Public Domain Artifact: Difference between revisions

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Thus goes the apparent thought process of using the [[Public Domain Artifact]] -- a famous, usually completely mythical, conveniently uncopyrighted, yet instantaneously recognizable item from the realms of history, literature, or legend (if not all three).

This is not to say that such items can't be included in a perfectly entertaining and even unique plot, but its variations certainly do crop up frequently, in almost every genre -- comedy, drama, science fiction, fantasy -- and pretty much every culture from East to West. Some cultures have favorite items to use (Holy Grail for the West, for instance, the Ame-No-Murakumo for Japan, etc.), however with increasing globalization and influence of international works on the domestic and vice versa, this has been somewhat diluted in recent years, with shows like say, ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' featuring the Lance of Longinus.

It can be a weapon, a [[MacGuffin]], or hell, maybe both if it's a [[Artifact of Doom|mystical doomsday device]]. Sometimes the trope crops up as [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum]] (seen often, for example, in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''), sometimes it's a mystical object, and occasionally it's [[Magitek|both]]. Sometimes startling revelations are to be had about the object, sometimes it's straight out of the legends, heck, maybe it's even reconstructed from the original's spare parts. Regardless of its distinguishing features in the story, though, what makes a [[Public Domain Artifact]] worthy of the name is its basis on stories of the past -- the collective myths of man, with all their familiar symbols.

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In a series set in [[Magical Land|another world]], these may appear, but under different names. Often, entire sets of artifacts will be used, to make the characters feel like they're "getting" somewhere.

There's about a one-in-three chance that [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] either [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|had it or was searching for it]]. As the book ''Angels of Light and Darkness'' put it, "If Hitler had half of what they say he had, he would have won the war."

In modern series, many of these items are made of low-grade [[Unobtainium]], especially if [[Doing in the Wizard|magic is down-played or completely absent]].

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==== [[Anime and Manga]] ====

* [[Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan|Excalibolg]] is said to be a portmanteau of Excalibur and Caladbolg.

* In ''[[Fate/stay night]]'', Servant {{spoiler|Saber's}} primary weapon is Excalibur, {{spoiler|[[Samus Is a Girl|as she is actually King Arthur]].}} It can even be used as a [[Wave Motion Gun]].

** It's shown quite early in the story that Servant Lancer uses the cursed spear Gae Bolg, immediately revealing his true identity -- the Irish hero Cuchulainn. Many other Servants have ways to keep their Noble Phantasms hidden (Saber's wind barrier around her sword which renders it invisible, for one) in order to hide their true identities.

* In ''[[Saint Seiya]]'', the Capricorn Saints are said to have the power of Excalibur in their arms and legs, therefore being able to use them as [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]s. It's regarded as pretty much the most powerful weapon in the entire series.

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==== [[Literature]] ====

* ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' series is set [[After the End]] of a parallel Earth, where "Arthur Eld" is the semi-mythical forebearer of a caste of knightly gunslingers, and who wielded a sword named Excalibur that he retrieved from a pyramid. Roland wields a pair of antique six-shooters said to have been forged from the shattered remnants of Excalibur -- the barrels from the blade, the handles from its hilt.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', the holy sword ''Amoracchius'' is actually Excalibur. For added symbolic power (which is a real force in the setting) it has one of the Nails from the True Cross worked into the hilt.

* Unsurprisingly, Excalibur puts in an appearance in Peter David's ''Knight Life'' trilogy (King Arthur in the modern world). Its origin and nature turn out a bit more ... complicated than usual. {{spoiler|The sword itself has no magic; the horn of the Unicorn King, concealed in the hilt, is a different story.}}

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* Excalibur and Caliburn are one and the same in the [[Sonic Storybook Series]] game ''Sonic and the Black Knight''. Caliburn is his natural form and, through the power of three other swords and Sonic's own awesome willpower, becomes Excalibur. This also counts as one of Sonic's transformed states as he gains gold armor through it. {{spoiler|He's also revealed to be King Arthur, too...}}

* Excalibur is a name of a sword found in ''[[Castlevania: Chronicles of Sorrow|Aria of Sorrow]]''. However, the actual weapon is the Sword in the Stone (since Soma isn't the destined King of England, he ''can't remove it from the stone'' but still wields it), causing it to act like a hammer instead.

