Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'':
** In the first game, [[spoiler:the entire crisis is God testing humanity to see whether they are still worthy of free will. If you screw up, humanity comes under the rule of God. If you really screw up, humanity is left in the ruins of its world with demons running everywhere. An unusual example in that the trial is also largely justified, given that humans not only struck first (and intentionally) but are risking taking down their own universe in the process]].
** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'':
*** The crime and trial method is different. [[spoiler:DimensionLord Polaris has decided that humans haven't evolved fast enough, and is busy deleting Earth to make way for a better world. She is, however, giving humans a last shot and will [[ResetButton undo the deletion]] or [[EndOfTheWorldSpecial modify]] the world should they actually defeat her messengers, the [[EldritchAbomination Septentriones]].]]
*** The new scenario in ''2'''s UpdatedRerelease [[spoiler:pointedly averts this. The new invaders, the Triangulum, are explicitly out not to test humanity but to ''[[KillAllHumans destroy them]]'', as the heroes' [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu victory over Polaris]] at the end of the last campaign [[MortonsFork has marked them as too dangerous to allow to continue existing]]]].
* Following the end of the Sin War, the Angiris Council of the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' universe held a vote on whether or not to destroy Sanctuary and humanity. Imperius, Archangel of Valor and {{Jerkass}} extraordinaire, was the biggest proponent for humanity's annihilation, as they were the offspring of angels and the demons he despises. Malthael, the Archangel of Wisdom, was completely apathetic about the decision and abstained from the vote, but it was counted against humanity regardless. Auriel, Archangel of Hope, and Itherael, Archangel of Fate, voted for humanity, but the deciding vote, the one that spared humanity from extinction, was cast by Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice and one of the only angels who actually gives a damn about the people of Sanctuary.
** According to ''The Sin War Trilogy'' novels, the reason the vote was held was because several humans had begun to awaken their Nephalem powers, which gave them the potential to surpass even the angels and demons. The resulting Sin War was a three-way conflict between the angels, demons, and re-emergent Nephalem that threatened to destroy Sanctuary, until the leader of the Nephalem, Uldyssian ul-Diomed, released his full powers to drive out the angels and demons and heal the Worldstone, saving humanity at the cost of his own life. This act of sacrifice was what impressed Tyrael and moved him to vote in humanity's favor.
--->'''Tyrael''': I did call them abominations... and I was wrong! My vote is for them. For I would see what they might become... and marvel in it.
* In ''VideoGame/FateExtra CCC'', after being corrupted by BB, the Moon Cell subconsciously polls all lifeforms on Earth to determine whether or not humanity should be allowed to live. Most of the animal life ([[HumansAreBastards including humanity itself]]) declared that humans are better off dead. Much of the ''plant'' life, curiously, voted to keep humanity alive. In the end, though, when all the subconscious votes are tallied, the decision is made to purge humanity from the Earth.
* A prominent theme in ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'',[[spoiler: but also a literal possibility, ''if'' Sol and their friends can convince the alien HangingJudge to give them a shot at coexistence. The Overseer plans to slowly kill all of humanity by forcibly sterilizing them and keeping them as [[HumanPet pets]] or [[PeopleZoo zoo animals]], but Sol knows that nobody would want that, and there must be a better way for the two races to live peacefully together.]]
* Orochi's reason for resetting existence in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' was that humanity was corrupt and damaging to the Earth, but after getting the tar beaten out of him he decided to give humanity an extension.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'', [[spoiler:mortals have ''already'' failed their trial by abusing the power of the Remnants. The Conqueror, a humanoid Remnant, awoke to act as executioner]].
* The last boss of ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 4'' is [[spoiler:Duo, a program that plans to destroy Earth because his mission is to "judge and destroy evil." After you defeat him, he decides to go away for awhile and come back later to see if we're still evil]].
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. [[spoiler: The Patriots use Raiden's personality and actions]] to judge whether humanity is worthy of free will.
* In ''VideoGame/Onmyoji2016'', the BigBad, Orochi, GodOfEvil, reenacts the trial ritual TopGod Amaterasu once tried to execute him with on the world. If the scale used for the trial judges that the collective sins of the world are worse than Orochi's by the standards of Amaterasu's own laws, then a [[ImmortalBreaker god killing artifact]] will activate to destroy the world. He does this, not to punish the world for its sins, but to make Amaterasu look like a {{Hypocrite}}. If he succeeds in destroying the world, he plans to make a new one [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]] as opposed to Amaterasu's, ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil. [[spoiler:The trial finds the world guilty, but the heroes are able to sabotage the ritual before the artifact can finish its job, meaning that the world will be killed slowly enough for the heroes to search for ways to repair the damage.]]
** In the first game, [[spoiler:the entire crisis is God testing humanity to see whether they are still worthy of free will. If you screw up, humanity comes under the rule of God. If you really screw up, humanity is left in the ruins of its world with demons running everywhere. An unusual example in that the trial is also largely justified, given that humans not only struck first (and intentionally) but are risking taking down their own universe in the process]].
** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'':
*** The crime and trial method is different. [[spoiler:DimensionLord Polaris has decided that humans haven't evolved fast enough, and is busy deleting Earth to make way for a better world. She is, however, giving humans a last shot and will [[ResetButton undo the deletion]] or [[EndOfTheWorldSpecial modify]] the world should they actually defeat her messengers, the [[EldritchAbomination Septentriones]].]]
*** The new scenario in ''2'''s UpdatedRerelease [[spoiler:pointedly averts this. The new invaders, the Triangulum, are explicitly out not to test humanity but to ''[[KillAllHumans destroy them]]'', as the heroes' [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu victory over Polaris]] at the end of the last campaign [[MortonsFork has marked them as too dangerous to allow to continue existing]]]].
* Following the end of the Sin War, the Angiris Council of the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' universe held a vote on whether or not to destroy Sanctuary and humanity. Imperius, Archangel of Valor and {{Jerkass}} extraordinaire, was the biggest proponent for humanity's annihilation, as they were the offspring of angels and the demons he despises. Malthael, the Archangel of Wisdom, was completely apathetic about the decision and abstained from the vote, but it was counted against humanity regardless. Auriel, Archangel of Hope, and Itherael, Archangel of Fate, voted for humanity, but the deciding vote, the one that spared humanity from extinction, was cast by Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice and one of the only angels who actually gives a damn about the people of Sanctuary.
** According to ''The Sin War Trilogy'' novels, the reason the vote was held was because several humans had begun to awaken their Nephalem powers, which gave them the potential to surpass even the angels and demons. The resulting Sin War was a three-way conflict between the angels, demons, and re-emergent Nephalem that threatened to destroy Sanctuary, until the leader of the Nephalem, Uldyssian ul-Diomed, released his full powers to drive out the angels and demons and heal the Worldstone, saving humanity at the cost of his own life. This act of sacrifice was what impressed Tyrael and moved him to vote in humanity's favor.
--->'''Tyrael''': I did call them abominations... and I was wrong! My vote is for them. For I would see what they might become... and marvel in it.
* In ''VideoGame/FateExtra CCC'', after being corrupted by BB, the Moon Cell subconsciously polls all lifeforms on Earth to determine whether or not humanity should be allowed to live. Most of the animal life ([[HumansAreBastards including humanity itself]]) declared that humans are better off dead. Much of the ''plant'' life, curiously, voted to keep humanity alive. In the end, though, when all the subconscious votes are tallied, the decision is made to purge humanity from the Earth.
