Cursed with Awesome: Difference between revisions
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Occasionally leads to a [[World of Cardboard Speech]] whether or not the character is unhappy about the effects of their curse.
[[
Polar opposite to [[Blessed with Suck]]. Contrast [[Super Loser]]. May result in a [[Curse Is Foiled Again]] or [[Living Forever Is Awesome]]. Both this and [[Blessed with Suck]] may connect with [[Muse Abuse]]. If a character actually gets over it by refusing to be tormented any longer by the downsides of their "curse", they usually result in a case of [[Sweet and Sour Grapes]]; as the "curse" is merely their own displeasure at their condition, then by moving past it they become purely Awesome.
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* Jun in ''[[Special A]]'' laments about his problem with girls, which explains why he stays away from relationships. When Sakura kisses him, he wakes up - Turns out his shameful secret is that he's got a [[Casanova]] [[Split Personality]] inside him. The split personality realizes how awesome this is, but the "outer" Jun fails to see this.
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has Setsuna, a [[Half-Human Hybrid|half]]-[[Obake|Tengu]] demon girl with albinism. This made tengu "Bird Tribe" demons shun her as "unlucky" since she has... wait for it... ''white'' wings. Her friends think this is awesome. It's hinted that she's never shown ''anyone'' her wings, until the Kyoto trip... which makes a certain amount of sense: if you had a trait that had caused your own family to exile you, you'd try to hide it at all costs, right?
* ''[[One Piece]]'':
** What the Gorgon Sisters want their adoring Amazon subjects to ''believe'' they are.
** Also, every Devil Fruit curses the eater with a total inability to swim or, indeed, function at all in water. At the same time, it gives the eater amazing superhuman powers that far outweigh the downsides. Except for a [[Blessed with Suck|few of them]].
*** [[Word of God]] says that there are lots of Devil Fruits which either grant powers that are totally useless, or carry a negative side effect so harsh that they essentially ruin the user's life. Since there's no way to reverse the effects, and most fruits' powers are unknown until after you eat them, it makes eating a fruit into a huge gamble. How badly do you want to be cursed with awesome?
** Played straight with [[Dirty Coward|Buggy]], who complained when he accidentaly got the power of Bara Bara no Mi, making him immune to all sharp blades in a world where are skilled swordsmen loitering around in every direction. He's completely mastered his powers, but still bemoans them and curses Shanks over it [[Super Drowning Skills|because he was an awesome swimmer before he became an anchor]]. It blew his plans to sell the fruit and claim a valuable treasure hidden underwater.
** One example that does not involve Devil's Fruit; a [[Running Gag]] with Zoro is that he has [[No Sense of Direction]] whatsoever, and that if he tries to find a place on his own, it is a near certainty he will get lost. In most cases, this is simply a curse, but in one story, he was actually killed but came back to life because ''he got lost on the way to Heaven!'' Really! in fact, this may have been why he's managed to survive a lot of dangerous fights that would have gotten him killed.<ref>This was [[Ascended Fanon]]; some fans wondered whether or not this was indeed the reason he was so hard to kill, and eventually the writers made it canon.</ref>
* In ''[[Witchblade (anime)|Witchblade]]'' Masane tries to remove or destroy the eponymous [[Clingy MacGuffin|implant]]/[[Bond Creatures|symbiont]]... that is, docile piece of jewellery transforming her at will into a [[Stripperiffic]] death machine capable of [[Absurdly Sharp Blade|ripping tanks apart]] and [[Nigh Invulnerable|surviving its explosion]]. Naturally, the poor thing deigns to notice these efforts only when she's about to hurt herself, instantly wrecks an offending power tool and returns to its nap. {{spoiler|To be fair, she saw the [[Superpower Meltdown]] of its [[Evil Knockoff]]s and so ''has'' a good reason to suspect its [[Deadly Upgrade]] as well, though otherwise it seems to be "merely" [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique|dangerously fatiguing]].}}
* While it also goes to show some of the really [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|gruesome downsides of immortality]], ''[[Baccano!]]!'' explicitly lampshades its Cursed with Awesome status: discovering that {{spoiler|most of the Martillo and Gandor family gangsters mistook the two bottles of the elixir of life for some celebratory wine}}, [[The Older Immortal|Maiza]] attempts to apologize for dragging them into "the harshness of having to live for eternity." Their response is summarily summed up as, "Are you kidding? This is ''[[Living Forever Is Awesome|awesome]]''." Considering the title of the episode ("Both those who are immortal and those who are not enjoy life equally"), it doesn't look like they're meant to be proven wrong.
