Origin

Like all Symbiotes, Carnage became pregnant, but felt only hatred and fear for his new "son" because of it's potential to become stronger that it's predecessors. Venom found out about Carnage's "pregnancy", so he tracked him down and talked about the spawn. Carnage did not want to talk about the situation and fought Venom. Carnage was ready to kill his powerful child as soon as it was born. When Carnage did give birth, however, he was too weak to actually kill it. He tried to blow it up, and bury it, but to no luck. He would eventually put his symbiote spawn to an NYPD officer, Patrick Mulligan, hoping to destroy the symbiote later when he regained his strength.

Prior to the recent events, Patrick Mulligan is a cop who lives with his family, a wife and a son. Carnage attached his "child" to Patrick in a gas leak explosion and planned on killing him, but he realized he was too weak after birth and left promising to come back and finish the job. Carnage attempted to kill Toxin again, but was prevented from doing so by Black Cat and later Venom, who wanted to train it and make it his ally against Spider-Man and if he had to Carnage. Venom fought Carnage, and named the new symbiote Toxin because to other symbiotes he smells like poison and has tendrils like carnage but has a body similar to venom.

Major Story Arcs

Venom vs. Carnage

After Carnage attacked his wife and Spider-Man fended him off in all the conflict Pat's wife started to go into labor and a little boy was born named Edward Mulligan, Patrick left them, realizing what a danger he would be to them if he stayed. Venom, now realizing that Toxin's host is a cop and more powerful than himself and Carnage he will likely become a good guy. Venom allied himself with his son Carnage for the first time to kill Toxin. But in the final battle between the three symbiotes, Toxin defeated them both and his "parents" fled.

Spider-Man stumbled into the final confrontation between the symbiote trinity, and helped Toxin. After they fended off Venom and Carnage, Toxin had a conversation with Spider-Man, filling him in on what had happened to him. Spider-Man gave him a kind of superhero heart-to-heart, and passed on his Uncle Ben's message: " With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility." Toxin resigned himself to a life of battling his base symbiote urges to indulge in violence and destruction, while trying to harness his power for good.

Toxin

In 2005, after Spider-Man joined the Avengers, Marvel started a six-issue Toxin limited series, which charts Toxin's battles with various super-villains who had escaped from the Raft as a result of the events beginning The New Avengers series. Unlike Venom and Carnage, who embrace the power and give in to the symbiotes they have, Patrick Mulligan is always having to keep Toxin under control. Also, because Toxin is still a child, Pat is trying to teach the symbiote how to be good. Unlike his "grandfather" Venom, Toxin does not refer to himself as "we". Throughout the course of the mini-series, he battled King Cobra, The The Answer, Wrecker, Piledriver, and Razorfist.

Toxin first found Cobra in a hotel room. When Cobra tried to wrap himself around Toxin, Toxin grew, stretching Cobra beyond his limit. Toxin found Razorfist starting a cult of self harming children in the sewers of New York City, using them as his slaves. Patrick searched for and found Razorfist, but because of an argument with Toxin, Toxin refused to help until Patrick admitted that he needed Toxin, even going so far as to turn Patrick into a small, middle-aged man Toxin referred to as Larry. Once Patrick admitted it, however, Toxin emerged and battled Razorfist briefly, before escaping. To have a compromise, Pat made a deal with Toxin that it will let him see his family with a disguise as "mild-mannered" Larry, in return Toxin can have his "play time", but for only two hours and no criminal activities. When he faced the Answer, he defeated him but for not returning in Ryker's, Pat asked the villain for advice on resolving a moral dilemma and he said try killing himself. He did attempted to commit suicide as advised by the Answer, by throwing himself in front of a train. Toxin interferes at the last moment, saving Pat and claiming that deep down, Pat didn't really want to die. When Pat presses the issue, however, it becomes clear that, unlike the Venom and Carnage symbiotes, Toxin is not sure it could survive on its own and find a new host. Wrecker and Pile-driver decided to pull an art heist. Toxin stopped them, but not before they demolished the museum.

