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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Why is there a headache where my expanded consciousness should be? And what happened to my other eight senses?"''
|'''Black Mage''', ''[[8-Bit Theater]]'', post-[[Physical God|Lord of Hell]]}}
{{quote|''"Later on there's gonna be a part of the game where you lose all your extreme power and you have to do all these [[Escort Mission|escort missions]]. But don't play that part of the game, though, cause it sucks."''|'''Johnny Xtreme''', ''[[X Play]]''}}▼
▲{{quote|''"Later on there's gonna be a part of the game where you lose all your extreme power and you have to do all these [[Escort Mission|escort missions]]. But don't play that part of the game, though, cause it sucks."''
|'''Johnny Xtreme''', ''[[X-Play]]''}}
A character who has some kind of highly developed or superhuman ability loses it for an episode, has to experience life as an average Joe. The character often actually enjoys the experience of being "normal". Or he will hate it and [[Sudden Humility|understand how hard it is to have no superpowers to help you]]. By the end of the episode he gets his skill back, usually just in time to save the day with it.
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The polar opposite of [[Flowers for Algernon Syndrome]]. Frequently comes with [[An Aesop]] about how it's actions, not powers, that make one a hero, or [[Power Loss Makes You Strong]].
Contrast with [[Always Need What You Gave Up]], in which the loss is voluntary, its absence never
[[Bag of Spilling]] can be considered this trope when it applies to [[Video Game Characters]] between one game and its sequel.
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* A brief story arc on ''[[Ranma
** In the anime, Ranma had to go through special training to learn a move that would let him defeat Happosai without using any strength, but collecting energy from the surroundings and then releasing it. He learns it, but it takes him lots more to grab the scroll containing the cure for his condition, which Happosai himself had among his clothes.
* Towards the end of the first arc in ''[[The Twelve Kingdoms]]'', Youko fights her [[The Rival|rival]] without the Hinman that gives her her martial art skills in order to prove her who was the real Chosen One.
* In ''[[Angel Sanctuary]]'' this is essentially what kills {{spoiler|Kira after his healing abilities run completely dry}}. Not that [[Taking the Bullet]] didn't contribute to his demise.
* After the first episode of ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'', Sara has lost her family prestige and her ability to control her Strain, [[Kill'Em All|among other things]]. She resigns herself to a new name and becomes a trainee grunt pilot and scapegoat for her superiors... until she gets Emily.
* In ''[[Ah!
* Happens to [[Magical Girl|Himeno Awayuki]] in the anime version of ''[[Prétear]]'', when her mixed feelings after learning the [[Backstory]] cause her to temporarily lose her ability to [[Fusion Dance|merge]] with the Leafe
* Rukia Kuchiki from ''[[Bleach]]'' has a large portion of her power absorbed by Ichigo. {{spoiler|The real incident that makes her an example, however, is that she is then given a gigai by Urahara that is designed to decrease her spiritual energy even more.}}
** In Ichigo's s fight with his inner hollow after he gets stabbed by Kenpachi, Ichigo is forced to fend him off with a sealed Zanpakuto (and not even the larger zanpakuto he'd wielded in the Soul Society arc), and realizes that he must fight with his zanpakuto, rather than merely use its power. For most of the Bount Arc, Ichigo is unable to use Bankai because of a lack of spirit particles in the world of the living, until he encounters Kariya for the second time and, speaking with Zangetsu, realizes he shouldn't rely on bankai to win every difficult fight (then again, in the manga, he uses Bankai AND his hollow mask in every fight where the enemy is more powerful than a normal hollow).
*** The Bount Arc was filler, it isn't really canon.
** {{spoiler|Ichigo temporarily losing his powers}} in Chapter 421, at the same time as {{spoiler|Aizen being sealed away}}.
*** {{spoiler|Note that this is slightly different than the usual case of
*** {{spoiler|It's also heavily implied Aizen lost all his powers when Ichigo defeated him, except for the regeneration that renders him unkillable, but at this point Aizen's too insane to notice, thinking his weapon disintegrating just meant he was about to achieve a state where he no longer needed one.}}
* Happens to Francoise Arnoul aka 003 once in ''[[Cyborg 009]]''. During an episode of the 2001 series she and the group are stuck in a high place with frequent sandstorms; this greatly decreases her enhanced senses, [[Heroic BSOD|much to her despair]].
* Blackbeard of ''[[
** He also uses this ability on {{spoiler|Whitebeard,}} resulting in a [[Curb Stomp Battle]]. {{spoiler|Delivered by Whitebeard.}}
* In ''[[
* Half-demon ''[[Inuyasha]]'' loses his powers and becomes fully human once a month, under the new moon. He hates it with a passion, and with good reason, since he ends up severely injured and/or in mortal danger almost every time. Luckily for him, his demon strength and [[Healing Factor|super healing abilities]] always return just in time.
