...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Imported Alien Phlebotinum
- 542 statements
- 103 feature instances
- 151 referencing feature instances
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | type |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | label |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | page |
ImportedAlienPhlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | comment |
A nifty trick to get some of the traditional Science Fiction capabilities in a show that's set in the present. Rather than growing your own Phlebotinum, just have a passing Sufficiently Advanced Alien dump some on you. The biggest advantage of using imported phlebotinum is that it allows you to do a Science Fiction story with characters who are more like contemporary humans without begging for too much credulity from the audience. We don't need an enclave of scientists who are way smarter than anyone ought to be, we don't need to have a super-powered masquerade operating in total secrecy, and we don't need to set the show in The Future, speculating what society will look like and probably date ourselves when we get it wrong. John Q. Ordinary guy just gets some uber-technology from another world dropped in his lap. Allows for even more Phlebotinum Breakdown than usual, since our heroes often have only a passing understanding of how it works. You can also fuse your Imported Alien Phlebotinum with the home-grown variety to produce hybrid devices which do wacky things. The process of contriving such devices leads to a good MacGyver-style plot. Additionally, we get a reasonable explanation for No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup and Disposable Superhero Maker if the phlebotinum is something that can't be reproduced with Earth technology. Sometimes the aliens do this on purpose, to lend us humans a helping hand. Sometimes, it's an accident. In the latter case, they might show up later and want it back. Violently. Does not cover natural resources which are extra-terrestrial in origin, such as super-alloys from meteors; those are Green Rocks. If the technology is not fully understood then it's an example of the Black Box. On the other hand, if we manage to reverse-engineer it to the point of making it part of everyday technology, then E.T. Gave Us Wi-Fi is in effect. See also Lost Technology, which is inherited from advanced beings of the same planet, but a different time. See Spice of Life when it is an edible resource with some use in space. |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | parsed |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to AppealToForce: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to ArtificialGravity: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to Autodoc: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to Ben10: Not an Item - CAT | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to ClothesMakeTheSuperman: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to ConflictBall: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to ContinuityNod: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to EmpathicWeapon: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to FourX: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to HostileTerraforming: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to InvisibilityCloak: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to LaResistance: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to MacGuffin: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to TabletopRPG: Not an Item - CAT | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to TechTree: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheAlliance: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheVirus: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to TransplantedHumans: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
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Dropped link to WaveMotionGun: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_10175749 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_10175749 | comment |
In Aquaman, Black Manta constructs his suit of Powered Armor by using Atlantean technology gifted to him by King Orm. He ends up reverse-engineering an Atlantean plasma cannon to serve as his helmet's Eye Beams. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_10175749 | featureApplicability |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_10175749 | featureConfidence |
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| Aquaman (2018) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_10175749 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_11343b17 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_11343b17 | comment |
The Meteor Man: The title character survives a direct hit from a meteor, and gains superpowers. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_11343b17 | featureApplicability |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_11343b17 | featureConfidence |
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| The Meteor Man | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_11343b17 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_12ffd3e9 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_12ffd3e9 | comment |
In the Megas XLR episode "Viva Las Megas," Coop's opponent is a Humongous Mecha built by the U.S. government in the 1950s using technology reverse-engineered from the Roswell incident. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_12ffd3e9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_12ffd3e9 | featureConfidence |
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| Megas XLR | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_12ffd3e9 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_15c6ea92 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_15c6ea92 | comment |
Wonder Woman (1987): Wondy ends up far from home in the Sangtee Empire when she's sent on a rescue mission with modified New Genesis tech, that has been sabotaged in an attempt to kill her or at least get her out of the way. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_15c6ea92 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_15c6ea92 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wonder Woman (1987) (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_15c6ea92 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_194eb14e | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_194eb14e | comment |
The alien Horde in Strikeforce: Morituri live by this trope, as they are Planet Looters who stole everything from other species. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_194eb14e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_194eb14e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Strikeforce: Morituri (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_194eb14e | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1ad4fe9a | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1ad4fe9a | comment |
Might and Magic VII does an odd variant. The imported stuff is pretty much the same as the Lost Technology already on the planet (ultimately it's from the source — the Ancients — just from different colonies of theirs), some aesthetic differences with the robots and blasters aside, so the technology itself is not exactly the most important thing (although it does play a part, since some of the imported technology's native counterparts had long since broken) — that is the people that imported the phlebotinum. VI established a more historic and vaguer take on this trope: one of the reasons why so much technology is Lost is that the machines that made the technology, the Heavenly Forges, were all imported from the Ancients proper, and couldn't be replicated or properly repaired or maintained locally. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1ad4fe9a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1ad4fe9a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Might and Magic (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1ad4fe9a | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1af5d573 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1af5d573 | comment |
In Contact, the travel spheres which are the focus of the entire book are this. Unlike most examples, no materials are imported, and it's up to the earthlings to duplicate the metallurgical and chemical technologies required to actually create them. The plans are buried within a complex radio signal, and all nations on Earth start building them. To say the least, they are terrifically expensive. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1af5d573 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1af5d573 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Contact | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1af5d573 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1bdeba5a | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1bdeba5a | comment |
Marvel's X-Men got a lot from the Shi'ar thanks to Professor Xavier being Lilandra's consort. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1bdeba5a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1bdeba5a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| X-Men (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1bdeba5a | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1de234dc | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1de234dc | comment |
Inverted in the Destroyermen series, which has humans occasionally crossing over into an Alternate Universe, where evolution took a radically different turn. The Grik are a race of extremely-aggressive Lizard Folk whose tactics mainly involve Attack! Attack! Attack! and We Have Reserves. Their goal is the utter destruction of the Lemurians. The Grik aren't innovators, but they can improve on existing tech within limits (basically, they can upscale designs to a certain point but can't invent new things). They first obtained primitive ships by capturing and studying a Lemurian explorer vessel, arriving to Africa from Madagascar (it doesn't help that they slaughtered every crewmember instead of interrogating them). They proceeded to invade Madagascar and chased Lemurians to the sea. The next "upgrade" came in the form of a 17-century East Indiaman that was captured. The Grik copied the three-masted vessel but were unable to grasp the concept of gunpowder, so the only armaments are catapults throwing burning shells filled with oil. Eventually, as the series progresses, they get their hands on a World War II-era Japanese battlecruiser with the crew helping them improve their tactics. Of course, the Lemurians also got some help from humans, such as the knowledge of Latin, naval charts, and star-based navigation from the 17-century sailors. Later, they get help from the destroyer USS Walker. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1de234dc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1de234dc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Destroyermen | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_1de234dc | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_20d0e025 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_20d0e025 | comment |
