Remembered I Could Fly: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

A subversion of [[Plot Induced Stupidity]] usually used for [[Played for Laughs|comic relief]]. We know sometimes characters [[How Do I Shot Web?|have trouble mastering their powers]], but sometimes, established powers seem to just get forgotten entirely. They find themselves in a dire situation where any normal person would be in serious trouble. They start to panic... and then they remember, oh yeah, I have [[Stock Super Powers|superpowers]]/[[Magic and Powers|magic]]/[[Magic From Technology|advanced technology]]. Also seen from companions and enemies that forget about frequently-used powers. This is a very common subversion of the [[Acrophobic Bird]].

 

{{examples}}

* Tea Gardner, from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'', is not as skilled as her friends, and seems to constantly forget the special effects of cards. One time she remembered on her own was in her duel against Mai in season 1.

* Happens to Fukurou in ''[[One Piece]]''. Franky was chasing him around firing bullets at him, when he suddenly remembered he could [[Double Jump]] and had [[Super Speed]]. He said something along the lines of "What am I doing?!" before he started fighting back.

** This is especially painful because it comes shortly after Tsuzuki ''cracked bulletproof glass with his punch of sheer rage'' at the same guy who's now escaping for no good reason. He seriously takes [[Idiot Hero]] to new levels.

 

* In one issue of ''[[Runaways]]'', [[Cloak and Dagger (comics)|Cloak]] is trying to get away from the Avengers, who think he hospitalized his partner Dagger. It apparently does not occur to him that he can just, you know, [[Teleporters and Transporters|teleport]] away from them until after he's ''thrown himself headfirst through a window''.

* Wesley tries to invoke this with a none-too-bright power stealing villain in ''[[Wanted]]''. The villain does remember he can fly but forgets that the power is seconds away from running out.

* Once in ''[[Shoe]]'', "Perfesser" Cosmo Fishhawk and Loon were tubing down a river. The Perfesser was enjoying himself until Loon mentioned they were coming to a waterfall. Then he panicked: "We'll be drowned like rats!" Loon pointed out that rats can't fly (he and Cosmo are both birds), and the Perfesser looked enormously embarrassed as they flew away over the falls.

 

* In ''[[Back to The Future]]'', Marty tries to warn Doc Brown that he will be killed by the Libyans in 1985, but he doesn't want to hear it, fearing that Marty's presence in 1955 has already done enough damage to the time line. Marty is sitting in the time machine lamenting his failure, then he realizes ''he's in a time machine''; he can go back early and save Doc Brown in 1985. Which he STILL manages to screw up by only giving himself ten extra minutes and the car not starting, arriving at the mall just in time to see his friend getting shot.

 

* In ''[[Lone Wolf]]'', you have powers that can be useful in certain situation, but sometimes, the author forgets that the possibility you have that power may exist, and doesn't give you a choice to use the power.

** More commonly, the series has three levels of powers: Kai, Magnakai, and Grand Master. Most of the powers of one tier have lower powered equivalents amongst the lower tier. Similarly, someone of a higher tier always has all the powers of the lower tier, but only a select few of their given tier. This results in your character often being asked if he has a certain power appropriate for his tier (and bad stuff happening if you do not), but the author forgetting that there is no reason the lower tier equivalent - which everyone should have - could not be every bit as effective.

** Another good example is after Marco rescues Ax from the Blade Ship they escape and plummet 2 miles up from the air, Marco freaks out until Ax reminds him that he could morph into a bird in midair.

*** Granted, he ''was'' already morphed as a gorilla, and a demorph/remorph while panicking is very difficult...

 

* Lampooned in the "The Adventures of Young God" skit on ''[[The State]]'', which portrays [[God]] as a crime-fighting, Batman-style superhero. He and his sidekick (the Boy Savior) have been captured by the bad guys, and are tied up in an abandoned factory next to a time bomb that's about to explode when...

{{quote|'''Narrator''': Suddenly God remembers that he's all-powerful, and changes the bomb into showers of blessings!}}

* In the finale of ''[[No Ordinary Family]]'' they spend a good while panicking, surrounded by men with guns and looking for a way out, until Stephanie remembers she can immediately resolve the situation by using her superspeed to disable them. This is an improvement over a previous, similar situation, where it never occurred to her at all.

 

* Played with in the parody [[Vocaloid]] song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjRDUVGiaRA ''Lord of Darkness''] in which the titular vampire starves to death in a cell, never managing to remember that he is able to turn into mist.

 

== Toys ==

* At one point in the ''[[Bionicle]]'' storyline, Krekka has to be reminded that he knows how to fly.

 

* ''[[Skyward Sword]]'' has an instance towards the beginning of the game: two [[Loveable Rogue|Mogmas]], Ledd and Cobal, sit outside the Earth Temple, brainstorming ways to get inside to loot the place like they're in a cat-burglar movie. The following exchange occurs:

{{quote|Cobal: Can't we just dig in?

* It's not uncommon in [[League of Legends]] to forget that your items have active effects only to kick yourself now that you're just out of range to inflict slow with your Hextech Gunblade.

 

** In another strip, Durkon swings at an attacking goblin with his hammer and misses twice. However, when others remind him about the bonuses he forgot to add to his attack, he realizes that he hit after all- and sure enough, the goblin [[Puff of Logic|is retroactively pummeled into submission.]] He'd be a great fighter if he had a better head for numbers.

** Also, other characters {{spoiler|used to}} remind V about the familiar that comes with the wizard class. Although that is also poking fun at players forgetting their familiars.

"There is nothing to realize. Of course you can fly." }}

* ''[[Awkward Zombie]]'' mocks [http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/grounded Pegasus Knights] from ''[[Fire Emblem]]'': «Pegasus knights are just so good at getting captured by bandits that I assume the polite thing is to not mention it».

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' had many moments when Annie was stumbled blindly (and in case with Jack's affliction, allowed a problem to develop into danger to herself and others) because she rarely remembers that just [[Astral Projection|peeking into Ether]] is something she can do at will, despite this being the very first exercise with Blinker Stone she was taught ''and'' Annie being the [[Snooping Little Kid]] #1. This led to an amusing moment in a classroom full of Foley students (former fairies and beasts), all calm and focused on their lesson — she realized it's suspicious, made "wait a minute" face and checked… "Ahahaha! Took ya long enough!" ([[Cuddle Bug|floating cuddle-pile]] ensues).

* ''[[Magick Chicks]]'' once revealed that [[Smug Super|Faith]] has [[Aura Vision]] among the other powers — the only time she remembered to use it was when the situation was jaw-droppingly wild, and her readings were mostly inconclusive anyway. She didn't even bother to use it for checking people she ''invites to her house'', which led to one silly misunderstanding with a vampire.

 

* This happens with [[Psychopathic Manchild|Nappa]] in ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]''. What makes this particular example so hilarious is that this realization came after he forgot about it as he ''was'' flying and after he ''had been'' flying for the greater part of that fight and ''while he was in midair''.

** Also, Raditz could have avoided being shot through the chest by Piccolo if he had flown, regardless of the lock Goku put him in, as Piccolo helpfully points out.

** In the first episode, Krillin was reminded by the others that he ''could'' have flown after Raditz but didn't.

 

* There's a ''[[Woody Woodpecker]]'' cartoon where [[Die or Fly|Woody falls from a great height, starts flying]], and admits, "Hey, I forgot I was a bird!"

* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'':

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Contrived Stupidity Tropes]]

[[Category:Stupidity Tropes]]

[[Category:Flying Tropes]]