History Main / EvilIsNotAToy

The Sealed Evil in a Can will inevitably turn on the one who freed it — sometimes sooner, sometimes later. Afterall, once Bob has freed it he's [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness expendable]]. In many cases, it turns out to have no [[EvilCannotComprehendGood 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 — bonus points if the one who freed it sought to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard enslave the evil themselves]]. 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. If he's ''very'' lucky, Bob may merely be [[DemotedToDragon forced to become the newly-unsealed evil's minion]] on pain of death. 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.

This trope often overlaps with DealWithTheDevil, as bargaining with a force of evil always screws over the client in the long-run. Regardless of any immediate benefits.

** In ''[[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Batman RIP]]'', when the Black Glove attempts to use [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker the Joker]] to finish off Batman. Joker himself tells them that they haven't come nearly as close to beating Batman as they think, and that they can't control the Joker himself. Later, after the dust has settled, Batman's won, and the Black Glove members have gone home to hide behind their money, Joker murders them all.
** In the ''ComicBook/FearState'' storyline, Batman tells Simon Saint this as [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow the Scarecrow]] has now taking his PoliceState plan OffTheRails and plans to drive Gotham into a frenzy of fear.

* In ''ComicBook/HackSlash'', a company named Ceutotech captures various [[SerialKiller Sla]][[RevenantZombie shers]] and tries studying them, with the intend to replicate their HealingFactor and adapt it for cosmetic purposes. Predictably, the Slashers end up escaping, wreak havoc in the facility and Ceutotech's head Emily Christie gets turned into a Slasher herself for her trouble.

* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': One storyline has Mordu, an enemy of the Legion of Superheroes, summon the Justice League and Justice Society to the 30th century so they can recover three artifacts a set of demons were sealed in, previously held on the Justice League's satellite base until it was destroyed (which hasn't happened for the JLA yet). They do so, and he summons the demons... who immediately tell Mordu to piss off and blast him, leaving the JLA, JSA and Legion to deal with three insanely powerful demons.

* ''ComicBook/SatansHollow'' revolves around a Satanic cult trying to open a portal to hell through HumanSacrifice. In the backstory their previous leader messed up the ritual when his last victim escaped, and was turned into a LivingShadow by the Devil as punishment for his failure. [[spoiler:The epilogue shows that the same fate has befallen his partner-in-crime.]]

** In the ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}''/''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story ''ComicBook/WarWorld'', alien overlord [[Characters/DCComicsMongul Mongul]] appropriates a star-sized weapon-satellite built by a race of warmongers who passed away right after building it. It never occurrs to Mongul that both events could be linked and that Warworld might bring death to its owner.
** In ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'', Luthor seeks Brainiac's remains in order to [[ForScience study]] its alien robotics. It turns out that Brainiac is NotQuiteDead and immediately possesses Luthor's body, while leaving him [[AndIMustScream fully conscious]].

** Mefisto eventually did two explicit deals only because he couldn't do otherwise... And still made sure to deliver his part. The first time was by [[PapaWolf consecrating his soul to the devil who held Yama's soul hostage in exchange for his son's soul and sanity to be restored]], as he knew that upon death he'd go to hell anyway but at least this way he got ''something'' out of it. The second time [[GodzillaThreshold Tex was almost in shooting distance and his powers were on the fritz]] due Narbas, the guy whose body he had stolen to come back to life, being close to his location, so he called upon that devil and offered him the souls of everyone else in the cave (all enemies) in exchange for a horde of demons being unleashed in the cave to kill everyone else in the cave, allowing the devil to claim the reward as he rendered the service, and the only reason that failed was that [[spoiler:he hadn't noticed Narbas reclaiming his body and reducing him to a ghost while he was calling upon the devil, so he only got an ''illusion'' of the deal being done]].

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Thomas Randolph keeps finding more and more questionably ways to increase his magical power, which eventually warps him into an inhuman monster and kills him while he kills [[Characters/WonderWomanAllies Artemis]].

* ''ComicBook/XMenRed2022:'' As the series begins, Abigail Brand decides to use Vulcan as a part of her plans. However, Vulcan's MaskOfSanity is starting to slip so badly even a scrub of a telepath like Mentallo can see it. He tries warning her, but it's not clear if Brand's actually listening.

* ''Fanfic/ACrookedMan'': [[spoiler:Sublime, Cornelius, Risman, and Colcord got their hands on the Fury and have it fused with Master Mold technology to be use against Johann. Unbeknownst to them, the Fury was made to be loyal to Mad Jim Jaspers and therefore cannot be reprogram to obey Sublime and his unwitting pawns. Furthermore, as Jim Jaspers was dead for years, the Fury has no reins at all. Lastly, thanks to Master Mold's programs, the Fury is made to hate ''everything''. After the Fury was activated, it start killing Sublime and the rest]].
* ''Fanfic/MischiefMHA'': Much like Hank Pym before him, [[spoiler:David Shield attempted to use Ultron as a mean to preserve the world's peace once All Might is gone. As soon as the scientist activates it to save him and his friends from the Brotherhood mercenaries attacking I-Expo, the malevolent A.I. immeadiatly betrays his ressurector and sets in motion his plan for the extinction of humankind.]]

