Line #60 Main/HolyWater


1	[[quoteright:275:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/holywater.JPG]]
2	A staple of works dealing with divine powers and the supernatural, Holy Water is a substance outwardly resembling regular water but provided with considerable power against evil entities.
3
4	While blessed or sacred water features in many real-life religions, its uses tend to be fairly sedate -- typically, it's used in blessings, consecrations or self-purification, generally by using it to anoint someone or something or by drinking or bathing in it. This, however, isn't often quite dramatic enough for action-heavy works, and very difficult to meaningfully implement in games built chiefly around combat. Consequently, Holy Water tends to have its traditional power to ward off evil expanded into having it literally [[HolyBurnsEvil burn evil beings like acid]], acting less like a sacramental and essentially more like a very exotic gun.
5
6	Creatures generally taken to be pure evil and unnatural, especially [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] and other forms TheUndead, are the most likely to be depicted as vulnerable to Holy Water. Depending on the work, however, any evil or simply crooked person may have reason to fear blessed water.
7
8	On other occasions, Holy Water may retain more of its real-life associations and be used for things such as protecting places and characters against future or magical harm or to provide other blessings. It may also heal and rejuvenate those who drink it, and in videogames it may likewise provide stat boosts as a consumable item.
9
10	May be used by the ChurchMilitant, VampireHunter or HunterOfMonsters, or as part of DepletedPhlebotinumShells.
11
12	Contrast {{Hellfire}}, Holy Water's opposite number in both elemental and sacred terms, and SacredFlames, which is just opposite in elemental terms. See also KillItWithWater and HealItWithWater, both of which may overlap with uses of Holy Water (and in both cases, compare MakingASplash).
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14	----
15	!!Examples:
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17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
20	* ''Manga/BlueExorcist'': Holy water acts like acid to demons, and so it also affects the half-demon main character. This leads to a rather amusing scene where the Exwires are soaked down with the stuff to protect them, and the person doing the soaking very purposefully avoids Rin, awkwardly explaining it as "He's allergic to holy water." Which is true, technically speaking. Later, it's revealed that holy water's creation doesn't involve much in the way of holiness, as it's synthesized from crystalized bits of Armumahel, giving it power to harm demons on the spiritual plane.
21	* ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'': [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demons]] are weak to holy water. The [[DepletedPhlebotinumShells bullets]] in Rosette's guns use holy water instead of an explosive charge and, in the anime, Chrono burns his hand once when he attempts to use it against a demonic enemy.
22	* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'': In Chapter 11, when the party is attacked by a large group of spirits, Senshi makes some holy water on the fly by creatively interpreting the items they have on hand with ''[[EmergencyMultifaithPrayer any]]'' [[EmergencyMultifaithPrayer possible religious background]] and randomly throwing them together to create "deluxe multicultural holy water". He then ties the jar of it to a rope, and ''swings the holy water at the spirits like a flail'' to dispel them. It not only works, the jar is frozen (since [[EvilIsDeathlyCold the spirits are so cold]]), turning the holy water into tasty holy sorbet.
23	* ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'': During Issei's EngagementChallenge against Riser Phenex, he starts gaining the upper hand by using religious items against Riser, including a Holy Cross and a vial of Holy Water, which are harmful to Devils. While after being reborn as a Devil he shouldn't be able to touch these objects, [[LoopholeAbuse he gets this around by sacrificing his left arm to turn it into a dragon's, since while Devils are harmed by holy items, Dragons are not]].
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Comic Books]]
27	* ''ComicBook/AthenaVoltaire'': In ''Athena Voltaire and the Vampire Queen'', Athena kills the titular queen's daughters with a concealed vial of holy water, which causes them to [[KillItWithFire burst into flame]].
28	* ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'': An early arc has one of Constantine's friends die, his soul forfeit to the First of the Fallen. Said friend had made a DealWithTheDevil to amass a collection of fine wines, and found a spring in Ireland blessed by Saint Patrick himself, which he used to magic to transform into the best beer Constantine ever tasted. As the First shows up to collect, John offers a toast... and once the First has drunk, upsets the pentacle, reverting the beer to holy water in the First's stomach before dropping him in the spring.
