Deinococcus radiodurans is a polyextremophilic coccus, also known for his advanced DNA-repair mechanisms (in his case, something close to the ability to come back to life) 1. As a bacterium, he lives as a semi-pariah, preferring to remain a silent observer of the world in most cases. But when Radiodurans does make himself known, things always get interesting. A fervent preacher of peace among bacteria and beyond, he is a very carefree, “happy-go-lucky” type of boy, which is in stark contrast to how enigmatic he is, even to other bacteria, and to how strangely he communicates.
Background
Little is known about Radiodurans’s early life. What’s for certain is, he’s benefited very early on from the ability to survive in the face of ionising radiations, UV lights, reactive oxygen species and acid, extreme cold and dessication… including in the void. Blessed with such powers, Radiodurans roamed the Earth and met microbes from all over the world, from the mammal gut, to soils, or deserts. Empowered by these very different experiences, and being very sociable, he sympathised with many of the organisms he met. But he soon realised that traveling the planet meant that, of all these environnements, he really didn’t belong anywhere. Most of the good relationships he developed were very superficial in nature, as he could only ever partly relate to other bacteria, and the reverse was true as well. This is why Radiodurans soon chose to position himself as a spectator to the world, rather than an actor in it, with a single notable exception.
The reason Radiodurans became as known and feared as Yersinia pestis is because he took a stance against him, at the height of Pestis’s career as a pathogen.
During the Black Plague epidemic, Pestis touted to the few voices trying to oppose him that he was just doing the same thing LUCA did; that is, eliminating competition for resources. Radiodurans saw in this logic an opportunity to deride Pestis, someone he didn’t really have a strong opinion of, but whose actions he did not approve of. Overnight, he came up with a completely opposite dogma that also invoked LUCA’s name, as to get on Pestis’s nerves.
Radiodurans’ vision is more spiritual than practical. It proposes that, if clones from the same prokaryote species share a conscience (eukaryotes being an exception), it must mean that speciation fragmented LUCA’s conscience into pieces, and so, that LUCA still lives through all currently living things. This is why living beings should not hate one another like Pestis hates humans, even though they do compete with each other. The adoption of this belief rapidly gained ground, as it was the perfect opportunity for prokaryotes opposed to the views spread by Pestis (especially mutualists and commensals) to unite behind a common ideology. This phenomenon greatly enraged Pestis, but he was never able to get back at Radiodurans. To this day, Radiodurans is still thought as a semi-messiah by some bacteria, for what essentially started as a joke on his part.
Despite its importance in the bacterial world, this incident hasn’t drastically changed Radiodurans’s life. Little by little, seeing the positive impact it left on the bacteria he helped, he did somewhat morph into the role he accidentally carved for himself. The effect only got stronger when word spread of his supernatural abilities, including (but not limited to) resurrection. But he still happily roams the planet, and is just as hard to have a serious conversation with as ever before; and yet, he’s never had more friends.
Personality
What makes Radiodurans so hard to pin down is that it’s almost impossible to know for sure when he’s being serious, and when he isn’t. With a smile always glued to his face and his eyes wide open, he can be very expressive; but it’s not like his (perceived) mood changes often, either. He likes teasing people in a variety of ways – especially those who least enjoy it. He also tends to overexaggerate the emotions he publicly expresses, especially sadness or surprise. It’s as though he’s playing a role 99% of the time, so it’s hard to know for sure what goes on in his head.
Surprisingly, this doesn’t weigh on his ability to form friendships, as his goofy attitude makes up for it quite a bit. The only easy thing to understand about Radiodurans is that he has a good heart. He will help anyone who needs it in a heartbeat; it’s like second nature to him. Despite having many things going for him, he never talks about himself at all, be it to boast or complain. On the contrary; he’d rather learn to know each tiny facet of a person.
He happily explores his surroundings as he waits for the right moment to show up, seemingly out of nowhere, and give help where it’s due. He will sometimes do or say something at least a little strange each intervention he makes, and these tend to be the times where he’s the least likely to be joking. Most of the time, though, he’s found in a corner, people-watching. Radiodurans genuinely doesn’t mind solitude; he doesn’t seek it, but won’t flee it, either.
Abilities
Aside from his endurance to many kinds of stress, Radiodurans has also demonstrated powers of the more supernatural kind on many occasions.
to be polished, but basically
- mind reading
- access to people’s deeper emotional states
- omnivision/superawareness
- basically resurrection thanks to hardcore DNA repair mechanisms
Relationships
Escherichia coli (all strains)
Radiodurans is head-over-heels with all strains of Coli. Those he shows it to the most are non-pathogenic Coli strains, because they are usually more blasé and easier to annoy/unsettle.
Yersinia pestis
pestis hates his guts but he doesnt care LOL
Trivia
- Some have suggested that Radiodurans might be of martian origin 2.
which i love for him because would make the writing of this character even more ironic than it already is.
- He was sent on a trip to space one for a year and he didn’t even care 3.