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16-> ''"I went to war with murderers, thieves, with slavers and dealers, the parasites who preyed on human weakness. That weakness was a feeding ground that stretched beyond the infinite. The evil it fed would never end. So I decided, neither would my war."''
17-->-- '''[[ComicBook/ThePunisher Frank Castle]]''', ''ComicBook/ThePunisherTheEnd''
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19%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.
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22Did you really think you can kill the villain? Nice try, but they're [[TheHeartless intimately hooked to the heart of the human race as a whole]]. [[HumansAreFlawed So long as humanity doesn't turn completely pure and good]], the BigBad can never be truly destroyed. Oh, sure, you might have [[FightingAShadow put them down]] for ''this'' episode/game/movie/series, but the next time the world's malice builds up again, they'll be right BackFromTheDead with a new EvilPlan.
23
24In essence, this is Evil's answer to AsLongAsThereIsOneMan and HopeSpringsEternal; the BigBad is TheHeartless for all of mankind. They typically weave the revelation into their FinalSpeech, just before the hero puts them down.
25
26While this usually doesn't mean much from a story standpoint (they're still dead), it can make for a BittersweetEnding -- the heroes went through all that for what? If the heroes are ''really'' unlucky, the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil will demand that ''[[SomeoneHasToDoIt they]]'' [[SomeoneHasToDoIt replace]] the BigBad that they just slew.
27
28For the [[EternalHero really determined hero]] who has accepted the fate of fighting this evil, the classic response is, "And so will I." as a challenge to the villain any time, anywhere. Otherwise the only decent reply is TheWarHasJustBegun. Sometimes, "[[SealedEvilInACan sealing]]" the villain provides a more long-term solution than killing them. Yeah, they can (and probably ''will'') escape eventually, but it'll take longer than it would to resurrect them.
29
30This trope normally comes after AbstractApotheosis, in which the character (upon death or other means) uses their self as a form of representation. For example, in the case of the BigBad becoming this [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith form of hatred]], this can be appropriately accompanied with a MadnessMantra and/or BadassBoast.
31
32Compare StayingAlive, where the villain doesn't even die. Compare EmotionEater, which As Long as There Is Evil can be considered a variation of. Contrast AsLongAsThereIsOneMan; the heroic response but without the resurrection. Compare GoodNeedsEvil, InherentInTheSystem and InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves. Likely a GodOfEvil, MadeOfEvil, or an UnseenEvil. See WeWillMeetAgain for the more prosaic variant. See EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce for the extreme danger a single villain victory poses.
33
34!!As this is a {{Death Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
35[[noreallife]]
36----
37!!Examples
38
39[[foldercontrol]]
40
41[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
42* In ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', [[GodIsEvil The Idea Of Evil]] was born out of mankind's need for a reason for their suffering; everything has to happen for a reason, after all, even if ''it'' has to be that reason. So long as humanity needs it to exist, it will go on and on, and considering [[CrapsackWorld the current state of the world]], it's unlikely it'll disappear anytime soon.
43* In ''Anime/ChronoCrusade'', the BigBad, [[CardCarryingVillain Aion]], uses this trait to come BackFromTheDead after the heroes defeat him -- he dies, but there's so much hatred in the area that he instantly rises. [[DownerEnding The anime ending]] also suggests that he might be TheHeartless.
44* In ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'', Ogudomon is unable to truly be killed as the amalgamation of the Seven Great Demon Lords, who are themselves the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of the Digital World's sins and malice and will thus always return in some form or exist in another universe when one is defeated.
45* In ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'', there will always be cursed spirits roaming around the world as long as humans vent their negative emotions such as pain or envy. The only potential way to eliminate them would to be make all humanity capable of containing cursed energy like Jujutsu Sorcerers do. Considering very few people have such capability (especially outside Japan) and only a small percentage are killed by cursed spirits, only a [[SuperSupremacist genocidal nut]] like Geto would think it would be worth it.
46* In ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'', the BigBad Nightmare claims that he is but a dream that will always return so long as there is fear in people's hearts. Subverted in the English dub; after Kirby defeats him, he goes out ''screaming in agony'' as he dissolves into nothing.
47-->'''Nightmare:''' True to my name, I am but a dream that lives in your heart. Therefore, I am immortal. For as long as there is fear in your heart, I will someday return.
48* ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa'':
49** The manga for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' inverts this as Link prepares to kill the newest version of Ganon.
50--->'''Link:''' Come back to life a thousand times and in ''any'' age, a hero bearing this symbol will appear to bring an end to your reign of terror!
51** In ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess2016'', Ganondorf questions why Link should bother fighting him at all, reasoning that he will come back time and time again no matter how often he loses. The Hero’s Shade counters that while that is true, there will always be a hero to keep the fight going.
52* In ''Manga/MakeTheExorcistFallInLove'', demon lords cannot be killed permanently so long as the sins of humanity they embody exist. It takes Mammon a mere three years to return from Gehenna after Father beat him last due to greed being such a common sin. The witches of Beelzebub also make sacrifices and worship him to hasten his return after he was last sent back to Gehenna.
53* ''Anime/PrettyCure'':
54** ''Anime/HealinGoodPrettyCure'' has the Byogens, including their leader, King Byogen. While the Pretty Cures fighting him manage to defeat him once and for all, the Healing Animals note that the Byogens may resurface in the future, owing to their nature as diseases.
55** In ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'', Noise will always be reborn as long sadness exist. The Pretty Cures averted this trope by becoming his friend after he was reborn as Pii-chan. They learned that they have to face and accept sadness instead of fighting it.
56** The third All Stars movie introduces Black Hole, the true evil of the Pretty Cure universe. As long as evil exists, he will return, not helped by him being empowered by the defeated factions.
57* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'':
58** The [[EldritchAbomination Witch]] called Kriemhild Gretchen, (aka [[spoiler:[[AllLovingHero Madoka]] [[WasOnceAMan herself]]]]), is an interesting take. In her desire to [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery end misery]], she will [[AssimilationPlot absorb all life]] into her LotusEaterMachine of a barrier, and apparently the ''only'' way to defeat her is to end all misfortune in the world. If there's no misfortune, [[DarkMessiah she'll think the world is already heaven]].
59** One of the biggest themes in Madoka Magica is that curses will always arise; if one curse is destroyed, that just clears the way for another, possibly more powerful one. Happiness must always be balanced out by despair. It's the reason that, even after [[spoiler:Madoka's wish]], {{Magical Girl}}s still have to fight wraiths instead of witches; misfortune and despair still exist in the world and are going to find some sort of magical personification for them to fight.
60* ''Franchise/SailorMoon''
61** [[TheManBehindTheMan Chaos]] is the malice in the hearts of people across the Universe, given a will of its own.
62** In the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], it's explicitly stated that light and darkness will always coexist; the darkness needs the light to cast shadows and the light needs the darkness to shine brightly.
63* In the manga finale of ''Manga/SoulEater'', Crona tells Maka that [[BigBad Asura]], the embodiment of madness born of fear, cannot be killed as long as there is fear in the world. This is why they proceed to seal him on the Moon instead, and it is likely that Lord Death sealed Asura under Death City in the first place for the same reason.
64* Inverted in ''Anime/SpacePatrolLuluco'' when [[spoiler: WebAnimation/InfernoCop]] gives Luluco a pep talk.
65-->'''[[spoiler: Inferno Cop]]:''' So long as evil exists, [[ForGreatJustice justice will never be finished]].
66* ''Anime/TwinPrincessOfWonderPlanet'': The Black Crystal. As long as there is despair and unhappiness for it to feed off of, it will ''never'' truly vanish. The best that can be done against it is to remove it from the world(s) in question and even then it'll just be free to attack another planet.
