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== Tabletop Games ==
* In many fantasy RPGs is a common plot device used by [[Game Master]]s. Have the heroes find the Cosmic Keystone before the [[Big Bad]] can get to it and destroy it. Very much a form of stock plot.
* Used very literally in the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons|Dungeons & Dragons]]'' adventure module ''The Apocalypse Stone''. The ''Stone of Corbinet'' (which must always be italicised) is the Cosmic Keystone used by the gods to create whichever world you choose to set the campaign in, and which connects it to the other planes. As long as it stays in Castle Pescheour, the Axis Mundi, everything's fine. The castle is watched over and kept secret by the Pescheour family and their servants. The [[Big Bad]] is an exiled prince of the family whose brother was chosen to rule the castle in his stead, and who doesn't even know what the ''Stone'' really does, but wants to steal it so he can play king himself. He sets the player characters up in an elaborate [[Batman Gambit|Batman]]/XanatosGambit to have them steal it in his stead with no idea what they're actually doing. As the world starts to [[The End of the World as We Know It|fall apart]] gradually as a result and the heroes eventually find out what they've done, they must hurry to undo their mistake—the [[Big Bad]] certainly isn't going to that, being evil enough to [[Earthshattering Kaboom|let the world be reduced to nothing]] if he can't have his way with things.
* ''[[Exalted]]'' has a few examples, most notably the Elemental Poles and the Loom of Fate. Differ from most in that the Poles are incredibly durable and malleable (the four that exist at the edge of the world can adjust themselves to how far the edge happens to be), and the Loom is probably the best defended thing in the world.
 
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** The Time Gears from [[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon|''Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky'']]. Not only are the Gears needed to stop the [[Bad Future]] {{spoiler|(after the credits are over, they ''almost'' did)}}, they are also needed in order to take the "Primal" out of Primal Dialga, the game's {{spoiler|[[Disc One Final Boss|(fake)]]}} final boss.
* The first ''[[Ty the Tasmanian Tiger]]'' has five talismans that need to be recovered so the [[Big Bad]] of the series can't unlock the power of the Dreamtime and wipe out all the mammals. Incidentally, the place the talismans are returned to serves as the conveniently-located hub of the game.
* ''[[Wild ArmsARMs]]'' has the Tear Drop - a crystal with a link to the guardians and should not be in the wrong hands. There's also the Ray Line, a sort of underground conduit linking the guardians' powers. When the villains manage to damage it, the forces of nature go out of whack, wreaking havoc.
** And this makes more sense if you take into consideration [[Blind Idiot Translation]]: Ray Line = ''[[Ley Line]]''. Indeed, it was translated as Leyline in the [[Video Game Remake|remake]].
* In ''[[Mother 3]]'', the {{spoiler|Seven Needles sealing away the [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Dark Dragon]], although subverted somewhat by the fact that not just anyone can pull it - you have to have a certain special PSI power. It also helps that if a good-hearted person pulls the Needles, the Dragon wouldn't so much ''destroy'' the world as ''upgrade'' it.}}
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