Shriek

• Core Identity: A mentally unstable and sadistically powerful supervillain, Shriek is a mutant with the ability to manipulate sound and emotions, best known as the psychotic lover and partner-in-crime of the serial killer Carnage (Cletus Kasady).
• Key Takeaways:
• Role in the Universe: Shriek serves as the matriarchal figure in Carnage's twisted “family,” acting as a force multiplier for his chaos. Her unique power to incite negative emotions in large crowds makes her a city-level threat, and her deep psychological connection to Cletus Kasady grounds his abstract love for destruction in a disturbing, personal relationship.
• Primary Impact: Her introduction during the seminal 1993 storyline Maximum Carnage was her most significant impact, immediately establishing her as a major antagonist in the Spider-Man mythos. This event defined her character for decades, cementing her as the definitive partner to Carnage and a memorable villain from the 90s era of comics.
• Key Incarnations: In the Earth-616 comics, Shriek is a product of abuse, drugs, and a violent encounter with the hero Cloak, resulting in a gleefully murderous personality. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as seen in `Venom: Let There Be Carnage`), her story is re-framed as a tragic romance, portraying her as a damaged victim whose powers isolated her from everyone except her one true love, Cletus Kasady.

Shriek made her explosive debut in `Spider-Man Unlimited` #1, published in May 1993. This issue served as the opening salvo for Maximum Carnage, one of the most ambitious and expansive crossover events in Spider-Man's history. She was co-created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Lim, who were tasked with building out a formidable gang for Carnage to lead. The creative impetus behind Shriek was to provide Carnage with a counterpart who could match his insanity and amplify his threat. In the early 90s, the popularity of anti-heroes and darker characters like Venom and Carnage was at an all-time high. The creative team needed a character who was more than just a henchman; they needed a “Joker to his Harley Quinn,” albeit years before that specific dynamic was popularized in its modern form. Shriek was conceived as the “mother” of Carnage's new family, a character whose powers were not just physical but psychological, capable of turning an entire city against itself. Her visual design, with stark white skin, black-ringed eyes, and a scarred face, was created to be immediately unsettling and a visual complement to Carnage's chaotic, fluid form. She was, from her very inception, designed to be Carnage's other half.

The specific details of how Frances Barrison became the sonic-powered supervillain Shriek differ significantly between the primary comic book universe and her live-action cinematic appearance.

The life of Frances Louise Barrison was steeped in trauma long before she gained superhuman abilities. As a child, she was severely overweight, a fact for which her mother relentlessly and cruelly abused her. This constant torment instilled in Frances a deep-seated psychological damage, which manifested in a life of crime and drug abuse as she grew older. She became a drug dealer, a path that ultimately led to her violent transformation. Her origin is directly tied to the vigilante duo Cloak and Dagger. During a police pursuit, Frances found herself cornered. In the ensuing chaos, she was shot in the head by a police officer. Before she could succumb to the wound, she was inadvertently exposed to the energies of Cloak's Darkforce Dimension as he arrived on the scene. The unique combination of severe head trauma and the interdimensional energy acted as a catalyst, unlocking her latent mutant genes. This violent awakening granted her incredible powers but also shattered what little remained of her sanity. After this incident, Barrison was institutionalized at the notorious Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane, a facility that houses many of Marvel's most dangerous minds. It was here that she would meet her destiny. When the alien-powered serial killer Cletus Kasady staged a breakout, he felt an immediate kinship with the deranged Frances. He freed her, and she, in turn, was instantly drawn to his philosophy of ultimate chaos. Adopting the moniker “Shriek,” she embraced her powers and her new identity. Together, they embarked on a mission to build a twisted family, “adopting” other villains like Carrion, Demogoblin, and the monstrous Spider-Man clone, Doppelganger. This dysfunctional and murderous family became the central threat of the Maximum Carnage storyline, with Shriek serving as its dark, maternal heart, using her powers to spread fear and anarchy across New York City.

