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Required Secondary Powers: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|
|'''Lore Sjöberg''', ''The Book of Ratings'', "[http://web.archive.org/web/20100810180456/http://www.bookofratings.com/superpowersrating.html Superman's Powers]"}}
Okay, so you've got [[Differently-Powered Individual|one of those people]] who's got a "[[Stock Super Powers|Special Power]]". But even if you supposedly only have the one ability, if you're going to actually ''use'' it for anything, [[Fridge Logic]] demands that you have myriad other passive powers in order to make it work the way it usually does. This is sometimes directly referred to and explained, and sometimes not.
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{{quote|'''Sheldon''': Lois Lane is falling, accelerating at an initial rate of 32 feet per second per second... Superman swoops down to save her by reaching out two arms of steel... Miss Lane who is now traveling at approximately 120 miles an hour hits them and is [[Not the Fall That Kills You|immediately sliced into three equal pieces]]...Frankly, if he really loved her, he'd let her hit the pavement - it'd be a more merciful death.}}
If however he matched her velocity, grabbed her, then started decreasing his rate of descent, she would be OK. <ref>Actually, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrClBtyaGVg#t=01m00s watch the scene carefully]. [[Good Bad Bugs|Due to an error in rear-projecting the background]], he actually ''is'' moving downwards when he catches her...
Or if you want that summed up in a one-minute video, check [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AHg792eK6Y this] out.
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There is also the matter of the energy that is distributed over the field. Something that pushes against a force field is exerting pressure, whose energy has to go somewhere. While physical barriers absorb such pressure by spreading its energy across their structure, or by [[wikipedia:Spring (device)#Hooke.27s law|transforming it into potential energy via elastic buffers]], a projected, free-standing force field has no anchoring, and often no elasticity, so it ''must'' be dealing with distributing the force inflicted upon it in ''some'' way. Otherwise, if this energy were simply "[[No Conservation of Energy|done away with]]," there would be no reason for artificial or magical fields to buckle under assault at all. This often leads to a character suffering a [[Psychic Nosebleed]] as a way of showing his or her effort against such force, implying that the force field is braced against their ''brain''. Ouch.
'''[[Invisibility]]''' - Applies not just to you, but to things you are carrying, or wearing. Any dirt on you becomes invisible, and either you get clothes made of some [[My Suit Is Also Super|suitable material]], or provide some [[Fan Service]]. Also, your light distortion fits that of your surroundings, and food remains invisible through the digestive process.<br />
Also
▲Also also, to use an eye normally one must at least have a lens bending the light (thus being visible at least as glass-like objects), pigments in sensitive cells absorbing the light (as opposed to passing right through just like, say, x-rays) and something preventing the retina from blanket exposure by light not focused with the lens, that is, blocking all the rays not coming in via the pupil, including those from ''behind'' the retina. Oh, wait, doesn't that add up to almost a complete eyeball?
All of which really raises the question, what counts as an invisible person's body? Just his own cells with his own DNA? Then what about the bacterial colonies in the intestinal tract? What about the mitochondria in each cell, which have their own DNA? What about the lifeless liquids such as stomach acid and fluid in the eyes? What about dead cells, like hair and fingernails? Or the entire outer layers of skin, for that matter?
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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.
*
** 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]].
*** There's also an episode where Hei faces down another Contractor with [[Shock and Awe|powers like his]]. When they grab each other, they form a complete circuit, knocking each other back but not producing a lethal shock.
▲*** This is far from the only fun the show has with his powers - most of the issues listed above are addressed simply by requiring something to conduct electricity. Plus, that's the only way he can control the path at all; shocking someone through a puddle of water on the road also blew out a nearby streetlight, for example. {{spoiler|1=The finale addresses the manipulate electrons = manipulate matter issue, too. Turns out that [[Eldritch Location|in the right place]], BK-201 is an outright [[Reality Warper]]}}.
