Line #54 SealedEvilInACan/WesternAnimation


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17	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/ShaolinWuzang https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heihu_sealed.png]]]]
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19	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Marceline's father, Hunson Abadeer, is sealed in the Nightosphere. Finn [[NiceJobBreakingItHero frees him, not knowing how evil he was]]. In the end, Finn manages to seal him back into the Nightosphere. Even worse is [[OmnicidalManiac the Lich]], who was imprisoned inside amber within a great tree by the legendary hero Billy. He finally broke free during the season 2 finale.
20	* ''WesternAnimation/AlfredJKwak'': In one episode, Alfred encounters the Evil Spirit of Darkness, an ancient demon who caused so much torment and destruction that God locked him inside a magic bottle.
21	* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'': The Dark Dragon ends up sealed away in another dimension.
22	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': The Warner Brothers (and their sister Dot) were Sealed Zany in a Water Tower. In this case, it was more Sealed ''Chaos'' in a Can. The Warners keep breaking loose throughout the series and annoying people no matter how many times Ralph throws them back in the tower.
23	* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' brought us [[PsychoPrototype Protoform X a.k.a. Rampage]]. He was the result of Maximal experiments to produce an immortal super-soldier by copying Starscream's mutant spark. They succeeded in producing [[GoneHorriblyRight an unkillable serial killer that slaughtered human and Cybertronian alike]]. After eventually capturing him, the Maximal Elders sealed in up in a stasis pod, then turned him over to Optimus Primal's crew to dump on some desolate asteroid since they couldn't figure out how to destroy him. Several adventures later and the monster was unleashed again and recruited by the Predacons.
24	* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'':
25	** Vilgax tends to be put in a can of whatever sort between appearances, be it a healing chamber, a block of ice, or a pocket dimension. He's slightly unusual in that we see him ''out'' of the can first.
26	** VillainOfTheWeek Megawhatt was an impish electricity alien trapped in a giant rubber band ball until [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Ben]] accidentally released it and was forced to recapture it.
27	** Ghostfreak[=/=]Zs'Skayr is an odd example of evil that got sealed in a can ''accidentally'', his DNA sampled for the show's ClingyMacGuffin so that the wearer can turn into him, and the personalities of his species being encoded in their genes somehow. Eventually, he gets loose and becomes Ben's EnemyWithout.
28	* ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'':
29	** Natron the First, who appears in the aptly named episode "Ancient Evil". After he's defeated and returned to his tomb, Mira melts the door to it. Hopefully this will keep him sealed.
30	** Subverted with NOS-4-A-2, as he can still drain energy whilst in his coffin and his coffin can turn into a spaceship.
31	* ''WesternAnimation/CampLakebottom'': In "Pandora's Jock", the counselors banished the training titan Jacques the Jock to limbo by sealing him in an old television and tossing it into the shed. Naturally, [=McGee=] lets him out.
32	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie'' had the Evil Spirit, whose can was a locked book of magic spells a young boy, Nicholas, opened. The spirit is powerful but, since it's confined to the book, needs Nicholas to cast its spells; he becomes progressively more evil in the process. ThePowerOfFriendship helps him come to his senses and he helps close and relock the book, ending the threat.
33	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': [[spoiler:The Nowhere King]] was sealed in the VoidBetweenTheWorlds in order to prevent him from destroying the two worlds, and in the Season 1 finale [[spoiler:is accidentally freed]].
34	* ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' had a two-part episode called "The Big Blow Up", which was about Rudy Tabootie opening the door to the temple of King Mumbo Jumbo and in doing so accidentally freeing a swarm of creatures known as Inflatermaus, who were imprisoned in there for centuries because their bite infects inhabitants of [=ChalkZone=] with a fatal disease called Balloonemia, which causes victims to inflate until they burst. Upon being freed, the Inflatermaus swarm begin to infect the people of [=ChalkZone=] again, leaving it up to Rudy, Penny, and Snap to find out how to cure Balloonemia and reimprison the swarm.
35	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Chaotic}}'': The only thing the four Tribes of Perim have ever agreed on is that none of them want the Doors of the Deepmine opened, even though they've been shut for so long no one can remember ''why'' they wanted them closed. In season 2 it turns out the Doors are what are keeping the M'arrillians, the lovecraftian fifth Tribe, sealed away. Unforutnately, it turns out ''one'' M'arrillian was hiding out in Perim, frozen in ice, who was able to get the Doors opened, kicking off the M'arrillian Invasion.
36	* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': In the prequel episode, we discover that the dormant Supercomputer was sealing XANA for 10 years. It is Jérémie, by turning it back on, who unleashed the malevolent program (plus his future girlfriend) on the world.
37	* ''WesternAnimation/ConanTheAdventurer'': Evil god Set starts out as this, having been trapped in the void by an alliance of good wizards some time before the series begins. Unfortunately Set is still able to spread his influence into the human world, and his serpent men followers comprise a formidable army to carry out his will. Fortunately Set is hampered by the fact that most of his champions are human and not really interested in releasing him. Similarly any serpentmen who get hit with star metal are subject to the same fate. At least until the series finale, when Set is released. The heroes do manage to banish him again, and presumably this time Set will be a lot more securely sealed.
38	* The ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' episode "Record Deal" had the ghost of a self-centered pianist named Velvet Vic, who was imprisoned in one of his records by Shirley the Medium. He's temporarily freed every time the record plays and attempts to make his freedom permanent by having Muriel take his place.
