Magic has as many unique permutations and weird finicky rules as one could possibly imagine. If an author has the capacity to describe it, it’s been done with magic. Though there are no limits, there are some reoccurring elements. For example, there is a never-ending supply of magic users who work with blood. Whether it’s an ingredient or the target, blood magic is a central aspect of evil wizardry.
Most fiction makes an effort tomatch evil ends with evil means. If a character sets out on a quest to kill everyone and take over the world, they’ll probably do so with an appropriately vicious weapon, power, or skill set. There’s rarely a more unpleasant form of magic powers than manipulating the blood in a victim’s veins.
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Blood Magic comes in two primary forms. The lion’s share of examples use blood as a sacrificial catalyst to enactsome form of spell. In other cases, a magic user can manipulate blood to disable their foes and enhance themselves. Blood tends to represent life and vitality, marking anyone willing to use it for their own ends as a villain. If blood magic exists in a story, it’s almost always an unforgivable abuse of power. It can be a villain’s trump card, but it can also be a tempting last-resort option for a hero who has lost their moral compass. Some cases require the user to sacrifice their own blood, forcing them to risk their own life for their power. If a hero is bringing blood magic into a brawl, they’ll do it at the cost of their morals or their health.Blood magic in fictiongoes back generations, but it’s just as prevalent today as it’s always been.
Arguably before its place in fiction, blood sacrifices were important to many early religions. Ancient Mesoamerican religious groups likethe Aztecs and the Mayansincorporated all kinds of bloodletting into their ceremonies. The most famous example is the heart extraction, but cultures in the area also bred animals for slaughter and collected blood from religious and political leaders. By most accounts, these traditions were conducted to gain the favor of the gods, often in a very non-specific way. Abrahamic religions weren’t free from the idea of butchering living beings to appease all-powerful figures, but both Christianity and Judaism eventually abandoned the concept. Blood is key to a lot of religious practices and legends, from the Malaysian polong to the mythology around King Shaka Zulu.
George R. R. Martin’sSong of Ice and Firehas a pretty perfect example of blood magic. The magic system in this franchise is frequently spoken of in the past tense. Though there are unquestionably tons of people walking around capable of magic, more problems are solved with steel than sorcery. Some magic users can control elements, alchemists can create lethal tools like wildfire, and greensight allows some to see the future, but blood magic is considered especially dangerous. Red Lady Melisandre is the best-known practitioner of blood magic in the HBO adaptation. She gathers the blood of Robert Baratheon’s bastard son Edric and uses its lineage to curse three people; Balon Greyjoy, Robb Stark,and Joffrey Baratheon. Sure enough, all three of those men die horribly. It’s hard to say whether her power had any influence, as all three of them were in a dangerous line of work, but she got what she wanted one way or the other.
Unshockingly, this trope pops upall the time in anime. It’s edgy, it’s effective, and it turns a character into a living weapon, so it’s every shonen author’s dream. From bloodbenders inAvatar: The Last Airbenderto Noritoshi Kamo’s doping technique inJujutsu Kaisen, it’s a common concept. Jinsei Kataoka’s 2007 mangaDeadman Wonderlandand Manglobe’s 2011 anime adaptation are built entirely around blood-based combat. It takes place after a cataclysmic earthquake consumes most of Tokyo and follows a high school student named Ganta who is falsely incarcerated for several murders he didn’t commit.While in prison, Ganta discoversthat the earthquake gave him and several other people blood-related superpowers. The default combat style in this series involves characters cutting themselves open and twisting their blade into deadly blades, bullets, and bludgeons. It’s a compelling fighting style and the short-lived series pulled out a ton of interesting spins on the concept.
Blood magic can be used in countless different ways, but its fundamental concept is turning one’s own vitals into a weapon. From ancient religious ceremonies to modern stories aboutdangerous self-harming superheroes, claret can be a killer. There’s a healthy amount of body horror that any work with blood magic can play into, but it tends to be a bit more horrific from a moral angle. For such a gross idea, there seems to be no shortage of authors willing to let their characters seek power inside their own veins.
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