History Characters / Carnage

* PsychoSupporter: Neely is a serial killer who idolizes the late, great Cletus Kasady, and accompanies the Carnage symbiote as it tries to educate him on the finer points of murder.

* HearingVoices: His PsychicLink to Cletus Kasady's codex leaves him with the serial killer's voice in his mind.
* HeroicHost: He's bonded to a piece of the Carnage symbiote, which grants him superhuman strength, speed, and durability; a HealingFactor, and a PsychicLink to Cletus Kasady's codex.

* WorthyOpponent: Carnage sees him as something of a kindred spirit, and saves his life as a test to see how far he's willing to go to bring Ken Neely to justice.

* SerialKiller: Neely was given the unsub moniker of "The Artist" due to making grusome "art" out of his victims.

[[folder:Detective Jon Shayde]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' [[spoiler: Plague]]

[[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | [[Characters/VenomMainHosts Main hosts of Venom]] ([[Characters/VenomEddieBrock Eddie Brock]]) | [[Characters/VenomOtherHosts Other hosts of Venom]] | [[Characters/AlternateIncarnationsOfVenom Alternate Incarnations of Venom]] | [[Characters/VenomSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]]\\

!!Supporting Characters

[[folder:Doppelgänger]]
!!Doppelgänger
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnage_005_023.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''The Infinity War'' #1

--> '''Doppelganger:''' Grrrr!
--> '''Carnage:''' That's my line--! I'm supposed to be the monster here!

Originally a "living geometric pattern" that resided in another dimension, Doppelgänger and several other members of his kind were turned into twisted duplicates of various superheroes by the Magus during the Infinity War. Unlike the other knock-offs, this one survived that event, and has periodically resurfaced to torment the real Spider-Man.

For more information on him, please refer to the Spider-Man '''[[Characters/SpiderManClones Clones]]''' page.

[[folder:Shriek]]
!!Shriek
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnshriek_8852.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Frances Louise Barrison
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' #1

-> '''Cletus, via the Carnage Symbiote:''' She screams her pain as death and hatred. She kills for me. I like it. When it gets boring, I'll put her down like my mother's dog. I am Carnage. Killing someone I love will make me happy. So happy.

As a child, Frances Barrison was abused by her parents, especially her mother, whose cruelty drove her to drugs, overeating, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and heavy metal]]. Frances' mental stability was further damaged when she was shot in the head during an altercation with the police, and when she had a run-in with heroes ComicBook/CloakAndDagger, whose powers did ''something'' to her, giving her various superhuman abilities of her own. Now fully capable of taking revenge on the world she blames for her misery, Frances -- calling herself Shriek -- found soul mates of sorts in the form of her "husband" Carnage, and "son" Doppelganger.

For more information on her, please refer to the Spider-Man '''[[Characters/SpiderManRoguesGalleryItoZ rogues gallery]]''' page.

[[folder:Doctor Jenner]]
!!Doctor Jenner
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jenner_2.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Superior Carnage Annual'' #1

--> ''"You don't have to keep holding on. Carnage has no hold on you. You're your own man now. You can die a man's death. Doesn't that sound fine? After all... what good are you without the symbiote? Hmm? And the way you are right now... so weak... so pitiful... why would Carnage want you? Carnage wants a worthy host... not some bed-ridden has-been. I know it's coming... I know you can sense it. And when it gets here... it will find me waiting... and you--dead! Don't worry, Cletus. I'll take good care of Carnage."''

A therapist working at Kramer Penitentiary, Dr. Jenner requested to work with spree killer Cletus Kasady, who had been separated from the Carnage symbiote by the Superior Spider-Man. Under his guidance, Cletus was admitted into the general populace and finally seemed ready to sever his psychological ties with the symbiote. However, Jenner secretly desired to become the symbiote's new host and hired an inmate to shank Cletus, smothering him when he learned the symbiote was on its way. When it reached the prison, Jenner offered himself to it, but it vehemently rejected him and resuscitated Cletus, who proceeded to kill Jenner along with the rest of the prisoners.

* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Pun aside, when face-to-face with the symbiote he gushes about how he's dreamed of becoming its host. The symbiote is not amused.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: He kills Cletus Kasady in an effort to convince the symbiote to take him as its next host. It doesn't work.
* PsychoPsychologist: He only agreed to be Cletus' shrink to become the next incarnation of Carnage, and had Cletus murdered when the opportunity presented itself.
* TheShrink: He was a therapist at the Kramer Penitentiary.

[[folder:Sin-Eater I]]
!!Sin-Eater I
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sincarn_8507.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Emil Gregg
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man'' #107

--> '''Sin-Eater:''' I can smell your sin. Like a mountain so massive that merely contemplating it requires madness.
--> '''Carnage:''' I tried confession, but that really didn't work.

A man who contacted Eddie Brock claiming to be the Sin-Eater serial killer, but was seemingly exposed as a compulsive confessor. In the wake of Carnage's morality (or lack thereof) being altered by the events of ''ComicBook/{{Axis}}'', he was found to have died, but returns as a sin-eating demon, and places the symbiote serial killer in his crosshairs after Cletus interferes with his mission to wipe out the press. After becoming Dark Carnage, Cletus used his new symbiote to reanimate Gregg and send him after Eddie Brock.

For more information on him, please refer to the Venom '''[[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]]''' page.

[[folder:Alice Gleason]]
!!Alice Gleason
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alicecarn_7841.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Axis: Carnage'' #1

--> '''Alice:''' What are you doing?!\\
'''Carnage:''' Taking a victory lap, babe! You can't rob a bank if burn it down first!\\
'''Alice:''' What are you thinking? You've made everything worse! Put out the fire!\\
'''Carnage:''' Jeez, okay, chill out, gawd...

A beautiful but unscrupulously ambitious reporter who found herself in the crosshairs of the spectral Sin-Eater. Rescued by the inverted Carnage, she begrudgingly attempted to coach him on how to be a hero -- while actually trying to get a promotion-winning scoop out of it. After Carnage defeated the Sin-Eater, Alice was disgusted that he'd developed feelings for her and revealed her deception before fleeing to the police.

* AmbitionIsEvil: She is an attractive but unscrupulous reporter who wants to take over the position of her deceased colleague ASAP.
* BerserkButton: Does not like the hair being mussed, as she indignantly yells at both Carnage and the Sin-Eater.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: She pretended to be distraught over her co-worker's deaths, when in fact she, as the Sin Eater put it, reeks of "sin, vainglory, selfishness and hubris".
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: Has to continually reel in the overzealous Carnage.
* KarmaHoudini: Presumably got rich and famous from the events of ''AXIS''.
* MoralityChain: Cletus latched onto her in much the same way Eddie Brock once latched onto Jenna Cole. Unfortunately for him, she proves to be a less-than-upstanding individual.
* NervesOfSteel: After an initial moment of panic, she seems quite alright hanging out with a nihilistic serial killer whose soul mate is a carnivorous alien parasite masquerading as a costume.
* ReallyGetsAround: She was sleeping with her co-worker, solicited a police officer who had been sent to guard her after said co-worker's murder, pretended to be interested in Kasady, and seemingly tried to seduce the Sin-Eater ("And I'm totally not wearing any underwear") to save herself even after seeing [[SkullForAHead what's]] under his mask.
* SpiritAdvisor: After being bombarded with missiles, Carnage has near-death experience involving an angelic Alice, who offers him sage wisdom:
--> '''Alice:''' You have great power, yes. And with great power comes great, like all kinds of, I don't know, stuff... so don't be a jerk. You're good now and you've got mad skillz. Be a hero! Save me!
* TagalongReporter: Is abducted by Carnage, who adamantly believes that she can teach him to be good. Alice goes along with it, due to the fame that can entail becoming close to a "cape".
* UngratefulBastard: After Carnage saves her from the Sin Eater, she thanks him by blowing off his head and screaming at the police to finish him off. Cletus interprets this as her teaching him that TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She hasn't been seen since the end of the ''AXIS: Carnage'' miniseries. Considering that Cletus had been hunting down those aware of his HeelFaceBrainwashing ''and'' she openly admitted to using him to his face, it doesn't bode well for her.

[[folder:Manuela Calderon]]
!!Manuela Calderon
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mannycarnage.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage'' Vol. 2 #1

The sole survivor of Cletus' massacre at St. Estes Home for Boys, Manuela Calderon joined the military and was eventually hired as a security consultant at Grey Ridge Mine. When the FBI attempted to lure Carnage into a trap, Manuela was recruited into the Anti-Symbiote Task Force alongside John Jameson and Eddie Brock. Befriending Brock and developing a romantic affection for Victoria Montesi, Manuela helped stop Carnage from summoning the eldrich god Chthon.

* ActionGirl: She's a soldier who served three tours of duty, and is agile enough to dodge Carnage's tentacles.
* AmbiguouslyBi: While it was implied that she might have had a slight attraction to Eddie Brock, in the end he gets the impression that she's developed a thing for the canonically gay Victoria Montesi.
* BadassNormal: She's an unaugmented human who is capable of keeping up with the likes of Toxin and Man-Wolf.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Victoria Montesi flirts with Manuela after she commiserates with her hellish backstory.
* TheOneThatGotAway: Manny was the SoleSurvivor of Cletus's first killing spree, and he intends to rectify that.
* OnlyAFleshWound: She's set on fire by Gleason but still manages to put up a good enough fight to steal one of the Darkhold's pages ''and'' put the fire out.
* ShipTease: She is sympathetic towards [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Eddie Brock]], who himself seems to be infatuated with her. However, in the last couple of issues Victoria Montesi begins flirting with her and Manny appears to reciprocate, with Eddie joking that he may as well have been furniture to them.
* TakingYouWithMe: When Carnage is about to eat her, she presses a detonator to blow up a large amount of mining explosives. Toxin shows up in time to shield her from the blast.

[[folder:Barry Gleason]]
!!Barry Gleason
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gleacar.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage'' Vol. 2 #1

--> ''"Agent Dixon was a useful tool, but her usefulness--and yours--is drawing to a close. We--all of us--stand on the cusp of a new historical era. I'm grateful to you, agents. Your sacrifice, yours and your fellow agents', will make possible a new age. You've brought us the one who was foreseen in the prophecies of [[Characters/WerewolfByNight Aelfric the Mad Monk]]. At his hands the forgotten door will be reopened. Through him, he who sleeps shall wake, and all who live will tremble in the knowledge of his wrath."''

* BigBadWannabe: He's the evil mastermind behind the first arc of the 2015-2016 ''Carnage'' Vol. 2 series. He doesn't last long after Carnage catches him.
* KilledOffscreen: It's not shown exactly what Carnage did to him after/while interrogating him about the Darkhold, but it wasn't pretty.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: When the sonic cannons open up a sinkhole that plunges Carnage and several FBI agents into the depths of his mine, Gleason protests he had no idea that would happen several times. Turns out he planned it all.
* OneSteveLimit: Despite having the same last name as the manipulative lady reporter in the ''ComicBook/{{AXIS}}: Carnage'' miniseries, he's presumably not related to her.
* PlayingWithFire: He can summon a wall of flames using the Darkhold.
* ReligionOfEvil: He is a member of the Cult of the Darkhold, a cult that worships an ancient evil entity called Chthon.
* TomeOfEldritchLore: He possesses a copy of the Darkhold, a tome of dark magic written by the evil deity Chthon.
* AWolfInSheepsClothing: His day job is the manager of a mining corporation, which he uses as cover for his night job is as a cultist to an evil deity.

[[folder:Cortland Kasady]]
!!Cortland Kasady
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cortland_kasady_2528earth_6162529_from_ruins_of_ravencroft_carnage_vol_1_1_001.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see as Spoiler]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/plague_klyntar_earth_616.png]] [[/labelnote]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' [[spoiler: Plague]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Ruins of Ravencroft: Carnage'' #1

The ancestor of Cletus Kasady, Cortland was a 17th century English settler whose lover -- Mary Ravencroft -- was captured by a symbiote-worshipping cult. While attempting to rescue her,[[note]]She rescued herself.[[/note]] Cortland was captured and bonded to a symbiote, turning him into a bloodthirsty serial killer.

* BeardOfEvil: A full red beard and after becoming a symbiote worshipper, very evil.
* EvilRedhead: Just like his distant descendant Cletus.
* FaceHeelTurn: Prior to his run-in with the Others, he was an all-around decent person who dearly loved Molly Ravencroft. Afterwards, he became a bloodthirsty symbiote-worshipping cannibal.
* InTheBlood: Cortland being forcibly recruited into the symbiote-worshipping cult is implied to be the reason why his descendants Roscoe and Cletus were a violent abuser and a serial killer of unprecedented bloodlust respectively.
* LifeDrinker: As Plague, Cortland is able to drain the life-force from others.
* RevenantZombie: During ''Planet of the Symbiotes'', [[spoiler:Knull reanimates Cortland in the same way he did Cletus, bringing him back as symbiote-possessed corpse capable of absorbing the life-force of others]].
* SerialKiller: Cortland became the first American serial killer after being corrupted by the symbiote-worshipping cult.
* WingdingEyes: After being forcibly recruited by the symbiote-worshipping cult, he's shown with red spirals for irises.

!!Other Characters

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

[[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage Carnage]] is a ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' villain and the first spawn of ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}''. The symbiote has bonded to a number of hosts over the years, and like Venom has accumulated a number of alternate-universe counterparts.

[[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | [[Characters/VenomMainHosts Main hosts of Venom]] | [[Characters/VenomOtherHosts Other hosts of Venom]] | [[Characters/AlternateIncarnationsOfVenom Alternate Incarnations of Venom]] | [[Characters/VenomSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]]\\

Carnage is a ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' villain and the first spawn of ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}''. The symbiote has bonded to a number of hosts over the years, and like Venom has accumulated a number of alternate-universe counterparts.

[[WMG:[[center:[-[[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | [[Characters/VenomMainHosts Main hosts of Venom]] | [[Characters/VenomOtherHosts Other hosts of Venom]] | Characters/{{Symbiotes|MarvelComics}} | [[Characters/SymbioteHosts Hosts to other Symbiotes]] | [[Characters/AlternateIncarnationsOfVenom Alternate Incarnations of Venom Characters Page]] | [[Characters/VenomSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]] | '''Carnage Characters Page''' | [[Characters/{{Toxin}} Toxin Characters Page]] | [[Characters/ScreamCurseOfCarnage Scream Characters Page]]]]-]]]

Carnage is a ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' villain and the first spawn of ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}''. The symbiote has bonded to a number of hosts over the years, and like Venom has accumulated a number of alternate-universe counterparts.
----

!! The Carnage Symbiotes

[[folder:Carnage]]
!!Carnage
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnagesymbi_8327.jpg]]
!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #361

--> ''"And, as my old friend Cletus taught me... it's time to start painting this town a lovely shade of red."''

The original Carnage symbiote was the first spawn of the Venom symbiote, left behind during the alien's jailbreak of Eddie Brock. Needing a host and sensing Cletus' jealousy of Venom's power, the infant symbiote entered the serial killer's body through a cut and bonded to his bloodstream. The Carnage symbiote was utterly subservient to him and fully embraced his nihilistic philosophy to the point where it functioned as an extension of Cletus' will. Fed up with Carnage, Venom [[OffingTheOffspring once devoured the symbiote]], leaving Cletus powerless for a time, though the serial killer somehow managed to obtain an exact duplicate of it in the Negative Zone that has since merged with the remnants of the original. Despite initially being disgusted at the notion of giving birth, Cletus came to consider the Carnage symbiote to be female, [[InterspeciesRomance causing his relationship with the creature to take on a new dynamic]].
\\\
Despite supposedly being irremovable, the Carnage symbiote has been bonded to people other than Cletus over the years, usually for a short duration. These range from unwilling hosts whose dark tendencies it encourages, such as Ben Reilly, Silver Surfer and Normie Osborn, to willing hosts seeking its power, such as Karl Malus and Norman Osborn.

