History Main / FamouslyMundaneFictionallyMagical

* Creator/ElizabethBear's ''Literature/ThePromethean Age'' books use the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spike Golden Spike]] as the lynchpin of a mystical anti-faerie enchantment. Railroads and iron, dontcha know. They also feature one of the [[http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/library-lions lions in front of the New York City Public Library]] as a GeniusLoci.

* Creator/ElizabethBear's ''Promethean Age'' books use the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spike Golden Spike]] as the lynchpin of a mystical anti-faerie enchantment. Railroads and iron, dontcha know. They also feature one of the [[http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/library-lions lions in front of the New York City Public Library]] as a GeniusLoci.

* Elizabeth Bear's ''Promethean Age'' books use the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spike Golden Spike]] as the lynchpin of a mystical anti-faerie enchantment. Railroads and iron, dontcha know. They also feature one of the [[http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/library-lions lions in front of the New York City Public Library]] as a GeniusLoci.

* In part 7 of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio Golden Proportion]] has weird, almost magic powers. If you manage to make an ordinary steel ball to spin forming a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spiral Golden Spiral]] it will carry an inmense power, which can be applied for enhancing your strength and resistance, [[HealingShiv healing]], [[MercyKill killing painlessly]], making paralytics walk again, and disintegrating an object by passing the endless rotation of the ball to its molecules and atoms to the point that the force of the rotation overrides the forces that make them form an object.

* In the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' fan fiction series ''Fanfic/BoyScoutsOneHalf'', the ''entire country of UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}'' can fall under this trope. The series begins set in Massachusetts, and presents the world as behaving, arguably, mostly normally aside from the obvious Jusekyo curses. But when, eventually, the main characters have to relocate to Japan, they are quite surprised to find that the country actually suffers from [[{{Animeland}} many of the tropes about it]] that are [[JapaneseMediaTropes regularly portrayed in fiction]]. [[{{Kaiju}} Giant Monsters]]? HammerSpace? AnimeHair and HairColors? All real. In fact, one of the characters notes that since arriving in Japan they are developing HighPressureBlood!

** The ShroudOfTurin also shows up, toying with this trope. Though of course many people in the real world believe it's by no means mundane, Harry mostly agrees with the theory that it was a medieval forgery. The thing is, in the Dresdenverse, tens of millions of people [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve literally can't be wrong about something being mystically potent]].
*** Later he finds the ''actual'' Shroud, which not only proves the earlier one is fake and fueled by everybody's belief, but is also blindingly more powerful.
* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': pretty much every statue in New York city can be converted into an automaton thanks to the intervention of Daedalus (the one form the Labyrinth, yes).

* In ''Discworld/TheScienceOfDiscworld'', the ''Origin of Species'' is a major L-Space node; L-Space theory says that large amounts of books warp spacetime, but a single book that spawns an entire subject has the same "weight".
* Discussed in ''Literature/TheJourneyer''. Marco, expecting the opulent empires as described in Literature/TheBible, is disappointed that the largest cities from the Bible are little more than villages run by tribal chiefs. He also opines that the great leaders such as King David and King Solomon were probably also petty chiefs.

* AssassinsCreed: {{Crystal Skull}}s, the Antikythera mechanism, the Voynich manuscript and many more. All ancient Precursor technology, all have seemingly magic powers.

* In ''VideoGame/BrokenSword 3'', the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript Voynich Manuscript]] contains the secret to extracting life energy from Ley Lines.

* The Hope Diamond
* UsefulNotes/{{Tutankhamen}}'s tomb and its contents

* One character in ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'' collects historically significant weapons (the guns that killed UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, the sword that killed UsefulNotes/JuliusGaiusCaesar, etc.). On Résurrection, the more evil you did in life, the more powerful you are here (to the point where Hitler is a FantasticNuke, along with two other, unnamed persons).

* In ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange: The Oath'', Strange is nearly killed by an assassin wielding Hitler's personal weapon. The combination of that firearm plus a silver bullet has enough negative mojo to get through his shields.
* One character in ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'' collects historically significant weapons (the guns that killed Lincoln and Kennedy, the sword that killed Caesar, etc.). On Résurrection, the more evil you did in life, the more powerful you are here (to the point where Hitler is a FantasticNuke, along with two other, unnamed persons).

* In the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' fan fiction series ''Fanfic/BoyScoutsOneHalf'', the ''entire country of Japan'' can fall under this trope. The series begins set in Massachusetts, and presents the world as behaving, arguably, mostly normally aside from the obvious Jusekyo curses. But when, eventually, the main characters have to relocate to Japan, they are quite surprised to find that the country actually suffers from [[{{Animeland}} many of the tropes about it]] that are [[{{JapaneseMediaTropes}} regularly portrayed in fiction]]. [[{{Kaiju}} Giant Monsters]]? HammerSpace? AnimeHair and HairColors? All real. In fact, one of the characters notes that since arriving in Japan they are developing HighPressureBlood!

