# Fictional Drug or Disease Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2008, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057 "2008-03-28T16:06:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/61 "2008-03-29T22:37:41Z")
Upright Citizen’s Brigade had “Little Donny Disease” (magnimus- obliviophallocytis). Strangers With Candy had the drug “Glint”, a kind of neon green slime that was administered to the lips. It seemed to cause lots of energy and hallucinations. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/62 "2008-03-29T23:24:48Z")
From the City of Heros/Villains games, there’s The Will of the Earth, a “semi-sentient bacterial sludge” that turns everything it infects into “The Devouring Earth”; a sort of genocidally hostile ecology. There’s also the weaponized, Mad Science fortified version of the above, The Force of the Earth. Glitterbright, a highly addictive and destructive narcotic drink from the Doc Sidhe novels. There’s the Doctor, a sentient and generally helpful sentient “disease” from the Sector General novels. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/63 "2008-03-29T23:34:06Z")
The American Playhouse production of John Cheever’s The Shady Hill Kidnapping was punctuated with mock advertisements for “ **Elixorcol** , The True Juice of Youth”. (I’m guessing at the spelling.) Celeste Holm was the celebrity pitchwoman. “When you look in the mirror, is your face rucked and seamed with alcoholic and sexual excesses?..Then you need Elixorcol.” ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/64 "2008-03-30T00:23:48Z")
Polite Dissent has a ridiculously thorough database of fictional comic drugs [here](http://politedissent.com/cbdr.html) a few highlights: > [@](#): > > Cancelite > A spray originally invented by Supergirl that froze shape-changers in their current form. Braniac 5 refined the formula so that it returned the shape changer to their original form and canceled their powers temporarily. > [@](#): > > Haut-E > Distilled from the brains of the aristocratic and super rich, Haut-E gives a feeling of arrogance and superiority. > > Miss Teak: “Haut-E. The most powerful, addictive and therefore expensive narcotic in the galaxy. Concentrated smugness.” > [@](#): > > Soul > Street drug from Gotham City. It has one of two effects on a person – it either turn them into an “angel” (i.e. enhance their best qualities), or turns them into a “devil” (i.e. bring out their worst qualities). It is produced By Dr. Death and made from corpses. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/65 "2008-03-30T01:47:21Z")
\*The Dark Tower \* series by Stephen King has devil-weed. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/66 "2008-03-30T02:15:07Z")
Tick, from _Path of the Fury/In Fury Born_. It increases reflex speed somewhat, but increases the speed of the user’s thought processes enormously. So everything they do, even at the fastest speed they can manage, is under conscious control instead of just reflexes, with plenty of thought behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/67 "2008-03-30T06:40:26Z")
[QUOTE=Silver Tyger Girl] > [@](#): > > Soul > Street drug from Gotham City. It has one of two effects on a person – it either turn them into an “angel” (i.e. enhance their best qualities), or turns them into a “devil” (i.e. bring out their worst qualities). It is produced By Dr. Death and made from corpses. [/quote] That reminds me of Bill Cosby talking about cocaine. He said he asked a coke-using friend, “What does it do for you?” and the friend answered, “It enhances your personality!” To which Bill replied, “Okay. What if you’re an asshole?” 😃 (Only time I’ve ever heard Cosby use profanity, and it was that much funnier and more effective for its unexpectedness.) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/68 "2008-03-30T12:35:57Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Explosive Diarrhea, from South Park, I think. [/QUOTE] Uh, I don’t know about that…(but then, I’ve never seen the episode in question…) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/69 "2008-03-30T18:29:14Z")
Terry Pratchett is pretty good at this: NANNY OGG: Well, that cow’s got Red Bugge, if I’m any judge GASPODE: I’ve even got Licky End, and you can only get that if you’re a pregnant sheep. There are probably others. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/70 "2008-03-30T18:30:30Z")
Hobbits, of course, smoke “pipe-weed.” Why do you think they eat six meals a day? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/71 "2008-03-30T18:46:23Z")
In Brian Daley’s 1979 S&S novel [_Starfollowers of Coramonde,_](http://www.amazon.com/Starfollowers-Coramonde-Brian-Daley/dp/0345339541) there was a vision-inducing drug called “dreamdrowse.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/72 "2008-03-30T18:51:53Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] The life-extension drug “boosterspice” from Larry Niven’s “Known Space” stories. [/QUOTE] From the same universe: [“Tree-of-life,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pak_Protector) which will turn any hominid (of the right age) who eats it into a Pak Protector. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/73 "2008-03-30T18:53:29Z")