* In ''[[
* Evangeline of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' due to her [[Power Limiter]].
** Also {{spoiler|Asuna}} due to her self-induced [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]]. The power was still ''there'', but she had no idea it was, or how to use it right.
** In a flashback, it is shown that Nagi had to enter a valley in which he couldn't use magic in order to {{spoiler|save Arika}}. It [[Badass Normal|didn't faze him]] [[Brought Down to Badass|in the slightest]].
** Happens more traditionally near the beginning of the manga, Negi places a [[Power Limiter]] on himself to avoid temptation of cheating on the exams. Of course he gets dragged along on an adventure anyway.
* In the Chunin Exam arc of ''[[
* The title character of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' has her [[Transformation Trinket]] stolen in one episode to prevent her interference. Even as a powerless 15 year old girl, she still shows up to the battle and manages to reclaim her pendant.
** Before that, she had the [[Transformation Trinket]] ''broken'' by a [[Monster of the Week]]. She sorta got it "repaired" out of willpower and with the help of [[The Power of Love]].
** Minako also got
*** This happened to ''all'' the Senshi in Super S, and the same happened to the Guardian Senshi after the battle with Metalia, they got better though, obviously.
* Lina Inverse of ''[[Slayers]]'' ends up with her ridiculously powerful magic sealed for a good chunk of one of the NEXT story arcs.
** Also in the first series Lina's powers fade for a few days because "It's that time of the month"
* In ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'', one story arc featured a pair of yellow ribbons that when tied to Lum's horns sealed her powers. Later both Lum and Ten lost their powers when they lost their horns.
* Happens a couple of times in ''[[D
** And fangirls only remember the time the ''girl'' was affected with said phenomenon, not the boy. [[Double Standard|Pheh.]]
* ''[[
* Subverted to a degree in Fullmetal Alchemist. {{spoiler|Ed sacrifices his power to perform alchemy in order to return Alphonse to his body. When Truth inquires how he will cope as a 'normal person', Ed confidently asserts that he has ALWAYS been a normal person, one who couldn't even save one little girl from being turned into a chimera.}}
** {{spoiler|It happens to Ling too, when Greed is removed from his body.}}
* ''[[Pokémon (
** It happens to Pikachu in the beginning of the Advance Generation and DP arcs, as well. In Hoenn, Pikachu got strapped to a giant magnet which made its powers go out of control, and after it all he was reset. Sinnoh, however, didn't really have an explanation beyond him being exhausted.
* In one chapter of ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'', [[Ninja|Koyuki]] is distraught because of her struggle to balance her ninja training with living like a normal junior-high girl, and uses an identity-sealing ninja art to forget her life as a ninja. It ultimately fails because [[The Power of Friendship|her friend Natsumi]] [[Be Yourself|misses the old Koyuki too much]]... good thing, too, as Natsumi was in the middle of being attacked by [[Villain Protagonist|Keroro]] when the spell wears off.
* ''[[
* In the second cours of ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'' {{spoiler|Kotetsu}} starts to show signs of a rare condition that causes gradual power loss in a NEXT. An especially painful example, since it's drawn out in a way that makes it seem eerily similar to certain [[Real Life]] progressive diseases...
* ''[[Inukami
* ''[[Tantei Opera Milky Holmes]]'' [[Zig Zagged Trope|zigzags]] this to a ridiculous degree. The series starts with the [[Four
* In ''[[
* Both ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure]]'' and ''[[Yes!
** In ''[[Heartcatch Pretty Cure]]'', Yuri loses her powers as Cure Moonlight at the very beginning of the series. It isn't until 3/4ths of the way through the series that she gets a chance to regain those powers.
** In ''[[Pretty Cure All Stars]] DX 3'', the six teams at that point lose their powers and their partners defeating the [[Big Bad]] of the movie. The post-credits scene shows that they don't like the idea of being normal, but try to live on... until they all come back.
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== Comic Books ==
* Done awesomely in ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'', during the final battle against [[Superboy|Superboy-Prime]]. Up to that point, Prime had defeated the [[Justice League]], the [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]], and the ''entire [[Green Lantern|Green Lantern Corps]]'' and seemed utterly unstoppable. Then both Superman of Earth-One and Earth-Two show up with a plan. Moving at max speed, they fly Superboy-Prime through Krypton's red sun Rao and the kryptonite asteroid field that use to be Krypton before crash landing on [[Genius Loci|Mogo]]. Afterwards, all three Supermen lose their powers and the fight for the fate of the universe is settled in a normal, human-level brawl.
