History Characters / VenomRoguesGallery

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:He has no problem putting Dylan, his own son, through sheer hell to get what he wants. In fact, he's become so warped and twisted he doesn't see Dylan as his son in the first place]].

* DidntSeeThatComing: Despite being a time traveller, he's surprised by the events with Bedlam's Child, [[spoiler:since it happened in a splinter timeline to his]], showing there are things he didn't plan for.

* FallenHero: [[spoiler:He was Eddie Brock, a long time ago. Eddie wonders in issue #18 if Meridius isn't simply a logical end result of how he treated the symbiotes on becoming the King in Black, but Eventuality states he isn't]].

* YouCantFightFate: [[spoiler:Eventuality reveals no matter how hard Meridius tries to avoid becoming him, he will lose]].

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

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

A psychopathic serial killer imprisoned for eleven consecutive life sentences, Cletus Kasady met [[Characters/VenomEddieBrock 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 the terrified and jealous Kasady behind. Sensing his desire for the power Eddie possessed, a scrap of the symbiote left behind 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.

For more information on him, please refer to '''[[Characters/CarnageCletusKasady his page]]''', and the adjoining '''[[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage symbiote]]''' page.

* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: He boasts about murdering all of his surviving predecessors, which would be Daniel Berkhart, Maguire Beck, Steven Levins's brother, and the resurrected or imposter Jason Macendale from ''ComicBook/{{Secret War|2004}}''. Steven Levins, the second Jack O'Lantern, had previously been killed by Characters/{{The Punisher|FrankCastle}}, [[MonsterFromBeyondTheVeil then]] ComicBook/GhostRider.

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Exaggerated in ''Venom'' (Vol. 5) #17. Bedlam is infected with the Transmode Virus by a Techno-Demon and almost succumbs, but instinctively draws on Knull's power to purge himself of it and become immune.
* AlternateSelf: The events of ''Venom'' #17 result in [[spoiler:time breaking, creating two different versions of Bedlam. One goes on to attack Dylan and continue the time-loop, becoming Codex; while the other is defeated by Darkoth, ejecting Eddie's codex into the depths of the Symbiote Hive-Mind and leading to Darkoth being taken over by the symbiote]].

* GutturalGrowler: Eddie's internal monologue says his voice sounds low and gravely and full of hatred.

* RageBreakingPoint: Despite Eddie's best efforts to keep his HairTriggerTemper under control, Chasm (Ben Reilly) literally ripping out Eddie's previous 20 years of CharacterDevelopment and then discovering he no longer has the Venom symbiote causes him to snap and transform into the blood-red berserker during the ''ComicBook/DarkWeb'' tie-in issues.

* GodJob: It's revealed in ''ComicBook/{{Venom|2021}}'' that Knull's position as the King in Black was meant to safeguard the universe from within using the living abyss. However, Knull -- unwilling to deal with the responsibilities -- opted to use the power to destroy the universe instead.

-->'''The Eventuality:''' [[spoiler:The Beyonders got the ''easy'' job. Kings in pristine white ''gloves'', keeping their hands ''clean''. Our hands get ''dirty'' -- get ''bloody''. Our ''hearts'' get ''torn'' and ''broken''. Being a King in Black ''hurts'', Eddie. And in a time before time -- a space before space -- ''Knull'' couldn't ''hack'' that. When the Celestials ''found'' him, they weren't coming into his void to ''attack'' him -- they were coming to ''recruit'' him. They were coming to give him a ''job''. Knull… Well, let's just say he burned his draft card. A god of the void is a god of ''nothing'', after all…]]

A psychopathic serial killer imprisoned for eleven consecutive life sentences, Cletus Kasady met [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} 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 the terrified and jealous Kasady behind. Sensing his desire for the power Eddie possessed, a scrap of the symbiote left behind 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.

* BreakingSpeech: Gives Flash a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech stern, mocking lecture]], leaving him in a HeroicBSOD.

* MoreThanMindControl: Seized control of the symbiote and used it to taunt Flash during his BreakingSpeech.

