History Main / FantasticLightSource

* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': Magic staff via Yellow Crystal power.

* In ''VideoGame/inFamous'', Cole gets around the sewers by generating small amounts of electricity on his arms.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series has several spells which generate temporary sources of light, typically classed in the [[MasterOfIllusion Illusion]] school of magic. Depending on the specific spell and the specific game you are playing, these balls of light may stick to you, float around and follow you, or stick to a surface that you cast them at. The drawback of these spells is that using them will make it easier for enemies to detect you. Related are the Night Eye spells, which provide temporary InnateNightVision and do not have this drawback.

* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': This is {{discussed|Trope}}s, alongside other fantasy staples, and named "Magelight" or "Magefire". It's an extremely common skill among wizards that allows one to create a small ball of blue or white light hovering above their hand, in the air or at the end of their staff. It serves two purposes: lighting dark places and showing that a character can, indeed, do magic.

** There's even a five-dot hearthstone that illuminates quite a large area with natural sunlight, even if it's pitch dark. This is of course really, really bad for any hungry ghosts in the area.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': On numerous occasions, the titular hero has used the glow of her Lasso of Truth for a bit of light in pitch dark settings.

** Jars filled with {{glowing gem}}s or swarms of fireflies are sometimes used in lieu of electrical lamps.

You can't expect all sorts of media to have flashlights, or other sources of light that runs on batteries, for characters to use in dark areas, so there's either {{Hollywood Torch}}es or the Fantastic Light Source to use. Perhaps its due to {{glowing gem}}s. Sometimes you can expect [[GlowingFlora luminescent flora and fungus]] in particular. Also the MundaneUtility of PowerGlows or those with [[PlayingWithFire Fire]], [[ShockAndAwe Electricity]], or [[LightEmUp Light]] ElementalPowers. Either way, it's almost always guaranteed to [[InfiniteFlashlight last indefinitely]].

* Early in ''Manga/CrimsonSpell'', Halvir gives Prince Vald a fairy in a jar to use as a light source, instructing him to smack it and make the fairy angry to make it glow. Vald, who is a nicer person than Havi is, sets the fairy loose as soon as Havi has left.

* Chapter 8 of ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'' shows that mages in the setting have a spell that creates floating orbs of light that serves as this when they need to work at night in places away from civilization, such as when [[spoiler:paramedics were carting away Signum after her battle against Cypha [[NearDeathExperience left her in critical condition]]]].

* Shinsu in ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', due to the trope PowerGlows.

* Franchise/WonderWoman has on numerous occasions used the glow of her Lasso of Truth for a bit of light in pitch dark settings.

* The ant colony in ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' uses luminescent mushrooms as lighting.
* On ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'', one of the Minions is used as a glow stick.
* In ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'', Rapunzel uses her magic hair to find the way out of a flooded cave.
* Due to the fact he glows in the dark, Buzz is used as a source of light for the other toys in a scene in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3''.

* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'': the biolumiscent flora of Pandora.
* Occurs at the climax of ''Film/PitchBlack'' with the [[spoiler:glowing worms]] found in a cave. The [[spoiler:worms]] help keep the light-sensitive monsters at bay long enough to allow [[spoiler:the survivors to make it to the shuttle]] at the end.
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'':
** Groot, a PlantPerson, is able to produce bio-luminescent spores from his body.
** Peter Quill uses a glass-like orb of light when exploring a ruin. In a pinch, it's also quite effective at [[DisintegratorRay disintegrating people]] when shattered.
* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': The Tesseract is the only light source in TheTeaser apart from fires in the background.
* Rey uses her lightsaber as an illumination source in an underground area in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''. It's notably more effective than the dinky little flashlight Poe pulls out.

* ''Literature/ShadowsOfSelf'' has a bioluminescent fungus that grew in the cave system [[PhysicalGod Harmony]] created from various places underground, personally cultivated so that no one who lived there would ever have to live in darkness again.

