History Main / EvilIsNotAToy

* During his training, [[VideoGame/BlazBlue Jubei]] constantly reminds Ragna that the power of [[MacGuffin the Azure Grimoire]] is not truly his power, and that it will never truly be under his control. [[spoiler: As the creator of the Azure Grimoire(s), ''both'' of them,]] [[MagnificentBastard Yuuki Terumi]] seems to think he can easily control the power of the Azure. [[LaserGuidedKarma It backfires]] when [[spoiler: Lambda performs her HeroicSacrifice, enabling Ragna to overwhelm Terumi's Grimoire and halt Mu-12's rampage.]]
** Subverted when Terumi takes advantage of this situation [[spoiler: and uploads a virus that freezes the reality warping supercomputer that held his leash.]] Granted, this did come at the cost of [[spoiler: his monopoly over the Azure's power and Mu-12]].

** Lotte Carmine so believed that if he could harness the knowledge of the Boundary, he could come up with something beneficial to humanity, even if it costs the lives of many people. Even his MadScientist mentor Kokonoe did not approve, and the result of that is that he gains nothing, and the Boundary corrupts him into [[EldritchAbomination Arakune]]. Even worse, his girlfriend Litchi decided to ''dabble'' on that as well to save him, and on the sign of first symptoms, when Kokonoe refuses to even help her, she decided to [[spoiler:dabble with another Evil: NOL and Hazama. It's still unclear which one is EvilerThanThou in this case: Boundary corruption or NOL/Hazama.]] Lotte at least managed to learn his lesson [[spoiler:and managed to pull himself together enough to warn Litchi to stay away from him and get Kokonoe to help her with her own Boundary corruption. Although even Litchi herself realizes that she already dug too far, and just letting it be as everyone else told her to will not make her problem go away.]] It's complicated.
** One of the Six Heroes, Nine, also fell to this. She just banished Terumi after the murder of her would-be brother in law Tomonori. When the Black Beast arrived, she decided to free Terumi and enslave him, thinking she could control him well. That backfired, Terumi killed her [[spoiler:and in irony's sake, she would get turned into Phantom, practically Terumi's slave.]]

* In Disney's ''[[Disney/{{Aladdin}} The Return of Jafar]]'', Abis Mal gets pressed into servitude after accidentally summoning the genie Jafar. Jafar accomplishes this by constantly threatening violence against Abis. (The hapless thief is aware that in his world, genies [[ThouShaltNotKill cannot kill]], but Jafar keeps repeating ominously, "You'd be surprised what you can live through.")
** Also, Jafar is the epitome of the JackassGenie, so it's not like he can make his wishes and be on his way.

* In ''Film/{{Hellraiser}}'', Frank Cotton releases four demons with the magical cube, which looks quite like some toy. They don't exactly reward him.
** It's neither a reward nor a punishment. The Cenobites' job is to bring the summoner to the heights of "pain and pleasure", at least in the first film. The summoners never really understand what they're getting into.
** Probably even more true for ''Hellbound: Hellraiser II'' where Dr. Channard's obsession with the Lament Configuration ultimately leads to him becoming horrifically tortured and turned into a Cenobite himself. He's horrified at first, but in the end...''And to think, I hesitated.''

* In ''Dracula II: Ascension'', a group of idiots (to call them scientists would be charitable, at best) steal Dracula's coffin, hoping to replicate his immortality. Dracula is weak, but very much alive. It's demonstrated, for all to see, that his immortality is magic (holy water burns an infected tissue sample). One character deliberately infects himself, another infects someone else to save him (she, at least, was already infected and had yet to turn).

* Summoning demons or Sleeping Ones in ''ConquestOfElysium'' is far from risk free. Anything can rebel against you if you're not generous enough with the sacrifice, and even massive sacrifices don't completely negate the risk. Considering that some beings can wipe out armies on their own, you better be prepared.

* Summoning demons or Sleeping Ones in ''Conquest of Elysium'' is far from risk free. Anything can rebel against you if you're not generous enough with the sacrifice, and even massive sacrifices don't completely negate the risk. Considering that some beings can wipe out armies on their own, you better be prepared.

* In chapter 6 of ''BaldursGate 2'', a drow priestess summons a powerful demon lord to aid them with their planned assault on the surface elves. The protagonist has the option of tricking the priestess into offering the wrong sacrifice, upon which the demon promptly obliterates her. Her daughter then attempts the same, and again the protagonist can tamper with the sacrifice and have the demon kill her as well.

* In ''[[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End]]'', both Barbossa and Beckett are convinced they have what it takes to keep evil on a [[RestrainingBolt leash]] and working for them. First, there's Calypso, a vicious pagan goddess bound in human form by pirate lords, who Barbossa -- a pirate lord himself -- disrespectfully throws in the brig, with the intention of unleashing her on Beckett. Then, there's Davy Jones, Calypso's ex-lover turned heartless [[TheGrimReaper Reaper]], who Beckett has enslaved and intends to have take on the entire Brethren Court for him. This, inevitably, works out for ''neither'' of them.

