History Main / AsLongAsThereIsEvil

* The Serpents from ''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.

* ''{{Thundercats}}'':

* ''StarWars'': 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. This is really obvious in the ExpandedUniverse, but you can see it a bit in the movies as well.
** The novelization of Episode III 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."

** The ''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 a "It's all about me" 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.

-->'''YHVH''': Death shall not take me. My existence is eternal... I have lost but one of my forms... Such rifles will not sway the fate of this world from its course. The new humanity shall soon make descent upon this land. Genesis... has already begun.

* Alcohol. It seems no matter how severe the punishment or ban, there will always be some sort of demand for the fermented beverage. Best exemplified by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEevbIv0M0g Pruno or prison wine]]. No matter how many times jails tried to eradicate Pruno, prisoners still continue to brew away the crude wine away from the prying eyes of the authorities. It's reached a point that some guards and jailers have simply given up on even trying to stop it. The same can also be said for drugs, prostitution and pretty much anything that offends social sensibilities.

* Alcohol. It seems no matter how severe the punishment or ban, there will always be some sort of demand for the fermented beverage. Best exemplified by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEevbIv0M0g Pruno or prison wine]]. No matter how many times jails tried to eradicate Pruno, prisoners still continue to brew away the crude wine away from the prying eyes of the authorities. It's reached a point that some guards have simply given up on even trying to stop it.

* Randall Flagg in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' and ''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.

* Discussed in ''WesternAnimation/{{X-Men}}''. 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.

* This was the point of a short story where people literally build a gigantic bonfire in the Great Plains and burn everything that they hate or that causes them problems. Satan is watching from the sidelines. TheProtagonist asks him why he's chuckling -- surely this marks a new milestone for mankind -- and Satan answers: "Can you burn your own heart?"

* In ''TwinPeaks'', Albert invokes this trope in a monologue he gives shortly after the initial defeat of the series' BigBad BOB.

* Variation: the Backstreet Boy's song "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" claims "As long as there be music we'll be coming back again."

** 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.

* The Rakshasa demons in the ''{{Eberron}}'' campaign setting are like this. It has been canonically stated that as soon as one is killed, a new Rakshasa springs into existence somewhere else.

* [[CrystalDragonJesus YHWH]], trademark BigBad of the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' 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 god 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.

* In ''{{Berserk}}'', [[GodIsEvil The Idea Of Evil]] was born out of mankind's need for suffering. So long as there is suffering, it will go on and on, and considering [[CrapsackWorld the current state of the world]], it's unlikely it'll disappear anytime soon.

* Invoked in ''WesternAnimation/XMen''. 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.

** In ''Order Of Ecclesia'', [[TreacherousMentor 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.

* ''UltramanAce'' villain Yapool in modern incarnations (such as ''UltramanMebius'') has this. He's been stopped or killed 3 times over the series. How long it takes him to recover each time he's been killed varies from a few months to almost 20 years.

** 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]] [[hottip:*: Gregor Eisenhorn manages this against a daemonhost in the second volume of his trilogy.]] 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.

** [[spoiler: shortly after this, he gets tossed into a black hole by Rose.]]

Compare StayingAlive, where the villain doesn't even die. Compare EmotionEater, which AsLongAsThereIsEvil can be considered a variation of. Contrast AsLongAsThereIsOneMan; the heroic response but without the resurrection. Compare InherentInTheSystem and InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves. Likely a GodOfEvil, MadeOfEvil, or an UltimateEvil. See WeWillMeetAgain for the more prosaic variant. See EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce for the extreme danger a single villain victory poses.

** The speeches were slightly more inspired by HumansAreTheRealMonsters than AsLongAsThereIsEvil; 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 MindScrews that were going to be explored in the latter games, as well as why some of the gods were acting very out of character. (Too bad they never happened...)

** Inverted in the first game; Sora states that even the greatest Darkness had to contain a spark of light that could never be extinguished. So, AsLongAsThereIsEvil, there is Good.