* AdaptiveArmor: Like the Venom symbiote, the Carnage symbiote protects its host from harm and took on the appearance of body armor while bonded to Karl Malus.
* AlternateSelf: Not to the same degree as the Venom symbiote, but the Carnage symbiote has a number of prominent AU counterparts.
* AmbiguousGender: While technically genderless, writers have variously referred to the symbiote with gender-neutral, male, and female gender pronouns.
* AntagonisticOffspring: To Venom. Even Cletus refers to the black symbiote, regardless of its host, as his father.
--> '''Symbiote:''' Maybe if my host had a little more filial sentiment... a little more human love for his own daddy... some of it would have crossed over to me. As it is, I feel nothing but cold empty contempt. I hate you daddy.
* ApocalypseHow: Duplicates of the symbiote (created by the government to take down Mayhem after she went rogue) called "Biopreds" and "[[SpellMyNameWithAThe The]] Carnages" [[GoneHorriblyWrong decimate and overtake most of the Earth]] in a BadFuture shown in ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl''. Cletus had similar ambitions in ''Carnage [=USA=]''.
* ArchEnemy: To the Venom Symbiote and to a lesser extent Toxin.
* ArchnemesisDad: To Toxin and Scorn.
* TheAssimilator: The Carnage symbiote has made a habit of assimilating others of its own kind, first during the Symbiote Invasion, and then to rejuvenate itself after most of it was eaten by Venom.
* AsteroidsMonster: Following the shenanigans at Hall Industries, the symbiote found it could separate pieces of itself and remotely control them. The only surviving piece of the symbiote to reunite with Cletus was stripped of this ability by the Superior Spider-Man, but regained it thanks to the Darkhold and being infused with Goblin Formula.
* AxCrazy: Just like its favorite host, the symbiote delights in bloodshed and violence.
--> '''Symbiote:''' (on Black Cat) Look, Cletus, a pretty girl. Smells nice. Nice and soft...\\
'''Cletus:''' Squeeze all the perfume outta her.\\
'''Symbiote:''' Great idea, partner.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: After being launched into orbit by ComicBook/TheSentry, it saved itself and Cletus by inducing a comatose state in which they would only need oxygen (which the symbiote could convert [=CO2=] into) to survive. While it's unknown how long they would have lasted like this, it's implied that they were near death by the time Hall Industries found them.
* TheBerserker: Without Cletus's mind to direct it the symbiote was little more than a feral predator attacking anything it saw, though after reuniting with him it develops the ability to speak on its own.
* BerserkButton: One of the first hints that Hall Industries's new tech is symbiote-based is Iron Man taking note of how a recovered piece of it goes absolutely nuts at the mere sound of Spider-Man's voice.
* BigEater: Ate a meat processing plant's worth of cows and workers to increase its biomass in preparation for taking over Doverton, Colorado.
* BlankWhiteEyes: Like Venom, the Carnage symbiote manifests huge, distorted white eyespots.
* BlobMonster: Like its progenitor, the Carnage symbiote is an amorphous mass when not bonded to a host.
* BloodyMurder: The symbiote is bonded to Cletus' bloodstream, making it ''very'' difficult for them to be separated. There have even been times when, without it, Cletus was on the brink of death due to anemia.
* BodySurf: In order to reunite with Cletus in ''Superior Carnage Annual'', the surviving remnant of the symbiote jumps from host to host, consuming them from the inside out to regenerate.
* BrattyTeenageDaughter:
** It acts this way towards Venom, who just wants to discuss its pregnancy, at the beginning of ''Venom vs. Carnage''.
---> '''Carnage Symbiote:''' The old fool has lost his mind. This is just his way to exert control. We'll both ignore him.
** Klaw explicitly compares it to a teenager, desiring independence from its original host but at the same time craving a connection with him.
* CannibalismSuperpower: In ''Carnage USA'', the symbiote ingests a meat processing plant's worth of cattle - [[ToServeMan and workers]] - and converts them into extra biomass. In ''Superior Carnage Annual'', the symbiote regenerates from a small tissue sample by [[EmotionEater feeding off Carla Unger's hatred for her abusive husband]] and then eating her body and those of its other temporary hosts from the inside out after bonding to them.
* CantLiveWithoutYou: In ''Superior Carnage Annual'', the Carnage symbiote dies after being separated from its host for a prolonged period of time. The only part of it that survives is a "neutered" piece that was separated from the main body and makes a desperate bid to reunite with Cletus.
* ColdBloodedTorture: When returning to Cletus, the symbiote tears itself away from the Wizard in as excruciating a way as possible as punishment for separating them. It also develops a taste for this while bonded to Norman Osborn.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Even when separated from Cletus, the remnants of the symbiote in his blood do not take kindly to the Poisons attempting to bond him to another symbiote and try to reject it.
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Web of Carnage, The Carnage Cosmic'' and ''Superior Carnage''. And, even though Cletus was fully capable during the events of it, the symbiote was in charge in ''Venom vs. Carnage'', even doing most of the talking.
* DragonInChief: The takeover of Doverton in ''Carnage, USA'' was the symbiote's idea, if a few of Cletus's comments are anything to go by.
* EmotionEater: The Carnage symbiote can convert hatred and bloodlust into biomass, making it, Cletus, and [[HatePlague Shriek]] a perfect team.
* EnemyMine: Temporarily allied with Venom to try and kill Toxin. A slight AwkwardFatherSonBondingActivity-vibe was present.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The symbiote considers Cletus to be its one true host and hates being separated from him.
* EvilCounterpart: The Carnage symbiote was created to be one to the Venom symbiote.
* EvilSmellsBad: Doctor Kurtz from ''Mind Bomb'' notes that the symbiote reeks of "slaughterhouse sweat" while [[ComicBook/{{Nova}} Sam Alexander]] less eloquently describes it as smelling "like puke".
* FemaleMonsterSurprise: Played with: While the Carnage symbiote is actually asexual, Cletus referred to it with female pronouns after it gave birth to Toxin, although he also refers to it with male pronouns.
* FromASingleCell:
** Because it's bonded to Cletus' bloodstream, intwining itself into his very DNA according to some comics, there have been times when the symbiote was thought to be killed only for it to reform when he cut himself.
** In ''Superior Carnage Annual'', the main body of the symbiote dies, leaving only a small tissue sample that proceeds to regenerate via ThePowerOfHate and CannibalismSuperpower.
* FusionDance:
** The remnants of the symbiote in Cletus' blood have apparently assimilated the doppelgänger he obtained in the Negative Zone.
** In ''Minimum Carnage'', Marquis Radu creates multiple clones of the Carnage symbiote and Venom symbiote and merges them together. This inspires Carnage to try to assimilate the Venom symbiote, but he's stopped by Kaine.
* GoalOrientedEvolution: Klaw deduces that the reason the symbiote keeps leaving Cletus for stronger hosts is so that when it returns to him they'll be more powerful than before.
* IWasBeatenByAGirl: Reacts poorly to Cletus blaming it for their loss to the newborn Toxin, telling him to shut up and threatening to leave him.
* IdenticalStranger: After Venom devoured his symbiote, Cletus acquired [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute an identical one]] from the Negative Zone in ''Webspinners''. This has either been made into CanonDiscontinuity, or the remnants of the original symbiote in Cletus' blood overtook the new one since it hasn't come up since.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: The symbiote views Cletus as the perfect host due to his sociopathic nihilism enmeshing with its own predatory instincts.
* KillItWithFire: One of the symbiote's weaknesses, although according to Karl Malus it doesn't mind flames if it's the one wielding them.
* KilledOffForReal: According to Donny Cates, Cletus Kasady's portion of the Carnage symbiote died trying to save him from atmospheric re-entry in ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born''.
* LegacyCharacter: Despite being bonded to his blood, the symbiote has been separated from Kasady on numerous occasions and bonded to other people, namely [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111127111255/spiderman/images/d/dc/Spider-Carnage_(Ben_Reilly_-_Peter_Parker_Clone Ben Reilly]], [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060530104711/marveldatabase/images/0/03/Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_1_430_page_--_Norrin_Radd_%28Earth-Earth-616%29.jpg Norrin Radd]], [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110219085826/marveldatabase/images/0/05/Carnage_Vol_1_3_page_12_Tanis_Nieves_%28Earth-616%29.jpg Tanis Nieves]], and [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130923022706/marveldatabase/images/b/b8/Karlin_Malus_%28Earth-616%29_from_Superior_Carnage_Vol_1_3_001.jpg Karl Malus]]. It always returns to him in the end, though.
* LoudOfWar: The symbiote's other weakness, although Cletus claims it's developed a resistance to it. After being augmented by the ''Darkhold'', it loses this weakness completely.
* LovecraftianSuperpower: Initially to a greater degree than Venom, as it enables its hosts to freely transform their limbs into weapons. Venom later develops this ability as well after bonding to Flash Thompson.
* MagicEnhancement: Exposure to the eldritch power of the ''Darkhold'' partially restores its ability to create and control copies of itself, and exchanges its vulnerability to sonics for a weakness to Chthonic magic.
* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: Was incinerated via atmospheric re-entry in ''Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage''[='=]s flashback sequence, and was replaced by the Grendel Symbiote at the start of ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage''.
* MaternallyChallenged: It was just as thrilled to be pregnant with Toxin as Cletus was.
--> '''Venom Symbiote:''' Don't be ashamed, Carnage. It happens to all of us.\\
'''Carnage Symbiote:''' I'm not ashamed. I just don't want anything to do with it.
* MindHive: The symbiote could remotely control separated parts of itself, enabling it to seize control of Tanis' prosthetic, the Iron Rangers' [[PoweredArmor armors]], the entire town of Doverton, Colorado, and Baron Karza's fused Venom[=/=]Carnage clones.
* MindRape: The symbiote forces Cletus' memories onto hosts as a form of psychological torture, in order to break them.
* MonsterIsAMommy: The symbiote has two offspring, Toxin and Scorn.
* MonstrousCannibalism: It didn't object to Cletus having it feed on other symbiotes in ''Planet of the Symbiotes'', or to trying to eat Venom in ''Minimum Carnage''.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When the symbiote left Cletus and bonded to the ComicBook/SilverSurfer, it was apparently unaware that the separation would doom Cletus to a slow and painful death from stomach cancer. When it learned Cletus was dying, it instantly called off whatever plans for mass destruction it had and returned to him, not caring that he was still imprisoned or it could just stay with the far more powerful Silver Surfer.
* OhCrap: When the symbiote sees the Silver Surfer it abandons Cletus in terror, having [[GeneticMemory recalled]] an incident when Radd callously fed a symbiote-infested planet to ComicBook/{{Galactus}}.
--> '''Carnage:''' I... we... know... you!
* OrganicTechnology: Hall Industries used the symbiote to create biomechanical prosthetics and PoweredArmor.
* OverlyLongTongue: Although nowhere near as frequently as Venom, the Carnage symbiote has occasionally been drawn manifesting a long, thick tongue.
* PantheraAwesome: After being separated from Cletus by Scorn in ''Carnage U.S.A.'', the symbiote tries to return to him by bonding to a lion, while [[AsteroidsMonster the rest of it]] takes over the other escaped zoo animals.
* ThePowerOfHate: Theorized to be one of the reasons why the Carnage symbiote is more powerful than the Venom symbiote. It can also [[EmotionEater feed off of negative emotions]] to become stronger.
* ProudWarriorRace: It was willing to abandon Cletus in order to take revenge on the Silver Surfer in the name of its species, many of whom were killed when the Surfer led Galactus to a planet overrun with symbiotes.
--> '''Spider-Man:''' Talk to me, Kasady! Why did your symbiote ditch you?\\
'''Cletus:''' ''[in a TroubledFetalPosition]'' I-it was the Surfer... m-my other recognized him. Some kind of race memory... t-they all hate and fear the Surfer... because of what he did to them! R-revenge! They must have revenge! B-but there's only one way to conquer the Surfer... [[PuppeteerParasite only one way]].
* PuppeteerParasite: While the symbiote is subservient to Cletus, it ''does'' possess a mind of its own, as it tried to take over Ben Reilly, Norrin Radd, and Norman Osborn. In ''Venom Vs. Carnage'' it was portrayed as being the one in control of Carnage, and following Cletus being put in a coma by Kaine it took over his body and that of Karl Marcus when forcibly transferred to him. The symbiote was also capable of infecting others with pieces of itself and controlling them through it. Cletus's influence on the symbiote was apparently once so all-encompassing that when it briefly left him in favor of the ComicBook/ScarletSpider and the ComicBook/SilverSurfer, it acted ''almost exactly'' like Cletus while possessing Reilly and Radd (who, granted, [[FightingFromTheInside put up a fight]]), and Nieves. While the symbiote was bonded to the comatose Cletus, it acted like a beast instead of mimicking his mannerisms, but following its reunion with Cletus it becomes able to talk, and [[spoiler: in ''Superior Carnage Annual'' #1 vehemently turns down Dr. Jenner's request to become its new host]].
* PsychoSupporter: The symbiote fully endorses Cletus' nihilistic vision of a world filled with wanton violence and anarchy.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The symbiote's coloration is red and black, and Cletus' influence on the symbiote has made it even more savage than its progenitor.
* ReducedToDust: In ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born'' it's shown crumbling to red ash after sacrificing itself trying to shield Cletus from atmospheric re-entry.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: When the Wizard sucks it out of Cletus' body and forcefully bonds it to Karlin Malus, the not–so–good doctor warns Klaw that the symbiote is ''severely'' pissed off, which only gets worse when the Wizard blows up his base with Cletus's body inside. After taking control of Malus the symbiote shanked Klaw with a chunk of vibranium, massacred Spider-Man's soldiers, ate Malus after taking over the Wizard. When Cletus is revealed to be alive, it rips itself off the Wizard in such a way as to cause maximum agony and was just about to eat him after reuniting with Kasady before Klaw hits it with a lightning bolt.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Carnage ran into the ComicBook/SilverSurfer, the symbiote (aware of the Surfer's connection to ComicBook/{{Galactus}} due to its GeneticMemory) freaked out and ran off, leaving Cletus behind.
* SecretIdentityApathy: It apparently didn't consider it pertinent to inform Cletus of everything it learned while bonded to the Scarlet Spider, like his and Spider-Man's secret identities, where they lived, etc.
* SelfDuplication: Following the shenanigans involving Hall Industries, the Carnage symbiote discovered it could create and control offshoots of itself. Combined with its ability to regenerate inside Cletus' body, this has resulted in a number of duplicates of the Carnage symbiote falling into the hands of the US government, corporations like Alchemax, and individuals like Norman Osborn.
* ShapeshifterWeapon: The Carnage symbiote lets its hosts morph their limbs into bladed[=/=]serrated weapons and fire projectiles formed from the symbiote. This was notably an ability the Venom symbiote did not regularly utilize until bonded to Flash Thompson.
* SherlockScan: It could somehow tell that the Spider-Man it was fighting was actually Ben Reilly.
--> '''Symbiote:''' Wrong-o! You are not my true enemy! You are not the spidery specter who haunts the dreams of Kasady! Are you my Scarlet frien--ugnn!\\
'''Ben:''' He knows! He can somehow distinguish me from Peter! How--? How--?!
* SpikeShooter: The Carnage symbiote can fire projectiles made of its biomass, but they only last for roughly 30 seconds before disintegrating.
* SuddenlyVoiced: The ''Web of Carnage'' four-parter was the first time the Carnage symbiote was shown speaking, though it only does so through internal dialogue, and hosts. It's established as having absolutely nothing in the way of goals or personality beyond what it picked up from Cletus, making it little more than an extension of his will.
* TheSymbiote: The Carnage symbiote is the offspring of the Venom symbiote, and is even ''more'' vicious than its progenitor. [[SymbioticPossession It is completely subservient to Cletus and operates as an extension of his will and body]]... until he is lobotomized and [[PuppeteerParasite their relationship is temporally inverted]].
* {{Synchronization}}: The symbiote could sense Cletus was in danger in ''Superior Carnage Annual'', and once he's shanked starts dying itself.
* TemporaryBulkChange: The John Jameson version of Carnage was very tall and ''very'' muscular, which was Ben Reilly's first clue that someone other than Cletus was in the suit.
* ToServeMan: Not to the degree of the Venom symbiote, but the Carnage symbiote isn't averse to chowing down on human flesh when it can get it.
* TrulySingleParent: Like the Venom symbiote, the Carnage symbiote has given birth to several progeny: Toxin, Scorn, Raze, and the unnamed symbiote bonded to Jubulile van Scotter.
* UpgradeVsPrototypeFight: The Carnage symbiote is more powerful than the Venom symbiote, but conversely weaker than the Toxin symbiote.
* TheUnfavourite: Of all Venom's children, Carnage is the one that's hated the most.
* TheVoiceless: According to ''Superior Carnage'' #5 the symbiote could only vocalize by screeching, snarling, and roaring. [[SeriesContinuityError It's been shown speaking through hosts before, however]].
* WifeBasherBasher:
** While in possession of John Jameson in ''Web of Carnage'', the symbiote murders an abusive alcoholic in a ParkingGarage, but leaves his wife alone.
** While bonded to a scientist named Carla Unger, the symbiote took time off from its reunite-with-Cletus-at-all-costs quest to help her put the "death" in "till death do us part".
---> '''Carla (as Carnage):''' I want you to know something, [[DomesticAbuse Will]]. Everything that's about to happen... All the nasty things that I'm going to do to you... It's not the monster making me do it. I'm killing you because I want to. I've been married to you a long time. It's about time you started bringing me some joy!
* {{Yandere}}: The symbiote ''hates'' being separated from Cletus and is more-than-willing to do whatever it takes to reunite with him if they are separated. Woe betide the people responsible for their separation... and whoever gets in its way. The sole exception being when it willingly abandoned Kasady to try and take over the Silver Surfer.
--> '''Warden:''' P-please. I've done what you wanted. I h-have a family.\\
'''Symbiote:''' Don't talk to me about ''your'' family! I've got family too! You kept them locked up here! You let ''this'' happen to my family!\\
'''Doctor Jenner:''' Your ''adopted'' family. You can always adopt a new one... one who is worthy of you... one who has ''dreamed'' of this... [[InLoveWithYourCarnage of your embrace]]... for oh-so-long.\\
'''Symbiote:''' [[DramaticStutter Who... who... who... who...]] WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
* YouCanTalk: In ''Superior Carnage #5'' it's revealed the symbiote has developed the ability to [[SssssnakeTalk talk]] and treats it like a big deal, ignoring the previous occasions where it was shown to be capable of speech, like ''Venom vs. Carnage''.
--> '''Symbiote:''' Sssssstay back! Thisssss body isssss mine!
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The symbiote kills each of the intermediate hosts it bonds to in ''Superior Carnage Annual'', although its roundabout thank-you to Carla Unger construes her death as a MercyKilling since it had been eating her from the inside out.

[[folder:Carnage II]]
!!Carnage II
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cletus_kasady_earth_616_and_carnage_ii_klyntar_earth_616_from_webspinners___tales_of_spider_man_vol_1_14_001.png]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man'' #14

A malicious symbiote somehow imprisoned in the Negative Zone. Cletus -- guided by the remnants of the original Carnage symbiote still in his body -- unearthed and bonded to it to become Carnage once more.

* InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: Even before bonding to Cletus Kasady, it [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver looked identical]] to the original Carnage symbiote.
* RetGone: Subsequent storylines treat the symbiote bonded to Cletus as being the original Carnage symbiote, leaving this one's fate unknown -- though some writers have lent credence to the fan-theory that the remnants of the original Carnage symbiote in Cletus' body assimilated it.
* SealedEvilInACan: It was trapped in a buried canister inside the Negative Zone until Cletus -- guided by the remnants of the the remnants of the original Carnage symbiote in his body -- unearthed and bonded to it.

[[folder:Carnage III]]
!!Carnage III
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cletus_kasady_earth_616_and_carnage_iii_klyntar_earth_616_from_venomized_vol_1_3_001.png]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/{{Venomized}}'' #2

A symbiote abducted from Klyntar by the Poison Hive and forcibly bonded to Cletus Kasady. It was consumed by an unbound Poison, creating Poison Carnage, and later perished alongside the Poison after the death of the Poison Queen.

* DeathOfPersonality: It is consumed by an unbound Poison to create Poison Carnage in ''Venomized'' #3, silencing its individual personality.
* PowerBornOfMadness: While watching Cletus use it to massacre every Poison sent in to subdue him, Poison Doom and Poison Thanos comment how Cletus' insatiable bloodlust is what makes him so powerful regardless of that symbiote he's bonded to.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Unlike its predecessors, it was black with red eyespots and markings.
* ReducedToDust: While the implication at the end of ''Venomized'' was that Poison Carnage would become a recurring threat, a flashback scene in ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born'' shows Poison Carnage's crystalline exoskeleton and consumed symbiote crumbling to dust to reveal Cletus somehow restored to humanity.

[[folder:Carnage IV]]
!! Carnage IV
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mjarnage.png]]
!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/KingInBlack: [[ComicBook/SpiderGwen Gwenom]] vs. Carnage'' #1
A symbiote forcibly bonded to the Mary Jane Watson of Earth-65 and dubbed "Carnage" by Knull in honor of the late Cletus Kasady.

* AnAxeToGrind: On the cover of ''Gwenom vs. Carnage'' #1, it's shown forming a battle-axe with guitar frets on the handle.
* CostumeEvolution: "[=MJarnage=]" starts off with a mostly-human looking appearance, but later assumes a form closer to that of the original Carnage.
* FacialMarkings: When bonded to Mary Jane, the symbiote forms large black streaks on her face.
* LegacyCharacter: It is the fourth individual symbiote to bear the name "Carnage", and stands out by being the first to do so without first having bonded to Cletus Kasady.
* NotQuiteDead: After weakening its bond to MJ, Gwen causes her corrupted gummy spiders to turn on Knull's living abyss -- seemingly killing the gestalt symbiote. However, the final panel shows some of it still remains inside MJ.
* OverlyLongTongue: "[=MJarnage=]" has a prehensile tongue that makes Venom's seem small in comparison, as shown in her concept art -- where it's looped around her hips and legs multiple times.
* PuppeteerParasite: It immediately takes over Mary Jane and enslaves her to Knull's will, forcing her to fight Gwen Stacy.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: While concept art showed it more-closely resembling the classic Carnage, the finalized design is still red-and-black, and a dangerous enemy for Ghost-Spider.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: The symbiote turns MJ's sclerae yellow with [[RedEyesTakeWarning red irises]] after bonding to her.

[[folder:Dark Carnage]]
!!Dark Carnage
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dark_carnage_symbiote.png]]
!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''Venom'' Vol. 4 #7

An offshoot of the Grendel symbiote bonded to the corpse of Cletus Kasady, reanimating him and imbuing it with the personality and abilities of the original Carnage symbiote.

* AnimateDead: It turned Cletus Kasady into a RevenantZombie after being bonded to his corpse, and was later used to reanimate Emil Gregg.
* TheAssimilator:
** By absorbing codices and other symbiotes, its connection to Knull was amplified and it grew in power to the point of effectively becoming a god. Additionally, absorbing the codices of superhumans -- like the former Ghost Rider Alejandra Jones -- temporarily imbues it with the powers of those hosts.
** After Cletus was killed by Venom, the Dark Carnage symbiote was absorbed into the Venom symbiote... though this backfired when it absorbed the Venom symbiote from the inside. Eddie was able to separate them by electrocuting it, but this enabled it to briefly take over him.
* AxCrazy: It's just as bloodthirsty as the original Carnage symbiote, and seeks to carry on Cletus' mission to paint the world red with blood.
* BroughtDownToBadass: According to the Maker in ''Venom'' #20, the codices it had absorbed were lost following Cletus' death. While it lost its immunity to flames and sonics, it's still resilient enough to the former to chill in the wreckage of a burning Quinjet.
* ChestInsignia: While first bonded to Cletus Kasady, it manifested a distorted red dragon emblem on its chest, which disappeared after Cletus assumed control. As its connection to Knull grows stronger across the leadup to ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'', it manifested a white version of Knull's dragon emblem on its chest.[[note]]Though many of the tie-in artists mistakenly drew it as Venom's spider emblem.[[/note]] After Cletus' death, it loses the emblem and appears almost-identically to the original Carnage symbiote.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: It manifests as Cletus Kasady in Eddie's mindscape, with it being all-but outright stated that it's been indwelled by Cletus' soul/codex like the Killmonger Symbiote from ''Black Panther'' Vol. 7 is indwelled by Emperor N'Jadaka's.
* DevouredByTheHorde: In ''Carnage: Black, White & Blood'' #2, [[spoiler:the Dark Carnage symbiote takes over a new human host intending to join the battle in ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'' just as Eddie Brock kills Knull and becomes the new God of the Symbiotes. As the symbiotes comprising the dome of living abyss rain down from the sky and bond to the crew of a whaling ship and a pack of sharks, Eddie promptly sentences Carnage to execution and has the symbiote-sharks devour him]].
* DreamWeaver: After bonding to Eddie Brock, it traps him in a nightmare where the Venom symbiote is killed, Dylan is taken away from him, and Knull attacks Earth.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Its eyespots glow yellow, signifying how its status as a symbiote demigod.
* GothSpirals: While bonded to Cletus Kasady, it initially manifested a red spiral-shaped eyespot, and later manifested a white/yellow version of Knull's spiral on its forehead.
* LegacyCharacter: It serves as a more-powerful successor for the original Carnage symbiote, inheriting its personality and memories.
* MagicEnhancement: Bonding to Cletus imbued it with the power of the ''Darkhold'', making it immune to fire and sonics, though it seems to have lost this augmentation following Cletus' death. Eating Alejandra Jones' spine temporarily imbued it with the power of her Spirit of Vengeance.
* NoSell: When bonded to Cletus Kasady it's blasted with hellfire by Andi Benton, the Monsters of Evil, and Ghost Rider, but is completely unaffected.
* NotQuiteDead: Eddie assumed he'd put an end to Carnage by killing Cletus at the end of ''Absolute Carnage'', but the Dark Carnage symbiote survived and resurfaced a few weeks later. Dylan also blasted it off of Eddie at the end of ''Venom Island'', seemingly destroying it, but it reconstituted itself at the end of #25.
* PuppeteerParasite: After bonding to Eddie Brock, it torments him with visions of his worst fears coming true while it controls his body, intending to use him to pick up where Cletus left off.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: It originally appeared similar to Venom's Ancient/Corrupted form -- black with a red spiral on its face and a distorted red dragon emblem on its chest. After absorbing Scorn's Carnage codex, it assumes the appearance of the original Carnage symbiote.
* SemiDivine: As an offshoot of the Grendel symbiote, it inherited its progenitor's direct connection to Knull -- which empowers it beyond the abilities of a normal symbiote; and it grows increasingly powerful by amplifying its connection to Knull through absorbing codices and other symbiotes.
* TheSymbiote: The Dark Carnage symbiote was born from a piece of the Grendel symbiote-dragon that survived Tyrannosaurus and Venom's attempt to immolate it.
* ThreateningShark: After being separated from Eddie in ''Venom'' Vol. 4 #25, it escapes the Isla de Huesos by bonding to a great white shark. Its full form -- dubbed the "Crimson Leviathan" -- is shown in ''Carnage: Black, White & Blood'' #2, and is nightmarish to behold.
* ThroatLight: Its mouth glows yellow, signifying that it's SemiDivine on a whole other level compared to other symbiotes.
* WeaponizedOffspring: It's capable of bonding offshoots of itself to others, taking control of them and connecting them to Cletus' hive-mind.