Alan Dean Foster’s Flynx novel [_Bloodhype_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodhype) involves a deadly addictive drug of that name, a/k/a “Jaster.” You don’t want to sell me Death-Sticks. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/74 "2008-03-30T18:58:19Z")
Another from Pratchett: Slab, a mixture of ammonium chloride and radium, which will cause a troll to “sit in a corner to watch the colours.” I recall a [_Freak Brothers_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freak_brothers) story, “Drug Czar Freddie,” where Fat Freddy rallies public opposition to the nonexistent-even-within-the-story drug Squeak. He gets government funding for the anti-Squeak campaign, sets up an office and puts inner-city kids to work, the PTB are talking about running him for mayor . . . I won’t spoil it. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/75 "2008-03-31T22:24:37Z")
Coincidentially, _The Onion AV Club_ this week has a list of fictional drugs: [Don’t Bogart That Jenkem!](http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/dont_bogart_that_jenkem_18) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/76 "2008-04-01T02:56:25Z")
In Holly Black’s book Valiant, there’s a drug called Nevermore that allows fairies to be around iron and humans to use glamours. It also gets humans high. They call it Nevermore, because you (humans) go crazy if you take too much. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/77 "2008-04-01T04:45:36Z")
From _Serenity_, we have Paxilon-6 Hydrochlorate, which causes 99.9% of people exposed to it to become completely passive to the point where they literally just lay down where they are and wait to die. What it does to the rest of the people is much worse, of course. _Babylon 5_ has Stims, which are basically like caffeine shots, injected into the arm. Station medical chief Dr. Franklin had a bad addiction to them for a while on the show. Another B5 drug is Dust, which can give mundanes temporary telepathic powers, but without any of the coping abilities that telepaths develop naturally. Most users end up rather psychologically traumatized when exposed to the thoughts and memories of others (one guy scanned a woman who had been in a skiing accident, and ended up laying on the floor screaming that the mountain was falling on him). It’s not really a pleasure cruise for the person who gets their mind invaded by the Dust user either. As for diseases, in the film _Johnny Mnemonic_, Nerve Attenuation Syndrom (NAS), also known as The Black Shakes, is a nervous disorder caused by overexposure to electromagnetic radiation coming from the omnipresent technology seen everywhere. The computer game _Wing Commander IV_ (and the tie-in novelization) included a plotline where the bad guys started attacking planets with a bioengineered virus that would target anyone not fitting a certain genotype, and turn their immune systems on their bodies. The end result was widespread death and decay, with most of the rest of the population being highly vulnerable to secondary diseases from poor containment/disposal of the bodies and PTSD/Survivor’s Guilt-related problems ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/78 "2008-04-01T09:37:59Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Terry Pratchett is pretty good at this: NANNY OGG: Well, that cow’s got Red Bugge, if I’m any judge GASPODE: I’ve even got Licky End, and you can only get that if you’re a pregnant sheep. There are probably others. [/QUOTE] Swamp dragons are prey to an amazing variety of diseases and disorders that run the gamut all the way from Abated Heels to Zigzag Throat. Shifting gears considerably, in Jack Vance’s _Demon Princes_ pentalogy [Cluthe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarkoy#Cluthe)[sup]1[/sup] is something between a poison and a disease, used to kill in _Star King_ and _The Face_ with quite different effects (maybe the dose was different or the drug fresher). [sup]1[/sup]An excellent piece of authoring in the linked article, by a gifted writer at the top of his game.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/79 "2008-04-01T13:35:49Z")
The White Plague also is another name for tuberculosis. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057/80 "2008-04-01T13:53:49Z")
Comedian Robert Klein did a mock public service announcement promoting research into “Juergen’s myasthenia, a dreaded disease in which the nose mysteriously slides off.” “There is no cure…but there’s HOPE!!!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-drug-or-disease-names/443057.md?page=5)