Mundane Utility: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:The Incredibles Mundane Utility 6877.png|link=The Incredibles|frame|[[Super Strength]] and [[Rubber Man|Super Stretching]]: Great for fighting crime. Even better for housecleaning.]]

 

If you think about it, this is actually rather sensible. Even super heroes and heroines aren't going to be fighting for their lives every single minute of every day, and in most cases [[Power Incontinence|the powers won't shut off]]. If it's more convenient, then why ''not'' make your life a little simpler? Call it "[[Wax On, Wax Off|practice]]" if you have to justify it (or just ask them "[[Mundane Made Awesome|What do you mean, it's not awesome?]]").

 

[[Martial Arts and Crafts]] is a subset of this trope, for when martial arts abilities are used for reasons other than fighting. Also an opposite of sorts to [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]], [[Inverse Law of Utility and Lethality]], [[Reed Richards Is Useless]] and [[Useless Superpowers]]. If this is applied to killing someone (such as, say, a gigantic nuke against a feeble human), it may become [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]].

 

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Digimon Xros Wars]]'' involves using Digimon attacks... for cooking!

* Mai Tokiha of ''[[Mai-Otome (manga)|Mai-Otome]]'' uses her ability to create flaming rings to... [http://youtube.com/watch?v=iC9TW9BwRNs cook]. Meanwhile, the robot warrior Miyu doubles as a spiffy eggbeater.

* In ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', Tasuke's asked to burn some hairs with his fire powers, so he goes into his usual warm-up pose before tossing a tiny flame. Later, despite his protests that his fire-spewing steel fan is a weapon and not merely a handy device to ward off the cold, he can be seen in the background, lightly fanning Nuriko after the latter complains about the cold.

* The [[Absurdly Powerful Student Council]] in ''[[Code Geass]]'' pulls out an old [[Humongous Mecha]] to... make the [[Mundane Made Awesome|World's Largest Pizza]].

** Also see D-rank missions, which consist almost entirely of this trope.

** In the Forest of Death, Naruto jumps into the river with Shadow Clone Jutsu, and forces several fish to the surface. Sasuke tosses kunai at them, and starts a fire with Fire Ball Jutsu.

** Deidara frequently uses his explosive clay creatures as transport.

** Naruto's [[Super Mode]] which calls on the uncorrupted Ninetails chakra is used [[Fantastic Light Source|as a flashlight]], which is then properly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]].

* In ''[[Codename: Sailor V]]'', the prequel to ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', Minako's pen and mirror show the truth. Minako uses said pen on all her tests to churn out expert essays on things she knows absolutely nothing about. Needless to say, her Guardian Cat Artemis is livid.

* In ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'', the protagonist at one point finds himself attending a fancy dinner party. Rather than use his nigh-unbeatable swordplay in battle, he picks up a knife and performs the: Hiten Mitsurugui Rui - Steak style- to cut up a steak.

** This trope is also subverted when he goes looking for the heir of a famous swordmaker: he uses one of the man's kitchen knives to slice up a daikon in the most [[Mundane Made Awesome]] way possible, and then reveals that he was testing the blade.

** Also, Yin is actually [[Blind Seer|blind]]; she sees using her ability to project a [[Soul Fragment]] into water. And because it's [[Invisible to Normals|visible exclusively]] to Dolls and Contractors, Dolls sometimes use it for communication.

* In ''[[Shina Dark]]'', a mage uses an ice-based attack spell to conjure a giant pointy ice shard... so it can be chipped apart to make sno-cones. He even complains afterward, "It's not like I studied magic for something like this, you know..."

* In ''[[Zone of the Enders]]: Dolores, i'', Dolores and James spend time [[Locked in a Freezer|Locked in a Base in a Snowstorm]] with an enemy pilot they shot down. Honest to a fault, they decide to pay for the power and resources used during their time there with a necklace worn by the pilot. Dolores decides she should get a job to pay the pilot back for the pendant. Incidentally, Dolores is a [[Humongous Mecha]]. She's a sweetie.

* The fourth part of ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' includes a couple of Stands that are primarily utility: Pearl Jam (allows the body to undo its maladies with ingested food ''much'' more rapidly than normal; not a birth or Arrow Stand, but just awakened by Tonio's culinary zeal), and Cinderella (alters someone's features in a sort of psychic cosmetic surgery, and amplifies that someone's luck in the process).

