...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Bitter Almonds
- 292 statements
- 54 feature instances
- 52 referencing feature instances
| Bitter Almonds | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Bitter Almonds | label |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds | page |
BitterAlmonds | |
| Bitter Almonds | comment |
Occasionally in Crime and Punishment stories, a person who has died suddenly and unexpectedly will have been the victim of cyanide poisoning. The first, best, and only symptom of cyanide poisoning in television is that it leaves the smell of bitter almonds on the victim. Someone will sniff the body, and announce that they smell bitter almonds, and therefore the cause of death is cyanide poisoning. Anyone can do this, even people with no medical or law enforcement training recognize the smell of bitter almonds as a sure sign of cyanide poisoning. In the real world, while most people can smell cyanide (about one in four are genetically predisposed not to), hydrogen cyanide is often undetectable until 600 PPB, a rather high and dangerous concentration. Also, bitter almonds being uncommon and smelling very different from regular (sweet) almonds, most people would not know what they smelled like anyway. But in the television world, everyone can identify cyanide by smell. One interesting thing about this trope is that it is self-reinforcing; the trope itself has raised public awareness such that it is increasingly likely that even a layperson would recognize the significance of the smell if they were physically able to detect it. (However, many laypeople, if not most, don't understand the difference between bitter and sweet almonds.) Bitter almonds smell like cyanide because they contain cyanide, but sweet almonds smell primarily of benzaldehyde, which most people associate with the aroma of cherries... almond and cherry flavoring extracts rather famously smell nearly identical (mainly because almond is actually a close relative of cherries, peaches and apricots). All these aromas are mainly caused by a glicoside called amygdalin (from the Greek "Amygdalon", "almond"), which in broken seeds of the prune family fruits, including the almonds is enzymatically dissociated to the aforementioned benzaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide — whose smells are, curiously, quite similar. If it's clear that a character who should know better confuses the smell of cyanide or bitter almonds with the smell of sweet almonds, almond extract, or "burnt almonds", then the writer hasn't bothered to fact check. It's also oddly uncommon for fictional characters to identify the smell as being associated with arsenic. Not related to sour grapes. Related to Smells of Death. As this is a Death Trope, unmarked spoilers abound. Beware. |
|
| Bitter Almonds | fetched |
2023-09-24T11:35:50Z | |
| Bitter Almonds | parsed |
2023-09-24T11:35:50Z | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to AmateurSleuth: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to Averted: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to BodyOfTheWeek: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to FingertipDrugAnalysis: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to KateBush: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to OhCrap: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to PolishTheTurd: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to SherlockHolmesandtheHouseofFear: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheFilmOfTheBook: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheRant: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to TrueCrime: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingComment |
Dropped link to VictimOfTheWeek: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingUnknown |
SherlockHolmesandtheHouseofFear | |
| Bitter Almonds | processingUnknown |
Averted | |
| Bitter Almonds | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_10bc0a19 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_10bc0a19 | comment |
In Night Watch, Lord Winder's food taster with Acquired Poison Immunity initially thinks that a slice of cake is poisoned because of the almonds in it. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_10bc0a19 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_10bc0a19 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Night Watch (Discworld) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_10bc0a19 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_15d17004 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_15d17004 | comment |
How Holmes identifies the toxic gas generator in Sherlock Holmes (2009). | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_15d17004 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_15d17004 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sherlock Holmes (2009) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_15d17004 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_16404929 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_16404929 | comment |
In an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., as part of a counterintelligence scam, Ilya fakes his suicide by drinking "cyanide", leaving behind the scent of bitter almonds on his "corpse". | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_16404929 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_16404929 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_16404929 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_22f49cdf | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_22f49cdf | comment |
Played straight with Dr. Parish on Castle in the episode "Law & Murder". However, she uses more advanced technology than her nose as well. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_22f49cdf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_22f49cdf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Castle | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_22f49cdf | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_285bfa3e | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_285bfa3e | comment |
Late in The Bishop Murder Case, Vance and Sergeant Heath break into an attic. Among other evidence, they find a room with chemistry equipment set up, and a scent of bitter almonds in the air. Yep, you guessed it, the murderer was making his own cyanide. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_285bfa3e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_285bfa3e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Philo Vance | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_285bfa3e | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_2c96ae0e | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_2c96ae0e | comment |
