Troperville
Help us survive. All donations are anonymous on the wiki and unacknowledged, as we don't wish to create a hierarchy among Tropers.
Editing
Tools
Toys
|
Diamonds are a Magical Girl's best friend. They are also friends to Mons, space rangers, magical knights, Humongous Mecha, and regular old Robots. So if you want something to look highly advanced or incredibly magically powerful, just slap a Mineral Mac Guffin on it; just like a normal Mac Guffin, it doesn't even have to do anything to be neat!
In a Video Game, these gems are usually the Power Sources and weak points of the robots containing them. Expect them to glow with occasional Tron Lines when the hero goes into a Super Mode, as well as serve as emitters for Ki Attacks or Frickin Laser Beams. They also dim or crack when under a heavy battering, or sometimes even blink like a half-broken LCD display. Robots who are killed will frequently have their crystals dim and go opaque.
This is especially prevalent in Japanese media; quite a few examples come from there.
Choice spots to bling out your power armor are:
- Forehead, as a "third eye"
- Shoulders, as a military epaulet
- Center of the chest (rarely, over the heart), as with "Iron Man"
- Below the navel, or as a "belt buckle"
- The back of the hand, as with "Lensman"
- The palm of the hand, as with Iron Man's Repulsor Rays
- On the knees (but for some reason, never the top of the feet)
Compare Crystal Spires And Togas.
This item is available in the Trope Co catalog.
Examples
Anime and Manga
- Escaflowne
- Having more in common with Super Robot than its Magic Warrior siblings, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha puts a gem on every piece of technology there is; it usually displays what function the machine is using at the time.
- The titular Otomes in Mai-Otome use gemstones as their Transformation Trinkets, worn as earrings (and standard rings for their Masters).
- Great Mazinger has a blue crystal as a "belt buckle".
- The Angels in Neon Genesis Evangelion have glowing crystal cores which cause the creature to shut down or explode as if their body was made of gelignite when damaged, depending on the needs of the plot. Evas more sensibly hide theirs under several tons of armour.
- Rah Xephon
- The Silver Crystal and its later upgraded forms on Sailor Moon.
- Gao Gai Gar and the other entries in the Brave series frequently have this.
- The Tohsaka family specializes in a school of magic devoted to storing magical energy, typically in jewels. Rin does so by sprinkling her blood on her jewels every night, and uses them in battle by throwing them. The downside? Using the jewels generally destroys them, and those jewels are really expensive, so the Tohsaka family always has money problems.
- Jetfire in Transformers Armada has "Lensman" hand crystals, but has never been seen using them.
- Energon stars in Transformers: Energon (the sequel to the above series) were used by the Transformers to create energon weapons. However, the energon star would eventually run out of energy and vanish, along with the weapons generated by it. Energon stars (and weapons) were colour-coded by faction: red for Autobots and yellow for Decepticons.
- Halfway through Slayers Next, Lina acquires a set of four Demon Blood Talismans from Xelloss, which she can use to amplify her magical power. She wears one on her collar, another on her belt, and the others on her wrists; they glow brightly when she channels their power.
- Both the Rune Gods (while in robot-like mode) and the Knights' Escudo Weapons in Magic Knight Rayearth have significant, color-coded crystals on them.
- Skuld in Oh! My Goddess has two on the backs of her hands, and two on top of her feet.
- Witchblade has a crystalline "eye" which is visible even in passive form (as a jewel on her "bracer") and glows red when
aroused going to kick some ass. See?
- Dragon Ball's Chi-chi has one of these in her helmet, used for lasering anything she doesn't like the look of.
- SD Gundam has crystals being used in various forms. Musha Gundam makes much of a 'Gundam Crystal', an artifact which is often split into separate parts and handed down to successive generations of heroes. Some versions of the series also have the Mushas house crystals on their torsos, inside of which are their 'GunSouls'. Upon death these crystals exit the body to await reincarnation.
- The various Alternate Universe Gundam continuities love this trope.
