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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Jesse is dead! You have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend. You're looking at the thing that killed him."''|'''Giles'''
'''The Virus''' comes in many forms in many genres. Simply put, The Virus turns people [[The Assimilator|into itself or into entities subservient to itself]]. The transformation is both [[Brainwashed|mental]] and [[Viral Transformation|physical]]. The converted will have unflagging loyalty and be instantly ready to commence villainous actions. Expect it trying to cause [[The Plague]].▼
▲{{quote|''"Jesse is dead! You have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend. You're looking at the thing that killed him."''|'''Giles''', ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''}}
▲The Virus comes in many forms in many genres. Simply put, The Virus turns people [[The Assimilator|into itself or into entities subservient to itself]]. The transformation is both [[Brainwashed|mental]] and [[Viral Transformation|physical]]. The converted will have unflagging loyalty and be instantly ready to commence villainous actions. Expect it trying to cause [[The Plague]].
If the converted still resemble their previous selves, they will use their personal knowledge to prevent their former loved ones from doing them harm, or from trying to [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight|get them back]]. Despite the [[Grand Theft Me|body snatching]], if The Virus is only able to crudely mimic human behavior it may lead to a [[Glamour Failure]] that's [[Virus Victim Symptoms|especially noticeable]]. Some strains of The Virus are so powerful the infected can even mutate [[Walking Wasteland|environments]]. This tends to lead to the [[Womb Level]] and [[Organic Technology]].
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How much of the former person is left after infection depends on the series, as does whether or not the process is [[Our Vampires Are Different|reversible]]. It also depends on whether it's a main character or not, they can sometimes use The Virus' powers against it with enough [[Heroic Willpower]] (a property more typical of [[The Corruption]]) and even play [[Sheep in Wolf's Clothing]] for a while. If it's one of the [[Big Bad|main]] [[The Dragon|villains]] using villainous willpower, then they tend to end up on the high end of the [[Elite Zombie]] chain. If The Virus is sentient, then more often than not it is also a [[Hive Mind]] with a [[Hive Queen]] directing it.
Stories of yesteryear often tied this symbolically with the [[Red Scare]]; nowadays if it represents something, it's [[The Heartless]]. The lowest common denominator for man to sink to, susceptible when one lets their own [[The Dark Side|Dark Side]] take
Often how humans [[Was Once a Man|become something much]], [[Body Horror|much]] [[Cthulhumanoid|more horrible]].
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{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Galaxy Express 999]]'''s Machine Empire is an intriguing subversion, for while they are rather obviously cut from the same cloth as the Cybermen and the Borg, and wage brutal wars of conquest, they ''don't'' generally convert conquered races by force. In a late episode featuring a planet whose government, a minor satrap of the Empire, had recently begun forcibly converting humans, a leader of the Empire actually rebukes a local official for the damage this policy was doing to their cause.
* The Invaders from the [[Anime]] ''[[Gate Keepers]]'' and its dark sequel, ''Gatekeepers 21''.
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* The Kanshuu from ''[[World Embryo]]''. Traveling through cell phone signals, any person who listens to their phones and hears these signals mutates and contorts into another Kanshu. It gets worse since anyone who knew those victims in life, be it parents, friends, siblings, etc., will have their existence completely wiped from their memories, causing them horrible mental trauma.
== Comic Books ==
== Comics ==▼
* The OMAC from [[The DCU]] are complex nanomachines that hide in a person's body until they are kickstarted through a command by Brother I. They proceed to take over the inhabitant's body and turn him into one of the electric blue, one-eyed killing machines. Ironically, they were spread through tainted flu shots.
** It's an awfully sexist virus, too, as it will seemingly convert even a female human into a male OMAC!
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* This was the power of Weapon XII, a villain appearing in [[X-Men (Comic Book)|New X-Men]] 129-130. Every person or animal he touches develops glowing eyes and permanently becomes an extension of his mind. By the time Xavier and Jean Grey arrive to deal with him, he's infected most of the humans in the Chunnel, several hundred of Multiple Man's bodies, and a collection of birds, bats, and dogs.
▲== [[Fan Fiction]] ==
* In ''[[Divine Blood]]'', Kodachi Kuno is this via [[The Matrix|Agent Smith]] style [[Mind Rape]] targeted at anybody with mental powers or borrowing mental powers via a spell. She mostly targets her own [[Cloning Blues|mass-produced biological daughters]] early on.