* The French translations of [[The Legend of Zelda]] have translated the "Master Sword"'s name as Excalibur.

* You get this sword by supporting the English forces in Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War.

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==== [[Western Animation]] ====

* ''[[Filmation's Ghostbusters|Filmations Ghostbusters]]'' features Excalibur, conflating it yet again with the Sword in the Stone. Here, it's used to set up a [[Stable Time Loop]] in the stone age--they get it stuck in the stone that Arthur will pull it from.

=== Durandal ===

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=== Aro(u)ndight ===

Aro[[Spell My Name with an "S"|(u)]]ndight, which may or may not have been Lancelot's sword.

==== Anime and Manga ====

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==== [[Literature]] ====

* ''Angus, the First Warrior'' has Gaoth Cerridwen, the Sword in the Stone, being forged by Druids on the Stonehenge using a nail of Jesus' cross melted with the metals.

==== [[Live Action Television]] ====

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==== Other ====

The Voynich Manuscript, an untranslated medieval manuscript of a seemingly occult nature, sometimes appears in fiction as a [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]]. A list of some works featuring it can be found [http://www.ciphermysteries.com/the-voynich-manuscript/big-fat-list-of-voynich-novels here].

The Pied Piper's flute usually appears in that character's possession in stories or plays, but turns up on its own (as the ''Pipes of the Sewers'') in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' RPG.

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=== The Fountain Of Youth ===

The Fountain Of Youth, which differs from most of the other artifacts on this page in that it can't be transported from place to place. Nevertheless, just about every fantasy story that runs long enough will eventually address it. Historical explorer, Juan Ponce de León went looking for it and instead got famous for exploring Florida.

==== [[Comics]] ====

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==== [[Live Action Television]] ====

* In ''[[Charmed]]'' The Fountain of Youth was like a normal fountain in a city only underground and could be accessed using a magical grail. It was located in San Francisco in a cave.

* In season seven of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', Daniel goes searching for the Fountain of Youth, or, more specifically, a powerful [[Precursors|Ancient]] healing device capable of, besides healing, reviving the dead and extending life. Its effects came to anyone who was near it when it was on. It was hidden in a temple near a waterfall, thus originating the "Fountain of Youth" myth.

* In ''[[Power Rangers Zeo]]'', after Billy begins suffering from rapid aging he has to go to Aquitar in order to drink from that planet's Fountain of Youth. He has to drink it fresh from the source, because otherwise it isn't strong enough. He decides to [[Stay with the Aliens|stay on Aquitar]] after being restored because he [[Interspecies Romance|falls in love]] with an Aquitian scientist named Cestria.

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==== [[Video Games]] ====

* The campaign of ''Age of Empires III'' is about three generations of people keeping it out of the wrong hands. Hell, you even get to blow it up at one point.

* The videogame ''Colonization'' lets you discover it and get a bonus. Amusingly, it doesn't limit how many times you can discover it, so a player who explores thoroughly can find dozens of Fountains of Youth scattered all over the Americas.

==== [[Web Comic]] ====

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* ''Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis'' is about the titular character searching for Atlantis before the Nazis can find it and use its secrets. Indy makes use of various Atlantean artifacts powered by beads of [[Orichalcum]]. Naturally, orichalcum originally comes from Atlantis.

* ''[[Age of Mythology]]'' set it's campaign in Atlantis.

* [[Eternal Champions/Characters|Trident]] from ''[[Eternal Champions]]'' fought for Atlantis against the Romans for a share of land. Following his death, his people were forced to live underwater.

