Poison Name Generator

Poison names in fiction come from three main wells. The first is real toxicology, and it is hard to improve on: Belladonna (Italian for beautiful lady, because it dilated women's pupils), Wolfsbane, Monkshood, Henbane, Death Cap, Destroying Angel and Manchineel are all real plants and fungi whose common names were coined by frightened people. History adds Aqua Tofana, Cantarella and Poudre de Succession, the 'inheritance powder' of Renaissance courts. The second well is tabletop gaming: Dungeons & Dragons lists poisons such as Midnight Tears, Purple Worm Poison, Oil of Taggit, Torpor and Assassin's Blood, and Pathfinder adds Black Lotus Extract, King's Sleep and Dark Reaver Powder. The third is fantasy literature, where poisons carry evocative brand names: George R. R. Martin's The Strangler, Tears of Lys and Sweetsleep, or Robin Hobb's carryme.

Good invented poison names tend to work by irony (Mercy, Grace, Sweet Death), by symptom (Heartstop, Bonechill, Nervefire), by source (Adder's Tongue, Wyvern Poison, Hag's Spit) or by intended victim (Kingsbane, Priestbane, The Heir's Patience). The unsettling ones sound gentle, since a poisoner names a thing to sell it, not to warn.

Below you will find real botanical names, D&D and Pathfinder-style poisons and original coinages for assassins, alchemists, dark fantasy novels and homebrew campaigns.