67* It is eventually revealed that the BigBad of ''Manga/UshioAndTora'', Hakumen no Mono (The White-Faced One), possesses a variation of this: [[spoiler:while it ''is'' born out of the "darkness" and evil of the world, that doesn't guarantee its survival. Instead, people's fear and hatred towards it makes it grow bigger and stronger. Moreover, any attack fuelled by hatred will at best fail to kill it, at worst fail to cause any of damage at all; only attacks fueled by the will to save others can permanently kill it]].
68* ''Anime/YuGiOh''
69** The Great Leviathan's shadow form is said to be fueled by darkness in the hearts of people. So long as there are those who succumb to their darkness, the Great Leviathan shall never truly die. This is probably a subversion, since the Pharaoh responds to this by saying [[ShutUpHannibal that's crock]] and that it was actually created by the Orichalcos itself, and then appears to ''prove'' that by seemingly vanquishing the Leviathan with his power forever.
70** This is done a second time in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', with Darkness/Nightshroud. When Nightshroud is defeated, he boasts that he will always return as long as there are those who succumb to their darkness. Judai retorts that there will always be people who can overcome their darkness to defeat him.
71[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Comic Books]]
74* The Living Nightmare of ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' is an AnthropomorphicPersonification of human fear, and so long as there is fear it can never be truly killed.
75* Franchise/{{Batman}} has a more heroic answer: "As long as there is evil, [[BadassBoast I'll be waiting for it.]]"
76* At the end of the ''ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga'', ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} admits he has been defeated, but he states he can't be destroyed because his darkness will live forever within human hearts, growing and destroying them from within.
77-->'''Darkseid:''' But remember... The darkness cannot surrender. It is always with you, always on the fringe of the dawn... and the instant you gaze at it in fear... Your time will come.
78* In ''Franchise/GreenLantern'': ''ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar'', Sinestro makes this boast:
79--> ''As long as there is life, the universe will never be without fear!''
80* In ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'': "The Baba Yaga". It's said that she cannot die as long as [[GloriousMotherRussia Mother Russia]] endures. That said, Hellboy shooting her in the eye effectively banishes her to non-physical realms.
81* This is what ComicBook/ThePunisher's rationale for his one man war on crime eventually comes down to.
82-->I went to war with murderers, thieves, with slavers and dealers, the parasites who preyed on human weakness. That weakness was a feeding ground that stretched beyond the infinite. [[HopelessWar The evil it fed would never end.]] So I decided, neither would my war.
83* ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'': Frankenstein will stick around for as long as there's evil in the world... periodically waking up to beat the crap out of it.
84* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': At one point, [[ThoseWackyNazis Captain Nazi]] claimed he was an incarnation of Nazism, and as long as someone believed in it, he could never truly die. This is an upgrade from a cut-price evil version of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, as was his previous origin.
85* ''Comicbook/XMen'':
86** After the ComicBook/FantasticFour villain Blastaar gets electrocuted in a [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] story, Cyclops explains "Blastaar's basic energy was -- evil! Pure, unadulterated hate! And wherever men live with hate in their hearts -- Blastaar lives there too!" This is not officially one of Blastaar's powers, but since he [[UnexplainedRecovery came back to life without explanation shortly afterwards]], Cyke presumably knew what he was talking about.
87** The Shadow King fits this trope to the letter, especially following the {{retcon}} that he's an ancient demonic being, and not the psychic remains of an evil mutant.
88%%* This is outright said to be one of [[{{Satan}} Mephisto's]] abilities.
89* One of the reasons Franchise/WonderWoman has never balked at killing malevolent gods, despite being the only one of DC's big three to start out with a no killing rule, is that it doesn't last. The ideas and systems which from which they draw their power and which mold their personalities are not killed with the god so it's just a temporary measure unless the god chooses to stay dead.
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Fan Works]]
93* As the lifeblood of Discord's existence in ''FanFic/DiariesOfAMadman'', this makes it rather hard for him to kill himself. Overcoming this is indeed his main goal.
94* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': Deconstructed. After being defeated, Darkseid says this line... and Rei's reply demolishes him, retorting as long as there is a Darkseid, there will be a Superman to fight him.
95-->'''Rei''':''Look at you. The final crisis has come and gone. You are dead, but refuse embrace your end."''\
96'''Darkseid''':''"It doesn't matter, [...] so long there is evil, there will be a place for Darkseid."''\
97'''Rei''':''"So long as there is a Darkseid, [...] there will be a Superman to oppose him."''
98* In an early chapter of ''FanFic/ShadowchasersAscension'', the infernal noble [[BigBad Jalie Squarefoot]] taunts Dante with this type of speech. [[spoiler:While Jalie is actually pretty soundly defeated at the end, Dante is still a little depressed, seeing as Jalie does indeed represent an evil that neither they nor humanity as a whole can ever truly defeat permanently. However, [[TheLeader Jalal]] responds to this by saying AsLongAsThereIsOneMan, such evil can still be fought.]]
99* The War-Feeder from [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10610004/1/The-Mind-of-the-Doctor The Mind of the Doctor]] claims it will exist as long as there is violence.
100* In ''Fanfic/TheBridge'', Shadow of Red is a demon who will revive as long as shadows and evil exist.
101* Nyarlathotrot from the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' is born from the negative aspects of the Shadows Who Are. As such, as long as those negative aspects exist, so will he. Inverted with his twin and GoodCounterpart, Fillimon, who is born from the ''positive'' aspects of the Shadows Who Are, and thus as long as that exists so will she.
102* In ''[[http://fanfics.me/read2.php?id=127043 A RWBY Zanpakuto]]'', Aizen says that the Hogyoku was born from the wishes of every person on the planet, so it can't be destroyed until the wishes of everyone have been granted. [[spoiler:It is eventually destroyed when Blake, inside Ichigo's [[MentalWorld inner world]] which is infinite in size, creates Shadow Clones of herself endlessly until they outnumber Earth's population, then they all wish for the Hogyoku to be destroyed. Even then, it takes Ichigo striking it with all his power to do it.]]
103* ''Fanfic/HalloweenUnspectacular'': The ending narration of the story "The Dictator" makes it clear that the eponymous tyrant has always existed and will always exist as long as people let themselves be led by fear, hate, distrust and division.
104* In ''FanFic/KillThemAll'' [[spoiler:Samael, the god of Silent Hill]], is an entity born from humanity's fear of the unknown. When [[spoiler:Alessa]] boasts it will exist so long as there is one person to fear it, Taylor points out that she need only kill everyone who feels that fear or give its victims the courage and hope to fight against the fear.
105* ''Fanfic/FallOfStarfleetRebirthOfFriendship'': As long as HateFic is written, Dark Conquest will continue to exist. [[spoiler:While he ends up killed and banished from the MLP multiverse, the very end of the story shows him being resurrected when someone sets out to write a ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' hate fic.]]
106* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': A variation - [[spoiler:as he is slowly being erased from existence by the powers of the Primes, Megatron rants to Lelouch that as long as free will exists, someone will rise to take and control everything. Lelouch [[ShutUpHannibal retorts]] that [[AsLongAsThereIsOneMan by that same logic, someone will always rise to face that tyrant]]]].
107[[/folder]]
108
109[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
110* The ending of ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' has the villain Pitch (aka the boogieman) claim that he'll return because "there will ''always'' be fear". [[BadassSanta North]] replies with an equally BadassBoast:
111-->'''North:''' So what? As long as there is ''one'' child who believes, we will always be there to ''fight'' fear.
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
115* ''Film/BatmanBegins'': [[AntiVillain Ra's Al Ghul]] cites civilization's cyclic decay into criminality as the reason for the League of Shadows' existence.
116* ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'' is one of the rare cases that combines this with AsLongAsThereIsOneMan. When Bowen protests that Draco's death is unnecessary since their allies have already taken the castle from Einon, Draco responds that they will never win as long as Einon's evil endures.
