History Main / ArtifactOfDoom

* Spoofed to epic levels on ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''. The ORB in is a small round device constructed by the greatest minds in history over hundreds of years, with the power to destroy the world. It is so feared that the Guild of Calamitous Intent, the OSI and the Venture Family each set up decades-spanning {{Batman Gambit}}s to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. After all that fuss, it turns out that over 100 years ago, someone had the good sense to just ''break'' the stupid thing to keep it from causing trouble. Thus the century-long conflict over the ORB was a complete waste of time.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': The Sword of Kahless appears to have the same effect on Worf and Kor, though this perception was unintended by the writers. As Kor mentions at one stage (whilst using the famous sword as a spit to cook his dinner), it's just a sword, not a holy relic. Nevertheless Worf and Kor each believe that their role in finding the long-lost bat'leth means they're destined to rule the Klingon Empire (Worf did become Chancellor and head of the Klingon Empire, albeit for a few minutes). After nearly killing each other they realize the sword will cause more problems than it will solve, and so they [[TheWorldIsNotReady set it adrift in space]]. When the weapon is referenced in ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', it is referenced as just a weapon that drew out people's dark sides because those who had it would have to deal with those who wanted it, thus going with the writers' intentions.

* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
** The Darkhold is a TomeOfEldritchLore penned by Chthon (an Elder God turned demon lord) to serve as a foothold in Earth's dimension after his banishment from it. Anyone who uses it risks becoming enslaved to Chthon's purposes.
** Possibly worse, the Resurrection Stone, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. It also invariably drives all who possess it or seek to possess it insane. The consciousness of the gem is malevolent and seeks to bring chaos to the universe while feeding on Man's desire for immortality. Ultimately, no mortal being can withstand such power. Entire civilizations have been destroyed by the madness it brings with it.
** The Serpent Crown, a multiversal artifact belonging to the Serpent God. Put it on your head and you are immediately property of the Serpent God forevermore. Even holding it for a few minutes can be tantalizing enough to consider maybe putting it on for a moment... Fortunately, ThePowerOfLove (or just being a synthezoid) can counteract that compulsion.
** [[ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet The Infinity Gems]] ''probably'' aren't inherently evil (well, the Soul Stone ''might''), but they are definitely trouble. The entire universe has been threatened more than once by a madman wielding the Gems.
** The Tactigon from ''[[ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative Avengers: The Initiative]]'' might go here. It's a shapeshifting alien weapon that can become whatever its host wants or needs. It's choosy, too; it won't work for just anybody, but it has an unfortunate tendency to pick hosts that are... troubled. Its first known host was a suicidal girl who at least tried to use the Tactigon for good, but its second host was out and out AxCrazy.
** The [[BizarreAlienBiology alien costumes/symbiotes]] of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'', with an added BodyHorror bonus. Years later, Flash Thompson, the fourth user of the ComicBook/{{Venom}} symbiote, learned that this wasn't ''originally'' the case at all!
** ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': The axe used by Skurge the Executioner, known as the Bloodaxe. It was infected by Skurge's bloodlust and evil and those who picked it up found themselves infected by the same drive. ComicBook/{{Thunderstrike}} was killed freeing himself from this terrible curse.

* The Cauldron of Blood in ''ComicBook/{{Arawn}}'' was created by an evil druid and its fueled by the power of human souls. The Cauldron has an will of its own, and it happens to be a [[ManipulativeBastard cuttroat bastard]], and is constantly corrupting people into desiring it, promising godhood and ultimate power. It might as well as qualify as the real BigBad in the story, as its machinations cause Arawn's StartOfDarkness and nearly every bad thing that happens can be traced back to it.
* ''ComicBook/AstroCity''
** The Sekhmet Stone is a giant red stone mask. It has ancient mystic knowledge and power, and it rules the NebulousEvilOrganisation called Pyramid.
** The Black Opal, of which there were two. The first was acquired by Krigari Ironhand from the Non, another dimension made out of the shattered remnants of dead universes, the opal being the distilled hatred and anger from those universes, and used as the source of Ironhand's power until destroyed by Stormhawk. The second is a cheap imitation, which has long been broken, but if repaired would still be very powerful indeed.
** The Star of Lahkimpur is a bright green gem with the power to summon the EldritchAbomination known as the Oubor.
* The Winslowe in ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapGunForHire'' is something of a subversion in that it is alive, slightly mobile, slightly intelligent [[spoiler: (actually ''quite'' intelligent)]], and to all appearances not the least bit malevolent or proactive in any way. That doesn't change the fact that any time it pops up, half the known universe goes violently crazy with avarice to possess it, because they're convinced it is the most important object/being in all of Creation.

* In ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'', several of the magical keys hidden around Keyhouse can be rather dangerous if used in the wrong hands, but the most dangerous of all is the Omega Key, due to its only purpose being [[spoiler: to open the Black Door in the caves underneath the house and unleash [[EldritchAbomination the creatures]] locked away behind it]].

* ''ComicBook/ForgottenRealms'': The Hand of Vaprak is a severed ogre's paw imbued with the dark powers of the troll god Vaprak. It corrupts those who carry it, making them obsessed with the Hand and violent towards those who would try to take it away from them. In [[ThePaladin Priam Agrivar]]'s case, carrying the hand interferes with his paladin powers, making it difficult for him to DetectEvil or [[HealingHands lay on hands]].
* ''ComicBook/GillesDeGeus'': In the episode The Batavia, Willem van Oranje finds a cursed cameo in an abandoned monastery. It turns out to enhance the worst habits of people under its influence until they become complete slaves to their darkest desires, leading to one of the most DarkerAndEdgier episodes of the series. In the epilogue, we find out that it was later possessed by UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte and UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, causing some of the worst wars in Europe.

%%* The Loc-Nar in ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal''.
* Maleficent's spinning wheel from ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty''. The interesting thing here is that ''any'' spinning wheel could have fulfilled the curse instead of one particular evil/powerful one.
* The Black Cauldron from... ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' is ancient and can create an army of undead.

* The embalmed hand in ''Film/TalkToMe'' allows the ritual participant to be possessed, but the ritual must end within 90 seconds. When [[spoiler:the rule is broken, a possessed Riley injures himself seriously, to the point of smashing his own head and [[EyeScream nearly plucking out his own eye]].]]

* ''Literature/MonsterHunter'' by Larry Correia features several deadly artifacts. One of note is the Kamaresh Yar, which can be used to destroy the world, and even reverse time.

* ''Literature/MonsterHunterInternational'' offers the Kumaresh Yar, an artifact which can break time and open a gateway to the realm of the Old Ones. Only a chosen few can use it, though. The villain attempts to use it to do exactly that, but [[spoiler:it turns out the hero Owen Pitt is also one of the chosen ones, and he uses it to save his comrades from a deadly ambush.]] It then becomes a MacGuffin for the next couple of books.
* Creator/JRRTolkien has several in his ''[[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Legendarium]]'':
** The quintessential example is [[RingOfPower The One Ring]] from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. The Ring [[AmplifierArtifact grants power proportional to that of the wielder]], so the effect on a mere {{hobbit|s}} is minimal (it just helps them "disappear" and extends their lifespan). However, in the hands of an elven mage or a demigod like Gandalf, it's a [[GameBreaker world-breaking]] artifact. The downside is: it contains the spirit of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron (a.k.a. the Necromancer), so it will eventually corrupt anyone else who wears it, or owns it, or even sees it. Also, it's virtually indestructible, and the quest to destroy it takes about three-quarters of the plot.
** The ''palantíri'', also from ''The Lord of the Rings'', are basically just sort of far-seeing crystal balls, but they are functionally dooming at the time of the story, because Sauron got hold of one and uses it to psychically attack anyone who uses the others. (Victims include [[spoiler:Saruman, Denethor and Pippin.]]) They also seem to exert a strong fascination and temptation to use them for some reason or other, but maybe that's just hobbit curiosity. [[spoiler:Aragorn breaks the spell and takes control of the palantír for his own purposes right after he ''spooks Sauron'' by showing him, reforged, the blade that cost Sauron the ring and a finger]]
** The Silmarils (of ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'') aren't precisely doomy, but they seem to have a dooming effect on everyone around them, because everybody who sees one (or even hears about it) covets them. Including Morgoth, who wears them in his crown even though their [[HolyBurnsEvil holiness burns him]]. Also, Mandos lays a Doom on the Noldor who seek the Silmarils, and anyone who gets involved with them, including the Sindar, the Dwarves and Men.
* In the John Silke series of ''Death Dealer'' books (which are based on the painting by Frank Frazetta) the main character is given a helmet possessed by the god of death, which makes him a nigh-invincible warrior. On the flip side, it will put Gath (the name given to the death dealer) through slowly increasing discomfort, pain, and finally torture. The helmet can only be removed by an innocent young woman, and final love interest, named Robin Lakehair.
* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''Legion'', learning of the Black Cube causes the Cabal to change their plans. [[spoiler:They give up their subtlety to openly contact the Alpha Legion and tell them they must flee the planet at once: their enemies are using the BloodMagic to bring about the Black Dawn, which [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt will wipe life from the planet]].]]

