Villain-Beating Artifact

"Welcome to my cave, young adventurous Hero. Here pick one of these three artifacts, because at your current level you can't defeat the villain or punch out Cthulhu. He, his Mooks, scientific experiment pet, and his three-year-old niece will defeat you in less than a minute if you do not use this item. The first was forged of purest minerals and one of its special ingredients is virgin tears of joy. This artifact is able to take on and even kill Evil Incarnate itself. The second is a whip that was handed down from the legendary Vampire Hunters, whose heir is lost to history. If their blood runs in your veins, this will boost your current spells and strength to be on an equal match with the Big Bad's strength, skills, and magic. The third is a tome, contained within which is a powerful magic that can seal your foe away forever. ''Which do you choose?"

The Villain-Beating Artifact is a one-purpose MacGuffin that makes it possible for a functionally inferior hero to take out a vastly superior Big Bad. What differentiates it from the Infinity+1 Sword is that it's only useful against that one Big Bad -- against any other foe or in any other context it's basically no more effective than a wet noodle. And that assumes it can even be wielded or applied in situations outside of its intended purpose; some video game instances of the Villain-Beating Artifact are simply inert lumps occupying inventory space before and after their special use. However, against its intended target it is often a One-Hit Kill, turning him from an unbeatable monster into a Zero Effort Boss.

Some Villain-Beating Artifacts enforce their special singular purpose by being consumed in the process of defeating their designated target -- often blowing up from all the power it channels, or being drained of all its power.

Subtrope of Plot Coupon That Does Something. Sister Trope to Sword of Plot Advancement.

Comic Books

 * DC Comics has the Spear of Destiny, which is the most powerful weapon ever. It was used on Spectre, a spirit of God's vengeance on Earth!
 * Averted in "All Star Squadron" #20, it was explained why the Justice League can't jump in and help Europe out during World War II. Hitler somehow got hold of this spear and will use it to on them (This spear can even harm Superman); So the Justice League of America had a very good reason to stay away.
 * The Ultimate Nullifier is a devastating weapon, yet it's the size of a smartphone, which scares Galactus and prevents him from devouring planets. Johnny Storm found it in Galactus's homeworld and uses it to save the Earth.

Film

 * Kubo and the Two Strings: The titular character and his companions must find three weapons, the "Sword Unbreakable," "Breastplace Impenetrable," and "Helmet " in order to defeat the Moon King
 * In Omen III, turns out that Damien Thorne, The Antichrist,'s weakness is the Seven Daggers of Megiddo. Only one will do.
 * In Wonder Woman: Hidden somewhere in Themscira, an ancient sword which is called the God-Killer. The Amazons guards it. This is the weapon that can destroy Ares, who spread death and destruction, even offing off the rest of the Greek pantheon (The latter doesn't side with him in the first place)

Literature

 * In Mistborn. This is double subverted. Since the metals are used in the Magic System, ten are known to bestow powers. Kelsier made rumors of the Eleventh Metal that has powers to defeat the Lord Ruler, when Vin tries to use it, it's shown her intangible images of people who used to be. No Immortal Inertia ensues.
 * In The Sword of Shannara
 * His Dark Materials: Subverted this. The subtle knife was claimed several times to be used as the only weapon capable of killing God, the supposedly Big Bad of this series. The knife's owner was encourage to take it to the guy opposing God, so he can win.
 * Gardner F. Fox's "Niall of the Far Travels"'s "Out of the Eons," a short story. Adonair, an alternate universe evil deity, tries to enslave humanity and conquer the world. The gods can't destroy him but manages to trap him. Niall accidentally releases Adonair at the story's beginning. The only way to get rid of Adonair is for Niall to drink a special liquid and trick Adonair into possessing his body.

Live-Action Television
"Dean: "So, you need one sword to kill one dragon, but you got to kill one dragon to make one sword. How does this work out?""
 * Supernatural
 * Samuel Colt made a special Colt gun and bullets. This gun can be used to kill almost anything. - Except Lucifer.
 * There's a special dagger which can kill demons (and the humans that they possess at the time). Regular knives and daggers don't work, it's just the host body. It's backstory has yet to appear.
 * In one episode, the dragon can only be killed by a sword that's forged by the blood of another dragon.