* In ''[[Project Tatterdemalion]]'', a [[Sci Fi]]/horror AU of ''[[Bleach]]'', Hollows are the result of an alien [[Synthetic Plague]] called "Madsen's Hollow". It transforms one-fifth of the infectees- those with all of a set of genes that make them vulnerable to it- into monsters with [[Combat Tentacles]] and a drive to infect others to reduce their loneliness. The other eighty percent die messily from the incomplete effect. Interestingly, there is a vaccine- although it does have some side effects.
** By [[Vathara|the same author]], in Upon A Fiery Steed, this is what Shin no Yami used to be.
== Films ==
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* Same goes for a lot of [[Zombie Apocalypse]] movies as well: "The people it kills get up and kill!"
** Except that Romero zombies, at least, get up and kill simply because they are dead, not because they have been specifically infected.
* ''[[The Thing (film)|The Thing]]'' (from the 1982 John Carpenter movie, [[Older Than They Think|the 1951 film]] ''[[The Thing from Another World]]'' which inspired the [[John Carpenter]] movie, and, lest we forget, the story ''Who Goes There?'' which inspired both movies) is the literal embodiment of The
* Agent Smith in ''[[The Matrix]]'' sequels. After Neo tried to delete him, he comes back and now can copy himself into other people. Ironic, given that he was disgusted by the human race and called them a virus in the first movie.
** Also, for symbolism points, his sunglasses changed after his resurrection. Originally they were square, and now they're slightly more rounded, and have the general shape of a protein capsule of most viruses.
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* As the name implies, the antagonist from creepy 1999 film ''Virus''. A transmission from space takes control of a (seagoing) ship's computers and begins building something. When the heroes ask the program what it wants, it replies with a list of ''body parts''.
* The alien in ''[[Slither]]'', which spreads through parasites that turn hosts into drones for the [[Hive Queen]], controlled through a [[Hive Mind]].
== Folklore ==
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* Zombies in some more modern versions.
* That most dreaded and contagious of schoolyard infections: Cooties!
== Literature ==
* The [[One-Gender Race|hermaphroditic eponymous race]] in [[Storm Constantine]]'s ''[[Wraeththu]]'' books change young human men into Wraeththu by transfusing them with Wraeththu blood, then stabilize the transformation via [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong|sex]].
* The Yeerks from K. A. Applegate's book series ''Animorphs''. They are a race of parasitic slugs who infest a host body by entering through the ear and wrapping themselves around its brain. It can then read the hosts mind and control the host's every action, imitating its behaviorisms. The mind is left a prisoner, able to think freely but unable to control any aspect of their physical selves. They are returned to themselves briefly every three days, when the Yeerk needs to feed.
* A unique example from [[Charles Stross]]' SF novel ''Singularity Sky'': Mimes. Mimes who reproduce themselves by hitting humans in the face with
* Stross also created "Curious Yellow" in the novel ''Glasshouse''. CY was a digital virus that was capable of controlling people and removed their memories (as well as computer records) of... something. What no one ever found out, even after the long, brutal war to contain and defeat The Virus.
* A particularly unusual example shows up in Philip K. Dick's novel ''The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch''. The title character distributes an [[Lotus Eater Machine|exceptionally trippy drug]] with the side effect of causing the users to think more like he does than they used
* One of the creepiest examples ever is Philip K. Dick's short story ''Upon the Dull Earth''. A weird necrophiliac woman attempts a bizarre experiment to speak to the "angels" who supernaturally rule the Earth, which fails and claims her life. Her grieving boyfriend bargains with the angels to bring her back in a [[Deal with the Devil]]. Unfortunately the angels screw up when doing
* Another [[
* The Solanum virus from the Max Brooks book ''[[World War Z]]''. Lethally toxic to all animal life if ingested. Kills and reanimates humans bitten or scratched by the infected or exposed to their bodily fluids, and can potentiality reanimate infected people who die from other causes while the virus is incubating. Does NOT raise long-dead people from their graves.
* The Conjoiners, a [[Hive Mind]] culture in [[Alastair Reynolds]]'s works, are actually the good guys in a number of stories. They started out as a handful of scientists who linked their minds as an experiment and subsequently released a virus to assimilate more minds into the collective, but later their goal became simply to survive. They consider conscripting their enemies a more humane alternative to killing them.
