Power Copying: Difference between revisions
The Black Saint
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Ordinarily, someone could be severely challenged when facing off against an opponent of a different fighting style, requiring hard work and training to beat them.
On the other hand, some heroes merely have to see a special ability or attack being used a few times, and will pretty much learn it instantaneously, or be able to copy it. Most of the time,
Contrast with [[Ditto Fighter]], where the copying of the opponent's moveset ([[Shapeshifting|among other things]]) only lasts for a single battle/match involving that opponent.
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', the Kamehameha is a powerful attack that took decades for Kamesennin (a.k.a. Master Roshi) to perfect. Goku saw Kamesennin perform the attack once, and pretty much got the hang of it after only a few times. A number of other characters, including Tenshinhan and Majin Buu, use this trope inconsistently.
** Buu seems to be pretty consistent about it actually. He doesn't always throw the attack right back at the one who used it but he copies a number of powerful moves after seeing one of the Z-Fighters use it; including {{spoiler|Vegeta}}'s suicide explosion attack (which Buu can just regenerate from after using) and Goku's Instant Transmission Technique (which Kid Buu uses to chase the heroes across the universe when they try to perform a strategic retreat near the end of the arc).
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* Several enemies in the [[Sailor Moon]] anime had this ability, including the Gemini Warriors (copying Sailor Mars and Mercury), Techniclon (copying Sailor Jupiter), and Malachite (copying Sailor Jupiter, Venus, and Mars).
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
▲== Comic Books ==
* Rogue from ''[[X-Men]]'' is possibly the best-known example in the world of comics. However, her power works on bare skin contact and works [[Blessed with Suck|whether she wants it to or not]], and [[Incredibly Lame Pun|sucks]] the life out of the victim. This has been a constant source of angst, but recently she has gained better control so that touching people isn't always a near death sentance. There have been other X-Men examples over the years:
** Synch from ''[[Generation X]]'', though he possibly had the second-lamest power out of the group. As he couldn't keep any borrowed powers once their owner left his radius, there wasn't much he could do by himself and couldn't even fend off a pair of human bullies.
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** Also also in the DCU, the Parasitic Teutons of Assimilation, or PTA. WASPs engineered with the ability to copy any superpower they see in action. Their exact origin is a mystery, but be honest: would you really want to know?
* [[Mega Man (comics)|Mega Man]] of Archie Comics. It's pretty accurate to games, though also a source of angst as Rock is inherently a pacifist who is gaining ever more powerful weapons.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
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* The gloriously bonkers ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' [[Crack Fic]] ''[[A Little Angel On My Shoulder]]'' has the Instrumemory system, which is a bit different from most examples of this trope since it involves the Shoulder Angels (basically pint-sized ghosts of the canon Angels) temporarily merging with the Eva to allow it to borrow the Angel in question's abilities.
== [[Film]] ==▼
▲== Film ==
* Alice in ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street|A Nightmare on Elm Street IV: Dream Master]]'' is an interesting example. ''She'' is the one mega manning even though ''Freddy'' is the one doing the killing.
* Po from ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' learns the Wuxia finger hold, and a technique to manipulate water droplets after watching them once. His master Shifu is a little bit jealous.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* All of the competent channelers in ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' series do this on a regular basis. Some of them even do it to each other when they intuitively leap to new things (specific example: when Egwene ties off a weave but can't figure out how she did it, then Elayne learns from her, and Egwene watches Elayne do it so that she can repeat it).
* Protagonist Lire of ''Deadly Remains'' lives in a world where magic and [[Psychic Powers]] are real and [[The Unmasqued World|publicly known]]. She normally has the power of Psychometry (read the thoughts of a person who handled an object). By touching the remains of three psychic murder victims (to read them), she gains the powers of [[Mind Over Matter|telekinesis]], [[Playing with Fire|pyrokinesis]], and [[An Ice Person|cryokinesis]]. With practice, she gains the ability to [[All Your Powers Combined|combine the abilities]].
* Unique among the Thirteen Orphans in ''[[Breaking the Wall]]'', Albert Yu, representing the Cat, is able to temporarily mimic the status and abilities of any one of the other twelve traditional places on the [[Eastern Zodiac]].
* Mustane, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[The Black Saint]]'' accomplished this by [[Life Drinker|drinking the blood]] of gifted.
**{{spoiler|Turns out this works for anyone.}}
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Sylar and Peter Petrelli from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' both are able to acquire new powers from other evolved humans. Peter just has to remember how that hero made him feel; Sylar's method is... [[You Will Be Assimilated|a little messier]].
