A TV series about a fairytale lawyer who helps people navigate out of predatory mystical contracts would be great.

I think this is why I find Eris very interesting in the Sinbad animated movie. Despite her being a Goddess of Chaos, she fulfilled the end of her deal, even when she has been embarrassed publicly. I was expecting her to renege on her deal with Sinbad and pull out a "gotcha!" moment but she stood by her word and knew when she lost.

I like to think that the issue of contracts is explained by two things: 1.- As a way to demonstrate that villains are not just wild monsters with disordered thoughts and that they can become quite educated and refined, surpassing even heroes in terms of charisma 2.- As an example of how their influence and manipulation capabilities can corrupt even the legal spheres

Story idea: a lawyer gets isekai’d into a magical world and defeats the big bad by using his/her extreme penchant for memorizing law and contracts

My DM wrote up an entire contract for the big bad of one of our campaigns. Pages of nonsense from essays and blog posts about everything from The Big Bang Theory to Plato. Lines of Egyptian hieroglyphs and weird symbols. And one tiny tiny line hidden deep in the middle of it all, promising our characters souls to the big bad. It was really something to behold, and fitting for something that turned out to be a chaos God.

"Its nothing personal. Its just business" *rolls a long ass paper that wraps around the world* "Sign here"

As a lawyer who got a B in Contracts in law school, I think this absolves me of being a villain.

I remember an interesting story involving a contract between a kingdom and a dragon. The dragon defends the kingdom, and the kingdom pays a tribute to the dragon. The moral was that the dragon was defending the neighboring kingdoms by keeping the kingdom it was defending too poor to raise an army to go to war.

Rather than finding a loophole, I would like to see a protag win against the demon by malicous compliance, honouring the contract to the most painful effect foer the demon, basically doing to the wishmaster what the wishmaster intended to do to the protag.

2 reasons actually: 1. the "deal with the devil" phenomenon 2. there's nothing more evil than being legally unable to do something about it, especially when "you consented, this is what you wanted right?" making it a guilt-trip as well, while the villain is taking advantage of you... it is the purest way of screwing someone over.. which is probably why _some_ people think lawyers are sociopaths

One of my absolute favorite forms of a "contract" actually came in the anime No Game No Life. Where the beast race forces any that play by their rules to sign a contract to never share information of the games they play so long as they live. The king of Imanity abides by this, and loses. But he plays the long con, and instead of speaking it... writes down everything in a hidden journal that Sora and Shiro, the new King and Queen, find and use to beat the Beast race. It's an incredibly smart way of using your own death to cheat the contract.

The idea of a demon ending up as boiler fuel in a steam cruise ship is hilarious.

I remember making a joke contract with my younger brother, who bragged that he could go a month without sugary snacks or junk food. His words were that it would be extremely easy and he would do it for $30. I clearly stated that he wouldn't be able to get fast food, pastries or any chocolate or candy for the month, else he'd have to pay me back $9 for every time he failed. He didn't last 2 weeks lol. I let him keep the money because the whole thing was way too funny to watch. Update: clearly he hasn't learnt his lesson of not taking challenges because just last night he bragged he could survive a week without electricity for $100. Boy you have no idea how much you'll suffer... No, I am not going to do that. He is 14 and most of his homework is online anyway. I'm a sadist but not that much.

I like the concept that the broker is very powerful, if not already a reality bender of the sort, that likes to cause mayhem and despair, but still offers a contract because enjoys even more knowing the cause of misfortunes was the signer that either or both agreed with shady terms or fell for the written trap.

As someone who plays the game, I don't typically see Morax (Zhongli/Rex Lapis) pop up in my writing advice videos and you can imagine my happy surprise lol. I find his role as the god of contracts and his moral greyness very interesting and very fitting for him as a character and many of the characters from Genshin are morally grey in their own way

What I really like about Contracts is the civility of them. It could be predatory, it could be desperate, but it's almost always the embodiment of Lawful Evil. Nobody likes being forced to do something, give something up, what have you, even if they don't have to do much at all or if the deal is almost entirely beneficial. They're putting themselves onto a playing field that impossibly manages to be both advantageous and vulnerable. My favorite part is in the case where a deal is broken. What happens? Does anything happen at all? Are they even allowed by the rules of the universe to break the deal? It's all very interesting.

