History Main / ToxicWasteCanDoAnything

Toxic waste is... well, ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Poisonous, corrosive, and exposure to it in high doses will often do you great harm, or kill you, or both.

Not the same as ToxicPhlebotinum (which is an actual power source, just dangerous to use), SuperSerum, or MutagenicGoo (which is something that might be actually and intentionally designed to cause changes). This applies when something that is nothing more than waste material that should just kill anything living instead makes it stronger. Often has a strong relationship to RadiationInducedSuperpowers, as toxic and radioactive waste can and will be lumped together, and this may in fact be the very origin of the trope. Also related to FreakLabAccident. When the waste itself becomes a living threat, see MuckMonster. See also NuclearNasty and ChemistryCanDoAnything.

* In ''Literature/TheCorpseOfCharlieRull'', irradiated waste leaking into a [[SwampsAreEvil swamp]] turns the drowned corpse of heart attack victim [[DisposableVagrant Charlie Rull]] in an unstoppable [[NuclearNasty radioactive zombie]].

* The ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' episode "Remains to be Seen" has most of the eponymous Tree Friends becoming resurrected as zombies after their corpses are doused in toxic waste.

That holds true in fiction... maybe 3/4 of the time. Otherwise, toxic waste serves as yet another form of AppliedPhlebotinum. When you don't want to use [[LightningCanDoAnything electricity]], [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation]], or [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke tweaking something's DNA]], just dump the issue you need into a pool of what is ''supposed'' to be deadly poison; whatever comes out will surely have more beneficial changes than negative.

Not the same as ToxicPhlebotinum (which is an actual power source, just dangerous to use), SuperSerum, or MutagenicGoo (which is something that might be actually and intentionally designed to cause changes). This applies when something that is nothing more than waste material that should just kill anything living instead makes it stronger. Often has a strong relationship to ILoveNuclearPower, as toxic and radioactive waste can and will be lumped together, and this may in fact be the very origin of the trope. Also related to FreakLabAccident. When the waste itself becomes a living threat, see MuckMonster. See also NuclearNasty and ChemistryCanDoAnything.

** If it's not explicitly presented as MutagenicGoo, the 'ooze' that created the title characters is this: a garbage chemical mix on its way to be disposed that grants four turtle babies and a rat bipedal humanoid forms, [[UpliftedAnimal sapience]] (at least in the Turtles' case; sometimes Splinter is suggested to have been far smarter than the average rat before mutation), enough physical gifts to be trained as master martial artists/weapon wielders, and in Donatello's case, [[GadgeteerGenius near-genius level intelligence with mechanical devices]]. Not bad for a bunch of waste chemicals.[[note]]And if you follow the meta-joke in their origin, it also empowered ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}, or woke his powers up according to some sources, though Matt Murdock suffered the cost of losing his sight.[[/note]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' episode "[[Recap/AquaTeenHungerForceS2E2SuperHero Super Hero]]", Master Shake attempts to use this trope by dousing himself with toxic waste in order to become a super hero. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome The only thing it does is burn and mutate him horribly]].
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d to Hell and back in ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard''. In order to scare off potential buyers for the farm, the gang tries to scare off an old woman by pretending there’s a toxic waste spill on the farm, and to demonstrate, they put Freddy and Peck in a costume to look like a mutated deer with laser eyes. Although it doesn’t work, they eventually scare her off, but when Otis asks how they were able to get the effect of shooting lasers out of his eyes, Freddy reveals that he drank actual toxic waste. It then cuts to an “Ask Dr. Pig” segment where Pig explains that toxic waste can’t actually give you laser eyes, which he decides to demonstrate by drinking toxic waste himself. It then turns him into a HulkingOut Pig Monster that begins to attack the military. It then cuts to an announcer once again saying that toxic waste will do neither of those things, by once again, drinking toxic waste, which eventually leads to him shrinking.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': Season 4, titled ''Revenge of the Island'', has Chris loaning out Camp Wawankwa for use as a dumping site for toxic waste, causing much of the wildlife to become mutated. This also extends to humans with Dakota being overexposed to radiation from the toxic waste and undertaking a Hulk-like transformation.