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* Faction Paradox in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' novels had "Faction biodata", which they could inject into such things as regenerating Time Lords or pure life energy creatures melding with a planet's ecosystem, turning their hapless victim into a tool of the Faction via an extremely vicious form of [[Cosmic Retcon]]. This would normally be ''bad''. It becomes '''horrifically bad''' when the infected Time Lord in ''Interference'' is {{spoiler|the Doctor.}}
* Vord in Jim Butcher's ''Codex Alera'' are a sort of gumbo version of this, combining several Virus tropes into one vicious nasty.
* ''Dances of the Men'' by V.Pokrovsky has a new one, in case old bites and microbes were too easy to block. One guy invented a [[Super Serum]]-level brain stimulation by complex microwave pulses. When he tried this trick on H.Sapiens, human brain turned out to be
* In [[The Wheel of Time]], [[Numerological Motif|13]] [[Functional Magic|channelers]] weaving a particular kind of [[Black Magic]] through 13 [[Our Orcs Are Different|Myrddraal]] can forcibly turn any other channeler to the [[Dark Side]]. The victims are described as having unnatural facial expressions, "like the smile on the lips of a corpse", and "something not-quite-alive inside those eyes. This didn't seem to be a man, but a parody of one. A shadow stuffed inside human skin."
* In the [[Star Wars]] novels ''Death Troopers'' and ''Red Harvest'' a virus is delivered through a chemical compound derived from a plant and other Sith formulas, which turns the victim into Zombies. Not kidding, ZOMBIES in ''Star Wars''. The virus is transmitted through bites or exposure to infected blood, and the horde even some kind of hive mind to boot.
* In [[Harry Potter]], [[Our Werewolves Are Different|lycanthropy]] is basically a giant metaphor for AIDS.
* In Neil Lee Thompsett's ''Becoming Human'', humanity itself [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|is this]]. Not a species, a [[Shaped Like Itself|disease]].
== Live-Action TV ==
* The vampires from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. ''Buffy'' vampires have their previous selves' [[
{{quote|'''Willow:''' It's horrible! That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil and... skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay.
'''Buffy:''' Willow, just remember, a vampire's personality has nothing to do with the person it was.
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* The Cybermen of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', who were arguably the inspiration for the Borg.
** The "Empty Child" in the new ''[[Doctor Who]]'' series (from the episodes "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances") was {{spoiler|a little boy raised from the dead by alien medical [[Nanomachines]] that had no clue how to rebuild humans. Anytime he touched someone, the nanomachines would reprogram them to the way they thought all humans should be -- down to the gasmask and injuries the boy had when they found him.}}
** And the Primords in ''Inferno''. If they even touch
** {{spoiler|The Flood}} from "The Waters of Mars", {{spoiler|literally a (water-borne) virus}}.
*** An unusual one, as it can exist and be dangerous outside of a host as well. It's harder to avoid and does its work faster than most of the examples on this page.
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* A key trait of Dezumzorya, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Super Sentai|Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger]]''. It combines physical infection with [[More Than Mind Control]] to great effect.
* The fungus from ''[[Primeval]]'' takes root in human skin, eventually taking over the brain and transforming the host into a bizarre killer fungus creature.
* Random Virus in ''[[Ace Lightning]]'': former Lightning Knight turned [[
* "The Sickness" from ''[[Lost]]'' is almost certainly this. For five seasons it was suggested that the Sickness was just the delusion of a madwoman... until season 6, when {{spoiler|Claire and Sayid}} become infected, start following the orders of the [[Big Bad]] and kill a whole bunch of people.
* On ''[[Lexx]]'', the [[Big Bad]] of Season 2 is Mantrid, a [[Mad Scientist]] in a robotic body who creates an army of flying robotic arms that convert other living beings into more flying robotic arms. {{spoiler|Eventually, every living thing in the Light Universe except for the Lexx and its crew is converted into Mantrid's army.}}
** Not just every living thing. Every ''thing''. Including the stars.
* Epideme from ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' is an intelligent artificial virus designed to block nicotine cravings. Unfortunately, he decided he'd rather spend his time stealing his various hosts' knowledge before killing them by starving their bodies of nutrients and oxygen, then hijacking their bodies, each time forcing them to bite someone else and transfer him to a new host.