My favorite instance of this is probably the Subcon Forest chapter of A Hat in Time. Basically every mission is laid out in the form of a contract from a being called the Snatcher, and while he does force Hat Kid (the player) into the first one in exchange for her soul cuz he needs a new lackey for a bit, they *are* all mutually beneficial cuz you get one of the main collectible things for doing each one. Best part is after the inevitable boss battle, he writes up a new contract to make Hat Kid leave and even gives her soul back and another of the important collectibles with no strings attached... only for Hat Kid to scribble all over this contract's original terms of "get out" and "take all your junk" and replace them with her own conditions of "stay and have fun" and "be my bff". Love that lil chaos gremlin of a kid XD

When you pulled out the contract and said “deal?” All the contract red flags the media has shown me went off. That line was hilarious

I've always enjoyed the trope of the gracious deity, devil or otherwise ascendant being who's quite pleased to be 'beaten' and sends the hero off with applause. Asmodeus from Pathfinder is quite like that. Every contract has an out, including the creation contract that states someday all creation will become his to rule. He is always given greater pleasure in dealing with clever people who outwit his (or his servants') contracts than he is in winning, though he enjoys that too.

One of the most satisfactory stories involving contracts is the anime *Puella Magi Madoka Magica* in which the terms of the contract are faithfully but maliciously fulfilled in such a way as to drive the signer mad until...well you'd need to see the series finale but suffice it to say its very satisfying.

Can be explained in three words, that being "The fine print"

7:55 I'm sure it's been said countless times, but "Devil Went Down to Georgia" is such a fun story/song. Johnny literally said "Yeah sure, we can have a violin-off; I don't care if what I'm doing is against God himself because there is no way I'm letting the Devil walk around thinking he's better than me at fiddling." (I also like to consider the Primus cover music video as canon) where instead of the fiddle being forgotten about after being rewarded to Johnny, Johnny instead just punts the fiddle back to the Devil because he didn't even want the reward in their deal, he literally just wanted to flex on Satan. And as a side-note for those who haven't heard the legendary classic somehow: the Devil straight up cheats and brings in a whole demon band complete with an insane walking bassline, my dude still loses.

I'd love an exploration into other types of contracts that show up in stories, like divine contracts. A contract between a mortal and a divine entity that gives them power but can be taken away if the mortal does something specific and/or has a loophole that can be exploited but only if the signee gives it away to the villain (think Samson and Delilah). Or maybe even contractors where the being with power has a neutral morality and is not seeking to get anything out of the character and the story is about how they choose to use/abuse that power.

Madoka Magica - What makes it stand out is that the "Contract making Villain" is tough to classify as a Villain

One very interesting kind of reaction to these kind of "supernatural contracts" that wasn't mentioned in this video is the way most Devil contracts are set up in Chainsawman; the power of human stubbornness. It leads characters to go knowingly into contracts with devils that often physically mutilate them as part of the terms, and can shorten their lifespan by decades, in return for the power to do *something* the character thinks the value of which trumps any such payment to the devil whose power they'll be borrowing. Things like revenge, or loyalty, or "power", but not the kind to stay in power with, but to change the future framework within which power is held. And considering the devils in CSM are the physical manifestations of humanity's fears, the dynamic becomes even stranger. People willingly and knowingly giving parts of themselves up to incarnations of fear, because they're too stubborn not to.

My favorite version of this trope is the "dapper devil" who tricks characters into making a deal with him, like Bill Cipher or Maxwell the puppet master.

One of the unique things that other Main characters NEVER do, is try to edit the contract to make it more... fair, which is what A Hat in Time does (although it's in a funny non-serious way)

I'd love to see a situation where the villain repents but is unable to do the right thing because he is still bound to his agreement as the broker.

I love these types. One especially well written one that comes to mind is Bill Cipher, as he both comes into existence to make a contract and is erased from existence by making a contract.

I've always been quite fond of contracts as a plot device, to the point where I've made the protagonists of a few of my stories "Brokers". Clever by nature, actively seeking deals with others, but always, ALWAYS, bound by their word, no matter how poorly that might go for them.

Ariel, in the animated Disney adaptation, signed the contract to be able to go to the human world and be a part of it, something she always wanted. Eric was just the catalyst that Ursula used to help sell the deal even more. Ursula is such a salesman that she has convinced the audience that it was only ever about a chance at love. I actually do have an idea about how to use this now but I will save that for my next work. That is if I can ever finish my current one.

I am truly happy that you showed genshin impact "God of contacts" as one of the examples! As not all people who are bond by contacts are evils as zhongli shows it, although he wants to give information about the protagonist's sibling,he can't because he is bound by his own contact with a superior power of their world just so he could protect his nation. He is like one of the people who is actually a good person but must do bad things to keep his loved ones save.

So I feel like this video missed an important Broker archetype that bears mentioning: Brokers whose power is inherent in or who compulsively make contracts. Devils who can only operate between ink on parchment or a Fae who can’t turn down a favor freely offered. Gives an interesting weakness for heroes or greater villains to exploit and sets up boundaries for operations.

