History Main / PoisonIsEvil

* All times when poison comes up in the ''Music/EvilliousChronicles'' involve it being used to kill people--a particular example is the light novel ''Literature/GiftFromThePrincessWhoBroughtSleep'', with the titular gift being the [[GratuitousGerman wrong]] kind of [[BilingualBonus gift]].

* Panacotta Fugo from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'' is an interesting case. He posesses what is one of the most dangerous Stands in Purple Rain, which produces a powerful virus capable of killing organisms in less than a minute, unless it's contrarrested with another of the virus capsules. He's a member of Bruno Bucciaratti's group who are members of the Passione mafia, but tend to be more on the anti-hero side (though a tad more pragmatic and villanous than the average) . Also, [[spoiler: When the group decides to protect Trish and, as such, get in The Boss' sights, Fugo is the only one who takes the option of abandoning the group. Though, in supplemental material, it's shown that he returned to Passione once Giorno became the new boss]].

* While ''Anime/{{Monster}}'' features a lot of killers and murderers, the only ones who ever employ poison are [[BigBad Johan Liebert]] and [[RetiredMonster Franz Bonaparta]].
* In ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'', where despite everyone being ninjas, mostly only villains rely on combat that involves something other than direct confrontation, although to be fair the heroes themselves rarely remark on it being "bad" in and of itself. Pre-timeskip, some of the only users of poison are the 2 Rain ninja during the start of the Zabuza arc, Kankuro (who becomes a good guy, but his poison focus is introduced when he's a villain) and Shizune. Later on, we get Sasori (who focuses on poison in the same way Kankuro does) and it's not until MUCH much later that Sakura uses her medical expertise to make a poison kunai as one of the few purely heroic examples.

* The ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' ''loves'' this trope.

** Poison Ivy, [[PoisonousPerson of course]]. She has altered her body to the point where she can enchant men with pheromones and [[KissOfDeath slay them with a kiss]]. Her blood is deadly.

* Poison and horrid drugs are common among ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'''s enemies:

* ''ComicBook/RedSonja'' has the Queen of Plagues arc, which reveals the plague to actually be broad-scale poisonings. The villain responsible used it to wipe out enemy militaries, then dispatched his general to execute the survivors on grounds of preventing the spread of disease. The poison's inventor was a medieval physician depicted as cowardly and unnatural.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'''s enemy Mac Gargan used poison only in one version of his costume in his identity of the Scorpion (which is odd, considering the arachnid he'd named after) but it was a ''very'' potent three-part toxin. The first dose would cause weakness and pain, the second convulsions, and death within twenty-four hours, and the third [[InformedAbility (if he was being truthful)]] instant death. He was able to inflict doses one and two on both Spidey and J. Jonah Jameson before an antidote was found.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' has an entire legacy of villainesses called Doctor Poison. They are all experts in the use of poisons, toxins, and plagues. The [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 original]] was a WWII war criminal, the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 second]] a gleeful killer for hire and her ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'' iteration a heartless mercenary.

** Inverted in ''WebComic/AxeCop'', where using poison to take out bad guys is a favourite tactic of the titular hero, who calls it his "secret attack." Axe Cop seems to have a poison for ''every'' villain he comes across, with some bizarre method to get it into them. The artist notes this trope in his commentary, saying that most people associate poison with treachery and villains, but the author, his six-year old brother, thinks poison is simply a quick, easy, and pragmatic way to take out bad guys.

* Inverted in ''WebComic/AxeCop'', where it's the good guy who poisons everyone. He seems to have a poison for ''every'' villain he comes across with some bizarre method to get it into them.

* Panacotta Fugo from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'' is an interesting case. He posesses what is one of the most dangerous Stands in Purple Rain, which produces a powerful virus capable of killing organisms in less than a minute, unless it's contrarrested with another of the virus capsules. He's a member of Bruno Bucciaratti's group who are members of the Pasione mafia, but are also more or less anti-heroes. Also, [[spoiler: When the group decides to protect Trish and, as such, get in The Boss' sights, Fugo is the only one who takes the option of abandoning the group]].

** Jessie and James of Team Rocket originally started out with an Ekans/Arbok and Koffing/Weezing. Jessie later owned a Seviper and James an Amoonguss.

