Forgot About His Powers: Difference between revisions

Line 10:

This is used quite a bit when characters have extremely useful or increasingly powerful abilities or equipment, and [[Quickly Demoted Woman|some unfortunates]] tend to have this inflicted on them ''all the time'', turning a [[Genius Bruiser]] or [[Badass Bookworm]] into a garden-variety [[The Big Guy|Bruiser]] or [[Badass]]. Only some lines of technological jargon or displays of useless gadgetry will remind the reader that they have more brains than they normally use. Some might consider this a form of [[Informed Ability]], with the "ability" being genius-level intelligence.

[[Amnesia Danger]] is a variant of this trope, when it's justified using [[Easy Amnesia|convenient amnesia]]. The heroic version of [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him]], except while at least villains don't have to answer to their actions, heroes should be obligated to stop evil-doers or disasters as quickly and efficiently as possible.

[[Amnesia Danger]] is a variant of this trope, when it's justified using [[Easy Amnesia|convenient amnesia]]. The heroic version of [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?]], except while at least villains don't have to answer to their actions, heroes should be obligated to stop evil-doers or disasters as quickly and efficiently as possible.

See [[Fridge Logic]] for when it occurs to the viewers a little later what the character could've/should've easily done. See [[Remembered I Could Fly]] when it occurs to the character [[Just in Time]] what he should've done long before.

Line 18:

Compare [[Reed Richards Is Useless]], where a character with superhuman abilities or ridiculously advanced technology reserves it for equally advanced problems and never applies it to mundane difficulties.

== Anime & Manga ==

Line 28:

** In the original ''[[Dragon Ball (Manga)|Dragon Ball]]'', as part of a martial arts tournament, Krillin fought an enemy who never bathed, and who used the resulting stench as a weapon against his enemies, as they were so overwhelmed by the smell that they couldn't focus clearly. Krillin was losing badly, until Goku reminded him that he didn't have a nose, and thus couldn't smell his opponent.

* This happens countless times with Tsuzuki from ''[[Yami no Matsuei (Manga)|Yami no Matsuei]]''. Even though he's supposed to be one of the most powerful [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|ancient Gods of Death]], he is rendered completely helpless when [[Stalker With a Crush|Muraki]] is around. He's not even able to throw a decent punch at the guy, and is made into a whining and crying wimp in his presence just for plot's sake. Example: Muraki is flying away on a helicopter, and Tsuzuki forgets that he can always summon or cast a spell that could blow the helicopter down. Stupid or... has a self destructive streak [[Death Seeker|TEN MILES HIGH.]]

* Along with [[Heroic Second Wind]], this is probably the ''#1'' reason anyone gets beaten in ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]''. Bad guys fighting the main heroes, or the [[~~Spot Light~~ Stealing Squad|Shinigami]], will usually get killed because they suddenly ''forget'' that with the several seconds of warning they receive from their screaming opponents, they could have just [[Flash Step|Flash Stepped]] out of the way. It gets just plain ridiculous in the anime version because all fights take several times longer. The only time this is seemingly avoided is when Soifon decides to stop wasting time [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] and just [[One Hit KO|Two hit KO]] her opponent with a [[Flash Step]] attack while he's doing his power up sequence.

* Along with [[Heroic Second Wind]], this is probably the ''#1'' reason anyone gets beaten in ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]''. Bad guys fighting the main heroes, or the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|Shinigami]], will usually get killed because they suddenly ''forget'' that with the several seconds of warning they receive from their screaming opponents, they could have just [[Flash Step|Flash Stepped]] out of the way. It gets just plain ridiculous in the anime version because all fights take several times longer. The only time this is seemingly avoided is when Soifon decides to stop wasting time [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] and just [[One Hit KO|Two hit KO]] her opponent with a [[Flash Step]] attack while he's doing his power up sequence.

** Probably the most blatant example of this is when Kenpachi fights Tousen. Tousen uses his bankai and then proceeds to lecture Kenpachi about his worldview/how his victory is assured because of his abilities/how his abilities work/etc. rather than finish the fight giving Kenpachi enough time to figure out a winning strategy. Now that sounds pretty standard and while dumb, isn't egregious, until you remember that Tousen's bankai [[What an Idiot|removes all of Kenpachi's senses including sight and hearing, rendering him completely ignorant to the fact that he's getting a lecture in the first place, never mind hearing or comprehending it]].

