Power Glows: Difference between revisions
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[[File:golden2.jpg|link=Saint Seiya|frame|...and absolute power glows absolutely.]]
{{quote|''"We're the [[Stone Protectors]], now you know
''[[Stone Protectors]], our stones of power glow!"''
|''Theme song to The [[Stone Protectors]]''}}
{{quote|''"This hand of mine glows with an '''awesome power'''!"''
|'''Domon Kasshu''', ''[[G Gundam]]''}}
'''Power glows.''' The more power, the more glow. So, anything that glows is [[Power Makeover|automatically presumed to be superior]] to otherwise identical things that don't glow, and more glow is better. This is closely related to the [[Rule of Cool]] because glowing is cool, so things that glow automatically get more [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]], allowing them to be more unrealistically powerful. They're often [[
▲{{quote|''"This hand of mine glows with an '''awesome power'''!"''|'''Domon Kasshu''', ''[[G Gundam]]''}}
[[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]? Inherently superior to ordinary, everyday, garden-variety eyes of doom. Glowing [[Battle Aura]]? Opponents who don't glow won't stand a chance! Any physical object that glows will also be powerful somehow. [[Laser Blade|Glowing sword]] vs. boring sword? Glowing sword wins, every time. [[Stuff Blowing Up|Explodey things]] that emit a [[Pre
▲Power glows. The more power, the more glow. So, anything that glows is [[Power Makeover|automatically presumed to be superior]] to otherwise identical things that don't glow, and more glow is better. This is closely related to the [[Rule of Cool]] because glowing is cool, so things that glow automatically get more [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]], allowing them to be more unrealistically powerful. They're often [[Colour Coded for Your Convenience]], too. For example, evil glows bright red, good glows blue or gold, and [[Sickly Green Glow|radioactive materials glow green]].
Strangely enough, in real life glowing would usually indicate a wasting of energy, but it could still count as just the excess energy manifesting as light. A good example is in [[Mercedes Lackey]]'s [[Heralds of Valdemar|Velgarth series]] in which Gates and Portals only glow when energy is being used inefficiently.▼
▲[[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]? Inherently superior to ordinary, everyday, garden-variety eyes of doom. Glowing [[Battle Aura]]? Opponents who don't glow won't stand a chance! Any physical object that glows will also be powerful somehow. [[Laser Blade|Glowing sword]] vs. boring sword? Glowing sword wins, every time. [[Stuff Blowing Up|Explodey things]] that emit a [[Pre Explosion Glow|glow first]] are bigger, louder and/or do more damage, and if they were [[Sucking in Lines]] first, they're even more so. The most powerful magical potions will also glow to signify their superiority over ordinary, non-glowing magical potions. And don't forget the inherent awesomeness of the [[Pillar of Light]], which is Glow going to Heaven just to show how overwhelming it is.
[[Super
▲Strangely enough, in real life glowing would usually indicate a wasting of energy, but it could still count as just the excess energy manifesting as light. A good example is in Mercedes Lackey's Velgarth series in which Gates and Portals only glow when energy is being used inefficiently.
▲[[Super Trope]] to [[Battle Aura]], [[Holy Halo]], [[Volcanic Veins]], and [[Phosphor Essence]]. See also: [[Power Crystal]], [[Power Echoes]], [[Power Floats]], [[Power Makes Your Voice Deep]], [[Pure Energy]], [[Holy Backlight]], [[Background Halo]] and [[Family Friendly Firearms]]. [[Pre Explosion Glow]], [[Star Spangled Spandex]], [[Throat Light]], and [[Sucking in Lines]] are special cases of this trope. In media with audio, this is commonly a [[Whining Light]]. Very often overlaps with [[Powerup Full Color Change]].
If only certain people are aware of the glow you could be looking at [[Editorial Synaesthesia]] or even [[Aura Vision]]. May be used as a [[Fantastic Light Source]] as [[Mundane Utility]].
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[
* As the trope image shows, the holy Gold Clothes(armors) from ''[[Saint Seiya]]'' sometimes glow...very much so.
