Alchemy Is Magic: Difference between revisions

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** It bears saying, though, that the Fullmetal Alchemist brand of alchemy is entirely different in methodology than real-life, especially Western, alchemy. In Fullmetal Alchemist, the transmutations worked on the principle of exchanging equal values of energy and matter in order to power the rituals. In real life, many alchemists believed that primal matter would eventually progress to gold, the most pure form of of matter. The goal of alchemical experiments, then, was to artificially speed up this process.

** Hiromu has [[Shown Their Work|shown her work]]. Fullmetal Alchemist includes various alchemical symbols: the cross and snake on Edward's cloak, armor-Alphonse's left shoulder, and Izumi's left collarbone is actually called a flamel (named after the famous real world alchemist Nicholas Flamel); the Oroborus tattoo the homunculi have, in alchemy, represents the snake eating itself-the [[Ultimate Lifeform|perfect being]]; as stated above, the Philosopher's stone was also the goal of many alchemists.

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has some references to ~~alchemy--at~~ the end of Volume 21, ''[[Ken Akamatsu]]'' [[Shown Their Work|shows his work]] with a quite detailed depiction of the history of alchemy and its relationship with the 1,000,000 drachma 'ixir'.

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has some references to alchemy—at the end of Volume 21, ''[[Ken Akamatsu]]'' [[Shown Their Work|shows his work]] with a quite detailed depiction of the history of alchemy and its relationship with the 1,000,000 drachma 'ixir'.

* Defied in ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'': when Lawrence goes to a district for a town's alchemist, his guide tells him they just do experiments with acids and metal. This ends up holding true even after we find out {{spoiler|they have a god in human form like Holo living there.}}

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** 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.

* [[The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel]]: Starring Nicholas Flamel himself. In that world, some alchemists have indeed found immortality; Flamel and the Comte De Saint Germain among them. Flamel himself has found the way to create the Stone and the Elixer, though it requires a special formula from a certain magical book. The formula is in fact different every month the book reveals it; trying to use the same formula again is [[No Immortal Inertia|dangerous]]. The book itself contains many other secret, some which are far too dangerous, should they fall into the hands of the [[Eldritch Abomination|Dark Elders]], for Flamel to let the book out of his sight.

* ''[[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}}.

* ''[[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.

* Harry uses alchemy occasionally in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', usually when his regular magic isn't enough (which happens rarer and rarer as the series progresses). Making a potion involves six ingredients; a base, and something to stand in for each of the five senses. Then he performs a spell which makes the mess a potion.

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* ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' gives us the material known as Australium, which has similar effects. At first glance, it looks like an average gold bar (and indeed is speculated to be the material the Golden Wrench is made out of, which turns people to gold), but prolonged exposure to it instead gradually [[Testosterone Poisoning|turns the wielder Australian, eventually growing a mustache, finding a taste for beer, growing gradually more muscular, and growing geographically-shaped chest hair.]]

** It's a bit more complex than that. Aside from making people more like stereotypical Australians, it simultaneously boosted their intelligence to [[Gadgeteer Genius]] levels, leading to Australia (home to the largest deposit of Australium, directly beneath their feet) becoming some sort of [[Crystal Spires and Togas]]/[[Raygun Gothic]]/[[Steampunk]] land of technological wonders ''in the 1800s alone''. It's state in the 1960s, when the game actually takes place, is unknown, but the country was responsible for most of the anachronistic aspects of the TF2 universe like the Engineer's buildings. In fact, the BLU Engineeer's grandfather used some of the metal to build two life-extension machines (possibly three, but the location of the third remains a mystery) bringing the whole thing full circle to immortality.

* Alchemy is also a profession in ''[[World of Warcraft]],'' although its primary use is in producing ~~drugs -- I~~ mean, restorative and buff potions. At higher levels you can transmute gems into more valuable gems and metals into more valuable ~~metals -- including~~, yes, iron into gold. Most of these transmutations may only be performed daily, and, yes, they demand an (also alchemist-made) Philosopher's Stone to perform.

* Alchemy is also a profession in ''[[World of Warcraft]],'' although its primary use is in producing drugs—I mean, restorative and buff potions. At higher levels you can transmute gems into more valuable gems and metals into more valuable metals—including, yes, iron into gold. Most of these transmutations may only be performed daily, and, yes, they demand an (also alchemist-made) Philosopher's Stone to perform.

** Considering the limited applications, iron is generally more valuable than gold anyway. And if sold to an NPC, a bar of gold is only worth [[Junk Rare|10 silver coins]].

* ''[[Xenosaga]]'' references the four stages of the Magnum Opus with the characters Nigredo, Albedo, Citrine (Citrinitas), and Rubedo.