Sealed Good in a Can: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

The complete opposite of [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]. This entity is usually kind and gentle, and usually (if not always) rewards the one who releases it, if it can. In other cases, the wandering band of travelers are desperately trying to evade capture or being killed by the forces of darkness. They stumble upon the entity and, thanks to a can-opener (which can range from a trinket to a sacrifice), the only thing that can stop the great evil awakens, and prepares to open a can... of whoop-ass. Sometimes it's revealed that there is a baddie in there with them and they were the [[Barrier Maiden]] or the ever-fighting guard keeping them in ([[Sealed Evil in a Duel]]). In these cases their release ''also'' releases the [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]. Oops.

 

Comes in two flavors:

 

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[Mamotte Shugogetten]],'' Shaorin and other spirits were imprisoned in objects for several hundred years at a time, only coming out to serve a master who was pure of heart. Unlike with most cases, exactly why this is done and who does it are a mystery. (Especially since none of them seem to have done anything to deserve it.)

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'': Pharaoh Atem sealed himself along with the [[Big Bad]] so he would be around to defeat the Big Bad ''again'' when he was inevitably unsealed in the future.

* ''[[Zombie Fairy]]'' has the zombie fairy, bound in a coffin. This is also a case of sealed evil in a can, as she is under a curse that causes her to go into [[Super-Powered Evil Side|berserker rages]].

 

* Let's not forget [[Captain America (comics)]], frozen in 1944 and thawed out again in... well, whenever the current continuity says (roughly 12 years from whenever you're reading).

** As per the 2010 ''[[Spider-Man]]'' annual, Captain America was thawed out five years ago from that date.

* In ''[[The Legion of Super Heroes]]'', M'Onel (Mon-El, Valor) was trapped in the [[Phantom Zone]] for 1,000 years before the Legionnaires freed him.

* ''[[Camelot 3000]]'' is all about the Sealed Good of King Arthur [[Better Than It Sounds|being revived from a millennia-long hibernation to battle alien invaders]].

* [[Marvel Comics|Tiamut the Dreaming Celestial]] was the only member of his race that objected to their genocidal policies and was punished for it.

 

* In Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', the Genie is a kind and good spirit who wants to help his masters. In Disney's [[Genie in a Bottle|version of the story, genies -- good and bad -- are naturally sealed.]] In the original Arabic folklore, sealed genies are, according to one of the stories in the Arabian Nights, the criminals of genie society. The lamps they are often found in are their prisons, and genies ''choose'' to grant wishes to show their gratitude for being released.

{{quote|'''Genie:''' It's all part and parcel of the whole genie gig: '''''PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS,''''' ''{{smallcaps|itty}}'' {{smallcaps|bitty living space.}} }}

* According to his backstory, [[Mulan|Mushu the dragon]] was actually turned into an incense burner inside the Fa family altar as punishment by the Fa family ancestors for his laziness. But when Mulan decided to run off disguised as a male soldier, the Fa family ancestors decided to change him back so he can keep his mistress out of trouble.

* Sentinel Prime in ''[[Transformers Film Series|Transformers: The Dark of the Moon]].'' He's been rusting away in the Ark since he crashed on the moon in [[The Sixties]]. {{spoiler|It later turns out that he was actually a [[Sealed Evil in a Can]], as he defected to the Decepticons before leaving Cybertron. After revealing this to his former comrades, he joins Megatron with a plan to enslave all humanity as a workforce to rebuild Cybertron.}}

 

== Literature ==

* In the [[Backstory]] to Shakespeare's ''[[The Tempest]]'', Prospero releases Ariel from the cloven pine where he had been imprisoned for twelve years by the evil witch Sycorax for refusing to do her bidding. Ariel is thus bound to serve Prospero for twelve years to repay his debt.

* In [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' novel ''Bloodhype'', the Tar-Aiym Guardian, Peot, was charged with containing and finding a way to destroy the Vom, a planet-scouring [[Eldritch Abomination]]. Half a million years later, Peot is dormant and must be awakened in order to counter the Vom's renewed threat. Flinx turns out to be the key to accomplishing this.