* After ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'', Superman loses his powers for an entire ''year''. ''[[
** Also Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, where Mxyzptlk makes a chunk of plot device Kryptonite for Luthor that takes Superman's powers away. Notably Superman is never happy with this outcome unlike in the above example and tries to return to duty in powered armor. Also notable as the storyline where Clark proposes and Lois accepts his proposal.
*** In a seeming thematic tie-in Lois and Clark get married during a later instance of Superman losing his powers.
** Superman also loses his powers permanently in ''World's Finest'' #178, and decides to try his hand as a [[Badass Normal]] hero - turns out he ''sucks'' at it (for one thing, he instinctively pulls his punches), but fortunately by the end of the follow-up story, [[Batman]] has promised to train him.
** He also permanently lost his powers back in ''[[Whatever Happened to
* In another story, Superman discovered that he lost all of his powers every time he changed into his Clark Kent identity. He was faced with a choice of whether he wanted to live out his life as Superman or Clark. It was eventually revealed that an alien enemy had treated all of Clark Kent's clothes so they blocked the yellow sun radiation that gave Superman his powers.
* In the [[Elseworlds]] series ''[[JLA
* A plot in the ''[[JLA]]'' book saw six members of the League have their secret identities split off from their superhero selves. While Clark Kent, John Jones and Wally West saw it as a blessing, Bruce Wayne, Eel O'Brien and Kyle Rayner could barely hold it together.
* In the ''[[Justice Society of America]]'' storyline "Fatherland", every super-hero on Earth is robbed of their powers by super-villain Nazis and their darkness engine.
* The [[House of M|M-Day]], natch. Thanks to [[Scarlet Witch]] realizing what happened and how did everything lead up to Magneto's dominion and the finally attained mutant supremacy, she uses her powers for one last time to declare "No more mutants". Thus, Earth goes back to what it was before, Bringing Down To Normal 90% of the mutants of the world ([[Status Quo Is God|after all, looks like the X-Men are too popular to become]] [[Badass Normal
* Rayek from ''[[Elf Quest]]'' lost his magical powers for a while, after coming across [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong|an important crossroad in his life (and messing up)]]. He hated it so badly it almost made him lose his mind too.
* [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]] was brought down to mere mortal status for a while, and lost all of his fabled strength and power. Turns out that a 6 foot 5 tree trunk of a man with a big nigh-indestructible hammer is still someone you might want to avoid; he just went and beat the snot out of street-level villains for a while.
* Red Devil/Eddie Bloomberg of the ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' had his powers permanently taken by Brother Blood and was changed back into a human. This effectively got him out of his deal with [[Satan|Neron]], though he still stayed with the team and one time donned his old power suit.
** And before that was the "Beast Boys and Girls" storyline, when a villain releases a disease that causes a literal case of [[Contagious Powers]]. Kids across the city start [[Animorphism|turning into green animals]], while [[Voluntary Shapeshifter|Beast Boy]] is turned into a normal guy. He [[Reset Button|gets his powers back]] at the end of the storyline, getting a [[Tyrannosaurus Rex|TRex]]-tastic [[He's Back]] moment against the villain.
* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20131029130101/http://www.johnnysaturn.com/2006/01/18/book-one-page-01/ "Johnny Saturn"], at the end of issue eleven, the Utopian betrays the ideals that grant him his powers and kills a man from behind. At this point he loses all his powers.
* Komodo in ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers: The Initiative]]'' had her powers removed by SPIN technology after refusing to go along with HAMMER's sinister perversion of the Initiative. Note: without her powers Komodo doesn't have any legs. Thankfully, a "cure" of sorts was eventually fashioned and she's back in action.
* In the ''[[
** Then, in a recent story taking place in an [[Alternate Universe]], Knuckles (who had also become Enerjak) was stripped of his powers in the exact same way by his daughter.
** In issue 232, Ixis Naguas ends up restoring Bunnie's former flesh and blood limbs after crystalizing them an issue before, removing the abilities she had as a cyborg.
* Marvel Comics loves this trope. Crowning Moment Of Awesome for [[Power Pack]] was when these otherwise ordinary pre-teens had to stop the very Snark who had stolen their
* In ''[[
* [[Evil Sorcerer]] [[Big Bad|Darkhell]] gave this treatment to his [[The Rival|former rival]] Skroa in the french comic book [[Les Legendaires
** Ironically enough, this was adverted with the protagonist; while they did get the same treatment from the Stone of Jovenia, they retained all their abilities and skills (probably because unlike Skroa, those were actual skills and experiences that weren't requiering an adult body).
