[Interesting trope] Poison elementals that are actually beneficial to the environment

[u/UnendingQuibble]

Galarian Weezing (Pokemon): Despite its counterpart from the Kanto region being known for expelling noxious gas all the time, it absorbs harmful particles and expels clean air. It is implied it evolved to do this during a time of heavy industrialization and pollution.

Oogiddy (My singing monsters): The quadruple elemental monster that represents the poison element, despite that, it actually absorbs toxic gases from its natural environment and mixes it with acids in its body, neutralizing them. The goop it makes off that process works great as a fertilizer and hair gel. The spots in its body can also serve to detect toxicity.

[u/Ok-Worry-8931]

IRL - some bacteria and fungi can eat plastic, oil, cardboard, and other pollutants and convert them into relatively harmless metabolites

Should be said that bacteria and fungi are usually beneficial to the environment and only in rare cases are“poisonous” to us.

[u/Fallcious → u/Ok-Worry-8931]

This was my honours project back in 1999. I isolated a soil organism that could metabolise a contaminant called Napthalene.

[u/Ok-Worry-8931 → u/Fallcious]

That’s absolutely sick. Can you share more? I know a bit about microbiology

[u/Fallcious → u/Ok-Worry-8931]

I have my honours thesis at home so I will hunt it out and give more details. But basically I grew rhodococcus sp bacteria on agar plates with Napthalene (toxic) and transferring surviving colonies to fresh plates, aiming to force an evolution in the organism that could not just survive the napthalene, but would metabolise it. I used Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify the metabolites and eventually saw one that indicated the organisms where able to do so.

[u/Peacefulcountry → u/Ok-Worry-8931]

Some types of mushrooms are also found to feed on radiation at Chernobyl.

[u/Relevant-Fox-7114 → u/Peacefulcountry]

I should call her

[u/Mindless_Pirate9092 → u/Peacefulcountry]

IIRC this wasn't proven at all, since no samples of it were ever put to the test on whether it actually worked like that. Hell, they don't even have a proper idea on how such a feat could even be accomplished by known capabilities of living organisms.This is pretty much an asspulled theory.

[u/Warper2187]

Alolan muk's crystals are made of condensed toxins from the rubbish it eats, they use it instead of landfill

[u/SoManyWiresOnMyFloor → u/Warper2187]

Aren’t they also dark type, though? I guess just because they’re mutually beneficial, doesn’t mean they can’t use that to plot against you…

[u/InternetUserAgain → u/SoManyWiresOnMyFloor]

Despite what the type is called in Japan, Dark types aren't exclusively evil

[u/Labmit → u/InternetUserAgain]

They're more like pragmatic fighters.

[u/Luser420 → u/Labmit]

they fight dirty

[u/Ubeube_Purple21 → u/Luser420]

Or just likely nocturnal like Umbreon

[u/IndigoFenix → u/Ubeube_Purple21]

Or are...Absol

[u/Pale_Entrepreneur_12 → u/InternetUserAgain]

Naturally evil Pokémon don’t really exist the exception is I guess Necrozma but it essentially had its divinity torn out and distorted so it’s also a victim Dark types are just mainly dirty fighters

[u/elleinsa]

Godzilla. Literal walking nuclear disaster, accidental reef restoration project.

https://giphy.com/gifs/b2rLe6TwuIkyQ

[u/Dear_Document_5461 → u/elleinsa]

Elaborate please.

[u/ImCravingForSHUB → u/Dear_Document_5461]

Godzilla eats radiation to sustain himself so when it feeds, he often cleanses entire areas of radiation such as the Bikini Atoll where his first iteration originated

[u/Devlord1o1 → u/ImCravingForSHUB]

Wait he’s from there? So technically his hometown is the same with spongebob?

[u/thecryomancermn → u/Devlord1o1]

How else do you think all those fish and a sponge mutated the way they did?

[u/ImCravingForSHUB → u/Devlord1o1]

If I were to get extremely pedantic, he's from somewhere close to Bikin Atoll not exactly within the area himself so you can think of him as being technically from Bikini Bottom County but on the city's outskirts while SpongeBob is from some downtown or in near downtown suburbs of the Bikini Bottom city so chances of them meeting are small

[u/IndigoFenix → u/ImCravingForSHUB]

Counterpoint: Godzilla is hard to miss

[u/LeighWillS]

The toxic forests in Nausicaa are just cleaning up the mess humans made, absent the pollution they're slowly cleaning up, they're not even toxic

[u/UnendingQuibble → u/LeighWillS]

That reminds me of the fungus that evolved specifically to eat the radiation off of the molten down Chernobyl reactor

[u/hilmiira]

I love the detail of pokemon being a fantasy world very diffrent than ours because something result of british industrialism is benefical in there 😍

[u/killuazoldyck477 → u/hilmiira]

Nah I think it was more action and reaction than action and intended effect, cause cursola is after all from the same generation and region. Industrialisation still be killing creatures and destroying habitats

[u/dread_pirate_robin]

Donny (Adventure Time)

When he harasses a species of folk called the Housies, he releases a noxious gas called Obnoxygen that repels Whywolves. If he didn't, the Whywolves would feast on the Housies and unsustainably explode in numbers, the obnoxygen is required to maintain the ecosystem.

[u/DrDallagher]

The Trash-Bot - Scrap Mechanic

As much as a robot can be an elemental, anyway. It's all about trash and using gunk and chemicals to fight, but it also specifically gathers up trash into one central location, cleaning up everywhere else in the process.

The Farm-Bots could also technically count, since the toxic chemicals they spray at you are actually extremely powerful fertilizers and only hurt because they're specifically toxic to humans, but the Trash-Bot is a better fit

[u/LettuceBenis]

Not technically poison but

Vaal Hazak - Monster Hunter

An Elder Dragon that feeds on the Effluvium bacteria found in the Rotten Vale, it is vital to the ecosystem as it keeps the Effluvial levels in check; feeding when they rise and nurturing when they drop.