History Main / JackUpWithPhlebotinum

* There was running plotline in Creator/BrianMichaelBendis's Franchise/MarvelUniverse stories about regular people taking MGH, a drug that grants super-powers along with a high.

* One arc in ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers'' involved the ground bones of prehistoric eldritch monsters being mixed in with drug supplies in Russia. These creatures existed before the afterlives did and had ManySpiritsInsideOfOne, meaning the spirits are trapped inside their remains. They are released when the bones are burned, possessing and empowering whoever smokes them.
* One of the origins of ''ComicBook/TheSentry'' (he has a MultipleChoicePast) is that he was a junkie who stole the SuperSerum in hopes it would get him high. It turned out remarkably well for him...except for the side effects.

** One story had the Absorbing Man transforming himself into cocaine, then being cut up and sold to unsuspecting addicts who got their own superpowers.
** The minor Spider-Man villain Freak started as a drug addict who consumed a mutagen thinking it was a new designer narcotic.
* The ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' once thwarted a scheme by voodoo-using New Orleans gangsters to distribute free heroin samples to addicts that would turn them into a [[ZombieApocalypse literal zombie army]].
* Comicbook/{{Wolverine}} once fought an EldritchAbomination called Sporr, which had been blasted to molecules millennia before by [[BenevolentPrecursors the Celestials]]; it reemerged when someone deliberately overdosed on cocaine that was grown on the mountain where it "died" because said cocaine gave its users limited super-powers.

* In ''Film/BeyondReAnimator'', a junkie prisoner manages to get some syringes of Re-Agent, which he promptly shoots up. HilarityEnsues.
* In the horror film ''Film/Leviathan1989'', the crew of the underwater mining facility find a sunken Russian ship and inside find what they think is vodka, which they gladly drink. It's actually a solution which has TheVirus, mutating the crew into a hideous monstrosity.

* One of several plotlines in ''Literature/{{Next|2006}}'' is started by a geneticist taking a can of aerosolized gene therapy retrovirus with him while picking up his junkie brother. The moment he turns his back, the brother snorts it, eventually suffering RapidAging.
* Creator/StephenKing:
** In the short story "Gray Matter" from ''Literature/NightShift'', an alcoholic slob drinks a can of skunky beer and starts to turn into a flesh-eating fungus-like creature.
** The short story "The Ten O'Clock People" from ''Literature/NightmaresAndDreamscapes'' involves a relatively mild example: a certain level of nicotine and withdrawal symptoms found in smokers trying to quit -- and only in smokers trying to quit -- gives them the power to perceive [[spoiler:that humans are being replaced by a race of disguised bat-like monsters]].

* In the ''Series/Millennium1996'' episode "Human Essence" Emma Hollis's [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling junkie sister]] claims that a new strain of heroin is turning users into monsters. Frank and Emma gradually come to realize that she's right.
* On ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', Ford is injected with the enzyme Wraith use to strengthen humans so they can survive the feeding process but doesn't get eaten afterwards. As a result, he gains super speed, strength, and stamina. The enzyme proves highly addictive, severely impairs judgment, and the withdrawal process is not pleasant. Ford ends up going rogue and gathering together a band of guys who use the enzyme to aid them in their fight against the Wraith.
* ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' episode "Flood" has Vyvyan create a potion that turns anyone who drinks it into an axe-wielding, homicidal maniac, which he puts into a can of Coke [[TakeThat so that no one drinks it on accident.]] Later on in the episode, the boys’ landlord shows up and drinks the potion, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which turns him into an axe-wielding, homicidal maniac]] and he chases the boys for the last part of the episode.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has a FantasticDrug where cocaine is exposed to Element Zero. The end result has not only the mind-altering effects of cocaine but gives the user low-level biotic (telekinetic) abilities. Needless to say, someone who is coked up, able to TK small objects around the room, and hasn't the training to do it properly is a headache for the security forces.

* There's this episode of ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' titled "Temptation". Jeremie translates a part of Franz Hopper's diary, and uses the info to invent this weird headband. It's supposed to raise his intelligence every time he uses a Return to the Past (go with it). He first notices the side effects, like irritability and fainting spells. Then he realizes that all the calculations he made while using the headband were wrong, meaning it had no positive effects whatsoever (except to make him a temporary MemeticBadass).
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Cartman ingests Kenny's ashes, thinking it's chocolate milk mix. For the rest of the season he has Kenny's soul trapped in his body.
* On ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'', Dinosaur Neil, a paleontologist in a dinosaur costume, accidentally eats dinosaur genetic material thinking it was pasta salad, which turns him into a real dinosaur.

