Venom's powers and abilities
Symbiote Biology: Even without a host, the Venom symbiote is capable of freely extending its biomass into tentacles and tendrils, and usually manifests a fanged mouth and large white eyespots. It can also manifest a humanoid head, torso, and arms; and after being cleansed became able to take on humanoid form without a host for brief periods. When bonded to a host, it can shapeshift to mimic any type of clothing whatsoever, as well as blending in with its surroundings, rendering it invisible. The symbiote has augmented all of its host's physical abilities to superhuman levels equal to, and in some cases greater than, Spider-Man's.
Spider-Man (Peter Parker): While not the symbiote's first host or even its first human host, Peter Parker nevertheless had the most profound impact on the symbiote and its powerset. In addition to augmenting Peter's physical abilities when bonded to him, the symbiote interfaced with his genetic code and imprinted most of his powers into itself. The symbiote retained these copied powers even after separating from Peter, and bestowed them on its subsequent hosts.
Body Storage: Peter Parker was able to use the symbiote to store his camera and rolls of film. Flash often utilized the symbiote to withhold and store munitions and equipment through dimensional apertures within the suit. Wherein he could store foreign objects while keeping a sleek, aerodynamic profile. Having used this quality to store a live grenade within his body while keeping it from exploding.
Camouflage Capabilities: The symbiote is capable of shapeshifting to mimic the appearance of any form of clothing, can camouflage with its surroundings to appear invisible, and can even mimic the appearance of other people. Peter Parker only used the former ability during the brief period he was bonded to it, while Brock's preferred form of clothing was a black shirt, jacket and pants.
Constituent-Matter Generation: The symbiote can use the living abyss comprising its matter to generate tendrils and pseudopods, and can use this for lethal effects against criminals. While Spider-Man was unaware it possessed this ability and did not consciously use it, Eddie Brock and its subsequent hosts would often use this ability offensively, such as by sending a part of the symbiote into a victim's body to smother them from the inside.
Parasitic Inheritance: The symbiote can copy the powers and abilities of other beings by interfacing with their genetic code, and primarily utilizes the spider powers it adapted from Spider-Man.
Wall-Crawling: The alien costume replicated Spider-Man's ability to cling to walls by controlling the flux of inter-atomic attraction between molecular boundary layers.
Webbing Generation: The symbiote can convert its constituent matter into strands of white or black webbing, which it can shoot from the white patches on the back of its hands at high pressure up to a distance of 70 feet. The alien's substance seems to be composed of tough, flexible fibers of organic polymers, which regenerate swiftly after "shedding." The strands have extraordinary adhesive properties, which diminish rapidly once they abandon their living source. After about three hours, with no source to nourish them, the strands dry up like dead skin and dissolve into a powder. The strands possess a tensile strength of 125 pounds per square millimetre of cross-section. The one limitation to this ability was used to Spider-Man's advantage during his second bout with Venom: Since the webbing itself is comprised of the symbiote's constituent matter, if Venom generates too much he will be left vulnerable as the symbiote is weakened and unable to replenish its lost mass for a short period of time.
Venom (Eddie Brock): The third human individual to bond with the symbiote was Edward Brock. Naturally, the symbiote chose to endow Eddie with most of the powers Spider-Man had, but via Brock's innovative mentality the symbiote has managed to create some new powers and even mutate over time. After Knull attempted to assimilate the Venom symbiote into the Grendel, its abilities were augmented and it acquired new powers while connected to Knull's hive-mind. After being reborn through the living abyss of a symbiote-dragon and Eddie becoming the new God of the Symbiotes after vanquishing Knull, the Venom symbiote's powers have been augmented to an unknown degree.
Superhuman Strength: Before he came into contact with the costume, Brock had conditioned himself to lift (press) 700 lb. Once they merged, the costume added Spider-Man's superhuman strength to Brock's vast human strength, making him stronger than Spider-Man. However, his full strength often fluctuates. Venom has demonstrated strength ranging from only slightly greater than Spider-Man's to being capable of trading blows with high-powered individuals such as Juggernaut. This is caused by the several mutations that the symbiote took with Brock, gaining additional bulk and muscle mass over long periods of time with its host.
Superhuman Durability: Venom's body is highly resistant to physical injury, capable of withstanding assault from high-caliber bullets as well as attacks from super powered individuals. When distributed at a typical thickness over Brock's body, the symbiote is capable of absorbing bullets from small-arms weapons firing conventional ammunition.
