History Main / NeglectfulPrecursors

* Your Honour, The Elder Gods of the CthulhuMythos would like to plead guilty, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality except that they have no concept of guilt]]....also, they want permission to use the buffet, that being what they prefer to call the jury.

*** Said "other, bigger problems" would be the Enslavers. Creatures from the [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Immaterium]], they were supposedly responsible for mass extinctions all across the galaxy when they entered real-space in massive numbers in the event known as the Enslaver Plague. ('''Verdict:''' ''[[AbusivePrecursors Not Guilty!]] The so-called "Enslaver Plague" is obviously [[MaliciousSlander malicious]] [[PropagandaMachine propaganda]]. [[TheDogShotFirst Or the galaxy had it coming]]. Whatever happened or didn't happen, we can all be sure that [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial there was absolutely no mindcontrol involved]]'')
* The ''TabletopGame/ScarredLands'' franchise. The backstory to the series is a war against the amoral creators of the world, the Titans, and their rebellious children, the Gods. The Gods were unable to completely kill the Titans, so they just maimed and imprisioned them. Despite completely oblierating two of the Titans, the other Gods were left mostly whole and just imprisoned. Since then, the remains of the Titans has damaged the land and corrupted countless creatures, even the two who were almost destroyed. Despite the fact that the Gods now rule the world, they haven't shown themselves to be in any hurry to clean up their mess.

** The prosecution would like to remind the honorable judge troper and the jury that when the Celestials deemed the Terminex unfit for further evolution and wiped them out, they did not see fit to finish the job and let the Terminus project they left behind alone. This resulted in the destruction of entire ecosystems in numerous galaxies and may have been the end of life as we know it on Earth if not for the efforts of the Fantastic Four. That the Terminus project only began in response to Celestial aggression and would take a trivial effort for them to put an end to, the charge of neglect is hard to argue against.

* Suit brought on behalf of the people of Azeroth and related worlds of ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' against the the Titans, who ordered the universe, defeating evil where they found it. Crafting prisons to host creatures like demons, the Old Ones and their elemental servants, though their intentions were noble, it hasn't really worked out in the universes' favor. Also, the demons were released by a corrupted member of their race, and while they tried to ease his pain, it is unknown if they did anything to stop him after he turned.

* The Time Lords and various other races throughout {{Dr Who}}.

** With respect to the prosecution your honor, the suggestion the defendants are the cause of the X-gene a disputed theory. As witness Sublime testified, the X-gene was an unexpected mutation that proved to be beneficial in an ecosystem that was formerly dominated him. Mr. Sublime had been the dominant species on Earth long before any mammals appeared, much less caught Celestial attention. Therefore interstellar mammal gene therapy must be ruled out because Sublime would have known about it. Further more, the X gene has been detected in the Celestial projects Skrull and Eternal long after our clients had given up an active role in their development, as well as in the technarchy, whom there is no record of Celestial contact with on a subject it is doubtful any force less than the infinites or the tribunal itself could have tampered with and not drawn the ire of the Magus.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': The Craftworld Eldar. The very literal [[DefectorFromDecadence Defectors From Decadence]] saw what the debauchery of their civilization would result in and tried to stop it. They failed, and in a last resort to survive they constructed small artificial planets to escape the downfall of their species. That they seem to regard the failure to prevent the heart of their empire turning into [[NegativeSpaceWedgie The Eye of terror]] as "Neglectful" and they are now actively trying to fix the damage they've done, the Court therefore infers a plea of guilty, as well as stipulation to a sentence of eternal community service. The Court finds no defect, and the Craftworld Eldar are permitted to proceed as they have. Further, Craftworld representatives have offered an additional penance: upon the extinction of their species, their combined souls will combine to create a new cosmic entity, which they say will destroy the cosmic entity created by their decadence, and hopefully heal the damage of its birth.
** As we are on the subject of [=WH40K=] the Imperium of Man would like to bring forth the Old Ones for judgement. The Old Ones left around a number of sentient species, like the Eldar who {{Squick}}-ed a Chaos God into existence and the Orks whose entire culture and existence revolves around killing everything that "isn't orky enough" (which includes other Orks), and by doing so, inadvertently turned the Immaterium into the hellhole that it was. On the other hand, they died off millions of years before either culture got to the point that it did, and if the backstory is to be believed, were too busy dealing with other, bigger problems. ('''Verdict Pending'''. ''The evidence which the court has access to at this moment is to inconclusive to cast judgment.'')

