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* The Dark Bring in ''[[Rave Master]]'', which grant the user different powers while slowly corrupting them. Special mention goes to the Sinclaire, which are especially corruptive.
* ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'': The library of 103,000 [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|grimoires]] in Index's brain counts. Not only do the grimoires themselves contain spells of incredible destructive power, the knowledge itself is dangerous. When one mage tried to absorb just ''one'' of the books {{spoiler|while trying to obtain a healing spell to save a girl he loved from a curse}}, he nearly suffered a fatal aneurysm. The mage then wonders just what Index is considering that she can store the entire library in her mind without any negative side effects.
* The philosopher stones in [[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]], which is forged with thousands of human souls, and can be used to ignore the rules of alchemy. Most people in FMA who possess one use it to commit mass genocide, or to possess people.
* [[Neon Genesis Evangelion]] has the "Lance of Longinus", a long, pronged artifact which grants its wielder (who has to be absolutely GIGANTIC to use it, by the way) absolute godly power. It plays a crucial role in both the Second and Third Impacts. The Lance is interesting in that it is not sentient, nor is its wielder{{spoiler|, Adam,}} [[True Neutral|truly "evil"]], it is only an Artifact of Doom from a human perspective, being as it will destroy us all if it falls into the wrong hands.
** [[All There in the Manual|Classified Information]] suggests that the Lance actually ''is'' sentient, and comes in a set with {{spoiler|a Seed of Life (i.e. both Adam and Lilith had one, but Lilith lost hers)}}. It exists as the ultimate security device, but only does anything if {{spoiler|something goes ''horribly'' wrong (such as two Seeds landing on the same planet)}}.
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== Comic Books ==
* From the [[Marvel Universe]],
**
* Satirized in ''[[Nodwick]]'' by "This One Ring", which is a One Ring parody that inspired an epic ''[[Lord of the Rings]]''-esque plot based on ''hype'' alone. It has no actual powers, but only [[Deadpan Snarker|Nodwick]] [[Only Sane Man|realizes this and no-one else believes him]].▼
** The Ultimate Nullifier is a mysterious device that has been described as "the universe's most devastating weapon." By simply touching a button on the palm-sized gizmo, one being of the user's choice is erased from existence, but if the user possesses near-godlike concentration, knowledge, and willpower, they will meet the same fate. This is the one thing [[Galactus]] seems to fear, not that Galactus himself is hesitant to use it, as he did to Annihilus - that means the Nullifier can destroy the literal embodiment of Destruction! It is eventually revealed that what the Nullifier ''actually'' does when used is obliterate the entire multiverse, and then rebuild it, only without the target. It is truly not something to be trifled with.
▲* Satirized in ''[[Nodwick]]'' by "This One Ring", which is a One Ring parody that inspired an epic ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''-esque plot based on ''hype'' alone. It has no actual powers, but only [[Deadpan Snarker|Nodwick]] [[Only Sane Man|realizes this and no-one else believes him]].
** By the end of the story, history repeats itself when Nodwick bribes off the story's Gollum-equivalent with "this one rock". Yeah, it's just a rock. Cut to the [[Distant Finale]]...
** The print comic also features a straight example in the Gauntlet of Supremacy. It renders its wielder immune to harm, fires powerful energy blasts, and gives the wielder [[Charm Person|dominion over all living beings near them]]. Unfortunately, it was forged by a [[God of Evil]] and a God of War working together, and drives its wielder to conquer the world and kill anyone who opposes them. Only said [[God of Evil]] can control it.
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* Any of the various [[Green Lantern]] Corps rings could become an Artifact of Doom under the right circumstances. The Orange Lantern ring curses its owner with ever-lasting greed and hunger. The Red Lantern ring causes heart stoppage and uncontrollable rage, and you can't take it off without it killing you. The Black Rings bring the dead back as undead Black Lanterns that crave hearts.
