List of fictional diseases

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is a list of fictional diseases — nonexistent, named medical conditions which appear in fiction where they have a major plot or thematic importance. They may be fictional psychological disorders, magical, from mythological or fantasy settings, have evolved naturally, been engineered artificially (most often created as biological weapons, but not always), or be any illness that came forth from the (ab)use of technology.

Items in this list are followed by a brief description of symptoms and other details.

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness.

Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Contents 1 In literature 2 In film 3 In television 4 In video games 5 See also 6 Further reading

[edit] In literature

Name	Source	Symptoms
Andromeda Strain	The Andromeda Strain	A deadly disease of extraterrestrial origin that causes a blood clot in the brain and causes all the blood in the body to clot. It is a disease that evolves at a rapid rate. It is so contagious that even being near an infected body poses the risk of contracting the disease.
Cancer	Malignant Neoplasm	A homonoid disease, tumors are visible via X-Ray. Curable only by euthanasia, which is often performed as it is contagious.
Captain Trips	The Stand by Stephen King	A deadly, flu-based virus. Created as a biological weapon codenamed Blue. Causes a lethally high fever and is highly contagious. So deadly because as the body fights off the disease, it mutates into different strains of influenza, making immunity next to impossible. Also called Superflu.
Cooties	Various	A deadly (perhaps fatal) disease to human men, ineffective to females of the human species. May feast on souls, or simple misfortune.
The Ripley	Dreamcatcher by Stephen King	An alien parasitoid macrovirus. The adult aliens resemble deformed potato beings with legs, while the younger aliens - nicknamed "shit-weasels" because they can be created in a host organism's stomach and escape by eating their host's body between the stomach and anus - are legless, smaller versions of the adult alien. Both adult and young aliens have a mouth consisting of a slit on the underside of the head that goes down the length of the worm. The lips separate to reveal hundreds of teeth that can bite through steel.
Descolada	Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card	A quasi-conscious self-modifying organism capable of infecting any form of life."Descolada" is also the Portuguese word for "unglued". In the context of the book, this refers to the Descolada virus's effects; it breaks the link of the DNA double helix (ungluing it) and induces mutations.
Jason Strain	Friday the 13th: The Jason Strain by Christa Faust	A virus created from a the DNA of undead killer Jason Voorhees, it was originally meant to be a cure-all and age retarding super drug but something went awry during its creation. Those infected by the virus gain some of Jason Voorhees's powers, including superhuman strength, the inability to feel pain and a healing factor, but intelligence is severely reduced. Those infected with the virus can only be killed via decapitation.
Krytos virus	"Star Wars Expanded Universe"	The Krytos virus was a deadly and highly contagious virus that only attacked non-human species. It could spread via a number of avenues, including by water supplies and air. The virus often killed its host in less than two weeks, resulting in a painful death.
The Red Death	"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe	Victims bleed from their pores before eventually dying. (See also Scarlet Plague.)
Scarlet Plague	The Scarlet Plague by Jack London	This 1912 novella, also known as the Scarlet Death, is a work of post-apocalyptic fiction treating the world after civilization has been destroyed by this fictional disease.
Snow Crash	Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson	A dangerous drug which is both a computer virus capable of infecting the brains of unwary hackers in the Metaverse and a mind-altering virus distributed by a network of Pentecostal churches via its infrastructure and belief system.
Solanum	The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z	Solanum is a virus that is trasmitted through fluidic contact, such as a bite or pressing an open wound against a zombie. It is 100% communicable and 100% fatal. There are no known cases of survival, and no known cures. Sexual transfer could be possible if a human mated with a Zombie. The virus travels to the brain and rapidly dissolves the frontal lobes. The brain changes, over 24 hours, into a special organ that does not need nutrients or oxygen. Tissues become toxic. The virus causes all life processes to stop, except for musculature.
V-CIDS	The Immortals	An AIDS-like virus.
Vampirius	I Am Legend	A baccilius (rod-shaped) bacterium that causes photosensitivity, hysterical blindness near mirrors, overdevelopment of canine teeth, and production of a bulletproof adhesive. Victims feed on blood. While in the body, it is anaerobic, and causes the victim to exhibit zombie-like behavior. Outside the body, it sporulates into dust. If an infected person is cut deep enough, the bacteria turns them into powder. Can be treated, but not cured, with a pill containing a fusion inhibitor and dehydrated blood.
Venus Particle	Tyrannosaur Canyon	An extraterrestrial infectious particle found in a lunar rock sample and within a fantastically well-preserved tyrannosaur fossil in the New Mexico desert. It is later revealed that the organism came to Earth via the Chicxulub asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs. The particle, which was named for its resemblance to the symbol of Venus and femininity, causes rapid mitosis and apparent cellular differentiation in its host.
White blindness	Blindness by José Saramago	A mysterious epidemic of sudden blindness affecting virtually all humanity, leading to society's collapse. So-called because victims see nothing but a white glare. Not to be confused with the White Blindness in Watership Down which is a name the rabbits use for the real illness Myxomatosis which affects rabbits causing blindness and death.
White Disease	The White Disease by Karel Capek	An incurable mysterious form of leprosy, killing people older than 30.
White Plague	The White Plague by Frank Herbert	A genetically engineered virus that kills only Irish and Libyan women.
Foul-Drought	The Heir of Mistmantle by M. I. McAllister	Disease caused from drinking poisoned water. Animals who have it will have pain, blurry sight and some will eventually die.
Thing cells	The Thing	Triangle-pyramid viruses that makes up Thing monsters. If it enters another animal, it fuses with the host, imparting shape-shifting and unholy durability, at the cost of pyrosensitivity, and possession by the Alien.
The Gray Death	Gail Carson Levine's The Two Princesses of Bamarre	Disease created from the noxious gas from the defeated dragon Yune's stomach. It comes on with no warning and is not contagious. There are three stages of the disease. The first stage is the weakness, and it can last anywhere from a week to six months. The second stage is the sleeping, and it always lasts nine days. The last stage is fever, and it always lasts three days. At the end of the fever stage, the victim will die. The only cure is water sent down from the fairies' Mount Ziriat. The cure will only be discovered when cowards find courage and rain falls over all Bamarre.