* In {{Buffy}} and {{Angel}} all kinds of {{Big Bad}}s and [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]] returned from previous 'defeats' on cue.

* The plaintiff brings the precursors of the ''Literature/MorgaineCycle'' to court, having created a system of star gates that slowly tore the fabric of reality apart (This is not known until several hundred years after the network is finished). Eventually they discover this, after which they then proceed to cause a energy cascade that wipes out their entire race, just to destroy the incredibly dangerous gates. Unfortunately, one survives and is copied to create another network by a second precursor race who They are almost wiped out warring with each other over whether the gates are dangerous or not. The last member of said race is the titular Morgaine, who embarks on a million-year journey to close all the gates. [[spoiler:Some others remain trapped on worlds as SealedEvilInACan, and these fall under AbusivePrecursors as they typically run slave empires.]]

* The races of {{Babylon 5}} universe vs the Shadows and {{Vorlons}} throughout their incarnations
* In {{Buffy}} and {{Angel}} all kinds of {{Big Bads}} and {{Monster of the Week}} returned from previous 'defeats' on cue
* The Time Lords and various other races throughout {{Dr Who}}
* The Dharma Initiative in {{Lost}} left mysterious numbers stations and donkey wheels for anyone to find

** As we are on the subject of WH40K the Imperium of Man would like to bring forth the Old Ones for judgement. The Old Ones left around a number of sentient species, like the Eldar who {{Squick}}-ed a Chaos God into existence and the Orks whose entire culture and existence revolves around killing everything that "isn't orky enough" (which includes other Orks), and by doing so, inadvertently turned the Immaterium into the hellhole that it was. On the other hand, they died off millions of years before either culture got to the point that it did, and if the backstory is to be believed, were too busy dealing with other, bigger problems. ('''Verdict Pending'''. ''The evidence which the court has access to at this moment is to inconclusive to cast judgment.'')

* Humanity on planet Gunspoke left all kinds of surprises for Vash the Stampede in [[Trigun]]

* The races of [[Babylon 5]] universe vs the [[Shadows]] and [[Vorlons]] throughout their incarnations
* In [[Buffy]] and [[Angel]] all kinds of [[Big Bads]] and [[Monster of the Week]] returned from previous 'defeats' on cue
* The [[Time Lords]] and various other races throughout [[Dr Who]]
* The Dharma Initiative in [[Lost]] left mysterious numbers stations and donkey wheels for anyone to find

* The Prosecution would like to present evidence in the case against the much-vaunted Protoculture from ''SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' for being irresponsible forebears:
## Created the [[PersonOfMassDestruction Zentradi race]] solely for the reason of waging war, to the point the Zentradi [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy don't know how to do anything else]].
## They involved themselves in a LensmanArmsRace that led to the development of [[WeaponOfMassDestruction Weapons of Mass Destruction]] capable of wiping out entire solar systems.
## Their [[PersonOfMassDestruction creations]] were possessed by beings from AnotherDimension that nearly annihilated the Protoculture itself. Instead of destroying them, they merely [[SealedEvilInACan imprisoned them]] and left them there for further generations to deal with.
## They seeded Earth with life, but left behind an overseer in case things got too nasty just so it could put HumanityOnTrial and trigger the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destruction of life on Earth]] if it found mankind lacking.
## They left behind [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum pockets of ancient technology in various worlds]], which invariably is turned into weapons (if it's not a weapon itself) by either the Zentradi or humanity.
** The defense would like it to be known that while the creation of the Zentraedi and the resulting LensmanArmsRace were grave errors on their part, the Protoculture learned from said mistakes and spent their last years seeding the galaxy with life (including both the human and Zolan races, possibly including further undiscovered species) in an attempt to atone for them. The defense further wishes to note that the failure to destroy the Protodeviln and clean up their pockets of technology may be a result of said events happening in a time of galaxy-wide warfare. We put forth the theory that the Protoculture did the best that they could with the resources they had left, considering the Zentraedi were at the time hunting them down and slaughtering them ''en masse''.