In many works, when poison comes into play, it is the villain who primarily uses it, and indeed, use of poison by a character is seen as very suspect at best, and a strong sign that the character is evil at worst. Very few heroes (apart from {{antihero}}ic {{Combat Pragmatist}}s) will use poison, considering it dishonest and dishonorable, and if they do use it, it's likely to be something aimed to knock people out such as tranquilizer darts rather than something deadly like arsenic or cyanide, which ties into ThouShaltNotKill. A PoisonousPerson will [[PersonalityPowers almost always be malevolent]] because of this trope.

* F.A.N.G from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' has a moveset that is based on wearing down his opponents gradually with different kinds of poisons. He is also Sagat's replacement in Shadaloo as M. Bison's [[TheDragon Number Two]].

** Traditionally, the only "iconic" dragon with a poison-based BreathWeapon is the Green Dragon, one of the Usually Evil (Lawful Evil in its case) Chromatics and known for being particularly malicious and cruel.

** Inverted with Ash's Muk, however. It's a very friendly Pokémon that loves giving hugs. His dependable Bulbasaur is never seen taking advantage of its type, and Brock's aloof yet effective Croagunk usually only uses its Poison Jab as a MomentKiller RunningGag when its master is in danger of making a fool of himself. (It did use it offensively on Jesse in ''one'' episode, but it was to protect the other good guys.) Also inverted with Ash's Poipole, who's mischievous but overall friendly and means no harm - when it accidentally poisons Rowlet in self-defense, it's immediately remorseful. The Naganadel Ash and friends meet later is also helpful and polite despite its scary typing (Poison/Dragon) and appearance.

* Carla Rainer - the sadistic antagonist in ''Film/ExceptionToTheRule'' - injects her victims with sea snake venom to paralyse them.

* Inverted in ''Literature/ButlerParker'': Parker and his protégé, Lady Simpson, often use poisoned dartzs, needles, etc. - though they only ever use sleeping poisons. ''Fatal'' poisons are used by criminals, very rarely.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', poison is commonly seen as the weapon of cowards, women, or those viewed as unmanly, such as a eunuch, as someone eager to pin the blame on Lord Varys is quick to add. [[spoiler:Turns out it's actually a woman who did that particular poisoning.]] The same logic is also used to accuse [[spoiler:the dwarf Tyrion for King Joffrey's poisoning, even though Joffrey was a bigger coward than Tyrion ever was.]] Oberyn Martell's tendency to poison his spears, even in duels and trials by combat, is seen as highly dishonorable, and it's mentioned right up there with his reputation as a DepravedBisexual. [[spoiler: While he's a HotBlooded jerk, he's not as evil as his reputation would imply.]]

* ''Series/OnlyMurdersInTheBuilding'': Things start to get real for the trio when Oliver's dog is poisoned, though the pooch survives. Oliver goes so far as to erroneously suspect Music/{{Sting}} for the crime. Gradually, they realize that [[spoiler: a cat in the building was also poisoned, the night Tim Kono was shot.]] And later, they learn that Tim was [[spoiler: poisoned before he was shot. Eventually, the trail leads to Charles's new girlfriend, the sociopathic Jan who is responsible for all the poisonings, though the cat was accidental. She tries to kill Charles this way, but he is rescued by Mable and Oliver.]]

[[folder:Myth and Religion]]

---->It is also likely that the DM will establish sanctions regarding the use of poisons on a continuing basis, i.e. characters of good alignment cannot use such toxic substances as it constitutes foul and unfair practice; or characters found with poisoned weapons will be immediately slain and their corpses burned and ashes scattered. In a similar vein, most communities view poisoning and poisons as highly undesirable due to the difficulty of protecting against ingestion of such fatal substances. Any individual (or group) making indiscriminate use of poison will have social pressure and/or legal action brought against him or her. The DM could also simply point out that if the party started habitually using poison so could their normally non poison using opponents - a dozen kobolds with save or die poison on their arrows can seriously wreck your day.

*** A non-lethal knockout venom exists that is the exception: It has no worse side effects than "unconscious for 2d4 hours", and the books specifically mention that even paladins could use that one with little moral quandary, provided the intention is to knock someone out rather than kill them (like capturing a criminal for courts). Of course, in a fine bit of {{irony}}, it's called [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Drow]] poison and is relatively unknown on the surface - [[PragmaticVillainy the Drow use it for live captures of slaves]].

