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Upgrade Artifact: Difference between revisions
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If the object is a [[Cool Sword|magical sword]], expect instant [[Implausible Fencing Powers]].
Obviously, a natural result of [[Powers
If the object has a variety of effects depending on the demands of the plot, it's [[Green Rocks]].
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== Anime and Manga ==
* The Stand Arrow from ''[[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure
* Nanoha and Fate in ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'' became the overpowered mages they are by [[Training From Hell|training a lot]]. Hayate, who received the power and spells of the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|Book of Darkness]] after she became its Master, beats them both in raw magical strength (but because she skipped the basics she suffers from [[Ace Lightning Syndrome]]).
** While training is responsible for much of Nanoha and Fate's crazy power level, a large portion of it is due to their [[Applied Phlebotinum|Velka Cartridge Systems]], which fall somewhere in between [[Upgrade Artifact|Upgrade Artifacts]] and ''normal'' old [[Mid-Season Upgrade|Mid-Season Upgrades]].
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*** Unless you count the immortality the balls are capable of granting. Given that Saiyans get stronger every time they get badly beat up, this is all they'd need.
* The Hogyoku in ''[[Bleach]]''.
* Pactio cards in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' work like this, allowing the [[Squishy Wizard|magister magi]] to buff the [[Battle Couple|partner's]] physical abilities, [[Call
* In a twist, any previously-used object can work like that in the hands of a high-level Psychometrist in the ''[[Zettai Karen Children]]'' universe. Shiho (A [[Power Levels|Level 7]] Psychometer) easily wins a fishing-competition despite having never fished before, simply by using her powers to 'read' the fishing-rod, instantly knowing how best to use it - and later gains [[Implausible Fencing Powers]] when handling a 5000-years old saber, since she can copy the abilities of all its previous users.
* In ''[[Guyver]]'', the Gigantic upgrade takes the form of a large piece of Creator technology which can be swapped between the Guyvers. It actually began as an escape pod for a Creator ship which was physically and mentally tied into Sho while it crashed.
* ''[[
== Comic Books ==
* Prometheus, a supervillain of [[The DCU]], can download the abilities of 30 of the world's best martial artists into his mind by inserting a small CD into his helmet. Batman eventually figures this out and foils him by replacing the abilities with those of Stephen Hawking.
* The alien symbiote suit of [[Spider
** Don't forget Cosmic Spider-Man, as a result of the Enigma Force choosing Spider-Man as the next Captain Mar-Vell.
* This is a very common theme in comics in general, as a way of creating new heroes and villans without all that mucking about with backstories.
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== Fan Works ==
* In ''[[
== Film ==
* The Monolith in ''[[
* Used in ''[[The Matrix]]'', of course - rather than spend time actually learning Kung Fu, Neo just has it uploaded directly into his brain. Voila, I know kung fu! At various other points in the series, other characters also gets instant uploads of useful skills, such as flying a helicopter, or hotwiring a motorbike.
** The second is gently spoofed when, before Trinity can be given the hotwiring skills, the Keymaker simply gives her the right key to turn on the bike.
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== Literature ==
* Applied, sort of, in Michael Stackpole's Age of Discovery novel trilogy. Those who are supremely skilled in something can tap into magic through their skill, and they infuse their tools with magic in the process. Anyone who uses the tool thereafter will find his capability vastly increased... until the magic drains out through use. So an untrained peasant could pick up a master's sword, and fight like a master for a little while, slowly getting worse, until they're back to their own natural incompetence when all the magic "battery power" is used up.
* Both applied and lampshaded in [[Inheritance Cycle
** First lampshaded when Eragon asks {{spoiler|Oromis}} if there is no way to give him the skills he needs, and {{spoiler|Oromis}} responds that, while there is, this would make Eragon startlingly unable to use these acquired skills.
** Applied later, when Eragon{{spoiler|'s back is healed by the dragons, and he is given some upgrades to his abilities. Surprisingly few negative effects, despite Oromis' earlier statement}}.
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** Applied yet again when Eragon {{spoiler|gets the remaining Eldunari in book 4}}. While this doesn't give him new abilities, it does make him far more able to use the abilities he already has.
