History Main / GoldMakesEverythingShiny

* In tale type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children", of the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, the mother of the wonderful children may promise to bear children with hair of (literal) gold (along with silver), or, as it happens in East Slavic stories, with legs of gold up to the knee.

* In many variants of tale type ATU 425A, "The Animal (Monster) as Bridegroom" (a subtype that pertains to the tale type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband", to which ''Myth/CupidAndPsyche'' belongs), after the heroine loses her enchanted/cursed husband, she travels to the houses of three old women or witches, where she is given three nuts (e.g., generic nuts, walnuts, almond nuts, hazelnuts). The heroine reaches the kingdom where her husband is, where he is also to be married to another woman, and cracks open the nuts to produce wonderful objects she uses to bribe a false bride for three nights with her husband. Depending on the tale, the nuts may produce splendid dresses, apparatuses related to spinning (e.g., a reel or a loom), or more extravagant objects, like a golden carriage or a golden hen with six chicks. The objects are almost always gilded or of a golden colour, which entices the false bride to buy them from the heroine.

[[quoteright:330:[[Franchise/TheLittleMermaid https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/transparent_gold_ariel.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:Ariel, the 24 karat mermaid.]]

** ''Art/TheKiss'' features a tender embrace between lovers who melt together in gold.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' features the gigantic crab-like monster Tamatoa, whose ego drives him to decorate his shell in golden treasures dredged from the ocean floor. It's even the entire subject of his VillainSong.

* One episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' features a golden Sudowoodo, which gains said tone in a scientific attempt to render its weakness to water void.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', you can dye your gear with metallic gold paint to give the appearance of everything you wear looking like shiny gold.

* Several toys get limited edition gold variants, like [[Film/{{Transformers}} 70s Bumblebee]], [[Toys/BBSenshiSangokuden Ryubi, Kan-U and Chouhi Gundams]] and so on.

A SuperTrope to MadeOGol, GoldColoredSuperiority (makes things better as well as just being better), GoldToothOfWealth, and VillainousGoldTooth.

A SuperTrope to MadeOGold and GoldColoredSuperiority (makes things better as well as just being better).

A SuperTrope to GoldTooth, MadeOGold, and GoldColoredSuperiority (makes things better as well as just being better).

* ''VideoGame/MarioKart'':
** ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash'' has the Parade Kart, a fancy gold car which is used to carry the winners in the award ceremony at the end of each Grand Prix, and is also [[InfinityPlusOneSword the last playable kart to be unlocked and the one with the best overall stats]].
** ''VideoGame/MarioKart7'' and ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 8]]'' both have Gold vehicle parts, which are usually the last parts unlocked. They resemble the Standard Kart, Wheels, and Glider, but have different stats, generally being [[MightyGlacier less maneuverable with higher top speed and weight]].
** There's also [[ChromeChampion Pink Gold Peach]] in ''8'', the DistaffCounterpart to Metal Mario. She's like Peach, but made of pink gold. The ''Deluxe'' version also adds Gold Mario, which is just a gold version of Metal Mario.

* ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'': Taken to extremes, in which a large part of the game revolves around amassing a ludicrous number of golden coins. Golden versions of regular enemies such as Goombas, Koopas and Piranha Plants abound, and the new Golden Fire Flower power-up turns Mario himself to gold, enabling him to chuck golden fireballs that turn enemies and blocks into coins.
* ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'': This concept is invoked in the Golden Plains stage (based on world 1 of ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2''). Fighters can collect coins on this stage, and acquiring 100 will turn them to gold and strengthen the knockback of their physical attacks. Come ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', this stage and its gold gimmick returns, and, additionally, when summoned from a Pokéball, [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Xerneas]] will turn its summoner gold with its Geomancy move and bestow the same power boost.

** Iron Man's armor in his [[''Film/IronMan'' first ] [[''Film/IronMan2'' two]] movies and ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' shines brightly due to being made of a titanium-gold alloy. It is to be noted, however, that the shininess decreases later on.

* {{Franchise/Barbie}}'s 1994 HappyHolidaysDress was of simulated gold lamé; trimmed with white fur. Two of Eden's dresses, and the Ghost of Christmas Past's dress, are decorated with gold. Eden's red dress even has a gold GiantWaistRibbon.

* ''VideoGame/MarioKart [[VideoGame/MarioKart7 7]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 8]]'' both have Gold vehicle parts, which are usually the last parts unlocked. They resemble the Standard Kart, Wheels, and Glider, but have different stats, generally being [[MightyGlacier less maneuverable with higher top speed and weight]].
** There's also [[ChromeChampion Pink Gold Peach]] in ''8'', the DistaffCounterpart to Metal Mario. She's like Peach, but made of pink gold. The deluxe version also adds Gold Mario, which is just a gold version of Metal Mario.

* Taken to extremes in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'', in which a large part of the game revolves around amassing a ludicrous number of golden coins. Golden versions of regular enemies such as Goombas, Koopas and Piranha Plants abound, and the new Golden Fire Flower power-up turns Mario himself to gold, enabling him to chuck golden fireballs that turn enemies and blocks into coins.
** This concept was brought into ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros 4'', restricted to the 'Golden Plains' stage (based on world 1 of ''NSMB 2'' described above). Fighters can collect coins on this stage, and acquiring 100 will turn them to gold and strengthen the knockback of their physical attacks. Come ''Ultimate'', this stage and its gold gimmick returns, and, additionally, when summoned from a Pokéball, [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Xerneas]] will turn its summoner gold with its Geomancy move and bestow the same power boost.

** The ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow'' duology had Joyeuse, a gold sword.

* King K. Rool in the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games has his chest and belly in a shiny gold compared to his normal green reptilian skin everywhere else. In the first game, he also sports a gold crown and gold bracelets.

** Meta Example: The two original NES games came on shiny gold cartridges; the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI first game]]'s box even had a cutout showing it off. A limited edition run on both ''Ocarina'' and ''Majora's Mask'' also came on a matte-gold cart.[[note]]The ''Ocarina'' cartridge was merely a bronze-tan plastic painted with gold fleck, the ''Majora's Mask'' one was cast in swirly golden plastic - the type that Franchise/{{Transformers}} fans have grown to fear because of a condition called [[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Gold_Plastic_Syndrome Gold Plastic Syndrome]].[[/note]] Quite a few other games have gold colored items including discs, game cases and certain accessories (such as a limited edition gold wiimote for ''Skyward Sword'' or a limited edition gold New 3DS for the launch of ''Majora's Mask 3D''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', after Chester Lampwick wins the lawsuit to prove he invented Icthy and Scratchy, he buys a solid gold house.

* Golden armor shows up as items in some ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' has golden swords, but like you'd expect ([[TheCoconutEffect or perhaps not]], given how nearly all other [=RPGs=] treat gold) these are useless as weapons. They [[VendorTrash sell for a neat price]] though. They're found in [[MeaningfulName Goldor's]] mansion, which happens to be made entirely of gold.