History Main / BloodMagic

* In the ''Series/GameOfThrones'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ThereAndBackAgain'', The Stranger explains to Jon Snow that everyone has magic in their blood; most normally have enough to keep them alive, but Jon, as the Prince who was Promised, is imbued with much more power, which was siphoned away from him by Bloodraven to Bran Stark and Daenerys Targaryen. Consequently, the ritual that Daenerys enacted to hatch her dragons does not require a HumanSacrifice; Jon needs only to cut his hand and spread the blood over the eggs as they sit over a fire to hatch the dragons.

** A character with Advance Shape Shifting can use their own blood to create creatures which have some of their powers. These creatures are {{NPC}}s and not under the creator's control.

* In Pentecostal and Charismatic circles, the spurious Scriptural practice of "pleading the blood" that takes place within their meetings, since they believe that Jesus Christ's pure sinless blood has actual supernatural power over all things earthly and supernatural.

** The Jews annually sacrificed sheep and doves as "pure" sacrifices to God in exchange for atonement for their sins. For Christians, [[{{Retcon}} this is taken as a]] {{foreshadowing}} for Jesus's sacrifice during the crucifixion, using himself as the ultimate pure sacrifice to nullify everyone's sins permanently, which is why Christians don't sacrifice animals anymore.[[note]]Jews don't either, but for a different reason -- namely, the Temple was the only place that could happen, and it doesn't exist anymore.[[/note]]

** The Passover where the Angel of Death came to kill the firstborn children of Egypt, and the Jews painted their doors with lamb blood so the angel would know not to kill ''those'' firstborn children.

* [[Characters/{{Runaways}} Nico Minoru]] from ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' can only summon her Staff of One when she is bleeding. Menstrual blood also works in this case. It also allows her to circumvent one of the restrictions the spell has ([[spoiler:reviving the dead]]) during ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' after she sheds enough.

* ComicBook/NicoMinoru from ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' can only summon her Staff of One when she is bleeding. Menstrual blood also works in this case. It also allows her to circumvent one of the restrictions the spell has ([[spoiler:reviving the dead]]) during ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' after she sheds enough.

[[caption-width-right:350:It's not hard to learn, but it can cost you an arm and a leg.]]

Frequently a part of any ritualistic BloodBath. When it's the blood itself doing the damage, you have BloodyMurder. When the magic is used to extend the user's lifespan, it's LifeDrinker. When it's used to create life, it's FertileBlood.

** The Jews annually sacrificed sheep and doves as "pure" sacrifices to God in exchange for atonement for their sins. For christians, this is taken as a {{foreshadowing}} for Jesus's sacrifice during the crucifixion, using himself as the ultimate pure sacrifice to nullify everyone's sins permanently, which is why Christians don't sacrifice animals anymore.

* ''WesternAnimation/OnyxEquinox'' places a strong emphasis on this. The gods need blood for survival and Izel found a dagger that transforms into a powerful weapon via drinking blood. Also, the only way to summon Yaotl is for Izel to shed blood on the earth.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/{{Hellboy|2004}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hellboybloodritual.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Theatre/Macbeth}} Yet who would have thought the old man to have had]] [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank so much blood in him?]]]]

* Appears frequently ([[TropeOverdosed of course]]) in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

* [[WolfMan The Canim ritualists]] of ''Literature/CodexAlera'' drain the blood from sentient beings (living or freshly dead) to fuel their sorcery. They demonstrate a wide range of abilities including summoning storms, shooting lightning bolts, conjuring flying demon-things to keep airborne enemies out of the upper atmosphere, unleashing poisonous gasses, and other similarly creepy and destructive things. The most decent ritualists, such as Marok, use only their ''own'' blood to fuel their magic; the ones who don't tend to lean towards being {{Evil Sorcerer}}s.

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[[quoteright:330:[[Film/{{Hellboy|2004}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hellboy_blood_magic_2716.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:[[{{Theatre/Macbeth}} Yet who would have thought the old man to have had]] [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank so much blood in him?]]]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]], the alien Sycorax use "blood control" to hypnotize a third of the population of Earth. Technically it's MagicFromTechnology, but one of the UNIT characters commented that it appeared like they were casting a spell. The Sycorax reverse-engineered their technology from invaders, and think of it as magic. ("Sycorax" comes from ''Theatre/TheTempest'', where it is given as the name of a dead witch, late mistress of the island and mother to Caliban.)

*** The player themselves can become a blood mage in ''Origins'' and ''2'', although ''Origins'' players have to unlock it[[note]]one time (once you've unlocked a specialization, it's permanent through all playthroughs)[[/note]] through -- you guessed it -- a deal with a demon during the "Arl of Redcliffe" quest. Oddly enough, nobody in either of your parties ever comments on your blood magic use, even when Merrill (an open blood mage) gets into arguments with the rest of the crew. Blood magic was technically[[note]]Necromancy, one of the specializations, is a form blood magic[[/note]] dropped as a specialization in ''Inquisition'' and [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Hawke]], who could ''be'' a blood mage themselves, is now very anti-blood magic ([[ItsPersonal although given what's happened, maybe that's not that surprising]]).

*** The player themselves can become a blood mage in ''Origins'' and ''2'', although ''Origins'' players have to unlock it[[note]]one time (once you've unlocked a specialization, it's permanent through all playthroughs)[[/note]] through -- you guessed it -- a deal with a demon during the "Arl of Redcliffe" quest. Oddly enough, nobody in either of your parties ever comments on your blood magic use, even when Merrill (an open blood mage) gets into arguments with the rest of the crew. Blood magic was dropped as a specialization in ''Inquisition'' and [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Hawke]], who could ''be'' a blood mage themselves, is now very anti-blood magic ([[ItsPersonal although given what's happened, maybe that's not that surprising]]).

* In ''Film/PansLabyrinth'', the blood of a child is called for to open a gate, though the heroine refuses to take it. It still [[spoiler:technically works - it just happens to be the protagonist's blood. [[SecretTestOfCharacter And it would not have worked had the baby been used.]]]]

