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1%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1377705024074173500
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3%%
4[[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/{{Syndicate}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/syndicatexray_5124.jpg]]]]
5
6->''"I see you, a thief on the roof. My new satellite link has both infrared and the x-ray spectrum. I see your heart beating. I see you are afraid."''
7-->-- '''Gunther Hermann''', ''VideoGame/DeusEx''
8
9Predators develop senses that help them hunt. Sharp sight, delicate hearing, a keen nose... and Vein-O-Vision. {{Dracula}} and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent his ilk]], as well as [[OurMonstersAreDifferent weirder fare]], will have among their SuperSenses the ability to see all the major and minor blood flows in a human body, often going to near XRayVision levels by seeing their dinner's still beating heart!
10
11This is something of a subconscious power, usually triggered by hunger. Vein-o-vision may be noticeable to onlookers if the character also manifests AnimalEyes or GlowingEyes, but otherwise the power is inconspicuous. A VampireRefugee or FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire will probably have to use HeroicResolve to resist sucking on [[WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere so many delicious veins in plain view]]. As such, this can cause a TomatoInTheMirror or [[HeroicBSOD similar effect]] on a character once they realize their best friend is now on the dinner menu.
12
13Also in a pinch, makes the stalking vampires' POV sequence all the creepier, showing us just how much of a Happy Meal the hero is to them.
14
15This trope isn't restricted to the supernatural. As the page quote and picture show, it's also possible to make a technological equivalent of this trope for spies and soldiers. Typically it acts as a cross between XRayVision and InfraredXrayCamera, allowing the agent using it to detect both the presence and {{Weak Point}}s of enemies.
16
17Compare MeatOVision. Contrast VolcanicVeins and TaintedVeins. Subtrope of BizarreAlienSenses. See also TheDeadHaveEyes.
18
19----
20!!Examples
21[[foldercontrol]]
22
23[[folder:Anime]]
24* The Chakra lines seen by the Byakugan in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' look like this. In addition, the technique itself makes its user's eyes rather ...veiny.
25* In ''Literature/VampireHunterD'', Meyer Link gets from time to time when he looks at Charlotte Elbourne, his human lover.
26* In ''Manga/VampireKnight'', we see that [[spoiler: Yuki]], and thus probably all other vampires, can detect blood flows.
27* ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'''s Hanma Yuujiro can see, or feel, or just perceive the flaws in everyone's body. So he is able to predict diseases and attack the weak points of any living being.
28[[/folder]]
29
30[[folder:Comic Books]]
31* ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'': Dr. Mid-Nite's altered vision--he cannot see on the light spectrum and is legally blind--is generally depicted as him being able to "see" the outline and heat of things,. He uses this to help him in his job as the premier surgeon for the Franchise/{{DCU}}'s superhero community as he can "see" what's going on inside his patients' bodies.
32[[/folder]]
33
34[[folder:Fan Works]]
35* ''Fanfic/HereComesTheNewBoss'': One of Taylor's inherited powers is "bloodsight", seeing blood through obstacles. It's not as detailed an image as regular sight, but it's inconspicuous enough for her to use it freely, it's quite good at spotting concealed enemies, and it works even without light, or with her eyes closed.
36* In ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'', John's water sense is so acute at short distances that he can sense people around him as constructs of water and know to the drop how much he can take from them without permanently harming them. Undoubtedly he can sense blood flowing in veins.
37[[/folder]]
38
39[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
40* Used in ''Film/NightWatch'' as the main character watches a boy while a vampire.
41* The not at all friendly vampires in ''Film/VanHelsing'' have this power.
42* Appears for a brief moment in Francis Ford Coppola's ''Film/BramStokersDracula.''
43* This is how vampires see people in in ''Film/VampireGirlVsFrankensteinGirl''.
44* The mad scientist in the film version of ''Film/FromBeyond'', having acquired HorrorHunger after his peek into another dimension, has flashes of ''Brain''-O-Vision, seeing through people's skulls to the gray matter he craves.
45[[/folder]]
46
47[[folder:Literature]]
48* Part of the fake, made-up, not-to-be-taken-for-real KarmicTwistEnding in Roald Dahl's ''The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar''.
49* Howlers were mentioned as being able to see their enemies' "weak points", such as blood vessels, in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''.
50* Genevieve from the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' novels has this ability.
51* Salacia von Humperding in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/{{Thud}}'':
52-->"I can count fifty-seven hearts beating," said Sally.\
53Angua gave her a Look. "You know, that's one particular talent I'd keep to myself, if I were you."
54** Actually all of the vampires on the Discworld have this ability. The only living things they CAN'T detect are any of the various species of the Troll family. (Or is it Genus?)
55* Similarly, heart hounds in ''Literature/TheSwordOfTruth'' series hone in on the sound of their prey's heartbeat.
56* Shows up in ''Literature/AnitaBlake'' a lot, with a bit of synaesthesia (nothing supernatural is described in pure sensory terms). Anita tends to perceive the veins as leaping out of the skin, begging her to tear their owner's throat out and free them from their prison. (She's not actually a vampire, but...)