29	* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'': Holy items are in great demand on Resurrection because just about everyone is evil and fighting everyone else, making it a great weapon (for instance, a seraphim in a cage is considered the equivalent of an antimatter bomb). The Discordians (evil Reptilians with a Renaissance-England aesthetic) have a monopoly on holy water thanks to a pipeline that brings it in straight from the Vatican. Unfortunately, its powers have greatly diminished due to a number of LightIsNotGood-type scandals, most of it involving {{Pedophile Priest}}s.
30	* In ''ComicBook/TopTen: The Forty-Niners'', the Maid, a superpowered Joan of Arc expy, has various religious powers. In the climax, as Neopolis faces a mass attack by vampires, she turns the tide by blessing the city's reservoir, causing every hydrant in the city to give out holy water.
31	* ''ComicBook/XMen'': During an encounter with an army of vampires, Cyclops arranges for a priest to bless Iceman, reasoning that any ice constructs he manufactures would then be made of frozen holy water.
32	* ''ComicBook/Zatanna2010'': In issue #4, Mammon sends a demon trio that are made out of {{Hellfire}} to kill Zatanna, and their fire cannot be put out by normal means. Zatanna finds a priest and has him bless the hotel pool, and is now able to destroy the demons by blasting them with the holy water.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
36	* ''ComicStrip/{{Nodwick}}'': Piffany's favorite weapon against the undead is her trusty [=H2Oly=] Sacred Soaker. She also kills a giant demon with a lake full of holy water.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Fan Works]]
40	* ''Fanfic/AvengersOfTheRing'': In ''Methteilien'', when [[spoiler:Gandalf and Danvers confront Morgoth in his armoury, Gandalf is able to temporarily bless the ''lava'' in the room to use as a weapon against Morgoth]].
41	* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': Blessed water can wash away enchantments and dispel conjured equipment.
42	* ''Fanfic/FiveNightsAtFreddysWorldUpdate0'': Bill stocks up on holy water and then uses it on Toy Freddy, burning him badly enough for Bill to escape his attack.
43	* ''Fanfic/AGameOfCatAndCat'': "(In)Effective Communication" notes how Julius uses his infinite supply of holy water as basically regular water, like to clean dishes or cook meals.
44	* ''Fanfic/NotTheIntendedUseZantetsukenReverse'': Julius owns [[BottomlessMagazines a container of holy water that always refills itself]]. He uses it for every activity that involves water other than bathing and cleaning the toilet and, as a result, all the water in his body replaced with holy water (as he's been drinking it for over thirty years), and he affected the local water grid to the point that Arikado decides to steer clear of it when Julius is using it.
45	-->'''Julius:''' I think I have holy water ice cubes in there somewhere...
46	* ''Fanfic/ProfessorLaytonVsPhoenixWrightTheFrigidMelody'': The water of Faragran is said to have some kind of supernatural energy, and Jack Hill comments that vegetables grown using the water are larger than usual ones.
47	* ''Fanfic/SnapesWorstMemory'': Petunia splashes Severus with holy water when he accompanies them to the church, although it doesn't actually do anything to him.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
51	* ''Film/Constantine2005'': Holy water burns the skin of half-demons and makes them much more vulnerable to attack. John makes use of this by keeping small glass ampules of it on his person, and later has his sidekick, Chaz, consecrate the reservoir that feeds the sprinkler system of the office building currently filled with half-breeds. They he just strolls in, threatens all half-demons with deportation, and dramatically sets off the sprinklers with a lighter.
52	* ''Film/TheDevilsAdvocate'': At one point, [[LouisCypher John Milton]] hangs out in the entrance hall to a cathedral, and dips a finger in the baptismal font, causing the entire fountain to boil, but seemingly causing him no pain.
53	* ''Film/{{Dogma}}'': Bethany has the power to consecrate things. She uses this during the fight with Azrael and his minions by blessing some nearby sinks, causing them to give out holy water, which burns Azrael's demonic minions.
54	* ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'': The preacher has lost faith in God and has to get it back so he can transform ordinary water into holy water so it can be used to fight off vampires.
55	* ''Film/GonjiamHuantedAsylum'': Once the group goes inside the titular asylum, Charlotte fills a small bowl with holy water and set a camera up in front of it, the aim being to record any reactions the water has to any paranormal activity in the asylum. [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, the holy water either starts boiling, or collecting rain water (it's hard to tell).]]
56	* ''Film/Hellboy2004'': Holy water is one of the ingredients in the [[DepletedPhlebotinumShells custom revolver rounds]] Hellboy creates for hunting demons, alongside white oak, [[SilverHasMysticPowers silver shavings]], and clover.