%%* The Lifestone plays this role in ''Literature/TheRiftwarCycle''.
* The Piggy from Creator/WilliamSleator's ''Literature/InterstellarPig'' also does nothing, but causes a lot of trouble. The aliens chasing it believe that, when an unknown timer runs out, only the planet with the Piggy will be spared from destruction. But the Piggy itself later tells the human protagonist that it has the "hiccups" and will actually only destroy whatever world it's on during its next hiccup. The hero soon realizes these are both lies to keep "the game" going: the Piggy's real purpose is to study each alien species, and the story of the game exists solely to manipulate everyone into alternately chasing it and tossing it like a hot potato.
* In Steven Brust's ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' books, Morganti weapons have a cold, low-level intelligence that hungers to consume souls. The blades are so awful that they even unsettle their bearer. However, the most powerful Morganti weapons are called Great Weapons, and have a more developed intelligence that can be controlled, leading to a symbiotic relationship.
* The Blackened [[ThirtyPiecesOfSilver Denarii]] from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Just ''touching'' a 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. Mordite (a.k.a. "deathstone") is worse. Any entity short of an EldritchAbomination will suffer CriticalExistenceFailure simply by being near it.
* An example by Ramsey Campbell is the ''Messa/Massa di Requiem per Shuggay'', a morbid opera designed not only to [[BrownNote drive its audience mad]], but [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt to summon the blind idiot god Azatoth at the end of the performance]].
* Not a traditional artifact, but any copy of the play ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'', eponymous to the short story collection by Creator/RobertWChambers. The subject matter of the play ''The King In Yellow'' isn't entirely revealed, other than that it's set in [[EldritchLocation "the lost city of Carcosa"]], perceived to be very artistically written, though the first act is tame and the second act drops hard. Reading the play will either lead to madness or a dark fate. The King in Yellow ''himself'' is never seen, nor shown whether or not he actually exists, though he appears to be a HumanoidAbomination that embodies decadence.

* The grail in Creator/TeresaEdgerton's ''Literature/TheGrailAndTheRing'' became this because it was corrupted when its powers were first revealed. SubvertedTrope in that the object can be redeemed, and doing this is a necessary step to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong.
* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'':
** Book 1 (''Blue Moon Rising'') features The Infernal Devices, a trio of magical swords made using evil powers, which have a tendency to corrupt their wielders, unless those wielders have a strong enough will. One of them makes a return appearance in book 2 (''Down Among the Dead Men'').
** Spinoff series ''Hawk & Fisher'' book 6 (''The Bones of Haven'') introduces Messerschmann's Portrait, a magical booby trap. Its prisoner was the thief Wulf Saxon, who'd been imprisoned in it for 23 years after an unwise attempt to rob a sorcerer. Although insane at first after being freed, he regains his senses by a fluke of events and subsequently discovers he's acquired superhuman strength, speed and stamina, as if all the concentrated energy of those twenty-three years is at his disposal.
* Things like this regularly turn up in Creator/SimonRGreen's ''Literature/{{Nightside}}'' novels, but in weirder forms (e.g. the Speaking Gun).
* In P. C. Hodgell's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'', the Ivory Knife and the Book Bound in Pale Leather are this and yet not, in that they're given to the Kencyr by their God, and will be used by the three avatars of God, the Tyr-ridan. The Ivory Knife is the "very tooth of death", a pinprick from which is fatal, which rots and kills anything it touches. Heroine Jame keeps it in her boot sheath for the longest time.
* The short story "Literature/TheMonkeysPaw" by W.W. Jacobs. The monkey's paw grants the user's wishes, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor but at a tremendous price]]. "''It had a spell put on it by an old fakir, a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.''" The thing was created purely to cause suffering. It's pure evil.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has a ''city'' that acts like this. Shadar Logoth will quickly corrupt anyone who stays too long. This isn't much of a problem when you consider that people who enter will quickly get killed by Mashadar, an evil cloud that hangs over the city. [[spoiler:Mat Cauthon]] picks up a dagger on his stay there, and this acts the same way. He quickly succumbs to hating people, and is nearly killed by the taint of the dagger before he is finally separated and healed of the taint. However, Rand eventually finds a way to use the city against the BigBad without being corrupted by it, namely by [[spoiler:making its power and the city's cancel each other out, albeit with the side effect of erasing the city and several kilometers of earth beneath it from existence.]]

* In William King's ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000: Literature/SpaceWolf'' novel ''Grey Hunter'', Ragnar and other {{Space Marine}}s encounter an artifact which makes vast promises to them. Ragnor only breaks free when it tells him he has to kneel to the Ruinous Power to get it. And the others don't break free on their own; he has to help them.
* May or may not be averted in Creator/CSLewis' ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'', as the inscription over the enchanted bell only ''claims'' it'll drive you mad if you refrain from striking it. Even if it couldn't really cause insanity, ringing the bell awakened Jadis and introduced evil to Literature/{{Narnia}}, which is "doom" in a way.
* That [[TomeOfEldritchLore tome of ineffable horrors]], the ''Necronomicon'' originating in the works of Creator/HPLovecraft, though this is largely the result of being heavily {{Flanderized}}; a major percentage of the Lovecraft's protagonists read the book without becoming more than mildly neurotic. Breakdowns only tend to happen when what they've learned from the book seems to coincide with their recent experiences.
* Played straight with the original ''Necronomicon'' (only, any other copies are just books) in German author Wolfgang Hohlbein's ''Hexer'' stories, which is actively malevolent, extremely unsafe to read, and tends to draw supernatural evil to itself partly through its own power and partly because it's secretly one of the [[PlotCoupon Seals of Power]] that [[SealedEvilInACan keep the]] [[EldritchAbomination Great Old Ones]] [[SealedEvilInACan in their respective prisons]] after their defeat by the Elder Gods.
* In Creator/ChinaMieville's ''Literature/TheScar'', Silas steals a statue from the grindylow which grants him mysterious powers, yet has the unfortunate side effect of slowly turning him into a fish-person.
* The gauntlet in Karen Miller's ''Literature/GodspeakerTrilogy'' which is made from a PowerCrystal and fashioned by Hekat for her son Zandakar. It [[StuffBlowingUp destroys buildings]] and [[KillItWithFire fries people where they stand]]. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking It also makes his hair turn blue]]. Zandakar later abandons it as he find it too destructive, his brother Dmmitak uses the gauntlet and never takes it off, even when he has sex. The knife which [[spoiler:Vortka gives Zandakar]] is also an example of this.
* Stormbringer, the black blade, in the [[Literature/TheElricSaga Elric]] novels, [[spoiler:forces Elric to kill everyone he loves]], brings about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and ultimately survives the destruction and re-creation of the universe to spread its evil anew.

* Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard, in R. A. Salvatore's ''[[Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy Icewind Dale Trilogy]]'', is considered by many readers to be an homage to the One Ring. It's a sapient artifact forged from the souls of several [[OurLichesAreDifferent liches]], capable of constructing crystal towers that can focus sunlight into beams, and [[TheCorruption corrupts the wielder]]. The lore states that Crenshinibon was specifically created as a giant middle finger to the "good" races as it was powered by the symbol of all that is good -- Sunlight. The liches apparently had something of a sense of humour.