117* Monsters in ''Film/GirlVsMonster'' are fueled by fear and will continue to exist as long as someone, somewhere feels fear. They can be sealed away, though, and during that time, the person will not feel fear.
118* In the movie ''Film/Legend1985'', Darkness (played by Creator/TimCurry) mutters a textbook speech about "being part" of all of the heroes before dying. His laughing ominous face in the last shot of the movie while the heroes are frolicking in the sunshine indicates that he is correct.
119* In the Soviet adaptation of ''Mio, my Mio'' by Creator/AstridLindgren, that's what [[BigBad the knight Kato]] tells Mio during their battle: as long as the world exists, somewhere else a new Kato would invariably arise. Mio replies that he realizes it but it won't stop him from killing this particular one.
120* ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'':
121** It seems that as long as fear (especially of him) exists, so will Freddy Krueger. One of the short stories in a collection rolled with this, having Freddy claim that while his primary fuel is fear, other negative emotions (like hatred and resentment) can work just as well. As long as people keep feeling those, he'll never be permanently stopped.
122** Other stories avert his. Freddy's power comes from [[Film/FreddysDeadTheFinalNightmare the Dream Demons]]. They can, and do in [[ComicBook/FreddyVsJasonVsAsh one story]], take that power away.
123* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
124** The Sith are an interesting example because they are a group rather than an individual being — no matter how many times the Sith Order is exterminated, it will always rise again because of the seductive appeal of its teachings. And of course TheDarkSide is an aspect of the same SentientCosmicForce that permeates everything. This is really obvious in the ExpandedUniverse, but you can see it a bit in the movies as well.
125** The [[Literature/RevengeOfTheSith novelization]] of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' includes an interesting bit of poetry, split between the major sections, about evil and darkness — how it is powerful, and seductive, and can never be defeated because it is everywhere: "The brightest light casts the darkest shadow." At the end, the piece also points out that "it has a weakness. A single candle flame can hold it back."
126--->Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars.
127* ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'': While Skynet, the rogue military AI that wages a RobotWar against humans in the franchise, does not get mentioned as it was in prior ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' films, humanity will keep on suffering as long as the military keeps on churning out [[AIIsACrapshoot defense network computers like Legion]] that go rogue. Hence Judgment Day happens all the same, just later. In fact, after the John and Sarah Connor stop Skynet's birth in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', [[GenerationXerox Legion]] rises in its place to assume all of Skynet's familiar characteristics - causing Judgment Day, hunting down humans in the future, losing the Future War, and sending one of its infiltrator robots back to change everything.
128* In ''Film/TimeBandits'' by Creator/TerryGilliam, one piece of the aptly-named Evil, the MadeOfEvil antagonist, escapes the cleanup crew to afflict the world again. The [[{{God}} Supreme Being]] informs the kid that he must "carry on the fight". The first thing it does is manifest as a roast in his parents' microwave, killing them.
129* In ''Film/Wishmaster2EvilNeverDies'', Morgana shoots the Djinn in a futile attempt to kill him, but he just bleeds worms. He mocks her, stating that he's immortal because [[TitleDrop evil can never die]].
130[[/folder]]
131
132[[folder:Literature]]
133* Lord Foul the Despiser, from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant''. "Despite can never die."
134* One of the characters in ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'' uses this as a time scale for how long he wants his secrets kept.
135* ''Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries'', especially ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' and ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus''. Monsters are an entire race of baddies[[note]](Though they are NotAlwaysEvil; some monsters like Chiron and Tyson are capable of being good, which makes it more worrying when you realize most monsters are evil ''by choice'')[[/note]] with ResurrectiveImmortality. Any time they die, they go to Tartarus and regenerate, coming back anywhere between months and centuries after their death. Genertations of [[SemiDivine demigods]] from ancient Greek times all the way to 21st century America have been fighting the same monsters again and again and again. Percy himself realizes how horrifying this is in a chapter of ''The House of Hades'':
136-->Seeing them assembled in Tartarus, Percy felt as hopeless as the spirits in the River Cocytus. So what if he was a hero? So what if he did something brave? Evil was always here, regenerating, bubbling under the surface. Percy was no more than a minor annoyance to these immortal beings. They just had to outwait him. Some day, Percy’s sons or daughters might have to face them all over again.
137** With all that being said there ''is'' hope. The same chapter from ''The House of Hades'' has Percy reflecing on how, even if monsters regenerate, there will always be new generations of demigods to fight them off. His own sons and daughters, should he have any, will keep on fighting. Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter have stood for generations, and show no signs of stopping.
138* Randall Flagg in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' and ''Literature/TheStand''. Lampshaded at the end of ''The Stand'' when he washes up on the tropical island to, as the chapter title says, close the circle. [[spoiler:Until he is unceremoniously killed by Mordred.]]
139* The Serpents from ''Literature/TheDeathGateCycle'' are like this -- they literally ''are'' evil, given shape and form by magic gone mad, and will exist for as long as mortals do. Creepily, whenever someone asks who created them (the series' universe was built by a race of {{Physical God}}s who most certainly ''[[GodIsGood didn't]]'' intend to make the Serpents, so this is a legitimate question), the response is always a whispered "''You'' did". Thankfully, they have good counterparts who are just as eternal.
140* Mr. Scratch from ''Literature/TheDevilAndDanielWebster'' gives a tirade about it when Daniel Webster questions his claim of being an American.
141-->'''Webster:''' Well, I never heard the dev-- of ''you'' claiming American citizenship.\
142'''Mr. Scratch:''' And who with better right? When the first wrong was done to the first Indian, I was there. When the first slaver put out for the Congo, I stood on the deck. Am I not spoken of, still, in every church in New England? 'Tis true, the North claims me for a Southerner, and the South for a Northerner, but I am neither. To tell the truth, Mr. Webster, though I don't like to boast of it, my name is older in the country than yours.
143* In the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' series, there is a figure called the Great Enchanter who is trying to bring about the end of the world. There is always a Great Enchanter trying to bring about the end of the world; it's not always the same person, but when one Great Enchanter is incapacitated, another always appears to take his (or her) place. When Isidore Persano went mad in 1903 after his scheme was foiled, somewhere in Europe Colonel Zenf began his rise to power. When the heroes captured Zenf in 1932, they stuck him in an ExtranormalPrison instead of killing him, in the hope that as long as he was alive and sane his successor would not appear. It worked, but when he died in 1961 his successor appeared the very same day and began making up for lost time.
144* The Gloamglozer gets one of these against Quint in ''Literature/TheEdgeChronicles'':
145-->'''The Gloamglozer''': "So long as the strong pick on the weak, so long as fear is valued above tenderness, so long as hatred, envy, and mistrust divide the various creatures of the Edge, then I am indestructible!"
146* ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': The Transient Beings. They're all abstract concepts, thoughts, ideals, dreams and beliefs given form and substance in the world of men, and cannot be permanently destroyed. The Demon Prince, who serves as the main antagonist in the first and last stories, is the personification of corruption and darkness.
147* Death in ''Literature/GoodOmens'' makes this sort of a speech after the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been defeated. He claims to be necessary for ''reality''. War, Famine, and Pollution (Pestilence quit around the time penicillin was discovered) are all creations of human beings, and as such will come back soon, but he's been around long before any of them, and can't be destroyed at all. He’s only defeated because he departs of his own accord, as the apocalypse being derailed means he’s no longer obligated to play his part in it.
148* ''Literature/TheHalfMadeWorld'': As long as there is hatred and murder, there will be a Gun. As long as there’s a single drop of oil to be had, the Line will live on. These mystical factions are thus stuck in [[ForeverWar eternal warfare]], neither side ever truly winning. Or at least, that’s the way they tell everyone it is; [[spoiler:it’s increasingly implied that things used to be very different, and by the time of second book, the system is clearly starting to break down. A weapon that can permanently kill Guns and Engines is recovered, the Red Valley Republic is recovering, and the Line is collapsing station by station, [[JustBeforeTheEnd with the strong implication that the reign of Gun and Line is nearing an end]]. It is further implied that they only can exist in the west and that the more "made" the half-made world gets, the less power they get.]]
149* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': The ''Literature/DarthBane'' trilogy examines things from the Sith's perspective. The third book strongly implies that the galaxy ''needs'' evil monsters like the Sith in it because otherwise the Jedi Order becomes stagnant and corrupt without having any Sith to fight. The Jedi lose their sense of right and wrong, which results in them doing what is politically expedient and not disturbing any peace as opposed to doing what is right. Everyone else takes on an "ItsAllAboutMe" mentality, which results in them doing what benefits them as opposed to doing what is right. The Sith bring about change, because nothing holds them back. They take the "It's all about me" mentality to its logical conclusion. They are the ones who exist to show everyone that they need standards, and that there has to be a sense of right and wrong that applies to as many people as possible and not just a different sense of right and wrong for each person.
150* In ''Literature/ThoseThatWake''[='=]s sequel, the Librarian points out that hopelessness, while greatly reduced, is still around. They removed the symptom, not the disease itself.
151* WordOfGod has already confirmed that the Dark One won't be destroyed at the end of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' -- indeed, he ''can't'' be destroyed. [[spoiler:The last book proves that the Dark One, personification of evil that it is, does provide something essential for human beings to be human. Rand sees a vision of a world where he did kill it, and it's a world where everyone is [[SickeninglySweet sappily happy]] all the time ''because they don't have the option of being anything else''. Though Rand could kill the Dark One, he ends up sparing (and resealing it) instead as a result.]]
152* ''Literature/TolkiensLegendarium'':
153** Morgoth. He actually reconfigured the world by inserting a piece of himself, and his influence is compared to Sauron's influence on the One Ring. Just as Sauron will never die as long as the ring exists, Morgoth will never die as long as the world exists. As put in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'':
154--->''Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days.''
155** This is a running theme in the Legendarium. As long as darkness persists in the hearts of men, evil "will ever take another shape and grow again." Yet only Men, with their Gift of Freedom and power to write their own destinies, have any hope of finally redeeming Middle-earth.
156[[/folder]]
157
158[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
159* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
160** The First is the first evil to ever be, and will live as long as evil itself does.
161** Likewise, Wolfram & Hart in ''Series/{{Angel}}'', as described on the Quotes page. According to Illyria, they existed in her time as well but were weak then, and as such might be technically destructible entities that simply draw power from humanity's evil rather than being created by it. Even if the "Senior Partners" were killed, it's likely that Wolfram & Hart ''as an organization'' would continue to operate.
162* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[{{Satan}} The Beast]] in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E9TheSatanPit "The Satan Pit"]]:
163-->"'''I WILL NEVER DIE!!! THE THOUGHT OF ME IS FOREVER, IN THE BLEEDING HEARTS OF MEN, IN THEIR VANITY AND OBSESSIONS AND LUST!!! NOTHING SHALL EVER DESTROY ME!!! ''NOTHING''!!!'''"
164** [[spoiler:Shortly after this, he gets tossed into a black hole by Rose. It is unclear whether this destroys him, or merely [[SealedEvilInACan seals him away]].]]
165* In ''Series/{{Garo}}'', the monsters are "horrors", creatures born from the darkness in men's souls. Since there will always be darkness in Man, there will always be horrors, and therefore there must always be Makai Knights to fight them.
166* In ''Franchise/KamenRider'', the [[BigBad Great Leader]] is implied to be the AnthropomorphicPersonification of human evil, and thus no matter how many times he's killed, he'll always somehow return in a different form so long as it exists. Case in point, nearly every Showa Era Rider has killed him at least once, and a large number of Heisei Riders as well but he always comes back somehow. Ironically, it's implied that the Riders are a positive version of this trope: as long as there is evil, a Rider will appear to stop it.
167** In the ''Series/KamenRiderOutsiders'' crossover anthology, an artificial intelligence called [[KnightTemplar Zein]] is seeking to deconstruct this trope. Giving villains like Gai Amatsu, Ark, and Foundation X a very good reason to worry about Zein's presence as it wants nothing more but to bring [[WorldOfSilence eternal peace, harmony]], and [[OrderIsNotGood order]] to the world, even if it means [[HobbesWasRight subjugating mankind to pacify their worst impulses]] because of their [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters capacity for evil]]. Gai feared that a world without evil would mean humanity will be at the brink of stagnation because of the absence of something to struggle against, in that there is always a BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil among Kamen Riders, and taking "evil" out of the equation may lead to something far worse.
168* Chaotica, villain of the Captain Proton holodeck "show" in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', claimed this when he was defeated and killed. The character was basically a love letter to over-the-top villain tropes, so this isn't surprising.
169* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S4E4HesAlive He's Alive]]", a young American fascist is guided by the ghost of UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. As part of the usual end-of-episode narration, Creator/RodSerling states that he will continue to exist as long as ''hate'' exists. It's also implied throughout that the phantom Hitler isn't as much a ghost of the historical person, as he is a form taken by Evil itself.
170* In ''Series/TwinPeaks'', Albert invokes this trope in a monologue he gives shortly after the initial defeat of the series' BigBad BOB. Since it's established earlier that emotions like fear are BOB's "children" and that he is [[OlderThanTheyLook far older than he appears]], and [[Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe the movie]] suggests he feeds off of pain and suffering, it's probably safe to read BOB less as a person and more as the AnthropomorphicPersonification of rape, madness, and savagery.
171* ''Series/UltramanAce'''s main antagonist Yapool in modern incarnations (such as ''Series/UltramanMebius'') has this. He's been stopped or seemingly killed 3 times over the series. How long it takes him to recover each time he's been seemingly killed varies from a few months to almost 20 years. He also has a dark case of PurposeDrivenImmortality; as long as the Ultras are around, his grudge against them will not cease, and it is this grudge that has rendered him essentially immortal.
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Music]]
175* Variation: the Music/BackstreetBoys' song "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" claims "As long as there be music we'll be coming back again." Appropriately, the video portrays them as the monsters from classic horror movies.
176%%Don't insert your opinion of the band here. That would be natter.
177* Music/{{Voltaire}}'s song "When You're Evil":
178--> ''While there's children to make sad,''\
179''While there's candy to be had,''\
180''While there's pockets left to pick,''\
181''While there's grannies left to trip down the stairs,''\
182''I'll be there; I'll be waiting round the corner''
183* While being burned in a coffin, the protagonist of Music/KingDiamond's ''Conspiracy'' makes a dying promise:
184-->''Whenever the dark is near, I will return from the grave to haunt you...''
185[[/folder]]
186
187[[folder:Myths and Religions]]
188* The [[UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}} Buddhist]] bodhisattva Ksitigarbha (also known as Dizang Buddha or "Buddha in Hell") provides an interesting variation. He has taken a pledge to bring light to all beings everywhere and walks through Hell to save the souls of the evil beings trapped there. As long as there is any evil to be redeemed, he will continue his work.
189[[/folder]]
190
191[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
192* The various Warp-entities in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are formed from the thoughts and desires and emotions of living creatures in the Materium, or the "real" world.
193** Since these daemons are formed of pure thought and emotion, they cannot be truly killed, and instead only banished back to the warp. There are a few exceptions to this: a powerful enough mystical attack capable of shredding them into their component bits of [[OurSoulsAreDifferent soulstuff]] [[note]]Gregor Eisenhorn manages this against a daemonhost in the second volume of his trilogy.[[/note]] or the [[AntiMagic anti-psyker]] abilities of a powerful enough souless Blank which can deal permanent harm to the entirely warp-based form of a daemon.