** In the third part, Jotaro confines himself to a prison cell out of fear of what his Stand can do (he doesn't understand it yet). While in it, he uses his Stand to pick things up for him to make it more comfortable, like beer and a radio. [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Ever-increasingly terrifying the other prisoners.]]

** And later, Yamcha used his super powers to become a major league baseball player. [[Can't Catch Up|Not that they were really useful for anything else by that point of the series anyway.]]

** Another example, the Dragon Balls themselves, at least early on. Except for Emperor Pilaf, who wants to [[Take Over the World]], the others wanted the balls and their powers for completely silly things; Oolong wanted some panties (which he got), Bulma wanted a "super-cute boyfriend", (originally it was a lifetime supply of strawberries) and Yamcha wanted them to get rid of his fear of girls. (Bulma & Yamcha later helped each other with their respective wishes, at least, until a certain Saiyan prince came along).

** In one of the novels, Shinra is restrained for several hours after accidentally getting caught in one of Celty's shadow webs. He managed to pass the time by [[Power Perversion Potential|thinking of ways that they could]] [[Nightmare Fetishist|use said webs for S&M]].

* V1046-R MAHORO and other characters from ''[[Mahoromatic]]'' stop being combat robots yet they still use their powers to cook, clean and search for ecchi (to trash it) because "Ecchi na no wa ikenai to omoimasu" (roughly "I think that dirty thoughts are bad").

* In ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', it's established that America has super strength. However, the only times we see this are when he's a kid and he swings a full grown buffalo over his head, and later when he drags a full sized SUV with ease in order to ask if he could borrow it.

* One of the omake [[Yonkoma]] in the ''[[Inazuma Eleven]] Special'' manga has Endou using his God Hand technique to smack a fly, and again in a game of [[Rock-Paper-Scissors]] to throw a ''really'' big "Paper".

** This actually gets lampshaded in-story, as The Bubble ''was'' created by Clow Reed for that specific use. More exactly, to give Kerberos (a huge winged feline in his unsealed form) his daily bath [[Brilliant but Lazy|without working out too much.]]

* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray|Gundam SEED DELTA Astray]]'' introduces the Gundam Astray Out Frame, whose pilot Jess Rabble uses it for photojournalism. What really pushes it into this territory is that it was built off of the abandoned frame of the ZAFT prototype X12A, making it the sibling to the [[The Hero|Freedom]], [[The Lancer|Justice]], and [[Big Bad|Providence]] from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED|Gundam SEED]]'' proper.

* In a supplemental 4-panel strip of '[[Zettai Karen Children]]'' Mio, who has an ability to create a [[Portal Door]] wherever she wants, shows how she often uses her ability to teleport her arms and face behind her head so that she can fix the back side of her hairdo.

* Shizuku from ''[[Omamori Himari]]'' is a water-demon, capable of [[Making a Splash|extensive control over water]]. In her first appearances, she uses her abilities to perform nigh-undetectable espionage (since she can 'blend in' to any amount of water), create a torrential downpour from previously-clear skies, summon powerful whirlpools, and [[An Ice Person|create spikes of ice for combat]]. Her enormous strength, and the titular [[Catgirl]]'s fear of water, meant that she was able to overpower the protagonists easily. If Yuuto's charisma hadn't made her think twice, she could've ended the entire series in the second episode. In her next appearance, she's using her water-control to cook, clean, and do the laundry with inhuman speed and skill to impress Yuuto.

* In ''[[Black Butler]]'', Sebastian's super speed is really useful for getting household chores done, but he can also do things like restore a burned-down manor to its former glory and make iris bulbs quickly grow into iris flowers to prettify the garden. The full extent of his powers is unknown.

** Baldroy also tries to apply his special abilities to his mundane work, but when "good with heavy weaponry" is the ability he tries to use and the task is cooking, the results aren't pretty.

* The title character of ''[[My Lovely Ghost Kana]]'' has discovered she can produce [[Ghostly Chill]] '''to cool cans of beer''' by tucking them into her cleavage for a minute or so. Her living boyfriend notices that area isn't especially cold at other times.

 

** He tried using his short-lived electrical powers to shave, with... [[Hilarity Ensues|unexpected]] results.

** In the epilogue to the graphic novel ''[[Kingdom Come]]'', there's a nice bit with Superman using his heat vision to "fix" Bruce Wayne's underdone steak.

** In [http://mises.org/story/2242 this] article, an economist argues that if he were real, Superman [[Reed Richards Is Useless|should also spend his time making billions of dollars doing mundane things]] like lifting satellites into orbit or manufacturing diamonds. The author notes that if Superman objects to the crass materialism of the situation, he could simply donate all his money to charity and likely solve world hunger.

