History Main / CursedItem

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'': One side quest rewarded you the [[{{Pun}} boots of blinding speed]] which when worn made you extremely fast but also blinded you. This curse was minor and could be overcome with other enchantments.
** The Umbra Sword is stated to be this. Everyone who wields [[DemonicPossession this sword]] becomes possessed with it, calling ''themselves'' Umbra and having an urge to kill as many people as possible for [[SoulEating feeding their souls]] [[HorrorHunger to the sword]]. For some reason, [[TheChosenOne Nerevarin]] (as well as further protagonists) may wield Umbra without any fear of being possessed.
* ''Videogame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'': The Staff of the Everscamp is one of the artefacts of [[JerkassGods Sheogorath, Daedric Prince of Madness]], and seems to exist for the sole purpose of {{Troll}}ing mortals. The staff's owner is constantly followed by four Scamps that give off a horrible smell, generally make the owner's life a misery and can't be permanently killed. Furthermore, [[ClingyMacguffin the staff's owner feels a compulsion to keep it on their person at all times]], and can only get rid of it if another person willingly agrees to become the staff's owner or by leaving it at one of Sheogorath's shrines.

Cursed items are any thing that places a {{Curse}} on whoever picks up or uses the item. The effects of the curse vary but their are two main ways for it to manifest. Some curses cause the item to act in the opposite manner of the desired function, a cursed sword may be unable to cut anything, a cursed bag destroys items placed inside. Other cursed items have an additional negative effect alongside the apparent positive effect, a magic talisman might let you breath water but also causes birds to attack the carrier. It is possible someone in possession of a cursed item might find a use for it that avoids the downside of the curse, but this does not change the fact that the item is cursed.

* ''Theatre/TheLeagueOfSTEAM''. In "Curses!", the team have a cursed artifact appraised in a curio shop run by [[Series/MythBusters Grant Imahara]] that apparently specializes in ArtifactsOfDoom. When our heroes realize what they have, they keep passing it to each other, greatly confusing the {{Mummy}} that's [[FailedASpotCheck sneaking up on them with hands outstretched]].

->'''Rachel''': So what happens next?
->'''Joey''': Well, I get the medical award for separating [[ConjoinedTwins the Siamese twins]]. Then Amber and I go to Venezuela to meet our other half-brother, Ramone. And that's where I find the world's biggest emerald. It's really big ... but it's ''cursed''.
->'''Chandler''': God, that's good TV.

Where these items come from varies just as much as the curse placed on the item. It could be a case of magic GoneHorriblyRight, such as a cloak that wards against cold by catching on fire. It might be a magic BoobyTrap placed by the villain to incapacitate [[KleptomaniacHero greedy]] or unsuspecting heroes causing DeathByIrony. Or an item might be cursed as a form of ThePunishment against the wielder. In rare cases the curse might be a form of protection for the item to enforce OnlyTheChosenMayWield. Such items often become extremely heavy when not wielded by TheChosenOne. Often TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday will have these items for sale.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Near the beginning of ''{{LightNovel/Slayers}}'' Lina sells a magic dagger to a curio shop. The dagger curses whoever draws it into a BerserkerRage. When the shop keeper drew the dagger he began attacking Lina and Gourry who were forced to knock him out to stop the curse.

* The One Ring from the LordOfTheRings. Wearing it too much begins to drain away the bearer's soul, and attracts the attention of [[BigBad Sauron]] and [[TheDragon the Nazgul]]. Even just being ''near'' it causes any but the purest-of-heart to be tempted to use its power, and several characters explicitly state that while they may initially use it for good, even the truest spirit will eventually [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide be corrupted and use it for evil]]. In addition, the Ring is a ClingyMacGuffin, in that the more that one uses it, the more protective of it they become, and the more eager they are to use it.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

** The same (with the swapping part, too) can be said about Iron Ball, Ring Target, Sticky Barb or, in most cases, Black Sludge. Iron Ball makes the holder always go last (though it hits really hard and painful if thrown away with [[DefiantStoneThrow Fling]]), and Ring Target lets your opponent [[YouWillNotEvadeMe always be able to hit you]]. Sticky Barb damages the holder every turn (but it has the possibility to [[ClingyMcGuffin stick to an opponent]] if a contact move is made and the opponent is free of items), and Black Sludge does the same - yet, when Black Sludge is held by [[PoisonousPerson Poison]]-types, [[ReviveKillsZombie it heals them instead]].
* In ''{{VideoGame/Runescape}}'', some items augmented by the Invention skill can become this, as even though the skill enables a PlayerCharacter to add beneficial traits to wielded items, there is also a random chance of generating a detrimental effect in the same "gizmo" as a helpful effect[[note]]If you use a gizmo that only contains a negative effect and no positives, then the only good that comes from it is a self-imposed challenge[[/note]]. ClingyMacguffin is not in effect, however, as any such items do not have to be wielded and used, and the same skill provides methods for removing augmentations from an item to leave space for a new effect.
* In ''{{VideoGame/Suikoden}}'' the soul eater rune is also known as the cursed rune. [[spoiler:Its curse is that those who wear it will find the people who are closest to them will die.]]

