This tutorial review compiles the advances that have been achieved in using transition metal complexes containing N-heterocyclic carbene ligands as components for materials. Applications of metal carbene complexes in fields different from catalysis are remarkably scarce. During the last few years, promising results have been accomplished in particular by utilizing such complexes as antimicrobial and cytotoxic agents, as photoactive sites in luminescent materials, for self-assembly into liquid crystalline materials and metallosupramolecular structures, and as synthons for molecular switches and conducting polymeric materials. These initial achievements clearly underline the great potential of N-heterocyclic carbene complexes in various fields of materials science.