History SealedEvilInACan / Comicbooks

* [[MarvelComics Tiamut the Dreaming Celestial]] was exiled to Earth by his Celestial brethren for committing a crime against "life itself". [[spoiler:Later revealed to be a case of SealedGoodInACan. Tiamut objected when the others tried to cull the Deviants of Earth, and was punished for it. The Deviants understandably worship Tiamut as their savior.]]

* Jurid from ComicBook/ThievesAndKings, also known as "the Dawn Swallower", is a powerful monster, but spent a thousand years or so stuck in a glass bottle, trapped by a young girl.

* In ''TheDCU'', the PhantomZone is essentially an other-dimensional prison that holds numerous Kryptonian criminals. As such, there many stories where the prisoners escape and the heroes have to fight to throw them back into the Zone.
* The Source Wall in TheDCU is a huge cosmic barrier between the Source (the source of power behind existence itself) and the rest of creation. The Wall is decorated with the bodies and visages of all of the would be conquerors who have sought to claim the power of the Source for themselves, imprisoning them for all eternity. The Wall is one of the more effective Cans in fiction and only three people have ever escaped it. One of them, Yuga Khan (the father of {{ComicBook/Darkseid}}), managed to summon just enough power to free himself from the Wall...only to get himself imprisoned in it again in another bid to obtain the Source, this time for good. The second one was Darkseid himself, and he needed the help of the one who imprisoned him in the first place ({{Superman}}) to do it. The third was Superman, who was trapped by Darkseid and required the help of every variation of Supergirl from the last twenty years to break free.

* SelfDemonstrating/{{Loki}}'s first appearance shows him imprisoned inside a tree. He would become free only if his captivity causes someone to shed a tear. No one missed Loki strongly enough to want to cry, so he forces Heimdall to shed a tear by poking him in the eye with a leaf.

* In ''HsuAndChan'', the Tanaka brothers fight off a demon invasion by sealing them in various trinkets and keepsakes.

* In a [[TheDisneyAfternoon Disney Afternoon]] crossover event in DisneyAdventures, the [[TheLegendOfTheChaosGod Chaos God himself]], Solego, was trapped in two pieces: a crystal held his mind and a gold medallion held his powers. Uniting the pieces released him and ''that'' isn't a good thing.
* Zom, from ''Comicbook/DoctorStrange'' - a surprisingly obscure hyperdemon who was sealed in a special amphora in another dimension. ''Horrifically'' powerful. He was initially imprisoned by a coalition of cosmic beings, including Eternity and frickin' Dormammu, and when he was let out, he frightened Umar (Dormammu's even scarier sister) so much she ran home and said she'd never come out again. Considering how bad-ass he is, the "can", or amphora, must truly be the can of the gods.

* In ''TheAstoundingWolfMan'' [[spoiler: Gorgg]] is an ancient and evil golem that was imprisoned under Stonehenge. As soon as he is released by [[spoiler: The Face]] he goes to kill the blood relatives of those who imprisoned him.

* In ''JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'', Johnny's constant murders are (partially) motivated by the need for fresh blood to paint on one of the walls in his house, which keeps the monster trapped behind it from physically getting out. [[spoiler:After Johnny's accidental suicide, the creature breaks free and is revealed to be a [[CosmicHorror horrible, bloodthirsty mass of tentacles and faces]]; Johnny's conversation with [[{{Satan}} Señor Diablo]] implies that it was made up of all the evil emanated by humanity, and its escape was serious enough [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt to require the universe to be rebooted]].]]

* Ragamuffin, from ''LenoreTheCuteLittleDeadGirl'', the eternal vampire scourge who eats people alive, is [[SealedEvilInATeddyBear trapped in a rag doll]] for the most part of the comics.
* The french comic book ComicBook/LesLegendaires introduces the [[GodOfEvil Evil God]] Anathos, whose essence was trapped a long time ago by the other gods in a living prison called the Bearer. While his origin is a typical use of the trope, the way he comes back is partially subverted, as he frees himself by taking control of the Bearer and using DemonicPossession, as well as manipulating one of the protagonists rather than another villain; the original Big Bad, Darkhell, actually attempted to prevent his return rather than helping him.