** Showing that he learned absolutely ''nothing'' from that [[EpicFail total failure]], he then promptly proceeds to try and use a Fenton device to [[spoiler:steal the power of Dan, Future Danny and Future Sam. Not only does he get electrocuted ''multiple'' times trying to rewire the device, he ends up healing Dan of all the damage the future heroes had managed to inflict on him]]!

** Veran actually pulls this off ''twice''. During the final battle, she genuinely believes she can take control of Fierce Deity Link, only to be proven wrong when Link breaks free of her control and defeats her. Doubly do, since Veran had actually fought the Fierce Deity previously and knew that it could potentially defeat her.

** Gendo and Ritsuko allows the Emerald Tablet, a mysterious and powerful A.I., to operate without safety protocols in order to allow it to [[spoiler:[[MonsterProtectionRacket create new Angels for the Evas to fight in order to convince the UN of the necessity of keeping NERV around]], with the intention of buying Gendo more time to set up his version of Third Impact]]. They both manage to underestimate the [[spoiler:Tablet's capacity for self-learning, leading to it [[AIIsACrapShoot becoming self-aware and developing a God-complex as well as homicidal tendencies]]]], resulting in a lot of unforeseen damage and Ritsuko must eventually admit to Gendo that the situation is rapidly spinning out of their control.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheWitchsGhost'', Ben Ravencroft summons the evil spirit of his witch ancestor in hopes of ruling the world together along with her. What he didn't count on was that she was less EvilOverlord and more OmnicidalManiac.

* Almost all of the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise is perpetuated by [[MegaCorp Weyland-Yutani's]] misguided belief that they can contain a Xenomorph and sell it as a weapon. They never do, and lots of people always die as a result. On the other hand, they never really get the chance to capture and study/sell the Xenomorphs, the (expendable) people directly fighting the Xenomorphs (presumably aware of this trope) always decide to kill them before the company ever actually gets their hands on them. Though from what we've seen, the company would be completely unable to contain them. In ''Film/AlienResurrection'' the military tries to weaponize the Xenomorphs too, and the personnel on the same ship as the aliens pay for it with their lives. In the ''Film/AlienVsPredator'' films, the Predators deliberately seeded worlds with Xenomorphs to provide them with sport. In both films this backfires on the Predators when the Xenomorphs start hunting ''them''. Of course given the Predators' [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame beliefs]], they'd probably consider this a sign they have in fact found worthy prey.

** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', Emma Russell and Alan Jonah release King Ghidorah as part of their gambit to heal the Earth by releasing the Titans. Unfortunately for them, it turns out Ghidorah has [[OmnicidalManiac his own plans]] and nigh instantly takes over as the film's BigBad. [[spoiler:Played with for Jonah, who as a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist is perfectly fine with the destruction of the planet.]]

** Probably even more true for ''Film/HellboundHellraiserII'' 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 ''Film/TheMummyReturns'', a museum curator, Hafez, deliberately digs up and raises Imhotep, thinking that [[EvilVersusEvil Imhotep would defeat the Scorpion King]]. The fact that this would lead to ''an evil undead ruling the whole world'' apparently didn't cross the curator's mind. That or it ''did'' and Hafez figured Imhotep would let him help rule the world. When things go pear-shaped and the Scorpion King is preparing to kill him, Hafez begs Imhotep to save him; Imhotep not only refuses, but seems genuinely (and hilariously) bewildered as to why Hafez would expect him to do such a thing.

* ''Film/OrphanFirstKill'': [[spoiler: Tricia and Gunnar wanted to use Leena's con to try and conceal the fact that the real Esther was killed by Gunnar; Tricia specifically wanted to use "Esther's return" as a means fixing Allen's depression over his daughter's disappearance so he would become a happy and successful artist once more. All the while knowing that Leena was an unstable DepravedDwarf ConArtist and SerialKiller. [[BullyingADragon On top of that, they feel the need to insult her over her class, nationality and condition while also thinking they can control and bully her into compliance.]] [[ForegoneConclusion It goes about as well for them as Leena/Esther's own attempts at seducing her adoptive fathers]]]].
* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'', 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. Several other pirate lords comment on this, certain she'll immediately smite them in revenge if she gets her powers back. As she reveals to Davy Jones, they're right. [[spoiler:The only reason she doesn't is because Will tells her that Davy Jones (her former lover) was the one that taught the pirate lords how to bind her. Instead of smiting anyone, she creates a maelstrom to put two sides she hates at a MutualDisadvantage.]] 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. [[spoiler: The moment Jones has the chance, he horribly murders Beckett's [[TheDragon Dragon]]. The only reason he doesn't kill Beckett too is that he then loses the fight against the Brethren Court. Had he won, Beckett surely would have been next on his list.]]

