History Main / ViolenceDetector

* Literature/{{Discworld}}: [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Sgt. Angua]] has used her hypersensitive werewolf nose to point out suspicious figures and find corpses on many occasions. The price is that the smell of blood is overpowering, hampering her around messy murders.

* In the fifth season of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' [[OccultLawFirm Wolfram and Hart]] had psychics with this capability, and Angel used them to examine a house where a relevant atrocity had taken place years ealier, on the pretext of being potential buyers.

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This trope is of course the bane of murderers everywhere, and can be used to easily point out a guilty party where guilt is hard to place. An evildoer effectively has a RedRightHand (in some cases literally) to a character with the proper sensitivities. Which is why limitations are often in place to keep the heroes from figuring it out right away.

When a person with this ability senses their own past wrongdoings, it can lead to an OutDamnedSpot. Often in the repertoire of an EvilDetectingDog.

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A less fantastical way of detecting violence works by the smell of blood, and thus is a common ability for beings with [[TheNoseKnows powerful noses]] (dogs, [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent (were)wolves)]] or an affinity for finding blood ([[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]]). This makes sense as blood has very distinctive and pervasive odour, has the tendency to seep into materials, and is extremely hard to clean up completely. However, the blood here may well be metaphorical, especially if the bloodshed happened many centuries ago or a concerted effort has been made to clean it up using the right equipment. As such, this ability often goes beyond what natural senses can explain.

* [[FanNickName BB]] from ''WebComic/TheBullysBully'' has this ability. Whenever a bully is picking on or torturing someone, she can feel their pain and often runs in to help the victim.

* In the movie ''Film/{{Hero}}'', the Emperor is able to detect the title character's murderous impulses, shown to the audience as a repeated blast of wind threatening to extinguish the rows of candles separating the two.

* The Kirin in ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'' are so sensitive to blood (prolonged exposure to it can kill them) that merely being in the presence of someone who regularly commits violence (most usually a soldier) can make them feel ill.

* In ''Manga/ZettaiKarenChildren'', this is one of the more frequently-seen uses for Shiho's {{Psychometry}} ability. She is shown, on at least on occasion, to help the police with unsolved crimes (her dad is the Chief of Police) simply by touching various objects related to murders, and then giving them a whole list of details - premeditated or not, identity of the killer, his mindset at the time, ect. She can also immediately identify a dangerous person at a touch. Unfortunately, this has left her constantly exposed to the darkest corners of the human mind since an early age, and as a result, she's frighteningly cynical and downright cold at times.