The Hustle episode "Whittaker Our Way Out" contains a subversion. Mickey smells almonds (presumably sweet) on fellow conman JW3 who is supposed to be Faking the Dead which causes him to abandon the proceeds of the con and clear the team out of the building, believing the man actually dead and the police on their way. It's only after Mickey notices another, much less relevant discrepancy that he realizes that JW3 is alive and absconding with the money. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_2c96ae0e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_2c96ae0e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hustle | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_2c96ae0e | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_305752da | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_305752da | comment |
"Bitter Almonds" is the title of a Montague Egg mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers. The story concerns an elderly man who was believed to have been poisoned by his nephew after threatening to disinherit him. Mr. Egg, a traveling salesman for a fine-wines-and-spirits brokerage, realizes the true story thanks to his encyclopedic knowledge of liquors. The "victim", after the argument with his nephew, poured himself a glass of almond liqueur from a bottle that had stood unopened in his cabinet for twenty years. The problem with that particular brand of liqueur is that its flavoring contained bitter almond oil; the stuff had risen to the top of the bottle and concentrated, and so the glass the old man poured himself contained a lethal dose of cyanide. And if this sounds outlandish to you, there is at least one true story of a person accidentally killing themselves in this way which Sayers had heard about. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_305752da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_305752da | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Montague Egg | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_305752da | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_3defe34c | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_3defe34c | comment |
Chemistry YouTuber NileRed explored this idea in the video "Does cyanide actually smell like almonds?" The conclusion he came to was that the claim is actually quite misleading — cyanide gas smells nothing like ordinary sweet almonds that most people think of, but they do taste like bitter almonds (which are not safe for consumption due to themselves containing hydrocyanic acid, which to the human body is cyanide), and both smell more like chlorinated swimming pool water. He argues that the perpetuation of this trope is actually quite dangerous, as not only is it inaccurate, it implicitly encourages people to try and smell cyanide. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_3defe34c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_3defe34c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Discussed Trope | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_3defe34c | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_43d736e6 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_43d736e6 | comment |
Pops up in one of the Tsar Gorokh's Detective Agency novels, when people are found dead during meals. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_43d736e6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_43d736e6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tsar Gorokh's Detective Agency | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_43d736e6 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_455e3038 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_455e3038 | comment |
In one episode of King of the Hill, Cotton Hill claims his ex-wife tried to kill him with a poisoned baked chicken, which according to her was simply Chicken Almondine (chicken with almonds). Cotton retorts that it was cyanide. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_455e3038 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_455e3038 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| King of the Hill | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_455e3038 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_468bebb0 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_468bebb0 | comment |
Discworld: In the Assassins' Guild Yearbook, prospective assassins are cautioned not to take an almond slice when visiting the Headmaster's office. In Night Watch, Lord Winder's food taster with Acquired Poison Immunity initially thinks that a slice of cake is poisoned because of the almonds in it. |
|
| Bitter Almonds / int_468bebb0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_468bebb0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Discworld | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_468bebb0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_4e2d3d00 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_4e2d3d00 | comment |
The Glades: In "Exposed", Carlos identifies that the victims have been poisoned with cyanide by the smell of almonds on their breath. Oddly, either the character or the actor says that he detects the smell of "burnt almonds" rather than "bitter". | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_4e2d3d00 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_4e2d3d00 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Glades | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_4e2d3d00 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_5e11dafe | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_5e11dafe | comment |
Chopping Block screwed this up, making the standard "almonds" reference with no mention of bitterness. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_5e11dafe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_5e11dafe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Chopping Block (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_5e11dafe | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_625e571 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_625e571 | comment |
In the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Poison", Det. Goren (known for his sniffer) identifies the smell of almonds as cyanide. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_625e571 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_625e571 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_625e571 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_6662bb5f | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_6662bb5f | comment |
