I still think about how mad Vox would have been when someone (probably Baxter) had to break it to him that he wasn’t a shark demon but was a (probably far rarer in Hell?) virus demon instead, and the rest was body mods/coincidence.

So what is a bacteriophage?

It’s a virus that infects bacteria. It has a protein head containing its genetic material, a tail, and associated structures that recognise and attach to its compatible host. Looks a lil mechanical even though it’s biological in nature.

Vox considered himself a shark amongst fish when he was alive, but I think Hell took one look at the way he killed “hosts” and stole pieces of their lives and personas and said, “I know what you are.” Bacteriophages can’t reproduce by themselves. They need to find something else living to steal.

Lysis and Integration

During its lytic cycle, a phage injects its genome into the bacterium, hijacks the cell and makes it produce copies of the virus until it bursts. Vincent’s takeover of his peers was lethal, and he went on to use their former spots to propagate his fame.

Temperate phages can instead integrate their genome into a host and be copied with it. Vox offers that choice too: let me become part of everything you build or I’ll destroy you. He offers the choice to Alastor too, integration or destruction.

Phages can carry bits of one host’s DNA into another, a process called transduction. Sometimes a prophage even pulls away neighbouring genes when it leaves. Vox never leaves cleanly. He keeps mannerisms, formats and aesthetics and then presents them as part of himself. Like Al’s outfit.

Infection

Some prophages give their host toxin genes. This makes the bacteria more dangerous. For example, cholera toxin. Vox’s influence is similar. He can make otherwise benign people dangerous by proximity to his power, empire and influence.

Some phages leave a chemical signal. New phages measure how much has accumulated, then use it to choose between killing new hosts or integrating instead. It’s a process called arbitrium. This is basically the fucking audience ratings Vox is obsessed with, lol, imo.

Hosts

Hosts
Phages are generally host-specific. Their tail fibres need to recognise specific receptors, sometimes down to a specific strain. Alastor is Vox’s obsession and could either be the host he is designed for, or one he simply cannot seem to ever infect because he isn’t.

Some phages will slice through a bacterium’s protective capsule and sometimes use that as the receptor for infection. They get in through defences. Imo, Vox is also a sneaky bastard who can get in through people’s defences in Hell: insecurity, ambition and other weaknesses.

Bacteria sometimes escape phages by changing or losing the targeted receptor, but that might mean losing something useful. To resist costs something. Getting away from Vox seems like it is similar. If you get away from him alive, it can cost you dearly.

Hypnosis

A prophage already inside a bacterium can block other phages from infecting it, called superinfection exclusion. I like to hc that if someone is part of Voxtek, they are immune to hypnosis or influence from other sources because they are already infected.

I think overall Vox’s hypnosis lines up with the injection of instructions that is critical to the nature of phages. It doesn’t make sense for a shark to be able to hypnotise, but viruses metaphorically compel obedience. The tail in his demon form was just a physical unveiling of his nature.

Phages are one of the most abundant biological entities on Earth. They don’t hunt like sharks, they flood an environment until contact becomes basically inevitable. Vox doesn’t hunt, he floods Hell with Voxtek screens until he can no longer really be avoided.

Kill the Winner
There’s an ecological concept called “Kill the Winner” that applies to phages. Successful bacteria are opportunities. Human Vox did basically exactly this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_the_Winner_hypothesis

Notes

Obviously I’ve drawn upon all bacteriophages for these thoughts and hcs, just like I’d draw on all deer for everyone’s favourite deer demon. There isn’t one single phage that does all the cool shit.

I think it’s also interesting that phages are fundamentally neutral. They can be dangerous, but they can also target harmful bacteria. They represent population control at times too. I think it fits Vox. He actually seems to have improved Hell in some ways?

But obviously, he also causes harm and mayhem. I just think it’s so cool that rather than defaulting to the “obvious” shark, Vivziepop and the other guys on the show came up with something so metaphorically cool. The more I read, the more I love it.

I’ve talked before about how I think maybe Vox is the electricity/soul(?) within his body rather than the body, and I think that only makes more sense to me given what he is. I also think it makes it extra funny how much smaller than Al’s demon form he is. Because phages are tiny.

Summary

I fucking love it. I love that Vox wants nothing more than to be a shark and might even have re-oriented his vents into gills to look more like shark sinners, but this is Hell and you don’t always get what you want. You get how you died and what you are.

Fuckin cool as shit.