A version of this that's a personal favorite of mine is in the indie game A Hat In Time, specifically with the devilish character Snatcher and the slippery player character Hat Kid. It's a situation of "sign it or die" at first, but there are multiple clear-cut contracts that you can sign only if you step into his traps. These are contracts so clear cut in fact that Snatcher both isn't affected and, as he comments, isn't legally obligated to reward you for their completion. These contracts are, as an aside, things he could very easily do himself, but he doesn't because why bother when a contractor could do it for him? But he also rewards you anyways, out of principle to motivate you into doing more. What's most interesting is what happens afterwards. He gives you what you initially put on the line (after trying to kill you and you whooping his butt) and doesn't actively try to kill you again. He may be butthurt about it, but if you sign his Death Wish contracts, he makes sure you don't actually "die" so that you can complete them proper. Even makes it easier if you're struggling and gives little (sometimes helpful) tips on what to do. As a matter of fact, he becomes more and more friendly as a result of you besting him and sticking around to help him even when you didn't really need to. Even inviting you to mess with someone else he really doesn't like.

I like Snatcher from HiT. He wanted to be a lawyer and uses that in his contracts against people.

I think my favourite way this has ever been done is Rumplestilzkin in Once Upon a Time. He had making contracts down to a point, it was really well done. So much so that you sometimes wonder why other characters still make deals with him

One thing I would like would be a "Deal with the Devil" scenario, where the only thing the Devil gets out of the deal is the Signer's soul (or a bit of amusement), and the Signer, with their new power, go down a road of self-destruction and cosign themselves to evil. The Devil comes out, and the Signer blames them, and the Devil just tells them that the contract doesn't change them, they changed themselves.

Rumpelstiltskin and Genies are an interesting concept. Imagine having the power to do anything but you can only accomplish it by the will of another person to enter into an agreement with you.

Okay building that narrative of unforeseen consequences and jumping immediately into a Skillshare ad is perfect.

If you’ve ever played a hat in time, you would probably know about the character Snatcher. He is one of my favorite characters ever, on account of being a bit smug idiot making people do his dirty work with their life on the line. This video in particular made me think about the dynamic between him and the protag, Hat Kid. Of course, she was forced into it, you quite literally get an instant game over if you refuse the contract. So you’re forced to do Snatchers chores. But my favorite part of this all has to be the finale of the chapter, where Snatcher decided that you’re no longer of use and tries to kill you. What he didn’t anticipate however is that you win. He was so caught up trying to show off how powerful he is he didn’t think about this child having skill and cunning. After the fight is over, he tries to get you to sign a final contract, telling you to leave and never come back just so he doesn’t have to deal with you anymore. The best part? Hat kid edits the contract. She scribbles out everything and instead making it a contract saying “be my bff!!

Bill cipher’s handshake contracts made the story what it was TBQH. Absolutely great

I do like that you mention Ursula in the fact that her contract was fully legitimate, but she had to fully intervene to make the signer lose, or hope that they wouldn't be able to pay back. One of the better versions of this scenario.

Oh my god I was sooo happy when you showed Morax the lord of Geo and contracts from Genshin Impact! I love that game so much and the characters are all amazing!

One thing I really enjoy about contracts in the old editions of D&D, more specifically the Forgotten Realms was that you have Lawful Evil and Chaotic Evil. But one of the main differentiating factors between the two is HOW you end up in either of those places being the Abyss for CE or the Nine Hells of Baator for LE. Chaotic Evil's "recruitment" is just an abyss of broken and evil souls but there is an infinite amount of those souls since there's no real way of recruiting except for "being evil", whereas Lawful Evil's recruitment relied entirely on contracts. The souls that went to the Nine Hells of Baator were more powerful than the ones in the Abyss of Chaos, but also far more finite. They couldn't be deceitful contracts either, the signer had to know what was truly at stake - and still be either sound of mind enough or desperate enough to sign that contract that damned their soul. But if you did sign that contract, you effectively had an entire cult doing their absolute best to make sure that contract was binding - meaning actually fulfilling their part of the contract. I have no idea if this is still how it works however.

One of my favorite contracts from fiction was from an episode of iCarly. Sam convinces Freddy to sign a contract and work on her website, and they share the profit 50/50. By signing it, he has to make whatever changes she desires to improve the website. Exhausted and agitated he breaks the contract. Sam sells the website with all the improvements Freddy made, and the money Freddy was entitled to is no longer his. Sam made a seemingly fair contract, abused it to her advantage, and let signer break it, to reep the rewards of his work.

Signer: i want power! Broker: okay but first. Sign this contract. Signer: ho, do you want my soul in exchange? Broker: no, this is a liability contract. Signer: wait... what?

