Misapplied Phlebotinum: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done."''
|'''Andy Rooney'''}}
▲{{quote|''"Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done."''|'''Andy Rooney'''}}
The case of a writer not quite getting their own head around his invention. An invention which is [[Applied Phlebotinum|capable of great things]] (and often, of literally anything) is used exclusively for [[Mundane Utility|much lesser tasks]]. If you find that after a [[Fridge Logic|trip to the fridge]] you see that the [[Applied Phlebotinum|Phlebotinum]] in question could be used to obsolete entire industries if not [[Story-Breaker Power|render the entire plot trivial]] then you're dealing with this trope.
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** If the technology works by destroying and reconstructing, there are a number of possible uses that are rarely used, like bodily restoration after injury or death, copying/mass-production of reconstructible objects, copying/mass-production of ''people'', etc.
* '''[[Artificial Gravity]]:'''
** If your [[Cool Ship]] has a device that can generate and manipulate Gravity irrespective of Mass then mounting [[Tractor Beam
*** Unless those other functions are actually offshoots of artificial gravity (or [[Babylon 5|vice-versa]]).
*** For that matter, mounting '''weapons''' might be redundant - just ask the crew of the [[Martian Successor Nadesico|Nadesico]].
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When they ''do'' use magical abilities for these kinds of things, it's [[Magitek]]. [[Just Think of the Potential]] is sometimes used to justify why you should not use things for anything big. Frequently, the cast themselves [[Apathy Killed the Cat|fail to even ask]] what the phlebotinum is capable of, resulting in a [[Fantastic Aesop]]. When a person ''thinks'' its misapplied for [[Rule 34|obscene reasons]], it's [[Power Perversion Potential]].
{{examples}}
== Anime & Manga ==
* The digital world from ''[[Digimon]]'' was created from computer programming and could subvert any laws of reality, a programmer could solve any problem plaguing humanity. In particular, humans who go there do not have to eat, breathe, excrete waste, or age if they don't want to. Said programmers primarily use their digi-[[Reality Warper]] abilities to... create inter-world portals and mess around with [[Mons]].
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* Somewhat averted in ''[[Cannon God Exaxxion]]''. They go into a considerable amount of detail about all the interesting things you can do with [[Artificial Gravity]] tech & how it dramatically changes the face of modern industry & combat. The limited way [[Nanomachines]] are used in the series smacks of this trope, but they at least bother to handwave it by citing the technology's astronomical cost.
* Averted by ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]''. The villains get their hands on easy teleportation and quickly use it to warp warheads straight through the ''Nadesico'''s [[Deflector Shield]].
* Gosunkugi from ''[[Ranma ½]]'' gets ten paper dolls which let him give people commands that they must obey. He suffers from a pretty severe lack of imagination. He tries to command Ranma to argue with Akane -- he didn't succeed, but nobody would have noticed anyway. The other nine are similarly squandered.▼
* Averted in ''[[Code Geass]]'' with Sakuradite, a naturally-occurring substance that is an exceptionally good conductor. It's used in [[Humongous Mecha]] '''and''' consumer electronics, and is the reason the why [[Magnetic Weapons]] have completely replaced gunpowder, even when it comes to personal firearms.
* ''[[Ranma ½]]'':
**
*** And on the subject of Mt. Phoenix: their lord, the Phoenix King, breaks every last law of thermodynamics with [[Playing with Fire|his ability to generate limitless heat and light]], [[Good Thing You Can Heal|regenerate from any injury]], and [[The Phoenix|bring himself back from the dead]]. [[Person of Mass Destruction|How many countries has he conquered?]] None, because his primary task is to [[Orcus on His Throne|sit pretty and prim on his hanging perch]] and provide light [[Mundane Utility|for the comfort of his subjects]].
** This world also has the technology to create [[Powered Armor|powerful suits of armor]]
** Seemingly played straight, but averted at the last second with in the case of the [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique|Yamasenken and Umisenken]]. These are exceptionally devastating martial arts schools which emphasize, respectively, outwards force and absolute stealth. Warrior-minded fighters will seek them out to add to their repertoire... but in their creator's words, they're actually meant for ''burglary'' and ''thievery''.
▲** Gosunkugi
* One niche of hentai involves "skinsuits" that allow a male user to become a woman, functional vagina with sensation and all, just by putting one on. Where modelled on an existing person, said skinsuits are usually also indistinguishable from the model, including the model's dimensions, regardless of the user's original size. Usual use: Indulging genderswap sexual fantasies. No one seems to consider the potential such a thing would have for espionage or show business. The ability of a skinsuit to convey touch sensations without needing surgery to connect with the user's nervous system also implies an amazing underlying grasp of neurology that could greatly benefit paraplegics and nerve damage patients, but nothing of the sort ever comes up.
== Comic Books ==
* [[Green Lantern
** Finally subverted with Kyle Rayner, who was more likely to create [[Humongous Mecha
* Basically, every [[Superhero]]. [[Reed Richards Is Useless|Name one superhero who couldn't somehow make a fortune using his or her abilities for something other than beating up another superhuman.]]
** [[DC Comics]] has (had?) the Kapitalist Kouriers, a set of Russian superspeedsters who indeed used their powers for a courier business. All over the world. However: characters who do that instead of beating up on The Bad Guy of the Week don't get played in RPGs and don't get their own comic titles. So it's sorta self-defeating.
