History Main / ArtifactOfDeath

%%* Every other person, place, or thing catalogued by the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''. -- Zero-Context Example

* In episode Two of ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'', one of the nurses tells the doctors to strip the first repsonders of their uniforms, as their close proximity to the burning reactore core exposed them to huge amounts of radiation. When the nurse dumps her load of clothes in the basement, her hands show the first tell-tale signs of radiation sickness. During the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue at the end of episode Five, the text states that thirty years after the disater, the uniforms are still in the basement of the hospital, and are still dangerously radiactive.

** The firemen who initially responded to Chernobyl were so badly irradiated that their clothing, discarded in the basement of the abandoned Pripyat hospital, makes that room the most radioactive spot in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone besides the Elepant's Foot.

* In 2009's ''Film/NightTrain'', it's said that anyone who looks inside the box will be dead by sunrise, and the movie's [[KillEmAll body count]] bears this out. The box contains SomethingForEveryone -- depending on the viewer, it can appear as diamonds, gold, or anything else valuable enough to make the viewer willing to lie, cheat, steal, and kill to keep it for themselves. Even the characters who overcome their greed and realize it's an ArtifactOfDoom end up fighting (and dying) over it as a result of their desire to destroy it.

** In a bit of [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Gameplay and Art Segregation]], one of the [[http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/446 artwork]] of the Mox Jet depicted it as this. However, it's anything but in the game, as it's a free black mana source that you can play more than one of a turn. In the right decks, this is a GameBreaker, and it was one of the first nine cards to be banned (with four others using the exact same design as Mox Jet, but used for a different color of mana).

* The ''Manga/DeathNote''. Possessing one means the {{Shinigami}} who owns it will eventually write your name down and kill you (though typically, if they aren't the foxy Ryuk, they have to get the book back first.) Also, you can choose to gain {{Shinigami}} eyes so you can see the name and remaining lifespan of any person, which makes it much easier to write their name in the ''Manga/DeathNote'', but at the cost of half your own remaining life. Finally, if you use it, your life will suck. It's guaranteed. Ryuk even warns Light upfront about it: "But there ''is'' the terror and torment that only humans who have used it will experience..." The last appears to derive from strictly psychological reasons, because the power to kill with impunity is huge and yet useless, but WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer, everybody starts to look like a nail, and the role of a killer comes to define you, and your ethics are perpetually in crisis... most people don't have Light's perfect narcissism, and kill themselves fairly quickly.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': The Mirror of Forlorn Hope/Darkness can grant the user a wish, but at the cost of his life. Kurama, who stole it, is quite calmly aware of this, but has no problem dying for his mother's life. Yusuke is somewhat freaked out by his zen. When Yusuke jumped recklessly in the middle of the wish-granting and told the mirror to take half of his life and half of Kurama's, so he didn't have to see Shiori broken up at the loss of her son, he managed to defy the normal ending. [[note]](His deadbeat mom was completely flattened by the loss of his punk self, so obviously the sweet, fragile Minamino-san with her caring, responsible boy would practically die of it.)[[/note]] The mirror either was so impressed by this gesture that it granted the wish for free, or (more likely) took half of Yusuke's life and half of Kurama's life, knocking them out temporarily. The mirror has a small soliloquy afterward. It appears that it dislikes being an ArtifactOfDoom and wishes more people were like Yusuke, so it didn't have such a depressing name.
* Zearth from ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'': anyone who is chosen as its pilot will die as soon as they've done so once.
* The Anathema Scythe from ''Manga/TetragrammatonLabyrinth''! It is even more cursed than several hope diamonds put together!

* The anime ''Manga/BlackButler'' has the Shard of Hope, a piece of the Hope Diamond.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Tsunade's necklace, inherited from her grandfather, Hashirama Senju, is said to bring quick death to anyone brave enough to wear it, except for her. It's probably a superstition, but Tsunade has seen her brother and boyfriend die to it, and its third recipient, Naruto Uzumaki, nearly dies right as she is about to give him it. Nevertheless, Naruto then wears the necklace for good, and it doesn't seem to affect him. It is later disclosed that the necklace's fame lies not just in death; it can act as a leash on Tailed Beasts (Hashirama being one of the few people who could rein them in), which comes in handy when Naruto lapses into his SuperpoweredEvilSide. However, when Naruto goes into Six Tails mode, the necklace is unable to contain its power, and it subsequently shatters to pieces.

* The Ghost Key from ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'' might fall under this trope. If you open a door with it and walk through, you die and turn into a ghost.
* The Ultimate Nullifier, seen in ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' and elsewhere in Creator/MarvelComics, can destroy anything, but in doing so destroys its wielder... ''unless'' they perfectly understand who they're nullifying and how they work. Given that the first time the Nullifier is used, it's targeted at ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, destruction of the wielder was inevitable since no mortal can truly comprehend such an EldritchAbomination. Fortunately, Galactus backs down from the mere threat of the Nullifier, as being hit by it would not only kill him, it would be disastrous to TheMultiverse as a whole.

