Thrax

Thrax
“ Careful, I'm contagious. „ ― Thrax
Vital statistics
Names	Thrax, We-Khan, La Muerte Roja (The Red Death),
Gender	Male
Race	Virus
Occupation	Virus
Origin	Osmosis Jones (August 7, 2001)
Alignment	Evil
Age	Unknown
Created By	Piet Kroon, Tom Sito, Marc Hyman
Height	around 8 µm (Micrometres)
Weight	Around 1-2 Nanograms

Thrax is the main antagonist of Osmosis Jones, a deadly virus originating from a contaminated egg. His primary objective is to kill human bodies and make a name for himself in medical history as the most deadly disease of all time.

Appearance

Thrax is a virus-like humanoid with striking features. He has red skin and long, purple, tentacle-like "hair" resembling dreadlocks. His teeth are dull and crooked, and he has yellow eyes with dark yellow sclera. His hands have dark red nails, and his index finger on his left hand glows orange when he touches something. He wears a black trench coat over a gray turtleneck shirt, along with black pants and matching footwear.

Concept and Creation

Thrax's original design closely resembled a virus, and he was initially named "We-Khan." Interestingly, this original name appears on the Swedish DVD back cover summary of Osmosis Jones.

Personality

Thrax is charismatic yet dangerously cold, sadistic, intimidating, callous, murderous, and destructive. He is driven by his ambition to be recognized as the deadliest virus in medical history. Thrax has a volatile temper and is quick to lose it when things don't go according to his plan. He shows no hesitation in deceiving or even killing his own allies to achieve his goals.

He is also highly intelligent and manipulative, with a deep knowledge of how to bring down a human being. Although he only mentions three previous victims, the chain of trophies he keeps with him suggests at least 23 kills. Thrax uses his experience to disguise himself as a common cold virus until he makes his lethal move on Frank's hypothalamus gland.

Biography

Thrax arrives in Frank's body via an egg that Frank dropped on the ground at the zoo. His first act is to eliminate the cells that discover him to remove any witnesses, sparing no one, not even Artie's surrendering coworker. He sets a saliva boat on fire, causing a sore throat, and heads to the left armpit to recruit a gang to help him take down Frank. After killing the current mob boss, Thrax and his gang proceed to the sinus dam to cause a runny nose. They narrowly escape the ensuing chaos, and Thrax sets up a meeting at a zit to recruit new members for the final stage of his plan.

During this meeting, he confronts Ozzy and Drix, who almost succeed in killing him. Thrax and two of his cronies survive the explosion at the zit and relocate to an old adrenaline station in an ingrown toenail. When his henchman, Bruiser, suggests they wait to gather more men, Thrax kills him and continues alone to attack Frank's hypothalamus gland.

He escapes Frank's body as the fever climbs to a critical 108 degrees. Ozzy pursues him, and their fight spills out onto Shane's eye. After a fierce struggle, Osmosis Jones tricks Thrax into jamming his claw into one of Shane's false eyelashes, which falls into a beaker of rubbing alcohol. Thrax falls with the eyelash into the beaker and disintegrates, with his claw being the last part to vanish.

Powers and Statistics

Tier: 11-B

Powers and Abilities: Small Size (Type 3), Disease Manipulation (He can cause fever, strep throat, damage the hypothalamus, and can evade detection from the immune system), Bodily Weaponry (Has sharp claws on both of his hands), Heat Manipulation (Able to heat cells and even some larger microscopic structures to the point where they break apart into molecules or burst into flames), Martial Arts and Weapon Expertise, Is able to Glide with his coat.

Attack Potency: Microscopic (Is a microscopic organism unable to do direct physical harm to a human), can somewhat negate durability through spreading disease towards the inside of one's body and destroying smaller, vital parts such as the cells or hypothalamus.

Speed: Microscopic (Due to his size, it takes him a rather long time to travel even extremely short distances)

Lifting Strength: Microscopic level

Striking Strength: Microscopic level (With a single touch, he demolished a hardened mucous dam. He was able to melt a small part of a fake eyelash)

Durability: Microscopic level (Withstood several hits from Osmosis Jones, who was as strong as him. Survived a direct blast from an explosion that caused a zit to pop)

Stamina: Unknown

Range: A few micrometers, likely standard melee range through spreading disease in one's body

Standard Equipment: None notable

Intelligence: Is well versed in combat and strategy. Along with being a genius in anatomy, knowing every single little detail about the human body and can effortlessly locate each area.

Weaknesses: Alcohol

Trivia

• Many notable actors were considered to voice Thrax before Laurence Fishburne was cast, including LeVar Burton, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Daniels, Tom Cruise, Edward Norton, Patrick Stewart, Robert Downey Jr., Mike Myers, Chuck Norris, Kurt Russell, Tim Allen, Billy Bob Thornton, Kevin Spacey, Dennis Hopper, and Isaac Hayes.
• Before Fishburne recorded his lines, the film's artists did not have an artistic representation of Thrax. Fishburne mentioned that he took "a sort of classical" approach to the role, using a carved mask to help him immerse himself in the character.
• Thrax's name is similar to "Anthrax," a highly fatal disease that has been used as a biological weapon.
• In the Persian dub, Thrax is named "سیاه زخم" (lit. "Black Wound"), which is the Persian term for Anthrax.
• It is hinted in the film that Thrax might have killed Frank's wife, who died of an unspecified disease.
• Thrax was referred to as "La Muerte Roja," meaning "The Red Death." However, his character differs from the disease in Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death, which caused severe external hemorrhaging and death within hours. Thrax posed as a cold virus and, according to his boasting, his fastest kill was within 72 hours.
• Thrax is described as a tall, extremely virulent, and unusually powerful pathogenic agent.
• According to Thrax, Osmosis Jones was the only cell ever to figure out his plan among all his victims.
• Despite Thrax's ability to set things on fire with his claw, he is apparently unable to defrost it when frozen, as seen in the fight scene on Frank's uvula.

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