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Remembered I Could Fly: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"''
|'''Ron Weasley''', ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (novel)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]''}}
{{quote|''"Dash it, I [[Lampshade Hanging|forgot I could fly]]!"''
|'''Princess Flame''', ''[[Blazing Dragons]]''}}
A subversion of [[Plot Induced Stupidity]] usually used for [[Played for Laughs|comic relief]]. We know sometimes characters [[How Do I Shot Web?|have trouble mastering their powers]], but sometimes, established powers seem to just get forgotten entirely. They find themselves in a dire situation where any normal person would be in serious trouble. They start to panic... and then they remember, oh yeah, I have [[Stock Super Powers|superpowers]]/[[Magic and Powers|magic]]/[[Magic From Technology|advanced technology]]. Also seen from companions and enemies that forget about frequently-used powers. This is a very common subversion of the [[Acrophobic Bird]].
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Contrast [[Forgot I Couldn't Swim]].
{{Forgetfulness Tropes}}
'''NOTE''': Only include examples of a character not remembering that they have the ability and ''then remembering it'' (or being reminded by someone else). Simply forgetting about altogether it is [[Plot Induced Stupidity]] (and specifically often [[Acrophobic Bird]]).
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Tea Gardner, from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'', is not as skilled as her friends, and seems to constantly forget the special effects of cards. One time she remembered on her own was in her duel against Mai in season 1.
* Happens to Fukurou in ''[[One Piece]]''. Franky was chasing him around firing bullets at him, when he suddenly remembered he could [[Double Jump]] and had [[Super Speed]]. He said something along the lines of "What am I doing?!" before he started fighting back.
** Chopper did this too in his fight against Baroque Works. Miss Merry Christmas held onto his feet so he couldn't move, while Mr. 4's gun/dog Lasso fired an exploding baseball at him. He screamed as the ball flew towards his head, but then changed back into his (smaller) hybrid form, resulting in the ball flying harmlessly overhead. He even says "Whew, forgot I could do this."
* Sora in ''[[Oh! Edo Rocket]]''.
* The manga adaptation of ''[[Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories]]'' has a dramatic [[Take My Hand]] scene where Adell refuses to let go of Rozalin even after she's spent their entire acquaintance screwing him over, after which they spend a heartwarming moment [[Laying On a Hillside]]...then [[Fridge Logic]] catches up with Adell and he realizes that Rozalin had ''[[Winged Humanoid|wings]]'' the entire time. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
** In the ''[[Breath of Fire 4]]'' game this also happens, but the fallen person (Nina) isn't caught in time and falls. Ryu rushes down rumping into ledges to try and catch her, and after going ''past'' her he promptly ([[Face Fault|face]])falls down to the bottom himself.
* The Charas of ''[[Shugo Chara]]'' forget about and later remember their ability to fly in one early episode. Used to [[Rule of Scary|scare]] a character and [[Played for Laughs|amuse]] the audience.
* At one point in the manga version of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', a roof hanging over Joshua begins to collapse. Since Joshua is a human boy with demon's horns, he's [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|more than a little insane]], so his first reaction is just to stare at it blankly. But right before [[The Hero]] saves him, he mutters "Oh, that's right" and uses his powers to stop time to keep himself from getting crushed, right at the last second.
* A very simple, but amusing example in the [[Martial Arts and Crafts|Martial Arts Fine Dining]] arc of ''[[Ranma ½|Ranma 1/2]]'': throughout the training for the Parlay du Fois Gras, Ranma has been starving herself nearly to death. At the end of the final duel with Picolet Chardin, during which she has been using the technique to force-feed him (and the audience) to get rid of her food (the condition of winning), she has run out of options and is about to
* In ''[[
* The ''writer'' of [[Yami no Matsuei]] after she inflicted this precise [[Plot Induced Stupidity]] on her hero at the end of the Queen Camelia arc. She had Muraki leaving the scene in a helicopter, which defeats her hero...who had the power to fly established very early. She clearly wishes she hadn't done that,
** This is especially painful because it comes shortly after Tsuzuki ''cracked bulletproof glass with his punch of sheer rage'' at the same guy who's now escaping for no good reason. He seriously takes [[Idiot Hero]] to new levels.