==== [[Western Animation]] ====

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==== [[Western Animation]] ====

* An episode of ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]]'' centers around the pandemonium of Pandora's ''lunch''box being opened.

* The Box Ghost gets his [[Day in The Limelight]] with this in [[Danny Phantom]].

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* The titular ''[[Blue Seed]]''s that are the souls of the Aragami are single magatamas, one of the main characters is named Kusanagi Mamoru, and there is a villain named Murakumo {{spoiler|who is actually Yamata no Orochi}}.

* ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'''s protagonist, Motoko Kusanagi, is named after the sword. (It sounds roughly as natural to a Japanese speaker as "Jane Excalibur" would sound to an English speaker... which is probably why Masamune Shirow lampshaded it with a comment in his narration about it being "obviously a pseudonym".)

* The necklace used to give ''[[Inuyasha|Inu Yasha]]'' the "sit!" command resembles the full Yasakani no Magatama.

** Additionally, in the third [[The Movie|movie]], ''Swords of an Honorable Ruler,'' some comedy is generated by Kagome's grandfather's misreading of the kanji on the sheath of the evil [[Empathic Weapon]] Sou'unga, which causes him to believe that it is the real Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

** [[Inuyasha|Inu Yasha]]'s own weapon happens to come from the body of a monster and is able to control the wind, one too many similarities to the Kusanagi.

* ''[[Kannazuki no Miko]]'' postulates that Ama No Murakumo is actually ''two'' swords. And a [[Humongous Mecha]], for an even count.

* Orochimaru of ''[[Naruto]]'' somehow has the Kusanagi (which the dub calls "The Grass Long Sword" and it literally means "Grass-cutting Sword") and stores it ''in his throat'' of all places, presumably because he is indirectly named after the legendary serpent Orochi, in whose body the Kusanagi supposedly originated. Though it's a katana in the manga, it is shown accurately as a straight blade in the anime, but also possesses the ability to extend and glows for some reason. {{spoiler|The Mirror is held by a spirit that Itachi creates with a [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique]] that deflects all attacks... and ends up killing him}}. The Sage of the Six Paths wears a necklace that looks the Magatama, though it doesn't appear to be of any significance.

* In ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', all three treasures became the primary weapons of Sailor Uranus ("Space Sword", based on the Kusanagi), Sailor Neptune (the Mirror), and Sailor Pluto (the necklace, or the jewel from it at any rate, which became the Garnet Orb on her staff). The items are so powerful in combination that -- bizarrely enough -- they can call into existence ''another'' [[Public Domain Artifact]] on this page: the Holy Grail. Which is, of course, really just another excuse to add another transformation sequence/fancy outfit/power-up for Sailor Moon, who is (appropriately enough) both the [[Messianic Archetype]] and [[The Messiah]] of the series.

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==== [[Comic Books]] ====

* The comic ''[[Usagi Yojimbo]]'' devotes an entire [[Story Arc]] to the rediscovery and delivery for safekeeping of Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

** There's actually (to this date) two arcs based on the the safekeeping of Grasscutter (not counting a two issue arc before the first arc that told the back story to the Grasscutter). The focus is more on how the sword could be used to rally people to over throw the shogunate and restore the emperor. Despite this the Grasscutter has some supernatural power - the evil Jei can't corrupt the blade as he does all the overs he wields and it's the only thing to actually kill Jei {{spoiler|ok so it doesn't stick at least it did better then most.}}

*** The sword is also correctly depicted as double edge, straight blade. Stan Sakai the writer and artist literary [[Shown Their Work|shows his work]] with a few paragraphs on whatever the comic was based upon in the letters section.

** Also in the fourth color special Usagi is forced to recreate the incident that gave the sword the Grasscutter name - a group attacking Usagi sets the grass around him on fire and he slashes the grass around him to create a safe area from the fire.