** In ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie'', Ivan Ooze is freed from his prison by Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, who hope to get him to join them. Given Ooze utterly hates Zordon, he's perfectly happy to ransack the Command Centre and leave Zordon for dead. However, when Zedd tries to continue treating him like a minion, Ivan traps them in a snowglobe and usurps their base and minions for his own purposes.
** In ''Film/TurboAPowerRangersMovie'', the villainess Divatox wants to resurrect the demon Maligore and marry him to gain untold power. When she does, he starts attacking everyone, and is ultimately destroyed by the Rangers.
* ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'': The main villains, a criminal conspiracy known only as "Quantum", turn out to have the backing of the CIA. Felix Leiter is apparently the only agent in the loop about this who realises that this is a terrible idea, and sure enough the Company proves to be completely incapable of keeping their deniable pawns from going off-script.

* The plot of ''Film/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.

* ''Manhwa/{{Priest}}'' uses this in the climax of its several volume long flashback; a corrupt order of priests have succeeded in opening the Domas Porada, the "can" (and it does rather resemble one) containing the fallen angel Temozerela, believing him to be their savior. Unfortunately, Temozerela isn't too fond of humans... he kills almost the entire order with a single breath (he breathes at them and their heads explode), mocks the leader a bit, and them kills him by making demon faces sprout out all over the leader's body and bite him to death.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPAwm7zcmcU Regret Game]] is a rather [[NightmareFuel nasty]] deconstruction of games about lovecraftian summoning of monsters and demons GoneHorriblyWrong.

* AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho has this happen to the Meddling Monk. He forms an alliance with the [[OmnicidalManiac Daleks]], thinking they're partners and he can loot the worlds they conquer of their art and become the richest man in creation. He realises his mistake after his companion Tamsin is killed by the Daleks.

** ''GURPS Cthulhupunk'' specifically states that those who wish to use the powers of the Mythos for some specific, human-scale goal - getting rich, unseating a government, etc. - are, too put it bluntly, the stupidest kind of cultist: "The powers of the Mythos cannot be controlled with anywhere near this kind of precision."
* The backstory for ''Warlord'' villain Avinaar Esmerek looks like one of these, with the heroes finding an ancient temple, obviously recently disturbed, full of prophesies about the awful things that will happen if the being entombed there ever awakens. However, in the final room he is found KilledOffForReal, with a message from the mysterious Avinaar explaining that he unsealed this evil [[BloodKnight just to have a worthy foe]] -- and it was too weak, anyway. Cue panic.

** This is how one Gehenna scenario ends for the Followers of Set. The clan as a whole descends from an insanely powerful vampire they believe to be the god Set from Egyptian mythology, and worship him by tempting others into wickedness. Well, when he finally wakes from his millennia-long slumber, he can't believe his childer would stoop so low as to ''worship'' him, and starts eating them like popcorn. In a different scenario, Set awakens, but can't get out of the Underworld, so he telepathically demands that his loyal followers [[PsychicAssistedSuicide join him there]]; by the next night, only a tiny handful of Setites are left.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', demon type creatures tend to be powerful for their cost but occasionally have drawbacks that can screw over their controller unless steps are taken to deal with them. Certain demons like the classic [[http://magiccards.info/10e/en/154.html Lord of the Pit]] and [[http://magiccards.info/dka/en/71b.html Archdemon of Greed]] demand regular sacrifices from their summoners and attack them if they are denied. [[http://magiccards.info/isd/en/89.html Bloodgift Demon]] and [[http://magiccards.info/avr/en/106.html Griselbrand]] both have abilities that allow their summoners to trade life for knowledge, and players can easily render themselves vulnerable to an opponent's surprise attack. [[http://magiccards.info/wwk/en/47.html Abyssal Persecutor]] will decimate your opponent's forces but it also keeps him/her from losing and you from winning just to keep the slaughter going for a little longer. [[http://magiccards.info/di/en/129.html Rakdos the Defiler]] is so hard to control that he is just as dangerous to his summoner as he is to the opponent.
* ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'' has the story of mage-emperor Fran-Horas who, in order to put down a particularly troublesome revolt against his rule, summoned the [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils Archdemons themselves]] and unleashed them onto the battlefield. They proceeded to wipe out the rebels...then turned on Fran's own forces, plunging the realm into chaos. Fran-Horas himself ended up dragged to hell a few years later, having first had to witness the fall of his empire. And a couple of generations down the line his descendant, the empress Hela-Horas [[TooDumbToLive tried to do the same thing]]. Another century or two of Dark Ages was only averted because the gods themselves decided that enough was enough and made a personal appearance to stop the summoning.

* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', Black Mage tries to control unstoppable forces of evil whenever possible, usually causing a double-subversion or [[RuleOfFunny whatever might be hilarious]]. He takes control of an accidentally summoned EldritchAbomination--pretty successfully, since it's almost as sociopathic as he is--until one of his "friends" accidentally kills it. He tries to become the ruler of Hell, and he does, but then someone brings him back to life. Played with most destructively in the end: [[spoiler:Sarda absorbs Black Mage's [[BuffySpeak super-evilness]], which seems to work fine, until he explodes and turns into [[BigBad Chaos]]]]. [[RunningGag And Black Mage immediately tries to control him.]]