57	* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' has the water in the Grail Chamber. Depending on whether it is drunk from the real Grail or one of the decoys, it will either give life or destroy it.
58	* ''Film/VanHelsing'': The titular character dips his automatic crossbow drum into the holy water at a church to make the bolts more effective when firing at vampires. His assistant Carl also carries a flask of it.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
62	* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': Holy water is very potent. It frequently does a die's worth of Stamina damage to the undead and demons, which can be well over a quarter, half or even ''all'' of the monster's Stamina points, depending on what you're splashing with the water.
63	* ''Literature/LoneWolf'': Flasks of Holy Water can be found in Book 4, ''The Chasm of Doom''. Throwing a flask at the [[EvilWeapon Dagger of Vashna]] makes the water explode violently. Lone Wolf will lose 3 Endurance points, while the villain who was holding the dagger suffers far worse: [[ManOnFire he is on fire]], [[AnArmAndALeg one arm was torn off by the blast]], ''[[EyeScream and his eyes are gone]]''.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Jokes]]
67	* A classic one:
68	-->'''Q:''' How do you make Holy Water?\
69	'''A:''' You boil the hell out of it.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Literature]]
73	* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'': In the first book's very first scene, we see Artemis blackmailing a [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fairy healer]] into giving him her copy of The Book of the People by poisoning her bottle of wine with holy water and offering an antidote in exchange for the book.
74	* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': In ''The Last Ditch'', a daemon invades the 495th's transport while it's approaching their next warzone. The regimental chaplain saves the day by throwing vials of holy water like grenades. It causes the demon's flesh to melt as if it had been covered in acid. He's quite proud of its efficacy since he'd blessed the water himself.
75	* ''Literature/DeadBeat'': Harry uses holy water balloons against several [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Black Court vampires]] when he and Butters are ambushed. Evidently, he keeps a box of them in his car for just such an occasion.
76	* ''Literature/FeetOfClay'': Vimes implies the Watch made anti-vampire candles by soaking the wicks in holy water and letting the water evaporate, leaving only holiness. [[spoiler:He's bluffing, but the fact that the vampire he's confronting knows what Vimes is insinuating [[INeverSaidItWasPoison serves as an admission of guilt]], since the vampire is involved in an assassination plot doing something similar with arsenic-laced candles.]]
77	* ''Literature/{{Fey}}'': Holy water dissolves Fey. Even a cloth that's been stored close to some holy water turns out to be a slow killer. The twist is that [[spoiler:holy water is only deadly to fey because a human who was desperate for a weapon threw some at an attacking fey, and inadvertently used a forgotten magic to transform it into [[WeaponOfXSlaying a weapon that would only work against them]]]].
78	* ''Literature/GoodOmens'': Holy water, of the real-life blessed-by-a-Christian-priest kind, is extremely dangerous to demons. Crowley, a demon himself, handles a bucket of holy water like it's nuclear waste, and uses it in a BucketBoobyTrap when threatened by some coworkers.
79	-->'''Hastur:''' ...Holy water. You bastard. [[EvenEvilHasStandards You complete]] ''[[EvenEvilHasStandards bastard]]''.
80	* ''Literature/JohannesCabal'':
81	** Holy water is infused with divine power and reacts explosively with the presence of evil. On one occasion, Johannes deals with a powerful EvilSorcerer by trapping him in running water and dragging a bishop out of bed to bless the entire river until the sorcerer explodes.
82	** {{Inverted\|Trope}} with unholy water, which is tainted by evil and inflicts nasty [[ImHavingSoulPains Soul Pains]] on anyone foolish enough to drink it. The EvilSorcerer Umtak Ktharl is so depraved that his tomb transforms the pure mountain stream running through it into unholy water.
83	* ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'': Holy water is used to fight against vampires, since it burns them like acid.
84	* ''Literature/TheNekropolisArchives'': Some types of Darkfolk, including demons and vampires, are burned by holy water, which as a result is highly illegal in Nekropolis, although some people with underworld connections are still able to get hold of it. The protagonist, Matthew Richter, sometimes arms himself with a squirt gun filled with holy water.
85	* ''Literature/TheSagaOfDarrenShan'': Darren attempts to use a cross and a small vial of the stuff to defend himself from Mr. Crepsley. The latter responds by snatching the two items out of his hands and mockingly crumpling the cross up before drinking the holy water.
