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Goo-Goo Godlike: Difference between revisions
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Or superpowered, godlike infants and very young children.
Apparently, [[Plot Leveling]] happens inside the fictional (and, especially, superheroic) world as well. Not only is it true that [[Lamarck Was Right]] about parents passing on their more noteworthy abilities through a number of increasing [[Evolutionary Levels]] (never mind that that last bit is there only if you read between the lines real hard), but more powerful people are born chronologically later; just ask anyone who's been to [[The Future]]. This trope is most pronounced in those who are currently infants: They don't get any lines or characterization, but they still alter the fate of the world just by existing.
Maybe it's all that [[Infant Immortality]] building up and exploding into the world as [[Pure Energy]], or maybe it's just some writer's idea of a "surprising" development, but if you see a baby in any genre which lets people have power disproportionate to their physical and mental ability, that kid is going to be God.
Woe betide any [[Badly-Battered Babysitter|babysitter]] (or parent) who cannot quite control the baby's immense powers.
Contrast [[Puberty Superpower]], where your abilities show up later. Happens because of [[Superpowerful Genetics]]. Do this on an industrial scale and you get a [[Bizarre Baby Boom]]. When one of these goes wrong, it's an [[Enfante Terrible]].
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* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'':
** Goku was sent to Earth because he'd easily be able to wipe out all life on the planet ''as a newborn baby.'' That's not speaking highly of Goku; [[Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond|that's speaking badly of Earth]]. We're so back-water and worthless we're not even worth a proper invasion, just send a baby there, let it full-moon-rampage for a few years, then send someone to clean up whatever's left over.
** Any Saiyan [[Half-Human Hybrid]] can be relied on to crush a Big Bad who has otherwise proved unstoppable. Two of the [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] of the series (Vegeta and Cell) are defeated by Gohan as a toddler and teenager respectively. However, it's also subverted in that these power spurts are the result of short-lived moments of [[Unstoppable Rage]]; Gohan didn't constantly train and focus to keep up his might or to hold his temper in check, and that's largely why Goku is the one to defeat Frieza and Majin Buu.
** This grows worse as the series progresses, too: Goku and Vegeta had to go through great suffering to obtain Super Saiyan. Gohan merely had to imagine going through great suffering. Goten merely had to get scared sparring with his mother, and Trunks could do it because Goten did it. Vegeta [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this both in Japanese and English.
* Ivan Whisky aka Cyborg 001 in ''[[Cyborg 009]]'': he's just a little baby, but has insanely powerful psychic powers and is extremely intelligent.
* While not at all godlike in any way, Hiei of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' needed to be wrapped in a special cloth and sealed with many talismans because he was surrounded by an aura of fire that was especially hazardous to the ice demons around him.
* ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'':
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** And, to a point, Togepi did in earlier seasons... sort of. Its Metronome was very convenient in many situations, even if none of the cast realized it. In the games, Metronome (which randomly uses almost any move in the game, except for whichever moves the Pokémon actually knows and a handful of other exceptions) is too unreliable to be useful. In the anime, though, whenever Togepi used Metronome, you could count on something impressive (and usually explosive) happening.
* Vivio of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', the title character's adopted 6-year-old daughter who {{spoiler|slapped around her mother's [[Super Mode]] silly during the final battle of the third season and managed to remain conscious while taking ''five'' [[Wave Motion Gun|Starlight Breakers]] at full blast}}. Looks like Nanoha has a worthy successor to the "[[Fan Nickname|White Devil]]" name. Being {{spoiler|a [[Clone Jesus|clone of Sankt Kaiser Olivie]], perhaps the most powerful mage in history}}, explains pretty well why she's so powerful.
* All of the naturally born [[Mutants|Mu]] children from ''[[Toward the Terra]]'', but especially Tony who, at the age of three, [[Enfant Terrible|almost killed a man (deliberately!)]] with his [[Psychic Powers]].
* [[Akira]] from the eponymous manga is a child with extreme psychokinetic powers. He was so powerful that he had to be sealed away in an underground facility at below freezing temperatures.
== Comics ==
* Alexander Luthor Jr. made his debut as the ultimate [[MacGuffin]] in ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]''. And from there, he eventually went on to become the [[Dimension Lord]] [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Infinite Crisis]]''.
* ''[[Fantastic Four]]'':
** Franklin Richards, son of two members of the Fantastic Four, can do [[Reality Warper|literally anything]]. Basically, Franklin has two separate superpower sets: he is explained as possessing both the cosmic radiation which empowered his parents ''and'' being a [[Witch Species|Mutant]]. Mutants usually acquire their powers during puberty (with physical mutations, such as Nightcrawler's physicality, happening sooner), but his are unlocked faster because he inherited power from his parents.
** His little sister Valeria aka Val has [[Teen Genius|genius-like intellect]]... and is not older than five. (Notably, genius ''adult'' intellect, as a five-year old with a genius IQ might have the intelligence of, say, a nine-year old.)
* ''[[X-Men]]'':
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* A further [[Marvel Universe]] example was Hyperstorm, the alternate future child of two of these, Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers. His powers include controlling the fundamental forces of the universe, moving to any point in the universe instantly through hyperspace, and ridiculous levels of psychic power. (He was still vulnerable to being eaten by Galactus, though.) This isn't terribly surprising with a dad who can re-arrange reality and a mum who is so powerful a telekinetic she can create a black hole and then destroy it just as easily, and that doesn't even start on all of her other abilities.