In the film `Venom: Let There Be Carnage`, Shriek's origin is reimagined to be more self-contained and centered entirely on her relationship with Cletus Kasady. Portrayed by actress Naomie Harris, this version of Frances Barrison is also a mutant, but her backstory is stripped of drug dealing and her connection to Cloak. Her story begins at the St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children, where she was an outcast due to her uncontrollable and dangerous sonic scream. It was at this oppressive orphanage that she met and fell in love with a young Cletus Kasady, the only person who was not afraid of her. They formed an intense, protective bond, finding solace in one another's brokenness. Their tragic separation defined the rest of their lives. As authorities attempted to transfer Frances to a more secure facility—the Ravencroft Institute—she panicked and unleashed her sonic powers. In the ensuing struggle, a young police officer named Patrick Mulligan shot her in the eye, scarring her permanently, though not before her scream damaged one of his ears. This event separated the young lovers for decades. Frances was imprisoned at Ravencroft in a specially designed, soundproofed cell made of reinforced glass, completely isolating her from the outside world. Her sole motivation became her burning desire to reunite with Cletus. When an adult Cletus Kasady finally acquires the Carnage symbiote and breaks her out of Ravencroft, their reunion is the fulfillment of a lifelong promise. Unlike her comic counterpart's love for random chaos, the MCU Shriek's violence is more focused; it is directed at those who wronged her and Cletus, particularly Officer Mulligan. Her powers are also streamlined, focusing exclusively on her destructive sonic abilities, which notably serve as a major weakness for all symbiotes, including her beloved Cletus's Carnage. This creates a core conflict in their relationship that is unique to the film's adaptation.

While both primary versions of Shriek are sonic-powered criminals, their specific abilities and psychological profiles present a study in contrast, reflecting the different needs of their respective mediums.

Shriek is an exceptionally powerful mutant whose abilities make her a threat on both a physical and a devastating psychological level.

• Powers and Abilities:
  • Sonokinesis (Sound Manipulation): This is her most overt power. Shriek can generate powerful sonic screams capable of producing a range of effects.
    • Concussive Blasts: Her primary offensive use is to project focused, high-decibel sound waves that can shatter steel, pulverize concrete, and throw armored heroes like Spider-Man across a city block.
    • Disorientation: She can modulate the frequency of her screams to induce intense pain, vertigo, nausea, and unconsciousness in her victims without causing physical destruction.
    • Sonic Shields: By vibrating sound waves around her, she can create protective barriers capable of deflecting physical attacks and energy projectiles.
  • Empathic Projection (The “Dark Light”): This is arguably Shriek's most dangerous and insidious ability. She can tap into the psyches of those around her and draw out their darkest emotions.
    • Fear and Hate Amplification: She can turn a peaceful crowd into a violent, murderous mob by amplifying their latent fear, anger, rage, and despair. This power was the cornerstone of her strategy during Maximum Carnage, plunging all of New York into chaos. This is often visually depicted as an aura of dark, corrupting energy.
    • Psychic Insanity: Prolonged exposure to her empathic field can drive even mentally stable individuals to temporary or, in some cases, permanent insanity.
  • Levitation: Shriek possesses the ability to fly. While the exact mechanics are not always explicitly defined, it is generally understood to be a form of psionic self-propulsion or a side-effect of her sonokinetic control, allowing her to ride sound waves.
• Weaknesses:
  • Mental Instability: Her greatest strength is also her greatest weakness. Her powers are intrinsically linked to her fractured mental state. Moments of extreme emotional distress or psychological attack can cause her control to slip, sometimes leaving her vulnerable or causing her powers to lash out uncontrollably.
  • Symbiotic Overload: During the Absolute Carnage event, it was shown that the overwhelming psychic noise generated by the symbiote hive-mind, connected through their god Knull, could overwhelm her empathic senses, causing her immense pain and rendering her vulnerable.
• Personality:
  • Shriek's personality is a cocktail of psychosis, sadism, and a deeply twisted maternal instinct. She delights in cruelty and finds immense joy in causing pain and chaos, seeing it as a form of art. However, this is underpinned by a desperate, childlike need for a family—a direct result of her abusive childhood. This leads her to “adopt” figures like Doppelganger and view Carnage as her husband. She is fiercely loyal to Cletus, but their relationship is a maelstrom of codependency and shared madness, often enabling each other's worst impulses.

