Venom, or the Venom Symbiote, is the name given to the first symbiote life form to appear in the fictional Marvel Universe. The creature is a sentient alien with a liqui-like form. It requires a host, usually human, to bond around for its survival. In return the Venom creature gives its host enhanced powers. In effect, when the Venom Symbiote bonds with a human to form a super-villain, that new dual-life form itself is also often called Venom. The symbiote, with or without a host, is an archenemy of Spider-Man, who was the first host it merged with before its evil motives were clear. After Spider-Man rejected it, the symbiote went on to merge with other hosts and so began its popular reign as the villain known as Venom.