** An issue of ''[[Heroes For Hire]]'' (which is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]], so at least these guys are getting paid for their work) has one of the "heroes" in a government warehouse where various captured supervillain equipment is stored. Upon seeing one piece of equipment, he notes the idiocy of inventing a gun that turns stuff into gold, then using it to rob banks. It takes him very little time to realize that he ought to steal the gun himself and use it in more intelligent ways. Unfortunately, it's broken shortly afterward in a super-brawl. He presumably was unaware of the fact that any object transmuted by the alchemy gun turns into dust after exposure to heat or after a certain amount of time. (However, mining and construction companies would pay a fortune for a device that could easily reduce solid material into dust regardless of what it became in the interim!)
** A recent issue of ''[[The Flash|Flash]]'' had him do just this. He was hired by an antique film and memorabilia collector. He hired the Flash to watch all of his movies and examine all of his antiques and catalog them. Obviously made for the plot, but ingenious none the less.
*** Another issue of Flash has Mirror Master being introspective about how
** [[Pre Crisis]] [[Mad Scientist]] [[Superman|Lex Luthor]] could become every bit as wealthy as [[Fantastic Four|Reed Richards]] if he marketed his tech legally, but he has too much of an [[Ubermensch]] complex to even ''want'' to make a living within society's infrastructure, viewing mundane Last Man civilization itself with contempt. John Byrne's [[Post-Crisis]] Luthor is rich, but he only sporadically does scientific job himself, prefering to supervise or steal the work of specialist; while he have a fairly superior intellect and his empire is based on earlier inventions, he is mostly rich by being a [[Badass Normal|mundane]] [[Complete Monster|ruthless SOB]]. Modern Luthor ''combines'' the two versions elevating his intellect [[Up to Eleven]] to finally [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]] and establish his scientific genius as the ''source'' of his colossal wealth.
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the first issue of the Mark Shaw incarnation of ''Manhunter''. Over a series of panels of Dr. Alchemy using this powers to perform a robbery, Manhunter points out that he could probably make more money a dozen different ways using a stone that would allow him to transform an object into something else, even if it was temporary.
** The ''[[GURPS]]'' supplement ''SuperTemps'' was filled with supers who used their powers for things like sanitation and garbage disposal, medicine, being a courier, or being a security expert.▼
*** ''[[GURPS]] International Super Teams'' incorporated ''SuperTemps'' into its setting, and expanded upon it. And the ''I.S.T''. chapter of ''GURPS Y2K'' had detailed passages on supers using their powers for construction and other mundane occupations. And not-so-mundane UN-sponsored occupations, like weather control (to divert destructive hurricanes, alleviate drought, and so forth) and famine relief ("you can make plants grow? come with me!").▼
** Captain Hammer in ''[[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog]]'' is mentioned by Dr. Horrible as being "corporate"; presumably he takes sponsorships. Given the character in question (an [[Jerkass|incredibly self-absorbed jackass]] who takes special pleasure in beating up geeks and seducing clueless women, getting away with it all because he's [[Designated Hero|labeled a "hero"]]), it wouldn't exactly be surprising. Given his chest insignia, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if he was funded by Sears.
** ''Almost'' subverted in DC's critically-acclaimed ''[[Starman (comics)|Starman]]'' comic of the mid-to-late-1990s. Our Hero, Jack Knight, agrees to take on his father's mantle as Starman, ''if'' his father will in turn take the amazing Cosmic Rod technology that he's used for self-indulgent heroics for half a century, and adapt it to civilian use: clean power, antigravity, force fields, and more. In the final issue, Ted makes good on the promise, and hands Jack a thick sheaf of documents detailing exactly that, just before his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. It's ''almost'' subverted because, years after the end of the series, [[Reed Richards Is Useless|no trace of the "spin-off" technology has been seen]].
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*** Which is even funnier, considering ''he wears tights that practically show everything anyway.''
* [[Alan Moore]]'s ''[[Tom Strong]]''. His recurring enemy has 'liquid sun' as his main weapon (being an evil genius also helps). Much misery results. An alternate universe Tom convinces said bad guy to sell his Phlebotinum as an energy source. Much happiness results. Until it all goes to pot.
* The (current) Rainmaker program in ''[[PS238]]'' is all about averting this, but it's been played straight (and [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]]) since the days of [[Ur Example|Mr. Extraordinary]] that the best thing many [[Flying Brick|living]] [[Required Secondary Powers|perpetual energy]] [[Super Speed|devices]], [[Technopath
** At least Herschel Clay, the school's handyman, is shown to use his powers for commercial purposes: He owns an industrial conglomerate that, amongst other things supplies the school with most of its high-tech gadgets, and in a side-story is shown to be a contractor for NASA who makes starship
* [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] [[Superman]] villain Funnyface was a disgruntled cartoonist who invented a machine to bring [[Newspaper Comics]] characters to life. He used it to ''rob banks''. When he reappears in an issue of ''[[All-Star Squadron]]'', many years later, the heroes point out to him what a preposterous waste of the technology this is, and he reacts with astonishment, [[Villain Ball|clearly not having thought about it.]]
