Artifact of Doom: Difference between revisions
m
clean up
m (update links) |
m (clean up) |
||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:Eye-of-Sauron-
Line 32:
** The Millenium Ring from the original series is the most notable example. While all of the Items (especially the Eye and the Rod) can be used for negative purposes, the Ring is the absolute worst, possessing the innocent Ryou Bakura and using him to trigger a plot that would have seen thousands of people dead, and history rewritten. Having the soul of a psychopathic [[Grave Robbing|tomb robber]] ''and'' a shard of a dark god's essence trapped inside of it will do that to an object.
** The Wicked God cards of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! R]]'' were considered too dangerous to even be ''printed'' by the people who created the aforementioned cards of doom. Naturally, ''someone'' decides to print and use them anyways. {{spoiler|Unsurprisingly, one of them brain-jacks him.}}
* The eponymous notebook from ''[[Death Note]]'' kills those whose names are written in it. This is slightly different from most of the other examples on the list, in that it doesn't appear to be sentient or subversive all on its
** Ryuk mentions (in the very first episode) that the first human that picks up the Death Note will ultimately have their name written down by the Shinigami that dropped it. {{spoiler|And sure enough, following Light's ultimate defeat in the final episode, Ryuk makes good on his promise and writes Light's name into his personal Death Note making it the first, and last time, Ryuk uses his own notebook in the series and finally closing out the Kira case.}}.
* ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'' features the Dark Spores. The good news: they make you faster and stronger, and provide genius intellect. The bad news: They turn you cold and sadistic. Worse news: their real purpose is to resurrect a [[Sealed Evil in a Can|seriously nasty baddie]] once enough of them have collected enough energy from those they've corrupted. Even worse news: they're imperfect copies of the real thing, so if they're ''not'' harvested, you die. But there is good news: I Just Saved A Bunch Of Money On My Car Insurance By [[Switching to GEICO]]!
** PS: Don't play with the Beast Spirits in ''[[Digimon Frontier]],'' either. You can learn to control yourself while using 'em ''eventually'', but that's only after an episode or two of wrecking everything in sight. If you're not one of [[The Chosen One
*** Unless you happen to be [[The Chick]]. In that case, go nuts!
* In ''[[Berserk]]'', there are small magical items called Behelits. They look like eggs with human facial features scattered around them at random. When their possessor [[Despair Event Horizon|hits an emotional nadir]], the features rearrange into a screaming face, and the four members of the Godhand appear to [[Deal with the Devil|offer the Behelit's owner the chance to become a demon]]... by sacrificing those close to them. And then there is the ''Crimson'' Behelit, owned by Griffith, which {{spoiler|transforms its bearer into [[A God Am I|a member of the nigh-invincible, demonic Godhand]].}}
Line 50:
* ''[[To Aru Majutsu no 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]], 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
** [[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)}}.
* [[Nabari no Ou]] - The "Book of the Knowledge of All Living Things" is essentially this though it doesn't necessarily corrupt the holder himself.
Line 110:
== 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
** 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.
Line 134:
* The short story ''[[The Monkey's Paw]]'' by W.W. Jacobs. The monkey's paw grants the user's wishes, [[Be Careful What You Wish For|but at a tremendous price]]. "''It had a spell put on it by an old fakir, a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.''" The thing was created purely to cause suffering. It's pure evil.
* ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' has a ''city'' that acts like this. Shadar Logoth will quickly corrupt anyone who stays too long. This isn't much of a problem when you consider that people who enter will quickly get killed by Mashadar, an evil cloud that hangs over the city. {{spoiler|Mat Cauthon}} picks up a dagger on his stay there, and this acts the same way. He quickly succumbs to hating people, and is nearly killed by the taint of the dagger before he is finally separated and healed of the taint. However, Rand eventually finds a way to use the city against the [[Big Bad]] without being corrupted by it, namely by {{spoiler|making its power and the city's cancel each other out, albeit with the side effect of erasing the city and several kilometers of earth beneath it from existence.}}
* [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' depicts two of a set of [[Numerological Motif|thirteen]] Artifacts Of
* In William King's ''[[Warhammer 40000]] [[Space Wolf]]'' novel ''Grey Hunter'', Ragnor and other [[Space Marine
* May or may not be averted in [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]]' ''[[The Magician's Nephew]]'', as the inscription over the enchanted bell only ''claims'' it'll drive you mad if you refrain from striking it. Even if it couldn't really cause insanity, ringing the bell awakened Jadis and introduced evil to [[Narnia]], which is "doom" in a way.
