Toxin (Marvel)
Toxin is a comic characters who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
Toxin was a Symbote born when Carnage asexually reproduced with the offspring being the rare one thousandth generation of their kind. As was the nature of Symbiotes, Carnage sought to kill the child after birth with Venom seeking to stop him. During their fight, the newborn Symbiote was birthed where it attached itself to police officer Pat Mulligan who was at the scene of Carnage and Venom's fight. This resulted in Carnage tracking down the human and abducing him where he intended to kill both the policeman and the offspring together. (Venom/Carnage v1 #1) Mulligan was only saved by the intervention of the Black Cat Felicia Hardy who delayed Carnage long enough for Venom to arrive. Together, they managed to fight Carnage off allowing for Mulligan to live where he went to work the next day but began to notice strange in him. He later sought to track down the Black Cat in order to ask her about the Symbiotes though she knew little about the creatures. The pair were then confronted by Cletus Kasady who took on his Carnage form to kill Mulligan who suddenly manifested his own Symbiote suit as well. (Venom/Carnage v1 #2) At first, Mulligan did not realize what had happened to him. Before long, the Toxin symbiote had matured enough to gain both conscious thought and the strength to form a symbiote costume on Mulligan's body. After Carnage attacked Gina and Edward at their home, Mulligan realized the Toxin symbiote was a danger to both himself and his family. During a subsequent confrontation between Venom, Carnage, and Toxin, Venom realized Mulligan was dedicated to a life of virtue, or as close as he could come under the symbiote's influence. When it became clear that Toxin was easily as strong as either of his predecessors, and was still growing, Venom and Carnage formed a temporary pact to destroy Toxin. (Venom/Carnage v1 #3) Spider-Man stumbled into the final confrontation among the symbiote trio, and helped Toxin. After they fended off Venom and Carnage, Toxin had a conversation with Spider-Man, filling the latter in on what had happened. Spider-Man encouraged him, and Toxin resigned himself to a life of battling his base symbiote urges while trying to harness his power for good. He left his wife and child, and the police force, to try to come to terms with his new life. (Venom/Carnage v1 #4)
At one point, trying to live with the Toxin symbiote became too much for Mulligan, who attempted suicide by throwing himself in front of a train. The Toxin symbiote intervened at the last moment, saving Mulligan and claiming that Mulligan did not really want to die. When Mulligan pressed the issue, it became clear that, unlike the Venom and Carnage symbiotes, Toxin is not sure it could survive on its own and find a new host. In the limited series, Razor Fist murdered Mulligan's father, but Toxin begins to show signs of a heroic behavior; he tracked Razor Fist down, but rather than slaughtering, Toxin controlled himself and turnws Razor Fist over to the police. Mulligan reconciled with Gina by 'introducing' his estranged wife to the Toxin symbiote as a way of explaining why he walked out on his family, (Toxin v1 #6)
Within the Crime Master's possession, the Toxin Symbiote remained captive until the crime boss decided to use the creature to make the newest addition to his Savage Six. The villain was nearly killed by Agent Venom until a manic Eddie Brock intervened in his mad quest to eliminate all Symbiotes. During the fight, Brock was captured and was forcibly bonded to Toxin thus making him the final member of the Crime Master's team who were going to hunt down Agent Venom. (Venom v2 #17)
The Symbiote later returned back to Earth where it came to bond with a young human boy named Bren Waters. The two operated as Toxin during a time the Earth came under attack from the King in Black Knull who had led a Symbiote invasion of the planet. Toxin at this time responded to an incident involving an Alchemax up-turned transport that freed a Brood who was attacking the security officers at the scene. Bren then learnt that the Brood was actually a human test subject who was forcibly implanted with Brood marrow as part of the company's experiments. They were then interrupted by a Guardsmen who attacked Toxin with the Symbiote forced to flee back to Bren's home. (King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes v1 #3)
Overview
In appearance, Toxin was a member of the Symbiote race who were amorphous beings that bonded to living hosts. (Venom/Carnage v1 #1) When manifesting, it bonded the host in living flesh that took the form of a suit over them. (Venom/Carnage v1 #2) When not needed, the Symbiote matter retreat back through the skin of the host and into the body thus hiding itself from others. (Venom/Carnage v1 #3) The name Toxin was actually given to it by its grandfather Venom who had wanted the child to survive so its genes could continue into the future. (Venom/Carnage v1 #2)
The Symbiote provided a range of superhuman abilities and enhanced heir hosts. Even when not manifested over them, Toxin provided increased strength and speed to the host. It could also allow them to climb up surfaces using their hands to stick to solid surfaces. It was said that Toxin was strong even when compared to other Symbiotes such as its father. (Venom/Carnage v1 #3)
With Eddie Brock as the host, Toxin resembled a combination of Venom and Carnage but with the entire body red—light on the chest, and dark on the arms and lower body. (Venom v2 #31)
The host had to contend with Toxin's personality and its instincts which was to kill people. (Venom/Carnage v1 #3)
As the one thousandth generation, the chances of a psychotic breakdown were great unless the grandparent instructed the child in the ancient ways of the Symbiotes. (Venom/Carnage v1 #1)
Hosts
- Pat Mulligan :
- Eddie Brock :
- Bren Waters :
Notes
- Toxin was created by Peter Milligan and Clayton Crain where Patrick Mulligan appeared in Venom/Carnage v1 #1 (September, 2004) whilst appeared as Toxin in Venom/Carnage v1 #2 (October, 2004).
- Eddie Brock became Toxin in Venom v2 #17 (May, 2012).
In other media
Films
- In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Toxin did not appear but Patrick Mulligan was shown in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Stephen Graham. This version was a San Francisco Police Department detective who wore a hearing aid due to a past encounter with Frances Barrison while working as an officer. In the present, he attempted to use Eddie Brock to investigate Cletus Kasady, but was seemingly killed during a battle between the Venom and Carnage symbiotes and Barrison. However, he absorbed a piece of one of the symbiotes, which later revived him and caused his eyes to glow blue.
Video games
- In Marvel: War of Heroes, the Toxin Symbiote appeared as a playable card in the video game.
- In Marvel Heroes, Toxin appeared as an alternate skin for Venom in the setting of the MMORPG video game.
- In Spider-Man Unlimited, the Pat Mulligan Toxin appeared as a playable character in the iOS video game.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, the Bren Waters Toxin appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
Toys
Appearances
- Venom/Carnage v1: (2004)
- Venom v2:
- Carnage v2:
- King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
