Cyber venom

Cyber venom is a weapon from the Beast Wars and Transformers Animated continuity families.

The Predacons have a penchant for taking alternate modes based on venomous animals. Sometimes this extends to mimicry of their assumed form’s most powerful weapon, in the form of cyber venom.

Like the venom from their beast mode’s template, cyber venom causes all manner of detrimental effects on other Cybertronians stricken by it. Like true venoms, cyber venom must typically be injected into the inner mechanisms of its victim to be effective. Delivery is often in the form of barbed darts, stingers or fangs, though some instances of it being launched as energy bolts have been recorded.

Official sources such as the official character profiles included with the season one DVDs describe cyber venom as being composed of viral programs that are uploaded into the unfortunate victim, corrupting and infecting with rapid speed.

Known Transformers possessing cyber venom:

• Tarantulas
• Beast Wars Blackarachnia
• Beast Wars Quickstrike
• Transformers Animated Blackarachnia

Fiction

Beast Wars

The first Predacon to exhibit cyber venom was Tarantulas, who was soon joined by Blackarachnia, and later, the Fuzor Quickstrike. The former two would employ spiny or explosive darts to inject their victims with the technological toxin, while the later fired it from his left head in a manner reminiscent of a spitting cobra, but could also inject it with a bite. In all three cases, Transformers suffering the effects of cyber venom were typically incapacitated by the toxin, either having to be cleansed in a CR chamber, or wait for the venom to run its course. While the venom was in effect, the Transformer’s body would be marbled with glowing patches of energy, and emit low-pitch feedback.

The effects of the venom were notoriously inconsistent, from being able to incapacitate powerful warriors like Depth Charge, to causing only pain, such as when Quickstrike injected it directly into Silverbolt's leg. Others, such as Dinobot II, were able to shake the effects of the venom quickly, requiring higher doses before being rendered inoperative.

Several Predacons who have venomous beast modes never showed any use of cyber venom:

• Scorponok (scorpion) (though he did use a "toxic sting" in robot mode on the Vok's biological building in "Other Voices Part 1", firing the red stinger on his tail into the wall after charging it with venom, which opened a hole the Maximals used to enter)
• Waspinator (wasp)
• Inferno (fire ant)

Animated

When the Autobot Elita-1 attempted to use her mimicking powers on a horde of giant, alien spiders, she contaminated herself with their venom, causing her body to become partially organic. Gaining a pair of deadly, bladed stingers, she could now inject her victims with a powerful toxin, while simultaneously using her mimicking powers to copy their unique modifications.

Blackarachnia’s poison was consistently potent and dangerous. Not only was it capable of dropping powerful and durable foes like Bulkhead and Grimlock with ease, but its effects, being based on organic sources, could not be treated by the AllSpark Key. Along Came a Spider Normally, Blackarachnia used only enough venom to disable her foes, but if she chose, she could bring the dosage up to lethal levels, requiring the administration of an antidote to prevent the victim from going offline permanently. Black Friday