** protagonist Jadina was victim of this when Vangelis injected her a serum called "antimag", which had the proprertie to block magic. Since all of Jadina's powers were based on Magic, this left her, according to herself, "as weak as an unborn". This didn't prevent her from still being badass, however, as {{spoiler|not only she didn't mope about it (she did has an [[Heroic BSOD]], but it was because at this point things got so messed up she wasn't even sure to be the real Jadina anymore), but she was even still able to save her comrads from the All-mighty new villain Abyss, by ''kissing him'' so he would ingest the Antimag. By the end of the book, the Antimag's effect ceased and she got her powers back.}}
* This happens to [[A Nightmare
* [[Deadpool]] recently lost his [[Healing Factor]] thanks to a serum Tombstone had engineered as part of his plot to get revenge on the Merc with a Mouth for the events of "Suicide Kings". This turned out to be a ''good'' thing for
== Fan Works ==
* In the Fourth Movement of ''[[
* Happens in the Naruto/Justice League crossover [
== Films -- Animated ==
* When [[Disney Animated Canon]]'s ''[[Hercules (
* ''[[The Wild Thornberrys]]'' did it in [[The Movie|their movie]] with Eliza's loss of her power to [[Speaks Fluent Animal|talk to animals]].
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* In ''[[Spider-Man (
* In ''[[Superman II]]'', the titular Last Son of Krypton gives up his super powers so that he can become romantically involved with Lois Lane. The holographic image of his dead mother explains the need for this vaguely as "If you wish to be with a mortal, you must become mortal", but those of us who've read Niven's ''[http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex]'' know the ''real'' reason.
* In ''[[The Mummy Trilogy]]'' Imhotep is stripped of his powers after Evelyn reads from the Book of Amun-Ra turning him into a mortal man.
** In the sequel, Imhotep (again resurrected) loses his powers when entering the pyramid in Am Sher, as Anubis wants him to fight the Scorpion King as a mortal.
* The plot of ''[[X
** There is an alternate scene where {{spoiler|Rogue doesn't take the serum}}.
* ''[[Hancock]]'' and {{spoiler|other immortals like him}} suffers from this when {{spoiler|they come into contact with their immortal mate. The loss of their powers allows them to decide to live a normal, mortal life and eventually die. All but Hancock and Mary have chosen this fate and died before the start of the film}}.
* Raiden in ''[[Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
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* Happens to {{spoiler|Richard}} during the last two books of the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series
* This almost happens twice in David Eddings' ''[[Belgariad]]'' and does happen a third time in the followup, ''[[The Malloreon]]''.
** A sorcerous duel between Belgarath and Ctuchik leaves Belgarath weakened to the point that Polgara fears Belgarath may have lost his powers, or worse, had just enough to kill himself when he finally does use them.
** Later on, Polgara believes she has given up her powers as a price {{spoiler|to bring Durnik back to life}} and spends several weeks living as a normal human. It turns out to be self-deception.
** In ''[[The Malloreon]]'', the titular Seeress of Kell of the last book {{spoiler|is stripped of her power to read the 'book of the heavens' (see into the future) in order to make the final decision between the two prophecies. She is, however, rewarded by the prophecy of light by eventually marrying Emperor Zakath.}}
** Also done at the end of the Tamuli when {{spoiler|Sparhawk renounces the title of Anakha and becomes a normal human as opposed to a god-killing being who exists outside of destiny.}}
* {{spoiler|Sparrowhawk}} in the later books of the ''[[Earthsea Trilogy]]'' saga by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]. It is even theorized by another character later that the ability to always pop up exactly where he was needed was actually his greater power, which he retained.
* Former [[Knight Templar]] Cass/Sister Kassdy from [[Jack Chalker|Jack L. Chalker's]] ''[[Soul Rider]]'' series agreed to give up all of her flux powers as part of becoming [[The Atoner]]. Ironically, this actually results in her becoming even ''more'' badass since the mechanism involved also makes her totally ''immune'' to those powers, tuning her into every flux manipulator's worst nightmare: a ferocious [[Mama Bear]] who cannot be
* At the start of ''[[Night Watch (
** {{spoiler|Who turns out to be a Light mage also suffering from this due to the same battle}}.
* ''[[The Guardians]]'', human-angel hybrids, can choose to Fall and become normal humans. They will still have highly diminished versions of their superpowers. The longer they spent as Guardians, the stronger those superpowers will be when they Fall. Many Guardians regarding Falling and being human as a retirement, after a long career of fighting evil.