[edit] In film

Name	Source	Symptoms
Brain Cloud	Joe Versus the Volcano	The brain cloud has no symptoms—apart from quickly and painlessly killing in about six months.
Closed Shell Syndrome	Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex	A type of autism caused by cyberbrain implants.
Cyberbrain Sclerosis	Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex	Cyberbrain implant malady resembling multiple sclerosis, eventually fatal.
Hemoglophagia (HGV)	Ultraviolet	Disease responsible for turning many humans into vampire-like creatures.
Krippin Virus (KV)	I Am Legend	A genetically reengineered measles virus originally created as a "miracle cure" for cancer, but mutated into a lethal, highly-pathogenic strain. KV has a 90% mortality rate; less than 1% of humans are immune. Two transmission vectors for the pathogen are inhalation and infected blood, with two corresponding immunity profiles. Infected humans who did not die began exhibiting early symptoms of rabies and degenerated into a state driven by rage. A major symptom is that the adrenal glands are "permanently open", giving victims increased strength, speed and agility but also a faster metabolism. This results in increased body temperature, heart rate, and breathing speed, making those infected hyperventilate constantly. Pupils became permanently dilated and skin became hypersensitive to UV radiation, forcing infected hosts into a nocturnal life cycle. Loss of body hair is another symptom. Non-humans such as rats and dogs are also susceptible to KV. They are sensitive to blood. These infected are similair to vampires.
NAM37	The Patriot (1998)	A highly contagious airborne virus which has been stolen from a government biological warfare laboratory. Its early symptoms include a rash, and it is quickly fatal. It is not clear in the film whether the virus was supposed to have been harvested from the wild (such as Ebola) and then grown as a weapon, or whether the laboratory first engineered it in some way. In the film, the leader of a local militia has obtained both the virus and what he believes to be a vaccine for it, and decides to start an epidemic with the virus, believing that he will be safe because he has taken the vaccine. A local doctor of Indian (Native American) ancestry fights to find a cure for it.
Motaba	Outbreak	A deadly, virulent virus from the jungles of Zaire. Early stages resemble the flu, with pink eyes, coughing and fever. In later stages, the fever rises as high as 108, and victims seize violently, break out in skin lesions and bleed internally, causing a dark rash on the skin. Motaba incubates in 24 hours and kills in 48. The virus is 100% fatal. There is an airborne strain of Motaba. There is no treatment, but a large outbreak in a small California town was stopped when antibodies were taken from a carrier.
Unknown	Twelve Monkeys	Little is known about Unknown, other than it's a virus. The main protagonist James Cole is sent into the past to gather information on the twelve monkeys, the organisation that spread the pathogen that nearly exterminated all humanity.
"The Fever"	Cabin Fever	A flesh eating disease which causes massive hemorrhage and tissue necrosis. Victims typically bleed directly through the skin in early stages. In later stages, tissues become soft and slough away. It is known to be transmitted through drinking contaminated water.
Rage	28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later	Rage causes extreme aggression in a victim only seconds after being infected with the disease. The disease is easily transmissible through any bodily fluid. Because of this extreme contagiousness and very short incubation time, a crowd of hundreds could be infected by one single individual in a manner of minutes. A graphic novel based on the films purports that Rage is a recombinant strain of Ebola, though its symptoms are similar to that of rabies. Animal testing was being performed on the disease but one animal was released by activists unaware of the virus. The infection soon spread to eliminate the entire population of Britain save a few lucky individuals who managed to survive. Infected organisms die out in a few months, succumbing to starvation, since they do not actually eat their victims.
SP-43	Derailed (2002)	SP-43 is a modified form of smallpox (variola) that has an extremely short incubation period. Its development is part of the backstory, which is not completely clear, but given the fact that it appears to have been stolen in Slovakia and is being transported to Munich by a NATO agent, it appears to have been developed by the Slovak government or some other Eastern Block country during the Cold War.
St. Mary's	V for Vendetta	A biological weapon engineered and released by the Norsefire party as a means of clandestinely gaining control over their own country.
X-5 Virus	Beavis and Butthead Do America	Genetically engineered disease created by the U.S. Military. Causes Ebola-like symptoms and eventual death. Apparently lethal and quick enough to "wipe out five states in five days".

