Your Heart's Desire: Difference between revisions

Some monsters ensnare you by taking the shape of [[Primal Fear|your worst fears]], knowing your deepest nightmares and using them against you. These can be some of the most terrifying enemies, attacking you where you are most vulnerable in the dark recesses of your heart. But sometimes the thing that's the most scary isn't the monster that attacks you with fear.

It's these guys.

These badguys trap you by preying upon your desires. They know what you want and are willing to offer it to you - [[Deal with the Devil|or so it would seem]]. They [[Schmuck Bait|show you things]] you've always dreamed of, presenting you with the very thing that your heart yearns for. However, [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]. Temptation can be a [[Forbidden Fruit|powerful and dangerous]] thing, and is sometimes harder to resist than any overt danger.

This is a favorite technique of the [[Master of Illusion]], who may use it to trap others in a [[Lotus Eater Machine]], or the kinds of monsters that get satisfaction out of [[Emotion Eater|manipulating their victims' emotions]]. After all, it's much easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar, and the victim often won't even be able to realize the danger until it's [[Death by Irony|too late]]. This is why your parents always told you not to take candy from strangers.

* In ''[[For the Man Who Has Everything]]'' a [[Lotus Eater Machine]] of this sort is used on [[Superman]], who hallucinates that he's back on Krypton.

* The [[X-Men]] annual ''Lost in the Funhouse'' revolved around this - Horde, the villain of the issue, sent the team to a Citadel to retrieve a [[MacGuffin]] on pain of destroying their world if they refused. The citadel's defence mechanism was offering intruders a vision of their heart's desire one-by-one. When it couldn't find Longshot's desire due to his "[[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|purity]]", it cut out step two and absorbed him.

* In the novel ''[[Something Wicked This Way Comes]]'' by Ray Bradbury, the carnival tries to entice the boys by showing them exciting and marvelous things. Particularly Jim, who is fascinated by it, and who also has a desire to become older.

* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' had the Mirror of [[Sdrawkcab Name|Erised]], which shows the viewer whatever their greatest desire is. Ron, who feels overshadowed by his siblings, sees himself outdoing them all. Harry, who never knew his real family, sees himself with his parents and relatives. Dumbledore mentions that [[Lotus Eater Machine|it can be highly addictive]], however. {{spoiler|In the climax, Dumbledore hides the Philosopher's Stone "inside" the mirror, with the proviso that only someone who wants to find the stone but not use its power can reach it. The villain sees himself with the stone, but Harry's reflection slips it into his pocket.}}

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''

** 3rd Edition. ''Creature Collection'' supplement. The Dweller at the Crossroads is a sinister figure that knows its victim's greatest wish and can grant it - for a price. Every gift the dweller gives is cursed in some way to bring corruption and misery to the person receiving it.

* The PC horror game ''The Path'' can be interpreted this way, as it seems that {{spoiler|each girl's wolf}} is something that appeals to them according to their personality, and thus they are lured in one by one.

[[Category:Your Heart's Desire]]