History Main / DrawSwordDrawBlood

** ''Literature/TheSagaOfHervorAndHeidrek'': The sword Tyrfing "could never be held unsheathed without being the death of a man, and it always had to be sheathed with blood still warm upon it." This is told as a plain fact in the older version; in the younger version is is a curse laid on the sword by the dwarfs that made it. It is unclear how this spell works in practice, as Tyrfing is sheathed several times without anyone getting killed; while all wielders who do this come to a bad end, it is not obvious whether this is because of the curse.

* ''VideoGame/MarkOfTheNinja'' has a variation of this. The ninja only uses his sword when he is guaranteed a kill. If the player messes up and enters open combat, the ninja relies purely on unarmed martial arts.

* In 3.5e at least, there was a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' mechanic that was a quality of an intelligent weapon, that was almost word for word the laconic version of this trope.

In real life, this trope is sometimes found in myths about various warrior cultures, but they are always untrue: real-life {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s know that weapons need to be drawn all the time for maintenance and practice, and cutting yourself deliberately out of such a superstition (especially in times of poorer medical knowledge) is a silly reason to [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs risk sepsis]]. Where there ''is'' any element of TruthInTelevision, it's usually a ''heavily'' corrupted version of, "Don't pull your weapon out and wave it around unless you intend to use it".

* In an issue of ''Comicbook/TheTick'', Paul the Samurai has an overly dramatic monologue to himself, which he ends by pulling out his sword and striking a pose. He then remembers that his sword can only be sheathed when it has tasted blood. He then looks at his hand, which is covered in band-aids. Apparently, it was a bad habit of his.

* In one of Greg's first outings as the Shirt Ninja in ''Webcomic/RealLifeComics'', he draws his katana without a target and announces in InnerMonologue that he can't sheathe it until it tastes blood. He satisfies this by using the sword [[MundaneUtility to slice cold cuts]].

[[folder: Comic Books]]

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has the Half-Zatoichi, a katana used by the Soldier and Demoman classes which can only be switched for another weapon without penalty if the user has gotten a kill with it or goes to a resupply cabinet. Otherwise, 50 HP is lost upon weapon switch, and cannot be switched at all if the loss would be lethal. Upon a kill it heals 50% of the player's base HP, and it's an instant OneHitKO [[SingleStrokeBattle against another Half-Zatochi wielder]].

In some circumstances, drawing a weapon is taken ''very'' seriously. So seriously that some warriors are not allowed to sheath their weapon until they have used it to draw blood. Usually the intent is to wet the blade with the blood of one's enemies, but if none are available, the warrior may substitute his own blood to honor the letter of the rule. In such cases, the warrior will usually cut his hand with the blade.

* In ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'', a Feral Worlder character can have this as a superstition. As in, his/her weapon doesn't actually have this trait [[TheCorruption (hopefully)]] but s/he believes it does.

* Kin-Slayer in ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'' is portrayed as a weapon which doesn't want to be put in the scabbard without having killed someone first.

* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'': The [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Fremen]] consider it a very grave offense to re-sheathe a crysknife without drawing blood. {{Justified}} by more than just culture in this case: crysknives are made from the teeth of dead {{sandworm}}s, and human blood contains chemicals that stave off decay. It helps that the Fremen have quick-congealing blood, and that a quick cut across one's arm counts as drawing blood.

* In ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'', shortly after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Aragorn unsheathes his sword [[NamedWeapons Anduril]] and boasts, "You shall not be sheathed again until the last battle is fought." Considering that the final battle of the War of the Ring isn't fought for another ten days, seven of which he spent on horseback, [[http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/90940/what-did-aragorn-do-with-his-sword-between-the-battles-of-pelennor-fields-and-mo his arm must have been mighty sore by the time he sheathed it again]].

[[folder:Oral Tradition]]
* The Muramasa swords in Japanese legends drive the wielder mad and force him to spill blood, any blood when wielded.
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* In ''Literature/TheLegendsOfEthshar'' novel ''Literature/TheMisenchantedSword'', the eponymous sword literally could not be resheathed until it had been used to kill somebody.

* ''Literature/TheMisenchantedSword'', the eponymous sword literally could not be resheathed until it had been used to kill somebody.

In real life, this trope is sometimes found in myths about various warrior cultures, but they are always untrue: real-life {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s know that weapons need to be drawn all the time for maintenance and practice, and cutting yourself deliberately out of such a superstition (especially in times of poorer medical knowledge) is a silly reason to [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs risk sepsis]].

* The cat-o-nine-tails that was used on the high seas during the Age of Sail, while not a sword, was this: the phrase "the cat's out of the bag", is today used as a revealed secret that can't be taken back. Back in those days, it meant that the cat of nine tails had come out, and so it had to be used before it could be put back.

In real life, this trope is sometimes found in myths about various warrior cultures, but they are always untrue: real-life {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s know that weapons need to be drawn all the time for maintenance and practice, and cutting yourself deliberately out of such a superstition (especially in times of poorer medical knowledge) is a silly reason to [[TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs risk sepsis]].

Compare and contrast SituationalSword. Compare HungryWeapon if the weapon is ''literally'' hungry.