History Main / HighOnHomicide

* The Cyclops Killer of ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFiles'' was unable to produce the hormone oxytocin, which rendered him incapable of feeling positive emotions except through killing. He claimed his first victim at the age of twelve. [[spoiler:When he undergoes a FreakyFridayFlip, he is unable to get the same rush when he murders, so he hunts down the person with his original body.]]

So you've just killed a person... and [[EvilFeelsGood it feels]] ''[[EvilFeelsGood good]]''. Like, ''[[DrunkOnTheDarkSide really]]'' [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide good]].

Compare EvilFeelsGood and SmitingEvilFeelsGood, with either of which this may overlap. May lead to ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil if the killer chases this high again. Contrast LaughingMad, which is [[AxCrazy Ax-Crazier]] (though that certainly may follow this trope); BloodLust and OrgasmicCombat, where the ecstasy is fairly sexual but not necessarily derived from killing; BloodKnight, where the fight is enjoyed as much as (or more than) the kill; and DissonantSerenity, where the killer is this calm ''during'' the struggle. Not to be confused with TranquilFury, which wouldn't kill a fly but is no less terrifying. Frequently combined with BloodIsTheNewBlack. VengeanceFeelsEmpty is one type of [[InvertedTrope inversion]].

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'': Hansel and Gretel, the twin serial killer assassins were raised from a young age to perform for {{snuff film}}s and have become totally engrossed by the act of brutal murder.

* ''Literature/HeavyObject'': Skuld Silent-Third is a SerialKiller who experiences a near-sexual pleasure in the act of killing. A glimpse in her mind when she was getting ready to murder showed she was seeing psychedelic colors.
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' is effectively built around this trope, with many of the bad (and on occasion even the ''good'') Ghouls murdering huge amounts of humans for the fun of it. This is one of the more justified examples as Ghouls need to eat human flesh to survive, but on rare occasions, it's this trope played straight.

* ''ComicBook/FromHell'' posits this started happening to Jack The Ripper around his third victim. In the footnotes, Creator/AlanMoore added this aspect based on his extensive research into interviews with serial killers.
* ''ComicBook/SinCity'': According to Patrick Henry Roark, Kevin [[{{Confessional}} came to him with guilt]] over murdering and [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalizing]] [[DisposableSexWorker prostitutes]], despite feeling in it "the touch of God Almighty." This led the cardinal to [[SinisterMinister not only cover up his crimes but join him in them as well]].

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'', when the eponymous Witch kills [[CrystalDragonJesus the eponymous Lion]], she has a brief expression of clear euphoria on her face, complete with closed eyes. It's unclear whether this is typical for her or if it's just due to this one specific kill, but she definitely takes an excessive amount of good feeling from the act.

* ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'': After [[DissonantSerenity calmly brutalizing]] his two new prison guards and [[LawmanBaton billyclubbing]] the one to death, Dr. Lecter closes his eyes and [[AirGuitar waves his hand once more to the tune]] of a [[Music/JohannSebastianBach Bach]] variation. [[DontCelebrateJustYet His moment of calm self-indulgence ends as]] the remaining guard's desperate struggle [[DontCelebrateJustYet calls him back to reality]]. Lecter, nonetheless hardly fazed, picks up the dead guard's pocket knife and [[OminousWalk ambles over to the latter's partner]]:
-->'''Dr. Lecter:''' "[[IronicEcho Ready when you are, Sgt. Pembry...]]"

* ''Literature/VattasWar'': Kylara Vatta discovers, after [[ItGetsEasier she kills for the first time]] in [[KillingInSelfDefense self-defense]], that [[SmitingEvilFeelsGood she gets a thrill of victory from doing it]] — something that recurs throughout the series and she considers [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil similar to a drug addiction]] she has to [[HeroicWillpower avoid feeding if possible]].

* {{Invoked}} in the first vignette of ''Series/BlackMirror: [[VignetteEpisode Black Museum]]'', which features a doctor with a prototype implant that lets him [[ElectronicTelepathy feel the pains of others]] to help him make better diagnoses. While it worked wonderfully, the implant malfunctioned after he was reading somebody as they expired, causing him to start feeling pain as addictive pleasure (which was explicitly compared to a drug). After habituating, he eventually resorted to torturing a guy to death and had the high of his life, and then fell into a coma. In the "present day" of the story, the doctor is still comatose and awaiting trial.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': One of the discussed reasons why {{Serial Killer}}s continue killing even after they allegedly reached their goal (such as [[VigilanteInjustice misguided vigilante-types]]) is that they achieved a serious adrenaline high when they committed their first murder and will do ''anything'' to get it again, refining their methods or maybe even [[SpreeKiller going on a rampage]], but they never will precisely because they are [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror getting used to killing people]]. One example of said "looking for a high" killer is Norman "The Road Warrior" Hill of the episode "Normal".