** As of 5th edition, it is frowned upon-- "Given their insidious and deadly nature, poisons are illegal in most societies but are a favorite tool among assassins, drow, and other evil creatures"-- but there are no alignment or class penalties for its use.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', it is notable how much more common poisoned attacks, weapons, and spells are among the Forces of Destruction. Witch Elves, Dark Elf and Skaven Assassins, Ghouls, Crypt Horrors, Gutter Runners, Plaguebearers, Forest Goblins, some Forsaken and Chaos Champions to name but a few - virtually all of the Forces of Destruction have plentiful access to poisons; whereas of the Forces of Order, only the [[LizardFolk Lizardmen]] use them, only really getting a pass because they are jungle-dwellers (when one sees a blowdart, it's ''expected'' to be poisoned). Dwarfs, High Elves, Empire, Bretonnians, and even Wood Elves don't have any poisoned attacks at all.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': Most of the ''really'' unsympathetic culprits in the game are the ones who use poison. Phoenix also names "poisoning and betrayal" as two crimes he can't forgive, [[spoiler: because his college girlfriend Dahlia betrayed and attempted to poison him]].
** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' has the first cases of murder (and attempted murder) via poison. [[spoiler: In chronological order, Dahlia [[MurderBySuicide tricks Terry Fawles into suicide]] via drinking poison, poisons Diego Armando for looking into her (he survives, but is left in a coma), and poisons Phoenix's cold medicine, but he doesn't have a chance to take it before Mia reveals the poison]]. The poisoner is also willing to kill via stabbing and electrocution when necessary, but poison is kind of their WeaponSpecialization.
*** ''Trials and Tribulations'' also has Furio Tigre and Viola Cadaverini in the third case; the former poisoned Glen Elg and the latter's creepiness is emphasized by hinting that she poisons food she serves- though Viola doesn't ''actually'' poison anyone during the investigation. [[spoiler: The epilogue hints that she sent poisoned food to Furio Tigre to get back at him for using her as a pawn.]]

*** Played absolutely straight with Jezaille Brett, a cold-blooded killer who uses rare poisons to obfuscate investigations into her murders. [[spoiler: Downplayed with her killer, an AntiVillain who poisons Brett because she was racially abusing him and about to become a KarmaHoudini]].
*** Averted with [[spoiler: Olive Green]], who poisons William Shamspeare with strychnine (he survives) because he got away with killing her fiancée a few years ago.

* ZigZagged in ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed.'' In the [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI first game]], the eponymous creed specifically forbids the use of poison; in the [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII second game]], however, it's stated that the Assassins have adopted the use of poison in order to adapt to changing times. (Twisting the trope further is the fact that poison is one of the ''less'' subtle weapons in the protagonist's arsenal - a poisoned foe will go berserk and attack everyone around him before dying!)

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': Actually inverted; the two deaths caused by poison have the most sympathetic culprits. [[spoiler: Sakura Ogami killed ''herself'' to put a stop to the rising tensions amongst the students after her reveal as TheMole, and Chiaki Nanami was tricked into putting out a fire near the victim with an extinguisher grenade that she didn't know was poisoned.]]

** Subverted in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', where you can steal poison weapons - and in this case, they retain their effects under your ownership. In addition, you can pry Valaura, a poison light tome, off of Valtome's corpse in Part 4 of ''Radiant Dawn''.

* In one sidequest of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' you need to help a soldier find a weapon for her promotion exam. One of the options is a poisoned claymore, though she is unaware of this. [[spoiler: If selected, she will fail the trial for winning by dishonorable means.]] Interestingly this is a case of in-game DeliberateValuesDissonance as you get the weapon from a Nopon merchant. Likewise, the game's Nopon party member specializes in poison and status ailment attacks. The [[HumansByAnyOtherName homs]] (or at least their military) believe in this trope while the Nopon have no such stigma.

*** ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' spells out poison that does ability damage or drain as inherently evil because it "causes undue suffering in the process of incapacitating or killing an opponent." It also introduces "ravages", which have exactly the same effect as poisons, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality except that they are okay because they inflict damage via the creature's evil rather than via its biological processes]]. Confusingly one of the listed ravages is "purified coautl venom", drawing attention to how [[ContinuitySnarl couatls still have poisonous attacks]] while being AlwaysLawfulGood.

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* Played with in ''Manga/OnePiece'' via Magellan, the warden of the prison Impel Down. His Devil Fruit, the Venom-Venom Fruit, allows him to generate poison from his body at will. While definitely an antagonist, as the Impel Down arc has Luffy breaking into the prison to rescue his brother, Magellan is also the last line of defense keeping many of the worst criminals in the ''One Piece'' world[[note]]plus some people on the bad side of the Government[[/note]] from seeing the light of day.
** There are also plenty of villains who aren't afraid of using poisoned weapons, including Don Krieg, Crocodile, Wanze, Duval and Hyouzou.
** Caesar Clown, one of the most evil characters in One Piece, uses poison gas as one of his Devil Fruit powers. He also helps supply Kaido with poison gas to use.
** Meanwhile, the heroic Sanji absolutely ''refuses'' to have poison put in food he's made as a matter of honor, even if it would provide a golden opportunity to take out one of the Four Emperors. Though in this case, he has a personal reason as he nearly starved to death as a kid and as such absolutely hates wasting food.
** Inverted with Reiju "Poison Pink" Vinsmoke, who is one of the nicest of the Vinsmoke family and has poison abilities.
* In ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'', where despite everyone being ninjas, mostly only villains rely on combat that involves something other than direct confrontation, although to be fair the heroes themselves rarely remark on it being "bad" in and of itself. Pre-timeskip, some of the only users of poison are the 2 Rain ninja during the start of the Zabuza arc, Kankuro (who becomes a good guy, but his poison focus is introduced when he's a villain) and Shizune. Later on, we get Sasori (who focuses on poison in the same way Kankuro does) and it's not until MUCH much later that Sakura uses her medical expertise to make a poison kunai as one of the few purely heroic examples.
* The few times that poison has been used in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', it has been the province of villains, such as Adon Corbowitz's use of poison in his duel with Casca, or the conspiracy to kill Griffith.
* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', one of the many "second generation" Dragon Slayers that Natsu encounters is Cobra, the Poison Dragon Slayer. He is, unsurprisingly, evil, although he later does a HeelFaceTurn and fights alongside Jellal and other former Dark Guild members as part of Crime Sorciere.
* While ''Anime/{{Monster}}'' features a lot of killers and murderers, the only ones who ever employ poison are [[BigBad Johan Liebert]] and [[RetiredMonster Franz Bonaparta]].

* All times when poison comes up in the Music/EvilliousChronicles involve it being used to kill people--a particular example is the light novel ''Literature/GiftFromThePrincessWhoBroughtSleep'', with the titular gift being the [[GratuitousGerman wrong]] kind of [[BilingualBonus gift]].
* Ilulu from ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' can breathe corrosive poison and was introduced as an AxCrazy maniac who loved destruction. [[spoiler:Subverted when it turned out she was a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds and performed a HeelFaceTurn.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the MadScientist captain of the 12th Division and the TokenEvilTeammate for the 13 Court Guard Squads, uses a Zanpakuto with powers based around poison, and his Bankai releases clouds of poisonous fog.

* Poison and horrid drugs are common among ComicBook/{{Batman}}'s enemies:

* ComicBook/SpiderMan's enemy Mac Gargan used poison only in one version of his costume in his identity of the Scorpion (which is odd, considering the arachnid he'd named after) but it was a ''very'' potent three-part toxin. The first dose would cause weakness and pain, the second convulsions, and death within twenty-four hours, and the third [[InformedAbility (if he was being truthful)]] instant death. He was able to inflict doses one and two on both Spidey and J. Jonah Jameson before an antidote was found.

* ComicBook/WonderWoman has an entire legacy of villainesses called Doctor Poison. They are all experts in the use of poisons, toxins, and plagues. The [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 original]] was a WWII war criminal, the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 second]] a gleeful killer for hire and her ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'' iteration a heartless mercenary.