* In the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse crossover between ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', ''The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest'', ComicBook/TheJoker gets a hold of a glowing green "jade" dragon statue. The previous owners of said statue all died mysteriously. Contrary to the stories behind it, it's not because of a curse or anything magical. The statue is ''Kryptonite'', and Kryptonite being radioactive is far from harmless to humans (it just kills Kryptonians like Superman ''faster'').

* The Cursed Videotape from ''Film/TheRing'' has been imitated so many times it could be a trope in itself. Anyone who watches the seemingly mundane video tape dies within seven days, unless they copy the tape and show it to someone else, akin to a video chain letter. This is an example of an artifact of death that actually seems mundane and benign.
* The protagonists in the little-known sci-fi film ''Film/AlienCargo'' pick up a piece of debris from space that contains a HatePlague. It ends up killing everybody who's been directly exposed to it.
* In 2009's ''Film/NightTrain'', it's said that anyone who looks inside the box will be dead by sunrise, and the movie's [[KillEmAll body count]] bears this out. The box contains SomethingForEveryone -- depending on the viewer, it can appear as diamonds, gold, or anything else valuable enough to make the viewer willing to lie, cheat, steal, and kill to keep it for themselves. Even the characters who overcome their greed and realize it's an ArtifactOfDoom end up fighting (and dying) over it as a result of their desire to destroy it.
* In ''Film/TheGrudge'', an entire house is this trope.
* In ''Film/NightOfTheDemon'', a slip of parchment with strange writing is passed to people who then are torn to shreds by the demon.
* One of three henchmen tasked with retrieving {{McGuffin}}s for fully regenerating the Mummy in ''Film/TheMummyReturns'' is smart enough to know that what they're doing is cursed...so much so that another of the henchmen [[LampshadeHanging teases him harshly about his continual warnings]]. Turns out, his warnings were all too true. That said, it never actually stops him from doing any of it or even just hightailing it out of there.
* In ''Film/TheBrassTeapot'' the titular Teapot provides money if the owner inflicts pain on himself. As time goes by, self-inflicted pain yields less and less money, so the Teapot’s possessor must go on to inflict pain in others and eventually start killing. Because of this the Teapot has collected a truly horrendous body count over the millennia.

* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' does this sometimes. In ''Literature/FangsOfFury'' you start the adventure with a cursed bracelet that kills you once it has glowed 14 times.

* ''Literature/DungeonCrawlerCarl'' comes into possession of a ring that allows very rapid stat point growth, in exchange for killing other crawlers. By itself, that would just be a matter of selling out your morals for power, but what really makes it deadly to the user is the fact that once you've marked a target, you can't heal by any means until they're dead. (Oh, and it's extremely valuable to the sixth floor hunters, who have no qualms about farming crawlers and who ''will'' therefore be out to kill you for it.) Mordecai repeatedly tries to persuade Carl to ditch it.
* Several from the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series:
** The Elder Wand is an extremely powerful wand, but only in the hands of its rightful owner. Incidentally, one can become the wand's rightful owner by defeating its current owner, so for most of its existence its owners came to sticky ends, as so many people assumed that 'defeat' actually meant [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt 'murder']]. Credulous types like Xenophilius Lovegood believe it has a curse placed on it by Death, but skeptics like Hermione think it just attracts attention. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
** The Peverell ring is cursed by Voldemort to rapidly kill anyone who owns it. Dumbledore very nearly succumbs to the curse, and only survives thanks to quick thinking by Professor Snape. He still believes that it will probably kill him within a year. And it would have, if not for him [[ThanatosGambit dying by other means]]. Said ring also happened to be the Resurrection Stone (another one of the Deathly Hallows, like the Elder Wand), which could also induce death in its own way, at least according to the tale that the Hallows are from.
** An opal necklace seen in the second book has a placard claiming it has killed a dozen previous owners. In the sixth book it's [[CallBack seen it in action]].
* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'''s Tears of All Oceans (six large pink pearls kept in a velvet-lined shell case) seem to have this effect despite the existence of actual magic in the books being dubious. The evil Emperor Ublaz is so desperate to have the pearls that he has an entire tribe slaughtered to get them, then the corsairs who picked them up fight among themselves, resulting in at least one death. During the obligatory riddle-based treasure hunt to find them when they're planted in the Abbey, the search leads to the death of an Abbeydweller. Not to mention Ublaz himself, after getting the pearls for his crown ends up getting killed [[TheDogBitesBack by a Snake he had previously cowed]].

* Vasher from ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'' actually makes use of one of these in his combat strategy. His sword, Nightblood, is an EmpathicWeapon that telepathically tempts nearby people into drawing it. It is also an ArtifactOfDoom that makes its wielder murder a bunch of his friends and then kill himself. Vasher doesn't actually use it as a sword; he throws it into a group of enemies, sheath and all, and waits for them to fall for the SchmuckBait.

