History Main / CouldntFindaPen

* ''WesternAnimation/CelebrityDeathmatch'': At the beginning of the [[http://youtu.be/TnMqRmVAFzE Macaulay Culkin vs. Haley Joel Osment match]], referee Mills Lane asks Macaulay for an autograph for his grandson. Macaulay asks for a pen, but Mills doesn't have one on him. Macaulay then ''bites off his own pinkie finger'', and signs his autograph in blood.

* UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein had [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Qur%27an a copy of the Qur'an written in his own blood]]... even though blood is seen as unclean in Islam and [[ComplimentBackfire writing a Qur'an with it is a very high blasphemy]]. Of course, [[MortonsFork destroying any copy of the Qur'an is also blasphemy]].

See Also: DistressCall, RoomFullOfCrazy and DealWithTheDevil, all of which use or overlap with this trope to some extent. Sister trope to CondensationClue and CarvedMark. If blood was specifically used to make a signature more significant, it's a BloodOath.

* A variation in Abel Gance's ''Film/{{Napoleon}}''. Marceau does have a pen and paper but there is no ink, so he pricks his wrist and signs the army register with his blood.

** Rather than just write it down, the [[EvilIsHammy King of Hell]] Crowley burns a clue into the Winchester's table with hellfire.

* In ''[[Literature/SienkiewiczTrilogy The Deluge]]'', Kmicic writes a letter with his own blood to make sure the other party knows he is not lying.

* Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{IT}}'' has Stanley Uris, one of the protagonists, commit suicide in his bathtub because [[spoiler: he doesn't want to go back to Derry to face It again]]. When his wife finds him, she finds that he's written the single word "IT" on the bathroom wall in his own blood.

Maybe pen and paper weren't available. Maybe that just wouldn't be cool/creepy/dramatic/funny enough. This is a trope for writing with unusual equipment. They may write an emergency message in lipstick or scratch it onto a surface. A person who is lost in the WildWilderness might spell out "HELP" using big logs, so rescue planes will see it. A person might spell words in the snow using a yellow liquid.

Maybe pen and paper weren't available. Maybe that just wouldn't be cool/creepy/dramatic/funny enough. This is a trope for writing with unusual equipment. They may write an emergency message in lipstick or scratch it onto a surface. A person who is lost in the WildWilderness might spell out "HELP" using big logs, so rescue planes will see it.

Maybe pen and paper weren't available. Maybe that just wouldn't be cool/creepy/dramatic/funny enough. This is a trope for writing with unusual equipment.

A particularly common (and gruesome) version is a victim of a murder or monster attack to use the last of their blood and strength to write a DyingClue. Also the blood will often be [[RustproofBlood immune to oxidization]], remaining bright red no matter how long. There may be {{Bloody Handprint}}s nearby as well. May cross with BloodStainedLetter as well.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': While attempting to broker a ceasefire between the Republic and the Imperium, Ahsoka asks Farnus -- an Imperial Guardsman she took prisoner after finding him injured on the battlefield -- to deliver her ceasefire terms to his commanding officer. However, Farnus initially refuses due to her message having been typed onto a DataPad, which he and his superiors view as heretical xenotech and believe to be booby-trapped. When Farnus requests for her to instead write down her terms using pen and paper (which are rarely used in the Republic outside of museums), Ahsoka is unable to find any ink and resorts to biting into her finger and using her own blood as ink.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': While attempting to broker a ceasefire between the Republic and the Imperium, Ahsoka asks Farnus -- an Imperial Guardsman she took prisoner after finding him injured on the battlefield -- to deliver her ceasefire terms to his commanding officer. However, Farnus initially refuses due to her message having been typed onto a datapad, which he and his superiors view as heretical xenotech and believe to be booby-trapped. When Farnus requests for her to instead write down her terms using pen and paper (which are rarely used in the Republic outside of museums), Ahsoka is unable to find any ink and resorts to biting into her finger and using her own blood as ink.

** In the second episode, Lestat de Lioncourt scratches his own index finger and uses his own blood to mark the places on his ''Don Pasquale'' music sheets where the tenor sings off-key.
** In the Season 1 finale, Claudia jots down in her journal Lestat's final words ("''Mets-moi dans mon cercueil, Louis, Louis''" [[note]]French for "Put me in my coffin, Louis, Louis"[[/note]]) with his blood by dipping her pen into a wound on his neck.

