Trioxin (Return of the Living Dead)
Trioxin is a toxin that features in Return of the Living Dead.
Contents |
History
2,4,5-Trioxin was originally developed by Darrow Chemical Company for the United States Army as a gaseous herbicide to destroy marijuana plants; however, the Army was quite surprised when the gas also restored function to the nervous systems of cadavers, dismembered body parts, and even dead animals and insects. Moreover, trioxin appears to be toxic, and a single exposure to a concentrated amount can both kill a person and revive them again.
Trioxin was the cause of an incident on which the movie Night of the Living Dead was based. Since the zombies created by trioxin could not be killed with a shot to the head, unlike the zombies in the film, they were stored in sealed drums for two decades. In Return of the Living Dead III, it is revealed that the U.S. military is deliberately experimenting with trioxin in an effort to create zombie supersoldiers. This is further explored in Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis, where most of the plot takes place in a lab for the very purpose.
In Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis and Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave from the Grave, the chemical is referred to simply as Trioxin 5. This is perhaps purposeful, as in the aforementioned films the reanimated cadavers act rather differently than in the first 3 parts, and are easily killed through the traditional headshot (a la George Romero zombies) possibly indicating that a new version of Trioxin was developed specifically in order to be able to destroy the zombies it creates in the event they get out of control.
Overview
Trioxin is depicted as a yellowish or whitish vapor, typically stored under pressure in large steel drums.
Zombies created by exposure to trioxin retain all of their former intelligence and abilities, including the abilities to speak, run, and reason. Human behaviors and emotions fade as the brain shuts down leaving only the base instincts to feed. Like normal cadavers, they suffer the effects of rigor mortis. They also crave human brains; one zombie explains that brains are required to stave off the pain of decomposition. Unlike other zombies, the only known ways to destroy zombies created by trioxin are by incineration or electrocution. Attempts to destroy the brain or even completely dismember a trioxin zombie have invariably failed.
Though a volatile gas, 2,4,5-Trioxin is fairly stable, and can withstand temperatures in the thousands of degrees. Attempts to cremate trioxin-spawned zombies typically release trioxin gas into the air, where it may contaminate rainclouds. The resulting rainfall is irritating to the skin which often leads victims to assume that it is acid rain when in fact the diluted Trioxin is causing their nerve ends to fire randomly. This "Trioxin shower" is no longer concentrated enough to kill a human but if the contaminated rainwater falls on a location housing corpses, such as a cemetery, it can potentially reanimate every corpse interred there.
Infected
- :
Notes
- 2-4-5 trioxin is mentioned in Chapter 70 of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order as being one of the five demonic inventions of humankind.
- Trioxin" is the spell used for mass animation of the dead in the webcomic Erfworld
Appearances
- Return of the Living Dead:
External Link
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