** In season 9, Willow cuts Connor's chest with the scythe to use his blood to tear a hole in the fabric of reality.

** Blood magic shows up in one of the spells of Nimueh in season one.

** In season nine [[spoiler: Abaddon]]'s followers do some kind of cutting ritual to revive her.

* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', all vampires gain their abilities, obviously, from consumed blood. However, a few [[{{Splat}} clans]] take this one step further by developing a blood-based system of sorcery stronger than the hedge magic any human can learn but weaker than the Sphere Magick of Mages. The most well-known practitioners of blood magic are Clan Tremere, whose original members were Mages in life.
** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' carries this on with various forms of Blood Sorcery, the two most predominant being Cruac (a humanity-stifling, ritualistic art practiced by the Circle of the Crone) and Theban Sorcery (a series of "miracles" that [[EquivalentExchange require appropriate sacrifice]], practiced by the Lancea Sanctum). A third example is the bloodline power of the Gethsemani bloodline, which allows them to make mortals spontaneously suffer stigmata-like wounds; the blood from these wounds has magical effects on a vampire who drinks it.
** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'' features the Cainite Heresy, remnants of an ancient cult that weren't too happy after being dicked around with by a vampire claiming a direct connection to God. [[RiddleForTheAges Somehow]] they got their hands on vampiric blood magic, and created the Rites of Denial, special powers meant to deny vampires their innate advantages.
** ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' has Tokens, magic items that activate with a simple burst of [[{{Mana}} Glamour]] or with a simple [[PowerLevels Wyrd]] check. Either of these can be foregone- and the items can be used by mortals- by paying the "Catch," a "dread cost." Examples? One, a minor thing that empowers your car, requires you to run your car on a pint of your own blood (one point of lethal damage); another one, a more potent one called a Pledge Stone, requires you to rip out your own tongue and burn it (one point of lethal damage and you don't have a tongue).
** And in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', blood sacrifice (namely, draining a being, including a human, of its blood until it is dead) can be used to replenish {{Mana}}. The use of blood can also correspond to the powers of Mastigos or Thyrsus mages.
** Part of the reason the Garou of ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' slaughtered the Camazotz was the werebats' use of human blood in magic, which the Garou didn't understand wasn't a corrupt art. Combined with the Camazotz' demonic appearance and status as spies, the Garou sent the werebats into extinction. Which is heavily responsible for the totem Bat falling to corruption of the Wyrm.
** ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' has the Stygian Key, a source of power based around manipulating the raw essence of death. Few Sin-Eaters obtain it, as you need to drink from several rivers of the Underworld ''and'' make a deal with a [[EldritchAbomination Kerberos]] to learn its tricks. But even then, you can only use any of the Manifestations associated with the Key by performing a sacrifice first. There's also the Stigmata Key, which is much more common and allows the Sin-Eater to control blood and ghosts. Some of its Manifestations require a portion of blood in order to function, and it can sometimes be empowered by shedding blood when you don't need to.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''
** In Shadowrun, Blood Magic is a discipline that utilizes sacrificing sapient victims to boost magic power or grant access to talents a mage would otherwise not have. Because of it's nature, it's heavily associated with the worst sociopaths and monsters metahumanity has to offer, and thus reviled [[EveryoneHasStandards even by criminals and the worst elements of polite society]].
** In a world filled with amoral megacorporations, pervasive criminal activity, and the occasional horror story rooted in some truth, unethical and even downright villainous forms and practices of magic are tolerated and even fairly common in some settings, so long as it's used to push for somebody else's goals. Still, [[GaiasLament Toxic Magic]], [[EldritchAbomination Bug Magic]], and, of course, Blood Magic are the only forms of magic that are universally reviled. While people will tolerate and even encourage negative uses of most other traditions, the utilitarian and beneficial uses of these shunned forms are very limited, and can only really be used to destroy and drive their practitioners insane; and it's a very closed secret at present, but they are also associated with [[EldritchAbomination the Horrors]].
** That said, there have been a few positive uses of Blood Magic. The 5th edition source book ''Dark Terrors'', it's explained that some uses of blood magic are a matter of scale and intent. Small scale blood magic using non-lethal amounts of blood, either drawn in the normal course of combat or through willing donation, matched with selfless intent to help protect and save others, can be used with less or even no corrupting effects. It was said that when members of the [[MagicalNativeAmerican NAN]] performed the Great Ghost Dance, most of the practitioners danced themselves to death. The completion of the ritual caused a massive global mana spike, the effects of which are still being felt and researched some 70 years later. The immediate effect was to cause a dozen of the largest volcanoes in the North American continent to erupt simultaneously, routing the American and Canadian waging war on the NAN. While it was largely driven by desperation and killed most of its practitioners, it won the NAN the war and saved the friends, families, and communities of those that performed the ritual.
** Supplement ''Aztlan''. Aztlan mages can use Blood Magic: spilling a human's blood to enhance spellcasting and summon Blood Spirits. Extremely evil, restricted to {{Non Player Character}}s. How restricted? If any player character starts learning Blood Magic from any source whatsoever, of their own free will, ''their character sheet is now that of an NPC.'' It's just that dark. Another reason for the NPC-turn is that Blood Magic is one of the most jealously guarded secrets in the world and Aztlan spares no expense in exterminating outsiders who learn about it with ''extreme'' prejudice. We're talking "nuke the block to get the guy who stole our secrets"-guarded.
** Expanded in the supplement "Street Magic". Adepts can benefit from blood magic, with at least one of the new metamagics revolving around ''cannibalism.''
** 5th edition blood magic also provides an alternative to augmentation in the form of blood crystals, which when applied to a severed limb or damaged organ can replicate the effects of cyberware & bioware without essence cost associated with those, thus allowing mages access to those benefits without sacrificing their power - unless the crystal is removed, in which case the essence comes with it.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Earthdawn}}''. Blood charms are used to seal Blood Oaths and gain magical benefits. They usually last AYearAndADay.

* [[OurElvesAreDIfferent Dark Elves]] in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' use blood magic. Their sorceresses can sacrifice wounds to get more magic dice, and they have large blood cauldros that imbues nearby units with the blessings of their god Khaine (also known as the bloody handed god).
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'''s sister franchise ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', Chaos often asks you to starts shedding lots of blood -- whether it's yours or your enemy's depends on how Tzeentch is feeling that day -- for anything more complicated than boiling water, though the most common ritual in any given cult will be summoning daemons.
** And, lest we forget; '''''[[CatchPhrase BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!]]''''' Khorne's followers really go nuts over this sort of stuff, although it's less about fueling magic than it is showing one' s devotion to Khorne and being rewarded with greater strength as a result.
** Appropriately, the Khorne Daemonkin faction has this built into their rules; Khorne units are incapable of using psychic powers or sorcery, so to buff them the Daemonkin were given the Bloodtithe rule. Any unit with Bloodtithe generates a counter for each unit it kills or if it dies, and counters can be accumulated and spent to provide a variety of effects, ranging from buffing your army to ''summoning a bloodthirster''. Because the mechanic doesn't care who dies, so long as someone does, this encourages players to bring tons of small, minimum sized units to get the maximum amount of bloodtithe counters for the amount of models they lose. Khorne truly does not care from whence the blood flows, only that it does.
* In ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'', practitioners of ''maho'' fuel their spells by spilling blood, often their own. The explanation given is that ''kansen'', malevolent spirits, are attracted to the caster by this act and will then exert their influence over the world in accordance with the mahotsukai's wishes.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}: Reloaded'' the Whateley Blood edge allows you to spill your own blood in order to gain "[[{{Mana}} power points]]".
** Under the original ruleset, [[BigScrewedUpFamily Whateleys]] got their own brand of BlackMagic that was actually accessible to {{Player Character}}s. It was fueled by blood drawn from under the characters' skin by otherworldly forces, and some of its examples [[BloodyMurder used the blood as a direct attack or defense]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}: Thaumatology'' codifies this: you have to spill enough blood to drain 20% of your HitPoints in order to get + 1 to casting. Unfortunately taking damage also makes it harder to cast a spell, so without the HighPainThreshold advantage there's not much point to it.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', all [[{{Necromancer}} Necromancy]] spells require a sacrifice of blood as part of the casting. In most cases, this is nothing more than a token sacrifice, and ''The Black Treatise'', the Necromancy {{sourcebook}}, notes that necromancers [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything tend to keep bandages handy.]] For the most powerful rituals, though, more gruesome sacrifices are required; Necromancy is very much BlackMagic in the world of ''Exalted''.
** There are also a few Sorcery spells that are not inherently evil and require the use of blood: Blood Lash only works when you are bleeding, and Benediction of Archgenesis, which requires the sorcerer to cut their feet and walk around the area they wish to [[FertileFeet bless with life]].