* [[Double Subversion|Double subverted]] in ''[[Invincible]]'': the superheroine Atom Eve's power is that she can create, transform and manipulate almost any form of matter. After having used this power for superheroing for a few years, she realizes she could better use it to help hungry and poor people in the Third World, which is what she proceeds to do. However, {{spoiler|after doing this for some time she finds out she can only offer temporary help and not facilitate any long-term changes on her own, so she returns to being a superhero.}}
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* ''[[Surrogates]]'': In this world exists the technology to control machines with your mind, and yet its applications in the film are painfully limited. For example, we see people fighting wars by controlling human-looking infantry robots that are even wearing fatigues and helmets. Why not just control a tank? We even see surrogates using handheld cell phones!
* In the various ''[[Blade]]'' movies, Blade is the only [[Half-Human Hybrid|(Half)]] vampire with the [[Our Vampires Are Different|ability to go about in the daylight.]] Best use in movie: None, he just moves around and talks to humans during the day. Better use: Use it to attack other vampires in their homes or offices during the day when they can't run away. However, it's [[Rule of Cool|more cool]] to kung-fu fight vampires than stake them in their sleep.
* In ''[[The Matrix]]'' sequels, Neo never seems to use the full extent of his powers. In the first film, it's implied that he has transcended the laws of the Matrix, and can now just about anything he wants while inside. When Smith attacks him, he just tears apart his code. In films two and three, he shows some super-powers, like being able to fly and stop bullets, but he's still punching his enemies and worrying about getting punched.
** A possible explanation is that the Matrix in the second and third movie is reloaded (i.e. a new version) and that the upgrade reduced Neo's powers. This is supported by the first time in Matrix: Reloaded that Neo fights a group of Agents. They prove to be (slightly) more of a challenge than he remembers, and he sarcastically remarks: "Hmm... upgrades."
* ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]'' is full of this, but it's lampshaded by Mike Teevee being outraged that Willy Wonka only wants to use his shrinking/teleportation ray for something as "pointless" as candy, when he could be using it on more interesting things, like breakfast cereal and ''people.'' Shortly thereafter, he learns the teleporter's limitations [[Don't Touch It, You Idiot!|the hard way.]]
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** The [[Riff Trax]] notes this, marveling at the droids "artificial lack of intelligence."
** Later, more advanced models are actually worse for this. In Episode One they had verbal orders and could be confused, by Three they had little chats while they worked.
** [[Lampshaded]] in the novelization: A clone trooper, pretending to be dead for the benefit of a few battle droids, is able to communicate with his squad and
** The droids' lack of intelligence ''may'' be explained by the various [[Corrupt Corporate Executive
** "Battle Droids" don't make sense ''as battle droids'' in several ways, such as their "anatomy" or dependency on remote control base (compare to droidekas — ''those'' are obviously built as combatants!). However, the same details make ''perfect'' sense under a hypothesis that these things were, in fact, repurposed industrial teleoperators; calling them "battle droids" is simple false advertisement — and a bluff "upgrading" one's cheap improvised weapons to appear more intimidating, of course, also makes sense.
** The "FTL as a weapon" idea is averted ''hard'' in ''[[Star Wars]]''
*** Also, with the kind of forces ''Star Wars'' throws around, "FTL as a weapon" might not always work. At one point in a ''Star Wars'' comic, [[La Résistance|The Rebels]] set up the Executor on a collision course with three Star Destroyers exiting hyperspace, which promptly [[Ramming Always Works|ram into the Executor at near light speed]]. The ([[Deflector Shields|fully shielded]]) Executor ''shrugs off'' the attack and casually proceeds with its original mission.
* ''[[Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs]]'' has an inventor who typifies this trope. One could think up a thousand uses for a bulletproof, waterproof, fireproof, spray
** The coating's potential is partially realized at the end of the movie.
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' in general has many instances of this trope; the [[Star Trek (film)|2009 movie]] adds a new one: with the help of future knowledge from Old Spock, Scotty quickly modifies a transporter to beam himself and Kirk onto the
** It ''could'' be that the transporter could only work if one knows the specifics of the destination, and one of the fundamental aspects of ''Star Trek'' is exploration, wherein [[Captain Obvious|the destination is not always known]].
** This method of transport also seemed less accurate than the usual teleportation as Scotty ended up in the water filtration system and nearly got diced by it before Kirk saved him.
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* In ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]: [[The Movie]]'', we learn that Tom Servo has an interocitor from ''[[This Island Earth]]'' in his room, which is capable of interstellar communication, blasting stuff with heat rays, [[Green Rocks|and just about anything else imaginable]]. He uses his to make hot chocolate.
* In the film ''Flubber'', the lead character's research is to help fund the university. He's assisted by a flying computer equipped with Artificial Intelligence, which would probably be worth millions, if not billions.
** Justified trope: He has no idea how he made her, and can't replicate it.
* ''Iron Man''. Similar to Flubber, by far the most important scientific breakthrough is the development of AI, yet the implications of this are not mentioned once and it's never used for anything more than cheap laughs. This trope also appears for many other technologies including those that are central to the films, but at least they're usually excused in some way, even if those ways are rather flimsy.