39	* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'':
40	** Nicolai Technus spent a fair amount of episodes imprisoned in Level Zero of the ''Doomed'' video game, until Danny freed him by deleting the game.
41	** Fright Knight was sealed away inside a pumpkin, and was released first by Danny himself (accidentally), and later by Pariah Dark so that he could act as TheDragon.
42	** Pariah Dark was sealed away to free the Ghost Zone from his tyranny.
43	** Vlad seems particularly fond of releasing these - he released Pariah Dark unintentionally, and then later on intentionally releases Vortex on the world and then quickly loses control of him.
44	** Any ghost trapped in the Fenton Thermos. Temporary, but still sealed away.
45	** Technically not a can, but Pandora's box definitely qualifies.
46	*** ''WesternAnimation/TheUltimateEnemy'': [[spoiler:Dark Danny was sealed away in a Fenton Thermos and left with Clockwork, though for how long is unknown.]]
47	* ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls2019'': "[=#FantasticBeastsAndHowToMindThem=]" has Wonder Woman's pet griffin Steve end up breaking a Grecian urn while running loose in Julia Kapatelis' house. Doing so unleashes a hydra that wreaks havoc in Metropolis, which Wonder Woman and Steve combat before the former later realizes that repairing the urn will re-imprison the creature.
48	* In ''WesternAnimation/DiGataDefenders'' the plot of the first season is for the titular Defenders to reseal an obscenely powerful entity known as the Megalith that the seasons' BigBad used to take over most of the world a generation ago. However, the defenders decide on a change of tactics after finding out that not only has this thing been sealed and escaped numerous times in the past, but that it gets better at unsealing itself each time. The Megalith [[spoiler:happens to be keeping another evil sealed in another dimension]].
49	* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' has Aaravos, an elf mage who was imprisoned long ago in a GildedCage by the Dragon King, his only contact with the outside world being a MagicMirror. After [[BigBad Viren]] figures out how to work the mirror and makes contact with him, he becomes a WillingChanneler for Aaravos' magic, turning it into a LeakingCanOfEvil situation.
50	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'': Norm the Genie is sealed inside a lava lamp that Timmy finds at Mr. Birkenbake's garage sale (more accurately, a yard sale held outside his minivan). He's released multiple times by Crocker, Chester and Timmy, and each time has a different scam towards his revenge on Timmy.
51	* ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'':
52	** In the FiveEpisodePilot, Prime Evil spent a century imprisoned inside a cave thanks to Eddie, Jake, and their fathers the original Ghost Busters. After he tricks Belfry into releasing him, he starts using time travel to try and get even with the heroes as the series' BigBad.
53	** "Father Knows Beast" had Jake, Eddie, and their fathers fight a ghostly troll king named Slort, who was imprisoned in an urn by Jake and Eddie's fathers for 40 years until a boy unwittingly freed him.
54	* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': The [[EldritchAbomination Titans]] who threaten the observable universe are imprisoned in [[AnotherDimension Final Space]]. It turns out there's another can inside the can (the [[Literature/DantesInferno Cocytus]] to Final Space's {{Hell}} if you will): the true form of the Titans' master [[spoiler:and corrupter]] [[SatanicArchetype Invictus]], the true BigBad of the series, is imprisoned in a region deep within Final Space, and is actively seeking to break free so it can consume all life across the multiverse.
55	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': It can be argued the Great Gazoo was this to his people. He invented a death machine and they stuffed him in a satellite and sent him to Earth's stone age. Turns out in this case he's not such a bad guy, but it was a dangerous machine that got him sealed in his respective can.
56	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' episode "Invisibo" had an evil Egyptian prince with the power of invisibility who was buried alive in a sarcophagus sealed with a carving of a scarab, but ended up free to wreak havoc on the modern world when Dexter Douglas' older brother Duncan accidentally broke the scarab carving while trying to punch Dexter.
57	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGodzillaPowerHour,'' the Cyclops was so invulnerable that even the SufficientlyAdvanced aliens who discovered it couldn't destroy it, so they trapped it on an island behind an impenetrable force field. The sucker's so tough, even Godzilla doesn't successfully destroy it at the end, so the crew just ends up trapping it back behind its force field.
58	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee'': While [[FateWorseThanDeath The Flow of Failed Phantoms]] was used to imprison pretty much any ghost who displeased [[BigBad The Chairman]] regardless of what they had done, [[spoiler:after his destruction]] it turns out that it had also been used to imprison some genuinely dangerous ghosts. Such as The Frightmares, evil ghosts who thrive on chaos, and Lord Doom, a ghost who’s so evil and powerful he even scares the other inhabitants of the Ghost World. [[spoiler:The Frightmares are eventually imprisoned once again, this time by [[WhoYaGonnaCall The Chens]] ghost catching device. And as for Lord Doom, he’s cursed by Scratch into being trapped in a doll. Which he [[HeelFaceTurn surprisingly adjusts to rather well.]]]]
59	* In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', the wax statues in "[[Recap/GravityFallsS1E3Headhunters Headhunters]]" were locked away for ten years before Soos stumbled across them and they were able to seek their revenge.
60	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' played with this trope a few times.
61	** "Aren't You Chupacabra to See Me?" had Billy buy an underworld videotape containing a chupacabra that would be freed from the video to feed on blood once the video was played.
62	** "Pandora's Lunch Box" played with the legend of Pandora's box and had Pandora trick Mandy into opening her lunch box to unleash all the chaos and evil sealed within it. In the end, Mandy reseals the malevolent spirits back into the box along with Pandora.
