Stygian Iron

**Stygian iron**, like Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, and Bone Steel, is a magical metal capable of absorbing or destroying the essence of monsters, gods, Titans, demigods, and Giants. Unlike Imperial Gold and Celestial Bronze, however, it can harm both mortals, including humans and monsters, and immortals alike. It is the strongest of all ores within its pantheon (with the possible exception of bone steel and Uru Metal, because it is from a different pantheon).

## Description

When seen, a Stygian Iron weapon is shown to scare monsters even more than a Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold weapon, possibly because their essence is absorbed into the blade, which possibly prevents the monster from going back to Tartarus to reform. It also appears to have a significant effect on ghosts and creatures from the Underworld.

Stygian Iron is mined and forged in the Underworld and cooled in the River Styx, producing a clean, indestructible blade. Because it's cooled within the River Styx, only children of Hades/Pluto and children of Underworld deities are capable of wielding it, with the exception of some powerful deities who can also wield Stygian Iron.

One large difference between Celestial Bronze and Stygian Iron is the way they kill monsters. Celestial Bronze (as well as Imperial Gold) destroys the monster's physical form and their essence returns to Tartarus, but Stygian Iron is stated to absorb/destroy the monster's essence, which most likely means a Stygian Iron weapon can prevent a monster from reforming.

#### Abilities

Stygian iron is much more dangerous than Imperial Gold or Celestial Bronze. While still able to harm monsters, demigods, and immortals, it can also harm mortals. It is also different in the way it destroys its targets. While most magical metals turn monsters to dust, Stygian iron will literally drain the life force of its target until there is nothing left, and it is absorbed into the blade. This makes it dangerous even to those that are already dead, such as ghosts and shades. Stygian iron also has the added benefit of being able to channel the power of the Underworld. For example, Nico has been shown to use his sword to draw the dead to him to attack enemies, as well as to be able to open up fissures to the Underworld by plunging his sword into the ground, although this is not likely to have anything to do with the actual blade material.

## Known Stygian Iron Items

* Nico's Sword
* Sword of Hades
* Hades' Staff
* Thanatos' scythe
* The outer frame of the Doors of Death

## See Also

* Imperial Gold
* Celestial Bronze
* Stygian Ice
* River Styx

## Trivia

* Stygian iron is one of four magical ores, the others being Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, and Bone Steel.
* Imperial Gold is Roman, Celestial Bronze is Greek, and Stygian Iron is from the Underworld. It is then possible that the children of Hades/Pluto could use this metal, since the Underworld exists in both Greek and Roman mythology, though this has yet to be confirmed.
* Only Hades, Thanatos, Orion, Tartarus, Perseus, Clytius, Nyx, and Nico have been stated to have used Stygian Iron so far, making its appearance far more rare than Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold.
* When a monster touches it, its essence will be absorbed into the blade. However, it is unknown if the monster will ever reform or if it will just take longer for them to reform in Tartarus.
* It is possible it kills mortals as they have souls/essences as well, which Stygian Iron absorbs. But it may not be by touch as with monsters due to the differences in how magical metals act toward them.
* As it is not silver, it does not harm lycanthropes.
* Like other enchanted metals, Stygian Iron gives off a faint light; in this case, the light is dark purple.