History UsefulNotes / ElizabethBathory

-->-- Music/{{Venom|Band}} – ''"Countess Bathory"''

* Elizabeth Bathory is portrayed as a vampire in the ''Series/DarkShadows''[=/=]''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'' crossover where she serves as the main villain.
* In the 2000 AD comic ''ComicBook/ALoveLikeBlood'', Lady Bathory is part of a distant bloodline of the first vampire, [[VampireMonarch Lord Karkossa]]. Although she doesn't appear herself, Karkossa wakes up some of her beastlike descendents to act as his foot soldiers.
* Appears as the wife of {{Dracula}} in ''ComicBook/RequiemChevalierVampire'', depicted as a [[HotterAndSexier nubile young woman]] in an ''insanely'' {{Stripperiffic}} outfit. She has a more prominent role in the prequel when she gets romantically involved with Claudia, a social-climbing vampire.

More recently, there has been some speculation that she was actually innocent, with the [[ConvictedByPublicOpinion sensational allegations against her]] the product of [[BurnTheWitch superstition and misogyny]], most likely drummed up by her political enemies, such as the Holy Roman Emperor Matthias II (who owed her a lot of money he would have loved not to have to pay back) and George Thurzo, Palatine of Hungary (who was in charge of the investigation, and also stood to inherit her entire fortune and holdings). This doesn't ''necessarily'' mean she was innocent, of course. From her own letters, we know that she ''did'' have servants beaten, and seems to have been a pretty harsh mistress, but that wasn't particularly out of the ordinary for the time. However, it's hard to deny that some very powerful men benefited greatly from having this woman out of the way, and as noted above, she was never given a formal trial, and therefore, was never actually convicted (conviction would have meant that her next of kin - Thurzo - wouldn't have been able to inherit, which he ultimately did), hence her unusual punishment instead of a simple execution. If she'd killed anywhere near as many peasant girls as is reputed (up to 650 over 20 years), there would have been no young women left for miles around. Regardless of the complicated story, her story has passed into folklore as a real-life monster.

* Ellie from ''Manga/MsVampireWhoLivesInMyNeighborhood'' is heavily implied to be Báthory living in the present day as an immortal vampire, given her fondness for young girls, bathing in blood, her Transylvanian origin, and the fact she shares a birthday with the historical Báthory.

* The Creator/DynamiteComics series ''ComicBook/TheBloodQueen'' casts Elizabeth Bathory as a member of a suppressed MageSpecies who is adept in BloodMagic. Her ascension into a bloodthirsty tyrant in her own right is to get back at the world.

More recently, there has been some speculation that she was actually innocent, with the [[ConvictedByPublicOpinion sensational allegations against her]] the product of [[BurnTheWitch superstition and misogyny]], most likely drummed up by her political enemies, such as the Holy Roman Emperor Matthias II (who owed her a lot of money he would have loved not to have to pay back) and George Thurzo, Palatine of Hungary (who was in charge of the investigation, and also stood to inherit her entire fortune and holdings). This doesn't ''necessarily'' mean she was innocent, of course. From her own letters, we know that she ''did'' have servants beaten, and seems to have been a pretty harsh mistress. However, it's hard to deny that some very powerful men benefited greatly from having this woman out of the way, and as noted above, she was never given a formal trial, and therefore, was never actually convicted (conviction would have meant that her next of kin - Thurzo - wouldn't have been able to inherit, which he ultimately did), hence her unusual punishment instead of a simple execution. Regardless of the complicated story, her story has passed into folklore as a real-life monster.

* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: She was a rather plain-looking woman, as well as middle-aged when she actually committed her crimes. In fiction she's usually depicted as strikingly beautiful, possibly because of magic, though this goes hand in hand with EvilIsSexy.