** Probably the most blatant example of this is when Kenpachi fights Tousen. Tousen uses his bankai and then proceeds to lecture Kenpachi about his worldview/how his victory is assured because of his abilities/how his abilities work/etc. rather than finish the fight giving Kenpachi enough time to figure out a winning strategy. Now that sounds pretty standard and while dumb, isn't egregious, until you remember that Tousen's bankai [[What an Idiot!|removes all of Kenpachi's senses including sight and hearing, rendering him completely ignorant to the fact that he's getting a lecture in the first place, never mind hearing or comprehending it]].

** Orihime has a spectacular example in the Bount filler arc. One of the Bounts manages to control Rukia. [[Actual Pacifist|Orihime]] subsequently panics and spends a whole episode angsting, then eventually removes the control with her healing powers. The sad thing is that near the start of the show she had done almost exactly the same thing when Tatsuki was controlled by a hollow.

** There are several characters in the show that ''[[Invoked Trope|intentionally]]'' do this; usually it's because they either don't want any additional responsibility (for example, openly displaying that they released a Bankai would be basically a near-instant promotion) or because it doesn't fit their style (such as a pure-physical fighter having a Kido-based release, or a stealthy assassin's Bankai basically being a ''gigantic, tactical nuclear missile'').

Line 36:

** Of course, the stupidity ignored in the Lust chapters: what's the first thing you do when you see the man you just tore a hole the ''size of Kansas'' get up, don a Hollow mask, and seem perfectly alive despite missing his heart and lungs? {{spoiler|Why, ask it who he is and not '''get the hell out of there''.}} It seems that, during this, Ulquiorra forgets he has superior speed AND wings that could propel him out of there in a ''minute''.

* Happens all the time in ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Pokémon]]''. The Team Rocket trio manages to capture Pikachu (and ONLY Pikachu) nearly once per episode, and Ash forgets half of the time that he has FIVE OTHER POKEMON that he could use to just blast Team Rocket's balloon halfway to Jupiter.

** The fact that they're ''never able to recognize them'' even when they're all wearing a [[Paper Thin Disguise]] is also an example of this. A talking Meowth and hair like Jessie's apparently is easy to forget.

** The fact that they're ''never able to recognize them'' even when they're all wearing a [[Paper-Thin Disguise]] is also an example of this. A talking Meowth and hair like Jessie's apparently is easy to forget.

** In ''[[Pokémon Zoroark Master of Illusions (Anime)|Pokémon Zoroark Master of Illusions]]'', Ash forgets that he has arguably the strongest team he's ever had in a movie. Aside from one instance with Infernape in the beginning and Pikachu in general, he never uses any of them. The sheer raw power they packed would have made a huge difference against Kodai.

** In the third episode of the ''Best Wishes'' series, there is a scene with a group of Pokémon stranded on a disintegrating island in the middle of a lake of boiling water. Some of these Pokémon are Flying-types. They're birds that remember they can fly when they are persuaded to cross a bridge the heroes make so that they can get to safety and that then proceed to FLY AWAY.

Line 95:

{{quote| "HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"}}

* This happens quite a bit in the Ancient Indian epic poem the "Ramayana". As an avatar of Vishnu, Rama should be completely over-powered in the human realm. Instead, Rama seems to forget that he is a god until the other gods remind him. In the original version of the poem, Valmiki's version, this happens more than once.

* Flinx of [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' series gets hit with this a lot in the novels after ''Flinx in Flux''. Having been established as: (a) streetwise, (b) adept at survival, (c) having [[Screw the Rules I Have Money|a ton of money]], (d) being able to defeat just about any enemy with a combination of his [[Emotion Bomb]] and [[Superpower Meltdown]] powers; at least half of the scrapes he gets himself into are caused by a combination of him deliberately walking unprepared into lethal environments or conveniently forgetting about one or more of his [[Psychic Powers]] in order to allow a different character to get a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment. There's also at least one scene in ''Trouble Magnet'' where he ''does'' rely on his [[Emotion Bomb]] power to get himself out of a scrape, only to have it not work on him thanks to [[Power Incontinence]]... a fact he really ought to have taken into account considering how frequently it happens to him.

* Flinx of [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' series gets hit with this a lot in the novels after ''Flinx in Flux''. Having been established as: (a) streetwise, (b) adept at survival, (c) having [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|a ton of money]], (d) being able to defeat just about any enemy with a combination of his [[Emotion Bomb]] and [[Superpower Meltdown]] powers; at least half of the scrapes he gets himself into are caused by a combination of him deliberately walking unprepared into lethal environments or conveniently forgetting about one or more of his [[Psychic Powers]] in order to allow a different character to get a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment. There's also at least one scene in ''Trouble Magnet'' where he ''does'' rely on his [[Emotion Bomb]] power to get himself out of a scrape, only to have it not work on him thanks to [[Power Incontinence]]... a fact he really ought to have taken into account considering how frequently it happens to him.