!! Carnage's Main Hosts
[[folder:Cletus Kasady]]
!!Cletus Kasady
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/26017e5ffcc5c7d534b74749fef17f38.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Carnage]]\\
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:''Venomized'' Carnage]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnage_iii_7.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Poison Carnage]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/poison_carnage_4.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Dark Carnage]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dark_carnage.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Devil Carnage]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/absolute_carnage_2.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Carnage; Poison Carnage; Dark Carnage; Devil Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #344; ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #361 (as Carnage); ''Venomized'' #3 (as Carnage II and Poison Carnage); ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born'' (as Dark Carnage); ''Absolute Carnage'' #4 (as Devil Carnage)

A psychopathic serial killer imprisoned for eleven consecutive life sentences, Cletus Kasady met Eddie Brock when the latter, separated from the Venom symbiote by the toxic touch of the supervillain Styx, became his cellmate. Learning of Brock's grudge against Spider-Man, Kasady tried to convert him to his nihilistic philosophy, mocking Eddie over his claims to have once been the supervillain Venom. Repeatedly rebuked, Kasady decided to murder his cellmate, but before he could the Venom symbiote entered the cell and rebonded to Eddie. Venom broke free, leaving behind a newly birthed spawn and a terrified and jealous Kasady. Sensing his desire for the power Eddie possessed, the spawn of the Venom symbiote dripped onto Cletus' hand and bonded with him, transforming him into the monstrous '''Carnage'''. As Carnage, Kasady proved stronger than Spider-Man and Venom combined, and his symbiote was not only less susceptible to sonics than its progenitor but infinitely more difficult to remove, having bonded to his bloodstream. In his first appearance, Carnage forced Spider-Man and Venom to [[EnemyMine call a temporary truce]] to defeat him. Years later Cletus would lose his symbiote in a conflict with the FBI's anti-symbiote task force.
\\\
When the Poisons invaded Earth-616, they sent a strike team to retrieve Cletus and offered him the chance to become Carnage again if he allied with them. Thinking they would reunite him with his beloved symbiote, Cletus accepted... but was instead bonded to a new symbiote, causing him excruciating pain as it came into conflict with the remnants of his original symbiote. Furious over having been tricked and tortured, Cletus rampaged -- intent on escaping and reuniting with his original symbiote -- but was quickly ambushed by an unbound Poison, which consumed him to become '''Poison Carnage'''. However, Cletus' bloodlust let his psyche mostly-withstand being consumed, and he faked loyalty to the Hive -- ultimately being tossed into space by Venom. However, his body floated through the emptiness of space and returned to Earth -- shattering the Poison and restoring his human form in the process. The Carnage symbiote sacrificed itself to protect Cletus as they reentered Earth's atmosphere, but Cletus died upon landing.
\\\
Cletus' body was spirited away by the authorities, only to be grabbed by an apocalyptic cult who saw him as the key to contacting and awakening the symbiote god Knull. Thanks to a piece of the ancient Grendel symbiote they had stolen from the Maker, Cletus was [[RevenantZombie reanimated]] and transformed into '''Dark Carnage''' by devouring Scorn's "codex" -- trace remnants of symbiote left in hosts' bodies. Wanting more of the experience he'd had, he was told that if he absorbed more "codexes" from other previous symbiote holders, he could even resurrect Knull.

