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->'''Salt:''' Shouldn't we contact the command center, let them know we have the antiserum?
->'''Daniels:''' They don't care; they wanna bury the town.
->'''Salt:''' Ah, this is crazy.
->'''Daniels:''' They want their weapon.
->'''Salt:''' They're gonna kill all those people?
->'''Daniels:''' Right, they want their weapon.
->'''Salt:''' They're gonna sit there, and watch all those innocent people die?!
->'''Daniels:''' Yes, they want their weapon!
-->-- ''Film/{{Outbreak}}''
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* Failed spectacularly in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. The Alliance attempted to use an engineered gas to make the violent populace very docile. [[GoneHorriblyRight The gas worked ''too'' well]]: most of the population became so apathetic that they just laid down and died. The others [[GoneHorriblyWrong became hyper-violent berserkers, known as the Reavers]].

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* Failed spectacularly in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. The Alliance attempted to use an engineered gas to make the violent populace very docile. [[GoneHorriblyRight The gas worked ''too'' well]]: ''[[GoneHorriblyRight too]]'' well: most of the population became so apathetic that they just laid down and died. The others [[GoneHorriblyWrong became hyper-violent berserkers, known as the Reavers]].

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* In the Destroy ending of MassEffect3, the trope is inverted, with the final weapon destroying all ''synthetic'' life, including the friendly ones, and leaving the organic life alone.

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* In the Destroy ending of MassEffect3, Videogame/MassEffect3, the trope is inverted, with the final weapon destroying all ''synthetic'' life, including the friendly ones, and leaving the organic life alone.

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* Played with in the MultipleEndings of ''Videogame/MassEffect3''.
** In the Destroy ending, the trope is inverted, with the final weapon destroying all ''synthetic'' life, including the friendly ones, and leaving the organic life alone.
** In the Control ending, only the leader of the villains is affected, with the HiveMind now being controlled by the main character.
** In the Synthesis ending, both organic and synthetic life are combined into one hybrid race, making the war completely irrelevant.

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* Played with in the MultipleEndings of ''Videogame/MassEffect3''.
**
In the Destroy ending, ending of MassEffect3, the trope is inverted, with the final weapon destroying all ''synthetic'' life, including the friendly ones, and leaving the organic life alone.
** In the Control ending, only the leader of the villains is affected, with the HiveMind now being controlled by the main character.
** In the Synthesis ending, both organic and synthetic life are combined into one hybrid race, making the war completely irrelevant.
alone.
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* RobertRankin trumps H.G. Wells in his Victorian steampunk novel, ''The Educated Ape''. The ''War of the Worlds'' is referenced as having just been won, as per book, by the Martians not having thought to innoculate against Earth's diseases. But the devious Winston Churchill (a man who in life was an advocate of euthenasia, eugenics and chemical warfare) sent some of the captured Martian spacecraft back to them, loaded with volunteer crews of terminally ill humans, with every contagious diseases known to Man. A Mars cleansed of its higher life forms is then open to colonisation from the British Empire...

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* RobertRankin Creator/RobertRankin trumps H.G. Wells in his Victorian steampunk novel, ''The Educated Ape''. The ''War of the Worlds'' is referenced as having just been won, as per book, by the Martians not having thought to innoculate against Earth's diseases. But the devious Winston Churchill (a man who in life was an advocate of euthenasia, eugenics and chemical warfare) sent some of the captured Martian spacecraft back to them, loaded with volunteer crews of terminally ill humans, with every contagious diseases known to Man. A Mars cleansed of its higher life forms is then open to colonisation from the British Empire...
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* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K''. [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Virus_bombing Virus bombing]] is one of the ways Exterminatus (destroying a planet that has succumbed to TheCorruption or cannot be saved) can be carried out. As it destroys all life (and eventually, the ''atmosphere''), its use is rather limited.

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* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K''. [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Virus_bombing Virus bombing]] is one of the ways Exterminatus (destroying a planet that has succumbed to TheCorruption or cannot be saved) can be carried out. As it destroys all life (and eventually, the ''atmosphere''), its use is rather limited. And now they've found out that using them strengthens Nurgle, the Chaos god of disease...
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* An erstwhile Alliance officer on ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' made his fortune using biological weapons to depopulate communities, then he looted their untouched valuables.

