History Main / BloodBath

* In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', When we are "re-introduced" to Thanos' 2014 self, he has just returned from a presumably triumphant battle with a strange red, watery glistening on his golden armor... Then the sickening realization sinks in that its because he had butchered ''so'' many enemies up-close that his entire body is ''literally'' painted from head to toe in their ''blood''

* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}: Wake the Devil'' references the original legend about Elizabeth Bathory. The blood baths are only mentioned, not shown, but the iron maiden that was used to obtain the blood plays a pivotal role in the plot.* A ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' strip published in ''Judge Dredd Mega Special 1995'' concerns a pop singer who retained his youth and good looks through TheDarkArts, human sacrifice, and bathing in blood--the literal blood bath being implied to be the most crucial step in the singer's rejuvenation rituals. Strangely enough, 22nd Century technology in Dredd's world has made several means of rejuvenation (including some that are legal) readily available to [[MegaCity Mega-City One]] citizens, which makes it a bit odd to see somebody taking this route, instead.

* ''Film/{{Lycan}}'': After bloodily killing [[spoiler:Kenny, Isabella]] coats herself in his blood.

* In ''Film/StayAlive'', the vengeful spirit of Elizabeth Bathory suspends [[spoiler:Abigail]] over an empty bathtub caked in dried blood and threatens to have her bled into the tub, heavily suggesting this trope, but [[spoiler:Hutch saves a Abigail before any bloodletting could occur]].

The {{Trope Maker|s}} derives from legends surrounding the UsefulNotes/{{Hungar|y}}ian "Blood Countess" UsefulNotes/ElizabethBathory, a SerialKiller who purportedly bathed in the blood of young women (specifically {{virgin|Sacrifice}}s, according to some accounts) in order to restore her [[VainSorceress beauty]] and [[FountainOfYouth youth]]. While the ''real'' Countess Báthory was accused of many gruesome acts, it's certain that her baths in blood are only the stuff of fiction. However, the Blood Bath is very much a key component to be found in any story in which she is featured, and any stories that feature a Blood Bath without Báthory as a character will often allude to her motives for doing this (lifted directly from the legends) and may also mention her by name (or, at least, give a character partaking in this a similar-sounding name as a ShoutOut).

* In the 1979 Australian horror movie ''Film/{{Thirst}}'', one of the attempts taken by a vampiric cult to recruit and condition the story's unwilling protagonist, believed by the cult to be a descendant of Elizabeth Bathory, involves rigging her plumbing to release blood, instead of water, while she takes a shower.

* ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'' (evoked): When the grave of Mircalla Karnstein is opened, her body is found in a leaden coffin perfectly uncorrupted, and floating in seven inches of blood.

* One prank on ''Series/ScareTactics'' set up the target as a new employee at a health spa "for professional clientèle" that uses "very expensive ingredients". Along with female clients who come in for rejuvenation treatments is a list of younger women and their corresponding blood types. The exact scare prank involved the target walking in as one young woman is being bled over a bathtub that an older client was bathing in.

* ''Series/FromDuskTillDawn'' has Santanico Pandemonium taking a bath in blood before she goes onstage.
* On ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakshow'', Dandy Mott believes that bathing in people's blood will give him their power. The first onscreen instance of this comes right after he [[spoiler:[[{{matricide}} kills his own mother]]]], though the fact that [[spoiler:he is covered in blood after killing Andy]] may suggest that he did this then, too.
* In the ''Series/PennyDreadful'' episode "Fresh Hell", Madame Kali takes a blood bath from a freshly murdered woman [[DissonantSerenity while singing "The Unquiet Grave"]].

* The metal band Music/{{Bathory}} not only shares its name with the TropeMaker, but has also written a number of songs about her that also hint at this practice - notably, "Woman Of Dark Desires".
* Music/YoshikiHayashi took a Blood Bath in a photoshoot for Fool's Mate magazine and, in the past with Music/XJapan, has written a song about Elizabeth Bathory entitled "Rose of Pain".