In the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Hilda successfully murders a witch rival of her sister Zelda by poisoning her with cyanide and using almond biscuits to cover the smell. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_6662bb5f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_6662bb5f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Chilling Adventures of Sabrina | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_6662bb5f | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_76375c6d | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_76375c6d | comment |
In a variant, vampire Jack Fleming of is injected with cyanide in A Chill In The Blood, and Doc identifies the poison by smelling the needle. He doesn't specify what it smelled like, but Jack's undead metabolism lets him sweat blood until it's all out of his system, and the blood-sweat is described as smelling like almonds mixed with rust and raw meat (ick). | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_76375c6d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_76375c6d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Vampire Files | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_76375c6d | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_7d5e43b0 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_7d5e43b0 | comment |
Parodied in The Goodies episode "Daylight Robbery on the Orient Express" where one of the characters detects the distinctive tang of bitter almonds, leading him to declare that "This arsenic has been poisoned!" | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_7d5e43b0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_7d5e43b0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Goodies | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_7d5e43b0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_80ec188c | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_80ec188c | comment |
Doc Martin: Not actually cyanide, but Martin manages to identify the smell of Copper Arsenite, which is giving a patient of the week Arsenic poisoning via a (unintentional) Napoleon's Wallpaper plot. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_80ec188c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_80ec188c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Doc Martin | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_80ec188c | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8125b468 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8125b468 | comment |
Appeared in a Batman comic about Alfred's days working as a British agent; a poisoner made almond tarts to cover up the smell of the cyanide. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8125b468 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8125b468 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Batman (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_8125b468 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_892aa56a | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_892aa56a | comment |
Murdoch Mysteries: In "I, Murdoch", Dr Ogden identifies that the Body of the Week has been killed with prussic acid because of the scent of bitter almonds. In "Murdoch at the Opera", Dr. Grace describes smelling the aroma of bitter almonds coming from the corpse of the young opera singer. Later, after the culprit prima donna takes poison and dies onstage, Crabtree brings out a wine glass he found and Murdoch himself sniffs it and says, "Cyanide." |
|
| Bitter Almonds / int_892aa56a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_892aa56a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Murdoch Mysteries | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_892aa56a | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8954c942 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8954c942 | comment |
One episode of Golgo 13 plays with this. Golgo's targets smell almonds in the air, and assume he has put cyanide gas in the ventilation system. It was actually just a harmless almond-scented spray, which he used so that his targets would flee the secured room they were hiding in for the dubious safety of an area with fresh air that he had a clear line of fire to. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8954c942 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8954c942 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Golgo 13 (Manga) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_8954c942 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8a27d31c | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8a27d31c | comment |
October Daye: At one point during Toby and Tybalt's date in "No Sooner Met", the waiter brings them a piece of chocolate cake on the house. Toby goes to take the first bite - and stops, because she smells someone's magical signature on the cake. She asks Tybalt to smell it, and while he can't smell the magic, he can smell bitter almonds, which means it's been dosed with cyanide. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8a27d31c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8a27d31c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| October Daye | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_8a27d31c | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8c05f749 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8c05f749 | comment |
Death in Paradise: In "One for the Road", Humphrey smells bitter almonds on the murdered governor and announces she has been poisoned with cyanide. In "A Murder in Portrait", Jack comments on the strong smell of almonds on the Victim of the Week and immediately comes to the conclusion that she was poisoned with cyanide. Which, while true, also turns out to be a Red Herring. |
|
| Bitter Almonds / int_8c05f749 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8c05f749 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Death in Paradise | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_8c05f749 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8d81bb26 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8d81bb26 | comment |