* The Star Brand from ''[[The New Universe]]'' is exactly like this. A limitless power only held back by one's imagination, it can only be used by living things. The first time someone tried to place it into a inanimate object to get rid of the power, it initiated the White Event, the world's biggest [[Superpower Lottery]]. The second time, it ''[[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|vaporized]] [[Pittsburgh]]!'' Even worse, even if you do get rid of it, you're keeping a portion of the power that will recharge itself back to full. It's so dangerous that, when the New Universe Earth was transported to the mainstream Marvel Universe, the Living Tribunal erected an impenetrable barrier so it won't contaminate the rest of the universe with its power.
== Fan Works ==
* Kyle in ''[[Becka Rangers Nemo Thunder|Becka Rangers: Nemo Thunder]]'' goes [[Ax Crazy]] the very second he touches the Jellyfish Staff. Even after they fix the staff so it won't make him completely evil, it ''still'' makes him a [[Sociopathic Hero]] [[Clothes Make the Maniac|when he's morphed]].
* In ''[[With Strings Attached]]'' we have Blackfire, the Hunter's [[
* ''[[Ponies Make War]]'' has the Sliver of Darkness, which was responsible for Princess Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon, and more importantly to the story, Twilight Sparkle's transformation into [[Complete Monster|Nihilus]].
== Film ==
* The Loc-Nar in ''[[Heavy Metal (animation)|Heavy Metal]]''.
* The poisoned apple from [[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White]] and the Seven Dwarves.
* Maleficent's spinning wheel from ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]''.
* The Black Cauldron from...''[[The Black Cauldron]]''.
* The One Ring from ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|The Lord of the Rings]]''.
* The infamous videotape in ''[[The Ring]]''. Watch the innocuous, unlabeled tape, and she will hunt you down and kill you, unless you pass the curse to someone else by making a copy of the tape and sending it to that person.
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* Any videotape holding Sadako's soul in ''[[The Ring]]'' can be this.
* ''[[Death Bed: The Bed That Eats]]''; despite being regarded as a cheesy B-movie, the eponymous bed has an interesting backstory. A demon falls in love with a human woman, and creates a bed that they use to consummate their love. But she is killed in the process, and his tears of grief fall on the bed, turning it into a monster that preys on humans once every hundred years.
== Gamebooks ==▼
* The ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' gamebooks: in addition to the evil armies, [[Evil Overlord|demonic Evil Overlords]], various [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Sealed Evils in Cans]], and [[Everything Trying to Kill You|hostile wildlife and environments]], Lone Wolf runs into several Artifacts of Doom. The Darklord weapons and the Death Staff are examples of evil weapons that have gameplay penalties when used in battle. Story-wise, the worst artifacts are the [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Doomstones]]. The Doomstones are essentially crystallized [[Black Magic]] created by a powerful demon that eventually corrupts and kills anyone who uses them that isn't ''already'' a being of pure evil. Meaning that the strongest antagonists can use them with impunity; but Lone Wolf collapses as soon as he gets ''near'' one.▼
** The Doomstone of Darke featured in Book 16 ''The Darke Crusade'' deserves a special mention here. {{spoiler|In the end, it turns out to be the REAL [[Big Bad]] of the book, having made the [[Disc One Final Boss]] its frail, near-undead puppet.}}▼
** A rather weird example is the Moonstone, a GOOD Artifact of Doom: crops grow better, children are born healthier, summers are longer... but it threatens to destroy the natural equilibrium of Magnamund.▼
== Literature ==
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* The gauntlet in Karen Miller's ''[[Godspeaker Trilogy]]'' which is made from a [[Power Crystal]] and fashioned by Hekat for her son Zandakar. It [[Stuff Blowing Up|destroys buildings]] and [[Kill It with Fire|fries people where they stand]]. It also makes his hair turn blue. Zandakar later abandons it as he find it too destructive, his brother Dmmitak uses the gauntlet and never takes it off, even when he has sex. The knife which {{spoiler|Vortka gives Zandakar}} is also an example of this.
* Stormbringer, the black blade, in ''[[The Elric Saga]]'' novels, {{spoiler|forces Elric to kill everyone he loves}}, brings about [[The End of the World as We Know It]], and ultimately survives the destruction and re-creation of the universe to spread its evil anew.
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** [[Terry Pratchett]] created a device called the Gonne in
** In
* Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard, in R.A. Salvatore's ''[[The Icewind Dale Trilogy|Icewind Dale Trilogy]]'', is considered by many readers to be an homage to One Ring (if not an outright ripoff).
