Species - Viruses

Viruses are small, non-cellular agents. They infect every known lifeform, and every virus specializes in its own preferred host. Some even infect other viruses.
They're made of a protein capsid, sometimes enveloped in an extra layer of lipids, and they contain genetic material inside. They're basically just tiny boxes. Tiny boxes on legs in Virus Attack.

The viruses that have an extra layer are enveloped viruses, while the ones without are non-enveloped viruses. Enveloped viruses are sensitive to cleaning products, and thus easy to kill. Just washing your hands with regular soap kills most virions. Non-enveloped viruses are resistant to most cleaning products and thus hard to kill, but they're easier to be destroyed by immune cells because their capsid is less tough than that of enveloped viruses. In real life, viruses can be icosahedral, filamentous, rounded or even bottle-shaped, and they come in many different sizes. Some are almost as large as bacteria. In Virus Attack, same viruses appear in the form of monstrous animals or mythical creatures, but with traits of the actual virus incorporated into their designs.

Viruses can be small, medium or large sized. A virus is small when it won't grow larger than 99 nanometer. Medium-sized viruses are 100 - 499 nanometer and large viruses are 500 nanometer and larger.

Viruses can have either DNA or RNA. They can have different types of either DNA or RNA too, and they're sorted into different Baltimore Classification groups based on their manner of messenger RNA (mRNA) synthesis. List is shown below.

• Group I: double-stranded DNA viruses
• Group II: single-stranded DNA viruses
• Group III: double-stranded RNA viruses
• Group IV: positive sense single-stranded RNA viruses
• Group V: negative sense single-stranded RNA viruses
• Group VI: single-stranded RNA viruses with a DNA intermediate in their life cycle
• Group VII: double-stranded DNA viruses with an RNA intermediate in their life cycle

^{Source: Wikipedia.}

Because they can't regulate their own body temperature, viruses need to live in a main host with the for them right body temperature. But, every virus prefers different temperatures. Outside of a host, virions go into a state of torpor. When not inside a host for a long time, the virion will dry out and die

Viruses are obligated intracellular parasites because they lack their own reproductive mechanism and metabolism, and thus being fully dependent on a host to be biologically active. In real life, they're biologically active once inside a host-cell, but in Virus Attack, only being inside the main animal or plant host is enough to come op to the right temperature and start generating energy. The main host's cells are purely used for reproduction as the viral DNA/RNA will instruct the cell's reproductive system to copy it and create new virions. Most viruses have a lytic form of reproduction, while others are lysogenic. Lytic means that the young virions will be produced directly and are born several hours later. Lysogenic means that the DNA/RNA will lay dormant for a while, until something changes inside the host-cell's body. Lysogeny always changes to lytic if changes happen. Many bacteriophages are lysogenic at first.

Most viruses compete with other regarding survival, and most viruses won't tolerate each other in their territories. For this reason, viruses are thought to be the most aggressive creatures within the microscopic world. However, some viruses do actually respect other species too, especially if said species is a much stronger species or a member species of the Great Four. In some cases a virus may experience a primal fear of an another virus.

There are three styles of birth for viruses; budding, apoptosis and exocytosis. In budding, the baby virions steal parts of the host-cell's outer membrane. This eventually causes necrosis of the cell's body and eventually death. Apoptosis is a programmed self-destruction in cells. Under normal circumstances, a cell will self-destruct once they reach the end of their lifespan, but there are viruses who are able to tell the host-cell to activate apoptosis in order to release baby virions. Exocytosis is just an another daily thing for cells. It's a way for them to get rid of waste material and the way they do this is similar to sweating. Because waste material is small, it isn't actually seen in the comic. When baby viruses are born by exocytosis, they actually demonstrate what the 'sweating of waste' looks like, but on larger scale. Exocytosis is similar to budding, but instead of stealing the outer membrane of the host-cell, these viruses steal both parts of organs to translate into viral proteins and the vesicles of the host-cell in order to develop an extra layer of skin. Though, non-enveloped use exocytosis too, but in their case, only parts of organs are used to create virions. Like budding, exocytosis eventually ends in the cell's death due to loss of body parts.

Most viruses have large litters, usually up to thousands. Though, litter size is different per species, and even within the same species, different virion have different litter sizes. Litter size may differ or change depending on an individual virion's size, age, health, status within his group or experience level. Some virions may have millions of young per litter. Because of their large litter size, their high growth rate, low survival among young (killed by immune cells), and the fact that surviving young grow up fast, viruses are R-strategists.

