Evil Is Not a Toy: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Unfortunately, not all manufacturers of [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] use foolproof caps.

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[Digimon]]'', Ken does his [[Heel Face Turn]] after getting a demonstration of what true evil is like.

** Though his [[Heel Realization]] played a big part in that.

** Not to mention the beating he received, this trope being TK's [[Berserk Button]].

* Emperor Pilaf, the comic relief villain from early ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', ends up releasing evil incarnate Piccolo Daimaou to get revenge on Son Goku. Piccolo proves infinitely more competent than Pilaf ever was: not only does he kill several of Goku's friends, but he kills {{spoiler|Shenlong, the show's resident [[Death Is Cheap|Get Out of Death Free Card]]. Considering there's 300+ episodes afterward, though, rest assured: he gets better}}. Pilaf and his minions end up punted out of a moving airplane. Initially, it seemed as though they had learned from their mistakes; something like 300 episodes (approx. 40+ years in show) pass before they reappear to steal the [[Artifact of Doom|Black Star Dragonballs]]... which ends in ''the entire planet blowing up.'' ([[Reset Button|Again]].)

** Also in Dragonball, Dr. Gero releases Androids 17 and 18, hoping to be able to control them with a remote control which 17 promptly takes away from him and breaks. A somewhat unusual case in that Gero was the one who created the Androids in the first place, and knew that he was taking a big gamble when he activated them.

*** Also, the immediate consequences of Buu betraying Babidi are largely positive, since his capricious frolicking leads him to accidentally discover that [[Good Feels Good]]. Until a vigilante tries to kill him and nearly offs his new best friend in the process. Cue [[Enemy Without]].

* In ''[[The Slayers]]'', the original Rezo found out that he would have to release Shabranigdo in order for Rezo to be able to {{spoiler|open his own eyes}}; he believes he can adequately contain the lord of all demons thereafter, seal him back up, no harm done, right? It doesn't work out that way, mainly because {{spoiler|Shabranigdo was actually sealed ''inside'' of Rezo; the very act of opening his eyes breaks the seal and allows Shabranigdo to [[Demonic Possession|take over his body]].}}

* The [[Manhwa]] ''[[Priest (manhwa)|Priest]]'' uses this in the climax of its several volume long flashback; a corrupt order of priests have succeeded in opening the Domas Porada, the "can" (and it does rather resemble one) containing the fallen angel Temozerela, believing him to be their savior. Unfortunately, Temozerela isn't too fond of humans...he kills almost the entire order with a single breath (literally; he breathes at them and their heads explode), mocks the leader a bit, and them kills him by making demon faces sprout out all over the leader's body and bite him to death.

* ''[[Hell Girl]]'' both subverts it and plays it straight. Ai can be summoned by humans through her website in a fairly simple manner and will kill the person she's ordered to as promised. However, as she warns you, the cost of having her do this is that you get dragged down to Hell upon your own death too. Also, over the course of the series, certain people make attempts to capture and/or control Ai for her abilities or to avoid the cost of her services, but that never works.

* In chapter 242 of ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', {{spoiler|Zancrow}} gloats about retrieving Zeref. Seconds later, he is slain by a burst of Zeref's uncontrollable "Death Magic".

* Alan Gabriel in [[The Big O]] learns the hard way what happens when somebody thinks the Megadeuces are just a type of [[Humongous Mecha]]. {{spoiler|Ye Guilty}}

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* [[Doctor Strange]] used the power of the demonic entity Zom to bolster his magics on at least two occasions. Both times the power used him far more than he used it, and after the second time he renounced both it and the mantle of "Sorcerer Supreme."

* In [[Dark Reign (comics)|"Siege"]], [[Norman Osborn]] and Loki realize just how badly they underestimated Sentry/Void's power and evil.

 

== Fan Works ==

* The ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' fanfic [https://web.archive.org/web/20130813213433/http://www.fimfiction.net/story/16112/whispers Whispers] implies that Princess Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon by intentionally tapping into evil magic out of bitter jealousy, apparently overestimating her ability to handle it.

