This is a list of toxins, poisons and chemical weapons from works of fiction (usually in fantasy and science fiction). The toxins are divided into three alphabetical groups: Fictional Poisons, Fictional Chemical Weapons and Fictional Mutagens.
Additional recommended knowledge
Fictional poisons
This is the list for fictional poisons. Fictional poisons are the toxins that are used to hurt or kill on an individual scale.
| Name
| Source
| Uses & effects
|
| Akpaloli
| Clark Ashton Smith's The Plutonian Drug [1]
| A poison derived from a yellow weed that grows in Martian oases, it is odorless, tasteless, and colorless. It is almost immediately lethal, producing symptoms resembling those of heart disease. In small doses it can be used as a stimulant.
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| Apotoxin 4869 (APTX4869)
| Detective Conan
| Developed by biochemist Miyano Shiho, Apotoxin 4869 (APTX4869) was intended to be used by a secretive criminal syndicate to commit murders, but not leave any trace of the toxin behind in the corpse. Unbeknownst to her and the organization, APTX4869 does not kill 100% of the time, but occasionally causes the human body's cellular structure to physically regress to a younger state, thereby making a victim significantly younger. Aspiring high school student detective Kudo Shinichi was the first victim of this toxin. However, Shiho was the second victim of the toxin when she attempted to escape the organization. The word "Apotoxin" may be derived from a process known as apoptosis.
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| ATP Decoupler
| Creatures 3
| A toxin that converts ATP, the universal source of energy for all living things, into its depleted form, ADP. The cure is an injection called Medicine One, but since the toxin kills within second it is nearly impossible to get the cure in time.
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| Beijing Cocktail
| Crank
| A Chinese synthetic chemical that slows vital organ function until eventually those organs stop. Approximate time to live after injection is one hour. It is unknown if there is an antidote to Beijing Cocktail. Symptoms include severe grogginess, blurred vision, and chest pain. To prolong life, the victim must do things that will increase his adrenaline, eat candy and go pills such as caffeine pills, energy pills, speed, fat burner pills, metabolism increasing pills, etc., and drink caffeinated and energy drinks. Also, synthetic epinephrine acts as a competing inhibitor to hold off the poison and can be put into an insulin pump.
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| Basilisk Venom
| J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
| The venom of a Basilisk, the creature in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. The only stated cure for Basilisk venom in Harry Potter's world is the tears of a phoenix.
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| Bloat
| Terry Pratchett's Pyramids
| A poison extracted from a blowfish, which when ingested by a human, causes every cell to expand by 2000 times - a process both fatal and loud. Used by the Assassins' Guild.
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| Darestim
| David Eddings's The Elenium
| A rare and extremely virulent poison found in the deserts of Rendor. As symptoms seem very similar to those of the falling-sickness, deaths by Darestim are frequently ascribed to this illness. It is so virulent that there is no natural cure for it, and only certain magical objects, such as the Bhelliom, can cure it. The only people known to have been cured of Darestim are the King of Rendor and his family, and Queen Ehlana of Elenia.
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| Dark Water
| Metroid Prime 2
| The Dark Aether equivalent of normal water. Its corrosive capability is unsurpassed, and only certain Ing and the Light Suit can stand it.
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| Daturon
| Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Poison Belt
| This toxic agent is an unhealthy variant of the all-encompassing "ether" of space. It poisons all life into a deathlike stupor when the Earth passes through a belt of it. Daturon possesses some traits of a gas that's heavier than air: it concentrates first in lower regions like valleys or plains and inhalation of oxygen-superenriched air works as antidote. Daturon also has some traits of radiation: it can pass through hermetically sealed rooms and containers.
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| Elemental Poison
| BIONICLE
| The venom produced By various species of Bionicle . Most notably Makuta and Lehrahk
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| Fear gas
| Batman
| Scarecrow's weapon, a nerve agent that drives its victims mad with fear.
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| Fex-M3
| Star Wars
| Deadly nerve toxin used that kills its victim in under 10 seconds. Fex-M3 is often delivered through dart-weapons for silent elimination.
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| Hum
| Hunter: The Reckoning
| A deadly poison spread via a water supply.
