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{{trope}}
[[File:itwaswithyouallalong.gif|link=Chainsawsuit|
Character A is given a supposed magic [[MacGuffin]] that will give them special/exceptional abilities. The character does amazingly well, but then they lose the item. They go back to their [[Mentors]] and it's revealed that it was just a useless placebo, and "[[It Was with You All Along|The magic was inside you all along!]]" Sometimes the audience knows, or at least suspects, that the character's power is from within, but other times [[The Reveal]] is just as much a surprise to them as to the hero.
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In comic books, a retooled [[Super-Hero Origin]] sometimes shifts a character's gimmicky power to being innate, with lampshading that the famous prop or incantation was simply a focus.
Sister trope of [[All That Glitters]] and [[Motivational Lie]]. Compare [[It's the Journey That Counts]]. Not to be confused with [[Super Mario World (video game)|Mario's flying cape item.]]
{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=govyq9f2djo this] ''[[SSX]]'' 2012 commercial, a jaded snowboarder is given a sacred amulet that takes him on a crazy adventure. Afterwards:
{{quote|
== Anime and Manga ==▼
* In a first-season episode of ''[[Ranma ½
▲== Anime ==
** In a much later episode, Happosai, ticked off at Ranma interfering with his [[Panty Thief|undie raids]], takes Kuno and offers him "Speed of Light elixir", which he claims will make him superfast. It turns him into a [[Lethal Joke Character]], even upgrading his [[Razor Wind]] attacks, but it's implicitly at least as much due to the [[Training
▲* In a first-season episode of ''[[Ranma ½|Ranma 1/2]]'', Nabiki gives aspirin to Ryoga in the middle of his first on-screen challenge fight with Ranma, and tells him that they're basically instant steroids. Ryoga, who is not the sharpest spoon in the drawer, believes her and upon taking them gets a psychosomatic boost to his already-monstrous strength, allowing him to pull telephone poles from the ground simply because he thought he was on steroids (which don't even work that way).
▲** In a much later episode, Happosai, ticked off at Ranma interfering with his [[Panty Thief|undie raids]], takes Kuno and offers him "Speed of Light elixir", which he claims will make him superfast. It turns him into a [[Lethal Joke Character]], even upgrading his [[Razor Wind]] attacks, but it's implicitly at least as much due to the [[Training From Hell]] Happosai put him through (running into ''occupied'' women's bathing areas, locker rooms, and other places where they were nude, while trying to evade their attacks and survive being beaten to a pulp). Said "elixir" is revealed to actually be tap water and [[Squick|the scrapings from under Happosai's fingernails]].
* Brutally and heartbreakingly subverted in the ''[[Vampire Princess Miyu]]'' episode "The Red Shoes". The titular shoes are given to Miyu's classmate Miho (a [[Shrinking Violet]] and aspiring [[Idol Singer]]) by her manager, and stated to magically make her an unparalleled singer. And they actually ''do just that''. {{spoiler|But they do so by sucking her [[Life Energy]], and worse yet, once Miyu has defeated the Shinma who gave them to poor Miho, they can never be removed again. Miyu has to bite her friend and exchange blood with her in order to save her life. When last seen, Miho is physically better, but she's confined in an hospital.}}
** This episode is in reference to a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, ''[http://hca.gilead.org.il/red_shoe.html The Red Shoes]'', which is a semi-common reference in Japanese culture. The titular shoes are cursed and force the wearer to continue dancing forever, and cannot be
* At the end of ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' when the Crests are destroyed by the final [[Big Bad]], the kids need to figure out that the traits which powered their Digimon were part of them all along and they didn't need the Crests in the first place.
** Of course, this knowledge doesn't last too long, as they [[Fridge Logic|need a God's powers to strengthen their Digimon.]]
* "[[Bleach|AMAZING HEADBAND OF JUSTICE IN PLACE. AMAZING ARMOR OF JUSTICE PROTECT ME]]." [[Trickster Mentor|Urahara, you sneaky bastard you]]. Subverted in that after Ichigo says it to "activate" the protective gear he was wearing, Urahara snickers that "I can't believe he actually said it."
{{quote|
** In all seriousness, Ichigo's Shinigami powers are a great example. After [[Aloof Big Brother|Kuchiki Byakuya]] removed his Rukia-given powers, it was revealed to him by {{spoiler|Zangetsu}} that he, in fact, already had powers of his own and didn't need Rukia's any more.
* Pretty much the most awesome example ever: in ''[[One Piece]]'', for the Luffy vs. Foxy duel, Usopp hands Luffy a ''[[Funny Afro|giant afro]]'' to give him strength...and then the entire crowd goes wild when he appears sporting it. And when he starts to show his [[Heroic Resolve]], it was apparently because "THE AFRO POWER MADE HIM GO BERSERK!". In short, the
* In ''[[GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class]]'', innocent protagonist Kisaragi was conned into buying what she believed was "God's pencil" from an old lady at a stationary store. Using the pencil on her exams did help her get into the school, but that may have been more due to her practising like hell (enough to completely use up ''20'' of them) the day before. Either way she was still conned into buying old excess stock. Even after this fact is revealed, she still buys them, at least for sentimental value (since the granny died).
