Line #61 Main/MoralityGuidedAttack


1	->''"The Raging Demon... Its power is unequaled... It is not my fist but your past sins that will kill you... The more evil your past doings, the more painful your death..."''
2	-->-- '''Akuma''' to M. Bison/Vega[[note]][[DubNameChange Dictator]][[/note]], ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha3''
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4	An attack that draws its power from how good or evil the user's opponent is. It is often used in order for a brutal BloodKnight [[BadPowersBadPeople of a villain]] to utterly humiliate his adversary by showing him that he's similar deep inside. It is usually a FinishingMove.
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6	This type of ability will very likely be a favorite of anyone who is TheFettered who believes they should NeverHurtAnInnocent. Vice Versa, a person who expects everyone they encounter [[HobbesWasRight to be evil]] will also likely use this kind of attack.
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8	Compare GoodHurtsEvil and AllergicToEvil.
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10	Contrast KarmaMeter, where the user's ''own'' moral standing has an impact rather than the opponent's. See SituationalDamageAttack for when other factors dictate who and how are effected by an attack. Anything else that is not an attack that will harm evil people, see OnlyThePureOfHeart.
11	----
12	!!Examples
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15	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
16	* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
17	** Spike the Devilman's signature attack, the Devilmite Beam, carries out the effect by amplifying the darkness in the enemy's heart and making it explode. Because it does this effectively to ''any'' lingering sins, Fortuneteller Baba warns him not to use it, saying he is "going too far". Goku manages to survive, though, due to [[IncorruptiblePurePureness his completely good heart]].
18	** Also, the Spirit Bomb [[SubvertedTrope was thought to be this]] due to it not exploding on contact with someone pure of heart, as demonstrated when Gohan is able to bounce it back against Vegeta, and obliterate evil people. [[spoiler: This comes back to bite Goku when he attempts to use it against Kid Buu, because [[PureIsNotGood Buu is acting on animal-like instinct rather than malicious intent]].]]
19	** Played straight with the [[CanonImmigrant initially]] non-canon Stardust Breaker from ''Anime/DragonBallZFusionReborn'' as Gogeta’s dialogue when uses it on Janemba and its alternate name of Soul Punisher implies that it targets the evilness of the victim and destroys their soul. This was confirmed later in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' when Gogeta uses it on the titular berserker, and instead of vaporising Broly like it did with Janemba it just hurts him, likely because Broly isn’t evil [[AdaptationalHeroism in this version]] [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood merely misguided]].
20	* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', one of the functions of Genkai's Spirit Wave technique is demonstrated to have this effect. During the fight against Team Ichigaki, she uses it to expel the [[MindControlDevice Barukis]] that [[MadScientist Dr. Ichigaki]] had attached to [[TheWoobie three marital artists]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy to make them fight and kill others against their will]]. Yusuke and Kuwabara at first mistakenly assume them to have been killed by her attack, but then once they are conscious she explains that it would only have killed them if they were evil at heart.
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23	[[folder:Comic Books]]
24	* This is how Creator/MarvelComics' ''ComicBook/CloakAndDagger'' vanquish adversaries. Cloak can enfold them in darkness, wherein villains encounter their own wickedness face to face, which often leaves them a quivering, neurotic wreck. Dagger can fling "light knives" which can stagger {{mooks}} and paralyze villains. Interestingly, Dagger's light knives had no effect on ComicBook/DoctorDoom, who has never regarded his actions as evil, but rather as his rightful destiny.
25	* ComicBook/GhostRider's Penance Stare makes the target feel all the pain and suffering they've caused innocents over the course of their life. It's got a ''lot'' of caveats that make it unusable on several targets, but if it connects it's basically impossible to shrug off; even hoodlums will be going home to rethink their entire lives, emotionally mangled, while worse individuals can drop dead from sheer agony.
26	** That said, Ghost Rider can control the scale of the pain he inflicts on others via the Stare; during one confrontation with a hypnotised Wolverine, Ghost Rider broke him free by making Logan experience the pain he caused others during a random day in the First World War.
27	** Ghost Rider's {{Hellfire}} also tends to burn hotter the more sins a target has committed against others.
28	** The Spirit of Vengeance is given a counterpart in Belasco's Limbo, the Spirit of Corruption. They wield a giant claymore that causes whoever it hits to hemorrhage a physical manifestation of their every misdeed from every pore and orifice until they're smothered to death by them.
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31	[[folder:Film-Animated]]
32	* ''WesternAnimation/StarchaserTheLegendOfOrin'': The CoolSword wielded by [[TheHero Orin]] has this effect. The invisible blade of the weapon will only cut those who are evil and/or malicious and will have no effect on good people (for example when Orin mistakenly believes [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Dagg]] is intending to harm him, nothing happens). Likewise, the sword will not work for those who are evil. [[spoiler: [[BigBad Zygon]] [[AssholeVictim discovers that the hard way]] when he attempts to kill Orin with the sword and then Orin manages to destroy the tyrant without the hilt (of which is revealed to only be a catalyst to summon the power of the blade in the first place) with a telekinetic slash]].