* A prominent theme in ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'',[[spoiler: but also a literal possibility, ''if'' Sol and their friends can convince the alien HangingJudge to give them a shot at coexistence. The Overseer plans to slowly kill all of humanity by forcibly sterilizing them and keeping them as [[HumanPet pets]] or [[PeopleZoo zoo animals]], but Sol knows that nobody would want that, and there must be a better way for the two races to live peacefully together.]]
* Orochi's reason for resetting existence in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' was that humanity was corrupt and damaging to the Earth, but after getting the tar beaten out of him he decided to give humanity an extension.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'', [[spoiler:mortals have ''already'' failed their trial by abusing the power of the Remnants. The Conqueror, a humanoid Remnant, awoke to act as executioner]].
* The last boss of ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 4'' is [[spoiler:Duo, a program that plans to destroy Earth because his mission is to "judge and destroy evil." After you defeat him, he decides to go away for awhile and come back later to see if we're still evil]].
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. [[spoiler: The Patriots use Raiden's personality and actions]] to judge whether humanity is worthy of free will.
* In ''VideoGame/Onmyoji2016'', the BigBad, Orochi, GodOfEvil, reenacts the trial ritual TopGod Amaterasu once tried to execute him with on the world. If the scale used for the trial judges that the collective sins of the world are worse than Orochi's by the standards of Amaterasu's own laws, then a [[ImmortalBreaker god killing artifact]] will activate to destroy the world. He does this, not to punish the world for its sins, but to make Amaterasu look like a {{Hypocrite}}. If he succeeds in destroying the world, he plans to make a new one [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]] as opposed to Amaterasu's, ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil. [[spoiler:The trial finds the world guilty, but the heroes are able to sabotage the ritual before the artifact can finish its job, meaning that the world will be killed slowly enough for the heroes to search for ways to repair the damage.]]
Changed line(s) 125,128 (click to see context) from:
** The events of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' turn out to be this. As revealed in [[spoiler: the True Ending, the goddess Izanami created the Midnight Channel and "sparked" the power of three Persona users representing emptiness, despair and hope in order to ascertain what humanity truly desired. Thanks to Adachi, who represented emptiness, having the greatest effect on the town of Inaba, she decides humanity wants oblivion and it's up to you, who represents hope, to beat the crap out of her in order to prevent her from turning everyone into Shadows]].
** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'' [[spoiler: it turns out the events of these games and the original ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' were actually a version of this -- a contest between the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of human strength and weakness as manifested by humanity's collective unconscious to see which is truly more powerful]].
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' is similar to the ''Persona 2'' example above: [[spoiler:It's revealed near the end of the game that the final boss and personification of control, Yaldabaoth, constructed a game to see if humanity would give into its sloth and a need for a higher power to control them, or see if they would be able to embrace the thieves' mission of overthrowing the corrupt establishment. Since humanity chooses to turn against the thieves (and thus give into sloth), he decides that at best, they need to be ruled by him, or else be utterly destroyed. That said, he did rig the game ''heavily'' in his favor; like, for example, ''imprisoning and impersonating Igor'']].
* The last boss of ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 4'' is [[spoiler:Duo, a program that plans to destroy Earth because his mission is to "judge and destroy evil." After you defeat him, he decides to go away for awhile and come back later to see if we're still evil]].
** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'' [[spoiler: it turns out the events of these games and the original ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' were actually a version of this -- a contest between the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of human strength and weakness as manifested by humanity's collective unconscious to see which is truly more powerful]].
** ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' is similar to the ''Persona 2'' example above: [[spoiler:It's revealed near the end of the game that the final boss and personification of control, Yaldabaoth, constructed a game to see if humanity would give into its sloth and a need for a higher power to control them, or see if they would be able to embrace the thieves' mission of overthrowing the corrupt establishment. Since humanity chooses to turn against the thieves (and thus give into sloth), he decides that at best, they need to be ruled by him, or else be utterly destroyed. That said, he did rig the game ''heavily'' in his favor; like, for example, ''imprisoning and impersonating Igor'']].
* The last boss of ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 4'' is [[spoiler:Duo, a program that plans to destroy Earth because his mission is to "judge and destroy evil." After you defeat him, he decides to go away for awhile and come back later to see if we're still evil]].
to:
** The events of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' ''VideoGame/Persona4'' turn out to be this. As revealed in [[spoiler: the True Ending, the goddess Izanami created the Midnight Channel and "sparked" the power of three Persona users representing emptiness, despair and hope in order to ascertain what humanity truly desired. Thanks to Adachi, who represented emptiness, having the greatest effect on the town of Inaba, she decides humanity wants oblivion and it's up to you, who represents hope, to beat the crap out of her in order to prevent her from turning everyone into Shadows]].
** In''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}'' ''VideoGame/Persona2'' [[spoiler: it turns out the events of these games and the original ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' were actually a version of this -- a contest between the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of human strength and weakness as manifested by humanity's collective unconscious to see which is truly more powerful]].
**''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is similar to the ''Persona 2'' example above: [[spoiler:It's revealed near the end of the game that the final boss and personification of control, Yaldabaoth, constructed a game to see if humanity would give into its sloth and a need for a higher power to control them, or see if they would be able to embrace the thieves' mission of overthrowing the corrupt establishment. Since humanity chooses to turn against the thieves (and thus give into sloth), he decides that at best, they need to be ruled by him, or else be utterly destroyed. That said, he did rig the game ''heavily'' in his favor; like, for example, ''imprisoning and impersonating Igor'']].
*The last boss of ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 4'' is [[spoiler:Duo, In ''VideoGame/PrincessMaker2'', the gods perform this in the backstory and the on-going plot. They decided humanity was too sloven and sinful, so they told Lucifon to wage war against them, but the player defeated Lucifon. With their plan foiled, the gods decide to give the player a program 10 year old girl to raise till adulthood and will judge just how well or badly he does that plans job, to decide if his meddling means that humanity ''does'' still have merit to continue.
* In ''VideoGame/RuneScape'', a particularly nasty example of this begins immediately after [[spoiler:[[HopeSpot killing Sliske and seeing the Stone of Jas destroyed]]]] when [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Elder]] [[TheOldGods God]] [[TopGod Jas]] [[AlwaysABiggerFish herself]]]] confronts you face to face, and ([[spoiler: after [[PretenderDiss dismissing]] [[DivineRanks Zaros]]]]) ultimately tells you little more than that [[spoiler: life is [[CreatingLifeIsUnforeseen an unexpected aberration]], and must prove its worth through action - though not how - or be destroyed. The Elder Gods ultimately decide that mortal life is too big of a threat to be allowed to live, but through the efforts of the [[TheChosenOne World Guardian]] and the younger gods, all of the Elders are sufficiently weakened to prevent them from driving mortals to extinction]].
* In ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur IV]]'', Angol Fear is a servant of the macrocosmos who is sent to Earth to investigate the battle of the two swords, using them as a gauge to decide whether or not to destroyEarth the Earth. She eventually comes to the conclusion that yes, HumansAreBastards, but because his mission there's other life on Earth which is to "judge peaceful and destroy evil." After you defeat him, he innocent, she decides to go away spare the Earth anyway. Or at least leave it up to [[Manga/SGTFrog her cousin]].
* It is eventually revealed that the whole entire plot revolves around one of these in ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2''. It has been going on forawhile ''centuries'' and come back is reaching the point of no return when [[SilentProtagonist Ludger]] [[TheChosenOne Kresnik]] gets involved, dragging the previous game's cast along with him. Oh, and one of the trial runners is [[MovingTheGoalPosts rigging]] it. [[spoiler: Whether they pass it or get off on a technicality ([[BadEnding or you screw it over]]) depends on the player's choice at the end of the game.]]