** In ''Darker Than Black: Shikkoku no Hana'' Hei tested the idea that a Contractor who can disintegrate matter does something close enough to negate with his electron control, as he tried to go hand-to-hand with a guy who disperses bullets so fast they can't harm him. {{spoiler|He's kind of right. They both even survived it. But it ''was'' nasty.}}
* Nancy Makuhari (a.k.a. "Miss Deep") of ''[[Read or Die]]'' possesses the power of [[Intangible Man|intangibility]], but is unable to breathe while using her powers, as air passes through her lungs while she is intangible. This presents the very real danger of drowning while using her powers underwater.
* In ''[[Code Geass]]'', Rolo the [[Tyke Bomb]] is a subversion because he doesn't stop time, he puts your brain ({{spoiler|and his own heart}}) on pause so you ''think'' he stopped time.
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** Shizuri Mugino, the Meltdowner, can fire laser beams and create energy constructs like shields, but is not immune to them, leading to {{spoiler|Shiage Hamazura tricking her into blowing herself up.}}
* According the the backstory of ''[[Zeta Gundam]]'', [[Transforming Mecha]] are only possible, or at least practical, due to a revolutionary variable-friction magnetic coating on their joints that was first used by the original RX-78 series Gundams. This allows them to change in a snap. Without it, their joints would either be too rigid & their [[Transformation Sequence]] would take hours, or else their limbs & other moving parts would constantly be flopping around & falling out from under them.
* Similar to the above, the various signature [[Transforming Mecha]] of ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' and its sequels employ 'Energy Conversion Armor' which uses metals and technologies reverse engineered from the eponymous Macross itself (termed 'Overtechnology'). This armor can absorb energy and use that energy to reinforce it's own structural integrity. According to the various supplementary materials of the series, this is what the energy output of the Reaction Engines is used for when not being 100% committed to thrust. Thus when in Battroid (giant robot) mode, standing on the ground, with 0 thrust, 100% of the engine output is going towards telling the [[Square-Cube Law]] to take a hike.
* In ''[[Naruto]]'' the Fourth Hokage's "Flying Thunder God" technique lets him teleport to within a certain distance of a [[Hermetic Magic|seal]] which he puts on weapons and enemies, thus avoiding [[Tele Frag|Tele Fragging]] by only teleporting to places likely to be close to open space. Likewise Tobi once implied that he can detect things (or at least people) from great distances which would probably explain why he never teleports into random objects.
** It's stated that the [[Super Speed]] charge the [[Shock and Awe|
*** The sharingan itself has a similar problem, it grants the user superhuman perception but not superhuman agility. Sometimes a sharingan user can predict an attack and see exactly where it's coming from, but if their body can't keep up with their opponent they still won't be able to dodge/block in time.
** Another example is Naruto's Rasenshuriken jutsu. At first his own arm would get busted up due to recoil damage, since it's a Rasengan-based technique and sits on the palm of his hand. After he gained [[Super Mode|Sage mode]], the enhanced chakra gave Naruto the extra powers he needed to be able to throw the damn thing.
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* 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.
* The various physical laws that ''[[Digimon]]'' break (size-shifting, thermodynamics, etc.) can be explained by the fact that their world is a big computer program. How they do it in the ''real'' world, however...
* It is assumed that the superstrength of the vampires in ''[[Hellsing]]'' comes with a limited form of telekinesis to deal with recoil. It's the only way that Seras could fire a gun that weighs three times as much as she does on full auto without bracing against anything without going flying.
* The fact that one enemy's force field was ''not'' air-permeable was the key to her defeat in ''[[Dragon Half]]''. Mink breathed fire at her until all the air in the bubble ran out.
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* Chirico from ''[[Armored Trooper VOTOMS]]'' has a powerful [[Healing Factor]] but still feels pain the way a normal person would. As he result he has serious psychological problems due to suffering through the agony of countless things that should have killed him, like being cut into pieces or burned alive with high octane fuel.
* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', the main downside of Negi's [[Shock and Awe|Raiten]] [[Elemental Shapeshifter|Taisou]] is that Negi ''doesn't'' have the required secondary powers, and must control himself through extremelly advanced wind magic, which, due to requiring him to previously "mark" the destination and makeing him unable to actually react to change course mid-air, make it very possible to counter it by just obstructing the way between Negi and his target. {{spoiler|Raiten Sousou, its upgraded version, provides the required secondary powers.}}
* Several of the heroes in ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]''. The strong, and/or fast ones (Kotetsu, Barnaby, Antonio) are durable enough to use those skills without injuring themselves. [[An Ice Person|Karina]] and [[Playing with Fire|Nathan]] are likely to have resistance to their own elements, and [[Shock and Awe|Pao-Lin]] explicitly states that a taser won't work on her. Possibly odd example in the case of Lunatic {{spoiler|who can create fire in his hands for use in his crossbow, but his flashback in episode 16 shows that once he's set light to something (or in that instance someone) his fire can still harm Lunatic himself, as his father quite deliberately burnt young Yuri's face.}}
* In ''[[High School DxD]]'', Issei's power is having Boosted Gear, a Sacred Gear that doubles his power every ten seconds to the point that he can kill ''any deity'' whatsoever. The drawback however is that his stamina also gets drained because his body cannot handle the stress of his Sacred Gear's power. This leads him to undergo [[Training From Hell]] twice, once from Rias, and another one from [[Our Dragons Are Different|Tanninim.]]
* It's eventually explained that the whole reason [[Squid Girl]] can pick up people and other heavy objects with her tentacles without losing her balance is that she can alter her weight with her bracelets, becoming heavy enough to anchor herself.
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* After ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'', after the new [[Flash]] (the [[Sidekick Graduations Stick|former Kid Flash]]) had his powers restored, he had to eat huge amounts of food to fuel his [[Super Speed]] powers. Later, it was revealed that the semi-mystical Speed Force provided both the energy and the friction shield.
* [[The Flash]]'s powers are an all inclusive package called [[A Wizard Did It|the Speed Force]] but parts of it come and go for the purposes of a given story. For example, his seeming ability to slow down his required super-perception has been pointed out a few times. In the ''[[Justice League]]'' episode "Only a Dream", for instance, the villain Doctor Destiny tormented superheroes with various nightmares; the Flash dreamt that he was unable to slow down, and perceived everything around him as motionless. The idea of a Flash unable to slow down his perception was also eloquently expanded upon by Jim's Big Ego in [http://www.bigego.com/index.php?page=video&category=02--Video_Remixes&display=863 this song].
** [[Alternate Company Equivalent]] ''[[Quicksilver]]'' explicitly ''doesn't'' have this: while he can slow down his perception as he speeds up, his default is still faster than human normal. It's described as the reason that he's so cranky: everyone else is moving at a snail's pace.
** Flash doesn't always have this ability. In one comic he spent a subjective week watching a movie with his wife.
*** This would be really painful, given that persistence of vision wouldn't work, and so you wouldn't even be able to perceive the motion in the movie properly. It would be like watching a slideshow of someone's vacation pictures.
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** The "using-telekinesis-to-fake-strength" power is common enough in the [[Whateley Universe]] to have a name, "TK Brick". Hank (aka Lancer), one of the main characters, is one.
** In one Silver Age story, a villain removes Superman's powers one at a time. At one point, he is about to land, but loses his strength at that very moment, and as a result plows into the ground (he was still invulnerable). He points out that even though he still has the ability to fly, he needs the super-strength to coordinate his flying and landing.
* ''[[Ultimate Fantastic Four]]'':
**
** Warren Ellis pointed this out in ''[[Planetary]]'' with Kim Suskind, the [[Captain Ersatz|evil version of Sue Storm]]. She has to wear [[Goggles Do Something Unusual|special goggles]] directly wired into her nervous system whenever she turns invisible. Without them, she's blind.▼
** Even in Marvel Classic, Sue's [[Force Field]] isn't permeable to air, and the limited air supply is used both offensively and as a limitation when she's using it for protection. Like nearly everything, this is [[Depending on the Writer]].
