History Main / PhilosophersStone

[[caption-width-right:350:Don't mess with Doctor Alchemy. He's quite the skilled stoner.]]

* ''Franchise/TheSmurfs'': Gargamel's introductory story has him trying to make the Philosophers' Stone from a recipe, but said recipe calls for dissolving a single smurf in the brew, which causes him to kidnap one.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': In "[[Recap/InterviewWithTheVampire2022S1E7TheThingLayStill The Thing Lay Still]]", Lestat de Lioncourt claims he has produced the Elixir of Life using this, with that being why he, Louis de Pointe du Lac and Claudia are immortal and eternally youthful, which serves to lure several people inside their house, and the trio drain them all to death.

* ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' is all about using alchemy for ItemCrafting, so it's not surprising that the Philosopher's Stone shows up in several games:
** In the Arland Trilogy it's called the Ruby Prism in English, but is still called the Philosopher's Stone in the original Japanese. In ''VideoGame/AtelierRorona'', Rorona makes it [[AchievementsInIgnorance without realizing that she's just acheived the goal of alchemy]], flabbergasting Astrid... who then laughs when Rorona says that she intends to bake it into a pie. The resulting "[[EatDirtCheap Ruby Pie]]" is natually inedible, and [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Rorona breaks a tooth trying to eat it]].
** It's a high-end synthesizable item in each of the games in the ''Mysterious'' trilogy of the series - ''VideoGame/AtelierSophieTheAlchemistOfTheMysteriousBook'', ''VideoGame/AtelierFirisTheAlchemistAndTheMysteriousJourney'' and ''VideoGame/AtelierLydieAndSuelleTheAlchemistsAndTheMysteriousPaintings''. Rather than being anymore particularly useful than any of the other powerful end-game items, though, crafting it is really more just a mark of a powerful alchemist. As such, each game in the trilogy has a side-quest which requires the player to craft it. ''Lydie and Suelle'' even has a second sidequest in which you can create "Cute Philosopher's Stones" for Lydie and Suelle's alchemy teacher, Ilmeria.

* "Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix": Indiana is trying to beat the Nazis up in the search for the stone, which the latter need to resurrect fallen Third Reich soldiers and conquer the world with a [[NaziZombies zombie army]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' features a version of the Philosopher's Stone, though one with not much in common with the original myth. This Philosopher's Stone had the property of amplifying magic a hundredfold. It ended up being swallowed by the Dark Lord Shabranigdu and presumably destroyed. There is no know way to produce a new one, as the Stone was a unique legendary artifact. Lina claims it was a piece chipped off the staff that supports the world; its true origin is revealed in the final light novel to be [[spoiler:a piece broken off the black Demon Blood talisman]].

* ''[[VideoGame/DrownedGod Drowned God: Conspiracy of the Ages]]'': It's one of four ancient relics that the player character has to track down, and in this game, the Stone is not only a limitless energy source, but it also has a side effect where an EvilDoppelganger made from a person's darker, more primal parts of their psyche will be created and split from the original self.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': Lestat claims he has produced the Elixir of Life using this, with that being why he, Louis and Claudia are immortal and eternally youthful, which serves to lure several people inside their house, and the trio drain them all to death.

* ''VideoGame/SecretsOfDaVinciTheForbiddenManuscript'': The stone itself is never seen in the game, but UsefulNotes/LeonardoDaVinci's notes about it are part of the plot. Several characters would love to get their hands on his lost notebook, and some are willing to kill for it.

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': The Philosopher's Stone seemingly has the power to violate the law of EquivalentExchange in alchemy and allow the user to perform miraculous feats. It turns out that the law isn't actually broken, but [[spoiler:[[PoweredByAForsakenChild the stone is composed of human souls]] which serve as a massive battery. It is even worse in the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime adaptation]], where thousands of souls are required to create a single stone.]]

It allows to do any number of things, including:

%%* ''Literature/TheAlchemist'': It's the title character's Personal Legend.

%%* ''Literature/GrimpowTheInvisibleRoad'': The stone found by Grimpow turns out to be this.