[edit] In television

Name	Source	Symptoms
Macrovirus	Star Trek: Voyager	An airborne pathogen-by-proxy that infects endothermic humanoids with a virus, causing the host to get lethargic and churn out more macroviruses until he/she/it wastes away and dies. When some of the bugs invaded Voyager, the EMH was able to synthesize a cure.
Dave's Syndrome	Black Books	A condition which is known to affect Manny, it is triggered by being exposed to a temperature of at least 88°F. While the exact effects of the disease are not described, a scene at the end of the episode shows the results - The area outside the shop has been completely ransacked, and a half-dressed Manny is jumping on top of a car yelling and holding a torch.
Drafa Plague	Babylon 5	Neutralizes chemicals in the synaptic gap, thus inhibiting nerve signals from the brain to the rest of the body. Without clear direction from the brain as a result of the signals being blocked, the organs lose their ability to function correctly. For those that can be affected, the disease is 100% contagious, and if left untreated 100% terminal.
Hate Plague	Transformers	Bacterial spore of unknown origin transmitted by touch. Induces extreme paranoia and aggression in the infected, causing them to strike out against anyone or anything in an increasingly maddening desire to destroy. Symptoms include a deep reddish glow emanating from the infected. The only curative is intense logic and wisdom, which presumably counters the extreme irrationality the disease causes in its victims.
Lurgy (The Dreaded Lurgi)	The Goon Show	A disease that causes anyone who catches it to say nothing but 'Eeee-yakkaboo!'.
Psi-2000 Virus	Star Trek	A mutated form of water that spreads by touch which causes its victims to act in a way similar to being drunk. However, the effects do not wear off and eventually will cause victims to make dangerous decisions.
Shanti Virus	Heroes	A virus that only affects individuals with superhuman abilities or powers, deactivating those powers and slowly killing the infected. At least one strain exists which affects humans without superhuman powers, which is simply lethal.
Desperation Disease	Eureka 7 (anime)	A disease that strikes randomly and has no known vector of contagion. Individuals gradually become detached from the world until they are completely catatonic. The name of the disease doesn't come from the victims' state, who seem to be communing with something metaphysical, but rather, from their families who despair of trying to wake them.
Re-vitiligo	The Boondocks	A disease that turns a white persons skin black over time. Uncle Ruckus claims to have it, though every flashback in which he appears, features him as black as he's in 2005-2008. He regards Michael Jackson as a "lucky bastard," as his skin turned from black to white.

