The Contagion

The Contagion is a parasitic mutant virus spawned from an intergalactic meteor impact 666 million years ago. Inside the meteor were remnant cells from The Contagion's takeover of another universe. The Contagion serves as the central antagonist of Fantendo Smash Bros. Soul, where it infects all of the game's playable fighters with the exception of Unten in Adventure Mode. 
The Contagion comes in many forms, having embodied its main body as a tentacled abomination, but also having spread into smaller, independently-functioning organisms such as Contagites and Contaggo Drones that live off a central hive mind.
== Appearance ==
The Contagion's central system takes the form of a rounded creature with a large, solitary eyeball, which appears irritated due to its dilated crimson pupil, visible vessels in the sclera and blood dripping from it. Its central body is red and has many smaller eyes around the main eye, with various blood vessel-like structures connecting them all. It also has nine red tentacles, each one flexible and elastic, protruding from its main body.
Of course, The Contagion is more than just this, as once it has spread further, it can remove parts of its system to become detached, independently-operating organisms. These organisms have no free will and are controlled by the Contagion Hivemind, but allow The Contagion to spread further by taking over new hosts.
== Behavior ==
The Contagion is driven only by a natural instinct to spread, destroying and taking over anything in its path as it seeks to do so. Despite being incapable of emotions, memories, and communication outside of signalling towards other creatures in the hive mind, The Contagion displays survivalist qualities to a varying degree of intelligence, with the intention of aiding its primary goal to grow, spread and take over unimpeded. These qualities include relentlessly attacking any non-Contagion organisms on sight, not stopping until those organisms are unconscious and subsequently used as hosts to further The Contagion's spread.
== Appearances ==
===Fantendo Smash Bros. Soul===
:For more information, see: Fantendo Smash Bros. Soul/Adventure Mode/The Contagion
The Contagion appears as the primary antagonist of the Adventure Mode of Fantendo Smash Bros. Soul, infecting all of the game's playable fighters with the intention of using them as vessels to further its spread. The only fighter to escape this is Unten, and upon escaping, Unten sets out into Soul's Edge, a world that The Contagion seeks to takeover using not only the Infected Clones created by taking over the bodies of the fallen fighters, but also deploying enemies to impede the progress of Unten and the fighters he saves along the way.
After the player rescues all of the game's fighters and defeats the bosses present in all of Soul's Edge's 8 Areas, they become able to enter The Contagion Hive, a nest of blood and infected Contagion cells and tissue where The Contagion's central system lies in waiting to be fought as the game's final boss. Upon defeat, The Contagion withers away into nothingness, relinquishing its captured territory and freeing all organisms that were infected by it.
===Fantendo Smash Land===
The Contagion appears as a boss in Fantendo Smash Land Challenge mode. It's a 2-player vs Boss fight and the fight has a strong focus on players' cooperation.
In Fantendo Smash Land, The Contagion is actually another boss' alternative form, Ghroth the Harbinger. For this reaso, they both have similar attacks and design.
== Gallery ==
FSBSoul_Contagion.png|Concept art by Spheal.
FSL Contagion.png|in Fantendo Smash Land (as Groth's alternative form)
== Trivia ==
*The Contagion's theming is similar to that of The Crimson in , which is presented as a blood-red infection full of mutant abominations that seeks to spread and destroy everything around it. The Crimson is partly what inspired The Contagion.
*Existing character designs that inspired The Contagion include the Eye of Cthulhu, The Neithersphere and 0².
*The Contagion was originally conceptualized by Spheal as the main antagonist for a Fantendo puzzle game crossover that never saw light of day.
Category:Parasites
Category:Antagonists
Category:Villains
Category:Main Antagonists
Category:Viruses
Category:Monsters
Category:Final Bosses
Category:Bosses
Category:Fantendo Smash Bros. Soul