History Main / OathboundPower

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* The eponymous ''[[Film/TheGoldenChild Golden Child]]'' has powerful supernatural protection as long as he remains pure, in accordance with Buddhist principles. The BigBad tries to break this after kidnapping him by tricking the child into eating food that contains blood, to no avail.

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* ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Miko loses her paladin powers when she goes against her vows to the Twelve Gods and kills Lord Shojo. Being a KnightTemplar who truly believes she's acting for the good of the city, she believes that it is a test of the gods and that she did exactly what they wanted. She believes it [[spoiler: right up until her rather petty, anti-climatic death]].

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*** Willshapers: "[[IJustWantToBeFree I will seek freedom.]]"

* In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', the Knights Radiant have a set of oaths called Ideals that represent their bonds to their [[BondCreature spren]] and grant them their powers. There are five Ideals, with each subsequent one sworn increasing the strength of their spren bond and granting more power; though it can vary by order, Radiants seem to typically gain [[FunctionalMagic surgebinding]] first, which gets more efficient as they progress, then a [[AbsurdCuttingPower Shardblade]] at their third Ideal and [[ArmorOfInvinciblity Shardplate]] at their fourth. Interestingly, there is some room for personalization of the Ideals, with the exact form of the words spoken becoming less strict as the Radiant progresses deeper into their Order.

* The Knights Radiant in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' are made up of ten orders who each exemplify a specific virtue. They take {{Elemental Embodiment}}s called spren as BondCreatures and swear to Five Ideals, the first of which is the same for all Knights Radiant and the rest specific to each order. Each Ideal they speak gives them additional powers from the spren bond, and forsaking those ideals causes the spren to "die" and the powers to vanish. In the BackStory, the Radiants did this en masse, and subsequently disbanded, in an event called the Recreance.
** The Dustbringers are an especial example of this trope. All other orders gain access to their full suite of Surgebindings with the First Ideal, the later ones simply make the magic more efficient. The Dustbringers, in keeping with their Order's emphasis on self-mastery, don't start out with the full powerset, and must swear additional Ideals before they can employ the more dangerous Surgebindings.

** Warlocks get their abilities from making a pact with a powerful supernatural entity (not necessarily a DealWithTheDevil). They don't ''technically'' have to respect the entity's alignment or even orders, but it's suggested the DM send the equivalent of repo men to keep the warlock in line if they abuse this.

* ''Literature/TheDarkWizardOfDonkerk'' contains several magic systems, one of which is Oathkeeping. By making vows of chastity, silence, eating only simple foods, etc, adherents gain speed, strength, and toughness. The enhancement increases with the severity of the vows and the length of time they are kept, reaching significantly superhuman levels, but vanishes if they are broken -- and there is no boost to willpower.

* ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'': Each [[PrestigeClass Entitlement]] has a magically binding [[SwornInByOath oath of conduct]] that grants a boon to each member in good standing. Some are LoyalPhlebotinum, like the divining tools that let the College of Worms see the future, while others are powers bestowed by Fate itself, like the Bridgemasons' PersonOfMassConstruction abilities.