Prelude: Carnage vs Alex Mercer

AnataFan: Some people just want to watch the word burn. They revel in chaos and destruction, bringing down anyone who dares to cross their path. These two symbiotic killers are the PERFECT example of this.

G: Carnage, Marvel's own sociopathic murderer.

AnataFan: And Alex Mercer, Gentek's head researcher gone biological weapon.

G: He's AnataFan and I'm G.

AnataFan: And it's our job to analyze their armor, weapons, and skills to find out who would win a Death Battle.

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CARNAGE:
First Appearance: "The Amazing Spider-Man #345" (1991)
Host: Cletus Kasady
Height: 6'1 (can vary with symbiote)
Weight: 190 lbs. (can vary with symbiote)
Occupation: Serial Killer
Favorite Song: "Free Bird" - Lynard Skynard

FEATS:
- Murdered countless amounts of people
- Overpowered Spider-Man in a one on one fight
- Survived being ripped in half by Sentry
- Defeated the Avengers
- Resisted the Wizard's mind control
- Revived Cletus after being lobotomized

AnataFan: Cletus Kasady was a cold-hearted killer right from the beginning. Cletus was abused by his mother and father as a child, permanently warping his fragile mind forever. His murderous rampage began when he pushed his grandmother down a flight of stairs, killing her. He went on to torture and kill his mother's dog before targeting her, all because she paid more attention to the dog than himself. After failing to kill his mother, she attempted to return the favor, only to be beaten to death by his father. When brought before the judge, Cletus testified against his own father, claiming that he murdered her in cold blood, leading to his execution via electric chair.

G: Damn! What the fuck is WRONG with this guy?

AnataFan: You'd probably become a sociopath too if that happened to you. Anyways, Cletus, now an orphan, was sent away to the St. Estes Home for Boys. His lack of social interaction made him a target for bullying from not just the other children, but from the staff as well.

G: Cletus responded in the only way he knew how: DEATH! He brutally murdered the orphanage's disciplinarian, and when he was rejected by the girl he liked, he responded in a very mature and level-headed manner: by pushing her in front of a goddamn bus! Now THAT escalated quickly! Betcha wish you were my girlfriend now...if you weren't roadkill at least.

AnataFan: Cletus eventually burned the orphanage to the ground, and his harsh life as a serial killer had begun. Cletus was eventually apprehended and, after testifying to his murders, was locked away in Rykar's Island Prison. It was there that he met Eddie Brock aka Venom, the man who would unwillingly bestow Cletus with a symbiote of his own.

G: Eddie's symbiote got bored playing with itself and needed a new friend, so it gave birth to another symbiote. By entering a wound in Cletus' arm, the symbiote bonded with his blood, thus creating the murderous monster known as Carnage. That just so happens to be the reason Carnage is red instead of black. Pretty fitting for a crazy serial killer, I'd say!

AnataFan: The Carnage symbiote is, in fact, a separate entity from Cletus Kasady. Unlike the Venom symbiote, however, Carnage was born on Earth, a completely alien environment, thus enhancing its abilities even further.

G: The Carnage symbiote grants Kasady with superhuman speed, strength, and stamina, just like its dad. He can lift up to 90 tons, and is fast enough to outclass Spider-Man's superhuman reflexes with his own.

PHYSICALITY
Strength
- Can lift up to 90 tons
- Can toss around tanks and helicopters with ease
- Can tear through reinforced steel
Speed and Agility
- Can best Spiderman with his own reflexes
- Can scale large buildings with ease
Durability
- Can tank explosions, energy blasts, bullets, etc. at point-blank range

AnataFan: Also, Cletus Kassidy is....completely INSANE.

G: He can't be THAT bad! Lots of people have fucked up childhoods, what could possibly be wrong with him-

*Carnage is seen brutally murdering countless numbers of people, including women and children*

G: HOLY SHIT! Nevermind, this guy is fucked with a capital F!

AnataFan: Cletus Kassidy was the perfect host for Carnage due to his insanity. Cletus embraces the ideal of utter chaos and destruction. He is a ruthless murderer, and will stop at nothing to eliminate anyone in his path. His childhood also left Cletus without a social life of any sort, becoming a distant loner. Cletus' mental state continued to deteriorate to the point where he managed to rid himself of any and all forms of compassion or caring, wanting nothing more than to see everyone and everything in his path dead.

G: How much more fucked up can this guy get? Seriously?!

