History Main / HollywoodMagnetism

'''Mike:''' And if your hands were metal that would mean something.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coyote13_compressed_hare.png]]]]

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Mariah’s Stand, Bastet, is actually [[ShownTheirWork pretty realistic]] for the most part—the pull is stronger the closer two objects are, any and all magnetic materials within range are pulled at the same time, not all metals are affected, and the magnetic field pulls everything instead of just arbitrary objects—with three exceptions:

* In the 2011 low-budget disaster flick ''Metal Tornado'', the titular magnetic vortex seems to obey some real world magnetic physics while disobeying the majority. While the strength of its pull does seem to decrease with distance, its extreme effect on aluminum and lack of any noticeable effect on buildings (which usually have ferromagnetic components holding them together) is both fascinating and bewildering.

* In the 1979 Disney comedy ''Unidentified Flying Oddball'' (aka ''A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court''), Sir Mordred is hunting down our hero Tom Trimble, who as a [=20th=] Century astronaut doesn't know anything about sword fighting, so with the help of Mordred's page he magnetises Mordred's sword by striking it with a hammer. HilarityEnsues as more and more metal objects get stuck to the sword every time Mordred swings it (when he tries to get another knight to pull them off, the knight's gauntlets get stuck to it as well). In the final battle Tom knocks out Mordred's army by activating the magnetic fields on his spacecraft, unfortunately stripping off his own armor in the process (fortunately Mordred is pulled into the field too, just when he's about to chop Tom in half).

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Mariah’s Stand, Bastet, is actually [[ShownTheirWork pretty realistic]] for the most part—the pull is stronger the closer two objects are, not all metals are affected, and the magnetic field pulls everything instead of just arbitrary objects—with three exceptions:

* In the 1979 Disney comedy ''Unidentified Flying Oddball'' (aka ''A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court''), Sir Mordred is hunting down our hero Tom Trimble, who as a [=20th=] Century astronaut doesn't know anything about sword fighting, so with the help of Mordred's page he magnetises Mordred's sword by striking it with a hammer. HilarityEnsues as more and more metal objects keep get stuck to the sword every time Mordred swings it (when he tries to get another knight to pull them off, the knight's gauntlets get stuck to it as well). In the final battle Tom knocks out Mordred's army by activating the magnetic fields on his spacecraft, unfortunately stripping off his own armor in the process (fortunately Mordred is pulled into the field too, just when he's about to chop Tom in half).

* In the 1979 Disney comedy ''Unidentified Flying Oddball'' (aka ''A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court''), Sir Mordred is hunting down our hero, who as a [=20th=] Century astronaut doesn't know anything about sword fighting, so with the help of Mordred's page he magnetises Mordred's sword by striking it with a hammer. HilarityEnsues as more and more metal objects keep get stuck to the sword every time Mordred swings it (when he tries to get another knight to pull them off, the knight's gauntlets get stuck to it as well).

* In the 1979 Disney comedy ''Unidentified Flying Oddball'' (aka ''A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court''), Sir Mordred is hunting down our hero, who as a [=20th=] Century astronaut doesn't know anything about sword fighting, so with the help of Mordred's page he magnetises Mordred's sword by striking it with a hammer. HilarityEnsues as more and more metal objects keep get stuck to the sword every time Mordred swings it (when he tries to get another knight to pull them off, his gauntlets get stuck to it as well).

* In the 1979 Disney comedy ''Unidentified Flying Oddball'' (aka ''A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court''), Sir Mordred is hunting down our hero, who as a [=20th=] Century astronaut doesn't know anything about sword fighting, so with the help of Mordred's page he magnetises Mordred's sword by striking it with a hammer. HilarityEnsues as more and more metal objects keep getting stuck to the sword every time Mordred swings it.

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* Played for RuleOfFunny and cartoon physics in the ''Anime/LupinIIIRedJacket'' episode "[[Recap/LupinIIIS2E48 Vault Assault]]".

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'':

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': In a possible future Diana views through the "Magic Sphere" Paula von Gunther creates very round electric planes substitutes which are somehow kept aloft and propelled by magnetism, and are easily brought down by electric disturbances.

* Franchise/ArchieComics once had a story in which Archie acquired a very large magnet, which he carried in the back seat of his car. As he and Jughead traveled, the magnet attracted anything and everything that was made of metal.

** Lampshaded in the movie, where Carl gives Perry a similarly powerful wrist magnet. After they attract his glasses, he points out that they are aluminum, making the magnet that much more impressive. Later, Perry uses the magnet to attract a key which appears to be either copper or gold (but it was never explicitly stated) while having no effect on the metal robot holding the key.

** Another short, "Bugsy and Mugsy", culminates with Bugs putting roller skates on a tied-up Mugsy, then using a magnet under the floor to move Mugsy around... and slam him repeatedly into Rocky. This, of course, won't work for the same reasons ''The Simpsons'' example above won't work.

* ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s powers originally just allowed him to move magnetic metals, but they've long since grown to being something more along the lines of being able to telekinetically control all metals and metaloids. He's still called the Master of Magnetism, though. His daughter, Polaris, has the same thing going with her powers.

** The gimmick for the Goron Mines in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' revolves around using the Iron Boots to walk around on areas of magnetic ore in the walls. That's plausible enough. What's ''not'' is that fact that in some places the ore emits some kind of superstrong column of magnetism that will pull you onto the wall if you fall into the beam with the boots on (and thanks to a GoodBadBug, it's possible that you ''don't even need to wear the boots'' on the magnetic surfaces, letting you walk at normal speed and [[DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound silently]]).

** The gimmick for the Goron Mines in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' revolves around using the Iron Boots to walk around on areas of magnetic ore in the walls. That's plausible enough. What's ''not'' is that fact that in some places the ore emits some kind of superstrong column of magnetism that will pull you onto the wall if you fall into the beam with the boots on (and thanks to a GoodBadBug, it's possible that you ''don't even need to wear the boots'' on the magnetic surfaces, letting you walk at normal speed and [[MostAnnoyingSound silently]]).

* In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', when Indy needed to find the location of a magnetic crate, he threw gunpowder in the air and watched which way it moved. Later on, this trope is lampshaded when an object attracts gold coins.

* On ''Series/GetSmart'' Sigfried used a giant magnet to pull the entire Seventh Fleet to his island.

** The gimmick for the Goron Mines in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' revolves around using the Iron Boots to walk around on areas of magnetic ore in the walls. That's plausible enough. What's ''not'' is that fact that in some places the ore emits some kind of superstrong column of magnetism that will pull you onto the wall if you fall into the beam with the boots on.
*** Well, plausible until you realize that even if you don't have them equipped, you still have to be carrying them, and would be subject the exact same attraction. It's the same thing with earlier games and having the boots allow you to sink in water and walk on the bottom, but once you take them off, you're magically lighter. Either that or Link's BagOfHolding is magnetically-shielded when closed, preventing the magnetic field from entering and attracting the boots while stored. Makes about as much sense as the fact that he can jump or even walk straight with those boots in his inventory, at least. Maybe it's a literal PocketDimension?