Poisonous Person: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

 

This is one of those "powers" that [[Why Am I Ticking?|are difficult to miss]] when they first manifest, usually resulting in a [[Dead Little Sister]] at the hands of the Poisonous Person. Is it any wonder that they come to embrace [[Bad Powers, Bad People]] and become villains? Of course [[Personality Powers|they probably weren't nice to begin with]]. This kind of villain isn't just difficult to fight, but also ''very'' versatile in applying their power. They'll use the sweat from their brow to salt a field, fill darts with their poisonous tears, turn a bloody wound [[Defensive Feint Trap|into their enemy's demise]] by [[Combat Sadomasochist|cutting themselves]] to poison their blade. If their power is disease based, they make an excellent [[Plaguemaster]]. Or they might end up as a hapless [[Typhoid Mary]].

* Pannacotta Fugo from ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure|Jojo's Bizarre Adventure]]''. His Purple Haze ability spreads a virus that turns anything it infects to a puddle of bubbling goo in 30 seconds. While his teammates make liberal use of their own powers, Fugo uses his once and only once in the series, and for good reason, as he could accidentally kill them if he wasn't careful.

* In ''[[Dokuhime]]'' (literally, Poison Princess): 'It starts with poisonous herbs under the cradle. Then under the sheets. And inside the clothes. Even mixed in the milk that they feed the newborn. This way the child gradually gets used to poisons and becomes the perfect assassination tool - the "Poison Princess" whose every kiss, tear and even touch bring death. Her only chance of survival is to fulfill her duty as an assassin and find a way to live on in the enemy land she is sent to... if her heart is strong enough.'

* Kagero the Kunoichi in ''[[Ninja Scroll]]'', whose blood was suffused with poison, effectively turning her entire body into an assassination-weapon. Even a touch from her could be lethal, and doing anything beyond that is enough to break down even the [[Nigh Invulnerable]]. Tessai, one of the villains, whose body is apparently made entirely from rock, knocks her out and starts frenching with her (obviously intending to rape her when he's got more time), and then gets into a fight with the hero Kibegami Jubei. A few minutes in, the rock-dude basically just starts falling apart, as Kagero's poison catches up with him...

* ''[[Basilisk]]'', based on the same ''Kouga Ninja Scrolls'' as ''[[Ninja Scroll]]'' above also has a Kagerou with the same poisonous body. In this version, she is a tragic figure who is desperately in love with a man she can never have because [[Death by Sex|consummating that love would kill him]] and he's the future clan chief, and she's forced to watch him fall in love with [[Star-Crossed Lovers|another woman from an enemy clan]]. [[Murder the Hypotenuse|She doesn't handle it well]]. [[Murder-Suicide|Not well]] [[Love Makes You Crazy|at all.]]

* Albafica Pisces in ''[[Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas]]''. And his mentor, Pisces Rugonis.

** Also, Specter Basilisk Sylphid.

* Coco from ''[[Toriko]]''.

* Hanzo the Salamander from ''[[Naruto]]''. He implanted the gland of a poisonous salamander in himself, making his touch and even his breath toxic to others while giving himself some resistance to poison. He wears a mask partially to protect others from his breath and partially to protect himself in case, by freak chance, he gets hit in the side where the gland is, because rupturing unleashes a cloud of poison so strong even he'd be paralyzed by it. He can also summon a much larger salamander with its own poison breath.

* The ''[[X-Men]]'s'' recurring foe Mojo can wither plants and age humans with his touch. His presence on Earth also causes natural disasters.

* Subverted in ''[[Watchmen]]'', where {{spoiler|Ozymandius}} sets up Dr. Manhattan to acquire a reputation as a Poisonous (well, Radioactive) Person. He's not, but so many people he'd associated with are revealed to have come down with cancer that the big blue guy gets crucified by the press, and soon leaves Earth, in part to dodge these allegations.

* Hazmat from ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers Academy]]''.

* In a [[What If]] issue which [[Captain Marvel]] was cured of cancer. Unfortunately, everyone around him starts getting sick with cancer and it's contagious. He caused plagues on Earth, the Skrull, and the Kree before he realized what was going on.

* June Covington, aka "Toxie Doxie" of the new ''[[Dark Avengers]]''. She can exhale [[Deadly Gas]] and has a toxin in her blood which is fatal within seconds, all thanks to a bit of genetic self-experimentation.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In Théophile Gautier's 1856 ''Jettatura'', the protagonist is born with the power of "evil eye" that can kill with a glance, without him wishing it or being aware of it: he takes a long time to find out the cause of all the deaths around him. {{spoiler|When he realizes that he's slowly killing the woman he loves, he puts out his own eyes, too late to save her however.}}

* Pollution in ''[[Good Omens]]'' seems to fit this. He's one of the Four Horsemen, taking over for Pestilence, who retired in disgust after the invention of penicillin left him feeling useless.

