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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''Using Surf to cross ''lava''?!''|'''Lance''', ''[[Pokémon Special]]''}}
Real Life lava is ''molten rock''. (The subterranean version is called magma.) Imagine an entire lake of electric-stove heating elements, all glowing red-hot. Its viscosity ranges from water-like fluidity to 100,000 times greater. It is an opaque emitter of reddish-yellow light. Its temperature is typically 700-1200 degrees C; coming within a dozen yards of it can inflict fatal burns.
In fiction,
Lava's animation is likely to be just as bad, especially in works where the technology and artistic technique to draw bubbling and flowing are limited. (Games are the worst offenders here, since the CPU power necessary to plausibly model fluid dynamics is often more than it would take to run the entire game, minus the fluid-dynamics model.) Lava will look like someone tipped a barrel of red Kool-Aid in a lake; if something falls in, it will still be visible, through the red tint of cherry flavor.
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Compare [[Sand Is Water]]. Sometimes a subtrope of [[Palette Swap]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[
** [[Mazinkaiser]] paid homage to that episode with one scene where the titular [[Humongous Mecha]] was tossed into the crater of Mount Fuji. The lava also seems less dangerous than it should be in this instance. However, given what kind of punishment Mazinkaiser shrugs off throughout the series, withstanding a lava bath seems almost trivial.
* ''[[
** In a related instance, she has to wear a plugsuit specially modified to beat the heat of the volcano, suffering great embarrassment over how it inflates and makes her look morbidly
** Then again, neither should the 8th Angel that just happens to look like a Lava Fish. When in doubt, an AT Field did it. Weirder things have been done by AT Fields anyway...it seems to actually alter reality around the Angel when used.
** ''[[Shinji and
*** To "see" in the lava, she switches to something called "imaging mode." The scene still works only due to [[Rule of Cool]], but at least they made an effort at plausibility.
* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', Yellow ''surfs'' on lava. At one point, she even goes around in circles to create a ''lava tornado'' that sucks up Lance. (Of course, {{spoiler|Lance survives... by protecting himself with a giant ''bubble''.}})
** Pokemon in general in ''Special'' are amazingly resilient. {{spoiler|While Lance and his Gyarados needed a bubble to protect them (which were, incidentally, strong enough to ''break Yellow's arm'' when she was struck by one),}} his Dragonite didn't need protection, and quite freely swam through the lava. It was hurt, but not by much, which may well be a reference to the Dragon-type's resistance to Fire attacks.
* In the ''[[Pokémon (
** On the other hand, Kool-Aid (of any temperature) would probably have doused Charizard's tail flame, being mostly water ([[Artistic License Physics|not to say molten rock shouldn't have doused it, too...]])
*** Well, lava is hot, and Fire-types probably use it as a spa. The heat likely kept Charizard's tail flame going. In addition, basaltic lava at a high enough temperature can actually be as runny as water. This leads to [[Convection, Schmonvection]] problems, of course...
* Averted in ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' of all places, during the Freiza fight where it was shown lava isn't just red water. Its heavier and more viscous, and both Goku and Freiza need to stay powered up to survive the intense heat. This was even used as part of Gohan's strategy against Broly in Movie 10, where they flew through a lake of lava and Gohan shot an energy blast ahead to create a wave that pulled Broly down, instead of him flying right through it like water.
** Humorously-enough, played entirely straight in ''[[
* In [[Outlaw Star]], Aisha relaxes in a lava pool, and Gean falls in. He runs out, parboilled, but otherwise unharmed.
** [[Our Monsters Are Different|Aisha is a were-tigress]] in a universe where [[A Wizard Did It|all space-pirates are Chinese cyborg-wizards]]. Gene definitely should've died, though.
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== Comic Books ==
* In a rather unusual example, one strip of the ''[[Prince Valiant]]'' comics waxed narrative on the lava flow of a [[Convection, Schmonvection|snowy peak]], with a breathtaking image of a '''river of Cadillac-pink water'''.
* Played with in ''[[Knights of the Dinner Table]]''. When the GM tells Bob, "You've been skewered by a spear, you've fallen off a cliff, and you're swimming in lava," Bob asks, "Do I get a saving throw? I've got +1 with swimming."
== Film -- Animated ==
* An early draft of ''[[Atlantis:
** In the [[Direct to Video|DTV]] sequel, there were lava lizards [[Captain Obvious|who could swim in lava]], and also ate rocks.
