History Main / MoralityChain

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': The Archdeacon serves as the morality chain to [[KnightTemplar Judge Claude Frollo]], limiting his cruel persecution of the Romani people for much of the movie. It is thanks to the Archdeacon's watchful eye that Frollo spared and raised Quasimodo for 20 years after killing his mother, and it is the Archdeacon who keeps Esmeralda safe from Frollo's lustful advances. Once Frollo gives into his lust during his confession, he ignores the Archdeacon completely, culminating him pushing the elder man to floor as he goes to finish off Quasimodo and Esmeralda for good.

* In ''WebAnimation/EpithetErased'', [[[BigBadWannabe Giovanni]] ironically serves as this to ''Molly''. [[https://twitter.com/BrendanBlaber/status/1218599298222514177 The creator has remarked]] that Molly is a BitchInSheepsClothing more than anything else, despite coming across as an endless fountain of kindness and patience, and it if wasn't for Giovanni being present to give her a safe outlet for her deep-seated anger, she would be just a few years away from ''violently'' acting on these feelings.

The Morality Chain is a character who is the reason another character is Good. Stereotypically a female love interest, a [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas mother]], a daughter, or a little sister; as long as this person is alive, her [[LoveRedeems target of affection]] will at the very least be a NobleDemon.

There is no RestrainingBolt involved; this person is the ''only'' thing preventing someone from happily killing their "[[TokenEvilTeammate friends]]" and [[CainAndAbel family]]. (One wonders whether such a form of "goodness" has much value in it until one remembers that ''it keeps them from killing their [[TrueCompanions friends]] and [[ThickerThanWater family]]''.)

If a Morality Chain were to {{fall|enHero}}, [[EtTuBrute commit betrayal]], or get seriously hurt or die, there is ''[[InterruptedCooldownHug nothing]]'' to prevent a FaceHeelTurn happening so fast and so hard that the unchained character is gladly chopping their former teammates into pieces before you can say "NeutralEvil". This is more than the RoaringRampageOfRevenge; ''[[RevengeByProxy everyone]]'' [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds has to suffer]].

Sometimes this is {{Inverted|Trope}}. The death of the Morality Chain motivates the target of affection to become more determined to be good [[MoralityChainBeyondTheGrave to honor her memory]], [[ForgottenFallenFriend or something]]. Usually in these cases the cause of death is either natural, or because of a villain (especially if it's a buddy of theirs that the Morality Chain had disapproved of). Now, if the cause of death is ''their loved one,'' either through an accident or because they [[KickTheMoralityPet Kicked the Morality Pet]], then they may either [[HeroicBSOD go comatose]] or [[MurderMakesYouCrazy crazy]].

* [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Patroclus, to Achilles]]. Achilles was said to be arrogant and callous to everyone except him, and was generally so tender and affectionate with Patroclus and ''only'' him that to this day there are people who debate over whether or not they were actually lovers. Then Patroclus dies during the Trojan War, and Achilles, not caring that it will likely kill him, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge starts mowing down Trojans en masse]] and then spends ''[[NoKillLikeOverkill twelve days straight]]'' desecrating the corpse of Patroclus' killer.

—->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', "The Runaway Bride"

->'''ComicBook/GreenArrow:''' I still don't think I belong up here.\\
'''Franchise/{{Batman}}:''' That's the point. Someone like you will keep us honest.
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited,'' "Initiation"

* The Ethics Committee works as this for the entire Wiki/SCPFoundation. In-Universe, most people at the Foundation consider them comically useless at this, considering all the morally questionably stuff the Foundation gets up to, but several tales and [=SCPs=] depict them as highly competent and powerful, sometimes even matching or surpassing the O5 Council in power.
* ''WebAnimation/{{Eddsworld}}'s'' 2005 Christmas Special implies that [[NiceGuy Edd]] is the only thing keeping [[TokenEvilTeammate Tord]] from snapping and trying to take over the world. [[spoiler:In the SeriesFauxnale, it's revealed that Tord being away from Edd for a considerable length of time caused exactly that to happen]].

** Also, [[spoiler:Sakutaro is this for Maria. When Rosa rips him apart during a fight, Maria's diary entries [[CuteAndPsycho start to become darker]], [[CallingTheOldManOut and]] [[SelfMadeOrphan later..]].]].

** Shirou is Rin's morality chain. Despite not meeting him directly, Rin developed a grudging admiration towards the boy she saw couldn't do a high jump despite his efforts, developing a softer side to her personality. After the two meet she starts getting more curious about him and the two even fall in love in the UBW route. Because she felt defeated by his hard-working personality, being [[TheAce the complete opposite of her,] Rin became somewhat nicer to others. So Shirou is basically the only reason why Rin isn't a complete bitch to others, or even a full-blown villain. It makes the dynamic very interesting because Rin was at some point considered to be a villainous character or at least a bigger rival in the novel until her background was changed in order to create her "childhood trauma" as she herself put it.

[[folder:Religion]]

* MoralityChain/WebComics

* ''{{Eddsworld}}'s'' 2005 Christmas Special implies that [[NiceGuy Edd]] is the only thing keeping [[TokenEvilTeammate Tord]] from snapping and trying to take over the world. [[spoiler:In the SeriesFauxnale, it's revealed that Tord being away from Edd for a considerable length of time caused exactly that to happen]].

Or to put it another way: The MoralityPet is a catalyst for a HeelFaceTurn; the Morality Chain is an inhibitor of a FaceHeelTurn. In this sense, the two are actually OppositeTropes despite their close similarities.

->'''ComicBook/GreenArrow''': I still don't think I belong up here.\\
'''Franchise/{{Batman}}''': That's the point. Someone like you will keep us honest.

NoRealLifeExamplesPlease

There is no RestrainingBolt involved; this person is the ''only'' thing preventing someone from happily killing their "[[TokenEvilTeammate friends]]" and [[CainAndAbel family]]. (One wonders whether such a form of "goodness" has much value in it until one remembers that ''it keeps them from killing their [[TrueCompanions friends]] and [[ThickerThanWater family.)]]''

If a Morality Chain were to {{fall|enHero}}, [[EtTuBrute commit betrayal]], or get seriously hurt or die, there is ''[[InterruptedCooldownHug nothing]]'' to prevent a FaceHeelTurn happening so fast and so hard that the unchained character is gladly chopping his former teammates into pieces before you can say "NeutralEvil". This is more than the RoaringRampageOfRevenge; ''[[RevengeByProxy everyone]]'' [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds has to suffer]].

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. That said, the two tropes can certainly overlap: if the character redeems a villain and then also helps keep them from slipping back to evil, he is both a Morality Pet and a Morality Chain.

->'''ComicBook/GreenArrow:''' I still don't think I belong up here.\\
'''Franchise/{{Batman}}:''' That's the point. Someone like you will keep us honest.

If a Morality Chain were to {{fall|enHero}}, [[EtTuBrute commit betrayal]], or get seriously hurt or die, there is ''[[InterruptedCooldownHug nothing]]'' to prevent a FaceHeelTurn happening so fast and so hard that the unchained character is gladly chopping his former teammates into pieces before you can say "NeutralEvil." This is more than the RoaringRampageOfRevenge; ''[[RevengeByProxy everyone]]'' [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds has to suffer]].

* Mark Briscoe serves as such for his older brother Jay, preventing him from getting in (too) much trouble with Wrestling/{{R|ingOfHonor}}OH censors, from bringing avoidable legal trouble to the company and from causing too much damage on the farm. Mark has plenty of his own vices, such as trespassing, envy and irresponsible handling of farmyard equipment/firearms that Jay is almost completely unable to do anything about.[[/folder]]

%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

See also: MoralityPet, CynicismCatalyst, MoralityChip, LivingEmotionalCrutch, and DrivenToVillainy. Contrast: TheKidWithTheLeash and TheFarmerAndTheViper.

The Morality Chain is a character who is the reason another character is Good. Stereotypically a female love interest, a [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas mother,]] a daughter, or a little sister; as long as this person is alive, her [[LoveRedeems target of affection]] will at the very least be a NobleDemon.

There is no RestrainingBolt involved; this person is the ''only'' thing preventing someone from happily killing their "[[TokenEvilTeammate friends]]" and [[CainAndAbel family.]] (One wonders whether such a form of "goodness" has much value in it until one remembers that ''it keeps them from killing their [[TrueCompanions friends]] and [[ThickerThanWater family.)]]''

If a Morality Chain were to {{fall|enHero}}, [[EtTuBrute commit betrayal,]] or get seriously hurt or die, there is ''[[InterruptedCooldownHug nothing]]'' to prevent a FaceHeelTurn happening so fast and so hard that the unchained character is gladly chopping his former teammates into pieces before you can say "NeutralEvil." This is more than the RoaringRampageOfRevenge; ''[[RevengeByProxy everyone]]'' [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds has to suffer]].

Sometimes this is {{Inverted|Trope}}. The death of the Morality Chain motivates the target of affection to become more determined to be good [[MoralityChainBeyondTheGrave to honor her memory,]] [[ForgottenFallenFriend or something.]] Usually in these cases the cause of death is either natural, or because of a villain (especially if it's a buddy of theirs that the Morality Chain had disapproved of). Now, if the cause of death is ''their loved one,'' either through an accident or because they [[KickTheMoralityPet Kicked the Morality Pet,]] then they may either [[HeroicBSOD go comatose]] or [[MurderMakesYouCrazy crazy.]]

[[noreallife]]