On NCIS Abby is almost poisoned in her lab by a piece of evidence from a crime scene that is tainted with cyanide. She can smell the bitter almond; McGee can't, but once she mentions cyanide he drags her out of the lab. The crime scene was actually faked and the tainted evidence planted in an attempt to kill Abby, who is a forensics witness in a trial taking place during the episode.note To be precise, it is cocaine tainted with a cyanide salt (NaCN) that releases gaseous cyanide when combined with cobalt thiocyanate (a standard test for cocaine). For all its frequent research screw-ups, NCIS seemingly got the Chemistry right that time. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8d81bb26 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_8d81bb26 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| NCIS | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_8d81bb26 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_903d6567 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_903d6567 | comment |
In the Goof Troop episode "For Pete's Sake", a frightened Pete (who thinks someone is trying to kill him) is having trouble sleeping, so he watches a night drama movie on TV. We hear dialogue of a woman giving her partner milk to help him sleep, only to have the man say, "This tastes like almonds. Almonds?!! Auugh, I've been poisoned!" Needless to say, Pete's paranoia is not reduced. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_903d6567 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_903d6567 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Goof Troop | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_903d6567 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_924c78dc | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_924c78dc | comment |
Hunter: The Reckoning: The sample mutant NPC from the "Urban Legends" Sourcebook lives in a trailer park that is home only to the truly desperate and poor. One of the things that makes the place so bad is that the water has a bitter almond taste from the pollution. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_924c78dc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_924c78dc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hunter: The Reckoning (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_924c78dc | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_942c56e1 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_942c56e1 | comment |
Miss Marple as portrayed by Margaret Rutherford: In Murder Most Foul, Miss Marple detects the presence of cyanide because of the smell. In Murder Ahoy!, she excludes it because the snuff she suspects someone was poisoned with lacks the smell. |
|
| Bitter Almonds / int_942c56e1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_942c56e1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Miss Marple | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_942c56e1 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_972c43d5 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_972c43d5 | comment |
In The King's Man, the attempt to poison Rasputin involves a bakewell tart, a British pastry that is traditionally covered in almonds, to mask the scent of cyanide. Unfortunately, Rasputin suspects cyanide poisoning the moment he sees the tart specifically because of the almonds. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_972c43d5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_972c43d5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The King's Man | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_972c43d5 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_9888f901 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_9888f901 | comment |
In an episode of Daria, Kevin has been found murdered and Jane can tell immediately that his sandwich smells of cyanide—justified since she poisoned him. In a Flashback, Kevin stumbles across the hall after being poisoned while muttering "I told mom, no almonds". It was All Just a Dream. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_9888f901 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_9888f901 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Daria | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_9888f901 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_99f70b6e | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_99f70b6e | comment |
In The Renegades, Larxene tries to buy cyanide while staying in London,note Specifically Victorian London, due to the parent franchise's source material, where poisons of all kinds were freely available but Zexion convinces the druggist to lie and give her almond oil instead. Later, after the Nobodies have been kicked out of the hotel, the remaining guests are all pleasantly surprised by the almond-flavored porridge they're given for breakfast the next morning. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_99f70b6e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_99f70b6e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Renegades (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_99f70b6e | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_9a67b688 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_9a67b688 | comment |
Case Closed: In manga file #757, Conan points out that there's an element of Fingertip Drug Analysis to this: he smells an almond scent coming from a corpse's lips, but cautions one of the others on the scene against sniffing because he's an "amateur". He then goes on to point out the difference between the smell of bitter and sweet almonds. Earlier in the manga, when there is a murder in school play Heiji points out other symptoms of cyanide poisoning and in the end the smell of almond without even being close enough to the corpse to really smell it. |
|
| Bitter Almonds / int_9a67b688 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_9a67b688 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Case Closed (Manga) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_9a67b688 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_a4d3dfe0 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_a4d3dfe0 | comment |
A German Requiem: Bernie Gunther detects the smell of almonds from the last dying breath of Arthur Nebe, after Nebe bit down on the cyanide capsule that Bernie hid in a strudel. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_a4d3dfe0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_a4d3dfe0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A German Requiem | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_a4d3dfe0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b0766f14 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b0766f14 | comment |
A case in Detective School Q had Kyu detect the Bitter Almond smell in a bottle of Salad Dressing. The anime version of this case has Kyu sniffing the victim's mouth first and then taste a whiskey bottle's mouth before declaring it as cyanide. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b0766f14 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b0766f14 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Detective School Q (Manga) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_b0766f14 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b4996199 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b4996199 | comment |
