Strange And Exotic Materials From Faraway Lands (Part 1)

But what if you were to travel so far that even the materials from which things were constructed started to take on an altogether different appearance? This is a list of some of those materials that you might find, were you to venture far beyond the realms of possibility and end up in somewhere completely different. Or alternatively: This is a list of wicked awesome materials that are far too epic to exist in this reality.

Energon

What is it?

To not know the awesomeness that is energon is to have somehow totally avoided pop-culture for the last thousand years, at least.

Energon is the primary source of power for Transformers in the Transformers universe. It is essentially their lifeblood, for without it, they power down. So just as humans need food to "recharge" themselves, so do the Transformers need to continuously consume energon to be able to function properly.

How/why was it made?

It occurs naturally within planets in as an ore and is refined through necessity, as the Transformers need it to live, both physically, to power their technology and - being robots - the energon acts as a power source for everything, in other words.

The raw energon ore, or the natural state of energon, is harmful to any normal Transformer as it's nigh-on bursting with unadulterated energy. The danger of this is that if a Transformer were to touch or even consume it, it has the very dangerous potential to overload their system; much like touching raw, uncooked food can lead to various forms of food poisoning.

However, it can be refined and turned into pretty much anything the Transformers want it to, be it a gas, liquid, weapons, or power-enhancing energon stars. The most common form of processed energon comes in the form of energon cubes, which are probably quite easy to store, being cubes and all. These cubes are the form of energon that the Transformers themselves readily consume to recharge/replenish themselves. Sometimes they even consume energon for the lulz and make themselves drunk from it.

Real-world equivalent?

I imagine a good real-world equivalent would be food, as it "recharges" us and we need it to live. It doesn't really power our technology or allow our machines to function, unless you count slaves, I guess.

You could probably even go as far as to "make energon" by getting a whole load of food and alcohol and putting it all together in a blender and making some sort of food-based cocktail of horror. Not only would you get your nutrients from the food stuffs, but you would most likely get somewhat drunk, depending on how much alcohol you put in the mix. It would taste of death, but hey, you could pretend you were a Transformer and were consuming energon. But your voice would never be as cool as Soundwave's

Nth Metal

What is it?

Nth metal is a fictional metal that's found only in the DC Universe and is a peculiar metal, with many strange properties that have yet to be revealed and defined. However, one property that makes a prominent appearance is the fact that it negates gravity, allowing someone who wears or wield Nth metal to fly. Such is the basis of Hawkman's power of flight, as he wears a harness made from the stuff.

How/why was it made?

Nth metal is native to the planet Thanagar, Hawkman's home planet. It became an important aspect of society there, as amongst its powers it could also shield the wearer from the elements (such as temperature extremes) as well as having various anti-magic properties. Nth metal also gives the wearer a boost to their healing factor and increases their strength.

It's used simply because it exists to be used. With its magical properties, it is an invaluable aid to those who would do either good or bring harm to others; thusly it is highly sought-after by those who would seek the boon to self that Nth metal would bring.

Real-world equivalent?

Well, I don't remember anyone flying when they touch a certain kind of metal, so it would be hard to give a precise equivalent. You could argue that planes are made from Nth metal, as they are made from A metal and give the "wearer" (those inside) the power of flight. Then again, you also have those band aids with some sort of metal (I think it's silver) to aid with the healing of minor cuts and abrasions.

Perhaps if you wore an entire airplane and covered yourself with those band aids, you could say you were wearing Nth metal, but it's all a little far-fetched, not to mention insane.

Spice

"The spice must flow". There, had to get that out of the way.

What is it?

Melange (also known simply as "the spice") is a drug that plays a central role in the Dune universe, as created by science fiction author Frank Herbert. Its origin is the sand planet of Arrakis and has many properties.

How/why was it made?

It is the most valuable commodity in the universe and thereby also a sign of immense wealth. Melange has the power to give the user/taker a significantly longer lifespan (hundreds of years, in fact) and generally making them more healthy overall. Taken in enough quantities, melange had the power to unlock latent abilities such as genetic memory, heightened awareness and even prescience. It is this prescience trait that allowed for safe travel via interstellar methods, so without spice, travelling longs distances was impossible, further adding to its value.

