History Main / GemHeart

* ''Literature/AldabreshinCompass'': Natural dragons have a gem that relates to their element for a heart. Unnatural dragons created by wizards will fight very hard against natural dragons because the unnatural seeks to replace the void in its heart with the gem from its natural cousin (and occasionally they will break free of the wizard's control if they can feed on enough gemstones; this is why it is vitally important not to summon a dragon near your treasury). It goes without saying, then, that summoning a dragon is reserved for when things have crossed the GodzillaThreshold.

** ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfCorum'': When Corum slays the god Arioch, Arioch's heart turns out to be a huge glowing gemstone.

* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'': The dragon [[NobleDemon Nidhoggr]] drafts the protagonists to recover some stolen items, then magically replaces their hearts with rubies, which will kill them after six days. [[HeroicWannabe David]] is a little freaked out that he doesn't try to do this to [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]]. It turns out, as a [[WitchSpecies witch]], Senna's heart [[spoiler:is so hard that it would need to be replaced by a diamond. Nidhoggr was just being cheap]].

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'': Metallo is called "The Man With The Kryptonite Heart!" since his [[HollywoodCyborg robotic body]] is powered by a chunk of kryptonite.
* ''ComicBook/XXXenophile: Heart of Stone'': The MacGuffin is a massive ruby carved from the heart of a monster, which induces lust in anyone who touched it with their bare flesh.

* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': The witch Myulan has an artificial heart formed from magic crystal that was "given" to her by the Demon Lord Clayman when he [[WasOnceAMan transformed her from a human to a majin]]. Said heart is "bugged" to let him spy on her at all times, and he keeps her original heart safe and attuned to it so that he can kill her whenever he wants if she doesn't serve him loyally. [[spoiler:When Rimuru decides to free her from Clayman's service, he briefly kills her by removing said bugged heart (which destroys her original heart as well) and replacing it with a new and better crystal heart to resuscitate her.]]

* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'': The dragon [[NobleDemon Nidhoggr]] drafts the protagonists to recover some stolen items, then magically replaces their hearts with rubies, which will kill them after six days. [[HeroicWannabe David]] is a little freaked out that he doesn't try to do this to [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]. As it turns out, as a [[WitchSpecies witch]], Senna's heart [[spoiler:is so hard that it would need to be replaced by a diamond. Nidhoggr was just being cheap]].

* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'': The main characters actually get this in one book -- after being drafted by the dragon [[NobleDemon Nidhoggr]] to recover some stolen items, he magically replaces their hearts with rubies which will kill them after six days. He doesn't try giving [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]] one, which kind of frightens David. It turns out that, because she's a witch, [[spoiler:her heart is so hard that it would need to be replaced by a diamond. Nidhoggr was just being cheap]].

** The Parshendi use the gemhearts to trap spren that enable them to change into various [[{{Humanshifting}} forms]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': A diagram from the episode "Eclipse Lake" details the ingredients used to create a [[ArtificialHuman Grimwalker]] and their functions, with a Galderstone (big, glowing blue gemstones that can amplify magic) listed as "heart & power". [[spoiler:Hunter being the only known Grimwalker in existence, thus has a gemstone for a heart.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': The Gems appear to be [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe multicolored space babes]] with a magical gemstone somewhere on their bodies. In fact, they ''are'' the magical gemstones, and their humanoid forms are merely constructs used to interact with the world. As such, they can [[FromASingleCell regenerate from any injury given enough time]], whereas damage to the Gem itself is life-threatening.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Feystones are the hearts of feybeasts crystallized upon their death. This can also happen to [[spoiler:humans who have mana]].

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': [[Manga/FairyTail100YearsQuest The sequel]] reveals that Dragon Lacrima, extremely rare and valuable {{Power Crystal}}s that contain Dragon Slayer Magic that can be implanted into objects or even humans to use said magic, are in fact "processed" Dragon hearts, though it's unclear if said hearts are ''naturally'' gems or if they become that way during the processing.

* ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana'': There's a race of humans called Jumi who all have some sort of precious gem in their chest. If it gets damaged, they can die.

In more fantastical universes, this gem actually takes the place (and function) of a major internal organ, a.k.a occurring alongside GemTissue. This is most often the heart, as the trope name would suggest, but finding gems within the brain isn't uncommon either. In works with a higher degree of biological verisimilitude, these stones are often explained away as gizzard stones, used to help the creature break down its food for digestion.

See also PowerCrystal. Often a form of BodyToJewel. May overlap with HeartDrive or ImmortalityInducer.

* Dragons in ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' have a magical gemstone at their heart that can then be used to power guymelefs.
* Organ replacement version in ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': Kazuki has a Kakugane in his chest because he blundered into a monster and died, kicking off the plot.
* In ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'', Gai Shishioh's cybernetic body is powered by a G-Stone.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', Karn was created with a Phyrexian heartstone, which worked until he gave up his Planeswalker spark to help mend time rifts on Dominaria. When he did, the oil in the heartstone gradually corrupted him. During the Phyrexian takeover of Mirrodin, the Phyrexians attempted to convert him into their new Father of Machines. [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted: his heartstone was replaced with Venser's human heart, restoring his Planeswalker spark and cleansing him of the Phyrexian corruption]].

* The SuperHero ComicBook/{{Darkhawk}} is a humanoid example, bearing a ruby amulet inside of his chest. At one point, the villain Tombstone tore it out, believing it is valuable. [[spoiler:Darkhawk recovered.]]

* The MacGuffin in ''ComicBook/XXXenophile: Heart of Stone'' was a massive ruby carved from the heart of a monster that induced lust in anyone who touched it with their bare flesh.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}'s enemy Metallo is called "The Man With The Kryptonite Heart!" since his [[HollywoodCyborg robotic body]] is powered by a chunk of kryptonite.

* In ''Film/SuckerPunch'', when Babydoll kills the baby dragon, it has rubies in its throat that she strikes together to spark a fire.

* Ancient men believed in a stone called a Draconite, which had to be removed from a dragon while it still lived (sites of origin being rumored to include the brain and the heart, this was no simple task). True to the trope, draconites were believed to have magical powers.

* In Juliet E [=McKenna=]'s ''Literature/AldabreshinCompass'' series, natural dragons have a gem that relates to their element for a heart. Unnatural dragons created by wizards will fight very hard against natural dragons because the unnatural seeks to replace the void in its heart with the gem from its natural cousin (and occasionally they will break free of the wizard's control if they can feed on enough gemstones; this is why it is vitally important not to summon a dragon near your treasury). It goes without saying, then, that summoning a dragon is reserved for when things have crossed the GodzillaThreshold.
* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] Krayt dragons have valuable "dragon pearls" in the dragons' gizzards.

* Dragons in ''[[Literature/TheInheritanceCycle Eragon]]'' have a gemlike organ called an Eldunari. In a twist, though, it has no intrinsic value; it's actually the dragon's emergency SoulJar.
* Two in Creator/MichaelMoorcock's works:
** In ''Literature/TheElricSaga'', Nanorion stones (gems) are sometimes found as the hearts of demons. They have the magical power to wake the dead or those in a death-like sleep.
** In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfCorum'', when Corum slays the god Arioch, Arioch's heart turns out to be a huge glowing gemstone.
* In Cornelia Funke's ''Literature/DragonRider'', Nettlebrand [[spoiler: has a golden casket that acts as his heart]]. It has no actual value, though.
* Literature/{{Discworld}} trolls have diamond teeth in order to chew through [[EatDirtCheap the stone and gems they eat]].
* Played with in ''Literature/TheHeroAndTheCrown'', where the last drop of blood a dragon spills before dying turns into a bloodstone (read: ruby).
* ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' has [[TheBrute Alcyoneus]] who has a body made entirely of jewels and precious metals, including having a heart made of diamond.
* In the ''Literature/InHerName'' series, a genoth is a dinosaur-type alien that has gem ''eyebrows''. They have to be removed very soon after the creature is killed for them to be gems, otherwise they quickly fade and crack, becoming worthless.
* In ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'', our heroes actually get this in one book--after being drafted by the dragon [[NobleDemon Nidhoggr]] to recover some stolen items, he magically replaces the hearts of [[HeroicWannabe David]], [[TheSmurfettePrinciple April]], [[TheSmartGuy Jalil]] and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Christopher]] with rubies which will kill them after six days. He doesn't try giving [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]] one, which kind of frightens David. It turns out that, because she's a witch, [[spoiler:her heart is so hard that it would need to be replaced by a diamond. Nidhoggr was just being cheap]].
* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Feystones are the hearts of feybeasts crystallized upon their death. This can also happen to [[spoiler:humans who have mana]].

