Unobtainium: Difference between revisions

[[File:unobtainium-avatar_9189avatar 9189.jpg|link=Avatar (Filmfilm)|rightframe|The name turns out to be very [[Meaningful Name|meaningful]].]]

[[Unobtainium]] is the exotic [[Elemental Crafting|metal]] or other material that is needed to make the [[Applied Phlebotinum]] work.

Much [[Mad Scientist|mad science]] uses unobtainium, such as [[Chemistry Can Do Anything|imaginary chemicals]] with impossible properties or super-strong alloys that cannot be made from common earthly metals. [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|Alien]] spaceships and weapons are usually made from unobtainium as well.

Some forms of unobtainium are based on real physics, but beyond the current scope of human engineering, such as [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Room-temperature_superconductortemperature superconductor|Room temperature superconductors]]; they would revolutionize just about every form of technology, but they are not in and of themselves dangerous or based on some exotic physics-bending principle.

The most common varieties of unobtainium in fiction sit somewhere in the middle, like materials so resistant to heat and/or damage as to be [[Nigh Invulnerable]] compared to other, similar substances. Materials such as [[Mithril]], adamantium and [[Orichalcum]] (and all variant spellings thereof) are the fantasy version. [[Thunderbolt Iron]] is especially popular in fiction (and has some [[Truth in Television|basis in reality]] -- until—until [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ferrous_metallurgy:History of ferrous metallurgy#Medieval_and_Early_Modern_EuropeMedieval and Early Modern Europe|blast furnaces were invented it was the best source of refined iron]]).

Following this would be medical and/or chemical wish-fulfillers; Classical real-world alchemy casually referred to carmot, the base substance of the [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Philosopher%27s_stone's stone|Philosopher's Stone]], and [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Azoth |Azoth]], either the "universal medicine" or "universal solvent". The [[Older Than Feudalism|ancient Greek]] writer [[Plato]] referred to "[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Orichalcum |orichalcum]]" (Greek for "mountain bronze") in his description of [[Atlantis]].

Increasingly common in [[Science Fiction]] in three flavors: whatever stuff makes [[Faster -Than -Light Travel]] possible, closely followed by the stuff that can [[Artificial Gravity|mess with gravity]] (if they're not [[Stargate SG-1|one]] and the [[Mass Effect|same]]), and finally the stuff they make [[Nigh Invulnerable]] Spaceships and/or [[Humongous Mecha]] out of.

The current buzzword in [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness|hard sci-fi]] is [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Helium-3 |Helium-3] -- believed]—believed by many to be ''the'' catalyst of choice for those nifty [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion:Nuclear fusion|fusion]] reactors that should be perfected [[Vaporware|any time now]]. Theoretically, it's a safe large-scale energy source with few [[Green Aesop|environmental side effects]]. But more importantly, though there's extremely little of it on Earth, there's plenty of it on the Moon.

The term originally comes from aerospace engineering, where it was used to refer to materials that would be perfect for a particular design if not for the inconvenient fact that they were unavailable -- eitherunavailable—either because they were too expensive, or did not actually exist.

See Also: [[Minovsky Physics]] when the [['''Unobtainium]]''' has well-thought-out properties that are strictly adhered to, and [[Green Rocks]], which can be thought of as pure unobtainium ore.

** {{spoiler|It's actually the menstrual blood of the Angel Lilith, which adds all sorts of retroactive squick when you realize they've been "breathing" it the whole time.}}