* Brandon Sanderson's ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'' features Nightblood, a sentient sword created for the purpose of destroying evil -- except being a sword, it has no real idea what evil ''[[WhatIsEvil is]]'', and as such continually goads its wielder to try killing everyone in sight just to be on the safe side, coming across somewhere between a DeadpanSnarker and a kicked puppy (when it isn't used). Despite not having any meaningful understanding of what evil is, Nightblood excels at the "destroy" part, and anyone with ill intent will feel compelled to pick it up, and will soon be involuntarily killing their partners in crime, while good people will feel overwhelmingly nauseous simply at the sight of it, although they can get over this to carry it. It does, however, like to urge its proper owner to kill almost anyone so... yeah, we'll call that a design flaw.
* In ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'', the portrait itself. Dorian cannot age and stays young forever thanks to its power, but the painting turns more horrible and wretched with each evil act that Dorian performs, as a physical manifestation of his tainted soul. Dorian is drawn to and repulsed by it. By the end of the book, he has the painting locked in his attic, afraid to even look at it. In a fit of conscience, he decides to destroy it, unable to bear to look at his aged and wicked face from the canvas. [[spoiler:He stabs it, but in doing so, actually kills himself.]] While the portrait isn't actually evil, it reflects the evil in Dorian.

* In the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' book ''Literature/MidnightTides'', Rhulad Sengar's cursed sword (which he only grabbed to keep an enemy force from stealing it) grants him superhuman (super-Tiste?) strength and combat ability to match the greatest swordsman. And it even allows him to resurrect, as long as the sword remains in his hand, leaving him even stronger -- hence harder to kill -- than before. Unfortunately, the resurrection doesn't actually heal the wound that killed him (at least not immediately, or gently) and hurts, leaving Rhulad even less sane every time he's killed. And we've also seen, in the time between his death and resurrection, the Crippled God (the sword's creator and the series BigBad) takes the opportunity to pound on Rhulad's soul before sending him back. Did we also mention the sword is cursed so that Rhulad can't let go of it, even if he wanted to?

* ''The Bottle Imp'' has shades of this, in the Creator/RobertLouisStevenson story of the same name. It will grant any material wish, but when its owner dies, he's doomed to go straight to hell. Ownership can be transferred to someone else but [[ClingyMacGuffin only if you follow the rules]].
* The demon bench end, from the story of the same name from ''Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror'' does this. It seems to do a combination of driving its owner mad and worming its way into their mind so they commit acts such as murder. It seems that one of the first acts it makes them do is the murder of the previous owner. Oh, and [[ClingyMacGuffin you can't give it away, throw it away and quite possibly you can't destroy it, or at least not by conventional means]].
* In Creator/MatthewReilly's ''Six Sacred Stones'' and ''The Five Greatest Warriors'', the sixth pillar gives the reward of "Power"; the ability to reshape the world according to its possessor's wishes. It also puts them through the ultimate version of [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil power corrupts]].
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian novel ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'', the Heart of Ahriman. Even one of the evil conspirators tries to get it from the EvilSorcerer. Though interestingly, the Heart is actually noted to be a force of ''good'', and the EvilSorceror in question kept it close because he knew that it was the one power that could defeat his own dark arts and that he could never wield it himself. The conspirator in question only ''thought'' it was a source of dark power and intended to remove it under the belief it would weaken the sorceror, and Conan goes on a quest to get it back so he and his allies can defeat the sorceror.

* ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'':
** ''The Cuckoo Clock of Doom'', as the name implies, is a malevolent cuckoo clock with the power to turn back time, and will inevitably RetGone the person who used it unless it's reset.
** The killer camera in ''Say Cheese and Die!'', which destroys or causes harm to persons or objects [[SpookyPhotographs that it takes pictures of]].

* ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'': The [[CoolShip Nautilus]] is this for Captain Nemo: at the State of technology in 1869, a submarine could destroy any ship and then escape unpunished. By using it as a WeaponOfMassDestruction, Nemo discovers that WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity. Nemo last act in the book is to [[spoiler: direct the Nautilus to a Giant Whirlpool, dooming himself and his crew]].
* Questing Stones are reputed to be this in ''Literature/SeptimusHeap''. No Apprentice has ever returned after having been dispatched with one of them[[spoiler:, until Septimus is given one and survives the Queste in ''Queste'']].
* In Creator/MichaelFlynn's ''[[Literature/SpiralArm The January Dancer]]'', the Dancer, apparently. At one point two characters discuss whether one man who owned it had died when he disappeared -- after all, all other owners have.
* In the ''Literature/BookOfSwords'' series, the twelve Swords forged by Vulcan all fit this to varying degrees, since they were forged for the ultimate purpose of spreading strife in the mortal world for the gods' amusement. The Swords' power and doominess is such that [[spoiler:even the gods fall prey to them in the end.]] Tellingly, the only Sword that survives till the end of the series [[spoiler:is Woundhealer, the only Sword that cannot harm anyone.]]
* Sith Holocrons in the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse''. Not exactly in the movies, though, except as harmless fan-service atrezzo.
* In Creator/TomHolt's comedic fantasy ''Literature/ExpectingSomeoneTaller'', which is a ''very'' loose sequel to Wagner's ''Theatre/TheRingOfTheNibelung'', the Ring itself, as in the original, makes the bearer ruler of the world, but has a curse that all who bear it will come to a tragic and untimely death.

* ''Literature/AdventureHunters'': The war golems found underneath a country town are so powerful and caused so much damage the last time they were used that they have become the local NuclearWeaponsTaboo and everyone who knows anything about them will insist they are a myth to discourage anyone from using them again.
* The Prince's Crown, in A. L. Phillips's ''Literature/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned'', is this except under specific circumstances. [[spoiler: To elaborate, anyone who touches the crown and is elementally aligned instantly dies unless an unaligned mage buffers them. A person who is not elementally aligned and touches the Crown will become a hoshek, a mage of pure evil. This can be averted by two people touching the crown at the same time, which instead allows one of them to bestow light magic on the other. The High Guardian of the Temple Of The Elements is capable of blessing the crown to negate these effects, allowing it to be used for the prince's coronation ritual.]]
* The Sword of Martin from the Literature/{{Redwall}} series, is considered magic, but is good or bad depending on who wields it. Good characters can use it no problem and even gains master swordfighting skills while holding it. Yet if an evil character steals it and uses it for... well.. evil. They'll be cursed with misfortune and doom.
* ''Literature/PleaseDontTellMyParentsImASupervillain'': Penny manages to find a cursed jade statue by accident in a school, which turns out to be guarded by an EldritchAbomination.
-->The mini-Machine reached The Machine itself, crawling up a leg to offer me the chunk of jade. Not just a chunk, a statue, a curling and elegant oriental dragon. I took it in both hands. Heavy, but not too much to carry. It looked mystical. What were the odds of finding a magical artifact here?\\
The odds? Well, now that I asked, I'd just gone treasure hunting in LA, home of every cult, secret society, and unethical research project for the last 100 years. Oh, and I did it using experimental technology I didn't understand.
* The "Unmaking Nexus" from ''[[Literature/ZeusIsDead Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure]]'', a [[spoiler: living]] weapon that was [[spoiler: commissioned by Zeus and constructed by The Fates during the final days of the first Titan War]], is so powerful as to be able to kill an immortal god with a single sting. It can also just as easily kill the god who uses it, if they're not careful.

