Alchemy Is Magic: Difference between revisions

** They have achieved all kinds of things when they've managed to put their goal of making gold aside for a few moments, such as film suitable for movie cameras. Cheery Littlebottom, the City Watch forensics officer is a trained alchemist, but left the guild. Through the roof. Like others before them, the Disc alchemists have discovered you ''can'' turn lead into gold, but only at the expense of a lot more gold than you're going to end up with. They also tend to believe that pretty much ''anything'' contains the secret to eternal life: "An alchemist would cut his own head off if he thought it would help him live longer".

* The ''[[Gentleman Bastard Sequence]]'' series has alchemy as a low-magic practice that's seen like a science, setting is as a contrast to the more flashy high magic of the Bondsmagi of Karthain. Alchemical stoves that use water as a fuel source are commonplace, as are alchemical blends of fruit, liquor, and animals (such as a hawk with scorpion stingers for talons and an accompanying venom sac).

** Potions are also frequently used in the series.

** Strangely, alchemy is a magical discipline in the ''HP'' world, represented across several media (you can even study it at Hogwarts in the final years, according to Pottermore) but how exactly it relates to Potions and Transfiguration is not discussed.

* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' has its own Alchemists' Guild, who claimed a magical pedigree back in the day but are basically viewed as charlatans and doddering old men in contemporary Westeros. They are feared and respected for one thing, however—they know how to make wildfire (or "alchemist's piss," as it's more colloquially known), which is basically what happens when napalm and Greek fire have an unholy spawning. It's also hinted that they might not be lying about the magical pedigree; one alchemist says to Tyrion that it's become much easier to produce wildfire for some reason, {{spoiler|that reason, unbeknownst to him, likely being the reemergence of dragons}}.

* ''[[The Pendragon Legend]]'' features the dark riders as major antagonists who seek to complete the great work through black magic. That's not the focus of the novel however, but rather, the young scientist researching their history, and the history of the Pendragon family as well as their connection to the rosacrucian order and the freemasons.

* In ''[[The Wise Man's Fear]]'', this is lampshaded when discussing a fireproofing ointment. When the protagonist Kvothe (who works mostly with chemistry and the [[Magic A Is Magic A|unusually scientific magic of the setting]] expresses his doubts as to what alchemy can do (specifically, that nothing becomes flammable when mixed with water), his alchemist friend Simmon responds by throwing some water into the substance, which promptly explodes, leaving the usually know-it-all Kvothe to admit: [[Crowning Moment of Funny|"I know nothing about alchemy"]].

 

== Live Action TV ==

* 1960's ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' series. Cassandra Spellcraft was an alchemist who created magical substances to use in her criminal pursuits.

 

== Tabletop Games ==