* ''[[Digimon]]'' as a whole has the Chrome Digizoid metal ([[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"|also spelled]] ChronDigizoid). It's characterized as a highly sought after super-metal (with a silly name) of any colour which is very strong and cannot be damaged, except by other samples of it; in addition to being mined in some Digimon canons, a small number of Digimon species are either made of/plated in it (e.g. MetalEtemon) or wield weapons made of it (e.g. Zudomon, who killed the aforementioned MetalEtemon in ''[[Digimon Adventure]]''). The only time it's been referenced in the anime itself was briefly in the aforementioned ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' incident between Zudomon and MetalEtemon, and then only mentioned offhand to give Zudomon, a lower-level Digimon, a way to revenge-kill MetalEtemon; as such, most mentions of the substance [[All There in the Manual|occur in the broader source material]]. According to said source material, there exist several varieties with different properties denoted by specific colours: Blue, which provides high speed (as seen on [[Digimon V-Tamer 01 (Manga)|UlforceV-dramon]]); Red, which provides even higher defence (e.g. [[Digimon Savers|Sleipmon]]); Gold, which increases a Digimon's offensive power (e.g. [[Digimon Xros Wars|Shoutmon DX]]); and the vaguely described Black (e.g. [[Digimon Savers|Craniummon]]) and Obsidian (e.g. [[Digimon Frontier|KaiserLeomon]]).

* ''[[Mazinger Z (Anime)|Mazinger Z]]'' took the "ridiculously high strength/density ratio" thing to a whole new level when Japanium is alloyed into Super Alloy Z. The titular robot, built from the stuff, stands 18 meters tall, yet weighs a meager 20 tons.

** ''[[Great Mazinger (Anime)|Great Mazinger]]'' and Venus A are built from the same stuff.

** And ''[[Mazinkaiser (Anime)|Mazinkaiser]]''.

** ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer (Anime)|UFO Robo Grendizer]]'' gives two examples: Gren, an alien metal Grendizer itself is built with. Since it can not be found on Earth, when Grendizer gets damaged, Alloy Z is used to repair it; and Vegatron, a highly radioactive material only can be mined from planet Vega. The Vegans used it to create powerful weapons, but its overexploitation led to the planet becoming highly unstable.

* Various evolution-inducing stones aside, in one episode of ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'' Team Rocket had a mecha composed of "polished unobtainium", which made it immune to Psychic attacks.

* Done with a twist in ''[[Laputa]]'' where the Levistone (a Grade A [[Unobtainium]]) is a well-known mineral (and the name of the material is Etherium instead of Levistone), commonly found in rocks - however, it rapidly decays when exposed to air and thus serves no practical purpose. The movie's [[Precursors]] knew how to refine it and fashion it into durable crystals, with many amazing properties. This technology has been lost and the world's nations will now stop at nothing to lay their hands on the few remaining samples.

* ''[[One Piece]]''

* Vizorium is both the [[Unobtainium]] that makes warp-drive possible, and the central plot driver of the [[Dirty Pair (Light Novel)|Dirty Pair]] Movie ''Project Eden''.

* [[Outlaw Star]] has ''dragonite'', used for [[Faster -Than -Light Travel]].

* Naturally, the [[Marvel Universe]] has adamantium (in multiple flavors; see below), but it also has other "magic metals," like vibranium (of which there are two varieties, Wakandan [which absorbs kinetic energy/sound/vibrations] and Antarctic [which causes other metals near it to liquefy]), Uru (the material of Thor's hammer), promethium (a magical metal found only in Otherplace/Limbo, which can be used as an energy source, [[Did Not Do the Research|despite it being a real chemical element with real properties]]), and netheranium (the material of Damien Hellstrom's trident). The best example, though, would have to be the infamous [[Magic Pants|"unstable molecules"]] used to make so many heroes' and villains' costumes. And [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]]'s unobtainable unobtainium shield - completely indestructible, but also a handwavy one-off item.

* Epiphyte in ''[[The Metabarons (Comic Book)|The Metabarons]]'', the original source of the Castaka family wealth.

* ''[[Avatar (Filmfilm)|Avatar]]'' [[Invoked Trope|refers to it by name]]. The movie features a mineral called unobtainium, although, in the film, the unobtainium functions as a [[Mineral MacGuffin]]; it's described as a [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature_superconductor:Room temperature superconductor|room temperature superconductor]] that makes space travel more affordable, but never really expanded on apart from that. On the [[All There in the Manual|website]] [http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Unobtainium wiki] some of the other uses make it apply to this trope better.

* Metallic tritium serves this function in the second ''[[Spider-Man (Filmfilm)|Spider-Man]]'' film. The [[Big Bad]] has to make a [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] (requiring him to beat the protagonist) in order to get some.