* One of the main foes of ''Comicbook/{{Hellboy}}'' is the [=Ogdru Jahad=], an EldritchAbomination on par with Cthulhu and the boys.

* The Warlock Graveyard in ''IHuntMonsters'' is this, housing many powerful monsters in it and kept in check by an obelisk that needs to be recharged every century of so. It the protagonist's disbelief and reluctance that ends up freeing the monsters and he forced to track them down and re-seal them.

* In Marvel comics, {{Galactus}} acts as a can on a greater, multiverse-destroying evil. Most of the energy he gets from his food goes to maintaining the seal, explaining his unusual diet.

* The Source Wall in TheDCU is a huge cosmic barrier between the Source (the source of power behind existence itself) and the rest of creation. The Wall is decorated with the bodies and visages of all of the would be conquerors who have sought to claim the power of the Source for themselves, imprisoning them for all eternity. The Wall is one of the more effective Cans in fiction and only three people have ever escaped it. One of them, Yuga Khan (the father of {{Darkseid}}), managed to summon just enough power to free himself from the Wall...only to get himself imprisoned in it again in another bid to obtain the Source, this time for good. The second one was Darkseid himself, and he needed the help of the one who imprisoned him in the first place ({{Superman}}) to do it. The third was Superman, who was trapped by Darkseid and required the help of every variation of Supergirl from the last twenty years to break free.

* The Lord of Locusts from ''{{Bone}}''.

* The Sohrem of ''{{Nightschool}}''.

* Comicbook/{{Loki}}'s first appearance shows him imprisoned inside a tree. He would become free only if his captivity causes someone to shed a tear. No one missed Loki strongly enough to want to cry, so he forces Heimdall to shed a tear by poking him in the eye with a leaf.

* ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}''. Doomsday was living Sealed Evil, but ultimately broke out of his own can. He keeps getting re-sealed in stronger cans (we hope!).

* A somewhat example in ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'', where [[spoiler:Chrysalis and her Changelings are imprisoned in their own castle at the end of the first StoryArc. With the animated Pinkie Pie suit to entertain them (well, entertain the soldiers, annoy Chrysalis). However, recently, on page 11 of Friends Forever Issue #8, a sign under the Mount Monument observation deck reads "Sign the petition to add Queen Chrysalis to the monument" and bears Chrysalis' fresh signature, which in turn strongly suggests they have since recovered and are back to plotting and causing trouble for Equestria.]]

* In ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'' [[spoiler:Chrysalis and her Changelings are imprisoned in their own castle at the end of the first StoryArc. With the animated Pinkie Pie suit to entertain them (well, entertain the soldiers, annoy Chrysalis). However, recently, on page 11 of Friends Forever Issue #8, a sign under the Mount Monument observation deck reads "Sign the petition to add Queen Chrysalis to the monument" and bears Chrysalis' fresh signature, which in turn strongly suggests they have since recovered and are back to plotting and causing trouble for Equestria.]]

* In ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'' [[spoiler:Chrysalis and her Changelings are imprisoned in their own castle at the end of the first StoryArc. With the animated Pinkie Pie suit to entertain them (well, entertain the soldiers, annoy Chrysalis). However, recently, on page 11 of Friends Forever Issue #8, a sign under the Mount Monument observation deck reads "Sign the petition to add Queen Chrysalis to the monument" and bears Chrysalis' fresh signature, which in turn strongly suggests they have since recovered and are back to plotting and causing trouble for Equestria.]]]]

* In ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'' [[spoiler:Chrysalis and her Changelings are imprisoned in their own castle at the end of the first StoryArc. With the animated Pinkie Pie suit to entertain them (well, entertain the soldiers, annoy Chrysalis).]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Earth 2}}'', [[Comicbook/GreenLantern Alan Scott]] defeats [[spoiler: Grundy]] by putting him in a place where there is no life for him to [[WalkingWasteland corrupt]]. Namely, he puts him [[spoiler: on the Moon]].

* ''GreenLantern: Rebirth'' revealed that the long-established "[[KryptoniteFactor yellow impurity]]" in the Central Power Battery was actually ''Parallax'', the "yellow fear entity," an [[AnthropomorphicPersonification insectile manifestation]] of that emotion, released when Hal "Greatest GL of them All" Jordan entered the Central Battery years before.

