Tome of Eldritch Lore: Difference between revisions
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{{examples}}
== Anime
* ''[[Madlax]]''—The ''Firstari'', the ''Secondari'' and the ''Thirstari'' are capable of driving cities of men into their darkest emotions, creating [[Evil Twin|doppelgangers]], and bringing down airplanes.
* Common item in the ''[[Read or Die]]'' TV series done different ways. One, in which a god-like man named "The Gentleman" had his essence written into a number of such books. In the [[OVA]] series, there's a partial subversion: handwritten notes in the margins of an otherwise-harmless book held the secret to {{spoiler|driving the entire human race to suicide}}. The manga used it straight; ''The Dark Abyss'', a book bound in human flesh, that the publisher required 5 different people to print, a page at a time. Reading it or listening to someone read it instantly resulted in insanity.
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* Grimoires in ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'' seem to be this, considering that they allow the user to gain ''tremendous'' power, but the results range from (so far) [[Blood From the Mouth]] at best and [[Body Horror]] at worst. Only the eponymous Index of Prohibited Books has been able to read the grimoires and [[Photographic Memory|store them in her head]], since she has no mana to power the grimoires.
* Caster's Noble Phantasm in ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' is Prelati's Spellbook, a tome with a covering made of human skin. It's a self-powering prana generator and allows the user to summon [[Eldritch Abomination]]s. It's also called the R'lyeh text, as a [[Shout-Out]] to the [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. It can also allow Caster to {{spoiler|[[Fusion Dance|merge with the book]] in order to summon a gigantic [[Eldritch Abomination]]}}. Is it any wonder that Caster is so absolutely insane?
* The Poneglyphs in ''[[One Piece]]'', possibly. While the World Government claims the information written on these mysterious steles is dangerous (which is technically true, as they do their best to kill anyone suspected of being able to read them) others like Nico Robin and Gold Roger before her believe the information is more benevolent. Not nearly as portable as the standard tome, the Poneglyphs are huge monoliths scattered among the islands across the world, their secrets incomplete until all of them are discovered. (Robin usually copies the writing using a rubbing so she can decipher it later.) They are known to hold information about the Void Century, a time period the World Government seems intent on keeping everyone in the dark about for unknown reasons, along with information on the three Ancient Weapons. It is known that there are thirty of them total; 9 are "Historical Poneglyphs", that hold the coveted information, 27 are "Instructional Poneglyphs", that provide clues to where the Historica Poneglyphs are, and four (which are distinguishable by their red color) called the "Road Poneglyphs" that hold information on the location of Laugh Tale, the island where [[MacGuffin Title|Gold Roger's legendary treasure]] is supposedly hidden.
** Eventually, {{spoiler|this is subverted; the Poneglyphs were built by [[The Messiah| Joy Boy]], a great hero from the Void Century and the most dangerous threat to the World Government, with the intent of detailing his return. In Chapter 1043 of the manga it is revealed that Luffy himself is the reincarnation of Joy Boy. It seems the Poneglyphs are far more benign than the World Government claims.}}
** Played straight with the blueprints sought by both Crocodile and CP9 during the Alabaster and Water 7 arcs, respectively. These schematics were used to build Pluton, one of the three Ancient Weapons built during the aforementioned Void Century. Pluton is a battleship of some sort with enough raw power to sink an entire island in one shot, at least according to Crocodile. While it's current location is unknown, the blueprints were preserved in case someone had to build a weapon to defeat the original Pluton, but someone must have overlooked another possibility - someone might use them to build a ''fleet'' of them. Franky eventually eliminates this possibility with the traditional way one deals with a source of cursed knowledge - burning them.
== Comic Books ==
* Possibly the ultimate form of this trope is the Book held by [[The Sandman|Destiny of The Endless
* In an episode of ''Badger'' dealing with Lovecraftian beasties, Mavis whipped out her "Pocket Necronomicon".
* In the ''[[Marvel Universe]]'', a Tome called the ''Darkhold'' contains a variety of spells, including the Montessi Formula, which unmakes vampirism (and vampires).
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== Fan Works ==
* In the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fic ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4740583/1/Inter-Vivos Inter Vivos]'', Draco's mother gave him a book that contained "a great deal of Dark Arts knowledge—spells, but also rituals, potions, and many other things, willed into the book by its possessors". When asked a question, it would shift into a book about whatever the subject might be - provided you asked it the ''right'' questions.