* [[spoiler:Vaarsuvius]] in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' makes a DealWithTheDevil and temporarily gains huge amounts of power. They do manage to get in a couple hits against evil, but in their arrogance quickly loses all of that power, with the whole incident leaving the villains merely delayed instead of defeated like they wanted. Upon being {{DePower}}ed back to their usual self, [[spoiler:Vaarsuvius]] berates themself for acting so recklessly, knowing that they now have to deal with putting their soul in debt, jeopardizing their alignment, and making several powerful entities really, really angry. [[spoiler:Plus coming back to bite the party in new and interesting ways with the death of the Draketooth clan as well as gods alone know how many other innocents across the Western Continent.]] Oops.

** Xykon also believes (and this is whole plan) that he will be able to [[spoiler:control [[EldritchAbomination the Snarl]]]]. Instead, he'll just [[spoiler:unleash a god-destroying monstrosity that has no idea of control at all]]. [[DragonWithAnAgenda Redcloak]] knows this full well, and has other plans of his own.

"In their laboratories they built a child’s toy prototype for ultimate evil—a toddler’s first ultimate evil, as it were. The final product would have had safeties, seals, restrictions."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'' has Uli spend over three seasons trying to summon an AncientEvil known as the Bloodwolf. Said Bloodwolf wonders why he should be grateful toward Uli for any of this.

** In the episode "Birds of a Feather", Veronica Vreeland brings [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin The Penguin]] into her social circle as a publicity stunt. He eventually finds out he's being used, and in his true flamboyantly villainous fashion, kidnaps and attempts to murder her. An especially depressing case as Penguin genuinely had performed a HeelFaceTurn and truly was being a good man now... until he learned the truth about Veronica and his heart was so thoroughly broken he [[ThenLetMeBeEvil dove head-first back into villainy]].

** And then there's "Mad Love," in which Harley springs the Joker from Arkham, desperately infatuated with him and convinced they'll live out a Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque romance. The feelings aren't exactly mutual, and their relationship quickly turns into a nasty cycle of abuse and betrayal from Joker's end.
** In some cases this proves two-way short sighted, since Joker unhinging Harley into his personal sycophant has ugly repercussions whenever he decides he's done with the facade (case in point the revenge beating he suffered for ditching her in "Joker's Billions"). For all the abuse she takes, Harley is quite forceful that she's Joker's commitment, whether he still wants her or not.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Evil Under the Sea!" has Comicbook/{{Aquaman}}'s enemies [[ArchEnemy Black Manta]] and [[CainAndAbel Orm]] team up against him. Teaming up with Black Manta proves a huge mistake on Orm's part as his goal wasn't to conquer Altantis like Orm believed, but to destroy it and loot the ruins.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In "WesternAnimation/OperationZERO," Father acquires the [[MacGuffin Recommissioning Module]] and uses it to reawaken Grandfather, the "world's most ultimate evil" in his words, and his actual father. Almost immediately upon being reawakened, Grandfather thanks Father for doing so... and then harshly dismisses him, pointing out that the only reason he needed to be brought back is because Father and the other villains weren't able to stop the Kids Next Door themselves.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Vlad Plasmius attempts to gain enormous power by stealing the Crown of Fire (having already obtained the Ring of Rage). [[SealedEvilInACan He opens the sarcophagus]] of [[EvilOverlord Pariah Dark]], waking him up. Within minutes, Vlad is beaten, and is forced to team up with Danny to stop him. He falls into the same trap with Vortex after his RestrainingBolt is accidentally destroyed.

** Played straight in "Dreamscaperers" where Gideon, trying once more to get a hold of the Mystery Shack, summons a certain triangle shaped Dream Demon to help steal the deed to the Shack. Bill Cipher goes on to become ''the'' BigBad of the series, eventually coercing Gideon into being DemotedToDragon [[spoiler: when Bill finally breaks the barriers between his world and reality]].

** An episode had an evil sorcerer freeing an evil dragon, and said dragon sticking the sorcerer into his old prison.

** In the Season 3 finale, Shendu (now a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent spirit]]) pulls this on [[EvilSorcerer Daolon Wong]], who offered to [[BackFromTheDead resurrect him]] in exchange for giving Wong the [[PlayingWithFire Dragon Talisman power]] that Shendu's body will attract[[note]] The physical Talismans that housed the powers were destroyed, releasing the magical powers into the world. Each power would seek out and imbune "the most noble" member of that species with the power (Dog Talisman sought out a dog, Pig Talisman sought out a pig, etc.) Since dragons were extinct, that power had no body to go into to. Resurrecting Shendu would put a dragon back on the Earth, and as the sole dragon he was automatically the most noble one ensuring the power would come to him.[[/note]]. To the surprise of absolutely no-one ([[GenreBlindness except for Wong of course]]), Shendu takes both the Dragon power and the other two Talisman powers ([[EyeBeams Pig]] and [[MindOverMatter Rooster]]) that Wong had acquired earlier.

