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Artifact of Doom: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:Eye-of-Sauron-port_cropped_7055.jpg|link=The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|frame|Oooh, shiny! <ref>[[Our Lawyers Advised This Trope|WARNING: Tampering with the One Ring]] [[Side Effects Include|may result in]] [[Invisibility]], [[Evil Feels Good|rushes of euphoria]], [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick|seeing the ghostly images of the]] [[Black Cloak|Nazgûl]], [[Hearing Voices|voices in your head that]] [[Sentient Phlebotinum|may or may not belong to the Ring]], [[Clingy MacGuffin|complete and utter]] [[Amulet of Dependency|dependence on the Ring]], [[This Is Your Brain On Evil|loss of clear thought]] [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|and sanity]], [[Artifact of Death|and eventual death]]. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Do not swallow.]]</ref><br /> <small>Illustration: [http://www.john-howe.com/portfolio/gallery/details.php?image_id=1885 John Howe]</small> ]]
{{quote|''"If [[A Nightmare On Elm Street|Freddy Krueger]] and [[Friday the
The Artifact of Doom is somewhat an unusual villain in that it is a (seemingly) inanimate object. Nevertheless, it's pure evil; and is a threat of corrupting all to [[The Dark Side]]. It may also cause [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|Great Insanity]], not to mention [[Artifact of Death|death,]] or [[A Fate Worse Than Death|worse]].
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Not to be confused with the Artifact of ''[[Doom]] 3''. Completely unrelated to [[The Artifact]].
{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': The Jewel of Four Souls, which was formed when a powerful miko locked her own soul into an endless battle with a multitude of demons in order to contain them after her death. Initially regarded as a [[Dismantled MacGuffin]], a single shard of the Jewel gives demons [[Amplifier Artifact|enormous power]]. Even those with good intentions are [[This Is Your Brain On Evil|inevitably corrupted]] by shard use. {{spoiler|Then it's revealed to have a [[Sentient Phlebotinum|malevolent will]] of its own, making it not only the [[Man Behind the Man|Man Behind The]] [[Big Bad]] but, in fact, the [[Ultimate Evil]].}}
** In a subversion, [[Evil Weapon|Tokijin]] is so powerful it [[Demonic Possession|possesses]] its own creator, [[Artifact of Death|kills him]] simply due to the sheer force of its own power, and then ''[[Clingy MacGuffin|continues to animate the corpse afterwards]]'' until Inuyasha hacks off the corpse's wrist to separate the sword from the body. Not even the story's [[Ultimate Blacksmith]] is capable of approaching it, causing the protagonists to warn [[Aloof Big Brother|Sesshoumaru]] that he'll be consumed by the sword if he touches it. Cue their absolute astonishment at Sesshoumaru's effortless victory over the sword's evil via willpower alone in a [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|Did You Just Punch Out the Artifact of Doom?]] moment.
* Beaten to death on ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh]]!'' and ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]'': Apparently, it's common practice to design cards so powerful they are too dangerous to actually be used. So they have to be locked up and kept out of the wrong hands, to give the protagonist and company something to fight for. And the millennium items around which the series is based.
** 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.
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*** The only example of that shown in the manga was the Count, who had already made the sacrifice and doomed himself before. Assuming you have never made the deal, you should be fine.
** There's also Guts' Berserker Armor, which removes a human being's natural limits by nulling pain and allows the user to keep fighting by temporarily mending broken bones, stitching together wounds, etc. It's very dangerous for the obvious reasons that your body has limits for a reason and bypassing them is bound to hurt you, but it also has the effect of bringing out the wearer's "inner beast" (in the Skull Knight's case, his familiar skull motif, in Guts' case, "The Beast", his [[Hell Hound]] evil side), turning him into a raging monster incapable of distinguishing friend from foe. After using it just once, Guts got a patch of white hair, became partially colorblind, and lost some of his sense of taste. Constant use of it might have reduced the Skull Knight to his current ghastly state.
* The Book of Darkness from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', which grants ultimate power to its user upon filling its [[Number of the Beast|666 pages]]. Oh, and it takes over said user once said pages are filled and goes on an [[Omnicidal Maniac|omnicidal rampage]] until it burns itself out [[Artifact of Death|together with said user]], whereupon it [[Back From the Dead|resurfaces somewhere else]] to snooker another mage. The guardians that accompany it never mention that part [[Laser
** And if you're [[Genre Savvy]] enough to not use it, it will just eat your life force instead.
** The Book of Darkness is an interesting case, in that the only reason it's an Artifact of Doom is that it's malfunctioning. As it originally was, it was a harmless book meant to store knowledge of magic from all over the universe.
** Fans also like to joke that [[Magitek|Raising]] [[Empathic Weapon|Heart]] is one of these. Especially in doujins, she and Nanoha are prone to unleashing big pink beams of <s> death and destruction</s> love and friendship anytime, anywhere, on anybody.
* The Mesoamerican stone mask from ''[[Jo
* ''[[Ann Cassandra]]'': the [[Mask of Power|Cassandra Mask]]. The mask's power lets its user warp the future to cause more disasters {{spoiler|in exchange for becoming the mask's puppet and eventually dying. The mask then compels the nearest person to pick it up and use it.}}
* 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.
