  Spatial ordering of matter elicits exotic properties sometimes absent from a
material's constituents. A few highly mineralised natural materials achieve
high toughness through delocalised damage, whereas synthetic particulate
composites must trade toughness for mineral content. We test whether ordering
the mineral phase in particulate composites through the formation of
macroscopic colloidal crystals can trigger the same damage resistance found in
natural materials. Our macroscopic silica rod based anisotropic colloidal
crystal composites are processed fully at room temperature and pressure, reach
volume fraction of mineral higher than 80%, and aided by a ductile interface,
unveil plastic strain reaching 10% through the collective movement of rods and
damage delocalisation over millimetres. These composites demonstrate key design
rules to break free from conventionally accepted structural materials
properties trade-off.
