Power Gives You Wings: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Specifically, feathery white angelic wings, [[One-Winged Angel|even for villains!]] (Though they might only have [[Fashionable Asymmetry|the one]].) Wings made of [[Hard Light]] or [[Pure Energy]] are also popular; expect them to be [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]. These wings will of course allow the character to [[Flight|fly]], [[Power Floats|float]], and [[Power Glows|glow]], all [[Stationary Wings|without needing to flap them]]! If the cast already has a character with a pair and he's been [[My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours|surpassed]], the surpasser will have ''two'' pairs of wings. To differentiate what sort of wings your newly-powered-up character has gained, see [[Good Wings, Evil Wings]].

 

 

The title is a play on the Red Bull slogan "Red Bull Gives you Wings!"

 

{{examples}}

== Advertising ==

* The [[Trope Namer]] is the famous ad campaign for Red Bull; "Red Bull gives you wiiiiiings!"

 

== Anime and Manga ==

** This trope may be also the reason why the most powerful Gundams in Cosmic Era have physical wings in their design. I'm talking about Freedom and Strike Freedom here...

** The Victory 2 from ''[[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam|Victory Gundam]]'' was the first one with "Wings of Light", which were actually both practical and far more powerful than the Destiny's.

*** The F99 "[[Super Speed|Recordbreaker]]" Gundams from ''[[Crossbone Gundam]]'' had them a full twenty years earlier than the V2... unfortunately, they fell victim to a [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup]] goof by the heroes, hence why it took so long to re-invent them.

** Let's not forget the batwings on [[Mid-Season Upgrade|Deathscythe Hell]]...

** Or the angel wings on [[Mid-Season Upgrade|Wing Zero Custom]] for that matter. Probably inspired by the Victory 2, if you think about it.

*** Partial subversion in that it is the least powerful suit in the series that sports a [[Applied Phlebotinum|GN Drive]], with [[Word of God]] stating that the "wings" are formed from massive [[Minovsky Physics|GN Particle]] [[Power Incontinence|leakage]]. Why this would ''look'' like seraphic wings, however, is still [[Rule of Cool]].

*** The Throne Drei spreads false GN particles as an extremely effective form of chaff. What isn't justified is the emitters being arranged in such a way that the particle burst resembles a massive phoenix.

** And while Nanoha herself doesn't do this, her staff Raising Heart ''does'', the number and size of the wings it sprouts for any given spell are a good rough indicator of just how much someone's going to get hurt. Subaru's [[Empathic Weapon|Mach Caliber]] has Gear Excellion, which is a blue version of Nanoha's and she uses it against {{spoiler|her older sister Ginga, who's been [[Brainwashed]] by Scaglietti as a Number.}}

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' has wings during her second transformation; for about 3 seconds before they disappear in a burst of feathers.

** She also has wings on her Eternal fuku, but these appear to be purely decorative along with her [[Frilly Upgrade]]. Later on, when it's time for the final battle, she grows real wings. Her opponent, Sailor Galaxia, slightly subverts this trope and grows demon wings.

* ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'', where Tenchi and Juraian warships have the Light Hawk Wings.

* In the ''[[Trigun]]'' anime finale, {{spoiler|Vash's and Knives' [[BFG|Angel]] [[Wave Motion Gun|Arms]] are unleashed to the maximum level,}} and spontaneously sprout wings.

* The Divine Cloths of the Saints in ''[[Saint Seiya]]'' are more powerful and winged versions of their normal armours.

** No need to go as far as that. ''Every single time'' (particularly in [[The Movie|the movies]]) Seiya's Cosmo burns bright enough to make him a real threat to the latest [[Big Bad]], he somehow summons the Sagittarius armor to him to replace the Pegasus Cloth. The wings, golden halo, and [[The Archer|bow and arrow]] seem designed to inspire an angelic symbolism.