* In the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], ysalamiri are creatures that "[[Power Nullifier|push back]]'' the Force for a space of a few meters each. Their planet of origin has so many that on that world, the Force is inaccessible, which makes Luke Skywalker have some difficulties when he's [[The Thrawn Trilogy|imprisoned on it]] and later has to go through a forest crowded with beasts that hunt Force-Sensitives.
{{quote|
** Interestingly, in ''[[Jedi Academy Trilogy|I, Jedi]]'' Corran Horn notices that when in a ysalamiri's field Luke seems younger and more optimistic, since not sensing the greater galaxy also means a reprieve from sensing his overwhelming responsibilities.
* In ''The Waterless Sea'' by Kate Constable, second book in the ''[[Chanters of Tremaris]]'' series, {{spoiler|the heroine Calwyn loses her powers of chantment after she tries to mend the "wounded land" of Merithuros.}} She doesn't like that very much. Actually, she says she'd have rather had her hands cut off. {{spoiler|But she gets it back after she has a swim in a magic pool so she can then go on and becomes the Singer Of All Songs like she's supposed to.}}
* In [[Anne Rice]]'s ''[[Tale Of The Body Thief]]'', Lestat (her favorite vampire) longs to be human again and make a deal with the con man to switch bodies. The rest of the book is {{spoiler|how Lestat gets his real body back}}.
* In the fourth book of the ''[[
* In [[Sergey Lukyanenko]]'s ''[[Labyrinth Of Reflections]]'', one of the main plot points are a group of people in [[Cyberspace|Deeptown]] called Divers, who can see programming holes and backdoors visually and are able to voluntarily break the illusion of full-body presence, whereas everyone else requires timers to kick them out or "exit menus" to allow their consciousness to go back to the [[Real Life|real world]]. The protagonist is a Diver who, by the end, gains certain [[The Matrix|Neo]]-like abilities (except the book came out before the movie) after an encounter with a strange being (whose nature is left unexplained). The sequel starts with a [[Time Skip]] and the protagonist explaining that there significant changes have taken place in the Deep within the last few years. The kick-out timers are now mandatory, eliminating the need for Divers to pull people out. They also somehow lose their ability to see "holes", leaving cyberspace security work to hackers. The protagonist himself no longer has his powers that allow him to literally fly around the Deep and do anything he wants. He also can't connect to the Deep without the use of a computer (although it's not clear if this he actually had this ability). {{spoiler|By the end of the second novel, he regains his powers by embracing them}}.
* In the early 1970s, a weekly Sunday School periodical distributed in Protestant churches published a pair of stories entitled "Mike the Magnet" and "Wally Walk-Through-Walls", whose minimal plots were almost identical and practically ''celebrated'' this trope: Child gets superpower, parents freak and take him to doctor, doctor uses dubious (and, realistically, ''poisonous'') folk remedy found in an ancient source as a "cure" for child's "condition", child loses superpower and must embrace the joy of being normal. Given the political leanings of many Protestant churches even then, the stories' [[Unfortunate Implications]]—that being exceptional and nonconformist in any way is an unwelcome condition that must be ''cured'' by any means possible, even outright medical quackery—was no doubt entirely intentional.
== Live Action TV ==
* The episodes '"Human Nature" and "Family of Blood" on ''[[
** While he's still a Time Lord in "The Lodger", he can't get to the TARDIS and is forced to live life normally (and in the right order.) Watching the Doctor cook and work in an office is adorably jarring.
* "Helpless" from ''[[
** On ''[[
* The episode of ''[[Lois and Clark]]'' that introduced kryptonite.
** There was also an episode where a villainess used a ray gun to take away Clark's powers and Lois ended up with them instead.
* The same kryptonite thematic episode of ''[[
** Plus the one where a kid steals Clark's power with [[Green Rocks|Kryptonite]] and [[Lightning Can Do Anything|thunder]]; when that same kid steals them again with [[Kryptonite Is Everywhere|more Kryptonite]] and a power generator; when he and Lex are trapped in a series of tunnels with just enough Kryptonite to make Clark normal; the episode with Perry White and the solar flare thingies ([[Power Incontinence|half the time]]); when Jor-El takes his powers at the start of the ''Zod'' arc; when Jor-El takes his powers at the end of the ''Veritas'' arc; when the clone of Zor-El tricks the clone of his mom into tricking him into taking the [[Power Limiter|Blue Kryptonite ring]]; when Jor-El takes '''Kara's''' powers (and memories) for the vaguely plot-centric reason that [[Sibling Rivalry|her dad was evil]]; when they followed Brainiac into [[Time Travel|Krypton in the past]]; cloned Zod's [[Bad Future]] with the artificial red sun (and cloned Zod and his army of cloned Kryptonians have artificial powers, of course); and all the cloned Kryptonians count, too, though as clones they've technically never had poweres; and... all in all, ''[[Smallville]]'' writers just '''love''' to [[True Art Is Angsty|take their character's powers away]].