 

* In Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|The Return of Jafar]]'', Abis Mal gets pressed into servitude after accidentally summoning the genie Jafar. Jafar accomplishes this by constantly threatening violence against Abis. (The hapless thief is aware that in his world, genies [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|cannot kill]], but Jafar keeps repeating ominously, "You'd be surprised what you can live through.")

** Also, Jafar is the epitome of the [[Jackass Genie]], so it's not like he can make his wishes and be on his way.

'''Black Mask''': No. It's going to be a nightmare. }}

** In ''[[Batman: Mask of the Phantasm]]'', Sal Valestra enlists the Joker's help as a hitman against Batman, whom he thinks his killing off mob bosses. The Joker promptly murders Valestra to use as bait for the hit he himself ordered.

* In ''[[Hellraiser]]'', Frank Cotton releases four demons with the magical cube, which looks quite like some toy. Of course, they don't exactly reward him.

** It's neither a reward nor a punishment. The Cenobites' job is to bring the summoner to the heights of "pain and pleasure", at least in the first film. The summoners never really understand what they're getting into.

* In the film version of ''[[The Wave]]'', a teacher [[Putting on the Reich|starts a youth movement]] to make his [[Enforced Method Acting|lessons about autocracies more immersive]]. While the students initially [[Just Following Orders|play along]] just to humor him, the Wave soon [[Cycle of Revenge|spreads beyond his control]]. [[Heel Realization|Realizing]] that [[Becoming the Mask|he also got into his leader role a bit too much]], he summons the class together to call the whole thing off and [[Shaming the Mob|show what they have become]]. [[Psycho Supporter|The class outcast]] refuses to believe it and whips out a loaded gun.

* In ''[[The Dark Knight]]'': The mob finally turns to [[The Joker]] to take down their ever-growing nemesis [[Batman]]. [[For the Evulz|However, they don't fully]] [[Chaotic Evil|understand what drives]] [[Complete Monster|the Joker...]]

 

== Jokes ==

* "Evil is not a toy! It is a highly-collectible deluxe action figure."

 

== Literature ==

{{quote|Any wizard bright enough to survive for five minutes was also bright enough to realise that if there was any power in demonology, then it lay with the demons. Using it for your own purposes would be like trying to beat mice to death with a rattlesnake.}}

* In Terry Brooks' ''[[Magic Kingdom of Landover|The Tangle Box]]'', Horris Kew and Biggar release the Gorse from its prison, and it enslaves them with the intent to send them down the Box when they are no longer useful. In the end, it is Horris who {{spoiler|[[Heel Face Turn|saves the King]].}}

* In Robert Weinberg's ''A Calculated Magic'', the Big Bad is Nergal, described as the Babylonian god of disease and decay, who was summoned into the present by the character we meet as his [[The Dragon|Dragon]], who had been trying to summon a demon. Nergal's first reaction was to grip the Dragon's wrist, leaving a set of fingerprint-like spots of pure disease potential, and warns that if the Dragon ever betrays him, that potential will become full-blown...

** Also known as "Never summon anything bigger than your head". But size can be misleading.

* In [[Tad Williams]]' ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'' trilogy, evil priest [[The Dragon|Pryrates]] casts a massive spell to bring the undead [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Storm King]] back into the world, with the promise that he would be "first among men". He is, indeed, the first... {{spoiler|to be killed}}. It doesn't help that he tries to pull a [[The Starscream|Starscream]] on the Storm King first.

'''Tripos:''' ''Because you are more easily put aside than other wizards, of course.'' }}

** Although as it turned out, {{spoiler|Tripos, the Demon King he summoned, was more interested in recovering his enslaved mate from the Big Bad than wreaking havoc in the world. Tripos actually ends up being quite helpful and they couldn't have freed the world from Chesney}} if Derk had not summoned him.

** In the same book, Harry himself learns mysterious pseudonyms are not toys either, no matter how helpful they've been in the past. He tries casting "Sectumsempra" on Malfoy, without knowing what it does, and is horrified to find out it {{spoiler|vivisects the target}}.