* [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Rei Ayanami]] gets a set of six wings in ''[[End of Evangelion]]'' before proving [[Freud Was Right]] for all eternity. Suitably, her Wings become so large, they can cover the Entire Earth.

** For all the Power tropes simultaneously exhibited, the first thing Eva-01 does is become more helpless than it was the entire series.

** Unit 01 also sprouts six energy wings in the opening, even tho that never occurs in the show itself (until the movie, anyway).

** A more straight example appears in [[Rebuild of Evangelion]] after Eva-01 merges with {{spoiler|Rei and the remains of Zeruel (who had been given a ''very'' epic ass-kicking from Shinji)}} and grows wings of energy.

*** Note that this almost causes the Third Impact, if it hadn't been for Kaworu turning EVA-01 off. Apparently, in Evangelion, wings forewarn a large-scale disaster...

** Fanfic writers really like this trope in general, such as in the fic ''True Angel'' by Innortal, where Shinji has power that manifests retractible wings, which happen to be somewhat contagious, thus a power spike ends with several hundred random people getting their own wings.

* In ''[[Shugo Chara]]'', Amu and Utau's most powerful forms - {{spoiler|Amulet Diamond and Seraphic Charm}} - both have very large wings that enable them to fly in pretty formations. {{spoiler|Utau's prove useful, as [[Perpetual Molt|the feathers]] purify all the X-Eggs in the area.}}

* Both Yayois in ''[[Koi Koi 7]]'', who have wings in white and black, respectively. The pink-haired Yayoi made a [[Diving Save]] with hers, and the silver-haired Yayoi's wings were mostly limited to the OP to show that she meant trouble.

* Wings are very prominent in ''[[Sekirei]]'', where a kiss from an Ashikabi is required to "wing" a Sekirei, granting them greater power. More a case of "wings give you power", but still a good example.

* Michel in ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'' starts out with four wings. After {{spoiler|killing the Black Beauty Sisters and stealing their [[Life Energy]]}}, he's got six.

* In ''[[Bleach]]'', [[Aloof Big Brother|Byakuya Kuchiki]] manifests an aura in the shape of a pair of wings when he uses the "Final Scene, White Imperial Sword" attack of his [[Empathic Weapon]]. Toshiro Hitsugaya gets a pair of [[An Ice Person|ice wings]] when he unleashes his ''bankai'', and Uryu Ishida gains a single wing of light when he unleashes his ultimate power. And then there's of course {{spoiler|Ulquiorra}}.

** And more recently, {{spoiler|[[Fan Nickname|Tousen-fly and ButterflAizen]]}}, a great source of [[Narm|unintentional]] [[Crowning Moment of Funny|lulz]].

* In ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]'', Shana sprouts flaming wings during her second fight against Margery Daw.

* In the "Rescue Sasuke" arc of ''[[Naruto]]'', [[The Big Guy|Chouji]] uses a number of food pills during a battle to give him power boosts. The third one instantly converts all his body fat into chakra, which blaze from his back like glowing blue butterfly wings ([[Meaningful Name|Chouji means "butterfly"]]). {{spoiler|He is later able to summon the chakra wings without taking the red pill.}}

* The protagonist of ''[[Clover]]'' deploys an [[Arm Cannon]] from his [[Artificial Limbs|prosthetic arm]] at the end of the story. It has wings for no particular reason.

* When {{spoiler|Griffith}} becomes a Godhand at the end of ''[[Berserk]]'', he takes on a rather sleek demonic form with batlike [[Cape Wings]] known as Femto.

** Hiro grows a pair of wings made of light while holding Excalibur.

** Gopher's own grigori soul allows him to grow wings (though not physical ones) to fly, but unlike Maka's they are black which she puts down to magic, presumably Noah's influence. The fact he does not need a Weapon to use his 'soul wings' to fly may indicate Maka will be able to do the same at some point.

* ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]'': {{spoiler|Hamel sprouts wings while delivering the final blow to Kestra. It was the first time his angel blood showed.}} The wings disappear soon after.