86	* ''Literature/SummerOfNight'': The BigBad... [[EldritchAbomination thing]]... is hurt by holy water. Its servants dismiss this as a habit picked up during its time in the Vatican, leaving open the question of whether Christianity or God really has anything to do with it.
87	* ''Literature/UniversalMonsters'': Used late in book 1 against Dracula and Devin, causing the latter's flesh to bubble as if hit by acid when she gets splashed by it. It also heals Angela, who's been partially transformed, when it's poured down her throat and on her wounds.
88	* ''Literature/TheWerewolf1890'': During White Fell's first visit, Sweyn mockingly mentions that sprinkling a werewolf's hands and feet with holy water will kill them. During her second visit, Christian rushes out to the church almost three leagues away to fetch holy water. When he returns his hesitation allows White Fell to escape the house before he can hit her with the water and the flask smashes against the door instead. Despite his understanding that White Fell will be back, he does not get any more holy water, but this is not an issue when White Fell kills him and his blood spills onto her feet. His blood, lost in an attempt to save his brother, is even better than holy water for killing werewolves.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
92	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': This is a recurring staple in both the original show and its spinoff ''Series/{{Angel}}'', where it affects vampires similarly to acid. "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E12Helpless Helpless]]" shows holy water being used as Buffy's primary weapon as she is deprived of her powers and pitted against a particularly crazy vampire as a rite of passage on her eighteenth birthday. She defeats him by tricking him into taking some pills he's addicted to, washed down with holy water.
93	** At one point in ''Buffy'', Drusilla tortures Angel by tying him to a bed and slowly pouring holy water on his chest.
94	** At one point in ''Angel'', during a demonic test, the titular vampire has to reach his whole arm into a font of holy water to retrieve a key at the bottom. He screams during the entire ordeal as it boils his arm.
95	* ''Series/GoodOmens2019'': Holy water is presented as the opposite substance to {{Hellfire}}; whereas Hellfire is associated with Hell and will destroy angels, holy water is aligned with Heaven and will dissolve any demon that comes in contact with it. In both cases, it [[KilledOffForReal kills outright]] rather than cause "mere" [[FightingAShadow discorporation]].
96	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Demons are highly susceptible to holy water, as you'd expect. In this instance, the characters make their own by blessing regular water with a rosary and a Latin chant.
97	** One of Bobby's favorite tricks is beer with just a little bit of the stuff -- if his visitor is human, they'll never even notice. If they're not, they burn. At one point, the main characters assault a building full of demons by consecrating the sprinkler system.
98	** The season one episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS01E21Salvation Salvation]]" sees John bless the contents of a rooftop water tower in preparation for a showdown with demons inside the building.
99	** In season three's "[[Recap/SupernaturalS03E12JusInBello Jus in Bello]]", Sam and Dean are held in a cell in a police station, which is then besieged by demons. They prepare for battle by holifying the only water avaiable: the toilet.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
103	* Blessed water has a role in numerous Abrahamic faiths, although its use in Christianity is the most widespread and notorious in Western culture.
104	** In Christianity, holy water is defined as water that has been blessed by an ordained priest during a specific ceremony. While holy water ''is'' used in exorcisms or to ward off evil influences, its primary uses are a lot less dramatic -- blessed water is often used in baptisms and blessings or sprinkled during Mass. In Catholic churches it's common to keep basins of it for worshippers to dip their fingers into before crossing themselves when entering the church, and some adherents of Eastern churches drink holy water to purify themselves. That being said, it's often assigned considerable power in popular superstition -- it was common in the middle ages for people to steal holy water to use in occult ceremonies.
105	** There are very specific rules concerning holy water's production, keeping and disposal. To begin with, only pure water can be blessed -- regular rain or river water cannot usually be made holy, and seawater never can. Holy water can also be extended by mixing it with regular, purified water, but only if the latter is lesser in volume than that which is already blessed. Holy water cannot be disposed of down regular plumbing, but must be poured out onto the ground, either directly or through specially made basins.
106	** Some Anglicans and Catholics pour blessed [[SaltSolution salt]] into water in the pattern of a cross when blessing the water.
107	** The Book of Numbers describes how women accused of infidelity would be made to drink a special mixture of water and dust. If they were guilty, this would make them miscarry any future pregnancy; if they were innocent, nothing would happen.