* In DarkLordOfDerkholm, Derk is required to summon a demon (and a God) as part of an [[TheToughGuideToFantasyland elaborate play-adventure to entertain tourists from our world.]] It's not that he doesn't realize it's dangerous, but he's left with no other choice, and he hopes to get a demon small enough that he can control it. [[FromBadToWorse He doesn't.]]

See also ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil. If Bob created the evil in the first place, it's a case of TurnedAgainstTheirMasters. When the evil actually ''is'' a toy, it may coincide with MyLittlePanzer. If the Evil in question is the BiggerBad, expect the lesson to be particularly painful.

** And in ''BatmanBegins'', Falcone works with Crane and Ra's al Ghul for the drugs they smuggle, unbeknownst that the latter two are actually aiming toward higher, more destructive goals. In addition, Crane thinks Ra's is holding the city ransom, not planning to destroy it without prompting as the case really is.

The Sealed Evil in a Can will inevitably turn on the one who freed it -- sometimes sooner, sometimes later. In many cases it turns out to have no [[BlueAndOrangeMorality understanding of loyalty or gratitude at all]]. Bob may end up being killed on the spot, or he may be [[DemonicPossession enslaved]] by the sealed evil. The sealed evil may make a bargain that it has no intention of honoring (or it may [[FalseReassurance promise Bob he will be rewarded "as he deserves"]]... [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves guess what he deserves?]]). Or it may simply refuse to obey him. In any case, if Bob was the BigBad before, he was really just a DiscOneFinalBoss; the formerly-sealed evil is the true BigBad. In the event that Bob survives, this is a leading cause of EnemyMine twists, since Bob now must seek any allies he can find to deal with the evil that he unleashed.

** Babidi revives Majin Buu and plans to use him to take over the world. Things don't go as planned.
*** Initially, Buu ''does'' obey Babidi and shows no interest in betraying him, probably because he's too stupid to think of such things. Even when Babidi insults Buu and threatens to [[SealedEvilInACan re-seal him]], the clearly enraged Buu backs down. Until [[TheHero Goku]] points out that Buu is far stronger (and ''faster'') than Babidi and shouldn't take such abuse from him. Then Buu kills Babidi with a single punch to the face (which obliterates his head). Whether it was a good idea on Goku's part is rather questionable given Buu's later rampages, but Goku ''is'' [[IdiotHero deeply stupid]] anyway.
*** Also, the immediate consequences of Buu betraying Babidi are largely positive, since his capricious frolicking leads him to accidentally discover that GoodFeelsGood. Until a vigilante tries to kill him and nearly offs his new best friend in the process. Cue EnemyWithout.

* It is a customary rule in all magic-using religions that you do not conjure up something that is stronger than you are. If you don't have the power to send it away again, things can get ugly very quickly.
** Which begs the question of why you'd bother in the first place, since if you're powerful enough to control an entity, you most likely don't need its services.
*** Maybe the summoner has more skill with SummonMagic than with other types. ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' has an example of this type with Kinzo- it says in the TIPS that he "can't even use enough magic to reheat tea, but it is possible for him to summon demons that can use enough magic to boil the sea."
*** Which...still doesn't really make it a good idea, since most once-summoned entities don't just stop existing or develop a case of convenient amnesia once you're done with them. That demon from FireAndBrimstoneHell has been 'safely' banished back home? Wonderful, that means it's now free to plot its revenge where ''you'' can't see it anymore...
** Another rule is that magic is held by the rules of karma. The more evil the curse is the more likely the spell will backfire. This had lead religions to discourage the use of evil spells in first place.

* The ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' sourcebook "Elder Evils" features several evils sealed in cans. One of these, Pandorym, is [[EldritchAbomination so alien]] it might as well [[BlueAndOrangeMorality add another axis]] to the [[CharacterAlignment alignment diagrams]]. Plus it's angry. Good luck controlling that.
** The [[spoiler:Inevitable]] trying to release Pandorym isn't doing so for its own benefit, though. It just [[spoiler:thinks Pandorym got cheated on a contract and is trying to redress that "wrong."]]
*** The mages who summoned and sealed it in its can get [[WhatAnIdiot bonus]] [[TooDumbToLive stupid points]] when you learn why they did so: to ''blackmail the gods'' into letting them keep their worshipers enslaved without interfering lest they unseal the can. [[RocksFallEveryoneDies Guess how the gods responded to that]].

*** and can someone tell me what happened to canas' brothers FateWorseThanDeath

** ''Radiant Dawn'' Averted. [[spoiler: Winds up Lehran is still alive and well. And he starts another war, hoping to break the medallion. He doesn't want the god trapped inside though. But if she wakes up, her counterpart will wake up and turn everyone to stone. And that's exactly what he wants.]]
*** ''Radiant Dawn'' also retroactively averts ''Path of Radiance'' for this trope: [[spoiler: the "dark god" imprisoned within the medallion is actually not a dark god at all, merely the embodiment of chaos, emotion, and free will. Which means Ashnard was never using evil like a toy to begin with.]]