* Gourry in ''[[The Slayers]]'' has an extremely powerful Sword of Light, much better than any other regular swords. He can chop through ''trees'' with his sword, and we're not talkin' fist-width saplings, either. [[Shout
* Everything that has some sort of spiritual nature in ''[[Earth Maiden Arjuna]]'' gives off an awesome glow. Including Juna's [[Magical Girl]] transformation, as well as her energy bow Gan Deeva.
* ''[[Fate/stay
* Some ''[[Initial D]]'' characters can tell roughly how good another driver is by the glowing aura around the driver and by extension, his car when the person is driving it.
* Many attacks in ''[[Pokémon (
** Hello? ''Holographic Cards?''
* The 2003 series of ''[[Astro Boy (
* Used in the [[In-Universe]] ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' Brigade-movie "The Adventures Of Mikuru Asahina", just like any other cliche-trope. When Koizumi's power is released, he glows blue-ish. Interestingly though, it does not appear to be the comically used [[Special Effect Failure]], like with the Mikuru-Beam.
* If you notice yourself being bathed in a soft, pink light in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', that is your signal to run fast
** If you find yourself in a similar situation in ''[[Dragonball Z]]'', you're about to be blown up by Majin Buu. Generally speaking, soft, pink light is best avoided in Anime.
* Performing alchemy causes stuff to glow in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. This is actually used as a small plot point when Ed realises that he and Al can't use alchemy to sneak into the fifth laboratory, as the guard would see the glow.
* In the first few story arcs of ''[[Bleach]]'', Ichigo's eyes/body glow a faint blue when he's harnessing a particularly high amount of 'spirit energy'. He later acquires a black/red glow upon achieving bankai. We see a few other characters with an aura as well, including Kenpachi (yellow) and Yachiru (pink). This seems to have been largely dropped by the Arrancar arc, however.
* [[Getter Robo]] has this for Getter Rays' use. Most designs of Getter-1 even include several clear panels on the face and some on the chest and limbs so they can light up when it's time to kick ass.
* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' may not be the [[Ur Example|oldest example]], but it might be [[Trope Codifier|the
** Actually inverted in the Android saga. The titular androids - cyborgs more powerful even than Frieza - are shown as extreme threats, despite their lack of any glow at all. In fact, Androids 17 and 18 are for a short time the two strongest beings in the DBZ universe, the latter totally trouncing the very glowy, newly Super-Saiyan Vegeta.
*** This is because the glowing [[Battle Aura
** Inverted again in the Buu saga. When Gohan achieved a new level of power beyond the glowy Super-Saiyan or even the glowier and sparky Super-Saiyan 2, his hair remained black and had almost no battle aura to speak of.
** In ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'', both Goku and Baby as Golden Great Apes have a golden, glowy aura. Seeing as this is basically Super Saiyan Oozaru, it makes sense.
* The finale of the third arc of ''[[Robotech]]'' and during ''[[Robotech:
* ''[[One Piece
** Partially justified, because the idea of the attack is that he's heating up his leg with friction (without tearing his skin or clothes to shred). The heat then glows, like a toaster coil.
** It should be noted, one of the most powerful Marines, Admiral Kizaru, literally turns into light.
* The "Shining Finger!" attack from ''[[G Gundam]]''.
** Not to mention all Shuffle Alliance members' [[Super Mode|Hyper Modes]], which turn their [[Humongous Mecha]] into glowing gold incarnations of ass-kicking.
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00
* Both ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam:
* The same happens in ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]'': the full Psycoframe under the RX-0's armour glows whenever its NT-D is activated. Its colour depends on the strength of the Newtype's abilities.
* Once every 22 years in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', the [[World Tree]] in Mahora glows with a brilliant light. This is from the magical energy within accumulating to the point where it overflows. When it's like this, it could grant wishes of the heart, from something as simple as making someone fall in love with you to {{spoiler|[[The Unmasqued World|convincing the entire world that magic exists]]}}.
