Dr. Disinfector
| Name | Dr. Disinfector |
|---|---|
| Birth Year | 2020 |
| Type | Superhuman |
| Owner | Ministry of Communications and Information |
| Cause | Health |
| Creator | Mas Shafreen (Band of Doodlers) |
| Status | Retired |
| Family | Virus Vanguard |
Dr. Disinfector was part of The Virus Vanguard, a team of five fictional superheroes introduced by Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information (now Ministry of Ministry of Digital Development and Information) on 20 April 2020 as part of the Gov.sg platform’s efforts to promote COVID-19 safety measures. Each character was designed to personify specific guidelines to combat the pandemic—Dr. Disinfector advocated for regular disinfection of hands and surfaces.
Gov.sg published a now-deleted backstory of Dr. Disinfector:
Dr Disinfector can detect the presence of any virus or bacteria and she dons an exoskeleton suit with extended multi-appendages to eradicate and disinfect. Ordinarily, she is Sonya, a microbiologist at Singapore Clinical Research Institute in her mid-20s.
Backstory: Sonya graduated summa cum laude from MIT with double degrees in chemical science and microbiology at the age of 14. A failed experiment during her doctorate studies caused her to shrink to the size of a microorganism. Her colleague then unwittingly washed her down the kitchen sink.
She survived the ordeal and returned to normal size. But the trauma left her with adverse reactions to germs and ultra-amplified her senses to even the smallest bacteria, making her perfect as Dr Disinfector.
Abilities: Able to detect virus and bacteria through sight, smell and even sound from the vibration of their movement. Wields a multifunctional treatment gun with various capsules containing antidotes and boosters.
Weakness: Cheesecake.
Plans for the Virus Vanguard were shelved on the same day as its introduction due to severe backlash online. Some expressed concerns that the characters were confusing and potentially trivialized the severity of the pandemic. Three of the five superheroes courted controversy: MAWA Man (seen as disrespecting Liverpool Football Club), Circuit Breaker and Care-leh Dee (accusations of plagiarism).
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