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The entire lake was created by that single stone.
Most rocks are basic, run-of-the-mill objects. They're found everywhere on most planets, have little to no intrinsic value, and are about as ordinary as... well, a rock.
Then, there are these. A rock of limitless water is a rock, stone, or other similar object that emits a steady stream of water from itself. Such an item is generally held as an object of reverence, either from a deity, other mystical force, or perhaps something more sinister. These items are generally desired for their otherworldly powers by heroes and villains alike.
Such an item can be found across media types, occurring in film, video games, and television alike. However, due to the nature of the trope, examples will generally occur in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and/or religious scripture. As this trope is at least as old as The Bible and Classical Mythology, this trope falls squarely into the realm of being Older Than Feudalism, and possibly is Older Than Dirt as well.
These items, due to their immense power, are almost always going to be a Plot Device or otherwise sought after at some point. A related object is a Philosopher's Stone. Whereas a Stone of Limitless Water is generally the mark of power of a deity or of magic, the Philosopher's Stone is the mark of the power of science or alchemy.
- In Anyone Can Whistle, one of these appears in a Dying Town, which causes a huge boom to tourism. The trope is subverted in that the water is actually being pumped in from behind the scenes.
- A similar feature occurs in Avatar. The floating islands have waterfalls constantly flowing from out of them, despite not having a source for such water. In this case, there is a somewhat logical reason given for such behavior that does not justify the amount of water created
- The Bible contains what is among the first examples of this trope, whereby Moses strikes a stone and God's power creates a waterfall from it.
- Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game) supplement Terror Australis, adventure "City Beneath The Sands". The supernatural creature known as Power Boy can cause a spring to come out of a rock just by sticking his rangga (a ceremonial staff) into the rock.
- Dungeons & Dragons has a decanter which mimics this trope. Though not the cheapest or most common of items, wizards can craft them without too much difficulty, making them less desirable than some on this list.
- Greek Mythology
- One legend involves Athena and Poseidon dueling over the patronage of the city that would become Athens. As part of said duel, Poseidon creates a sea from a rock.
- Another legend involves the winged horse Pegasus flying up to the top of Mt. Helicon and striking a rock with his hoof, creating a stream of water. It became known as the Hippocrene, literally the "Fountain of the Horse"
- A third legend involves a woman named Niobe who thought herself above the goddess Leto. To avenge this insult to their mother's honor, Apollo and Artemis flew from Olympus and smote each of Niobe's children. In her grief, Niobe turned into a stone constantly awash in tears.
- The Aqualith in Legaia II: Duel Saga. A stone found in the protagonist's hometown, it is actually one of three stones needed to access the Source Forge, the beacon of creation in the world
- In The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword, the town of Skyloft has a magic island spring that floats just above and supplies the river with an infinite amount of water.
- In The Miraculous Mellops, the Moonlings had limited water and created a pill that replenishes a container of water up to 50 times. It got into a bowl of fruit punch and they needed to clean it out.
- Such an object appears in Mousehunt
- Lala-Ru's pendant in Now and Then, Here and There is sought after for its ability to produce large amounts of water.
- The Crystal Stone in the first Paper Mario 64 game is needed as part of a Fetch Quest in the Flower Fields.
- Such an item appears in an episode of Samurai Jack.
- Inverted by the SCP Foundation. SCP-402 is a Rock of Absorbing limitless water.
- SCP-045 is a straight example, producing water when exposed to nitrogen in an environment with less than 380 atmospheres of pressure.
- The Sacred Orb in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is a prized treasure of the Kingdom of Aquaria. As an exceedingly powerful artifact, it is desired by each of the warring factions in the galactic war. Later, it is revealed to be a debugging tool for use by the denizens of 4D Space.
- There is the Orb of Tornami in Xiaolin Showdown
- Though they don't seem to have any special significance, there are a number of floating islands in Nagrand in World of Warcraft that have waterfalls continually coming off them.
- The Ouroboros zone in the late, lamented City of Heroes/City of Villains had an elaborate base hovering over an endless ocean, surrounded by six floating "mountains" which had endless waterfalls cascading off them.