%%* ''VideoGame/OperatorsSide'': This is what drives the whole plot of the game.

%%* ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'': The Crimson Tear.

According to legend, the Philosopher's Stone is a mysterious MacGuffin, almost always a red rock in reference to the alchemy term [[GratuitousLatin "rubedo"]], created by either magic or alchemy, which allows you to do any number of things, including transmuting any metal into gold, allowing you to live forever through an elixir of life, or ascendance into Godhood. (Note that these uses are connected: gold can not rust, thus it is a substance that makes things immortal.) Other possible attributes include:

See GreenRocks for other highly versatile AppliedPhlebotinum.

%% Image selected via crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/ImageSuggestions67
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* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' featured a version of the Philosopher's Stone, though one with not much in common with the original myth. This Philosopher's Stone had the property of amplifying magic a hundredfold. It ended up being swallowed by the Dark Lord Shabranigdu and presumably destroyed. There is no know way to produce a new one, as the Stone was a unique legendary artifact. Lina claims it was a piece chipped off the staff that supports the world; its true origin is revealed in the final light novel to be [[spoiler:a piece broken off the black Demon Blood talisman]].
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', the Philosopher's Stone seemingly has the power to violate the law of EquivalentExchange in alchemy and allow the user to perform miraculous feats. It turns out that the law isn't actually broken, but [[spoiler:[[PoweredByAForsakenChild the stone is composed of human souls]] which serve as a massive battery. It is even worse in the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003 anime adaptation]], where thousands of souls are required to create a single stone.]]

* It was shown as an [=OOPArt=] artifact in ''Manga/{{Spriggan}}'' when Yu Ominae and Yoshino Somei team up to take down Koga-trained ninjas deployed to secure it during the former's field trip.
* In their attempts to make a Philosopher's Stone, the alchemists of ''Manga/BusoRenkin'' made the kakugane, which, while not granting immortality, do give a HealingFactor. The Black Kakugane gets even closer, [[spoiler: in that it can be used as a transplant heart, at the cost of acting as a PsychoSerum.]]

* [[ComicBook/TheFlash Flash]] villain Doctor Alchemy has the Philosophers' Stone, and uses its powerful ability to transmute any element to commit crimes. Yup, he uses something ''that can turn anything to pure gold'' to rob banks. On the bright side, he hasn't collapsed the DC Universe's gold market. Funnily enough, someone rifling through the effects of Marvel's Chemistro did find his matter transmutation gun and realized he could use it to produce gold, but the villain's tech can only make the change for as long as the gun's wielder keeps willing it, making it useless for long-term changes.
** When he faces [[ComicBook/BlueBeetle Ted Kord]] in the 80's ''Blue Beetle'' comic book, Doctor Alchemy had tried to "become the Philosopher's Stone" and internalize it's power. However, when Doctor Alchemy succeeded, it put him on the verge of a SuperPowerMeltdown which caused him to transmute anything and anyone uncontrollably. In the end, it was BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor as Ted (that age's Blue Beetle) saw the Doctor turn into a statue made from the same material of the Philosopher's Stone (so he Literally became the Stone).
* The ComicBook/FantasticFour villain Diablo, a centuries-old alchemist once used the stone to increase his alchemical powers. His goal of world domination makes a bit more sense than just trying to get rich.
* In a ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse comic by Creator/CarlBarks titled ''The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone'', Scrooge [=McDuck=] reads about the stone, and learns that it can turn any other metal into gold. This leads him and his nephews on a quest for the stone, and they succeed in recovering it from the Minotaur's Cave in Greece. But Scrooge is soon after visited by Monsieur Mattressface, a representative from the International Money Council. The Council fears that the stone's ability to turn everything to gold could lead to a vast devaluation of gold, causing a global economic collapse, and wish to have the stone for safekeeping. Scrooge ends up reluctantly giving up the stone.
* The Philosopher's Stone later returns in Creator/DonRosa's ''The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter From Home'', set in the same continuity as the one above. In it, a corrupt member of International Money Council (actually a cover organisation for [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar the modern Knights Templar]]), Mister Molay, uses it on locks, as a lock of gold is easier to break than one of steel or iron. The stone is later used by Monsieur Mattressface to escape from a set of iron cuffs that Molay used to incapacitate him. The stone then ends up being used to render Mister Molay's gun useless, as a gun of solid gold tends to explode when fired.
* In ''Franchise/TheSmurfs'', Gargamel's introductory story has him trying to make the Philosophers' Stone from a recipe, but said recipe calls for dissolving a single smurf in the brew, which causes him to kidnap one.
* In the ''Comicbook/JohanAndPeewit'' book "Le Sortilège de Maltrochu", Peewit's alchemical experiments somehow create a reverse Philosophers' Stone, that turns gold into lead. It was used by Peewit in ''The Smurfs'' (in the animated episode of this story) cartoon as a way to foil the BigBad trying to escape with an armload of gold items, they're changed to worthless lead. The BigBad drops the now-lead items in defeat, crying.
* In a ''ComicBook/TexWiller'' special titled "Il Segno del Serpente" (The Serpent's Mark), the main villain is a shady criminal cooperating with a native tribe and a gang of ruthelss mexican bandits funding the reaserch of a tormented ex-monk who has found a massive tome of alchemy which he could use to make the Philosopher Stone to turn lead into gold and make elixir of immortality. Near the end of the story, the man finally manages to create a [[TheUnreveal unknown substance]] which allows him to turn lead into pure gold, but as Tex and his comrades break into the villains' lair (killing the bad guys), the alchemist tries to escape with the book, only to be killed by the venomous snakes placed as a trap near the lair. Having been told of the Stone and seen the transmuted gold himself, Tex wisely opts for disposing of the book in a fire, so that noone can abuse it.

