History Main / TheWorseningCurseMark

* VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition: In the Trespasser DLC the [[spoiler: Anchor]] has become unstable and could potential kill its wielder.

* DragonAgeInquisition: In the Trespasser DLC the [[spoiler: Anchor]] has become unstable and could potential kill its wielder.

* Rayla's wrist binding from ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' tightens gradually [[spoiler:the longer she goes without killing Prince Ezran]], cutting off circulation and causing her hand to turn slowly dark purple as a result. It's painful, it's a problem, and as it gets worse, it threatens to take off her hand entirely...

See also PowerTattoo for marks that grant their bearers some abilities, MarkedChange for ones that merely indicate the current status (like SuperMode) and MarkOfTheBeast for EvilMakeover variety.

* Literature/HarryPotter's scar counts; not only is his scar an indication that he survived the Killing Curse, but [[AcheyScars it twinges]] whenever Voldemort is feeling something particularly strong. The connection to Voldemort becomes stronger as the series continues.

* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones'', the Prince gains yellow glowing marks on his arm where the Chainwhip is embedded in his arm, and gains a Dark Prince persona. Over the course of the game, the corruption slowly spreads up his arm and into his shoulder.

* When Moon Butterfly from ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' used Eclipsa's destruction spell to blast off Toffee's finger and frighten away his armies, blackened veins appear on her arms, forcing her to wear gloves the rest of the time. This grows steadily worse overtime, the process speeding up exponentially after [[spoiler:Moon is overcome with grief and anger when she thinks Star dies.]] Eclipsa's hand is also dyed black, possibly due to her extensive practice in the dark arts.

* Vimes' scar in ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'', which he gets from tearing his hand open on a rusty nail and gets eerily inflamed whenever Vimes get angry over some injustice. The scar turns out [[spoiler:to be the entry point where the Summoning Dark came into his body, and after being burned by burning oil in same location the scar turns into a picture of the Summoning Dark.]]

A birthmark, scar, subcutaneous pigmentation, magical tattoo, or otherwise permanent/semi-permanent mark on a character that somehow ends up being significant to the plot BY A CHANGE IN IT or something unusual that it does; it can't just be static. Disappearance of the mark, the stoppage of its unusual function, or a discovery that the mark was never real is part of this trope. Normal healing of a wound to a scar does not count; a wound that does not heal due to magic or poison may, as long is it does more than just not heal (i.e., bleeds excessively when the inflicter of the wound is near, etc.). Subtrope of DistinguishingMark. With examples, please include the noteworthy change in the mark.

[[folder: AnimeAndManga]]
* ''Manga/{{InuYasha}}'': Miroku's [[PowerOfTheVoid Wind]] [[PowerPalms Tunnel]] functions as such. Once a year, it will expand and grow more powerful, until it breaches the confines of his palm and consumes him. It can also be damaged by outside sources like blades, which accelerates its growth even further.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' Sasuke's Curse Seal acts as this immediately after being applied. When his will or chakra weaken enough, it spread across his skin like a rash, causing additional weakness and pain. It is later upgraded to [[MarkOfTheBeast allow him to draw on its power without the side effects]].

* The burn-like curse left on Ashitaka's forearm by the corrupted boar god Nago in ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' is what drives him to leave home and search for a cure before it spreads up his arm and kills him. As a [[CursedWithAwesome beneficial side effect]], it also grants him SuperStrength. At the climax of the movie, the spread accelerates until it's visibly crawling across his body, and even spreading onto his love interest, San.

[[folder: {{Film}}]]
* Jack Sparrow's "Black Spot" in the ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest''. It disappears and reappears as his debt to Jones is settled or still needs to be satisfied.

[[folder: {{Literature}}]]

[[folder: LiveActionTV]]

* PlayedForComedy in ''Series/{{NewsRadio}}''. An impostor once performed an appendectomy on Max. When the imposter shows up at the station, Max proclaims the scar "knows he's near."

[[folder: VideoGames]]

[[folder: WesternAnimation]]
* Used in the ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'' episode [[Recap/DanVsS2E28DanVsTheMonsterUnderTheBed "The Monster Under the Bed"]].

[[folder: RealLife]]

[[folder: TruthInTelevision]]
* Skin cancer. If one of your {{Beauty Mark}}s turns color, gets bigger, or otherwise starts looking wonky, see an oncologist pronto!
* And, of course, if any sort of wound doesn't heal the way it's supposed to (i.e., scab over with minimal scarring), it's probably infected.
[[/folder]]

* Ashitaka's curse mark (caused by touching a demon) in ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', which will spread throughout his entire body and kill him unless he can find a way to get rid of it. Now the TropeCodifier as Franchise/HarryPotter's scar is better known as a DistinguishingMark and a BirthmarkOfDestiny.

* In ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Nanoha Force]]'', the Blue Wings "tattoo" appears somewhere on the body of a person infected with Eclipse and grows larger as the infection progresses.

