->''They're all over me,
->They're inside of me,
->Can't get 'em offa me,
->I'm covered with ... microscopic bacteria.
->What do they want from me?
->What'll they do to me?
->There's no escape for me,
->I'm crawling with ... microscopic bacteria''
-->--'''Music/WeirdAlYankovic''', ''Germs''

Known to psychologists as "mysophobia" and to others as "germophobia" this trope describes characters who have a crippling fear of germs. This is one of the common symptoms of SuperOCD.

This goes well beyond simple fear. Realistic examples might refuse to touch anything that hasn't been extensively washed while more over the top versions can go so far as to fear the germs are sentient and conspiring to make them sick (though research has shown they ''can'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorum_sensing work together]], and may even be capable of [[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159109001962 messing with your head]]).

It's not an uncommon plot to have a character develop this problem for a short time in order to deliver AnAesop about taking risks being a necessary part of life.

Compare NeatFreak, {{Hypochondria}}.


[[folder: Anime ]]

* In ''SpiritedAway'', Yubaba's son Boh never leaves his nursery because his [[MyBelovedSmother Beloved Smother]] has given him this fear by overprotecting him. His phobia appears to have disappeared after [[spoiler:Zeniba turns him into a mouse]].


[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* The post-''InfiniteCrisis'' {{Brainiac}} was this. While battling {{Superman}}, he was thrown into a swamp, and traumatised by all the microscopic lifeforms crawling over him.


[[folder: Film ]]

* A minor character in the film of ''Film/KPax'' was committed because of crippling mysophobia. The main character cured it by engineering a near-death experience, which caused the resident psychologist no small amount of confusion.
* Ed Begley, Jr. as the antagonist Ebner Frost in ''SantaWithMuscles''.
* Bob from ''WhatAboutBob'' is afraid of germs, among many other things. He stays in his apartment as much as possible, and uses tissues to avoid actually touching things. He gets better over the course of the film.
* ''Film/SuperMarioBros:'' When Koopa first meets the Mario Bros., he wipes his hands off with tissues and even has them sprayed with disinfectant after he shakes their hands. It's taken UpToEleven in a DeletedScene (which was included in the junior novelization) when he has a lab technician devolved into primordial ooze simply for sneezing.
* ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'': Joan Walden's boss, Mr. Humberfloob, takes this UpToEleven. His employees have to wash their hands constantly, and when a new employee shakes his hand, he promptly fires him on the spot before scrubbing his hands with disinfectant.


[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'' by Isaac Asimov: The Spacers (former Earth colonists living in Utopian conditions throughout Space) have long eliminated all disease in their worlds, but their immune systems decayed as a result (the common cold can kill them), so they are downright paranoid when dealing with normal Earth people (who live in entirely different conditions)--forcing them to take thorough showers and burning all materials they come in contact with.
** In its sequel, ''The Naked Sun'', an Earthman visits Solaria, a Spacer world. They build him a house and he learns that they'll destroy it after he leaves the planet. Though Solaria is considered fringe even by Spacer standards.
* In PeterPaysTribute, Matt brings a bottle of Febreeze with him to movie theaters. He also refuses to eat fast food, sit on public benches, and generally make contact with other people.
* The Priest-Kings of ''Literature/{{Gor}}'' are so scared of germs that they made themselves immune to all sickness, eradicated every germ that could possibly harm them, moved to another planet, require outsiders to wash in antibacterial bleach several times a day and ''still'' won't touch anyone.
* Germs in general aren't too worrying in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', but sexually transmitted diseases are cause for the greatest concern. They are why remaining a virgin is such a big deal for young men and why cheating is seen as among the worst transgressions imaginable; this world's fear of [=STDs=] combined with the [[GenderRarityValue rarity of men]] and womens' interest in [[AMatchMadeInStockholm abducting them]] is the reason why men's lives are so limited.
* Dr. Lisa Babitz in StarTrekVanguard. At least as a doctor she can fight on the front lines against them...
* In Judy Blume's ''Iggie's House'', Dorothy Landon is so terrified of her daughter Clarice touching, eating, or drinking anything that isn't hers, that Winnie Barringer often refers to the mother as Germs, Inc.