* In ''VideoGame/UniverseAtWar'', the [[BenevolentPrecursors Masari]] awaken from their slumber under the Atlantic and are a bit peeved that we haven't been keeping our room clean, but because there's currently an AlienInvasion going on and they want us to serve a greater purpose laterto see if we're still evil]].on, they let it slide this time.
** In
**
*
* In ''VideoGame/RuneScape'', a particularly nasty example of this begins immediately after [[spoiler:[[HopeSpot killing Sliske and seeing the Stone of Jas destroyed]]]] when [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Elder]] [[TheOldGods God]] [[TopGod Jas]] [[AlwaysABiggerFish herself]]]] confronts you face to face, and ([[spoiler: after [[PretenderDiss dismissing]] [[DivineRanks Zaros]]]]) ultimately tells you little more than that [[spoiler: life is [[CreatingLifeIsUnforeseen an unexpected aberration]], and must prove its worth through action - though not how - or be destroyed. The Elder Gods ultimately decide that mortal life is too big of a threat to be allowed to live, but through the efforts of the [[TheChosenOne World Guardian]] and the younger gods, all of the Elders are sufficiently weakened to prevent them from driving mortals to extinction]].
* In ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur IV]]'', Angol Fear is a servant of the macrocosmos who is sent to Earth to investigate the battle of the two swords, using them as a gauge to decide whether or not to destroy
* It is eventually revealed that the whole entire plot revolves around one of these in ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2''. It has been going on for
* In ''VideoGame/UniverseAtWar'', the [[BenevolentPrecursors Masari]] awaken from their slumber under the Atlantic and are a bit peeved that we haven't been keeping our room clean, but because there's currently an AlienInvasion going on and they want us to serve a greater purpose later
Deleted line(s) 130,145 (click to see context) :
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. [[spoiler: The Patriots use Raiden's personality and actions]] to judge whether humanity is worthy of free will.
* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'': [[spoiler:The entire crisis is God testing humanity to see whether they are still worthy of free will. If you screw up, humanity comes under the rule of God. If you really screw up, humanity is left in the ruins of its world with demons running everywhere. An unusual example in that the trial is also largely justified, given that humans not only struck first (and intentionally) but are risking taking down their own universe in the process]].
* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' the crime and trial method is different. [[spoiler:DimensionLord Polaris has decided that humans haven't evolved fast enough, and is busy deleting Earth to make way for a better world. She is, however, giving humans a last shot and will [[ResetButton undo the deletion]] or [[EndOfTheWorldSpecial modify]] the world should they actually defeat her messengers, the [[EldritchAbomination Septentriones]].]]
** The new scenario in ''2'''s UpdatedRerelease [[spoiler:pointedly averts this. The new invaders, the Triangulum, are explicitly out not to test humanity but to ''[[KillAllHumans destroy them]]'', as the heroes' [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu victory over Polaris]] at the end of the last campaign [[MortonsFork has marked them as too dangerous to allow to continue existing]]]].
* Orochi's reason for resetting existence in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' was that humanity was corrupt and damaging to the Earth, but after getting the tar beaten out of him he decided to give humanity an extension.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'', [[spoiler:mortals have ''already'' failed their trial by abusing the power of the Remnants. The Conqueror, a humanoid Remnant, awoke to act as executioner]].
* Following the end of the Sin War, the Angiris Council of the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' universe held a vote on whether or not to destroy Sanctuary and humanity. Imperius, Archangel of Valor and {{Jerkass}} extraordinaire, was the biggest proponent for humanity's annihilation, as they were the offspring of angels and the demons he despises. Malthael, the Archangel of Wisdom, was completely apathetic about the decision and abstained from the vote, but it was counted against humanity regardless. Auriel, Archangel of Hope, and Itherael, Archangel of Fate, voted for humanity, but the deciding vote, the one that spared humanity from extinction, was cast by Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice and one of the only angels who actually gives a damn about the people of Sanctuary.
** According to ''The Sin War Trilogy'' novels, the reason the vote was held was because several humans had begun to awaken their Nephalem powers, which gave them the potential to surpass even the angels and demons. The resulting Sin War was a three-way conflict between the angels, demons, and re-emergent Nephalem that threatened to destroy Sanctuary, until the leader of the Nephalem, Uldyssian ul-Diomed, released his full powers to drive out the angels and demons and heal the Worldstone, saving humanity at the cost of his own life. This act of sacrifice was what impressed Tyrael and moved him to vote in humanity's favor.
--->'''Tyrael''': I did call them abominations... and I was wrong! My vote is for them. For I would see what they might become... and marvel in it.
* In ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur IV]]'', Angol Fear is a servant of the macrocosmos who is sent to Earth to investigate the battle of the two swords, using them as a gauge to decide whether or not to destroy the Earth. She eventually comes to the conclusion that yes, HumansAreBastards, but because there's other life on Earth which is peaceful and innocent, she decides to spare the Earth anyway. Or at least leave it up to [[Manga/SGTFrog her cousin]].
* In ''VideoGame/Onmyoji2016'', the BigBad, Orochi, GodOfEvil, reenacts the trial ritual TopGod Amaterasu once tried to execute him with on the world. If the scale used for the trial judges that the collective sins of the world are worse than Orochi's by the standards of Amaterasu's own laws, then a [[ImmortalBreaker god killing artifact]] will activate to destroy the world. He does this, not to punish the world for its sins, but to make Amaterasu look like a {{Hypocrite}}. If he succeeds in destroying the world, he plans to make a new one [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]] as opposed to Amaterasu's, ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil. [[spoiler:The trial finds the world guilty, but the heroes are able to sabotage the ritual before the artifact can finish its job, meaning that the world will be killed slowly enough for the heroes to search for ways to repair the damage.]]
* In ''VideoGame/PrincessMaker2'', the gods perform this in the backstory and the on-going plot. They decided humanity was too sloven and sinful, so they told Lucifon to wage war against them, but the player defeated Lucifon. With their plan foiled, the gods decide to give the player a 10 year old girl to raise till adulthood and will judge just how well or badly he does that job, to decide if his meddling means that humanity ''does'' still have merit to continue.
* In ''VideoGame/UniverseAtWar'', the [[BenevolentPrecursors Masari]] awaken from their slumber under the Atlantic and are a bit peeved that we haven't been keeping our room clean, but because there's currently an AlienInvasion going on and they want us to serve a greater purpose later on, they let it slide this time.
* It is eventually revealed that the whole entire plot revolves around one of these in ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2''. It has been going on for ''centuries'' and is reaching the point of no return when [[SilentProtagonist Ludger]] [[TheChosenOne Kresnik]] gets involved, dragging the previous game's cast along with him. Oh, and one of the trial runners is [[MovingTheGoalPosts rigging]] it. [[spoiler: Whether they pass it or get off on a technicality ([[BadEnding or you screw it over]]) depends on the player's choice at the end of the game.]]
* In ''VideoGame/RuneScape'', a particularly nasty example of this begins immediately after [[spoiler:[[HopeSpot killing Sliske and seeing the Stone of Jas destroyed]]]] when [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Elder]] [[TheOldGods God]] [[TopGod Jas]] [[AlwaysABiggerFish herself]]]] confronts you face to face, and ([[spoiler: after [[PretenderDiss dismissing]] [[DivineRanks Zaros]]]]) ultimately tells you little more than that [[spoiler: life is [[CreatingLifeIsUnforeseen an unexpected aberration]], and must prove its worth through action - though not how - or be destroyed. The Elder Gods ultimately decide that mortal life is too big of a threat to be allowed to live, but through the efforts of the [[TheChosenOne World Guardian]] and the younger gods, all of the Elders are sufficiently weakened to prevent them from driving mortals to extinction]].