- In Gundam Wing, all three Wings and the Epyon have large green "search eye" cameras on their chests.
- In Gundam X, the green gem on the GX's chest was the receiver for the microwave power transmission system that powered up the satellite cannon.
- Most of the GN-powered mobile suits in Gundam 00 have these, usually taking the form of one large crystal in the chest and at least one on each limb. They're supposed to be the storage units of the GN particles that make them go.
- In Dragon Warrior (Based on the Dragon Quest games), the Red Stone and Blue Stone hold untold power that can only be unleashed by those chosen to guard them. Most importantly, the Red Stone has the power to set loose an all-powerful dragon, who can only be sealed up again by the Blue Stone. The Blue Stone is given to Abel, and while normally it's attached to his headgear, on one occasion he removes the stone and fixes it to a magic staff. Talia is given the Red Stone, which she wears on a necklace.
Comic Books
- Iron Man has crystals in the palm of his hands as focusers for his repulsors. Also, there's a triangular crystal in his chest.
- Raven of Teen Titans has a red crystal "Third Eye".
- Brutally spoofed in Atomic Robo. While fighting Dr. Dinosaur, Robo articulates several reasons why a time-traveling dinosaur scientist is flatly impossible. After Robo notes that Dr. Dinosaur would have had nothing but fronds and rocks with which to build a time machine, Dinosaur angrily attempts to Hand Wave it by saying "I had CRYSTALS!"
Film
- Parodied in Napoleon Dynamite; the crotch-frying "time machine" that Uncle Rico ordered online needed you to insert the most vital part: power crystals. Which probably were just pieces of quartz.
- In the Superman films, crystals activate the holographic systems in the Fortress of Solitude. They can also remove (and, in rare cases, restore) Kryptonian powers.
- In The Dark Crystal, the titular crystal must be repaired by Gelfling hand to "set things right."
- In Atlantis The Lost Empire, the Atlanteans have small crystals with evident healing powers, and a big huge one that's under the city that keeps the ecosystem down there going.
- Lightsabers in Star Wars utilize special crystals that are required to make the 'blade' of the saber. The crystals are found in caves on the planet Ilum and then imbued with power using the force though meditation.
- According to Knights of the Old Republic, there are many planets where a potential Knight can get a crystal, and different types of crystal can affect the attributes of the lightsaber.
- IIRC you can use any type of crystal/gemstone (and then some) for a lightsaber, just that the Adegan crystals are the most convenient for the Jedi. The gemstone Tenel Ka used for her saber is actually a silicon-based lifeform.
Literature
- The time machine in The Time Machine is made mostly of quartz carved into a mildly impossible shape.
- According to the Young Jedi Knights Star Wars novels, lightsabers are powered by a simple battery, converter, and "focus crystal." Apparently just clarity and sparkliness is required of said crystals, Jedi can "sense" if it's good or not. (They don't even apparently need to be of any particular mineral.) If they're not sparkly enough, the lightsaber will explode.
- Other Expanded Universe sources expand on the idea. Lightsabers with multiple crystals can have more than one length setting. The crystal may be responsible for the color of the blade, though the colors of the crystal and blade need not match. Not all crystalline materials will work; in one case, Corran Horn constructed a blade with two length settings, but the extended length didn't work when he used a fake diamond.
- In fact, it shorted out rather spectacularly, causing both Corran and his enemy to be extremely surprised...and causing his enemy to drop the deadman switch he was holding.
- Dinotopia's sunstones serve as the power source for any and all Lost Technology found by the protagonists.
- David Eddings appears to be fond of this trope... both of his main universes - the Belgariad and Sparhawk settings - features a gemstone with enough power to give GODS a case of the shivers. Fortunately, these artifacts - the Orb of Aldur and the Bhelliom Blue-Rose, respectively - are in the hands of the heroes. The Malloreon, however (a sequel to the Belgariad) also features an equally-powerful but EVIL gemstone, the Sardion.
