History Main / SwordOfDamocles

A weapon used as a deterrent, to sway ''people'' into acting in a certain manner. This comes from the second moral of the original story of the Sword of Damocles, where "The value of the sword is not that it falls, but rather, that it hangs."

** Meanwhile Lelouch and [[spoiler: Nunnally]] had their own separate plans for using it. [[spoiler: Nunnally]]'s plan was to turn it into a target of hate for the world to unite against, resulting in peace once it gets destroyed[[note]]she never quite explains if she plans to let the resistance movements of the world unite and find a way to sabotage the fortress, or if she intends to fire a nuke within the fortress itself[[/note]]. Lelouch's plan [[spoiler: turns out to be pretty much the same, [[ThanatosGambit except he uses himself as the target and has Suzaku as Zero kill him]], [[TheExtremistWasRight which actually does result in a better peace than what Schneizel or Nunnally had in mind]]]]. This can be chalked up to [[spoiler:[[TheAtoner punishing himself with death for all the horrible things he already did]], and that humans are less capable of hating a soulless machine than a genocidal CardCarryingVillain]].

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', this is why Frieza's minions have him revived - his empire has fallen apart in his absence, and they see him as the only way they'll be top dog again. It's a bit of an own goal, since he's [[BadBoss back to killing people who disagree with him]] almost immediately.

* ''VideoGame/TheForgottenCity'', which started life as a quest mod for ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', has this as the central premise. It takes place in a lost city populated by various people of different races and backgrounds live in relative peace... as long as they all obey the Golden Rule: "The many shall suffer the sins of one." If anybody so much as steals a single coin or lays a hand on another within the city's confines, everyone pays the price. This, however, doesn't stop people from ''exploiting'' the Golden Rule under false pretense of fairness, such as price gouging life-saving medicine or keeping someone imprisoned to just because they ''might'' break the rule.

* ''VideoGame/TheForgottenCity'', which started life as a quest mod for ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', has this as the central premise. It takes place in a lost Dwemer city populated by various people of different races and backgrounds live in relative peace... because everyone knows that if anybody so much as steals a single coin or lays a single finger on another in anger within the city's confines, the Dwemer statues scattered around the city come to life and ''[[FinalSolution murder everyone]]''. [[spoiler:That doesn't mean however that the city has no crime.]]

* At the end of the Ancient China chapter in ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', Odi Wang Lee reveals he always has a pair of assassins living behind his throne, with standing orders to attack ''him'' whenever they see fit. They're strong enough to kill him, and thus he must always remain on guard - this is how he stays strong enough to be a powerful martial artist. They also serve as a last line of defense when the Xin Shan Quan master wipes out Lee's inner circle.

* MutuallyAssuredDestruction. Advances in weapons technology, such as nuclear weapons, were ''supposed'' to bring about an end to armed conflict in the traditional sense. It.... well... KINDA worked....

** This is also [[spoiler:Ozymandias's plan -- by creating fear of an extraterrestial attack, he intends to scare the planet into world peace. It seems to work, but close examination reveals he launched his plan just as the United States and the Soviet Union were about to start peace accords anyway, meaning that he's scuttled real peace in favor of peace based on a false fear, liable to collapse if it's ever revealed... like what may be happening a few days after the last panel.]]

* In ''Fanfic/ThisBites'', [[spoiler:Captain T-Bone reorganizes the former CP9 agents into "Jormungandr", which not only serve to assassinated the other Cipher Pol cells but also to kill a member of the New World Mason who chooses to stray from their morals and their original path of helping the world]].

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': In the distant past, MadGod Sheogorath hurled a rogue moon at the newly built {{Egopolis}} of the Dunmeri [[PhysicalGod Tribunal Deity]] Vivec. Vivec saved the city by freezing the moon high above it, but then invoked this trope. He told his followers that the moon was held in place by their love for him, and that if they should stop loving him, it would fall. [[spoiler: He's not actually lying. Due in no small part to the player's actions in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', Vivec disappears early in the 4th era. Some temporary measures are enacted to keep the moon in place, including the use of a [[PoweredByAForsakenChild a soul-burning machine]]. However, those attempts prove futile, and the moon falls with all ''of its original momentum'', causing [[ColonyDrop province-wrecking]] results. Years later, the waters where the city once stood are still boiling]].