* Quantonium in ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]''. The [[Big Bad]] needs it to power his cloning machine so he can execute the [[Alien Invasion]]. The only known supply is absorbed into the body of Susan Murphy, who then suffers from some [[Attack of the 50 -Foot Whatever|interesting side effects]].

* ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek]]'' has red matter, which can make black holes on cue.

* In ''[[Outlander (Filmfilm)|Outlander]]'', after establishing that Viking swords aren't strong enough to injure the Moorwen, Kainan salvages some hull metal from his crashed starship, and gives this to the local blacksmith to forge some stronger swords.

* In ''[[District 9]]'', the unnamed nanofluid is found in prawn technology in extremely small amounts, and is apparently quite precious. It has the power to {{spoiler|activate the aliens' ship as well as transform a human into a prawn}}.

* In ''[[DoctorDr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Web Video)|Doctor Horrible]]'', the good doctor powers his freeze ray with Wonderflonium, not far removed from Unobtainium as it has the power to stop time. However it only seems to paralyze or turn to stone a single target, rather than actually stopping time itself.

** Wonderflonium doesn't freeze time as suggested here. It merely makes the impossible possible and powers the freeze ray -- [[I Thought It Meant|which freezes time]] -- for—for a short time, at least. Wonderflonium should also never be bounced for some reason.

* Cavorite from H.G. Wells' ''[[The First Men in Thethe Moon]]''.

* Melange, also called spice, in the ''[[Dune]]'' novels, extends life and grants limited prescience, allowing [[Faster -Than -Light Travel]]. And it [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|tastes like cinnamon]]. Oh, and there are other uses. If it seems like something that would be extremely valuable and important, that's because it is. It's generally thought to be an [[Alternate Company Equivalent]] to oil in the way that it drives the greater economy and is controlled by warlike tribes.

* [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Ring WorldRingworld]]'' has a few examples:

* Atium, from the ''[[Mistborn]]'' books. It's only mined in one place, it's extremely rare, and incredibly powerful. All of the properties of Atium are ultimately justified by it being {{spoiler|made from the body of a god}}.

* John Ringo's ''[[Into the Looking Glass|Looking Glass]]'' series is so named for the instantaneous transmission portals which were created by what were originally thought to be Higgs bosons. That identification was later corrected, and they were renamed [[Applied Phlebotinum|Looking Glass Bosons]]. The looking glasses of the first book take a secondary role however, after the series takes off into space in a ship powered by a [[Black Box]] of alien origin, {{spoiler|and when the ship is destroyed in the third book, it is entirely remade by an alien race the ship just saved.}} This leads to the fourth book where the captain of the ship discovers he is missing a large number of alien made spare parts and [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] all of this saying, "And now I have to call SpaceCom and explain to them that we're non-mission-capable until a couple of tons of [[Unobtainium|unobtainium]] parts and tools get found!"

* [[EEE. E. "Doc" Smith]]'s [[Skylark Series]] features several nonexistent wonder-metals, including [http://www.rogermwilcox.name/arenak.html Arenak] for super-tough armor, and Metal X which can convert matter completely into energy when exposed to X-rays.

* Humanity's escape from the doomed planet earth in ''[[When Worlds Collide (Literaturenovel)|When Worlds Collide]]'' by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer is finally made possible when tides from the approaching planet tear open the earth, revealing the previously hypothetical wonder-metal needed for nuclear-powered space travel.

* Wil [[Mc Carthy]]McCarthy's ''Queendom of Sol'' series has quantum dots, which can imitate the properties of ordinary matter as well as manifesting exotic attributes like perfect reflectivity and frictionlessness. He also wrote a non-fiction novel called ''Hacking Matter'' that talks about the real-world possibility of using them. So, unobtainium today, but maybe not tomorrow.

* Urim in L. Jagi Lamplighter's [[ProsperosProspero's Daughter]] trilogy. Warrior angels wear it. It can hold the Water of Life. A gauntlet made of Urim allows the wielding of the Staff of Decay without harm.

* The ''[[Sten]]'' series has Anti-Matter Two, the only energy source capable of generating enough power to run hyperspace engines and make interstellar travel feasible. In all the Universe there is only a single source of AM2, and only the Eternal Emperor knows where it is.

* ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'' made a brief mention of ramonite, the metal that makes up most spacecraft and gives it its properties of stretching open doorways and opaquing/clearing the viewports.

* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' - Dalek cases are made of Dalekanium, which makes them [[Immune to Bullets]], although recent episodes showed that they now use a [[Deflector Shields]] variant to vaporize bullets before they even reach the case.

** Naquadriah also indirectly plays the Unobtainium role in ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]'' as the only known power source that can support a wormhole between the Milky Way and ''Destiny''. Only problem is that it takes a planet full of the stuff to do it, and that planet tends to blow up in the process.

* The whole of ''[[Star Trek]]'' is liberally sprinkled with various types and grades of unobtainium; the original (and most frequently recurring) example is dilithium, used in the reactor core of [[Faster -Than -Light Travel|warp drives]] as a control medium, but there are many others:

** Corbomite, which doesn't actually exist; it was an [[Ass Pull]] by James T. Kirk to bluff an enemy -- whichenemy—which means that Trek pulled a [[Lampshade Hanging]] on their own tendency to invoke unobtainium in one of its ''earliest episodes''.

** Neutronium. This is a real substance: a type of "degenerate matter" composed entirely of neutrons, thought to be what neutron stars are made of -- butof—but since even a thimbleful would weigh millions of tons, its usefulness as a material is rather limited.

** Keiyurium, a [[Shout -Out]] to the original ''[[Dirty Pair (Light Novel)|Dirty Pair]]''.

*** Transparent aluminum exists now. [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_oxynitride:Aluminum oxynitride|See here]]

** Trellium-D formed a major [[Mineral MacGuffin]] for the third season of ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'', which has the ability to negate the random [[Negative Space Wedgie|anomalies]] that existed in the Expanse. Interestingly, there appeared to be a sub-science developed around the item, with a method of synthesizing the stuff.

** At one point in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' when aliens try to kidnap Paris for the {{spoiler|weapons research}} that has been implanted in his brain, Janeway mentions that they packed the shuttle he was captured in with fulmorite explosives.

* Both versions of ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'' relied on a fictional element called "tylium" to power their [[Faster -Than -Light Travel|FTL]] drives.

** And an episode of ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' had an alien species using the same exact fuel by name!

** ''[[Power Rangers RPM (TV)|Power Rangers RPM]]'' has flux overthrusters needed to handle advanced zord control stuff. The first one was lost in the wastelands after the plane it was installed in was shot down. The second...well, it's lucky that that's when the bad guys sent a bot capable of [[Power Copying]].

* The jumpgates and jumpdrives of ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'' relied on an exotic and extremely rare mineral called Quantium-40 to function.

* In the TV series of ''[[Honey I Shrunk the Kids (TV series)|Honey I Shrunk the Kids]]'', it's revealed that an element Wayne named "Szalinskium" is at the core of all his impossible inventions. In another episode it's revealed that {{spoiler|he obtained it from the space alien Arnox}}.

* In a two-part episode of the Lynda Carter TV adaptation of [[Wonder Woman (TV series)|Wonder Woman]], we learn that her indestructable bullet-deflecting bracelets are made of "Feminum." (This is in contrast with the Comic Book canon, which at the time held that her bracelets were made of "Amazonium.")

* ''[[Shadowrun]]'', true to its fantasy-scifi-blend form, borrows from myths for its [[Unobtainium]], such as orichalcum, an alloy of copper, gold, silver, and mercury that couldn't even ''begin'' to exist if there wasn't magic in the world.

* In ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'', almost every race has a form of this, from the psychic wraith bone to the ubiquitous armour plate the humans use on tanks, adamantium. Adamantium's properties are never really explained, though, in the books, it seems to suffer from a mineral variation of [[The Worf Effect]] ("How could they cut through X many feet of adamantium that easily?!"); another worf effect example is the material used in Space Marine power armour and some vehicles, Ceramite (oftenit's suchtough examplesand involvereckoned eitherto cuttingbe bladesextremely resistant to heat, orbut it's not ''immune to'' melta/heat weapons, asthey ceramitejust isdon't reckonedhave toan beextra extremelyeasy resistanttime toburning heatthrough it, like with everything else). This also happens a lot with human building materials in that universe, all of which have odd but recognizable names and are supposedly better than what we have now, but which can be reduced to rubble in the first bombardment.

