History Main / HolyIsNotSafe

** In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', the artifact is the HolyGrail, which isn't deadly itself, but has some rather deadly traps protecting it. Seeing as the Grail can't be taken from the temple and the eternal life it bestows only lasts so long as you stay there, [[FridgeLogic one has to wonder]] why such traps are necessary. Elsa discovers this the hard way when she attempts to take the grail towards the exit and sets off the self-destruct sequence. In a TakeMyHand scenario, she obsessively tries to reach for it, despite hanging over an abyss. She falls to her death and Indy almost does the same, until his father tells him to "let it go." The fake replicas of the Grail are just as deadly.

** In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', the artifact is the HolyGrail, which isn't deadly itself, but has some rather deadly traps protecting it. (Seeing as the Grail can't be taken from the temple and the eternal life it bestows only lasts so long as you stay there, [[FridgeLogic one has to wonder]] why such traps are necessary.) Elsa discovers this the hard way when she attempts to take the grail towards the exit and sets off the self-destruct sequence. In a TakeMyHand scenario, she obsessively tries to reach for it, despite hanging over an abyss. She falls to her death and Indy almost does the same, until his father tells him to "let it go."
*** Not to mention all the fake grails that kill those who choose poorly in [[NightmareFuel nightmarish]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath fashion]].

** The Silmarils were gems of light that burned everything and everybody trying to touch them who wasn't [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Incorruptibly Pure]]. This of course mean [[BigBad Morgoth]] got horribly burned when he seized them (though he refused to relinquish them out of pride), but when the two surviving sons of the Silmarils' maker ''finally'' got them--after Kinslayings, and betrayals, and abandonments, and all sorts of other faith-breaking with friends and allies--the Silmarils burned ''them''. With their millenia of grief and struggle AllForNothing, Maedhros threw himself into a nearby chasm of fire while still holding the gem. His brother Maglor did not, casting his Silmaril into the sea, but took up WanderingTheEarth to sing songs of lament.[[note]]Though in another version in Tolkien's notes, Maglor did commit suicide in a similar manner to his brother by drowning himself with the Silmaril in hand.[[/note]]

** Earlier in the First Age, when the inhabitants of Middle Earth finally managed to get a messenger across the sea to the Valar to say (paraphrased), "Hey, sorry about that dust-up a couple thousand years back, but there are a lot of innocent people over here who had nothing to do with that, and we could REALLY use some help against the GodOfEvil. Do a brother a solid?" So, the Valar came over ''en masse'' to kick Morgoth out of creation. The resulting battle ''sank the better part of the continent into the sea''. Wanting to avoid a similar catastrophe is a big part of why they adopted a relatively "hands-off" policy during the Third Age in general, particularly the War of the Ring, with the Wizards being explicitly banned from directly contending with Sauron for power. Saruman violating this policy caused his fall and corruption. Gandalf, on the other hand, returned with his restraints somewhat loosened, but still didn't contend directly with Sauron - the closest he got was confronting the Witch-King at Pelennor Fields.

** ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Zig-zagged with the Orb of Aldur. For thousands of years, it was said that only a true innocent, someone who had no evil in his soul, could even touch the Orb, much less use its power. However, inpractice the Orb seems to have an unusual definition of "evil": as an instrument of the Prophecy of Light, it seems to equate "evil" with "not an instrument of the Light." So it will react violently if anyone touches it who fits that definition. But someone who is such an instrument can handle it safely, whether they have "evil intent" as humans would define that term or not. Even for those who can touch and use it, though, it still isn't safe, because it has the power of a god and the personality of a very eager-to-please puppy. One has to be careful what one asks it to do.

Everyone knows it's a bad idea to [[EvilIsNotAToy mess around with evil.]] If you're foolish enough to poke a [[MadeOfEvil concentrated ball of malevolence]], you've got no one but yourself to blame for the consequences. Conversely, we should expect ''goodness'' to be more, well, user-friendly? Less liable to reduce you to a pile of ashes for looking at it crosswise?

* Those playing ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' with Wild Wasteland perk on can find Holy Frag Grenades. These are frag grenades with white cross painted on them and have much bigger 'boom' than regular version. This also means it is much easier to get caught in the blast much more easily than for standard version if one throws it too close.

** ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Zig-zagged with the Orb of Aldur. For thousands of years, it was said that only a true innocent, someone who had no evil in his soul, could even touch the Orb, much less use its power. However, as an instrument of the Light Prophecy, the Orb has an unusual definition of "evil": it seems to equate "evil" with "not an instrument of the Light." So it will react violently if anyone touches it who doesn't fit that definition. But someone who is such an instrument can handle it safely, whether they have "evil intent" as humans would define that term or not. Even for those who can touch and use it, though, it still isn't safe, because it has the power of a god and the personality of a very eager-to-please puppy. One has to be careful what one asks it to do.
** In ''[[Literature/TheElenium The Elenium/The Tamuli]]'', Bhelliom is the Spirit of Creation that was accidentally forced into solid form. It is ''not'' happy about this, and tends to vent its anger on anyone who touches it. Only a few entities have ever been able to touch it, and only two have ever been able to use its power. Anyone else who touches it dies.
** Also in ''The Elenium/The Tamuli'', the Styric Child-Goddess Aphrael is dangerous in a different way: her preferred form is that of a young, innocent, happy girl. She knows exactly what effect this has on those around her, and she is ''completely'' unscrupulous about using it to manipulate them. Anyone who interacts with her has to be on their guard every second, or else they find themselves doing what she wants without even realizing it. Even Bhelliom isn't immune.

** ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Zig-zagged with the Orb of Aldur. For thousands of years, it was said that only a true innocent, someone who had no evil in his soul, could even touch the Orb, much less use its power. However, as an instrument of the Light Prophecy, the Orb has an unusual definition of "evil": it seems to equate "evil" with "not an instrument of the Light." So it will react violently if anyone touches it who doesn't fit that definition. But someone who is such an instrument can handle it safely, whether they have evil intent or not. Even for those who can touch and use it, though, it still isn't safe, because it has the power of a god and the personality of a very eager-to-please puppy. One has to be careful what one asks it to do.

* The Orb of Aldur in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' will kill anyone who touches it unless they are "[[IncorruptiblePurePureness pure]]", which really means "a direct descendant of its last wielder"; purity is InTheBlood, apparently. As this line is thought to be extinct, and the danger is well-known, no one has touched the Orb for hundreds of years. The plot of the series kicks off when someone, somehow, manages to ''steal'' it.
** As it turns out, the "only the pure of heart" thing was a convenient bit of fiction. While the standard of "purity" for safe handling of the Orb is stated to be "without ill intent in the silence of his soul", the reality is a bit different. Practically speaking, the Orb is the instrument of the Light Prophecy (one of the instruments, anyway), and it reacts violently to anyone who it doesn't trust to aid that Prophecy/Destiny. See Torak, who misused it by Breaking the World and promptly ''spent several thousand years with half his face on fire''. This tends to conform to a lack of personal ambition to use it. The original (human) wielder met the standard, as did the thief (a small child who, having been carefully raised to be perfectly innocent, didn't understand the concept of theft, or how it applied to "take the pretty glowing rock and give it to the man who raised me"). Descendants of the original wielder are able to handle it despite having some ill intent, partly because the orb - being sentient - likes them, partly because it's their job to protect it, and partly because they don't actually try to use it. Testing how much "ill intent" that lets them get away with is a bad idea. Again, see Torak.

** Even ''angels'' aren't safe. The Seraphim only fly with their last pair of [[WingedHumanoid wings]], and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent use their other two pairs]] to cover their faces and feet[[note]][[though some have argued that "feet" is really just a euphemism for "genitals"]][[/note]] respectively while they cheer God on. Mind you, the Seraphim ''themselves'' are this trope, since they're God's personal throne guards and any mortal who looks upon them is instantly incinerated.

** Even ''angels'' aren't safe. The Seraphim are mentioned as using [[OurAngelsAreDifferent their first pair]] of [[WingedHumanoid wings]] to cover their faces while they cheer God on. Mind you, the Seraphim ''themselves'' are this trope, since they're God's personal throne guards and any mortal who looks upon them is instantly incinerated.

* In ''Videogame/PlanescapeTorment'', Trias the Betrayer's has a pair of charred, skeletal wings. The first explanation you get for this is that they were mutilated by prison guards (which is plausible, since he is currently imprisoned on a plane which is basically one giant prison). [[spoiler:In actual fact his wings were burned to a crisp when he was cast down from the heavens. He claims that all of the fury of the Abyss pales in comparison to the divine wrath that burned his wings off.]]

* Gaia/Yggdrasil/The Immaculate Machine in ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' is a massive divine supercomputer within and without the Hollow Earth, with its {{Magitek}} symbiotic bees being the source of all player characters' magical sensitivity. It also has the usual slew of AlienGeometries, [[GoMadFromTheRevelation unknowable truths]] and burning white light inflicted upon those with no magical aptitude who happen upon an entrance to Agartha.

* The Master Sword from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' has always been a holy sword that OnlyTheChosenMayWield (or at least remove from its pedestal). ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', however, reveals that to remove it from its pedestal requires a test of strength - it drains the life from whoever grasps its hilt, and if they aren't worthy or aren't stopped from pulling it, then they die. Link has to undergo this test in order to claim the Master Sword, and if he doesn't have enough hearts then the sword will kill him.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'' has the corpse of Jesus Christ which has the potential to become an ArtifactOfDoom in the wrong hands. The "Holy Corpse" as it's known in the story possesses the power of equivalent exchange, redirecting any misfortune suffered by the wielder somewhere completely random. [[BigBad President Funny Valentine]] wants to use its power to give eternal prosperity to America. This would have catastrophic consequences for the rest of the world as all that misfortune has to go ''somewhere''.

Even when LightIsGood, [[TooMuchForManToHandle it can still be too hot to handle]]. Maybe holiness is [[KnightTemplar judgment untempered by mercy]], and only the most [[IncorruptiblePurePureness incorruptible people]] can come in contact with it and come away unscathed. Maybe it's [[GoodIsNotNice really temperamental]], and objects violently to being used for any but the most noble causes. Maybe it's just that light ''burns'', and enough holiness in one place is naturally dangerous to ''anyone'', not just the wicked. In any event, you'll probably rest easier with some safe distance between yourself and anything ''really'' holy.

* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', the Borg see the Omega molecule as the pinnacle of perfection and seek it with an almost religious reverence. When Seven of Nine observes Omega molecules self-stabilizing in "The Omega Directive", she reacts as if she is having a religious experience. However, Omega molecules are among the most dangerous substance in the universe, capable of generating deadly radiation, creating massive explosions, and destroying the fabric of subspace.

* In [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SPECTRUM SPECTRUM's Snowbound story]] the latent magic remaining in the corpse of Sint Erklass in Alaska is messing with the PER expedition in ways that bring an ArtifactOfDoom from a CosmicHorrorStory to mind. For example a character is watching a newfoal building a scaffolding only for a board he's hammering to move out of alignment (despite being partially nailed in place already making it impossible) making the newfoal miss and make the whole thing collapse, he also notes that the hammer lands on the snow without actually sinking into it.