"Dust" is present in all of the Endless games (Endless Space, Endless Legend, and Dungeonofthe Endless) and is generally used as a Practical Currency. A creation of the Endless, Dust is an almost magical Nano Technology substance that can create, modify, and destroy; it can be used for Ridiculously Fast Construction, enhancing intelligence, uplifting creatures and robots, and weaponized as Grey Goo. In Endless Legend, it's Magic from Technology; the Ardent Mages use Dust to power their pain magic. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_20d0e025 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_20d0e025 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Endless Space (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_20d0e025 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21938c93 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21938c93 | comment |
A minor plot point in Avengers: Age of Ultron involves HYDRA using reverse-engineered Chitauri tech from the first Avengers movie to outfit its soldiers. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver end up getting their powers from the Chitauri scepter Loki once wielded, and The Vision is later brought to life by the Mind Stone within the scepter. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21938c93 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21938c93 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21938c93 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21c66a4c | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21c66a4c | comment |
Predator: Concrete Jungle is set 20 Minutes into the Future on an Earth technologically advanced by the study of accidentally-leftover Predator equipment. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21c66a4c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21c66a4c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Predator: Concrete Jungle (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_21c66a4c | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_26562243 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_26562243 | comment |
Also, the UFO After Blank series and UFO: Alien Invasion have this. In UFOAI, the scientist says that he doesn't even try to understand how aliens got their plasma tech working, since according to them it should be impossible. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_26562243 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_26562243 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| UFO: After Blank (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_26562243 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_2ae406c1 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_2ae406c1 | comment |
The Civilization spinoff Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (which is sci-fi) has this in four main ways: The most mundane is simply trading for tech (as in Galciv). This can be done for other techs, for cash, for diplomatic favors, or simply as a favor (or more commonly, a "favor"). There are "alien artifacts" spread across the map that factions can capture and use to advance various goals. Most particularly, they can be linked to Network Node to make an instant advance on the Tech Tree. Probe Teams (i.e. spies) can steal technology from any faction. This includes both human factions and the alien Progenitor factions introduced in the expansion. If you have the "Spoils of War" game rule turned on, you can steal technology when you conquer an enemy base. Again, this applies whether the conquered base belonged to a human or Progenitor faction. |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_2ae406c1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_2ae406c1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_2ae406c1 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_30ffdfcc | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_30ffdfcc | comment |
Scarlet Traces, a trilogy beginning with The War of the Worlds and expanding into an Alternate History in which Britain is an alien-fuelled superpower, is chock full of reverse-engineered alien technology. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_30ffdfcc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_30ffdfcc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Scarlet Traces (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_30ffdfcc | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31060d84 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31060d84 | comment |
The sphere from 7 Days (1998) is hybrid technology. Its fuel source is pure Imported Alien Phlebotinum. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31060d84 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31060d84 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| 7 Days (1998) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31060d84 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31a48eed | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31a48eed | comment |
The Outer Limits (1995): In "Think Like a Dinosaur", humanity has been granted access to interstellar teleportation technology, known as jump technology, by the Hanen. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31a48eed | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31a48eed | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Outer Limits (1995) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_31a48eed | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3820037 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3820037 | comment |
The setting of Lair For Rent has alien tech, future tech, and magical artifacts, all of which react unpredictably to upgrade technology or powers. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3820037 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3820037 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lair For Rent | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3820037 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_39b7671e | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_39b7671e | comment |
In Metroid: Other M the plasma gun Anthony Higgs wield is a reverse-engineered version of the Chozo plasma beam that Samus has in her Arm Cannon. It does the exact same damage too but it takes a longer time to charge up a plasma beam and fire it than the one Samus has inside her Arm Cannon. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_39b7671e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_39b7671e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Metroid: Other M (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_39b7671e | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3bd96c18 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3bd96c18 | comment |
Alita: Battle Angel: Alita's second body, the Berserker body, is an ancient nanotechnology and plasma-based battle body from Mars which is Lost Technology on Earth That Used to Be Better. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3bd96c18 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3bd96c18 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Alita: Battle Angel | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3bd96c18 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3ea015a3 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3ea015a3 | comment |
Playstation All Stars Battle Royale combines this with Victor Gains Loser's Powers. The character endings has the fighter who defeated Polygon Man go on to utilize AP (All-Star Power) in some way for their own convenience, with some endings leading into the beginning of certain sequels. The AP-factor serves as a decent explanation for all the roster being noticeably more powerful than usual. Jak even claims that he probably couldn't have pulled off his victory without "this new Eco." | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3ea015a3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3ea015a3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_3ea015a3 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44127c7c | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44127c7c | comment |
Morphing technology in Power Rangers initially came from Eltarians, Karovians, and innumerable other unnamed alien species, but we figured out how to make our own without any help within a decade or so. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44127c7c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44127c7c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Power Rangers (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44127c7c | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44fe781e | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44fe781e | comment |
The Lance of Longinus in Neon Genesis Evangelion. OHKOs Angels and is a big part of Instrumentality, or your money back! | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44fe781e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44fe781e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_44fe781e | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_49ff762 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_49ff762 | comment |
Torchwood is built around the premise of a quasi-governmental agency not just fighting aliens, but metaphorically or literally scavenging the bodies for exploitable technology. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_49ff762 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_49ff762 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Torchwood | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_49ff762 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_4f6620a5 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_4f6620a5 | comment |
Earth: Final Conflict had a seemingly benevolent alien race as its main plot point. Their technology was equitably given to all of mankind, as they saw fit. Notably, portal stations in almost all major cities allowed global travel in seconds. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_4f6620a5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_4f6620a5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Earth: Final Conflict | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_4f6620a5 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_502cbd09 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_502cbd09 | comment |