* St Michael's Sword from Preston and Child's novel ''Literature/{{Riptide}}'' is a good example as well. Spoken of vaguely as a sort of Spanish Excalibur (though even older than the Spanish in origin), it's written in legend as having the power to kill anybody who looks at it. It's also the grand prize item in an extremely difficult to penetrate treasure hoard, buried in the depths of an extensively booby-trapped island and sporting a legendary curse to boot. The mysterious lethality of all this becomes clearer as the story progresses (the sword turns out to be made of extremely radioactive metal from a meteorite).
* The eponymous device carried by E.E. Smith's ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' is essentially benign, but is characterised by its tendency to kill anyone who touches it except when the Lensman who's matched to it is wearing it. ANYONE, whether they are actively attempting its theft/misuse or not. This is such a terrifying prospect that Virgil Samms specifically asks Mentor the Arisian what happens to it when he dies. (It disintegrates.) This is actually a feature, not a bug, as one of the problems with the badges they'd been using previously was that they could be stolen or copied. The Lens (at least initially) can't.

* The novel ''Literature/TheAmulet'' features an amulet that, once put on, cannot be removed, and drives the wearer to kill someone in a gruesome fashion, and then shortly thereafter they are likewise killed in an equally-sticky NecroNonSequitur.

* Stormbringer, in ''Literature/TheElricSaga'', is definitely this to its owner Elric - and to anyone else who stands too close, including his wife and best friends.
* Fellow [[Creator/MichaelMoorcock Eternal Champion]], Erekose, has the sword Kanajana. Kanajana is a sword that radiates deadly energies and it will kill almost any wielder that takes it out of its sheathe of special materials. Only a godlike being, (such as Erekose) can safely use this weapon - which causes [[OneHitKill a swift but agonizing death with even a scratch]].
* The Nilstone from ''Literature/TheChathrandVoyages'' is a lump of rock from the Underworld that can grant near-limitless magical power to any mortal who holds it - unless they fear death, in which case it will kill them almost instantly. In all of history, only one person was able to wield it naturally, and even she couldn't hold on for too long (her reincarnation, one of the main characters, thinks she could hold the Stone for about five minutes or so before the reaction set in). Other people have tried to find workarounds, such as the Scepter of Sathek (a less powerful ArtifactOfDoom that, among other things, insulates its wielder against the Nilstone's touch) and enchanted wine from the Underworld (which temporarily removes the drinker's fear of death).

* The cymbal-clanging wind-up monkey toy from Creator/StephenKing's short story "Literature/TheMonkey" causes a person, or occasionally a pet, connected to the Shelburns to die each time it activates. It's also able to influence people to compel them to wind it up.
* One ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' short featured a pen which caused the posessor to absently pick it up and write out a terrible death for themselves, only to find it coming true, apart from them being the only ones to see it, even if others may hear it (it was found after a grisly murder during which neighbours reported hearing a train rushed through the house, though none was apparent, ie. no huge holes in the house, but a living room covered in red paint that was once a man). Our Heroes manage to find the shutdown magic, which the creator seemed to have forgotten (leading to a trail of death as the thing kept on killing after the murder for which it was created) in time to stop a character being eaten by a shark on dry land.
* One Creator/TonyHillerman novel had a mundane example. A very patient murderer gave an enemy a "lucky charm" that was made from radioactive uranium ore, causing him to die from cancer after a couple of decades of carrying it around in his pocket.
* "The Blue Bottle", a short story by Creator/RayBradbury, features the titular bottle as an example. It changes hands frequently as its owners often mysteriously vanish, typically into a fine mist described as like a glass sculpture being smashed. For people like Craig, though, it's just a bottle of fine liquor. The protagonist, Beck, realizes the bottle is a wish-granter, and all the people who vanished had on some level wished to die. Most of the people who go about searching for the bottle are in some way unhappy with their lives and deep down, want it to end, and the bottle obliges. The reason it doesn't affect people like Craig is because they're already pretty content, and so the bottle just grants more basic desires.
* Touching ''Literature/TheFiresStone'', with the intense magic concentrated within, brings swift and painful death to anyone foolish enough.

* "The Glove of Myneghon" in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E7Revelations Revelations]]" might just qualify. Although the glove bestows great powers on the wearer, it can never be removed and seems to have said wearer at its mercy as well as giving her (Gwendolyn Post) the power to draw lightnings. Besides, if the wearer is right-handed and wears the glove on the right hand, I foresee some difficulties regarding trips to the loo.[[note]](Well, maybe not for lefties)[[/note]]
* 'La Fin Absolue du Monde' in the ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' episode "Cigarette Burns." Pretty much anyone involved in the production of this film-within-a-film died because of it, as do people who try to go look for it. Somewhat appropriately, the title translates from French to "The Absolute End of the World."
* In episode Two of ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'', one of the nurses tells the doctors to strip the first repsonders of their uniforms, as their close proximity to the burning reactore core exposed them to huge amounts of radiation. When the nurse dumps her load of clothes in the basement, her hands show the first tell-tale signs of radiation sickness. During the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue at the end of episode Five, the text states that thirty years after the disater, the uniforms are still in the basement of the hospital, and are still dangerously radiactive.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Misfits}}'' revolves around a briefcase of money and its owner, who was struck by lightning during the magical storm from the start of the series. Anyone who the man touches becomes violently, homicidally obsessed with the briefcase, which basically causes everyone around him to become hostile to him and to each other. The effect only wears off when the man dies in an accident.

