History Main / LoyalPhlebotinum

* Tucker's energy sword in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' binds to him when he first acquires it and won't turn on for anyone else who tries to wield it. This is later shown to be true in general for these swords: the first person who picks it up becomes the only person it will work for. The only way to get it to work for someone else is to kill its current wielder.

* PlayedWith in ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'' -- [[Myth/KingArthur Galahad]]'s sword, later taken up by [[HeroicWannabe David]], can seemingly be wielded by anyone, but it won't attack Myth/{{Merlin}}, who made it for Galahad in the first place. When David tries it just swings itself around in circles and makes him look ridiculous.

* MarvelUniverse: ComicBook/TheMightyThor's hammer can generally only be wielded by Thor. Anyone else trying to pick it up will find it impossibly heavy -- even the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk! [[CrossOver Or even]] Franchise/{{Superman}} -- which is implied to be because he abides by ThouShaltNotKill, while being Worthy in this context means being willing to kill if necessary [[note]] Odin nevertheless temporarily lifted it at the climax of ''JLA/Avengers'' to allow Superman to wield it, along with Captain America's shield, making the most awesome cover in the history of comics)[[/note]]. However, it's not '''completely''' exclusive, and on a handful of occasions, a worthy and properly-motivated hero (and [[WesternAnimation/UltimateAvengers one specific version]] of the aforementioned Hulk) has managed to pick it up and use it. This is one of the few things about him that's actually fairly accurate to the myth.

-->''"His owne good sword Morddure, to cleaue his head. / The faithfull steele such treason no'uld endure, / But

** ''Heroes' Relics'' are ancestral, devastating weapons passed down through generations of a same family in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses''. Any character who has a Crest matching the Relic's will be able to use the weapon at its strongest. Have a Crest that doesn't match the Relic's, and it will be as useful as a run-of-the-mill equivalent. If you dare use a Relic without a Crest, the blade [[EldritchAbomination will gladly devour you]].

* WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat's [[WesternAnimation/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat Magic Bag of Tricks]] is [[SentientPhlebotinum implied to be sentient]], and most of the time, it works for Felix and ''only'' Felix. The handful of times The Professor manages to get his hands on it, the bag will violently resist every attempt he makes to use it. Felix can even whistle for it to come back to his side -- in "Felix Out West", it even morphs into a rabbit and hops back to Felix, licking him on the face like a dog before it turns back to normal. With that said, Poindexter did figure out how to use the Bag in [[Recap/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat1x64MartinTheMartianMeetsFelixTheCat "Martin the Martian Meets Felix the Cat"]], but that was only so he turn it into a portal to Mars so he could meet Martin, so it's not that Professor is outright incapable of using it so much as the bag knows he's a bad guy and won't allow him to exploit its powers.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'': While the Sword of Omens is only ever to be wielded by the lord of the Thundercats, Lion-O. it has been used by other characters of "pure spirit" on occasion; Willa of the warrior maidens once used "Sight Beyond Sight" in the episode "Garden of Delights", and the Sword has also responded to Lynx-O in "Ravage Island". In the episode "Tight Squeeze", Snarf used the Sword of Omens with no problem.

* In ''Series/{{Continuum}}'', Kiera's futuretech pistol has a biometric lock that prevents anyone besides her from using it. Attempting to do so results in an "UNAUTHORIZED USER" message and a lethal electric shock. Two people have fallen for it so far, one tricked into it, and the other who was also from the future and [[WhatAnIdiot really should have known better]].

* The Cloths in ''Anime/SaintSeiya'' are this. Every single of them are outright stated to be sentient beings that must be revived with blood if damaged beyond repair, to have a will of their own, and the Gold Cloths have been proven to have outright will and UndyingLoyalty to Athena. Most prominent examples would be Aiolos' Sagittarius Cloth who could act of its own will (it's outright stated Aiolos' soul lives on in the Cloth) and hopped more than once to save Seiya, Deathmask's Cancer Cloth who decided it wouldn't stand anymore for its bearer's [[WouldHarmAChild atrocious acts]] and [[MightMakesRight outright betrayal of Athena]], or Anime-only Gemini Cloth separating itself from Saga as he was about to land a blow on Athena.