* The stuffed penguin used by Nodoka in ''[[Saki (manga)|Saki]]'' is obviously nothing but a psychological crutch to help her focus on her [[Mahjong]] playing.
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* In ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', the Sacred Water in Korin's Tower supposedly gives one super strength. But when Taopaipai goes for it, Korin reveals that it's just regular tap water, and it was just Goku's exertion in climbing the tower and fighting Korin for the jug that made him stronger. He purposefully gives Tao the jug without any hassle ''and'' gives him a dark Nimbus for the trip down so that he doesn't become any stronger.
** {{spoiler|Later on, he reveals that there really ''is'' a magic water in the tower. However, since it kills anyone who isn't a Determinator, Korin doesn't keep it on display.}}
* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': |{{spoiler
* The ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' episode "''True Blue Swablu''": Max tricks an injured Swablu into thinkings that the "magic powder" sprinkled on the Pokémon would help it to fly, except that the powder was actually just ''flour''. Later turns into hilarity when Ash and Pikachu start believing in the stuff!
* In the ''[[Sakura Wars]]'' OVA, Sakura Shingouji attempts to figure out the secret of her father's super special technique and refuses to join the special team she's been recruited to until she learns it. She goes through every possible way to read the scroll it's said to be on before realizing that there ''is'' no secret - everyone knows it and it is brought out in their own way.
== Comic Books ==
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*** He also has major self-confidence issues and a variety of neuroses. He used to see a therapist. And this is [[Reality Warper|one of the most powerful humans in the universe]], folks...
* The Marvel UK character [[Captain Britain]] used a costume and staff which he believed was the source of his powers, but merely focused his innate powers (his daddy was from [[Another Dimension]], so powers kinda [[Superpowerful Genetics|run in the family]]). Later, he was able to do without.
* The [[Flash]] once managed to nick Mr. Element's gun, only to find it useless. The bemused Element explained that the gun only focused his
** Though, in Weather Wizard's case, it is at least implied that his power wasn't ''originally'' innate. Rather, repeated use of his Weather Wand caused him to internalize its power years ago. He never realized this because he actually ''did'' need the thing originally and therefore never tried to use the powers without it until more or less forced to.
* The first Morlun story in ''[[Spider-Man]]'' had Ezekiel, another man with spider-based powers, explain to Spidey that he didn't get his powers due to the fact that the spider that bit him was radioactive, but that the spider gave Peter superpowers magically and was nearly killed by the radiation in the process. This retcon has since been re-retconned away again.
* Large swathes of the [[DC Comics]] universe were [[
* New ''[[Spider-Man]]'' villain The Extremist was originally thought by our web-headed hero to get his powers from his fancy gun, but it's soon revealed that the power is innately in him and he just uses the gun to help him focus it.
** Similarly, loony supervillain Madcap uses a bubble gun that makes people lose all inhibitions...except the power is actually tied to his gaze, and he just uses the bubble gun as a distraction to get people to look at him.
* In an 80s ''[[Daredevil]]'' story, DD's mentor Stick reveals that the radiation that gave Matt Murdock his superhumanly acute senses (and also blinded him) had a temporary
* ''[[Sleepwalker]]'''s [[Friendly Enemy]] Spectra's rainbow-like energy powers were originally assumed to come from the synthetic diamond she wielded. She later reveals that her body has actually ''absorbed'' the powers of the diamond, and she only uses the crystal to help her focus her powers.
* Minor [[Marvel Universe]] hero Blue Shield originally needed a micro-circuitry belt to power his super-strength, stamina, and force field projection powers. Eventually the belt altered his genetic structure so he no longer required it.
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** This same "doping jelly" plot was carried over in an episode of the [[Hanna-Barbera]] animated series, where it was used on Weakly Smurf to make him stop thinking he really was weak. He ends up saving the village from a collapsing bridge during a storm and being crowned a hero as a result.
* [[Depending on the Writer|Some writers]] have stated that [[Zatanna]]'s speaking spells backwards routine is just a focusing technique and that she can cast spells without using it (she uses this justification when she takes down the supervillain Magenta while gagged in an issue of ''[[Wonder Woman]]'', for instance). However, current canon says the backwards words ''are'' necessary, but they need not be spoken (writing them will work, for instance).
* ''[[PS238]]'' had Tyler instructed by Revenant via earphone on how to "go through the motions" of flying a VTOL plane supposedly running on autopilot, to show confidence before the other kids, up to the point where he was hovering with open door. And once the flying super-kids left, he was [http://ps238.nodwick.com/comic/11022009/ notified] that the autopilot is about to be (remotely) activated for landing.