* ''TabletopGame/DragonMech'' has the elven artifact City Mech, Tannanliel. Tannaliel is the mightiest thing on the planet and has never lost a fight. Unfortunately this artifact, made by an elven archmage with some assistance from the gods , has a terrible drawback. It ages the user by a year per week of use, and even the long-lived elves find themselves on borrowed time when driving Tannaliel.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
** Most daemon weapons tend to lead to their owner's death eventually. That is, if they're lucky... But if they're ''very'' lucky, it leads to death and ascension to [[EldritchAbomination Daemon Prince.]]
** The [[HeroicRROD Spear of Ulthanash]] is a specifically mentioned example; it was once considered too dangerous to use because it binds itself to the user and slowly drains his soul, until [[GodzillaThreshold the Tyranids attacked the Craftworld where it was sealed away]] and Prince Yriel had to take the Spear from stasis to kill the central beast of the HiveMind and drive the Tyranids from his home.
** An artifact of LostTechnology, the Leviathan Dreadnoughts are archaeotech warmachines uniquely made on sacred Terra rather than industrial hub Mars. These dreadnought sarcophaguses are equipped with powerful forcefields and exotic weapon systems that make them unrivalled amongst dreadnoughts. Unfortunately, they greatly shorten the users lifespan. Space Marines live for centuries, regular dreadnoughts are immortal but Leviathan Dreadnoughts will kill its occupant in a few short years.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
** The [[InfinityPlusOneSword Sword of Khaine]] is an immensely powerful weapon forged at the beginning of time by the elvish smith god. Unfortunately, it tends to bring doom and madness on anyone who wields it, most notably the man whose son started the great elvish civil war of eons past.
** The Skaven love these -- not only can their normal "wonder weapons" decimate their own troops, but the magic items can cause madness, burn the skin off their arms, turn them into gibbering spawn or even suck them into hell. This doesn't stop them [[RuleOfFunny being used extensively]]. Well, when your army has an explicit rule called [[WeHaveReserves Life Is Cheap]] (a.k.a. "coratteral damage"), you should think about what gadgets you strap yourself into. A more serious take on the trope is the Fellblade, a sword forged from [[GreenRocks warpstone]] the Skaven made for the sole purpose of killing [[OmnicidalManiac Nagash the Undying]] and making sure it stuck. The sword was so infused with lethal energy that its only wielder was driven insane and died shortly after his victory, and even standing in the same room as the thing can have adverse consequences (to add insult to injury, it only managed to cripple Nagash for a few centuries, and the Skaven were not interested in trying their luck on Round 2).
** The Storm of Magic book brought with it two Mythic Artefacts clearly designed by people with more mystical power than sense: the Sword of Last Resort, which will make you stronger for one challenge and then kill you by draining your life energy before teleporting to someone else on the field, and the Black Book of Ibn Naggazar, which eats up to 3d6 models from its bearer's unit each time he casts a spell and will take the bearer too if there aren't enough victims or he fails to cast a spell from it in each of your magic phases.
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}} Universe'' of superheroes had the Juggernaut suit of power armour which can turn any ordinary schlub into someone able to throw down with the strongest superhumans on Earth. However, it's powered by a tiny but improperly shielded nuclear reactor so you'll be dead in a matter of months after starting to use it.

* ''1001 Science Fiction Weapons'' for D20 features a couple of artefacts/relics, including the Xugulor, a vampiric thing which covers your forearm requiring surgical removal, and drains 1 CON point permanently per every 2d10 of damage it does. Also worth mentioning is the entire chapter on things you can use to hit other characters with, which are radioactive.

* ''VideoGame/EXTRAPOWERGiantFist'': The bracelet unearthed at the start of the game. Though sought after by competing factions, anyone who wears the bracelet finds their body forcibly transformed until they die. [[spoiler: Unless they are an ancient Latour warrior or their descendant]].
* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', on the final path Shirou gets Archer's arm, and consequently most of his ability with Projection. On the other hand, [[BlessedWithSuck using it is guaranteed to kill him.]]
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'', there was a chance of you getting Cursed Belts and Cursed Necklaces from certain chests. They did ''nothing'' good except strangle you, [[ShopFodder yet bizarrely they sold very well.]]. Considering how early you can acquire them, it's reasonable to repeatedly enter the (low-leveled) dungeon to acquire more belts to sell for lots of cash.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** The Life Orb gives a 1.3 power boost to attacks but costs 10 percent of your health every time you attack. Other moves, such as Lunar Dance or Memento, do certain helpful things while the Pokémon faints. The Life Orb is less of a problem in Gen V. The ability Sheer Force gives certain moves a power boost and can then stack the power boost with the Life Orb and somehow negates the Life Orb's recoil damage. However, this trick only works on moves that normally have positive secondary effects, such as Flamethrower.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has one that's also a Pokémon itself. Honedge is a Steel/Ghost sword possessed by an ancient spirit. Anyone who attempts to wield it will find the sword leeching off their life force.
* ''VideoGame/UnchartedDrakesFortune'': El Dorado is a giant golden statue which turns out to be a golden '''sarcophagus''' containing a desiccated mummy -- which carries [[TheVirus an anthrax-like plague which turns all it infects into zombies]]. It destroyed the Spanish colony on the island and, centuries later, did the same to the Nazi team that had come to find it.