Similar to HYDRA, Luke Cage (2016) reveals that Hammer Industries used Chitauri metals to create the Judas, a bullet capable of puncturing materials like Luke Cage's durable skin. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_502cbd09 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_502cbd09 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Luke Cage (2016) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_502cbd09 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_56fa0ea4 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_56fa0ea4 | comment |
Even the non-sci-fi Civilization series has a minor example. Early in the game, Ancient Ruins can be found while exploring the world. Sending a unit into the ruins will grant one of several bonuses. One of these bonuses is your unit finding advanced weapons left behind by an older civilization and arming themselves, allowing you to get more advanced military units than would otherwise be possible at your tech level. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_56fa0ea4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_56fa0ea4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Civilization (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_56fa0ea4 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_60549eda | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_60549eda | comment |
The entire subject of the 1960s British sci-fi series A for Andromeda. A signal from the Andromeda galaxy tells Great Britain how to build a powerful computer which then plans to take over the world by making humanity dependent on it. It designs a missile to shoot down an orbital bomb, as well as synthetic life in the form of a beautiful woman, who then proceeds to develop emotions and eventually turns against her creator. In The Andromeda Breakthrough the computer's role is more ambiguous; it is meant to be a tool so that humans can avert their own destruction, though it isn't above manipulating events and killing a lot of people in the process. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_60549eda | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_60549eda | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A for Andromeda | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_60549eda | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_605dd875 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_605dd875 | comment |
Stargate-verse: The Stargates from Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis are the whole motivators of the shows. Staff weapons, naquadah generators, zats, and the hybrid technology used by the SGC's intergalactic space ships. Seriously, what could be cooler than the notion that by the year 2007, the US Air Force could build no less than five intergalactic space ships? (Ignoring the fact that one of them was destroyed, two if you count an alternate timeline.) Hell, they gave one to Russia and another to China for Pete's sake. Both of those were destroyed. There was one nifty aversion as well, though. The Zero Point Modules (Ancient power sources) are usually treated as MacGuffins that are the only way of powering Ancient or other advanced technology. However in one Alternate Universe episode, Carter adapts a device to cloak and phase the entire planet, and lacking any ZPM or other phlebotinum power source, they run it off the ordinary power grid of the entire United States. It works (though it necessitates a blackout across 70% of the country because the device needed that much power). The show is notable in that the alien technology is often adapted slowly, with Continuity Nods over several seasons showing its development. For example, Stargate Command's IAP-based Space Fighter took almost six seasons to develop fully. It was based on two damaged Goa'uld fighters that were stolen at the end of Season 1. We get to see them being worked on in a secret facility in Season 2, a failed early prototype is the focus of an episode in Season 4, and the first successful prototype is used in Season 6, followed by the final production model a season later. Curiously, they never get around to trying to replicate staff weapons, despite understanding exactly how they work, though they did develop an extremely bulky energy weapon in the later seasons. As O'Neill at one point lampshaded, staff weapons are impractical terror weapons despite their reliability and longevity, while Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better in spite of reloading and maintenance, so the SGC never felt any pressing need to trade up. On the other hand, the SGC eventually collected so many Zatts that they just passed them out like sidearms, even though they made no attempt at reverse-engineering a more practical design. And then Earth inherits a payload of Alien Phlebotinum when the Asgard give them their entire technological database before blowing up their own planet. An interesting case with Tollan technology. The Tollan are a race of Transplanted Humans who have advanced centuries beyond Earth humanity and whose tech is stated to be so incomprehensible (e.g. no moving parts, wires, or circuits) it would take at least a century to be able to reverse-engineer and replicate it. At the same time, humans are able to understand and reverse-engineer devices made by truly alien beings. |
|
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_605dd875 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_605dd875 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stargate-verse (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_605dd875 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_608089b6 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_608089b6 | comment |
Iron Man's archenemy the Mandarin has ten rings of power. These rings were found on a crashed spaceship of Makluan origin. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_608089b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_608089b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| IronMan | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_608089b6 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_62aa95a6 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_62aa95a6 | comment |
The Hyperspace Gates in The Lost Fleet were given to humanity by an enigmatic alien race. This proves to be a major plot point later because the aliens retain remote control as well as the ability to detonate them. In a spin-off series, The Alliance manages to get their hands on a Bear-Cow superbattleship, although that ends up getting destroyed by the Dark Fleet. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_62aa95a6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_62aa95a6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Lost Fleet | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_62aa95a6 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_65d9acd2 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_65d9acd2 | comment |
Sarah Jane Smith has scads of this in The Sarah Jane Adventures. Central to the series, she has the Magical Computer (actually a silicon-based alien in a computer shell) Mr. Smith and her sonic lipstick, not to mention many different gadgets which just make one-off appearances. Sarah-Jane was given her sonic lipstick and robot dog K-9 by the Doctornote the original K-9 was created by a human scientist, but his successive models after the original was left behind on Gallifrey with Leela in Doctor Who (including The Sarah Jane Adventures Mark IV) were presumably built by the Doctor, who seems to function as something of a phlebotinum delivery service for people he likes. |
|
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_65d9acd2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_65d9acd2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Sarah Jane Adventures | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_65d9acd2 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_671c9161 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_671c9161 | comment |
DC's third Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, gets his powers from an advanced piece of technology that's presumed in-universe to be magic related, but the series slowly reveals that it was deliberately sent to Earth by an unknown alien species. Unfortunately, the Beetle was designed to infiltrate and slowly conquer Earth. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_671c9161 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_671c9161 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Blue Beetle (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_671c9161 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_68b8bdfe | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_68b8bdfe | comment |
Most research options in X-COM: UFO Defense are opened up by acquiring artifacts from or interrogating aliens. If you want to build some of these artifacts yourself, you need to consume the phlebotinum. To be specific, Elerium 115 is the fuel of the alien spaceships, it is used in pretty much ALL high-tech manufacture you can carry out at your base, and there is no way to acquire it except as salvage from downed enemy vessels. Also, the UFO After Blank series and UFO: Alien Invasion have this. In UFOAI, the scientist says that he doesn't even try to understand how aliens got their plasma tech working, since according to them it should be impossible. This trend continues in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, where XCOM's weakest technology is the pinnacle of small arms, aircraft, and missile tech, and everything else is reverse engineered from captured Alien technology and information gained from interrogating captured aliens. Head scientist Dr. Vahlen comments that they don't have time to fully understand how the technology works, her team just makes sure it does and will figure out the specifics once the war ends. |
|
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_68b8bdfe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_68b8bdfe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| X-COM: UFO Defense (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_68b8bdfe | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_69d15cc0 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_69d15cc0 | comment |