** Sue's invisibility is explained in the Main [[Marvel Universe]]. She extends a a light-bending field around herself and her immediate area, which is what renders her body and clothing invisible, and she can extend this to other people or objects if she wishes. As for her vision, remember that she can see other things that are invisible -
▲*** Warren Ellis pointed this out in ''[[Planetary]]'' with Kim Suskind, the [[Captain Ersatz|evil version of Sue Storm]]. She has to wear [[Goggles Do Something Unusual|special goggles]] directly wired into her nervous system whenever she turns invisible. Without them, she's blind. Presumably the goggles interact with nonvisible radiation - UV or infrared - while still magically being totally transparent to visible wavelengths.
** When [[Stan Lee|Stan the Man]] created her, he might have remembered that Marvel had already done [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix3/konakkarlostta.htm this] story in ''Tales To Astonish'' earlier the same year, [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshading]] this problem with invisibility. Maybe if he had we wouldn't have all these [[Flame War|Flame Wars]] today regarding Sue's eyesight.
*** In fact, the original letter that detailed the Fantastic Four and their powers was reprinted some years back in a special issue. Sue's eyesight is not mentioned, but she was permanently invisible and unable to make anything else invisible, [[Invisible Streaker|even clothes]]. This was nixed because [[Fan Service|Sue taking off her clothes on-panel]] was deemed too sexy.
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** Another New Universe character, D.P.7's Jeff Walters (aka Blur) was a super-speedster who did [[Big Eater|require large amounts of food]] every day. He was also obese before his power manifested via the "[[Meta Origin|White Event]]."
*** Food was the lesser problem. Apparently, his body is potentially much faster than his mind, so he can't get a restful sleep if not under tranquilizer (or a teammate's energy draining power). And the constant vibration caused by lesser muscular movements cause him to be mildly distructive when touching things. Or opening Coke cans.
* ''[[Empowered]]'' tried to pick up a car, but succeeded only in tearing off the fender. She did manage to pick it up and throw it on her second try, with more careful hand placement, but...
{{quote|"Aaa! M-my BACK! '''Oww'''... I think I ''pulled'' something...!"}}
** Then she figured out that ''driving'' [[Car Fu|a car]] into her enemies is easier and has more force to it.
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*** Similarly, Carnifex (''[[Wild Cards]]'' Wolverine expy; his backstory included time on the [[Stealth Pun|University of Michigan's football team]]) made a habit of having his face redone by plastic surgeons every couple years thanks to the scars and similar healing mishaps he inevitably accumulated as a [[Blood Knight]].
* Strangely both averted and used in ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' V2. Supergirl is trying to move a planet. She has the strength, but attempting to do so just ends up digging a hole through the planet because she can't move it as a single object by touching a small part of it. However, the "solution" used is to have her bounce into the planet, which really should fail for the same reason.
* It's possible that [[Spider-Man]]'s super-strength is a [[Required Secondary Power]]. Everything else -
** Spiders, like ants and many other insects, have a muscular system that is actually built on the same principles as hydraulics. How Spidey pulls off hydraulic-based strength without massive physical mutation, however, is anyone's guess.
** Lampshaded on at least one occasion when Spidey loses his powers but still has his web shooters; he tries to swing away but lacks the strength to hold onto his own web!
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* Subverted in ''[[Torchwood: Miracle Day]]''. Everyone on the planet becomes immortal, but without the required secondary power of super-healing. So, the guy who gets a metal rod through his chest survives, but still needs to spend days recuperating on painkillers. And the suicide bomber whose entire body gets pulverised survives, even when a flat puddle of muscles and bones on a table, and ''even when they remove his head''. And that doesn't cover the ''real'' [[Fridge Horror]] of the story...
* In ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', Terminators don't need to breathe; that also means they can't take air into their lungs to float like humans can, and sink in deep water. Terminators that need to infiltrate human society also cannot weigh much more than humans, which is especially important for ones that have to pretend to be lightweight, small human women, like Cameron. That also makes them very easy for other Terminators to pick up and throw around and reduces their physical strength, meaning a Terminator like Cameron can't win a straight slugging match. A Terminator's mechanical nature means that it cannot heal physical damage like a human can and must keep a stockpile of parts to repair itself, and damage to its neural chip means that it cannot repair damage to its programming ''at all''.