* The ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion]]'' movies introduce this in spades. The most obvious example is what happens to Unit-01 at the end of the second movie: it starts going berserk and gets the usual [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]. But so does its pilot. And the mecha's fluorescent green parts starts glowing sickly red. As well as the inside of its maw. {{spoiler|Then it rebuilds its amputated arm as a glowy, proteiform appendage, grows a halo, shoots [[Eye Beams]] left and right and lose its armour only to reveal glowing white patches beneath it. By the time the credits flash, it has become a giant glowing figure of pure white.}} Unsurprisingly, its opponent is [[Curb Stomp Battle|unable to resist such a brilliant display]].
* ''[[Darker
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', the titular character, as well as his fellow [[Sealed Inside a Person
** This is lampshaded when {{spoiler|Naruto's controlled form of the 9-tails's chakra}} is actually [[Mundane Utility|used as a flashlight.]]
**
* In ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'', B Class and higher beings like Toguro, Yusuke, Bui, and Sensui often display bright auras when either manifesting their full power or when using a powerful attack. Especially powerful auras can cause adverse things to the wielder's surroundings: Toguro's can disintegrate anything drastically weaker than him, and the combined power of Sensui's {{spoiler|Sacred Energy}} and Yusuke's {{spoiler|new-found demonic power}} created massive earthquakes and twisters strong enough to kill A-Class beings in an instant.
* Then there's the ultimate attacks of the titular [[Super Robot]] in ''[[
* Is no one going to mention the [[Rule of Cool|Spiral Energy]] of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''? While the glowing energy powered by [[Hot
* ''[[
* In ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'', [[Differently
* In [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]], Madoka, as a [[Magical Girl]], glows brightly enough you could mistake her for the sun in a few scenes.
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* ''[[Doom (Comic Book)|Doom Comic]]'': "''[[Might Makes Right|Might makes]] light.'' '''* BLAM!* ''' * CLA-CLACK* ''And I feel mighty!'' '''* BLAM!* '''
* ''[[Immortal Iron Fist]]'': the titular character's fist glows when he summons his chi.
* The constructs of the ''[[Green Lantern
* In ''[[Power Pack]]'', one of the powers causes the kid using it at the time to glow when he or she is able to shoot energy balls. The brighter the glow, the more power he/she has stored up.
* Played for laugh in the French comic ''Dungeon Zenith vol. 2: The Barbarian Princess'': the hero ask its speaking sword whether it has special powers. Yes: it glows in the dark. Enough to make him a target, not enough to be used as a light.
* [[Doctor Strange]] typically has orbs of light around his hands when spellcasting.
* In ''[[
== Fan Works ==▼
* The fact that the protagonist of ''[[Dragon Age:
* In ''[[
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* In the 1985 film ''[[The Last Dragon]]'', there is The Glow: when a fighter's hands glow, he is among the best in the world - when his entire body glows, he IS the best. Sho'Nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, demonstrates the former towards the end of the movie, but Leroy "Bruce Leroy" Green demonstrates the latter after a beatdown.
* Tony Stark's arc reactor in the ''[[Iron Man]]'' movies glows ''very'' blue. Very vaguely justified in that it is producing electrical energy, and that whatever reaction happens in it might give off Cherenkov radiation. As for the repulsors... the workings of a palm-sized rocket/energy weapon are anyone's guess.
* From the same continuity as the above: The [[MacGuffin|Tesseract]] from ''[[Captain America:
** The glow extends to Arnim Zola's Tesseract-powered weapons as well, all of which carry luminous blue power packs.
* In ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', the contents of the [[MacGuffin|briefcase]] is never shown, but whatever it is
* In the second ''Pokémon'' movie, to save Lugia, the three legendary bird Pokémon, and resolve all conflict, Melody had to play a tune on what looked like some sort of ocarina. The stones she played it next to glowed depending on what note she used, and then glowing water came out from nowhere and entered into the sea.
* Inverted in ''[[Indiana Jones and
** And before that, played straight in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
*** Which can work without inviting magic. If the stones were radioactive and enveloped in a fluorescent substance, the effect could be quite close to what was seen in the movie - when you get more of it close together, the rate of radioactive decay gets up, which in turn means more heat and more light from the fluorescence. Of course, it probably weren't awfully healthy to keep them near yourself and touching them.
*** Of course, you still have to explain why they glow brighter and with more intensity when people chant at them.
* This happens to Cartman in ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]'' once he harnesses the power of his malfunctioning V-chip.