* In ''VideoGame/FateExtra CCC'', after being corrupted by BB, the Moon Cell subconsciously polls all lifeforms on Earth to determine whether or not humanity should be allowed to live. Most of the animal life ([[HumansAreBastards including humanity itself]]) declared that humans are better off dead. Much of the ''plant'' life, curiously, voted to keep humanity alive. In the end, though, when all the subconscious votes are tallied, the decision is made to purge humanity from the Earth.
* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'': [[spoiler:The entire crisis is God testing humanity to see whether they are still worthy of free will. If you screw up, humanity comes under the rule of God. If you really screw up, humanity is left in the ruins of its world with demons running everywhere. An unusual example in that the trial is also largely justified, given that humans not only struck first (and intentionally) but are risking taking down their own universe in the process]].
* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' the crime and trial method is different. [[spoiler:DimensionLord Polaris has decided that humans haven't evolved fast enough, and is busy deleting Earth to make way for a better world. She is, however, giving humans a last shot and will [[ResetButton undo the deletion]] or [[EndOfTheWorldSpecial modify]] the world should they actually defeat her messengers, the [[EldritchAbomination Septentriones]].]]
** The new scenario in ''2'''s UpdatedRerelease [[spoiler:pointedly averts this. The new invaders, the Triangulum, are explicitly out not to test humanity but to ''[[KillAllHumans destroy them]]'', as the heroes' [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu victory over Polaris]] at the end of the last campaign [[MortonsFork has marked them as too dangerous to allow to continue existing]]]].
* Orochi's reason for resetting existence in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' was that humanity was corrupt and damaging to the Earth, but after getting the tar beaten out of him he decided to give humanity an extension.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'', [[spoiler:mortals have ''already'' failed their trial by abusing the power of the Remnants. The Conqueror, a humanoid Remnant, awoke to act as executioner]].
* Following the end of the Sin War, the Angiris Council of the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' universe held a vote on whether or not to destroy Sanctuary and humanity. Imperius, Archangel of Valor and {{Jerkass}} extraordinaire, was the biggest proponent for humanity's annihilation, as they were the offspring of angels and the demons he despises. Malthael, the Archangel of Wisdom, was completely apathetic about the decision and abstained from the vote, but it was counted against humanity regardless. Auriel, Archangel of Hope, and Itherael, Archangel of Fate, voted for humanity, but the deciding vote, the one that spared humanity from extinction, was cast by Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice and one of the only angels who actually gives a damn about the people of Sanctuary.
** According to ''The Sin War Trilogy'' novels, the reason the vote was held was because several humans had begun to awaken their Nephalem powers, which gave them the potential to surpass even the angels and demons. The resulting Sin War was a three-way conflict between the angels, demons, and re-emergent Nephalem that threatened to destroy Sanctuary, until the leader of the Nephalem, Uldyssian ul-Diomed, released his full powers to drive out the angels and demons and heal the Worldstone, saving humanity at the cost of his own life. This act of sacrifice was what impressed Tyrael and moved him to vote in humanity's favor.
--->'''Tyrael''': I did call them abominations... and I was wrong! My vote is for them. For I would see what they might become... and marvel in it.
* In ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur IV]]'', Angol Fear is a servant of the macrocosmos who is sent to Earth to investigate the battle of the two swords, using them as a gauge to decide whether or not to destroy the Earth. She eventually comes to the conclusion that yes, HumansAreBastards, but because there's other life on Earth which is peaceful and innocent, she decides to spare the Earth anyway. Or at least leave it up to [[Manga/SGTFrog her cousin]].
* In ''VideoGame/Onmyoji2016'', the BigBad, Orochi, GodOfEvil, reenacts the trial ritual TopGod Amaterasu once tried to execute him with on the world. If the scale used for the trial judges that the collective sins of the world are worse than Orochi's by the standards of Amaterasu's own laws, then a [[ImmortalBreaker god killing artifact]] will activate to destroy the world. He does this, not to punish the world for its sins, but to make Amaterasu look like a {{Hypocrite}}. If he succeeds in destroying the world, he plans to make a new one [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]] as opposed to Amaterasu's, ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil. [[spoiler:The trial finds the world guilty, but the heroes are able to sabotage the ritual before the artifact can finish its job, meaning that the world will be killed slowly enough for the heroes to search for ways to repair the damage.]]
* In ''VideoGame/PrincessMaker2'', the gods perform this in the backstory and the on-going plot. They decided humanity was too sloven and sinful, so they told Lucifon to wage war against them, but the player defeated Lucifon. With their plan foiled, the gods decide to give the player a 10 year old girl to raise till adulthood and will judge just how well or badly he does that job, to decide if his meddling means that humanity ''does'' still have merit to continue.
* In ''VideoGame/UniverseAtWar'', the [[BenevolentPrecursors Masari]] awaken from their slumber under the Atlantic and are a bit peeved that we haven't been keeping our room clean, but because there's currently an AlienInvasion going on and they want us to serve a greater purpose later on, they let it slide this time.
* It is eventually revealed that the whole entire plot revolves around one of these in ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2''. It has been going on for ''centuries'' and is reaching the point of no return when [[SilentProtagonist Ludger]] [[TheChosenOne Kresnik]] gets involved, dragging the previous game's cast along with him. Oh, and one of the trial runners is [[MovingTheGoalPosts rigging]] it. [[spoiler: Whether they pass it or get off on a technicality ([[BadEnding or you screw it over]]) depends on the player's choice at the end of the game.]]
* In ''VideoGame/RuneScape'', a particularly nasty example of this begins immediately after [[spoiler:[[HopeSpot killing Sliske and seeing the Stone of Jas destroyed]]]] when [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Elder]] [[TheOldGods God]] [[TopGod Jas]] [[AlwaysABiggerFish herself]]]] confronts you face to face, and ([[spoiler: after [[PretenderDiss dismissing]] [[DivineRanks Zaros]]]]) ultimately tells you little more than that [[spoiler: life is [[CreatingLifeIsUnforeseen an unexpected aberration]], and must prove its worth through action - though not how - or be destroyed. The Elder Gods ultimately decide that mortal life is too big of a threat to be allowed to live, but through the efforts of the [[TheChosenOne World Guardian]] and the younger gods, all of the Elders are sufficiently weakened to prevent them from driving mortals to extinction]].