* In ''VideoGame/Shinobi2002'', main character Hotsuma wields Akujiki, a cursed sword that devours the souls of whoever it kills. If he does not kill constantly, the sword will turn its hunger back on him, weakening and eventually killing him.
* The Rune of Punishment of ''VideoGame/SuikodenIV'' is a decidedly powerful rune that grants powerful magics to the wielder. The possessor can generally destroy entire fleets of heavily-armed battleships with ease. But such attacks consume a tremendous amount of energy and can easily kill the wielder after using ONE of those blasts. Even worse, the rune itself is heavily hinted to be somewhat sentient, and will actually manipulate events in order to force the wielder to use the rune as such. In other words, if you're unlucky enough to gain command of this rune, you'd best make sure your will is up to date.
** The main character ''can'', however, subvert this: by forgiving the one person that does NOT deserve or ''want'' forgiveness, the Rune of Punishment becomes the Rune of Forgiveness, retaining the incredibly destructive power and removing the cost.

* The Black Marker, Red Marker and Golden Marker in ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' all qualify as this trope, in that their presence causes severe hallucinations, mostly of (deceased) friends or relatives; this might be a way for them to communicate with humans, though, given that they were probably designed to deal with [[StarfishLanguage radically different]] [[StarfishAliens lifeforms]]. It's implied that the mere presence of a Marker is too much for the human brain to handle, and most people who spend too much time near them end up committing suicide in a grisly fashion, whether that's because the Marker commanded them to or not. ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' reveals that the Markers are Artifacts of Death for entire ''civilizations''.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' used to have a wearable cursed trinket as a quest item, until they removed the "wearable" part away in a patch. You were never supposed to actually wear it, simply deliver it to a questgiver, but if you did wear it, it would quickly sap away at your character's life (note that this part is clearly signified in the item description as part of its effects). Nevertheless, some people would pass up on the experience and actual (lackluster) rewards provided by the end of the chain and would choose not to complete it, keeping the Artifact of Death instead because believe it or not, there are situations where quick death with no durability damage can be useful.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' and its expansion packs have [[PlotCoupon the diamonds]]. Of everyone who comes into contact with the diamonds, only the three protagonists (it ''is'' a videogame after all) and the random character (perhaps because he didn't actively pursue them) live. Four exceptions is a lot, but so many other characters ''do'' die... and the diamonds are the common element.
* The [[MacGuffinTitle eponymous]] Elysian Box from ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheDiabolicalBox''. Eventually, it's revealed that its notoriously lethal fame is the reason why it's so fatal. The box is made from a material that releases powerful hallucinogenic fumes that makes [[YourMindMakesItReal people experience what they believe]]. Since most people expect death to befall them when they open the box, that's exactly what happens. The reason why our heroes survive is that they were skeptical of its reputation.
* The amulet from ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'' [[PoweredByAForsakenChild kills whoever it chooses]] for the [[HumanSacrifice Rite of Forfeit]]. You'd think with a name like that, Red would be a ''little'' more cautious about agreeing to help with this Rite - after all, what exactly is a big enough forfeit to [[SealedEvilInACan seal a monster like Lares]]? Fortunately for him, Red is immune to it thanks to his Hybrid status.
* While in-story it's an EmpathicWeapon [[ArtifactOfDoom of]] [[EvilWeapon evil]], [[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Edge]] in-game is this for most characters in ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soulcalibur II]]'', whether it's gradual over time or whenever you hit with an attack, though in some cases if you land a hit you [[EnergyAbsorption get an equal amount of health back]]. And everyone has their own version of this, even the [[GuestFighter guest characters]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' is fond of "cursed" (not removable without the special spell) items. A lot of them -- including otherwise useful ones -- also have negative Regeneration value and unless offset by equal or greater Regeneration from another item, drain a PlayerCharacter to death very quickly.

* ''VideoGame/ChainsOfSatinav'' features the Fairy Harp, a mystical instrument which allows, among other things, the creation and command of magical nightmare-inducing crows. Any human that tries to play it will simply die. Only Fairies can play it safely, a quality which drives much of the game's plot.
* ''VideoGame/BeTrapped'' has the Bloodstone, a large, flawless ruby. Legend has it that after five men stole it from the African tribe they died in specific ways:
## One died suddenly in his sleep;
## One was ripped apart by lions;
## One was burnt alive;
## One was drained of all his blood;
## One was disemboweled.
** The legend also says whoever tries to take it will suffer the same fate.
* The Dark Stone Of Invisibility in ''VideoGame/SphinxAndTheCursedMummy'', which gives the user invisibility, but kills them in the process. Fortunately, Prince Tutankhamun, the titular Mummy, [[CursedWithAwesome is already dead, and can use it with impunity.]]

