History Main / ArtifactDomination

* The Gem of Might from the ''VideoGame/{{Record Of Agarest War}}'' series that does [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin precisely as its name suggests]], but at a VERY terrible price of slowly becoming a mighty [[BlackKnight Gurg]] that, at first, retains his/her identity/mind, but has become enslaved to the forces of darkness' cause of purging the world into darkness, as per Summerill's orders to them. Over time, however, they eventually lose their entire sense of [[LossOfIdentity identity]] and [[DeathOfPersonality mind]], being only a [[EmptyShell mindless puppet]] of terrible strength, existing only to destroy innocents and create mayhem with no sense of remorse or guilt whatsoever, effectively becoming an unstoppable killing machine that, without the Oathsworn/Werdefahrt bloodline and their friends resisting them, would have laid absolute waste to Agarest with no hope of lasting peace.

* The Gem of Might from the ''VideoGame/{{Record Of Agarest War}}'' series that does [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin precisely as its name suggests]], but at a VERY terrible price of slowly becoming a mighty [[BlackKnight Gurg]] that, at first, retains his/her identity/mind, but has become enslaved to the forces of darkness' cause of purging the world into darkness, as per Summerill's orders to them. Over time, however, they eventually lose their entire sense of identity and mind, being only a [[EmptyShell mindless puppet]] of terrible strength, existing only to destroy innocents and create mayhem with no sense of remorse or guilt whatsoever, effectively becoming a unstoppable killing machine that, without the Oathsworn/Werdefahrt bloodline and their friends resisting them, would have laid absolute waste to Agarest with no hope of lasting peace.

* The Gem of Might from the ''VideoGame/{{Record Of Agarest War}}'' series that does [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin precisely as its name suggests]], but at a VERY terrible price of slowly becoming a mighty [[BlackKnight Gurg]] that, at first, retains his/her identity/mind, but has become enslaved to the forces of darkness' cause of purging the world into darkness, as per Summerill's orders to them. Over time, however, they eventually lose their entire sense of identity and mind, being only a [[EmptyShell mindless puppet]] of terrible strength, and destroy innocent people with no sense of remorse or guilt whatsoever, effectively becoming a unstoppable killing machine that, without the Oathsworn/Werdefahrt bloodline and their friends resisting them, would have laid absolute waste to Agarest with no hope of lasting peace whatsoever.

* The Gem of Might from the ''VideoGame/{{Record Of Agarest War}}'' series that does [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "precisely as its name suggests"]], but at a VERY terrible price of slowly becoming a mighty [[BlackKnight "Gurg"]] that, at first, retains his/her identity/mind, but has become enslaved to the forces of darkness' cause of purging the world into darkness, as per Summerill's orders to them. Over time, however, they eventually lose their entire sense of identity and mind, being only a [[EmptyShell mindless puppet]] of terrible strength, and destroy innocent people with no sense of remorse or guilt whatsoever, effectively becoming a unstoppable killing machine that, without the Oathsworn/Werdefahrt bloodline and their friends resisting them, would have laid absolute waste to Agarest with no hope of peace whatsoever.

* Creator/DCComics also has the Heart of Darkness; a black crystal that can grant its host fearsome mystical powers. The cost? Said host almost always becomes a flesh puppet to the evil spirit within the diamond: Eclipso.

* When SpiderMan first came into possession of his symbiotic costume he was unaware that it was a living entity. The symbiote, coming from a fairly violent species, slowly twisted Spidey into a more violent version of himself until he realized what was going on and got rid of it. Several other symbiotes exist in the Marvel Universe and the symbiote is a danger to take over its host. However most of these symbiotes have found sympathetic hosts, so it's not known how much influence they exert or how much is the host's own appetite for destruction.

* Played straight and inverted with the ''same artifact'' in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', where the [[SentientPhlebotinum Mask of Life]] uses its immense power to either ward off intruders or to enlist them, sometimes against their will, as its guardians. Later in the story, though, it becomes a SoulJar for [[BigGood Mata Nui]], who becomes its dominant personality and makes full use of its power.

