Metalloid · element 33
Arsenic
Poison in the right dose. Medicine in the other.
Only 0.5% of people are Arsenic. (estimated)
If you're Arsenic
You are sharp, calculating, and dangerous to underestimate. In small doses people find you fascinating; in large ones they find themselves in trouble.
Arsenic was Victorian England's favourite poison and, in tiny amounts, one of its favourite tonics.
How to get along with Arsenic
Do
- Keep the dose small; a little goes a long way.
- Enjoy their sharpness in argument.
- Be as honest as they are; they smell the alternative.
Don't
- Don't cross them casually.
- Don't ingest everything they say at face value.
When it goes wrong: In the wrong dose they are a poison, and they know it. Keep the distance that keeps you both safe.
Atomic profile
Every element is placed on six personality dimensions derived from its chemistry. Your answers are placed on the same six, and the closest element wins. How the scoring works
- Reactivity
- 5
- Sociability
- 6
- Stability
- 9
- Energy
- 5
- Rarity
- 4
- Warmth
- 3
Arsenic in literature
- Iago — Othello, William Shakespeare (1604)
- Madame Defarge — A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens (1859)
- Count Fosco — The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins (1859)
Characters from public-domain works, chosen for the same traits. Company, not a verdict.
Closest personalities
The elements whose profiles sit nearest to Arsenic's. If you got Arsenic, one of these was probably your runner-up.