History Main / MagicMeteor

* On the night before [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Milvian_Bridge a decisive battle]] during a civil war in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great Constantine the Great]] had a vision of a cross in the sky, which inspired him to convert to UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} after winning the battle against great odds and seizing the imperial throne. From this point on, as emperor, Constantine tolerated and eventually promoted the new faith. Scientists have [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3013146.stm proposed]] that the cross Constantine saw may have actually been a meteor, a theory [[http://www.cracked.com/article_17298_6-random-coincidences-that-created-modern-world.html also detailed]] by the good folks at Website/{{Cracked}}. In a way, a MagicMeteor may have increased the power of Christianity within the Roman Empire and eventually the rest of the world.

* In ''WesternAnimation/WildWestCOWBoysOfMooMesa'', one meteor as such gave rise to the mesa and mutated all the animals.

* In one manga adaptation of ''Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ'', they had to deal with [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent everyone in the City Of Townsville getting powers from a meteor]].
* A meteorite is the source of [[TheCorruption The Medusa Plague]] from ''Manga/KingOfThorn''.

* ''Meteor Strike'' (a one-shot by Nobuhiro Watsuki who drew ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'') literally has a boy's head impaled with a meteorite which grants him superhuman powers.
* [[TheVirus The Apocalypse Virus]] in ''Anime/GuiltyCrown'' came from a fragment of a meteor that landed in Japan. The virus immediately infected the first person who touched the rock, who was [[spoiler: Ouma Mana.]]
* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', the [[SacredBowAndArrows arrows]] that grant [[FightingSpirit Stands]] to people struck by them are revealed in ''Manga/GoldenWind'' to be made from a meteorite that crashed in Greenland circa 50,000 BC.

* Deadly example found in ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam'', where an asteroid was found that contains a virus that can turn human in to black goo (and said goo is just a large amount of the virus.)
* In ''Anime/SaintSeiyaOmega'', A meteor of darkness Cosmo was summoned by Medea to Earth in the middle of the first war against Mars, upgrading everyone's Cloths and giving them Elemental Powers. Sadly, it also upgraded Mars's Galaxy, making him even more powerful than before. The incident also lead to the infant Kouga and Aria inheriting their darkness and light Cosmo from the meteor and Athena, respectively.
* In ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'', [[AppliedPhlebotinum Gourmet Cells]] first arrived on Earth several million years ago on a meteor. Said meteor is a PlanetaryParasite that now takes up 70% of the planet's surface as what is known as the Gourmet World.

* In the Creator/DCComics comic book ''Ball And Chain'', a fighting couple both get bathed in strange {{phlebotinum}} from a meteor and get superpowers.
* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': Hector Hammond found meteor rocks and used their powers for evil.
* ''ComicBook/RisingStars'': 113 people (called "Specials") got superpowers from a mysterious meteor crash.
* ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'': Six {{Funny Animal}}s gained their superpowers from a meteor. They had a rabbit for a leader, and a duck on the team.
* ''ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}'': Lionmane got his powers from exposure to a meteor.
* ''ComicBook/{{Metamorpho}}'': Rex Mason got his superpowers from a crashing meteor.
* ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'': In one story, a fellow got powers from a meteor only to find out it was the ability to kill with one touch. This was meant to echo Animal Man's [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Pre-Crisis]] origin panel-for-panel, as Buddy Baker originally got his powers from meteor radiation.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': The Looter's whole shtick was stealing meteorites for their power-granting ability.
* ''ComicBook/{{Scare Tactics|DCComics}}'': Grossout gained his powers (and became a giant walking tumor) from exposure to an exploding meteor.
* ''ComicBook/{{Darna}}'': The heroine of a Filipino comic, found her TransformationTrinket stone in a meteorite (or rather, the meteorite ''is'' the stone).
** Later parodied and paid homage to by ''ComicBook/ZsaZsaZaturnnah'', a Darna-esque Filipino comic superheroine whose normal alter ego is a gay hairdresser. In her case, the stone actually has the name "Zaturnnah" on it. It's also much bigger than most Darna stones.
* Franchise/{{DCU}} villain ComicBook/VandalSavage gained immortality from sleeping next to a magic meteor.
* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': Firebird got her ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin fire-based]]) powers from exposure to a meteor, that in a later story was revealed to be the dumped remains of a failed alien lab experiment which had accidentally landed on Earth.
* Many powers in Creator/{{Wildstorm}} can be traced back to the Comet Effect, an event in the 1970s wherein the mysterious radiation from a comet passing close to the Earth caused widespread mutations.
* ''ComicBook/{{Freedom Fighters|DCComics}}'': Black Condor's origin from the 1940's consisted of him being raised by wild condors from a young age and somehow simply learning how to fly. When the story was retold in ''Secret Origins'', writer Mark Waid added a panel showing a passing meteor, to at least give it ''some'' kind of explanation.
* In Creator/DCComics Adam Blake is a metahuman who was "[[EvolutionaryLevels born a hundred thousand years before his time]]" due to a comet passing overhead at the moment of his birth. Hence his taking the name Captain Comet.
* ''ComicBook/TheAtom'': Ray Palmer managed to work out his sizeshifting technology using the white dwarf star matter provided by a meteor made of the stuff.
* ''ComicBook/BigBangComics'': Ultiman (a ComicBook/{{Superman}} {{expy}}) gained the superpowers that made him 'the ultimate man' when a meteor crashed into his car.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* {{Inverted|Trope}} in [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/58529/the-ash The Ash]] where Equestria is hit with an AntiMagic meteor.