Another aspect of magical contracts that I've been thinking about recently is HOW the contracts are enforced. A fun aspect about magical contracts is that (from what I've seen) they are usually enforced by the natural forces of magic in the world, or by some magic put into the paper and ink. It is fun because it is different from how real life contracts work. Real life contract breaches basically work by having a neutral person look at he situation from the perspective of both parties (broker and signer), decides what the outcome of the situation should be, and then has powers or a system in place to enforce their decision. Something that I think would be cool to see more of is how natural forces are able to enforce social constructs, such as a contract. Or, alternatively, it would be cool to see a combination of real life and fantasy litigation; having a higher magical power that the broker and signer have to go to to settle the alleged breaching of the contract.

12:51 Nah. Sometimes, The Signer can the the Villain ones too. For example, money loan. In my place, When The Signer comes to The Broker, they begging for the money loaned, and after their contract signed, The Signer get the money and completely dissapear. And if The Broker managed to get intact with The Signer, they would show hostility towards The Broker, and tell them to fu*k off lmao

There’s also Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls. He’s a dream demon who often takes advantage of human ego and selfishness to further his own goals or get a leg up on those that oppose him, and it’s through the ability to put aside their ego for a more selfless cause that the characters defeat him.

The thing I always enjoyed most about Squid Games was in episode 2. The entire premise of the show is one (non-supernatural) deal with the devil, but it's also very clear that the characters' problems don't go away without the villains. Even if every villain in the TV show didn't exist, the characters would still be on the brink of financial ruin, and all the games really do is offer them an opportunity to get out, even if it is a terrible gamble.

D&D is a fantastic setting for contracts, because the outcome is not predetermined. You can spring the same contract on a hundred different parties and for each one it'll resolve itself in a totally different way, based on the players, their characters, the story so far, the setting, and who offers the contract, and the context in which it's presented.

i don’t know how to explain this but watching this video was so satisfying. he covered every base and every possible counter argument and addressed every aspect of these character’s experiences. love it.

I think specifically with the Fey Folk. Whether from D&D or any other work of fiction. It is usually not the thing stipulated in the contract that they want. It's the game that they want. They want that sparring match of wits. That doesn't mean they want to lose, but losing is part of the game too.

A very interesting look at contracts as a plot device! Thoughtful, insightful, and practical. Thank you for birthing this into the world!

I just saw this vid on my recommended… wow you just got yourself another subscriber bro. Keep up this amazing work.

I actually really like the fact that you talk about interesting plot points and character dynamics for people to play around with. It's helped me immensely when I've been stuck on how to write a specific scenario for something I'm working on, and helps me come up with unique ways to use these plot devices 👍

When it comes to contracts, my personal favorite source of inspiration is Rumple Stiltskin. Even though in his portrayal in media and stories didn't have that many contracts, the very upfront delivery of the terms of the contract without any hidden clauses while still getting ten times as the other party makes it a favorite of mine. The other being Lucifer from Lucifer with just owing a favor. Favor's are a powerful things, especially when it comes to powerful beings, you can't help but oblige. The best archetype of "contract brokers" or deal maker is the one that have nearly no other powers outside of making contracts and deals and just pure innate or learnt charisma

One of my favorite instances of contracts as a plot device is Subcon Forest's Snatcher from A Hat in Time. The way it's turned against him at the end is absolutely hilarious.

“No, no, Johnny - it's all you. You're the best. And I'm your greatest fan. The posters, the video games, the crowds screaming, chanting, "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny." It makes me so proud. It's like watching an investment that keeps growing and growing until the day you cash it in.” - Mephisto, Ghost Rider 2007

As a dedicated fan, I can't help but be captivated by the incredible visual effects you bring to your videos. They are truly awe-inspiring and serve as a testament to your talent and expertise. Thank you for continually pushing the boundaries of creativity😘

I think the contract idea happens in stories often also because it's a scary thing that happens alot in the real world. It's relatable.

The voodoo guy in the opening is one I like. He can't use his power for himself, so the contract allows him to use his power for someone else and manipulate the situation.

I've actually got a story right now that employs this very concept of magical contracts, but I've sort of flipped it on its head where the broker is the hero. The most interesting bit I've noticed is how it makes it very easy to write out character arcs, when characters are at an impasse, their willingness to sacrifice something dear to them to accomplish an important goal can be a nice twist to show who they really are. Heroes can be made with a contract and villains revealed and exposed with another.