* Being a SaturdayMorningCartoon version of the aforementioned ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'', ''WesternAnimation/ToxicCrusaders'' takes this UpToEleven, with toxic waste not only providing Toxie with his powers, but perfectly fusing a man and a dog into a [[HybridMonster hybrid were-creature-like being]] (that being Junkyard; the rest of Toxie's companions were changed by exposure to radioactive materials), and then going even further by empowering a buried junked car(!) and a mop (!!).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' episode "Super Hero", Master Shake attempts to use this trope by dousing himself with toxic waste in order to become a super hero. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome The only thing it does is burn and mutate him horribly]].

Toxic waste is...well, ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Poisonous, corrosive, and exposure to it in high doses will often do you great harm, or kill you, or both.

That holds true in fiction... maybe 3/4 of the time. Otherwise, toxic waste serves as yet another form of [[AppliedPhlebotinum Phlebotinum]]. When you don't want to use [[LightningCanDoAnything electricity]], [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation]], or [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke tweaking something's DNA]], just dump the issue you need into a pool of what is SUPPOSED to be deadly poison; whatever comes out will surely have more beneficial changes than negative.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Being accidentally tossed in a vat of chemicals is famously one of [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker the Joker]]'s most popular origins (though [[MultipleChoicePast not the only one]]). One story lampshades that the vat in question was filled with an absurdly deadly concoction, and Mr. J still came out with bleached skin, green hair, a damaged psyche, and absolutely no proper ''health'' problems -- he is even [[MusclesAreMeaningless a bit more athletic than his light frame would let you suppose]], though ''that'', at least, doesn't seem to have anything to do with the chemicals.[[note]]Do note that the Joker's insanity itself may not have been caused by the chemicals so much as by the psychological ''trauma'' of being disfigured by them.[[/note]]

** If it's not explicitly presented as MutagenicGoo, the 'ooze' that created the title characters is this: a garbage chemical mix on its way to be disposed that grants four turtle babies and a rat bipedal humanoid forms, sapience (at least in the Turtles' case; sometimes Splinter is suggested to have been far smarter than the average rat before mutation), enough physical gifts to be trained as master martial artists/weapon wielders, and in Donatello's case, near-genius level intelligence with mechanical devices. Not bad for a bunch of waste chemicals.[[note]]And if you follow the meta-joke in their origin, it also empowered Daredevil, or woke his powers up according to some sources, though Matt Murdock suffered the cost of losing his sight.[[/note]]
** This fact makes a scene in the second live-action film, ''[[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze The Secret of the Ooze]]'', strangely more poignant. Donatello is upset when he finds out the titular ooze's creation was just a mistake and that he had felt like that the truth would mean he and his family were "special". For being the smart one, he doesn't seem to realize that the fact that a bunch of chemical garbage instead of a purposely designed product made him and his family what they are makes them very special indeed.

* Rage from ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' and ''ComicBook/NewWarriors''. At age 13 Elvin Daryl Haliday was exposed to toxic waste after coming home from basketball practice. Returning to his grandmother's home, Elvin was nursed back to health. The chemicals caused Elvin's teenage body to grow into adulthood in a matter of weeks, but also endowed him with superhuman strength, speed, and stamina. Encouraged by his grandmother to use his newfound abilities for good, Elvin adopted a costume and name: Rage.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* In ''Film/AlligatorIITheMutation'', the alligator gained its giant, mutated form after being exposed to toxic waste.
* ''Film/{{Skeeter}}'', a 1993 horror film, does this with mosquitoes, turning them into basketball sized versions of themselves. This is extra strange as per their body design, the toxic waste should doubly kill them, by poison or by getting too big for their bodies to successfully breathe. Instead, they become the usual killing machines.
* Creator/SyFy network original horror film ''Shark Swarm'' has the villain dump toxic poisons into the water to ''specifically'' kill marine life (instead of just dumping random waste to get rid of it) to bankrupt someone. It kills fish and marine life...and instead of killing sharks, makes them [[AxCrazy hyper-aggressive]] and gives them a semi-HiveMind, despite being both a fish and marine life.