* AndIMustScream: After running afoul of the ComicBook/SilverSurfer, Carnage was imprisoned in a statue-like state - able to think, but in no way able to move or talk. He later got better, though.
* ArtificialLimbs: Cletus was briefly equipped with cybernetic legs [[OrganicTechnology derived from his symbiote]], although they were destroyed by a sonic machine. He regrew his legs while in the Microverse, but apparently loses them again after sacrificing himself in ComicBook/{{Axis}} since the robot legs are [[SeriesContinuityError inexplicably]] back in ''ComicBook/{{Nova}}''.
* ArchEnemy: To Venom and Toxin as well by extension it's hosts Eddie Brock and Flash Thompson.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Claims to have done this following exiting the Microverse, though he's quickly subdued by Agent Venom and Scarlet Spider.
* AxCrazy: Cletus believes that chaos is the natural order, and expresses this belief through wanton violence.
--> '''Cletus:''' My name is Cletus Kasady and I kill people and I love it. I know nine million ways to kill a body and I love every single one of them. All dull day every day right up until I hit the hay I think of bodies. Bodies burst. Bodies slit right up the middle and shared across a hundred nice little gardens. And when I sleep I dream of ways to kill a body that ain't nobody thought of yet.
* BackFromTheDead:
** Cletus was murdered by his psychologist Dr. Jenner, who wanted to become the symbiote's new host. It turned him down, resuscitated and rebonded to Cletus, and the reunited Carnage paid Jenner back with interest.
** In ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born'', [[spoiler:a cult dedicated to Knull resurrects Cletus so that he can free the dark god of the symbiotes from his prison in Klyntar. A SubvertedTrope, as he [[RevenantZombie isn't technically alive again, but reanimated]]]].
* TheBadGuyWins: One of the haunted house/scarezone themes called "Maximum Carnage" from [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal's]] Theatre/HalloweenHorrorNights in 2002 involved Carnage and many other supervillains brutally [[KillEmAll mass-murdering]] all of the Marvel heroes and taking over New York, turning the city into a warzone between a flourishing band of criminals against the Punisher and whatever remains of a hopeless police force.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: When Knull tries to take over his body, Cletus fights back and overcomes him by consuming Scorn's codex.
* BigBad: Of the ''Maximum Carnage'', ''Carnage USA'', ''Minimum Carnage'' story arcs, his own series, and some of ComicBook/{{Venom}}'s stories. Basically, Carnage is the most recurring villain in Venom's rouge gallery, as well as having a number of miniseries focused solely on him.
* BigBadEnsemble: With The Maker and Knull for the 2018 ''Venom'' series.
* BigEater: Between himself and Doppelgänger, Cletus ate a meat processing plant's supply of cattle ''and'' the workers stationed there to increase the symbiote's biomass and let him take over Doverton.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder:
** One of his favourite means of attacking is morphing his limbs into bladed weapons, most commonly a [[AnAxeToGrind battle-axe]].
** As Poison Carnage, his arms appear to be permanently stuck in the form of sword-like blades.
* BlackEyesOfCrazy: As Knull's prophet, his eyes have black sclera, red spiral-shaped irises, and no pupils.
* BlatantLies: He's brought in [[http://33.media.tumblr.com/bd339d358e0527399c1618b4043da41d/tumblr_mjv349eNgT1s5gls9o1_500.jpg as a witness]] for the prosecution in ''Venom: The Trial''. His testimony regarding his and Eddie's time together as cellmates is as believable as you'd expect.
--> '''Cletus:''' It was almost impossible for me to hear my wonderfully intellectual classical music tapes[[note]]It was Mötley Crüe[[/note]]--Beethoven, Mozart, and Mantovani--because of Brocko's loony lip!\\
'''"Flashback" Eddie:''' As a serial killer, you are some chump, Kasady. You got convicted on eleven counts. You must have been begging to get caught. I PUT DOWN MORE THAN TWICE AS MANY AND THEY'RE NEVER GOING TO MAKE ANYTHING STICK TO ME!
* BloodKnight: While Cletus prefers flat-out killing more than actual combat, he still enjoys a good fight and actually complained that "it was just gettin' good" when the Sentry left him to die after ripping him in half.
* {{Bomb Throwing Anarchist|s}}: Cletus espouses a nihilistic philosophy of lawlessness, randomized murder, and chaos.
* BookDumb: Kasady is uneducated, having burnt his school to the ground, but is not an idiot, and prior to getting the symbiote had cleanly gotten away with a number of murders; worse, since he doesn't hold the same intense grudge against Spidey the same way his other enemies do and he doesn't have as sensitive an ego, he's not as vulnerable to Spidey's [[YouFightLikeACow usual psychological tactics]]. Carnage is ''focused'' on his mission, and that mission is killing as many people as he can.
* BreakoutVillain: Just like Venom, Carnage is easily one of Spider-Man's most popular villains.
* BroughtDownToNormal: Venom once ate the symbiote, though Cletus was able to find a duplicate of it in the Negative Zone. There have also been times it's left him for stronger hosts.
* CameBackStrong: In ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born'', [[spoiler:Cletus is resurrected and not only has the Carnage symbiote restored, but is bonded to a piece of the ancient Grendel symbiote as well -- making him more powerful than ever]].
* CardCarryingVillain: He kills people ForTheEvulz, and that's just about all there is to him.
* CardboardPrison: Breaks out of prison on a semi-regular basis.
* CharacterDevelopment: Following his return from space, Carnage started becoming increasingly megalomaniacal, taking over Doverton, Colorado and later trying to conquer the Microverse. This... didn't turn out so well for him, and in ''Superior Carnage Annual'' he decides to get back to basics. As Dark Carnage he becomes more methodical and cunning, to the frustration of Norman Osborn -- whose mind was taken over by a copy of Cletus' original self.
* CharacterRerailment: [[invoked]] After breaking out of prison in ''Superior Carnage Annual'', Cletus reflects on the foolishness of his past megalomaniacal escapades and decides to go back to just being a nihilistic mass murderer.
--> '''Cletus:''' Dreaming of [[TakeOverTheCity taking over cities]]... [[DimensionLord conquering tiny universes]]. Thought I was thinking big! But those kinds of ambitions... they're ''lies''. Now the cataracts have been peeled from my eyes! I can see clearly! Back to the basics! Simple... beautiful... ''random'' ...Carnage!
* ChekhovsGunman: Cletus Kasady debuted as a bit-part bad guy in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #344.
* ChestBurster: The off-panel result of him attempting to hold in the Toxin symbiote.
* ChestInsignia: As a sign of his allegiance and growing connection to Knull, Carnage has a red/white version of Knull's dragon emblem in ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'' -- though it's also been drawn as a spider similar to Venom and Mania's.
* ChildHater: If the look of exasperated annoyance on his face when a little boy with a Spider-Man doll starts pestering him wasn't a giveaway, the fact that that all Deadpool found of the kid was [[NoBodyLeftBehind a few splotches of blood]] and [[EmpathyDollShot the shredded Spider-Man doll]] certainly is.
* TheChosenOne: Carnage is the subject of interest of at least two dark gods who see him as a suitable tool to bring about their revivals:
** A prophecy in the ''Darkhold'', an eldritch tome compiled by Aelfric the Mad Monk, prophesies him as the "Red Slayer" who will awaken the Elder God Chthon. Carnage proceeds to do so thinking that Chthon will reward him with power, but is immediately disregarded by Chthon and unwittingly winds up contributing to the Elder God's defeat.
** In ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born'', it's revealed that when Cletus was a baby he was chosen by Knull -- the god of the symbiotes -- to be the symbiote version of TheAntichrist and bring about his revival. Donny Cates later revealed on Twitter that the cult made this up to hype Cletus as their messiah, but Cletus decided to run with it.
* CloningBlues:
** Cletus gave a piece of the symbiote to ComicBook/MisterSinister, who spliced it with DNA samples taken from ComicBook/KravenTheHunter and the original five X-Men in order to produce "[[XMakesAnythingCool Xraven]]"
** During the ''Carnage USA'' arc the symbiote demonstrated the ability to create copies of itself at will, enabling Cletus to control multiple people through them. The remnant of the symbiote that survived the journey to rebond with Kasady in ''Superior Carnage Annual'' was stated to have been neutered, indicating it is incapable of doing this anymore.
** Played with, as during the ''Minimum Carnage'' arc Cletus initially states that one Carnage is enough but is later delighted by the "incestuous" fusions of Venom and Carnage created by the Body Banks... mainly because he can control them.
* ComicBookDeath: [[spoiler:Meets his (presumably temporary) end at the finale of ''Absolute Carnage'' by the hands of Venom, being impaled and then cut in half by a Necrosword]].
* ConvenientlyCellmates: The reason why Cletus Kasady acquired a symbiote to begin with was because he was sharing a cell with [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Eddie Brock]].
* TheCorrupter: Tries to convert Eddie Brock to his nihilistic philosophy when they first meet.
--> '''Eddie:''' Sometimes I wish I didn't have to live with a foul serial killer like you.
* CorruptHick: Cletus is [[DependingOnTheWriter sometimes]] given a [[DeepSouth Southern accent]] -- particularly when written by Cullen Bunn and Gerry Duggan -- which Spider-Man, Deadpool, and most other superheroes and villains [[BullyingADragon relentlessly mock him about]]. At the end of ComicBook/{{AXIS}}, he also requested a statue be built in his honor and draped in the Confederate flag. However, he hates that people think [[HalfWittedHillbilly he's stupid because of his accent and rural upbringing]].
--> '''Carnage:''' Ain't no clues!\\
'''Deadpool:''' Come on... be ''faithful'' to your backwoods upbringing. Don't you mean "''Tweren't'' no clues"?
* CountryMouse: Despite having been born in New York's [[BedlamHouse Ravencroft Institute]], Cletus is sometimes portrayed as having a [[DeepSouth Southern]] accent, and many of his opponents -- particularly Spider-Man and Deadpool -- have mocked Cletus by pointing out that his accent and overall attitude just ''scream'' redneck.
* CurbStompBattle: Inflicted on Spider Man in their first encounter. Spider Man was desprate that he resorted to allying with Venom in order to defeat Carnage. The two initially seemed to have Carnage beat but then he [[IAmNotLeftHanded revealed he was just toying with them]] and overpowered them both.
* CuriousQualmsOfConscience: After being Inverted, Cletus developed a conscience that left him near-crippled with guilt and an overwhelming desire to redeem himself from all the "glorious chaos" he wrought over the years. And just after he finally rid himself of the burden on his conscience and resolves to become a true superhero... he's un-Inverted and goes back to being his usual self.
* {{Cyborg}}: For a short while he had prosthetic legs [[OrganicTechnology derived from the symbiote]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: The one-shots ''Mind Bomb'' and ''It's a Wonderful Life'', the latter being a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind story.
* DeadpanSnarker: Carnage enjoys delving into BlackComedy.
* DependingOnTheArtist: Carnage was originally drawn as being red and black with black teeth, but starting with Kyle Hotz in ''It's a Wonderful Life'', artists began depicting him as all-red with white teeth. The latter look has since become his most frequent, with his "classic" appearance having been last seen in 2004's ''Venom[=/=]Carnage'' miniseries and 2006's ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance2'''s DLC. Even more recently, some artists have drawn him as being [[http://www.comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=5266&disp=ilib&oty=1&oid=49996 all-red with red teeth and glowing yellow eyes]].
* DependingOnTheWriter: Whether Cletus is afraid to die, doesn't care if he does, or is secretly a DeathSeeker varies on who is writing him.
* DisabilityImmunity: When he was lobotomized, Kasady was immune to Wizard's mind control, leading the latter and Klaw to extract the symbiote from him and bond it to someone who isn't.
* DomesticAbuse: His relationship with Shriek. He enjoys hanging out with and doing horrible things with her and gets upset when other people hurt or try to kill her, but he's also perfectly fine with harming and trying to murder her himself whenever she starts to bore or annoy him.
* DraconicHumanoid: In ''Absolute Carnage'' #4, [[spoiler:Dark Carnage assimilates the Venom symbiote and transformes into a demonic-looking form with horns and retractile draconic wings]].
* TheDreaded: One of Spidey's most absolutely terrifying enemies and perhaps the only one he almost never chooses to fight alone; when Carnage shows up, Peter almost always seeks out friends- and in the case of Venom, [[EnemyMine even enemies]]- to team up with to take him down. Given Carnage is both quite a bit stronger than Spidey and by far the most homicidal and crazy of his rogues, this is a ''very'' sensible strategy.
* EatsBabies: David Michelinie described Cletus as "a lunatic who'd eat babies for breakfast and ask for seconds." The fact that all Deadpool found of a particularly annoying kid was a few splotches of blood supports this.
* EnemyMine: Carnage only agrees to help Magneto and the heroes fight Red Onslaught because, although he likes Red Onslaught's methods, he ''doesn't'' like the thought of having to serve and worship him should he succeed in taking over the world. Additionally, when he notices that Deadpool has tagged along, he tells him that they are "going to have words after this"; [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o1-uhhL3-lk/VEvHek1R-lI/AAAAAAAAGp0/mUumHmeOOTg/s1600/dp36car.PNG then the Inversion happened]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Played for horror in ''ComicBook/{{Venomized}}''. The Poison Queen appeared to her subjects as those they held dear and closest to their hearts. In Poison Carnage's case, she took on the form of Cletus's ''victims''. Whatever that implies is probably incredibly disturbing.
* EvilerThanThou:
** He was introduced into the comics pretty much for this express purpose. Venom had become something of a NobleDemon and AntiHero by the 90's, and the writers thought this was a waste of one of Spidey's most visually impressive and scariest enemies. David Michelinie had intended to kill Eddie off and have the symbiote jump from host to host, but Marvel vetoed the idea. Thus, Michelinie came up with Carnage as a stronger, scarier, and much more evil version of Venom who is [[CardCarryingVillain he is damn proud of it too]].
** Why he and the ComicBook/TheJoker turned on each other in a ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' {{crossover}}. Carnage thought the Joker's plans were too slow, convoluted, and stupid. The Joker deemed Carnage's methods lazy, unoriginal, and a tad gross.
** In ''Deadpool vs. Carnage'', Deadpool invokes this.
---> '''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}:''' See, pal, you may be a homicidal maniac. But when it comes to crazy, you're simply outclassed.\\
'''Shriek:''' [[DynamicEntry And you're outnumbered.]]
** Since the opposition had a version of Venom on their side, [[ComicBook/{{Maestro}} the Maestro]] considered recruiting Carnage to his ''[[ComicBook/ContestOfChampions Contest of Champions]]'' team, but abandoned the notion after catching a glimpse of what Cletus was currently up to.
---> '''Maestro:''' An Eddie Brock from a world where he was smart enough--or crazy enough--to actually kill his Earth's Spider-Man. Heh. Let's go with crazy. Which makes me wonder. If crazy gets results... who's crazier than Venom...? (observes Carnage's latest rampage through a portal) On second though, there's such a thing as too crazy...
** Thanks to his moral inversion, Alice Gleason pulls this on him at the end of his ComicBook/{{Axis}} tie-in [[ComicallyMissingThePoint not that he ever gets it]]. His cameo in ''ComicBook/{{Nova}}'' indicates that he killed her, since he'd made it his goal to hunt down and dispose of everyone who knew of his Inversion.
* EvilCounterpart: To Eddie Brock and Flash Thompson. In the former's case he was specifically created as an ''Eviler'' Counterpart, as Eddie does have some sort of moral compass in that he genuinely wants to protect innocents, while Cletus is a serial killer who has none and is more than happy to kill anyone and everyone he comes across.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Cletus ''loves'' his [[BlackComedy Dead Baby Comedy]], which sometimes actually ''does'' involve dead babies.
* EvilMeScaresMe: Suppressed somewhere ''deep'' in Cletus' psyche is a traumatized little boy utterly terrified of the monster he has become.
* EvilRedhead: He has red hair and he's evil. Nuff said.
* EvilVersusEvil: Treated the invasion in ''Planet of the Symbiotes'' as a buffet, and butted heads with the Joker in ''Spider and Batman'' #1.
* ExitPursuedByABear: Carnage's battle with Nova concludes with him being hit by a speeding truck.
* FakingTheDead: He faked his own death in ''Maximum Carnage'' by attaching a piece of the symbiote to a mangled body. [[NeverRecycleYourSchemes He tries this again]] in ''Spider-Man and Batman'' #1, but the heroes see through it, though he meant it for the Joker, not them.
* FanservicePack: Cletus disturbingly borders on MrFanservice when drawn by Clayton Crain.
* FeedItABomb: Deadpool stuffs a live grenade down Carnage's throat, losing his hand in the process, but all it does is temporarily incapacitate him.
* FightingFromTheInside: Cletus' true self is trying to overcome his Inversion, shown with him hallucinating about killing people.
* FlatCharacter: One of the common criticisms labeled against him both in real life and in-universe is that his obsession with death and chaos is really all there is to him. Efforts have been made to develop him into a more megalomaniacal villain, but at the beginning of ''Deadpool vs. Carnage'', Cletus engages in a MotiveRant that serves as a TakeThat to those efforts.
* ForTheEvulz: And unlike the Joker, he doesn't bother with being artistic: he just likes to flat-out kill.
* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: Cletus had a lousy childhood, but a lot of the things that happened he brought on himself.
* FullFrontalAssault: Once tried to go on a rampage without the symbiote, waving a knife around while wearing nothing but red paint.
* FullyEmbracedFiend: Cletus was ''jealous'' of Venom's powers right from the start, and once he got his own symbiote they all-but literally became inseparable.
* FusionDance: After witnessing the combined power of the cloned Venom and Carnage symbiotes in Baron Karza's Body Banks, Kasady tries to assimilate the Venom symbiote but is stopped by Kaine.
** In the ComicBook/AmalgamUniverse, he was merged with Bizarro to create "Bizarnage".
** The Hall Industries Iron Rangers wore armor derived from the symbiote, which allowed Carnage to forcibly combine with them (killing the pilots) in a twisted Anime/{{Voltron}}-ish fashion.
---> '''Mass Carnage:''' Metal feels funny next to their bodies, heh heh. This isn't the first time I've worn dead bodies as clothes... might be the most fun I've had though. Makes the top three at least.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation: Deadpool's psychotic lack of a fourth wall actually manages to out-crazy Carnage's nihilistic sociopathy and drives Cletus into a VillainousBreakdown, to the point that he [[WasItReallyWorthIt questions everything he previously believed in]].
* GoalOrientedEvolution: After visiting the Microverse, Carnage decides to abandon his last vestiges of humanity and become the UltimateLifeForm by assimilating the Venom symbiote, though this is quickly stopped by Kaine.
* GodhoodSeeker:
** At the end of ''Minimum Carnage'', Cletus complains that he wanted to stay in the Microverse and conquer it to become a god, then decides he'll settle for throwing away what little humanity he has left and assimilating the Venom symbiote to become the UltimateLifeForm.
** In ''Carnage'' Vol. 2, Cletus frees Chthon expecting to be rewarded with apotheosis into an eldritch god. Chthon, no longer having any use for Carnage, contemptuously tosses the serial killer aside.
** After becoming the apostle of Knull, Cletus seeks to restore the Dark Carnage symbiote's deific power and [[AGodAmI develops a god complex]] that escalates as he becomes more powerful.
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Was ripped in half by the Sentry, but survived thanks to the symbiote. He seems to have somehow regenerated his legs by the time of ''Superior Carnage'', but lost his legs as a result of the Gene Bomb.
* HandicappedBadass: In addition to having been ripped in half, Cletus was left in a catatonic state by the Scarlet Spider, leaving the symbiote in full control of his body. Both his dismemberment and lobotomy seem to have been fixed by the symbiote as of ''Superior Carnage Annual'', but he lost his legs again smothering the Gene bomb.
* HealingFactor: Cletus has regrown the lower half of his body, recovered from being lobotomized by the avatar of a spider-god, regrew his body from his severed head after being decapitated, and regrown the top half his head thanks to the symbiote.
* HeelFaceBrainwashing: As a result of being Inverted in the ''ComicBook/{{AXIS}}'' crossover, Cletus and the symbiote try to become a superhero. Try, here meaning [[EpicFail fail miserably]] more often than not.
--> '''Spider-Man:''' [[http://38.media.tumblr.com/a08f942e10b53fdb66901b99f9651bb4/tumblr_nel8e2phMR1rdffpvo3_1280.png Now that is really disturbing...]]
* HeroicSacrifice: In ''AXIS'', Cletus seemingly sacrifices himself protecting the others from a bomb. He makes Spider-Man promise to have a flamboyant musical statue built in his honor first. It doesn't stick, as he later appears to annoy ComicBook/{{Nova}}.
* HeroWithAnFInGood: Kasady becomes a SociopathicHero following his Inversion -- the Inversion Wave awakened his conscience, but he struggles to repress his murderous impulses and is comically inept at actually doing heroic deeds. For example, he tries to foil a bank robbery by burning the bank to the ground before the robbers can rob it.
--> '''Rick Spears:''' He's trying to be good but he's terrible at it and makes some pretty [[http://abload.de/img/axis-carnage002-010jmfsh.jpg horrible]] [[http://abload.de/img/carnage41ze17.png mistakes]].
* HesBack: A villainous example:
** At the end of the ''Superior Carnage'' miniseries, Cletus reveals he's recovered from his lobotomy.
** Cletus recovers from his Deadpool-induced VillainousBreakdown during the ''ComicBook/{{AXIS}}'' event and only joins Magneto's team to get revenge on Deadpool. However, the events of the crossover "invert" his morality, and cause him to embark on a redemptive journey of sorts that brings him into conflict with a new Sin-Eater. Following this, his inversion wears off and he goes back to being a serial killer.
* HijackingCthulhu: When consumed by a Poison, Cletus' bloodlust enabled his psyche to endure and hijack Poison Carnage.
* HijackedByGanon: Carnage appears as the TrueFinalBoss of the ''Separation Anxiety'' game, despite not being featured at all in the storylines it's based on.
* HorrifyingHero: Following his Inversion, Cletus became a combination of this and TerrorHero.
* ImAHumanitarian: Like Venom, Carnage has threatened to eat his victims and isn't shy about using his [[FangsAreEvil teeth]] in combat. For more specific examples, it's implied that Cletus ate Eric Morrell's daughter Stephanie during his stay in Doverton; some guards joked to Ted Connelly that Kasady's cellmates tend to wind up as symbiote chow; and when reunited with Kasady after being forcibly bonded to Karl Malus, the symbiote was going to eat the Wizard as revenge for separating them.
--> '''Mr. Sinister:''' [[NoSell You can't hurt me, Mr. Kasady]]. I will get what I want, with or without your cooperation. But I would prefer this go smoothly. Work with me, and I can help you.\\
'''Carnage:''' Help me get out? Help me ''eat'' the doctors?\\
'''Mr. Sinister:''' If you like. Appropriately enough, they're in the cafeteria.
* IAmLegion: Generally averted. In his first appearance, Kasady acknowledged the Carnage symbiote's intelligence, but tended to refer to himself as "I". Successive appearances had Carnage continue to do so, with the symbiote being completely subservient to him.
* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: The Jackal breaks into Ravencroft and violently extracts the Carrion virus from Shriek. Carnage, who is in a nearby cell, reacts negatively to this development.
--> '''Carnage:''' If you've injured Shriek... If you attempted to harm her... I swear I'll have you squealing beneath my claws!\\
'''Jackal:''' Promises! Promises!
* IgnoreTheFanservice: Like the Joker, he is usually far too busy being evil [[NotDistractedByTheSexy to pay much attention to]] his DarkMistress.
* ImagineSpot: When Alice Gleason betrays him, Carnage thinks of [[http://abload.de/img/c216uej.jpg all of the good times]] they could have shared, in a possible ShoutOut to [[http://i.imgur.com/JHLdHnW.jpg a similar scene]] involving Boomerang in ''ComicBook/TheSuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan''.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Pun aside, this is the reason Shriek fell for him. Cletus also feels this way towards the symbiote.
* InconsistentColoring: Cletus was drawn with blond hair in ''Minimum Carnage'', as opposed to his usual red hair.
* IndulgentFantasySegue:
** After Venom ate his symbiote, Cletus was left stewing his cell, fantasizing about getting revenge on him as Carnage.
** On his first night out as a superhero, Cletus comes across a man attempting to forcibly coerce a woman. His first response is to fantasize about ripping her in half. He scolds himself, then proceeds to knock the man's eyes out, cut another's hand off, and "gently" punch the woman unconscious after learning that she is a "lady of the evening" and thus also a criminal deserving of punishment.
* InterspeciesRomance: After getting it into his head that it was female, Cletus starts referring to the Carnage symbiote as his "girl" and "the missus", even teasingly accusing it of cheating on him when it took over Tanis Nieves. For its part, the symbiote views Cletus as its one true host and stops at nothing to reunite with him if they are forcibly separated.
* JackTheRipoff: A heroic example: post-Inversion he tries emulating Spider-Man, even to the point of leaving a cutesy note and calling himself the "friendly neighborhood Carnage-Man." However, he's closer to ripping off Eddie Brock's Lethal Protector shtick.
* JaggedMouth: Carnage was originally drawn with black teeth, giving this impression due to the majority of his mask being black.
* JokerImmunity: He's been frozen in an inescapable statue by the Silver Surfer and ripped in half by the Sentry and still survived, and survives being trapped in the Frightful Four's exploding base while he's in a coma. Even after he's murdered, the symbiote resuscitates him.
* TheJuggernaut: Among Spider Man's villains, he's almost invincible. Spider Man and Venom working together can barely slow him down.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Despite having seemingly been killed off numerous times only to later be revealed to somehow still be alive, Cletus Kasady is killed off for good in ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'' #5 after Venom cuts him in half with a Necrosword and strips the Grendel symbiote off him -- his mostly-skeletal corpse falling apart when it hits the ground]].
* LeanAndMean: He's usually lanky as both Cletus and Carnage, though in ''Literature/CarnageInNewYork'' he's described as being massive and imposing. This is taken UpToEleven in ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'', where he's literally skeletally-thin as Dark Carnage.
* LightningBruiser: Carnage is more powerful than both Venom and Spider-Man combined, and his serious attempts to wreck havoc have necessitated superhero teamups to stop him.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple:
** In ''Venom vs. Carnage'' Cletus displays this dynamic with his symbiote, exacerbated by the fact that he happened to be [[VillainsOutShopping ironing clothes]] and drinking from a mug [[FunnyBackgroundEvent that says "#1 Dad"]] at the time.
---> '''Cletus:''' How could you let him beat us? A kid? A whelp? Barely a week old!\\
'''Symbiote:''' Be quiet, Cletus Kasady.\\
'''Cletus:''' Oh, be quiet yourself. You might be the bus driver, but you need this bus.\\
'''Symbiote:''' Wrong. There are plenty more human hosts.\\
'''Cletus:''' So leave me. I don't need a symbiote to be a Grade A Bona Fide Terra Firma Quo Vadis psychopathic killer. I did just fine and dandy before you came along.
** ''Carnage'' #4, Cletus and Shriek engage in nagging banter:
---> '''Shriek:''' Where are you going? You didn't say anything about [[TwoFaced my new face...]]\\
'''Carnage:''' Can I have five minutes to kill some dudes before you talk my ear off?!\\
'''Shriek:''' I'm just trying to help...\\
'''Carnage:''' I can't have you screaming around me with that voice!\\
'''Shriek:''' How long are you going to be?!\\
'''Carnage:''' *sigh*
* {{Lobotomy}}: At the end of ''Minimum Carnage'', Kaine stabs Cletus in the eye with one of his stingers, badly damaging his brain and leaving him in a coma. This just makes Carnage even more dangerous, since the pissed-off symbiote can act without restraint.
* LosingYourHead:
** During the ''Minimum Carnage'' arc, Carnage is decapitated by Agent Venom's [[BladeBelowTheShoulder arm-blade]]. He proceeds to regenerate his entire body in under a minute, while acting like nothing happened.
** In ''AXIS: Carnage'' #3, Alice Gleason [[YourHeadASplode blows off the top part of his head with a shotgun]], but he regenerates it in a matter of seconds.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Cletus becomes smitten with Alice Gleason and spends much of his ''AXIS'' series fantasizing about her.
* LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: Cletus thought Michael Hall's screams as the Doppelgänger ate him made good thinking music.
* MagicEnhancement: Exposure to the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Darkhold]]'s eldritch magic has changed him and the symbiote, making them immune to sonics and partially restoring the symbiote's ability to replicate itself.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction:
** Cletus' reaction getting ripped in half by the Sentry was as follows:
---> '''Carnage''': Now jus' who the hell is this Sentry buck? [[WorthyOpponent He's a strong one.]] Yeehaw! Fast too! [[OhCrap Wait, are those my...]] Heh heh... that shouldn't be funny, should it? Aw... Where you goin'? Don't leave me up here! [[BloodKnight It was just gettin' good!]] ... Guess I'm dyin'. Hope it's as fun as it looks.
** He's completely unfazed when Agent Venom decapitates him, and simply regrows his entire body from his severed head.
* MakeMyMonsterGrow:
** During the ''Planet of the Symbiotes'' storyline, he discovered he could increase his size by forcibly absorbing the symbiote invaders. He wound up [[http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/4/46562/1414850-giantcarnage1.jpg growing]] to near {{Kaiju}} levels.
** In ''Minimum Carnage'', after exiting the Microverse, Carnage is temporarily ''[[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever huge]]'' while the heroes end up being temporarily shrunk, and even after the heroes return to their regular size Carnage tries to swallow Agent Venom whole.
* MakeWayForTheNewVillains:
** When Mac Gargan became a far more bloodthirsty version of Venom than Eddie Brock had been, Carnage was seemingly killed off by ComicBook/TheSentry and only brought back after the Venom symbiote had been given to the heroic Flash Thompson.
** Cletus is KilledOffForReal in ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'', but in the process [[GreaterScopeVillain Knull]] is released from his prison.
* ManBitesMan: During his symbiote-less brawl with Flash Thompson, he took a bite out of the latter's shoulder and remarked that [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies he tasted like pig]].
* MarkOfTheBeast: In ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'' he has a white version of Knull's spiral emblem in the middle of his forehead, and a white version of Knull's dragon ChestInsignia.
* {{Metalhead}}: He's been shown to be a fan of bands like Music/MotleyCrue and Music/{{Anthrax}}, to the annoyance of the symbiote, which only lets him listen to them with headphones.
* MindRape: Cletus once drove a doctor murderously insane by shoving a tentacle into his head, and showing him how he saw the world. The symbiote even reverse-hacked ComicBook/IronMan's Bleeding Edge armor through sheer bloodlust.
* MommyIssues: Culminated in him digging up and attempting to abscond with his mother's inexplicably empty casket at the end of ''Maximum Carnage''.
* MoralSociopathy: After being [[HeelFaceBrainwashing Inverted]] during ''ComicBook/{{AXIS}}'', Cletus -- normally an AxCrazy chaos-worshipping sociopath with the nihilistic desire to [[OmnicidalManiac kill everyone and everything in existence]] -- was forcibly saddled with the desire to redeem himself and do good, but had no clue how to actually do so due to his lingering bloodlust and LackOfEmpathy.
* MoralityChain: Much like Jenna Cole was for Eddie Brock, Alice Gleason became one for Cletus for the duration of his inversion.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Like "father" like "son". Carnage's teeth were initially drawn as being [[JaggedMouth black and blending in with the rest of his face]], but they've also been drawn as white, yellow, and red.
* TheMostDangerousVideoGame: Once killed a few people through ''Carnage Unleashed'', and had plans to massacre even more when the game went online, though he was stopped by Venom in a cyberspace showdown.
* MultipleChoicePast: Carnage's backstory is... inconsistent, which he himself admits. The most frequently drawn on story is that he killed his grandmother by pushing her down a flight of stairs, tortured his mother's dog, and manipulated his father into killing his mother. When sent to [[OrphanageOfFear St. Estes Home for Boys]], he was bullied due to his [[TheSociopath antisocial behaviour]], and eventually murdered the disciplinarian administration and burned the place to the ground before becoming a full-time serial killer.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Carnage is tricked into nearly killing Shriek by Deadpool. Upon realizing what he has done, Cletus breaks down ''while cradling her in his arms''.
--> '''Carnage:''' Symbiote... covered her... disguised her... tricking me into... but they tried to warn me... tried to tell me... if I'd listened... no!
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Dude calls himself Carnage, and lives up to it.
* NayTheist: In one of his rants, he claims that the universe was created by a "drooling idiot".
* NightmareFetishist: Going back to his childhood, where his favorite film was one that happened to star UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy.
--> '''Carnage:''' I kill because it makes me feel like I'm on T.V., with my own personal soundtrack. Like JFK, brains on the leather and pretty blood on his pretty wife. JFK. NBK. KKK. And his pretty wife, now think of it, all wet and humiliated, crawling in front of the whole world--I like that, too. When I was a kid, my favorite movie was the [[UsefulNotes/ZapruderFilm Zapruder film]].
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Cletus has been ripped in half, decapitated, stabbed in the head, trapped in an exploding base, and used himself to shield New York from a gene bomb. Aside from missing half his body and being in a coma,[[note]]both of which he's recovered from thanks to the symbiote[[/note]] he's still alive. Even when he's shanked, suffocated, and declared to be deceased, the symbiote just resuscitates him.
* NoSell:
** While he can withstand gunfire easily thanks to the symbiote, Cletus has tanked getting hit by missiles without so much as a scratch, and what wounds he does get are quickly healed by the symbiote.
** After his symbiote is upgraded by the ''Darkhold'', he loses his vulnerability to sonics -- although he gains one to eldritch magic in exchange.
** After bonding to the Grendel symbiote, he is no longer vulnerable to flames and laughs off Mania's attempts to immolate him with hellfire.
* NotQuiteDead:
** The ''Carnage'' miniseries revealed that the Carnage symbiote managed to keep Kasady alive for nearly a year in space before a corporation found them, removed the symbiote, and gave Kasady [[{{Cyborg}} prosthetic legs]] derived from it.
** After his HeelFaceBrainwashing, Cletus opts to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]] in an act of [[DeathEqualsRedemption redemption]], nearly bringing his former nemesis Spider-Man to tears. He succeeds in smothering the gene bomb's blast, and all that's found of him are bits of the symbiote. He's presumed dead, but later turns up alive but evil and missing the lower half of his body again.
** After the death of the Poison Queen, Poison Carnage's crystalline exoskeleton and consumed symbiote crumble to reveal Cletus somehow restored to humanity.
* NothingButSkinAndBones: By ''Absolute Carnage'', all that's really left of Cletus Kasady is charred, rotting skin stretched taught over his skeleton.
* OffModel: Cletus has been blonde a lot, and looked almost completely different in ''Minimum Carnage''.
* OmnicidalManiac: Cletus has a body-count that only plagues and dictators can match, and he has jumped at the chance cause even greater mass-casualties. For instance, he sided with (and later betrayed) Blastaar the Living Bomburst and tried to unleash the dark god Chthon in order to bring about the end of human civilization. As Dark Carnage, Cletus devotes himself to freeing Knull in order to participate in the annihilation of the universe itself.
* OneTrueLove:
** Cletus and the symbiote see each other as soul mates, taken to InterspeciesRomance levels due to Cletus considering the symbiote to be a "girl" after it gives birth to Toxin.
--->'''Carnage''': I was hollowed out inside... Empty... Just like [[TheSymbiote my other]]. We were both sick... Because we were incomplete... But not anymore. We healed each other... Made each other whole. Neither one of us can survive without the other. Forget host. Forget symbiote. There is only Carnage.
** To a lesser extant, there's Shriek.
---> '''Boy:''' Mister... your girlfriend don't look so good. I think she might be dead.\\
'''Cletus:''' Shriek's alive. [[BirdsOfAFeather She's like me]]. Too mean to die.
* OnlyFriend: The closest thing he had to friend growing up was a boy named Billy. As Carnage, he decided to ''invoke'' KickTheDog by tracking down and killing Billy, because what's more evil than murdering the only person who was ever genuinely nice to you? Currently, the Carnage symbiote is the only other entity Cletus genuinely cares about.
* OrderVersusChaos: Carnage thought that the ComicBook/RedSkull turning Genosha into one big death camp was pretty cool, but he still agreed to help Magneto combat him because he didn't like the idea of having to live under someone whose ideal world is a ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''-style totalitarian police state in which non-conformists are shot on sight.
* PopCulturedBadass: Cletus has been known to make pop-culture references from time to time, such as quoting ''Film/{{Babe}}'' and ''Series/FantasyIsland'' (through the symbiote-controlled citizens of Doverton) in ''Carnage USA''.
* PracticallyJoker: Clearly based off the Joker, with [[Film/{{Psycho}} a bit of Norman Bates in there too.]] Arist Erik Larsen even admitted to patterning Kasady's looks on the Clown Prince of Crime. Coincidentally, the Joker was initially delighted to meet Carnage during ''ComicBook/SpiderManAndBatmanDisorderedMinds'', but they quickly had a falling out over their different opinions on how to kill people.
* PrimalStance: In ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance2'' and ''LEGO Marvel Superheroes'', Carnage [[RunningOnAllFours runs on all fours]] to emphasize his feral nature.
* ReligionOfEvil: The way he goes on about chaos, Cletus may as well be a disciple of [[Characters/TheIncredibleHercules Amatsu-Mikaboshi]]. By ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesVenom'', he actually ''is'' an apostle of the void god [[PhysicalGod Knull]].
--> '''Carnage:''' There ain't no clues! Everything I do... from here on out... is random. I can't be stopped! Can't be caged! Can't be tracked! My every action is a tribute... an offering... to the almighty--\\
'''Deadpool:''' Dollar?\\
'''Carnage:''' [[BigWordShout CHAOS!]]
* ReplacementFlatCharacter: As Eddie Brock developed into an AntiHero, Cletus Kasady was created to take his place as Marvel's resident symbiote supervillain and was deliberately conceptualized as a nihilistic sociopath to prevent him from having any redeeming qualities. The few times he ''did'' undergo CharacterDevelopment -- becoming more megalomaniacal, or undergoing HeelFaceBrainwashing -- proved temporary, and each time he reverted back to his old self.
* RevenantZombie: His state in ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesVenom'' and ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'': [[spoiler:a reanimated, desiccated, maggot-infested corpse possessed by the [[SuperPrototype primordial Grendel symbiote]] and capable of thinking for himself, but willingly serving the will of [[PhysicalGod Knull]]]].
* RubberMan: Cletus can freely stretch and deform his limbs thanks to the symbiote, and can even [[LongNeck stretch his neck out like a snake]].
* {{Sadist}}: Exemplified in ''Carnage U.S.A.'', where he forces Hannah Morrell to go out and try to murder her husband, Eric. When Eric ''volunteers'' to be killed, Cletus becomes annoyed over him "ruining" everything and calls it off.
* SanitySlippage: When Cletus was in a coma, Carnage was little more than a feral beast.
* SelfMadeOrphan: Cletus' [[MultipleChoicePast most consistently used backstory]] is that he manipulated his father into killing his mother, who was trying to kill him after he'd murdered his grandmother and mutilated his mom's dog. His father was blamed for the crimes and imprisoned, leaving Cletus to be sent to an OrphanageOfFear.
* SelfServingMemory: Cletus openly admits he has problems accurately remembering things about his past, such as substituting ComicBook/{{Venom}} for his father[[note]]Which makes sense in a way.[[/note]] and Alice Gleason for his mother in a flashback of his childhood. This may be why his flashback to his mother's death in ''Carnage'' Vol. 2 differs from what was previously established.
* SerialKiller: Before he got the symbiote he was in prison for 11 consecutive life sentences. It just made him worse.
* SinisterMinister: Acts like one, complete with stolen priest clothes, for a bit in ''[=USA=]''.
* TheSociopath: Even ''before'' being bonded with the Carnage symbiote, Cletus was a diagnosed psychopath and convicted SerialKiller. Bonding to the symbiote made him worse.
* SociopathicHero: Despite being [[HeelFaceBrainwashing Inverted]], Cletus is still very much a murderous psychopath bonded to a predatory alien parasite.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Marvel flip-flops on whether Cletus' last name has one "s" or two.
* StatusQuoIsGod:
** As pointed out in ''Superior Carnage'', every time the symbiote leaves Cletus it ultimately returns to him.
** In ''Superior Carnage Annual'', Cletus decides that all the character development he's undergone over the years -- particularly his [[EvilPlan plots]] to TakeOverTheWorld and/or [[GoalOrientedEvolution become the ultimate life-form]] -- just hasn't worked out, and that he wants to get back to basics as the [[StrawNihilist nihilistic]] and AxCrazy sociopath he was born to be.
* StrawNihilist: Cletus doesn't believe in order and morality, and kills people for fun. He once argued with Demogoblin that God is probably a drooling idiot, if He even exists at all. Years later, he has a VillainousBreakdown when Deadpool convinces him that he's controlled by higher powers.
* SwissArmyAppendage: The theme of [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/9/95/Carnage_Vol_2_4_Textless.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151021082254 the cover]] of ''Carnage'' Vol. 2, #4.
* {{Synchronization}}: In ''Superior Carnage Annual'', Cletus states that he can feel the symbiote getting weaker and dying even though he's separated from it by the entirety of the United States of America.
* TaintedVeins: Some depictions of Carnage give the red parts of his body the texture of exposed muscles, with the black parts being vein-like tendrils of living abyss layered overtop.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: With Demogoblin - a KnightTemplar who only allied with him because it would allow him to kill more "sinners" than usual - in ''ComicBook/MaximumCarnage''.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: When Poison Carnage is tossed out into space at the conclusion of ''Venomized'', he complains about this happening again.
* ThroatLight: As Dark Carnage, his mouth glows a sickly yellow to accentuate his SemiDivine nature.
* TombstoneTeeth: Befitting his status as an expy of ComicBook/TheJoker, Cletus is sometimes drawn porting a Slasher Smile with these — not counting his JaggedMouth and/or fanged MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily as Carnage — to highlight his maniacal and nihilistic bloodlust.
* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: Carnage feeds the Sin-Eater his sin, which ultimately [[PhlebotinumOverload proves too much for balaclava-head to handle]].
* TheTopicOfCancer: Cletus was diagnosed with stomach cancer when he was hospitalized after the symbiote abandoned him to pursue its vendetta against the Silver Surfer. This hasn't been brought up since, presumably due to the symbiote curing him because, unlike Eddie Brock's adrenal cancer, the type of cancer Cletus had offered no benefit to it.
* TranshumanTreachery: When the offspring of the Venom symbiote bonded to him, Cletus Kasady - being a nihilistic psychopath - happily used it to become even more of a monster than he already was.
* {{Ubermensch}}: At his most philosophical, Cletus rejects the morality of the world around him as an artificial construct intended to prevent people from being truly free, and believes himself to be one of the few enlightened individuals who understand that '''''[[AxCrazy chaos]]''''' is the natural state of existence. And boy oh boy is he ever TheUnfettered when it comes to demonstrating this.
* UnholyMatrimony:
** Kasady's "[[DarkMistress wife]]" is Shriek, although their relationship is ''very'' dysfunctional.
---> '''Cletus, through the Symbiote''': She screams her pain as death and hatred. She kills for me. I like it. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness When it gets boring, I'll put her down like my mother's dog]]. I am Carnage. Killing someone I love will make me happy. So happy.
** Some lines in the ''Carnage'' Vol. 1, ''Carnage USA'', ''Superior Carnage'', and ''Venomized'' miniseries more-than imply Kasady considers his relationship with the symbiote to be this, such as referring to it as a "girl" and "the missus", and jokingly accusing it of cheating on him when bonded to Tanis Nieves.
* UnPerson: Upon becoming evil again, Carnage desperately tries to kill everyone aware of his heroism during ''AXIS'', starting with Nova.
* VilerNewVillain: As Venom transitioned from being a villain to an antihero, Cletus was introduced to be even worse by comparison. Eddie Brock may have an IrrationalHatred towards Spidey, but Cletus is a deranged SerialKiller who does things ForTheEvulz.
* VillainProtagonist: Cletus has had a number of series where he himself is the protagonist.
* VillainSong: ''Carnage Rules'' by Green Jelly, which was commissioned for the ''Maximum Carnage'' video game.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[NoFourthWall Deadpool's]] taunts and jeers about Cletus being a CosmicPlaything, coupled with various {{Contrived Coincidence}}s that have occurred, cause Carnage to try and force the patients and staff of a mental institution to answer his nonsensical questions about being "controlled" by higher powers as he rants about breaking into one nuthouse after another until he gets satisfactory answers. After Deadpool tricks him into mangling Shriek - something he thinks the "higher powers" tried to warn him against doing through the muttering of a few mental patients - Carnage, convinced everything he's believed about chaos and randomness is false, suffers a mind-shattering FreakOut.
--> '''Detective:''' Cell's not even locked. He could walk right out.\\
'''Carnage:''' Gonna sit right here... 'til I'm left alone... 'til I'm my own man again... and then... I'm gonna find Deadpool... and [[IRejectYourReality make him pay for trying to peel my eyes open]]!
* VoiceOfTheLegion: Beginning in the 2000's, Carnage speaks using distorted red speech bubbles with white text.
* WhatWouldXDo: Cletus' first attempts at being a hero pretty much boil down to him asking himself "What would Spider-Man do?", [[EvilCannotComprehendGood not having a clue]], and literally butchering it.
* WhereIWasBornAndRazed: Burned down the orphanage that took him in.
* TheWorfEffect: Spider-Man's taken him down solo on occasion, and he was ''ripped in half'' by the Sentry.
* WorthyOpponent: Cletus initially saw Spider-Man as one, during their first encounter.
--> '''Carnage:''' Gee, Webster, I dunno why Eddie ragged on ya so much! I think you're kinda ''fun!'' I mean, I could really get into reunion battles, grudge bouts! Too bad I gotta cut this short -- -- by killin' ya now!
* {{Yandere}}:
** As a teen, he pushed a girl he had a crush on in front of a bus when she refused to go out with him. This event, which had only been referenced once or twice in Carnage's early appearances, is revisited as a minor plot point in ''Axis''.
** Cletus views the Carnage symbiote as his soul mate, and when the Poisons trick him into bonding with a new symbiote he screams at them to take it off and bring him his original. After the new symbiote finishes bonding to him, he promptly goes berserk -- mowing down Poisoned incarnations of powerful heroes like Angela -- while declaring his intent to reunite with his beloved Other.
--->'''Carnage II:''' This ain't me! This ain't who I am! This ain't my other! Stand between me and my real self, I'll slaughter every damn one of you! You hear me, baby? I'm comin' for ya!