* In [[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]] during the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCp3LXNjFIg&feature=related Sinnoh Grand Festival] where Zoey battles Nando. Mismagius used Psywave to give Leafeon an ''awesome'' set of ''[[Power Glows|glowing]]'' [[Hard Light]] wings.

* ''[[Armitage III]]'': The upgrade that {{spoiler|Armitage}} receives at the end of the OVA plays with this, as the wings (and the subsequent mobility they provide) is half of the upgrade. Even {{spoiler|Armitage}} [[Lampshade Hanging|finds them to be a little pretentious]].

* [[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]!: {{spoiler|After Byakuran finishes finishes his little Exposition about Ghost, he shows off the flames Ghost absorbed as wings.}}

* All Tennyo, save for Akira and Ryo, in ''[[Rakugo Tennyo Oyui]]'', have a pair of glowing wings on the back of their magical girl outfits.

** It can be argued that this also applies with the Genesic Machines. While both [[GaoGaiGar]] and [[Gao Figh Gar]] had wings in the form of [[Stealth Gao]], Genesic [[GaoGaiGar]] also gets a set of wings, that are actually alive and sentient, in the form of [[Gadget Gao]]. More along the lines of [[Rule of Cool]], as the wings aren't big enough to lift the mech, yet it still works.

* In ''[[Hyper Speed GranDoll]]'', Hikaru's final power-up, Gran Master, comes with wings.

* The Thriller Bark arc of ''[[One Piece]]'' had Robin showcasing a power where she can use her Hana Hana abilities to makes wings. The downside is that she can only stay in the air for five seconds. The wings are made of body parts after all.

* ''[[Prétear]]'', Pretear's final form White Pretear has huge translucent butterfly wings.

 

== Comic Books ==

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''Good Omens'' when {{spoiler|Crowley and Aziraphale take the side of the Antichrist in preventing The Apocalypse, they decide it's pointless hiding their wings anymore. In a subversion of the [[Good Wings, Evil Wings|devil wings]] trope, Crowley also has feathered wings; after all, he may be Fallen, but he's still an Angel.}}

** {{spoiler|Actually, he did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards.}}

*** {{spoiler|All demons have angel wings, the only difference being that demons typically keep theirs cleaner.}}

* Kerry Ellison, in the [[Whateley Universe]]. Well, her codename ''is'' Seraphim, so it's not exactly a big surprise. Slightly subverted in that the first time she manifests her angelic wings she flaps around and can't fly straight until she gets used to them..

** In ''[[Gaunt's Ghosts|Sabbat Martyr]]'', the eponymous Saint{{spoiler|'s reincarnation}} is shown charging into battle with giant, [[Power Glows|glowing]], ethereal green wings. They don't appear to be functional, but they form the shape of the Imperial Aquila, serving as a sort of battle standard. They get ''even bigger'' when she {{spoiler|kills Enok Innokenti}}, too.

* In ''[[Accel World]]'', {{spoiler|Haruyuki's Avatar Silver Crow is the first Flying Avatar in the Accel World. His "basic" moves -- punch and kick -- are actually special moves -- ''flying punch'' and ''flying kick''.}}

 

* The third season of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' (and the first movie) has the Falconzord add wings to one of the Megazords, thus forming either the Ninja Megafalconzord or Shogun Megafalconzord.

** Later ''[[Super Sentai]]'' seasons also include wing power-ups that attach to mecha. The more recent examples would be Go Go Jet in ''[[Go Go Sentai Boukenger]]'', which forms Ultimate DaiBouken, and ''[[Engine Sentai Go-onger]]'''s Jum-bowhale, which forms Engine-Oh G9.

** The Mega Winger attaches ''only'' its large wing weapon to the Mega Voyager in ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' and ''Megaranger''. Usually, the two mechs would combine, but this is not the case.