* The reagent in ''[[Re
* In ''[[Tangled]]'', Rapunzel's [[Hair of Gold]] glows whenever she uses its powers of healing and immortality. She manages to take advantage of this when she and Flynn get trapped in a flooding cave and need to find a way out.
* In the film of ''[[Harry Potter and
* [[Godzilla]]'s dorsal fins flash or glow (depending on the film) when he's preparing to unleash his [[Breath Weapon|atomic ray
* In ''[[Stardust (film)|Stardust]]'', {{spoiler|Yvanne defeats Lamia when she glows
* In ''[[Contact (
* In ''[[WALL-E]]'', not only does EVE glow very faintly (the better to invoke a Gaussian Girl), her presence and touch cause electrical lights to glow as well.
▲== Fan Works ==
▲* The fact that the protagonist of [[Dragon Age the Crown of Thorns|this]] particular [[Dragon Age]] fanfiction gets his magic {{spoiler|from a fairly unstable tear in the Veil, which he has in his body,}} means, among other things, that he starts glowing white whenever he does something unusual, either just from the eyes or his whole body, up to looking like a [[Stargate|Stargate ascended ancient]].
▲* In [[Keepers of the Elements (Fanfic)|Keepers of the Elements]], the Keepers often have [[Color Coded Elements|colour-coded]] power glows when casting spells. Other magical beings also have glows when casting spells.
== Literature ==
* In ''[[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'' magical
* [[
** Gandalf invokes this trope when he adds lighting to [[Hand Wave|explain]] the disappearance of Bilbo in his Birthday party.
* Mocked in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' when Stannis gets Lightbringer, a literal glowing sword, but despises it because it doesn't do anything else better than most swords.
** It is speculated that this is because it isn't the true Lightbringer, which would probably glow, but would actually be hot as well. So
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' Harry more than once makes his staff/blasting rod glow, usually when he is about to smash something into the water table.
** Also his much abused amulet, which glows whenever he uses it as a light/silver bullet against superpowered werewolves.
** Then we have the Swords of the Cross, all of which glow with varying intensities depending on the wielder and situation. For instance Amoracchius once shines so brightly that it chargrills many light
** Any time Harry uses Soulfire or Hellfire.
* Subverted several times in the ''[[Discworld]]'' series. Because of the world's narrative causality, mundane items wielded with true conviction are often stronger than fancy magic weapons.
** Justified in the case of Death's scythe and sword, since these are so sharp, they cut up the air molecules that happen to bump against them. This, of couse, causes lightning-like ionization.
* In [[James Swallow]]'s ''[[Warhammer
** And then the tomb of Sanguinius in ''Red Fury''.
* All magic produces bright glows in ''[[Elantris]]'', because it is the sign of the power of [[The Force|the Dor]] breaking in to the physical world. The most powerful practitioners of magic, the [[Physical God|Elantrians]] actually glow non-stop, but other magic-users produce light with their powers as well.
** Interestingly the glowing caused extra problems when the [[The Magic Goes Away|magic went away]] because {{spoiler|The glow attracted a fungus which fed on and enhanced the light. When the magic failed and the glow disappeared the fungus died and rotted, coating all of the surfaces of Elantris in slime.}} This slime is partially responsible for why the city looks so much more decrepit than it should be.
* Stormlight, the primary magic power of ''[[
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] story "[[
* Katherine Kurtz's [[Deryni]] can produce spheres of cool light (called Hand Fire), and they can manifest glowing auras around their bodies. Ritual circles (and dueling circles) appear as glowing light. Colours tend to be hereditary (Haldane red, Corwyn green), and certain colours (green, silver, gold) are associated with Healing ability.
* Deconstructed and [[Played for Drama]] in Jessica Amanda Salmonson's ''The Golden Naginata'': Unless it has been [[Applied Phlebotinum|used]] to [[Unholy Holy Sword|wound]] the ''[[Unicorn|kirin]]'' who guards it within the past month, the [[Blade
* More powerful Wizards like Septimus and Marcia in ''[[
* Invoked in ''[[Dream Park]]'', as holographic auras of appropriate intensity are overlaid on
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* In ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', the glowiness of a power source is directly proportional to how powerful it is. The most powerful, Project Arcturus, creates a giant glowy ball of pure energy.