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E4Dragonfire Dragonfire]]", the [[DragonHoard dragon's treasure]] turns out to be a large PowerCrystal contained within its body. [[spoiler:Justified in that the "dragon" is actually a robot built around the crystal to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.]]
* When ripped out, hearts in ''Series/OnceUponATime'' tend to look more like red glowing heart-shaped stones than actual hearts. You can tell a person's CharacterAlignment by checking how blackened the heart is, squeeze it for use as a magical ShockCollar, or just crush it and kill the person you took it from. A person without a heart also loses the capacity for most emotions. Whether these hearts have ''any'' relation to biological anatomy at all hasn't been explored.
** Currently two characters [[spoiler: Snow White and Prince Charming]] share a heart. It's very sweet, so [[ArtisticLicenseBiology don't ask]].
* This is played with in the first episode of season two of ''Series/Titans(2018)'': Raven gets her signature PowerGem when Trigon [[spoiler: rips out her heart and crushes it, either revealing that the gem was inside or actually turning it into the gem, the show isn't specific. Since it replaced her heart, she can't actually survive without it.]]

* Buzzjewels in ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}''. They're swarming insects that resemble large (hand-sized) dragonflies, which graze on "interesting" minerals like gemstones and eventually crystallize some sort of a small gem in their bellies, with a mildly poisonous bite to use if the swarm is attacked.
* ''Vis'' in ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'', crystallized magic energy, often found coalesced in the magically potent parts of a beast. While not always strictly a gemstone (as the shape it takes is dictated by the storyguide's discretion and the particulars of any individual mage's magic), it often is. A dragon's heart is worth sixty pawns' worth. (To the uninitatied: ''it's a goddamn fortune''.)
* A quite literal example from ''TabletopGame/TenraBanshoZero'': the "heart engines" powering the HumongousMecha of the setting each contain the actual heart of one of [[spoiler:the native Oni people]], who are widely (and largely incorrectly) considered savage monsters by the local humans. Perhaps needless to say, this little secret is not something the people in the know feel exactly inclined to share with the general populace.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', the party has to go on a MatchmakerQuest on the behalf of the Prince of Argonia, who needs to slay an Argon Lizard and harvest their hearts as a sign of his coming of age and the right to [[ArrangedMarriage marry Princess Medea of Trodain]] (who, unknown to him, has been transformed into a white mare due to a curse). Unfortunately, this person happens to be {{Prince Charmles|s}}. Literally, that's his name, and he's the ''epitome'' of {{entitled bastard}}ry and a RoyalBrat and DirtyCoward to boot. And to make things worse, after you slay a Great Argon Lizard and do the hard work for [[DirtyCoward him]], [[spoiler:Prince Charmles ''buys'' a larger (and presumably fake) Argon Heart from a shady merchant anyway!]] [[{{Jerkass}} Son of a...]] [[spoiler:Luckily, [[ChekhovsGun this comes back]] to bite him in the ass ''hard'', costing him Medea ''and'' [[BreakTheHaughty his undeserved sense of entitlement]].]]
* Part of the backstory for ''VideoGame/MystVEndOfAges'' reveals that this is true of the Laki, which appear to be something like [[CallARabbitASmeerp otherworldly narwhals]]. The Laki collect gemstones in their gizzards to help them digest, and (before the cities in their world were destroyed by plague) were hunted almost to extinction in gladiatorial games to harvest them. They survived, but they don't get close enough to for the player to interact with them.
* In ''VideoGame/LegendOfMana,'' part of the Mana series, there are a race of humans called "Jumi" who all have some sort of precious gem in their chest. If it gets damaged, they could die.