* In ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254986/1/The-Anagram-of-Suzumiya-Kurumi The Anagram of Suzumiya Kurumi]'' by "kurushi", the title character is the daughter of [[Haruhi Suzumiya]] and Kyon -- and better known as the time traveler Mikuru Asahina. Late in the story she discovers that her time travel device is little more than a Rubik's Cube-like prop with no internal mechanisms, and that she's been using the power she inherited from ''both'' her parents to do all her time travel.
== Film
* The [[Trope Namer]] is ''[[Dumbo]]'' and, of course, its magic crow feather which was claimed that it could make Dumbo fly. Naturally, during the climax, Dumbo discovers that he was able to fly even without the feather.
* Happens in the second ''[[Ice Age]]'' movie, to an extent: Diego, the saber-toothed tiger, has a fear of water, but he needs to swim to save his friend. Said friend told him earlier that "Most animals can swim as babies," and he uses this to go after him. Once saved, the friend tells him baby tigers can't swim; he left that part out.
* The Dragon Scroll from ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' is stated to grant infinite strength and wisdom to the reader, but turns out to be blank and covered with a golden-colored, reflective material to show the reader that they already have all that's needed to become the Dragon
* Parodied in The [[SpongeBob SquarePants]] [[The Movie|movie]], Princess Mindy turns Spongebob and Patrick into "men" with seaweed mustaches with her "mermaid magic", or so che claims, which are then ripped off later by the villain. In typical manner, they still manage to make it through.
* In ''[[Space Jam]]'', Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan or able to rally the TuneSquad by giving them a bottle said to be filled with "Michael's Secret Stuff," a special formula Mike uses (really just tap water). When the Monstars trample them in the last bit, Daffy tries to get more and Jordan tells them they had it in them the whole time. It...doesn't work out as well.
** [[Harsher in Hindsight|How long before Bugs and Jordan are subpoenaed to testify by Congress...?]]
** Even after learning it was fake, the toons still ask for more.
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* In the over-the-top [[Blaxploitation]]''/''[[Martial Arts Movie|martial arts]] parody film ''[[The Last Dragon]]'', the "magic amulet" that Bruce Leroy's [[Trickster Mentor]] gave him when he began his "great quest" turns out to be a belt buckle.
** It's more than that, when Leroy discovers that {{spoiler|the master Sum Dum Goy doesn't even ''exist,'' and that The Master he's been searching for is Leroy himself.}}
* Jack Putter (played by Martin Short) in the film ''[[Innerspace]]'' believes that Tuck Pendleton (who has been [[Fantastic Voyage|shrunk and is inside Putter's body]]
* Slight variation in the film ''[[Hitch]]'', where the title character eventually comes to realize that he himself is a Magic Feather- he gave clients advice on how to woo their dream girls, and his success rate is very high, but ultimately his advice didn't matter and the ladies all fell for the guys because of things they did naturally, in some cases completely contrary to Hitch's advice. All Hitch really gave them was the confidence to make the first move by believing that with Hitch's help, they actually had a chance.
* ''[[Pootie Tang]]'': {{spoiler|Pootie's magical belt is eventually revealed to be a completely non-magical item purchased from a Piggly Wiggly for 95 cents.}}
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* Played with at the end of ''[[Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny]]'', when the club owner gives his "the Devil is in all of us" speech, convincing Kage and JB not to worry about {{spoiler|the pick breaking. Of course, immediately after we discover the club owner is actually Satan, and just wanted the pick to complete himself.}}
* Used on a large scale in ''[[Kingdom of Heaven]]'', where, in response to the Patriarch of Jerusalem asking him how he plans on defending the city with no knights, Balian of Ibilin immediately knights every peasant and commoner within the sound of his voice.
{{quote|
'''Balian of Ibelin:''' (looks around him and notes the newly determined faces on the brand new knights) "Yes." }}
* In ''[[The Luck of the Irish]]'', the protagonist's grandfather ({{spoiler|a leprechaun}}) is watching the protagonist and his [[Black Best Friend]] play basketball against an evil leprechaun. A large part of the plot involves the protagonist losing his lucky coin (stolen by the [[Big Bad]]), with his family suffering bad luck since then. At the game, the grandfather sees that their team is losing and throws his grandson's friend a coin, claiming it's lucky. The guy's game immediately improves. The protagonist confronts his grandfather, as he knows the coin is fake. The grandfather invokes this trope, causing the protagonist to realize that he can make his own luck without relying on some coin. Subverted in that the stolen coin is really magical.
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* Jax's enhanced arms prove to be this in ''[[Mortal Kombat: Annihilation|Mortal Kombat Annihilation]]'', and Sonya even tells him straight out that he has a confidence problem. Only by regaining his confidence and ditching the arms is he able to defeat Motaro and help Sonya against the others in the final battle.