Subverted in a Spider-Man comic◊ in which Aunt May bakes some cookies for the Chameleon, who disguised himself as Peter and planned to kill her. He mentions how he loves the slight almond taste, and Aunt May tells him that it came from the poison she laced them with since she figured out that he was an impostor. After Spidey comes to the rescue a tad too late and finds the Chameleon unconscious, Aunt May reveals that she only mixed sleeping pills in them and that she added almond extract just to screw with him. Strangely, the poison she claimed was in the cookies was arsenic, not cyanide. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b4996199 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b4996199 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Spider-Man (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_b4996199 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b88460c9 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b88460c9 | comment |
Whodunnit? (UK): In "Dead Ball", the detective detects the smell of bitter almonds on the lips of the Victim of the Week and declares him a victim of cyanide poisoning. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b88460c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b88460c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Whodunnit? (UK) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_b88460c9 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b989d51b | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b989d51b | comment |
The Big Sleep, wherein a side character is poisoned with cyanide in whisky and dies in the span of a single page. Notably, Marlowe calls the cyanide not only because of the smell — which is noted — but because the victim vomited. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b989d51b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_b989d51b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Big Sleep | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_b989d51b | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c0e1540b | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c0e1540b | comment |
In The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, Madame Mournigton realizes that Dr. Stockill killed her daughter, Violet, after recognizing the scent of almond (the only thing she is cabable of smelling) on recently-killed Christelle's breath. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c0e1540b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c0e1540b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_c0e1540b | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c43df4d8 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
Doctor Who: In "The Unicorn and the Wasp", the Doctor is poisoned and Agatha Christie identifies the poison as cyanide this way (and Title Drops her book Sparkling Cyanide, as part of a Running Gag). Arguably justified; having worked in an army hospital pharmacy full of drugs and poisons during the First World War, she was likely quite familiar with the smell. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c43df4d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c43df4d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Doctor Who | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_c43df4d8 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c715f539 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c715f539 | comment |
Outlander: When Claire tries unsuccessfully to resuscitate Arthur Duncan by giving him CPR, her lips tingle and faintly taste of bitter almonds afterwards, cluing her into the fact that Duncan has been poisoned by his wife, Geillis. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c715f539 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c715f539 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Outlander | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_c715f539 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c7cca04f | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c7cca04f | comment |
In the Pushing Daisies episode "Bitches", a character mistakes cyanide for spoiled almond-flavored cream in his coffee. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c7cca04f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_c7cca04f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Pushing Daisies | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_c7cca04f | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_cac1f772 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_cac1f772 | comment |
In the CSI episode "Iced", Doc Robbins explains that not everyone can smell cyanide and points out that skin discoloration is a more obvious symptom. To illustrate that point, Hodges (who has this ability) walks in and performs the "test" with a deliberately silly ceremony. This may be the first acknowledgment of this fact in television. Greg apparently also has the ability, and uses it in a later ep. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_cac1f772 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_cac1f772 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| CSI | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_cac1f772 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d109f322 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d109f322 | comment |
In the season 2 Andromeda episode "In Heaven Now Are Three", Dylan recognizes an incense burner as a cyanide death trap due to its smell. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d109f322 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d109f322 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Andromeda | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_d109f322 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d294048 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d294048 | comment |
In the "A Midwinter's Murder" episode of Red Panda Adventures, the Red Panda detects a poison via this trope. He identifies the smell as indicating arsenic and cites "burnt almonds"... | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d294048 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d294048 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Panda Adventures (Podcast) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_d294048 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d634ac98 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d634ac98 | comment |