[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Adrian {{Monk}}, to the extent that he uses wipes every time he shakes hands with someone, and gets highly distressed (Well, more than usual, anyway) if somehow prevented from doing so.
* Emma Pillsbury from ''{{Glee}}'' cleans grapes individually.
* Sheldon from ''TheBigBangTheory'' showers multiple times a day and constantly washes his hands.
* Kari Byron of ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' is a germophobe, as revealed in a recent set of experiments regarding passing around cold germs. She was placed in a test group instructed to avoid catching Adam's fake cold by any means possible, and by the end of that round she was the only one who had succeeded.
* Freddie's mom in ''ICarly''. She's been known to boil flowers in bleach...
* Boober, on ''FraggleRock'' constantly obsesses over his fear and dislike of germs, and constantly worries and warns others about disease and death.
** He even has a song about it!:
--> "You know they're name is contagious,
--> Their number's outrageous,
--> They're wriggling and raging like worms,
--> And it wiggles and squirms,
--> I'm talkin' 'bout germs!"
* Mayor Richard Wilkins of Sunnydale, in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer.'' Even after he becomes ''invincible''.
* Chris from ''KenanAndKel'' acts as this in the episode where the latter character gets a cold.
* Cody Martin developed such an aversion in the latter half of ''TheSuiteLifeOnDeck''.
* On ''{{Seinfeld}}'', Jerry has some SuperOCD tendencies, including a fear of germs. David Puddy also describes himself as a "[[TropaholicsAnonymous recovering germophobe"]].
* On ''Series/{{Millennium}}'', Peter Watts' daughter was kidnapped by a veteran of the first Gulf War, played by JamesMarsters. His experiences in the Mideast had left him so germ-phobic that he habitually wore a [=HazMat=] suit.


[[folder: Music ]]

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's song "Germs" is about this.


[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

* Spotless [=McPartland=], in Dick Cavalli's ''{{Winthrop}}''.
* Iggy from ''ComicStrip/DogsOfCKennel''.
* In ''{{ComicStrip/Peanuts}}'', Lucy is not afraid of germs in general, but often freaks out about "dog germs" when she's licked or kissed by Snoopy.


[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Nick during The Passing in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2''. In the first safe room, he may show his fear of germs by saying he has the right to be afraid since a germ wiped out the planet and turned everyone into zombies. Rochelle teases him about this when he asks for some hand sanitizer.
** In the same area later on, Nick makes several complaints about going through a sewer, ranging from wanting a piggyback ride to avoid the dirty water to trying to reassure himself that it's only a storm sewer.
* The quarians of the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games are an [[PlanetOfHats entire race of these]] - justified because their immune systems are so weak that they must wear specially designed enviro-suits all the time and take vaccines and immuno-boosters to ward off disease. Even in clean environments, they prefer the safety of their suits, and are reluctant to remove them without a good reason. It is a gesture of trust and intimacy amongst quarians to hook one's own suit environment to another's, even though doing so can make both of them very sick. Though after one did so, she claimed the sickness she got was well worth it.


[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* ''QuestionableContent'': Hannelore Ellicott-Chatham. This seems to be the core of her OCD.


[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Buster on a season 11 episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}''.
* The appropriately-named henchman "Germs" in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' two-parter ''Feat of Clay.'' He opens doors using a handkerchief and is visibly squicked at going to a hospital.
** Batman exploits this entertainingly when interrogating him, and Clayface leaves him practically catatonic after binding and ''gagging'' the little creep with some of his clay body.
* Edd from ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''. He put on plastic gloves AND a surgeon's mask when taking care of a sick Sarah. And when he caught her cold anyway, he claimed that bacteria strike the instant one's guard is down. Germs were also his first complaint when forced into a bathroom vent.
** Jimmy is implied to be this, too. It normally doesn't show, but he has complained of germs every time he came in contact with saliva.
* Sid on ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' also develops this.
* Zim, in the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episode "Germs". He eventually ends up covering himself in meat, as it's more sanitary than anything else he can find.
* Gus on {{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' developed this phobia in one episode, and eventually attempted to have the whole playground sanitized.
* Chuckie in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' becomes terrified of germs. His father lectures him about germs with his bath puppets after getting himself dirty multiple times.
** This is the reason ''why'' Chuckie became germaphobic. Every time he got dirty Chaz would give him a bath and bring out the bath puppets, and then would tell an increasingly terrified Chuckie about how dangerous germs are. Given how Chuckie is afraid of almost everything, it's no surprise he became neurotic.
* Mr. Burns develops this in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "$pringfield".
* AmeliaEarhart in ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad''.
* Mr. Fussy in ''TheMrMenShow''. Played for laughs because he lives next door to Mr. Messy.


[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Howie Mandel. This is why he never shakes hands with guests on ''DealOrNoDeal'' and is apparently the reason he shaves his head.
* Howard Hughes was famous for this. It eventually became so bad that he would only touch anything with tissues.
* Marc Summers. That the man hosted freaking ''[[DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'' for 7 years and ''[[WhatWouldYouDoNickelodeon What Would You Do]]'' for 2 is a testament to his [[MemeticBadass willpower]].
* Anyone who has ever taken microbiology will tell you that the majority of students in the class become paranoid about germs. Many overcome it a few weeks into the semester, but others don't.