Captured Super Entity: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

'''Keller''': Well, you got one now!|''[[Transformers Film Series|Transformers]]'' (2007)}}

 

It's also a standard "[[The Men in Black]]" plot, in which the government or secret organization has miraculously captured a powerful entity and are extracting its knowledge and power usually through [[They Would Cut You Up|various]] [[Playing with Syringes|unpleasant]] means. If the being comes with technology, they've been "reverse-engineering" its tech for themselves. Extra MIB points if this is occurring in Area 51.

 

 

Naturally, should the entity's species find out about this, they're gonna be ''pissed'', leading to the threat of [[The End of the World as We Know It]]. This may be justified, if said race was going to [[Kill All Humans|destroy us anyway]]. Oh, and Heaven help you if the captured entity is [[Enfante Terrible|just a baby]], and [[Mama Bear|Mom]] comes calling. But even without outside help, in most cases the captured being [[Cardboard Prison|probably won't be a prisoner for very long]]. So you are well advised to [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|stand clear]].

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Trigun]]'' has these in the form of {{spoiler|Plants, which of course everyone in every major center of habitation uses for everyday things like power for electric lights and any other technology that runs on electricity. These are clearly sentient beings (Vash and Knives are revealed to be Plants in later episodes of the anime, thus explaining their immortality and incredible abilities) kept isolated in what appear to be airtight glass containers in order to provide said power).}}

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* IDW's ''[[Transformers]]'' comic has the Machination creating Headmaster technology from {{spoiler|the captured Sunstreaker. Scorponok's severed head is working with them voluntarily to rebuild his body}}.

** In the original G1 [[Marvel Comics]] version, Megatron once got stuck in gun mode and picked up by a small time hood, who went around using him as a BFG. When he woke up, Megatron was not pleased.

*** When the guy stood up to Megatron though Megatron was so impressed by the guy's moxy he let him live.

* In the ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'' arc "Crusaders," it emerges that The Grail has captured an angel that supplies them with vital information.

* In ''[[Crimson]]'', there's an arc about a bunch of humans who ''capture and eat'' angels.

* In ''[[Ultimate Marvel]]'', the Russian supersoldier program is based around reverse engineering a captured alien robot (the Vision).

* It's been [[Retcon|"revealed"]] that not only was the alien AI that operated the Danger Room sentient, but that Professor X ''knew'' it was sentient but chose to essentially keep it prisoner to train the [[X-Men]]. When it finally escaped (and made itself a robot body, calling itself "Danger"), it went on a rampage seeking revenge. (This was later eased off a little, to suggest that he didn't know Danger resented being used for training, but did realize she might go berserk if freed. They've since made up and Danger is an ally of the X-Men)

* Happened in [[Paperinik New Adventures]]: while Xadhoom is a [[Physical Goddess]], the Evronians have the ability to capture her, and did so FOUR TIMES. Every single time, [[Hilarity Ensues|Hilarity Ensued]]: the first time they used a forcefield that could keep her sealed that was fueled by Duckburg's electrical grid, so Xadhoom was free the very moment Uno hacked the computers; the second time Xadhoom entered in their capturing device in a deal to save Angus, and disintegrated it the very moment the Evronians broke the deal; the third time they immediately transmitted her where they had a way to force her to comply, but Paperinik's sabotage brought her back (cue [[Oh Crap]] for the Evronians); the fourth time they had her people in hostage, so she let herself being captured until her people rebelled and provoked enough chaos for her to escape and wipe out the HEART of the Evronian Empire. The Evronians tried it three other times, but it failed even more embarassingly: the first failed attempt consisted in a group of Evronians masquerading as Xerbians to get her to wear a controlling device, but she caught them on a slip and made a fool out of them before wiping them out; the second consisted in a weapon capable to absorb her enormous power, a weapon that wasn't fast enough in the absorption to finish her before she destroyed it; the third time in the middle of a battle they tried again the forcefield that captured her the first time, but Xadhoom dodged and they captured one of their own ships.

* The Chinese and Japanese governments in [[Irredeemable]] eventually reveals they have done this two a pair of extraterrestrial, time traveling, reality altering dimension hoppers. They can release them to take care of a returned Plutonian, but simply doing so will unleash a cloud of radiation that will kill one-third of the human race. They do so. {{spoiler|In a related matter, they are sure they will handle the Plutonian because they are his biological parents ([[Bizarre Alien Biology|sort of]]) and voluntarily remained trapped precisely in order to avoid the inevitable radiation fallout.}}

* The [[Live Action Adaptation|live-action]] ''[[Transformers]]'' movie has the U.S. government in possession of a frozen Megatron and [[MacGuffin|The All-Spark]]. All modern technology supposedly came from decades of reverse-engineering the former.

** Even cars, which were [[Did Not Do the Research|some 20 years before]] they found Megatron.

* While not the ''entire'' god, the villains in ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'' want the Shishigami's head. It's still alive even after it gets blown off, though. This is an issue because it is also the god of death. The body remains alive. It wants its head back. Apply preschool arithmetic here.

* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in the first [[Ghostbusters]] movie. With all the capturing of ghosts, when they encounter an actual god, you expect them to capture it and contain it like all the ghosts. But all they end up being able to do is close the portal that is giving it access to our universe.

* The demon X(A/N)th in Piers Anthony's ''[[Xanth]]'' series is a voluntary one, and the source of the land's magical properties.

* In an out-of-print [[Dean Koontz]]'s novel ''Fear that Man'' an inventor, using [[Some Kind of Force Field]] technology, captures ''something''. When he understands that he captured {{spoiler|a god}}, he keeps it imprisoned, fearing retribution. Consequently, life in the entire galaxy takes a very definite turn to the better...