*** Also the afore-mentioned lava whales appeared in a brief scene.
* Oddly averted in ''[[The Incredibles]]'', where the lava waterfall comprising the moving walls of a hallway has a very high viscosity. 'Oddly', in that this exact same scene puts its arms around [[Convection, Schmonvection]] and ''does not let go.''
** The pathway between the opened walls of lava was clean; so, even if it was real lava flowing in the walls, it was encased in some clear material rather than just flowing from the ceiling.
* In the animated movie of ''[[The King and I]]'', the prince and the servant girl fall into a river of lava that doesn't burn them, and they just keep swimming in it.
* Averted in ''[[
* In the first [[Direct to Video]] ''[[Bionicle]]'' movie, magma and lava are essentially glowing, orange water, to the point where even the directors refer to it as a generic fluid in their commentary. Characters surf on it with droplets clearly touching their feet, yet have to be protected against it by a force field if it rains down on them.
== Film --
* ''[[The Core]]'' seems to present the ultra-high pressure liquid metal at the core of the earth as being thin as water and just about as clear, just slightly yellow-orange tinted. Being under such high pressure, the "liquid" core really functions more like a solid (denser than lead), and it's most certainly not the transparency and color of tang.
** Movie convenience. Wouldn't be much of a movie, take that as you will, if the outside views were fully based on reality now wouldn't they. As for the viscosity...least of problems present.
*** Of course, the movie may have been a lot more interesting if they didn't have any outside views, and we were limited to the same visual detectors as the crew.
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings (
** Although interestingly, when the Ring hits the lava it quickly flashes up its fire-
** Furthermore, in one of the interviews for the appendices of the Extended Edition, the creators of the film note that they wanted to have one last moment of suspense before the ring ultimately
* Averted in ''[[Spy Kids|Spy Kids 3D: Game Over.]]'' The "lava" is a bunch of computer pixels, so they have no effect on the player.
* In ''[[The Terminator|Terminator 2: Judgement Day]]'' the T1000 falls into molten metal<ref>(Okay, not lava but close enough.)</ref> that mysteriously splashes just like coloured water.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* In the story ''[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=913 Under Dragon's Wing]'', the [[
* Strangely enough, ''[[Dungeons
** It also a type of shark that lived in molten lava.
** 4th edition outright averts it. The rules are "If you touch it and aren't fully immune to fire, you die." No damage. Outright death.
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Contra]] Rebirth'': Lava will glow, but it's still a viscous dark red liquid.
* ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' for NES has it.
* In the Famicom's ''King Kong 2: Ikari No Megaton Punch'', the final stage is constantly flooded with crimson liquid that forms pink bubbles, and an occasional skull floating in it.
* In ''[[One Piece]] [[Licensed Game|Unlimited Adventure]]'': it is possible to fish in a pool of lava, where lava fish somehow are swimming around.
** [[Rule of Cool|It is]] ''[[One Piece]]'', after all.
* Shadow Man's stage in ''[[
** Ditto for Heat Man's stage in ''[[
*** It's hard to tell what that substance is supposed to be, could be molten metal?
* In ''[[
* ''[[Super Mario Bros. (
** ''[[
*** One of the endgame levels has a navy of ships sailing on lava like an ocean. Swimming underneath it is a viable option for completing the level.
** Averted in later games, where the lava kills Mario instantly or causes him to jump off if he touches it, although he still has [[Convection, Schmonvection]] on his side.
* In the original ''[[The Legend of Zelda (
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** ''[[Ocarina of Time]],'' however, has denser lava. Mind you that, by ''denser'', we mean ''you can walk on it''.<ref>There are places where falling on the lava, such as Death Mountain Crater, counts as falling into a [[Bottomless Pit]] due to the player's inability to get out (no climbable walls and too much flinching to aim the Hookshot if Link has it), but we can assume Link somehow climbs back up</ref>
** Death by falling into lava in ''[[Twilight Princess]]'' uses the same animation for [[Quicksand Sucks|drowning in quicksand]]. You can also ''fish'' in the lava (you won't catch anything, of course), indicating that the game simply thinks of it as retextured water with an added [[Super Drowning Skills|contact penalty]].
* Believe it or not, the [[The Moral Substitute|Christian-themed]] ''Zelda'' clone ''Spiritual Warfare'' partially averted this by showing lava in the demon stronghold seethe and bubble compared to the two different animations for water textures; it's harmfulness is irrelevant since you can't walk into it. It had its own recoloring in the form of boiling green slime.