* In ''VideoGame/FrontMissionEvolved'', [[spoiler: the main enemy is revealed to be a terrorist group known as The Sword of Damocles and they plan to use a orbital laser to keep the nations of the world under their thumb.]]

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' pretty much runs on this trope; set during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, the game's villain creates a series of bi-pedal nuclear tanks that, following an initial nuclear attack to prove its capabilities, grants the closest thing to peace through [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction mutually assured destruction.]] [[spoiler:It turns out that while the average human cannot bring themselves launch a nuclear weapon, an ''assembly'' can convince its members to push the button on someone else's orders, especially if the sword of damocles becomes actively visible.]]

** International relations studies term this the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stability-instability_paradox stability-instability paradox.]] Both sides having the ability to utterly annihilate one other severely limits the plausible range of actions both sides can take in international diplomacy. On one hand, it means no WorldWarIII because the big powers won't make moves with the intent to go to war (it is assumed that both sides value their own survival more than they do the destruction of the other). On the other hand, this same system means both sides find less direct ways to fight the other side (i.e., via proxy wars with third and fourth parties), in addition to all the smaller pre-existing grudges that otherwise-irrelevant parties have with one another which neither superpower can fully stop because the amount of power needed to get one side or the other to heel cannot be used without threat from the other superpower, who by and large cannot risk letting the first have its way.

** International relations studies term this the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stability-instability_paradox stability-instability paradox.]] Both sides having the ability to utterly annihilate one other severely limits the plausible range of actions both sides can take in international diplomacy. On one hand, it means no WorldWarThree because the big powers won't make moves with the intent to go to war (it is assumed that both sides value their own survival more than they do the destruction of the other). On the other hand, this same system means both sides find less direct ways to fight the other side (i.e., via proxy wars with third and fourth parties), in addition to all the smaller pre-existing grudges that otherwise-irrelevant parties have with one another which neither superpower can fully stop because the amount of power needed to get one side or the other to heel cannot be used without threat from the other superpower, who by and large cannot risk letting the first have its way.

* The infamous Spiny Shell (also known as the Blue Shell) in the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series serves this purpose, or rather, the threat of one. It is a weapon that seeks out the racer in 1st place and slams into them, causing an explosion that stops them cold for several seconds and, with a few exceptions, [[UnblockableAttack cannot be avoided]]. Everyone who has played ''Mario Kart'' games for long enough will feel on edge whenever they're ahead in case someone obtains a Spiny Shell. And in the games where other players' items are visible, such as ''Mario Kart DS'' and ''Mario Kart 8'', you can sometimes see people in the lead slam on the brakes and let people overtake them when they see someone get one, or spot the notification that one is barreling up the course to them. And this mechanic works very well--so well that most other kart racers [[FollowTheLeader have adopted similar weapons]]: the Ghost in ''VideoGame/SnowboardKids'', the Swarm in ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]]'', the Blue Pac-Bomb in ''VideoGame/PacManWorldRally'', etc.

** International relations studies term this the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stability-instability_paradox stability-instability paradox.]] The fact that both sides have the ability to utterly annihilate one other severely limits the plausible range of actions both sides can do in international diplomacy. On one hand, it means no WorldWarThree because the big powers won't make moves with the intent to go to war (it is assumed that both sides value their own survival more than they do the destruction of the other). On the other hand, this same system means both sides find less direct ways to fight the other side (i.e., via proxy wars with third and fourth parties), in addition to all the smaller pre-existing grudges otherwise-irrelevant parties have with one another which neither superpower can fully stop because the amount of power needed to get one side or the other to heel cannot be used without threat from the other superpower, who by and large cannot risk letting the first have its way.