Superhuman Stamina: The symbiote is also capable of surviving in harmful areas for long periods of time such as underwater or in toxic gases.
Regenerative Healing Factor: Additionally, the symbiote is capable of healing injuries in the host at a faster rate than normal human healing allows. The symbiote is also capable of healing injuries and illnesses that current human medical care cannot such as cancer. The symbiote has enabled its host to recover from injuries that should have been lethal, such as Mac Gargan being impaled by the Swordsman's Makluan Sword and Flash Thompson being impaled by Toxin's blade-arm and even having his head sliced in half by Jack O'Lantern V's scythe.
Genetic Memory: The symbiote possesses some psychic ability, making it capable of obtaining information from its hosts and even other people and symbiotes simply by touch; The symbiote is capable of recalling information from previous hosts. This ability allowed Eddie Brock to know the secret identity of Spider-Man when the symbiote bonded with him. It can however, be forced to forget information if the symbiote is inflicted with heavy trauma.
Offspring Detection: The symbiote is also capable of psychically detecting its offspring, however with effort this ability can be blocked.
Body Chemistry Manipulation: In order to trick Eddie into believing he had terminal cancer, the Venom symbiote altered his biochemistry to simulate the symptoms. After being temporarily reconnected to Knull's hive mind, the symbiote gained the ability to directly affect the neurochemical functions within its host in order to induce various psychological effects, such as calmness, sleep, or even memory suppression.
Telepathy: The Klyntar species communicate both psionically and biochemically with the host and each other. Their powers of the mind initially start out as weak without a host to bond to. After years fused to Eddie Brock, Venom had more than strengthened its lingering psychic powers to the point its screams of anguish could be felt across all of New York. While possessed by a demon, Agent Venom employed this creatively through his tendrils to seize control of an army of mercenaries and after coming into contact with Knull, the symbiote displayed the ability to telepathically communicate with other symbiotes.
Constituent-Matter Manipulation: While the Venom symbiote did not use this ability frequently when bonded to Eddie Brock, it was capable of transforming parts of its host's body. It once morphed Venom's hands into scythe-like hooks and sword-like blades during a battle against Nova, and turned his arms into bat-like wings to let him glide. After being augmented by Knull, the symbiote developed the ability to manifest wings resembling those of the Grendel symbiote-dragon in order to fly. Venom could also project its biomass into a multi-layered shield to better withstand powerful attacks. When bonded to Mac Gargan, it used this ability to grow a tail, emulating Gargan's appearance as the Scorpion. When bonded to Flash Thompson, the symbiote regularly displayed the ability to morph sections of Agent Venom's body, such as his hands or feet, into spikes, blades, axes or a shield.
Digital Immersion: In a battle with its offspring Carnage, the Venom symbiote and its host displayed the ability to physically enter into the Internet on a molecular level and travel between hard-wired computers through Ethernet cables.
ESP: Although the Venom symbiote does not possess a spider-sense, it possesses a similar extrasensory ability. This response is not as complicated as Spider-Man's inherent sense since the alien costume can detect danger from every direction and warn its host in plenty of time. It's a lot more efficient than Spider-Man's spider-sense because it takes less time to sense the danger.
Empathetic Empowerment: The Venom symbiote, like others of its kind, is capable of feeding off its host's negative emotions - chiefly rage, hatred, and bloodlust - in order to augment itself. However, doing so has a corrupting effect on the symbiote, causing it to become increasingly bloodthirsty, cruel, and feral.
Klyntar Assimilation: In a similar manner to how the Hybrid symbiote was formed, Venom is capable of amalgamating with other symbiotes in order to bolster their shared power. It merged with its clone, increasing its strength by an unknown degree and amalgamated with Rex Strickland's symbiote in order to become powerful enough to face Knull and the Grendel symbiote.
Immunity to Spider-Man's Spider-Sense: Due to Spider-Man being a host to the symbiote, Venom, and his offspring, are able to bypass Spider-Man's spider-sense. They are capable of attacking Spider-Man without alerting him, making them deadly foes. It should be noted that as Ben Reilly was cloned from Peter before he bonded with Venom so the Venom symbiote was not immune to Reilly's spider-sense.
Poisonous Fangs: An ability developed by Eddie Brock upon bonding with the symbiote. Originally he commanded the symbiote to sprout a maniacal grin and tongue, differentiating him from Spider-Man. Later it was revealed that this set of fangs not only intimidates foes but can deliver a powerful, venomous bite (true to the Venom namesake). This bite was able to cripple the Sandman, eventually leaving the villain-turned-hero unable to reform himself properly and almost causing his death.