** 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.

** Cat Blanc, torn between listening to Hawk Moth ([[spoiler:who he had just learned is his father]]) and listening to his Lady, accidentally [[spoiler:triggers an AngstNuke that wipes out all of Paris, killing everyone in it but himself, including Hawk Moth (and Ladybug). Time travel was required to fix this one]].

** Worth noting that both supervillains to deliberately turn on Hawk Moth were the result of akumatizing non-humans (Robustus originally being Markov, a robot, and [=YanLuoShi=] originally being Mei Shi, a supernatural creature). Presumably they can resist his control better than humans can.
* In the Season 1 finale of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'', [[BigBad Big Bad]] Pythor P. Chumsworth awakes [[SealedEvilInACan an ancient, giant beast known as the Great Devourer]] thinking he could control her, the first thing she does after awakening is devouring Pythor and Wu alive, [[spoiler: both survive after the Devourer's destruction by Lord Garmadon, but Pythor's skin and voice become affected by the Devourer's venom, and he seeks revenge against the Ninja for this un later seasons]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', [[spoiler:Moon Butterfly and the Magic High Commission secretly back Mina Loveberry's conspiracy to overthrow Eclipsa but [[KnightTemplar the utterly insane Mina]] and her army of [[SuperSoldier Solarian Warriors]] quickly go out of control, and neither Moon or the Commission can do anything to stop them from ravaging Mewni]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'', [[ManipulativeBastard Slade]] cuts a deal with the demonic Trigon to come BackFromTheDead in return for Slade helping the demon take over the world. After Slade fulfills his role, Trigon turns on him. [[spoiler: Slade knew this was going to happen and took precautions. He ends up orchestrating Trigon's downfall and getting his mortal life back, and is still at large at the end of the series while Trigon was either destroyed or re-sealed in Hell. Technically, they were sealed in the same can -- Trigon was in Hell because he was a demon, and Slade was there because he was evil and dead. However, Trigon seems to have drawn Slade's soul to him, and ''he '' was the one who instigated the deal. Slade took it because it was the only chance he had.]]
* Shredder from the ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' series has problems with this. In the pilot, he teams up with the brain from Dimension X Krang, but refuses to create a new body for him because of this trope, but caves in later on. Once the bad guys and the Technodrome end up in Dimension X, Krang takes charge. This pops up later on in ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'', when Shredder rescues his counterpart from [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 the 2003 series]] from imprisonment on an asteroid for the purpose of a VillainTeamUp. Unfortunately, the DarkerAndEdgier Shredder not only takes control of the Technodrome and Krang's technology, but also decides to wipe out creation himself.

** This bites Megatron in the ass again in the series finale. Megatron spent the entire series feeding himself with Dark Energon to making himself stronger and create better weapons. Dark Energon comes from Unicron, and when Megatron dies, he ends up being used as Unicron's possessed slave. Unicron makes it abundantly clear Megatron controls nothing and is simply his new puppet and chew toy.

** Another straight example occurred in the episode "The Demon Seed." [[DumbMuscle Vlad]] meets with Jack and suggest releasing an evil called the Heylin Seed. This proves a very stupid idea as the BotanicalAbomination released from the seed is quick to turn the two and decides he will rule the world himself.

'''Black Mask:''' No. It's going to be a nightmare.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror segment "Dial 'Z' for Zombies" features Bart using a magic book to resurrect the family cat Snowball. It worked... except it didn't revive the cat, but rather actual zombies that terrorize Springfield. Bart himself lampshades on the situation he inadvertently started:

** Mefisto eventually did two explicit deals only because he couldn't do otherwise... And still made sure to deliver his part. The first time was by [[PapaWolf consecrating his soul to the devil who held Yama's soul hostage in exchange for his son's soul and sanity to be restored]], as he knew that upon death he'd go to hell anyway but at least this way he got ''something'' out of it. The second time [[GodzillaThreshold Tex was almost in shooting distance and his powers were on the fritz]] due Narbas, the guy whose body he had stolen to come back to life, being close to his location, so he called upon that devil and offered him the souls of everyone in the cave (all enemies) in exchange for a horde of demons being unleashed in the cave, and the only reason that failed was that [[spoiler:he hadn't noticed Narbas reclaiming his body and reducing him to a ghost while he was calling upon the devil, so he only got an ''illusion'' of the deal being done]].

** Sebastian Shaw helped to develop and secure funding the [[CapeBusters mutant-hunting]] [[HumongousMecha Sentinels]], figuring that if he builds them instead of someone else, he can instill a RestrainingBolt to keep them from recognizing him as a mutant. This led to the ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast, a BadFuture where the Sentinels TurnedAgainstTheirMasters and waged a genocidal war on mutants everywhere.
** Another Hellfire Club member didn't fare much better -- Mastermind [[MindRape learned]] that TheDogBitesBack when he [[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga twisted Phoenix into Dark Phoenix]].