* Vangerdahast's subplot in the [[Forgotten Realms]] novel ''Elminster's Daughter'' involves him attempting to seal ''dragons'' in a can to protect Cormyr. (The country's previous Sealed Good was unsealed, then destroyed, in a prior war.) {{spoiler|The subplot ends with Vangerdahast [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|shapeshifting]] ''himself'' into a dragon, then sealing himself and a volunteer song dragon in the can.}}

* Jim Knee in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' was sent to Septimus as this and eventually succeeds, despite several incidents and being rather reluctant.

 

* ''[[Farscape]]'': As seen in the ''Peacekeeper Wars'' post-series finale, [[Benevolent Precursors|the Eidolons]]. There were actually two separate groups of them, one group was [[The Remnant]], and the other were a Type 2, saved by an [[Inverted Trope|Inversion]] of [[Critical Existence Failure]]. They can [[Charm Person|lull any other species into]] a receptive state, and [[The Empath|read their minds]], to construct a good argument. Besides being Super-diplomats, they are the ones that {{spoiler|transplanted and genetically engineered early-Hominids , thus creating The Peacekeepers.}}

* In ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'', Jeannie was sealed in a bottle for 2,000 years by the Blue Djinn as punishment for refusing to marry him.

* The Zyurangers in ''[[Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger]]'' were put in suspended animation rooms in an underground temple, to make sure they would still be alive and ready to fight Bandora if someone released her.

 

 

* In Hesiod's ''[[Theogony]]'', the Cyclopes and Hundred-Handers who were locked in Tartarus by their father Ouranos and later (again) by their brother Cronus, are freed by their nephew Zeus and the other Oympians when the Titans make war on the Gods, and in turn they forge weapons—most importanly, Zeus' thunderbolts—and help in the Titanomachy, the War with the Titans.

* Many, many variations of the [[King in the Mountain]] myth, including King Arthur, Frederick Barbarossa and Bran the Blessed. These heroes are almost never sealed by an evil power; in fact they are generally sealed to "preserve" them to fight some coming evil or hardship. The promise that they will returning "[[In Its Hour of Need|at the time of their country's greatest need]]" is a key element of the myth in many cases.

* On a related note, Excalibur itself might be considered an example, as this powerful weapon for Good was kept hidden by the Lady of the Lake until the right wielder came along. Like many cases where this trope applies to objects, it was Sealed In A Can Again after Arthur was through with it.

* In ''[[Journey to the West]]'', Monkey was first birthed from a giant stone egg. After gaining power and immortal indestructibility, he caused such trouble in Heaven that the Buddha sealed him under a mountain. Just five hundred years later, he was freed by Kuan Yin (Avalokiteshvara, the boddhisatva of compassion turned Chinese Goddess) after he promised to reform and help the monk Tripitaka/Xaunzang retrieve the Diamond Sutra from far in the West. This legend has been adapted many times in many ways, including Milo Manara's [[Downer Ending|dark]] ''The Young Ape'', the rather [[Bishounen]] ''[[Saiyuki]]'', and Stephen Chow's ''A Chinese Odyssey'' films.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** In module Q1 ''Queen of the Demonweb Pits'', one possible encounter in Lolth's Web is a chance to rescue a ki-rin (powerful [[Lawful Good]] unicorn-like creature) trapped in a transparent cube that keeps it in a state of suspended animation. If rescued, the ki-rin will offer its services to its rescuers.

** Module I12 ''Egg of the Phoenix''. The ki-rin Da-weng allowed himself to be changed to stone so that at a future time he could be returned to normal and fight against Evil. If released, he gives the party an amulet that will allow them to summon him to aid them.

** One way to destroy the Eye of Arik in ''Palace of the Silver Princess'' is to release the benign white dragon Ariksbane from another dimension, so it can shatter the evil gem with its icy breath weapon.

** The Dragonlance setting is made of this trope: the Disks of Mishakal, the brass dragon Blaize, the rest of the good dragons, plus of course the dragonlances themselves. Half the campaign is uncanning sealed goods.

** Technically, he's on psychic-fueled life support in a coma. His death would mean his rebirth, but a lot of bad things would happen in the mean time. So he's Sealed Good in a Can, with the Can being as vital to humanity as the Good. What, you thought we were joking when we said that 40k is [[Memetic Mutation|GRIMDARK]]?

** Eldrad might be an example too.

** Lord Ith was imprisoned by Mairsil the Pretender during the years of The Dark (between the Sylex Blast and the Ice Age).