* In the sequel series to ''[[The Elenium]]'', ''The Tamuli'', [[God of Evil]] Cyrgon decides to summon Klael, a being of infinite power and malevolence, capable of crushing Gods like ants and eating [[Eldritch Abomination]]s for breakfast, and tries to control said being and make it his minion. [[What an Idiot!|That's just asking for trouble.]] {{spoiler|It didn't end well for Cyrgon, predictably enough.}}

* Merrin Meredith in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' fetches the [[Artifact of Doom|Two-Faced Ring]] and puts it on so that he can use its powers to kill his arch-enemy Septimus Heap. The ring proceeds to almost squashing off his thumb.

 

* The Master ends up pleading in terror after unsealing the Daemon in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''The Daemons''.

** This also happened earlier in ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'':

* [[Ineffective Comedy Villains]] Andrew and Jonathon from ''Buffy'' were both prone to fiddling with magic they didn't understand, and unleashing horrible demons into the world.

 

* The [[Ars Goetia]] includes instructions for making sure that conjured demons ''don't'' show up in [[Eldritch Abomination]] form, but as [[A Form You Are Comfortable With|something more comprehensible]]...but given the angels described in the book of Ezekiel, this would apply whether or not they had/have a low opinion of humanity. ''However'', there are four exceptions, besides the pomp-and-sycophantry-loving kings (Beleth, Belial, etc.), who get special instructions.

** Phenex: Don't listen to his song; in fact, interrupt it as soon as possible (the text doesn't say ''why'', but there's an implication that the conjuror risks becoming ''Phenex's'' errand boy...at best).

** Which begs the question of why you'd bother in the first place, since if you're powerful enough to control an entity, you most likely don't need its services.

*** Maybe the summoner has more skill with [[Summon Magic]] than with other types. [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]] has an example of this type with Kinzo- it says in the TIPS that he "can't even use enough magic to reheat tea, but it is possible for him to summon demons that can use enough magic to boil the sea."

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

** This is how one Gehenna scenario ends for the Followers of Set. The clan as a whole descends from an insanely powerful vampire they believe to be the god Set from Egyptian mythology, and worship him by tempting others into wickedness. Well, when he finally wakes from his millennia-long slumber, he can't believe his childer would stoop so low as to ''worship'' him, and starts eating them like popcorn.

* In ''[[GURPS]]'', summoning a demon is temptingly easy to do, even for an inexperienced mage. The probable reason is that demons ''want'' to be summoned—by people who can't control them.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

*** While [[Dark Is Not Evil]], Evil is still not a toy, and neither is darkness. It is possible to control the Darkness {{spoiler|(Riku finally managed it in his story in game 2)}} but it is NOT something to take lightly. {{spoiler|There's a reason that King Mickey told Riku that losing the power of darkness was a ''good '' thing, despite all the past talk about it not being evil.}}

*** Vanitas also deserves a special mention here. {{spoiler|He is Ventus's [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] which was extracted from Ventus's heart and body by [[Big Bad|Master Xehanort]].}} At the end of Birth By Sleep, {{spoiler|he possesses an unlimited army of [[The Heartless|evil underlings]] and a [[Infinity+1 Sword|nigh omnipotent weapon]] capable of bending reality and plunging the worlds into neverending war.}} This is especially distressing because {{spoiler|1) he's a [[Complete Monster|ma]][[Evil Laugh|ni]][[For the Evulz|ac]] and 2) earlier in the game he showed no remorse over disobeying [[Big Bad|Master Xehanort's]] express orders. In all likelihood, he would have just killed his "master" and wreaked havoc all over the universe had Aqua and Ventus not stopped him.}}

* In ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'', the Shadow Queen blows Grodus up after he commands her after freeing her. He thought he could because the Shadow Queen's true servants tricked him.

** It also parodies this trope. Throughout the game, the player encounters four black treasure chests with a voice inside them, each of which begs the player to open them and set them free. When freed, the beings in the chest laugh evilly, change the background music to sound more evil, and then gloat about how they have tricked the player and will now curse him. In each case, the "curse" is [[Cursed with Awesome|actually a new ability]]. This is actually intentional on the part of the "evil" beings, who were the former heroes who sealed the Shadow Queen.

