History Main / AmuletOfDependency

* Umbra Witches in ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', including the titular heroine, wear palm-sized Umbran Watch which essentially also serve as their SoulJar. Witches can recover from practically all kinds of physical injuries, but if their Umbran Watch is broken, the result is almost immediately fatal (Having their soul separated from their body for too long is also fatal, but the time limit for the latter is more generous; for comparison, witches rarely survive longer than a minute after their watch is broken, but they can cling on to life for up to 24 hours while their souls are away). Thankfully for the witches, these watches are pretty sturdy, and the few times we see them broken, they are repeatedly damaged with supernatural sources instead of mundane weapons, and there's even one case where it serves as a PocketProtector.

-->-- '''Simon Petrikov''''s ApocalypticLog, ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS3E20HollyJollySecretsPart2 Holly Jolly Secrets - Part 2]]"

-->-- '''Simon Petrikov''''s ApocalypticLog, ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed3'': Tyranny of King Washington DLC, Washington himself finds and becomes addicted to an Isu [[spoiler:Apple]] artifact, even as he grows terrified that it's turning him into a monster. Luckily, he manages to order Connor to throw it into the sea at the end of the DLC.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder: Film - Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheKingsBeard'', [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fairies]] cannot survive long without their wands. Sophie's mother withered away due to Jasper sealing hers, and the same begins to happen to Sophie after Jasper steals hers. The effects worsen once Jasper starts directly draining Sophie's wand for power, even resulting in Sophie losing her PointyEars (though it's made clear that she can't survive long in this form, and isn't just being turned into a [[HumanityEnsues healthy human]]).
[[/folder]]

* Umbra Witches in ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', including the titular heroine, wear palm-sized Umbran Watch which essentially also serve as SoulJar. Witches can recover from practically all kinds of physical injuries, but if their Umbran Watch is broken, the result is almost immediately fatal (Having their soul separated from their body for too long is also fatal, but the time limit for the latter is more generous). Thankfully for the witches, these watches are pretty sturdy, and the few times we see them broken, they are repeatedly damaged with supernatural sources instead of mundane weapons, and there's even one case where it serves as a PocketProtector.

* Umbra Witches in ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', including the titular heroine, wear palm-sized Umbran Watch which essentially also serve as SoulJar. Witches can recover from practically all kinds of physical injuries, but if their Umbran Watch is broken, the result is almost immediately fatal (Having their soul separated from their body for too long is also fatal, but the time limit for the latter is more generous). Thankfully for the witches, these watches are pretty sturdy, and the few times we see them broken, they are repeatedly damaged with supernatural sources instead of mundane weapons.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Humans have been making discoveries and new technologies for centuries (think iron, bronze, cars, ovens, mills, computers, oil) to the point where most of us are reliant on a whole range of them just to live our daily lives, and have been for centuries. And as helpful as they are, the inevitable downside is the finite nature of the Earth's resources, and the environmental and social cost of constantly mining (or logging or fracking...) those resources, as well as constantly producing more tools, constantly replacing those tools with better ones, etc.
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* ''Film/{{Laserblast}}'': A teenage boy finds an alien laser gun and necklace. He must wear the necklace to activate the laser gun, but doing so corrupts him into a monster.

Sometimes a character finds, or manages to manufacture, an AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome. [[CuriosityIsACrapshoot This can be a risky endeavor]]. Sometimes the character goes on to become a successful superhero or supervillain, but sometimes that amulet turns out to be a MagicFeather, an ArtifactOfDeath or an ArtifactOfDoom. And sometimes the Amulet of Concentrated Awesome turns out to be BlessedWithSuck.

Though the trope name says "amulet", this trope isn't necessarily something that's been created deliberately, or something that deliberately came into the user's possession. It can be something acquired accidentally, a natural object, etc. It can also be a direct consequence or side effect of being CursedWithAwesome or BlessedWithSuck, or part of a being's nature it was born with, such as supernatural beings that have certain vulnerabilities.

[[folder:Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder:Comic Books ]]

[[folder:Fan Works ]]

* ''Fanfic/{{Nutricula}}'' has [[FandomSpecificPlot/MyHeroAcademia Izuku's Quirk]], which [[DeathActivatedSuperpower brings him back]] [[DeathIsCheap whenever he dies]] with a brand-new power [[ComboPlatterPowers related to how he died]]. However, this power is the only thing ''keeping'' him alive: when Aizawa uses [[AntiMagic Erasure]] on him, it renders Izuku [[spoiler:a completely lifeless corpse]]. Suffice to say, Izuku is lowkey ''terrified'' of his teacher.

[[folder:Film ]]

[[folder:Folklore ]]

* In Irish folklore Merrow are forced to wear a red-feathered hat called a ''cohuleen druith'' or else lose their water-breathing and shapeshifting powers.

* There is a ghost story that goes like so: a young man encounters (or worse, ''marries'') a beautiful woman, who later turns out to be a monster who removes its skin or detaches its head. The young man pours salt, embers, broken glass or some such on the skin or the sleeping body and when the monster returns it dies, either from poisoning/burning brought on by contact with the irritant or due to the resulting organ failure because it cannot reattach.

[[folder:Literature ]]

*** The Seven Rings given to Dwarves increased their ability to obtain gold, but also inflamed their love of gold and their pride to self-destructive levels.