* Played dangerously straight in ''[[Crash (film)|Crash]]'' when a character gives his daughter (who is afraid of bullets after a stray one found its way through her bedroom window) an "impenetrable cloak given to him by a fairy". She believes it so much that she runs into his arms to shield him from a man who has him at gunpoint.
== Literature ==
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* In the ''[[Goosebumps]]'' book ''The Blob That Ate Everything'', Zackie thought that his reality altering powers came from a magical typewriter, only to find when he couldn't get the typewriter to work was actually within himself.
* In the book ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'', Dorothy's friends possess the qualities that they seek, but insist on getting a Magic Feather from the Wizard anyway.
** The [[The Wizard of Oz (film)|film version]] provides a variation in that the Wizard instead gives Dorothy's friends various symbols of what they've
** And of course, Dorothy had the slippers to get home the ENTIRE time.
* In ''You can do it Desmond Dragon'', an educational children's book about an asthmatic young dragon, Desmond is given a 'magic' satchel to wear during a smoke-blowing contest. Of course, when he opens it after the contest it just holds a note saying he could do it all along if he believed in himself. And used his inhalers...
* The Lenses used by the ''[[Lensman]]'' are usually your average [[Applied Phlebotinum]], but for the more advanced characters (Kimball Kinnison and his children, among others) they become little more than a
** They seem to have some function beyond that, as the children know they have the power innately, but they actually
* In ''[[Captain Underpants]] and the Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman'', even though Captain Underpants' powers came from [[Super Serum|alien super power juice]] ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]), he's convinced they come from cottony soft underpants. When [[Captain Underpants]] is depowered by spray-on starch, the boys have to come up with a magical feather, so they [[Retcon]] a powerful crystal he swallowed as a child on his home planet (even though [[Captain Underpants]] is actually the boys' principal).
* A large number of ''[[Wild Cards]]'' characters require a "psychological focus" to use their powers, most notably The Great And Powerful Turtle's armored Shells, to the point where he eventually becomes so cripplingly dependent on them that he loses his powers entirely when outside them.
* In Eva Ibbotson's book ''Which Witch'', there's an interesting variant and in the end even subversion: Belladonna is a white witch, so good, kind and beautiful that she borders on a [[Parody Sue]], but longs to be a black witch and do evil
* In ''[[The Lost World (novel)|The Lost World]]'' by [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] the white explorers encounter a Native American tribe menaced by ape people. The Native Americans ask the explorers to use their modern weaponry to help fight the ape people. The explorers agree, but when the actual battle comes around they barely get to fire a shot. The extra confidence their presence gave the Native Americans allowed them to defeat the ape people on their own. Since there were [[Mighty Whitey|only actually three explorers]] with guns that was [[Unfortunate Implications|probably for the best]].
* In 'The Valor of Cappen Varra' by [[Poul Anderson]] the eponymous hero is able to face down a troll because he has a charm that negates magic and so renders him immune to her super strength. At the end he is told that trolls are just naturally very strong so the charm was worthless
* [[Terry Pratchett]] uses several of these in his ''[[Discworld]]'' Novels.
** Headology, the main branch of Witch magic relies mostly on the application of common sense with a light sprinkling of Magic Feathers, once handily supplied by the patient himself.
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
* In [[Incarnations of Immortality|On A Pale Horse]], while fighting [[Satan]], [[The Grim Reaper|Death]] realizes that he doesn't actually need his scythe and cloak to use his powers, reasoning that if that had been true, Satan would have attacked him earlier while he was off duty.
* Subverted in ''[[Mistborn]]'', where the
** * Played pretty much straight by [[The Way of Kings]], though: Shallan tracks down Jasnah with intent to steal her [[Amulet of Concentrated Awesome|Soulcaster]] and replace it with a nonfunctional duplica, which she does. Then she has to figure out how to use it... which eventually, she also does. Through the whole book, Jasnah never notices the swap, totally confusing Shallan. At the end, she realizes that Jasnah's original was ''also'' a fake, that Jasnah used so people wouldn't learn that she can Soulcast without a focus. Which means ''Shallan'' figured out how to Soulcast without a focus, too.
* [[Book of the New Sun|The Claw of the Conciliator]].
* In the children's book ''The Good Luck Pony'', the main character is nervous about her horse-back riding lessons until her mother gives her a horse necklace that she says will bring her good luck while riding. The girl is told at the end that the necklace just gave her confidence, and that was all she needed to succeed.