* In ''Manga/DGrayMan'', Innocence is so loyal it won't let anyone besides its unique accommodator wield it. If you try to force the synchronization nonetheless, it will leave you crippled, blind, or simply dead.
* In the ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' [=OAVs=], the Master Key/Tenchi-ken is like this, as it can only be used by Juraians of royal blood. This is why Ryoko couldn't take her gems back and why Ayeka used the key as a torture device.

* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'': The guymelef Escaflowne will only work for Van Fannel, because his blood was mixed with its energist crystal.
* Samehada, Kisame's sword in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', which sprouts spikes from its handle if someone else tries to use it. [[spoiler:Not too loyal though, as it will readily switch sides to whoever can feed it more or tastier chakra. It goes through a minor HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, switching from Kisame to Killer Bee mid-battle, ostensibly because he's got more chakra to offer as host of the 8-tails, but then it turns out Kisame instructed it to do so, to serve as TheMole, before finally BecomingTheMask and refusing to return to Samehada when he tries to reclaim it]]

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': After the dummy plug incident, Unit-01 won't work for anyone but Shinji. The Evangelions generally don't work very well for anyone other than their designated pilot. NERV does experiment with switching pilots into different Evas, but it doesn't accomplish much except making Unit-00 go berserk (again) when Shinji is placed in it. Subverted with Kaworu: since he is [[spoiler:an angel, he can control any Eva against its will so long as its soul has become too weak to resist.]]
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** Aleister Crowley is capable of wielding an artifact known as "The Blasting Rod". Its exact capabilities aren't known, but it did [[spoiler:nearly kill Fiamma of the Right without effort]]. The Blasting Rod is said to follow Crowley out of "pure respect", though exactly what he did to gain its respect is not known.
** Touma's [[AntiMagic Imagine Breaker]] is only usable by him. If his right hand or arm (where the power lies) is cut off, it regenerates and retains the power. This is notable in that the same is not true of the two other people with similar powers.[[note]]Fiamma of the Right lost the ability to control his Holy Right when his right arm was severed, though the power itself remains in his body. Kakeru not only lost his World Rejector when his right hand was cut off, it was outright used by another person who grafted it onto their body.[[/note]]

* The Cloths in ''Anime/SaintSeiya'' are this. Every single of them are outright stated to be sentient beings that must be revived with blood if damaged beyond repair, to have a will of their own, and the Gold Cloths have been proven to have outright will and UndyingLoyalty to Athena. Most prominent examples would be Aiolos' Sagittarius Cloth who could act of its own will (it's outright stated Aiolos' soul lives on in the Cloth) and hopped more than once to save Seiya, Deathmask's Cancer Cloth who decided it wouldn't stand anymore for its bearer's [[WouldHarmAChild atrocious acts]] and [[MightMakesRight outright betrayal of Athena]], or Anime-only Gemini Cloth separating itself from Saga as he was about to land a blow on Athena.
* This is why Sousuke winds up as the Arbalest's dedicated pilot in ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' even though Mithril technically has superior and more talented Arm Slave pilots to make use of. Once it was calibrated for his use in an emergency rescue mission, Mithril's engineers discovered the AS's AI refused to work with anyone else and resisted all attempts to reformat it. So now their emotion-driven superweapon can only be activated by a stoic, emotionally stunted teenager, and absolutely no one is happy with this, especially Sousuke himself.

* In ''ComicBook/THUNDERAgents'', the belt that gives Dynamo his powers has to be carefully calibrated to him; if anybody else uses it, the effect will be misaligned and they'll be torn apart.
* MarvelUniverse: ComicBook/TheMightyThor's hammer can generally only be wielded by Thor. Anyone else trying to pick it up will find it impossibly heavy -- even the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk! [[CrossOver Or even]] Franchise/{{Superman}} - which is implied to be because he abides by ThouShaltNotKill, while being Worthy in this context means being willing to kill if necessary [[note]] Odin nevertheless temporarily lifted it at the climax of ''JLA/Avengers'' to allow Superman to wield it, along with Captain America's shield, making the most awesome cover in the history of comics)[[/note]]. However, it's not '''completely''' exclusive, and on a handful of occasions, a worthy and properly-motivated hero (and [[WesternAnimation/UltimateAvengers one specific version]] of the aforementioned Hulk) has managed to pick it up and use it. This is one of the few things about him that's actually fairly accurate to the myth.