* In ''VideoGame/FateExtra CCC'', after being corrupted by BB, the Moon Cell subconsciously polls all lifeforms on Earth to determine whether or not humanity should be allowed to live. Most of the animal life ([[HumansAreBastards including humanity itself]]) declared that humans are better off dead. Much of the ''plant'' life, curiously, voted to keep humanity alive. In the end, though, when all the subconscious votes are tallied, the decision is made to purge humanity from the Earth.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 17,18 (click to see context) from:
One way to avert the hypocrisy is to make the accuser species ''self-consciously'' no more moral than the humans on trial. They're not thinking of destroying us because of any particular [[ScaryDogmaticAliens ideology]], but because we are a potential threat. This can be treated with varying degrees of sympathy--you might be alarmed by the sudden appearance of strange ape-like beings in your backyard too, especially when at least a few of them can be proven to be violent and even fratricidal and occasionally horny.
to:
One way to avert the hypocrisy is to make the accuser species ''self-consciously'' no more moral than the humans on trial. They're not thinking of destroying us because of any particular [[ScaryDogmaticAliens ideology]], but because we are a potential threat. This can be treated with varying degrees of sympathy--you might be alarmed by the sudden appearance of strange ape-like beings in your backyard too, especially when at least a few of them can be proven to be violent and even fratricidal and occasionally horny.
fratricidal.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 17,18 (click to see context) from:
One way to avert the hypocrisy is to make the accuser species ''self-consciously'' no more moral than the humans on trial. They're not thinking of destroying us because of any particular [[ScaryDogmaticAliens ideology]], but because we are a potential threat. This can be treated with varying degrees of sympathy--you might be alarmed by the sudden appearance of strange ape-like beings in your backyard too, especially when at least a few of them can be proven to be violent and even fratricidal.
to:
One way to avert the hypocrisy is to make the accuser species ''self-consciously'' no more moral than the humans on trial. They're not thinking of destroying us because of any particular [[ScaryDogmaticAliens ideology]], but because we are a potential threat. This can be treated with varying degrees of sympathy--you might be alarmed by the sudden appearance of strange ape-like beings in your backyard too, especially when at least a few of them can be proven to be violent and even fratricidal.
fratricidal and occasionally horny.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[folder: Real Life]]
* The IPCC climate reports on climate change and other forms of environmental degradation are the closest thing to this in real life.
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 101 (click to see context) from:
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': Thoroughly subverted in "A Small Talent for War". An alien race, claiming to have created us, announces that they're disappointed by our [[TitleDrop "small talent for war"]] and intend to terminate the experiment. The nations of the world rush to sign a disarmament treaty in time to change the aliens' mind... which turns out to be exactly the wrong thing to do. The aliens were breeding warriors, and what disappointed them was our ''[[ExactWords small]]'' talent for war.
to:
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': Thoroughly subverted in "A "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1985S1E15 A Small Talent for War".War]]". An alien race, claiming to have created us, announces that they're disappointed by our [[TitleDrop "small talent for war"]] and intend to terminate the experiment. The nations of the world rush to sign a disarmament treaty in time to change the aliens' mind... which turns out to be exactly the wrong thing to do. The aliens were breeding warriors, and what disappointed them was our ''[[ExactWords small]]'' talent for war.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* In ''ComicBook/AstroCity'', this is the purpose of the Incarnate, to determine if humans are fit to join the Continuum, and to destroy the planet if not.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Alphabetizing.
Changed line(s) 44,48 (click to see context) from:
* The Celestials of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse go around seeding life on worlds. Occasionally they visit and judge them with their own mysterious criteria. Those races that don't pass the test die. And yes, humanity is one of those races, and the Celestials did almost execute them. And nothing's stopping them from making a repeat visit down the line either. [[spoiler: At least until [[ComicBook/SecretWars2015 The Beyonders came and massacred the Celestials]]. And then [[ComicBook/TheUltimates2015 LOGOS]] [[FromBadToWorse arrives to finish the job.]] ]]
** [[spoiler: if that wasn't bad enough for the Celestials, their ancient enemy [[ComicBook/KingInBlack Knull]] has reawakened to settle some old scores and ''won''.]]
** [[spoiler: Then the Celestials' little protectors, ComicBook/TheEternals, went and made their own Celestial thanks to Iron Man and Mister Sinister, [[ComicBook/JudgmentDayMarvelComics and it's now deciding to judge humanity over its sins]].]]
* In one ComicBook/PostCrisis Franchise/{{Superman}} story (aptly titled "ComicBook/TheTrialOfSuperman"), Superman is put on trial for the destruction of Krypton as the last Kryptonian. The minor detail of him being an infant at the time was considered irrelevant. Eventually, there is a crisis where the alien Judges begin fighting amongst themselves and Superman saves the day. However, the judges will not exonerate him; instead they compromise by sentencing him to effectively "community service", namely he has to continue his Neverending Battle for Truth and Justice.
* In a ''[[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Donald Duck]]'' comic, Donald is taken by {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s (who mistake him for a sports champion who happened to be in Donald's vicinity) to represent Earth in an intergalactic tournament that will determine whether or not Earth will become part of their [[CityInABottle collection of miniaturized planets]]. He keeps losing each part of the competition horribly to the other champions, which include much stronger, faster, and intelligent aliens and robots. The way he eventually wins is ingenious: He claims that no form of life can sleep longer than him, which the other contestants challenge by going into hibernation for centuries or millennia. The judges angrily revoke the contest and send Donald back to his home world when they realize that they'll have to wait ''50,000'' years before they can declare the winner.
** [[spoiler: if that wasn't bad enough for the Celestials, their ancient enemy [[ComicBook/KingInBlack Knull]] has reawakened to settle some old scores and ''won''.]]
** [[spoiler: Then the Celestials' little protectors, ComicBook/TheEternals, went and made their own Celestial thanks to Iron Man and Mister Sinister, [[ComicBook/JudgmentDayMarvelComics and it's now deciding to judge humanity over its sins]].]]
* In one ComicBook/PostCrisis Franchise/{{Superman}} story (aptly titled "ComicBook/TheTrialOfSuperman"), Superman is put on trial for the destruction of Krypton as the last Kryptonian. The minor detail of him being an infant at the time was considered irrelevant. Eventually, there is a crisis where the alien Judges begin fighting amongst themselves and Superman saves the day. However, the judges will not exonerate him; instead they compromise by sentencing him to effectively "community service", namely he has to continue his Neverending Battle for Truth and Justice.
* In a ''[[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Donald Duck]]'' comic, Donald is taken by {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s (who mistake him for a sports champion who happened to be in Donald's vicinity) to represent Earth in an intergalactic tournament that will determine whether or not Earth will become part of their [[CityInABottle collection of miniaturized planets]]. He keeps losing each part of the competition horribly to the other champions, which include much stronger, faster, and intelligent aliens and robots. The way he eventually wins is ingenious: He claims that no form of life can sleep longer than him, which the other contestants challenge by going into hibernation for centuries or millennia. The judges angrily revoke the contest and send Donald back to his home world when they realize that they'll have to wait ''50,000'' years before they can declare the winner.
to:
* In one ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'' story, Donald Duck is taken by {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s (who mistake him for a sports champion who happened to be in Donald's vicinity) to represent Earth in an intergalactic tournament that will determine whether or not Earth will become part of their [[CityInABottle collection of miniaturized planets]]. He keeps losing each part of the competition horribly to the other champions, which include much stronger, faster, and intelligent aliens and robots. The way he eventually wins is ingenious: He claims that no form of life can sleep longer than him, which the other contestants challenge by going into hibernation for centuries or millennia. The judges angrily revoke the contest and send Donald back to his home world when they realize that they'll have to wait ''50,000'' years before they can declare the winner.
* The Celestials of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse go around seeding life on worlds. Occasionally they visit and judge them with their own mysterious criteria. Those races that don't pass the test die. And yes, humanity is one of those races, and the Celestials did almost execute them. And nothing's stopping them from making a repeat visit down the line either.[[spoiler: At [[spoiler:At least until [[ComicBook/SecretWars2015 The the Beyonders came come and massacred massacre the Celestials]]. And then Then [[ComicBook/TheUltimates2015 LOGOS]] arrives to [[FromBadToWorse arrives to finish the job.]] ]]
** [[spoiler: ifjob]]. If that wasn't bad enough for the Celestials, their ancient enemy [[ComicBook/KingInBlack Knull]] has reawakened reawakens to settle some old scores and ''won''.''wins''. Then the Celestials' little protectors, ComicBook/TheEternals, go and make their own Celestial thanks to Iron Man and Mister Sinister, [[ComicBook/JudgmentDayMarvelComics and it decides to judge humanity over its sins]].]]