[[folder:Ben Reilly]]
!!Ben Reilly
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spider-carnage_169.jpg]]
!!!'''Alter Ego:''' Spider-Carnage
!!!'''First Appearance:''' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' Vol. 1, #145; ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' Vol., 1 #410 (as Spider-Carnage)

-> ''"I am reborn in BLOOD and AGONY! I am remade into a bringer of DEATH and DESTRUCTION! CHAOS is my only love - and CARNAGE is my name!"''

One of the two clone "brothers" of Peter Parker created by the Jackal, Ben Reilly believed himself to be the original Spider-Man and convinced Peter to retire, taking over the identity for a time.
\\\
When Ben learned that Carnage had escaped Ravencroft, an investigation revealed that the symbiote had left Cletus Kasady and taken over security chief John Jameson. During their fight, the Carnage symbiote left Jameson and latched onto Ben, bonding with him and transforming him into "Spider-Carnage". Spider-Carnage was stopped from killing Peter Parker by Ben's willpower, but after learning his friend Seward Trainer may have been behind the clone debacle, the symbiote overwhelmed him and set out to take revenge. Ben regained enough control to seek out Cletus Kasady, who the symbiote tried to return to when it realized that he was dying due to their separation. To stop this from happening, Ben elected to contain the symbiote within his own body and remain in Ravencroft. The symbiote left Ben when John Jameson flooded his cell with microwave radiation; but before it could be captured, it escaped through the room's sink and reunited with Cletus.

* BadassBoast: After successfully taking Ben over, the symbiote lets out the header statement.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Ben was continually fighting the symbiote for control of his body, and eventually managed to expel it.
--> '''Cletus:''' You can't beat it. You can't control it. It's a disease--a cancer growing inside you--spreading its fingers throughout your brain--altering your perceptions--twisting you into what it wants to be!\\
'''Symbiote:''' And I want you to be a bloody piece of meat that I can play with! I want you to be small! Give in to me!\\
'''Ben:''' [[UnusualEuphemism Rub a lamp]], pal--this is my head--this is my mind--my will against yours--and I won't be cowed in my own head!
* BreakoutVillain: Despite only appearing in three issues, Spider-Carnage has appeared in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', ''VideoGame/SpiderManWebOfShadows'', and ''VideoGame/TheAmazingSpiderMan2''.
* CloningBlues: Both Peter and Ben believed themselves to be the original Spider-Man, although Ben had convinced Peter to retire as Spider-Man. The discovery of a skeleton wearing the charred remnants of a Spider-Man costume threw them both into a second round of existential crisis because it was found in the same smokestack where Spider-Man had cremated his apparently-dead clone.[[note]]The body found was actually that of a fourth Spider-Man clone that the Jackel killed and left in Ben's place specifically to {{troll}} them both.[[/note]] For Ben, this was only made worse when he learned that his best friend Seward Trainer was involved with the bad guys responsible for the whole Clone Saga debacle. Add the [[AxCrazy Carnage symbiote]] to the mix, and it's a recipe for disaster.
* ConsultingAConvictedKiller: In a desperate bid to learn how to control the symbiote, presumably to see if he can possibly use it for good, Ben breaks into Ravencroft to see Cletus.
* DemonHead: An in-universe example occurs when Ben forms one to tell a couple he saved from some muggers to get away.
* FireAndBrimstoneHell: The mental plane Ben fights the symbiote on is depicted as this.
* FightingFromTheInside: Ben struggled to overcome the symbiote's control of his body, and ultimately succeeded in expelling it.
* IAmLegion: After arguing with Peter about Seward Trainer, Ben angrily swings away, and refers to himself with "we" while doing so.
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: Peter tries this on Ben. It works, but barely.
--> '''Peter:''' Ben... don't... don't do this.\\
'''Symbiote:''' I'm sorry... Ben is not available at the moment... please leave a message at the sound of the tearing flesh and he'll try to get back to you.
* IndulgentFantasySegue: While using his new powers to stop some muggers, Ben envisions ripping them apart, and very nearly does so.
* JaggedMouth: Like the original Carnage, Spider-Carnage had black fangs that blended into his mask.
* LegacyCharacter: The Carnage symbiote ditched Cletus and took over John Jameson before jumping to Ben Reilly and bonding to him.
* PaintTheTownRed: The symbiote declares this to be its intent during one of its mental arguments with Ben Reilly.
--> '''Ben:''' No... leave him alone. Let him live.\\
'''Symbiote:''' Be quiet, Spider! Can't you seem I'm trying to work! Now shut up... you lose! I'm in control of this body now! And, as my old friend Cletus taught me... it's time to start painting this town a lovely shade of red.
* PowerFist: The symbiote forms a hand out of Ben's chest to try and punch its way into Cletus's cell.
* PowerLimiter: The symbiote merging with him dulls Ben's Spider-Sense, but doesn't completely remove it.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: In ''Spider-Man'' Vol. 1, #67 the blue areas on Spider-Carnage's arms and legs were colored black.
* RooftopConfrontation: Spider-Carnage fights Peter, John Jameson, and the Ravencroft crew on top of a hospital.
* SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan: Ben regains control long enough to tell John Jameson to stick him in a Ravencroft cell, fully intending to spend the rest of his life in it if it means keeping Carnage contained.
* SuperPoweredEvilSide: When symbiote successfully took over Ben it caused him to behave exactly as Cletus had, though he tried to fight its influence.
* TaintedVeins: The blue areas of Ben's Spider-Man costume are covered in red veins.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Ben was only Spider-Carnage for three issues before the symbiote returned to Cletus.

[[folder:Norrin Radd]]
!!Norrin Radd
[[quoteright:246:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnage_cosmic_4221.gif]]
!!! '''Alter Ego''' Carnage Cosmic
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' #48; ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' Vol. 1 #430 (as Carnage Cosmic)

-> ''"My mind is aflame with MADNESS! OUTRAGE, WRATH, and CHAOS now smolder within me! I long to give vent to my most wanton desires and my basest emotions! The Silver Surfer is no more! In his place soars... THE CARNAGE COSMIC!"''

The cosmically-powered Norrin Radd -- alias the Silver Surfer -- is the former (and sometimes current) Herald of Galactus.

In an effort to cut costs, the new chief of security at Ravencroft weakened the microwave radiation keeping Carnage in his cell. Naturally, Cletus promptly escaped and headed to the Daily Bugle to pick a fight with Spider-Man, injuring Martha Robertson in the process. Spider-Man came out of retirement to do battle... and the Silver Surfer crashed the party. The symbiote recognized him as a Herald of Galactus and abandoned Cletus in terror, later ambushing the Surfer and bonding to him. Cletus revealed that he had terminal stomach cancer the symbiote was keeping in check, and was hospitalized. While Spider-Man tries to rally the superheroes against the threat of a cosmically-empowered Carnage, the Surfer flew out into space to try to suppress the symbiote, but was taken over and returned to Earth. Upon learning that Cletus was dying without it, however, the symbiote ditched Radd and returns to its original host, and the Silver Surfer imprisoned Carnage in an inescapable energy prison... [[CardboardPrison from which he later escaped]].

* BreakoutVillain: Not to the extent of Spider-Carnage, but enough that he received a WhatIf comic where he fights the Avengers before committing suicide, and cameoed in ''Superior Carnage'' #5.
* CurbStompBattle: The combined power of the Carnage symbiote and the Power Cosmic completely overwhelms Spider-Man and the Avengers in ''WhatIf... The Avengers Battled The Carnage Cosmic?'' It's only Radd regaining control of himself long enough to commit suicide that stops him from killing everyone.
* DrivenToSuicide: In the ''What If'' comic that showed what might have happened if the symbiote had decided to stay with the Silver Surfer, Carnage Cosmic almost kills the Avengers. Norrin regains control of himself long enough to [[DrivenToSuicide fly himself]] and the symbiote [[HurlItIntoTheSun into the sun]] to keep it from hurting anyone else.
* FightingFromTheInside: Norrin flies himself and the symbiote into space to stop it from killing innocents while he tries to fight it off. It succeeds in breaking him and returns to Earth... only to find that Cletus is dying without it.
* AGodAmI: Carnage really enjoyed having access to the Power Cosmic.
* HumanoidAbomination: Radd by himself is a god-like entity due to the Power Cosmic, and the already Lovecraftian symbiote taking over him results in a threat the likes of which even the Avengers couldn't stop.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: Radd asks Spider-Man to kill him before the symbiote takes him over completely.
* JaggedMouth: As with most depictions of Carnage in the 1990's, he has black teeth that blend into his face.
* LegacyCharacter: The symbiote ditches Cletus out of terror and jumps Norrin in an alleyway, only returning to Cletus when it learns that he'll die without it.
* MindRape: The symbiote forces Cletus' memories onto Radd in an effort to break him.
* MonstrousMandibles: Carnage Cosmic had four decorative spiked projections extending from his cheekbones and jawline.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: ''Almost'' averted, as aside from his face and teeth, Carnage Cosmic is completely red.
* SealedEvilInACan: After returning the symbiote to Cletus, Norrin traps him in an inescapable energy field.
* SkySurfing: Carnage Cosmic uses the Silver Surfer's Cosmic Surfboard covered in the symbiote's biomass.
* SpikesOfVillainy: The main thing differentiating Radd's Carnage form from other hosts - aside from the giant surfboard - was that he was covered in huge spikes.
* TakingYouWithMe: At the end of his ''WhatIf'' comic, the Silver Surfer commits suicide by flying into the sun, and takes the Carnage symbiote with him.
* ThatManIsDead: Proclaims "The Silver Surfer is no more!" when revealing himself to Spider-Man.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Silver Surfer was only Carnage Cosmic for two issues (and a non-canon ''WhatIf'') before the symbiote returned to Cletus, but he was acknowledged by Klaw as one of its four major hosts alongside Cletus, Ben Reilly, and Tanis Neives.
* WhatTheHellHero: In an effort to make him think he's NotSoDifferent from Cletus, the symbiote dredges up memories of all the planets he callously helped Galactus devour, including one that had been conquered by symbiotes.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The ''What If?'' issue had Spidey guess that, like in the main story, the symbiote would eventually return to the dying Cletus. Instead, the symbiote shot down that assumption and revealed that it was just going to let Cletus die because of how pathetic a host he was when compared to the Silver Surfer.

[[folder:Karl Malus]]
!!Karl Malus
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/supcar_7280.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Superior Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Spider-Woman'' #50; ''Superior Carnage'' #2 (as Superior Carnage)

Growing up, Doctor Karlin "Karl" Malus was fascinated by the exploits of the Fantastic Four and graduated with a degree in biology, wanting to study the science behind superpowers. Unable to get money through legal means, Karl turned to crime and set up the Institute for Supranormality Research with backing from criminal organizations. Through illegal human testing, Malus developed supersoldier serums, but his desire to experiment on an already superpowered individual went unrealized until Richard Deacon, a supervillain called the Fly, came to him looking for a power boost. Malus' experiments brought him into conflict with Jessica Drew, the first Spider-Woman; and later Captain America. Malus was eventually hired by Power Broker, Inc. to supply superhumanly strong wrestlers for the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, though this arrangement backfired when the serum he used drove most of his subjects insane and his spine was broken. Wheelchair-bound, Malus was later recruited by his old friend the Wizard, who sought his help in controlling Carnage... by forcibly transferring the symbiote to his body and controlling him instead. Resentful of the Wizard's trickery, Malus nevertheless was forced to become the "Superior Carnage", joining Wizard's attack on city hall and coming into conflict with the Superior Spider-Man. Malus ultimately lost control of the symbiote and killed Klaw, and was stripped of it and eaten by the symbiote-controlled Wizard. However, he managed to survive the experience, emerging and returning to his mad science career...and having gained a symbiote's powers in the process.
----
* AdaptiveArmor: Under the Wizard's direction, the Carnage symbiote takes on the appearance of body armor to mock Agent Venom.
* BackFromTheDead: Malus survived being eaten by Carnage, "gestating" inside him for a while... and [[CameBackStrong emerging with symbiotic powers himself]].
* BadassBandolier: Rocks one as part of his "superior" look.
* BadassLongcoat: Manifests one when the Wizard whines about too many superheroes and villains wearing PaintedOnPants and SensualSpandex. After taking control of Malus, the symbiote remarks that it thought the coat was a stupid addition until it realized it could [[CreepySouvenir accessorize it]] with the tongues of Spider-Man's {{Mooks}}.
* BlackEyesOfCrazy: As Superior Carnage, he has black sclera and glowing red pupil-less irises, though he has BlankWhiteEyes when the symbiote takes over.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Forms a curved sword-like blade on his left arm when assuming his "superior" look.
* BoxedCrook: Malus kept finding himself in this situation whenever he was arrested, having his bail paid in exchange for access to his knowledge on superpowers.
* BroughtDownToNormal: After Malus loses control of the symbiote and kills Klaw, the shockwave strips Malus of the symbiote. The symbiote takes over the Wizard and promptly eats Malus.
* EatenAlive: Karl is eaten off-panel by a Carnage-controlled Wizard. He survives and eventually emerges as a human-symbiote hybrid.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Was a crippled MadScientist before bonding to the Carnage symbiote.
* EvilCounterpart: The whole point of Wizard recruiting Carnage was to create one for Agent Venom. Like Flash Thompson, Malus is wheelchair-bound without the symbiote, though rather than being from a military background he is a scientist specializing in superpowers.
* EvilCripple: He was wheelchair-bound thanks to having his spine broken by insane super-strong wrestlers he created for Power Broker Inc.
* FightingFromTheInside: Both Malus and the symbiote were ''very'' resentful at being forced to obey the Wizard and being separated from its favorite host respectively. Malus even warned Klaw that if the Wizard's control faltered for even a moment, the symbiote would take over and eviscerate them all in revenge for what they did to Cletus.
* FingerFirearms: Of a sort: Malus launched a flurry of shurikens formed from the symbiote's fingertips at Superior Spider-Man's Spiderlings, decapitating them.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Malus went from a relatively obscure Spider-Woman villain to the new Carnage.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: [[RedEyesTakeWarning Red ones]] as Superior Carnage, though he has BlankWhiteEyes when the symbiote takes over.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Rather than dying after the Carnage symbiote ate him, Malus assimilated some of it into himself and was reborn as a human/symbiote hybrid.
* LegacyCharacter: When Wizard is unable to mind control the original Carnage due to Cletus Kasady being in a coma, he extracts the symbiote and stuffs it down his old friend Dr. Karl Malus' throat.
* LovecraftianSuperpower: Though his use of them is more sporadic than Kasady's, Malus uses tentacles to turn a flamethrower into an ArmCannon.
* MadScientist: Dr. Malus, inspired by [[ReedRichardsIsUseless Reed Richards]] of the Comicbook/FantasticFour, got a degree in biology from the University of California and once ran the Institute for Supranormality Research, experimenting on super-powered individuals and supplying the LA mob with PsychoSerum formulas.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Though they're not as pronounced as they are when the symbiote takes over.
* NoSell: Uses tentacles to turn a flamethrower into an ArmCannon, remarking that the symbiote doesn't mind the heat so much if it's the one dishing it out.
* NotQuiteDead: Malus was seemingly killed when the Carnage symbiote ate him, but was later revealed to not only have survived but to have assimilated part of it into himself.
* TokenGoodTeammate: While Malus is ''not'' a good person by any stretch of the word, he ''is'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards appalled]] by Klaw's drone-like obedience to Wizard and at his old friend's [[SanitySlippage decrepit mental state]].
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The symbiote becomes noticeably red-and-black again, and although it's subdued by the Wizard it's still plenty AxCrazy.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The first thing Malus does after becoming Carnage is try to kill the Wizard.
* SuperPoweredEvilSide: When the Wizard's mind control slipped up after being defenestrated by Spider-Man, the symbiote partially reverts to its original appearance and rampages.
* SuperheroPackingHeat: As Agent Venom's EvilCounterpart he is equipped with an arsenal of firearms, though the symbiote is markedly fond of disemboweling its victims instead.
* TakeThat: Malus proclaims that Kasady was a fool for being so obsessed with chaos when much more power could be attained with even a little focus.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Norman Osborn]]
!!Norman Osborn
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amazing_spider_man_vol_1_799_mcguinness_variant_textless.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Red Goblin]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Carnage]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnage_norman_osborn.png [[/labelnote]]]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Red Goblin; Carnage
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage, Dark Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #14; ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #796 (as Red Goblin)