63	** "The Show That Dare Not Speak Its Name" had Billy scramble an enchanted puzzle cube, setting free a CaptainErsatz of [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Pinhead]] called Pinface.
64	** ''Wrath of the Spider Queen'' has Arachnotaur, the Spider God of Anger, who was imprisoned in a carton of chocolate milk before Billy freed him by opening the carton.
65	* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'': This happens to the Queen of Fables after nearly destroying Gotham pre-series. As punishment, she is [[FateWorseThanDeath sealed in a U.S. tax code book and forced to act as a tax consultant.]] Eventually this punishment is deemed by a court to be cruel and unusual and is freed, only to be sent to Arkham [[spoiler: until Harley breaks her out]].
66	* ''WesternAnimation/HotWheelsBattleForce5'': The Red Sentients were sealed away in five separate Battle Zones by [[TheStarscream Zemerick]] when he betrayed them. At the end of season 2, [[BigBad Krytus]] is freed by a traitor named Praxion (whom he promptly [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves drops off a cliff]]) and proceeds to release the rest of his team from their own prisons. The rest of the Red Sentients were all frozen by Sage before they could join Krytus in his multiversal conquest. [[spoiler:These are ultimately a subversion, as it turns out they're just as tired of the war as the Blue Sentients are when they're released and gladly make peace instead. They then ''reseal'' Krytus in a block of ice on a distant world as punishment.]]
67	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Inhumanoids}}'': All of the Inhumanoids were locked away for thousands of years before the beginning of the series. Tendril was chained up 2 miles underground, D'Compose was trapped in amber, Metlar held by a being with magnetic powers, and Sslither covered with concrete. And Blackthorne Shore freed all of them, the former three in the pilot alone.
68	* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': Most seasons involve the heroes attempting to put escaped ancient villains back in their cans. In the series, this is {{justified\| trope}} by the fact that destroying evil will only allow [[EvilPowerVacuum a different (and probably stronger) evil to take its place]]. [[BetterTheDevilYouKnow Better then to keep around the evil threat you already know how to deal with]], than risk leaving the way open for something far worse to come up that you may not know how to deal with in time.
69	** The most notable example is [[BigBad Shendu]], a [[DragonsAreDemonic demonic dragon]] who had to be [[TakenForGranite turned into a wall-mounted statue]] multiple times. He also sometimes got banished back to the [[PrisonDimension Netherworld]] along with [[SealedCastInAMultipack his seven siblings]], who are also [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils powerful demons]]. [[spoiler:The GrandFinale had Shendu and [[OverlordJr his son Drago]] both being sent away to the Netherworld [[SealedEvilInADuel while they were fighting each other]].]]
70	** There's also the {{Oni}} and [[LivingShadow Shadowkhan]], who are all part of a SealedArmyInACan. Their leader [[ArcVillain Tarakudo]], an Oni Lord, was somehow reduced to a [[FlyingFace disembodied head]] and banished to another dimension, while his nine Oni Generals and their respective Shadowkhan armies were trapped in [[EvilMask Oni]] [[MaskOfPower Masks]] that, should they all be reunited in one place, will be set free so they can start taking over the world. [[spoiler:In the end, every single Oni and Shadowkhan are trapped inside a single mask that was placed on Tarakudo's face.]]
71	** Some minor villains also got the eternal imprisonment treatment:
72	*** [[EvilSorcerer Daolon Wong]]'s demonic henchmen, the [[TerribleTrio Dark Chi Warriors]], end up getting trapped inside a magic box (the Urn of Wei Ching) by Uncle.
73	*** Also [[OurTrollsAreDifferent Spring-Heeled Jack]], who can be [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] by pouring salt on him, and released if water is poured on him.
74	*** The [[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Monkey King]], an evil trickster who was turned into a puppet, but will be changed back into flesh-and-blood if another person [[SchmuckBait pulls the puppet's leg]] (which turns them into a puppet in the Monkey King's place).
75	*** And there's also a group of [[MirrorMonster evil spirits trapped]] [[MagicMirror inside a mirror]], [[FalseInnocenceTrick who desperately beg for anyone nearby to free them]].
76	* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'':
77	** "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E1To3SecretOrigins Secret Origins]]" has the Imperium, which invaded Mars centuries ago. They were defeated and locked inside a vault by J'onn J'onzz, [[LastOfHisKind last of the Martians]]. In modern times, human astronauts accidentally released the Imperium, [[AlienInvasion who set their sights on Earth]].
78	** In "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E10And11ParadiseLost Paradise Lost]]", Hades, Greek God of the Underworld. Released by Felix Faust in the hopes that Hades will grant him "ultimate knowledge" in return. Hades naturally [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness betrays Faust]] by [[spoiler:causing him to instantly age to an old man since "Ultimately, pain and suffering are all humans will ever know"]].
79	** "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E13And14Eclipsed Eclipsed]]" has the "Enemies of Man", a race of serpent-men who had fought early man at the beginning of time voluntarily sealed themselves in a crystal when they realized they were losing the war. The crystal would have allowed the serpents to possess anyone who held it, allowing the Enemies to exact revenge on an unsuspecting mankind at a later date. Fortunately, early humans witnessed the ceremony, and built a forbidden temple around the crystal, posting a guard to keep it from coming in contact with anyone. Naturally this didn't work.