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': Poison is used by the evil architect Artifis in ''Recap/AsterixAndCleopatra'' (who tries to get the heroes framed for it) and by a corrupt Roman governor on an uncorruptable official in ''Recap/AsterixInSwitzerland''.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Inverted in ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. [[spoiler:The current iteration of]] the Dread Pirate Roberts made himself immune to at least one poison, foiling Vizzini's "I know you know I know" reasoning with the poisoned wine and knocking Vizzini out of play.

* In ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjayPart1'', Snow's choice method to rid himself of rivals and dissenters is poison. Finnick presents this as a massively cowardly and evil thing to do. "Poison, the perfect weapon for a snake."
* Carla Rainer - the sadistic antagonist in ''Film/ExceptionToTheRule'' - injects her victims with sea snake venom to paralyse them.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', poison is commonly seen as the weapon of cowards, women, or those viewed as unmanly, such as a eunuch, as someone eager to pin the blame on Lord Varys is quick to add. [[spoiler:Turns out it's actually a woman who did that particular poisoning.]] The same logic is also used to accuse [[spoiler:the dwarf Tyrion for King Joffrey's poisoning, even though Joffrey was a bigger coward than Tyrion ever was.]] Oberyn Martell's tendency to poison his spears, even in duels and trials by combat, is seen as highly dishonorable, and it's mentioned right up there with his reputation as a DepravedBisexual. [[spoiler: While he's a HotBlooded jerk, he's not as evil as his reputation would imply.]]
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Mentioned in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'': Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde are appalled at the use of poisoned food because while the approved barbarian method of trickery is inviting your enemy over to a feast, get him roaring drunk then kill him (any barbarian stupid enough to fall for it deserving it), you never know when you might get hungry yourself.
** There's also Glenda Sugarbean, who would never poison food. Not so much because she thinks poisoning people is evil, rather because it would ruin perfectly good food. The Sugarbeans are famous for their cooking. Notably, Lord Vetinari and ''the Assassins' Guild'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards agree with her]]. Poisoning food for someone else while you're out to [[InsistentTerminology inhume]] them is one thing. Poisoning food made by Augusta Sugarbean at the Guild house is ''just not done''.

* Much discussed in the Creator/DorothyLSayers novel ''[[Literature/LordPeterWimsey Strong Poison]]''. Mystery novelist Harriet Vane is tried for poisoning her lover Phillip Boyes with arsenic. Despite a mistrial, she is widely assumed to be guilty and vilified on that account. Norman Urquhart's cook comments on this to Bunter, "...but the horrors of slow poisoning, that's the work of a fiend."
* In ''[[Literature/{{Gor}} Raiders of Gor]]'' one of the five claimants to being the ruler of the city-state of Port Kar is a skilled poisoner and is looked down upon. (He's also a bit fey, which doesn't help.) After being exiled from the city, in ''Hunters of Gor'' he secretly supplies poisoned swords to enemy fighters, and they poison Tarl, paralyzing him. In ''Maurauders of Gor'', the leader of those enemy fighters approaches Tarl to give him an antidote; when the king of their city-state had learned of the treachery he [[EvenEvilHasStandards forced the other man to create an antidote]], then poisoned him to test it. On Gor generally, poison is dismissed as a woman's weapon.
* In ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' Feyd Harkonnen is shown using poison frequently: weakening his slave gladiators so he always wins his fights, attempting to poison his uncle the Baron through the thigh of a sex slave, and using a secret poison needle in his belt buckle in his combat against Paul Mua'dib.
* ''Literature/TheEyesOfTheDragon'' has sorceror Flagg utilize an excruciating poison (one that he's even wary about) on the king to put his younger EnfantTerrible son on the throne, framing the king's elder son for the crime. Why? Because he can.

* Inverted in Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Halloween Party.'' When Literature/HerculePoirot asks the gentle, kind Miranda how she would kill someone, she replies that she would use poison--specifically a sleeping draught--because she wouldn't want to cause anyone any pain.
* Inverted in ''Literature/ButlerParker'': Parker and his protégé, Lady Simpson, often use poisoned dartzs, needles, etc. - though they only ever use sleeping poisons. ''Fatal'' poisons are used by criminals, very rarely.

* Inverted in the Literature/HumanxCommonwealth novels of Creator/AlanDeanFoster: The Minidrags of Alaspin are flying snakes that spit a venom that is both corrosive and neurotoxic, but they are also empathic, and typically do not bond with evil characters.