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Sagara Yoshiharu is this towards Oda Nobuna in ''LightNovel/TheAmbitionOfOdaNobuna.'' Being forced to play the part of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (who incidentally, was killed saving Yoshiharu) to this timeline's Oda Nobunaga (who also turns out to be a girl) during the [[JidaiGeki Sengoku Period]] in UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, he changes a lot of things around largely by pleading to her merciful side, such as forgiving her brother for his small rebellion rather than kill him as the real Nobunaga did. When Yoshiharu is presumed killed later in the series, she goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, which puts fears to her rivals, but concerns her allies that she may be crossing a MoralEventHorizon.
* In ''Manga/BambooBlade,'' Miyako "Miya-Miya" Miyazaki has her [[OfficialCouple boyfriend]] Danjuro Eiga as her morality chain. It's fairly evident throughout the series that she only cares to keep her [[{{Yandere}} repressed aggression]] in check whenever he's around.
* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}},'' Casca is this to Guts. Being Guts's lover [[GoMadFromTheRevelation driven insane]] by the actions of Griffith and the Godhand during the Eclipse, she is the only reason why he refuses to completely give into his SuperPoweredEvilSide. Said evil side, a {{Hellhound}} like beast, is fully aware of this and constantly importunes Guts to kill her so it can take over his mind and turn him into a being of pure hatred. The Beast is literally chained thanks to Guts' devotion to Casca, though it promises Guts that it will be free one day.
* In ''Manga/BlackButler'' [[SpoiledSweet Elizabeth's]] entire reason for existence seems to be keeping [[VillainProtagonist Ciel]] from falling into the abyss.
** Luca [[spoiler: who was Alois / Jim's little brother]] was implied to be this for [[spoiler: Alois / Jim.]] [[spoiler: Alois was very protective of Luca, wished death on people who hurt Luca, and when Luca died Alois fell into despair, became very ruthless and quickly swore revenge on whomever he suspected to have had a hand in Luca's death.]]
* In ''Manga/BlackLagoon,'' Rock acts as a morality chain for Revy that moves her from NeutralEvil to SociopathicHero, willing to help Rock pull off good endings in the ''Yakuza'' and ''El Baile de la Muerte'' arcs (failure and partial success respectively). Suffice it to say that in the event of Rock's death, Revy would make the events of the ''Nazi'' arc look like cheerful shoujo by comparison.
** Let's not forget that the Lovelace family is this to Roberta. Her RoaringRampageOfRevenge in ''El Baile de la Muerte'' started when [[spoiler:Garcia's father, the leader of the Lovelaces, was blown to smithereens.]]
* [[CheerfulChild Yachiru]] from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is this to [[AxCrazy Kenpachi]], to an extent, even though she can be just as violent as him at times. Kenpachi may be a savage now, but before he took in Yachiru he was little more than an animal with a sword. ''All'' he did was kill; he didn't even care that he had no name. He may be on the bottom of the morality ladder now, but before meeting her, ''he wasn't even aware it existed.''
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has Last Order as the Morality Chain '''and''' BerserkButton of local AntiHero Accelerator. Every time she goes missing or is otherwise threatened, he reverts from JerkWithAHeartOfGold to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p4EcGHU0UU sadistic serial killer]]. Why is that a bad thing? For one, he's got a shotgun. For another, ''he won the SuperpowerLottery and can [[MindOverMatter manipulate movement vectors]]''. And the kicker? If you really piss him off like Kihara did, '''''he'll become a [[PhysicalGod fucking angel]] and kill you DeaderThanDead'''''.
* Nao for Yuu in the finale of ''Anime/{{Charlotte}}''. [[spoiler: Before leaving to plunder all the abilities in the world, Nao promised that she would become his girlfriend upon his return and gave him some English flashcards. As he gathers abilities, the sheer amount of them start to tear away at his memories and his sanity. Eventually, he declares himself god and decides to take over the world... until he sees the cards. Even though he doesn't remember her, the sight of them is enough to make him continue his mission.]]
* ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'': [[TokenGoodTeammate Yukizome]] is supposedly this to [[KnightTemplar Munakata]], [[spoiler:but it turns out to be a subversion, when it's revealed that Yukizome was BrainwashedAndCrazy, and all the time she was being his LivingEmotionalCrutch, she was actually pushing him into despair.]]
** Being TheParagon, Makoto is this when [[spoiler:he makes Munakata realizes what he has done and do a HeelFaceTurn.]]
* [[EmotionlessGirl Yin]] in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' is the AntiHero Hei's MoralityPet in the main series, but could definitely qualify for this, since he's fairly upbeat at the end of the first season and in the interquel [[spoiler:even though he's lost his other teammates]]. It's when he loses her [[spoiler: to a forced FaceHeelTurn]] that he TookALevelInJerkass for the second season.
** [[MindScrew What little we know about the circumstances]] indicates he may have had a good reason for totally breaking down: [[spoiler:she had an attack of SuperPoweredEvilSide and killed a ton of people (he blames himself for some reason and it probably [[ShellShockedVeteran dredged up some nasty memories]] to boot), and he knows he's [[ShootTheDog going to have to kill her to prevent it from happening again]].]] No wonder he's to the point where [[DrowningMySorrows he just wants to drink himself into a stupor]].
* ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland'':
** The only thing really holding Genkaku (while he was a child) back from going completely AxCrazy was his little kitty.
** Minatsuki deserves special mention. Before Ganta and her brother become her morality chain, she was a sadistic sociopath. After this she's mostly {{Yandere}} with shades of SociopathicHero.
** It's only implied but, there's the general vibe that if Ganta died, very bad things would start happening in Shiro's vicinity.
* A bizarre example in ''Manga/DeathNote'': Ironically enough, [[SerialKiller Light]] [[BrokenAce Yagami]] is this for [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist L]], though it's fairly subtle and most noticeable [[spoiler: after Light's MemoryGambit]] in the Yotsuba arc. Light's role as the tale's VillainProtagonist forces L to play the role of the hero to counteract it, despite their being NotSoDifferent; at his core, L would gladly go to vicious extremes to satisfy his "justice" -- and occasionally he does fall into darker territory, like in his torture of [[MadLove Misa]] -- but Light holds him back, both by literally refusing to allow L to take certain measures and by inflaming L's desire to be ''better'' than his opponent, both intellectually and [[RightMakesMight morally]]. Of course, it's a strange example in that L actually ''hates'' Light, Light himself is TheSociopath, and they're literally ''[[ChainedHeat chained together]]''.
-->'''L''': Let's show him... that [[JusticeWillPrevail the good guys always win]].
** Subverted with Light's little sister Sayu; she seems to be this when she interrupts his killing spree to request help with her homework and [[OutOfCharacterMoment he stops]], but ultimately he cares about her about as much as everybody else... which is to say, [[ItsAllAboutMe not at all]].
** Light's other morality chain is his father. While he certainly isn't somehow an influence that stops his son from using the death note and killing hundreds of people easily, he ''is'' the one person Light said whose name he never would write into the death note and kill. [[spoiler: But when Soichiro dies]], Light's final chain breaks and things go to hell.
* Nana from ''Manga/ElfenLied'' has her father. She's the only diclonius with a loving parent, and the only one who hasn't gone on a massive killing spree.
** And Kouta [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe is this]] for [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Lucy]].
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Euphemia is this for Suzaku. [[spoiler:After she dies, he goes sliding down the slippery slope: selling out his best friend Lelouch in exchange for a promotion, eschewing his ThouShaltNotKill philosophy for cold pragmatism, then eventually agreeing to use a FantasticNuke in a battle that destroys half of Tokyo.]]
* ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'': With Amiboshi around, Suboshi was as much a JerkAss. When Suboshi thought he was dead... all he needed was a push from Nakago to fly off the deep end [[spoiler: and kill Tamahome's family in revenge.]]
* Hare in ''Anime/GuiltyCrown'', to an extent. [[spoiler:Her death causes the main character to metaphorically rape the person closest to him, and marks his travel all the way down to the slippery slope's bottom]].
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'' plays this oddly with idealistic former Europol officer Victor Hillshire, where Triela, the girl he rescued from the set of a snuff film and threw away his career in the hopes of getting her rehabilitated is his chain to an Italian wetwork squad[[note]]Brainwashed [[SuperSoldier Kill-Bot]] ''does'' count as rehabilitated if you stretch things a little[[/note]]. He would have thrown his life away rather than cooperate with the Social Welfare Agency, but who would take care of her?
* In ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', an important point is narrator Kyon's role as this for Haruhi. Before Kyon, she was a sociopathic, melancholic {{jerkass}} and with him, she's a sociopathic but cheerful JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Kyon also is the only one who can hammer some sense of right and wrong into her. It is a very credible possibility that, should Kyon ever die, the universe would be destroyed. [[spoiler:Ryoko Asakura tried to test this theory by attempting to kill Kyon herself but she is stopped in a CrowningMomentOfAwesome by [[EmotionlessGirl Yuki Nagato]]]].
* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'': Integra to Alucard, being the person he acknowledged to serve.
* In ''Manga/HellTeacherNube'', the students of class 5-3 become [[NobleDemon Minki's]] Morality Chain altogether unwittingly -- she believes she's still a nasty evil [[{{Obake}} Oni]] who [[ChaoticEvil doesn't disregard human life as much as enjoy extinguishing it]]... until she sees Hiroshi, Kyoko, and Miki in danger, leading her to [[TakingTheBullet shielding them with her own body]]. Similarly, her big brother, Baki, gleefully shifts from LaughablyEvil to NeutralEvil [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny depending on his whims]], but will go ''[[BerserkButton insane with fury]]'' if [[KnightTemplarBigBrother anyone hurts his beloved sister]]. Therefore, when she [[HeelFaceTurn decides to fight him to protect her friends]], and he sees [[PapaWolf Nube]] give HIS life to protect Minki, Baki immediately [[HeelFaceTurn allies himself with Nube]] on the condition that he should never hurt Minki.
* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': The Chimera Ant King only avoids slipping past the MoralEventHorizon because he takes care of a heavily handicapped girl when she's injured.
** Possibly you could state that on the blimp, Gon played this part for Killua. In the anime, he was about to kill a girl named Anita when he heard Gon still fighting for her outside, and it brought him back to his old self; since then, he's actually seemed to avoid killing people if there was an alternative.
** Gon, Killua and Leorio play this for Kurapika during the Yorknew arc, keeping him from JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope in his quest for revenge.
* Tatara Tostuka in ''Anime/{{K}}'' is this for the Red King, Mikoto Suoh. He is killed just before the start of season 1, sending Mikoto and the rest of his Clansmen on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. The problem? If Mikoto overextends his power, his SwordOfDamocles will fall and devastate a large area around him, as the previous Red King's did. ''He doesn't care.'' [[spoiler: He also doesn't care that the only alternative is for his FoeYay love interest, the Blue King, Reisi Munakata, to ''slay him personally'', which is what happens. And that his clan will be without a leader after he dies]].
* ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'': Natsuru to Kampfer!Akane.
* ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'' plays it straight. The only reason [[KnifeNut Shiki]] doesn't go around killing people is because she understands that she would break [[ActualPacifist Mikiya's]] heart if she betrayed his trust. [[spoiler: It's only after she's (incorrectly) told of his death that she decides to kill the one responsible. He's diced into half a dozen pieces before he even ''hits the ground''.]]
* [[EvilMatriarch Precia's]] CatGirl familiar Linith from the ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' [[AllThereInTheManual Sound Stages]] was this for her since the already ''very'' disturbed Precia demonstrated normal human reactions from time to time while Linith was around. As soon as she was gone things became very dark...
