Fantasy Metals: Difference between revisions

In [[Real Life]], a metal is an element of the periodic table which belongs to one of certain groups/columns and has a specific type crystal lattice with free electrons. In fiction, especially fantasy, a metal is shiny stuff with wonderful properties like super strength, lightness, magic resistance and so on, often not resembling any of the metals found in the periodic table. Metals that are brittle, soft, flammable, react violently with water or air or are otherwise useless for smithing swords and shields from them '''never''' appear in fantasy, despite there being a lot of these in [[Real Life]]. This trope (a supertrope to [[Mithril]] and [[Orichalcum]]) describes the "shiny and wondrous" kind of metals.