* In The [[Groo the Wanderer|Groo]] story the "Sword's of Groo" that tells how Groo gained his swords based some it's back-story partially on the Kusanagi no Tsurugi. The swords were forged by the Japanese-themed gods and served as part of the regalia of the emperor of a Japanese-themed culture. Considering [[Usagi Yojimbo|Stan Sakai]] served as letterer on the Groo comics and is a friend of Sergio Aragones, Sergio would more then likely to know about the Kusanagi no Tsurugi.

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* Another notable example occurs in the first two ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' games, in which they are called the "Majinki" (meaning "Demon God Weapons"). They can grant whoever uses them the power of a god . . . or a demon. They are stolen and used by the [[Big Bad]] in the first game, and are destroyed in the second game to prevent the second game's [[Big Bad]] from doing likewise.

** they also allow someone from the Shinguji bloodline to banish the Kouma Demons at te cost of their life... which also plays into Oogami's decision to destroy them, as Sakura does consider their use... like her father did in the first war.

* The Blue Moon Crystal in ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'', which is also a sacred artifact for the nation of [[Wutai|Yafutoma]], just happens to be magatama-shaped.

* [[Touhou|Keine Kamishirasawa]] has a set of spell cards called "Three Sacred Treasures". Depending on difficulty, what follows will be the Sword (Kusanagi, on easy), the Orb (Magatama, on normal), or the Mirror (Yata-no-Kagami, on hard). On Lunatic, it will instead say "Three Sacred Treasures - Country".

** Also [[The One Guy|Rinnosuke]] owns the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, according to the ''Curiosities of Lotus Asia'' stories. (He got it from Marisa, who'd unknowingly found it as a kid and kept it in a pile of scrap metal.)

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==== [[Video Games]] ====

* The ''[[Castlevania]]'' series includes swords with each name.

* ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' features two characters named "Masa" and "Mune", who combine to create a big windblowy boss called "Masamune"; they're actually the spirits of the sword Masamune. Oddly enough, in the original Japanese they had nothing to do with the Masamune; they were "Grand" and "Leon", and the sword's name was (wait for it) GrandLeon.

* Several ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games have swords by this name (Auron's ultimate weapon comes to mind); however, the most (in)famous example is certainly [[Final Fantasy VII|Sephiroth's]].

** One of [[Final Fantasy IX|Zidane]]'s thief swords is called Masamune.

* The Muramasa is the name of the sword occasionally found in barrels and such in ''[[Final Fight]]''. Sodom wields swords called "Muramasa" and "Masamune".

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* Two "two-handed-sword" class weapons named Muramasa and Masamune are found in ''[[Ragnarok Online]]''. The former raises its user's critical rate, but has a chance to [[Standard Status Effects|curse]] its user, and the latter is more powerful and raises dodge rate, but reduces its user's defence to 1/3.

* ''[[Soul Series|Soul Calibur III]]'' at least has an unlockable weapon for Japanese Ronin Mitsurugi: the Masamune.

* ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' has them and at least has flavor text saying they are ''named after'' the swordsmiths.

* ''[[Wizardry]] VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge'' to ''[[Wizardry]] 8'' feature "Muramasa Blade" as one of the most powerful weapons in the game, usable only by the samurai class.

* ''[[Mabinogi (video game)|Mabinogi]]'' has several types of Japanese-style swords available; the most powerful of which are the Muramasa and Masamune swords (1-handed and 2-handed, respectively). They are not unique, so are most likely named after their creators (the game is not entirely clear on that; however). They are not available in shops or as drops; but can only be acquired from the cash shop or as special event drops.

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==== Literature ====

* ''[[The Practical Princess]]'' references this when the titular princess is likewise trying to dissuade an unwanted suitor - she requests the fireproof robe, then the jewelled branch and rejects him fro bringing fakes. (He kidnaps her instead before she can carry on to more of the requests and the story ends as a [[Gender Flipped]] Rapunzel.)

==== [[Video Games]] ====

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* Let's not even get started on [[Nasuverse|Kinoko Nasu's]] ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' and ''[[Fate/Zero]]''.

