Out, Damned Spot!: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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* In the ''[[Firefly]]'' fanfic ''[[Forward]]'', River has a few of these types of moments, even using "Out Damned Spot".
* Subverted in the ''[[The West Wing]]'' fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3014491/1/Band_of_Blood Band of Blood]. Toby has this reaction to Josh's blood all over his hands while waiting in the hospital after the [[Wham! Episode]], although he wasn't even indirectly responsible and his guilt was fanciful guilt over the possibility that his decision to take down a protective canopy for PR reasons might have caused the shooting.
* In the ongoing "[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]" fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6139380/1/Clinging Clinging], Ivan (Russia) has a couple of these moments. {{spoiler|At 9 years old, he killed his father, who was trying to rape his older sister. Six years later, the owner of the orphanage he and his sisters wound up in repeated Ivan's father's actions, this time directed at Ivan himself. He killed the owner in self-defense.}} Even though both of them were at least ''somewhat'' justified, he has had at least two
* In ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7404056/1/Mutant_Storm Mutant Storm]'', a [[Harry Potter/X Men|X Men]] [[Crossover]], Harry kills {{spoiler|Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange}}, and then he goes through a [[Heroic BSOD]] while he tries to clean himself.
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** Specifically, he pointed out that she wouldn't have ''stopped'' undressing at her underwear. So she either had to be fully clothed or fully nude.
* ''[[Bullitt]]'': Used rather beautifully at the end.
* ''[[Repo! The Genetic Opera]]'' has Nathan Wallace. He's very good at repossessing organs, but the fact that he actually enjoys his work leads to a lot of
** A good example comes at the end of "Thankless Job" - when the song ends, it [http://i47.tinypic.com/30cu9dw.jpg hits Nathan] about what he's doing ''while his arm is still in the corpse'', and he ends up spraying down his uniform and tools.
* As [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s ''[[Throne of Blood]]'' is ''Macbeth'' [[Recycled in Space|in feudal Japan]], it is unsurprising that Asaji freaks out over blood only she can see.
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* Used in ''[[The Machinist]]'': Reznik is constantly seen washing his hands with bleach and even lye. {{spoiler|It turns out he once killed a young boy and has repressed the memory.}}
* ''[[Dead Presidents]]'': Cleon (Bokeem Woodbine) is a Bronx-based Protestant minister. He is also a [[Vietnam War]] veteran who feels remorse about the atrocities he committed in the jungle, and so he initially refuses to participate in a bank robbery being organized by an unemployed fellow vet. But he eventually agrees to take part in the crime, because there's a lot of money involved. After the violent heist, during which several policemen and two of the robbers are killed, Cleon is inconsolable as the gang counts their money at their hideout. He bleakly proclaims that "we've bought our way into Hell" and "I'm not sure I even want any of this dirty money." It all eventually gets to be too much for Cleon, and he {{spoiler|rats out the rest of the gang after being himself arrested}}.
* ''[[The Robe]]'': Pontius Pilate is depicted briefly as washing his hands repeatedly, likely due to unconscious guilt over Christ's crucifixion.
* Parodied in ''[[Batman Returns]]'', by Catwoman: "The thought of framing Batman makes me feel so dirty. I think I'll give myself a bath right here." Then - being a [[Catgirl|cat-person]] - she proceeds to ''lick'' herself!
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* Parodied in ''[[Discworld/Wyrd Sisters|Wyrd Sisters]]'' (naturally, since it's a parody of ''[[Macbeth]]'') where Duke Felmet becomes so obsessed with washing the metaphorical blood from his hand, he tries scrubbing it with a wire brush, among other things. (It's implicit his measures ensure that his hand will always literally have blood in it, just not the victim's anymore.) At one point he's even seen with a cheese grater, and bandages on his hand. The parody starts to turn very dark, though, when towards the end the narration describes "the remnant of his right hand."
* [[Orson Scott Card]]
** ''Xenocide''
** ''[[Alvin Maker]]'' series: The trope features prominently in the form of a curse.
* This is taken to extremes in the [[Ray Bradbury]] short story [[wikipedia:The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl|"The Fruit At The Bottom Of The Bowl"]], in which a man becomes so obsessed with removing all his fingerprints from a murder scene that {{spoiler|he actually forgets that his main objective is to escape and get away with the crime -- the police eventually find him at three in the morning, polishing old coins he'd found in a box in the attic, by which time he seems scarcely bothered about being caught and is only concerned with making sure he polishes the handle of the door as they lead him out of the house.}}
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== [[Real Life]] ==
* This is a common symptom of [[Super OCD|Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder]]
* This can also be a behavior exhibited by sexual abuse victims. Some severe cases have (in a manic state) reportedly scrubbed their skin raw while bathing, trying to remove the filth that they believe is on and inside their body.
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