*** Superman ''did'' try to solve world hunger... [[Tear Jerker|and failed.]]

*** Superman has ''also'' manufactured a ton of diamonds in ''Superman: True Brit''. [[You Fail Economics Forever|Unfortunately, he made WAY too many...]]

** [[The Silver Age of Comic Books]] basically turned him into a ''full-bore doormat'' with this; flying dinosaur skeletons into the Metropolis Museum (with a specially-designed removable roof, no less!), smoothing out a ship's transport for Lois Lane by lifting it over his head...

** Does Clark Kent "interviewing" Superman to get his job at the Daily Planet count?

*** It does if one accepts the "super hypnosis" explanation for [[Clark Kenting]].

* The [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] are known for their members using their powers for mundane reasons.

*** He also created an ice rose to impress Rogue in the first one. Awwwww.

*** He does this in the comics as well, when in college.

** When Jay Garrick, the first Flash, got his powers, nearly the first thing he used them for was to save his girlfriend a trip to the library.

** The Chunk, one of the Flash's supporting cast in the '90s, was a large man whose internal organs had been replaced by a portal to another dimension. He needed to send things through the portal to "feed" himself, but he could also use it as a storage facility; when the Flash moved into a large house he'd inherited, Chunk helped him move by sucking up all his furniture and spitting it back out at the new place.

** Bart Allen uses his powers to get away with just about anything possible (eg. multitasking video gaming, eating and/or chores); part of the reason he was sent to live with Max Mercury is so that he could be trained ''not'' to do this as a reflexive reaction.

* [[Wonder Woman]]'s lasso of truth. Gift from the gods. Unbreakable weapon beyond mortal understanding. Really good for making your friends embarrass themselves by blurting out the truth at inopportune moments.

** Soranik Natu only accepted the Green Lantern Ring—thanks to Sinestro's tenure as planetary dictator, the rings were considered evil weapons of terror on Korugar at the time—because she was desperately trying to save someone's life, and she lacked the medical equipment needed for treatment. She used the ring to construct the sophisticated equipment needed to save her patient's life.

* Sara Pezzini has used her ''[[Witchblade (Comic Book)|Witchblade]]'', a cosmic artifact of nigh limitless power to move furniture while moving and make toys for her daughter.

* In ''[[The Darkness]]'', Jackie once sent the Darklings, (foul-mouthed lesser demons that he creates and controls, typically used to kill at will) [[Villains Out Shopping|to pick up his dry cleaning.]]

* ''[[Empowered]]'': One advantage of shacking up with a girl with a super-strength granting alien battlesuit? Darned easy to rotate the tires on your SUV.

* Occasionally happens in ''[[PS238]]''. Even aside of [[Gadgeteer Genius]]es and magic users... Ambriel uses her invisibility to electronics to [[Snooping Little Kid|sneak out and find some entertainment]] when she's bored. Julie once [[For Halloween I Am Going as Myself|pretended to be a "superhero baloon"]] in an [[Alternate Universe]] without metahumans. [[Rubber Man|Poly Mer]] may not really have a costume, or bubble gum, even if it looks like she does. Tom Davidson evidently will have used time travel to entertain his sweetheart (speaking of which... ''[[Time Travel Romance|yes]]'') with photo from far past. The Flea uses his control over insects mostly for practical jokes.

 

* In [http://community.livejournal.com/mgs_slash/219089.html this] ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' fanfic, Raikov uses Volgin's [[Psycho Electro|electrical powers]] for art projects.

* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', Yuki used her data manipulation powers to slow the relative time around a tea kettle preventing its tea from cooling down.

* ''[[Touhou]]'' fans love to depict various powers used for mundane or silly reasons. Even beyond all those mentioned below, Suika using her manipulation of density to collect small things - and growing to giant size to easily collect lumber ''by plucking whole trees as though they were carrots'' - Aya using her [[Super Speed]] to aid in her role as the local [[Intrepid Reporter]], [[An Ice Person|Cirno]] being used as [http://danbooru.donmai.us/pool/show/1787 air conditioning], [[Reality Warper|Yukari]] using her gaps for [[It Amused Me|pranks]], and many, many other variations exist.