** Though at least in the [[Nasuverse]], it's explicitly stated that there are dozens of artifacts which claim to be the Holy Grail, and that whether that particular one had anything to do with Jesus is irrelevant considering its power. Turns out {{spoiler|it was made from scratch in the 1800s}}.

* As previously mentioned in ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' it is the Holy Grail that transforms Sailor Moon into Super Sailor Moon. That being said it may not be ''the'' Holy Grail as in the manga, and the videogame ''[[Sailor Moon: Another Story]]'', there's ''two'' of them - Sailor Chibi Moon has one as well.

==== [[Comics]] ====

* Also the Graphic Novel ''[[Camelot 3000]]'', in which the Grail transforms a [[Mutants|mutated]] Knight back into human form, and then, when stolen by Mordred and merged into a suit of armor, creates an armor that instantly [[Healing Factor|heals any and all damage]], no matter how fatal. Not that it really did Modred that much good...

* ''[[The Invisibles]]'' features the Black Grail, which caught the blood and excreta of Judas when he hanged himself. It bestows ignorance, rather than the enlightenment of the normal grail.

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=== Fragments of the True Cross ===

Fragments of the True Cross -- that is, the one on which Christ was crucified. This one pops up pretty often in real life as well as in fiction -- many congregations around the world possess fragments, usually no more than a single splinter, of an artifact discovered in the 4th century said to be the relic. The miniature chapel of the fairy-tale castle at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, a priceless dollhouse filled with precious and historic furnishings, contains a reliquary with an alleged True Cross fragment. There's a common joke that there are enough fragments of the True Cross to rebuild Noah's Ark, but Rohault de Fleury, a 19thC French scholar, measured the total volume of all claimed fragments of the True Cross and found they added up to 0.004 cubic meters; his estimate was that the whole cross would have been 0.178 cubic meters. (This was published in ''Mémoire sur les instruments de la Passion'', 1870.).

==== [[Anime and Manga]] ====

* In the ''[[Hellsing]]'' manga Alexander Anderson uses in his final fight with Alucard one of the Vatican's most important relics, "Helena's Nail". According to Catholic tradition, Helena of Constantinople, mother of Emperor Constantine I, was the discoverer of the remains of the True Cross. She is said to have affixed at least one nail to the bridle of her son's horse to give him protection in battle.

==== [[Comics]] ====

* [[Doctor Doom]] was revealed to have splinters of the True Cross in his armour in a recent Captain Britain and the Mi13 series. Just in [[Crazy Prepared|case]] he'd run into [[Dracula]] one day.

* In the continuity of [[Vampirella]], giving a vampire a scratch with a fragment of the True Cross, even if it is a wound a normal human would ignore, causes the monster [[Ludicrous Gibs|to explode]].

==== [[Literature]] ====

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==== Other ====

* The [[Flying Dutchman]] is about a man travelling with a piece of the cross to be able to return it to his father who has been haunting the oceans since he died at sea.

* A supposed True Cross fragment is incorporated into the decor of the Fairy Castle dollhouse at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

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** It does bring up the question of why the Roman judicial court wouldn't have entire bushels full of nails already, given how common crucifixion was. (Although most crucifixions were done with rope, nails weren't that uncommon.) Or why they didn't simply buy or commandeer some from a construction project, given how Herod had been upgrading Jerusalem's infrastructure for years.

* The nails are used as the ultimate weakness to defeat Satan in ''[[Magnus]]''.

* ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', as mentioned above.

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==== [[Anime and Manga]] ====

* ''[[To Aru Majutsu no Index]]'''s titular character, Index, claims her outfit, the Walking Church, is an accurate replica of the Shroud, and is of Pope-class hardness, able to deflect physical, magical, and psychic attacks. Well, it ''was'', until Touma's [[Anti-Magic|Imagine Breaker]] touched it and [[Clothing Damage|it fell apart]].

