Virus

A Virus is a germ enemy found in the Dr. Mario series. The Viruses started attacking at Mushroom Kingdom Hospital. Viruses are highly infectious and must be neutralized quickly before they are allowed to spread. Thankfully, Dr. Mario is always on the scene to contain viruses in glass jars and eliminate them with his trusty Megavitamins.

Viruses come in three colors: red (fever), blue (cold), and yellow (flu). To defeat a Virus, Dr. Mario must line up three pills of the same color next to the Virus. The Virus, along with the Megavitamins, will then disappear. After clearing one jar of Viruses, Dr. Mario will move to the next one (with each jar containing increasingly more Viruses).



Viruses also appear in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. In this game, Viruses roam the halls of Woohoo Hooniversity, Cackletta's temporary base-of-operation. Viruses appear in all three colors and attack in groups. However, in this game, Viruses can actually change color. In fact, when hit by Mario or Luigi, a Virus will assume a different color. When two or more Viruses match in color, they will be instantaneously destroyed, a nod to the only way to defeat them in Dr. Mario.

In Mario Kart Arcade GP the item Driver Virus is the blue virus, Chill. Their appearance of the virus in the game, has the virus very dizzy with swirly eyes.

Appearances in Other Media
The Viruses appeared as the main antagonists in Nintendo Comics System's adaptation of Dr. Mario entitled "The Doctor Is In... Over His Head". It was this appearance that named the Red Virus Fever, the Blue Virus Chill, and the Yellow Virus Weird.

Interestingly, in "The Doctor Is In... Over His Head", the Viruses were given special powers: Chill could manipulate the cold, Fever could control heat and Weird could forcibly morph others into different shapes and creatures.

Two Viruses can briefly be seen inside Bowser's stomach in the Club Nintendo comic "Süße Weihnachten". They symbolize his sickness after having eaten too much.

Trivia

 * A trophy of the Viruses appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee and are mentioned in Dr. Mario's trophy.
 * The viruses make a cameo in the Nintendo Monopoly.

Trophy Information from Super Smash Bros. Melee
''These contagious viruses make life difficult for Dr. Mario. They infect everything they come into contact with, and the good doctor must attempt to neutralize them with his trusty megavitamins. Dr. Mario can stop these pesky germs by lining up the megavitamin capsules of the same color with the nasty microorganism.''