80	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' had some sort of a sealed evil monkey man who petrified people in one episode. His name fit him perfectly, The Yono, and anyone who beats him gets to watch the one who released him petrified and re-sealed along with Yono.
81	* ''WesternAnimation/KongTheAnimatedSeries'': Chiros, the secondary antagonist. Imprisoned in a stone tablet that is implied, by Harpy cautioning the gargoyles moving it, would turn out bad for Chiros if it was broken (whether it will actually kill him or simply prevent him from being released ever again is unknown). It is also unknown why it was never destroyed the first time he was sealed inside it. At the end, [[spoiler: Chiros is released, but Lua opens up a portal and Kong spins him by the tail and throws him back in, sealing him inside the tablet again. Kong immediately smashes the tablet.]]
82	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': Vaatu, the BigBad of Book 2 is an evil spirit who is the embodiment of chaos, is sealed in a dead tree in a desert by the first Avatar, in the Spirit World; Vaatu's design is similar to [[WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack Aku's]], as is his prison (evil spirit sealed in a dead tree in a swamp), which is itself a reference to [[WesternAnimation/FerngullyTheLastRainforest Hexxus]] (toxic spirit sealed in a dead tree in a dead forest).
83	* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes2006'': In "Phantoms", due to TimeTravel, Superman accidentally unseals an evil that, it's implied, his future self [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble sealed/will seal]] a thousand years beforehand.
84	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': The singing, dancing frog who ruined a man's life in "WesternAnimation/OneFroggyEvening" was placed into a cement slab and freed several hundred years in the future. The frog was also found by the man in question in that cement slab, so he may have been taken out of and put back into the slab many, many times by all the men whose lives he had ruined. This is based on the story of a real horned lizard that was sealed in the cornerstone of a courthouse (long before they were on any endangered species list). 31 years later the stone was opened and the horned lizard was alive and lived on for almost a year afterward.
85	* ''[[WesternAnimation/MightyMouse Super Mouse]] in Pandora's Box'' was the rather awkward title of a Creator/{{Terrytoons}} cartoon re-enacting the Pandora tale with the mice/cats paradigm.
86	* ''WesternAnimation/MonsterAllergy'' has this when it comes to trapping monsters.
87	* In ''WesternAnimation/MuchaLucha: The Return of El Malefico'', El Malefico was imprisoned in the core of the Earth for 100,000 years. He used The Flea to trick Rikochet into freeing him by reading a passage from the Code of Masked Wrestling backwards. At the end, El Malefico is defeated and he is sealed back up again.
88	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': This is a fairly common way for villains to be neutralized, and a number of episodes feature a villain who broke out of one such can and needs to either be turned to the side of good or stuffed back in.
89	** Nightmare Moon was sealed in the moon as "the Mare in the Moon", and remained there for a thousand years until her escape in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon the show's pilot]].
90	** Tartarus, a prison cavern guarded by the [[MultipleHeadCase three-headed dog Cerberus]], serves as a dedicated can for putting evil into. Its inmates have included the major villain Lord Tirek, who breaks free at an unspecified point and is sent back at the end of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 Twilight's Kingdom]]", a large variety of lesser but still dangerous monsters and [[spoiler:Cozy Glow, who is sentenced to Tartarus after her defeat in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E26SchoolRazePart2 School Raze]]"]].
91	** King Sombra was turned into a LivingShadow and imprisoned in the northern ice by Celestia and Luna. They were at least more thorough than with Discord. [[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic In the comics]], King Sombra's backstory is revealed to be that he was created by the Umbrum, a race of shadow monsters that were sealed away underneath the Crystal Empire, to help them escape, but he was defeated and sealed away himself before he could release them.
92	** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E23InspirationManifestation Inspiration Manifestation]]", the tome was hidden away and locked behind a caged door for a reason. But Spike fails to notice any of this.
93	** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E25ShadowPlayPart1 Shadow Play]]", the reason why [[TheArchmage Starswirl the Bearded]] and the other {{Precursor Hero}}es aren't around anymore is because [[spoiler:they trapped themselves in Limbo as part of a ritual to imprison the [[LivingShadow Pony of Shadows]] there as well; when Twilight brings them back into the regular world, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero she accidentally punctures the can and allows the Pony of Shadows to return]]]]. It's also strongly implied that the reason Princess Celestia went for sealing enemies so often is because she was taught by Starswirl, who [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer always did this]] due to his belief that [[BlackAndWhiteMorality redemption was impossible]].
94	** In the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E25TheEndingOfTheEndPart2 finale]], [[spoiler: the ultimate fate of Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Queen Chrysalis, is to be [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]], similar to Discord before.]]
95	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': The show lives and breathes this trope:
96	** The Serpentine were split into their five respective tribes and locked underground in stone tombs following their defeat in the First Serpentine War. Lloyd would later release the first three tribes in an attempt to prove his evilness decades later. Pythor then finishes the job and unites the five tribes in order to conquer and destroy Ninjago.
97	** A large portion of the Stone Army, originally created by the Overlord, were imprisoned underground and left dormant for thousands of years. They were uncovered during the Serpentine's burrowing attempt to bury Ninjago City, and were reanimated when the Great Devourer's venom dripped onto their bodies.
98	** The Overlord becomes this in season 3 when his essence is sealed in a hard drive.
99	** The Preeminent is an EldritchAbomination that serves as the ruler and embodiment of the Cursed Realm. Trapped in an alternate dimension, she sends her ghost warriors, namely Morro, to find the Realm Crystal to free her in her quest to curse all Sixteen Realms (including Ninjago).
