History Main / MakeThemRot

%%* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Nurgle's Rot, a spell available to followers of Nurgle, can do this.
* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': Alarielle, the Goddess of life magic, wears the Talon of Dwindling, a weapon representing the withering of vegetation as winter approaches that is capable of turning enemies into lifeless husks with the slightest touch.
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
** There are spells like [[https://scryfall.com/card/khc/91/putrefy Putrefy]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/ddk/20/decompose Decompose]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/csp/63/krovikan-rot Krovikan Rot]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/mm3/146/abrupt-decay Abrupt Decay]], [[https://scryfall.com/card/rav/78/brainspoil Brainspoil]] and [[https://scryfall.com/card/uds/67/rapid-decay Rapid Decay]], among others. Most work by destroying creatures or cards within the graveyard.
** This is what happens to anyone [[https://scryfall.com/card/cns/120/phage-the-untouchable Phage the Untouchable]] touches. Her card can instantly destroy any creature or player it damages, representing her necrotic touch, and the art for [[https://scryfall.com/card/ons/174/swat Swat]] shows a man's flesh rapidly crumbling away from where she hit him across the face.

* ''TabletopGame/SeventhSea'': [[GratuitousGerman Zerstoerung]], the lost sorcery of Eisen, consisted mainly of these powers.
* ''TabletopGame/DCHeroes'' has the Cell Rot power, which can cause any living or formerly living substance to decompose. If used on a living creature it's treated as a normal Physical attack. The Franchise/{{Batman}} villain Clayface III (Preston Payne) had this power.
* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'': The Calabim are surrounded by invisible fields of entropy that can break down the integrity of any ordered structures within their reach.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Nightbane}}'': There is a spell in one of the supplements that decays flesh until nothing remains (intended for heroes and villains to remove the remains of their victims).
* ''TabletopGame/{{Earthdawn}}'': Nethermancers have a starting-level spell called Putrefy. Its official target is food, apparently just to annoy people and be a jerk. However, it can actually be used against any dead organic matter, allowing you to, for instance, destroy the wooden bridge under someone's feet, or make an enemy mage's spellbook fall apart.

A character has the power to make things decompose. May require [[TouchOfDeath physical contact]]. If they can't turn their power off, they are also a WalkingWasteland. Sometimes this power may even [[RuleOfCool work on non-organic material]]. Could be considered as the opposite of GreenThumb ([[MundaneUtility but sometimes can be used to create fertiliser]]). [[BadPowersBadPeople Not exactly a power one would associate with heroes]], by default.

* Persona, the supervisor of the Dangerous Ability group in ''Manga/GakuenAlice'' has the "Mark of Death" Alice, where everything he touches would rot away and eventually die.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', [[OldSoldier Baraggan Louisenbairn]]'s [[BreathWeapon Respira causes everything]] [[RapidAging to age rapidly]]. Stone crumbles, spells fade away and flesh rots.
* In ''Manga/{{Sola}}'', Matsuri Shihou has this power, and as long as she makes direct physical contact she can make nearly anything, from metal and stone to flesh and bone, rapidly decay.

* Carrion, a minor ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' enemy has the ability to cause organic matter to rot with a touch.
** DK, another Spider-Man villain with a similar power.
* DK, is a minor villain (not related to the above one) in ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'' who has this as his power.
* In ''ComicBook/{{DP7}}'' Dennis "Skuzz" Skuzinski's acidic skin makes everything he touches rot or burn away, including his clothes.
* The mutant Wither from ''ComicBook/XMen'' has the power to decay any organic material his skin comes in contact with. PowerIncontinence leaves his power permanently on. Especially heartbreaking is when the majority of mutants in the world lose their ability, Wither mistakenly believes he has too. He grabs the wrist of the girl he is in love with and her hand withers away. Clearly, he should have tested it first... He eventually left the institute and fell in love with Selene, who was immortal and couldn't be affected by his power, before [[spoiler:being killed off by Elixir. For a while, anyways.]]
* In the Franchise/DCUniverse, the Franchise/{{Batman}} villains Clayface III (Preston Payne) and Clayface V (Cassius "Clay" Payne) could make the bodies of living creatures melt by touching them. Clayface VI (Dr. Peter Malley) could make them melt without touching them.
* A variation occurred in ''ComicBook/StrikeforceMorituri;'' Blackthorne could break the molecular bonds of whatever she touched, causing them to rot and dissolve.
* One horror comic had a story where the protagonist had been saved from death after being given the ability to age things to dust at his touch. He drains their lifespans into himself in order to keep himself young and vital. After circumstances cause him to kill the woman he loves with his touch (as well as age his entire mansion to a husk just from touching the doorknob with his ungloved hand) he finds a place to sit and wait until things catch up with him and he goes to dust as well.