** It might be said that the Book of Darkness needs a master to function as a Morality Chain. It just has a bad habit of killing them, and everyone else shortly thereafter.
* Biscuit Griffion from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' is the BridgeBunny for Tekkadan and is a friend of Orga, [[spoiler: starting from his death, Mikazuki and Orga declared they will [[ItsPersonal no longer fight for survival]], but instead, they will [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge crush whoever blocks their ways]]. Mika proves it by [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge systematically dismembering Biscuit's killers]], who wanted to [[CombatByChampion arrange a duel]] and possibly a truce afterward.]]
* ''Manga/{{MW}}'': Garai makes ineffectual attempts to be this to Michio, and instead ends up being a subverted MoralityPet - the one person Michio really cares for, but not treated any better for it.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Rin certainly is an interesting case. She is the one person that glues together her team, and when she dies, TheTeam falls apart. [[spoiler:Obito becomes a masked terrorist under the alias of Tobi]], Kakashi becomes a pathetic self-loathing man wracked with chronic guilt and depression. Had she not died, both men would not have become the broken men they are now.
** Izuna Uchiha was this to his brother, Madara Uchiha. [[spoiler:Madara is the man he is today because of Izuna's death, and Hashirama believes that everything that's happened in the series that has any connection to Madara is just him lashing out in his grief.]]
* Shion is this to Nezumi in ''LightNovel/{{No 6}}'' with all the HoYay implications that come with it.
* ''Manga/OnePiece''
** In some ways, Fisher Tiger was this to [[spoiler: Arlong and some of the other crew.]]
** Koala could be argued to be this for Tiger since her innocence convinced him that there was a hope for positive relations between fishmen and humans, an ideal that he finally believed [[spoiler: on his death bed.]]
** The DarkAndTroubledPast of [[spoiler: Doquixote Doflamingo]] shows that pretty much the only person he showed genuine love to [[MommasBoy was his mother.]] [[spoiler: After she died of illness, he blamed his father for her demise [[PatriCide and killed him]].]]
* It's implied in ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Phantom Blood]]'' that Dio Brando's mother was this to him, as his flashbacks to his abusive childhood particularly emphasize his father Dario's mistreatment of her, to the point of her death. Given this, one can assume that Dio's intense ambition and twisted nature came from his mother's death at the hands of Dario's abuse.
* ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion 2.0'' not very subtly hints that Yui Ikari was this to Gendo before she died. It's certainly seeing her face when he looks at Rei (whose relationship to him and/or Yui is all but spelled out in the same OVA) that convinces him to agree to her proposal for him to start reconnecting with Shinji. [[spoiler: Sadly, they never get the chance.]]
* In ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' Tsukune is this for Inner Moka.
** Later on, all of the girls become this for [[spoiler:Tsukune's SuperpoweredEvilSide.]]
* ''Anime/RurouniKenshin'' features this for everyone's favourite Hitokiri; Kaoru's presence during Kenshin's duels with everyone prior to Saitou was what kept him from falling all the way back into the ways of the Hitokiri. Yahiko also briefly functioned as this during Kenshin's CurbStompBattle with Raijuta; he told Raijuta that the fact that he was still alive (ie; Raijuta hadn't killed Yahiko) was the only thing stopping Kenshin from murdering the man.
** Prior to the Kenshin-gumi, his first wife [[MysteriousWaif Tomoe Yukishiro's]] presence makes Battousai less of a cold, ruthless killer. As his employer, Choshu clan head [[KnightInSourArmor Katsura Kogoro]], asked of Tomoe, she serves as "the sheath to temper his mad justice."
* It's kind of scary to think of given how unbalanced the cast is already, but several episodes of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' indicate that Itoshiki-sensei fills this role for his class. Without him, their loneliness and mental instability would drive them completely over the edge.
* In the final ''Anime/{{Slayers}}'' light novel arc (currently Japanese-only), Milina serves this role for Luke. [[spoiler:When she dies, Luke's anger and despair trigger the Second Resurrection of the Dark Lord, causing him to become Luke-Shabranigdu.]]
* Invoked with Marie Mjolnir for [[TheCorruptible Franken Stein]] in ''Manga/SoulEater'': they're paired up in the hope that her positive wavelength will keep him from falling [[MadScientist (deeper)]] [[TheCorruption into madness]]. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, thanks to [[MagnificentBastard Medusa's machinations]], he has a pretty hard time of it even with her around.]]
** From what little we've seen of Stein, Marie's influence now that Medusa's snake is gone seems to be doing the trick. His reaction to Marie after BJ's death showed that in some way he really does care.
** Spirit may have something of this, although his role seems to be to keep Stein in line - he states during the Medusa fight it's his "job to control this crazy kid". However, he does seem genuinely concerned about Stein's welfare and is the one who allows him to 'escape' and search for BJ's real killer.
* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'': To some extent, the title character to Ryoko. She's still a JerkAss, but nowhere near as bad as she could be if she didn't have her affections for Tenchi.
* Suzuya from ''Anime/TokyoGhoul'' deserves special mention. Before Shinohara become his morality chain, he was a sadistic sociopath. After this he's mostly behaving in front of him and has shades of SociopathicHero. When Shinohara [[spoiler: is horribly injured in front of him, Suzuya loses it and tries in vain to save him. When the older man falls into a coma from the injuries, Suzuya is rather calm about it, having changed for the better, thanks to Shinohara's influence.]]
* ''Manga/WolfGuyWolfenCrest'': Aoshika-sensei "graduates" from MoralityPet to this, for Inugami. [[spoiler: But in an horrifying twist, once Haguro realizes it... he actively seeks out to break her completely so Inugami will go back to him. Even by ''brutally'' raping and torturing her, if needed.]]
* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Malik's SuperpoweredEvilSide takes over after his loyal servant Rishid is knocked unconscious. Later, when Rishid wakes from his coma, he is able to [[IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight persuade]] the real Malik to overcome his evil side.
** Yugi and his TrueCompanions are this for Dark Yugi/[[spoiler:Atem]]. They have stopped him from injuring or killing others several times.
*** Yugi especially, seeing how, in a FillerArc, the very same day Yugi's soul is taken, Dark Yugi [[UnstoppableRage loses his cool]] after Haga tears up a card in front of him claiming it was Yugi's soul.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': Yukina for Hiei.
** Likewise Shiori for Kurama.
* In ''Manga/ZettaiKarenChildren'', Minamoto is the only thing keeping Kaoru from taking one look at the FantasticRacism shown towards espers and saying "ThenLetMeBeEvil." The driving question of the series is whether he'll be able to prevent her from turning against humanity anyway.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Isis serves this role for ComicBook/BlackAdam in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo''. [[spoiler: After she dies and comes back to life, he tries to dissuade her from indulging in her new {{omnicidal mania|c}}, meaning he's trying to be ''her'' morality chain.]]
** The comic also has Franchise/{{Superman}} acting as this to ''ComicBook/LexLuthor'' of all people. Granted, Lex is pretty damn evil when Superman is around, but when Superman drops off the face of the Earth and Lex doesn't have him to obsess over, he creates the Everyman Project, which can turn normal people into superheroes, [[spoiler: in order to test the process out before he uses it on himself. However, when he discovers he's incompatible with the process, he angrily shuts off the superpowers of everybody in the project, standing on the top floor of [=LexCorp=] as he watches the dozens of Everymen that were flying at the time plummeting to their deaths.]]
* {{ComicBook/Sabretooth}} had Monet St. Croix as this in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2015''. He had been inverted during the {{ComicBook/AXIS}} story-line. When he joined Magneto's X-Men, he developed an [[ShipTease interesting]] relationship with Monet, of whom he was very protective. When she's cursed by Emplate and receives his Vampire-like hunger, Sabretooth offers himself up as food for her & promises to keep her secret. It's possible that letting her feed on him frequently is what wears down his inversion, making him behave more like his old self. He thinks to himself about needing something to fight for in order to stay grounded. And that something was his desire to help Monet find a cure & keep her secret until then.
* In ''[[Franchise/SpiderMan Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #2]]'', [[Comicbook/{{Venom}} Eddie Brock]], who had recently undergone a HeelFaceTurn and become the "[[HorrifyingHero superhero]]" Anti-Venom, uses his new HealingHands to cure a teenaged drug addict named Jenna Cole of her addiction. Come ''New Ways To Live'', Eddie's sanity takes a dive after he finds out his idol Martin Li is the supervillain Mr. Negative and he openly admits that Jenna is the only thing stopping him from reverting back to his [[AxCrazy "Lethal Protector"]] persona, becoming [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown violently protective of her]] and beating up anyone who [[MyGirlIsNotASlut insinuates she's still on drugs.]] When a cartel abducts her and gets her "high out of her mind", Eddie is... [[OneManArmy not]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge amused.]]
* ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}'s BattleButler Wintergreen was this for the entire Wilson family. His UndyingLoyalty made him complicit in Slade's shadier dealings, but he always tried to bring out the best in him and his children. Wintergeen's death at the hands of the Jericho-possessed Deathstroke destroyed any chance that Slade could ever go through a true HeelFaceTurn. Rose at least managed to eventually turn good.
* In ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'', after Damage dies, Judomaster goes after her father's killer because of the loss. Sand reveals to her that Damage, forewarned of his death, had left her a message; this is what persuades her not to kill him.
* It has been hinted that ComicBook/NormanOsborn's wife Emily was this; he recalls being more whole and balanced with her than at any other time, and her DeathByChildbirth[[note]]well, Death Within a Year of Childbirth, but it's implied to have broken her health[[/note]] helped push him off the deep end, at the very least kick-starting his [[AbusiveParents resentment]] of his son Harry.
-->"Gaining an heir cost me the finest woman I had ever known. It wasn't a fair trade."
* The Saint of Killers' family in ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' -- it is after their death that he becomes so full of hate, which in turn leads to him freezing Hell after his own death and being transformed by the Angel of Death.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' Chase reveals that he believes his girlfriend Gert is the only thing keeping him in line. [[spoiler: He does go off the deep end for a while after Gert's murder, but he never really becomes evil.]]
* Fairchild is acting as this for the ComicBook/{{New 52}} version of ''Comicbook/{{Superboy}}''. In fact, she insists on it.
* Dr. Manhattan from ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' doesn't have a Morality Chain so much as a ''Humanity'' Chain, in the form of his girlfriend Laurie (also known as Silk Spectre). He states openly that the only reason he maintains any interest in the earth is because of his link to her, and when she leaves him he heads off to Mars within the day, completely indifferent to the fact that his leaving is likely to trigger nuclear holocaust.
** Notably, it's also their later conversation and partial reconciliation that convinces him to return.
* In ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'', we saw how quickly GentleGiant Hulkling lost his shit when his boyfriend (who is ironically the grandson of a supervillain) sort of disappeared from reality. He got better when said boyfriend was back.
* ''ComicBook/TheGrievousJourneyOfIchabodAzrael'': Zoe was the only thing on Earth that kept Ichabod Azrael from being completely evil, so when he finds himself in the afterlife he decides to defy fate by going back to the land of the living. [[spoiler:Which is later revealed to be a lie created by Charon, who wanted to give Ichabod a motive to break free from purgatory with false memories of a woman who never existed. Though she is later given true form when Ichabod and Charon get thrown into different time periods, she is returned to nonexistence when Charon returns to his duties. This revelation angers Ichabod so much that he kills Charon, thus destroying all creation.]]