* ''Amber Diceless Role-Playing'', based on Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'' stories.
** A character with Advance Shape Shifting can use their own blood to create creatures which have some of their powers. These creatures are {{NPC}}s and not under the creator's control.
** A character with Shape Shifting and Conjuration can create items out of their own blood. A character with Advance Shape Shifting and Conjuration can create items out of ''other people's'' blood.
* ''TabletopGame/BleakWorld'' has a few vampires who can create blood golems, but the only people to get any real blood magic are the Waster witches who use it to restore their youth and the Demon Host who are granted special powers with blood.
* One issue of the ''[[TabletopGame/{{Rifts}} Rifter]]'' featured a school of blood magic. The mages were covered in cuts from using their own blood. They could take others' blood, but it had to be fresh enough, so there was a spell to render a vessel full of blood capable of preserving its contents. Other spells ranged from a simple, distracting [[Literature/TheTellTaleHeart heartbeat]] sound effect, through ''causing someones blood to eat their tissues from inside them'', to creating a blood golem.
* Rune magic is dangerous to use in ''TabletopGame/SavageWorlds: [[WeirdHistoricalWar Weird War II]]'', causing backlashes which can cause the rune mage to die or be permanently brain-damaged. The ability of rune magic to turn people into thralls is useful here, as they can give the mage power (they don't track power points) and even absorb backlashes. This is going to kill the thralls, though due to the Final Solution they have plenty of people to enthrall and no rodents' posteriors to issue, as the magic is evil and only ever used by the Nazis. The process is usually referred to as blood magic and therefore it is more common to call the mages blood mages.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' and the Palladium universe, blood sacrifices are common for most kinds of magic because P.P.E. doubles at the time of death. But the actual representatives of this trope are Blood Shamans, who cast grisly spells from their own blood with a bit of Casting from HP.
* Many forms of BlackMagic in the ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' at least dabble with the use of blood as a source of power, but the setting's resident kings are the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent skorne]], a race of [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent hobgoblin-like]] savage humanoids who are the setting's resident HordesFromTheEast. Their entire culture is based around the practicing of a form of BloodMagic, which they venerate in lieu of religion. The skorne version is fed as much by ''pain'' as it is by blood, though, so its practitioners are also skilled torturers, which is one of the reasons why the skorne are a race of {{Combat Sadomasochist}}s.
* ''TabletopGame/ArkhamHorror'': The PlayerCharacter Agnes Baker, a waitress who learned magic through PastLifeMemories, can choose to spend her [[HitPoints Stamina Points]] to activate spells that are normally CastFromSanity, which adds extra power to the spell.
* ''TabletopGame/CriticalRoleTaldoreiCampaignSetting'': The Blood Cleric [[PrestigeClass sub-class]] is centered around manipulating the forces that control one's body and connects it to the soul. These clerics can channel divinity to control the blood within creatures and force them to make attacks against allies or use samples of the blood of a creature to learn their location or even take control of their senses for a short time.

* In ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', crystallized blood droplets are used for {{healing potion}}s.
* Taken to the extreme in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', in which human sacrifice is used on a titanic scale [[spoiler:by Lucavi, inciting a war with hundreds of thousands of casualties to spill enough blood to raise the BigBad Altima.]]
* Almost literally in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', where the skill "Blood Price" lets you use HP to pay for magick instead of MP. The catch? The HP cost is double the normal MP cost, and you can't use your MP at all with this skill equipped. However, the simple convenience provided by it more than outweighs the drawbacks. Not to mention that you still get HP back if you use it for healing spells.
* In ''VideoGame/SoulSacrifice'', you are given an option to CastFromHitPoints for either short bursts on a wide area or continuous slashing. The only two who use this are [[CharacterCustomization the player]] and, most fittingly, [[FailureKnight Aegrus]].

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'': The defenses of Dierge were broken when the sacred fountains were polluted with human blood. [[spoiler: Useful in the nastiest way possible if you take the Closed Fist option.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Dominions}}'': Spells from most schools of magic are cast using "gems" which are basically elemental forces (fire, water, etc...) concentrated into portable form, and the casting prices of spells are listed in these gems. Instead of gems, however, one school of magic lists spell prices in blood. These prices are listed in increments of one ''blood slave'', each of which must be drained completely empty, with high-level spell costs running into the hundreds. Blood magic is conspicuous in battle, where mages or priests are surrounded by a white-robed flock they systematically stab, especially if the mages start losing and set the slaves to charge into the spears of the enemies while they themselves flee. ''Dominions'' is not a happy series.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
** When you kill monsters you collect their blood (which conveniently crystallized into red orbs in contact with air) to upgrade your magic powers. Justified in that there is a bounty system in placed by some nebulous god of good.
** In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'', [[spoiler: Arkham used the blood of Dante, Vergil, and Lady to open up the portal to the demon world. He needs this because the portal was sealed by Sparda (Dante and Vergil's father) using his own blood and the blood of a mortal priestess, Lady's ancestor]].
* ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersJericho'':
** Wilhelmina "Billie" Church is a powerful blood mage. Her blood magic and abilities play a very important part in the game's story, and her spells can bind enemies and set them on fire.
** The Sumerian demons Inanna and Ninlil also rely on blood magic (referred to as sanguimancy in-game). While Inanna uses the blood of Innocent people bound to torture wheels, Ninlil has herself locked within an Iron Maiden to spill as much of her own blood as possible.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'':
** ''VideoGame/WarcraftII'': Death Knights, after being researched at the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Temple of the Damned]] gain the spell Unholy Armor, which adds a [[NighInvulnerable nearly impenetrable]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin suit of armor]] [[CastFromHitPoints at the cost of half of the target's HP]].
** ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' introduces Blood Mages, but despite the name they ''don't'' practice any of this; most of their spells are fire-based. Lampshaded by one you meet in the Blasted Lands, who says Blood Mages "eat normal food like normal people."
** ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
*** According to the background, a warlock's life tap ability (convert health to mana) works exactly like this (they sacrifice their own blood to gain mana), using it to summon most of their demonic pets, empowering their weapons or, curiously enough, a number of beneficial effects like summoning party members or Healthstones which can be consumed like a potion.
*** The Mogu, resident LawfulEvil villains of Pandaria, utilize a mysterious red substance called Anima to animate their Blood Golems, but it does not seem to be normal blood. It's not until late in the Isle of Thunder storyline that you find out what it is: the blood of [[PhysicalGod Ra-den]], the divine guardian of their species whose blood and secrets they stole and used to build their empire.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': This is one of the ways a Servant is summoned. You take some chickens, put them to sleep, kill them, draw out their blood and make a magic circle. Then, you can either use a catalyst for a specific hero or just the general term of inducing madness in order to get a Berserker. Rider and Caster in ''Literature/FateZero'' were also summoned in this manner, and it's more noted upon there as well.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'':
** The only way to open [[spoiler:the old Blades headquarters]] in Skyrim is with the blood of a dragonborn.
** In the ''Dawnguard'' DLC, the lock sealing away Serana requires blood and a small puzzle to open it.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': The Dark Knight class has the ability to sacrifice health to either empower or fuel their attacks.
* ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': [[AllThereInTheManual According to the manual]], the monsters want to kill Link to use his blood to revive Ganon. They apparently succeed if you get a Game Over...

** ''VideoGame/LegendsOfRuneterra'' adds the Crimson cards - Crimson Aristocrat, Crimson Awakener, Crimson Disciple and Crimson Curator - who are basically punk kids who view Vladimir as their idol and practice blood magic, albeit to a lesser degree than Vladimir. They even synergise pretty well, leading to a few different deck outlines from Noxus that use cards that inflict damage to allies - the core mechanic that represents blood magic, at least most of the time - to either build up to a GlassCannon approach (say, combining the Crimson cards and Vladimir with Freljordian cards that get stronger when they take damage) or to just shrug it off (say, going for Targon and combining Vladimir with Soraka's healing subtheme).