* The Janitor, Collin, in ''Film/SilentHill'' is forced to crawl on his stomach, dragging himself forward. Everything that his hands come into contact with turns to a decayed mess, swarming with roaches. He's too slow to directly harm any of the film's human characters, but the wave of pestilence that follows him is dangerous on its own.
* In ''Film/GhostRiderSpiritOfVengeance'' after Carrigan becomes Blackout he gains the power to make things he touches decompose. He finds it rather surprising that [[IndestructibleEdible the only food that doesn't mold up and rot away are Twinkies]].
* In ''Film/{{The Mummy|2017}}'', Princess Ahmanet sucks the life out of her victims to regenerate herself, leaving them as rotten corpses to be raised as her zombie servants.

* The ''Literature/ShadowOps'' book series has random people manifesting powerful magical powers. On rare occasions one of these powers is Negramancy, the power to accelerate entropy. When it is used, objects crumble to dust in seconds and living things start to rot and decay. The power is casually called Witchcraft or Black Magic and its use is prohibited under the penalty of death.
* [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy]] does this to the main characters in the first story of ''The Nightmares on Elm Street: Freddy Krueger's Seven Sweetest Dreams''.
* In ''Literature/{{Everworld}},'' all witches--including [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]]--have poisonous blood that kills plants, though apparently not animals or people. It can even render land infertile, which is why (in Everworld at least) witches are always killed in ways that won't shed blood, like drowning or burning.
* ''Literature/TheCosmere'' by Creator/BrandonSanderson:
** ''Literature/ShadowsForSilenceInTheForestsOfHell'' The {{touch|OfDeath}} of the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent shades]] withers living flesh. Silver can reverse the withering if applied quickly, with results varying from full healing to leaving the flesh gray and dead, but physically intact, depending on how swiftly the silver was applied.
** The Surge of Division in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' straddles the line between this and PlayingWithFire. Radiants who can bind Division can cause things to burn away to ash with a touch, [[TouchOfDeath including living beings]] as well as inorganic materials such as stone and metal.
** Non-Cosmere but still by Sanderson: The opening of ''Literature/TheReckonersTrilogy'' features an [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual epic]] named Deathpoint who's power [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin kills anyone he points at]], turning everything but their skeleton to ash.
* In the Creator/DavidEddings series ''Literature/TheTamuli'', this [[SuperpowerLottery is one of the many powers]] the [[HiddenElfVillage Delphae]] possess from being CursedWithAwesome by their god. Including mindreading, invisibility or changing of skin tone, 'silent' magic (meaning that other mages and gods don't know when they've cast a spell). Being PerfectPacifistPeople, this causes them some serious emotional difficulty when they're recruited into the war and have to goo-ify a few enemy camps on their own. But rotting one walls, and scaring them to run away works as well, due to their reputation of doing precisely that.

* ''Vampire of the Mists'', a novel in the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting, features FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Jander getting transported into the "Land of Mists", a plane cobbled together by dark powers that torment the various powerful lords and supernatural beings caught inside it for their own pleasure. Jander uses various things, including growing a garden to distract himself from the curse of being a vampire, so the dark powers decide to screw with him by making it so that his touch will cause plant life to wither and die.
* In the ''Literature/{{Ravenor}}'' trilogy, the daemon Slyte has the power to make people rot away into desiccated mummies with a touch, and its mere presence tarnishes silver. [[spoiler:Carl Thonius]] inherits these powers after becoming the daemon’s vessel, and uses them to kill Jader Trice while Slyte itself kills Orfeo Culzean.

* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'':
** There was an episode that dealt with a demon of vanity that could de-age others and make them young and healthy again. He then shows that he can also reverse this and rapidly ages two women into piles of dust.

* Reed Strucker begins developing this power in season two of ''Series/TheGifted''. It had previously been suppressed by his father's experimental treatments.

** A nothic's gaze causes necrosis in beings caught in its line of sight, rotting away their flesh as they live.

* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': Antroz's [[MaskOfPower Mask of Corruption]], Jutlin. Allows its user to make inanimate objects rust or decompose.

* The Fleshrot contact poison in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' makes the victim rot from the inside.
* Death Knights in ''VideoGame/WarcraftII'' have the Death And Decay ability, which does devastating amounts of damage in a huge area as long as they have runic power. [[AdaptationDisplacement Back in]] ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', the ability was the Scourge hero, the Lich's, ultimate ability (and one of the most powerful in the game, almost being a Game-Breaker). Death and Decay had a smaller area, did percentage-of-maximum-health as continuous damage (4% health per second for 35 seconds!), and [[MundaneUtility killed trees.]]
* The ''VideoGame/BreathOfFire'' series sometimes feature attacks that inflict "rotting" condition on an ally. For one full turn they get a decent boost to their attack stat, but turn into a zombie in the next turn and start automatically attacking their allies.
* Starting from ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'', Ermac's body began to rot, since [[spoiler:Shao Kahn is now dead, & he needs his magic to keep his human look]].
* [[spoiler: Kuon]] from ''VideoGame/UtawarerumonoItsuwariNoKamen'' has this ability as part of her arsenal [[spoiler: whenever she's in [[SuperMode Witsuarnimetea mode]].]]
* Kan-Ra of ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' is a victim of this trope after a botched assassination of a Babylonian king, having been rotting for hundreds of years per punishment and is still trying to slow down the process. He... [[BodyHorror doesn't]] [[NightmareFace look pretty]], to say the least.
* The Wither status effect in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' is inflicted by Wither Skeletons and [[BonusBoss The Wither]]. It turns the affected player's hearts black [[InterfaceScrew making it hard to see their remaining health]] and steadily drains health. Unlike Poison which cannot drain past the final hit point, Wither ''can'' kill, and if it does so it gives the [[HaveANiceDeath death message]] "(player) withered away".
* In ''VideoGame/GrimDawn,'' the Occultist class has a skill, "Bloody Pox," which is upgraded to the BlackDeath as its capstone. [[TechnicallyLivingZombie Its flavor text states that the organs of the afflicted are rotting, and the pain and fever drives them insane.]]

* Kid Rot from ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'' can rot all organic materials, but since it's a kid's show, the closest he's come to using his power on a person is by being TheNudifier.
* The Dry Spell Spirit from episode 16 of ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'' can suck water out of his victims, leaving them as rotten mummies.
* The Lich from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' in his first appearance kills everything he passes over, even water.
* The main power of the villain D'Compose from ''WesternAnimation/{{Inhumanoids}}'', along with the ability to turn his victims [[NightOfTheLivingMooks into mutated zombies.]]
* [[BadPowersGoodPeople Rare heroic example]] in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', where [[CatGirl Cat Noir]]'s Cataclysm ability causes anything it touches to crumble to dust. As a hero, he doesn't use it on people, except when he's BrainwashedAndCrazy (and almost on first time out, when he didn't know any better).

* One spell available to followers of Nurgle (Nurgle's Rot) in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' can do this.
* In TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar Alarielle the Goddess of Life Magic wears the Talon of Dwindling, a weapon representing the withering of vegetation as winter approaches that is capable of turning enemies into lifeless husks with the slightest touch.
* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', there are spells like [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=292956 Putrefy]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=368506 Decompose]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=122050 Krovikan Rot]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=253561 Abrupt Decay]], [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=88965 Brainspoil]] and [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=15177 Rapid Decay]], among others.
** This is what happens to anyone [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=382324 Phage the Untouchable]] [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=41136 touches]].

