Power Copying: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

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.

 

 

{{examples}}

* 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).

* Claude in ''[[Star Ocean]] EX'' has this ability, though notably absent in the games.

* While on a [[Not a Date]], Maki in ''[[Airmaster]]'' gets the idea for a new attack move simply from watching a samurai movie. She later uses it without any practice, even though the samurai is using a ''sword'' and Maki is strictly legs and punches.

* Ranma of ''[[Ranma ½]]'' is able to master the most esoteric combat moves within days, if not hours.

* ''[[Angelic Layer]]'' prodigy Suzuhara Misaki is able to pick up her opponents' moves on the layer after seeing them only a few times, and she picks up moves performed by real people as well.

* Kazuo Kiriyama in ''[[Battle Royale]]''. He can mimic the skilled martial artist Sugimura after seeing him use the moves in combat a couple of times. Even when Sugimura gains the ability to {{spoiler|use ki attacks}}, Kiriyama quickly copies this as well.

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' gives us Ku Nel. His Pactio card {{spoiler|allows him to become anyone he's met for a few minutes, complete with all their abilities. However, he can't maintain someone stronger than him for more than that.}}

** As of Chapters 239-241, {{spoiler|Negi gets his own Pactio card via a Pactio with Princess Theodora (if you're confused, Negi is the partner, and Theo is the mage). Activating his card gives him a pocketbook with a copy of all of ''his'' Pactio partners' cards. Negi can use any of these copy cards to mimic his partners' abilities.}}

* ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'' {{spoiler|Kaede}} can imitate the power of the last NEXT she touched, a very ''very'' important plot twist.

* In the ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' movie, ''Bonds of Fire'', Kuwabara encounters a demon who can mimic any technique his opponent uses. After being matched move-for-move, Kuwabara tricks his enemy into copying a move that throws every single bit of spiritual energy at the target. The demon swiftly realizes he's just doomed himself, as while he can copy energy attacks, he can't copy his opponent's ''physical'' strength... and Kuwabara is far stronger than he is. Cue asskicking.

* In ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'' the leader of the Phantom Troupe can steal the Nen abilities of others by learning about them, asking questions, and knowing its name. The original user of that ability can then no longer use that ability again.

* In ''[[Guyver]]'', the zoanoid Aptom has a particularly terrifying version of this power. At first he could only poorly mimic other forms: admittedly he could do this after only ''looking'' at them, but his imitations were far inferior to the originals. Once he's reworked by one of the series' [[Big Bad|Big Bads]], he gains the ability to ''perfectly'' replicate ''any'' form just by getting a sample of their DNA. Except he gathers samples by melding genetic matter with his own body, and he can do this [[Nightmare Fuel|while the target is still alive]]. This becomes Aptom's favored method of killing, and it is lethal to amazing degrees: at one point he has contact with another character for roughly 3 seconds before being turned into shreds of skin, then atomized. In that time, his DNA-merging trick had already [[Body Horror|seeped into the other character enough]] to let Aptom take over with all his abilities intact, ''plus'' those of the character. Oh, and if he wants he can just let the DNA replicating system seep into someone and overwrite them without absorbing their body, meaning he can replicate himself without limit so long as there are bodies around to infect. He can even do this to ''[[Came Back Wrong|corpses]]''.

* Nanami from ''[[Katanagatari]]'' can learn any technique she sees once, and master it if she's seen it twice.

* In [[Rozen Maiden]] when one doll defeats another, they not only gain the defeated doll's Rosa Mystica, but can also use their powers.

* The protagonist of ''[[Medaka Box]]'' initially comes off as [[Always Someone Better]], but it becomes apparent that every time she does lose to someone at something, she starts mimicking and equaling them. Post-[[Genre Shift]], this turns out to be an actual superpower.

* A rather strange example in ''[[Shingeki no Kyojin]]''. Humans are decidedly weaker than the giants they fight, but much smarter. This gets turned on its head when {{spoiler|the protagonist, Erin}} gains the opposite ability of Kirby; by being eaten, he can control the giant that ate him from the inside. When this first presents itself, everyone believes him to be a [[Crazy Awesome|giant that has gone insane.]] Being both insanely strong and a specialist in hand-to-hand combat allows him to kill at [[Took Alevelin Badassleast|fifteen other giants before the giant he was controlling died]].

** As of Volume 4, they've significantly nerfed Peter's ability to where he [[Discard and Draw|can only keep one power at a time]] so as to cancel out his [[Story-Breaker Power]].

** [http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/317/ This] [[Left Handed Toons]] strip about Sylar comes ever so close to referencing the trope by name.

** This was the main ability of Warlocks, the [[Monster of the Week]] enemies from the show's early seasons, which was their primary motive for hunting and killing witches. Despite their potential for leveling up, they were pretty much at the bottom of the [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]] because they were mostly too weak to kill anything with substantial power (such as a demon).

** Zankou, the second-most-powerful demon in existence and the [[Big Bad]] of Season 7, demonstrated the ability to absorb the powers of those he kills, but only really used this ability once.

* 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.

** 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.

* 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.

* In the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' book Serpent Kingdoms, the Sarrukh has an ability called "Manipulate Form" which can permanently imbue any reptilian creature with its own physical features and powers. This forms the basis of the infamous [[Game Breaker]] character "Pun-Pun", which can copy ''everything in the universe at the same time'', [[Up to Eleven|with the power increased as much as he wants]]. By some interpretations of the rules he can even ''make up'' things to copy.

