History Main / DetectEvil

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Has its origins in DungeonCrawler games,[[note]]The TropeNamer is ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', perhaps the most influential dungeon crawler of all time.[[/note]] as good and evil tend to be important, warring concepts in these types of worlds; it'll often be a key skill for the goody-two-shoes [[ThePaladin paladin]] on a quest to SmiteEvil (which is not to be confused with "[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant bump]] [[SexualEuphemism uglies]]"). In [[TabletopRPG tabletop roleplaying games]] specifically, this type of ability is useful not only for players, but for a GameMaster as well; when players can easily pick out the bad guys wearing armor from a [[PlanetOfHats crowd of other guys wearing armor]], gameplay can move along quickly, and the more AxCrazy players at the table can be prevented from solving the problem with a process-of-elimination massacre.

Subtrope of AuraVision. See also TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne.

* Manga/AstroBoy has this power, though it's not often referenced. In some versions, this is toned down to sensors akin to a [[LivingLieDetector wireless polygraph]].
* The mascot characters in ''Anime/PrettyCure'' have the ability to sense evil to varying extents. Usually this only extends to the MonsterOfTheWeek and sometimes the QuirkyMinibossSquad, but there's at least one instance of them detecting the arrival of a pair of creepy self-proclaimed "chick magnets."
* Sousuke from ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' has been shown to have a freaky, almost sixth sense ability to sense KillingIntent (thereby allowing him to know if enemies who want to kill him are nearby).
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** Karin's ability to sense chakra gives her an ability to indirectly detect that person's character. [[spoiler:After Sasuke killed Itachi]], she noticed how his chakra was significantly colder and darker, signifying his descent into evil.
** [[spoiler:Naruto himself learned how to detect such evil emotions directly as a result of his training to use the chakra of the 9-Tailed Fox without taking in such emotions from it. The 9-Tailed Fox himself had this ability, which was how he was able to start taking control of Naruto's body.]]
* ''Manga/MajinTanteiNougamiNeuro'': Neuro feeds off of "mysteries" and can sniff out the presence of deceit and cover-ups. Since he seems exclusively interested in ''murder'' mysteries, his sense of smell effectively functions this way.
%%* [[Franchise/SailorMoon Rei Hino, AKA Sailor Mars, can do this]].

* The [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Xingnese]] characters - Ling, Lan Fan, Fuu, and Mei - in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' use their ability to sense chi/ki in this fashion when it involves the Homunculi. Because of the [[PoweredByAForsakenChild Philosopher stone]] each homunculus has in them, they feel the very unnatural presence of many people in one body.
* While many characters in ''Manga/SoulEater'' can sense souls and tell the difference between a good and evil human's soul, Maka sets herself apart by being able to see through a witch's Soul Protect which basically means that her Detect Evil is extraordinary by the Soul Eater world's standards.
* ''Anime/DaphneInTheBrilliantBlue'' plays this for laughs. Yu can detect ''Gloria'' even when she's in Maia's body because she feels like a 'horrendous evil presence'.
* In ''Manga/MarchStory'' the eponymous March has a bell that she carries around that rings whenever an Ill is nearby.
* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'':
** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood'', Speedwagon knows that Dio Brando is a villain because of how he smells.
** In a lesser example, Bruno Buccellati in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' can tell if someone is lying by the taste of their sweat.