** In the graphic novels, one character, Linda, has a power that allows her to see the auras of people around her, and seemingly absorb them. Not only does it happen to absorb superhuman powers, but it allows her to kill them as well. Nifty. Unfortunately, she [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|got a bridge dropped on her]] in her very first appearance, and didn't do anything too spectacular in the two other comics she appeared in (thanks to [[Anachronic Order]]). Ah, well.
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* The title character of the short-lived 80s show ''[[Automan]]'' could duplicate any skill he'd seen used at least once.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
== Real Life ==▼
* The nudibranch, a type of mollusk sometimes called the "sea slug," feeds on jellyfish and other stinging sea creatures. It is capable of taking the "stinging" cells from the creatures it eats and incorporating them into its ''own'' body, sometimes becoming more deadly than the animals it preys on.▼
* Photuris fireflies first learn and mimic the blinking pattern of a different genus' females, then devour the attracted males. They can then absorb the devoured male's defensive toxins and use them for themselves.▼
* It was believed by some cannibalistic tribes that eating a dead person's brain allowed you to learn their life's experiences. This unfortunately meant you could also gain the exact same disease they probably died from.▼
** The most common version of this was when warriors would eat the brains or hearts of vanquished enemies to gain their strength or energy.▼
* The Belgian beer industry is home to several strange and exotic beers but is fully capable of mass-producing less bizarre styles that originated abroad, like porters, stouts, etc.▼
* The concept of sympathetic magic can work like this: the Bimana of Africa decorate their hunting shirts with mouse skins for speed, animal claws and teeth for ferocity, and so on.▼
* Rabies. A deadly example but the trope still works. Rabies does not just spread via bites but also from eating something with rabies. Without treatment, this can be fatal but before death hits, "Rabid" strength, speed, ferocity and foaming at the mouth can be enjoyed.▼
* Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do works on the idea of "absorbing what is useful". Lee's personal style combined his best moves from Wing Chun, Tae Kwon Do, western boxing, fencing, and escrima. Anyone adhering to this concept of martial philosophy can build their own style by learning from different ones.▼
▲== Tabletop Games ==
* In ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'', a vampire can steal another vampire's power by devouring the vampire's soul. The game considers this act, called Diablerie, to be a Very, Very Bad Thing, especially in the eyes of the Camarilla... Though they mostly dislike it for the precedent it sets.
* In ''[[Exalted]]'', Eclipse Caste Solars and Moonshadow Caste Abyssals can learn the Charms of other types of Exalted, as well as Charms unique to spirits. The catch is they have to be taught the Charm by an Exalt of that type (or Spirit) who knows it.
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* There's also the gruesome ''[[Pathfinder]]'' spell, Blood Transcription, which requires you to "consume" a pint of blood from a dead spellcaster, allowing you to learn one of their spells, provided your class can learn it. Needless to say, this spell comes with an 'evil' descriptor.
== [[Toys]] ==▼
▲== Toys ==
* The [[Mask of Power|Mask of Kindred]] in ''[[Bionicle]]''. It allows the wearer to copy the abilities of ocean animals.
** Also, the Mask of Emulation, which allows the wearer to use any power he can watch someone else using.
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* The Mega Man action figures (based on the [[Mega Man (animation)|Ruby-Spears animated series]],) has this as its main feature. Every robot figure in the line can replace one hand with a spring loaded arm cannon (though only a couple actually COME with an arm cannon) and all the various weapons are completely interchangeable, which not only allows Mega Man himself to do his thing, but many other wild combinations—like having Cut Man fire plasma shots, bombs, or even Guts Man's fire hydrant from his head.
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
▲== Video Games ==
* Former [[Trope Namer]] [[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] has the ability to utilize the weapons of the various Robot Masters that serve as the bosses for the series—though there is some occasional alteration for the sake of gameplay or other compatibility issues. Almost all his Expies and [[Alternate Universe]] counterparts either have this ability direct or use something based off the same concept.
** Taken [[Up to Eleven|up to the extreme]] in ''[[Mega Man Zero]] 4'', where you can take each and every one of the mook's weapon using your [[Tricked-Out Gloves|Z-Knuckle]].
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*** Likewise, summoners learn the hidden ultimate summon in this manner. There are some other spells that can work like this (the level 4 spells, most high end summons), but those can be learned normally, which is generally less troublesome.
** Enemy Skill materia in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' also lets you learn a, well, enemy's skill that is used on you.
*** Also the Mime materia, which when equipped lets you copy what ever move was just used. This included summons and [[Limit
** Also inverted by a boss in ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'', he can learn Blue Magic from your party. [[Anticlimax Boss|Including]] [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Self-Destruct.]]
* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'s'' Blitzball mini game allows the players of your team to mark and learn new abilities from the players of the opponent team.
