Basic Trope: A mundane object is made of gold.
- Straight: A mundane item, like a box or an apple, appears made of gold.
- Exaggerated:
- Someone's entire house, and everything in it, is all made of gold.
- City of Gold.
- Downplayed:
- A minor item, such as nail or tack, is gold.
- Something is only partly golden.
- Justified:
- Gold in a work blocks out heat, so someone wears clothing made of gold when going to a volcano.
- Tropeville Junior High is putting up a play about the Greek myth of King Midas, so golden (looking) props are a must.
- Inverted: Something like a crown or ingot, that is normally gold, is made of something mundane, like wood or plastic.
- Subverted:
- Something looks like it is made of gold, but is actually just gold plated.
- Something looks like it is made of gold, but is actually just covered in gold paint.
- Double Subverted: ...but the item itself under the plating or paint is also made of gold.
- Zig Zagged:
- An item magically switches between being normal and being made of gold.
- Gold apples and regular apples both appear often.
- Averted:
- The box or apple are made of their normal ingredients.
- Gold doesn't exist in the work.
- Enforced: "We need a way to show the audience that this guy is rich."
- Lampshaded: "Wow dude, all your stuff is made of gold!"
- Invoked: "Create a box, but make it out of gold."
- Exploited: The hero kills the rich villain by melting their solid gold house and drowning them in liquid gold.
- Defied: The rich villain loves owning mundane items made of silver, but refuses to accept any made of gold.