* That [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|tome of ineffable horrors]], the ''Necronomicon'' originating in the works of [[H.P. Lovecraft|HP Lovecraft]], though this is largely the result of being heavily [[Flanderized]]; a major percentage of the Lovecraft's protagonists read the book without becoming more than mildly neurotic. Breakdowns only tend to happen when what they've learned from the book seems to coincide with their recent experiences.
Line 144:
** In the ''Discworld'' novel ''[[Discworld/Soul Music|Soul Music]]'', a primordial guitar bought at a [[The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday|little mystical shop]] takes control of an aspiring musician and his band mates. The guitar isn't exactly evil, but it is selfish, destructive, and intent on making sure "The Band With Rocks In" dies young and goes out in a blaze of glory, whether they want to or not, in order to popularize its type of music.
* 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
** Not exactly doomy but definitely addictive is the Mirror of Erised in the first Harry Potter book. It shows you your greatest desire, but it is just an illusion. (In the movie Harry is show sitting transfixed in front of it like he's watching TV.)
** The Elder Wand {{spoiler|prior to coming into the possession of Dumbledore and later Harry}} would also qualify. Probably the Resurrection Stone as well, though to a lesser degree.
* Brandon Sanderson's ''[[Warbreaker]]'' features Nightblood, a sentient sword created for the purpose of slaying
* The quintessential example is [[Ring of Power|The One Ring]] from [[J. R. R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. The Ring [[Amplifier Artifact|grants power proportional to that of the wielder]], so the effect on a mere [[Hobbits]] is minimal (it just helps them "disappear" and makes them live forever), but in the hands of an elven mage or a demigod like Gandalf, it's a [[Game Breaker|world-breaking]] artifact. The downside is: it contains the spirit of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron (aka the Necromancer), so it will eventually corrupt anyone who wears it, or owns it, or even sees it. Also, it's virtually indestructible, and the quest to destroy it takes about three-quarters of the plot.
** The ''palantíri'', also from ''The Lord of the Rings'', are functionally dooming at the time of the story, because Sauron got hold of one and used it to psychically attack anyone who uses the others. (Victims include {{spoiler|Saruman, Denethor, Pippin, and possibly Aragorn.}})
Line 153:
* In ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'', the portrait itself. Dorian cannot age and stays young forever thanks to its power, but the painting turns more horrible and wretched with each evil act that Dorian performs, as a physical manifestation of his tainted soul. Dorian is drawn to and repulsed by it. By the end of the book, he has the painting locked in his attic, afraid to even look at it. In a fit of conscience, he decides to destroy it, unable to bear to look at his aged and wicked face from the canvas. {{spoiler|He stabs it, but in doing so, actually kills himself.}} While the portrait isn't actually evil, it reflects the evil in Dorian.
* The board games ''[[Jumanji]]'' and ''[[Zathura]]'', while not inherently evil or malevolent, still often rain down misfortune and disaster on the players in the form of lions, [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game|homicidal big game hunters]], meteor showers, and invading aliens, depending on which game you're playing. In both games, the only way to get rid of them is to finish the game (assuming it hasn't killed you first). However, even if the heroes do manage to finish and dispose of the game, more often than not it will just worm its way into the hands of another group of unfortunate saps.
* In the ''[[Malazan Book of the Fallen]]'' book ''Midnight Tides'', Rhulad Sengar's cursed sword (which he only grabbed to keep an enemy force from stealing it) grants him superhuman (super-Tiste?) strength and combat ability to match the greatest swordsman. And it even allows him to resurrect, as long as the sword remains in his hand, leaving him even
* The cricket ball {{spoiler|hyperspace junction bomb}} created by Hactar in ''[[Hitchhikers Guide|Life, the Universe, and Everything]]''.
* ''The Bottle Imp'' has shades of this, in the [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] story of the same name. It will grant any material wish, but when its owner dies, he's doomed to go straight to hell. Ownership can be transferred to someone else but [[Clingy MacGuffin|only if you follow the rules]].