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'': Shao Kahn created Skarlet out of blood collected from various battlefields. This was later retconned and Skarlet was a normal outworlder who learned blood magic from Shao Khan and became one of his most fearsome assassins.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': According to Marisa, Remilia Scarlet utilises this for a few spellcards. [[RunningGag Blood is amazing!]]
* ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' features this as one of the three magical disciplines players can take on, and generally revolves around healing and damage (with life drain). Also, while with all skill sets you have to use weaker skills to build up "resource" charges which are spent on more powerful skills, you can still cast powerful blood magic skills without sufficient charges - you just sacrifice health instead.

* ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'': In the second game, a MadScientist starts [[spoiler: drawing the blood of Anghel Higure, who has bizarre hallucinogenic powers tied to his fantasies, and using it so he can power a giant lazer with kidnapped otaku.]]
* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'':
** In Act V of ''Diablo III: Reaper of Souls'', which has you going through the Blood Marsh near Westmarch, you learn that [[spoiler:Adria]] has started using blood magic, creating blood golems and maddening the boggits, bogans and other monsters of the marsh to try to slow you down.
** Act III of vanilla ''Diablo III'' has [[spoiler:Adria]] borrow soldiers killed during the battle of Bastion's Keep to etch a ritual circle with their blood -- [[spoiler:one which strongly resembles the circles used by the Coven]]. [[spoiler:The circle she uses is to stabilize the Black Soulstone briefly, a window she uses to slam it into her daughter Leah, infusing her with all seven Evils with Diablo in charge.]]
* ''VideoGame/AvencastRiseOfTheMage'': The melee skill tree is called Blood Magic, but it's more likely to reference blood spatter from melee-range physical attacks than dark mysticism.
* ''VideoGame/EndlessLegend'''s Ardent Mages discovered that intense suffering allowed them to control [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Dust]] to [[MagicFromTechnology perform their magic]]. Ardent Mages practice ritual scarification, and their cities have floating jail-cells with trapped citizens to generate magic. One of their unique buildings, the Sacrificial Amplifier, [[LivingBattery has hundreds of living Mages strapped to a massive pillar which is burning hot]]; the description then notes that the magic generated is well worth it despite the cost of screams and stench of cooked flesh and shit.
* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'': An inadvertent version. When Eddie is badly injured due to the carelessness of the idiot band he works for, his blood drips onto his belt buckle and summons Ormagoden, kicking off the events of the game.
* In ''VideoGame/VanguardBandits'', the [[EvilWeapon monstrous Zulwarn]] [[AMechByAnyOtherName ATAC]] needs Blood in order to run.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'', the BigBad Akuro must [[BloodBath bathe]] his [[DemonicPossession vessel]] in blood to become perfect. [[spoiler:Specifically, Orochi's blood.]] Or, maybe he has to bathe himself. The game can't agree with itself on this point.
* ''VideoGame/{{Messiah}}'': Satan feeds on human blood, which is what he needs to "physically exist in the Earthly realm"; he also seemingly derives his power from it. [[spoiler:Scientists' logs in the final level suggest that he managed to break free from his imprisonment in the research facility when they accidentally gave him too much blood to drink.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': The Healing Church's special blood can cure any ailment and has cemented the church's power over the city of Yharnam. [[spoiler: Too bad it belongs to/''is'' an EldritchAbomination and gradually transforms people into horrific beasts.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': One mod has Blood Magic, Blood Arsenal, Blood Baubles and Sanguimancy, which all use blood -- either drained from the player or from enemy mobs -- to some degree. Its liquid form is called [[CallARabbitASmeerp Life Essence]], but it's bright, blood red in color so it's rather obvious what it is.
* ''VideoGame/Disgaea5AllianceOfVengeance'' has Majorita, one of Void Dark's generals. Though called a Necromancer, it turns out her [[LimitBreak Overload Skill]] ''Broken Faith Magia'' is actually this, letting her control flesh via injecting a tiny bit of her own blood into a target. Powerful as this skill is, letting her revive downed troops to turn them into more useful zombies, [[spoiler: it turns out that targets with strong enough wills can resist the control, even to the point of disobeying her commands, and it can be dispelled with angelic magic (Thanks, Christo!). Later on, it turns out Void Dark only kept Majorita around due to this skill, and eventually uses his own Overload, [[PowerParasite Brigante Eclipse]] to take it from her and then immediately use it against her.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/SablesGrimoire: A Dragon's Treasure'', Sable is forced to wear a magical amulet containing Nidhogg's blood. This constant exposure to a dragon's blood gradually transforms Sable into something akin to a dragon, with the process accelerating once the amulet starts injecting that blood directly into his veins.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', Zagreus uses bloodstones -- [[BodyToJewel crystals formed from his own blood]] -- as catalysts for his magic Casts.
* In ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'', optional boss [[PromotedToPlayable (and playable character)]] Bloodless is a vampire that uses many skills based on manipulating blood.
* The source of the cultists' powers in ''VideoGame/{{Dusk}}'', granted to them by [[spoiler:Nyarlathotep]].
* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': The Tremere [[VampireVarietyPack vampire clan]]'s unique [[MagicByAnyOtherName Discipline]], Thaumaturgy, manipulates blood. Powers include long-range VampiricDraining via blood projectiles, inflicting a StatusAilment while the target vomits blood, forming armour out of blood, and making people explode in [[HerdHittingAttack superheated gore]].

* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': Several {{Necromancer}} skills [[ElementalBaggage create]] or take effect through [[GeoEffects blood surfaces]], such as a RainOfBlood that inflicts massive NonElemental damage and {{Status Ailment}}s, ghostly hands that do the same to any enemy standing in blood, and a spell that heals the target by absorbing nearby blood.

* In ''Webcomic/SupernormalStep'', Jules and Van practice blood magic. However, Jules made Van swear not to use blood magic without his guidance. [[spoiler: Van later uses blood magic to contain a magic riot almost single-handed.]]

* Rachael from ''Webcomic/SilverBulletNights'' is a mistress of blood and magic. Using blood, she can summon up demons, enslave other vampires and make a delicious cocktail for undead clients.

* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'':
** [[spoiler: The blood of the innocent awakes a powerful magic spirit in Torg's sword]].
** Only Gwynn can use [[TomeOfEldritchLore the Book of E-Ville]] to cast spells because her name has appeared on the inside cover written in blood. Right above instructions to, if lost, drop in any mailbox to return it to the rightful owner.
* In ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'', when [[http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/44 Cale's swords]] are exposed to blood, they reveal a map to Kethenecia.
* Timmy from ''Webcomic/ParallelDementia'' can use blood magic.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Tamuran}}'', [[http://www.tamurancomic.com/?p=161 the princes' blood is needed for a working.]]
* The Erlkönig in ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'' used his own blood to seal his son's magic and memories (symbolically his left eye). What power the guy has that a the blood of a blood related [[TheFairFolk fae]] [[RoyalBlood noble]] was needed is anyone's guess (maybe the Erlkönig is just a [[LargeHam show off]]).

* In ''Webcomic/HeartCore'', there are a few characters who has this ability. [[BigBad Royce]] has shown to have the ability to controll spilled blood (his own and others) in order to use them as [[CombatTentacles strong tentacles]] that can grasp and crush bones of weaker creatures. Then there are the [[FierySalamander Salamander]] Demons, [[MadBomber Carval]] and [[PlayingWithFire Volaster]] [[LikeFatherLikeSon Jarvoc]] being some of them, who can use their black, flamable blood in order to creature very powerful fire-bombs in an isntant. That is, when they don't opt to turning themsleves into [[TakingYouWithMe living nukes]]
* Qarr in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' mentions using virgin's blood as a spell reagent.
* Treneth in Webcomic/{{Visseria}} is shown preparing his magic-payloaded arrows by writing scrolls in his blood and tucking them inside.
* In ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', King Jahad transfers power to the Princesses of Jahad, his adopted daughters, by his blood.
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': When Reynir gives out his attempts at protection runes in Chapter 11, Sigrun suggests that they may work better if drawn in blood. Reynir is grossed out by the idea. It may also not be a good idea to try in his case: he is ''not'' TheImmune to ThePlague, there was a small scare when he barely avoided getting scratched by a PlagueZombie and he has to wear a breathing mask outside half the time as a precaution for the fact that ThePlague is partially airborne.