** ''[[Iron Man]]'' possibly has the justification that Stark is implied to make a lot of cool toys for himself and just uses them for mundane things instead of marketing them, just because he can be a lazy dick.
* One of the biggest problems of the main character in ''[[Click]]'' was that his job took too much time, leaving him too little to spend with his family. His magic remote has a Pause button he can use to freeze time, during which he can manipulate objects and people. He could have solved his biggest problem by doing his overtime work outside time entirely, but doesn't try that on screen. [[Gone Horribly Wrong|That doesn't even get into the remote's unexpected behavior.]]
* In ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes]]'', Lord Blackwood's pet scientist has invented {{spoiler|radio control}} seven years before [[Nikola Tesla]] actually developed it. Instead of patenting it and making enough money to just buy control of the British government, he uses it to {{spoiler|remote detonate a chemical weapon, while pretending to be killing the victims by magic}}.
== Literature ==
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** However, it is mentioned that they get infinite money from Alice's [[Psychic Powers|foreknowledge of the stock market's ups and downs.]] And then Carlisle is a doctor, which is a pretty good way to put his skills to use. And Edward used to use his mind-reading powers to hunt down criminals.
** Don't forget the perfect looks, absolute expertise in all physical combat, inability to feel cold/heat/pain, and several degrees apiece. About the only thing that can be used as an excuse is that the Volturi might kill them for using too much of their awesome stuff, but then that doesn't stop them from buying crazy-expensive cars and jet-setting around the world for years at a time. You have to think the world governments already know about them.
* Refreshingly, completely ''[[Averted Trope|averted]]'' in ''[[Honor Harrington|Honorverse]]'', at least about the [[Artificial Gravity]]: it was clearly shown to be the technology that makes their world ''exist''. It enables interstellar trade, as countergrav shuttles makes orbital delivery economical, and truly ''humongous'' (they weigh in ''megatonnes'') merchant boats keep shipping prices low enough that a ton of beef brought from hundred light years away could still cost same or even cheaper than the ton of a ''local'' beef. It also revolutionized architecture ([[Crystal Spires and Togas|10-km high residential towers]] anyone?), other areas of transport, and almost all their military technology, from the grav lenses in their [[Frickin' Laser Beams]] to the [[Deflector Shields]] or the engines of [[Macross Missile Massacre|all those missiles]] are different applications of the same basic countergrav.
* In [[Michael Crichton]]'s ''Timeline'' there is an immensely powerful quantum computer capable of recording the exact quantum state of every particle in human body, and then sending the data to another universe where it can somehow be recreated into a perfect copy of the person (though the original is technically speaking destroyed - the protagonists are much less disturbed by this than you'd think). It is used to study history by sending people and recorders to universes identical to our own except their position in time, when they could use it among other things for consulting dead people with important opinions, for duplicating rare and useful materials, for ''immortality'', or ''for bringing just about any technology that's ever going to be invented in any possible future to the present you morons!''
** [[Two Words]] [[Teleporter Accident|Transcription Errors]].
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* "[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Here I am, brain the size of a planet and they ask me if I can pick up that piece of paper ...]]"
* Averted hard in [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Known Space]]'' setting. Thanks to ubiquitous and cheap teleporters, Earth's population becomes almost entirely homogeneous.
* Happens a lot in ''[[Harry Potter]]'', where they use ''time machines'' so that children can take more classes than they otherwise could, the [[Bag of Holding]] exists but is strangely underutilized, and so on. Deconstructed in ''[[Harry Potter and
** The Room of Requirements is even guiltier since you can't even give the "it's too dangerous" excuse. A room that can response to your request by changing itself, providing all the neccessary equipment and information. Even if it cannot create things that don't already exist (like a map that marks all V's [[Soul Jar|Horcruces]]), the possibilities are still staggering. You could probably request a room full of gold, or lost artifacts, or weapons, or hell, maybe the cures to cancer and AIDS, while you're at it (one could argue that it does exist, we just haven't been able to put it together)! Naturally, none of these options is ever explored by the characters, and they end up using it as a gym, a supply closet or a storeroom.
** And how about the Resurrection Stone? Yes, bringing back loved ones is dangerous, and trying to do it permanently is wrong, but imagine the possibilities of contacting the dead! Solving a murder crime by asking the victim, getting the wisdom from the greatest minds in History directly from them, etc.
* Aversion: in the Teleporter section of the main article, there's a mention of the potential use of this for backing yourself up/making multiple copies of yourself. The [[Charles Stross]] book ''Glasshouse'' did both; they massively affect society, and form major plot points. For example, changing genders is common thanks to the 'reconstruct' part (making gender nouns rather confusing); 'orthohuman' (standard ''H sapiens'' shape) and 'xenohuman' (with massive bodily alterations) are normal descriptions; lethal duels are equally common so long as the participants 'saved' recently; the combination of disintegration/reconstruction transport 'gates' with memory-wipe technology resulted in ''memory censor viruses'' which affect anyone who uses the gate, one of which managed to pretty much wipe the reason for a whole ''war'' from history; and a major plotpoint involves the main character {{spoiler|being knocked out by a copy of ''himself'' (well, he's physically female at the time, but he seems to identify as male for the most part), thanks to the 'original' being brainwashed with one of those memory worms.}}
* Charles Stross's [[The Merchant Princes Series]] [[Playing with a Trope|plays with]] this trope. Members of the Clan have the ability to teleport between [[All the Myriad Ways|alternate timelines]], along with whatever they can carry. They use it to get rich in modern America by smuggling drugs through a world with a feudal culture that lacks a DEA, and in that feudal culture they use their ability to get rich by bringing in modern innovations like penicillin and automatic guns. Compared to many examples on this page, that's a very smart application of the phlebotinum, compared to robbing banks, using [[Green Lantern Ring]] superpowers just for fighting, or using dinosaurs as the main attraction in an amusement park. However, after a modern business journalist learns about the system she quickly points out that mercantilism is a very old-fashioned, zero-sum economic theory and there are much better things the Clan could be doing with their time, like [[Giving Radio to the Romans]].