108	** Certain UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}ic traditions prescribe the drinking of healing water, generally either mixed with dust from sacred locations, blessed by an imam or both, to cure sicknesses of the body and of the soul. Water from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_Well Zamzam Well]] in the Great Mosque of Mecca (according to tradition, dug by [[Literature/TheBible Hagar while in exile with Ishmael]]) is especially sacred; Muslims who have been on pilgrimage to Mecca will often bring back bottles of the water to give as gifts to friends and family to drink or to sprinkle around their homes for good luck, and it's not uncommon for Muslim couples to give out vials of Zamzam water as wedding favors. Even among the kinds of fundamentalist Muslims who frown upon the other forms of holy water as forms of idolatry, Zamzam water is considered, if not holy, than of vital symbolic importance to the faith.
109	* In Ancient Greece, holy water was called ''chernips'', created by extinguishing a torch from a shrine in a basin of regular water, and used to bless places and people.
110	* Buddhist traditions often make use of blessed water for a variety of purposes.
111	** Mahayana Buddhists create blessed water by reciting sutras over it, and usually either drink it or use it to bless homes.
112	** Theravada Buddhists bless water through certain specific ceremonies, and afterwards keep it around the home. Oil can also be blessed in this manner.
113	* In Hinduism, holy water generally comes from already holy sources, most notably the Ganges River, and is ritually bathed in for self-purification.
114	* Wicca uses blessed water in several ceremonies, and adherents typically create it by stirring blessed salt into a ritually purified bowl.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
118	* ''TabletopGame/ChivalryAndSorcery'': Holy Water causes 1d10 HitPoints of damage when it touches Evil creatures (meaning undead and lycanthropes) and 1-20 HitPoints of damage to demons.
119	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
120	** Holy water is created when a follower of a benevolent deity infuses regular water with positive energy, and harms evil planar creatures and undead (including the rare non-evil undead, since they're still animated by negative energy). It's also used as part of the ''resurrection'' spell, and some people make use of club-like devices known as aspergilliums crafted to hold small quantities of holy water and release it at the press of a button. The damage dealt by holy waters varies with the edition, but it typically isn't very high unless large quantities are used, which is impractical due to holy water's expense. It's most useful as a quick means of identifying undead or fiends that could be masquerading as ordinary, living people. Sprinkling holy water on a lemure's remains is also one of the few ways of guaranteeing the devil will stay dead instead of being resurrected in a few days.
121	** There's also ''un''holy, axiomatic, and anarchic water, which affect Good/Chaotic/Lawful outsiders the same as holy water affects undead and fiends.
122	** The first layer of the Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia is surrounded by an ocean of holy water. Since it's impossible to enter the plane without first going through the first layer, it makes for an effective defense against fiends.
123	* ''TabletopGame/{{Mordheim}}'': Blessed Water is pure water consecrated by a priest of one of the Empire's gods so that it burns creatures of darkness. Most commonly used by the [[AmazonBrigade Sisters of Sigmar]], and the [[ChurchMilitant Warrior-Priests]] that accompany Witch Hunter warbands, Blessed Water can be thrown at an Undead, Daemon or Possessed model to cause automatic damage if it hits.
124	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': Holy water is defined as water blessed by a cleric or oracle sworn to a Good-aligned deity; besides burning fiends and the undead like acid, it's also used to consecrate areas against evil magic and in liturgical ceremonies. The worshippers of Cayden Cailean, the god of adventurers and alcohol, are known to also bless alcoholic beverages in this manner.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Video Games]]
128	* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac:'' Holy Water is a passive item that causes a bottle of water to spawn behind Isaac and follow him around like a familiar. Taking damage will break the bottle and create a puddle of water that harms non-flying enemies. The ''Repentance'' expansion to the remake changes Holy Water to be thrown at enemies when firing, as well as petrifying enemies caught in the puddle, making it much more useful.
129	* ''VideoGame/BoardGameOnline'': One of the items that can be purchased at the Church is a vial of Holy Water, which the player can drink to cure themselves of the various curses they can get inflicted with during the course of the game. It can also be used against enemies in certain events, like mummies, ghosts, and zombies. Or used to create a HolyHandGrenade.