* Most of the animals in ''WesternAnimation/DCLeagueOfSuperPets'' get their powers from an orange Kryptonite meteor that gives superpowers to animals.

* In ''Film/BlackPanther2018'', this is how vibranium came to Earth — a whole meteor of it crashed in Africa in what is now Wakanda. It created Mount Bashenga, a mountain full of vibranium deposits that's been mined by Wakandans for generations.

* In the movie ''Film/TheMeteorMan'' (it might have been a comic book too), a guy named Jefferson gets hit in the chest with part of a meteor and gets powers. To be more precise, the meteor ''chases him'' around a corner and ''into an alleyway''.
* Used in ''Film/{{Chronicle}}'' where a mysterious crystalline object found at the bottom of a crater gives three teenage guys telekinetic powers.
* In ''Film/{{Creepshow}}'', Jordy Verill (Creator/StephenKing) finds a meteor, which proceeds to turn him into a [[PlantPerson walking shrubbery]].
* Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{Trucks}}'' and ''Film/MaximumOverdrive'' uses a meteorite as an excuse for trucks coming to murderous life.
* In George A. Romero's original ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'', a space probe carrying a "mysterious cosmic radiation" from Venus blankets said radiation over a third of the US, which then causes the dead to come back to life and, y'know, start eating people. Not a meteor ''per se'' but close enough.
* A scientist becomes an insane PoisonousPerson in ''Film/TheInvisibleRay'', after he is in contact with radioactive meteorite for too long.

* In ''Film/TheCurse'', a strange glowing meteor falls near a farm, and starts mutating the flora and fauna around it, causing everything to be infested with worms and disgusting boils.
* ''Film/{{Killdozer}}'': The [[EnergyBeings energy entity]] arrives on Earth in a meteor and remains trapped there until the dozer smashes the meteor and the entity is released and [[HauntedTechnology possesses the dozer]].

* In the book ''Literature/MeteoriteStrike'', everyone who wasn't killed by an asteroid got strange powers.
* In ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'', magic sword Thorn was made from a meteor that, according to legend, struck a temple that {{God}} disapproved of.

* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'' and ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', Hawkman and Hawkgirl got their {{Reincarnation}} and WingedHumanoid mutation from an [[GreenRocks Nth metal]] meteorite that fell at the moment of their first deaths in Ancient Egypt. Vandal Savage also became immortal from the same meteorite. In ''Legends of Tomorrow'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:the meteorite, and others like it, were sent to Earth by Thanagarians in order to prepare the planet for an AlienInvasion]].

* In ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'', it turns out that the meteor that killed the dinosaurs was one of these. Presumably it ''would'' have given them superpowers had it not destroyed their entire ecosystem first with the impact. Pieces of it are the MineralMacGuffin that give the Rangers their powers.
** There was a later meteor that wackily rearranged the Rangers' personalities. Trent seemed normal when affected by it, but the next time the White Ranger powers [[JekyllAndHyde overtook him]], he remained himself and helped the other Rangers defeat the MonsterOfTheWeek. It didn't last.

* Superman himself may not count, but in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' the MonsterOfTheWeek was often a "meteor freak," i.e. got their power from exposure to Kryptonite.

* In UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}, the Black Stone inside the Kaaba of Mecca is presumed to be a meteorite that fell from heaven, and forms an important part in the pilgrimage ritual.