* A theme from the ancient Sumerian tale ''[[The Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' can be seen as a predecessor to this trope. Gilgamesh goes on this elaborate quest for immortality, eventually laying hands on a magical coral flower with the power to extend his life. A snake steals the flower when he's not looking and Gilgamesh is crushed, but {{spoiler|in the end he realizes he had immortality all along -- through the legacy of his contributions to the enduring power of his city, Uruk.}}
* In Teresa Frohock's ''[[Miserere: An Autumn Tale|Miserere an Autumn Tale]]'', Lucian tells Lindsey that the Psalter is magical; later, when he says it helped her focus and the power was hers, she was annoyed.
* Used in the [[J. T. Edson]] short story "Dusty Fog's Gun" when Waco gives a young deputy a gun and tells him it once belonged to Dusty Fog, giving him the confidence to win an upcoming gunfight.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Unsurprisingly for the series, ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'' has an example in "Samurai".
* On ''[[
** More seriously, when the camp runs out of morphine, they pass the pills off as painkillers via psychology, telling the current batch of wounded soldiers they can only have one each of these "super-powerful" new wonder drugs. The scene is subverted on a somber note as the doctors discuss the results, noting that it didn't work for everyone.
* Played relatively straight in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', with Hiro, who believes he needs a particular sword to recover his abilities. Of course, it turns out (and the viewing public finds out long before Hiro does) he never lost his abilities in the first place.
** A rather darker example is Isaac, who thinks he can't paint the future without heroin.
** Also, Niki, who believes that she can't use her [[Super Strength]] unless her [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] is in control.
* In an episode of ''[[
** Which might be a subversion, as B12 might actually help with sea-sickness. But it was meant as a placebo.
* The TV show, ''[[Smart Guy]]'', had TJ giving his idiot friend, Mo, sugar pills to make him smarter. When he found out that it was a placebo, Mo got his own sugar pills to continue replicating the effect.
** When TJ [[Crossover|crossed over]] to ''[[Sister, Sister]]'', he enticed a high-strung Tia with his super-secret technique to get a 1600 on her SAT's...if she'd take him to Chuck E.
* Inverted in ''[[News Radio]]'', which showed Matthew being given a homemade "Smart Drink" by Joe and becoming super intelligent. Smatthew (for "Smart Matthew") later begins to lose his intelligence, but upon being urged to consume more of Joe's smart drink, concluded the drink was a placebo and only worked because stupid Matthew was so dumb he believed it would. He loses his newfound intelligence permanently.
* Parodied hilariously in the live action version of ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'', when the The Tick walks up to a stranger, hands him a hub cap and tells him "Remember, it was not a magic hub cap. The magic was within you all along."
* In one episode of ''[[My Wife and Kids]]'', Michael pulls this on his son Junior, using grandson Junior Jr. as the "magic baby" and saying that holding him will make Junior smarter. Eventually, when Junior drifts into annoying territory, Mike lets him in on the truth, saying that his own father pulled the "magic baby" trick on him, using Junior.
* ''[[Flight of the Conchords]]'' did this with hair gel which supposedly made the boys look cool. When the hair gel is all used up, they can't bear to even leave the house, and Murray, their manager, tells them that the gel didn't make them cool, it just gave them the confidence to show everyone how cool they really were. Inspired by his words, they go to perform their gig sans gel, only for the entire crowd to walk away once they start playing. Murray concedes that yes, it really was the hair gel that made them cool.
* In the episode of the original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' "Mudd's Women", three women are supposedly given a "Venus drug" which made them irresistibly beautiful, but it revealed at the end that they didn't need the drug to make themselves beautiful - it was self-confidence all along.
** The on-screen moral being: apparently self-confidence can [[Broken Aesop|give you an actual makeover]]
* In the big crossover between ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' and ''[[The Suite Life On Deck]]'', Hannah's anklet acts like this. It's a keepsake of her mothers, and when she loses it everything goes wrong until Robbie Ray tells her that her mother is always with her, regardless of the anklet.
* This was [[Discussed Trope|brought up]] by Ruby in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' {{spoiler|when she tells Sam that his powers are not the result of the demon blood he'd been drinking, but they'd just been a tool to addict him and alienate him from the people who [[What the Hell, Hero?|told him hanging out with Ruby was a bad idea]].}}
* ''[[Wimzie's House]]'' has an episode called "The Lucky Pin" in which Rousso gives Jonas a special star pin to celebrate his dedication in practicing basketball. Afterwards, Jonas completes a tricky shot for the first time and is convinced that he's been given a "lucky pin." He then experiences a crisis of self-confidence after losing it, until Wimzie gives him another pin that she made herself, but tells him that it's the one he lost. He makes five basketball shots in a row, but another of the characters tells him it's not the original pin. He loses his self-confidence again until Wimzie points out that he made the shots even ''without'' his lucky pin. He realizes that his "luck" is all due to practice and he doesn't need a lucky pin.
* One episode of ''[[Wonder Showzen]]'', one of the puppets trips out on what is ostensibly 'liquid imagination', but is later revealed to be just water.
