History Main / HighOnHomicide

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The mentally unstable King Otto of [[UsefulNotes/AllTheLittleGermanies Bavaria]] supposedly shot a peasant every morning to keep himself in a good mood for the rest of the day. [[ShroudedInMyth Or rather]], he would shoot a (blank-loaded) gun at [[SycophanticServant a servant dressed in peasant clothes, who dutifully screamed and collapsed to the ground]].
* Infamous murderer [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_Faye_Tucker Karla Faye Tucker]] claimed that she experienced multiple orgasms as she took a pickaxe to her victims.
* Police trainer Dave Grossman described sex after taking down a perp as "The best sex I've had in months" and one of the perks of the job. [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/police-trainer-best-sex-killing/ No, really.]] It's possible that he's simply describing GladToBeAliveSex, but it's not really something to emphasize in training.
[[/folder]]

* ''Anime/TokyoGhoul'' is effectively built around this trope, with many of the bad (and on occasion even the ''good'') Ghouls murdering huge amounts of humans for the fun of it. This is one of the more justified examples as Ghouls need to eat human flesh to survive, but on rare occasions, it's this trope played straight.

Rubi Malone in ''VideoGame/{Wet}'' occisionally goes into "Rage Mode" by killing an enemy at close enough range to completely cover her face in blood. When this happens, Rubi gives a deranged smile before the level proceeds in a red monochrome filter to symbolize how bloodthirsty she's become. While in Rage Mode, Rubi gains attack speed and damage bonuses and each kill extends Rage Mode.

* In ''Theatre/{{Rope}}'' (and it's film adaptation) which opens with two elite young Manhattanites, Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan murdering their classmate as part of their belief that they've committed ThePerfectCrime as a pair of [[SocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] who believe themselves better than others. Brandon a few minutes later admits the actual act of killing was euphoric for him. [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar A lot of dialog between the two is intentionally coded to sound like it could be about gay sex]].

* In ''Theatre/{{Rope}}'' (and it's film adaptation) which opens with two elite young Manhattanites, Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan murdering their classmate as part of their belief that they've committed the PerfectCrime as a pair of [[SocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] who believe themselves better than others. Brandon a few minutes later admits the actual act of killing was euphoric for him. [[GettingTheCrapPastTheRadar A lot of dialog between the two is intentionally coded to sound like it could be about gay sex]].

* In ''Theatre/{{Rope}} (and it's film adaptation) which opens with two elite young Manhattanites, Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan murdering their classmate as part of their belief that they've committed the PerfectCrime as a pair of [[SocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] who believe themselves better than others. Brandon a few minutes later admits the actual act of killing was euphoric for him. [[GettingTheCrapPastRadar A lot of dialog between the two is intentionally coded to sound like it could be about gay sex]].

* The single point of divergence from canon in ''Fanfic/TheKillerRarityverse'' is one of these, happening to a very young Rarity. She quickly becomes addicted to the high of murder, setting in motion a lifetime of hurt for her and her family.

* Of the serial killers in ''Series/{{Mindhunter}}'', Edmund Kemper and David Berkowitz describe their actions, and the reliving the events in their fantasies, in very euphoric terms, and both speculate that the then uncaught BTKis similar in that regard. Paul Bateson also talks about his one confirmed murder in similar terms but is careful not to say anything implicating him in the series of death he is suspected of.

** Teru Mikami, Light's hand-picked Hand of Kira, is similar, and goes way off the deep end during the warehouse scene toward the end, where he's writing down names with a psychotic fervor and has what can only be memetically described as an ''orgasm'' toward the end.
* ''Literature/HeavyObject'': Skuld Silent-Third is a SerialKiller who experiences a near sexual pleasure in the act of killing. A glimpse in her mind when she was getting ready to murder showed she was seeing psychedelic colors.

* ''ComicBook/FromHell'' posits this started happening to Jack The Ripper around his third victim. In the footnotes, Creator/AlanMoore notes that he added this aspect based on his own extensive research into interviews with serial killers.

* ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'': {{Downplayed|Trope}} when a vampire is feeding on a human while they die. It's described as a "wallop" and a "rolling delirium" for the vampire, but not particularly addictive compared to their obsession with blood itself.