* ''[[Painkiller Jane]]'' [[Averted Trope|averts]] the [[Healing Factor]] version: Jane can heal herself, but has no super tolerance for pain and has to endure every minute of the pain associated with the injury she receives.
== [[Music]] ==
* The song "[http://www.lyricstime.com/jim-s-big-ego-the-ballad-of-barry-allen-lyrics.html The Ballad of Barry Allen]" by ''Jim's Big Ego'' goes into some detail of the loneliness it would impart to be living at super speed compared to the rest of the world.
{{quote|And I'm there before you notice
I'll be gone before you see me
Do you think you can imagine anything so lonely?}}
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* In the spanish parody of ''[[The World of Darkness]]'', Fampiro (Fanpire), one of the powers avaiable to the "Fampires" is Super Speed, which damages the user due to friction. But this is the only power with any drawback, since the power of super-strength doesn't damage you if you don't have the power of super-resistance, nor will the body-manipulation power damage or kill you if you miss ("Don't touch that heart too much").
* In ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]'' it's explicitly stated that any Mage using Forces to bend light in order to make themself invisible cannot see using normal vision and needs to actively use secondary spells in order to see. Fortunately, most Mages will have other options available, including but not limited to using Forces to see infra-red, sensing the Matter around them (although they'd still be liable to walk into a tree), or using Mind magic to see through another person's eyes. Or use Correspondence 1 and just cast their senses around them.
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic the Gathering]]''
{{quote|'''[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid{{=}}34399 Golden Wish]:''' ''She wished for nobility, but not for a nation to honor it.''
'''[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid{{=}}34400 Cunning Wish]:''' ''He wished for knowledge, but not for the will to apply it.''
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* In ''[[Shadowrun]]'' super-strength cybernetic replacement limbs are specifically noted ''not'' to have these -- a recipient trying to lift a car is in danger of ripping his prosthetic limbs off instead.
* In ''[[Rifts]]'' there's a class known as the Titan Juicer, chemically-enhanced humans who are much larger and stronger than is otherwise possible for a human. The class specifically mentions that the bones are made stronger so as to handle the increased weight and strength. Their punches are also so powerful they have to wear special gloves so that they don't break their hands when they take a swing at something.
* [[Dungeons and Dragons]] has some natural limitations on effects like scrying and translocation - one needs to have a good idea of the destination. . The caster of Teleport not knowing the destination ''very'' well risks to end up misplaced, which includes arrival in mid-air or into a wall. There's a more complex - of higher level - variant of Teleport spell with added safeguard, originally named simply "Teleport Without Error" (see 3.5 version - [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/teleport.htm Teleport] vs. [http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/teleportGreater.htm Greater Teleport]).
== [[Toys]] ==
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' in general. A lot of them must have pocket dimensions inside them to hold all that water/rock/webbing/snow/acid/etc. And, of course, there's the logistics behind fire and electric Pokemon not hurting themselves...
* ''[[Super Mario Brothers|Mario]]'', when properly empowered, can throw fireballs (and [[New Super Mario Bros Wii|ice balls]]) and not be burned/frostbitten by them, but is harmed by other fire sources.
** He also spends most of ''[[New Super Mario Bros]]'' kicking Conservation Of Mass in the nads.
* The times in which a power ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' acquires is noticeably different from its source (Top Spin & Charge Kick), it's because he doesn't have wheels on his feet and must adapt the move. Further, he must have a built-in [[Star Trek|replicator]] to construct the ammo for those weapons that are physical in nature (such as the [[Game Breaker|Metal Blade]] or Needle Cannon).
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** Similarly, while [[Mega Man Zero|Zero]] can [[Mega Manning|mimic bosses attacks after he beats them,]] he often doesn't have their weapons or range to go with it.
** Also, the characters must have an extremely high tolerance to sudden changes in temperature and other forces to function in all the environments they do. The first X series game, has a moment where you destroy an enemy in an airport's control tower, with the force of the blast blowing out all the windows in this fairly large room. Considering you'll destroy many more of this type in the game, you can ''imagine'' the kind of forces that X is bombarded with during the games.
