Eye of Newt: Difference between revisions

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''Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,

''For a charm of powerful trouble,

''Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."''~~|'''The Three Witches''', ''[[Macbeth]]''}}~~

''Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."''

|'''The Three Witches''', ''[[Macbeth]]''}}

The [[Spell Construction|material (or immaterial) component]] you [[Ritual Magic|need to call forth a spell]] or activate a superpower. It's not as simple as just spending [[Mana]], though. You may need to burn a pinch of sulphur, or to sacrifice the soul of your first born child. Either way, you've got to pay the price before you can throw lightning from your fingertips. If the value of what's sacrificed ''has'' to equal the value of what's gained, it's [[Equivalent Exchange]].

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*** There's also those dead blow fish and lizards he uses quite often.

* An episode of ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' has Fu Dog using Eye of Newt simply because it's used in so many potions.

* In a Halloween episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Patty and Selma are witches, cooking the classic recipe...

* In a Halloween episode of ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', Patty and Selma are witches, cooking the classic recipe...

{{quote|"Needs more Eye of Newt."

"You always want more Eye of Newt. If it were up to you, the soup would be nothing but Newt Eyes!" }}

* In the 2012 version of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', Donatello tells Michelangelo that the retro-mutagen is made of uranate, anolite, [[Stealth Insult| moronic acid]], and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking| garlic cappuccino pizza]]. Subverted in that he's clearly pulling Mikey's leg, although [~~https~~:~~//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/~~Uranate uranate] is [[Aluminium Christmas Trees| actually a real chemical.]]

* In the 2012 version of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', Donatello tells Michelangelo that the retro-mutagen is made of uranate, anolite, [[Stealth Insult| moronic acid]], and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking| garlic cappuccino pizza]]. Subverted in that he's clearly pulling Mikey's leg, although [[w:Uranate|uranate]] is [[Aluminium Christmas Trees| actually a real chemical.]]

== Real Life ==

* Hoodoo folk magic is made of this trope. Components can include (but are by no means limited to) red brick dust, graveyard dirt (~~perferrably~~ from the grave of a soldier or a child), coffin nails, dried bat hearts, and raccoon penis bones, not to mention various bodily fluids. Much of the lore comes down from rural areas in the 1930's, when such ingredients were much easier to obtain than they would be today (or not: a random Google search can and will turn up various shops selling such items online, many disturbingly authentic).

* Hoodoo folk magic is made of this trope. Components can include (but are by no means limited to) red brick dust, graveyard dirt (preferably from the grave of a soldier or a child), coffin nails, dried bat hearts, and raccoon penis bones, not to mention various bodily fluids. Much of the lore comes down from rural areas in the 1930's, when such ingredients were much easier to obtain than they would be today (or not: a random Google search can and will turn up various shops selling such items online, many disturbingly authentic).

** Researching hoodoo folklore, [[Zora Neale Hurston]] was told that a bone from a black cat would bestow powers of invisibility on its owner. Hurston claimed to have participated in a ritual to obtain the bone, which involved {{spoiler|tossing a live cat into a pot of boiling water, then leaving it to scald until the flesh and bones detached and floated to the surface. After which, the participant had to stand in front of a mirror and place each bone under his/her tongue until he/she vanished. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma01/grand-jean/hurston/chapters/hoodoo4.html#6}}

** That exact spell appeared in [[The Once and Future King]].

** That exact spell appeared in ''[[The Once and Future King]]''.

* Averted by Real Life: despite centuries of tradition, formulations such as the Trope Namer are ''not'' literal -- all these [[Squick]]y ingredients are actually [https://people.howstuffworks.com/is-eye-of-newt-real-thing.htm nicknames for far more mundane herbs and plants], used to keep the components of a potion or spell secret if overheard by the uninitiated (or perhaps to frighten the rubes). "Eye of newt", for example, is a "codename" for common mustard seed, and "tongue of dog" is the plant better known as [[w:Cynoglossum officinale|houndstongue or houndstooth]].