* The ''Literature/ColdfireTrilogy'' has the Fire briefly wielded by Damian in the first book [[spoiler:before Calesta tricked Senzei intro drinking it, resulting in Senzei's death and the loss of the Fire]] and the coldfire wielded by the Hunter. The Fire was the last remaining sample of tamed solar fae bound to water with the prayers of thousands. Solar fae, unlike others, can only be tamed through massive collective effort and belief, and faith in the present is no longer strong enough to do so. It's a handy light source that is also anathema to any creature of the darkness. Coldfire is a "flame" that is as cold as true fire is hot (and just as dangerous) that gives off an eerie blue light. The Hunter wields a sword imbued with tamed fae that radiates coldfire as his weapon of choice.

* The book ''The Last Dragonlord'' had dragonfire, orbs of harmless and seemingly cold fire that gave off light.
* Both the Phial of Galadriel and Gandalf's staff serve this purpose in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. In addition to their MundaneUtility, their holy light repels creatures of darkness like the Balrog and Shelob.
* Princess Eilonwy's "bauble" (AKA the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Pelydryn Golden Pelydryn]]) in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain''.
* In the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse novel ''Literature/SplinterOfTheMindsEye'', when Luke and Leia enter a series of caves, they discover it isn't totally dark due to a light-emitting fungus growing on the walls.

* Channelers in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' can conjure lights over their hands. Thanks to the MarsAndVenusGenderContrast hard-coded into the FunctionalMagic system, women tend to produce spheres of light, while men tend towards handfuls of {{Cold Flame|s}}.
* Trolls from ''Literature/MaledictionTrilogy'' do not use any external light sources in their city (which is very convenient, since it is buried under the mountain, so fuel is scarce and smoke would be a problem). Each pure-blooded or mixed-blood troll is capable of creating a small light that follows them at all times. They can also infuse glass objects with their light and even provide them with a switch-on[=/=]switch-off capability.
* In the ''Literature/YoungWizards'' series, caves where wizards are likely to have adventures tend to be lit with "fire fungus". The arbitrariness is lessened a bit by implying that the glowing fungus is part of a whole ecology of magical underground life; for one thing, it's what the [[TheDarknessGazesBack little creatures that skitter through the shadows and watch with glowing eyes]] live on.
* ''Literature/{{Below}}'' has several magic sources of light. There's the daybreak spell, which creates a full artificial day. But spell lamps are this world's equivalent to the light bulb, made of enchanted scrap glass and fueled by liquid magic ''esen'' drawn through wire wicks, which cast white light like the sun. The party carries a few of these. [[DungeonCrawling The ruins]] contain a few self-replenishing lamps that have remained active for many centuries.
* ''Literature/BooksOfTheRaksura'': Raksura Mentors and other magical people can enchant common substances, usually wood or stone, to give off a reasonably long-lasting light. Within the setting, it's seen as a common MundaneFantastic element.
* In the English FairyTale "Literature/TheBuriedMoon", the Moon herself has [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold magical blonde hair]] that brightens the night.
* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'' {{Discusse|dTrope}}s the trope:
--> '''Magelight''' or '''Magefire''' is so common among ''Magic Users'' that it is probably what an ''Apprentice'' wizard learns to do on his first day. The operator simply thinks, and a small ball of bluish or white light appears either on the hand or hovering in the air, at the shoulder, above the head, or on the end of the ''Staff''. Magelight has two uses: it gives light in dark places, and it shows that the maker can do ''Magic''.
* ''Literature/JohannesCabalAndTheFearInstitute'': Played for black comedy when Johannes shoves the necromantically reanimated skull of Ercusides onto the end of a stick as an improvised torch -- the ColdFlames of his trapped soul make a handy light source, Ercusides' griping aside.
* Sunstones in ''Literature/ShadowOfTheConqueror'', which replace electric lightning as per Tellos's extensive use of {{Magitek}}, while also serving as [[AmplifierArtifact amplifiers]] to two of the setting's types of FunctionalMagic and a KryptoniteFactor to [[BlackMagic the third]].