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall "Spyfall"]], [[spoiler:the Master]] admits to the Doctor that he gets a buzz in his chest when killing someone for no reason.
* Though Dr. Franchise/HannibalLecter's kills in the ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' [[Series/{{Hannibal}} TV series]] more often exemplify DissonantSerenity, some of them -- such as of [[spoiler:his old colleague Dr. Sutcliffe]] -- show him overtaken by tranquility specifically ''after'' his work is done. Then, of course, there's the whole [[ImAHumanitarian cooking-them-for-himself]]-and-[[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies for-unwitting-guests]] bit.

* In ''Theatre/{{Rope}}'' (and its film adaptation) which opens with two elite young Manhattanites, Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan murdering their classmate as part of their belief that they've committed ThePerfectCrime as a pair of [[SocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] who believe themselves better than others. Brandon a few minutes later admits the actual act of killing was euphoric for him. [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar A lot of dialog between the two is intentionally coded to sound like it could be about gay sex]].

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', [[OutWithABang Ardat-Yakshi]], asari with a rare genetic disorder, are considered dangerous because they experience this trope in a very literal way. Asari reproduce by mentally linking with their partner's nervous system to read their DNA and use it to randomize their own. When an Ardat-Yakshi does this, she causes a brain hemorrhage, with the most extreme cases of the condition causing instant death to their partners. The feedback from doing this causes a narcotic effect that proves extremely addictive, and the ones who turn into serial killers leave behind astronomical body counts in their never-ending quest to experience this high as much as possible.
* The Cyclops Killer of ''VideoGame/AITheSomniumFiles'' was unable to produce the hormone oxytocin, which rendered him incapable of feeling positive emotions except through killing. He claimed his first victim at the age of twelve. [[spoiler:When he undergoes a FreakyFridayFlip, he is unable to get the same rush when he murders, so he hunts down the person with his original body]].
* In ''VideoGame/FarCry3'', Jason claims that he was upset the first time he killed somebody, but that he's gotten so used to it that he's not just no longer bothered--it actually feels very, very good.

** Keiichi in the ''Tatarigoroshi'' arc recalls no visceral reaction to [[KnightTemplarBigBrother having finished off Satoko's]] [[AbusiveParents abusive uncle Teppei]]. He notes instead a sublime comfort [[PartlyCloudyWithAChanceOfDeath beneath the heavy rain]].
** [[spoiler:Rena]] experiences a deep fulfillment in [[spoiler:''Tsumihoroboshi-hen'']], having killed [[spoiler:the woman who had [[HoneyTrap seduced her father in a "badger game."]]]] Of course, [[spoiler:Rina/Ritsuko]] was about to kill [[spoiler:''her'']] [[HeKnowsTooMuch for knowing too much]], so it was ''technically'' [[KillingInSelfDefense self-defense]]...though try gauging that from [[spoiler:Rena]][[SmitingEvilFeelsGood 's reaction]].

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': One of the discussed reasons why {{Serial Killer}}s continue their rampage even after they allegedly reached their goal (such as [[VigilanteInjustice misguided vigilante-types]]) is that they achieved a serious adrenaline high when they committed their first murder and will do ''anything'' to get it again, refining their methods or maybe even [[SpreeKiller going on a rampage]], but they never will precisely because they are [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror getting used to killing people]]. One example of said "looking for a high" killer is Norman "The Road Warrior" Hill of the episode "Normal".

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': One of the discussed reasons why {{Serial Killer}}s continue their rampage even after they allegedly reached their goal (such as [[VigilanteInjustice misguided vigilante-types]]) is that they achieved a serious adrenaline high when they committed murder and will do ''anything'' to get it again, refining their methods or maybe even [[SpreeKiller going on a rampage]], but they never will precisely because they are [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror getting used to killing people]]. One example of said "looking for a high" killer is Norman "The Road Warrior" Hill of the episode "Normal".

So you've just killed a person...and [[EvilFeelsGood it feels]] ''[[EvilFeelsGood good]]''. Like, ''[[DrunkOnTheDarkSide really]]'' [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide good]].