* The SpiderSense has been known to give ComicBook/SpiderMan a subtle heads up when making small talk with individuals of ill intent. DependingOnTheWriter, it also has the ability to detect supervillains while disguised. Inverted with the original incarnation of The Jackal. Peter's Spider-Sense is ineffective (or greatly reduced in effectiveness, it's never quite clear which), because Peter considers the man behind the Jackal costume his friend. It also has a lot of trouble detecting ComicBook/{{Venom}} owing to the, erm, "quality time" the symbiote and Peter spent together before it latched onto its new partner.
* The superhero Series/NightMan has premonitions that only detect acts of evil.
* ComicBook/{{Justice|NewUniverse}} in ''ComicBook/TheNewUniverse''. Having an absolute certainty as to who was wrong made him into a WellIntentionedExtremist serial killer. The ''ComicBook/{{Newuniversal}}'' incarnation takes this a step further; because he detects ''everyone's'' evil thoughts, all the time, he is completely insane, and firmly convinced he is in Hell.
* Although they don't actually have this ability, this is part of the ComicBook/GreenLantern's [[BadassCreed creed]]: "In brightest day, in blackest night/No evil shall escape my sight..."
* In Marvel's ''[[ComicBook/ROMSpaceKnight Rom]]'', the main trio of heroes (Rom, Starshine, and the Torpedo) all had this power — or at least the power to detect Dire Wraiths (which in this book was pretty much the same thing). It wasn't always on, though, and it turns out the Torpedo's form of it could be fooled.
* Pixie of the ''ComicBook/XMen''. after losing a piece of her soul to create the Soulsword, claims it was replaced with a "sliver of darkness" that allows her to detect other "dark things" such as demons.
* This is part and parcel of being a ''ComicBook/GhostRider'', as a part of the whole “Spirit of Vengeance” thing, though the exact nature can change from comic to comic. Sometimes they can detect exactly what an individual has done, sometimes just how good and bad people are.
** On a related note, when Danny Ketch first became a Rider, he was only able to/had to change whenever innocent blood was shed nearby until Caretaker helped him overcome that weakness.

* ''Film/KongSkullIsland'': {{Deconstructed}} with [[Characters/MonsterVerseSkullIslandExpedition Lieutenant Colonel Packard]]. He claims to "know an enemy when he sees one," with Kong being that enemy. However, Kong isn't actually evil, just an animal protecting his territory from what he understandably believes to be intruders, and Packard being the unstable war vet he is is using this excuse to single Kong out as his new enemy.

* In the ''Film/LostInSpace'' film, Gary Oldman uttered the line: "Evil knows evil," when the crew explore a dodgy area.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** Quite a few characters say things along the lines of "I sense the dark side in you" or "I sense good in you". Of course, there's also a glaring exception: the dark-as-they-come Supreme Chancellor Palpatine met with top-level Jedi a number of times, so apparently there's also a way to Conceal Evil.
** In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic II'', Force Sight works like this, [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience illuminating light-siders with blue light and dark-siders with red light]]. It's stated that the Miraluka, a race of [[BlindSeer blind seers]], utilize this ability in place of normal sight.
** The {{novelisation}} of ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'' featured Dooku pulling out this ability in tried-and-true ''[=DnD=]''-style Slaydar form - Obi-Wan was the Force equivalent of a tranquil sunlit meadow, Anakin was a cyclone, and Palpatine was a ''black hole''.
** The ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'' features a piece of technology whose main function is to detect whether someone has Force potential or not, but also appears to colour-code it red/blue for light/dark as in the above example.
* In ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' Bruce Willis' character has something like this. Whenever he touches someone, he gets a glimpse of the most heinous thing this person has done recently.
* The titular ''Film/VanHelsing'' can sense the evil in a person's heart and refuses to harm Frankenstein's creation because of it:

* Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade: The grail knight in the final temple is immediately able to pick up on Donovan's evil intent by reading Indiana Jones's body language and facial expressions.

* Caspian's ability to perceive dark spirits in their true form past the illusions they used was the hallmark of the first ''Literature/AstralDawn'' novel. His ability to sense and "see" the Defilers beyond the ability of other light spirits continued to evolve throughout the primary trilogy within the series.
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'' (the first book) had certain magical artifacts that could apparently reveal ill intent and evil, if they rejected a person for instance. This almost happens to the protagonist at least once. Unfortunately if a person is sufficiently powerful they prove to be useless as tests either way, which was one way BigBad [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Lord Foul the Despiser]] was able to do so much damage the last time he was around.
* In Literature/DeltoraQuest a few of the gems of the Belt of Deltora have evil detacting properties in addition to other less significant power. Namely the Ruby which grows pale in the presence of evil or when misfortune threatens its wearer, the Emerald which dulls in the presence of evil and when a vow is broken, and the Amethyst which changes colour in the presence of illness and loses colour near poisoned food and drink.
* Parodied in ''{{Literature/Discworld}}'', where the Nac Mac Feegle have swords that glow blue in the presence of [[EvilLawyerJoke lawyers]].