* The new ''[[TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness World Of Darkness]]'' supplement "Immortals" has [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Blood Bathers]], who [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment gain a sort of immortality by bathing in blood]]. Their blood bathing ritual is guaranteed to place any characters who partake in it at [[ObviouslyEvil the very low end]] of the [[KarmaMeter Karma Dial]].

* Vampires in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Fantasy'' can only heal their injuries by bathing in blood.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has the Everdawn Pool, a powerful magical artifact created by the [[SorcerousOverlord Runelord]] Sorshen. The pool has many powers, but chief among them is the ability to transform the body of one who bathes in it after filling the pool with the blood of several thousand sacrificed sentient beings. The BigBad of ''Curse of the Crimson Throne'', [[spoiler:Queen Ileosa]], intends to become an immortal being this way, [[spoiler:slaughtering much of the population of Korvosa, including her own followers, in the process]].

* The female villain in ''VideoGame/NinjaGaidenII'' is seen bathing in a pool of blood at one point and is even named "Elizabet" as a ShoutOut.
* An early boss who is the subject of an Act I quest in ''VideoGame/DiabloII'', dubbed "The Countess", is described as having "bathed in the rejuvenating blood of a hundred virgins" in the tome that initiates her quest.
** She can refer to this trope when you meet her, too. "Here for a Blood Bath?"

* The ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' user map ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'' has the Demon/Orc hybrid [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Strygwyr the Bloodseeker]], who bathes in the blood of his slain victims to heal his wounds--including those that can otherwise prove fatal.

* ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'' sees the player travel through time to prevent Akuro from becoming perfect through bathing the vessel he wishes to possess in Orochi's blood.
* A whole row of them can be found in ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}''. A corpse is found in one, with another inmate 'washing' it with its own blood. It's not pretty.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', this trope is mentioned in one of the potential descriptions for the stench vampires in Dreadsylvania... and mocked by the narrator pointing out that a bath-tub full of blood would quickly coagulate and rot. In this case, it explains the foul odor of the [[ElementalRockPaperScissors stench-aligned]] vampire.

* One possible haunting in ''VideoGame/{{Paranormal}}'' has Mattel get locked in the bathroom while blood pours out of the plumbing, filling the tub and sink as the toilet overflows with red.
* In ''VideoGame/LobotomyCorporation'', the Abnormality Bloodbath takes the form of a bathtub with blood inside of it and [[{{Squick}} human skin covering it.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* The human royal couple from ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' hunted Elves for this purpose in order to gain immortality. Whether it actually worked is not stated, but given how different fae and human biology are it most likely didn't. Their castle, Chactice, is even named after the modern name for the castle where Elizabeth Bathory lived, Cachtice Castle.

* Webcomic/KarateBears [[http://www.karatebears.com/2011/07/innocent-bath.html like taking baths in the blood of the innocent.]]

* The horror short film ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv7gPSvhgdI A-Symmetry]]'' ends with the SerialKiller VillainProtagonist relaxing in his bathtub filled with blood.

* ''WesternAnimation/HellboyAnimated: Blood and Iron'' features a vampire named Erzsebet Ondrushko, clearly based on Elizabeth Bathory, who bathes in blood to preserve her youth. [[spoiler:She gets killed when Professor Bruttenholm sneaks some holy water into her blood bath.]]

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=0et4dnby5rj9mhsd79qwoikk
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* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', it's revealed in a flashback that the [[spoiler:Black Book Club]] bathed in the blood of the [[DarkIsNotEvil innocent demons]] they had slaughtered, mostly ForTheEvulz. The discovery of this (as well as several other factors) [[spoiler:[[StartOfDarkness drove Shinobu Sensui]] [[SanitySlippage batshit]] [[SplitPersonality insane]]]].

* In ''Anime/{{Golion}}'', the evil witch Honerva bathes her cat in blood (although [[{{Bowdlerised}} it's called a "lava bath"]] in ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'').

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}''. Shalltear Bloodfallen normally appears as an ElegantGothicLolita, but when she bathes in blood, her glamor breaks and she turns into what can best be described as a humanoid [[LampreyMouth lamprey abomination]].

