Only the Pure of Heart

Some things are just too good to let everybody get their hands on; they might be too rare, too dangerous or maybe just too evil to start dishing out all willy nilly. However people with pure hearts will have the chance to access things restricted to Only the Pure of Heart such as:


 * The ability to wield certain weapons or other magical items.
 * The power to cast certain spells.
 * Immunity to certain enchantments or dark powers.
 * Heroic Willpower, by default.
 * The ability to harm creatures and beings of evil.

Note that it is extremely difficult both to attain and maintain: Just as Virgin Power requires that you Can't Have Sex Ever, any small stumbling will destroy your powers, too (even if it is in mind only).

Occasionally subverted by being available to, in addition to or instead of the Incorruptible Pure Pureness, the pure evil...turns out Pure Is Not Good.

May be a naive Wide Eyed Idealist, which makes him/her easily exploitable by the bad guys. If the requirement is to be of "pure heart", watch out, because Pure Is Not Good.

Compare Only the Knowledgable May Pass, Only Smart People May Pass, Only the Worthy May Pass, Children Are Innocent.

Anime and Manga

 * In the Dragonball series, neither Master Roshi nor Krillin can hope to ride Goku's Flying Nimbus, but a few other characters more pure of heart apparently can. Gohan, Goten, Chichi (at least as a child), and (in a tellingly specific way) "Good" Lunch but not Bulma. As one might expect from Shounen, this isn't a Virgin Power; Goku mainly stops riding because he and many other characters simply fly on their own.
 * In Cross Epoch, a crossover with One Piece, Luffy rides the Nimbus as well.
 * Goku's pure heart also renders him immune to Devilman's ultimate move, the Devilmite Beam, which works by causing the evil in a person's heart to explode.
 * At one point it's mentioned that only someone of a pure heart can become a Super Saiyan. Vegeta then explains he was capable of it because his heart is pure evil. Which is strange, because Vegeta is a surprisingly nice guy by the series' end. A Proud Warrior Race Guy with Blood Knight tendencies and a bad Jerkass streak, but still a pretty decent guy overall. Though it's not uncommon in Dragonball for former villains to insist they're still evil, even if it's not actually fooling anyone.
 * The trick with becoming a Super Saiyan is a combination of purity and rage. So you have to be pure, and then something has to piss you off in a big way. Emotional bursts flares up one's Ki, and causes the transformation; the purer and kinder the individual, the more potent the rage-burst when it happens (potentially explaining why Vegeta had such a hard time - he's always angry, so him raging isn't that big an emotional burst). It's sort of an extreme case of Break the Cutie combined with Unstoppable Rage that turns into a Beware the Nice Ones. Once you manage to get to Super Saiyan, though, maintaining or improving it isn't a big deal.
 * "The power comes from a NEED, not a desire", in Vegeta's case he ended up putting himself in an EXTREMELY dangerous position while training in order to FORCE himself to need the power just to survive. It might sound crazy, but consider that he probably wouldn't want to live anymore anyways if he couldn't pull it off after seeing Goku achieve it.
 * The Spirit Bomb can only be used by someone of pure heart as well. Notably, when Goku enters the Super Saiyan state, he's unable to use it, because the Super Saiyan state taints his heart with rage and bloodlust. This restriction persists even after he masters the Super Saiyan state and is able to act perfectly calm while in it. Cell was able to use the Spirit Bomb in one of the video games, because apparently, like Vegeta, he was pure of heart, in that he was pure evil.
 * The Spirit Bomb can only be deflected by the pure of heart as well, demonstrated when Gohan manages to reflect it against Vegeta. Interestingly, Kid Buu also manages to push back the attack.
 * Actually, that was a dubbing issue. In the original manga and Japanese dub, the spirit bomb would only detonate when it hit the person whose Ki it was locked onto, hence why Gohan could reflect it back to Vegeta.
 * In the third season of Sailor Moon, the purity of the heart can be extracted as a crystal. The Big Bad guys, called the Death Busters, as well as Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are searching for three specific Pure Heart Crystals that contain powerful treasures known as Talismans. When the three Talismans come together, they
 * The  reacts with the Silver Crystal, essentially giving Sailor Moon her first power-up, into Super Sailor Moon. Because of this, they initially thought Sailor Moon was , but this theory died quickly when Sailor Moon proved she.
 * Saddened by the possibility of losing Hotaru, Sailor Moon.
 * In Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam can only be used by someone who is pure of heart and has good intentions. How this actually works is unknown.
 * In Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam can only be used by someone who is pure of heart and has good intentions. How this actually works is unknown.

