History Main / TargetedHumanSacrifice

* ''Literature/BazilBroketail'': In the second book Relkin and Bazil get kidnapped then scheduled to be sacrifices in Ourdh, as the followers of a goddess there believe that she'll protect them from the Sephites after they're offered to her. This does not work out, of course, since the pair soon break free.

-->-'''Lord Summerisle''', ''Film/TheWickerMan1973''

* In ''Manga/BlueSeed'', it is said that to stop the Aragami, the "Kushinada" (a human literally bred to be a human sacrifice) must be sacrificed. Problem is, this time there are ''two'' twin sisters who qualify as Kushinadas, Momiji and Kaede... [[spoiler:and Kaede has grown so embittered from her Kushinada role that she's had a FaceHeelTurn]]. [[spoiler:([[ReverseMole Or so it seems.]])]]

* ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' Takes this [[UpToEleven to extremes.]] In Chapter 13 we learn that[[spoiler:Tento has been kidnapped.]] and to make things worse, The BigBad doesn't plan to just kill him and collect a ransom. He wants to preform a Kinjutsu that gives him the victim's memories and appearance. How is this jutsu accomplished? '''[[ImAHumanitarian Biting off the top of the person's head while they're still alive and eating their brain tissue.]]'''
* In ''Manga/BlueSeed'', it is said that to stop the Aragami, the "Kushinada" (a human literally bred to be a human sacrifice) must be sacrificed. Problem is, this time there are ''two'' twin sisters who qualify as Kushinadas, Momiji and Kaede... [[spoiler: and Kaede has grown so embittered from her Kushinada role that she's had a FaceHeelTurn. ([[TheMole Or so it seems]]).]]

* ''Anime/BleachMemoriesOfNobody''. A Shinigami girl named Senna (who is also [[spoiler: the Memory Rosary]]) is captured and tortured by the Dark Ones (exiled Soul Reapers). They try to sacrifice her in order to collapse the Valley of Screams and destroy both the World of the Living and the Soul Society. [[spoiler: They fail, but Senna still dies.]]

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', to reverse a curse, the blood of a specific pirate is required - or that of his descendant Will Turner. They only need a small amount, as we learn when they attempt to use Elizabeth [[spoiler: and later when Will cuts his own hand to provide the needed blood himself]]. But by the time they got Will, they were angry enough at him that they decided to slit his throat instead.
* The villain from the first ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' movie needs a pure soul for his ritual. The only soul meeting the requirements on the whole island is [[spoiler:Scooby's.]]
* In ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'', [[spoiler: Sgt. Howie is slated to be the sacrifice because he's still a virgin, because he's acting as a representative of the Crown, and because he has been tricked into coming to the appointed place, making him the perfect combination of Virgin, King, and Fool.]]

* ''Film/JugFace'' Whenever a sculptor has a trance and makes a jug depicting someone's face, the redneck community sacrifices that person to a mud pit to replenish the pit's healing powers and to contain a SealedEvilInACan.

** In ''Literature/SummerKnight'', [[spoiler:Aurora]] needs [[spoiler:Lilly, because she holds the power of the Summer Knight, and killing her at that time and place will give the power to the Winter Court.]]

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', Voldemort casts a ritual requiring the blood of an enemy. As Wormtail points out, nearly the entire wizarding world qualifies, but of course he wanted Harry Potter's, [[spoiler:to circumvent his [[ThePowerOfLove protective ward]].]]

* In ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'', [[spoiler:Klaus needs to sacrifice Elena, the latest "Petrova doppleganger", to break the curse binding him.]] He also needs a vampire and a werewolf, but those are easier to get hold of.

* ''Theatre/WesterosAnAmericanMusical'': Edric Storm gets captured to be used as a sacrifice by Melisandre because her god require King's blood and Edric is King Robert's bastard son.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', Ghirahim must sacrifice Zelda's soul to release the seal on the demon king [[spoiler:because she is the reincarnation of the goddess who imprisoned him.]]