* In [https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7510453/1/Shadowchasers-Ascension ''Shadowchasers: Ascension''] has its own analysis of ''The Necronomicon'' which is ironically stored with other dangerous artifacts by the eponymous organization. Their leader confirms to younger members that the name "Abdul Alhazred" is a ruse, and that the information in the book is a collection of of essays, themes, and treatises by several authors on the entities mentioned in the works of Lovecraft and the authors that were inspired by him, along with instructions on how to summon them; [[Humanoid Abomination|an illithid]] had first collected them and put them into form book around 800 AD. He further describes it "as a tome that goes into detail on the history and practice of Evil. Within its pages are descriptions of vile rituals involving the summoning of demons, torture, and sadism… Sometimes with illustrations, I'm afraid… But it also gives insight into many secrets that can never be lost.". It's obviously a very long book, and reading too much of it (as anyone familiar with Lovecraft knows) can drive a man insane quickly; with no index or table of contents, this will befall anyone trying to find such secrets, ''unless'' you know from a third party exactly what page you need. And while the heroes ''do'' know what page they need, even looking at it gives them a chill like the proverbial "someone walking on your grave".
== Film ==
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** And then there's the footnote about how, like Oxford's Bodleian Library, Unseen University's Library has the books chained to the shelves. The difference is that in the Bodleian that's to stop the students damaging the books, while at UU it's...the other way around.
** UU also has several volumes of sex magic, one of which must be ''kept in a room full of ice''. Humans can't read them without being driven a very specific type of mad, but the librarian can, because he's an Orangutan, and simply gets unusual feelings about fruit for a while.
** ''[[
* Robert W. Chambers' ''[[The King in Yellow]]'' stories feature the eponymous ''play'' which simultaneously enlightens and drives mad anyone who reads it all. (Presumably a production would be impossible to stage.) Only a few brief excerpts, not enough to clearly indicate the plot or subject matter, are ever given. Likewise, the Yellow Sign is never actually described. Chambers' stories predated Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos stories and Lovecraft cited them as an inspiration.
** A similar work in the [[Cthulhu Mythos]], the ''Massa di Requiem par Shuggay''. is an "opera" that is impossible to perform. Why? {{spoiler|If the performance isn't interrupted, Azathoth is summoned midway through the second act. This would lead to everyone going mad or [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies|the world ending]].}}
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** Remember that in a previous episode Giles physically threatened Snyder so he would reinstate Buffy. Besides, the books were probably kept by the anti-supernatural mob and would probably return it to him since it was his "personal collection".
** And then at the end of season 6, {{spoiler|Willow}} absorbs all the knowledge from these books and actually does {{spoiler|set off to destroy the world.}}
** Zigzagged with ''The Vampyr'', or ''Slayer’s Handbook'', which is of the "dangerous only in the wrong hands" type of Tome. This tome was traditionally given to Slayers by their Watchers to instruct them on how to operate as the Slayer; the book [[Encyclopedia Exposita|contained the history and rules concerning magic and the supernatural world.]] (Giles had given it to Buffy, but she rarely used it initially, being a rebel who rarely followed rules.) However, in Season 9, after [[The Magic Goes Away|the world was purged of magic]] and then a new Seed of Wonder restored it, the true power of the book was unlocked. It went blank, and then started rewriting itself, adjusting to fit the modern world. In some cases, this was a good thing, as it got rid of archaic unnecessary laws (like the need to cast spells using dead languages) and abolished the “only one Slayer at a time” rule, giving Buffy some much needed help. But it also adjusted many rules to fit modern perception of magic, giving vampires powers that mostly only existed in movies; newly-sired vampires would be able to shapeshift, survive the sun, and hypnotize mortals. The true danger, however, was that anything written in the book would become fact and apply to the laws of magic. Some beings who used this did so for harmless purposes, like [[Non-Malicious Monster|Clem]] doing so to make unicorns real to make [[Like a Son to Me|Harmony]] happy. However it came as no surprise that some used it for less than noble purposes. Andrew tried to use it to bring Tara back to life (he failed - Willow stopped him) while [[Dracula]] forced Xander into using it to transform Dracula into the form of the Old God Maloker; Dracula regretted this decision when the spirit of the true Maloker took control of him - he ended up begging Buffy to slay him.
*** Despite this, Buffy and the Scoobies still [[Bad Powers, Good People|used the dangerous effect for benevolent purposes]] many times, such as to negotiate with Harmony (As in, “We’ll let you keep the sunlight immunity if you stop attacking humans.”) She also used this to aid their (reluctant) allies in the Magic Council; for instance, when three powerful demons (the Mistress, Soul Glutton, and the Sculptor) planned to open another Hellmouth; Buffy simply rewrote the tome to give the Council members powers they needed to find, confront, and kill the would-be invaders.