** [[spoiler: Then the Celestials' little protectors, ComicBook/TheEternals, went and made their own Celestial thanks to Iron Man and Mister Sinister, [[ComicBook/JudgmentDayMarvelComics and it's now deciding to judge humanity over its sins]].]]
* In one ComicBook/PostCrisis Franchise/{{Superman}} story (aptly titled "ComicBook/TheTrialOfSuperman"), Superman "ComicBook/TheTrialOfSuperman", ComicBook/{{Superman}} is put on trial for the destruction of Krypton as the last Kryptonian. The minor detail of him being an infant at the time was considered irrelevant. Eventually, there is a crisis where the alien Judges begin fighting amongst themselves and Superman saves the day. However, the judges will not exonerate him; instead instead, they compromise by sentencing him to effectively "community service", namely he has to continue his Neverending Never-Ending Battle for Truth and Justice.
* In a ''[[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Donald Duck]]'' comic, Donald is taken by {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s (who mistake him for a sports champion who happened to be in Donald's vicinity) to represent Earth in an intergalactic tournament that will determine whether or not Earth will become part of their [[CityInABottle collection of miniaturized planets]]. He keeps losing each part of the competition horribly to the other champions, which include much stronger, faster, and intelligent aliens and robots. The way he eventually wins is ingenious: He claims that no form of life can sleep longer than him, which the other contestants challenge by going into hibernation for centuries or millennia. The judges angrily revoke the contest and send Donald back to his home world when they realize that they'll have to wait ''50,000'' years before they can declare the winner.Justice.
* The Celestials of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse go around seeding life on worlds. Occasionally they visit and judge them with their own mysterious criteria. Those races that don't pass the test die. And yes, humanity is one of those races, and the Celestials did almost execute them. And nothing's stopping them from making a repeat visit down the line either.
** [[spoiler: if
* In a ''[[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Donald Duck]]'' comic, Donald is taken by {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s (who mistake him for a sports champion who happened to be in Donald's vicinity) to represent Earth in an intergalactic tournament that will determine whether or not Earth will become part of their [[CityInABottle collection of miniaturized planets]]. He keeps losing each part of the competition horribly to the other champions, which include much stronger, faster, and intelligent aliens and robots. The way he eventually wins is ingenious: He claims that no form of life can sleep longer than him, which the other contestants challenge by going into hibernation for centuries or millennia. The judges angrily revoke the contest and send Donald back to his home world when they realize that they'll have to wait ''50,000'' years before they can declare the winner.
Changed line(s) 94 (click to see context) from:
* In ''Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger'' and its American adaptation, ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'', [=GaoGod=]/Animus (a sort of nature-god) puts the primary Rangers on trial for the environmental crimes of humanity and takes away their powers, forcing the SixthRanger to keep the peace all on his own.
to:
* In an episode of ''Series/Charmed1998'', the Charmed ones clash with the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse, who are acting on the orders from the [[BigBad Source of Evil]]. One of the Charmed ones is trapped in Limbo along with the Horseman War, so the others form an uneasy alliance to try to free their respective comrades. However, when the Charmed ones learn that once reunited, the horsemen can bring about the Apocalypse, they go back on the deal, essentially sacrificing their sister, to avert the end of the world. This decision apparently amounts to "still enough good in humans", so the Source destroys the horsemen and withdraws until next time. [[spoiler:Oh, and the Charmed ones managed to rescue their sister after all.]]
* In an episode of ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', the ArchangelMichael personally descends to Earth to release the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse and off the humans. Hercules sacrifices himself to try and stop them -- "there is still good in humans" -- so Earth is spared.
* In ''Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger'' and its American adaptation, ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'', [=GaoGod=]/Animus (a sort ofnature-god) nature god) puts the primary Rangers on trial for the environmental crimes of humanity and takes away their powers, forcing the SixthRanger to keep the peace all on his own.
* In an episode of ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', the ArchangelMichael personally descends to Earth to release the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse and off the humans. Hercules sacrifices himself to try and stop them -- "there is still good in humans" -- so Earth is spared.
* In ''Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger'' and its American adaptation, ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'', [=GaoGod=]/Animus (a sort of
Changed line(s) 96,104 (click to see context) from:
* Q did this in both the [[BookEnds first and last]] episodes of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. In the latter, it's implied that it was a FalseCrucible. Futhermore, self sacrifice was not the thing that allowed the Q Continuum to acquit humanity, but Picard realizing an idea to save the day that took a new perception of time and existence in order to achieve. That potential to grow is what really interested them.
** In the latter episode, Picard points out that Q did this once. Q counters by revealing that the trial from the first episode and the one in the last episode are the same trial. It never ended (implying that the 7 year series was all part of the trial as well). This is indicated in Season 2, where when the case in the pilot is brought up Q replies "The jury's still out on that". Even in the finale, Q tells Picard "The trial never ends", so the Continuum will keep judging humanity. [[spoiler:Which he references when he returns in ''Series/StarTrekPicard'']].
* Zigzagged in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. The first Q-related episode of the series had a member of the omnipotent race on trial, with Voyager defending him and his right... to commit suicide. So, it's a trial where the prosecution is bringing up examples to justify that the gods are necessary to humanity and thus humans shouldn't tolerate when a god wants to not exist any more as a matter of his own personal choice.
* Thoroughly subverted in one episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985''. An alien race, claiming to have created us, announces that they're disappointed by our "small talent for war" and intend to terminate the experiment. The nations of the world rush to sign a disarmament treaty in time to change the aliens' mind... which turns out to be exactly the wrong thing to do. The aliens were breeding warriors, and what disappointed them was our ''small'' talent for war.
* In an episode of ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', the archangel Michael personally descends to Earth to release the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse and off the humans. Hercules sacrifices himself to try and stop them - "there is still good in humans" - Earth is spared.
* Almost the same thing happened in an episode of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', only the Horsemen were acting at the orders from the [[BigBad Source of Evil]] this time. During a clash one of the Charmed ones (good witches) got trapped in Limbo along with the horseman War so the others formed an uneasy alliance to try and free their respective comrades. But when the Charmed ones learned that once reunited, the horsemen could bring about the Apocalypse, they went back on the deal, essentially sacrificing their sister, to avert the end of the world. This decision apparently amounted to "still enough good in humans", so the Source destroyed the horsemen and withdrew until next time. [[spoiler: Oh, and the Charmed ones managed to rescue their sister after all.]]
* This happens in the ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'' episode "Judgment from Outer Space", where the titular character must prove that the human race is capable of more than just hate and destruction, which really seems hypocritical--the alien race is going to destroy the entire human race because it can't seem to get along part of the time?
* In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', the Atlantis expedition (represented by Sheppard's team and Mr. Woolsey) are put on trial by a tribunal representing the humans of the Pegasus Galaxy. To be fair, the expedition ''did'' screw up pretty badly more than once over the last few years: they woke up the Wraith early, [[CreateYourOwnVillain created Michael]], helped develop the Hoffan drug that Michael used to attack humans, and altered the Replicator base code to make them go to war with the Wraith (which unfortunately caused them to start wiping out human worlds in order to starve the Wraith). But, as Sheppard points out, the Atlantis expedition are the only ones effectively fighting against those threats, and that despite the losses they've suffered, the humans of Pegasus are closer than ever to finally being free of the control of the Wraith.