** Lampshaded in a later episode where determining whether a super powerful artifact is safe to handle amounts to "Well, it's not glowing anymore, so..."
* When someone glows on ''[[
* In ''[[Madan Senki Ryukendo]]'', the Ultimate form of the title hero is ridiculously shiny, and his final attack even moreso.
* In ''[[Star Trek:
** That could simply be an indicator light.
** It appears that electrical machinery also has an electromagnetic aura when viewed through Geordi's VISOR, as we got to see in one episode which gave us a perspective that went -quite literally- through his eyes. This includes the android, [[Ridiculously Human Robot|Data]]. Geordi is rather surprised to find that nobody but him can see this aura.
*** Then later Geordi [[Fridge Logic|fails to realize]] that another android built by the same guy who built Data isn't a human.
**** In this case, she was built with devices that mimic human life signs. It would stand to reason that they also shield any EM field emitted by the machinery. Otherwise, any old tricorder would be able to pick up the readings.
* In ''
* In the pilot for ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', the crude [[Energy Weapon]] Cameron assembles in the safe of the bank only has enough power to kill Cromartie when the "isotope" powering it begins to glow.
* In
** ''[[Kamen Rider Faiz]]'' had an interesting spin on it: The five Riders' costumes were covered with "veins" through which pumped a glowing substance that to powered them. In nighttime scenes, the "veins" and visors would glow, and use of a [[Finishing Move]] would cause a bead of energy to run from the belt (the main power source) to the Rider's foot or sword or whatever they were going to use to kick butt.
* When a magical [[Chekhov's Gun]] is found in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' the following conversation is held:
{{quote|
'''Willow:''' How can you tell?
'''Giles:''' Well, it's so shiny. }}
* The [[Wonder Woman (TV series)|''Wonder Woman'' TV series]]: There is always one of those just when [[Secret Identity|Diana Prince]] [[
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Exalted]]'' puts this principle to good use: the more Essence you draw into your Charms over a scene (i.e. the more powerful you make your superpowered attacks), the more glow, or Anima (in the parlance of the game), you produce. It begins with your Caste mark faintly appearing on your forehead, progresses into a glowing field or effect which physically envelopes you in various ways,<ref>(brilliant golden glows for Solars, sickly green lights for Infernals, silver tattoos lighting up across Lunars' skin, elemental environmental effects for Dragon-Blooded, spiritual auras and halos for Sidereals, bleeding necrotic Essence for Abyssals, and industrial or technoscientific effects such as electric discharges and arcs, billowing steam, and even chemical or molten metal secretions from Alchemicals' skins)</ref>
** Which might seem like a horrible disadvantage to the cause of stealth, except that an Exalted with 16+ Essence running through their Charms is more or less a [[Person of Mass Destruction]] at any rate, and not to be fucked with.
* In ''[[Dungeons
** In fourth edition, if you don't want to have a bunch of (potentially handy) secondary effects, you can get a Fire, Ice, Poison, etc. enchantment. Activating the enchantment [[Exactly What It Says
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* In ''Ultima 6 and 7'', every single magical item glows brightly, using palette cycling. This is spoofed in various fanfics.
* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' magical weapons are also good light sources.
** In [[Neverwinter Nights 2
** Ammon Jerro's [[Power Tattoo]] glows.
** In ''Storm of Zehir'', +1, +2 and so forth weapons glow in a way that looks like the devs [[Wild Mass Guessing|wanted to simulate light glinting off a shiny surface]], but [[Special Effects Failure|couldn't make the graphics engine do the job]].
* The player of ''[[
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]],'' enchanters can put a glow on any weapon. Typically, the more powerful enchants glow brighter, and the type of enchantment determines the color of the glow.
** In the ''Burning Crusade'' expansion to WoW, Blizzard one-upped themselves by enabling enchanters to apply a glow to weapons that's actually a complex graphical animation. The Mongoose enchant causes your entire weapon to crackle with lighting, while the Savagery enchant makes your weapon drip blood.