* The Book of Secrets in Perri Rhoades' ''Literature/SpectralShadows'' could qualify as this. Especially since it supposedly contains [[spoiler: The magic Blair needs to resurrect Salocin.]]
* The Sharra Matrix in the ''Literature/{{Darkover}}'' novels. Superficially it is just a [[PsychicPowers psychic]] AmplifierArtifact that allows users to start PlayingWithFire. However, if used for its original purpose, as a weapon, it will goad them into summoning the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Form of Fire]], the "goddess" Sharra herself, who may or may not be an actual EldritchAbomination. When a well-meaning group of idealists tries to use it to achieve MagicFromTechnology, they end up calling the Form of Fire and destroying a spaceport as the start of a campaign against the Terran presence on their LostColony planet.
* One ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' short featured a pen which was used to commit a murder, but had no shutdown installed, so it would keep killing. Whoever picked it up would find themselves unintentionally writing out the idea of a horrible death in store for them, which soon comes true, though only the victim can see it happen. It causes you to die in a hallucination which is real but only for you - one holder is struck by lightning ''indoors'', while the item is found in the home of a man who has been splattered all over his living room due to being hit by a charging train, which others heard but no-one witnessed as it somehow appeared in the room without making a huge hole in the house. The Skeleton Detective solves the case just in time to prevent the latest victim from being eaten by a shark on dry land.
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTheFaroeIslanders'': King Olaf urges Sigmund to trade the golden arm ring he got from Jarl Hakon and which was earlier worn by the statue of Thorgerd Hordabrud, because he foresees it will be the cause of his death. Sigmund does not want to let go of the ring. Years later, when Thorgrim finds Sigmund helpless from exhaustion on Suduroy beach, the ring induces Thorgrim to kill Sigmund from avarice. King Olaf's warning suggests this [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane may be Thorgerd's revenge for Sigmund's conversion to Christianity]].
* In Creator/KarlEdwardWagner's ''Bloodstone'', Kane attempts to obtain and use an ancient alien device of great power for his own purposes. Unfortunately, it has plans of its own...
* ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'' (second book of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''): The [[SoulCuttingBlade Shardblades]] represent the [[TheOathbreaker broken oaths]] of the old [[TheOrder Knights Radiant]], as well as centuries of blood and murder as people scrambled to win and steal them. When Kaladin touches one, he hears it ''screaming'', though only he and the wielder can hear it. [[spoiler:They're actually [[BondCreature spren]], killed by the broken oaths, given some semblance of life by bonding to a living being (enough to be [[SummonToHand summoned and dismissed at will]], but no more). Being touched by a Radiant who still holds his oath gives them life and memory of their pain for a moment]].
* ''Literature/TheJungleBook'': In Creator/RudyardKipling's "The King's Ankus", the eponymous object (an elephant-goad made from ivory and precious stones) looks like an Artifact of Doom to Mowgli when he discovers six men who have killed each other fighting over it. Being a WildChild he doesn't understand why men would kill for something they can't eat.

* Lampshaded in ''Literature/BrokenAngels'' where the MacGuffin is a Martian spaceship. [[spoiler:Turns out the local revolutionary group had already found the vessel, which they were planning to use a bargaining chip to achieve independence from the UN Protectorate. However the spaceship turns out to be a warship; on realising they had a WeaponOfMassDestruction they could use to crush the Protectorate, the archaeologist who's helping them is horrified to see them become DrunkWithPower like they were being influenced by this trope, so she decides to LeaveNoSurvivors to avert this.]]
* In ''Literature/TheHauntingOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'', Amy has an encounter with a cloak that formerly belonged to Count Dracula. It confers vampiric night vision and HorrorHunger upon its wearer, and drains actual blood from the living if worn over exposed skin. (It looks newer and cleaner when it has fed well.) [[spoiler:It also leeches the wearer's supernatural abilities if they have any; just as Amy gets a taste of Dracula's night vision and horror hunger -- and an aversion to holy symbols -- the next person it battens onto gets those plus Amy's telekinesis]].
* In ''Literature/TheDivineCities'', the Voortyashtani swords are connected to the undead warriors in Voortya's afterlife and draw these back to the living world to wreak havoc on humanity when not stopped.
* Infected cards in ''Literature/CardForceInfection'' break the power curve, but mess with their owner's mind, causing them to act unnaturally hostile. Concerningly, nobody seems to know where they come from -- they just seem to show up in people's decks out of the blue. The Peppermint Knights seek out these cards and win them in duels so they can destroy them. [[spoiler:The Blade of the Nephilim prefer putting the infected players into comas.]] Prior to the rise of Card Force, cursed items like this took the form of random objects like necklaces and diamonds.
* The titular Book of Lies of ''Literature/TheBookOfLies2004'' is a red tome that records any lie said in its vicinity. However, as time goes on, the Book neglects to record ExactWords lies, treating them as truths, and Marcel notes that it wants people to lie. This eventually culminates in the Book making a lie come true, by [[spoiler:turning Starkey into the fictional dragon of Mortregis.]]
* ''Literature/GoblinsInTheCastle'': ''Goblins on the Prowl'' features the Black Stone of Borea, an item that can absorb magic from other sources (including living creatures, which gives the holder command over them), and which the evil wizard Helagon is searching for in order to use it for his own evil purposes. Per the short story "Wizard's Boy", it's actually the heart of a wizard that was turned to stone.
* The infamous videotape in ''Literature/TheRing'' will kill whoever watches it.

* They have a strange habit of being in Sunnydale in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. The best one is the Hellmouth, but there's others as well.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** The [[spoiler:evil law firm]] that Angel is given at the end of season four (not technically an inanimate artifact, but hey). It's a powerful weapon that will do whatever he commands, but it's always working to corrupt his thinking so that he will give it the commands it wants. The dare-to-use-it/get-rid-of-it argument keeps cropping up, too. Also worth noting: [[spoiler:The law firm exists to do business with evil. If they just plain stop helping evil with it, and instead try to use it only as a weapon for good, the business will fail, and another law firm, beyond their control, will pop up to replace it.]]
** ''Angel'' also had a more straightforward Artifact of doom: the Shroud of Rahmon, a demonic shroud that drives anyone near it to go AxCrazy.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
** In ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'', the mask of Zen-Aku resulted in Merrick going AxCrazy and having to be [[SealedEvilInACan locked away]] three thousand years ago, to be awakened by the villains to menace the Rangers in the present. By this point, he'd been so overwritten by Zen-Aku's personality that the result was an EnigmaticMinion version of Zen-Aku who didn't know what those pesky human tendencies were about and why a couple memories didn't seem to fit. Eventually, they're separated, and Merrick becomes the SixthRanger of the modern team. [[spoiler: [[OddCouple Merrick and ZA are getting along much better now]], as we learn at [[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue season's end]]]].
** ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' also has the fifth Dino Gem. Thanks to Mesogog's meddling, it's more powerful than the others, but turns you into JekyllAndHyde, with the Hyde side eventually sticking. The evil is ultimately removed but [[RedemptionDemotion the White Ranger is no longer stronger than the other Rangers]] that he'd been handily beating up until now.
** Way back in ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', Rita armed the [[BrainwashedAndCrazy mind-controlled]] Tommy with the Sword of Darkness. The sword itself was not a corrupting influence; rather, its power was used to sustain Rita's spell. The sword's ''[[Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger Zyuranger]]'' counterpart, the Sword of Hellfreide, drove the wielder crazy. (Or, in Burai's case, crazi''er'')
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': The Sword of Kahless appears to have the same effect on Worf and Kor, though this perception was unintended by the writers. As Kor mentions at one stage (whilst using the famous sword as a spit to cook his dinner), it's just a sword, not a holy relic. Nevertheless Worf and Kor each believe that their role in finding the long-lost bat'leth means they're destined to rule the Klingon Empire (Worf did become Chancellor and head of the Klingon Empire, albeit for a few minutes). After nearly killing each other they realize the sword will cause more problems than it will solve, and so they [[TheWorldIsNotReady set it adrift in space]]. When the weapon is referenced in ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', it is referenced as just a weapon that drew out people's dark sides because those who had it would have to deal with those who wanted it, thus going with the writers' intentions.