* Appeared in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Striker S]]'' in the form of the Holy Shroud of the Saint King, the figure of worship of the Belkan [[Crystal Dragon Jesus|Saint Church]]. While it had no powers of its own, it was used to retrieve blood samples of the Saint King and [[Clone Jesus|create a clone of]] [[She Is the King|her]].

==== [[Comics]] ====

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==== [[Film]] ====

* A scarily accurate replica of the German spear (which is actually just the spearhead) made a brief appearance in the ''[[Hellboy (film)|Hellboy]]'' movie, prominently displayed in a glass case at the BPRD headquarters.

** The replica from ''[[Hellboy]]'' also appears as a major plot device in [[The Movie]] of the comic book ''[[Hellblazer]],'' ''[[Constantine]]''.

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* {{spoiler|The Dragon of the Grand Canal}} in ''[[The Magicians|The Magician King]]'' boasts of a vast collection of magical artifacts, including both the Lance of Longinus and the noose that hung Judas.

* Appears in Peter David's ''Knight Life'' trilogy along with the Grail - {{spoiler|the Spear was used to kill the Unicorn King, the Grail to catch his blood. It's also Merlin's origin, and links to Excalibur as well. It's a complicated thing.}}

* The Spear appears, naturally, in Barry Sadler's "Casca" series, since the main character is the soldier who stabbed Christ with it. The Spear is in the possession of a cult who persecute Casca throughout history and reappears periodically throughout the series.

==== [[Live Action Television]] ====

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=== Judas' 30 Pieces of Silver ===

==== [[Film]] ====

* In ''[[The Librarian]]'': The Judas Chalice, they had been forged into a silver equivalent to [[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade|the Holy Grail]] for vampires.

==== [[Literature]] ====

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* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Prospero's Daughter]]'', this is used on various spirits.

* In [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''[[Operation Chaos]]'', the genie came from such a bottle.

* In the ''[[The Bartimaeus Trilogy]]'' prequel we see Solomon use it to summon and control thousands of demons, ''[[Cast From Lifespan|though at a price ]]''.

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=== Mjöllnir, Gungir and other weapons ===

Any weapon ever used or made by a god -- especially the [[Norse Mythology|Norse-mythological]] weapons Gungnir (Odin's spear) and especially Mjollnir (Thor's hammer).

Mjollnir is actually spelled/pronounced "Mjöllnir". The sound ö is usually unpronounceable to native English speakers. It's somewhat similar to the "heu" in French (like heure). "Myol'neer" (with short o) is pretty close, though. Speak the word heard or girl (the 3: sound) and you will be pretty close.

Occasionally you will see Gram -- the sword of Siegfried, used to kill the dragon Fafnir. This sword has also been referred to as Balmung and Nothung.

Ragnarok is also a common name for swords in RPGs, and there's also Lævateinn, the [[Flaming Sword]] of Surtr.

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==== [[Live Action Television]] ====

* Mjolnir shows up in ''[[Power Rangers Operation Overdrive]]''. Along with the real Thor and Loki. There's also the Spear of Neptune, although Neptune himself is not encountered

** All the more interesting since one of the villains seven seasons earlier (''[[Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue]]'') was a demon named Loki, and King/Lord Neptune himself appeared in that same season. How Overdrive's long-abandoned city of Atlantis squares with ''[[Power Rangers Time Force]]'''s ancillary materials placing Atlantis in the South China Sea is unknown..

* This is ''really'' common in the various ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' series. Thor's Hammer included. These are usually [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum]] of some sort.

* Mjolnir showed up on ''[[First Wave]]'' as an alien portal-making thingy.

==== [[Video Games]] ====

* Unsurprisingly, Mjolnir shows up in [[Eve Online]]. Mjolnir Torpedos deal EM damage to a target. Though it is primarily a Caldari weapon and most Norse named ships are Minmatar....However, perfectly acceptable for an Icelandic company.

* Yet another ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]'' example: the MJOLNIR Mk. V / Mk. VI [[Powered Armor]] worn by the hero and other SPARTAN-II graduates.