INSANITY:
- Obsessed with chaos, destruction, and bloodshed
- Will mercilessly slaughter anyone in his path without remorse
- Is a complete sociopath

AnataFan: Carnage's preferred weapon of choice is...well, himself.

G: What?!

AnataFan: The Carnage symbiote is actually a highly malleable substance that can take the form of just about anything. It can take the form of swords, axes, whips, throwing knives, and can even be used as webbing just like Spider-Man! The symbiote can also grow or shrink as long as it has a host to grow off of.

SYMBIOTE ABILITIES:
Adaptability:
- Immune to toxins, diseases, and chemicals
- Can quickly adapt to new environments
- Allowed Cletus to stay alive in space
Malleability:
- Can shrink or grow in size
- Can stretch and morph itself
- Can separate itself or pieces of itself from its host if needed
Weaponry:
- Can create just about any bladed weapon imaginable
- Swords
- Axes
- Scythes
- Whips
- Throwing Knives
- Tendrils
Webbing:
- Can create symbiotic webbing
- Functions similarly to Spider-Man's webbing
Healing Factor:
- Will repair most wounds to its host almost instantly
- Grants its host immunity to chemicals and poisons
- Allowed Cletus to survive decapitation and bifurcation
- More severe wounds could require time to heal
Spider Sense:
- Obtained from Venom's symbiote
- Functions exactly like Spider Man's Spider Sense
- Acute enough to overpower Spider Man's own Spider Sense

G: Why buy your weapons when you can just make them?! Hell, this guy wouldn't even need Viagra, he could just make his-

AnataFan: CARNAGE also possesses a sort of healing factor. He can heal and repair most wounds almost instantaneously. However, the symbiote is shown to be unable to repair more severe wounds to its host, as show when Cletus needed artificial legs after being torn apart by Sentry. Also, because of his father symbiote's connection to Spider-Man, Carnage has his own variant of the Spider Sense, even being able to completely NEGATE Spider-Man's own Spider Sense!

G: Well damn Carnage, just take another power from Spider-Man! Can't these symbiotes be a LITTLE more original?!

AnataFan: Well, if I had the chance to obtain Spider-Man's abilities along with my own, I would take it! If that doesn't convince you enough, the symbiote also grants Cletus complete immunity to toxic chemicals and poisons, and will even go so far as to keep Cletus alive in outer space!

G: Best. Life insurance. Ever. Where can I sign up?

AnataFan: G, you can't just sign up for symbiote-

G: Too late, already got one! Hey Anata, watch this!

AnataFan: Get your arm out of the door-

*G repeatedly shuts his arm in the door.*

G: I can hear my bones breaking!

Anata: *sigh* You're such an idiot. Anyways, for all of Carnage's impressive abilities, however, he shares similar weaknesses to other symbiotes.

WEAKNESSES:
- Carnage symbiote is vulnerable to heat and sound
- Completely blinded by his own insanity
- Cletus is defenseless without the Carnage symbiote

G: I think we kind of got the "insane" thing covered. Did we mention this guy is FUCKING CRAZY?!

Anata: Yes. Cletus has reveled in his own insanity for so long that it has taken COMPLETE control over him. As such, Cletus tends to throw strategy out the window, preferring to improvise and adapt to whatever the situation calls for.

G: See Anata, why make plans when you can just WING it!

AnataFan: Remember what happened the LAST time you "winged" it?

G: Oh yeah! Those kittens were so adorable! I promise I'll get the cat piss smell out of your car someday...

AnataFan: That's the TENTH time you've said that! How am I supposed to get a girlfriend when my car smells like urine?! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!

G: Can't hear you over my horde of kitty cats! Anyways, the Carnage symbiote also doesn't take too well to heat or loud noises. No wonder nobody wants to hang out with this guy! He'd be that asshole neighbor who always calls the fire department for burning your garbage or the cops for playing your music too loud!

AnataFan: Carnage's vulnerability to heat and sound has been capitalized on numerous occasions by Spider-Man and Venom, even though Venom ALSO shares the same weakness. Extreme heat and sonic assaults can damage and even DESTROY the symbiote, and without his symbiote...well, Cletus doesn't do so well. Cletus developed a complete dependency on the Carnage symbiote, to the point that it actually gave him an accelerated form of stomach cancer-

G: WHAT!? I take back what I said, GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!!!

