Venom’s Top Ten Enemies

Throughout the years, Venom has been in some awesome battles with some of the greatest characters in comic book history. He has fought everyone from the incredible Hulk, to Wolverine, to Superman himself! He has laid the beat-down on insane villains and on those characters that he simply doesn’t like very much. Indeed, though he isn’t exactly “sane”, Brock has saved the lives of many innocent people, earning quite a crowd of supporters in San Francisco, the city where he spends the majority of his time fighting crime. However, of all the characters he has fought, only a few have truly annoyed Venom to the core. Listed below are the top ten characters/groups that have really crawled under the anti-hero’s skin….

 

 

(10) – Mac Gargan

Name: Mac Gargan (aka – Scorpion/New Venom)

Origin: Mac Gargan started off as a simple hit-man. He was hired by J. Jonah Jameson to be the subject of a strength enhancement experiment and to don a green super-soldier type suit that had a large, powerful tail that Gargan could move with mental commands. Thus, he became Scorpion. Jameson then sent Scorpion to fight Spider-Man. However, the experiments deeply messed with Gargan’s mind, causing him to lose what was left of his sanity. When Eddie Brock was dying from cancer (a very dumb story arc in my opinion), he was forced to auction off his symbiote in order to acquire money for hospitalization. Unfortunately, the symbiote ended up with Mac and he became the new Venom.

History: When Mac became the new Venom, he set about causing mischief and random chaos. He posed as an evil Spider-Man in the Dark Avengers, he tried to frame Jameson for the murder of a prostitute that he had previously killed, and basically tore apart every “good guy” he could lay his hands on. As a result, when Brock healed from his cancer and became bonded with a symbiote again, Brock put Gargan near the top of his hit-list of symbiote hosts who needed to be taught a major lesson.

 

(9) – New Sin-Eater

Name: Michael Engelschwert

Origin: Engelschwert, a soldier who fought in the gulf-war, has had artificially heightened physical strength similar to that of Captain America through experimentation that is not thoroughly explained. Though the strength of the character is greater than that of any Olympic athlete it does not exceed the hypothetical natural limitations of the human body and is not considered truly superhuman. The same experiments that produced his physique probably also drove him insane. He has some degree of military training, though it was rendered less effective by his insanity.

History: New Sin-Eater randomly appeared on the steps of a courthouse wielding a shotgun, killed several innocent people, and injured Ann Weying (Eddie Brock’s ex-wife). Venom became involved because of his undying love for Ann and the battle between he and New Sin-Eater began. Venom presumably killed the Sin-Eater after blowing up his vehicle with an anti-tank rocket. However, it is revealed that the real Sin-Eater survived and the maniac shows up at Ann Weying’s apartment to find her and Eddie Brock together. He then makes an attempt to kill all of them by setting off a bomb that is strapped to himself, but Venom manages to rescue his ex-wife and escapes while the New Sin-Eater explodes.

 

(8) – Juggernaut

Name: Cain Marko

Origin: When Cain Marko and his half brother Charles Xavier (aka Professor X) served in the US Army and were stationed in Korea, Marko found a hidden temple dedicated to an entity known as Cyttorak. On entering, Marko found a huge ruby and read the inscription on the gem aloud: “Whosoever touches this gem shall be granted the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak! Henceforth, you who read these words shall become … forevermore … a human JUGGERNAUT!” The gem channeled Cyttorak’s power into Marko. The transformation caused a cave-in, which presumably killed Cain, not being heard from again until a sudden assault on the X-Men’s headquarters by a mysterious brute named the Juggernaut – Cain Marko had lived.

History: Tension between Juggernaut and Venom began when the brute decided to kidnap Beck, Eddie Brock’s previous love interest. Appearing in several issues of the “Venom” series, Juggernaut always managed to arouse Brock’s angry/insane side. They usually clashed after basic encounters such as Venom bumps into Juggernaut picking on some innocent person or robbing a bank or pestering Beck. But the ensuing battles have never been disappointing and always promise to be action-packed and explosive.

 

(7) – Toxin

Name: Patrick Mulligan

Origin: Like all Symbiotes, the Carnage symbiote reproduced. This made Carnage/Cletus Kasady fearful of the idea that this symbiote could become another powerful enemy like Venom. However, when the Symbiote reproduced, the “birth” greatly weakened Carnage and he was unable to kill the “child”. As a result, Kasady put the new Symbiote on NYPD officer Patrick Mulligan, hoping to destroy the spawn after he regains his strength. Only, Mulligan proved to be a worthy host, and the two combined to form one heck of a powerful vigilante.

History: When Venom discovered that Carnage had reproduced, he actually got excited. He decided that he would confront the new creature and try to make an alliance with him. In fact, it was Venom who named Toxin, after discovering that his Symbiote smelled like poison. However, Mulligan, a respected police officer, didn’t exactly enjoy the idea of teaming up with a ruthless vigilante who regularly kills people (though ironically, Mulligan himself becomes a vigilante in time). Unfortunately, Venom didn’t take the rejection lightly, declaring that if Toxin didn’t join him, he would declare him dangerous and an enemy. Thus, their rivalry was born.

 

(6) – Jury

All Members: Sentry / Ramshot / Screech / Bomblast / Firearm / Wysper / U.S. Agent

Origin: Determined to destroy Venom, General Orwell Taylor gathered together a group of mercenaries, ex-soldiers, and security guards. Stealing the designs from Tony Stark/Iron Man, Taylor then funded the engineering of several super-soldier, armored costumes, one for each member. Thus, the Jury was born.