I actually did walk away with new ideas. I hope that one day when I'm published, you will be among the ones reading them. Contracts have always played a big part in the world I do most of my writing / DMing in, and are integral to the way magic works in the world. As a fairly new fan of your channel, I clicked this as soon as I saw you posted it. Then I paused when you posed it as a deal and stopped to look for any fine print I could find, then once satisfied I wasn't being duped, watched the rest. And it actually did give me a different perspective on HOW to approach some contractual stuff. I thank you, and hope I was correct in my assumption that no foul play and fine print was included to turn your assistance into a snare.

I can hear Alastor the Radio Demon saying 'So do we have a deal?' Also Slade in Team Titans - 'Moral of this story? Never make deals with interdimensional demons without some protection.'

In A Hat In Time a character known as The Snatcher forces the player to sign multiple contracts in order to not die. This results in the player having to do a bunch of task for The Snatcher which results in them being rewarded with time pieces. The Snatcher get's obset at this as he believes that everyone and everything that enters Subcon Forrest is his property and plans to kill the player after they are done with all of the contracts. After the player bests him in a boss fight The Snatcher tries to get the player to sign 1 more contract, ordering them to leave the forrest without them being allowed to collect the final time piece. The player character - Hat Kid - however tampers with the contract before signing it resulting in The Snatcher caving in and gifting her the final Time Piece.

The contract seems to me to be a method of long-term binding, one that the broker can more easily set the ramifications for while it remains in effect. In the case where there is a physical contract to sign rather than simply a verbal agreement or handshake, a sly broker could get very detailed about their "terms of service" such that the signer could be put on a very short leash without realizing it. There's also the case in which a magical broker's power _is_ the contract. Take Rumpelstiltskin from Shrek Forever After, his contracts are really his only source of magical power, otherwise he's not much of a threat beyond his Napoleon complex.

Literally a great part of what makes up No Game No Life, especially the Light Novels, and why I love the series. I eould even call it the essence of the story, or one of the essences of the story.

I would love to see a reversal of the villain broker in a story, rather than a villain who works through contracts because [insert evil reason here] you have a hero that deals strictly in contracts as part of his way of keeping people safe and doing the right thing. So far I've only seen something like this in a pair of anime: Log Horizon and Death March to a Parallel World. I think this has a lot of potential to be explored further...

This sent me down a rabbit hole to develop a story where the broker is our protagonist. As it occurred to me how uncommon that is, signers often have more aspiration and goals and less power, in which we found interesting. I’m excited to see how this character develops.

Tale this video is a banger i already know. Glad to see you still doing these. The Deal is one of my favorite themes in storytelling and the fact i immediately said deal at the intro is just comedy.

Hey I'm a relatively new subscriber and I've watched your videos every so often when they pop up in my feed. I just wanna say I love your voice and how you narrate your videos. Something about how you talk and how your voice sounds just kinda clicks for me with this kind of content.

Snatcher is easily one of my favorite characters in A Hat in Time, which is saying a lot bc that game’s characters are pretty much all top notch. While there’s more to him than the Contract aspect like the incredible writing and voice acting for him, the contract is still really good. He puts Hat Kid, the protagonist, in a place where they can’t refuse, bc if she does, he’ll kill her on spot. Another aspect I love about this scenario specifically is how it’s tied to the gameplay. A Hat in Time is a collectathon similar to Super Mario Sunshine that is split up into 5 worlds, 7 if you count the DLC, and all but 1 are split into a bunch of missions. In the Subcon Forest, the world with Snatcher, each of the 5 main missions are each directly tied to one of Snatcher’s contracts. Adding to the uniqueness of the situation, Snatcher is not defeated by finding a loophole in the contract. Instead, you throw a bottle of blue ink at him to make him vulnerable, not unlike a couple of the other bosses, which turn blue during the time that you can hit them, followed by Hat Kid annoying him so much that he just tells her to get out of his Forest.

I also think if the signer rejects the contract it shows a lot about what kind of person they are. Whether they’re fiercely independent, not tempted by material wealth or are so set in their morals they would rather take a chance at a worse situation than compromise what they think to be right. Also, great video! I’m writing a story with a short plot with a contract so this was really nice to see as a full perspective on the troupe/concept

I think an issue with Faeries is also that like... depending on the lore, they cannot OUTRIGHT lie, so they use cunning misguidances ( like contracts ) to get what they want without having to directly lie to the hero to get it.