* ''Film/AsAboveSoBelow'': The film's focal point. Having the stone is every alchemists' wet dream, and the alchemist protagonist Scarlett goes to great lengths to obtain it, even having to enter a creepy catacomb and [[spoiler: {{Hell}}]] in the process. Though turning lead to gold is mentioned, the stone's main power [[spoiler: ramps up Scarlett's mild psychic healing ability, allowing her to fully heal a mortally wounded person.]]

* The titular Stone from ''Literature/ZaltecII''. As it turns out, the Generation Stone [[spoiler:is not an actual Philosopher's Stone but an artifact that allows traveling through time. The "Generation" in its name does not mean it can generate things, but can take its wielder to different generations (and hence "bring people back from the dead").]]

* Used in ''Literature/TheAlchemist''. After all, it's the title character's Personal Legend.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/WordsOfScienceAndTheHistoryBehindThem'': The entry for "Catalysis" describes the search for a substance to turn "base" metals into gold. This substance is then compared to platinum turning a jet of hydrogen into fire without being consumed, as well as other examples where acids and enzymes are created.
* In the ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' prequel book "The Alchymist's Cat", creating the philosopher's stone - and thus the elixir - is the main goal of the alchemist Elias Spittle. He succeeds (with the help of his familiar) but in this version the elixir doesn't give ''total'' immortality; you can still die in one of the elements involved in the stone's creation (fire and water). The elixir also augments whatever magical abilities the drinker possesses. When said familiar discovers that his master [[spoiler: murdered and bottled his sister]], he drinks it and they have a WizardDuel.
* The Guild of Alchemists in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' are said to be "trying to cure the philosopher's stones". They have come up with a number of ideas that they think are the secret to immortality (mostly the same ones peddled by AllNaturalSnakeOil salesmen on Roundworld). So far their main achievement has been to turn gold into less gold.
* Appears, naturally enough, in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'',[[note]]Renamed ''...and the Sorcerer's Stone'' for the [[MarketBasedTitle American market]].[[/note]] displaying its traditional powers of turning lead to gold and creating the elixir of life. [[spoiler: There is also a nod to its origins in that the Mirror of Erised is used to protect it by ensuring that only someone who wanted to ''find'' the stone but not ''use'' it is able to retrieve it.]] At the end, it's destroyed to prevent Voldemort using it, with Nicolas Flamel and Perenelle accepting death as "the next great adventure" after more than six centuries of life.
* In ''Literature/TheUnhandsomePrince'', it was Prince Hal's attempt to steal this from Emily's mother that led to him getting turned into a frog. It also turns out that in addition to helping turn things into gold, touching the stone also tends to make you start [[RuleOfFunny spouting philosophy]]. (Although not necessarily very ''deep'' philosophy.)
* The stone found by the title character in Rafael Ábalos' ''Literature/GrimpowTheInvisibleRoad'' turns out to be this.

