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Power Degeneration (view source)

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{{trope}}
[[File:SuperManPowerDegeneration_6498.jpg|link=All -Star Superman (Animationfilm)|frame|Humans get tan-lines from overexposure; Kryptonians get [[Volcanic Veins|sun-lines]].]]
 
 
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While the character is afflicted with Power Degeneration, their body will also visibly decay in one or more stylized ways.
* Rapid aging is a common representation: gray hairs, wrinkled skin and other signs of aging are surprisingly tame compared to some of the rest.
* Signs of frailty and illness, much like those seen in [[This Is Your Brain Onon Evil]].
* The character gets a [[Lovecraftian Superpower]] or two as their body is [[The Corruption|corrupted from the inside]]. This may be followed by going [[One-Winged Angel]], but [[Shapeshifter Mashup|the transformation]] never goes up the [[Bishonen Line]]. These powers are the "blessed" in [[Blessed Withwith Suck]]. And death.
* The [[Body to Jewel|body crystallizes]], develops [[Volcanic Veins]] or [[Tainted Veins]], slowly falls apart (limbs falling out, extremities disintegrating) or somehow visibly and inhumanly shows itself dying.
 
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* Yoite of ''[[Nabari no Ou]]'' pretty much defines this trope.
* Grove in ''[[Vampire Hunter D]]'' is in the latest stages of this.
* In ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' , humans can acquire the ability to see people's names and lifespans [[Deadly Upgrade|at the cost of half their own life.]]
* In ''[[Witchblade (Animeanime)|Witchblade]]'' it is an inevitability that all who are equipped with and use a Witchblade or Cloneblade will eventually but gradually crack and crumble into ash. To make things worse, it is impossible to remove a Witchblade without slicing off your hand and wrist with it.
* ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' has an interesting variation of this. When Chrono uses his powers, he doesn't suffer any sort of decay -- ''[[Beast and Beauty|Rosette]]'' does, as they're powered by her soul. [[Your Days Are Numbered|In the best circumstances, she's only expected to live until thirty]]. Since Chrono has a [[Bodyguard Crush]] on her, he's not really happy about this.
* In ''[[D .Gray Man (Manga)-man|D Gray Man]]'', anyone with a parasite-type Innocence tends to have a much shorter than average life expectancy, even outside of the whole "constantly fighting freaky-ass monsters" issue. Considering that this includes [[Cute Shotaro Boy|the hero]], it's no wonder he's [[The Woobie]].
* In [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Animeanime)|the 2003 anime version]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', using the Philosopher's Stone {{spoiler|for [[Grand Theft Me]] causes alchemical degeneration of the new body. This process is slow, but increases in speed [[Body Surf|the more times you've done it]]. Hohenheim, who's been more sparing, was able to stay in his current body for at least twenty years without much visible decay, while Dante had her bodies starting to degenerate after mere months.}}
* In ''[[Macross Frontier]]'', V-Type microbes allow the infected to {{spoiler|communicate with Vajra}}, but they are also slowly killing the brain of that person. Now there are medicaments which, while not able to heal it, can strongly slow down the process giving the infected more time to live, but {{spoiler|Sheryl refuses to use them as she needs stronger Vajra link for Macross to win...}}
* In ''[[One Piece]]'', {{spoiler|the [[Psycho Serum]] steroids that Hodi Jones and his gang took to power themselves up had the downside of cutting their lifespan down by a large amount. In this case it caused accelerated aging to the point that a short while after their defeat they're seen as ancient and decrepit old fishmen too powerless to do anything.}}
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* In a ''[[Captain America]]'' storyline [[Discontinuity|we'd otherwise rather forget]], Cap's [[Super Serum]] was actually breaking down and taking his body with it. What might have been an interesting turn of story led directly to both the horrible "Iron Cap" storyline and the [[Face Heel Revolving Door|defection]] of Diamondback (who secretly agreed to go back to work for the bad guys in exchange for Cap's cure).
* Due to the poisonous nature of adamantium, [[Wolverine]]'s skeleton and claws slowly kill him on those occasions when his mutant powers are disabled. And he can't use the claws, either, for obvious blood-loss-from-the-hands reasons.
* Every time Monster Girl from ''[[Invincible (Comic Book)|Invincible]]'' uses her power (to change into a superpowered monster), she gets younger. It's eventually determined that it's due to her body being reconstructed incorrectly.
* Gentle in ''New [[X-Men]]'' can temporarily increase his muscle mass to gain [[The Hulk|Hulk]]-level strength, but the strain on his body causes him seizures. His power is held in check somewhat by vibranium tattoos, but since his powers get stronger with every use, eventually the tattoos won't work and and his powers will kill him.
* In ''Stormwatch: Team Achilles'', one antagonist has [[Super Empowering]] as one of his abilities, but the people he empowers eventually burn out and die.
* Immortal Man-In-Darkness of ''The Great Ten'' is a pilot bonded to the Dragonwing, an extremely advanced [[Living Ship|living fighter plane]]. Each flight of the Dragonwing takes a year off of the pilot's life.
* Wally West aka [[The Flash|Kid Flash]], was slowing down with each use of his powers. However, during the tail-end of ''[[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths]]'', [[Firestorm]] was able to save him in the nick of time from the Anti-Monitor's energy blast, but the blast ended up saving him from his degeneration, though sticking him at "speed of sound" running levels. Suited him just fine as he took up the mantle of the Flash.
* During the Dark Reign period of Marvel comics, [[Ms. Marvel|Carol Danvers]] was having this issue to the point where her energy powers caused her to just explode.
 