* In Creator/JohnVarley's ''Literature/GaeaTrilogy'', the Titanides can sense when a human has psychotic or self-destructive tendencies. They refer to this as having "worms in the head".
* In Literature/GalaxyOfFear, the Force-Sensitive Tash Arranda can sense if someone is a user of TheDarkSide. Similarly, she knows if someone's a Light Side Force user. However, when it comes to other people, she's a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter.
* In ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'', apparently it's a lot harder to do unless you're familiar with it. Zoey, Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, The Red Fledglings, and Rephaim can all sense it easily, which is the reason why the BigBad can fool everyone but make the heroes look like idiots.

* In Creator/SeananMcGuire's ''Literature/VelveteenVs'', both Santa Claus and the Nanny can detect naughty.

* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror,'' measuring the "[[AuraVision inner Light]]" of an individual can provide clues to their morality because repeated wrongdoing weakens that inner Light, and living by a moral code strengthens it. It's far from perfect, though, as a KnightTemplar will still have a bright inner Light due to their firm moral conviction, and low Light can result from [[PokeThePoodle very minor moral failings]]. [[OurWightsAreDifferent The Shade]] are particularly easy to detect, as they're the only ones who have [[TheSoulless no inner Light at all]].
* Thistle, paladin of Grumble the god of the minions, learns he has this power early in the second ''Literature/SpellsSwordsAndStealth'' book when he realizes constant feelings in his stomach while in the town of Briarwillow have been the ability to sense evil around him kicking in.

** Subverted when Rand lines up a group of nobles and picks out the ones who were secretly [[TheMole Darkfriends]]: he turns out to have been holding the One Power and using its SuperSenses to read signs of guilt in their breathing and heart rate. His internal monologue notes that the trick won't work on better-informed people.

'''The Doctor:''' No I can't. "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes" -- no I can't! And neither can you.

* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': Zordon's Command Centre was the ability to detect evil all over the Universe. However "Green With Evil Part 1" also shows the inversion of this trope; a goodness detector. This is implied when Zordon tells BrainwashedAndCrazy Tommy Oliver (the new Green Ranger) that only one who has a Power Coin (an artifact of goodness used by the Power Ranger) may enter the Command Centre undetected.

* Used rather dramatically in the ''Shadows Over Innistrad'' ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' block. The archangel Avacyn detected [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Emrakul]]'s]] presence, but as she was outside the plane she didn't know where it was coming from or what caused it. So it drove her into a murderous rampage against humanity, trying to purge sin that wasn't there.
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':

** Subverted to highlight the sheer [[IRejectYourReality denial]] of one darklord, Nidalia's Elena Faithhold. She is convinced that she alone of all mortals in Ravenloft can still use DetectEvil, which she constantly exploits in the "detect and smite" fashion. Unfortunately, the reality is that she's no longer ThePaladin, but TheHeretic, and her "detect evil" actually senses strong emotions, positive or negative, that are directed at her. Consequently, she is constantly slaughtering or torturing people who actually respect, admire, and honor her, as well as people who hate her (who, guess what, now make up the majority of the population, for obvious reasons).
* ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'':
** The werewolves had an ability called Sense Wyrm. Unfortunately, evil really did work like a smell, and even completely innocent people could smell rotten if they'd been around too much evil. Conversely, some Vampires (a traditional rival) don't register as evil, and neither do Mages. While some people liked to believe it was an infallible tool for knowing who to kill, it just wasn't.
** Eventually, one of the sourcebooks for ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' outright declared "It's Not Detect Evil," and informed players that "the taint of evil" could mean that someone just works as a ground-level shlub for Pentex, or maybe even just that the guy drinks beer produced by a Pentex subsidiary, and that killing him is not going to help the greater cause.
** The developers had also clarified that Sense Wyrm only indicated when something Wyrm-tainted was in the area; it didn't reveal exact locations or targets. Considering how werewolves are prone to berserker rages, that doesn't actually help.
** A more literal example is with the Marauders (mages driven mad by their awakening) in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension''. While [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Nephandi]] are innately able to hide their status from other mages, Marauders appear to have the innate ability to sense them; the one thing that is predictable and consistent among Marauders is that if they encounter a Nephandus, they will immediately attack with intent to kill.
* In ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'', there isn't any ability to smell evil, but there are the abilities to smell "Malice" (ie: hate, anger, jealousy, ill intent) and "supernaturality" (ie: monsters, other werewolves, wizards).
* ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'' has a similar thing with the Sense Flux Transmutation. Although Flux isn't necessarily evil, it is a cosmic force associated with the Pandorans that love to feast on the innards of Prometheans, so having something that can detect it is useful.
* Psykers in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' can sense the presence of Warp energies, which almost always means Chaos, which always means evil. The presence of [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]] however, due to the psychic static caused by their HiveMind, more often cause Psykers to go insane, often with YourHeadASplode as a side effect. The same mind-exploding effect is caused by lots of daemons. The detecting evil does however seem less impressive in a world where basically everything is evil.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Dungeon Fantasy'' in keeping with its D&D-esque theme has this spell and its opposite available. Creatures descended from angels or demons will always be detected as totally good and totally evil respectively, [[HilarityEnsues humorous sample consequences are provided]].