{{quote|
* A comedic pseudo-example is an episode of ''[[
* Barney Miller, the "backup bionic guy" in ''[[The Six Million Dollar Man]]'', had his bionics "throttled back" to normal human level after his initial appearance.
* ''[[Star Trek:
* In one episode of ''[[Star Trek
* In ''[[
** Leo also loses his Whitelighter powers mid-series, after choosing his family over his responsibility as Whitelighter. {{spoiler|Subverted in that, unlike Cole, he never regains his powers.}}
* ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'' had a variant: Ned didn't lose his power, but decided to stop using it.
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* In an episode of ''[[John Doe]]'', a [[Lightning Can Do Anything|lightning strike]] causes the titular character to regain his color sight and lose his [[Magical Database|encyclopedic knowledge of nearly everything]]. The status quo is restored at the end of the episode by another electric shock.
* In one episode of ''[[Hustle]]'', Mickey falls victim to a minor scam himself and loses his mojo as a result, going from suave and [[Chessmaster|frightfully intelligent]] to an unlucky, bumbling idiot.
* In an episode of ''[[
* In the 1998 ''[[Merlin
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' is fond of this trope.
** Tommy Oliver lost his powers as the [[Sixth Ranger|Green Ranger]], ''twice''.
** The whole team loses its powers three [[It Makes Sense in Context|and a half times]] in the first 6 seasons.
** The last thee Saban seasons (''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy|Lost Galaxy]]'', ''[[Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue|Lightspeed Rescue]]'', and ''[[Power Rangers Time Force|Time Force]]'') have the rangers willingly give up the call.
** The Disney era has it happen to every single team except [[Power Rangers SPD|one]] (7 in all) are forced to give up the call.
** Wild Force has Animus take the zords (and by extension, their powers) because [[Humans Are
* The fate of every [[Super Sentai]] team, and at the beginning of the first episode of ''[[
* Bosses in ''[[Undercover Boss]]'' go deep undercover, work in the front lines working minimum wage jobs and sleep in cheap hotels.
* Captain Jack Harkness discovers in ''[[Torchwood
* [[Chuck]] without the Intersect, which happens several times over the series.
** Most recently, he's without it in Season 5. As with before, this doesn't stop Chuck from showing that[[Brought Down to Badass|he's]] far more than just a bunch of government secrets stored in his head.
* On ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', Sylar spent all of Volume Two depowered after being infected with the [[Applied Phlebotinum|Shanti virus]]. In Volume Three, the ''entire cast'' experiences this for a couple of episodes during a solar eclipse.
* Happens to [[Our Angels Are Different|Castiel]] from ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' several times over the series. In a [[Bad Future]], he becomes human after the angels leave Earth for good and is a complete mess, indulging in drugs, booze, and orgies. Near the end of Season 5, he gradually loses his powers as he's cut off from [[Heaven]] and becomes much weaker, even needing to rest and sleep.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In ''[[Don't Rest Your Head]]'', if one of the Awake falls asleep, upon waking, they lose all their powers until they stay awake at least as long as they slept... If they live long enough to wake up, that is. They'll be asleep for '''at least''' a full day, and from the moment they fall asleep to when their powers are restored, they act as a beacon attracting Nightmares to kill them [[Fate Worse Than Death|or worse.]] The game is called ''Don't Rest Your Head'' [[Exactly What It Says
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Prototype (
* At the beginning of ''[[God of War (
* Slight subversion in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' when Riku steals Sora's keyblade in Hollow Bastion. It's subverted in that, while Sora is normal for all intents and purposes during this time and forced to fight with a wooden sword, it is not shown as a good thing in the slightest, as only the keyblade can defeat ''[[The Heartless]]'' and keep [[The End of the World
* [[The King of Fighters
* ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'': Hordes of the Underdark has an optional bonus dungeon in chapter 2 that is under the effect of an ancient artifact that blocks all magic. Without your bags of holding, magic weapons, potions, spells, and Rings of Protection your character will have trouble dealing even with the normal monstrous spiders around the entrance, let alone the Belibith further in. And good luck if you're playing an archer and neglected to buy ammunition since you've got that [[Bottomless Magazines|cool unlimited-electricity-damage-arrows shortbow]]...