* AmbiguousSituation: It isn't shown what happened to him after the Poisons busted him out of jail.

* AntiHeroTeam: He's a member of the Astonishing Avengers in ''AXIS'', and [[http://www.comicbookresources.com/imgsrv/preview/0/0/1/REDSKULL2015001-int2-2-8283f.jpg a group]] condemned to hunt down the ComicBook/RedSkull in ''ComicBook/{{Secret Wars|2015}}''. [[spoiler:He and everyone else besides Magneto are immediately killed after being dumped in the Deadlands]].

* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler:How he ultimately dies, being shot in the head by Deadpool.]]

** ComicBook/{{Magneto}} somehow convinced him to help in the fight against Red Onslaught.

* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumour: Jack is just as bad as any of the Goblins, if not ''worse''.

* HeelFaceTurn: He's caught up in Doctor Doom's and the Scarlet Witch's Inversion Spell, which leads to him being deputized as an "[[AntiHeroTeam Astounding Avenger]]" by [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]].

* GraveRobbing: In revenge for Agent Venom killing the Crime Master, Jack waits until Father's Day, exhumes Flash's father's corpse, [[CallingCard replaces his brain with a candle]], and hides him in the sewers. He then lures Flash there and mocks him over a PA system before blowing up the room.

* MakeWayForTheNewVillains: He boasts about murdering all of his surviving predecessors, which would be Daniel Berkhart, Maguire Beck, Steven Levins's brother, and the resurrected or imposter Jason Macendale from ''ComicBook/{{Secret War|2004}}''. Steven Levins, the second Jack O'Lantern, had previously been killed by ComicBook/ThePunisher, [[MonsterFromBeyondTheVeil then]] ComicBook/GhostRider.

* AnimeHair: A pretty crazy hairstyle that's also pink.

* BountyHunter: When she's not acting as a SpacePirate, Killer Thrill is an unscrupulous bounty hunter with no qualms about causing massive amounts of collateral damage.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Her first appearance had her facing off against Drax the Destroyer before showing up in the chronologically-earlier ''Deadpool: Back in Black'' hunting for the Venom symbiote shortly after it was abandoned by Spider-Man. In ''Poison X'', she's moved from one Venom to another, bedeviling Eddie Brock and the [[ComicBook/XMenBlue Young X-Men]], coming complete with [[https://i.imgur.com/IrBWggE.jpg a new upgrade]] to even things out.

* BlackKnight: He is clad in black medieval-style symbiote-armor, and wielded a symbiote-sword.

* CompleteImmortality: When asked if King ComicBook/{{Thanos}} from ''Thanos Wins'' had killed Knull during his successful crusade to wipe out all life, Donny Cates replied that Knull cannot be killed. [[spoiler:This is proven at least partially incorrect at the conclusion of ''King in Black'', when the Captain Universe-empowered Eddie Brock destroys his physical body in the Sun.]]

* {{Expy}}: According to Donny Cates, Knull was inspired by [[Characters/TheMightyThorEnemies Gorr the God Butcher]] and [[Characters/SpiderManTheInheritors Morlun]].

* GodOfDarkness: Knull is the creator god of the Klyntar and one of the [[TimeAbyss oldest]], [[AboveTheGods most powerful]] and [[GodOfEvil evil]] Gods of Darkness in existence. Throughout the Cosmos, Knull has been [[IHaveManyNames known by numerous names]], such as the God of the Void, Abyss, Everblack and Lord of the Anti-Light. Knull was born in the PrimordialChaos, the nothingness between the end of the Sixth Cosmos and beginning of the Seventh Cosmos, [[OmnicidalManiac and he plans to return the universe back to how it was]]. Thanks to his birthplace he has vast control over the [[CastingAShadow Darkness]] and the very [[PowerOfTheVoid Void]] itself. He has created a number of entities and species of {{Living Shadow}}s, like Mister E, the Exolons, and most famously the Symbiotes/Klyntar. His control over the Darkness is so vast that others with shadow powers are affected by his mere presence, such as [[ComicBook/CloakAndDaggerMarvelComics Cloak]] and [[ComicBook/TheSentry the Void]].