* The Philosopher's Stone serves as a {{MacGuffin}} in ''Series/TheWildWildWest'''s "The Night of the Feathered Fury."
* In ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'', obtaining the Philosopher's Stone seems to be goal of [[BigBad Wiseman]], the leader of the Phantoms. His [[TheDragon dragon]], Gremlin/Sora, seems to be also trying to obtain it for himself. Ultimately, it's revealed that the Stone in this case isn't a magic ''source'', but rather a magic ''battery'', essentially one of the jewels that are crafted into the show's magical rings writ large; in exchange for a truly enormous amount of mana, it can allegedly be used to do something like revive the dead (the reason both Wiseman and Haruto want it) or turn a Phantom back into a human (the reason Gremlin wants it). It spends the majority of the show inside one of the main characters before changing hands several times in the GrandFinale, with none of the characters who claim it actually getting anything they wanted from it. Ultimately, in the follow-up film Haruto disposes of the Stone by leaving it inside himself via JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind.
* Appears in ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', created by Paracelsus in an attempt to make himself immortal. He tested it on his brother and his brother's family, making them immortal. However, the experiment resulted in several hundred dead villagers. When the Warehouse 9 agents found out, they [[AndIMustScream bronze]] him and broke the stone into three parts, so they could be hidden far from one another. After being de-bronzed in the 21st century, Paracelsus recovers the stone, makes his brother and his family mortal again, and then makes himself immortal (by sucking the life out of terminal patients). Notably, a fragment of the stone became set in a ring and used by his brother to perform miraculous reconstitutions of dead flowers.
* The midseason finale of Season 3 of ''Series/{{The Flash 2014}}'' reveals that the whole plot hinges on a Philosopher's Stone, which, according to the research conducted by one of the heroes, has the power to create metahumans, not unlike the [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent Particle Accelerator accident]] that started the whole series. Savitar, Season 3's ArcVillain, is essentially a prisoner that can't do anything as long as the Stone is encased in some stone box, although he can still cast illusions to have others do his bidding. Uniquely, the stone is glowing white (albedo), but is stated to be calcified Speed Force, which raises more questions than it answers about how it works at granting non-speed related powers and being a conduit somehow bonded to Savitar.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}} Weird West'' game, there is a modification to the MadScientist template that allows you to make an Alchemist character-- these characters create the Philosopher's Stone as an everyday ingredient in even the simplest of their magical potions. However, its implied that there are few Alchemists compared to their more mundane steampunk counterparts, so there remains a degree of "enlightenment" to the template. Further, the game invokes the "cost" aspect of the trope, in that each dose of Philosopher's Stone requires the Alchemist to sacrifice a bit of blood, doing damage proportional to the amount you're trying to create. The game also subverts the spiritual aspect of the stone: [[spoiler: Philosopher's Stone is created from Ghost Rock and is hence indelibly linked to the Hunting Grounds and the Manitou evil spirits. Further, the "enlightenment" of an Alchemist takes the form of Batshit insanity, just like with normal mad scientists.]]
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Dungeons and Dragons}}'':
** In 3.5 the Philosopher's Stone is a minor artifact. It takes the form of a small bit of black rock which can be broken open to find a small bit of quicksilver. This quicksilver can be used to turn large amounts of iron into silver or lead into gold, and can also be mixed with a cure potion to bring someone back to life with none of the usual level drain being resurrected causes. Its SpiritualSuccessor, TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}, has the alchemist base class at 20th level can choose the Philosopher's Stone from one of several "grand discoveries" they can make, allowing them to make one ''per month''.
** In 5th edition a Transmutation specialist wizard can create a generic 'transmuter's stone' which stores transmutation magic in it. Three functions of the stone that a 14th level transmuter can perform are {{Panacea}} (remove all curses/poisons/diseases and heal all health), Restore Life (a 'raise dead' spell), and Restore Youth (reduce a willing creature's apparent age from 13-30 years).