Line 164:
* [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]: The [[Cool Ship|Nautilus]] is this for Captain Nemo: at the State of technology in 1869, a submarine could destroy any ship and then escape unpunished. By using it as a [[Weapon of Mass Destruction]], Nemo discovers that [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]. Nemo last act in the book is {{spoiler|direct the Nautilus to a Giant Whirpool, dooming himself and his crew.)}}.
* Questing Stones are reputed to be this in ''[[Septimus Heap]]''. No Apprentice has ever retuned after having been dispatched with one of them {{spoiler|, until Septimus is given one and survives the Queste in ''Queste''}}.
* In [[Michael Flynn]]'s ''[[Spiral Arm|The January Dancer]]'', the Dancer, apparently. At one point two characters discuss whether one man who owned it had died when he
Line 177:
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'': The Sword of Kahless appears to have the same effect on Worf and Kor, though this perception was unintended by the writers. As Kor mentions at one stage (whilst using the famous sword as a spit to cook his dinner), it's just a sword, not a holy relic. Nevertheless Worf and Kor each believe that their role in finding the long-lost bat'leth means they're destined to rule the Klingon Empire (Worf did become Chancellor and head of the Klingon Empire, albeit for a few minutes). After nearly killing each other they realize the sword will cause more problems than it will solve, and so they [[The World Is Not Ready|set it adrift in space]].
* ''[[Masters of Horror]]: John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns'': Some guy, desperately in need to pay off his debts, goes in search for a long-lost film called ''La Fin absolue du monde'' on behalf of a private collector. Only shown publicly during its premiere (which resulted in a massacre), everyone that came into contact with it was either driven homicidally insane or committed suicide after watching it.
* A weekly
* In ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', the sarcophagus is a device that creates eternal youth, and can even bring people back to life, but it's credited as the main reason the Goa'uld are as evil as they are. The Tok'ra don't use it, because "it steals the soul." In the episode "Need", Daniel Jackson got addicted to it, and eventually got to the point where he just didn't care about anybody else (which was really remarkable for him, at the time).
* Parodied on ''[[A Bit of Fry and Laurie]]'': [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juFTWhyC_Lc "Flowers for Wendy"] (purchased from [[The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday|the conveniently located street vendor who wasn't there yesterday]]) and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKZWZeo8Id8&feature=related "The Red Hat of Pat Ferrick"].
Line 199:
== Tabletop Games ==
* Crop up with depressing regularity in both ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' and ''[[Warhammer 40000]]''. The Daemon weapons used by certain Chaos followers are somewhere between
** Blackstone fortresses qualify, but [[Up to Eleven|is it a surprise that the artifact in question is a spaceship?]]
** On a slightly less grand scale than the Blackstone Fortresses, there are a number of brand new ones introduced in the ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' RPGs from FFG: the Halo Devices. Mysterious, but probably non-human in origin, these things ''can'' make the bearer immortal, but you wind up [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|unsane and inhuman]]. On the upside, that which does not kill you makes you stronger, and that which does kill you doesn't make you dead. You simply end up with {{spoiler|a mind completely unlike any human, including the insane worshippers of the Chaos Gods, and a body that slowly mutates into a vaguely insectoid monstrous form. And it doesn't work if you are psychic, or a Chaos worshipper.}} And "killing" the bearer, just hurries it along. Needless to say, these are rare, highly illegal, and are worth more than ''star systems''.
Line 252:
** Also to some degree the Eluvian, though it was originally a perfectly normal artifact before the Darkspawn got to it.
* The ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]''. To put it in perspective; everything wrong in Termina when you get there? All of it was done either directly or indirectly by the Skull Kid wearing the Mask. And on top of ruing everyone's lives, he's planning to drop the [[Colony Drop|frickin']] ''moon'', destroying the entire land of Termina. And he ''can do it''. Oh, and it's not just a power-up artifact of doom: {{spoiler|the mask is intelligent, and is possessing the Skull Kid. And when Majora decides he's outlived his usefulness, the mask discards the kid like an old pair of socks.}}
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'' has the Fused Shadows, which are hyped up to be an
*** The Mirror of Twilight from the same game turns demure, unassuming Yeta into the crazy ice-monster Blizzeta.
{{quote|'''''"NOT TAKE MIRROR!"'''''}}
Line 282:
** Speaking of corruption: There are a few more (mostly daedric) artifacts that could probably qualify for this rope. Such as the aptly named Skull of Corruption, which in Skyrim {{spoiler|steals dreams of people and gives them nightmares}} or Mehrunes Razor, though, admittedly, for most of the daedric artifacts it's actually only an 'air' of doom that is often also created by the way they are acquired, such as the Ring of Namira in Skyrim, for which {{spoiler|you have to lure a priest to a cave and eat him together with a coven of cannibals}}.
