WParasites appear frequently in biology-inspired fiction from ancient times onwards, with a flowering in the nineteenth century. These include intentionally disgusting alien monsters in science fiction films, often with analogues in nature. Authors and scriptwriters have to some extent exploited parasite biology: lifestyles including parasitoid, behaviour-altering parasite, brood parasite, parasitic castrator, and many forms of vampire are found in books and films. Some fictional parasites, like Count Dracula and Alien's Xenomorphs, have become well known in their own right.
WAnimorphs is a science fantasy series of children's books written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic. It is told in first person, with all six main characters taking turns narrating the books through their own perspectives. Horror, war, dehumanization, sanity, morality, innocence, leadership, freedom, family, and growing up are the core themes of the series.
WDaemon and Freedom™ comprise a two-part novel by the author Daniel Suarez about a distributed, persistent computer application, the Daemon, that begins to change the real world after the original programmer's death.Daemon (2006) ISBN 978-0-9786271-0-2 paperback; (2009) hardcover re-release ISBN 978-0-525-95111-7 Freedom™ (2010) ISBN 978-0-525-95157-5
WDead Rising is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Capcom Production Studio 1 and published by Capcom for the Xbox 360. The game's story sees players controlling Frank West, a photo journalist who becomes trapped in a shopping mall within the fictional town of Willamette, Colorado, that is suffering from a zombie outbreak and finds himself not only surviving by salvaging various items for weapons, but also rescuing survivors trapped in the complex and dealing with crazed psychopaths, while attempting to stay alive to uncover the truth behind the incident. While players must complete major missions to advance the main story, the sandbox element of the game means that optional tasks can be done, with several additional endings available if the player does not complete certain conditions towards the true ending of the story.
WDead Rising 2 is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Blue Castle Games and published by Capcom. It was released between September and October 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. It is a sequel to Dead Rising, and is the second entry in the series of the same name. The game features a number of new features and improvements to its predecessor, including multiplayer options.
WDead Rising 3 is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Capcom Vancouver and published by Microsoft Studios. The game was released as a launch title for the Xbox One platform on November 22, 2013; a Microsoft Windows port published by Capcom was released on September 5, 2014. It was announced as an Xbox One exclusive during Microsoft's E3 2013 press conference on June 10, 2013.
WDead Rising 4 is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Capcom Vancouver and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on December 6, 2016 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. It is the fourth installment in the Dead Rising series. It was announced at Microsoft's E3 2016 press conference on June 13, 2016. It features the return of Frank West, and is set in a rebuilt Willamette, Colorado during the Winter holiday season.
WDrakengard 3, known in Japan as Drag-On Dragoon 3, is an action role-playing video game developed by Access Games and published by Square Enix exclusively for PlayStation 3. It is the third and final main game in the Drakengard series and a prequel to the original game. The game, like the rest of the series, features a mixture of ground-based hack-and-slash combat and aerial battles. The story focuses on Zero, a woman who can manipulate magic through song. Partnering with a dragon named Mikhail, Zero set out to kill her five sisters, who rule the world's regions. As she travels, the player discovers the true reason behind Zero's rampage.
WDreamcatcher is a 2001 science fiction horror novel by American writer Stephen King, featuring elements of body horror, suspense and alien invasion. The book, written in cursive, helped the author recuperate from a 1999 car accident, and was completed in half a year. According to the author in his afterword, the working title was Cancer. His wife, Tabitha King, persuaded him to change the title. A film adaptation was released in 2003.
WThe Faculty is a 1998 American science fiction horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, Usher Raymond, Jon Stewart, and Elijah Wood.
WFilth is a 1998 novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. A sequel, Crime, was published in 2008. It was adapted into a 2013 film of the same name, directed by Jon S. Baird with James McAvoy in the lead role.
WGears of War 3 is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the third installment of the Gears of War series. Originally due for release on April 8, 2011, the game was delayed and eventually released on September 20, 2011. The story was written by science fiction author Karen Traviss.
WThe Host is a 2013 American romantic science fiction thriller film directed and adapted by Andrew Niccol from Stephenie Meyer's 2008 novel of the same name. It tells the story of a young woman, Melanie, who is captured after the human race has been taken over by parasitic aliens called "Souls". After Melanie is infused with a soul called "Wanderer", Melanie and the alien "Soul" vie for control of her body. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, William Hurt, and Diane Kruger. Released in theaters on March 29, 2013, the film was poorly received by critics and grossed $63.3 million worldwide against a budget of $40 million.