* ''Webcomic/ABetterPlace'': The being that granted Hannah and Theo their powers was summoned by a combination of Theo's blood from thornbush scrapes and Hannah frying an anthill:
** As said in the author commentary for ''[[https://tapas.io/episode/92631 Forgotten Shrine]]'':
--> And by blood, and by fire, and by sacrifice, shall I be called
** In [[https://tapas.io/episode/95021 One Wish]]:
--> "By Blood, Fire and Sacrifice"\\
"I am brought forth!"

* Fey has used this in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' against a dark mage who was trying to enslave her.
* ''Literature/VoidDomain'': Eva is adept in blood magic, which she uses to devastating effect in combat, as well as to create powerful defensive wards and in complex {{Ritual|Magic}}s. In-universe, blood magic has a very unsavory reputation as TheDarkArts; although it has many neutral applications and can even accomplish unique feats of {{healing|Hands}}, many of its most powerful spells are fueled by [[BodyToJewel transmuted]] [[HumanResources human hearts]].

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[[quoteright:330:[[Film/{{Hellboy|2004}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hellboy_blood_magic_2716.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:[[{{Theatre/Macbeth}} Yet who would have thought the old man to have had]] [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank so much blood in him?]]]]

* In ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' [[spoiler: this is revealed as Marcille's true specialty. She can draw from an "infinite" pool of power and perform very complex, potent ancient magic, but the spells require varying amounts of blood, are very taxing in terms of mana usage and might take a light toll on her sanity (however the latter is up to discussion since rapid mana drain tends to do this).]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Arawn}}'': After becoming a living god, Arawn can use his blood to bring people BackFromTheDead.
* Blood magic was forbidden in the backstory of ''The Blood Queen'' as a compromise by the high kings of man so they wouldn't have to exterminate the WitchSpecies. The main character herself and several other dark wizards still use it in secret, however.
* The BigBad in ''ComicBook/RobynHood: The Curse'' is a {{Mayincatec}} sorcerer who works his spells through the use of blood magic.

** Plus, Dragon's blood and unicorn's blood both have extraordinary properties - respectively, the 12 uses of dragon's blood, as discovered by Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel, and granting life - a cursed half-life - no matter what.
* Subverted in-universe in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' fanfic ''Fanfic/FairVote''. The protagonist uses tea as a metaphysically symbolic substitute – and it works.

* In the 2019 animated film version of ''Literature/ThePilgrimsProgress'', Christian, near the end of his journey to the Celestial City, finds himself bleeding as he's drowning. He wakes up at the entrance of the Celestial City and discovers that it's the Good Shepherd's blood, ''not'' his own, that saved him.

* In ''Film/LesbianVampireKillers'', the [[TargetedHumanSacrifice blood of the last of the [=McLaren=]'s]], along with a VirginSacrifice, is required in the ritual to resurrect Carmilla the Vampire Queen.

* In ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' this is pretty much the signature art of the AlwaysChaoticEvil Praesi, and especially the Soninke Lords. In the Dread Empire of Praes, criminals convicted of capital offences are auctioned by the state, and are purchased by the [[AristocratsAreEvil High Lords]] for 'field rituals' to boost the crop yields. In a twist, it's not done ForTheEvulz but because [[spoiler: without the field rituals the Dread Empire would starve]]
** The Dread Empire isn't the only wielder of Blood Magic, buy it is the most experienced. When one of the other evil powers enacts a ritual a (rather shaken) hero notes that the Praesi would have only used half the sacrifices [[spoiler: although as this is the Tyrant, it's entirely possible he upped the body count purely for the sake of it]]
** It's also used for healing purposes, when injuries exceed what HealingMagic can offer.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** Blood magic is, in general, one of the more effective, powerful, and, according to many, dangerous magics known in the Song of Ice and Fire universe. Maegi have been known to predict accurate prophecy by consuming blood, and the burning of blood, body parts, and people (often in sacrifice to gods) is effective at accomplishing various magical tasks. There are also some basic rules; most prominently, only [[EquivalentExchange death can pay for life]]. Also mixed with a shockingly big cautionary notice, namely "buyer beware": define what you mean and want very ''carefully'', since both death and life have shades of meaning, and [[JerkassGenie wishes can get twisted]], however much blood is spilled.
** Melisandre uses blood magic to [[spoiler: cause the death of Renly Baratheon]]. She also claims credit for the deaths of [[spoiler: Robb Stark, Joffrey Baratheon, and Balon Greyjoy]], but whether that's truth or fiction [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane is very unclear at this stage]]. King's blood is her preferred type, and she uses a very broad definition of "king"; the blood of illegitimate children seems to work just as well as legitimate, the blood of the self-appointed King Beyond the Wall of the wildlings works as well as that of hereditary southern kings. Taking enough blood to [[HumanSacrifice kill the donor]] works better than extracting a non-lethal amount via leech.
** The maegi Mirri Maz Duur also uses blood magic to [[spoiler: [[AndIMustScream "heal]]" Drogo]] and the favor is returned by Daenerys when she [[spoiler: burns the maegi alive as part of the magic to awaken her dragons.]]

* Creator/MercedesLackey loves this concept, and blood mages are frequently villains in her books. In the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' books, at least, it's the sort powered by death, not the red stuff itself, and gathering it from anyone else is ''exclusively'' villainous. Good-aligned Mages and Priests occasionally use their ''own'' death energies to really make a HeroicSacrifice stick, though.
* In ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'', the witches use the hearts of living stars to prolong their youth as a form of blood magic.

* ''Literature/KingOfTheWaterRoads'' - Magic "usually" takes a toll in blood and pain to cast, according to the only trained magic-user seen in the book.
* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' parodies this with the Rite of Ashk-Ente, which summons Death. It's implied that this is supposed to require a human sacrifice and dozens of magical foci, but magical refinements mean that it's now possible with only an octogram, three small bits of wood, and 4 cubic centimetres of mouse blood.
** This is further refined to just needing the octogram, ''two'' small bits of wood and a fresh egg.
*** Of course, most wizards go all-out with the magical foci anyway, because if you're not going to [[RuleOfCool fill up your ceremony with arcane gibberish and dribbly candles]], why did you even become a wizard in the first place?
** A straighter example is in ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'', where [[spoiler:Granny Weatherwax uses this kind of blood magic against vampires by "infecting" them when they feed on her.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Granny:''' I ain't been vampired, ''you'' been Weatherwaxed!]]
* In the ''Dragonlord'' series by Joanne Bertin, blood magic is frequently employed by the antagonists. In ''The Last Dragonlord'', the BigBad uses the lives of prostitutes to charge a magical artifact. He then sacrifices a member of a specific bloodline in order to attempt to enslave one of the titular dragonlords. In ''The Dragon and the Phoenix'', the blood of the high priest is used to bind a dragon, and the magic of the dragon is used in turn to imprison and harness the power of the phoenix.