* The mundane utility of most things from ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'' is explored in ''[[In the Service]]'', from using flight magic letting someone avoid pressure-based traps to telepathy being used for privacy or in loud environments. Some of the more worrisome aspects are also examined, like being able to cauterize the wounds your [[Flaming Sword]] causes ''while it is causing them'' being handy for cutting off people's bits as a torture technique.

 

* ''[[Edward Scissorhands]]'' does hedges, makes ice sculptures, cuts hair and grooms dogs.

* The second ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men in Black]]'' movie has Jeeves saying he used the exhaust from the {{spoiler|Deneuralizer}} to make hot air popcorn.

** She's standing on only ''one'' of the legs.

 

* In ''[[Redwall|The Legend of Luke]]'', Martin uses his sword (yes, the legendary artifact regarded as magic in later books) to cut a cake.

** Then there's the famous line, "See this magical sword? Did you know it has the power to make pretty hare maidens happy?"...

* In the second book of the second trilogy of the ''[[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'', Thomas uses his [[Cosmic Keystone|white gold]] [[Ring of Power|ring]], an artifact of [[Wild Magic|indomitable magic]] that destroys peace, to shave.

** Shaving is excellent training for controlling the wild magic. Considering he couldn't use it in the first series at all, and when it did activate, it had a tendency to blow up everything around him, that sounds perfectly reasonable.

** On a related note, many nobles in ''[[Discworld]]'' send their children to the Assassin's Guild of Ankh Morpork. There are two main reasons for this: 1: Knowing how to assassinate people teaches their children how to guard against assassination, and 2: it actually is one of the best formal education schools in the world.

** Unseen University's omniscopes are powerful scrying devices that can see anywhere and anywhen. Because of this it's extremely hard to get them to show anywhere and anywhen ''in particular'', so they usually show the blackness of empty space (that being what most of the universe consists of). The wizards mostly use them as shaving mirrors.

** In a world in which technology to make clockwork is rare, how does one keep track time? Trap tiny demons in watches of course! They aren't dangerous, but the clocks aren't very reliable, which makes mechanic ones far better.

** On the other side of the fence, Discworld witches are trained to avert this trope (which doesn't necessarily mean they do it 100%, just that they're trained not to rely on magic as much as possible). Most of them seem to take it as a point of pride how far they can go using only hard work and completely nonmagical things like herbalism and headology.

'''Mrs Googol''': Sure. When there ain't no alternative.

'''Nanny''': When ... you know ... people ain't showing respect, like.

* [[Keith Laumer]] has written a series of stories about "[[Bolo]]" tanks, super sized military tanks. In one of the stories, it is mentioned that after a war an attempt was made to use them for peaceful purposes, including attaching a blade for demolition work to one and calling it a "tractor". The half-megaton/second firepower still available on it tended to belay the "peaceful" status.

** A later scheme was to use an obsolete Bolo's massively powerful AI and large hull space to create an automated tractor/bulldozer/genetics lab for adapting crops to survive on newly settled colonies. While those responsible were smart enough to remove the [[Frickin' Laser Beams]] this time, they made a really shoddy job of adapting the AI's programming: the result being that when the colony was invaded by hostile aliens it kicked into combat mode and exterminated them all with customised bioweapons, all while thinking they were just a particularly large type of crop pest.

** Ekaterin's own point of view regarding this scene:

{{quote|''Yes, she realized enviously, he could just wave all ordinary problems out of his path. Leaving only the extraordinary ones... her envy ebbed.''}}

* In ''[[Harry Potter]]'' magic is used for nearly everything imaginable. From making animated Chocolate Frogs, to the various practical joke items, transport, Quidditch, enchanted items that do household chores for you, self stirring cauldrons, semi-sentient owls, radio (no muggle radio for them, which works out fine since wizards apparently get better radios), the list goes on. It's stated that high levels of magic such as at Hogwarts cause Muggle technology more advanced than a wristwatch to fail to work.

** [[Justified Trope]] in that, if Arthur Weasley is any example, the magical population of the world hasn't a clue how Muggle technology ''works''. If the wizarding world ever gets hit with an [[Anti-Magic]] Field or something, they'd die of starvation surrounded by filth.

** A necessary function, as he is a [[Big Eater]].

** Another case has Zedd restoring a wilted flower to full vitality before he goes to speak with his girlfriend.

* [[The Dresden Files|Harry Dresden]] uses his magic to light candles and his fireplace, and occasionally to create energy drinks in magic potion form, among other things. Also, Thomas {{spoiler|uses his White Vampire abilities to give the most pleasurable haircuts possible, thus earning his rent and "eating" all at once}}.