* ''ComicBook/MilesMoralesSpiderMan'' had Miles' adult 616 counterpart plot a takeover of the underworld by spiking drugs with Ultimate Goblin serum, converting masses into an army under Ultimate Osborn's control.

[[folder:Film]]

* One of several plotlines in ''Literature/{{Next}}'' is started by a geneticist taking a can of aerosolized gene therapy retrovirus with him while picking up his junkie brother. The moment he turns his back, the brother snorts it, eventually suffering RapidAging.

* In the early 20th century, radium was sold as a wonder drug because of its [[ILoveNuclearPower healthy glow]]. A business tycoon named Eben Byers who started obsessively chugging a radium serum eventually perished, leading to the [[{{Squick}} squicky]] ''Wall Street Journal'' headline, "The Radium Water Worked Fine until His Jaw Came Off."

* One of several plotlines in Creator/MichaelCrichton's ''Literature/{{Next}}'' is started by a geneticist taking a can of aerosolized gene therapy retrovirus with him while picking up his junkie brother, the moment he turns his back the brother snorts it, eventually causing RapidAging.
* The Creator/StephenKing short story ''[[Literature/NightmaresAndDreamscapes The Ten O'Clock People]]'' involves a relatively mild example: a certain level of nictotine and withdrawal symptoms found in smokers trying to quit-- and only in smokers trying to quit -- gives them the power to perceive [[spoiler: that humans are being replaced by a race of disguised bat-like monsters]].
** In another Creator/StephenKing story, "Gray Matter", an alcoholic slob drank a can of skunky beer and started turning into a flesh-eating fungus-like creature.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* On ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', Ford is injected with the enzyme Wraith use to strengthen humans so they can survive the feeding process, but doesn't get eaten afterwards. As a result, he gains super speed, strength, and stamina. The enzyme proves highly addictive, severely impairs judgment, and the withdrawal process is not pleasant. Ford ends up going rogue and gathering together a band of guys who use the enzyme to aid them in their fight against the Wraith.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has a FantasticDrug where cocaine is exposed to Element Zero. The end result has not only the mind-altering effects of cocaine, but gives the user low-level biotic (telekinetic) abilities. Needless to say, someone who is coked up, able to TK small objects around the room, and hasn't the training to do it properly is a headache for the security forces.

* One of the origins of ComicBook/TheSentry (he has a MultipleChoicePast) is that he was a junkie who stole the SuperSerum in hopes it would get him high. It turned out remarkably well for him...except for the side effects.

[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', a former girlfriend of [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]] swipes an artifact that he has, thinking that it's drugs. It turns out to be Morpheus's Bag of Sand. This is a '''very bad thing''', as it basically turns her life into a ''literal'' living nightmare.

* There was running plotline in Creator/BrianMichaelBendis's Marvel stories about regular people taking MGH, a drug that grants super-powers along with a high.
* In ''ComicBook/NewXMen'', a new power-enhancing stimulant called "Kick" starts taking the mutant community by storm. It turns out that it's [[spoiler:a mind-controlling, aerosol form of the malevolent, sentient bacteria Sublime, the ultimate villain of the story]].

* The ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' mainstay Bouncing Boy got his powers by mistaking an elasticity drug for a bottle of soda.
* The ComicBook/SuicideSquad once thwarted a scheme by voodoo-using New Orleans gangsters to distribute free heroin samples to addicts that would turn them into a [[ZombieApocalypse literal zombie army]].
* ''ComicBook/SavageAvengers'' had Mulan Gath plotting to gradually devour Shuma-Gorath and steal its power by spiking drug supplies with something that causes whoever takes them to be possessed by a piece of it.
* ''ComicBook/MilesMoralesSpiderMan'' had Miles' adult 616 counterpart plot a takeover of the underworld by spiking drugs with Ultimate Goblin serum, converting masses into an army under Ultimate Osborn's control.
* One arc in ''ComicBook/SecretAvengers'' involved the ground bones of prehistoric eldritch monsters being mixed in with drug supplies in Russia. These creatures existed before the afterlives did and had ManySpiritsInsideOfOne, meaning the spirits are trapped inside their remains. They are released when the bones are burned, possessing and empowering whoever smokes them.
* As shown in ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil2013'', Ultraman gets his powers from grinding Kryptonite into a fine powder and then igniting it with his heat vision so he can snort its fumes.