*AnataFan blasts death metal at maximum volume, destroying the symbiote*

AnataFan: ...you owe me one. Without the symbiote, Cletus is incapable of even the simplest of tasks, shown when he couldn't even operate a sink properly. With that being said, the fact that someone like Spider-Man needed to take advantage of this weakness in order to even stand a chance just shows how powerful Carnage truly is.

G: Carnage is the equivalent of a portable slaughterhouse, complete with all the fancy toys and gizmos every psychotic killer needs!

([Spider-Man falls to the ground, defeated.]
Carnage: We could leave you now, heh heh, we've done our job! But we want a BONUS!
[Carnage lifts Spider-Man off the ground, holding him in front of him. Carnage's free hand transforms into an axe as he looks at Venom.]
Carnage: Dad! Ready for some father-son quality time?! Between the two of us, there won't be enough left of Spider-Man to fit in a matchbox! But we'll try, WON'T WE?!)

---

ALEX MERCER
Alias: ZEUS, The Prototype
Occupation: Former Gentek scientist, currently a rampaging living bioweapon
Height: 5’11
Weight: 190lbs

FEATS:
- Capable of annihilating the army, Blackwatch special forces, super soldiers and the strongest mutants
- Punts helicopters like soccer balls
- Defeated his predecessor, the powerful Elizabeth Greene, and his “successor” the Supreme Hunter
- Survived a nuclear explosion by regenerating from a single cell

AnataFan: Alexander J. Mercer was born into poverty. With his mother imprisoned, Alex spent the majority of his childhood in foster care, serving as a father figure to his younger sister Dana. As he entered adulthood, Alex showed an almost prodigal level of intellect in the field of science. Alex completely alienated himself from the outside world to focus on his work, becoming borderline sociopathic.

G: Gee, this sounds STRANGELY familiar!

AnataFan: Alex's aptitude in science earned him a Doctorate's Degree in Genetics at Columbia University. Alex Mercer then became a researcher at Gentek-

G: Oh boy, here we go. Lemme guess: he becomes the head researcher, something goes horribly wrong, and he gets a bunch of crazy superpowers. That sound about right?

AnataFan: Pretty much. The government special ops force known as Blackwatch entrusted Gentek with the research for the deadly Redlight Virus, in hopes that they could engineer an even MORE deadly variant of the virus.

G: Why the HELL would they wanna do that?!

AnataFan: Gentek entrusted this task with Alex Mercer. Alex, having shown his engineering prowess, was chosen to be the head researcher in what was known as the Blacklight Project. Alex enjoyed experimenting with the virus, and was eventually able to make the virus ten times more deadly than it was, naming it the Blacklight Virus.

G: Things were going all nice and peachy until the Blackwatch military group had taken notice of Alex's skill in genetic engineering and viewed him as a potential threat. With Gentek's plans in danger of being leaked to the public, Blackwatch launched a cover up.

AnataFan: Meanwhile, Mercer began his own investigation of Gentek's seemingly suspicious activity with the help of his sister Dana. He then came across a horrible discovery: all Gentek employees associated with the Blacklight Project were being eliminated by Blackwatch.

G: Upon discovering his fate, Alex attempted to flee from Blackwatch. In the event that he got caught, Alex brought a vial of the Blacklight Virus with him. As one would expect, his escape failed when Blackwatch agents cornered him at Penn Station. In a last ditch effort, Alex smashed the vial on the ground, unleashing the deadly virus onto the Blackwatch agents as he was gunned down. Wow, way to be a sore loser!

AnataFan: As they carried Alex's seemingly lifeless body back to Gentek, the virus began to reconstruct Alex's cell structure, reviving him and transforming him into a deadly biological weapon.

POWERS AND SKILLS:
Superhuman Strength
Enhanced Speed
- Can outrun cars
Superhuman Agility
Glide
- Lightens biomass
- Can eject biomass for more propulsion
Healing Factor
- Can quickly recover from wounds as long as he has victims to devour
- Can heal less severe wounds without victims
Shapeshifting
Superhuman Senses
- Enhanced hearing and vision
- Thermal vision, which allows him to detect heat sources
- Infected vision, which allows him to detect concentrations of the Blacklight virus

G: The virus grants Alex with a variety of powers. The virus makes him fast enough to outrun vehicles and strong enough to punt helicopters. I wish I could do the same thing to those damn kids who won't get the hell off my lawn! Take that, you little bastards!