* The Phoenix Force is the big topic of ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen''. ComicBook/TheAvengers are on this side of the trope thanks to ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, while [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]] believes that the Force will bring back mutantkind, which has been largely depowered. When five mutants gain control of the Phoenix Force, the Avengers grab hold of the IdiotBall as they continue to espouse this trope.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]] realize just how badly they underestimated ComicBook/TheSentry/Void's power and evil.

* In ''New ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' #1, Amanda Waller loses full control of the team of supervillains and has to share it with Victor Sage. Unlike Waller, however, Sage treats the Squad (sorry, Task Force X) like his personal fantasy league, introducing stupid changes like renaming the team Task Force XL, hiring [[OnlyInItForTheMoney the extremely mercenary]] Characters/{{Deathstroke}} ''without the requisite ExplosiveLeash'' and putting together ComicBook/HarleyQuinn (who recently gave up on the Joker for good) and LoonyFan Duela Dent (the self-proclaimed "Joker's Daughter"), [[TooDumbToLive in a bid to draw the Joker out of hiding so that they can put him on the team]]. Deathstroke betrays the team five minutes in, Harley brutally beats up Duela, and due to Sage's incompetence, Deadshot's aim is crippled. Waller chews him out for his colossal ego and absolute lack of foresight.

** {{Invoked|Trope}} in ''ComicBook/KryptoniteNevermore''. In order to cure Superman's illness, ComicBook/WonderWoman's mentor I-Ching performs a dark magic ritual. He is aware of the risks and the foolishness of playing with black magic, but he thinks there is no other way to help the Man of Steel.
** In the ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}''/''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story ''ComicBook/WarWorld'', alien overlord Mongul appropriates a star-sized weapon-satellite built by a race of warmongers who passed away right after building it. It never occurrs to Mongul that both events could be linked and that Warworld might bring death to its owner.

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Thomas Randolph keeps finding more and more questionably ways to increase his magical power, which eventually warps him into an inhuman monster and kills him while he kills ComicBook/{{Artemis}}.

* ''Fanfic/ACrookedMan'': [[spoiler:Sublime, Cornelius, Risman, and Colcord got their hands on the Fury and have it fused with Master Mold technology to be use against Johann. Unbeknownst to them, the Fury was made to be loyal to Mad Jim Jaspers and therefore cannot be reprogram to obey Sublime and his unwitting pawns. Furthermore, as Jim Jaspers was dead for years, the Fury has no reins at all. Lastly, thanks to Master Mold's programs, the Fury is made to hate ''everything''. After the Fury was activated, it start killing Sublime and the rest.]]

* In [[http://kleinerkiller.deviantart.com/gallery/41037509 Yognapped]], [[EvilFormerFriend Peva]] frees [[spoiler: Herobrine]] from beneath the bedrock layer, planning to partner up with him and destroy Minecraftia. [[spoiler: Herobrine]] briefly considers this, before [[spoiler: scorching Peva's hand, completely obliterating his gathered troops, and going off to fulfill his own agenda.]]

* In ''WebVideo/HarryPotterAndTheTenYearsLater'', [[spoiler: after the villains mostly succeed in transforming Harry into Voldemort, the first thing Harry/Voldemort does is kill one of them. It turns out that he wasn't actually killed, since you have to "mean" Unforgivable curses and [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight Harry didn't]].]]

* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': Mao thinks he can play around with the Decepticons by waving vital information in front of their faces so he can get a nice, cozy home for himself and C.C. When Lelouch literally shuts him up in Chapter 23, forcing him to return to the ''Nemesis'' empty-handed, [[spoiler: Megatron tells him [[ExactWords he has a place at the table]]: Shockwave's dissection table, to be exact.]]

** What kicked off the entire plot was ComicBook/RasAlGhul hiring ComicBook/TheJoker to keep Batman and Robin distracted, believing he could control him. He's proven wrong when Joker goes against his plan by kidnapping Robin and ultimately killing him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheWitchsGhost'', Ben Ravencroft summons the evil spirit of his witch ancestor in hopes of ruling the world together along with her. What he didn't count on was that she was less EvilOverlord and more OmnicidalManiac.
** Happens again in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheSamuraiSword'' when Miss Mirimoto manages to conjure the Black Samurai, trying to cow him into servicing her. He has none of it and tosses her aside like a rag doll.

* ''Film/TheAtticusInstitute'' sees the US government trying to weaponize a demon-possessed woman in the Cold War, using her powers to remotely gather information and kill from afar. The demon, however, was pretty much just playing with them, and [[spoiler:ends up killing everyone and taking a new host when they try to control it into moving to a soldier as a host.]]

** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': The mob finally turns to ComicBook/TheJoker to take down their ever-growing nemesis Franchise/{{Batman}}. [[ForTheEvulz However, they don't fully understand what drives the Joker...]]. He ends up burning all of the mob's money and (directly or indirectly) leading to the deaths of the most powerful mob bosses in Gotham. His machinations cripple the mob in a way Batman could have never dreamed of.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'': ComicBook/{{Bane}} is hired by Daggett to commit a robbery on the Stock Exchange and bankrupt Bruce Wayne. As it turns out, Bane was [[DragonWithAnAgenda using Daggett all along]], with Bane ultimately [[spoiler: betraying and killing him]].

** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', Emma Russell and Alan Jonah release King Ghidorah as part of their gambit to heal the Earth by releasing the Titans. Unfortunately for them, it turns out Ghidorah has [[OmnicidalManiac his own plans]] and nigh instantly takes over as the film's BigBad. [[spoiler:Played with for Jonah, who as a NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist is perfectly fine with the destruction of the planet]].

* ''Film/OrphanFirstKill'': [[spoiler: Tricia and Gunnar wanted to use Leena's con to try and conceal the fact that the real Esther was killed by Gunnar; Tricia specifically wanted to use "Esther's return" as a means fixing Allen's depression over his daughter's disappearance so he would become a happy and successful artist once more. All the while knowing that Leena was an unstable DepravedDwarf ConArtist and SerialKiller. [[BullyingADragon On top of that, they feel the need to insult her over her class, nationality and condition while also thinking they can control and bully her into compliance.]] [[ForegoneConclusion It goes about as well for them as Leena/Esther's own attempts at seducing her adoptive fathers]].]]

* The song "A Dangerous Meeting" from Mercyful Fate's second album "Don't Break The Oath", contains this gem, delivered as only Music/KingDiamond can do: ''[[https://youtu.be/LWCOqNHzM0k OOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH, THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN, NOT TO PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAY, WITH THE POWERS OF HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEELL!]]''

** In the episode "Birds of a Feather", Veronica Vreeland brings ComicBook/ThePenguin into her social circle as a publicity stunt. He eventually finds out he's being used, and in his true flamboyantly villainous fashion, kidnaps and attempts to murder her. An especially depressing case as Penguin genuinely had performed a HeelFaceTurn and truly was being a good man now... until he learned the truth about Veronica and his heart was so thoroughly broken he [[ThenLetMeBeEvil dove head-first back into villainy]].

** Invoked in the penultimate episode 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 {{ComicBook/Darkseid}}, and you get no points for guessing which one of the two [[DyingCurse Tala ends up reviving as a final 'gift' to the man who killed her.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', [[ManipulativeBastard Slade]] cuts a deal with the demonic Trigon to come BackFromTheDead in return for Slade helping the demon take over the world. After Slade fulfills his role, Trigon turns on him. [[spoiler: Slade knew this was going to happen and took precautions. He ends up orchestrating Trigon's downfall and getting his mortal life back, and is still at large at the end of the series while Trigon was either destroyed or re-sealed in Hell. Technically, they were sealed in the same can -- Trigon was in Hell because he was a demon, and Slade was there because he was evil and dead. However, Trigon seems to have drawn Slade's soul to him, and ''he '' was the one who instigated the deal. Slade took it because it was the only chance he had.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown''. The spirit of a [[RealityWarper nigh-omnipotent]] sorceress who was freed from her puzzle-box prison by Jack in the pilot, and promised him the world if he helped her. Although Jack never quite succeeded and eventually became her adversary, when Raimundo restores her powers with his FaceHeelTurn, she repays him by... granting his every wish and grooming him to rule the world alongside her. [[IGaveMyWord It seems she was a villainess of her word after all.]]

* In the season 1 finale of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'', [[BigBad Big Bad]] Pythor P. Chumsworth awakes [[SealedEvilInACan an ancient, giant beast known as the Great Devourer]] thinking he could control her, the first thing she does after awakening is devouring Pythor and Wu alive, [[spoiler: both survive after the Devourer's destruction by Lord Garmadon, but Pythor's skin and voice become affected by the Devourer's venom, and he seeks revenge against the Ninja for this]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Syndrome [[EngineeredHeroics sics his own custom-built robot onto a city which he would "save" its people from]], [[EvilIsPetty all to get back at Mr. Incredible for supposedly slighting him]]. However, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard he forgets how intelligent he programmed the robot to be]]. The robot sees the remote that allows him to deactivate it and knocks it away from him.

->''"I've come to learn that employing Creator/AchievementHunter's help in something is equivalent to when the mob hired the Joker in ''Dark Knight''. No one really knows how much chaos they're unleashing until it's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfBN8wmknjA too late]]."''

** While not evil, more incredibly volatile, using [[spoiler: Phoenix Fire]] is usually a very, very bad idea. Unless you have absolute mental discipline and can keep your emotions in check, it will corrupt you and turn you into a HumanoidAbomination bent on destroying ''everything'' (one previous example destroyed a galaxy and was only getting warmed up). As a result, hosts for that power are chosen extremely carefully.

* In ''ComicBook/TexWiller'', [[EvilSorceror Mefisto]] is careful not to ask too much from his demonic allies lest they demand too great a price or straight out kill him and won't make an explicit DealWithTheDevil because he fears the consequences of failing to hold his side of the deal (implicit ones for small things, on the other hand, are fair game). He warns his son Yama against making an explicit deal, but Yama doesn't listen... And while the first time he has the sense to do his part ''before'' demanding a new power, the second time he offers the soul of one of his followers in exchange for his temple becoming hell on Earth and fails to deliver, immediately proving his father had been correct.