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35	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
36	* In the "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E4Gambit Gambit]]" episodes of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', there is the Stone of Gol, an ancient Vulcan weapon which harms its target by reflecting said target's own violent thoughts back at him/her. It can be rendered harmless by clearing your mind of any such negative thoughts, which is exactly what the Vulcans following the teachings of Surak tend to do.
37	* In the ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' episode "[[Recap/XenaS04E13ParadiseFound Paradise Found]]", Xena fights a guru who can turn whatever good there is in a person against them. To fight him, Xena embraces her inner evil, and she almost kills [[MoralityChain Gabrielle]] during the battle without her conscience to stop her.
38	-->'''Garr:''' No! You can't fight him--I tried. He'll take what's good still in you--and use it against you!
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41	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
42	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
43	** The game has spells and abilities that affect targets based on their alignment, generally in the form of Evil attacks which hurt Good characters and [[GoodHurtsEvil vice versa]]. ThePaladin class's SmiteEvil ability is the most well known.
44	** Holy water causes damage to evil creatures from other planes and evil undead it touches. Unholy water does the same to Good otherplanar creatures and paladins.
45	** ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine #229 article "Bazaar of the Bizarre". When the Wheel of Light Rays is spun like a pinwheel it emits a bright pattern of light up to 30 feet away. Any evil creature in the area of effect must make a saving throw or take 1-4 HitPoints of damage for each point of karma it has.
46	** In 1st and 2nd Edition, all intelligent magical swords have a specific CharacterAlignment. A creature with a different alignment can take HitPoints of damage equal to the sword's Ego rating each time it touches the sword (and, in 2nd Edition, each minute of contact with the sword if held continuously).
47	* In the ''TabletopGame/HeroSystem'' supplement ''Fantasy Hero Companion'', the Prayer of Cleansing spell causes damage to "unclean" (Evil) creatures such as undead and demons.
48	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has abilities that affect targets based on their alignment, generally in the form of Evil attacks which hurt Good characters and [[GoodHurtsEvil vice versa]]. ThePaladin class's SmiteEvil ability is the most well known.
49	* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', the Old Testament-themed vampiric BloodMagic of Theban Sorcery has the ritual "Bird of Sin." What the ritual does is create a spectral, attacking bird pulled from the target and [[TheHeartless made of their sins]]. The game has a MoralityMeter that goes from 0 (utter depravity) to 10 (saintly), and the bird attacks with 10 ''minus'' the target's morality and ignoring their defence attribute. A normal person with Morality 7 could feasibly fight off their Sin Bird or at least survive the pecking, but less moral (and non-magical) targets? Yeah, death by materialized sins.
50	* The ''TabletopGame/WorldOfDarkness''' Society of Leopold (basically, modern-day Inquisition) possesses a ritual to permanently destroy (instead of just banishing) TabletopGame/{{demon\|TheFallen}}s--but it only works if the demon has High Torment (i.e. if they have lost all of their original angelic grace by committing acts of treachery and evil), while leaving Low Torment demons unaffected.
51	* ''TabletopGame/DangerousJourneys[=/=]Mythus'' castings (spells) that only do damage to Evil (Evil, malign, Nether Plane or nether nature) beings.
52	** The Alchindus Sigil Formula casting does 2d6 plus 2 Spiritual damage to the first Evil character to come close to the sigil.
53	** Eviltracks Agony Charm does 2d6 plus 2 Physical damage to Evil characters when a nail is pounded into their footprint.
54	** Abjure Spell. Any Evil character in the Area of Effect who doesn't announce their true alignment takes 5-15 points of Physical, Mental and Spiritual damage.
55	** Full Consecration Ritual protects an area from the entry of Evil beings. If one is powerful enough to enter anyway it takes 2d6 plus 2 Spiritual damage.
56	** Mystic Bullets Charm. Each Bullet does 4-12 Spiritual damage to Evil targets.
57	** Mystic Missile Charm does 5d6 plus 2 Spiritual damage to Evil creatures.
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60	[[folder:Video Games]]
61	* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' 2 has one of Inquisitor Adrastia's spells powered by the weight of the target's sins. How this is supposed to work on the HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids, BloodKnight Orks or AlwaysChaoticEvil daemons and Chaos Space Marines, who either have no concept of sin or are more likely to enjoy the memory of committing them is unexplained.
62	* In ''[[VideoGame/DragonBallZBudokaiTenkaichi Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3]]'', Devilman still has his Devilmite Beam signature attack. Every character takes highly varying amounts of damage depending on their morality--Kid Goku takes [[NoSell no damage]] [[MythologyGag just like in the original series]], Omega Shenron takes [[CurbStompBattle tens of thousands]], and the other characters vary in-between--even separate transformations that affect one's state of mind are differently susceptible to the attack, such as the [[BloodKnight bloodlust]]-increasing Super Saiyan forms actually taking a somewhat sizable amount of damage over the base versions of the same characters, literally MadeOfEvil characters taking the maximum possible damage from it and most villains who transform physically into a different form taking slightly less damage than in their base form. The [[DevelopersForesight developers did a very thorough job]]. A WhatIf story has him confront Frieza and King Cold. While physically he's no match for them, because of how morally bankrupt the two are, he's still quite capable of killing them with the attack.