== Fanfiction ==
* The main character of the ''Mass Effect 2'' fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5932238/1/Pariah Pariah] suffers from this. {{spoiler|Whenever she uses her biotics it inflames the tissue of her lungs, causing her to cough blood. In the second to last chapter, she performs a last stand and uses her biotics until she's curled up and ''choking on her own necrotic lung tissue.''}} [[Taking You Withwith Me|She killed the bastards though.]]
 
 
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* Cordelia in ''[[Angel]]'' was being slowly and painfully killed by her prophetic visions. Humans are incapable of hosting the visions for long without dying. For her, the solution was to turn her part demon. The upgrade came with other perks; {{spoiler|being [[Demonically Possessed]] by one of [[Powers That Be|TPTB]] was not one of them.}}
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' has Mohinder's transformation in season 3.
** And now {{spoiler|Hiro}}, whose powers give him a brain tumor.
* ''[[Kyle XY]]'', in general.
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* A male nurse on ''[[The 4400]]'' had the ability to cure genetic defects in utero, but random mutations appeared in his own DNA.
* At the end of season 4 of the new ''[[Doctor Who]]'', {{spoiler|Donna is given the consciousness of a Time Lord, but the strain is too much for a human brain and it starts killing her, so the Doctor has to wipe her memory of all the time they spent together and leave her on Earth}}.
* The teen [[Super Speed]]sters in ''[[The X -Files]]'' episode "Rush" have a decent number of [[Required Secondary Powers]], but their bodies are still gradually breaking down from the stress. An X-ray of one shows the sort of damage normally found in people who've played professional football for 15 years.
* In ''[[Sanctuary]]'', [[Jack the Ripper|John Druitt]]'s ability to [[Teleporters and Transporters|teleport]] across time and space causes his cells to break down, and is also responsible for the brain damage that [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|turned him into a homicidal maniac.]]
** It was later revealed that he had actually been possessed by an [[Energy Being]], and that's what drove him insane. Though, the more often he uses his power, the more control it has over him, so this might be a double subversion.
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* An ''[[Outer Limits]]'' episode has a scientist accidentally develop a serum that appears to give people (and monkeys) a [[Healing Factor]] (a monkey took a dose of cyanide without a problem). The [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] refuses to reveal the miracle to the world but [[Professor Guinea Pig|uses it on himself]] to cure a hereditary disease. However, the scientist then realizes that the serum doesn't give you healing powers after all but merely forces the cells to use up all their energy on healing, leaving behind a withered husk. The executive (his brother) is destined to spend the rest of his days on life support.
** In hindsight, the executive's decision shows that [[Straw Man Has a Point]], although for a different reason.
* Happens to a human prize fighter in an episode of ''[[Lost Girl (TV)|Lost Girl]]''-- it's said that the Fae-derived serum that allows him to [[Hulk Out]] will cause his internal organs to explode if he hulks out one more time.
 