* Played completely straight in ''[[Glee]]'' when [[The Ditz|Brittany]] gets "paralyzed with fear" at the thought of having to dance prominently at sectionals. Artie gives her his magic comb and tells her if she combs her hair with it she can't lose. She loses it and causes Artie think she's cheating on him (''[[It Makes Sense in Context]]''). Artie finally revealed that he picked the comb off the floor and was on his way to throw it out when he ran into her.
{{quote|
* ''[[The Suite Life On Deck]]'': Bailey uses a placebo to raise London's intelligence. Subverted in that [[Status Quo Is God|after realizing that it's a placebo]], London [[Flowers for Algernon Syndrome|returns to normal]]. Then she [[Too Dumb to Live|takes
* ''[[Modern Family]]'': In "Treehouse," Mitchell gives Jay a little pill that supposedly will loosen him up and help him dance. That pill? Turns out to be chewable baby aspirin.
* In one episode of [[Derren Brown]]'s series ''The Experiments'', the magician started a rumour that a statue of a dog in a village park was lucky. Over time, a lot of people in the village came to believe the rumour and started reporting cases of good luck that came after they stroked the dog (some of it planned out in secret by Derren, some just coincidental). The main point of the show was that people who think they are lucky will seize more opportunities, and therefore some of those opportunities will work out for them.
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* ''[[Punky Brewster]]'' once got a "magic coin" from Henry.
▲== Tabletop RPG ==
* In ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]'', characters need to focus their magick through various means, but sufficiently high-level characters will realize that the magick comes from them and can cast spells without foci with no penalty. At this point, the mage starts becoming obscenely powerful and even Werewolves and centuries-old Vampires keep their distance.
** Some mages also use 'unique foci' for some of their magic, which if lost render them partially or wholly incapable of casting anything.
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* ''[[God of War (series)|God of War]] III'' has Kratos questing to open Pandora's Box a second time in order to obtain the power of Hope and destroy Zeus. When he finally opens the Box, it's empty; Kratos has had Hope within him since opening the box in the first game, without realising it.
* Parodied by the original ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' blog, [http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=7072 showering the players with gifts] for "Australian Christmas":
{{quote|
* Much of the early campaign in ''[[Battle Realms]]'' involves Kenji trying to hunt down his family heirloom, the [[MacGuffin|Serpent's Orb]], because of its 'magic power'. In the Dragon campaign, the Dragon eventually reveals to him that the orb itself is little more than a focus and an ancestor of Kenji's who used it to break the world was only able to do so because he (unwittingly) channelled his own [[Ki]] power through it [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|because he believed it had power.]]
* Some stones in ''[[The Game of the Ages]]'' are magical, but focus stones are magic feathers to boost your confidence.
* In ''[[Mana Khemia]]'', one of the characters' familiar spirits doesn't actually do anything and isn't actually magical at all; they're just a psychological crutch for the character, who is magically quite powerful and not human, but doesn't know it.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090501022332/http://www.qwantz.com/archive/000293.html One strip] from ''[[Dinosaur Comics]]'' has it all go wrong.▼
▲== Web Comic ==
▲* [http://www.qwantz.com/archive/000293.html One strip] from ''[[Dinosaur Comics]]'' has it all go wrong.
* ''[http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/ Cheshire Crossing]'' plays this straight with Dorothy's ruby slippers; however, the slippers do possess some intrinsic power, since other characters can use them normally.
** And this intrinsic power is actually the power to mimic the abilities of the last person to wear them.
* Parodied in the ''[[Bandwith Theater]]'' internet short entitled ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140706033611/http://www.bandwidththeater.com/magicfeather.html Kevin Smith and his Magic Feather]''. When Kevin Smith bemoans losing his magic feather to his friend Helpful Rat, he assures him that the feather wasn't magic at all, it just helped him to believe in himself. When Kevin then goes on to contemplate shaving his magic beard, Helpful Rat quickly assures him that the beard actually ''is'' magic: it makes his wife love him, and keeps the moon from falling. (But it doesn't help with movies; it's just the wife and moon thing.)
* In ''[[PvP]]'', Brent Sienna gives up coffee for health reasons. When the magazine is in crisis and desperately needs help, he insists on going back to coffee to give him his "edge." After his all-nighter, his girlfriend reveals that she has been bringing him [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717223709/http://www.pvponline.com/2005/03/19/sat-mar-19/ decaf].
* In ''[[Angel Moxie]]'', when Alex's staff was broken, she seemingly lost her magic. Miya tells that staff is only act like focus to get her started, [[Lampshade Hanging|while saying how cliched it is]].
* Parodied in ''[[The Non-Adventures of Wonderella|The Non Adventures of Wonderella]]''. [http://nonadventures.com/2009/04/04/a-broken-pumice/ "See, this is why I don't do pep talks."] Also, [http://nonadventures.com/2017/07/01/sword-of-a-big-deal/ that sword].