* ComicBook/NikolaiDante's invitation to a gathering of the Cadre Infernale led to him meeting the High Priestess of the order, [[Literature/{{Carmilla}} Camilla]] [[ShoutOut Le Fanu]], bathing in what Nikolai at first thought was red wine. She alludes to the rejuvenating effects of Blood Baths being discovered by Bathory but insists that, unlike Bathory, she gets her blood from young women who are ''willing'' to donate a few pints in exchange for a tax exemption. However, it turns out that jobless women who can't pay taxes are [[KillThePoor bled for all they got]].
* Readers first meet Solomon Ravne from ''ComicBook/CaballisticsInc'' in the middle of one such bath, surrounded by the naked, bleeding corpses the blood had to have come from. [[spoiler:Because Ravne is suggested to be Really700YearsOld]], it may be that such a bath is needed to maintain his age and appearance or prolong his life.

* ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}: Wake the Devil'' references the original legend about Elizabeth Bathory. The blood baths are only mentioned, not shown, but the iron maiden that was used to obtain the blood plays a pivotal role in the plot.
* Elizabeth Bathory was a very minor adversary in Creator/MarvelComics' ''ComicBook/DraculaLives''. Originally, Dracula intended to make Bathory his vampiric servant, but her baths in the blood of virgins had made her immune to Dracula's control, so they briefly agreed to form an alliance. When Bathory finally betrayed Dracula, he ended up [[HistoricalInJoke stealing her journals and turning them in to the authorities, which led to her being sealed in a room in her castle as punishment.]] Dracula later confronted Bathory in her cell and drained her of all her blood; she aged to death in seconds.

* ComicBook/BlackPanther foe Man-Ape gained his SuperStrength by eating the flesh and bathing in the blood of a rare white gorilla.
* The JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind one-shot ''ComicBook/{{Carnage}}: It's A Wonderful Life'' has a sequence where Carnage (wearing swim trunks, goggles, and a bathing cap) is shown high-diving into a luxury pool filled with blood, as two babes cheer him on.
* One chapter of the ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' strip ''ComicBook/ALoveLikeBlood'' features the vampire king Karkossa lounging in what appears to be a blood ''jacuzzi'' while also being entertained by female vampires.

* In ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Warlord of Mars]]'' #17, Commandant Keisari, military commander of the Vathek (a race of vampires who dwell on Saturn), is shown bathing in a tub that is being filled from draining corpses suspended above it.
* A ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' strip published in ''Judge Dredd Mega Special 1995'' concerns a pop singer who retained his youth and good looks through TheDarkArts, human sacrifice, and bathing in blood--the literal blood bath being implied to be the most crucial step in the singer's rejuvenation rituals. Strangely enough, 22nd Century technology in Dredd's world has made several means of rejuvenation (including some that are legal) readily available to [[MegaCity Mega-City One]] citizens, which makes it a bit odd to see somebody taking this route, instead.
* This is the main gimmick of ComicBook/TeenTitans villain Brother Blood, a supervillain cult leader who bathes in the blood of his followers to prolong his life (although not indefinitely).
* One group of people infected by the HatePlague in ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' take to soaking themselves in blood, doing it so often that their skin begins turning a faint shade of red. The character who informs the others about this tribe then goes on to recount having stumbled onto a "party" in which the infected filled an empty pool by shredding people with woodchippers and lawnmowers they had aimed at it.

* In Lauralot's fic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4679528/1/Act_Like_We_Are_Fools Act Like We Are Fools,]]'' the Joker fills a bathtub with blood in a misguided, possibly intentionally traumatizing, attempt to alleviate Jonathan Crane's dislike of baths.

* ''Immoral Tales'' is an AnthologyFilm which includes a section on Bathory and sequences of her bathing in blood.

* In ''Film/HostelPartII'', one of the clients of the Elite Hunting group is a woman who slices up a suspended female captive with scythes and sickles, and bathes in the blood that spills out of her wounds. The client happened to be named [[ShoutOut Mrs. Bathory]].
* The German film ''Film/{{Nekromantik}}'', which follows the everyday lives of a pair of [[ILoveTheDead necrophiliacs]], has two scenes in which the main characters bathe in blood-laden water.