Marvel Cinematic Universe: A minor plot point in Avengers: Age of Ultron involves HYDRA using reverse-engineered Chitauri tech from the first Avengers movie to outfit its soldiers. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver end up getting their powers from the Chitauri scepter Loki once wielded, and The Vision is later brought to life by the Mind Stone within the scepter. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, the entire modus operandi of the Vulture's gang is to steal technology left over from the Avengers' various fights, including the aforementioned Chitauri tech, which their Gadgeteer Genius Phineas "The Tinkerer" Mason uses to create various weapons and other gear to sell on the black market (as well as for the gang's own use, as seen with Vulture's exo-suit and Shocker's gauntlet). The incongruity of petty criminals armed with advanced alien superweapons is lampshaded by a prospective buyer, who accuses the gang of trying to upsell him while emphasizing that he's not trying to send someone back in time. |
|
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_69d15cc0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_69d15cc0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Marvel Cinematic Universe (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_69d15cc0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6dd8677c | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6dd8677c | comment |
In Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, Nod also steals an orb-shaped computer from an alien ship dubbed the Tacitus. Kane uses its knowledge to build flying saucers and a world-altering missile that will terraform the entire planet into a Tiberium wasteland. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6dd8677c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6dd8677c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6dd8677c | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6f734712 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6f734712 | comment |
While Kryptonite doesn't count in Smallville, Clark's space ship does, as do the various Kryptonian artifacts featured over the course of the series. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6f734712 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6f734712 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Smallville | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6f734712 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6fd416b6 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6fd416b6 | comment |
Voices of a Distant Star: According to Words of Love/Across the Stars, the Tracers are based on the remains of technology found in Martian ruins. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6fd416b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6fd416b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Voices of a Distant Star | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_6fd416b6 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_700279ec | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_700279ec | comment |
Drive (Dave Kellett): The titular Ring Drive is this to the protagonists. The ruling family of the human empire established their economic, political, and military power by maintaining a strict monopoly on the devices and the secrets of their operation after their ancestral patriarch found and reverse-engineered a crashed alien ship. Unfortunately for them and the rest of humanity, the Sufficiently Advanced Aliens who invented it are still around and apperently consider it something like blasphemy for anyone to mess with their tech. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_700279ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_700279ec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Drive (Dave Kellett) (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_700279ec | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_70814599 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_70814599 | comment |
The Stargates from Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis are the whole motivators of the shows. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_70814599 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_70814599 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stargate SG-1 | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_70814599 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_75411dda | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_75411dda | comment |
This was the whole premise of Explorers. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_75411dda | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_75411dda | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Explorers | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_75411dda | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7668653b | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7668653b | comment |
The Crucible in Mass Effect 3 is the product of the combined efforts of every civilization that was harvested in previous cycles, and is the only weapon that gives Shepard a chance-in-hell at defeating the Reapers. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7668653b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7668653b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mass Effect 3 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7668653b | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_774aac31 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_774aac31 | comment |
District 9 uses a variation of this trope. The alien "Prawns" have super weapons that evil Mega-Corp MNU would love to figure out, but the weapons only work with alien DNA. When an accident causes Wikus, the film's protagonist, to begin transforming into a prawn, he becomes able to use the weapons — which results in both MNU and Nigerian gangsters chasing him so they can figure out how to access his power themselves. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_774aac31 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_774aac31 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| District 9 | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_774aac31 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7988cb68 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7988cb68 | comment |
Mass Effect: The Mass relays, the Citadel itself and the Keepers having been created by the Protheans, since it was left there for the previous races so that they could better understand element zero. In truth, all were created by the Reapers in order to harvest the galactic civilization of organics for their own ideals by predetermining the path of evolution and exploration. The molten-metal-shooting Thanix gun from ME 2 also counts. It's based on reverse-engineering Sovereign's weapons. The Crucible in Mass Effect 3 is the product of the combined efforts of every civilization that was harvested in previous cycles, and is the only weapon that gives Shepard a chance-in-hell at defeating the Reapers. |
|
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7988cb68 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7988cb68 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mass Effect (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7988cb68 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_79f95346 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_79f95346 | comment |
In Double Duck, the Agency's advanced technology is eventually revealed to be derived from an Extransformer shield created with Coronan technology and lost by Paperinik in the past. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_79f95346 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_79f95346 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Double Duck (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_79f95346 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7ac43256 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7ac43256 | comment |
Super Robot Wars: Original Generation has a variation on this: The alien faction known as Inspectors gave humanity the Black Hole Engine to see if they were advanced enough to figure it out. If they could, it signaled that they likely had a good enough tech-base to justify invading and stealing it to hybridize with their own. Also, it is established that the technology to make Humongous Mecha feasible was acquired from a trio of meteors that fell to Earth some time ago. These meteors ALSO contained further Phlebotinum, called Extra-Over Technology that allowed the creation of tremendous power sources that would be impossible without the Unobtanium. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7ac43256 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7ac43256 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Super Robot Wars: Original Generation (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7ac43256 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7b6a6b62 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7b6a6b62 | comment |
In Mad Daedalus, the discovery of a crashed alien spaceship — and its functional AI — eventually gives the ancient Greeks advanced technology such as cloning, time travel, and bio-engineering. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7b6a6b62 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7b6a6b62 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mad Daedalus (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7b6a6b62 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7f707367 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7f707367 | comment |
In Freespace, the only reason the Terrans and Vasudans survived their first encounter with the Shivans was because they stole a bunch of Shivan tech and adapted it to their fighters. In the sequel, they've even managed to copy the Shivan capital ship beams and outfit their own destroyers and cruisers with them. Despite this, the Shivans consistently remain far more advanced technologically. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7f707367 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7f707367 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| FreeSpace (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_7f707367 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_81806a55 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_81806a55 | comment |