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* An erstwhile Alliance officer on ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' made his fortune using biological weapons to depopulate communities, then he looted their untouched valuables. [[spoiler: This was a lie, but it was certainly a plausible one.]]
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* Failed spectacularly in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. The Alliance attempted to use an engineered gas to make the violent populace very docile. The gas worked ''too'' well: most of the population became so apathetic that they just laid down and died. The others became hyper-violent berserkers, known as the Reavers.

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* Failed spectacularly in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. The Alliance attempted to use an engineered gas to make the violent populace very docile. [[GoneHorriblyRight The gas worked ''too'' well: well]]: most of the population became so apathetic that they just laid down and died. The others [[GoneHorriblyWrong became hyper-violent berserkers, known as the Reavers.Reavers]].
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Crosswicking Fan Fic/Origins

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[[folder: Fan Works]]
* Averted in ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'', a ''MassEffect''[=/=]''StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]''[=/=]''[=Halo=]'']] MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, since the salarian STG's attempts to develop one to fight off an AlienInvasion repeatedly fail to produce anything that would be viable against the enemy [[spoiler:though given that enemy is the Flood, this makes sense]].
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* In ''Auf zwei Planeten'' ("On Two Planets") by [[Creator/KurdLasswitz Kurd Laßwitz]], which was published a year earlier, Oß, the leader of the Antibat faction in Martian politics, wants to retaliate against the rebellion of Earth against the Martian "protectorate" by introducing the dreaded Martian disease Gragra there. However, when this morally abhorrent plan becomes known to the public, he is resoundingly defeated in the elections, enabling a peace treaty between Mars and Earth to be concluded.
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* An arc in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' involved an attempt to develop a virus that would turn Wraiths into humans. They never managed to make its effects permanent or figure out an effective delivery mechanism. And their first test subject, "Michael", became a major recurring villain.

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* An arc in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' involved an attempt to develop a virus that would turn Wraiths into humans. They never managed to make its effects permanent or figure out an effective delivery mechanism. And their first test subject, "Michael", became a major recurring villain. Never really exploited is the fact that even when it's only temporary in effect, it still renders them amnesiacs with no ability to operate their own ships' bio-technology until the virus wears off.

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* ''Series/{{V}}''. In the mini-series, the human resistance develop a virus that only kills the aliens, driving them off the planet. When the aliens return for the later TV series, the virus can't be used again because increased concentration in the atmosphere will cause long-term mutations and sterility in the human and animal population.

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* ''Series/{{V}}''. In the mini-series, the human resistance develop a virus the Red Dust that only kills the aliens, driving them off the planet. When the aliens return for the later TV series, the virus Dust can't be used again because increased long term studies have shown that any greater concentration in the atmosphere will cause long-term mutations and sterility in would damage the human and animal population.
ecosystem.

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* ''Series/{{V}}''. In the mini-series, the human resistance develop a virus that only kills the aliens, driving them off the planet. When the aliens return for the later TV series, the virus can't be used again because increased concentration in the atmosphere will cause long-term mutations and sterility in the human and animal population.
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* ZigZaggedTrope on the George Pal version of ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'': it maintains the original ending of the Literature example below, but before the natural bacteria of Earth do the job, the military and the scientists were proposing to use bio-warfare (out of desperation, because nuking the machines didn't worked and the only option left was to try and see if it was possible to kill the Martians themselves). Unfortunately, the mobilization of the Martians towards L.A. means that the university the scientists are in needs to be evacuated, and the trucks that carry the equipment are robbed by desperate Angelenos who smash it all to make room (in the words of ScienceHero protagonist Dr. Clayton Forrester: "they sliced their own throats!").