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* ''[[Battle Golfer Yui]]'': Yui Mizuhara learns the skills of her opponents through various means.
== [[Web Animation]] ==
* The magical Crystal of Absorb from ''[[Unforgotten Realms]]'' gives one the power to take on the powers of a dead opponent. Rob instantly equates this to being "like Mega Man".
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Red Mage of ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' can copy the last action he's seen, though only once. This is because his class was changed to Mime—a real class from the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series—but the author uses it for occasional references to [https://web.archive.org/web/20090222170031/http://nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=060114 Marvel's Taskmaster] as well.
** Also on 8-Bit Theater, Black Mage has the blue magic ability to learn attacks from others. Naturally, since he's the official [[Butt Monkey]], he has the most inconvenient form of blue magic - he needs to get hit with an attack to learn it. One of the only three that he's learned actually ''keeps him as the target'' when he uses it.
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* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Akuma TH]]'' is The Undertaker, a demon with the ability to copy and absorb a person's soul, gaining that person's strength, techniques, and knowldge. {{spoiler|He can copy inanimate objects, too, as long as they have energy.}} Gemel from [[Tony TH]] learns any move that he personally sees. [http://www.mgcomics.com/AkumaTh/Misc/GhostPast_27.gif When the two meet during a crossover], [[Discussed Trope|The Undertaker briefly discusses the different methods that can be used to perform this trope]]. {{spoiler|'Taker then proposes that they copy each others' ability to copy, allowing them both to copy a person's entire moveset just by looking at them.}}
* [[Bob and George]] only lets Mega Man copy powers during the parodies of the games themselves. Given the nature of the series, what he can actually do with the powers is often extreme.
== [[Web Original]] ==
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* In the crossover of [[Smash Bros Lawl]], [[The Irate Gamer]] has this as a signature move, but with the twist that the powers he copies are very underpowered versions of the originals.
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
▲== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Ben 10]]'' later gained the ability to turn into any alien the Omnitrix got a DNA sample from in the third season, allowing him to transform himself into slightly-altered versions of a small handful of that season's [[Aliens and Monsters]]. To date, each of these three forms has been used exactly ''once'', and the plot point seems to have been dropped, although it was picked up again in [[Ben 10: Ultimate Alien|Ultimate Alien]].
** Ben's nemesis Kevin 11 started out with a similar ability, which he used to copy Ben's powers. After getting Ben's powers, his original ability was never seen again (except in an "alternate future" episode where he had used his ability absorption to steal traits of thousands of aliens, basically becoming a cross between [[Inuyasha|Naraku]] and [[Heroes (TV series)|Sylar]]).
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* ''[[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]]'' again. In the cartoon he could seemingly only keep the power for a few minutes/shots, but he stole a Robot Master's power at least [[Once an Episode]], usually with stock footage.
** As evidenced by Mega Man's most (in)famous utterage of the page quote, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7dSJN5LgsE this didn't alway work out for him].
▲== [[Real Life]] ==
▲* The nudibranch, a type of mollusk sometimes called the "sea slug," feeds on jellyfish and other stinging sea creatures. It is capable of taking the "stinging" cells from the creatures it eats and incorporating them into its ''own'' body, sometimes becoming more deadly than the animals it preys on.
▲* Photuris fireflies first learn and mimic the blinking pattern of a different genus' females, then devour the attracted males. They can then absorb the devoured male's defensive toxins and use them for themselves.
▲* It was believed by some cannibalistic tribes that eating a dead person's brain allowed you to learn their life's experiences. This unfortunately meant you could also gain the exact same disease they probably died from.
▲** The most common version of this was when warriors would eat the brains or hearts of vanquished enemies to gain their strength or energy.
▲* The Belgian beer industry is home to several strange and exotic beers but is fully capable of mass-producing less bizarre styles that originated abroad, like porters, stouts, etc.
▲* The concept of sympathetic magic can work like this: the Bimana of Africa decorate their hunting shirts with mouse skins for speed, animal claws and teeth for ferocity, and so on.
▲* Rabies. A deadly example but the trope still works. Rabies does not just spread via bites but also from eating something with rabies. Without treatment, this can be fatal but before death hits, "Rabid" strength, speed, ferocity and foaming at the mouth can be enjoyed.
▲* Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do works on the idea of "absorbing what is useful". Lee's personal style combined his best moves from Wing Chun, Tae Kwon Do, western boxing, fencing, and escrima. Anyone adhering to this concept of martial philosophy can build their own style by learning from different ones.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Videogame Effects and Spells]]▼
[[Category:Magic and Powers]]▼
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
▲[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
[[Category:Stock Super Powers]]
▲[[Category:Videogame Effects and Spells]]
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