* In the excellent short story "A Colder War" by [[Charles Stross]], the Soviet Union does this to friggin' ''[[Cthulhu Mythos|Cthulhu]]''. It doesn't end well.

* In both ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' and Appendixes of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' the Numenorian King Al-Pharazon does this to none other than Sauron. Turns out a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]], since Sauron allowed himself to be captured to corrupt and destroy his enemies from within.

* The third book of the ''[[Mortal Instruments]]'' series has Jace and Clary finding a real angel in the [[Big Bad]]'s basement.

 

 

* One of the many plots in ''[[The X-Files]]''.

* This was the essential plot of the [[Pilot]] of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', "Encounter at Farpoint." Here, the Enterprise is sent to investigate a mysterious base offered by a population who obviously do not have the engineering skill to build it, and where anything you want seems to mysteriously appear. It turns out that the base is actually a giant creature enslaved by the population, and its mate arrives to retaliate. Fortunately, the Enterprise figures out the situation and frees the creature to resolve the crisis.

* Billionaire Henry van Statten keeps a captured Dalek in his underground bunker in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Dalek".

** The Timelord 'Genesis Arc'.

* In ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', SG-1 found an advanced human named Khalek who demonstrated telekinetic and telepathic abilities in the episode 'Prototype'. The SGC at first attempted to study him, and for security restrained him in a chair over an electrified floor in an isolated room whose only exit was through a Tok'ra one-way forcefield, on a dopamine inhibitor to restrain his powers with it set up to dump a massive dose into his system if he were to try anything funny. It didn't work. He telekinetically pinched the dopamine tube by effectively melting it with his mind, and then he yanked the guards through the forcefield onto the electrified floor. The electrified floor was shut down from outside by Colonel Mitchell to make it safe to step in the doorway to shoot at him, but he never got any shots off - just got shoved into the wall. From that point on Khalek basically just went through the SGC to the stargate, weaponless, telekinetically deflecting all the bullets that were fired at him and shoving all the guards into walls, knocking them out (or worse). In the end, he reached the stargate, dialed home, and walked through triumphant... Only to have his home's dialing defenses dial back, resulting in him stepping back into the SGC, befuddled. Seconds later, he was being shot at from two different angles, and failed to block one of the two sets of bullets, resulting in his demise.

* While memory is vague, ''[[Seven Days]]'' has an alien with knowledge of the Sphere {{spoiler|(of the race of the ones who built the Sphere)}} kept on ice or something. It doesn't end well...

** Only because "Adam" is a prisoner, who was being transported somewhere when the ship crashed in Roswell.

* This was the purpose of the Initiative in [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]].

 

* This happens with the [[Genie in a Bottle|genies]] of [[Our Genies Are Different|Arabic mythology]]. Djinn were essentially free ethereal spirits with magical talents summoned and bounded to an object, such as a bottle or oil lamp, and had to serve (if they are in a good mood) whoever is currently in possession of the object or summons them via object.

** The part you're supposed to be impressed about, however, lies less in the fact that the hero (for certain loose definitions of hero) comes into the possession of such an object, but rather that there was a human sorcerer powerful enough to force and bind one of these proto-Angels into servitude.

** Actually based on an ancient grimiore The Keys of Solomon! He used his knowledge of Kabbalah to bind 72 demons in a chalice! It eventually morphed into this. Damien-Daemon-Djinn Also, they did not mean evil spirit until centuries later!

* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: Death first [[Death Takes a Holiday|took an involuntary holiday]] in [[Greek Mythology]], when Sisyphos captured Hades (or Thanatos, [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of Death, in some versions) by chaining him to a tree. Nobody in the whole world could die, no matter how horribly mangled, which finally pissed off Ares, god of War, enough that he came and rescued Death. Guess who got to die first?

 

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

** Alpha Level Plus Pshykers are far more dangerous than you might think. ''ONE'' AL+ Pshyker managed to enslave over ''fifty thousand'' innocents, and force them into combat against his enemies, he could even influence and control Space Marines to a lesser degree, allowing him so slip away unharmed when fifteen marin es were right next to him... one even picked him up thinking him an ''ordinary six year old''...

** The worst part is, the long and bloody war with the gods of his world doesn't cause him to take the hint; he's still convinced that his immortal reign is the best for Kamigawa. Which trope is that again?

 

 

* ''[[Jade Empire]]'' has The Water Dragon, the goddess of reincarnation and water, severely wounded by the Emperor, and her body turned into a trophy so that he can maintain his [[A God Am I|phenomenal cosmic power]]. {{spoiler|The player is given a chance of killing the Water Dragon and allowing her to reenter the cycle of reincarnation so she can claim her old post, or keeping the body where it is and binding her to your service in agony.}}

* In [[Neverwinter Nights]] Hordes of the Underdark, the bad guys have somehow caged an angel and are using her to create an army of bone golems. If you free her, she'll help you out at the end of chapter 2.

* ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]'' has the high-tech ancient city of Thor, powered by Asuka, an imprisoned light spirit.

* In ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'', you can fight [[God|Arceus]]...and [[Olympus Mons|capture him to do your bidding]]. Also a case of [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]].

 

 

* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' Hereti-Corp has done this with both Aylee and Oasis.

 

* In the ''[[Aeon Flux]]'' episode ''The Demiurge'', a war is fought over whether to keep a powerful, ostensibly-benevolent godlike being around for the good of all, or to blast it off into friggin' outer space on a rocket for the good of all.

* In one "Treehouse Of Horror" episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Lisa inadvertently creates a miniature society around a loose tooth. Said society (which views her as [[God]] and Bart as [[Satan]]), eventually "Debigulates" her down to their level. Problem is, they can't return her to normal.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Fantastic Sapient Species Tropes]]

[[Category:Plots]]