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
▲== Comic Books ==
* In one issue of ''[[Runaways]]'', [[Cloak and Dagger (comics)|Cloak]] is trying to get away from the Avengers, who think he hospitalized his partner Dagger. It apparently does not occur to him that he can just, you know, [[Teleporters and Transporters|teleport]] away from them until after he's ''thrown himself headfirst through a window''.
* Wesley tries to invoke this with a none-too-bright power stealing villain in ''[[Wanted]]''. The villain does remember he can fly but forgets that the power is seconds away from running out.
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* Once in ''[[Shoe]]'', "Perfesser" Cosmo Fishhawk and Loon were tubing down a river. The Perfesser was enjoying himself until Loon mentioned they were coming to a waterfall. Then he panicked: "We'll be drowned like rats!" Loon pointed out that rats can't fly (he and Cosmo are both birds), and the Perfesser looked enormously embarrassed as they flew away over the falls.
== [[Film]] ==▼
▲== Film ==
* In ''[[Back to The Future]]'', Marty tries to warn Doc Brown that he will be killed by the Libyans in 1985, but he doesn't want to hear it, fearing that Marty's presence in 1955 has already done enough damage to the time line. Marty is sitting in the time machine lamenting his failure, then he realizes ''he's in a time machine''; he can go back early and save Doc Brown in 1985. Which he STILL manages to screw up by only giving himself ten extra minutes and the car not starting, arriving at the mall just in time to see his friend getting shot.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* In ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (
▲== Literature ==
** In ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (
▲* In ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone|Harry Potter]]'', Harry and Ron are being strangled by the vines of the Devil's Snare while Hermione is panicking and trying to remember how to combat the plant. She then remembers that the plant shrinks from heat and light. Harry suggests she lights a fire and the brilliant and talented witch, who [[Chekhov's Skill|has been noted as being particularly skilled at creating magic fire]], replies that there is no wood. Ron, as quoted above, manages to scream some sense into her. Justified at that point as Hermione, despite her skill, had spent most of her life as a muggle, whereas Ron had grown up surrounded by magic.
▲** In ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|Harry Potter]]'', Hermione gets her own back. Ron panics when {{spoiler|he has to "freeze" the Whomping Willow so they can reach Voldemort's hideout}} and Hermione has to remind him that he's a wizard.
* In ''[[Lone Wolf]]'', you have powers that can be useful in certain situation, but sometimes, the author forgets that the possibility you have that power may exist, and doesn't give you a choice to use the power.
** More commonly, the series has three levels of powers: Kai, Magnakai, and Grand Master. Most of the powers of one tier have lower powered equivalents amongst the lower tier. Similarly, someone of a higher tier always has all the powers of the lower tier, but only a select few of their given tier. This results in your character often being asked if he has a certain power appropriate for his tier (and bad stuff happening if you do not), but the author forgetting that there is no reason the lower tier equivalent - which everyone should have - could not be every bit as effective.
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** Another good example is after Marco rescues Ax from the Blade Ship they escape and plummet 2 miles up from the air, Marco freaks out until Ax reminds him that he could morph into a bird in midair.
*** Granted, he ''was'' already morphed as a gorilla, and a demorph/remorph while panicking is very difficult...
* In ''[[
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Lampooned in the "The Adventures of Young God" skit on ''[[The State]]'', which portrays [[God]] as a crime-fighting, Batman-style superhero. He and his sidekick (the Boy Savior) have been captured by the bad guys, and are tied up in an abandoned factory next to a time bomb that's about to explode when...
{{quote|
* In the finale of ''[[No Ordinary Family]]'' they spend a good while panicking, surrounded by men with guns and looking for a way out, until Stephanie remembers she can immediately resolve the situation by using her superspeed to disable them. This is an improvement over a previous, similar situation, where it never occurred to her at all.
