History Main / DangerousPhlebotinumInteraction

** Parodied with the page quote, when the actual names of the ingredients for an experiment are [[{{Pixellation}} blurred out]] to [[AndSomeOtherStuff keep from giving the audience ideas]].

** With the legalization of marijuana in many jurisdictions, some enterprising stoners have sought to combine the two. This is a bad idea for multiple reasons. The first is that combining drugs is more likely to result in addictive or unsafe behavior than using either of the two alone. The second is this trope. Smoking weed after drinking alcohol can result in a much more intense high, which can be terrifying for novice stoners. Drinking alcohol after smoking weed makes it harder to determine how much the stoner is imbibing, which greatly increases the risk of AlcoholInducedIdiocy.

* ''Fanfic/DeathBattleArena'': [[Series/TheBoys2019 A-Train's]] arcade ending has him accidently doing this to ''himself''; he decides to inject himself with [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Venom]] as a means to give himself a power boost. Unfortunately, due to the [[Super serum Compound V]] already in his system, the Venom instead permanently cripples him, meaning he can no longer be part of The Seven.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', what is currently established about Devil Fruits is that, among other things, you do not eat another fruit if you've already eaten one because you'll die -- it's believed to be because the "devils" inside the fruit will fight each other, causing the eater to implode. [[spoiler:Blackbeard [[WrongContextMagic proves himself an exception]], as he already an user of Dark-Dark Fruit and manages to get Whitebeard's Rumble-Rumble Fruit power and even more later on. Though the process of which is still unknown, but seems to have something to do with his body being abnormal.]]

* ComicBook/TheJoker's trademark Joker venom is sometimes portrayed (most notably in "The Laughing Fish") as a combination of two otherwise-harmless chemicals that produces instant, smiling death. Very useful for targeted assassinations.

* In ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'', Blonsky makes Sterns infuse him with Bruce Banner's blood so he can gain the Hulk's power. Due to his own Super Soldier Serum reacting with it he undergoes a one way transformation to the stronger (and uglier) Abomination.
* {{Exploited|Trope}} in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' where John Harrison's agent destroys the Section 31 weapons lab by dropping a ring he's wearing into a glass of what at least looks like water, causing a tremendous explosion.
* ''Film/Batman1989'' takes the aforementioned Joker Venom ("Smylex") up a notch. It's a binary compound with the components seeded among ''dozens'' of different personal-care product brands. This means, effectively, that [[EverythingTryingToKillYou brushing your teeth after using a certain conditioner could make you die laughing]]. Fortunately, Batman's trusty computer helps him to figure out which combinations of products will do what, which when leaked to the media foils Joker's plan.
* ''Film/ReignOfFire'' explains [[BreathWeapon dragon fire]] by establishing early on that dragons have glands in their mouths that produce "opposite chemicals". The dragons work kind of like a spitting cobra, spraying the chemicals at a target, and when the chemicals come into contact with each other they react and ignite.

* In the ''Literature/{{Ringworld}}'' universe, Known Space has the life-extension drug boosterspice. The inhabitants of the Ringworld have their own life-extension drug, but you can't take both: boosterspice is poisonous to someone who's used the Ringworld drug.

* One of the Mesan assassination weapons in the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series is the binary neurotoxin. Neither of the two chemicals used is itself dangerous (the Mesans smuggled them past a poison detector disguised as exotic perfumes), but when they're mixed they become an incredibly lethal nerve gas.

* ''Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook'', a supplementary Literature/{{Discworld}} Book, contains Lord Vetinari’s recipe for bread and water – mostly a detailed explanation of how to detect possible poisons. For example, even if you think that bread and water passed their separate tests, you should remember about a case where the poison became lethal only if you ate the bread and ''then'' drank the water.
* ''Literature/AgeOfFire'': Similarly to ''Film/ReignOfFire'' above, dragons are explained to spit chemicals from glands in their mouths which, when mixed and exposed to air, ignite into flames.
* ''Literature/CodexAlera:'' This turns out to be part of the reason behind the human-Icemen war. The humans use firecrafting to stay warm in the arctic regions the Icemen inhabit, while the Icemen communicate using watercrafting-based telempathy. These two magics interfere with each other, causing irritation and discomfort on both sides and turning already tense first-contact scenarios into a series of fiascos.