* In ''Film/BeyondReAnimator'', a junkie prisoner manages to get some syringes of Re-Agent, which he promptly shoots up. HilarityEnsues.

* One of several plotlines in Creator/MichaelCrichton's ''Literature/{{Next}}'' is started by a geneticist taking a can of aerosolized gene therapy retrovirus with him while picking up his junkie brother, the moment he turns his back the brother snorts it, eventually causing RapidAging.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

* In the ''Series/Millennium1996'' episode "Human Essence" Emma Hollis's [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling junkie sister]] claims that a new strain of heroin is turning users into monsters. Frank and Emma gradually come to realize that she's right.

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has a FantasticDrug where cocaine is exposed to Element Zero. The end result has not only the mind-altering effects of cocaine, but gives the user low-level biotic (telekinetic) abilities. Needless to say, someone who is coked up, able to TK small objects around the room, and hasn't the training to do it properly is a headache for the security forces.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Cartman ingests Kenny's ashes, thinking it's chocolate milk mix. Now he has Kenny's soul trapped in his body.

* In ''Film/PulpFiction'', Mia Wallace finds what she thinks is cocaine is Vincent Vega's coat jacket and snorts it up. It's in fact ''VERY'' pure heroin that Vincent bought earlier, and she [=ODs=] on the spot, only escaping death through Vincent's quick thinking and a well-timed adrenaline shot to the heart.

* ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' episode "The Flood" has Vyvyan create a potion that turns anyone who drinks it into an axe-wielding, homicidal maniac, which he puts into a can of Coke [[TakeThat so that no one drinks it on accident.]] Later on in the episode, the boys’ landlord shows up and drinks the potion, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which turns him into an axe-wielding, homicidal maniac]] and he chases the boys for the last part of the episode.

* ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' episode “The Flood” has Vyvyan create a potion that turns anyone who drinks it into an axe-wielding, homicidal maniac, which he puts into a can of Coke [[TakeThat so that no one drinks it on accident.]] Later on in the episode, the boys’ landlord shows up and drinks the potion, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which turns him into an axe-wielding, homicidal maniac]] and he chases the boys for the last part of the episode.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', a former girl of [[ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine's]] swiped an artifact he had thinking it was drugs. It turns out to be Morpheus's Bag of Sand. This is a '''very bad thing''', as it basically turns her life into a ''literal'' living nightmare.

* In the ''Series/{{Millennium}}'' episode "Human Essence" Emma Hollis's [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling junkie sister]] claims that a new strain of heroin is turning users into monsters. Frank and Emma gradually come to realize that she's right.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has a FantasticDrug where cocaine is exposed to Element Zero. The end result has not only the mind-altering effects of cocaine, but gives the user low-level biotic (telekenetic) abilities. Needless to say, someone who is coked up, able to TK small objects around the room, and hasn't the training to do it properly is a headache for the security forces.

* There's this episode of ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' called Temptation. Jeremie translates a part of Franz Hopper's diary, and uses the info to invent this weird headband. It's supposed to raise his intelligence every time he uses a Return to the Past (go with it). He first notices the side effects, like irritability and fainting spells. Then he realizes that all the calculations he made while using the headband were wrong, meaning it had no positive effects whatsoever (except to make him a temporary MemeticBadass).

Bob is someone with certain... lusts in life. It may be something as simple as loving to eat a lot, or something as self-destructive as heroin. The point is, he's jonesing, and he's jonesing bad. And suddenly, he finds a stash of what appears to be the good stuff! Jackpot!! Bob then consumes or shoots up the stuff...

...Only to suddenly mutate into a hideous monster, melt into a pile of goo or keel over dead!!

* One of the origins of the Sentry of Creator/MarvelComics (He has a MultipleChoicePast) is that he was a junkie who stole the SuperSerum in hopes it would get him high. It turned out remarkably well for him...except for the side effects.
* Like ComicBook/TheSentry, but far less powerful, minor Spider-Man villain Freak started as a drug addict who consumed a mutagen thinking it was a new designer narcotic.