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| Iocane
| The Princess Bride by William Goldman
| A deadly Australian poison, odorless, tasteless and highly soluble, used by the hero Westley in his 'battle of wits to the death' with Vizzini. Is available in a powder form, which Westley used. It is possible to build up an immunity to the toxin.
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| Krayt Dragon Poison
| Star Wars
| A deadly toxin from the Krayt Dragon. Said to be in possession of Bib Fortuna.
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| Malkite themfar
| Star Wars
| The signature poison used by the Malkite Poisoners, a group of assassins in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
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| Meta-cyanide
| Dune
| Fatal toxin contained within and delivered by the gom jabbar, a small needle. It is "The high-handed enemy; that specific poison needle tipped with meta-cyanide used by Bene Gesserit Proctors in the death-alternative test of human awareness."
|
| Nightbane
| 8-Bit Theatre
| A hallucinogen poison that causes its victim to experience increasingly horrible nightmares every time they sleep until an antidote is administered.
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| Red Water
| Fullmetal Alchemist
| A highly toxic, naturally-occurring cocktail of alchemic catalysts that is often found in underground springs. Its immediate effects, coughing and constant fatigue, are not extremely dangerous, but prolonged exposure can lead to death. Also, children of people poisoned by it often die soon after birth. Through chemical processing, it can be refined into a Red Stone, an alchemic amplifier.
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| Sandbat venom
| Star Wars
| The natural venom of a Tatooinan Sandbat. The Tusken Raiders milk the venom, coating their Gaderffi, making it more lethal.
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| Sennari
| Star Wars
| Fast-acting toxin delivered by a Kamino Saberdart and used by Jango Fett to eliminate Zam Wesell in Episode II.
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| Smilex
| Batman (1989)
| Poison created by The Joker, kills within minutes, leaves victims with a rictus grin on their faces.
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| Thalot
| David Eddings's The Malloreon
| A very virulent poison from Nyissa. Almost always fatal.
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| V-Poison
| Resident Evil Outbreak
| An acidic variant of wasp venom carried by wasps infected with the T-Virus. Ironically, it is one of the components necessary to create the anti-T-virus serum called Daylight.
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Fictional chemical weapons
This is the list of fictional chemical weapons. Fictional chemical weapons are toxins that are used on large scale, by either military, paramilitary or terrorist organizations.
| Name
| Source
| Uses & effects
|
| Black smoke
| The War of the Worlds
| Toxic gas used by Martian invaders. Spectrographic analysis shows an unusual triplet of blue lines. It is dispersed from hoses and coilgun shells carried by tripods. It is heavier than air and forms a black, crusty precipitate when exposed to water.
|
| Brainwash Gas
| Dune 2
| Brainwash Gas is a nerve gas that temporarily converts units to become loyal to House Ordos. This gas is delivered by missiles from the Deviator, a special unit in the game.
|
| Chaos spray
| Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge
| A gas spread by Yuri's Chaos Drones, that temporarily causes enemy units to attack their buildings and each other.
|
| Cynochrin
| Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception
| This Gas is released in the game Ace combat X skies of deception by Leasathian (ficional country in the Ace Combat Universe) stragglers otherwise known as the "Hamlet unit", the player's objective is to neutralise the agent.
|
| Fetaine
| Vorkosigan Saga
| Powerful mutanagenic military chemical weapon that had never been used on or by Barrayar because it is regarded as a terror weapon on the planet that is very heavily prejudiced against mutants.
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| G3
| Universal Century Gundam
| A nerve gas original developed by Colonel Asakura of Zeon's special weapons division, the gas was later used by the Titans in the 30 Bunch Incident. As seen in 08th MS Team, it has a greenish color in concentrated form.
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| Oxygen Destroyer
| Godzilla (1954)
| A chemical that is able to cause any living thing to die of asphyxiation, after which the remains of the organism is liquified.
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| Silent Night
| XXX
| A toxic gas, a nerve agent which can kill millions of people. The gas only breaks down in deep water.
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| Rabbit's Foot
| Mission: Impossible III
| A chemical weapon, the protagonist never finds out about it.
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| Soltoxin
| Vorkosigan Saga
| A toxic military poison that melts your lungs in about an hour. This poison caused the deformation of the series's main character in vivo.