* The LivingShip ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' has bioluminescent internal organs.

* The reason the caverns in ''Series/FraggleRock'' are so brightly lit is because of Ditsies; creatures that feed off music and turn it into visible light.

** Dwarves of ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' use jars with [[http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/es/20030108es glowing borer-worms, glowmoss and phosphorescent powders]]. Glowmoss is also a stock light source in ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}'' (fire is out of question in the Flow).

* D&D's spiritual successor ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' formally added a common player-made item, the Ioun Torch: a small crystal that floats around its owner's head with a Continual Light spell, granting safe, perpetual, hands-free illumination.
* FASA's ''TabletopGame/{{Earthdawn}}'' had magical "light crystals".

* ''TabletopGame/AnimaBeyondFantasy'' has the "Lampyridae"[[note]]Latin for "firefly"[[/note]] stones. Once submerged in water, they shine so much that usually are used as street lights.

* ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty 3'' has a fairy as the cursor, among other things it acts as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwWi8mx7doo a nifty light source.]]
* Besides torches and lanterns, ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}'' has the Phial of Galadriel, the Star of Elendil, and the Arkenstone of Thráin. These unique artifacts are all permanent light sources.
* The caverns of ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}'' are lit by luminescent mold on the ceiling. Depending on who you believe, either [[VainSorceress Erika]] made it and propagated it, or the [[TheGrays Vahnatai]] did. Either way, it's a good thing it's down there--it's also what turns the caves' carbon dioxide into breathable air.

* Luminite, in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', is an Underworld mineral that suffers changes in the human world and starts [[InfiniteFlashlight emitting white light indefinitely]]. Dante collects a chunk and uses it as a lantern in the first game.

** In the Xen segments of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', there are bio-luminescent stalks which retract and turn off when approached.

* In ''VideoGame/{{inFamous}}'', Cole gets around the sewers by generating small amounts of electricity on his arms.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', Snake can eat luminescent mushrooms to power his Night-vision Goggles and other battery powered items. How though ... don't ask.

* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'': The Plantern is a nocturnal plant which glows and dispel the bank of fog around it.
* In ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'', there are spells and magic artifacts to generate light at nighttime or in dungeons. This is very useful in the Naptha Mines in chapter 4, where lighting a torch will cause the whole place to explode.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series has several spells which generate temporary sources of light, typically classed in the [[MasterOfIllusion Illusion]] school of magic. Depending on the specific spell and the specific game you are playing, these balls of light may stick to you, float around and follow you, or stick to a surface that you cast them at. The drawback of these spells is that using them will make it easier for enemies to detect you. Related are the Night Eye spells, which provide temporary InnateNightVision and do not have this drawback.
* Some Diablo-inspired games have items with "light radius", which causes the circle of visibility around your character in dark places to be larger.
* Trapping fireflies or similar luminous insects and bottling them to create a light source is practically a trope of its own in light-hearted inventory-based adventure games.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Moss}}'', there's an unusual one that represents the player's cursor. It does in fact count as an in-game object, as it illuminates anything close to it.
* The Sunlight Maggot from ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' can be worn as a headpiece, and if you do, it'll provide a lantern-like lighting effect.
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' features a variety of unconventional light sources, the most notable of which is Glowstone.
* In the ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Trespasser'' DLC, the Inquisitor gains the ability to use their Anchor as a light source (in addition to using it to smite enemies, make the party invincible, and fixing holes in reality).