** The [[Schizo -Tech|technology levels]] in the setting also cause some rather strange applications for the unobtainium, such as adamantium bayonets fitted to the [[Frickin' Laser Beams|lasguns]] of the [[Redshirt Army|Imperial Guard]].

* In ''[[Warhammer (TabletopFantasy Game)|WarhammerBattle]]'' (fantasy setting of 40000), glowing green 'warpstone' is used to create mutations, enhance magical powers, bring the dead to life, and as an energy source for powerful technology. In the Skaven rat-men society, it is even used as currency. Warpstone is considered rare, and is mined and collected by nearly all factions in the Warhammer setting.

* ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' has mithril, adamantine, orichalchum, AND the Philosopher's Stone. Unobtainium overload... ''and that's the tip of the iceberg''.

** Red steel, cinnabril, and related substances from the "Red Steel" region of ''[[Mystara]]''.

** Bloodsilver from the ''[[Birthright (Tabletop Game)|Birthright]]'' setting.

* ''[[Exalted]]'' features the five magical materials, Orichalcum, Moonsilver, Starmetal, some variants of Jade and Soulsteel. All of these are extremely difficult to obtain and work: Orichalcum only forms when gold touches magma and has to be worked in a lava floe while sunlight streams onto the forge, Moonsilver only forms in the Wyld, where reality is breaking down, Starmetal is made from dead gods and, while working it is theoretically as simple as iron, Fate conspires to make the manufacturing process go wrong in ten thousand little ways, Soulsteel is made from ore from the Labyrinth (under the Underworld) and ghosts, Jade requires hazardous chemicals to work and is used as a currency, admittedly an [[Zillion -Dollar Bill|extremely high-value one]]. There is even an Unobtainium version of Jade - in rare and unrepeatable alchemical accidents Jade (most normally a mixture of white and green Jade) can be turned into Yellow Jade which is possibly the most coveted magical material out there.

* The "Perfected Metals" of ''[[Mage: The Awakening (Tabletop Game)|Mage: The Awakening]]''. They have numerous extremely useful properties (perfected iron, for example, is practically indestructible, capable of cutting through ''diamond'' when properly sharpened, and can bend like rubber before returning to its original shape, with absolutely no metal fatigue), and can be used to create all manner of useful alloys (such as the anti-magic "thaumium"). There are only seven of them (only alchemical metals can be perfected), and it takes powerful magic to perfect them and alloy them. Perfecting is also a ''very'' expensive process, since it requires only naturally formed samples of metal (rather than transmuted or conjured) and only 10% of the mass yields perfected metal, with the rest being completely lost (hence, you perfect 100 grams of metal and only get 10 grams of perfected metal, with the remainder destroyed).

* As well as the [[Elements Do Not Work That Way|lanthanum]] used in [[Faster -Than -Light Travel|jump drive]] technology, ''[[Traveller]]'' features so many varieties of [[Unobtainium]] that the latest edition [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it by including "unobtainium" as a trade good.

* ''[[Talislanta (Tabletop Game)|Talislanta]]'' has a number of forms of Unobtainium, some based on historical alchemy and others made up for the setting, and fairly thorough rules for crafting and utilizing them.

* ''[[EveEVE Online]]'' has a player economy built around mining for a rather long list of made up materials. And the rarer types are very hard to get. Bonus points for using "Tritanium", which is the most sought after element in high security space.

* ''[[Excelsior Phase One Lysandia (Video Game)|Excelsior Phase One: Lysandia]]'': Many powerful weapons and armor are forged from Eramel, which, oddly, is only mined in a tower.