* A weekly Artifact of Doom provides the premise of ''Series/Warehouse13''.
** Some are so bad that they have to be kept in a special room in the Warehouse and continually be covered in the purple goo they use to neutralize them. Even then it's best not to get too close.
** Five of them are especially bad:
*** one artifact has the potential to cause an extinction-level event when used at a certain location: [[spoiler:the Minoan Trident when used in the caldera of a supervolcano like Yellowstone, the eruption of which would end human civilization]]).
*** The [[spoiler:House of Commons Masonry]] is fueled by the rage of the entire Nazi war machine and can blow with the combined firepower of the London Blitz which is comparable to a nuclear blast.
*** the plot of Season 4 revolves around [[spoiler:Ferdinand Magellan's Astrolabe which allows the user to go back 24 hours in the past but creates an EnemyWithin which causes the user to ultimately go against the very reason they used it in the first place]].
*** Another extinction-level artifact: [[spoiler:the Chinese Orchid]] that unleashes a deadly fast-spreading incurable epidemic if so much as a [[spoiler:single flower falls]].
*** And an artifact that had to be encased in the hardest metal they could find: [[spoiler:PandorasBox. If opened or destroyed, all hope would vanish and then economy will collapse while riots and mass suicide would become commonplace]].

** The sarcophagus is a device that creates eternal youth, and can even bring people back to life, but it's credited as the main reason the Goa'uld are as evil as they are. The Tok'ra don't use it, because "it steals the soul." In the episode "Need", Daniel Jackson gets addicted to it, and eventually gets to the point where he just doesn't care about anybody else (which is really remarkable for him, at the time).

* Parodied on ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juFTWhyC_Lc "Flowers for Wendy"]] (purchased from [[TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday the conveniently located street vendor who wasn't there yesterday]]) and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKZWZeo8Id8&feature=related "The Red Hat of Pat Ferrick"]].
* Parodied in the ''Series/RippingYarns'' episode "The Curse of the Claw."
* The Objects in ''Series/TheLostRoom'' have the potential to be these, but they ''can'' also been used for good. The worst ones, though, are ''very'' dangerous, such as the Deck of Cards, which [[BrownNote subjects you to terrible visions]], and there's at least one combination of Objects with the ability to cause something unspeakably awful.
* The Book of Pure Evil from the Canadian series ''Series/ToddAndTheBookOfPureEvil'' is a TomeOfEldritchLore that also functions as an Artifact of Doom. The book, which seems to be sentient and actively malevolent, appears to whoever has some great desire they wish to be fulfilled. In turn, the book (which can seemingly change its contents at will) provides a collection of spells that will grant that desire, though typically [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor twist it in some way]]. The main character, Todd, was the first to use the book and it [[DemonicPossession possessed him]], causing him to nearly slaughter his entire school with ThePowerOfRock.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'': The Thirdspace Gate opens the way for {{Eldritch Abomination}}s to consume the universe. And they can make you want to open it when it's still closed.
** The Soul Hunters ([[WellIntentionedExtremist aliens who try to preserve the souls of especially wise beings at the moment of death]]) once created one of these by capturing the souls of an entire world at the moment of physical death...as they made a mass-transformation into energy beings. They were understandably upset about this. The Minbari observe "One soul can change the universe." What might a billion souls accomplish?

** "Bad Day at Black Rock" deals with a rabbit's foot, taken from a rabbit captured in a graveyard at midnight during the full moon on Friday the 13th. It will grant its owner phenomenal good luck, until they lose it and will then have bad luck for the rest of their life (and after losing it, your luck will be so bad that "the rest of your life" won't be much longer).
** "Out With the Old" features a large collection of these.

* ''Series/{{Salem}}'': The mallum.
* The short-lived series ''Series/DeadMansGun'' revolved around one of these as the central {{MacGuffin}}--every episode the fancy titular gun would fall into someone's hands, and possessing the gun brought trouble into that person's life until they either died, received their comeuppance, or learned a valuable life lesson, at which point the gun would leave their possession and become someone else's problem.
* Azrael's Blade on ''Series/{{Lucifer}}'' is a weapon angels (even fallen ones) consider monstrous. Belonging to the Angel of Death, someone killed by it doesn't have their soul sent to Heaven or Hell, but is simply obliterated from existence. In the hands of mortals it's even worse because it takes any reason that someone might want to hurt someone else, no matter how insignificant that reason might be, and amplifies it a thousand fold.
-->'''Maze:''' So someone leave the toilet seat up...\\
'''Lucifer:''' Trip to stabby town, yes.
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' centers around the Medals, nigh-invulnerable alchemical constructs that transform various types of human greed into energy and get more powerful the more you have. While dangerous enough on their own, the only weapon that works against them, the purple set of Core Medals, is even worse, as those are powered by [[OmnicidalManiac the desire for nothing]] and will make an unwilling wielder go along with their wishes. The purple Cores are so dangerous that OOO ultimately leaves some of the other Medals intact, after destroying enough that their more dangerous uses are nullified, but shatters every single purple Core using their own power because even one is too dangerous to let exist.
** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' has the Pandora Box. It was found on Mars by astronauts and bought back to Earth, but when one of the astronauts at the unveiling ceremony activated it, it created giant walls that divided Japan into three parts, turned everyone present at the ceremony into power-hungry tyrants obsessed with opening the Box, and began emitting a cosmic gas that can be used to create super-soldiers. And that's when it ''doesn't'' work due to some of the parts being missing. When it ''does'' work, it consumes the whole planet in a massive black hole and feeds the resulting energy to its alien master.
* In ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'' there is a hat made of witch skin which is extremely cursed and supposedly caused the Irish Potato Famine. The vampires Laszlo and Simon the Devious both desperately desire it because they think it's fashionable. It tends to be easy to take but hard to keep, as whoever currently has possession of it is afflicted with hideous misfortune. It doesn't act like an ArtifactOfAttraction for anyone else, they're just idiots.

* The Bone Glass from ''Series/LockwoodAndCo2023'', which is [[MadeOfEvil made of the bones of seven people, taken while they were still alive]]. Simply glancing at it makes you want to look into it again (which [[GoMadFromTheRevelation causes insanity]]). George's mind is slowly corrupted by it over the course of the story arc, including having frightening visions and being violently paranoid.

* ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'': Madrak Ironhide's axe, Rathok. Its name even translates into "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast World Ender]]."
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' gives us The Broken-Winged Crane, the ultimate TomeOfEldritchLore in the setting. Just reading it requires the unfortunate bastard in question to make a high-difficulty Willpower roll; if they fail, they pick up a form of insanity involving obsession over the tome and its contents. Its many-storied lore paints its various copies as imperfect reflections of the true tome that will come into existence at the dawn of a new dark age of Creation. [[spoiler: In reality, the "true" copy is the book the Scarlet Empress wrote to try to wrest immortality from the Yozis. [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe That]] [[MindRape did not]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy go well]].]]
** The Third Edition supplement ''Arms of the Chosen'' contained examples such as the Forgotten Blade (a sword with powers to erase the memories of those struck by it, and ultimately erase people killed by it from the memories of others), Stormcaller (a katana containing a demon that causes a hurricane to start building every time it's unsheathed, and tries to instil a love of destruction in the wielder), Gorgon (a sword made from the prison of an EldritchAbomination, that can [[TakenForGranite turn people to stone]] and feeds on them), and Karvara, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Walking Devil Tower]] (a [[{{Mecha}} warstrider]] acting as the prison for a reality devouring EldritchAbomination, that can [[UnPerson erase people from existence]] by eating them, and [[DemonicPossession takes control of its pilot]] when they Limit Break).
* Every artifact in ''TabletopGame/HousesOfTheBlooded''. It's written into the rules: they can give you great power, but once a season, the Narrator can cause you to automatically fail a roll by saying [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom "DOOOOOOOM!"]] A good Narrator will do this at the worst possible time.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Kult}}'' has rules for possessed or otherwise evil items. One example is a machine gun that, when picked up, causes the wielder to go on a murdeous rampage, shooting everything in sight, friend or foe.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' has these things cropping up quite frequently:
** [[EmpathicWeapon Rune]] [[EvilWeapon Weapons]] have a personality all of their own, some are not exactly good, and are often out to get you.
** Angrar Robotics, seen in ''Rifts:Mercenaries'', offer a powered armour and a giant robot [[spoiler:which are actually demons, one for each crew member, forced to assume the shape of robot parts and sold to mercenaries. Slowly the crew takes on demonic qualities, and eventually the whole thing falls apart back into the shape of the demons, consuming the crews as the demons no longer need them.]]
** One episode of the Rifter featured a series of items, one of which was claimed to be terribly powerful, and grant great power to the user, but this is unknown as it is lost on Rifts Earth after a series of events in which the holders of the item were quickly killed by various means before they could work out how to use it.
* The Devils' Six-gun, from ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}:Reloaded''. While introduced in a comic book which shows the process of its creation, stats are given in the back to allow its use in the RPG. The thing can cause an explosion if all six of its special rounds hit the same traget without a miss or reload, which is shown to be sufficient to bring the house down. If you use it even once, for good or evil, the fates no longer smile on you, and certain uses of Bennies are denied to you - the more commonly used ones.
* ''1001 Science Fiction Weapons'' for D20 has some of these, from the Benadanitto Torc and Black Gauntlet, which are legendary items with minds of their own and their own agendas, and aren't evil but will often convince, or even force, people to perform unsavoury acts in order to fulfil their goals and stop at nothing; through the [[EvilWeapon Fulgichrome Blade]], which is a living sword capable of infecting wounds to cause nasty effects and telepathically communicating with its wielder in order to subvert them and make them bloodthirsty killers, as it likes to see suffering; to the Morituri Staff, capable of self-repair and self-powering but no longer working as well as it should, and permanently draining 1 HP per day from the user, and the Xugulor, which attaches to the users arm, can only be removed surgically, and permanently drains 1 CON per 2d10 of damage it does. Also there are minor examples under other chapters, such as the whole chapter on radioactive weapons. Some of these are somewhat sophisticated, but not much better than the most basic, which is just a bar of radioactive material.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has the Relics of Kazavon, a set of seven powerful artifacts crafted from the remains of the dragon Kazavon. Bringing the seven relics together and resurrecting Kazavon is the goal of a religious group devoted to the god Zon-Kuthon, who had blessed the dragon and made him into His champion.
* ''TabletopGame/BetrayalAtHouseOnTheHill'' has Omens that include stat-boosting objects and powerful weapons but each time you find an Omen, the Haunt -- a scenario in which the heroes have to fight something evil and one of them almost always [[FaceHeelTurn becomes a traitor]] -- has a chance to be triggered if you don't roll well enough and the chance increases with each new Omen you find. Its expansion ''Betrayal Legacy'' also has [[spoiler:the Helm, which initially seems to be a benevolent artifact that gives you rerolls but turns out to be the thing keeping a GodOfEvil alive and filling it up completely opens portals to Hell]].