100	** Nadakhan was sealed in Teapon of Tyrahn by Captain Soto, and was freed by Clouse.
101	** Aspheera was imprisoned in a pyramid following a failed coup. A thousand years later, the Ninja released her.
102	* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Later episodes of the second season reveal [[Characters/TheOwlHouseTheCollector the Collector]] is imprisoned [[spoiler:in a sphere inside the In-Between Realm, and he's actively seeking to escape with Belos' aid. Although this is later subverted as the Collector is ObliviouslyEvil at worst and [[MisplacedRetribution wasn't even responsible for what he was locked away for]].]]
103	* ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'': The Sorcerer, who is a sealed evil underneath ''a high school'' and seeks to free himself by causing chaos with [[VillainPossessedBystander the people he mutates.]]
104	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' featured several episodes where the Ghostbusters had to deal with a supernatural being who was recently freed from their prison.
105	** "The Boogieman Cometh" had the Ghostbusters seal the Boogieman within his own realm using an experimental Ghost Bomb. The Boogieman eventually managed to break free in "The Boogieman is Back" by feeding on Egon's fear when he was shaken from nearly falling to his death while on duty.
106	** "When Halloween Was Forever" had Samhain, a pumpkin-headed ghost personifying Halloween who was freed from his enchanted prison by a pair of goblins. The same goblins freed him from the Containment Unit in "Halloween II 1/2".
107	** In "Janine's Genie", Janine obtains a magic lamp that ends up freeing ghosts from another dimension. One of the ghosts tricks Janine by pretending to be a genie so he can keep her busy while he worked to free the other imprisoned ghosts.
108	** "Knock, Knock" had some construction workers fail to heed an ancient door warning them "Do not open until Doomsday", resulting in New York being flooded with legions of demons and spirits.
109	** The titular creature in "The Thing in Mrs. Faversham's Attic" was summoned by Mrs. Faversham's father decades ago and was bound to the attic until Mrs. Faversham hired the Ghostbusters to take him out after being bothered by the disturbing noises coming from there.
110	** The Ghostbusters fight the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in "Apocalypse - - What, Now?", who were sealed within a book called the Codex of Saint Theopilus until Peter accidentally bought the book at an auction and Janine opened the book after bringing it with her on her lunch break by mistake.
111	** Sir Breuse sans Pitie from "Hard Knight's Day", who was imprisoned in a tapestry by Merlin.
112	** In "Cold Cash and Hot Water", Peter Venkman's father and Dr. Bassingame accidentally unleash Hob Anagarak, an ancient demon who was imprisoned in magic black ice prior to the Ice Age.
113	** "Moaning Stones" had the Ghostbusters fight a demon known as The Undying One, who was sealed away until the three Moaning Stones of Tangalla used to imprison him were united and struck.
114	** "It's a Jungle Out There" featured a demon with power over animals named Rall, who was imprisoned in a statue of himself.
115	** Ray Stantz inherits a joke shop from his uncle Gaylord in "The Joke's On Ray". One of the items at the joke shop happens to be a chest containing a pair of imps who love causing mischief.
116	** "If I Were a Witch Man" has the Ghostbusters summoned by the small town Lewiston to defeat Kestrel, a ghostly witch who was sealed inside a crystal ball 300 years ago by an ancestor of Egon's.
117	** The antagonist of "Busters in Toyland" was Lothgar, a greedy demon who was sealed away in an enchanted clock and tries to trick Louis Tully's spoiled nephew Lawrence into taking his place.
118	** The SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'' also had several episodes involving the team encountering ghosts that spent years in imprisonment before being freed.
119	*** The two-part premiere "Darkness at Noon" had the new team assembled to fight Achira, an ancient ghost who was kept in an enchanted prison underground. After she is trapped and put in the Containment unit at the end of the episode, it is shown that there were quite a few other supernatural entities that were kept in there.
120	*** "The Infernal Machine" has the team fight Luko, a ghost possessing technology who was trapped inside an inventor's creation for centuries until he broke free by possessing a child's toy robot.
121	*** Cohila from "The Crawler", a bug demon who was sealed in a sarcophagus and was kept dormant by having a magic jewel in his mouth until a pair of greedy thieves stole the jewel.
122	*** "The Luck of the Irish" featured a leprechaun being freed from a circle of enchanted stones and seeking revenge on the descendants of the people who originally imprisoned him.
123	*** "Eyes of the Dragon" had a bone-stealing demon named Gu Mo, who was sealed within a golden dragon statue.
124	* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'':
125	** In the backstory, the [[BigBad main antagonist]] [[EldritchAbomination Aku]] was sealed away within a tall black tree by Jack's father (the Emperor of Japan) after Aku's initial rampage through his kingdom. In the first episode, Aku is released once again when the tree gets zapped by energy from a solar eclipse, allowing him to destroy human civilization and TakeOverTheWorld.
126	** The [[TerribleTrio three Minions of Set]], a team of demonic warriors created by [[Myth/EgyptianMythology the Egyptian god]] [[GodOfEvil Set]]. These three monsters were NighInvulnerable and thus invincible against any mortal warrior, so the Pharaoh summoned [[PowerOfTheSun the sun god Ra]] to imprison the Minions in a tomb. Thousands of years later, Aku frees them, and then sends them to kill Jack. Though [[CurbStompBattle they do a number on Jack]], so much so that he is forced to flee whenever they find him, in the end Jack summons Ra for a second time; and Ra, apparently savvy that this trope never works, decides to just destroy the Minions with ease. [[spoiler:After the series ends and the future is reset, it’s assumed the Minions are back in the tomb and will remain there assuming no one is foolish enough to release them.]]