A longtime enemy of Spider-Man, ComicBook/NormanOsborn -- aka the Green Goblin -- was stripped of his powers and AxCrazy split personality by Spider-Man following his attempt to take over New York as the Goblin King. Despite Norman initially revelling in his newfound sanity, he eventually realized he was at a disadvantage against Spider-Man and became increasingly desperate to reawaken the Goblin within. When science and magic failed to re-empower him, Osborn hired a pair of mercenaries to retrieve the Carnage Symbiote from the government facility it was being kept in and bonded to it, thinking that he could control its bloodlust. Despite its initial resistance to Osborn's attempts to control it, Carnage had discovered that it somehow liked the idea of slowly killing people instead of out-and-out insta-kills. Osborn convinced the symbiote to let him have "the driver's seat" in order to show it more of that sort of violence. The symbiote purged Osborn of the vaccine, and he took the Goblin Formula to become a symbiote-Goblin hybrid; kidnapping J. Jonah Jameson and re-discovering Spider-Man's civilian identity of Peter Parker.
\\\
With this knowledge, Norman waged a war on Spider-Man by targeting Peter Parker's loved ones. While targeting Harry Osborn and his family, he also bonded his grandson Normie to a piece of the Carnage symbiote. Norman was eventually stopped by the combined efforts of Peter, his allies and Norman's own ego, in the end receiving brain damage for his efforts.
----
* BigRedDevil: Norman seems to be going for a demonic vibe as the Red Goblin, being RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver and possessing fangs, claws, and a long tail with two serrations on the end.
* BioArmor: The Red Goblin's outfit strongly resembles a red-and-black version of the Green Goblin armor from Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy, with the addition of a JaggedMouth and a tail.
* BreathWeapon: His new abilities enabled him to breath flames, which he used as a weapon against Venom.
* TheCorrupter: He gave Normie some of the Carnage Symbiote, turning him into a smaller Red Goblin.
* CurbStompBattle:
** Spider-Man is so terrified by the fact that Osborn has bonded to the Carnage symbiote that his brain almost shuts down and he flees without a single word besides "[[PrecisionFStrike #$%&]] [[OhCrap me]]." The Red Goblin effortlessly takes him down with a "Carnage-Bomb" and offers to let him live on one condition: Peter gives up being Spider-Man.
** The next issue features him dishing one out to all of Spidey's closest allies. The only one who puts up anything resembling a fight is Anti-Venom, and even then only because the latter has anti-Symbiote powers.
** The finale has him taking out both Venom and the Superior Octopus, though it didn't help that MJ accidentally had the symbiote deterrents on in Stark Tower and J. Jonah Jameson dropped in with a Spider-Slayer.
* DressedInLayers: Osborn puts a Green Goblin costume on over the Carnage symbiote.
* ExtraEyes: In addition to his yellow-and-red eyes, the Carnage symbiote's white eyespots act as the Red Goblin's BigOlEyebrows.
* FakingTheDead: Impaled by a girder, Norman pretends to be dying to troll Peter before revealing he's bonded to the symbiote and transforming into the Red Goblin for the first time.
* GoodCounterpart: ''ComicBook/SpiderManDeadpool'' #47 contains a brief appearance by a version of the Red Goblin who allied with Earth's heroes against the Manipulator.
* HealingFactor: Both the Goblin Formula and the Symbiote give you one so, yeah... Even if you can put as much as a dent in this guy, he'll heal in way that could give Wolverine a run for his money. Being impaled is no big deal anymore, at least.
* HellishPupils: The Red Goblin has yellow eyes with red vertically-slitted pupils.
* HeroKiller: He murders Flash Thompson for ruining his plan to torture Peter's friends and loved ones.
* HijackingCthulhu: Norman ''thought'' he could do this, but the symbiote initially took over him. He quickly persuades it to listen to him by offering to teach it new ways to make people suffer.
-->'''Norman:''' Stop! I am in control! Norman Osborn! The Green G-\\
'''Carnage Symbiote:''' G-g-give it up! There's no "I" here! And green is out! There's only red! We're making everything red! They'll be soaked in it! Drenched in it! And we are -- Carnage! Hahahahahaaaa!
* HomingProjectile: His Pumpkin Bombs are now oddly adorable "Carnage Bombs" that can follow and latch onto their targets by biting them.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
** Norman is impaled through the back by a girder and tricks Spider-Man into thinking he's dying before he unveils his Red Goblin form.
** After Spider-Man saves Liz Allan from suffering Gwen Stacy's fate, Harry Osborn rams his father with an old Goblin Glider - impaling his chest in the same manner Norman had died the first time.
** Inflicts this on Phil Urich after finding his treacherous protege raiding the Goblin cache he was residing in.
* JaggedMouth: The Red Goblin's mouth has serrated red teeth that blend into the rest of his mask.
* MindRape: Peter exploits Osborn's ego to trick him into rejecting the Carnage symbiote, then beats him to a pulp. When Osborn tries to rebond to the Carnage symbiote, Spider-Man immolates it and Osborn is hit with the full force of its dying agony, sending him into an AngstComa. He recovers... somewhat, as he's now stark raving mad and under the impression that he's Cletus Kasady and that Spider-Man is Norman Osborn.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In ''Red Goblin: Red Death'', even the psychopathic Norman Osborn is left horrified when the Carnage symbiote tricks him into letting it go on a killing spree.
-->'''Norman:''' How could I allow this to happen?
* NoSell:
** He's strong enough to casually shrug off Miles Morales' Venom Strike, which has infamously struck down his Earth-1610 counterparts with ease.
** He also resists a full power simultanious blast from Clash and the Human Torch - proving how he is completely immune to a symbiote's conventional weaknesses.
* OmnicidalManiac: Upon bonding to Osborn, the symbiote gleefully announces its intent to resume its mission to kill everyone in the world. However, Norman eventually manages to earn the symbiote's favour by showing it that it can possibly do more harm through more intricate means, speculating that the Carnage symbiote has actually gotten somewhat bored of mindless death and destruction.
* PartialTransformation: When interrogating Jameson, Norman is distracted by a rat and pounces on it. While attempting to use it as a DeadlyEuphemism, he eats it -- [[ShadowDiscretionShot his shadow shown sporting a fanged maw and claws]]. When he kills Phil Urich, he's similarly shown in shadow with only his arm transformed.
* PlayingWithFire: The Red Goblin was capable of creating explosive "Carnage Bombs", a flame-wreathed Carnage Glider, and breathing fire.
* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: When Osborn mortally wounds Flash Thompson, Symbiote Spider-Man Venomizes and punches him halfway across the city in a berserk rage.
* {{Pride}}: This is what ultimately defeats him -- Peter warns Osborn that if he kills him, he doesn't get credit for the kill; the Carnage symbiote does and thus Cletus Kasady.
* {{Sadist}}: Norman teaches the symbiote the joys of slowly torturing people to death, and offers to show it more nuanced ways to inflict death and suffering than turning people into confetti.
* ShockAndAwe: Due to wearing his Green Goblin costume under the symbiote, he's able to use his gloves' Sparkle Blasters to electrocute Flash Thompson.
* StoryBreakerPower: The Green Goblin formula? Turns you into a Spidey-level bruiser at the cost of your sanity. The Carnage symbiote? Turns you into a heavy hitter with a few specific weaknesses. The two ''combined''? Gives you a vastly-enhanced version of the Carnage symbiote's powers, and a combined HealingFactor that basically becomes Wolverine-Level, with ''none'' of the symbiote's weaknesses. Spidey's allies (including Miles and his infamously overpowered Venom Strikes, the Human Torch, and Agent Anti-Venom) drop like flies before him.
* ToThePain: The Red Goblin tells Spider-Man that he will kill everyone even tangentially-related to Peter Parker in ways too agonizing for him to comprehend if he catches him so much as wall-crawling. He keeps this promise by covertly slipping pieces of Carnage into them as seemingly nonlethal slivers in projectile attacks. He explains he can remotely will them to work their way up the victim's circulatory system to the brain, killing them in an unimaginably agonizing way.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Peter takes up Osborn's offer to stop being Spider-Man because not only is he heavily outgunned at this point, he surmises that Osborn is ''completely'' underestimating who he is; he's so gung-ho on ridding himself of the Spider, he's completely ignoring the "-Man" part of "Spider-Man", thus he's going to fight him as Peter Parker.
* WreathedInFlames: The Red Goblin's glider is augmented by symbiote biomass and is wreathed in flames.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: He rips off the symbiote (who tells him doing such is a ''bad idea'') when the opportunity to kill Spider-Man with his bare hands as the Green Goblin seems to present itself.
* YouNeedABreathMint: Noxious-looking fumes billow out of the Red Goblin's mouth whenever he speaks. It's presumably meant to be invocative of sulfur, given his BigRedDevil look.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Normie Osborn]]
!!Normie Osborn
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/goblin_childeearth_616.png]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Goblin Childe
!!! '''Host To:''' Norman Osborn's Carnage offshoot
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #263; ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #799 (as Goblin Childe)

The son of Harry Osborn and Liz Allan, Norman "Normie" Harold Osborn idolized his grandfather, resented his father's apparent preference for his younger son Stanley, and hated Spider-Man. Normie was bonded to a piece of the Carnage symbiote by his grandfather, taking up the alias Goblin Childe, but ultimately turned against Norman when he saw how much of a monster his grandfather really was.
----
* AxCrazy: Due to the symbiote's influence, he's ''very'' eager to kill not just Spider-Man -- who he's always seen as a villain out to ruin his family - but people in general.
* CurbStompCushion: The Superior Octopus catches him off-guard and smashes him around until he transforms into his monstrous form. Even then, Otto holds his own until the Red Goblin shows up.
* EvilMeScaresMe: After being divested of the Carnage symbiote, in ''Web of Venom: The Good Son'' he's terrified of Dylan turning him into the Goblin Childe again.
* HeelFaceTurn: He realizes his father loves him and sees just how much of a monster his "Pop-Pop" really is when Norman tries to do to Liz Allan what he did to Gwen Stacy; turning on his grandfather and helping his dad and Spider-Man fight him. In ''Web of Venom: The Good Son'', though, he blames his grandfather's villainy on the Carnage symbiote.
* KidsAreCruel: Normie was always an arrogant, resentful brat; but under the Carnage symbiote's influence he says that baking cookies with raisins in them is a valid reason for Aunt May to deserve to die.
* NotQuiteBackToNormal: While Dr. Steven seemingly removes the Carnage symbiote from Normie, a small amount still remains bonded to him. This remnant is eventually extracted in ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage''.
* OverlordJr: Both as Normie Osborn and as the Goblin Childe, he's Norman Osborn's chosen successor and idolizes his grandfather until seeing just how much of a monster he really is. To sell this, as the Goblin Childe he looks like a miniature Red Goblin, but lacks his grandfather's JaggedMouth.
* PartialTransformation: When attacking May Reilly, he sports fangs, yellow sclera, and tendrils but is otherwise human.
* TheResenter: He despises his infant half-brother Stanley, who he sees as stealing his father's affection.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Deep down he just wants his father's love and approval, which Norman pretends to fill while trying to twist him into his successor. Realizing that his dad ''does'' care for him is part of what causes him to turn on Norman.
[[/folder]]

!!Carnage's Other Hosts

[[folder:John Jameson]]
!!John Jonah Jameson III
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnage_john_jameson.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Man-Wolf; Carnage
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage; Dark Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #1

----
See Characters/SpiderManAllies
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tanis Nieves]]
!!Tanis Nieves
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1678871_carnage_vol_1_3_page_12_tanis_nieves__earth_616.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Scorn, Carnage
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage, Scorn
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage'' #1

Inspired by a troubled childhood to want to help people no matter what, Dr. Tanis Nieves became a psychiatrist and was assigned to Frances Barrison -- aka Shriek. When a battle between the Spider-Doppelgänger and Hall Industries' Iron Rangers cost Tanis one of her arms, she was outfitted with a biomechanical prosthetic created using samples harvested from the Carnage symbiote. The symbiote seized control of Tanis' prosthetic and bonded to her, attempting to take over her mind. When Tanis refused to submit to it, the Carnage symbiote used her to locate Cletus Kasady and returned to him, leaving a newborn spawn in Tanis' prosthetic that matured into the Scorn symbiote.
----
See Characters/SymbioteHosts
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Populace of Doverton, Colorado]]
!!Populace of Doverton, Colorado
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/doverton.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:'''
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage; Dark Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage, U.S.A.'' #1

Travelling to the city of Doverton, Colorado, Cletus Kasady gorged the Carnage symbiote on the contents of a slaughterhouse and sent offshoots of his symbiote through the sewers, bonding it to almost everyone in the city. While the residents were freed with intervention from Captain America, Wolverine, Hawkeye, the Thing, Spider-Man, Agent Venom, Mercury Team, and Scorn; a few years later Cletus returned -- now bonded to an offshoot of the deific Grendel symbiote -- and inducted them into a cult worshipping the dark god Knull. When John Jameson arrived to investigate the strange occurrences, Dark Carnage infected him with a piece of his symbiote and sacrificed the residents of Doverton to Knull.
----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Steve Rogers]]
!!Steve Rogers
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/captain_america_in_absolute_carnage_variant.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Captain America, Nomad, the Captain
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:'''

----
See the ComicBook/CaptainAmerica page
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Logan]]
!!Logan
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Wolverine
!!! '''Host To:''' Tyrannosaurus; Mania; Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Incredible Hulk'' #180

----
See the ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} page
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ben Grimm]]
!!Ben Grimm
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fantastic_four_carnage.png]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' The Thing
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage, Unnamed Symbiote
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Fantastic Four'' #1

----
See the ComicBook/TheThing page
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Clint Barton]]
!!Clint Barton
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Hawkeye, Goliath, Ronin
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Tales of Suspense'' #57

----
See the ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} page
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Bentley Wittman]]
!!Bentley Wittman
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bentley_wittman_earth_616_and_carnage_klyntar_earth_616_from_superior_carnage_vol_1_5_0002.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' The Wizard
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Strange Tales'' #102
----
See the [[Characters/MarvelComicsFrightfulFour Frightful Four]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Carla Unger]]
!!Carla Unger
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carla_unger_earth_616_002.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Carnage
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Superior Carnage Annual'' #1 (April, 2014)

----
[[/folder]]

!!Dark Carnage's Other Hosts

[[folder:Eric Morrell]]
!!Eric Morrell
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eric_morrell_earth_616_from_web_of_venom_cult_of_carnage_vol_1_1_001.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:'''
!!! '''Host To:''' Dark Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage, U.S.A.'' #1

----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:John Jonah Jameson III]]
!!John Jonah Jameson III
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/john_jonah_jameson_iii_earth_616_from_absolute_carnage_lethal_protectors_vol_1_3_001.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Man-Wolf
!!! '''Host To:''' Carnage, Dark Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #1 (March, 1963);[[note]]As Jameson[[/note]] ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #124 (September, 1973);[[note]]As Man-Wolf[[/note]] ''Amazing Fantasy'' #18 (March, 1996)[[note]]Chronologically[[/note]]

----
See Characters/SpiderManAllies
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Chewie]]
!!Chewie
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chewie.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:'''
!!! '''Host To:''' Dark Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Giant-Size Ms. Marvel'' #1

----
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Carol Danvers]]
!!Carol Danvers
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carol_danvers_earth_616_and_venom_klyntar_earth_616_from_siege_spider_man_vol_1_1_0001.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Egos:''' Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, Captain Marvel
!!! '''Host To:''' Venom, Dark Carnage
!!! '''First Apperance:''' ''Marvel Super-Heroes'' #13 (March 1968) [[note]]As Carol Danvers[[/note]]; ''Ms. Marvel'' #1 (January 1977) [[note]]As Ms. Marvel[[/note]]; ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #164 (December 1982) [[note]]As Binary[[/note]]; ''The Avengers'' #4 (May 1998) [[note]]As Warbird[[/note]]; ''Avenging Spider-Man'' #9 (July 2012) [[note]]As Captain Marvel[[/note]]

----
See ComicBook/CarolDanvers for more info.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Eddie Brock]]
!!Eddie Brock
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnage_eddie_brock.png]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Venom, Anti-Venom, Toxin
!!! '''Host To:''' Venom, Anti-Venom, Toxin, Sleeper, Dark Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Web of Spider-Man'' #18 (September, 1986);[[note]]As Eddie Brock.[[/note]] ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #299 (April, 1988);[[note]]As Venom.[[/note]] ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #569 (October, 2008);[[note]]As Anti-Venom.[[/note]] ''Venom'' Vol. 2 #17 (July, 2012);[[note]]As Toxin.[[/note]]

----
[[/folder]]

!! Notable Alternate Versions of Carnage

[[folder:Bizarnage]]
!!Bizarnage
[[quoteright:312:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/297318_188412_bizarnage.jpg]]
!!! '''Universe:''' Earth-9602
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''[[ComicBook/AmalgamUniverse Spider-Boy]]'' #1

--> ''"You am going nowhere, Spider-Boy--except going to die!''"

When the events of ''Marvel vs. DC'' caused both universes to temporarily combine, Carnage was merged with longtime Franchise/{{Superman}} foe Bizarro. This union created Bizarnage, a crazed monster that was the result of Project Cadmus's attempt to synthetically replicate alien [=DNA=].
----
-> See Characters/AmalgamUniverse
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Spider]]
!!Spider
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnageexiles_3119.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Peter Benjamin Parker
!!! '''Universe:''' Earth-15
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Exiles'' #12

--> ''"Yeah, you do that, buddy. God knows I can't wait to get back to my dimension and sit in prison for sixty-seven consecutive life sentences. Stupid jury."''

At some point, a teenage version of Spider-Man originating from Earth-15 merged with his world's Carnage symbiote, the two becoming a monster dubbed "the Spider". Incarcerated for the heinous crimes he went on to commit, the Spider was given a chance for freedom when he was drafted into Weapon X, a [[DarkerAndEdgier more]] [[AntiHeroTeam extreme]] counterpart of the reality-hopping ComicBook/{{Exiles}}.
----
* AlternateSelf: He is an alternate universe counterpart of Spider-Man from Earth-15, bonded to that universe's version of the Carnage symbiote.
* AntiHeroSubstitute: He and Weapon X were this for the Exiles, being given "unsavory" missions that could involve assassinations at best, and outright genocide at worst.
* AxCrazy: This version of Spider-Man was a convicted serial killer sentenced to ''sixty-seven'' consecutive life sentences.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: His preferred method of attack was to morph his arms into long spikes, which he used to give Vanisher a TorsoWithAView.
* BoxedCrook: He was drafted into Weapon X after being arrested.
* CoDragons: He and an evil ComicBook/CarolDanvers were this for [[ComicBook/SquadronSupreme King Hyperion]].
* EnemyDetectingRadar: His Spider-Sense allowed him to locate others, including the Exiles.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: His idea of a joke was something Deadpool would have appreciated. Ironically, the Deadpool he was teammates with had NoSenseOfHumor.
* {{Expy}}: His dark sense of humor makes him a CompositeCharacter of both Carnage and Deadpool.
* JerkAss: Gambit orders She-Hulk to knock Hulk!Wonder Man into a portal, convincing her to do so by reassuring her that Spider will be able to reel her back in to safety. Spider doesn't lift a finger to help her, and can barely be bothered to come up with an excuse for why he didn't.
* KillItWithFire: The Firestar from Earth-3062 flambéed him [[TakingYouWithMe and herself]].
* NoMouth: Unlike the other versions of Carnage, he didn't manifest a mouth.
* OhCrap: Spider tries to get an alternate ComicBook/WonderMan to back off by threatening [=WM=]'s MoralityPet, the Scarlet Witch. This leads to him discovering that this Wonder Man is also the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk.
--> '''Wanda:''' He does everything in his power to maintain control, you imbecile! You're threatening me--you're setting him off!!\\
'''Spider:''' Crap.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He was 42 when he died, but still looked fourteen. The symbiote or his status as a member of Weapon X presumably retarded his aging.
* PsychoForHire: When King Hyperion usurped control of Weapon X, the Spider sided with him because Hyperion let him do whatever he wanted, namely kill and maim to his heart's content.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: He had an entirely red costume with a black chest insignia and webbing-like veins stretching from it to his shoulders.
* RiseOfZitboy: With the symbiote retracted, he's shown to be quite pockmarked.
* SamusIsAGirl: He's stunned when one version of [[ComicBook/AlphaFlight Sasquatch]] turns out to be a black woman named Heather Hudson.
* TheSociopath: He's a mass-murderer with a depraved sense of humor.
* TerribleTrio: Formed one with King Hyperion and Ms. Marvel, after they decided to stop listening to the Timebroker.
* YouAreNumberSix: His inmate number was 24739.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Carnage (Animated Series)]]
!!Carnage (Animated Series)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/b6d47c735941c8ebc50d9c2b9d4024da.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Cletus Kasady
!!! '''Universe:''' Earth-92131
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Spider-Man: The Animated Series ''Season 3, Episode 10
!!! '''Voiced By:''' Scott Cleverdon

--> ''"Kasady is gone! There is only... CARNAGE!"''

A deranged madman who had committed crimes so severe even the Post refused to report them, Cletus Kasady was captured by Spider-Man after attempting to suicide-bomb a squad of police inside his booby-trapped house. Imprisoned at Ravencroft Asylum for the Criminally Insane, Cletus wound up in the cell next to Eddie Brock, who was doing time for his actions as the super villain Venom and undergoing therapy with Dr. Ashley Kafka. When [[Characters/DoctorStrangeEnemies Baron Mordo]], servant of the demon lord Dormammu, offered to return the symbiote to Eddie, Cletus eavesdropped and eagerly offered his services in return for power. When the symbiote later returned for Eddie and Venom escaped, Cletus watched in jealous frustration, but later on Baron Mordo revealed that the symbiote had reproduced, offering its spawn to Cletus in exchange for his fealty to Dormammu. Kasady gleefully accepted, bonding to the creature, and was dubbed Carnage by Mordo.