One of the things about Contracts is the Jargon there is so much information in them that it overwhelms them, meaning even if there was a necessary way to get out of this its put in such away that people will not see it this, is why the contract is so useful

This trope originates from old pagan beliefs and superstition. Much like concepts such as guest rights and protections, etc. People believed there was power in their word and that if you made a bargain, you had to uphold it or else you'd be cursed or punished in some way, whether by gods or spirits or karma or whatever thing the culture happened to believe in at that given moment. It was so universal, that all beings were bound by it. Even the devil had to keep his word once given, enforced by either the will of the universe itself, God, or some combination of the two. Old stories are full of bargains and deals for this reason. It's kind of like how modern stories feature a lot of people that are really good at the shooty shooty or stabby stabby, but find endless hordes of mooks that can't aim. If any single one of the bad guys actually had decent aim, any non-divine, non-magical, non-hightech protaganist would simply die to a single head shot. But this never happens. Why? Because the storyteller wants the good guys to win, and they can't win if they get realistically killed. Contract stories are the same way. If a supremely powerful evil entity simply went around mass murdering people, it wouldn't make for a very interesting story and wouldn't make for an antagonist that good can overcome outside of using some kind of inhuman response to it, like their own super powerful magic/technology/other plot device. Most of these stories instead rely on humans just doing human things. Being clever. Being good. Being honest. Whatever traits society happened to value at the time the story was created. So you have rando humans overcoming far more powerful bad guys that have presumably done many deals with many people, and yet, they fail to see obvious flaws in their own contracts. Flaws that exist solely for the sake of the story, like when you're watching a crime solving oriented tv show and all these people miss the obvious clues but the protagonist just happens to see them. It isn't realistic most of the time, many of the clues being so obvious even the audience spots it, but its needed to give the illusion that the protagonist is more clever, observant, or intelligent than they actually are. You see the same thing with fights a lot. Lots of hype about how incredibly, unbelievably skilled a certain fighter is, but then when you actually WATCH the fight, they make big, broadly telegraphed attacks that are easily dodged and countered by the hero simply because the story teller wants the hero to win and look heroic. If you actually analyze the fight, it makes the person who was supposedly so skilled look rather bad at fighting in actuality. I read a LOT of old fairy tales, i'm talking about pre-Brother's Grim stuff, and you see a lot of tropes, story ideas, and general concepts get repeated again and again with slight twists and changes, all following this bizarre "fairy tale logic" that doesn't make sense today, but made perfect sense to people at the time based on what they believed. Many curses happened purely because of words spoken, rather than any spells taking place or even performed by magical people. What they said simply became true in some cases. The characters often know their weaknesses and tell others, then have those weaknesses used against them. For instance, there are a lot of Beauty and the Beast stories that were created as sort of moral tales to teach young girls to basically accept the fact they're being told to marry some much older man they've never met, with many of them being hideous to them, cruel, harsh, etc but basically being told to shut up and do what you're told and it'll all work out and you may come to realize he isn't as much of a monster as you originally thought he was after you deal with it for a while. These stories tend to have the man say things to the girl, some instruction they should always follow or some rule they should never break. For instance, there was one where a it was just literally a bear who lived in a castle and his rule was that every night when they slept together, she wasn't allowed to light a candle and see him after the light went out. Then, the one time she broke this rule, sometimes out of her own curiosity, sometimes because she was told to do so by her mother, it caused some horrible ramifications. The bear will say something along the lines of he was secretly a prince who was transformed into a bear and if she had just shut up and done what she was supposed to for a few more nights, he would've changed back, but because she dared to disobey him, the curse was made worse, and now he had to leave her or eat her or she was compelled to search for him, etc. There are hundreds of variations of this story, but it all bangs out to the same thing: obey your monstrous husband or else. The deal was always like this. Usually it was the girl, or her family, being given riches in return for her marrying the guy and doing what he said, but if she ever violated this contract by disobeying whatever rules he laid out, it all went south and the story would either have a bad ending or it would happen at the halfway point and the rest of the story was her being punished and/or trying to atone for it. Anyway, social contracts, deals, responsibilities, all this stuff was deeply ingrained in old cultures and customs. I imagine marriage deals may have even been the original, original, original very first case of this sort of thing. It was always kind of a big deal. Men traded their daughters like goods, and expected payment in return. Sometimes goats or chickens, sometimes land, sometimes someone else's daughter. But both people had to take each other at their word that they were both getting a good deal, that whatever was being traded wasn't defective or worth less than it was being presented. It is easy to see how such a concept would be very pervasive in cultures where dowries were such a big thing. Every man knew that one day he may have daughters he basically would have to sell, and every girl knew one day she would be sold. Humans have always been pretty awful to girls... But it does make sense that everyone involved, both men and women, would want these deals to be as equitable and truthful as possible. Perhaps that is how such a concept really originated, because I can tell you marriage based deals are EXTREMELY common in old stories, fairy tales, folk lore, and so on, perhaps the most common theme of all. It also makes sense for the power dynamic. Some people had lots of money, land, goods, or some other kind of power while others were much more poor. That power differential made it so the common folk wanted to believe those deals were just. If a poor farmer had an exceptionally beautiful daughter (which, judging by fair tales, is literally the only thing people cared about) he could sell her for more goods to a rich man and sometimes become rich himself, or at least far better off than he was. It isn't quite as exciting as making a deal with the devil for superhuman abilities, but suddenly having a couple of cows or a dozen goats when before you had none could be life changing under the right circumstances. Making stories to reinforce the idea of always honoring your deals and always making fair and equitable deals makes perfect sense.