* In [[Isaac Asimov]]'s short story ''Profession'', schools have been replaced by teaching machines that implant the contents of education tapes into young people's minds. General knowledge, including the ability to read and write, is implanted at the age of eight. The knowledge and skills required for a specific profession are implanted at age eighteen, following a test of the individual's abilities, interests, and attitudes.
* Used in ''[[Warcraft:
* The [[Cool Sword|magical sword Need]] in the ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' books will give its bearer magical protection if a fighter, fighting skills if a mage, or both if the bearer is neither. Then things get more complicated...
* The [[
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' 'verse has an Ancient library that can imprint itself into a human mind, resulting in major technological advances. The drawback is {{spoiler|the human brain can't handle it and the Ancient knowledge must be removed before there's permanent damage.}}
** ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' has a device that accelerates a human's evolution to that of an [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens|Ancient]], granting him [[Psychic Powers]] such as telepathy, telekinesis, healing, and super-intelligence (even more if the human in question is already a genius). Unfortunaly, the goal of the device is to force [[Ascend to
* In ''[[Power Rangers]]'', any Ranger will instinctively know how to use all of his or her gear and [[Humongous Mecha]], and generally only needs to be taught an [[By the Power of Greyskull|activation phrase]] or two. Fighting skills also seem to come with the suit. Billy, the very first Blue Ranger, used Ranger fighting skills while in Ranger form, but in human form, didn't have them and still had to be taught karate to use it out-of-suit. Later Rangers have kept their fight skills in civilian form.
** Justified in some seasons, where it shows the Rangers have been training for a while before ever getting a morpher. Subverted hard in ''[[
* Vampirism in the [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffyverse]] consists of losing your soul, needing to drink blood, getting reversibly ugly, and spontaneously becoming a hand-to-hand martial artist, even if you were the uncoordinated nerd who'd never even seen ''[[The Karate Kid]]'', let alone received any actual training. Those who have had training in life get a serious boost as vampires.
** Lampshaded in "Lessons" when Buffy is teaching Dawn to fight, and, referring to a vampire who's just crawling out of the grave, Dawn says: "He's new. He doesn't know his strength. He might not know all those fancy martial arts skills they inevitably seem to pick up."
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* Frequently used in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series of games.
** The first one is possibly the most notable, in that the [[Upgrade Artifact]] in question is a ''rat's tail''. As in the literal tail of a rat, which you give to Bahamut to upgrade all four of your characters.
** In both ''[[
** Has a small presence in ''[[
*** In the DS remake, you can find or receive items called Augments that permanently grant the user new abilities.
** ''[[
** ''[[
*** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' did something similar. Characters had to go through a certain amount of battles with a particular weapon or armor equipped to get abilities.
** In ''[[Final Fantasy]] X-2'', Dress Spheres serves the same function, with the same explanation - they contain the abilities of legendary warriors. This became [[Plot Coupon That Does Something|a plot point]], as the memories fueling Yuna's Songstress Dress Sphere are connected to the [[Big Bad]].
** In ''[[
* Applied without much explanation in ''[[
* In ''[[Fallout]] 2'' you can find a number of mysterious memory modules which claim to permanently boost base stats, if you figure out how to use them, they allow you to undergo powerful operations... that take weeks to recover from.
** ''[[Fallout]] 3'' has a better example, in the form of bobbleheads and books that raise a specific skill when grabbed.
* All of the weapons in ''[[Drakengard]]'' come with a magical spell the protagonist can use perfectly once he equips the weapon. He can also use a variety of weapons and weapon styles perfectly, but that's [[Hand Wave|probably because he's a]] [[Badass Normal]].
* In the ''[[Metroid]]'' series of games, not only does Samus acquire new powers and skills by collecting artifacts, she often [[Bag of Spilling|loses these artifacts]] and has to collect them all over again.
* In ''[[Fate/stay
* The ''[[Golden Sun]]'' series of portable RPGs features items which teach specific psyenergy (the game's equivalent to magic) abilities to the character who equips them.
** However, these items can be unequipped to be equipped by other characters, making this more a sort of Device Magic. A more fitting example is perhaps the Psyenergy-tablets in the elemental rocks in ''Golden Sun: The Lost Age''.