** Another Creator/WhiteWolf game, ''Exalted'' has "Sol Invictus", also known as [[CrystalDragonJesus Ignis Divine]] or the Unconquered Sun. The mightiest god, made by the Primordials to be the supreme defender of Creation. As a part of that function, Ignis Divine has the unique power to declare any category of creature or any specific individual a Creature of Darkness, should he honestly judge that creature to be inherently hostile to Creation. As another unique power, Sol Invictus is the origin and source of Holy magic, which may be used to detect as well as smite Creatures of Darkness. This is also the reason why sunlight destroys ghosts and hinders demonic magic (and why moonlight also hinders demonic summoning, as the Moon Goddess is borrowing the power of the Sun).
** Though the Unconquered Sun's judgment power is entirely up to his discretion (ie: he could label anyone he wants a Creature of Darkness), it's against his nature to do so without a damn good reason. Should he decide, for whatever reason, to act against his nature and abuse this power, he temporarily loses one-quarter of his unconquerable power... specifically, the part that makes him invulnerable to harm and death.

* In ''TabletopGame/BlueRose'', there's an artifact called the Blue Rose Scepter that basically casts Detect Evil on people. Anyone who wants to become a noble in the kingdom of Aldis has to pass the test of the scepter. (It only works once on any individual, however, so this doesn't stop nobles from turning evil ''after'' their test...)
* ''{{TabletopGame/Rifts}}'' has Sense Evil, which is available as a magic spell or [[PsychicPowers psionic]]. It only works on supernatural creatures, however, not on regular people.

* The Kanohi Rode, [[MaskOfPower Mask of Truth]] can work this way in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', allowing the wearer to be able to tell the true motives of other characters and see through illusions.

* [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Lucario]] does this in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', [[AuraVision sensing the aura of people]].
* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'':
** Kim Kaphwan seems to instinctively know whether or not someone is evil. His special intro against evil characters is typically used to see who is or who isn't evil. Of course, as far as Kim is concerned, morally ambiguous and/or PunchClockVillain are the same as evil, so make of that what you will.
** His younger son inherits this power in ''Mark of the Wolves''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}''
** Demon Hunters in the universe can develop an ability called ''Shadow Sight'', which allows them to see demons and magic-users glowing brightly. They have to [[DisabilitySuperpower burn their eyes out for this, though.]]
** In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', several classes can track one or more type of creatures, causing them to be shown on the minimap. The paladin ability to track undead definitely qualifies, same as the Warlock's ability to track demons. Both types generally qualify for being evil, after all. Referencing the above example, there is a headpiece that allows any class to track demons, which drops from Illidan, the most famous demon hunter.
** Said headpiece is a blindfold, an item every demon hunter wears. Because, you know, they're blind.
* ''Franchise/SilentHill's'' off-station radio, whose rising and falling static indicates nearby monsters.