Comic Books
Notably, during DC crossover, Wonder Woman can manage it but not Superman. (Supes used the hammer, but only because Odin lifted the restriction due to the critical situation; afterwards Thor explains this, but also remarks that it's never been in worthier hands.) It's been suggested that a certain warrior spirit is also required to wield it (Thor and Odin being Norse gods, after all), which Wonder Woman certainly has, at least in comparison to that boy scout Farm Boy.
 * Only the purest and most devoted of warriors can even lift the hammer of Thor (as depicted in the Marvel Universe, anyway), and fewer can actually use it. The list of people who can do this is very short (though Beta Ray Bill, Captain America and an unnamed paramedic have been seen to manage it, and Deadpool got his hands on a pretty close copy) and Thor himself lost the ability during The Reigning, when he veered into serious Knight Templar territory.
 * In Justice Society of America, Power Girl was specifically told that Stargirl, not she, had to defeat the King of Tears, because purity of heart was needed. (Earlier in the same story, Stargirl had her heart broken because a villain had needed her love to cast a spell for her purity of heart.)
 * In both the Marvel and DC universes, reigning Lords of Hell (Mephisto and Neron respectively) have attempted to ensnare the most incorruptibly pure souls only to be unable to actually HOLD them in Hell because of that very same trait. The souls in question?

Film

 * The Golden Child's immunity to being harmed by Sardo Numspa's demonic forces is based entirely on him maintaining his innocence. Even the slightest slip, such as drinking blood, would be enough to allow him to be slain. So they lock him in a cage with no food, hoping to wear down his resistance. Given that he's a Buddhist monk (and managed to sneak some leaves along with him), he holds out for just long enough to be rescued.
 * Monty Python and The Holy Grail. "He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the Holy Grail in the Castle of Aaaaaauuuuggghhh..."
 * In Highlander the Source it was revealed that the prize the immortals fought for was claimable only by virtue, rather than strength. This, of course, made the millenia of immortals killing each other to gain the strength to claim the prize a bit pointless. Also the fact that the prize was the ability to have children.

Literature

 * Eriond from The Malloreon is this trope personified. Despite (apparently) having no power to speak of, being pure and innocent enough to be one of three people in the entire world who can touch the Orb of Aldur without being destroyed, and being inoffensive as milk, evil is incapable of harming him. The quintessential example of this comes when he stands in front of the Big Bad who has shapeshifted into a dragon and emerges completely unscathed from her fire. It helps that his ultimate destiny is.
 * The Silmarillion: Evil and tainted-by-evils characters cannot touch the Silmarils without getting burned. It does make one wonder how Morgoth got them into his crown.
 * He's a Physical God, he's got a high tolerance for pain.
 * And even so, it's said that the burns continued to hurt him forever.
 * Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. When Taran first tries to wield the sword Dyrnwyn in The Book of Three, he's blasted by its power. In The High King he's able to use Dyrnwyn to destroy the Cauldron born and Arawn Death Lord. Dyrnwyn has an inscription: "Draw Dyrnwyn, only thou of noble worth, to rule with justice, to strike down evil. Who wields it in good cause shall slay even the Lord of Death." When Taran first drew Dyrnwyn he was a callow youth. When he drew it the second time he had matured into a noble man.

Live Action TV

 * Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Under Zedd and Rita's castle on the moon is the Cave of Deception, where the mythical Zeo Crystal is held, but surrounded by a force field. Only one pure of heart can grab the crystal from inside it; any one else will be destroyed if they try. Tommy goes down to try to steal it, but he's worried that there is still a lingering amount of evil in his heart from when he was brainwashed in season 1. When he grabs the crystal, he is hurt a bit, but ultimately manages to grab the crystal, proving that he truly is pure.
 * The Wizards of Waverly Place movie. "The path will only reveal itself to those whose intentions are pure".