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** And, as an issue of ''[[Starman (comics)|Starman]]'' points out, a mediocre crimefighter at that. Blessed with mediocrity!
* The Thing in ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]]''. Super-strong & nigh invulnerable. Sure he's not the best looking guy around, but despite this he's had several women attracted to him, Alicia Masters, Thundra, the second Miss Marvel, heck even Tigra seemed interested with him. Boo-hoo, poor Ben.
** In fact, Alicia played a very big factor in him as a character early on. He doubted that she would fall for "plain old Ben" because she hadn't met him before he became the Thing, and tried very hard to resist his desire to become human again.
** Although, this is pretty heavily subverted now. Ben doesn't hate his looks and is actually quite happy to be the "Ever-lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing", as it's brought him great success and many new friends.
** The most irrational thing he complained about was how he thought the first of these women would flee him if she were not blind. Dude, she has a pretty good idea that you are not normal-looking because your skin feels more like an ''animate pile of rocks'' than anything outwardly human.
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* [[Empowered]]'s suit usually is more [[Blessed with Suck]], but the fact it supercharges her orgasms and libido? Gee, what a burden.
** Supercharged orgasms are one thing, but having a supercharged libido actually could suck.
* [[The Incredible Hulk]], of course, has [[Blessed With Suck| the opposite Trope]], as do many super-beings whose powers come from gamma radiation, such as the Abomination and General Ross. But there are exceptions:
** The page picture's subject, She-Hulk, started out as Bruce Banner's mousey cousin who transformed after being given a blood transfusion from Mr. Banner. She went from a shy, rather nebbishy girl into... well, She-Hulk. Eventually, writers realized there weren't any real ''downsides'' to it, and she hasn't complained about the situation in ''years.'' (The trick is that, as the name implies, they were trying to make a [[Distaff Counterpart]] to [[The Incredible Hulk]] - but while Bruce Banner turns into a horrific, mindless force of destruction [[Depending on the Writer|most of the time]], Jennifer turns into a friendly, vivacious Amazon. Hard to see any downsides in that, especially since she didn't like who she used to be all that much to ''begin'' with.)
*** Lampshaded as early as the late-80s, in the ''She-Hulk'' graphic novel. Mr. Fantastic sez, "I've got bad news. Due to that burst of radiation you absorbed, you are now stuck as the She-Hulk, permanently. I'm sorry, Jen." She replies, "So, what's the ''bad'' news?"
*** This is also referenced in ''[[The Incredible Hulk (animation)|The Incredible Hulk]]'' cartoon, where Jennifer's reaction to becoming She-Hulk for the first time could be compared to an orgasm. Bruce at first tried to research a way to cure her, but Jenn was adamant about ''not wanting'' to be cured.
*** One storyline on Mariko Tamaki run of ''Hulk'' (2018) at least tried to explore the idea of Jenn having the same uncontrollable rage as her cousin. The short arc (which is often considered a case of [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot]]) had Jenn's resentment over ''Civil War II'' causing self-doubt and stress triggering a transformation into [[Beastess| a female version of the grey hulk]], with the violent personality and limited mental capacity of Bruce as the green hulk. This subversion of the Trope was not liked and did not last.
** Jen isn't the only one to benefit from gamma radiation. The Hulk's enemy the Leader was once nothing more than a janitor until an accident involving gamma radiation turned him into a super-genius with Psychic Powers. He considered the green skin and enlarged, mutated cranium a very small price to pay.
