[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2212421887_280c9236f1.jpg]]
-->''Will all great Neptune's ocean [[OutDamnedSpot wash this blood]]\\
Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather\\
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,\\
Making the green one red.''
--->--'''''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''''', Act II; scene ii.

One way to show LudicrousGibs without [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank breaking the laws of biology]] is to have a character die in a body of water, thus diluting the blood and causing it to billow out in clouds. As a bonus, this tends to look very [[FauxSymbolism symbolic... of nothing in particular]].

Of course, if this happens in the open sea, the probability that someone will mention [[ThreateningShark sharks]], and their ability to smell [[MysteriousAnimalSenses a single red blood cell from 6 million light years away]], rapidly approaches 1[[note]]Although experiments proved that sharks don't go for human blood. Fortunate, isn't it?[[/note]].

Another common appearance is in an OutDamnedSpot hand-washing, or a post-carnage ShowerOfAngst.

In a case of RealityIsUnrealistic, real blood diluted in a large volume of water will actually turn it ''yellow,'' the color of blood plasma (the liquid portion of the blood), not pink/red. However, for small amounts, the picture above is accurate.

A related phenomenon above the waterline is PinkMist. Can be a symptom of {{Gorn}}. A BathSuicide or DeadlyBath will likely {{invoke|dtrope}} this trope.

Compare BloodBath, where circumstances see blood ''substituted'' for water.

Not to be confused with ''FanFic/BloodInTheWater''.