* The Mani Mani from ''[[Earthbound]]'' is very desirable, and emits an aura that causes anyone who gets near it to be consumed with greed. These factors allow it to play a prominent role in getting the [[Big Bad]] to rise to power.
* The web-based MMORPG Mojo Ave had the ultimate example of an
* The {{spoiler|Fuyuki Holy Grail}} in ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' and ''[[Fate/Zero]]'', after it became [[The Corruption|corrupted]] by {{spoiler|granting a wish to create the source of "All The World's Evil"}}.
* The Geneforges and canisters in the ''Geneforge'' series. You ''will'' become violent and crazy if you use the Geneforge or too many canisters. [[Evil Feels Good|By the time you realize that, you won't care.]]
Line 314:
** It is arguable that Ragna isn't one to talk, though. Especially not considering the fact that his [[Red Right Hand]] is the titular Blaz Blue, an artifact of doom that, if he ever lost control over it, could spawn a monster with the potential to destroy what is left of the world.
* The Dark Star from ''[[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]''.
* All four of the Ancients' essences from ''[[Eternal Darkness]]''
* The Black Jewel from ''[[Wario World]]''.
* The Skull Heart from ''[[Skullgirls]]''. Supposedly, a woman (it doesn't work for males) who makes a wish on the Heart will have it granted, but only if her intentions are pure enough. If there's even the least taint of corruption within her, the Heart will mutate her into a demonic, supernaturally powerful being, one of the titular Skullgirls. The game world is recovering from the aftermath of a long war that screeched to a halt when a powerful queen got hold of the Skull Heart and wished for peace; she got her wish, but in a rather twisted
* The [[Chaos Emeralds]] from the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series become this in the wrong hands; they've been revealed to be the power source for a BFG enormous cannon held within a space station, and said cannon can end the world when at full power.
* Spoofed in the second ''[[Fantasy Quest]]'' game with the Golden Cufflink of Fire. You never learn precisely what it does, and the villain who possesses it is a bit of a joke.
Line 334:
* The "Holiday Spirit" serves as this in the webcomic ''[[Holiday Wars]]'' and is deeply coveted by the [[Easter Bunny]].
* The swords Grace and Éclat from ''[[The Adventures of Wiglaf and Mordred]]''.
* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', the
* 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.
Line 341:
== Web Original ==
* ''[[Open Blue]]'' plays with this trope. In its [[Low Fantasy|relatively non-magical]] present timeline (the v3 version, at least), the myriad of blessed weapons used by the [[Precursors]]' [[Praetorian Guard]] have become the stuff of legend, including nasty ones. While the weapons themselves aren't evil per se (a [[Player Character]] and descendant of said [[Praetorian Guard]] uses one with no side effects), their very existence has triggered a race between two rival empires to [[Gotta Catch Em All|collect more than what the other has]], presumably to use them as [[Weapon of Mass Destruction|WMD]]'s in an anticipated war.
* Lightsabers are treated like Artifacts of Doom in ''[[Three in The Afternoon]]''
* Collecting and containing these is the whole point of the fictional ''[[SCP Foundation]]''. The SCP Foundation has dozens of these, given the classification "keter" from the Hebrew word "crown", which is used in Qabalah to describe the highest principle of the universe. The methods used to contain these things are... intricate.
* ''[[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.
Line 358:
** 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 [[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
* 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.
* From ''[[Wakfu]]'', the Eliacube is the most powerful artifact in the world, created as the acme of the magical science of the Eliatrope race. It acts as a very efficient [[Amplifier Artifact]] as long as it is feed with
** To further prove the point, it also drove ''his [[Right-Hand Attack Dog|dog]]'' insane.
* Episode 16 of [[Scooby Doo Mystery Inc]] reveals that the reason the town may be doomed is that [[Big Bad|Professor Pericles]] is searching for the Cursed Treasure of Crystal Cove.
| |||