** There is also the Spellthief [[Prestige Class]] in edition 3.5, which has a temporary, [[Vancian Magic|disposable]] version of this trope

* The Tyranids of ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' do something similar to Power Copying. When they turn their opponents into the raw materials to make more Tyranids, they also absorb their information and occasionally their traits; these are then used by the hive fleet to make it easier to counter those tactics and abilities. Some sources also hint that some varieties of Tyranid were "invented" using the DNA of certain foes, such as the psychic Zoanthropes (believed to have come from Eldar DNA) and the durable Tyrant Guard (supposedly created with Space Marine DNA).

** The Kroot also do something like this. They consume their slain enemies, and any useful traits are incorporated into the Kroot's DNA (which is mostly blank apart from their natural traits). Over a few generations, the traits gained from consumed enemies become a natural part of the Kroot's biology.

* The [[Variant Chess|chess variant]] ''Plunder Chess'' allows pieces that capture other pieces to use the captured piece's move once.

* 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.

* In the ''[[Disgaea]]'' series, characters are able to learn magic, weapon skills, and abilities from others on their team through different methods, depending on the game.

** In the [[Disgaea Hour of Darkness|first]] [[Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories|two]] games, only magic could be learned via the master and student system, which allows a character to use the spells of an adjacent unit if they were the ones who created them. The spell would be learned permanently with enough uses.

** ''Dark Hero Days'' adds the Magichange 2 ability, which allows a humanoid character to use the special attacks of the monster who performs it on them.

* Many variations on the Blue Mage from the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series of games work like this. The precise variant varies from game to game -- sometimes, they have to be hit by the ability, and in others they merely have to be in the party when the ability is used, and some have to do something special related to killing the enemy to do it (''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' has you use an Absorb-like spell, while ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' has you eating and cooking enemies). ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' specifies that the Blue Mage has to ''see'' the spell being cast, so he can't learn anything if he's [[Standard Status Effects|Blinded]]. In a variation on the theme, Summoners in the series often must defeat prospective summons in combat before being allowed to summon them.

** 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 Breaks]].

* ''[[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.

** In ''[[Kirby Super Star]]'', he can even use the ability to create a "Helper", an ally with similar abilities to the enemy that commonly has the skill (often a [[Palette Swap]]). The helpers themselves has a bit of [[Mega Manning]]; if one's health is reduced to zero, they begin to glow before exploding. In this state, they simply need to touch an enemy to turn into that enemy's respective helper and completely restore their health to boot. One of the abilities also allows Kirby to copy powers by scanning the enemy rather than inhaling them. This is rather pointless for Kirby, but gives the Helper even more freedom.

*** [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything|Said ability can actually be used on Scarfies to get Crash (as they can't be enhaled)]].

** Also Monsters, and Riki in particular, are based entirely around absorbing enemies and mix-and-matching their moves.

** Mystics can seal monsters into their "mystic" weapons to learn moves as well gain a stat bonus.

* If Anastasia Romanov (yes, [[Everything's Better with Princesses|that Anastasia Romanov]]) of ''[[Shadow Hearts]]: Covenant'' takes a photo of certain enemies, she can "cast" a spell of theirs by [[Summon Magic|"summoning" them with a photo]].

* Marisa Kirisame of ''[[Touhou]]'' has a variation on this, where she actually [[Kleptomaniac Hero|steals the spells or spellbooks of others]]. She has only a small few spells that are actually of her own design (and rarely even uses them), even her own signature move was stolen from Yuuka (although since [[Kamehame Hadoken|Master Spark]] seems to be an innate ability, it seems to be a more 'pure' example of this trope than spellbook-based [[Beam Spam|Non-Directional Laser]].) Since spellbooks are specifically stated in canon to be illegible to anyone who is not at least as great a mage as the one who wrote the spellbook when they wrote it, the fact that [[Charles Atlas Superpower|"mere" human Marisa]] can swipe powers from [[Witch Species|Patchouli]], much less [[Physical God|Yuuka]], however, implies she has at least in some way earned her powers.

** In ''[[Warcraft]] 3'', the same spell could also be used to steal summoned creatures from the enemy.

** The sneak preview at the upcoming expansion's talents gives us the Druid's Symbiosis ability which will copy one spell from the targeted player. That player will receive a druid spell.

* Each time you defeat one of the five evil pigs in [[Tomba]] 2, you get a special robe that will let you use the elemental magic of the evil pig that you beat.

* A darker version in ''[[Myth]]''. As part of the [[Vicious Cycle]], the Leveler, a dark god that destroys the world every thousand years, [[Reincarnation|reincarnates]] the last hero who defeated him and turns them into the next Leveler.

 

== Webcomics ==

** 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.

{{quote|'''Black Mage''': When Sarda casts a spell to hurt you and you learn that spell, you learn to ''cast a spell that hurts you.''}}

* ''[[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]]).

* Blackarachnia from ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' can drain powers with a touch, similar to Rogue (except she can turn it off). {{spoiler|Back when she was Elita-1, she could copy without draining.}} Lockdown, similar to Alpha, steals body parts from other Transformers, and is essentially a Frankenstein's monster-like assembly of parts.

* The already [[The Juggernaut|unstoppable]], [[Implacable Man|unyielding]] [[Planet Eater|Beast Planet]] in ''[[Shadow Raiders]]'' is implied to be able to do this when it {{spoiler|creates a duplicate of a planet it previously ate... and at the very end, when it may have copied the Prison Planet's [[Nightmare Fuel|teleportation technology]]...}}