* Appears frequently ([[TropeOverdosed of course]]) in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
** In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's Literature/{{Ultramarines}} novel ''Warriors of Ultramar'', the Ultramarines contact another Chapter, the Mortifactors, and find their use of Blood Magic rather abhorrent.
** In Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''Legion'', the [[ArtifactOfDoom Black Cube]] is activated by BloodMagic, which explains a ferocious attack on the Imperial forces: to shed ''lots and lots'' of blood.
** In Lee Lightner's ''Literature/SpaceWolf'' novel ''Sons of Fenris'', Cadmus uses Blood Magic, killing one of his officers who's guessed too much, to open a [[CoolGate portal]].
** In Creator/JamesSwallow's Literature/BloodAngels novels ([[OurVampiresAreDifferent double of course]]):
*** In ''Deus Encarmine'', a knife tastes Rafel's blood and sends it back, and a Word-Bearer, by tasting it, can judge his age.
*** In ''Red Fury'', the blood in the Bloodfiends gives them [[GeneticMemory memories of those whose blood they drank]], driving them crazy, SplitPersonality style -- and with a fierce desire to drink more blood, worsening the problem. Rafen, fighting one, can clearly [[WasOnceAMan recognize the source of its blood]], and [[DyingAsYourself dying]], it might have said, "Brother."
** In John French’s ''Literature/ThousandSons'' novel ''Ahriman: Unchanged'', [[BigBad the Oathtaker]] uses the blood of sixty-four slaves to magically project his consciousness across time and space in order to confront Ahriman on Prospero.
** A general example throughout the entire franchise is, oh, roughly half of everything the Chaos faction ever does. "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD" is, after all, one of their favored battle-cries.
* Creator/TamoraPierce makes use of this both in ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' and the ''Literature/TortallUniverse''. However, it is made abundantly clear that the only approved use of blood magic is when the mage uses his or her ''own'' blood.
** A specific ''version'' of it can be found in "''The Immortals''" quartet. As proved with Cloud and Brokefang, any animal that ''ingests'' Daine's blood becomes ''very'' special and more like humans in thought.
* In the ''Literature/YoungWizards'' series, healing spells require blood (that isn't from the patient), usually the healer's own blood.
** In a more aggressive case, this is the reason why the Master Shark has been around since (practically) the dawn of time. If his blood is spilled, every shark in the world is drawn to his location and is sent into an extreme [[UnstoppableRage feeding frenzy]]. Nothing ''dares'' attack him.
* This is one type of magic used in the ''Literature/EvieScelan'' novels.
* Thaumaturgy in the ''Literature/DeepgateCodex'' books.
* In Creator/RobinJarvis' ''[[Literature/DeptfordMice The Oaken Throne]]'', the high priest of Hobb dips the Silver Acorn pendant in the blood of one Ysabelle's subjects three times during a sacrifice. Each time, he calls Hobb's name. This summons the evil rat god to the world. The bloodstains cannot be removed from the pendant, no matter how many times it is washed, until [[spoiler:Ysabelle unites it with the magic of the Starglass and becomes the Starwife]].
* In Holly Lisle's ''Literature/TheSecretTexts'' trilogy, each of the three schools of magic use blood/flesh sacrifices. The origin of these sacrifices reflects where the magic lies on the good to evil scale. Falcons use their own blood and are good. Wolves use others present at the time as a sacrifice and are bad. Dragons are able to use whole populations at a distance as their sacrifice and are [[BigBad Super Scary Evil]].
* In ''Franchise/{{Mistborn}}'', Hemalurgy is a magical art that involves killing a victim with a metal spike, drawing some aspect of their being into the spike (like strength or intelligence, but it's normally used to take whatever magical abilities the victim may have), and then stick that spike into yourself to imbue yourself with the stolen aspect. The precise composition of the spike and where it is stuck in the recipient's body determine precisely what qualities are transferred. Strictly speaking, the position of the spike on the victim's body is also significant when stealing powers - it's just that [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice through the heart]] works the best, and is generally lethal. Since it works by stitching a piece of someone's soul to your own, it damages the soul of the user and makes them more susceptible to magical mind control. Unlike its sister Arts, Allomancy and Feruchemy, Hemalurgy isn't an inborn ability but can be used by anyone with the right knowledge; WordOfGod indicates that this applies not just to Scadrial, the planet where Mistborn is set, but to ''everyone in Literature/TheCosmere'', the wider universe containing a few other series by the same author.
** By the time of ''Literature/WaxAndWayne'', the sequel series to ''Mistborn'', all magic has been disseminated to the common populace--except Hemalurgy, which Harmony and his Faceless Immortals keep very secret. In ''Literature/ShadowsOfSelf'', Wax ends up with Spook's personal journal, which details Spook's careful study of Hemalurgy following Harmony's restructuring of the world.
* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Blood Pact'', the witch makes extensive use of this. [[spoiler:On both the prisoner and Maggs -- she didn't realize she had gotten blood from both of them at first, but when she did, she tried to use Maggs to assassinate the prisoner.]]
* [[WolfMan The Canim ritualists]] of ''Literature/CodexAlera'' drain the blood from sentient beings (living or freshly dead) to fuel their sorcery. They demonstrate a wide range of abilities including summoning storms, shooting lightning bolts, conjuring flying demon-things to keep airborne enemies out of the upper atmosphere, unleashing poisonous gasses, and other similarly creepy and destructive things. The most decent ritualists, such as Marok, use only their ''own'' blood to fuel their magic; the ones who don't tend to lean towards being {{Evil Sorcerer}}s.
** This is [[TheFettered a severe limitation on their power]], since the quantity of blood is very important. The storm that covered the Canim's invasion is mentioned as having cost ''millions'' of their own lives to pull off. For a long time after the Canim invaded no magic was used, because they had an insufficient source of it. [[spoiler: When they started using it again it was revealed to be mostly fueled by Aleran slaves who had defected to the Canim and given permission to be drained after other Alerans killed them.]]
* The bloodline of Celtic god Cernunnos gives his descendants magical abilities they can use against him in ''[[Literature/TheWalkerPapers Urban Shaman]]'' by C.E. Murphy.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', the main character sometimes uses traces of people's blood to locate them, but it only works if it's very fresh. In ''Small Favor'', the Denarians use the blood of an unknown person to fuel their {{Hellfire}}-powered pentagram barrier.
** BlackMagic and rituals often use sacrifices of some kind, so even though using blood is not considered evil in itself, it tends to appear a lot in the bad guys' spells. Possibly the greatest display of blood magic yet seen is the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Red Court's]] curse seen in ''Changes'', which required hundreds of human sacrifices to energise and then a final sacrifice to target its destructive power.

* In the ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'' universe, the lower levels of the Twilight will quickly drain your energy; if you need to get out fast, spilling blood will do the trick.
* In Andy Hoare's Literature/WhiteScars novel ''Hunt for Voldorius'', the Alpha Legion uses it. The White Scars find bodies drained of blood.
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' novel ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'', one reason why Xaltotun let his allies die.
-->"Because blood aids great sorcery!"
** In "Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword", Thoth-Amon, immediately on regaining his RingOfPower, uses the blood of the man he murdered for it to summon a powerful abomination against his old tormentor Ascalante.
* ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'':
** Darken Rahl uses a kind blood magic in the form of consuming the brains and testicles ({{Squick}}!) of a young boy loyal to him to transform said boy into a creature of the underworld to ride, and thus can travel anywhere very quickly.
** Also, blood is noted as being particularly potent for drawing spell forms (alongside other things, like sorcerer's sand), though it's trickier for ''lasting'' spell forms as blood will eventually dry out and thus weaken the spell. The People's Palace in D'Hara is a spellform[[note]]which, for reference, saps the magic of any non-Rahl wizard and bolsters the magic of any wizard of the Rahl bloodline[[/note]] that manages to get around this through the novel method of leaving the blood inside people. The blood therefore is always fresh, and people are always allowed to travel through the halls of the palace, keeping the spell ''very'' powerful; just blood would have dried out and lost its effect long ago.
* The British warlocks in ''Literature/BitterSeeds'' have to shed blood every time they [[SummonMagic summon]] the Eidolons, {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that find [[HumansThroughAlienEyes human life abhorrent]] and so are attracted to the spilling of blood. It takes more and more blood to summon them each time, until British Intelligence are forced to commit major acts of sabotage against their own citizens (such as blowing up passenger trains and air raid shelters) to keep the supernatural war effort going. Worse, the more blood is spilled, the more information the Eidolons have on the nature of humanity, a necessary precursor to exterminating us.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Literature/ProsperosDaughter Prospero Regained]]'', blood can give power and life to those in {{Hell}}. Kinda awkward when hellish mosquitoes have figured out you are alive and so have blood.

