Fantastic Fragility: Difference between revisions

Everything has a weakness, every lock has a key, [[Curse Escape Clause|every curse a loophole]], and the flaw [[Law of Conservation of Detail|will come into play]] to [[Flaw Exploitation|bring down]] the device.

 

 

When [[Justified Trope]] in a setting, it's usually explained that [[Magic A Is Magic A]] is [[Power At a Price|not free]], and the [[Magic Prerequisite|only way to make]] an unstoppable whatever is to, [[Irony|ironically]], build in a weakness that makes it stoppable. Clever creators may even keep the weakness a secret to use in case the machine ([[Phlebotinum Rebel|or person]]) should be [[Turned Against Their Masters|turned]] [[Hoist by His Own Petard|against them]]. Others may try to make it an [[Impossible Task]].

 

{{examples}}

* The basis for much of the plot in [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]. Beatrice explains that, while she could very easily use her magic in ways that leave her utterly invulnerable, it is much more effective to leave the Ushiromiya family a chance (however slim) of successfully defeating her. To illustrate the reasons for this, a comparison is drawn between magic and gambling — the greater the "risk", the greater the "reward", so a sure chance of victory leaves nothing to gain. ''However'', it's entirely possible that this isn't meant literally; Bernkastel claims that boredom is the only way to kill a witch, and it's very possible that the "no risk, no reward" paradigm is entirely psychological, as if they leave themselves no chance of losing a game, it is no challenge, and therefore "boring". {{spoiler|But given that Beatrice isn't even trying to win in the first place, it's ''also'' entirely possible that none of this of this is relevant, or even true.}}

* Nen abilities in ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'' can be given a condition and a consequence to boost their power. The more restrictive the condition, and the worse the consequence if they break that condition, the more the technique's power is multiplied by. For instance, Kurapika's nigh-irresistable "Chain Jail" power has the condition "may only be used on members of the Phantom Troupe", and the consequence "automatic instant death".

 

== Comic Books ==

* The [[Green Lantern]] power rings have three. One, each ring must be recharged every 24 hours. The rings are weak against yellow. And finally, the ring requires thought and concentration to use. If you're tired or distracted, you're useless.

** The weakness against yellow was originally meant to have been a built-in fail safe in case any one Green Lantern went rogue and tried to use the ring for their own gain.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Star Wars]]''. "Just to make the fight fair, we put in a little hole that will blow up the whole moon-sized ship if it gets shot, K?"-Death Star engineers to Darth Vader

** An unintentional oversight. The ''weakness'' the second time around was almost certainly intentional, after all, what better to bait a trap with than an easy victory.

 

== Literature ==

** Even then, it'd take several centuries, and the matter's a bit more pressing.

* ''[[The Hobbit]]''. Smaug the dragon is viewed to be nigh-invulnerable by everyone who knows of his existence, including the dragon himself. His scales form a powerful armor in and of themselves, and what would normally be a soft belly is covered by innumerable hard gems embedded in his flesh from years of sleeping atop Dwarven treasure. There's just this one little exposed patch, but you'd need sharp Hobbit eyes to make it out in a dark cavern. [[Sarcasm Mode|And come on, what are the odds of a Hobbit being anywhere near a dragon cave?]]

* In ''[[Stationery Voyagers]]'', Whixtitians who use Mikloche powers can do a ton of really cool things. Anything from flight and teleportation to becoming a one man army with [[Beam Spam|microwave beams]] coming out of every orifice of your body. The catch? Three catches, really. 1) The power is unlocked by "[[Power Level|security shells]]" which are shed almost like snakes shedding their skin. Promotion is literally agony. 2) The more security shells you break through, the more at risk you are of suffering brain damage or [[Superpower Meltdown]]. [[Captain Obvious|Killing you quite violently]]. 3) Mikloche flight doesn't protect ''[[Achilles' Heel|your head]]'' from air friction. So without a helmet, you'll fry your brain if you try to keep up with a commercial jet.

** Angels are allowed to get away with ''a lot'' in this universe. But at the expense that they don't have as much free will as they used to. Volition Dilemma is appeased for them and can no longer endanger them; but they are now enslaved to their [[Character Alignment]].

* In the ''[[Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms]]'' series, all curses and such have this. If they don't, [[Theory of Narrative Causality|the Tradition]] will put one in.

 

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Sonic Screwdriver can do anything with any device. Unless it's wood or "deadlock sealed". It also doesn't seem to work too well on stone.

 

** And in [[Ravenloft]], a curse with an escape clause is much more likely to take.

* The ''[[New World of Darkness]]'' likes this one.

** The Exalted themselves have perfect defensive charms that can make them invulnerable, but which always come with some sort of situational or tactical flaw. For example, a [[Showy Invincible Hero|Solar]] invulnerability might only work in the presence of someone they care about, or might force them to advance on their most powerful opponent. For [[Card Carrying Villains|Abyssals]], their invulnerability might '''fail''' in the presence of someone they care about, or force them to '''flee''' their strongest foe. For the [[Deal with the Devil|Infernals]], their perfect defenses possess a flaw based on the Yozi patron that grants it. Thus, invulnerability charms granted by Malfeas the Demon City only function in a developed area, while charms from the Ebon Dragon, made from the [[Living Shadow|shadows of everything in existence]], cannot defend against holy attacks.

* Though it's touched on in the novels of ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', the [[The Dresden Files (game)|RPG]] makes it explicit: If you want to be [[Made of Iron]], have a [[Healing Factor]] or just be [[Nigh Invulnerable]], you ''have'' to have a [[Kryptonite Factor]] called "The Catch," which, depending on the availability, gives a discount to powers from those power sets. Having one that's [[Kryptonite Is Everywhere|well known and abundant]], such as iron to [[The Fair Folk]], gives a bigger discount than one that's obscure or hard to get a hold of.

 

== Video Games ==

* Alexander comments on this trope in ''[[King's Quest VI]]'' during the Beast scenario.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

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[[Category:Power At a Price]]