** Several exclusive-to-''[[Power Rangers]]'' [[Super Mode|Battlizer upgrades]] give wings to ([[Law of Chromatic Superiority|Red]]) Rangers themselves.

** ''[[Kamen Rider Den-O]]'''s Wing form. While the wings are only on display for a second during the transformation, the form is indeed more powerful than Ryotaro's four default forms. This trope really comes into play when Sieg attaches to Climax Form, granting Ryotaro an actual pair of wings based on his mask.

*** Though it is immediately [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]]:

** ''[[Kamen Rider Blade]]'' gives wings to both [[The Hero]] Blade and [[The Lancer]] Garren in their [[Super Mode|Jack Forms]].

** ''[[Kamen Rider Kabuto]]'' gains energy wings in his [[Super Mode|Hyper Form]], but only when he activates [[Super Speed|Hyper Clock Up]].

* Super Rescue Max in ''[[Tomica Hero Rescue Force]]''. It's basically the same as Rescue Max, except now it has wings built into it. It's surprisingly fast and agile.

 

*** But in 4th ed dragonborn ''can'' at level 11.

** The Greater Visage Of The Deity spell in 3rd Edition allowed you to take the half-celestial/fiend template, which would give wingless characters wings.

* The [[Legend Game System]] has this as a feat starting at level 9.

 

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[Xenogears]]'', the Red Gear piloted by Id has wings of green light, with yellow feathery projections. They become more brilliant as the engine coil warms up.

** The Omnigears, augmented versions of the heroes' typical Gears, all have wings.

* Angels in ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]''. Also renegade angels. And Colette, when she was ''turning into'' an angel. And {{spoiler|Lloyd}} near the end, because he's just that much of [[The Messiah|a messiah]].

* Some ''[[Pokémon]]'' gain wings and the Flying type upon reaching their last evolution. Notably Charizard, Dragonite and Salamence.

** Trapinch gains wings and the <s>Flying type</s> Levitation ability, because it also gains the ''Dragon type'' when it evolves into Vibrava. This is different because Vibrava is not the final form.

** Similarly, Deino from [[Pokémon Black and White|Black and White]] gains a pair of wings upon evolving into a Zweilous. However, a Zweilous can't use its wings for flying until it becomes a Hydreigon where it has six wings and levitate as its ability.

* ''[[Achaea]]'' characters have the option of transforming into a dragon on reaching level 99. Wings, talons and [[Incendiary Exponent|really bad breath]] included.

* Mario in ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' has the Wing cap, which has little wings on it. The power part comes at the end after beating the last boss. When Bowser is defeated he drops the last [[Plot Coupons|Power Star]], and upon picking it the Wing cap appears automatically on Mario.

** So does Tabuu's {{spoiler|[[One-Hit Kill|Off Waves]].}}

* In ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'', the animation for Valkyrie's super attack includes luminescent wings sprouting from her back.

* Princess Sprites, Ran's powered-up older self in ''[[Twinkle Star Sprites]]'', has pixie wings. Possibly justified, since Ran's mother Memory also has wings.

* Ernst in ''[[Ys]]: The Ark of Napishtim'' grows black feathery wings. Considering his goal was to gain the power of the '''Winged''' Gods, this should hardly be surprising. Also from the same game {{spoiler|Adol Cristin}} temporarily sprouts white feathered wings.

** Where does Adol himself sprout wings? Don't remember that.

*** Wildheart Spaulders, the classic dungeon 1 set of druid shoulders, had ''birds'' perched on them, their wings stretching to the sky. Big birds.

** Warlocks who specialize in Demonology have a "Demon Form" they can shift into for a short time. In this form, they appear as a black goat-hooved demon ... with wings.

*** With the conclusion of the Cataclysm expansion, rogues who are willing to spend many hours, mountains of gold, {{spoiler|and kill [[One-Winged Angel|Deathwing]]}} can gain the "[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Fangs of the Father]]" daggers which, [[Trope Overdosed|among other things]], grant the rogues the ability to sprout wings after [[Combos|a set number of attacks]]. Granted said wings cannot fly, but hey, [[Rule of Cool]].

