History Main / PerfectPoison

* ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'': Both the episode and the story it's based on have expensive "glove cleaner", "totally undetectable to all forms of autopsy". The man who sells it also sells love potions... for five dollars. He's expecting all of his customers to come back for the "glove cleaner"...

* ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' makes the poisoned apple from the original fairy tale explicitly magical - as part of a spell by the Evil Queen called the 'Sleeping Death'. It just gives the appearance of death and is immediate acting. It can only be cured by "love's FirstKiss" (in the fairy tale it just had to be dislodged from Snow's throat).

* ''Literature/PeterPan'' - Hook plans to poison Peter with a dose that he carries around always. It's so strong, it will kill the drinker instantly (as Hook carries it in case he's taken alive). However, its effects on Tinkerbell (who drinks it to stop Peter from doing so) can be reversed if children around the world affirm their beliefs in fairies.

*** However averted if you go by the theory that Ophelia was secretly pregnant with Hamlet's illegitimate child. One of the herbs she mentions is rue - and the dialogue suggests she plans to take that. It's a mild poison that was commonly used to abort babies, as it has the effect of making the body so sick it rejects the growing embryo. It can result in death if too much is taken, and we never find out ''how'' Ophelia died.
** Surprisingly common Super Poison also appears in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. Although as that poisoning was voluntary it probably wouldn't have mattered if it had had a distinctive smell or taste. He also drinks the whole bottle in one go. Juliet tries to take the same poison by kissing Romeo's lips, but there's so little of it left that it won't work quick enough.

* Appears in the classic Greek tragedy ''{{Theatre/Medea}}''. The eponymous Medea poisons a set of robes she gives as a gift to Jason's new bride. The poison kills her instantly, causing lots of BodyHorror. It also kills her father when he tries to help her. Since Medea was a sorceress in mythology, it's safe to assume she enchanted the poison to be fast-acting.

* Zigzagged in ''Manga/{{Ooku}}: The Inner Chambers'' as while some poisonings were instantaneous, others weren't:

** Other animals with quick-killing poisons and venoms include the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus blue-ringed octopodes]] of the ''Hapalochlaena'' genus, as well as many varieties of cone snails and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_dart_frog poison dart frogs]], all of which can kill within minutes if you touch them (except poison dart frogs, which can only kill you if the poison is ingested or enters the bloodstream through a cut or a [[PoisonedWeapons poison dart]]). In fact, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conus_geographus Conus geographicus]]'' is nicknamed the "cigarette snail" because its victims are said to only have enough time to smoke a cigarette before they die, though in reality it usually takes several hours to kill someone.
*** However, the toxins from poison dart frogs are far from perfect--they work by paralysing muscles, including those used for breathing. While this means they are quickly fatal if untreated, a victim can be kept alive by artificial or mouth-to-mouth respiration and will recover entirely in a few hours as the poison wears off. The same also applies to blue-ringed octopuses, but the main difficulty with them is that they're so small and don't have an immediately painful bite, so it's hard to tell someone has even been envenomated before it's too late to keep them alive.

* Aversion of this trope is a major plot point in the second half of Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/{{Notorious}}.'' [[spoiler:It's even stated outright that the poisoning must be done slowly so outsiders merely think the victim is ill.]]

** Invoked by Adam in the [[Film/SawI first film]] when he pretends to pass out from the poisoned cigarette after taking a couple of drags from it. It doesn't fool Lawrence.

** Invoked by Adam in the [[Film/SawI first film]] when he pretends to be killed with the poisoned cigarette. After lighting it and taking a couple of drags, he pretends to pass out at once. It doesn't fool anyone.

* Invoked by Adam in ''{{Film/Saw}}'', when he pretends to be killed with the poisoned cigarette. After lighting it and taking a couple of drags, he pretends to pass out at once. [[spoiler: It doesn't fool anyone]].
* ''Film/SawII'' likewise has a nerve gas released into a ClosedCircle that will kill the victims unless they discover the antidote in time. While one character simply dies from the poison itself, it seems to affect everyone at the same time. The time limit that Detective Mathews needs to find the location before his son dies is however [[spoiler: all a twist that the scenes in the house have already happened, and Jigsaw had a helper planted as one of the victims to get the son to safety. And when the reveal happens, he's already been given the antidote]].

* The assassination of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Litvinenko Alexander Litvinenko]], a prominent critic of then-president of Russia UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin, was an ''attempt'' to use Perfect Poison which backfired spectacularly. Litvinenko was killed when someone sprinkled polonium-210 into his teacup. Polonium-210 has many advantages: it can be carried safely in a vial of water without detection, and while death is certain the initial symptoms don't immediately suggest poison, giving time for the poisoner to make a clean getaway. Furthermore, unlike most radioactive substances, polonium-210 only emits alpha particles that cannot penetrate even a sheet of paper, thus making it invisible to normal radiation detectors (and requiring it to be physically ingested to work as a poison). However, they made one big mistake: they thought it was undetectable. While the technology to detect polonium-210 didn't exist in Russia, it ''did'' in the West. Oops. Furthermore, whoever did the actual poisoning seemingly didn't realize how much polonium-210 contaminates. Simply uncapping the vial is enough to leave detectable amounts. This made Litvinenko's murder one of the most unsubtle in history, with investigators simply following the trail of radioactivity back to the murderer's hotel room.