[[folder:FanWorks]]
* In ''Transformers Meta ItsPersonal'' Hound inwardly ''directly states'' that Bumblebee is this to Grimlock while he is contemplating their friendship.
* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'':
** In chapter 52 Shinji realized he was just like his father and he would also burn the world for the woman he loves. So that he asked Asuka keeping him from becoming a monster.
** Shortly before Asuka had wished punishing a bloody dictator and rapist with extreme prejudice, but she held back because she thought that Shinji -who hates hurting people and killing- would have a trouble with punishing him too severely.
* Fluttershy becomes this for Rainbow Dash in ''FanFic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse'', as Rainbow Dash in this continuity never became the Element of Loyalty, thus never forming the TrueCompanions like in the main story. This also deconstructs this trope in that with just a MoralityChain and no one else, she is unable to extend that sympathy to other people or really relate to them.
* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': In this story [[AntiHero Shinji]] is a psychotic, arrogant, manipulative {{Jerkass}} with little empathy. Believe it or not, if [[HeroesWantRedheads his girlfriend]] [[{{Tsundere}} Asuka]], [[SurpriseIncest his surrogate -or so he thinks- sister]] [[TheQuietOne Rei]], [[ParentalSubstitute his surrogate mother]] [[TheLadette Misato]], [[ThoseTwoGuys his friends Touji and Kensuke]]... he would be way, way worse. Before moving in Tokyo-3 he regarded people as tools to be used and discarded or morons. But after finding them Shinji begins to show love, empathy, tenderness, caring, pity... when he is around them, and he even tries to use his well-trained manipulative skills for the good.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9919015/1/Voiceless Voiceless]]'' the Third Hokage seems to be this for Naruto. In chapter 4 the narrator mentioned how he sometimes hated his trainer, Kakashi, and often thought about leaving the village because he didn't have many other attachments.
* In ''FanFic/ACureForLove'' [[Manga/DeathNote L becomes Light's]] Morality Chain. Even after Light [[spoiler: [[MemoryGambit regains his memories]]]] [[NobleDemon he shows more restraint as Kira]] than he did before (to the point that a fellow KnightTemplar thinks he’s gone soft) and Light even considers L to be his [[EnemyMine "partner" in destroying another enemy.]] But then when L "[[EtTuBrute betrays]]" Light [[spoiler: by suggesting he should be committed; Light snaps, [[TheUnfettered abandons any remaining moral constraints]], and essentially [[TakeOverTheWorld takes over the world]] in an afternoon.]]
* In ''Fanfic/AllYouNeedIsLove'' [[Manga/DeathNote Naomi Misora]] realizes, to her horror, that she's the Morality Chain so she sticks around [[WithFriendsLikeThese Light]] even while knowing he's a [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]], [[{{Narcissist}} narcissistic]], mass-murderer because she knows he could be ''so much worse.''
* Another ''Franchise/DeathNote'' fanfic, ''Fanfic/AndTheStoryContinues'', poses [[OriginalCharacter Erin]] as this for {{Shinigami}} Umbra. He only pays much mind to what she says, and she's basically the reason he eventually defects to Near's side rather than continue to work with [[spoiler:the new Kiras Kiyomi and Teru]] and do who knows what afterwards. [[spoiler:Umbra may be drawn to her because of the past relationship they'd developed back when he used to be human.]]
* In the [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar]] fanfic by the same name as this trope, Zuko (and to some extent Ursa) is a morality chain for Azula. Striving to earn her mother's affection, she goes along with her promise to watch over Zuko. She is still a manipulative psychopath with little concept on base emotions like [[EvilCannotComprehendGood love]] and still out to capture the Avatar, but she shows genuine care and concern for not only her brother but her friends Ty Lee and Mai as well. You cannot help but to root for her in some scenes.
* ''FanFic/InnerDemons'': In a way, [[TheDragon Trixie]] serves as this to [[BigBad Queen!]][[FaceHeelTurn Twilight]], as the former's UndyingLoyalty brings out what little compassion and good is left in the latter. [[spoiler: When Trixie dies, Queen!Twilight suffers a full-blown VillainousBreakdown and shifts from an EvilOverlord to an OmnicidalManiac.]]
* An InvokedTrope in ''FanFic/{{Heir}}'' when Voldemort worries about what kind of monster he might become without [[SlashFic Severus.]]
* In the HungerGames fanfiction ''Fanfic/SomeSemblanceOfMeaning'', heroine Vale holds onto the promise she made to her younger sister that she wouldn't sacrifice her morality in the arena, whenever she considers doing anything morally reprehensible (not that such a ShrinkingViolet would probably start chopping her friends and allies to pieces, anyway, but her promise to Laurel ensures it). An even better example would be the way that Vale herself serves as a Morality Chain to [[spoiler: Obsidian]].
* In ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'', Professor Moriarty tells Dr. Watson that Literature/SherlockHolmes is "drowning" without his Watson. Heartbreakingly true.
* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9101451/2/Kaleidoscope-of-Magic Kaleidoscope of Magic]]'' Hermione becomes the one thing keeping Harry gray-not-dark after Dumbledore and Algernon Croaker throw him into Azkaban and have him tortured to give him a superpower which only awakens in response to extreme misery.
* In ''Fanfic/IfThemsTheRules'', a TimeTravel fic where Harry raises young Tom Riddle. Tom is still a Sociopath but he behaves himself out of loyalty to Harry [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe because Harry is the only person to ever show him kindness.]]
* In ''FanFic/DiariesOfAMadman'', Taya and Flo often act as this for Navarone, putting a damper on some of his more unethical behaviour.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7934083/1/He-Is-Not-One-of-Us He Is Not One of Us]]'' Snape finds out that Harry is secretly studying the Dark Arts and advises him to keep some humanity in order to avoid their seductive aspects and Harry replies (referring to Hermione) "She's outside the door."
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5725656/1/Fates_Favourite Fate's Favourite,]]'' Harry serves as this for teenage Tom Riddle, who considers Harry to be his equal and his best friend (despite having that pesky moral code) and does not want to make him too upset.
* In ''FanFic/MegaManReawakened'', Robert was this to Tron when he was human. When she finds out he's still alive, she turns good. Later it's reversed, with Tron helping to keep him on the straight and narrow.
* Molly Weasley is this to Harry in the one-shot ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8788731/1/Harry-Potter-and-the-things-that-could-have-happened After The Final Battle]]''. Harry easily admits to himself the only reason he doesn't kill Ron is because he knows it would devastate her and she's the only adult who's ever acted like a parent for him. Especially after seeing her boggart (which shows a person's greatest fears) is her family dead, which includes Harry.
* In a series of stories written by ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1640403/WithoutHesitation WithoutHesitation]]'', Film/{{Beetlejuice}} is a complete monster who frequently and indiscriminately commits acts of extreme violence... except when Lydia is around, and only because he doesn't want her to view him in a negative light. Ironically, later in the series it's implied that his relationship with Lydia ultimately resulted in Beetlejuice murdering many, many ''more'' people than he would have if he'd never met her, all due to his aggressively possessive and protective behavior.
* Zigzagged in ''Fanfic/{{Cultstuck}}''. Karkat is Gamzee's moirail, and Gamzee sobers up, [[spoiler:which makes him evil]], so he can protect Karkat effectively. During Gamzee's POV chapters, his love for Karkat is basically the only thing keeping him coherent. The creepiness of this is ''[[NightmareFuel not]]'' ignored.
* Inverted in the ''Batman'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9503887/1/Macushla Macushla]]'', where Stephanie Brown, due to a [[ItMakesSenseInContext long series of events]], becomes Damian's bodyguard and caretaker/MoralityPet. After Talia al Ghul [[KickTheDog has Stephanie killed]] [[spoiler:or at least, that's what she tells Damian]], Damian joins the Batclan to honor her memory.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10645463/13/Hail-Odysseus Hail Odysseus]]'' James Potter's shade heavily implies that a Slytherin Ginny Weasley serves this function for Harry.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11155989/6/Serenity Serenity]]'' Tom Riddle snapped and became an OmnicidalManiac after unintentionally killing Myrtle with the basilisk.
* In ''[[Fanfic/{{Cinderjuice}} The Bug Princess]]'', Lady Delphine observes that WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}} is unusually benign for a poltergeist. He admits that Lydia "[[KidWithTheLeash holds the leash]]" and that it's for love of her that he's so well-behaved, though he adds that the longer they're apart, "the more mindless and chaotic" he's likely to be.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11567521/4/Is-Your-Great-Aunt-an-AI Is Your Great-Aunt an AI?]]'' HarryPotter is the one thing which enables [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} GLaDOS]] to preserve a sliver of humanity and morals.
* Donquixote Rocinante considers his sister-in-law Evelyn Potter and nephew Atticus as this to his brother Doflamingo in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12113081/1/The-Emerald-Rose The Emerald Rose]]''. Doflamingo is still a sociopathic grade-A jerkass, but Rocinante really doesn't want to imagine how he would be without his wife's humanizing influence.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4754974/12/Forgotten Forgotten]]'', Dracula is perfectly happy to let live humanity as long as his beloved wife is besides him. His servants are not happy about it and decide to kill Mina Hakuba - the latest reincarnation - and destroy her soul to ensure she would be unable to redeem Dracula again. Soma disagrees with it. Quite violently.
** Alucard later begs Mina to teach Soma how to live without her, pointing how she could die from illness or old age and ''still'' Soma would fall into the darkness because of it. She promises she will.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', Bad Cop has a morality chain in the form of... [[LiteralSplitPersonality himself]]. While not the dominant personality, Good Cop is strong enough to rein in Bad Cop's sadism [[spoiler:and prevents him from using the Kragle on his parents. When Lord Business rubs out Good Cop's face with nail polish remover, Bad Cop goes through with freezing his parents.]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/FourBrothers'' has Evelyn Mercer serve a similar function, as the following quote demonstrates. That said, as soon as she dies it's as if [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]] were let loose in that town. [[spoiler: Eventually, the brothers do somewhat settle back down once enough people are dead]].
-->'''Detective Fowler:''' If this woman's such a goddamned saint, how did she end up raising four total fuck-ups?\\
'''Lt. Green:''' Miss Evelyn cycled hundreds of kids out of the foster program and into permanent homes. In 30 years she only came across four lost causes. Four delinquents so far gone she couldn't find anyone to take them in. So she did. Trust me, Fowler, these kids are congressmen compared to what they would've been.
* ''The Godfather'':
** In ''Film/TheGodfather'', after he figures out the treachery of [[spoiler: Carlo, the brother-in-law]], Michael waits to assassinate him until the death of Vito, because he doesn't want to hurt the old man by breaking up the family. After Vito dies of a heart attack, all bets are off.
** Taken even further in ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII'', where Mike finds out that [[spoiler: his actual brother, Fredo,]] has betrayed the family. He explicitly tells [[spoiler: Fredo]] that he is safe for now, because Mike knows what killing him would do to [[spoiler: their mama]]. After [[spoiler: Mama]] dies, though...
* ''Film/HappyGilmore'': Happy's grandmother is his defining moral point — her being in trouble is what sparks the whole plot, and Happy rejects anything that will cause her harm in some way.
* The title character in ''Film/HarryBrown'' loses his wife and best friend in the first few minutes. With them gone, there's nothing left (except advanced age) to keep him from reverting to the ruthless torture-using Royal Marine he once was.
* Owen Grady is this in ''Film/JurassicWorld'' to his four ''Velociraptors''. He is the only person they won't kill on sight and manages to retain a small measure of control over these ReformedButNotTamed animals... at least until halfway through the film when [[spoiler: they decide that the ''I. rex'' makes a better alpha. And then they [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor switch sides again]] in the finale when Delta and Echo fight to the death to protect Owen and Blue pulls a BigDamnHeroes with Rexie and the ''Mosasaurus'' to take down the ''I. rex''.]] Charlie also refused to attack Owen during the earlier firefight, which ended up [[spoiler: getting her killed by Hoskins' merc team.]]
* Shilo acts as one of these for her father, Nathan in ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera''. She replaced her mother, Marni, who was more of a MoralityPet. It's implied that without Shilo, Nathan would take on the Repo Man persona full time.
* In the 1951 film version of ''Film/{{Scrooge|1951}}'', which [[AdaptationExpansion delves deeper into Scrooge's past than the book does]], Scrooge's sister Fan is depicted as having been this for his younger self. She was his only family member who ever loved him, and he's a nice young man as long as he has her, but [[CynicismCatalyst her death]] marks the start of his transformation into the miserable miser we all know.
* Extensively played with in ''The Sons of Katie Elder'' when the four sons return to their mother's home for her funeral and the three elder brothers (all "bad men" in the sense that they were Gunslingers and so forth) decide that the youngest needs to go to college and be respectable so that their mother can be honored. Of course, the youngest son wants to be like his older brothers. They proceed to inform him that he is now required to be the honor bearer for the whole family. This involves a significant amount of brotherly violence to make sure he understands.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'' basically had Emperor Palpatine psyching Anakin/Darth Vader to the point of killing his own Morality Chain, Padmé.
** For that matter, ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' has Luke ''becoming'' a Morality Chain for his dying father.
*** Actually, they serve as each others' Morality Chains. Darth keeps Luke from giving in to the Dark Side, and Luke brings Anakin back to the Light. Leia also serves this function for Luke somewhat in that when Vader threatens her Luke jumps back into battle.
** And Palpatine notes in the ''Film/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.
*** Palpatine also sows distrust between Anakin and his morality chains, framing Obi Wan and Padme's recognition of Palpatine's growing dictatorship as treason and betrayal of Anakin personally. He also is very careful to isolate Anakin from both of them, going so far as to manipulate the Jedi into sending Obi Wan half a galaxy away when the crux of the plan is in play.
** Kota and Juno is generally [[VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed Galen's]] morality chain, with Juno being the only person who he really cared about and loved.
* In ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'', Will Munny's wife is his morality chain. Once she dies, he tries to [[DueToTheDead continue in her memory]], as well as for his kids.
* In ''Film/AntMan'', Cross feels that he and Hope are NotSoDifferent in regards to their resentment and bitterness towards Hope's father, Hank (though he takes it far further than Hope). Because [[spoiler: he knew Hope was in the next room]], he decided not to kill Hank when he had the chance and later on, he [[spoiler: paused when Hope tells him he's losing his mind.]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Christine in "Beauty and the Opera, or the Phantom Beast," by Suzy [=McKee=] Charnas. The Phantom's whole idea of morality consists of obeying Christine's decree that he must not murder people who annoy him.
* Niko is this to Literature/CalLeandros as his human side slowly starts dwindling away. He is also just as protective of Niko as Niko is of him. So it's a bad idea to hurt ''either'' of them, mm'kay?
* In ''Literature/TheDemonsLexicon'' by Sarah Rees-Brennan, the protagonist's brother Alan acts as a Morality Chain for him.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'''s foster father, Harry, who trained Dexter to select his targets according to certain standards of morality and justice. Dexter calls it the "Code of Harry".