* ''The Countess'', a drama about Elizabeth Bathory, depicts Bathory as having first applied the blood of virgin girls as a cosmetic but gradually demanded more and more blood until, eventually, she was bathing in it.
%%* The ''Film/ThirtyDaysOfNight'' sequel has one of these.
* The psycho in 1987's ''Rampage'', loosely based on the serial killings of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Chase Richard Chase]], has recurring hallucinations in which he is showering himself with blood.
* ''Speed Demon'' has several scenes where men clad only in boxers perform a "purification ritual" that involves sensually washing each other with blood.
* The indie horror flick ''Film/GraveEncounters'' features a character who disappears in a bathtub full of blood when some paranormal force pulls him into it.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' Ronan bathes in the blood of Xandarians he's executed. This isn't immediately apparent due to the Xandarians' [[AlienBlood blue-black blood]], but then we see him start to refill his tub.
* In ''Film/StayAlive'', the vengeful spirit of Elizabeth Bathory suspends [[spoiler:Abigail]] over an empty bathtub caked in dried blood and threatens to have her bled into the tub, heavily suggesting this trope, but [[spoiler:Hutch saves a Abigail before any bloodletting could occur]].
* In the 1979 Australian horror movie ''Thirst'', one of the attempts taken by a vampiric cult to recruit and condition the story's unwilling protagonist, believed by the cult to be a descendant of Elizabeth Bathory, involves rigging her plumbing to release blood, instead of water, while she takes a shower.

* In ''Film/FrightNight2NewBlood'', the vampiress regularly lures in victims to drain them of their blood and bathe in it to restore her youthful appearance. She even has a giant Roman bath filled with blood hidden in a catacomb. She's all but clearly stated to be Elizabeth Bathory.

* The character Elizabeth Bartholdi appears in Creator/MercedesLackey, Creator/EricFlint, and Creator/DaveFreer's ''Literature/TheHeirsOfAlexandria'' HistoricalFantasy series. She bathes in a special tub carved from a single slab of marble, and the blood keeps her eternally young in an attempt to avoid the price of her deal with the Devil.

* James Follett's book and radio play ''Ice'' has a bizarre variation on this one. When the heroine is dying from hypothermia at sea, one of the heroes cuts a human-sized hole in a Blue Whale's skin, [[ItMakesSenseInContext which promptly fills with warm blood]].
* A demonic shower room which features shower heads that shoot blood shows up in a dream sequence in ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet: Dreamspawn''. Freddy (who's [[{{Squick}} wearing absolutely nothing but a towel around his waist]]) finds it refreshing, while his intended victim is completely horrified, especially when the drains fail to work and the room starts filling up.
* ''Literature/TheJenniferMorgue'' by Charles Stross references the original legend with Bathory [=PaleGrace=] (TM), a makeup that carries a youth-projecting glamour in every jar. As the company's founder says, [[PostModernMagik stem cell research means they're down to about 14 parts per million virgin blood]] in every jar...but [[HumanSacrifice there's no other way to get the endorphins that come with stress]].
* In ''[[Literature/DraculaTheUnDead2009 Dracula the Un-Dead]]'', John Seward, who suspects Elizabeth Bathory of being a vampire, witnesses her bathe in a young woman's blood.
* ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'' sees the [[EvilSorcerer Evil Sorceress]] and priestess of a ReligionOfEvil, Zandramas, show a fondness for cutting out people's hearts and bathing in their blood.

* Erzebet Bizecka of Alisa Libby's ''Blood Confession'' has a habit of killing her servants in her dungeon and bathing in their blood in order to preserve her youth and beauty.
* The eponymous demonic VillainProtagonist from Creator/CliveBarker's ''Literature/MisterBGone'' bathes in a tub full of blood from dead babies. He complains how difficult it is to keep them alive long enough for the bath to be warm when he empties their blood into it.