* In ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'', the Eldlich archetype is the story of an attempt to create a Philosopher's Stone GoneHorriblyWrong, as it instead summoned an undead abomination, Eldlich the Golden Lord. The thing corrupted the conclave that initially summoned it into undead golden servants and poisoned the land with the cursed gold in order to trick more treasure hunters into its grasp.
* In the backstory of ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'', the villain known as Biomancer attempted to create the Philosopher's Stone, but failed. He angrily discarded his failed prototype... whereupon it was found by an alchemist/scientist named John Rhodes, later known as the Scholar, who made a few modifications and turned it into a true Philosopher's Stone. The stone makes the Scholar TheAgeless and allows him to perform amazing feats of transmutation. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, the Scholar's life became linked to the Philosopher's Stone. When he used the last of its power to save Guise during the [=OblivAeon=] crisis, he [[RetGone ceased to exist, with everyone but Guise forgetting he ever was]].]]
* In ''TabletopGame/ResArcana'', the Philosopher's Stone is an expensive artifact that can convert any essence to gold on a 1-for-1 basis, which is the best rate in the game for this kind of effect. It's so powerful that the first ExpansionPack took several steps to {{Nerf}} strategies that revolve around it.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series is all about using alchemy for ItemCrafting, so it's not surprising that the Philosopher's Stone shows up in several games:

* In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence'', there is brief mention of Alchemists' quest for the Philosopher's Stone leading them to create the Black Stone and Crimson Stone, both of which are less helpful to humans and extremely useful to vampires (one casts eternal night on the surrounding area, the other allows one to gain power from stealing the souls of others, but turns the user into a vampire). This is presumably intended to explain Dracula's mad h4x, as [[spoiler: the game turns out to be a Dracula origin story]].
* In ''VisualNovel/CodeRealize'', the protagonist Cardia Beckford [[spoiler: is an ArtificialHuman who]] has a gem known as the Horologium embedded in her chest. It turns out to be a precursor to a true Philosopher's Stone created by her father, alchemist Isaac Beckford. It's also highly toxic, causing her touch to corrode any object that hasn't been chemically protected.
* In ''VideoGame/ReahFaceTheUnknown'', the player can win a Philosopher's Stone if they beat a phantom alchemist four times at a game of stones. With it, the player can use the stone to transmute a lead weight into gold, allowing them to buy a canteen of water to cross the desert.
* In ''{{VideoGame/Darklands}}'' the party holds a Philosopher's Stone, which an alchemist uses as a catalyst to make potions. The more pure the Stone, the greater your chance of making the potions. More advanced potions (or greater volumes of a less advanced potion) can be made with better stones, and improving the quality of your stone is a significant part of the game.
* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'', this is a late-game key item that allows Dante to access the portal to the Underworld.
* In ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', it is revealed that the Wise One is a Philosopher's Stone. Apparently, in this world, Philosopher's Stones are [[PhysicalGod extremely powerful and intelligent beings forged through Alchemy]].
* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' it's a low level item that increases health and mana regeneration and passively increases the rate at which a champion earns gold.
* In the doujin game ''VideoGame/CrescentPaleMist'', one can be obtain as an Artifact [[spoiler:from [[FinalBoss Sage Gasyukal]]'s Philosopher's Stone]] to activate the power of equipable gemstones scattered throughout the game like the Ruby, Amethyst, and Diamond.