* In ''[[Community]]'' episode "[[Community/Recap/S2
* Episode 5 of ''[[Danger 5]]'' features a contagion that's turning the Allied soldiers into [[Those Wacky Nazis]]. Its source is a literal wellspring of the "Aryan seed" {{spoiler|and it is sexually transmitted. Exposing it to Swiss blood is the antidote, since in the Dangerverse, [[Artistic License: Biology|Swiss blood is... made of gold...]]}}
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons
** Also, the chaos beast could turn mortals into other chaos beasts. The Slaads can infect someone with their bites or their claws, placing Slaad eggs inside of the person, who'll [[Chest Burster|eventually eat their way out, making new slaads]].
** And of course, many undead have the power to turn anyone they kill or [[Level Drain]] to death into an undead of the same kind under the control of their killer.
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* ''[[GURPS]]'' has, at the least, Riders (from ''[[GURPS]] Aliens'') and Valkryies (from ''[[GURPS]] Traveller: Alien Races 4'' [I think it was ''4'']). Note that these are both ostensibly science-fiction (rather than fantasy or magical) species.
** 4th Ed Ultratech has a metamorphosis virus that can be weaponized into either this or a version that turns everyone into random things, which can be much worse.
* In ''[[Warhammer
** You also have the insidious [[Horde of Alien Locusts|Tyranid]] [[Extreme Omnivore|swarms]], the insidious [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong|Genestealer]] cults, the insidious [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Tau]] propagandists/brainwashers, the insidious [[Omnicidal Maniac|Necron]] [[Half-Human Hybrid|Pariah]] harvest, etc., etc., etc. Rarely is any given conflict zone in ''40K'' NOT subject to some form of The Virus. Let's just say that in this universe, [[General Ripper]] typically has the right idea.
** There's the dreaded Obliterator virus, which turns you into something truly horrific. The first tip that something horrible is going on is when you realise that you're spontaneously generating ammunition for your gun, which is becoming gradually more attached to your hand. From here, it's only a short trip to the point where you're an out-and-out psycho who can absorb guns, then create them again fused to your flesh.
*** Am I the only one who thinks that sounds [[Cursed with Awesome|pretty damn awesome]] compared to the fates of some Chaos cultists, especially those who fail (think living flesh bag of pain and get worse). Wouldn't mind being an Obliterator at all if not for the whole going insane bit.
* Another electronic example is The Virus in ''[[Traveller]]: The New Era'', originally designed as a weapon for shutting down the navigation systems of enemy warships in order to end the war without further bloodshed. [[Finagle's Law|Unfortunately]] the version that was prematurely unleashed when the research station working on it was attacked would shut down ''every'' computer in the vicinity through means unexplained (though heavily implied to be [[Psychic Powers|psionic in nature]]), with... ''[[Kill'Em All|interesting]]'' consequences if that computer happened to control (for instance) a nuclear reactor or a life-support system. Then it evolved full intelligence, [[
* One of ''[[Feng Shui]]'''s many Creature Powers is "Corruption", which allows a supernatural creature to infect others with their supernatural essence, and in this way create more of their kind. Corpse factories in the ''Glimpse of the Abyss'' supplement use a variant of this to create zombies for all your [[Zombie Apocalypse]] needs.
* The short-lived ''[[Nightlife]]'' horror RPG had a race of borg-like monsters that embodied The Virus trope. Surprise, surprise, they were ''called'' "the Virus".
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* The Exsurgent virus family in ''[[Eclipse Phase]]''. Different strains can infect computers...or flesh...and the result is never, ''ever'' pretty, usually featuring [[Body Horror]] and ''always'' featuring [[Mind Rape]]. Oh, and they're very, very adaptive. Like, normal-viruses-on-crack adaptive.
{{quote|"What’s worse to contemplate, though, is that we may get another major outbreak that spreads to multiple habitats before we can contain it. That might get very, very bad, very, very quickly."}}
== Theater ==
* The opera ''Help, Help, The Globolinks!'' has [[Alien Invasion|invading aliens]] called Globolinks whose only known weakness is music. Humans touched by Globolinks are gradually transformed into Globolinks, first losing the ability to speak human language.
* In Eugene Ionesco's absurdist play ''Rhinoceros'', the townsfolk are all spontaneously transforming into rhinos.