* Deoxys from ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire''. That gem on its chest is actually its brain.
* Cardia from VisualNovel/CodeRealize has the horologium in her chest, a gem that is the source of her powers, and can't be removed without killing her.
* As the primary method of obtaining exotic crafting materials in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' is carving them out of the steaming carcasses of giant monsters, this is both a present trope and driving motivation in the game. Aside from somewhat mundane materials, such as pelts or bones, some larger monsters outright have some parts identified ingame as stones or gems, believed to contain some of the monster’s power. This a downplayed example as in-universe descriptions of the parts say they’re formed within the body tissues of the monster, effectively making them like high-end kidney stones. In addition to the internal organs, some truly massive or tough beasts can also provide minerals by mining their hard outer carapaces.
* ''VideoGame/OperatorsSide'': A.k.a ''Lifeline'': [[spoiler:Rio has the]] PhilosophersStone as this.
* In ''Franchise/FabulaNovaCrystallisFinalFantasy'', the fal'Cie created by Lindzei and Pulse possess crystal hearts. The first real boss fight in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' is identified in the targeting menu as the fal'Cie Anima inside the Pulse Vestige, but in reality is just Anima's crystal heart; the entire Vestige is Anima's body.
* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series' backstory, the legendary hero of mankind (and [[FantasticRacism racist]], [[AxCrazy psychopathic]] [[TheBerserker berserker]] who may have been a {{Cyborg}} from [[TimeTravel the future]]) Pelinal Whitestrake had a hole in his chest and a red diamond [[LiteralChangeOfHeart instead of a heart]], symbolizing his connection with the "[[GodIsDead dead]]" heartless god Lorkhan. He killed those [[BerserkButton who spoke of such things]] to him, though.
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', the enemy mooks within the [[DownloadableContent Shivering Isles DLC]] are the Knights and Priests of Order. Looting their bodies reveal them to all contain Hearts of Order. Their art assets make them look similar to pieces of quartz or diamond, as opposed to the biological looking Daedra Hearts found on the bodies of Daedra in service to other Daedric Princes. Unlike most examples, these creatures are not large and dangerous, they are mooks.
* The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/Stinkoman20X6'', [[spoiler:Mecha-Trogador]], has a set of crystals in their chest as their weak point referred to as the Crystal Heart of [[spoiler:Mecha-Trogador]].
* Hearts in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series are depicted with a crystalline appearance.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Heartcore}}'': The [[TitleDrop titular item]], [[http://www.deviantart.com/art/heartcore-teach-us-ame-358120101 Heartcores,]] are crystals that can be found in almost any living creature that possesses a heart, harvested by using demonic magic against the being who's heart you want to tear out. It serves as the main food source for demons as well as a mighty powerboost that can make the consumer stronger when eaten. They are incredibly valuable if they come from either humans or beastman, leading to demon being willing to start entire wars and genocides to get their hands on them. They also serve as a demons weakspot, since they all have these instead of hearts and the only way to kill a demon is to either destroy the head or the heartcore.

* ''Website/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids''[='=]s Clockwork Cherubs have a gem for a "heart", whose precise function is unclear (it certainly [[ClockworkCreature doesn't pump blood]], and considering the Cupids have "[[Creator/IsaacAsimov positronic brains]]", it doesn't seem to be a HeartDrive either). Most have quartzes, but a few particularly daring Cupids are noted to have diamond hearts.