History Main / GreyGoo

* ''TabletopGame/TheEndOfTheWorld'' has the "Nanopocalypse" scenario in its fourth book "Revolt of the Machines", where a swarm of nanobots originally developed to destroy cancer cells starts consuming ''everything'' carbon-based, including trees, asphalt, soil, and people. It's perhaps the bleakest of the scenarios in the book or any other books- not only is almost all of the Earth left a lifeless desert of inorganic dust in the span of about ''two weeks'', what remains of humanity lives in the Antarctic, as the nanobots can't stand the cold. Even then it's implied that there aren't enough renewable resources to go around, leaving humanity- and all life on earth- to slowly die a cold, lonely end.
* Gray Goo is discussed in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: Ultra-Tech'' in a section on Von Neumann machines and points out the waste heat of the goo eating a planet is likely a more pressing threat than being eaten by it. On the up side they require extremely high level technology and are expensive to make, on the down side some versions might be able to fly or travel through space.

* In the ''TabletopGame/StarWarsRolePlayingGame'' supplement ''The Unknown Regions'', a Grey Goo named Mnggal-Mnggal is mentioned. It is sentient, and able to infect any form of matter, as well as take control of creatures as 'zombies'. Its origins are unknown, and it's likely biological. Note: If there was a trope for biological Grey Goo Mnggal-Mnggal would fit there.
* Virus Bombs of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' work on a similar principle to the Red or Black Goo scenario noted above. They utilize something called the Life-Eater virus, which consumes everything organic on a planet and leaves behind massive, highly flammable swamps and gas clouds. A follow-up series of incendiary missiles ignites a planet-wide firestorm that scours any remaining life from the surface, leaving nothing behind but a glowing, lifeless rock. The Imperium uses them in dire situations when [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt a problem can only be solved by destroying a planet]]. For added NightmareFuel, note that the Life-Eater is absolutely in the [[EldritchAbomination Chaos God]] [[{{Plaguemaster}} Nurgle's]] wheelhouse. Many of those who have the authority to use these world ending protocols have wisened up, and will prefer to use a [[EarthShatteringKaboom Cyclonic torpedo]] instead.
* Cards in the Graydle archetype of ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' fall under this. The Graydles themselves are a race of parasitic, alien, metallic BlobMonsters which assimilate other living creatures that come in contact with it, which is reflected in gameplay by allowing their player to take control of an opponent's monster when the graydle is destroyed and sent to the graveyard. The art of cards like Graydle Cobra and Graydle Alligator show the infected creatures bodies gradually decomposing and being converted into even more grey goo while their syncro summon monster, Graydle Dragon, shows the various creatures being combined into one large monstrosity with the Graydle's matter becoming an armored, mechanical hide over most of the body.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': "Nano of the North" features a swarm of Grey Goo nanobots dropping from a raincloud and destroying Townsville, though the bots thankfully ignored living creatures. Since the girls are too big to fight them (it only ends up with them eating their clothes) they are shrunk to their level to fight. When they are overpowered by the girls, the nanobots fuse into a relatively-HumongousMecha... which is just as big as an insect, [[ClippedWingAngel allowing Professor Utonium to crush it under his foot]].

* The {{Creepypasta}} ''Achilles IV'' is about a starship thst picked up an unknown substance (later discovered to be a type of fungus) that converts other forms of matter into more of itself, which then forms into a cityscape. The protagonist details how it ate the rest of his crew and started gnawing on the structure of the ''Achilles IV'' during the remainder of his trip to Alpha Centauri.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 Nom nom nom, om nom!]]]]

->''"'Plants' with 'leaves' no more efficient than today's solar cells could out-compete real plants, crowding the biosphere with an inedible foliage. Tough, omnivorous 'bacteria' could out-compete real bacteria: they could spread like blowing pollen, replicate swiftly, and reduce the biosphere to dust in a matter of days. ... Among the cognoscenti of nanotechnology, this threat has become known as the 'gray goo problem.'"''
-->-- K. Eric Drexler, coining the term

* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' mentions it as a possible weapon if the commonly-used "makers" are reprogrammed. The standard MO for handling a "grey goo" scenario is to release "blue goo" (disassembler nanites that degrade matter -- all matter -- to the point where Grey G can't make more nanites out of it, and then destroy the Grey Goo nanites) to contain the grey goo and restrict its damage to a small area. One brief mention is made of someone who lost his legs because he decided to (and succeeded) shut off the grey goo instead of releasing the blue goo. [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished He's then fired for violating protocol and ends up homeless.]]
** Foglets - people who have their minds uploaded into a swarm of nanocomputers - work on a smaller scale, since the most practical way to turn someone into a Foglet is to have another Foglet do it. (They can reassemble matter on a molecular scale, so building the drones is easy.) Since they're controlled by a human intelligence, they don't go out of control and start destroying everything. At least, they haven't so far...