** Doc Samson transformed himself using stored energy siphoned from the Hulk in an attempt to cure Banner permanently. It didn't work, but considering that it changed him from a somewhat nerdy scientist into someone with the physique of a Greek god, the fact that it also made his hair longer and green was unplanned, but overall he admits it's still a good deal for him.
** Indeed, one theory about gamma radiation is that it transforms the victim into a physical embodiment of deeply repressed emotions. While the Hulk embodies the hidden rage that Bruce felt towards his abusive father, She-Hulk is a liberated, daring side of Jennifer that she had never been able to show before. Abomination is an unlovable bastard because Emil Blonsky is an unlovable bastard (or believes he is). Doc Sampson always wanted to be a paragon-style superhero, so that's what he turned into.
* [[ROM Spaceknight|ROM and the other Spaceknights]] constantly bewail the loss of their humanity, even though they can still think, talk, feel, and do pretty well everything else humans can, while also having supercool cyborg armor, the ability to fly, virtual immortality, and, of course, survive attack by the Dire Wraiths.
** Not being able to get ''out'' of their armor probably sucks pretty hard. For one thing, you couldn't have sex. Actually, do there really have to be any other reasons?
** Tigra from ''[[The Avengers]]'' is a lot like She-Hulk, being a magnet for [[Furry Fandom]] before that even became a fad. She can't become human again (possibly because she rarely did so when she ''could''), but her [[Cat Girl]] form released a liberated, energetic side of her that she ''never'' wants to abandon. Possibly even the reason she and Ben Grimm were once an item.
== Fan Works ==
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* Point buy based systems tend to allow your character to gain extra points to buy powers if you take disadvantages. Some of the more munchkin-prone players enjoy picking "drawbacks" that may lack a certain sting. "Berserker" may turn you into a rage-driven killing machine that causes you to attempt to destroy anything that crosses your line of sight... which is half the definition of adventurer in the first place. (The other half is taking their stuff afterwards.)
** Starts to lean a little more toward the "cursed" side of the equation if the character in question loses his ability to discern [[Friend or Foe|friend from foe]] in their rage-frenzy and winds up attacking their own allies. The players of such characters can still side-step any resulting angst over such occurrences by opting to play their characters with personalities that [[Ax Crazy|simply don't care whom they happen to be slaughtering]], but such players may soon find their "allies" [[Unfriendly Fire|having a bit of trouble discerning friend from foe in their own fashion...]]
** At least in [[GURPS]], you also (usually) lose the ability to defend while berserk; you also cannot reload. However, berserk does make you immune to being stunned, immune to shock and reduced speed due to injury, and resistant to being knocked out.
* Some players have turned some 'cursed' items to their advantage, embracing this trope. The greatest example was the classic D&D Sword -1 Cursed, a [[Clingy MacGuffin]] which would, no matter what you did to get rid of it, would reappear in your hand when combat began. Many did not see a disadvantage of dealing with a -1 penalty for a weapon which was always available. This would eventually make an appearance in one of the ''[[Ravenloft]]'' novels in the hands of a villain.
** This is parodied in ''[[Ninja Burger]]'', where the cursed item card has no drawback, and means the "cursed" item can now never be stolen or destroyed.
** Another cursed sword (which makes an appearance in ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'') actually gets a bonus to hit and damage to encourage people to use it. When practicing with it, there's no problem. When anyone attacks you, it causes you to go berserk and kill anyone in the vicinity, only calming down some time after all attackers are dead or have fled. In theory, this is a curse because of the risk of hurting your allies, but in practice, there are ways around this, and it may very well be your best available weapon if you're going the [[One-Man Army]] route.
*** Similarly, the 3.5 DMG goes so far as to list a sword that enrages the user as being boon or bane, depending on the wielder's own views. See [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/cursedItems.htm#swordBerserking
** A Necklace of Strangulation chokes to death anyone who puts it on. It sounds like a horrible item to find. No one says you have to wear it. No one says you can't, say, bribe an enemy with it. Oops. There are many similarly wicked items enterprising players can abuse.
** Another classic example is the Bag of Devouring, a cursed [[Bag of Holding]] that tries to swallow anyone who reaches inside it. Many players are quick to see the potential in a portable garbage disposal. The general consensus is that any player who can't find a use for a "cursed" item isn't trying hard enough.