* A recurring element in the ''[[Mega Man (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mega Man]]'' series is a metal called "Ceratanium" (in the original Japanese, simply "Ceramic Titanium"). Its exact properties are unknown, but it seems to be involved in making all the Mega Mans' armor, and in ''[[Mega Man Zero (Video Game)|Mega Man Zero]] 4'', where you can collect parts and get the engineer to make body armor out of them, the Ceratanium is found once in a fixed spot each stage and goes exactly once into each piece of body armor you can make.

* Orichalcum, seen elsewhere in this article, also turned up in ''[[Indiana Jones and Thethe Fate of Atlantis]]'' as a power source for the machines of Atlantis and potentially other machines as well. Which is why Indy had to stop the Nazis from getting to it first.

* ''[[Command and& Conquer]]'' and its sequels feature [[Green Rocks|Tiberium]], an apparently plant-like (in growth patterns and behaviour) but actually crystalline substance of extraterrestrial origin, as a harvestable resource and [[Global Currency]]. Its name derives from where it was first encountered - the impact site of the meteor that carried it to Earth at the ''Tiber'' River - ergo, it was called ''Tiber''ium.<ref>The Brotherhood of Nod would like you to note that the quoted name origin was part of a faked discovery story created for anti-Nod propaganda. The true discoverer of Tiberium, the Benevolent and Mighty Kane, named the substance in honour of Tiberius Caesar, but GDI propagandists insisted on altering every detail of the story.</ref> It's also terribly, terribly toxic, potentially radioactive (depending on what it leeches or assimilates) and generally so dangerous that it explodes violently if processed properly or stored in large enough quantities.

* Cleria, Emelas, etc. in the ''[[Ys (Video Game)|Ys]]'' series.

* ''[[StarcraftStarCraft]]'', likewise, had "minerals" of an unspecified type and "Vespene Gas" (which [[You Require More Vespene Gas|you require more of]], by the way), which each of the playable races uses in a different way to produce its various units and buildings.

*** Also, the Khaydarin Crystals.

*** This is probably the most accurate use of the name, since, without the use of cheats, you [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|cannot obtain it.]]

** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics a 2A2]]'' lives this trope to the full! Not only has it scores of metallic unobtainium, but also plenty of both chitinous (bones) and dendritious (wood).

* The ''[[Crusader: (VideoNo Game)Remorse|Crusader]]'' games had two.

** Di-corellium, a mineral that is apparently better for use in nuclear reactors than plutonium--toplutonium—to the point that it almost became a metaphor for petroleum, and at the very least for energy crises in general, what with the increasing scarcity of it and power shortages on Earth because of it--andit—and of which vast quantities, about half of all known reserves, are on the moon.

** Polonium--yesPolonium—yes, ''[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Polonium#Famous_poisoning_casesFamous poisoning cases|that]]' polonium--anpolonium—an element than in real life is unstable, highly radioactive, and extremely toxic, is used as...body armor.

* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' has a rather extensive simulation of real-world geology and metallurgy, including creating simple alloys such as bronze and electrum. It also has Adamantine, an incredibly rare ore that can be processed into various forms that allow it to be used in almost any type of construction imaginable - weapons, armour, tools, clothing, furniture, building material... about the only things you ''can't'' make out of it (well, without [[Game Mod|modding]]) are beds and food.

** There's also [http://dfdwarffortresswiki.magmawiki.com/index.phporg/Slade slade], which ''can't be dug out''. Even if you could, it's horrendously heavy, so the potential uses for it are very limited -- notlimited—not that it matters, as the game won't let you use it even if you [[Good Bad Bugs|somehow]] get some out of the walls. You're not thinking about this, though, because if you've even ''seen'' slade, [[Dug Too Deep|you've got other problems to worry about]].

** Now the developer is planning for game world's to each have their own unique [[Unobtainium]] with each one making some rare materials with randomly generated properties. When he first tried it out, he expected metals but ended up getting cursed mist.

* The [[X (Videovideo Gamegame)|X-Universe]] has Nividium, an evident pun to Nvidia.

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass]]'', you need the three pure metals (each corresponding to one of the creator godesses) to create a blade that turns the titular hourglas into the Phantom Sword. It's required by the plot, since the Phantom sword is the only thing that can hurt [[Big Bad|Bellum]].

