History Main / AmplifierArtifact

* Several in the StarTrekExpandedUniverse. In StarTrekTheLostEra there are the masks upon which Oralian recitation masks are based. The mask in ''Well of Souls'' is the best example. Useless to those who are not psi-sensitive, it enhances and focuses the talents of empaths and latent telepaths. It is designed to allow members of its planet's ruling family to enhance their psi talents to the degree that their mind can serve as a vessel for the spirit lifeform Uramtali. Without the mask, these talents would no longer be adequate, as the ruler's genes were diluted by centuries of inbreeding. In the StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch, there's the ''pagh'varam'' (Bajoran for "soul key") which also serves to boost latent telepathy. It's actually a fragment of a Bajoran Orb of the Prophets.

* The "Shikon no Tama" or "Jewel of Four Souls" in ''{{Inuyasha}}''.

* The children's novel, TheHedgeWizard, was about a young boy who set out to become a wizard. He turns out to have no real talent for magic, but is revealed to function as one of these, greatly amplifying the magical power of any other wizard(s) he is in contact with or any spell he joins in casting (spells he tries to cast on his own are usually either weak or backfire-prone)

* How could anyone forget the Chaos Emeralds in the 'Sonic the Hedgehog' franchise? It's been commented by the writers of SEGA that They don't simply grant new powers, but amplify what one already had, as well as modify a few powers occasionally.
** Not to mention the Chaos Emeralds had the Amplifier Artifact treatment pulled on themselves by the master Emerald to form the Super Emeralds.
** Then throw in almost every other collectible item on the series, and you get one that's almost built around them. The World Rings, Sacred Swords, Sol Emeralds, etc, etc...

* In MarionZimmerBradley's ''{{Darkover}}'' stories, [[PowerCrystals matrix crystals]] could greatly increase psionic abilities.

* The Lens of Arisia, from E.E. "Doc" Smith's {{Lensman}} series, fits this trope. Kim Kinnison has vast psychic powers on his own after being converted into a [[spoiler: Second-Stage lensman]], but his Lens gives him vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big psychic powers.

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Compare UpgradeArtifact for weak characters becoming stronger through an item. Also see SuperEmpowering for people who have this effect. See MagicFeather for when someone '''thinks'' an object has this effect (but doesn't).

->-[[MemeticMutation I'LL TAKE THE]] [[LargeHam TRIFORCE OF COURAGE TO PROTECT ME!]]
-->-- King Harkinian, [[TheLegendOfZeldaCdiGames The Legend of Zelda: Wand of Gamelon]]

** There's also Negi's collection of magical artifacts like his fathers staff or Eva's ring

* The Ray Sphere from InFAMOUS, the device that started it all [[spoiler:kills everyone in a six-block radius to accelerate the development of the user's powers, though they gain different powers than they would've naturally. Bizarrely, it only works for Conduits and animals, but ''not'' normal humans.]]

Not entirely unrelated is the tendency of heroes to eschew these, somehow equating ancient relic of forgotten power with HardWorkHardlyWorks. Still, a respectable amount of heroes will rely on the SwordOfPlotAdvancement to complete their quest. Regardless of being a hero or villain, you can count on them losing the artifact when it comes time for the final showdown.

Likely candidates for Amplifier Artifact are ancient swords, [[OrphansPlotTrinket pendants]], [[MineralMacGuffin jewels]], sets of armor, staffs, [[BodyToJewel petrified body parts]] and rings among others. It's not unheard of for disembodied organs and appendages to become Amplifier Artifacts if part of the owner's power is sealed inside it. You can also expect these to be weak spots in {{One Winged Angel}}s and thus exceedingly evil ArtifactsOfDoom. It doesn't help that for some reason prophecies ''love'' to [[StoryBoardingTheApocalypse wax apocalyptic]] about how once Dark Lord Zeroggeddon gets The Eye of Sorrow, his full powers will be restored and he will be unstoppable.

* WonderWoman has been shown from time to time using the Gauntlets of Atlas which multiply the wearer's strength and stamina tenfold. Given that WonderWoman has pretty much Superman-class strength to begin with, she's devastating when she wears it. These were eventually passed on. She also used to have Sandals of Hermes that amplified her speed and gave her flight but [[PowerCreepPowerSeep her powers have been upgraded]] to include greater speed and flight.

* ''TheWheelOfTime'': ''angreal'' and ''sa'angreal'', magical LostTechnology that boosts the amount of power a channeler can draw upon. They usually have buffers to prevent the user from going too far, but not always. The latter are just a stronger variety of the former. The strongest are a [[GenderRestrictedAbility male-female]] pair whose combined capacity could crack open the planet; when they finally get put into use, every channeler on the continent can sense it.

** There's also Negi's collection of magical artifacts like his fathers staff or eva's ring

* The Kaiburr Crystal in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse novel ''[[SplinterOfTheMindsEye Splinter of the Mind's Eye]]'' can greatly increase the Force ability of any Force user who touches it.

* It turns out that one of the reasons Brew was wanted so badly by both sides in ''{{Soul Eater}}'' was its ability to amplify soul wavelengths. Mosquito is not impressed when it turns out the real artefact was in the back pocket of Death the Kid.

* How could anyone forget the Chaos Emeralds in the 'Sonic the Hedgehog' franchise? It's been commented by the writers of SEGA that They dont simply grant new powers, but amplify what one already had, as well as modify a few powers occasionally.

** Then throw in almost every other collectible item on the series, and you get one that's almost built aruound them. The World Rings, Sacred Swords, Sol Emeralds, etc, ect...

* This is the effect that being [[TouchedByVorlons touched]] by the [[CosmicHorror Sovereign of Sorrow]] in CaptainSNES gives. A given's sprite's abilties will be greatly enhanced, at the cost of [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity soul-crushing sorrow]]

* ''StarWars'' novel ''Splinter of the Mind's Eye''. The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiburr_Crystal#Kaiburr_crystal Kaiburr Crystal]] can greatly increase the Force ability of any Force user who touches it.

* The ''YoungWizards'' series has the ''Book of Night With Moon'', a supernatural book which describes the entirety of existence. Rather than increasing the strength of the spells a wizard casts, it makes it so that even the most complex and difficult of spells are easy to cast.

Compare UpgradeArtifact for weak characters becoming stronger through an item. Also see SuperEmpowering for people who have this effect.