The cinematic version of Shriek is more grounded, with a streamlined power set and a more sympathetic, tragedy-driven personality.

• Powers and Abilities:
  • High-Frequency Sonic Scream: In `Venom: Let There Be Carnage`, Shriek's powers are focused exclusively on sound manipulation. There is no evidence of her comic book counterpart's empathic or levitation abilities.
    • Destructive Force: Her screams are incredibly powerful, capable of shattering the specialized, bulletproof glass of her Ravencroft cell and sending people and vehicles flying.
    • Symbiote Weakness: Critically, her sonic powers operate on a frequency that is excruciatingly painful and physically harmful to alien symbiotes. This makes her a walking, talking “super-weakness” to both Venom and Carnage. A sustained blast can force a symbiote to retreat from its host.
• Weaknesses:
  • Symbiote Hostility: Her greatest weapon is also a source of great conflict. The Carnage symbiote cannot tolerate her sonic scream, creating a fundamental incompatibility with her lover, Cletus Kasady, when he is bonded.
  • Containment: For decades, her powers were completely neutralized by a soundproofed enclosure at Ravencroft, demonstrating that her abilities can be contained by specific environmental engineering.
  • Physical Vulnerability: Lacking the psionic defenses or flight of her comic version, the MCU Shriek is a normal human when not actively using her powers, making her susceptible to conventional injury.
• Personality:
  • The MCU Shriek is defined by love and loss rather than a nihilistic love for chaos. Her actions are almost entirely motivated by her deep, abiding love for Cletus Kasady and a desire for revenge against the system that tore them apart. While she is certainly violent and dangerous, her rage is focused and directed. She is portrayed not as a gleeful monster, but as a tragic figure whose powers have brought her nothing but pain and isolation, with Cletus being the only person to ever show her acceptance and love. This transforms her from a simple villain into a sympathetic antagonist.

Shriek's existence is defined by her intense, often destructive relationships with a small circle of allies and a wide array of enemies.

• Carnage (Cletus Kasady): This is the central relationship of Shriek's life. They are Marvel's ultimate Bonnie and Clyde—a pair of psychotic killers bound by a shared love for murder and anarchy. Their first meeting at Ravencroft was love at first sight. Shriek sees Cletus as her “husband” and the only person who truly understands her. She is fiercely protective and devoted to him, acting as his co-conspirator, lover, and the emotional core of his chaotic crusades. While their relationship is genuinely affectionate in its own twisted way, it is also volatile and destructive, with both enabling the other's darkest impulses.
• Doppelganger: A monstrous, six-armed, and near-mindless clone of Spider-Man created during the Infinity War event. During Maximum Carnage, Shriek found the creature and, in a display of her warped maternal instincts, adopted him as her “son.” She doted on him, praised his violence, and protected him fiercely. This bizarre relationship reveals a key aspect of her psyche: her desperate need to create the family she never had, even if its members are monsters.
• Carrion (Malcolm McBride): A brilliant but unstable university student who was infected with the Carrion virus, turning him into a decaying, super-powered villain. He was recruited by Shriek and Carnage to be another one of their “children” for the Maximum Carnage spree. Shriek's dark empathic influence preyed on McBride's existing mental fragility, pushing him further into madness and making him a more willing and effective killer.

• Spider-Man (Peter Parker): As the primary hero of New York, Spider-Man is Shriek's most frequent and persistent adversary. He represents the order and responsibility that she and Carnage seek to destroy. Their battles are often as psychological as they are physical, with Shriek's empathic powers forcing Spider-Man to confront the anger and despair of the very citizens he's trying to save.
• Venom (Eddie Brock): The dynamic with Venom is complex. As Carnage's symbiotic “father,” Venom feels a sense of responsibility for stopping him. This often forces him into reluctant alliances with Spider-Man. Shriek views Venom with a mixture of contempt and twisted familial rivalry. She sees him as a flawed patriarch who stands in the way of her and Carnage's bloody fun, leading to numerous brutal confrontations.
• Cloak (Tyrone Johnson): Shriek holds a deep and personal grudge against Cloak. She blames him for her transformation, believing his Darkforce energies were the primary cause of the accident that unlocked her powers and shattered her mind. This has led her to specifically target him and his partner, Dagger, on several occasions, seeking revenge for the life she believes he stole from her.