* [[GreenRocks Tiberium]] from the ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries'' came from a meteor that landed near the Tiber River in Italy. The third game eventually reveals it was intentionally aimed at Earth by the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Scrin]] to support their [[DrugsAreBad Tiberium addiction]].
* In the beginning of ''VideoGame/ShounenKinindenTsumuji'' shows the game's main villain having a meteor fall near him, and as soon he gets close, it then enters his body and grants him demonic powers.
* Meteor G from ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce 3''. While it doesn't grant powers directly, the Noise generated by it and its effect on electronic beings causes some positive battle effects.
* The meteor that starts Ness' adventure in ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}''. Not only was the time traveler Buzz Buzz riding in it, but the meteor contains a material needed for time travel. [[FridgeBrilliance Which makes sense in retrospect.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Poptropica}}'', Super Power Island's objective is to capture six villains after the prison is hit by a glowing green meteor. The meteor powered up the criminals, who are now running around with super powers.
* The Chaos Comet from ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'' apparently gives off a type of magical radiation. Being bathed in the comet's light had been known to give people anything from psychic powers to horribly mutating them into demons. At one point, it's mentioned that "[[NeglectfulPrecursors The Ancients]]" had enough understanding of the comet's powers to outright create living things, like camels and the Dark and Light Knights. The comet also ended up causing these civilizations to fall, since "evolving too fast brings destruction". It seems to return once every 800 years, however.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', if Sephiroth lived to see his gigantic rock crash into the Planet, the massive damage it would cause would have granted him the powers of a god. This trope is only averted because the heroes stopped him.

* The Temsik Meteor from ''Videogame/GhostTrickPhantomDetective'':

* The plot to ''VideoGame/{{Inca}} II'' is kicked off by an asteroid entering the solar system that contains an enormous energy source. The majority of the game is centered on El Dorado finding a way to destroy this asteroid before Aguirre uses its energy to expand his reign.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'', every night Fallen Stars will crash down like meteors in random places. You can collect them and [[ItemCrafting craft them into an item]] that will permanently increase your maximum {{Mana}} pool (which is the only way to get a Mana pool in the first place), and if you're lucky, they can also hit enemies while falling and do 999 damage to anything, including bosses that you can fight outdoors. They can also be used as ammunition for a special type of gun, and do the most damage of any type of ammunition in the game. Actual meteors have 50% chance of falling offscreen after the next midnight whenever you destroy a Shadow Orb and 2% chance of appearing every midnight afterwards and any location that has at least 50 meteor blocks in close proximity spawns unique flying enemies. The resulting meteor ore can be crafted into various items, including the aforementioned star-shooting gun and a rapidly-firing [[EnergyWeapon laser pistol]] which gains infinite ammo with a [[SetBonus full set of meteor armor.]]
* In ''VideoGame/GadgetPastAsFuture'', several devices in the Empire are powered by a meteoric ore that seems to provide near-infinite energy. But it also causes strange hallucinations when used in the [[MindControlDevice Sensorama]]. The tie-in novel, "The Third Force" explains that the ore gives out a strange radiation that distorts time.
* Phazon meteors in all the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' hit various planets, corrupting the various lifeforms thereon, either killing them outright or mutating them into stronger forms while eventually robbing them of their will. One in the [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes second game]] creates a whole new DarkWorld. In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' these "meteors" are actually [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever giant living creatures]] called Leviathans.
* The cause behind all the trouble in ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion''.

* The cause behind the battling in ''VideoGame/{{Clayfighter}}'' is a meteor that crashed into Mudville, turning everything into clay.
* In ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven 2'', [[spoiler:the superhuman abilities of the supposedly alien members of Aliea Academy are actually the result of exposure to a glowing space rock called the Aliea Meteorite.]]

* ''Webcomic/AtArmsLength'': This is what uplifted the original Enchanters from "Unga-Bunga" mortals to four-armed magic goliaths. The villains' main goal is to ''find the planet that the shard came from''.
* [[http://www.comixpedia.org/index.php?title=Super_Frat In the webcomic]] ''SuperFrat'', fratboys gain powers from a meteor striking.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'' episode "Tar Wars, it's learn that a meteor fell to Earth a million years ago and gave immortality and super strength to both a caveman and sabertooth tiger.
* In ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed'', a meteor strikes Acmetropolis, but instead of destroying the city, gives everyone strange superpowers.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Sozin's Comet is a celestial object which passes close enough to the world to become a huge and powerful source of fire every 100 years, providing an enormous boost of power to [[PlayingWithFire Firebenders]]. The fact that it heralded the genocide of the Air Nomads [[spoiler:and attempted genocide of the Earth Kingdom]] also marks it as a CometOfDoom.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' began with a meteor falling to Earth, splitting into two crystals, one of which goes to the hero, the other to the villain, giving them both RubberMan abilities.
* ''WesternAnimation/CampLakebottom'': The Lakebottom campers and [[SpoiledBrat Buttsquat]] gain [[SuperheroEpisode temporary superpowers]] in the "The Superfantastic Mega-Buds" episode from a glowing meteorite that lands in the middle of the camp.
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' starts with the protagonist finding an alien shapeshifting device crashed to Earth like a meteorite.
* ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks'': Meterorites with special powers are a common phenomenon in the show. The first main example is the hero Newton Star, whose powers come from six asteroids that [[ICallItVera he named]] "Ajax, Velo, Lumino, Kino, Nova and Zihamba". The hero Ice Cub also got his powers from a supernatural asteroid when it shattered and a fragment got embedded into his onesie. Unfortunately for the heroes, the other fragments ended up giving the various nighttime villains a power boost.