* Subverted in ''Literature/CountAndCountess'', where a large part of the story hinges on the main characters' belief in the magical properties of blood. Turns out [[spoiler: there are no magical properties]].

* In Creator/DevonMonk's ''Literature/DeadIron'', [=LeFel=] takes the child's blood for this.
* In Creator/DevonMonk's Literature/AllieBeckstrom novels:
** In ''Literature/MagicToTheBone'', used by Cody's captors.
** In ''Literature/MagicInTheBlood'', a villain steals some of Allie's, which seriously worries her.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''On Writing'', he describes some symbolic associations of blood with life and death, sin and redemption (through sacrifice), and how they're used in ''{{Literature/Carrie}}'' as a parallel to the titular psychic's emerging powers and rampage.
* Malkar and Vey Coruscant in ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'' are accomplished practitioners. They have been using this to keep themselves young and vital for who knows how many years. One of Vey's many epithets is "Queen Blood."
* In ''Literature/TalesOfKolmar'' demon-summoning mages and those aligned with them always have to give the demons some of their own blood. On the heroic side, a mage discovers that when she touches her own blood to a dragon's soulgem her demon-fighting powers are greatly enhanced, to the point of being able to dispel minor ones with a touch.
* In ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}'' {{Necromancer}}'s combine Blood Magic with more traditional Necromancy, as well as SummonMagic, to do some truly scary things to the living and the dead alike.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/DreadCompanion'', Kilda has to bleed to get the grass that can act as a guide. She even has to pull it by the bleeding hand.
* In ''The Psalms of Isaak'', Blood Magick is the in-universe term for magical potions or powders that must be distilled from human blood (as opposed to the more common Earth Magick, which is created from naturally occurring compounds in the stone and soil). Blood Magick is usually extremely powerful, but can also be extremely hazardous to the user's health, and is considered a DangerousForbiddenTechnique in most of the Named Lands, though TheEmpire of Y'Zir uses it heavily (and has a religion based around it). Like most magic in the series, it's mostly used to enhance the user's physical abilities, but can be used to produce more spectacular effects through an unrevealed process- [[FantasticNuke the Seven Cacaphonic Deaths of Xhum Y'zir]], the most powerful and destructive spell ever created, is said to be a product of Blood Magick.
* In Creator/RuthFrancesLong's ''Literature/TheTreacheryOfBeautifulThings'', the Woodsman and the Goodwife use blood to tame the redcaps.

* The ''Literature/ObsidianAndBlood'' trilogy takes place in the Aztec Triple Alliance at its height. Almost all magic is blood magic, ranging from simple self-sacrifice by cutting the earlobes, to animal sacrifice, to outright human sacrifices.
* The Dark Ones’ tunnels in ''Literature/{{Murderess}}'' open when the person entering spills blood, either his own or someone else’s (or even an animal’s), on a stone slab next to the entrance.
* ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]'': Members of the Bladi Clan have a unique branch of magic that uses their blood as its catalyst. The blood of anyone else is useless for magical purposes.
* The blades that provide the name of ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'' series are carved from the bones of the local WitchSpecies (thighbones, by preference) and driven into living hearts to empower them for the purpose of slaying the 'Lakewalker's' enemies. [[DarkIsNotEvil The Lakewalkers are in fact the good guys]], the [[EldritchAbomination things]] they hunt will [[WalkingWasteland kill everything]] [[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed if even a single one is left unchecked]], any every ''other'' weapon just [[NighInvulnerability gets the latter's attention]].

* In ''Literature/TheBloodLadders Trilogy'' shedding blood is the easiest way to transfer magic. Elves use blood for a variety of purposes, the least of which is creating and feeding magically constructed creatures such as the genets, and the locks on their cages are also opened with blood. Among humans, the Church's priests put a drop of their blood, inherited from Saint Winifred the first human mage, into the communion chalice to grant their congregation some protection from demons.
* In ''Literature/ADarkerShadeOfMagic'', ''Antari'' magic is more powerful than other types of magic, but requires the caster to spill some of their own blood.
* In ''Literature/MaledictionTrilogy'' witches can use blood to perform more powerful, dark and dangerous spells. It is also the only kind of magic that works on troll - provided they use troll blood to power the spell.
* Early in ''Literature/TheRedTent'', it's mentioned that Rachel's first menstrual blood was collected and used to fertilize the crops, on the belief that [[MenstrualMenace menstrual blood]] [[VirginPower from a virgin]] makes food crops grow bigger and stronger. Interestingly, there ''is'' some truth to this, in that blood is rich in nitrogen, which does make it a good fertilizer, as any organic gardener who has ever used blood meal can tell you. ''However'' it does ''not'' have to be menstrual blood, and it does ''not'' have to be from a virgin (male or female). And it doesn't even have to be ''human'' blood. (The aforementioned blood meal, for example, is a byproduct of meat-processing.)
* In ''Literature/ShamanBlues'', blood is the carrier of magic, so sacrifices are made to obtain the power hidden within it.
* The Mosquito-kinden of ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheApt'' have a ''serious'' thing about blood, and huge quantities turn up in some prophecies.

* In the ''Literature/OldKingdom'' trilogy by Creator/GarthNix, the power of the Charter that gives the King, Abhorsen, and Clayr their unique abilities is found InTheBlood - as in, both genetically and literally. Charter Stones, which keep the magical Old Kingdom sustained, can be broken if a Charter Mage's blood is spilled on them (in death), and the [[CosmicKeystone Great Stones]] can only be broken by the blood of one of the Charter bloodlines (see above.) Finally, in ''Abhorsen,'' [[spoiler: Sam makes a sword to break apart the EldritchAbomination by combining, among other ingredients, blood from carriers of all [[strike: three]] four bloodlines.]]
* In the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'' with blood-binders- Kencyr who have the inherent magical ability of creating a telepathic link with anyone who's exposed to their blood, a link that is so powerful that can endure past death. [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Darkling Changers]] have a related ability of being able to take the form of anyone whose blood they've sampled. If a Changer tries to feed on a blood-binder, and the blood-binder's magic is stronger, then the Changer will be wracked by intense pain, the only known release form which is death.
* ''Literature/TheElenium'' plays with this. In this case blood isn't so much magical as it is innately capable of ''restraining'' magic. The living stone Bhelliom is supposedly controllable by two rings, each of which contains pieces of the original Bhelliom stained red with blood. Later, it's revealed that blood restrains Bhelliom for a very prosaic reason: [[spoiler:Bhelliom cannot stand the touch of iron, and human blood has iron in it]].