63	* ''Videogame/FallenLondon:'' The wonders of [[FictionalFieldOfScience Kataleptic Toxicology]] produced a poison known as Discriminating Aconite, which is only lethal to those who deserve it. This being London, "lethal" is [[DeathIsCheap not too big a deal]], but with Aconite, you get a distinct feeling YouKnowWhatYouDid. It isn't especially forgiving; your character will have a rough time with it no matter how Magnanimous.
64	* Several monsters in the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, mostly Tonberry and its [[UndergroundMonkey numerous variations]], have an attack that keys off the number of kills the target has scored during the game. Since they are usually encountered late in the game, they typically hit for ridiculous amounts of damage, except against the team's designated healers, who may have gone through the game with a less impressive body count.
65	* In ''VideoGame/{{MARDEK}}'', Light and Dark are just two more elements that characters and enemies can be [[ElementalRockPaperScissors vulnerable or resistant]] (or [[ElementalAbsorption absorbent]]) to, so in general your good-aligned party will do extra damage to Dark monsters. Zach also has an attack called Immoral Injustice, which will do severe damage to Light ''or'' Dark enemies but ScratchDamage to anything else.
66	* In some ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games, there are some late-game attacks such as "Holy Wrath," "Judgement," and "Sea of Chaos" that deal extra damage to allies and enemies (depending on the game, they can either hurt both sides at the same time or only enemies) of Chaotic, Neutral, and Lawful alignment, respectively.
67	* The ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' series has the TropeCodifier of Akuma's LimitBreak, the Shun Goku Satsu (Instant Hell Murder), or Raging Demon, which is a relentless assault that uses the evil [[KillingIntent Satsui No Hadou]] force within the user to draw out the opponent's wickedness [[RapidFireFisticuffs while beating the living crap out of them]]. The only way to survive it in canon is to keep a completely blank mind during it, which has only been done successfully by Gen and Gouken.
68	* The Blade of the Darkmoon covenant in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' is the only PlayerVersusPlayer faction who are allowed to invade and attack other players who are ''far'' [[{{Griefer}} below their own level]]--but only if their marks have "sinned", e.g. by breaking the rules of their own Covenant or, gods forbid, by killing [[BigGood Gwynevere, Princess of Sunlight]] in their own world.
69	* The [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Archon]] from ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' can sing the [[BrownNote Song of the Word]], which does colossal amounts of damage to evildoers only. Some Archons have a [[KnightTemplar broad]] [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity interpretation]] of what constitutes an evildoer, and sing variations of the Song that damage neutrals or eventually even anyone who ''isn't an angel''.
70	* ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'': One of Orie's win quotes claims that her rapier has this effect. If you are pure of heart, it won't even hurt you.
71	* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': Implied to be the primary attack method of [[spoiler:Sans. He only has 1 ATK, but all of his attacks afflict you with KR, short for Karma. It's not confirmed outright if it's more effective based on the morality of the opponent, but it's heavily implied from the name and how throughout the fight you hear variations of "You feel your sins crawling on your back."]]
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74	[[folder:Web Animation]]
75	* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': In ''Akuma VS Shao Kahn'', the hosts do confirm that Akuma's raging demon will be able to kill Shao Kahn if Akuma manages to land it on Shao Kahn due to Shao Kahn's sheer number of atrocities he had committed. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Akuma, Shao Kahn's faster reaction speed and overwhelming sheer power means that Shao Kahn is more likely the one to land the fatal blow first]].
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78	[[folder:Webcomics]]
79	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': The ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''-based RPGMechanicsVerse has several spells that target (or exclude) [[CharacterAlignment Good, Evil, Lawful, or Chaotic]] characters. It's first [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0011.html demonstrated]] when the TokenEvilTeammate Belkar shrugs off an [[UnholyNuke Unholy Blight]], and later {{exploited\|Trope}} when the team [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0860.html deafens]] him with the AreaOfEffect of a Holy Word to protect him from a villain's CompellingVoice.
80	* ''[[Creator/RalphHayesJr Witch Hunter]]'': The titular protagonist can invest silver with "essence of guilty conscience", causing it to burn people in proportion to their sinfulness. For normal people like the protagonist or the police officer he's talking to the invested silver just itches a bit, but those who have truly given themselves over to their vices will be burned as if the metal were white-hot.
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83	[[folder:Western Animation]]
84	* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', Jack's divinely-forged sword, and the Scotsman's Celtic blessed sword, are the only weapons that can seriously harm [[MadeOfEvil Aku]]. When Aku gets a hold of Jack's and tries to stab Jack with it, it fails to so much as scratch him.
85	* In ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFourTheAnimatedSeries'', Ghost Rider has a cameo where he gets to use his Penance Stare on ''[[PlanetEater Galactus]]''.
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Context Main / MoralityGuidedAttack