* In ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed'', a meteor strikes Acmetropolis, but instead of destroying the city, gives everyone strange superpowers. The team in the show is ripped off of the ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew''.

* Deadly example found in ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam'', where an asteroid was found that contains a virus that can turn human in to black goo.(and the said goo is just a large amount of the virus.)

* ''ComicBook/TheAtom'' Ray Palmer managed to work out his sizeshifting technology using the white dwarf star matter provided by a meteor made of the stuff.
* In ''ComicBook/BigBangComics'', Ultiman (a ComicBook/{{Superman}} {{expy}}) gained the superpowers that made him 'the ultimate man' when a meteor crashed into his car.

* Hector Hammond, a ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' villain, found meteor rocks and used their powers for evil.
* In the comic book ''ComicBook/RisingStars'' by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski about 113 people (called "Specials") got superpowers from a mysterious meteor crash.
* In the Creator/DCComics series ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'', six {{Funny Animal}}s gained their superpowers from a meteor. They had a rabbit for a leader, and a duck on the team.
* ''ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}'' villain Lionmane got his powers from exposure to a meteor.
* ComicBook/{{Metamorpho}} (alternate identity Rex Mason) got his superpowers from a crashing meteor.
* In an ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'' story, a fellow got powers from a meteor only to find out it was being able to kill with one touch.
** This was meant to echo Animal Man's [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Pre-Crisis]] origin panel-for-panel, as Buddy Baker originally got his powers from meteor radiation.
* There's a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' villain, the Looter, whose whole schtick was stealing meteorites for their yummy power-granting abilites.
* In ''ComicBook/ScareTacticsDCComics'', Grossout gained his powers (and became a giant walking tumor) from exposure to an exploding meteor.
* ''ComicBook/{{Darna}}'', the heroine of a Filipino comic, found her TransformationTrinket stone in a meteorite (or rather, the meteorite ''is'' the stone).
** Later parodied and paid homage to by ''ComicBook/ZsaZsaZaturnnah'', a Darna-esque Filipino comic superheroine whose normal alter ego is a gay hairdresser. In her case the stone actually has the name "Zaturnnah" on it. It's also much bigger than most Darna stones.

* Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} heroine Firebird got her ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin fire-based]]) powers from exposure to a meteor, that in a later story was revealed to be the dumped remains of a failed alien lab experiment which had accidentally landed on Earth.

* ''Black Condor's'' origin from the 1940's consisted of him being raised by wild condors from a young age and somehow simply learning how to fly. When the story was retold in ''Secret Origins'', writer Mark Waid added a panel showing a passing meteor, to at least give it ''some'' kind of explanation.

* In the Creator/DCComics series ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'', six ordinary animals gained their superpowers from a meteor. They had a rabbit for a leader, and a duck on the team.

->'''Hego''': ''"It began when we were children. Lady Fate came a-knockin', and she knocked hard."''
->'''Kim''': ''"What was that?"''
->'''Hego''': ''"A glowing, rainbow-colored comet that gave each of us special powers."''

** Later parodied and paid homage to by ''ComicBook/ZsaZsaZaturnnah'', a Darna-esque Filipino comic superheroine whose normal alter ego is a gay man. In her case the stone actually has the name "Zaturnnah" on it. It's also much bigger than most Darna stones.

* ''WesternAnimation/PJMasks'': Meterorites with special powers are a common phenomenon in the show. The first main example is the hero Newton Star, whose powers come from six asteroids that [[ICallItVera he named]] "Ajax, Velo, Lumino, Kino, Nova and Zihamba". The hero Ice Cub also got his powers from a supernatural asteroid when it shattered and a fragment got embedded into his onesie.

* In ''ComicBook/ScareTactics'', Grossout gained his powers (and became a giant walking tumor) from exposure to an exploding meteor.

* In ''Film/SuperMarioBros'', a meteor sent the dinosaurs to AnotherDimension and serves as a portal.

* In ''Series/VanPires'', the four teen heroes get the power to transform into cars by a meteor.
* ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'' has Eddy get powers for one episode by a meteor passing that only does once in a while.
* Superman himself may not count, but in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' the MonsterOfTheWeek was often a "meteor freak," i.e. got their power from exposure to Kryptonite.
* In ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'', it turns out that the meteor that killed the dinosaurs was one of these. Presumably it ''would'' have given them superpowers had it not destroyed their entire ecosystem first with the impact. Pieces of it are the MineralMacGuffin that give the Rangers their powers.
** There was a later meteor that wackily rearranged the Rangers' personalities. Trent seemed normal when affected by it, but the next time the White Ranger powers [[JekyllAndHyde overtook him]], he remained himself and helped the other Rangers defeat the MonsterOfTheWeek. It didn't last.