'''Basic Trope''': Good guy uses TheDarkSide for good ends, SlowlySlippingIntoEvil without realizing it.
* '''Straight''': TheHighQueen Alice uses the ArtifactOfDoom to defeat the BlackKnight Bob, who was threatening to destroy her kingdom of Troperia. As time goes on, she starts using the ArtifactOfDoom less and less to defeat genuine threats to Troperia's stability and more and more to cement her own rule, until she becomes a [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen ruthless tyrant]] whose rule is worse for Troperia than Bob's depredations ever were.
* '''Exaggerated''': Alice strikes down Bob the BlackKnight with the ArtifactOfDoom, but unbeknownst to her, YouKillItYouBoughtIt is in effect, so Alice immediately becomes the new BlackKnight, with exactly the same goals and personality as Bob had.
* '''Downplayed''': Alice's justice becomes harsher and she's more of a jerk in her personal life, but she remains a fair ruler.
* '''Justified''':
** The ArtifactOfDoom is a {{curse}}d weapon that [[InstantAllegianceArtifact corrupts all who wield it]].
** The ArtifactOfDoom's powers lend themselves ''very'' well to BadPowersBadPeople- i.e. 'you can kill anyone you fight, but you ''cannot'' defeat them nonlethally'. Using these powers at all means that Alice has to accept being ruthless, and WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer
** The ArtifactOfDoom functions as a FantasticDrug. Even using it once risks [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil addiction]], and addicts will do anything to feel the PowerHigh they get again, even killing innocents if that's the only thing available.
** The ArtifactOfDoom [[SentientPhlebotinum is sapient]] and deliberately molding Alice into a tool for its own evil purposes.
* '''Inverted''':
** Alice uses the ArtifactOfDoom to defeat Bob, but the horrific effects cause her to think MyGodWhatHaveIDone, and she uses it less and less until finally she gets rid of it and becomes TheFettered, unwilling to use its power for even the most extreme emergencies.
** BlackKnight Bob defeats Alice and uses her [[WhiteMagic Crown of Renewal]] for his own selfish purposes. However, the good side effects and consequent GoodFeelsGood cause Bob to have a gradual HeelFaceTurn.
* '''Subverted''':
** Alice uses the ArtifactOfDoom to defeat Bob, but then returns it to its [[SealedEvilInACan can]] and rules Troperia as normal...
** The ArtifactOfDoom itself isn't corrupting but flaws within the wielder.
* '''Double Subverted''':
** ... Until another villain passes the GodzillaThreshold. And then comes Charlie, who isn't ''quite'' as dangerous, but Alice still isn't sure she could win without using the ArtifactOfDoom. And then Diana, who could possibly be redeemed, but the destruction she'd wreak if the HeelFaceTurn failed would be just too much to risk. And then comes Evan, who's not ''that'' bad, but his attempted revolution against Alice would destabilize Troperia, and he's too strong for her to stand up against without the ArtifactOfDoom. This goes on until Alice is a full-on BloodKnight who uses the ArtifactOfDoom on anyone who complains about her because they're a potential threat.
** Alternatively: Alice only gets to use the ArtifactOfDeath once before it's destroyed, but it doesn't matter. The artifact wasn't inherently corrupting beyond being easy to use for evil things, but the fact that Alice even thought of using it in the first place was a sign of her growing KnightTemplar nature.
** Sure, the ArtifactOfDoom has no magical corrupting properties, but its powers are designed for ''psychological'' corruption- they present a temptation to take the easy-but-evil way out and play on the wielder's worst flaws (say, someone with anger issues finds that they gain the most power in the heat of rage, and a proud person has powers that encourage putting themselves in the spotlight) and help them fulfill their most damaging desires. You're not automatically evil the instant you pick the thing up, but it sets up the circumstances for JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope without the wielder noticing.
* '''Parodied''': When Alice uses the Artifact of Doom, it starts the "Dark force" background music. When she uses it to kill, a mailman delivers her a greeting card from The Evil Side. Alice wonders if it means anything, before asking her tailors to get her a {{Stripperiffic}} RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver outfit.
* '''Zig Zagged''': Sometimes are means which matter, other times are the ends. Other time is just angst and after a while no one remembers that the protagonist ever did something bad.
* '''Averted''': There is no Dark Side, just [[GreyAndGreyMorality Grey Morality]].
* '''Enforced''': "InvincibleHero is losing popularity. How can we shoehorn some badassery without the audience complaining?" "Cursed pants?"
* '''Lampshaded''':
** "This better not be one of those cursed swords I read about, you know, the kind that make you a bad guy, and stuff."
** "Everything the ArtifactOfDoom is used for turns to evil. Everything it touches is corrupted or destroyed outright. Even if you start out a champion of justice, you will become a tyrant in time."
* '''Invoked''': Emperor Evulz ensured that the ArtifactOfDoom would fall into Alice's hands as part of a complicated scheme to cause enough chaos through her inevitable fall that he will be able to annex the Troperia easily, and no matter how bad he is he's going to be seen as a hero compared to Alice.
* '''Exploited''': Emperor Evulz knows about the ArtifactOfDoom's corrupting nature, so when he hears of Alice's victory against Bob with it, he subtly provokes her to use it more and more until [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen she's evil]], [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating her people hate her]], and she's too unstable to resist his takeover.
* '''Defied''':
** Alice finds the ArtifactOfDoom... and promptly decides that there is absolutely no GodzillaThreshold whatsoever that would justify using anything so evil. She then throws the thing into a volcano.
** Alice uses the ArtifactOfDoom, but makes sure to have ways to pull herself back if she starts going too far.
* '''Discussed''':
** "You used to be such a good queen, but then you picked up the ArtifactOfDoom and now you're a tyrant. You're not 'you' anymore, Alice, and I'm scared that thing is the cause."
** "You used the ArtifactOfDoom in the first place to save your people, Alice. Do you even remember that? Do you have any connection to the hero you once were?"
* '''Conversed''': "Remember in the legends the Blood Warrior of Hellesbe wasn't born that way. He picked up the ArtifactOfDoom and could never see the evil in what he was doing after that."
* '''Deconstructed''': Alice knows the perils of tempting her own dark side, but tries to rationalize it as TheNeedsOfTheMany. In the end she falls for the dark side, but is still considered a hero for sacrificing her morality for the sake of others.
* '''Reconstructed''': But it was a SenselessSacrifice- Diana later finds out a way that could have stopped Bob, but by [[GaveUpTooSoon giving up on her morals too early]], she damned herself to become a worse monster than Bob ever was.
* '''Played For Laughs''': "Can you please put down that ArtifactOfDoom? It causes a aura of doom and despair to hang around you and it's getting super annoying.
* '''Played For Drama''': Charlie knows what happened to Alice and as such is very reluctant to use the ArtifactOfDoom, but it's the only possible way to save his fiancée, Indira the Innocent (and no GaveUpTooSoon here, it really is the only way). Its corrupting effects, however, lead him into greater and greater acts of evil, until he ends up cutting down Indira herself in cold blood, leading to a MyGodWhatHaveIDone realization that [[DrivenToSuicide drives him to suicide]].
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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
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%%* '''Implied''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???