History Main / SuperSerum

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' ends with the titular hero contently smelling a flower. Some over-zealous Self-Appointed MoralGuardians, however, asserted that the Mouse was snorting opium poppies, and this eventually snowballed into the urban legend that Mighty Mouse gets his powers from cocaine (!).

*** While his [[ComicBook/XMen mainline self]] does not use it, in ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', [[spoiler:this version of Colossus needs the mutant enhancement drug "Banshee" to be able to so much as move his limbs in his organic steel form]].

* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
** The Centipede serum, which is a cocktail containing Chitauri metal (from ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''), Gamma radiation (from ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}''), the Super-Soldier Serum (from ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'') and Extremis (from ''Film/IronMan3'').
** In the second season, Mr. Hyde shows up with his own serum, made from a bevy of experimental drugs, as well as [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking gorilla testosterone and peppermint]]. A full dose gives him enough SuperStrength to break through bulletproof glass and enough SuperToughness to survive getting rammed into a wall by a car, with the only side effect being a minor physical transformation and [[PsychoSerum increased aggression]]. However, it's implied that using it has caused the effects to last longer and possibly even become permanent; even when not using the serum, he has performed feats of strength and endurance that might not be superhuman but are definitely improbable.
** In the fourth season, it is revealed that the U.S. government created a serum and gave it to [[spoiler:Jeffery Mace, in order to allow him to pretend to be an Inhuman so that they could put an [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Enhanced]] person with a good public face in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D.]] And the serum was based on Hyde's serum.
--->'''General Talbot:''' We took the bad stuff out! ...mostly.\\
'''Fitz:''' So you're only ''mostly'' idiots.

* ''Anime/EighthMan'' is a {{Cyberpunk}} {{Superhero}} who recharges himself (and his powers) through special ''cigarettes''. His are the only [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul cybernetics that don't eat one's soul]] in the series. The {{O|riginalVideoAnimation}}VA {{revival}} ''Eight Man After'', he uses plain old experimental Super Serum, in contrast to the PsychoSerum all the ''other'' cyborgs have to use.

* The Source Blood in ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' is a vial of pure vampire blood (the vampires having been destroyed millennia ago) that the Five use to create a serum that gives each one different powers. Helen Magnus becomes TheAgeless, [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper John Druitt]] becomes a {{teleport|ation}}er (agelessness may also be included in the package), [[Literature/SherlockHolmes James Watson]] becomes a super-genius, [[Literature/TheInvisibleMan Nigel Griffin]] becomes {{invisib|ility}}le (the only one of the Five that appears to pass his core power to his offspring), and UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla becomes a vampire with electric powers. Later, the Source Blood is stolen by the [[AncientConspiracy Cabal]] and used to [[spoiler:make Helen's daughter Ashley and several "blank slate" humans into SuperpoweredMooks]].

PowerUpFood is the case when the abilities come from common foodstuffs. Applied to enough people at once, and it becomes a MassSuperEmpoweringEvent. If (as in [[SuperSoldier the case]] of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, pictured right) only one person gets it, it's a DisposableSuperheroMaker. A SuperhumanTransfusion (especially if it's from someone who drank Super Serum) usually has the same effects. If the superpower being given is SuperIntelligence, it overlaps with GeniusSerum.

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[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/serum.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Drink it all, the good stuff's always at the bottom!]]

* In addition to ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'''s smorgasbord of experimental drugs to military-grade combat enhancements, certain varieties of [[BlandNameProduct Nuka Cola]] deliver a fair bit more than a carbonated sugar rush.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'':