* Mjolnir is the focus of ''[[Tomb Raider]] Underworld'', which is the sequel to Legend. Just like Legend, the mystical "weapon" turns out to be {{spoiler|a key to enter Helheim}}. Wherein the [[Big Bad]] is attempting to wield Jormungandr, {{spoiler|a gigantic ancient machine that will bring about [[The End of the World as We Know It|Ragnarok]]}}

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==== [[Comics]] ====

* The ''Darkhold'' is [[Marvel Comics]] analog of the ''Necronomicon''. The ''Darkhold'' started out as a set of scrolls written in Antedeluvian times, referenced in their ''Conan the Barbarian'' adaptations.

* [[Evil Sorcerer|Felix Faust]] is sometimes seen reading from the Necronomicon. When reading the literature of Tartarus in ''[[Justice League]] Unlimited'' he refers to dark tomes that make the Necronomicon look like a children's book.

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==== [[Video Games]] ====

* Was a piece of cut content in ''[[Fallout 2]]''. In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', you get a slight variation, the Holy Frag Grenade.

* Appears as one of the higher tier weapons in ''[[Worms]]''. It even lets out an angelic chorus before it explodes.

** Interestingly you can set the timer not only to three but also to one, two, four, and five.

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=== Other ===

* Nowadays we have U.F.Os, Area 51 and [[The Greys]], which seem to qualify as the latest [[Public Domain Artifact|Public Domain Artifacts]].

** Or, as the quote from ''Angels of Light and Darkness'' states, half of what they say was owned by [[Godwin's Law|Hitler]].

* ''[[Fables]]'' seems to be extremely fond of this trope -- which considering it also uses [[Public Domain Character|public domain ''characters'']] as the primary basis for its main cast (even relatively obscure ones like Rose Red), should probably not surprise anyone in the least. [[Public Domain Artifact|Public Domain Artifacts]] in the series include the magic beans (from which come magic beanstalks, of course), the Vorpal Sword (as described in [[Lewis Carroll]]'s "[[Jabberwocky]]" poem... no, really genuinely ''as described'' in the poem, including an accompanying "snicker-snack!" sound effect...), the Witching Cloak, the magic barleycorns that Tom Thumb's bride was supposed to have grown from, Boy Blue's horn, a [[Genie in a Bottle|magic lamp]], several magic carpets ala Aladdin, and... really ''countless'' such objects, actually. Even Santa's "Naughty and Nice" lists make a brief appearance. Frankly, this reader is surprised they didn't throw in the Holy Grail and Fountain of Youth just for good measure...

** The fountain of youth is used in the first story; it is what keeps all the fables ageless for hundreds of years, they drink its water during a yearly ceremony.

* There are some artifacts which are associated with Santa, but occasionally show up without him. Usually his bag (ascribed mystical properties of producing whatever is desired) and his sleigh (or some other fantastic method of transportation).

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* The Hand of Glory is a common item in folklore, a magical relic made from the hand of a hanged man. It can be lit like a candle and provides a light that only the wielder can see. Various other powers have also been ascribed to it in various tales - generally something appropriate for a sneak thief.

** [[The Laundry Series]] has Hand of Glories serving as channels from an extradimensional energy source. Not only do they bestow invisibility, they can be used to fire [[Frickin' Laser Beams]], though this causes the hand to degrade. The Laundry usually gets theirs from Chinese political prisoners.

** ''[[Hunter: The Vigil]]'' has the Hand as a top-level example of [[They Would Cut You Up|the Cheiron Group]]'s Thaumatechnology. Instead of granting invisibility, however, it grants a light that enthralls all who see it. And unlike other examples, the user needs to have it grafted to their wrist first.

** The TV Dresden Files adaptation had a Hand of Glory that could let people walk through walls.

** [[Simon R. Green]] occasionally has one show up with the power to open and seal locks, portals and barriers both mundane and magical.

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[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Public Domain Artifact]]

[[Category:Magic Items Index]]