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**** [[Collective Groan|Although,]] Super Metroid's soundtrack describes the song for Lower Norfair as "Norfair: Hot Lava zone" ...
** ''[[Metroid Prime]]'''s Magmoor, as the name might indicate, doesn't try to escape it. Aside from the damage, Samus' mobility while wading in it is all but negated.
** Unlike most games, however, rooms with lava are typically so hot that you take constant damage, unless you have the heat-resistant Varia Suit. The first two titles in the series are the only ones known to play [[Convection, Schmonvection]] straight.
** Let's not forget the giant worms, ''[[Metroid: Other M|Other M]]'''s whales, and various other creatures that live in the lava.
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', taken to such an extent that one dungeon in particular is easier and quicker to reach by dropping into and walking through a large pool of lava, healing up as you go, than it is to take the "normal" entry route past a long chain of mobs. It's still quicker even if you're many, many levels above the mobs in question.
** In fact, it IS water to the game. You can go into the druid's aqua form in the lava. There used to be a bug involving this where you popped out of the lava in aqua form and could walk around as a flying seal. Sadly, it was fixed.
*** They did attempt to make lava seem viscous in the game since it, unlike water, does not always have a flat surface. Most of the time it just looks weird though, as it keeps a bumpy, uneven surface while still remaining perfectly still.
** Even better, the Cataclysm expansion added the ability to ''fish'' in lava. The best result is some form of elemental fire, but you also get small animal bones, melted weapons, and ... all the usual fishing failure [[Vendor Trash]], like ''weeds'' and ''pieces of cloth''.
** Similarly, ''[[
* The ''[[Sonic Adventure Series]]'' stage Red Mountain pretty much plays this straight along with the [[Convection, Schmonvection]]-ness of it. The lava is bright red bubbling goo, and is buoyant enough to have gigantic rocks floating on top of it for Sonic to jump on.
* In ''[[La-Mulana]]'', lava is pretty much a [[Palette Swap]] of water, with the mechanics being very similar despite the different colors: you need one item to avoid taking damage (water can cause damage too in this game) and another to use the MSX while submerged. Diving through several screens of lava in the Inferno Cavern is actually required.
** Interestingly, with a bit of [[Sequence Breaking]] a player can acquire the item that allows them to swim in lava before the item that allows them to swim in water. Which amusingly results in Lemeza being able to swim in lava unharmed but unable to swim in water without constantly losing health.
* In the latter ''[[Marathon
* In the ''[[
* ''[[Quake]]'' treated both slime and lava exactly like water, except that slime caused slow health loss, and lava caused rapid health loss. At least one secret item required you to swim through lava using the [[Invincibility Power-Up|Pentagram of Protection]].
** Oddly, due to the limitations of the graphics engine, ''[[Doom]]'' averted this as you could only stand directly atop the lava until it burned you to death.
* ''[[
** And lava tilesets, meaning you can literally walk on lava. Most maps using it will have the lava-covered areas [[Convection, Schmonvection|deal periodic damage]].
* ''[[Clash
* In ''[[Ufouria]]'' for the NES there is blue water, orange water (lava) and purple water (some toxic substance, possibly acid or poison). You can swim in these but only the first, obviously, won't kill you.
* ''[[
* ''[[Ty the Tasmanian Tiger]]'' has a [[Mini
* ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''[[No One Lives Forever]] 2'', the evil corporation H.A.R.M. uses artificial lava in their underground lair that looks a lot like red hot water. Ingame characters exposit that the reason H.A.R.M. uses artificial lava because [[Reality Is Unrealistic|it looks more realistic than real lava,]] and is much easier to work with.
** There's also a memo you can find in one of the final levels that was sent by the manufacturer of their fake lava, stating that while it looks far less realistic than previous versions (the lava in NOLF2 looks terrible compared to the first game), it is far hotter.
* In ''[[Lemmings]]'', lava looks like bubbling, red-orangey water, and causes [[Super Drowning Skills|the same kind of death]] as any of the other types of water.
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls
** Well, it
** Most likely the case, as lava in [[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
* Most of the lava in ''[[Donkey Kong Country]] 2'' is treated as a [[Bottomless Pit]]. However in one level you can cool the lava down in order to swim through it.
**
*** The reason in this case is because the level in the screenshot is a [[Palette Swap]] of the Sunken Ship level type, with the "lava" being a unique twist to it for the [[Lethal Lava Land]] world.