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''

* Invoked in ''WesternAnimation/{{X-Men}}''. 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.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' reveals that it's because of that game's BiggerBad why someone like Ganondorf is always after Link and Zelda.

He also removes himself from the heroes' premises of his own volition; since the end of the world has already effectively been averted at that point he has no incentive to fight anyone.

* 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: Double 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 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.]]

->''"Our firm has always been here. In one form or another. The Inquisition. The Khmer Rouge. We were there when the very first cave man clubbed his neighbor. See, we're in the hearts and minds of every single living being. And '''that''' -- friend -- is what's making things so difficult for you. See, the world doesn't work in spite of evil, Angel. It works with us. It works '''because''' of us."''
--> -- '''Holland Manners''' explaining Wolfram & Hart, ''Series/{{Angel}}''

Evil's answer to AsLongAsThereIsOneMan.

[[DidYouActuallyBelieve Did 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]]. And just [[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.

In essence, the BigBad is TheHeartless for all of mankind. They typically weave the revelation into their FinalSpeech, just before the hero puts them down.

While this usually doesn't mean much from a story standpoint (they're still dead), it can make for a rather BittersweetEnding - the heroes went through all that... and for what? If the heroes are ''really'' unlucky, the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil will demand that ''[[SomeoneHasToDoIt they]]'' [[SomeoneHasToDoIt replace]] the BigBad that they just slew.

For the 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 technically more long-term solution than killing them. Yeah, they can (and probably ''[[CardboardPrison will]]'') escape eventually, but it'll take longer than it would to resurrect them.

This 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]] (like the TropeNamer [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV Zeromus]]), this can be appropriately accompanied with a MadnessMantra and/or BadassBoast.

Compare StayingAlive, where the villain doesn't even die. Compare EmotionEater, which AsLongAsThereIsEvil can be considered a variation of. Contrast AsLongAsThereIsOneMan. Compare InherentInTheSystem and InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves. Likely a GodOfEvil, MadeOfEvil, or an UltimateEvil. See WeWillMeetAgain for the more prosaic variant. See EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce for the extreme danger a single villain victory poses.

* In the anime adaptation of ''ChronoCrusade'' , the Big Bad, 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.
** The anime ending also suggests that he might be TheHeartless.

* The Great Leviathan's shadow form in ''Anime/YuGiOh'' 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 Pharoah 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.
** Done a second time in GX with Darkness/Nightshroud.
* Chaos, the [[BigBad Biggest of all Bads]] in the anime version of ''Manga/SailorMoon'', is the malice in the hearts of people across the Universe, given a will of its own.
** In the 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.

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', this is the reason that Madoka's witch form, Kriemhild Gretchen, is so unbeatable. The only way to keep her from absorbing everyone into her LotusEaterMachine AssimilationPlot barrier-[[BuffySpeak thingy]], you would have to rid the world of all misfortune. If there's no misfortune, [[DarkMessiah she'll think the world is already heaven]].
** This trope still applies, because 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. And that happiness must always be balanced out by despair. It's the reason that, even after Madoka's wish, Puella Magis still have to fight demons 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.
* [[http://digimon.wikia.com/wiki/Ogudomon Ogudomon]] from the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' franchise.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'': "The Baba Yaga", it's said that Baba Yaga cannot die as long as [[GloriousMotherRussia Mother Russia]] endures. That said, Hellboy shooting her in the eye ''does'' effectively banish her to non-physical realms.
* {{Darkseid}}.
** Recently, they killed his body, trapped his soul, and made his consciousness explode. Bets are open on how long it takes for him to come back.
*** In-universe or out? Cause the difference can be in [[ComicBookTime excess of fifteen years]].
* After the ComicBook/FantasticFour villain Blastaar gets electrocuted in a SilverAge ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' 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. That, or [[DisneyDeath he's a comic book character]].
** A better ''X-Men'' example; 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.
* At one point [[{{Shazam}} Captain]] [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]] claimed he was some sort of incarnation of Nazism, and as long as someone believed in it, he could never truly die. Which is a bit of an upgrade from being a cut-price evil version of CaptainAmerica, as was his previous origin.