* In the WildStorm universe (home of [[The Authority]], [[Planetary]], and more), several superpowered "century babies" were born in the year 1900. Jenny Sparks, seemingly the most powerful of these, was actually the embodiment of the 20th century, and died shortly after it ended. Thus far, only a single century baby is known to have been born in the year 2000: Jenny Quantum, Sparks' godlike spiritual successor and quite possibly the most powerful being in the WildStorm universe. She's even singlehandedly, effortlessly defeated [[Lobo]].
* The Blake twins in ''[[Spawn]]'' are not godlike: {{spoiler|one IS God, and the other, Satan.}} Cyan had also some power over Spawn during her baby years, but now, as a preteen, she has become more of a protegé.
* Sometimes this applies to even Normals. ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' has the powerless Dr. Moira MacTaggart, whose status as Professor Xavier's ''ex-girlfriend'' was enough to knock her son, Kevin aka Proteus, into [[Green Lantern Ring]] power levels.
* ''[[Superman]]'':
** Superman was originally one of these as a child; these days he's usually portrayed as having [[Puberty Superpower|Puberty Superpowers]]. The often unintentionally unsettling "Superbaby" comics and cartoons are a good demonstration of why so many comics try to avoid all this. Kyle Baker did a story called [[wikipedia:Letitia Lerner%2C
** Ariella Kent, the daughter of an [[Alternate Universe]] Superman and [[Supergirl]] (they're [[Not Blood Siblings|not cousins]] in that world) has greater-than-[[Silver Age]] Kryptonian powers, plus an array of [[Psychic Powers]] and [[Time Travel]]. She causes massive collateral damage every time she... well, does anything.
** In ''[[JLA: Act of God]]'', the child of the depowered Supes and Wonder Woman is shown using telekinesis.
* Black Bolt of [[The Inhumans]] nearly destroyed his home [[Make Me Wanna Shout|just by crying]] as a child.
* {{spoiler|The baby Celestial}} born in ''S.H.I.E.L.D'' #4.
* The Star Child, son of Ken Connell, in ''[[The New Universe]]''. Born with the Star Brand already within him (Ken had sex with the child's mother while in possession of the Brand), he's actually pretty damn power, going so far as to ''stop death itself from happening''. He later fuses with Ken and {{spoiler|his [[Stable Time Loop]] older self}}, takes blame for the White Event and Black Event, then bolts.
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== Films -- Live-Action ==
* In the film ''[[Day Watch]]'', Yegor is a super-powerful Dark One able to lead the dark ones (or light ones) to victory over the never ending struggle between the two forces. Naturally he's a small boy who's just about to enter pubescence. He's a lot younger in the first film [[Night Watch]]
* In the climax of ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', David Bowman's final, god-like form is the "Star Child", which mostly resembles a human baby.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Charmed]]'':
** Piper's son will be the ultimate agent of either good or evil. This is mostly due to the fact that he's a son of both a White-lighter and a Charmed One.
** Phoebe's son was also destined to be an ultimate agent of either good or evil, since it was the child of a [[Big Bad|The Source]] and a Charmed One. {{spoiler|It didn't go well. Or long}}
* ''[[Ghost Whisperer]]'': Melinda's future child will have more/different powers over spirits then his mother; just what those powers are haven't been revealed yet, but it's enough to disturb the spirit world into haunting Mel with [[Creepy Child|faceless children]] and [[Brown Note|books of doom]].
* Isabelle from ''[[The 4400]]'' is extremely powerful as an adult in series three and four, but back in series two she was just a baby, and still powerful enough to terrify her own father. When her family is being pursued by rednecks, the infant Isabelle mentally forces them to kill each other. She was even powerful enough to temporarily incapacitate Jordan Collier ''while still in the womb''.
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* In [[Robin McKinley]]'s ''Spindle's End'' (an [[Adaptation Expansion|expansion]] of the various "Sleeping Beauty" stories) magic permeates ''everything'' and the "Fairies" are actually normal people who happen to have the inborn ability to control it. The Fairy condition may not necessarily be hereditary and most Fairies come into their power [[Puberty Superpower|as teens]]. However, a few Fairies manifest powers ''very'' early, a phenomenon known in the novel as "Baby Magic". As cutesy as that sounds, it's actually very dangerous and unpredictable, especially because yu never know how those powers will manifest. A baby Fairy may be able to intuitively understand [[Animal Talk]]. Or, he may be able to [[Baleful Polymorph|transform the nanny into a terrier]] and pull a [[One-Winged Angel]] act ''every'' time he has a tantrum....
* Coin the Sourcerer from ''[[Discworld]]''. Shortly after being born he get hit by lightning and merely absorbs its power. By the time he's a teenager he's the most powerful force in the world.
* Two years after Coin from [[Discworld/Sourcery|Sourcery]], Terry Prachett co-wrote ''[[Good Omens]]'' with Adam the 11 year old [[Anti Christ]], who shares quite a few traits with Coin.
* Surprise Golem from ''[[Xanth]]'' appears to be one of those initially, but turns out to have a significant handicap later on (though the handicap is less significant than it initially seems). Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm are legitimate examples.
* ''[http://nickelkid.net/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html It's a GOOD Life]'' by Jerome Bixby. This kid's a [[Reality Warper]], he can use [[People Puppets]], he has [[Telepathy]]... and he's an instant generator of horror. {{spoiler|[[Superpowerful Genetics|His daughter]] makes it better.}}
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[[Category:Hidden Badass]]
[[Category:Goo-Goo Godlike]]
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
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