W"The Host" is the second episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on September 23, 1994. It was written by Chris Carter, directed by Daniel Sackheim, and featured guest appearances by Darin Morgan. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "The Host" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.8, being watched by 9.3 million households in its initial broadcast. The episode received positive reviews, praising the creepiness of the villain.
WThe Host is a science fiction romance novel by Stephenie Meyer. The book is about Earth, in a postapocalyptic time, being invaded by a parasitic alien race known as "Souls", and follows one Soul's predicament when the consciousness of her human host refuses to give up her body.
WKamen Rider Kabuto is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series. It is the sixteenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu programs. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. The series was broadcast on TV Asahi. The first episode aired on January 29, 2006, and with the final episode airing on January 21, 2007, completing the series with 49 episodes.
WMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is an open world stealth game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 1, 2015. It is the ninth installment in the Metal Gear series that was directed, written, and designed by Hideo Kojima following Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a stand-alone prologue released the previous year. It is his final work at Konami.
WParasite is a science fiction novel written by Mira Grant. It was released on October 29, 2013, by Orbit Books and is the first volume of the Parasitology trilogy. The other two books in the series are Symbiont and Chimera.
WParasite Eve is a Japanese science fiction horror novel by Hideaki Sena, first published by Kadokawa in 1995. The book was published in North America by Vertical, Inc. in 2005.
WPlague Inc: Evolved is a real-time strategy simulation video game, developed and published by UK-based independent games studio Ndemic Creations. The game is a remake of the developer's previous game, Plague Inc., for PC and consoles. In the game, the player creates and evolves a pathogen in an effort to destroy the world with a deadly plague. The game uses an epidemic model with a complex and realistic set of variables to simulate the spread and severity of the plague and has attracted the attention of the CDC.
WPlague Inc. is a real-time strategy simulation video game, developed and published by UK-based independent games studio Ndemic Creations. The player creates and evolves a pathogen in an effort to annihilate the human population with a deadly pandemic. The game uses an epidemic model with a complex and realistic set of variables to simulate the spread and severity of the plague. It was released on 26 May 2012 for iOS and Microsoft Windows, 4 October 2012 for Android and 2015 for Windows Phone.
WResident Evil 4 is a survival horror third-person shooter game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by Capcom. It was originally released for the GameCube in 2005. Players control U.S. government special agent Leon S. Kennedy, who is sent on a mission to rescue the U.S. president's daughter Ashley Graham, who has been kidnapped by a cult. In a rural part of Europe, Leon fights hordes of villagers infected by a mind-controlling parasite, and reunites with the spy Ada Wong.
WResident Evil 5 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. It is a major installment in the Resident Evil series, and was announced in 2005—the same year its predecessor Resident Evil 4 was released. Resident Evil 5 was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles in March 2009 and for Microsoft Windows in September that year. The plot involves an investigation of a terrorist threat by Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance agents Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar in Kijuju, a fictional region of Africa. Chris learns that he must confront his past in the form of an old enemy, Albert Wesker, and his former partner, Jill Valentine.
WResident Evil Village is a 2021 first-person survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sequel to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017). Players control Ethan Winters, who is searching for his kidnapped daughter after a fateful encounter with Chris Redfield, and finds himself in a village filled with mutant creatures. While Village maintains the Resident Evil series' survival horror elements, the game adopts a more action-oriented gameplay style compared to its predecessor.
WSea Fever is a 2019 science fiction horror thriller film written and directed by Neasa Hardiman, starring Hermione Corfield, Dougray Scott and Connie Nielsen. The film follows the crew of a marooned fishing trawler, who find themselves threatened by a parasitic infection.
WSputnik is a 2020 Russian science-fiction horror film directed by Egor Abramenko in his feature directorial debut. It stars Oksana Akinshina as a young doctor who is recruited by the military to assess a cosmonaut who survived a mysterious space accident and returned to Earth with a dangerous organism living inside him. Alongside Akinshina, the film's cast includes Pyotr Fyodorov and Fyodor Bondarchuk.
WThe Supernaturalist is a science fiction cyberpunk novel by Irish author Eoin Colfer. The book was influenced by film noir and other predecessors of the cyberpunk science fiction movement. Colfer has outlined plans for a sequel, The Supernaturalist 2.