History Main / SealedEvilInACan

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': The Chaos God Slaanesh, while lazing about from a feast of souls, got jumped by the newly ascended Elven gods and imprisoned between the realms of Ulgu and Hysh. The absence from his seat of power, allowed the upstart Skaven god, the Horned Rat to usurp his place amongst the Ruinous Powers.

* ''Music/BloodsuckingZombiesFromOuterSpace'': "Buried in Barrels" tells the story of several unkillable supersoldiers biding their time to get loose and have their revenge. Q

* ''WebOriginal/TheCrawlspace'': The [[spoiler:MonstrousHumanoid creature]] apparently lives in the crawlspace, the entrance of which is a small, locked door in the master bathroom. Of course, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the girls just had to open it, didn’t they?]]]]

* Many, many things contained by the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''.

** This trope [[OlderThanFeudalism hearkens back]] to the Myth/GreekMythology of PandorasBox. The container itself is an unusual case, as it was created and given to her for no other reason than Zeus felt like being a dick. After seeing all the atrocities emanating from the box, Pandora quickly shut it, leaving only one thing inside – Hope. As aforementioned, all according to [[MagnificentBastard Zeus']] plan.

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': Makuta Teridax was encased in a Toa Seal by the Toa Metru with their ElementalPowers, but much later they unintentionally released him with the same powers when they attacked Roodaka holding a piece of the Toa Seal.

--> '''Petey''': To my analysis, Oisri is not a vessel for imprisoning [[spoiler: a dark-matter creature.]] It was [[spoiler: [[WhamLine a machine for creating one.]]]]

** Specifically in the ''Revelation'' (''[[InsistentTerminology not]]'' Revelations) of John, {{Satan}} is going to be confined to the bottomless pit for 1,000 years, after which he'll be released to wreak havoc upon the world one last time. Then {{God}} [[CurbStompBattle will smoke Satan's entire army]] at the FinalBattle, and then [[HumiliationConga he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire to stay]].

* ''Fanfic/JWITCHSeason1'' (''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' & ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}''): "A Jolly J-WITCH Xmas" has [[TheKrampus Krampus]], who was long ago sealed in an Arctic tomb by Saint Nicholas and his elf allies, who built their monastery over him to maintain the seal. [[CoDragons Wong and Cedric]] attack the monastery to free him and unleash him on the Guardians [[spoiler: but he's ultimately defeated and re-sealed]].

* ''The Blob'':

* Khan Noonien Singh and his cryogenically frozen followers in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', when they're abandoned on Ceti Alpha V (which the crew of the ''Reliant'' mistake for Ceti Alpha VI after a natural disaster alters its orbit and destroys its environment).

* In the ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' universe, Yggdrasil was created as the Can to [[UpToEleven end all Cans]], serving simultaneously as a power-source to allow someone to fight [[EldritchAbomination Surtur]] [[spoiler: a.k.a. the First Dark Phoenix]] on something approximating the same level (enough to stall him, at least), as a cosmic scale prison to keep Muspelheim locked away, and a complex locking mechanism to keep Surtur trapped in Musphelheim once he's lured there and siphon off his power. [[TailorMadePrison Needless to say,]] [[TheAlliance the Alliance of Realms]] were ''very'' thorough when they put it together.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Midnight}}'': There is the evil god Izrador, who was sealed (along with some other beings) in the world of Aryth. The bad part? Your characters live on Aryth and they're also sealed there. Not only is the evil in the can but you're in the can with it. CrapsackWorld indeed.

* In the backstory of ''FanFic/AgesOfShadow'', Jade is sealed in the Shadow Realm by her family after her FaceHeelTurn, after more mundane ways of locking her up failed. Her entire plot during the Third Age (Chapters 3-6) is to gather the power to escape this imprisonment. [[spoiler: Ultimately, Trace fixes the flaw in the seal that let her communicate with other worlds, locking her away for good.]]

* In ''FanFic/TheEquestrianWindMage'' continuity, [[GodOfEvil Majora]] has been imprisoned in the Dark World for countless years. The entire plot is driven by his minions working to free him.

* In addition to [[BigBad Discord]] (who is imprisoned as in canon at the beginning of ''Reharmonized Ponies''), the ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'' has several others. One is [[{{Satan}} Morning Star]], Celestia's [[FallenAngel Fallen Alicorn]] brother, who was imprisoned for trying to take over the universe after deciding he was better than [[TopGod the Elders]] and being as evil as Discord if not worse. He was released by Havoc to fight in the Alicorn/Draconequi War, where he was either killed (though considering Evil still exists, he wasn't killed as thoroughly as it's possible to kill a God) or imprisoned in Hell (Havoc's domain) after the war as part of the peace treaty between the two according to WordOfGod. Another recurring one is Grogar, a G1 Franchise/MyLittlePony villain and (in this series) {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} {{Expy}} who is sealed away in another dimension. It's stated he returns every five hundred years unless stopped and has to be resealed. In his case it may be justified because, in [[BadFuture Dark World]], he's been shown to be powerful enough to go toe to toe with [[RealityWarper Discord]] and have a chance of winning. Discord shows a great deal of anger that Grogar doesn't seem all that mad about this, in direct contrast to Discord himself, who can't ''stand'' his can.

