History Main / AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' has Marisa and her Mini-Hakkero, a powerful magical artifact that Marisa is rarely seen without. Among other things, it's what she uses to power her [[SignatureMove Master Spark]].

* Tsuna from ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' would've been worthless if not for his Dying Will Bullet.

* Sally-Anne Perks [[spoiler:lost her magic]] when [[spoiler:cursed by a jealous Ginny Weasley]] toward the end of the Literature/{{Harry Potter}} fic ''The Silent Trio 5: The Curse of Exum''. In ''The Silent Trio 6: The Coming Storm'', Harry gave her an amulet [[spoiler:powered by the voluntarily-donated stored magic of her friends and family]]. With it, she could [[spoiler:cast any spell]] she was capable of as a witch. Without it, she was more or less [[spoiler:a Squib]].

* Ms. Brisby's amulet from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Secret of NIMH}}''.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode ''"Kid Stuff,"'' Morganna La Fay's son, Mordred, steals "The Amulet of First Magic", which contains an incredible magical power, and uses it to banish all the adults on Earth (including his mother and the League) and sets himself up as king of the world. Since a stupid immature brat is still a stupid immature brat even with vast power, he ends up wasting all of the magic in the amulet in the course of one episode--but not before unwittingly dooming himself to helpless aged senility when he breaks the spell of eternal youth his mother placed on him centuries ago.

* ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' and his lamp. You know that singing dancing genie? Imagine the destruction you could cause by simply asking. Jafar ''does'' think about it -- granted, it was less "Cause wanton destruction" and more "Make ME able to cause wanton destruction", but still, he gets Genie to lift up the palace, raining rubble onto the citizenry. In the Disney version the Genie explicitly doesn't kill. Property damage, intimidation, and severe maiming should be OK.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Voldemort believes the Elder Wand to be this. It isn't, at least not for him, because [[spoiler: according to the rules by which ownership of the Elder Wand transfers, it belongs to ''Harry'', not to Voldemort. It absolutely refuses to harm its' owner, once Harry reveals the truth about who really defeated whom.]]

* The Sword of Omens in ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'' was often treated this way (along with the other cats' weapons), though there were a few episodes devoted to showing Lion-O's capabilities without the sword. This was referenced by [[spoiler:Safari Joe]] who demanded he throw away the sword in exchange for [[spoiler:freeing the captive [=ThunderCats=]]], and then [[spoiler:is promptly defeated]]. He gets better.

The hero has some sort of item that [[PowerSource makes him awesome]]. Just having it is enough for him [[TookALevelInBadass to take a level in badass]] and just tear shit up. It may be a lucky charm of some sort or be some sort of artifact or gadget that actually causes his insane upgrade. Watch out if the hero loses it however as he is undoubtedly screwed if he does (most definitely if the object has some sort of power, less so if it's a simple lucky charm) and it may make an unscrupulous bystander a HeroForADay.

Man, this guy really sucks, are you sure he's the real hero? I mean look at him, he couldn't kill a half-brained ferret if his life depended on it. Wait, what is that he has in his hand? ''Oh god, my arms! The pain!''

Basically speaking the hero (or villain) has some sort of item (often a PowerCrystal, sometimes a MagicalAccessory or RingOfPower) that [[PowerSource makes him awesome]]. Just having it is enough for him [[TookALevelInBadass to take a level in badass]] and just tear shit up. It may be a lucky charm of some sort or be some sort of artifact or gadget that actually causes his insane upgrade. Watch out if the hero loses it however as he is undoubtedly screwed if he does (most definitely if the object has some sort of power, less so if it's a simple lucky charm) and it may make an unscrupulous bystander a HeroForADay.

Of course, who said it had to be an object? Why don't we go nuts and make it his [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman entire outfit]]? Or how about a TransformationTrinket?

It may even be an EmpathicWeapon.

Say, have you ever considered a career in badass? Why not join TheChosenMany?