* At least for [[Questionable Content|Marten]] initially, the [http://questionablecontent.net./view.php?comic=1203 Worry Hat].
** It gets passed on to Hannelore later on.
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** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0777.html Later], the trope gets a parodying. Just...because.
* It's unclear whether the jester outfit that Maytag wears in ''[[Flipside]]'' actually [[Clothes Make the Superman|causes her]] to become incredibly outgoing and self-confident, but if it doesn't, it's likely to be this trope.
** Events seem to be heading this way, with [[Character Development|Maytag able to go on with her comedy act]] despite being magically stripped by a rival at the start of it. After a moment's hesitation, she even manages to joke about her situation.
* ''[[Erfworld]]'' [http://
* [http://www.explosm.net/comics/1801/ Another parody], this time by ''[[Cyanide
* ''[[Homestuck]]'' has the players use various focusing devices before they can fully control their powers. This isn't outrightly stated, but by comparing {{spoiler|Aradia's shift from using time-controlling music boxes to freezing Bec Noir in place with her mind}}, it becomes obvious. Some characters just jump this hurdle entirely though.
** {{spoiler|A slightly more sinister example is Rose's wands. Doc Scratch suggests that the real power was given directly to Rose by the horrorterrors and that the wands are a way to make her think she's working alone while actually doing their bidding.}}
* ''[[Amazing Super Powers]]'' shows a [http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2009/11/all-on-your-own/ case] of overdoing this.
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2015-02-09 an experienced officer] teaching a young officer the secrets of this trade. Granted, it shouldn't take much when her subject is a military intelligence analyst who after discharge planned outings of a parkour gang like military operations... ''before'' she ran into Toughs and had remaining rust shaken from her skills every other day.
{{quote|'''Sorlie''': You can order people to be brilliant?
'''Murtaugh''': Shhh... as long as ''they'' think I can, I get pretty good results. }}
== Web Original ==
* ''[[Cracked
▲== Web Originals ==
▲* [[Cracked]].com article on [[Poe's Law]]: "[http://www.cracked.com/blog/i-cant-tell-if-movies-are-being-serious-anymore You didn't even need those cars, Vin.] The violence was inside you ''the whole time.''"
* In ''[[Baman Piderman]]'', the Happy Winter Friends' wish was inside him all along! (Like, literally, inside him. He had a drawer in his chest.)
== Western Animation ==
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* ''[[South Park]]'' do this in the episode "Bloody Mary." Randy Marsh is diagnosed as an alcoholic, and is convinced it is a disease that only God can cure. He then goes to a bleeding statue of Mary to cure himself, and it works. However, the Pope reveals the miraculous statue to be fake/having its period, and Randy falls back into alcoholism until his son points out that these events show he has what it takes to beat the addiction himself.
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' subverts this to the extreme in the episode ''Last Tap Dance in Springfield''. In it, Lisa is part of a Shirley Temple [[Expy]]'s tapdancing class, but is [[Dojikko|extremely clumsy]]. Professor Frink offers to help out by putting the motors from a sound-activated dancing toy in her shoes. At the recital, she does dance well, but the tremendous applause causes her to do things like [[Wall Run]] and even outdance her teacher. After the recital:
{{quote|
'''Lisa:''' You mean I danced all by myself?
'''Marge:''' See, honey? All you needed was to believe--
'''Homer:''' [taking the shoes] What are you talking about, Professor Frink? They're clearly in the On position. [showing them to ''Lisa''] See? "On".
'''Frink:''' I was merely trying to spare the girl's feelings, you insensitive clod.
'''Homer:''' Oh - OH! Well, now that I look even closer- }}
* An interesting subversion occurs in an episode of ''[[Kim Possible]]'', in which the titular heroine uses an intelligent driving computer to pass a driving test. When something goes wrong, the computer can't control the car anymore, and Kim needs to drive the car she and Ron are in out of the villain's lair, she protests she can't drive, and the computer tells her that it never did anything - it was her all along. Kim, inspired, drives the car out of the collapsing lair, whereupon the computer tells her it lied - the computer had been doing the driving before, but needed to inspire her.
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* An episode of ''The New Adventures of [[Winnie the Pooh]]'' had Christopher Robin give Piglet a pair of "magical earmuffs" so that he could ice skate. Piglet loses the earmuffs, and believes that he cannot skate without them...until his friends are in danger. Naturally, Piglet saves the day, even without the "magic."
* On ''[[Wonder Showzen]]'', Chauncey chugs a vial of pure liquid imagination and becomes addicted. Later, the revelation that it was regular tap water all along instantly cures him.