* [[spoiler:Colette Brunel]] in ''VideoGame/{{Tales of Symphonia}}'' was to be sacrificed by the {{Big Bad}} [[spoiler:Mithos to resurrect his sister in her body.]] Though it is stated that several other people were used for the ritual before, it has never worked before, most likely due to the body not matching or whatever.
* In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', [[spoiler: the original ritual to awaken {{Orochi}} 1800 years ago included plans for the sacrifice of eight {{Barrier Maiden}}s, known as the Kushinadas. Seven of these girls were sacrificed [[note]](and in the ''manhua'' they [[ApocalypseMaiden willingly offered themselves as this]], [[IJustWantToBeBeautiful having being told that they'd gain eternal youth and beauty in exchange]])[[/note]], but the last one was rescued by the Kusanagi, Yasakani and Yata leaders, who then went on fighting and sealing Orochi away.]] In the present, [[spoiler: the New Face Team (Yashiro, Shermie and Chris) kidnap the currently last descendant of this surviving Kushinada, a GirlNextDoor from Osaka named Yuki, for the same thing... and [[VillainBall commit the HUGE mistake]] of gloating about their evil plans to Kyo Kusanagi, Chizuru Kagura and Iori Yagami, the descendants of those who fought and sealed Orochi: since Yuki just ''happens'' to be Kyo's girlfriend, [[BerserkButton they piss him off BADLY]]. Obviously, Yuki is saved from them and Orochi is re-sealed.]]
* It's revealed partway through ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' that [[spoiler:the ritual to hold off the end of the world requires someone who's died and been brought back to [[HeroicSacrifice willingly give up their soul]] to power it. There are two potential candidates. Too bad one of them is more inclined to [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery let the world end]].]] In the True Ending, [[spoiler:he accepts his role as the Sacrifice. Not to save the world which he would still gladly see burn, but to save the other potential sacrifice whom he had truly grown to love.]]

* In ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings'', [[BigBad Erazor Djinn]] reveals that once the seven World Rings have been gathered together, the only way for someone else to gain control of their full power is to sacrifice the collector. [[spoiler:Having forced Sonic to gather them together via [[LivingOnBorrowedTime shooting him in the chest with a cursed flame arrow]], Erazor prepares to do just that to him, but Sharha throws herself in front of the strike and dies instead. The ImperfectRitual results in Erazor turning into a deformed EldritchAbomination and Sonic stealing three of the Rings to unleash his newest SuperMode and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown crush him into paste]]]].

* In ''Manga/BlueSeed'', it is said that to stop the Aragami, the "Kushinada" (a human literally bred to be a human sacrifice) must be sacrificed. Problem is, this time there are ''two'' twin sisters who qualify as Kushinadas, Momiji and Kaede... [[spoiler: and Kaede has grown so embittered from her Kushinada role that she's had a FaceHeelTurn. ([[ReverseMole Or so it seems]]).]]

* In ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'', [[spoiler: Sgt. Howie is slated to be the sacrifice because he's still a virgin, because he's acting as a representative of the Crown, and that he has been tricked into coming to the appointed place, making him the perfect combination of Virgin, King, and Fool]].

Uh oh... Alice finds herself captured and strapped to a wall/altar in the center of a big magic symbol. Candles are set in very specific places while an [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous Latin Choir]] hums in the background. It's obvious that she is going to be used in a dark ritual to summon an evil god of sorts, or alternatively, unlock a magical lock to a {{Macguffin}}. There can be several reasons why the evil forces go to the trouble of specifically capturing Alice, instead of just capturing a random innocent victim:

* They need it to overcome some specific power seal. (Overlaps with 1, but is not identical to it)

The actual sacrifice factor can range anywhere from just needing Alice's fresh [[BloodMagic blood]] to needing her [[HumanSacrifice full life force]]. Not that it changes much, since whoever is in lead of the ritual is not going to leave her alive.

* ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' Takes this [[UpToEleven to extremes]]. In Chapter 13 we learn that[[spoiler:Tento has been kidnapped]]. and to make things worse, The BigBad doesn't plan to just kill him and collect a ransom. He wants to preform a Kinjutsu that gives him the victim's memories and appearance. How is this jutsu accomplished? '''[[ImAHumanitarian Biting off the top of the person's head while they're still alive and eating their brain tissue]]'''.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': In service to Stannis’s ambitions to take the throne, Melisandre seeks to sacrifice Edric Storm to the fire god R’hllor specifically because he has "King's blood" (he's a king’s bastard son), seemingly because sacrificing royal provides more power than sacrificing common men. Stannis, the king’s brother and rather less eager to burn a child alive, is able to put her off for a while by sacrificing leeches filled with his blood instead.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': In service to Stannis’s ambitions to take the throne, Melisandre seeks to sacrifice Edric Storm to the fire god R’hllor specifically because he has "King's blood" (he's a king’s bastard son), seemingly because sacrificing royal provides more power than sacrificing common men. Stannis, the king’s brother and rather less eager to burn a children alive, is able to put her off for a while by sacrificing leeches filled with his blood instead.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Melisandre seeks to sacrifice Edric Storm specifically because he has "King's blood" (he's a King's Bastard son), seemingly because sacrificing royal provides more power than sacrificing common men.

