This list contains fictional chemical elements, materials, isotopes or subatomic particles that either a) play a major role in a notable work of fiction, b) are common to several unrelated works, or c) are discussed in detail by independent sources.
Fictional elements and materials
NameSourceNotesAdamant / AdamantineGreek mythologyAdamant has long meant any impenetrably or unyieldingly hard substance and, formerly, a legendary stone or mineral of impenetrable hardness and many other properties, often identified with diamond or lodestone."adamant – definition of adamant". Oxforddictionaries.com. The English word is both a noun and an adjective; from Latin adamans 'impregnable, diamondlike hardness; very firm/resolute position', from Greek adamastos 'untameable' (hence also the word diamond). Adamant or adamantine (suffix -ine 'of the nature of' or 'made of') occur in many works. In myth, Kronos uses an adamantine sickle to castrate his father Uranus; in Prometheus Bound, Prometheus is bound to rocks "in adamantine bonds infrangible";Great Books of the Western World Vol. 4 pg 40 in Virgil's Aeneid, columns of solid adamantine protect the gates of Tartarus; in Paradise Lost, adamant and adamantine are mentioned eight times to describe the gates of hell, Satan's shield, fallen angel's armor and Satan's chains. In fiction, Adamant is referred to in the film Forbidden Planet (as "adamantine steel"), many books (such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Faerie Queene, Gulliver's Travels, His Dark Materials, The Lord of the Rings, Mathilda by Mary Shelley, and A Midsummer Night's Dream) and many games (such as Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy and RuneScape). The word adamant is the basis for fictional materials such as Adamantium and Adamantite (see below), Adamantle in The Sims, and Adiamante in L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s 1996 novel of the same name.AdamantiumMarvel ComicsAdamantium is a nigh-indestructible metal that was inadvertently invented by metallurgist Myron MacLain during an attempt to recreate his prior discovery, an alloy of steel and vibranium.Sharon Packer MD, Superheroes and Superegos: Analyzing the Minds Behind the Masks, (ABC-CLIO), 2009, , 9780313355370, p238Marco Arnaudo (translated by Jamie Richards), The Myth of the Superhero, (JHU Press), 2013, , 9781421409535, p19Gail E. Hawisher, Cynthia L. Selfe, Literacy, technology, and society: confronting the issues, (Prentice Hall), 1997, p100 Adamantium is used in Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike's claws, Ultron's shell, Bullseye's spine, and some versions of Captain America's shield.David Bell, Barbara M. Kennedy (ed), The Cybercultures Reader, (Psychology Press), 2000, , 9780415183796, p114Seth Godin, The Encyclopedia of Fictional People: The Most Important Characters of the 20th Century, (Boulevard Books), 1996, , 9781572970731, p4 Adamantium also appears in the Games Workshop universe of Warhammer 40000 and the MMORPG Maplestory.AdministratiumScientific in-jokeFirst referenced in a 1989 issue of The Physics Teacher. It was apparently discovered by the fictional Thomas Kyle, who was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for physics for his discovery, and it is a parody on bureaucracy of scientific establishments and on descriptions of newly discovered chemical elements.AetherClassicalA classical element referred to as the Fifth Element in ancient and medieval times. It is believed to be the material that fills the region of the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere. This belief goes as far back as Plato's Timaeus, where it is said that "there is the most translucent kind which is called by the name of aether ()". In Greek Mythology, Aether serves as a counterpart to mortal air that the gods breathed and also serves as a primordial being serving as the personification of the upper sky.Magic: The GatheringAether (previously spelled Æther) is the main type of energy filling the Blind Eternities, the space between planes in the Magic: The Gathering multiverse, though it can also appear in variable quantities within the planes. Inextricably associated with magic in Magic's shared fictional universe and the use of the word in several Magic cards implies that casting magic involves channeling and manipulating Aether. "Summoning" the creatures around which combat and much of gameplay in Magic revolves is described as "pulling (them) from the Aether".AetheriumCastle in the SkyAetherium (referred to as in the original Japanese and volucite in the English translation and Streamline English dub version) is a blue element from which the central crystal of the necklace possessed by one of the main characters of the story (Sheeta) is made. Aetherium was mined and processed by an ancient advanced civilization that used it in their technology and weapons. It has gravity-defying properties and a large aetherium crystal present within the heart of the city of Laputa enables it to float in the sky.AtiumMistbornIn Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, atium is a powerful "god" metal. It grants the allomantic ability to see the future, the ferochemical ability to store youth, and the hemalurgical ability to steal any power.AzbantiumDoctor WhoA material 400 times harder than diamond in the episode "Heaven Sent". The Twelfth Doctor is cyclically trapped in a pocket universe, continually dying and being recreated. At the end of each cycle he discovers the exit, blocked by an azbantium wall, striking it a few times with his hands before being killed. It is finally broken after 4.5 billion years, compared to the Brothers Grimm story of a bird sharpening its beak on a diamond mountain.BombastiumDisneyCarl Barks, Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge: A Cold Bargain – Gladstone Comic Album #24, (Gladstone) Originally appearing in Uncle Scrooge #17 (1957) by Carl Barks, Bombastium is stated to be the world's rarest element. Very coveted, but its potential use is not fully known. It tastes different every time one tries it. Scientists find that one atom of it dropped into a barrel of water becomes one barrel of ice cream; a different flavor of ice cream each time. To avoid evaporation, bombastium must be kept frozen. When the element is discovered, Scrooge McDuck tries to secure the entire supply – a ball of "Bombastium" about the size of a large turnip. Terrified that his acquisition will melt before he can make a profit, Scrooge drags Donald Duck and his nephews on a voyage to the South Pole to safeguard his investment, but he has not reckoned on the ruthless determination of the Brutopian agents he outbid to achieve it. Bombastium represents a play on words (bomb and bombastic) that negotiates Cold War hysteria about the arms race and the threat of Armageddon due to the H-bomb.Tom Andrae, Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book: Unmasking the Myth of Modernity, p216, (Univ. Press of Mississippi), 2006, , 9781578068586 Barks' tale is also grounded in fears. The substance is later used in the DuckTales series.ByzaniumRaise the Titanic!Fictional element in the book Raise the Titanic! and its film adaptation, which is a main focus of the story arc. It is a powerful radioactive material sought by both the Americans and Russians for use as either an energy source for a missile defense system or an atomic superbomb. The largest known natural source of Byzanium was on the island of Novaya Zemlya, which was mined in the early 20th century and supposedly taken aboard the Titanic during its first and only voyage.CavoriteThe First Men in the MoonIn the H.G. Wells novel, a metal created by the physicist Cavor that blocks gravity. Cavor builds a spacecraft out of cavorite, by opening and closing shutters the craft can be steered away or towards different heavenly bodies, somewhat analogous to a "tacking" behavior of a sailed ship.CheloniumDiscworldAccording to the wizards at the Unseen University, the species Chelys galactica, including Great A'Tuin, are largely made of this element. Its properties are apparently known to them (but not to the readers of the series's books).Cobalt Thorium GDr. Strangelove, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy RobotIn Strangelove, an element used in the Russian doomsday device. Both (real) elements cobalt and thorium can be used in nukes to increase fallout, which agrees with the sense in which "Cobalt Thorium G" is used in the movie.