Time Cruise has a human inventor who receives instructions for a Time Machine from telepathic extraterrestrials. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_81806a55 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_81806a55 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Time Cruise (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_81806a55 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_87c6ac8e | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_87c6ac8e | comment |
In Monsters vs. Aliens, heroine Susan Murphy is turned into a 49-foot 11-and-a-half-inch giantess by a meteor saturated with Quantonium, which the Big Bad is after to power his evil scheme. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_87c6ac8e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_87c6ac8e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Monsters vs. Aliens | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_87c6ac8e | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_88b968aa | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_88b968aa | comment |
More specifically, in Ultraman Nexus, the "visitors" gave TLT most of their technology to combat Space Beasts. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_88b968aa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_88b968aa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ultraman Nexus | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_88b968aa | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8cb4a772 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8cb4a772 | comment |
And in Ultraman Mebius, METEOR (Much Extreme Technology of Extraterrestrial ORigin) comes from salvaged alien wrecks in the past. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8cb4a772 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8cb4a772 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ultraman Mebius | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8cb4a772 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8eda89ef | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8eda89ef | comment |
Some of the weirder technology in Darker than Black (like memory erasure) is handwaved as having come from the Gate. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8eda89ef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8eda89ef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Darker Than Black | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8eda89ef | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8f465fd9 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8f465fd9 | comment |
In Mercs of Boom, you eventually encounter aliens who may be responsible for the arrival of advinite on Earth and get your hands on some of their tech, including Deflector Shields and Energy Weapons. Notably, it takes a number of technological breakthroughs by your scientists to get shields working the way they should. For example, the first shields you get are single-use items instead of reusable generators. Those come much later. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8f465fd9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8f465fd9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mercs of Boom (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8f465fd9 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fda7950 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fda7950 | comment |
Half of the technology of Known Space. We got FTL from Outsiders, and everything else from starfish. Except the life-extending drug Boosterspice, which we got from our extraplanetary ancestors. Also variable-swords, which we got from even older Abusive Precursors. And we got indestructible GP hulls and teleportation booths from Puppeteers. And the unique Soft Weapon, left over from the Slaver empire. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fda7950 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fda7950 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Known Space | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fda7950 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fe761d8 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fe761d8 | comment |
In Transcendence, much human technology is based on this, and there are plenty of devices that are completely alien in origin. These include the Stargates, the Gems of Despair, Sacrifice, and Contrition, and the Transpace Jumpdrive. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fe761d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fe761d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Transcendence (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_8fe761d8 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_90c73dda | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_90c73dda | comment |
The Escafil device from Animorphs. Or any other technology more remarkable than you might find in a high school. Also broccoli. In the Animorphs universe, Earth had actually been colonized millions of years ago by a pacifist race who brought with them the main staple crop of their society, yes broccoli. The reason there's no evidence of them is that the meteor that hit earth was aimed at earth by a race that hated the pacifistic one, they got a bull-eye strike right on the colony. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_90c73dda | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_90c73dda | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Animorphs | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_90c73dda | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_91ba5165 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_91ba5165 | comment |
The researchers of The Fold depend on 19th-century scientist Aleksander Koturovic, whose equations describe "folding" three-dimensional space to make transit between any two points possible. Given that Koturovic doesn't include any of the underlying proofs of said equations, and most of the rest of his work was a series of wild guesses, and he also said telepathic monsters from other dimensions were coming to eat everyone, it's safe to say he imported this from said monsters. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_91ba5165 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_91ba5165 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Fold | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_91ba5165 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9983eff5 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9983eff5 | comment |
Captive State: Inverted. Most modern computing technology seems to have disappeared: people call each other on pay phones, take photos with Polaroid cameras, etc. Any remaining high tech is part of the police surveillance apparatus. This is a result of the Internet being largely shut down to stifle any opposition. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9983eff5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9983eff5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Captive State | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9983eff5 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9a8bf274 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9a8bf274 | comment |
In the Command & Conquer series: The majority of the Earth is being consumed by Tiberium, alien phlebotinum crystals that appeared in Rome and began growing outwards, rendering much of the world uninhabitable. If you get close to the crystals without protection, they start growing around you, on you, and in you, and you quickly hemorrhage to death. Ironically, the Tiberium is also an incredibly efficient energy source. Nod also develops several Tiberium-based weapons The aliens (known as the Scrin) that might have been responsible recently showed up and are annoyed that the human race hasn't died out yet- apparently, the Scrin wait for all life on a planet to die off before they come to harvest the "ichor" (their term for Tiberium). After a series of defeats at the hands of both Nod and the GDI, their leader has ordered a full invasion fleet to exterminate mankind. In Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, Nod also steals an orb-shaped computer from an alien ship dubbed the Tacitus. Kane uses its knowledge to build flying saucers and a world-altering missile that will terraform the entire planet into a Tiberium wasteland. |
|
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9a8bf274 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9a8bf274 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Command & Conquer (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_9a8bf274 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a1b9a8bb | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a1b9a8bb | comment |
In Spider-Man: Homecoming, the entire modus operandi of the Vulture's gang is to steal technology left over from the Avengers' various fights, including the aforementioned Chitauri tech, which their Gadgeteer Genius Phineas "The Tinkerer" Mason uses to create various weapons and other gear to sell on the black market (as well as for the gang's own use, as seen with Vulture's exo-suit and Shocker's gauntlet). The incongruity of petty criminals armed with advanced alien superweapons is lampshaded by a prospective buyer, who accuses the gang of trying to upsell him while emphasizing that he's not trying to send someone back in time. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a1b9a8bb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a1b9a8bb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Spider-Man: Homecoming | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a1b9a8bb | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a61ca024 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a61ca024 | comment |
Earth-based human-created Morphing tech first shows up in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. It, Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, and Power Rangers RPM are pretty much the only series where the powers ostensibly come solely from modern, albeit fictional, technology. RPM is even an Alternate Universe where there's no known alien involvement at all. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a61ca024 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a61ca024 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a61ca024 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a896e651 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a896e651 | comment |
