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Seeking to [[Immortality|live forever]], or even just for a really really long time, is often portrayed as [[Scale of Scientific Sins|just plain wrong]]. The rationales for this viewpoint fall into two basic categories:
▲'''2:''' Immortality is bad [[Fantastic Aesop|in and of itself,]] even if attained without using evil means. Perhaps it's "[[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|meddling in God's domain]]", which tends not to end well for the meddler. From a secular viewpoint, perhaps immortality is bad for society even if it's great for individuals. Some works suggest that immortality in itself is damaging to valuing other people's lives: if most people's lifespans seem to pass in the blink of an eye for you, why care if they end slightly earlier?
▲This trope focuses on immortality viewed ''by others'' as a bad thing, as distinct from [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]], which focuses on ''the immortal character'' feeling that eternal life is [[Blessed with Suck|a curse rather than a blessing]]. It may come up in discussions of [[The Singularity]], as immortality and [[Ubermensch|moving beyond traditional principles of human thought]] are seen by some as some of its defining characteristics.
The trope may result in a [[Broken Aesop|Broken]] and/or [[Anvilicious]] [[Fantastic Aesop]]. Expect anyone going ahead with these plans to become [[Enemies with Death]].
Also note that there are generally
See also [[Immortality]] and its subtropes.
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', using a Philosopher's Stone to extend your life is portrayed as immoral. The process of creating the Philosopher's Stone {{spoiler|uses up human lives}}.
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* There was a spate where immortal DCU villain Vandal Savage found his immortality had been shut down. The only way to restore it was to kill and devour one of his genetic descendants. He didn't even think twice about it.
* The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] comic series ''[[Dork Age|Dark Empire]]'' gives us an interesting example with (who else?) Palpatine. He had a bunch of clone bodies to put his soul into, coming as close as possible to the Sith dream of immortality, but the clones are shorter-lived every time. To that end, he decided to give Alderaan expatriates a home "in restitution for Tarkin's crimes" and drain their energies, and eventually the entire universe would face this fate. So Luke and a lost tribe of Jedi sabotage the process and Palpatine tries to take possession of Han and Leia's son, leading to a good old-fashioned father-son team-up wherein Han kills Lord Sidious' body and Anakin (Leia named him. Cute.) kills the soul.
== Film ==
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* The point made by the protagonist Will in ''[[In Time]]'', who is against immortality if other people have to die for it. The point is also made by a century-old rich man who is tired of living.
* In ''[[Bicentennial Man]]'', as Andrew first petitions the World Congress to recognize him as a human, the President of the Congress cites this as the reason why it will not validate Andrew's request; since he still possesses an artificial brain despite having become a cyborg, he is effectively immortal. The President states that society can accept an immortal machine, but that it can never accept an immortal human, which would arouse too much jealousy and anger.
== Literature ==
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* [[Elizabeth Moon]]'s ''[[Familias Regnant]]'' books are set at a point when life-extension drugs have just become common enough to cause widespread social chaos. The books can be considered a [[Deconstructed Trope|Deconstruction]] of this trope, looking at the effects that immortality can actually have on a society.
* ''The Forever King'' contrasts two opponents: [[King Arthur]], who is naturally reincarnated to fulfill his destiny as the once and future king, and Saladin, who has used the object that became known as the Holy Grail to live for many thousands of years. Arthur argues repeatedly that immortality twists people, as he says it has done to Saladin, but it comes off as a very warped or forced aesop because Saladin was a nasty (if brilliant) piece of work long before becoming immortal.
* [[J. R.
* In [[Larry Niven]]'s ''Tales of Gil the ARM'', bioethics are explored through having a society that can prolong life through transplant technology. This also addresses the death sentence issue, as the "donors" are condemned criminals, or for that matter any group that the voting public decides can be used for "spare parts" (In one of the stories, frozen dead—corpsicles—that died insane are being considered for becoming "donors", even though cures for their ailments now exist.) The conclusion: The inevitable erosion of the value of human life that this would cause is Not a Good Thing for society (if you can imagine death sentences for traffic tickets...)
** Later on in the Niven [[The Verse|verse]], the organ donor problem is resolved with the invention of boosterspice, which prolongs life without requiring any ethically
* In [[David Eddings]]' ''[[Belgariad]]'' and ''Mallorean'' series, even the sorcerers that dedicate their lives to the Prophecy of Light have somewhat warped morals, though it's unrelated to "pursuit" of immortality.
{{quote|'''Belgarath:''' ...and an occasional murder. Does that shock you? It shouldn't. I've never made any pretense at being a saint, and there were people out there in the world who were inconvenient [...] [[Tautological Templar|I was driven by Necessity, so I did what was necessary.]]}}
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** Secondly, because you begin to view the lives of normal people to be short, miserable and therefore worthless in comparison.
** Finally, unless a Meth uses a cloned or artificial sleeve, it means they've bought the repossessed sleeve of a convict who's stack has been put on ice for the duration of their imprisonment and couldn't afford the storage costs. Once they're released, they have to put up with whatever wasted junkie body the government provides. One character discovers that while she was on ice, her body was sold as a spare to an advertising executive who wears it on alternate weekends.