*** The One Ring increased Sauron's power over Middle-Earth, but he put so much of his own essence into it that he was weaker without it and destroying it would destroy him. %%Some comments by Gandalf suggest that the One Ring actually made Sauron more evil (specifically, more bent on dominating others) than he had been previously.
* The final product of the film and novel ''Literature/{{Perfume}}'' turns out to be this for the main character. [[spoiler:He works for years to create the perfect perfume, killing dozens of people and doing all sorts of awful things. He hopes that with the creation of his perfect perfume, he'll become a god among men. After only one or two drops of the perfume on his handkerchief, he's immediately forgiven for all of his murders, and called an angel. Then he realizes that the people are simply intoxicated by his perfume, and he really doesn't care about belonging to their world. He later pours the whole bottle over himself, after which he gets eaten alive by all within smelling distance.]]

* The vampires of 19th century fiction are commonly tied to something of significance to them.

* In ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'', the [[GodEmperor Lord Ruler's]] [[spoiler: bracers]] which are the source of his immortality, but by the same token [[spoiler: if they're ever separated from him, he'll revert to his natural age- of about ''one thousand'']]. Needless to say, keeping a hold of the things is pretty important to him, and he wears a lot of other metal (despite it being impractical in a setting where people who can telekinetically control metal aren't uncommon) largely to distract attention from them.

[[folder:Live-Action TV ]]

* The Borg from ''Franchise/StarTrek'' gain some advantages from their cyborg parts, but also grow dependent of them to the point of not being able to survive without them. Those implants are also frequently used to try to destroy them via HollywoodHacking or [[ComputerVirus Computer Viruses]] or {{Logic Bomb}}s or some such.

[[folder:Tabletop RPG ]]
* In ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', Franchise/CthulhuMythos spells and magic items grant the user great power, but inevitably lead to complete insanity and probable death.

** Fisstech, being a [[FantasticDrug fantasy-themed cocaine]], provides quite potent, if short, bonus to awareness and reflex. There are times when it's really good idea to just get high, or the characters won't stand a chance in incoming fight. ''Every time'' characters take it, they face a roll for addiction, which goes harder and harder with each following dose, regardless of time between them. Eventually it's simply impossible to avoid the crippling addiction, which requires taking steadily increasing doses, or facing all the withdrawal symptoms, combined with ''huge'' debuff. Most characters in-universe eventually die out of overdose or due to sharp withdrawal. It is technically possible to cure the addiction by GoingColdTurkey, while being also assisted by qualified medical personel, but it can takes ''years'' of therapy and the character forever remains with serious Will problems (a really hard check is required when around fisstech, or the character will gladly go back to addiction).

[[folder:Video Games ]]

* Umbra Witches in ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', including the titular heroine, wear palm-sized Umbran Watch which essentially also serve as SoulJar. Witches can recover from practically all kinds of physical injuries, but if their Umbran Watch is broken, the result is almost-immediately fatal (Having their soul separated from their body for too long is also fatal, but the time limit for the latter is more generous). Thankfully for the witches, these watches are pretty sturdy, and the few times we see them broken, they are repeatedly damaged with supernatural sources instead of mundane weapons.

[[folder:Visual Novels ]]

[[folder:Web Comics ]]

[[folder:Web Original ]]

[[folder:Western Animation ]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' episode that introduced Hogatha the witch, Hogatha was dependent upon a magical locket that granted her powers, and that without it her powers would be reduced to nothing. She spends much of the episode trying to get it back from both Smurfette (who inadvertently uses it to grant her wishes for her fellow Smurfs) and Gargamel (who later comes into contact with the amulet once Smurfette disposes of it). However, by the end of the episode, the Smurfs get a hold of the amulet and end up destroying it, which in turn destroys Hogatha... until she shows up again resurrected in "The Fake Smurf".

[[folder:Real Life ]]

*** The One Ring increased Sauron's power over Middle-Earth, but he put so much of his own essence into it that he was weaker without it and destroying it would destroy him. Some comments by Gandalf suggest that the One Ring actually made Sauron more evil (specifically, more bent on dominating others) than he had been previously.
* The final product of the film and novel ''Literature/{{Perfume}}'' turns out to be this for the main character. [[spoiler:He works for years to create the perfect perfume, killing dozens of people and doing all sorts of awful things. He hopes that with the creation of his perfect perfume, he'll finally be accepted and loved by society. After only one or two drops of the perfume on his handkerchief, he's immediately forgiven for all of his murders, and called an angel. Then he realizes that the people are simply intoxicated by his perfume, and they really don't care about him. He later pours the whole bottle over himself, after which he gets eaten alive by all within smelling distance.]]

* You rely on your flashlight a ''lot'' in ''VideoGame/AlanWake'', since DarkIsEvil. In a few levels where you lose it, your only option is "run away really fast".
* Stat-increasing items in ''VideoGame/DungeonSiege'', the ones that let one use more powerful equipment. If this trope is extended from just amulets to armor and weapons, it not only may limit the power of the items you can use (sacrificing damage bonuses), it will be harder to (if wanted) find desirable replacement items of greater power. Made easier to contend with in the Legends of Aranna expansion, in which progressively-with-level bonuses are made available.

If the owner of the Amulet of Dependency is also carrying the VillainBall, his response is usually to set up all sorts of {{Death Trap}}s that the hero must survive to activate the Achilles Heel, thus setting the scene for TheHerosJourney. If the hero is the owner of the Amulet of Dependency, he typically has the option of finding a way to get rid of it, but he usually succeeds only with great sacrifice and often must simultaneously prevent it from falling into the hands of the BigBad. If a sympathetic AntiVillain, TheWoobie, etc., ends up with it, it's a [[CuriosityIsACrapshoot crapshoot]] whether there's any hope of getting rid of it.

* ''Comicbook/TheSandman'':