Magic Is Evil: Difference between revisions

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* More or less everything ever written by [[Jack Chick]].

** And most Christian lore in general, for which there is no such thing as "white" magic: Power belongs to [[God]] and no one else.

* [[Ciaphas Cain]] has relatively few serious prejudices, but reflecting the general attitude of the [[Warhammer ~~40000~~]] universe, he and other protagonists treat all magic or psychic phenomena as a fearful thing.

* [[Ciaphas Cain]] has relatively few serious prejudices, but reflecting the general attitude of the [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe, he and other protagonists treat all magic or psychic phenomena as a fearful thing.

** Given the setting this is perfectly justified, as anything Chaos related is likely to get you and everything near you (often defining "near" as "inside the same solar system") dragged down to the depths of capital-H Hell.

* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' novels magic weakens the border between the Disc and the Dungeon Dimensions, allowing all sorts of [[Eldritch Abomination]]s to come through. Magic users themselves are usually portrayed as fairly decent, but the education of witches and wizards tends to focus on ''discouraging'' them from using magic, either by teaching them more practical skills or distracting them with university bureaucracy and politics.

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== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' and ''[[Warhammer ~~40000~~]]'' are perhaps the most dramatic examples of this trope, where any and all use of magic has hideous risks and relatively few advantages. In Warhammer magic can still be used with a degree of safety and positive result, but in the latter, the power of the Warp is so terrible even being ''near'' the psychic backlash of sorcerous workings makes ordinary, virtuous people feel sick.

* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' and ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' are perhaps the most dramatic examples of this trope, where any and all use of magic has hideous risks and relatively few advantages. In Warhammer magic can still be used with a degree of safety and positive result, but in the latter, the power of the Warp is so terrible even being ''near'' the psychic backlash of sorcerous workings makes ordinary, virtuous people feel sick.

** Note that in both cases, magic/psychic powers come from ''[[Hell]]'' (or, depending on one's interpretation, [[Cosmic Horror Story|something worse]]).

* In ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'', learning and using [[Cthulhu Mythos]] magic causes the user to lose Sanity points and eventually go insane. Most people using such magic are Mythos cultists who are both crazy and evil.

** Some magic is relatively safer, though; unsurprisingly, it's the kind that impedes or protects from Mythos forces (like the Elder Sign or the powder of Ibn-Ghazi).

* ''[[Dungeons ~~and~~ Dragons]]'':

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'':

** Adventure X2 ''Castle Amber'', based on [[Clark Ashton Smith]]'s ''Averoigne'' stories (see above).

** ''[[Dark Sun]]'' (World of Athas) setting. The overuse of arcane magic caused Athas to become a desert planet, and a significant fraction of magic users are Defilers, whose magic use drains the life out of plants and animals within a certain radius. As a result, most people in the setting consider magic use evil per se. This was mainly an excuse to have a psionics-heavy setting.

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[[Category:Evil Tropes]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]

[[Category:~~Magic Is Evil~~]]

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