Weakened by the Light: Difference between revisions

Light is a powerful thing. Some enemies, [[Logical Weakness|especially]] those who specialize in [[Casting a Shadow]], are weakened by it, if not outright destroyed. The reason is simple: [[Light Is Good]] + [[Good Hurts Evil]] = Light Hurts Evil.

 

 

The psychology behind this trope is that humans are very reliant on sight, so we feel [[Primal Fear|extremely vulnerable in the dark]]. See [[Dark Is Evil]] for the general association of evil things with darkness.

For a mundane equivalent, see [[Day Hurts Dark-Adjusted Eyes]], which does not carry the moral connotations.

 

 

{{examples}}

* A variation of this trope appears in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. Pride, the shadow homunculus, isn't generally hurt by light; in fact, he is unable to use his powers without a light source. However, if the light becomes ''too'' bright (for example, the light from a [[Trick Bomb|flash bomb]]) he is damaged and his philosopher's stone depleted.

** Beyond that, Pride needs light to use his powers by casting shadows, but he can't approach a ''source'' of light too closely, because the light would illuminate his shadows and destroy them. This is seen when Hohenheim first encounters Pride.

* In ''[[One Piece]]'', people who've had their shadows stolen by [[Living Shadow|Gecko Moria]] disintegrate in sunlight.

* ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'' had several episodes of this with Nekozawa.

* In ''[[Vampire Hunter D]]'', sunlight isn't immediately fatal to vampires. Rather, exposure to more than a few seconds of direct sunlight causes them to catch fire, burning painfully so long as they are exposed. [[Heroic Willpower]] is invoked if a vampire stays in sunlight to do something important, as is a vampiric [[Healing Factor]] if they make it back to shade.

** Though only the High Nobility are capable of even trying this. Most vampires are entirely comatose during the day, even if they remain underground.

** The Stand Black Sabbath from part 5 is also like this, on account of actually ''being'' a shadow. Lots of light=inability for shadows to exist, so...

* The Batman Hakki from ''[[Yaiba]]'' is scorched by the sunlight and screams in pain when exposed to it. Oddly, he's fine while wearing sunglasses.

* Aaroniero from ''[[Bleach]]'' cannot stand sunlight and he cannot maintain his shape-shifting in the light.

* ''[[Van Von Hunter]]'' parodies this twice in the same arc. First, a vampire proclaims its invincibility since the moon is up--and doesn't burn until after it's reminded that moonlight is reflected sunlight. Then, the title character tries to distract another vampire until sunrise, and takes so long doing so that the sun sets again.

 

 

== Comic Books ==

* Night Lass was a member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, and, in some continuities, later a member of the [[Legion of Super-Heroes (Comic Book)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]. Her gimmick was that she had super-strength, but only in the dark. Turn on a lamp, and she's normal.

* [[The Darkness]], of course.

 

 

== Fan Fic ==

 

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Gremlins]]'': Strong light will hurt them, sunlight will kill them.

* ''[[Pitch Black]]'': the alien monsters are burned by light.

* In ''[[Blade]]'', the vampires have some kind of realism - no religious material is involved, but they're are allergic to garlic and silver, and take damage to sunlight. So Blade burns/tortures a vampire with an UV lamp, eventually burning him to death.

* [[Older Than Television]]: Bram Stoker's ''[[Dracula]]'' lost almost all of his powers when standing in sunlight.

** Subverted. Dracula is weak only at sunup and sundown. Being in sunlight has no direct affect on him (he's seen approaching Lucy before the sun goes down). However since he's weak at sunup and sundown they use this to great affect when they open his coffin just as the sun sets. This is brought up in ''[[Blade Trinity]]'' that he's a daywalker like Blade.

** Orcs are weakened and frightened by strong light and especially sunlight. They usually march under the cover of night, or under supernatural cloud-cover. On two occasions during the ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' series, the Orcs are pushed back by the appearance of a powerful light (though, admittedly, usually accompanied by some good ol' fashioned swords).

** Subverting this was the chief advantage of the Uruk-Hai; unlike other orcs, they were part-human and thus could go about during the day without any problems.

** Bodaks took 1 [[Hit Point]] of damage per round they spent in sunlight.

* In ''[[Shadowrun]]'', Awakened creatures (including metahuman variants) could have special allergies, such as to sunlight. Creatures with that allergy included the banshee (undead elf), barghest (dog-like), ghouls (humans infected with a magical virus), vampires and wendigo (orks infected with a virus).

** In ''Requiem'', a vampire's actions during daytime are always capped according to their [[Karma Meter|Humanity]]; the less in touch with their human conscience they are, the harder it is to do anything during the day.

** In ''Masquerade'', the Followers of Set's clan curse means they are affected by any sufficiently bright light as if it was sunlight. Even the light of the full moon is enough to physically annoy them.

 

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Alan Wake]]'': Wake must shine his flashlight on the Taken (humans who've been possessed by the Dark Presence) in order to weaken the shadows enveloping them and make them vulnerable to his bullets. Sufficiently bright light (like flashbang grenades or the flaregun) will destroy the Taken outright.

* ''[[Gears of War]]'': [[Goddamned Bats|Kryll]] have an aversion to light.

