History Main / GoldMakesEverythingShiny

* In some ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' games, golden chain and plate armor is the most powerful kind. (Justified because powerful armor and weapons in the game tend to be enchanted.)

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

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

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

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' the Sovereign are people with gold skin, gold architecture, and gold clothing (save for [[AnIceSuit their winter capes]], which are gold with [[PrettyInMink white fur]]).

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

** The GodEmperor of Mankind for example has Terminator armour (considered the best armour type in the game for human characters) that is entirely golden. However, it is made of Aurumite, a super hard material that just looks like gold. The Custodian Guard wear armor of the same material.

** The GodEmperor of Mankind for example has Terminator armour (considered the best armour type in the game for human characters) that is entirely golden. Though since 40k tends to have a love-hate relationship with reality and physics, whether the armour is actually solid gold or only gold-plated isn't clear, fan consensus is the latter though.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has the Lannister family, who coat everything with gold -- platemail, horse armor, even swords. However it's specifically mentioned that this is only gilding (not solid gold armor[[note]]which would of course be nearly useless[[/note]], as Tyrion Lannister falsely claims at one point to impress someone) designed to boost the image of the Lannisters as the richest and most awesome House in the Seven Kingdoms.

* Martel of ''Literature/TheElenium'' liberally decorated his armor with gold, thanks to the wealth he acquired as a mercenary. This came back to haunt him when [[spoiler: the added weight wore him down faster than Sparhawk in a duel, leading to his death]].

* Inverted in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', where gold pressed latinum is just to give something to hold the {{Unobtainium}}, not that the gold actually made it prettier, as replicators made it WorthlessYellowRocks. One episode mentions that gold does have some value, if only because there are civilizations out there that don't have replicators.

* Myth/ClassicalMythology: The fable of King Midas seemed to be against this trope, but the actual {{A|nAesop}}esop was actually BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, and being against {{Greed}}.
** ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' did a variation on that with a magic golden duck.

* Eastern Orthodox churches' interiors are designed to look mostly golden (sanctuary, chandeliers, etc), sometimes using actual gilding. Prayers written in Bysanthia are also pretty interesting though: one refers to Virgin Mary as a gilded doorknob. Although it would seem as a failed attempt at insult, it's supposed to be poetic and two metaphors are here: Jesus Christ is the door, and gilding back in their days was supposed to be incredibly beautiful; nowadays, gilding household appliances is just poor taste.

* There are gilded sets of armour in ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}''. This is not as extreme an example as sets of armour made out solid gold, though -- decorating armour with gold was not common practice, but there ''is'' historical precedent for it.

** 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]]Whole ''Ocarina'' 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''.

* ''Anime/SaintSeiya'': The Gold Saints

* ''ComicBook/RichieRich'' had an entire museum with objects made of gold, including a gold suit of armor, which a group of visiting aliens trade with diamonds, because they simply want to drive the people of their homeworld crazy with gold.
* ComicBook/UncleScrooge had an adventure getting the legendary Golden Fleece for a coat made of solid gold. Scrooge succeeds in his quest and gets his coat, but retrieves his old coat when he discovers that a coat made of solid metal has no insulating value and is thus intolerably cold to wear.

* The preview images of each chapter of ''[[http://alaxr274.deviantart.com/gallery/37280372 Hottie 3: The Best Fan Fic in the World]]'' is nothing but gold.

* A subversion from the "World's Strongest Robot" arc in ''Manga/AstroBoy''. An impressed Uran assumes Gesicht is made gold, but he tells her he's actually made from a special energy resistant alloy.

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

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' the man who won the lawsuit that he invented Icthy and Scratchy buys a solid gold house.

--> the Winkies gave Toto and the Lion each a golden collar; and to Dorothy they presented a beautiful bracelet studded with diamonds; and to the Scarecrow they gave a gold-headed walking stick, to keep him from stumbling; and to the Tin Woodman they offered a silver oil-can, inlaid with gold and set with precious jewels.
** And the Golden Cap, which is presumably golden in some manner, that allows the wearer to summon the Winged Monkeys thrice.

** And in medieval and Renaissance Europe, sumptuary laws dictate that only kings (and queens) are allowed to wear cloth of gold--garments made from gold thread.

** When the kings of France went insane of the bling bling, they started out by getting furniture made of ''solid silver'', but little later sanity returned (relatively speaking), and gilded wood became the norm.
* This is the case with the colonial Indonesian soldiers (KNIL I mean.) The Dutch thought that the islanders love shades of yellow (including gold, yes!) and their uniforms were decorated with tons of yellow/gold things...

Of course this is TruthInTelevision, but fiction will take it further, freely ignoring those pesky physical limitations of gold as a material (i.e. heavy and soft) -- [[BlingOfWar armor]] and [[BlingBlingBang weapons]] made of gold will be no heavier or softer than steel or iron (and frequently much more effective in combat); lamé will move as if it was silk. This can be ArtisticLicense just as often as it's carelessness.

And of course buying something like this is a good way to show ConspicuousConsumption. Having loads of things like this is common for a {{Fiction 500}} character. Heck, even if gold is WorthlessYellowRocks, that still means the writers could have gold put everywhere.

* The ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' [[AscendedFridgeHorror deconstructs]] this with the [[TheCaligula Emperor of the Tiste Edur]]. Every inch of his skin is [[GemEncrusted studded with gold coins]] which were [[BodyHorror burned into his flesh]], leaving what little skin remains visible horribly scarred. Additionally, the mass of gold is so heavy it has turned what used to be a LongHairedPrettyBoy into a hulking monster. And all that while the Tiste Edur [[WorthlessYellowRocks don't even care about gold]] and only use it in burial rituals to mock their [[ConspicuousConsumption wealth-worshipping]] neighbouring nation.

** Of course, a gold pickaxe can [[FastTunnelling bore through stone at an incredible rate,]] but only stone. And it still breaks easily.
** Gold armor looks pretty and shiny, but the protection they give is not much better than leather armor and it breaks just as fast. However, gold armor is still better than having no armor at all.

* Ever seen the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles Palace of Versailles]]? Some rooms don't seem to have a square inch without the stuff. And, yes, that includes mattresses.

* ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' has the world going crazy buying Wonka Bars in hopes of finding one of the five Golden Tickets -- which grant admittance to the titular FamedInStory factory -- beneath a wrapper.

[[quoteright:330:[[Disney/TheLittleMermaid https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/transparent_gold_ariel.png]]]]

* At the end of ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'', Ariel wears a [[CoolCrown gold tiara]] with her FairytaleWeddingDress.

* ''Disney/{{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.

* In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Moist von Lipwig takes to wearing a suit of gold-colored cloth to impress people.

** Meta Example: The two original NES games came on shiny gold cartridges; the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda 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]]Whole ''Ocarina'' 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''.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' really, ''really'' love gold, as seen in countless official art and studio paint jobs for their miniatures. The GodEmperor of Mankind for example has Terminator armour (considered the best armour type in the game for human characters) that is entirely golden. Though since 40k tends to have a love-hate relationship with reality and physics, whether the armour is actually solid gold or only gold-plated isn't clear, fan consensus is the latter though.

Because gold was so valuable throughout history (and since its heaviness and softness made it not good for much else until recently), it has been primarily used for decoration. Whether it's for jewelry, gold lamé, gold plating, or even making something entirely out of gold, it's a good way to make something pretty.