127	* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo''
128	** The episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'' crossing over with ''WesternAnimation/{{Jeannie}}'' featured a djinn who was imprisoned in a bottle for 1,000 years as the antagonist.
129	** In ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooShow'' episode "A Frightened Hound Meets Demons Underground", legend had that flying demons were sealed underground. The gang doesn't find any evidence to support there ever be real demons though.
130	** The ''Scrappy-Doo and Yabba-Doo'' segment from ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'' featured this trope in the episode "Vild Vest Vampire", where the titular vampire Count Zarko is released from his coffin after Scrappy and Yabba accidentally dug it up and is eventually tricked into going back into his coffin before our heroes proceed to mail the coffin to Transylvania. After first being freed, Zarko mentions his intent to terrorize Tumbleweed once more, implying that he was buried underground to put an end to his previous rampage.
131	** ''WesternAnimation/The13GhostsOfScoobyDoo'' revolved around Shaggy and Scooby having to recapture thirteen ghosts released from the Chest of Demons.
132	** The Nibiru entity from ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' is sealed inside a sarcophagus before breaking free to wreak its vengeance.
133	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretSaturdays'': Season 2 reveals that Kur's essence was locked away inside the Kur Stone, then accidentally released during the stone's excavation, [[spoiler:entering Doc and Drew's then-unborn baby and becoming reincarnated in Zak]].
134	* ''WesternAnimation/ShaolinWuzang'': In the backstory, the demon Heihu was sealed away into a magical prison that looks like a giant bell. His breaking out of the prison is what kicks off the plot.
135	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SheZow'', [=BrouHaHa=] was imprisoned in a vacuumn cleaner, that also happened to be in a box, by Anges Monroe, the previous [=SheZow=]. He was imprisoned there for 61 years, until some unwitting customer brought it off Guy Hamdon, the current [=SheZow=], in a garage sale.
136	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'': Done a few times.
137	** The mischievous spirit in "The Box Of Dirty Tricks", which is sealed inside a box in an attempt to contain it from doing anyone any harm. Not that it stops the spirit entirely from doing its dirty tricks upon whoever possesses it.
138	** Mystico the goblin from "Nobody Smurf", who was sealed inside a fountain and was accidentally released by Nobody and Clumsy Smurf when they knocked over a goblet near the fountain that they were not supposed to touch.
139	** The druids in a tree in the episode "The Smurfs' Time Capsule". Only their leader managed to escape so that he could get the Moonrock Amulet and free his brothers when the light of the full moon hits the amulet. The Smurfs stopped his attempt and sealed the druid leader back inside the tree.
140	** The evil wizard trapped in the Swapping Well. (Papa Smurf was the one who had trapped him there, it turned out.)
141	** The MadArtist Maestro, who was trapped in a painting for making art that could do that to living creatures, inadvertently released by Painter Smurf (who Maestro affectionately called his "apprentice" later; Painter later had to create the most convincing work of his life -- as he said -- in order to put him back.)
142	** The JackassGenie Genie Meanie from "The Magical Meanie" was forced to stay inside his bottle until he stopped being mean.
143	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' cartoons:
144	** ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'': In "[[Recap/SonicTheHedgehogSatAMS1E12SuperSonic Super Sonic]]", Robotnik steals a computer of magic spells from the [[HeelFaceTurn formerly evil]] wizard Lazar, and Sonic attempts to get it back. When asked why he can't just destroy the computer, Lazar says that would release all the evil it contains.
145	** In the ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' episode, "[[Recap/SonicBoomS1E31ClosedDoorPolicy Closed Door Policy]]", Amy sells all of Sticks' possessions at a yard sale. This includes a surfboard blocking the entrance to the underground lair of the Froglodytes, a race of frog-like warriors. When the entrance is unblocked, the Froglodytes escape, capture Sticks, and attempt to [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice her to their idol god]]. Thus, it's up to Sonic and his friends to travel to the Froglodytes' underground lair to save Sticks.
146	* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkPostCovid'', where in the BadFuture the group is trying to enlist the aid of a dangerous mental patient trapped in the local BedlamHouse who's revealed to be [[spoiler: Butters]]. Going by the name of Victor [[spoiler: [[RunningGag Chaos]]]], he became a charismatic, fast-talking [[HonestJohnsDealership used car salesman-type]]. Except instead of dealing in vehicles, he's made billions scamming people into investing everything they have into cryptocurrency- specifically [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fungible_token NFTs]]. [[spoiler: When Stan and Kyle visit him, the head doctor is horrified to discover they left him a piece of paper, which he turns into a makeshift TinCanTelephone to manipulate the guard into [[ThePatientHasLeftTheBuilding letting him go]] [[TheCorrupter with his life savings]]. He then proceeds to wreak havoc across town while the others try to find him again.]]
147	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III", the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy villain Man-Ray is shown to be imprisoned in frozen tartar sauce. [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick, who were watching over Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's headquarters in the superheroes' absence, end up accidentally thawing Man-Ray out. The villain escapes to resume wreaking havoc after tricking [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick into removing the tickle belt used to restrain him and exposing them to the Orb of Confusion, but he ends up doing a HeelFaceTurn after finding that the tickle belt's made him unable to commit crimes without bursting into laughter.