* In [[David Weber|David Weber's]] [[Empire From the Ashes]] the Enchanach Drive, if activated/deactivated too close to a star, can accidentally cause a [[Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?|supernova]]. A small error in emergence in our Solar System is also used to explain why the orbit of Pluto is a bit odd. (Well, it's using black holes - there's bound to be SOME gravitational side-effects!) {{spoiler|In fact, they make use of the supernova-riffic side effects to give an entire enemy fleet a billion-degree plasma bath.}}
* In ''The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar'', the titular Henry Sugar finds a book that gives a first-hand account of how a doctor met a man who mastered an ancient technique that allowed him to see without eyes and to also see through various thin objects, like playing cards. Subverted by the doctor, who wanted to find a way to use the technique to help people with disabilities like blindness be able to live normal lives, but played straight by Henry, who picks up the technique to win in casinos. He later subverts it himself, when he has an is bored and rich and decides to dedicate his life to winning money and donating it to various orphanages and charities.
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== Live Action TV ==
* ''Sabrina The Teenage Witch'': Sabrina is allowed access to a crystal ball that can answer any question. Her first question was,
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' actually [[Shown Their Work|did do the research]] on this one (albeit with some glaring exceptions): [[The Federation]] as depicted is a near-perfect example of a [[wikipedia:Post scarcity|post-scarcity economy]]. Federation citizens don't need to work for a living because replicators make everything you need for free, so everybody just does whatever they feel like doing. The shows concentrate on the idealists who are devoted to exploration and diplomacy because that makes for better television.
** Another case is the holodeck. One may assume there are people who have taken to just living permanent lives of leisure in a holodeck, but again, they aren't shown on-screen because that would be boring. Recurring character Reginald Barclay's ongoing struggle with "holo-addiction" points out why you don't want that sort of thing going on when you're supposed to be busy exploring the galaxy and [[Boldly Coming|making friends with aliens]].
** The Vidiians in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' have some of the most ridiculously advanced medical technology ''ever''. They are also afflicted with a disease that devours their organs one by one, and which for reasons that are never explained adapts too quickly for them to cure. They use their hyperadvanced medicine to murder people and steal their organs. In "Faces", it's definitively established that they can create clones through transporter technology. Given an IQ higher than seven, they could use this to produce organ-harvest clones, which may be something of an ethical minefield but has to be miles ahead of ''murdering people and stealing their organs''. Mind you, Voyager is no stranger to this trope; in "Prime Factors", the Sikarians have a teleporter that can reach planets ''forty thousand light years'' distant, which they use exactly once in the episode - to allow one of them to go on a romantic walk with Harry Kim.
*** The Vidiians also overlook the possibility of harvesting organs from, y'know, ''non-sapient animals'' rather than intelligent races, despite their obvious proficiency in cross-species transplantation.
* Subverted in ''[[Supernatural]].'' When a character is discovered to have mind control abilities, he is asked why he is only using it to live a lower middle class life and to obtain some weed and a couple cool things like a rare car. He replies by claiming that he has everything he would ever want.
* Speaking of mentalistic powers, [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy Summers]] acquired the ability to read minds. Giles suggested using it for gathering intelligence against her enemies... but Buffy's response was "Way better than that," and she used it to investigate the petty personal questions of how people think about her. Of course, like most magic in Sunnydale, it goes horribly wrong.
* Sylar's power of "studying something and figuring out exactly how it works" in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''. In-story use: fixing watches, stealing supernatural powers. Better use: churning out Nobel Prizes. In ''anything''. Studying just the human body opens up fields like medicine (cure diseases, extend lifespans), neurology/psychology (figure out how the ''non-superpower'' parts of the brain
** Furthermore, the second episode established that Sylar was incredibly well-read; his apartment was filled with nothing but books on a wide array of topics (sorta like an eerily tidy version of [[Read or Die|Yomiko Readman's]] pad), suggesting that Sylar had spent the vast majority of his life absorbing information about pretty much everything.
** The writers seem to have caught on that Sylar's power is good for more than stealing brains. In Season 3, Peter takes Sylar's power in order to understand the show's plot. Unfortunately, [[The Dark Side|it also comes with an uncontrollable]] [[I'm a Humanitarian|craving for brains]].
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== Tabletop Games ==
* Most magicians in ''[[Unknown Armies]]'' behave this way, one major reason why some of the most powerful canon [[NPC
* In ''[[Dungeons
** Given the nature of the ''[[Dark Sun]]'' setting, it seems strange that there aren't more Water Clerics running around.