* In Creator/GrantMorrison's ComicBook/XMen run, a new power-enhancing stimulant called "Kick" starts taking the mutant community by storm. Turns out it's [[spoiler: a mind-controlling, aerosol form of the malevolent, sentient bacteria Sublime, the ultimate villain of the story.]]
* A Comicbook/SpiderMan story had the Absorbing Man transforming himself into cocaine, then being cut up and sold to unsuspecting addicts who got their own superpowers.

* Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes mainstay Bouncing Boy got his powers by mistaking an elasticity drug for a bottle of soda.
* The Comicbook/SuicideSquad once thwarted a scheme by voodoo-using New Orleans gangsters to distribute free heroin samples to addicts that would turn them into a [[ZombieApocalypse literal zombie army]].
* The ''Savage Avengers'' had Mulan Gath plotting to gradually devour Shuma-Gorath and steal its power by spiking drug supplies with something that causes whoever takes them to be possessed by a piece of it.
* ''Miles Morales: Spider-Man'' had Miles' adult 616 counterpart plot a takeover of the underworld by spiking drugs with Ultimate Goblin serum, converting masses into an army under Ultimate Osborn's control.
* One arc in Secret Avengers involved the ground bones of prehistoric eldritch monsters being mixed in with drug supplies in Russia. These creatures existed before the afterlives did and had ManySpiritsInsideOfOne, meaning the spirits are trapped inside their remains. They are released when the bones are burned, possessing and empowering whoever smokes them.

* In ''Film/PulpFiction'', Mia Wallace finds what she thinks is cocaine is Vincent Vega's coat jacket, and snorts it up. It's in fact ''VERY'' pure heroin that Vincent bought earlier, and she [=ODs=] on the spot, only escaping death through Vincent's quick thinking and a well-timed adrenaline shot to the heart.
* In the horror film ''Film/{{Leviathan 1989}}'', the crew of the underwater mining facility find a sunken Russian ship and inside find what they think is vodka, which they gladly drink. It's actually a solution which has TheVirus, mutating the crew into a hideous monstrosity.

* Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} mainstay Bouncing Boy got his powers by mistaking an elasticity drug for a bottle of soda.

* Often happens with methanol. This substance looks like ethanol, smells like ethanol, tastes like ethanol and even produces buzz like ethanol. But if you're lucky, it'll burn your eyes from inside for good, and if you're unlucky, it'll kill you.

Poor Bob, he just ''had'' to JackUpWithPhlebotinum. Instead of the good stuff, the stuff he consumed was actually some sort of harmful substance or AppliedPhlebotinum, and he has now become either a casualty of some bizarre effect or something less than human. Either way, Bob himself has now become an integral part of the plot somehow. Perhaps his demise sets events in motion that drive the plot, or perhaps he becomes some sort of monster and is now the antagonist. Bottom line is he ''really'' shouldn't have done the stuff.

* A Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}} story had the Absorbing Man transforming himself into cocaine, then being cut up and sold to unsuspecting addicts who got their own superpowers.

* In ''Film/PulpFiction'', Mia Wallace finds what she thinks is cocaine is Vincent Vega's coat jacket, and snorts it up. It's in fact ''VERY'' pure "madman" heroin that Vincent bought earlier, and she [=ODs=] on the spot, only escaping death through Vincent's quick thinking and a well-timed adrenaline shot to the heart.

* In ''Film/PulpFiction'', Mia Wallace finds what she thinks is cocaine is Vincent Vega's coat jacket, and snorts it up. It's in fact ''VERY'' pure heroin, and she [=ODs=] on the spot.

** [[VodkaDrunkenski Russians]] have devised a folk way to tell methanol from ethanol. You make a small spiral out of copper wire, heat it with a cigarette lighter and drench in the suspicious alcohol. If you smell "morgue" (formaldehyde gas, a very characteristic "stinging" smell), this is deadly stuff.

* A {{Spider-Man}} story had the Absorbing Man transforming himself into cocaine, then being cut up and sold to unsuspecting addicts who got their own superpowers.
* {{Wolverine}} once fought an EldritchAbomination called Sporr, which had been blasted to molecules millennia before by [[BenevolentPrecursors the Celestials]]; it reemerged when someone deliberately overdosed on cocaine that was grown on the mountain where it "died" because said cocaine gave its users limited super-powers.

* The SuicideSquad once thwarted a scheme by voodoo-using New Orleans gangsters to distribute free heroin samples to addicts that would turn them into a [[ZombieApocalypse literal zombie army]].