| abstract | - Seeking to live forever, or even just for a really really long time, is often portrayed as just plain wrong. The rationales for this viewpoint fall into two basic categories: 1: Immortality is achieved through ethically dubious forms of Applied Phlebotinum. 2: Immortality is bad in and of itself, even if attained without using evil means. Perhaps it's "meddling in God's domain", which tends not to end well for the meddler. From a secular viewpoint, perhaps immortality is bad for society even if it's great for individuals. Some works suggest that immortality in itself is damaging to valuing other people's lives: if most people's lifespans seem to pass in the blink of an eye for you, why care if they end slightly earlier? This trope focuses on immortality viewed by others as a bad thing, as distinct from Who Wants to Live Forever?, which focuses on the immortal character feeling that eternal life is a curse rather than a blessing. It may come up in discussions of The Singularity, as immortality and moving beyond traditional principles of human thought are seen by some as some of its defining characteristics. The trope may result in a Broken and/or Anvilicious Fantastic Aesop. Expect anyone going ahead with these plans to become Enemies with Death. Also note that there are generally many kinds of immortality: Biological immortality (live "until killed", like Tolkien's elves) is usually natural, and full immortality rarely is (except for gods). A person actively seeking the latter is almost always evil (The Epic of Gilgamesh being a notable exception, although even there the same basic Fantastic Aesop of "Mortal Man should not seek to rise above his station" was enforced). See also Immortality and its subtropes. Examples of Immortality Immorality include:
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