** Tilt your head and squint, and you can see Bastila and the Jedi Council's efforts to use the greatest weapon - turning someone to their cause, hoping to get the locations of the Star Maps - as this trope. [[spoiler: Whether it's averted or not depends on the player.]]
*** The Jedi were wise enough to know that this was a dangerous gamble, and would not have done had there been better options.
*** Or they were GenreSavvy enough to send a [[LoveRedeems pretty Light-side woman]] along...

*** This trope also applies to [[spoiler:Takamagahara, who paroled Terumi from his Hakumen-enforced imprisonment in the Boundary as a pawn for their plan to destroy the Master Unit. He proceeds to infect them during a blind spot in their omniscience]].

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' has this with Felix Faust releasing Hades. He learned from his experiences, and was able to live out the more fun side of the trope by possessing Tala later on.

*** Subverted in the finale of the show: Lex Luthor attempts to revive Brainiac from his last known gravesite so he can team up with him again. To do this, he uses the {{Evil Sorcere|r}}ss Tala as a conduit to revive him, a process which will kill her. Unfortunately for Lex, said area was also the gravesite of PhysicalGod and GalacticConqueror {{Darkseid}}, and you get no points for guessing which one of the two [[OhCrap Tala ends up reviving as a final 'gift' to the man who killed her.]]

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', [[NebulousEvilOrganisation F.O.W.L.]] decides to find Taurus Bullba (the villain from the pilot and the only non-goofy villain of the series) and rebuild him as a {{cyborg}}. He's grateful... just not grateful enough to ''serve'' them.
** Actually, he seemed rather pissed about being brought back as a cyborg. His voice is dripping with bitter sarcasm when he says, "So what if I have to drink motor-oil cocktails for the rest of my LIFE?"

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', Vilgax messes with Diagon's seal in an attempt to claim the demon's power and is promptly mutated and enslaved by it. [[spoiler:The "Evil" [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu eventually]] [[HijackingCthulhu turns out to be]] [[TheStarscream Vilgax]].]]

* The plot of ''StarTrekIntoDarkness'' is kicked off by the fact that [[spoiler:Admiral Marcus]] tried to use a man named John Harrison to make weapons for Starfleet. So, what's the problem here?[[spoiler:John Harrison is just a pseudonym. He's really the revived [[{{Transhuman}} Khan]] [[EvilOverlord Noonien]] [[MagnificentBastard Singh]].]] This ends just as well as you'd expect.

* The meth industry from ''Series/BreakingBad'': Not only has it turned Walt into a sociopath and borderline CompleteMonster, but his family is now under constant threat of assassination from the cartels.

** Also in Dragonball, Dr. Gero releases Androids 17 and 18, hoping to be able to control them with a remote control which 17 promptly takes away from him and breaks. A somewhat unusual case in that Gero was the one who created the Androids in the first place, and knew that he was taking a big gamble when he activated them. Although in that case would "{{Anti Villain}}s are also not a toy."

* As big as the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' is, you ''know'' this trope had to come up somewhere. [[TheThrawnTrilogy Grand Admiral Thrawn]] went and fetched the insane [[spoiler: clone; but [[OutboundFlight his original]] was just as bad]] Jedi Master Joruus C'baoth off the low-tech world he had been stuck on and ruling in order to get C'baoth to use his Battle Meditation and make Thrawn's forces that much more effective. In return, C'baoth wanted Force-Sensitives, specifically Leia's as-yet-unborn kids. C'baoth had delusions of grandeur, and poor Pellaeon kept telling his boss that having any plans involving someone so unstable was a [[CommanderContrarian very bad idea]]. Thrawn did have plans set up for the inevitable betrayal, at least, but that point where C'baoth [[spoiler: took control of ''a Star Destroyer'']] was... unnerving.

** In the next book, Harry discovers that [[spoiler:Regulus Black, Sirius' Death Eater younger brother, also learned that EvilIsNotAToy, much like Draco]].

* In StarCraft, both the [[CorruptedGovernment Confederacy]] and [[TheEmperor Arcturus Mengsk]] after them both believed the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Zerg]] were just animals and that it was a good idea to use them as a weapon by putting Psy Emulators that would attract them on any planet they wanted. [[ItCanThink They were wrong]]. And they learnt it the hard way.
** This is actually invoked in StarCraftII. After curing [[FallenHero Sarah Kerrigan]] from her ViralTransformation in [[VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty Wings of Liberty]], Valerian Mengsk finds out she still has some Zerg mutagen inside her, and asks her to control Zerg cobayes to see how much of her powers remain. Kerrigan quickly grows an army of them, wrecks the entire lab, and then takes them back to their cages to show to Valerian how dangerous it is to think you can control such a chaotic species. Fortunately, Valerian is smart enough to get the message.

* In the last season of ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]]'', Gul Dukat hatches an evil scheme that involves freeing the pa wraiths (Bajoran devils) sealed deep inside the planet. It doesn't end well.
** However, it only blew up in his face because [[TheMessiah Sisko]] interfered and stopped him. Up till that point, everything went according to plan - up to and including being possessed by the Wraiths and essentially becoming TheAntiChrist. He ''wanted'' that to happen. A straighter example is Kai Winn, who figured she could control both the Pah Wraiths ''and'' Dukat. It ended about as well as you would expect.