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* ZigZaggedTrope on the George Pal version of ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'': it maintains the original ending of the Literature example below, but before the natural bacteria of Earth do the job, the military and the scientists were proposing to use bio-warfare (out of desperation, because nuking the machines didn't worked and the only option left was to try and see if it was possible to kill the Martians themselves). Unfortunately, the mobilization of the Martians towards L.A. means that the university the scientists are in needs to be evacuated, and the trucks that carry the equipment are robbed stolen by desperate Angelenos who smash it all to make room (in the words of ScienceHero protagonist Dr. Clayton Forrester: "they sliced their own throats!").
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None


* ZigZaggedTrope on the George Pal version of Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds: it maintains the original ending of the Literature example below, but before the natural bacteria of Earth do the job, the military and the scientists were proposing to use bio-warfare (out of desperation, because nuking the machines didn't worked and the only option left was to try and see if it was possible to kill the Martians themselves). Unfortunately, the mobilization of the Martians towards L.A. means that the university the scientists are in needs to be evacuated, and the trucks that carry the equipment are robbed by desperate Angelenos who smash it all to make room (in the words of ScienceHero protagonist Dr. Clayton Forrester: "they sliced their own throats!").

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* ZigZaggedTrope on the George Pal version of Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds: ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'': it maintains the original ending of the Literature example below, but before the natural bacteria of Earth do the job, the military and the scientists were proposing to use bio-warfare (out of desperation, because nuking the machines didn't worked and the only option left was to try and see if it was possible to kill the Martians themselves). Unfortunately, the mobilization of the Martians towards L.A. means that the university the scientists are in needs to be evacuated, and the trucks that carry the equipment are robbed by desperate Angelenos who smash it all to make room (in the words of ScienceHero protagonist Dr. Clayton Forrester: "they sliced their own throats!").
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None


* ZigZaggedTrope on the George Pal version of WarOfTheWorlds: it maintains the original ending of the Literature example below, but before the natural bacteria of Earth do the job, the military and the scientists were proposing to use bio-warfare (out of desperation, because nuking the machines didn't worked and the only option left was to try and see if it was possible to kill the Martians themselves). Unfortunately, the mobilization of the Martians towards L.A. means that the university the scientists are in needs to be evacuated, and the trucks that carry the equipment are robbed by desperate Angelenos who smash it all to make room (in the words of ScienceHero protagonist Dr. Clayton Forrester: "they sliced their own throats!").

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* ZigZaggedTrope on the George Pal version of WarOfTheWorlds: Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds: it maintains the original ending of the Literature example below, but before the natural bacteria of Earth do the job, the military and the scientists were proposing to use bio-warfare (out of desperation, because nuking the machines didn't worked and the only option left was to try and see if it was possible to kill the Martians themselves). Unfortunately, the mobilization of the Martians towards L.A. means that the university the scientists are in needs to be evacuated, and the trucks that carry the equipment are robbed by desperate Angelenos who smash it all to make room (in the words of ScienceHero protagonist Dr. Clayton Forrester: "they sliced their own throats!").
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* ZigZaggedTrope on the George Pal version of WarOfTheWorlds: it maintains the original ending of the Literature example below, but before the natural bacteria of Earth do the job, the military and the scientists were proposing to use bio-warfare (out of desperation, because nuking the machines didn't worked and the only option left was to try and see if it was possible to kill the Martians themselves). Unfortunately, the mobilization of the Martians towards L.A. means that the university the scientists are in needs to be evacuated, and the trucks that carry the equipment are robbed by desperate Angelenos who smash it all to make room (in the words of ScienceHero protagonist Dr. Clayton Forrester: "they sliced their own throats!").
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* An arc in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' involved an attempt to develop a virus that would turn Wraiths into humans. They never managed to make its effects permanent or figure out an effective delivery mechanism. And their first test subject, "Michael", became a major recurring villain.


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** Averted in gameplay, planets hit by Biowar missiles are easily quarantined and it takes multiple warheads to wipe out a planetary population. And after first exposure a faction can research a vaccine to that specific virus.


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** It later turns out that [[spoiler: the Genocide Project unleashed a gene therapy virus intended to make humanity immune to all the open-source designer plagues out there (but not their own). It killed a billion people.]]
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* The Aschen from ''Series/StargateSG1'' use super bacteria as a means of destroying any opposition on any newly conquered planets. Once the weapon has killed all infrastructure they come in and make themselves look like heroes.

