History Main / Unobtainium

** An "unknown alloy" (read as: the writers couldn't think of a cool name) used to make the shields of the Hunters and the armor plating of Covenant warships.

See Also: MinovskyPhysics when the Unobtainium has well-thought-out properties that are strictly adhered to, and its opposite, GreenRocks, when it can do anything and everything the plot demands.

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' and its sequels feature [[GreenRocks Tiberium]], a plant-like but crystalline xenoforming agent (in growth patterns and behaviour -- it leeches various elements out of anything it touches, and makes more of itself) but which is actually a crystalline substance of extraterrestrial origin, as a harvestable resource and GlobalCurrency - it often leeches the most valuable minerals out of an area, making them ''far'' easier to mine than would be economically feasible. Its name derives from where it was first encountered -- the impact site of the meteor that carried it to Earth at the ''Tiber'' River -- ergo, it was called ''Tiber''ium.[[note]]The Brotherhood of Nod would like you to note that the quoted name origin was part of a faked discovery story created for anti-Nod propaganda. The true discoverer of Tiberium, the Benevolent and Mighty Kane, named the substance in honour of Tiberius Caesar, but GDI propagandists insisted on altering every detail of the story.[[/note]] It's also terribly, terribly toxic, potentially radioactive (depending on what it leeches or assimilates), never stops growing (by the time of the second game, non-hovering watercraft are completely unusable because waterways are universally choked with Tiberium) and generally so dangerous that it explodes violently if processed improperly or stored in large enough quantities. Certain materials are more resistant to being turned into it, but all of them degrade eventually. With flesh, crystallization happens almost instantly. Nevermind the fact there's blue (canonical) and red/orange (semi-canonical) variants that are MadeOfExplodium -- as if the green stuff didn't explode enough to begin with. With a bit of SCIENCE, you can turn tiberium (or tiberium-related substances, such as tiberium veins) into a chemical weapon that puts some of the deadliest stuff today to shame, or an explosive that makes a heavy-duty fuel air bomb look like a firecracker. Makes a lot more fictional sense if you know that C&C was itself based on the RTS game ''VideoGame/DuneII'', which had you harvesting spice out of the ground.

* ''{{Webcomic/Phantomarine}}'': ''All'' the known Phantomarine in the world was supposeddly used to make the Lighthouse Road, so Pavel's mother is baffled to find out some was made into a lantern and given to him.

** The few who have ever attempted to make a catwhisker radio (the radio that needs no electricity whatsoever) may have found out that finding a chunk of Galena (lead sulfide) can prove to be tricky. Though the mineral is the main source of lead today, to the average hobbyist is not available. It was, however, more readily available to regular citizens in the old days due to its presence in the coal that powered the ubiquitous steam engines. Though there are workarounds, some hobbyists are willing to look around for a piece of it for an authentic galena radio.

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For WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief, authors may pick out something actively being researched within the scientific community [[PhlebotinumDuJour at the time of writing]] and [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture run with it]]. Naturally, this risks dating the work when ScienceMarchesOn and today's "super technology" buzzword becomes the next generation's [[ILoveNuclearPower comic-book junk science]]. The current favorite in hard sci-fi is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3 helium-3]] – believed by many to be ''the'' fuel of choice for those nifty fusion reactors that should be perfected [[{{Vaporware}} any time now]]. Theoretically, it's a safe large-scale energy source with few [[GreenAesop environmental side effects]]. But more importantly, though, there's extremely little of it on Earth; on the Moon, it's NotRareOverThere -- which would provide [[IWantMyJetpack a good reason to go there]].[[note]]Though as explained [[http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/macguffinite.php here]] (roughly halfway down the page), helium-3 is actually very rare even on the Moon, with a concentration measured in parts per ''billion''. Then there's proton-boron fusion, an alternative fusion reaction using a fuel much more abundant than helium-3, but which has received much less attention, probably because it doesn't provide a convenient justification to go to space.[[/note]]

* ''Anime/GodzillaSingularPoint'' has the Archetype, a mysterious material with time-bending properties made by SHIVA Consortium which [[spoiler: is created from the [[MysteriousMist red mist]] the {{Kaiju}} leave around]].