** In this case, it turns out only one of the three judges actually cares about judging the Atlantis expedition fairly. The second judge lost her family to the Replicators and blames the expedition for it, and is dead set on ruling against them no matter what (a conflict of interest that Woolsey notes should disqualify her as a judge). The third judge will be the deciding vote, but Woolsey eventually figures out that he's being bribed by a rival faction to rule against them. Woolsey's solution? [[spoiler:Offer him a ''bigger'' bribe to rule in their favor.]]
** In the latter episode, Picard points out that Q did this once. Q counters by revealing that the trial from the first episode and the one in the last episode are the same trial. It never ended (implying that the 7 year series was all part of the trial as well). This is indicated in Season 2, where when the case in the pilot is brought up Q replies "The jury's still out on that". Even in the finale, Q tells Picard "The trial never ends", so the Continuum will keep judging humanity. [[spoiler:Which he references when he returns in ''Series/StarTrekPicard'']].
* Zigzagged in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. The first Q-related episode of the series had a member of the omnipotent race on trial, with Voyager defending him and his right... to commit suicide. So, it's a trial where the prosecution is bringing up examples to justify that the gods are necessary to humanity and thus humans shouldn't tolerate when a god wants to not exist any more as a matter of his own personal choice.
* Thoroughly subverted in one episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985''. An alien race, claiming to have created us, announces that they're disappointed by our "small talent for war" and intend to terminate the experiment. The nations of the world rush to sign a disarmament treaty in time to change the aliens' mind... which turns out to be exactly the wrong thing to do. The aliens were breeding warriors, and what disappointed them was our ''small'' talent for war.
* In an episode of ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', the archangel Michael personally descends to Earth to release the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse and off the humans. Hercules sacrifices himself to try and stop them - "there is still good in humans" - Earth is spared.
* Almost the same thing happened in an episode of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', only the Horsemen were acting at the orders from the [[BigBad Source of Evil]] this time. During a clash one of the Charmed ones (good witches) got trapped in Limbo along with the horseman War so the others formed an uneasy alliance to try and free their respective comrades. But when the Charmed ones learned that once reunited, the horsemen could bring about the Apocalypse, they went back on the deal, essentially sacrificing their sister, to avert the end of the world. This decision apparently amounted to "still enough good in humans", so the Source destroyed the horsemen and withdrew until next time. [[spoiler: Oh, and the Charmed ones managed to rescue their sister after all.]]
* This happens in the ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'' episode "Judgment from Outer Space", where the titular character must prove that the human race is capable of more than just hate and destruction, which really seems hypocritical--the alien race is going to destroy the entire human race because it can't seem to get along part of the time?
* In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', the Atlantis expedition (represented by Sheppard's team and Mr. Woolsey) are put on trial by a tribunal representing the humans of the Pegasus Galaxy. To be fair, the expedition ''did'' screw up pretty badly more than once over the last few years: they woke up the Wraith early, [[CreateYourOwnVillain created Michael]], helped develop the Hoffan drug that Michael used to attack humans, and altered the Replicator base code to make them go to war with the Wraith (which unfortunately caused them to start wiping out human worlds in order to starve the Wraith). But, as Sheppard points out, the Atlantis expedition are the only ones effectively fighting against those threats, and that despite the losses they've suffered, the humans of Pegasus are closer than ever to finally being free of the control of the Wraith.
** In this case, it turns out only one of the three judges actually cares about judging the Atlantis expedition fairly. The second judge lost her family to the Replicators and blames the expedition for it, and is dead set on ruling against them no matter what (a conflict of interest that Woolsey notes should disqualify her as a judge). The third judge will be the deciding vote, but Woolsey eventually figures out that he's being bribed by a rival faction to rule against them. Woolsey's solution? [[spoiler:Offer him a ''bigger'' bribe to rule in their favor.]]
to:
** In the latter episode, Picard points out that Q did this once. Q counters by revealing that the trial from the first episode and the one in the last episode are the same trial. It never ended (implying that the 7 year series was all part of the trial as well). This is indicated in Season 2, where when the case in the pilot is brought up Q replies "The jury's still out on that". Even in the finale, Q tells Picard "The trial never ends", so the Continuum will keep judging humanity. [[spoiler:Which he references when he returns in ''Series/StarTrekPicard'']].
* Zigzagged in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. The first Q-related episode of the series had a member of the omnipotent race on trial, with Voyager defending him and his right... to commit suicide. So, it's a trial where the prosecution is bringing up examples to justify that the gods are necessary to humanity and thus humans shouldn't tolerate when a god wants to not exist any more as a matter of his own personal choice.
* Thoroughly subverted in one episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985''. An alien race, claiming to have created us, announces that they're disappointed by our "small talent for war" and intend to terminate the experiment. The nations of the world rush to sign a disarmament treaty in time to change the aliens' mind... which turns out to be exactly the wrong thing to do. The aliens were breeding warriors, and what disappointed them was our ''small'' talent for war.
* In an episode of ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', the archangel Michael personally descends to Earth to release the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse and off the humans. Hercules sacrifices himself to try and stop them - "there is still good in humans" - Earth is spared.
* Almost the same thing happened in an episode of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', only the Horsemen were acting at the orders from the [[BigBad Source of Evil]] this time. During a clash one of the Charmed ones (good witches) got trapped in Limbo along with the horseman War so the others formed an uneasy alliance to try and free their respective comrades. But when the Charmed ones learned that once reunited, the horsemen could bring about the Apocalypse, they went back on the deal, essentially sacrificing their sister, to avert the end of the world. This decision apparently amounted to "still enough good in humans", so the Source destroyed the horsemen and withdrew until next time. [[spoiler: Oh, and the Charmed ones managed to rescue their sister after all.]]
* This happens in the ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'' episode "Judgment from Outer Space", where the titular character must prove that the human race is capable of more than just hate and destruction, which really seems hypocritical--the alien race is going to destroy the entire human race because it can't seem to get along part of the time?
**
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Q does this in [[{{Bookends}} both]] the [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E1EncounterAtFarpoint first]] and [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS7E24AllGoodThings last]] episodes of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. In the latter, it's implied that it was a FalseCrucible. Furthermore, self-sacrifice was not the thing that allowed the Q Continuum to acquit humanity, but Picard realizing an idea to save the day that took a new perception of time and existence in order to achieve. That potential to grow is what really interested them. In the latter episode, Picard points out that Q did this once; Q counters by revealing that the trial from the first episode and the one in the last episode are the same trial. It never ended (implying that the 7-year series was all part of the trial as well). This is indicated in Season 2; when the case in the pilot is brought up, Q replies "The jury's still out on that". Even in the finale, Q tells Picard that "The trial never ends", so the Continuum will keep judging humanity, [[spoiler:which he references when he returns in ''Series/StarTrekPicard'']].
** Zigzagged in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. The first Q-related episode of the series, "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E18DeathWish Death Wish]]", has a member of the omnipotent race on trial, with ''Voyager'' defending him and his right... to commit suicide. So, it's a trial where the prosecution is bringing up examples to justify that the gods are necessary to humanity and thus humans shouldn't tolerate when a god wants to not exist anymore as a matter of his own personal choice.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': Thoroughly subverted in "A Small Talent for War". An alien race, claiming to have created us, announces that they're disappointed by our [[TitleDrop "small talent for war"]] and intend to terminate the experiment. The nations of the world rush to sign a disarmament treaty in time to change the aliens' mind... which turns out to be exactly the wrong thing to do. The aliens were breeding warriors, and what disappointed them was our ''[[ExactWords small]]'' talent for war.
* This happens in the ''Series/WonderWoman1975'' episode "Judgment from Outer Space", in which Wonder Woman must prove that the human race is capable of more than just hate and destruction, which really seems hypocritical -- the alien race is going to destroy the entire human race because it can't seem to get along part of the time?
