Required Secondary Powers: Difference between revisions

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* And once you get past all that, where is the energy coming from? A sustained bolt takes one Hell of a lot of it.

It is possible, depending on the context, that the lightning-user channels it remotely - not through themselves. Many of these problems can be resolved if the electrical circuit is confined entirely to the target's body. But then you lose the [[Rule of Cool|cool lightning bolt]], and all you get is a bad guy [[Nightmare Fuel|spasming violently like a deranged marionette until his insides boil out through his skin]].<ref>Not that this can't be awesome, mind. See ''[[Darker ~~Than~~ Black]]''</ref> Although, if Mr. Lightning controls electrons themselves, he should also have the power of disintegration, as electrons have the wondrous duty of bonding atoms together.<ref>And again - ''[[Darker ~~Than~~ Black]]: Shikkoku no Hana''</ref>

It is possible, depending on the context, that the lightning-user channels it remotely - not through themselves. Many of these problems can be resolved if the electrical circuit is confined entirely to the target's body. But then you lose the [[Rule of Cool|cool lightning bolt]], and all you get is a bad guy [[Nightmare Fuel|spasming violently like a deranged marionette until his insides boil out through his skin]].<ref>Not that this can't be awesome, mind. See ''[[Darker than Black]]''</ref> Although, if Mr. Lightning controls electrons themselves, he should also have the power of disintegration, as electrons have the wondrous duty of bonding atoms together.<ref>And again - ''[[Darker than Black]]: Shikkoku no Hana''</ref>

'''[[Make Me Wanna Shout|Sonic Powers]]''' (No, [[Sonic the Hedgehog|not]] [[Super Speed|that]]) - It's good not to be deafened by your own sonic scream. Not to mention what stronger vibrations can do to unprotected internal organs, especially the vocal chords and breathing passages that actually produce the sounds and are thus in the closest proximity to them.

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** Many characters of [[Dragon Ball]] and [[Dragonball Z]] have super anchoring abilities as addition to their strength. Especially noticeable is that with Tao Pai Pai, in his [[Curb Stomp Battle]] with Bora, the not native American. He holds onto Bora's spear, who is unable to even move it one bit, not even upwards even though he should by all means lift Tao Pai Pai upwards as well.

* The manga series ''[[Cannon God Exaxxion]]'' goes into some considerable detail about what a 500+ ft. [[Humongous Mecha]] would need to be able to move around. The mechs use [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum]] gravity/inertial control devices to prevent them from collapsing under their own weight & allow their limbs to move at a reasonable speed, instead of feet they have invisible forcefields to distribute their weight to prevent them from crashing through the ground, because having actual feet big enough to accomplish this herculean task would look insanely silly (the fields are described as "invisible snowshoes" at one point), although at least that way bystanders would see them coming rather than being crushed underfoot by a robot that appears to be safely dozens of feet away. Aside from this, they're otherwise portrayed realistically & thus cause massive property damage to anything they get anywhere near simply by walking around.

* ''[[Darker ~~Than~~ Black]]'' plays with this all the time:

* ''[[Darker than Black]]'' plays with this all the time:

** One of the Contractors in can teleport with "passengers", but cannot transport non-living matter... [[Innocent Fanservice Girl|it's not much of an issue]] when teleporting ''away'', but as [[Naked on Arrival]], she tend to stand out. And she cannot steal any [[MacGuffin|inanimate objects]].

** Another contractor had bursts of super-speed, complete with friction resistance and clothes-extension. But [[Too Fast to Stop|he can't change direction all that easily]], and often risks crashing into objects. And the friction-resistance only worked on air: Cue [[Inertia Is a Cruel Mistress|nastiness from Newton's Third Law]] as he ran into some raindrops at a speed faster than a speeding bullet.

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* In ''[[Claymore]]'', when {{spoiler|Clare awakens}} while fighting Rigaldo, she cannot control her speed and winds up running into more than a couple buildings.

** Those Claymores who are known by the Organization to have shape-altering abilities are issued special uniforms that can stretch to accommodate the changes.

* ''[[Durarara]]'''s Shizuo acquired [[Super Strength]] pretty early on in life, but not the physical resistance that usually goes with it. The end result was that he spent as much time tossing cars as he did in the hospital from the resulting fractures until around high school.

* ''[[Durarara!!]]'''s Shizuo acquired [[Super Strength]] pretty early on in life, but not the physical resistance that usually goes with it. The end result was that he spent as much time tossing cars as he did in the hospital from the resulting fractures until around high school.

* Liaoyuan Huo of ''[[Ravages of Time]]'' seems to have a [[Healing Factor]] as a required secondary power, because being [[Nigh Invulnerable]] as a result of not being able to feel pain is a pretty terrible "superpower" in real life; just ask any person with leprosy: they can't tell if they've been injured and lose limbs to infection.