130	* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': Holy water is a recurring weapon that bursts into flames when thrown, dealing damage to any enemies it comes into contact with. It even serves as the down special for both Simon and Richter in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', where it hurts everyone, including both other instances of Simon and Richter and angelic and divine characters like [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Pit and Palutena]], regardless of the character's morality.
131	* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': The Holy Water item causes minor damage to heroes suffering from the Crimson Curse, and provides uninfected heroes with a buff.
132	* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'': Holy Water has been a standard item throughout the series. It blasts all Mooks nearby when used, and takes a good chunk out of any boss's health-meter. Handy on the lower difficulty-levels, a vital resource on the higher ones.
133	* ''VideoGame/DraculasLegacy'': Isabella uses holy water, mixed with garlic and injected with a syringe, to kill one of the two vampiric twins.
134	* ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'': Holy water is a common material that is used to upgrade wyrmprints. Each bottle grants 500 exp to a single wyrmprint.
135	* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'': Throughout the series holy water is a consumable item that acts as EncounterRepellant against monsters weaker than the party; in games with RandomEncounters it prevents them from occurring, in games with PreexistingEncounters it prevents them from spawning or makes them avoid contact at lower levels than without using it. In some games it can also be used in battle to deal a minuscule amount of damage to a single monster.
136	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': ''Holy Water'' can be crafted by Alchemists out of ''Dravanian Mistletoe'' and ''Dravanian Spring Water''. Its main use is for crafting gear for jobs that are around level 52. There's also ''Hallowed Water'', a variant that's used for crafting level 56 gear. They're both only used within the ''Heavensward'' expansion, which revolves around the theocratic city-state of Ishgard.
137	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'': Pure Water, which is called "Holy Water" in Japan, is an item that will give the user increased resistance when consumed.
138	* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic IV'' has Holy Water as an item. It can be used either to buff the hero drinking it with the spells "Bless" and "Death Ward" or to injure TheUndead. Humorously, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation an Undead Hero can drink it and get the bonuses with no ill effects]]. At one point in Gauldoth Half-Dead's campaign, Gauldoth, a {{Necromancer}}, threatens to punish a ghost by making it swim through holy water after the ghost makes disobedient remarks about Gauldoth's master Kalibarr.
139	* ''VideoGame/MagicAndMayhem'': Holy water is an artefact that casts the ''bury'' spell when used, destroying undead creatures within range that don't make their saving throw.
140	* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterPC'': Ghosts can be put to rest by dousing them with a single vial of Holy Water, which turns them into mist instantly. The game also features TheGrimReaper as a boss (appropriately a FlunkyBoss flanked by multiple ghosts), who requires six doses of Holy Water to defeat.
141	* ''VideoGame/NetHack'': Holy water is one of the most crucial items for its function in blessing and uncursing objects and equipment -- something nearly every successful character will need to use extensively during the game. [[SubvertedTrope Unholy water]] sees some applications as well: sometimes you need to ''un-bless'' things. Priests start the game with four vials of it, and other classes may create it by [[spoiler:among other ways, diluting other potions into water, then dropping them on a co-aligned altar and praying]].
142	* ''VideoGame/NightCreatures'': Holy water is one of the two "grenades" of the game. It generates a lightning bolt that moves across the screen and is the only means to defeat the Witch.
143	* ''VideoGame/NosferatuTheWrathOfMalachi'': In terms of damage per hit, the Holy Water in the Chalice is the most powerful weapon in the game.
144	* ''VideoGame/RealmOfTheMadGod'': Holy water, which is found in the Manor of the Immortals, can be used to cure status effects and heal yourself.
145	* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'':
146	** After completing "Legend's Quest", the player can bless water from a spring in Karamja to create a throwable weapon that has increased accuracy against Demons (as well as a damage boost against some of the weaker types).
147	** As revealed in the Vampyre quest line, [[spoiler:the River Salve was blessed by Saradominist forces to keep the majority of the Vampyres trapped in Morytania. The blessing is weakened by a coalition of Zamorakian and rogue Saradominist forces, but the player eventually succeeds in strengthening it with Guthixian aid.]]
148	** The Temple of Mort'ton minigame requires players to build and maintain a temple against an endless wave of ghasts in order to sanctify olive oil for the purposes of building funeral pyres for the physical bodies of the ghasts (as well as humans who have been infected by vampyrism) to put their souls to rest. It's also used to prepare a canopic jar in "Curse of Arrav".