* In the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] novel ''[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Yoda:_Dark_Rendezvous Yoda: Dark Rendezvous]'' has [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Wookieepedia:Quote_of_the_Day/2_July_2007 a conversation about such uses of the force] (But of course using the force for such things [[Comes Great Responsibility|leads to the darkside]])

* The boys in ''[[Krabat]]'' may and do use magic for their daily work and even just for pranks.

* In ''[[The Bartimaeus Trilogy]]'' magicians often summon demons for mundane tasks such as redecorating their homes or working as manservants. Despite the lack of risk they often resent this as much or more than their more dangerous jobs. There's glory to be found in battle, less so in wallpapering.

 

* In one episode of ''[[The Invisible Man (TV series)|The Invisible Man]]'', Fawkes is scolded for using his invisibility to get into movies for free.

** When asked by a kid if he ever used his ability to sneak into women's locker rooms, Darien refuses to answer. In the pilot, he was caught spying on a soldier and a nurse getting it on and gets a black eye for that.

This weekend: Closed for Battle to death with Borg Cube.

April 18th: Shriner's Convention. }}

*** Also justified in that TNG-era Starfleet really only has two kinds of ships - smaller science-oriented ships and larger "floating city"-type ships. The former are the kind to have bunk beds and communal showers, making the latter the only option for diplomatic missions of any magnitude.

* In ''[[Farscape]]'', Sikozu's radiation projection has been used not only to kill Scarrans but also to weld control panels and light candles.

** Jool's sonic scream is powerful enough to melt metal; naturally, she's used for welding when power goes out all over Moya.

** D'Argo once used his Qualta blade for blast fishing.

** Occasionally, D'Argo uses his extendable tongue for things besides stunning people: snatching up small objects in a hurry, or hanging from precipices- though this takes "a lot of plactith," according to D'Argo.

** When it's not being used to produce hallucinogens and poisons, Noranti's impressive knowledge of botany and chemistry (along with the associated hebarium) is being put to use in cooking.

** Once upon a time, Moya's DRDs were only used for repairing Moya, healing pilot and assaulting intruders: it all changed when Crichton taught one of them (that they inherited from a different Leviathan) to sing the 1812 overture...

** Scorpius' neural clone ([[Not-So-Imaginary Friend|Harvey]], originally created to collect and catalogue the wormhole information in Crichton's brain, is now used to bring some Crichton's funnier fantasies into the light. Harvey doesn't seem to mind all that much...

*** Suggested by Harvey but tragically never used:

* In ''[[Warehouse 13]]'', Pete uses [[Alice in Wonderland|Lewis Carroll's mirror]] to play ping pong. With himself. To be fair, he didn't know at the time that {{spoiler|it houses the murderous spirit of Alice Liddel}}, so it's not like there was any other use for it.

** It seems to be common practice to use various objects for mundane tasks, or to repurpose them. The automated vacuum sweeper and Claudia's use of a snow globe that freezes things to chill a bottle of cola are evidence of this.

* Despite the fact that the ''[[Charmed]]'' witches are explicitly not supposed to use their powers "for personal gain", they frequently seem to find loopholes in this stricture large enough to do things like turning off boiling-over pots, stopping their favorite employees from being fired, and so on.

* Jonathan Smith in ''[[Highway to Heaven]]'' uses his powers as an angel of God to do things to help him with his duties. Although his powers sometimes help him do incredible things like catch bullets, these are most often of the mundane variety, such as keeping doors from opening so someone will have to stay and listen to his lecture, pushing little girls into swimming pools, making beer disappear out of glasses and pitchers (despite the fact that he served the beer in the first place), making it rain inside a car to keep a man from lighting a cigarette, or appearing/disappearing without using the door. (Ta da!)

* In one episode of ''[[Home Improvement (TV series)|Home Improvement]]'', Tim Taylor got NASA to send him a tank of rocket fuel, which he uses to light a barbecue. He ends up accidentally launching the whole barbecue grill into low orbit.

* One episode of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' had House using a highly advanced and very expensive surgical robot to...cut a button on Cuddy's blouse, make a very shallow incision on her face and blow air on her. It is a demo of the machine's precision, after all. Not that she isn't a little aroused...

* ''[[The Lost Room]]'' features a number of [[Capital Letters Are Magic|Objects]] with seemingly-random supernatural powers. The one thing they all have in common is that they're indestructible. This makes The Coat useful as a bulletproof vest, despite it's actual ability being unknown.