%%
%%[[folder:Toys]]
%%* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
%%** The Ignika. On top of that, it was made exactly like the One Ring.
%%** The nui stone may also count as this.
%%[[/folder]]

* The Book of E-Ville from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. Or at least that's how most of the characters treat it. While it contains more than one spell for summoning world-destroying demons, it has yet to actually do much of anything malevolent aside from following Gwynn around. Later gets a big upgrade. [[spoiler:The book is the prison for K'z'k, a recurring BigBad OmnicidalManiac who wants to destroy all of reality and has ''done so'' numerous times. The book is a ClingyMacGuffin because it also contains the pharoah K'z'k was possessing when he was imprisoned, who thanks to the TimeyWimeyBall is in love with Gwynn.]]

* The statue of Eris in ''[[http://www.discordiacomic.com Discordia]]'' behaves like this (for the few scenes before it is destroyed) because it [[SealedEvilInACan contains the Goddess of Strife]] within it.
* The Omega Keys in ''Webcomic/DeviantUniverse'', which when used [[spoiler: revive the [[BigBad Dark God Omega.]]]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', the Crimson Mantle qualifies. It's not clear that it has any direct control over the wearer, but it does give a divine command to enact a plan that could destroy all reality. It also halts the bearer's aging, which has the apparent side-effect of preventing he or she from maturing as well. Its current bearer is, in many ways, still the angry vengeful teenager he was when he first took up the Mantle.

%%** The Codpiece.
* The "Holiday Spirit" serves as this in the webcomic ''Webcomic/HolidayWars'' and is deeply coveted by the EasterBunny.
* The swords Grace and Éclat from ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfWiglafAndMordred''.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Endstone}}'', the Banestone. The most powerful overstone, and it drives its rockers mad.
* In ''Webcomic/ConsequencesOfChoice'' The Invisus is a powerful stone entrusted to the class of Necromancers by the demigods of death.
* Windows installation disks are treated this way in ''Webcomic/UserFriendly''. One was once microwaved (with the goal of creating the pretty effect created in the plastic by destroying a CD this way). It ''crashed the microwave''. Piotr suggested putting an Elder Sign Seal on it and leaving it alone.

* ''Webcomic/ElfAndWarrior'': Gilly gets an enchanted axe that turns her into a mindless creature of destruction bent only on feeding the axe with blood. [[AxeCrazy So not that different from how she was already]], but now she talks less. [[spoiler:Eventually Gillbert gets the axe, and explains the reason it rendered her mindless was because she wasn't killing enough. He ''is'' killing enough, and enters into a symbiotic relationship with the axe]].

* The Book of Stories in the eponymous ''WebOriginal/TheBookOfStoriesOCT'' is as old as time and holds every Story ever told in every World. It's on its way of becoming this due to a mistake one of its guardians made.
* Pretty much anything created by the Drylon in ''Literature/BeyondTheImpossible''. Their technology is advanced enough to bend the rules of reality, but repeated use turns you insane. The effect is once described as “watering down your soul”.

* Lightsabers are treated like Artifacts of Doom in ''WebVideo/ThreeInTheAfternoon'' -- especially in its sequel.
%%* The [[spoiler:gyroids]] in ''LetsPlay/TheTerribleSecretOfAnimalCrossing''.
* ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'': Linkara's [[spoiler:Magic Gun]] is a subversion of this. The cultists who created intended it to be a [[spoiler:a weapon powered by pure hate and agony, and used their own daughter to power it. But the weapon backfired, killed them, and the spirit inside the gun eventually became more benevolent and a partner of sorts to Linkara.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/PiratesOfDarkWater'', Dark Water itself can be hazardous to your health.
* In the 90s' ''[[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries Spider-Man]]'' animated series, the EvilFeelsGood factor of the alien costume was added, with him growing more dependent upon the suit the longer he used it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/WildCATs1994'', the series MacGuffin that the heroes and villains are in a desperate race to find, the Orb, is an artifact left behind by the {{Precursors}} on Earth that can give anyone power on a cosmic scale. [[spoiler: It's also evil to the core, possibly more evil than the BigBad himself]]. Guess the {{Precursors}} hid the thing on Earth for good reason.

* A few Shen Gong Wu from ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' probably qualified. One that ''definitely'' qualified was the Sapphire Dragon.
* Spoofed to epic levels on ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''. The ORB in is a small round device constructed by the greatest minds in history over hundreds of years, with the power to destroy the world. It is so feared that the Guild of Calamitous Intent, the OSI and the Venture Family each set up decades-spanning {{Batman Gambit}}s to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. After all that fuss, it turns out that over 100 years ago, someone had the good sense to just ''break'' the stupid thing to keep it from causing trouble. Thus the century-long conflict over the ORB was a complete waste of time.
* ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'':
** The episode "Armored and Dangerous" has the invincible armor of Kileem, a powerful warlord who was undefeated in battle generations ago. The Sultan, who puts on the armor in order to stop a minotaur threatening Agrabah, becomes invulnerable and immensely strong, but is possessed by the spirit of Kileem, who turns out to be an inflammable tyrant and warmonger, who not only plans to conquer the Seven Deserts and later the world but condemns Jasmine to death for resisting him. Aladdin stops him by tricking him into destroying the statue that is the source of Kileem's power, releasing the Sultan from his control and saving Jasmine.
** There's also [[EvilSorcerer Mozenrath's]] gauntlet. It amplifies Mozenrath's already prodigious control of magic and helps make him the most competent and dangerous villain in the show. It also [[CastFromLifespan steals his life force]] little by little (having already stripped both the life and flesh from Mozenrath's hand, with the implication that it will eventually do the same to the rest of him), and in some episodes Mozenrath is desperately trying to figure out a way to cheat death and keep the effects from killing him.
* From ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'', the Eliacube is the most powerful artifact in the world, created as the acme of the magical science of the Eliatrope race. It acts as a very efficient AmplifierArtifact as long as it is feed with wakfu -- the magic lifeforce found in all plants and beings. At first, you could think its great potential was simply misused by [[BigBad Nox]], who's a madman, but the StartOfDarkness episode "Noximilien" reveals that, 200 years before, the Eliacube already exercised a dangerous fascination over Nox, slowly turning him obsessed and insane. To further prove the point, it also drove ''his [[RightHandAttackDog dog]]'' insane.
* The Chaos Pearls in ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' as it's the source of most of the problems in the show. They are capable of corrupting those who use them before creating an EvilDoppelganger of the wielder where the evil clone then traps the original in the [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Land of Shadows]]. Once that's done, the evil clone will then use the Chaos Pearls to spread as much chaos and destruction as possible; this was how [[BigBad the Sorcerer]] came to be.