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** Necrotic/negative energy damage, which overlaps with CastingAShadow.
** If a Violet Fungi monster hit a living creature with one of its branches, the creature had to make a saving throw vs. poison or have its flesh rot and its body decompose.
* [[GratuitousGerman Zerstoerung]], the lost sorcery of Eisen, in ''TabletopGame/SeventhSea'', consisted mainly of these powers.

* The Calabim in ''TabletopGame/InNomine'' are surrounded by invisible fields of entropy that can break down the integrity of any ordered structures within their reach.
* Messing with the [[TabletopGame/{{Exalted}} Abyssal Exalted]] is a bad idea for a number of reasons, not the least of which is their ability to inflict this sort of damage on people.

* The Ultimate Powers Book expansion for the classic ''Marvel Super-heroes'' RPG included the power Biophysical Control/Decay that just as it says it causes the targets to decay and if the damage is greater than the health of the target it quickly rots away to nothing.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Nightbane}}'', there is a spell in one of the supplements that decays flesh until nothing remains (intended for heroes and villains to remove the remains of their victims).
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Earthdawn}}'', Nethermancers have a starting-level spell called Putrefy. Its official target is food, apparently just to annoy people and be a jerk. However, it can actually be used against any dead organic matter, allowing you to, for instance, destroy the wooden bridge under someone's feet, or make an enemy mage's spellbook fall apart.

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Chirizuka Kaiou is a spirit born from dust that can rapidly corrode things, [[WalkingWasteland including everything around it]] and whatever is his by [[BlowYouAway gusts of wind]] from his fan. It doesn't cause living thing to actually rot until the power spreads through their whole body, which will be reversed [[NoOntologicalInertia if Kaiou is defeated quickly]], but the victim will still be incapacitated and in pain in the meantime.

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Chirizuka Kaiou is a spirit born from dust that can rapidly corrode things, [[WalkingWasteland including everything around it]].

* The mutant Wither from ''ComicBook/XMen'' has the power to decay any organic material his skin comes in contact with. PowerIncontinence leaves his power permanently on. Especially heartbreaking is when the majority of mutants in the world lose their ability, Wither mistakenly believes he has too. He grabs the wrist of the girl he is in love with and her hand withers away. Clearly, he should have tested it first...
* There was also Wither from ''ComicBook/NewMutants,'' whose power was ''decaying'' any living (or once-living) thing he came into contact with. He eventually left the institute and fell in love with Selene, who was immortal and couldn't be affected by his power.

* In ''Undead Unluck'', Spoil is the embodiment of decay and has been having fun with zombifying the entire population of a town. Depending on what form it takes, it can either activate decay on a human once a countdown on their torso reaches zero or just rot or [[WalkingWasteland disintegrate away anything that gets too close to it]]. As it's the embodiment of decay, the heroes cannot kill it, as otherwise nothing will rot or decompose in the universe. Instead, because organisms can only decay where there's moisture, they [[spoiler:send Spoil out into space, where there is no moisture nearby.]]

* Persona, the superviser of the Dangerous Ability group in ''Manga/GakuenAlice'' has the "Mark of Death" Alice, where everything he touches would rot away and eventually die.

* Persona, the superviser of the Dangerous Ability group in ''Manga/GakuenAlice''. Has a DarkAndTroubledPast because of his powers and [[PowerIncontinence his inability to control it]].