AnataFan: Alex is also granted with gliding, shapeshifting, superhuman senses, and a healing factor that, given he has a steady supply of victims to absorb, allows him to recover from just about anything.

G: Yup, good luck trying to get rid of this guy - oh wait, James Heller already did that.

WEAPONS:
The Blade:
- Turns the arm into a giant, razor sharp cutting weapon
- Can destroy vehicles, hunters and brawlers
Claws:
- Four-digited, talon-like appendages that can be used to shred flesh and bone
Hammerfists:
- Large hammer-like weapons for crushing both vehicles and infantry
- Slow and inaccurate
Musclemass:
- Acts as a strength augmentation to his arms
Whipfist:
- Thin, flexible, blade-edged arm
- Can be used to attack at extreme range or whip through entire crowds of enemies
Armor:
- Forms black plates of hardened biomass; encasing his body.
- Increases damage resistance
- Decreases movement and the ability to parkour
Shield:
- Soaks up damage automatically until it shatters and regenerates.
Tendril Barrage:
- Causes spikes made of hard, fibrous tissue to erupt from Alex’s body in every direction
Groundspike Graveyard:
- Causes massive spikes of biomass to erupt from the ground, creating a deadly circle of spikes in close proximity to Alex
Critical Pain:
- Fires a hard mass of tissue from Alex’s hands to crush a single target.
- So powerful that nothing short of bosses and buildings can survive more than two hits
- Can only hit a single target

AnataFan: The Blacklight Virus just so happened to turn Alex's body into a living armory.

G: Alex can morph his arms into a variety of deadly weapons. He can transform his limbs into blades to slice apart anything in his path, claws for up close and personal combat, whips to attack from a distance, and hammers for crushing and bludgeoning his foes. Maybe I should get this guy to do my yard work, or at least I WOULD if he didn't have a super deadly virus!

AnataFan: Alex can also utilize a myriad of defensive maneuvers as well. He can create a biological suit of armor to protect him from damage at the cost of decreased mobility. His biomass can also create a shield that can tak damage for him.

G: If opponents get too close for comfort, Alex can cause pointy spikes of death to erupt around him or from his body like some sort of mutant porcupine. His most deadly move, however, is the poorly but appropriately named Critical Pain. Alex fires...tissues...from his hands. Am I reading this right?! That doesn't SOUND very dangerous to me-

AnataFan: *sigh* It's BODY tissue, G.

G: I don't know any of that shit! What do I look like, a scientist?!

AnataFan: God help us if you become one of those.

G: You know I'd be an awesome scientist, don't lie!

AnataFan: Yep, you SURE would. Anyway, Critical Pain allows Alex to fire a giant mass of hardened body tissue at his foes. It is by far Alex's most powerful attack, destroying most foes with one or two uses.

WEAKNESSES:
- A particular pathogen used by Blackwatch has been developed that can poison him
- Lacks reliable ranged attacks
- Cannot swim

G: As it turns out, a member of Blackwatch actually decided that this virus MIGHT need a vaccine. A little late on that one, guys!

AnataFan: Blackwatch eventually developed a pathogen that fought the effects of the Blacklight Virus. If the pathogen comes in contact with Alex, it can poison him.

G: Wait, so this guy's like Superman now: he only has one specific weakness that can't be easily exploited?

AnataFan: Well, that and Alex doesn't really have many options for ranged combat. His only true projectile is the Critical Pain, and even then it isn't exactly the most reliable move, as it can only target one opponent at a time. Other than that, he's pretty much limited to close combat.

G: Fortunately for him, close combat is his specialty, and that's one place you DON'T wanna be!

AnataFan: Also, Alex's biomass leaves him unable to swim.

G: What's up with that?! He can infect an entire population, casually toss helicopters, and regenerate from just about anything, but kick him into a swimming pool and he's fucked? That's lame!

AnataFan: Alex is a biological nightmare who leaves destruction and death in his wake. Even after being NUKED, Alex still came back, and it took James Heller, ANOTHER person with the Blacklight Virus, to finally put him down for good. Alex is practically a living, breathing weapon of mass destruction.

("I looked for the truth, found it. Didn't like it, wish the hell I could forget it. Alex Mercer.... this city suffered for his mistakes... for what he did at Penn station and whoever he was, that's a part of me, 'cause when I close my eyes, I see the memories of a thousand dead men, screaming as I take their lives. Moments I'll relive forever. What have I become? Something less than human, but also something more.")