History: Considering the fact that the Jury was created to kill Venom, they and the lethal protector have never played nicely together. Over the years, the team has also formed a habit of fighting a little recklessly and endangering the city when on a job. This habit has consequentially put them at occasional odds against Spider-Man and several other heroes. Several members (including Taylor’s own son “Screech”) have even questioned the sanity of Taylor and the group as a whole, resulting in their resignation from the Jury.

(5) – General Orwell Taylor

Name: Orwell Taylor

Origin: Little is known about Taylor except that he was made General for his excellent strategizing skills. He has many connections across the nation and occasionally works alongside criminal organizations (his favorite being the Life Foundation Mafia) when he needs help hammering his point on something or when he wants someone dead.

History: It all started when Venom was captured and being held in a government facility/prison called Vault. One of the guards, named Hugh Taylor, thought that it would be fitting to electrocute Venom in a strange glass chamber. Unfortunately, Venom then broke out, decided to not be so forgiving, and choked Taylor with his symbiote. Now, guess who Hugh’s papa is… General Orwell Taylor. Taylor senior then, bent on vengeance, made it his mission to destroy Venom and used his many connections to create the Jury to hunt Eddie Brock down and turned multiple criminal organizations against the lethal protector. Orwell has even pressed criminal charges against Spider-Man, arguing that Spidey intentionally brought the symbiote to Earth.

 

(4) – Scarlet Spider

Name: Ben Reilly

Origin: Reilly, aka the Scarlet Spider, was actually “born” when Miles Warren (also known as the Spider-Man villain “Jackal”) cloned Peter Parker with a piece of Peter’s tissue. Warren then programmed Reilly to go into the world as the true Spider-Man. Believing that he truly is Peter, Reilly clashed with the real Peter Parker. In time, however, Reilly eventually gave up his animosity towards Parker and became the costumed crime-fighter, the amazing Scarlet Spider.

History: Venom actually doesn’t hold that great of a grudge for Reilly, but Reilly is determined to put Venom away. This determination began when Ben wanted to prove that he was the real Spider-Man. In an effort to prove this, Reilly decided to call out Venom for a fight, and Brock, thinking that it might be Parker, obliged. Reilly actually ended up winning the battle, and the feud between he and Venom began. Still, the feud proved to be mostly one of brawns as they continually clashed mainly to prove who was stronger. However, their feud came to a sudden end when the Scarlet Spider was killed by the Green Goblin. Though, I am sure Marvel will resurrect the popular character.

 

(3) – The Life Foundation

Name: N/A, there are hundreds of members

Origin: The Life Foundation is a huge, mafia-like organization that believed that the end of the cold war would bring about a nuclear holocaust that would result in the mutually assured destruction of modern civilization. To that end, they constructed a large fall-out shelter to provide a place for their wealthy clients to live comfortably. In an attempt to create a police force for their utopian society, they took some volunteers and spawned the Five Symbiotes from the Venom Symbiote. They also have a small army of “diggers”, people inside large robotic suits.

History: The Life Foundation is basically a group of very rich guys who enjoy being rich and constantly try to become richer. Their underground city beneath the streets of San Francisco has consistently been a pain in the rear end for Venom, especially since the Life Foundation is more than willing to kill those who discover their hidden refuge. In fact, rivalry between the two forces began when the Life Foundation attempted to kill a group of homeless people who had discovered the underground city.

(2) – Carnage

Name: Cletus Kasady

Origin: Bonded with the symbiote spawn of Venom’s symbiote, the psychopathic serial killer, Cletus Kasady, gained amazing powers including superhuman strength, near invulnerability, the ability to morph the symbiote ooze into nearly any object you can imagine (Kasady’s most favorite is an axe), and the ability to fire solid shards of the symbiote at opponents.

History: Carnage is one homicidal cookie. Since the moment he bonded with his own symbiote, he has sought to plunge the world into chaos. This ruthlessness against the innocent has put him at sharp odds against Venom. The two have consistently duked it out throughout the years. Venom has done everything from throwing Kasady into an electric generator to shooting him with a “super-sonic” gun and Carnage has done everything from attempting to kill Brock with a screwdriver to slamming Eddie’s face into a brick wall… fun times. Point is, these two heavy weights really, really, really don’t get along.

And topping the list as Venom’s arch-nemesis is…

(1) – Spider-Man

Name: Peter Parker

Origin: Bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter gained the ability to climb walls, jump long distances, and detect danger through a “spider sense”, he also acquired super-strength, enhanced agility and senses, and near invulnerability. Being an absolute genius and scholar, Peter then invented a pair of wrist gauntlets that shot out “webbing” to go with his newfound powers (unlike Sam Raimi’s movie adaptation in which the webbing actually shot out from inside his wrists).

History: Venom and Spidey are like peanut butter and turkey gravy – they just don’t go together. While they both hold the protection of the innocent above all else, they have very different values. Spider-Man seeks to stop crime by capturing criminals and handing them over to the authorities, whereas Venom just wants to annihilate every criminal he bumps into. Also, Eddie Brock has always held a grudge on the Spider after the hero proved that a newspaper article that Brock had unintentionally written was false (long story). Anyway Brock was nationally humiliated, so he got really buff and made it his mission to one day humiliate Spidey on a world scale by defeating him. At the same time, the alien symbiote that makes up Brock’s suit had been emotionally crushed after Spider-Man rejected it. So, when Brock and the alien ooze met up, they had one thing in common – they both despised Spider-Man. However, this rivalry hasn’t been everlasting for the two opposites have teamed up and made peace multiple times, usually to fight stronger villains. Though, these alliances are often shaky and end in conflict.

By the way, like the picture of Venom and Spidey? This is the link for it: http://www.comicartcommunity.com/gallery/details.php?image_id=27114