* In ''Film/HudsonHawk'', many of LeonardoDaVinci's most famous artworks contain the components of an alchemical device for making lead into gold.

* Tutankhamen's tomb and its contents
* The Porsche, nicknamed "Little Bastard", in which James Dean suffered a fatal car accident, as well as many other supposed "death cars" .
* Artifacts and concentration camp sites from The Holocaust have been described in stories as having dark power from the suffering that was associated with them.

* PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians: pretty much every statue in New York city can be converted into an automaton thanks to the intervention of Daedalus (the one form the Labyrinth, yes).

* Discussed in ''Literature/TheJourneyer''. Marco, expecting the opulent empires as described in the Bible, is disappointed that the largest cities from the Bible are little more than villages run by tribal chiefs. He also opines that the great leaders such as King David and King Solomon were probably also petty chiefs.

* ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' has Memorabilia, extremely powerful items given their power by being associated with the deaths of the famous. Such examples include the ring Joe [=DiMaggio=] slipped on Marilyn Monroe at her funeral, JFK's death car, the pistol that killed Lee Harvey Oswald, and the ''National Enquirer'''s photo of Elvis in repose.
* The ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' also has the ''Reliquary'' book, which provides rules for building magic items from scratch, as well as a number of sample items. Among them are [[LiteraryWorkOfMagic Shakespeare's lost play]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendera_lights the Dendera lights]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_battery the Baghdad batteries]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' episode "The Ghostbusters in Paris" reveals that the Eiffel Tower is actually a primitive ghost trap.

* This is what drives the plot in ''Film/TheLibrarian'' films. For example, the protagonist gets fencing lessons from the Excalibur, which flies around the Library.

** The Shroud of Turin also shows up, toying with this trope. Though of course many people in the real world believe it's by no means mundane, Harry mostly agrees with the theory that it was a medieval forgery. The thing is, in the Dresdenverse, tens of millions of people [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve literally can't be wrong about something being mystically potent]].

* AssassinsCreed: Crystal Skulls, the Antikythera mechanism, the Voynich manuscript and many more. All ancient Precursor technology, all have seemingly magic powers.

* One character in ''ComicBook/RequiemChevalierVampire'' collects historically significant weapons (the guns that killed Lincoln and Kennedy, the sword that killed Caesar, etc.). On Résurrection, the more evil you did in life, the more powerful you are here (to the point where Hitler is a FantasticNuke, along with two other, unnamed persons).

* This is what drives the plot in ''TheLibrarian'' films. For example, the protagonist gets fencing lessons from the Excalibur, which flies around the Library.

* In Creator/VertigoComics series like ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'', ''Comicbook/TheSandman'', ''ShadeTheChangingMan'', and ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', this is an InvokedTrope: well-known artifacts and items often possess mystical properties ''because'' so many people know of them, investing them with spiritual significance.

* One character in ''RequiemChevalierVampire'' collects historically significant weapons (the guns that killed Lincoln and Kennedy, the sword that killed Caesar, etc.). On Résurrection, the more evil you did in life, the more powerful you are here (to the point where Hitler is a FantasticNuke, along with two other, unnamed persons).

* The ''AcademyOfSuperheroes'' universe has the Worldmaze, a PortalNetwork created using the globally-scattered pieces of the Berlin Wall as foci.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' is chock full of these: the list includes the muskets of the Conquistadors, Wild Bill Hickok's guns, Hoyle's Rules of Games, etc. -- all magical items.

A sub-trope of PublicDomainArtifact, this is the one where real life objects of notable historical value (that ''indisputably'' exist or existed in real life) are given a magical makeover in a work of fiction. Think of it as the inanimate version of BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy or a [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade Historical Object Upgrade]]. Can be related to ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve or WeaponizedLandmark.

!!Examples:

[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* ''ComicBook/StormwatchPHD'' had a villain seeking to mystically weaponize the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock Nuclear Doomsday Clock]].
* Drawing on fringe occult theories, ''Comicbook/FromHell'' suggests that Christopher Wren's churches are examples of occult architecture.
* The Golden Age DCComics heroine Liberty Belle somehow derived her powers from the "mystic vibrations" of the Liberty Bell.
* In VertigoComics series like ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'', ''Comicbook/TheSandman'', ''ShadeTheChangingMan'', and ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', this is an InvokedTrope: well-known artifacts and items often possess mystical properties ''because'' so many people know of them, investing them with spiritual significance.