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* Lagging in online games can be an advantage, depending on how the game handles it. In some games, it makes the person lagging almost unpredictable in movement, letting them do roughly [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmSstAuV0oQ this]
* The player character of ''[[Dark Souls]]'' is under the effects of a curse that spontaneously brings the victim back from the dead, but saps his or her humanity every time it happens.
* If you play ''[[Darkest Dungeon]]'' on Darkest or Stygian difficulty, any hero who completes a quest in the eponymous Darkest Dungeon will refuse to enter it ever again - it's ''that'' scary. Such heroes are marked with a a torch in the Hero roster and candles on their stat page. However, being marked this way does have some benefits. They will still go on other quests and having them on such parties grant bonus resolve XP to all other party members; standing behind someone who has survived the Darkest Dungeon does wonders for morale. Additionally, Marked Heroes will not occupy a slot in the roster, meaning you can recruit over the limit without dismissing anyone or having anyone die.
=== Visual Novels ===
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* There's a condition called [http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/myostatin-related-muscle-hypertrophy Myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy] that effects... a protein called as myostatin, that's responsible for keeping ones' muscles in check. Those who lack this are often accused of using steroids, which it's the [[Blessed with Suck]]. The reason is due to the fact suffers, including humans, often have significantly larger muscles and stronger than those with a normal amount of myostatin. Many in medicine are looking into as a likely treatment for wasting diseases, such as Muscular dystrophy.
* For those with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laron_syndrome Laron Syndrome] often struggle with the fact their Growth hormones rendering them with a form dwarfism and at risk for an incident thanks to their short height. On the flip-side, those with it less likely to develop diabetes and cancer.
* History is full of careers that are dirty, unpleasant, unsafe, and/or undesirable, which make modern societies wonder what anyone was thinking when they applied, but many do have upsides that make them worth doing so:
** '''Groom of the Stool''': The Job: As one can tell from his famous portrait, [[Henry VIII|King Henry VIII]] put on a lot of weight later in life, and he had a special servant called the Groom of the Stool; when he went to use the WC, this servant was tasked with, uhm, cleaning him after he did his business, and also was the one who cleaned the toilet and other bathroom-related jobs. The Perks: Well, to be blunt, this is the King we're talking about, and he'd ''really'' have to trust someone for this job, seeing as there were plenty of folks who wanted him dead, and could potentially do him in when he was most vulnerable. This job was so sought after that the only job in the King’s court more desired was [[Number Two|the Vice Chamberlain]] himself.
** '''Whipping Boy:''' The Job: This was a job given to young boys during the 17th Century in Europe. Basically, you worked for a rich family - possibly nobility or royalty - with a son about the same age, and when the son did something bad that warranted a spanking, the whipping boy was whipped instead. Basically a professional scapegoat. The Perks: A whipping boy was almost always from a poor family and was a live-in servant, gaining the same food, accommodations, and education as the charge. A pretty decent opportunity and a good reference for employment later in life. A man named William Murray worked as a whipping boy for Charles I when both were children, and when Charles became King, he made Murray the Earl of Dysart.
** '''Jesters:''' The Job: Modern media often portray jesters as medieval clowns and/or comedians, but in reality, they were more like [[The Chew Toy|professional stooges.]] He was someone you were supposed to laugh at and mock, and if a member of the royal court had a bad day and felt like throwing food at someone, the jester was the usual target. Worse, jesters were on call 24 hours a day (never know when your boss needs someone to abuse) and was the one in charge of making sure the royals were in a good mood, which was not easy. The Perks: A jester was one of the few people back then who had absolute freedom of speech, able to mock and troll the King and his court as much as he wanted, all without fear of consequences, at a time where kings were known to behead their subjects for less. Plus, jesters often had the important job of delivering bad news for this reason. It was even possible for a jester to use his position to climb the social ladder.