* In one episode of ''Series/DarkAngel'', out of desperation, Max used a brain implant designed to boost normal humans to superhuman levels of performance, although the physical strain dramatically shortens their lives. With her genetically enhanced physiology she became unstoppable, although due to her faster metabolism it would have killed her in ''hours'' if the implant hadn't been disabled soon after.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** The early episode "Singularity" shows that in addition to the main way [[{{Unobtainium}} naquadah]] is explosive, it reacts explosively with an alloy of iron and potassium (we're talking two microscopic amounts of each obliterating a whole room, including the camera on the other side of it), [[spoiler:a fact used by Nirrti to [[WhyAmITicking turn a girl into a walking weapon of mass destruction]]]].
** In "Summit" the Tok'ra unveil a binary chemical agent that is incredibly toxic to Goa'uld symbiotes: an amount small enough to fit in one's pocket can reportedly produce enough DeadlyGas to kill every Tok'ra in their current base.
* ''Series/MythBusters'':
** Parodied with the page quote, where the actual names of the ingredients for an experiment are [[{{Pixellation}} blurred out]] to [[AndSomeOtherStuff keep from giving the audience ideas]].
** When examining the ''Hindenburg'' disaster, they tested the flammable properties of both the hydrogen gas and the zeppelin's metallic paint, and decided that a combination of the two was probably responsible. For how dangerous the combined one was? Both were already flammable individually. When combined? It was quite difficult to get the test module to survive long enough to test.
** When they were testing a ''Series/BreakingBad'' method of DisposingOfABody, they accelerated sulfuric acid with some [[AndSomeOtherStuff "special sauce"]] to make something monstrously corrosive.
* In the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "Ariel" an undercover Simon Tam saves a patient from cardiac arrest, then tears the patient's doctor a new one for causing it. The doctor mistakenly gave his patient a painkiller that, when combined with a standard prep drug used for the patient's prior heart surgery, reacts to form a vasoconstrictor (a chemical that makes blood vessels contract).

---> "Mixing medications is always a bad idea, especially when one's an upper and one's a downer. Anxiety and allergy meds together are a scary combination, and that's before you add the caffeine of an energy drink."
** In "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS2E16LesserEvil Lesser Evil]]", Michael {{MacGyver|ing}}s a makeshift incendiary grenade out of brake fluid, diethylene glycol, chlorine dioxide, "{{and some other stuff}}" (a remark added as a {{handwave}} because [[ArtisticLicenseChemistry the stated ingredients couldn't actually produce a fireball as big as the one depicted]]).
--->'''Victor:''' Someone's been to the chemical store, I see! ''(Michael tosses it out the car window at their pursuer. Kaboom!)'' I like you, have I ever told you that?
** But {{subverted}} in "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS3E13EnemiesCloser Enemies Closer]]" when Michael builds a binary chemical bomb as part of a ploy against [[{{Recurrer}} recurring villain]] "Dead" Larry Sizemore after the latter drags him into a feud with a money counterfeiting gang. [[spoiler:The bomb is a prop and the "binary chemicals" are just counterfeiting ink.]]
* Invoked by Londo Mollari in an episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'', when he gives Lord Refa part of a deadly poison. It's a binary poison, meaning the two components are harmless by themselves, but if they're brought together, they are very lethal. He warns Refa that the Centauri's war of conquest needs to stop, or he'll introduce Refa to the ''other'' half of the poison.
-->'''[[MagnificentBastard Londo]]:''' To your health, Lord Refa.
* ''Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert'' had a story about a guy who mixed cough syrup with LSD, drove his car through several fences, then hallucinated that a house was on fire and broke in to rescue the family dog.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

* {{Exploited|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/EvilGenius''. [[spoiler:Turns out that pesky Super Agent Dirk Masters is hopped up on tons of illegal steroids. Giving him a dip in your Bio-Tanks causes a series of delightfully nasty mutations, turning your former foe into a Freak under your command.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': Despite the avowed lack of canon, one consistent rule is that the Foundation is averse to cross-testing. They're happy to run all sorts of tests on one anomaly, and run all sorts of tests on another, but bringing two of them to see what happens is usually a no-no, because when two things that break reality in different ways come into contact with each other the results are impossible to predict. For example, one origin story for SCP-682, an indestructible OmnicidalManiac with an AdaptiveAbility, is that it was created in a cross-test gone wrong.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': "Eda's Requiem" reveals that Eda's Owl Beast curse interacts rather badly with Bard magic, causing anything within range of the sound to slowly rot and decay.

* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': Despite the avowed lack of canon, one consistent rule is that the Foundation is averse to cross-testing. They're happy to run all sorts of tests on one anomaly, and run all sorts of tests on another, but bringing two of them to see what happens is usually a no-no, because when two uniquely reality-breaking items come into contact with each other the results are impossible to predict. For example, one origin story for SCP-682, an indestructible OmnicidalManiac with an AdaptiveAbility, is that it was created in a cross-test gone wrong.

* ''WebOriginal/SCPFoundation'': Despite the avowed lack of canon, one consistent rule is that the Foundation is averse to cross-testing. They're happy to run all sorts of tests on one anomaly, and run all sorts of tests on another, but bringing two of them to see what happens is usually a no-no, because when two uniquely reality-breaking items come into contact with each other the results are impossible to predict. For example, one origin story for SCP-682, an indestructible OmnicidalManiac with an AdaptiveAbility, is that it was created in a cross-test gone wrong.

** [[https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-triazadienyl-fluoride Trizadienyl Fluoride]] - as one commenter put it, there are more elegant and less painful ways to commit suicide than synthesizing this stuff or trying to work with it.
** [[https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-peroxide-peroxides Peroxide Peroxides]] - Most of us have encountered hydrogen peroxide for medical use - it's a very useful disinfectant with a foaming action that helps flush wounds. What isn't immediately apparent is that peroxide is in a solution with water and only 10% is peroxide. Take the concentration up to 70% and the stuff becomes disagreeable. At 90% and above you have rocket fuel - very unstable rocket fuel at that.
** [[https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-dimethylcadmium Dimethyl Cadmium]] isn't an explosion risk, but it will poison you and if you survive that you'll almost certainly get cancer.
** [[https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane]] - try saying that three times quickly, and before it inevitably explodes.

