History Main / MagicIsEvil

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* TheCovenant portrays magic as analogous to drugs: it's addictive, and the young protagonists refering to practicing magic as "using." It waxes {{Anvilicious}} when it demonstrates that continuous use will result in accelerated aging and an early death.

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* While Prospero only uses his magic for good in ''TheTempest'', he nonetheless drowns his books of magic for this reason at the end of the play.
* The slightly earlier ''DoctorFaustus'' promised to burn his books -- a little too late.

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* [[DealWithTheDevil Magic]] in ''MadokaMagica'' is a bit like [[DragonAge Darkspawn taint]]--a few people can and do use a seemingly benign version to fight against greater threats, and for quite a while they can even stay relatively sane, but HeroicWillpower doesn't last forever.
** This is [[PlayingWithATrope Played]] a bit. It's strongly implied that every soul is capable of magic without making a DealWithTheDevil, but [[spoiler:[[SoulJar Soul Gems]], the device that turn a girl into a MagicalGirl, [[OurLichesAreDifferent mangle the soul in such a way]] that TheCorruption is inevitable]].

As a result of magic's wicked nature in such settings, {{Muggles}} often decide to BurnTheWitch. Compare ScienceIsBad (which, incidentally, [[ClarkesThirdLaw is considered to be magic if the technology level of the setting is low enough]]).

* Magic in ''MadokaMagica'' is a bit like [[DragonAge Darkspawn taint]]--a few people can and do use a seemingly benign version to fight against greater threats, and for quite a while they can even stay relatively sane, but HeroicWillpower doesn't last forever.

* In ''SluggyFreelance'', [[DisContinuity not counting the "Torg Potter" wizards]], the only human sorcerors who get more than a cameo are Gwynn (whose powers come from a TomeOfEldritchLore and a DemonicPossession) and Kesandru (whose powers are based on turning ghosts into his slaves). Not exactly examples of IncorruptiblePurePureness.

** Oddly enough, in the ''Dresden Files'', while magic is certainly not ''inherently'' evil (the hero and many other Wizards use it to do considerable good, and it's only corruptive if you misuse it, breaking the Seven Laws of Magic), it's still shown as very dangerous and risky. Most magic practitioners can not do very much with it, though getting power from demonic bargains or breaking the Seven Laws is relatively easy. Also, even for major players who can do a lot with it, demonic temptations are multifold, the protagonist almost falls into this trap ealry in the series. For those magically gifted individuals without a ''major'' talent for it, and also access to a trustworthy teacher, a good case can be made from events in the books that the safe, smart, morally and pragmatically best choice is to turn away from magic and don't look back.

As a result of magic's wicked nature in such settings, {{Muggles}} often decide to BurnTheWitch. Compare ScienceIsBad.

* Most of the magic-wielders [[ConanTheBarbarian Conan of Cimmeria]] encounters are extraordinarily malevolent, and the magic they practice tends to require truly awful material components and blood sacrifice.

* In ''The Magister Trilogy'', every spell is CastFromHP. Magisters are those who've learned to cast from [[HumanResources other people's HP]]. They're not nice people, to say the least.
* In RobertEHoward's ConanTheBarbarian series, sorcery is almost always an evil art that leads to the corruption of the sorcerer involved. Most sorcery requires you to cross some variety of MoralEventHorizon before you even begin, with just one example being magics which need [[spoiler:candles made from the bodies of [[VirginPower virgins]] strangled with their mother's hair and their [[ILoveTheDead virginity taken after their death]] [[ParentalIncest by their father]]]].

** Carcosan sorcery is about as evil as all get-out, drawing a lot of influence from the Mythos and from sword and sorcery stories. A lot of the sorcerous rituals listed require grisly HumanSacrifice of some nature, with the banishment rituals being the ones that generally don't.

* Arcane magic in the ''{{Warcraft}}'' Universe is not itself strictly evil, but it can have very bad effects on the human mind and is almost universally addictive. The various forms of elves, all the product of magical mutation, are all magic addicts- though the Night elves claim not to be, their Moon Wells are clearly magical fountains- and this can lead to some very, very bad results. Furthermore, the more powerful a mage is, the more they are tempted to try their hand at Fel magic, a corruptive magical force which is almost universally evil and leads the would-be-warlock to attempt contracts with malicious demons.

* In RobertEHoward's ConanTheBarbarian series, sorcery is almost always an evil art that leads to the corruption of the sorcerer involved. In many cases, before you can even start doing sorcery, you have to perform some [[MoralEventHorizon sickeningly evil acts]].

* In RobertEHoward's ConanTheBarbarian story, almost always.

* ''{{Warhammer}}'' and ''{{Warhammer40000}}'' are perhaps the most dramatic examples of this trope, where any and all use of magic has hideous risks and relatively few advantages. In Warhammer magic can still be used with a degree of safety and positive result, but in the latter, the power of the Warp is so terrible even being ''near'' the psychic backlash of sorcerous workings makes ordinary, virtuous people feel sick.

** Though both in ''The Dunwich Horror'' and ''The Case of Charles Dexter Ward'' the protagonists themselves use spells taken from Necronomicon in order to battle evil beings immune to all mundane effort, and don't suffer any consequences at least in the context of the stories.

* Most squirrels in ''{{Tasakeru}}'' follow this viewpoint, believing that only the Gods should alter the natural order. The degree to which this applies varies greatly; some families allow usage of the magically-infused [[AppliedPhlebotium spellstones]] crafted by mages of other species, and some reject any and all magic, spellstones included.

** Malicious demons which they can, occasionally, get the better of. PC Warlocks are no more evil than any other class (which is to say, [[AntiHero often]] [[HeroicSociopath rather]] [[PsychoForHire evil]]). They're certainly not beholden to the Burning Crusade, and, indeed, spend much of their time actively fighting Infernal forces. Entirely possible this is a case of GameplayAndStorySegregation, since the number of "good" warlocks in cannon can be counted on one hand (there's either one or two, [[YourMileageMayVary depending on your mileage.]] And one of them [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumps right down a rather steep incline]] in the WorldOfWarcraft expansion he first appears in.)

** Adventure X2 ''Castle Amber'', based on Clark Ashton Smith's ''Averoigne'' stories (see above).

** Adventure X2 Castle Amber, based on Clark Ashton Smith's ''Averoigne'' stories (see above).

* Clark Ashton Smith's ''{{Averoigne}}'' stories. In Averoigne, magic use is considered evil by the Church and the populace.

* ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' seems to be playing around with this trope. While it is hard to separate good from evil in the setting, magic seems to be decidedly unpleasant, carries a big cost, and usually results in someone dying.