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| Symbiote Poison
| Stargate SG-1
| Symbiote poison is a compound first created by Tok'ra scientists. The poison is released as a gas, and is capable of spreading over large areas. The poison is only fatal to symbiotes, and leaves humans unharmed. However, dying symbiotes release their own toxins into the host bloodstream, which makes the poison useless in saving hosts from their Goa'uld captors. The poison is also deadly to Jaffa still reliant on symbiotes for survival.
|
| Syntox VX1 Nerve Gas
| 24
| Syntox nerve gas is a very deadly toxin that does not dilute in oxygen. It was stolen in the series by a terrorist organization under the leadership of Vladimir Bierko.
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| Theragen
| Star Trek
| A Klingon nerve gas. A derivative of theragen, in an ethanol solution, was developed by Dr. McCoy, to counteract the insanity-producing effects of a spatial interphase near the Tholian border.
|
| Tiberium gas
| Command & Conquer series
| Tiberium gas is sprayed from Visceroids, Veinholes, Brotherhood of Nod Chemical Troopers, Chemical Missiles, and Initiates, and Scrin Corruptors. It is extremely corrosive and mutagenic.
|
| Vexxon Gas
| Lightning - Dean Koontz
| A fast acting, lethal nerve gas that rapidly dissapates in sunlight and eventually dissapates into harmless substances when exposed to air. A pill can be taken to render somebody immune to its effects for a certain time.
|
| Virus Toxin
| Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge
| A gaseous toxin that causes cells over the entire body to immediately form more of the substance, resulting in bursting of the cells. Eventually the entire body explodes, releasing a deadly cloud of gas that may infect others nearby.
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| VX-2 Gas
| The Rock
| A green liquid which causes the skin of its victims to bubble and melt. It is stored in small glass spheres for some reason. Injection of the antidote into a victim's heart immediately after exposure brings total immunity. There is however, a nerve agent in real life named VX2 (Binary VX), which when mixed, produces the deadly VX nerve agent. It is notable that death by the VX nerve gas can also be prevented by immediate injection of an antidote. See the article on VX gas.
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Fictional mutagens
While real-world mutagens produce genetic alterations, or mutations, fictional substances often produce sudden, visible changes in the morphology of organisms. The list below therefore includes fictional substances that produce such effects, as well as more plausible mutagens.
| Name
| Source
| Uses & effects
|
| Adam
| Bioshock
| Adam is harvested by Little Sisters and processed into a useful form (Eve, fittingly). It is used to fuel Plasmids. Overuse causes brain damage and insanity.
|
| 2,4,5 Trioxin
| Return of the Living Dead series
| Gas that brings the dead back to life as zombies. Originally created by the military as a herbicide to use on cannabis plants.
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| Cardamine
| Freelancer
| A natural product of the ecosystem on the planet Malta, it is found in trace amounts in nearly everything on the planet, including the atmosphere and water. A very addictive mutagenic narcotic, its withdrawal symptoms are extremely violent and invariably fatal. Exposure over generations is known to cause unnatural longevity as well as greatly decreased fertility and a genetically-incoded dependence on the drug.
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| Chemical X
| The Powerpuff Girls
| A mysterious chemical created by Professor Utonium. When he accidentally mixed it with sugar, spice, and everything nice, it created The Powerpuff Girls. Its effect on humans is variable: it can either grant super powers or cause monstrous mutations.
- Chemical X (or a very similar variant) can also be found in prison toilets and when mixed with snips, snails & 1 talking dog tail, created The Rowdyruff Boys.
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| Colour out of space
| H. P. Lovecraft's horror tale "The Colour Out of Space"
| Toxic and mutagenic element, of indescribable colour and unknown spectrum, from a meteorite that lands in a field.
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| Compound X07
| Marvel Comics
| Experimental compound developed by A.I.M.. Granted Madcap his fantastic regeneration and recovery.
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| Ephemerol
| Scanners
| Tranquilizer, used as a morning sickness remedy; a mutagen, it induces telekinetic and telepathic abilities. Ephemerol also suppresses those abilities in adults so affected.
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| GC-161
| The Secret World of Alex Mack
| A mutagenic chemical responsible for giving Alex Mack her unique powers. A recurring plot device.
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| Ice-nine
| Cat's Cradle
| A polymorph of ice which freezes at temperatures normal for earth, which are difficult to thaw. A potential weapon.