Against a Dark Background, a non-Culture Sci-Fi novel by Iain M. Banks, uses this trope as its main narrative driver. The heroine, Sharrow, is forced onto a quest to recover the last known 'Lazy Gun', one a group of bizarre artifacts from an apparently alien technology which were found floating amongst the space wreckage of a destroyed planet in the home system a very long time ago. Lazy Guns are described as having a number of physical anomalies, such as weighing twice as much upside down as right-side-up, plus a freakish sense of humour. They have both caused wars and been used as weapons in war, as well as worshipped as gods and as relics of gods. It is not quite clear whether they are really Imported Alien Phlebotinum, originating outside the home solar system, or simply Lost Technology of the Ancients. The search means that the Lazy Gun functions in the narrative as the MacGuffin. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a896e651 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a896e651 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Against a Dark Background | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_a896e651 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ac4bd9bd | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ac4bd9bd | comment |
In the Into the Looking Glass series, Earth is attacked by an Organic Technology using Hive Mind through a series of "portals" opened up by a lab mishap. Humans also encounter a friendly alien species, the Adar, who give them a literal Black Box created by a (different) species of Sufficiently Advanced Aliens. After a brief period in which the device appears to have no function save as a "reusable nuclear hand grenade," they conclude that they were using it wrong and find a way to use it as a Faster-Than-Light Travel drive. This allows them to build a starship that can travel faster than light, but doesn't give them any other typical science fiction technology (although they manage to invent some of the nearer, harder-science applications themselves). Much of the drama of the second and third novels comes from the crew of the ship finding themselves in Star Trek situations without the advantage of things like phasers, tricorders, and transporters. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ac4bd9bd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ac4bd9bd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Into the Looking Glass | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ac4bd9bd | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_aedc983a | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_aedc983a | comment |
The TCS Midway, from Wing Commander Prophecy, gets this later in the game, in the form of a plasma cannon that can obliterate entire fleets in one shot. Cloaking devices used by humans, in Wing Commander III and Wing Commander IV were derived from captured examples of Kilrathi equipment for the same purpose. |
|
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_aedc983a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_aedc983a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wing Commander (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_aedc983a | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_afc86b0a | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_afc86b0a | comment |
Ender's Game has instantaneous communication from the Buggers, along with artificial gravity and other technologies that were reverse-engineered from the Bugger starships. This is Ret Conned in the prequels, and the gravity-related tech turns out to be purely human, including the Little Doctor (whose prototype "gravity lasers" are used back during the First Invasion). | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_afc86b0a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_afc86b0a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ender's Game | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_afc86b0a | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2bd761b | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2bd761b | comment |
In the Troy Rising series alien computer chips act as this at the beginning. Earth's computer industry is devastated due to a shortage of rare materials and the alien tech is so sophisticated that a single circuit board can replace a supercomputer. Later on the protagonist starts importing alien A.I.s and gravity manipulation technology to run his industrial empire. He is able to produce more on his own after a while but is still unable to make any from scratch. An existing AI is needed to make more A.I.s and any gravity manipulation technology manufacture requires existing gravity manipulation tools. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2bd761b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2bd761b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Troy Rising | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2bd761b | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2fba3e0 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2fba3e0 | comment |
The Ultra Series transformation items often have abilities attached to them, and they're alien. More specifically, in Ultraman Nexus, the "visitors" gave TLT most of their technology to combat Space Beasts. And in Ultraman Mebius, METEOR (Much Extreme Technology of Extraterrestrial ORigin) comes from salvaged alien wrecks in the past. |
|
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2fba3e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2fba3e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ultra Series (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b2fba3e0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b34be90f | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b34be90f | comment |
In Armada, all the technologies used by the EDA to fight back against the alien invasion are reverse engineered from crashed alien drones. This was intentional, though, as the whole thing is a Secret Test of Character that determines whether humanity will be allowed to join the galactic community or destroyed. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b34be90f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b34be90f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Armada | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b34be90f | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b5a03cec | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b5a03cec | comment |
The aliens wanting their phlebotinum (the SDF-1) back was the driving force for the first part of Robotech. Its parent series, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, had some differences: the aliens were in hot pursuit of an enemy ship, and had planned to simply destroy it until they found out that the locals had salvaged it... which they had thought impossible (they were ignorant of how to make repairs to their own tech). | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b5a03cec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b5a03cec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Robotech | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b5a03cec | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6ac6e45 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6ac6e45 | comment |
In Star Blazers/Space Battleship Yamato, Earth is undergoing radioactive bombardment. However, a friendly alien race gives Earth the ability to make Warp Drives. Japan puts this on the battleship Yamato. They also make a new addition, the Wave-Motion Gun, and sets out to Iscandar. They need to get there and back within a year for Earth to survive. So this drives the entire plot. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6ac6e45 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6ac6e45 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| StarBlazers | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6ac6e45 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6cb9396 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6cb9396 | comment |
The 1990s comics sequel to Lost in Space used this as a Retcon to explain how Earth could have interstellar technology in 1997. The Jupiter 2 had been reverse engineered from a crashed alien ship from Alpha Centauri. The "foreign agents" who employed Dr. Smith were revealed to be Alpha Centaurians working to prevent humanity from reaching their world. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6cb9396 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6cb9396 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lost in Space | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b6cb9396 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b7093bed | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b7093bed | comment |
Droners: Maroro, Team Tikis' drone, is explicitly said to have been built out of Aqua scrap parts. It makes it very advanced, but also means that broken or malfunctioning parts are extremely hard to replace and impossible to build anew. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b7093bed | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b7093bed | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Droners | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_b7093bed | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bb9712e2 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bb9712e2 | comment |
Roadside Picnic features "stalkers" who search an area called the Zone for alien artifacts left behind on Earth. Arguably a deconstruction of the trope — the items found in the Zone are powerful, but so alien that most are completely incomprehensible to humans, and many pose equally incomprehensible, and potentially lethal, dangers... And it's entirely possible that they are all simply alien garbage, left behind by visitors who treated Earth as an insignificant roadside stop on their journey. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bb9712e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bb9712e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Roadside Picnic | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bb9712e2 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcadd7cb | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcadd7cb | comment |
Warhammer 40,000: When the Inquisition isn't hunting down Chaos cults or genestealers, they're chasing people dealing in xenos artifacts and technology. Not just because the Adeptus Mechanicus gets sniffy that alien tech works better than theirs (especially with Tau), often there's a good chance it involves the Warp somehow, which is never a good thing. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcadd7cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcadd7cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Warhammer 40,000 (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcadd7cb | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcdcf629 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcdcf629 | comment |