** Also, ''Warcraft III'' has Illidan gain wings in his demon form after consuming the skull of Gul'dan. After a second power boost from Kil'jaeden, he gains permanent wings in his base form.

** Yuyuko Saigyouji has a giant fan.

** Byakuren Hijiri has what seems to be a lotus blossom. Byakuren's name [[Meaningful Name|can mean "White Lotus Saint"]].

** Before any of them was the PC-98 boss Shinki, who grew six glowing white wings in battle that turned into more bat-like purple wings midway. Shinki [[Physical God|is the god and creator]] [[Satan|of a world of demons]].

*** She also sports a pair of black bat-like wings in her bombing image in Mystic Square.

* When using Ancardia for an [[Limit Break|Ex Skill]], [[Knights in The Nightmare|Maria]] sprouts an impressive pair of orange wings [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|similar to Marietta's]]. [[Willfully Weak|Meria]] could probably do the same thing if she wanted to, but...well, let's just say she's the [[Revenge Before Reason]] type.

** Melissa also subverts this trend: When using her rage bullet, she literally uses her wings to materialize all the massive shrapnel and energy beams, and appears without them for as long as the attack is active.

** Played straight at one point in the first game. {{spoiler|After Kalas' [[Face Heel Turn]], he grows a second wing when he's infused with Malpercio's power. When he rejects Malpercio later, he ''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|rips the wing out of its socket]]''.}}

* P-Wings in ''[[Super Mario Bros 3]]''. Or is that Wings Give You Power (of [[Flight]])?

* {{spoiler|Lumine's}} second form in ''[[Mega Man X]] 8'' grows wings.

** Don't forget Copy X's in ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'', from which the aforementioned {{spoiler|Lumine}} is based on.

* ''[[Super Robot Wars 64]]'' has the Simurgh Splendid, created from the combination of the Simurgh and the Elblus.

* In [[Street Fighter III]] : Third Strike, Gill has a screen-filling super (called "Ascencion" or "Seraphic Wing" depending on who you listen to) during which he briefly is shown with three pairs of wings. Not surprisingly, this is the most universally loathed super in the game.

** They don't do anything, really, but some theories think that either the wings themselves are what give Dante his protection from Hellspawn, or they act as vents to prevent Dante from blowing up from the sheer Holy power.

 

* In [[Devil Bear]], the Daivas have wings made entirely out of (infrared?) [http://www.thedevilbear.com/?p=121 light.]

* In ''[[Problem Sleuth]]'', using Sepulchritude at the start of chapter 22 grants the titular character huge white wings. This, combined with the [[Infinity+1 Sword|Tectrixcalibur]], makes for [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|all sorts of epicness.]]

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', the most powerful spell {{spoiler|Nanase}} got is [[Flying Brick]] "angel form" giving pearly coating and two pairs of wings. In flight they at best add maneuverability, but apparently are [[Made of Iron|near-unbreakable]] and at least the tail pair is [[Feather Fingers|prehensile]].

* In [[Alien Dice]], Lexx gains wings after leveling up. One of them is immediately bitten off by a giant alien monster. Disappointing, but this did save him from being eaten completely.

 

== Web Original ==

 

== Western Animation ==

* [[Transformers|Optimus Prime]] frequently gets wings later in a series, though more mechanical than feathery. It's sometimes accomplished by [[Combining Mecha|combining with another Autobot]], though.

** Cheetor in his Transmetal body could count. His flight mode wings had jets on the ends of them.

** On one occasion, [[Beast Wars|Megatron]] got wings as part of a power up. They were somewhat overshadowed by him getting the ability to turn into a dragon at the time, though.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Rule of Cool]]

[[Category:Just for Pun]]

[[Category:Winged Tropes]]

[[Category:Power Makeover]]

[[Category:Power]]