== Toys ==
* The Makuta's virus and the Dreaming plague in ''[[Bionicle]]'', although it's ambiguous as to whether the latter was actually transmitted virally or not.
== Video Games ==
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** The cyberzombies are a different kind. They are reanimated corpses.{{spoiler|Those who are properly indoctrinated are between [[More Than Mind Control]] and [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]. However, unguided or faulty indoctrination seems to wake the desire to become a cyberzombie, leading the victims to jump onto the zombiefying devices}}. This may or may not be intended as a failsafe.
* The Sands of Time in the ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' trilogy work like this. Once released, they instantly turn everything they come in contact with into a crazed [[Enemy to All Living Things]] (living in this case being the few lucky souls who wern't instantly transformed). Somehow, when the Prince is exposed in the third game of the series, he manages to resist instant transformation, although he does still get a [[Super-Powered Evil Side]].
** The Corrupted, from the sequel, are an aversion-it's pretty much their own damnn fault they're [[Eldritch Abomination
* The ''[[R-Type]]'' series eventually evolved the Bydo into something like this, although this isn't their favored modus operandi: usually, they simply evolve, replicate, and reproduce to improve themselves and strengthen their numbers, but given the opportunity, they will assume forms that are designed to infect and assimilate enemy technology and personnel. R-Type Delta had a good example of this in several of its ships and one of its [[Multiple Endings]], and R-Type Final and R-Type Tactics/Command use this as a turning point in their respective storylines (much more the latter, with it even affecting gameplay).
* In ''[[Overblood]]'' it's called the ARNA Virus and Raz has it.
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** In the comics, it was revealed that the rakghoul disease was concocted by a Sith who made a talisman that instantly transformed humans into rakghouls which he could control, getting them to use their old skills, like weaponry. Comics taking place between the movies of the original trilogy had a fallen Jedi using this talisman on various heroes, including a member of [[The Remnant]].
* ''[[Extermination]]'' revolved around this. The Virus would mutate and corrupt pretty much anything to do with water. The player probably would freak out about the time a puddle of water actually attacked/infected him. Getting 100% Infection and not curing it ''fast'' leads to a [[Nonstandard Game Over]] where the player watches the transformation into a monster...
* The Beast subversion entity from the first ''[[Homeworld]]'' sequel certainly counts. It quite literally rips its host apart, extracts their neurons, and then sets about using them to form an organic computer network it can subsequently use to control the ship they were flying, and hence infect more vessels. The quote formerly at the top of the page comes from the initial cut-sequence describing the
** Ordinary Beast entities have an animalistic behavior and only care about multiplying. The original entity inside the Naggarok however, is very much sentient: when the Imperialist Taiidan make first contact with it, the entity offers them half the galaxy if they repair the Naggarok's drives. It also tricks them into believing that the Bentusi are gone and that they will get the ''Nomad Moon''. When the ''Moon'' is infected and is subsequently destroyed by the Somtaaw who in turn receive aid from a Bentusi ship, the Imperials flip out and turn against the Beast; [[Xanatos Speed Chess|cue the Naggarok calling in all of it's "children" to catch the ''Kuun-Lan'' from three sides]].
* ''Silpheed'' has {{spoiler|an entire ship -- the ship that ''refueled you about ten seconds ago'', to boot --}} get taken over by an alien virus and turns into not only an enemy alien, but also [[That One Boss]].
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* The [[Strange Virus]] from ''[[Puzzlebox]]'' boosts a person's resilence to injury, inspires creativerty and sends its hosts mad.
* In the ''[[Elder Scrolls]]: Morrowind'', corprus if caught turns non-believers into zombie-like creatures and believers into strange powerful deformed beings.
* The Zerg from ''[[
** In the [[
* ''Emperor: Battle for Dune''. The Contaminators, mutants spawned from Tleilaxu Flesh Vats. They carry a lethal virus capable of turning humans into additional Contaminators. There's also the non-human variant called the Tleilaxu Leeches, biogenetic tanks that create replicas of themselves by implanting larva in enemy vehicles, which damages the host vehicle until it's destroyed before hatching into another Leech.