* ComicBook/IronMan's armors are equipped with a neura-link control system that is specifically calibrated for Stark. Anyone else who uses the armor for an extended period of time for months will develop severe neurological problems, such as what happens to [[ComicBook/WarMachine Jim Rhodes]] when he subbed for Stark. He later gets a War Machine suit that is properly attuned to him.

* Justified in ''ComicBook/CreatureTech'': Dr. Ong determines that the alien symbiote is sapient and capable of moral reasoning, and gambles on it preferring him as a host to [[BigBad Jameson]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'''s super suit only works with the titular heroine.
* ''ComicBook/DCComicsBombshells'': Edward Nygma steals Stargirl's cosmic rod and tries to use it on her. She reveals her father designed it to only work for either her father or her. It electrocutes him and flies back into her hand.
* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'': When Claudia picks up Requiem's sword and use it against him, the sword tells her to "[[CurseCutShort get f-]]".

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Mjolnir, as per usual - that said, so far, it's had three wielders other than Thor (even if, in Steve's case, they were completely oblivious to the significance and used it as a doorstop), and the narration implies that anyone can be Worthy, if they work at it (as the third wielder, [[spoiler: Maddie]], does).

*** Harry's phoenix feather - which is actually nothing of the kind, as Doctor Strange observes, being [[spoiler: Laevateinn, the lost wand of Prospero Slytherin, which in turn is either the entirety or a part of Surtur's Twilight Sword]] - tends to come when he calls it. [[spoiler: Since it housed his mind for six relative months,]] this is perhaps not surprising. This isn't to say that others can't handle it, however, even villains, just that it won't do anything particularly exciting for them.

* In ''Film/{{Blade}}'', the hero's sword handle is booby-trapped so that it will shoot silver spikes into the hand of anyone who doesn't know how to disarm it when they grasp it.
* In Tim Burton's ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'', the Vorpal Blade is the only weapon that can slay the Jabberwock, and ''only'' if Alice uses it to do so. (Whether it is an EmpathicWeapon is unclear, but it likely is; the Caterpillar tells her to simply "hold on" and let it do the work, implying that she simply has to be holding it.)
* In ''Film/ShootEmUp'', the villains have some pistols with fingerprint locking technology.

* ''The Golden Sword of Dragonwalk'' has an example, though a little surprisingly it's not the titular magic sword. Instead it's the sword wielded by potential sidekick Elkar, which traps anyone who tries to steal it.

* {{Magic Wand}}s in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' universe. According to wand-maker Ollivander, "The wand chooses the wizard... And, of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand." YouKillItYouBoughtIt applies for the Elder Wand, [[spoiler:or at least that's the general understanding. Actually, it's only ''defeating'' that is strictly necessary. A nonlethal defeat works just as well as a lethal one.]] The Elder Wand didn't work [[spoiler:for Voldemort because he killed Snape for the wand, but it was Draco that actually defeated Dumbledore]]. It worked for [[spoiler: Harry because Harry had defeated Draco after Draco defeated Dumbledore]], and [[spoiler:Snape wouldn't have been the Master of the Wand either way because he killed Dumbledore on his orders]]. This is also seen when Hermione tries to use [[spoiler:Bellatrix's]] wand after she stole it without defeating her first. Hermione can't make the wand work well for her and feels revulsion when she tries. She claims the wand feels too much like a piece of [[spoiler:Bellatrix]].
* Mendanbar's sword in Patricia Wrede's ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'': It will only allow itself to be held by the King of the Enchanted Forest or a member of his family. It is innately linked to the forest's magic and in choosing its next bearer when the old one dies, it also selects the next king (who, due to that link, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking promptly inherits an enormous amount of magical power on top of the title]] -- wouldn't do to have a spell-less leader of an innately magical country, after all).
* In the ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' series, each dragon hatchling chooses its future rider. In both the cases of Miriam and K'van, their hatchlings refused all the candidates present on the Hatching Ground and tried to make their way off in search of them --Miriam was watching in the stands, while young K'van had been injured and was supposed to be staying in bed, but something pulled him to attend, but his injuries slowed him down.
* ''Literature/MerryGentry'': Magical items of Faerie -- that have been lost for centuries -- keep appearing around Merry, and ones that supposedly lost their magic are coming to life in her hands.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Wizard's staffs, most notably in ''Literature/EqualRites'', and ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'' (where the Sourcerer's staff bites another wizard who touches it).
** Also, the only way to get rid of the incredibly obedient and loyal Luggage is to command it to be owned by someone else.
* Dragons in the ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series can choose at birth to bond with a specific person. In the British Aerial Corps (and presumably in most other countries), the human military leaders try to influence the selection by choosing beforehand who gets to be present at the hatching, but sometimes the dragon refuses to choose anyone (and is therefore sent to the breeding grounds rather than into combat), or chooses someone other than the proffered candidate (as with Laurence and Temeraire, though that was a special case; the egg had been captured in a naval battle and hatched in transit). There is even a specific breed of dragon that will only bond with women. Since dragons live much longer than humans, most of them will have multiple human partners, usually preferring the children of their first partner.