** ''VideoGame/FateExtraCCC'' features a 14-year-old Erzsabet "Liz" Bathory as a Lancer- and later [[TheBerserker Berserker]]-class Servant, taking the place of UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler from the original ''VideoGame/FateExtra''. Due to [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve her reputation as a "Daughter of the Dragon"]] interacting with the Bathory family's trace amounts of [[DragonAncestry dragon blood]], her appearance as a Servant is distorted from the original person, [[DraconicHumanoid with horns, a tail, retractible wings]], and a [[MakeMeWannaShout sound-based]] BreathWeapon. She is an IneffectualSympatheticVillain who styles herself as an IdolSinger, complete with [[ElegantGothicLolita an outfit]] that looks like it belongs on stage, and her spear has a microphone in it. One of her Noble Phantasms manifests the castle where she committed her murders, but due to her off-kilter summoning it's warped to incorporate giant speakers that amplify the power of her sonic attacks. Also, [[DreadfulMusician her singing is horrendous]] and also often weaponized, while she's absolutely convinced that she's a good singer. Ironically we hear her actually sing in ''VideoGame/FateExtellaTheUmbralStar''. Her song, AKOGARE~TION, preformed by her VA Creator/RumiOokubo, is actually a perfectly enjoyable song.

** ''VideoGame/FateExtraCCC'' features a 14-year-old Erzsabet "Liz" Bathory as a [[BladeOnAStick Lancer]]- and later [[TheBerserker Berserker]]-class Servant, taking the place of UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler from the original ''VideoGame/FateExtra''. Due to [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve her reputation as a "Daughter of the Dragon"]] interacting with the Bathory family's trace amounts of [[DragonAncestry dragon blood]], her appearance as a Servant is distorted from the original person, [[DraconicHumanoid with horns, a tail, retractible wings]], and a [[MakeMeWannaShout sound-based]] BreathWeapon. She is an IneffectualSympatheticVillain who styles herself as an IdolSinger, complete with [[ElegantGothicLolita an outfit]] that looks like it belongs on stage, and her spear has a microphone in it. One of her Noble Phantasms manifests the castle where she committed her murders, but due to her off-kilter summoning it's warped to incorporate giant speakers that amplify the power of her sonic attacks. Also, [[DreadfulMusician her singing is horrendous]] and also often weaponized, while she's absolutely convinced that she's a good singer. Ironically we hear her actually sing in ''VideoGame/FateExtellaTheUmbralStar''. Her song, AKOGARE~TION, preformed by her VA Creator/RumiOokubo, is actually a perfectly enjoyable song.

* BadBoss: Most of her crimes were against her own servants.

* ''LightNovel/FateRequiem'': Bathory was summoned as a Servant five separate times. They become singers in Shibuya with a large fan following. Voyager mistakes them for sisters.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'' features the vampire Elizabeth Bartley, obviously based on Bathory, as the instigator of World War I, in hopes of using the souls of those who die in the war as part of a ritual to resurrect Dracula.

->''She invites the peasants with endless lavish foods''
->''But when evening spreads it wings, she rapes them of their blood!''
-->-- [[Music/VenomBand Venom]] – ''"Countess Bathory"''

* ''{{Film/Daughters Of Darkness}}'' combines her with tropes more appropriate to ''{{Literature/Carmilla}}''; Creator/DelphineSeyrig plays a youthful looking and beautiful LesbianVampire Bathory who charms and seduces young women. Although her portrayal is very Carmilla, her backstory is that of the historical Bathory - at one point she fondly reminisces about her "ancestor"'s brutality, the various tortures she inflicted on her victims, and even references her eventual fate of being walled up inside her castle.

!!Tropes applying to her in Media:

* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: She allegedly believed that bathing in blood would keep her young, so many works will vindicate this by presenting her as a genuinely supernatural being, such as a WickedWitch or vampire.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bathory More information]] on Wiki/TheOtherWiki.

*** 2022 introduces a Pretender-class Servant called Nine-Tattoo Dragon Eliza. This is Liz fused with the Japanese character Kumonryu Shishin, which causes her to turn into a small, innocent child while Kumonryu possesses her dragon-headed nine section staff. Her Noble Phantasm lets her summon all of her previous incarnations as well as Carmilla to assist her in battle.