I understand backing out of an agreement you were tricked into using legit loophole, but I remember one where the villain offered protection from a greater evil, and they wanted to be compensated with like,, a child they could adopt, since for some reason they couldn’t conceive one and they wanted a family. The villain provided the service, no tricks, but then the ‘hero’ did not and it felt, wrong. The ‘villain’ hadn’t done anything to trick or deceive them, the ‘hero’ just didn’t want to pay.

I saw this on my feed the day it came out and put it on my watch later. Now I love this video

One broker I really like is Rumplestiltskin from Shrek Forever After. He has magical powers but they're stuck in the form of sneaky contracts. With fine print that mean bad news for the signer or for him.

I feel we could do with one on curses that get turned around into something more or better. Finding that loophole is a very engaging plot. Its arguably a core of Brandon Sandersons magic design, where people have to find the magic system loophole.

I like the angle of a powerful being _needing_ to use contracts because they are already tied up in the stipulations of so many other contracts, some of which with other beings as powerful as they are, that the precise thing they are trying to accomplish through the signee actually _is_ impossible by their own hand.

Noone gonne talk about the absolutely magnificent visual depictions of what theyre saying? The art style is so cool the background so awesome, like the ammount of work this mustve took is actually insane, great video, and visuaos are even greater

bro this chanel is super cool honestly super glad it showed up

DnD Warlocks practically always sign a contract with their Patron, the contract typically details that I, the Patron, shall impart a fragment of my power unto thy signer and they shall work for me or thou shalt be revoked of thee powers. These Patrons are most commonly Fiends, Great Old Ones, or even a fey. Its either a trick, a trap, or an actual job for the signer and a worker for the Patron. Not all Patrons will screw you over but Fiends will mostly do so, Old Ones contracts will be written in eldritch and unintelligible, or Fey contracts will have double meanings to confuse signers. Not every Patron is evil and not all contracts are signed in blood....

"Never trust a demon. A demon has a hundred motives for anything he does. Ninety-nine of them, at least, are malevolent." -*Neil Gaiman's Sandman* Also, I did not expect to see Smiling Friends on Tale Foundry! Very pleasant sight!

The animations & The ideas are all top notch, Great videos, keep up the great work

This was really interesting and I'm going to use it as a lense to examine IRL social contracts and the notion of them themselves.

A hero is expected to follow a contract. Even a nonmagical one. If a hero breaks a contract they really lose a bit of their honesty and morals.

The book I’m writing now begins with a contract that backfires for the signer to the potential benefit of the broker but the signer comes up with a loophole the broker didn’t foresee that perfectly illustrates their character flaws and motivations. It took me years to perfect the contracts requirements but it finally works and this video was such an encouragement to all my hard work :)

What a fascinating video. It brings to mind any tacit agreements that we might make. Social/cultural contracts, even "deals" we would make with ourselves.

One of my favorite examples of magically binding contracts in fiction is probably the Geas Contract in the Type-Moon universe. They’re treated as a type of cursecraft, which already is an interesting approach to magical contracts, but also the rules set around them are cool. In-universe they can be signed under duress and the Mages Association wont bat an eye, and the terms for failing to uphold the agreement can be a forcible compulsion-like being physically unable to speak about a former employer’s business, to pull an example of a Geas Contract a player was put under in a Fate-themed tabletop game I was in. A really really cool take on magical contracts.

I think my favorite thing about the trope is that the act of having a contract often means the more powerful being has already blinked. They have the slightest thought in the back of their mind that the hero might win so the try to create a system in their favor and in doing that show their apprehension. It’s not always this way but when it does happen it often brings out the most interesting stories.