* Any [[Mega Corp]] that thinks using zombies to further some goal is asking for trouble, but the folks behind [[Show Within a Show|Terror Is Reality]] from ''[[Dead Rising 2]]'' deserve mention for keeping an army of zombies around for a gameshow. Naturally they escape and destroy Fortune City.

* The [[Make a Wish|Wish]] spell in [[Dominions]] ''can'' be used to summon any unit you can think of. But if you summon a [[Eldritch Abomination|Doom Horror]], it only has a 50% chance of being controllable instead of hostile, and the Horror that responds to your call may not be the one you asked for.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* [[SCP Foundation]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20121008011821/http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/incident-report-668-682 Incident 668-682], where a disgruntled agent (subsequently referred to as "the Victim") tries to smuggle a weapon to [[Omnicidal Maniac]] SCP-682.

* For most of ''[[Red vs. Blue]]: Revelation'', the Meta seems to be treated as a guard dog of sorts by Agent Washington, and even manages to somehow be a comedic foil for Wash and Doc. {{spoiler|At the end of the series, he captures the AI Tex to return his lost powers, and promptly returns to being the [[Ax Crazy]] [[Implacable Man]] he was in ''Reconstruction''}}.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[Justice League]]'' has this with Felix Faust releasing Hades. He learned from his experiences, and was able to live out the more fun side of the trope by possessing Tala later on.

{{quote|'''Amanda Waller:''' Milo! I'll have his hide for this!

'''Cadmus Guard:''' Doomsday beat you to it, ma'am... }}

* Subverted in ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]''. The heroes find Jack Spicer trapped in the prison of [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Hannibal Bean]] where he tells them that he freed them and he imprisoned himself there. After getting him out, they find the real Jack outside, and turns out that Hannibal tricked them into releasing him.

** Interestingly subverted with the character of Wuya, the spirit of a [[Reality Warper|nigh-omnipotent]] sorceress who was freed from her puzzle-box prison by Jack in the pilot, and promised him the world if he helped her. Although Jack never quite succeeded and eventually became her adversary, when Raimundo restores her powers with his [[Face Heel Turn]], she repays him by... granting his every wish and grooming him to rule the world alongside her. It seems she was a villainess of her word after all.

* Many right-wing elements in the British Establishment saw Hitler as a bulwark of stable right-wing conservative government against the ravening Soviet monster. This infected the British leadership from the top down - given King Edward VIII's fascist inclinations and personal friendship with the Nazi leadership, this went ''right'' from the top down. Not only did it give Winston Churchill's clearer thinkers a harder fight, it explains appeasement and was the ''real'' reason why the King had to abdicate - Wallis Simpson was just a pretext.

** Meanwhile, some left-wing elements (e.g. [[David Lloyd George]]) praised his social programs, particularly the ones intended to fight unemployment. (The drawback to social programs, of course, is that they eventually run out of other people's money, but Hitler had a "solution" for ''[[World War Two|that]]''.)

* [[Not So Different|Ditto]] with Hitler's [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|one-time ally]] and eventual archenemy [[Joseph Stalin]], who was initially appointed General Secretary by Lenin and with the acquiscence of Trotsky on the assumption that the position would handle nothing more than the [[Almighty Janitor|dull drudgery]] of Party administration that the rest of the Politburo didn't want to bother with. Then, Kamenev and Zinoviev allied with Stalin in a troika to drive Trotsky into exile and monopolize power over the party... until Stalin monopolized it for himself and [[Too Dumb to Live|had Kamenev and Zinoviev]], and many, many, many others [[The Purge|tried and shot]]. [[Judge, Jury, and Executioner|Or just shot]].

* Not exactly evil, but wild animals (aka "exotic pets") are also Not A Toy, no matter how [[Moe|cute]] [[Killer Rabbit|they look]], no matter if you adopted them when they were [[Everythings Cuter With Kittens|little and sweet]], no matter if you've fed them by hand all their lives. If they haven't been selectively bred for tameness over many generations, they're not tame. And even then it's risky. At best they're still 200 lbs of nature's killing machine and they're expecting to learn to hunt, not be fed.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Evil Tropes]]

[[Category:Villains]]