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* [[Da Capo]] - the Giant Sakura Tree, though it is explicitly stated that it only fulfills one's fervently wished for desires, for some reason, it always end up working towards unimaginably evil ends (In the second season, it defeats the [[Power of Love]]). May be linked to its tendency to fulfill unconscious wishes even when this goes against the conscious desires of the user.
** Sakura states in the second season that the tree's purpose of granting wishes may be inherently damaging as it disrupts the struggle wish is central to human life, thereby disrupting the process of human life itself. Essentially, since people don't know what they want granting it to them will inevitably go awry.
* This is the entire point of [[Cubex Cursedx Curious (Light Novel)|Cubex Cursedx Curious]], where the series revolves around the idea that a cursed item eventually becomes intelligent and [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|able to take human form]]. And being cursed is ''[[Dark Is Not Evil|just as]] [[Non
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** The only time Eclipso was ever contained, the captor used special tattoos all over his body to turn himself into a living prison. Unfortunately, those were {{spoiler|broken by an accidental slice from his lover Nemesis, and the freed Eclipso ended up killing both of them}}.
* The Tactigon from ''Avengers: The Initiative'' might go here. It's a shapeshifting alien weapon that can become whatever its host wants or needs. It's choosy, too; it won't work for just anybody, but it has an unfortunate tendency to pick hosts that are... troubled. Its first known host was a suicidal girl who at least tried to use the Tactigon for good, but its second host was out and out [[Ax Crazy]].
** The Tactigon actually appears to be some sort of subversion, as [[What the Hell, Hero?|The Avengers stole it from its first host]] and kept (unsuccessfully) trying to graft it onto various people until [[Hoist By His Own Petard|they stuck it on]] [[Our Souls Are Different|an insane clone.]]
* Although it's more of a [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] in the ''[[Evil Dead]]'' movies, the Necronomicon develops into this in the comic book ''Army of Darkness'' spinoff, possessing a malevolent sentience, corrupting the people who stumble upon it for its own purposes, and generally trying its best to get rid of the hero once and for all. Oddly enough, as the comic books developed the Necronomicon into an Artifact of Doom, its Tome of Eldritch Lore traits seemed to diminish accordingly: more often than not, the comic book version of the Necronomicon simply uses its powers as it or its owner sees fit, with no spell recitation involved. This might've been a [[Pragmatic Adaptation]] for the comic book's episodic format, since very few people in the ''Evil Dead'' universe are qualified to translate and read the book's [[Black Speech|ancient language]] aloud.
* The title artifact of ''[[The Mask (Comic Book)|The Mask]]'' grants its wearer [[Nigh Invulnerability]] and [[Reality Warper|reality warping]] powers, but also loosens their inhibitions until eventually they become a cackling [[Ax Crazy]] mass-murderer. It's also addictive, and can't be removed by anyone other than the person wearing it.
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* The Winslowe in ''[[Buck Godot Zap Gun for Hire]]'' is something of a subversion in that it is alive, slightly mobile, slightly intelligent {{spoiler|(actually ''quite'' intelligent)}}, and to all appearances not the least bit malevolent or proactive in any way. That doesn't change the fact that any time it pops up, half the known universe goes violently crazy with avarice to possess it, because they're convinced it is the most important object/being in all of Creation.
* Any of the various [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|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.
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* In William King's ''[[Warhammer 40000]] [[Space Wolf]]'' novel ''Grey Hunter'', Ragnor and other [[Space Marine|Space Marines]] encounter an artifact which makes vast promises to them. Ragnor only breaks free when it tells him he has to kneel to the Ruinous Power to get it. And the others don't break free on their own; he has to help them.
* May or may not be averted in [[CS Lewis (Creator)|CS Lewis]]' ''[[The Magicians 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 [[
* In [[China Mieville]]'s ''[[The Scar (Literature)|The Scar]]'', Silas steals a statue from the grindylow which grants him mysterious powers, yet has the unfortunate side effect of slowly turning him into a fish-person.
* 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.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Friday the 13 th The Series]]'' ([[In Name Only|no relation]] to the [[Friday the
* They have a strange habit of being in Sunnydale in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Tthe best one is the Hellmouth, but there's others as well.
* In ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'', the {{spoiler|evil law firm}} that Angel is given at the end of season four (not technically an inanimate artifact, but hey). It's a powerful weapon that will do whatever he commands, but it's always working to corrupt his thinking so that he will give it the commands it wants. The dare-to-use-it/get-rid-of-it argument keeps cropping up, too.