* In ''VideoGame/OperatorsSide''/''Lifeline'', this is what drives the whole plot of the game.
* In ''VideoGame/TouhouKoumakyouTheEmbodimentOfScarletDevil's'' Extra Stage, local alchemist Patchouli Knowledge combines her five elements into the single spellcard ''Fire Water Wood Metal Earth Sign: Philosopher's Stone''.
* The Crimson Tear from ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'' functions pretty much the same as the ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' version.
* In ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' the Philosopher's Stone takes the form of the GreatBigBookOfEverything. It allows the sorcerer Lezard Valeth to look up and know just about any bit of lost information and in the end allows him to survive Ragnarok.
* Alchemists in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' produce Philosopher's Stones at higher levels of their profession. They can act as modestly-useful trinkets, but their main use is in allowing the alchemist to transmute rare materials out of common materials.
* In ''Guild Wars 2'' Philosopher's Stones are not tied to alchemy or even any particular branch of magic; they are purchased using Spirit Shards to be used in the Mystic Forge for high-end non-discipline crafting, particularly notably to craft the Mystic Clovers used to create the coveted Legendary equipment.

* The bad guys in ''VideoGame/HiddenExpedition: Smithsonian Hope Diamond'' have discovered that the eponymous jewel and its attendant shards each contain fragments of a celestial map leading to the Philosopher's Stone's hiding place. However, the bad guys have different motivations for wanting to get the Stone.
* The stone itself is never seen in the game, but UsefulNotes/LeonardoDaVinci's notes about it are part of the plot of ''VideoGame/SecretsOfDaVinciTheForbiddenManuscript.'' Several characters would love to get their hands on his lost notebook, and some are willing to kill for it.
* The "Transmute" spell in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' basically turns the caster into a living Philosopher's Stone, at least regarding the ability to create gold. It's an extremely advanced spell which next to nobody in-universe has been able to master; but the player can learn it. It enables the Dragonborn to transmute iron ore[[note]]Lead doesn't exist in the world of TES[[/note]] into silver ore, and then silver ore into gold ore. As iron is plentiful throughout the game (silver and gold being far more rare), mastering the spell will ensure that the player has all the MoneyForNothing they could ever want.

* The adoptables website ''VideoGame/{{Valenth}}'' features the Fatis Mirajin, a Philosopher's Stone GoneHorriblyWrong. Accidentally created by a young elven alchemist in the site's backstory, it turned out to have a very dangerous flaw: corrupting elemental dream energy and [[BodyHorror horribly mutating]] anything that came near it. One of the main plot threads of the site is the fact that it is now threatening to turn the whole world into DreamLand.

* The Philosopher's Stone appeared in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures''. The villain greedily used the stone's power to make himself rich, and in consequence lost his soul. This [[OnlyThePureOfHeart prevented him from using it to make more gold]]. He got around that limitation by kidnapping Hadji and forcing him to make gold to keep his friends alive.
* The Philosopher's Stone makes an appearance in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries''. In it, it's the source of all mystical power in the cosmos. The evil wizard Mozenrath creates one with the aid of the wizard trapped in a book, Khartoum, only for Khartoum to double cross him and use the stone to escape the book and become the most powerful wizard in the world. However, while the stone's power is limitless, due to it growing unchecked, it explodes.
* One of the reasons Gargamel pursues Franchise/TheSmurfs is that the Smurfs ''are'' the Philosopher's Stone. In this version, at least six Smurfs are needed to make gold.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "A Knight of Shadows", Morgaine Le Fay seeks the Philosopher's Stone in order to use its power to allow her son Mordred to TakeOverTheWorld. The current owner of the Stone uses it to provide himself with a [[MillionairePlayboy wealthy hedonistic lifestyle]].

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': Lestat claims he's produced the Elixir of Life using this, with that being why he, Louis and Claudia are immortals, which serves to lure several people inside their house, at which the trio drain them all.

And in settings where AlchemyIsMagic, it usually turns Alchemy [[UpToEleven up to eleven]], giving the person using it almost god-like powers. Unfortunately, like most [[MacGuffin MacGuffins]] it comes with some sort of catch, either involving HumanSacrifice, being PoweredByAForsakenChild, or something equally repugnant.