History Main / ArtifactOfDoom

* The ObviouslyEvil [[PowerGlows glowy red lyrium idol]] in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', that [[spoiler:[[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity drives anyone who handles it for an extended period stark raving mad]]]].

** Red lyrium makes a comeback in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' - and this time an entire cult of "Red Templars" have got their hands on it. The results aren't pretty.

* In the ''ChzoMythos'' series of games, there are quite a few Artifacts of Doom, the most obvious being [[spoiler:the cursed idol that innocently sits in a bell jar in the first game until the jar gets broken]].

* ''Fanfic/ShadowsAwakening'': The Dark Treasures — formerly the [[PublicDomainArtifact Imperial Regalia of Japan]] -- were corrupted into this by the Dark Champion of the Shadowkhan long ago. In addition to the fact that combined they can open the Forge of Shadows (the place where the Shadowkhan were originally created), they also have [[TheCorruption corrupting]] influences of their own:

* ''FanFic/FallenKing'' has the Millennium Eye and Ring, but the Millennium Puzzle is the one most touched upon. Being '''near'' it lets those in proximity summon monsters, and Pegasus plans to use it to rewrite reality.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'': The Jewel of Four Souls, which was formed when a powerful miko locked her own soul into an endless battle with a multitude of demons in order to contain them after her death. Initially regarded as a DismantledMacGuffin, a single shard of the Jewel gives demons [[AmplifierArtifact enormous power]]. Even those with good intentions are [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil inevitably corrupted]] by shard use. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed to have a [[SentientPhlebotinum malevolent will]] of its own, making it not only the [[ManBehindTheMan Man Behind The]] BigBad but, in fact, the UltimateEvil.]]
** Downplayed with the [[EvilWeapon demon blade Tokijin]]. It is so powerful it [[DemonicPossession possesses]] its creator, [[ArtifactOfDeath kills him]] due to the sheer force of its power, and then ''[[ClingyMacGuffin continues to animate the corpse afterwards]]'' until Inuyasha hacks off the corpse's wrist to separate the sword from the body. Not even the story's UltimateBlacksmith is capable of approaching it, causing the protagonists to warn [[AloofBigBrother Sesshoumaru]] that he'll be consumed by the sword if he touches it. Cue their absolute astonishment at Sesshoumaru's effortless victory over the sword's evil via willpower alone in a [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Did You Just Punch Out the Artifact of Doom?]] moment. [[spoiler: In ''Final Act'' it becomes obsolete, breaks, and Sesshoumaru replaces it with a better sword.]]

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* Satirized in ''{{Nodwick}}'' by "This One Ring", which is a One Ring parody that inspired an epic ''LordOfTheRings''-esque plot based on ''hype'' alone. It has no actual powers, but only Nodwick [[OnlySaneMan realizes this and no-one else believes him]]. By the end of the story, history repeats itself when Nodwick bribes off the story's Gollum-equivalent with "this one rock". Yeah, it's just a rock. Cut to the DistantFinale...

* In ''FanFic/ClashOfTheElements'' [[spoiler: [[MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory The Dark Star]]]] turns out to be one of these, and it was [[spoiler: cloned by Fawful for Cackletta to use in her plans.]]
* ''FanFic/BaumannRevenge'': The All Stars Staff is the one responsible for giving Mr. Baumann the desire to get rid of Ben Tennyson. Turns out that it didn't follow Baumann's desires, and it has UndyingLoyalty to its one true master, DX-4. It has NighInvulnerability. When Verdona used her magic to damage it, it wasn't damaged. Black Hole was not able to damage it, because it was made from an unbreakable material despite his power. In the end, the only way to destroy it was to trick it into turning into its OneWingedAngel form and destroying the dragon inside it.

* ''FanFic/ShadowsAwakening'': The Dark Treasures — formerly the [[PublicDomainArtifact Imperial Regalia of Japan]] — were corrupted into this by the Dark Champion of the Shadowkhan long ago. In addition to the fact that combined they can open the Forge of Shadows (the place where the Shadowkhan were originally created), they also have [[TheCorruption corrupting]] influences of their own:

* The ''LoneWolf'' gamebooks: in addition to the evil armies, [[EvilOverlord demonic Evil Overlords]], various [[SealedEvilInACan Sealed Evils in Cans]], and [[EverythingTryingToKillYou hostile wildlife and environments]], Lone Wolf runs into several Artifacts of Doom. The Darklord weapons and the Death Staff are examples of evil weapons that have gameplay penalties when used in battle. Story-wise, the worst artifacts are the [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom Doomstones]]. The Doomstones are essentially crystallized BlackMagic created by a powerful demon that eventually corrupts and kills anyone who uses them that isn't ''already'' a being of pure evil. Meaning that the strongest antagonists can use them with impunity; but Lone Wolf collapses as soon as he gets ''near'' one.
** The Doomstone of Darke featured in Book 16 ''The Darke Crusade'' deserves a special mention here. [[spoiler:In the end, it turns out to be the REAL BigBad of the book, having made the DiscOneFinalBoss its frail, near-undead puppet.]]

