Toxin (comic)

Universe
Marvel Universe

Real Name
Patrick "Paddy" Mulligan

Aliases
Larry

Identity
Secret

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
New York City

First Appearance
(as Patrick Mulligan) Venom vs. Carnage #1 (2004); (as Toxin) Venom vs. Carnage #2 (2004)

Origin
Venom vs. Carnage #2 (2004)


Born into a long line of Irish New York police officers, Patrick Mulligan was living his family's dream. Recently married to a loving woman named Gina, the couple had a baby on the way, and his NYPD career was going perfectly.
However, Patrick didn't expect a chance encounter with the psychotic Carnage, who was enraged at his own impending asexual pregnancy. Carnage implanted Patrick with his "other", and left the new Symbiote to incubate within him. At the same time, Venom argued with Carnage over the Symbiote offspring. Carnage insisted on killing it, but Venom was concerned that as the 1,000th Symbiote of their line, "Toxin" could potentially become psychotic as a result of genetic breakdown. Carnage tracked his offspring to Patrick's apartment, and threw Gina down a stairwell. Spider-Man was able to save Gina, while Black Cat managed to distract Carnage.

Patrick continued his life, haunted by his encounter with Carnage. He soon discovered that he was much faster and stronger than before, and was easily able to subdue Black Cat before she could escape his questioning. However, Carnage interrupted the conversation, attacking Patrick and the Cat. Patrick became Toxin, saving Cat. Though unnerved by his transformation, Patrick decided that his new powers could be used for good. Teaming up with Spider-Man to stop an armed robbery, Patrick found himself filled with murderous urges. He struggled to keep himself together, telling Spider-Man that he was only "joking" about eating the robbers' brains.

Mulligan later used his powers to save Spider-Man and Black Cat from Venom and Carnage, beating them both single-handedly. He realized that he had much in common with Spider-Man and made the web-slinger his role model. Realizing his presence was putting Gina and newborn Edward in serious danger, Pat left them behind, offering Gina little explanation. Patrick now walked the streets of New York alone, as Toxin, hoping to learn as much as he could from Spider-Man.