Frequently involved with an Historical In-Joke or instance of Been There, Shaped History. May be related to Alternate Landmark History. As the book Angels of Light and Darkness put it: "If Hitler had half of what they say he had, he would have won the war." There's about a one-in-three chance that Hitler either had it or was searching for it. In modern series, many of these items are made of low-grade unobtainium, especially if magic is downplayed or completely absent. They often function as a Plot Coupon sometimes even entire sets of such artifacts will be used like this, leading to Gotta Collect Them All.
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In a series set in another world, these may appear, but under different names. Later authors namedropped former heroes to make their mystical artifacts even more mystical, making this Older Than Feudalism. See the example of Durandal below, Sword of Hector. Many authors (ancient and modern alike) have used these for the mythos attached to them, or simply because it's easier than inventing something out of whole cloth if an author puts a supposedly mythical sword in their work, it needs to be supported, but when you hear "Excalibur," it doesn't take any explanation to understand how important it is. There's honestly no telling how long this trope has been around while nowadays it's often used partly to avoid copyright infringement, it's been around much longer than the concept of copyright.
Regardless of its distinguishing features in the story, though, what makes it a Public Domain Artifact is its origin as an item from the collective myths of man, with all their familiar symbols.
Sometimes startling revelations are to be had about the object, sometimes it's straight out of the legends, heck, maybe it's even reconstructed from the original's spare parts. Sometimes the trope shows up as Imported Alien Phlebotinum (seen often, for example, in Stargate SG-1), sometimes it's a mystical object, and occasionally it's both. It can be a weapon, a MacGuffin, or hell, maybe both if it's a mystical doomsday device. Some cultures have favorite items to use, such as the Holy Grail for the West or the Ame-no-Murakumo for Japan, but with modern globalization trends, we're seeing more and more stories pulling from others' usual lists - such as Japanese media like Neon Genesis Evangelion using the Lance of Longinus (a fabled item involved in the Crucifixion of Jesus). They can be spotted in cultures from the East to the West - and some date back surprisingly far. Left to right, top to bottom: A magic lamp ( Aladdin), the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead ( The Mummy Trilogy), The Sword in the Stone, the Holy Grail, Mjölnir/Thor's Hammer ( MCU version), and the Golden Fleece.Ī famous, often completely mythical, conveniently uncopyrighted-yet-instantly-recognizable item, pulled from the realms of history, literature, or legend (if not all three).Įxamples of this trope pop up frequently, and have occurred in any number of genres - comedy, drama, science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, you name it.
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