* ''Film/{{Prophecy}}'': There is actually a specific chemical instead of a generic 'waste': mercury, and unlike most films, it actually gives a little explanation for its effects: if ingested, it confuses the body into thinking it's another, beneficial chemical, and exposure to it scrambles the genes of developing fetuses. While in the film this produces the expected birth defects among humans and animals, it also manages to produce a grizzly bear that's twice the size of a normal one, smarter than a normal one (it's quite willing to sit and wait outside a hole for people to emerge from), fully functioning beyond severe skin deformities, and viciously, demonically hostile.
* ''Film/TheHost2006'': The movie uses this twice. First, a specific chemical, formaldehyde (known to being a ''carcinogen''), creates a rhino sized fish/running monster that can move incredibly fast and shrugs off bullets. Secondly, the US government tries to kill it with ''another'' toxic chemical, Agent Yellow. [[spoiler: It ''works''...a little. It doesn't mutate the creature into a stronger form and it clearly doesn't like it, but it doesn't kill it or render it much less dangerous, forcing the main characters to KillItWithFire and add some [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling on top of that.]]]]

* ''LaMorteVivante'' (i.e. ''The Living Dead Girl'') takes this to even further extremes: it revives a human corpse that has been ''DEAD FOR TWO YEARS'' into a vampire-like ghoul.
* ''Film/SkyHigh2005'': It's established that being dipped into a pool of toxic waste will either grant the person superpowers, if they're lucky, or kill them, if unlucky. [[spoiler:In the epilogue, Will reveals that Ron Wilson, Bus Driver, was dipped into toxic waste, and is now a giant]].
* ''Film/ModernProblems'': Max is given superpowers (specifically, telekinesis) when a toxic waste truck leaks all over his car while he was stuck in traffic behind it. To add to this, it crosses with LightningCanDoAnything when a lightning bolt transfers his powers to someone else at film's end.
* ''Film/{{Slugs}}'' (the movie version, at least) might have the most triumphant example: while all the other animal-into-monsters films listed here have animals that can be dangerous in and of themselves, ''Slugs'' has toxic waste turn slugs, slow tiny gastropods who at worst eat carrion or other small gastropods, into creatures that can kill and eat humans, and do so despite gaining no extra physical abilities.
* ''Impulse'', 1984 film, has toxic waste leak into a local town's dairy supply. Unlike most examples, it (eventually) outright kills the townspeople who drink said tainted milk...but not before it drives everyone into fits of psychotic and sexual violence.
* Italian superhero film ''They Call Me Jeeg'' has the petty thief and crook Enzo gain extra strength after jumping into the river Tiber to escape from police and accidentally breaking a barrel of radioactive waste that was thrown in there.

* In ''[[Literature/Slime1988 Slime]]'', the title BlobMonster is literally a batch of rejected PCB come to life.
* In ''Literature/TheCorpseOfCharlieRull'', radiated waste leaking into a [[SwampsAreEvil swamp]] turns the drowned corpse of heart attack victim [[DisposableVagrant Charlie Rull]] in an unstoppable killer [[NuclearNasty radioactive zombie]].

* ''WebAnimation/TheGrosseryGang'' webseries reveals that a toxic leak in the poorly-maintained Yucky Mart convenience store is the reason that the Grosseries have come to life.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/LongExposure'': While investigating a fenced off area of a nearby forest, Mitch and Jonas slip into some weird puddle. Next day, they develop powers and discover people in hazmats suits trying to clean the mess up.