* The Horcruxes in ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]''. Like the One Ring they primarily function as [[Soul Jar]]s for Voldemort, but can exert a corrupting influence to defend themselves, never mind that the creation of them is an act of evil (and requires the wizard to commit murder as part of the ritual).
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* "Dissolve," by [[Jonathan Coulton]], seems to be about one of these, but the lyrics are a little vague.
== Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myth and Legend ==
* Andvari's ring in [[Norse Mythology]], from the tale of Otter's ransom, isn't really magical, except in so much as it kills anyone who has it and is told they have it (though this last part is rather inconsistently applied). The ring in the Edda ''does'' have one magical power, that of increasing gold. While not a clear-cut example of this trope, it inspired at least one more famous example.
* The Ring of Gyges, a metaphor for corruption in Plato's [[The Republic]]. This ring merely turns the bearer invisible, as the One Ring had in [[The Hobbit]], but Plato argued that the temptations the ring presents would ultimately corrupt anyone who chose to use it. Inevitably, theft, murder, and betrayal would follow, as these were the easiest and most obvious uses of the ring. Ultimately, the use of the ring proves so addictive that its bearer cannot part with it, and can thing of nothing else but his jealousy of keeping it.
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* In a Polish fairy tale, the fern flower will grant any wish, as long as it's only for yourself and you never share the benefits with anyone. If you are charitable even once, everything you wished for is taken back, and the flower disappears.
* The Ark of the Covenant has shades of this, even outside [[Raiders of the Lost Ark|that one story.]] The instructions for its creation and care were very specific, and when one of its attendants touched it without proper precautions, it struck the man dead.
== Tabletop Games ==
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* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has the [[Evil Hand|Hand]] and [[Evil Eye|Eye]] of Vecna. One can give one's own eye and hand to use these artifacts, but you have to cut off your hand or gouge out your eye to use it, and [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]].
** Oh yeah, and both of the above artifacts ''will'' eventually result in you being absorbed into [[Evil Sorcerer|their original owner]].
** And there's a story about [[The Head of Vecna]], which is supposedly used in the same way, but doesn't actually do what the user expects. It does, however, do ''[[Too Dumb to Live|exactly]]'' what anyone with an ounce of sense expects. Even if it ''did'' work as advertised, it would still be a tremendously stupid idea to use it. His ''hand'' turns you evil, imagine what his ''brain'' would do.
** Another Artifact of Doom associated with Vecna is the ''[[Evil Weapon| Sword of Kas]]'', a weapon he made and gave to his second-in-command, Kas the Bloody Handed. Kas turned against him, and the resulting battle between the armies of the two evil beings killed both of them, leaving only the Sword and Vecna's Hand and Eye behind. Both were [[Not Quite Dead]], of course; Vecna, as stated, became a demigod, while Kas became a very powerful vampire. The Sword of Kas is said to be a potent weapon for anyone who would oppose Vecna, but it is incredibly evil, and a hero who tries to use it for this purpose risks turning into a bloody, merciless warlord like Kas himself. The sword is also the only way to permanently destroy the hand and eye of Vecna.
** Evil-aligned artifacts in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' generally act like this; the ''Book of Vile Darkness'' [[Sourcebook]] lists some, and is named after a particular example.
** 4e has taken this to its logical extreme with the Heart of the Abyss; a shard of [[Made of Evil|pure evil]]. [[Satan|Asmodeus]] stole a ''sliver'' off the shard, crafted it into a rod, and used it to [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|kill the strongest of the gods]]. The [[Evil Versus Evil|Blood]] [[Forever War|War]] fought between the [[Lawful Evil|devils]] and [[Chaotic Evil|demons]] was spawned by this; Asmodeus wants the rest of the shard for himself, and the demons want the piece he stole back.
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* Every artifact in [[Houses of the Blooded]]. It's written into the rules: they can give you great power, but once a season, the Narrator can cause you to automatically fail a roll by saying [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|"DOOOOOOOM!"]] A good Narrator will do this at the worst possible time.
* ''[[Kult]]'' has rules for possessed or otherwise evil items. One example is a maching gun that, when picked up, causes the wielder to go on a murdeous rampage, shooting everything in sight, friend or foe.