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| Immortality procedure
| Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
| A procedure discovered in a supercollider accident, but attempts to recreate the effect either killed the subject, or made them "look very silly".
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| Katalyst
| SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
| In this series, there are Katalysts according to number. In the series, there is Katalyst 99, Katalyst 100, and even Katalyst X-63. All these used by Dr. Viper to make the city either Megaswamp City or Mutation City.
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| Kryptonite
| Superman
| A radioactive crystalline compound created by the explosion of the planet Krypton's core. Most commonly found in its green form, it is deadly to all things native to the planet Krypton. It also causes mutation in humans, plants and animals when exposed to it. Often it acts through a catalyst, granting beings with various powers, usually with some negative side effect. Some varieties including red kryptonite, gold kryptonite and blue kryptonite have varying effects some have no effect on kryptonians at all.
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| Liquid Tiberium
| Command & Conquer 3
| Liquid tiberium is a derivative of crystal tiberium. Instead of random mutations leading to a Visceroid, it aguments muscle mass, and subsiquently speed, permanently. Using too much liqud tiberium, beyond initial infusion, eventually leads to insanity. Users exhale green mist, and can walk through a tiberium crystal feild undamaged, although the player still gets an exposure warning.
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| Lot Six
| Firestarter
| Lot Six, an experimental drug that supposedly had been proven to alter the subject's chromosomes and pituitary gland, was administered to a group of college students who volunteered to take it through injections. Only certain people got the drug, and some people just got tap water. Only 2 people came out fine after being injected with the drug, Andrew McGee and Vicky Tomlinson, who later married each other.
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| L.U.P. chemical
| Dance of Death
| L.U.P. stands for "Lifeless Undeath Phenomenon." Cadavers exposed to this chemical will stand up, twitching and gyrating spasmodically. The substance and the phenomenon were first discovered during "germ gas" attacks in a future world war. From Dance of Death, a short story and an episode of Masters of Horror.
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| Magestone
| Mage Knight
| A crystalline substance coveted by the Atlantean Empire for technomagical experiments. Causes mutations with prolonged exposure; mutants are known as Mage Spawn.
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| Melange
| Dune series
| The spice Melange causes the whites and irises of the eyes to turn blue after prolonged exposure, as with natives of the planet Arrakis, where the spice is everywhere. Melange's beneficial effects include prolonging of life and granting various abilities to humans such as the Bene Gesserit. Extreme doses can cause heavy mutation, as evidenced by the Spacing Guild's navigators, who use Melange to gain the limited precognitive ability required to navigate a ship safely through folded space between planets. Eventually, the high-level navigators mutate to the point they must live the rest of their lives in tanks filled with spice gas, their minds and bodies wholly dependent on the drug. Humans addicted to lesser levels of the spice suffer severe withdrawal symptoms if denied access to it.
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| Mutagenic Compound (The Ooze)
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
| A highly toxic and radioactive green sludge that mutates organisms into humanoid/animal crossbreeds.
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| Phazon
| Metroid Prime 1, 2 and 3
| A highly toxic and radioactive glowing blue living substance. Extremely mutagenic, it is used by the Space Pirates to alter their own stock and that of other creatures, such as Metroids, and in attempts to xenoform both their own homeworld and strategically important Federation worlds. The Chozo recognize it as the "Great Poison," as it ultimately leads to madness and death in most life which comes in contact with it for extended periods. It also comes in a red version that is much more mutagenic and dangerous, and even organisms resistant to normal blue phazon can be affected by the red variety.
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| G-23 paxilon hydrochlorate ("Pax")
| Serenity (2005)
| Tranquilizer introduced into the atmosphere of the terraformed planet Miranda that produced oversedation and loss of the will to live in most of the population. It had a paradoxical effect on 0.1 percent of those exposed, creating a murderous group (Reavers) that wiped out the remaining population and continued to terrorize the local star system.
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| Polymorphine
| Warhammer 40,000
| A shape-altering drug used by the Callidus Temple Assassins (Witch Hunters army) to infiltrate enemy organisations by mimicking key figures and taking their place. Polymorphine weakens the molecular binds and combined with high levels of training in physical control and cybernetic implants, Callidus Assassins can use the drug to mimic any humanoid race ranging from Orks, Eldar to the minions of Chaos
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| Promicin Inhibitor
| The 4400
| A compound which blocks the neurotransmitter Promicin, from which members of the 4400 gain their powers. The compound tends to build up in the body after long-term inoculation, causing pox-like rashes and eventual death.