* The assassination of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Litvinenko Alexander Litvinenko]], a prominent critic of then-president of Russia UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin, was an ''attempt'' to use Perfect Poison which backfired spectacularly. Litvinenko was killed when someone sprinkled polonium-210 into his teacup. Polonium-210 has many advantages: it can be carried safely in a vial of water without detection, and while death is certainly the initial symptoms don't immediately suggest poison, giving time for the poisoner to make a clean getaway. Furthermore, unlike most radioactive substances, polonium-210 only emits alpha particles that cannot penetrate even a sheet of paper, thus making it invisible to normal radiation detectors (and requiring it to be physically ingested to work as a poison). However, they made one big mistake: they thought it was undetectable. While the technology to detect polonium-210 didn't exist in Russia, it ''did'' in the West. Oops. Furthermore, whoever did the actual poisoning seemingly didn't realize how much polonium-210 contaminates. Simply uncapping the vial is enough to leave detectable amounts. This made Litvinenko's murder one of the most unsubtle in history, with investigators simply following the trail of radioactivity back to the murderer's hotel room.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Walt cooks up a little ricin to deal with Tuco. It's odorless, tasteless, requires an extremely small dose, kills within a few days after at first appearing like the flu, and is so rare it isn't tested for. Later in the series, Jesse keeps around a "lucky cigarette" filled with the stuff, just in case. [[spoiler:Ricin is used for actual poisoning only once, in the last episode of the series: Walt puts it into Lidia's tea, killing her.]]

** The same goes for ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion''. There are also instantly fatal poisoned apples you can sneak into people's inventory, if they don't have any other food in there, they will eat the apples eventually and die.
*** Actually, the poisoned apples are not ''quiiite'' perfect; they only cause a permanent damage health effect of 10 per second. If you have a high enough health regen, you can survive, though it'll make the game much harder as you can't go to sleep again (can't sleep while being hurt). Cue the game ending instantly if you're forced to go to sleep, as your health regen drops to zero while sleeping as well.

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' there is a powerful poison plant called Jarrin Root that is said to kill instantly. It causes 200 points of poison damage, which is more than enough to kill any low-level enemies. But when combined with other poisonous reagents and a high Alchemy skill the damage can range in the thousands.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'': one of Agent 47's primary weapons is a syringe that can be used to inject targets at the jugular or to poison food. For efficiency's sake, instead of using a single poison, a mixture of chemicals is used: sodium pentothol, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride. Since this is the exact combination of chemicals used in lethal injection executions, the victim dies quickly and noiselessly.
** Which only kinda makes sense. In lethal injections, they use multiple [=IVs=] so the poisons don't mix beforehand and undergo a process called precipitation. A fancy way of saying they get all waxy and won't go in. And it can still take two hours for the victim to die. It would work better to just use one of the first two (the more fast-acting drugs) and strangle the person after they pass out.
** Probably the reason that 47 carries around a reel of piano wire. However, ''Blood Money's'' use of poison makes more sense than the previous game, ''[[VideoGame/HitmanContracts Contracts]]'': in several levels, you're forced to look for poisons in the surrounding area and dose people's food or drink with it, and weedkiller or rat poison isn't exactly painless or quiet.
*** It should be noted that the poison in Blood Money ''isn't'' undetectable; kills with poison count as regular kills rather than accidents.

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This is generally assumed to be the kind of poison used in a case of FingerLickingPoison. Frequently has an ImprobableAntidote. May or may not [[TechnicolorToxin be purple or green]]. Naturally, part of its perfectness is usually that it works on [[UniversalPoison everything.]] If ingested, expect to see [[PoisonIsCorrosive the spilled drink to dissolve the table.]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** In earlier versions such as 2[[superscript:nd]] edition, poison would kill the victim instantly if they failed their saving throw.
** Edition 3.5 has a selection of poisons that deal a random amount of ability damage to one and only one ability score over two "doses". These damage doses happen exactly one minute apart regardless of the type of poison used. Terms such as dosage, dilution, or long-term exposure never enter into it. Poison-users ''are'' in danger of poisoning themselves during application, however.
** Edition 5 has poison simply do instant damage, usually only one or two dice worth. Sometimes it can also inflict the Poisoned status, but that just causes the victim to take a penalty on attack rolls until it ends. So either the poison kills you the moment it enters your bloodstream, or it will never kill you.
* Averted in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}''; the poison rules are designed around inflicting only one die of damage per time interval (which are generally in the hours), and can only inflict a limited amount of damage per dose. Multiple doses just extend how long the poison can last, while still only inflicting one die per interval. The most dangerous poison in the game (made from the concentrated hatred of [[EldritchAbomination demon gods]] and tremendously rare and expensive) would still take about seven seconds to kill most people (and would be rather obvious about it).
* In the RPG for ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'', the Scorpion Clan (the underhand clan) sourcebook noted that while such poisons exist in-universe, their opponents have gotten good enough to detect such compounds, which would point back to them. The book lists about 25 'natural' compounds that characters could use instead, few of which are fast, but all can be effective over time, and details are given for each. At the end of the section, it reveals the real names of all but 2 of them, being based on real-world natural poisons.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', being the SpiritualSuccessor to the above version of ''D&D'', has updated the poison rules in response to this trope. Poisons can now have a various onset time anywhere between six seconds and a day, and some poisons can last indefinitely. One particular poison can kill someone (by Constitution drain) over an arbitrarily long period of time.