• The Carnage “Family”: Shriek's primary and most defining affiliation is the group she co-founded with Carnage. This loose collective, which has included Doppelganger, Carrion, and Demogoblin, is bound not by strategy or goals, but by a shared desire for mindless destruction. Shriek is the undisputed matriarch of this group.
• Cult of Knull: During the Absolute Carnage event, Shriek was resurrected by the followers of the symbiote god, Knull. She served as a high priestess in this new cult, helping a cosmically-empowered Carnage in his quest to harvest the genetic codices from past symbiote hosts. This affiliation elevated her threat level, tying her directly to one of the Marvel Universe's most powerful dark gods.
• Sinister Sixteen: For a brief period, Shriek was a member of the Sinister Sixteen, a massive assemblage of villains organized by Boomerang and the Owl to counter Spider-Man. Her role was minor, and this affiliation lacked the personal significance of her partnership with Carnage, highlighting that she is most effective and motivated when operating within her own sphere of chaos.

Shriek's history is punctuated by several key storylines that have defined her character and cemented her place in the Marvel Universe.

This 14-part crossover event is Shriek's grand debut and the story for which she is most famous. The premise is simple and terrifying: Carnage escapes Ravencroft, frees Shriek, and together they assemble a “family” of like-minded killers to go on an unprecedented murder spree across New York City. Shriek's role is absolutely critical; while Carnage is the physical engine of destruction, Shriek is the psychological weapon. She uses her dark empathy to turn the city's populace against its heroes, inciting mass riots and spreading a plague of hopelessness and rage. The story forces Spider-Man into an uneasy alliance with Venom, Captain America, Black Cat, and others to stop the tide of violence. Maximum Carnage perfectly established Shriek's powers, her personality, and her inseparable bond with Cletus Kasady, making her an instant A-list villain in Spider-Man's rogues' gallery.

After being killed years earlier by Deadpool, Shriek was resurrected in the prelude to this massive symbiote-centric event. Cletus Kasady, now an apostle for the dark god Knull, brought her back to be his queen and high priestess in a new, far more dangerous mission. Empowered by Knull, Carnage sought to hunt down every single person on Earth who had ever bonded with a symbiote, living or dead, to rip out a genetic remnant called a codex. Shriek was his most devoted and powerful follower, her powers amplified by her connection to Knull's hive-mind. The storyline re-established her as a major threat after years of absence and integrated her into the modern, cosmic-level lore of the symbiotes. Her second death at the end of this event felt significant, a tragic final chapter in her bloody romance with Cletus.

This miniseries provided a darkly comedic and violent interlude for the character. Shriek, having been committed to Ravencroft, is broken out by Carnage. The duo goes on another killing spree, which they believe is guided by random signs in the universe. This attracts the attention of Deadpool, who believes his own unique brand of chaos is the only thing that can track and counter theirs. The story showcases the unhinged dynamic between Shriek and Carnage in a more focused setting. It memorably ends with Deadpool incapacitating Carnage and killing Shriek, an act that stuck until her resurrection years later for Absolute Carnage.

While the Earth-616 and MCU incarnations are the most well-known, several other versions of Shriek have appeared across Marvel's vast multiverse and in various adaptations.

• Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610): While Shriek herself does not have a prominent counterpart, her role as a female accomplice to a major villain is mirrored in this universe by others, reflecting the grittier, more grounded tone of the Ultimate line. The chaotic nature of characters like the Ultimate Green Goblin often left little room for partners.
• Video Game Adaptations: Shriek's most notable non-comic appearance prior to her film debut was in the 1994 video game `Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage` for the Super NES and Sega Genesis. As a direct adaptation of the comic storyline, she appears as a recurring boss, using her sonic screams and energy blasts to attack the player. This introduced the character to a generation of fans outside of comic book readership.
• Spider-Verse (Earth-TRN588): In the animated series `Ultimate Spider-Man`, a version of Shriek appears as part of a multiversal Sinister Six assembled by the villain Wolf Spider. This version's design was sleeker and more futuristic, but she retained her signature sonic abilities.

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