* HoldingBackThePhlebotinum: In ''King in Black'', Knull could have easily destroyed the Earth like he had countless other planets, but he doesn't because he wants to get his hands on Dylan Brock. This gives Earth's heroes time to regroup and strike back against him, which results in Knull losing his advantage, being severely weakened, and ultimatly having his physical body destroyed.

* HurlItIntoTheSun: [[spoiler:Eddie finishes Knull off after destroying his symbiote and Necrosword by flying him into the Sun and obliterating him with the Uni-Power.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:How he's dealt with once and for all by Eddie. Using the power of the Enigma Force, plus Mjolnir and Silver Surfer's board, not only does Eddie beat the tar out of Knull like he's nothing, he makes him suffer the same way he did before finally flying him into the Sun and vaporizing his body with the Uni-Power. When Knull tries to come back by taking over Dylan's body, Eddie rips the living abyss out of Dylan and destroys it.]]

* LeakingCanOfEvil: Even after being sealed at the core of Klyntar, Knull is still able to exert influence over some symbiotes -- remote-piloting the Grendel, attempting to corrupt Venom and bend it to his will, and successfully corrupting the Scorn and Hybrid symbiotes.

* MonsterProgenitor: Knull is the divine progenitor of the symbiotes -- pulling All-Black from his shadow, and spawning the first symbiote from his suit of symbiote-armor.

* RefusalOfTheCall: According to Ewing's ''Venom'' run, [[spoiler:the Celestials weren't actually attacking Knull, they were trying to give him a job looking after the Multiverse. Needless to say, attacking them was considered "burning the draft card"; the Eventuality noting that Knull voiced the same objections Eddie did upon learning of the King in Black's true purpose -- that it's not right or fair, that he's not the right person for the job, and that someone more qualified who can handle the responsibility and actually wants the job should be chosen instead.]]

** And finally in ''King In Black'' #5 [[spoiler:Knull loses all composure as Eddie -- empowered by the Enigma Force, Mjolnir, and the Silver Surfer's Surfboard -- beats the crap out of him with his newly acquired powers, stripping him of his symbiote, destroying his necrosword, humiliating him before finishing him off by flying him into the core of the sun and disintegrating him.]]

* AVillainNamedZrg: The story was a throwback to the Marvel Monsters era, so of course this naming convention was used.

* SpacePirate: He's a Gramosian space pirate who travels the galaxy enslaving species and disrupting planetary stability.

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:He has no problem putting Dylan, his own son, through sheer hell to get what he wants. In fact, he's become so warped and twisted he doesn't see Dylan as his son in the first place.]]

* FallenHero: [[spoiler:He was Eddie Brock, a long time ago. Eddie wonders in issue #18 if Meridius isn't simply a logical end result of how he treated the symbiotes on becoming the King in Black, but Eventuality states he isn't.]]

* YouCantFightFate: [[spoiler:Eventuality reveals no matter how hard Meridius tries to avoid becoming him, he will lose.]]

* NotQuiteDead: As Venom and the Punisher leave the scene, coughs emanates from the rubble; Pyre's survival is confirmed in ''ComicBook/CivilWar: Battle Damage Report''.

After a stint as Venom defined by an increasing dependence on the symbiote, a feud with Brock-as-Anti-Venom, and [[IAmAHumanitarian increasingly cannibalistic tendencies]], Mac and the Venom symbiote were separated by the US military following a failed siege on Asgard as a part of the Dark Avengers. Resuming his mantle as the Scorpion, Mac has since become a recurring foe of Venom's; having, among other things, tried to both kill and reclaim the Venom symbiote -- which, post-Flash Thompson and Klyntar cleansing, wants nothing to do with Mac and ironically fears that he will corrupt it; joining the Anti-Symbiote Task Force in order to bond to the Venom symbiote's newborn offspring; and has [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking talking trash about Venom in the Bar with No Name]]. Left a paraplegic during the events of ''ComicBook/AbsoluteCarnage'', Gargan swore revenge on Venom and cobbled together a suit of War Machine armor jury-rigged with anti-symbiote weaponry, calling himself "Virus".