The downside was that not only was it incredibly expensive, but it was also rather addictive and withdrawal from melange could even result in death. Paul Atreides, an integral character from the Dune series, even likened melange to a poison, saying that it was "so subtle, so insidious...so irreversible. It won't even kill you unless you stop taking it". Bad times.

Spice was made deep beneath the sands of Arrakis, where the fungal excretions of creatures known as "sandtrout" would mix with small water pockets and form the basis for spice. Gases are produced from this forming which result in something called a "spice blow", which is a geyser of this pre-spice mix, up from deep underground and into the air above, with the atmosphere of Arrakis forming the pre-spice mix into melange to be harvested. Watch out for sandworms, though!

Real-world equivalent?

A drug that makes the user superhuman? Both insanely expensive and addictive? The nearest thing to that would probably be heroin. Although I'm hesitant as to suggest the superhuman properties it bestows on a user, not to mention that the more you take, the more you die inside.

Well, the dependency and the cost are there. I suppose it even facilitates some sort of "interstellar travel" for the user and you might even see sandworms.

Adamantium

What is it?

You were waiting for this one, weren't you? Well, even if you weren't, here it is anyway.

Adamantium, the fanboy material to end all fanboy materials, is the most durable, indestructible metal in the Marvel Universe.

It's an artificially-created iron-based allow that is created when mixing various chemical resins together. The precise "recipe" behind adamantium is a closely guarded secret of the US Government and is extremely expensive to make. Notable uses of adamantium include Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike's skeleton and claws, as well as Gambit's staff.

How/why was it made?

No one (except the US Government) really knows how it's made, but it is known that the process to make it is astronomically expensive, even for a small amount. When the adamantium mixture is ready for application or forging, it needs to be superheated to 1,500 °F and is malleable for roughly 8 minutes when kept at that temperature, after which it cools and sets.

As for why it's made, the implications of such a thing should be obvious, especially as this is the US Government/Military we're talking about. Armor made from adamantium is indestructible and blades made from it can cut through anything known to man. The combat potential for adamantium is limitless and unstoppable. The only equals to adamantium are other objects made from adamantium, or Captain America's shield, which is made from vibranium, the only known material to be stronger than adamantium.

Real-world equivalent?

Any material that is super-strong and/or super-sharp. It would most likely be something like lutetium or rhenium diboride both of which have the adamantium-like properties of being incredibly durable metals, as well as being expensive to find and produce.

Tiberium

What is it?

Tiberium is the fictional crystalline material that most of the plot of the Command & Conquer series of computer games focuses on. It is not only the chief source of income in most of the games, but also an integral plot device, with a majority of the weaponry and technology becoming more and more tiberium-based as the series progresses.

How/why was it made?

There isn't really a how or why as to the existence of tiberium, it kind of just IS.

Tiberium itself is of extraterrestrial origin, having first been discovered near the river Tiber in Italy (hence its name: tiberium) a short while after a meteorite containing the stuff crashed there. From this focal point, tiberium can then easily propagate itself and spread throughout the world, although it does have trouble with areas of intense cold, i.e. the arctic regions of the globe.

Tiberium has the unique ability to condense and gather a variety of elements into an easily harvestable crystalline form; it's also potentially a double-edged sword mainly due to the fact that while being a commodity, it's also a hazard. In the context of the story, tiberium is found to be dangerous to carbon-based life-forms and as the tiberium spreads, it not only kills (or horribly mutates) the human and animal life around it, but absorbs the ecosystem of any surrounding area, effectively turning a place into a poisonous tiberium wasteland.

Despite - or because of - all of this, tiberium is a valuable resource in more ways than one and is responsible for all of the fighting (both terrestrial and extraterrestrial) that goes on in the C&C universe.

Real-world equivalent?

Tiberium is a commodity that is harmful to those that seek to profit from it and at the same time destroys all it touches and the land around it. To be perfectly honest, a logical conclusion to be drawn from those characteristics could extend to pretty much every valuable/tradable commodity on the planet, especially those that are mined or processed from an ore or underground source.