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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:{{Anime}} & {{Manga}}]]
* In the Yakuza arc of ''BlackLagoon'', the resident JerkAss gets his hands sliced off (with a ''[[KatanasAreJustBetter sword]]'', in a [[RuleOfCool modern-day setting]]) and is held underwater to bleed to death. [[{{Gorn}} Yes.]] He had it coming, though.
* The ending sequence of ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' begins by showing blood which has just fallen into the water.
* A RunningGag in ''Manga/OnePiece'' is Robin casually pointing out this trope whenever it seems as though someone might be killed particularly messily underwater, much to the discomfort of everyone in earshot.
-->'''Robin''': Well, he's not dead, or the water would be turning red.
* In an early filler episode of ''DGrayMan'', Kanda fights another swordsman in a pool of water and gets slashed across the chest. The last shot of the episode is of his blood spreading through the water around him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* The finale of ''Film/RushHour''.
* Pretty much every death in ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', for [[ThreateningShark obvious reasons]].
* Dieter Stark's death at the hands (claws?) of the compys in ''[[Franchise/JurassicPark The Lost World: Jurassic Park]]''. Also, Robert Burke's death has parts of this, as you see his blood flowing down the waterfall.
* ''Film/{{Psycho}}'', the shower scene (chocolate syrup!).
* ''TheGoldenVoyageOfSinbad''. After Prince Koura is mortally wounded while in the Fountain of Destiny, the Fountain's waters turn red to symbolize his blood loss.
* The finale of ''TheOmegaMan'', where Charlton Heston dies in a [[CrucifiedHeroShot Christ-like pose]] in a blood-filled fountain. His blood is also the world's salvation, to really push the symbolism.
* The end of ''Film/SympathyForMrVengeance'' has one of the characters killing another in a shallow river and then drag him ashore.
* Occurs in the film ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla''. In the first battle between Godzilla and his robot counterpart, Godzilla is shot several times by Mechagodzilla and falls into the ocean. The ocean turns red with Godzilla's blood but, [[spoiler:he gets better.]]
* ''SavingPrivateRyan'' has many soldiers die before reaching shore as bullets hit them below the waterline. By the end of the scene, the entire surf is red.
* Several movie versions of ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' do this with [[spoiler: Gatsby's death in his swimming pool.]]
* Several times in ''Film/TheBeach''.
* In ''Fool's Gold'', an enemy scuba diver is sucked into a current in an underground cave that feeds a geyser. When the geyser erupts, it's red with his blood.
* [[spoiler:Connor Rooney]] is shot in the bath in ''RoadToPerdition''.
* [[spoiler:Tony Montana]]'s death at the end of ''Film/{{Scarface}}''.
* All ''{{Piranha}}'' films.
* In ''Film/TheGodfather Part II'', a character commits BathSuicide, Roman fashion. We only see the aftermath, including liberal helpings of blood on the walls for good measure.
* In ''Film/BlackSwan'', blood mysteriously drips into the bathtub over Nina's face as she submerges herself, right before one of the film's many [[JumpScare Jump Scares]]...but it might not have really happened.
* The Crazy 88 fight in ''KillBill'' ends up with several of the {{mooks}}, and Johnny Mo, lying dead in the restaurant's now-crimson ornamental water features.
* When a slasher movie has a name like ''Film/ThePool'', it is to be expected.
* Discussed towards the end of ''GetHimToTheGreek'', when the [[TradeYourPassionForGlory burned out]] and increasingly suicidal rock star [[BritishRockStar Aldous Snow]] breaks his arm diving into a pool from a hotel roof, then has a tearful conversation with Aaron about how destructive his [[HookersAndBlow lifestyle]] is and that it's not working for him. All the while astute viewers may notice that in the background the pool is getting increasingly bloody. Aaron mentions it at the end of their conversation and asks Aldous if he's ok. Aldous shrugs it off, saying that a little blood looks like much more than it really is in water.
* In the {{BBC}}'s "Hollow Crown" adaptation of ''Theatre/RichardII'', Bolingbroke beheads two of Richard's supporters on the edge of a lake, such that their heads fall directly into the water.
* The opening credits to ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' feature this heavily, after the ActionPrologue ends with Bond [[spoiler:being shot and falling into a river.]]
* In the American version of TheRing, a horse being transported on a ferry gets loose, jumps overboard and gets washed under the boat. A few seconds later, the boat's wake turns bright red.
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[[folder:Gamebooks]]
* In Book 10 of the ''LoneWolf'' series ''The Dungeons of Torgar'', one of the paths to the end is to travel through the deadly [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Hellswamp]] with the partisan leader Sebb Jarel. Eventually, Lone Wolf and Jarel are ambushed by the dreaded Ciquali (frogmen) and Jarel is dragged underwater.
--->He surfaces, sword in hand, but is pulled under again and this time he does not reappear. A trail of bubbles and a patch of red water drifting with the current are all there is to mark the grave of Sebb Jarel.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'s parallel of his wife's "OutDamnedSpot" is the page quote.
* The first Plague of Egypt in ''Exodus'', when {{God}} turns the River Nile to blood.
* The murder in the LordPeterWimsey novel ''Have His Carcase''.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' has [[spoiler:Hawkfrost]]'s death, and to a lesser extent, [[spoiler:Ashfur]]'s death.
* [[spoiler: Dewey Denounment]] dies in a pond in ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' books
* At the Cornucopia in "Literature/TheHungerGames", after the Career bloodbath.
* A couple of times in ''{{Neverwhere}}'', for example when Door's brother is killed and left in their swimming pool.
* [[spoiler: Gatsby]]'s death is described that way in ''TheGreatGatsby''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In the first episode of the MelrosePlace remake, [[spoiler: Sydney Andrews]] is found murdered in the pool of the apartment complex, with more than a little blood in the water around her.
* In an opening to an episode of ''TheCloser'', there's a blink-and-you-miss-it shot of blood splashing into a swimming pool.
* This trope is rather visible in the first season finale of ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'', when Cromartie disposes of an entire SWAT team into a swimming pool.
* The fifth season opening of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''.
* Bathtub deaths form a major part of the Trinity Killer's pattern in ''Series/{{Dexter}}''.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI Assassin's Creed]]'', Altair's first target, Tamir, [[KickTheDog stabs a man to death]] and lets the body fall into a shallow pool of water which rapidly becomes red with blood.
* The second time [[MonsterClown Jester]] pops up in ''DevilMayCry 3'', he causes a nearby stone fountain (adorned with seemingly decorative gargoyles) to overflow with blood, awakening the now demonic [[OurGargoylesRock Bloodgoyles]] to attack Dante, who [[BadAss isn't very intimidated]].
* In an [[ObviousBeta old build]] of ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', a single spattering of blood would turn an entire body of water red. Even the ocean.
** It's still played straight; blood like any other contaminant lingers where it's washed off, and fills a tile of standing water or flows downstream with running water.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', if you kill a beast in the Borean Tundra, you find yourself covered with blood (which will piss off the local AnimalWrongsGroup). You can wash it off by swimming in water, which will leave behind a "pool of blood." Repeatable fishing quests require you to do this deliberately because the blood attracts a unique type of fish.
* Whenever the shark kills someone underwater in ''JawsUnleashed'' during the cutscenes, it turns a big area in the water blood red.
* The menu screen for ''DeadIsland'' has this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBIyJTHfdPE constantly going on as a background]]. It's actually quite pretty, rather like a lava lamp. Made of blood.
* ''MadWorld'' takes this trope UpToEleven (as it does with just about everything) in the Courtyard, where there is a fountain in the center of the first part of the level. Impaling people on the spiky parts cause that part of the fountain to start spewing blood in the place of water. One of the Deathwatch Challenges is actually nailing a body on every spike on the fountain.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The swimming pool scene in the video to Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheWall''.
* FlorenceAndTheMachine's "Rabbit Heart" refers to this in the context of a HumanSacrifice.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
* Literature/TheBible had the Nile turning to blood. While the blood wasn't from anyone dying, several movie versions have the blood fanning out from one source (usually Moses), giving off this effect as the transformation ensues.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* TruthInTelevision in that people who are sensitive to seeing blood will often do fine until they go to wash the wound and see the red spatters in the sink.
** Similarly, cutting yourself in a swimming pool can be a harrowing experience.
** Or having your gums bleed while brushing your teeth. Sink looks like a murder scene.
*** The worst is after getting your wisdom teeth removed, the holes will often bleed profusely, resulting in spitting huge mouthfuls of blood into the sink.
** When doctors are treating people who have cut themselves badly and ask them to estimate how much blood they've lost, they take this trope into account, knowing that people who have bled into water are likely to grossly overestimate.
* Not actually blood, but; Red Tide, a harmful algal bloom that turns water red and can kill fish and other sea-dwelling life.
** When the carbon dioxide in Lake Nyos suddenly erupted from the water and killed nearly 1800 people, the disturbed iron turned the water's surface red.
* Nicking yourself while shaving ''in the shower'' (more frequent for women than men) means that the blood takes much longer to clot than usual. "Ow! I'll need a bandaid" will rapidly become "HOLY CRAP WHY IS THE BATHTUB RED?!"
* There was an incident at SeaWorld where an orca attacked another orca during a show. The pictures are horrifying.
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