Live Action TV
- Ultraman uses this as an indicator as to how long his power supply has left.
- Some of the Megazords from Power Rangers.
- The Phormo and Synchro combined forms from Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad.
- Star Trek dilithium comes in crystals, and in the original series must remain in that form to work.
- Land Of The Lost had a lot of these, with varying effects from dimensional gateway controls to impromptu grenades.
- In both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, virtually all technology from the Sufficiently Advanced Aliens has crystals at its most basic level. Goa'uld have rainbow-colored geometric ones, the Ancients' are clear flat rectangles.
- In both cases the crystals are mainly used for data storage, which is actually something that crystals can be used for in real life through holographic memory.
- An early episode of Angel featured a demon with a jewel in its head which had to be smashed in order to permanently kill it.
Tabletop Games
- The Craftworld Eldar of Warhammer 40000 universally wear "Waystones," a gem worn over the heart which captures the soul of the Eldar upon death to prevent it from being painfully devoured by the Chaos god Slaanesh. These spirit stones allow the Eldar a peculiar kind of necromancy with Wraithguard and Wraithlords, battle constructs controlled by the spirit of a long-dead Eldar in a waystone. The Eldar also pimp out their vehicles and weapons with countless more mundane gems.
- Dungeons And Dragons are full of magic jewelry, both standalone and embedded in other items.
- Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 introduced a class over the internet, who's schtick involves embedding crystals into their skin. Precious gemstones specifically.
- Many spells involved gems as component or focus (e.g. Gemjump - teleport to prepared gem). Sourcebooks on magic items and materials (like Volo's Guide to All Things Magical) has lots of gem-related entries.
- Psionics has a particular affinity with crystal - most psionic items are made at least partially out of crystal, psions can acquire a "psicrystal" companion, and there are psionic powers that can summon shards of crystal to attack enemies with.
- Hearthstones in Exalted are magical gems produced via geomancy that provide their user with energy and special abilities when attached to an attuned artifact (weapon, armor, amulet etc.)
- GURPS has "powerstones" (which are always made from gems) that are pretty much absolutely required to provide extra energy for casting any powerful spell as the only other alternative is horribly ironic death as the casting rips your life force out of your body.
Video Games
- Pick a Mega Man game. Any Megaman game. Especially during/after X.
- Special mention goes to Zero's "booblights".
- The red one in X's helmet has a couple of functions besides looking neat. If his health is low, it blinks on and off while he's standing still. In X3, the level maps you can access after acquiring the helmet upgrade appear to be projected from the gem like a hologram.
- Samus has a "Lensman" hand crystal on her non-cannon arm. In Zero Mission, it corresponds to the Power Grip, and in Metroid Prime 3, the Grapple Beam is fired from it.
- Some Pokemon have gems encrusted in them for show: Staryu and Starmie, Golduck, Persian, Espeon, Ampharos, Sableye, Vespiquen, etc. Suicune deserves special mention, as he has a big friggin' crystal encrusted in its head. There is also an attack called "Power gem".
- Pokedex entries for Staryu/Starmie claim that their crystal IS actually their eye.
- Really? That's a major Squick to this troper then, because Starmie's gem has been ''crushed'' at least twice in the Anime. It was back soon after, of course, but still...
- Good thing they can heal then, huh?
- There are actually real starfish with calcite crystals all over their bodies, making them one big compound eye.
- Appropriately enough, Dialga and Palkia have a diamond and pearl on their bodies, respectively. The events of The Rise Of Darkrai are set off when Palkia's pearl is damaged.
- Emerald of the Manga has one on his forehead.
- The crystal in Deoxys' body is actually its brain. In fact, as long as that is intact, it's still alive, considering its Healing Factor allows it to regenerate in the right conditions.
- Zone Of The Enders. The more of them your Orbital Frame has, the stronger it's likely to be.