* Paladins in ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' have this as a form of SpiderSense when obviously evil characters or creatures are nearby, they get informed via a narration box. Mind you, it seems to disregard evil humans.
* Tellah from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' was able to tell when they were near an archfiend by noting that dark magic was getting stronger as they approached. In the same way, Palom and Porom could tell that one man was a monster in disguise.
* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}''
** Security systems can distinguish between you and the enemy by what is apparently [[spoiler:an instantaneous DNA scan]].
** Or because your face isn't on file as a Rapture resident, and Andrew Ryan has some very definite ideas on what is supposed to be done to trespassers in Rapture. Also, the same game has the DNA-scanning camera.
* Parodied, perhaps, in ''VideoGame/Mother3''; on Tanetane Island, Boney can detect that the apparitions are enemies, but not because of any special power: He just didn't eat the mushrooms, so he isn't [[MushroomSamba stoned off his gourd]] like the rest of the party & actually ''sees'' the monsters.
* The Nanaya Clan in ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' is instinctively attuned to detect demons and demon hybrids. However, they do not react to hybrids who have not inverted and are therefore still sane. Inverted individuals are incredibly dangerous and destructive. Upon seeing such people, the Nanayas will kill them. [[spoiler:Technically, it's 'inhumanity' they're detecting, but it comes to the same thing mostly.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** [[RobotGirl Aigis]] from ''VideoGame/Persona3'' was built as an Anti-Shadow weapon, and as such, has the capacity to detect them. [[spoiler:Which is why it was so difficult for her to be in Ryoji's presence... until she realized [[MyGreatestFailure why she felt uncomfortable around him]]]]. [[MissionControl Fuuka and Mitsuru]], through some limited form of telepathy, can also do this, but only with the aid of their Personas. They thus relay the relevant information to their teammates while exploring the Dark Hour or informing them of particularly nasty Shadows up ahead.
---> "Be careful! I sense Death!"
** In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', no one is evil [[RousseauWasRight at first]], they just become that way by nurturing distortions [[note]]of TheGoldenRule[[/note]] in their heart, which manifest as Palaces in the metaverse. A person without distortions won't have a Palace, and therefore, nothing the Phantom Thieves can exploit to defeat them.
*** This is why Makoto is so upset when she realizes [[AwfulTruth that her sister has a Palace]]. It's more or less a sign from the universe that Sae is not one of the good guys. Or one of the neutral guys.
** However, distortions can be caused by things other than evil. Futaba had a Palace built around her suicidal tendencies: in that case, the "distortion" was of her natural will to live.

* From ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' we have Shiki Eiki, Yamaxanadu, who has the ability to magically detect whether a thing or person is good or evil. Since she's a [[{{Psychopomp}} Yama]], in charge of final judgement of a soul's morality in life, it's an extremely useful ability for her to have.
* Your suit in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' can detect particularly powerful demons. Granted, demons aren't inherently evil in this game, but when it starts beeping and marks them on your map, you can write off getting them on your side.
* This is one of the basic powers that everyone can learn in ''VideoGame/NexusClash''. Since it's mainly used by those who only want to fight Evil enemies and Evil players [[EvilIsEasy don't need to care]] who they kill, simply learning the skill is considered a clue that a character seeks to side with Good.
* Twice in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', it has been demonstrated that Keybearers can sense if somebody is irredeemably evil, often through HateAtFirstSight. The expectation is that the detected evil is to be killed right away to protect the world from harm. [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} The Tremaines]] and [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Prince Hans]] were the detected evil, and both cases nearly resulted in the destruction of ''the universe''.

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'': Ochette the Hunter is a Beastling, a human-beast hybrid. They are a kind people who very pure at heart, but also fierce fighters if provoked. It isn't stated if all Beastlings have this power, but Ochette is able to sense on at least two occasions when two people who are connected to a dark force are near her. [[spoiler:She is smelling the connection these two have to Vide, an ancient god of chaos and destruction]].

** Subverted with Kore, [[http://goblinscomic.com/d/20050917.html a Paladin that most definitively doesn't bother to detect evil]]; he just kills for even the slightest potential for even the weakest of eventual evil, and yet the Gods won't strip him of paladinhood. Why not is a central mystery of the strip. There is a justification, but with it lies another DetectEvil twist: Kore's axe can detect paladins to spare them, but will not spare any other super-lawful super-goody character types!
** For a long time, the paladin in question was never shown using any Paladin abilities (just magic items), leading some to theorize that he had lost his powers but no one had noticed. The question of his abilities has been laid to rest. [[spoiler:He has cast Paladin-only spells and proven immune to blows from a weapon that does not harm Paladins]]

** A RunningGag involved an [[HeroicComedicSociopath evil halfling,]] a [[KnightTemplar paladin]], DetectEvil, and a lead sheet.