* The Book of Changes from ''[[Ghost Whisperer]]''.
* The finale of ''[[Deep Space Nine]]'', of all series, featured one of these. The fact that its pages remained blank until splattered with the blood of a murdered man really should have been a hint that the ritual it was going to be used for was not a good idea.
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* In ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' Finster uses a spellbook/cookbook to create monsters; it has lots of full-color full-page illustrations of the various [[Monster of the Week|Monsters of the Week]].
* The Book of Predictions from ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the book that inspired [[Big Bad|Davros]] to create [[Omnicidal Maniac| the Daleks]]. Written in the language of an extinct race called the Dals, the book contains various religious texts and prophecies, one of which saying "...and on that day, men will become as gods." Devos interpreted the word for "gods" as "Daleks". While it is unlikely the Dals intended this book to spawn one of the most destructive and evil of species, that was the result.
* The Darkhold has made appearances in various TV series associated with the [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]], including ''[[The Runaways (TV Series)|The Runaways]]'', ''[[Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]]'' and ''[[WandaVision]]''.
== Tabletop Games ==
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** The ''Book of Keeping'' is not a cursed or magical book, but still a dangerous one. This book contains information on summoning powerful yugoloths, even giving the true names of a few of them. No-one knows who wrote it — given that he would likely be the yugoloths' most hated enemy, he may no longer be alive. At least four copies of the Book exist, although some say as many as seven, and their owners tend to change frequently.
** The Cyrinishad is a cursed unholy tome that [[God of Evil|Cyric]] forced a wizard named Rinda the Scribe to create (and incidentally, he forced 397 other wizards to do so previously; Rinda's version was the only one to meet his standards) to be used like a divine trap. Once you start reading this book, you can't stop, and you become convinced that Cyric is the only true god and the only being who deserves worship. Cyric made the dire mistake of reading it himself, his already oversized ego turning to true madness. Naturally, this plan failed, although not before Mask (the god of thieves) was tricked into reading it, Cyric stealing most of Mask's power as a result.
** In the ''[[Ravenloft]]'' setting, the dreaded Alchemist's Apparatus is belived to be an [[Artifact of Doom]], but unlike most, it tends to be destroyed a lot (often via self-destructing, usually taking its user and whatever structure it is housed in with it) only to be rebuilt again at a later time. Some have theorized that the true artifact in this case are the schematics blueprints designed by the original Alchemist, making this a good example of the Trope.
* ''[[Exalted]]'' has numerous examples, but the most infamous might be ''The Broken Winged Crane''. How bad is it? It isn't even ''written'' yet; all the copies that exist are reverse engineered from the perfect version that comes into existence the day the world ends. And seeing as the only canon character to have read the book is implied to have been abducted and [[Mind Rape|mind raped]] by archdemons, there's a very good chance the book ''causes'' it.
* As befits its tone, ''[[Deadlands]]'' has a few of these tucked away in its pages and pages of [[Splat]]books. The most "Eldritch Lore-y", though, would be the Whateley Family Bible, which—in addition to having the Family Tr...Shrub (don't ask) in the front pages—contains margin notes on how to perform all manner of dark arts. The irony of profaning a [[The Bible|Holy Bible]] is not lost on the [[In the Blood|misanthropic family]]. [[Player Character]] Whateleys, while assumed to be a moral cut above their NPC brethren (and cousins and uncles, some of which are the same people), can get a "pocket sized" version, which contains less forbidden lore and can cause [[Brown Note|panic in anyone attempting to translate it]]...whether they succeed or not!
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== Web Original ==
* The Necronomicon and ''The King in Yellow'' exist in the [[Whateley Universe]], as does The First Book of the Kellith. Unfortunately for the future of said universe, that particular book was actually published as a horror novel, and it was a best seller.
* From ''[[SCP Foundation]]'':
**[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-701| SCP 701], a play called ''The Hanged King's Tragedy'' is another that takes a lot of inspiration from ''The King in Yellow''. Reading the script is safe; it even seems kind of boring, and has a happy ending, the hero actually showing mercy to the villain. However, ''performing'' it to an actual audience (a rehearsal is safe) will often cause the actors to go ''way'' off script, resulting in them and the audience killing each other or committing suicide. Those who survive often recall a character appearing whom the cast does not notice, a nobleman bound in chains with a helmet, presumably the Hanged King himself and the orchestrator of the atrocities the play has caused.
