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Black Spot

 Black Spot
type
FeatureClass
 Black Spot
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Black Spot
 Black Spot
page
BlackSpot
 Black Spot
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Someone with a Dark and Troubled Past is happily living out their life — frequently a Cool Old Guy or Older Sidekick — until, out of the blue, they receives a cryptic message. It might not even be composed of words; it may be a piece of paper with a symbol, a scratched casino chip, a daub of paint on his door, or a melody whistled by a passing stranger. Few people, if any, aside from the recipient knows what it means.
They alone now know that the seemingly nice people who have befriended have marked them for death - or something equally nasty - or that someone from his past is seeking him out for retribution, and they are likely be coming in person to enforce it. This was his fair warning, part of an honor code, because Even Evil Has Standards.
Related to Trouble Entendre. Compare Marked to Die.
As a Death Trope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.
 Black Spot
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2023-09-27T11:16:21Z
 Black Spot
parsed
2023-09-27T11:16:21Z
 Black Spot
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Dropped link to BountyHunter: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Black Spot
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Dropped link to SherlockHolmesandtheHouseofFear: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Black Spot
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Dropped link to TheKlan: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Black Spot
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 Black Spot
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SherlockHolmesandtheHouseofFear
 Black Spot
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TropeNamer
 Black Spot
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DBTropes
 Black Spot / int_12058c99
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_12058c99
comment
Spoofed twice in Hark! A Vagrant.
Here (second comic), where a group of gangsters give a man the Black Spot, to which he responds "You've mixed up genres."
In "Pirates", the third comic has an old pirate grumbling that the Black Spot was only made up in Treasure Island when a young pirate tries to give him one. So the younger pirate just shoots him there, and sheepishly laughs "Haha, he must have been like, what a loser."
 Black Spot / int_12058c99
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_12058c99
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1.0
 Hark! A Vagrant (Webcomic)
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Black Spot / int_12058c99
 Black Spot / int_16aa3232
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_16aa3232
comment
A variation occurs in the first season of Desperate Housewives. Mary Alice Young receives a note that says: "I know what you did. It makes me sick. I'm going to tell." No one else knows what it is, but Mary Alice knows one of her friends has discovered she murdered a woman and stole a baby. And now her whole life is about to come crashing down. She preempts any death threat, though, by taking her own life.
 Black Spot / int_16aa3232
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1.0
 Black Spot / int_16aa3232
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1.0
 Desperate Housewives
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Black Spot / int_16aa3232
 Black Spot / int_29e77392
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_29e77392
comment
Horrible Histories: In a sketch on the pirate tradition of the Black Spot, a pirate who expected to be marked for death kept seeing the Black Spot everywhere; even going into shock when he sees a dalmatian. At the end, having been persuaded that he has not been marked for death, he leaves, only to reveal a huge black spot pinned to his back.
 Black Spot / int_29e77392
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_29e77392
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1.0
 Horrible Histories
hasFeature
Black Spot / int_29e77392
 Black Spot / int_2bb4ae0f
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_2bb4ae0f
comment
Heroes, when certain persons are marked for murder by Adam with their photo marked with the "Godsend" symbol.
 Black Spot / int_2bb4ae0f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_2bb4ae0f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Heroes
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Black Spot / int_2bb4ae0f
 Black Spot / int_338be055
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_338be055
comment
Muppet Treasure Island:
Billy Bones in the beginning gets one of these delivered to him right before he dies.
Subverted/spoofed later on with Long John. He points out that it was written on the page of the Bible and scares his crew into releasing him and reappointing him as captain.
 Black Spot / int_338be055
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 Black Spot / int_338be055
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1.0
 Muppet Treasure Island
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Black Spot / int_338be055
 Black Spot / int_4118c4f1
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_4118c4f1
comment
Like its source material, Planetata na Sakrovishtata has Billy Bones die of shock shortly after being given the Black Spot. But not without a prolonged and bizarre chase sequence first.