194** The Chaos Gods are extremely powerful warp-entities who feed off of the various emotions of humans and other living beings -- but it's not just the negative ones. Hope powers Tzeentch, god of change; bravery for Khorne, god of war and violence; love for Slaanesh, god of pleasure; and endurance for Nurgle, god of disease and pestilence. [[GodNeedsPrayerBadly Direct Worship provides a pretty large boost in power but is not necessary]] -- The Warp was far less turbulent during the Horus Heresy when the majority of humanity genuinely scared the Chaos gods. The Chaos gods nevertheless have difficulty manifesting in the physical universe, requiring the use of demons and cultists to spread their will. However, we are repeatedly told the physical universe is ''not'' the main concern of the Chaos gods. They are far more concerned with their war against ''each other'' and their power in the Warp than anything going on in the material realm.
195** The Necrons (Undead Robots in Space) have a {{plan}} here. If the existence of the chaos gods is perpetuated by all of the hopes, dreams, desires, and everything that makes sentient life sentient, the logical method for the removal of the threat of Chaos is to simply exterminate all life everywhere. For obvious reasons, the other races aren't too keen on this plan, but at least they have one. Then again, they also serve the C'tan (Star Gods), who want to ''eat'' sentient life or their souls or their LifeEnergy which can't happen if all life everywhere is exterminated. It's complicated.
196*** After the 5th Edition retcon to the Necrons, the C'tan were revealed to have been shattered to pieces used as energy sources or weapons of war by the Necrons. Those Necrons who still worship them were damaged in their 60 million year stasis (incidentally the first group to wake up, handily explaining the 4th Edition fluff) and believed that they were still in the War in Heaven or are enthralled by individual shards that managed to put themselves back together to gain a fraction of the power they once had. Some Necrons want to reconquer their old empire, others want to still kill everything, but out of sheer hatred rather than to make the Warp lose all its power.
197* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''. Some of TheUndead (actual undead this time) also have a plan which is essentially the reverse of the C'tan's idea. They intend to convert all mortals into undead, thus starving Chaos of emotions to feed upon.
198* The Rakshasa demons in the ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' campaign setting of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' are like this. It has been canonically stated that as soon as one is killed, a new Rakshasa springs into existence somewhere else.
199* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': As long as someone knows one of their Charms, a Primordial can never be annihilated, for a Primordial is the totality of their Charms. In fact, it's possible that Primordials can't cease to exist unless Creation itself ceases to exist, as the [[OmnicidalManiac Neverborn]] can attest.
200* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has the Book of Vile Darkness work like this in 5th Edition. Literally, As Long As There Is Evil somewhere, anywhere, in the entirety of the multiverse, the book cannot be permanently destroyed [[note]]It can be temporarily destroyed, but always reforms[[/note]]. Should all evil cease to exist in the multiverse, the book spontaneously combusts. Also, while pages can be torn from the book, the dark lore on them always finds its way back into it, usually when someone adds new pages to it.
201* ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen'': [[spoiler:The Lonely, a collection of unaffiliated loners and incels who are organized through the internet by a mysterious figure known as "[=CptnSnshn=]" (Captain Sunshine), who find lonely people through the internet and reinforce and amplify their loneliness and resentment to the point they are corrupted into disappearing out of existance or becoming SpreeKiller. [=CptnSnshn=] and the Lonely can be temporarily beaten, as the connection to Carcosa and Hastur can be severed, but not truly defeated, because in the end there will always be lonely people. Someday, when humanity is nothing but a distant memory of space-time, there will be lonely cockroaches. And there too will be [=CptnSnshn=]]].
202[[/folder]]
203
204[[folder:Video Games]]
205* In ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', the main boss of the Fear Chaser event is a gigantic entity called FEAR, who, as his name suggests, is a personification of fear. The reason he exists is because fear is a part of life. From the dialogues gathered in the cutscenes before and after defeating him, he will always exist because most people need fear for said reason.
206-->'''FEAR''': From the first moment the first creature appeared, it was afraid. Afraid of the unknown, afraid of starving... afraid of dying. '''''Life IS fear.''''' Fear can swallow even the bravest of heroes. Even the mighty Fear Chaser knows she can never truly destroy me.
207* In the survival horror game ''VideoGame/AlanWake'', the main villain, Barbara Jagger, says "I will find a new face to wear, new bones to set me free!"... right before you destroy it by sticking a lightswitch into its chest. At the end it shows that the dark presence DID find a new face to wear; Agent Nightingale's face.
208* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Bionicle}} Mata Nui Online Game]]'', according to him at least, Makuta is the essence of destruction, and that he is inside anyone, no matter how innocent, as long as they have the capability of destruction. Oddly enough, he never says evil; he instead says that he is destruction. He also says he cannot be destroyed because he is destruction, and he is nothingness.
209--> "You cannot destroy me. For I am Nothing."
210* Deathevan, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'', feeds off of the darkness in human souls. In the end, it is explicitly stated that this means Deathevan can never truly be killed, and so protagonist Ryu decides to transform into a dragon and seal the gate to the underworld in the hopes of thwarting his inevitable emergence. [[MultipleEndings Depending on whether or not certain conditions are fulfilled]], Ryu will either do so, much to everyone's dismay, or his father Ganer will crash the flying Township down on the gate, sealing it permanently, after which he delivers a speech telling Ryu that if he can eliminate hate and despair from the world, Deathevan will never be able to return.
211* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''
212** {{Dracula}} constantly gives this speech in every game he appears in; however, he implies he's tired of his role in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]''. This weariness is what leads to his (as of yet undepicted) final defeat in 1999.
213** The BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil is having a hard time finding someone as evil as he was, and tries to recruit his {{Reincarnation}} in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow''. If Soma rejects his previous life, then Alucard muses that while an Evil King may be inevitable, free will means that it doesn't have to be one particular person.
214*** Because of that, Soma keeps getting roped into playing "Whack-a-Mole" with all the wanna-be candidates for Dracula's old position. Since he's the prime candidate, they all want to kill him to prove how bad they are.
215** In ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia Order of Ecclesia]]'', [[spoiler:[[TreacherousAdvisor Barlowe]]]]'s true goal is to use Dominus in order to bring back Dracula, since he "reasons" that because he keeps coming back, that is mankind's true dream.
216* In ''VideoGame/CaveStory'', the [[ArtifactOfDoom Demon Crown]] will always reform itself no matter how many times it's destroyed. If you take out [[TrueFinalBoss the source of its power]] then this is not the case.
217* In ''[[VideoGame/CityOfHeroes City of Villains]]'', spirits must be anchored to a person to remain in the physical world. Except for Ghost Widow, who is bound not to a single person, but the very concept of the Arachnos organization, and will continue to exist as a villain so long as there's even a single person identifying themselves as an Arachnos.
218* The Dark Genie in ''VideoGame/DarkCloud''. It flat out tells you it has no physical form, and that its defeat means nothing, as it will always be brought into existence so long as there is hate. Because it exists outside of time, it [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble will have always been going to be created]].
219* A small-scale example in an already CrapsackWorld of ''VideoGame/DarkSun: Wake of the Ravager''. As long as somebody keeps fighting with a very useful vampiric sword El's Drinker, the ghost of El gets stronger and will live again someday. You are given an option to [[HeelFaceTurn reforge]] this sword.
220* All three games in the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' series end up revealing that Angels and Demons have fought each other since the beginning of time. However, things changed when a number of individuals on both sides got tired of the conflict and created Sanctuary and Nephalem, and humans are descended from them. Then you have both sides trying to figure out what to do with this third group, since they have the potential to be more powerful than both sides, actually possess free will, and they are ImmuneToFate. In fact, ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' shows that demons can come back from being killed, even if it takes 20 years for them to do so. The game then attempts to avert this trope with the Black Soulstone which can theoretically bind the Prime and Lesser evils permanently so they can never be free, until Malthael destroys it and they return to the Hells.
