Fictional Toxins & Contaminates

It's interesting and fun to explore what toxins and contaminates exist in fiction. Often these are quite deliberately and closely related to real science, physiology, psychology to make them convincing. They are often realistic and/or highlight genuine possibilities (and fear of them) should someone or some organisation decide to invent or experiment with them (intentionally or otherwise).

Terrestrial

• Rage Virus - also known as The Infection, The Virus or simply Rage is a man-made, viral biological pathogen that features in and is the primary driving force in the 28 Days Later franchise. It features in the films 28 Days Later (2002), 28 Weeks Later (2007), 28 Years Later (2025) and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026).

Extraterrestrial

• Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15 - also known as Prometheus Fire and Agent A0-3959X.91 – 15 and colloquially as black goo or black liquid, is a potent and virulent biological mutagen. It was first introduced in the Alien series film: Prometheus (2012) and appears subsequently in: Alien: Covenant (2017) and Alien: Romulus (2024) in which it is called Z-01.

Metadata

Created: 2026-02-26

Last Updated: 2026-02-26