*** Or how jumping on a seal's back allows him to cool it down. (Though at least that remains [[Magic A Is Magic A|internally consistent]]; you later use the same seals again for a [[Slippy
* In ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'' there is an area filled with lava that is really only water with a lava-like pattern on the surface. You can swim in it, and it's completely transparent once you dive. The only difference is that you take damage while swimming.
* Taken to extremes in ''[[
** Probably justified, as [[Real Life]] amusement parks ''do'' use colored water to represent lava in their attractions.
* Lampshaded in ''[[Ben There, Dan That!]]'':
{{quote|
'''Ben''': ''"You sure? Looks like tomato soup to me."''
'''Dan''': ''"Can it, you. It's lava, alright?"'' }}
* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'''s handling of lava seems to have gotten ''less'' realistic as time has passed. In the old 2D versions, lava flowed significantly more slowly than water and touching it was typically instantly fatal, though special workshops could be built hanging over magma without harming the workers (unless dangerous creatures crawled out of the magma). In 3D versions up to 0.28.181.40d, it flowed at the exact same rate as water (but didn't follow the rules of pressure ''unless'' you used pumps) but was still very deadly. In the latest versions (0.31.xx), though, the introduction of tissue layers (and some apparent issues involving temperature transfer between them) means that being immersed in magma causes [[Body Horror|fat to melt off]] and results in bleeding to death (unless the creature is big enough and thus has enough blood, at which point the bleeding stops and the creature tends to ''drown'' before dying in the heat).
** Still fun!
* ''[[
** Somewhat truth in advertising, you can [http://www.dolphinbayhilo.com/cook.html cook with lava].
** That's nothing compared to the lava ''log flume ride'' in ''[[Escape
* ''[[
* ''[[Banjo-Kazooie]] Nuts & Bolts'': The first level has lava inside a volcano that is just water with a different color. [[Justified Trope|It fits the theme, however, of a level with inflatable trees, clouds moved by a water mill, and a horizon provided by LCD screens.]]
* In ''[[Fate]]'', lava encountered in the Dungeon is a recolor of water. You can catch fish in it.
* In ''[[
* Subverted in ''[[Mortal Kombat
* It's possible that it's not even supposed to be lava, but at any rate the Last Cave in ''[[
* ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' had ''translucent'' red lava. Partially averted in ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]'' and ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'' with their opaque lava, but objects and enemies still fall right through it like water.
* One level of ''[[Tomb Raider]] II'' has the boiling kool-aid type lava, but the next has semi-realistic (with [[Convection, Schmonvection]]) lava like in the first ''TR''.
* In ''Adventures of Rad Gravity'', lava causes instant death [[Convection, Schmonvection|when touched]], [[Super Drowning Skills|as does water]].
* ''[[Minecraft]]'' partially averts this trope by having lava flow much more slowly than water to simulate its greater density. Lava's not fatal if the player can escape quickly enough, but it is ''very painful.'' It also causes any wood in short distance from it to start burning and ice to melt, but it can (or at least could) be blocked by using snow blocks.
* ''[[Terraria]]'' somewhat mimics Minecraft, in that the Lava's not instantly fatal and flows a bit slower than water. However, it only destroys loose blocks and common items...which leads to the [[Fridge Logic]]-inducing sight of a stone block beside a lava pool you just mined...one holding the lava in place, mind you...is destroyed by that very same lava. This also means that wood and ice are more effective to house it, because they need something other than a pickaxe to collect (and you're using a pickaxe to mine the obsidian the lava makes when it combines with water).
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== Western Animation ==
* Done by Bender in ''[[Futurama]]''. Despite being, well, a robot, he should not be able to see anything while "swimming" for the fossilized dog.
{{quote|
* Played almost literally in ''[[
{{quote|
* Done in ''[[The Secret Saturdays]]''. Not only can people (and volcano lizards) swim in lava like it is water (complete with underlava vision), Drew ''dives'' into it from a great height.
* An episode of ''[[The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3]]'' contains an animation goof where a flood of lava actually seems to go up to Mario's waist and doesn't kill him.
* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', lava is portrayed as being basically red water. Sometimes the characters even swim in it.
* Inverted in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo". As part of the Japanese game show they're on, they have to walk across a bridge hanging over a volcano. At the end, the lava's revealed to be orange juice with wasabi to make it sting.
{{quote|
'''Host:''' Don't worry. That "lava" is just Orange Ade, made by our sponsor Osaka Orange Ade Concern.
'''Homer:''' IT BURNS! IT BURNS!!! }}
* Played with in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Paint the Index Red]]
[[Category:Lava Tropes]]
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