Mythology and Legend

 * In Russian folklore, only those who are pious and pure of heart will be able to see and enter the city of Kitezh which sits at the bottom of Lake Svetloyar.
 * The Siege Perilous (Dangerous Seat) from some Arthurian stories can only be safely sat in by a pure knight.
 * In Arthurian Legend Galahad gets these privileges, as befits the man who represents Incorruptible Pure Pureness so much that he's the page header for it. He's also Too Good for This Sinful Earth.

Religion

 * In The Bible, Jesus indicates that only the pure of heart would get to Heaven in several occasions. One of them is in the Sermon of the Mount: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." (St. Matthew, 5:8). Another one is in St. Matthew 18:3: "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven."
 * According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the kingdom of Shambhala can be accessed only by those who are enlightened and spiritually pure.

Tabletop Games

 * A Dungeons and Dragons style Paladin is granted their powers through their dedication to their path. In previous editions, violating their code of conduct or changing alignment away from Lawful Good could result in their powers being taken away temporarily or for good; this is no longer true in 4th edition, where paladins can start out with any alignment (as long as it exactly matches that of their patron deity) and their powers are no longer simply revokable, making paladins who stray from the path a bigger headache for other followers of the same faith.
 * Similarly, Paladins in Quest for Glory were powered by how Honorable they are.
 * In D&D 3.5, evil characters could not cast Good spells, lawful characters could not cast Chaotic spells, and so on (giving True Neutral the best spell selection in the core). Furthermore, in some supplements there were Corrupt spells which only evil characters could cast and Sanctified spells which only good characters could cast.
 * Eberron averts the normal restrictions on Good, Evil, Lawful, and Chaotic spells, though gives no specific ruling as to what the rules are concerning Sanctified and Corrupt spells.
 * Note that in all D&D, this inability to cast only applies to clerics and druids. Arcane casters, like Sorcerers and Wizards, could cast whatever spell they wanted to. Casting an evil, chaotic, lawful or good spell was an act of corresponding alignment, but the books never really pin down what this actually *means...*
 * Sure they do. Continued acts of acts of alignment X will serve to shift your alignment towards X. A Chaotic Good wizard who continually casts Lawful spells like Dictum, Axiomatic Storm, etc. will soon find his alignment has become Neutral Good and eventually Lawful Good. The exact timing of the change is at the discretion of the GM, and of course most players (and characters in the world) care more about the Good/Evil axis than the Law/Chaos axis.
 * Hackmaster naturally takes it Up to Eleven. The GM guide contains a full-page graph on which the GM is supposed to plot each character's alignment infractions on two axes. Character's actions are considered to move their alignment by a certain amount towards a certain alignment. One character class (Knight Errant) even has a certain innate resistance to alignment changes.
 * Warhammer 40000 has Pure Faith for the Sisters of Battle that allows them to perform certain miracles. Whether a bunch of holier-than-thou Knight Templars who tend to apply Kill It With Fire to everyone less holy if given the chance can be considered to "lack evil in their hearts" is another question...
 * It also seems odd, given that half of everyone else in the entire universe are like that, but don't have such powers.
 * Keep in mind that in this universe, "magic" and "psychic powers" are pretty much the same thing. In the Sisters' case, it's not that they lack "evil," but rather they lack "doubt"; their faith in the Emperor is so unwaveringly strong, even though they're not (all) Psykers their combined faith is able to direct some tiny fragment of the Emperor's power to the battlefield. Other times, they're using "weapons/armor of faith" that they THINK are magic, but that's only because the Mechanicum tells them they are.
 * In Blue Rose, there's a magical artifact that makes sure Only The Pure Of Heart become nobles in The Kingdom of Aldis. It only works once on any given person, though, so there's nothing stopping nobles from becoming corrupt after they pass the test.