* ''[[JusticeLeague Justice League of America]]'' comics occasionally feature early JLA enemies the Demons Three (Abnegazar, Ghast, and Rath), evil beings who ruled the Earth a billion years ago until being imprisoned in crypts by mysterious powerful entities called the Timeless Ones. The three Demons were eventually summoned/released in the present by Felix Faust, with occasional other escapes from imprisonment since then.

* ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}''. Doomsday was living Sealed Evil, but ultimately broke out of his own can. He keeps getting re-sealed in stronger cans (we hope!). The DVD movie cartoon "Superman: Doomsday" is a more literal version of this trope, as Doomsday was accidentally freed by Lexcorp.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Lucifer}}'', the seraph Meleos long ago created the Basanos, a living, extremely powerful living tarot deck as both a complement to Destiny's book (which contains nearly everything that will ever happen) and a means of recording and preserving humanity's thoughts. The latter function, however, corrupted the Basanos and turned them into beings of pure evil, so Meleos has since locked them in a box. However, [[spoiler:when Lucifer demands the use of the Basanos for divination, Meleos resolves to destroy them and opens the box, whereupon the cards overpower him and escape.]]
* In ''TheAstoundingWolfMan'' [[spoiler: Gorgg]] is an ancient and evil golem that was imprisoned under Stonehenge. As soon as he is released by [[spoiler: The Face]] he goes to kill the blood relatives of those who imprisoned him.
* The Lord of Locusts from ''{{Bone}}''.

* ''GreenLantern: Rebirth'' revealed that the long-established "[[KryptoniteFactor yellow impurity]]" in the Central Power Battery was actually ''Parallax'', the "yellow fear entity," an [[AnthropomorphicPersonification insectile manifestation]] of that emotion, released when Hal "Greatest GL of them All" Jordan entered the Central Battery years before.
* ''[[JusticeLeague Justice League of America]]'' comics occasionally feature early JLA enemies the Demons Three (Abnegazar, Ghast, and Rath), evil beings who ruled the Earth a billion years ago until being imprisoned in crypts by mysterious powerful entities called the Timeless Ones. The three Demons were eventually summoned/released in the present by Felix Faust, with occasional other escapes from imprisonment since then.

* ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}''' second BigBad came out of his can due to the effects of the heroes saving the world.
** Also, the djinn that Frau Totenkinder dealt with earlier, although that was more of a case of amoral and incredibly dangerous and destructive, especially in the hands of an evil man, but not evil in and of itself.
* Lampshaded in the short-lived comic ''BMG'', where the BigBad releases TheDragon from a can labeled "Instant evil. Just add water."

* One of the main foes of ''Comicbook/{{Hellboy}}'' is the [=Ogdru Jahad=], an EldritchAbomination on par with Cthulhu and the boys.

* In Marvel comics, {{Galactus}} acts as a can on a greater, multiverse-destroying evil. Most of the energy he gets from his food goes to maintaining the seal, explaining his unusual diet.
* The Warlock Graveyard in ''IHuntMonsters'' is this, housing many powerful monsters in it and kept in check by an obelisk that needs to be recharged every century of so. It the protagonist's disbelief and reluctance that ends up freeing the monsters and he forced to track them down and re-seal them.
* Caged Demonwolf (Molestor of Worlds!) from ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'' is an EldritchAbomination that Emp trapped into an alien-made power-draining bondage gear. ItMakesSenseInContext.
* Jurid from ComicBook/ThievesAndKings, also known as "the Dawn Swallower", is a powerful monster, but spent a thousand years or so stuck in a glass bottle, trapped by a young girl.
* Zom, from ''Comicbook/DoctorStrange'' - a surprisingly obscure hyperdemon who was sealed in a special amphora in another dimension. ''Horrifically'' powerful. He was initially imprisoned by a coalition of cosmic beings, including Eternity and frickin' Dormammu, and when he was let out, he frightened Umar (Dormammu's even scarier sister) so much she ran home and said she'd never come out again. Considering how bad-ass he is, the "can", or amphora, must truly be the can of the gods.
** Then came ''WorldWarHulk'', when a [[GodzillaThreshold desperate Strange]] let Zom back ''out'' of the bottle -- and quickly discovered that EvilIsNotAToy.
* The Source Wall in TheDCU is a huge cosmic barrier between the Source (the source of power behind existence itself) and the rest of creation. The Wall is decorated with the bodies and visages of all of the would be conquerors who have sought to claim the power of the Source for themselves, imprisoning them for all eternity. The Wall is one of the more effective Cans in fiction and only three people have ever escaped it. One of them, Yuga Khan (the father of {{Darkseid}}), managed to summon just enough power to free himself from the Wall...only to get himself imprisoned in it again in another bid to obtain the Source, this time for good. The second one was Darkseid himself, and he needed the help of the one who imprisoned him in the first place ({{Superman}}) to do it. The third was Superman, who was trapped by Darkseid and required the help of every variation of Supergirl from the last twenty years to break free.