* The sword Need from the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series is a powerful EmpathicWeapon that binds itself to specific women who are about to set off on a life of danger and adventure. It passes itself from bearer to bearer by glowing brightly when handed to its intended recipient. Later it's revealed that Need is more than merely empathic; [[spoiler:she's the soul of an ancient warrior/mage-smith bound into the blade by magic]].
** The setting's various BondCreatures are more than capable of protecting themselves and their right to have a bonded that ''they'' choose. When an EntitledBastard tried to break the Companion [[OurAngelsAreDifferent "horse"]] Caryo like a common horse, it landed him in the dirt. The only reason he wasn't hospitalized was that Caryo was holding back.

* In ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'', there's the Dominion Jewel, which can only be wielded by a true ruler. In this case, King Jonathan. As a double example, it will inevitably revert to its creator, Chitral, at some point to be sought and won again.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': This is the primary reason brought up against trying to use the One Ring as a weapon against Sauron: the Ring [[SoulJar contains part of Sauron's own spirit]] and is thus loyal only to him. It does allow its current Bearer to access some of its powers, but it always seems to mysteriously fail or "slip off" at inopportune moments, making it a dangerous thing to rely on. It is implied that a powerful enough being might be able to ''force'' the Ring to work for them, but this is never attempted (too risky if it fails... and arguably even more risky [[TheCorruption if it succeeds]]).
-->'''Aragorn:''' You cannot wield it! None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone.
* Creator/VladimirVasilyev's novelization of ''[[{{VideoGame/XCOM}} X-COM]]'' explains the reason why X-COM soldiers can't use alien weapons before they're researched. Apparently, they're all biometrically locked to specific DNA. After a weapon is researched, soldiers are instructed how to override the biometric lock and enter their own DNA into the weapon's database. One civilian hacker is notable for picking up a killed Muton's plasma rifle during a terror attack and figuring out how to reprogram the biometric lock himself, then going to town on the invaders using the sheer power of IKnowMortalKombat. He later asks to join the organization and becomes a fairly decent soldier.