** Also worth noting: {{spoiler|The law firm exists to do business with evil. If they just plain stop helping evil with it, and instead try to use it only as a weapon for good, the business will fail, and another law firm, beyond their control, will pop up to replace it.}}
* In ''[[Power Rangers Wild Force]],'' the mask of Zen-Aku resulted in Merrick going [[Ax Crazy]] and having to be [[Sealed Evil in A Can|locked away]] three thousand years ago, to be awakened by the villains to menace the Rangers in the present. By this point, he'd been so overwritten by Zen-Aku's personality that the result was an [[Enigmatic Minion]] version of Zen-Aku who didn't know what those pesky human tendencies were about and why a couple memories didn't seem to fit. Eventually, they're separated, and Merrick becomes the [[Sixth Ranger]] of the modern team. And [[Odd Couple|Merrick and ZA are getting along much better now]], as we learn at [[Where Are They Now? Epilogue|season's end]].
** ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder]]'' also has the fifth Dino Gem. Thanks to Mesogog's meddling, it's more powerful than the others, but turns you into [[Jekyll and Hyde]], with the Hyde side eventually sticking. Eventually fixed, but once no longer evil, [[Good Is Dumb|the White Ranger is no stronger than the other Rangers]] that he'd been handily beating up until now.
** Way back in ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'', Rita armed the [[Brainwashed and Crazy|mind-controlled]] Tommy with the Sword of Darkness. The sword itself was not a corrupting influence; rather, its power was used to sustain Rita's spell. The sword's ''[[Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger|Zyuranger]]'' counterpart, the Sword of Hellfreide, drove the wielder crazy. (Or, in Burai's case, crazi''er'')
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*** 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.
** 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.
** Notably, even some good artifacts are like this. It's not so much that they're overtly malicious, as opposed to either [[Good Is Not Nice|being unforgiving]] or [[The Chosen One|intended for someone else.]] They don't necessarily mind being used for a bit, but be respectful.
* ''[[Iron Kingdoms]]'': Madrak Ironhide's axe, Rathok. Its name even translates into "[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|World Ender]]."
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** The Egg from ''[[Saga Frontier 2]]''.
* The Silver Armlet from ''[[Beyond Oasis]]''
* In the game based on the manga of the same name, the Anubis Stand from ''[[Jo
* Phazon from the ''[[Metroid]] Prime'' series. The Space Pirates (and, in the third game, {{spoiler|[[The Federation]]}}) seem to think it's just a nifty [[Applied Phlebotinum]] that gives them lots of power. It is, however, strongly implied that Phazon has its own sentience and desires to spread and corrupt everything.
** {{spoiler|[[The Federation]]}} knows about the corrupting effects of Phazon. {{spoiler|That's why they hire Samus to help them get rid of it all}}. They just like the extra power it gives in the short term.
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* The excavated [[Humongus Mecha|ATAC]] Zulwarn in ''[[Vanguard Bandits]]'' has the power to possess its rider's enemies; according to the worst ending, it can also grant immortality. Unfortunately, it also has a tendency to overwhelm its rider's mind and make them into megalomaniacs. {{spoiler|This happens to Puck in the Ruin Path ending.}} It's not clear whether [[Big Bad|Faulkner]] was possessed or was evil enough for Zulwarn's approval.
* ''[[Mortal Kombat Deception]]'' introduced the Datusha Kris, Ashrah's weapon of choice. Originally said to purify its user with each evil slain, ''MK:Armageddon'' revealed it was a sentient-sword that manipulates (or even ''forces'') its user into becoming a [[Blood Knight]], apparently so it can use itself on slaughtering the Vampire race, of which the kris is its only "natural" enemy.
* The Artifact from ''[[Doom]] 3''. It was created by the forces of Hell to counter the Soul Cube the martians created to fight them, and to act as a key many years later, when humanity has colonized Mars. It gives the wielder the powers of super speed, [[One
* The Shabby Doll from ''[[Silent Hill 4]]'', which causes unremovable hauntings if you put it in the item chest.
* {{spoiler|The Patriots}} in the ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' series are in fact {{spoiler|four computers built by the aging leader of a conspiracy who no longer trusted his co-conspirators to be completely loyal to the cause. Eventually they did no longer obey him, kept him as their prisoner, and went for full out world domination.}}
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* In the 90s' ''Spider-Man'' [[Spider-Man the Animated Series|animated series]], the [[Evil Feels Good]] factor of the alien costume was added, with him growing more dependent upon the suit the longer he used it.
* In the animated series based on ''[[Wild CATS]].'', the series [[MacGuffin]] that the heroes and villains are in a desperate race to find, the Orb, is an artifact left behind by the [[Precursors]] on Earth that can give anyone power on a cosmic scale. {{spoiler|It's also evil to the core, possibly more evil than the [[Big Bad]] himself}}. Guess the [[Precursors]] hid the thing on Earth for good reason.
* The Eye of Odin from ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|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
** 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]].
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* The ''[[Aladdin (Disney)|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 (Animation)|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 wakfu -- the magic lifeforce found in all plants and beings. At first, you could think its great potential was simply misused by [[Big Bad|Nox]], who's a madman, but the [[Start of Darkness]] episode "Noximilien" reveals that, 200 years before, the Eliacube already exercised a dangerous fascination over Nox, slowly turning him obsessed and insane.
** To further prove the point, it also drove ''his [[Right
* 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.
* The second episode of ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' circles around an amulet with a bright green gem that causes the bearer to transform into the spirit of the Dragon of Aaragon when angry.
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