* In ''Comicbook/DoctorStrange: The Oath'', Strange was nearly killed by an assassin wielding Hitler's personal weapon. The combination of that firearm plus a silver bullet was enough negative mojo to get through his shields.

[[AC:FanWorks]]
* In the ''RanmaOneHalf'' fan fiction series ''[[{{FanFic/BoyScoutsOneHalf}} Boy Scouts ½]]'', the ''entire country of Japan'' can fall under this trope. The series begins set in Massachusetts, and presents the world as behaving, arguably, mostly normally aside from the obvious Jusekyo curses. But when, eventually, the main characters have to relocate to Japan, they are quite surprised to find that the country actually suffers from [[{{Animeland}} many of the tropes about it]] that are [[{{JapaneseMediaTropes}} regularly portrayed in fiction]]. [[{{Kaiju}} Giant Monsters]]? HammerSpace? AnimeHair and HairColors? All real. In fact, one of the characters notes that since arriving in Japan they are developing HighPressureBlood!

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* In ''Film/HudsonHawk'' many of LeonardoDaVinci's most famous artworks contain the components of an alchemical device for making lead into gold.
* ''Film/TheMummyTombOfTheDragonEmperor'' featured the [[http://archaeology.about.com/od/china/a/terracotta.htm Terracotta army]] of Shihuangdi coming to life.

[[AC:Folklore]]

* The Porsche, nicknamed "Little Bastard," in which James Dean suffered a fatal car accident, as well as many other supposed "death cars."
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript Voynich Manuscript]], which, in ''VideoGame/BrokenSword 3'', contains the secret to extracting life energy from Ley Lines.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* In ''TheKaneChronicles'', the Rosetta Stone is this.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

* The TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness also has the ''Reliquary'' book, which provides rules for building magic items from scratch, as well as a number of sample items. Among them are [[LiteraryWorkOfMagic Shakespeare's lost play]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendera_lights the Dendera lights]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_battery the Baghdad batteries]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' is chock full of these: the list includes the muskets of the Conquistadors, Wild Bill Hickok's guns, Hoyle's Rules of Games, etc. - all magical items.

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

* The ''AcademyOfSuperHeroes'' universe has the Worldmaze, a PortalNetwork created using the globally-scattered pieces of the Berlin Wall as foci.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* In the ''RanmaOneHalf'' fan fiction series ''[[{{FanFic/BoyScoutsOneHalf}} Boy Scouts ½]]'', the ''entire country of Japan'' can fall under this trope. The series begins set in Massachusetts, and presents the world as behaving, arguably, mostly normally aside from the obvious Jusekyo curses. But when, eventually, the main characters have to relocate to Japan, they are quite surprised to find that the country actually suffers from many of the tropes about it that are [[{{JapaneseMediaTropes}} regularly portrayed in fiction]]. [[{{Kaiju}} Giant Monsters]]? HammerSpace? AnimeHair and HairColors? All real. In fact, one of the characters notes that since arriving in Japan they are developing HighPressureBlood!

A sub-trope of PublicDomainArtifact, this is the one where real life objects of notable historical value (that ''indisputably'' exist OR existed IN REAL LIFE) are given a magical makeover in a work of fiction. Think of it as the inanimate version of BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy or a [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade Historical Object Upgrade]]. Can be related to ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve or WeaponizedLandmark.

* One ComicBook/GentlemanGhost story somewhere which involves him doing a summoning ritual with the rope that was used to hang a famous criminal in Victorian England.
** It was a common folk belief until the 19th century that hangman's ropes had special, mystical power after being used. A century or two earlier even learned doctors considered that a possibility.

* Elizabeth Bear's Promethean Age books use the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spike Golden Spike]] as the lynchpin of a mystical anti-faerie enchantment. Railroads and iron, dontcha know.
** They also feature one of the [[http://www.nypl.org/help/about-nypl/library-lions lions in front of the New York City Public Library]] as a GeniusLoci.
* The Underworld Cycle has Wyatt Earp's handgun, which is capable of killing unquiet dead (ghosts and spookies that walk around in The Between.)
* One short story in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' universe features the musket ball that killed Nelson at Trafalgar. It is reused as a sorcerer-slaying weapon.

* In TheKaneChronicles, the Rosetta Stone is this.

* The AcademyOfSuperHeroes universe has the Worldmaze, a PortalNetwork created using the globally-scattered pieces of the Berlin Wall as foci.

* Drawing on fringe occult theories, ''FromHell'' suggests that Christopher Wren's churches are examples of occult architecture.

* One Gentleman Ghost story somewhere which involves him doing a summoning ritual with the rope that was used to hang a famous criminal in Victorian England.