* ''TheLibrarians2014'' has a few of these, unsurprisingly.

* The ''Series/SleepyHollow'' season 2 episode "[[Recap/SleepyHollowS2E03RootOfAllEvil Root of All Evil]]" centers around one of the ThirtyPiecesOfSilver given to Judas to betray Jesus. Whoever possess the coin is compelled to seek revenge for any transgressions, no matter how sleight. It forces a woman to shoot up the bank where she works after being passed over for promotion, another man kills his father whom he resents for pressuring him into the family business and it sends one of the protagonists on a mission to kill the person she believes is responsible for the death of her mother.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''; Just ''touching'' a [[ThirtyPiecesOfSilver Blackened Denarii coin]] is enough to invite the fallen angel bound to it into your mind, where they will toy with your perceptions, offer you power, and eventually turn you into their flesh puppet. If you're especially strong-willed, you might become the Fallen's partner, but you're still going to be evil.

* Played straight and[[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with the ''same artifact'' in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', where the [[SentientPhlebotinum Mask of Life]] uses its immense power to either ward off intruders or to enlist them, sometimes against their will, as its guardians. Later in the story, though, it becomes a SoulJar for [[BigGood Mata Nui]], who becomes its dominant personality and makes full use of its power.

** Bilbo Baggins next possessed the ring and used its power of invisibility several times in his adventure to slay the dragon Smaug. While, the ring didn't seem to try to compel or corrupt Bilbo as it did the other users; even when told by his friend Gandalf of the ring's evil, he needed a great deal of persuasion in order to part with it.

* The TropeCodifier is probably the One Ring from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Once the property of the ultimate evil Sauron, The One Ring was built to rule over nineteen other rings of power given to the kings of the other races of Middle Earth. In this, Sauron hoped to control and rule all of the peoples of Middle Earth. Sauron poured a great deal of his own power into the ring, and in doing so imbued it with a piece of his soul. As a result, anyone coming near the ring would be tempted to claim its power for themselves. it would also make anyone who was in contact with it for any length of time paranoid, cruel and greedy. it also made them very selfish, especially when it came to the ring. The One Ring is sentient, containing Sauron's soul. It wants to be returned to Mordor and used to resurrect its master. The ring can be used to grant invisibility and it lengthens the lifespan of its owner.

Heavily associated with ArtifactOfDoom though not '''exclusively'''. One of the leading causes of WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity, though not the only one by any means. Can lead to GrandTheftMe, or DemonicPossession, but is not in and of itself demonic possession. Though largely a trope of evil, it's not exclusively evil. Many sources can be benign or even good.

SubTrope of ArtifactOfPower. Compare EvilWeapon, a frequent source. Contrast HypnoTrinket and MindControlDevice, which exert direct control at the behest of another being.

Compare EvilWeapon, a frequent source. Contrast HypnoTrinket and MindControlDevice, which exert direct control at the behest of another being.

** Another symbiote found violent serial killer Cletus Kasady and became Carnage; a mass-murdering supervillain.

** It was found 2500 years later by the Stoor Hobbit Déagol while on a fishing trip with his cousin Sméagol. The two of them fought over the ring at its insistence until Sméagol murdered Déagol. Sméagol was changed by the Ring’s influence over several centuries into the creature known as Gollum. Gollum, after being exiled from his home, sought shelter far beneath the Misty Mountains. There he and it remained for nearly five hundred years, until the Ring abandoned him and fell off his finger. Later, when he discovered Frodo Baggins was in possession of the ring, he tracked Frodo down. Even after being captured and forced into service by the hobbit and his friend Samwise Gamgee, Gollum was driven by his desire to possess the ring once more. He enacted several plans to try and have Frodo and Sam killed so he could again possess it.