* ''[[Sonic Labyrinth]]'' has Eggman sealing away Sonic's speed in the form of very heavy shoes. Sonic can still Spin Dash, though.
* In ''[[Disgaea 4:
* ''[[Breath of Fire]] 3'':
** Once is actually done humorously in the Null Magic Hall to the opponent you are supposed to fight, he is a magician, but due to the rules of the Null Magic Hall; magic cannot be used. {{spoiler|However Techs and Ryu's Transformations can}}.
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Nanase [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2009-10-29 suffers one of these] in ''[[
** Her hair changes to black because it is a side effect of burning out magically.
* Gregory Deegan suffers a pretty brutal version of this in ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'' in the "Built to Resist" arc. TIM, having recently escaped from a [[Cosmic Horror]] dimension and packing [[Lovecraftian Superpower
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has an interesting subversion: Agatha starts out
* ''[[
* [[Genki Girl|Jade Harley]] of ''[[
** Of course, she caught up to everyone else fairly quickly, then went God-Tier in [S] Cascade, putting her on even ground with the other kids.
* The title character of ''[[
* This happens to the cast of ''[[Dubious Company]]'' in the [[High School AU|Back to School]] arc. [[Little Bit Beastly|Walter and Tiren]] lose their animal attributes. [[Mary Sue|Mary and Sue]] lose their superiority. And Elly [[Curse Escape Clause|gets back]] his [[Insistent Terminology|manly]] [[Girlish Pigtails|hair]].
* Apparently happening to Abel in ''[[Dan and
* Used in ''[[
** Also attempted in ''Start of Darkness'', {{spoiler|when Lirian inflicts Xykon with a disease that saps his magic. Unfortunately, his minions have just enough resources to allow him to undergo the [[Emergency Transformation]] into a disease-immune lich.}}
* Happening to Richard and his townspeople in ''[[Looking for Group]]''. As a consequence of being less of a figurative monster, Richard is slowly becoming human again. Since the people of his village are linked to him, they too are becoming human. Maikos compares this to dying since they are no longer immortal pseudo-undead beings. They can age, get sick, starve, and die just like any other human.
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== Web Original ==
* ''The [[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'': During the storyline in which invulnerable, untouchable hero The Shield temporarily lost his power to surround himself with an impenetrable force field, he freaked out and ended up temporarily institutionalized because of his pure, unadulterated fear of being hurt.
* ''[[
* [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/25763912/#p25765681 from the discussion] on [[Image Boards|/tg/]] of takes on [[Powered Armor]] via ([[Organic Technology|Bio]]-)[[Magitek]]:
{{quote|'''Gropey_the_clown''': Actually, the major threat was the regeneration causing total rejection of a long-term pilot.
'''Gropey_the_clown''': Think of the psychological implications of spending YEARS as the gestalt being who's physical entirety feels like a demigod in both strength and stature. You tear the wings off of unspeakable creatures like flies, Jump twenty meters at a light sprint, and can shrug off cannonballs.
'''Gropey_the_clown''': And then, you're rejected. Not torn away, but pushed out like an invading splinter. You're not separated from you body, but your body dosn't want you.
'''Gropey_the_clown''': That is real horror.
'''Anonymous''': Wow. Just... Wow. Im seeing a decorated hero banging his hands bloody against the armor of his orgemail sobbing and begging to know what he did wrong. I just depressed myself.
'''Gropey_the_clown''': We DID have an antagonist that was a rejected, epic level fighter. Even outside of his ogremaille, he was a terror to behold. 4 decades of military service, 30 as an ogre, and then one day, he's rejected. No rhyme. No reason. The Ogremaille that was his, and his father's before him just no longer recognized him as part of the organism.
'''Gropey_the_clown''': He snapped. He would stalk and attempt to tear pilots out of their suits, but would be rejected every time.
'''Gropey_the_clown''': My party managed to beat him, and instead of some fierce enemy, in the end, there was only a broken man torn away from the one thing he was raised and trained for.
'''Gropey_the_clown''': To this day, I don't know if it was kindness or cruelty to let him live.
}}
==
* ''[[Superman: The
* ''[[Justice League (
** In another episode, Supergirl is trapped in Skartaris, which likewise has a red sun, depowering her considerably. However, instead of moping around, she quickly confirms that her powers indeed don't work and adopts new ways of being awesome, namely, by being a [[Badass Normal]] [[Little Miss Badass]] [[Determinator]].
** Happens to Green Lantern a couple of times during the series as well when his ring is drained, broken, or taken away. But since John was a member of the Marine Corps before getting his ring, he can and ''will'' kick butt without it, if not as effectively.
