon Carter.
  • Legacy Character: Flash was technically the second Agent Venom, his precursor being a man named Cal Henriksen... who almost immediately lost control of the Venom symbiote, forcing his superiors to terminate him.
  • Light Is Good: As Agent Anti-Venom, his symbiote is a white-and-black version of his Agent Venom appearance.
  • Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: Picked on Peter in high school, but was Spidey's biggest fan.
  • Man Bites Man: He bites off Toxin's arm during their first rematch, and occasionally munches on thugs to satiate the symbiote's hunger.
  • The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: 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.
  • Military Superhero: He's a colonel in the US military and was working for them until a short time after the Spider-Island arc. Following that, he served under Captain America 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.
  • Mind Rape: An ability Flash's "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.
  • Mistaken for Gay: Deadpool jokes that Flash has the hots for General Ross. His response:
    Agent Venom: Don't ask; don't tell.
  • Monstrous Humanoid:
    • When the Venom 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.
    • When Flash starts losing control of the symbiote in Guardians of the Galaxy, it shifts into a very H. R. Giger-y form dubbed "Cosmic Venom" by its concept art.
    • As Agent Anti-Venom in Extreme Carnage, he starts transforming into a Draconic Humanoid with horns, wings, and a Jagged Mouth when he learns Alchemax has captured Andi Benton to use as a test subject. In Savage Avengers, he transforms into Eddie Brock's classic Anti-Venom look when his symbiote goes berserk.
  • Muscles Are Meaningful: The Venom symbiote significantly bulks its host up, although Flash's default form as Agent Venom was more Heroic Build.
  • '90s Anti-Hero: Played With. With Flash regularly using guns and the symbiote resembling body armor when bonded with him, he looks like this trope even more so than Eddie, the original Venom host. Though it ends up being a subversion, since despite his weaponry, Flash himself is much more of a hero (or a Classic Anti Hero) as opposed to Eddie.
  • Off the Wagon: 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.
  • One-Winged Angel: He has three as Agent Venom: 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. In Guardians of the Galaxy, losing control of the symbiote causes it to shift into a nightmarish form called "Cosmic Venom".
  • Promotion to Parent: In his long list of aspirations, Flash notes that the one thing he never wanted to be was a father due to 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.
  • Puppeteer Parasite: The symbiote tries to usurp control of Flash whenever he gets sufficiently angry or the drugs suppressing it wear off. Its Horror Hunger even managed to freak out a demon Daimon Hellstrom put into Flash, though the two of them seem to have become 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.
  • Put on a Bus: Thanks to some manipulation from Norman Osborn, Flash wound up in a coma for years. He eventually snapped back out in the 2000s, though it came at the cost of all his character development (and knowledge of Peter's secret identity).
  • Rage Breaking Point: 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 and only recalled it for the sake of completing his mission. 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 while 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.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: When he joins the Thunderbolts, Flash shifts the white parts of the symbiote to red, much to Deadpool's derision.
    Agent Venom: ...I might as well fall into compliance.
    Deadpool: Brown-noser.
    Agent Venom: Uniforms serve a purpose, you little $%&#%#. They let the dumber ones in the squad know which people not to shoot.
  • Redeeming Replacement: The fourth Venom is a gun-toting military operative who looks like he takes fashion tips from the Punisher - but he's still a Spidey fanboy at heart. He even refused to kill Cletus during Carnage USA because he knew he'd have to answer to Spider-Man afterwards. "I know it's silly, but I'm kind of a fan."
  • Reformed Bully: Flash used to be the guy who bullied Peter back in high school. He got better as he got older and became a hero in his own right and one of Peter's friends.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Felicia Hardy — alias Black Cat — dates him in order to make Peter jealous, but is surprised when she actually falls in love with him. She eventually proposed marriage to him but Flash breaks up with her, as he feels he cannot keep up with her high-speed lifestyle.
  • Re-Power: While Flash may have lost the Venom symbiote, as part of Venom Inc. he became Agent Anti-Venom.
  • Scaled Up: In Savage Avengers Vol. 2, Flash reveals he can transform into a symbiote-dragon at-will and does so to take the fight to the eldritch serpent-god Set.
  • Second Super-Identity: 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.
  • Self-Destruct Mechanism: 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.
  • Shipper on Deck: For Peter and MJ, during the Wedding Annual. When Peter has second thoughts about it at his bachelor party (which given this is family friendly is three guys having a toast at a bar), Flash insists that despite having a failed marriage himself, he still believes that getting married is special and he insists that Peter go ahead and then cheers him on.
    Flash: I think about being married all the time. My foul-ups have only made that kind of happiness even more desirable, more precious! And if you've got a chance for that buddy, you'd darned well better go for it!
  • Sleep Walking: 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.
  • Speak in Unison: Mania does this to annoy him while he's threatening Crossbones and Master Mayham.
  • Spikes of Villainy: 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.
  • Superhero Packing Heat: 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.
  • Superpowered Evil Side:
    • 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.
  • Tainted Veins: There are visible veins in Flash's "mask" in Carnage U.S.A.
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
    • 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 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.
  • Terror Hero: Like Eddie, Flash is a Type 1 + 3 more than willing to bust out the teeth, talons, and Brain Food threats to scare thugs into submission.
  • The Vietnam Vet: He volunteered for the Vietnam War at one point, though this was later retconned as Marvel entered the Sliding Time Scale and away from Comic-Book Time.
  • Theme Mobile: Once had the symbiote merge with a junked car to create the Venom-Mobile◊, which came complete with an "Agent Venom" Vanity License Plate.
  • Token Good Teammate: 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.
  • Took a Level in Kindness:
    • After Flash entered Empire State University, his relationship with Peter Parker became progressively less hostile. While the two still traded the occasional insult, Flash had grown to respect Peter's intelligence and was surprised by his popularity with the girls.
    • When he returned to America after his period in the army, he dropped his antagonism toward Peter. Peter, in turn, began to respect Flash's new found maturity and the two became close friends.
  • Top-Heavy Guy:
    • 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.
    • Space Knight Venom was given a bulky appearance as a deliberate callback to when Eddie first wore the symbiote.
  • Troubled Abuser: It is revealed in more recent comics that one of the reasons he was a hottempered bully in high-school comes from him being abused by his alcoholic father.
  • Undying Loyalty: To Spider-Man, he continued to back and defend Spider-Man even when it was most inconvenient.
  • Unstoppable Rage: After C-List Fodder 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 break off Hijacker's fingers and brutally beat him to near-death, then tells the thug to beg for his life before 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.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Flash and Peter rib each other over their past relationship as a Jerk Jock and nerd, though they're Headbutting Heroes as Venom and Spider-Man.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: 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.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: All Flash wanted growing up was his abusive alcoholic father's approval.
  • Winged Humanoid: When Flash loses control of the symbiote after joining the Guardians, his new Venom form has bizarre bat/insect wings instead of arms.
  • Working with the Ex: His physical therapist ended up being his ex-wife Sha Shan Nguyen.

Alternative Title(s): Venom Flash Thompson

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