- The Savior from Devil May Cry 4 had blue gems on his forehead, his chest, and both of his arms. For best results in order to save Nero, Dante has to destroy them all, though only damage to the gem on the chest counts as damage to the boss himself.
- The Jumi from Legend of Mana have gems as their hearts. It gives them unlimited life and lots of power, but if it's so much as scratched, never mind destroyed, bad things happen.
- In Starcraft, Protoss technology relies on Khaydarin crystals, which can focus, store, and amplify their Psychic Powers. The pylons, the ones you need more of, are basically giant floating chunks of the stuff. The "minerals" that are harvested by all three races are also some kind of crystal.
- Protoss units are also often adorned with power crystals. Starcraft 2 has some units, like the Warp Prism and Void Ray which are built around them.
- Sins Of A Solar Empire has Crystal as one of it's three resources used by all of the 3 factions. The Advent are particularly fond of it.
- The all-important Spirit Gems that Jeanne D Arc's heroes wear on their armlets. Each Gem grants a new transformation (each character can wield between three and five, depending on the slots on their armlet) and two of them can be Lost Forever if the player doesn't have sufficient warning.
- The chaos emeralds from the Sonic The Hedgehog games are the epitome of this trope. There are seven of them, and with even a single fake chaos emerald one can teleport. A single real one is all that it takes to essentially freeze time in a decently sized area. Two chaos emeralds are capable of opening a portal through time. And when you get all seven, its pretty much the epitome of Super Mode.
- The Elemental Crystals from various Final Fantasy games. Their exact powers vary from game to game, but they're usually the main Cosmic Keystones of the world, maintaining and controlling the four elements. In some games, their powers can be harnessed and amplified, and in a few, even a single shard of a broken Crystal has enough power in it for a person to transform into a hero.
- Amarr ships in EVE Online primarily use lasers. Fitting different crystals to the laser turrets affects attributes such as optimal range, damage type, and even what color the laser is.
- Naaru Magitech in World Of Warcraft seems to rely on these, atleast judging from the amount of large crystals in the Tempest Keep instances. The Naaru themselves seems like sentient Energy Beings.
- Un'goro Crater has Power Crystals of various colours scattered around the zone, aswell as pylons that give various buffs when you bring crystals of correct colour to them. Several other magical crystals appear in the game too.
- Roland from Luminous Arc 2 has a Lensman-style artificial crystal on the back of his hand. It turns witches into his magic-giving harem. .
- Perhaps the first western example was in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back.
- Used in Ko TOR 1 and 2. Crystals are used to focus lightsaber beams.
Web Animation
- Strong Bad of Homestar Runner has a "blue diamond kinda thing" on his forehead which gives him the power to pop caps off of things.
Webcomics
- In Gunnerkrigg Court, many of the Robot prototypes have large blue crystals (or possibly just panels of glass) set in their chests. For whatever reason, the production run of the Robots follow a less ornate design and lack the crystals.
Web Original
- The cybaspheres from the web fiction serial Dimension Heroes prove to be invaluable trinkets that give the Dimensional Guardians the power they need to defeat the more powerful opponents they face.
Western Animation
- From the end of Beast Wars up to the end of Beast Machines, Transformers toys had 'spark crystals', which were translucent plastic gems that had the faction symbol of the character in them. The Transmetal II Blackarachnia toy was special, since it had a spark crystal which could be flipped to display one of the two main faction symbols, reflecting the character switching sides in the cartoon.
- Storm Hawks features a world where everything is powered by crystals, and there's a crystal for every effect imaginable: hypnosis, explosions, "nitro-boosting" carriers, powering energy swords and boomerangs.
- You can do a lot of things with Allspark fragments in Transformers Animated. Overload factory equipment, turn regular vehicles into Transformers, bring Transformers back from the dead, power bombs, and putting your Forgotten Superweapon back online is a snap!
- InBarbie And The Diamond Castle, the castle itself is covered with diamonds (hence the name), with a new one added each time a new song is sung. These diamonds also have the power to ward off evil spells.
|
|