* The German epic poem ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'' (c. 1200 AD) has the hero Siegfried becoming invulnerable (except for [[AchillesHeel a spot on his shoulder]]) by bathing in the blood of a dragon that he killed. (This does not apply to Siegfried's Norse counterpart Sigurd.)
* According to events in ''Literature/CountAndCountess'', Elizabeth Bathory's blood baths began as a means to cure her epilepsy. [[spoiler:It didn't work.]]

* Invoked in ''Literature/TheDiaryOfAMadman'', the short story by Creator/GuyDeMaupassant. After seeing the nephew guillotined, the judge wishes he could have bathed in his blood.
* In ''[[Literature/JackelianSeries The Kingdom Beyond The Waves]]'', the siltempter Prince Doublemetal regularly lounges in a warm bath of ''oil'' that his tribe of {{Steampunk}} [[MechanicalLifeforms sentient robots]] donate from their own "body fluids". Unlike most examples, he and the other siltempters can retrieve this oil and use it to lubricate their mechanisms again between baths.

Characters who bathe in blood often exhibit [[VampireTropes other qualities closely associated with vampirism]], especially when alluding to blood being rejuvenating or how they come to acquire their blood in the first place; BloodLust and [[FangsAreEvil fangs]] can be commonly noticed as well. In cases not involving outright vampiric entities, characters may be dabbling in TheDarkArts, especially BloodMagic.

Characters who bathe in blood often exhibit other qualities closely associated with [[{{Vampire}} vampirism]], especially when alluding to blood being rejuvenating or how they come to acquire their blood in the first place; BloodLust and [[FangsAreEvil fangs]] can be commonly noticed as well. In cases not involving outright vampiric entities, characters may be dabbling in TheDarkArts, especially BloodMagic.

* The first episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had [[BigBad The Master]] hanging out in a pool of blood while [[NonNudeBathing fully dressed]].

* One of the Magpyr ancestors in ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'' is a parody of Bathory (although her name's Literature/{{Carmilla}}). The modern Magpyrs believe the story of her bathing in the blood of two hundred virgins is highly exaggerated. The bath would overflow if you used more than eighty. They've checked.

* Based on both the Elizabeth Bathory legend and UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler, one of the scariest villains of ''Manga/GhostHunt'' was a Japanese lord who bathed in the blood of numerous servants in the hope of extending his life and took up the moniker "Urado" (Vlad). [[spoiler: Even more frightening is the part where dozens of young people who wander into his empty mansion disappear, even ''decades'' after Urado's death. It's implied that the power of Urado's multiple HumanSacrifices [[note]]the team find a burial chamber set up like the famous Paris catacombs, and looks to have ''triple-digit'' numbers of skeletons [[/note]] has [[PoweredByAForsakenChild preserved the spirit of Urado, and his two attendants/accomplices, in a constant re-playing loop of kidnapping and sacrifice]] even after Urado is no longer alive to benefit from it.]]

* Based on both the Elizabeth Bathory legend and UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler, one of the scariest villains of ''Manga/GhostHunt'' was a Japanese lord who bathed in the blood of numerous servants in the hope of extending his life and took up the moniker "Urado" (Vlad).

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Comics]]

* Comicbook/BlackPanther foe Man-Ape gained his SuperStrength by eating the flesh and bathing in the blood of a rare white gorilla.

[[folder:Fan Fic]]

[[folder:Film]]

* The ''[[Film/ThirtyDaysOfNight 30 Days of Night]]'' sequel has one of these.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Dracula The Un-Dead}} Dracula: The Un-Dead]]'', John Seward, who suspects Elizabeth Bathory of being a vampire, witnesses her bathe in a young woman's blood.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Mythology and Folklore]]

* An early ''WebAnimation/NeuroticallyYours'' short with Germaine getting attacked by the Ghostface Killer from the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' movies ends with Germaine continuing her bath in the killer's own blood while his body is seen hanging from the ceiling in the background.

* ''Roleplay/TheGunganCouncil'' features a family with the surname Bathory that enjoys partaking in the activity most often associated with their historical namesake.

[[folder:Mythology & Folklore]]

[[caption-width-right:330:[[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy "It's as if someone stabbed Mr. Bubble!"]]]]