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'':
** The second episode circles around an amulet with a bright green gem that causes the bearer to transform into the spirit of the Dragon of Aaragon when angry.
** Later in the series, there's the Scepter of Dul-Aman. It gives the wielder (Tucker) neat powers, but it also causes him to become proud and imperious.
* The two-part episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' where Finn and Jake went through [[spoiler: Ice King]]'s tapes revealed [[spoiler:his crown]] to be one. It gives the wearer immense magical power and immortality... while simultaneously slowly driving them to utter madness and amnesia, aware of their mental degeneration the entire time. Notably, an AlternateUniverse saw [[spoiler:Finn]] suffering the same possession, minus the ''slowly'' part. This has led fans to come to the conclusion that [[spoiler:Ice King/Simon]] must have had an amazing amount of self-control to last as long as he did. Even the final result of said Artifact of Doom's powers isn't nearly as bad as what could have happened in anyone else's hands.
* In the animated ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' the [[ComicBook/DoctorFate Helmet of Fate]] is this because of the much less equitable relationship between the spirit of the Lord of Order, Nabu, within and the wearer as compared to other versions. When someone puts on the Helmet of Fate, Nabu, the spirit in the helmet, takes over their body and becomes Doctor Fate. The wearer's mind become nothing more than a voice in Doctor Fate's head. The helmet can only be removed if Nabu wants it to. Since Nabu needs a body to keep order, the chances of him releasing the wearer from the helmet is slim. [[spoiler:That wasn't so for Kid Flash and Aqualad when they donned the helmet in the episodes "Denial" and "Revelation" respectively. However, in the episode "Misplaced", John Zatara had to take his daughter Zatanna's place to free her, and has been his new body ever since. Nabu ''was'' kind enough, though, to relay Zatara's concerns about Zatanna joining the team.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', as a fantasy series, has a number of examples.
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E5MagicDuel Magic Duel]]": The Alicorn Amulet [[AmplifierArtifact amplifies the user's magical powers to tremendous amounts]], but [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity also brings on paranoid megalomania]] and [[ClingyMacGuffin can only be removed by the user]]. By the end of the episode, [[spoiler:The Great and Powerful Trixie]] is ranting about how she doesn't trust wheels.
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E23InspirationManifestation Inspiration Manifestation]]": The titular spell is inscribed on a stone tablet-like book covered in spikes, kept in a secret part of an ancient castle, on top of a pedestal the stairs leading up to which start to collapse if the book has been moved, guarded with a barred and locked gate. ''This should have been a hint.'' Sadly, Spike fails to take the hint and brings the book to an unwitting Rarity, who uses the spell and becomes a MadArtist consumed by the desire to reshape the world according to her own creative whims and enough magical power to do so with little more than a thought.
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E26ToWhereAndBackAgainPart2 To Where and Back Again – Part 2]]": Chrysalis's throne. Thorax describes it as "carved from an ancient dark stone that soaks up outside magic the same way changelings soak up love." It generates an AntiMagic field capable of depowering even Equestria's Physical Gods or Goddesses. Its influence also seems to make plant life whither, turning the area around the Changeling Hive into Mordor. Fittingly, its destruction is the go-to solution for all the problems faced by the heroes.
** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E8Frenemies Frenemies]]": Grogar's [[ForDoomTheBellTolls Bewitching Bell]] is an incredibly ancient yet powerful magic relic that, should one know the proper spells to activate it, can forcibly absorb magic from ''anything'', store it safely within itself, and release it back to its original source or give it to someone else, making it both a PowerNullifier and AmplifierArtifact. [[spoiler:Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow make full use of it to become the final villains of the series]]. Even more noticeably, unlike the other mentioned examples it's MadeOfIndestructium, which is why the ancient hero Gusty the Great [[SealedEvilInACan sealed it up inside a magic forcefield on a desolate mountain]] [[spoiler:and why even after getting blasted by the biggest rainbow-beam-blast-of-the-magic-of-friendship in the whole show it's still intact.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': "Dodj or Daar" counts as one, as whatever punishment card you pull is made reality until the game finishes. This includes one player's arm doing whatever another's does, making you unable to walk on the ground due to it being 'lava', and most terrifying of all, ''making all the players physically unable to breathe''. There's a reason Gumball and Darwin first hid the game under their bed, then threw it away.
* Both versions of ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'' are full of these things, but likely the worst is the Star Seed from the original version. Supposedly created as an aftereffect of ''the creation of the universe'', anyone holding this small, glowing sphere can do ''anything'' simply by requesting it. The problem is, nobody can hold such omnipotent power without being tempted by "its dark side" (as the Sorceress described it), and even He-Man almost succumbs to it when foiling Skeletor's attempt to claim it, though eventually, HeroicWillpower is enough to resist doing so.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'' features the Scimitar, an evil talking sword that bends its user to its will and compels them to kill for it. It turns the heroic Thriffith completely evil, while Puss in Boots manages to subdue it with a little bit of struggle, and the (almost) IncorruptiblePurePureness of Dulcinea allows her to wield it for an extended duration, but even she starts to become gradually more evil as time passes. El Moco, however, is evil enough that the sword doesn't need to control him entirely, because their beneficial goals put them on the same page.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' special "The Smurfic Games", Gargamel's cousin Argus gives Papa Smurf a powerful and dangerous magical item called the Medallion of Poseidon that he wants to see buried. Gargamel, hearing about the medallion from his cousin before he died, rescues the only book that didn't disappear with his cousin when he died and from it puts together all the items necessary to unleash its destructive power. Although Papa Smurf has buried the medallion and rendered its power inert, Brainy mistakenly unearths it and has Painter paint gold over it to present it as the Smurfic Games medal. As Clumsy is awarded with the medal which turns out to be the medallion, Gargamel recites the incantation that unleashes its destructive power ("Ravage the land as never before, total destruction from mountain to shore.") and thus the entire forest and village is rocked by a serious earthquake. Papa Smurf uses his magic to bury the medallion into the earth, thus stopping its destructive power from consuming everything.

* The Infinity Sword of ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' turns out to be this in Season 2, turning the person who holds it evil. Turns out one needs the Infinity Gauntlet armed with the six Infinity Gems to be able to hold the damn thing without it possessing you.
* Again with the Infinity Stones in ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'', the Stones actually have One Ring-like [[HearingVoices whispers (in your own voice)]] tempting you to use them.
* The characters of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' ran into these with alarming frequency, as befit the adventurer nature of the series. The straightest example was probably the Idol of Doom, a small statuette that could cause calamities based on a specific couplet.
--->'''Villain:''' Idol of Doom, Storm and Fire, Blast that plane higher and higher! ::Seaduck gets assaulted by fierce winds.::
--->'''Baloo:''' Idol of Dook, Storm and Fire... Flatten that creep like a bicycle tire! ::Villain gets crushed under a cascade of rubble.::
* Several artifacts of doom appear in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bunnicula}}''.
** One of the nastiest is a diamond that causes anybody who looks at it to become obsessed with keeping it all to themselves, [[AppleOfDiscord so that people fight over it.]]. And if multiple people touch the diamond at the same time they all become fused together into a mass of BodyHorror. The effects of the diamond can be reverse by shattering it, but it will repair itself after a short time.
** Another one is the lucky locket, which is featured in a three episode trilogy. The locket shows visions of the future when it is opened, but the protagonists discover that this will lead to their doom because in the future some bad guys will steal the locket from them and use it against them and they can't simply prevent this future by destroying the locket to keep it from ever being stolen because no matter how badly they try to destroy it it always repairs itself.
* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'': Baron Greenback hires Count Duckula to find the Great Bone Idol, a vessel which holds the imprisoned bark of Cerberus. Whoever possesses it can control all the dogs in the world. DM and Penfold try to stop Duckula and they fail, but Team Rocket doesn't quite win--Duckula casually throws the bone back into its vessel after Cerberus' bark had been released, which causes him and Greenback to be overwhelmed with dogs with no way of stopping them.
* ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'' had a number of these, most prominently the Diamond of Gloom, a volleyball-sized crystal. This being a Filmation cartoon, it was more of an "Artifact of Temporary Inconveniencing," with comical side effects such as being TakenForGranite, and with an ExactTimeToFailure condition of needing to be returned to its temple by the next full moon.

