Hate Plague

You've got red on you.

It's a madness plague, Galvatron! If one of those Transformers touches you, you're infected.Rodimus Prime, "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1"

The Hate Plague was one of the few maladies capable of affecting Transformers. Any organism, when infected, turns bright red and displays incredibly high levels of aggression toward everything and everyone.

Fiction

Generation 1 cartoon

Long ago, the Hate Plague ravaged the universe, but was contained by a wise man using sheer wisdom. However, nobody was wise enough to completely destroy the plague spores, so they were simply sealed inside a star. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2

Eventually, the star went supernova and exploded while being studied by human scientists Jessica Morgan and Gregory Swofford, covering their spaceship in Hate Plague spores. Taking them back to Earth, Gregory studied the spores with his colleague Mark Morgan, and learned of their properties. Jessica was later injured in a scuffle between the Autobots and Decepticons, prompting the two men to trap various Autobots and infect them with the spores. However, the Hate Plague spread like wildfire, infecting Transformers, humans and aliens alike. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1

The newly resurrected Optimus Prime was tasked with curing the disease. Not knowing what to do, Prime dove into the accumulated knowledge of the Matrix of Leadership to question the spirits of leaders before him about the matter. Eventually, the mysterious It informed him of the Hate Plague's past and its weakness to pure wisdom. Going back to the real world, Prime opened the Matrix and unleashed its accumulated wisdom unto the universe, eradicating the Hate Plague. The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 2

Infection List

• Thousands of humans
• The Aerialbots
• Blaster
• Blurr
• The Combaticons
• Scourge
• Cyclonus
• Galvatron
• Goldbug (previously Bumblebee)
• Jessica Morgan
• The Predacons
• The Protectobots
• Rodimus Prime
• The Sharkticons
• Sky Lynx
• Soundwave
• Steeljaw
• The Stunticons
• The Technobots
• The Throttlebots
• Ultra Magnus
• Wheelie
• Wreck-Gar

The only characters in "The Return of Optimus Prime" who definitely never get infected by the Hate Plague are Optimus Prime himself, Metroplex (who was deactivated to prevent him from getting infected), and the Quintesson that Sky Lynx brought to Earth to revive Optimus Prime.

Beast Machines

In Beast Machines, Megatron uses a new variety of virus based on the Hate Plague in an attempt to destroy the Maximals. A Wolf in the Fold Nightscream compared this with the original Hate Plague. Of note, considering that information about Earth had been removed from general circulation.

Animated cartoon

Surgeon General Arkeville suggests that Ding Dongs may be an effective remedy for the Hate Plague. The AllSpark Almanac

See also

• Crimson fog
• Shadow parasite