*** Ezekiel Jones grabs it and...[[spoiler: is completely immune. As an unapologetic self-centered narcissistic thief; he's already the worst possible version of himself that he can be.]]

** It was found 2500 years later by the Stoor Hobbit Déagol while on a fishing trip with his cousin Sméagol. The two of them fought over the ring at its insistence until Sméagol murdered Déagol. Sméagol was changed by the Ring’s influence over several centuries into the creature known as Gollum. Gollum, after being exiled from his home, sought shelter far beneath the Misty Mountains. There he and it remained for nearly five hundred years, until the Ring abandoned him and fell off his finger. Later, when he discovered Frodo Baggins was in possession of the ring, he tracked Frodo down. Even after being captured and forced into service by the hobbit and his friend Samwise Gamgee, Gollum was driven by his desire to possess the ring once more. He enacted several plans to try and have Frodo and Sam killed so he could again possess it.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' Harry carries a Horcrux [[note]]a hiding place for a piece of Lord Voldamort's soul[[/note]] on a chain around his neck for safekeeping and starts to act like a dangerous Jerkass. Later, once the trio realize what's happening they take turns wearing it, only for a few hours at a time each so it won't corrupt them too much.

** Isildur first claimed the ring after he killed Sauron, and it compelled him not to destroy it. It was lost when Isildur was killed by orcs and fell into a river.
** It was found 2500 years later by the Stoor Hobbit Déagol while on a fishing trip with his cousin Sméagol. The two of them fought over the ring at its insistence until Sméagol murdered Déagol. Sméagol was changed by the Ring’s influence over several centuries into the creature known as Gollum. Gollum, after being exiled from his home, sought shelter far beneath the Misty Mountains. There he and it remained for nearly five hundred years, until the Ring abandoned him and fell off his finger. Later, when he discovered Frodo Baggins was in possession of the ring, he tracked Frodo down. Even after being captured and forced into service by the hobbit and his friend Samwise Gamgee, Gollum was driven by his desire to possess the ring once more. He enacted several plans to try and have Frodo and Sam killed so he could again possess it.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''; Just ''touching'' a Blackened Denarii coin is enough to invite the fallen angel bound to it into your mind, where they will toy with your perceptions, offer you power, and eventually turn you into their flesh puppet. If you're especially strong-willed, you might become the Fallen's partner, but you're still going to be evil.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''; Just ''touching'' a Blackened Denarii coin is enough to invite the fallen angel bound to it into your mind, where they will toy with your perceptions, offer you power, and eventually turn you into their flesh puppet.

** After consuming The Skull of Gul'Dan Illidan Stormrage transformed into a powerful malevolent demon. This led his brother to banish him from the forests, and eventually led to his trying to claim the throne of Outland.

* In GreenLantern mythos, all of the colors of the spectrum [[note]]Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet[[/note]] represent emotions [[note]]Hatred, Greed, Fear, Willpower, Hope, Compassion, Love respectively[[/note]] and are wielded via power rings (well, the Indigo Tribe uses staves). The rings are actually sentient quantum-computers created by one of the most technologically advanced races in the universe. It's generally stated that the further away from the middle (Green) that a ring is, the more control it has over its user.

* The TropeCodifier is probably the One Ring from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Once the property of the ultimate evil Sauron, The One Ring was built to rule over ninteen other rings of power given to the kings of the other races of Middle Earth. In this, Sauron hoped to control and rule all of the peoples of Middle Earth. Sauron poured a great deal of his own power into the ring, and in doing so imbued it with a piece of his soul. As a result, anyone coming near the ring would be tempted to claim its power for themselves. it would also make anyone who was in contact with it for any length of time paranoid, cruel and greedy. it also made them very selfish, especially when it came to the ring. The One Ring is sentient, containing Sauron's soul. It wants to be returned to Mordor and used to resurrect its master. The ring can be used to grant invisibility and it lengthens the lifespan of its owner.