For info about his stint as Venom himself, see the Characters/VenomMainHosts page. For more on his general super-villain career, see ComicBook/MacGargan.

* MechanicalLifeform: They appear to be biomechanical.

* ReluctantMonster: Their original host didn't want to kill and eat people. The metal monsters attached to his back made him do it.

* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: The Xenophage sports a gristly maw lined with enormous fangs, just like his snacks.

* MeaningfulName: Roughly translated, it means "alien devourer".
* NighInvulnerable: Nothing could lay a scratch on his exoskeleton.

* StarfishAliens: A gangly monster with an ornate golden face and mandibles, a body made up mostly of fur and tentacles, and the ability to perfectly emulate inanimate objects down to the finest detail.

* OffModel: Most of his appearances outside of ''Venom'' have him looking identical to the previous Jacks, right down to using a HoverBoard instead of the FlyingBroomstick.

* OffModel: She has a human face on the first page of ''X-Men: Blue'' #22.

* AliensSpeakingEnglish: No explanation is given for his SurprisinglyGoodEnglish.

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/{{Venom|EwingAndRamV}}'' (Vol. 5) #1 (November, 2021)

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Exaggerated in ''Venom'' #17. Bedlam is infected with the Transmode Virus by a Techno-Demon and almost succumbs, but instinctively draws on Knull's power to purge himself of it and become immune.

* EyeScream: Loses an eye to Dylan wielding the Necrosword.

* HairTriggerTemper: Wilde and Tyro excuse Bedlam attempting to kill Finnegan by telling Eddie that Bedlam has a volcanic temper and Finnegan's neurotic and delusional rants set him off. This is ''sort of'' true, but leaves out an important detail, [[spoiler:that Bedlam is being set off by seeing his past selves.]]

* IdentityBreakdown: Thanks to LaserGuidedAmnesia, he believes he's Eddie as he was in the earliest days, but freaks out on realizing he can't feel the Venom symbiote.

* DemiurgeArchetype: Knull is a primordial god of darkness who came into being in the primordial Void before the universe was created, claims to be the incarnation of said primordial Void, and was enraged when the Celestials intruded into what he saw as his domain to create the universe. He created the symbiotes and their ilk to wage war against the Celestials and their creations, first seeking to destroy and later to corrupt all of existence. To drive the point home, Carlton Drake calls him the "Klyntar Demiurge" in ''ComicBook/{{Venom|EwingAndRamV}}'' (Vol. 5) #3.

* NotQuiteDead: At the end of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'', [[spoiler:Eddie rips Knull's symbiote off, flies him into the Sun, and vaporizes his body with the Uni-Power. Knull's consciousness tries to take over Dylan Brock's body using the living abyss inside him, but Eddie uses the Uni-Power to rip Dylan's symbiote essence out and destroy it -- seemingly killing him for good. Despite all that, ''ComicBook/{{Thor|2020}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Venom|EwingAndRamV}}'' imply that ''King in Black'' isn't the last we've seen of him. After all, darkness never dies and there's only so much of it one can throw into the Sun before the star turns black]]...

** His connection to Thor and Gorr is unexpected to say the least. To be more specific, Knull is the unnamed black god that had been seemingly killed by another gold-armored god and was encountered by Gorr when the latter claimed the Godslayer, and his recounting of his origins in issue 4 partly retells those events from his point of view. Additionally, Gorr's homeworld is revealed to be the planet shown in the Venom symbiote's flashback in ''Venom: Dark Origins'', otherwise a [[CanonDiscontinuity largerly ignored comic]].

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''ComicBook/{{Venom|EwingAndRamV}}'' Vol. 5 #1

* BigBad: of the Venom 2021 series.