*** While the primary theme of The Burning Crusade was "WoW {{
*** The multi-colored glowy-[[Lite Brite]]-Crystal cave in the original Un'Goro Crater was simply power-glow-tastic.
*** ''Wrath of the Lich King'' too, the whole nexus which is Malygos' lair is really one hell of a glow-tastic [[Scenery Porn]].
*** In ''Cataclysm'', Blizzard one-ups themselves again with the Power Torrent enchant, which shifts through the colors of the rainbow periodically ''and'' is the best-in-slot enchant for all raiding casters.
* In ''Dragon Quest 8'', Once a character reaches maximum tension, that character will glow until they attack or use magic that has a quantifiable effect, be it damage, healing or a stat buff. They'll also stop glowing if a boss nullifies their tension with a [[Status Buff Dispel|wave of ice]].
* In ''[[Final Fantasy]]'', any place with a constant glow to it (such as the Mako Reactors in ''VII'' and Bahamut's hideout in ''VIII'') is very important place with lots of either magical or technological power hidden from mortals. Party members tend to glow when using special abilities, and [[Limit Break
** An interesting example is in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', where Kefka is surrounded by a pyramid of magic before the final fight. In addition to showing his immense magical powers, it reflects his emotions: when he's taunting the party and laughing, it's blue, then turns purple as he laments the futility of life, green when the party members declare he's wrong, then red when he gets angry. Emotion Glows too.
* ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'', pretty much every character gets an aura of some sort when they enter EX Mode.
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' (
** Even without the
* In ''[[Fable]]'', your tattoes and hands glow with high enough magic levels.
* In ''[[
* Likewise in ''[[
* In the first ''[[
** The ''[[
** Later games in the series implement [[Synchronization|Full Synchro]] as an effect you can get in battle if you're skilled. It's depicted by Rock glowing (his color becomes light) and a pink halo spinning about his body. Very powerful NPCs and enemies in cutscenes also flash with light, notably Gospel in the second game, Proto (Alpha) in the third game and the Cyber Beasts in the sixth.
** Every version of Mega Man who can charge up usually glows while doing so. ''[[
* Early ''[[Mega Man (
** [[Mega Man Zero
** This was carried over from Virus Infected Zero in ''X5'', who was surrounded by a ominous purple aura.
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls III
** ''[[The Elder Scrolls Four|Oblivion]]'' manages to pull this off much better, with enchanted items having a slight subtle glow instead the plastic-wrap one. [[Game Mod|Mods]] exist for both games that remove the effects if you don't like them.
** ''[[Skyrim]]'' mixes the two: enchanted weapons have faintly glowing swirls and whorls like ''Morrowind'' (only ''way'' better-textured), while armor and jewelry uses the ''Oblivion'' glowy outline.
* The old Magic Knight game ''Spellbound'' for the ZX Spectrum featured the spell Armouris Photonicus, which if cast in the right place would make your armour glow sufficiently to traverse two darkened rooms safely, making this [[Older Than the NES]].
* ''[[
* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' Budokai Tenkaichi 2: low-ranking characters might glow faintly when summoning ki; high-ranking characters glow with intense brightness at all times, and even the simplest moves look like a fireworks display crashing into a laser light show.
* Any ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' character with a [[Super Mode|super form]] when in said form.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]''. And Kingdom Hearts II is even worse. Everything sparkles, lights, shines, flares, an so on... MY EYES!!
* ''[[
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'''s biotics have glowing energy about them when they use their [[Mind Over Matter|biotic powers]], especially when using a powerful biotic move. Samara is a really good example, especially when she fights {{spoiler|her daughter Morinth}} to the death.
** [[Minovsky Particle|Element Zero]], though rarely seen directly, apparently has quite an energetic glow about it. This makes [[Fridge Brilliance|perfect sense]] when you consider that it actually constitutes [[Genius Bonus|exotic matter]] under certain conditions.
* The Soar Star in ''[[
* ''[[
* In Richard Bartle's original MUD, swords ''inherently'' glow. If you use your wizardly powers to create a wooden sword that falls apart after one hit, it'll still glow purely by virtue of being a sword.