As Carnage, he helped Venom steal Tony Stark's inter-dimensional portal device, and following Venom's defection was given the ability to drain life force via physical contact, using it to fill an urn that would set Dormammu free. After rampaging through the city, Carnage drained enough life force to nearly fill the urn, When Mordo told him only one more person's life was needed to free Dormammu, Carnage was disappointed but chose Detective Lee, his arresting officer, as his final victim. Spider-Man intervened, but Carnage defeated him, draining Detective Lee's life force and Dr. Kafka's as well when she arrived, taking her to Dormammu's lair. There, Mordo used the urn to open a portal to Dormammu's prison, but Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Venom intervened. Spider-Man reversed the portal's flow, but was unable to close it due to the power Dormammu had given Carnage. As he was pulled through the portal, Carnage grabbed Dr. Kafka, determined to take her with him, but Venom sacrificed himself to save her, trapping both himself and Carnage in the void between worlds.

Some time later, the Carnage symbiote - or possibly an alternate version of it - made its way through a portal and into the hands of a nihilistic alternate version of Spider-Man driven insane by the existence of a clone named Ben Reilly, transforming him into Spider-Carnage. Spider-Carnage sought to destroy the Multiverse and nearly succeeded, but was stopped by a team of Spider-Men from other worlds. When confronted by an alternate version of Uncle Ben, Spider-Carnage realized what a monster he had become and sacrificed himself to destroy the portal machine and the symbiote for good.

See the ''Characters/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' characters page for more information.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Carnage (Unlimited)]]
!!Carnage (Unlimited)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e6b36d26f878de270de22d0e77711140.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Cletus Kasady
!!! '''Universe:''' Earth-751263[=/=]Earth-7831
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' Episode 1 ("Worlds Apart, Part One")
!!! '''Voiced By:''' Michael Donovan

Cletus Kasady was imprisoned in a maximum security prison cell before being broken out by Eddie Brock, who gifted Cletus with a portion of his symbiote and turned him into the monstrous Carnage. An unknown amount of time later, Carnage attacked Colonel Jameson's shuttle to Counter-Earth alongside Venom, guided by an entity they called the Synoptic. On Counter-Earth, Carnage and Venom began working to further the Synoptic's goal of conquering Counter-Earth with symbiotes, at times working with the High Evolutionary, but most often against.

See the ''Characters/SpiderManUnlimited'' characters page for more information.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ultimate Carnage]]
!!Ultimate Carnage
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ultcarn_8567.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' "Little Ben"; Gwen Stacy (genetic duplicate)
!!! '''Universe:''' Earth-1610
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' #61; ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' #98 (as Gwen Stacy)

--> '''Peter:''' Conners? What--have--you--done?

A protoplasmic entity created by Curtis Connors and Ben Reilly by combining a sample of Spider-Man's blood with a sample of his own - which contained traces of the Lizard Formula, and a sample of the Venom Suit. The creature's genetic code was incomplete, so to sustain itself it began attacking everyone it came across and draining them of all their vital fluids. Possessing fragments of Peter Parker's memories, it returned to his house, where it encountered and killed Gwen Stacy. Carnage later returned and attacked Peter, who led it away from his home into the city. After watching it transform into a monstrous replica of Richard Parker, Peter realized that it needed his DNA to become complete and, rationalizing that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman it wasn't alive to begin with]], immolated it in an industrial smoke stack. Dr. Connors was arrested for his role in creating it, and Ben Reilly was fired.

Otto Octavius and Ben Reilly later created a second Carnage using a sample of the original and DNA samples of Gwen as a base. The second Carnage, possessing Gwen's memories, sought out Peter Parker after escaping from SHIELD during the Green Goblin's breakout. When Eddie Brock threatened Peter in an attempt to get the Venom Suit back from SHIELD, Gwen intervened and transformed into Carnage. This caused the traces of the Venom Suit inside Eddie's body to reform, and after a brief fight he assimilated Carnage, spitting out the fully human clone of Gwen.

For more information on both Ultimate Carnages, please refer to the '''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan''' page, and the adjoining [[Characters/UltimateSpiderMan characters]] page.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Carnage Curl]]
!!Carnage Curl
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnagecurl_6719.jpg]]

!!! '''Universe:''' Earth-615.9[=/=]Earth-90211
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''What If? Venom Possessed Deadpool'' #3

--> '''Hairy Spranger:''' And this "lady" is--
--> '''Carnage Curl:''' I am the Carnage Curl. I am living death. I am twisted hair and broken hearts.
--> '''Hairy Spranger:''' I bet you are, sweetie.

InAWorld where the Venom symbiote bonded to ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, the Merc with a Mouth attempted to modernize his look by cutting off his Beyonder-inspired Jheri curls, not knowing that they contained the gestating spawn of his symbiote. Once separated from its parent, the baby symbiote assumed a human form, and became an enemy of Venompool.
----
* AmbiguouslyHuman: There's no indication that Carnage Curl has a host, she might simply be a BlobMonster that can somehow make itself look like a person.
* ArchEnemy: Carnage Curl went out of her way to make Venompool miserable after he rejected her.
--> '''Venompool:''' Do you know what she put me through? Do you?! Carnage Curl killed my great secret uncle, Buffalo Hopskotch! She blew up the laboratory where I worked for years to create diarrhea retardant Olestra! She left [[ExcrementStatement an upper-decker]] at my country time birthday hoedown. Everyone thought I left a stinker!
* DenserAndWackier: This being a [[ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} Deadpool]]-centered ''WhatIf'' comic, she was born from a botched haircut, looked completely human, and was sleeping with two cosmic entities.
* MonsterIsAMommy: She was dating the Beyonder, but got knocked up by ''Galactus''.
--> '''Galactus:''' Behold--Galactus is the baby daddy! My revenge is finally complete, Beyonder!\\
'''Beyonder:''' No... [[ThisCannotBe it can't be]]... not him. Home-wrecking monster! [[TalkShowWithFists Let us solve our differences with fists!]]
* MostCommonSuperpower: She was incredibly buxom and not afraid of flaunting herself.
* OneWingedAngel: She's able to assume a form that resembles the mainstream Carnage, but with the addition of FemmeFatalons and PrehensileHair.
* OppositeSexClone: She was formed from Venompool's amputated Jheri curls.
* RetGone: Venompool erased her from existence with the Retcon Expungifier.
* SassyBlackWoman: As her shirt advertises, she took the appearance of a dark-skinned human woman.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Carnage (Ultimate Animated Series)]]
!!Carnage (Ultimate Animated Series)
[[quoteright:319:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnage_ultimate_spider_man_2.png]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Peter Parker (original); Otto Octavius, Iron Fist, Hulk, Agent Venom, Shriek, Mary Jane Watson (second)
!!! '''Universe:''' Earth-12041
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' Season 2 Episode 8 (original); ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' Season 4 Episode 13 (second)

The original Carnage symbiote was created by the Green Goblin from a modified sample of the Venom symbiote, and bonded to Peter Parker. Transformed into a berserk red-and-black monster dubbed Carnage by the Goblin, Peter was sent to kill Spider-Man and his team, and easily trounced them and a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents until Harry Osborn - the former host of the Venom symbiote, intervened and took the symbiote from Peter, becoming Venom once again.

Several months later, Doctor Octopus and Hydra scientist Michael Morbius acquired a sample of the Venom symbiote from Agent Venom and modified it to create a second Carnage symbiote. Originally bonding to Otto Octavius, the symbiote quickly developed the ability to speak and manifest a humanoid form without a host. Carnage battled Spider-Man and Agent Venom until it was blown up, scattering pieces of the symbiote across the city that proceeded to take over most of the populace. Seemingly destroyed by Anti-Venom, the Carnage symbiote instead reformed and infested Midtown High, where it took over Mary Jane Watson and turned her into the Carnage Queen. Hydra intended to control her and use her to spread the symbiote around the world, but Mary Jane was able to overcome and tame the symbiote to become Spider-Woman.

See the ''Characters/UltimateSpiderManAntagonists'' characters page for more information.

[[/folder]]

!! Carnage's Spawn

[[folder:Toxin]]
!![[ComicBook/{{Toxin}} The Toxin Symbiote]]
[[quoteright:204:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/607f70734ca5535cb48778feef71277c.JPG]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Venom Vs. Carnage'' #2

The first offspring of the Carnage symbiote. Cletus, disgusted at the notion of giving birth, forcibly bonded the infant symbiote, later named "Toxin" by Venom, to police officer Patrick Mulligan, who attempted to use it as a force of good, inspired by Spider-Man. Despite initial success, Patrick was murdered by the demon Blackheart, who cloned the symbiote and bonded them to clones of X-23. Agent Venom was blackmailed by the Crime Master into stealing the Toxin symbiote from Blackheart, although the Venom symbiote took control of Flash and tried to kill its progeny. Jack O'Lantern extracted the symbiote and took it to the Crime Master, who later forcibly bonded it to Eddie Brock. The symbiote initially took total control of Eddie's body and tried to kill Venom, but was ignited by Flash. It survived, still bonded to Eddie, and they agreed to work together until they could kill Venom before trying to kill each other.
----
-> See Characters/{{Toxin}}
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Scorn]]
!!Scorn
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scorn_9041.jpg]]
!!! '''Hosts:''' Tanis Nieves, Frances Barrison
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage'' #4 (June, 2011)

Tanis Nieves was a psychologist working to rehabilitate Frances "Shriek" Barrison, "wife" of the presumed-dead serial killer Cletus Kasady. When the Doppelganger attempted to free its mother from captivity, Tanis lost her right arm due to a stray blast, and was given a prosthetic courtesy of Hall Industries. However, it turned out that the prosthetic had been [[OrganicTechnology engineered]] from the Carnage symbiote, which Hall Industries had been experimenting on. The symbiote remotely seized control of Tanis' arm, forcing her to break it free and bonding to her in an effort to relocate its original host, who was still alive even after being torn in half and spending a year in orbit. After the Carnage symbiote had returned to Cletus, Tanis discovered it had left a spawn that had merged with her prosthetic. Initially terrified, she ultimately embraced it, dubbing it "Scorn", and used it to help Spider-Man and Iron Man repel Carnage. Under the direction of the military, Scorn joined the Mercury Team and trained her symbiote's unique ability to assimilate any technological object. When Carnage resurfaced in Doverton, Scorn was dispatched alongside the other members of Team Mercury, and with the help of Agent Venom succeeded in capturing her "father".
----
* AnArmAndALeg: Tanis lost her right arm during a shootout between the Iron Rangers and the Doppelgänger. She later cut off the replacement upon realizing it was "infected" by Carnage's spawn, though she allowed it to return to her.
* ArmCannon: Can fuse her arms to guns to give herself these.
* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler:Scorn reappears for the first time since ''Carnage USA'' as the head of the apocalypse cult worshipping Carnage. Carnage's first action upon his resurrection is to rip out her spine and devour it]].
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Engaged in one with the Carnage symbiote.
* BrainyBrunette: When not in symbiote form. [[CompressedHair Otherwise, there's no way to tell]].
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Implied with the symbiote, as it left Shriek because she frightened it, and it actually asked Tanis's permission to return to her.
* ChromeChampion: The symbiote has a silver-colored right arm and constantly shifting metallic silver markings.
* CurbstompBattle: Easily thrashed Shriek and Doppelganger in her debut appearance.
* CynicismCatalyst: The events of the ''Carnage'' miniseries were this for her.
* TheEngineer: While the Mercury Team scours Doverton, Scorn stays behind to work on a machine that will separate the Carnage symbiote from Cletus and the residents of the town.
* EvilHand: The Carnage symbiote escaped captivity by taking control of Tanis's prosthetic arm.
* FaceHeelTurn: In ''Web of Venom: Carnage Born'', [[spoiler:Scorn makes her return for the first time since 2011's ''Carnage USA'' having become the leader of a cult worshipping the dark god Knull. She uses the stolen sample of the Grendel symbiote to resurrect Cletus Kasady... and promptly gets her spine ripped out and eaten]].
* GadgeteerGenius: Due to the symbiote being able to interface with technology.
* GeneticMemory: The Scorn symbiote instinctively dislikes Spider-Man, despite having had no extended interaction with him.
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The symbiote was initially red-orange, but became purple and silver after bonding with Tanis.
* MilitarySuperhero: Was drafted into being one, and is currently categorized as still in-training.
* MostCommonSuperpower: As Scorn, Tanis' bust is emphasized more than in her human form.
* NoMouth: The Scorn symbiote has yet to manifest its species' trademark MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily while bonded to Tanis.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Looks quite different from the other symbiotes, due to the smaller eyes, and not yet displaying fangs or {{Lovecraftian Superpower}}s.
* OrganicTechnology: Her right arm was a prosthetic formed from the Carnage symbiote.
* PsychoPsychologist: As She-Carnage.
* PurpleIsPowerful: The Scorn symbiote is purple, and even stronger than its "father" Carnage.
* SarcasmMode:
--> '''General Duggan:''' Doctor Tanis Nieves, I'm General Brandon Duggan. [[AsYouKnow You were the victim of a prolonged psychic assault by the Carnage symbiote, resulting in a permanent bond with its alien progeny.]]\\
'''Scorn:''' Oh yeah, thanks. It totally slipped my mind.
* ShootTheDog: She explicitly compared putting Shriek in a coma to this.
* SixthRanger: For the Mercury Team, being the only one of the group to not have a military background or Life Foundation symbiote.
* TheSmartGuy: For the Mercury Team.
* SpockSpeak: While building the anti-symbiote sonic weapon, the symbiote speaks using a sophisticated manner that comes across as a MachineMonotone bordering on RoboSpeak.
* {{Technopath}}: Because it spawned from Tanis' symbiote prosthetic, the Scorn symbiote doesn't distinguish between itself and technology, allowing it to merge with anything composed of metal.
* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: When Tanis rejected the symbiote, it joined with Shriek, but it soon left her and returned to Tanis because Shriek terrified it.
* TronLines: The symbiote has silvery vein-like markings on it.
* WarriorTherapist: Before her encounter with Carnage, she was TheShrink. Whether the army is continuing to let her practice is left unstated. Probably not.
* WideEyedIdealist: Originally was one to the point where she almost got herself killed saving the Doppelgänger.
* WingedHumanoid: Due to being augmented by her prosthetic the Carnage symbiote could form wings.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Raze]]
!!Raze
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dixonraze.jpg]]
!!! '''Hosts:''' Jubulile van Scotter, Claire Dixon
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage'' Vol 2 #10 (September, 2016)

----
* BioArmor: The Raze symbiote is a greenish-black emulating Claire Dixon's body armor.
* ModifiedClone: The Raze symbiote was an offshoot of the Carnage symbiote [[MagicEnhancement augmented]] by the ''[[TomeOfEldritchLore Darkhold]]''.
* PsychicLink: As a result of being an offshoot of the Carnage symbiote, the Raze symbiote shares a mental connection to it that leaves it enslaved to Carnage's will and unable to refuse his commands.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jubulile van Scotter's Symbiote]]
!!Jubulile van Scotter's Symbiote
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jubulile_van_scotter_earth_616_from_carnage_vol_2_16_001.jpg]]

!!! '''Hosts:''' Jubulile van Scotter
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage'' Vol 2 #6 (May, 2016)

----
* AccidentalMisnaming: Cletus calls Jubulile van Scotter "Jujubee", to her annoyance.
* AttackBackfire: Cletus bonds Jubulile to a part of the Carnage symbiote to turn her into a minion. Instead it empowers her and enables her to escape him.
* CurbStompBattle: When she's attacked by a [[HumanoidAbomination Broodling of Chthon]], Jubulile easily defeats it using her symbiote-augmented strength.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Jubulile almost literally does so, [[spoiler:blasting the evil Elder God Chthon with a massive beam of light magic]].
* FailedASpotCheck: Jubulile failed to notice that Cletus's body had fully healed and his legs reappeared a few hours after she discovered him badly burned.
* LightEmUp: After her symbiote manifests, one of its powers is firing beams of light energy.
* OhCrap: Jubulile is understandably terrified when the man she rescued turns into a monster right in front of her.
* {{Protectorate}}: Eddie Brock seems surprisingly protective of Jubulile, considering she's bonded to a symbiote.
* PsychicLink: As a result of having been bonded to the Carnage symbiote's Darkhold-corrupted spawn, she can sense Cletus's emotions and presence, view his memories, and shares his pain when he's hurt.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: After she's infected by the Darkhold-altered spawn of Carnage symbiote, her eyes turn solid red when she taps into its power.
* SuperMode: When empowered by the Darkhold, her symbiote takes on the form of an angelic knight.
* TheSymbiote: Jubulile is infected with a Darkhold-augmented spawn of the Carnage symbiote, [[spoiler:which she amalgamates Hybrid-style with the Toxin and Raze symbiotes to create a pink flight-capable symbiote. When further empowered by the Darkhold, it transforms into a white angelic knight, but disperses into wisps of pink and gold smoke after Chthon is vanquished, leaving the Toxin symbiote's status up in the air]].
* TagalongKid: She's a sixteen year-old girl with no combat experience, accompanying a team comprised of a BadassNormal soldier, a soldier-turned-alien werewolf, a symbiote-augmented former serial killer, and the half-human child of an EldritchAbomination. Her navigational skills and ability to sense Carnage keep her from being TheLoad.
[[/folder]]

!!Dark Carnage's Offshoots

[[folder:Carnage V]]
!!Carnage V
!!! '''Hosts:''' ComicBook/NormanOsborn, Unnamed raccoon
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'' #1

An offshoot of the Dark Carnage symbiote bonded to Norman Osborn, who at the time believed himself to be Cletus Kasady. It was seemingly killed by Dylan Brock, who kept a surviving piece and sought to learn how to control it using his powers; though he was eventually forced to destroy it when Dark Carnage attempted to use it to take him over.
----
* NotQuiteDead: Dylan Brock used his powers to blow it up at the end of ''Absolute Carnage'', but a piece survived. Dylan kept it and wanted to tame it, but learned the hard way that EvilIsNotAToy and ended up killing it in ''[[ComicBook/DonnyCatesVenom Venom]]'' #25.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In the animated shorts tying in to ''Absolute Carnage'', it continually berates Norman Osborn as his original personality tries to reassert itself.
* WeaponizedOffspring: It's an offshoot of the Dark Carnage symbiote, which can remotely control it at-will.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Carnage Doppelgängers]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cult_of_carnage_1024x640.jpg]]
!!! '''Hosts:''' Numerous unnamed Ravencroft patients, Dan Andrews
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'' #1

Offshoots of the Dark Carnage symbiote bonded to the inmates of Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane, turning them into a horde of four-armed monsters.
----
* JaggedMouth: They're usually drawn with black fangs that blend into their faces.
* LesCollaborateurs: Most of their hosts willingly submitted to them, having already been bloodthirsty murderers and criminals.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Patterned after the original Doppelgänger, they have multiple arms -- though they only have four rather than six.
* ToServeMan: They're shown chowing down on civilians in the ''Scream'' and ''Deadpool'' tie-ins.
* WeaponizedOffspring: They're offshoots of the Dark Carnage symbiote spawned to create an army and overrun New York.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Miles Morales's Symbiote]]
!!Miles Morales's Symbiote
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miles_morales_spider_carnage.png]]
!!! '''Hosts:''' ComicBook/MilesMorales, J. Jonah Jameson
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'' #2, ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage: Miles Morales'' #1

An offshoot of the Dark Carnage symbiote bonded to Miles Morales, turning him into a six-armed Carnage Doppelgänger.
----
* ContinuitySnarl: Miles Morales spends most of his tie-in under the symbiote's thrall and struggling to break free. After he manages to zap it off himself, he eventually rebonds to it in order to eavesdrop on Dark Carnage's hive-mind and is shown to be in control of it. In ''Absolute Carnage'' #5, however, the symbiote is shown to be back in the driver's seat -- with Donny Cates stating this was due to a lack of communication between himself and Saladin Ahmed over how the latter was going to end his tie-in.
* JaggedMouth: When drawn by Ryan Stegman, it has red fangs that blend into the rest of its face.
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: Unlike all the other Carnage Doppelgängers, it has six arms.
* ReligiousBruiser: The symbiote is zealously devout to Knull and Dark Carnage, regarding Miles as nothing more than "host-flesh" whose will is nothing compared to Knull's malice.
* WeaponizedOffspring: It's an offshoot of the Dark Carnage symbiote bonded to Miles Morales.
* YouDontLookLikeYou: When drawn by Ryan Stegman, it's black with a red face and teeth, a black spiral-shaped eyespot, red lower arms and legs. When drawn by Federico Vicentini, it's dark red with a yellow spiral, has bone fangs, and has spider-like chelicerae.
[[/folder]]

!!Other Characters
[[folder:Doppelgänger]]
!!Doppelgänger
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnage_005_023.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''The Infinity War'' #1

--> '''Doppelganger:''' Grrrr!
--> '''Carnage:''' That's my line--! I'm supposed to be the monster here!

Originally a "living geometric pattern" that resided in another dimension, Doppelgänger and several other members of his kind were turned into twisted duplicates of various superheroes by the Magus during the Infinity War. Unlike the other knock-offs, this one survived that event, and has periodically resurfaced to torment the real Spider-Man.

For more information on him, please refer to the Spider-Man '''[[Characters/SpiderManClones Clones]]''' page.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Shriek]]
!!Shriek
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnshriek_8852.jpg]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Frances Louise Barrison
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Spider-Man Unlimited'' #1

-> '''Cletus, via the Carnage Symbiote:''' She screams her pain as death and hatred. She kills for me. I like it. When it gets boring, I'll put her down like my mother's dog. I am Carnage. Killing someone I love will make me happy. So happy.

As a child, Frances Barrison was abused by her parents, especially her mother, whose cruelty drove her to drugs, overeating, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and heavy metal]]. Frances' mental stability was further damaged when she was shot in the head during an altercation with the police, and when she had a run-in with heroes ComicBook/CloakAndDagger, whose powers did ''something'' to her, giving her various superhuman abilities of her own. Now fully capable of taking revenge on the world she blames for her misery, Frances -- calling herself Shriek -- found soul mates of sorts in the form of her "husband" Carnage, and "son" Doppelganger.