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
60* The MonsterOfTheWeek in the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Metamorphosis", a man whose transformation into a monster will be completed by his first bite of human flesh, experiences this after his wife cuts herself. He flees to avoid hurting her.
61* Hungry vampires get this in ''Series/Moonlight2007''. Mick, a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire, does this when trapped in a desert with the only human being around a pregnant girl.
62* On ''Series/{{Helix}}'', a Vector crawling through an overhead air duct looks down at some people through a ceiling vent, and seen a web of green lines - either blood vessels or nerves, it's not clear which - threaded through a potential victim's body.
63* In a non-supernatural variation, the autistic protagonist of ''Series/TheGoodDoctor'' can map out a patient's cardiovascular system in his mind with only a glance.
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
67* The ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' third edition supplement ''Complete Scoundrel'' offers the spell "Healer's Vision," which is usable by two classes. [[TheMedic Clerics]] who cast it can heal the target better because injuries become easier to see; [[ProfessionalKiller Assassins]] can make use of it because being able to see your target's organs takes the guesswork out of where to stab them.
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Video Games]]
71* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' and its sequel, ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]'' give Batman this in the form of "detective vision" built into his cowl. It acts as [[NightVisionGoggles night]]/XRayVision and gives him info on how alert/paranoid the {{Mooks}} are at any given moment.
72* In ''VideoGame/TheWitcher2'', Geralt can get Vein-O-Vision, as well as [[NightVisionGoggles night vision]], by drinking a Cat potion.
73* One of Jericho's main powers in ''VideoGame/DarkWatch''.
74* In the ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'' multiplayer, Necromorph players get a variation where they see the nerves of human players, which change color based on the health of said human player.
75* In [[VideoGame/TheDarkness The Darkness 2]], the major arteries and veins in the chests of fallen enemies glow faintly to Jackie, while their hearts, which can be ripped out and eaten by the titular [[EldritchAbomination Darkness]] inhabiting Jackie, glow brightly.
76* In ''VideoGame/DeerHunterSeries'', [[ArtisticLicenseEngineering noctovisor shows heart and lungs of animals]].
77* In ''VideoGame/SatelliteReign'', the Support's World Scan ability lets you trace data and power lines to their source, letting you know which machines to hack or destroy in order to disable things like cameras or gates.
78* Cole [=MacGrath=] in ''[[VideoGame/InFAMOUS2 InFAMOUS:Festival of Blood]]'' can use his vampire sense to see everything in vein-o-vision. This helps him discern hidden vampires from normal humans as the latter apparently don't need a circulatory system.
79* In ''VideoGame/JurassicTheHunted'', you can exploit a dinosaur's weak-points by entering BulletTime, which also reveals their internal organs.
80[[/folder]]
81
82[[folder:Webcomics]]
83* Layla from ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'' [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/those_two_girls approached Chloe about an earlier biting]]... ''before'' finishing her dinner... and remembered that incident. Thus, we got [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/blood_is_the_life this]].
84* VeinOVision appears a few times in ''Webcomic/TheKingfisher''.
85* ''Webcomic/UnOrdinary'': Isen's "Hunter" ability allows him to see the heart and track the heartbeat of anyone he's activated his power to track.
86[[/folder]]
87
88[[folder:Web Original]]
89* Butcher XIV from ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' has the ability to see veins and arteries (even [[XRayVision through walls]]) as one of her ComboPlatterPowers[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Western Animation]]
92%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatmanVsDracula''
93* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''. A Dracula spoof sneaks up on a sleeping Dot Warner, and finds a dotted line on her neck labeled "Insert Fangs Here".
94* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse,'' when Ben transforms into Whampire, he sees in vein-o-vision.
95[[/folder]]
96
97[[folder:Real Life]]
98* TruthInTelevision: Vampire bats have a limited thermographic sense, allowing them to select the best places to bite. They're not actually looking for veins to penetrate, but for areas where skin is thin enough to bleed easily. Given that such bats' usual prey (livestock or poultry) are thicker-skinned than humans, this is a handy sense to have.
99* Mosquitoes also uses some sort of a thermal imaging to detect nearest vein to the skin, as do assassin bugs.
100* Various "vein viewer" or "vein vision" devices, largely based on principles of transillumination, claim to allow medical providers to "see" deep peripheral veins for intravenous access. This can be a handy trick in an emergency, or if you need an IV on someone with poor surface veins. Unfortunately the devices rarely work as advertised - a skilled phlebotomist can do just as well or better without the device, and the devices occasionally fail to visualize surface veins that can easily be seen with a naked eye.
101* Angiograms are used before many surgical procedures to plot the precise locations of blood vessels before an operation.
102* Pulse oximeters evaluate a person's oxygen saturation by passing paired beams of light through the subject's fingertip to a photodetector, then calculating how much light from each beam - one the color of oxygenated blood, the other lacking that hue - was blocked in transit. In effect, they work by ''Artery''-O-Vision.
103[[/folder]]

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