** ''TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsFirstEdition'' had the Potion Miscibility Table, which had a variety of results when someone drank two magic potions. The bad results ranged from mild poison to lethal poison to an explosion ''inside the victim''.

* ''Fanfic/AndTheGiantAwoke'': The first element of [[spoiler:Olenna Tyrell]]’s poison is put into [[spoiler:Littlefinger]]’s soaps, and the second one, which makes it deadly, is in candle wisps in [[spoiler:his]] room. Then an excellent medicine was used against the poison… and [[CruelMercy prolonged the agony]].

** In all editions, putting a portable hole into a BagOfHolding causes [[RealityBreakingParadox very bad things to happen]], although precisely what effect results depends on which is put into which. Putting the bag into the hole sucks both into the Astral Plane and renders both items lost forever. Putting the hole into the bag opens a dimensional breach into the Astral Plane, destroying both hole and bag and sucking anything in a ten foot radius into space.

* In the ''Series/BurnNotice'' episode "Bad Breaks" one of Michael's customary voiceovers [[DiscussedTrope narrates]] his efforts to foil a gang of bank robbers.
--> "Mixing medications is always a bad idea, especially when one's an upper and one's a downer. Anxiety and allergy meds together are a scary combination, and that's before you add the caffeine of an energy drink."

** First Edition had the Potion Miscibility Table, which had a variety of results when someone drank two magic potions. The bad results ranged from mild poison to lethal poison to an explosion ''inside the victim''.
** Putting a portable hole into a BagOfHolding causes [[RealityBreakingParadox very bad things to happen]], although precisely what effect results depends on which is put into which. Putting the bag into the hole sucks both into the Astral Plane and renders both items lost forever. Putting the hole into the bag opens a dimensional breach into the Astral Plane, destroying both hole and bag and sucking anything in a ten foot radius into space.

** [[https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-work-hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane Hexanitrohexaazaisowrtzitane]] - try saying that three times quickly, and before it inevitably explodes.

* In one episode of ''Series/DarkAngel'', out of desperation, Max used a brain implant designed to boost normal humans to superhuman levels of performance, although the physical strain dramatically shortens their lives. With her genetically-enhanced physiology, she became unstoppable, although it would have killed her in ''hours'' if the implant hadn't been disabled soon after.

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypergolic_propellant Hypergolic Propellants]]. These are materials which spontaneously ignite when mixed. One such fuel was used in the Me-163 Komet interceptors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The Apollo lunar lander used a hypergolic mixer for the ascent stage of the lunar lander to save weight in maximize reliability. Rocket motors using these compounds save on weight and the complexity of spark-gap or pyrotechnic igniters. Starting and stopping the motor is as simple as opening a valve. The drawback is the volatility of these compounds in general, creating the need for formidable extra safety measures.

** Hypergolic compounds. These are materials which spontaneously ignite when mixed. One such fuel was used in the Me-163 Komet interceptors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The Apollo lunar lander used a hypergolic mixer for the ascent stage of the lunar lander to save weight in maximize reliability. Rocket motors using these compounds save on weight and the complexity of spark-gap or pyrotechnic igniters. Starting and stopping the motor is as simple as opening a valve. The drawback is the volatility of these compounds in general, creating the need for formidable extra safety measures.

** Binary agents in general. For a relatively low-key example, mix baking soda (base) with vinegar (acid). You get a big bubbly foamy reaction which ultimately just produces a bunch of [=CO2=] and water, and a little bit of sodium acetate. For a much more energetic example observe hypergolic fuels, like the two-part fuel used in the Me-163 Komet interceptors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, which spontaneously ignite when mixed. This is amazingly useful when designing a rocket motor, because it enables you to dispense with the extra weight and complexity of spark-gap or pyrotechnic igniters and can start and stop your motor as often as you need to by simply opening a valve, but it creates some formidable extra safety issues.

* Innumerable examples in chemistry.

** In the CRC Handbook Of Chemistry And Physics, a real life BigBookOfEverything for scientific data, one section lists chemicals which react dangerously with each other. Of special note is the entry for elemental fluorine, which simply reads "everything". A number of early chemists working with fluorine ''literally'' blew up their laboratories. The first guy who tried reacting fluorine with carbon was one of them. He then tried using reacting it with hydrocarbons instead of carbon itself, and got ''another'' explosion.

* This is why mixing medications without proper medical advice isn't a good idea. For both legitimate and illicit drugs, a particularly dangerous combination is taking stimulants and depressants at the same time. This was the immediate cause of death for Creator/JohnBelushi, as he had taken a mixture of cocaine (stimulant) and heroin (depressant).

* In ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'', Blonsky makes Sterns infuse him with Bruce Banner's blood so he can gain the Hulk's power. Due to his own Super Soldier Serum reacting with it he undergoes a one way transformation to the stronger (and uglier) Abomination.