The character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #361 (April 1992),[2] and was created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley, although the first published artwork of Carnage was penciled by Chris Marrinan.

Like Venom, Carnage has had multiple hosts over the years, but its most infamous one remains its first – killer Cletus Kasady, whose sadistic personality perfectly matches that of the symbiote.

Other notable hosts include Ben Reilly, Karl Malus, and Norman Osborn, as well as Gwen Stacy in the alternate Ultimate Marvel continuity.

[11] After Kasady was lobotomized, he was broken out of prison by the Wizard and Klaw, who intended to recruit him into the Frightful Four and turn him into their version of Venom.

Dr. Malus was enraged and under the influence of the Symbiote tried to kill his teammates, but he was subdued by Klaw and controlled by Wizard, who renamed him "Superior Carnage" and equipped him with weapons.

Klaw tries to stop him, but due to his weapon being damaged, he fails and realizes that the only way is for the Wizard to take back control.

[15] Using this combination of powers during the "Go Down Swinging" storyline, Norman is easily able to tear through Human Torch, Clash, Silk, Miles Morales, and Agent Anti-Venom, with the combination of the symbiote and the Goblin serum rendering Carnage immune to its traditional weaknesses, eventually transferring part of the symbiote to his grandson Normie enough to turn him into a miniature version of Red Goblin.

[17] Following the defeat of Cletus Kasady, the Carnage and Grendel symbiotes were absorbed by Eddie Brock, who is later given an offer to join the Avengers.

This causes Eddie to take off and head towards the island where he long ago had thought he had killed Spider-Man and where he remained until the emergence of Carnage.

[18] After a narrow escape that cost him his left hand,[19] Eddie was eventually rescued by the Avengers, who promptly nuked the island to finally eradicate the symbiotes still on it.

[22] Following the confrontation with the new King in Black, a piece of the symbiote survived and chooses a fish for a host and then attacks a shark.

Inspired by what Eddie had done, Carnage formulated a new plan to make a comeback using the power Knull had bequeathed to create a rival Hive with itself as its nexus.

Once back in Manhattan, Carnage bonded to Senator Arthur Krane who was running a campaign to get Earth rid of aliens, both the good and bad type, and is working with Alchemax and the Friends of Humanity.

[11] During a subsequent rampage, the Carnage symbiote briefly attempted to take control of the Silver Surfer, who was visiting Earth at the time to welcome the Fantastic Four after their return to life following the battle with Onslaught.

One such person, Dr. Tanis Nieves, is outfitted with one of these prosthetic arms after she is caught in an attack by the Doppelganger, who tried to rescue Shriek.

[10] Kasady reclaims the symbiote and becomes Carnage once more, attempting to avenge his captivity while Spider-Man and Iron Man struggle to stop him.

[10] Ultimately, Spider-Man brings out Kasady's body to successfully draw the symbiote into it, which immediately devours Dr. Malus and then prepares to finish off the Wizard.

[26] Carnage bonded to a great white shark to escape from the Isla de Huesos, and prowled the ocean for several months as the "red king of darkness".

Interjecting, the Venom symbiote states that Knull is dead and that Eddie is the new King in Black, making Carnage now one of his subjects.

Countless symbiote-controlled sharks began swarming Carnage and devouring her in a feeding frenzy until the symbiote completely disappeared in the darkness of the ocean.

[27] As Eddie Brock explained,[28] the Carnage symbiote was born with abilities even more singular than those of its progenitor due to the fact that it gestated in an environment alien to it: Earth.

Carnage endows Cletus Kasady with physical strength greater than that of Spider-Man and the Venom symbiote combined[28] and shape-shifting abilities, allows it to project a web-like substance from any part of his body including the formation of weapons, and enables it to plant thoughts into a person's head using a symbiote tendril.

Kasady has full control over the size, shape, color (usually red and black), texture, and hardness of the symbiote (and any part thereof).

[37] On rare occasions, however, he has deliberately spared individuals to serve as witnesses for others: for instance, Joe Robertson's wife Martha during Savage Rebirth.

The dimension-hopping Web-Warriors who aid dimensions (who lost its Spider-Man) defeated Sinister Sextet, and as they round up their captives, they notice that Electro escaped, unbeknownst to the group, followed them to the Great Web.

[49] In the MC2 future timeline, Carnage, also known as Specimen 297, bonds with Spider-Girl's friend Moose Mansfied, who wants to use the symbiote to cure his father from cancer.

Mayhem, seeing the error of her ways, goes back in time and sacrifices herself to stop her past self from killing Spider-Girl, ensuring the events that led to the Biopreds' creation never occurred.

When first introduced, the organism was a blob of instinct, with no intelligence or self-awareness, with its only aim to feed on the DNA of others, including Gwen Stacy, to stabilize itself.

This Gwen/Carnage fights with the Fantastic Four, Nick Fury, and the Spider-Slayers drones, until she is knocked unconscious by a beam of light, and taken into custody.

However, when the Goblin broke out of the Triskelion, Gwen escaped and went to Peter's old house in a confused and terrified state, with Carnage's face on her body.