* Wiki/SCPFoundation: [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/incident-report-668-682 Incident 668-682]], where a disgruntled agent (subsequently referred to as "the Victim") tries to smuggle a weapon to OmnicidalManiac SCP-682.

* Almost all of the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise is perpetuated by [[MegaCorp Weyland-Yutani's]] misguided belief that they can contain a Xenomorph and sell it as a weapon. They never do, and lots of people always die as a result. On the other hand, they never really get the chance to capture and study/sell the Xenomorphs, the (expendable) people directly fighting the Xenomorphs (presumably aware of this trope) always decide to kill them before the company ever actually gets their hands on them. Though from what we've seen, the company would be completely unable to contain them. In ''Film/AlienResurrection'' the military tries to weaponize the Xenomorphs too, and the personnel on the same ship as the aliens pay for it with their lives. In the ''Alien Versus Predator'' films, the Predators deliberately seeded worlds with Xenomorphs to provide them with sport. In both films this backfires on the Predators when the Xenomorphs start hunting ''them''. Of course given the Predators [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame life believes]], they'd probably consider this a sign they have in fact found worthy prey.

** In "Recap/DuckTales2017S1E11McMysteryAtMcDuckMcManor", it looks like this has happened when Black Arts Beagle summons what he believes to be a demon, only for him to disappear literally shouting, "I'm not as good as I thought I was!" [[spoiler:As it turns out, he's summoned the ghost of Scrooge's old butler, who was sort of behind everything anyway and later admits he has a flair for the dramatic.]]

* A lot of ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'s enemies seem to think that they can use the Right Hand of Doom and [[EldritchAbomination Ogdru Jahad]] for their own ends (even Hell), while it is implied that they would merely destroy all of reality. It's a recurring theme among others who don't try to use the Ogdru Jahad. Sorcerers and witches who traffic with demons die painful deaths and are sucked down to Hell. TheFairFolk and witches revive a mad [[Myth/KingArthur Nimue]] to wage war on humanity. The results are far more horrifying than anyone expected.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In "WesternAnimation/OperationZERO," Father acquires the [[MacGuffin Recommissioning Module]] and uses it to reawaken Grandfather, the [[UltimateEvil "world's most ultimate evil"]] in his words, and his actual father. Almost immediately upon being reawakened, Grandfather thanks Father for doing so... and then harshly dismisses him, pointing out that the only reason he needed to be brought back is because Father and the other villains weren't able to stop the Kids Next Door themselves.

** This is how one Gehenna scenario ends for the Followers of Set. The clan as a whole descends from an insanely powerful vampire they believe to be the god Set from Egyptian mythology, and worship him by tempting others into wickedness. Well, when he finally wakes from his millennia-long slumber, he can't believe his childer would stoop so low as to ''worship'' him, and starts eating them like popcorn.

** A bunch of teenagers tried to do some cult like ritual hoping it would grant them powers; it goes awry and instead summons [[Characters/GreenLantern1941 Solomon Grundy]] back from the dead. His first victim was one of the teens.

** Trixie tracks down the Alicorn Amulet after [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds the Ursa Incident ruined her life]] to get revenge...except the Amulet is actually an ArtifactOfDoom that corrupts it's user and drives them insane.

* In ''Literature/{{Twig}}'', Reverend Mauer attempts to provoke his enemies into overreacting by creating primordial life (life which can rapidly modify itself) and then publicizing the resulting atrocities. Unfortunately, the primordials don't particularly like being used up and discarded, and so release a final, spiteful curse upon humanity before their destruction.

** In the Season 4 premiere, Daolon Wong prepared a potion that allows him to recreate the seal of the [[EliteMooks Shadowkhan]], with the intent of summoning them so that they can break him and the Enforcers out of Section 13's prison. However, he actually ends up freeing the Shadowkhan's true master Tarakudo, who breaks out the Enforcers and leaves ''him'' there.

* In ''New ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' #1, Amanda Waller loses full control of the team of supervillains and has to share it with Victor Sage. Unlike Waller, however, Sage treats the Squad (sorry, Task Force X) like his personal fantasy league, introducing stupid changes like renaming the team Task Force XL, hiring [[OnlyInItForTheMoney the extremely mercenary]] [[Characters/BatmanDeathstroke Deathstroke]] ''without the requisite ExplosiveLeash'' and putting together ComicBook/HarleyQuinn (who recently gave up on the Joker for good) and LoonyFan Duela Dent (the self-proclaimed "Joker's Daughter"), [[TooDumbToLive in a bid to draw the Joker out of hiding so that they can put him on the team]]. Deathstroke betrays the team five minutes in, Harley brutally beats up Duela, and due to Sage's incompetence, Deadshot's aim is crippled. Waller chews him out for his colossal ego and absolute lack of foresight.