—Venom (Anne Weying)[source]No one was prepared. No one could stop him. He destroyed the world, Eddie... My son killed the world.
History
Conceived by She-Venom, Dylan Brock was born as a human-symbiote hybrid. Dylan was originally a kind and gentle child, but everything changed for the worst when he abruptly fell under the sway of the dark god Knull. Tearing off a piece of his mother's symbiote, Dylan used his powers to grow it into his own symbiote and adopted the alias Codex.
Taking Our Lady of Saints Church as his base of operations, Codex forced his symbiote to spawn a horde of countless offspring, honing his powers until he became able to control them even without bonding to them; becoming the nexus of their hive-mind in a manner similar to Knull himself.[1] In response, President Eugene Thompson created a unit of symbiote-augmented super-soldiers led by Tyrannosaurus, whose numbers included Dylan's own mother, reformed serial killer Cletus Kasady, reporter and superhero Peter Parker, the psychotic mercenary Wade Wilson, and angsty teenager Andi Benton.
_and_Codex%27s_Symbiote_(Earth-1051)_from_Venom_Vol_4_29_001.jpeg){kind=link}
Codex and his symbiote during the war.
In the war that followed, Codex killed both President Thompson and Tyrannosaurus, along with numerous other heroes and villains - including the Tinkerer and the Green Goblin; converting many of them -- including the Avengers and X-Men -- into his symbiote enforcers.[2]
As Knull's apostle, Codex.
His opposition all-but crushed, Codex's horde swept across the planet and established a totalitarian regime where everyone was bonded to symbiotes connected to his hive-mind. Codex's regime was undermined by the remnants of Tyrannosaurus' Sym-Soldiers, the last remnants of humanity. When Virus - an armored supervillain from Earth-616 - was arrested by the Avengers for possessing anti-symbiote weaponry, he was brought before Codex. Codex ordered Virus to be unmasked, and was bemused at not recognizing his civilian identity - Mac Gargan.[3] Interrogating Gargan, Codex was enraged to learn of Eddie Brock's involvement and bonded Gargan to a symbiote to convert him into one of his soldiers, the Scorpion.[4]
Shocked to discover the existence of his counterpart from Earth-616, Codex ordered Doctor Octopus to construct a replica of the interdimensional portal using schematics contained in the Virus Armor. Viewing data on the Earth-616 Symbiote Hive, Codex surmised that the other world's version of the dark god who commanded him had been freed from his prison. Before Codex could formulate plans, the Resistance attacked and Codex engaged Eddie Brock in combat, mocking his "father"'s unwillingness to fight back and declaring himself a god. However, Venom was able to restrain Codex and touched his hand to Earth-616 Dylan's, causing them both to have a vision of what their lives could have been like had their family remained whole. Earth-616 Dylan severed Knull's hold over Codex, restoring his humanity and killing the symbiotes under his command, but the psychic backlash caused Codex to fall into a coma.[5]
Recovering from his coma and somehow reverted back to his child form, Dylan repaired the Virus Armor and donned it to help his mother in her fight to stop the Carnage from Earth-616, who was killing Venom variants across the Multiverse. In one battle, Carnage damaged the armor, and although Dylan was able to mostly repair it the suit malfunctioned at a crucial moment, enabling Carnage to kill and absorb a variant of Knull. To prevent Anne and her team from escaping, Carnage impaled Virus through the chest, killing Dylan, though Anne was able to teleport the surviving members of her squad back to their home universes.[6]Personality
Attributes
Powers
Human/Symbiote Hybrid Physiology: Conceived by a piece of the Venom symbiote incarnated into human form using Anne Weying, Dylan possesses powers similar to those of his counterpart from Earth-616.[4] Unlike the Dylan Brock of Earth-616, however, Codex is able to bond to symbiotes.[1] Much like the Cletus Kasady of Earth-616, Dylan's connection to Knull gave him godlike powers amplified by his Hive, though it caused him to undergo a monstrous metamorphosis - giving him fangs, claws, white hair, and pale skin resembling Knull's. After Knull's hold over Codex was broken, Dylan returned to his human self.[5]
- Symbiote Domination: Dylan is the ruler of the Hive, and has subjugated at least the United States of America under his dominion; with only a small number of humans remaining free of his influence. Symbiotes connected to Dylan's hive-mind become more powerful, and attain the ability to manifest not only draconic wings but transform their arms into powerful energy cannons.[3][1]
- Superhuman Strength: Codex seemed to possess superhuman strength.[5]
- Superhuman Durability: Codex seemed to possess superhuman durability.[5]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Codex's Armor: Codex is clad in a suit of black-and-red powered armor with a full-face mask, stylized red dragon emblem on its chest, chains attached to his belt, and a cloak.[3]
Notes
- Ryan Stegman has stated that Codex's mask is supposed to cover his entire face,[7] as shown in Jonboy Meyers' variant for Venom #27. Despite this, many artists have drawn it as a half-mask only covering the lower half of his face.
Trivia
- Codex's mask and hair appear to resemble the Top Cow/Image Comics' character, The Darkness.
See Also
- 9 appearance(s) of Dylan Brock (Earth-1051)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Dylan Brock (Earth-1051)
- 1 mention(s) of Dylan Brock (Earth-1051)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Dylan Brock (Earth-1051)
- 42 image(s) of Dylan Brock (Earth-1051)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Dylan Brock (Earth-1051)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Venom (Vol. 4) #29
- ↑ Venom (Vol. 4) #28–29
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Venom (Vol. 4) #27
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Venom (Vol. 4) #28
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Venom (Vol. 4) #30
- ↑ Death of the Venomverse #1–5
- ↑ Stegman, Ryan (July 16, 2020) Ryan "venom boy" $tegman on Twitter: "The only light I can shed on it is that his mask is supposed to go up to his hair line!!!!!!!!". Retrieved on August 21, 2020.