** Subverted in later seasons, when the show becomes less clear on whether Dexter was actually by nature a murderous sociopath with no ability to control his instincts, or whether he was just traumatized and schizoidal, and whether Harry just misread the situation and manipulated him for the sake of pursuing personal vendetta.
*** Totally averted with all his girlfriends except Rita, and played with in regards to his stepdaughter Astor, because he will kill to protect her without going through his usual vetting process.
* Turned on its head in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad''. Granny Weatherwax is good because [[spoiler:her sister turned evil, which by the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality meant she had to be the 'good' one to [[CainAndAbel balance things out]]. Granny never forgave her sister for that, since she maintains adamantly that she'd be an infinitely better villain than the sister.]] It should be noted that Granny [[spoiler: was more pissed off because she never got to choose. She ''had'' to be the Good One because her sister was the bad one. That the sister thought ''she'' was the Good One was simply the icing on the cake.]]
** Witches as a "community" keep an eye on each other for this very reason. Any group of witches larger than [[RuleOfThree Three]] has a tendency to fall apart from bickering, but there's still a silent understanding that some level of contact helps them avoid "going to the bad".
* Liz Pennykettle to pretty much every character in ''[[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]. ''
* ''Literature/TheExilesViolin'': Clay's character development involves becoming one of these for Jacquie; he keeps her darker anti hero aspects in check.
* ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'': At no point in the book or movie is Scarlett honestly a morally admirable human being, but after her mother Ellen dies, the [[KickTheDog puppies really start flying]].
* Zigzagged with [[spoiler:Snape]] in ''Literature/HarryPotter:'' though his love for [[spoiler:Lily]] was not enough to keep him from joining the Death Eaters, Voldemort threatening her life switched him to good, and her death (and his responsibility for it) was the main reason he [[spoiler:dedicated his life to protecting Harry]], even though the two loathed each other.
** Downplayed with Aragog and Hagrid. Aragog's loyalty and devotion to Hagrid were strong enough to suppress Aragog's natural instinct as a dangerous magical creature to eat humans. This only went so far; Aragog didn't try to deny his family the opportunity to eat Harry and Ron when they visited him in the Forbidden Forest, though he would prevent them from trying the same with Hagrid. Of course, whether or not a sapient monster (whose instincts drive it to eat people) actually eating people could be considered "evil" is a tricky matter.
* In ''Literature/IClaudius'', Tiberius has three people like that: his first wife, Vipsania, his brother Drusus and his friend Cocceius Nerva. Claudius notes that initially their influence checked the worse elements of his nature, but as he was forced to divorce Vipsania and Drusus was sent on a military campaign to a different part of the empire, their influence on Tiberius was removed and he gradually went altogether to the bad (especially after the two died). As for Nerva, he was too absent-minded and innocent to keep Tiberius in check.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'':
** Captain Hasina is a MadScientist who might experiment on random bystanders all day and all night if her lieutenant didn't stick to her like glue and tell her not to.
** Nunnal Enaz [[InvokedTrope hired someone for the sole purpose]] of reigning her in when she goes too far with the mad science.
* ''Literature/LegacyOfTheDragokin'': Ritchie is revealed to have been this for Kalak for [[Literature/TrappedOnDraconica the previous book and earlier.]]. Once he dies, Mordak stirs, Kalak's marriage decays and he visits Zarracka for comfort.
* In the ''Literature/LogansRun'' books, Logan is a hardened killer with ''barely'' a conscience to speak of. He actually goes on the run on his Lastday in order [[TheLastDance to achieve the glory of finding Sanctuary and destroying it]], dying as the greatest Sandman ever. He (at first) dupes Jessica so that she'll be his UnwittingPawn. But Jess impresses him by having more bravery and will to live than anyone he's seen, and [[InLoveWithTheMark falls for]] [[LoveRedeems her instead]], eventually converting to her cause and defecting. When Jess isn't around to rein him in, he does revert back to an unpleasant AntiHero.
* Relatively benign example in ''Literature/LukeSkywalkerAndTheShadowsOfMindor''. Nick Rostu was mind-controlled into attacking Luke, who took a chance and saved Nick. Now Nick can return the favor by gunning down thirty-odd mind controlled people and saving Luke... but... he hesitates
--> because he had an overpowering intuition: if Luke Skywalker thought he might save thirty innocent lives by sacrificing his own, he wouldn't hesitate. Ten innocent lives.
--> One.
--> "Or, hell, one not-so-innocent life," Nick muttered. "Like mine." He flipped the carbine's power setting to stun. "I hate Jedi."
* In the ''Literature/MatthewSwift'' series, the titular character is this for the [[EnergyBeing blue electric]] [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]] who are infantile, amoral, quite capable of burning London to the ground for shits and giggles, and with whom he [[MentalFusion shares a mind]]; although others suspect he may be more of a MoralityPet. On the occasions when Matthew is forced to take a back seat, havoc ensues. As one character puts it:
-->'''Vera:''' God, if there wasn't a fucking sorcerer still in that skin, they'd have ripped the city apart just for kicks.
** Later in the series, when Matthew becomes Midnight Mayor, it's speculated that he was chosen for the office (as London's mystic guardian) in order to force the angels to be invested in the city's well being, essentially making the entirety of London into a MoralityChain.
* In the novelization of ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'', Hel functioned as one of these for both Joh Fredersen and Rotwang. After she dies, Joh withdraws completely into work and becomes a cold-hearted executive, and Rotwang withdraws into his laboratory to spend all his time plotting revenge and building a {{robot|Girl}} [[ReplacementGoldfish clone]] of Hel. At the end, [[spoiler: Joh Fredersen]] is redeemed by [[spoiler: his son Freder]], who becomes his new morality chain.
* "One Lonely Night" begins with PrivateDetective Literature/MikeHammer angsting over being chewed out by a judge merely for blowing away a scumbag who likely would have been executed anyway. He spends much of the book bothered by his Honor's assertion that he's no better than the man he killed, and so is quite pleased when he's able to retrieve the MacGuffin without killing many more people. Then his SexySecretary Velda [[IHaveYourWife gets kidnapped]] and Mike realises he's been kidding himself. ''Of course'' he's an evil murdering bastard. That's [[EvilVersusEvil what he was put on Earth for!]] He then proceeds to track down the DirtyCommunists who kidnapped his secretary and KillThemAll.
* In the ''Literature/PrinceRoger'' books by Creator/DavidWeber and John Ringo, [[spoiler:Sergeant Nimashet Despreaux is told by a number of her comrades that she must survive because she is the Morality Chain for Prince Roger [=MacClintock=], who will be the next emperor of mankind. She is also told that is why she has to marry him.]]
* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': Persephone is this to Reynard. Which is rather ironic, given that the majority of the reprehensible things he does throughout the series are motivated by him wanting to possess her.
* After [[spoiler:his death and BrainUploading]], Nahrmahn plays this role for Merlin in the ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series. He offers reassurance when Merlin fears what his power (to essentially kill anyone he has to with impunity) may turn him into, and makes sure Merlin doesn't shut himself out from his friends and loved ones.
* The second half of the original ''Anime/{{Slayers}}'' novels (the ninth-through-fifteenth novels, which were [[NoExportForYou never translated into English]]) introduced a new [[TheRival rival]] to Lina, Luke. He is an ex-assassin, and the only reason he never turned back is because of his partner Milina (and it' shown that he is clearly in love with her). With her he is more or less a JerkAss, but when Milina is killed later on, Luke becomes a crazed OmnicidalManiac, [[spoiler:allowing his piece of Shabranigdo, the BigBad, to awaken out of his soul.]]
* While the cold and ruthless Tywin Lannister of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' was never really a nice guy (he wiped out two families of rebellious vassals as a young man), it's mentioned that he used to be somewhat more humane, and in particular, showed his most visible happiness and emotion around his beloved wife. When she died in childbirth, all of that humanity was gone for good.
* In ''Literature/TheWarriorsApprentice'', the sadistic SociopathicSoldier Sergeant Bothari has two morality chains: his daughter Elena and the young Miles Vorkosigan. Lacking any moral sense, he uses duty to dictate how he treats them.
* In ''Literature/TheWalkingDeadRiseOfTheGovernor'', Philip's daughter Penny is the only thing that keeps him from snapping during the ZombieApocalypse.
* ''War and Democide Never Again''. The protagonist, John, ''thinks'' he is this to [[TykeBomb Joy]], but when things get hairy he is completely ineffectual in reining in her sociopathic tendencies... until she crosses the MoralEventHorizon completely, leaving him with no choice but [[spoiler:[[MercyKill to kill her]] to prevent her from causing any further harm]].
* Invoked in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''[[Literature/BloodAngels Deus Sanguinius]]''. When Rafen offers to challenge Arkio's claim to be Sanguinius reincarnated in combat, [[spoiler: Stele]] is glad despite the unexpected turn [[spoiler: Rafen's survival]] has caused, because he believes that Rafen is the last link Arkio has to his humanity and that Rafen's death will cause Arkio to be permanently lost to [[spoiler: Chaos]].
* Catherine Earnshaw is this to Heathcliff in ''Literature/WutheringHeights''. He was never a nice person (though this may be a case of ThenLetMeBeEvil, considering that everyone ostracizes him and expects him to be evil from the start because he's an AmbiguouslyBrown rescued street urchin), but once she marries another man and then dies in childbirth, he develops into a near-demonic VillainProtagonist and takes elaborate revenge on everyone who has ever kept him from Catherine or otherwise screwed him over ([[AndYourLittleDogToo and their]] [[SinsOfOurFathers children]]).
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Peeta Mellark. [[spoiler:Played up subtlety in Catching Fire. By the end of Mockingjay, Katniss explicitly states this is why she ultimately chooses Peeta over Gale.]]
* In ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'', there are signs that Kvothe is a morality chain to his PoisonousFriend Bast. As a Prince of TheFairFolk, Bast has at best an academic understanding of human morality, but cares deeply for Kvothe's well-being and follows his counsel -- aside from the things he gets up to behind Kvothe's back "for his own good."
* ''Literature/UrbanDragon'': Arkay has zero compunctions about murdering anybody who so much as disrespects her, but she tones it down so as not to upset Rosario.
* Deconstructed in the backstory of ''Literature/BrimstoneAngels''. The tiefling cleric Alyona was the only person her twin sister Bisera cared for, and she kept Bisera relatively grounded in her quest for magical power. When Alyona was murdered, Bisera became obsessed with resurrecting her, and in so doing she became far ''worse'' than she might have been otherwise, to the point of bargaining with [[SatanicArchetype Asmodeus himself]], performing wicked rites to help him rise to full godhood in exchange for Alyona's life, and ultimately changing her name to [[TheDreaded that by which she would be known and feared for generations]]: [[spoiler: Bryseis Kakistos]].
* In ''Literature/TheSpiritThief'', Josef is the reason Nico hasn't gone off the deep end yet. She's a demonseed, always at risk that a demon will take her over, but she has UndyingLoyalty for Josef and his words - and sometimes, even his presence, or someone mentioning that he needs her help - are often enough to pull her back from the brink.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* On ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'': Many characters believe that Luke is the reason that Reid is becoming nicer and more human... and they're right.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** [[TrueCompanions Team Angel]], as a whole, is Angel's Morality Chain. Notably, during Season Two, he abandons them, believing they are making him "weak", and getting in the way of his [[KnightTemplar fight against evil]]. Without them, he begins to lose more and more of his humanity, until [[spoiler: he sleeps with Darla in an attempt to lose his soul and become [[JekyllAndHyde Angelus]]]].
* In ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'', Mitchell describes this trope -- when asked by another vampire how he lives with his HorrorHunger without succumbing, he says: "you surround yourself with good people, that's what you do. You find someone better than you. Cause then when you fail, you have to deal with their disappointment."
** In the fourth season, Hal [[spoiler: goes out to kill a man, like, ten minutes after losing his family. He stops because Annie told him how much they would be disappointed]].
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer:''
** In Seasons 5 and 6, Buffy and Dawn act as Spike's Morality Chains. Dawn also fits the role of MoralityPet (Buffy doesn't).
** Faith serves as one for Angel during the ''Angel & Faith'' comics, which is exactly what Angel wants: a friend he trusts to make sure he doesn't Jump Off The Slippery Slope again like he did as Twilight.
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' has ''all'' of the main cast acting as this for the protagonist, Michael Westen. They all, especially [[LoveInterest Fiona]], keep him from SlowlySlippingIntoEvil.
* On ''Series/{{Charmed}}'', many characters have explicitly stated that Phoebe plays this role in making sure that Cole remains good. In fact, Cole's well-known tendency for being a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor is pretty much a function of his relationship with Phoebe--that is, Phoebe and Cole are constantly breaking up and reestablishing their relationship, and every time this happens, it has a major effect on Cole's status as evil or good. Although Phoebe is very much aware of her power to be Cole's Morality Chain, she usually seems to be merely yanking his chain based on her own emotions, rather than consistently using her influence to make sure Cole becomes and remains a redeemed demon.
** Chris is also one for his fiancee Bianca.
* Used in some episodes of ''Series/CriminalMinds''. In fact, one of the killers outright stated that as long as his morality chain was with him, he would do no harm. Another episode has a close examination of the strange, symbiotic relationship between the killer and his chain that ends in a truly heartbreaking fashion.
* ''Series/{{Defiance}}'' has a complicated example in Nolan and Irisa's relationship. Nolan was a ruthless trigger-happy solider before adopting Irisa. Meanwhile Irisa is a damaged, violence-prone wild child with serious trust issues. They serve as Morality Chains for ''each other'': taking care of Irisa made Nolan more compassionate, and being cared for by Nolan made Irisa more emotionally stable.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': Harry once again, though his [[spoiler:family (Rita, the kids, his sister,)]] are like reinforcing links on the chain.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor's companions sometimes fill this role, though how much this is needed varies across his incarnations.
** This trait goes back to the very first serial, with the very first companions of the very first Doctor. In "An Unearthly Child", a much more morally ambiguous Doctor is prepared to kill an injured caveman because he is slowing down their escape while companions Barbara and Ian are insistent on helping him. Ian doesn't let him do it.
** Steven is fairly good at telling the First Doctor when he's crossed the line - reminding him [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife about all the lives wasted]] when the Doctor is quite willing to celebrate a genocide of the Daleks in "The Daleks' Master Plan", and giving him an ultimatum upon carelessly abandoning him and refusing to rescue even one person from a historical atrocity in "The Massacre".
** Donna says outright in "The Runaway Bride" that the Tenth Doctor needs to find someone who can serve this purpose for him. Later, after [[spoiler:losing her]], he rejects the notion of companionship altogether, and ends up arrogantly deciding that [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem the rules of time are his to command, not obey]]. Needless to say, this backfires immediately when a woman that he rescues from a vital point in history commits suicide upon realizing the consequences. In "The End of Time, Part 1", he has a tearful breakdown as he remembers why he needs a companion.
** This resurfaces with the Eleventh Doctor, as he tries shifting to a part-time companion model, dropping in on them from time to time. Turns out, well-intentioned as the idea might be, going without companions for long periods still has an erosive effect on his morality.
** The Twelfth Doctor is fully aware Clara Oswald acts as this for him, calling him out on his morally dubious actions and suggesting alternatives, and appreciates it. She's an interesting example because she can be every bit as bossy, smartass-ish, and manipulative as the Doctor when sufficiently pushed, and has a [[ControlFreak strong need to feel in-control]] and being a ConsummateLiar as her major character flaws, although she usually hides this and tries her best to be mature, level-headed and moral, leading to a dynamic where both she and Twelve are this, in equal parts for each other. They take frequent jabs at each other's closeted vanity, and there are notable scenes where he calls ''her'' out or keeps her grounded when she screws up, most notably the scene where she has a major short-circuit moment after her boyfriend's death and attempts to blackmail the Doctor into bringing him back. The Series 8 finale "Death in Heaven" has a pair of closely mirrored scenes where they're [[ItMakesSenseInContext willing to kill]] to spare the other the experience, explicitly referred to in the episode as "saving [the other person's] soul". As a further interesting twist, as part said scenes Clara stops the Doctor not from going ballistic on a villain, but from ''sparing'' them because of his [[EvilFormerFriend previous personal attachment to them]] the villain in question was so dangerous, insane and notoriously hard to contain that, for a change, [[ShootTheDog ''shooting the dog'']] is the more moral choice. ("If you've ever let this creature live, [[ZombieApocalypse all of this]] is on you!")
-->'''The Doctor:''' Why do I even keep you around? \\