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[TheHeavy Tomura Shigaraki]]'s "Decay" Quirk [[PowerIncontinence can't be turned off]], but only works if he touches something with all five fingers. [[spoiler:When it first activated it hadn't completely materialized, so instead of disintegrating objects to dust it forcibly tore them apart [[LudicrousGibs into bloody chunks for living beings]] (as was the case with his family)]]. After he goes through training, personal revelations, [[spoiler:and physical augumentation, his Decay Quirk improves to the point anything that touches something that's ''already'' decaying will also decay, he can launch it as a wave capable of destroying buildings, and he doesn't even need to touch it with all his fingers anymore. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking He also can finally choose to turn it off, allowing him to hold things without worrying about breaking something he doesn't want to.]]]]
* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'': [[HairTriggerTemper Pannacotta Fugo's]] stand Purple Haze creates a flesh eating virus in the capsules on its knuckles. When the capsule is cracked open, the virus spreads and any living thing within the range will be infected and rotting away. The stand is said to be a representation of Fugo's violent side.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[TheHeavy Tomura Shigaraki]]'s "Decay" Quirk [[PowerIncontinence can't be turned off]], but only works if he touches something with all five fingers. [[spoiler:When it first activated it hadn't completely materialized, so instead of disintegrating objects to dust it forcibly tore them apart [[LudicrousGibs into bloody chunks for living beings]] (as was the case with his family)]]. After he goes through training, personal revelations, [[spoiler:and physical augumentation, his Decay Quirk improves to the point anything that touches something that's ''already'' decaying will also decay, he can launch it as a wave capable of destroying buildings, and he doesn't even need to touch it with all his fingers anymore.]]

* Persona, the superviser of the Dangerous Ability group in ''Manga/AliceAcademy''. Has a DarkAndTroubledPast because of his powers and [[PowerIncontinence his inability to control it]].

* ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd'': Judge Mortis is one of the four dreaded Dark Judges who periodically break into the reality of MegaCity One. He has the power to induce instant mortification and decay in anything he touches.

* In ''Comicbook/{{DP7}}'' Dennis "Skuzz" Skuzinski's acidic skin makes everything he touches rot or burn away, including his clothes.

* [[BadPowersGoodPeople Rare heroic example]] in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', where [[CatBoy Cat Noir]]'s Cataclysm ability causes anything it touches to crumble to dust. As a hero, he doesn't use it on people, except when he's BrainwashedAndCrazy (and almost on first time out, when he didn't know any better).

* The mutant Wither from ''ComicBook/XMen'' has the power to decay any organic material his skin comes in contact with. PowerIncontinence leaves his power permanently on. Especially heartbreaking is when the majority of mutants in the world lose their ability, Wither mistakenly believes he has too. He grabs the wrist of the girl he is in love with and her hand withers away.

* ''Manga/MedakaBox'': Emukae Mukae has this as her minus, Raff-Rafflesia. She can make things rot by touching them. She can control the intensity and way things decompose , but she [[WalkingWasteland can't turn it off]]. Later she learns to do it "wirelessly".

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': [[TheHeavy Tomura Shigaraki]]'s "Decay" Quirk [[PowerIncontinence can't be turned off]], but only works if he touches something with all five fingers. [[spoiler:When it first activated it hadn't completely materialized, so instead of disintegrating objects to dust it forcibly tore them apart [[LudicrousGibs into bloody chunks for living beings]] (as was the case with his family)]].

* The touch of the shades in [[Creator/BrandonSanderson Shadows For Silence In The Forests Of Hell]] withers living flesh. Silver can reverse the withering if applied quickly, with results varying from full healing to leaving the flesh gray and dead, but physically intact, depending on how swiftly the silver was applied.

* The Surge of Division in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' straddles the line between this and PlayingWithFire. Radiants who can bind Division can cause things to burn away to ash with a touch, [[TouchOfDeath including living beings]] as well as inorganic materials such as stone and metal.

* One horror comic had a story where TheProtagonist had been saved from death after being given the ability to age things to dust at his touch. He drains their lifespans into himself in order to keep himself young and vital. After circumstances cause him to kill the woman he loves with his touch (as well as age his entire mansion to a husk just from touching the doorknob with his ungloved hand) he finds a place to sit and wait until things catch up with him and he goes to dust as well.

* In ''Film/GhostRiderSpiritOfVengeance'' after Carrigan becomes Blackout he gains the power to make things decompose just like his comics counterpart. He finds it rather surprising that [[IndestructibleEdible the only food that doesn't mold up and rot away are Twinkies]].

[[folder:Real life]]