History Main / PsychoSerum

[[folder:Card Games]]
* In the CCG ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', most Red/Black creature-enhancing abilities tend to take this route. Take, for example, the flavor text of [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=397729 Brute Force]], the [[AlternateUniverse reimagining]] of Green's iconic Giant Growth: "Blood, bone, and sinew are magnified, as is the rage that drives them. The brain, however, remains unchanged -- a little bean, swinging by a strand in a cavernous, raving head."
** The classic [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=108827 Unstable Mutation]]. +3/+3, but takes a cumulative -1/-1 penalty every subsequent turn -- and Defence 0 means death.
[[/folder]]

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Fungus brew gives the goblin chugging it superhuman (OK, supergoblin) strength. It also turns them into a gibbering lunatic who has to be subdued by the rest of his unit ''sitting on him'' until the enemy get close enough, at which point said goblin is hurled at the enemy and left to [[SpinAttack rotate around the field]] for the rest of the battle, pulverising everything he crashes into with an EpicFlail... until the brew wears off ([[Literature/{{Discworld}} causing a brief demonstration of a spiral in action]]), or the goblin crashes into a tree, is pulled down by sheer weight of numbers, or gets shot by the enemy/his own side (depending upon tactical needs). A hero with the Madcap Mushrooms can make this even ''worse'' for whoever gets hit.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Primal2019'': The Ape-men in Episode 5 keep a black goo they use to ritually enhance the strength and ferocity to incredible levels. The Ape Champion drinks a single drop and gains enough strength to easily beat Fang in a fight. Spear in turn downs the ''whole bowl'' and he turns into a murderous prehistoric version of the Incredible Hulk who can literally rip the apes limb from limb.
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' could take [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Nucleon Nucleon]] (from the heart of a black hole) to become stronger and faster, at the cost of ShapeshifterModeLock.

*** Dark Energon probably counts. Anyone infused with it gains a significant boost in power with the bonus of being able to raise the dead. Megatron's first act upon his return was the stab a shard of it into his spark, and mixing it with the above synthetic caused the above incident. The downsides to using it? [[spoiler:Your spark becomes bound to Unicron, unable to pass into the afterlife, and your corpse becomes a potential puppet for him. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And on the more mundane level,]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity the stuff itself doesn't exactly do your mental health any favors]].]]

*** The Hobgoblin claimed that his version of the Goblin formula was perfected to remove the insanity. On the one hand, he did test it on another subject and altered the formula before he took it himself. On the other hand, well, he was the freaking Hobgoblin, and suggesting he was nuts was his BerserkButton. Something of a moot point, since he died and took the formula variant with him until he came back, anyway([[{{Retcon}} The dead guy was actually a pawn for the real deal]]).

* The Wyvern Formula in ''Literature/{{Twig}}'' is a collection of several extremely poisonous substances injected through the sinuses directly into the brain, which damages the hippocampus in such a way that an individual using Wyvern can temporarily make massive edits to their own personality and emotional state. With short-term use, there's few ''permanent'' side effects, but the individual will undergo a huge temporary personality shift as they alter their own mindset to correspond to whichever situation has caused them to take Wyvern in the first place. It's often used by students in order to enhance their mental facilities for testing and study sessions, but long-term users such as [[ManipulativeBastard Sylvester]] can use it to make themselves a savant in any given field.
* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Most of the SuperSoldier experiments performed during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII by both the Axis and the Allies involved various {{Super Serum}}s, most of which proved to have, uh, ''undesirable'' side effects. For those whose test serum proved to be a Psycho Serum, both sides chose to use the victims as shock troops, with the Axis also using them as propaganda meant to terrify Allied soldiers (the US and UK preferred to keep the test low-key). Even the 'successful' tests often led to breakdowns after the war, with many '[[CaptainPatriotic Flag Heroes]]' [[FromCamouflageToCriminal becoming villains after the war]]. After the war, Super Serums continued to be common experimental projects for {{Mad Scientist}}s, with a lot of them turning out to be Psycho Serums. This results in the creation of quite a few {{supervillain}}s.
** [[WellIntentionedExtremist Dr. Diabolik]] frequently experiments with {{Genius Serum}}s, which he then sells on the black market; but not all of these turn out as planned. An example of this is at the heart of the story [[https://whateley.academy/index.php/story/evil-genius-part-1 'Evil Genius']], in which the protagonist gets dosed with one of these - while it does increase mental ability temporarily, it has the side effect of total loss of empathy, leading to temporary psychopathy. Dr. Diabolik is said to be actively trying to track down those who leaked the failed formula.

** Note that the Psycho Serum effects of PCP [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phencyclidine have been exaggerated]] ; more accurate research suggests that PCP rarely causes violent behaviour, and usually in people who were already violent even before taking the drug. That is to say, rather than turning normal people crazy, it - like many drugs - makes crazy people crazier.

* [[spoiler:[[AlwaysChaoticEvil The Reavers]]]] in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' were the result of an experimental drug (meant to make people docile) pumped into the air on the planet Miranda. Most of the population [[GoneHorriblyRight became so listless they could not be bothered to eat]], but [[spoiler:the Reavers]] had the opposite reaction, becoming mindlessly hyper-aggressive.

* Even AfterTheEnd, the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series is chock full of such 'chems' as buffout, mentats, stimpaks, med-x, jet, and, yes indeed, '''psycho'''! While a range of side-effects from temporary stat penalties to damage occur immediately upon taking them, and a chance of becoming addicted (which will cause further stat penalties if you go without them too long, accumulating repeatedly until withdrawal is completed) exists, there is one exception: It's a-OK to regularly pump yourself full of fistfuls of the completely side effect-free standard size [[HealingPotion stimpacks]] every single day.

