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Good Hurts Evil: Difference between revisions
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Note that [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|differences of belief]] weren't ever an issue because it was taken for granted that the good thing or person really was good, and not just belonging to the majority faith, sometimes resulting in a [[Anvilicious|rather heavy handed]] [[An Aesop|Aesop]] for characters who ''were'' from the dominant church or [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|local equivalent]].
Now the only reason it's probably discredited is that it's largely been absorbed by the [[Holy Hand Grenade]] and [[Smite Evil]] tropes -- which could be an interesting cultural study, in that now apparently people no longer think that Good, itself, is invincible, but used correctly it can really kick ass! If it is used in modern works, it's usually in works centered squarely on the Idealistic side of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]], or at the very least in a work where the baddies ARE shadows/darkness and thus are [[Weakened
{{examples}}
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** The light in the vial that Galadriel gives to Frodo, which Sam uses against Shelob? That light is the concentrated essence of one star - but that's not really a star at all, it's a Silmaril in the sky. And the Silmarils are made from the light of the Two Trees, and therefore the light of Iluvatar itself. By the Transitive Property of Holiness, ''Sam fights Shelob with the light of God.''
** Then, it's brutally subverted at Mount Doom, where Sam pulls out the vial for some kind of help... only to watch in terror as it grows dim. Mount Doom, apparently, is an evil so absolute, even the (reflected) glory of God gives way.
* ''[[Harry Potter]]''. [[The Power of Love]] his mother left on him is powerful enough to melt faces and make the most powerful of curses backfire. However, since the universe is mixed with [[Magic
** Voldemort is still hit with this at the climax of book five, when he {{spoiler|succeeds in possessing Harry. He tries to goad Dumbledore into attacking Harry in hopes of killing them both at once. Harry is in so much pain that he finds himself wishing Dumbledore would do it, since it would mean he could see Sirius again - and Harry's thoughts of Sirius cause Voldemort so much agony that he never even tries the possession tactic again.}}
** The Dementors can be fought off by summoning a creature made of concentrated positive emotion (love or happiness). It's not clear whether dementors are evil (since they appear to have very minimal sentience), but it's implied that Patronuses are made of good (they are immune to Dark magic).
* In ''[[
** Something of a subversion in that it wasn't sprinkled at him with a chant by a robed holy man; it was weaponized into booby traps and squirt guns by another demon who premeditated his defense.
** The good/evil lines on ''[[
* All over the place in ''[[Left Behind]]'', of course, but most [[Squick|squickily]] in ''Glorious Appearing'', where a would-be rapist of a returned immortal Christian bursts into flames--but only after being allowed to begin the attack, and even though traditional narratives allow for less violent methods of defense, such as intangibility.
* The protagonist in ''[[Sorcerer On the Rocks]]'', Shibas Scotch, is such a bad person that being in a nice place like a clear meadow on a sunny day makes him ill.
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== Film ==
* Played with in ''[[The Mummy
* Chernobog in ''[[Fantasia]]'' is driven away by the forces of "the sacred".
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* Used and subverted on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': Vampires have weaknesses to Holy Water, Crosses, and the like, ([[Word of God|apparently]], because Christians are the ones who have done the most monster hunting) but said protection in no way extends to the people fighting against them. If fact, the blood of a Slayer is said to be particularly tasty to vampires (and, if Spike is to be believed, is a potent aphrodisiac for them as well).
* Holy water is used to great effect in ''[[Supernatural]]'' (sanctified sprinkler system) and demons flinch when they hear the name "Christo".
* Both crosses and stars of David annoy vampires in ''[[
* Gloriously revised in the ''[[
== [[Mythology]] and [[Religion]] ==
* Many, many, ''many'' tales of Catholic saints, including St. Margaret of Antioch, who was swallowed by Satan in the form of a dragon. However, her innate goodness (and the crucifix she bore) proved too much for Old Nick's saurian stomach to handle, and the dragon burst asunder. St. Margaret became the patron saint of childbirth, which should bring [[Alien (
* Many Swedish folk tales had mythological creatures of differing degrees of malevolence who could be stopped, harmed or driven off by holy things, including prayer, the sound of church bells, drawing a cross on the ground, and in one tale casually saying "cross".
* Unicorns, who were all but invincible to fight, could be tamed and therefore conquered only by purity. It was said that the touch of a virgin maiden who was pure of heart could do the trick.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' plays this very straight in the ending of the first game when the light of the titular power destroys the game's [[Big Bad]].
* Giygas is defeated by way of this trope in both ''[[MOTHER 1
* In ''[[Disgaea]]'', optimism and [[Allergic to Love|love]] physically weaken Laharl, resulting in reduced stats in one fight when his enemy takes advantage of this.
* ''[[
* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has the [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors|Bad Spelling]] monsters, hurt by reading the dictionary.
* Good ''irritates'' evil in the video game of ''[[The Darkness]]''. The Darkness refuses to manifest itself around the subway stations full of normal people, and if you try it'll complain that it finds the people too boring to attack; the Darkness is attracted to darkness, and even the metaphorical darkness of the heart is preferable to it.
* In ''[[King's Quest IV]]: The Perils of Rosella'' the way to rid yourself of the villain is to shoot her with Cupid's arrow, which (probably unbeknownst to Rosella herself), kills her, as something so foul and fueled by hate cannot survive the experience of love.
* On meeting [[Knight in Shining Armor|Casavir]] in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', [[Cute Monster Girl|Neeshka]] remarks that paladins always make her spots itch.
* In ''[[Alan Wake]]'', [[Light Is Good]] and [[Dark Is Evil]] are to be taken literally. Rub those brain cells together and [[Weakened
* In Doom3 hell starts leaking into our world (or Mars in this case) causing insanity and other problems. It is suggested this is also happening in reverse, although for them it's probably not so much hurt as mildly annoy.
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* A minor version from ''[[Care Bears|Adventures in Care-a-Lot]]'': after seeing his plan to break up a band made of a few of the female [[Care Bears]] thwarted by [[The Power of Friendship]], Grizzle comments, "This sickening display of friendship HURTS!" Trueheart asks if it isn't just the high heels he's wearing as part of his [[Disguised in Drag|drag disguise]].
* Variation: In an episode of the 90s ''Incredible Hulk'' cartoon, [[Ghost Rider]] realises that Rick is a good kid when his [[Hellfire]] doesn't hurt him.
* In one episode of ''[[
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