* In ''VideoGame/CrossingSouls'': The Duat Stone will eventually kill the user (the heroes find it on the corpse of the previous owner in fact) unless it has a Gamma Bar to act as a RestrainingBolt (something Matthew, the resident ChildProdigy figures out). Near the start of the game, however, one of the kids, Kevin, ends up breaking the Gamma Bar while running from some thugs and dies from the Stone's power. You later have to replace the Gamma Bar with a new one.

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' takes this trope [[CrossesTheLineTwice to its logical conclusion]] in the short "Treasure These Idol Moments". The idol found can kill off any RidiculouslyCuteCritter in ''seconds''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', Mozenrath's gauntlet is the source of his power but is slowly killing him.
* The short cartoon ''Awfully Lucky'' has the Paradox Pearl, which grants its holder incredibly good luck -- followed immediately by incredibly BAD luck. The end result for the protagonist was strokes of immense luck, followed by unsurvivable calamities, followed by enough luck to ''survive'' those calamities, and so on until he throws it away, having needed half his body rebuilt.

* One of the products of the Manhattan Project was a fourteen-pound sphere of plutonium that was originally intended for a third atom bomb had Japan not surrendered when it did. Afterwards the core was used in criticality experiments. After accidents in which the sphere fatally irradiated not one but two scientists, it earned the nickname the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core "Demon core"]] and was responsible for an end to all hands-on criticality experiments. The core itself was to be installed into a bomb and destroyed in a test five weeks after the second accident, but the criticality accidents left it so radioactive that the tests kept being delayed until it was finally just melted down and reincorporated into other cores.

* The Imperium Silver Crystal from ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': Using its full power is fatally taxing. Usagi manages to get around this by borrowing power from her teammates. However, she ''does'' die from it [[spoiler: in the first season finale of the first [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]], but her last act is to hit the ResetButton.]] In the ''R movie'', she also does die from it, but recovers (there is a price paid, though.)

* The Millennium Items from ''Manga/YuGiOh'' bring death, madness, and destruction to those unworthy to possess them, and even characters that ''are'' worthy to wield one can suffer from their powers and other characters looking to possess them all. [[spoiler:Considering that they were made by sacrificing 99 villagers and collecting all 7 can summon the demonic Zorc, it's not really a surprise]].

* In ''Film/TheBrassTeapot'' the titular Teapot provides money if the owner inflicts pain on himself. As time goes by, [[spoiler:self-inflicted pain yields less and less money, so the Teapot’s possessor must go on to inflict pain in others and eventually start killing.]] Because of this the Teapot has collected a truly horrendous body count over the millennia.

** The Peverell ring is cursed by Voldemort to rapidly kill anyone who owns it. Dumbledore very nearly succumbs to the curse, and only survives thanks to quick thinking by Professor Snape. He still believes that it will probably kill him within a year. [[spoiler:And it would have, if not for him [[ThanatosGambit dying by other means]]. Said ring also happened to be the Resurrection Stone (another one of the Deathly Hallows, like the Elder Wand), which could also induce death in its own way, at least according to the tale that the Hallows are from]].

* St Michael's Sword from Preston and Child's novel ''Literature/{{Riptide}}'' is a good example as well. Spoken of vaguely as a sort of Spanish Excalibur (though even older than the Spanish in origin), it's written in legend as having the power to kill anybody who looks at it. It's also the grand prize item in an extremely difficult to penetrate treasure hoard, buried in the depths of an extensively booby-trapped island and sporting a legendary curse to boot. The mysterious lethality of all this becomes clearer as the story progresses ([[spoiler:the sword turns out to be made of extremely radioactive metal from a meteorite]]).
* The eponymous device carried by E.E.Smith's ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' is essentially benign, but is characterised by its tendency to kill anyone who touches it except when the Lensman who's matched to it is wearing it. ANYONE, whether they are actively attempting its theft/misuse or not. This is such a terrifying prospect that Virgil Samms specifically asks Mentor the Arisian what happens to it when he dies. (It disintegrates.) This is actually a feature, not a bug, as one of the problems with the badges they'd been using previously was that they could be stolen or copied. The Lens (at least initially) can't.

** The main character ''can'', however, subvert this: [[spoiler: by forgiving the one person that does NOT deserve or ''want'' forgiveness, the Rune of Punishment becomes the Rune of Forgiveness, retaining the incredibly destructive power and removing the cost.]]

