Subject: Carnage
Culture: American comics fandom
Setting: Marvel Comics
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
"The original Venom “parent” symbiote bonded with its host at a clean juncture to the nervous system. By contrast, the symbiotic “other” that had merged with Kasady was at one stage joined at a much lower cellular layer—bonding with the very blood cells of its host. This bond rendered it impossible for the authorities to remove the symbiote without killing the human within. It is not yet clear if the replacement symbiote is bonded at the same low level with Kasady.
"Without the symbiote, Kasady possesses normal human physiology (although his psychotic behavior gives him some enhancement). The original symbiote grants its host superhuman strength (capable of lifting 50 tons) and speed superior to those held by either Spider-Man or Venom. Although it is not clear how this is the case, the augmentation may have been due to this particular spawn being incubated on Earth, and/or due to being the “child” of the Venom symbiote, which had adopted Spider-Man’s powers including his strength and agility. With the replacement Carnage symbiote, which was not incubated on Earth nor directly linked to Venom, Kasady can lift 35 tons, but the exact causality of this differential in abilities is unknown. However, the new symbiote appeared to have adopted all of the original Carnage’s powers, presumably via some form of transference from Kasady.
"Like Spider-Man and Venom, Carnage possesses the power to stick to walls at his hands and feet, and to generate “swing lines” or “tendrils” from the alien material’s tough, flexible fibers of organic polymers, which he uses for travel in a fashion like how Spider-Man uses his webbing. Like Venom, Carnage generates “snares” to trap and entangle foes and extends the costume into elongated claws and teeth. In addition, the Carnage symbiote can separate parts of itself and project bladed weapons, such as ax blades and sharp sword-like protrusions. These portions of the symbiote costume, when separated from Kasady for more than approximately 10 seconds, lose their molecular integrity and disintegrate into dust.
"Similar to Venom, the Carnage symbiote shares a telepathic bond with its host and is capable of absorbing bullets from small-arms weapons firing conventional ammunition. However, the symbiote was vulnerable to both sonics (to a much lesser degree than the Venom symbiote), and to heat-based attacks (to a much greater degree than the Venom symbiote). The Carnage symbiote can mimic any type of clothing, but unlike Venom, Carnage has not been seen using the costume’s “chameleon” ability as camouflage.
"Carnage can deaden Spider-Man’s spider-sense to a certain degree, though not neutralize it completely. The original Carnage symbiote could apparently also block the Venom symbiote from its natural parental ability to track its offspring. It is unknown if the second symbiote can mimic this ability. Kasady is also a skilled street fighter, a ruthless hand-to-hand combatant, and criminally insane."
Costume
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