** However, though The Comb can stop time, it cannot be effectively used to comb hair.

* ''[[Ax Men]]'': Shelby Stanga carries a long-barreled [[Revolvers Are Just Better|revolver]], ostensibly to defend himself from the local wildlife. One day, while felling a large tree, made recalcitrant by Shelby's... questionable felling technique, he helps the tree tip over using said ''revolver''.

* [[Smallville|Clark Kent]] makes a great farmboy with his superstrength and invulnerability.

 

 

* The ''[[Far Side]]'' cartoon "Moses parting his hair" illustrates this.

** [[Just for Pun|Well, if Moses had a sea of red hair...]]

* Calvin of ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' invents (or imagines) all kinds of amazing devices, such as a cloning box. He makes a clone of himself and tells it to do his homework. Unfortunately, since it's a clone of ''Calvin'', this doesn't go over well ...

 

* ''[[That Mitchell and Webb Sound]]'' has a skit in which two people consider inviting Sally [[Star Wars|Vader]] and her husband to their party. Apparently he plays football and is an incredible goalkeeper, to the point that it seems like he only has to stretch out his hand and the ball goes veering away from the goal. He also has "the most incredible [[Laser Blade|electric carving knife]] I've ever seen".

 

* [[Ross Noble]] once joked about using laser eye-beams to heat soup.

 

* The [[Humongous Mecha|BattleMechs]] of ''[[BattleTech]]''. Mechs equipped with hands can be used in combat engineering and light construction duties, a high-power 6 ton military laser can be toned down for welding, and long ranged missiles can be used for clearing areas for civilian use.

** Since [[Industrial Mechs]] exist in the universe, with civilian standard equipment, using the military grade stuff in this way is probably a bit overkill (and likely to attract the wrong kind of attention). That being said, a recent rule book has stats for turning a short range missile launcher into a harpoon launcher. ''For Space Whaling''.

{{quote|When you're safe in your own haven, surrounded by furniture you've built yourself — that's Metamorphosis. Right now, I'm into working with lots of different materials. [[Dead Baby Comedy|Children's bones are very malleable]], but they don't bear much weight, [[Crosses the Line Twice|so you have to use a lot of them]]. I'm very happy with this fainting couch I just finished; it cries when you sit on it, but I'll show it to you if you like.|Ahriman Berney-Scott, feng shui enthusiast}}

* Mostly averted in ''[[Star Wars]]'' (it takes itself more seriously than the movies).

 

* In ''[[Golden Sun]]'', a lot of Psynergy falls into [[Utility Magic]], but some simply have Mundane Utility. Whirlwind can be used to clear away vines obstructing goals (or set dangling chains/vines/ropes in motion for some swinging); Frost can be used to bridge gaps by turning a puddle of water into a giant ice pillar; Growth can be used to turn random sprouts into climbable vines.

** In ''The Lost Age'', a baby girl in a house in Contigo can be seen using Whirlwind to cool off in the hot weather.

* In one of the trailers of ''[[The Secret World]],'' the [[The Illuminati|Illuminati]] henchman, Alex McCall, uses magic to make the end of his cigarette spontaneously ignite and to telekinetically play around with spare change.

* The teleporter in ''[[Startopia]]'' can be used to move any non-organic objects, or store them indefinitely in the pattern buffer. 90% of the time, it'll be used for picking up trash.

 

* ''[[The Perry Bible Fellowship]]'' proves [http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/998/caffeinatorse8.jpg here] that useless superpowers with this can win by sheer rarity value.

* The title character of ''Magical Mina'', part of the ''[[Tsunami Channel]]'' ...uh, franchise?... does this sometimes, with [http://www.tsunamichannel.com/index.php?date=2002-09-16&comic=MaMi this] being a particularly good example. She's also adapted her Sword magic for a scalpel. Of course, she was written to be an exceedingly clever and intelligent [[Magical Girl]]. Also, [http://www.tsunamichannel.com/index.php?date=2003-10-17&comic=MaMi here].

** There's also Ardam using a lightning spell to recharge the batteries in Drecker's Walkman.

* Dave in ''[[CRFH]]'' has used his laser vision to make popcorn.

* ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]'' considers how to make [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2305#comic optimal use of Superman] as a large-scale energy source.

* ''[[Wayward Sons]]'': Occasionally, but the most [[Egregious]] example would be Nysus using his ability to manipulate time in a localized area to ferment wine in time for the Holy Day celebration.

