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Killing for a Tissue Sample
- 113 statements
- 20 feature instances
- 15 referencing feature instances
Killing for a Tissue Sample | type |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample | comment |
If a character has special properties, other people usually want to know how to get or understand them, for reasons ranging from For Science! to world domination. This means that they need to figure out how the special properties are created, and how they can be replicated. That means they need a sample of the blood or genetic material of the subject, which is reasonable enough. Then they kick it into Dramatic Storytelling and decide they don't just need a sample, they need the body. The dead body. There are multiple reasons why this is a Bad Plan. Death is usually permanent, so if there were a screw up and they needed the subject alive, too bad; corpses aren't very talkative. It tends to give focus to the subject or their friends and make them fight you much harder than if you just wanted some blood samples. It's terrible PR, since the general public frowns on experimentation via murder. It's much better if the subject is alive so they can avoid all of those pitfalls and generate more genetic material or blood. However, captivity isn't as dramatic as impending death. Related tropes include Monster Organ Trafficking, Captured Super-Entity, They Would Cut You Up, and Borrowed Biometric Bypass. Compare Overdrawn at the Blood Bank. Contrasts with Kidnapped for Experimentation, where the entire person/creature is taken and kept alive so the scientist can experiment on it, and Organ Theft, where someone steals a vital organ from someone (i.e. a kidney) but leaves them alive (usually in a bathtub of ice). Not to be confused with someone dying to get their hands on a box of tissues. Examples |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample | fetched |
2023-12-06T00:21:04Z | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | parsed |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample | processingComment |
Dropped link to AvertedTrope: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | processingComment |
Dropped link to ClanOfTheCaveBear: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | processingComment |
Dropped link to DefiedTrope: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | processingComment |
Dropped link to InvertedTrope: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | processingComment |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample | processingUnknown |
ClanOfTheCaveBear | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_1fe79534 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_1fe79534 | comment |
Addressed in a Metal Hurlant Chronicles episode in which the subject willingly gives his blood and life to save his dying princess, specifying that all the blood is needed. However, it's still played straight since no effort is made to capture the blood, and we last see her lapping at his Slashed Throat with a large pool of blood on the ground. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_1fe79534 | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_1fe79534 | featureConfidence |
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Metal Hurlant Chronicles | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_1fe79534 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_2196de57 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_2196de57 | comment |
In a "Treehouse of Horror" episode of The Simpsons, it's discovered that Bart is immune to the zombie plague, so a bunch of other (non-zombie) people plan to eat him in order to become immune. Eventually, he just swims in the soup that they all eat. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_2196de57 | featureApplicability |
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Treehouse of Horror | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_2196de57 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_27b84429 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_27b84429 | comment |
In The Last of Us, the Fireflies want to kill and dissect Ellie to see if her immunity to the cordyceps fungus can be adapted into a cure. Justified in that the fungus grows on the brain — it'd be virtually impossible to nonlethally get what they needed from Ellie. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_27b84429 | featureApplicability |
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The Last of Us (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_27b84429 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_4b87fcc2 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_4b87fcc2 | comment |
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: In a flashback episode, Emilia and her brother go to the surface to collect cell samples from Mutes. While searching, she sees a mutant spider, kills it with her crossbow, and then extracts a hair from it. Justified here in that the spider was attacking her; she killed it in self-defense. Then again, Emilia probably would've killed it even if it had been minding its own business. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_4b87fcc2 | featureApplicability |
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Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_4b87fcc2 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_587db2f9 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_587db2f9 | comment |
In Halo: First Strike, Sergeant Johnson turns out to be immune to the Flood. Halsey gives John the choice of giving the Office of the Naval Intelligence one of two data crystals. One directly mentions Johnson by name and outlines how his nerve condition makes him immune, the other has the same information but omits his name and DNA. She warns John that giving ONI the former will likely cause them to dissect Johnson in hopes of figuring out the cure. John struggles with which is better to give, and chooses the latter. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_587db2f9 | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_587db2f9 | featureConfidence |
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Halo: First Strike | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_587db2f9 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_5cab4dfc | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_5cab4dfc | comment |
In Stitch! The Movie, Hamsterveil tries to make a clone army of Stitch, which would involve killing the original. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_5cab4dfc | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_5cab4dfc | featureConfidence |
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Stitch! The Movie | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_5cab4dfc | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6dae257e | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6dae257e | comment |
Casshern of Casshern Sins is immune to the Ruin that affects every other robot; consequently, there is a rumor that eating him will grant eternal life. This is hinted at being true since Friender, a robot dog that took a chunk out of him, shows no sign of Ruin years later, but no one asks to slice off a chunk of his regenerating body, they just charge into battle and die. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6dae257e | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6dae257e | featureConfidence |
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Casshern Sins | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6dae257e | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6e1d5f36 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6e1d5f36 | comment |
Not quite killing but still excessive; in the Farscape episode "DNA Mad Scientist", the eponymous Mad Scientist wants a very large sample of Pilot's DNA, one of his arms (it regenerates). Of course, earlier, he claims that he needs to take genetic samples from the crew's eyes in order to determine the locations of their homeworlds, and when Crichton asks why he can't just use some skin, he states that would be the case if he were working at the level of mere DNA. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6e1d5f36 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6e1d5f36 | featureConfidence |
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Farscape | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_6e1d5f36 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_73d7930f | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_73d7930f | comment |