* Completely inverted in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' with Agatha's locket [[spoiler: before it's use to shut down Lucrezia.]] ''With'' it, she's an ordinary girl that can't build a [[DoAnythingRobot clank]] to save her life. ''Without'' it she's [[spoiler: one of the most powerful [[MadScientist sparks]] in the entire world.]]

* The pendant in ''Webcomic/{{Vinigortonio}}'' which bestows on the wearer the mighty Pendant Attack which is a jumpkick powerful enough to breakdown iron doors.

* In ''VideoGame/TheWay'', all the power Rhue gains is due to [[spoiler:his Shadow Sword.]]

* This trope is used in roughly every [[Franchise/UltraSeries Ultraman]], Franchise/SuperSentai (Franchise/PowerRangers), and Heisei Era Franchise/KamenRider series as the lead character's TransformationTrinket, since their abilities without them are fairly limited compared to their transformed state. Somewhat averted in ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/KamenRider'' since they usually have basic martial arts skills that they can use against some of the weaker enemies when their powers aren't at hand. Although it's averted almost entirely in MightyMorphinPowerRangers as one of the rules was that they couldn't use their powers until they absolutely had to.

* The Franchise/{{Arrowverse}} has the Zambesi totems (originally stated to be five, but later a sixth is discovered), one of them was given to each of the Zambesi tribes to protect themselves and passed down through generations. All but one look like gems of different colors and shapes. The one different one is the Spirit Totem (also called Anansi Totem), which looks like a bunch of metal teeth on a necklace and allows its wearer to temporarily be imbued with the spirit and qualities of a chosen animal. There are the standard four elements (Earth, Air, Water, Fire) with predictable powers (although the Earth Totem also allows control over plants). The recently discovered sixth totem is the [[spoiler:Death Totem]], allowing its wielder to [[spoiler:animate and control the dead]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' you can create your own, although by the time you're either rich enough or good enough with the enchanting skill to make one, you probably don't really need it any more for anything other than overkill.
** [[GameBreaker Recursive Fortify Restoration spells.]] And it's more likely to be a Shield of Concentrated Awesome.

* Gilgamesh from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' is really not too impressive if you look at his base stats. If he had only his normal abilities he would constitute only a moderate threat at the best as his only notable attributes that are really above average are strength and Charisma. Considering the abilities of the other Servants he probably couldn't even beat one of them. However he has Amulet of Concentrated Awesome coming out the wazoo with hundreds upon hundreds of these stockpiled in a even bigger Amulet of Concentrated Awesome. He has so many of these that it makes him practically unstoppable.
** Doubly notable as once his Artifacts are circumvented he gets taken out by a teenager with a crash course in awesome.
** FridgeLogic here in that Gilgamesh's ego always results in him nerfing his own self. Thus, his stats don't actually reflect how powerful he is, only how powerful he allows himself to be. Thus, Gilgamesh can't really be under this category, since it is more a case of IAmNotLeftHanded all the time due to his ego instead.

* ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha's'' storage-mode for Devices, in particular Raising Heart, which is an ''actual'' amulet of concentrated awesome.

* Amy Winston's Amethyst gemstone from ''ComicBook/AmethystPrincessOfGemworld'' stated out as being something along these lines. But she and her gem got pulled into the InfiniteCrisis and things go weird. [[spoiler:Like when she found out that her "real" dad was actually a magical entity inside the gem.]] Yeah, weird.

* The transformation armlets in ''JeanneDArc''. Each of them can be equipped with different transformation stones that grant their bearers increased attack and defense power along with the ''very'' useful ability to act again after killing an enemy. And in the BackStory their power was used to [[SealedEvilInACan seal away]] BigBad Gilvaroth.

* In later ''Literature/LoneWolf'' books, several enemies have their strength boosted through the roof by some artifact (often an evil one) to make a credible threat for Lone Wolf (or his lieutenant). A good way to identify it is the case is when said item is mentioned alongside the name of the enemy next to the stat block. Another common point is that the magic doohickey will never be picked up by the hero afterward, to keep game balance. Either it is destroyed in the fight, too evil for Lone Wolf to consider using, or just forgotten about.