148	* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': This happens to anyone who gets "crystallized" by Rhombulus of the Magic High Commission, though he's [[KnightTemplar overzealous enough to crystallize anyone he THINKS might be evil]]. This includes [[spoiler: Eclipsa the Queen of Darkness and her monster lover Globgor, who both get freed in seasons 3 and 4 respectively and both turn out to be NotEvilJustMisunderstood.]]
149	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
150	** The corrupted gems when they get bubbled. Centipeetle gets freed twice both by Steven but, before she gets retrapped the first time, she's a Sealed Good in a Can at this point and is permanently freed the second time.
151	** Lapis Lazuli gets one when she gets trapped inside a mirror for a thousand years but it was more of a Sealed Good in a Can because they didn't know she was good, likely Steven let's her out.
152	** Lapis Lazuli traps Jasper in a fusion in a Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can in the bottom of the ocean until the crystal gems freed her because she took over the fusion and become much more powerful resulting in a Never Punish Your Enemy in a Way That Will Grant Him More Power.
153	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'':
154	** ''The All-New Super Friends Hour'' segment "The Ghost" features Gentleman Ghost as the villain, albeit [[ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames only addressed as Gentleman Jim Craddock]]. The episode establishes that he was sealed in a crypt by Superman and Wonder Woman in a previous battle, but he is able to get free to have his revenge thanks to a mortal henchman reading an incantation.
155	** The ''New Super Friends'' episode "Terror from the Phantom Zone" has the Phantom Zone prisoners Logar, Hul and Rom-Lok attempt to get even with Superman by exposing him to red kryptonite and making him undergo RapidAging, but in the end are sent back to the Phantom Zone after Superman recovers by exposing himself to blue kryptonite and gives the trio a taste of their own medicine by exposing them to red kryptonite (causing Logar to shrink, Hul to become metallic and Rom-Lok to become hairy). They would escape the Phantom Zone once more to again try to get revenge at Superman in the lost season episode "Return of the Phantoms", but [[YouDontLookLikeYou looked nothing like how they did in their previous appearance]].
156	** The 1980 series episode "Yuna the Terrible" had the titular villain being a barbarian woman who was imprisoned in a cave before archaeologists unearthed her prison.
157	** The lost season segment "Prisoners of Sleep" has Superman and Batman break open a metallic sphere that turns out to be the prison of an ancient demon called Sleep, who proceeds to put the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader into a deep slumber where he torments them in their dreams. It takes the intervention of Wonder Woman to wake the other two heroes and make it possible to seal Sleep back into his prison.
158	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'': Baron Mordo is sealed within a ''soda'' can... that Thor opens when raiding ComicBook/DoctorStrange's refrigerator for a late-night snack.
159	* The Dark One from ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo'', who is so large he requires a planet for a functioning seal. Please see the first "Exaggerated" example on the trope's Playing With article for further details.
160	* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'': In the first episode, the Pastmaster is Sealed Evil in a Treasure Chest. We don't learn he exists until ''after'' he gets unsealed. There's also the Mad Kat the Insane Jester, who was sealed in a jack-in-the-box.
161	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'': This series' version of the Shredder is an evil Utrom named Ch'rell, who in escaping his prison transport crash-landed and became marooned on Earth. (Lucky us). In "Exodus Part 1", Shredder builds a spaceship with the tech left behind by the Triceraton invasion, and Splinter realizes that Ch'rell was simply unable to leave the planet, but now he can go and rampage across the universe once again. At the end of "Exodus Part 2", the other Utroms send Ch'rell to a frozen asteroid as punishment for his crimes, [[PutOnABus where he remains for the rest of the series.]] [[spoiler: In ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'', the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 1987 Shredder and Krang]] find Ch'rell and bring him back, allowing him and Karai to take control of the Technodrome until a universe-destroying laser obliterates the '03 Shredder for good...although Karai is certain he may return.]]
162	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'':
163	** The dragon Malchior, who was sealed in one of Raven's spellbooks.
164	** Trigon in Season 4, where his daughter Raven becomes his portal into the world, allowing him to turn every creature in the biosphere [[TakenForGranite into stone]] and cover the planet in lava.
165	* On ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee,'' June's distant [[FallenHero ancestor]] [[EvilCounterpart Kai Yee]] got turned into a jade statue as punishment for trying to [[WellIntentionedExtremist take over the world of magic]]. Centuries later, a monster corporation frees him for their own evil purposes. It does not go well for them. [[spoiler: Happens a second time when June defeats him.]]
166	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode, "The Looney Beginning", when Buster and Babs need to find villains for their series, they find a box known as the "Villains Box", that has signs with warnings such as '''DANGER!''' '''STAY OUT!''' and '''GO AWAY!''' written on it. Upon opening the box, it releases many of the series' villains, many of which are minor and one-shot characters, such as the Candy Bar Monster from the "Best O' Plucky Duck Day" episode segment, "Sticky Feathers Duck", The Devil from the ending to "Sawdust and Toonsil", The Metropolis Marvels from "The Acme Bowl", and Dr. Gene Splicer from "Hare Raising Night". Eventually, it gets down to Dizzy Devil, Elmyra Duff, and of course, Montana Max.
167	* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': In ''Total Drama All-Stars'', Mike's evil personality Mal was incarcerated in the same juvie Duncan was in sometime prior to the series. After he was pardoned from juvie Mike was able to take control and seal him in his mind, until years later Scott accidentally hit him as Manitoba Smith in the head with a shovel, partially freeing him.