** The quintessential example is [[RingOfPower The One Ring]] from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. The Ring [[AmplifierArtifact grants power proportional to that of the wielder]], so the effect on a mere {{hobbit|s}} is minimal (it just helps them "disappear" and extends their lifespan. However, in the hands of an elven mage or a demigod like Gandalf, it's a [[GameBreaker world-breaking]] artifact. The downside is: it contains the spirit of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron (a.k.a. the Necromancer), so it will eventually corrupt anyone else who wears it, or owns it, or even sees it. Also, it's virtually indestructible, and the quest to destroy it takes about three-quarters of the plot.

Not to be confused with the Artifact of ''VideoGame/Doom3''. Completely unrelated to TheArtifact.

* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' has the Sekhmet Stone, a giant Sphinx-like stone face that is somehow alive and claims to have mystic insight. It is the ultimate leader of the NebulousEvilOrganization Pyramid.

* ''Literature/MonsterHunterInternational'' features several.
** In book 1, there is the Kamaresh Yar, which the villain attempts to use to destroy the world. However, the hero Owen Pitt is able to use it to save his comrades from a deadly ambush.
* Creator/JRRTolkien:
** The quintessential example is [[RingOfPower The One Ring]] from Tolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. The Ring [[AmplifierArtifact grants power proportional to that of the wielder]], so the effect on a mere {{hobbit|s}} is minimal (it just helps them "disappear" and makes them live forever), but in the hands of an elven mage or a demigod like Gandalf, it's a [[GameBreaker world-breaking]] artifact. The downside is: it contains the spirit of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron (a.k.a. the Necromancer), so it will eventually corrupt anyone else who wears it, or owns it, or even sees it. Also, it's virtually indestructible, and the quest to destroy it takes about three-quarters of the plot.
** The ''palantíri'', also from ''The Lord of the Rings'', are basically just sort of far-seeing crystal balls, but they are functionally dooming at the time of the story, because Sauron got hold of one and used it to psychically attack anyone who uses the others. (Victims include [[spoiler:Saruman, Denethor and Pippin.]]) They also seem to exert a strong fascination and temptation to use them for some reason or other, but maybe that's just hobbit curiosity. [[spoiler:Aragorn breaks the spell and wrests the palantír for his own purposes right after he ''spooks Sauron'' by showing him, reforged, the blade that cost him the ring and a finger]]

* Brandon Sanderson's ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'' features Nightblood, a sentient sword created for the purpose of destroying evil -- except being a sword, it has no real idea what evil ''is'', and as such continually goads its wielder to try killing everyone in sight just to be on the safe side, coming across somewhere between a DeadpanSnarker and a kicked puppy (when it isn't used). Despite not having any meaningful understanding of what evil is, Nightblood excels at the "destroy" part, and anyone with ill intent will feel compelled to pick it up, and will soon be involuntarily killing their partners in crime, while good people will feel overwhelmingly nauseous simply at the sight of it, although they can get over this to carry it. It does, however, like to urge its proper owner to kill almost anyone so... yeah, we'll call that a design flaw.

* The infamous videotape in ''Literature/TheRing'' will kill whoever watches it.
* The embalmed hand in ''Film/TalkToMe'' allows the ritual participant to be possessed, but the ritual must end within 90 seconds. When [[spoiler:the rule is broken, a possessed Riley injures himself seriously, to the point of smashing his own head and [[EyeScream nearly plucking out his own eye]].]]

* Collecting and containing these is the whole point of the fictional ''Website/SCPFoundation''. The SCP Foundation has dozens of these, given the classification "keter" from the Hebrew word "crown", which is used in Qabalah to describe the highest principle of the universe. The methods used to contain these things are... intricate. The "euclid" and "safe" ones are easier to contain but most of them are still incredibly dangerous.

** The Axe of Prissan is a DoubleSubversion: while Big-Ears initially senses a palpable aura of evil around it, and we initially see it in the hands of a monster, it's actually a ''Good'' weapon. The aura comes from the fact that it's a RestrainingBolt against a powerful demon, and it won't hurt a [[KnightInShiningArmor Paladin]] unless the Paladin wants it to. Except, the forces of Evil ''commissioned'' the weapon, knowing full well that over millennia it would wear out from the constant struggle between adventurers who are oblivious to the aura and paladins who either reclaim the weapon violently or see its Paladin wielders as {{Fallen Hero}}es. [[spoiler:In Big Ears' hands, it's forced into situtions it could not handle (used against a TautologicalTemplar who has abused a loophole to keep his alignment LawfulGood, cracked by a half-demon who was never born in Hell) and is now spewing demonic corruption everywhere.]]

* In ''LightNovel/TheCircumstancesLeadingToWaltrautesMarriage'', dwarf-forged tools and weapons tend to be cursed. Gods and Valkyries are too powerful to be affected, but anybody else who tries to use them will suffer misfortune and death. The dwarves tend to do this out of revenge for their customers threatening and/or cheating them. When Jack Elvan (who was unaware of the threat of cursed tools) pays upfront and is polite, they give him a curse-free tool.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonTitansAndOtherCreatures Ghidorah]]'s severed left head appears to be inanimate on the surface (apart from its eyes appearing to follow people at times), but not only is it still alive on the inside, its psychic abilities have a BrownNote effect on all humans who come near it too much, slowly driving multiple people inside Alan Jonah's ElaborateUndergroundBase insane. Before the crazies get too bad, Jonah harvests the head's DNA and sells it on the Titan DNA black market, causing further, long-term problems down the line [[spoiler:with the Zmeyevich]]. Oh, and San outright confirms that even after his mind has transferred from the head to [[TwoBeingsOneBody the hybridized Vivienne]], Ghidorah's other two heads and its body will indeed [[FromASingleCell regrow from the head none worse for wear]], one day in the future.

* This is the entire point of ''LightNovel/CubeXCursedXCurious'', where the series revolves around the idea that a cursed item eventually becomes intelligent and [[VoluntaryShapeshifting able to take human form]]. And being cursed is ''[[DarkIsNotEvil just as]] [[NonMaliciousMonster traumatic]] [[TheWoobie to them]]''.

* ''Series/MastersOfHorror'': "John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns": Some guy, desperately in need to pay off his debts, goes in search for a [[BrownNote long-lost film]] called ''La Fin absolue du monde'' on behalf of a private collector. Only shown publicly during its premiere (which resulted in a massacre), everyone that came into contact with it was driven to kill someone else or themselves.
* A weekly Artifact of Doom provides the premise of the SciFi Channel show ''Series/Warehouse13''.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

** Two of the three Deathly Hallows are this. The Elder Wand [[spoiler:prior to coming into the possession of Dumbledore and later Harry]] ''the'' most powerful wand ever created, so its users typically become DrunkWithPower and knifed when they're sleeping. Additionally it's more of an EmpathicWeapon than other wands and actively desires to be wielded by the strongest wizards, [[AmbitionIsEvil inevitably attracting people like Voldemort willing to kill to have it]]. There's also the Resurrection Stone, which allowed people to see their loved ones again at the cost of them having CameBackWrong. The one subversion was Harry's Cloak of Invisibility, which was just a normal InvisibilityCloak with the added bonus of never fading with age.