| “ | There was a -- whatever you want to call it -- a "rabid" attacking the closet door, and he just died. These things have a shelf life... | ” |
— Sam Winchester
in Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire | ||
Rabids, named by Sam Winchester, were a new kind of creature created by the Darkness by corrupting humans. The corruption caused a mutation and made their behavior become aggressive, while still having a certain degree of intelligence. They can be cured by exposure to Holy Fire.
History
A group of "rabids".
The rabids were humans who, after the Darkness was released, became homicidal. The first encounter was in Superior, Nebraska, infecting the town. After encountering them, Sam Winchester became determined to find a cure and stayed behind when Dean left, both to draw off the rabids to buy time for Dean to escape and to find a cure. During a confrontation with a rabid, Sam became infected and the other rabids left him alone. Sam captured a rabid and searched for a cure to no avail. After a Reaper informed him that he was "unclean in a biblical sense", Sam searched for purifications from the Bible. Finding a reference to fire being used to purify and holy oil, Sam used a sponge doused in holy fire on himself and the infection burned away. Now with a viable cure, Sam lured three rabids into the hospital and trapped them in a circle of holy fire which cured them. The group then cured the surviving residents of the town.
Characteristics
Rabids had black veins running across their neck and and head, similar to when the Leviathan took control of Castiel's vessel. While they had increased aggression, they do not appear to be mindless, as they have been shown to have enough capacity to drive vehicles. They also appear to have a pack mentality, as when Sam was cornered by three of them, rather than go for the kill, two of them held him while a third detected that he had been infected. Another infected person told Sam that rabids can smell other rabids. The mutation had a shelf-life which varied by person, but the infected would die hours after fully succumbing to it. If another rabid was detected, or a newly infected human, rabids would not attack. Being "unclean in a biblical sense", rabids could be cured through proximity to holy fire to the point that even being trapped in a circle of it can cure them.
Powers & abilities
- Agression - They are very aggressive and were agitated if there were humans nearby.
- Infection - They can infect normal humans through contact with their blood
Weaknesses
Sam uses Holy Oil to cure himself.
- Heart - A shot to the heart killed a rabid.
- Throat - A slit throat killed a rabid.
- Shelf life - A few hours after turning rabid, a rabid will die
- Holy Fire - Proximity to holy fire will cure a rabid.
- Electricity - When a rabid received a shock, it could be stunned
Appearances
Trivia
- This is the first monster that Sam has named.
- The rabids somewhat have similar appearance to humans possessed by Leviathans or angels infected by Leviathans' poisons.
- Besides vampires, Rabids are the only known monster type to have a cure. Castiel was able to cure Dean of being a Jefferson Starship, but he was powered by 50,000 souls at the time.
- Despite being created by the Darkness which is pre-biblical, the Bible contains a cure for the Rabid infection. However, as this is a biblical purification, it is likely just coincidence and worked due to the Rabids being "unclean in the biblical sense."