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* The *''Series/StargateSG1'' had two episodes ("2010" in season 4, and "2001" in season 5) about the Aschen, an alien race who conquer worlds by supposedly being nice and friendly and handing out life extending drugs...that sterilize most of the population, letting the Aschen from ''Series/StargateSG1'' use super bacteria as a means of destroying any opposition on any newly conquered planets. Once the weapon has killed all infrastructure they come move in and make themselves look like heroes.take over after nearly everyone on the target planet has died out.
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* The crux of the third and final ''Film/{{Blade}}'' film is the use of a virus that will kill all vampires everywhere, seemingly instantaneously.

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* ''Film/BladeTrinity'': The crux of the third and final ''Film/{{Blade}}'' film is the use of a virus that will kill all vampires everywhere, seemingly instantaneously.
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* This plan works at the end of Heinlein's book ThePuppetMasters.
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* Nearly backfires in the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' novels for Star Wars. The virus in question, Alpha Red, is specifically designed to target [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong life-forms]] (and ''only'' Yuuzhan Vong life-forms). The Jedi oppose it for idealistic reasons (as not all the Yuuzhan Vong were evil, and they believed the race as a whole could likely be redeemed--and even if that were ''not'' the case, they would not be a party to genocide), but the final novel (''The Unifying Force'') adds several pragmatic considerations to the question (which had, to some extent, been brought up before, but in that novel they go from theoretical to ''actual''). On a planet the virus was tested on, the virus also affected a native form of life, proving the virus could mutate to infect other lifeforms. Worse, [[spoiler:an infected ship escaped, letting the Yuuzhan Vong know about the threat...and ''even worse'', Alpha Red was a threat to the living world Zonama Sekot, which was an offspring of the primordial homeworld of the Yuuzhan Vong. The last part of the novel includes the Yuuzhan Vong trying to crash that infected ship on the living planet, and the heroes attempting to stop it]].

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[[folder: Comics ]]

* In ''Comicbook/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' it is revealed that the bacteria which killed the martians during the events of ''WarOfTheWorlds'' (see Literature below) was in fact a hybrid of Anthrax and Streptococcus developed by Dr. Moreau while working for the British Military.

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[[folder: Comics ]]

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* In ''Comicbook/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' it is revealed that the bacteria which killed the martians during the events of ''WarOfTheWorlds'' ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' (see Literature below) was in fact a hybrid of Anthrax and Streptococcus developed by Dr. Moreau while working for the British Military.
Military.



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* The Aschen from ''Series/StargateSG1'' use super bacteria as a means of destroying any opposition on any newly conquered planets. Once the weapon has killed all infustructer they come in and make themselves look like heroes.

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[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

TV]]
* The Aschen from ''Series/StargateSG1'' use super bacteria as a means of destroying any opposition on any newly conquered planets. Once the weapon has killed all infustructer infrastructure they come in and make themselves look like heroes.



* Used in the 7th season of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' by the Leviathans against the other monsters. they used a special chemical in fast food that would make the body's of humans who ate it to be deadly to all monster species, and this is a series where every on is a [[ImAHumanitarian Humanitarian]].

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* Used in the 7th season of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' by the Leviathans against the other monsters. they used a special chemical in fast food that would make the body's of humans who ate it to be deadly to all monster species, and this is a series where every on everyone is a [[ImAHumanitarian Humanitarian]].









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It says Bio/Chemical in THE FIRST SENTENCE.



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* Failed spectacularly in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. The Alliance attempted to use an engineered gas to make the violent populace very docile. The gas worked ''too'' well: most of the population became so apathetic that they just laid down and died. The others became hyper-violent berserkers, known as the Reavers.
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That was a chemical weapon, not a bio-weapon.



* Failed spectacularly in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. The Alliance attempted to use an engineered gas to make the violent populace very docile. The gas worked ''too'' well: most of the population became so apathetic that they just laid down and died. The others became hyper-violent berserkers, known as the Reavers.

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Just like GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke, Biological/Chemical outbreaks are the new NukeEm.

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Just like GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke, Biological/Chemical outbreaks are the new NukeEm.
NukeEm.



Usually used in a GuiltFreeExterminationWar. Subtrope of FinalSolution (that trope doesn't specify ''how'' it gets carried out).

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Usually used in a GuiltFreeExterminationWar. Subtrope of FinalSolution (that trope doesn't specify ''how'' it gets carried out).
out).