** SCP 001 (Jonathan Ball's Proposal) seems to be a set of classified documents, but every time anyone reads them, a previously-unknown SCP is identified. Whether the documents are simply informing the Foundation of these abnormalities or actually creating them remains unknown.
** [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3512 SCP-3512], or rather, SCP-3512-2, the book which causes the condition, ''The More You Know, a Pick Up Artist’s Bible''. (Before clicking the link, be warned, this is disturbing even for SCP Foundation.) This book, in effect, details how to make a woman an obedient [[Sex Slave]]. Initially, the book seems like something a misogynist would write, starting with a forward by [[Snoop Dogg]] (the Foundation questioned him; he claimed to know nothing about it), and for the first 11 chapters, seems like any other controversial book that dehumanizes and objectifies women. However, the next 12 chapters (all of which are labeled “Chapter 12”) become increasingly darker. They include esoteric techniques, geometric proofs, dream interpretation, self-surgery techniques, symbolism in architecture, and anomalous rituals. The true “eldritch lore” part is the 18th chapter, which details how to create a [[Our Homunculi Are Different|sort of homunculus]] made of human fat and human fingers (the latter donated by whoever builds the homunculus and possibly members of his family), which is what is used to dominate and enslave a woman you desire, although the victim eventually dies after succumbing to madness. Worst of all, the book’s writer - and likely, many of the men who buy it - is a member of some sort of cult that seems tied to [[Religion of Evil|Fifthism]], whose lair is near a whole river of human fat. The leader of this cult being a monstrosity who seems to have grafted the donated fingers to himself.
** [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-140 SCP-140], ''A Chronicle of the Daevas'', is one of the most dangerous in the Foundation's custody. This tome details the history of the eponymous empire, a savage offshoot of humanity that worshipped [[God of Evil|the Scarlet King]] and conquered and subjugated many lands, engaging in black magic, slavery, human sacrifice, cannibalism, and many other atrocities. They are mostly extinct other than some of their immortal rulers (one of which no doubt wrote this book) but every time blood or ink touches the pages, the information on them is expanded, and the date and means of how the civilization fell becomes different, always placing the date decades or centuries later. To illustrate this phenomenon, when the book was originally discovered, it claimed the Daevites were destroyed by the armies of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Kai_(general) Qin Kai] in the third century BCE, but after repeated use, the book currently (as in, stated in the SCP entry) states that they were wiped out by [[Genghis Khan]] about 1,500 years later. Even worse, the history is always incomplete; it’s original owner upgraded it numerous times simply because he was curious. In theory, the book was created as a means of [[Rewriting Reality]] so as to undo the Daevite’s defeat, and if used enough times, the tyrannical Daevite Empire would be ruling the world in the present day, ultimately leading to the release of the Scarlet King and [[The End of the World as We Know It|the end of everything.]]
** [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1833 SCP-1833] (“The Class of 76) downplays the Trope; a high school yearbook, of all things. Regardless of who reads it, the pages with pictures of the graduating class seems ordinary enough, but some pictures are missing, some of the quotes from the students seem odd (often claiming it was a great year except for one student whom everyone shows disdain for; the student's name is blacked out) and at the bottom of the page is a girl with no face and a boy with two jagged vertical slashes in place of eyes. However, if read by someone who has graduated high school (regardless of the year) the book has an odd effect, as the reader perceives it as his own high school yearbook. Initially, the contents include messages from people they knew from high school, and are positive and encouraging. But after reading 10 pages, the messages start referring to embarrassing or regrettable events (that actually occurred), and further reading includes threats and insults towards the reader, often outside of high school, plus pictures of deformed people. After 30 pages, the reader sees pictures of himself doing embarrassing things, then of himself committing or being a victim of violent crimes. The book is in fact safe to read and cannot harm the reader (it is classified as a Safe SCP) but it does make reference to many other SCPs that are incredibly dangerous, suggesting some horrible curse condemned the class of 76 at Kirk Lonwood High School to a [[Fate Worse Than Death]].
== Western Animation ==
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* [[Tropes Will Ruin Your Life|TV Tropes]]. [[Archive Binge|They're all trapped there! TRAPPED!]]
* ''[[wikipedia:The Book of Abramelin|The Book of Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage]]'', the 14th century grimoire, has stories like this attached to it. Of course, none are verifiable and S.L MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley probably made most of them up.
