History Main / MoralityChain

* [[MadGod Discord]], from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has one from Season 3 onwards in the form of [[FriendToAllLivingThings Fluttershy]], who, after she [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe reformed him by befriending him]], threatens to revoke her friendship with him to get him back on course if he seems to be going too far.

* In ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'', Elizabeth Priestly is this to her twin brother Lenny. When she's not around him, he acts even ''more'' of a complete bastard to get her back/find her.

* ''StarWars'' basically had Emperor Palpatine psyching Anakin/Darth Vader to the point of killing his own Morality Chain, Padmé.
** For that matter, ''ReturnOfTheJedi'' has Luke ''becoming'' a Morality Chain for his dying father.

** And Palpatine notes in the ''RevengeOfTheSith'' novel that Obi-Wan is Anakin's other morality chain, with Dooku's plan being to break the chain by killing Obi-Wan. Palpatine has other ideas, of course. He also managed to weaken the effect of both of Anakin's chains; at the start of the novel Anakin has some respect for his wife's autonomy and doesn't want to hurt her. Later, even before he strangles her, he sees her less as a person he loves and more as a possession expressing fear and pain, emotions that are beautiful to behold because he earned them.

** The DarkAndTroubledPast of [[spoiler: Doquixote doflamingo]] shows that pretty much the only person he showed genuine love to [[MommasBoy was his mother.]] [[spoiler: After her death, he blamed his father for it [[PatriCide and killed him]].]]

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', in some ways, Fisher Tiger was this to [[spoiler: Arlong and some of the other crew.]]

* ''The Godfather''

* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has ''all'' of the main cast acting as this for the protagonist, Michael Westen. They all, especially [[LoveInterest Fiona]] from SlowlySlippingIntoEvil.

* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has ''all'' of the main cast acting as this for the protagonist, Michael Westen. They all, especially [[LoveInterest Fiona]] from SlowlySippingIntoEvil.

!! Examples:

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Religion]]

[[folder: Role Playing Games ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Visual Novels ]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Finn is the protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', but it's strongly implied that he's also the Morality Chain to several different people. It gradually becomes apparent that without him Princess Bubblegum would be much more of a TotalitarianUtilitarian, Marceline would actually be the psychopathic troll that she likes to depict herself as, and Ice King would be doing a lot worse to Princesses than just trying to kidnap them occasionally.

* Lilly Truscott of ''HannahMontana'' is quite often the only thing reining in Miley's diva-ness.

A similar, and often confused with, trope is the MoralityPet. The difference between the two is subtle: A morality pet is a character who redeems a villain. The villain's affection for the pet starts them down the path of good, and even should the pet get hurt the villain will most likely behave as a hero (or anti-hero) in seeking their revenge or protecting the pet. By contrast, the morality chain keeps an otherwise anti-heroic character (such as a SociopathicHero) from going full villain. The loss of the chain would spell doom for any involved party, and likely anyone nearby as well. In a nutshell: A morality pet turns a bad guy good; a morality chain ''stops'' a good guy from turning bad.

* Ahsoka Tano can be seen as this to Anakin in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' in addition to Padme. Having her as his padawan teaches Anakin some responsibility and she helps to reign in Anakin's rashness and bold tendencies when Obi-Wan is not around.

* Sugilite of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' is a fusion of Garnet and Amethyst, so the end result is incredibly powerful... and completely out of control, as she has Garnet's pride and Amethyst's wild nature. Nevertheless, she is still a fusion of two Gems who deeply care about Steven himself, so she's surprisingly rather chill with him.

* ''WesternAimation/WanderOverYonder'' plays this trope straight with Destructor. His morality chain is a sock puppet. His father threw it away at a young age so he turned evil and imprisoned everyone. Presumably years later, Wander and Sylvia return the sock and he immediately releases everyone and makes them dukes in his kingdom.

-->--''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited,'' "Initiation"

* In ''{{Rifts}}'', Baarrtk Krror is only prevented from giving in entirely to hate by his dear friend, Malik Savant.

* There are only two people ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood's'' Daniel Plainview has any kind of love for; his adopted son H.W. and his half-brother Henry. [[spoiler: But even this love has limits. Henry is revealed to be an impostor who took Henry's identity after he died of tuberculosis to find work; Daniel kills him in cold blood. He also grows increasingly frustrated with his son's recent deafness, until finally, when an adult H.W. respectfully asks to dissolve their partnership to seek his fortune, Daniel lashes out at him, telling H.W. of his real parentage and subjecting him to verbal abuse. H.W. ultimately walks away in disgust, leaving Daniel all alone.]]

-->--''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited,'' "Initiation."

*** In Series 9, Clara becomes the Doctor's DistaffCounterpart and they're a ChastityCouple. Though she still encourages him to stand up for those in need, she's more pragmatic, and he is increasingly willing to put her safety above that of himself and others (each now seeing the other as their LivingEmotionalCrutch). In the three-part SeasonFinale, they are separated by [[spoiler: her being Killed Off For Real]], leaving him completely on his own and immediately subjected to ColdBloodedTorture by his enemies. The result is that he temporarily becomes a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who risks the universe to [[spoiler: bring her back from the grave]]. Although [[spoiler: she brings him back to his senses]], he forces himself to accept not only [[spoiler: her death]] but also that she can no longer be relied upon as his chain, and ends the story alone.

*** In Series 9, Clara becomes the Doctor's DistaffCounterpart and they're a ChastityCouple, which affects her status as this trope. Though she still encourages him to stand up for those in need, she's more pragmatic too, and he is increasingly willing to put her safety above that of himself and others (each now seeing the other as their LivingEmotionalCrutch). In the three-part SeasonFinale, they are separated by [[spoiler: her being Killed Off For Real]], leaving him completely on his own and immediately subjected to ColdBloodedTorture by his enemies. The result is that he temporarily becomes a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who risks the universe to [[spoiler: bring her back from the grave]]. Although [[spoiler: she brings him back to his senses]], he forces himself to accept not only [[spoiler: her death]] but also that she can no longer be relied upon as his chain, and ends the story alone.