* The closed-shop structure of North American sports leagues (no promotion/relegation system so generally the same teams compete year to year; mutually-recognized territorial rights means most cities save really big ones like New York only have one team in the local market) means that the only ways a city that doesn't have a team but wants one is either get the league to grant an expansion franchise or entice a currently-existing team to relocate. With the Big Four leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) already having at least 30 teams each, relocation is generally considered the more likely path. This means that team owners have a large bargaining advantage when it comes to negotiating with the host city regarding stadium leases and ''especially'' public funding for new ones - the sword over the city's head is the chance that the team may pack up and move. A particularly prominent example is the NFL between 1995 and 2015, when there were no teams in Los Angeles after the Rams moved to St. Louis and the Raiders moved back to Oakland - this time period was marked by varying degrees of subtlety about [=SoCal=] in public funding negotiations for stadium renovations or even entire new ones[[note]]True, San Diego had the Chargers, but they're three hours away in a city that pales on a national scale to LA[[/note]].

* The trope is also deployed a more metaphorical sense during the annual state opening of Parliament in the United Kingdom. At Westminster, the British Monarch puts on his/her royal regalia in a room where the execution warrant of Charles I is prominently displayed--just to remind His or Her Majesty who's the boss around here.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' creates a pair of Damocles swords on ''language'', which would effectively prevent war ''and'' peace; Skull Face created MiniMecha Metal Gears that can equip nuclear missiles, which he'd sell to anyone displaying cult behavior, while remote-disabling any of their nukes if they were used by an OmnicidalManiac. The other sword, the [[spoiler:vocal cord parasites]], can kill off anyone who tries to talk it out with their neighbors, and then spreads to kill their local friends and family. The end result would be that the entire world would fragment into independent states which are technically a united humanity, because they're unable to war against each other and are all NotSoDifferent by design; [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans they would]] ''[[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans all]]'' [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans be]] {{Cult}}s [[CrapsackWorld who internationally speak Nuclear, cannot speak anything else, and cannot invade or cooperate with other cults]].

* [[DoomsdayDevice The Doomsday Machine]] from ''Film/DrStrangelove'' was meant to be this; a series of buried bombs jacketed with "cobalt-thorium G", which are set to detonate automatically should any nuclear attack strike the country. Within two months after detonation, the cobalt-thorium G would encircle the planet in a radioactive shroud that would render the Earth's surface uninhabitable. The device cannot be deactivated, as it is programmed to explode if any such attempt is made. This was originally designed not to be used so much as scare off any ideas of nuclear war from Russia's enemies by way of mutually-assured destruction. However, with General Ripper's SanitySlippage, it ends up being activated less than a week before its presence would have been announced to the UN, thus rendering the whole thing moot and the world dead.

* The trope is also deployed a more metaphorical sense during the annual state opening of Parliament in the United Kingdom. At Westminster, the British Monarch puts on his royal regalia in a room where the execution warrant of Charles I is prominently displayed--just to remind His or Her Majesty who's the boss around here.

[[folder:Myths & Religon]]
* The OlderThanFeudalism [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles trope namer]] involved a [[YesMan courtier]] named Damocles at the court of the tyrant Dionysius II of Syracuse (Sicily, Italy). When Damocles praised the tyrant for being so fortunate, Dionysius decided to give him a lesson and offered him his throne. Damocles accepted, but the tyrant hung a big sword above the throne, held only by a single hair of a horse's tail. When Dionysius asked how the meal was, Damocles said it was awful due to the sword hanging over his head. Dionysius countered that a leader has a metaphorical sword hanging over their head at all times, and that every leader lives with the constant fear that someone's going to kill them for the sake of their money and/or power. Suddenly, Damocles didn't think that Dionysius was so fortunate anymore.
** Of course, [[ValuesDissonance the moral has been somewhat skewed over time]]. Nowadays, the moral is that people can't live a happy life if they're in fear. Originally, the idea was a harsh lesson in TheChainsOfCommanding, and the titular sword shows that his reign could fall at a moment's notice, especially in the time it took place. It's also argued that the original moral of the story was simply, "be content with what you have", showing the above as stress of how being in power isn't all it's cracked up to be.
[[/folder]]

* The OlderThanFeudalism [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles trope namer,]] of course. As you know, he was a [[YesMan courtier]] at the court of the tyrant Dionysius II of Syracuse (Sicily, Italy). When he praised the tyrant for being so fortunate, Dionysius decided to give him a lesson and offered him his throne. Damocles accepted, but the tyrant hung a big sword above the throne, held only by a single hair (of a horse's tail). Soon, Damocles didn't think anymore that Dionysius was so fortunate...