* The [https://web.archive.org/web/20090114022748/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?id=31801 Mirari] twists and corrupts those who seek its power in the post-Invasion world of Dominaria in the ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' storyline. However, this a subversion; it's revealed in the end that it was only meant to be a probe, but ended up spilling magical power into the world, the power inevitably corrupting the bearer.
** Also, within the card game exists the "Door to Nothingness" artifact. Its ability costs a ridiculous amount of mana, but when activated, your opponent ''loses the entire game''. (Just make sure they don't [[Hoist by His Own Petard|redirect the target]].)
** [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=227302 Worldslayer]. "Whenever equipped creature [i.e. creature wielding the sword] deals combat damage to a player, destroy all permanents other than Worldslayer."
* The Black Scrolls in the ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'' [[Collectible Card Game]] and tabletop RPG are immensely powerful magical scrolls that corrupt any who study them. In fact ''anything'' (including people, places and objects) that has enough of the [[The Corruption|Shadowlands Taint]] does so, and various artifacts bear the Taint. These include the Bloodswords and the Anvil of Despair, just to name two.
▲=== Gamebooks ===
▲* The ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' gamebooks: in addition to the evil armies, [[Evil Overlord|demonic Evil Overlords]], various [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Sealed Evils in Cans]], and [[Everything Trying to Kill You|hostile wildlife and environments]], Lone Wolf runs into several Artifacts of Doom. The Darklord weapons and the Death Staff are examples of evil weapons that have gameplay penalties when used in battle. Story-wise, the worst artifacts are the [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Doomstones]]. The Doomstones are essentially crystallized [[Black Magic]] created by a powerful demon that eventually corrupts and kills anyone who uses them that isn't ''already'' a being of pure evil. Meaning that the strongest antagonists can use them with impunity; but Lone Wolf collapses as soon as he gets ''near'' one.
▲** The Doomstone of Darke featured in Book 16 ''The Darke Crusade'' deserves a special mention here. {{spoiler|In the end, it turns out to be the REAL [[Big Bad]] of the book, having made the [[Disc One Final Boss]] its frail, near-undead puppet.}}
▲** A rather weird example is the Moonstone, a GOOD Artifact of Doom: crops grow better, children are born healthier, summers are longer... but it threatens to destroy the natural equilibrium of Magnamund.
== Theatre ==
* The Ring of the Nibelungs from [[Richard Wagner]]'s [[The Ring of the Nibelung|eponymous operatic cycle]], cursed by its maker to destroy all who possess or covet it. The curse comes with a truly ominous [[Leitmotif]], which plays every time someone is killed because of it. Wagner, in loosely adapting the [[Norse Mythology]] example above, extended the symbolism of the lust for gold, relating it (in typical 19th c. fashion) to the „''Wille zur Macht''‟, the fundamental anti-social aspect of which he symbolized in the idea that the Ring could be made only by one who had renounced all natural affections.
== Theme Parks ==
* There are a few in the attractions at [[Disney Theme Parks]]. A notable one is in the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' sequence of ''The Great Movie Ride'', where a real life Cast Member plays the role of the poor fool who tries to take it.
== Toys ==
* The Ignika in ''[[Bionicle]]''. On top of that, it was made exactly like the One Ring.
** The nui stone may also count as this.
== Video Games ==
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* In ''[[Endstone]]'', the Banestone. The most powerful overstone, and it drives its rockers mad.
* In ''[[Consequences of Choice]]'' The Invisus is a powerful stone entrusted to the class of Necromancers by the demigods of death.
== Web Original ==
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* ''[[Tech Infantry]]'' has the magical sword Kuar, which grants you invisibility and increasing magical power, then sucks out our soul. There is also The Orb, a mystical artifact of untold power which is sought by the Caal.
* The {{spoiler|gyroids}} in ''[[The Terrible Secret of Animal Crossing]].''
* The Book of Stories in the eponymous [[The Book of Stories
* The Heart of Darkness in ''[[The Gungan Council]]'' corrupts Phylis Alince into rallying [[The Alliance]] in attacking the Sith en masse and nearly converts her to the dark side.
