Top 10 Worst Things Carnage Has Done
For this list, we'll be looking at the most depraved, shocking and abhorrent acts ever committed by the villainous Carnage. Please note that we'll be considering the actions of both the Carnage symbiote and Cletus Kasady without the symbiote, because really… Carnage's legacy of brutality is a combined effort of both symbiote and serial killer.
This symbiote and host pairing have no interest in playing antihero. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Worst Things Carnage Has Done.
For this list, we’ll be looking at the most depraved, shocking and abhorrent acts ever committed by the villainous Carnage. Please note that we’ll be considering the actions of both the Carnage symbiote and Cletus Kasady without the symbiote, because really… Carnage’s legacy of brutality is a combined effort of both symbiote and serial killer.
#10: Going on a Murder Spree as a Warm Up For Spider-Man
In 1993, Carnage cemented his status as one of Marvel’s most dangerous and depraved villains in the 14 part story, Maximum Carnage. The event begins with Cletus Kasady locked up in at the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane, where attempts are being made to cure him of his insanity. Unfortunately for every employee and resident, a blood test triggers the Carnage symbiote, and he proceeds to flaunt his freedom by killing everyone he can find. He clearly takes pleasure in his work, but it’s a spree with a purpose. Carnage wants to be good and ready when he reunites with Spidey and Venom and this is the clearest way to announce his return.
#9: Murdering a Man Because of His Name
Carnage only cameos in this issue, but as he’s want to do, he completely steals the spotlight despite appearing in just a few panels. Though Cletus Kasady had been introduced in 1991, it wasn’t until this 1992 issue that he would make his debut as Carnage. We wouldn't get a proper look at him until the next issue, but this ominous one page aside, which teased both his powers and his chilling grin, was the perfect introduction to the character. The plot is simple: Carnage literally just looked for a dumb name he didn’t like in the phone book and proceeded to seek out this individual and kill him. RIP Gunny Stein; hello Carnage.
#8: Turning His Psychiatrist Into a Cannibal
Artist Erik Larsen reportedly took inspiration from the Joker when designing Cletus Kasady, but we suspect that writers have continued to draw on the Clown Prince of Crime when shaping this twisted Spidey villain. Case in point: they both have a habit of corrupting those attempting to treat them. Much like Joker turned psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel into his murderous muse, Cletus Kasady turned Pentagon psychiatric specialist Matthew Kurtz into a freaking cannibal. Admittedly, Kurtz seemed rather unstable to begin with, but when Carnage drills a tendril right into the psychiatrist’s brain and gives him a front row seat in the mind of Carnage, the man snaps. When a guard intervenes, he eats his face.
#7: Contorting a Man to Death to Prove a Point
In the 2016 Carnage series, Kasady got ahold of something called the Darkhold, a powerful “Book of Sins” that’s been kicking around the Marvel universe since 1972. The plot is a bit convoluted, but long story short, Carnage takes on the power of the Darkhold, which allows him to create duplicates, only to become frustrated when it doesn’t work for him as expected. Looking for answers, he seeks out one Roger Felwood, only to find Roger Felwood Sr. instead. When Jr. arrives on the scene, Carnage explains that his new ability is horrifically killing the would-be hosts instead. How does he demonstrate the problem? By doing it to Gleason Senior.
#6: Committing Mass Murder at His Orphanage
Here’s a Cletus Kasady moment to remind you that the man behind Carnage was a monster long before the symbiote came along. Kasady had a messed up childhood to say the least. Over the years, various writers have filled in his backstory with such unsavory early misdeeds as torturing and killing the family dog and murdering his own grandmother by pushing her down the stairs. In his defense, she was abusive. But the same can’t be said for the victims at the orphanage where he grew up. Here, Cletus killed an administrator, pushed a girl in front of a bus and burned down the orphanage with his peers still inside.
#5: Infecting an Entire Town With His Symbiote
The 5 part Carnage U.S.A. miniseries saw the beloved villain take his unique brand of horror and apply it to an entire small town. Arriving in Doverton, Colorado, Cletus Kasady infects the local water supply to spread his symbiote to the inhabitants of the town, turning all of them into his personal playthings. In the very first issue, we see a baby and young boy infected and attack their father. It’s some seriously shocking content. That’s the thing about Carnage though, he doesn’t just love committing acts of murder… he also takes pleasure in mentally torturing his victims. Sadly, not everyone makes it out alive.
#4: Infecting Peter Parker’s Son
It may seem far worse to infect multiple children than just one, but this particular victim’s relationship to Spider-Man made it more personally painful and thus, more resonant with readers. In the MC2 reality, also known as Earth-982, the Carnage Symbiote has separated from Cletus Kasady, but it’s still apparently got a thing for torturing members of the Spider-family. When the Carnage symbiote attaches itself to Spider-Girl’s high school friend Moose, she learns firsthand just how dangerous her father’s old foe really is. Carnage kidnaps Ben Parker, Peter’s son, and then proceeds to bond with him, forcing Spider-Girl to fight her own baby brother. She saves him, but it costs Ben his hearing.
#3: Throwing a Baby Out of a Window
Sure, Carnage throws baby Ben Parker out a window in the aforementioned story arc, but he’d presumably already infected the infant with the symbiote by this point, making it all just a sick exercise in emotional manipulation. Plus, by 2007 we’d grown accustomed to this sort of behavior from Carnage; 1992 was a very different time. After making his proper debut in Amazing Spider-Man #361, he quickly showed Spider-Man and readers alike that they were dealing with a very different breed of villain. How? By grabbing a baby from a disgruntled mother and then, after a little pitch black humor, chucking the baby out the window. Readers had never seen anything like it in the pages of “The Amazing Spider-Man” before.
#2: Killing a Restaurant Full of People
Alright, we can’t say for sure that every single person in the establishment died from their injuries, but judging by Carnage’s track record, it’s pretty safe to say that for most patrons of this dinner, whatever meal they ordered was their last. Of course, in a Deadpool vs. Carnage miniseries, the body count was always bound to be staggering. The mayhem begins with Carnage brutally killing a big-talking cop. He then proceeds to dismember and disembowel a trio of tough guys. Then, as the bystanders attempt to flee, he seals the door, posing the sinister question: “who’s next?”
#1: Turned NYC Into Hotbed of Rage
Carnage has killed so many people, it becomes a somewhat pointless task to rank his misdeeds based on the body count. He’s killed men, women, and children with abandon, but he’s rarely ever achieved the sort of insidious reach he did in 1993’s Maximum Carnage. After fellow Ravencroft inmate Shriek falls in love with him, Carnage uses her unique psychic abilities to magnify the anger of civilians all across New York City, fostering the sort of mindless rage in them that results in citizens randomly attacking one another and riot. It may not have been as direct as some of our other entries, but rarely has Carnage been responsible for so much violence and chaos.