* Creator/GamesWorkshop:
** In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', it is notable how much more common poisoned attacks, weapons, and spells are among the Forces of Destruction. Witch Elves, Dark Elf and Skaven Assassins, Ghouls, Crypt Horrors, Gutter Runners, Plaguebearers, Forest Goblins, some Forsaken and Chaos Champions to name but a few - virtually all of the Forces of Destruction have plentiful access to poisons; whereas of the Forces of Order, only the [[LizardFolk Lizardmen]] use them, only really getting a pass because they are jungle-dwellers (when one sees a blowdart, it's ''expected'' to be poisoned). Dwarfs, High Elves, Empire, Bretonnians, and even Wood Elves don't have any poisoned attacks at all.
** In TabletopGame/Warhammer40000, Dark Eldar and Tyrannids make heavy use of poison as do certain Chaos units like Fabius Bile. Out of the Forces of Order, the only poisoned ammo exists for sniper rifles, that Eldar ammo that causes heads to explode, the character Sly Marbo and other rare assassin types. Oddly out of the more benign armies, the one that uses poison the most are the Space Marines who have plenty of snipers and can make extensive use of hellfire ammo (a mutagenic acid).

* Averted in ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction''; plenty of characters with Noxious skills and affinities are perfectly nice people.
* In ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'', only orcs, undead and outlaws have units with the ability to poison, and only the former two can recruit them directly.
* ZigZagged in ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed.'' In the [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI first game]], the eponymous creed specifically forbids the use of poison; in the [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII second game]], however, it's stated that the Assassins have adopted the use of poison in order to adapt to changing times. (Twisting the trope further is the fact that poison is one of the ''less'' subtle weapons in the protagonist's arsenal - a poisoned foe will go berserk and attack everyone around him before dying!)
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Kefka's use of poison at Doma (read: "mass murder of an entire city"), even in war, is the point that the Empire's soldiers and citizens consider him to have crossed the MoralEventHorizon. That said, your characters can learn Poison-elemental magic fine.
* Just like the ones in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', ''Videogame/{{Egoboo}}'' paladins cannot use poison.
* In ''VideoGame/EmperorBattleForDune'', both the evil Harkonnen and the decidedly amoral Ordos use weapons based on toxins and poison, as do the tleilaxu. The noble Atreides and the fremen, meanwhile, do not.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds''. Rogues of either alignment will use poison against their enemies, and one of the most skilled poison-makers in Lore, Alina, is also one of the most kind-hearted and sweet-natured people of the setting as well.
* Played with during the tournament in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'', if you lose something will happen that makes you the winner by default. One of the opponents is deemed to have cheated by using "an illegal poison". However, the first round of the tournament has the opponent start by using a poison-inflicting item without being penalized for it; while he's disqualified if you lose, the disqualification is because he tries to outright murder you after he's already been declared the winner.
* Played with in the ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart'' series. On one hand, the Arcana of Evil, Dieu Mort, has moves that can poison the opponent and is the only one that can do so. On the other hand, the main user of said Arcana, the occultist Yoriko Yasuzumi, [[DarkIsNotEvil is not evil in the slightest]].
* The Gorgon of ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}'' deals poison damage with three of its abilities and is by far the most horrific and unsettling of the monsters.
* F.A.N.G from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' has a moveset that is based on wearing down his opponents gradually with different kinds of poisons. He is also Sagat's replacement in Shadaloo as M. Bison's [[TheDragon Number Two]].
* [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Defiler]] demons from ''VideoGame/NexusWar'' games have Defiler Poison, which not only rapidly kills enemies but persists beyond death, potentially killing its victims in respawn after respawn in a setting where death is frequently a [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist slap on the wrist]] otherwise. In the second game, anyone can use PoisonedWeapons but these use a weaker poison that lacks both the potency and persistence of Defiler Poison.
* In ''VideoGame/LegoBatman'', only villainous characters such as Joker, Bane, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, and, strangely enough, Mr. Freeze, are "toxic" characters who can wade through poisonous green slime.