* In ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'', Madeline can detect evil. By smell.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'', Jake's nose twitched whenever (evil) ghosts were present.
* The supercomputer Teletraan 1 in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' could detect the evil presence of the Decepticons, though it only alerted the Autobots when the Decepticons had already set their plot-of-the-week into motion.
* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has a "ghost sense" - he gasps whenever a ghost is nearby. To be more specific, he experiences a chill whenever he senses a ghost. And his ghost-sense is somehow linked to the cold abilities he develops late into the series despite having this from the start.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'': The Trees of Whispering Woods not only detect evil, they serve as a magical barrier that won't allow anyone evil to enter the forest.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', Kanan and Ezra can sense the presence of Darth Vader because EvilIsDeathlyCold.

----
!!Other Reactions to Evil:

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* The Brand of Sacrifice in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' on Guts and Casca will start bleeding or hurting if demons are near.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'':
** The Avenger is a horribly deformed monster of superhuman size and strength that is ''driven'' to destroy Evil whenever his ''Tromatons'' react. This actually became a plot device in ''[[Film/TheToxicAvengerPartII Part II]]'' when Apocalypse Inc created the Anti-Tromaton in the hopes of destroying Toxie.
** This caused problems for him in the first movie too when he was driven to brutally kill an old lady who was the head of a slavery ring. The corrupt mayor easily turns Toxie into the villain of the situation since his victim wasn't ObviouslyEvil this time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'', the sentient sword Nightblood was created to destroy evil, but being a sword has no real idea on its own what "evil" constitutes, and so was created with a version of this power. Essentially, anyone who would want to wield the sword for purely destructive purposes will be drawn to it, but when they attempt to draw it then it will attempt to suck out their life force (this is usually fatal, though there's at least one case of a {{mook}} who figured out what was going on in time to pull away and got off with just a crippled hand). People who don't want to use the sword for destruction are made somewhat uncomfortable by its presence but can wield it safely. Unfortunately, this test isn't always reliable -- TheDragon in the novel qualifies as "evil" by most definitions, but he's savvy enough to want nothing to do with Nightblood, and as such it has no more power over him than any other sword.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Erik Gelden from ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' has this power. He gets headaches when being around evil people. The more evil they are, the worse the headache, with the very worst people causing him to ''bleed from his eyes'' if they touch him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Caren from ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' has this. When she is near people possessed by demons, her body will experience the same pain as the person possessed. She also experiences physical pain whenever people near her do evil things.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The Sailors' power to sense the birth of Yamiko in ''Literature/SailorNothing''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Meta/Other]]
* Parodies of the blue-glowing elven swords in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'':
** Parodied in ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'', where Lambert's sword, Sting, sings "Don't Stand So Close to Me" in the presence of orcs.
** And also by the swords of the Nac Mac Feegle on the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', whose swords glow blue if lawyers are nearby.
** The enchanted sword in ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'', which glows when enemies are near, is presumably a reference to this.[[note]]Although it doesn't actually react to evil or even enemies, just the power of a creature with hostile intent. The difference becomes a plot point in ''Zork III'' in the [[{{Shadowland}} Land of Shadow]], where the unseeing are given every motivation to make their game {{Unwinnable}}.[[/note]]
** One short adventure from ''Dungeon'' magazine pointed out the flaw in this variant of DetectEvil when an innocent elf charged with a crime has no choice but to steal a magic sword that glowed in the presence of liars. That's because [[spoiler:he knew that it also glowed in the presence of elves, and the human owners who meant to use it to determine the truth at his trial had forgotten about that part]].
[[/folder]]

A special ability which allows its user to detect the presence of evil. Simple as that. Of course, for this to be possible, [[BlackAndWhiteMorality good and evil must first be able to be defined in black and white terms]], which often leads to the appearance of [[CardCarryingVillain Card-Carrying Villains]]. Depending on the work, this ability may pick up not only on those who are [[ObviouslyEvil blatantly]] or [[MadeOfEvil literally made of]] evil, but even those who are just [[LesserOfTwoEvils particularly greedy or spiteful]].

* Manga/AstroBoy has this power, though it's not often referenced. In some versions this is toned down to sensors akin to a [[LivingLieDetector wireless polygraph]].

* The SpiderSense has been known to give ComicBook/SpiderMan a subtle heads up when making small talk with individuals of ill intent. DependingOnTheWriter, it also has the ability to detect super-villains while disguised. Inverted with the original incarnation of The Jackal. Peter's Spider-Sense is ineffective (or greatly reduced in effectiveness, it's never quite clear which), because Peter considers the man behind the Jackal costume his friend. It also has a lot of trouble detecting ComicBook/{{Venom}} owing to the, erm, "quality time" the symbiote and Peter spent together before it latched onto its new partner.
* The superhero Series/NightMan has premonitions which only detect acts of evil.

