History Main / CrystalSkull

In the 20th century, skulls made of crystal were showing up, with people claiming to have discovered them, and that they had Mayan or Aztec origins, and were said to have supernatural powers. Well, it's likely these were hoaxes. Not only were no skulls examined found in a documented excavation, all were dated from no earlier than the 19th century, and there are no authentic Native American or early modern colonial sources that describe anything analogous.

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* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' has a monster card called "Crystal Skull" that damages the user's Life Points when it's summoned.

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* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' had them as the skulls of extra-dimensional aliens with whole skeletons made of crystal.

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* A crystal skull was found in a giant alien pyramid in ''Series/StargateSG1''. It matched one found in an ancient Mayan temple back on Earth. Apparently, Quetzalcoatl was actually a giant alien - [[AllMythsAreTrue no surprise there]] - and the skulls are a way of contacting him.

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* The ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' 3E supplement ''Warehouse 23'' has an entry on a Crystal Skull. It's a FamouslyMundaneFictionallyMagical version of a crystal skull that was found in RealLife in British Honduras in the 1920s. It allows its owner to cast the Divination spell, and it can use all Telepathic powers on its own.
** Their rather humorous site related to said {{sourcebook}} also has a number of related artifacts submitted by fans. Such as a headless Crystal Skeleton.

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* A crystal skull was a powerful item sought in the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/GoldieGoldAndActionJack''.

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* In June of 2012 we learned that KarateBears skulls are actually [[http://www.karatebears.com/2012/06/crystal-head.html crystal skulls!]]

* A crystal skull was a powerful item sought in the first episode of ''GoldieGoldAndActionJack''.
* The second season of ''[[WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' had a continuing plot of collecting the 13 crystal skulls. When they are brought together, one wish is granted to the bearer.

* All of the real crystal skulls, including the most notorious, the [[http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/mitchell_hedges/facts.html Mitchell-Hedges Skull]], that have been subjected to scientific examination, have been determined to have been constructed using twentieth-century tools and machinery.

* "[[AtlantisTheLostTales Atlantis]] III: The new world" revolves around a crystal skull that contains the secret to humanity's evolution.

* ''ArthurCClarke's Mysterious World'' used a crystal skull in its opening titles.

* In an epic example of WharCouldHaveBeen, a planned but never filmed episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' would have featured an archaeologist studying the ruins of an ancient civilization (the "Faran Empire," of which the Ferengi homeworld was said to be a former colony). She finds a Crystal Skull that is said to have belonged to a line of ancient rulers. The Skull influences Riker's behavior and he becomes increasingly aggressive and egotistical while leading an away mission that is competing with the Ferengi to obtain the skull (it's the Ferengi equivalent of the Holy Grail) and learn the secrets of the Faran Empire. The episode would have ended with the destruction of the skull and the end of its influencing powers.

* The British Museum now describes its crystal skull as "most-likely produced in the nineteenth century in Europe". A scientific examination of this skull and one owned by the Smithsonian Institute suggested that they had been shaped using lathe-mounted jewellers' wheels.

* DoctorSteel had a song called "Curse of the Crystal Skull", about greed for such an object that dooms a pirate.

* The ''{{GURPS}}'' 3E supplement ''Warehouse 23'' has an entry on a Crystal Skull. It's a FamouslyMundaneFictionallyMagical version of a crystal skull that was found in RealLife in British Honduras in the 1920s. It allows its owner to cast the Divination spell, and it can use all Telepathic powers on its own.

* In an episode of ''PeepShow'', Mark meets a woman whom he actually likes. Too bad for him she fervently believes in the magical powers of crystal skulls. [[ManHands This is a bit much for him.]]

* ''Film/ThePhantom'' revolved around gathering three mystic skulls carved entirely from precious materials.

In the 20th century, skulls made of crystal were showing up, with people claiming to have discovered them, and that they had Mayan or Aztec origins, and were said to have supernatural powers. Well, it's likely these were hoaxes. Not only were no skulls examined found in a documented excavation, all were dated from no earlier than the 19th century.

* The original legend, the [[http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/mitchell_hedges/facts.html Mitchell-Hedges Skull]]. It was later believed to be a hoax, as drill holes that were discovered to be done with a modern metal bit were found in the skull.