* The Bydo from ''[[R-Type]]'' is probably one of the most horrifying version of this when you think about it hard enough. Due to their nature, they can turn themselves into a wave, meaning they can bypass any sort of protection without notice before they start taking over and can also take over machines with ease as well. {{spoiler|This is what happens to you in one ending in ''Final''. The thing is that ''you don't even realize you were infected by it''.}}
* The Darkspawn taint in ''[[Dragon Age]]'' ''Origins''. The Darkspawn spread this disease wherever they go, turning any living things that are exposed to it into horrible monsters. Yes, this includes people. The taint unites the Darkspawn in a primitive [[Hive Mind]], though only an Archdemon, a draconic Old God corrupted by the Darkspawn taint, can unite all of the Darkspawn hordes. That's right, this particular Virus can corrupt ''gods''.
* Both ''[[System Shock]]'' and its sequel feature enemies infected by
* In ''[[Strife]]'', the virus arrived via a massive comet impact. Those who weren't wiped out begin to mutate, hearing the voice of an alien monster and causing their bodies to rot. The [[Evil Empire]] [[Religion of Evil]] that worships the monster uses cybernetics to maintain their self-destructing bodies.
* The A-Virus in ''[[Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten]]'' is a humorous take on the trope, but nonetheless horrifying in its own way. {{spoiler|It transforms the infected into [[Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories|Axel]], in both body (Clothes included, somehow) and mind, Initial signs of infection include random bouts of [[Hot-Blooded|hotbloodedness]], and/or referring to oneself as "ore-sama" ([[Lost in Translation|Not to be retained in the English version for obvious reasons]]). Everyone gets better in the end, though. [[Nonstandard Game Over|Or not]].}}
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* The virus blocks in ''Astro Pop''. They can't be grabbed, and you can only get rid of them by making a match next to them. They also "infect" other blocks, turning them into more virus blocks. You can interrupt the transformation if you grab the block before it's transformed.
▲== Web Comics ==
* The Dimension of Pain demons from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' possess a spear that can turn human beings (and ferrets, apparently) into demons, and they use it frequently during their [[Demonic Invaders|invasion]] of the Dimension of Lame. However, since the spear can't completely get rid of the humans' inherent wussiness, the result is an army of pretty wussy demons.
** A human-made version ([[Wild Mass Guessing|or is it...?]]) has appeared in the main dimension now. None of the resulting demons has been seen for more than a strip or two, so it remains to be seen if the results are Lame or otherwise weaker than real demons.
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* [[The Dragon Doctors]] face their first real challenge when attempting to cure a patient who has a "Crax Parasite" inside him, a horrible, cancerous growth that will eventually consume his body and mind. The four magical doctors each make use of their full abilities to cure the disease. Kili the shaman occupies the patient's mind in a dream world while the others operate, and it is revealed when the Crax invades the dream that it's the vehicle of the consciousness of a man who wants to live forever.
* In ''[[Superidol]]'' computer-generated idol Rei Rei is the memetic version of this, with billions doing everything they can to be her, until the whole world revolves around her.
* [http://www.explosm.net/comics/1403/ This] ''[[Cyanide
* ''[[Zombie Waffe]]'' has [[Fun with Acronyms|LARS]] (Likasi Acute Rabies Syndrome) a new form of rabies which turns those infected into zombies.
* Unity, one of the protagonists of ''[[Skin Horse]]'', is a non-virulent virus. She's a collection of nanobots suspended in fluid, and anything injected with her becomes her completely... but she can't actually fight off the immune systems of the living at all, so anything not dead she tries on ends up vomiting her out after a short while. And she has no method of spreading outside of purposeful injection.
* [[The Kingfisher]] is a vampire comic in which the condition can be communicated. It usually doesn't affect the mind of its victims directly, unless they become too hungry for blood.
== Web Original ==
* The ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' included the aptly named Virus, a villain who takes control of people using a tailored genetic infection that slowly transforms them into copies of itself. Its ultimate goal is to make all life on earth a copy of itself.
*
* The ''[[SCP Foundation]]'' have a dossier on [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-217 SCP-217], which is basically The Virus plus [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|Clockwork Eats Your Soul]].
* ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' examples: The Palm is a [[
* In the ''Prolecto'' series of stories, found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6721353, this is how the Succubus transformation spreads. in a subversion, people are
▲* In the Prolecto series of stories, found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6721353, this is how the Succubus transformation spreads. in a subversion, people are GENERALLY pretty much themselves...except for the compulsion to spread. Which wears off after they spread once, unless they take a deep breath. Unfortunately, at least one of them has [[Contractual Genre Blindness]]. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
== Western Animation ==
* Baron Dark from the cartoon ''[[Skeleton Warriors]]'' could change anyone not "pure of heart" into a Skeleton Warrior.