* In Marvel's ''[[ComicBook/ROMSpaceKnight Rom]]'', the main trio of heroes (Rom, Starshine, and the Torpedo) all had this power — or at least the power to detect Dire Wraiths (which in this book was pretty much the same thing). It wasn't always-on, though, and it turns out the Torpedo's form of it could be fooled.

* This is part and parcel of being a ''ComicBook/GhostRider'', as a part of the whole “Spirit of Vengeance” thing, though the exact nature can change from comic to comic. Sometimes they can detect exactly what a individual has done, sometimes just how good and bad people are.
** On a related note, when Danny Ketch first became a Rider, he was only able to/had to change whenever innocent blood was shed nearby, until Caretaker helped him overcome that weakness.

* In ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Dumbledore tells Harry that dark magic, especially the sort that's used to create [[SoulJar horcruxes]], leaves detectable traces. This, however, is added largely because the film is a PragmaticAdaptation of [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince the book]], in which Harry and Dumbledore experience several {{Pensieve Flashback}}s followed by dialogues that allow them to determine what objects Voldemort used as horcruxes and where he hid them. Since most of them were cut for time, the film gives Harry the ability to sense the presence of horcruxes, which also forshadowes the fact that [[spoiler:he's a horcrux as well]].

* In Literature/DeltoraQuest a few of the gems of the Belt of Deltora have evil detacting properties in addition to other less significant power. Namely the Ruby which grow pale in the presence of evil or when misfortune threatens its wearer, the Emerald which dulls in the presence of evil and when a vow is broken, and the Amethyst which changes colour in the presence of illness and loses colour near poisoned food and drink.

** Knights of the Cross, who are three people who have taken up a Sword that contains one of the Nails from Jesus' Crucifixion in their hilt, gain this passive ability. Each Knight gains an awareness to the darker supernatural aspects of the world and, perhaps because God favors the Truth, can see through some disguises and camouflages supernatural monsters give off. Sanya demonstrates this in ''Small Favor'' by pegging Thomas as a vampire seconds after seeing him. Thomas is a White Court vampire, who usually have the best camouflage abilities to hide among humans.

* In Literature/GalaxyOfFear, the Force-Sensitive Tash Arranda can sense if someone is a user of TheDarkSide. Similarly, she knows if someone's a Light Side Force user. However when it comes to other people, she's a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter.
* In ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'', apparently it's a lot harder to do unless you're familar with it. Zoey, Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, The Red Fledglings and Rephaim can all sense it easily, which is the reason why the BigBad can fool everyone but make the heroes look like idiots.

* In ''Literature/PiilomaanPikkuAasi'', the heroes are given a magic lantern that normally glows green, but turns red when enemies are nearby.

* In ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror,'' measuring the "[[AuraVision inner Light]]" of an individual can provide clues to their morality, because repeated wrongdoing weakens that inner Light, and living by a moral code strengthens it. It's far from perfect, though, as a KnightTemplar will still have a bright inner Light due to their firm moral conviction, and low Light can result from [[PokeThePoodle very minor moral failings]]. [[OurWightsAreDifferent The Shade]] are particularly easy to detect, as they're the only ones who have [[TheSoulless no inner Light at all]].

** Channelers of the One Power have the ability to sense Shadowspawn nearby, as do their bonded Warders. Unfortunately, the Myddraal that tend to be the commanders of said Shadowspawn have the ability to detect channeling, as well. It is also possible, for an evil channeler for example, to ward Shadowspawn against this effect.
** The series also introduces us to Hurin, who is a 'sniffer'. A sniffer is a person who can smell places where violence has occurred and tract that smell to the person who caused it. The ability to smell the violence varies by the intensity and also the recentness of the violence. Since Shadowspawn live to kill, they always leave a scent trail stronger than any normal human could.

** The Doctor sometimes describes a "prickling sensation" at the back of his neck whenever he sensed evil, especially the presence of Daleks.
** Some of the most overt examples are not involving the Daleks: He senses the War Machines (in the First Doctor story of that name), and the Sixth Doctor is certain the Sontarans are skulking about at the Spanish hacienda even though he hasn't seen them: "I can sense their presence."