[[folder:Webcomic]]
* ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids:'' [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0778.html When Chewbacca and R2-D2 play a tabletop RPG]], Chewie anticipates that R2 might backstab him for loot. So he carries a cursed item in his own inventory, to punish R2 for such treachery.
-->'''R2-D2:''' Heh heh heh. Let's see what loot I got from your corpse.
-->'''R2-D2:''' Only 13 gold coins? And what's this?
-->'''Chewbacca:''' You may find that your combat stats are no longer as impressive as you recall.
-->'''R2-D2:''' You put a cursed item in your own coin purse?! What sort of deviant would do that?!
-->'''Han Solo:''' I warned you.
-->'''Chewbacca:''' Let's discuss how you're going to pay for my resurrection, shall we?

[[/folder]]

** The Toxic Orb and the Flame Orb are strange items that place a status condition on the Pokemon holding them. Though negative, this can be useful, when the Pokemon has an item swapping move or the move [[DisabilitySuperpower Facade]], which does more damage when the user is affected by a status condition. Ablities come in play here as well: Toxic Orb can be helpful for Pokemon with abilities like Toxic Boost (raises attack power when poisoned), Quick Feet (raises Speed when hit by a status condition) or Poison Heal (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin), and in case with Flame Orb, it is usually given to the Pokemon with Guts ability, so that they will receive boost to Attack instead of drop when burnt (the same applies for Toxic Orb when Flame Orb cannot be used, such as for [[PlayingWithFire Flareon]]).

* In the first ''Videogame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' game, the Fizbin of Misfortune is the only magic item with a negative trait, bestowing a -2 luck penalty on the hero unfortunate enough to be carrying it.

** The Toxic Orb and the Flame Orb are strange items that place a status condition on the Pokemon holding them. Though negative, this can be useful, when the Pokemon has an item swapping move or the move Facade, which does more damage when the user is affected by a status condition (in case with Flame Orb, it is usually given to the Pokemon with Guts ability, so that they will receive boost to Attack instead of drop when burnt).
** The same (with the swapping part, too) can be said about Iron Ball, Ring Target, Sticky Barb or, in most cases, Black Sludge. Iron Ball makes the holder always go last (and hits really hard and painful if thrown away with Fling), and Ring Target lets your opponent always be able to hit you. Sticky Barb damages the holder every turn (but it has the possibility to stick to an opponent if a contact move is made and the opponent is free of items), and Black Sludge does the same - yet, when Black Sludge is held by [[PoisonousPerson Poison]]-types, [[ReviveKillsZombie it heals them instead]].

* Many of these are mentioned throughout the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, and a major part of Arthur Weasely's job involves tracking down ordinary objects that have been cursed to attack Muggles. These items include:

** A pair of shoes that eats the wearer's feet and are impossible to remove, given to a random minor character seen at St. Mungo's.
** Harry's Nimbus 2000 becomes one during one Quidditch game, when a curse is placed on it that causes the broom to try to knock Harry off.
** A necklace seen in Borgin and Burke's that's caused the deaths of many owners. In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Katie Bell is given the necklace and touches a small part of it, causing her to lose her mind and be unconscious for months.
** Harry has had many items confiscated from him on suspicion of being cursed items sent to kill him. Such items include his Firebolt when first given to him, and all the inherited items from [[spoiler: Dumbledore]].
** All of the Horcrux's:
*** The locket slowly corrupts whoevers wearing it, causing them to be more pessimistic and depressed. It also prevents whoever is wearing it from casting a Patronus. It's implied this is true for all Horcruxes, but this is the only one confirmed.
*** The journal lets you communicate with 16 year old Voldemort, but as you put yourself into it, it starts putting itself into you, eventually giving it mind control abilities and ultimately letting the spirit in the book step out into the real world.
*** Marvolo Gaunt's ring, in addition to being a [[SoulJar Horcrux]], also carries a powerful curse. [[spoiler: When Dumbledore destroys it, he dooms himself to a slow and inevitable death. This is in contrast to other Horcruxes in the series, which have a [[ArtifactOfDoom corrupting influence]] but are not necessarily fatal.]]

* The One Ring To Rule them All from the LordOfTheRings. Wearing it too much begins to drain away the soul, and attracts the attention of Sauron and the Nazgul. In addition even being near it causes any but the purest of hearts to be tempted to use it's power, and several characters explicitly state that while they may initially use it for good, even the most truest spirit will eventually be corrupted and use it for evil. In addition, it's a ClingyMacGuffin, in that the more you use it, the more protective of it you become, and the more eager you are to use it.