'''Clara:''' Because the alternative would be developing a conscience of your own?
** 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.
** The Master takes companions, but not out of a desire for friendship as much as for domination. The Doctor attempts to be a morality chain for him on several occasions, but is rebuffed until "The End of Time", when [[spoiler:the Master chooses to sacrifice himself rather than see the Doctor killed]].
** More rarely, the dynamic is reversed and the Doctor prevents the companions from doing questionable things:
*** In "The Aztecs", the First Doctor has to pull an [[AGodAmI increasingly megalomaniac]] Barbara out of trying to change history.
*** The Third Doctor spends almost all of his tenure trying to keep the Brigadier from calling in the army to shoot at the MonsterOfTheWeek or blow up the NegativeSpaceWedgie and instead trust his own science and diplomacy methods. Not only does this show lack of imagination, it's not uncommon that the aliens aren't even hostile until the Brigadier starts trying to kill them, and [[ImmuneToBullets it never helps regardless]].
*** "Genesis of the Daleks", where Sarah Jane and Harry are quite ready to commit genocide, but [[JokerImmunity the Doctor persuades them it would be wrong to do it]].
*** Leela's companionship was mostly based around the Doctor teaching her to use her mind and diplomacy to achieve her goals, as she was raised as a warrior in a primitive culture and knew little else besides killing. The Doctor was therefore relegated to talking her out of trying to knife people.
*** Interestingly, the roles were flipped behind the scenes. Tom Baker despised the character of Leela (he thought she was too violent for Doctor Who), and kept acting like an ass on set, repeatedly upstaging her scenes by coming in too early. The only reason he stopped was Louise Jameson's insistence on doing the scenes over and over until he knocked it off.
* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', Mal is Jayne's Morality Chain, though it's not that Mal ''makes'' Jayne good so much as Mal is [[spoiler: willing to [[ThrownOutTheAirlock toss him out the airlock]] if he betrays ''any'' of the crew]].
** One could argue that the entire crew (sans Simon and River until later) is something of a more classic morality chain to him, probably due to them being a strong sense of family, he hasn't had as a mercenary (although there's hints he had one as a child). This is shown most in the same scene where he's more concerned about how the crew will think of him after he's dead than actually being dead.
* The second season of ''Series/TheFollowing'' gave us Ryan Hardy's niece Max,who tries her very best to keep her uncle on the right side of the law in his pursuit of serial killer Joe Carroll, and to get him to share what he knows with the FBI (not that he pays attention to her in that regard).
* An episode of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' involved a man and his counterpart [[spoiler: from the other dimension]] both of whom struggled with an inner "darkness" as a child (resulting in things like mutilating animals), one ended up a memory stealing serial killer, the other was a well adjusted criminal psychologist because he encountered and developed a relationship with a loving mother figure in his youth. Eventually the two cross paths and [[spoiler: the killer steals his memories of the mother figure then kills himself out of remorse when those memories take root and make capable of understanding how monstrous his actions have been. The FBI is worried that the surviving psychologist (now suffering from partial amnesia regarding the woman who saved him) will become a killer himself, but it's implied that he still retains things she taught him and her influence persists even without being able to remember her specifically]].
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Davos to Stannis, and both are very well aware of it. Davos even says to Stannis that the reason Stannis freed him from prison was because Stannis knew Davos would talk sense into him.
* Lilly Truscott of ''Series/HannahMontana'' is quite often the only thing reining in Miley's diva-ness.
* In ''Series/{{Healer}}'' Myung Hee manages to be both this ''and'' LoveMakesYouEvil for Moon-Shik, who accepted a DealWithTheDevil to save her life from the Elder.
* Alternate Future Sylar from Volume 3 of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' has his son Noah as his Morality Chain, one strong enough to subvert [[DoNotCallMePaul Do Not Call Me Gabriel]]. With Noah around, Sylar was able to curb his hunger and become a good man. But then it all goes [[PapaWolf horribly]], [[HeroicBSOD horribly]] [[NukeEm wrong]] when it turns out that Knox doesn't know the meaning of InfantImmortality.
* ''Series/{{Homeland}}'' has Dana Brody, whose last minute phone conversation with her father in the Season 1 finale [[spoiler: convinces him against blowing himself up to assassinate the Vice President and the other national security personnel]]
* Series/{{House}} explicitly asks Martha Masters to become one for him. Without someone acting as an ethical compass, he stands to lose Cuddy.
** [[HeterosexualLifePartners Wilson]] acts as this for House sometimes, too.
* Ted is something of this to Barney in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', and Barney has been shown to forgo his more despicable actions if he's afraid of pushing Ted too far. Notably, when he has a one-night stand with a recently-dumped Robin, Ted's ex-girlfriend (and very close friend), Ted ''does'' temporarily break off their friendship, which sends Barney into a spiral of depression, desperation, and revenge plots. Ironically, this may have been the first time in Barney's life when he was actually being kind and comforting instead of just using a girl for sex, but given Barney's history, it's hard to blame Ted for not believing him.
-->''You know, I always thought there was a limit. I always thought'' '''''I''''' ''was the limit!''
* In ''Series/IClaudius'', Drusus Germanicus to Tiberius.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' is intersting in that there are sort of two characters fitting this role. Nate is this to the rest of the team, causing them to do good. On the other hand, he is willing to often go too far in cons unless Sophie stops him. Sophie's importance is especially seen during season 2 when she temporarily leaves and he begins to go too far.
* ''Series/MacGyver'': Murdoch's sister is this to Murdoch in "Halloween Knights". Learning he had a sister causes Murdoch to attempt to go straight and quit the MurderInc organisation he worked for. They respond by [[IHaveYourWife kidnapping the sister]], forcing Murdoch into an EnemyMine situation with [=MacGyver=] to rescue her. However, she dies before Murdoch's next appearance, causing him to revert to his villainous ways.
* Howard Moon is this to Vince Noir of ''Series/TheMightyBoosh''. Vince has a definite heart of gold under all his selfishness, but Howard seems to be the only person who keeps him from forgetting that it's there. In the episode Strange Tale of the Crack Fox, the drug addicted and homoicidal ClubKid Crack Fox is basically what Vince would be if Howard wasn't there to keep him grounded.
* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Belle is this for Gold/Rumplestiltskin. He tries to be good for her, even though he is still pretty bad. Without her there is nothing holding him back from being downright evil and killing whoever he wants. Belle can also be seen as a MoralityPet, since she is the living embodiment of PetTheDog. She is the only one that Rumple is nice and sweet to, his only weakness. If anyone messes with her they are toast. He even says in Season 2 episode 12 that [[spoiler:if any harm comes to Belle while he is gone, he will kill everyone!]] Due to her, we see that Rumple does have a heart after all. His lost son will also probably serve as a morality chain for him once he finds him.
** Also, in Season 2, [[spoiler:Henry serves as such for his adoptive mother, Regina/The Evil Queen.]] He is almost literally the only reason she ever tries to be good in the present time. At times, when she feels she is on the verge of losing him to others' affections, she turns to evil again, only to turn back when pressured by him.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest:''
** Finch is this to Reese. Before Finch hired him (and became his OnlyFriend), he was a CIA agent who was a merciless killer (Ok, he never killed an innocent, but he didn't go out of his way to save them either) and then a bum on the street, beating up jerks who opposed him. Once he was hired he became a BigGood BadAssInANiceSuit. Finch's effect on Reese is so profound that by the start of the second season, when Reese is on a RoaringRampageOfRescue for his OnlyFriend, Dectective Fusco is seriously concerned about what John is capable of ''without'' Harold's influence.
** The Machine also has this role for [[spoiler:Root, causing her to actually become one of the good guys and preventing her from killing anyone]].
** Finch seems to also serve this role for Shaw, though nowhere near to the degree that he is for Reese, and he joins The Machine in serving this role for Root once she starts really working with the team. An interesting thing to note is that while Finch is perfectly capable of stopping all three of them from killing people during normal day-to-day missions, he's show to have a ''lot'' of trouble bringing any of them to heel when RoaringRampageOfRevenge is in effect. See post-"The Crossing" and post-"If-Then-Else" for examples.
-->''(Reese has left three criminals to burn to death in a car in his search for [[spoiler: Carter's murderer]].)''\\
'''Fusco:''' Witnesses put our pal the psychopathic vigilante at the scene.\\
'''Finch:''' Which one?\\
'''Fusco:''' You mean ''both'' your stray dogs are off the leash?
** Root also says that Finch is this to The Machine, stating that he is what keeps The Machine from [[AIIsACrapshoot turning out like]] their [[EvilCounterpart evil rival]], Samaritan.
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': John is this for Sherlock, since he's the only person who can reign in Sherlock's weirdness and get him to question his "high-functioning sociopath" theory. Oh, and he's the only person Sherlock sees as a friend. He can also be seen as a MoralityPet since, in "The Great Game" when his life is threatened, Sherlock [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming asks if he's alright.]]
* Davis Bloome from ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' transforms into killing machine [[InvincibleVillain Doomsday]] with enough agitation; however, Chloe Sullivan's physical presence is the only thing that could calm him enough to stop the transformations. When he finds out Chloe truly loves Jimmy Olsen instead of him and that she ran away with him just to protect Clark, though, Davis (the human) goes apeshit and murderous.
* Discussed in ''Series/StargateUniverse''. In one episode, Dr Rush uses alien technology to relive his memories of the days leading up to the death of his wife. As she's dying, he tells her that she is his MoralityChain. However she responds that he can't make her into this and must continue to be a good man even though she's gone. From this point on, Rush is noticeably, albeit slighty, nicer.
* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the Changeling Founders (Odo's people) lead the tyrannical Dominion and wage war against the Alpha Quadrant powers. Laas argues that Kira is the only reason why Odo hasn't left Deep Space Nine and joined the Dominion.
--> '''Odo:''' I won't have anything to do with the Founders and their war.
--> '''Laas:''' Odo, we linked. I know the truth. You stayed here because of Kira. If it weren't for her, you would be with our people. War or no war, you would be a Founder!
** Also has another example of one that ends ''very'' badly with [[spoiler:Gul Dukat's daughter, Ziyal. While she's around, Dukat begins to turn over a new leaf but after his second banana Damar shoots her dead, Dukat goes completely off the deep end and tries to sacrifice the entire universe to a bunch of alien demons]].
* Doing nothing to stop the accusations of HoYay, ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' did this in "Mystery Spot". Dean is really gone this time and while Sam isn't exactly 'evil', he's a more unhinged, colder mix of John and Gordon. While it didn't last (although there was pretty crappy after-effects on Sam's mental state), it still showcased their SiblingYinYang awesomely: If it weren't for Sam then Dean would commit suicide and if it weren't for Dean then Sam would lose his innate humanity.
** In Season 1 and early Season 2, there are suggestions in Sam's moralizing that he's going to be the morality chain for Dean. As the troper above indicated, this gets turned around hard in later seasons.
** Sam didn't get addicted to demon blood until Dean was no longer there to stop him. Sam has generally good intentions, but he went from a deontological moralizer in Season 1 and parts of Season 2 (won't kill humans, doesn't like moral ambiguity, wants Dean to kill him if he goes darkside) to a fervent consequentialist by the beginning of Season 4 ("It's totally cool to bang a demon chick as long as she's in a (mostly) dead body and also to guzzle down demon blood because it lets me save people.") Sam's motives don't fundamentally change, but failing to stop Dean's descent into Hell drives him all the way off the slippery slope on the sliding scale of means vs. ends.
** At the end of Season 4, Sam brutalizes Dean and nearly chokes him to death before relenting, to which Dean responds with an extremely ill-advised ultimatum mirroring their father's when Sam left for college, and EVEN THEN, Sam's trust in and love for Dean very nearly prevent him from engaging in the final orgy of demon blood and violence [[spoiler:that freed Satan from hell]] just as he's about to do it. It's only because [[spoiler:Zachariah edited the reconciliatory phone message Dean left on Sam's voice mail]] that Sam finally comes to believe that Dean has abandoned him, and that he has to go through with his plan.
** In Season 6 when Sam is [[spoiler: missing his soul]], Dean takes on the role of [[TheConscience his conscience]]. How much he succeeds varies, though it is acknowledged that before Dean joined Sam, Sam was extremely ruthless, killing and sacrificing innocents in order to finish a hunt. With Dean around, this happens much less.
** Likewise, in a Season 5 episode The End, Dean is sent to a future where he and Sam never reunite and Sam ends up becoming Lucifer's vessel. Even Dean has to admit that his future self is a callous dick and by the end of the episode, has come to the conclusion that they "keep each other human."
* The entire ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' team fills this role for Captain Jack Harkness. WordOfGod has it that if [[spoiler: Ianto hadn't died]], Jack would not have been able to [[spoiler: kill his grandson]] later on.
* Lady Adira and Vir Cotto to Londo Mollari in ''Series/BabylonFive''.It doesn't end well.
** Well, [[spoiler:Not for him. Or for Adira. But by all accounts, Emperor Cotto leaves the Centauri Republic far better than he found it, or indeed better than [[TheCaligula Cartagia]] had found it years earlier--and he wouldn't have become Emperor were it not for Londo's ThanatosGambit.]] ''Babylon 5'': reminding you that you have to take the good with the bad since 1994.
* ''Series/TrueBlood'': Russell Edgington, BigBad of Season 3, had one in his lover Talbot. While he was always clearly the bad guy, he spent the first two thirds of the season being a FauxAffablyEvil MagnificentBastard who spent most of his time monologing, trying to seduce the main characters to his side. However, once Talbot was murdered, ''shit got real.''
-->'''Eric:''' "Russell Edgington was maybe the oldest and strongest vampire on the planet. Now he is also the craziest."
* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', Michonne became one for Rick towards the end of Season 5 as he veered dangerously close to becoming a VillainProtagonist. She openly accepts the role.
* In the ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' episode "Dirty Half Dozen," Xena says that Gabrielle is something of a morality chain and confirmed in Seasons 5 and 6; Gabrielle throws away her staff, Xena and her minions commit genocide versus gods, centaurs, Amazons, Japanese, etc.