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| Re-animation serum
| Re-Animator
| A serum developed by Miskatonic University student Herbert West which reanimates cadavers.
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| Substance X
| Operation Neptune
| A mysterious and highly reactive substance found beneath the surface of Asteroid Argos. It has the ability to mutate harmless sea creatures, such as Pufferfish, into monsters.
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| Super soldier formula
| Spider-Man
| A green mist that causes the user to permanently develop stronger muscles, better co-ordination, and reflexes, but at the price of their sanity. If in any way the user is angered, a more aggressive and murderous personality takes over long enough to kill the source of frustration. An upgraded version allows the user to keep their sanity.
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| Terrazine
| StarCraft: Ghost
| Terrazine is a mysterious gaseous substance, which is responsible for the evolution of the Terran Spectre troop, an offhoot of the Ghost spy. It may also be responsible for the development of some of the mutations and evolution of the Zerg troops in the game. It is poisonous to non-psychics. Not much is known, as Ghost has been "put on hiatus," Ie, cancelled.
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| Terrigen Mists
| Marvel Comics
| Mutagenic catalyst discovered by the Inhuman geneticist Randac sometime between 21,00 and 15,000 years ago. It can grant most any Inhuman of human being superpowers, but leaves approximately 75% of Inhuman subjects with radical physical deformities as well; it also occasionally induces amnesia in both Inhuman and human subjects.
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| Tiberium
| Command & Conquer
| A highly valuable crystal in the Command & Conquer series used as a resource. Tiberium extracts all mineral deposits out of the ground and can be harvested, for easy extraction. Extremely toxic and mutagenic to terrestrial life-forms, Tiberium is an extraterrestrial terraforming agent by an alien race known as the Scrin.
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| T-Virus
| Resident Evil series
| A made-man virus, in a green liquid form, developed by Dr.James Marcus. This virus is able to revive dead people, because your effect in dead bodies is the all dead cellules regeneration. But only one part of the nervous system is reactived: the feeding part. Then, the reanimated body become a violent and cannibal creature.
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| U4
| SiN
| Dangerously addictive narcotic developed by biochemist Elexis Sinclaire. A deliberate effect of the drug is genetic alteration, causing horrible mutations in the user. The drug was developed and distributed for the purpose of building a bio-engineered army for world conquest.
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| Vespene gas
| StarCraft
| Vespene is a fluorescent green gas that issues from geysers. All three races (Zerg, Terran, and Protoss) harvest the gas. In its processed form, it is an effective fuel. In its raw form, it is used by the Zerg as food and an evolutionary catalyst, mutating the swarm into bigger, stronger forms. The best example is the Torrasque, bred from normal Ultralisks, then repeatedly exposed to vespene gas.
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| Viper Mutagen 368
| SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
| A mutagen created by Dr. N. Zyme and Dr. Elrod Purvis in Megakat Biochemical labs. This mutagen was able to rebuild any limbs of plants. However, this chemical also mutates people into half-cat, half-snake creatures when the chemical spills on them. The only victim was affected by the mutagen was Dr. Purvis himself who mutates into Dr. Viper.
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| Warpstone or Wyrdstone
| Warhammer Fantasy, also Warhammer 40,000 1st and 2nd editions
| A greenish-black crystal apparently of solidified magic that holds tremendous transmutatory powers. Among other things, it can be used as fuel, or even to turn base metal into gold.
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To be added
(Please keep this section in alphabetical order.)
- The "deadly nerve gas" used in Saw 2
- Red Dust from V
- Red Mercury from the game Shadow Ops: Red Mercury
- Substance D from the Philip K. Dick story A Scanner Darkly
- Syphon Filter from the Syphon Filter game series
- Venom, used by the villain Bane, a nemesis of Batman
- Visorak venom and Lehrahk poison from Bionicle
See also
- Toxin
- Fictional elements, isotopes and atomic particles
- List of fictional medicines and drugs
- List of discredited substances
- List of fictional diseases
- Poison
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