* In ''Literature/{{Armor}}'', PoweredArmor suits are tailor-made to prevent them from horribly killing their wearers-if its joints don't match yours perfectly, it'll break whatever bones it has to to move, and its so tight that part of the training is showing a surgical record of a guy who tried to wear a crucifix in his suit, which got crushed into his sternum. As a side-effect, they can't be worn by anyone else. Even if someone is the correct user, if they've gotten too fat, it still sucks to wear.
* In Alexander Bushkov's ''Svarog'' series, the [[AbsurdlySharpBlade weapons]] and [[ArmorOfInvincibility armor]] from legendary [[UltimateBlacksmith Doran]]'s set have the will of their own and maim or kill anyone who touches them aside from their master. The only way to get accepted as the master by Doran's item is to ''[[RunsOnIgnorance unknowingly]]'' stumble upon it after the previous master's death ([[LoopholeAbuse although you can trick a friend into unknowingly finding it]]). The titular protagonist comes into possession of Doran-an-Teg - Axe of Doran, which then semi-routinely chops off the fingers of anyone stupid enough to try and steal it. Once, when the hero goes MIA, his friends even use the ax to determine whether he's still alive - by putting several death-condemned criminals in the room with it.
* ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'': The [[WizardingSchool University]] creates AntiMagic "Grams" and issues "Guilder" {{Membership Token}}s to its fully accredited arcanists, both of which are tokens bound to their owner with SympatheticMagic. If anyone else touches one, it numbs their hand, making it impossible to fake being an Arcanist.
* In the ''Literature/ChaosGods'' series, Ki's magic dagger returns to her hand when thrown and melts the skin of anyone else who tries to wield it.
* In ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', the Sword of Truth is so loyal that it actually disobeys its wielder so it can fly off and kill anyone who's hurt her feelings...regardless of whether she actually wants those people dead or not. Most of Volume 9 is about various people, including the wielder, teaming up to stop the Sword from destroying all of existence (which it is fully capable of doing).
* {{Magic wand}}s in ''Literature/ThroughTheMotions'' can only be used by the first person to touch the PowerCrystal attached to them. In the hands of anyone without the matching "enchanter's sign" created by the wand, they become useless.
* The Red Bull serves as this to King Haggard in ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn''. He is the physical enforcer of Haggard's will; apparently the Bull obeys anyone who has no fear, but only Haggard -- and at the climax, the unicorn -- can face him and not be afraid.
* Dragons are like this in the ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' series. Dragons only bond with one rider and that bond can only be broken by the death of one of them. Because dragons live longer than humans, they ''are'' willing to accept a new rider once their old one dies. This trope also applies on a larger scale to dragon-riding in general, as the only people who seem to be capable of taming and riding dragons are those with Valyrian heritage (specifically, those descended from the [[https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Dragonlord dragonlords]] of Old Valyria). There seems a [[InTheBlood genetic component]] to the skill of controlling dragon, one that House Targaryen (the sole remaining dragonlords) maintained through inbreeding.
* PlayedWith in ''Literature/{{Everworld}}''--[[Myth/KingArthur Galahad]]'s sword, later taken up by [[HeroicWannabe David]], can seemingly be wielded by anyone, but it won't attack Myth/{{Merlin}}, who made it for Galahad in the first place. When David tries it just swings itself around in circles and makes him look ridiculous.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The TARDIS is [[LivingShip alive]] and has a psychic link with the Doctor, so don't think she's going to leave her Time Lord without a fight. This is very much DependingOnTheWriter: the Master has gained control of the TARDIS on several occasions. In the classic series the Doctor has sometimes claimed the TARDIS has "isomorphic controls" that prevent unauthorised users, but on other occasions it's been suggested this is just a bluff (in "A Christmas Carol", when he's told the weather machine has isomorphic controls he says there's no such thing - and is wrong). The Master's laser screwdriver also has isomorphic controls in "Last of the Time Lords".

* The super suit in ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' will only work for the person chosen by its alien creators.

* In ''Series/{{Continuum}}'', Kiera's futuretech pistol has a biometric lock that prevents anyone besides her from using it. Attempting to do so results in an "UNAUTHORIZED USER" message and a lethal electric shock. Two people have fallen for it so far, one tricked into it, and the other who was also from the future and [[WhatAnIdiot really should have known better]].
* The Book of Shadows in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' is repelled by evil. Effects vary from putting up a force field of some sort to simply sliding away if the wrong person tries to pick it up. Paige once had a boyfriend thumb through it to see if it would let him (which he picked up on pretty quickly despite not knowing about the protection). There are ways to get around this, such as taking control of the manor or stealing the Power of Three, but it at least tries to stay loyal to its rightful owners.
* In ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'', Robin's mildly-magic sword Albion is capable of burning the hands of people who disarm him and then try to use his own sword on him.
* ''Series/LockeAndKey2020'': In a deviation from the [[ComicBook/LockeAndKey original comics]], the magical keys can't be forcibly taken from the members of the Locke family who hold them, only given by them of their own free will. [[spoiler: This ''only'' applies to the Lockes, as Sam Lesser finds out to his dismay when [[BigBad Dodge]] decides she [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness doesn't need him anymore]].]]