[[folder:Manhwa]]
* ''Manhwa/TheBreaker'': Shi Woon Lee and Shiho are this to Chun Woo. Shiho isn't as much of one as Shi Woon but her apparent death provokes quite a [[UnstoppableRage reaction]] in Chun Woo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* Mark Briscoe serves as such for his older brother Jay, preventing him from getting in (too) much trouble with Wrestling/{{R|ingOfHonor}}OH censors, from bringing avoidable legal trouble to the company and from causing too much damage on the farm. Mark has plenty of his own vices, such as trespassing, envy and irresponsible handling of farmyard equipment/firearms that Jay is almost completely unable to do anything about.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Religion]]
* In 1st Kings and 2nd Chronicles of Literature/TheBible, Jehoiada the priest served as King Joash/Jehoash's MoralityChain as long as he was alive, as the king did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, including having the Temple repaired. However, after Jehoiada died, 2nd Chronicles records that Jehoash forsook the Lord, and served the groves and idols, even going as far as having Zechariah the son of Jehoiada murdered for speaking the Lord's words against the king. In the end, his own servants conspired against him and killed him, and he was not buried alongside the kings of Judah.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Role Playing Games]]
* In ''Roleplay/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.
** [[spoiler: And now that she's permanently out of the picture, we can probably expect even nastier things to happen to anybody Lenny meets...[[CycleOfRevenge especially Gabe McCallum.]]]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'', Baarrtk Krror is only prevented from giving in entirely to hate by his dear friend, Malik Savant.
* The ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'' supplement ''Danse Macabre'' introduces the concept of "anchors" as a replacement for the [[KarmaMeter Humanity]] system. The way it works, essentially, is that you have a set of {{Morality Chain}}s that prevent you from degenerating and giving into [[EnemyWithin The Beast.]] You lose an anchor when they become too exposed to the rest of vampiric society or you damage the relationship too thoroughly. Did we mention that the anchor system is meant to be used in conjunction with the [[EvilFeelsGood Atrocity system]] and your anchors are the easiest way to safely vent Atrocity dice?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow'', [[spoiler:Soma Cruz will [[MultipleEndings immediately turn evil]] should something happen to his love interest.]]
* In ''VideoGame/DeadRising2: Off The Record'', [[spoiler:losing Katey in this continuity turns Chuck into a psychotic alcoholic and one of the Psychopath bosses for Frank to deal with.]]
* Raspberyl to Mao in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}''. When she dies in the worst ending, he completely loses it.
** Flonne could also be seen as becoming one to Laharl gradually throughout ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea|HourOfDarkness}}''. In the [[MultipleEndings Normal Ending]], when he learns that [[spoiler:''he's'' actually responsible for killing her, he [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] to bring her back to life, effectively inverting this trope]].
*** In the Bad Ending, [[spoiler: instead of sacrificing himself to revive Flonne, Laharl simply wanders the Netherworld for the rest of his life, [[TearJerker holding the flower that Flonne was turned into]].]]
** Played straight in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}'', though reversing the roles. Rozalin warms up to Adell's strong sense of justice, his family, and his determination to bring her back safely to her father. In the [[BadEnd worst ending]], unlocked by having too many ally kills, [[spoiler: after finding out Rozalin is actually an extremely powerful demon overlord who sealed herself in an attempt to escape a life of violence, she judges Adell to be a creature of sin and it is presumed she [[EndoftheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroys everyone.]]]] This, of course, is avoided in the [[HappilyEverAfter good ending]] where the Adell who has lived up to his ideals [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentofHeartwarming is able to bring her back to her senses]] with the PowerofLove.]]
*** And, in the ''worst'' ending, Adell (in addition to failing his Morality Chain duties) [[spoiler: is forced to kill Rozalin when her SuperPoweredEvilSide is unleashed. Unfortunately, her now-bodiless evil side simply possesses Adell and the screen goes black. Then we get to listen as Adell kills his little brother and sister while they beg and plead for him to stop.]]
*** [[spoiler: If the Japanese audio is any indication, he then proceeds to ''eat them.'']]
** [[TokenGoodTeammate Visco Dotrish]] ends up serving this role for the wicked Swamp Witch, [[VillainProtagonist Metallia]], in TheWitchAndTheHundredKnight, which is also made by Creator/NipponIchi. The two develop an OddFriendship that ultimately culminates in [[spoiler: Metallia shaking the very fabric of the dimensions to bring Visco back to life.]]
* Grand Cleric Elthina of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' is a morality chain to [[spoiler: Sebastian. Once she's killed, Sebastian swears to raze the ''whole city'' in vengeance if Hawke chooses not to kill Anders, her murderer.]]
** Elthina is also a morality chain to Meredith who, out of deference to the Grand Cleric, is merely tyrannical rather than genocidal.
** A Hawke who takes the romance or friendship path with Anders is this to him and Justice [[spoiler: [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope until the]] [[ThenLetMeBeEvil third act]]]]. Likewise, Hawke can garner enough relationship points to stop Fenris from [[spoiler: killing his long-lost sister after she sells him out to his former master]] but can't prevent Merrill from [[spoiler: working on the [[ArtifactOfDoom Eluvian]] that will eventually take out her mentor and possibly her entire clan]] or Isabela from [[spoiler: running off with the Qunari relic--[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome at]] [[ChangedMyMindKid first]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'', Psaro is already a WellIntentionedExtremist. But when [[spoiler: Rose gets kidnapped and murdered by [[HumansAreBastards greedy thugs]]...]] ...Well, ''that'' sends him careening over the edge.
* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games, Clavicus Vile the [[DealWithTheDevil Daedric Prince of Wishes and Deals]] is fond of making deals that often screw over foolish mortals. His hound Barbas is the manifestation of his conscience who tries his best to keep his master from ruining too many lives.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', if Tharja gets married her husband becomes this to her. While he cannot ''completely'' keep her darker sides at bay, he at least manages to keep her mildly functioning. [[spoiler: When he dies in the Bad Future, Tharja ''[[DespairEventHorizon completely snaps]]'' and becomes a very dark mixture of AbusiveParent and CrusadingWidow who only ''sorta'' recovered some bits of her sanity when it was time to pull an HeroicSacrifice for Noire.]]
** Similarly, when Henry gets a girlfriend/marries, said girlfriend becomes this to him. [[spoiler: And so does their KidFromTheFuture.]] This also counts in regards to his friends in the army, particularly Ricken: even when he still has quite the case of BlueAndOrangeMorality, Henry says that if Ricken was killed in battle, he'd go in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* Dizzy to Testament in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear''. More than a few bad endings has Testament reverting back to the [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters misanthropic]], [[KillAllHumans genocidal]] AntiVillain he was at the start of the series once Dizzy is harmed in any way.
* In ''VideoGame/HalfMinuteHero'', whenever something bad happens to Millennia, Beautiful Evil Lord goes absolutely berserk.
* The mother of the villains Isair and Madae in ''IcewindDale 2'', although her death happened before the beginning of the story.
* Bastila and [[spoiler:Revan]] in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' serve as each others' Morality Chain, as their telepathic bond allows them to subtly influence each other towards the Dark or the Light. The ending for Lightside![[spoiler:Revan]] is actually something of a Morality Chain Tug-Of-War, with Bastila trying to use the connection to convince [[spoiler:Revan]] to fall with her and [[spoiler:Revan]] using it to support his IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight speech.
* In ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'', the Dark Prince became such when his love interest is killed. Even after AmnesiacDissonance, he reverts to such when someone who looks like said love interest is in the same situation that killed his original love, and reverted completely when he witnessed the original event again. [[spoiler:In ''[[UpdatedRerelease Ragnarok]]'', Croix (The Dark Prince) himself is a Morality Chain for Overlord Priere.]]
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess.'' Midna spends the first third or more of the game thinking only of her own world and recovering the things that she needs. The selflessness she discovers in the personalities of Link and Princess Zelda, however, become a Morality Chain for her which develops over time, to the point where she cares more about them than she does about herself.
* A Paragon Commander Shepard in ''Franchise/MassEffect'' plays this role to nearly any character with an ounce of anti-heroic traits. Notable examples are Garrus, Liara, Jack, Miranda, and Aria T'Loak.
** Matriarch Benezia joined up with the bloodthirsty Spectre Saren to act as this. Unfortunately it [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfired spectacularly]] and she ended up becoming an EvilMatriarch and TheDragon.
** It is possible to play a Renegade Shepard as a ruthless killer who later tempers that instinct as they romance [[NiceGuy nice people]] such as Kaidan, Liara or Thane.
* In ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' you meet a devil called Fhjull Forked-Tongue. He made an angel called Trias enter into a DealWithTheDevil with him, hoping to corrupt Trias to evil. Unfortunately, Trias was better at contract manipulation, and Fjull got stuck with the short straw: By the contract, he bound to be good for as long as Trias is alive; breaking the contract would mean his death. Trias, on his end, does not have to fulfill any part of the contract for as long as Fjull is still in the process of fulfilling his own stipulations (in other words, Trias gets off scot-free until Fhjull willingly becomes LawfulGood, [[MortonsFork at which point Fhjull wouldn't want Trias to fulfill his part of the bargain]]). Although forced to be good, Fjull is still allowed to be bitter about it, which he is. ''Oh so very much''.
* In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'', the memories of the titular AntiHero are haunted by [[CynicismCatalyst his friend Maria who was murdered 50 years prior.]] Due to [[FalseMemories false recollection]], he spends the majority of the first game (and, [[MultipleEndings depending on your options]], some of the second) avenging her death by attempting to destroy humanity, but after a revelation in both cases, he remembers her last wish to bring peace to her people.
** One of the odder cases, in that Maria is not so much the thing keeping Shadow on the side of good as she for a long time the only thing motivating him to do anything at all - good or evil. His belief that she wished him to avenge her motivates him to attempt to kill everyone on the planet - including himself - by bringing a [[ColonyDrop Space Station]] he lived on out of orbit. His belief that she wanted peace for all motivates him to save the planet from the station, but entirely for her sake without pretence that it's his own goal or even morality that he's following. After which he may even have attempted to kill himself by falling into the atmosphere. Maria isn't so much the morality chain keeping him on the side of good as she is the morality chain giving him any sort of morality at all. Without her input he could be considered almost amoral and certainly apathetic.
** Rouge The Bat takes up the role as Shadow's Morality Chain in ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' and ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Sonic 2006]]''. In the former, an amnesiatic Shadow follows Rouge's lead more than anything and in the latter it's Rouge's constant friendship that keeps Shadow focused on the task at hand [[spoiler: without giving in to Mephelise' visions and influence.]]
** Amy Rose is this for E-102 Gamma in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''. It's through his interactions with her that he's able to break away from Eggman's influence and gain the free will needed to save his animal friends trapped inside the other E-series robots.
** Sonic ends up being this for [[VideoGame/SonicRiders Jet]] somewhat. Sonic's ChronicHeroSyndrome and their rivalry with each other drives Jet to do heroic things at times when he'd either not be bothered or be wanting to do something morally questionable himself.
** Tikal is this for Chaos, earning his trust by helping him watch after the Chao and trying her best to maintain relations and peace between the Chao colony and the Echidna empire. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge She ultimately fails in her job, however, when the Knuckles tribe attacks shrine of the Master Emerald, slaughtering all the Chao and mortally wounding Tikal, which sent him into a blind rage wherein he nearly destroyed the world]] [[SealedEvilInACan before Tikal could seal him away in the Master Emerald.]]
* In ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'', [[spoiler:Jim Raynor is this (to some extent at least) for Sarah Kerrigan. When Kerrigan thinks Raynor's dead, she goes back to the Swarm so she can exact vengeance on Mengsk, and she becomes rather ruthless in pursuit of this goal. When she later finds out that Jim is actually alive (shortly after getting herself re-infested as a primal zerg), her ruthlessness dials back somewhat, to the point that when she finally does arrive at Korhal to exact her vengeance, she tries to avoid civilian casualties (at the request of Valerian Mengsk). Kerrigan never completely turns ''evil'' (even at her worst, she seems to have more of a moral code than she ever did as the Queen of Blades), but she's definitely a worse person when she thinks Jim's dead than when she knows he's alive.]]
** Kerrigan herself is this to the rest of the Swarm now that she's regained her humanity. Zerg on their own view every other living thing as a threat to be destroyed or assimilated so Kerrigan steers them away from innocents and refuses to let them attack allies once they're finished being useful.
* Blumiere (a.k.a. [[spoiler:Count Bleck]]) of ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' decided to [[spoiler:[[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds destroy]] ''[[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds all of reality]]'']] when his love interest died. When it was revealed that she was actually alive, he reverted.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', [[TheHeart Clementine]] can be this for [[AntiHero Lee]], depending on how the player chooses to portray him.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft: Cataclysm'', the night elf Leyara is a key member of Fandral Staghelm's Druids of the Flame, who answer to the malevolent Old God-aligned Ragnaros the Firelord. [[spoiler: She goes down this path after her daughter Astaria is slaughtered by Horde raiders invading their village, and is aggrieved by [[BigGood Malfurion]]'s belief that [[WeAreStrugglingTogether inter-faction warfare]] is too much of a distraction from saving the world being torched by Ragnaros. The fact that Leyara is Fandral Staghelm's daughter-in-law also seems to have something to do with her downward spiral, given that Fandral had previously kept Malfurion trapped in the Emerald Nightmare and has become Ragnaros' new right-hand man.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', Ilya is evidently this to Berserker. Note, he's still a massive lump of destructive impulse given terrifying form, he's just better tempered when she's around... unless [[{{Yandere}} she]] orders him to kill someone. [[OhCrap Then he gets WORSE.]]
** There's also implications that Enkidu was this to [[ItsAllAboutMe Gilgamesh]], who was TheGoodKing while they were friends, but reverted back to being the arrogant jackass he was before he met him.
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' has [[spoiler: Hideyoshi Ushiromiya]] fulfilling this role for [[spoiler: his wife Eva]]. Whenever he kicks the bucket (which happens in ''every'' arc), she ''snaps''.
** Also, [[spoiler: Sakutaro is this for Maria. When Rosa rips him apart during a fight, Maria's diary entries [[CuteAndPsycho start to become darker]], [[CallingTheOldManOut and]] [[SelfMadeOrphan later...]].]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* After [[spoiler: Mike's death]] in ''Webcomic/CollegeRoomiesFromHell'', Marsha comments on her insanity, saying he was the rope on her catapult. Now he's gone, and she can soar...
* Dan's mother Destania from ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' was a powerful, manipulative, cunning and utterly ruthless Succubus with little to no regard for Beings (the "Normals" of the setting). Then she fell in love with Dan's adventurer father and gave birth to Dan and grew to love life as a loving mother to Dan and his half-sister Alexi; so much so that she renounced her previous life as Destania. [[spoiler: Then Dan's father was kidnapped by dragons]]. While scheming to get him back, and without the presence of her children, Destania is slowly but surely reverting to her past villainous self.
** Well, maybe. She has left Lost Lake Inn to [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_712.php protect her children]], the [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_726.php plot she's involved in]], if successful, will eliminate not only the threat to her family, but a major re-occurring threat to her kind. And if the plot seems genocidal, that seems to have been the nature of the conflict already.
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', all known AlternateUniverse variants of Tedd got a good friend Elliot and at least once the female counterpart Ellen is his girlfriend; the only exclusion is Lord Tedd's world -- and instead of Grace there's a big ill-mannered BloodKnight.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff400/fv00301.htm Sam thinks of himself as an immorality chain to Helix -- Florence's noble example is corrupting him.]]
* This is one aspect of [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004301 moirallegiance]] in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'''s troll society. Unlike most examples, it is expected to be a reciprocal relationship.
** Feferi was this to Eridan. While they were together, Eridan was a racist {{Jerkass}} with genocidal ambitions. After she breaks up with him [[spoiler:he snaps completely, murdering her and Kanaya. He also destroys the Matriorb, ensuring their race's destruction]].
-->'''Feferi:''' I am really sorry, Eridan. [[{{Deconstruction}} It has just been so hard looking after you and keeping you out of trouble! It has taken its toll, and honestly I am really exhausted.]]
** At this point, Karkat is probably this for [[spoiler:Gamzee, as the creation of their moirallegiance was the only thing stopping his [[AxCrazy murder spree]], but at this point no-one knows whether Gamzee would revert back without his influence.]]
** It might not be quite "morality", per se, but the [[HypercompetentSidekick Draconian Dignitary's]] influence and nagging is pretty much the only thing keeping [[BigBad Jack Noir]] from killing everyone and obliterating everything, and instead keeping his murder and [[EarthShatteringKaboom Earth-Shattering Kabooms]] reasonably limited to ensure that Derse still has ''some'' people to oppress and tax.
* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Bob and Molly are this for Galatea.
* Their relationship is no more than that of good friends, but the green-haired girl definitely appears to be this to ''Webcomic/{{minus}}''. When she is around, minus generally uses her powers for beneficial ends. When she ''isn't'' around, on the other hand, [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy bad things tend to happen]]. Mind you, minus isn't actually ''evil'', just [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds clueless about the consequences of her actions]].
* Asia Ellis in ''[[{{Webcomic/Morphe}} morphE]]'' is the morality chain for the entire seedling group but particularly Billy. In their captivity Asia is unwilling to compromise morals and Billy advocates "anything to survive". Without Asia to keep Billy in check he would go too far before too long.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''
** Roy to Belkar. Without Roy (and by extension, the rest of the party) to play the role of commanding officer and coax him into coming along on their adventurers under the occasional threat of force, Belkar would be dropping the 'heroic' part of HeroicComedicSociopath ''very'' quickly. This is given a LampshadeHanging when [[spoiler:Roy goes to the afterlife and]] a character reveals that Belkar's growth on the 'Evil-O-Meter' began to reverse after he signed on with the Order. Note that Roy isn't making Belkar behave any less evil -- he's merely got him pointed in the direction of people who deserve it slightly more.
*** For comparison, without Roy's guidance, his evilness level would have quickly gone to 8 Kilonazi within a year. This surpasses the hypothetical offspring of [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]] and [[Literature/TheHundredAndOneDalmatians Cruella de Ville]] by 3 [[HiroshimaAsAUnitOfMeasure KiloNazis]]. That would have been pretty freaking evil.
** Belkar's cat, Mr. Scruffy, seems to be becoming this as well. [[spoiler: While Belkar seemed to be faking it at first, it may be that Belkar is BecomingTheMask somewhat.]]
* As the story progresses in ''Webcomic/CobwebAndStripes'', Lydia is growing to be either this or a MoralityPet for Betelgeuse.
* O'Malley of ''Webcomic/{{Widdershins}}'' isn't evil, just [[TheCynic cynical]] and antisocial; but his {{Heterosexual Life Partner|s}} and [[IncorruptiblePurePureness incredibly]] NiceGuy Heinrich Wolfe is always there to say YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre, break through his JerkassFacade, and inspire him to save the day -- grudgingly.
* ''Webcomic/TheNightBelongsToUs'': Because Ada doesn't want Hank to be afraid of her, Hank acts as this for Ada. As illustrated during their confrontation with Sienna.
-->'''Ada (thought bubble)''': If you weren't here, she would be dead.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Dr. Horrible of ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' has [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking two motivations]]: to TakeOverTheWorld and to [[ShrinkingViolet get up the courage]] to talk to Penny, the girl at the laundromat. When the JerkAss DesignatedHero, Captain Hammer, [[spoiler:[[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally kills her]] with Dr. Horrible's DeathRay]], Horrible's closing song makes it clear that he's lost the only thing he really cared about and now there's nothing keeping him from turning truly evil.
* Sylvester, narrator of ''Literature/{{Twig}}'', plays with this due to his status as a BlankSlate; he allows his friends to define the limits of his morality. When paired with the [[TokenGoodTeammate Token Good Teammates]] Jamie or Lillian, Sy becomes practically heroic, but when he's partnered with the amoral Mary or the bloodthirsty Helen he will display an almost sadistic focus on causing the enemy the maximum possible harm as they act as TheCorrupter to him.
[[/folder]]