For more information on her, please refer to the Spider-Man '''[[Characters/SpiderManRoguesGalleryItoZ rogues gallery]]''' page.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Doctor Jenner]]
!!Doctor Jenner
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jenner_2.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Superior Carnage Annual'' #1

--> ''"You don't have to keep holding on. Carnage has no hold on you. You're your own man now. You can die a man's death. Doesn't that sound fine? After all... what good are you without the symbiote? Hmm? And the way you are right now... so weak... so pitiful... why would Carnage want you? Carnage wants a worthy host... not some bed-ridden has-been. I know it's coming... I know you can sense it. And when it gets here... it will find me waiting... and you--dead! Don't worry, Cletus. I'll take good care of Carnage."''

A therapist working at Kramer Penitentiary, Dr. Jenner requested to work with spree killer Cletus Kasady, who had been separated from the Carnage symbiote by the Superior Spider-Man. Under his guidance, Cletus was admitted into the general populace and finally seemed ready to sever his psychological ties with the symbiote. However, Jenner secretly desired to become the symbiote's new host and hired an inmate to shank Cletus, smothering him when he learned the symbiote was on its way. When it reached the prison, Jenner offered himself to it, but it vehemently rejected him and resuscitated Cletus, who proceeded to kill Jenner along with the rest of the prisoners.
----
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Pun aside, when face-to-face with the symbiote he gushes about how he's dreamed of becoming its host. The symbiote is not amused.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: He kills Cletus Kasady in an effort to convince the symbiote to take him as its next host. It doesn't work.
* PsychoPsychologist: He only agreed to be Cletus' shrink to become the next incarnation of Carnage, and had Cletus murdered when the opportunity presented itself.
* TheShrink: He was a therapist at the Kramer Penitentiary.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sin-Eater I]]
!!Sin-Eater I
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sincarn_8507.jpg]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Emil Gregg
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man'' #107

--> '''Sin-Eater:''' I can smell your sin. Like a mountain so massive that merely contemplating it requires madness.
--> '''Carnage:''' I tried confession, but that really didn't work.

A man who contacted Eddie Brock claiming to be the Sin-Eater serial killer, but was seemingly exposed as a compulsive confessor. In the wake of Carnage's morality (or lack thereof) being altered by the events of ''ComicBook/{{Axis}}'', he was found to have died, but returns as a sin-eating demon, and places the symbiote serial killer in his crosshairs after Cletus interferes with his mission to wipe out the press. After becoming Dark Carnage, Cletus used his new symbiote to reanimate Gregg and send him after Eddie Brock.

For more information on him, please refer to the Venom '''[[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]]''' page.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Alice Gleason]]
!!Alice Gleason
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alicecarn_7841.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Axis: Carnage'' #1

--> '''Alice:''' What are you doing?!\\
'''Carnage:''' Taking a victory lap, babe! You can't rob a bank if burn it down first!\\
'''Alice:''' What are you thinking? You've made everything worse! Put out the fire!\\
'''Carnage:''' Jeez, okay, chill out, gawd...

A beautiful but unscrupulously ambitious reporter who found herself in the crosshairs of the spectral Sin-Eater. Rescued by the inverted Carnage, she begrudgingly attempted to coach him on how to be a hero -- while actually trying to get a promotion-winning scoop out of it. After Carnage defeated the Sin-Eater, Alice was disgusted that he'd developed feelings for her and revealed her deception before fleeing to the police.
----
* AmbitionIsEvil: She is an attractive but unscrupulous reporter who wants to take over the position of her deceased colleague ASAP.
* BerserkButton: Does not like the hair being mussed, as she indignantly yells at both Carnage and the Sin-Eater.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: She pretended to be distraught over her co-worker's deaths, when in fact she, as the Sin Eater put it, reeks of "sin, vainglory, selfishness and hubris".
* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: Has to continually reel in the overzealous Carnage.
* KarmaHoudini: Presumably got rich and famous from the events of ''AXIS''.
* MoralityChain: Cletus latched onto her in much the same way Eddie Brock once latched onto Jenna Cole. Unfortunately for him, she proves to be a less-than-upstanding individual.
* NervesOfSteel: After an initial moment of panic, she seems quite alright hanging out with a nihilistic serial killer whose soul mate is a carnivorous alien parasite masquerading as a costume.
* ReallyGetsAround: She was sleeping with her co-worker, solicited a police officer who had been sent to guard her after said co-worker's murder, pretended to be interested in Kasady, and seemingly tried to seduce the Sin-Eater ("And I'm totally not wearing any underwear") to save herself even after seeing [[SkullForAHead what's]] under his mask.
* SpiritAdvisor: After being bombarded with missiles, Carnage has near-death experience involving an angelic Alice, who offers him sage wisdom:
--> '''Alice:''' You have great power, yes. And with great power comes great, like all kinds of, I don't know, stuff... so don't be a jerk. You're good now and you've got mad skillz. Be a hero! Save me!
* TagalongReporter: Is abducted by Carnage, who adamantly believes that she can teach him to be good. Alice goes along with it, due to the fame that can entail becoming close to a "cape".
* UngratefulBastard: After Carnage saves her from the Sin Eater, she thanks him by blowing off his head and screaming at the police to finish him off. Cletus interprets this as her teaching him that TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She hasn't been seen since the end of the ''AXIS: Carnage'' miniseries. Considering that Cletus had been hunting down those aware of his HeelFaceBrainwashing ''and'' she openly admitted to using him to his face, it doesn't bode well for her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Manuela Calderon]]
!!Manuela Calderon
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mannycarnage.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage'' Vol. 2 #1

The sole survivor of Cletus' massacre at St. Estes Home for Boys, Manuela Calderon joined the military and was eventually hired as a security consultant at Grey Ridge Mine. When the FBI attempted to lure Carnage into a trap, Manuela was recruited into the Anti-Symbiote Task Force alongside John Jameson and Eddie Brock. Befriending Brock and developing a romantic affection for Victoria Montesi, Manuela helped stop Carnage from summoning the eldrich god Chthon.
----
* ActionGirl: She's a soldier who served three tours of duty, and is agile enough to dodge Carnage's tentacles.
* AmbiguouslyBi: While it was implied that she might have had a slight attraction to Eddie Brock, in the end he gets the impression that she's developed a thing for the canonically gay Victoria Montesi.
* BadassNormal: She's an unaugmented human who is capable of keeping up with the likes of Toxin and Man-Wolf.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Victoria Montesi flirts with Manuela after she commiserates with her hellish backstory.
* TheOneThatGotAway: Manny was the SoleSurvivor of Cletus's first killing spree, and he intends to rectify that.
* OnlyAFleshWound: She's set on fire by Gleason but still manages to put up a good enough fight to steal one of the Darkhold's pages ''and'' put the fire out.
* ShipTease: She is sympathetic towards [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} Eddie Brock]], who himself seems to be infatuated with her. However, in the last couple of issues Victoria Montesi begins flirting with her and Manny appears to reciprocate, with Eddie joking that he may as well have been furniture to them.
* TakingYouWithMe: When Carnage is about to eat her, she presses a detonator to blow up a large amount of mining explosives. Toxin shows up in time to shield her from the blast.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Barry Gleason]]
!!Barry Gleason
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gleacar.jpg]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Carnage'' Vol. 2 #1

--> ''"Agent Dixon was a useful tool, but her usefulness--and yours--is drawing to a close. We--all of us--stand on the cusp of a new historical era. I'm grateful to you, agents. Your sacrifice, yours and your fellow agents', will make possible a new age. You've brought us the one who was foreseen in the prophecies of [[Characters/WerewolfByNight Aelfric the Mad Monk]]. At his hands the forgotten door will be reopened. Through him, he who sleeps shall wake, and all who live will tremble in the knowledge of his wrath."''

* BigBadWannabe: He's the evil mastermind behind the first arc of the 2015-2016 ''Carnage'' Vol. 2 series. He doesn't last long after Carnage catches him.
* KilledOffscreen: It's not shown exactly what Carnage did to him after/while interrogating him about the Darkhold, but it wasn't pretty.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: When the sonic cannons open up a sinkhole that plunges Carnage and several FBI agents into the depths of his mine, Gleason protests he had no idea that would happen several times. Turns out he planned it all.
* OneSteveLimit: Despite having the same last name as the manipulative lady reporter in the ''ComicBook/{{AXIS}}: Carnage'' miniseries, he's presumably not related to her.
* PlayingWithFire: He can summon a wall of flames using the Darkhold.
* ReligionOfEvil: He is a member of the Cult of the Darkhold, a cult that worships an ancient evil entity called Chthon.
* TomeOfEldritchLore: He possesses a copy of the Darkhold, a tome of dark magic written by the evil deity Chthon.
* AWolfInSheepsClothing: His day job is the manager of a mining corporation, which he uses as cover for his night job is as a cultist to an evil deity.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Cortland Kasady]]
!!Cortland Kasady
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cortland_kasady_2528earth_6162529_from_ruins_of_ravencroft_carnage_vol_1_1_001.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see as Spoiler]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/plague_klyntar_earth_616.png]] [[/labelnote]]
!!! '''Alter Ego:''' [[spoiler: Plague]]
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Ruins of Ravencroft: Carnage'' #1

The ancestor of Cletus Kasady, Cortland was a 17th century English settler whose lover -- Mary Ravencroft -- was captured by a symbiote-worshipping cult. While attempting to rescue her,[[note]]She rescued herself.[[/note]] Cortland was captured and bonded to a symbiote, turning him into a bloodthirsty serial killer.
----
* BeardOfEvil: A full red beard and after becoming a symbiote worshipper, very evil.
* EvilRedhead: Just like his distant descendant Cletus.
* FaceHeelTurn: Prior to his run-in with the Others, he was an all-around decent person who dearly loved Molly Ravencroft. Afterwards, he became a bloodthirsty symbiote-worshipping cannibal.
* InTheBlood: Cortland being forcibly recruited into the symbiote-worshipping cult is implied to be the reason why his descendants Roscoe and Cletus were a violent abuser and a serial killer of unprecedented bloodlust respectively.
* LifeDrinker: As Plague, Cortland is able to drain the life-force from others.
* RevenantZombie: During ''Planet of the Symbiotes'', [[spoiler:Knull reanimates Cortland in the same way he did Cletus, bringing him back as symbiote-possessed corpse capable of absorbing the life-force of others]].
* SerialKiller: Cortland became the first American serial killer after being corrupted by the symbiote-worshipping cult.
* WingdingEyes: After being forcibly recruited by the symbiote-worshipping cult, he's shown with red spirals for irises.
[[/folder]]

See the Franchise/{{Wolverine}} page

** InvertedTrope in ''Minimum Carnage'', where, after exiting the Microverse, Carnage is temporarily seemingly ''[[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever huge]]'', but it's actually that the heroes are still adjusting in size and are thus incredibly small instead.

* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Cletus had a lousy childhood, but a lot of the things that happened he brought on himself.

[[WMG:[[center: [- [[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | [[Characters/VenomMainHosts Main hosts of Venom]] | [[Characters/VenomOtherHosts Other hosts of Venom]] | Characters/{{Symbiotes|MarvelComics}} | [[Characters/SymbioteHosts Hosts to other Symbiotes]] | [[Characters/AlternateIncarnationsOfVenom Alternate Incarnations of Venom Characters Page]] | [[Characters/VenomSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]] | '''Carnage Characters Page''' | [[Characters/{{Toxin}} Toxin Characters Page]] | [[Characters/ScreamCurseOfCarnage Scream Characters Page]]]] -]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carnage_king_in_black_mary_jane_header.jpg]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ben_grimm_carnage.jpg]]

* DeadPersonImpersonation: It manifests as Cletus Kasady in Eddie's mindscape, though it's unclear whether it's indwelled by Cletus' soul like the Killmonger Symbiote from ''Black Panther'' Vol. 7 is indwelled by Emperor N'Jadaka.

See the Characters/FrightfulFour

!!! '''Host To:''' Venom, Anti-Venom, Toxin

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Venom, Anti-Venom, Toxin, Sleeper, Carnage
!!! '''Host To:''' Venom, Anti-Venom, Toxin, Sleeper, Dark Carnage
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''Web of Spider-Man'' #18 (September, 1986);[[note]]As Eddie Brock.[[/note]] ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #299 (April, 1988);[[note]]As Venom.[[/note]] ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #569 (October, 2008);[[note]]As Anti-Venom.[[/note]] ''Venom'' Vol. 2 #17 (July, 2012);[[note]]As Toxin.[[/note]] ''Venom: First Host'' #3 (November, 2018);[[note]]As Sleeper.[[/note]] ''Venom'' Vol. 4 #24 (May, 2020)[[note]]As Carnage.[[/note]]

* ThreateningShark: After being separated from Eddie in ''Venom'' Vol. 4 #25, it escapes the Isla de Huesos by taking on the form of a shark.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: When the Wizard sucks it out of Cletus' body and forcefully bonds it to Karlin Malus, the not–so–good doctor warns Klaw that the symbiote is ''severely'' pissed off, which only gets worse when the Wizard blows up his base with Cletus's body inside. After taking control of Malus the symbiote shanked Klaw with a chunk of vibranium, massacred Spider-Man's soldiers, ate Malus after taking over the Wizard. When the Cletus is revealed to be alive, it rips itself off the Wizard in such a way as to cause maximum agony and was just about to eat him after reuniting with Kasady before Klaw hits it with a lightning bolt.

* FaceHeelTurn: Prior to his run-in with the Others, he was an all-around decent person who dearly loved Molly Ravencroft. Afterwards, he became a bloodthirsty symbiote-worshiping cannibal.

* RevenantZombie: During ''Planet of the Symbiotes'', [[spoiler:Knull reanimates Cortland in the same way he did Cletus, brining him back as symbiote-possessed corpse capable of absorbing the life-force of others]].

* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: It was willing to abandon Cletus in order to take revenge on the Silver Surfer in the name of its species, many of whom were killed when the Surfer led Galactus to a planet overrun with symbiotes.

** Cletus gave a piece of the symbiote to [[Characters/XMenMarauders Mr. Sinister]], who spliced it with DNA samples taken from Kraven the Hunter and the original five X-Men in order to produce "[[XMakesAnythingCool Xraven]]"

* ComicBookDeath: [[spoiler:Meets his (presumbably temporary) end at the finale of ''Absolute Carnage'' by the hands of Venom, being impaled and then cut in half by a Necrosword.]]

* IgnoreTheFanservice: Like the Joker, he is usually far too busy being evil [[NotDistractedByTheSexy to pay much attention to]] his DarkMistress.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: Pun aside, this is the reason Shriek fell for him. Cletus also feels this way towards the symbiote.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Despite having seemingly been killed off numerous times only to later be revealed to somehow still be alive, Cletus Kasady is killed off for good in ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'' #5 after Venom cuts him in half with a Necrosword and strips the Grendel symbiote off him -- his mostly-skeletal corpse falling apart when it hits the ground.]]

See the ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} page

* WeaponizedOffspring: It's an offshoot of the Dark Carnage symbiote bonded to Miles Morales.

A beautiful but unscupulously ambitious reporter who found herself in the crosshairs of the spectral Sin-Eater. Rescued by the inverted Carnage, she begrudgingly attempted to coach him on how to be a hero -- while actually trying to get a promotion-winning scoop out of it. After Carnage defeated the Sin-Eater, Alice was disgusted that he'd developed feelings for her and revealed her deception before fleeing to the police.

* RevenantZombie: During ''Planet of the Symbiotes'', [[spoiler:Knull reanimates Cortland in the same way he did Cletus, brining him back as symbiote-possessed corpse capable of absorbing the life-force of others.]]

* PracticallyJoker: Clearly based off the Joker, with [[Film/{{Psycho}} a bit of Norman Bates in there too.]] Arist Erik Larsen even admitted to patterning Kasady's looks on the Clown Prince of Crime. Coincidentally, the Joker was initially delighted to meet Carnage during ''ComicBook/SpiderManAndBatmanDisorganizedMinds'', but they quickly had a falling out over their different opinions on how to kill people.

[[WMG:[[center: [- [[Characters/VenomTheSymbiote The Venom Symbiote]] | [[Characters/VenomMainHosts Main hosts of Venom]] | [[Characters/VenomOtherHosts Other hosts of Venom]] | Characters/{{Symbiotes|MarvelComics}} | [[Characters/SymbioteHosts Hosts to other Symbiotes]] | [[Characters/AlternateIncarnationsOfVenom Alternate Incarnations of Venom Characters Page]] | [[Characters/VenomSupportingCharacters Supporting Characters]] | [[Characters/VenomRoguesGallery Rogues Gallery]] | '''Carnage Characters Page''']] -]]]

* AdaptiveArmor: After Eddie joins the FBI's anti-Carnage task force, the symbiote emulates Agent Venom by taking on the appearance of body armor.
* AmbiguousSituation: The Toxin symbiote seemingly perishes when [[spoiler:it is assimilated by Jubulile van Scotter's symbiote, which evaporates into wisps of pink and gold smoke after she fries Chthon with a massive beam of light. However, according to the writer's statement on Twitter it's possible that it might return in the future]].
* BioArmor: During Toxin's stint with the Anti-Symbiote Task Force, the symbiote assumed the appearance of black-and-red body armor similar to Agent Venom.
* BlackEyesOfCrazy: When bonded to Eddie Brock, the symbiote's eye-patches are initially black with small white inner eyes.
* CloningBlues: Blackheart made duplicates of the symbiote and bonded them to copies of ComicBook/{{X 23}} to create an AmazonBrigade.
* CombatTentacles: When enraged the symbiote sprouts a mass of tentacles from its host's back.
* EnemyMine: Eddie told Flash that he and the symbiote had agreed to work together to kill Venom (and presumably Carnage as well), but after that they'd try to kill each other. They later come to an understanding and emulate Flash's appearance as Agent Venom.
* GoodCounterpart: To Carnage, its "father".
* GoodColorsEvilColors: When bonded to Patrick the symbiote was orange-red and blue, but when bonded to Eddie it's [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver red and black]].
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: While bonded to Patrick it was on the side of good, however this changed when Patrick was murdered by Blackheart and the Venom symbiote (while bonded to Flash) attempted to murder it, driving it to become bloodthirsty and vengeful. After it's capture by the Crime Master, it would use Eddie Brock as a puppet and willingly joined the Savage Six in a effort to kill Agent Venom resulting in it and Eddie almost burning to death. This resulted in Eddie gaining enough control to work out a deal with it, if the Toxin symbiote allowed Eddie to have control and serve as a lethal protector once again, they would work together until they successfully kill Agent Venom where they would then try to kill each other, which it accepted. This rematch with Agent Venom ultimately ended with it landing as a face after forming a truce with Agent Venom and it would later sacrifice it's life to save the world from Chthon.
* HulkingOut: When it took over Eddie - and when Eddie later lost control while fighting Flash - it [[{{Sizeshifter}} bulks up]] enough that Venom almost fits inside its mouth.
* LegacyCharacter: After Blackheart beat Patrick to death and took the symbiote, it was stolen again by the Crime Master and forcibly bonded to Eddie Brock.
* NoBiologicalSex: The symbiote has no gender identity.
--> '''Symbiote:''' What are you writing?\\
'''Patrick:''' None of your business.\\
'''Symbiote:''' "I'm a boy"--you think? Maybe it's time [[TheTalk I sat you down and talked about the birds and bees]], symbiote-style.
* NothingIsScarier: This concept is lost on the symbiote, despite Patrick's attempts at explaining it while the two were reading ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde''.
* NotQuiteDead: The Toxin symbiote was lit on fire by Flash, but survived and recuperated alongside its host.
* OverlyLongTongue: Like its "grandfather" (and [[DependingOnTheArtist occasionally "father"]]), Toxin manifests a serpentine prehensile tongue. The main difference, though, is that Toxin's tongue is ''green''.
* {{Patricide}}: The symbiote wants to kill Carnage and Venom.
* PuppeteerParasite: The Toxin symbiote seized total control of Eddie's body when it first bonded to him, but they later work out an arrangement similar to the one he had with the Venom symbiote.
* PsychopathicManchild: Was supposed to be even ''more'' AxCrazy than Carnage and initially had the mentality of a child.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The Toxin symbiote delivers one to the Venom symbiote for letting Flash and the Avengers lobotomize it.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Toxin goes from being red-and-blue when bonded to [[ByTheBookCop Patrick]] to red-and-black when bonded to [[UnscrupulousHero Eddie]]. As a result, after Eddie helps Flash take down the Symbiote Slayers, he's mistaken for Carnage by the media.
* SuperSenses: The symbiote enhances its host's sense of smell.
* ToServeMan: While Toxin hasn't voiced its grandparent's monstrous appetite, while bonded to it Pat came close to munching on a few bad guys, while with Eddie they possibly ate a group of SWAT officers who found Toxin after killing a bunch of criminals (while one panel has a closeup with Toxin's jaws the comic ends when the SWAT officers start shooting) and two of the Symbiote Slayers' hosts.
* TheVoiceless: Like Venom and Carnage were originally, the symbiote cannot speak unless bonded to a host.
* VoiceOfTheLegion: When bonded to Pat, the symbiote spoke using slightly distorted blue speech bubbles with white text. When bonded to Eddie it speaks using red speech bubbles with jagged white text.
* WholeCostumeReference: On [[http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130118221216/marveldatabase/images/e/e4/Venom_Vol_2_33_Textless.jpg the alternate cover]] for ''Venom'' Vol. 2 #33, Toxin is shown looking identical to Eddie's Venom form as a MythologyGag to the cover of ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #316.
* YouMonster: The symbiote reads Pat's journal, throws a tantrum after being referred to as a monster in it, breaks the laptop, [[HilarityEnsues loots a store to get a replacement]] (thinking Pat wouldn't notice the difference) and gets into a skirmish with Spider-Man.

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Plague

* BigBadEnsemble: With The Maker and Knull for the ''Venom'' series as a whole.