* ''[[Minions At Work]]'' aren't always at work: [[Evil Minions]] have their days off too. Which is why things like [http://www.minionsatwork.com/2011/10/minions-at-work-delayed-this-week.html All-Terrain Hammock With Attached Shade And Controlled Rocking] appear around [[Supervillain Lair|supervillain lairs]].

* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209160451/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3462 Crimney's book from Hell can light a fire on a rainy day.]

** Post-Trans-Uranium alloys are used almost exclusively to make annihilation plants, due to being so energy-expensive to produce that availability of this stuff is one of the main factors defining exact place of a space civilisation on [[Kardashev Scale]]. The ancient Oafans used this material for spaceship hulls - not only ''warship'' hulls, but all of them, down to small boats.

*** Chinook used an ancient Oafan super-freighter as "a pair of mountain-sized, armored [[Improvised Umbrella|umbrellas]]".

 

* Some of the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' characters have used their powers to dry off after a shower (Phase and Chaka both), dry her hair (Fey), shave her legs (Verdant), unpack suitcases (Bugs), keep her clothes clean (Pristine), have [[Snowball Fight]]s (a lot of Poe cottage), mop floors and fold laundry (Chaka), paint a room (Plastic Girl), move furniture, shop, and on and on.

** In the prequel comics, Johnny Snow uses his ice beam to chill a six-pack of beer/soda.

* [http://qntm.org/?ed Ed], the man who subconsciously received his brain from the future, built a fleet of [[Humongous Mecha]]s to save the world from invading aliens, and accidentally erased the Andromeda Galaxy by ''hacking the universe''... [http://qntm.org/?bread puts a time machine to very unorthodox purposes].

** Plus there are the SCPs who ''only'' have mundane utility (a pizza box that makes your favorite pizza) and the ones that just ''look'' like have mundane utility but can have interesting applications, including a coffee machine that can give you cups of any liquid, including someone's blood.

** The Foundation does discourage its personnel from using SCPs in this fashion. Mundane uses of the objects is highly regulated—even the pizza box.

** [http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-294 SCP-294] actually isn't as regulated as you'd think. All the Foundation really needs for it are two armed guards stationed at it to make sure no one orders anything dangerous. Otherwise, they keep it in the break room, and allow people to use it to get beverages in order to save money on drinks. Hey, they've gotta cut some costs too.

** [http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-739 SCP-739] flips the [[Mirror Chemistry|molecular chirality]] of anything locked in it. One researcher pointed out that using this on sugar results in a pretty good low-calorie sweetener.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100219051808/http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41904 This article] from ''[[The Onion]]'' about the head of NASA borrowing the space shuttle to get home faster.

* [[5-Second Films]] gives us the "[http://5secondfilms.com/watch/death_ray_from_space Death Ray From Space]"; a [[Kill Sat]] used to puzzle a kitten.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRltwX49Gzw This sketch] from Carpe Clunes depicts a [[Public Service Announcement]] warning the viewer of [[Mind Over Matter|psychics']] tendency to ruin games of pictionary.

* In ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'', members of the Blue Team have used the scopes of their sniper rifles as binoculars to spy upon the Reds from a distance. Also, in the later seasons, Tucker's sword also counts. It is debatable as to whether or not it was primarily created to be a sword or a key. Quoth Caboose: "Or maybe it's a key all the time, and it when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death."

* Abounds in ''[[Tales of MU]]''.

2023. Using my runic powers to provide a light show for my skald's musical performances is abusing Grumfather's gift. (''7th Sea'')

2158. Using my animal influence ability to send countless animals on a suicide attack is fine, but not to form a chorus line.

 

* The title characters of ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' frequently use their powers for other things when they're not fighting crime or monsters, such as cleaning their room.

* Coop from ''[[Megas XLR]]'' abused his mecha's abilities at every possible opportunity, usually just for rather mundane things. And that's not counting all the times he's just showing off because he's bored.

** It's also continually subverted. Even though he's in a giant mech with enough firepower to destroy planets and can ''fly at interstellar speeds'', he still has to deal with things like traffic and annoying drivers. In one episode, Megas got ''towed''. Coop had to jump through all the hoops, including retaking the driver's exam, to get back a giant robot that could smite the world with the press of a button.

* In ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'', the Pig Talisman is found in Bavaria, where its Eye Beam power was used to melt chocolate.