There have been some cases, such as in Transformers: Animated, where humans have reverse-engineered some Transformers parts (thus explaining today's rapid technology growth). | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcdcf629 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcdcf629 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Transformers: Animated | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bcdcf629 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bd310eaa | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bd310eaa | comment |
In El Goonish Shive, the Transformation Ray Gun was brought to a young Tedd by aliens who needed someone to upgrade its programming so they could use it to blend in better on Earth. He ended up using it recreationally to engage in temporary Gender Bending of himself and his friends. Through a chain of events, it ended up contributing to the creation of a bisexual female duplicate of Tedd's best friend and caused her to be endowed with the ability to emulate one of the its female transformation settings by shooting a beam from her hand. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bd310eaa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bd310eaa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| El Goonish Shive (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bd310eaa | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bdc321e2 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bdc321e2 | comment |
In War of the Worlds (1988), the Blackwood Project occasionally steals some alien toy and contrives it into a one-off device. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bdc321e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bdc321e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| War of the Worlds (1988) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_bdc321e2 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c2297a9c | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c2297a9c | comment |
Judge Dredd: Mega-City One has a functioning Interdimensional Travel Device, but it was reverse-engineered from technology brought over by the Dark Judges from their Mirror Universe. A double whammy, as it's not even native to their own dimension either—they just stole it from four aliens who happened to visit Deadworld by mistake. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c2297a9c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c2297a9c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Judge Dredd (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c2297a9c | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c43df4d8 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
Quite a few Doctor Who plots have been sparked by something like this — a society or groups abuses or gets abused by alien technology they don't understand. For example, in "The Curse of the Black Spot", a pirate ship is plagued by a siren who takes any person who is ill or injured. The siren is actually a holographic computer program who functions as a doctor for a crashed alien ship. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c43df4d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c43df4d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Doctor Who | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c43df4d8 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c487221e | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c487221e | comment |
Parodied in Men in Black. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c487221e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c487221e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Men in Black | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c487221e | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c6f7e804 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c6f7e804 | comment |
This sets off the main plot of Blake's 7, when a group of escaped rebels and criminals gain control of an alien spacecraft abandoned after a battle that they name The Liberator. It's faster than any spacecraft in the Terran Federation, has insanely good firepower and shields, and technology as yet unavailable to humanity like a teleport and auto-repair systems that start repairing damage the moment it is made, making it the most fearsome ship in the galaxy. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c6f7e804 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c6f7e804 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Blake's 7 | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c6f7e804 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c78aeb5 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c78aeb5 | comment |
Ultimate Galactus Trilogy: Tony and Reed would like to reverse-engineer Marvel's armor so badly... | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c78aeb5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c78aeb5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ultimate Galactus Trilogy (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_c78aeb5 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ca6f23f0 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ca6f23f0 | comment |
in Supernoobs the 4 main characters receive Battleballs granting them Powered Armor and superpowers from two aliens to fight an intergalactic virus that mutates anything it touches into monsters. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ca6f23f0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ca6f23f0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Supernoobs | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ca6f23f0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_cf69b21e | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_cf69b21e | comment |
Oddly, despite them being a show about alien robots, Beast Wars plays this straight with Megatron using technology stolen and retrofitted by the even more alien Vok. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_cf69b21e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_cf69b21e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Beast Wars | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_cf69b21e | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_d236fc2 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_d236fc2 | comment |
Kuromukuro is a mysterious "giant" found buried underground, off of whose specs the more mundane GAUS units are developed. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_d236fc2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_d236fc2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Kuromukuro | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_d236fc2 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e003d65e | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e003d65e | comment |
This trend continues in XCOM: Enemy Unknown, where XCOM's weakest technology is the pinnacle of small arms, aircraft, and missile tech, and everything else is reverse engineered from captured Alien technology and information gained from interrogating captured aliens. Head scientist Dr. Vahlen comments that they don't have time to fully understand how the technology works, her team just makes sure it does and will figure out the specifics once the war ends. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e003d65e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e003d65e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e003d65e | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e081af79 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e081af79 | comment |
The interstellar transmitter which once sat in Bob's front yard in The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob!. It eventually got blown up by Space Pirates. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e081af79 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e081af79 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob! (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e081af79 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e6267766 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e6267766 | comment |
In Star Wars Legends, turns out that hyperdrives, blasters, lightsabers and many other commonplace technologies derive from those of the Rakatan, who in the distant past invaded and subjugated a large part of the galaxy with Force-controlled versions of said technologies before an epidemic stripped them of their ability to use the Force and, with it, most of their technology. As it's been over 25,000 years since then, Rakatan technology has since been well understood and even surpassed in most regards. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e6267766 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e6267766 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Wars Legends (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e6267766 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e9e37e8 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e9e37e8 | comment |
The Heechee Saga novel Gateway relates the misadventures of a "prospector" seeking fame and fortune by traveling aboard abandoned but still-functional alien spacecraft, discovered by humans on Gateway, an ancient, hollowed-out asteroid inside Venus' orbit. The problem: no one knows how the spaceships work, only that they travel faster-than-light to preset destinations on missions of unpredictable durations. Also, ships don't always make it back, and there's no guarantee that the crew will be alive even if they do. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e9e37e8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e9e37e8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Heechee Saga | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_e9e37e8 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_eb37bd61 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_eb37bd61 | comment |
Code Prime: In this story, Sakuradite is actually another name for energon, which also explains how Britannia knows where to find most of it - Megatron gave them the locations, in exchange for a cut of the Sakuradite. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_eb37bd61 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_eb37bd61 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Code Prime (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_eb37bd61 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ec290eb8 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ec290eb8 | comment |
