History Main / SmellsOfDeath

* When Katana joins the group in ''Film/SuicideSquad'', Harley asks her if her ''perfume'' is this trope.

* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex 2nd Gig'', Saito and Batou chase after a Russian cyborg named Koil. They're able to eventually capture him, but when Saito approaches, he can smell rotting flesh, and notes that Koil must've been dead for some time but was being remotely animated through someone hacking his body.

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* When Katana joins the group in ''Film/SuicideSquad'', Harley asks her if her ''perfume'' is this trope.

* Creator/ErinHunter:
** Cats smelling of death isn't uncommon in ''Literature/{{Warrior|Cats}}s''. It's described as a bitter or sour smell. For example, Badgerpaw (who was only [[ChildSoldiers three months old]]) is noted to have had a sour smell when he [[DeathOfAChild died]]. He reeked of crow-food (rotten meat) and blood.
** Toklo from ''Literature/{{Seeker|Bears}}s'' first notices this smell when his ailing brother Tobi dies. It's a sort of off, rotting smell. He however was too excited about seeing a bear die and seeing [[AnimalReligion how spirits go into rivers]] that he didn't pay it mind. Since he realized the reality of what happened, he's become quite unnerved by the scent.
** Dogs in ''Literature/{{Survivor|Dogs}}s'' refer to spirits as "scents" because they associate scent with death. When someone dies, their spirits leave their bodies and their body's scent instantly begin changing.

* In ''Literature/TheBible'' when Jesus goes to bring Lazarus back from the dead, Lazarus' sister, Martha warns that he's been dead for four days, and will probably already have a foul odor.
* Inverted in the third ''Literature/{{Silverwing}}'' book: Griffin, a living bat who accidentally falls into the Underworld, is tipped off to this by the fact that nothing he encounters has any scent at all.

* In ''Series/TheOfficeUS'', someone says that Creed "smells like death"; Creed says it's the smell of the Mung beans he keeps in his desk drawer.

** Toklo from ''Literature/{{Seeker|Bears}}s'' first notices this smell when his IllBoy brother Tobi dies. It's a sort of off, rotting smell. He however was too excited about seeing a bear die and seeing [[AnimalReligion how spirits go into rivers]] that he didn't pay it mind. Since he realized the reality of what happened, he's become quite unnerved by the scent.

* ''Film/TheTerminator'': The eponymous robot has failed to kill Sarah Connor after a shootout and holes up in a cheap hotel to conduct repairs on itself. As it takes on more damage, the T-800's synthetic skin starts rotting to the point a janitor asks if it had "a dead cat in there or something." The robot responds rudely and resumes its chase.

* ''Film/TheTerminator'': The eponymous robot has failed to kill Sarah Connor after a shootout, and holes up in a cheap hotel to conduct repairs on itself. As it takes on more damage, the T-800's synthetic skin starts rotting to the point a janitor asks if it had "a dead cat in there or something." The robot responds rudely and resumes its chase.

Compare to BloodFromTheMouth, BitterAlmonds, and FliesEqualsEvil, for when the buzzing of flies indicates death. Related to TheNoseKnows. Also may be related to those cases where NoDeadBodyPoops is very much an averted trope.

An easy death flag for a character can be their smell. A character who is close to death will often be noted as smelling of death. What "death" smells like however varies from series to series. It can be a rotting smell, a bitter smell, a sickly sweet smell, a dirty smell, etc.

* ''Film/TheTerminator'': The eponymous robot has failed to kill Sarah Connor after a shootout, and holes up in a cheap hotel to conduct repairs on itself. Much of its synthetic disguise is shredded and bloody, which emits a fetid odor. This draws an inquiry from the hotel's janitor when he passes the terminator's room, wondering if the putrid smell is coming from a dead animal's corpse. The Terminator responds rudely and resumes its chase against Sarah.

* ''Film/TheTerminator'' has failed to kill Sarah Connor, and holes up in a cheap hotel to conduct repairs on itself. Much of its synthetic outer tissue is shredded and bloody, which emits a fetid odor. Another hotel occupant passes the terminator's room, and queries: "Hey, y' got a dead cat in there or somethin'?" The terminator responds brusquely, and resumes cutting away useless tissue and unbending actuator rods.

* People who take [[AgonizingStomachWound gut wounds]] in the lower areas can often begin smelling of offal as their digestive systems begin leaking. Prior to surgery and antibiotics making gut wounds treatable, onion soup (which has a strong, notable smell) would often be used to test for a gut wound: The wounded would be fed onion soup and if they started smelling of onion, that was a sign their entrails had been pierced. At that point a MercyKill was really all that was left.

* Inverted in the third ''Literature/Silverwing'' book: Griffin, a living bat who accidentally falls into the Underworld, is tipped off to this by the fact that nothing he encounters has any scent at all.

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-->--''Literature/{{Doglands}}''

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* The lyrics for "Rain" from the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' soundtrack paints a strong picture of a man engaged in a massive fire fight-- even more appropriate for when the song plays in the series where Spike finds himself in a shootout with many syndicate thugs. One of the lines of the song alludes to the smell of the dead bodies.
-->I don't hear a sound
-->Silent faces in the ground
-->The quiet screams, but I refused to listen.
-->If there is a Hell
-->I'm sure this is how it smells
-->Wish this were a dream, but no, it isn't.
* Early on in ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'', Kagome and Inuyasha find themselves fighting a group of bandits. Kagome gets kidnapped and taken to the bandit leader, who she can sense has a shard of the Shikon Jewel. She mentions that the bandit leader smells of rotting flesh, indicating that the jewel shard was reanimating a corpse.

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* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', when Harry visits Bathilda Bagshot, he notices a horrible smell in the house. Bathilda seems ancient and in poor health. [[spoiler: It turns out she was DeadAllAlong and being reanimated by Voldemort's dark magic.]]

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* Illnesses can smell, even to the human nose. Some doctors are able to detect diseases like typhoid fever or tuberculosis by smell. With their well-developed noses, trained dogs (and a few untrained ones) can detect cancer. If someone is rotting, then they'll usually smell even while alive.

Compare to BloodFromTheMouth, BitterAlmonds, and FliesEqualsEvil, for when the buzzing of flies indicates death. Related to TheNoseKnows.