* In ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'', [[spoiler: the Shadow Lord has a literal grey goo flood set up as a final XanatosGambit.]] It was designed to [[spoiler: kill everything on the continent,]] but [[spoiler: the Shadow Lord didn't count on [[SpannerInTheWorks dragons]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' episode "Kremzeek!" involved a highly specialized electricity eating spark creature, splitting into new copies of itself as it ate more and more current.
** The "annoying replicating electrical prankster" story is practically its own sub-trope. In the old ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1987}}'' cartoon, it's called ''The Big Zipp Attack;'' in ''WesternAnimation/MightyDucksTheAnimatedSeries'' it's ''Zap Attack. WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' has the imagination to not name it after the creature: instead of something like ''"The Megawhatts Attack,"'' the critters are first encountered in ''Tourist Trap.'' (Unusually, the Megawhatts go on to be a seldom-seen but established part of the setting. They're actually an alien race called Nosedeenians, and make a return appearance in which Ben and company had to ''save'' them from villains who were kidnapping and enslaving them as a power source. Ben later gains one as an Omnitrix form, which he calls Buzzshock.) It's not as obligatory as the FantasticVoyagePlot, but watch enough cartoons and you'll know it by heart.

* Cards in the Graydle archetype of ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' fall under this. The Graydles themselves are a race of parasitic, alien, metallic BlobMonsters which assimiliate other living creatures that come in contact with it, which is reflected in gameplay by allowing their player to take control of an opponant's monster when the graydle is destroyed and sent to the graveyard. Cards like Graydle Cobra and Graydle Alligator show the infected creatures bodies gradually decomposing and being converted into even more grey goo while their syncro summon monster, Graydle Dragon, shows the various creatures being combined into one large monstrosity witht he Graydle's matter becomming an armored hide over most of the body.

Grey Goo is like a HordeOfAlienLocusts, only replace Alien Locusts with {{Nanotechnology}} or any other self-replicating material -- and instead of grass, they "eat" ''anything.'' Or, if the protagonists are lucky, just anything [[EatDirtCheap mineral]], [[MetalMuncher metal]], or electronic.

They're worse than alien locusts. Grey Goo destroys resources by turning them into more grey goo -- more {{nano machines}} or whatever matter the grey goo is composed of. It's TheVirus for nonliving things -- though it may be able to take down living things as well, and likely will turn them into nonliving things if they're in the wrong place (ie: outside). In theory, you can end up with a planetary body made of nothing ''but'' grey goo. Physical laws regarding energy, thermodynamics and the like are an obstacle, but even a partial success in this case is likely to suck for everyone involved.

* ''[[Videogame/Seedship]]'': Alien nanobots can potentially attack the ship, and the player has to determine how to handle them.

* ''[[Videogame/{{Seedship}}]]'': Alien nanobots can potentially attack the ship, and the player has to determine how to handle them.

* Cards in the Graydle archetype of ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' fall under this. The Graydles themselves are a race of parasitic, alien, metallic BlobMonsters which assimiliate other living creatures that come in contact with it. Cards like Graydle Cobra and Graydle Alligator show the infected creatures bodies gradually decomposing and being converted into even more grey goo while their syncro summon monster, Graydle Dragon, shows the various creatures being combined into one large monstrosity witht he Graydle's matter becomming an armored hide over most of the body.

* Cards in the Graydle archetype of ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' fall under this. The Graydles themselves are a race of parasitic, alien, metallic BlobMonsters which assimiliate other living creatures that come in contact with it. Cards like Graydle Snake and Graydle Alligator show the infected creatures bodies gradually decomposing and being converted into even more grey goo while their [=XYZ=] summon monster, Graydle Dragon, shows the various creatures being combined into one large monstrosity witht he Graydle's matter becomming an armored hide over most of the body.

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' would later return to this plot when it introduced the Scraplets (adapted from the ''Transformers'' [[ComicBook/TheTransformers comics).]]