* [[DoomsdayDevice The Doomsday Machine]] from ''Film/DrStrangelove'' was meant to be this; a series of buried bombs jacketed with "cobalt-thorium G", which are set to detonate automatically should any nuclear attack strike the country. Within two months after detonation, the cobalt-thorium G would encircle the planet in a radioactive shroud that would render the Earth's surface uninhabitable. The device cannot be deactivated, as it is programmed to explode if any such attempt is made. This was originally designed not to be used so much as scare off any ideas of nuclear war from America's enemies by way of mutually-assured destruction. However, with General Ripper's SanitySlippage, it ends up being activated less than a week before its presence would have been announced to the UN, thus rendering the whole thing moot and the world dead.

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. Spacefleet has orbital A-bomb platforms orbiting Earth to enforce peace. Agritech Keshari (an expy of Kes from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'') is slowly dying of radiation poisoning as she was CollateralDamage when Spacefleet nuked the palace of her ruling [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Khan]] to stop his genocidal intentions.

* [[EmperorScientist Klaus Wulfenbach]] of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' is a self-described enlightened despot with only one rule: Don't Make Me Come Over There. As long as the realms of Europa don't wage war on each other, police bandits and renegade [[MadScientist Sparks]] to an acceptable degree, and turn over [[ArtifactOfDoom devices of The Other]], they may rule as they see fit. When they don't, well, that's when the armies, [[EliteMooks Jaegermonstern]], [[HumongousMecha battle clanks]], and [[CoolAirship air fleet]] earn their pay. Even Wulfenbach doesn't have enough of an army to fight everyone, but he can and will enact DisproportionateRetribution on [[WhoWillBellTheCat whoever steps out of line first]].

** It wasn't just the implementation that was flawed: the Tarkin Doctrine [[MoralEventHorizon demolished whatever legitimacy the Empire might have had]], pushing systems and individuals who might otherwise have sat on the fence [[NeutralNoLonger into supporting the Rebels openly]] (although to be fair, by that point it had been destroyed by the Rebels, but the Empire couldn't take back how they used it). The fact that the Death Star's first target was [[NeverHurtAnInnocent a civilian planet]] (and that it was destroyed [[KickTheDog even though Leia seemed to be co-operating]]) didn't help at all, nor did using Jedha as a testing range or firing upon your own troops on Scarif [[Film/RogueOne a few days earlier]].

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': In the distant past, MadGod Sheogorath hurled a rogue moon at the newly built {{Egopolis}} of the Dunmeri [[PhysicalGod Tribunal Deity]] Vivec. Vivec saved the city by freezing the moon high above it, but then invoked this trope. He told his followers that the moon was held in place by their love for him, and that if they should stop loving him, it would fall. [[spoiler: Due in no small part to the player's actions in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', Vivec disappears early in the 4th era. Some temporary measures are enacted to keep the moon in place, including the use of a [[PoweredByAForsakenChild a soul-burning machine]]. However, those attempts prove futile, and the moon falls with it's original momentum, causing [[ColonyDrop province-wrecking]] results. Years later, the waters where the city once stood are still boiling]].

* ''VideoGame/TheForgottenCity'', which started life as a quest mod for VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim, has this as the central premise. It takes place in a lost Dwemer city populated by various people of different races and backgrounds live in relative peace because everyone knows that if anybody so much as steals a single coin or lays a single finger on another in anger within the city's confines, the Dwemer statues scattered around the city come to life and ''[[FinalSolution murder everyone]]''. [[spoiler:That doesn't mean however that the city has no crime.]]