* Possibly the ''[[wikipedia:Codex Gigas|Codex Gigas]]'' aka ''The Devil's Bible'', not due to its contents, but due to the way it was written, according to legend. The contents of this very large book (three feet long, weighing 135 lbs, so large, it takes two men simply to lift; "codex gigas" literally means "big book") include the entire Vulgate Bible and many other tomes written in the 13th Century, including the ''Cosmas of Prague'' and Isidore of Seville's encyclopedia ''Etymologiae'', plus a striking color illustration of the Devil, which is where it got its nickname. Supposedly, this huge - for the time - book would take three decades to scribe, but legend claims a monk wrote this whole book in one night with the Devil's aid. What's puzzling is, the claim might have some merit. Handwriting experts confirm that the style is unchanged throughout the entire book, with no signs of deteriorating age, health, or mood on the part of the scribe, suggesting he somehow managed to do it in a short time. Enhancing the legend are the last 12 pages of the book, which are torn out. Was something truly evil written on those pages? The world may never know.
* The US Army field manual TM 31-210, "Improvised Munitions Handbook", is probably the best mundane equivalent. Won't summon demons, but almost any use will summon FBI agents. Unlike the other books in this list, Army field manuals are available on Amazon.
* [[Adolf Hitler]]'s ''Mein Kampf'' has started to become somthething like this. It isn't actually banned in Germany, but the copyright is owned by the government of the state Bavaria which never allowed any prints since the end of [[World War II]]. Supposedly it's a book so dangerous that it can turn normal people, or at least easily influential teens into fascist racists, so it must never be allowed to get back into circulation again. There are some attempts now to publish the content with annotations by historians to remove the myth from the book and showcase that it's really just incoherent rambling, which seems preferable to letting curious people just dig up the text on the internet on sites with doubious character.
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* ''The Mystery of the Cathedrals''. Written by an alchemist in the 1920's using the pen name Fulcanelli, the work makes the case that the Cathedrals of Europe, as built by freemasons, are in fact stone manuals outlining the "Great Work" of alchemy. The work was followed by a sequel, ''The Dwellings of the Philosphers''. A third manuscript was intended for publication, however, it was recalled by the author at the last minute due to its secrets being too dangerous for public consumption. Interestingly, the CIA had an extensive file on Fulcanelli and conducted a massive search for him in the years following [[WW2]].
* Many believe ''[[The Catcher in the Rye]]'' carries a curse. While it's hard to find a high school student who hasn't read it in lit class, some believe the book inspired Mark David Chapman to murder [[John Lennon]]. Chapman was obsessed with modeling his life after Holden Caulfield, the novel's protagonist, and before committing the murder, left a copy of the book for the police to find, writing "This is my statement" inside the book and signing it with Caulfield's name. The novel also seemed to be the favorite of John Hinkley Jr, the man who attempted to assassinate President [[Ronald Reagan]].
* ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Elders_of_Zion The Protocols of the Elders of Zion]'' is quite likely the most dangerous book ever written. Written around 1902, it claims to detail a secret meeting between Jewish businessmen, who discuss plans to secretly start wars, manipulate national economies and media, and form an eternal global government, all of this presented as fact. Of course, it was [[Blatant Lies]] that only exist in the fevered dreams of hate groups. More than likely the author was part of the Russian Secret Police, who wrote it with the intent to gain support for the Czar by using a minority as a scapegoat. Unfortunately, almost all antisemitic hate and terrorism (and likely all modern antisemitism in general) was either directly influenced by this book or can be traced back to it. Hitler used it as a propaganda tool during [[World War II]] (much of the aforementioned ''Mein Kampf'' inspired by, adapted from, or blatantly plagiarized from this particular book); more recently, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Al Qaida, and Hamas have all used it to spread anti-Israeli resentment in the Middle East. It has even inspired other more wide-ranging conspiracy theories, up to and including Q-Anon, which should be noted, tends to accuse George Soros (who is Jewish) as one of the masterminds behind some evil global conspiracy.
* The Untitled Grimoires are a collection of handwritten spellbooks that were sold online in 2013 for $14,000. Written in the 1960s by a self-proclaimed High Priestess of Wicca, who specifically claimed that only Wicca like herself are allowed to read them. The first page states, “To those not of the craft - the reading of this book is ''Forbidden!'' Proceed no further or justice will enact a swift and terrible retribution - and you will surely suffer at the hand of the craft." A valid warning by an actual witch or just the rantings of an eccentric? Most don’t want to take such a risk…
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