* The Black Marker, Red Marker and Golden Marker in ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' all qualify as this trope, in that their presence causes severe hallucinations, mostly of (deceased) friends or relatives; this might be a way for them to communicate with humans, though, given that they were probably designed to deal with [[StarfishLanguage radically different]] [[StarfishAliens lifeforms]]. It's implied that the mere presence of a Marker is too much for the human brain to handle, and most people who spend too much time near them end up committing suicide in a grisly fashion, whether that's because the Marker commanded them to or not. ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' reveals that the Markers are Artifacts of Death for [[spoiler:entire ''civilizations''.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Utawarerumono}}'': The Akuruka masks, inferior copies of [[PhysicalGod Uitsalnemitea's]] mask. Anyone who wears one gains godlike power... at the cost of the Akuruka draining their lifeforce. Eventually, anyone who uses one ''will'' see their body dissolve into salt. The level of power gained depends on how many "generations" removed the masks are from the original: [[spoiler:the prototype Akuruka potentially allows the user to gain RealityWarper powers, but will drain their lifeforce in a single use. The four second-generation Akuruka "merely" turn their user into a {{Kaiju}} capable of combating entire armies, and can be used multiple times before taking their toll. The mass-produced third-generation masks just mutate the user into a tough monster on par with an elite soldier, and cause them to lose their sanity.]]
* In ''VideoGame/CrossingSouls'': The Duat Stone will eventually kill the user (the heroes find it on the corpse of the previous owner in fact) unless it has a Gamma Bar to act as a RestrainingBolt(something Matthew, the resident ChildProdigy figures out). Near the start of the game however, one of the kids, Kevin [[spoiler: ends up breaking the Gamma Bar while running from some thugs and dies from the Stones power.]], you later have to replace the Gamma Bar with a new one.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'', there was a chance of you getting Cursed Belts and Cursed Necklaces from certain chests. They did ''nothing'' good except strangle you, [[VendorTrash yet bizarrely they sold very well.]]. Considering how early you can acquire them, it's reasonable to repeatedly enter the (low-leveled) dungeon to acquire more belts to sell for lots of cash.

* There was once an [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} airship]] called the R-101. Devised as a part of the British "Imperial Airship Scheme," the contract pitted two competing designs against one another- the [[CoolAirship exemplary Vickers-built R-100]], and [[TheAllegedCar the government-built R-101.]] The materials, design, and capabilities of the R-101 were woefully inadequate in comparison to the R-100. More consideration was given to the incredibly spacious, opulent (and heavy) ocean liner-like interior than airworthiness, to the point where the airship had to be lengthened so that it would have enough lift to fly- making it the largest airship in the world. Eager to get a lead on its rival, the government pulled strings to have flight and safety testing rushed through or neglected so that it could make a maiden voyage to India. [[TemptingFate Despite being warned of a vicious storm ahead,]] the captain decided to [[WhatAnIdiot plunge straight into it.]] The R-101 never made it to India. The shoddy, rotting nose fabric was torn open by the storm, damaging the gas cells underneath, which caused the ship to crash into the ground, where her [[MadeOfExplodium Hydrogen]] [[StuffBlowingUp exploded in a massive fireball]] that took the lives of all but eight of the people aboard... Afterwards, the [[ArtifactOfDoom Duraluminum]] wreckage of the R-101 was collected. It was reforged into an airship, one of unprecedented size and exquisite luxury... called UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Tsunade's necklace, inherited from her grandfather, Hashirama Senju, is said to bring quick death to anyone dare enough to wear it, except for her. It's probably a superstition, but Tsunade has seen her brother and boyfriend die to it, and its third recipient, Naruto Uzumaki, nearly dies right as she is about to give him it. Nevertheless, Naruto then wears the necklace for good, and it doesn't seem to affect him. It is later disclosed that the necklace's fame lies not just in death; it can act as a leash on Tailed Beasts (Hashirama being one of the few people who could rein them in), which comes in handy when Naruto lapses into his SuperpoweredEvilSide. However, when Naruto goes into Six Tails mode, the necklace is unable to contain its power, and it subsequently shatters to pieces.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'': Played with in a mission that sees the Templar confiscate a chest of gold from the gypsies. They're told the gold is cursed and will bring madness and death to anyone foolish enough to possess it, but scoff at the idea as superstition. Sure enough, as they try to bring the gold back to their base, several suddenly go violently mad. In truth, Ezio, the player character, is stalking them using his poison darts to make the curse come true, ultimately causing the Templar to abandon the chest. It is then Ezio's task to return the Romano's gold, made funnier by the fact that any Templar that sees you carrying it will run away screaming.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Every other person, place, or thing catalogued by the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''.
[[/folder]]

Though it has a lot of overlap with the ArtifactOfDoom (especially the EvilWeapon), the Artifact of Death doesn't actually need to have a corrupting influence or magical powers, it just has to kill whoever uses it. Also, the time taken to kill whoever uses it varies. In some stories, the Artifact will kill anyone who attempts to use it on the first try. Other stories will have the owner die in a set amount of time, after a set number of uses, or it may simply [[CastFromLifespan shave years off a user's lifespan]]. It can sometimes be an AmuletOfDependency as well.