* In ''Literature/NewArcana'', only people with mageblood can use arcane magic, and mageblood is a street drug. The Order's soul-binding ritual involves mingling the blood of the cohort members.
* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', blood is symbolic of the self, and can therefore be used as a source of power in an emergency-but only the mad or the desperate do this, because spilling blood is spilling the self, and a lot of Others ''like'' it when people are hollowed out shells-it gives them room to move in.
* In the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', blood magic is the eldest form of magic. It goes back way before the Warren system was established by Elder God K'rul, the Maker of Paths -- which, ironically, was done using blood magic, and the Paths of Magic called the Warrens are technically his veins and the magic they provide is technically his blood. Additionally, K'rul himself and the other Elder Gods [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly need prayer badly]] in order to continue existing, and that prayer needs to be provided in the form of blood sacrifice.
* In ''Franchise/TheWitcher'', one of the huge plot points concerning [[spoiler: Ciri]] is that [[spoiler: she is a direct descendant of]] Lara Dorren, incredibly powerful elven mage and wielder of Aen Hen Ichaer (AKA The Old Blood), power allowing her to be an independent source of magical energy as well as creating interdimensional gateways. [[spoiler: Ciri]] was carefully crafted by strategic marriages, so that she gets both genes important to the Hen Ichaer - one inherited only by women, and one inherited only by men - and yes, it means incest. Taken even further by [[spoiler: Vilgefortz of Roggeveen, a prodigious mage who turns out to be the Big Bad.]] He concludes that, since blood is the carrier of power, he can just take the blood. So he intends to [[spoiler: impregnate Ciri, abort the pregnancy and inject himself with the placenta blood.]] The books don't state explicitly whether that would've worked. [[spoiler: Later explained that the reason why Aen Hen Ichaer comes from elves is that elves come from another dimension in the first place, and genetically engineered the Old Blood using magic to escape their dying world.]]
* ''Literature/ThePaperMagician'' has Excision, the magic channeled through human flesh. Blood is included, and seems to be the most frequently-used component. In the first book alone, we see blood-fueled spells to blast enemies backwards, teleport, divine someone's location, [[spoiler:instantly heal bullet wounds, control the movement of blood-tainted water]]...the list goes on.
* This can be found more often in ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments''.
** The blood of the angel Raziel has the magical effect of transforming a human into a [[{{Nephilim}} shadowhunter]].
** Jace and Clary have special powers because, through the experiments that [[BigBad Valentin]] did with them, they have more angel blood in them than other nephilim.
*** And because Simon, who was a vampire, drank the blood of Jace, he was given [[DaywalkingVampire the ability to walk around unscathed throughout the day]].
** Through another experiment by Valentin, Johnathan has demon blood in his body. Because of this, he was corrupted into evil. However, he was also able to destroy the shields of the sacred city of the nephilm.
** The blood of [[WitchSpecies warlocks]] and [[TheFairFolk fairies]] has a strange effect on vampires, even if it is never explained exactly what effect it is.
** In the sequel ''Literature/TheDarkArtifices'', the Big Bad for a special ritual needs the blood of a member of the Blackthorn family.
** In addition, this book also explains that only someone who has fairy blood in his body (including half-fairies) can enter the fairy realm at any time. It also seems to work with a special amulet.
** It is believed by the shadowhunters that all [[{{Muggles}} ordinary humans]] [[InvisibleToNormals who can see the magic]], have this ability because one of their ancestors was a fairy, and they still have some fairy blood in their bodies.
* In ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', a Sith's holocron could only be opened by spilling a large amount of blood from an intelligent creature on it, so much blood that it would not survive. The Jedi who finds it outwits the Holocron by pouring small amounts of their blood on it and three other people. Later, he notes that the Sith was so evil that he did not even come to this opportunity.
* In ''Literature/TheTowerAndTheFox'' major spells such as binding demons require additional sources of magic beyond what a sorcerer can call up from the Earth, like magically-charged blood. So English sorcerers in the 15th century bred {{Half Human Hybrid}}s to act as donors for blood magic.
* "The Staff in the Stone" by Creator/GarthNix: MagicalSociety outlaws blood magic because it requires the painful sacrifice of a disproportionate number of lives for even minor effects, and because wizards who can stomach doing that sort of thing to animals usually turn into TheSociopath and graduate to HumanSacrifice.
* Considered highly dangerous and forbidden in ''Literature/DevilsAndThieves'', Blood Magic is nevertheless extremely powerful for the person who manages to use it. The most mild form is when two kindled with different magical abilities mix their blood, creating a bond that allows one to absorb power from the other, while the most infamous usage involves stealing blood from a user of each magic, in order to gain that ability. No matter which type is practiced, however, it is still considered illegal magic.
* Anthony Ryan's ''Draconis Memoria'' plays with this trope using Dragon blood. While the spilling of the blood isn't significant in itself (aside from the rather adverse effects of coming into contact with it), certain individuals can partake in the blood to gain superhuman abilities. Drinking blood directly can be dangerous, but grant the strongest abilities, and each type of drake blood gives different abilities.. A product distilled from pure blood is produced that gives the powers without the slight risk of insanity. Drinking blood directly from the heart is lethal even to the so-called bloodblessed.
** Blood from the black drake gives the bloodblessed powerful telekinetic abilities.
** Blood from the green drake heightens the bloodblessed's abilities to superhuman levels and stimulates the healing process. Normal humans can drink small doses as medicine.
** Blood from the blue drake puts the bloodblessed in a state known as bluetrance, which can be used to view ones memories with photographical perfection and converse with other bloodblessed over any distance.
** Blood from the red drake gives the bloodblessed pyrokinesis, and has been used as a substitute for coal.
** [[spoiler:Drinking the blood of a white drake allows glimpses of the future, and seemingly works on non-bloodblessed as well]].
* ''Literature/TheTravelersGate'': Ragnarus works on pain and sacrifice; blood is the most common medium of gaining what you want. The Hanging Trees that require nine lives every year are the most famous, but even entering the Crimson Vault requires a Ragnarus Traveler to give up some blood.
* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror,'' sunforging an item requires a sample of blood, with the resulting [[PowerCrystal sunucle]] being linked to the person who provided the blood.
* ''Literature/TheFallenArises'': Blood Magic is the most dangerous form of magic a mage can practice, as it corrodes the physical body of users and will eventually kill them. The only exception is Mortira Greystoke, who bonded with the magic on a genetic level through as yet unknown means and is able to use it to horrifying extent.
* ''Literature/PrincessesOfThePizzaParlor'': Appears to be the defining concept of [[OurWitchesAreDifferent witch magic]]:
** From ''Princesses Don't Do Summer School'': From witch Princess Bianca of a family of witches:
---> This is a spell that Gran'Mama taught me, so be quiet before I chicken out. [...] she stabbed her thumb with the pin. A single drop of blood was squeezed out onto the paper.\\
[...]\\
Cassie, who was staring at her. [...] "W... w... that was witchcraft!"
** From ''Princesses in the Darkest Depths'': With some PalmBloodletting:
---> This was perhaps the witchiest thing she'd ever done [...] she took her personal knife and ran it over the palm of her hand.
* ''Literature/CradleSeries'': Blood [[{{Mana}} madra]] Paths aren't particularly uncommon, and many healers combine it with life madra to great effect. However, blood Paths have a negative reputation because the most common source of blood [[BackgroundMagicField aura]] is ''spilled'' blood. Paths that combine sword madra and blood madra are often disparagingly referred to as "slaughter Paths," since that's the most common way to advance them. And it doesn't help that one of the four [[GodOfEvil Dreadgods]] is the Bleeding Phoenix, and its cultists/victims can quickly gain a lot of power by accepting its bloody children.

* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', where it is referred to as "the currency of the soul." What it means is that vampires like Alucard absorbs their meals' souls when they consume their blood. Seras discovers this truth when she consumes Pip's blood, collecting his soul, becoming a true vampire, and herself gaining some of the Power of Blood. Later, it's revealed that [[spoiler:the huge amount of souls he's consumed fuels his absurdly powerful HealingFactor -- and that he can release his victims as a macabre army of the undead]].