* [[SevenSoldiers Frankenstein]] is a good version of this. He'll stick around for as long as there's evil in the world... periodically waking up to [[BadAss beat the crap out of it]].

* [[StarWars The Sith]] (see below) are especially interesting in that it's suggested that in a world with lots of Jedi, there needs to be precisely two Sith in order to bring "[[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Balance to the Force]]". [-mumble mumble [[GeniusBonus quantum supersymmetry]] mumble...-][[note]]More like if there were more than two Sith, the unaffilated ones would kill each other off anyways.[[/note]]
** [[StarWars 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. This is really obvious in the ExpandedUniverse, but you can see it a bit in the movies as well.
** The novelization of Episode III (rather better than the movie) 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." But at the end, the piece also points out that "it has a weakness. A single candle flame can hold it back."

** The ''DarthBane'' trilogy actually examines things from the Sith's perspective. In fact, the third book strongly implies that the galaxy ''needs'' evil monsters like the Sith in it. Why is that? Well, the Jedi Order becomes stagnant and corrupt without having any Sith to fight. The Jedi end up losing 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 a "It's all about me" 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.

* It seems that as long as fear (especially of him) exists, so will [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet 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.

* 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.

* The Demon Prince in the book ''BlueMoonRising''.
* Morgoth in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. "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."

* Death in ''Literature/GoodOmens'' makes this sort of a speech after other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been defeated, although he claims to be necessary for ''reality'', moral judgments irrelevant. 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 since long before any of them, and can't be destroyed at all.
** He also removes himself from the heroes' premises of his own volition; since the end of the world has already effectively been averted at that point he has no incentive to fight anyone.

* This was the point of a short story (the name of which escapes me) where people literally build a gigantic bonfire in the Great Plains and burn everything that they hate or that causes them problems. Satan is watching from the sidelines. The protagonist asks him why he's chuckling -- surely this marks a new milestone for mankind -- and Satan answers something to the effect of: "Can you burn your own heart?"
* The Serpents from ''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 ''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.
* WordOfGod has already confirmed that the Dark One won't be destroyed at the end of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' - indeed, he probably ''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, well human. Rand sees a vision of a world where he did kill it, and its a world where everyone is [[TastesLikeDiabetes 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]].

* Mr. Scratch from ''/Literature/TheDevilAndDanielWebster'' gives a pretty good tirade about it when Daniel Webster questions his claim of being an American.

* The First from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is the first evil to ever be, and will live as long as evil itself does.
** Likewise, Wolfram & Hart in ''Series/{{Angel}}'', like the quote listed above. Though, 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.
*** Though even if the Wolf, Ram, and Hart (the "Senior Partners") were killed, it's likely that Wolfram & Hart as an organization would continue to operate.

** Mind you, shortly after this, he gets tossed into a black hole by Rose.
* In the {{tokusatsu}} series ''{{Garo}}'', the monsters are "horrors", creatures born from the darkness in men's souls. Since there will always be darkness in Man (some yin-yang {{handwave}}), there will always be horrors, and therefore there must always be Makai Knights to fight them.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' episode "He's Alive" was perhaps the most notable TV version of this. In it, a young American fascist is guided by the ghost of AdolfHitler. As part of the the usual end-of-episode narration, Rod Serling states that he will continue to exist as long as ''hate'' exists.