[[AC: AnimeAndManga]]

[[AC: {{Film}}]]

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

[[AC: TruthInTelevision]]

[[AC: VideoGames]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

* Jack Sparrow's "Black Spot" in the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean: Dead Man's Chest''. It disappears and reappears as his debt to Jones is settled or still needs to be satisfied.

* Ashitaka's curse mark in ''Anime/PrincessMononoke''; the worse it gets, the worse the curse is. Now the TropeCodifier as Franchise/HarryPotter's scar is better known as a DistinguishingMark and a BirthmarkOfDestiny.

* In ''{{Naruto}}'' Sasuke's Curse Seal acts as this immediately after being applied. When his will or chakra weaken enough, it spread across his skin like a rash, causing additional weakness and pain. It is later upgraded to [[MarkOfTheBeast allow him to draw on its power without the side effects]].
* The curse mark on Alan in {{MAR}}. If it goes all the way up his neck, he becomes a zombie slave.
* In ''[[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Nanoha Force]]'', the Blue Wings "tattoo" appears somewhere on the body of a person infected with Eclipse and grows larger as the infection progresses.

* Oga from ''{{Beelzebub}}'' gets a red mark along his arm that shows his connection with Baby Beel. It is a plot point in early episodes that he must live a peaceful life to remove the mark and go back to his old life. [[StatusQuoIsGod It]] [[RunningGag doesn't]] [[BloodKnight take]].

* Ashitaka's curse mark in ''PrincessMononoke''; the worse it gets, the worse the curse is. Now the TropeCodifier as Franchise/HarryPotter's scar is better known as a DistinguishingMark and a BirthmarkOfDestiny.
* Jack Sparrow's "Black Spot" in the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean: Dead Man's Chest''. It disappears and reappears as his debt to Jones is settled or still needs to be satisfied.

* In ''[[ForgottenRealms Azure Bonds]]'' the eponymous pseudo-tattoo, among other functions, linked Alias to her bosses via their symbols, and there was a reason behind one empty place in their pattern. These vanished one by one when those masters were removed from the scene permanently, and later a mark of the goddess looking after Alias appeared. So when in the third book an old symbol returned...
* Artek "the Knife" Ar'talen in ''[[ForgottenRealms Escape from Undermountain]]'' was given a magical tattoo after he was "[[RecruitingTheCriminal employed]]" via set-up escape by a noble. It mirrored the sun and moon position in the sky and was set to release a killing spell at the pre-set time -- as an incentive to complete his mission and return for removal before the [[IncrediblyLamePun deadline]].
* In ''TheDresdenFiles,'' a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Red Court vampire]] doesn't fully turn the moment they're infected, but the first time they kill through feeding; they can even use some vampire powers and drink blood to heal and "recharge" without losing their human selves and becoming evil. The Fellowship of St. Giles, a group of these half-vampires, have tattoos that help control their bloodlust. By default, they're invisible, turn black when the half-vampire's using their enhanced abilities and getting hungry, and bright red when those urges are getting out of their control.

* PlayedForComedy in {{NewsRadio}}. An impostor once performed an appendectomy on Max. When the imposter shows up at the station, Max proclaims the scar "knows he's near."

* Used in the DanVs episode [[Recap/DanVsS2E28DanVsTheMonsterUnderTheBed "The Monster Under the Bed"]].
* Invoked in the short-lived children's series ''SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat''. In one episode, Sheegwa, Sagwa's younger sister, is discovered to have a star-shaped marking on her fur that is "the mark of the princess", indicating that Sheegwa is actually a princess. Unfortunately, the mark turns out to be dirt.

* Literature/HarryPotter's scar counts; not only is his scar an indication that he survived the Killing Curse, but [[AcheyScars it twinges]] whenever Voldemort is feeling something particularly strong.

* Aang's arrow tattoos in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' glow when he has entered the Avatar State, and also indicate a MarkedChange.

* Ashitaka's curse mark in ''PrincessMononoke''; the worse it gets, the worse the curse is. Now the TropeCodifier as HarryPotter's scar is better known as a DistinguishingMark and a BirthmarkOfDestiny.

* HarryPotter's scar counts; not only is his scar an indication that he survived the Killing Curse, but [[AcheyScars it twinges]] whenever Voldemort is feeling something particularly strong.

* Skin cancer. If one of your {{Beauty Mark}}s turns color, gets bigger, or otherwise starts looking wonky, see a dermatologist pronto!

* In ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Secret Rings]]'', Sonic is scarred with an arrow of flame. It shrinks with his lifespan; the smaller the flame is, the less time he has to finish [[MacGuffinDeliveryService gathering MacGuffins]]. Right before the final boss, the camera has to zoom in for you to even ''see'' it. [[spoiler: When Shahra [[TakingtheBullet Takes The Bullet]], this thing gets subverted all the way to Jahannam; [[EleventhHourSuperpower Darkspine Sonic]] has his [[FantasticFour flame on]], and [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge he is]] '''''[[ExtremeMeleeRevenge not]]''''' [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge scared of using it]]. ]]