* In the 23rd-century setting of ''Series/TheExpanse'', high-end guns often come with biometric locks. This has worked for and against the protagonists:
** Jim Holden swipes a rifle from the mercenaries who board the MCRNS ''Donnager'' in season 1, but he can't fire it.
** Bobbie Draper has the same experience after taking a machine gun from a security goon on Mao's private yacht in season 3. She's a trained Martian Marine, though, so her reaction is to straight-arm the gun right into the goon's face while he's still smirking about the lock.
** Biometric locking works to the heroes' advantage when Diogo steals Bobbie's PowerArmor. It makes him bulletproof, fast, and strong -- but none of the suit's weapons will fire when Bobbie's not wearing it.

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': Battlemechs have a number of safety features in them to prevent anyone but the registered pilot from being able to use them. During the Succession Wars, mechs required that they be very carefully attuned to the brain patterns of their pilot via the neurohelmet they used. It was still possible for someone else to pilot a mech, but they'd receive painful feedback from trying to pilot a mech that wasn't tuned to them. After the recovery of Star League technology proliferated throughout the Inner Sphere, most mechs were switched over to requiring a spoken code phrase in order for the mech to power up-- the mech's computer not only required the phrase, but also the pilot's voice so even if someone else found out the phrase, they couldn't activate the mech.
* In the ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' RPG, you can take a power feat called Restricted for your devices that does this.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'', when a power is purchased through a Focus (an item required for the power to function), the purchaser has the option of defining the Focus as "keyed" to the character whom it's bought for. In that case, if an enemy gets ahold of the Focus, he can't use it against the character-- but the character's allies can't use it, either.

* In ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'', a Princess can wield her Regalia weapons as easily as moving her hands, but anyone else will find them supernaturally unwieldy.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Mythender}}'', it is impossible to permanently separate a Myth or Mythender from their Weapons, nor can they be destroyed by anyone else while the Myth or Mythender lives (though [[{{Synchronization}} harming the Weapon harms the Myth or Mythender too,]] so it's a two-way street).
* In ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'': Any magic item crafted by the [[TheFairFolk dvergar]] only works for the person who commissioned and paid for them. The owner's heir inherits the use of the item upon their death, but is also subject to the same IntangiblePrice.

* In ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', this is true of Keyblades in general. They refuse to be used by anyone other than their chosen wielder (although on occasion they have permitted another Keyblade wielder to use them for brief periods of time, usually someone their own wielder trusts). If they are ever taken away from their wielder, they just teleport right back into his or her hands. This is why the villains never bother trying to steal a Keyblade, as they know it's a pointless exercise. The only exception was seen when Riku took the Keyblade from Sora: Sora was feeling very down and had lost the will to continue, [[EmpathicWeapon so the Keyblade abandoned him]]. When he later gets his drive back and confronts Riku again, the Keyblade returns to his hands immediately.
* Similar to the RealLife entry below, most weapons in the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' series are programmed to only work for the person that it was issued to. Originally used to justify your inability to loot an automatic rifle off every mook you kill, it becomes a major plot point in the 4th game.

* Quest artifacts in ''VideoGame/NetHack'' will hurt you if you're not the right class. (Every class has its own quest and artifact, but you can use wishes to get others.) Picking it up, wielding, wearing or using it results in a painful shock that can even kill you on lower levels. (This ''is [=NetHack=]'', after all.) If your alignment does not match the item, it will even refuse to let you pick it up!
* Many, many items in the various Creator/BioWare games (and other similar [[RolePlayingGame RPGs]]) are only usable by certain classes or characters. Especially notable is "Spellweaver" in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', a sword that can only be wielded by an [[MagicKnight Arcane Warrior]].
* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', the player will find a lightsaber crystal called "InsertPlayerNameHere's Crystal" that only the player can wield. As you level up and get KarmaMeter points, you can ask Kreia to "tune" the crystal, increasing its stat bonuses in different ways, based on how you are playing the game. It's unclear what exactly effects it, but its color will change (white, grey, black) with your karma values.
* In the Creator/AGDInteractive ''VideoGame/KingsQuestII'' FanRemake, Neptune's trident is stolen by the evil Sharkees, and King Graham is promised the Water Gem in exchange for getting it back. Sneaking into the Sharkee Palace, Graham comes across the Sharkee King trying intensely to get the trident to work, but to no avail, as it is enchanted to only obey people of noble blood and goodwill. The Sharkee King also knows of this enchantment and it angers him, as he, being the ruler of the Sharkees has the "noble blood" part covered, and since he obviously has the ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint greatest]]'' will of all underwater creatures, wielding the trident should be a cinch for him. As Graham steals it back, he has no problems with using it for his own protection as he is a king after all and has goodwill.
* "Moonthril" weapons in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' are very time-consuming to obtain but extremely powerful. Unfortunately, they bind to their original owner and vaporize when their owner dies... and since the NewGamePlus involves reincarnation they are [[AwesomeButImpractical just not worth it]].