* Lampshaded to Hell and back in ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard''. In order to scare off potential buyers for the farm, the gang tries to scare off an old woman by pretending there’s a toxic waste spill on the farm, and to demonstrate, they put Freddy and Peck in a costume to look like a mutated deer with laser eyes. Although it doesn’t work, they eventually scare her off, but when Otis asks how they were able to get the effect of shooting lasers out of his eyes, Freddy reveals that he drank actual toxic waste. It then cuts to an “Ask Dr. Pig” segment where Pig explains that toxic waste can’t actually give you laser eyes, which he decides to demonstrate by drinking toxic waste himself. It then turns him into a HulkingOut Pig Monster that begins to attack the military. It then cuts to an announcer once again saying that toxic waste will do neither of those things, by once again, drinking toxic waste, which eventually leads to him shrinking.
* Being a SaturdayMorningCartoon version of the aforementioned ''Toxic Avenger'', ''WesternAnimation/ToxicCrusaders'' takes this UpToEleven, with toxic waste not only providing Toxie with his powers, but perfectly fusing a man and a dog into a [[HybridMonster hybrid were-creature-like being]] (that being Junkyard; the rest of Toxie's companions were changed by exposure to radioactive materials), and then going even further by empowering a buried junked car(!) and a mop (!!).
* Played with in a "What If" episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. When a truck carrying ''nuclear'' waste crashes in front of the Griffin household, each family member is imbued with a different superpower, which they use to cause mayhem. To combat them, mayor Adam West rolls in ''toxic'' waste... causing him to [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome contract lymphoma]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs'' deconstructs this. They lived beneath the toxic waste produced from a bunch of factories and were mutated in odd ways, but still acted more or less like everything was normal.
* The 1994 animated series ''WesternAnimation/MutantLeague'' was produced as a tie-in to the video game by Electronic Arts. The premise of the show is that an earthquake ruptures the turf of a sports stadium, venting toxic gases from long-buried industrial waste. The athletes get dosed with this gas, which mutates them into ugly but superhuman creatures that [[DeathIsCheap can suffer horrific damage without dying or being convalescent more than a few hours]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': When Jack Ryder is making a report about the Joker's origin at a chemical plant, the Joker shows up and throws him into the chemical vat to "re-enact" the scene of that fateful night. Only he didn't count on the chemicals mixed with the Joker Gas [[CreateYourOwnHero to turn him into]] ComicBook/TheCreeper.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': Season 4 titled ''Revenge of the Island'' had Chris loaning out Camp Wawankwa for use as a dumping site for toxic waste, causing much of the wildlife to become mutated. This also extends to humans with Dakota being overexposed to radiation from the toxic waste and undertaking a Hulk-like transformation.

* Lampshaded to Hell and back in ''WesternAnimation/BackatTheBarnyard''. In order to scare off potential buyers for the farm, the gang tries to scare off an old woman by pretending there’s a toxic waste spill on the farm, and to demonstrate, they put Freddy and Peck in a costume to look like a mutated deer with laser eyes. Although it doesn’t work, they eventually scare her off, but when Otis asks how they were able to get the effect of shooting lasers out of his eyes, Freddy reveals that he drank actual toxic waste. It then cuts to an “Ask Dr. Pig” segment where Pig explains that toxic waste can’t actually give you laser eyes, which he decides to demonstrate by drinking toxic waste himself. It then turns him into a HulkingOut Pig Monster that begins to attack the military. It then cuts to an announcer once again saying that toxic waste will do neither of those things, by once again, drinking toxic waste, which eventually leads to him shrinking.

* Lampshaded to Hell and back in ''WesternAnimation/BackattheBarnyard''. In order to scare off potential buyers for the farm, the gang tries to scare off an old woman by pretending there’s a toxic waste spill on the farm, and to demonstrate, they put Freddy and Peck in a costume to look like a mutated deer with laser eyes. Although it doesn’t work, they eventually scare her off, but when Otis asks how they were able to get the effect of shooting lasers out of his eyes, Freddy reveals that he drank actual toxic waste. It then cuts to an “Ask Dr. Pig” segment where Pig explains that toxic waste can’t actually give you laser eyes, which he decides to demonstrate by drinking toxic waste himself. It then turns him into a HulkingOut Pig Monster that begins to attack the military. It then cuts to an announcer once again saying that toxic waste will do neither of those things, by once again, drinking toxic waste, which eventually leads to him shrinking.