Video Games

 * Megaman in the Megaman Battle Network 4 and 5 has "Light" Megaman. If you've never used a Dark Chip except for Plot required moments, he eventually is able to achieve "Full Synchro" with Lan more easily (in 4) and is able to use certain chips that he couldn't otherwise.
 * This applies the other way too: when Megaman uses Dark Chips he becomes Dark Megaman, and he can use DS chips and others that are based in darkness like Static.
 * In Ultima, the Avatar character class can equip any weapon, any armor, and cast magic. This originally required a Karma Meter, or 8 of them.
 * Kairi of Kingdom Hearts and the other Disney Princesses, as they are the only beings in the world(s) that have no darkness in their hearts and therefore are the only ones allowed to open the door to Kingdom Hearts, the center of all the worlds and greatest kingdom in existence. They also have the ability to send their hearts into other bodies for safe keeping causing their body to remain comatose but magically protected until it's returned.
 * Birth By Sleep gives us
 * Sora also deserves mention here, as the purity and braveness within his heart is what makes him the keyblade bearer. In fact, certain interpretations of a line in Jiminy's journal indicates that Riku would have been the keyblade bearer, but he allowed darkness into his heart, so it snubbed him. Thus, Riku was only able to obtain a keyblade later by transforming his sword into one; how exactly he did that isn't really explained.
 * In Knights of the Old Republic, particularly the second installment, having high Light or Dark Side scores affected not only dialogue but the Force Point cost of Light and Dark Force powers. Also, some items could only be wielded by adepts of a particular side and there were even a few restricted to "Grey Jedi", i.e. Force users who don't venture too far into either extreme. Lastly, the sequel had a lightsaber crystal that changed its properties as your Karma Meter rating grew.
 * The Triforce in The Legend of Zelda is bound by such rules. The Triforce will grant a wish to anyone whose heart is balanced with power, wisdom, and courage. If someone is not, then the Triforce will break apart into its component triangles--the person who touched it will get the piece that corresponds most to themselves, while the other two go and find someone else who shows a great affinity for that component. Hence Ganondorf gets Power, Zelda gets the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link the Triforce of Courage. The Triforce can be recompiled after this and the wish can be carried out once it is.
 * The Master Sword was also like this originally.
 * In Disgaea Hour of Darkness:  can touch Flonne's pendant (which harms evil) without being punished. He says that "the heavens wouldn't punish such a pure heart as mine". This is foreshadowing, as
 * In Fate Stay Night, requires a truly pure heart and those who are not are consumed by the corruption. Notably, the only person in the show who's able to shake it off without effect is Gilgamesh, a self-centred sociopath who is so beyond human that he cannot regard humans as anything but possessions.
 * In Jak II Renegade the only one who can open the Precursor Stone is, because he still has "the pure gift". It won't open for
 * In Skullgirls, only a pure-hearted woman can make a wish on the Skullheart without being turned into a Humanoid Abomination.

Webcomics

 * In The Adventures of Wiglaf and Mordred, only Wiglaf could get the magic sword from the lake because he is good, and only those who are "pure" can wield it (pure evil seems to work too.)
 * In City of Reality, one of the Alternate Universes is the World of Magic, where magical power is the dominant force. One of the rules of magic is that it must be consensual; therefore a strong enough will can resist any spell. Todo, as the embodiment of all that is idealistic and noble in Reality, surprises a Hierarchy mage by being completely immune to his attacks.
 * In Sluggy Freelance the Goddess of Goodness is left pitifully weak because her home dimension has been overrun by demons and turned into a wasteland with barely a scrap of purity or goodness in it. So Torg takes her to the Dimension of Lame, a world where everyone is almost unbearably sweet, kind, and innocent, and suddenly the Goddess has got herself a massive power boost.
 * In 8-Bit Theater, Fighter is the only Light Warrior capable of wielding the Infinity Plus One Swords of the Real Light Warriors. Red Mage and Thief experience intense pain and discomfort and Black Mage is instantly set on fire upon contact.

Western Animation

 * The MacGuffin in one episode of Samurai Jack. It would probably have accepted Jack, but the travelling companion who led him there in the first place was Aku in disguise.
 * Jack's sword as well: in one episode, it's taken by Aku, who then chases Jack down and stabs him with it, only to fail. Jack then remembers that the sword can be held by anyone, but only when wielded by the pure of heart can it be used as a weapon. And it can never hurt those who are pure of heart themselves.
 * The Winx girls in Winx Club poured fairy dust from their wings to gain access to the Golden Kingdom, in the episode "The Crystal Labyrinth".
 * In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch learns the true meaning of Christmas and forsakes his grinchy ways, which makes his heart grow three sizes, thus breaking the narrator's Heart Size indicator, and he somehow gains super strength and a glow as a result.