* [[Atop the Fourth Wall|Linkara's]] {{spoiler|Magic Gun}} is a subversion of this. The cultists who created intended it to be a {{spoiler|a weapon powered by pure hate and agony, and used their own daughter to power it. But the weapon backfired, killed them, and the spirit inside the gun eventually became more benevolent and a partner of sorts to Linkara.}}
* In the webisode, "Curses!", [[The League of STEAM]] have a cursed artifact appraised, in a curio shop that apparently specializes in [[Artifacts of Doom]].
== Western Animation ==
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* The Eye of Odin from ''[[Gargoyles]]'' isn't exactly ''evil'', but it is incredibly dangerous to use because it enhances the dominant trait of the users' personality into what often amounts to a [[Super-Powered Evil Side]]. [[Dark Action Girl|Fox]] became a werewolf, and [[The Hero|Goliath]] became a godlike [[Knight Templar]]. The only people who seem to be able to use the Eye safely are Odin himself and the Archmage, who was ''already'' a crazy [[Evil Sorcerer]].
** This stands in contrast to the Phoenix Gate, which is a subversion. Though many groups in the setting desire it as readily-accessible time travel, it only allows the creation of a [[Stable Time Loop]]. [[Wild Mass Guessing|Fans have inferred]] this to mean something else is controlling the gate and its users.
* In one episode of ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'', an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] summons a golden flute with the power to destroy the world. He used [[The Lord of the Rings|The Ring Inscription]].
* Spoofed to epic levels on ''[[The Venture Brothers]]''. The ORB in is a small round device constructed by the greatest minds in history over hundreds of years, with the power to destroy the world. It is so feared that the Guild of Calamitous Intent, the OSI and the Venture Family each set up decades-spanning [[Batman Gambit]]s to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. After all that fuss, it turns out that over 100 years ago, someone had the good sense to just ''break'' the stupid thing to keep it from causing trouble. Thus the century-long conflict over the ORB was a complete waste of time.
* The ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' episode "Armored and Dangerous" has the invincible armor of Kileem, a powerful warlord who was undefeated in battle generations ago. The Sultan, who puts on the armor in order to stop a minotaur threatening Agrabah, becomes invulnerable and immensely strong, but is possessed by the spirit of Kileem, who turns out to be an inflammable tyrant and warmonger, who not only plans to conquer the Seven Deserts and later the world but condemns Jasmine to death for resisting him. Aladdin stops him by tricking him into destroying the statue that is the source of Kileem's power, releasing the Sultan from his control and saving Jasmine.
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* Many people believe that nuclear weapons are the real life version of this trope, since knowledge of nuclear weapons and the logic of [[Cold War|Mutually Assured Destruction]] is self-perpetuating. In a classic [[Catch-22]], it would take a [[Apocalypse How|civilization-ending]] event to put the nuclear genie back in the bottle (or in the best case, terminal global economic decline) and then it would become [[Sealed Evil in a Can]].
* Two Manhattan Project physicists, [[wikipedia:Demon core|Henry K. Daghlian Jr. and Louis Slotin]], died from radiation poisoning in two separate criticality accidents in 1945 and 1946 involving the same plutonium bomb core assembly. Said device became known as the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|"Demon Core"]].
* Some fundamentalist Christians seem to feel this way about practically any form of entertainment that is not perceived to be biblical ([[The New Rock and Roll|rock music]] and ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' are particularly popular targets). [[The Moral Substitute]] may or may not be allowed.
* A common joke in Hollywood is that [[Academy Award| the Oscar statuette is cursed]], and that winning it means the recipient's career is likely to go downhill. This would be funny if not for the fact that this happens to a ''lot'' of Oscar winners. To give two examples in recent history, [[Nicholas Cage]] has starred in a lot of garbage since winning Best Actor for ''[[Leaving Las Vegas]]''; [[Geena Davis]] won Best Supporting Actress for ''[[The Accidental Tourist]]'', but would later be known for ''[[Cutthroat Island]]'', one of the biggest [[Box Office Bomb]]s of all time.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know]]
[[Category:Plot Device]]
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[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Artifact of Doom]]
[[Category:Magic Items Index]]
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