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* When Tanna enters the temple in ''Webcomic/EarsForElves'', it's dark once she reaches the main room. However, [[http://www.earsforelves.com/archives/612 she touches an orb]] over a glowing basin, and it and similar orbs light up the whole chamber with mystical effects.
* Played with in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': a character questions why the Deepdown doesn't have phosphorescent crystals or fungi, and is told they were all sold. Later phosphorescent fungi are seen in the caverns beneath Castle Heterodyne and Paris.
* Denizens of the Basement in ''Webcomic/TheMansionOfE'' breed and use [[http://mansionofe.comicgenesis.com/d/20040914.html Glowing Balls Of Light.]]
* In ''[=RoomLand=]'', an ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures Forum Adventure'', the cave Mary-Beth lives in is lit up by some kind of glowing plant.

* Eric from ''WebComic/TwoKinds'' has a spell that converts {{mana}} into light.

* The Gem race of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are sentient gemstones that construct their humanoid bodies out of HardLight. Following that they can use their gemstones as flashlights.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'', the [[ShockAndAwe Electroids]], being electric-based in their abilities, are able to use the purplish-blue electricity-holding parts of their bodies as flashlights.

* Shinsoo in ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', due to the trope PowerGlows.

-->-- '''Creator/TerryPratchett''', ''Discworld/MenAtArms''

** ''Discworld/MenAtArms'' lampshades this, when two characters that can see in the dark fall in a tunnel, but the narration points out, that for the benefit of viewers and to fit conventions there are fluorescent fungi on the walls giving it a slight blue tint.
** ''Discworld/TheLastContinent'' also lampshades this in a similar situation, with the lighting being provided by glowing rocks.
** And in ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'', the dwarf mine is lit by vurms, [[BioluminescenceIsCool bioluminescent]] carrion-eating creepy-crawlies.

* Literature/TheBrightestShadow: Sein spheres provide consistent light in tunnels and other areas that couldn't logically be lit constantly by torches.

* Rey uses her lightsaber as an illumination source in an underground area in Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker. It's notably more effective than the dinky little flashlight Poe pulls out.

** Rey uses her lightsaber as an illumination source in an underground area in Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker. It's notably more effective than the dinky little flashlight Poe pulls out.

You can't expect all sorts of media to have flashlights, or other sources of light that runs on batteries, for characters to use in dark areas, so there's either {{Hollywood Torch}}es or the Fantastic Light Source to use. Perhaps its due to {{glowing gem}}s. Sometimes you can expect [[GlowingFlora luminescent flora and fungus]] in particular. Also the MundaneUtility of PowerGlows or those with [[PlayingWithFire Fire]], [[ShockAndAwe Electricity]] or [[LightEmUp Light]] ElementalPowers. Either way, it's almost always guaranteed to [[InfiniteFlashlight last indefinitely]].

You can't expect all sorts of media to have flashlights, or other sources of light that runs on batteries, for characters to use in dark areas, so there's either {{Hollywood Torch}}es or the Fantastic Light Source to use. Perhaps its due to {{glowing gem}}s. Sometimes you can expect [[GlowingFlora luminescent flora and fungus]] in particular. Also the MundaneUtility of PowerGlows or those with [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] or [[LightEmUp Light]] ElementalPowers. Either way, it's almost always guaranteed to [[InfiniteFlashlight last indefinitely]].

You can't expect all sorts of media to have flashlights, or other sources of light that runs on batteries, for characters to use in dark areas, so there's either {{Hollywood Torch}}es or the Fantastic Light Source to use. Perhaps its due to {{glowing gem}}s. Sometimes you can expect [[GlowingFlora luminescent flora and fungus]] in particular. Also the MundaneUtility of PowerGlows or those with [[LightEmUp Light]] ElementalPowers. Either way, it's almost always guaranteed to [[InfiniteFlashlight last indefinitely]].

* Both the Phial of Galadriel and Gandalf's staff serve this purpose in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.

* Channelers in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' can conjure spheres of light.

** 3[[superscript:rd]] Edition lets {{Alchem|yIsMagic}}ists distill sunlight into a liquid that glows perpetually -- and [[WeakenedByTheLight sets undead on fire]].