* Subverted with Zelgadiss in ''[[The Slayers]]'', a human/demon/rock golem chimera whose [[Nigh Invulnerable|Nigh Invulnerability]] comes from him having skin made of ''stone'' (and hair that resembles steel wire.) Due to his "monstruous" (in his opinion) appearance, he's willing to lose his supernatural powers as long as he can become fully human again.

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** In one episode, Darien is also able to see a ghost ({{spoiler|actually, the disembodied entity of a woman killed with a particle accelerator}}).

** In another, what would have been a permanently blinding attack is reduced to a temporary inconvenience because his eyes were coated in quicksilver at the time (and he was still able to see as usual if he quicksilvered them up again while they healed).

* One episode of ''[[Eureka]]'' dealt with a serum giving the user [[Super Speed]], but like the [[Darker ~~Than~~ Black]] example above, the Required Secondary Power of withstanding friction only applied to air. The results were quite gruesome. They also had [[Hyperactive Metabolism]], which helps Carter [[Genre Savvy|figure out who the users were]].

* One episode of ''[[Eureka]]'' dealt with a serum giving the user [[Super Speed]], but like the [[Darker than Black]] example above, the Required Secondary Power of withstanding friction only applied to air. The results were quite gruesome. They also had [[Hyperactive Metabolism]], which helps Carter [[Genre Savvy|figure out who the users were]].

** The serum also, apparently, turned them stupid, as one of the scientists didn't think to look both ways when crossing the street at [[Super Speed]], resulting in him slamming into a car.

* In the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "Timescape", the Captain, Troi and Data use devices that give them personal "[[Techno Babble|subspace isolation fields]]" which allow them to enter and move freely in the [[Time Stands Still|time-frozen]] Enterprise. The field apparently allowed air molecules it came into contact with to speed up to their rate and slow to normal on leaving, so they could move and breathe, and also extends itself into objects they touch, so they can move things and open doors. However, staying in the field ''too'' long (subjectively) makes you loopy.

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* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', due to an inability to "turn off" his telepathic powers, Psycho Mantis wears a gas mask in order to block out the constant flood of thoughts he receives from others. How a gas mask keeps out people's thoughts is beyond me, but steel helmets worked for Magneto...

** [[Magic Feather|It's implied that the gas mask doesn't actually do anything, it's just a crutch Mantis, who has some serious mental issues, uses.]]

** In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater]]'', Volgin the [[Psycho Electro]] also has superhuman strength. The strength allows him to punch holes in solid concrete, but it's also required for another of his favorite moves: using his electricity to fire bullets held between his fingers. Without super-strong hands, the kickback would break his fingers.

** In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'', Volgin the [[Psycho Electro]] also has superhuman strength. The strength allows him to punch holes in solid concrete, but it's also required for another of his favorite moves: using his electricity to fire bullets held between his fingers. Without super-strong hands, the kickback would break his fingers.

* The [[Soul Series]] makes a case for a perfectly mundane character laking a Required Secondary Skill: while Cassandra is plenty proficient with the weapons she "borrows" from her sister, she doesn't know how to take care of them. [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|Not normally an issue]], [[Rule of Funny|except]] during her ending of ''Soul Calibur 3'' where {{spoiler|her sword breaks after being used to shatter Soul Edge, and Sophitia catches her trying to hide it after a bad patch job and sends her straight to the forge to fix it properly. Cut to Cassandra having a sobbing fit on the forge floor, sword still broken, wailing that she doesn't know how to fix it.}}

* In ''[[~~Bioshock~~]]'', the Little Sisters have [[Healing Factor|the abiltiy to heal very quickly]] due to the Sea Slug in them... but 'quickly' does not equal 'correctly'. [http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/They_Feel_Pain One Audio diary] tells about how one Little Sister broke her legs, and they healed at awkward angles. In order to fix them, she had to ''keep having her legs broken'' until they were in the correct position. And what's worse is that Little Sisters ''aren't immune to pain''.

* In ''[[BioShock (series)]]'', the Little Sisters have [[Healing Factor|the abiltiy to heal very quickly]] due to the Sea Slug in them... but 'quickly' does not equal 'correctly'. [http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/They_Feel_Pain One Audio diary] tells about how one Little Sister broke her legs, and they healed at awkward angles. In order to fix them, she had to ''keep having her legs broken'' until they were in the correct position. And what's worse is that Little Sisters ''aren't immune to pain''.

** In the diary concerning the Telekinesis plasmid, Dr. Suchong mentions that it can't be used to do a [[Bullet Catch]] - not because of the plasmid's deficiency, mind, but the user's reaction time.

* ''[[Dark Forces Saga]] II: Jedi Knight'', there is a little of aversion of this in play when using the force speed and force jump powers. Using either at its highest setting causes a little damage to the player upon running into something or landing on a surface equal or lower than the one from which he or she jumped. If a player tweaks the powers outside the game (which is quite easy), force speed can easily mean death when running into stair steps at top speed, and force jump can be a great way to get higher, but the fall back down is a killer. The sequels apparently address this by increasing the distance characters can fall without taking damage as a side feature of their increasing Force Jump skill.