* {{Invoked}} in the first vignette of ''Series/BlackMirror: [[VignetteEpisode Black Museum]]'', which features a doctor with a prototype implant that lets him [[ElectronicTelepathy feel the pains of others]] to help him make better diagnoses. While it worked wonderfully, the implant malfunctioned after he was reading somebody as they expired, causing him to start feeling pain as addictive pleasure (which was explicitly compared to a drug). After habituating, he eventually resorted to torturing a guy to death and had the high of his life and then fell into a coma. In the "present day" of the story, the doctor is still comatose and awaiting trial.

* Of the serial killers in ''Series/{{Mindhunter}}'', Edmund Kemper and David Berkowitz describe their actions, and the reliving the events in their fantasies, in very euphoric terms, and both speculate that the then uncaught BTKis similar in that regard. Paul Bateson also talks about his one confirmed murder in similar terms, but is careful to not to say anything implicating him in the series of death he is suspected for.

** Teru Mikami, Light's hand-picked Hand of Kira, is similar, and goes way off the deep end during the scene with the SPK toward the end, where he's writing down names with a psychotic fervor and has what can only be memetically described as an ''orgasm'' toward the end.

** Teru Mikami, Light's hand-picked Hand of Kira is similar, and goes way off the deep end during the scene with the SPK toward the end, where he's writing down names with a psychotic fervor and has what can only be memetically described as an ''orgasm'' toward the end.

* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'': Hansel and Gretel, the twin serial killer assassins were raised from a young age to perform for snuff films and havebecome totally engrossed by the act of brutal murder.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'': While Light Yagami starts off as a KnightTemplar who kills criminals out of an extreme sense of justice, he becomes more corrupt over the course of the story and it becomes increasingly clear he enjoys killing and takes glee in it.

* ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'': An eventual revelation of the Shun-Leep School of SupernaturalMartialArts (which is used by various heroes) is that it has a series of forbidden techniques called "The Killing Blows" -- they are so powerful that are a near-OneHitKill TouchOfDeath (and pretty violent, at that), but the side-effect in the user's body is a heroin-like euphoria that is incredibly addictive, which leads people who use the Killing Blows to eventually become hyper-violent BloodKnight types and even the occasional SerialKiller. This plot point overall is a double-barreled ShoutOut to the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' Satsu No Hado and ''Franchise/StarWars''' Dark Side of the Force (never let it be said that Fred Perry doesn't know how to apply his ReferenceOverdosed).

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': The title SerialKillerKiller gets a rush out of killing -- one of the few emotions he ever feels-- and [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil likens it to an addiction]], complete with withdrawal symptoms. He's often shown sighing in relief after claiming another victim.

This trope is common both to [[BestServedCold vendettas]] and to {{serial kill|er}}ings. Vastly different motivations aside, the following euphoric calm can be one and the same. All that bided time, all that anticipation and planning, finally pays off. Now able to admire their work, the killer basks in the moment and takes it all in.

Compare EvilFeelsGood and SmitingEvilFeelsGood, with either of which this may overlap. May lead to ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil if the killer chases this high again. Contrast LaughingMad, which is [[AxCrazy Ax-Crazier]] (though that certainly may follow this trope); BloodLust and OrgasmicCombat, where the ecstasy is fairly sexual but not necessarily derived from killing; BloodKnight, where the fight is enjoyed as much as (or more than) the kill; and DissonantSerenity, where the killer is this calm ''during'' the struggle. Not to be confused with TranquilFury, which wouldn't kill a fly but is no less terrifying. Frequently combined with BloodIsTheNewBlack.

* ''Manga/DeathNote''. While Light Yagami starts off as a KnightTemplar who kills criminals out of an extreme sense of justice, he becomes more corrupt over the course of the story and it becomes increasingly clear he enjoys killing and takes glee in it.
* ''LightNovel/HeavyObject''. Skuld Silent-Third is a SerialKiller who experiences a near sexual pleasure in the act of killing. A glimpse in her mind when she was getting ready to murder showed she was seeing psychedelic colors.

Since the notoriety of more recent real-life killers can deeply affect their victims' loved ones, '''''please'' [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement be cautious when adding Real-Life examples]]!'''

->''"It was definite now.......I had absolutely...killed him. There was no sense of accomplishment, nor one of regret.[]...Instead, right now... I was feeling like my heart had been stolen by the downpour[...]and how comfortable it felt."''
-->-- '''Keiichi Maebara''', ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' - Ch.3 ''Tatarigoroshi''

* Infamous murderer [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_Faye_Tucker Karla Faye Tucker]] claimed that she experienced multiple orgasms as took a pickaxe to her victims.