Changed line(s) 108 (click to see context) from:
* Impress Your Creators by Tub Ring is about an advanced alien race giving humanity a decade to shape up or be killed. [[spoiler:Humanity has other opinions.]]
to:
* Impress "Impress Your Creators Creators" by Tub Ring Music/TubRing is about an advanced alien race giving humanity a decade to shape up or be killed. [[spoiler:Humanity has other opinions.]]
Changed line(s) 179,182 (click to see context) from:
->''"[[BookEnds Oh, I expected as much. You're such a limited creature -- a perfect example of why we made our decision. The trial never ended, Captain. We never reached a verdict. But now we have. You're guilty.]]"''
-->-- ''Q'', "All Good Things...", Part 1
->''[[spoiler:"You just don't get it, do you, Jean-Luc? The trial never ends."]]''
-->-- [[spoiler:''Q'', "All Good Things...", Part 2]]
-->-- ''Q'', "All Good Things...", Part 1
->''[[spoiler:"You just don't get it, do you, Jean-Luc? The trial never ends."]]''
-->-- [[spoiler:''Q'', "All Good Things...", Part 2]]
to:
-->-- ''Q'', "All Good Things...", Part 1
->''[[spoiler:"You
-->--
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** As well as the lives of everyone else still on the underwater station. It's even commented on that they apparently were able to take care of decompression concerns.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* In ''VideoGame/Onmyoji2016'', the BigBad, Orochi, GodOfEvil, reenacts the trial ritual TopGod Amaterasu once tried to execute him with on the world. If the scale used for the trial judges that the collective sins of the world are worse than Orochi's by the standards of Amaterasu's own laws, then a [[ImmortalBreaker god killing artifact]] will activate to destroy the world. He does this, not to punish the world for its sins, but to make Amaterasu look like a {{Hypocrite}}. If he succeeds in destroying the world, he plans to make a new one [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]] as opposed to Amaterasu's, ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil. [[spoiler:The trial finds the world guilty, but the heroes are able to sabotage the ritual before the artifact can finish its job, meaning that the world will be killed slowly enough for the heroes to search for ways to repair the damage.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 64 (click to see context) from:
* Every thousand years, Ming the Merciless from ''Film/FlashGordon'' tests every inhabited planet with natural disasters and if they show signs of recognizing an alien did it, he wipes them out, because it means they have become advanced enough to be a potential threat to his empire. Hence Zarkov doomed Earth by flying in to space to confront Ming.
to:
* Every thousand years, Ming the Merciless from ''Film/FlashGordon'' ''Film/FlashGordon1980'' tests every inhabited planet with natural disasters and if they show signs of recognizing an alien did it, he wipes them out, because it means they have become advanced enough to be a potential threat to his empire. Hence Hence, Zarkov doomed Earth by flying in to into space to confront Ming.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 96 (click to see context) from:
** In the latter episode, Picard points out that Q did this once. Q counters by revealing that the trial from the first episode and the one in the last episode are the same trial. It never ended (implying that the 7 year series was all part of the trial as well).
to:
** In the latter episode, Picard points out that Q did this once. Q counters by revealing that the trial from the first episode and the one in the last episode are the same trial. It never ended (implying that the 7 year series was all part of the trial as well). This is indicated in Season 2, where when the case in the pilot is brought up Q replies "The jury's still out on that". Even in the finale, Q tells Picard "The trial never ends", so the Continuum will keep judging humanity. [[spoiler:Which he references when he returns in ''Series/StarTrekPicard'']].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 92,95 (click to see context) :
[[folder:Religion]]
* In Literature/TheBible, {{God}} effectively puts all of humanity, present and future (except UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}), on trial in Genesis after the original sin, finds us guilty, and sentences us to death. However, he also makes plans to pardon us, as long as certain conditions are met, and allows hundreds of years pass by in order for humans to accept or reject that pardon. This is also subverted, as the Bible also states that each individual human is on trial for their own sins (not '''just''' the original sin), and (apart from the aforementioned exception) [[HumansAreBastards all humans]], [[HistoryRepeats past, present and future]], [[HumansAreFlawed have sinned in some form or another]]. Since [[HumansAreFlawed humanity]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption is not capable of overcoming sin on our own]], and God didn't want us all to condemn ourselves to [[AndIMustScream Hell]], He [[TakeAThirdOption gave us]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} a way out]]. He's not gonna let [[{{Satan}} a disgruntled ex-employee]] have [[TheBadGuyWins the last laugh]].
[[/folder]]
* In Literature/TheBible, {{God}} effectively puts all of humanity, present and future (except UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}), on trial in Genesis after the original sin, finds us guilty, and sentences us to death. However, he also makes plans to pardon us, as long as certain conditions are met, and allows hundreds of years pass by in order for humans to accept or reject that pardon. This is also subverted, as the Bible also states that each individual human is on trial for their own sins (not '''just''' the original sin), and (apart from the aforementioned exception) [[HumansAreBastards all humans]], [[HistoryRepeats past, present and future]], [[HumansAreFlawed have sinned in some form or another]]. Since [[HumansAreFlawed humanity]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption is not capable of overcoming sin on our own]], and God didn't want us all to condemn ourselves to [[AndIMustScream Hell]], He [[TakeAThirdOption gave us]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} a way out]]. He's not gonna let [[{{Satan}} a disgruntled ex-employee]] have [[TheBadGuyWins the last laugh]].
[[/folder]]
Added DiffLines:
[[folder:Religion]]
* In Literature/TheBible, {{God}} effectively puts all of humanity, present and future (except UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}), on trial in Genesis after the original sin, finds us guilty, and sentences us to death. However, he also makes plans to pardon us, as long as certain conditions are met, and allows hundreds of years pass by in order for humans to accept or reject that pardon. This is also subverted, as the Bible also states that each individual human is on trial for their own sins (not '''just''' the original sin), and (apart from the aforementioned exception) [[HumansAreBastards all humans]], [[HistoryRepeats past, present and future]], [[HumansAreFlawed have sinned in some form or another]]. Since [[HumansAreFlawed humanity]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption is not capable of overcoming sin on our own]], and God didn't want us all to condemn ourselves to [[AndIMustScream Hell]], He [[TakeAThirdOption gave us]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} a way out]]. He's not gonna let [[{{Satan}} a disgruntled ex-employee]] have [[TheBadGuyWins the last laugh]].
[[/folder]]
* In Literature/TheBible, {{God}} effectively puts all of humanity, present and future (except UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}), on trial in Genesis after the original sin, finds us guilty, and sentences us to death. However, he also makes plans to pardon us, as long as certain conditions are met, and allows hundreds of years pass by in order for humans to accept or reject that pardon. This is also subverted, as the Bible also states that each individual human is on trial for their own sins (not '''just''' the original sin), and (apart from the aforementioned exception) [[HumansAreBastards all humans]], [[HistoryRepeats past, present and future]], [[HumansAreFlawed have sinned in some form or another]]. Since [[HumansAreFlawed humanity]] [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption is not capable of overcoming sin on our own]], and God didn't want us all to condemn ourselves to [[AndIMustScream Hell]], He [[TakeAThirdOption gave us]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} a way out]]. He's not gonna let [[{{Satan}} a disgruntled ex-employee]] have [[TheBadGuyWins the last laugh]].
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 4 (click to see context) from:
->''"You will now answer to the charge of being a grievously savage race!"''
to:
->''"You will now answer to the charge of being a grievously savage child race!"''