** What, that's not evil?
*** You've never heard their music, then.

---> ''I'll be there, I'll be waiting round the corner''
* While being burned in a coffin, the protagonist of Music/KingDiamond's ''Conspiracy'' makes a dying promise:

* 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. Since these daemons are literally formed of pure thought and emotion, they cannot be truly killed, and instead only banished back to the warp. The Chaos Gods, in particular, are extremely powerful warp-entities who feed off of the various emotions of humans and other living beings -- but, in a subversion from older (Questionably True[[hottip:*:GW's policy is that everything is canon, but not everything is true]]) fluff, 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. All part of the CrapsackWorld. [[GodNeedsPrayerBadly Direct Worship does seem to provide a pretty large boost in power, however]]- The Warp was far less turbulent during the Horus Heresy when the majority of humanity, and whatever the idea of the Imperial truth does seem to have genuinely scared the Chaos gods.
** Not entirely true. Warp daemons ''can'' be killed, if hit with a powerful enough mystical attack capable of shredding them into their component bits of [[OurSoulsAreDifferent soulstuff]]. Gregor Eisenhorn manages this against a daemonhost in the second volume of his trilogy. In addition, the [[AntiMagic anti-psyker]] abilities of a powerful enough souless Blank can deal permanent harm to the entirely warp-based form of a daemon.
*** But the Chaos Gods themselves are either far too powerful to be destroyed by anyone other than a Chaos god, or one of the lesser gods that aren't mentioned specifically. Of course that comes at the price of not being able to manifest themselves in the material world and needing to send their greater demon avatars and lesser demons as well as using worshipers to spread their will.
** Notably 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.
*** Not exactly. The Necrons serve the C'tan (Star Gods), who want to ''eat'' sentient life. And you can't eat life if you just slaughter it all. The Ct'ans' plan appear to be to sever the Materium's connection to the Warp, thereby preventing Chaos from entering the "real world", but turning all sentient life into basically domesticated cows.
**** Technically, it's the souls they are after, and having their MechaMooks do the job for them simply saves them the effort of killing them off themselves. The only reason they sealed themselves off inside the Tomb Worlds was because food had become too scarce, and they probably knew they would have to let life in the galaxy recover before they could go get another snack of delicious souls.
**** Technically it's not souls what they're after (souls are warp presenses of living beings. The C'tan are some form of energy beings with no connection to the warp at all so they cannot eat souls), but some vaquely-defined "life energy".
* The same of course applies to ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''. And some of TheUndead (actual undead this time) also have a plan, 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.

* ''{{Exalted}}'': As long as there is someone knowing even one of their Charm, 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 cease to exist, as the [[OmnicidalManiac Neverborn]] can attest.

* In the survival horror game ''AlanWake'', the main villain Barbara Jagger says right before you destroy it by sticking a lightswitch into its chest says "I will find a new face to wear, new bones to set me free!"
** Not to mention at the end it shows that the dark presence DID find a new face to wear, Agent Nightingale's face.
* 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''.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', the entire 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 done wrong, Sin will eventually return after every defeat and cause more suffering. 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 will kill the summoner and eventually become the next Sin.]]
* 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, however, and it doesn't even get to mock you before dying.
* {{Dracula}} constantly gives this speech in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games. However, this trope is subverted when he implies he's tired of his role in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. This weariness is what probably leads to his (as of yet undepicted) final defeat in 1999. The BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil is having a hard time finding someone as evil as he was, and tries to recruit his {{Reincarnation}} in the ''Sorrow'' games. 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.
** Of course, because of that, Soma seems to be getting roped into playing "Whack-a-Mole" with all the wanna-be candidates for Dracula's old position. Since he's prime candidate, they all seem to want to kill him to prove how bad they are.

* Subverted in the flash game ''Malapa's Challenge'', where at least two different villains start to give this speech... then are banished from our reality anyway. Apparently, having a direct line to cosmic forces doesn't help all that much.

* Nyx from ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', which 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 {{Nietzsche Wannabe}}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 the desire of death that called Nyx down (Erebus the death monster) -- she truly doesn't wish to destroy the world, and is even happy when the heroes defeated her in ''The Journey'' (the original storyline). But as long as humanity desires death, Erebus will exist forever.
*** This trope seems to be a recurring theme of the Persona series -- Nyarlathotep in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'', Nyx and Erebus in ''Persona 3'', Ameno-Sagiri and Izanami in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''...
**** Actually subverted with 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.
** The Nyx example really does happen as [[VideoGame/{{Persona}} in the original game]], an optional Snow Queen sidequest that has the "Night Queen" try to use people in order to set her free so she can freeze everyone alive in statues and live under an eternal night. A variant of The Fall actually was in the very first game. THAT'S planning.