one of my FAVOURITE examples of contracts being used in fiction is in the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, or just more commonly known as Madoka Magica. if you have ANY interest in watching it (which i can't recommend it enough, it's one of my favourite pieces of media of all time), i don't suggest reading further into this comment because it's CRUCIAL you go into the show blind, BUT the spoiler free premise is; there are creatures in the human world called witches who can drive people to suicide and make them horribly depressed, but people go about their days unaware of them. the main character, young teenager madoka kaname, runs into this cat like creature named kyubey who states that he will grant madoka one wish of her choosing if she'll make a contract with him to become a magical girl, and fight these witches for the rest of her life. the new transfer student though, homura, is INSISTENT that madoka DOESN'T make a contract with him, but madoka's other friends mami and sayaka seem on board. madoka herself now has to decide whether to make a contract with kyubey or not, and watch how her friends react and how witches affect the world she lives in. there's so much more to the contract here though, but of course that's all not revealed until later- kyubey searches for innocent teenage girls to make contracts with and pray on their impulsivity and vulnerable moments to get them to make one. he's such an interesting character to see play out, it's absolutely amazing!! now i'm going to go into INCREDIBLY MASSIVE spoiler territory (like explaining basically the entire plot), so **do not read if you plan on watching the anime!!** . . . . . . . . . . . kyubey only ever explains the contract as "i'll grant you a wish, and you'll become a magical girl and fight witches", which is what makes it so interesting when the characters agree to it and when more gets revealed about the magic system they're in. in short, fighting witches rewards magical girls with grief seeds, which are used to clear their soul gems and restore their magical powers. their soul gems are actually the result of having their soul ripped out of their body, and placed into a gem that they have to carry with them, and they pilot their body through keeping their gem nearby. but if a magical girl doesn't use grief seeds, and falls into despair, too distraught to go on, they *become* witches themselves. it's an endless cycle of make a contract, fight witches until you become one yourself, and repeat. for all the good a magical girl does in fighting witches, they are doomed to release the same amount of damage back into the world once they witch. the only other way to die is to destroy their soul gem before turning into a witch. kyubey explains ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THIS, and actively prays on young teenage girls in vulnerable moments. mami made her wish to simply stay alive, after kyubey approached her in a car crash. sayaka was completely lovestruck and made a wish to heal her crush after he was told he could never play violin again. so to see the characters go through the motions, realize what they signed up for, is absolutely FASCINATING. sayaka is completely and utterly distraught to realize her soul isn't in her body anymore, she's not even human, how could her crush ever love someone who's not even alive?, yet kyubey is an emotionless species who simply can't understand why she would be so upset about it. sayaka herself ends up falling into despair after refusing to use grief seeds, and her rivals-to-lovers partner kyoko watches it all go down and has to carry sayaka's lifeless body away from the witch. madoka, the whole time, is trying to decide what her wish would be or if she even wants to make one at all, with homura in her ear telling her not to and slowly learning all the secrets of the system. what makes it even more interesting is homura knew all along- her wish was to redo her meeting with madoka, and so has gone through countless timelines trying to STOP madoka from becoming a magical girl and ultimately dying in a witch fight. the worst part of all of it is that, after tricking vulnerable teenagers into throwing their lives away for a system they're never properly made aware of, is that kyubey's alien species uses all of this as an energy source. he quite literally compares them all to cattle, explaining that the energy of the human emotions farmed from this system is beyond any other energy source out there. i wish i could properly do it justice, but kyubey's manipulation and misleading with the contract is phenomenally laid out and it's so fascinating to watch the whole system unravel. what appears to be an innocent magical girl anime ends up being such an existential ride of a 12 episode anime. and the whole time, kyubey remains ultimately unharmed- at least, his body can be regenerated every time homura tries to kill him. it's only at the end when madoka makes a wish so strong that she rewrites the fabric of reality that kyubey's contract gets defeated, although magical girls still exist and kyubey still appears to get energy from it- it's just that madoka (who's now practically god) will suffer the burden of their despair, so no one will ever turn into a witch. the fact that it takes a girl sacrificing her entire existence to live as a god, a concept who suffers the despair of every magical girl across almost every timeline to break kyubey's system is insane. he's such a chilling, unsettling character done so so well. the anime is such a treat to watch and i cannot recommend it enough. truly everything about it comes together and it's amazing. a contract that's so one sided yet kyubey doesn't even seem bothered by or conscious of the weight of his betrayal in the slightest, it's insane. and he's just a cute alien kitty cat the whole time.

Such a great video, let's see if I can use these new ideas this video gave me!

This actually gave me an idea for a cosmic horror series of short stories I've been working on.

The Devil from Cuphead: I’m a big bad who loves contracts so much I got 2 kids who gambled there souls away to get me 17 of the contracts. And then they fought back, beat me up, threw my beloved contracts into flames and “saved everyone” and now they’re “heroes.”

I remember a story in which the god of contracts had an avatar that through more and more contracts gained more and more powerful entities contractually obligated to help him. At one point, the character dies and multiple gods associated with death show up to claim him before one of them just puts his soul back and calls it a wash.

Just found your channel, and love your narrating. Definitely thinkign about rejoining Skillshare based on your recommendation.

7:56, love that you put in a Devil Went Down to Georgia reference.