* The Skeleton King from ''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!]]'' does not have that restriction for making zombies.
* Beautiful joke example from ''[[The Tick (animation)|The Tick]]'': when reminiscing about past adventures, Captain Decency remembers the time a villain built a superweapon known as the "Ray Gun". This gun functioned by turning anyone it shot into a duplicate of "some guy named Ray", depicted as a gas station attendant with the nickname "Ray" on his coveralls. Cue incredibly creepy ''[[Twilight Zone]]''-style black-and-white shot of a town filled with identical Rays saying "Hi, I'm Ray!" to each other over and over. Captain Decency then begins to reminisce about a similar adventure involving a "Tommy Gun" before being cut off.
* In ''[[The Pirates of Dark Water]]'', the eponymous Dark Water had the ability to kill people outright, or [[The Corruption|corrupt them]] into mutated minions or mindless slaves. In one of the more [[Nightmare Fuel]]-laden episodes, an elderly woman tries ingesting a drop of it in a youth potion and it winds up ''consuming her completely from the inside''.
* Daemon was a literal software virus in ''[[
* In ''[[Code Lyoko]]'', some of XANA's attacks follows this route, the specter first possessing one animal then spreading the control to others (rats in "Plagued", wasps in "Swarming Attack"). In "Attack of the Zombies", a possessed Kiwi can transmit The Virus to humans, [[Zombie Apocalypse]]-style.
* A robot from a planet of robots fears humans are The Virus in the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode, "Fear of a Bot Planet".
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** Also, don't forget the Brain Slug.
{{quote|'''Hermes:''' The flight had a stopover on the Brain Slug Planet. Hermes liked it so much he decided to stay of his own free will.}}
* Played for laughs in an episode of ''[[Camp Lazlo]]''. It's learned in this episode that when Samson gets sick, his germs can cause others to at first, get sick, and then end up looking a lot like a hamster who is sick,
* The Xenocites from ''[[Ben 10:
** The [[
* The original ''[[Transformers]]'' has the [[Hate Plague]] from Outer Space which was unleashed upon the Earth. At first it appears to make those infected fight others and themselves, but later on it just appears to make them act like jerks with the intent of infecting others. Either way, the last known hope to the world, nay, universe is to revive Optimus Prime. It works, of course, and even Galvatron is thankful enough to call for a truce. For now.
** Previously in the same season, the Transorganic energy-leech threatened to spread the robotic equivalent of vampirism to all of Cybertron.
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* An episode of ''[[Samurai Jack]]'', "The Aku Infection", dealt with Jack being infected by Aku's spirit, which began to [[Body Horror|transform Jack into Aku from within]]. Jack had to defeat Aku in a [[Battle in the Center of the Mind]] to purge him, drawing on his experiences and the good he's done in the future for power. [[The Power of Friendship|Aku never stood a chance]].
* The Fudd from ''[[Duck Dodgers]]'', a parody of the Flood which transformed people into goofy-looking bald men with speech impediments.
== Real Life ==
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** Fortunately it tends to kill within a week of showing symptoms, so your chances to spread it are limited.
** In some languages, HIV/AIDS is referred to simply as this.
* Prions are proteins that act as
* Diseases can alter your behavior in ways to spread themselves, but you may not realize it. Malaria makes you too tired to fight off mosquitos, for instance.
** Defensive reflexes designed to rid our bodies' airways of infection (coughing, sneezing) are also behaviors that tend to spread it to others.
* Some real-life [[Puppeteer Parasite
* If certain theoretical conditions are met, stable
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Evil Is Visceral]]▼
[[Category:Face Monster Turn]]▼
[[Category:Horror Tropes]]▼
[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]▼
[[Category:Medical Horror]]▼
[[Category:Otherness Tropes]]
[[Category:Vampire Tropes]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Medical Horror]]
[[Category:Werebeast Tropes]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virus, The}}
▲[[Category:Face Monster Turn]]
▲[[Category:Evil Is Visceral]]
▲[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]
▲[[Category:Villains]]
▲[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
▲[[Category:The Virus]]
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