* In the ''Mallorean'', Belgarath does this. He, Belgarion, and Zakath have to fight a dragon, which is immune to direct sorcery. He makes Garion and Zaketh immune to fire to face the dragon, and has no doubts that this will work, demonstrating that indirect sorcery can be used. Despite this and 7000 years of experience, the idea of translocating large rocks above the dragon's head, or something similar, never occurs to him.

** Easily half of the entire content of ''any'' book written by [[David Eddings]] exists only because the protagonists don't make simple and forward use of the god-like (and we mean sometimes very ''literally'' godlike) powers they have. There is sometimes a flimsy reason given for this (and not used anymore when the plot dictates) but most of the time they just don't use a simple possibility they have - and rather go for an incredibly contrived method that somehow seems like a genius idea.

Line 151:

* ''[[Valkyria Chronicles (Video Game)|Valkyria Chronicles]]'' plays with this one in places throughout the game, but the most glaringly obvious and stupid one is when [[Action Girl|Alicia]] comes to [[The Hero|Welkin]], distraught and nearly in tears over {{spoiler|her Valkyria powers and the huge responsibility that's been dumped on her}}, seeking his help. Welkin, despite being a genius and in love with her, chooses this moment to casually ignore Alicia, and she runs off fighting tears because obviously if Welkin doesn't sympathize with her problems, she's just whining. The only reason he does this is to set the next major scene, when Alicia {{spoiler|tries to kill herself because Welkin wouldn't acknowledge her pain and he rushes in for the last-second [[Cooldown Hug]].}}

* In ''[[God of War (Video Game)|God of War]] II'', Kratos starts the game off by deliberately draining his godly powers into a sword, just because Zeus tells him to. A guy who hates the gods and has no reason to trust ANY of them falls for a blatantly obvious trap, only to justify the game's [[Bag of Spilling]].

* [[Silver Surfer]] in [[Silver Surfer (Video Game)|the game of the same name]] for NES. The guy obviously forgets that he has cosmic powers, and tries to attack the bad guys normally. And is a [[One Hit Point Wonder]]. The result is legendary even among the [[Nintendo Hard]] games of the era. It's almost [[Bullet Hell]] with none of that genre's saving graces.

* [[Silver Surfer]] in [[Silver Surfer (Video Game)|the game of the same name]] for NES. The guy obviously forgets that he has cosmic powers, and tries to attack the bad guys normally. And is a [[One-Hit-Point Wonder]]. The result is legendary even among the [[Nintendo Hard]] games of the era. It's almost [[Bullet Hell]] with none of that genre's saving graces.

* ''[[Daikatana (Video Game)|Daikatana]]'': "You can't attack me, this is the same sword from two different parts of time and will destroy the universe!" "Damn, if only I had some other weapons on me..."

* During the climax scene of ''[[Golden Sun Dark Dawn (Video Game)|Golden Sun Dark Dawn]]'', Sveta briefly forgets she's an Adept and [[Lampshade Hanging|has to be prompted to use her powers]] by Tyrell.

Line 197:

* Some of ''[[The Land Before Time]]'' sequels have this problem, neglecting the fact that Petrie can fly.

* The 70s ''[[The Fantastic Four (Animation)|The Fantastic Four]]'' series had [[Magneto]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5-JVvCrGC8&feature=related unable to use his magnetic powers against a (fake wooden) gun]. He suddenly concludes that his powers are gone. This is stupid enough itself, but he fails to use them even after being told it was a trick and the cops are arresting him. ''Cops with real guns, handcuffs and police cars.''

* ''[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' has a moment of this in the episode "Feeling Pinkie Keen". Twilight Sparkle is forced to take a leap of faith off a cliff to escape a Hydra when she mysteriously forgets she can teleport, as has been seen in at least two previous episodes, including the pilot.

* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' has a moment of this in the episode "Feeling Pinkie Keen". Twilight Sparkle is forced to take a leap of faith off a cliff to escape a Hydra when she mysteriously forgets she can teleport, as has been seen in at least two previous episodes, including the pilot.

** This happens basically anytime the plot requires her to be threatened by some impending doom. It is occasionally justified by her being under a great deal or stress at the time, such as a later example where she is blocked by a simple locked gate.

* This happens to a number of characters in ''[[X-Men Evolution (Animation)|X-Men Evolution]]''. The worst offender is Kitty, who seems to forget that she can become intangible with some regularity. One especially egregious instance has her running through a series of barriers in the danger room seemingly without problem...until she runs into the last one and is knocked unconscious. Xavier also seems to forget that he has telepathy sometimes.