** Marvolo Gaunt's ring, in addition to being a [[SoulJar Horcrux]], also carries a powerful curse. [[spoiler: When Dumbledore destroys it, he dooms himself to a slow and inevitable death. This is in contrast to other Horcruxes in the series, which have a [[ArtifactOfDoom corrupting influence]] but are not necessarily fatal.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'': One side quest rewarded you the [[{{Pun}} boots of blinding speed]] which when worn made you extremely fast but also blinded you. This curse was minor and could be overcome with other enchnatments.

* The Creator/LarryNiven story "Not Long Before the End" features a magic sword named Glirendree which is extremely powerful, but cursed to (ultimately) destroy its wielder. The wielder at the time of the story doesn't seem too dismayed when he finds out about the curse. It's possible he thinks the person who told him about the curse was lying, or he may honestly consider death after a year or so of living like a conquering king a fair trade.

* Interplay's Infinity Engine games, being based on ''Dungeons & Dragons'' had numerous cursed items. Interestingly, as the games all had a Lore skill that could be used to identify magic items and cursed items always required 100 Lore to identify, if you had a character with a reasonably high lore, any items they couldn't identify were almost always cursed.
** ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' had cursed items like the Bracers of Binding or the Ring of Idiocy that gave nasty penalties to your ability scores. It also had the Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity, which caused whoever put it on to change from male to female, which was rather useless given the game's almost PurelyAestheticGender, the Helm of Opposite Alignment (good characters become evil, evil characters become good, actually useful if you wanted Vicona in a good-aligned party), and the Two-Handed Sword of Berserking, which was a powerful sword that caused the wielder to automatically attack the closest character every time combat began.
** ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' was interesting in that many of the "cursed" items in the game had no negative effects other than requiring a Remove Curse spell to take them off. There were a few others that had effects that were legitimately detrimental, like Nordom's Beer Goggles, which gave a huge penalty to his attack and made him permanently drunk while he was wearing them.
* Both ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom'' and ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'' have cursed equipment that can't be removed except by a special rare item or a priest. In the former, these items are simply removed and will retain the curse if re-equipped, but in the latter, uncursed items will change completely to become new items.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': The Toxic Orb and the Flame Orb are strange items that place a status condition on the Pokemon holding them. Though negative, this can be useful, when the Pokemon has an item swapping move or the move Facade, which does more damage when the user is affected by a status condition (in case with Flame Orb, it is usually given to the Pokemon with Guts ability, so that they will receive boost to Attack instead of drop when burnt).

* Cursed items appear in many of the games in ''Franchise/DragonQuest''. While there is no direct way to know if an item is cursed without equipping it they are often described as having an air of danger. These items tend to be very powerful for where they are found to entice the player to equip them. The drawback though is that someone wearing a cursed item often cannot attack in combat, and all items are of the StuckItems variety requiring a visit to the church to remove them.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': The Toxic Orb and the Flame Orb are strange items that place a status condition on the Pokemon holding them. Though negative, this can be useful, when the Pokemon has an item swapping move or the move Facade, which does more damage when the user is affected by a status condition.

* Common enough in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. Curses can range from relatively benign like the medallion of thought projection, to downright nasty like the necklace of strangulation.

Many cursed items when found are also unidentified items, [[UnknownItemIdentification identifying]] them often reveals the true nature of the item. This is not always the case as some cursed items are also resistant to identification revealing fake effects or hiding the negative effects. Once the curse becomes apparent the user will likely try to get rid of the item. This can be difficult as many cursed items are also StuckItems and the power of a [[WhiteMage priest]] or a divine blessing is usually required to remove the curse so the item can be dropped. In extreme cases these items might be an ArtifactOfDoom or and ArtifactOfDeath.

** Marvolo Gaunt's ring, in addition to being a [[SoulJar Horcrux]], also carries a powerful curse. [[spoiler: When Dumbledore puts it on, he dooms himself to a slow and inevitable death. This is in contrast to other Horcruxes in the series, which have a [[ArtifactOfDoom corrupting influence]] but are not necessarily fatal.]]

* This was the central premise of ''Series/FridayThe13thTheSeries''. Two cousins discover that there late uncle had been selling cursed items from his antiques store, and they have to locate and recover them before they can kill more people.

* These turn up in quite a few different ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' books, where picking up a cursed item will permanently reduce one of your stats (usually Skill).

* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': The Ignika, Mask of Life, is protected by inflicted curses on nearly anyone who touches it, save for those deemed worth to hold it. Given it is a very powerful object, this is necessary to prevent it from being misused by evil
[[/folder]].