History Main / SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass

* Piggy's glasses are used to start fires in ''LordOfTheFlies''.

This trope may seem fairly modern but it's in fact OlderThanFeudalism. In Aristophanes' ancient Greek comedy ''Theatre/TheClouds'', the gods use a set of mirrors or lenses to ignite the Olympic Torch.

* In ''{{LightNovel/BodaciousSpacePirates}}'', the ''Odette II'' is being fired upon by a pirate ship using optical targeting. Marika reconfigures the solar sails to reflect Tau Ceti's sunlight directly onto the pirate ship, blinding their spotter and heating the hull. She stops just short of melting the ship.

* Used by [[PlayingWithFire Nova Shenron]] in ''Anime/DragonBallGT''. He summons a giant lens and use it to fire an extremely hot sunbeam.

In some cases, a larger lens may be used as an ImprovisedWeapon. Many attempts at this -- both fictional and real -- are inspired by the story that the ancient Greek scientist and engineer Archimedes used this sort of contrivance to destroy a Roman fleet during the 214-212 BC Siege of Syracuse. (Sadly, ''Series/MythBusters'' tested this example of the trope and declared it busted.)

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* In an episode of the ''{{Shazam}}'' live-action TV series, Captain Marvel creates a lens out of sand by rubbing the sand very fast, in order to focus the sun on something.
* Most wilderness-survival shows, like ''DualSurvival'' or ''{{Survivorman}}'', will demonstrate this method of fire-starting at least once.
* Used by Amy in ''Series/DoctorWho'' series 5, in The Vampires of Venice, when she uses her make up mirror to kill one of the alien fish vampire things while pre [[TookALevelInBadass took several thousand levels in Badass]] Rory distracts it.
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-->--'''Bruce''', ''BruceAlmighty''

Someone uses a magnifying glass or similar optical instrument to concentrate sunlight to kill, burn or melt something. This may take a few different forms.

In some cases, a larger lens may be used as an ImprovisedWeapon. Many attempts at this -- both fictional and real -- are inspired by the story that the ancient Greek scientist and engineer Archimedes used this sort of contrivance to destroy a Roman fleet during the 214-212 BC Siege of Syracuse. (Sadly, {{Mythbusters}} tested this example of the trope and declared it busted.)

* Adam Strange of the DCUniverse fought one of these on a gigantic scale as a MonsterOfTheWeek in his ''Strange Adventures'' appearances. He does so again in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' but with Batman and Aquaman's help.
* In one old (1960s/1970s) ''GreenLantern'' comic, the villain used a giant flying magnifying glass as a weapon to burn his opponents.He used time travel to acquire it.

* The large, weaponized variety is used by Tavi in ''[[CodexAlera Cursor's Fury]]'', in one of many [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome CMOAs]] for him. Earlier, he starts a fire this way to disguise the fact that he has no firecrafting himself.

* A ''CalvinAndHobbes'' strip had Stupendous Man use a giant magnifying glass from an observatory telescope in order to fry Calvin's school off the map. Of course, since it was all in Calvin's imagination, his Mom doesn't believe him when he says that the school got fried, and has him do his math homework.

* One ''DungeonsAndDragons'' supplement of amusing traps included a breastplate with a massive gem in the center that radiated magic. It did nothing while in the dungeon, but upon being struck by sunlight, it immediately focused an intense beam of concentrated light into the chest of the wearer, causing massive amounts of damage.
** The ''DungeonsAndDragons 3E'' adventure "The Eye of the Sun" centers around a magical artifact that acts as one of these. It's used by a cult of lizardfolk to burn a village down.
* The ''MutantsAndMasterminds'' adventure "High Noon", part of the Lame Mage Evil Genius adventures, Dr. Null [[spoiler:post-humously]] launches a doomsday device that deploys a cloud of small nanotechnology crystals that float around and focus beams of indiscriminate destruction from the sun's rays to destroy major cities.

* Invoked in ''Shadow of the Comet'', an AdventureGame in ''TheCallOfCthulhu'' series, for a SolveTheSoupCans puzzle. Basically, the hero is stuck in a lighthouse, and cultists are bashing at the door. Here, he finds a pair of wings and a candle. Using the magnifying glass in the inventory, he melts the candle to add wax to the wings. [[DieOrFly Guess what you do with the wings.]]

* In RTS ''ArmyMen'' games, this appears as a super weapon in some games. Due to the fact that all units are either little plastic men or (rarely) bugs, it works fairly well.