149	** At one point in "Dimension of Disaster", the player needs to help a disillusioned zombified priest to bless some cooking oil for use in an improvised canopic jar.
150	* ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'': In the episode "Night of the Raving Dead", Sam and Max challenge the vampire Jurgen to a rap battle. However, every time they perform, Jurgen bites Max and copies the routine which results in him winning. To prevent this, the duo have to take some bottle water, turn it into holy water, and have Max drink it before performing. Upon doing this, Jurgen experiences stomach craps once he bites Max which results in him losing the rap battle and some of his popularity with the zombies.
151	* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPGLegendOfTheSevenStars'': The Pure Water item -- referred to as Holy Water in Japanese -- is mostly used when battling undead foes. It will instantly defeat regular undead enemies, and deal a high but fixed amount of damage against undead bosses.
152	* ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'': Holy water-doused arrows are by far the most effective weapon against the undead, although they're extremely rare.
153	* ''VideoGame/VampireSurvivors'': "Santa Water" (an intentional mangling of the Italian ''acqua santa'') is a weapon that causes an increasing number of jars to rain down from on high, leaving behind temporary puddles that damage any enemy that enters them, from ghosts and demons to [[ElementalEmbodiment milk elementals]] and perfectly ordinary bats. [[EquipmentUpgrade Evolving]] the Santa Water turns it into La Borra, with bigger puddles that move on the ground towards the player character, and with enough cooldown and duration upgrades, it can generate a near-permanent damaging aura around the player.
154	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': You can find holy water in crates inside Startholme instance. It hurts the undead.
155	[[/folder]]
156
157	[[folder:Webcomics]]
158	* ''Webcomic/CaseyAndAndy'': One storyline sees Satan squares off against another demon... and he's packing a squirt-gun. As it turns out, it's filled with holy water blessed by a dying pope on Easter Sunday directly over the holy sarcophagus of St. Peter.
159	* ''Webcomic/{{Imp}}'': Holy water is stated to nullify imp's HealingFactor.
160	* ''Webcomic/MysteryBabylon'': One of the three gifts which Red gives to Zero is a squirt bottle full of holy water, which is painful to demons like Kick Girl and Kill Boy.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Web Original]]
164	* ''Website/{{Mortasheen}}'': Stingg, an entity whose powers revolve around the production and delivery of a seemingly endless variety of poisons, includes in her repertoire a number of toxins specialized for taking down or incapacitating the setting's various monster classes. The venom intended for shutting down the telepathy of devilbirds, pseudo-avian creatures that serve as the local demon equivalents, is named "holy water".
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Western Animation]]
168	* ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'': Water blessed by a priest is a potent weapon against demons and vampires alike, which it burns and dissolves. However, it requires someone with true faith and God's favor to do so -- something the CorruptChurch has long since lost. Trevor is able to get a parish priest to bless some water to use against the demonic invaders of Gresit, while in "[[Recap/Castlevania2017S2E6TheRiver The River]]" [[spoiler:Carmilla has the Bishop's reanimated corpse bless the entire river the castle appeared in the middle of; this causes the demon-tainted corpse to burn away to nothing, but also sets a deadly trap for the vampiric army that gets thrown in the drink by a collapsing bridge]].
169	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
170	** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS4E18TheFatherTheSonAndTheHolyFonz The Father, the Son and the Holy Fonz]]", Peter's father Francis tries to get Stewie baptized, but is refused by the church's staff because their supply of holy water is tainted (due to a priest who didn't wash his hands). Francis decides to perform the baptism himself, insisting there's no such thing as tainted holy water, which results in Stewie becoming sick.
171	** In an early gag, a New Yorker in church insults Peter's favorite football team. Peter calls it blasphemy and throws a bottle of holy water at him, and he collapses, screaming that it burns. Cut to a scientist in a lab opening a package.
172	--->'''Scientist:''' [[BaitAndSwitch Holy water? Where's that acid I ordered?]]
173	** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS4E5TheClevelandLorettaQuagmire The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire]]", Stewie watches an episode of ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' where Darrin has enough of Endora messing with him and angrily splashes her with holy water.
174	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E10VivaNedFlanders Viva Ned Flanders]]", Moe comes to the mistaken conclusion that the secret of Ned's [[OlderThanTheyLook youthful appearance]] is holy water; he splashes some in his face and immediately wails "Aagh, it burns!"
175	[[/folder]]

Context Main / HolyWater