*** Create food and water aren't available spells in Dark Sun. The game designers wanted an apocalyptic setting where the players actually had to struggle.
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** [[Made of Phlebotinum|Magic-rich]] settings like [[Forgotten Realms|Netheril]] may have full set of plane-gating plumbing. Otherwise [[Awesome but Impractical]], given how frequently those spell can be cast. And requires a rather powerful priest to begin with. Magic items (''Decanter of Endless Water'', ''Urn of Water Purification'') are better, but very expensive.
* In ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'' [[Mundane Utility|using Wonders for mundane tasks]] is a minor Transgression.
** In most ''[[New World of Darkness]]'' gamelines, using your magic powers for mundane tasks is a [[Karma Meter]] violation. But it's usually one so small that only a [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|living saint]] would even need to roll for degeneration for doing it.
▲** The ''[[GURPS]]'' supplement ''SuperTemps'' was filled with supers who used their powers for things like sanitation and garbage disposal, medicine, being a courier, or being a security expert.
▲*** ''[[GURPS]] International Super Teams'' incorporated ''SuperTemps'' into its setting, and expanded upon it. And the ''I.S.T''. chapter of ''GURPS Y2K'' had detailed passages on supers using their powers for construction and other mundane occupations. And not-so-mundane UN-sponsored occupations, like weather control (to divert destructive hurricanes, alleviate drought, and so forth) and famine relief ("you can make plants grow? come with me!").
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** Thermal Discouragement Beams - Semi-lethal laser beams. Marketed as means to keep office workers from ''leaving their desks''.
** Repulsion and Propulsion Gels - Gels literally capable of breaking the laws of physics by making any surface in which they are spread suddenly gain elasticity or make any object in contact with that surface ''gain momentum'' respectively. Marketed as ''dietary aids'' despite being ''horrifically toxic''.
** The Long Fall
** And then there's the stuff that was apparently ''never released at all'': solar powered [[Hard Light]] bridges, tractor beams capable of sending things forward or backward, [[Brain Uploading]], enough technology to create a facility literally capable of suriviving the Apocalypse, repair and literally ''[[Chaos Architecture|rearrange itself at will]]'', sentient [[A Is]] capable of running with voltage sources capable of outputs as low as ''1.1 volts'', selective desintegration... all this used for no other purpose than testing.
* Averted to an incredible degree in [[Mass Effect]]: almost everything in the universe runs on [[Minovsky Particle|eezo]]-based technology, from artificial gravity and FTL travel to miniature railguns and telekinesis.
* The Weavers in ''[[Loom (video game)|Loom]]'' can manipulate the fabric of time and space. They mostly use this power for... spinning and dying clothing.
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** More specifically, each of the guilds in Loom derives its supernatural abilities from a sort of [[Charles Atlas Superpower]] related to their original mundane role. The glassmakers make infinitely sharp glass edges and crystal balls that see the future; the Weavers went from weaving cloth to [[Reality Warper|weaving reality]]. But they still stick to their roots.
* Naoya from ''[[Devil Survivor]]'' creates both a demon summoning program and a harmonizer that lessens blows to the user and increases those from the user. While the demon summoning program is rightfully considered a big deal in universe, the harmonizer is not, despite allowing its user to shrug off gun wounds.
** Considering the circumstances, however, people may simply be assuming the two functions are connected, and with the problems the ''former'' is causing... On a related note, {{spoiler|Atsuro}} comes to think that the demons themselves are
*** The harmonizer weakens blows from demons. A bullet will still have the same effect it always does, but a fireball will barely scratch you. This is the reason you can't just massacre the JSDF and walk out of the city.
**** It is also not selective. Anyone within range of the Harmonizer reaps the benefits, owner or no.
**** Actually, the harmonizer DOES work against bullets...but only other demon summoners. The JSDF shoots you in gameplay, remember? But, the harmonizer can only work when a demon is present, is area effect....so, yeah, it's limited.
* The Black Spider ninjas' motivation for trying to steal the [[Artifact of Doom|Dark Dragon Blade]] in ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]''? Their leader wanted to grind it up to make ''tea''. Granted, he believed drinking tea made from dragon bones (which the Dark Dragon Blade was forged from) would empower him...but still, ''tea?''
** Lampshaded in game.
* PROXY, the cheerfully homicidal (to Galen at least) [[Robot Buddy]] in ''[[The Force Unleashed]]''. Vader created a droid that could, with the proper modules, copy the techniques and appearance of any Jedi, somehow produces lightsabers from nowhere, and can even replicate ''Force abilities'' with repulsor technology. And Vader uses it as a communications device and as a [[Training
** Not so much. The Clone Wars (well, the last five minutes or so) showed that Jedi are about as effective as knights were (in other words, not very...) with their primary use being as commandos (Vader has that) and generals (Vader IS that). And we don't know how prohibitively expensive PROXY was.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' both follows and averts this trope. [[The Verse]] is filled with these insanely powerful creatures, who mostly serve as combatants between [[The Kid with the Remote Control|kids with remote controls]]. They have also, however, been show to do more practical things.
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* As ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/09/19 strip] on ''[[Fracture]]'' pointed out: when you start to think about how the terrain deformation might work and other applications for its principles, it becomes even sillier.