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', the "star" Pokémon of the games are bitter rivals who seek trainers to end their feud. The star of the game you're currently playing (Reshiram if ''Black'' or Zekrom if ''White'') chooses you as its trainer, while the other sides with N, the leader [[spoiler:or so we - and he - are led to believe]] of Team Plasma.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', all Kevin the AnimateInanimateObject MagicWand wants out of life is [[http://egscomics.com/comic/sister3-287 to train]] [[spoiler: Ashley]] to be a a better wizard.

* By all appearances, the Omnitrix in the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' series: It doesn't work for Vilgax when he steals it in an episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'', and after it gets {{Retcon}}ned to being easy to remove from its host, Azmuth is reluctantly resigned to letting Ben keep it. It can only be that he knows that the watch chose Ben and won't work, at least as well, for anyone else. He originally intended it for [[MissedTheCall Ben's grandfather Max]], but there's no rule saying an EmpathicWeapon's choice in owner can't conflict with its creator's choice. Furthermore, human DNA is not all that different from one another (a plot point in an ''Omniverse'' episode), which is probably why Ben (and, in some alternate timelines, Gwen) can use a device keyed to their grandfather's DNA pretty well.
** The ''Omniverse'' Omnitrix in particular is designed to exclusively work for Ben. Unlike previous models, this Omnitrix is extremely hyper-specific on identifying its intended user, to the point where not even Ben's 11-year-old self was allowed to operate it.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'': While the other three {{Mechanical Horse}}s of the Galaxy Rangers are okay with having a teammate other than their "designated" one ride them (Doc and Niko trade off on Mel and Voyager several times), Triton is ''very'' forthright with the fact that only Shane can ride him, only making an exception on Shane's explicit orders.
* The Tree of Harmony and the Elements of Harmony from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', the only ones who can use the Elements are Twilight and her friends. This is taken to extreme in "[[UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode The Mean 6]]" when the mean clones of the ponies made by Chrysalis find the Elements, and they immediately recognize them as fake and turn dark in response to each clone acting the opposite of their respective Elements. Once all the gems turn dark, the Tree protects itself by destroying the clones and turning them back into wood.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'': While the Sword of Omens is only ever to be wielded by the lord of the Thundercats, Lion-O. it has been used by other characters of "pure spirit" on occasion; Willa of the warrior maidens once used "Sight Beyond Sight" in the episode "Garden of Delights", and the Sword has also responded to Lynx-O in "Ravage Island". In the episode "Tight Squeeze", Snarf used the Sword of Omens with no problem.
* Like in the original, in ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' only the protagonist Lion-O appears able to utilize the Sword Of Omens' "[[{{seers}} Sight Beyond Sight]]" Though others may take custody of the blade, it's enchanted against "being touched by the hands of evil," which appears to be a failsafe against BigBad Mumm-Ra's using it. Curiously, Slithe holds the sword just fine [[spoiler:after Lion-O is killed in "Trials of Lion-O".]]
* WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat's [[WesternAnimation/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat Magic Bag of Tricks]] is [[SentientPhlebotinum implied to be sentient]], and most of the time, it works for Felix and ''only'' Felix. The handful of times The Professor manages to get his hands on it, the bag will violently resist every attempt he makes to use it. Felix can even whistle for it to come back to his side—in "Felix Out West", it even morphs into a rabbit and hops back to Felix, licking him on the face like a dog before it turns back to normal. With that said, Poindexter did figure out how to use the Bag in [[Recap/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat1x64MartinTheMartianMeetsFelixTheCat "Martin the Martian Meets Felix the Cat"]], but that was only so he turn it into a portal to Mars so he could meet Martin, so it's not that Professor is outright incapable of using it so much as the bag knows he's a bad guy and won't allow him to exploit its powers.
* The Great Book of Gummi in ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'' has layers upon layers of conditions to protect its magic from unauthorized users. First, it can only be unlocked with a Gummi medallion. Once it's unlocked, it can only be physically opened by a Gummi Bear or someone wearing a Gummi medallion. Once it's opened, the same conditions are required to make any of the spells work for you. Finally, even if you can use the magic, you cannot use it to harm a Gummi Bear in any way -- try, and it might be the last thing you ever do. Happy reading! Best seen in the episode "For Whom the Spell Holds", where we get to see all of these protective traits in action, one after the other. Zorlock the EvilSorcerer has so much trouble opening the Book that it actually crushes him under its front cover, he and his rat-ogre are vividly electrocuted when they try to just take the medallion from Zummi, and Zorlock ends up being HoistByHisOwnPetard when he conjures up a destructive spell and tries to blast the Gummis with it, only for it to attack ''him'' instead. Another good example is the series finale when Duke Igthorn attempts to chisel the book open despite Zummi's warnings. Cue the book blasting the Duke across the room in a magical blast when Igthorn expectedly ignores him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/HerselfTheElf'', if anyone but Herself tries to use her wand, it won't work for a year and a day.

