Aether in popular culture

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Aether (also spelled ether), a concept used in ancient and medieval science as a substance, has found numerous adaptions in popular culture:

  • A planet in the video game Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is named Aether. Aether is a strange planet that was hit by a radioactive meteor, causing it to split into two worlds, consisting of light world and a dark world.
  • In the video game Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, the main villain, Nergal, refers to the life force of a human being as Quintessence, and uses Quintessence to create lifeforms called 'Morphs' and extend his life.
  • In the video game Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Occult scrolls are items that present a skill to a character depending on that character's class. The skill taught to the Lord and Hero classes (despite there being no playable Heroes in the game) is called Aether. Aether is a combination of the effects of the Occult skills "Sol", "Luna", and to some extent, "Astra", taught to Paladins/Valkyries, Generals/Halberdiers, and Swordmasters respectively. Sol (representing the Sun), Luna (representing the Moon), and Astra (representing the stars) are often linked to Aether in alchemy (Aether representing the cosmos) due to the three being cosmic beings. The ability also, at one point, restores hit points, which are considered a life force in RPG's.
  • Ether (the alternate spelling for Aether) is often referenced in video games that involve magic as a natural way to replenish one's strength or enhance the ability to use such magic. It is most often referenced by the Final Fantasy series - which, to various degrees - have had it restore a single character's reserve of magic. In said universes, it is either expensive, hard to find, or difficult to replicate.
  • Ether (the alternate spelling for Aether) inspired the naming of the networking protocol Ethernet.
  • When radio first came into general use the concept of passing messages through space was a novelty. Thus writers occasionally discussed how voices were heard "out of the ether."
  • In the HBO series Rome, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo construct a life raft from corpses. The corpses, in the words of Vorenus are inflated by "plutonic aether". This was the name that the Romans gave to the gas that builds up in a dead body, enabling it to float. It is named after the Roman God of the dead, Pluto.
  • In Magic: The Gathering Aether is the stuff that exists between different planes of existence. Many island spells incorporate this phenomenon into ther text.
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