221* The Grey Wardens managed to find [[HeroicSacrifice a way]] around this during the First Blight in the backstory of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', but if you don't have a Grey Warden handy, then you can never actually kill an Archdemon.
222** Knight-Commander Meredith uses this line as justification for her stonewalling the election of a new viscount at the opening scene in Act III of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''.
223* Subverted in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'' when you finally defeat Calasmos, the game's true final villain, he gives a speech about how he can never truly die because light needs darkness to exist. Moments later, the full effect of his defeat takes hold, and his body is overwhelmed with light until he finally explodes from the inside and is completely annhilated. The fact that he is absolutely horrified as this occurs makes it clear that he's realizing he was wrong: despite his boasts [[KilledOffForReal he won't be coming back]] from this.
224* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, this is the case for the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]]. Most are treated as "evil" by the general populace in-universe and, though they've been [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu battered, beaten, defeated]] and even [[HijackingCthulhu fundamentally changed]], nothing in the setting has ever been able to ''[[CompleteImmortality actually kill]]'' a Prince. Since they are [[AnthropomorphicPersonification manifestations of the primal forces of reality]], they will always exist for as long as existence itself. Even when they [[GodInHumanForm take an avatar form]] and that avatar is vanquished, they are simply banished back to Oblivion to reform.
225* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': The dragon Fafnir keeps coming back from the dead because he exists as long as human greed exists. The heroes get used to this and just keep killing him every time he shows up.
226* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
227** The trope name comes from the dying speech of Zeromus in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': "As long as there is evil in the hearts of men I will continue..." He makes good on this promise in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears''.
228** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', the Yevon religion tells the people of Spira that Sin was created as punishment for wrongs done by people a thousand years ago. Until they completely repent for everything they've done wrong, Sin will eventually return after every defeat and cause more suffering. [[spoiler:Subverted in that this is all a lie and Spira is doomed to an endless cycle of Calm and rebirth of Sin as far as the higher ups are concerned. The only known method of killing it requires the summoner to [[SenselessSacrifice sacrifice a close friend and cause said friend to become a summoned beast powerful enough to kill it, but the summoned beast will kill the summoner and eventually become the next Sin. In other words, it is summoned beasts that guarantee Sin's existence, but summoned beasts are composed of pyre flies and the Fayth; souls.]]]]
229* ''Franchise/FireEmblem''
230** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'', the dragon Medeus claims he gains strength from the evil in mankind when Marth defeats him.
231** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', Julius, aka the human vessel of Earth Dragon Loptous, spouts basically the same speech to Seliph if he's the one who defeats him ("As long as greed exists in men's hearts, I will return!"). It's no coincidence, as per AllThereInTheManual, Jugdral and Archanea share the same universe, and Galle, Julius's ancestor, during his long travels around the world, happened to visit Archanea and formed a pact with Loptous, an evil member of the Dragon Tribe, by drinking his blood.
232** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'', King Zephiel's plot to restore dragons to power is borne of a belief that mankind, ruled by irrational emotion, is prone to evil action. With his dying breath, he insists that evil will never die, as long as humans rule the land.
233* The BigBad of the ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' series claimed that "It was human greediness that spawned me. So long as you exist, so shall I." Exactly what Bacterion meant by that is a matter of debate among fans: was he some kind of embodiment of human evil that was being literal, a creature created by an unknown group of humans in a mad desire for power, or a powerful alien lifeform just trying to mess with the hero's head?
234* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
235** They may have given a separate trope its name, but TheHeartless count for this trope too. Yen Sid says it himself: so long as darkness exists in people's hearts, the Heartless will continue to spawn. They've been reduced to more of a nuisance due to the events of the first game, but they still have the potential to rise.
236** Inverted in [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI the first game]]; Sora states that even the greatest Darkness had to contain a spark of light that could never be extinguished. So, As Long as There Is Evil, there is Good.
237** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'': At the end of Riku's story, Ansem states that he can return using his darkness that he gave to Riku. In the final battle in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', he's proven right.
238* Hinted at in the ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' manuals and ''Literature/TheKingsQuestCompanion'' as to why misfortunes seem to target [[BadassFamily Daventry's royal house]]. The FanSequel ''VideoGame/TheSilverLining'' states this ''explicitly.''
239* Jolee Bindo from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and Kreia from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' both lampshade this by pointing out that no matter what happens, the Sith and Jedi will always return from the brink of extinction and fight each other into near-oblivion.
240* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' reveals why Hyrule and the rest of the world is ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda still]]'' plagued by evil after thousands of years. Following his defeat at the hands of Link, Demise informs the hero that the hatred of him and the entire demon race he spawned will always evolve, and that [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf an incarnation of that hatred]] shall haunt not only the gods and mortals alike for all eternity, but curse those with the "spirit of the hero" and Zelda's divine blood to "wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time".
241* In the ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet 2'' story mode, right before you fight the final battle against the Negativitron, he states one of these.
242-->'''Negativitron''': "You can never truly defeat me! I am in all of you... I AM all of you!"
243* Hearkening back to the Zeromus speech, we have Odio's speech at the end of ''VideoGame/LiveALive''. As the heroes kill off his various incarnations throughout the time stream, he asks why he can never win, as his reason for becoming Odio to begin with was that he had lost everything, and wanted [[HumansAreMorons stupid humans]] to know his pain and see the error in [[HoldingOutForAHero waiting for heroes to fix everything]]. The chapter's main character informs him that he lost because he gave up his humanity and hated humans, even though he was originally a human himself. Coming to his senses, he delivers a stern warning to the main characters before dying:
244-->"In every heart the seed of dark abides. The makings of a Lord when watered well... With hate. Sweet hate. She springs eternal. Sings... All-tempting draught. We'll drink of her again."
245** He also gives a longer speech ''before'' the final BossRush:
246--->'''Odio:''' For even should I falter here and now... My hate! My boundless hate shall transcend time! Hark! Look you now on hatred's multitude -- on Odio, and his many faces! You know them well. From [[TerrifyingTyrannosaur ancient past, the beast]]! From distant future, [[AIIsACrapshoot maddened slave of men]]! In peace they [[AssimilationPlot plot and craft their prophet false]]... In war they worship [[VisionaryVillain lords ambitious, cruel]]! The windswept wastes yield [[VengefulGhost monstrous men-at-arms]]! The highest peaks hide [[ArrogantKungFuGuy villains murderous]]! For [[BloodKnight violence shall ever be your wont]]! My hate is yours, and yours is mine. To share, a history, so long as men yet live! Now [[SayMyName sing our name]]! Embrace us! '''Odio!'''
247** [[MeaningfulName "Odio" is Latin for "Hate", and appears in various romance languages with a similar meaning.]]
248%%%%% "is a textbook example of this trope." is not context.
249%%%%* Zophar in ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue''
250* Defied in the flash game ''Malapa's Challenge'', where two different villains start to give this speech... then are banished from our reality anyway. Apparently, having a direct line to cosmic forces won't stop someone from punching you out if they try hard enough.
251** The speeches were slightly more inspired by HumansAreTheRealMonsters than As Long as There Is Evil; since they view humans primarily as evil in nature, the dark gods feel that they will always have a leg up when dealing with mankind. (As they are immortal, there will always be evil, but that also means that there will always be good as well.) It was also to try to instill into the main character that he was alone in the fight, since there were hordes of monsters and a bunch of bosses, yet not another light god would bother to fight along side him. Once more, this was a subversion as well, since there are two instances of light gods intervening after boss fights, one actually interrupting the "You are completely alone" speech; even Zeus has to give him a speech about how he is not alone at the end of the game. Needless to say, many things that the dark gods told Malapa were [[MindScrew Mind Screws]] that were going to be explored in the later games, as well as why some of the gods were acting very out of character. (Too bad they never happened...)