[edit] In video games

Name	Source	Symptoms
Corprus	Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind	Corprus causes incredible mutations in humanoids, but it is an almost non-communicable disease. People infected with blight are often sent to a special institution called the Corprusarium, which was made for researching corprus. Corprus is caused by the volcanic ash that emanates from Red Mountain, but, as a positive side effect, grants 100% disease immunity. The only known antidote is proven to destroy corprus, but ends up killing the victim as well. However, the player is able to take the antidote without any adverse effects, presumably because he is the reincarnation of the demi-god Nerevar.
Corrupted Blood	World of Warcraft	Initially contracted from killing Hakkar, the God of Blood, in the dungeon of Zul'Gurub. Highly infectious, with an incubation period of 2 seconds and can infect any person in the immediate area. Referred to WoW players as "the Plague", "Hakkar's SARS" or "WoW AIDS" for a major outbreak of the virtual plague in the game due to a programming error.
Diathronitis	Larn	Afflicts daughter of player character; serves as primary motivation for gameplay.
FoxDie	Metal Gear Solid	FoxDie is a virus responsible for killing people with certain genetic markers via cardiac arrest. FoxDie is given to protagonist Solid Snake by Dr. Naomi Hunter, only it is engineered to go off at an indeterminate time. FoxDie was also the cause of death of Liquid Snake, Decoy Octopus (impersonating DARPA chief Donald Anderson), and the Armstech President.
Forced Evolutionary Virus	Fallout	Originally known as the Pan-Immunity Viron Project, FEV, along with radiation, is responsible for many mutations in the wastelands. The most visible of these are the super mutants, former humans granted incredible strength and endurance as result of being infected. Exposure to the virus is also known to be fatal in many cases. FEV serves as a major plot element in both Fallout and Fallout 2.
Gangliated Utrophin Immuno Latency Toxin (GUILT)	Trauma Center: Under the Knife	A series of eight pathogens created by the medical-terrorist group Delphi. During ingame sequences where the player operates on patients, GUILT diseases are normally shown as a pseudo-sentient core that attacks the patient from within, using lacerations, tumors and other ailments. Individual strains are named after Greek days of the week (Kyriaki, Deftera, Triti, Tetarti, Pempti, Paraskevi, Savato), the only exception being the eighth strain, called "Bliss".
Hyper-evolutionary virus	StarCraft	The Hyper-evolutionary virus is a retrovirus produced by Zerg Queens. It is used to mutate "lesser" creatures into zerg warrior breeds. Only a small percent of humanity is fully compatible, who retain personality, intelligence, and psionics. Others mutate into living bombs, utterly dominated by the Overmind. It has a re-animation side-effect. It is transmissible through fluid transfer only, much like Solanum.
Incuritis	Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney	A rare, but lethal dieseae, cureable only through the use of a medicine made from the Borginian Cocoon. The cure is very difficult to make, and if made incorrectly, it is a deadly poison, and thus the exportation of such a cocoon is illegal. The Chief Justice's son is afflicted with the diesease.
Gray Death	Deus Ex	A global plague engineered using nanotechnology within a Universal Constructor by Majestic-12, the Gray Death virus is actually a hybrid (cyborganic) disease of biological and mechanical structures. It is based on the adverse and ultimately lethal effects of nanotechnology on an unmodified human body. Named the Gray Death because of the gray patches of discoulored scar tissue that cover its victims' skins, if and when the disease is cured. Symptoms include the aforementioned discolouration of the skin, coughing, physical pain and death.
Porphyric Hemophilia	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	Causes vampirism after an incubation period of three days. If the player is infected, they can go through a quest to cure the disease, however it is not necessary to be cured to complete the quest.
Progenitor Virus	Resident Evil	In the back-story of the series, the Progenitor virus is the primary virus created by the Umbrella Corporation, a mutagen based on ebola. Successor viruses include the G-Virus and the T-Virus (see below).
G-Virus	Resident Evil 2	A mutagenic pathogen which causes the host to become a big, constantly evolving, practically unstoppable killing machine, with exceedingly high attack power and immense vitality, in addition to the ability to regenerate and mutate so quickly the carrier virtually loses its mortality. The purified virus can be injected directly into the host, or a mutated host can implant a small larvae, called a G-embryo into another host. The latter mode of transmission is most successful when the host and the new victim are genetically similar. The virus would later merge with the T-Virus, creating an extremely dangerous, electromagnetic-capable variant called the T/G Virus