* Samehada, Kisame's sword in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', which sprouts spikes from its handle if someone else tries to use it. [[spoiler:Not too loyal though, as it will readily switch sides to whoever can feed it more chakra.]]

* ''Anime/TheTwelveKingdoms'':

* ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'''s super suit only works with the titular heroine.

** The GreenLanternRing is also rather picky about its hosts, and only works for ones it personally chooses.

* ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached''

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem''

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': Battlemechs have a number of safety features in them to prevent anyone but the registered pilot from being able to use them. During the Succession Wars, mechs required that they be very carefully attuned to the brain patterns of their pilot via the neurohelmet they used. It was still possible for someone else to pilot a mech, but they'd recieve painful feedback from trying to pilot a mech that wasn't tuned to them. After the recovery of Star League technology proliferated throughout the Inner Sphere, most mechs were switched over to requiring a spoken code phrase in order for the mech to power up- the mech's computer not only required the phrase, but also the pilot's voice so even if someone else found out the phrase they couldn't activate the mech.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'', when a power is purchased through a Focus (an item required for the power to function), the purchaser has the option of defining the Focus as "keyed" to the character whom it's bought for. In that case, if an enemy gets ahold of the Focus, he can't use it against the character -- but the character's allies can't use it, either.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Mythender}}'', it is impossible to permanently separate a Myth or Mythender from their Weapons, and nor can they be destroyed by anyone else while the Myth or Mythender lives (though [[{{Synchronization}} harming the Weapon harms the Myth or Mythender too,]] so it's a two-way street).

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Practically everything that the Heterodynes made. This is, of course, one of the reasons the family was/is so dangerous. Many dangerous Sparks are taken out by their own creations and thus don't cause lasting threats. The Heterodyne family can always be assured (eventual) loyalty and safehaven with their creations, mostly due to mutual respect and the Heterodynes' looking out for their own and not trying to override any of their creations' minds for control. This means that even when others try to ingrate themselves with Castle Heterodyne the castle will squash them in a minute if the Heterodyne wants it or is endangered by them.

* In the ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' series, each dragon hatchling chooses its future rider.

** Intelligent weapons greatly prefer to be wielded by characters of the same [[CharacterAlignment alignment]] as them or a close one, and can refuse to use their powers for people who don't agree with their goals. If someone of an ''opposite'' alignment picks up such a weapon, it will likely give the "painful zap" response, the amount of damage depending on the weapon's ego score.

* Firearms in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' can be fitted with biometric safeties to prevent them from firing for unauthorized wielders.

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Practically everything that the Heterodynes made. This is, of course, one of the reasons the family was/is so dangerous. Many dangerous Sparks are taken out by their own creations and thus don't cause lasting threats. The Heterodyne family can always be assured (eventual) loyalty and safehaven with their creations, mostly due to mutual respect and the Heterodynes' looking out for their own and not trying to override any of their creations' minds for control.