** The ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal" [[CrisisCrossover event]] is caused by Batman being exposed to several forms of unobtanium which opens a gateway to the dark multiverse. Several of those mentioned above are among them along with a new one, batmanium.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' featured two such elements which, combined, formed an explosive capable of wiping out entire solar systems. Only one known sample of Element X exists while the other, Bicenthium alloy, is only found in appreciable quantities on Earth. [[spoiler:Except it's ''iron'', [[CriticalResearchFailure the sixth most common element in the galaxy]]]].

** It is played straight and subverted in the very first series of all, ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. Early on the Lunar Titanium Alloy used by the RX-78 Gundam is effectively indestructible to conventional fire, the oversized machineguns and bazookas used by mobile suits shaking it, but otherwise causing very little damage. This changed near the end of the series, when Zeon mobile suits gain beam weaponry technology, and we discover that beam weaponry trumps EVERYTHING in terms of armor. For the entire Universal Century timeline afterwords, combat becomes based around ''avoiding'' getting hit, since any significant hit at all is instantly fatal, regardless of armor. Even the large shields mobile suits carry generally only suffer one impact before getting blown away completely. Unless the shield in question has anti-beam coating, which itself is quite rare and still doesn't provide complete protection.

** Red Mercury has since been used for further disinformation campaigns with a new description of being able to effectively turn conventional explosives into a nuclear sized detonation. Stories of it's impossible seeming destructive properties have been used to swindle numerous volatile NGOs looking to cause havoc across the globe.

The term "Unobtainium" originates from aerospace engineers in the late 1950s, where it was used as a HandWave for a material sufficiently strong, light, and/or durable to meet the needs of a particular situation under discussion, even if no known material could possibly do so. It has occasionally been used in official discussions to avoid directly identifying a material whose use is still considered top secret (such as the titanium skin in the project that eventually produced the SR-71 Blackbird). Most people, however, first heard the term as the mineral sought by the mining company in ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', and mistakenly think that is the TropeNamer. It was also infamously noted in The Core.

* * ''ComicBook/HawkAndDove'' (1990): the Druspa Tau arc features the magical "tridic metal" that can be willed into the shape of any object for which you know the [IKnowYourTrueName True Name]. Hawk figures out it also works if you know the object in enough detail to just name each individual component.

* The first two parts of the ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' three-part episode "The Alien Costume" heaviy feature a newly discovered substance brought back to Earth from space. Prometheum X as it is called, is a highly fissile material, that is also non-reactive unless heated, which means it can be used to make a massive explosion, yet you can also carry it around in your pocket.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''
** Nth Metal, can, among other abilities, generate electrical currents and disrupting magic.
** The meson-graviton inversion.

*** Transparent aluminum exists now. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_oxynitride See here]]
*** Aluminum Oxynitride is a ceramic, however. Transparent aluminum metal remains unobtainium.

** As well as the metal given the FanNickname "Mettanium", used to make the Met/Mettaurs/Methats that are so iconic in the series. One fan explanation for it [[InvincibleMinorMinion not being used in every robot Wily makes]] is the fact that it's Unobtainium -- or at least rare enough that only small objects can be created with it at a time.

** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' introduces Kachikachin, which is used to make up the arena for the Tournament of Power. Despite the fact that it's implied to be the strongest material in the multiverse, it gets trashed over during the Tournament...or perhaps it's meant to be a sign of how strong the fighters are.

* ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseFrontierChronicles'' (a ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse series) has Korkonium, which is basically space gold - it has limited use, but is highly priced because of its rarity. At least, until people discovers that [[spoiler:it messes up the Enemy's creations, ranging from "temporary weakness, can't be affected or controlled by the Enemy ever again" to "melting into inanimate matter"]].