** They also came up with another use for the ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'' gun.
* All the technology Tony invents in ''[[Real Life Comics]]'' is used by Greg for disturbingly mundane purposes. [
* Mad inventor Riff (well, he's more of a [[The Stoic|"Meh"]] inventor) in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' has ended up playing this trope for laughs by using such things as his dimensional portal for cheap magic tricks, and generally using his prodigious intellect on ray guns and toaster cannons. Is it any wonder his [[Catch Phrase]] is "Let me check my notes"?
** In [[Alternate Reality|4U City]] Alt-Riff's nanomachines fairly avert this trope allowing the citizens nearly magical abilities in healing and allowing the near instantaeous conversion of matter such as converting tranquilizer darts into live fire ammutition.
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** And then there's Martin, who is basically the Hulk, who uses his ability to...advertise his chain of super-markets. {{spoiler|Oh, and do work for the mafia}}.
** But easily topping them both: Using a [[Time Travel|Time Portal]]... for [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/21p36/ garbage disposal.] And a septic tank, somehow.
* Heroically averted in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]''. If someone didn't think of a good use… someone else will.
*
** The Wormgates themselves can be considered an evil aversion of this trope as well: after all as long as people are seen going in one place and coming out the other, there's nothing to worry about what goes on in between...[[Cloning Blues|right?]]
*** Or,
{{quote|'''Narrator''': Every non-compromised mini-gate in the system begins {{spoiler|[[Macross Missile Massacre|spouting dangerous, semi-sentient military hardware]]}}.
'''Narrator''': It should surprise no-one that the F'sherl-ganni use their gate-copy technology for mass-production of manufactured items. Oddly enough, [[Mass "Oh Crap"|it surprises almost everyone]]...}}
** And even before the introduction of the Teraport there was the ubiquitous gravitic technology; if you have gravity manipulation<ref>not creation, just manipulating the gravity generated by a sphere of Neutronium</ref> on your ship then you already have forcefields, tractor-beams and a reactionless drive as well.
*** ...not to mention the ability to rip other ships apart with a careful application of gravitics.
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** This is also a universe where every major government has a dedicated ([[The Masquerade|albeit secret]]) magic agency. Just because ''Tedd's'' not applying the phlebotinum doesn't mean somebody isn't.
** Tedd and his friends occasionally do break out the transformation gun for more practical purposes, like to turn Elliot into a [[Were Cat|werecat]] for battles.
* ''[[Drive (webcomic)|Drive]]'': [[Averted Trope|Averted]] viciously. If the space being pinched by a ring drive is occupied by a planet, then that planet will suffer massive tremors. The bigger the ship, the more severe the quakes. This ''has'' been taken to the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130703002332/http://www.drivecomic.com/archive/110519.html logical] [https://web.archive.org/web/20130702233254/http://www.drivecomic.com/archive/110623.html conclusion].
* ''[[Vexxarr]]'' mocking ''[[Star Trek]]'': "It's like they were so confused by the weird conundrums inherent in their wacky technology that they couldn't see [[Mundane Solution|the solution staring them right in the ''face'']]."
** Also, [http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=030617 on transporters]:
{{quote|'''Carl''': A show where all sentient life has the ultimate superweapon, and they float around pointing flashlight at each other.}}
== [[Web Original]] ==
* The eponymous object in ''[[Erikas New Perfume|Erika's New Perfume]]'' never really does more but take up space in Erika's bedroom after Sarah uses it, despite having at least two of its three demonstrated functions with a definite audience for them and having even more [[All There in the Manual]]. This might partially be because the characters themselves don't ''have'' the manual, though.
* ''[[Cracked.com]]'''s [https://web.archive.org/web/20131016234318/http://www.cracked.com/article/138_6-magical-movie-items-they-wasted-bullshit/ 6 Magical Movie Items They Wasted on Bullshit].{{dead link}}
* Phase is single-handedly wrecking this trope in the [[Whateley Universe]]. Only a freshman at [[Super-Hero School|Whateley Academy]], he's already going around getting inventors to sign up with his financial service and marketing their inventions to fix this problem. Bugs had a weird gadget that faked painting on stuff: Phase saw how to turn it into the best toy ever. Jericho had some stuff that Phase is trying to patent and turn into the best medikit in the world. Loophole had a gadget that helped her get awesome performance out of her self-built car: Phase wants to market it as a way of cranking up automotive fuel efficiency world-wide.
* ''[[Sailor Nothing]]'' author Stephan Gagne's ''[http://www.pixelscapes.com/unrealestate/ Unreal Estate]'' is set [[In a World]] where technology that allows pocket universes to be created to order is ubiquitous. It's mostly used to create a few [[Planet of Hats|Worlds of Hats]]
* Averted in [[The Salvation War]]. When the [[Legions of Hell]] invade Earth, they start out with Bronze Age tactics and technology, but that proves [[Curb Stomp Battle|inadequate]]. They quickly adapt by using their portal-making abilities for [[Fantastic Nuke
== Western Animation ==
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* Parodied to no end in ''[[Invader Zim]]''. The title character once created an orbital satellite station that sucked out all the water from the city, gathered it into a giant balloon, and dropped it for no other reason than to win a water balloon fight.