252* Parodied and lampshaded in ''VideoGame/ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis'' as the motive for Flay's so-called StartOfDarkness. Don't worry, he was just a LargeHam.
253* In ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'', Wizeman makes this claim in the "regular" endings.
254-->'''Wizeman''': I am the creator of Nightmare... As long as darkness exists in the hearts of humans, then I, and the nightmares, will never be destroyed...
255** In the special ending (where he ''doesn't'' say this), it takes a HeroicSacrifice on the part of Nights to finish him off. As it's implied that Nights is still alive, it's possible that Wizeman is NotQuiteDead.
256* The first ''VideoGame/{{Myth}}'' game invokes this to make the ending ''less'' bittersweet. Over the course of the game, it is revealed that the world's history is cyclical. After a thousand years, a malevolent, transient Divinity called The Leveler will arise and wage war on all civilization, eventually destroying it and plunging the world into a Dark Age for a thousand years. At the end of this period, a hero will arise, defeat The Leveler, and usher in a Golden Age that lasts for another thousand years -- at which point the Leveler returns to start the cycle anew. The reason this makes the first game's ending bittersweet is that the mortal Legion is destroyed and their cities have fallen, but their hero, Alric, breaks the cycle by casting the Leveler's vessel into [[ForgottenSuperweapon the Great Devoid]].
257** ''Myth II'' affirms that the cycle has been broken, being set roughly 60 years later and showing that [[DragonAscendant Soulblighter]] has been left with a world that has recovered enough to be worth conquering. He doesn't win, and the final narration contemptuously declared that this is because he was ''not'' the Leveler. This makes ''Myth III'', a prequel, that much more bittersweet.
258* Vide from ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'' tells the protagonists that he is eternal after his defeat, before he disappears. It's unknown yet if he'll return in someway.
259* In ''VideoGame/{{Oninaki}}'', even the happiest ending is a BittersweetEnding in part due to this, as [[spoiler:even after defeating the Oni--the manifestation of humanity's despair and regrets--it will arise again as long as humans can't figure out how to cope with their negativity]].
260* Gnarl, of ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'', seems to believe that no matter what happens, there will always be someone to take up the mantle of EvilOverlord, thus restoring evil to the world. The games support his point, as each one begins with the forces of 'Good' in control. However, since after enough time 'Good' becomes worse than 'Evil' in this world, due to it being a CrapsackWorld, this isn't as bad as other examples.
261* This trope seems to be a recurring theme of the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series:
262** Nyarlathotep in ''VideoGame/Persona2'' is the embodiment of humanity's self-destructive impulses. Even when he's well and truly defeated at the end of ''Eternal Punishment'', it's stated that he is an aspect of humanity, and therefore cannot be completely destroyed and may return someday.
263** Nyx from ''VideoGame/Persona3'' is the AnthropomorphicPersonification of death and therefore cannot die -- the heroes are forced to [[SealedEvilInACan seal it away again]] to keep it from destroying the world, knowing full well it may return later if any more meddling {{Straw Nihilist}}s come along and try to re-summon it. In ''The Answer'', the new chapter for ''Persona 3: FES'', it's revealed that the seal isn't to protect mankind from Nyx, but to protect Nyx from Erebus, the Shadow borne out of humanity's longing for death -- she truly doesn't wish to destroy the world, and is happy when the heroes defeated her in ''The Journey'' (the original storyline), but as long as humanity desires death, Erebus will exist forever.
264** Ameno-Sagiri and Izanami in ''VideoGame/Persona4''... but played with for Izanami, as she promises to leave humanity alone, having completed her 'experiment'; she just can't promise that humanity won't try to deceive itself again, which could re-summon her.
265* Dark Force from the ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' franchise is an anthropomorphic personification of pure hatred. Interestingly, Dark Force itself is just an avatar of the true source of evil in the ''PS'' universe, the Profound Darkness. The Profound Darkness is such an ''immense'' wellspring of evil that its [[SealedEvilInACan seal]] is an actual '''solar system'''. Every one thousand years, the seal would weaken, allowing Dark Force to manifest and spread his influence around Algol, until it's finally defeated for good in ''PSIV'''s conclusion.
266* ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'' features [[spoiler:BigBad Dark Matter, an entity [[MadeOfEvil made of all the negative emotions to have ever existed]] - meaning that it cannot be destroyed unless all negative emotions disappear... [[DefiedTrope or if negative emotions are just accepted as part of everyone]], which essentially works like a BrownNote to it and destroys it for good, which is what ends up happening after practically all life has been petrified]].
267* Gods in ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}'' cannot truly die -- their divine essence will reform them sooner or later into a similar role, due to the fact that, being gods, they're intrinsically bound to the land and its people. Their current personality and name, however, disappear with the current incarnation -- what comes back isn't precisely the entity that disappeared.
268* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei''
269** [[CrystalDragonJesus YHVH]], trademark BigBad of the series, will exist in his current form for eternity as long as at least one human being believes in him as a true god. Since the gods and goddesses are ''supposed'' to reincarnate after a while, this is problematic for the universe at large. WordOfGod is that it's not entirely humanity's fault; YHVH being a warped despot is a symptom of something seriously wrong with the fabric of the universe.
270** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', this explains the EternalRecurrence of the war between YHVH and Lucifer:
271*** In the "Ancient One of the Sun" DLC, you destroy one of his avatars, the Ancient of Days. Upon its death, YHVH speaks as a disembodied voice, and confirms this is the case for him with this quote:
272---->'''YHVH''': Death shall not take me. My existence is eternal... I have lost but one of my forms... Such trifles will not sway the fate of this world from its course.
273*** Likewise, the White constantly remind TheHero that as long as Humanity despairs over its role in the OrderVersusChaos ForeverWar, they shall never fade.
274*** In the Neutral route, Lucifer reveals that as long as humanity cannot live without repressing their desires, he will return.
275*** Even the representative deity and BigGood of the Neutral route admits that what he's doing -- [[spoiler:lifting the layer of bedrock that's kept Tokyo in a state of altered time flow after the angels and demons are driven out of the place]] -- is at best a temporary solution and that God and Lucifer will eventually resume warring with each other.
276** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'', the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Schwarzwelt]] is an ever-expanding dimensional distortion that disintegrates everything in its path, as Mother Earth's respose to civilization hitting a peak of corruption, exploitation of the environment, consummerism, violence, and self-destruction. In fact, we're told that this is not the first time civilization was wiped clean by the Schwarzwelt. While various factions in the Law and Chaos endings take control of it to reconstruct the world to suit their ends, the Neutral ending destroys the entity behind it and seals it away, with the [[EsotericHappyEnding vague hope that mankind will learn from this close-call with ultimate destruction]]. However, ''Strange Journey [[UpdatedRerelease Redux]]'', states that humanity learned nothing, and the Schwarzwelt will continue to manifest again and again . The New Neutral route ends with the Protagonist becoming an immortal guardian of humanity, observing it from afar, with the sole purpose of stopping the Schwarzwelt every time it opens, and it's heavily implied he'll be at it for all eternity.
277* ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'': In more than one character's story mode, it is revealed that the [[ArtifactOfDoom Skull Heart]] can never truly be destroyed, and will only reform at a later point. At least one fighter isn't fazed by this, though.
278--> '''Skull Heart:''' Every time you destroy this vessel, another will appear. There is no purpose to your actions. I shall always return.\
279'''Big Band:''' ... So what?
280** Black Dahlia ''subverts'' this trope by discovering the one guaranteed method of disconnecting the Skull Heart from its power source of chaos and hatred - by forcing the world, through a selflessly ''[[ForTheEvulz evil]]'' wish, to ''embrace it''. The entire planet is turned into an endless hellscape that even Dahlia can't conquer, permanently enforcing a CrapsackWorld where evil will never be denied or rejected, and the Skull Heart is destroyed forever - along with any hope of wishing the world to a shell of its former self.