 Black Spot / int_4118c4f1
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1.0
 Black Spot / int_4118c4f1
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1.0
 Treasure Island
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Black Spot / int_4118c4f1
 Black Spot / int_439e0f17
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_439e0f17
comment
In Would I Lie to You?, Greg Davies revealed he used to plant an ominous drawing of an owl, called the Hoot Owl Death Sign in the pockets of his "deadly enemies."
 Black Spot / int_439e0f17
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1.0
 Black Spot / int_439e0f17
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1.0
 Would I Lie to You?
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Black Spot / int_439e0f17
 Black Spot / int_51455a02
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_51455a02
comment
Claymore inverts this trope: The black spot is a cue for the receiving Claymore to go mercy-kill another Claymore. Sent BY the Claymore who wants to die, no less.
 Black Spot / int_51455a02
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_51455a02
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1.0
 Claymore (Manga)
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Black Spot / int_51455a02
 Black Spot / int_5908ee91
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_5908ee91
comment
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, entry into the Dark Brotherhood begins when you pretend to be one of their assassins and perform a job in their stead. Upon completion, you receive a letter with nothing but a black handprint and "WE KNOW" printed on it. The next time you sleep, you're kidnapped and forced to use your intuition and deductive abilities to determine which of three people tied up in front of you deserves to die. Or kill the test giver and take her key.
 Black Spot / int_5908ee91
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_5908ee91
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Video Game)
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Black Spot / int_5908ee91
 Black Spot / int_5a6604c2
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_5a6604c2
comment
The reality series Pirate Master used letters bearing ink blots, referred to as black spots, to mark players for elimination.
 Black Spot / int_5a6604c2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_5a6604c2
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1.0
 Pirate Master
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Black Spot / int_5a6604c2
 Black Spot / int_5b18db43
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_5b18db43
comment
I Know What You Did Last Summer. A group of teenagers kills a man while drunk driving and covers it up. Someone decides they must pay for their crime and sends the title message.
 Black Spot / int_5b18db43
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_5b18db43
featureConfidence
1.0
 I Know What You Did Last Summer
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Black Spot / int_5b18db43
 Black Spot / int_64dbb72f
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_64dbb72f
comment
The golden bullet from The Man with the Golden Gun, which is sent to James Bond to let him know he's being targeted by Scaramanga. It's a fake clue meant to get MI:6 investigating the assassin.
 Black Spot / int_64dbb72f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_64dbb72f
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1.0
 The Man with the Golden Gun
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Black Spot / int_64dbb72f
 Black Spot / int_78146d21
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_78146d21
comment
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: In a probable homage to Treasure Island, Jack Sparrow receives an actual black spot from Davy Jones, which is used to attract Jones' kraken.
 Black Spot / int_78146d21
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1.0
 Black Spot / int_78146d21
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1.0
 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
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Black Spot / int_78146d21
 Black Spot / int_7f57a813
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_7f57a813
comment
During an early installment of Oxventure's Dungeons & Dragons campaign, Andy's character, "dashing pirate" Corazon de Leon, receives this as his indication that his cursed Pirates of the Caribbean-ish pirate crew are in town and wish to have Words with him. Of course, this being the Oxventurers, 1) they found him because even though he was trying to remain incognito he gave his full name to the town crier, and 2) the GM rules that the rest of the party have picked up that something is amiss on the grounds that upon receiving it he immediately exclaimed "Oh, God, it's the Black Spot."
 Black Spot / int_7f57a813
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_7f57a813
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1.0
 Oxventure (Web Video)
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Black Spot / int_7f57a813
 Black Spot / int_92c01648
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_92c01648
comment
Treasure Island (1988) brings back the Black Spot, but unlike the original book, the one given to Long John Silver wasn't written on a page of the Bible.
 Black Spot / int_92c01648
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_92c01648
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1.0
 Treasure Island (1988) (Animation)
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Black Spot / int_92c01648
 Black Spot / int_994a117b
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_994a117b
comment
In the third story in The Vinyl and Octavia Series, Vinyl and Octavia Are Forcibly Shipped, it's parodied. Octavia panics when she thinks that Vinyl has the Spot, only for it to be revealed to be some grease.
