Carnage

"Suffering.. We enjoy the suffering.. We enjoy the beautiful symphony of screams.."

History:

Carnage was once serial killer Cletus Kasady, and became Carnage after merging with the offspring of the alien symbiote called Venom during a prison breakout. He was originally conceived as a purely villainous counterpart to Venom, who was becoming an anti-hero. His past is uncertain. Kasady claims he killed his father, who apparently killed the boy's mother when she tried to kill him; however, he is unclear on the exact details ("...or is it the other way around?"). Kasady's seemed to care for his mother, however, causing him to dig up her grave in Maximum Carnage. He also claims he killed his grandmother when he was younger, pushing her down a flight of stairs. Kasady tortured animals (including his own dog) when he was young. His largely self-invented past and chaotic personality are two of the traits he shares with the Joker. Kasady has been separated from and re-bonded with the symbiote several times. The Carnage symbiote, attracted to stronger hosts, has attempted to bond with Ben Reilly (Spider-Man at the time) to become Spider-Carnage, and the Silver Surfer. Later, Venom decided to absorb the Carnage symbiote "for good." Without the symbiote, Kasady retained the Carnage persona by costuming himself in red paint and continuing his killing sprees (albeit as a powerless human). Soon after, Kasady found an exact replica of the symbiote in the Negative Zone. Why this symbiote is an identical copy, or where it came from, has yet to be explained.

Powers and abilities:

The alien symbiote suit is made of tough, flexible fibers of organic polymer which have the ability to mimic any type of clothing whatsoever (typically colored black or red in Kasady's case). It also makes him undetectable (like Venom) to Spider-Man's spider-sense. Similarly, Venom's ability to "detect" Kasady's presence can be blocked by the suit. In addition, the suit gives Carnage the ability to adhere to most surfaces with his hands and feet, a power which the symbiote inherited, via Venom, from Spider-Man. Also adapted from Spider-Man is the ability to project a web-like substance from his body. Unlike Venom, Kasady can also separate parts of the symbiote costume from himself and use them as weapons, but they crumble to dust after about ten seconds. Carnage's symbiote originally had the power to "see" from any part of itself and relay the visual information to Kasady although he appears to have lost this power. The living costume endows Carnage with superhuman strength, sufficient to lift roughly 50 tons. Originally, he was stronger than both Spider-Man and Venom combined. Carnage also possesses levels of superhuman agility and reaction time comparable to those of Spider-Man. Cletus Kasady is also a formidable hand-to-hand combatant as well as a merciless killer. Combined with the alien symbiote, Kasady is one of the most lethal and unpredictable of all Marvel supervillains. >