168	* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' had a lot of these.
169	** For 4 million years, the ''Ark'' held the Decepticons and Autobots in stasis, under a volcano... until volcanic activity shook things up and woke up the evil Decepticons.
170	** In ''Cosmic Rust'', there's a [[GhostPlanet dead planet]] with radio beacons warning travelers to stay away or die horribly. The Decepticons plunder it, and in the process, catch the metal-eating plague called Cosmic Rust.
171	*** [[TheStarscream Starscream]] shows signs of TabletopRPG GenreSavvy in this episode: when confronted with [[AncientTomb a sealed crypt]] with a curse warning on it, he proclaims that "a curse on the door means treasure behind the door" and breaks in. Unfortunately, he's in a Transformers cartoon, not a [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D game]], making it a near-fatal case of WrongGenreSavvy.
172	** In ''Return of Optimus Prime'', the HatePlague spores were sealed ''inside a star'' after their last outbreak. Unfortunately, the star went nova.
173	** Starscream himself could be considered Sealed Evil in a Can in the episode ''Starscream's Ghost''; his ghost first appears after Octane tumbles into the Decepticon crypt and knocks over the ruins of Starscream's grave marker.
174	** Deconstructed in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. [[spoiler: After Unicron's defeat by Primus, his body was cast away into the depths of space. His gravitational pull attracted matter over billions of years which coalesced into the Earth itself. Unicron's physical form is the Earth's core, but he can control the mineral deposits on the surface and create golems of himself, among other things.]] Played straight [[spoiler:when Optimus traps Unicron's Anti-Spark (his soul basically) inside an indestructible reliquary in the series GrandFinale.]]
175	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'': A major part of the series' MythArc is that [[BigBad Gunmar]] and his Gumm-Gumm army have been trapped in the dimension known as the Darklands for centuries, with his remaining minions on Earth trying to open a portal to free him. [[spoiler: He successfully escapes midway through Season 2.]] Another example is revealed in Season 3, [[spoiler: when we learn that [[GreaterScopeVillain Gunmar's master Morgana]] has been imprisoned inside the Hearthstone that Trollmarket is built around for just as long. She's freed near the end of the season, but in the GrandFinale is imprisoned again by being thrown into the Shadow Realm and having the only apparent means of opening portals there destroyed.]]
176	* Simon and Snarf in ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollz}}''; while the Magic of the Five was sufficient to release Snarf, Simon had to trick the girls into helping him, as he could only be freed by someone pure of heart helping him of their own free will.
177	* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' - Dr. Orpheus, threatened in a diner by two "foulmouthed rednecks", magically traps them in a 'homeboy' figurine he'd earlier bought from a vending machine.
178	* Near the end of the second season of ''Vikingskool'' it turns out this is what the vault under the school is for: [[spoiler: Loki's body is entombed there.]]
179	* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}'' episode "Dawn of the Sun Imps" had the titular Sun Imps, who were six yellow beings who loved to cause havoc before they were sealed in a crypt that was subsequently buried. Cindarr is tricked into using his power of Destruction to bust the crypt open and set the Sun Imps free, resulting in the Sun Imps causing trouble for Spectral Knight and Darkling Lord alike before the two factions team up to reimprison the six nuisances.
180	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'':
181	** The Shushus, basically the setting's equivalent to demons, are this. Those of them that aren't locked in their native dimension Shukrute alongside their master are bound inside inanimate objects on the World of Twelve, watched over by Knights of the Order of the Guardians of the Shushus.
182	** [[spoiler:Qilby]] was imprisoned in a BlankWhiteVoid by his brothers thousands of years ago, as punishment for his crimes against the Eliatropes and to permanently contain him. He's accidentally freed in Season 2 and sets about resuming his original plans at the World of Twelve's expense, only to be defeated by Yugo, after which the latter sends him back into the White Dimension. Notably, [[DirtyBusiness none of them really take any pleasure in doing this]], but it really is the [[IDidWhatIHadToDo only way]] they have of containing him. [[spoiler:Not only does Qilby possess the same ResurrectiveImmortality as the other Original Eliatropes and Dragons, his comes with with the benefit/curse of PastLifeMemories while the others get a memory wipe, meaning even if they killed him he'd just resurrect from his Dofus with no chance to RaiseHimRightThisTime, and he has [[RedemptionRejection no intention of reforming or even apologizing for his actions]].]]
183	* ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'': Season 1 ends with [[spoiler: Zola (in Infinity Ultron's body) and Prince Killmonger]] being trapped in a PocketDimension within a crystal ball, which Strange Supreme takes back with him to his own PocketDimension to keep watch over.
184	* Valtor from ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' may count as sealed evil in a block of ice, until the Trix released him in the beginning of season three.
185	* The position of [[EvilOverlord Phobos]] and several of his most powerful minions for most of the second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' [[spoiler: until he gets released by the heroines]]. [[BigBad Nerissa]] was also once a Sealed Evil In A Can, but she escaped several decades before the series begins. She ends up being [[spoiler: Sealed Evil in a ''Jewel'']] at the end of Season 2.
186	* Wuya from ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' was trapped in a puzzle box for 1,500 years until Jack Spicer freed her unwittingly.
187	** Likewise, Hannibal Roy Bean was trapped in the Yin-Yang world for nearly as long until Omi freed him unwittingly.
188	** And then there's Sibini, who was trapped in the Mosaic Scale until "The Evil Within".

Context SealedEvilInACan / WesternAnimation