* At the end of the Ancient China chapter in ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', Odi Wang Lee reveals he always has a pair of assassins living behind his throne, with orders to attack whenever they see fit. They're strong enough to kill him, and thus he must always remain on guard - this is how he stays strong enough to be a powerful martial artist. They also serve as a last line of defense when the Xin Shan Quan master wipes out Lee's inner circle.
* The infamous Spiny Shell (also known as the Blue Shell) in the VideoGame/MarioKart series serves this purpose, or rather, the threat of one. It is a weapon that seeks out the racer in 1st place and slams into them, causing an explosion that stops them cold for several seconds and, with a few exceptions, [[UnblockableAttack cannot be avoided]]. Everyone who has played Mario Kart games for long enough will feel on edge whenever they're ahead in case someone obtains a Spiny Shell. And in the games where other players' items are visible, such as ''Mario Kart DS'' and ''Mario Kart 8'', you can sometimes see people in the lead slam on the brakes and let people overtake them when they see someone get one. And this mechanic works very well--so well that most other kart racers [[FollowTheLeader have adopted similar weapons]]: the Ghost in ''VideoGame/SnowboardKids'', the Swarm in ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]]'', the Blue Pac-Bomb in ''VideoGame/PacManWorldRally'', etc.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' creates a pair of Damocles swords on ''language'', which would effectively prevent war ''and'' peace; Skull Face created MiniMecha Metal Gears that can equip nuclear missiles, which he'd sell to anyone displaying cult behavior, while remote-disabling any of their nukes if they were used by an OmnicidalManic. The other sword, the [[spoiler:vocal cord parasites]], can kill off anyone who tries to talk it out with their neighbors, and then spreads to kill their local friends and family. The end result would be that the entire world would fragment into independent states which are technically a united humanity, because they're unable to war against each other and are all NotSoDifferent by design; [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans they would]] ''[[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans all]]'' [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans be]] {{Cult|s}} [[CrapsackWorld who internationally speak Nuclear, cannot speak anything else, and cannot invade or cooperate with other cults]].

** In the ''Manga/DeathNoteSpecialChapter'', A-Kira decides to auction a Death Note to various First World governments, rationalizing that these countries already have nuclear weapons as swords of Damocles, and giving them yet another ArtifactOfDoom will just cause it to be tied up by the bureaucracy[[note]]sadly for A-Kira, he never realized there was an even greater power, the Shinigami King, holding a sword over everyone. SK orders Ryuk to kill A-Kira to send a message to the mortals; stop trading the ArtifactOfDoom.[[/note]]. He sells it to [[spoiler:Washington DC, which wins the auction for a whopping 900 trillion yen, but Ryuk reveals to Donald Trump that the new rule patch means if he accepts the note for United States custody he will literally drop dead. [[DirtyCoward The president decides to surrender the notebook, but pretends America has a brand new magical sword of ink and paper]]]].

* The power of Kira in ''Manga/DeathNote'', to instantly kill evil or unethical people (or anyone you want really), has limiting the world to good, obedient people as its intended consequence.
** In the ''Manga/DeathNoteSpecialChapter'', A-Kira decides to auction a Death Note to various First World governments, rationalizing that these countries already have nuclear weapons as swords of damocles, and giving them yet another ArtifactOfDoom will just cause it to be tied up by the bureaucracy[[note]]sadly for A-Kira, he never realized there was an even greater power, the Shinigami King, holding a sword over everyone. SK orders Ryuk to kill A-Kira to send a message to the mortals; stop trading the ArtifactOfDoom.[[/note]]. He sells it to [[spoiler:Washington DC, which wins the auction with a whopping 900 trillion yen, but Ryuk reveals to Donald Trump that the new rule patch means if he accepts the note for United States custody he will literally drop dead. [[DirtyCoward The president decides to surrender the notebook, but pretends America has a brand new magical sword of ink and paper]]]].

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' creates a pair of Damocles swords on ''language'', effectively preventing war ''and'' peace; Skull Face created MiniMecha Metal Gears that can equip nuclear ICBMs, which he'd sell to anyone displaying cult behavior. The other sword, the [[spoiler:vocal cord parasites]], biologically kill off anyone who tries to diplomatically defuse the situation, along with their nearby allies. The end result is that the entire world would fragment into independent states which are technically a united humanity, because they're all NotSoDifferent from each other by design; they are ''all'' {{Cult|s}} who internationally speak Nuclear and cannot speak anything else.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' pretty much runs on this trope; set during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, the game's villain creates a series of bi-pedal nuclear tanks that, following an initial nuclear attack to prove its capabilities, grants the closest thing to peace through [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction mutually assured destruction.]]