* Mentioned in ''TheDresdenFiles'' in Changes, with rays of sunlight hot enough to melt metal.

This trope may seem fairly modern but it's in fact OlderThanFeudalism. In Aristophanes' ancient Greek comedy ''TheClouds'', the gods use a set of mirrors or lenses to ignite the Olympic Torch.

In some cases, a larger lens may be used as an ImprovisedWeapon. Many attempts at this -- both fictional and real -- are inspired by the story that Archimedes used this sort of contrivance to destroy a Roman fleet.

* In ''MageTheAscension'', one of the marauders (insane chaos mages) was rumoured to use a magnifying glass from a cereal box as a magic tool for his energy attacks.

[[folder:Film]]
* When {{Lobo}} got ''TheMask'', he went on a galaxy-shaking rampage of random violence, at one point doing this to people of some unfortunate planet.
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Related to ThePowerOfTheSun, SundialWaypoint. Not to be confused with a KillSat, which uses a remote controlled satellite and may or may not actually use sunlight.

* Used by [[PlayingWithFire Nova Shenron]] in ''DragonBallGT''. He summons a giant lens and use it to fire an extremely hot sunbeam.

* Adam Strange of the DCUniverse fought one of these on a gigantic scale as a MonsterOfTheWeek in his ''Strange Adventures'' appearances. He does so again in ''WesternAnimationBatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' but with Batman and Aquaman's help.

Related to ThePowerOfTheSun. Not to be confused with a KillSat, which uses a remote controlled satellite and may or may not actually use sunlight.

* Adam Strange of the DCUniverse fought one of these on a gigantic scale as a MonsterOfTheWeek in his ''Strange Adventures'' appearances. He does so again in ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' but with Batman and Aquaman's help.

* In ''{{Futurama}}'', Prof. Wernstrom's plan to stop global warming is a giant mirror that reflects excess light away from the Earth. Then a small piece of space debris knocks it askew, and a beam of concentrated light slices through the city.

Related to ThePowerOfTheSun. Not to be confused with KillSat, which uses a remote controlled satellite.

* The large, weaponized variety is used by Tavi in ''[[CodexAlera Cursor's Fury]]'', in one of many [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome CMOAs]] for him.

* ''TheSimpsons'', "Marge vs. the Monorail": After it all, we hear a voiceover from Marge.

Someone uses a magnifying glass or similar optical instrument to concentrate sunlight to kill, burn or melt something. This takes a few different forms.

Someone, (usually but not always) a child uses a magnifying glass to concentrate sunlight to kill, burn or melt something like an insect or start a fire. This is sometimes used as a sign that the kid is an EnfantTerrible, especially if it's in the insect's POV. Also, the child involved doesn't necessarily need to be an EnfantTerrible. As it could have simply been done out of curiosity.

A giant magnifying glass could be used as a ImprovisedWeapon. This trope is common in works centered around insects, such as ants. Because HumansAreCthulhu and this may be one of the many challenges they have to face. In works set in the wilderness, a character might use a magnifying glass to set a fire for survival. It doesn't have to be a magnifying glass. Mirrors, glasses, lenses or any other type of glass could be used for this trope as well. A burning glass or burning mirror might be used in older works.

This trope may seem fairly modern but it's in fact OlderThanFeudalism. In the Ancient Greek comedy ''TheClouds'' in which the gods use a set of mirrors or lenses to ignite the Olympic Torch.

Someone, (usually but not always) a child uses a magnifying glass to concentrate sunlight to kill,burn or melt something like an insect or start a fire. This is sometimes used as a sign that the kid is an EnfantTerrible, especially if it's in the insect's POV. Also, the child involved doesn't necessarily need to be an EnfantTerrible. As it could have simply been done out of curiosity.

Someone, usually (but not always) a child uses a magnifying glass to concentrate sunlight to kill,burn or melt something like an insect or start a fire. This is sometimes used as a sign that the kid is an EnfantTerrible, especially if it's in the insect's POV. Also, the child involved doesn't necessarily need to be an EnfantTerrible. As it could have simply been done out of curiosity.

Someone, usually (but not always) a child uses a magnifying glass to concentrate sunlight to kill, burn or melt something like an insect or start a fire. This is sometimes used as a sign that the kid is an EnfantTerrible, especially if it's in the insect's POV. Also, the child involved doesn't necessarily need to be an EnfantTerrible. As it could have simply been done out of curiosity.