* GutteralGrowler: Eddie's internal monologue says his voice sounds low and gravely and full of hatred.
* HairTriggerTemper: Wilde and Tyro excuse Bedlam attempting to kill Finnegan by telling Eddie that Bedlam has a volcanic temper and Finnegan's neurotic and delusional rants set him off.

** In ''Venom'' Vol 4 #6, after Venom and Tyrannosaurus destabilize the Grendel symbiote-dragon and manage to injure his avatar -- causing his real body pain -- Knull incredulously asks if Eddie is a god before launching into a furious tirade and commanding Venom to submit to the will of his god.

** In ''Venom Vol 4 #6'', after Venom and Tyrannosaurus destabilize the Grendel symbiote-dragon and manage to injure his avatar -- causing his real body pain -- Knull incredulously asks if Eddie is a god before launching into a furious tirade and commanding Venom to submit to the will of his god.

* FalseFriend: Meridius pretends to be an ally of Eddie and the other Kings in Black in issue #5, but has such a hard time concealing his disdain for them that Eddie is disgusted and dismisses him as a jerk.

* NoNameGiven: Issue #5 reveals that "Meridius" is just one of many aliases and guises he's taken over the milennia, one he intends to discard once he's gotten his hands on the Venom symbiote.

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

* FauxAffablyEvil: Meridius is utterly contemptuous of everyone other than himself -- especially Eddie Brock -- but disguises his hatred behind a venire of civility and courteousness. There are times where this mask accidentally or deliberately slips, such as when he snaps at Tyro or confronts Eddie while controlling "Ringo".

* EvilCounterpart: To Captain Universe, Knull is the Darkness to Captain Universe’s light.

* GodOfDarkness: Knull is the creator god of the Klyntar and one of the [[TimeAbyss oldest]], [[AboveTheGods most powerful]] and [[GodOfEvil evil]] Gods of Darkness in existence. Throughout the Cosmos, Knull has been [[IHaveManyNames known by numerous names]], such as the God of the Void, Abyss, Everblack and Lord of the Anti-Light. Knull was born in the PrimordialChaos, the nothingness between the end of the Sixth Universe and beginning of the Seventh Universe, [[OmnicidalManiac and he plans to return the universe back to how it was]]. Thanks to his birthplace he has vast control over the [[CastingAShadow Darkness]] and the very [[PowerOfTheVoid Void]] itself. He has created a number of entities and species of {{Living Shadow}}s, like Mister E, The Exolons, and most famously the Symbiotes/Klyntar. His control over the Darkness is so vast that others with shadow powers are affected by his mere presence, such as [[ComicBook/CloakAndDaggerMarvelComics Cloak]] and [[ComicBook/TheSentry The Void.]]

* GothSpirals: Knull's emblem is a jagged red spiral on a black background, inspired by the Spiral of [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Carcosa]] from ''Series/TrueDetective''. The symbiotes under his control have this spiral in place of their eyespots, and symbiote hosts under his influence have [[BlackEyesOfCrazy black pupil-less eyes with red spiral-shaped irises]].

** ''Absolute Carnage'' ends its main story with [[spoiler:Venom killing Dark Carnage... which ends up reawakening Knull at long last.]]

* LivingWeapon: He manifested the first symbiote -- All-Black -- as a sword made of living darkness, and later created a replacement symbiote-sword from Wraith's Exolon symbiote.

* BigBad: In the ''Rex'' arc of ''ComicBook/VenomDonnyCates'' and the entirety of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack''.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Knull may be an OmnicidalManiac, but he tends to be composed and regal in his bearing... until something makes him angry; whereupon he flies into a rage, manifesting a fanged maw and slavering tongue. Examples of this include him addressing the Venom symbiote as his child; and his interaction with Wraith in ''Web of Venom: Wraith'', where he apologizes for not noticing Zak-Del, is more confused than anything by Zak-Del's accusation of having stolen his soul, doesn't attack until Zak-Del tries to shoot him, and after stripping Zak-Del of his Exolon would have left him there had Zak-Del not attacked him again. He is endlessly kind to his symbiote spawn, treating them like wayward children he needs to "free" of other influences, but at the same time he "comforts" the Exolon bonded to Zak-Del by telling it that it was not abandoned out of hate, but that it was [[FlawedPrototype "trash"]] from the process of creating symbiotes, seemingly not caring that it was an insult.