T-Virus	Resident Evil	A virus that causes dementia and cellular necrosis. It can easily mutate into other strains, some of which have mutagenic effects on the host. If the carrier is an insect, the resulting mutation often involves increased aggressiveness, increased size, and (almost always) the development of poisonous traits. In mammals, the mutations include aggressiveness, physiological changes of varying degrees, and an extremely increased evolutionary rate. Variants include the NE-T-virus, the Code Veronica virus and the T/G Virus.
Las Plagas	Resident Evil 4	A parasitic, organism which can infect a variety of hosts, including humans. It has the ability to control its host's behavior, inducing a hive-like mentality among the infected and extreme hostility towards uninfected individuals. The infected retain most of the characteristics of humans such as fine motor skills as seen through their use of simple weapons such as scythes and axes, and more complicated weapons such as chainsaws and chainguns. The are seen to obey "Queen" parasites, much like ants.
Wailing Death	Neverwinter Nights	A bubonic-like plague that infects almost the entire city of Neverwinter. Thought to be just a natural plague, it is later discovered that it was magically created and unleashed upon the city.
Doll Syndrome	.hack//G.U.	A mysterious medical condition in which a person falls into a completely unresponsive state. Doll Syndrome is in fact a physical side effect to an infection by AIDA. Salvador Aihara tries to do an undercover investigation regarding Doll Syndrome in especially young children for his show "Online Jack".
Creeping Derangea	Advance Wars: Days of Ruin	An artificial virus that initially infects those under the age of 20. The outbreak is attributed to the post-Apocalyptic setting in which the game is set. The Virus is revealed as a failed Bio-Weapon by IDS, created to test the extent of IDS technology. The virus mutates into a strain that can infect older hosts over time. Causes flowers to grow inside a person and break out of the skin. A beautiful, albeit excruciatingly painful, way to die.
Yellow Death	1213 Episodes 1 to 3	A strain of virus that affects cloned children on the Tessa Life Orbital Space Station. Most children just die after extreme pain and facial lesions, then rise up as mindless 'zombies'. There are several examples of mutations caused when the virus infects children. Prisoner 0916 for example can alter his skeletal system, making extra limbs, shooting darts, and creating huge spikes. One of the other prisoner's IQ raises exponentially as his body deteriorates.
Tiberium poisoning	Command & Conquer	Tiberium crystals start to grow on a person's skin. These skin crystals eventually force their way through the persons vital organs, killing them. If the infestation is in a certain proportion, the victim mutates into a living bag of rotten skin and organs, called a visceroid.
Technocyte Virus	Dark Sector	The metabolism of victims are increased and the surface of their skin hardens and forms a metallic exterior. The infection continues to mutate the host, driving them insane from the intense pain. The infected then become wildly aggressive and unpredictable, attacking anyone that is not infected on sight. The disease can be spread by physical contact and can affect animals as well as humans.
Rust Lung	Gears of War 2	When the Lightmass bomb that killed the multitude of Locust monsters in the 1st game subliminated the liquid element "Imulsion", the gas seeped into the atmosphere of planet Sera, resulting into 'Rust Lung', a disease that spreads quickly and deadly.
Madoba-2	Whiteout	Virus related to Ebola, causes the victim to receive fever and eventually bleed to death from all body openings.

[edit] See also

• List of fictional medicines and drugs
• List of fictional toxins
• The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases Jeff VanderMeer & Mark Roberts (ed). ISBN 0553383396

[edit] Further reading

Disease in Fiction. Its place in current literature Nestor Tirard, 1886.

Vital Signs Medical Realism in Nineteenth-Century Fiction Lawrence Rothfield, 1992. ASIN B000J0QZSC

Les malades imaginés: Diseases in fiction René Krémer. Journal: Acta Cardiologica, 2003.

No Cure for the Future: Disease and Medicine in Science Fiction and Fantasy Gary Westfahl & George Slusser, 2002. ISBN 0313317070

Nineteenth-Century Narratives of Contagion Allan Conrad Christensen, 2005. ISBN 041536048X