* The eponymous race of [[Valkyria Chronicles]] are said to {{spoiler|and do}} glow with an otherworldly blue flame, as well as [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]], when using their powers.
* Many [[
** "What kind of weapon is that?" Nope.
** "Where did you get that?" Not even close.
** "How do you make your weapon glow?" Bingo!
** [[
** Inverted in [[Phantasy Star Online]]. The common, weak weapons are all photon based, as opposed to some rare, high end weapons, which are non glowing real guns and swords. presumably because photon based weapons are cheaper to make than a properly tempered steel katana or a finely machined kinetic firearm.
* In ''[[
** Rachel is surrounded by an ominous purple glow when in her [[SNK Boss|Unlimited]] mode.
* In ''[[Metroid Prime]]'', anything even vaguely related to phazon is always glowing. In the rest of the series, all powerups glow.
* In ''[[
** While not exactly a glow, the "unusual" hats give off a special aura when worn.
* In the Fallout series there is a type of ghoul called Glowing Ones. As their name suggests, they are brightly [[Exactly What It Says
* ''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce''. ''All'' characters glow when they enter their [[Super Mode]].
* A rule of thumb in ''[[Rift]]''. Any monsters nearby when one of the titular [[Hell Gate|rifts]] opens will become "touched" by that rift's element. [[Casting a Shadow|Shadetouched]] monsters glow purple, [[Green Thumb|fae]][[Light
* Irenicus in ''[[
* In [[Minecraft]], enchanted tools and armor glow purple. While not necessarily more ''powerful'', enchanted items all have some sort of beneficial affect.
* Most ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' games from ''[[Fire Emblem Akaneia|Mystery of the Emblem]]'' onward are strong proponents of this - whenever a unit attacks with an [[Infinity
* Gele, the third Demon King, of the [[Rance]] Series.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [[
* ''[[Darkbolt]]'': Everyone who is powered by demons or angels...
* As ''[[Questionable Content]]'' reveals, even [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=717 bourbon whisky will glow] if [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=718 it's good enough].
* In ''[[Sequential Art (
** Because they're ''illuminated texts!'' [[Just for Pun|Ha!]]
* ''[[
* As demonstrated [https://web.archive.org/web/20120510195016/http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00474.html here] in ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130922013109/http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/ Nip & Tuck]'', particularly sexy lingerie glows, too. (Obviously a reference to the ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'' example mentioned above.)
* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' Gwynn tends to glow and [[Power Floats|float]] when she starts really channeling her witchy powers.
** Also happens to Horribus when he's getting ready for his grudge match with Torg. And, of course, Torg's sword glowing is the sign that it's awakened its sentient, kill-anything-in-one-strike mode.
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' takes this to its logical conclusion; if one high-level spellcaster's power glows, then the combined effects of ''[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0634.html four]'' of them glow even more.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has the river has Dyne glowing blue (before it goes through the power extraction plant under the Castle, after which this water is reasonably safe to drink), of course this might be because it is radioactive. Then again, most things that have something to do with [[God-Emperor|God-Queens]] glow — such as their [[Instant Runes]] effects, floating symbol halos and occasionally eyes; as a spring of the local battle-goddess in a town with working [[Portal Network|Queen's Mirror]] (those also glow when active, of course), Dyne's source is on this list.
* Magical things in ''[[The Way of the Metagamer]]''. Particularly the [[BFG|Rob of Za-Boom]].
* Magic items glow in ''[[Goblins]]'' when being used. Some of them also "smoke" light.
** Actually they channel the users aura, which changes color and effect (i.e., "smoking" light) depending on the individual. This is why when someone loots a magic weapon, it glows differently than whoever was just using it.
* [[The Dreamland Chronicles]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120623153814/http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/chapter-08/page-508/ Why Felicity chose to steal the amulet].
* In [[Harkovast]], magic is generally represented as glowing. This is most evident on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140404194848/http://www.harkovast.com/index.php?id=22 Darsai] energy weapons.
* [[Bob and George]] [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/031213c Warning Dr. Wiley that he's about to lose his fortress. Again.]