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'
*** A random thought: In the 2D games, Sonic must have always had the subconscious ability to push himself downwards, so that he didn't go flying off every hill. The jump dash he gets in the 3D games is simply him learning to consciously use that ability in any horizontal direction.
** Originally he was affected by friction, as the original story stated he was a brown hedgehog and breaking the speed of sound changed his quills blue.
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** Canon said that at the end of ''Sonic 2'', when Sonic was re-entering on Earth, he was Super Sonic then. (The first seconds of ''Sonic 3'' show Sonic going Super... for a while.) Perhaps it was done to avoid [[Nightmare Fuel]] (Sorry, you saved the world, but because you didn't get the seven emeralds you're dead).
** Maybe only in the Archie comic, but the rings are supposed to provide energy. It could well be infered that Sonic offsetting his need to be a big eater by having a lot of rings. While this might mean he's also effectively an energy leech, most of his allies seem to be too. On at least the level needed to create a personal protection field.
* ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' lampshades this when the [[Space Pirates]] try to reverse engineer Samus Aran's powers. They manage to clone her basic weaponry but abandoned the Morph Ball research due to... let's just say "unknotting a pretzel" and move on. <ref>"Science Team is attempting to reverse-engineer Samus Aran's arsenal, based off of data acquired from her assaults on our forces. Progress is slow, but steady. Command would dearly enjoy turning Aran's weapons against her. We believe we can implement Beam weapon prototypes in three cycles. Aran's Power Suit technology remains a mystery, especially the curious Morph Ball function. All attempts at duplicating it have ended in disaster: four test subjects were horribly broken and twisted when they engaged our Morph Ball prototypes. Science Team wisely decided to move on afterward."</ref>
** Certain depictions, ''[[Super Smash Bros]]'', the e-manga, and ''Prime'' for example, solve the problem of how Samus jumps with all that armor on by showing that she has jump-jet assistance.
** Rolling around in the Morph Ball also requires Samus to be immune to motion sickness, not to mention impact trauma when she lands, boosts into walls or is hit by enemies.
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* ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'' has two different upgrades: the Icarus Landing System (sort of a fancy auto-deploying electromagnetic parachute) and the High Jump ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|see previous two words]]). Problem with the latter is, it often propels you higher than the minimum distance required to hurt you upon landing; a surface just a couple feet lower than the one you started on makes a big enough difference. So, get the jump before the Icarus, and be prepared to spend a lot of time waiting for your health to recharge so as to avoid nickel-and-diming yourself to death.
** The use of cybernetic implants in general is also explored. In real life, cybernetics that are married to biological tissue face issues of immune system rejection and the buildup of glial tissue that results in the device not working. As a result, anyone in the setting who uses augmentations must take regular doses of the drug Neuropozyne or their own bodies will reject their augs. The fact that Adam Jensen doesn't have this rejection issue is an important plot point; he is {{spoiler|the "Patient X" that Megan Reed was referencing as having the genetic ability to allow cheap and sustainable augmentations available for all of humanity}}, and the breakthrough was what triggered the {{spoiler|Illuminati's attack on Sarif Industries because of fears that human augmentation would go out of their control.}}
* The water breathing potion in ''[[Terraria]]'' makes it so that you drown in the air while it has it's effect. However, if you wear a fish bowl on your head, you can go in and out of water just fine.
* A lot of the flavor text in ''[[Starcraft]] 2'' is dedicated to explaining the secondary powers of the units.
** Viking pilots must be able to bend quickly or the machine will crush them during the air to ground transformation sequence, and most pilots die because of this during their first battle.
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* As well as being armed with a portal gun, Chell in [[Portal (series)|Portal]] is fitted with a pair of legs springs that [[Not the Fall That Kills You|allow her to survive falls from any height]]. According to the commentary, the developers added these because playtesters complained about the lack of realism. Even though the leg springs couldn't possibly account for all the issues with survivng falls, the complaints stopped.
* In ''[[Command and Conquer Tiberium Wars]]'' the flamethrower-using Black Hand aren't immune to hostile fire attacks.