** Jade often used the Talismans for normal problems, such as using the Rabbit Talisman to get to school on time.

* In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]],'' all unicorns can use their magic for simple telekinesis which effectively gives them an extra pair of hands. This is especially useful since ponies don't ''have'' hands. This makes tasks like turning pages, writing letters, and eating sandwiches much easier for them than they are for other ponies. Twilight Sparkle in particular [[Red Mage|can learn any magical spell]], and of course being the universe this is, a lot of what she has learned is mundane utility spells. That doesn't stop her from being a one-pony magical arsenal of destruction as well, though.

** Pegasi can also use their wings to be able to hold light things underarm. Rainbow Dash once held a ball with her wing this way.

* In "[[Dan Vs.]] Parents" Elise uses her sword-fighting skills to chop lettuce.

* [[Jem]]'s earrings are holographic projectors, they also function as flashlights in a pinch.

 

* ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine, at least the centerfold photo for November 1972. This page was used by DARPA's Signal and Image Processing Institute as a "glossy" test image in 1973 for development work on the JPEG image format. [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/02/lena-image-processing-playboy/461970/ Even in the 2010s, Lenna Sjööblom's photo is still a standard reference image in image-processing research.]

 

* Take any group of trained professionals and you'll find this done eventually.

* Ted Taylor, a nuclear physicist, used the reflected thermal pulse of a [[Nuke'Em|nuclear blast]] to light a cigarette at one of the atomic bomb tests.

** The same thing happens with off duty bus drivers, to buy lunch.

* Firefighters, police and ambulance drivers (especially the latter for obvious reasons) will often unabashedly clear gridlocks with their sirens. [[Double Standard|People are not half as amused]].

* In [[World War I]], water cooled machine guns were occasionally fired just so that the resulting hot water in their cooling jackets could be used to make cups of tea.

** A more recent example is soldiers doing their washing over a long offroad trip by putting dirty fatigues, water and soap flakes in a sealed container and stashing the whole thing in the back of their jeep. It was even used to advertise the vehicle at one point.

''A friend worked for a company that made IC's. Every few months, their yields would go down to about zero. Analysis of the failures showed all sorts of organic material was introduced in the process, but they couldn't figure out where. One evening, someone was working late and came into the lab. There he found the maintenance crew cooking pizza in the chip curing ovens!'' }}

** This is why most fabs run 24/7 and have only trained personal access the machines. There was an incident before they were up to 24/7 where a facilities tech used a diffusion oven (basically a box containing large heating elements) to cook hotdogs.

{{quote|<evilAdmin> Got back from meeting with a friend, who wanted to show me some $35K Server systems in a datacenter basically underground downtown that he is a part of.

<evilAdmin> During the tour, I'm like "Dude- is that a pizzabox inbetween those 4U servers?", and he's like "Yup. Want some lunch?". Pulls the box out, grabs a slice. I already ate, so I passed.

*** Forty-five percent of the nuclear material used in the 104 nuclear power plants in the US comes from old Russian Nuclear weapons. The electricity produced from repurposed Russian nuclear missiles accounts for about five percent of the electricity generated in the US.

** Same goes for Geothermic power. When people hear this word, they tend to think of '''harnessing the powers of a volcano!''' When you really get down to it, it's more or less sticking a giant cooking pot low enough into the earth so that it produces steam. For all it's uses, Electricity is pretty mundane.

** The soldiers had been taught to think of the robot as a [[Companion Cube|team-member]], given that it worked to save their lives (and their superior officers wanted them to take care of it), so when they took a day off, they felt the robot needed to come too.

* What do you get when you take a captured Iraqi tank and stick a pair of jet engines on it? The world's most [[Awesome Yet Practical|awesome]] [http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/08/jet-engines-on-trucks-for-fun-and.html fire extinguisher].

* Bayonets are often used for wire-cutting, opening cans, basically almost anything except impaling people which surprisingly has not been often done historically (usually when one side challenges a bayonet fight the other refuses; the fact that armor did not make a comeback in fashion until quite recently and one of the two sides was so battered by firepower that it's courage is knocked out affects that). Because of this recent bayonets have added features until they are really utility knives that incidentally can be fitted on a bayonet mount.

* The Prussians were the first in Europe to make proper use of troop trains. One use they got out of them was obscure but interesting. Because of them they could use reserve units in battle far away from home. This was important because until then [[New Meat|unseasoned troops]] wouldn't know how to carry their knapsacks and muskets and would be too tired to fight by the time they got to battle. By inserting them close to the front they could have a shorter march.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Improvised Index]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Magic and Powers]]

[[Category:Urban Fantasy Tropes]]