[[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, Jake would be an even worse KleptomaniacHero, and Ice King would be doing a lot worse to Princesses than just trying to kidnap them occasionally.
* A scene at the end of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' suggests that SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker was an [[InvertedTrope Anti-Morality Chain]] for [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Harley Quinn]]. ''Return of the Joker'' shows that the Joker was killed, and Harley presumed dead; [[NeverFoundTheBody of course she wasn't]], and reappears to scold her twin granddaughters for joining the Jokerz gang.
* Lydia is both this and the KidWithTheLeash for WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': To an extent, Edd is this to the other two Eds.
* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' it's implied that the [[NiceGuy sweet]] [[{{Pollyanna}} optimistic Jimmy]] is this to the sadistic [[MadScientist girl genius]] [[EnfantTerrible Heloise]] considering that she has a crush on him, only acts nice around him, and (barely) tolerates Beezy and Cerbee because of Jimmy. (Although even Jimmy is not safe from her rage and wrath at times). It's also been stated that the main reason she fell for him is because there's "[[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan something about sweet, innocent guys that appeals to the last shred of humanity in her]]". Suffice to say, if Jimmy were to disappear somehow Heloise would probably immediately revert from ChaoticNeutral to ChaoticEvil, have ''no'' reason to be nice to ''anyone'' at all, and lose that last shred of human compassion she has that she only brings out around Jimmy.
* Lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited''. When the original seven heroes discuss their worries [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope over sliding down the slippery totalitarian slope]] like their BadFuture counterparts, Flash cheerfully points out that he's the team's Morality Chain, so all they've got to do is make sure [[SaveThisPersonSaveTheWorld he stays alive]] and everything's cool. The rest of the team is not impressed. [[spoiler: He turns out to be right: there's an AlternateUniverse in which Flash died at the hands of Luthor... and the main heroes become the ruthless Justice Lords.]]
** Further, the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters drastic expansion]] of the League was partly this; when Green Arrow just about leads a coup against the founding-seven because a large number of the members felt they were starting to abuse their powers (not to mention that they just revealed the Watchtower doubled as a KillSat), they're ''thanked'' and reminded that half the reason that the more BadassNormal heroes and the ones more in-tune with the life on the street are there to keep the borderline-PhysicalGod heroes down to earth, on top of being amazing (and often underrated) heroes in their own right.
** Batman wanted Green Arrow on the League specifically because he would help the main seven and more powerful members to remain grounded.
** In "Fearful Symmetry", ComicBook/TheQuestion concludes that [[CloningBlues Galatea]] wants the original Supergirl dead because their PsychicLink works both ways. While Supergirl was beginning to fear she was a killer, Galatea was developing a conscience as a result of her 'dreams' of her counterpart. To test this, Question challenges Galatea to kill him. While Supergirl's intervention prevents us getting a clear answer, Galatea's moment of hesitation is the one example we get of her having any reluctance to kill.
* When Newton the Centaur assists ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyHercules'' out of a spot, he'll usually chirp "What would you do without me, Herc?"
* [[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. It extends so far that when everyone save Discord, [[HeelFaceTurn Starlight]], [[LargeHam Trixie]] and [[DefectorFromDecadence Thorax]] is captured by the {{changeling}}s, the one pony Discord wants to save is Fluttershy.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': Stimpy to Ren, to an extent -- we can't be sure due to cases of DependingOnTheWriter.
* Chuckie is this to Tommy, Phil, and Lil on occasion in ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', particularly when they are being led astray by Angelica. In "Rebel Without a Teddy Bear" Chuckie's vocal intervention is the only thing that keeps Tommy from becoming as much of a mean-spirited hellion as Angelica.
** Other episodes like "The Gold Rush" and "Chuckie's Wonderful Life" strongly hint that Chuckie is this to the other babies as well.
* 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. At the same time, it's also shown it's during moments when she's in the most danger that Anakin comes the closest to using the Dark Side in his efforts to keep her safe. [[spoiler:Her being framed for a crime she didn't commit and eventually leaving the Jedi Order just helps push him faster down the dark path as shown in ''Revenge of the Sith'', and even as Darth Vader he still has more compassion for her than almost anyone else save for Luke himself, given how he offered to spare her life in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' if she gave him information on any remaining Jedi and even hesitated during their fight]].
* 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 Gems who deeply care about Steven himself, so she's surprisingly rather chill with him.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', Lois Lane ends up in a [[AlternateUniverse parallel universe]], where her double was killed by a car bomb. While in her own reality, Superman got there just in time to save her, this world's Superman failed and has never forgiven himself. Since then, he has become much less forgiving to criminals and abandoned his "no killing" rule, blasting any criminal he sees with his EyeBeams. When Lois encounters this version of Superman, he no longer wears the [[http://images.wikia.com/dcanimated/images/0/0f/Brave_New_Metropolis.png same uniform]] and appears to be working with ComicBook/LexLuthor. She manages to set him right, though. [[ExpendableALternateUniverse Of course, she goes back to her own universe at the end of the episode, which means the other Superman is once again without a]] Morality Chain.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Starfire is thrown into a temporal vortex in the episode "How Long Is Forever?". She lands in a world where she's been lost for ''several years'', and it turns out that [[spoiler: the Titans were so [[LosingTheTeamSpirit dispirited and sad after her disappearance,]] that they have been disbanded and haven't seen each other for ''years''. BB is a freak show in a circus, Raven went the [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy maddened into misanthropy way]], Cyborg has spent years alone in the remains of the Titans Tower, and only Robin (now ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}) remains as a crimefighter]].
** Also, [[spoiler: Starfire was actually very near a DespairEventHorizon of her own prior to bumping into Nightwing. That gives her the courage to keep fighting, which ultimately lets her return home and to her own time and avert this BadFuture.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' gives this trope a dark twist in the episode "Secrets:" the psychopathic villain Harm realized that [[spoiler:his sister Greta]] was the only person keeping him from being "[[PureIsNotGood pure]]," and [[spoiler:murdered her]].
** Invoked in the second season, when Impulse decides to become Blue Beetle's [[spoiler: to keep him from destroying the Earth.]]
* ''WesternAimation/WanderOverYonder'' plays this trope straight with [[spoiler:Destructor]]. His morality chain is [[spoiler: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 [[spoiler:return the sock and he immediately releases everyone and makes them dukes in his kingdom]].
[[/folder]]

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Rin certainly is an interesting case. She is the one person that glues together her team, and when she dies, TheTeam falls apart. [[spoiler:Obito]] becomes a masked terrorist under the alias of Tobi, Kakashi becomes a pathetic self-loathing man wracked with chronic guilt depression. Had she not died, both men would not have become the broken men they are now.

* {{ComicBook/Sabretooth}} had two of these. In the 90s, he had his sidekick, Birdie. He used her to get the "glow", similar to telepathic cleansing, which kept his feral side in check and prevented him from going complete crazy. Once she was killed, there was no longer anything to contain him. He admits during her death that she's the only person he'd miss, though he still casually steps over her dead body afterwards. In the recent run of ''{{ComicBook/Uncanny X Men}}'', Monet St. Croix became his chain. He had been inverted during the {{ComicBook/AXIS}} story-line. When he joined Magneto's X-Men, he developed an [[ShipTease interesting]] relationship with Monet, with whom he was very protective. When she's cursed by Emplate and receives his Vampire-like hunger, Sabretooth offers himself up as food for her & promises to keep her secret. It's possible that letting her feed on him frequently is what wears down his inversion, making him behave more like his old self. He thinks to himself about needing something genuine to fight for in order to stay grounded. And that something was his desire to protect Monet.