* In ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'', [[spoiler: Sgt. Howie is slated to be the sacrifice because he's still a virgin, because he's acting as a representative of the Crown, and maybe other reasons]].

* In ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'', the BigBad is an EvilSorcerer who is cursed to remain either as a feeble old man who needs a wheelchair to move or a powerful non-corporeal magician. In order to break the curse and make himself a powerful ''corporeal'' magician, he needs a girl with green eyes for a special ritual. When he tells that to the heroes, Creator/KurtRussell's character wonders how likely is it that, in all those centuries, he has never found a "broad to fit the bill". The sorcerer admits that there have been others, but they weren't quite right, and the ritual failed to work. However, this time, he manages to find ''two'' green-eyed girls (who happen to be the two heroes' {{Love Interest}}s) and tries to perform the ritual with both of them.

* Almost happens to the Avatar in the beginning of ''VideoGame/UltimaVI''.

Subtrope of HumanSacrifice. The key difference between this trope and HumanSacrifice is that that one would work with any John Doe picked up from the street, this trope specifically needs Alice to make the ritual work, no exceptions.

{{Barrier Maiden}}s tend to be prime targets for this, for obvious reasons.

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

[[folder:Literature ]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

** ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': Ares needs to bring in an outsider and an innocent to have sacrificed on Themyscira to pervert and destroy the barrier he chooses Steve since he cannot drag in someone who is not a soldier and he has to pull in someone alone over the sea, like a lone pilot, and because Steve is so good hearted Ares' cannot corrupt and influence his mind despite him being a soldier meaning he fits the requirement of innocence.

[[folder: Literature ]]

!! Examples:

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* In the volume of ''Comicbook/MyBoyfriendIsAMonster'' with vampires, much of the plot centers around a book that essentially is a vampires almanac, predicting which humans provide the most energy when sacrificed at the best time. [[spoiler:The protagonists use this to scramble to save [[DistressedDude their teacher]], when they find out he's the next in line in the almanac.]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', Voldemort casts a ritual requiring the blood of an enemy. As Wormtail points out, nearly the entire wizarding world qualifies, but of course he wanted Harry Potter's, [[spoiler:to circumvent his [[ThePowerOfLove protective ward]].]]

** In ''Summer Knight'', [[spoiler:Aurora]] needs [[spoiler:Lilly, because she holds the power of the summer knight, and killing her at that time and place will give the power to the Winter Court.]]
** In ''Blood Rites'', [[spoiler:Lord Raith]] needs to kill both [[spoiler:Harry and Thomas]] to break the curse [[spoiler:their mother laid on him, because it's tied to her bloodline]].
** [[spoiler:The Red Court needs to kill Harry's daughter so that the spell will trace her bloodline back and hit both Harry and his grandfather Ebenezar, one of the most powerful wizards in the world.]]

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]

* In ''Series/{{Angel}}'', the demon Yeshka has the pretty exacting sacrifice requirements that people have to sacrifice their daughter, she has to be a [[VirginSacrifice virgin]], and it has to be done on the father's fiftieth birthday.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Girl in the Fireplace", the clockwork androids pursue Reinette because [[spoiler:they are using human body parts to repair their ship, and they think hers will be the best for the job because the ship is named after her. They also need her to be the same age as the ship, as they believe that her brain will be ready]].
* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', casting a Dark Curse requires you to sacrifice the person you most love. The implications and loopholes of this are explored repeatedly through the show.

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', the first generation of the Court hits upon a self-defense scheme that involves killing a particular person, and immediately afterwards splitting the soul of their grieving lover, so the negative parts of their soul become an angry superpowered spirit, trapped at the place they died. The man who came up with this scheme insisted that the chosen targets were the only ones who would work as a sacrifice, but it's implied that he also selected these two because [[spoiler:[[IfICantHaveYou one of them was the target of his unrequited affection]]]].

[[folder: Video games ]]