* A few of the more powerful player characters in ''[[Homestuck]]'' do this. Aradia and Sollux both glow when using their [[Mind Over Matter|telekinetic abilities]] (white and red/blue, respectively). Rose, on the other hand, glows ''[[Dark Is Edgy|black]]'' when tapping into [[The Dark Arts]].
** [[Our Vampires Are Different|Rainbow Drinkers]] have glowing skin.
* [[Strays]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110830152902/http://www.straysonline.com/comic/76.htm Feral's blade]
* [[Memoria (
* [[Wooden Rose]] [http://www.woodenrosecomic.com/comic/comic.html Reviving a woman from the bed where she just had a C-section].
* In [[Roza]], [[The Power of Blood|her blood is magical]]. [http://www.junglestudio.com/roza/?date=2007-05-03 It glows.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140404194211/http://whatsshakincomic.com/2011/01/17/page-20/ Ell] from [[What's Shakin']] has a power up moment with a golden glow.
* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', even the [[Mundane Utility]] of unlocking the door [https://web.archive.org/web/20131007235241/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Chapter003/ib017.html glows].
* In ''[[Endstone]]'', the [[Artifact of Doom]], [http://endstone.net/2011/06/23/6-04/ the Banestone], can really glow.
* Graham's 'mark' in ''[[
== [[Web Original]] ==
* [[Whateley Universe]] example: [[Person of Mass Destruction|Tennyo's]] sword glows a brilliant blue, and can cut through pretty much ''anything'' since it's made of some sort of anti-matter. Tennyo herself does the glowy bit when she gets really amped up, complete with [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]. Several Energizers like Golden Girl also do the full-body glow when they kick in their powers.
* [[Unlikely Eden]] example: [[Badass Adorable|Heather's]] axe starts of as just strangely blurry, but later, as her [[Preferred Weapon Effect]] kicks in it attains full glow. Additionally, the eyes of all [[Super Soldiers|Coalition soldiers]] and [[Super Soldiers|Ourkind]] bioluminesce when their abilities are activated.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Transformers Cybertron]]'', when using great amounts of power a character will glow. Used most dramatically in the [[Final Battle]] of {{spoiler|[[Crowning Moment/Transformers|Optimus Prime and Galvatron]]}}
* In ''[[Transformers Animated]]'', the AllSpark glows. So do all its pieces, and Sari's key when it's near them.
* In ''[[
* In some of the ''[[Bionicle]]'' movies, the characters' [[Mask of Power|masks]] glow while being used.
* ''[[Sealab 2021]]'': "You see this, you see how my body's glowing like that? Yeah, a lot of people can't do that."
* In the earlier episodes of ''[[Kim Possible]]'', Shego had clawed gloves that glowed with a green light when she fought; the glow was implied to amplify the force of her attacks. In the second season, she began displaying the ability to use the glow as a projectile attack, throwing blasts of energy, and it was retconned into a superpower called the "Go Team Glow", which she and her brothers obtained as children when they were exposed to an alien meteorite.
** A fair amount of the [[Doomsday Device
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* In ''[[The Secret Saturdays]]'', the human members of the titular Saturday family each have a weapon with some sort of glow, and then Zak's eyes glow when he uses his powers.
* The titular sword of ''[[Xcalibur]]'' does this.
* [[Physical God|Apocalypse]] in his ''[[X
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** Lightning glows by a slightly different way, wherein the electricity ionizes the air. But like incandescence, the light is emitted by an electron dropping back to a stable position.
** Averted when electricity travels through a wire, although not always. A company called Dexim has designed a [http://gizmodo.com/5880893/resistance-is-futile-you-will-buy-this-animated-light-iphoneipad-charger-too USB cable] to "visibly show the electrical current" as it charges your phone or iPod.
* Unlike the ones in TV, real nuclear reactors glow [
** If the reactor is under water and you're not under water with it, you're probably fine at only a few meters away.
* The popular idea of green radioactivity dates back to radium paint, which was used for clock dials and glow-in-the-dark signs in 1920s. Later when the hazardous effects of radiation were discovered, the green glow got its new meaning. Oxidising white phosphorus, also quite nasty material, glows green too.
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