* ''Film/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'' (1959). Explorer Arne Saknussem leaves a message in blood on a plumb bob which -- encased in a lump of volcanic rock -- is retrieved centuries later by the protagonists, sending them on their journey into the HollowEarth.

* In ''Literature/NewMoan'' (a parody of the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' saga), this trope is played with. Teddy (the Edward {{Expy}}) gives Heffa (the Bella {{Expy}}) a note, written in some red substance. Heffa asks if it's blood, to which Teddy replies that blood is useless as ink since it clots too quickly, and it's just normal red ink.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Gazerbeam used his [[EyeBeams laser vision]] to zap the word "KRONOS" into the wall of the cave he died in. Mr. Incredible finds it and eventually figures out that it's [[spoiler:the password to the latest project that Syndrome's been planning]].

* ''LightNovel/TorturePrincessFremdTorturchen'': {{Exploited}} in volume 1. Kaito Sena's abusive father would carve information he wanted Kaito to remember into his skin with a knife. After he gets lost in Elisabeth's castle multiple times, he has her inscribe the floorplan into his back with a scalpel so he'll remember it--less of an issue now, since his new body is a {{golem}} made of mud and Elisabeth's own blood. [[spoiler:He later has Elisabeth carve a facsimile of her teleportation circle into his stomach in order to bypass the TeleportersVisualizationClause, and therefore is able to reproduce the circle from memory with his blood at the climax of volume 1.]]

* In ''Anime/PrincessTutu'', Drosselmeyer is said to have written a story in his own blood [[spoiler:after the Book Men cut off his hands. Yes, it's implied he used the stumps.]]

* ''Series/TheSandman2022'': In "[[Recap/TheSandman2022S01E11ADreamOfAThousandCatsCalliope Calliope]]", the novelist Richard Madoc is cursed with an unending flood of new plot ideas as punishment for imprisoning and abusing the muse Calliope. The curse hits while he's in the middle of a speech, and he staggers off to find paper and pen to write them all down, but quickly gives up and starts writing them on the nearest wall using his own blood.

-->-- ''Series/RedDwarf'', "Psirens"

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Umidori Kuroyoru gets assaulted by Rensa and is left barely able to talk. She manages to warn Shiage about Rensa by writing in her own blood.
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'' Light keeps a piece of death note paper and a pin for pricking his finger and writing in blood (couldn't fit a pen?) concealed in a secret compartment of his watch, so that he can kill someone quickly and discreetly if necessary. He first uses it to kill the third Kira when [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he becomes a liability rather than an asset]], while L is sitting right next to him. In the final episode after [[spoiler: getting his pen destroyed by Matsuda while trying to write down Near's name in the pages of the titular ArtifactOfDoom, Light continues writing with his own blood, which prompts Matsuda to blast the living snot out of him.]] This is actually a pretty severe "What the hell were you thinking" moment, as apparently at this point he had lost all self-control whatsoever and couldn't just calmly write down the name.
* In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', a dying [[spoiler:Risei Kotomine]] writes "jn424" on the floor near him, which turns out to be a coded reference to John 4:24, [[spoiler:which helps his son inherit his Command Seals]].

* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. "Puppeteer'' is written in blood by the General in "Solid State Society" after he's forced to commit suicide by the hacker.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}''

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. In The Thanatos Guild", Malcolm Merlyn has left a map for his daughter Thea [[InvisibleWriting that can only be revealed]] when the DNA from her blood interacts with the bacteria used to imprint the map.
* In an episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' this trope is subverted and played straight; one of the monks, Brother Edward, sees "Death Walks Among You" written in blood on the wall, but ''that'' one turns out to be just a compund that looks like blood, then vanishes after a couple hours [[{{Gaslighting}} so people think he was hallucinating]]. The monk is a former SerialKiller who was [[DeathOfPersonality subjected to a mind wipe]], and a telepath was hired by families of his victims to break the programming before they took revenge. The straight use of the trope should be fairly obvious: at the scenes of his crimes, he actually ''did'' write "Death Walks Among You" in the victim's blood on the wall.

* ''Series/{{Luther}}''. A Satanist killer abducts a woman from her home and leaves the corridor leading from the front door covered in words written in blood such as DO NOT FEAR THE ABYSS, I AM THE ABYSS. Likely a deliberate use of the trope to add to his reputation and creep people out. Also a [[PastVictimShowcase deliberate taunt to the police]], as the blood had been kept frozen from a murder the police had been unable to pin on him years before.