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Edward Hyde kills himself with cyanide, which Gabriel Utterson identifies by the smell of bitter almonds. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d634ac98 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d634ac98 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_d634ac98 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d8d2a07e | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d8d2a07e | comment |
Parodied in an episode of The Burkiss Way where a detective smells cyanide and concludes that the victim must have been poisoned with bitter almonds. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d8d2a07e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d8d2a07e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Burkiss Way (Radio) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_d8d2a07e | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d99024a2 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d99024a2 | comment |
Referenced in Genesis's "Broadway Melody of 1974", from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d99024a2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_d99024a2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Genesis (Band) (Music) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_d99024a2 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_dc4d1236 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_dc4d1236 | comment |
Sophronia muses early in Curtsies & Conspiracies that while she's quite fond of almond cake, she swore off eating it after her first cyanide lesson because it would be impossible to tell the scent of almond cake from the scent of cyanide-laced cake. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_dc4d1236 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_dc4d1236 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Finishing School Series | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_dc4d1236 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_e0f7f7c9 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_e0f7f7c9 | comment |
In the film The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane Rynn describes a substance that her dying father had given her to put in her mother's tea if she ever came around trying to meddle to "calm her down". It turns out to be cyanide, and it kills her, but while drinking the tea she commented that it tasted of almonds. (Rynn initially thinks it's because of the almond biscuits) This is the clue in the final scene between Rynn and her lecherous pedophile neighbor as to which one truly received the poisoned cup of tea. (This time, Rynn served the almond biscuits on purpose.) | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_e0f7f7c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_e0f7f7c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_e0f7f7c9 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_e6318baf | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_e6318baf | comment |
Midsomer Murders: In "The Village That Rose From the Dead", the second victim of the week is murdered by being forced to drink from a cyanide laced flask. Barnaby, Winter and Kam all notice the smell of bitter almonds. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_e6318baf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_e6318baf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Midsomer Murders | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_e6318baf | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f120845f | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f120845f | comment |
In Kingdom of Loathing, there's a Dia De Los Muertos-themed item called the "marzipan skull" (no, not that Marzipan), which tastes of almonds... bitter almonds. It's death-themed and it poisons the user in addition to giving them a sugar rush. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f120845f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f120845f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Kingdom of Loathing (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_f120845f | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f15f622e | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f15f622e | comment |
Used to identify a poisoning attempt on Pete Thorton, by the eponymous hero of MacGyver, who then made use of chemicals from a nearby photography store to create an antidote. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f15f622e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f15f622e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| MacGyver (1985) | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_f15f622e | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f43b3a51 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f43b3a51 | comment |
Diagnosis: Murder has an episode where Mark identifies a glass of wine as being laced with cyanide by its aroma of almonds. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f43b3a51 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f43b3a51 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Diagnosis: Murder | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_f43b3a51 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f46d3aa1 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f46d3aa1 | comment |
Love in the Time of Cholera opens with the sentence "It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love." in reference to a suicide by cyanide. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f46d3aa1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f46d3aa1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Love in the Time of Cholera | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_f46d3aa1 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f7558a18 | type |
Bitter Almonds | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f7558a18 | comment |
An alien version occurs in Men in Black: The Series. Jay, disguised as an alien bodyguard, tests a meal which he describes as tasting of cashews. Kay is quick to inform him that such a taste is indicative of alien poison. Jay is quick to freak out... until Kay adds that it doesn't affect humans. | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f7558a18 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Bitter Almonds / int_f7558a18 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Men in Black: The Series | hasFeature |
Bitter Almonds / int_f7558a18 |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.