** '''Sandal Bearer:''' The Job: Back in [[Ancient Egypt]], the Pharaoh was often the type who thought himself [[Too Important to Walk]], but when they ''had'' to walk, they were given their sandals by a servant whose only job was to follow him around for that purpose. Sounds like a pretty boring job that you could train a monkey to do. The Perks: Boring, sure, but like in the case of Groom of the Stool, this is the Pharaoh we're talking about, he wasn’t just the king, he was believed to be a king ruling with the approval of the gods. A job so easy that let you be so close to him was something commoners would line up in droves for.
** '''Town Criers:''' The Job: Before the invention of the printing press, and by association, newspapers, monarchs had these guys, who would stand in the middle of a town square, ring a bell, and announce the news. Often it was bad news. You’d have to get up early, then wake everyone up, and likely get cussed at when announcing that the King had raised taxes or was implementing a new tariff. And they rarely got a day off. The Perks: A town crier was considered the voice of the King, so while folks would often cuss at them, they’d do so from behind closed doors, as harming them was considered treason. And they got a pretty nice uniform too.
** '''Bestarius:''' The Job: In [[Ancient Rome]], this was a type of paid gladiator, the type that fought wild animals. Naturally, this wasn’t the safest occupation and was considered among the lowest of entertainers. (Only condemned criminals whose purpose was to be [[Fed to the Beast]] was lower.) One has to wonder what kind of madman would want such a job. The Perks: Well, a madman who [[Money, Dear Boy|wanted to make a lot of money]], of course. Freemen would often sell themselves into slavery to get a chance at being promoted and becoming a bestari. Fighting wild animals was actually safer than fighting human gladiators, and a bestari not only got a decent salary, but free room and board, and was also something of a celebrity. Kind of like signing up for Big Brother, but less embarrassing.
** '''Rat Catcher:''' The Job: This was the Medieval equivalent of an exterminator, and a good example of “it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.” Rats tend to spread diseases, making it a dangerous job, and a very unpleasant one where the rat catcher would have to wade knee-deep through sewage, where rats tended to congregate. Plus they were something of social pariahs, seeing as most people didn’t want to go near someone who was so willing to go near such filth. The Perks: Again, money, and not just salary. A clever rat catcher could make a lot of extra cash holding low-budget cockfights, or even breeding them to sell as pets - a surprising number of rich folks had an interest in such odd animals.
** '''Squire:''' The Job: If you’re a fan of ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' you may already know what being a squire for a knight entails - mostly slavery in all but name. A squire had to do whatever his master told him to do, and included guarding him while he slept, making sure all his equipment was in good condition (that meant doing his laundry except they had to clean armor too); basically, a squire was a valet and bodyguard with the duties of both and the pay of neither. Plus there was a lot of homework you had to do - in a time period where most civilians did not need to even be literate, a squire not only had to know how to read, but learn the ways of chivalry, history, geography, culture, etiquette, and all that stuff, and yes, they had to take tests. Oh, and they started this job at 13 years old. The Perks: A squire who managed to endure this job long enough would eventually become a knight himself. Consider it like this, it’s an internship where you work for a complete dick of a boss, and you are guaranteed a promotion after seven years - often to become the same type of boss when you get squires of your own.
** '''Drummer Boys:''' These were an important part of armies until the upper half of the 19th Century. (The famous painting [https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Spirit_of_%2776_(sentiment) ''Spirit of ‘76''] depicts one.) Their purpose was to help the soldiers keep time and sometimes relay complex battlefield orders from the officers. Of course, since both sides of a conflict used them and thus knew their importance, they were a prime target for snipers. It is often regarded as the most dangerous job in history, and stories about children being maimed or killed were common. The Perks: When not on the battlefield, a drummer boy’s duties were almost nonexistent, and were often given special treatment by soldiers in recognition of the risk. There are just as many stories of boys running away from home simply for a chance of applying for this job.
* When he was a young man, [[George Washington]] contracted smallpox, a deadly disease that back then was known as a horrible way to die. He survived it, though it left pockmarks on his face that never healed, and much later during the American Revolution, he was unscathed during an epidemic of the disease that killed many of his soldiers, his previous bout with it having given him a resistance to it.
{{reflist}}
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