* ''[[Lloyd in Space]]'', "Francine's Power Trip": Telekinetic Francine has a cold and has lost use of her powers, usually used to annoy Lloyd.
* ''[[Monster Allergy]]'' had Zick losing his powers to [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Magnacat]] after being trapped in a container that absorbs his powers ("The Devourer"). Later, he gets them back after he sees his father in danger ("The Last Tamer").
* There's one episode of ''[[Winx Club]]'' where, as punishment for sneaking out of the school and causing trouble, the principal strips the main characters of their powers ("Secret Guardian"), forcing them to stop a monster using brooms and soap ("Grounded").
** ''[[Winx Club]]'' also did a variation on this as [[Story Arc]] later in season 1, with Bloom losing her "Dragon Fire" powers to villain witches ("Senior Witches Go To Earth"). Several episodes later ("The Great Witch Invasion"), she is under a lake with her sister/secret guardian Daphne, and it's revealed that Bloom's powers never left her (even though all signs pointed otherwise, starting with the fact that she was stuck in her regular form all these episodes), but her [[Heroic BSOD]] blocked her from summoning them. Once she stops moping, she gets her powers back.
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
** There was also an episode were Mandy lost her nerve (as in a little [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of her attitude living her head) and it moves to Billy's head. This downgrades her from [[Heroic Sociopath]] to meek little girl and Billy up to a bully (though he's still stupid). She later decides she doesn't need the nerve and returns to her usual state while making the nerve vacate Billy's brain.
* In "Gwen 10", the [[What If]] episode of ''[[
** At times the whole ''Ben 10'' show seemed to play with the idea of losing powers. It was a story formula, he would use his alien powers, beat the tar out of several guys, then the true big bad would show up, and the Omnimatrix would be out of juice, Ben would then have to use his wits, creativity, and family to hold them off till he could juice up again. Presumably, they got tired of that because in "Ben 10: Alien Force" he never runs out of juice and changes from form to form at will.
* In ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', thanks in part to Sam's unassuming wish, Danny ends up an Average Joe without his ghost powers until she wishes it back.
* In an episode of ''[[WITCH (
** Another episode had Cornelia accidentally take up the others' powers, turning her into a super-Guardian, forcing Will, Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin to figure out how to keep fighting without their powers.
* "Power Outage" from ''[[Static Shock]]''. Every Bang-Baby in the city, including Static and Gear, gradually lose their abilities. Most of them like it that way. {{spoiler|Static and Gear are restored at the end -- they have to be, "Future Shock" confirms that they're members of the Justice League in forty years -- but the rest of the Bang-Babies are implied to be permanently depowered. This ''was'' the last episode.}}
* In the ''[[Men in Black (
{{quote|
'''Zed''': No. You're a mere mortal now. You'll be punished like one. }}
** Of course, {{spoiler|
* While a [[Goal
* Makes up the plot for an episode of ''[[Ace Lightning]]''.
* Disney comic artists lamented they couldn't overuse the [[Born Lucky|Gladstone Gander]]-loses-his-luck plot because it would lose its value. It was finally used in the [[Animated Adaptation]] ''[[
{{quote|
* Raiden of ''[[Mortal Kombat
** During the episode, Raiden does show distress and unease at losing his powers, explaining that for him, being a [[Physical God]] ''is'' normal.
* The ''[[
* One episode of ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Max Steel]]'' did this near the end of the first series. After an argument between Max and Rachel about Max relying on his powers over his training, he (naturally) loses them for the episode. However, he hates this fact and is all too willing to get his powers back.
{{quote|
'''Max''': Human. I hate it. }}
* In ''[[
* The ''[[Darkwing Duck (
* The [[Superhero Episode]] of ''[[The Fairly
{{quote|
'''Nega-Chin, Bull-E, & Dr. Crocktopus''': Without powers!
'''Janitor''': Right! Now surrender! Or face the wrath of we everyday heroes! }}
* In ''[[Trollz]]'', this happened when the girls and boys accidentally broke the Sacred Altar, causing {{spoiler|magic to disappear}}. It gets better.
* In ''[[
** It should be noted that both times Sonic doesn't actually lose his speed. He's just put into a position where he can't use it. His sneakers are designed to protect his feet from the intense friction running at the speed of sound would create.
* Crops up occasionally in ''[[My Little Pony:
** {{spoiler|Discord can take away a pegasus' wings and unicorn horns at a whim, which he demonstrates on the mane cast in the season 2 opener.}}
* In ''[[Batman
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[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]
[[Category:Magical Girl Tropes]]
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