** Subverted to highlight the sheer [[IRejectYourReality denial]] of one darklord, Nidalia's Elena Faithhold. She is convinced that she alone of all mortals in Ravenloft can still use DetectEvil, which she constantly exploits in the "detect and smite" fashion. Unfortunately, the reality is that she's no longer ThePaladin, but TheHeretic, and her "detect evil" actually senses strong emotions, positive or negative, that are directed at her. Consequently, she is constantly slaughtering or torturing people who actually respect, admire and honor her, as well as people who hate her (who, guess what, now make up the majority of the population, for obvious reasons).

* In ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'', there isn't any ability smell evil, but there are the abilities to smell "Malice" (ie: hate, anger, jealousy, ill intent) and "supernaturality" (ie: monsters, other werewolves, wizards).

* Psykers in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' can sense the presence of Warp energies, which almost always means Chaos, which always means evil. The presence of [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]] however, due to the psychic static caused by their HiveMind, more often cause Psykers to go insane, often with YourHeadASplode as a side effect. The same mind exploding effect is caused by lots of daemons. The detecting evil does however seem less impressive in a world where basically everything is evil.
* ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Dungeon Fantasy'' in keeping with its D&D-esque theme has this spell and its opposite available. Creatures descended from angels or demons will always detect as totally good and totally evil respectively, [[HilarityEnsues humorous sample consequences are provided]].

** Though the Unconquered Sun's judgment power is entirely up to his discretion (ie: he could label anyone he wants a Creature of Darkness), it's against his nature to do so without a damn good reason. Should he decide, for whatever reason, to act against his nature and abuse this power, he temporarily loses one quarter of his unconquerable power... specifically, the part that makes him invulnerable to harm and death.
** However, because he's not actually omniscient or omnipotent, he does tend to leave entire classes of beings -- such as the undead -- as Creatures of Darkness even when most ghosts are no real threat, because constantly keeping track of all the individuals who do or do not merit exemption would consume all his time. Also, the undead count among them some really nasty sorts (including dead Primordials), and really, being undead is unnatural in the first place, and they should all "give up the ghost" and let themselves vanish into the reincarnation cycle already.

* Tellah from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' was able to tell when they were near an archfiend by noting that dark magic was getting stronger as they approached. In the same way Palom and Porom could tell that one man was a monster in disguise.

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'': Ochette the Hunter is a Beastling, a human-beast hybrid. They are a kind people who very pure at heart, but also fierce fighters if provoked. It isn't stated if all Beastlings have this power, but Ochette is able to sense on at least two occassions when two people who are connected to a dark force are near her. [[spoiler:She is smelling the connection these two have to Vide, an ancient god of chaos and destruction]].

** The limitations of the Detect and Smite method is also made clear when Roy detects as evil. He's holding [[BigBad Xykon's]] crown, which has been around such an evil entity so long that anyone possessing it shows up as evil. Luckily for Roy, Smite Evil is a little more discerning than Detect.

* In ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'', the sentient sword Nightblood was created to destroy evil, but being a sword has no real idea on its own what "evil" constitutes, and so was created with a version of this power. Essentially, anyone who would want to wield the sword for purely destructive purposes will be drawn to it, but when they attempt to draw it then it will attempt to suck out their life force (this is usually fatal, though there's at least one case of a {{mook}} who figured out what was going on in time to pull away and got off with just a crippled hand). People who don't want to use the sword for destruction are made somewhat uncomfortable by its presence, but can wield it safely. Unfortunately, this test isn't always reliable -- TheDragon in the novel qualifies as "evil" by most definitions, but he's savvy enough to want nothing to do with Nightblood, and as such it has no more power over him than any other sword.

* Erik Gelden from ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' has this power. He gets headaches when being around evil people. The more evil they are, the worst the headache, with the very worst people causing him to ''bleed from his eyes'' if they touch him.

** One short adventure from ''Dungeon'' magazine pointed out the flaw in this variant of DetectEvil, when an innocent elf charged with a crime has no choice but to steal a magic sword that glowed in the presence of liars. That's because [[spoiler:he knew that it also glowed in the presence of elves, and the human owners who meant to use it to determine the truth at his trial had forgotten about that part]].