* Harkeness in ''[[The Grimnoir Chronicles|Hard Magic]]'' is a Pale Horse, and can inflict people with disease. He has complete control over his power, but that doesn't stop Stuyvesant from being completely paranoid about him.

* ''Raptor'' by Gary Jennings set in the declining Roman empire has a venefica. Veneficas are defined as "girl slaves who are, fed certain poisons, in increasing doses throughout their upbringing. By the time they are grown to maidenhood, their own bodies are accustomed to these substances and are unharmed by them. However, so virulent is the accumulated poison, that a man who beds with a venefica - or anyone who partakes of any of her juices - dies on the instant."

 

 

 

== [[Tabletop RPG]] ==

* In ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' many creatures with the Deathtouch ability are like this, as are several things with Wither. The first kills if any damage is dealt, the other makes damage essentially permanent instead of resetting at end of turn.

** Getting 10 Poison Counters will cause a player to [[Instant Win Condition|automatically lose]] regardless of their life total. Many creatures in the ''Scars of Mirrodin'' set have the Infect ability, which is like Wither when battling other creatures, and inflicts damage in the form of Poison Counters to players.

* The Brothers of Ypres, from ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]''. The bloodline's originator, Pvt Owen Thomas Jones, was a solider embraced in the trenches of World War One and took advantage of gas attacks to feed on the dying. The bloodline internalized the toxins allowing them to create poisons from their bodies at the cost of only feeding on the poisoned.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

** Koffing's essentially a giant floating bag of extremely poisonous (and [[Stuff Blowing Up|extremely flammable!]]) gases. Its evolved form, Weezing is two of them fused together, as if one wasn't bad enough on its own.

** As for Poison specialists, Gym Leader/[[Took a Level In Badass|Elite Four]] Koga, and his daughter Janine, use teams of all Poison-type Pokemon.

* The Darkspawn of ''[[Dragon Age]]''. Their very blood is poisonous and those who survive infection by its taint become thralls of the Darkspawn and the Old Gods that call to them. The Grey Wardens' Joining inoculates the survivors against the more immediate and nasty effects of the Taint; however, their version of the Taint still allows other Darkspawn to sense their presence, and in thirty or so years the Taint will overwhelm them anyway. The disease they spread affects wildlife and the environment as well leaving wastelands populated by blighted horrors in their wake. {{spoiler|In ''Awakening'', should you choose to spare a Darkspawn Messenger and give him a chance to prove his good intentions, he will end up accidentally infecting people with the blight while acting as a [[Good Samaritan]].}}

* [[Unfortunate Name|Medicine]] Melancholy, a (minor) character in the ''[[Touhou]]'' series, basically draws her power from this. She has the ability to manipulate poison in any form, and it's implied that she herself is poisonous, placing her well within this trope.

* In ''[[League of Legends]]'', Singed is a chemist of the [[Mad Scientist]] variety with a number of dangerous chemicals at his disposal, including a stream of poison that he can trail behind him. His body is so heavily scarred and hardened from his tests that he serves as a tank champion.

* ''[[Dungeon Fighter Online]]'': [[Combat Pragmatist|Brawlers]] become this after they awaken as a Hellcat and obtain a passive skill which [[Standard Status Effects|poisons]] enemies who hit her, the chance being greater if the Hellcat is bleeding. This is a result of building up [[Acquired Poison Immunity|immunity to poison]], yet letting it build up in her system at the same time.

* Gravelord Nito, First of the Dead from ''[[Dark Souls]]''. During the war against the ancient dragons, Nito unleashed a wave of miasma and death powerful enough to poison the immortal dragons. During the boss fight against Nito, the attacks from his sword can inflict the deadly "Toxic" status effect (which is basically "Poison" on steroids) on the player.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* Back in 1994 very specific circumstances led to what appears to be a woman's body essentially becoming toxic causing illness in several people in the emergency room she was at before she died. The real cause is unknown but this is discussed in [http://discovermagazine.com/1995/apr/analysisofatoxic493 this] article.

* Number 2 on [http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-supervillain-origin-stories-ripped-straight-from-the-news this list] describes a professor who, after undergoing experimental radioactive treatments for a thyroid condition, wound up with dangerously radioactive bodily fluids. Oh, and he was wanted by the police for escaping arrest when accused of pedophilia. Which means, at some point, a police radio SOMEWHERE was heard saying "The subject is considered radioactive and dangerous."

** It's even better than that, at the time some newspaper headlines warned people that a "radioactive paedophile" was on the loose.

[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:Poisonous Person]]