Speaking of, scavenged Cybertronian tech is how IDW revived M.A.S.K.. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ec290eb8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ec290eb8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| M.A.S.K. | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ec290eb8 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ef076a36 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ef076a36 | comment |
The holographic doctor on Star Trek: Voyager gains mobility by the acquisition of a mobile emitter from the future (granted, it's the Federation's future, but is there anything more alien than the future?) | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ef076a36 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ef076a36 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Trek: Voyager | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ef076a36 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f12f9b66 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f12f9b66 | comment |
Wander over Yonder Has this in the form of Wander's Hat. While this show takes place in outer space and the main characters are all aliens, "The Bad Hatter " reveals that Wander stole the hat from people who were misusing it. Ideally, it only gives you the things you need and if you don't take the time to understand why you get what you do out of it the results can be very funny. However, as an Animate Inanimate Object of sorts, it is susceptible to torture and being forced to give you what you want instead.This has a disastrous outcome. When the hat is inadvertently stolen by Lord Hater Wander is stranded on the planet without his banjo or anything else. He even sums it up by saying "No hat, No Wander!" Demonstrating how handy it really is. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f12f9b66 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f12f9b66 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wander over Yonder | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f12f9b66 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f1853fcd | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f1853fcd | comment |
The aliens in Cannon God Exaxxion gave a ton of stuff to Earth to make it easier for their eventual invasion since they had remote control over everything handed over. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f1853fcd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f1853fcd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Cannon God Exaxxion (Manga) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f1853fcd | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f2db390d | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f2db390d | comment |
Prey (2006) takes it to the next level. Aboard this massive bio-mechanical alien spaceship, you eventually find a gun that the aliens themselves cannot identify. Imported Alien Alien Phlebotinium! Assuming you speak of the acid sprayer, it's built by La Résistance. |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f2db390d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f2db390d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Prey (2006) (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f2db390d | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f74b5f80 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f74b5f80 | comment |
Happens often in Babylon 5 The biggest example is Earth Alliance, with an unspecified but large amount of their modern technology being reverse-engineered from various alien sources, either recovered by finding an abandoned piece of advanced technology (we actually see an attempt going wrong in the series; the Interceptors were a more successful one), bought or gifted to them by various aliens (the first jump drives and other technologies were bought from the Centauri, the advanced beam weapons of the Omegas were originally bought from the Narn, the Wave Motion Guns came from the Drazi, and understanding of Artificial Gravity was a gift from the Minbari to get them to join the Interstellar Alliance), or outright stolen (Earth's pulse weapons, for example, are based on Dilgar technology captured on the battlefield). There's even a company, IPX, specifically dedicated to look for advanced technology to reverse-engineer, with mixed success (both the Interceptors and the failed attempt seen during the series are the result of IPX explorers succeeding). Large parts of Centauri technology originally came from alien sources that they reverse-engineered to full understanding and then improved (best shown by the Kutai-class gunship, originally a Garmak design they adopted after conquering them). Centauri being Centauri, they weaponized the trope: they sell ships and weapons to other species and use the stranglehold on the spare parts to slowly make them dependent (Earth getting the advanced technologies was a failed attempt at doing this). The Narn and the other former Centauri subjects base their technology on whatever their former masters couldn't take with them as they left or was stolen by their resistance (most notably, the Deneth resistance managed to build their entire fleet in Centauri shipyards before striking), with their mastery of what they took varying between races (the Narn, for example, have an incomplete understanding of Centauri tech, while the Brakiri developed Artificial Gravity well beyond what the Centauri can do). The Abbai took advantage of this to entice various lesser races to join the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, offering what was for them obsolete pieces of technology to anyone who would join. As the Abbai are one of the most advanced races in the setting (most notably they're the only Younger Race with Deflector Shields. That they don't share), what is obsolete for them is often more advanced than the state-of-the-art of other races. In general, the Younger Races' hyperspace technology is directly or indirectly derived from study of the ancient jumpgates left around by the Vorlon, depending on wherever the various races found a Vorlon jumpgate in their system, received it by someone else who already had the technology, or, in at least one case, based it on a jumpgate built by a Younger Race (the Dilgar, who had an Abbai-built gate in their system). |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f74b5f80 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f74b5f80 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Babylon 5 | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f74b5f80 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f8871028 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f8871028 | comment |
The technology that makes the titular room of Clean Room work was salvaged from disabled demon vessels. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f8871028 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f8871028 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Clean Room (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_f8871028 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa5e90fd | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa5e90fd | comment |
The "Medi-porter" used in City of Heroes to justify the use of Death Is Cheap is based off of recovered Rikti technology. In the parallel world of Praetoria, where the Rikti did not invade, there is no explanation given as to why the medi-porter still exists. In Praetoria the Medi-Port was created by Praetor Keyes (Anti-Matter). This is public knowledge and given in the Praetorian Tutorial. Later you also discover that he in fact stole and reverse engineered the technology from the Rikti. |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa5e90fd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa5e90fd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| City of Heroes (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa5e90fd | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa661c5b | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa661c5b | comment |
Independence Day: Resurgence takes place 20 years after the end of Independence Day. Since then, humanity has rebuilt and has reverse-engineered some alien tech to create more powerful weapons and defenses, as well as allowing humans to establish bases on the Moon, Mars, and Rhea (one of Saturn's moons). Even then, though, it may not be enough to defeat an even greater force coming for Earth. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa661c5b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa661c5b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Independence Day: Resurgence | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fa661c5b | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fb9c177d | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fb9c177d | comment |
Subverted in most versions of Transformers, as the main characters are the aliens whose technology their human allies (or enemies, depending on the faction) retrofit into their own designs. Oddly, despite them being a show about alien robots, Beast Wars plays this straight with Megatron using technology stolen and retrofitted by the even more alien Vok. There have been some cases, such as in Transformers: Animated, where humans have reverse-engineered some Transformers parts (thus explaining today's rapid technology growth). |
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| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fb9c177d | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fb9c177d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Transformers (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fb9c177d | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fcf0b6c3 | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fcf0b6c3 | comment |
In Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, two aliens share their hyperdrive with Earth in exchange for our help in defeating the evil Crown Empire. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fcf0b6c3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fcf0b6c3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_fcf0b6c3 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ff7e246d | type |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ff7e246d | comment |
In Animorphs: The Reckoning, a human engineer is able to reverse-engineer Yeerk beam weapons and Z-space technology after detecting the aliens' presence in the solar system. | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ff7e246d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ff7e246d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Animorphs: The Reckoning / Fan Fic | hasFeature |
Imported Alien Phlebotinum / int_ff7e246d |
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