Sealed Evil in a Duel: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Barbossa:''' So what now, Jack Sparrow? Are we to be two immortals locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day and trumpets sound, hm?

 

Sometimes, the [[Big Bad]] is just too darned evil to be [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Sealed in a Can]]. Perhaps he already was, and it didn't work. After hammering him time and again, our hero eventually realizes that [[It's Up to You|It's Up to Him]], and carries out the [[Heroic Sacrifice]] [[Fate Worse Than Death|Worse than Death]]: Trapping themselves in [[Yin-Yang Clash|a duel with the bad guy for all eternity]], thus effectively "sealing" their opponent with themselves as the plug.

Sister trope to [[Hell Is War]]. See also [[Kill Us Both]]; often overlaps with [[Enemy Without]] and [[Tailor-Made Prison]]. The furthest possible extension of [[How Much More Can He Take?]]. Might be the ultimate duty of a [[Barrier Maiden]].

 

 

{{examples}}

* The plot of ''[[Naruto]]'' commences with the Fourth using a variant of a sealing technique which summons a shinigami that devours both him and his opponent, damning them to do battle in its belly for all eternity. However, he used another technique with it that made the target (or maybe just half of it) instead become [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]. One wonders how the battle is going between The Third Hokage and Orochimaru's ''arms''. It's also mentioned that it might just be a legend, and it probably just kills you. It's not like any of the previous users or victims of the technique, [[Undead Author|being dead/eternally sealed in a demon's innards]], are in any position to tell anyone. However, the phrase "summoning contract" implies terms are spelled out between the summoner and summoned. If the contract stipulates the summoner is going into the summoned's stomach, then it will happen if you want the rest of the contract carried out. {{spoiler|We eventually find out from Kabuto that souls being sealed in such a fashion ''do'' have a different fate than those who die normally, as it prevents them from ascending to the normal afterlife on a different plane which in turn prevents them from being brought back by Impure World Resurrection.}}

* ''[[Getter Robo]]''

* ''[[Xam'd: Lost Memories]]'' ends with Nakiami sealing herself in the Quickening Chamber for a thousand years to offset the darkness of the Hiroken Emperor.

* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', it is {{spoiler|subverted. Lelouch seals himself and the Emporer in the Sword of Akasha. It works out pretty well, with Charles having just gained immortality... until Suzaku arrives. Then it culminates with Lelouch destroying his mother and father.}}

* ''[[Dragon Ball]]''

** In ''[[Dragonball Z]]'', when Gotenks says he won't be able to defeat Buu (actually a trick to distract Buu and a failed attempt at making himself look cooler in front of Piccolo by being a showoff and defeating him at the last second), Piccolo destroys the only door leaving the [[Year Inside, Hour Outside]] [[Pocket Dimension]] they're all in. Subverted in that Buu escapes by ''yelling'' and creating a space rip, and afterwards so do Piccolo and Gotenks by doing the same.

* Used in ''[[Tayutama]]''. Mashiro seals herself along with the Tayutai to be there should they escape to recapture them all. The Tayutai aren't exactly evil (well, some are) but more playful and mischevious making them dangerous if let go.

 

* The [[Justice Society of America]] did this when they fought the Norse Gods, to prevent [[Adolf Hitler]] from destroying the world with the Spear of Destiny. [[Justified]] as the battle was Ragnarok, which ended like this.

* Once, after Doctor Doom came within an inch of wiping out the [[Fantastic Four]], Reed decided the only way to keep his family safe from Doom for good was to trap the two of them in an inescapable pocket dimension. Knowing the team would never allow him to do this, Reed tried to distract them and push them away emotionally, but they managed to stop him anyway (unwittingly letting Doom escape). The kicker? Doom was ''already in Hell'' when Reed resorted to this—with Doom's record, he didn't trust the devil to hold him.

* An Elseworlds posits that [[Batman]] and the Joker will be fighting each other in one form or another for eternity. ''[[Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker]]'' also supports this notion, {{spoiler|at least until Terry kills him}}.

* This is how Palpatine is ultimately defeated in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]: Empatojayos Brand {{spoiler|sacrifices himself so he can carry Palpatine's spirit away from the universe and in the custody of every Jedi who has ever lived, never to be resurrected again}}. He doesn't have to undergo [[Fate Worse Than Death]] himself, fortunately, but the effort of carrying away a spirit of pure evil does cause his own spirit a great deal of suffering.