== [[Music]] ==▼
▲== Music ==
* Played with in the parody [[Vocaloid]] song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjRDUVGiaRA ''Lord of Darkness''] in which the titular vampire starves to death in a cell, never managing to remember that he is able to turn into mist.
== Toys ==
* At one point in the ''[[Bionicle]]'' storyline, Krekka has to be reminded that he knows how to fly.
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
▲== Video Games ==
* ''[[Skyward Sword]]'' has an instance towards the beginning of the game: two [[Loveable Rogue|Mogmas]], Ledd and Cobal, sit outside the Earth Temple, brainstorming ways to get inside to loot the place like they're in a cat-burglar movie. The following exchange occurs:
{{quote|
* beat*
Cobal: Just sayin'.
Ledd: [[Stealth Insult|You're not as dumb as you look.]] }}
* Amusingly enough, due to the severe case of [[Alt-Itis]] the game encourages, this can be a frequent problem in ''[[City of Heroes]]''. What with having so many alts with different power sets, it's not easy to remember that your character of the hour can induce fear over a wide area, or shoot an awesome long-range fire beam, or use arrows that encase their targets in ice, or whatever else they learned to do six weeks ago when you last played them.
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* ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'': {{spoiler|Sveta promptly freaks out when the Chaos Hound appears and pays inordinate attention to her well-being, only to Slap him when Tyrell yells out whether she's an Adept or not. She then tries to [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight|help him come to his senses]]... [[Kick the Dog|only for Blados and Chalis to force the team's hand in combat]].}}
* Lampshaded in a quest in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'':
{{quote|
''That would have been helpful to know earlier.'' }}
** Though that quest is presented as [[Blatant Lies|a complete fabrication]] told by one of the NPCs.
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* It's not uncommon in [[League of Legends]] to forget that your items have active effects only to kick yourself now that you're just out of range to inflict slow with your Hextech Gunblade.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' has [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0066.html Vaarsuvius reminding Elan] about his bard-magic abilities. Elan forgetting his class features is actually a [[Running Gag]], since he is [[The Ditz]].
** In another strip, Durkon swings at an attacking goblin with his hammer and misses twice. However, when others remind him about the bonuses he forgot to add to his attack, he realizes that he hit after all- and sure enough, the goblin [[Puff of Logic|is retroactively pummeled into submission.]] He'd be a great fighter if he had a better head for numbers.
** Also, other characters {{spoiler|used to}} remind V about the familiar that comes with the wizard class. Although that is also poking fun at players forgetting their familiars.
* On ''[[Bob and George]]'', Mega Man is working his way through a particularly hard level, not making much progress, and complaining about how much the ''jetpack'' he's wearing weighs. One [[Beat Panel]] later, he starts flying over the level, wondering how he could be so stupid.
** Not to mention when Megaman and Protoman are having trouble fighting the Yellow Demon in the first year, and the author points out that Megaman has beaten it several times before, so he shouldn't have a problem with it this time either. Megaman and Protoman proceed to rather messily destroy it.
** And when someone points out to George that he did not have to spend months in [[Unwilling Suspension]] with his
** In another case it's first invoked but then subverted. Megaman enters Dr. Wiley's base, but in the course of combat gets his limbs blown off. He desperately crawls on his ruined stumps to Wiley's room, where he finds the other heroes already there. They ask why he didn't use his teleporter. [[Heroic BSOD|He almost completely loses it,]] but then quickly remembers that the teleporter's broken, that's why.
* In ''[[Dubious Company]]'', Walter forgets that he is a [[Winged Humanoid]] and so does everyone else. Possibly justified, as he mainly travels by airship and wouldn’t need to fly manually too often. He mainly seems to remember if [[Badass in Distress|Tiren is in danger]].
* From ''[[Homestuck]]'':
{{quote|
"There is nothing to realize. Of course you can fly." }}
* ''[[Awkward Zombie]]'' mocks [http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/grounded Pegasus Knights] from ''[[Fire Emblem]]'': «Pegasus knights are just so good at getting captured by bandits that I assume the polite thing is to not mention it».