* A dragon boss in ''[[Golden Sun]]: The Lost Age'', Serpent, is weakened significantly the more sunlight you reflect onto him by making use of the environment. Without that he is nigh-unbeatable.

** The various [[Demonic Spiders]] in ''Dark Dawn'' are said to suffer from an extreme case of this, in that they can't emerge in lit areas, but when the Grave Eclipse goes down, they come out en masse. [[It Got Worse|And that's just the start...]]

* Played with in [[AGD Interactive]]'s ''[[King's Quest II]]'' [[Fan Remake]]. An enchantment-breaking talisman requires that sunlight be shined through it onto the person, creature, or item enchanted in order to break the enchantment.

* At one point in ''The Lost Crown'', Nigel must open a window and let in some sunlight to repel a black, smokey entity that is stalking him. Subverted in that actually defeating the entity takes another step or two, and other ghosts in the game are active in broad daylight.

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'': The Heartless, as beings of darkness, are weakened and destroyed by light.

* ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'': [[Trick Bomb|Flashbang Grenades]] can kill Las Plagas instantly.

* None of the hostile monsters will spawn in ''[[Minecraft]]'' if there is enough light. In addition, spiders become non-aggressive during sunlight while zombies, skeletons and endermen will outright burn in the sunlight.

* In the [[Zombie Apocalypse]] mission in ''[[Starcraft]] II'', the Infested Terrans will outright burn if caught out in the sun. (They don't exhibit this property in any other map; Hanson mentions [[Techno Babble|Meinhoff's sun emits a ridiculous amount of dangerous UV energy]].) This splits the mission into alternating phases of defense (hole up in bunkers and shoot anything that gets close) and offense (burn the whole map to the ground).

* The ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' series varies from one game to another regarding how light affects vampires. In ''Blood Omen'', Kain is weaker during the day than at night due to the sun's effects, though not outright harmed by it, and light from other sources has no unusual effects. In ''Soul Reaver'', fledgling vampires are killed by exposure to sunlight, but adult vampires are unharmed (with the exception of the Rahabim, who retain their weakness to sunlight into adulthood in exchange for losing their weakness to water). Later games in the series don't mention it one way or the other.

* ''[[Disgaea]]'''s platforming spin-off, ''Prinny'', takes a spin on this. The game starts during the morning, and as the stages are cleared and the story advances, time passes until it's dark out, with the difficulty gradually increasing, both seen with the stages changing and adding new elements, and the end of stage bosses getting tougher. It's generally believed that weaker demons are out during the daytime to avoid the stronger demons who come out to play at night, though there do seem to be some exceptions.

* During a mission in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Shepard and his/her squad fight on a planet orbiting an unstable star. The immense radiation quickly shorts out shields, so Shepard must stay out of the sunlight to maintain a tactical advantage.

* Mentioned as a gag in ''[[Grandia II]]''. Millennia screams about the accursed light of the sun the first time she is seen during the day (The sun had risen while the party was underground). Then she says "Hah! Fooled you, didn't I?".

* ''Touhou'' has vampires Remilia and Flandre Scarlet, who have the standard weakness to sunlight. The plot of the game they're introduced in, ''Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'', is kicked off by Remilia's attempt to block out the sun with a red mist, so that she can go outside whenever she wants. Unlike some stories' vampires, they wouldn't actually be killed by sunlight. It does, however, turn their skin to ash, which is then absorbed into their body and regenerates into new skin. Presumably, the process repeats for as long as they're in the sun.

* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''Wulffmorgenthaler'', where a vampire is [[Exaggerated Trope|burned to ashes by UV light]] [http://wulffmorgenthaler.com/2010/01/27/ in a tanning bed].

* In ''[[Sinfest]]'' [http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3513 vampires are the counter-examples to the wonderfulness of ] [[The Power of the Sun]].

 

 

== Web Original ==

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* The [[Alien Invasion|Imperium]] in ''[[Justice League]]'' had no resistance to sunlight.

{{quote| '''Viral''': Analysis indicates that the unique wavelength of this planet's solar radiation's focus through its unusually oxygenated atmosphere has a dire effect on the emerging symbiosis. In other words...<br />

'''Sh'Okanabo''': All of my efforts have been in vain! The Kanabo cannot survive on Earth. (Angrily roars as he throws a temper tantrum and tosses everything around in his ship) This place could sustain us for centuries if not for its accursed sun... But perhaps... That obstacle can be eliminated. (laughs evilly) }}

* The ''[[Powerpuff Girls]]'' episode "Boogie Frights" had the Boogie Man and his minions being allergic to the sun so they block it with a giant disco bulb, eventually once the girls destroy it the sunlight disintegrates them.

* Zartan from ''[[G.I. Joe]]''. The experiments done on him give him amazing powers, but a severe weakness to sunlight. Exactly how it works and what qualifies as enough sunlight seems to vary from episode to episode.

* ''[[Fantasia]]'': the Black God Chernabog is interrupted when light shines on him, causing him to wince and shield his eyes.

* The Nightbreed from ''[[Static Shock]]''. Continuous exposure to light seems to leave them very weakened and feeling sick.

** [[Fighting a Shadow|Ebon]] also counts, although he can come out in daylight and be just fine. Only a focused beam of light seems to weaken him.

 

{{reflist}}