* ''Fanfic/CharlesMansonVsTheTeletubbies'': To activate his OneWingedAngel form, UsefuNotes/CharlesManson must consume an experimental serum that was said to grant the person who uses it incredible powers, at the cost of their humanity. Upon injecting himself with it, he turns into a lizard-like creature.

** In the prequel story ''Fall of Deadworld'', the Dark Judges use a version of their dead fluids to make people go kill-crazy. The ones that best respond to the stuff become new recruits.

* The ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' novels ''Literature/CarnageInNewYork'' and ''Goblin's Revenge'' feature Spider-Man fighting to prevent a PsychoSerum that causes anyone exposed to it to [[HatePlague fall into a murderous frenzy]] from being unleashed on the public, first by Carnage, and then [[VillainTeamUp both Carnage and a new Green Goblin]] [[spoiler:(who's actually the Chameleon in disguise)]].

* Oscorp's "human performance enhancers" from ''Film/SpiderMan1'' can apparently cause "violence, aggression, and insanity". Nevertheless, Norman Osborn decides to [[ProfessorGuineaPig test them on himself]] in order to prove that they work fine and prevent the military from pulling his funding. They [[GoneHorriblyRight work too well]] and Norman soon becomes the Green Goblin.

*** Venom was originally introduced as a SuperSoldier drug. Batman became addicted to it, which caused him to become violent and prone to [[LaughingMad crazy laughing fits]]. He had to spend a ''month'' isolated in the Batcave to beat the withdrawal and addiction. Variants on the drug in that same story would kill anyone who tried to get clean after just one dose. Later stories revealed that it was a modification of the Miraclo drug used by the superhero ComicBook/{{Hourman}}, though with the [[HourOfPower 1-hour limitation]] removed, thus making Venom Miraclo's EvilKnockoff though it's more of a ShoddyKnockoffProduct as Miraclo, despite the time limit, makes you strong and [[RequiredSecondaryPowers durable]] enough to tank hits from a rhino and lift weight well into the multi-ton range.

** ComicBook/{{Hourman}} used the drug Miraclo to gain superpowers [[HourOfPower for one hour]], overused it, and became addicted. Though he's since beaten the addiction, he continues to fight crime ''with'' the drug, constantly battling his old habits.

* Jugo (Spanish for "Juice") in ''{{TabletopGame/GURPS}} IST''. Developed by Colombian drug cartels, it turns a normal person injected with it into a super-powered berserker for a few hours. Afterwards it usually kills the user, though a few survive it.
* In the TabletopRPG ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}},'' one of the character types is "Juicer". A juicer has a device that continually delivers a cocktail of drugs into his bloodstream, granting him super strength, reflexes, and senses. The catch? It's instantly addictive, and withdrawal can be fatal. If they don't quit, the drugs ''will'' kill the user within seven years of starting. Also, he rolls a percentage to see if the drug causes one of several mental disorders.

* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' and ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', vampire blood can transform a human into a Ghoul, who becomes [[TheAgeless ageless]], gains a partial vampiric HealingFactor, and can even learn vampiric powers... as long as they have a steady supply. Unfortunately for them, vampire blood is heinously addictive ''and'' drinking repeatedly from one vampire enslaves the drinker to the vampire's will. Vampires gleefully {{exploit|edTrope}} this to retain fanatically loyal servants.

* Fungus brew in ''[[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} Warhammer Fantasy]]'' gives the goblin chugging it superhuman (OK, supergoblin) strength. It also turns them into a gibbering lunatic who has to be subdued by the rest of his unit ''sitting on him'' until the enemy get close enough, at which point said goblin is hurled at the enemy and left to [[SpinAttack rotate around the field]] for the rest of the battle, pulverising everything he crashes into with an EpicFlail... until the brew wears off ([[Literature/{{Discworld}} causing a brief demonstration of a spiral in action]]), or the goblin crashes into a tree, is pulled down by sheer weight of numbers, or gets shot by the enemy/his own side (depending upon tactical needs). A hero with the Madcap Mushrooms can make this even ''worse'' for whoever gets hit.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

** There's also the Imperium's Arco-Flagellants. Take a person, lobotomize him, replace his arms with flails, swords, or whatever. Then condition it to be perfectly calm and at peace with its condition so long as its helmet (Which plays calming, soothing religious images and music) is on, making it easy as pie to put them into position. Then take the helmet off while they're pointed at the enemy, pump them with an insane amount of stimulants, and watch your lobotomized murder machines rip the Foul Xenos to shreds. In case you haven't noticed, the Imperium of Man is not very nice.
** Unclean gene-seeds of Primarchs have this effect on the Marines who are blessed with it:
*** Sanguinius' gene-seed had a flaw that caused his "sons" to suffer from the Red Thirst, a horrible thirst for blood that slowly but surely drives them insane. Sangunius knew about this but never had enough time to fix it and stop his sons from suffering before his untimely death, which caused the Black Rage in his sons turning them into crazed berserkers blessed with a touch of their Primarch's power.
*** Leman Russ's gene-seed is stronger than his Primarch brothers granting his sons hyper-acute senses of smell and hearing, elongated canines that can dent plasteel, and leathery, resilient skin but the way his sons get new recruits is the dangerous part. Aspirants who want to be a Space Wolf has to drink from the Cup of Wolfen and ingest the Canis Helix. When they do this they are twisted and warped into bestial men and are forced to return to the Chapter's Fortress Monastery to have their gene-seed stabilized. If they succumb to the Helix they turn into savage WolfMen that hunt and kill Aspirants that take the test later. Even if they do survive they're still likely to become savages again in battle.