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Lava Is Boiling Kool-Aid: Difference between revisions
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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 Is Boiling Kool
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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* In the ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime, Ash battles Blaine in a volcano. At one point an explosion by Team Rocket causes everything to shake; a wave of lava breaks against the wall of the arena and looks like nothing more than red seawater.
** 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 ''[[Dragonball]]''.
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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."
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** 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.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* In the story ''[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=913 Under Dragon's Wing]'', the [[Mook|mooks]] were "magma men" - living creatures that were either made of lava or lived in it. Never mind that for them, walking on land would be like us strolling about on Pluto.
* Strangely enough, ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' 3.5 plays this trope straight but averts [[Convection, Schmonvection]] - there are rules for ongoing damage just for being ''near'' lava, but swimming in lava is perfectly possible as long as you can survive the damage received per round.
** 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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** ''[[Super Mario Bros 3 (Video Game)|Super Mario Bros 3]]'' had stuff that looked like boiling spaghetti sauce.
*** 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 (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', it not only was a cheap recolor of dungeon water, but also completely invisible in the dark.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda Links Awakening]]'': Why is the lava darker than the water?
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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.
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** 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, ''[[Ever Quest]]'' has lava in which the players can swim, but it kills them fairly quickly, so doing so is largely inadvisable.
* 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.
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** 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.
* ''[[War Craft]] 3'''s dungeon maps have red-tinted water that serves as lava.
** 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 At Demonhead (Video Game)|Clash At Demonhead]]'' allows you to swim through lava when you buy a (very expensive) Super Suit. Without it, you'll die on contact with the lava.
* 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.
* ''[[American McGee's Alice (Video Game)|American McGee's Alice]]'' has lava with fire-breathing fish jumping out of it to burn you. [[Justified]] in that the game takes place in [[The Wonderland|Wonderland]]. The game could have Ice Breathing Fish living in Lava and they would fit right in.
* ''[[Ty the Tasmanian Tiger]]'' has a [[Mini
* ''[[Blaster Master (Video Game)|Blaster Master]]'' lets you ''try'' to swim in the lava in Area 7, but you'll take damage too quickly to get very far in it. In the on-foot sections, it's still instant death if you get knocked in.
* ''[[Okami (Video Game)|Okami]]'' even lets Amaterasu use the Waterspout technique on lava. If she has the Fire Tablet equipped, she can swim in lava, otherwise she's instantly ejected and suffers damage. Perhaps [[A Wizard Did It|her being the Sun Goddess]] grants her this ability?
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** [[Justified Trope]] because it actually ''is'' boiling hot water which you have to cool down in order to be able to swim through it and only years of [[Genre Savvy|Genre Savvyness]] would make you think otherwise. However, this doesn't explain [[Artistic License Physics|why the water isn't just vaporizing]] - and why it's [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|turning red]]...
*** 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 ''[[Roller Coaster Tycoon]]''; lava really ''is'' just water that happens to be red and behaves exactly the same way as regular water. In the second game, when you get to design custom scenarios, you literally get to choose whether your scenario's water is blue, red, or greenish.
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* It's possible that it's not even supposed to be lava, but at any rate the Last Cave in ''[[Cave Story (Video Game)|Cave Story]]'' has pits filled with a red liquid that damages you. Aside from its color and its ability to damage you, it is identical to the water found elsewhere in the game.
* ''[[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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[[Category:Lava Tropes]]
[[Category:Lava Is Boiling Kool Aid]]
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