In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Who Mourns for Morn?", a group of thieves show up on the station to get at Morn's horde of gold-pressed latinum from a heist they had all participated in years earlier, and which Morn has willed to Quark. The delivery is coded to Quark's thumbprint, and one of the thieves threatens to kill Quark and take his thumb if he doesn't cooperate. One of the other thieves points out that it'd be more than a little suspicious if they showed up with a bloody severed thumb to get at the delivery. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_73d7930f | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_73d7930f | featureConfidence |
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_73d7930f | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_7717b5b8 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_7717b5b8 | comment |
In Dragon Ball Online, it is Miira's goal to travel through time and do this to Goku, the strongest warrior in history, in order to make himself more powerful. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_7717b5b8 | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_7717b5b8 | featureConfidence |
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Dragon Ball Online (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_7717b5b8 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_774aac31 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_774aac31 | comment |
MNU in District 9 does some tests on Wikus to confirm his ability to use alien weaponry, then decides to kill him to examine his genetic material. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_774aac31 | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_774aac31 | featureConfidence |
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District 9 | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_774aac31 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_77582c7b | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_77582c7b | comment |
X-Men: Days of Future Past: After studying Mystique's DNA, Bolivar Trask decides he wants more samples in order to create new kind of technology with Adaptive Abilities. Among the samples he needs are brain tissue, spinal fluid, and bone marrow, implying that, if he got the chance, he would pretty much pick Mystique apart piece by piece. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_77582c7b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_77582c7b | featureConfidence |
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X-Men: Days of Future Past | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_77582c7b | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_8d814070 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_8d814070 | comment |
In an episode of M*A*S*H, Margaret thinks that she might be pregnant. She asks Hawkeye to do a rabbit test on her (where they inject a rabbit with a urine sample from a possible mother and then dissect the rabbit to examine its ovaries). The only female rabbit available is Radar's, who refuses to allow them to kill his pet, but he will let them do the test if they promise that the rabbit won't be killed — so the doctors do an ovariectomy on Radar's rabbit. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_8d814070 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_8d814070 | featureConfidence |
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M*A*S*H | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_8d814070 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_90c73dda | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_90c73dda | comment |
Animorphs #36 (The Mutation) features a race of inbred mutant Fish People who want to kill the Animorphs with an elaborate machine to get their DNA to increase their gene pool. They aren't interested when it's pointed out that there's easier ways to get a DNA sample. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_90c73dda | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_90c73dda | featureConfidence |
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Animorphs | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_90c73dda | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_9c33b8ab | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_9c33b8ab | comment |
Sliders has Colonel Rickman, who kills for brain tissue to combat a brain fungus that he picked up in one of his alternate universe's wars. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_9c33b8ab | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_9c33b8ab | featureConfidence |
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Sliders | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_9c33b8ab | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a183d57f | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a183d57f | comment |
Futurama: In "A Clone of My Own", to sneak into the Near-Death Star to rescue the Professor, the crew need a DNA sample from him. Fortunately, they can get one from the Professor's clone, Cubert. Rather than one cell, however, Bender takes out a liter's worth of Cubert's blood, telling the guard to "keep the change". In "The Sting", Professor Farnsworth prepares to test Leela's brain to see if she's sane... by putting her in a guillotine. In "Rebirth", the Professor uses stem cells to revive the crew. When Fry points out how controversial stem cells were in his time, Farnsworth explains that he's using adult stem cells... harvested from adults whom he had killed for their stem cells. In "Cold Warriors", to stave off a cold epidemic (the common cold was eradicated centuries ago and people no longer had immunity), the Professor needs to get a sample from Fry... by grinding him up into a slurry. Fortunately, Fry remembers that he had a cold sample sent to space when he was a kid, and they decide to spare Fry and get that sample instead, much to the Professor's disappointment. |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a183d57f | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a183d57f | featureConfidence |
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Futurama | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a183d57f | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a4274674 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a4274674 | comment |
In Man of Steel, the Kryptonian survivors need an object called the Codex, which contains the DNA plans for reconstructing their species. One of General Zod's scientists discovers that the Codex has been fused with Superman. All it'd take to retrieve it is a cellular extraction, but Zod has vengeance on the mind and asks if Superman has to be alive for them to retrieve it. As it turns out, he doesn't. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a4274674 | featureApplicability |
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Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a4274674 | featureConfidence |
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Man of Steel | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_a4274674 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_aeac03f9 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_aeac03f9 | comment |
Metroid Dread: The E.M.M.I.s that have been hunting down Samus throughout the game were reprogrammed by the Big Bad to obtain a sample of her DNA. As robotic probes designed for surveying alien wildlife, they already come with the necessary equipment. As Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids, said equipment is a three-foot metal spike that they will attempt to spear directly into her cranium if they catch her. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_aeac03f9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_aeac03f9 | featureConfidence |
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Metroid Dread (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_aeac03f9 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c101f24e | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c101f24e | comment |
Accidental Centaurs went on hiatus with a Cliffhanger about whether Lenny is going to kill Stavvros to get a DNA sample. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c101f24e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c101f24e | featureConfidence |
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Accidental Centaurs (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c101f24e | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c43df4d8 | type |
Killing for a Tissue Sample | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
In the Doctor Who episode "Deep Breath", both a chatty human passerby and a tyrannosaurus are killed by clockwork robots that have a use for some of their eye tissues. The man, at least, could surely have survived without his eyes. | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c43df4d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c43df4d8 | featureConfidence |
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Doctor Who | hasFeature |
Killing for a Tissue Sample / int_c43df4d8 |
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