* In a [[TheDisneyAfternoon Disney Afternoon]] crossover event in DisneyAdventures, the [[TheLegendOfTheChaosGod Chaos God himself]], Solego, was trapped in two pieces: a crystal held his mind and a gold medallion held his powers. Uniting the pieces released him and ''that'' isn't a good thing.
* [[MarvelComics Tiamut the Dreaming Celestial]] was exiled to Earth by his Celestial brethren for committing a crime against "life itself". [[spoiler:Later revealed to be a case of SealedGoodInACan. Tiamut objected when the others tried to cull the Deviants of Earth, and was punished for it. The Deviants understandably worship Tiamut as their savior.]]
* The french comic book ComicBook/LesLegendaires introduces the [[GodOfEvil Evil God]] Anathos, whose essence was trapped a long time ago by the other gods in a living prison called the Bearer. While his origin is a typical use of the trope, the way he comes back is partially subverted, as he frees himself by taking control of the Bearer and using DemonicPossession, as well as manipulating one of the protagonists rather than another villain; the original Big Bad, Darkhell, actually attempted to prevent his return rather than helping him.
* The Sohrem of ''{{Nightschool}}''.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Earth 2}}'', [[Comicbook/GreenLantern Alan Scott]] defeats [[spoiler: Grundy]] by putting him in a place where there is no life for him to [[WalkingWasteland corrupt]]. Namely, he puts him [[spoiler: on the Moon]].
* Comicbook/{{Loki}}'s first appearance shows him imprisoned inside a tree. He would become free only if his captivity causes someone to shed a tear. No one missed Loki strongly enough to want to cry, so he forces Heimdall to shed a tear by poking him in the eye with a leaf.
** Another example of this in Comicbook/TheMightyThor franchise is Mangog, the sum total of the hatred of a race that was slain by Odin. It was imprisoned with a warning on the door until released by the [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Rock Troll]] Ulik who thought it would be an ally against Asgard.
** Then there were older foes of Asgard imprisoned by Odin. Ymir the Frost Giant, Surter the Fire Demon, and Skagg the Storm Giant, the last two were released by Loki to attack Odin.
** And more recently, there's [[ComicBook/FearItself The Serpent]], God of Fear [[spoiler: and Odin's brother]], who Odin sealed in a prison at the bottom of the ocean ages ago, until freed by Sin (who had been transformed into one of his Worthy).
* In ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'' [[spoiler:Chrysalis and her Changelings are imprisoned in their own castle at the end of the first StoryArc. With the animated Pinkie Pie suit to entertain them (well, entertain the soldiers, annoy Chrysalis).]]

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* In the conclusion of ''TheThanosImperative'' event, [[spoiler: the now immortal Thanos is trapped in the Cancer Verse. Star-Lord and Nova trapped him there along with themselves to keep him from destroying their own universe in his rage at being forever denied the embrace of his beloved Death.]]

* In "The Garden" segment of ''Comicstrip/{{Garfield}}: His 9 Lives'', Garfield (who is a kitten here) and Cloey (his owner in this life) are given a magical garden by Uncle Tod when he joins the circus, under the condition that they never open the crystal box on the checkered toadstool. The trope is subverted here because, out of loyalty to Uncle Tod, they decide ''not'' to open it.

* In the comic strip ''{{Wormy}}'', the titular dragon owned a collection of magical orbs containing vicious demons, which a human wizard attempted to steal. This being a humor comic, Wormy used the orbs as snooker balls.