** A massive robot obviously capable of obliterating everything in its path is used by Zim to get revenge on Dib for a few off-hand comments made earlier in the episode.
** Zim tries to get revenge on Dib for throwing a muffin at him. Zim gets Dib
** Zim has a device that can take out human organs and subsitute them with...stuff...and what does he do with it? He uses it to stuff himself full of human organs in case the <s>school</s> skool nurse decides to do an x-ray. Never mind sucking the brains out of the entire human populace, what if Zim needs to see a doctor?
** Perhaps the most bizarre by
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the episode "Jail Bird" of ''[[Darkwing Duck]]''; Negaduck is continually frustrated that Megavolt, Bushroot and the Liquidator are too stupid to make full use of their superpowers. (Although, thanks to a power-stealing emerald, Negaduck ultimately doesn't fare much better.)
** Well, his main problem was that he also gained three new sets of weaknesses and a compulsion to act goofy at inopportune moments in addition to the powers. You have to admit, before he got taken down, he was much more of a threat then Bushroot, Megavolt, and Liquidator ever could have been.
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** Another Halloween episode has Lisa and Bart develop superpowers. Bart vows to uses his powers (stretching) "only to annoy", and procedes to pull a prank on Skinner.
* Pretty much every invention ever made by Doctor Doofensmirtz on ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]''. In one particular incident, he created a machine that could remove zinc from water as the first stage of a circuitous plot that even he couldn't remember all the details of. Considering that zinc is fairly useful metal, he could have just cornered the world zinc market, made a lot of money, and done so legally at that.
* On the PBS cartoon ''[[Word Girl]]'' the villainous Dr. Two-Brains builds a ray which can make gold into cheese (he's obsessed with cheese) and then a second one which can turn potato salad into gold. He then ''steals'' potato salad to turn into gold and then into cheese. Not only WordGirl but even the ''announcer'' think this is the stupidest plan
* One could say that many of the devices Shredder and Krang use in [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987]] had more potential than they were using them for, including Krang's [[Morph Weapon|molecular]] [[Make My Monster Grow|manipulation circuit]] for his suit.
** {{spoiler|In ''[[Turtles Forever]]'', the Shredder of [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003]] was much more creative with the Technodrome's technology, such as using the dimensional portal for bigger ambitions and even spliced the technology of Krang's suit into his own to great effect.}}
* Very common in ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', which was set [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] and given the kind of writing team that admits they usually just blew the building up to round off the episode because they hadn't though of an ending. Most of the plots revolved around some new technology, and none of it was thought out very hard.
** Particularly ludicrous example is that cash money has become obsolete, but the writers apparently didn't understand how digital currency transfers work, so you get things like people stealing shipments of little green 'cash cards,' or running a 'cash card' through one of those little handheld beeper thingies and getting the correct amount in the read-out, but then the card gets stolen back and apparently the money's still on it.
** The various incarnations of [[G-Rated Drug]] in the franchise are often subject to this as well, but the Venom 'slappers' are kind of an
** And, of course, all the supervillains. The future has hovercars, but they work about the same as regular cars, and pretty much all that's different is that youthful self-destructive behavior is more colorful.
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*** It's the [[Discworld|socio-economic factors]].
* Any one who actually has psychic powers could make tons of cash at Las Vegas instead of appearing on talk shows. As Jay Leno once said, "Why do you never see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?" Answer: Because when a psychic wins, he doesn't tell he's psychic. 'Cause, you know, some people might dare accuse him of cheating.
** This is actually [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the Nicolas Cage film ''Next''. Also justified since the psychic in question knows he's being hunted down by the government and thus keeps his wins small to avoid attracting attention.
** This is also used in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Planet of the Dead", with a psychic woman who repeatedly wins small amounts on the lottery, because she's happy enough with her life as it is and doesn't want the changes a big win would create.
** In case you haven't heard, Casinos tend to kick anyone who starts winning too much out the door, and blacklisting them across town. Because no one said they have to play fair.
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* The Computer, a machine capable of performing incredibly complex arithmetic and decision logic, primarily sees use doing a workless infinite loop and managing resources that may one day be used. Even in the case of people who actually use computers for things, most of the time it's the same old boring stuff over and over again. They want to do their accounts, or write a letter, when the machine may be capable of creating sapient or sentient thought, or just comparing your personal data to millions of other people and trying to figure out what kind of beer you'd want.
** And [[The Internet Is for Porn|porn.]] Can't forget the porn.
** Oh, it gets used for the important stuff, too, like doing simulations for engineers and scientists. It's just that they're so cheap nowadays that the [[Mundane Utility]] of being able to do silly stuff like editing [[
** [[It Gets Worse]]. The Brain, the most marvelous organ in your body, capable of incredible feats of complex movement coordination, communication, image and sound analysis, and decision-making, primarily sees use reading [[
*** [[Running Gag|And porn. Can't forget the porn.]]
* Any science fiction full-body alteration device. Yes, they do occasionally forget that [[Reed Richards Is Useless]] and start marketing it to transsexuals, but fail to recognize that a device capable of making such thorough rearrangements of adult bodies ''might'' be engineered for more than appearance - like, say, ''immortality''.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Applied Phlebotinum]]
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