* Granny Weatherwax to the Queen of the Fairies in ''[[
{{quote|"Go back. You call yourself some kind of goddess and you know nothing, madam, nothing. What don't die can't live. What don't live can't change. What don't change can't learn. The smallest creature that dies in the grass knows more than you. You're right. I'm older. You've lived longer than me but I'm older than you. And better'n you. And, madam, that ain't hard."}}
** Averted with the Time Monks, though their immortality seems to be a side-effect of messing with causality so much instead of the result of a conscious effort.
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* Thomas Didymus and John believe Pentexore is an abomination because no one should have life everlasting on Earth in ''[[A Dirge for Prester John]]''.
== Live
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Lazarus Experiment", the Doctor argues against the life-extension researcher who gets turned into the [[Monster of the Week]], though strangely he focuses more on immortality itself than the fact Lazarus had become a monstrous ''thing'' that required that he eat people to continue living. He makes a similar argument against Cassandra in "The End of the World", although her monstrous qualities were unrelated to her longevity.
** The Family of Blood try to steal the Doctor's immortality to extend their extremely short lifespans, killing a lot of people in the process. Naturally, the Doctor wasn't happy with all the killing and condemned the Family to a [[A Fate Worse Than Death]].
** In "School Reunion", Mr. Finch offers eternal life and eternal youth to the Doctor and his companions, even offering to help resurrect the Time Lords. Sarah Jane talks the Doctor out of it, saying "No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship... Everything has its time. And everything ends."
** From the original series, "The Five Doctors" deals with the attempts of a renegade Time Lord to become immortal, the secret involving a chat with Rassilon, the founder of the race. {{spoiler|Rassilon does
** In ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S13/E05 The Brain of Morbius|The Brain of Morbius]]'', the Doctor visits an alien race that possesses an immortality drug. The Time Lords have traded with them for ages, but only use the drug to help with failed regenerations; they believe that true immortality would cause cultural stagnation, as it has with the race in question.
** The Time Lords, as well as the Doctor himself, waver back and forth on this. They are said to be "immortal, baring accidents" and can survive even fatal damage at least
* In ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', the Goa'uld regeneration sarcophagus, which doesn't grant complete immortality but is damn close, gradually turns its users sociopathic with repeated use. This, combined with the fact that Goa'uld memories are passed on in their DNA to future generations, is the cause of the species' [[Exclusively Evil]] nature. It's also why the rebel Tok'ra faction (descendants of the only known good Goa'uld, Egeria) refuse to use the sarcophagus, even at the cost of their own extinction.
** However, even the sarcophagus eventually fails, as it was in Yu's case. Conveniently, it was one of the most benevolent Goa'uld to become senile and close to death. It was not the issue with the host but with the symbiote.
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* Pretty much the driving force of the rogue watchers, or hunters, in ''[[Highlander the Series]]''.
* In the ''[[Kolchak the Night Stalker]]'' episode "The Youth Killer", Helen of Troy maintains her life and beauty by draining the lifeforce of attractive young people as a sacrifice to the goddess Hecate. {{spoiler|Kolchak defeats her by revealing the glass eye of Helen's latest sacrifice. Displeased with the imperfect sacrifice, Hecate revokes her gifts and Helen crumbles to dust.}}
== Tabletop Games ==
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* In ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'', the [[Abusive Precursors|Suul'ka]] are functionally immortal. Due to their long-term view they tend to [[A God Am I|view themselves as gods]] and mere 'mortals' as playthings or tools at best. {{spoiler|To add to this, their immortality came through enslaving their own species and forcing them through a premature industrial revolution just so they could build the life support devices necessary to make the Suul'ka immortal.}}
* If the player casts Necromutation in ''[[Dungeon Crawl]]'', they can't starve anymore and can live forever as long as they periodically recast the spell. The good gods consider this evil and will excommunicate the player for doing this.
== [[Web Original]] ==
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{{quote|'''Chick''': (as Zeus) That's the thing about immortality, it makes you oblivious and stupid.}}
== Web Comics ==
* While mostly averted in ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'', where Benjamin Franklin and Dr. McNinja are researching a cure for death and the attempt is treated as a positive thing, it turns out to be a case of #1 as {{spoiler|Ben was unwittingly receiving "help" from [[Dracula]], and the serum wound up turning Ben into a [[Headless Horseman]]}}. The debate behind this trope is parodied at the end of the arc in [https://web.archive.org/web/20090201135359/http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=56&issue=11 this strip].
* [[Subverted]] in ''[[Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name]]'' when Hanna {{spoiler|turns Conrad into a vampire.}} Immortality's no cakewalk, and it comes at a price, but Hanna is still portrayed as a sympathetic character who was only doing the [[Emergency Transformation|best thing he could do at the time.]]
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** It's worth noting that immortality ''per se'' isn't portrayed as evil, as one of the heroes, T-O-E, is on the same Mission From God that Angel Eye abandoned, and is likewise immortal. However, T-O-E does [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|consider himself very foolish for taking the offer in the first place]].
* In ''[[Drowtales]]'', a human royal coupled seeked immortality, [[Blood Bath|by bathing in Elf blood Elizabeth-Bathory-style]]. It's not explicitly stated whether it really worked against aging, but it definitely didn't work against being killed.
== Western Animation ==
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{{quote|'''Finn:''' (singing) ''Oh Marceline! Why must you be so cold?''
'''Marceline:''' (singing back) ''I'm not cold, I'm a thousand years old, and I just lost track of my moral code.'' }}
== Real Life ==
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{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Native American Mythology]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Sour Grapes Tropes]]
[[Category:This Index Will Live Forever]]
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