* Metallic tritium serves this function in ''Film/SpiderMan2''. ComicBook/DoctorOctopus has to make a DealWithTheDevil (requiring him to beat the protagonist) in order to get some. Strangely enough, the way he's going to use the tritium is a scaled-down version of one way physicists are trying to develop fusion power called "inertial confinement". The idea is the same, vaporize an amount of an element with lasers in an attempt to create a miniature sun, only the scale and elements used are different. For more information, this writer's original reference is "Kaku, Michio [=PhD=]. ''Physics of the Impossible''. Doubleday Publishing, 2008. Pages 43-45."

** During ''Film/IronMan2'', the palladium core inside Tony Stark's personal arc reactor has been gradually poisoning the rest of his body. However he can't find a replacement [[spoiler:until Nick Fury guides him to some old footage his father left for him. Turns out his dad was [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture trying to steer Tony]] to figuring out an engineering conundrum that he was unable to crack in his day thanks to the limits of 1970s technology. When synthesized, the element Howard Stark was researching turns out to be the nontoxic substance Tony needs to safely power his arc reactor]].

** Promethium is the DCU's equivalent of adamantium, a super hard metal that superstrong superheroes have a tough time damaging (it was used to create ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}'s body), and Nth Metal, or "transuranic iron ore," was the key to Thanagarian technology (as seen frequently in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''). [[ElementsDoNotWorkThatWay Irritatingly]], promethium is a real metal (element 61), one with no stable isotopes and no special structural properties. DC's promethium comes in two flavors. "Raw" promethium can be used as an energy source or a [[SuperSerum mutagen]]. When alloyed with titanium and vanadium, it forms a near-invulnerable metal.

* ''Fanfic/WhiteSheepRWBY'': As in [[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} canon]], Dust is the AppliedPhlebotinum used for everything, but all the deposits that have been discovered are running out, and the world is approaching a [[PostPeakOil Peak Oil]] situation. While there are still more deposits in the [[ForbiddenZone Grimmlands]], one of the biggest game changers is the reveal that Dust actually ''grows'' the closer you get to Salem's tower and the Pools of Annihilation. Salem has basically unlimited money just from the Dust she clears off her tower every once in a while. Weiss, the heiress of the largest Dust company on the planet, is utterly gobsmacked and says this runs counter to everything the world knows about Dust. [[spoiler:Giving mining rights to the other countries is a large step forward in getting the Grimmlands recognized as a nation]].

** Redstone, a nice little powder that can conduct electricity and can be used to open doors, power minecarts, make music, ect. Although it actually is very common when mining deep enough. The unminable bedrock is sometimes referred to as Unobtainium. This is probably the most accurate use of the name, since, without the use of cheats, you [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin cannot obtain it.]]

For WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief, authors may pick out something actively being researched within the scientific community [[PhlebotinumDuJour at the time of writing]] and [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture run with it]]. Naturally, this risks dating the work when ScienceMarchesOn and today's "super technology" buzzword becomes the next generation's [[ILoveNuclearPower comic-book junk science]]. The current favorite in [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness hard sci-fi]] is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3 helium-3]] – believed by many to be ''the'' fuel of choice for those nifty fusion reactors that should be perfected [[{{Vaporware}} any time now]]. Theoretically, it's a safe large-scale energy source with few [[GreenAesop environmental side effects]]. But more importantly, though, there's extremely little of it on Earth; on the Moon, it's NotRareOverThere -- which would provide [[IWantMyJetpack a good reason to go there]].[[note]]Though as explained [[http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/macguffinite.php here]] (roughly halfway down the page), helium-3 is actually very rare even on the Moon, with a concentration measured in parts per ''billion''. Then there's proton-boron fusion, an alternative fusion reaction using a fuel much more abundant than helium-3, but which has received much less attention, probably because it doesn't provide a convenient justification to go to space.[[/note]]