History Main / UpgradeArtifact

* In the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', the sentient magic sword "Destiny's Wave" granted [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Alex Farshine]] ''qinggong'' agility, Taoist healing knowledge, peak physical fitness, superb martial-arts skills, ImplausibleFencingPowers, and the ability to speak, read and write Chinese. Oh, and [[GenderBender transformed him]] into a hot ChineseGirl.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', where [[spoiler:Po trains for most of the film to become the Dragon Warrior and be granted the Dragon Scroll, only to discover that the scroll is a mirror.]] It pulled double-duty as a SecretTestOfCharacter: [[spoiler:neither Shifu nor Tai Lung, nor even Po at first, could figure out why it was "empty", just apparently a blank but rather reflective scroll. It took learning there is no secret ingredient to the [[ChekhovsGun Secret Ingredient Soup]] for Po to realize that the scroll didn't MAKE you the Dragon Warrior, but made you realize you had it all inside of you already.]]

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''
** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' you can find a number of mysterious memory modules which claim to permanently boost base stats, if you figure out how to use them, they allow you to undergo powerful operations... that take weeks to recover from.
** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has a better example, in the form of bobbleheads and books that raise a specific skill when grabbed.

Becoming truly skilled at something takes a long time and a lot of hard work. Sometimes, you can handle this with a TrainingMontage, but the plot doesn't always have enough time for this. So, how DO you go about transforming your UnluckyEverydude into a SuperHero in less than an hour?

* The movie ''Film/DarkCity'' combines the Upgrade Artifact and the TrainingMontage. The psychic hero John has been captured and will be brainwashed, but the doctor in charge of the operation instead uses a different syringe containing the memories of a lifetime of training and use with his fledgling powers. Needless to say, much ass-kicking ensues.

* Lord Sovereign from ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' needs a piece of the Sekmeht Stone to contain and focus his energy powers.
* Prometheus, a supervillain of Franchise/TheDCU, can download the abilities of 30 of the world's best martial artists into his mind by inserting a small CD into his helmet. Batman eventually figures this out and foils him by replacing the abilities with those of Stephen Hawking.

* Franchise/MarvelComics: The Eternity Mask, introduced (via retcon) in ''ComicBook/MarvelComicsOneThousand'', grants its wearer whatever abilities they need to equal their current opponent, ranging from giving a peasant sword-fighting skills when fighting [[ComicBook/BlackKnightMarvelComics Sir Percy of Scandia]] all the way up to giving [[Characters/YoungAvengersTitleTeam America Chavez]] cosmic powers when fighting a [[Characters/MarvelComicsGalactus Galactus]]-level entity. However, the Mask explicitly doesn't guarantee that the wearer will beat their opponent; it only gives exactly enough of an upgrade to make the fight fair.

* Imprinting can work this way in ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''.

* The [[CoolSword magical sword Need]] in the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' books will give its bearer magical protection if a fighter, fighting skills if a mage, or both if the bearer is neither. Then things get more complicated...

* In ''Webcomic/DemonFist'', Pandora's Spear gives the wielder SuperSpeed, SuperStrength and a HealingFactor. It may also grant knowledge of [[BladeOnAStick spear-fighting techniques]], but it's unclear since the only observed wielder had been obsessed with it for years.

** ''Manga/DigimonVTamer01'': The Digimental is actually an amplifier artifact that pushes a digimon of the supposed highest level even higher...however the Digimental Of ''Miracles'' listed below also makes an appearance in a bonus chapter and plays this trope straight, as it turns an invalid meat shield into capable warrior.

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' presents this in the form of familiar runes. When a mage summons their familiar, the contract of servitude is manifested by a set of runes imprinted on the familiar. This can grant the familiar abilities or attributes they previously lacked, such as near-human intelligence, the ability to speak, or, in the case of the eponymous character, the ability to wield any weapon with ease.

* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' averts this. Main protagonist Shinji Kido, who gains the power to become a Kamen Rider but still has the martial arts ability of a civilian. He slowly develops his abilities as the series progresses, eventually becoming quite a proficient fighting.
** As for the other Kamen Riders, only the ones that would have plausible ability at fighting frequently engage in hand-to-hand combat, such as Ren (bar room brawler), Sudou (hardened cop) and Asakura (psycho outlaw). The others frequently rely on their armour and special abilities to compensate: for example, Kitaoka is mainly a ranged combatant.
** The ''Series/KamenRiderDouble Returns: Accel'' has the Gaia Memory Enhancing Adapter which triples the power output of any Gaia Memory it is attached to. When attached to the Accel Memory allows Ryu to become Kamen Rider Accel Booster.
** ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' also averts this as protagonist Gentarou Kisaragi has no real martial arts ability and usually just fights by the seat of his pants even after becoming a Rider. Later on, he ends up taking some kickboxing lessons. However, when he becomes Kamen Rider Fourze Meteor Fusion States, he ends up gaining the Jeet Kun Do skills of his ally.

** ''Manga/DigimonNext'': The [=DigiMemories=], they are one of the few things that make fighting NEO possible. Otherwise the onlythigns that have a chance are the god of the digital world and illegal monsters running an arbitrator program designed to ''kill'' the god of the digital world.

** In Part 7, Steel Ball Run, Johnny Joestar and others find [[MacGuffin Corpse Parts]] that allows them to awaken their Stands. [[spoiler:The Corpse Parts are actually pieces of ''Jesus Christ''.]]

** Lampshaded in "Lessons" when Buffy is teaching Dawn to fight, and, referring to a vampire who's just crawling out of the grave, Dawn says: "He's new. He doesn't know his strength. He might not know all those fancy martial arts skills they inevitably seem to pick up."

** ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' has a device that accelerates a human's evolution to that of an [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens Ancient]], granting him PsychicPowers such as telepathy, telekinesis, healing, and super-intelligence (even more if the human in question is already a genius). Unfortunaly, the goal of the device is to force [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascension]]. If the subject is not ready mentally to become an EnergyBeing, he will die in a matter of days. Fortunately, it is possible to reverse the process.
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' the episode "Spock's Brain" has a Teacher which gives whoever uses it the ability to perform brain transplants and removal, perfectly. The downside is [[spoiler:the knowledge is short-lived]].

* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's short story ''Profession'', schools have been replaced by teaching machines that implant the contents of education tapes into young people's minds. General knowledge, including the ability to read and write, is implanted at the age of eight. The knowledge and skills required for a specific profession are implanted at age eighteen, following a test of the individual's abilities, interests, and attitudes.

If the object has a variety of effects depending on the demands of the plot, it's GreenRocks.