* The ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIPsirens Psirens]]" has a dying RedShirt scrawl a warning using blood and intestines. The Cat wonders why he went to the trouble of using his kidney as a full stop. Rimmer notes that it probably just "plopped out" on its own. In ''Better Than Life'' (the book), the crew get stuck in a virtual reality game and the only way to communicate with them is by carving messages into their arms.
* ''Series/{{Rome}}''. Lacking a wax seal for a dispatch, Octavian grabs a handful of manure from the battlefield instead.

* ''Series/{{The Sandman|2022}}'', "[[Recap/TheSandman2022S01E11ADreamOfAThousandCatsCalliope Calliope]]": The novelist Richard Madoc is cursed with an unending flood of new plot ideas as punishment for imprisoning and abusing the muse Calliope. The curse hits while he's in the middle of a speech, and he staggers off to find paper and pen to write them all down, but quickly gives up and starts writing them on the nearest wall using his own blood.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': In one episode, a Horta (essentially a lava monster) burns, "[[YouNoTakeCandle NO KILL I]]" on the ground. Spock wonders if this translates to "I don't kill" or "Don't kill me".
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''

* ''Series/TopGear'' Jeremy Clarkson declared that the Dodge Viper was a car "so sophisticated, it could write its own name." He then proceeded to write the word 'Viper' on the test track, using skidmarks.
* Seen in the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode, "Captain Jack Harkness." Tosh and Jack are stuck in the past, and need to send a message that will last the next 60 years and be found by the other members of their squad. Tosh doesn't have a pen, so she cuts her hand open on a rusty can and writes in her own blood. Also seen in "They Keep Killing Suzie." The word "Torchwood" is written in blood on a white wall on a crime scene.

* In the pilot episode (Days Gone By) of ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', Rick comes across an abandoned farmhouse where the two former inhabitants had scrawled "God Forgive Us" in blood on the wall before committing suicide.
** Used to oddly-heartwarming effect in Season 4 Episode 13 at 20:50 to 43:00. After [[spoiler:the prison is overrun]] and everyone is separated, Maggie leaves notes, scrawled on walls in the blood of walkers, to tell Glenn where she's going. The smile on his face when he finds it is priceless.
* The opening episode of Season 4 of ''Series/TheXFiles'' had [[spoiler: X, Mulder's then-informant]] writing a message in blood on Mulder's doorstep, having been shot trying to bring information.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': While attempting to broker a ceasefire between the Republic and the Imperium, Ahsoka asks Farnus -- an Imperial Guardsman she captured after finding him injured on the battlefield -- to deliver her ceasefire terms to his commanding officer. However, Farnus initially refuses due to her message having been typed onto a datapad, which he and his superiors view as heretical xenotech and believe to be booby-trapped. When Farnus requests for her to instead write down her terms using pen and paper (which are rarely used in the Republic outside of museums), Ahsoka is unable to find any ink and resorts to biting into her finger and using her own blood as ink.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': While attempting to broker a ceasefire between the Republic and the Imperium, Ahsoka asks a captured Imperial Guardsman to deliver her ceasefire terms to his commanding officer. However, Farnus -- the Guardsman in question -- initially refuses due to her message having been typed onto a datapad, which he and his superiors view as heretical xenotech and believe to be booby-trapped. When Farnus requests for her to instead write down her terms using pen and paper (which are rarely used in the Republic outside of museums), Ahsoka is unable to find any ink and resorts to biting into her finger and using her own blood as ink.

* ''[[Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K]]'': While attempting to broker a ceasefire between the Republic and Imperium, Ahsoka asks a captive Imperial Guardsman to deliver her ceasefire terms to his commanding officer. However, Farnus -- the Guardsman in question -- initially refuses due to her message having been typed onto a datapad, which he and his superiors view as heretical xenotech and believe to be booby-trapped. When Farnus requests for her to instead write down her terms using pen and paper (which are rarely used in the Republic outside of museums), Ahsoka is unable to find any ink and resorts to biting into her finger and using her own blood as ink.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In the Season 1 finale, Claudia jots down in her journal Lestat's final words ("''Mets-moi dans mon cercueil, Louis, Louis''" [[note]]French for "Put me in my coffin, Louis, Louis"[[/note]]) with his blood by dipping her pen into a wound on his neck.