{{quote|'''pegasus knight''' (to another): ''{{small-caps|Your horse has wings}}''}}
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' had many moments when Annie was stumbled blindly (and in case with Jack's affliction, allowed a problem to develop into danger to herself and others) because she rarely remembers that just [[Astral Projection|peeking into Ether]] is something she can do at will, despite this being the very first exercise with Blinker Stone she was taught ''and'' Annie being the [[Snooping Little Kid]] #1. This led to an amusing moment in a classroom full of Foley students (former fairies and beasts), all calm and focused on their lesson — she realized it's suspicious, made "wait a minute" face and checked… "Ahahaha! Took ya long enough!" ([[Cuddle Bug|floating cuddle-pile]] ensues).
* ''[[Magick Chicks]]'' once revealed that [[Smug Super|Faith]] has [[Aura Vision]] among the other powers — the only time she remembered to use it was when the situation was jaw-droppingly wild, and her readings were mostly inconclusive anyway. She didn't even bother to use it for checking people she ''invites to her house'', which led to one silly misunderstanding with a vampire.
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
▲== Web Original ==
* This happens with [[Psychopathic Manchild|Nappa]] in ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]''. What makes this particular example so hilarious is that this realization came after he forgot about it as he ''was'' flying and after he ''had been'' flying for the greater part of that fight and ''while he was in midair''.
** Also, Raditz could have avoided being shot through the chest by Piccolo if he had flown, regardless of the lock Goku put him in, as Piccolo helpfully points out.
** In the first episode, Krillin was reminded by the others that he ''could'' have flown after Raditz but didn't.
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
▲== Western Animation ==
* There's a ''[[Woody Woodpecker]]'' cartoon where [[Die or Fly|Woody falls from a great height, starts flying]], and admits, "Hey, I forgot I was a bird!"
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'':
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** That, and the fact that he can't bend.
* In ''[[Finding Nemo]]'', [[The Ditz|Dory]] does this with her ability to read human writing. (She [[Cloudcuckoolander|forgets plenty of other things]], too.)
{{quote|
'''Dory:''' Hey, here's something. Eskappay! I wonder what that means. It's funny, it's spelled just like the word Escape...
'''Marlin:''' You can read?
'''Dory:''' I can read? That's right, I can read! }}
** She also claims to speak the language of whales, which just involves speaking <s>English</s> [[Translation Convention|Fish]] with a deep and drawn out voice. Marlin scoffs at this, but the whale ''does'' understand her so he starts doing it too, leading to this:
{{quote|
'''Dory:''' Wow. I wish I could speak Whale. }}
* Used in Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' cartoon show, pretty much down to the letter. Aladdin asks another character to take a rope to the top of a high tower for him, at which point said character launches into a diatribe about how dangerous this would be for him, and how crazy and inconsiderate a thing it is to ask of him. Aladdin's response is to wait the rant out, as there's no point in trying to reason with him until he's finished, then points out to him that he can fly. At which point, the character -- ([[Talking Animal|the parrot, Iago]]) -- says, "Oh, yeah."
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** Seeing as she is the [[Only Sane Man|Only Sane Woman]] in this series, that is rather notable. All Dragons have wings, but only occasionally [[Forgot About His Powers|remember that they can fly]]
* Played with in the new ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' movie. The gang (minus Piglet) is stuck in a pit, with no way out. Piglet is told to get help, but Piglet is afraid to go through the woods on his own. Owl flies out of the pit to talk to Piglet, and gives a rousing speech, convincing Piglet to go off. Owl hops back into the pit, and all his friends stare at him.
{{quote|
'''Rabbit''': Owl...that was a...beautiful speech! I didn't know you had it in you! }}
** Just prior to this, Piglet himself does something similar, when he offers to help get them out with a flower, then a book. After Rabbit suggests a rope, Piglet says "Like this rope?" and grabs one that had been there the whole time.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Contrived Stupidity Tropes]]
[[Category:Stupidity Tropes]]
[[Category:Flying Tropes]]
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