* The citizens of the ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' galaxy would like to present the following class-action suit against the ancient Hiigaran, Taiidan and Bentusi empires. The actions of the ancient Hiigarans, Taiidans, and Bentusi resulted in the Hiigarans' descendants being exiled for 3,000 years on the barren desert world of Kharak, admittedly to prevent [[spoiler:the ancient Hiigarans from enslaving the galaxy]]. The terms prohibited the exiles from developing certain technologies. However, the records of those terms were lost, so that the Kushans had no idea of the danger. As a result, the modern Taiidans attacked in response, unaware that the Kushans had no way of knowing what was going on, [[spoiler:wiping out all life on Kharak]].

* Your honor, I bring before the court the case of Al-Hazard from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha''. The defendant is charged with the creation of no less than ''twenty-one'' 'Jewel Seed' Lost Logia with a combined output capable of fracturing reality, with an ease of use even a ''child'' could use. They also stand accused of the creation of several blatantly destructive 'Tomes', 'Dividers', and even a fully armed interdimensional warship complete with an army of drone weaponry.

** They corralled much of the Universe's mystical energies into one of their creations (the Starheart) and promptly dumped it to aimlessly drift through the aeons, uncaring the damn thing would eventually achieve sentience.

** They emotionally lobotomized a former member of their own collective, Ganthet, who had previously been expelled from the Guardian Council, went on to found the Blue Lantern Corps and ultimately returned as a serving Green Lantern.

** The Guardians have since determined that the Green Lantern Corps is too unstable, and indeed, free will itself is a threat to the stability of the universe. As a result they have unleashed a "Third Army", which seems to consist of an endlessly self-replicating totally emotionless power suit that takes control of its victims while keeping them totally conscious, with the intent, either explicit or implicit, of eradicating all life.

** With respect to the prosecution your honor, the suggestion the defendants are the cause of the X-gene is outdated slander. As witness Sublime testified, the X-gene was an unexpected mutation that proved to be beneficial in an ecosystem that was formerly dominated Sublime. Mr. Sublime had been the dominant species on Earth long before any mammals appeared, much less caught Celestial attention. Therefore interstellar gene therapy of any kind must be ruled out because Sublime would have known about it. The truth it that Celestial intervention is the reason Earth is the only place in 616 where mutants have only killed one solar system's population. Look to division in the Skrull empire and the near extinction that resulted as 90% of the Andromeda galaxy's planets were destroyed! Witness the madness from the moon of Titan, Thanos who killed half of all life in the universe! It is because of the diligent work of the defendant's servant Apocalypse that disaster on Earth was at a relatively minor scale.

* Your honor, I bring before the court the case of Al-Hazard from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha''. The defendant is charged with the creation of no less than ''twenty-one'' 'Jewel Seed' Lost Logia with a combined output capable of fracturing reality, with an ease of use even a ''child'' could use. They also stand accused of the creation of several blatantly destructive 'Tomes', 'Dividers', and even a fully armed interdimensional warship complete with an army of drone weaponry.* Your Honour, [[AngelSanctuary the humanity, the court of angels and the demons of the nine nether planes]] would like to drag [[GodIsEvil God]] before the court.

->''That ancient race sure built a lot of weapons...I mean did they really need to spend all their time building stuff to destroy the universe? Like, how about the galaxy's biggest movie theatre or some kind of super-advanced water park? All work and no play guys, seriously.''

* Your Honour, for unbelievable neglect, incredible incompetence, blinding hypocrisy, and a refusal to take any responsiblity at all for crimes, misdemeanours, or even basic sapient decency, the prosecution requests that The Ancients of the Franchise/StargateVerse be assessed the maximum civil and criminal penalties available under the law. A summary of their deeds and lack thereof is as follows:

** New evidence from TheForerunnerSaga clearly showed the Forerunners were not actually neglectful so much as self-destructive.

* To be fair, the Ancients DID help out their descendants in the past, giving one group of them a weapon capable of easily defeating the Goa'uld. (the Velonans) who then turned around and became as bad as the Goa'uld, using the weapon the Ancients had provided to subjugate other worlds. Said group were similar to the Tau'ri, to the point of having a similar tech level. The Ancients might simply be scared of a repeat, and probably for good reason. (it would take the NID how long exactly to steal any suerweapon provided to the Tau'ri?)