* Another, really freaky example from the world of nuclear physics is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strangelet strangelet]], a particle of strange matter that's hypothesized to be able to convert normal matter into strange matter just by coming into contact with it. The converted particle then immediately does the same to a neighboring ordinary particle, and thus doom takes its course. If such a thing were to happen on Earth, it would quickly and irrevocably turn our pretty blue planet into an incredibly lethal ball of strange matter, and there's [[NightmareFuel nothing at all we could do about it]].

* The old ''Radio/LightsOut'' radio serial had "Chicken Heart", a biological grey goo that started out as a cell culture from [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a chicken heart]] and turned into some kind of mindlessly spreading cancer blob that quickly overwhelmed the research lab, university, and city that it was created in. Even worse, [[OnlySaneMan the researcher responsible]], escaping with a reporter in a plane, knows [[NukeEm exactly how to stop it]], but [[TheCassandra the authorities refuse.]] [[WeirdAlEffect Somewhat more famous]] is Creator/BillCosby's Jell-O-soaked retelling as he remembers hearing it on the radio as a kid.

* ''Literature/ChrysalisRinoZ'': The appearance of even a single monster ant generally prompts a rapid response in force from humanity's protectors, because of the ants' ability to grow exponentially, turning all the biomass they find into hundreds of eggs per day -- some of which can hatch into queens, allowing them to lay faster, spread further, and hatch more queens...past ant swarms have depopulated countries before they were stopped. And then they find out that the latest ant colony [[spoiler:has gained sapience]].

** [[BlobMonster Sergeant Schlock]] has been mistaken for grey goo a [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-03-31 couple]] [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2015-06-12 times]]. And to be fair, they're not that far off, and when pitted in a who-eats-who duel against the actual stuff he was evenly matched.

* The TrueFinalBoss of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', [[spoiler: Septuagint]], can be seen as this. It may be more of [[spoiler: purple crystals]], but its directive is clear: exterminate the whole world by consuming anything to come to its path, and it can even make [[spoiler: crystal-based]] duplicates of things it has consumed.
* A grey goo like attack is possible in ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander2''. The Cybran Nation can upgrade their engineers to have weapons, by doing this and building nothing but engineers you will get an ever growing blob of engineers that will automatically shoot every enemy in sight and use the remains to build more engineers. [[http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/06/20/engineering-victory-in-supreme-commander-2/ Full instructions here]].

* In the short story "[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/mellor_09_13/ Mar Pacifico]]" by Greg Mellor, nanotech designed to fight the effects of global warming (by letting the oceans absorb more carbon) sweeps over the Earth absorbing most forms of life. [[spoiler:When the protagonist is absorbed, she discovers that humanity still exists as a linked HiveMind inside the nanotech.]]

* A rather spooky example [[http://qntm.org/gorge presented here as a story]], [[spoiler:which shows us why you should just let the gray goo be...]]
** And played with in [[http://qntm.org/transit this story on the same site]], [[spoiler:where the sentient gray goo triggers the nanoapocalypse to ''save'' humanity from an impending asteroid collision.]]

* The novel ''How to Mutate and Take Over the World'' ends with [[spoiler:nanites from a dessert factory transforming the world into key lime pie. And this gets spoiled about a third of the way in, [[NoFourthWall in a fictional review of the book]]]].

->''"The early transistorized computers soon beat the most advanced vacuum-tube computers because they were based on superior devices. For the same reason, early assemblerbased replicators could beat the most advanced modern organisms. 'Plants' with 'leaves' no more efficient than today's solar cells could out-compete real plants, crowding the biosphere with an inedible foliage. Tough, omnivorous 'bacteria' could out-compete real bacteria: they could spread like blowing pollen, replicate swiftly, and reduce the biosphere to dust in a matter of days. ... Among the cognoscenti of nanotechnology, this threat has become known as the 'gray goo problem.'"''

->''"Imagine you meet a magical leprechaun. For a bargain price, he offers to fix up your house and add an extra room. So you take him home, and he proceeds to eat your house and shit out a hundred and forty more leprechauns, which promptly murder you."''
-->-- '''Website/{{Cracked}}''' on [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16583_the-5-scientific-experiments-most-likely-to-end-world_p2.html Nanotechnology]]

** A specific variant of cancer cultured in a lab called [=HeLa=] (a contraction of Henriette Langer, its PatientZero) is so prolific that it grows at about a ton a year, and converts any tissue it touches into more [=HeLa=]-including bacteria. It's corrupted a fair few experiments where safety protocols are lax. Imagine if they were lax enough to infect a researcher...