** In the ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy'' they skip on explaining exactly what the lethal poison is (the vial is labelled [=FATALidomide=] [[FreezeFrameBonus if you squint]]) but it causes a victim who ingests it to retch and keel over within moments. As above, this is so obvious it never counts as an accidental death, apart from a few spiecific mission stories where you FrameUp someone else for the blunder.

* Subversion: [[DeadlyGas Nerve gas]], when aerosolized, kills in concentrations as low as a single droplet dispersed into an entire roomful of air, and in this form is both transparent and odorless. However, it causes a death so horrible, painful [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and noisy]] that it's plainly obvious what did it, and there isn't a great deal of detective work required to find out who did it - the range of suspects able to manufacture it (essentially, only governments who are not signatories to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_Weapons_Convention Chemical Weapons Convention]]) is pretty limited. Fictional works that feature the use of nerve agents as poisons usually have the poisoner steal their supply from military stockpiles (e.g. ''[[Film/TheRock The Rock]]'', Creator/MichaelCrichton's ''Binary''.) This is increasingly unlikely in the real world, as the aforementioned CWC came into effect in 1997 and prohibits the "development, production, acquisition, retention, stockpiling, transfer and use of all chemical weapons" in 188 countries. (Of the countries that are not signatories, all but one - South Sudan - have been accused of possessing chemical weapons.)

** Amanita mushrooms (death caps or destroying angels) could conceivably be eaten voluntarily by someone who doesn't know their mushroom lore. What makes these mushrooms nasty is that the toxins in them are stable even in extreme temperatures; ''cooking them '''WON'T''' save you''.

** Other animals with quick-killing poisons and venoms include the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus blue-ringed octopodes]] of the ''Hapalochlaena'' genus, as well as many varieties of cone snails and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_dart_frog poison dart frogs]], all of which can kill within minutes if you touch them (except poison dart frogs, which can only kill you if the poison is ingested or enters the bloodstream through a cut or a [[PoisonedWeapons poison dart]]). In fact, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conus_geographus Conus geographicus]]'' is nicknamed the "cigarette snail" because its victims are said to only have enough time to smoke a cigarette before they die.

* According to conspiracy theories, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_laboratory_of_the_Soviet_secret_services poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services]] created a poison gas called carbylamine-choline-chloride, or C-2. It was said to be [[SovietSuperscience odorless, tasteless, and could not be detected autopsy, yet was potent enough]] to kill within ''fifteen minutes.'' Eyewitnesses claimed that the gas also caused victims to [[TransformationHorror physically change]], withering away and becoming quieter and calmer before death. No evidence has been provided to prove the existence of this poison.

* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'': Has an episode where poppies from the Other Realm turn out to be lethal to the Spellman family. Hilda and Zelda pass out instantly as soon as they see the flowers, whereas Sabrina is able to fight their effects for longer (as she's half-mortal). At the end of the episode, Sabrina has a EurekaMoment and sends [[Film/TheWizardOfOz a snowstorm to the house]], which removes the effects instantly.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' [[spoiler:Dycedarg]] slowly poisoned his father over many years, which the rest of the family mistook for an illness.

* Averted in [[VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima]]. A perfect poison seems to be what Jin has in mind when discovering concentrated wolfsbane poison. It turns out that instead a dart loaded with enough of the stuff to kill quickly makes the victim howl in pain and vomit blood. [[WeNeedADistraction Still useful]], if not what he was aiming for.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Achaea}}'', a large number of poisons are available and widely used in combat. Most only cause [[HitPoints hit point damage]] or a [[StandardStatusEffects status effect]], but Voyria is invariably lethal...At least it should be, if it didn't take a full thirty seconds to do its work, during which the player receives ''six'' warning messages describing unmistakeable symptoms (mild fever, nose bleeding, bloody vomit, heavy breathing) and has only to take a sip of MagicAntidote to instantly save himself. As everyone carries antidote with them, the only practical way to kill someone with Voyria is to prevent the victim from drinking or injecting medicine.