Stretching and deforming: Although it's widely known that the symbiote can stretch and deform itself, later it showed itself able to perform this ability while bonded with a human host. Symbiotes can expand to any size as long as they have something to grow on such as a host or an object. Symbiotes can get inside of small areas such as electric wires and the insides of cars and completely disable them.
Telepathy Resistance: As a result of being a bond between two separate minds, it takes longer than conventional for a telepath to affect the mind of the symbiote. This defense is not absolute, however. Additionally, attempting to telepathically incapacitate the symbiote by targeting the host does not prevent the symbiote from fighting back.
Energy Absorption & Transference: After connecting to the Symbiote Hive-Mind of Earth-1051, the symbiote displayed the power to channel energy and fire it back at the opponent by morphing its arms into energy cannons, similar to its Earth-23203 counterpart. However, once it disconnected from Earth-1051's hive-mind it lost this ability.
Malekith: After capturing the Venom symbiote, the dark elf warlord Malekith bent it to his will using dark magic and the arcane ambiance of Stonehenge in England, bonding with it to increase his own combat prowess.
Symbiotic Expansion and Psychic Control: Through Venom, Malekith could extend his symbiote to others and interlink them to his own being. Wielding his warriors like a puppet armed force which he could further guide and enhance with symbiote like abilities of they're own.
Constituent-Matter Manipulation: Like many users of the symbiote species, Malekith can conjure and utilize symbiote biomass in order to create his own colorful arsenal physiological extremities. The likes of razor-sharp or blunt-force melee weaponry, large batlike wings to fly with, or simply transforming the symbiote itself into a metamorphic blade.
Dark Magic Enhancement: Through his connection with one of Knull's creations, Malekith found that his own arcane abilities were greatly enhanced many times over, making both him and the Klyntar he'd bonded to powerful enough to trade blows with four iterations of the God of Thunder single handed.
Stretching and deforming: To a limited extent Malekith could utilize the amorphous properties of the Venom Symbiote to further enhance himself; having used it to elongate his tongue into a lethal razor whip he can fight with.
Agent Venom (Flash Thompson): After the US military bonded the symbiote to Flash Thompson as the fourth host of the symbiote, it displayed all of the above abilities as well as developing a few new ones as a result of being connected to the Klyntar hive mind.
Hive Mind: After being purged of its bloodlust, the symbiote gained access to the Klyntar hive mind, enabling it to communicate with the symbiotes on their homeworld and access information about the species' past.
Cosmos Communion: As a cleansed Klyntar, the Venom symbiote was able to hear the "voice" of the Cosmos telling it of people in need of assistance.
Humanoid Form: Since being cleansed, the symbiote had developed the ability to take on a humanoid form independently of being bonded to its host, for a maximum duration of twelve Earth hours. After coming into contact with Knull, this ability was augmented to enable it to disguise itself as a human.
Proximity Tracking: Agent Venom can track others by leaving pieces of itself on others, seeking them out wherever they may go.
Self-Sustenance: A symbiote enables the host to survive anywhere in any hostile environment. Be it in the cold reaches of space, or fatally gaseous areas with relative ease. Flash could even impart this a hazardous element filtration system to others.
Morphomerge: One time while on mission, Flash symbiotically bonded the Klyntar into a stripped and broken-down car in order to make it operational again. This vehicle was not only greatly reinforced by its constituent matter but had the appearance, tentacles, and biting maw normally reminiscent of a symbiote's feral state. Tel-Kar was also able to use it to interface with his spaceship.
Venom's weaknesses
Sonic and Heat: The Symbiote is extremely sensitive to sonic and thermal attacks, making it vulnerable, although the degree of sensitivity has varied over time and the symbiote has built up a resistance.
Psychological Corruption: The Venom symbiote, like others of its kind, is susceptible to the negative emotions of its host - particularly rage and hatred. At its worst, the symbiote is a bloodthirsty predator that seeks to corrupt or outright control its hosts, compelling them to satiate its ravenous hunger.
Anti-Venom: The Anti-Venom suits are toxic to the Venom symbiote. Its touch is very painful to Venom and its host, and prolonged contact will eventually kill it. However, the original Anti-Venom died when Eddie used it to cure the Spider-Virus and the replica died along with Flash Thompson when the Red Goblin murdered him, though Flash and the replica were both eventually revived.