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* {{God}} has done this a few times.

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* {{God}} has done this a few times.

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* In ''Literature/LastAndFirstMen'' the millennia-long war between the Second Men and the Martians (sentient clouds of bacteria) is brought to an end using a designer virus. Unfortunately it's too late for the Second Men at that point but they are succeeded by the Third Men.

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Examples that somehow failed to make Rolling Updates



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* RobertRankin trumps H.G. Wells in his Victorian steampunk novel, ''The Educated Ape''. The ''War of the Worlds'' is referenced as having just been won, as per book, by the Martians not having thought to innoculate against Earth's diseases. But the devious Winston Churchill (a man who in life was an advocate of euthenasia, eugenics and chemical warfare) sent some of the captured Martian spacecraft back to them, loaded with volunteer crews of terminally ill humans, with every contagious diseases known to Man. A Mars cleansed of its higher life forms is then open to colonisation from the British Empire...
* In Jack London's story "The Unparalleled Invasion," what prevents the YellowPeril from taking over the world is the bombardment of Chinese cities with glass tubes containing "every virulent form of infectious death," which exterminates the Chinese population in six weeks.
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** Later there is an attempt to use a virus to kill off the Yeerks, but because there was a possibility that it would mutate to infect their host species (such as humans) the Animorphs stopped it.
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Just like GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke, Biological/Chemical outbreaks are the new NukeEm.

So why choose this above DeusExNukina? Several reasons. While nuclear weapons are highly destructive and devastating to an enemy, a NuclearWar would probably cause more problems than it solved (perpetual winter, radiation, etc.), and thanks to the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, the general public is ''very'' familiar with the theoretical effects of a nuclear war. On the other hand, [[PhlebotinumDuJour biological weapons are so variable that they can basically do whatever the plot requires.]]

So, if the heroes are experiencing their DarkestHour, and the end looms near, this is a simple and effective way to tip-toe around a situation where OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow. Likewise, if you want to demonstrate how depraved your villain is, you can certainly show victims of ThePlague dying in slow and horrible ways, and punctuate it with mounds of burning bodies.

It can go by many names: [[TheVirus The "Virus"]], The "Plague", The "Cure", The "Cleansing", etc, but it fits the same criteria:

# It targets only living things. Infrastructure and biospheres are left untouched.
# It will completely destroy the enemy ranks, or at least decimate them to the point that they are not a significant threat.
# It can be spread across the entire kingdom, continent, planet, universe, etc.
# It has a half-life long enough or communicability rapid enough that it's nigh-impossible to escape.
# (Optional) It will target the enemy and ''only'' the enemy, leaving the deploying army free from consequence.

When used by the good guys at the climax, rarely do the negative affects get addressed. In RealLife, viruses are well known to mutate into nastier and unpredictable forms. A virus that once spread slowly and was cured easily could potentially mutate into a rapid pandemic. If it was bacteria/fungi, that stuff can survive outside of a living host and contaminate all sorts of things. If it was some sort of nerve agent, the issue of tainting water supplies or tainting landscape is glossed over. And even if humans are immune from the weapon used, it usually conveniently leaves other terrestrial lifeforms and ecosystems intact. This may be justified if it's an AlienInvasion, and NoBiochemicalBarriers is averted.

SisterTrope to DeusExNukina. May lead to a ZombieApocalypse.

Usually used in a GuiltFreeExterminationWar. Subtrope of FinalSolution (that trope doesn't specify ''how'' it gets carried out).