* Being accidentally tossed in a vat of chemicals is famously one of ComicBook/TheJoker's most popular origins (though [[MultipleChoicePast not the only one]]). One story lampshades that the vat in question was filled with an absurdly deadly concoction, and Mr J still came out with bleached skin, green hair, a damaged psyche, and absolutely no proper ''health'' problems -- he is even [[MusclesAreMeaningless a bit more athletic than his light frame would let you suppose]], though ''that'', at least, doesn't seem to have anything to do with the chemicals.[[note]]Do note that the Joker's insanity itself may not have been caused by the chemicals so much as by the psychological ''trauma'' of being disfigured by them.[[/note]]
* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''

* ''Film/TheHost'': The movie uses this twice. First, a specific chemical, formaldehyde (known to being a ''carcinogen''), creates a rhino sized fish/running monster that can move incredibly fast and shrugs off bullets. Secondly, the US government tries to kill it with ''another'' toxic chemical, Agent Yellow. [[spoiler: It ''works''...a little. It doesn't mutate the creature into a stronger form and it clearly doesn't like it, but it doesn't kill it or render it much less dangerous, forcing the main characters to KillItWithFire and add some [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling on top of that.]]]]

--> '''Narrator''', ''[[Film/TheToxicAvenger Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV]]''

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': [[spoiler:Ford’s portal is partly powered by toxic waste, which results in Stan stealing some from federal facilities and getting arrested.]]

* Played with in a "What If" episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. When a truck carrying ''nuclear'' waste crashes in front of the Griffin household, each family member is imbued with a different superpower, which they use to cause mayhem. To combat them, mayor Adam West rolls in ''toxic'' waste... causing him to [[RealityEnsues contract lymphoma]].

* In ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'', Alex gains her powers after being splashed with toxic waste.

* ''Film/{{Prophecy}}'': There is actually a specific chemical instead of a generic 'waste': mercury, and unlike most films, it actually gives a little explanation for its effects: if ingested, it confuses the body into thinking its another, beneficial chemical, and exposure to it scrambles the genes of developing fetuses. While in the film this produces the expected birth defects among humans and animals, it also manages to produce a grizzly bear that's twice the size of a normal one, smarter than a normal one (it's quite willing to sit and wait outside a hole for people to emerge from), fully functioning beyond severe skin deformities, and viciously, demonically hostile.

Not the same as ToxicPhlebotinum (which is an actual power source, just dangerous to use), SuperSerum, or MutagenicGoo (which is something that might be actually and intentionally designed to cause changes). This applies when something that is nothing more than waste material that should just kill anything living instead makes it stronger. Often has a strong relationship to ILoveNuclearPower, as toxic and radioactive waste can and will be lumped together. Also related to FreakLabAccident. When the waste itself becomes a living threat, see MuckMonster. See also NuclearNasty and ChemistryCanDoAnything.

That holds true in fiction... maybe 3/4 of the time. Otherwise, toxic waste serves as yet another form of [[AppliedPhlebotinum Phlebotinum]]. When you don't want to use [[LightningCanDoAnything electricity]], [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation]], or [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke tweaking something's DNA]], just dump the issue you need into a pool of what is SUPPOSED to be deadly poisonous; whatever comes out will surely have more beneficial changes than negative.

* ''Impulse'' , 1984 film, has toxic waste leak into a local town's dairy supply. Unlike most examples, it (eventually) outright kills the townspeople who drink said tainted milk...but not before it drives everyone into fits of psychotic and sexual violence.

* ''Toys/TheGrosseryGang'' webseries reveals that a toxic leak in the poorly-maintained Yucky Mart convenience store is the reason that the Grosseries have come to life.