 Black Spot / int_994a117b
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1.0
 Black Spot / int_994a117b
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 The Vinyl and Octavia Series (Fanfic)
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Black Spot / int_994a117b
 Black Spot / int_9ab5a05e
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_9ab5a05e
comment
In Air America, after the plane he and Billy are flying gets shot down, Jack Neely says "I knew it. The golden BB. I saw it in the mirror this morning when I cut myself shaving."
 Black Spot / int_9ab5a05e
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1.0
 Black Spot / int_9ab5a05e
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1.0
 Air America
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Black Spot / int_9ab5a05e
 Black Spot / int_c43df4d8
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_c43df4d8
comment
Played with in the Doctor Who episode "The Curse of the Black Spot" (series 6, episode 3). Turns out it was a tissue sample, not a death note, and the "victims" weren't killed, they were brought to the sick bay of a space craft.
 Black Spot / int_c43df4d8
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1.0
 Black Spot / int_c43df4d8
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1.0
 Doctor Who
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Black Spot / int_c43df4d8
 Black Spot / int_c90025d
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_c90025d
comment
In Seven (1979), Kimo delivers a lei to his targets, so his hitmen will know who they aiming at.
 Black Spot / int_c90025d
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1.0
 Black Spot / int_c90025d
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1.0
 Seven (1979)
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Black Spot / int_c90025d
 Black Spot / int_d9e5ee89
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_d9e5ee89
comment
In an issue of Hellblazer where one of Constantine's friends finds himself stalked by characters from fiction, he is warned of his fate by Blind Pew from Treasure Island slipping him the black spot.
 Black Spot / int_d9e5ee89
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_d9e5ee89
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1.0
 Hellblazer (Comic Book)
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Black Spot / int_d9e5ee89
 Black Spot / int_eef69f10
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_eef69f10
comment
Used in Sherlock Holmes a few times:
"The Adventure of the Dancing Men" - The Black Spot is a cypher that reveals the intent only when it's decoded.
"The Five Orange Pips" - The five orange pips are sent by The Klan, and the recipients have the choice between fleeing or being killed. Played with a bit, in that while the first person who receives the message knows what it means, the others — who are only tangentially connected to the matter — do not, and so don't take the precautions that it turns out are necessary. Holmes finds out who was responsible, then proceeds to send them five orange pips to make them think they're marked for death, or at least that someone is now on to them. The ship they flee on, however, is lost with all hands in a gale before they could ever receive the message.
 Black Spot / int_eef69f10
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1.0
 Black Spot / int_eef69f10
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 Sherlock Holmes
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Black Spot / int_eef69f10
 Black Spot / int_f0c816fb
type
Black Spot
 Black Spot / int_f0c816fb
comment
Breaking Bad: When their initial assassination attempt on Walt is thwarted by Mike and Gus, the Cousins slip out of Walt's house unnoticed, but later leave a chalk drawing of a scythe on the street outside. Walt never sees it, but Mike does, and reports it to Gus, who diverts the Cousins' focus to Walt's brother-in-law Hank, because he still needs Walt alive.
 Black Spot / int_f0c816fb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Black Spot / int_f0c816fb
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1.0
 Breaking Bad
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Black Spot / int_f0c816fb

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Black Spot
processingCategory2
Death Tropes
 Hellblazer (Comic Book) / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Muppet Treasure Island / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Prom Night (1980) / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 The Baker Street Dozen / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Ology Series / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 TheWolvesOfMemory
seeAlso
Black Spot
 Claymore (Manga) / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Horrible Histories / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Mahou Sentai Magiranger / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Pirate Master / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Would I Lie to You? / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Shadow of Israphel (Web Video) / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot
 Hark! A Vagrant (Webcomic) / int_e78e655c
type
Black Spot