* On ''[[Xavier: Renegade Angel]]'', when Xavier's mother demands he bring her pills and alcohol, he gives her placebos and apple juice. Years later, her life has spiraled into ruin and she laments her addictions, so Xavier reveals that she'd been using harmless substances all along. She promptly [[Go Mad
* ''[[Storm Hawks]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HhE-w3qkbM played with this]
** That's more of a subversion in that one would build up muscle using it, anyway (since the item in question is really heavy).
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* A unique version was used in ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'' when XR's [[Black Sheep]] brother XL attacked him and stole a component from him called an AFD, which was believed to be the most important part of XR. Naturally, XR felt that without it, he was useless. In the end, however, it was revealed that the AFD was merely an Air Freshening Device and that what XR had in him that made him great was not in a robotic sense.
* In the original ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,]]'' Splinter performs an impressive feat of magic with three tiny white spheres, shrinking three inflated turtles back to normal. He explains the spheres were given to him by a wise Sensei for use in an emergency, but they aren't made of anything magical:
{{quote|
'''Splinter:''' I believe they are commonly called...mothballs.
'''Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael:''' Mothballs?!
'''Splinter:''' You were expecting diamonds?
'''Donatello:''' But how could they shrink us back to normal?
'''Splinter:''' If someone believes in something strongly enough, it just might happen.
'''Donatello:''' Yeah, but...with mothballs?
'''Raphael:''' Hey! Don't look a gift moth in the mouth! }}
* In ''[[Rekkit Rabbit]]'', Rekkit gives Jake some magical help that makes him a genius(with a giant head) to win a competition. He then loses the effects of the magic, but Rekkit says there WAS no magic and he really IS that smart. So he goes on with the competition...[[Subverted Trope|and basically just drools and blabs incoherently]]. After failing, Rekkit says that unfortunately there really was magic.
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* ''[[Cow and Chicken]]'': Cow had a security blanket until she grew tired of the taunts and threw it away. She later told Chicken that blanket was Supercow's cape and source of power. Overhearing this, Red Guy started hurting the other kids under the belief no superhero would stop him. Chicken then recovered the blanket and tried to use it on himself and become "Wonder Chicken" but Red easily defeated him. Chicken tried to convince Cow it meant she had the power all along but she just flipped the blanket and Chicken became "Wonder Chicken".
* ''[[Casper the Friendly Ghost]]'' was given one from Dr. Harvey for a school play.
* This seems to be the case with the Super Sauce that Super Chicken (who appeared in the ''[[George of the Jungle]]'' cartoon) supposedly used to fuel his powers; it was highly implied that the sauce, which his assistant Fred made, was just a placebo that helped the hero use his natural powers.
* In the ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters]]'' episode "Luck of the Irish", an evil leprechaun curses Garret with bad luck. Egon eventually manages to put together a formula that can be used to turn the villain's powers against him, but Garret drops the vial containing it, leaving them with only enough to load ''one'' of their weapons. Garret is on the edge of the [[Despair Event Horizon]] now and decides to lock himself in the basement and never come out, but Egon then gives him a different formula, claiming it's a "derivative byproduct of the original formula that should reverse the negative casualty effect". In truth, it's nothing but grape soda, but it makes an excellent placebo.
* In the ''Super Chicken'' segments of ''[[George of the Jungle]]'' it is implied that the Super Sauce the hero uses is nothing but a placebo he needs to use his inherent powers.
== Real Life ==
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*** It's noteworthy that the placebo effect is probably more indicative of people complaining more about minor aches and pains, given that it has grown strong with the increases in medical science.
*** It works on objectively measurable conditions too. It's because it reduces stress and some ailments worsen with stress. That's why it's useless on a broken leg but works great for asthma.
**** Definitely doesn't work for genuine conditions like asthma. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120120053456/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0602/D.0602.200505110015.html People have died] from not taking asthma medication, thinking that a homeopathic remedy will do just as well, and homeopathy is a psuedoscience - an entire ''practice'' based around the placebo effect.
*** Placebos are certainly not useless for a broken leg; placebos are very good at easing pain, so much so that it has been shown to override the effects of things which actually ''worsen'' pain. However, it is correct to say placebos will do little to speed to rate of healing with a broken leg, though they may have some effect.
* Many cures for stage fright or other performance-related issues (and probably for a few...erm...performance-related issues too) as well as artistic remedies: things that get the creative juices flowing (and probably a few...erm...No, no that's not right).
* Some parents do this with little kids to get them to master simple skills. They never seem to think about what the child will learn if he fails even ''with'' the maguffin.
** In most of the instances above and the ones I'm aware of happening in real life,
* There are loads of hiccup cures of the "drink from the wrong side of the cup", "hold your breath and take 7 sips of water" variety that are all just tricks to make you control your breathing.
* There was a psychology experiment where people were given three coloured buttons and asked to figure out what pattern made a light come on. In fact the 'pattern' was just press the blue button then press it again five seconds later (doesn't matter what you do in between). People found some very complicated ways of filling those five seconds.
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