* ''Videogame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope:'' While chemical weapons are occasionally seen, their most prominent and notorious user, someone who is not sated with the existent chemical arsenals but commissions ever-deadlier gases, is [[TheCaligula Sergei Taboritsky]], the Mad Regent of the Holy Russian Empire. In his insane efforts to purify Russia of heretics, criminals and non-Russian ethnicities that he believes are in the way of Alexei's return, he will turn much of the Russian wilderness into poisoned wastelands from the sheer amounts deployed. And there's much emphasis in the sheer cruelty of the ever-deadlier concoctions deployed.
* In ''VideoGame/NetHack'', you are punished for using poisoned weapons as a LawfulGood character, getting a penalty to your CharacterAlignment with the quote below.
-->''You feel like an evil coward for using a poisoned weapon.''
* In ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'', using poisonous blow darts (which can either cause enemies to drop dead in pain vomiting blood, or fly into a halluncination-induced rage and attack their allies) is considered a dishonorable tactic for a samurai to use. [[spoiler:When Lord Shimura sees Jin Sakai use poison to dispatch a pair of Mongols and distract a leader long enough to behead him from behind, he reacts with shock and horror.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Poison and horrid drugs are common among Franchise/{{Batman}}'s enemies:

** [[PoisonousPerson Poison Ivy]], of course. She has altered her body to the point where she can enchant men with pheromones and [[KissOfDeath slay them with a kiss]]. Her blood is deadly.

* ComicBook/RedSkull has used a concoction called "Dust of Death" over his career. Similar to Joker's Venom, it kills a victim and causes the skin on the victim's head to shrivel and turn red, making it look like the victim has a "red skull" for a head. The Skull himself became a victim of his Dust, and while he survived due to an antidote, still suffered the secondary effect, making his head a [[RedRightHand living]] [[SkullForAHead red skull.]]

* ComicBook/RedSonja has the Queen of Plagues arc, which reveals the plague to actually be broad-scale poisonings. The villain responsible used it to wipe out enemy militaries, then dispatched his general to execute the survivors on grounds of preventing the spread of disease. The poison's inventor was a medieval physician depicted as cowardly and unnatural.
* ''Franchise/TeenTitans'': [[Characters/TeenTitansCheshire Cheshire]] is a villainous PsychoForHire and ProfessionalKiller whose main schtick is being a MasterPoisoner with a vast array of PoisonedWeapons.
* ''Comicbook/{{Asterix}}'': Poison is used by the evil architect Artifis in ''Recap/AsterixAndCleopatra'' (who tries to get the heroes framed for it) and by a corrupt Roman governor on an uncorruptable official in ''Recap/AsterixInSwitzerland''.

** Inverted with Reiju "Poison Pink" Vinsmoke, who is one of the nicest of the Vinsmoke family and has poison abiities.

* ''Franchise/SaintSeiya'': In the anime, during the Asgard saga, God Warrior Alberich uses a WoundedGazelleGambit on Eagle Marin, then when she moves in for the finish, Alberich shoots a jet of poison into Marin's face, blinding her (in spite of her face mask). Needless to say, Alberich is the most villainous of the God Warriors, a cunning and ruthless CombatPragmatist who aspires to depose Hilde herself to become king of Asgard (and possibly the entire world, too) in her place.

-->-- '''Katniss''', ''Literature/TheHungerGames: Literature/{{Mockingjay}}''

* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' TV show ''loves'' this trope.

* All times when poison comes up in the Music/EvilliousChronicles involve it being used to kill people--a particular example is the light novel LightNovel/GiftFromThePrincessWhoBroughtSleep, with the titular gift being the [[GratuitousGerman wrong]] kind of [[BilingualBonus gift]].

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Before 1964, when United Kingdom had death penalty, there was an unwritten rule that a homicide committed by toxic substances constituted always a murder, and poisoners were never to be pardoned, but always hanged. The reason was that poisoning was considered to constitute ''mens rea'' and it was considered to demonstrate subterfuge, guile and determination to murder. The last poisoner hanged in the UK was Louisa Ann Merrifield in 1953.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Literature/TheBible'', the famous Exodus 22:18 verse "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (King James Version translation) has often been claimed to refer to a poisoner instead of a sorceress. The word which the Septuaginta uses, φᾰρμᾰκείᾱ (pharmakeía), means literally "concoction-maker".