* ''[[Master of Orion (Video Game)|Master of Orion]] 2'' invokes this trope in the form of Xentronium. It cannot be invented by the player and must instead be plundered from the Antarans, either by capturing and reverse engineering one of their warships or by defeating the Orion Guardian (both very difficult to pull off, and each only gives you a ~30% chance of acquiring the technology). If you're successful, you're rewarded with the best armor plating in existence (Xentronium edges out the best player-researchable armor by a 5:4 factor).

* The instruction manual for ''[[Supreme Commander (Video Game)|Supreme Commander]] 2'' explicitly mentions that the ''humongous'' [[Humongous Mecha|mecha]] King Kriptor is [[Lampshade Hanging|unobtainium-armored]].

* [[RunescapeRuneScape]] features many odd metals, including Mithril and Adamantite. It also features "Runite" as a metal. Then there's the "Dragon" metal, which unlike the others, cannot be mined anywhere, nor can it be forged. Weapons made of Dragon metal can be obtained through drops, but not made.

* Australium in the backstory of ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'', a material so powerful and versatile that it has granted the rather dim-witted [[Acceptable Targets|Australians]] global technological supremecy. Shipped in bars marked with a picture of a man fighting a kangaroo.

{{quote| "It's how they choose their king. Like I said, ''idiots.''"}}

** It also has the side effect of causing [[Testosterone Poisoning]] to those who handle it, turning anyone using into ridiculously manly [[Boisterous Bruiser|Boisterous Bruisers]]s with [[Badass Mustache|Badass Mustaches]]s and [[Carpet of Virility|Carpets Of Virility]].

* ''[[The Adventures of Sam and& Max: Freelance Police (Video Game)|Sam & Max]]'' approach a mine tunnel in ''Beyond The Alley of the Dolls'': "Maybe there's gold down this tunnel! Or rare deposits of ''Cantgetium!''"

* Would ADAM from ''[[BioBioShock Shock(series)]]'' count? The substance that is in great demand and practically the substance that runs the city of Rapture?

* ''[[The Perils of Akumos (Video Game)|The Perils of Akumos]]'' offers us naxonite and peryolitium, which are particularly hard to find considering that you're supposed to be near mines of them.

** Dwarven metal is an interesting case, as it's unobtainium [[In -Universe]]: in-game books in ''[[Skyrim]]'' reveal that mages, smiths, and scholars have tried for years to imitate its properties, with no success. Apparently the Dwemer were just that advanced in metallurgy. The only reliable source is recycled scrap metal from Dwemer ruins.

* ''[[Mega Man X Command Mission (Video Game)|Mega Man X Command Mission]]'' has Force Metal, used in reploid engineering.

* Though not exactly [[Applied Phlebotinum]] (it may yet turn out to be), Roy's sword in ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'' is enhanced with an alloy of [[Unobtainium|starmetal]], which required a sidequest to obtain and quite some time to find a smith to forge it.

* The time machine in [[Times Like This (Webcomic)|Times Like This]] is driven by the fictional element Sesquicentium (atomic number 150), a metal that has a tendency to time-warp by itself.

* [[Whateley Universe]] has plenty of [[Unobtainium]]. They've stolen adamantium from the [[Marvel Universe]], and they've included some of the mystical variants, including orichalcium and mithril. Oddly enough, at the [[Super -Hero School]] Whateley Academy, mithril no longer counts as true [[Unobtainium]], because there's a side character (Silver, a girl from India) who ''sweats'' mithril. The school has had to set up a mithril brokerage.

* A beautiful example is the wonderflonium of ''[[Dr. Horribles Sing Along Blog|Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog]]'', so salient it's essentially a [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]].

* The ''[[SCP Foundation (Wiki)|SCP Foundation]]'' has [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-148 SCP-148], also known as Telekill. This stuff is incredibly useful, but the Foundation hasn't been able to fully analyse it, let alone make more of the stuff.

* [[Super Stories]] has Electronium, resistant to all known methods of scanning (including superpowered ones). Apart from one villain's secret lair being made out of the stuff, no known piece is larger than a pebble.