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* There are a few in the attractions at DisneyThemeParks. A notable one is in the ''IndianaJones'' sequence of ''The Great Movie Ride'', where a real life Cast Member plays the role of the poor fool who tries to take it.

* The Ignika in ''{{Bionicle}}''. On top of that, it was made exactly like the One Ring.

** [[ ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet The Infinity Gems]] ''probably'' aren't inherently evil, but they are definitely trouble. The entire universe has been threatened more than once by a madman wielding the Gems.

** [[ ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntletThe Infinity Gems]] ''probably'' aren't inherently evil, but they are definitely trouble. The entire universe has been threatened more than once by a madman wielding the Gems.

* Somewhat subverted in ''[[TheCulture Excession]]'' by [[IainBanks Iain M. Banks]], in which the Excession is an object which ''does absolutely nothing'', but almost causes a galaxy-spanning war over who gets to say they own it.
* The Piggy from 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 ''{{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 Illearth Stone from the ''ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' is pure evil and extremely powerful. Even shards cut from it are potent magic items that can corrupt people. Additionally, if the Illearth Stone or a shard of it is in one place for long, its evil anti-nature aura will kill off all the plants in a large radius around it.
* The grail in TeresaEdgerton's ''[[{{Celydonn}} The Grail and the Ring]]'' 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.
* Played straight in Simon R. Green's ''BlueMoonRising'' (the Infernal Devices).
** Things like this also turn up in his {{Nightside}} novels, but in weirder forms (e.g. the Speaking Gun).
* In P.C. Hodgell's ''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 ''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.

* In 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.

* Stormbringer, the black blade, in ''TheElricSaga'' 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 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]].

* Brandon Sanderson's ''{{Warbreaker}}'' features Nightblood, a sentient sword created for the purpose of slaying 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. Also a DeadpanSnarker.

* The board games ''{{Jumanji}}'' and ''{{Zathura}}'', while not inherently evil or malevolent, still often rain down misfortune and disaster on the players in the form of lions, [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame homicidal big game hunters]], meteor showers, and invading aliens, depending on which game you're playing. In both games, the only way to get rid of them is to finish the game (assuming it hasn't killed you first). However, even if the heroes do manage to finish and dispose of the game, more often than not it will just worm its way into the hands of another group of unfortunate saps.

* In 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 ''ConanTheBarbarian'' novel ''The Hour of the Dragon'', the Heart of Ahriman. Even one of the evil conspirators tries to get it from the EvilSorcerer.

* The killer camera in ''{{Goosebumps}}: Say Cheese and Die!'', which destroys or causes harm to persons or objects [[SpookyPhotographs that it takes pictures of]].
* In ''ShadowsOfTheApt'', the box. Scyla gets quite creeped out by its effect on her. The LivingShadow doesn't help.
* ''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 [[spoiler: direct the Nautilus to a Giant Whirpool, dooming himself and his crew]].

* In 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.

* Sith Holocrons in the ''StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]. Not exactly in the movies, though, except as harmless fan-service atrezzo.

* 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 TheRedwallSeries, 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.

* In the animated series based on ''{{Wildcats}}.'', 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.

* Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard, in R.A. Salvatore's ''[[Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy Icewind Dale Trilogy]]'', is considered by many readers to be an homage to One Ring (if not an outright ripoff). 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]].

->''"If [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]] and [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]] got married and had a baby, your ring would be the baby!"''
-->-- '''Tristan''', ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''

* ''TabletopGame/{{Kult}}'' has rules for possessed or otherwise evil items. One example is a maching gun that, when picked up, causes the wielder to go on a murdeous rampage, shooting everything in sight, friend or foe.

** [[spoiler:Any Reaper tech is this to some degree.]]

* The Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/il/shimmer/shimmer-s.html Singles Championship]] seems to have a habit of causing {{Face Heel Turn}}s, either in pursuit of it (Madison Eagles), or once a wrestler becomes champion (Sara Del Rey, [[spoiler: Cheerleader Melissa]]). The only {{Face}} to avoid turning heel thus far has been [=MsChif=], who has a "demonic" gimmick.

* The Ark of the Covenant has shades of this, even outside [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk that one story.]] The instructions for its creation and care were very specific, and when one of its attendants touched it without proper precautions, it struck the man dead.

* The title artifact of ''ComicBook/TheMask'' grants its wearer NighInvulnerability and [[RealityWarper reality warping]] powers, but also loosens their inhibitions until eventually they become a cackling AxCrazy mass-murderer. It's also addictive, and can't be removed by anyone other than the person wearing it.

* The Sword of Martin from TheRedwallSeries, 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.

* The Sword of Martin from The Redwall Series, is considered magic, but is good or bad depending on who wields it.

* The Sword of Martin from The Redwall Series, is considered magic, but only good characters can wield it. If an evil character steals it and uses it for... well.. evil. They'll be cursed with misfortune and doom.