* "The Blue Bottle", a short story by Creator/RayBradbury, features the titular bottle as an example. It changes hands frequently as its owners often mysteriously vanish, typically into a fine mist described as like a glass sculpture being smashed. For some people, though, it's just a bottle of fine liquor. The protagonist, Beck, realizes the bottle is a wish-granter, and all the people who vanished had on some level wished to die. Most of the people who go about searching for the bottle are in some way unhappy with their lives and deep down, want it to end, and the bottle obliges. The reason it doesn't affect people like Craig is because they're already pretty content, and so the bottle just grants more basic desires.

* St Michael's Sword from Preston and Child's novel ''Literature/{{Riptide}}'' is a good example as well. Spoken of vaguely as a sort of Spanish Excalibur (though even older than the Spanish in origin), it's written in legend as having the power to kill anybody who looks at it. It's also the grand prize item in an extremely difficult to penetrate treasure hoard, buried in the depths of an extensively booby-trapped island and sporting a legendary curse to boot. The mysterious lethality of all this becomes clearer as the story progresses.

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': The Ignika, Mask of Life. One of its purposes is a reset button for the Matoran Universe... by taking away all the life in the universe should there be things like a never-ending chaotic conflict. And the more conflict in the universe, the shorter its countdown to death is.

* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} Origin'' has an artifact called the Evil Ring which, when fully powered up, either kills its wearer or drives them utterly insane. At one point, you have to use it to unlock a door sealed by a powerful curse. Equipping it does 9999 damage (''well'' above the theoretical HP {{cap}} of 999) and kills you instantly. There is a way to counter it, however: by first equipping the Blue Necklace, a pendant that can counteract most dark magic.

** The Elder Wand is an extremely powerful wand, but only in the hands of its rightful owner. Incidentally, one can become a wand's rightful owner by defeating its current owner, so for most of its existence its owners came to sticky ends, as so many people assumed that 'defeat' actually meant [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt 'murder']]. Credulous types like Xenophilius Lovegood believe it has a curse placed on it by Death, but skeptics like Hermione think it just attracts attention. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busby%27s_stoop_chair Busby's Chair]] is an oak chair that was supposedly cursed by an 18th-century murderer named Thomas Busby, with everyone who sits in it dying of bad luck or freak accidents within days or even hours. It eventually ended up in a nearby inn, where during World War II several Canadian airmen who sat in it died during relatively safe missions, and in 1967 two Royal Air Force pilots crashed into a tree and died after sitting in it. A few years later a cleaner died of a brain tumor after just bumping into it, and in 1978 the chair was donated to the Thirsk Museum and suspended from the ceiling [[SealedEvilInACan to end its reign of terror]].

* One of the products of the Manhattan Project was a fourteen-pound sphere of plutonium that was originally intended for a third atom bomb had Japan not surrendered when it did. Afterwards the core was used in criticality experiments. After accidents in which the sphere fatally irradiated not one but two scientists, it earned the nickname the "Demon core" and was responsible for an end to all hands-on criticality experiments. The core itself was to be installed into a bomb and destroyed in a test five weeks after the second accident, but the criticality accidents left it so radioactive that the tests kept being delayed until it was finally just melted down and reincorporated into other cores.

* One of the products of the Manhattan Project was a 14 pound sphere of plutonium that was originally intended for a third atom bomb had Japan not surrendured when it did. Afterwards the core was then used in criticality experiments. After accidents involving it fatally irradiated not one but two scientists who worked with it, it got nicknamed the "Demon core," and was responsible for an end to all hands-on criticality experiments. The core itself was to be installed into a bomb and destroyed in a test 5 weeks after the second accident, but the criticality accidents left it so radioactive that the tests kept being delayed until it was finally just melted down and reincorporated into other cores.
* According to legend, the pieces of Creator/JamesDean's Porsche ''Little Bastard'' were sold for scrap and put in other cars, every single one of which had accidents that killed or maimed people.
* Although debatably not an artifact in the sense that it was not intentionally created, the so-called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corium_(nuclear_reactor)#Chernobyl_accident Elephants Foot]] could be considered this. After it was initially formed it was arguably ''the most dangerous object on Earth,'' being so radioactive that anyone looking at it with the naked eye would have received a lethal dose in seconds, and it killed the first robotic vehicle sent in to inspect it. Although its radioactivity has decreased substantially since 1986, standing next to it for five minutes will still kill you.
** The firemen who initially responded to Chernobyl were so badly irradiated that their clothing, discarded in the basement of the abandoned Pripyat hospital, makes that room the most radioactive spot in the city other than the reactor core itself.
*** Although most people are aware of the Elephant's foot, and some are aware of the clothes mentioned above, there's a third, incredibly dangerous artifact that most don't know about... [[https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/the-claw-of-chernobyl-most-dangerous-thing-in-the-exclusion-zone/news-story/533246f01b396bd8deb106c315aecf61 the Claw]], a mechanical claw that was used to move radioactive material off the roof of the station. When its work was completed, the claw itself was so radiactive and so dangerous to approach that it was dumped in a remote and hard-to-reach part of the surrounding forests in the hopes that people would never be able to find it, much less go near it.