* Early BlackMetal band Music/{{Bathory}} is named after her.

* The Creator/DynamiteComics series ''comicBook/TheBloodQueen'' casts Elizabeth Bathory as a member of a suppressed MageSpecies who is adept in BloodMagic. Her ascension into a bloodthirsty tyrant in her own right is to get back at the world.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The Creator/DynamiteComics series ''The Blood Queen'' casts Elizabeth Bathory as a member of a suppressed MageSpecies who is adept in BloodMagic. Her ascension into a bloodthirsty tyrant in her own right is to get back at the world.
* In the 2000 AD comic ''ComicBook/ALoveLikeBlood'', Lady Bathory is part of a distant bloodline of the first vampire, [[VampireMonarch Lord Karkossa]]. Although she doesn't appear herself, Karkossa wakes up some of her beastlike descendents to act as his foot soldiers.
* Elizabeth Bathory is portrayed as a vampire in the ''Series/DarkShadows''[=/=]''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'' crossover where she serves as the main villain.

[[folder:Film]]

** ''Bathory'' took the position that she was completely innocent of any of the murders, and was really a kind and loving mother and ruler who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was the victim of the malicious slanders of greedy noblemen. That's not even getting into the ridiculousness of the monks spying on her.
** ''The Countess'' is similar, but with one main difference: this Elizabeth Bathory ''is'' guilty of several murders. However, she is driven to it by circumstances, and an attempt to stay young and beautiful while she is in power. In this film, she is definitely a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds. You still feel sorry for her and sympathize with what she is going through.
* ''Film/FrightNight2NewBlood'': Although it's not stated outright, it's heavily implied that the vampire using the alias "Gerri" is actually Elizabeth Bathory, being an early modern noblewoman from eastern Europe who was turned and bathes in the blood of her victims to restore her beauty.
* ''Film/StayAlive2006'': The in-universe video game "Stay Alive" is based on the legend of the Blood Countess, and it ends up summoning Elizabeth Bathory's ghost to kill people for real. However, this version of the countess is transposed to a SouthernGothic setting, living in an old plantation house instead of a castle in Eastern Europe. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

* In ''Film/{{Eternal}}'', Elisabeth Báthory is an immortal vampire living under the alias of Elizabeth Kane and still bathing in the blood of young women to maintain her youth in the 1st century.

* ''Literature/TheOtherworld'': The 16th century noblewoman and SerialKiller Elizabeth Bathory was a prolific vampire who murdered hundreds of people in order to gain immortality before the story began.

* Early BlackMetal band Music/{{Bathory}} is named after her.

* A [[PowerTattoo Stigmata]] set based on Elizabeth Bathory appears in ''VideoGame/HonkaiImpact3rd''. The individual Stigma have effects that occur if the user has more than 80% HP, and if [[SetBonus the three are put together]], they give a chance for the user to recover a small amount of HP by their normal attacks.
* A NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed of Bathory (named simple The Countess) appears in ''VideoGame/DiabloII'' as an optional quest boss.

* In the ''Bloodstained'' games ''[[VideoGame/BloodstainedCurseOfTheMoon Curse of the Moon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight Ritual of the Night]]'' we have Bloodless, a demon that bathes in blood (three times a day without fail, no less!) that has [[BloodMagic control over blood]], and can absorb it to recover health.
* Rusalka Schwägelin from ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' is in possession of Elisabeth's diary which she uses as her relic. With it she is able to call forth a whole host of different torture devices to use on her foes or victims, the most deadly of which is an IronMaiden.

* Sayo Nagakura, the diminutive servant of Kanae from ''VisualNovel/FullMetalDaemonMuramasa'' is in possession of a Blood Crux named after and supposedly belonged to Bathory. Unlike so many other cruxes, it is lacking in armor. But in exchange, it is able to spread thorny vines dubbed Iron Maiden that drains the blood of whoever they skewer and restores Sayo's youth. [[spoiler:There is also a lot of not so subtle implications that Sayo is in fact the blood countess herself]].