All viruses are male by default. 99% of virions are heterosexual too, but being non-hetero may occur more in one species than the other. This is in contrast to bacteria, which are always female by default and 99% of bacterial cells are non-hetero. In more extremely rare cases (1% in each virus species), an individual virion may identify with/as a different gender or as non-binary too.

Viruses smell bad... REALLY bad! Think of a corpse in an already far decomposing state (or rotting potatoes, because that's a similar smell). Though, while cells think that every virus has that same rotting smell, every species of course has its very own distinctive scent. Because it is more important for viruses to recognize the scent of an another species in their territory, different species can differentiate between each other's scents quite easily. A virus thinks it smells fine, but it thinks of the scent of a different species as bad.
Especially the leader of a group smells the strongest. The leader produces pheromones that suppress the personal scents of the lower placed virions, so he can place so called 'scent-flags' on his virions. These scentflags function as the leader's ID cards in case there might be an another nest somewhere. This way, the two groups can meet each other's leaders, without actually having to see each other in person.

Below are species descriptions. A lot of viruses are at least mentioned, but only viruses that make an actual physical appearance in either Virus Attack or its prequels are described!

Enveloped Viruses

Only members of the Orthocoronavirinae sub-family are actually known as 'coronavirus'. All species shown in the comic and other stories belong to the Betacoronavirus genus.
Coronaviruses are medium-sized, positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. They have six legs, three tails, and only the highest ranking virions have an actual peplomer crown on their heads. Virions always resemble modern day carnivorous mammals. They are the only viruses who use monarchy as their social structure. They are lytic, their young develop inside the host-cell's endoplasmic reticulum and golgi system, and young are born via exocytosis.

Coronaviruses see themselves as literal royals, but within the rest of the microscopic world, they're rather seen as liars and insidious and self-centered con artists. They like to play tricks on others or getting others in their swindles. When 'working with' an another virus or microbe, it's for the coronavirus's own gain and the other (unknowing)species always ends up being ditched and left with nothing or to be killed by the immune system, once the coronavirus has what it wants. Coronaviruses are also almost fully emotionless and unable to attach to their own blood relatives, except for the D614G mutant form of SARS-CoV-2. Unlike other coronaviruses, D614G SARS-CoV-2 is always born naturally friendly and kindhearted. But once indoctrinated by non-mutated congeners, this friendly strain learns how to be ill-minded and as insidious. Because of them being con artists, coronaviruses themselves don't even trust each other.

Species of only the Sarbecovirus and Merbecovirus subgenera are actually shown in both Virus Attack, its prequels and other stories. Members of the Sarbecovirus subgenus resemble canids. species that belong to the SARS-CoV-1 related lineage within this subgenus more specifically resemble fox-like canids, while species of the SARS-CoV-2 lineage resemble dog-like canids. There are also two species that belong to neither lineages, but are rather distinctive species on their own. These two resemble a maned wolf and a bush dog respectively. Members of the Merbecovirus subgenus resemble felids. MERS-CoV is the most well-known and largest species within this subgenus.

Resembles a fox. SARS-CoV-1 was the very first species of this subgenus discovered and thus the namegiver. Virions usually are around 100 nanometer at the withers.

Resembles a tiger. Virions usually are around 160 nanometer at the withers.

It originally resembled a wolf, but since the rise of D614G mutants, it currently resembles domestic dog breeds (including wolf-dog hybrids). Virions usually are around 120 nanometer at the withers, but some may be somewhat smaller or larger. This virus first emerged in Wuhan, China, back in late december 2019. It quickly spread worldwide in 2020, and it managed to become a major pandemic. It killed millions of people. SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19, a respiratory disease which may lead up to a deadly form of pneumonia, hypoxia and blood clotting. Its signature symptoms are the loss of smell and taste. Some people may develop 'long covid' (post covid syndrome), and seem to have lingering symtoms long after recovery.

It nests in the lower part of the lungs. Like its cousin, SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2 displays a high affinity to its host's ACE-2 receptor and thus binds to it to infect. Other receptors that it can bind to are CLR's, TLR's, NRP1 and GRP78. It mainly infects cells in the respiratory tract, both immune and non-immune. It can have up to millions of pups, which are born 24 hours after infection. In D614G mutants, pups are well protected and have a somewhat higher chance of survival than the wild-type form and other coronaviruses.

Because it is the main antagonist in Virus Attack, it received the most detailed lore. For this reason, I decided to give this virus its own page.

Non-Enveloped Viruses