* Discussed in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' with regard to biotics, who can manipulate mass effect fields to lift, throw, warp, or block things. This is done because they have nodes of element zero in their bodies that are activated by electricity from the nervous system and produce mass effect fields. The asari are the only species that can naturally do this on any significant scale
== [[Web Comics]] ==
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** A [http://www.cracked.com/article_17185_7-awesome-super-powers-ruined-by-science.html a list] examining the necessity of such powers.
** Implied by [http://www.cracked.com/article_20241_6-awesome-superpowers-that-would-suck-in-real-life.html 6 Awesome Superpowers (That Would Suck in Real Life)]. For example, being able to throw lightning would require immunity to effects on sight and hearing similar to those of stun grenades, and force fields would need immunity to [[Not the Fall That Kills You]].
** Wolverine's required healing factor parodied in [http://www.cracked.com/video_17328_why-having-wolverines-claws-would-suck.html this
* In the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', it was generally assumed that all characters had these as a matter of course. Exceptions tended to make for interesting side-stories. For example, Silly Putty was a [[Rubber Man]], but he lacked the power to actually control his extended body when stretched; as a result, he had to be manually shaped by other people. The Shield was [[Nigh Invulnerable]], but wasn't anchored (or superhumanly strong), and as a result was regularly knocked ass-over-teakettle when he was hit with any significant force.
* In ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'', it's explained that the Freelancers' AI granted them the [[Required Secondary Powers]] needed for individual armor abilities. When Griff tried out the [[Super Speed]] armor ability without an AI, everything, including his mental processes and metabolism, was sped up, and he ran [[Crowning Moment of Funny|straight into a wall]] because he had no way of knowing when to slow down.
** This is actually averted in the [[Public Service Announcement|PSA]] [http://roosterteeth.com/archive/?id=1637 Upgrading], when Caboose gets his armor stuck in invisibility mode.
{{quote|
'''Church''': Don't worry Caboose, I'm sure when [[Halo: Reach|the game]] comes out there'll be a way to shut it off.
'''Caboose''': Good. I need sleep.
'''Sarge''': Sleep? When that game comes out, I won't sleep for a week!
'''Church''': Yeah, no, it's not that, it's just that he's having trouble sleeping because he can see through his eyelids now.
'''Sarge''': Oh. That's creepy.
}}
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** Best example of this is Dan who controls time, in order to move at hyper speeds when emulating [[Super Speed]] he would need a way to extract air with out burning his lungs and in order to see when he slows time to a crawl he would need a way to speed light up to his eyes while still perceiving slowed time.
* The demons in the ''[[The Salvation War]]'' all have giant back muscles that are very similar to the cells of the electric eels, which makes up for the needed energy a 20 foot tall man would need. The flying demons are filled with a light and highly flameable gas that allows them to fly and breath fire. However, the byproduct to the gas makes the demon's blood HIGHLY acidic, and while their insides are well protected from the acid, their skin bursts into flames if the blood touches it.
** Another example is the healing ability of the angels and daemons. One wounded angel noted he needed a lot more food and water when they were healing, and because of that his was slowed greatly. It is mentioned they have systems in their bodies that prevent such a fast healing rate from becoming cancerous. {{spoiler|When an angel army was Nuked, the radiation broke down the systems with horrible results.}} They, however, also fall to the problem of "healing fast
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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*** As medical science will attest, the human stomach is in a constant state of ''digesting itself'', the inner lining of the stomach reforming itself faster than the stomach acids can digest it. Stomach ulcers are what happens when the acid ''wins.''
** Scorpions are immune to the venom of their own species, and often their entire genus.
* The human body has a limit on the severity of the G-forces it can withstand before going into blackouts, physical injury and eventually death. Until this physiological limitation can be overcome
** Or just have the best of both and make it remote-piloted like the [[wikipedia:MQ-9 Reaper|Reaper UAV]].
***
* While it has been well documented that falls from heights of less than a few meters can result in severe injuries, the Required Secondary Powers of tumbling, falling properly and weight distribution is the basis for the sport of parkour.
* Wolff's Law states that after injury, the human body repairs itself so that it is stronger than before. This is how competitive board breakers can break concrete without injury: harder bones.
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