History Main / WalkingWasteland

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Muk is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a giant sentient blob of toxic... well... muck]]. Its Pokédex entries state that it leaves a trail of contamination wherever it goes, and even a single touch of its body is enough to turn an entire pool of water rancid. However, in the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', we see Ash's Muk wandering the grounds of Professor Oak's ranch and sometimes smothering Professor Oak or even Ash himself, but neither the grounds or the humans are ever harmed by Muk's touch. Perhaps they can choose whether or not to use that "power"? Of course, the Pokédex entries tend to be hard to believe sometimes (species of Pokémon that are often described as downright dangerous, are depicted as harmless or even friendly in the anime), making you wonder if some of the entries were more myth and rumor than fact.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/FadingOfTheCries https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/walking_wasteland.png]]]]

*** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen2001'': One issue focuses on a mutant with the highly unfortunate power of producing a combination of acids and poisons that can kill anyone in his vicinity by dissolving them entirely (only clothes are left, not even bones). He ends up killing his family, pretty much everyone on his block, and his entire high school before fleeing to the desert; Wolverine is sent in to "[[MercyKill take care of him]]", which the kid willingly accepts.

*** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen2001'': One issue focuses on a mutant with the highly unfortunate power of producing a combination of acids and poisons that can kill anyone in his vicinity; by dissolving them entirely (only clothes are left, not even bones). He ends up killing his family, pretty much everyone on his block, and his entire high school before fleeing to the desert; Wolverine is sent in to "[[MercyKill take care of him]]", which the kid willingly accepts.

*** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': One issue focuses on a mutant with the highly unfortunate power of producing a combination of acids and poisons that can kill anyone in his vicinity; by dissolving them entirely (only clothes are left, not even bones). He ends up killing his family, pretty much everyone on his block, and his entire high school before fleeing to the desert; Wolverine is sent in to "[[MercyKill take care of him]]", which the kid willingly accepts.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': The Lich causes everything he touches to die. How are Finn and Jake told to follow him? By following the '''path of death he leaves in his wake''', a several-foot trench in the ground caused just by him moving over it.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' gives us Chat Noir, a [[BadPowersGoodPeople hero]] whose superpower, ''Cataclysm'', withers and rots anything he touches. [[ThouShaltNotKill He never (purposely) uses it on people]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'''s King Sombra is so powerful that the sky automatically turns a Hellish red just to signal his incoming presence, and his BlackMagic enables him to spread TheCorruption (primarily in the form of massive dark crystals) over the entire land around him. Furthermore, his what-if BadFuture in the Season 5 finale reveals that he's now powerful enough to spread said effects over all of Equestria while his army invades it.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'': Doctor Paradox's assistant got caught in an experimental time gate, warping him from the 1950s to the present day but also turning him into a humanoid monster who rapidly accelerates time, so much so that animals fossilize and concrete disintegrates by him touching them. The only two things shown to be unaffected by his contact are Doctor Paradox himself (as Paradox is unaffected by the passage of time, though he mentions that he can still feel the eons slipping by) and [[IndestructibleEdible gumballs]].

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* Played for love with ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'''s Mr. Burns.

*** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': One issue focuses on a mutant with the highly unfortunate power of producing a combination of acids and poisons that can kill anyone in his vicinity. He ends up killing his family, pretty much everyone on his block, and his entire high school before fleeing to the desert; Wolverine is sent in to "[[MercyKill take care of him]]", which the kid willingly accepts.

** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': Much like the fairly realistic depiction of a creature Godzilla's size displacing enough water to create tsunamis upon landfall, [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingGhidorah Ghidorah]]'s massive size, powerful wings, and ShockAndAwe powers alter the barometric pressure around him to create ''[[WeatherManipulation typhoons]]''. Meanwhile, [[Characters/MonsterVerseKaiju Rodan]] levels cities by flying over them at supersonic speeds, and the novelization reveals that he can cause volcanoes to erupt.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Muk is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a giant sentient blob of toxic... well... muck]]. Its Pokédex entries state that it leaves a trail of contamination wherever it goes, and even a single touch of its body is enough to turn an entire pool of water rancid. However, in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, we see Ash's Muk wandering the grounds of Professor Oak's ranch and sometimes smothering Professor Oak or even Ash himself, but neither the grounds or the humans are ever harmed by Muk's touch. Perhaps they can choose whether or not to use that "power"? Of course, the Pokédex entries tend to be hard to believe sometimes (species of Pokémon that are often described as downright dangerous, are depicted as harmless or even friendly in the anime), making you wonder if some of the entries were more myth and rumor than fact.

** Two fighters of sufficient power will cause this when they clash, especially in the human world. During the battles at Camp Everfree, [[spoiler:Sixth Espada Adagio and 2nd Division Captain Luna pretty much destroy the local lake and wreck kilometers of forest during their clash, while 10th Division Captain Kenpachi Sweet Cider and 4th Espada Lament blow holes in mountains, cause minature earthquakes, and start a localized thunderstorm/hurricane around their location ''before they go all out''.]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Anathema}}'': Shrouds with the Famine dominion can can pollute water sources, turn nearby food and drink into dust and ash, and make people become fatally dehydrated.

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': Voporak gives off a temporal force field that ages anything thrown at him and can more quickly age objects through touch.

* The mystery of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Ramirez Gloria Ramirez]] is still not conclusively solved, but the story of this California woman served as an inspiration for episodes of ''Series/TheXFiles'', ''Series/LawAndOrder'', and ''Series/GreysAnatomy''. After being rushed to the Riverside General Hospital while dying of cancer, Ms. Ramirez began to exude an oily, garlicky-smelling substance from her pores that caused nausea, fainting, muscle spasms and other documented symptoms in those attempting to treat her. Eventually the entire emergency room had to be evacuated, leaving behind only a skeleton crew who tended to her as she died. The most likely explanation is that Ramirez had been taking dimethyl sulphoxide, or DMSO, which is sometimes used as an analgesic and is known to have this effect when taken orally. The levels in her bloodstream might have been abnormally high due to kidney failure, and when exposed to pure oxygen and several shocks from a defibrilator, the DMSO turned into [=DMSO4=] (dimethyl sulphate), a highly toxic gas.

* ''VideoGame/{{Furi}}'' : [[spoiler: [[PlayerCharacter The Stranger]] in the Free World, as grass rots and the ground tuns ashen in his wake. Part of [[VillainProtagonist the reason]] you were locked up]]

Additional points if you can spread other havoc: souring wine, spoiling food, rotting wood, rusting metal, breaking mirrors/glass, etc. Often a side effect of AtomicSuperpowers.

* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'' episode "The Greatest Story Never Told" features a man who was accidentally turned into a walking black hole, sucking in everything in sight.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'': All of the four ancient members of the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Chroma Conclave]] qualify. [[BigBad Thordak]], a red dragon, burns so hotly that merely walking down a city street melts almost anything in close proximity. [[TheDragon Umbrasyl]], a black dragon is able to rain acid from his wings that melt anything beneath him. [[EvilGenius Raishan]], a green dragon, emanates almost instantly lethal poison gas that can spread miles from her body. [[TheBrute Vorugal]], a white dragon, can cause snow and ice to spread before he fully makes his own presence apparent.