* Allen Fesler writes stories set in the [[Chakona Space]] 'Verse. One of his inventions is boronike, which is extremely valuable and very useful to engineering types. It is commonly used in [[Transporters and Teleporters|teleporter tech]] because of its inability to ''be'' teleported.

* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' employs this in the making of the show's namesake heroes. The Unobtainium here is the mysterious Chemical X (a fancy name for the contents of a [[Can Of Whoop Ass]]). It also produced the show's biggest recurring villain, and drove several single-episode plots. ''[[Demashita! Power PuffPowerpuff Girls Z]]'' upgrades it to Chemical Z. One episode shows that you can also get the same results from a prison toilet since that's what Mojo Jojo used to make the [[Psycho Rangers|Rowdyruff Boys]].

* ''[[Spiral Zone (Animation)|Spiral Zone]]'' has Neutron-90, the rare material that the Zone Riders' uniforms are made from; it protects the soldiers from the Spiral Zone's [[Mind Control]] effect. At the beginning of the series, there's only enough of it to make five suits. Later, enough Neutron-90 is discovered to make two additional uniforms, and so [[Sixth Ranger|Sixth Rangers]]s Ned Tucker and Ben Davis are able to join the team.

* In ''[[Thundercats (Animation)|ThunderCats]]'' and ''[[Thundercats 2011 (Western Animation)|ThunderCats (2011)]]'' machines are powered by Thundrilium.

* In ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]'' the thief Red X used a suit that was powered by Xenothium, which was only described as being unstable and crazy dangerous, butso much that even reputable heroes like Robin couldn't buy it legally, he had to get it from the black market. The devices in the suit that it fuels was capable of insane things, such as creating explosive projectiles, shields, metallic bands and all kinds of crazy shizz.

* This is the notional material used in the manufacture of that very important tool or part which you can't seem to find anywhere. For example, at this time{{when}}, 16 bit PCMCIA cards are one of many peripherals that can be said to be made of Unobtainium.

* During the Cold War, most of the significant titanium mines were either in the Soviet Union or elsewhere in the [[Commie Land|Eastern Bloc]]. As a result, Western aircraft designers often half-jokingly referred to the stuff as "unobtainium." Eventually, new mines were discovered in Australia, South Africa, Canada, and Norway--allNorway—all safely outside Soviet influence--andinfluence—and titanium stopped being unobtainium for the West. U.S. aircraft designers during this period are the [[Trope Namer]].

** [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine_trifluoride:Chlorine trifluoride|Chlorine trifluoride]] is the real-world stuff. Derek Lowe has a nightmarish description at [https://web.archive.org/web/20131103115050/http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/02/26/sand_wont_save_you_this_time.php Sand wontwon't save you this time.] From that article: "It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic (combusts spontaneously) with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, and asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively."

* [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_fire:Greek fire|Greek fire.]] Accounts say it was a combination of volatile chemicals in liquid form that, when launched, would burn on and be ignited by water. The original formula has been lost, and speculation as to its contents continue today.

** Judging from its description, it probably had a lot in common with napalm.

* Carbon nanotubes have immensely useful electronic, optical, and mechanical properties, including a strength-to-weight ratio vastly superior to any building material currently in use. Sadly, asAs of 2010, even poor grade nanotubes go for about $100/gram. (A breakthrough in 2012 reduced that to $35/gram, but that's not the going retail rate.) [[I Want My Jetpack|Guess that space elevator will have to wait a few more years.]]

** The biggest problem with them at the moment is to avoid cumulative weakening, as at the moment the more nanotubes you stock together, the more the nanoscopic faults accumulate, until their strength is all but gone. Still, many scientists are confident that they'll have long and durable nanotube strings in a couple of years.

* [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element:Rare earth element|Rare-earth elements]] are used in most modern electronics, and aren't really rare, but they are hard to find in an economically-usable state. And, in addition, 97% of rare-earth mining is done in China. Because of their usefulness, worries that the Chinese could cut off or severely reduce exports of it is enough that now others countries are looking into reopening mines almost solely so that the Chinese cannot make unobtainium of them.

[[Category:Unobtainium{{PAGENAME}}]]