281* In ''VideoGame/{{Splatterhouse}} 3'', if you get a [[MultipleEndings bad ending]], the Terror Mask mockingly informs you, "I feed on human suffering. So long as humans feel pain, I will exist!" Get the good ending, and it doesn't get to mock you before dying.
282* [[BigBad Buggler]] gives this speech upon his defeat at the end of ''[[VideoGame/SuperBomberman Super Bomberman R]]''.
283* The ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' BigBad Dark Brain is pretty much stated to be immortal and having unlimited power until all negative emotions in all of existence are removed. Yeah, good luck with that.
284* Julius from ''VideoGame/SwordOfMana'' has a variant which he claims upon death. As long as there is Mana power in the world, he (or rather, Vandole) will always be reborn. The thing is, he destroyed the Mana Tree in order to go OneWingedAngel, so he actually won't be reborn unless the world is so dependent on Mana that the heroes are willing to sacrifice the heroine to make a new one. It is, and they are. What's more, Julius himself ''doesn't believe the world needs Mana'', which [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation might just change the meaning of his last words]] to "I won't come back unless you humans are stupid enough to give me a reason to return", making it a more accurate example of this trope.
285* Schwarz, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', makes this claim because she is a manifestation of entropy.
286-->"If evil disappears, so will the hero. But if evil lives..."
287* In the Japanese computer version of ''VideoGame/{{Valis}} II'', after Cruel King Megas is defeated by Yuko, he vows to return to life and exact his revenge on her "when the human world is filled with hate."
288* Blizzard's other franchise, ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', introduced the Sha. Shadowy beings native to Pandaria, they [[TheHeartless feed on negative emotions]]. Their nature made it impossible to kill the Sha; their physical form can be destroyed, but the Sha itself would eventually reform if it finds a source of negative emotion. However, since [[BigBad Garrosh]] eventually drained all the power of the heart of the EldritchAbomination that created the Sha in the first place, the Sha will eventually cease to exist.
289[[/folder]]
290
291[[folder:Webcomics]]
292* At the conclusion of [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/08/18/interlude-02-nor-does-the-fighter-like-the-ninjas/ Fighter's barely-comprehensible stab]] at creating an issue of ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', the Ninja Boss gives the following speech before he poofs out:
293-->'''Ninja Boss''': Fighter, you have one this battle but there is one rule for the univarse and that rule is that '''there is always more ninja!'''\
294'''Fighter''': Oh yeah sneaky naninja boss? Well I happen to know another rule of the infinite univarse! And that rule is that there is '''always more swords to kill ninjas with!!''' I don't know what that means but it is teh truth!
295* ''Webcomic/{{Killstagram}}'': The second season is about a DeadlyGame involving a phantom killer. Sarang figures out the killer's motive and her own stake in the plot--that the game is for people who committed violence against children and [[spoiler:Sarang had killed her own daughter and forgot]]. After Sarang appeases the phantom and properly atones, she's shocked to learn that the game is starting up again. As long as people abuse children, the game will never stop.
296* Defied in ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'', as the worshipers of fun claim that even with their god dead, they will continue to exist as long as there is injustice and suffering for them to point and laugh at. However, Greir then burns down their temple, which puts a stop to them.
297* To quote the Shadow Child, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Disbelief, from ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'':
298-->Once known, I'm never truly gone - Every grievance invites me back to broken hearts.
299** For the record, he is quite {{affabl|yEvil}}e to the people he "likes" and seems to be aware of the suffering his existence causes. He actually cried while saying the above quote... then turned around and offered a hero to [[MindRape grind the will of his enemies to dust]].
300%%* In ''Webcomic/{{Underling}}'', Satan. Though it's really more of a weakness.
301[[/folder]]
302
303[[folder:Web Original]]
304* Dungeon Master Mark "Sherlock" Hulmes' interpretation of [[EldritchAbomination Hadar, the Dark Hunger]], in the [[Webvideo/HighRollers2016 live-streamed D&D campaign Aerois]]. Hadar is the manifestation of all of the hunger in the universe, and even if he was completely defeated, eventually somebody is going to get hungry again. And when they do, Hadar will return.
305* The article [[https://the-orbit.net/greta/2016/06/27/permanent-struggle-2/ permanent struggle]] by [[TheAntiNihilist Greta Christina]] is a variant. It basically says that all the various injustices and other bad things are in part due to flaws in human nature itself, and thus, as long as humans exist we will have to struggle against them.
306* This is how Cancer survives at the end of ''When the Puppy gets Lucky''. As long as there are cigarette smokers, Chimio will be unable to finally kill it.
307
308[[/folder]]
309
310[[folder:Western Animation]]
311* ''WesternAnimation/{{ThunderCats|1985}}'':
312** "So long as evil exists... Mumm-Ra lives!"
313** The same applies for the "Ancient Spirits of Evil" that he works for and invokes for his ByThePowerOfGrayskull
314* Unicron in ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''. It's outright stated in ''Anime/TransformersArmada'' that he'll exist as long as hate exists (and the Autobot-Decepticon war is ''mighty'' good eatin'). He doesn't need to eat planets; that's just because of a personal [[OmnicidalManiac vendetta against existence itself]]. It appears on the surface that he's doing all that [[PlanetEater eating]] out of hunger, but no. He just wants to be ''really'' alone, and has the planet-sized balls to ''do'' something about it.
315* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'', throughout the series and especially at the ending. Master Fung always implies that evil is never defeated, but merely changes its path.
316* The ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' episode "Cobra's Creatures". At the end of the episode, the Joes do their usual thing; [[StormingTheCastle storm the castle]], defeat the {{Mook}}s, and capture that episode's villain of the week. In the aftermath of the battle, Scarlet asks if [[BigBad Cobra Commander]] got away. [[MagicalNativeAmerican Spirit]] replies,
317-->'''Spirit:''' Yes, but in a sense it matters little. There will always be evil. And evil men.\
318'''Scarlet:''' Yeah. Good thing there'll always be us Joes.
319* Discussed in ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries''. Beast ponders whether or not Apocalypse, as a personification of evil, can truly be destroyed or if a new evil will simply take Apocalypse's place. Cable replies that he doesn't care. Apocalypse himself also comes to the realization that while he can never be defeated, [[EvilWillFail he is also fated to never win and destroy the human race]]. Thus, he attempts to [[TimeCrash undo Time itself]] and [[InTheirOwnImage create a new universe in his image]]. It ''seems'' that he's KilledOffForReal when his Lazarus Chamber is destroyed in Ancient Egypt and he gets willed out of existence by the collective power of the psychics within the Axis of Time, but in a later episode it's revealed that he was really just banished to the Astral Plane, a featureless dimension. When Fabian Cortez tries to revive him, Beast expresses disbelief, but Cortez confirms that Apocalypse's essence can never truly be destroyed.
320* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' states that the universal balance means there will always be a great evil and destroying one only brings about another. The best you can hope for is SealedEvilInACan.
321* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Hawk and Dove", though the heroes foil Ares's evil scheme to use a golem fueled by ThePowerOfHate in a war, he points out that "as long as there is prejudice, ignorance, inequality, [he'll] be there."
322-->'''Wonder Woman:''' [[{{Determinator}} And we'll be waiting]].
323* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian'' with the king and queen, who are absent because they've vowed to destroy all the evil in the world. It even got to the point once where they actually ''did'' destroy all the world's evil, only for a new evil to pop up in the first place they fought. So, they had to start their trip all over again.
324* [[BigBad The Overlord]] in {{WesternAnimation/Ninjago}} is an example, coming back after a defeat not once, not twice, but three times, as his existence is tied to the balance of creation and destruction, so he will never be truly destroyed.
325[[/folder]]

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