*** He's right, by the way. [[MeaningfulName "Odio" is Italian and Latin for "hatred" and Spanish for "I hate".]].

** In the special ending (where he ''doesn't'' say this), it takes a HeroicSacrifice on the part of Nights to finish him off. Of course, as it's implied that Nights is still alive, it's possible that Wizeman is NotQuiteDead.

* They may have given a separate trope its name, but TheHeartless count for this trope too. Yen Sid says it himself in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': 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.
** Inverted in the first game, as at the climax, Sora states that even the greatest Darkness had to contain a spark of light that could never be extinguished. So, AsLongAsThereIsEvil, there is Good.
** At the end of Riku's story in "KingdomHeartsChainofMemories" Ansem states that he can return using his darkness that he gave to Riku. In the final battle in "Kingdomhearts358/2Days" he's proven right.
* Schwarz, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', makes this claim as well, though she appears to be more of a manifestation of entropy.
* [[CrystalDragonJesus YHWH]], trademark BigBad of the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' 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 god and goddesses are ''supposed'' to reincarnate after a while, this is problematic for the universe at large.
** Oh, it's partly this, partly ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve. There are scattered hints that he's not supposed to be the absolute despotic tyrant he's turned into. GodsNeedPrayerBadly. YHWH returns through the wishes and hopes of humanity for a God - [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor what does that say about Humanity when its God has turned into such a monster?]]
*** WordOfGod is that it's not entirely humanity's fault - something is seriously wrong with the fabric of the universe, and YHVH being a warped despot is a symptom.

* Gnarl, of ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'', seems to believe that no matter what happens, there will always be someone to take up the mantle of EvilOverlord, restoring evil to the world. The games do support his point.
** Of course since 'Good' is even worse then 'Evil' in the games, due to it being a CrapsackWorld, this isn't that bad.

* 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, manages to break the cycle by casting the Leveler's vessel into [[ForgottenSuperweapon the Great Devoid]].
** ''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.
** Of course, all this makes ''Myth III'', a prequel, that much more bittersweet.

** ...Prompting Fighter, in true IdiotHero fashion, to say...

* In ''{{Oglaf}}'' 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.

* ''{{Thundercats}}'': "So long as evil exists... Mumm-Ra lives!"
** Of course, in a later episode, it was revealed that Mumm-Ra was actually a servant of four [[BiggerBad dark entities]], called the Ancient Spirits of Evil (that's who he was invoking when he transformed into his stronger form). So more likely, ''he'' could die, but ''they'', could survive so long as there was evil.
* Unicron in ''{{Transformers}}''. It's outright stated in ''TransformersArmada'' that he'll exist as long as hate exists (and the Autobot-Decepticon war is ''mighty'' good eatin.') he doesn't actually 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.

* ''GIJoe'': Subverted in the "Cobra's Creatures" episode. 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 [[TheDragon Dragon]] of the week. In the aftermath of the battle, [[RedHeadedHero Scarlet]] asks if [[BigBad Cobra Commander]] got away. [[MagicalNativeAmerican Spirit]] replies,

* Invoked in ''WesternAnimation/{{X-Men}}''. 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 just replies that he doesn't care.
* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' of all things, 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.

** As long as there is life, there will be conflict.
*** Much like the trope, only one thing can truly end the chaos of reality: To remove the source of that chaos, energy. When the heat-death of the universe arrives, all will exist in perfect harmony.
**** Although with the not-so-slight problem that the universe will be in no state to register, let alone appreciate, that harmony...
**** The most ambitious goal for a WellIntentionedExtremist.

--->'''Webster:''' Well, I never heard the dev-- of your claiming American citizenship.

--->'''Webster:''' Mr. Stone is an American citizen, and no American citizen may be forced into the service of a foreign prince.
--->'''Mr. Scratch:''' Foreign? And who calls me a foreigner?