Toxin showed very childlike behaviors, such as throwing a tantrum and breaking Patrick's laptop after seeing a blog where Pat referred to Toxin as a Monster . He then stole a stack of laptops to replace the one he broke, however, Spider-Man ran into him as he was running away with them, and stopped the theft. Toxin ran into Razorfist again, now training an army of small children, dubbed the "Piranha Tots" to kill their family members. He finally defeated him by removing his razor fists, and left with only stumps, was unable to harm Toxin. Even though Razor Fist murders Patrick Mulligan's father, Pat/Toxin begin to show true signs of a hero. He tracks Razor Fist down, but instead of slaughtering him as both the symbiote and Razor Fist himself urges, he controls himself and turns Razor Fist over to the police. At the end of the limited series, we see Pat reconcile with his estranged wife Gina, by 'introducing' her to the Toxin symbiote as way of explaining why he walked out on his family. Eventualy, he and Gina reunited and stay together with the symbiote.

Venom

Venom ( Flash Thompson) recently encountered the Toxin symbiote contained in a secret laboratory hidden in the Devil's Den casino. The symbiote wanted to kill the Toxin symbiote, and went feral and took over. Jack O'Lantern managed to take it from Venom's grip and fly back to Crime Master with it.

It is later revealed that Blackheart is responsible for the symbiote ending up in Las Vegas, having beaten Pat Mulligan to death in a gutter off panel to acquire the symbiote as part of his plan to bring Hell on Earth. He later uses a part of the symbiote and fuses it to clones of X-23 to create symbiote warriors, which were later killed by X-23 herself.

Savage Six

After a struggle involving Venom, Eddie Brock, and Crime Master, Eddie was left behind as Venom escaped. Crime Master then forcibly bonded the Toxin symbiote to Eddie. Toxin takes on a slightly different appearance, declaring that he wants to kill Venom above all else so only he can be around for the great spawning.

He later attacks Venom, only to be defeated rather easily by him, thanks to a sonic device he acquired from Betty Brant. While Venom is saving his sister, Toxin kidnaps Betty Brant and takes her to Crime Master. After entering Crime Masters hideout he is attacked by Megatak. Toxin comes from behind Megatak and kills him (hurting himself in the process), stating that Venom is his. Venom manages to remove the toxin symbiote Brock and throws a grenade into toxin's mouth. Sadly for Eddie the Toxin symbiote drags into the fire from the explosion burning him.

Recently Eddie Brock has control over Toxin taking out criminals and is gonna go after Venom.

Powers

Like all symbiotes, the Toxin Symbiote possesses the powers of its parent to a greater degree; He can stick to walls, shapeshift, also has unlimited webbing (which takes on a shape of thick red and blue tendrils like the chains of Ghost Rider), camouflage to its environment extremely effectively, form solid weapons from his limbs like Carnage, and a healing factor like his predecessors. Unlike the others, Toxin can track anyone, not just other symbiotes, as long as he has something to pick up a scent. Also he has the abillity to hide in its host's blood stream.

Also unlike other symbiotes, Toxin appears to be somewhat resistant to sonic waves and heat. Another difference is that Toxin, while dependent upon it's host, does not appear to have bonded with him. In fact, Toxin and Patrick Mulligan will often converse while in their human form. Toxin's eyes are sometimes transparent, showing Patrick's eyes underneath. When he's not angry or fighting, Toxin is slim and smooth-lined, although still well muscled, closely resembling Deadpool or Spider-Man in his Symbiote costume. When the symbiote starts to take more control, he grows a tooth filled mouth and his claws become bigger, similar to Carnage. When he becomes highly aggressive, he grows into his much bigger and stronger form, with vicious fangs and long curving claws that resembles Venom in red and blue. He is also stronger than both Venom and Carnage combined. Able to lift (press) over 35-45 tons originally. Now he is able to lift over 50-90 tons, He can also sense all other symbiotes instead of just his children as other symbiotes do.

Characteristics

Patrick Mulligan

• 
  Height : 6'2" (Mulligan), 6'10 1/2" (Variable, with symbiote)


• 
  Weight: 215 lbs (Mulligan), 695 lbs (Variable, with symbiote)


• 
  Eyes: Blue


• 
  Hair: Brown

Eddie Brock

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  Height: 6'3 (Brock), 6'10 1/2'' (with symbiote)


• 
  Weight: 260 pounds (Brock)


• 
  Eyes: Blue


• 
  Hair: Blond

Other Media

Video Games

Marvel Heroes 2015

Toxin appears in the game as an alternate costume for Venom.

Spider-Man Unlimited

The Patrick Mulligan version of Toxin appears as a playable character.

Merchandise

• Toy Biz released a figure of the Patrick Mulligan version of Toxin for the Spider-Man Classics line.


• Hasbro released a figure of the Eddie Brock version of Toxin for Marvel Legends, the sister line to Spider-Man Classics.