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** The second and final class changes in ''[[Seiken Densetsu]] 3'' are sealed, requiring characters to not only reach level 38, but to have an item to break the seal. The item is different for each and every class, and must be "grown" from a seed that [[Randomly Drops]] from a few specific (though thankfully unlimited) monsters. [[Guide Dang It|That last part is never explained in-game.]]
* The augmentation canisters in ''[[Geneforge]]'' can instantly give your character new abilities or more points in a skill. Unfortunately, they tend to make you more arrogant, violent, and inhuman. Using more than a certain number of them will alter the [[Multiple Endings|ending]] you get.
* The mysterious Monoliths in ''[[Sid
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' features this too: Sometimes it's an item which the player character can create themselves through their profession to give them a small bonus, while other times its an actual book item that the player uses once to learn a particular skill (Or more likely, upgrade to their profession), such as improved Fishing. A lot of items and weapons DO require the player to be a certain level before they can use it (Including an entire class of Armor).
* The ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' series centers around a device called the Animus, which allows a user to experience the lives of their ancestors stored in [[Genetic Memory]] via a virtual reality simulation. Prolonged use of the Animus causes something called a "bleeding effect", whereby the skills of one's ancestors imprint themselves upon the user. Thus, someone can learn to be a master Assassin through mental osmosis of a sort, with only a few potential side-effects... like insanity.
* In ''[[
* The ''[[STALKER]]'' games features [[I Love Nuclear Power|radioactive objects]] that grant you immunities to environmental hazards, [[Healing Factor|the ability to mend your wounds]], or [[Super Strength|extra weight capacity]] depenging on the artifact.
* The relics in later ''[[Castlevania]]'' games are like this, often cube shaped things that give you magic powers. You can even turn them on and off at will!
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* ''Circuit's Edge'', the cyberpunk murder-mystery adventure based on When Gravity Fails by [[George Alec Effinger]], features a wide variety of mind-enhancing and skill-providing software directly installed in one's brain in a vein similar to fellow cyberpunk pioneer, Neuromancer.
* This is how you improve your ship in ''[[Dark Star One]]''. By collecting enough artifacts, you can upgrade the Darkstar's wings, hull or engines, and unlock new abilities for the Plasma Cannon.
* ''[[
== Webcomics ==
* The ancient spirits in ''[http://www.revenant-braves.schala.net Circumstances of the Revenant Braves]'' give an individual instant special powers as well as the skill to use them.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
== Web Original ==
* In the [[Whateley Universe]], the sentient magic sword ''Destiny's Wave'' granted [[Ordinary High School Student|Alex Farshine]] ''qing gong'' agility, Taoist healing knowledge, peak physical fitness, superb martial-arts skills, [[Implausible Fencing Powers]], and the ability to speak, read and write Chinese. Oh, and [[Gender Bender|transformed him]] into a hot [[Chinese Girl]].
* Subverted with the [[
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* The series finale of ''[[Get Ed]]'' features an alien artifact simply known as "The Machine" which, when activated, will grant Ed superpowers (flight, energy blasts, etc). However, rather than turning Ed into a singular, superpowered teen hero, the artifact mistakenly splits the power between Ed and the [[Big Bad]] Bedlam, who has cloned Ed's DNA onto himself.
** Half the episodes of this series involve various attempts of both Bedlam and Ed to get ahold of other Ed artifacts. Only two of those artifacts make lasting reappearances: Ed's Slammer, an extendable energy beam weapon that works like a sword or whip. And Ed's Optical upgrades that allow him to see in the dark.
* In the ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
* The [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] receive these in the fifth season of the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003
* Subverted in ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', where {{spoiler|Po trains for most of the film to become the Dragon Warrior and be granted the Dragon Scroll, only to discover that the scroll is a mirror.}}
** It pulled double-duty as a [[Secret Test of Character]]: {{spoiler|neither Sifu nor Tai Lung, nor even Po at first, could figure out why it was "empty," just apparently a blank but rather reflective scroll. It took learning there is no secret ingredient to [[Chekhov's Gun|Secret Ingredient Soup]] for Po to realize that the scroll didn't MAKE you the Dragon Warrior, but made you realize you had it all inside of you already.}}
* ''[[
* Parodied in ''[[
* Cyborg of ''[[Teen Titans (
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