History Main / OurTimeMachineIsDifferent

* In ''Film/LesVisiteurs'', it's a potion made by a wizard. It turns whoever drinks it into something that represents their true self then sends them to another era. Godefroy de Montmirail gets turned into crystal, presumably because he's pure of heart, then shatters. His [[TheDungAges smelly]] and {{m|edieval morons}}oronic squire gets turned into... a pile of dung.

* ''Literature/TimeWarpTrio'' uses a book, simply called "The Book" as its time machine. It has other time based powers in it as well such stopping time. The [[WesternAnimation/TimeWarpTrio animated series]] takes it a step further by having The Book literally be time itself, meaning if it gets destroyed, everything goes with it.

* Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's novel ''Today, Mom!'' has the SiblingTeam protagonists discover a time pod inside an Ancient Egyptian artifact. When they start pressing buttons, they find themselves in the future (supposedly, where the pod originally came from). However, the future humans refuse to let them go back, as they fear time travel. A cat-like alien named [[http://beoff.ru/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/aziris-nuna8.jpg Shidla]] helps the boys travel back in time. However, they jump too far and end up in Ancient Egypt. Eventually, Shidla drops them off at home and jumps into his own time.

** The [[Film/BackToTheFuture first film]]'s [=DeLorean=], which is the inspiration for this trope. The film's creators justify this by saying that it makes more sense to have a time machine that you can take with you, rather than one that just sits at your destination. Plus the stainless steel construction makes the [[TechnoBabble flux dispersal]] work that much better.

* ''Literature/TheEndOfEternity'' by Creator/IsaacAsimov has "kettles", which are elevator-like pods, allowing Eternals (people who have been taken outside of Time) to travel "upwhen" and "downwhen" along the timestream. Similar to elevators, the kettles can't travel before and after the existence of Eternity, as massive temporal field created in the 27th century. However, a special one-way kettle is created that can used to send a person to a century prior to that.

* Spanish sci-fi show ''Series/TheMinistryOfTime'' uses time ''catacombs''.

* In ''Cylinder van Troffa'' by Creator/JanuszZajdel the titular device manipulates space-time using gravity and is essentially a glorified [[ColdSleepColdFuture stasis chamber]] [[spoiler: until you figure out the fineries of how to use it - it's implied the device can take you both ways in time]].
* For a fantasy example, ''Literature/TheLicaniusTrilogy'' features the Jha'vett, a city-sized device that opens a rift through time that will spit the user out at any point they choose. The catch is the rift instantly kills anyone who tries to use it — [[ItsALongStory unless they've already died]].

* ''TheFlash'' can travel in time using the Cosmic Treadmill, which is only usable for people with superspeed, or in some incarnations, people with powers gained from the Speed Force.

* In one episode of the ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'', the fairy godparents transform themselves into watches that can rewind time.

* LAstWEEK have a calender-operated time controlling machine, which [[spoiler: normally used to regulate the flow of time that is distorted thank to the ritual, but it can used as TimeMachine by changing the date on calender into desired date.]]

* The show ''Series/SevenDays'' has the Sphere, a device built by the government based on the [[RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell crash]] that can allow a person to go back [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin seven days]] in the past, no more no less. In the show, it's used to prevent bad things from happening, which occur almost weekly. It's not entirely clear how the Sphere moves through time. Sometimes, it appears exactly where it was. Other times, it appears in space and falls to Earth (which would actually make more sense, given that Earth wasn't in the same position seven days ago. As explained in the pilot episodes, the chrononaut must compensate for the movement of Earth through manual controls, which Frank rarely manages to do perfectly). The time limitation is caused by the fact that the scientists still don't know much about the technology and only use it out of necessity and the fact that the alien fuel (which is in short supply) takes exactly 7 days to recharge. Several other Spheres are shown throughout the show, including the previous Sphere which was lost in the jungle after a failed "backstep" and a Sphere from a few centuries in the future with an enlarged fuel tank.

* Spanish sci-fi show ''Series/ElMinisterioDelTiempo'' uses time ''catacombs''.

* Played with in ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'', where we see a room in the Library that contains dozens of different time machines (including a [[Film/BackToTheFuture DeLorean]] and a [[Series/DoctorWho blue police box]]), each of which works on a different principle, which means that, if you use one to go back in time, you can't use another to return.

* In ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin makes a time machine of a cardboard box (the same box that was also a duplicator and transmogrifier).

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' has the Time Machine Tape Measure. Apparently it's a standard issue for all time travelers.
* One Halloween episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' had Homer accidentally create a time-travelling toaster.

** The Doctor's own TARDIS itself is hardly what one expects a time machine to look like, its exterior camouflage being stuck in the form of an early 1960s British police box for most of the show's history. The Doctor's resistance to fixing the chameleon circuit comes from his fondness for the iconic nature of the exterior, since he knows a TARDIS in the guise of a police box will most probably be his own. (As revealed in a 2013 episode, his "Type 40, Mk 3" TARDIS's [[http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/wp-images/tardis/origins/type-40-3.jpg default exterior]] was originally [[AsceticAesthetic a sleek, silverry, unadorned cylinder]] of roughly the same size.) The association between the Doctor and his particular TARDIS is so strong, that her characteristic outside appearance has become a symbol of hope to some (usually those in need of saving), and a symbol of dread to others (usually his adversaries). Ironically, though the vast interiors of his ship are filled with all sorts of super-advanced technological wonders that frequently astonish other people, the Doctor himself [[SelfDeprecation admits on occassion]] that his TARDIS would be considered an [[WhatAPieceOfJunk outdated, almost quaint model of timeship]] by his fellow Time Lords. He still loves his jalopy of a time machine regardless, and even considers her a friend on par with his companions.