* HatedByAll: Being that he is an omnicidal psychopath desiring the extermination of all life, the other deities express nothing but fear towards Knull -- with the Volstagg of Earth-14412 mocking Gorr for not knowing who Knull is and for thinking he measures up to his precursor. It takes being brainwashed by Knull to avoid hating him and most other symbiotes loathe him. Only the vilest of villains, like Carnage, willingly align with his interests in any way.

* KameHameHadoken: Knull incapacitates the Silver Surfer by firing a massive beam of fiery purple energy from his hands.

* NotQuiteDead: At the end of ''ComicBook/KingInBlack'', [[spoiler:Eddie rips Knull's symbiote off, flies him into the Sun, and vaporizes his body with the Uni-Power. Knull's consciousness tries to take over Dylan Brock's body using the living abyss inside him, but Eddie uses the Uni-Power to rip Dylan's symbiote essence out and destroy it -- seemingly killing him for good. Despite all that, ''ComicBook/{{Thor|2020}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Venom|EwingAndRamV}}'' strongly imply that ''King in Black'' isn't the last we've seen of him. After all, darkness never dies and there's only so much of it one can throw into the Sun before the star turns black]]...

* ThePoorlyChosenOne: ''Venom'' (Vol. 5) #18 reveals that [[spoiler:Knull was chosen by the Celestials to help maintain the universe as the King in Black, but objected to the responsibilities being placed upon him. Knull then "burned his draft card" by killing the Celestial who was trying to recruit him and went on to do the exact opposite of what the position of King in Black was supposed to entail. As a result, the cosmos designated him a whetstone to hone his successor, Eddie Brock, the true King in Black of Earth-616 (and presumably the other universes where Knull was freed from Klyntar)]].

* SealedEvilInACan: Twofold, his mind was sealed away in the body of a symbiote dragon he's projecting into, while his body was sealed underneath a ''planet's mass'' worth of his symbiotes. Turns out the word Klyntar is symbiote for cage.

** ''ComicBook/{{Defenders|2021}}'' has Dr. Strange speculate that Knull is an incarnation of the Anti-All, a DraconicAbomination made of living darkness that originated in the [[ComicBook/ImmortalHulk Below-Place]] and terrorized the Third Cosmos.

* RefusalOfTheCall: [[spoiler:According to Ewing's ''Venom'' run, the Celestials weren't actually attacking Knull, they were trying to give him a job looking after the multiverse. Needless to say, attacking them was considered "burning the draft card"; the Eventuality noting that Knull voiced the same objections Eddie did upon learning of the King in Black's true purpose -- that it's not right or fair, that he's not the right person for the job, and that someone more qualified who can handle the responsibility and actually wants the job should be chosen instead.]]

* RefusalOfTheCall: [[spoiler:According to Ewing's run on ''Venom'', the Celestials weren't actually attacking Knull, they were trying to give him a job looking after the multiverse. Needless to say, attacking them was considered "burning the draft card".]]

* FallenHero: [[spoiler:He was Eddie Brock, a long time ago. Eddie wonders in issue #17 if Meridius isn't simply a logical end result of how he treated the symbiotes on becoming the King in Black, but Enlightenment states he isn't.]]

* YouCantFightFate: [[spoiler:Enlightenment reveals no matter how hard Meridius tries, he will lose.]]

* JackTheRipoff: Of Stan Carter, the original Sin-Eater.

* FutureMeScaresMe: He's at war with some other, mysterious being. [[spoiler:Issue #10 suggests it's the seventh future version of Venom, the one after him.]]

* RedIsViolent: He's solid red, and the most violent of the Kings in Black.