'''As an EndingTrope, BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!!'''
----
!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Comics}}]]
* In ''Comicbook/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' it is revealed that the bacteria which killed the martians during the events of ''WarOfTheWorlds'' (see Literature below) was in fact a hybrid of Anthrax and Streptococcus developed by Dr. Moreau while working for the British Military.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Failed spectacularly in ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. The Alliance attempted to use an engineered gas to make the violent populace very docile. The gas worked ''too'' well: most of the population became so apathetic that they just laid down and died. The others became hyper-violent berserkers, known as the Reavers.
* The crux of the third and final ''Film/{{Blade}}'' film is the use of a virus that will kill all vampires everywhere, seemingly instantaneously.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* A subversion in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': the Andalites ''tried'' to do this to prevent the Yeerks from enslaving the Hork-Bajir race (by way of a virus that only affected the Hork-Bajir), but eventually failed.
* ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds''. In H.G. Wells's classic novel, Earth's bacteria do in the aliens. This is kept in most adaptations, from radio to the 1950's movie. Subverted at first in the 80s TV show that just had the aliens in hibernation. Later one of the characters develops a bacteria to kill off the aliens for good.
* In Edward Willett's ''"Marseguro"'' a colony of genetically engineered humans called "Selkies" is invaded by the religious fanatics who rule the rest of human space. The Selkies unleash a plague designed not to harm them and vaccinate the baseline human colonists. The invaders die but the baseline who drew them there in the first place was vaccinated and an unknowing carrier, and he made it back to Earth where it kills a large chunk of the planet. The sequel "Terra Insegura" covers a Selkie mission to bring the vaccine to Earth.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* The Aschen from ''Series/StargateSG1'' use super bacteria as a means of destroying any opposition on any newly conquered planets. Once the weapon has killed all infustructer they come in and make themselves look like heroes.
* An erstwhile Alliance officer on ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' made his fortune using biological weapons to depopulate communities, then he looted their untouched valuables.
* Used in the 7th season of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' by the Leviathans against the other monsters. they used a special chemical in fast food that would make the body's of humans who ate it to be deadly to all monster species, and this is a series where every on is a [[ImAHumanitarian Humanitarian]].

[[AC:{{Religion}}]]
* {{God}} has done this a few times.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K''. [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Virus_bombing Virus bombing]] is one of the ways Exterminatus (destroying a planet that has succumbed to TheCorruption or cannot be saved) can be carried out. As it destroys all life (and eventually, the ''atmosphere''), its use is rather limited.

[[AC:{{Videogames}}]]
* The first ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' trilogy can be loosely interpreted to end this way. The eponymous Halos are installations which can wipe out all life within a certain radius, meant to "starve" [[TheVirus The Flood]]. The Halos aren't biological weapons themselves, but they're clearly built to target certain forms of life (plants and most animals are left untouched, but anything sapient is toast).
* In ''Videogame/{{Resistance}}'', an eleventh-hour cure is used to defeat the Chimaera and end a war that, technically, humanity had already lost years ago.
* An eleventh-hour cure is also used in ''Videogame/GearsOfWar'' to destroy both the Locust and the Lambent.
* Subverted in ''Videogame/{{Metroid}}''. The Chozo created the eponymous Metroids as a biological weapon to control the rampant Parasite X on planet SR-388, which could have threatened the entire galaxy if left unchecked. Later, other races discovered the Metroid and the creatures began to spread across the galaxy, proving to be an even worse threat than Parasite X. Then, when Samus eradicated the Metroid, Parasite X came back stronger than ever.
* Played with in the MultipleEndings of ''Videogame/MassEffect3''.
** In the Destroy ending, the trope is inverted, with the final weapon destroying all ''synthetic'' life, including the friendly ones, and leaving the organic life alone.
** In the Control ending, only the leader of the villains is affected, with the HiveMind now being controlled by the main character.
** In the Synthesis ending, both organic and synthetic life are combined into one hybrid race, making the war completely irrelevant.
* The original ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars'' stated that the Liir rebelled against the Suul'ka by using a bioweapon to wipe them out. Given the species' adeptness with {{Synthetic Plague}}s everyone assumed that the bioweapon was one. Until the sequel revealed the true nature of the [[StrongerWithAge Suul]]'[[SpaceWhale ka]] and the [[HunterOfHisOwnKind "bio]][[LivingWeapon weapon"]] used to destroy them, and that seven of them survived.
* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'' concluded with the heroes attacking the Aparoid queen with a electronic virus intended to induce apoptosis in their biological components. Though she is able to suppress it somehow until you finish killing her with conventional weapons.

[[AC:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/GenocideMan'' takes place after several extremist groups used open-source biotechnology to kill billions. The titular Genocide Project is an international law enforcement agency that uses targeted plagues to wipe out "genetic deviants" and their creators.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy:'' Stewie and Bertram end up in a playground war which ends when Bertram infects Stewie's side with Chicken Pox.

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