 

== Fan Works ==

* Subverted in the ''[[Hunter: The Vigil]]'' fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2769469/1/How_I_Learned_To_Hate_Hiking "How I Learned to Hate Hiking"]. One character thinks that his yearly battle against a nature spirit is all that keeps... something bad from happening. Except that the enemy is the Spirit of [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|Nature Getting Beaten by Civilization]], so it uses this trope as a power source for an empathetic attack on humanity.

 

* Used as a [[Backstory]] in ''[[The Sorcerers Apprentice]]'' with both the Grimhold (with Morgana and Veronica) and with the Chinese vase in which Balthazar and Hovard get locked for 10 years.

** It's implied that Balthazar and Horvath didn't fight in the vase, as Horvath claims he was ''extremely'' bored, reading the same (poorly-written) essays on Napoleon over and over. You don't really have time to do that if you're busy fighting. At least Balthazar had his Incantus.

* One of the many alternate endings for ''[[Freddy vs. Jason]]'' had the pair locked in eternal battle in an arena in Hell.

* The ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' quote above lampshades it, but the duel itself manages to end when {{spoiler|Barbossa becomes mortal again.}}

 

== Literature ==

* This is how the [[Dungeons & Dragons|Penhaligon trilogy]] ends: Fain Flinn will fight Teryl Auroch forever to keep him from destroying Mystara.

* This is how Superman wins against Saturn, The Devil's Agent on Earth in the novel ''[[Miracle Monday]]'': by threatening to spend ''every second'' of the rest of his life fighting him and undoing all his evil deeds. ({{spoiler|Actually, the book makes clear that Saturn could've won easily and destroyed the Earth if he wanted- but neither of those were his goals; he wanted to break Superman's spirit and end the hope he inspires in humanity. But just the realization that Superman would ''never'' give up effectively caused his defeat due to the laws that govern demons}}.)

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* A nod to this trope was seen in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Last of the Time Lords". After the decisive defeat of [[The Master (trope)|The Master]], the Doctor was not willing to execute the only other member of his species in existence. So he volunteered to live up to this trope, keeping the Master confined in the TARDIS for all eternity or he reformed. The Master prevented this by committing suicide (or at least refusing to come back from the dead).

* In the season 5 finale of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' Sam combines this with [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] by inviting Lucifer to possess him, then trying to keep control of his body long enough to jump into the Can they have no chance of getting Lucifer into otherwise. {{spoiler|Sam does end up jumping into the cage, with Michael (In Adam) falling in with him.}}

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** Similarly, an Ork vessel once crashed on a planet in the Eye of Terror. Everyday, umpteen million Orks awaken and wage unending battle against countless hordes of demons until they die horribly, only to reawaken the next day. The Demon Lord in charge of the planet uses this to train and harden his army, except they keep getting killed and weakened; the Imperium thinks of this as a [[Fate Worse Than Death]]; the Orks consider this ''paradise''.

* On the ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' fantasy side, Caledor Dragontamer and his disciples have been trapped in the Vortex on the Isle of the Dead, where they have been stuck for at least 3000 years, ceaselessly performing a magic ritual designed to pull the excess magic out of the world and prevent (or at least massively delay) the victory of the Chaos Gods. In an interesting variation, the Chaos Gods are not on, or even touching the world near the Isle of the Dead (the closest being the overlap between the "real" world and the Realm of Chaos at the north and south poles), nor is any champion of Chaos present. It just happened to be where Caledor chose to set up his world-spanning spell.

 

== Video Games ==

* {{spoiler|Shurelia}}'s [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in ''[[Ar tonelico]]'', to seal the [[Big Bad]] Mir. {{spoiler|You get the chance to [[Defied Trope|defy]] this. If you do, both Shurelia and [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Mir]] get better.}}

* [[Mega Man Battle Network]] 6 has an interesting twist: There were ''two'' great beasts ravaging the world, so they enticed the beasts into fighting ''each other'' and then blocked off the battleground as best they could so noone would interfere or get caught in the crossfire (obviously that didn't work).

 

== Western Animation ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Narrative Devices]]

[[Category:Sealed Index in A Can]]

[[Category:Just for Pun]]

[[Category:Heroic Sacrifice Tropes]]