 
== Tabletop Games ==
 
* In ''[[Rifts]]'', one character class is "Juicers", which can be described as [[Psycho Serum|somebody on steroids]] [[This Is Your Premise Onon Drugs|on steroids]]. You wear a drug-injection rig and your lifespan is under a decade.
* The ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'' card [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=108827 Unstable Mutation] grants the enchanted creature a significant power spike...that becomes less significant every turn, and after three, it actually starts to get weaker.
* [[Warhammer 40 K40000|Psykers]] get a double-shot of awfulness: not only does the act of using their powers leave the potential of letting a [[Our Demons Are Different|Warp daemon]] take over their body and open a Warp Rift with their mind, but many of the granted abilities take a severe toll on the body, leaving them exhausted, injured through strain and sometimes dead from the brain [[Your Head Asplode|literally tearing itself apart]]. How to avoid this and still be a functioning psyhic? Heavy [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|cybernetic augmentation]], or "soul binding" which tends to do things like [[Eye Scream|pop your eyeballs]] and kill all your emotions. All things considered though, this is a small price to pay to potentially be an incredibly powerful being in an [[Crapsack World|unbelievably brutal an unforgiving galaxy]].
 
 
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* ''[[Metroid]] Prime 3: [[The Corruption|Corruption]]'' has this happen to Samus.
* Happens to Shiki in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' where using his magic eyes that can see death stresses his brain from it attempting to understand what it's not supposed to. In addition to repeated use of his eyes, merely having them is hinted to have permanent effects that will lower his lifespan.
* The ''[[Nasuverse]]'' must like this trope because it also happens to Shirou in ''[[Fate/stay Stay Nightnight]]'' in all three routes from using magic above his level, particularly in Heaven's Feel when {{spoiler|he gets Archer's arm grafted onto him. Interestingly, rather than merely physical corruption there is also mental corruption, and he starts to lose memories and the ability to form coherent thoughts.}}
* "Charged" creations in the ''[[Geneforge]]'' series are infused with so much energy that they constantly lose health each round. In exchange, they're significantly more powerful than the normal versions and cost only a little more [[Mana|essence]].
* In ''[[Phantom Brave]]'' the power that originally banished [[Big Bad|Sulphur]] called "Burgundy" will kill its user if it's used too often.
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* The Grey Wardens of ''[[Dragon Age]]'' are required to drink the poisonous blood of darkspawn during their initiation rite; if they survive, this makes them better able to fight the darkspawn (and able to sense them at a distance). However, some recruits die during the initiation, most recruits suffer from nightmares and increased appetite, and all Grey Wardens have shortened lifespans: "thirty years to live, give or take" from the time of initiation. The Wardens don't tell new recruits about any of this, because [[I Did What I Had to Do|they believe almost nobody would join if they knew, and that their mission of protecting the world from the darkspawn is more important than their lives]].
* In Tira's ending in ''[[Soul Calibur]]'' ''IV'', Nightmare's body can no longer withstand its own power. Tira clings to him, tearfully begging him not to leave her alone. {{spoiler|He doesn't.}}
* In ''[[Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter (Video Game)|Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter]]'', Ryu links with the Dragon Odjn. This grants Ryu the power to change into an nigh invincible draconic being but each use of his dragon powers brings Ryu closer to death (represented by the D-Counter). Even worse, the D-Counter still rises throughout the game even if Ryu never uses his powers.
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* Ysengrin from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' suffers from a somewhat logical version of this: He has the power to control wood and spends all his time with his body encased inside man-shaped armour made from animated wood. As a result his natural body has atrophied from disuse, to the degree that he is barely able to move outside the wooden armour. In addition, the [[Power At a Price]] nature of borrowing one of [[The Trickster|Coyote's]] powers means his body shakes uncontrollably at times.
 
 
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* ''[[Re Boot]]:'' After fusing with a broken Glitch, Bob's overuse of his new powers would eventually result in total fragmentation (aka death). This is shown as Bob becoming transparent and staticy. Bob is able to delay the process by consuming extra energy shakes to hold himself together. This problem gets fixed when Bob separates from Glitch.
* In one episode of ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', Bane's supersteroid Venom causes this. A lifetime of Venom use has left Bane a comatose and broken man dependent on Venom and hooked up on life support 24-7. Unfortunately Bane had already gave the Venom formula to his live in nurse who became drug dealer.
* The page picture comes from ''[[All -Star Superman (Animationfilm)|All Star Superman]].'' After getting a lethal level of solar exposure from flying too close to the sun, Superman gets a massive power up... and will eventually {{spoiler|turn into an [[Energy Being]].}}
* One episode of ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'' had Darkwing gain [[Super Speed]] as a result of being hit with a time-accelerating weapon by Negaduck. When he used his newfound power, he did everything at a faster rate, including aging faster.
 
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