* Double Subverted in [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6263444/1/Transition Transition]] after [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Jinx and Raven]] teleport back to earth unconcious the police put her into a CryoPrison due to her increased power levels, what they don't know is: A) [[SealedGoodInACan Jinx isn't a villain any more]] and B) Her powers are now semi autonomous like Ravens, meaning putting her in cryosleep doesn't turn them off, it lets them do anything they want to get Jinx free [[TheUnfettered without her mind holding them back]] with things like [[LeakingCanOfEvil "concern for collateral damage" or "ability to tell friend from foe"]].

* [[spoiler: Herobrine]] is this in [[http://kleinerkiller.deviantart.com/gallery/41037509 Yognapped]]. Eons ago, [[PhysicalGod Notch]] sealed him away beneath the bedrock, where he waited until [[spoiler: Peva]] set him free. He then goes on a rampage to destroy [[spoiler: his brother's]] land. [[spoiler: It's revealed just before his defeat that he isn't really evil, and that Notch is a manipulative {{Jerkass}}]].

* The ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fanfiction ''FanFic/ImperfectMetamorphosis'' has both [[spoiler:Rin Satsuki]] and [[spoiler:the Shadow Youkai]], who were sealed in the different ways and for different reasons, although while they're both thought of as evil only one of them actually is. The characters involved in the sealings also spend a lot of time justifying them, which ultimately boils down to the two being too damn tough to kill and requiring a different method.
* [[spoiler: Daemon]] from the ''FanFic/TamersForeverSeries'', Subverted in that he breaks ''himself'' out.
* ''FanFic/TimeLordsAndTerror'': The plot is [[TheHeavy driven]] by [[WickedWitch Hydia]]'s attempts to unleash [[EldritchAbomination the S'muz]], in her misguided belief that it will aid her in her plans. [[spoiler: She manages to free it, but after it kills her, the Mane Six proceed to use the Elements of Harmony to destroy it.]]
** In the sequel ''FanFic/MinesOfDragonMountain'', it turns out that the reason the Grundels are attacking the Diamond Dogs is because they fear that their [[DugTooDeep mining operations will unleash]] [[spoiler: [[GodOfEvil Tirac]]]] from his imprisonment in the mountain. [[spoiler: Tirac himself, meanwhile, is undergoing his own GambitRoulette to release himself.]]
* ''FanFic/{{Eugenesis}}'' has Unicron still [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel sealed inside the Matrix]], which proves to have been a bad decision all round. Not only does it weaken Rodimus just to hold the Matrix, it means he can't even use it for fear of letting Unicron lose. As the follow-up stories show, Unicron's mere presence proves corruptive, subverting the mind of an Autobot who came too close to an invalid Rodimus, and turning the Matrix Flame [[PaintItBlack black]].

* In ''[[FanFic/PokemonMysteryDungeonReflectingBalance Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Reflecting Balance]]'', it is eventually revealed that the main villain was sealed into a magical stone chest by his twin sister, and broke free from his imprisonment shortly before the story began.

* In the 2015 ''Film/{{Goosebumps}}'' movie, every monster Creator/RLStine ever wrote actually exists, locked away within their book's manuscript. Then someone unlocks one of the books...

* Franchise/{{Marvel Cinematic Universe}}

** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': [[spoiler:Khan; a former EvilOverlord accused of war crimes, and his crew of [[{{transhuman}}s Augments]] were cryogenically frozen for centuries in a derelict ship... until Starfleet Intelligence found him. He ends the film this way, too]].

* ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'': Inside Baylord Yama's floating fortress, the cage, it's said that a gigantic beast is imprisoned that he fought and defeated. [[spoiler: It turns out the prisoner is really his older brother Baylord Doom, who's also being used as the real source of the power of the canine people in the Cage.]] In a further twist, when the Sealed Evil is released by rebellious canine people, [[spoiler: he ultimately turns out less like an overwhelming threat and more like a potential puppet for the ManBehindTheMan.]]

* In ''WebComic/FlakyPastry'', Nitrine discovers that Moirganae (the evil vampire created by Morgana) has been trapped in the belt-buckle of her PoweredArmor for all the time since their fight. Moirganae promises to fight Nitrine's enemies and suck their blood whenever she gets summoned – until she becomes powerful enough to free herself, that is. Then she'll kill Nitrine.

->''"Old folk saying: 'You can catch the devil, but you can't hold him long.'"''

* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'': One of the prophecies for [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Armageddon]] is "An ancient evil breaks its bonds." One of the possibilities for fulfilling this is Magog, Demon Prince of Cruelty, who was sealed in an ancient Egyptian tomb exactly one day after falling from Heaven.

* ''FanFic/{{Eugenesis}}'' has Unicron still [[ComicBook/TheTransformers sealed inside the Matrix]], which proves to have been a bad decision all round. Not only does it weaken Rodimus just to hold the Matrix, it means he can't even use it for fear of letting Unicron lose. As the follow-up stories show, Unicron's mere presence proves corruptive, subverting the mind of an Autobot who came too close to an invalid Rodimus, and turning the Matrix Flame [[PaintItBlack black]].