** Avacyn, archangel and guardian of the humans of Innistrad, was sealed within the Helvault alongside the demon [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Griselbrand]], until Thalia of Thraben was manipulated into freeing them both by Liliana Vess.

 

== Toys ==

* In ''[[Bionicle]]'', the Great Spirit Mata Nui's soul is sealed inside the [[Mask of Power|Mask of Life]] by [[Big Bad|Makuta]] and thrown out of the universe.

 

== Video Games ==

* The hero Melvin in ''[[Dragon Quest VII]]'' put himself to sleep so he would be alive to fight should the demon lord rise again.

* In ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario World]]'', the Yoshis are trapped inside eggs until Mario rescues them.

** In the [[Gratuitous Japanese|Super Famicom]] version, it's explicit.

* Holy, in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', is cosmically powerful Sealed Good in a Can, the opposite number to [[Sealed Evil in a Can]] Meteor. It takes a couple steps to successfully unseal it, mind.

* In ''[[Puzzle Quest]]: Challenge of the Warlords'', the player character and his/her allies must help the minotaurs revive their god, Lord Sartek, so that he can defeat the evil Lord Bane.

* Alucard from ''[[Castlevania]]'' seals ''himself'' away on multiple occasions, seeing his powers as evil. He isn't ''intentionally'' a [[Sealed Badass in a Can]], but when Dracula rises and the Belmonts are unable to act, he awakens anyway and goes out to deal with Dracula. After Julius Belmont's victory, he appears to be permanently unsealed.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Abraham, the wizard who created the dewitchery diamond in [[El Goonish Shive]]. Sure, he almost kills Ellen because she was created by the diamond, but it's pretty obvious that she was the first non-evil thing created by it.

** He also revises his statue's inscription to say {{spoiler|I rise to atone for my sins}} after he realizes both good and evil creatures can be created by the diamond. This is a step above "I rise to reap what I have sown" which suggested destroying everything the diamond created.

 

== Web Original ==

* ''[[Fine Structure]]'''s [[Big Good]] is revealed in an [[Optional Canon]] story to have been sealed in a can and released before the main action of the series began. Ironically, that story is evidence for a much darker [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] of him.

* In [[Terramirum]], Animusara finds herself trapped in a reliquary for 1,000 years.

 

== Western Animation ==

* In ''[[Futurama]]'', it's revealed that [[Human Popsicle]] Fry was deliberately frozen by {{spoiler|Nibbler, a member of the [[Precursors]]}} because he's {{spoiler|[[The Chosen One]], the only being capable of defeating the Brain-Spawn and preventing them from destroying the universe}}.

* In one episode of ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'', {{spoiler|Despero}} is leeching off a Sealed Good's energy gradually to fuel his powers. When it's completely freed, he's toast.

* In ''[[Barbie and the Diamond Castle]]'', Melody accidentally traps herself in a mirror while fleeing from the [[Big Bad]]'s (literal) dragon, and keeps herself hidden inside, effectively becoming sealed good in a mirror. Until she's coaxed out by the singing of the main characters, of course.

* In ''[[Beast Wars]]'', stasis pods were the writer's means of introducing new characters. Whenever they needed a new character the character would usually come from a stasis pod, a sort of cocoon that provides life support for a spark and basic body for a transformer until they can scan an alt mode and become a fully conscious character. All the stasis pods in the show were Maximal by default, but were occasionally altered to give birth to Predacons. So in almost all cases stasis pods were essentially Sealed Good in a Can until they were altered, with one exception (Rampage).

* A [[Story Arc]] in ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers|Galaxy Rangers]]'' was about Tarkon's benevolent [[Master Computer]] that had been "sleeping" since an ancient war. The Heart of Tarkon controlled sophisticated defense systems for the planet and had to be "awakened" to repel a Crown invasion.

* The Autobots in the original ''[[Transformers Generation 1|Transformers]]'' cartoon, who were all sealed away inside a volcano with the Decepticons after both factions crashed into it in the distant past, making them all unconscious. It wasn't until the volcano's eruption that both were set free.

* Dark Heart does this to the Care Bears at the end of ''[[Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation]]'', before Christy frees them.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Sealed Index in A Can]]

[[Category:Goodness Tropes]]

[[Category:This Index Has a Mind of Its Own]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]