 * In Buffy the Vampire Slayer had several such items, starting with the Troll God's Hammer, that's used to whomp Glory down to size in Season 5.
 * Also an ancient scythe that's Caleb's Achilles Heel.
 * Hope's Dagger, which was made from the first sun rays on earth. This is the only weapon to harm the First Evil.
 * Doctor Who: Subverted. In one episode, "Last of the Time Lords." Which has Martha Jones spending a whole year searching for a weapon which was separated into four parts that can defeat the Master, revealing at the end that the Villain-Beating Artifact
 * Once Upon a Time twisted this trope. The only way to defeat the Big Bad is to steal his dagger,, if you somehow manage to kill him. Though the Duke chose to control the Dark One with this dagger, yet Rumplestiltskin did not do this.
 * In Madan Senki Ryukendo, it's stated in the Kanon of Light that only

Video Games

 * In The Secret of Monkey Island, Guybrush Threepwood once he found out that there's a Villain-Beating Artifact that can be used to defeat ghosts, especially Captain LeChuck. The pirate then went to find the ingredients (i.e. Voodoo root, ).
 * Whereas in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
 * In Grow RPG, this trope was distilled down to its molecular essence. Besides the sword and armor, you will need the special blue orb which can knock the Big Bad's life meter down to where you can go man to man. (It's not possible to reach the Big Bag without it).
 * In Chrono Cross, you can kill the Time Devourer using force alone, but it'll come back eventually. The only way to defeat it once and for all is to use the Chrono Cross.
 * God of War, whatever is contained within Pandora's Box has power that capable of killing a god (Hint: It's the only thing). So Kratos spends the first game to find and open the box, that way he can off Ares. In God of War 3, he needs it again to defeat Zeus...
 * Warcraft 3: Not a specific weapon, but mainly a damage type. Divine armor's weakness is Chaos, which is reserved for Hell's legions or insanely strong monsters. In order to defeat, Cenarius, an invulnerable demigod, Grom Hellscream's orcs reactivate some sort of demon pact, this allows them to defeat him (By giving them Chaos damage).
 * Also, Illidan, who devours the Skull of Guldan, which the Legion were using earlier to spread corruption in the Night Elves' forests. This turns him into a half-demon, but the bonus is an ability to defeat Tichondrius.
 * Someone told Prince Arthas, that to defeat Mal'Ganis, the dreadlord, he must search for the Frostmourne, a legendary sword. Once Arthas got it, he then confronts, the dreadlord. Mal'Ganis laughs and states he fell into their trap, and to add to the sucky-ness, the sword consumed Arthas's soul. While it's true, Arthas's real master is the Lich King, who seems to serve the Burning Legion and has his personal agendas. Arthas was then order to and does slay Mal'Ganis.
 * Neverwinter Nights 2, the only way to injure and even kill the King of Shadows, was to find the Silver Sword of Gith. But it was broken into several shards when it was used earlier and your character ain't the only one interested in collecting them.
 * In the original Doom 3, the player uses the Soul Cube to defeat Cyberdemon. The smaller ones, however, aren't limited to this type of weakness. Also, the Soul Cube powers up by using the souls of fallen enemies. Subverted, in patches.
 * In Legend of Zelda, most of the games, has Link needing the Master Sword to defeat Ganon.
 * In the Phantom Hourglass, Link needs the Phantom Sword to defeat Bellum.
 * Also, the Silver Arrows.
 * In Baldur's Gate 2, the way that the Unseeing Eye was advertised in this matter and you'll need a special rod of destruction to defeat him. Actually, it's easier (though less profitable) to just kill his followers until he appears. Since the Unseeing Eye is just a standard mage with more hit points than usual and less dangerous.
 * Colobot, the only way to defeat the alien queen was to find and use the Phazer Shooter. But to acquire it, you'll need to collect four keys and to open the vault.
 * The Fire Emblem series uses this trope too many times to count. Even using the titular Fire Emblem occasionally (or not using it, depends on the game).
 * In Fire Emblem Gaiden has its own Falchion, which is the only thing that can kill off Duma once and for all (Besides using the Cleric's Nosferatu spell, which is a bug in the original game maybe).
 * In Fire Emblem: Genealogy of Holy War'' which has the Falchion substitute in the form of the Naga spell: In-Universe, it's treated as one, but on a gameplay standpoint the Naga spell isn't necessary to defeat the Final Boss (Good luck beating him without it).

Western Animation

 * Samurai Jack, the titular character's sword is the predominately the only weapon to take out Aku, because of its Made of Good.
 * In Adventure Time, the gauntlet that Billy owns has the power to seal the Lich.
 * In Scooby Doo Mystery Inc, Scoob and his friends found out that they need to find and use the Heart of the Jaguar to destroy During the final episode,